Viva Las Vegas!: Missy Got Baptized!!

What a week! Lots of exciting things have been going on here! I am still with Sister Gelabert, and we are still waiting to hear back from Sister Reynolds. My companion has stayed consistent for over a week! At this point, that's practically a record for me! Hahaha...

So let’s start with last Monday. After P-Day we went to pick up our dinner from a member's house since they had some things they needed to do, so we ate quickly at the church while we waited for members to show up to the church to clean. Apparently in our ward they put the missionaries on the cleaning schedule, so we had to clean on Monday night with our ward. We got to use the giant vacuum around the whole church. After that, President called me and needed me to take a survey about how the trial mission was going for Sister Reynolds, so we got to go to the Lee's house to use their computer so I could take the survey.

Tuesday we had Zone Training Meeting. It, of course, went over time about 2 hours... typical. We all passed around papers that had our names on top of them and wrote a little blurb about everyone and what Christlike attributes we see in them. It was really nice, but took a really long time. After Zone Meeting we had a short lesson with Denia, in which she went over the lesson that she was going to teach on Sunday! Denia saw that the Gospel Principles lesson was on the Word of Wisdom (which she LOVES, being a certified nutritionist) and she jumped at the opportunity to teach it. After our lesson there we ran over to the Lee's to have a lesson with Missy. We talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it was a really awesome lesson. We ran home to have lunch (since we were starving and it was now 3pm!) and the Sister's had bought Jimmy John's for us - yay! :) We practically swallowed our sandwiches whole and ran over to the Wicken's (our Ward Mission Leader's family) to make programs for Missy's baptism! We finished the night with dinner at the Phillip's and splits, and another lesson with Paulette Jesky.

Wednesday was a lesson with Missy in the morning at the Woodward's house. We talked about the importance of CPR (translation being Church, Pray, Read). Later that day we got to go with Sister Lee to lunch at Smashburger (in celebration of my Mom's birthday!) and to see a lady in our ward that is in a care home. It was a really neat visit! I had been able to go and visit with her before. Her name is Myrtle and she is 96 years old! She is so sharp!

Thursday was exchanges! I got to be with Sister Cook all day - and let me tell you, we had a blast. Pretty sure we are going to be best friends after the mission. We taught so well together, and talked all day, and worked so, so, so hard. We didn't want to leave each other at the end of the day! We had a lesson with Julie, but she was sick and had to cancel, so we brought her flowers and soup - she loved it! We taught one of the new member lessons to Denia, we got 20 street contacts - which is pretty unheard of in Anthem, we got a few new potential investigators, we walked a lot, we had Cafe Rio for dinner, and got to go to a Relief Society Activity and taste test green smoothies! It was an awesome day.

Friday, at morning sports one of our Elder's secretly stole our phone and changed our ringtone. He went into the bathroom and recorded his own voice singing a song (SIIIIIISTER COLTRIN, SIIIIIITER COLTRIN, SHE IS COOL, SHE IS FAST, AND SHE IS SO COOL). Sister Gelabert and I were standing in our kitchen and someone called us and the new ringtone went off. We were looking around like, "What the heck is going on!?" It was so, so, soooo funny. Also, we had another lesson with Missy at the Reber's and got all the final baptismal details in order. We did weekly planning. We had dinner at the Zitzmann's and had a lesson with Matt after dinner! That night was a little crazy. Things were getting intense with Missy's family. She thought they might kick her out. It was a really crazy night.

Saturday was possibly the best day of my mission thus far. First, we had gotten a referral to go and do service. We helped this older lady to file her papers - she was a 9/11 survivor and doing files and paperwork really stresses her out. So we went and did that for a little while, she was really awesome and we had fun. Then it was time to go to the church for Missy's baptism! We got there and helped set up. She showed up, and it all seemed so surreal. It was finally happening. No one could believe it. The room was PACKED, people were standing in the hallway. The talks were amazing, the spirit was so strong, and everything was perfect. It was an amazing baptism. Missy is one of the most faithful and strong people I have ever met. She has been so patient, and has really learned to rely on her Father in Heaven. The fact that she came to the church building that day not knowing what would happen with her family afterwards really brought the spirit, and was a really great example to me and to everyone there. I am so proud to be able to call her my friend.

After the baptism we went to the Reber's house for a Southern Boil, (whatever that means). We got to talk with everyone for a little bit about the baptism. Then we went to dinner at the Wimber's house and found out that they are moving to the Carnegie ward! I was so sad! We have made such good progress with them.

Sunday was an interesting day. Denia taught Gospel Principles! It was awesome! She brought a whole spread of food for everyone (since she was talking about healthy eating and the Word of Wisdom). We had bean burgers and all the fixings! It was crazy. That night we had a lesson with Matt at the Romano's.

It's been a great week! I love Anthem. I love this ward, and the people here, and the area. We are being so blessed! I am so grateful to be a missionary and to have the chance to serve my Heavenly Father. I have been studying Preach My Gospel chapter 6 a lot lately, which talks about Christlike attributes - since I came on a mission and realized how un-Christlike I am, I figured I'd better get started on working on them! I feel like I've changed, in a good way. I know that all the different things I've gone through on my mission, and all the people I've met, and all the things I've learned have helped me to grow. I just love the Gospel so much.

Hope you all have a great week! I love you!

Love, Sister Coltrin

PS. Special shout out to VICHINY VAR who will be leaving for the MTC soon! Look out Cali - you're about to get the best sister missionary there ever will be! :)