Rey was baptized and confirmed this week. I can't describe the joy and happiness I feel. I'm so grateful for his testimony ~ Mission week 35 ~ Lexington week 13

Hey everyone!! This week was absolutely incredible. Rey has now been baptized and confirmed. The amount of joy I felt during his baptism and confirmation is unlike anything I have experienced before. I would re-live every difficult moment I have had on my mission and in my life just to see the smile on his face when he was in the baptismal font getting baptized. It is unlike anything I can even describe. He was so ready and so incredibly prepared. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to teach him. Rey has changed my life and has taught me so much. It was by far one of the happiest days of my life. I still don't think it has sunk in yet. I can't believe he is baptized! The baptism was amazing and we had a great turn out and support from the ward. The talks at his baptism were so touching. His cousin, Salmon, who was baptized back in December, gave such a touching testimony about Rey and how grateful he is for him to come to this gospel. He said that he would always tell Rey that this gospel is the only path to live with our Heavenly Father again. Everyone just loves him and can remember when they first met him. He is going to do some amazing things in this church. At the end, he was able to share his testimony. It was the most incredible and powerful testimony. He said that when we first came to teach him he literally didn't know anything about Jesus Christ or God, but that he has learned so much and wants to continue to learn and grow. He said that it has brought him so much joy and happiness, and that he is truly happy. He also testified of the Book of Mormon, and how he knows that it is true. It was very simple, but so powerful. I know that he knows that it all is true. I can't describe how much joy that brought me, to hear him testify of the Book of Mormon and of this church and to truly know it. The confirmation was also incredible. It really talked about how choice and precious of a person he is and was in the sight of God. And that he would raise his family in the gospel. Heavenly Father loves Rey so much, and I really felt the love that he had for him during his confirmation. He is so special. Rey has changed my life. I am so grateful for his example and testimony. He has taught me what it really means to give yourself completely to Lord, to serve, and to have true and everlasting happiness. That is what this gospel is all about. It is a gospel of hope and joy. I am so grateful that Rey has found that.

 Hermana Failner

We showed Rey the baptismal font and he wanted to jump in and get it done then and there! His baptism is this week ~ Mission week 35 ~ Lexington week 12

Hello everyone! I don't have a ton of time this week, but some exciting things will be happening! Rey will be getting baptized this Saturday!! He is so prepared and ready. It has been amazing to watch his progress. He loves the scriptures. He applies the scriptures to his life, and brings up and find things I had never even thought of before. He is truly amazing. We showed him the baptismal font yesterday and said he wanted to jump in and just get it done right then and there :) Keep him in your prayers, and that everything will run smoothly. Baptisms take a a lot of planning and coordination, but it will all fall into place. It's just incredible to watch someone have so much happiness because of this gospel. It has been a good week and we have really been able to just see Rey continually progress. He is such a prepared soul! This gospel is incredible. I learn so much every day from the scriptures and my investigators. Rey has taught me so much and I am so grateful.

 Hermana Failner

I love my companion Hermana Imlay, we have seen many miracles! Rey bore a powerful testimony, he's changed my life ~ Mission week 34~ Lexington week 11

Hello everyone! This week has been a fantastic week! Training has been a blast and Hermana Imlay and I have seen so many miracles. She is so willing to work hard, and I just love being with her! She is truly amazing. The two people that we found last week with our car incidents we are both consistently teaching now and it has been great! They are doing really well and we have had some great lessons with them. The highlight of my week has been a lesson that we had with Rey a couple days ago. He is truly incredible. He will be getting baptized in two weeks, and we are already making plans for it. He is so excited and I truly believe that he is ready to make this next step. During our lesson with him, we talked about what a testimony was, and, without any invitation, Rey bore his testimony to us. It was one of the most incredible moments of my mission. He said that he may not know everything, or understand everything, but that he knew that the Book of Mormon was true. He also said that he has never had or experienced happiness in his entire life, and that this gospel and the Book of Mormon is the solution, that he has been able to find true happiness in life, something he has never before felt. Rey has seriously changed my life. When I met him he didn't even know who Jesus Christ was, and now he is testifying of him. Rey truly has taught me so much; that through this gospel, we can find true and ultimate happiness. That we don't need to fully understand everything, but that a testimony of the Book of Mormon and recognizing the spirit is sufficient, and that all the other doctrines will fall into place. It was something I personally really needed to hear this week. I have cried happy tears for the first time on my mission because of Rey. I know I was meant to meet him for a reason, and I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has given me the opportunity to be the mouthpiece to bring him the gospel. Because of Rey, I have been pushed to limits and capabilities as a missionary that I didn't even know I had. Because of him and the spirit, I have never been able to teach quite like this, speak Spanish or explain things quite like I can to him. The spirit is truly amazing. I can't wait to see where Rey goes from here. This is only the beginning. I can't describe the happiness I feel for him.

 Hermana Failner

Sister Failner prays for her Spanish to improve and becomes a trainer. The Lord answered her prayer almost immediately in a very unexpected way! Rey's Baptismal Date: March 23rd ~ Mission week 33 ~ Lexington week 10

This is Rey!!! It was his idea to hold up El Libro De Mormon in the picture :) What a gem!

I will be training a new missionary coming in! ~ Mission week 34 ~ Lexington week 9

Hello! Well... this week has been crazy! I guess I will just get right to it... I found out on Saturday that Hermana Arnoldsen will be getting transferred and that I will be training a new missionary coming in! I was extremely shocked when I got the call from my President, and I am still a little in denial about it. I am still young in the mission and my Spanish is still not where I would like it to be. But... I guess this is the way for my Spanish to grow, and for me to really grow as a person. It's interesting because I had been really, really praying and asking Heavenly Father for help with my Spanish and way for it to improve so that I could have the hopes of becoming fluent. It's not that my Spanish is absolutely terrible, but that I felt that I was starting to just stay the same and that I really needed a push to improve more. Never in a million years did I see this as being the answer to my prayers! I am really quite scared, but at the same time so incredibly excited to have the opportunity to train. It will be such an amazing opportunity to grow and I can't wait to help and serve with her!

For other highlights of the week: Rey is still doing really, really well! He never misses appointments and is always crazy prepared to accept whatever commandment we give him. He is still doing amazing with the word of wisdom and was super psyched to find out about tithing. He is still progressing really well. I just love him and will be sending a picture of him this week! He is still looking solid for the 28th of March. I really feel like I was specifically sent here to teach him. He teaches me so much every day, and really pushes me to follow the spirit and to love the work. Other than Rey, we have gotten dropped a lot this week. We have taught a lot of lessons, but have been getting dropped within the next appointment. I have actually been really grateful for this. The people that have dropped us have been really upfront and honest. I really appreciate that. I feel like a lot of times people will still keep meeting with us just because they don't want to make us feel bad. When people do that it really wastes their time and our time. Entonces, I'm really grateful for the people that can tell us straight up. It also gives me comfort knowing that we truly established our purpose as missionaries, because they knew our ultimate goal was baptism. It's a bitter sweet type of a thing, but it works for me. That's it for this week. Nos vemos!

 Hermana Failner