Once upon a time, our investigator quit his job...

Yeah, you read that right.  One of our investigators told us yesterday that his boss told him he couldn't have Sundays off anymore to come to church, and he quit!  I was so surprised and happy for him - that is such incredible faith!  We are praying for him now that he will find a good job that will give him Sundays off so he can attend church.  By the way, he's getting baptized in two weeks.  He's awesome.

Speaking of baptisms... remember back in October when I wrote you all about the mother and daughter who came in right before General Conference looking for a new church?  Well, they both got baptized in the last month and we couldn't be happier for them!  They are such a wonderful addition to our ward, and I love them both so much.  I think what has made their conversion possible is the welcome they had into the ward from the other members and from the bishopric.  It has been awesome to see them make friends and become a part of the Church here.

In other news, three of our elders had birthdays this week. (There are twelve people in our district and two thirds of them have birthdays in January and February.  It's ridiculous.)  To celebrate, we had a little party for which I made dessert using the new cookbook that the other sister companionship bought last week: The Complete Magnolia Cookbook.  This cookbook is based on recipes from a famous bakery in NYC, Magnolia Bakery, and oh boy... they are good.  For the party I made pumpkin bars with cream cheese icing since all the birthday Elders love pumpkin.  They turned out so good!  And I thought I wouldn't have cooking adventures on my mission... ha!

This week has been a week of referrals from the mission office.  There are apparently some Mandarin speakers in Uptown Manhattan who want to know about the gospel, and we are happy to oblige.  The other night while we were trying to contact them, one of them gave us the number of another friend who was interested.  Shortly thereafter, that friend gave us ANOTHER number.  So that's right, we got a referral, from a referral, from a referral.  It was crazy.

I have been thinking a lot about the power of the Book of Mormon recently.  In the mission field we are told over and over that the Book of Mormon, along with the influence of the Spirit, is our most powerful conversion tool.  I firmly believe that through reading the Book of Mormon, we grow closer to God. If any of you are not currently reading the Book of Mormon, start now!  It is never too late.  If you have read it before, read it again!  President Gordon B. Hinckley told us that no matter how many times we have read the book, as we read we will find new wisdom and guidance.  I know that is true.

I love you all!

Sister Beer

P.S. I just want to give a quick shout-out to Sister Murray who I hear has been reading the blog.  Hello!  Your son is pretty awesome, and we are lucky to have him here in Chinatown! :)

P.P.S. [A note from Caitlin's dad] 

Here's a write-up from Meridian Magazine on Caitlin's Christmas dinner!  I saw it because they had the photo of her companion, Sister Liu (the last picture in the article), highlighted in the day's summary, and I recognized her.  
 
Caitlin confirmed this was "her" dinner, and said it would OK to put this link in her blog.
 
http://www.ldsmag.com/article/1/12046

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