Inspiring subject line

Friends and family,

The Lord is in the details. And...I love you. I wasn't organized enough to write you a real e-mail this week. Sorry 'bout that. BUT I wrote one to president, so you're welcome to disfrutar it. 

Disfrutar="to enjoy" in spanish. (Yes, I know I'm in an English area. I promise I'll get over it someday. :)  )

Love ya'll tons, 

Sister Wells

Hello President,

The Lord consecrates our time. That is our daily VC miracle. So, yes, while more time and rearranging the schedule would and could be a marvelous solution to a lot of the "VC issues," I want to make sure you know that I am not unaware of nor ungrateful for the miracles we do see, and those moments when I truly do feel validation from the Lord in my calling. Interestingly enough, it's on the micro-level that I feel most "accomplished" and validated as a missionary...or in other words, with the "worm's eye." The daily tender mercies, and the small moments in which the Holy Ghost works through me. 

*Note: I talked to Sister ****** briefly about the VC ideas she's sharing with you. I sustain her as an excellent spokeswoman and strategist in maximizing VC time (and being an overall fantastic person and missionary). In other words, keep listening to her. She's the sister we all adore and unheathily compare ourselves to. 

And yet, I still feel that I could do more. I'm remembering and renewing my focus on goal-setting and planning. I will maximize my time as a Visitors' Center sister, and I will make every second count! 

...We will do so by: working with members to better maintain our "1 hour or less in members' homes" rule (not 1 hour, 15 minutes...) as well as our "1 hour or less for every lesson" rule. And we will communicate and keep ourselves accountable to our bishop, our WML, and our AWML everyday. 

Update on our people:

We finally met a less-active that has been recommended to us by multiple members of the ward council, and she's wonderful! I would consider her an "Almost 555" program member. We've got to work on getting more steady contact with her.

 *** ALMOST said yes to coming to church with us. It was a powerful moment in the lesson, and I cannot deny (nor could he ) that the spirit was there testifying to all of us that him coming to church is exactly what the Lord wants for him. He is most certainly progressing, however, and we're excited. 

We also had another lesson with *****, who is the father of a less-active woman who passed away a month or so ago. He is still quite upset, but we had some powerful moments with him in teaching and testifying to him about where his daughter is now, and what her feelings are toward him. 

We've also made a more concentrated effort to visit the "new move-in" lists that Bishop has assigned to us. 

...and...that's it for now.

I don't know that I'll have time to share some of my ideas for the visitors' center quite yet, but I'll try to do so next week--or in our continued interview in August. 

Thank you so much for all you do, President. As always, you and Sister Weidman are in our prayers. 

Love,

Sister Wells

Those perfect kind of miracles.

Fam, friends:

You know what? It's been a great week.

You know what is odd? I only have 8 months left. Past halfway. Ay. Apparently I'm supposed to know what I'm doing now. I don't know how that happened...

It all makes you a reflect a bit on what you've accomplished and who you are as a missionary. I'm trying not to stress about it. "Love what you've done"--Sis. ***. Just love the past and who it's made you. She's so wise :)

Super cool VC experience this week:  Giving a tour to a group of non-denom Christian youth from Iowa!! Who knew such cool people could come from such a random state! They were so kind, so wonderful, so polite, and they had BOMB.COM questions. We ended the tour w/ a Q&A session, and it was one of the most powerful and instructive experiences of my life. Bibles and Book of Mormons were out. Elder ********* dumbledored the floor with his grace and love and charity-filled-yet-indestructible answers to some pretty tough (and only a few obnoxious) questions. And then we got to add our personal witnesses. There were a few moments, in particular, where I was able to share my own personal experiences with doctrine that just...it was just amazing. Things I have studied and experienced very specifically were brought up, and I could BEAR WITNESS. Don't you love that? Bearing witness

 We sent quite a few of them home with copies of the Book of Mormon, and a promise to read and pray about it. A few with the promise of a missionary visit. It was phenomenal. I love them so much. 

...and I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. 

aka I'm out of time. So I'll attach my lame letter to pres and let you gather a few more details of my experiences here. 

Love,

Sister Wells

Hello President,

Here's the Mar Vista update:

I didn't mention this to you last week, but our transfer vision includes 2 baptisms and 2 baptismal dates, as well as a continued increase in member work and member missionary efforts. 

**** may not be a baptismal candidate for this transfer, but I feel confident in his eventual progress to that step. He is in Alma 9, and has wonderful questions about the Book of Mormon. He is very bright, knowledgeable, and interested in learning on every level, so teaching him is always an exciting experience--though we rarely get past one or two points of a lesson. This week, we discussed the pre-existence, which BLEW HIS MIND. He committed to pray and study it out a little more until our next visit. I LOVE teaching people like Bob. His progress is "slow", but he is most definitely moving forward in his Book of Mormon reading and in his openness to restored truths. A lot of our message already make sense to him. Church will happen one of these days. He recognizes that it's something he needs to do, and that he will experience blessings when he does it. He finally told his girlfriend about us, and we're hoping to meet with her sometime soon as well.

We stopped by *******'s house once this week, and managed to catch her by a miracle. There are several members that live in her apartment complex, but we normally call her neighbor (and a ward missionary) to let us in. However, she wasn't home at the time we needed to enter. So, we instead called *****, who lives on the other side of the complex. When *****'s kids came down to let us in, ******** happened to be sitting at the playground right in front of us--and several blocks over from her actual apartment, where we had been heading. Had *** been home to let us in, we wouldn't have had the opportunity to visit with her and set up another appointment. It was a small tender mercy, but in my experience, the small tender mercies count most. ******** still hasn't come to church due to the illnesses of her children, but says that she'll try again next week. 

A new assistant ward mission leader was called in our ward, and we couldn't be more excited! He's very similar to our ward mission leader in his passion and energy and excitement for the work, but he won't be out of town as often...which means that energy can be a little more consistent. This is especially important at this time--which all of us recognize as being absolutely crucial for our ward. We had a big 5th Sunday kick-off sacrament meeting/combined lesson where we presented the ward mission and extended the necessary invitations. The follow-up will come in the form of the ward missionaries calling every active member in the ward once every month or so to see how their efforts and commitments are going, Sister *** and I following up in homes to offer specific help, advice, and practice; and a frequent e-mail that will be sent around the ward with success stories, invitations, ideas, etc. We are so grateful for our ward and for our good bishop, who has really caught the vision of this work. 

Goals for this week: planning in accordance with our transfer and weekly goals, which will help us to better-manage our limited area time with our Visitors' Center time. Our new assistant ward mission leader has offered to help us remain accountable for our time management. 

I want to express to you how grateful I am for your leadership, president. We are all beginning to feel a profound and peaceful change. We sense your deep trust in the Lord, and your deep trust in us as fellow servants of the Lord. I feel empowered to receive revelation and to act in accordance with it in regards to how I use my time here in the mission field. Thank you for giving me that opportunity. We love and sustain you. 

You and Sister Weidman are in our prayers. 

Love,

Sister Wells 

Just a normal one. But with just as much love :)

Family! Friends! 

I love you all. Here's a copy of the letter I sent to president. I got more goodies in the mail today, so I owe yet another THANK YOU to you amazing people. 

My special testimony this week: Sacrifice means "to make sacred." Heavenly Father consecrates our sacrifices, and He blesses us for our faith. 

...I'm still trying to decide what faith means as a missionary.  Example:  I know that the Lord can give Mar Vista 20 baptisms this transfer, but I don't expect Him to. I think He will bless us and the people in His own time. And we'll just do our best to fulfill His purposes here.  But do I lack faith? 

I love you people. Thanks for being disciples. 

Love,

Sister Wells

Hello President,

It's been another great week in Mar Vista and the Visitors' Center!

***** said that he felt good about the interview he had with you on Friday. I hope it went well, and that you were able to receive some clear impressions. I think we've decided to move forward with him as if he were a new member--in the sense that we would like to give the ward missionaries the opportunity to teach him the new member lessons. We'll probably still invite Sister ****** to be present for translation, but we really want Amir to start feeling more comfortable with other members of the ward. We also think it will be a great way to get the members more involved and prepared as member missionaries. 

The family mission plan effort in our ward is taking off! We've already had some success stories from some members who had previously felt too scared to share. We hope to see and hear more of this kind of success! :)

Our new/old investigator, ********, and her children attended the stake Pioneer Day Primary Activity Day, and loved it! It was a well-organized event and everyone was incredibly kind and loving toward her and her children. We had a chance to give her a copy of The Family: A Proclamation to the World (which was direct inspiration to my amazing companion, who had said that we should be prepared to teach a little about it at the activity day. It was a great moment at the activity day when ******* kind of randomly turned to us and asked "So, why are families so important to your church?" and we were able to hand her a copy :) ) 

They were supposed to come to church on Sunday...but they didn't show up. We were mildly heartbroken, but we're planning a service activity in her home sometime this week. 

We also had a chance to teach her a little more about the Book of Mormon. She said she really felt peace as we read 3 Nephi 11 together, and we explained to her that that is the Holy Ghost. The lesson ended kind of abruptly (emergencies involving her children), so the baptismal invitation will take place in the next lesson. 

There was a recent convert in our ward who just went through the temple on Saturday! It was an exciting day for her and the ward to celebrate together, and an extra motivation for us to bring more families to the temple. 

We had attempted to transition one of our other new investigators to the YSA sisters on Sunday, but unfortunately, she never responded. Hopefully we'll be in contact with her soon. 

We continue to see miracles in the Visitors' Center. We had a former guest (and almost-member) come in yesterday and bring his aunt from Colorado. She loved it. She had great questions. They both shared wonderful testimony, and she'll be receiving the missionaries at her home in Colorado this week!

Overall, President, I'm loving the work. We see our work in Mar Vista expanding, and we hope to see a baptism or two this transfer. We haven't typed up our transfer vision yet, but we'll get that to you next week.

You and Sister Weidman are in our prayers. Thank you for all you do!

Sincerely,

Sister Wells

4 Cakes, a Box of Donuts, and SO MUCH ASIAN FOOD...in other words, it's been a glorious birthday week in the Mar Vista household.

First of all, I need to give ya'll a NORM-GINOUS THANK YOU for making my birthday so SO great. I am horrifically spoiled. Your little notes and cards and gifts and such have made it specialer than I ever could've hoped. So again, THANK  YOU.

Second of all, Sister **** and I will be together for a second transfer! ...Which will be one of the longest relationships I have ever managed to maintain...so I think congratulations are in order. :)  But really, it's going to be WONDERFUL! Sister **** and I have really hit our stride, and we're both pretty devoted to this place. She's just so amazing. She made my birthday so special (like, too special, you know? She's been cooking amazing food for me all week, and she made me 2 planner covers. I literally almost cried when she gave me the 1st. I love her so much. I have to visit her in Cambodia in Dec 2014, so...if you wanna join...let me know.)

Third of all, this work is healing and wonderful. I gave a talk in church a while back about the power of turning outward together...and how as we do so, we invite Christ into our relationships and into our lives in a way that strengthens, lifts, and heals us as families, congregations, and individuals.  ...At least, that's what I meant to say. Who knows what actually came out...I also completely misquoted Jay Z...so...

...the reason I share pt 3 with you...I'm attaching our member missionary idea form. As well as a link to an awesome website/talk that will help you in your personal discipleship efforts. You may have already gotten one in your ward where you're at.

Fourth of all, I just love you all so much. Can't say it or express it enough or with enough gratitude for what you've given me.

Fifth of all, our new president is phenomenal. Here's the letter I sent him. Black out names for the blog/anything having to do with the policy stuff maybe? Your call.

Love ya'll mucho,

Sister Wells

https://www.lds.org/training/wwlt/2013/hastening/special-broadcast?lang=eng#media=

https://www.lds.org/ensign/2005/02/seven-lessons-on-sharing-the-gospel?lang=eng

Hello President,

Happy Transfers! Sister **** and I look forward to another transfer together!

It's been another marvelous week in Mar Vista!

We already spoke with you about our investigator, ****, who you'll be meeting with on Friday. We're in the process of making sure he is prepared for that interview. He will likely be nervous to do it without Sister *******'s translation, but I think you are right in inviting him to meet with you by himself. I trust your ability to express love and discern his sincerity. We'll be anxious to hear the results, and we are excited to assist you in your policy decisions regarding our beloved Persian people. We'll hope to have a report ready for you in the next few weeks.

We met with **** on Saturday, and he still hasn't come to church...nor has he told his girlfriend about us, which we feel is his real concern. He knows he will love church, and I truly feel that once he begins attending, his baptism will not be too far in the distance. He has "warm feelings" about the Book of Mormon as he reads it (he's already in Alma, and knows the characters and storyline better than I do at this point), and feels that he has gotten the impression to "keep reading and pondering." The bishop will be stopping by *****'s home one of these days to discuss his recent trip to Havasupai and to get advice for the scouts' Havasupai trip next week. We pray that it will be the right kind of opportunity for him.

We re-discovered a former investigator (a suggestion from a missionary who served in our area a few years ago--we met him at one of Sister *******'s parties), *****, yesterday. We'll meet with her again on Thursday. In reviewing her Teaching Record, it seems that one of her main issues in her last visits with missionaries was drinking/partying with her friends. She mentioned to us that she doesn't do much of that anymore...so we're hoping she's a little more ready for change. We may need to transition her to the YSA missionaries this weekend. We'll keep you updated.

  ****** is another new-ish investigator. We met with him on Wednesday with a member, ****, and her boyfriend, *****, and it was yet another testament to member work. ***** is a retired baseball coach/athletic director at a private school. **** happened to be an avid baseball fan/former college player. They all hit it off spendidly. ***** has had amazing friends who are members and has fond memories of playing sports with the Mormons in his youth. With his recent retirement, he may be at just the right crossroads in his life for the entrance of the Gospel. However, he is still feeling intimidated by the idea of having regular set appointments with us. ****** suggested that we simply come by every so often to visit and to read the Book of Mormon with him. He agreed. We'll return again this week with the hope that he'll come around soon. He committed to pray.

Member work is going well. We've been measuring the reaction to our major missionary-themed 5th Sunday sacrament meeting/combined lesson, and it seems that people are slowly-but-surely "catching the wave." The family mission plans are making their way into people's minds, and we are trying to stay on top of following up with all of their commitments--which range from inviting us over for a bbq with their friends, hosting a neighborhood dessert night, delivering a note with cookies and a testimony, or simply starting to study PMG at least once a week as a family. I think things are picking up!

I love this work, President. I'm trying to figure out how to do more and how to do it better. The Visitors' Center schedule, as I'm sure you're aware, presents interesting challenges with time management, etc., and I often catch myself getting impatient with my weaknesses and limitations. But as always, I am seeing how the Lord consecrates the time. He has blessed me so much.

Thank you for all you do. It has been wonderful to get to know you and Sister Weidman better. Know that you are in our prayers of gratitude and blessings. We love you!

Sister Wells