La-dee-dah, La-dee-dah, La-dee-dah

Well this last week was nothing short of incredible! We walked around a LOT (saved lots of miles) so we are going to the beach today =]. Every week we make plans for how many people we're going to talk to, teach, have come to church etc, and we exploded all of our goals. We worked so hard and were so blessed! It was pretty darn awesome. We talked to so many people and yet I felt like the whole week was just full of appointments. We haven't had any time to find this week because every day is full of appts with investigators and LAs. Gladys (the woman we tracked into with the 9 y/o daughter --Deijha) came to church last sunday and LOVED it. She's definitely getting baptized. She wants to quit smoking and drinking, and needs to get married (seeing as she's living with her fiance) but we talked to her about all of those and she's willing to do it. She wants to change so bad. It's great to see her change every time we visit. She's moving this weekend so we're helping her move, but she loves what she's learning and loves the people she's met so far. Jean Taylor has a baptismal date for Aug. 17th. We had an appt fall through last Wed night so we decided to go check on her since we haven't been able to get a hold of her recently. FINALLY! We were able to see her. One of my favorite things to do is ask people the baptismal interview questions (LAs or investigators) randomly just to see where their testimony is and where it needs to be improved. As we did that we realized she has a strong testimony of everything! She knows and she's ready, she's just scared to be baptized too soon without being ready. She didn't realize she has a testimony so we read some scriptures with her explaining what a testimony is and how she can recognize the spirit and helped her to see what she really knows. After that we just asked her to prepare herself for Aug 17th, and she accepted. She's so ready. I have yet to see someone who is not a member of the church yet with a testimony as solid as hers. So GREAT! Miracles keep happening. Missionaries write a letter to the mission Pres. every week to let him know about the area and our personal well being, and every letter I have sent I keep telling him to not transfer me. I want to stay here so bad! Normally sisters are transferred from the south area after 2 transfers because he wants other sisters to have a full pros opportunity, but I'm hoping a praying it'll be otherwise for me. If I get transferred back to the VC I won't have another opportunity to be full pros, but I'll still have a couple transfers left to be at the VC, so it'll work and that's my conniving plan =] We'll see.Other than that I'm doing great and can't wait to get to the beach, I love you, but priorities, priorities =]. Have a wonderful week. See ya!

~Sister Witbeck~

lml/

--Don't be lazy, be CRAZY!!!--

----Moroni 8:3----

Novel of the White Plains Lover

Well.....just to update you about some of the people I mentioned in my last letter: Bro Martone (the less active who has been away for 20 years and wants to quit smoking) is staying true to his goal to quit smoking. We had him write so specifically like how many each day, when he would do less, how many less, when he would smoke them, and when he would stop, etc. It's a good plan and he has it up on his fridge. He's gonna stop by Sept 1st! He really wants to, but has tried so many times before so he's a little hesitant to say he will (mostly because he really likes it and will be losing a "friend" by quiting), but I know it'll happen. He's sincere enough this time, and dedicated to changing. Devyn is the LA that we tracked into. She referred us to her boyfriend who we are also teaching now. We taught them both about the restoration, and the plan of salvation last week. While we were teaching about the plan the spirit was so strong! We had her read a scripture in Alma about the atonement (which is something we talked about the day before when we met with just her and how it's possible to repent through Jesus Christ) and she cried as she read. It was powerful. Also something we talked about the day before was praying, which she hasn't done for a LONG time, and at the end of the lesson we invited Jason (her boyfriend) to pray about what we taught, and he didn't feel comfortable (even though he prayed last time just fine) so we testified and invited again, and he refused again and said he would do it next time, then Devyn just said "I have an idea....how about I pray." Of course we speedily agreed and she prayed the most beautiful sincere prayer I have heard in a long time. It lifted some of her burdens and helped Jason to feel the spirit which we were able to help him recognize. It was so cool! I love helping less actives (LA) realize changes they need to make and being able to see those changes take place. It's a great blessing from God. We taught a part member family as well. The husband is not a member so we invited him to listen to the discussions. He agreed, and we taught them a few days later. We invited his best friend (who is also a member in our ward and just got back from his mission a few months ago). It was a good lesson and Garrison (his friend) taught the best lesson on apostasy I've ever heard. Sam Walter (the non-member husband) is catholic, so it was perfect for him. We definitely gave him a lot to think about. We're teaching them again Sunday. The family I told you about last week dropped us but we found and taught another one. The Coleman's. We're going back there tonight to teach them. This one has a girl (14) and a boy (10), and the mom has been to church before with a friend in another place. We're praying they will use their agency righteously and choose to keep their commitments. We've also been tracking in our apt complex and found a bunch of people to teach. One woman let us right in and said she wasn't going to answer the door, but realized that the last week she's been praying for God to show her the way (she's having a lot of difficulties right now) and felt that if she didn't hear what we had to say then she would be showing God she didn't want her prayer answered. We taught her the restoration and she wants to read the BofM from the beginning. We're going back there Friday and will teach her and her daughter (9 y/o I think). She has a friend who is a member in the other ward down here so we will probably recruit her for lessons. So many things are happening in this area! I feel like I have so much more time with being full pros. We teach way more and are able to give service. I don't really want to go back to the VC....it's good and all but I will have to regain my testimony of the VC before I can go back and be happy there. I've never been so blessed in any area before and I know the Lord has so many great things planned for the people here in Southern MD. I didn't buy anything last week and I'm not going to today (food wise) because we have so many left overs from the members. We have to throw away some food because we have too much and aren't able to eat it before it goes bad. They're really great, and I'm grateful to be in an area where we are fed almost every night. There are many areas where that doesn't happen. I hope you all have a wonderful week. I think this may be the longest letter I've written yet. Cherish it =]. Maybe I'll just write gibberish next to make it longer.....or maybe not. We are almost out of miles so we have to wait to go to the beach =[....as soon as Aug. comes we're going! Today we're just gonna write letters, and I'm probably going to have my comp cut my hair =]. I've had a bunch of comps and roommates do it. I like experimenting. Besides if they can, why waste money on something that'll just grow right back. It's way too long right now and drives me crazy! Anyways, I love you and wish the BEST for you in the next 7 days till I write you again, after that we'll have to see how good you are =]

~Sister Witbeck~ lml/

--Don't be lazy, be CRAZY!!!--

----Moroni 8:3----

Wonder of wonder, miracle of miracle

Well, this week has been good. The 14th was national day for the French and we have some members in our ward who served their missions in France/Switzerland (which is also where they met....kinda weird), and they made us some French food, and bought French cheese (which included some goat cheese which I LOVE!), and we sang the French national anthem afterwards =] I just hummed since I dunno French...yet. It was fun. Some miracles happened this week. We tracted into a member! She moved in 2 weeks ago and wasn't sure where the church was...besides being less active for a year. She's way cool though and wants to come back to church. She lives with 5 guys but told us we need to give her a swift kick and lots of encouragement for her to stop her bad habits...we're going to see her Friday officially and teach her all the lessons. She will come to church on Sunday as well. That was cool.We saw so many other less actives this week. We've stopped by I can't tell you how many times, but this week they were all home! So we were able to update records and get to know more members in the area. We taught a man last week who was really interested and said he'd come to church. He didn't show up and we had an appt Monday morning so we called to remind him, but no answer. Finally Monday morning he called us (just before we were done with studying) and told us that after we taught him he went on Mormon.org so he could make sure it was as good as it seemed and he found some things he didn't like, the Word of Wisdom, Law of Chastity, and the curse before 1978. Well, I'm not gonna shy away from truth, so we kept the appt and told him we'd explain more in person. Since he lives in our apt complex, we just walked over there. At the end he said he would be willing to live the first two commandments, but he couldn't get over the priesthood cursing. He has decided not to study with us anymore. He's not ever going to find truth until he humbles himself. He even told us he's not humble, and didn't pray about the BofM. We asked him to at least do that, and asked if we could study about it and see what answers we receive, he said ok, but still doesn't want to meet with us. ARGH! Satan is lame. I've read everything I can about it (which is not much since I have limited access to anything), and have not had much success. I know we don't have any concrete reasons (because God's ways are higher than our ways, and we don't comprehend all that He does) but if any of you are willing to write me your thoughts on the subject I'd really appreciate it. Jean hasn't called us yet, but we are still finding other people to work with. Every week we sift through so many people. I'm not willing to work with people who are only half into thinking about learning, so we go through a LOT of people. Last week we taught a family all together!!!!!!!! It was so cool! A mom, dad, and 3 kids. I haven't ever done that before. It was probably one of the best experiences of my mission. We are meeting with them again in 2 weeks (a LONG time--eek!) because they are going out of town, but I hope and pray they will have begun to read and pray. There are so many good things that happen with the less actives in this area it's crazy. One (Bro. Thomas) was just ordained to the priesthood Father's day, and is totally active now. He called the missionaries one day and told them he wanted to come back to church more. They began meeting with him shortly before I got here (about 3 months ago) and is running with it. He's so cool. Also, another one has been less active for 20 years and called us to ask if we'd teach him the lessons again and help him get back to church. I love it!!!! He's also getting back with his wife (they've been separated for 20 years) and want to come back to church together and start over. We're going to help him quit smoking and understanding the doctrine. We're meeting with him Friday night. It's always a process, but one that always touches my heart and brings me such joy. Anyways, that's about it. I don't ever want to leave this area. The ward members are still taking care of us (by feeding us and giving us their friends to check on), so I'm in heaven. I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!

~Sister Witbeck~

lml/
--Don't be lazy, be CRAZY!!!--
----Moroni 8:3----

P.S. mom no you never sent me the camera chip...if you could that would be cool. I'm almost done with the last one I have. And we went shopping today and bought some summer stuff, so don't worry about me =]. I'm dressed, and happy.

Back to the Frenchies

Well, transfers were today and my comp is another Frenchie =]. Her name is S. Mourier (Moore-ee-ay). She's great. She was just in the other full pros area for sisters 2 transfers ago so I don't need to break that into her, just the area. I'm going to miss S. Bishop, but I'm excited for all the miracles this transfer will bring. There are 4 people I want to see baptized....we're gonna work on preparing them so if you can please pray for Darlene, Christian, Jean and Kathryn. We've invited Darlene 2 times and she's praying about it now, Jean told us she wants to get baptized (that was the woman after stake conference a few weeks ago who is going to call us this week), Christian wants to...but doesn't have hardly any time and really needs to commit himself before I'm gonna take it that far, and Kathryn is a new investigator from last week who is awesome! Anyways, so pray for them and it'll happen I just know it. This area is amazing. I went to the VC this morning to pick up my new comp and I realized why I love the South so much.....basically I don't ever want to go back, but I know I will in a few months so I'm gonna have to prep myself somehow. Maybe you should pray for me too ;-].We have some people in crazy situations. One Less active lives above a bar and works there, so Bishop told us to tromp right on in there and get her....don't know how comfortable I am with that, so we just call her and she meets us outside. An investigator lost her house so she now lives in a shelter, and there are so many broken marriages and lives. I'm glad I'm not God. I worry enough about these people who are FEW compared to the world. Did I tell you I had my heart broken last week?? maybe it was the week before that. I dunno, but the Hatcher's (a less active/part member family) decided not to come back to church after trying it one time. Lame. I guess they got too overwhelmed. That one hurt. Anywho, other than that I'm doing great =]. I can't wait to take my new comp to my haven --the beach--.OH! Mom you'd be so proud of me. On the 4th we went to a members home and ate Maryland blue crabs. Yes I had to crack the darn thing open and eat it from the shell, and yes you have to move the brains and intestines out of the way to get to the meat. Basically....it was not good. It was alright, but I don't think I ever want to eat it again. It's the only food that negative in calories because you have to work so much to get so little meat and by the time you're done with this huge crab and eaten all 3 tablespoons of meat inside you're more hungry than when you started! I'm ok with dissecting things, but I'm not used to eating what I'm dissecting, so that was a new experience...prebably the first and the last.I hope you all have a wonderful week! Love ya, and happy 9th of July =]

~Sister Witbeck~

lml/
--Don't be lazy, be CRAZY!!!--

----Moroni 8:3----

Corn Fields, buggies and Amish. Oh my!

We have an Amish community in our area, and some less active members live down there, so we drove to check on them. It was fun =]. I'm fascinated with the Amish!! We passed by tons of them riding the buggy and just reading while their horse trots on home, or where ever they're going. No one seems to know what they believe or do. I REALLY want to tract down there but we may not be allowed to......I'm definitely going to ask.All of our investigators seem to be gone. People need to stop playing around during the summer and free up some time so we can teach them. So many people and yet so few appointments that work out.I've gotten to a dangerous time in this mission where habit kicks in and "experience" takes over faith. It's getting harder and harder to have faith in people when many disappoint and lie. Still necessary, but difficult. I'm working on it. At least I've recognized it and know something needs to change, it just takes more mental effort now. Complacency = danger. I don't want to get that way, but it all starts with a flaxen cord which then leads to chains. Don't be alarmed, just write me more letters =]. That'll do it.Well, other than that I'm doing fine. Still working and loving it. P-day has been changed to Friday July 4th, but we're emailing today because all the libraries will be closed on that day. So after this we're going to help one of our investigators paint her bedroom. I count all my experience in painting to Nettie's house. Nothing trumps that job (which was well done I might add).Hope you have a good week! Don't do anything I wouldn't do....which may not limit you too much. Love ya,

~Sister Witbeck~ lml/
--Don't be lazy, be CRAZY!!!--
----Moroni 8:3----