You can only be as happy as you have been sad.

Dear Family & Friends,

I hope you all have been having an awesome week, because I sure have been having one! It's been challenging one, too, but I've come to realize that in life you can only be as happy as you have been sad, as excited as you have been discouraged. Opposition in all things, and whatnot. So the challenges and hard things aren't bad, it just means that super awesome things are happening, or about to happen, too! And awesome things are happening!

Now that Sister Campbell and I are opening an area, for the second time in two transfers, life has been pretty crazy. We've been trying to tie up all our loose ends in the ____ Side and start moving our focus (and finding an apartment. Maybe one of these transfers we'll get one of those) to _________. On Saturday, we got to go to lunch and then drive around the area with President and Sister Salisbury. It was such a cool experience-they truly are called of God, and given the inspiration they need to keep this work moving. I learned a lot just in those few hours we spent with them.

One huge downside of being moved is having to give some of our investigators to other missionaries! Lee the Man is continuing to make phenomenal progress-we were even thinking about moving his baptism to a closer date-but we realized he wouldn't be ours anymore! The Elders get him now. I'm still going to count him as one of my baptisms, he only has like one more thing to learn, and he probably already knows and believes it. Before he even referred himself to the missionaries, he had already read "Mormonism for Dummies" and done extensive research, so he's known pretty much everything we've shared so far. He even already has his tithing budgeted into his finances for the year, so yeah. I know that he and our other investigators will be in good hands, but it just tears my heart a little bit.

This week, I have gained a stronger testimony of the importance of prayer. It truly is an incredible opportunity that we have to speak directly to the Almighty God, the Creator of everything, a being whose glory is beyond our comprehension. And as Richard G. Scott put it, "we need no appointment." We can turn to Him in any time or place, for any problem. And he responds! It is not just a one way communication, just a expression of praise to satisfy an egotistical god. He loves us, wants to hear about our lives, and will always answer the honest seeker.

I love you all dearly, have a great week!

Sister Ward