What a wonderful week!!

Dear family,

This week has been wonderful! We were super busy and super productive... we had a trainer-trainee meeting, interviews with President Jenkins, exchanges with a sister training leader, and 8 people come to church yesterday. Along with all of that, we found 10 new investigators and taught 17 member-present lessons. This is crazy because usually we have about 3 people come to church, about 3 new investigators, and maybe 9 member-present lessons in a week. It has been a week of miracles! Each one of these numbers represents small miracles that we were able to find each person and help them increase their faith. I wish I could share each story with you, but I'll just share a few.

We found a lady named Tracy and her daughter, Reese as we were out with our ward mission leader. We thought we were going to a recent move-in, but it turns out that he is living with a nonmember lady who has been to the visitors center at the temple and has been learning the lessons from elders there for about a week. She went to church the Sunday before we met her (she went to a different ward) and she already wanted to be baptized. She was amazed when she opened the door to us because she thought the other elders sent us. Really, they should have sent her to us as a referral, but it worked out that we found her that night. The next day we met with her and committed her to be baptized on August 31st and her daughter also committed to that day too! We are super excited for them!!! Tracy might have some challenges to overcome before she gets baptized (word of wisdom issues) but we're going to work with her and stay close to her.

Another miracle we had was being able to find Ryan. We saw his roommate (a lady) on the street one night and talked to her about the gospel. She was hesitant at first but then said we could come back and tell her about our youth program she wanted for her daughter. When we went back for our appointment, she wasn't there but Ryan was. He loves the Bible and didn't want to hear about the Book of Mormon at first, but then some of his misconceptions were answered, he started to like what we were saying about our church. He came to church yesterday and we met with him last night. We taught the Restoration and I challenged him to be baptized! He didn't say yes, but he didn't say no and we're going back, so that's great! We really think he could be baptized soon because he's so prepared to hear about the gospel. He lost his job and he's trying to sell his house so this is a perfect time to have a new beginning for him.

We have so many investigators it's hard to know which one to talk about! They're all wonderful children of God and when I look into their eyes I can see that in them. I love feeling Heavenly Father's love for His children. I have gotten more used to going out of my comfort zone, but it will take time to feel comfortable doing it all the time.

Another miracle I experienced this week is that my relationship with Sister Snyder is going a lot better. I have tried to be humble and I've prayed to know how I can make it better. We have companionship inventory multiple times a week and that makes it easier because I'm not saving up everything to tell her once a week. I have learned to humble myself and think less of my own hurt feelings and focus on how I can make the situation better. She can still frustrate me, but I am learning to pray like never before to be able to handle it. I know that it's only because of her weaknesses that she hurts me and that she's not trying to. I know that I also have a lot of weaknesses that make it easy for me to feel annoyed with her. Having the perspective that it's her job to push me and make me do things I'm not comfortable with makes me feel better. This week she put me in charge of the phone... I get to call everyone and text them and that's a lot of people. We call a lot of members to help us and give us rides and we call our leaders and investigators.

The members here are the best! They live in pretty nice houses and have good food and they're really generous. I ate fish the other day at someone's house. It wasn't too bad and I didn't even make my disgusted face! I have no idea what kind of fish it was... I wasn't even going to ask. One of the relief society presidents is taking us to Good will today to buy clothes just because she's nice and another member is taking us to lunch for Sister Snyder's birthday. We are so blessed to work with such good bishops, ward mission leaders, relief society presidents, and awesome ward members.

This week I made a goal to memorize the 100 scripture mastery scriptures by General Conference. I've wanted to memorize scriptures for a long time and Dad said it helped him on his mission to not get discouraged. I think it's helping me already! I've been trying to be more grateful and more enthusiastic about missionary work. Every time I talk to someone I try to share my excitement for what I get to do every day. I have found so much joy in this work! I love coming home exhausted because I know that we have done our best for the day.

Thank you for all the emails and letters!!! I feel so blessed to have such a supportive family! I feel bad that I don't send more to you... I really do feel so sad that I don't send more. I have good intentions, I just never seem to have time. I'm also sorry that I don't know how to send pictures.

I love you all! I know this Gospel has the fullness of the truth and it will make us happy if we live it. I know that because we live in this world of sorrow and sin, we have so many opportunities to develop Heavenly Father's qualities. It is a blessing a blessing to live in a fallen world! We have the opportunity to apply the Atonement in our lives and put off the natural man. We have the chance to exercise faith, repent, and receive the Holy Ghost more fully in our lives. Something we focus on in our teaching is the Doctrine of Christ or the Gospel (read about it in 2 Nephi 31). Our Father in Heaven's plan for us to return to Him and become like Him is so simple. We just need to strengthen our faith, repent throughout our lives, renew our covenants regularly, and continue with patience until the end of our lives, always improving and trying to be more like Him. He even gives us trials to help us with the refinement process. Trials are evidence of His love for us because He knows that we can become more than we are. He knows that it might be uncomfortable to change, but also that life is so much better when we live more in-line with how He lives. Heavenly Father wants us to love to keep the commandments and to follow His will. That's why we have agency, so that eventually we will see that following His will and trusting Him really is better than following our own natural man desires.

I am starting to peel away the natural man in myself by applying the Atonement through praying to Heavenly Father. I am seeing my faults and trying to improve. I want to apologize for all the things I used to do before I came on my mission. I know I wasn't the easiest person to live with. I'm sorry for my stubbornness and my self-centeredness. I know I wasn't a bad person before my mission, but I know I don't want to be that person again. My trials have refined me. In a way I feel weak. I feel like the Lord is still tearing me down to make me something better, but I'm also trying to accept and love correction. I'm trying to love this growth even though it hurts. I know that my mission is changing me already. Some days I ask myself, what if I didn't come? Life would be so different... if I knew it would be this hard, I might not have been so excited. But, I know without a shadow of doubt that this is where He wants me to be. I know I chose to come here before I came to earth. Even though it's really hard, I find joy every day and I'm trying to keep those good feelings around more and more.

Thank you again for everything! I thank the Lord every day for so much support and love. I still need your prayers. It's amazing that the Lord could use such imperfect servants to do His work. I am so aware of how much I need help in this work. I feel like I'm struggling and I don't know if this is how it will be my whole mission, but it's so worth it because I'm so grateful for the people I've met and how I've seen the Lord use me as an instrument in His hands.

Have a wonderful week! Ask the Lord to show you how you can be better and be willing to change. It feels so great to feel the Atonement working in your life. I love you all!!!

Love, Sister Sallstrom

Hurrah for Isreal!!!!