Transfers!

I've had such a great learning experience these past 2 transfers.  I really love learning to learn.  The most useful things to learn a lot of the time aren't book smarts but rather learning to deal with different situations.  Missionaries live for awkward moments because we have so many of them! haha  I've always been a perfectionist so when I was taught in math to "guess and check" that drove me nuts! Here I am today though... guessing... and checking! Another way you could say it would be... trying... and repenting!  There aren't many other missionaries I can ask how to do the "assistant stuff"... and a lot of the time we are just trying to follow the spirit and do what feels right.  I know that Heavenly Father needed me to leave Sierra Leone so that I could develop certain skills and help specific people while I'm here.  Its tough and exhausting... but all a part of His plan for me:)

Funny moment for the week... Elder Matheny and I were walking up to a less-active families house and saw these two fake looking birds sitting on the window seal.  I thought out loud... That'd be cool if those were real.. Elder matheny looked at me and said... There is no way those are real!  We stared at them for a good 30 seconds and decided they must be fake... All the sudden one of them just disappeared! We kept looking back and forth at each other and at the one bird still there and just bust out laughing!  We decided we now have faith to turn a fake bird into a real bird! haha  We'll try moving a mountain this week and let you know how it goes;)

We taught a couple of really powerful lessons this week that reminded me how important the spirit is in conversion.  The first one, Elder Matheny and I felt really strongly to invite C** to pray about being baptized before she returns to work at the beginning of July.  She has already felt that this is where she needs to be and what she needs to be doing... but had not quite asked Heavenly Father directly if that was his plan for her.  So we text her the next morning to see how her prayer went and she sent back this, "I prayed early this morning.  It was very emotional for me. I definitely felt the spirit of the Holy Ghost with me."  We heard her tell several people at church how excited she was for her baptism on June 20th:)  God's timeline is now.  The longer we wait to take action... the longer we wait to receive blessings!  I love C** and love the change I've seen in her in these short 4 weeks that I've known her:)

The other lesson that was powerful was with P**.  She also has been scared to solidify a baptismal date.  We were planning on teaching one thing... and ended up teaching something completely different.  Elder Matheny shared a personal experience that connected perfectly with her.  I haven't teared up in awhile... but the spirit was so heavy in that room I couldn't hold them back.  We gave her a blessing to have the strength to overcome her fears.  She now has a baptismal date for June 27th!:) Baptism is the key to helping us leave the past in the past.  I know the best way to help anyone in this world is to baptize them.  Jesus Christ's atonement works miracles that no other coping strategy can.

Transfers are going to be this week and will be quite exciting.  We have over 40 missionaries leaving in the next two transfers!

Shout out to my brother! I hope you are having a blast and taking care of Africa for me while I'm gone;)

Elder Crandall the vandal