Sister Kristin McGuire: Mono, Milestones, and Miracles!!!!

Dear Family,

Well, I have a packed subject line to represent a packed week!
To start off, on Tuesday my new companion started feeling sick. :(
that's the worst! But, she is a trooper and just pushed through! She
informed me that she has mono and that it goes away, but it can be
triggered again by changing climates or being in a high stress
situation (aka everything about mission life). So, we would go out and
work hard, but we had to stop and rest throughout the week. In a way,
it has been a bit of a tender mercy, because While she slept I was
finally able to finish unpacking our apartment from the move and also
set up appointments and spend extra planning.
Also on Tuesday, we presented the quit smoking program to two people
who are working on quitting! One is an investigator of ours who wants
to get baptized. The other is his less active friend. It was pretty
incredible to be the one teaching these people how to live their life
with out smoking! The word of wisdom is such a blessing! It also makes
your house smell a LOT better!
On Wednesday we had a cool experience with family history. So, a
recent convert in our Ward, Bunny, went to the temple about a month
ago to do baptisms for the dead. She loved her experience so much that
she told all of her family about it. Well, last week her
brother-in-law (a nonmember) called her up and asked her to be
baptized for his deceased mom! She was touched and honored! So, this
week we helped Bunny request the ordinances so that she can go next
week to do the work. Unfortunately, her relative lives in Arizona, but
we are working on getting the missionaries over to see him!
Thursday we saw our investigator, Mandy. Her husband is a less active,
and we have recently started teaching her. She has been atheist her
whole life, so this week we taught her who God is. It was amazing! The
Spirit that filled that lesson was incredible! It was so sweet to
watch her come to see that there is someone out there who loves here
and cares for her. It blows me away because, ever since I was in
primary I have sang the song, "I am a child of God". But watching this
31 year old woman, come to realize this simple truth, made me
appreciate it so much more! Especially as we celebrated Father's Day
this week.
Friday we saw Kate! She is our new investigator that we had recently
met. It was our first lesson with her, and we had felt impressed to
teach the Restoration. We had role-played and prepared and we were so
excited! When we got there Kate told us that she had downloaded the
Gospel Library App and had been reading the Book of Mormon all week!
We shared with her the story of Joseph Smith and she really felt the
power of it. We showed her how her story is very similar to his. She
was touched. Then, Sister Schettler invited her to be baptized and she
said YES! It was a thrill! She is so excited! We are too! We can't
wait to help her get ready to make that covenant with our Heavenly
Father!
Oh yeah, and it was my Birthday! I opened my package from Mom first
thing in morning. We set up the decorations and baked the cake! Then,
that night I opened my presents. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!! I
love my new clothes and the CDs, and the Mike and Ike's and the Frozen
cup! Everything was great! I also got a package from Jill and a card
from Grandma McGuire! It was all sweet!
Yeah, it has been an awesome week! Also, HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!!!!
Another milestone is that this Thursday marks exactly one year since I
left on my mission! That's so crazy!
Also, this Friday is Bradley and Sharlee's wedding!!!! I wish you the
best you two crazy love birds!
Anyway, I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!! Have a fantastic week!!!!!

Love,
Sister McGuire