Hey you guys! How are you
doing? Here is how I am doing:
Experience #1
We were at the mall last Monday, and
we were walking by this make up store. Before Sister L could blink, and she
showed this little ounce of compassion, one of the make up ladies grabbed her
and ask her if she wanted some organic make up. She sat Sister L down in the
chair and just started doing her make up. She mixed this color of eye shadow
with Vaseline and turned it into some sort of lipstick. It was possibly the
weirdest thing of ever seen. Then she decided to try and sell her on this
organic foundation. Yeah... it was pretty weird. I have to say though, the
funniest part was when she tried to put blush on her face.The lady picked a…
Interesting color? Let's just say, it was at least three shades darker than
Sister L’s skin tone. The lady said, "you have such porcelain
skin."then, proceeded to put on this blush that probably would have worked
better on a Native American skin tone. But meanwhile, the lady started asking
us what we do as missionaries. I figured, that she was more interested in
selling us things than what we had to say. But after she ask us three or four
questions, I decided to stop being ignorant and put my iPad away so that I
could talk to her. She said she was really interested in the service aspect of
the church, but she wasn't so interested in the actual message. She did let us
introduce the Principles of the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation. We told her that if she let
missionaries come over to talk to her, more service opportunities would open up
for her. We got her name and her address and her phone number so that we could
see if she was in our area or another one. Turns out, that she is actually in
Pineville area. But, we did exercise the practice of teaching people when we
first meet them, and talking to everyone. It seems like she was more interested
in the message after we talked to her. The funny thing is, she said that she lives
20 minutes away from the mall, but in fact she lives 50 minutes away from the
mall. So we had to decide if we were going to give her to Pineville elders or
Pineville sisters. We figured it would be better to give it to the Pineville
elders because there were three of them. So we called Elder Brogdon, Elder
Hutchings, and Elder Jackson to give them the referral. They seemed really
happy and we're hoping all works out. :)
Experience #2
We had another experience as a
companionship this week where we really followed the spirit. President
Alexander has been asking us to do at least three hours of finding every day.
We planned our finding, but it probably wasn't the most detailed. So the result
was, no one was outside and we didn't talk to a single person. So we figured we
could go back to the car, and just put in lessons. But the thing is, I didn't
feel like that is what we needed to be doing at that time. So we said a prayer
and asked that Heavenly Father would have us go to help the people that needed
us at that time. I prayed that certain names would come to my mind, whether it
was them or someone else that needed us. The first name that came to either of
our minds was an investigator named T. T's area was decently close to where we
were, so we decided to go. When we got up there, we saw our investigator named
F outside washing his car. We parked our car and walked over to him. We started
talking to him and ask if he had read the restoration pamphlet that we left for
him last time. He said that he was going to be honest with us, and told us that
he hadn't read it. So we asked if we could just teach him the restoration right
there outside his house. He agreed and we had a very spirit filled lesson where
we were able to testify of the importance of families and how we can come
closer to our heavenly father through his plan for us. We introduced the Book
of Mormon and the concept of baptism and he said he would talk to his wife
about it. He also said that he would read the book of Mormon and think about coming
to church with us this next week. So we are so glad that we were open to
listening to the spirit and that he may be ready to make more commitments with
us. Just hope and pray that we will be able to find him home this next week.
Experience #3
This week we also had stake
conference. It was a really inspirational meeting, but it was focused on ward
councils. Don't get me wrong, it was still good. I just feel like it was more
for the members than the missionaries. There were some really great things that
I took notes on in case I am ever in a word counsel in the future, but for now,
all we can do is present the work that we're doing and ask for the best help
that the members can give. I think that was also a big focus of the meeting -
was the fact that the members really need to get involved with the missionaries
more. This is not just the work of the missionaries, it is also the work of the
members. I will attach some of the notes I took from President Alexander and
Sister Alexander because they stood out to me the most at that meeting.
Sister Alexander: We have invited
our missionaries to use music to bring the spirit into their lessons. Such an
exciting time to be a member of the church. We see evidences of the hastening
of the work. Years ago, it seems as though we planned parties and calendar
items. But now they are powerful meetings to bring people closer to
Christ. We love our missionaries with all our hearts. As we were preparing to
serve our mission, we were first called by Elder Ballard. Then we were formally
called by President Eyring. This year, they gave us the assignments ahead of
time. We were in President Alexander's office studying, and he started to cry,
then I started to cry. We first felt a love for the missionaries we hadn't met
yet, then we felt a love for all of you that we hadn't met yet. There is a
difference between missionaries attending ward councils, and missionaries fully
participating in ward councils. They have been called of God, they are young men
but they have old and wise spirits. I can feel the mantle of their callings. As
you work with them, realize that we need and can use their help. But we are
also teaching the future leaders of the church. Among the missionaries in the
church right now, are the future apostles and prophets of the church. It is
also an amazing time to be a woman in the church. Last month, three women were
called to be on the general auxiliaries of the church. -Give women a chance to
spiritually prepare. We think differently. We can receive
inspiration that others may not. Give them material to study and ponder before
hand. As we knelt in prayer with the assistants today, it was a very sweet and
emotional experience. We felt that the change was accepted by the Lord.
President Alexander fasts, works tirelessly, and involves the lord in every
aspect of this work. The temple is also very important in our lives. When we go
to receive inspiration and guidance, the lord never failed me. We can receive
revelation in these meetings as well.
Meetings such as ward councils.
D&C 138 - "Foreshadowing..." "This earth would be complete
garbage if we don't find families and seal them." -Elder Kopischke Our
purpose is to bind families. We can do this through ward councils.
President Alexander: You met the
best part of my companionship already. Recently, we were headed back from the
Charlotte airport and it looked like she was thinking intently. I asked what
she was thinking about and she said, "I am just practicing singing hymns
in southern." (He talked about his occupation to his mission call). What
we have is a 50/50 companionship. She generally asks, "What can I pray for
you about?" They tell her and she does. Our son returned from his mission
and fell away. She began to pray that he would remember his mission. We got a
call in the middle of the night from my son saying that he didn't want to be
where he was at anymore. He said, "Dad, I just couldn't stop thinking
about my mission." When they were gathering things out of their closet as
they were leaving, they then saw the spot in the carpet all matted where sister
Alexander prays. (President Alexander had us all stand). He described how Elder
Nelson/Anderson said that we are extensions of the apostles, sent out to preach
the gospel. Both as mission presidents and as missionaries. (He then had us
recite our purpose). We don't only offer the ordinances of baptism and
confirmation, but also of sacrament. What a great blessing we have to have our
missionaries go to families, help your children, and participate in ward councils.
We are grateful to be a part of your ward councils. We talk about people. We
answer questions like: -Who is coming to church today? -What can we do to
help them have a spiritually uplifting experience? If we could ask questions
like: -Who are less-actives and what is the next ordinance that they need to
receive? Help us in that. Come out with our missionaries. There are so many who
could benefit from our message. There are less-actives who could be free of
guilt. There are non-member friends who, if they understood the message, would
be lining up for the ordinances of baptism and confirmation.
The next days conference when it is
all about being in tune with the spirit while we are focusing on going to see
people outside of our homes and outside of our church buildings. They were both
really great meetings that I learned a lot from. And I will have to share more
of my notes with you when I get home. :)
Experience #4
We also got to go see Sister H again
this week. We just love going to see her because of the special spirit that she
has about her. She told us while we were
over at dinner this time, that we were her missionaries. No matter what
happened it transfers, nothing would ever change that. We watch the Thomas S.
Monson movie with her and ate pizza because that is one of her favorite things
to do when I come over for dinner. She had a bunch of questions that she
has started keeping a notebook for us after the movie. She is just the
sweetest. The fact that she is so willing to learn and so open to the Gospel is
really an inspiration for all of us. There is not one thing so far that she has
completely disagreed with. The other week, we were over at her house and we
hadn't really described the word of wisdom yet, yet she told us something that
she did by her own free will. She told us that she had taken the step to pour
out all of her wine and that she was going to slowly but surely continue
getting better with things like the word of wisdom in things that she is not
used to in her life yet. I think the thing about this weeks visit, that was the
most unique to me personally, was the fact that she said that she is now open
and willing to go to the temple. You see, the first time that we went over to
go teach her, she said that there was no way that she was going to go to the
temple anytime soon. However, this last time, she said that she would only
really struggle with paying tithing for a year in order to get the temple
recommend to be able to go. We described how it would be a sacrifice and it is
a trial for all those who excepts the commandment to pay tithing to our Heavenly
Father, but when we do, he will bless our lives abundantly and we will see
things happen in our lives that we have never seen before. We talked about
things that she will be able to do in the future as we help her continue to
learn more about the gospel. Things such as, going to the temple, going to
General conference, and receiving the ordinance of eternal marriage that
everyone in this life gets a chance to participate in. I am just so excited to
see how much this special woman has grown over the last few weeks and how much
she will continue to grow as we continue to meet with her.
Experience #5
We also had Elder Kopischke come to
the mission this week. It's like the third time I've heard him speak, but this
time was as good as every other time that he's come. I really like when he comes
because he doesn't come with an organized plan that he wants to talk to us
about. More so, he comes and stands at the front of the pews, and he basically
tells us that if we don't ask questions we are not going to learn anything.
There was one point during the meeting, that you literally stood there for four
minutes and said that we could end the conference early if nothing was going to
be said. I just really like how he goes so by the Spirit. He really focuses in
on what we need to hear. There were at least three times during the conference,
that I found him looking up towards the heavens, and praying to Heavenly Father
to know what it is that he needed to say to most enrich, uplift, and edify us.
There was one story told that I thought you might like.
Elder H, Elder B, and Elder J were
in a park one day. Elder J had it in his
head that he wanted to talk to everyone in the park. He spotted this family
about 200 yards away, and decided that he was going to leave his companions and
the people they were talking to you and go hunt down this family. When they
noticed that he was bolting off, they started running after him. But this crazy
little dog went after his two companions and instead they started talking to
the owner. The family that Elder J had seen, wasn't interested in the message.
But the family that the other two started talking to, were very interested and
excepted the invitation to read to ponder and pray and have the missionaries
over to continue talking to them. This family, just entered into the waters of
baptism on Saturday and I was blessed enough to meet them as we were leaving
the parking lot from stake conference yesterday. The elders flagged me down and
introduced me to this special family. They had a glow about them I was indescribable.
I know that the Spirit leads us to those that are prepared by our Heavenly Father
to learn from and except the message of the restored gospel.
I love the comments from Brother Trainer. Especially the
comment about success when we invite. Elder Kopischke also commented on
how when we sacrifice things, he recognizes our sacrifice and blessings!
And I love what he said about senior couples too. The
example I've had from the senior couples here make me want to serve a senior
mission with my husband someday. They are so absolutely key and
influential to every mission.
Those people that haven't accepted the message of the gospel ,
definitely will someday. I get so excited when we get to talk to new
people because I know if they don't come into the gospel by our efforts, that
they will be ready soon because of the contact I made with them.
It really is "the next step" that we need to focus
on. By that, we can worry about the small things that will bring great
things to pass in the near future.
In response to your question about the magnets: I WOULD LOVE
SOMETHING SIMILAR!!! They helped us so much in Pilot. I only had a
few left that I have given to companions and members. I have just a few left
but I LOVED THEM! They were so helpful.
I am really good with whatever you would like to send. I
don't know if I want tons of candy. Maybe some Charleston Chews would be
great, and some fun dips, and if you could find a nerds rope because I have
wanted one forever, and whatever else you want to send. I am on the
"six months to sexy" now. So I am trying to lose weight, but it
is so hard because of how tired I am in the morning. And... I only send
you good looking pictures. I actually need a lot of your help when I get
home. ;) haha What do you mean by other? If you have
ideas, send them my way and I'll tell you yes or no.
Sooo... Transfers. I am staying in MOUNTAIN ISLAND!
Hence the address above. I love you to the eternities and
back. I will talk to you soon. Let me know if I skipped any
questions you need answered. I love you all so much!
Ash :)
