Week 21- Transfer #4, Lititz PA

September 10, 2009

Good Morning!
Well, as you can probably tell from the subject of my email, we had transfers on Tuesday and I got moved to a new area with a new companion! I am in Lititz.....which is back in Lancaster County! hahahaha, it actually borders my old area of Elizabethtown. And I get to see the Amish people again. I also get to go back to the church building I was in and see my old ward from E-town. Exciting huh? My new companion is Sister Ferguson. She is from New Mexico and she's been out for just a little over a year now. Things have been pretty good so far. I've only had one whole day here but the first appointment we had was with an investigator named Molly. She's been taught a couple lessons and the last time she got visited, they asked her to pray about a baptism date. So when we went in on Wednesday, we taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, holy ghost, enduring) and asked her to pray specifically for October 10th for baptism. She said she would pray about it. She went to church last week and she loved it and plans to go again this week! Yay. I'm excited for her. So it looks like there is a lot going on here and a lot to look forward to.
So about my old area in Dover......Sister Deal and I actually both got kicked out!! Elders came in to white wash it and take over our investigators. It makes me a little jealous that they get to finish up working with Cody and get him ready for his baptism. But I am close enough to that area that I think President will let me go when he gets baptized! I sure hope so, because he is our golden investigator and I want to see him make that step and that commitment!
I have to tell you of a tender moment we had right before we left Dover. When we found out Sister Deal and I were both leaving, our ward mission leader (the Shoemaker's) invited us over for dinner. We would go over every wednesday to have dinner and correlation with them, they would take us to church every week, and we would do laundry at their house on P-day, so we got very close with them. Well at dinner before we left, the whole family went around and bore their testimonies to us about the gospel and about missionary work and how they really enjoyed having us there. And about how we've made a big impact in their lives. It was so sweet and so heart-felt. We were all in tears by the time we left! I always told Sister Deal that the Shoemaker's were like my family, a home away from home. But it never really hits you until you have to leave. I am going to miss them a lot, but they promised to come see me before I finished my mission to go home! They are the best!! You have to wonder why sisters got white-washed in for only 3 months before elders came back in to take over again. I am convinced we were needed there for one specific reason and we had accomplished that. I don't know what it was but that place will always be close to my heart! That ward was the best too!
Well this is a long email! I hope I didn't bore anyone to death! But I hope all is well at home and things are going great! I love you and miss you and can't wait to hear from you all next week!
Love, Holly