3-22-2010

Hello Hello from New York City!

How is everyone? I sure do miss your smiling faces. This week was a great week. Hermana Crandell and I worked extremely hard. I don't know if I shared this experience yet or not but I'll do it again anyway. One day, a day that wasn't so pleasant Hermana Crandell and I were outside walking to and from appointments and looking up people that were once interested in the message of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ but for some reason do not have contact with the church anymore. As we were contacting anyone we saw that spoke Spanish we had some good conversations but overall no one really wanted to talk with us. We walked passed a Chinese man and all of a sudden I heard, "Church...Church" said with a VERY heavy Chinese accent. I literally stopped in my tracks and turned right around. This man was standing there and said are you a church? I chuckled and thought, I'm not a church but I represent the message of a church. We spoke to him a little bit about the church, gave him a flyer for free English class and a pass along card. Later that evening as we were walking to and from different appointments again in a different area the SAME man, about 24 passed us again. I said hello and this time HE stopped in HIS tracks. He was so surprised to see us again. We talked to him a little more and he showed us he had put the pass along card which had a picture of Christ on it in his wallet because Christ meant so much to him. I think that was on a Friday. We invited him to church. We latter found out that he came to church! We were so excited. Later on Tuesday Hermana Crandell and I were cleaning out the Baptismal Fount, one of the neatest things I have ever done and we saw him at the church being taught by the Chinese Elders. The next day I asked how he was doing. He is planning to be baptised next Sunday :) I am so grateful that Hermana Crandell and I were out working. That morning as we prayed before we left we prayed that those who see us will recognize us as representatives of Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers.

This week has been really good. Being a missionary is incredible. I am so humbled that I have the blessing to be called as a missionary. I can not even explain the lessons I am learning and the miracles hat I see each and every day. My Spanish is coming along. Its slow but at least its improving. Hermana Crandell is great. We spend about 3 hours extra a week studying Spanish. She is a teacher so she loves helping me learn more and its such a blessing.

I love you all so much.

I'll sign off and Sign back on.

Love

Hermana Banaszewski