Hello President!

7/7 on the Safety Minute.

It has been a week of MIRACLES! Obviously. 

But just to preset:

The news I couldn't fully share in the meeting the other day/the reason I was smiling/the moment "the wall dropped": 

I GOT DEAR JANED. 

TWICE. 

By the same person.

...It takes a truly pathetic sister missionary to get dear janed twice by the same person, president. Part of me wishes I could hate him, but I just can't. One) because he's a genuinely great person trying to follow the spirit and two) because it was obviously the best thing that ever happened to me. Both times.  Though I just received the second official "dear jane" last week so that one still feels a little raw.  Sometimes I just wish that the best thing didn't have to hurt so embarrassingly. But I suppose the reality of the pain makes the miracle of the healing that much greater. Heavenly Father has always had my back. The second after I got the e-mail, we had 2-3 miracles happen in the Visitors' Center. And then, of course, this week has just been smattered with them.  I'll share what I can in a second!

[Sidenote to save my hard-working missionary reputation:  I broke up with "him" before the mission and actually asked him not to write me so I could be 100% focused. But as I got settled in the field, I initiated some correspondence, which he responded to with news of his recent engagement. A few months later, I get a thick letter with news that the engagement has been broken off and that he'd like to write me and see how things go. And then, last week...well, you know the story from there.]

But the real reason I'm telling you all of this, President, is because I had never realized how real and how inhibiting my expectations of a future life with ****** were until they were shattered. I felt like a scab had been ripped from my heart and it was then free to grow and BECOME. In other words, I could more fully place myself in the hands of the Lord and accept the limitless plans that He has for me. I'm not going home to the same place I left. I am only moving forward to be a constantly evolving instrument in the hands of the Lord. To a beautiful future that I can't even imagine yet. But it all starts HERE and NOW. With the fleetingly perfect sunset that is my mission here in LA.

...and that's my testimony of walls dropping. 

Okay, so now for all of the incredible miracles Heavenly Father has blessed us with this week! (I may only share the best ones so as to not use up ALL of my e-mail time on this letter).

An hour after e-mailing last week, ******** walked into the VC by herself. Age 19. Non-member. Boyfriend/fiance gets home from his mission in 5 months. She seemed a little nervous and unsure. She assured us she had no expectations, but that she just felt like she should check some of this stuff out before he gets home because she would never want to convert for anyone else. He had always been so careful not to pressure her, though she had attended a lot of meetings and activities with him to support.  Her religious background: Mom is super inactive Mormon, Dad is Christian Pastor. (He actually joined the church for her mother originally and then dropped out right before getting sealed. Sad, I know).

As we showed her pictures of the various rooms of the temple, she got so excited! Especially about the sealing room...because she knows that she wants to be with her boyfriend forever. And especially about the Celestial room, because she kept thinking that we were saying her name over and over again.

Then, we showed her D. Todd Christofferson's testimony of the First Vision.  It was here that the real miracle occurred. As she described to us how she felt (that "safe, home" feeling), she explained that the only other time she had ever felt this perfect feeling was at a fireside with her boyfriend, where a man bore testimony of his conversion story (which happened to mirror hers--i.e. dated member of the church and wanted to be with her forever...so he got baptized, went on a mission, and took her to the temple)...Apparently this man worked in the temple somehow, which is what brought her here in the first place :)

Long story short, she put all of the pieces of the puzzle together and she knew that this was a path she needed to continue.  She's coming back in in a few hours to continue her journey. We'll introduce her to the LA YSA sisters when she gets here :)\

Then, later that week, we contacted more than we have ever contacted before. And we saw miracles in the form of 3 new investigators found on the streets of Mar Vista :)

Now to the miracles that are a specific result of our ward fast for missionary work:

On Saturday:

Met ****'s girlfriend, *******. The most natural fellowshippers happened to be there. And the seeds were planted. Marriage to/permission from ******* is just about the only thing keeping him from being baptized. He fasted about it on Sunday.

****, our investigator that originally wanted to transition to YSA, decided she wants to be baptized sooner and she wants to be baptized in Mar Vista. So, I'm sad for the YSA sisters, but happy for our ward because they'll get to see the fruits of member missionary work (Bro James originally introduced us to ****).

On Sunday:

Random new investigator shows up at church and sits through two different sacrament meetings until she finds the right one (ours). ***** has been sober for 24 years and is excited to switch up her AA meetings with some meetings with the addiction recovery groups. We'll teach her more tomorrow.

The testimony meeting is infused with missionary work. Including the testimony of *******, the young, stressed out mother of 5 who had never really cared much about missionary work. Even at our dinner appointment with her a month and a half ago, she didn't seem too interested in the ward mission plan.  But she agreed to try and organize a BBQ so that she could reach out to her non-member/LA friends.  In her testimony, she said that even though no one showed up to her BBQ, she felt an increase of the spirit in her life as she made an effort to reach out. Which is the promise we extended.  

...So, of course, as she bears her testimony, I start to bawl. Because that's just the purpose of everything, isn't it? Conversion on some level and on some side of the equation. Members and investigators alike.  I don't know that I had ever felt more fulfilled as a missionary than in those moments.

Later that day, we get a text from Sister *******, who's another member who used to be a little baffled about member missionary work. Apparently she had walked outside to take her trash out and her neighbor (who they barely know) walked up to them and asked to go to church with them next Sunday. 

If I could put a GIANT SMILEY FACE EMOTICON here, I would.

Heavenly Father is spoiling us. But I am so full of gratitude today, President. 

Thanks for being so kind and loving. I can't tell you how grateful I am for you and Sis. Weidman. I love and trust you both so much. 

God bless you!

Sister Wells

P.S. That wasn't even half the miracles.