No news is good news

We didn't hear from Whitney this morning which makes me wonder if there is a possible transfer in the works. She has been hinting that it might be a possibility for several weeks. We are hoping ...for her sake that she will be sent to Volgograd. Brutally cold during the winter but beautiful and cool for the summer.

For those of you who remember Whitney's cousin Andrea who is serving a mission in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin mission, I will give you an update on how she is doing as an alternate post! She was recently sent to serve near the mission office in Milwaukee and loves being in a bigger city with a lot more people to contact. She is especially excited to see signs of Spring in the air. It has been a cold, snowy Winter in Wisconsin and she is ready for a thaw! She is also a trainer now and is feeling a bit overwhelmed by the new responsibilities but I know that she will do a great job.

"I love April here in Wisconsin!! It's 60 outside- perfect weather. And it's fun because so many people are just out wandering about. We just got back from playing disc golf with some of the Elders in our district. A game a lot like golf but with Frisbees instead. It was really fun and there's just something about being able to be outside after such a long winter. It's really therapeutic (I don't know how you spell that) but everyone is just a lot happier!

Nate Rader, an investigator who is dating someone who is a member of the church got stuck in the airport in Dallas and he told us the coolest story about meeting a woman who was from Idaho and lived by lots of members but wasn't one herself and how she didn't think that they were very friendly neighbors. So what does Nate do? He whips out his Book of Mormon and says I'm a Mormon. And goes on to talk about how all the Mormons he has met have been so nice, etc. Anyways, he got to share the gospel with her for four hours while they were stuck in the airport and afterwards he said, "I know that God wanted me to be there so I could talk to her" and just how he was glad his plane was delayed so he had that opportunity. Then he said, "every member a missionary" :) He's already doing lots of missionary work even though he isn't baptized yet! I wish our members were that dedicated!!

So Sister Hafen (my companion) and I are pretty good at making small talk with people. And it’s really good to strike up random conversations with people. But it’s even better to invite them at the end of those conversations and it’s best to be able to teach them and then invite them. So that’s something that we’ve been working on this week. Saturday we decided we were just going to do it-teach every person that we saw, not just make small talk, or give lame invites but actually teach. And we did it! We only spent 30 minutes doing it (because we had to finish spring cleaning and then had appointments the rest of the day) so we just spent those 30 minutes doing it but we got to teach about 6 lessons and we got 3 new investigators out of it and another man said we could call him sometime and meet with him. It was just such a testimony builder to me that the Lord will put people in our path if we just try!! That is one of my biggest weaknesses as a missionary is being able to just teach people on the spot but I know it’s possible if we just let the Lord be our support. He really blesses us for our efforts!

I really want to stay another transfer with Sister Hafen. We really work well together and I still don't know the area as well as I would like!! I think we really push each other to work harder. All the Elders think I'll be training but I'm crossing my fingers we'll just stay together. There's only one new sister coming out (we haven't had any new sisters in awhile-Sister Hafen was the last sister to come out) but there are still sisters older than me that haven't trained so I'm hoping it will be one of them!

We have been playing tennis all week. Ever since we played football last week we have been on an exercise and health kick! We borrowed tennis rackets from our district leader and he even bought us pink tennis balls and matching pink sweat bands haha! At least we look like we know what we're doing when we play but we're not that great especially not when it's 6:15 in the morning!!

Anyways, I'm just loving it here!! Things are going so well. Thanks for your letters and prayers and support!! You are all loved!!!! I know that the gospel is truly the way to happiness. I think I have taken it for granted my whole life but I feel so privileged to know what I know!!

Love,

Sister Wiser"

As soon as we hear anything from Whitney I will add her letter but in the mean time a big CONGRATULATIONS!!! goes out to all of you who just graduated from BYU. We are so proud of you! Let us know what your future plans are and where you end up so Whitney won't lose track of you. Good luck to all of you and everyone have a fun and safe summer! If you happen to pass through Houston during your travels be sure to stop by and say hello.