Fairfield is White Already to Harvest

Hey y'all!

This week we found 2 families!  2!  I can't even believe it... I've never found a whole family of non-members where everyone is willing to sit down and talk with us... and this week we found 2!  :D  The Lord is definitely moving His work forward in Fairfield!  

The first is Cynthia and her 14 year old son Reuben.  There are other kids too, but they aren't to the age of accountability yet.  But they did sit and listen to us, as much as little kids have the attention span for anyway. :)  We contacted Cynthia a few weeks ago when she was taking her other son Mario to the bus stop.  She told us that her ex-husband is a Mormon, and that recently her son has been asking questions about his dad's religion.  And then we showed up - coincidence?  I think not!  We came back on Wednesday, and of course it was pouring rain... so we showed up on the doorstep of someone we hardly know soaking wet... but she let us in and gave us towels to dry off a bit. :)  We taught her the Restoration, and then we came back on Friday when Rueben was home so we could teach the lesson to him too.  They are both so open minded, and accepted the invitation to be baptized!  Right now we're working towards December 6th for both of them. :)

Next is William and his family.  Sister Funk and I contacted into him a while ago, and he showed some interest in learning about family history.  We finally were able to get in with him and his wife this week, and all 3 of his teenage daughters sat down with us too!  We were planning on helping them get started with their family history because that is what he had expressed interest in, but instead they started asking questions about what we believe.  So we ended up teaching the Restoration and inviting them to read and pray about the Book of Mormon.  We'll follow up with that when we go over to really get them started on their family history this week. :)

We had a great lesson with John and his family this week too.  They are continuing to read from the Book of Mormon together every day, and it is strengthening them as a family and helping them to grow in the church.  John has started to announce his baptism to his extended family... They are all very involved in the church that they grew up in - the Church of Samoa - and are VERY opposed to John being baptized... :(  It's heartbreaking, because John is so close to all of his family, but he also wants to do what he knows is right.  We're praying that his family will open their hearts and that he will continue to have the strength to stand up for what he believes in.  We had a SUPER spiritual lesson with them on Saturday where he told us about one particular sister's reaction - he basically bore his testimony to us, and his family all told of how they have grown stronger as a family and stronger in their testimonies just in the past few weeks.  They have come a LONG way since I first met them.  It is AMAZING to see the change that the gospel can have in people. :)  I think that's one of my most favorite things about being a missionary.

We also saw the Castillos this week - Stephanie, who is 13 or 14, is the only member in her family and she's less active.  Her mom has investigated for about 8 years but never really felt the desire to join.  Sister Funk and I met with them a few times when I first got to the area but then we decided to give them a bit of space so they could decide if they wanted to continue to meet with us.  Well, we stopped by last Saturday and had a really good discussion with them.  And then SHE set up the return appointment with us.  Which is HUGE, because just a few months ago it seemed like we were pulling teeth to get her to set an appointment with us.  We went back on Wednesday and she told us that she notices a difference when we are here.  And she knows that she wants it in her life, she just doesn't know if she can do everything she needs to in order to have it.  That's a start.  At least she knows she wants to meet with us - she asked us if we could meet every Wednesday.  And hopefully we'll be able to help her make the steps to come closer to Christ.  They did come to church yesterday, which was awesome. Hopefully we'll be able to see them there again next week. 

Also, Alice was able to make it back out to church yesterday!  She has been having a lot of back problems since the day before her baptism, but she's not letting that stop her!  I really admire her strength and courage. :)

We have seen so many miracles this week - this fair field truly is white already to harvest!  :)  I love y'all and hope you have a great week!

Sister Ririe

D&C 4:4

p.s. Sister Walker sent me a picture of Maria's baptism, so I thought I'd forward it on to y'all. :)