Sweet Gift

Last Monday night was one of the sweetest experiences on my mission. Sister McNeece asked one of our members, Brother Kunzler, to give her a blessing. She hadn't said much when she told me that her grandmother had passed away, so it wasn't until she told the Kunzlers about it that I really heard much about what had happened and how she was feeling. It was obviously a surprise to her that her grandma was gone; it wasn't something she was expecting. But she had such a strong knowledge that she was in the right place and that she needed to stay. Brother and Sister Kunzler said some very helpful things and the blessing that he gave her was very comforting and encouraging. It was exactly what she needed. She really hasn't let it distract her from being a good missionary. 

The theme for this past week with just about all the lessons we've been teaching seems to be the importance of authority and how we know that someone has it. That's one investigator's big concern. A member came with us to the last lesson, and he talked a lot about the priesthood, and it seemed to make sense to our investigator. When you think about it, authority is really what our message boils down to, either Joseph Smith had that authority or he didn't. So as soon as he resolves that concern, he'll be good to go. He's agreed to set a baptism date for April 26, although he didn't come to church this week, and we still have loads to teach him, so we'll probably have to move it back a week or two. 

 The true nature of the Holy Ghost has also come up quite a bit. It's interesting down here because there are some denominations that believe very strongly in being possessed by the Holy Spirit, and speaking in strange tongues and shouting and running around and all that stuff. I'm still not very sure what to say to people when they mention those experiences to us and talk about them as being manifestations of the Spirit, because we know how the Spirit works, but to these people those were spiritual experiences that brought them closer to their Savior. It's made me very grateful for the knowledge that I do have of who the Holy Ghost is, and what His purpose is. Hopefully by teaching people about the true nature of the Holy Ghost, they'll be able to recognize and come to their own conclusion as to what a spiritual experience really is. 

We had Sisters' Conference this week down in Irmo. It was so fun to see everyone, it's been a long time since I've seen a lot of my old companions and MTC sisters. It's good to know that everyone is doing well and to see how happy they are. I can't believe how many sisters there are in the mission that I don't know, so many of them came out after me, I'm now one of the older sisters in the mission. It's very strange. 

Before I forget, I did get the Primary kids' letters and I loved them! It definitely made my day. 

Tell Grandpa and Grandma Rudy hi for me, and tell Grandpa happy birthday. I hope Dad has a good trip, and that everyone else has a good week as well. I love you all!