Week #16

April 23, 2012

Hi Family!! 

Well, I'm no longer training!! Kind of exciting. We had a transfer conference this morning, bright and early, and Sister Crookston will be my new companion! She is a super cute, nice girl from Idaho! Still no foreign companion. :) But I'm okay with that for now. Getting used to a new culture and helping another companion with English would be a struggle... ha! 

Sis Crookston seems really nice.  She is completely different from my other companions. . . funny how the Lord works! :) ALSO, I'm now in Extended Zone!!! I'm SO excited to be in Extended!  Extended Zone is the zone that covers some of the Beehive House, Humanitarian Center and the Welfare Square. :) I'm very excited to have some change in my schedule!! Sister Crookston said that we will most likely be working the Humanitarian Center and Welfare Square because I drive.  Ha ha. Our new P-day will be on SATURDAYS. :) Should be a good transfer. I feel really good about it! I will be able to stay in the same apartment. My old Zone Leader, Sister Astorga (the one I went on that amazing Elder's tour with) is of course the new Assistant to the President! So awesome. The old Assistant is going outbound to Baton Rouge, LA. Transfer conference is seriously exciting here! 

Some other exciting news . . .  Melinda is getting baptized on May 14th!!! The day after Mother's Day.  I'm so stoked about it! 

Today is my 111th day on my mission (not like I'm counting :)). Cool, right?! Christie, congratulations on the new puppy!! Sister Mauga, my Zone Leader wants it... ha ha. She saw the picture behind me. :) 

Investigators: I'm sure I haven't told you about Ruby, so get ready for this . . . 

I had a man call in from mormon.org named Freddy who lives in AZ. His family is getting baptized in a few short weeks, and they have been telling his mother-in-law about the gospel, sending her the pamphlets, the Book Of Mormon, etc. Freddy told me that he didn't know how to get missionaries over to her house, so I was able to get her phone number from him and told him I would teach her until the missionaries got there. I called Ruby last Monday, and she called me back when I was gone on P-day.  She said that she wanted to meet with missionaries! So I called her back on Tuesday and talked to her for 45 minutes. 

Let me tell you a little bit about dear Ruby. . . Ruby is 82 years old. She was married to a Pentecostal pastor for years, but never fully believed in it.  They divorced a while ago.  She has 8 children that live all over the country, and her daughter Susan (who's married to Freddy) is the one who has been telling her about the church. This woman has been waiting for the gospel for 82 years!!! She has done so much for her children.  She is getting old, but she is a very sharp woman. I love her SOOO much!! She is seriously the cutest elderly lady you have ever spoken with. I will not be surprised at all if she gets baptized within the month!

Another cool story about Ruby. . . I sent her referral in to the missionaries (she's in Indiana).  It had literally been only ONE DAY since I sent the referral in when the missionaries just happened to be tracting the street dear Ruby lives on. . . She saw them from across the street knocking other doors and got scared. She thought they were missionaries for Jehovah's Witnesses and was scared. But, when the missionaries came and knocked on her door, (I nearly cried when she told me this) and she peeked through the window and saw their name tags with Jesus Christ on it, she knew it was our missionaries. 

There are no coincidences with the Lord. There is a reason why the missionaries were knocking doors on her street that day. I am SO thankful that those 2 elders listened to the Spirit and knocked on those doors that day. I am so thankful for this gospel, and, just like the parable of the laborers in the field, it DOES NOT MATTER what age you receive the gospel.  He will give us each the same reward. My heart goes out to poor Ruby, and others like her, who "are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it." (D&C 123:12) That is why I am here. That is my calling, to help those who have been wandering in darkness like the people in Lehi's dream. They have no light to guide them! After 82 years Ruby will finally be able to receive a "flashlight" from me and those elders in Indiana to help her discover for herself the ultimate light-- the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

We had another miracle this week. Gary has accepted the baptismal commitment for May 12th! :) Two baptisms in 2 days!! How awesome, right? My first two baptisms on my mission! :) 

We had Zone Conference on Wednesday, which was awesome. Then Thursday was Sister Wilson's birthday!! :) We went to the Cheesecake Factory for her birthday and I bought her a slice of cheesecake. :) It was so fun. I think she had a wonderful birthday. On Sunday we were able to get a hold of Mark again! He had been out of town . . . what an awesome guy. We talked about the Priesthood and how he will have the opportunity to hold it some day when the church comes back to Rwanda. I think he really loved that idea. Please continue to pray for Rwanda!! Sister Wilson was so cute. . . she cried as she said goodbye to Mark. :(  He has been an investigator of hers for almost her whole mission!! I think this is only mission in the world where you can have the same investigator for a little more than a year!! Please, please pray for Rwanda. I think the church is close to getting re-established there, but it still has a way to go... we need Mark to be able to be baptized!! 

 I know that this gospel is true. I want so badly to express the feelings I have here on my mission, the joy that I have felt from these souls coming unto Christ. It is literally the greatest thing ever! I have never been so happy in all my life. I had a few hard things happen this week, but looking at the good just isn't hard to do here on the mission. I feel very, very blessed to be here. Temple Square is a very special place. There is a spirit here unlike any other! 

I love you all. Thank you so much for your prayers and support. I LOVE it here. I'm so glad I made the choice to come here!! :) 

Love always, 

Sister Savage