Amazing Missionary Fireside

Our week out here was really good. Elder Gutierrez is from Las Almas New Mexico. The past few years he has been living in Las Vegas though. He has been out for 9 months. We have been doing really good and have been seeing a lot of cool things happen. This week, I don't really remember a lot. It has kind of been a whirlwind. We had an amazing missionary fireside last night. It was cool to be a part of another one, as we did one when I was in McMinnville Stake in Newberg. We, as missionaries and the stake, have been really pushing this event for the past 6 weeks or so. We had a great turnout! The entire chapel was full and some of the overflow. These firesides are so powerful. And although our numbers as a missionary choir were small, the Spirit really made up for us and delivered our songs strongly. It was cool. President Stevens (Stake President) spoke about keeping our eyes on the Savior. He told a story about a young boy who was asking his dad how to plow in straight lines. The dad told him to pick an object in the distance and keep your eyes on that object. The dad left and came back and the line was straight for a little, and then started looking like an "S". He asked his son what happened with keeping his eyes on an object. The son said that he did. He picked their cow Bessie and follow her and then she walked into the barn and he didn't know what to do after that. I thought that was funny! He gave a great talk about focusing on the Savior. That was really cool and perfect for everyone there. President Tateoka sang Savior, Redeemer of My Soul and that was powerful. Sister McCall was supposed to give a brief testimony, but her car had been giving her trouble all day. She left Portland around 8am and was running really late. It was amazing because the Lord gave us the idea (and actually prompted President Stevens to help prepare Bailey for this) to ask Bailey (a convert of about 16 months) to fill in if need be. And the need was there for her to do that! The Lord truly had her ready and prepared to do that. And she gave a great testimony. Sister McCall walked in right after that and was able to sit and enjoy the program. It was a blessing that she was there to be able to hear and listen to the music and the spoken words. 

Other than that, things are going really well. We are seeing a lot of miracles. We are really busy. Brother Beaver is progressing a lot. He has been to church 8 weeks in a row and is making great progress. Sister Buckley, a lady we are teaching, has been doing great as well. She is getting very close to baptism and we are excited about that. It has been cool to see the faith of the ward continue to grow. A member of the Bishopric brought a non-member family with them to the fireside last night, so that was great! We had a farewell again this week. This was for Tanner. He is going to Uruguay. He has helped us a lot with lessons and it has been fun to see him prepare. We have another farewell next week for Ethan! The missionary spirit in the ward is great right now.