Okay....so I am totally blown away. It's still not fully registered in my mind yet, but at the same time, I know that it's all actually happening! First of all.....we had three new investigators this week, and one of them has a baptismal date!!!! WHAT?! Her name is Kendra, and she is 18 years old. Her friend from the Windsor Ward, Ashley, referred her. She was thinking a lot about the church, and the next week, she happened to meet a returned missionary on a cruise. She knew this wasn't coincidence. They read 1 Nephi together, and she became very very interested. We taught her first on Thursday night, and she was dead set on joining the church. She already knew the Book of Mormon was true, and she was talking about even going on a mission. She wanted to get baptized as soon as possible, so we set a date for July 5th. When she told her parents, the only concern they had with the whole thing was that her mom had to work the 5th, so they changed it to the 12th....we can deal with that!!! :D And....we know that she's not just doing it for the R.M. because he sort of friend-zoned her....sad, but it just goes to show how so incredibly great she is!!!
We met Mary doing service for the Global Refugee Center. She just got out of jail and is earnestly searching for a church. She wants to change her life around and knows that she needs God to do it. She was very excited about coming to our church on Sunday. We gave her our number....and she actually called us!!!! She came to church, and we taught her the Restoration. She felt the Spirit so strongly and everything made sense. She told us she had this feeling that her journey of searching was over. We told her we believed it was, but that she needed to ask God. She was in tears and couldn't thank us enough for saving her. She hugged the Book of Mormon to herself and couldn't wait to read it. What a special individual!!!
We had to get our car fixed in Greeley this week, which is at least a half hour from where we serve in Severance, Windsor, and every other town you can possibly think of all the way up to the Wyoming border!! Anyway, we had to go in twice this week. First we needed the oil changed and the tires rotated. Then the mission office had to get special permission to get new tires and brakes, so that's why it took so long. BUT.....it was definitely where God needed us. We went across the street to Salvation Army and met a less active named Mark-we have Bible study with him this week. We sat next to a girl named Mikyla--she accepted a Book of Mormon and is going to watch, "Because of Him," on lds.org. We talked to a couple other people and they, too, seemed interested in learning more. It's just crazy how things work out. God is definitely preparing His children. WOW!!!!!!!
Now--as you can see, it's been an incredible week. Of course, it was really hard to leave my area in Fort Collins after being there for 6 months. But I can tell that this, too, will be absolutely amazing. So far, the ward seems very involved, helpful, and welcoming. My new companion, Sister Martinez, is great. Like I said, we are very different and have different perspectives on some things, but we truly make an incredible team. God has entrusted us thus far with miracles, and I have faith that He will continue to do so.
Please have faith and pray that miracles can and will occur. I know that they will.
Love,
Sister Budge