Week 15 Chico/Orland CA

Hey mom!

Well, MARLEN GOT BAPTIZED THIS WEEK!!! It was super exciting and she was so happy! And the building was FILLED! Filled with all the people who love her and wanted to support her as she continues to follow Christ! We were so happy for her! And her brother was ale to baptize her, so that was really special. There was only a minor hick-up where we didn't fill the font up quite enough... but it all worked out! She shared her testimony after and it was super sweet and special. We had a ton of help from the ward and the Spanish group and the other elders, and it turned out to be a great experience! And some of the people we were teaching were able to come to her baptism, so that was super cool! And hopefully we can help them be baptized soon as well :)

But this week was a busy one! We had the baptism, interviews with President Ward which took up casi the whole day, and the leadership conference down in Gridley. Along with that, we just had normal missionary work to do. But it was a great week! It poured every day, but hopefully the sky is empty now, haha!

Some highlights of the week... we found a new person to teach, and his name is Tranquilino. He is a cute little old Mexican guy and he is just so sweet! He is so excited to learn too! We didn't even have an official lesson with him, and he was already telling us he wanted to go to church! So he got to go, and he said he enjoyed it!

We also started teaching a part member family. so the mom is a member, but the kids aren't. They are from 12-16, and they are so excited to learn! We shared with them about the restoration and they loved it and were excited to learn more! They even accepted an invitation to be baptized!! But the youngest boy, Nick, is so sweet! He kept asking questions and it was great! I love them already! :)

But we are working with a lot of really awesome people right now! The field is white and ready to harvest! And Heavenly Father is guiding all these people towards Him, and I am just lucky enough to be a part of that experience!

Sorry for the lack of funny stories this week, but I have a spiritual story! So in MLC we talked about the importance of using the Book of Mormon to answer questions. As we do that, we are able to use God's words instead of our own, and so the people can feel the veracidad de nuestro mensaje (the truth of our message). So first off, I LOVE the Book of Mormon. It's so awesome. I always learn something new from it. and we were talking about the Book of Mormon with a member, and he told me that when i lit up when I talked about the Book of Mormon. That made me happy to know others could feel the love I have for it :) But after MLC, we put a major focus on using the Book of Mormon to answer questions. We were able to better answer the people's questions, and they were able to come up with answers on their own based on it. and what was the best, was that the spirit was so strong in those lessons. I know that it is because of the power of the Book of Mormon that that is possible, and I feel so lucky to have it in my life and share it with others!

But yeah, that was the week! It was a busy one, but a good one! This next week will also be busy with 2 exchanges!! but they will be fun! We are also planning on going on a hike today, because it is gorgeous out! So that'll be fun!

But thanks for writing me! I love and miss you! Have a fantabulous week :)

Kiley

Hermana Atkinson

PS sorry I used so many smiley faces this week... I'm not quite sure what happened... haha :)