The Area Book, and other short stories.

Yep, the Area Book.  That's what I'm writing about this week.  We have had some awesome experiences this past week directly related to our area book.  For those of you who don't know, every companionship on a mission has an area book that allows them to keep track of information about investigators, people we meet, mission information, and other things that help keep us informed as missionaries.  The area book is essential to keeping our areas organized, and keeping the work going.

I love the area book.

This may surprise people that knew me before my mission.  I was not a particularly organized individual in my pre-mission life, and records were not really my strong suit (unless you count vinyl...wait, those weren't either).  As I have been on my mission, though, I have learned that by keeping a record, we show our love not only for our former and current investigators, but also for missionaries that will eventually enter our area.  Sister Liu and I have set a goal to update our area book so that if a companionship were to whitewash our area (or come in without anyone who knows the area), they would feel comfortable working there.  It's been a good thing for us to see how we need to change our record keeping.

The other thing I have been thinking about a lot recently is the importance of having members involved in missionary work.  As I was reflecting on this thought, I remembered that the reason my dad's family started investigating the church is because of a family that started inviting him and my aunt to Primary activities with them.  This family was highly involved in their conversion process and helped them answer questions about our religion.  They were there when the missionaries were busy to support my dad's family.  I don't know the names of the missionaries that taught Dad's family, but I know the name of the family that brought them to the church.  Member missionary work is essential in our church in helping people stay active after baptism.  I invite you to look for people you don't know in our church meetings (or just in your everyday lives) and talk to them, become their friends.  You have no idea the influence for good that you can have on them.

We had our last day of service at Far Rockaway this week.  It was great to go down and help serve the people there.  There are still so many that have so little - it is great to be able to help out in any way we can.

I love all of you, and I hope that you are enjoying new semesters, work, and new years.

You are great!

Love,

Sister Beer