Monday, August 6, 2012

So this week was a good one. We got to teach a lot again! It's so crazy when we get to teach a lot it's awesome! It's almost like that's what I'm supposed to be doing. We got to find a lot of less-actives up in the mountains that we had been looking for. We went up to Lake Wenatchee to find some and it was gorgeous! I love serving in the mountains. So I hit my 9-month mark this last week. Crazy! I'm already half-way. It feels kind of weird to be on the other side of the half. It hasn't been as hot this week which is super nice. We had two investigators come to church yesterday. One was Chris who is a regular and the other we never thought she'd come. When she, Michelle, walked in Sister Donaldson and I both freaked out. It was awesome! We asked what had happened and she said she just figured she might come. We've been trying for months to get her to come and she finally did.

One of our greatest tools to use when we're contacting is the new church building that is going up in Monitor. We're super excited for it because everyone asks about it and wants to see inside. It's going to be dedicated around September 17 and we get to do tours of it for a couple weeks before hand. I really hope I'm still here because they were still working on the basic foundation when I got here in December and now it's almost done and I got to see it all! The Stake Presidency is expecting over 2,000 people to go through. I sure hope so because that would be great!

Things with Chris are going great. Apparently he's pretty famous. The Stake Presidency googled him. Who knew. He's supposed to be baptized this Saturday, but I'm not sure it's going to happen on that date. We saw him quite a bit last week and he finally admitted that he's just really waiting for a solid answer that he needs to be baptized. We tried to help him recognize that a lot of the experiences he's been having are answers, but it all came together last night. We started talking about baptism and what he feels like he needs to receive in order to feel ready. We were reading in Alma 32 about faith and how it is not to have a perfect knowledge, but that we show our faith by acting first. It really seemed to hit him and our fellowshippers shared how they had wanted to know everything before they joined, but then they realized that they had to show God they were ready first by making promises with him. The spirit was so strong and then we just bore testimony about how we knew he would get baptized because we felt it and how we could feel how much Heavenly Father really loves him. The feeling was overwhelming and Chris actually teared up. We invited him to say the prayer and it was the most sincere heartfelt plea for an answer we have heard him give. We were all rather emotional after it. I know he's truly going to search now. Before he was focusing on not-so-important issues, but now he knows what he needs to ask for. It was so exciting. It's really quite a neat experience being able to see a massive, muscle-man fighter that has spent his whole life fighting, hiding his weaknesses and not show too much emotion give in to the promptings of the spirit and recognize that Heavenly Father really loves him. I know Heavenly Father works through us. We are nothing, but He is everything. He loves us all so much! We can't even comprehend His love. I love this work with all my heart. There is nothing like it.

Sometimes I stop and think of all the incredible people I've met. I have literally met people from all walks of life that have done every heinous crime you could think of and yet now you would never know. In their pasts I probably would have been scared to meet some of these people because of how hardened they were, but who they are now I never could have imagined who they used to be. The Atonement of Jesus Christ truly changes people. It transforms, softens, and enlightens. Repentance is not just admitting you did something wrong, rather it is admitting that we are human, we make mistakes, but through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can change! That's what it is all about is change. If we're not comfortable with change then we can't truly accept the everlasting sacrifice that our Savior made for every single one of us. If we are not looking for changes we can make in our lives than we are not repenting. I have never learned something so clearly as I have now. Every single one of the people I have been teaching has done some major crime or had some horrible lifestyle, but now I would never know. I know Jesus Christ died for us all. He died so that we can live again. I know that we can all feel it's influence in our lives if we just accept it.

Thank you all so much for everything! I love you all and I love this Gospel! Go forth and do good things! Don't be afraid to change :)

Love
Sister Probst


Lemon Meringue Pie :) Can I just say that I love it! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you all! for the birthday wishes. I went to the post office twice to pick up mail this last week and there were so many cards! Thank you! I love them all and hopefully will be able to respond soon. So the story about the pie: hehe it still makes me laugh. So on Friday (my birthday) we had a full day of lessons and then exchanges with Quincy in the evening. So one of the lessons was with Chris our awesome investigator (I'll tell you his story in a sec) so he found out it was my birthday and brought both of us pepper spray, apparently he worries about us, and gave me some sweet earrings and ordered a lemon meringue pie! I was pretty excited. So then we were going to pick it up at about the same time we were meeting the sisters from Quincy so I could go down there. Well we couldn't find Chris anywhere so we decided that I would have to leave and sister Donaldson would have to pick up the pie from him later. When we were pulling out we saw him sitting on a bench with the pie so we turned around. Then that pie went to Quincy, the church, the sisters house, the church and then back to Leavenworth and the church and finally I finished it :) I was a happy camper :) So it was a good birthday. In Quincy every lesson was in Spanish! It was crazy! I haven't spoken that much Spanish probably since the last time I was down there. Sister Driggs who I was with is actually going home today :( So everywhere we went they were saying good-bye to her. It was kind of sad because Sister Haws is also going home today. I got to a learn a lot from Sister Driggs though and got some good advice so that was awesome. She's such a great missionary.

So transfers... Once again I'm not going anywhere. And neither is Sister Donaldson. That means we'll be together for 4 1/2 months! Wow! It should be good though because Leavenworth is starting to explode. We are the only sisters that didn't change so there must be a reason we're still here. Our whole zone changed out too so that means that me and one other elder have been here forever! I love it though. Wenatchee is awesome.

So back to Chris. We've been seeing him almost every day now and last Monday we talked to him about the Word of Wisdom again. We challenged him to try it for just a week and he said he'd have to pray about it. After the lesson we were really struggling to figure out what we could teach him to help him live it so we decided to teach about faith. We had this awesome lesson planned out and were convinced that after it he would commit to live the Word of Wisdom. We showed up to the lesson all fired up and asked him how his prayers were going and he said "Oh I'm already living the word of wisdom." I think our jaws hit the floor. He's like "Yeah I stopped coffee, tea and alcohol, and I never had a problem with drugs or tobacco. That's it right? I figured I may as well start living it while I'm trying to decide if I want to or not." We were so excited! It was awesome! He's truly accepting it into his life! We taught about faith anyway, but it was more of praising his faith. Then we committed him to baptism on August 4 if he still feels the word of wisdom is true and he agreed! It's so awesome! I might actually have to learn how to get everything ready for a baptism though because the one other I've had I was passed out most the time. He has now come to church 5 times and has been inviting friends and waiting for them in foyer just like we do when we're waiting for investigators to come. I love it!

This church is so true! If you don't know for yourself try living it and then you'll know! I love this Gospel so much!
Stay true and I love you all! Thanks for all you do!
Love
Sister Probst
Wow! It has been a super hot week! We're starting to shower at night and in the morning just to cool off. I'm even in the mountains and it has been in the hundreds! I can't imagine what the valleys are getting.

Last week we had several meetings down in Wenatchee. One was interviews with President Mullen. That was different. It's kind of funny to think that he's just like what we were like when we first came out. You definitely learn fast though. So we have transfers this Sunday. Who knows what will happen. My bet is Sister Donaldson is probably leaving. I have to keep my streak of being in non-Spanish speaking areas. When I was in E. Wenatchee I used to think that any other area I went to would have more Spanish because they all did. Little did I know I would sweep an area even further west than I was and have even less Spanish! Funny thing.

Not too much exciting stuff happened this week. I'm trying to remember. Chris came to church again. It's his fourth Sunday! And he comes to all the activities and stays late and even brings refreshments. Who does that?! He hasn't accepted a baptismal date yet, but he says his one hang-up is the Word of Wisdom. Little does he know he really doesn't have a problem with it. He's not really addicted to anything so it's perfect!

We had an awesome lesson with a recent convert named Diego. We invited two non-Spanish speaking men from the ward to come with us just so they could have a missionary experience and fellowship Diego. We were running a little late so we told them to wait for us before they went to his house. They decided not to and we got a call from Diego saying that he was very confused because there were two big white men at his house that rode up on motorcycles and didn't speak Spanish. He asked if they were supposed to be teaching him now and how that was supposed to happen. When we stopped laughing we told him we would be there shortly. The image of what happened after may have been even funnier. His patron or boss was up there slightly confused as to why two white men who didn't speak spanish were coming to talk to Diego and then really confused when two white girls in dresses showed up who did speak Spanish. It was a great missionary experience. Then we all sat down and taught Diego the Law of Chastity. He lives in a shack at the top of a mountain with a long dirt road. We have to teach outside because his friends don't want to turn off the tv. So we sit out on rickety chairs while chickens run all around us. Looking back on it we could have created a very awkward situation for ourselves, but it really turned out well. The spirit was really strong and the two ward members were able to bear powerful testimony. Diego is such a great example for all his friends. I love being a missionary. I would never have imagined myself in such situations before. Pretty fun.

I love this church with all my heart. The Gospel is true. Live it and love it!

I love you all! Happy 50th Mom!!!!

Love
Sister Probst

What! I can't believe there was a fire that close! That's so scary. Those pictures were incredible. I'm so glad they got everything under control though. Did all the evacuations promote summer cleaning as well? jk :)

Well it has definitely been hot up here. We're up in the 100s and they say it's supposed to get hotter. We drink so much water I feel like a fish. Our planning for tracting is now based on areas with the most trees and shade instead of proximity of houses. More people are more willing to let us in to cool down for a little bit and talk to them though so that's good.

This last week was absolutely incredible! Last Monday we had a church tour with two brothers we found on the street who looked a little rough around the edges. It was awesome! They were so excited to learn about God and that He has a plan for them that they both accepted a baptismal date right off. Unfortunately we haven't been able to meet with them since, but they still text us so hopefully we'll be able to keep them on-date for baptism. We got to teach Chris-the fighter- several times and he's awesome! If he doesn't agree with or understand something he asks us to let him study it and then he comes back telling us that he understands what we're saying now and he agrees. He's so great. Whenever we try to get a commitment out of him though he always says "God willing." It drives me crazy! And so we were asking him if he would come to church again and he said "God willing and if I'm not in the hospital from my fight." He picked up a few fights to help get him ready for his big fight in a few months and they're the first ones he's done in 3 years! So he told us to pray that he would win his fights so that he could come to church and not be too injured. I can't believe someone would ever purposely go get hit by someone it just really doesn't make sense to me, but we definitely prayed hard. I can't say I've ever prayer for anything violent before, but I really prayed hard that he would be able to not be injured too bad so he could come to church. The lengths missionaries go to for their investigators ;) Turns out he won both fights and only got a black eye and his body woke up at 6 am and he couldn't go back to sleep so he came to church. The power of prayer :) It turns out that God is definitely willing for him to come to church. That's 3 weeks in a row!

Next awesome story: The Elders had been teaching a lady named Michelle forever before we came in. She hadn't been progressing so they had to "temporarily discontinue teaching." We see her all the time because her daughter, Tera, is a less-active recent-convert. Michelle has definitely become more spiritual and open since we've come and so Saturday we asked her if we could start teaching her again and she said absolutely! Then she told us how far she had already come on her spiritual journey. It's a really twisted story. She used to be a major druggy with her husband Michael. Apparently he was really bad and she had tried to kill him several times. Then they divorced and he had a major stroke that completely incapacitated him. She lets him move back in so she can take care of him then she almost dies during a surgery and has a complete turn around in her spiritual life. She decided there is a God and she wanted to change her life. So she did. She started going to Celebrate Recovery classes, moved to the other side of the state, got custody of her grandson, is the care-giver for her ex-husband who lives with her and has become awesome. It's the most crazy story every, but she has worked so hard to completely turn her life around. This is the Atonement in action. Knowing her now I would never believe she was capable of hurting anyone. And the idea of love your enemies is real and she did it!

Huge awesome story! Last night we had what is called a Cottage Meeting. It is where we invite a small group of less-actives, recent converts, members and all of our investigators to basically a testimony meeting. We had a few musical numbers and asked some members to share their conversion stories. It was incredible. Chris, Michelle, Michael and another investigator Mandi came. The spirit was so strong and all of the investigators even shared their testimonies. Just about everyone was crying by the end. In Michelle's testimony she said that she's not a Mormon yet and yes she said yet! Basically she told us she knows the church is true and she wants to get baptized, but not quite yet. It was so great! All the big manly men in the group were even crying. Chris tried super hard to act all tough, but it didn't really work. It was so great! Everyone got fellowshipped and shared their personal stories and their love for God. The spirit was so strong it was almost tangible. I'm still on a spiritual high from it. The whole time I couldn't get this less-active out of my head though; Brother Stoltz. He's the one who I had an indescribable experience with a few weeks ago where I was completely overwhelmed with our Heavenly Father's love for him. For some reason I am always thinking about him. During the whole cottage meeting I could not get out of my head that God wants him back. That He loves him and He has a very special plan for him. We went right to his house afterwards and he was half asleep and didn't want to talk to us much. I told him that we have a message for him and he said he knows. I don't know why and I don't know how, but somehow Brother Stoltz and I have some crazy connection through which Heavenly Father is communicating. It's quite an incredible experience.

This church is true. I cannot even say how true it is and how much God loves ALL his children. This is the truth. Christ died for us. Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son. I know it! The Book of Mormon truly is the word of God. I love His Gospel!

I love you all so very much. I pray for you every day and am so very grateful that you are all safe.

Love
Sister Probst

Can you believe it's July!? I can't. time seems to fly so fast. It still doesn't seem like July. It rains at a least a few times a week. Even when the sun is out somehow it starts raining. Which feels really good after we've been tracting for a few hours.

We had 2 investigators in church yesterday! They were the same ones as the week before! I was so excited. One is a little boy in a part-member family and his dad won't let him get baptized. Hopefully that will change soon. The other is Chris. He's a professional fighter and is awesome! He basically already lives the Gospel and knows it better than most members. The only problem is he hates to make commitments and doesn't not like time so he never knows what day or time it is. The past 2 Sundays he has woken up at 6 am and has not been able to go back to sleep so he takes it as a sign that God wants him to go to church. So true! We finally got him to commit to setting a time to meet with us so we can explain authority. It's going to be good.

Another investigator is Alfonso. There are 2 different families that leave in this trailer out in the middle of nowhere and I think he's a cousin. Every time we go out there's a bunch of guys outside listening to music and drinking. Alfonso is always inside with the kids taking care of them. He's so great. As we teach there's always this other guy named Julian that comes in from drinking to "hear the word." That's what all the Mexicans say. Alfonso is so humble and so ready to listen. It's great!

 I have been learning a great deal from my study lately. Every day I try to focus on the needs of the investigators and the questions that I have. Every time I read I can find their answers and it's such an epiphany moment for me. Every time I wish they were reading the exact same thing. We were talking with an investigator named Fred. He is very well-versed in the Bible and loves to study it. One visit he came to us and said that he knew that every question we ever have can truly be answered through the scriptures. It's so true! I love reading the scriptures. I love learning the will of the Lord and being able to apply His teachings in every day situations and life. The word was written for us. Every day we meet someone who doesn't believe they have to do anything to have salvation all they have to do is believe. The more I learn the more I can't believe they can truly believe this. We have to give our whole souls to God and we can't hold anything back. I love this work more than anything. The Lord's hand is in everything we do.

Happy Fourth of July! It should be good. I love you all and I'm so grateful for all that you do for me! Keep the faith and stay strong!

Love
Sister Probst