Roastin' in the Bullhead Heat

This week was again pretty awesome! I am loving it here in Bullhead. The heat is basically unbearable.....I try not to think about it too much. It makes it hard to talk to people outside. We tried knocking a bunch of doors this week, but people must have been either at the river or asleep, cause no one was answering! But we still had a really good week, nonetheless. When people do answer the door, they either let us inside or give us water and have pity on us. It works to our advantage ;)

We had a miracle happen yesterday! This member hunted us down right before sacrament started, and let us know that there was a less-active member with his fiancée at church. We were able to catch them after
the first hour ended, and helped them get to the right classes. The nonmember is really sweet and was very excited to be at church! She wants to take the missionary lessons and learnmore about the gospel, so we are going to teach her this Wednesday! :)

We are teaching this awesome couple. Her mom joined the church not too long ago, but they were never
interested in joining. They kept feeling like they needed to do it though, so they tried every which way to get out of it. They ended up looking up anti-material, but the sisters told them to not look at it
for a week, and see if there was a difference. After that week, they wanted to be baptized, and are very committed. They still have lots and lots of questions, but are willing to give up anything to be baptized. It is amazing to see how the Spirit can work!

We weren't able to set a baptismal date yet with one of our investigators, but we had a really powerful lesson with him about the priesthood. The priesthood is the power or authority to act in God's name, and is the power by which we can be baptized. Many churches believe that this power wasn't lost from the earth after Christ's death, but we know that it was and was later restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. He was confused about baptism because he had been baptized already, but as missionaries we teach that we need to be baptized by the proper authority. We taught him again about the priesthood, and the Spirit was so strong. I'm hoping that it helps to change his mind.

I had lots more amazing experiences this week, but those are what stuck out the most! We are teaching some very prepared people, and it makes me so happy to see the gospel help people. That's what I am here to do--bring happiness to everyone! I love you all :)

Love,

Hermana Erickson

Heading off to Arizona

Transfers came and I'm leaving Pueblito! It was a needed change for me... I was starting to hit my breaking point and needed something new. I joked with my President that I needed a breath of fresh air...preferably one that smelled like tacos and tamales ;) I've been asking over and over again to go to Spanish, but at the same time, I love my English wards. My new area is the best of both worlds!! I am going "out of valley" to Bullhead City, AZ. The cool thing about my new area is that it is an English ward but.... I GET TO TEACH IN SPANISH TOO :D There is no Spanish branch/ward out there, so we get to teach everyone. I am sooooo excited :) My new companion is Sis Ludlow, who also speaks Spanish! It's going to be a blast!

We got to go to the Hoover Dam on Monday, which was a really neat experience. There is a member that works there, so he took us on a underground tour of the dam and told us all of these cool facts. It was fun to go with our district! He told us that they almost filmed Hunger Games there, but the filmmakers wanted to do a shot of the dam blowing up. I guess that isn't allowed....but hey, we got to be where they filmed Transformers! It was a fun start to our week. It makes me miss traveling with my Dad!

We had a rough week at the beginning.  Last Sunday, we received a referral from a set of elders for a couple that wanted to be baptized. Their sons were already baptized a few months ago, so they wanted an eternal family. We met this Sunday evening, and they are golden!!! They accepted everything that we taught them, and wanted us to push them towards their goal of baptism. They accepted a baptismal date for July 25th!!!! YAY WHOOP WHOOP :D These past two transfers have been really hard since I haven't seen much fruits from my labors. But it was amazing that Heavenly Father allowed me to see this happen before I left.

I'm really sad to leave, I have grown to love this ward. It has been amazing to see the influence we have on people....I can never recognize it until someone tells me. No, I didn't have any baptisms in this ward. But I know Heavenly Father gives us challenges to make us better people and to strengthen our testimony. I know that my testimony has been strengthened and that I have developed into a new person. I have been very grateful lately for my trials...and for the people Heavenly Father gave me to help me get through everything. I love this ward and area because of who I became here.

I'm excited for this new transfer, and I'm guessing that I'll probably end my mission in Bullhead. That's a really weird thought. Haha! Let's
see what blessings come! :)

Love,

Hermana Erickson

Lessons I've learned and a baptism

This week has been incredibly hot.... Summer is here yet again! Sis Daulton is having a hard time adjusting to the heat, and I don't remember it being this hot last June. We either get two reactions from people on the street when they see us--1: they don't answer the door and try to hide. 2: They feel sorry for us and give us water. I always like number 2 better even though it is funny to see people duck and hide. ;) Apparently two white girls are pretty frightening haha!

I don't know if it was because of the weather or something else, but all of our lessons cancelled this week. It was pretty disappointing. We weren't able to find new investigators either even though we talked to sooooo many people! This transfer has taught me a lot as a missionary and person. For one, I have had to stop caring what others think of me. I know that Sis Daulton and I are working as hard as we can and talking to everyone. All that matters is that Heavenly Father is proud of the work I am doing. Sometimes we won't see the blessings of our work until the next life, but they will come. I've also learned patience. Whether it be with myself, companion, others, or God's plan, patience is required of me every day! I know that attribute will help me a lot for the rest of my mission and afterwards.

We got a Mormon.org referral, asking if he could meet with missionaries somewhere else besides his home. We texted him the next day, and set up a lesson for that week. He has never had much religion in his life, but something interested him from the website. We ended up teaching him, but he turned out to be YSA age. So, we had to turn him over to the other sisters. I was lucky enough to teach him a few more times on exchanges. He turned out to be the most golden person I have ever met. He would just sit and read the BOM for hours, and have tons of questions for each lesson. This Saturday he was baptized, and we were
able to go. It was amazing to be a small part of his conversion. I remember when we got the referral feeling like we needed to text this person as soon as possible. The Spirit knew how much he wanted the gospel! Definitely the highlight of my week, if not the transfer.

If you don't know already, this transfer has been a difficult one for me. Lots of factors have played into that, so you will just have to wait until I come home for me to share more. I have been so grateful for prayer, scripture study, and priesthood blessings. There have been many times where I have felt overwhelmed, discouraged, and frustrated. But Heavenly Father has given me so many different resources to receive the guidance and direction I have needed. I'm grateful that we have the knowledge that God is our Heavenly Father and that he cares for us individually and has given us His gospel again on this earth. I don't know what I would do without that.

I love you all! Thank you for the prayers and notes of encouragement. 

It means everything to me!

Love,

Hermana Erickson