Ask and Ye Shall Find

As I write this letter there is intense thunder and heavy rain in the
background. It is absolutely incredible and quite exhilarating to
listen to. I love the weather out here!
Not only do I love the weather but the missionary work is amazing!
We had a great experience with a referral from mormon.org. We received the referral about a month ago and went to contact her giving her The Bible she requested as well as the book of Mormon, when she said she was looking to add to the knowledge of God she already has. When we tried to set a return appointment she informed us that she could not meet for the next month because she was teaching a class on the Cherokee language. This past week was a month from that event so we went to her home for a follow-up visit. It was an incredible discussion and she asked question after question, leading us to teach her both the restoration and the plan of salvation in a brief overview. We are excited to continue teaching her and hope that she is as prepared as we think :) we had another investigator we taught a couple times this week who hasn't asked any questions. There was a large difference in the two. One learned a lot while the other didn't.
 I began to test the question tactic out in my studies. As I picked a
topic to study based on the people we were teaching, I also asked a question. It enhanced my study and helped me to learn a lot more
efficiently. Ask and ye shall find. :)

Little but Mighty

Adventure of the week - TORNADO WARNING!!! To be honest, it was really anti-climactic :( It was an awesome thunderstorm though!

Zone Training Meeting was fabulous, as always. We were trained on setting goals which I am so grateful for! A great principle of missionary work, and life in general! We have been better at applying it the past week and it has made the biggest difference! It keeps us more focused and on task with a purpose in mind. And then it is so fulfilling to accomplish them! Then, with that feeling of motivation you go accomplish another one :)

Interviews with president were this week and those are always a joy :)

We also learned that we are classified as a "hard" English speaking mission. Kinda cool, right? He explained it as such, "we are in the bible belt with the Southerners, the Baptists, the Indians..... and the mountain men!" ha! I felt like he was talking about our area specifically. We have a plethora of all of that! 

Short letter this time, but it was still a great week! Keep up the work that you each are doing. I love you!

We have amazing recent converts in this branch! We had lessons with Chelsie this past week and her enthusiasm for the gospel is contagious. Every principle she treats like gold. It's so fun to teach her! She was thrilled when she got Sundays off of work so that she could come to church and take the sacrament. It was a big deal to her.
She even attends church when she is out of town because of what it means to her. She is also eagerly waiting to go to the temple.
Yesterday she, with the other YSA's in the branch, drove to Atlanta to attend a YSA ward there and she shared with us a principle that she really liked. It went hand in hand with the lesson we were teaching her: obedience. We were expanding on the quote "When obedience ceases to be an irritant and become our quest, it is in that moment that God will endow us with power." - President Benson. She said, "That's kind of like missionary work! We can do missionary work out of a feeling if obligation, but the real power comes when are actively inviting - when we see it as a privilege to do missionary work" Isn't that so true? :) what a privilege it is to be a missionary: A full-time missionary or one with a "badge painted on your heart." Find the joy that comes as we take advantage of this glorious privilege to work with God in his purpose of "bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." :)

Hope is NEVER Lost

Baptism this week!!!! It was for a guy who had his name removed from the church records - the Newtons were teaching him :) But we have been witnesses to the incredible change he has gone through. He was ready to change and came to us seeking re-baptism. He quickly began to embrace everything he could get his hands on! He was even reading the institute manual! He was formerly an alcoholic which ruined his and his family's lives. But he quit and has been seeking for something more and he found it! Evidence of the atonement of Jesus Christ and the power it has to change us. "This is a gospel of transformation." - Sister Cameron. 

Even just Little changes/sacrifices that we make in our lives to better align ourselves with God's plan for us, will soon make us into who God wants us to be. I can testify of that. The atonement of Jesus Christ has changed me and will continue to change me as long as I let it. I am so grateful for the ability to become better and continually improve. I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon that helps us understand more about who Jesus Christ is and how he plays a role in our lives.

Tracting at its best!

 

 

 

 

Storytelling

Awesome Father's Day Ties!!

This past week we had an incredible lesson with a less-active family. The best thing about it was the inspired questions that we both received and asked. It was a great discussion instead of a lecture. We were then able to better understand their concerns and the spirit was so much stronger as they were the ones who figured out solutions to their own problems. Asking good questions and then listening are some of the best tools for teaching. We also got to teach the youth sunday school (12-18 combined)! We taught on using the teaching skill of telling stories for teaching others about the priesthood. President Monson does a really great job teaching with stories. However, Jesus Christ was the ultimate example of that as He told parables and other stories. Especially for teaching about the priesthood, stories are an excellent tool. The youth all had great stories to tell about how the priesthood has affected their lives and strengthened their testimonies. :) Becoming a great teacher is a quality and skill that is useful in many areas of life. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHEL!!!

It's our girl's 20th birthday today!! (Well, last week on the 8th!)  AND a p-day :)  Hopefully she will have something fun to do to celebrate with her companion and other missionaries and/or members.  We sent her packages to arrive exactly today, so go US Postal Service!! 

Here's her email from today in this new area:

We had an awesome experience this week as we met Melissa!

There was a couple in our ward who bought a canoe from a family in a neighboring town. They said they were really sweet and they felt like they would be open, so they gave us directions to their house; however, the first time we tried, we couldn't find the house! (We did find Zachary who was excited to receive a copy of the Book of Mormon though! God uses every effort we give him!) We didn't get to try again until about a week later when we drove up to that area again. This time, with help from the Newtons, we found it! It was divine timing that we couldn't find it the first time, because in between then, she had met another member at her son's graduation! They had really connected and ended up talking for 2 hours in the parking lot! She, being an awesome missionary, mentioned that she was LDS and they talked a little about that along with the casual conversation they were having.

Because of that, when she saw us walk up to her home, recognizing us as LDS missionaries, she happily came out to meet us! She said that she felt God had her in her binoculars and was zoomed in!

We are teaching her this week with the member that she met in the parking lot :)

I just want to end by also testifying of the power of music. We had a lady ask us if we would sing for her before we left. Together we sang, Families can be together forever and the spirit was so strong. It was immediate in testifying that families really can be together forever and that the power to seal families has been restored back to the earth.

Have a great week! 

I Am An Ipad...

 

Love the picture of Jesus in the corner of the littlest window! 

The news you've all been waiting for...... drumroll please! I'm in MURPHY, NORTH CAROLINA! and it is very very different from anywhere else that I have served. Look it up - I'm totally in the mountains. Every time we make a call, we are roaming just cause we never get service up here! It's also my first time in a branch! I love it. Our branch boundaries cover 3 counties and is one of the biggest in the mission. There are a bunch of little towns all over and in between is just a bunch of trees. ha! We live in a castle!! in the dungeon.... seriously. We barely have windows, and white cement walls.

 
My companion is Sister Amber Cameron from Pocatello, ID (first one NOT from Utah, ha!). We already get along great! She is such a prepared missionary that I don't even feel like I'm training her. We haven't done much here yet, but one of the biggest blessings are Elder and Sister Newton: a senior couple also serving in the Murphy Branch. They have done so much already and are so excited for us to be here! Their enthusiasm is contagious. We have already found success with working with the members and we see a lot of potential.

We replaced 2 elders here so you can imagine all of the fun that that brings! Some quick funny things - they left us with 1 lil' roll of toilet paper... for 5 days. They left us with close to 0 food, minus all the canned food and other sodium packed quick meals, but Jellybeans and popcorn were the highlight. 

The elders must have been excited for Ipads! We have a training this Thursday and then we get them June 16th!

The branch is older (60% are 70+) I am already in love! We were welcomed with open arms and lots of love. One lady already introduced herself as our grandma!

We are so excited to be here and get the missionary spirit rolling in the Murphy branch!

A focused lesson, changing of hearts, and prayer. It's been a good week :)

It has been so fun to teach Jordan! He is, like any 9 yr old boy, very active and distracted, but we had a miracle lesson this past week where he sat through the whole thing and listened intently to the plan of salvation. We tried to make it interactive, and he was very open and honest when he didn't understand things. The biggest thing that he understands is good and bad and Jesus Christ. We ended up relating much of the lesson back to those 3 things which essentially are the main focus of the Plan of Salvation anyway. Our team-up, who translates in ASL for us, brought her children with her to the lesson who are the exact same ages as Jordan's siblings! This fellowshipper has worked miracles for this family. Those kids needed a friend and loved playing with someone, if even for just an hour.

Jordan came to church yesterday with his family, and we found out that the Primary secretary speaks a little sign language! So she was able to walk Jordan to class and translate a little for him. Little miracles are happening for this boy. He was thrilled to know someone who could speak to him!

The gospel can change a person's life - often from the inside out. It changes their heart which will change their lives. We have seen that in Linda's life and so have her kids. Matt, her 29 yr. old son, had never wanted to join us for any of Linda's lessons despite our invites, but recently, he asked for a Book of Mormon, and his own lesson! Your example of a Christlike life is a great missionary tool! We taught him this week, and hope to continue helping him to more fully access the blessings that Christ can bring into his life.

I just want to take a quick couple sentences to testify of the miraculous power of prayer. God has so many blessings that he is waiting to give us, but are conditional upon us asking for them. Prayer is a game-changer. We all need the spirit with us. Jesus Christ can help us overcome our weaknesses so that we can be better servants for Him. We need to feel His love. All of that happens through prayer: sincere prayer. As talked about in last general conference, feel the music of the gospel: the spirit. Don't just go through the motions. It is the same way with prayer. Let the spirit direct you prayer and gain the spirit through prayer. Don't just go through the motions of what you know needs to be said. Heavenly Father want' to hear from His children. He wants to hear from you. He wants to hear from your heart.