Quote was the inspirational message at our morning meeting. One of the senior elders was giving the thought that day and told us a very entertaining story about watching a robin that was running through the grass, then tripped and fell beak-first into the ground. He was laughing so hard about how he’s never seen a bird trip onto its face. He didn’t tie it into his talk on repentance until the very end, leaving us all entertained but confused for some time. Anyway, there you have it…
THE STRENGTH OF THE STURDY PIONEERS
This isn’t actually about the old-school pioneers…The other day as we were leaving a meeting the sister driving our van accidentally drove it somewhat into a ditch. (We always try desperately not to have to put the car in reverse because it means we have to back it. This can sometimes result in compromising driving situations. :) Anyway….) So our van is loaded down with 6 of us and we’re just sitting there teetering on the edge—not able to go backwards or forwards—when out of the dust run 3 sisters from the other van dressed in their best pioneer garb, to the rescue! They ran up to the van and before we’d even had time to panic too much (but after we’d had time to laugh hysterically) they’d pushed the van back up onto the road. Wow. It was an adventure no matter what, but put anything in a pioneer dress and it’s somehow much, much funnier. Good times!
I’M DOMESTIC!
Not really, but I did get to contribute to some homemade bread that we made in the bustle oven in the Family Living Center. I tried to only involve myself in the steps that couldn’t get messed up too bad. :) But I got to knead it! Then snitch it all day in between tours….But yeah, I felt real fancy.
A TENDER MERCY :)
We had an awesome chance to talk to a couple who came. We’d seen them before when we showed them how to make bread but hadn’t gotten to know them real well or talk to them too much. Turns out they were pseudo-family members of one of the missionary couples here. They ended up coming to one of our district meetings with their fam and we talked to them a while afterwards. They’re both members of the Church but haven’t gone since they were very young so they know little about the doctrine. The Lord worked it out where we had time to talk to them a little about their experiences here and leave them with some things to think about as they left. It was so neat to watch their faces as they’ve been in Nauvoo and the slight transformation that’s taken place. The woman was saying how much she’d like to move here because of the peaceful feeling. It’s hard sometimes to help people realize that the peace here isn’t just because it’s a small town or because it’s by the river. The peace comes from he Holy Ghost. It’s something they can have with them always, regardless of where they live. It’s something they can take home with them as they let the Lord into their lives and follow His teachings. I’m grateful for that Spirit and to have it as a constant companion (on and off my mission) provided I stay clean and worthy of its presence. I know that it’s the light that leads us to make the decisions that keep us close to Christ. I hope you all take the time to notice when you do and do not feel the peace and comfort of the Holy Ghost and make the alterations needed to allow you to have the Spirit with you more fully. I know that through it we will be able to become more like our Savior and a greater instrument to Him for good.
FAMILY FIRST
I’ve learned a powerful lesson about families. We have many, many people who come into the Visitors’ Center who are such faithful members of the Church. They serve in any capacity they are asked to and they have such a deep love for the gospel. At the same time, they have family members they care about very deeply who have strayed from what they’ve known to be true. This is, of course, one of the deepest sorrows you can feel. These sweet people are very concerned with doing all they can (praying, attending the temple, trying to testify to their family members) so that the ones they love will be able to grab hold of the blessings that are waiting for them. What I’ve come to learn is that sometimes, these same people are hesitant to share the gospel with others around them. They explain that instead, they are focusing on helping their family members come back to church. However, we have been commissioned to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all things will be added unto us. Missionary work is a commandment from the Lord and I know and promise that as we look outward and see those right around us who are in need of the gospel and as we are willing to share it, the Lord will take care of those we care so much about—our family members. I’ve seen this happen many times in the lives of those I’ve served with and met out here and I’m grateful for the ways the Lord takes care of us and provides those mighty miracles.
Love you all and talk to you later!
-Sis C
Monday, May 19, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
“I’ve never seen an old person kick that high!”
Quote compliments of a 17-yr old boy after watching the performance of Ren-de-vous in Old Nauvoo. It’s an amazing performance done entirely by the senior missionaries. This entire group of high schoolers from Indiana (not LDS, just on a school trip) was loving it. Two of the boys shot out of their seats at the end to give a standing ovation. The kids were WAY cool and wanted to stay in Nauvoo but their itinerary had them heading down to Hannibal (like Mark Twain even compares to senior missionaries pretending to be horses pulling a wagon…). They were very sweet and sincere. When school groups come we obviously can’t share about the Church with them but there’s a definite Spirit in Nauvoo that you just can’t hide and I know they felt it.
AEROBICS…SENIOR MISSIONARY STYLE…
Yes, so we wake up and 6:30 in the morning and then work out for 30 min, according to mission guidelines. Quite enjoyable…usually run to the river and back. The seniors, however, are a little more hard-core. They have an aerobics class every morning from 6:10 to 7. The time was a little earlier but we were intrigued so we had to go. And my, I’m happy we did! The first big part of is was actually line dancing to slow, old-school country music. We did the “Southern Stroll” and other such moves. Amazing! We were definitely not as coordinated as they were (they were experts) and so they’d help us out in between songs—“when you do the grapevine, start with your leg stepping behind…” and other such helpful tips. Then we did abs and weights. They don’t mess around. No wonder they’re in such good shape for all the plays and musicals they do. It was so much fun to work out with them. Unfortunately the next day we were back to our river run but I imagine we’ll be back because so far on my mission nothing’s made me more sore. I was loving it!
KEEPING BUSY
It’s still pretty quiet here (except on the weekends) so we’re helping out with NRI (the restoration part of Nauvoo). It really just means we move boxes or pull weeds or paint…whatever they want us to do…but it’s refreshing cause it keeps us busy the whole day.
“EXCEPT HE DOTH SUBMIT HIMSELF AS A CHILD
”This was just a precious little moment…we were in the Visitor’s Center and there’s a large status of the Savior (same one that’s in Salt Lake for those who’ve seen it). I was talking with one of the senior missionaries. The place was dead except one family who was walking around with another missionary. This fam had like a million little boys and the youngest one (about 5 yrs) broke off from the pack. He runs, unnoticed, over to the statue. The missionary I was talking to gets really excited and hushed and tells me to turn around. We looked over (everyone else was doing their own thing) and he climbs up to the bottom of the statue and just wraps both his little arms as wide as he can around the Savior’s legs and just stares up at His face. It was the coolest thing. He stayed there for just a minute and then, as 5-yr old boys are prone to do, climbed down and wandered off. It was such a tender little moment. We got to tell the parents about it later and they of course got a little teary just like we had. :)
This is very short, but I’m sure you’re all fine with that! :)
- Sis Cartwright
AEROBICS…SENIOR MISSIONARY STYLE…
Yes, so we wake up and 6:30 in the morning and then work out for 30 min, according to mission guidelines. Quite enjoyable…usually run to the river and back. The seniors, however, are a little more hard-core. They have an aerobics class every morning from 6:10 to 7. The time was a little earlier but we were intrigued so we had to go. And my, I’m happy we did! The first big part of is was actually line dancing to slow, old-school country music. We did the “Southern Stroll” and other such moves. Amazing! We were definitely not as coordinated as they were (they were experts) and so they’d help us out in between songs—“when you do the grapevine, start with your leg stepping behind…” and other such helpful tips. Then we did abs and weights. They don’t mess around. No wonder they’re in such good shape for all the plays and musicals they do. It was so much fun to work out with them. Unfortunately the next day we were back to our river run but I imagine we’ll be back because so far on my mission nothing’s made me more sore. I was loving it!
KEEPING BUSY
It’s still pretty quiet here (except on the weekends) so we’re helping out with NRI (the restoration part of Nauvoo). It really just means we move boxes or pull weeds or paint…whatever they want us to do…but it’s refreshing cause it keeps us busy the whole day.
“EXCEPT HE DOTH SUBMIT HIMSELF AS A CHILD
”This was just a precious little moment…we were in the Visitor’s Center and there’s a large status of the Savior (same one that’s in Salt Lake for those who’ve seen it). I was talking with one of the senior missionaries. The place was dead except one family who was walking around with another missionary. This fam had like a million little boys and the youngest one (about 5 yrs) broke off from the pack. He runs, unnoticed, over to the statue. The missionary I was talking to gets really excited and hushed and tells me to turn around. We looked over (everyone else was doing their own thing) and he climbs up to the bottom of the statue and just wraps both his little arms as wide as he can around the Savior’s legs and just stares up at His face. It was the coolest thing. He stayed there for just a minute and then, as 5-yr old boys are prone to do, climbed down and wandered off. It was such a tender little moment. We got to tell the parents about it later and they of course got a little teary just like we had. :)
This is very short, but I’m sure you’re all fine with that! :)
- Sis Cartwright
Friday, April 18, 2008
"It's like 17 Christmas mornings!"
This is a long one, but these double as my journal so tough luck. :)Quote from one of the senior missionaries who was conducting the mtg the morning after we all got in (cause there's 17 of us). They make us feel so loved, even if we feel haggered and disoriented (like yesterday).
TUMI
So we got a message that a guy named Tumi had ordered a Book of Mormon from http://www.mormon.org/. We got the msg on Mon so the day before we left we went to see him. At first they told us he was home but busy but then as we were talking to his wife he materialized. We then sat with him and taught him about the BOM and where it comes from and about Joseph Smith and how God called a prophet today. He told us when we came he was going to leave to go run some errands but something told him to stay and talk with us. He also told us that every church he sees in Nigeria (where he’s from) and the UK he just feels peace when he sees them, even though he’s never been inside. It was an awesome lesson. I tell you, black people are SO in tune with the Spirit. I hope the elders who have the area will really enjoy teaching him.
LEAVING LILBURN…
one of the more chaotic couple of days in my life. In the top 5 for sure, maybe top 3. I knew I was leaving obviously so that wasn’t a surprise but late Sunday night we decided to move a baptism scheduled for Saturday to Tuesday night so the new missionaries form the MTC could come cause they stay in Lilburn their first night. So much phone calling and rearranging. Plus, I could be there so that was a bonus. It was Stephen’s (who got baptized in March) little bro David. And Stephen just got the priesthood on Sun so he’d be baptizing him. He was way pumped. So Mon was crazy getting everything ready for that. Then that night we got a call that Sis Jones and I were BOTH getting transferred. So this meant we had to spend most of Tuesday packing everything, cleaning everything, and writing EVERY possible thing down that we could think of since we just have all the info in a book and the new missionaries come in and go from there. So it was CRAZY. Plus, we had a baptism that night. But it was gonna be amazing.
THE SAD NEWS
Unfortunately, Satan knows when amazing things are going to happen. At dinner (2.5 hrs before the baptism) we get a call from Stephen that they’d been in a car accident and couldn’t make it. It wasn’t that they were hurt but their parents were mad. We were crushed. So was he. Plus we had to tell him that we were both getting transferred so he wouldn’t see either of us again. And the baptism was postponed indefinitely. Man, oh man. On top of that, we got a call from Destiny and Sunshine saying that not only were they still planning on coming to see the baptism, but their mom (who’s the one holding them back from getting baptized) wanted to come with. So we had to tell them that it was cancelled and also that both of us were getting transferred. Wow. It was rough. But they were so sweet and made us goodbye cards that their mom was gonna drive down to the church the next day if we didn’t make it up to say goodbye. Anyway, it was all chaos. And my comp left her scriptures at an investigator’s house and we had to get them at the last possible sec. ANYWAY, it was crazy and we left Wed morning (Sis Dalley and I had to leave for the airport in the middle of transfer mtg and not really say bye to anyone) so suddenly we were on our way to the airport and I hadn’t even had time to process anything that was happening.
THE REUNION
We met up at the GA airport with some of the sisters who had layovers and then met the rest in St Louis. There’s 14 returning and 3 new with a few more to come. The next day we had interviews and then dinner with the mission pres and got to know he and his wife (they’re AWESOME) and today we’re shopping and moving in. Tomorrow we start on the regular sched. I’m comps with Sis Rancie from Australia. We were comps for a day last yr and we love each other so we’re way excited. I always seem to get the international comps. Makes me feel exotic. She’s way hard working.
THE BEST NEWS
The coolest thing was I got a letter from Sis Becker in Canton and she told me that the Elder family we were teaching (the one where the wife was LDS but we didn’t know until we randomly tracted into her and the husband was not…and she was the one who started getting so excited about the gospel when we were over there teaching) anyway…he got baptized!!!! :) Warms my heart! That’s the best feeling. I pray that I can have it many more times. :)It’s good to be back. Weird, but good. We’re excited to apply all we’ve learned in the “outfield.” It was nice to be back by our pretty temple. The first night here I was feeling a little “fish-out-of-watery” cause I hadn’t really processed the whole transition yet but I went to sleep with them temple shining directly through the bedroom window. Ahhh… :)
Cool scrip: 2 Timothy 2:3. I think. If that one’s not that cool that read around til you find one that is.
Love you all!
--Sis C
TUMI
So we got a message that a guy named Tumi had ordered a Book of Mormon from http://www.mormon.org/. We got the msg on Mon so the day before we left we went to see him. At first they told us he was home but busy but then as we were talking to his wife he materialized. We then sat with him and taught him about the BOM and where it comes from and about Joseph Smith and how God called a prophet today. He told us when we came he was going to leave to go run some errands but something told him to stay and talk with us. He also told us that every church he sees in Nigeria (where he’s from) and the UK he just feels peace when he sees them, even though he’s never been inside. It was an awesome lesson. I tell you, black people are SO in tune with the Spirit. I hope the elders who have the area will really enjoy teaching him.
LEAVING LILBURN…
one of the more chaotic couple of days in my life. In the top 5 for sure, maybe top 3. I knew I was leaving obviously so that wasn’t a surprise but late Sunday night we decided to move a baptism scheduled for Saturday to Tuesday night so the new missionaries form the MTC could come cause they stay in Lilburn their first night. So much phone calling and rearranging. Plus, I could be there so that was a bonus. It was Stephen’s (who got baptized in March) little bro David. And Stephen just got the priesthood on Sun so he’d be baptizing him. He was way pumped. So Mon was crazy getting everything ready for that. Then that night we got a call that Sis Jones and I were BOTH getting transferred. So this meant we had to spend most of Tuesday packing everything, cleaning everything, and writing EVERY possible thing down that we could think of since we just have all the info in a book and the new missionaries come in and go from there. So it was CRAZY. Plus, we had a baptism that night. But it was gonna be amazing.
THE SAD NEWS
Unfortunately, Satan knows when amazing things are going to happen. At dinner (2.5 hrs before the baptism) we get a call from Stephen that they’d been in a car accident and couldn’t make it. It wasn’t that they were hurt but their parents were mad. We were crushed. So was he. Plus we had to tell him that we were both getting transferred so he wouldn’t see either of us again. And the baptism was postponed indefinitely. Man, oh man. On top of that, we got a call from Destiny and Sunshine saying that not only were they still planning on coming to see the baptism, but their mom (who’s the one holding them back from getting baptized) wanted to come with. So we had to tell them that it was cancelled and also that both of us were getting transferred. Wow. It was rough. But they were so sweet and made us goodbye cards that their mom was gonna drive down to the church the next day if we didn’t make it up to say goodbye. Anyway, it was all chaos. And my comp left her scriptures at an investigator’s house and we had to get them at the last possible sec. ANYWAY, it was crazy and we left Wed morning (Sis Dalley and I had to leave for the airport in the middle of transfer mtg and not really say bye to anyone) so suddenly we were on our way to the airport and I hadn’t even had time to process anything that was happening.
THE REUNION
We met up at the GA airport with some of the sisters who had layovers and then met the rest in St Louis. There’s 14 returning and 3 new with a few more to come. The next day we had interviews and then dinner with the mission pres and got to know he and his wife (they’re AWESOME) and today we’re shopping and moving in. Tomorrow we start on the regular sched. I’m comps with Sis Rancie from Australia. We were comps for a day last yr and we love each other so we’re way excited. I always seem to get the international comps. Makes me feel exotic. She’s way hard working.
THE BEST NEWS
The coolest thing was I got a letter from Sis Becker in Canton and she told me that the Elder family we were teaching (the one where the wife was LDS but we didn’t know until we randomly tracted into her and the husband was not…and she was the one who started getting so excited about the gospel when we were over there teaching) anyway…he got baptized!!!! :) Warms my heart! That’s the best feeling. I pray that I can have it many more times. :)It’s good to be back. Weird, but good. We’re excited to apply all we’ve learned in the “outfield.” It was nice to be back by our pretty temple. The first night here I was feeling a little “fish-out-of-watery” cause I hadn’t really processed the whole transition yet but I went to sleep with them temple shining directly through the bedroom window. Ahhh… :)
Cool scrip: 2 Timothy 2:3. I think. If that one’s not that cool that read around til you find one that is.
Love you all!
--Sis C
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
me: "I hate when we forget about people...like Jerry!" sis J:"His name's Larry."
sorry this is way long. you have my permission to skip or read selectively. :)subj line: that quote is pretty typical. reminds me how inadequate we are to do the Lord's work. but our mission pres reminded us recently that the Lord can work with inadequacies. (it's a lack of desire that makes us not powerful tools) but He'll work with our weaknesses. after all, the scrips say that the gosp will be preached by the weak and simple. sometimes i wish i didn't have so many reminders of that though. :)
GENERAL CONFERENCE
general conference (where the prophet, apostles, and other Church leaders address the whole world) was amazing as always, last week. and luckily, we had investigators at almost every session. we saw kelly lopez in the AM on Sun. her fam is constantly going through a lot of drama and she doesn't really have the emotional stability to handle it (esp w/o the gosp) but right now she has such a desire to be baptized and so what's but is letting her other stressors get in the way. so she was talking to us about how her kids are having all these problems and now that they're teenagers they're not always problems she can solve for them and she hates watching them be sad or suffer and she hates letting them down. so as she was going on and on about all these things plauging her children we just kinda cut her off and were able to bear strong testimony that the ONLY thing that would help her children is to give them the gospel of Jesus Christ. we told her that no, she can't solve their problems and that yes, she will let them down, but her absolute greatest responsibility is to show them the tools to handle their trials on their own. we bore testimony of the power of revelation the prophets and apostles have. this was 10 min before conference started and she wasn't planning on going but she somehow managed to pick up one of her kids, go home and change out of her bathrobe, and get over to the church within like 20 min so that she could be there. :) she was able to get answers and more importantly, realize there were still a lot of things she needs to understand that we've been trying to teach her (yet always seem to get diverted by all the drama) so she's making a renewed resolve to have focused lessons and invlove her fmaily. very direct answer to our prayers!!!!!
DESTINY AND SUNSHINE
they're doing well, but their mom really doesn't want them to be baptized. it's a tough situation cause there's not much we can so. it's so crucial for her to allow them this blessing because it'll equip them to make better decisions and to be closer to God for the rest of their lives. so we're just praying she'll change her mind. i'm so grateful to have prophets and apostles to counsel us in ways that keep our families safe cause satan is really sneaky in how he makes families too busy for each other or too busy for the gospel.
BURIED TREASURE
so a family we're working with had a newly arrived guest. the mom's (who we're teaching) sister came to live with them. she's only 17 and she's recovering from some drug addictions. one day we were there and the mom was on the phone finding out about her sister's overdose and two days later we went and tada! the little sis had moved in! it was awesome because as we were talking to her, she admitted that she really needs answers. she wants to believe in God but has some questions. we talked to her about getting answers to her prayers adn about feeling the Spirit. she didn't seem to really know what we were talking about but then the next time we went by, she told us she's been praying every day adn that as she was thinking about what we said, she could remember times when she felt the Spirit..that quiet, peaceful assurance of God's love and His reality. i love her! plus, her name's sheena so i love her more.
PURIFICATION
our mission pres and his wife challenged us to a "40-day fast." our mission has some goals (like doubling convert baptisms, per the prophet) that we've been working on but have been just out of our reach. they read us a story about a missionary who did this and was able to get out of his rut and see miracles happen. we fasted as a mission for one day to know what things the Lord would have us improve on or avoid as missionaries so that we might be more effective. then for 40 days we fast from those things COMPLETELY. the catch is that during the 40 days, those things prove to be extra hard. we're in the middle of that process and i've definately noticed that more opportunities to get distracted or off-focus are trying to throw themselves in my way. but the cool thing is, that after the 40 days, we will come out stronger and more effective, less susceptible to things that we were weak in before, and closer to the Spirit. so i thought it was a pretty cool/inspired idea for us and something i hope to integrate in other times in my life where i might feel somewhat of a "spiritual plateau"
LAST WEEK IN LILBURN
wierd, weird. but i'm trying not to think about it. just trying to work our guts out. it's been SUCH a blessing to get to come here--and on a mission in general. adventures every single day. like one morning when we ended up a giant tray of 16 large popcorn balls and 7 huge grapefruit in our trunk at 10:30 in the morning. you just never know. but i love it! love it! love it!
happy wedding, ruthie! we're still working on the celebratory baptism in GA but it's not looking great, but we'll keep praying/working for it.
i'll leave you with a scripture: alma 30:44. it's a good one. obviously.
love you all!
--sis c
p.s. disclaimer: i realize i spelled pollin wrong (i keep telling sis j i should shred my engl degree, it's worthless now :) ). but the pollin's getting worse. it's like sucking in constant dust. it's facinating!
GENERAL CONFERENCE
general conference (where the prophet, apostles, and other Church leaders address the whole world) was amazing as always, last week. and luckily, we had investigators at almost every session. we saw kelly lopez in the AM on Sun. her fam is constantly going through a lot of drama and she doesn't really have the emotional stability to handle it (esp w/o the gosp) but right now she has such a desire to be baptized and so what's but is letting her other stressors get in the way. so she was talking to us about how her kids are having all these problems and now that they're teenagers they're not always problems she can solve for them and she hates watching them be sad or suffer and she hates letting them down. so as she was going on and on about all these things plauging her children we just kinda cut her off and were able to bear strong testimony that the ONLY thing that would help her children is to give them the gospel of Jesus Christ. we told her that no, she can't solve their problems and that yes, she will let them down, but her absolute greatest responsibility is to show them the tools to handle their trials on their own. we bore testimony of the power of revelation the prophets and apostles have. this was 10 min before conference started and she wasn't planning on going but she somehow managed to pick up one of her kids, go home and change out of her bathrobe, and get over to the church within like 20 min so that she could be there. :) she was able to get answers and more importantly, realize there were still a lot of things she needs to understand that we've been trying to teach her (yet always seem to get diverted by all the drama) so she's making a renewed resolve to have focused lessons and invlove her fmaily. very direct answer to our prayers!!!!!
DESTINY AND SUNSHINE
they're doing well, but their mom really doesn't want them to be baptized. it's a tough situation cause there's not much we can so. it's so crucial for her to allow them this blessing because it'll equip them to make better decisions and to be closer to God for the rest of their lives. so we're just praying she'll change her mind. i'm so grateful to have prophets and apostles to counsel us in ways that keep our families safe cause satan is really sneaky in how he makes families too busy for each other or too busy for the gospel.
BURIED TREASURE
so a family we're working with had a newly arrived guest. the mom's (who we're teaching) sister came to live with them. she's only 17 and she's recovering from some drug addictions. one day we were there and the mom was on the phone finding out about her sister's overdose and two days later we went and tada! the little sis had moved in! it was awesome because as we were talking to her, she admitted that she really needs answers. she wants to believe in God but has some questions. we talked to her about getting answers to her prayers adn about feeling the Spirit. she didn't seem to really know what we were talking about but then the next time we went by, she told us she's been praying every day adn that as she was thinking about what we said, she could remember times when she felt the Spirit..that quiet, peaceful assurance of God's love and His reality. i love her! plus, her name's sheena so i love her more.
PURIFICATION
our mission pres and his wife challenged us to a "40-day fast." our mission has some goals (like doubling convert baptisms, per the prophet) that we've been working on but have been just out of our reach. they read us a story about a missionary who did this and was able to get out of his rut and see miracles happen. we fasted as a mission for one day to know what things the Lord would have us improve on or avoid as missionaries so that we might be more effective. then for 40 days we fast from those things COMPLETELY. the catch is that during the 40 days, those things prove to be extra hard. we're in the middle of that process and i've definately noticed that more opportunities to get distracted or off-focus are trying to throw themselves in my way. but the cool thing is, that after the 40 days, we will come out stronger and more effective, less susceptible to things that we were weak in before, and closer to the Spirit. so i thought it was a pretty cool/inspired idea for us and something i hope to integrate in other times in my life where i might feel somewhat of a "spiritual plateau"
LAST WEEK IN LILBURN
wierd, weird. but i'm trying not to think about it. just trying to work our guts out. it's been SUCH a blessing to get to come here--and on a mission in general. adventures every single day. like one morning when we ended up a giant tray of 16 large popcorn balls and 7 huge grapefruit in our trunk at 10:30 in the morning. you just never know. but i love it! love it! love it!
happy wedding, ruthie! we're still working on the celebratory baptism in GA but it's not looking great, but we'll keep praying/working for it.
i'll leave you with a scripture: alma 30:44. it's a good one. obviously.
love you all!
--sis c
p.s. disclaimer: i realize i spelled pollin wrong (i keep telling sis j i should shred my engl degree, it's worthless now :) ). but the pollin's getting worse. it's like sucking in constant dust. it's facinating!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
"Good feelin'.... good feelin'..."
Quote from our friend Devonte we taught. We invited him to be baptized and he just sat there and listened to the promptings of the Holy Ghost and that's all he said while we were silent for a bit. :)
LAST P-DAY ADVENTURES
we were stranded in a different part of town for our whole p-day last week cause our library was closed so after we emailed at another library we went to a park and walked around. we met some amazing people including a lady who approached US to start talking about the church. she said she's seen it a few times and felt like she needed to go check it out but hasn't gone yet. way cool. we got to teach her and say a prayer with her right there at the playground (pretty typical for us as missionaries and luckily, here in the south, no one seems to think much of it.) then we went to a hindu temple and checked it out. it's AMAZING. all hand-carved in india and it fits together so it's not hammered or glued or anything. way neat looking. then we got ice cream. nothing tops that.
STEVEN
Still such a champ. We're teaching his bro now so he sits in on the lessons and basically helps us teach. We asked him what he's noticed since his baptism and he said that since he received the gift of the Holy Ghost it feels like "a constant hug." what an awesome description. this kid's such a champ. his little bro plans to be baptized in april. we're trying to work it out so he can get baptized the night before i leave--not for my sake, but because that's the night the new missionaries coming out are staying in the mission home so they could come see a baptism their very first night here. we'll see.
POLLINATION SENSATION
so there's this phenomena that happens in GA every spring where the whole world gets covered with a thin, yet very obvious layer of pollin. it's pretty extreme. we'll be out tracting and have little pollin specs all over our tags. sorta like when there's the fires and there's ash everywhere. it's pretty brutal for those with allergies, but for me it's just fascinating more than anything.
DESTINY AND SUNSHINE
still working on their parents allowing them to be baptized. it's tough because the kids are really faithful. for example, we taught them about tithing and the next time we came over destiny had a couple dollar bills and some coins--a tenth of all he had to his name--all ready to give us. we explained it doesn't quite work like that, but what an example of faith! they're so great!! they've made such an effort to clean up their lives. destiny is trying to get rid of all the violent video games he plays and sunshine is trying hard to obey the word of wisdom so sh'es careful what she's putting into her body. they read the scriptures lots even though they dont' fully understand them yet.oh! this is the best story about destiny. the coolest thing as a missionary is watching those you teach internalize it and then later teach you. :) when we teach the 10 commandments we do a silly hand trick that teaches them the commandments in order. for "thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain" the hand thing is you gasp and cover your mouth with 3 fingers (like you would with your whole hand if you said something wrong, but it's the 3rd commandment so you use 3. anyway...) so destiny the other day was telling a story about something at school and he was getting a little upset and in his story said the Lord's name in vain. as soon as he did it his eyes got big and he gasped and covered his mouth with 3 fingers. haha! it was the best thing ever. sis jones and i were dying!
YW BROADCAST
Sunshine and Lani Lopez came to the Young Women's broadcast last Sat. it was way cool because all the girls welcomed them with open arms and invited them to sit by them. as a missionary you're so very aware of your visitors you bring adn any amount of time they have to spend without someone talking to them, but the girls were awesome and helped them to feel so at home. then a lot of the talks were about standing for your values when no one else is and it made me happy cause sunshine goes to a super sketchy school (alternative-type) and is exposed to a lot of bad things. i try and remind her that she's at that school so she can be a light to people and to always look for the people who need her example. it was an awesome night though.i'm so thankful for this gospel. i'm thankful for the clarity it gives you. all the time we meet people who tell us you don't have to agree with everything your church teaches because some of it is man-made. we agree with them that since the time that Christ's apostles were killed, thousands of changes have been made by men. but then we're able to bear testimony that God doesn't want it that way. He loves us enough that He wants us to have all the pieces and all the answers in this life to understand most fully how to return to Him. He wants us to have a prophet today to help keep the doctrine pure. He wants to guide us through these problems unique to our day so He would put a church on the earth with Chirst at the head and with a prophet to receive revelation for the whole world. I testify that that is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Bible teaches us to judge a prophet by his fruits. We have the opportunity this weekend to see the prophet and 12 apostles speak to the world so i encourage everyone to tune in, to see what they are saying, to ask your Father in Heaven if they are His appointed servants in our day. I leave you with my testimony that they are because the Lord has let me know that time and time again through the power of the Holy Ghost and I know He will do the same for all of His children as they seek.
i love you all!!
--sis c
LAST P-DAY ADVENTURES
we were stranded in a different part of town for our whole p-day last week cause our library was closed so after we emailed at another library we went to a park and walked around. we met some amazing people including a lady who approached US to start talking about the church. she said she's seen it a few times and felt like she needed to go check it out but hasn't gone yet. way cool. we got to teach her and say a prayer with her right there at the playground (pretty typical for us as missionaries and luckily, here in the south, no one seems to think much of it.) then we went to a hindu temple and checked it out. it's AMAZING. all hand-carved in india and it fits together so it's not hammered or glued or anything. way neat looking. then we got ice cream. nothing tops that.
STEVEN
Still such a champ. We're teaching his bro now so he sits in on the lessons and basically helps us teach. We asked him what he's noticed since his baptism and he said that since he received the gift of the Holy Ghost it feels like "a constant hug." what an awesome description. this kid's such a champ. his little bro plans to be baptized in april. we're trying to work it out so he can get baptized the night before i leave--not for my sake, but because that's the night the new missionaries coming out are staying in the mission home so they could come see a baptism their very first night here. we'll see.
POLLINATION SENSATION
so there's this phenomena that happens in GA every spring where the whole world gets covered with a thin, yet very obvious layer of pollin. it's pretty extreme. we'll be out tracting and have little pollin specs all over our tags. sorta like when there's the fires and there's ash everywhere. it's pretty brutal for those with allergies, but for me it's just fascinating more than anything.
DESTINY AND SUNSHINE
still working on their parents allowing them to be baptized. it's tough because the kids are really faithful. for example, we taught them about tithing and the next time we came over destiny had a couple dollar bills and some coins--a tenth of all he had to his name--all ready to give us. we explained it doesn't quite work like that, but what an example of faith! they're so great!! they've made such an effort to clean up their lives. destiny is trying to get rid of all the violent video games he plays and sunshine is trying hard to obey the word of wisdom so sh'es careful what she's putting into her body. they read the scriptures lots even though they dont' fully understand them yet.oh! this is the best story about destiny. the coolest thing as a missionary is watching those you teach internalize it and then later teach you. :) when we teach the 10 commandments we do a silly hand trick that teaches them the commandments in order. for "thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain" the hand thing is you gasp and cover your mouth with 3 fingers (like you would with your whole hand if you said something wrong, but it's the 3rd commandment so you use 3. anyway...) so destiny the other day was telling a story about something at school and he was getting a little upset and in his story said the Lord's name in vain. as soon as he did it his eyes got big and he gasped and covered his mouth with 3 fingers. haha! it was the best thing ever. sis jones and i were dying!
YW BROADCAST
Sunshine and Lani Lopez came to the Young Women's broadcast last Sat. it was way cool because all the girls welcomed them with open arms and invited them to sit by them. as a missionary you're so very aware of your visitors you bring adn any amount of time they have to spend without someone talking to them, but the girls were awesome and helped them to feel so at home. then a lot of the talks were about standing for your values when no one else is and it made me happy cause sunshine goes to a super sketchy school (alternative-type) and is exposed to a lot of bad things. i try and remind her that she's at that school so she can be a light to people and to always look for the people who need her example. it was an awesome night though.i'm so thankful for this gospel. i'm thankful for the clarity it gives you. all the time we meet people who tell us you don't have to agree with everything your church teaches because some of it is man-made. we agree with them that since the time that Christ's apostles were killed, thousands of changes have been made by men. but then we're able to bear testimony that God doesn't want it that way. He loves us enough that He wants us to have all the pieces and all the answers in this life to understand most fully how to return to Him. He wants us to have a prophet today to help keep the doctrine pure. He wants to guide us through these problems unique to our day so He would put a church on the earth with Chirst at the head and with a prophet to receive revelation for the whole world. I testify that that is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Bible teaches us to judge a prophet by his fruits. We have the opportunity this weekend to see the prophet and 12 apostles speak to the world so i encourage everyone to tune in, to see what they are saying, to ask your Father in Heaven if they are His appointed servants in our day. I leave you with my testimony that they are because the Lord has let me know that time and time again through the power of the Holy Ghost and I know He will do the same for all of His children as they seek.
i love you all!!
--sis c
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
"Get down here and get some holiness in you, ya heathen!"
So we're gonna do two separate emails cause the server went defective last week. Quote from a lady we taught who was trying to convince her roommate to come down and join us. :)
Sidenote: While most of the previous quotes were in a backwoods Southern accent, most of the current one will be city-dwelling black folks. Love it! :)
Ok, lots to say.
P-day adventure:
Sis Jones and I went to help Sis Reed (a senior missionary doing welfare service here) clean her blinds. Quite the adventure! Who even knew you were supposed to clean blinds. It invovled nothing short of disassembling every blind in the house, mixing together many chemicals (which, i'm no housekeeper but i'm pretty sure was borderline toxic...) and hosing the blinds down in the shower. it was truly a grand adventure. preceded by a blissful hilly run in the rain and proceeded by amazing mango chicken fajitas from Sis Reed. Don't worry though that we forgot many crucial parts of our missionary clothes to change back into for our lesson we went to afterwards so that was an adventure!
"TALL PAUL" GUNSTONE
So we went to teach this guy who was baptized a few years ago but hasn't been to church in a couple years. we went into his house and he's like 6' 11" and has a knife collection on his wall. for work he organizes poker tournaments. what the? but we went and visited with him. for as gruff as he seems he's also actually a poet and after we came and taught him more about the gospel, he just kept thanking us for coming and helping him to feel again what he'd felt before when he realized these things are true. he wants his wife to get baptized and to raise his little baby in the church. see, the gospel IS for everyone. :)
THE SNICKERS CHALLENGE
so there's this family in the ward who with every new missionary forces them to eat 3 ice cream snicker's bars before they can leave their house. (after forcing them to eat a ridiculously huge meal). they shout things at you in their crazy haitan accents like, "come on, a baby could eat that!" until you do it. what? but don't worry, i'd been training my whole life for that moment. i intentionally ate my meal super slow so they wouldn't notice i hadn't eaten a ton, and then pounded away 3 snickers ice cream bars. i mean, when else in my life could i have done that without feeling guilty? not that it didn't still involve a tummy ache after. :) and to think, my family mocked me for being addicted to desserts.
STEVEN
Teaching Steven is such a dream. Getting him ready for baptism took almost no effort on our part. he'd read more than we gave him and he'd tell us all about what he learned. he took notes at every lesson. if we hadn't called him that day to check in, he'd call us. he always had really thought-provoking questions and thoughts. and he was coming from a non-Christian background. this kid is AMAZING!!!! he was worried about being able to keep the sabbath day holy cause it's the only day he doesn't work or go to school. he's seriously going non-stop. but he knows the Lord will help him. oh, he called me to see if since his parents said he might not be able to go to all of church every week since they said family and the family business come first, if he could still get baptized. what?! this kid is so hard-core. if only we were all that serious about our commitments we make to God. he knows this is a lifelong commitment that is to be made with his whole heart and that he is to be as obedient to God's commandments as possible. he's such a champ! i'm so excited for the amazing things he's going to do as a member of the church!
Lilburn is still great. sis jones and i are loving every minute serving here! :)happy easter wishes! :)
--sis c
Sidenote: While most of the previous quotes were in a backwoods Southern accent, most of the current one will be city-dwelling black folks. Love it! :)
Ok, lots to say.
P-day adventure:
Sis Jones and I went to help Sis Reed (a senior missionary doing welfare service here) clean her blinds. Quite the adventure! Who even knew you were supposed to clean blinds. It invovled nothing short of disassembling every blind in the house, mixing together many chemicals (which, i'm no housekeeper but i'm pretty sure was borderline toxic...) and hosing the blinds down in the shower. it was truly a grand adventure. preceded by a blissful hilly run in the rain and proceeded by amazing mango chicken fajitas from Sis Reed. Don't worry though that we forgot many crucial parts of our missionary clothes to change back into for our lesson we went to afterwards so that was an adventure!
"TALL PAUL" GUNSTONE
So we went to teach this guy who was baptized a few years ago but hasn't been to church in a couple years. we went into his house and he's like 6' 11" and has a knife collection on his wall. for work he organizes poker tournaments. what the? but we went and visited with him. for as gruff as he seems he's also actually a poet and after we came and taught him more about the gospel, he just kept thanking us for coming and helping him to feel again what he'd felt before when he realized these things are true. he wants his wife to get baptized and to raise his little baby in the church. see, the gospel IS for everyone. :)
THE SNICKERS CHALLENGE
so there's this family in the ward who with every new missionary forces them to eat 3 ice cream snicker's bars before they can leave their house. (after forcing them to eat a ridiculously huge meal). they shout things at you in their crazy haitan accents like, "come on, a baby could eat that!" until you do it. what? but don't worry, i'd been training my whole life for that moment. i intentionally ate my meal super slow so they wouldn't notice i hadn't eaten a ton, and then pounded away 3 snickers ice cream bars. i mean, when else in my life could i have done that without feeling guilty? not that it didn't still involve a tummy ache after. :) and to think, my family mocked me for being addicted to desserts.
STEVEN
Teaching Steven is such a dream. Getting him ready for baptism took almost no effort on our part. he'd read more than we gave him and he'd tell us all about what he learned. he took notes at every lesson. if we hadn't called him that day to check in, he'd call us. he always had really thought-provoking questions and thoughts. and he was coming from a non-Christian background. this kid is AMAZING!!!! he was worried about being able to keep the sabbath day holy cause it's the only day he doesn't work or go to school. he's seriously going non-stop. but he knows the Lord will help him. oh, he called me to see if since his parents said he might not be able to go to all of church every week since they said family and the family business come first, if he could still get baptized. what?! this kid is so hard-core. if only we were all that serious about our commitments we make to God. he knows this is a lifelong commitment that is to be made with his whole heart and that he is to be as obedient to God's commandments as possible. he's such a champ! i'm so excited for the amazing things he's going to do as a member of the church!
Lilburn is still great. sis jones and i are loving every minute serving here! :)happy easter wishes! :)
--sis c
"You have the best job in the world"
Quote from our investigator Kelly. I think she's right.
LOPEZ FAM
the lopez family is so rad. they've been through LOTS of hard stuff adn it seems to keep coming but kelly is ready for some big-time changes. she knows what we're teaching her about is true and even though she still has some major things to work out to prepare her for baptism, she tells us about how she has felt closer to God these last few weeks than ever in her life. she keeps coming to church and on easter her husband jose finally came with her. he loved it and decided he wants to come with her every week. she started crying. :)i sat in sunday school with her daughter Lani (who just moved back into the house and has never been to church a day in her life until easter). we had a lesson all about faith in Jesus Christ and Lani asked an awesome deep question about how if we need to have faith in Christ, doesn't He have faith in us? so cool to think about. I know that He does because He sent us here in the first place. He knows we can be successful or this whole plan for us to come back to our Father in Heaven wouldn't even exist. They didn't send us here to fail. they gave us the gift of agency or choice so that we could CHOOSE to follow our Savior and His commandments. i love that she thought of it from that perspective. we're excited to start teaching Lani. it's a little tricky cause we're 5 of the people in that home and they're all really at different places right now, but they will all be so strengthened by the gospel. i'm excited to see the changes that come into their lives and they let them.
STEVEN'S BAPTISM
of course, every bit as amazing as everything else about teaching him. it was such a beatiful baptism. the best part was that the ward members totally took control. the whole thing was planned and orchestrated by the youth. they even made the programs. tanner, one of the 16-yr old boys from the ward baptized him and it was all just so awesome. steven was so excited the whole time. that week on the phone he'd tell us how excited he was getting. we asked him how he felt after the baptism and he said "like i'm home."the next day at his confirmation the blessing talked mostly about his family and how he would be able to help them grow closer together in love. he was so humbled by the whole thing. the Lord really will use him to do amazing things!last night he called us just to let us know he was doing good adn that since sunday it's been easier not to make the same kind of mistakes and fall into the same kind of temptations that he would before. he said that now if he almost says a curse word or the Lord's name in vain he stops and thinks of something else to say. he can totally tell the difference having the gift of the Holy Ghost in his life. :)
TIFFANY BLAS
...is amazing! (I know, i never use that adjective...). her husband is a member of the church but hasn't been in years. (she didn't even know he was until we stopped by :) ) she has three boys and works 2 jobs. crazy busy as you can imagine. we haven't even really been able to teach her a sit-down lesson yet because there's constant chaos and schedule shuffling but since we've started visiting she's started having family prayer (without us even suggesting it). i told her about having couple prayer with her husband adn she got all excited about that. she really wants them all to come to church next week. they were supposed to come on easter but were worried cause the boys had grown out of their church pants. :( i let her know it really didn't matter what they came in and that it was more important that they came. she's excited to read the Book of Mormon and said when we call tonight she wants to tell us about what she's read. :)
EASTER
we had easter dinner twice. the Lopez fam invited us over for Puerto Rican food adn a lesson and then we went straight to the stake presidents house for a lesson and an amazing lesson with Steven adn his little bro. the first part of the lesson involved some kind of logic thing where they were tied up and had to get out. steven is SUPER smart (he explains that he's not super smart, he's just asian :) ) so he was adament that they could get out of the ropes. it was hilarious watching them try. totally reminded me of something scott would've done. the point of the game was that they needed to humble themselves and ASK for help so we read a scripture about ASK and ye shall receive. but even once steven understood the spiritual lesson behind it he was still too stuck on being able to figure it out with his own logic. made the lesson even more appropriate about how we can be so stubborn trying to do things on our own before asking God for direction. luckily, in spiritual matters Steven is very un-stubborn. :) we're going to start teaching his brother next week.
COOL RANDOM FIND
so we felt like we should go tract on a specific street and when we went we found a girl named Jessica who doesn't even live there but was dog-sitting. she was so excited about everything we shared and to hear that there's a prophet on the earth today. the Spirit was so strong as we were talking, witnessing then and there that the message we shared was from the Lord-not from us or from man's ideas. while talking to her, her cell phone went off. usually that's a distraction from the Spirit but it was playing a song that was some Christian song and the chorus said "God is all around us..." She almost started crying. it was way cool. she doesn't live in our area but we're gonna go back and meet her boyfriend who's house it was when he gets back in town. way cool girl. she's very close to the Spirit and relies on the Lord for direction adn answers in her life.
DESTINY AND SUNSHINE
There's lots to write about them but i gotta go. they're the kids who've grown up knowing virutally nothing about God. i asked sunshine the other day what her favorite thing was that she's learned so far since we've been coming over adn she said, in her quite, ultra-shy voice, "what Jesus did for us." blew me away. i'm so humbled by these kids that have such a love of God and are so anxious to feel their Savior's love that they will put all of the things of the world aside. love them, love them.
wow, longest email ever, but there was lots to say. anyone who reads this whole thing gets 10 points (or it's 2 in the morning and you're doing anything but going to bed...go to bed.)
love you all!
--sis c
LOPEZ FAM
the lopez family is so rad. they've been through LOTS of hard stuff adn it seems to keep coming but kelly is ready for some big-time changes. she knows what we're teaching her about is true and even though she still has some major things to work out to prepare her for baptism, she tells us about how she has felt closer to God these last few weeks than ever in her life. she keeps coming to church and on easter her husband jose finally came with her. he loved it and decided he wants to come with her every week. she started crying. :)i sat in sunday school with her daughter Lani (who just moved back into the house and has never been to church a day in her life until easter). we had a lesson all about faith in Jesus Christ and Lani asked an awesome deep question about how if we need to have faith in Christ, doesn't He have faith in us? so cool to think about. I know that He does because He sent us here in the first place. He knows we can be successful or this whole plan for us to come back to our Father in Heaven wouldn't even exist. They didn't send us here to fail. they gave us the gift of agency or choice so that we could CHOOSE to follow our Savior and His commandments. i love that she thought of it from that perspective. we're excited to start teaching Lani. it's a little tricky cause we're 5 of the people in that home and they're all really at different places right now, but they will all be so strengthened by the gospel. i'm excited to see the changes that come into their lives and they let them.
STEVEN'S BAPTISM
of course, every bit as amazing as everything else about teaching him. it was such a beatiful baptism. the best part was that the ward members totally took control. the whole thing was planned and orchestrated by the youth. they even made the programs. tanner, one of the 16-yr old boys from the ward baptized him and it was all just so awesome. steven was so excited the whole time. that week on the phone he'd tell us how excited he was getting. we asked him how he felt after the baptism and he said "like i'm home."the next day at his confirmation the blessing talked mostly about his family and how he would be able to help them grow closer together in love. he was so humbled by the whole thing. the Lord really will use him to do amazing things!last night he called us just to let us know he was doing good adn that since sunday it's been easier not to make the same kind of mistakes and fall into the same kind of temptations that he would before. he said that now if he almost says a curse word or the Lord's name in vain he stops and thinks of something else to say. he can totally tell the difference having the gift of the Holy Ghost in his life. :)
TIFFANY BLAS
...is amazing! (I know, i never use that adjective...). her husband is a member of the church but hasn't been in years. (she didn't even know he was until we stopped by :) ) she has three boys and works 2 jobs. crazy busy as you can imagine. we haven't even really been able to teach her a sit-down lesson yet because there's constant chaos and schedule shuffling but since we've started visiting she's started having family prayer (without us even suggesting it). i told her about having couple prayer with her husband adn she got all excited about that. she really wants them all to come to church next week. they were supposed to come on easter but were worried cause the boys had grown out of their church pants. :( i let her know it really didn't matter what they came in and that it was more important that they came. she's excited to read the Book of Mormon and said when we call tonight she wants to tell us about what she's read. :)
EASTER
we had easter dinner twice. the Lopez fam invited us over for Puerto Rican food adn a lesson and then we went straight to the stake presidents house for a lesson and an amazing lesson with Steven adn his little bro. the first part of the lesson involved some kind of logic thing where they were tied up and had to get out. steven is SUPER smart (he explains that he's not super smart, he's just asian :) ) so he was adament that they could get out of the ropes. it was hilarious watching them try. totally reminded me of something scott would've done. the point of the game was that they needed to humble themselves and ASK for help so we read a scripture about ASK and ye shall receive. but even once steven understood the spiritual lesson behind it he was still too stuck on being able to figure it out with his own logic. made the lesson even more appropriate about how we can be so stubborn trying to do things on our own before asking God for direction. luckily, in spiritual matters Steven is very un-stubborn. :) we're going to start teaching his brother next week.
COOL RANDOM FIND
so we felt like we should go tract on a specific street and when we went we found a girl named Jessica who doesn't even live there but was dog-sitting. she was so excited about everything we shared and to hear that there's a prophet on the earth today. the Spirit was so strong as we were talking, witnessing then and there that the message we shared was from the Lord-not from us or from man's ideas. while talking to her, her cell phone went off. usually that's a distraction from the Spirit but it was playing a song that was some Christian song and the chorus said "God is all around us..." She almost started crying. it was way cool. she doesn't live in our area but we're gonna go back and meet her boyfriend who's house it was when he gets back in town. way cool girl. she's very close to the Spirit and relies on the Lord for direction adn answers in her life.
DESTINY AND SUNSHINE
There's lots to write about them but i gotta go. they're the kids who've grown up knowing virutally nothing about God. i asked sunshine the other day what her favorite thing was that she's learned so far since we've been coming over adn she said, in her quite, ultra-shy voice, "what Jesus did for us." blew me away. i'm so humbled by these kids that have such a love of God and are so anxious to feel their Savior's love that they will put all of the things of the world aside. love them, love them.
wow, longest email ever, but there was lots to say. anyone who reads this whole thing gets 10 points (or it's 2 in the morning and you're doing anything but going to bed...go to bed.)
love you all!
--sis c
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