August 11

What a great week! As always! 

Erin is still on date for August 23! Keep her in your prayers that she'll be able to make that day! 

Patty is almost done the Book of Mormon! Actually she probably is by now! She is reading up a storm but still feels like she hasn't gotten an answer to her prayers about a date for baptism. 

Sister Rodriguez got sick this week...I got to spend a lot of time indoors reading and organizing! woot! In all my time inside I got to read a lot of the book of Mormon. I definitely gained a greater respect for the sons of Mosiah. They are such great missionaries who gave so much of themselves to the Lord. That's what I am really trying to work on, giving my will to God! 

We had an awesome ward party at the McGuires. They have their own personal lake! Sadly we didn't have anyone come but the Elders had 3 non member families there! Woot! 

Jasmine is on date for baptism! She's 21, has a one year old baby Alice, and a member husband named Beaux. She really wants to know if the church is true. She accepted September 13 as the date to work towards. I felt the spirit so powerfully in our lesson. I love asking inspired questions that really help people think about who they truly are. 

The reason why we had the spirit so strongly at Jasmine's was before we had a good 2 hour long comp inventory! Communication is key. I love working through my weaknesses with someone there to help me! 

I went on exchanges with the marvelous Hermana Stoeltzing this past week! She is incredible. Sister Tew was her trainer as well. The best part is she a bomb beat boxer so I would just yell out, "give me a beat!" and then I could sing to my hearts desire (only hymns and primary songs of course). I decided that is now a requirement for my future husband. We had a spirit-filled day and did finding and teaching. One thing I love about her is how she is so real. She recognizes her weaknesses and talks about them to get through them. Plus she knows what she wants for her future. And as Pres Murdock always says,"We get what we want!"

I am so thankful for a loving Saviour who is there for me every single day. I felt the spirit so powerfully in sacrament meeting testify of His love. Go read the third verse of hymn 86. It's incredible. Think about it. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the most real thing that we have on the Earth, which is crazy because He is not even someone that we can see. I know that He is real and that the way we can all feel that is by living the gospel of Christ, by trying to do what is right and repenting when we make mistakes. 

Have the best week ever! 

I LOVE MY MISSION. 

Sisters Conference

 we are teaching a blind lady who can really really talk. So sometimes when I get bored I do this to my hair and glasses in the middle of the lesson. Sis Rod then has the task of controlling her laughter hahaha. I'm really working on that whole reverence and respect thing. 

August 4

HAPPY ONE YEAR ON MY MISSION TO ME. 

It's absolutely insane how quickly it has gone. I am so grateful for all the things I have learned, the people I have met, and the experiences that have changed me. Even if I haven't changed anyone else's future, mine has been changed. I am so excited for the next 6 months to really be the missionary the Lord needs me to be at this time. The hastening of the work is real and I am privileged to be a part of it. 

This week was amazing. Of course there were hard moments but they are why the rest of the week was so good! 

Patty is back from vacation! We met with her twice this week. First, she had decided to wait until November to be baptized and Sis Rod  and I were crushed. Milt's daughter told her at the family reunion that she needed to wait until then so she could come! WE WERE SO FRUSTRATED and sad. That is a really long time away and, as Sister Murdock put it, Patty isn't getting any younger. The next time we went, Sis Rod was so bold. Patty needs to receive an answer from the Lord when she should be baptized. So she is going to pray about it. 

Erin is officially getting married and then baptized on August 23! I know Carley getting baptized first provided her with all the motivation she needed to make the changes that she did. She brings her 3 girls to church by herself every week and they read the Book of Mormon together everyday. I wish you all could meet Erin and understand how amazing she is.

We've started teaching a lady named LaDonna Lee. She has MS and lives in a nursing home. Every time we go over she is watching BYUtv or some other religious programming. This week she was telling us all about the great work Kirk Cameron was doing. I thought you would all get a kick out of that one. "Sharing the laughter and love!" (My comp and I both know the entirety of that song!)

Last p-day we got to head up on the mesa as a district (minus the APs because they are always too busy to have fun). We rode in the 6th ward mission leader's excursion that says "Fezzik  and the Brute Squad" on the back. They are obsessed with Princess Bride. It was a dream come true for me to ride in that vehicle. Their family loves geocaching so they had us find the ones that they have made....and they we drove up the scariest road I have ever been on in my life. And Sister Bonner is a crazy woman driver. Of course, I was slouching in my seat! The view was worth it and we took so many pictures, which I will send!

I went on an exchange to Fruita! It's the land of the dinosaurs! They have dinosaurs everywhere. I am sad I didn't snap any pictures of myself with my favorite extinct animals. The BEST part of the day was the sister I w as with, Sister Moody, got her visa to Brazil!!!!! She has been waiting for 9 months. We had just finished teaching a lesson to some people sitting on the asphalt (and we burned our behinds doing it because we sat down). We hopped into the car and the phone rang! Sister Peterson asked Sister Moody if she still wanted to go to Brazil!!! Oh happy day! We screamed and cried and cried and screamed! It was such a happy moment. We found an awesome new investigator for them to teach named Kerrie. She is from Texas! At first she said no to a return appt. after we had shared the first lesson. We testified of the power of the Book of Mormon again and this time she said yes! Hallelujah! I l earned so much from Sister Moody about being so excited about the work and doing the best with what you have. She is a top notch missionary.

This week I have been really trying to focus my thoughts on the Saviour. As I try to be like Him (and I am more aware of it) the more I am thankful for Him. It's really hard to do the right thing, and then add in thinking about positive and good things and I can't even comprehend how He did it. I am so grateful. I can't express it. Just imagine if there was no Christ. I don't think I would function. All of my guilt, shame, inadequacy, and sadness would make it impossible to do anything. There would be no hope. But there is and always will be hope because of Him. It is not easy to be like Christ but it is worth it. I love being guided by the spirit and helping people. The small sacrifices I can make are completely worth it if it means someone else can be happy.

Saturday we met Belinda and Clara! Belinda is a less-active who wants to come to church. She is blind. She prayed for us in Navajo. Clara isn't a member (yet). They are so full of good jokes. I am so excited to keep teaching them!

I've  learned this week from my studying that prayer is hard work! Sometimes I forget that and just say the same things I always pray for. My prayers don't have as much meaning as they could. You should read Prayer in the BD. It's pretty awesome!

We are teaching Jasmine Fink again! I think I saw her 2 times when I was first here in this area with Sister Tew and we could just never catch her after that. On exchange day, Sister Rod and Sister Keavali taught her with a new member of our ward, Haley. Haley and her husband are both about 5 feet tall...I feel like a giant when I am with them! On Friday we had an awesome church tour with Jasmine. She and her husband, Bo, a la, a reading the book of Mormon together already. She had to work this Sunday but they are going to come this next Sunday!

We met an extremely closed man on Saturday night. His wife is a less-active and they have met with missionaries before. It's crazy to me how many less-actives we just run into without seeking them. I bore testimony of what I know. He has absolutely no desire to read the Book of Mormon. He told me that I would probably bolt awake that night at 2 am and say, "He was right!" People like him just strengthen my desire to live the commandments. I f eel so sad for his family. You could tell that the wife knows it's true. He could be leading and blessing his family instead of holding back their eternal progression. I am excited to see how the Lord will soften his heart.

Our Sunday was such a good day. We fasted as a mission so that all the members will be able to invite one person every quarter to meet with the missionaries. I received answers to my prayers and I know that God is aware of me. In RS a sister shared that a patriarch she talked to said that what he had noticed after years and years of giving blessings was that God only notices the positive. He knows who we can become! And there is no reason to focus on the negative. Plus our favorite child in the ward, Lincoln, said that his favorite thing about church was the sister missionaries! We made a less-active YW a Book of  Mormon calendar with 1-D stickers all over it and she was so excited! She has some social issues and it's really amazing to see how the gospel is helping her change and be more positive. Also her prize for reading is dum dums. She's obsessed with them.

This week I am really going to try to be more accountable for my actions and for the things that I say I am going to do. I am so excited for the great  week we have ahead of us and to see even more miracles. Hope you all have a great week too!

hiking

nightly planning

sometimes we just get sonic right before we go home (because it is free)

July 28

What a fabulous week this has been! We saw so many miracles! 

So first off, last Monday night Sister Moser and I did our first exchange. Our companions stayed together and we headed to Fruita. Sister Daily came back to GJ with me. This is the last transfer of her mission. Time flies so quickly. She is from Washington and is amazing. She is so grateful and so good at expressing her gratitude to everyone around her. She is also an amazing teacher and so effective at asking questions. During the day we contacted former investigators. We found Clint and Shirley. A while back in blessing I was told that I still needed to find someone in this area. As we talked with Shirley and Clint, I knew that it was them. Shirley is amazing! She is a social worker and is raising her grandson. She is so open. She has 2 kids who are grown but have brain injuries from car accidents. She is going to read the book of mormon! Plus she has close family friends who are members of the ward. 

On Wednesday we headed up to Collbran! We taught Schowalters! Judy said the only reason why she is not baptized is because she is a "Stubborn Missourian." She knows it's true! Chuck also forced us to release a squirrel from one of his traps a mile up the road to keep it out of his yard. We almost had panic attacks as we drove with it in our car. I could not picture anything worse than it getting out and staying in our car. We made it through and the squirrel was released! That night we headed home around 8 and were able to find 2 awesome new investigators, Mae and Stacey, using the survey approach. Stacey was one of the first we've come across who said she doesn't pray. We taught her the complete first lesson on her doorstep. As I said the first vision, she stared deep into my soul. It was slightly disconcerting but I held my ground and stared right back. She is gong to read the book of mormon! Plus we saw her at the post office this morning and asked if it was still good if we came. She was busy at the time we had previously decided so we set up a new time. I know we were supposed to see her right then!

My companion's family is mostly less-active. It's really made the whole eternal family thing real to me as she faces every day not knowing if she will be with her siblings forever. She is so hard working and so obedient. I love her and I am so thankful she is serving a mission to bless her family and the people here. 

On Thursday we had Zone Conference! Sister Moser and I sang "Did You Think to Pray?". As we were practicing before, President Atkinson, a member of our mission presidency, who is also the musical director at CMU, gave us a little singing lesson. It was hilarious and perfect. I learned SO MUCH at Zone Conference about the power of the book of mormon, keeping myself accountable to my goals, and becoming. That was my favorite part: becoming. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not just a checklist of things to accomplish each day. There is a reason why we need to read, pray, and keep other commandments, it is so we can become like our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. After Zone Conference our car was dead, so we headed to Walmart to buy jumper cables with Sister Murdock. Whenever she is in town it always seems that we get to spend a little extra time with her. We taught Ashley and Lexis outside with Sister Rice and her daughter, Hailey. Sister Rod sat on some buckets after everyone telling her it would be fine and they wouldn't break and then they did. HAHAHAHA. The little girls loved it and won't stop talking about it. It made their lives. 

Friday we weekly planned! It seems like every day I learn a little more of how I can change for the better and how and why I need to soften my heart. I am far too hard on myself and others. I judge too harshly and quickly and I am also not very quick to forgive, especially myself. Today when I felt so down and hopeless, I tried to think about Christ. It really made all the difference. I realized that I can't forgive myself because I feel like I should continue to suffer for the mistakes I have made. So I find negative things about myself to focus on. I won't let myself be happy and have peace. When I do this, it's as if the Atonement wasn't good enough for me. I know my Heavenly Father has forgiven my sins and I need to move on. So I am going to be more grateful this week, grateful for the opportunity to change, grateful for new beginnings, and grateful for mercy. God wants all of us to be  happy. I just need to start believing that He wants happiness for me too. 

We were guided all this week. We taught things that directly addressed investigators and less-active's concerns and were led to those who are prepared to listen. Friday night we met the best hispanic man named Jose. I got to speak a little Spanish. He has a cute little family and I am so happy we could them as a referral to the Spanish missionaries. I also randomly drove down a road that said "no outlet." I couldn't say why but we found a new less-active for reads the bom regularly. 

Saturday morning as we drove to help a member move we saw a lady on the side of the road who was crying. So we pulled over gave her a granola bar, a water bottle, and a book of mormon. 

We also met LaDonna Lee. She lives in Palisade Living Center and has MS. She is 40 and wants to read the book of mormon! So we brought it to her on CD! She watches BYUtv all the time! She's pretty cool. She said she learned all the negative about the church from South Park and now wants to hear the positive. 

The biggest miracle of the week was Chuck Schowalter came to church!!!! He hasn't been the entire time I have served here! SO GREAT!

Also we taught a less-active young woman who said the holy ghost feels like a little piece of home!  I just loved that! 

zone conference

a squirrel in a cage

a preying mantis (how fitting for a missionary!)