Connecticut Ancestors

Stonington's Founder's memorial (left)

Thomas Minor grave (below)

Walter Palmer grave (below).

These are pictures from Wequetequock Burial Ground in Stonington, Connecticut, in the area Brenda is presently serving (March 2009). This is where the founders of Stonington are buried. Two of the four founders are direct relatives: Thomas Minor (Brenda's 11th great-grandfather) and his father-in-law, Walter Palmer (12th great-grandfather). She was very excited to be in an area where several of our ancestoral lines have been traced!

The inscription on Thomas Minor's gravestone: "Here lyes the body of Liutenant Thomas Minor aged 83 departed 1690". The other side: "His wife 1608 Grace Palmer 1690." Walter Palmer's gravestone: "W. Palmer 1585-1661".

I Love Groton!

From April 27, 2009 email:

Our weather here has been pretty crazy ,too. Two straight days of hard rain and then 80 degree weather yesterday! New England weather is more indecisive than out West!

Last night the mission put on a musical fireside in the Warwick chapel. Wilfreida Shultz, a recent convert, drove us there so we didn't have to use our miles. And we brought along Kelsi, our 11-year-old investigator. I was awestruck at the talent in this mission. There was a choir, solos, quartets, organ & violin music, and much much more! I wish all of you could have been there to feel the Spirit in the room. It was entitled, "The Living Christ" and focused on the divine mission of the Savior. It was so beautiful! Kelsi loved it. After the program she leaned over to me and asked how we become missionaries. I explained simply the process of filling out papers and putting our lives in order. She thought for a second and said, "I want to be a missionary someday." I just about cried and my heart leaped for joy. She is one of the reasons that we Sisters are in Groton. She comes from a rough background, but she is still holding strong. She has been to many other churches with her split-up family, and she feels that something is different in this church. That's why she wants to be a member of it. Her birthday is Wednesday so we're trying to figure out something special we could do for her. I feel so priviledged to be able to teach such a sweet girl!

Saturday morning we did a "service blitz" for the members in which we went around to their homes and practically demanded that we do service. The first lady we went to didn't have anything for us to do right then, but we set up a time on Saturday to restain her deck. Then we went to the Edwards family. He is in the Coast Guard & is gone often. She stays at home and takes care of her two kids, one of which has spina bifida and is in a wheelchair. We swept, mopped, and cleaned up the kitchen because there was no way that she could get around to it at that time. She said the closing prayer in Sacrament meeting on Sunday and the first thing she prayed about was the missionaries. She thanked us for our service & prayed for our success. That really touched me & I had to fight back the tears. I was able to touch someone's life through that service, no matter how small that was. I felt great!

While we were greeting everyone for Sacrament, the Relief Society president gave us hugs and said that was from our mothers. Boy, did that almost make me cry, too! I can't believe how much of a boob I've become. I guess that means I'm becoming a real Sister! :) Then our Relief Society lesson was on "Return to Virtue" by Sister Dalton. That caused me to think back to my life before I was a missionary. You don't realize how much crap you let into your life without noticing. I'm afraid I became desensitized to movies, radio, TV, and the internet. I'm going to choose much wiser when I get home. Keeping our lives free from that mud will help us to be more virtuous.

Most of our investigators are progressing along well. I can't believe the success of this area. I do know that I was prepared for us to get here. I've really found my place here in Groton. I've realized why I'm out here on a mission and what good I can do. Here I've grown to love my mission more than I ever thought I could. I love to see the gospel bring light & life into people's lives. And I've realized that I can't be passive...I always have to be doing good & improving myself. I'm glad that you can see the change in me already. Hopefully you see even greater change in the coming months!

Nine months out!

From April 20, 2009 email:

I can't believe that I've been out nine months already! Time flies when you're having fun. Sister Mortimer has been saying that this has been the LONGEST six weeks of her life. I told her to cherish them because from now on, they will fly by. I was looking through some pictures from my previous areas the other day and it felt like yesterday that I was in Canton & East Providence. This transfer has been the fastest so far. Tomorrow is transfers, but luckily enough we didn't get a call last night so we'll be staying in Groton. We figured that we would be staying, but you just never know! Things are just starting to pick up here and there is a lot more work to be done. As for Arvella Jenkins' [of Declo, Idaho] sister, her name is Deliah Christensen & is one of the nicest ladies ever. She's a ward missionary and makes sure that we're taken care of. It's a small world, isn't it?

This week we spent a lot of time searching out less-actives and inviting them back to church. One lady just recently moved to CT from UT and just got away from church. She was super nice & said that she watched conference & read the latest Ensign. She probably moved here and didn't make the effort to find the church. That's why fellowship is so important. Many people are waiting for the invitation to come back to church.

We went on splits for the first time on my mission. That was quite the experience. It felt kinda weird to be away from my companion, but at the same time it was great to get to know another sister in the ward. I'm glad that this ward is so willing to help out with missionary work.

Yesterday we were able to attend a baptism that the New London Elders had. That was my first baptism on my mission! The Spirit was definitely present as the father of a part-member family entered the waters of baptism. They were so happy! I almost shed a tear or two...thanks for those highly sensitive tear-ducts, Mom! :) Two of our investigators were able to attend: Ryan & Kim. Ryan's girlfriend was in town from BYU. She is such a great example for him. Hopefully this visit with his girlfriend & the baptism will help him to jump the last hurdle towards his own baptism. We had a great lesson with the Lee family last night. The ward was doing a "visit night" to less actives so we had the Elder's quorum president & his counselor with us there. We taught a great, spiritual lesson on the priesthood because Bro. Lee is wanting to get the priesthood because he left the church at about the age of twelve. In preparation for the lesson, I thought about how the priesthood has blessed my life. Without it, I wouldn't have the wonderful blessings of baptism & the Holy Ghost. Nor would I have the opportunity to make sacred covenants in the temple (one of my favorite places, next to Almo!). But most of all, I wouldn't have the priesthood power in my home growing up. I'm SO thankful for having a father who was worthy to hold the priesthood & exercised it for the benefit of others. Thanks Dad! I love you!

Each day I see the hand of the Lord in this work. Miracles happen in the lives of our investigators, and also in our individual lives. We had interviews on Tuesday and President Pehrson told me to tell you that he's happy in the growth that he's seen in me and wanted to know if you all saw it too. Hopefully you do because I'm a completely different person! There's experiences that you can't get anywhere else except on a mission!

Rolls Royce & Too Much Food!

From April 13, 200 email:

I got the pictures Joel sent of his almost-solo flight. I'm so proud of him! Just a little bit more time & then he'll be off zooming. And I'm thinking I need something Air Force-ish since there is a naval submarine base here in Groton & I need to represent the BEST branch of the military.

Soon after I sent off my email last week, Sister Mortimer and I headed over to Waterford & checked out the Crystal Mall. It's nothing like the Providence Place Mall in my last area, but it was still shopping! I've fell in love with a new store: H&M. Too bad they don't have many out west. We did a lot of window shopping, but came home with a few bargains.

Wednesday we met with the Moyes family. He is a less active member, she is not a member, but she wants to be baptized. The problem is they have a Word of Wisdom issue with cigarettes. So we'll be working with them in the coming weeks so he can be worthy to baptize her. They just moved from Saratoga Springs, NY so we got to chat with the Elders over there who had been teaching them. They said that she has great potential, but it will take a little bit of time. We have great news with Ryan...he wants to be baptized, its just a matter of when. We met with him on Friday & he said that he's been receiving answers to prayers. He looked at us with a bewildered look and said: "And I wasn't expecting them!" He doesn't feel that he is completely ready, but he definitely is. He's probably the smartest investigator I've ever taught. Plus when he joins, he'll be a stalwart member for the rest of his life. His girlfriend from BYU will be coming out this weekend so hopefully that will progress things along. We are on a time schedule since he will be graduating from the Coast Guard Academy in May. Today we are fasting with him so he can know if he should be baptized now. Sister Mortimer and I are hoping for a yes!

We had a wonderful Easter program yesterday for Sacrament Meeting. Three very talented individuals/couples/families performed some powerful musical numbers. Then we had three speakers...one of which was me! I was a bit nervous to do it because I'm still not over my fear of giving talks. But luckily it was only a brief testimony about the Savior so it all turned out good. There happened to be a huge crowd there because of the Easter holiday. After the meeting, a less-active member came up to us and asked if we could teach his 11-year-old daughter the lessons as she hasn't been baptized yet. It seems like people are just falling out of the sky to be taught! For Easter dinner, we got invited to the home of an old guy in the ward along with the Harpels (ward mission leader) and Gloria & her husband (investigator). We had a great time there! Bro. Parker just lost his wife of many, many years about a month ago. Apparently she was quite the individual. She went blind in high school, but still did a marvelous work here on earth. She could sew, cook, knit, and was even the Relief Society President twice. I wish I could have met her! I got a picture next to Bro. Parker's Rolls Royce...I'm not quite sure on the year, but it's old!

Thanks for the Easter candy! A good portion of it was gone just a day after it came. Plus Sister Mortimer's sister sent us both cute little Easter baskets that were loaded with candy. We've been eating a bit too much of it! Oh! That reminds me of Friday night. We had a dinner appointment with a member couple--the Nortons. They loaded our plates with HUGE steaks, a potato, salad, and other vegetables. Boy, was that good! But then came the dessert. A huge triple layer cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. I had a hard time getting it all down, but I finally did after much struggling. I swear I could not eat another bite. But then we went to an appointment with an investigator. She whips out some pizza and an apple dessert & tells us to eat & enjoy. Sister Mortimer & I looked at each other and just about died! Somehow we stuffed that pizza into our already overfilled stomach. I felt like the blueberry girl on the movie "Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory." We basically had to roll all the way home.

I encourage you to do the 21-Day Member Missionary Prayer program. You never know what the power of prayer can do. Plus, go to the temple as often as possible. I miss it so much! That's one of the first things I want to do when I get back & I hope to see all of you there with me!

Elder Holland's Conference Talk

From 4/06/09 email:

Sounds like you had an exciting conference trip. The Durfs and the Wrigleys are growing up so fast! I wish I could be there to see them grow, but I've got important things to do here! Wasn't conference amazing? Maybe I think that because I'm a missionary and I love to refill my spiritual reservoir often. I'm glad that we do have a living prophet on the earth to guide us and direct us in our mortal journey. Did you catch on to the importance of temple work? I sure did! I wish I could go to the temple more often here, but that will make it even more important when I get home. I hope you all take the advice of Elder Scott to set your own goals of temple attendance & don't let anything get in the way of it.

My favorite talk was by Elder Holland--we definitely are never alone in all our trials. As I've come to understand the Atonement more, my eyes have been opened up to the magnitude of Christ's suffering. He did it willingly & never complained. He did ask anything for himself. That's something I need to apply to my life. There was another talk that really touched me. Elder Oaks talked about unselfish service and how we need to be more willing to set our priorities below others. I've been struggling lately with the Christlike attribute of humility. I'm told in my patriarchal blessing to be humble, along with many answers to recent prayers. During the talk, I realized what Heavenly Father was trying to get across to me. Forget yourself & lose yourself in the work of the Lord. Forget what YOU want and unselfishly serve others. That hit me pretty hard because lately I've been focusing more on myself rather than others. I was sucked into the "ME generation" which prohibited much more progression. And now I'm following the advice of President Monson in saying how grateful I am for such wonderful parents! Thank you for all that you have done for me. Thanks for your unselfish sacrifice & love. Thanks for raising me up right. I love you so much!

After conference on Sunday, we met with the Steel family. Sister Steel is a member & her husband is not. The bishop said that he felt that he was ready to start the lessons again. He has taken them a couple of times in the past and I guess the time just wasn’t right. But we had an excellent lesson with them on obedience & faith. We didn’t want to completely turn him off to the missionaries by being too pushy. I started out the lesson with no idea what to say. Then the thought came to me to talk about how the gospel has blessed my life, specifically with my family. Sister Mortimer said that once I testified, the Spirit rushed in, starting the lesson off good. I know that Bro. Steel will be baptized soon. It’s not the baptism that I’m excited for. It’s the opportunity that him & his wife & daughter can be sealed in the temple for all eternity.

Friday afternoon we got to deep clean our apartment. I'm proud to say that our apartment is cured of all it's Elder-ness. We scrubbed the mold off the ceiling & tub, wiped unknown goo off of the walls, and tossed the long-expired food out of the fridge. Now we can sit in our apartment in peace. I had one casualty, though. My toothbrush met an impending doom as it dived into a pool of Pine-Sol as I was scrubbing the walls. Luckily my greenie was prepared with an extra one.

This week has been full of so many miracles. We finally got in touch with Racheeta, whom we haven’t been able to talk to since we got here. We had a wonderful lesson with her on the plan of salvation which is especially important to her because she has a son. Another investigator has realized the importance of prayer. She’s been going through a super rough time as her husband is sick. But one day she broke down & got to her knees in prayer because she couldn’t take it any longer. She immediately got that feeling of peace & comfort. Now she knows that Heavenly Father really is there and answers prayers. Other investigators have been recognizing the Lord’s hands in their lives. I love to see them light up when they tell us how their prayers have been answered.

We had another interesting experience. There is an investigator in the Kentucky Louisville Mission who called us to say that her parents were moving into our area and she wanted us to stop by & help them unpack. They moved into Westerly, RI which is clear on the other side of our area. We don’t go there very often because we just don’t have the miles. But we show up on their doorstep overlooking the crashing waves of the ocean & offer our services to them. They were super nice, but were on their last stages of unpacking so they didn't need any help. But she invited us back in a couple of weeks after everything was settled. Their investigator daughter will be come to visit them soon & wants to meet us. Hopefully something good will become of that!

I’m so happy doing the Lord’s work. It took me a while to get to this point, but now I’m here & I love it! I’m excited for the potential of this area. It seems like it has just been waiting for Sisters to get here. Hopefully we will make more miracles happen here!

My 1st Lobster

From March 30 email: Luckily we haven't had any snow lately...just a lot of rain! Friday evening we got to experience eating lobster for the first time. The Hobsons (she's active, but he's not) always invite the new missionaries over for a lobster dinner. When she plopped that red monster on my plate, I didn't think I could go through with it. First we had to yank off it's "arms" with the claws & then carefully crack open it's shell to reach the meat. It didn't taste near as bad as I thought it would. Sister Mortimer could hardly keep it down because she's not a fan of sea food, but as missionaries, we need to eat all that's placed in front of us! That was quite the experience. But I don't think I'll ever be completely converted to lobster.

Yesterday during the combined Priesthood/Relief Society meeting, Sister Mortimer and I had to give a little talk on missionary work & why we were out. Sister Mortimer also played "Come Thou Fount" on the violin. She's so talented! The ward just introduced a new ward mission plan which includes the 21-day member missionary prayer program and 2 special fasts during the year. If the members put forth that faith, we'll see miracles happen here in Groton. I've started my own 21-day prayer sheet for family members/friends/investigators. I'll send you a copy so that you can join in on the fun.

Yesterday we had a lesson with Ryan. We watched "Finding Faith in Christ" and talked a little bit about what Christ did for each one of us. He doesn't have much knowledge of what Christ did for him exactly. He hasn't had that "change of heart" that comes from the realization that Christ suffered and died for each one of us and that it is only through him that we can receive salvation. So we're working with him to develop that relationship he needs with Heavenly Father & Jesus Christ. This got me thinking about my knowledge of the Atonement. I remember a while back that my testimony of it was very weak. I knew that Christ had done something important, but it didn't have a place in my heart. But now I've felt the redeeming power of the Atonement in my life. I don't know how people can survive the world without Christ. I have truely come to know who Christ is and what he has done for me. It's life changing! Now that it's getting close to Easter, I'm going to focus my studies on the Atonement so that my testimony can be strengthened even more and so I can more effectively share that with others. I love this gospel! I've wholly and completely had a change of heart.

I'll start working on my journal. I keep waiting for the time to open up to do it, but I guess I'll just have to make time. It's very important to remember these wonderful missionary experiences! I'm getting very excited for conference this weekend. I remember back to my younger years when I couldn't sit through a single session of it. But now I love to hear the words of the prophet & apostles. They do know of a surety that God lives and that Jesus Christ is our Savior. They know that true happiness comes from living the gospel. And I want to follow their examples.

History with Gloria

From March 23, 2009 email:


We finally feel like we have a handle on the area! We haven't been able to get in contact with a few of the investigators as of yet, but we're not giving up on them. Apparently they aren't as solid as the Elders led on. We'll just have to go find our own! Wednesday afternoon we went with Gloria (an investigator with great potential) around to some historical places & also a library in Stonington to look up some ancestors. She showed us some of the Miner homesteads. Sadly enough, they aren't part of our direct line. At the library we were able to look up a few books specifically written on the Minors and the Palmers. I was able to fill in a little more of my pedigree chart and find some long-lost ancestors! I forgot my notes today so I can't give you the names of the ancestors or the books right now. But I believe that there is a website: www.tmsociety.org. We also ran across a question on Deborah Minor--I was hoping you could find more on her. She doesn't appear in the Minor book, but there is a female listed under another name with that same birth date. That could possibly be her, but it needs investigating. Gloria said she would check it out also. She volunteers her Thursday nights at the family history center at the church. This time with her we were able to figure out some of her concerns & draft a plan on how to help bring her to Christ.

Thursday and Saturday we met with another investigator, Ryan Taylor. His girlfriend is a member and currently attends BYU. He's in the Coast Guard so he lives across the river from us in New London. He is an engineering student there so he is a very logical thinker. He truly has a desire to know if the things we teach are true. He thinks them out and weighs every possibility. He had lots of good questions on prophets so we answered them the best we could. On our meeting on Saturday, we gave him a stray copy of "Our Search for Happiness" that was wandering around our apartment. He called Sunday night & said that he LOVED the book and it all made sense to him. We were definitely inspired to give him that (and so was the Elder who left it at the apartment...haha). So there will be some great things come out of this!

We also met with Margo this week. We found her contacting and have had a few lessons with her. Our first lesson this week was somewhat of a disaster. She has the tendency to talk a lot and we didn't take control of the situation. So we didn't get much taught. We left discouraged and worn down, but as a missionary, you can't let it get to you. We decided to stop by on Saturday and watch "The Restoration." Throughout the movie she said that she could relate to Joseph Smith. And she has a great desire to know if the Book of Mormon is true. After we watched the movie, we knelt down in prayer and each gave a heartfelt prayer that she would receive answers. That was probably one of the most spiritual experiences I've had out here. She came to church on Sunday for the first time and had great fellowship from the ward. More great things are happening here!

Saturday we helped out at the stake youth volleyball tournament since we didn't have any service for the week. I got to oil my very squeaky volleyball officiating skills. Sister Mortimer worked out her arm muscles as she flipped the score. We had a blast with the youth and they enjoyed themselves. I love working with the wards here...they're so willing to help out with missionary work! That was my week in a nutshell. So much happens that I can't seem to fit it all in one hour and one email. I need to start writing in my journal more so I can remember the wonderful experiences I've had here. Then I can share them all with you when I get back. I remember Adam telling me to write in my journal as often as possible...I've failed at that! That's the lovely thing about the Atonement: I can repent! I'm glad to hear that Dad got to experience a bit of member-missionary work & help bring the light of the gospel into someones life. "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father." I did that from memory so that probably isn't perfect. But think of that perfect joy you will have with that one person...maybe more. That's why it is so important to share the gospel! I encourage everyone to make an effort to do that this next week. I'll be doing it all week long!