Freely you have received...

"Freely you have received and our Heavenly Father will expect you freely to share with His other sons and daughters these glorious truths. We will attain our exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom only on the condition that we share with our Father's children the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and observe the commandments that will enrich our lives here and hereafter." - President George Albert Smith

Holy powerful right?! This is one of my most favorite quotes this week. I read it the other day and it just hit me like, "Woah! That is so true, we have freely been given this gospel and it is our responsibility as members and missionaries to give it freely, no questions asked." I know that what President Smith has said is so true! It is our duty to spread the Gospel to all those who need it. If we didn't, we wouldn't be the true church here on the Earth. This quote just makes me think, "well I better increase my testimony so I have enough faith to fulfill that responsibility more fully." Anyway- I just really liked that quote and wanted to share it with all of you. 

This week has been full of ups and downs, but it's been so great.

First off- TAIRAH AND JARED came to the Visitor Center on Saturday. I was wiggin' out. I was sitting there reading my scrips and I look over to the door and see this dark-haired girl coming up to the door and I think,"Oh, she kind of looks like Tairah," and turn back to my reading. Then I look up again and it IS Tairah. Ha ha. I couldn't believe my eyes. I ran up to the door and gave her and all the boys the biggest hugs. I was a little hesitant, however, because I wasn't sure about the rules of seeing my family. I thought I better call President Keyes, but then again, I had no idea there were coming and what was I supposed to do? Shut my eyes and run away? Ha ha, so I just did what I thought was best, I took them on a tour! Ha ha, probably my most awkward tour I've given yet (sorry guys) but I honestly had no idea how to act as a missionary and as a sister. Hopefully it wasn't too boring for them. I had so much fun seeing them- I thought I would be all sad when they left, but I tried not to let myself get too "homesicky" or away from the work, so I surprisingly did just fine. It made me so happy to see how bright all of them looked, and it just made me so happy to see how awesome of parents Tairah and Jared are. I couldn't ask for a better family. I feel so lucky and blessed! Love you guys! Thanks for coming in and making my whole day!

My sister Tairah and me!

Next- a couple weeks ago Sister Jones and I got a call from a man who said we had stopped by his house a couple months ago and had given him a card with our information on it. He told us he wanted to learn more and asked if we could come teach him. Ha ha, I thought, "When does this ever happen as a missionary?!" So we finally set up a time to go see him, and when we pulled up to his house I knew exactly who this man was and I distinctly remembered giving him our card when I was with Sister Loo after he told us he was sick and didn't want us to come in. I remember feeling so disappointed that we couldn't teach him and I thought, "I wonder if he'll actually use this card." O ye of little faith I am, he totally used it and called us, and how lucky am I that I got to be the one who gave him the card, and the one to see that he called and wanted to learn more! So we get to his house and he is just the nicest man ever. He's this big, African-American guy who was just a big teddy bear. He has a 15 yr old son with muscular dystrophy and lost his wife in 2007. He has a heart of gold. We taught him about the Restoration of the Gospel and he loved it, he said he felt so good and was so excited to read the Book of Mormon. He told us he couldn't wait to come to church and that he would be there every Sunday. It was so awesome! He committed to be baptized and couldn't wait for us to meet his son (who was at school at the time). After the lesson was over, we started leaving and he gave our team up the biggest hug and as I extended my hand for him to shake he leans in and tries to give me a hug. Ha ha, I said, "ohhhh sorry I can't hug you as a missionary, but you can give our team up a hug for the both of us." Ha ha, he was so sweet and genuine.

We met with him again on Saturday and took him on a church tour (well Sister Jones and another sister did because I had the flu) Anyway- Sister Jones told me it was pretty awesome and that he loved being inside the church and couldn't get over how good he felt. He set a baptismal date for Feb 4th and couldn't wait! We were both so happy and just felt so blessed that the Lord had put him in our path right after all of our past investigators had dropped us. He never skips a beat that Heavenly Father of ours.

Sunday, Sister Jones and I went to our other ward that we cover, 5th branch (all the singles) and decided we better show our face a little more. We're only partially covering so we're really only supposed to be there when they have investigators for us to teach, but we really wanted them to know how much we loved them and how excited we are to be serving in that ward as well, even if it's only for a little bit of our time. They are all so great, they are all so loving and just have so much to offer. Because there aren't very many of them, they're all super close and are working hard to bring people closer to the Gospel. On Sunday they had what's called "Break the Fast" dinner and so we ate with them, and got to talk to them for a bit, and they're so funny! We just love 'em to death! Hopefully, with this new investigator we're teaching today from the Branch we'll have more of an opportunity to get closer to them. 

Well all, I think that's it for my stories today. I'm still trying to learn Spanish, and roll my R's. I really struggle with that one. I'm still learning how to be a missionary, everyday I feel like a newbie, I swear I hardly know anything still. Ha ha. Probably a good thing, keeps me humble! I love this work, I feel so blessed, and so thankful to my Heavenly Father for the experiences He allows me to be apart of each day. I love you all, and thanks again for all your letters of love and support, sorry if I haven't been the best at writing back! Go forth and fight the good fight! 

Love, Hermana Conrow  

P.S.- sorry for the lack of pics, for some reason my card/adaptor won't work on the computers we use to upload photos anymore... Maybe one day I'll be able to figure it out!