Trials and Triumphs

June 13, 2016

HELLO!!!

Wow... I have like a million and one things to share with you all (:

These last 2 weeks were a little bit difficult. The Lord just really put my companion and I through a ton of challenges. Three weeks ago we had many investigators with baptismal dates set and we had tons of people who were coming to church and progressing and we were healthy and happy and then all of the sudden... 

Our investigators started telling us that they didn't want to get baptized... even those, who came to church every week and had been excited for their baptism. We had someone who was supposed to get baptized two weeks ago who completely disappeared! (We still haven't found him). On top of that, my companion and I both got really sick... for like a week. One of the things that is the hardest for missionaries is getting over physical weakness. My companion was SO sick at one point, but did not want to rest, and I forced her to take a nap because the poor thing is so little, I felt like she was going to pass out or something if she kept going. But it really is a bummer to lose time to do the work. 

But I want to testify that God teaches us perfectly. He brings us down so that He can lift us up. Those weeks were humbling. I really realized that this is not my work. It doesn't matter if I am working hard because it's not about me or what I'm doing. I need the Lord's help. It drove me to pray harder and more consistently for our investigators than ever before. We even fasted while deathly ill (exaggeration, don't worry) because we needed Heavenly Father's help so badly. 

And at the end, the Lord still blessed us. We got to see 2 of our investigators baptized on Saturday! They are both so great and so prepared. One of them, we had dropped because he never went to church and then one Sunday, he showed up at church all by himself and hasn't missed a Sunday since! The other investigator was also pretty golden. When we first met her, she told us that she is super Catholic and believes in her saints and isn't going to change. But we invited her to pray, and when we returned for the second lesson, she was totally different! She told us that she felt an incredible peace after we left, and that when she did pray, she knew that this is something good. She accepted her baptismal date after that first lesson and the rest was history. Maybe we won't see all the baptisms this cycle that we thought we would as a companionship... but I learned some of the most powerful lessons, during this time in my mission.

Also, a member of the ward here died this past week. It was so strange because we had seen him a few days before and he was fine. He was a little older, but only in like his early 70s. It happened really fast. I was sad, as we had visited him quite a bit because he had been a less active member, until he was reactivated by the missionaries about a year ago and he has just loved the missionaries ever since! But, after he died, I really felt the Spirit testify that this life is not "IT". Also I got to see his son who was also less active, but who had recently returned to church with his dad, share his testimony and talk about how he is only going to be stronger and work harder.

And... last monday I went and saw some of my converts from my first area! It was so cool to see them, and even cooler to see that they are still going to church and have the temple as their goal! 

"Mormon Coffee"???

Although, I almost flipped out at one of them because they offered me coffee... But it turns out they found this type of coffee that's made from wheat... it's apparently been nicknamed Mormon coffee, but I hadn't heard of it before. They convinced me to try it  (not until after I had thoroughly read the ingredients list)... so now I know how coffee tastes... more or less. I'm going to be honest, I didn't like it all that much. 

Alsooooo we bought pants..... yikes. They are still being tailored... so I'm not actually wearing them yet, but we are picking them up this week. 

Love you all (: Have a great week!

Hermana Wolferts

We love these dinosaurs because they look like us when we knock a door and someone opens (:

My comp and I with 2 seventies

Puppies!!!

I am still coloring in my coloring book. :-)

My District Leader

The cookie looking thing is an Argentine cookie. It is super good! You'd like it mom, it's dark chocolate (: