This Was A Pretty Terrific Week!!! but...Leaving West Point???

Hellllo everyone!!

This was a pretty terrific week!! We are having
incredible success here at the Point. So Mara is getting baptized this
Friday!! Wooooo!! So Mara is a short little Japanese girl that is
going to the prep school right now with Toese and Jacob Fryer and all
them. She has been meeting with us For about a couple months now and
it's kind of funny because when she first started, she made it pretty
clear that she was Catholic and that she was going to stay that way.
That's what they are say ;) haha but seriously, she's had some really
cool experiences with the Book of Mormon and she just knows that they
are true. She always tells us that there's just something different
about the Book of Mormon from any other book...even the bible. But
anyways, so she committed to baptism earlier last week, and it was
kind of crazy because she has this ridiculously small time slot from
now until when she graduates and then leaves to go to a bunch of stuff
for the summer. Really what it came down to was she was either going
to be baptized this Friday, or she would have to wait like a month or
more before she came back here for basic training...which would still
be crazy to try and schedule. She had a little hiccup a few days ago
where she just had kind of a bad day and she was super tired and
stressed, and she just really felt like she needed to wait to be
baptized, that she was taking things too fast. We had a good lesson
with her, though, and she said that she would think/pray about it. She
did, and so the next day when we met with her, she committed to it and
decided that she really does want to! Phew! So we're super stoked for
that.

We had another pretty cool miracle. So Jacob Fryer (the returned
missionary that is going to the prep school...the same kid that's
given us like 10 referrals since I've been here) invited a bunch of
people to go watch Meet the Mormons with him, and one of the girls
became like REALLY interested. Her name is Danielle Peck and she is
awesome! So she agreed to meet with us, and yesterday was our first
lesson with her. It was SUCH. A good lesson. She had lots and lots of
good questions and the member that we had there did an amazing job,
and it was just great. She's already read some of the Book of Mormon,
and she texted us this morning and said that she wants to meet with us
tomorrow again!! I guess when she prayed about the Book of Mormon, she
just felt really really good and then had this insane urge to read
some more. I think she's taken that as her answer!! She's already
committed to baptism! Miracle!

Sooooo...I basically have the coolest news ever. So this Saturday, we
are all going to meet together as a mission at the temple chapel, and
we are going to have a meeting/fireside thing with Quentin L. Cook of
the quorum of the Twelve Apostles!! Have awesome is that?! I'm soooo
excited. But I also need to repent a lot haha. I'll let you know how
it goes!!

So this last Saturday, Elder Nielson and I volunteered at this North
Face Endurance Challenge thing, which was a 50 mile trail race that
went all over Bear Mountain, which is right by our apartment. It's 50
miles of running up rocks and through bushes and down trails and all
sorts of crazy stuff. Anyways, so we helped out at one of the aid
stations which was a little "rest stop" for all of the runners at
about the 29 mile mark. It was so crazy to have these people run up
and they've just got blood and mud and streaks of white salt all over
their face from sweating. We just provided all sorts of drinks and
snacks and nourishment. It was so crazy what these guys eat. So in the
middle of a race like that, these runners just CRAVE sugar, because
that's like very immediate energy that they need. So they'd run up and
just start chugging Coke to get all the sugar they need. Another thing
they need is salt because their body sweats it all out. So they'd run
up and just go up to this bowl of salt we had and just grab it by the
handfuls and throw it in their mouths!!! Or they'd grab a canned
potato and just use it to scoop up mounds of salt. It was so gross!!
Haha ...but strangely...it made me really want to do something like
that! Haha idk though...we'll see ;)

Ugh so transfer calls are happening this Saturday!! Holy cow...this
cycle flew by so stinking fast. I'm almost on my very last cycle of my
mission...that's crazy. I have such mixed feelings about Saturday. I
want to stay in West Point so badly. Like SO badly. But idk if I'd be
able to do another cycle with Elder Nielsen. I love the guy to death
but it's time for a new companionship. We get along well, but I just
really need someone that understands me and I can connect with.
So we also had MLC (Mission Leadership Counsel) meeting, which was so
good. But in it, President Morgan said that almost all of the "old"
zone leaders in the mission are going to get released to make way for
the new leaders to get ready for our new mission president. So unless
I'm one of the rare exceptions, I'm probably getting released and
going somewhere else for my last cycle. :/ I don't know how I feel
about that. I just love this place so much. I will always have a piece
of my heart at this school.

Well, Ive gotta get going, but here are some more pictures from last
week and also from today!! I love you all so much! Take care and have
a great week :)

Me and Elder Nielson inside the Cadet Chapel. It is one of the most
beautiful buildings I've ever seen. It's so cool!!

Just me in the chapel

Me at 6:00 in the morning at the Endurance Challenge...Yes, I look/felt very tired haha!

Mom sent me a Cinco de Mayo package with a bunch of good stuff for a "mexican" 

dinner.  So naturally, I took a selfie of us making it ;)

 Our goofy zone...haha. So the reason one of the elders is holding

an iPad is because his companion just recently went home for surgery
on his knee, which he hurt playing soccer a few weeks ago :( he'll be
back soon though!!