From March 2, 2009, email:
We've just about had all four seasons here in Rhode Island this past week. First we had the bitter wind of fall, then springtime rain, afterwards sunny weather in the 50s (that feels like summer), and now today...a couple of inches of snow! I thought we were done with all this white stuff! I guess not. (Ironically, our apartment complex is called the "Four Seasons".)
I'm excited to see the [DVD of] the Youth Cultural Celebration when I get back. It sounds like it was very good. I remember when President Monson talked about it in conference. Of course I had to share with other missionaries that he was talking about "my temple." I bet it's handy to have a temple so close. Are you keeping up with your monthly temple attendance? Speaking of President Monson, Sister Pehrson told me of an experience they recently had at the Canton/Avon Wards. She & President Pehrson were making their usual rounds to the different wards. When they pulled into the parking lot, they saw a lot of parking spaces blocked off by traffic cones. They wondered what could possibly be going on at the Canton/Avon building. But they caught wind that President Monson was visiting his granddaughter & her family who lives in the Avon ward. He was able to attend his great-granddaughter's baptism & then attend the Avon ward that Sunday. He spoke a little bit in sacrament meeting, say that he had many talks to prepare for before conference so he didn't have a specific topic to speak on that day. All the missionaries stayed to meet him...I missed meeting the Prophet by a few months! I'm glad that the Prophet isn't too busy to attend special family functions!
Tuesday we had interviews with President Pehrson. He said he didn't have any specific plans for transfers just yet. Sister Jones has just one transfer left before she "dies" but she's been in East Providence for six months. So basically we have no idea where we could possibly end up next week. Anything could happen!
Saturday we participated in a move for a lady who is a non-member. It's an interesting story as to how the church got involved. This lady is a member of an on-line quilting group & had made it known to other members of the group that her apartment was being foreclosed & she was getting kicked out. Someone in the quilting group was a member of the church in Florida & contacted the Central Falls bishopric to help out. We brought along an investigator (so he could get to know other members of the ward) and the Portuguese Elders brought an investigator also. A couple of young men & some of the Elders quorum showed up & we created a pass-along train down the stairs & into the truck. We moved TONS of boxes in a matter of minutes. Then we delivered them to her new apartment. Everyone enjoyed the selfless act of service for someone who couldn't do it on their own. The next day, Seth, one of the young men, bore his testimony about how much he enjoyed the move. He's a recent convert of just one year. Actually tomorrow will be his one year mark. We're having a party on Friday for him. He's such a wonderful addition to the ward!
This is a portion of the happenings this week. I hope everyone had a great week! Always remember that obedience + diligence = blessings! Keep doing what's right & keep that firm grip on the iron rod.
From Feb. 23, 2009 email:
I'm not surprised that Dad is watching "Errand of Angels." Doesn't it make you want to serve a mission? I hope so because it's a wonderful experience. Tell Cherry Ward congratulations for her mission call. The same mission as Shilo, eh? Maybe she can carry on with the work that Shilo left there. Sounds like you've all had a busy week. Mine has been likewise. We've been doing a lot of finding, teaching...and eating! Four members have invited us to dinner this week, three of which were Cape Verdian. There was LOTS of delicious food. Someone just about had to roll Sister Jones and I out the door. I felt like the blueberry girl on Willie Wonka. I learned the secret to making the best beans & rice. I'll have to share my mission cuisine with you all when I get home.
We have picked up two new investigators this week. They actually came to us. Mary & Thomas saw us at the bus station & told us that they had met with missionaries in Fall River, Mass. We dropped by their apartment Saturday night & had a very good lesson in which I could feel the Spirit very strongly. They love the Mormon religion, but had lost contact with the missionaries for a while when they moved over to East Providence. Thomas had attended the Central Falls ward once, but didn't have a very good experience. We convinced him to try it again so hopefully they will be there next Sunday!
During church on Sunday I had an interesting spiritual experience. I was sitting there through the talks & lessons, & I had this flood of the spirit wash over me. There wasn't one specific time, but all throughout the meetings. I sat back and thought, "I love this ward." The first few weeks I was apprehensive about it because it was nothing like I had ever experienced. But now with time & getting to know the members, I absolutely love it. Most members are converts & have had their share of struggles in their lives. But they all come together as one. I was beaming like a mom listening to her child speak when Sister Fortes gave her talk in sacrament meeting. She did such a great job & I'm so proud of her. She joined the church about a year ago and she's come so far. Thanks for all of your love & support. Your prayers help me through the tough & disappointing times. Keep all the missionaries in your prayers, not just me!
And how is your Preach My Gospel study coming? I know that as you study it, you will gain a greater understanding of the gospel & you will have opportunities to share your testimonies with others. Now who wouldn't want that?!
From Feb. 18, 2009 email:
Sorry for the delay in e-mailing. Monday the libraries were closed for the holiday and Tuesday we had zone conference. Better late than never, I guess! This week we've been very blessed by Heavenly Father. Miracles are happening here! Our teaching pool had been dwindling quickly, but we were able to pick up 3 new investigators this week. Obedience and diligence brings great blessings. Luiz is from Brazil & is in his 50s. We met him here at the East Providence library last week. He saw the missionaries in Brazil...the "men in suits on bikes." He has a great desire to learn about the church & already said he would be baptized if he received an answer to his prayers. Yay! The only problem is that he lives in Fall River, Mass. (not in our mission, but just over the border) but works most of the time here in East Providence. We're working with the Elders in Mass. to see what we should do, but obviously we're taking advantage of the fact that we can teach him now.
Cal is another new investigator. Sister Jones & Sister Lambertson tracted into him a few weeks before I got here. He's originally from Korea, but has lived in the US for a while. He knew a lot of Mormons while going to dental school. He's married and has the cutest little boy, so hopefully we can get the whole family involved in the gospel. We just had him down as a potential & our other plans fell through so we decided to stop by. It just happened to be the WINDIEST night ever, so he let us in because it was so cold. Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways. I was despising the wind earlier, but now it was a real blessing! We were able to teach a lesson on the Restoration, and I can see that he is being prepared to receive the gospel. We aren't too sure about the potential of our other new investigator. We'll see how it goes this week.
Last night we met with Topper, which went very good! He'd be an awesome, stalwart member if he could accept it completely. We found out what he wants: knowledge on how to have a good family. He's seen how LDS families stay together & have close relationships & he wanted to know the secrets of it. Of course I shared my experience of family prayer, FHE, Church, and being taught correct principles. I'd like to thank Mom & Dad for all that you have done. Thanks for your love and sacrifice. Everything I am is because of you. Your examples have taught me that living the gospel brings true happiness. Thanks for teaching me the importance of family. Hopefully someday I'll be half the parents you are.
I found out Friday that my MSF account had been hacked along with a couple thousand other missionaries. Apparently someone higher up has been fishing account numbers from the church finances. Even some gas cards have been hacked. So I've been without MSF since then & another card should get here in 8-10 days. I've been trying not to use my debit card much, but this occasion calls for it. Never a dull moment in the mission field, eh? Luckily the members have been feeding is pretty well. You don't have to ever worry about us starving. Sometimes we get sent home with the leftovers and that lasts us the rest of the week.
Monday we took a break from the usual sports-related preparation day & took the bus down to Newport. We walked around the cliff walk which goes right around the ocean. It had to be over 4 miles long and we walked every inch of it. We didn't have time to go into the infamous mansions, but we saw quite a few from the outside. They're unbelievable! Then we headed to a local dive for some real East Coast fish & chips. Yum! I definitely want to check Newport out in the summertime. Maybe I'll come back after my mission is done. (pictures below)
Like I said earlier, we had zone conference yesterday in Manchester, CT. We got up at 5:15 AM, was out the door by 6:30, and was bright eyed & bushy tailed when we arrived in CT an hour and a half later. Elder Madsen from the seventy was our general authority speaker. He gave a superb training on the Atonement. He's such a great speaker & brought the Spirit in very powerfully. So many aspects of the Atonement finally clicked in my brain. Everything in the gospel...and I mean EVERYTHING...is centered around the Atonement. Jesus came to earth because of the Atonement; the Plan of Salvation is brought about because of the Atonement; we make sacred covenants in the temple because of the Atonement. Of course we got the whole "marriage talk"...I thought we would get away from that on a mission! I wish that we could have a general authority speak every week. It's such a spiritual experience!
From Feb. 9, 2009 email:
I think springtime is finally on its way here! It's been in the 40s & the snow is slowly melting away. Now we don't have to put so many layers on! I was surprised to see so many emails waiting for me today. One from Megan, Holly, Joel, & Mom & Dad. I'm glad to hear that everyone is doing well. I totally forgot that basketball tournaments were going on right now. Time flies by way too fast. Are the girls doing pretty good? I got my package last week...thanks sooo much! I have to confess that the Valentine's package didn't make it to Valentine's day. That's what happens when you write, "do not open until . . ."
There have a been a lot of ups and downs this week. So many of our appointments have fallen through & our back-ups & even second back-ups didn't work out. We just kept plugging along. That's all we can do. Sometimes it's hard to keep going when everything falls apart. But that's the moment you have to remember that Heavenly Father is preparing someone, somewhere to receive the blessings of the gospel. We have to go out there, diligently working, to find them. Missionary work is HARD, but completely worth it. Friday we had a heart-to-heart with Burke & Topper. We had to find out their true intents for meeting with us. Topper said that he had prayed about the Book of Mormon and received an answer. Soon after praying, he turned to a verse in 1 Nephi 10 when it talks about the baptism of Christ. He said that Bethabara, as in the Bible, was a mis-translation in the King James Version, & it was supposed to mean Bethany. That cast a shadow in his mind about the validity of the BOM & of Joseph Smith. And so we had to drop them, our purpose being to invite others to Christ by helping them receive the ordinance of BAPTISM. He already had his mind set that it wasn't completely true. I wonder why he got that answer, but we pray that he will continue to search for truth. This hit us pretty hard. It's like having your heart ripped out of you when someone rejects the gospel like that. But we've researched the matter a bit & found that Bethany & Bethabara are two completely separate place. Does anyone else know much of this issue?
Saturday we attended a Relief Society activity of chocolate dipping. Sister Nielson is quite the expert at that. We learned how to temper the chocolate, make the fillings, and the funnest yet messiest part: dip the chocolates! YUM! They all turned out pretty good & together we whipped out around 1,000 chocolates. That's definitely a skill I want to try out when I get home!
Even though this week hasn't been completely uplifting, I still love being a missionary. I'm slowly getting over my apprehensive & shy nature & blossoming into the person Heavenly Father wants me to be. Keep us missionaries in your prayers! You never know how great of an impact one little prayer can have.
From Feb. 2, 2009 email:
We've had a hint of spring these past few days. Temperatures are in the 40s! I think I'm ready for a break from winter. But I hear we're getting another big storm in tonight so that break will have to wait for a while. They say that about every 15 years they get some big storms in RI and that year just happens to be this one. Apparently there hasn't been this much snow since the "Blizzard of '78."
We weren't able to meet with any of our investigators this week because of scheduling conflicts. We spent a lot of our time with less-actives, members, contacting, & tracting. Saturday afternoon Sister Jones and I did a "blitz" of Kennedy Plaza, the bus station. We separated (but were still within sight & hearing of each other) and talked to as many people as possible. Even if they were crazy, we still talked to them. We met some very interesting people as usual. But a lot of the people were very open about listening to us. One lady had wanted to be a nun when she was growing up, but stopped going to the Catholic church when she wasn't allow to ask questions. I hear a lot of stories like that. We got into a friendly "discussion" with some Born Again Christians, which was very education but a total waste of time. We had given them a pamphlet on the Plan of Salvation & they picked apart every little sentence, saying that nothing made sense in it. Hmmm...I think the fact that we lived with our Heavenly Father before this earthly journey makes perfect sense. It also makes sense that we learned & progressed there, but only to a certain point. We need this experience on earth to become like our Heavenly Father. The lady told me to put down the Book of Mormon & read the Bible; then I would find out that everything I testified about was wrong. It just so happens that I read the Bible that morning & found plenty of evidence to support the Plan of Salvation. I'm surprised at how calm & collected I was through the whole ordeal. Knowing the truth brings a lot of peace. I'll try to avoid a future "bashing session" because I have work to do!
Friday night we had dinner with Sister Washington & her kids. She's a convert of a few years, but is so strongly rooted in the gospel. She's a super good knitter & has got me wanting to start. Maybe I'll pick up that hobby when I get home. We did an "Armor of God" FHE lesson which went very well. Dante, Sister Washington's son, was our warrior that we dressed up in the armor of god. Sister Washington had invited over a co-worker who was going through a hard time & she said that the lesson answered a few prayers. It's such a great feeling to know that you are able to help people out.
Wednesday we helped serve lunch at a memorial dinner for all the homeless people that had died this past year. We have been doing a lot of service around the homeless & it makes me SO grateful for all the wonderful things I have: family, home, food, the gospel etc. I'm glad to have that family support if anything were to go wrong. We are all commanded to be as Jesus Christ who helped everyone. Most of whom he helped were those who had little or nothing.
Elder Carr, one of the senior missionaries, is going in for triple bi-pass surgery today. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers. I hope everyone has a great week! Keep all the missionaries in your prayers...you never know how much you can do with one little prayer.
From Jan 20, 2009 email: Sorry for the delay! Apparently it was a holiday yesterday & all of the libraries were closed. And I hear as of today, we have a new president. Hopefully he'll try to do what's best for the country. Tuesday we had interviews with President Pehrson and it sounds like Sister Jones & I will be staying in East Providence another round. Yay! I love it here. And I have a lot more that I need to learn from Sister Jones before she heads home in April. It never ceases to amaze me how fast time is flying by. This has been the quickest transfer ever. Friday I'll be hitting my big 6 month mark. But no burning ties for me.
