Howdy Y'all!

(Mom's note: this should have been posted last Monday February 16, 2015)

I've officially been in the field for half a transfer! Texas certainly has been treating me well! And I don't know how y'all will feel about this... but y'all is definitely a thing I say now. Hopefully that's as far as the accent thing goes, though! Haha! :) 

It's always fun for me when people ask how long I've been on a mission. I guess it's mostly the guesses. As soon as I say three weeks, though... No one seems to believe me. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing! Haha! :) 

Sister Gagon and me in our matching Texas t-shirts

Sister Gagon and I got to do some plumbing! She dropped her necklace down the sink and I expertly helped her get it out of the pipes. It was quite the adventure! Don't worry, though. No pipes were harmed and nothing flooded. :) 

Me with our Valentine's Day Candy Stash... :)

I love my area, but we're in downtown Austin, so the stars are few and far between. I loved being able to see the stars on the exchange! Kind of reminded me of home. :) 

We've had a lot of finding opportunities this week, which has been a real learning experience for me. Talking to people has never been my forte (if you don't believe me, ask my mom). But I find that the Lord's promise is true! As we open our mouths to share the gospel, they'll be filled! We'll know what to say and it won't be as hard as we make ourselves believe it will be. 

Sister Best and me on exchanges

We also got to do some teaching! We got to teach Moby outside, because we didn't have another sister with us, but the other set of sister missionaries in our district showed up halfway through the lesson and decided to sneak some pictures. We were teaching Moby about the restoration and just like before, my testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon was strengthened. :) I've actually gotten really comfortable teaching! 

Teaching Moby

I got to give a talk in sacrament meeting yesterday! I'll never get tired of speaking about how important family history work is. There is missionary work going on on both sides of the veil, and we need to do our part to help the work move along on both sides! Who better to help an ancestor take a step closer to Christ than you? 

I've continued in my Book of Mormon study this week, and I'm still loving it! Something I really love about Nephi (because that's where I'm studying) is his commitment to keep the commandments. We know the familiar "I will go and do" verse, but his love for the commandments is even deeper than that. He himself keeps the commandments (because he knows how important they are) and then pleads with his brethren to do the same. However, when they don't, he keeps doing it. We need to follow that example. Keep the commandments and ALWAYS keep them, no matter who else is not. Nephi says "...if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them... (1 Nephi 17:3)" That promise is true! Keeping the commandments of God will bring blessings into our lives. So many that we won't know what to do with them! 

I hope y'all have a great week! :) 

Love, 

Sister Waite