Another Turn in Zilker!

This week proved to be just as great as all the others, if not a little bit better! 

For everyone keeping track (and especially for those who aren't), it's time for more transfer news! Sister Montclair and I are both staying here in Zilker Park and I couldn't be happier! We have so much lined up for this next transfer! It's definitely going to be a great one, just like this one has been! 

Two major things happened this week that were so amazing: the mission conference and Michael and Matthew's baptism! 

The mission conference was seriously amazing. It had almost nothing to do with iPads and everything to do with becoming disciples of Christ. It's been so great for me to see that the Lord never does anything that doesn't have more than one clear purpose. Giving missionaries access to iPads isn't just an opportunity to reach more people, it's an opportunity for the Lord to train his missionaries in the best way to use technology! He truly trusts us to move the work forward with and without name tags! 

Elder David F. Evans and Elder Stephen B. Allen visited and were just remarkable! After shaking our hands and meeting all 200+ of us, Elder Evans said "I've never met a whole mission with as good a countenance as you. With 200+, you just can't fake it!" I love when people compliment the great TSAM. President Slaughter has worked so hard to create a culture of faithfulness and righteousness and it really shows! I love it here in Texas and I can't imagine being anywhere else! 

The biggest takeaway from the conference was just how much the Lord truly trusts us. He's blessing us not only with an opportunity to share the gospel with a greater audience now, but with the chance to develop great habits now in order to continue sharing the gospel after we take off our name tags! I just love Him so much! :)

Michael and Matthew with their mom and grandpa

And guess what?! The week was even greater come Saturday! Michael and Matthew were baptized!!! After three months of working and teaching and loving, it happened! They were so great! They had great family support and you could just see the happiness as they finally entered the gate onto the path to eternal life! I was just so excited for them! :) 

I absolutely love Moroni 1:3. Moroni is facing death unless he will deny his Savior, and he just won't do it! I think it's appropriate to put our own names in that verse. 

Along with Moroni, I, Sister Waite, will not deny the Christ!

Love you all! 

Sister Waite

Seek the BEST Gift

Wonderful things continue to happen here in the Zilker Park area of the great TSAM! I'll just pick a few to tell y'all about because if I told them all, I wouldn't have any stories to tell later! ;) 

Michael and Matthew are getting baptized this Saturday! I'm so excited for them! They're both so smart and know so much about the gospel already! I love them both so much and it's been exciting to watch them grow and become more and more excited for the step they're taking! And their mom loves it, too! She asked us the other day if we could continue meeting after the baptism... we thought about it for a total of -.000000001 seconds and said yes! Of course we're going to continue teaching them! It's just always great when they ask you to. :) 

CESARIO! ... I don't know how much I've actually said about Cesario. He's 17 and requested a Book of Mormon from the church website in March. He called us a couple weeks ago and said he'd been reading and wanted to learn more! Music to every missionary's ears! :) He's super great! He asks great questions and practically teaches the lesson himself! He's already been "likening" the scriptures to himself... and we didn't even have to say anything! Cesario came to church yesterday and gave it a thumbs up and said he learned a lot. So we're super excited for him! 

Geoff is still super great. He's still reading in the Book of Mormon and shares his insights with us. They're all really great! Every day is a day closer to baptism! :) 

One of my favorite things about being a missionary is feeling the Spirit so much! I got to testify of forever families the other day, and felt the Spirit so strongly! It's true! It's all true! :) 

I made a St. Johns connection the other day! We had dinner with a new couple in our ward on Tuesday. They asked where I was from, and when I said "St. Johns, Arizona," Sister Clayton stopped me and told me she knew where it was! She was there playing the violin with William Joseph last July. It was super crazy! I knew I recognized her from somewhere! She said she liked St. Johns, but could only really remember that there were people lined up at the park for free food (24th Celebration) and she really liked the milkshakes at the grocery store. :)

This week was really great! I loved every minute! And this next week is looking super great as well! Especially with a mission conference on Wednesday! :)

So I was studying a couple mornings ago and came across 1 Corinthians 12:31: 

"But covet [or seek] earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way."

It got me thinking about what BEST gift it really was that I need to be earnestly searching for. Then I remembered Ether 12:11:

"...in the gift of his Son hath God prepared a more excellent way; and it is by faith that it hath been fulfilled."

I love finding verses that connect like this! Maybe I'm just super late to the party, but I absolutely loved it! 

In giving us His Son, Heavenly Father gave us the best gift possible. And it's up to us to seek Him earnestly! As we do so, we will be able to take steps on the "more excellent way" of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

I don't think I could say it any better than Moroni does, though: 

"...I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever." 

I hope y'all have a wonderful week! 

Love, 

Sister Waite

President Slaughter and Thoughts on Salvation

Missionary Selfie!

There are some weeks that I just have so much that I want to tell you that I can't even choose! ... This happens to be one of those weeks! ... There's so much! There's no way that I'll ever be able to type it all out, so I decided to send a bunch of pictures and let y'all see what kind of craziness happens here in the TSAM! :) I hope you enjoy it! 

Chasing Geoff's Runaway Dog

Having a little fun with a shopping cart we found outside Geoff's apartment.

We had zone meeting this week which is always really great, but we also had interviews with President! I love those! Because he was at the meeting, he taught us for an hour and it was glorious! I love learning from President Slaughter! He knows the scriptures so well and shared with us an insight from 2 Nephi 2:8. 

How are we saved? According to Lehi, "...there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah..." 

• Men can only be saved through the merits of Christ, or the Atonement (D&C 19:16-19). Nothing that we ever do will ever save us. On Judgment Day, Christ will act as our Advocate, but will plead our cause by His own merits (D&C 45:3-5). No matter how good we are in this life, without the merits of Christ, we are nothing! We cannot rely on our own righteousness (Romans 10:1-3). 
• Men can only be saved through the mercy of Christ. We've all come short of the glory of God and in doing so, broken His law, allowing justice to have claim over us. Without the mercy of Christ, we would never be able to escape that justice. Christ acts as the Intercessor, standing between us & justice. Because of His suffering and resurrection, Christ has satisfied the demands of justice and therefore has the power to grant mercy and save us from ourselves (Mosiah 15:8-9).
• Men can only be saved through the grace of Christ. Through this grace, or power, we can do things that we cannot do ourselves (including overcoming sin). If we see our weakness, or fallen state, and humble ourselves, we will be strengthened, or saved, by the grace of God (Ether 12:27). 

Sunrise behind our apartment

In our fallen state, we've fallen into a pit. Christ has provided us a ladder. We can't just "accept" the ladder. We cannot suppose that it is our efforts in climbing the ladder which save us. It's Christ. Christ gives us the ladder, and in so doing, saves us! 

This is so watered down and I wish I could share everything that President said with you! I'm learning so much out here, and it only serves to help me help others learn, too! 

I love you all! 

Sister Waite

Obedience

Are you sick of hearing me say that we had a week of miracles yet?

Well... We had a week of miracles! 

I don't think there's really any other way to put it! The Lord's hand is in every aspect of the work, and you have to really work hard not to see it! :) 

Armando is doing great! Michael and Matthew are as sweet as ever, and we met an amazing family yesterday while we were out attempting to contact a few referrals in their apartment complex. That's not even the beginning of the things that have happened! As we've been working hard and talking to literally EVERYONE and being so blessed for it! 

The biggest miracle of all this week was Geoff. Before I left, my best friend told me that I'd come to feel the love of the Savior for those whom I serve. I thought I knew what he was talking about then, but this week it hit a whole new level. We've been having Geoff teach us the lessons, and it has been so powerful! He bears simple testimony of what he has come to know is true. He's told us of several occasions that he bore testimony to others who were giving him a hard time for his decision to be baptized. I've been able to watch him grow from "Big Bad Motorcycle" Geoff to just a big softie and I love him so much! (...Don't tell him I called him that, I'll never hear the end of it! ;) ) 

This week in my Book of Mormon reading I came to the 2000 Stripling Warriors in the end of the Book of Alma. It's one of my favorite stories! 

It felt really appropriate to read about their mothers, what with Mother's Day coming up this week. :) I love that the sons of Helaman did not fear because their mothers had taught them that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them (Alma 56:48). And I love the next verse: "We do not doubt our mothers knew it." I'm so grateful that I can echo their testimony! I do not doubt, because I've learned from my own mother. And I do not doubt that she knows it, too! :) 

Another thing I love about the Stripling Warriors is their obedience. But I want to point something out. In Alma 57:21, we read that they obeyed with exactness, and everything was done unto them according to their faith. I think that we too often equate obedience with miracles. However, that's not the case at all. Obedience brings blessings. Blessings build faith. Faith brings miracles. (verses 26 & 27 illustrate that pretty well) :) They were certainly blessed for their obedience, but the miracles came because of their exceeding faith. I love that! :) 

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! How could it be anything else, what with today being Star Wars day and all that. ;) 

Love you all! 

Sister Waite