Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Oct. 28

Hello Family and Friends! 
So this was a wonderful week. Sister Chandler is really positive. On Tuesday we both were just kind of groggy when we woke up in the morning, and Sister Chandler decided it would be a "rainbows and butterflies" day and we were really trying to be optimistic about whatever happened that day, no matter what. AND it was an amazing day, we taught 5 lessons and found some new investigators! I know that contagious optimism is definitely something that President and Sister Craven stress a lot. And there is a new "dealing with stress" booklet the church has put out that is wonderful in helping new missionaries deal with stress of being a missionary. 

I got to to on exchanges with the Hickory 1rst Sisters. They are wonderful. They just started their area this transfer, so are doing a lot of groundwork in finding new investigators. But they are so positive about everything. We went to a members house for dinner and the Hick
ory Zone Leaders were there, Elder Lino, Elder String ham (The one from Magrath he is in the middle) and Elder Fox. They are hilarious. And the Sister I went on exchange with, Sister Rust, she knows Dad!! She took an institute class from him! Isn't that funny. Small Mormon world. AND we rode bikes. I took a picture of me on a bike to prove that I have ridden them. A few times. The Sister Training leaders get cars full time because of all of our exchanges, and the Elders tease us for never having to ride bikes. SO here's the proof :) 
We saw the Gonzales family this week, they are still having so much going on in their lives that they are having a hard time making time for church and learning about the Gospel. 
We have seen Cyndi this week, an "eternal investigator" who has been meeting with missionaries off and on for like 10 years, who we are trying to help see the relevance to coming to church and also helping her find the importance to get work off so she can come. 
We had a great lesson with Sister Harris. She is the neighbor of a member. She is very pentecostal and is very spiritual. We are helping her understand the importance of the Restoration and the FULLNESS of the gospel. She is the sweetest lady. 

We had a Mission Conference with Elder and Sister Kopiscka and Elder Parker this week both from the 70. They are incredible. Sister Kopiska is from Germany and she is the sweetest, smiliest blonde haired lady. She was sitting there smiling and looked like a cute "utah" grandma. But she got up and she spoke in a wonderful deep German voice and accent, and it was fantastic! She is a great speaker and spoke about their time as mission presidents in Germany. Her husband spoke about working with members. It was great. He talked about how we can work WITH members better. Saying "You know, we love your family. We want to teach someone in your home. We know how hard it is to find someone to teach, we do it all day. Let's pray together, you pray and we'll pray and by this date let's work together to find someone to teach in your home." It was a great example, and I learned alot about how members and missionaries should work together. Elder Parker was from Atlanta. He is a big black man and sounds like a Baptist preacher. I loved it. He talked about members and missionaries working together like members "jumping out of an airplane". If they have never done it before, it's scary! We have to be their "flight instructor" and help them know what to do. I loved that analogy. 
How do you work with missionaries in Utah and other places? I know that I have learned a lot about how missionary work works, obviously, since I have been out here because in Utah we just don't see the missionaries much, so I wasn't sure what exactly they did or how we were supposed to help them. 

SO I love the Huntersville Ward. I know I say this all of the time but it's so true. I have gotten to know them pretty well over the past almost 6 months and made a lot of great friendships with the people in the ward. We had a "trunk or treat" this week, so we invited everyone and their dog to the Halloween party on Saturday. Our ward had a great Halloween carnival. We handed out invitations all week to less actives, part members, and random people all over the place. We got a lot of referrals from it, and it was a great finding activity. There were a few people who came! The party was super fun. The picture is of the Burton family, who dressed up as Napoleon Dynamite (Bjork, you might appreciate that :) ) It was so fun and we did have a neighbor of a member come and a Less Active family. Remember Bradley? The son of a less active who we have been teaching for a while but his brother isn't getting home till December so he can't get baptized till then? Well.. his Mom booked a flight and he's coming home soon so we can set a date with him! Yay! 
I love this work. I truly and so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve the Lord. I know it is the "training center" for the rest of my life. I am learning a lot. I am not perfect, but I am trying. There are a lot of great missionaries in this mission I look up to. I am learning to learn from them, not to compare myself to them! President Craven says "NO comparing, criticizing, or complaining". I am trying to eliminate those and be the best that I can be. If at the end of the day I can say I did my best, that's all that really matters :) I love this gospel. I know it is true, I know how much it blesses families.

1 comment:

  1. That's my boy Elder Lino. Mahalo for posting this picture.

    ReplyDelete