Sister Alex Hartvigsen--March 5, 2012

Dear Family. This has been a great week. We got transfer news on Saturday night. I am going to be training a new missionary! I am excited and a little bit nervous but I think it will be a really good thing. I will stay with her for the rest of my mission. That will end my mission with a total of 5 companions. II don't know who my companion is yet but I will find out on Wednesday. I am going to be back in the Visitors center and I am excited for that especially with the upcoming Easter pageant. This week we had a really good week.On Monday we met with a part member family and talked about the importance of following the commandments. We met with one of our recent converts and she asked for a copy of the Book of Mormon to share with her co-worker who has been talking to her about the gospel. We had a lesson with a recent convert and talked to her about how the gospel blesses families as well as patriarchal blessings ( she is preparing to receive hers) We had a lesson with a less active women and talked to her about enduring to the end even when it is really hard. We shared a mormon.org profile with her about the sister who has cancer. We also had a lesson with another less active sister and her daughters and we taught about the restoration and the importance of prayer and invited all their family to pray that night and pay attention to how they felt. On Wednesday we had a lesson with a recent convert. Her dad died this last Monday and it has been amazing how well our branch has rallied around her and has really supported her in this time. We had a lesson with the that part member family and taught them about the restoration. Their daughter in law was there for the first time and we challenged the whole family to pray to find out if our message was true and to study the Book of Mormon. On Thursday Sister Sordes was not feeling well and we were driving home so that she could rest when we received a phone call from a recent convert family. Their niece and nephew were at their home and they asked us if we could come over and give them a lesson. We watched Finding faith in Christ with them ( the kids are 6-10) and then talked about how we can pray . It was a really cool experience. the 6 year old was asking really deep questions and you could tell that she was definitely thinking about what we were talking about. Their 12 year old son who we have been struggling to have interest in the lessons ( bad peer pressure from older sister) surprised us all when he explained to his cousins how they can pray and get answers to questions. It was such a good night. I have often found that when we are experiencing opposition (like a sickness ) that it is when we have the greatest miracles. As we do all that we can do, the Lord will bless us. Saturday was a day of miracles. We went over with a member to try and visit an investigator, She wasn't there but Hna R. mentioned that her neighbor was a less active Spanish member and suggested that we go and visit them. This family has dealt with a lot of opposition in the last year with a sister in law dying and that same day a mom dying as well and so this sister has been left to care for her sister in laws 3 kids and husband it was clear that she just needed someone to be there at that time. It turns out that her brother in law only speaks Spanish and wants to come to church but was uncomfortable in the English wards. We are going by this week to talk to him. We also had an appointment with a less active . When we got there, the father of one of the daughter was there. We talked to him about the plan of Salvation. He came to church this last Sunday. We also were finally able to get a hold of B. We talked to her about baptism and her brother and sister in law had a ton of questions about the church, that our member was able to answer. We have an appointment with them this Sunday. On Sunday we were talking to one of our investigators and she announced that she has thought about it and she feels like she wants to be baptized! She just needs to finish her divorce in Guatemala and our branch president is working with her. We had a fireside that we had to leave church a little early to get to. As we were leaving we realized that we had forgotten something at home and had to go home early to get it. As we were leaving we stopped some people who were having car problems to see if they needed some help. ( we couldn't) As we got in our car, a sister stopped us and motioned to us to come and talk to her. She broke down in tears and basically said that she was a member, had gone on a mission but was now struggling to know anything more than God exists. She wants us to come over and basically teach her the basics. It was really cool how Heavenly Father put us in the right place at the right time so that we could come in contact with her. We are meeting with her on Tuesday.
I love you all. Thank you for all you do
Love Alex
This has been a great week and I am excited for the coming weeks.
Thank you for all you do.
Hna Hartvigsen