MY FAMILYYY (friends included),

     Sorry my updates have been lame lately. It seems like so much
happens but nothing lasts here haha. I know the value of planting
seeds, but some times it feels like I'm planting them on hard ground-
and they're just bouncing off. We're teaching plenty but no one seems
to be progressing, except Carlos. He's pretty great though. We've
started seeing him pretty frequently to help him retain what he reads.
     Haha I guess now that I've been out a while I've kind of started
feeling like the sister missionary who cries investigator. One week
I'll write about some amazing person or lesson and the next they've
disappeared haha. It's kind of left me not knowing what to write home
about anymore. Lol.
     I guess I had somewhat of a learning opportunity this week. We
had starting teaching a family of three, but after the second lesson
with them they dropped us, refusing to give it a chance. The idea of
Joseph Smith really turned them away. As we were walking away from the
lesson, and we were having our usual post lesson discussion about what
happened I started thinking. Had we been so preoccupied trying to
force them to open their minds to a modern prophet that we we
testified more of Joseph smith than of the Savior? It was definitely a
teaching moment for me- do I always have Christ on my lips? It has
since rewired my entire thinking process of how I will go about
portraying the restoration. In every point we teach, every doctrine,
every principle, it all goes back to Christ.
     Another personal goal I've been working on is teaching more
straight from the Book of Mormon- preach my gospel is good, explaining
yourself through testimony is good, but the Book of Mormon is the
primary source. It's effected my studies quite a bit, and as I teach I
am able to be a better witness of the Book of Mormon, not let the Book
of Mormon simply be a witness of what I am saying. And in doing so, I
find myself getting deeper and deeper in the scriptures. Reading about
men with such great faith, and in turn power, yet so much humility, is
humbling for me.

6 Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with
you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus
Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am,
and that I am to come. (D&C 68)

Alright funny moment of the week. So Saturday morning we were asked to
help out at a 10K, and we were on the water station. There were some
people who were crazy intense who would grab the little cup out of
your hand so fast they nearly took your hand with them and basically
all the water would fly everywhere. So I decided to be funny and
imitate it while there were no runners around, so I grabbed the cup
from Hermana Busath's hand then ran around a corner and lost my
footing in some mud and fell, hard. Hahaha. Really hard. Ended up
giving myself two black knees and scraping the skin off my now
infected hand (yum.) Karma got me good.

Love you!
Hermana Sears