Mother's Day

What a wonderful blessing it is to know that your family is happy and doing great! It has been that way since I came to Cincinnati, and it's an even greater privilege to hear your voices every now and then. The Lord continues to richly bless me, and much more importantly each of you. I was so overjoyed to talk with you all, and I'm sure you were equally excited for that opportunity. Congratulations to Mom on her talk, I just KNEW she would do well! Ah Mother's Day, where everything just works out like a charm! It would be nice if everyday could be like that, but we wouldn't learn too much.

One of the best things about being a missionary is knowing that there are literally millions of people around the world praying for you on a daily basis, including the First Presidency and the Twelve. This has been one of the great comforts for me, and it definitely drives the loneliness and discouragement away. As I told you yesterday, the homesickness has completely vanished. Of course, I miss everyone and think about you everyday, but that knowledge that you're doing well has actually been a strength rather than a hinderance to the work. Funny how that happens, huh!?

I still can't fathom that I've been on a mission for basically 9 months now, it's crazy! I am really beginning to feel like the Lord is shaping me into the missionary He wants me to be, and because I trust Him a lot more now, we are being blessed with many people to teach....especially families! This is the last week of the transfer, and we want it to be the best week we've had so far. We are very close to achieving the goals we set at the beginning of last month, and are excited to see the Lord bring them to full fruition. Our biggest challenge right now continues to be investigators at church(we had 2 committed who didn't show)and progressing investigators. Our boldness in extending commitments has gotten better, but there is still much we can improve on. I know that the biggest key to helping investigators progress will be in how well they are fellowshipped. The member involvement continues to increase, and we especially need great fellowshippers at this time. I have no doubt whatsoever that the Lord will provide for us, but first we have to do everything we can.

President Robbins has instructed us to start using a lesson format from Elder Jensen, and it will definitely improve the quality of our lessons. President also had to counsel us this week concerning anti-Mormon literature, as it is apparent that some missionaries have been reading it. I am extremely glad not to count myself in that group, but it is still very sad to see that some will rely on garbage for their opinions or beliefs. However, it will not tear down my testimony at all!! Miracles are happening in Wilmington, and nothing can stop the Lord from fulfilling His  "works and designs" for this area. How grateful I am to be in this area at this time! And thanks for the excerpts from Elder Perry's talk, those will definitely be helpful. Thank you also for continuing to do all you can to make everyday worthwhile for me! Your efforts have definitely not been in vain. Hope you all have an excellent week, may the Lord be with you always!!