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Hey family! 
   Well how have things been going this week for you all... I can`t believe that Charlotte is getting bigger... From the pictures everyone looks really great. I can`t believe how big all of my nieces and nephews are getting.... It isn`t fair that I am missing them growing up... But I tell myself that it would have been the same if I was in school... But that isn`t all the way true... Because at least I would be able to face time with you all.  Facetiming on the mission is out of the question

Yesterday in church we had a visitor who I will never ever forget. We got to church at 7:45 and the Bishop came out and told us that we had an investigator in the chapel... Uhhh we looked in the chapel expecting to see someone that we had invited to church and it was a woman in a full length cream colored dress with sunglasses on sitting in the front row.  We told the bishop that we had never seen her before but we would talk to her anyway. 

We walked in and I asked her her name and she said... "How does it go again... 1, 2, 3, Veronica."  Right then and there I knew that this was going to be an interesting Sacrament Meeting. Well as the meeting started she would lift her hands to about shoulder height and wave them as if she was shooing away a fly. Or other times she would wave her hands like she was directing the music.  When we took the sacrament she took the bread and in the complete silence she said in quite a loud voice, "THIS IS FOR MY BROTHER." and she just held the bread.  Then when the water came she took the cup and said, "I`LL DRINK THIS FOR MY BROTHER." Man, the second time was a little disconcerting.  But what was worse was we had another investigator who came in late so I was sitting by my companion who was sitting by our investigator who was sitting by this interesting woman.  

Well the whole sacrament meeting I thought "Man.... What are we going to do if she gets up and screams or something..." right as that thought came into my mind, she stood up and turned to face the crowd and she said, "1, 2, 3, HOMES!"  and started taking a one-two step kind of move in the aisle... Man I felt my heart in my throat pounding and pounding and pounding and she sat down so abruptly like nothing happened.  Well what do we do.. Do we escort her out... or do we act like nothing happened.... I was so surprised but all she did for the rest of the meeting was wave her hands like she was directing music.  Ahhh sometimes we experience the craziest things!!!! . 

This week was pretty interesting.  My companion and I have been having some trouble getting people to accept to be baptized.  Well we came home one day and after we gave our report over the phone to our District leader I looked at my companion and said.... What is wrong here?.... I am not happy with our work, what are we doing wrong?  

Well the next morning I studied the 12 week training program that all of the missionaries have to go through.  I looked at all of the goals that we have to complete.  There is a page of things that we have to verify and rate ourselves to see if we are really working sufficiently as missionaries.  The thing that is interesting about this verification is we have to do the same verification three times during the 12 weeks of training.  This is so that we can REMEMBER what we need to know!! I looked at our numbers and analyzed where we were going wrong. 

We only have the rating of 2 out of 5 on two goals.  The first goal is, "During the first lesson, I invite my investigators to be baptized." and the second one is, "I invite my investigators to be baptized with a baptismal date no later than the second lesson."  Reading those goals it just sounds so absurd... how are people going to accept to be baptised during the first lesson?... this is never ever going to work.  Well we watched the Preach my Gospel videos again and the way they invite people to be baptized is, "If you come to find that these things are true, will you be baptized?"  That is the question... Anyone who is really searching for the truth obviously would say yes.  

Well since we analyzed and studied some more we decided that we should just ask this question to EVERYONE!  So that is what we have been doing and you know what?... IT IS WORKING!! We are meeting so many people who are saying, "Si" to our crazy leap of faith baptismal challenge.  There really are people who are searching for the truth... You might run into them all the time... But we have to ask the right questions to know if they are really interested in changing their life. So that was a pretty neat experience that we have had... I know to all of the returned missionaries it is a no brainer... But sometimes this sister missionary lacks the faith to actually ask the question... But at least we know that the worst thing that can happen is they will say no! So there is no harm in trying right? 


Last night we received a phone call from the assistants at 12:00 at night asking if we had an extra mattress in our house.  I groggily told them no and they said thanks and hung up.  Then about an hour later our zone leaders called and told me that we had to be at the Terminal at 11:00 in the morning and be ready to receive another sister missionary until her new companion comes. There are lots of new missionaries who are entering into the field.  And lots of missionaries have to train these new missionaries.  It is hard work.  But at the terminal this morning there were five more sisters who are going to train. There are still more elders coming to the field, it is pretty interesting to see how everyone is doing and who is training and who is going home.  It is crazy how the time flies. 

Well I gtg I love you all so much !!!! love, hermana welch