Go Get 'Em!

What a wonderful week. We have been having a great time challenging the adversary with our diligent efforts. I often think of Connie's little quote about being the kind of person that when you wake up, the devil has to get his game on. Here we go!

Can I just say how much I love the Holy Bible? It is such a beautiful companion to the Book of Mormon. Together, with the Spirit, it is impossible to doubt the Love and saving plan Heavenly Father has for His children. We have been avoiding Bible bashes at all cost. The last one we were in was quite interesting, and proved again how important it is that we choose into the gospel. We stepped outside the library last week to hop on our bikes after a great session on facebook, when our old friend, Mr. Thomas (a library regular) approached us again with a smile. He had been looking up anti-mormon literature, and was concerned for our salvation, so he tried to argue with us about the Bible. He finally admitted he still hadn't read the Book of Mormon we gave him, so that was that. We really do need two witnesses. Otherwise, we just argue ourselves silly.

The Coupee family got the flu this week. BUT we started teaching their grandma, Bobbie, because they were sick, so that was good! Everything that happens can be turned to divine good, through our faith. 

It has been a week chockful of less-active member lessons. They know a lot of non-members, mainly we get to help them to enlarge their vision of who they can become. Often, people get stuck in our own little concepts of who they are. I really like Elder Hallstrom's talk from the priesthood session about having faith that we can change through the atonement. I am such a lucky person. Let's all go out and open our mouths this week, so that our brothers and sisters can have the blessings of the gospel, okay? Okay. Sounds good. I love you all. Thank you for praying for us, and for keeping your covenants, and magnifying the good that is in the world. 

"Every good thing you do increases the sum total of good that is in the world." (quote from a general authority, i think)

Love, Sister B

Quickie

I fail at writing fast. I just want you all to know, the Lord IS hastening His work. It is such a great thing! We are teaching a wonderful little family that really need prayers, to help them progress. There is a lot of opposition from other churches around here. Pray for the Coupees! 

Sister TUrley and I have had a great week. WE just keep working and praying and studying and planning. The ward is supportive and we get to go on a lot of member exchanges (my favorite). I apologize for this tiny little email :( Can't wait to email you again soon!!!

Birth, Mother's and other days

I love skyping. Then again, I am so miserably scatterbrained, I can barely hold a conversation with all of y'all (: I hope I was mostly coherent.

 

I failed to mention some of our most daring adventures/funny mishaps that have occurred over the past two weeks:

A week before the birthday, I got in my first "accident." No serious repercussions aside from a torked neck. And we got to literally "contact" someone, and share a mormon.org message with him. (: His name was Zebulon... perhaps we are gathering the 10 tribes. We have determined not to instate fender-benders as a permanent finding net, although it was effective. We believe the colateral damage is too much. So, what happened was: Sister Turley and I and Sister Bush and Sister Tanner were all drving up to MLC. When all of a sudden, the bumper to bumper traffic turned into a standstill. Sister Turley was slowing down just in time when we heard a screech of the tires, and Zebulon ran into our rear, crushing the bikerack into the trunk. Luckily, we had the bike rack-- we gave him a card, and exchanged information adn that was that. I get jumpy every time we're in heavy traffic now though, and remind Sis. Turley to slow down a lot more often :)

 

Next story, Neil L. Andersen: In the surprise mission conference with Elder Andersen, I had a Donald Davis experience. For the first time, I experienced one of those moments when my hands were doing things without my permission. My left hand peeked up to answer a question, and he called on me. :S Then we had a one on one discussion about inviting people to come unto Christ and how we extend commitments to help people change. I have never been more nervous to speak in my entire life. Yet, I have never felt so loved and validated in my entire life either. It was incredible speaking face to face with a prophet of God. It did a lot to strengthen my testimony. His main message to us was how specifically we could share the gospel with those of other Christian faiths. He taught us about the Atonement and the Book of Mormon and how we need to assure people that Christ LIVES. He prophesied that there would come a day in the near future when the majority of American's would not believe in Jesus Christ, and exhorted us to strengthen the faith of all who choose to believe in Him. He was also quite, quite humorous. At one point, we were talking about grace "the enabling power of the atonement," and how Elder Bednar stole that line from the Bible Dictionary (: Then he called on a Sister to share how she had been enabled, and she talked about being able to play the piano. He sheepishly admitted that of the 12, Elder Nelson and he are the only two who can play, but none of the other 12 know that Elder Andersen can play yet. hehe. He emphasized that he is praying for Elder Nelson's continued health. (:

 

Many other stories to come! The Lord is hastening His work. It's great. (Rae, is this a better email? I love tips on how to share these experiences better.) Missionary life is great! It is so hard to stay within this email time this week. I love hearing from you all. Hope your Mothers days were wonderful.

 

xoxo

Sister B

just a quickie

This week has been great! We have had so much success working with the members this week. The best part was that we got a surprise visit from Neal L. Anderson! Our whole mission was driving like crazy to get up to Raleigh on Saturday. I was deeply impressed by his authenticity and kindness. He has a great sense of humor too. I wish I had more time to tell you all about it, but we'll talk on Mothers day, so I can tell you the really great stories (: I love you all! Praying for you, and hoping you are all reading the Book of Mormon daily and studying to deepen your tie to the Savior. I know it works. He is so real, and His love is the best thing to help us through hard times. Thanks for being so supportive and wonderful. I felt your prayers every day this week.

Love, Sister B

Hello again!

This week has been quite interesting. This Friday we had scheduled to attend a temple session, so our regular preparation day (aside from email time) was moved to Friday for last week. This means that we had a week and a half between preparation days, and it was surprisingly trying. We understand a little better why Heavenly Father had a day of rest after 6 days of hard work (: Being at the temple made me think of all of you! I can't wait to be in the temple with you all again.

 

It is great to see how our faith grows through trials. It really can't develop any other way. Realizing that faith is the power by which Heavenly Father created us, and that Jesus created the Earth helps me understand the necessity of our mortal adventure! We need faith, and the only way to get it is to grow it through trials. Pretty neat (:

 

Sister Turley and I are looking for creative ways to find new investigators. There are a lot of christians in the country out here who are "Already Saved," and who "Have Jesus in their hearts." One question we came up with yesterday was to try asking them how they gained a witness that the Bible is true. It is very tempting to bible bash... I love Elder McConkie's talk about an opportunity he had to teach at a christian church in Georgia. He was SO BOLD. It can be kind of overwhelming to prepare to teach so many people we haven't met yet. It is such a blessing when we get to share messages with the members whom we already know. There is a tangible difference between the Spirit in homes where the gospel is taught, and the homes of those who do not live it. I am so blessed to come from a home full of the Holy Ghost! It is worth every sacrifice to have it there, and have it with us always.

 

Family, I love you always. I hope you never doubt the reality of God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. They love us truly. Also, a word of advice to any prospective missionary: just memorize scripture mastery. It's worth it. Do personal progress! It prepares you more than you realize. I love hearing all your missionary adventures and especially your experiences lately at home and in Cali! Life is so good. These verses so apply to you all-- Doctrine and Covenants 31:3-5. Our mortal missions are now! Let's open our mouths and do what we came here to do. Our brothers and sisters surround us in need of the light that we have! We have such great reasons to rejoice and to share! Drink in the blessings of the gospel.

 

Love,

Sister B

Because of Him

Easter day. “And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus...[but] behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.” Luke 24:3-6.

It would be kind of creepy if the center of our beliefs was in a man who was raised from the dead... (zombie apocalypse?) BUT. It's not, because He wasn't just a man. He was and is the Son of God. He only died for us. Think about that-- He never would have died if He hadn't chosen to give up His life. What a powerful act of love was the suffering, death, and resurrection of our Savior. I know that my redeemer lives. Because of Him, I can change! I can leave behind my mistakes and become full of faith and hope and light and love. 

I hope you all got or get to see the Easter video "Because of Him" that was up on lds.org and mormon.org. We saw miracles through using that video with people!! One young man we met happened to be on his lunch break for an hour before going back to work. We knocked on his door, to contact his mother, but he was the only one home. After introducing ourselves, we invited him to watch a short Easter video with us. As we watched, we could see his reflection in the tablet. It was miraculous to see his face take in the personal message of Easter. The Spirit bore witness of the resurrection of Christ. We committed him to meet with us again and invited him to learn more and watch more videos on mormon.org. As we walked back to the car, we heard another mormon message starting up on his tablet! It was such a sweet feeling to see him eagerly embracing the light of the gospel.

So so sorry for not sending my usual letter last week! There is a reason, but no excuse. Last week Harnett and Cumberland counties had their Spring Break. Little did we know, this would mean our usual library time was packed! So I got to read your emails and feel totally uplifted (: Then we came back later, and the library was closed, so thank you for giving me all of your love, even though I didn't give anything back last week!

I love Dunn! I also love being a Sister Leader. We had so much fun going on exchanges with the Spanish speaking sisters this week (: Hermana Page joined the church a couple years ago, and brings a completely fresh perspective to the gospel. It was so enlightening! Especially since she used to go to baptist services. Now, let me tell you about Southern Baptists: If ever people don't like us before we've even talked with them, they are usually southern baptists. Naturally, I am racking my brain to figure out what they possibly heard from their Pastor about us. Hermana Page wasn't quite sure,  but she did describe their services-- still somewhat of a mystery why we make them angry. Maybe they're just scared of change. I know I am. I see so many ways I need to change to be a better missionary. It is overwhelming. 

For Easter, we were invited to the Ginn family's home. They have four daughters ages 17, 16, 14, and 8. Same ages as my Caroline and Emma! It was sort of strange, because the Ginn girls are so grown up, and I kept thinking Care and Em can't be that old!? We taught them how to do familysearch indexing (: Those were the days.

I love you all so much! I know I couldn't love you all this much if I hadn't chosen to serve the Lord. It is one of His promises to us that He will fill us with His love as we serve His children. Do it! It's the greatest feeling. Also! Read and study Preach My Gospel. Members have so much more power to create meaningful relationships with those searching for truth! I hope you are all having many wonderful missionary experiences.

Doctrine and Covenants 121:45-46 Also, check out Elder Uchtdorf's talk "the power of a personal testimony"

Love love love, Sister B

Dunn dunn dunn...

Well, here we are. Dunn is... different (: It is the biggest area in our mission and includes a collection of 10 or 11 little towns. One of the best experiences so far was- 

We were trying to contact a referral one morning, and stopped at a gas station to get directions. As we walked into the gas station, a live rooster decided to strut right in front of the doors. It was HUGE. But that wasn't even the best part! Inside, we found Larry and the Hardison brothers drinking their Saturday morning cup of joe, and talking about the farmwork. They were pleased to meet us, and Larry accepted a Book of Mormon. They had farmed in that town their whole lives, and one of the Hardison brothers was in his 90's. He was excited to hear we were preaching "the word." It was just like in the movies!!!

Generally, the folks in Dunn are wonderful, and super southern. Everyone sounds like Donald Davis! Except for the more diverse areas. There are some pretty hard characters on the other side of the tracks... it's literally the other side of the tracks. (: I don't know why some people are sent to have a more difficult life than others. I am so blessed.

Our week started out with my first bible bashing encounter. Not pleasant. We walked away (: It was nice to know that she would get another chance at the gospel later in life... or at least on the other side. We are definitely incompetent to teach those who do not want to listen. I guess the Savior couldn't teach those who didn't want to listen either though, so it makes me feel like we're doing ok. 

Today I was studying about how the Savior taught the pharisees and rabbis and scribes who were so hard-hearted. I was reading in John 8 and 9 and reading from Jesus the Christ, and it was good to hear the Savior's invitation "go and sin no more." HE gives us permission to let go, to change! I love Him with all my heart. He was so patient with the people who rejected and mocked Him and called Him bad names.

Sister Turley and I were both relieved to hear Elder Holland's story about the mashed potatoes to the head. We definitely don't have it that bad. Faith is virtually indefinable. It is believing in things we cannot see, and acting on that belief. I am learning that there are different kinds of faith. Faith to endure, and faith to make things happen, and faith to heal and be healed, and faith to repent and be baptized. All of these are faith in Christ. My biggest focus for the next 6 months is to come to know our Savior. I was impressed by the promises of our prophets that as we are obedient, and believe in Christ and His Atonement, we will receive the gift of faith to make. things. happen. It is a divine attribute if ever there was one. I am grateful to know I can receive faith from Heavenly Father as I pray and study diligently. Through faith we will have the strength to teach and serve the hard-hearted, the down-trodden, the ignorant, and all those who have no idea how good life can be! And then we will be blessed with Charity. I am so grateful these gifts are available to us. We really can't DO anything without the Lord. I found this quote on a chair in Sunday School as we sat down for Relief Society a week ago, and it really struck me:

"[The] ability to turn everything into something good appears to be a godly characteristic. 

Our Heavenly Father always seems able to do this. Everything, no matter how dire, becomes a 

victory to the Lord." - Hartman Rector Jr.

In the words of one of my fellow missionaries: The odds can do their worst, for the Lord of the vineyard labors with us. 

We found 4 new people to teach this week! We aren't teaching as much yet as we were in Fayetteville, but I am determined to never ever ever give up. After all, "there is a way to reach every human heart, and it is [our] duty to find the way to the hearts of those to whom [we] are called." - Lorenzo Snow

I LOVE Sister Turley. She reminds me of Rachel and Caroline and Emma by cracking me up over the silliest things. Laughter is such a healing thing. She has great faith to endure opposition. 

I love you all! What are y'all planning to apply from conference this week? There will definately be many more stories to come! Pray for Sister Turley! 

Happy trials this week!

Sister B