EMAIL: Mon, November 12, 2012   10:18  PM

Subject:  Connor's Baptism

Hello Y'All:

This week was a great week. On Saturday we had the baptism of Connor Ivanovsky. It was a great experience!! I love being at baptisms and feeling the confirming witness of the Holy Ghost. It was great to see the Ivanovsky family and the joy that they each felt as Connor was baptized. I know this is a moment that they will remember in their family, and I also hope it strengthened their testimonies of the gospel. Sister Ivanovsky has a beautiful voice, so she asked me to sing a duet with her at the baptism. We sang "How Great Thou Art." Singing was such a spiritual highlight of the baptism for me because I best feel the Holy Ghost through music. I was very grateful that Sister Ivanovsky let me sing with her, and I know that it built a stronger friendship between us. I love the Ivanovsky family so much. I am excited to keep working with them and helping to teach Connor the new member lessons. I pray that the whole family will stay active in the church now that Connor is baptized because it will only help them endure faithfully to the end and have a happier life and family.

Last week on Fast Sunday, two of my recent converts bore their testimony for the first time in sacrament meeting (I may have encouraged both of them to try). Both testimonies were a very sweet experience for me to listen and feel the spirit. It is great to see the progression of recent converts and the growth of their testimonies. Khek bore his sweet testimony about how much he loves the gospel and the priesthood. Khek knows the gospel is true, but we are still trying to teach him how to prioritize that in his life over school, work, etc. He is doing better now though and even went Home Teaching for the first time last week. Brother Harper also bore his testimony in sacrament. It was a very sweet and simple testimony but so powerful. He thanked everyone for their love and support and then he told a story about tithing. Last month the Harper Family did not have much money to pay their tithing. It was their first time ever to have to pay tithing, and so they would just have to act on faith because they had never paid tithing before. If they paid the full 10% then they wouldn't have had enough money left over to pay the rest of their bills. Brother Harper was doubtful and thought they should just pay a partial tithe, but Sister Harper insisted they would pay the full amount. They paid a full tithe not knowing how they would pay their bills for the month. Within the week, the Harper's received an unexpected check in the mail from the insurance. After many calls and searching, the Harpers found the money was from an upgrade to their security system that they were being reimbursed for. The check was for the exact amount of money that the Harpers needed to pay the rest of the bills that month. It was for the exact amount of tithing that they had faithfully paid. What a great experience to gain a testimony of tithing!! I love the Harpers so much, and I am so thankful they paid a full tithe even though they may not have had enough money for the month. It is amazing that brand new members of the church could have such great faith. I believe everyone that heard this testimony about tithing from Brother Harper felt the spirit confirm the truthfulness.

Sister Harper shared another story about 9-year-old Quinlan the other day. Quinlan was outside with some of his relatives while Brother and Sister Harper were inside. Apparently some of the relatives were not using appropriate language. Quinlan heard this and chastised them saying, "Hey! Y'all better watch your language. I'm a Mormon now!" The relatives were so impressed by his example they even commented to Sister Harper of the change in Quinlan. How cute and amazing is that? Quinlan is barely a member of the church and is still a child, yet he is standing up for our values and the way we should live our lives. I am so proud of Quinlan. I wish we could all be as valiant and courageous as Quinlan.

We taught the Word of Wisdom to an investigator this week named Sister Williams. She loves tea (as does everyone else down here). We talked about it and she was willing to live the word of wisdom. She asked about herbal tea, which is okay if needed. She was wondering if the tea she drinks was okay, so I told her to go get the box and I would gladly check it for her. The tea she had was definitely not okay and I told her so. As we finished the lesson and went to leave, I still had her box of tea, so I took it with me. She may have been a little bit upset, but really Sister Williams knew it would be better if the tea was gone so she wouldn't be tempted. That was a fun experience to actually take away someone's tea- Sister Hansen was so surprised that I did. It wasn't my intention originally to leave with substances that are against the word of wisdom, but taking the box of tea just seemed like the right thing to do at the time. So now, we have a box a tea sitting in our study room, which is pretty great.

Everything is going well in Texas. I love being here and being a missionary. The blessings are so amazing, and I hope that I don't waste a single moment that I could be changing someone's life. Thank y'all for your love and support.

Love Y'all!    Sister Peck!