Hello!

This week at the Provo MTC passed by like a whirlwind. The days are long, but the weeks are short, and I am looking at just three short weeks until I am in Argentina (keep your fingers crossed that my visa comes in). If the time in the field are anything like this, I will be back in the states before I know it.

I got my first taste of a real investigator when I recieved an inbound call during our time at the Referal Center from a man named Samuel. He had many questions about God and forgiveness, and had been going to many churches to find the answers. I felt prompted to skip the normal first discussion and hop directly to Jesus Christ and the Atonement, which really helped him realize that there was hope for him.

We also talked alot about who God was and what he wanted from us. After going about 40 minutes over our alloted time in the Referal Center, I felt terrible that we were disasterously late for class, and I set up an appointment to call back and tell him more, but also let him talk to Elder Monroe, our Zone Leader, who had just reported for his own RC duties.

Elder Monroe talked to him for a further hour, and taught him the bulk of the first discussion, and committed him to baptism, if he found out that what he was hearing was true, and Samuel accepted. (Talk about Golden, huh?)

On Saturday, we called back for our return appointment, and talked about modern-day prophets and prayer, and we urged him to go to Church. We asked him to read a talk by Thomas S. Monson so he could find out for himself if he was really a prophet.

On Monday, we called him back again, to see how church went, and HE LOVED IT!!! He met the missionaries serving in his area, and set up an appointment to talk to them today (Tuesday) and is very much looking forward to it.

One of Samuel's main concerns was not the fact that he could not pray to God, but that he was wary of praying for his forgiveness (which he thought, by praying for it, it made him selfish). So we urged him to pray more honestly with God and to read the book of Mormon.

Then, after a long pause, HE said that he had an idea, that he wanted us and him to pick a chapter from the Book of Mormon, read it, and we would talk about it when we called back on Wednesday. How awesome is that? We told him that that idea came from the Holy Ghost telling him that he should read the Book of Mormon, and then he got all the more exited.

I am so happy for his progress, and how much he has come to know His Heavenly Father's love for him and the true forgiving power of the atonement. I pray that he will continue to learn and grow and will eventually truly understand what "Coming unto Christ" means.

It leaves Hermana Greene and I on such a high that It makes me want to be a better missionary and a better person. Its so exiting to see this man learn about the gospel and find such joy in the scriptures -- a joy that sometimes we forget.

Hopefully, on Wednesday, we can start teaching Him all about the Plan of Salvation.

Regrettably, we have to slowly move away as he begins to trust in the missionaries in his area, so they can help him on his journey into Baptism and beyond.

Please pray for his continued interest and success. He, the missionaries in his area, Sister Greene, and I would very much appreciate it.

All my love,
Hermana Tritsch