[ the children ] uttered marvelous things...

from Lauren's letter dated Sept. 19,2011:

We got a referral a couple of weeks ago from a member in our ward. We tried to contact that referral so many times but every time we dropped by they were not home. Finally, earlier this week we found the lady home, however, it wasn't the lady that the member referred us to, that lady had moved so we shared a brief message and asked if we could come back. She said," yes" so all that week we tried to visit her, however we never found her at home. Sunday evening came around so we decided to visit her once again and she wasn't home but her husband was there. We started talking to him about the church and eternal families. I gave him a Book of Mormon and I just happened to have a tab on the page marking Mosiah 3 ( I marked it one day because I love that chapter.) As we continued to talk to him he told us why he started going to church. It was because of his son who is six years old. Before this they never went to church or prayed. However their son would talk about God and would say that he was just with God. He said that his son started to pray to God one day. His son also told his dad that before he came to earth he was with God and that God gave him choices and he said, " I choose you, Mom and Dad." How amazing is that? Than the dad told his son that he was a gift from God to us (his parents). The little boy responded," No Dad, you are a gift from God."

Isn't that amazing ? IT GETS BETTER...I talked to him about Christ telling us that we are to become as little children. ( This is where having Mosiah 3 marked previously becomes important ) I told him that there is a scripture that I have marked that talks about this. He opened the book to where I had placed the tab and I asked him to read Mosiah 3:19. He read it and after he looked up at me and said," Wow, it was marked and you knew where it was. He asked with a puzzled look on his face," Coincidence?" I shook my head and said,"no". I continued to talk about the Book of Mormon and how it will strengthen his faith in Christ and invited him to read and pray about it. He said he would. Neat,huh?

mormon.org-Look for it !

The mormon.org campaign is coming to Washington ! We got trained this past week on what is going to take place and how we need to train members and get them excited for the campaign. AHHHH this is awesome ! It is going to be on TV, billboards,radio taxi cabs,buses, etc. For those who watch CBS,Fox,PBS,ABC and ads will show prime time for sixty seconds and those who watch a regular amount of T.V. will see the ads about 80 times in a month! How cool is that! I'll be creating a profile for mormon.org. So in a couple of weeks you'll have to go online and find mine and then create your own! The purpose behind the campaign is to dispel myths, to let people know we are normal, that we have a strong faith in Christ,and that the restoration of Christ's Gospel is again on the earth. We are inviting people to come and see as Christ invited.

Alicia is excited to be baptized.

It is Alicia's baptism this week. Last night we read from the Book of Mormon with her. She is learning so much and understanding the Book of Mormon more and more. It is so much fun to read with her and to help her to understand.Her testimony is growing so much!! She gets super excited when she reads something that makes complete sense to her. I love it. It's so refreshing to see someone who is just learning and becomes so excited about the things they are learning. Every time I read with her, I learn something new and my testimony of the Book of Mormon grows. I know it's the word of God. It's either true or it's not and I know it is true.Together with the Bible we can learn more of the love that our Savior and Father in Heaven have for us. I know that God preserved this book for us to have at this time so that we may have a greater understanding of Christ's Atonement and the covenants we need to make with Him so that one day we may all return to His presence.

HOW GRATEFUL I AM TO BE A MISSIONARY

I had the opportunity in my last area ( with Sister Eaton ) to teach and then to see JESSICA baptized. She is so remarkable, amazing, and prepared. I love her. Than I come to WOODINVILLE and again I have the blessing to be a part of another girls conversion. I can't express enough how grateful I am to be a missionary. It has changed me; it has refined me; it has given me a greater understanding and comprehension of the love our Savior has for each and everyone of us. My testimony has never been stronger. Missionary work has brought me the greatest joy! It has brought me the greatest happiness that I have ever felt. To see someones life change ( because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ ) to see their faith grow in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I wish I was a more eloquent writer so that I could better express my feelings but I hope you can feel the love I have for missionary work and for all of God's children.

Please take every opportunity to share the Gospel. The Gospel is true! It will bring the greatest happiness into other's life's as they come to understand and live the principles that Christ has taught.

M I R A C L E -The Lord has definitely blessed us so much this week. We worked really hard , we exceeded our goals we set, and we reached the standards set by the mission. We're very happy about it! I know it was not us alone ( with the Lord's help ) and because of our faith , diligence, and obedience we achieved it! Miracles have definitely NOT ceased but I have to say it was very tiring.

Tha miracle of Teaching with the Spirit

The 1st MIRACLE had to have been the lesson we taught to Alicia. We taught her the Plan of Salvation. We covered it extensively, there was not one thing missed. As we were teaching her that the center of God's plan was Jesus Christ, her countenance changed and she became brighter and brighter.Everything made sense to her, the scriptures we read with her made sense and she asked thought provoking questions. You could just see during the lesson how her hope grew and that the Spirit was testifying to her that these things we were teaching were true. It was an amazing and spiritually filled lesson. On previous lessons when asked if she would offer the prayer she declined but this time I asked,"Alicia, how do you feel about saying the prayer?" She said,"Yeah, I can do that." She gave one of the most humble, spiritual filled prayer that I have ever heard; tears were streaming down my face as she prayed. Afterwards I said," I'm so grateful to be a missionary", she then rushed over to me and gave me a huge hug, The Spirit was so strong. She started to cry and then Sister Smart (her fellowshipper ) cried too. Alicia described the way she felt while offering the prayer. She said that words just could not describe the way she felt and she felt so happy and so good. A single prayer spoken by the Spirit changed her. She is amazing and she has such a strong spirit. I am so blessed to be a part of this.