Monday, November 28, 2011
November 28, 2011
Dear Fam,Hello and Happy Turkey Day...a few days late. I forgot that Thanksgiving was coming up! I hope it was good for yall. I am still full. Sister Welch and I had a really good week.Monday Sister Welch and I went about our business washing clothes, cleaning, writing letters, dealing with angry people (we won't go into details, but sometimes I think the holidays really bring out the worst in people). I got a haircut from a less active in the Woodington ward. She has been starting to come back to church recently. It is really exciting! We worked on our map book in the evening and listened to some cheesy church music (From Cumorah's Hill). It was great!Tuesday we spent a good chunk of time tracting. We went with Sister Joyner on exchanges in the afternoon and contacted some less actives in the area that the bishop had asked us to go by. We met one guy..whose last name was "Guy" and he was very nice. We started talking to him about the church and the he gave us a really confused look so we asked him if he knew about the church he said he didn't, but that some people with the same tags that were boys and stopped by a few weeks ago and he couldn't figure out why we kept coming back, but didn't want to be rude. We told him the situation and he said he hadn't ever gone to the church before. We talked to sister Joyner after we left and come to find out, they had an incident a while back where some missionaries, who are now known as the "kiddie dippers" came and baptized a bunch of kids without teaching them anything or having them come to church or talking with the parents. I am glad I am not in their shoes.In the evening we met with Austin and Kaitlin, who are cousins to Sarah that we have been teaching. We taught them the restoration/gospel of Jesus Christ/commandments with cups that you build into a pyramid to represent Jesus Christ's church. It is such a fun lesson to teach! Austin and Kaitlin both really liked it and they were able to grasp what we were teaching before you could snap your fingers! Their parents are both less active, but they want to start coming back to church. We are so excited for their family. Missionary work really is so fulfilling. It is really really hard sometimes, but when things finally start to work out, it's the best thing ever! Wednesday's district meeting was amazing as usual. Elder Thatcher is a really good district leader. We read in Doctrine and Covenants 42:6-8; 12-17. We discussed about how we can be able to think outside the box and think of new finding ideas..since ours aren't working as effectively as they could be. There is a better way to do missionary work than to spend your whole day tracting. That is what I have been learning...for quite a while now. We read about going westward and Sister Welch and I decided that we may or may not be reading into the scripture to much, but that we were going to go westward in our area to find new people to teach. We also talked about working with the youth. They are such good missionaries! We decided to go to Albertson after district meeting and we did some work out there without any immediate results. However, we were able to meet with Claire. She is working towards getting her marriage papers sent to Mexico so she can get a marriage license..and then she can work towards being baptized! She is so solid! We have been texting her a scripture every day and she has been reading them everyday and she bought a notebook to take notes and write down impressions she has been recieving. She doesn't even need a mission president to tell her to do that. She just does it. I look up to her a lot and I think she has taught me more than I have taught her. We were talking about Alma 32 and she related the seed to her children and how she wants them to grow up in the church. I thought, "wow." I don't think I would have ever thought of that.Thursday was Happy Thanksgiving Day! We normally do weekly planning that day. So, since we weren't allowed to do proselyting that day, we did weekly planning. Sister Welch and I decided to build a fort in our apartment and we did weekly planning in our fort. Then, we went to the church to practice the piano ( I get to play a piece for a christmas contata in the Woodington ward...woot!) The elders told the people that they were eating lunch/dinner with that we didn't have a lunch/dinner...after we had eaten our delicious lunch of corndogs and chips with guacamole. (We had a supper for the evening. There is breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner-around 2ish, and then there is supper-around 6 or 7ish) Anyways, they basically demanded that we drop everything we were doing and come over and eat there. So, our agency was obviously removed from the situation and we went and ate Thanksgiving #1. I tried turnip greens. I almost barfed. Luckily I had a lot of potatoes so I just mixed them in and it wasn't so bad. After talking with the Floyd family for about 2 hours we headed to our supper (aka Thanksgiving #2) and ate some more food there. They even had mac n' cheese as part of their thanksgiving. We ate fried turkey, fried cornbread, collards, and lots of other buttery fried things that I don't even know the names of. It was really good. I think I felt my arteries clogging as I ate though.Friday we decided to pursue our "going westward" to see if we had better luck. We headed out to Beullaville and we met a lady named Lisa who was waiting at her door for us. She let us in and told us that her sister is a member in the Woodington ward. She wants to know more about the Book of Mormon and she's just a great lady. We are very excited to meet with her again. Her husband wasn't there, but hopefully he will want to participate as well.Saturday we met with a less active and had a good lesson with her and on sunday we had five people come to church!Sarah is getting baptized this saturday and she is really excited. (rightfully so...)My time is up, but I hope you know I love you. You are in my prayers always!Love,Sister J
Monday, November 21, 2011
November 21, 2011
Dear Family,
Hello! I hope this email finds you all doing well. It was a good week for Sister Welch and I.
Last Monday we cleaned. And then we cleaned some more. Our apartment hasn't been deep cleaned for many more than a few transfers. I'm still scared to look in the fridge...
We were able to meet with the Freeman family and do FHE with them on Monday evening. They are an active family who are struggling a little. Their daughter was actually the one who introduced Matthew to the church. We had a good lesson from 1 Nephi 16 and we did a real life application at the end and talked about how by small means the Lord can bring about great things. They are a great family.
Tuesday we did a lot of tracting which didn't reap any immediate fruits. We met a lady who was very nice. She told us to come back a couple of hours later. We did, but there was no answer at the door. It gets dark so early now! We are not allowed to go tracting after it gets dark so we decided to start the grand undertaking of making a map book of our areas. We asked the elders if we could borrow theirs to copy the maps. After looking at theirs, we decided it might just be best to start from scratch. Their map book had maps labeled as "Pizza Plus" (a local pizza place), "Food Mart", and my personal favorite, "Where Am I?" (it is a spot in Deep Run that really doesn't have any houses at all). So, we are starting from square one with the map book. They are so helpful! We are partway done, but ran into another obstacle...the ward boundaries here are a little vague. Salt Lake's version of the ward boundaries is not correct according to the North Carolinineans. So, we are trying to sort through that.
Wednesday we had district meeting and interviews with Pres. Cotterell. President talked to me about a lot of things. He told me to make sure that I wrote down all the things I have learned/experienced over the past couple weeks. He talked about the steps to revelation. Recieve, record, respond, review, respond again! I am making an effort to better use my study journal. I wrote down the things that I did learn from everything that has happened. It's good to write things down so they aren't just floating around in your brain. The one thing that I really thing I have learned from mom passing away and being here is to trust in the Lord. I have always thought that I knew what it meant to trust in the Lord, but it's got a totally different angle to it now. It is hard. I also feel like I have deepened love for our Savior, Jesus Christ and the Atonement. I am so thankful for it and I wish there was someway to repay Him for it. I guess all we can really do is just do our best to live our lives like He did. We had a great day after district meeting. We have seen so many miracles this week. We met with a family that is LA in the Woodington ward. They are currently dealing with a very large trial. We decided to stop by and were able to invite them to come to church and to start reading/praying together. Then, when we called them a couple of days later to followup, they were sooo excited to tell us that about an hour after we left that the elders had also stopped by because they felt so impressed. So, they came to church on sunday! We were also able to meet with another LA lady who has been struggling with the repentance process. She says the thing she misses most is her relationship with Heavenly Father. We are excited to be instruments in helping her solve her concerns so she can start coming back to church.
Thursday we did weekly planning and ate at the Pizza Plus. We had Calzones. They were HUGE. I think they just took a pizza and folded it in half and called it a "calzone." It was delicious though. We continued our work on the map book and received a call from a brother in one of the wards that he had talked to his LA aunt and uncle and they want to start coming back to church. Their kids weren't raised in the church so we are going to start teaching them. We also had a lesson with Claire. She is so good at sharing the gospel with her family. I was reading about how when we do missionary work, we are able to have the spirit of the Lord more abundantly in our lives. I think Claire has felt this. I know it's true. She is a stellar lady.
Friday we did some tracting, met with some LA's and then had a lesson with the DiPietro family. We talked about recognizing the spirit and it was such a good lesson. Sis. DiPietro's daughter is a recent convert who has gone less active, but she got so excited to talk about how she felt when she was baptized and when she got her patriarchal blessing. It was so good! I hope they were able to go to church...Both of the wards we are over meet at the same time. So, we can only go to one ward. We alternate every week. We had the coolest experience when we went to do service this past week at the library! The librarian who was there is named Tasha. She was very warm and friendly towards us (more so than usual) and when we started talking to her we found out that her family was from Utah and that she was a member of the church! She is currently LA and just got married to a guy who is not a member. She wants us to come and teach him though and she talked to him about it and he agreed! He has had the elders talk to him before and he didn't feel too comfortable with them...So, we are excited. The only problem is that she lives outside of our area so we will see what happens with that.
Saturday we had made plans to go to Mt. Olive/Seven Springs and do some work there, but then we had a change of plans. We stayed in Woodington and were able to teach a few LA's and then we met with the LA family who want to start coming back to church. Afterwards, we went to Sarah's (she is ten and is going to be baptized on Dec. 3 and she is also really good at having hilarious comebacks) and went with her cousins to go 'possum kickin.' I thought they were kidding. I was wrong. I now feel like a true Deep-Runnite. Their family is VERY southern.
We met with Sarah and her mom again after church on Sunday and taught the Plan of Salvation (Sister Matthews and I used to call it the Point of Sale) Sarah really liked it. Her mom had some doubts/questions about it, but I think they were able to resolve them. Then we taught the ten commandments. I learned a lot of southern terms from them. A fly flap=fly swatter. The boot=the trunk of your car. Pocket book=purse. It was a week of much learning. I ate collards and a corn flitter this week too. Corn flitters are deep fried corn bread pancakes.
Well, my time is up. The church is true. I know that for sure.
I love you all more than words could ever hope to express. I am doing really very well. Some days are harder than others, but when you read, pray, and get involved with church activities, it helps to strengthen you.
You are in my prayers always!
Much love,
Sister J
Hello! I hope this email finds you all doing well. It was a good week for Sister Welch and I.
Last Monday we cleaned. And then we cleaned some more. Our apartment hasn't been deep cleaned for many more than a few transfers. I'm still scared to look in the fridge...
We were able to meet with the Freeman family and do FHE with them on Monday evening. They are an active family who are struggling a little. Their daughter was actually the one who introduced Matthew to the church. We had a good lesson from 1 Nephi 16 and we did a real life application at the end and talked about how by small means the Lord can bring about great things. They are a great family.
Tuesday we did a lot of tracting which didn't reap any immediate fruits. We met a lady who was very nice. She told us to come back a couple of hours later. We did, but there was no answer at the door. It gets dark so early now! We are not allowed to go tracting after it gets dark so we decided to start the grand undertaking of making a map book of our areas. We asked the elders if we could borrow theirs to copy the maps. After looking at theirs, we decided it might just be best to start from scratch. Their map book had maps labeled as "Pizza Plus" (a local pizza place), "Food Mart", and my personal favorite, "Where Am I?" (it is a spot in Deep Run that really doesn't have any houses at all). So, we are starting from square one with the map book. They are so helpful! We are partway done, but ran into another obstacle...the ward boundaries here are a little vague. Salt Lake's version of the ward boundaries is not correct according to the North Carolinineans. So, we are trying to sort through that.
Wednesday we had district meeting and interviews with Pres. Cotterell. President talked to me about a lot of things. He told me to make sure that I wrote down all the things I have learned/experienced over the past couple weeks. He talked about the steps to revelation. Recieve, record, respond, review, respond again! I am making an effort to better use my study journal. I wrote down the things that I did learn from everything that has happened. It's good to write things down so they aren't just floating around in your brain. The one thing that I really thing I have learned from mom passing away and being here is to trust in the Lord. I have always thought that I knew what it meant to trust in the Lord, but it's got a totally different angle to it now. It is hard. I also feel like I have deepened love for our Savior, Jesus Christ and the Atonement. I am so thankful for it and I wish there was someway to repay Him for it. I guess all we can really do is just do our best to live our lives like He did. We had a great day after district meeting. We have seen so many miracles this week. We met with a family that is LA in the Woodington ward. They are currently dealing with a very large trial. We decided to stop by and were able to invite them to come to church and to start reading/praying together. Then, when we called them a couple of days later to followup, they were sooo excited to tell us that about an hour after we left that the elders had also stopped by because they felt so impressed. So, they came to church on sunday! We were also able to meet with another LA lady who has been struggling with the repentance process. She says the thing she misses most is her relationship with Heavenly Father. We are excited to be instruments in helping her solve her concerns so she can start coming back to church.
Thursday we did weekly planning and ate at the Pizza Plus. We had Calzones. They were HUGE. I think they just took a pizza and folded it in half and called it a "calzone." It was delicious though. We continued our work on the map book and received a call from a brother in one of the wards that he had talked to his LA aunt and uncle and they want to start coming back to church. Their kids weren't raised in the church so we are going to start teaching them. We also had a lesson with Claire. She is so good at sharing the gospel with her family. I was reading about how when we do missionary work, we are able to have the spirit of the Lord more abundantly in our lives. I think Claire has felt this. I know it's true. She is a stellar lady.
Friday we did some tracting, met with some LA's and then had a lesson with the DiPietro family. We talked about recognizing the spirit and it was such a good lesson. Sis. DiPietro's daughter is a recent convert who has gone less active, but she got so excited to talk about how she felt when she was baptized and when she got her patriarchal blessing. It was so good! I hope they were able to go to church...Both of the wards we are over meet at the same time. So, we can only go to one ward. We alternate every week. We had the coolest experience when we went to do service this past week at the library! The librarian who was there is named Tasha. She was very warm and friendly towards us (more so than usual) and when we started talking to her we found out that her family was from Utah and that she was a member of the church! She is currently LA and just got married to a guy who is not a member. She wants us to come and teach him though and she talked to him about it and he agreed! He has had the elders talk to him before and he didn't feel too comfortable with them...So, we are excited. The only problem is that she lives outside of our area so we will see what happens with that.
Saturday we had made plans to go to Mt. Olive/Seven Springs and do some work there, but then we had a change of plans. We stayed in Woodington and were able to teach a few LA's and then we met with the LA family who want to start coming back to church. Afterwards, we went to Sarah's (she is ten and is going to be baptized on Dec. 3 and she is also really good at having hilarious comebacks) and went with her cousins to go 'possum kickin.' I thought they were kidding. I was wrong. I now feel like a true Deep-Runnite. Their family is VERY southern.
We met with Sarah and her mom again after church on Sunday and taught the Plan of Salvation (Sister Matthews and I used to call it the Point of Sale) Sarah really liked it. Her mom had some doubts/questions about it, but I think they were able to resolve them. Then we taught the ten commandments. I learned a lot of southern terms from them. A fly flap=fly swatter. The boot=the trunk of your car. Pocket book=purse. It was a week of much learning. I ate collards and a corn flitter this week too. Corn flitters are deep fried corn bread pancakes.
Well, my time is up. The church is true. I know that for sure.
I love you all more than words could ever hope to express. I am doing really very well. Some days are harder than others, but when you read, pray, and get involved with church activities, it helps to strengthen you.
You are in my prayers always!
Much love,
Sister J
Monday, November 14, 2011
Back in North Carolina
Dear Family and Friends,
I just wanted to say thank you for the outpouring of love that has been shown to my family and I. I know that my mother was a very special lady who touched many, many lives. I hope I can be as Christ-like as her someday. She is incredible. Thank you for the encouraging words of comfort and peace that each of you have shared. It has helped sooth the hearts of our family.
The plane trip back to NC wasn't too eventful. I didn't sit by anyone on the SLC to Minneapolis flight and then I sat by 4 people that were all from Utah on the Minneapolis to Raleigh flight. It was really hard to come back, but I know this is where Heavenly Father needs/wants me. I feel like this is where mom would want me to be too. She always wanted to serve a mission and President Cotterell told me that he believes that she will be permitted to follow the work here in NC. I believe that too. I also feel like she must be comforting me because my heart does not hurt as badly and I felt quite distinctly that she wants us to be happy. Sister Welch and Sister Matthews and Sister Bateman met me in Goldsboro after the Senior Sisters (Sister Young and Sister Arkell) picked me up from the airport. They were wonderful to ride back with. They offered many encouraging words...since they both had been in similar situations. Sister W, Sister M, and Sister B blasted me with all sorts of positive energy. I went to bed after we planned. Airplanes and hyper sister missionaries make me tired.
We went to church in the Albertson ward yesterday. That was the first time I have been to that ward. It is totally different from the Woodington ward. It is about half in English and half in Spanish. The elders in that ward are Spanish-speaking and they only do gospel principles in Spanish there because all of the investigators are Hispanic. (our investigator, Claire is too) So, we went to gospel principles and I caught a few things here and there. Expacion (or something like that) =Atonement. That is what we learned about. One of the men sitting in the back really agreed with what one of the Elders said and kept saying "amen" all through the lesson. Elder Taylor is one of the elders in that ward and he, like many others in this mission is from Kaysville. Relief Society was all about the second coming. Claire understands English really well so she learned a lot. She said she wants to get baptized because she doesn't want to get burned to stubble. I think that is a good reason. Maybe we should start telling people that. ;) She is amazing though. She knows it's all true. She just needs to get a marriage license so she can be legally married to her boyfriend.
I don't really know what else to say except that I know that the Plan of Salvation is real. I knew it was before, but it has a much, much deeper meaning to me now. It is hard, but I read about Paul today in 2 Corinthians. He talked about how he had afflictions and trials and how the Lord will help us overcome them. I keep trying to remember that. I know that mom is helping bring about Heavenly Father's great plan of "bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." God's plan really is so much grander than our own. I suppose sometimes we need to learn to trust the Lord and his wisdom in all things.
I hope you all know how much I love each of you. I am thankful to be surrounded by such wonderful people who set such wonderful examples for me. Thank you for all that you do. Thank you for being there in a time of much need.
Thank you family for your support and love and everything else. It means the world to me and wish I could somehow make it up to you all.
Don't ever forget that I love you!
Much love,
Sister J
I just wanted to say thank you for the outpouring of love that has been shown to my family and I. I know that my mother was a very special lady who touched many, many lives. I hope I can be as Christ-like as her someday. She is incredible. Thank you for the encouraging words of comfort and peace that each of you have shared. It has helped sooth the hearts of our family.
The plane trip back to NC wasn't too eventful. I didn't sit by anyone on the SLC to Minneapolis flight and then I sat by 4 people that were all from Utah on the Minneapolis to Raleigh flight. It was really hard to come back, but I know this is where Heavenly Father needs/wants me. I feel like this is where mom would want me to be too. She always wanted to serve a mission and President Cotterell told me that he believes that she will be permitted to follow the work here in NC. I believe that too. I also feel like she must be comforting me because my heart does not hurt as badly and I felt quite distinctly that she wants us to be happy. Sister Welch and Sister Matthews and Sister Bateman met me in Goldsboro after the Senior Sisters (Sister Young and Sister Arkell) picked me up from the airport. They were wonderful to ride back with. They offered many encouraging words...since they both had been in similar situations. Sister W, Sister M, and Sister B blasted me with all sorts of positive energy. I went to bed after we planned. Airplanes and hyper sister missionaries make me tired.
We went to church in the Albertson ward yesterday. That was the first time I have been to that ward. It is totally different from the Woodington ward. It is about half in English and half in Spanish. The elders in that ward are Spanish-speaking and they only do gospel principles in Spanish there because all of the investigators are Hispanic. (our investigator, Claire is too) So, we went to gospel principles and I caught a few things here and there. Expacion (or something like that) =Atonement. That is what we learned about. One of the men sitting in the back really agreed with what one of the Elders said and kept saying "amen" all through the lesson. Elder Taylor is one of the elders in that ward and he, like many others in this mission is from Kaysville. Relief Society was all about the second coming. Claire understands English really well so she learned a lot. She said she wants to get baptized because she doesn't want to get burned to stubble. I think that is a good reason. Maybe we should start telling people that. ;) She is amazing though. She knows it's all true. She just needs to get a marriage license so she can be legally married to her boyfriend.
I don't really know what else to say except that I know that the Plan of Salvation is real. I knew it was before, but it has a much, much deeper meaning to me now. It is hard, but I read about Paul today in 2 Corinthians. He talked about how he had afflictions and trials and how the Lord will help us overcome them. I keep trying to remember that. I know that mom is helping bring about Heavenly Father's great plan of "bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." God's plan really is so much grander than our own. I suppose sometimes we need to learn to trust the Lord and his wisdom in all things.
I hope you all know how much I love each of you. I am thankful to be surrounded by such wonderful people who set such wonderful examples for me. Thank you for all that you do. Thank you for being there in a time of much need.
Thank you family for your support and love and everything else. It means the world to me and wish I could somehow make it up to you all.
Don't ever forget that I love you!
Much love,
Sister J
Monday, November 7, 2011
I Love My Momma - 11/7/2011
Dear Everyone,
Thank you for all you love and support. This week has been hard, but I know in my heart that everything is going to be okay.I feel quite at peace with the situation oddly enough. I am so thankful that we have the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. I know that mama is at peace now and that she can finally rest from all her troubles. I was reading in Enos today and the last verse was really good. It reminded me of mom and I know that she will be able to experience this. It says, "And I go to the place of my rest, which is with my Redeemer; for I know that in him I shall rest. And I rejoice in the day when my mortal shall put on immortality, and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father. Amen." I know everything will be okay. I am going to miss her dearly. More than words can ever say or express. I wish she could be here, but Heavenly Father's plan is so much bigger than ours. Sometimes I still feel like mine would work out better, but He knows way more than I do. I was thinking about all the things I love about mom and I thought it would be good to list a few.
Things I love about my mother:
She was the happiest morning person you would ever meet. I couldn't help but smile when I saw her in the morning.
She was always there to encourage and brighten our day even when it seemed like it was the end of the world to children who are sometimes over dramatic and emotional. I know for a fact that I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for her pushing me to stick with the things that seemed too hard at the time (piano, mission, college, cross country, everything really.)
She was always willing to do things with and spend time with her family whom she loved dearly. I know she loved us.
She is the epitome of someone who knows what it means to sacrifice one's own desires to help another. I really have never met such a selfless person as my mother.
She always made me breakfast...even after I graduated from high school. :)
She was a most excellent cook. I had no desire to eat elsewhere except for home because it was better than anywhere you could go.
She loved the Lord and understood the importance of daily scripture study and prayer. Even when us kids were a little less than enthusiastic about such events as family prayer and family scripture study, mom was always there and ready to go. I love her for that.
Mom was always willing to share her testimony with us. Most of the time she didn't even need to say anything. The way she lived was a living testimony of her faith and devotion to the Lord.
For all that she suffered through, she was very good at being happy. I am such a wuss compared to her. She is my hero.
I loved watching chick-flicks with her and going on walks and talking about life and all it's ups and downs.
I loved going grocery shopping with her every week. Most people don't really like grocery shopping, but I loooved going with my mama to the grocery store.
I loved playing board games with her. She was always so happy to sit down with us and just play whatever game we wanted. Even Candyland which gets old really, really fast. She played it with us though and kept a positive mental attitude and a smile in her eyes and on her lips.
She taught me the importance of disciplining myself and putting "things needed" before "things wanted."
She supported me in my decisions even if they were hard for her because she loved and loves her children dearly.
She was the most patient individual I've ever met and I'm pretty confident in saying that I think she's the most patient person I'll ever meet.
I love how she used to read books with me at night.
I love how she would rock me before going to sleep at night.
She was always there to make me feel better when I was sick and would do anything she could to make us as comfortable as she could while we were sick.
Really, the list could go on infinitely.
I wish I could have been able to tell her how much I really truly love her and look up to her and desire to be like her. I feel like she didn't really know how much I really love her. I hope she knows now though.
As for the update since transfers last week, I am now in Deep Run which is about as country as you can get with Sister Welch who is wonderful. I am thankful she is my companion right now. She is a very loving and compassionate individual and I am thankful for her. Matthew got baptized on Friday and confirmed on Sunday. I talked to Sister Matthews and she said that he got up and bore his testimony about how he knows without a doubt that it is true even though he tried really hard to deny it, but he said he couldn't. She said it was the best sacrament meeting she'd been to in a really long time. She said that no one is there to play the piano now so they sang acappella and she said it was beautiful. I talked to Sister Joseph as well and she wanted us to know that she is praying for us and to "keep running our 'life' marathon and that we can make it through." :) I love her.
President and Sister Cotterell are the best mission president/wife ever. I am thankful for them and their kindness, gentleness, and outpouring of love. We went to the temple together on Saturday and it helped bring some comfort. President assured me that everything will be okay and that everything that happens here happens for a reason greater than we can comprehend, but that we agreed to the circumstances before we came to earth and that we should turn to God. I am trying hard to keep this in mind.
I want to tell my father how much I love him. Words can't really describe that as well. I want to thank my perfect, wonderful dad for his diligence and all the love he showed to mom. The example you set for me is one that I hope I can someday achieve. I hope I can love someone regardless of their circumstances as much as you love mom. I know that you were made for each other and that you definitely fulfilled your promises to her in this life and I know that it will continue forever. That's the beauty of this great plan Heavenly Father put in place for us. I am forever grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ. I love him so much and I wish I could somehow thank him enough for fulfilling the Atonement so that we can all be able to be forgiven of our sins, receive strength and comfort in this life to overcome hard things, and that we can be able to live forever with him and Heavenly Father and with our families in the Celestial Kingdom if we do our best in this life and strive to keep all the commandments, etc.
I want to tell Lance and Ashlyn that I love them so much that I can't really describe that either, but that it is a lot. Bigger than the universe a lot. An infinite amount a lot.
I'm sorry that I couldn't be there right now to help comfort and be with you, but I know everything is the way it is for a reason. I love you all a lot. Don't forget it!
Much Love,
Sister J
Thank you for all you love and support. This week has been hard, but I know in my heart that everything is going to be okay.I feel quite at peace with the situation oddly enough. I am so thankful that we have the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. I know that mama is at peace now and that she can finally rest from all her troubles. I was reading in Enos today and the last verse was really good. It reminded me of mom and I know that she will be able to experience this. It says, "And I go to the place of my rest, which is with my Redeemer; for I know that in him I shall rest. And I rejoice in the day when my mortal shall put on immortality, and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father. Amen." I know everything will be okay. I am going to miss her dearly. More than words can ever say or express. I wish she could be here, but Heavenly Father's plan is so much bigger than ours. Sometimes I still feel like mine would work out better, but He knows way more than I do. I was thinking about all the things I love about mom and I thought it would be good to list a few.
Things I love about my mother:
She was the happiest morning person you would ever meet. I couldn't help but smile when I saw her in the morning.
She was always there to encourage and brighten our day even when it seemed like it was the end of the world to children who are sometimes over dramatic and emotional. I know for a fact that I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for her pushing me to stick with the things that seemed too hard at the time (piano, mission, college, cross country, everything really.)
She was always willing to do things with and spend time with her family whom she loved dearly. I know she loved us.
She is the epitome of someone who knows what it means to sacrifice one's own desires to help another. I really have never met such a selfless person as my mother.
She always made me breakfast...even after I graduated from high school. :)
She was a most excellent cook. I had no desire to eat elsewhere except for home because it was better than anywhere you could go.
She loved the Lord and understood the importance of daily scripture study and prayer. Even when us kids were a little less than enthusiastic about such events as family prayer and family scripture study, mom was always there and ready to go. I love her for that.
Mom was always willing to share her testimony with us. Most of the time she didn't even need to say anything. The way she lived was a living testimony of her faith and devotion to the Lord.
For all that she suffered through, she was very good at being happy. I am such a wuss compared to her. She is my hero.
I loved watching chick-flicks with her and going on walks and talking about life and all it's ups and downs.
I loved going grocery shopping with her every week. Most people don't really like grocery shopping, but I loooved going with my mama to the grocery store.
I loved playing board games with her. She was always so happy to sit down with us and just play whatever game we wanted. Even Candyland which gets old really, really fast. She played it with us though and kept a positive mental attitude and a smile in her eyes and on her lips.
She taught me the importance of disciplining myself and putting "things needed" before "things wanted."
She supported me in my decisions even if they were hard for her because she loved and loves her children dearly.
She was the most patient individual I've ever met and I'm pretty confident in saying that I think she's the most patient person I'll ever meet.
I love how she used to read books with me at night.
I love how she would rock me before going to sleep at night.
She was always there to make me feel better when I was sick and would do anything she could to make us as comfortable as she could while we were sick.
Really, the list could go on infinitely.
I wish I could have been able to tell her how much I really truly love her and look up to her and desire to be like her. I feel like she didn't really know how much I really love her. I hope she knows now though.
As for the update since transfers last week, I am now in Deep Run which is about as country as you can get with Sister Welch who is wonderful. I am thankful she is my companion right now. She is a very loving and compassionate individual and I am thankful for her. Matthew got baptized on Friday and confirmed on Sunday. I talked to Sister Matthews and she said that he got up and bore his testimony about how he knows without a doubt that it is true even though he tried really hard to deny it, but he said he couldn't. She said it was the best sacrament meeting she'd been to in a really long time. She said that no one is there to play the piano now so they sang acappella and she said it was beautiful. I talked to Sister Joseph as well and she wanted us to know that she is praying for us and to "keep running our 'life' marathon and that we can make it through." :) I love her.
President and Sister Cotterell are the best mission president/wife ever. I am thankful for them and their kindness, gentleness, and outpouring of love. We went to the temple together on Saturday and it helped bring some comfort. President assured me that everything will be okay and that everything that happens here happens for a reason greater than we can comprehend, but that we agreed to the circumstances before we came to earth and that we should turn to God. I am trying hard to keep this in mind.
I want to tell my father how much I love him. Words can't really describe that as well. I want to thank my perfect, wonderful dad for his diligence and all the love he showed to mom. The example you set for me is one that I hope I can someday achieve. I hope I can love someone regardless of their circumstances as much as you love mom. I know that you were made for each other and that you definitely fulfilled your promises to her in this life and I know that it will continue forever. That's the beauty of this great plan Heavenly Father put in place for us. I am forever grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ. I love him so much and I wish I could somehow thank him enough for fulfilling the Atonement so that we can all be able to be forgiven of our sins, receive strength and comfort in this life to overcome hard things, and that we can be able to live forever with him and Heavenly Father and with our families in the Celestial Kingdom if we do our best in this life and strive to keep all the commandments, etc.
I want to tell Lance and Ashlyn that I love them so much that I can't really describe that either, but that it is a lot. Bigger than the universe a lot. An infinite amount a lot.
I'm sorry that I couldn't be there right now to help comfort and be with you, but I know everything is the way it is for a reason. I love you all a lot. Don't forget it!
Much Love,
Sister J
Monday, October 31, 2011
Leaving Greenville...tomorrow! :(
Dear Fam,
Hello and HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I hope you all are doing well...it sounds like everyone is doing good from the weekly report. Oh! I got the package you sent! Thanks so much. Now I won't freeeeze! (It finally got cold here.) I also found out I am getting transferred tomorrow. (ah!)
On Monday Sister Matthews and I decided to go shopping and found some attractive sister missionary attire. We ate dinner with Pres. Walker and all the other missionaries in our area. It was good. We talked to them about faith and the levels of faith and had a good lesson with them. Afterwards, we went to Brittany's...with all the elders (because they had to carpool) to give her a blessing. She has been struggling lately and requested a blessing. We didn't tell the elders anything about her situation; just that she needed a blessing. So, they came over and all six of us missionaries sat in there small apartment and taught her about faith and the priesthood. Then, the elders gave her a blessings. It was such a good experience! It was exactly what she needed to hear and she called us the following morning to tell us thank you a zillion times and then commenced to tell us that was the first time she had felt peace in a very, very long time. The priesthood is real. I'm thankful for it.
Tuesday we taught the Plan of Salvation to Nicole. She didn't agree with it at all. She firmly believes there is a heaven and a hell, but none of that degrees of heaven business. We also met with Matthew and talked to him about 1 Nephi 8. There is a really, really good article in the Book of Mormon Ensign by Elder Bednar that is all about the Tree of Life and it relates it to our lives. Read it. We talked to him about his baptismal date of the 4th and he said he was still planning on working towards that. He has a huge amount of faith. It's incredible. He's pretty nervous, but he's sticking with it. He is so in tune with the spirit; and he's willing to act on it.
Wedensday was a rough day. We met with a couple of people who had been "antied" or had dealved into anti material pretty deeply. The first man, Quincy was very respectful and has agreed to read the Book of Mormon because he can't figure out why we are so solidly certain that it is true. The second group was a group of YSA boys who were all roommates. Ironically, their names were John, Mark and Matthew. They just wanted to argue the whole time and Sister Matthews and I felt awful the whole time we were there. We bore testimony and told them we had to leave. They told us we were going to hell for what we believe and that we weren't Christians. I don't think Jesus would have done that. Oh well. We tried. We had dinner with less active Ann. She is such a sweet lady. I enjoyed her. She was the happy spot of the day. Sister Matthews is so full of awesome quotes! When we were studying that morning, we were talking about repentance and she said, "repentance is permanent, personal upgrades." I thought it was good. When we repent, we don't go back. It's a permanent change.
Thursday was the best day ever! We did weekly planning, made pumpkin pies during lunch and then went to contact a referral from the elders. His name is Andrew. He is a YSA and is totally solid. He lives with his parents and they are the nicest people ever. We gave them a pumpkin pie and talked to them about the restoration. The elders had talked to them about the plan of salvation a little bit and she (andrew's mom) used that term a lot. I think she really liked it.
Friday we did a lot of contacting mostly. It wasn't too eventful. Saturday we went to the parade to see Matthew in the band. We told him we could come for a little bit and I've honestly never seen someone get so excited in my life. Their band is pretty highly renowned I guess. He did a great job! We had stake conference in kinston that evening. I played the piano. It was good! I'm glad it's over.
Sunday we went to New Bern for the rest of Stake Conference. New Bern is GORGEOUS! It's right by the water and we froze to death. It got cold all of the sudden. It was the 50th year that the Kinston stake has been around. It's the oldest stake in NC as well. So, they did a lot of historical information and so forth for conference. We had a good lesson with recently baptized Naomi. Her little boy, Matthias is hilarious. I'll send pictures next week, but my time is up!
Love you all!
Sister J
Monday, October 24, 2011
Kingston Zone Conference!
Hello hello!
This week went by far too quickly. Someone said that the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days, but I would like to adjust that slightly. The weeks do feel like days, but mostly the days feel like a few minutes. Wake up, go teach, and then it's time for bed again. It's crazy!
Monday we had the best zone conference EVER. I sent the picture they took of all of us. Elder Marlin K. Jensen of the seventy came with his wife and they taught us all day. We met with sister Jensen at 7:30 in the morning and had a great discussion about the importance of not being a perfectionist. I learned that being a worthy servant of the Lord is not synonymous with being perfect. As long as we are constantly striving to improve and continuing in diligence (endurance!) then we are doing what Heavenly Father wants us to do. Elder Jensen gave us a whole bunch of really amazing advice. Mostly he talked about Faith and the different levels of faith that we go through. The first level is just having a particle of faith (Alma 32: 27). This type of faith is where desire begins. Then, the next level is much faith (Mosiah 27:14). This is where our desires turn to priorities. (You can apply this to anything really. If you have a desire to do missionary work, then you can exercise your particle of faith. That desire then becomes something that you continuously look for *priority!*) Then, your faith becomes exceeding faith (Mosiah 4:3). Exceeding faith is when you make the choice to do missionary work. Then, you can move to exceedingly great faith (Moroni 10: 11) This type of faith is when your choice becomes an action and you successfully fulfill what began as a desire to do missionary work. That gift of exceedingly great faith from God then becomes an unshakeable faith (2 Nephi 31: 19 or Jacob 4:6) This is when our faith becomes solidified and becomes knowledge (D&C 93:1) Then we can start the process all over again with a difference principle.
I don't know if that really makes sense, but it does in Sister Johnson's brain. I also learned from Elder Jensen that even though we may have great faith, it doesn't mean we can override an individual's agency. Agency is a great gift, but it feels an awful lot like a curse on the mission. I really am thankful we do have the ability to choose though.
Tuesday was booked with appointments, but then half of them cancelled. We still had some really good lessons with a lady named Jean. She is Methodist and she is friends with a member who lives in the Bahamas. (crazy, right? The church is everywhere!) Then, we had a lesson with Matthew. Matthew is in a predicament of sorts currently. We followed up with his baptismal date and he said he is more than willing to work towards the date (he has incredible faith), but he will need some more time. He said he just feels confused about everything so we moved his date back a few more weeks. His family did not take the news as well as he thought they would and he's really struggling. He's truely amazing though. He told us he wants to pay tithing on the money he earns from playing in the band. He also asked us if he was stealing if he took part of a stoplight that had fallen down in the hurricane. He had been keeping it in the back of his trunk. We told him he should be fine. He said it just looked cool so he took it. I thought it was kind of funny.
Wednesday we did preparation day. We found the greatest grocery store ever! It's called Aldi's and it's generic foods, etc for super cheap. I bought all the essentials for about half of what wallyworld costs. The only problem was that they don't accept credit cards. Thank heavens for ATM machines! We met with Brittany that evening and she is also really struggling. She said she doesn't feel peace hardly at all in her life and that she feels like she is being constantly bombarded by Satan when she even tries to pray. We read part of Joseph Smith story about how he was almost overtaken by Satan and how she can relate that story to her life. Then, we talked about the importance of praying out loud and of praying in their family. They said they would make a greater effort to pray everynight as a family. We also talked about the importance of reading daily from the BOM. It really does work miracles. Kia and Chevaughn are living proof of that. Our family is proof of that. It's like superglue!
Thursday was crazy busy again. We met with Nicole and Johanna and finished up the first lesson. Nicole is very receptive to the spirit. She said that the Joseph Smith story really touched her heart. She is really a fantastic lady. Then we met with Tabitha and finished up the Plan of Salvation. We also ate lunch with Tabitha. Tabitha is Italian apparently. So, we had a real "Italian Feast" She made this ravioli with pumpkin and cheese in it. It was SO good. We had margarita pizza and pasta with pesto. I think I got my fill of carbs for the day there. It was divine! Tabitha understands the Plan really well so we are super excited! She also said she would come to the Pig Pickin' on Saturday.
Saturday was the day of the Pig Pickin' and Tabitha did come! She was late, but she brought her whole family...including her husband who doesn't want anything to do with any kind of religion. It was awesome. The pork barbeque was good. Southern folks really like their sweets. More than half the table was dessert items. The pork was good though. We were able to contact a zillion referrals that day too!
Sunday Tabitha was supposed to come to church, but her little boy was sick all night so she didn't get to bed until 6 AM. Max came to church unexpectedly thanks to bold Sis. McCoy. Then, we had choir practice afterwards until about 6. All in all, we were at the church for about 10 hours yesterday. Both wards had their primary programs which were really good and the branch's whole meeting was on eternal marriage. I have a testimony of singles wards fulfilling their purpose. Our branch has shrunk almost 1/3 thanks to people getting hitched right and left. Hooray eternal families!
Well, I love you all. Hope you have a wonderful week. As always, thank you for you continuing support. The church is true!
Love, Sister J
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
October 19, 2011
Hello! I know it's the middle of the week now...I forgot that our prep day was being moved because we had zone conference on Monday. So, I apologize for leaving you hanging, holding your breath, etc. :)
This past week went SO fast. I can't believe it's the middle of this week already. Last prep day our district decided to play volleyball. We discovered that we all have room for improvement in developing volleyball "spiritual gifts." It was fun.
When we woke up on Tuesday, both of us felt like we were 100 years old and we could hardly move for most of the day going up and down the stairs everywhere we went. There are a lot of stairs in NC. Everyone lives in apartments. We had a great lesson on the Plan of Salvation (part 1) with Tabitha. Tabitha is Universal Unitarian and has told us that she doesn't think she'll ever join the LDS church, but she knows the BOM is true and feels that Joseph Smith was a prophet. She even watched a little bit of Conference. Anyways, we still have hope that she will change her mind. She asked quite a few questions about the spirit world and about what happens to those who aren't baptized with the priesthood and so forth. I have a lot of hope in her. She is a great lady. Afterwards, we met with a former investigator named Max. Max is Sis. McCoy's friend. Sis. McCoy is very bold. She told Max she needed to start meeting with the missionaries again and set up a time for us to go see her. We met with Max and talked about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. Max has a really hard time accepting the Joseph Smith story. We talked to her about recognizing the spirit and bore testimony that if she would read and pray that she would be able to know if it was true. Then, we met with Matthew. Matthew talked to his parents and they weren't too excited about his decision to keep going to church. He still has a lot of doubts, but despite his doubts he does have faith that he will know if he should be baptized on the 29th. We set a date with him for the 29th and we are praying that he will be able to overcome those doubts and fear of rejection from his family. Matthew is stellar.
Wednesday was zone training. Somehow, Pres. Cotterell had forgotten to interview me about a month ago. Sis. Matthews pointed this out so, I got to have my first interview with Pres. Cotterell. I was so nervous, but then it turned out to be great. Pres. Cotterell is amazing. Zone training was amazing too. We learned about the importance of warning those we teach about how satan will try to plant seeds of doubt in their minds after they have been introduced to light and truth. Then we talked about recieving referrals from people. The poor elders don't seem to have a lot of luck with referrals from members or anyone for that matter. We figured out the average percentage of referrals we recieve each week. Sis. Matthews and I have been incredibly blessed to recieve a referral from about 3/4 of the people we talk to. Then, we talked about the importance of prayer and making sure to take time to pray out loud by ourselves. It's hard to do that when you're with someone 24/7. Sister Matthews, Mecklenberg, Welch, and myself all ended up singing in a quartet thanks to a giant misunderstanding. President asked Sis. Mecklenberg and Welch if they would be willing to sing. Then, he asked if they would like an accompianment. I somehow missed something huge and agreed to what I thought was playing the piano. Turns out it wasn't that. We sang I Know that My Redeemer Lives. Sis. Matthews wasn't too excited to sing in front of the whole zone, but she said she was glad that we got confused afterwards. Zone training is the best. I felt like everything that we talked about was something that I had had questions about.
On Thursday we met with Johanna. She is a less active who was baptized, but didn't really know what she was getting baptized for. Her son was the one who had wanted to take the lessons and be baptized so she kind of just followed behind. We had planned to teach her the restoration and then a miracle happened! We drove to her house and her friend, Nicole (who is presbyterian) was there. Johanna asked her if she would like to pretend to be our "investigator." Johanna is funny like that. We really did want her to be our investigator though. Nicole was really confused, but agreed to stay. So, we taught them both the Restoration. Nicole agreed with everything we said and read from the BOM. We are going to meet with her tomorrow! After our lesson the Johanna's twin boys found a HUGE snake in their backyard. It was at least three feet long. Johanna caught it and put it in a pickle jar. She told us it wasn't poisoness and said you could tell by the shape of the pupil of their eyes. I didn't really care. I think it would have been a gonner if it had been slithering in my backyard. I don't like snakes.
Friday we did weekly planning and a whole bunch of calling. Sister Matthews told me a really good quote! She said, "when you give you trust to God, stop trying to take it back." So basically, don't let Satan plant those seeds of doubt. Just trust in God. (Proverbs 3:5-6) I have learned a lot from Sister Matthews. She is very wise and has an incredible spirit about her. She is a great teacher as well. I'm thankful Heavenly Father saw fit for us to be companions. On Saturday we went to Trisha's to help her pack. She is moving to Winterville..which is still in our area. She is moving three houses down from the bishop. Providential? I think so. It was a moving experience (no pun intended) She hadn't moved anything in their garage since her husband passed away a year ago and it was hard to think that he had left everything in exactly that place. Trisha did well though. Her spirits were a little down, but no where near as bad as it has been in the past. We packed with her for about an hour and a half and then we had a great evening of attempting to contact people. We contacted a part member family! I was so excited! They seemed really open and receptive so, we are very excited to go back and teach.
Sunday was pretty typical. Somehow I got pulled into playing the piano for stake conference at the end of the month. No stress. No worries. Whatever. We had Branch conference though and that was amazing! President Walker is a great stake president. He is not afraid to be blunt and I learned a lot. Bro. Jones gave a talk about how worthiness is not synonymous with perfection. I was very thankful to hear that talk. I don't think I'm a perfectionist, but sometimes it is easy to lose patience with one's self. Anyways, it was a really good meeting. There were only 22 people who came to the branch this sunday. I wish they all would have come. It was so good! Plus, we kind of owe it to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
Thanks for all you do and for you continual love and support. I love you all sooooooooooo much! I hope you are all doing well and just remember that you are in my prayers! Thanks for everything though.
I'm sure thankful for the Book of Mormon. I really don't know where I'd be without the guidance that is for our day in that book of scripture. I know it's true.
Much love, Sister J
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