Gone to San Antone...: July 29th, 2013

Buenos Dias!

Well i'm in Austin! After many sad goodbyes in Eagle Pass on Wednesday, we drove up to San Antonio with all the missionaries who were being transferred. I stayed with some sisters in San Antonio Wednesday night and headed to transfer meeting with them Thursday morning. I didnt get assigned an area at the San Antonio Transfer meeting, so then we piled in the van and headed to Austin! We received our new companions and areas. I'm serving in the Riverside ward here in Austin. My companion is Hermana Rodriguez. She's hilarious and I'm so excited to work with her! She's from El Salvador! She's lived in Houston for a year and a half, but can only speak Spanish. I guess it's the Lord's way of making me speak my mission language at all times! I can already feel the improvement with my Spanish and I know that it is because my Heavenly Father is helping me. Austin is weird. That's it's motto.. "keep Austin weird." Within my first few hours, I understood the meaning behind it. It's the kind of thing you have to experience for yourself though.
My first night here we had dinner with a less active family. We walked in and I saw a picture that looked super familiar.. it was Giraffe Manor! in Kenya! Oh it made me so happy to see it. We spent the next hour talking about Africa and the safari's that they went on and the places we went that were the same. It brought back a lot of great memories. And it immediately formed a connection with the family and I. The members here are super strong. We are over the Spanish ward so we can only have Spanish investigators! If we contact someone on the street that speaks English, we refer them to the other sisters here in Austin. I didn't think I'd speak more Spanish than I did on the border, but i'm doing it!
We have lots of investigators! And seven of them are working towards their baptismal dates! What a blessing it is to see fruits of our labor. We as missionaries are on a team. Many times we don't get to knock, teach, and baptize one person. It takes time. If we trust in the Lord, He will bless them, in His timing. I pray for my investigators in Eagle Pass and know that one day, some missionaries will be able to baptize them. But as for now, they are in the Lord's hands and He is preparing them. We have a baptism scheduled with a 11 year old boy named Isaac on August 3! He is so excited! I love seeing the excitement in kids eyes when they talk about the Gospel.

It's going to take some adjusting, to get used to Austin. But i'm ready for it. I have definitely learned to trust in the Lord more than ever before. I have moments of discouragement but I know that faith and fear cannot exist at the same time. So I have two decisions, either strengthen my faith, or continue in fear. I know that Heavenly Father will bless me as i strive to be obedient and diligent in this marvelous work! President Slaughter shared an awesome thought at transfer meeting this week.. He said "What's D&C 18:10" A lot of us were able to recite "remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;" He replied, "that's great.. but look at the last thing in the verse.. a semicolon.. That means there's MORE" We then looked at verse 11 .. "For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him." We are great in the Sight of God because we have a Reedemer. We have a Savior. Who has suffered for each one of us individually. I find so much comfort in the Atonement. I know that Jesus Christ lives. That He is our Savior and that we can repent and Come Unto Him and He will Succor Us (Alma 7:11-12) I love this Gospel. I love you all!
Have a great week and know that I am praying for each of you individually!

Hermana Egbert

MY NEW ADDRESS:
6201 Sneed Cove Apt # 1220
Austin, Texas
78744

Birch Creek! (A Secret fishing spot in Idaho that only our family knows about)