Hello family and friends!


Our mission said their goodbyes to President and Sister Bowen last week and President Weaver and his wife arrived to take their place. I just love them!! They are so outgoing and all hugs and smiles and everything..just wonderful people. We had a BBQ today for the 4th and it was at "the mansion" (where the APs, Highland Hills ward, and Office Elders live..6 elders in their own house!) The Weavers were there as well as most of the Tacoma Zone. The Weavers supplied the meat and buns and Sis. Field and I bought some cookies to bring. It's definitely an exciting time..four weeks left and I know it's going to go fast!
                  We have a large teaching pool and many of them are really sincere investigators and solid individuals. We're struggling right now to know how to help them commit to baptism. Sometimes I look around and I see the work that other missionaries are doing and I see that many times their investigators are getting baptised in a much shorter time span and I feel overwhelmed wondering what I'm doing wrong and what I can do better. Sister Field helped me to see things in a different way by saying "Well Sister Luke this is exactly the mission you're supposed to serve, doing just what you're doing with these people right now. The Lord already knew what your mission would be before you came and He still sent you to it."
                  I've learned to have faith in every person we meet/are teaching and to try and see past who they are and have a vision of who they can become. When the investigator sees that you have faith in them and have complete confidence in the things you promise them (receiving answer to prayer, for example) then their faith to follow increases. As I think about the people the Lord has sent to me throughout my mission and the ways things always came together, I can look ahead and trust that the Lord truly is in control of the work.
                  I love sharing the joy that I've felt because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope you have a wonderful day! I am grateful to have you in my life! (:

"...and men are, that they might have joy."
-2 Nephi 2:25

Leap fearlessly -- Enjoy the journey!
Love, Sister Luke