dripping with the spirit

Dear family,

“None of us should be like the fisherman who thinks he has been fishing all day
when in reality he has spent most of his time getting to and from the water, eating
lunch, and fussing with his equipment. Fishing success is related to how long you
have your line in the water, not to how long you are away from the apartment.
Some fishermen are away from home for twelve hours and have their line in the
water for ten hours. Other fishermen are away from home for twelve hours and
have their line in the water for only two hours. This last type may wonder why
they do not have the same success as others.
“The same principle applies to missionaries, whom the Master called ‘fishers of
men.’ A missionary’s line should drop into the fishing water the moment he or
she leaves the apartment” (Dallin H. Oaks, seminar for new mission presidents,
June 20, 2000).

PMG 152

We've been putting this to practice this week and it's been a week of miracles!!! Lola is amazing. She is the 82-year-old mother of a member in the ward. She is here visiting and getting some medical work done. Wednesday night we got a call from the member telling us she wanted to be baptized and we set up an appointment. Then we saw her everday before sunday. Her only challenge was coffee. She slipped Friday, but then we gave her a picture of Jesus Christ being baptized with a callender with her date on it and in big letters "Don't Drink Coffee!" It did the trick. She wanted so much to be baptized. She looked at the picture and remembered the words and didn't do it! She was ready for this Sunday. It was a beautiful service. Everyone was so emotional and the spirit was so sweet. The joy in the room was palpable! I realized with this experience just how little we do as missionaries. It's not us who prepares these people. Lola had been investigating for 18 years. The LORD has been preparing her all her life. We are but tools in HIS hands.

Another Miracle happened Thursday night. We were at the church waiting for an investigator to come to an appointment and decided to step outside. We saw another Spanish-speaking man and invited him in right there. We invited him to be baptized. We found out he'd been meeting with the missionaries in Virginia before and had gone to church there. He did not accept a Book of Mormon at the time but he came to church! and we have had constant contact with him. We have great faith that he will progress to baptism.

Have a wonderful week!

With love,

Hna. Cottam

new and improved

Dear Family,

Thanks for the pictures! And I got Jacob's wedding invitation. I'm so happy for you and Athena!

There have been some big changes in our area. The Spanish elders who served with us in Black Creek have been removed and we have been given their area as well as ours. We have also moved to their apartment. It's been a bit overwhelming but I am loving this opportunity to work with more of the members and have a change of scenery. 

We are working with two people who are looking at being baptized this month: Celso and Carlos.

Celso is the cousin of a member in the ward and just moved here. We met him when he came with his cousin to church and shared a very brief lesson with him, challenging him to be baptized the 22nd. He accepted! We saw him later in the week and taught him about prayer and the word of wisdom. Coffee is his main challenge. He has drunken it his whole life and he's having a hard time giving it up, so we are working with him on that.

Carlos is someone we met on the street. We invited him to hear of a message and he accepted! The first time we taught him he dominated the conversation--he knows a lot about the Bible and religion. We challenged him the the 15th, he accepted. Later the member who had been in the lesson told us that after the lesson he had expressed to her that it was way to soon. Well, he didn't come to church anyway, so we changed his date to the 29th the next time we saw him. This time he was a lot more toughtful and had done some research on the internet. He has accepted the new date and is doing well.

Love you all!

Hna. Cottam

I'm doing well,

we're really busy.

Love you all!