Families. That's Really What It's All About.

Friends and Family!

Hello this is Sister Warren. Sister Fredrick is amazing! She didn't tell me to write that but she is. I have never met a missionary so focused and powerful. We are going to have an amazing time together. I am from San Jose, CA but left my mission from Vienna, Austria. I have been serving for a "little bit over a year" and go home 3 months after Sister Fredrick. But enough about me. Reasons I love Sister Fredrick: 

1) She is bold 

2) She is sooo thoughtful 

3) She leads by example 

4) She knows what she wants and then she goes and gets it 

5) She teaches and testifies by the Spirit unlike I have ever seen before 

6) She is always humbly looking for ways to improve and change 

7) She is soo much fun to be around and really easy to talk to 

8) Her family and friends are really important to her- she is loyal 

9) She is truly changing on her mission which is the ultimate sign of how converted she is. 

I have only known her for a few days now and you have all known her longer but it might be nice to hear what she's like as a missionary. We are all so blessed to know her. Have a good m-day, Monday, also known as missionary day.

I let Sister Warren write to you some background about herself, and this is what I get. It goes to show what kind of missionary she is, always thinking about others. I am tremendously blessed that every moment we work side-by-side, I am learning. She seeks to do her best and teach her best at all times. She is brilliant, but humble. I couldn't ask for a better companion to end my mission with. Balancing the end of a mission can be hard. Some lose focus and let their thoughts drift and their work fade, but this was never my intention for the short time I have to serve. My intentions are to use every waking moment of the Lords time wisely and how he has commanded. Sister Warren backs me 100% and leads me by her example 100%.

Sister Warren has kept the amazing-companion-streak going. I'm so blessed ahhhhh I don't understand it sometimes.

I'm excited to see all that is to come in the future of my mission and after. 

President,

The start of this transfer has been a flooding in of information and blessings. With changes comes the opportunity to expand my horizons. Sister Warren, just being Sister Warren, has helped me do some fine-tuning this week. She's been another "gift" that you have given me.

One lesson in particular that I loved this week was with an investigator we gained from the new half of the stake. Her name is Phoenix, 9 years old. She has been taught all of the lessons but has never felt comfortable being baptized. Yesterday, as we met the family for the first time, Heavenly Father showed us quite obviously what the cause of the hold up was. We were sitting in the living room with the two parents, Phoenix, and the little sister. As we tried to understand the concerns she has regarding baptism, it dawned on me that the parents need to feel like this is right for her as well. I asked the parents how they felt about Phoenix following Jesus Christ. They said that it would be good for her, but they want her to do it for only her. At that moment the thought came to me that if they don't see the urgency of being baptized, they must have questions and concerns about why they were baptized.

We asked the parents what they remembered about their baptisms. The father, who is a return missionary, said that a huge part of what he remembered is the support his family gave him. We related it back to how they, being Phoenix's parents need to support her and be in the same page as her. We told the parents that our purpose in coming to their home is not only to help Phoenix learn and be baptized, but to bring eternal happiness to the family. We told the parents we don't want to just teach her, we want to teach them all so that their whole family could be brought back to Heavenly Father. The mother began to be teary eyed. We asked her what she wants to learn more about. She asked that we teach her the blessings that come from being sealed in the temple. They were sealed and have not been back for 14 years. We said we would love to do that and set up to teach them family home evening tonight.

Families. That's really what it's all about. I left that home feeling like we lifted burdens and saved an aching soul. I cannot wait to go back tonight and be an instrument in the Lord's hands to bring happiness and joy to this family.

I am grateful for the training at MLC that gave me great insight into myself and into the Lord's way of hastening his work.

Thank you for your amazing training on conversion. 

Love,
Sister Fredrick