3 Month Mark

Hola. :)
I'd like you all to know I'm going to be famous. :) Yesterday a film crew came in to make a commercial about Old Town.... which includes the Mormon Battalion of course! I am the star of the outfitting room (one of the rooms on our tour). Ha. :) So if between October and February you can somehow figure out a way to channel into the local San Diego TV station, you'll see me there making a fool of myself on television. :)
Heavenly Father blessed us LOTS with our investigators this week! :) Vinod is doing great! He accepted a baptism date! However, we'll still trying to get him to understand that church isn't something we do just for fun and that we're different than every other church... and that baptism is a life-long commitment, not something we do just to "check out" the religion. But he's starting to feel something... whenever he comes to FHE or has lessons with us, he says he "feels good"... as well as when he prays. He's having subtle spiritual experiences, we just need to help him recognize what they mean. :) He's such a great kid though! I love it when he prays... "in the name of the Jesus... amen." He called Jesus, "the Jesus Christ." It's great.
We also added two new investigators this week! One is Raj, who is also from India. She came here just over a year ago and since then has gained the strongest testimony of God and Jesus Christ... and she was originally Hindu! She has gone through so much trying to establish herself in America, and the way she talks about God and Jesus... we were in shock. And when we told her she needed to read the Book of Mormon and follow the first principles/ordinances of the gospel she didn't even hesitate. She was all for it. :) So she accepted a date the first night we met her!! So prepared!! Unfortunately though, she told her parents back in India... and they weren't very happy. :( :( Stupid Satan. So she's not exactly planning on it anymore... but we're going to keep trying, so please please please pray for Raj, and for her parents' hearts to be softened. And the other investigator we added is Shekema. She's only 18, which is a hard age sometimes, but she seems relatively promising... like she's got a good head on her shoulders. So hopefully she'll keep our appointments. :) We're going to see her again tomorrow.
Oh! And biggest miracle of the week! I almost forgot! We have an investigator that we have been on the verge of dropping for a couple weeks now... we haven't been putting much effort into him anymore cause he's been so unresponsive. But for some reason he actually came to the Battalion when we invited him. He was with one of his member friends. After they left they had like a 4 hour conversation... and later that night we got a text that said, "Okay, Tucker convinced me. I want him to be the one to baptize me though." ???? It was SO out of the blue!!! :) :) So we're super excited for him... now we just need to get him living the commandments, which might be a little tricky, but we'll work it out. :) I can't even tell you how random and unexpected that was, but hey, guess the Lord knew he was ready even though we had no idea.
Here's a snippet (that's a word, right? :) ) from my journal this week about an awesome experience I had: "A couple came into the battalion tonight and I took them on a tour... the lady was from England and didn't seem super intrigued by the religious aspects (although she was super smiley and nice). So I prayed for help with a skill I have been really struggling with: the ability to initiate a natural, genuine conversation with visitors and THEN tying in the gospel as prompted by the spirit. And it worked! Of course, it helped that they were talkative people and had a lot of questions. :) But I didn't feel nervous or awkward the whole time I was talking to them, and I really felt the spirit throughout the conversation--we talked a lot about the church and the Book of Mormon, and even though they didn't refer, they were willing to read it. I KNOW I planted a really good seed, and after they left I just felt like that was what was supposed to happen with that couple, and Heavenly Father was proud of me. :) It felt so good!" Now if only I could remember that experience and apply it every time I talk to visitors at the battalion, I'd be in good shape... ;)
I love you all!! I know I say that every week but it's true!! :) Keep strengthening your testimony! I know that what I'm trying to do with mine... I feel like it's never strong enough. But hey that's what life's about... we HAVE to keep building our testimonies til the day we die! And someday they'll be perfect. :)
Love,
Sister Madsen