Look for the Bright moments in Life.

Hello from Deep Run!

I hope you all had a splendid week! There are lots of good things going on in these neck o' the woods. The weather here is kind of ridiculous. It was wonderful weather for part of the week (70's and 80's) and then on Friday we had a downpour and it has been much cooler since then. (40's and 50's). At least it's not freezing anymore!

We had an eventful Monday last week. Sister Matthews' back has been causing some problems so we made a trip to the chiropractor. We were there for a VERY long time; like 2 hours. That is a long time to sit and do nothing. The doctor we went to is a member in the Kinston ward. After the chiropractor we made a very quick shopping excursion before our preparation day expired. I guess we didn't really do much, but it just takes a long to go from one place to the next so it adds up!

Tuesday our appointment with Denise fell through. She has been struggling to deal with all of the adversity that has come up since we have been meeting with her. I learned something about this from her. When we focus a lot on the negative things of life, we will undoubtedly experience more opposition. There is a quote somewhere out there by Pres. Hinckley that says that we should not seek out the storms of life, but to look for the sunshine. I hope we can meet with her soon and help her understand that God's hand is in all things and to focus more on looking for the tender mercies of the Lord. The Turners cancelled on us and said that they would not be able to meet with us for the next two weeks. :( Brother Turner is having some health issues that are making it difficult to meet with us. However, we were able to meet with them on Thursday and had a good lesson about the word of wisdom with them. This week has been a "word of wisdom week."

Wednesday we had a really good district meeting about inviting people to make changes in their lives. Most people won't make changes unless they are invited to do so. We learned how to help a few of our investigators from the role plays that we did and read from Moroni 7. We talked about the importance of maintaining daily contact with our investigators because Satan also maintains daily contact with our investigators. I really do wish that I could elbow him in the neck sometimes. (sigh). We had the best lesson ever with Clara. We read the talk, "The Power of Covenants" by Elder Christofferson and talked to her about making covenants and how important it was and the blessings that come from making and keeping covenants. She promised us that she would come to church this week and that she would make an appointment so that her boyfriend can get his picture ID and they can be married. She hasn't had her baby yet. I don't think God will allow that to happen until she gets this business figured out with being married and all. :)

We had a good lesson with LA, Beverly on Thursday. I got eaten alive by mosquitos...in February! Unreal. She has been taking her lunch break and going to the Kinston ward so she can at least take the sacrament. It is amazing how much her countenance has changed since she has been doing that. She is so much happier too. Afterwards, we met with RC, Jennifer and talked about enduring to the end. We watched a mormon message from Sister Dalton about running a marathon and how we are never left alone even though we may feel like that sometimes. She is incredible. I love her lots.

Friday we met with the Greg and Miranda. Greg is hilarious. We talked about faith and he doesn't see the need to change his life because everything seems to be going fine as it is right now. We talked a little bit about commandments and he doesn't understand why keeping the commandments are so important. We are looking forward to teaching him about the "why" of the commandments. There really is no point in doing something unless you understand why you are doing it.

Saturday was the adult session of Stake conference. Jennifer gave us a ride there. It was hilarious. The talks were great. We sang "Follow the Prophet" for the rest hymn and I think we all need to go back to primary. No one was following the conductor and it ended up failing partway through. We were all dying of laughter. The stake presidency made up one of the verses. It goes as follows,
"Thomas is a prophet, prophet of the world.
Visits every nation, bringing them God's word.
With a sense of humor, he looks you in the eye,
go about the rescue is his battle cry."
It was probably the funniest scene I have ever seen in my life in a stake conference. I love the Kinston stake. I got see a lot of people from Greenville...since they're in the same stake. Brittany who was just baptized like a month ago was there. She has changed so much. It is amazing how the gospel changes lives. She is going strong. She touched my heart when she told me that she was thankful that I had come into her life. I told her that she had changed me more than I had probably done for her. Anyways, it was a nice confirmation to know that no effort is wasted in missionary work. I got to see sis. Carman too! It was like a family reunion.

Sunday we had a broadcast and Elder Scott spoke. (I met his brother on Saturday night. He is the temple president here). There were a lot of good things learned there. Clara and Greg both came to church. :) Oh, I also ate corn that had been in the freezer for at least 5 years according to sister Nanny Mae. I wouldn' t recommend keeping corn that way. She makes me laugh.

Well, my time is up, I love you all and hope you have a great week. Thank you for all you do! The church is true.

Love you!

Love,
Sister J

February 20, 2012

Dear Family,

Hello! It has been a great week here in Deep Run. The scripture of the
week is D&C 64:33 and the church reader board of the week is "The best
vitamin for a Christian is B1."

Monday was a good day. We went into town and did some shopping and
that was about it for preparation day. We found out there is a tractor
museum down the street from the library so we want to go see that for
sure one of these preparation days. :]

Tuesday we had zone training! It was great. We learned all about
charity and asking referrals from everyone. We did a role play where
we stood in a circle and then the Jr companions stood outside the
circle and we rotated and took turns asking for referrals in different
situations (dinner appointments, ward council, exchanges, and so
forth) It was fun! I never thought role plays could be fun... The part
about charity was really good too. I have gained a testimony of
updating the area book every night and how that helps build charity
for the area. Charity is important. We were able to meet with the
Turner family in the evening. Austin is reading everyday now, but
Caitlin is not. Caitlin comes to church, but Austin does not. Aaaah!
So frustrating. At least they are making some progress though. We are
praying and then praying some more that they will start keeping all of
their commitments. I found some good scriptures about "considering our
ways" (the choices we are making) and whether they are worthwhile.
(see Haggai 1:6-7) I learned a while back that people tend to try to
find peace and comfort through temporal means. Those things only stay
so long before they are gone, but the things that bring lasting peace
and comfort are prayer, scripture study, and church attendance.

Wednesday was planned to be a super busy day, but ended up being a
not-so-busy day. Clara (Claire...I just found out that I have been
calling her the wrong name for almost 4 1/2 months...how embarrassing)
was not feeling well and was therefore not able to meet with us. Her
baby is due any day now. Our second appointment left us high and dry
and then our last appointment was also feeling under the weather. It
was definitely a "character building day" We did, however, contact a
referral in the evening named Jean. Her mother was a member of the
church, her husband passed away about 6 months ago, and her grandson
was also a member of the church. She had attended the funeral of a
member just a few days previous and had some questions for us like,
"Do you actually use the Bible then?" and "Does everyone go to Heaven
after they die?" It was amazing. We were able to talk a little bit
about the Plan of Salvation with her and she really liked it. She said
she wanted to learn more and then we told her a little bit about
Joseph Smith. She also works with a couple of members. Our day ended
well. :]

Thursday we had an interesting lesson. We went to meet with one of our
newer investigators, Shannon. We met her by mistake last week. When we
went to her house, there was no where to sit (most people here have
VERY small living quarters) So, we stood and talked to her about the
Book of Mormon and how it could bless her life and her son's life. It
turned out being a good lesson and she agreed to meet with us again.
Our exchange was a little confused with everything, but overall it
went well.

Friday was drive to Raleigh and go to the temple day! We did our
weekly library service before leaving. Tasha went to church! She liked
it a lot. We also got to meet her husband (finally). He is really
nice. He said Tasha talks about us a lot. So, I guess that's good! I
keep praying they will open Kinston up to sisters. He wasn't too fond
of the Elders. We met with Claire before we headed off to Raleigh as
well. She is working hard on her family still. We read Alma 33 which
is like a hidden treasure since it is squashed between the popular
Alma 32 and 34. It is a very good chapter. We were able to talk about
apostasy and prayer and the tree of life. She really liked vs 23 and
said that she definitely wanted to read that chapter with her
boyfriend. She has also been forwarding the scripture of the day that
we send out to her sister, Arraceli. Sister Heath came on exchanges
with us. She is going to be such a good missionary. Clara has a rabbit
that lives her house. Sister Heath did not know that and the rabbit
just about gave her a heart attack when it decided to jump on her. It
was really funny. After our appointment, we drove to Raleigh. It was
nice to see civilization again. There were actually people! And
businesses! We met with the Cotterells and Sister Joseph and Sister
Whitney at the mission home, had dinner and then headed off to the
temple. I love the temple. It was a great session and it was so neat
to see Bro. Williams (the man who was going through for the first
time) go through. He LOVED it. He was so happy. He is going to be
getting sealed to his wife in March. She passed away a few years ago
and he is so excited to get sealed to her. It was nice seeing Sister
Joseph again too.

Saturday morning we woke up and were all beat. We had breakfast,
prayed and headed back to our areas. I saw another church sign that
was good. It said, "Your worst day with God is better that your best
day without Him." Profound, right? I thought so. We went to a baptism
in Albertson. None of our investigators were there and we weren't
quite sure what our purpose was in staying, but right before the
program started, Bro. Potter came up to us and asked if we would be
willing to give a talk on the Holy Ghost because the brother who was
supposed to give the talk wasn't there and they couldn't get ahold of
him. We agreed. It turned out really good. The family whose daughter
was getting baptized has been less active for a long time and I guess
the Elders found them whilst tracting. It was a really good baptism.
Afterwards, we drove to Beulaville and had a lesson with Nathan about
faith. He is still trying to make a solid decision about baptism. His
parents (mom mostly) doesn't like the idea of him joining the church
and told him that he wasn't allowed to go to institute with his
girlfriend, Kaela anymore. He said he didn't agree and that he liked
what he had learned thus far and felt good about it all and that he
was willing to "fight for this." He wants to go to church. The trick
is getting him to actually go. He said he is going to invite his mom
and dad to come with him though!

Sunday we had a great lesson with Amy about doubts. We found out her
concerns (from Sarah mostly) and we now have an idea of how to help
her progress. She has come to church (all 3 hours) for a whole month
almost! We watched "Finding Faith in Christ" with her and read some
from Mormon 9 about not doubting. She agreed to read and pray
sincerely and she is letting us come back. Afterwards we had a lesson
at the Smith's home with Greg. He has been out of town for two weeks
or so. We asked him how his reading was going. He said he had been
reading still, but that the audio CD with the Book of Mormon on it was
just about putting him to sleep. We talked about prayer with him. We
realized that he needs to have faith in Jesus Christ and the first
step to developing that faith is through prayer (see Alma 34: 17-27)
He asked his wife when we could come back over. Hooray for miracles!

It was a good week with lots of good things going on. I am thankful
for temples and for the work that is done there. I am thankful for the
spirit that is there and I know that it is the Lord's house.

Have a wonderful week! I love you all. Thank you for all you do.

Much love,

Sister J

Week of Miracles! February 13, 2012

Hello!

I hope y'all aren't freezing in the western USofA. It is FREEZING here. Really. (The feet warmers have been life savers)
This week was such a good week. We saw so many miracles this week. It's kind of funny too because I'm pretty sure we see miracles every week, but sometimes we forget to look for them as much. Oh, and the scripture of the week was a good one...it was: Romans 8:28.

So last Monday, we stayed home for the most part. I was pretty tired. A former investigator, Denise called us to tell us she wants us to come by. That never happens. We usually have to call them. So, that was miracle #1. Huzzah!

Tuesday morning we had made plans to go out with Eva (member in the Albertson ward). She is from Denmark and served a mission in England. She called us that morning to tell us that she had been calling all of her neighbors and all of her Mary-Kay clients to see if we could come by and share a christian message with them (miracle #2). Her efforts paid off. We were able to meet with a lady named Shirley. She is Presbyterian. Sister Welch and I actually taught one of her good friends, Doreen who is also a member of the same church. We were able to watch a Mormon message with her by Elder Holland about never giving up and then we read a couple of scriptures from Alma 7 about the Savior and how he knows each of us individually. We were able to give her a Book of Mormon and she said she would read it! (miracle #3) We met with Denise the former investigator right after and had a really good lesson with her. She has had so much opposition in life. It blows my mind how hard the adversary works on people. Every time she meets with missionaries, bizarre and unexpected things happen. The last time she met with the sisters, her family was involved in three car accidents in one week. We were supposed to meet with her on Friday, but due to much opposition happening at home, she wasn't able to meet with us again. I would like to elbow Satan in the throat sometimes. However, she called us to tell us that she still wants us to come by this week. (Hooray!) <--miracle #4

Wednesday was district meeting once again. We had a really good district meeting about relying on the spirit to tell us where to go, what to do, and what to say. We read 3 Nephi 27:13 about doing the will of the Father and then we read 1 Nephi 4: 1-18 about Nephi and how he didn' t really know before hand why he doing what he was doing, but went forward with faith and did what he felt impressed to do. We also talked about overcoming doubts. Elder Crowley had a profound thought. He said that we should take things one at a time and "master the moment." I liked that. We can't expect to be able to overcome and accomplish everything all at once. We have to learn to master one thing at a time. It was a good district meeting. We witnessed yet another miracle that evening. Sister Heath (who is getting ready to go on a mission to Texas) went on exchanges with us. We decided to go by a former couple that Sister Christensen/Taylor told us to go by. It was really dark and we couldn't see the house numbers so we guessed which house it was and knocked on the door. No one answered, but a man came outside across the street. We decided to go over and talk to him. We asked him if he knew a Theresa and Milton. He told us that no one was home across the street, but that we could come in. He introduced us to his wife, Theresa. We found them! They are really good friends with a couple down the street who are members. Theresa likes to watch the BYU channel and they took a trip to Utah and have a GIANT photo book full of their many adventures through Utah. Milton is in a band. He was so excited to let us listen to some excerpts from the demo CD his band just made. Milton is very talented. He plays the keyboard for his band. We had a good lesson with them both and set up a return appointment! (miracle #5)

Thursday we weekly planned. We had an exchange to go out with us..who we forgot to call the night before. I didn't recognize the name at first (everyone has nicknames out here), but when I called, I realized that it was a less active/recent convert who has just started coming back to church. We met with her a couple of times and I guess she decided she wanted to come out with us and teach! (miracle #6) Unfortunately, she was called into work last minute, but it was still a miracle that she has that desire to come out with us. She has come to church 2 Sundays in a row now too. We met with another less active family that evening. They gave a referral! Hooray for referrals! (miracle #7) Referrals are always miracles.

Due to an unexpected trip to the emergency room and 3 sick people in her home, Denise wasn't able to meet with us on Friday. We were able to finally meet with Claire again. She was able to get her passport at last! She was so excited to tell us and was so thankful. I guess she had to wait in line for 8 hours or something. She is 8 1/2 months pregnant and couldn't sit down while she was waiting, but she made it through! (miracle #8) We read a talk from general conference with her, "Choose Eternal Life" and then we told her all the blessings in store for her as she keeps working towards her goal of getting a marriage license and then getting baptized. That evening we were supposed to have a lesson with Olivia and Miguel (part member family). Olivia's parents both ended up in the hospital in critical condition from CO2 poisoning. Soo, that kind of put a damper on our plans. We were unaware of this whilst we were attempting to find out where in the world they were for their lesson and thought that maybe they were in the trailer right behind the one they lived in because they own both of them. We went and knocked on the door. They weren't there, but a very nice girl named Shannon was there. (I guess Olivia and Miguel are renting that trailer now...) It started raining pretty bad (it really is a blessing when the weather is not pleasant...people let us come in!) so she let us come in. She basically has no religious background. She went to church with her mom, but she wasn't sure which denomination it was. We talked about how God loves her and that she is daughter of God. It was a really good lesson. She wants us to come back! (miracle #9)

Saturday we spent some time contacting referrals. We went to the library and talked to less active Tasha. She is going to be coming to church in Kinston this Sunday! Hooray! (miracle #10) That evening we went to see Nathan. Last time we met with Nathan, we invited him to be baptized. He told us that he would need to think and pray about it before he could give us a "for sure" answer. We asked him how that went and he had a really neat miracle. He said that he had prayed and thought about it a lot and that he had a couple of dreams this past week about how he saw himself being baptized and the members welcoming him into the ward ( Whoa. Right?) He said he still wants to make sure this is the right decision, but that he usually receives answers to his questions via dreams. (miracle #11)

Sunday we went to church in Woodington. We taught the gospel principles class this week. It was on the sacrament and why it is important. Good scritpures to read: Matthew 26:26-28; 3 Nephi 18:1-11. Amy came to gospel principles! (miracle #12) I think it was because we bribed her with candy. Or maybe she just loves us. Regardless, we were excited that she came. After church we had a super good lesson with her. We talked about recognizing the spirit and then we watched Elder Holland's talk, "Safety for the Soul". Oh my gracious. That talk is intense. It was really good. We asked her how she felt about the Book of Mormon and the talk. She said she believes it all (miracle #13). She said that what she has read so far in the Book of Mormon she believes. That is huge. Last time we asked her she said she wasn't so sure. So, that is exciting news! She gave us a bunch of girl scout cookies. I love girl scout cookies. Mmmmm... It was a splendid Sunday. VERY cold, but all together, it was a very good day.

I read some good talks this week. The first one was called "Finding Joy in the Journey" by Pres. Monson and the other one was called "Come What May, and Love It" by Elder Wirthlin. It was awesome. My favorite quote from Elder Wirthlin's talk was some advice he gave to his daughter. He said, "The simple secret is this: put your trust in the Lord, do your best, then leave the rest to Him." I know that's true. Thank heavens for continuing revelation. It is such a blessing.

I love you all so very much and I hope y'all have a wonderful week! Thank you for all your love and support. It has been a blessing in my life. I appreciate it very much.

Oh! Sister Matthews and I get to go to the temple this Friday! Yay! One of the recent converts she taught is going through for the first time. We are stoked.

Love you!

Love, Sister J

A New Vision (Feb 6, 2012)

Dearest Family and Friends,

Greetings from Deep Run, NC! Not much is new in these neck of the woods. The weather was nice this week aaand it was a good week. Sister M is doing great. She is great so you know, they just go hand in hand I suppose.

Last Monday we took a trip to Kinston. We drove our very muddy vehicle to the carwash and washed it twice. It still has some mud on it after the second run through. (sigh). I attached a picture of the muddy vehicle for you. We made our weekly run to Wal-mart and then went to JC Penny. I like that store. We (sis M and I) have been choosing a "scripture of the week" every week. This week's was Isaiah 41:10. I would suggest reading and then memorizing, but I'll let you use your agency. :]

We had great plans for Tuesday. Unfortunately, Satan also does daily planning and all of our appointments fell through. However, we were able to contact a referral and we set up some appointments with recent converts and former investigators. We had a huge blessing this week. One of the sisters that served in this area, Sister Christensen (now Sister Taylor) came back to visit. We decided to ask her for referrals and she gave us a LOT of referrals. She was there a whole week and it was wonderful! She had some pretty funny stories and she actually served in Deep Run twice so, she knew the area really, really well. Blessing? Oh yes.

Wednesday's district meeting was about having charity and faith in the area book. We read 2 Nephi 33 and likened it to the area book. We found a good scripture that may or may not have been a rebuking scripture in 3 Nephi 23:10-13. Afterwards, sister Matthews and I talked about how we wanted to turn this area around. We called it, "raise your vision." We set some goals for what we want this area to be like in six months and then set some more goals for what we are going to do to get it to that point. Basically what it came down to was asking referrals from everyone and getting the members more involved in missionary work than they already are. We are still working on some other ideas that are "out of the box" sorts of things. We took Sister Heath (that went to district meeting with us a few weeks ago) out on exchanges. She is getting ready to go on a mission to Houston, TX at the end of March. We met a man who was less active. He is in a Lynrd Skynrd tribute band. It was a VERY long doorstep appointment almost entirely about Lynrd Skynrd. I think he might be having a mid-life crisis...bless his heart.

Thursday we had the best weekly planning session ever! It was also the longest weekly planning session I have ever had in my life. 7 hours later we finished. (whew!) BUT, we really considered all of the needs and concerns of those we are teaching and I am confident it will pay off in the end. We also had an appointment with the Turner family. They are still having a rather difficult time with commitments and so forth. We talked about enduring to the end and what we need to do in order to qualify for the celestial kingdom. They made specific goals for where they are struggling and we finally figured out a way that they can read their scriptures! They are going to put their Book of Mormons on their dinner plates so when they get them out of the cupboard they will remember to read a scripture and then say a prayer before they eat. They came up with that idea all on their own too! I hope it will work for them.

On Friday we went and did service at the library. Tasha (the less active) was there. I love her. She has had a lot of trials in life and I think it is amazing how strong she is. She is starting to come back to church and asked about how she could move her records and what time church started and so forth. It was really good. We shelved books (who knew that you could re-learn how to do the Dewey decimal system on your mission?) and then made some valiant attempts to contact some referrals. Afterwards, we had dinner with the strouds (ward mission leader) in Woodington. Our appointment with Olivia and Miguel fell through so we went to Claire's. Guess what? She has an appointment to go to Raleigh on Tuesday (tomorrow) and get her paperwork started for a passport so she will have a picture ID to get married with! We are really happy for her. She is super excited too. Guess what else? When we went over there, her boyfriend was in the back room on the telephone. (He usually hides in the back room because he is "shy" and won't come out) Claire told us to be really quiet so he wouldn't know that we were there. We were and then he came out! He introduced himself to us and then he sat down. We talked for a bit and Itzel (Claire's four year old) said the prayer. It was so good. We invited him to come to church on Sunday and he said he would consider it.

Saturday we went to Claire's baby shower. They made these funny little pins that are supposed to be diapers, but they were far too lacy to look like diapers. Anyways, we had some really good legit Mexican food. I was stuffed. We were able to talk to some people there about the church. Claire's sister, Araceli was there. She had taken a few lessons in the past and we are hoping to meet with her soon. We had a lesson with Denise H., a recent convert. She is great! She loves the gospel principles manual and loves the church. We had a good lesson with her about enduring to the end. I found this really great quote in the Ensign from Pres. Monson. It says, "Decisions determine destiny. You can't make an eternal decision without eternal consequences." So basically, everything we do matters if we are planning on enduring to the end faithfully. We pulled most of what we talked to her about from the talk, "Choose Eternal Life" from the last conference. Good stuff! We had an appointment with Nathan at the Cottons (members) in Beullaville that evening. We decided we wouldn't brave the muddy road this time and parked at a Bojangles' and then had them come pick us up. The lesson we had with Nathan was sooo good! We talked about recognizing the spirit and then watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Resto. He was basically speechless at the end. We had him write down thoughts, impressions, questions during the movie and talked about them after. He said he doesn't know how it couldn't be true. The spirit was so strong. We invited him to consider being baptized. He said he would need to do some serious reading and praying, but that he would consider it. Great lesson. Great kid. The gospel is great.

Sunday we went to Albertson (all-ber-sun). Testimony meeting was really good and then I got a little distracted in sunday school and found some good scriptures about the "refiner's fire" (Isaiah 48:10; Zechariah 13:9; Malachi 3:2-3; 1 Nephi 20:10. It was neat. The great refiner is Jesus Christ according to the Bible dictionary. I love the bible dictionary. I think I would like to read the whole thing at some point in my life. Anyways, no one came to church :( Our appointment for the evening caved , but it was okay. We've got a great week lined up and we're going to work our tails off!

I love you all. The church is true. I know that. I hope yall have a wonderful week and I am so grateful for all of your love and support.

With all my love,
Sister J

New Pictures: Feb 1, 2012