4-17-11

This week was good.  Transfers were Wednesday.  Sister B and I get a long pretty well.  It is really nice. 

The only big news from the week is that Matt is getting baptized on Saturday!  The Elders were teaching him, then when they were ET'd out we started to teach him.  He has been preparing to be baptized for a while and his mom has been kind of resistant, but now she is willing to let him get baptized and we are excited for it to happen.  I feel kind of guilty about him getting baptized now rather than when the Elders were around.  But, I guess it is the right time for him to be baptized. 

Dawn and Joey, have taken a step back, and we just have to flow with it.  They are still coming to church, and they are still trying to get to know people.  I guess the most important thing is they are still meeting with us. 

This week we get to do something different on Wednesday.  There is a class at the local community college about marriage and religion.  We get to go there and do a panel discussion about our church and the role marriage plays in it.  It will be us and one of the members of the branch.  I'm really excited to be able to go and do it. 

I think that is it.  I know it isn't a lot.  And actually I could have ended it about five minutes ago.  Things just aren't changing or different around here in the last few days.  Hopefully, I will have some new news to tell you next week.

The death of Elizabeth Taylor

It is kind of nice to know life is the same old thing back at home even if you feel like you aren't doing much.  So, Elizabeth Taylor I am assuming died on Thursday?  I heard some people at the place we do service talking and that is what I thought happened.  It apparently wasn't as news worthy as Japan, because no one even told us.  Someone asked me about the weather in Utah, and I told them it is a lot like here, just doesn't get as cold and it isn't as humid.  But we get the warm and cold and sun and snow and rain. . . etc.

Well, this week has been good.  We had exchanges.  It was a good experience.  My companion for the day was one that has only been out a month.  So, I felt that I needed to step things up a bit, and I realized that I am capable of doing all those things I felt or thought were hard.  I just need to keep working on it.  Next week I will be doing an exchange again and  go to the temple.    What else. . . Oh, Brother M is getting baptized next Saturday the 9th.  So, excited.  He still needs to have his interview this week and he will be doing that on Thursday.
Nothing else everything is the same old same old.  I keep looking forward to the day when we can have elders back in the area so I don't feel so stretched as to how we need to spend our time. 

That is about it.  I can't really think of anything else today.  I will talk to you later!

Love ya!
Sister D

Things are moveing along

I am in S now.  I like it a lot.  I came into an area that had 3 baptisms set up and by the end of last week we have 2 more.  I feel very blessed to be able to continue the work of others.  I don't understand why I got so lucky and why he blessed me in this way. 

My new companion's name is Sister M.  She is great and we are trying to adjust to each other and how we work.  I am learning a lot from her and I am excited to keep learning from her.

I love the diversity of the city and the diversity of the ward.  The ward has a great mission leader who really works hard and has this great plan set up for the ward.  I was amazed at the things they have done and the work the ward mission has been able to do.  Both the Elder and Sister's areas are blessed in the work that is done and it comes down to the hard work of the missionaries themselves.  I kind of feel like I can't let the ball drop and I need to keep working hard and focusing on what is important, inviting others to come unto Christ.  I am so happy to be here and I can't express that enough. 

Yesterday, we had Ward Conference and we met with the Ward mission after church.  The member of the Stake Presidency at the end of the meeting said he wanted to meet with the missionaries.  So we went into a room with him and he talked to all four of us.  He clearly said he wasn't our presiding authority but he had an impression and he wanted to talk to us.  So he asked us if we needed to carry the burden all on our own. . . and we discussed Matthew 11:28-30.  Then he told us somethings about sacrament that I think will stick with me the rest of my life.    We will sin.  There is no way around it.  And if we say we will never sin we are lying.  But every week we have the opportunity to partake of the sacrament and leave those sins behind us.  We should walk away from the sacrament table lighter and not pick up the sins we have let go.  We are giving that burden over to the Lord and we don't have to pick it up again.  Wow!  I should leave church and be happy, lighter, and uplifted.  I shouldn't leave church and feel weighed down, sad, or heavy.  What a wonderful feeling that I am clean every time I go to church. 

Anyway, I will update you more on the mission next week as I get more used to the people I am seeing and their stories.  Each one of them is unique and I am excited to see where they all go.

Another week is over

Hello everyone!  I am sitting in the warm library looking out at the snow and wondering if it will ever be spring again. . . We have had single digit temperatures, frozen rain, and snow.  Someday April will come and the weather will be beautiful again. 

 

Transfer calls were Saturday.  I didn't know really what I wanted to have happen.  I love the ward, but you get in an area for too long and it is time to change.  Sister R didn't feel like she was going to stay here and I just had this feeling that I would be here forever or I would close the area.  President called us on Saturday morning while I was on exchanges and he let us know the area will be closed to sisters and elders are coming in.  So, I have spent the last few days trying to say goodbye to everyone and getting things ready for the elders.  I am excited, sad, worried, and happy all at the same time.  I really do know that the Lord works in special ways and in wonderful ways.  Elders are going to get great here and I know the people of the ward will be blessed.  I will miss the ward that I am just starting to get to know and all the people we have been teaching.  I have made a few hard visits and phone calls in the last few days.  It is really weird to think that I have been in this area for 12 weeks. 

 

The kids are a little sad we won't be there.  The 11 year old most of all.  She already doesn't like elders but I feel that she will feel differently when she meets them in a few days.  We haven't seen B, the one we missed the baptism, or told him yet.  I am a little nervous for that change over.  The rest has gone pretty smoothly.  Regina, the one who just figured out Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, still got it and was reading and was REALLY excited about what she was reading.  Now all that has to happen is she has to know it is true and come to church.  P, the one we gave the church tour, loved the building.  They asked him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon while I was in Vermont.  He said he would when I talked to him on the phone yesterday he said he was but he didn't have any answers.  Hopefully, the elders can help him out.

 

One last story.  We have a member who is in an assisted living place here.  One time when we were teaching him, in the common living room, one of the ladies that has a room close to his was there and listened in.  We left and gave her a hug.  The next time we were there she saw us and mentioned that she really enjoyed talking to us and she missed having good conversation.  The next time we saw her our member wasn't there so we talked to her for about 2 hours.  Just about all of her experiances what she knows about the church, her family, etc.  We left and we were uplifted and so was she.  We missed her the next few times we were there.  But, last week we stopped by and she said she was interested in learning about the church and she asked the "outreach" librarian to look for some books for her.  On Sunday we stopped by to visit the member and then we stopped by to see her and we gave her a Book of Mormon.  She told us she is very intersted in learning about the church and would like to go to the church soon.  We made sure we got her address and we are going to write her.  But she is amazing.  She loves what we teach because of our sincerity.  I am excited to learn what happens with her.

 

 

Hey! So transfers happened on Wednesday. Sister R, my new companion, came to the area on Thursday. She is from Brigham City and is very focused on the work. She has had a great amount of success in the year and 3 months she has been out. I needed some one with her drive. Hopefully things will start to pick up around here and we can start getting things done.

Nothing really happened this week, Sister P wanted to see everyone before she left so that is how we spent Monday, and Sunday. . . Tuesday was P-day. Wednesday I was in for exchange. I really like Sister J. I don't think I could be companions with her for a long time but she is a great missionary and is fun to be around. We had an interesting experience. We were tracting before 8 and we were let into a house. The family was very nice and VERY Catholic. While we were there the husband started asking what we were expecting to do there. We started to tell him a little bit and he got very argumentative and everything Sister Johnston said he just shot it down, and everything I tried to say he shot down too. Then I thought of the advice B gave me many times. And I testified to him of Christ. I felt the spirit and I know he felt it too. He stopped arguing with me and Sister J. We left the house shortly after that. Thursday Sister Ream and I got to work in this area. Friday the same thing just preaching the gospel. Saturday was pretty fun and busy.

Anyway, that is about all for the week. Nothing too exciting. Just trying to work hard and serve the Lord. I am excited to speak to everyone on Christmas.

This scripture has been bouncing around in my head for a few days, 2 Nephi 19:6 "Unto us a child is given and he shall be called Wonderful, Counseler, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Remember as we go through this season that Christ is the reason for the season. Because he was born he could die and rise again so that we may see God.

Love you!
Sister D

Transfers

So it is transfers this week. I am staying in G F, and my companion is moving. This is a good change and a bad change. I was actually praying for a change, and then President called me and talked to me about what I felt was best for the area, me and the mission. Then he asked me to pray about it. I did and I felt like something needed to change. Sister P and I talked about the talk I had with President, and we decided that it would be for the best if she moved. We called president talked to him. . . this happened a few times. . . we decided we could figure it out, and then President came up with the option and then we found out that evening. I am a little worried about the new companion and taking over the area but I know it will be for my good and I know this is what is supposed to happen.

This week. . . Monday: Pday, Sister P was sick so we didn't go out. . . Nothing big that day. Tuesday: We had district meeting, then we went to a Recent Convert's house had dinner and watched Mountain of the Lord for a lesson, we then met a new Less Active and got to know her and gave her a thought. Wednesday we kept ourselves busy in spite of sickness. We met with a few less actives and a few investigators. I don't think the investigators are going to go anywhere. . . One has a list of concerns that are a mile long and 20 feet deep. She isn't reading the Book of Mormon so she doesn't have a testimony in Joseph Smith. I finally looked at her on Tuesday and said, I can tell you over and over that it is true, but until you study and pray for yourself you won't believe it. The other one, just doesn't seem to have a desire and he won't read either. The only way to know the church is true is to read the Book of Mormon and study it out for yourself with prayer. . . I wish people understood that. Then we got to go with the Youth to their activity. I am loving the families in the Ward. Thursday, Sister P was sick again. . . this time with reactions to the medication she was taking, we stayed inside all day and we had a 3 hour planning session. . . Friday we met with another Less Active (one that we've activated) took it easy, because we were told to, and we went to see another investigator. He is awesome, but not progressing, he won't come to church and we aren't sure he is reading. Hopefully we can help him and get him and his family to find the peace in the gospel soon. Sunday: Church. Then we taught our one progressing investigator, he comes to church every week. We just need to get him reading the Book of Mormon and the scriptures. We watched Testiments, and I know he felt the spirit. . . it was leaking out of his eyes. I am really excited to see what happens with him in the next few weeks. Hopefully we can get a baptisimal commitment.

It's cold

I keep commenting on the cold here and people ask me, "Doesn't it get cold in Utah?" I described it this way, in New York the cold seeps into you and your clothes. In Utah it just sits on top of you. I thought it was a great description of the difference. We have had a couple of rainy days last week and today is matching that, but it is about 10 degrees colder this week than last. . . it seems as if the snow is going to come.
Sister Pr's foot has been hurting the last few days. We had been doing a lot of walking and trying to find people so under doctor's orders we had to stop that last week. . . kind of frustrating because we are having a hard time finding. But, the Lord gives us blessings. One of the first days after her foot we were taking it easy and we decided to just focus on the lessons we had scheduled, by the end of the morning we were pretty booked. . . then one of the Less Actives (who had cancelled on us earlier in the week) had asked us to come over and we could teach her and she would give us pizza. . . I can now say I have eaten New York pizza. . . we got there and we were about to teach her and her brother (who isn't a member came over) so we taught him the first lesson and we found a new investigator. We will be teaching him on Wednesday and maybe things will work out for him.
I also met one of the other investigators, he found the missionaries a few months ago. They have been teaching him and I got to teach him for the first time this week. He was great! And so wonderful. He could be a great member, but his family is pretty important to him and if there is any problems on that end he probably won't get baptized. He said over and over that since he has been studying the gospel his marriage is better, his family is better, and his business is better. I am praying for him to see that if he joined the church everything will be better.
I'm trying to focus on the work and enjoy every moment I am having, and every experience I am having. When I do my study in the morning I spend 30 minutes in the BofM, and 30 minutes in Preach My Gospel. When I study "Preach" I focus on the lessons, because I really need to learn them, and then I focus on another chapter. Right now I am reading the scriptures in the Christlike Attribute chapter. As I was reading about what faith is I was reminded it is a hope for things not seen. Even though I can't see the good I am bringing here I just need to have faith that I am and that I will be able to do bring about good. It seems kind of frustrating at moments but everything will work out the way the Lord wants it too. I am here for a reason and I will serve the Lord and full fill my purpose for being here.