Week 12

Hello friends and family!!

        We just got our transfer calls from President McCune and it looks like Sister Rees will be transferred to BYU Campus and I will be staying here in American Fork to train a new sister from the MTC... again. I can't say that I'm immediately thrilled but I guess I should be grateful for the trust that Heavenly Father has put in me to train another sister! I'm just tired! I haven't been with a companion for more than one transfer but I am absolutely thrilled to stay in American Fork! The work here is absolutely amazing and I love the people we are currently teaching.

       This week has been amazing! We've been teaching machines! We've taught some amazing investigators and members and our numbers have greatly improved. I've learned, this week, to rely heavily on my Heavenly Father. I've learned to humble myself and I have learned to dive into Preach My Gospel and the Scriptures every chance I get! We had the opportunity to speak with President this past Saturday and I got to express to him my concerns and feelings. He feels a lot like a father to me in this mission and I always want to tell him all the cool, amazing things that are happening and all the small miracles! This week we have been given bags and bags of groceries from some of our lessons and we didn't know how we were possibly going to eat any of it. Well, yesterday we were driving home from church and we saw this kitten running in the middle of a very busy area. We pulled over and caught the cat. Boy, did she smell!!! (yep, it's a she... I checked!) Anyways, we took her home, bathed her, and gave her a blanket to lay in. We then figured she must be hungry! We tried feeding her small portions of a cheese stick but she seemed to stick her nose up at it. So we got the brilliant idea that we could give her some of the lunch meat that we were given by a member. We tore up small pieces and layed them on her blanket. She sniffed them and then chowed down! We knew that we couldn't keep her so we contacted some families. We found a family that would take her and we were absolutely excited! She has been a fun way to relax and to care for but we are so happy to see her go and to a great family at that!

          We also had the amazing opportunity to attend the Work of Salvation training broadcast for all full-time missionaries and church leadership. The MTC choir that sung was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! It looked as if the entire MTC was there. We got asked several times where we were headed and were directed to sit in the MTC seating. We kindly had to tell them that we are serving here in the Utah Provo Mission in American Fork and that we have been out of the MTC for 6-12 weeks! We got the typical, "oh. well. That's nice!"....... I thought it was pretty great! haha My favorite was Russell M. Nelson (I believe) when he was talking about serving with love and with your heart. He also said that the handbook tells us what to do but not how to do it. I love that he said these things because it's evident in my mission so far that not every investigator is the same. They don't have the same background, they don't have the same knowledge, they don't have the same way of learning, and they all don't start at the same level of understanding. It's important, as a missionary, that we come to their level, that we treat every investigator differently. There will be times when we have to choose between the letter of the law and the Spirit of the law, which gets very difficult, especially if we are trying to be obedient. I'm not saying missionaries should be blatently disobedient to gain new members but sometimes we need to work by their needs. We are always told to teach people not lesson, and I am now starting to understand what that means. Thinking about training again is pretty difficult but I am ready for this challenge! There are exciting things to come in this next transfer; baptisms, parades, new investigators, etc. It's time to put my shoulder to the wheel and make this next transfer amazing! I thank all of you for the support and love that I have received! Feel free to write me or email me anytime. My address here is;

Sister Maren Schultz

1278E 530N

American Fork, Utah

84003

I got the fun chance to decorate an elder's planner for this next transfwe

I love you all very very much! <3

Love always,

Sister Maren Schultz