email of 2 August 2010

Good evening!!!

I'm sorry that this one will be short...I only have 18 minutes left because I was taking care of my byui readmission stuff...so weird.

Anyways, how was your week, everyone?! Sounds pretty good, what with weddings, and new jobs, and missionary experiences!!! Isn't life great?! Not always sunshine and roses, but great nonetheless :)

This week was good! There is SO much work in this area! I'd forgotten how open and talkative latins tend to be! It can be hard to get them to actually follow through on a commitment, but that's just part of it. We have some great investigators right now, who I'm so excited about, and who keep surprising me!

Edgar is A-Mazing! He has been an on-and-off investigator for a little while now, but is SO close to baptism!!! He's already read the Book of Mormon, and is about 1/3 of the way through the D/C. He loves the gospel, loves the church, loves the Lord, has SO much faith, and wants so badly to get baptized!!! Problem? He's not married. Ugh. He's willing, but his marido is not. They totally live in seperate rooms and everything, but still..."living together as if married" is the wording used in our standard, so we're not 100% sure what's going to happen, but we're working and praying!

Also working now with his "wife," Maria. She's great too, but a little more stuck in her Catholic tradition, and still in a lot of emotional and spiritual pain from losing her youngest two children as babies, as well as a brother, and her youngest son has a lot of health problems as well. She wants really badly to believe that she'll see and be with her children again, but just doesn't entirely. We'll be teaching her all about the plan of salvation this week. Also praying lots for her!!! She's so funny...loves me because I'm white :) The other day she made some comment about how white I am, to which I responded by showing her my awesome missionary tan lines -- SO FUNNY!!! She just gasped...couldn't believe how white I really am. She's says I look like a barbie...

Javier is the husband of recent convert Fanny. He's great, and came to church yesterday, but the really sad news is that he moved out Saturday night because he and Fanny are having some problems right now...

I HATE HOW SATAN ATTACKS THE FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!

...hopefully he'll still get baptized, but we'll just keep working and praying. Agency and the Lord -- that's what it all comes down to.

Jessica is 20 years old, single, and has a 1 year old little boy named Jordan. She's struggling a lot right now, but wants to change so badly, and is really excited to get baptized! She surprises us a lot (in a good way) with her responses and desires.

Faustino and Margie are great. Hilarious. Faustino talks A LOT, and very quickly. He seems very sensitive to the spirit though, and slowly but surely is progressing!

The work here is wonderful! Even when it's hard, I LOVE being a missionary!!! 3 Nephi 3 has some great "spiritual preparation" things in it.

THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!!

I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!

I also love being a missionary!!!

Love,
Hermana Sallie

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!!!!!!!!