This week has been a test of faith and patience for us both. We are enduring it well. We continue to plant many seeds, and through this work we will harvest the elect.

We found an amazing new investigator this past week. Gege is about 15 years old and he has a fire for the gospel. We taught him a couple of times early this week and he has begun to read the Book of Mormon. He loves it. He accepted the invitation to be baptized on Aug. 4th! He wants to come closer to Christ. We are excited to help him enter the waters and continue on.

This week I have been humbled as I have strived to figure out how to improve my efforts. On Saturday I studied some scriptures in the finding section of Preach My Gospel. What does the Lord ask you to do? 3 Nephi 27:21 "...for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do..." That hit me hard. I'm really here as a servant of Jesus Christ. I'm not just a missionary, but a representative of my Savior. I am here to do the things he would do if he were here....those are some pretty big sandles to fill. The more I ponder on it, the more peace comes to my heart, the more love I feel for those I have met and will meet, the more desire fills my soul do serve and minister and testify of the precious truths of the gospel. In sacrement mtg. yesterday, the subject was all about ministering (The Lord really has a sense of humor...), especially to the one. This work isn't about numbers, but about each one soul who comes unto Christ.

Slowly but surely the Lord is shaping Sis. Koeven and me. I know as we work faithfully, dilligently and effectively, being directed by the Spirit, we will see miracles occur here (and with faith they will begin today).

Have a wonderful week! Trust in the Lord and love the work (whatever your work may be)!

Love,

Sister Cottam

I forgot to send a couple of pics from the 4th of July: Our ward activity, the smores we made over the stove, and an awesome sign :)

learning by training

It's amazing how even in the midst of struggles, the Lord teaches us and lets us see his hand in our lives. I've noticed the little miracles each day this week and rejoiced in them from a cooling breeze in the sticky heat to finally getting in contact with an investigator. We found a couple new investigators this week and have been striving to follow up with our other investigators. After about two or three weeks of no contact with one investigator, Krista, we had the miracle of getting in contact with her again this week. She and her family have had a nasty virus going among them and she didn't want to pass it on. She told us that she has been reading the Book of Mormon and has thouroughly enjoyed it! We set up another appointment to see her this week. We are praying that we will be able to help her gain a testimony that the Book of Mormon is true and help her see how the restored gospel will truly bless her family and her life. We have a member coming with us to the lesson.

One of our new investigators this week actually lives in the other ward, but I'm so grateful for the opportunity we have had to find him. He met with missionaries in the past. We contacted him a week ago as he was outside his mom's apartment building. We invited him to come to church again and to learn more. He promised he would come. We didn't see him that week at church, but the next week, we went over to meet his mom and to teach her and he stopped by as we were leaving. He told us he wanted to talk to us when we had more time. Two days later we were in the same complex for another appointment and he saw us. He told us to come over after the appointment. Our appointment wasn't there, so we went over. He asked us a question about how we stay strong admist all the temptations. We bore frequent testimony as we answered his question, read with him in the Book of Mormon, and committed him to baptism. The Lord has prepared him to receive the gospel again into his life. The elders in the other ward will begin teaching him this week.

I love how the Lord answers prayers. This past week he has answered my pleas to find people to teach by helping me see how we need to improve in order to gain more investigators. We had interviews this week and all of the trainings were exactly what we needed. The Doctrine of Everything has been my theme this week. It means doing everything in your power in every aspect of the work to help people come unto Christ. We have evaluated our efforts and commited to do everything, not just what has been done, to accomplish this work from planning more effectively to working with members. I really feel like true success will come in this area only as we heavily involve the members and work with their friends and family (if only I had come to truly understand this 9 months ago ;) ). I feel that now is the time, that this is what this ward needs.

I'm so grateful for the training program. Sometimes I feel like I learn more that Sis. Koeven does. The Lord is preparing us with the tools to do this work, and we have set goals to work more diligently with members with whom we have meals and with our recent converts to find new investigators through the BRP and other tools to help the work move forward. We're excited to see the results.

I read this quote today that I wanted to share from Elder David F. Evans' talk "Was it worth it?" from this past general conference:

"In addition to the work we will do within our own family...'we labor dilligently to...persuade our...brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God...[2 Nephi 25:23]' ...

"President Thomas S. Monson explained how we can help when he said, 'Our missionary experiences have to be current. It is not enough to sit back and ponder former experiences. To be fulfilled, you have to continue to naturally and normally share the gospel.'

"The work of naturally and normally sharing the gospel with those we care about and love will be the work and joy of our lives...Whenever the gospel is shared, it is never 'just one boy'. Whenever conversion happens or someone returns to the Lord, it is a family that is saved."

Love you lots!!

Love,

Sister Cottam

families can be forever

This week we have still been striving to find new solid investigators. It hasn't neccissarily been a smooth couple of weeks, yet we have been blessed as we have pressed forward with faith. We have had several opportunities arise for service (one for a member refferal that we have struggled to catch at home) and were able to help the Cutrer family share the gospel through the BRP.

We found a new family, the Bicerras! Bro. Bicerra told us that from the first time he saw us, he knew that we were doing God's work. We have worked in the neighborhood over the past few months and have seen them every once in a while. They are so busy. Bro. Bicerra works during the day and then both Bro. and Sis. Bicerra drive ice cream trucks in the evening. We had an opportunity a couple months ago to do a small act of service for Sis. Bicerra (it was raining and we closed her gate as she pulled out in her car). Two weeks ago, it was 9:00p and we were walking back to our car. As we passed their house, Bro. Bicerra and his sons were playing basketball. We stopped and chatted for a minute, then headed to our car so we could be in on time.

Last week, we finally knocked on their side of the street and their oldest son answered. He was warm and inviting. They were busy at the moment, but Bro. Bicerra asked that we come back. The second time we came, they told us the same thing, but set a time for us to come the next day. When we arrived, they said they had about 20 minutes to sit down and talk. We of course took their offer. They have very firm faith in Christ and we could feel the spirit in their home. We talked for several minutes about our work as missionaries and about our beliefs. We testified of the importance of families, which they loved. After about 15 minutes, Bro. Bicerra asked what was the real difference between us and other religions. We testified that the gospel of Christ has been restored in it's fullness and purity again to the earth. The spirit testified of these words to their hearts and Sis. Bicerra said "wow". Though the time they had alloted was over, they asked that we go ahead and share our message. The spirit was strong as we taught and they accepted gratefully the opportunity to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. We can't wait to teach this family again tonight and help them progress towards baptism! People are prepared little by little to receive our message. I don't they would have been so warm to us if they hadn't seen us out and about as they had.

Tomorrow, we have an amazing mission fireside planned for investigators, recent converts, and less active members. I'm so excited. Kayla will be coming and we've been inviting people left and right. The spirit's going to be so strong, I'm excited and pray that a couple of people we have invited will come. This is an experience that I think will really help them progress.

All of the things going on back home, the family we found, and the mission's emphasis on finding families has caused me to reflect on the importance of family. I'm so grateful the blessing of having mine forever! I want others to enjoy that same joy!

I love you all!!

Love,

Sis. Cottam