Yay for March 27th

Well, it's basically been the best week of my life, and the longest. Since last week p-day was on Wed, and this week p-day is on Thursday I feel like it took so long to get here! Oh my goodness, adding one day to the week does not make for a satisfied missionary =]. It's a good thing God only made the week with 7 days cuz when it has 8 I just about die!Last night one of the members of my ward (Jose Angel) took us out to eat Spanish food!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOOOOOVE Spanish food. I haven't been able to eat any for a long time cuz all my comps have not liked it. It was so good. Thank goodness for incredible members =]. We've also started teaching members in the ward the restoration to practice our teaching and also to help them remember the testimony they have of Joseph Smith and the restored gospel, It's been really cool. I encourage all of you this week to read Preach My Gospel Chapter 3 the first lesson and think about how YOU know this is the church of Jesus Christ, and why YOU choose to follow Him. I promise you as you do so the spirit can help you to increase the testimony you have and you will gain a more powerful witness of the Book of Mormon and the wonderful message that I share and testify of everyday.We will be meeting with Tina tonight, and we're going over the restoration with her. I just love her! She was at institute last night again, and just continues to learn, and not only does she pay attention but she applies what she learns after the fact. That's what true knowledge is--application. I get so excited about teaching her cuz I know she's really listening and trying to figure things out for herself.Well, I LOVE and miss you all, and I hope you have the best week ever!

~Sister Witbeck~

Happy SPRING!!!!! and happy easter =]

Oh-kee-doh-kee folks, ya bettah settle down fer a long hahl, this is gonna be a doosy!Well, this week I took S. Cardoso to eat her first American McDonald's, and she was amazed at how cheap it was =]. Yesterday was my p-day but the email didn't work for anyone, so we got a call-out last night informing us that we could write home today. It's gonna throw me off cuz yesterday I wrote some letters, and today is full pros, so it'll be weird to go right to work after emailing....but, oh well. Whatever.We went to institute last night and talked to Tina a bit. Last week we gave her a conditional baptismal date (if you dunno what that is you can either read Preach My Gospel, or ask a returned missionary =]) and she accepted, so we gave her 2 Ne. 31 to read. We've really been working on finding chapters that are really clear to understand cuz she doesn't have all the gospel vocabulary yet, but we're working on it. So far we've taught her about faith and repentance, and our last lesson was all about Jesus Christ; His life, His teachings, and the point of Him coming to earth--the atonement, and how we need to have faith in Jesus Christ. Anyways, so last night I asked her how her reading was and she said "um, well I think it said that Jesus Christ was baptized as an example for us to follow and we need to repent and be baptized to be clean and get eternal life." I just looked at her and said "yup." It's so cool to see her fit things together as she goes to church, institute and meets with us. She said she's always known that there was something greater that ruled the universe, but didn't know what to call it, and now she's understanding everything and reading what we give her, it's awesome! She's awesome. Since we're starting from ground zero it'll take a little more time, but she's totally ready to commit.Mom and Dad: AAAAAHHHHHH!!!! That's so exciting that you're gonna start a little farm again, now that you have little servants to work for you =]. It'll be good for them. Yesterday I found the pic chip I asked you about. I have been looking for it for 3 months! I'm so glad I found it, so I'll send it to you and if you could send the empty one with a lot of room back that would be great =]. Thanks.Well, I hope all is well with you!!! I pray for you everyday and focus my best on the work so you can be blessed for my efforts here in the mission, as I know you are =]. I love you all! Have the best week of your lives--I know I will.

~Sister Witbeck~

Happy 9 months....

My 9 month mark is tomorrow and I think I'm going through a mid mission crisis. I know 9 months is a long time, but considering I feel like I just got here 2 weeks ago, 9 months in the missionary perspective really isn't a long time and I am kinda freaking out about not having enough time left to do everything I need to! Not that I won't have enough time, but there's so much I want to learn and study...it's a good thing I've got eternity for that as well =].This week has been good. Sister Cardoso taught her first lesson yesterday with a man named Deng (said like Dang....hehehe) from Sudan. He's open and humble which is so important, but he has his agency, so while he exercises his agency we're gonna exercise our faith and see who wins =]. While we were teaching him yesterday he was telling us about him experiencing the refugee camps in Africa, and how his faith in God got him through everything. It was a good experience to teach him, and especially for my comp's first lesson. She's sweet and bold. LOVE it!Our mission here is doing an experiment and if it works they're gonna spread it to other missions. It's a new pass along card...but it's for members! It so cool. I'm sure you'll see it soon cuz I've used it tons and it really helps members get into missionary work (if they use it right). What they do is write their own plan for who they are going to work with and what they are going to do (talk to them, share the BofM, invite them to an activity, invite them to church, etc.), then they give the card back to us and we make a copy so we have their plan then give them back the card so we both have it. We pray for the names of the people they have written down and the member works with them. This last week we had 2 people at church because of it, and many other marvelous things happen because the members are following their plans. I just love it, in fact it's probably one of my favorite things right now =].OH!!! I almost forgot to tell you. Tina came to church on Sunday!!!!!! I wanted to shout for joy when I saw her walk in, but I didn't think that would be appropriate considering sac mtg had already started. However, she stayed for the full 3 hours and set another appt for us to teach her tomorrow. The Lord is blessing us! Since we dropped all of our less than sincere investigators recently, we've been able to find some that are tons more committed than the last ones, now the trick is to find some who are truly committed and get them baptized with a testimony. Tricky, but possible =].I just love being a missionary. I didn't realize how much I've changed until I started training S. Cardoso and showing her the missionary life. Of course she's new so the world is still a part of her, but it's so cool to see her doing the same things I did when I first came and asking me the same questions I asked my trainer. I have a completely different perspective on the mission now...Well, I hope you are all still alive and well (especially Beth since I never heard anything about your "problems" till today....ya bum), and are loving life and God. I love you all!!!!! Have a marvelous week!

~Sister Witbeck~

I'm having a baby!!!!!

5'4, dark skin, black hair, and brown eyes.
Pres called me Monday night to tell me I'm gonna be training this transfer! I said "did you pray about this one?" He just chuckled and assured me he knows what he's doing. I spent that night awake with a headache (love stressing out....), and yesterday I started to get excited more than stressed. I met her this morning and she's awesome! I'm so excited!!!!!! A little scared, but all I can do is trust in the Lord since I have no idea what I'm doing =]. She's from Brazil, and her name is Sister Cardoso. Her English is really good, and I can't wait to teach with her. She'll be so great. She's a little premature since my 9 month mark isn't till next week, but the doctors say everything is going to be fine =]. I'm going to miss S. Trehet tremendously, but thank goodness for the VC cuz I'll still see her around for the next 2 transfers till she goes home.I also saw S. Sankoh this morning (she's down south in the full pros area so we never see her at the VC) and had the privilege of announcing her grandmahood and showing off my new baby. Needless to say it was awesome.Tuesday we had district meeting and when we arrived I ran in the door and screamed "I'm having a baby!!!!" and E Heaps and E. Milne (my district leader and his comp) just chuckled and shook their heads. I think they've learned their lesson that S. Witbeck is just crazy and no matter what you do to get her out of the habit, it's just not gonna work. Craziness is a monster and it grips me with it's claws everyday =]. I LOVE it.E. Heaps will be training as well and his baby is the new ASL elder. He arrived 3 weeks ago and was with E. Mortenson and E. Johnson (the ASL elders) but now is in the English program and being trained in my district by my district leader. At least I'll have someone to sign to more than once a month. That'll be fun.Anyways, that's what's happening in my neck of the woods. I hope your woods are just as fruitful and you can find the green grass somewhere....I think it's in my backyard....just a hint.I'm going to learn so much this transfer, both from my new companion and from the responsibilities I now have as a trainer. I know it'll be hard, but so worth it. We go to institute tonight so she can meet some of the members of the ward, and one of our investigators. Did I tell you that story?? Last week one of the members brought a friend with him and we set up an appt to teach her. She knows nothing about God, so we had to go down to more than basics. It was so fun to teach about who God is and what faith is, and teach her the concept of the godhead correctly and not have preconceived notions about her own opinions. She's awesome. I LOOOOOVE teaching her. So, we'll see her tonight as well and follow up on our last appt.I hope all of you are having the time of your lives! I pray for you daily, and know God's hand is in each of your lives. I'm just so grateful for a God who loves us so much and is so willing to help us in every way and the knowledge that miracles still happen today. I see little miracles everyday and I know I will continue to recognize them as I strive to keep the spirit with me, and that goes the same for you. Don't ever forget to show God your love by praying to Him and studying His word. I love you all so much! Have a fantastic week!!!!

~Sister Witbeck~