Doesn't it feel like every other week it's transfers? Well it does to me too! I can't believe I've been on my mission for so long and it just keeps going by faster and faster. Well I am not getting transferred, so release the mail and send it my way! But my companion Sis. Dunn is getting transferred :( She is going to Mt. Pleasant which is an area in Chesapeake. She'll be in another trio. My new companion is Sis. Vawdrey. Way back in early spring we went on exchanges together, so I've served with her for a few days before. She is super cute and a great missionary. I am excited to see how the area changes with her here with me. This last transfer was pretty slow because we were in a lot, so I am ready to go sweat some lbs off and find the awesome people the Lord has prepared here in Norfolk. The transfer day is still the same, so she will come here on Thursday afternoon. And I am so excited...Sis. Case is coming to Norfolk to step-train Sis. Boston in Norfolk 1st Ward. It'll be so fun living with her again!
Last Saturday we had interviews with Pres. Perry. He is a really great leader and I am excited to see how the different changes are implemented here. He has a great vision for the mission and truly seeks for inspiration. It's going to be great. He is very nice and his family is adjusting to VA. His youngest daughter still doesn't love it yet. But that is only because she doesn't have many girls her age. Which here in VA that doesn't surprise me.
We also went to the Stake Pioneer Day celebration. They had a BBQ and a bunch of different games. It was super hot, so they ended up putting up tables inside the Stake Center and also the giant bounce house inside too! The fun little games were still outside. I did the 3-legged race with Sis. Shumaker, which was so funny. I was paranoid I would fall in my skirt. I didn't fall, but I did get a nice bruise on my ankle. Bummer, but we didn't win. But it was so fun. And there was a little bit of a water fight too. Why do missionaries get targeted? I just don't get it. Haha
There isn't too much to report for this last week because we were in a lot. We are having a Relief Society Christmas in July activity tomorrow night, which will be fun. I'm making a fun craft that I will send home to the ladies in the family. We will have a lot of people there. We will probably have 3 less active ladies and 2 investigators on top of all the ward members coming. They are offering babysitting, so that probably helps the attendance!
I haven't gotten tired of telling people where I am from yet. Most people don't know Eagar, but randomly a few have heard of it. Or at least have heard of Snowflake. I just tell them it's by Snowflake most of the time. Pres. Perry said that he thought he had been all over AZ, but he'd never heard of Eagar before. Haha
Tonight we are having FHE with the Knight family. They are so great. They are one of my favorite families in the ward. Emma who is 9 is going to teach the lesson and so we are going to help her. It's on developing talents. I haven't taught a lesson on talents before, so this should be fun! We are also going to be at Sis. Cobb's house for an FHE which is for families who have husbands deployed or who are single. Here is Norfolk, that's a lot! One of the big ships (Eisenhower) is about to come home...I think this week actually. So that'll bring some husbands home!
Well I love you all!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Norfolk is an interesting city!
I cannot believe we have another transfer next week! It is going by so fast. I think something pretty significant is going to happen in Norfolk. Both wards seem to be struggling a little bit with a solid teaching pool and the other 3 sisters have been down and out this week. The other sisters have been having some problems and they have been in most of the time except for appointments. Sis. Dunn hasn't been feeling well, so we've been in about a third of the week. This was my first time staying in (for reasons other than the weather and the mission making us) and it's a little weird. I just feel like the Lord is preparing the area for a big change. I don't know what, but we'll find out next week. I think we will get transfer calls on Sunday nights now. Not sure on that one though. We haven't had our interviews with Pres. Perry yet, so I haven't been able to talk to him about the area yet. We were supposed to have them last Saturday but I guess there was an emergency in Richmond he had to be there for. He said he had to leave the 99 for the 1. I thought that was a nice way of putting it.
We met some super funny ladies this week. We have this road called Ft. Worth. The elders were riding through and this funny older black lady flagged them down and said she was a member. So they gave her our number and she called us and we set up a time to see them. She is sweet! She has had a rough past, which she tells us stopped about 20 days ago. Haha. Her and her sister (who we later found out is also a member) came to a baptism for the Bayside Ward with us. Between the 2 of them they have 6 kids and half of them are in jail/prison. Before the baptism we taught them about baptism covenants and also how the Lord can make our weaknesses strengths. We got a few amens and hallelujahs out of that lesson. I think I'm really going to like these ladies. Haha
We also met this other less active who just got out of jail in March. All of this jail talk doesn't make my companion like Norfolk very much I don't think. It's an interesting city and we have just been meeting the most interesting of them all.
Ooops, I'm out of time already. I sure didn't make Norfolk sound really awesome this email. But it is! And no, not everyone has been in jail. Just a lot of people. But not all. Haha. This ward is so great and we keep meeting the best members. The ward is really good about giving referrals and sharing the gospel with their friends. It's great when the members do the finding :)
The VA Beach stake is having a big celebration for the 24th. Hopefully we can get people we are teaching to it so we can go! It should be fun and hot and humid too.
I was studying this morning in Ch.9 of Preach My Gospel. There are a couple sections that talk about working with the members and their roles in missionary work. I thought this might be something interesting for you all to look at. Enjoy! I love PMG!
We met some super funny ladies this week. We have this road called Ft. Worth. The elders were riding through and this funny older black lady flagged them down and said she was a member. So they gave her our number and she called us and we set up a time to see them. She is sweet! She has had a rough past, which she tells us stopped about 20 days ago. Haha. Her and her sister (who we later found out is also a member) came to a baptism for the Bayside Ward with us. Between the 2 of them they have 6 kids and half of them are in jail/prison. Before the baptism we taught them about baptism covenants and also how the Lord can make our weaknesses strengths. We got a few amens and hallelujahs out of that lesson. I think I'm really going to like these ladies. Haha
We also met this other less active who just got out of jail in March. All of this jail talk doesn't make my companion like Norfolk very much I don't think. It's an interesting city and we have just been meeting the most interesting of them all.
Ooops, I'm out of time already. I sure didn't make Norfolk sound really awesome this email. But it is! And no, not everyone has been in jail. Just a lot of people. But not all. Haha. This ward is so great and we keep meeting the best members. The ward is really good about giving referrals and sharing the gospel with their friends. It's great when the members do the finding :)
The VA Beach stake is having a big celebration for the 24th. Hopefully we can get people we are teaching to it so we can go! It should be fun and hot and humid too.
I was studying this morning in Ch.9 of Preach My Gospel. There are a couple sections that talk about working with the members and their roles in missionary work. I thought this might be something interesting for you all to look at. Enjoy! I love PMG!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Interesting Week
So it's weird that it's Monday and I am emailing. It feels like I just had P-Day! Thanks for the emails. I love hearing from you all and getting the fun family updates. I am glad you are all having the opportunity to enjoy some monsoons. It hasn't really rained here in a while. I want it to soon!
We've had a fun and interesting week. Norfolk is one of a kind. Let's just say, at this point nothing surprises me.
We had a great authentic Mexican food dinner. We had sopas. It is a fatty homemade tortilla made from Maseca (masa) with mashed black beans, crumbling cheese, sour cream, onions, lettuce, and hot salsa. It was so good. They told us about a Mexican restaurant that is in our area that we are going to try soon.
We had a lesson on the Book of Mormon with a member (she became active last Sept. after like 20 years!) last Wed. night and we committed her to keep a study journal because she was telling us how she had an insight come to her and she didn't know what to do with it. It was so cute, she called us at like 9pm on Thursday night and was like okay what am I supposed to do with this notebook? Haha, she went and bought a notebook, so I'm excited to hear how her study journal goes. As missionaries we are pretty much required to keep one. It's something I didn't do before my mission, so I'm not really good at it, but I like it!
Thursday we taught this lady who is from Thailand. Her ex-husband (American) is a member and their 2 kids as well. They are in Norfolk visiting her before she moves to Florida. The ex-husband called bishop to ask about getting the kids to church, so we went and met the mom. She is buddhist and doesn't really know much English. So we taught her about the Godhead and had her 6 & 7 year old kids help us. Haha, it was fun to teach, but I'm not too sure how much she grasped. We see her again on Wed, so we'll see then!
We are teaching a friend of a member, Heather, in the ward. Her name is Whitney and she is great. Heather and Whitney work together and Heather has been talking to Whitney about the church for a while now and has really helped her to prepare to accept the gospel. We teach her again tonight! When we taught her last week she was telling us how her 10 year old was sad he couldn't come with her. We said to bring him, so hopefully he'll be there tonight. She has 2 other younger kids too. When we shared the First Vision with her she said that she felt great and it caused her to think that God allows us to make choices. Yes, He does! And thank heavens for that.
On that same day we also had an interesting lesson with a member who has started going to a Baptist church. Her husband is deployed and her life has just been crazy since then. Mark this as my first lesson where we were asked to leave. Haha, got to love the landmark lessons. We were talking about how sometimes our choices cause us to be in situations where bad things happen to us and how we have to pay consequences for our actions whether good or bad. The Spirit was really strong, but she definitely was not feeling it like we were.
Tonight we are having an FHE with the Books (downstairs), so it'll be fun. We've got some fun lessons coming up this week!
We've had a fun and interesting week. Norfolk is one of a kind. Let's just say, at this point nothing surprises me.
We had a great authentic Mexican food dinner. We had sopas. It is a fatty homemade tortilla made from Maseca (masa) with mashed black beans, crumbling cheese, sour cream, onions, lettuce, and hot salsa. It was so good. They told us about a Mexican restaurant that is in our area that we are going to try soon.
We had a lesson on the Book of Mormon with a member (she became active last Sept. after like 20 years!) last Wed. night and we committed her to keep a study journal because she was telling us how she had an insight come to her and she didn't know what to do with it. It was so cute, she called us at like 9pm on Thursday night and was like okay what am I supposed to do with this notebook? Haha, she went and bought a notebook, so I'm excited to hear how her study journal goes. As missionaries we are pretty much required to keep one. It's something I didn't do before my mission, so I'm not really good at it, but I like it!
Thursday we taught this lady who is from Thailand. Her ex-husband (American) is a member and their 2 kids as well. They are in Norfolk visiting her before she moves to Florida. The ex-husband called bishop to ask about getting the kids to church, so we went and met the mom. She is buddhist and doesn't really know much English. So we taught her about the Godhead and had her 6 & 7 year old kids help us. Haha, it was fun to teach, but I'm not too sure how much she grasped. We see her again on Wed, so we'll see then!
We are teaching a friend of a member, Heather, in the ward. Her name is Whitney and she is great. Heather and Whitney work together and Heather has been talking to Whitney about the church for a while now and has really helped her to prepare to accept the gospel. We teach her again tonight! When we taught her last week she was telling us how her 10 year old was sad he couldn't come with her. We said to bring him, so hopefully he'll be there tonight. She has 2 other younger kids too. When we shared the First Vision with her she said that she felt great and it caused her to think that God allows us to make choices. Yes, He does! And thank heavens for that.
On that same day we also had an interesting lesson with a member who has started going to a Baptist church. Her husband is deployed and her life has just been crazy since then. Mark this as my first lesson where we were asked to leave. Haha, got to love the landmark lessons. We were talking about how sometimes our choices cause us to be in situations where bad things happen to us and how we have to pay consequences for our actions whether good or bad. The Spirit was really strong, but she definitely was not feeling it like we were.
Tonight we are having an FHE with the Books (downstairs), so it'll be fun. We've got some fun lessons coming up this week!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Yes, it's hot!
The weather has turned hot again. Last week was so nice! We figured it was the Lord prepping us for a long time of hot weather again. I can't complain though...I'm in a car. Whenever we talk to the elders we feel so bad!
We just met our new mission president, Pres. Perry (formerly an Area Seventy out west) and so cross your fingers that he also will keep all sisters in cars. Haha I might melt out there if not. It makes for a funny day though. Some of the houses are pretty warm, but our half of the house is the hottest though. The night I hurt my finger it was 85 degrees in our rooms.
The Perry's are very nice. His wife is funny and I think will be quite involved. They have 2 daughters here (Eliza, 14 and Emma, 11) and they are just so cute. One of them is blonde. Yay! Of the 28 sister missionaries, only 3 of us are blondes. Weird! There were a lot more when I came out I think. Pres. Perry knows a lot of the General Authorities, so he drops a lot of big names. Maybe he'll be able to get some of them out here to speak to us! He is already starting to make some changes, but the ones for now are from SLC, not just him. The first order of business is that P-Day will now be on Monday.
YES, P-DAY WILL NOW BE ON MONDAY.
So yes, you are still obligated to send me a nice long email even though it will only be 5 days. :)
And another change is that they are experimenting with some changes that might take place in all missions eventually. But we are one of the testing missions. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but there is an additional booklet with 8 chapters that we will study from and there will be training meetings that the mission leaders (incl. trainers) will have to attend every transfer. They are cutting back on interviews with the mission president from each transfer to quarterly. So I'll only get to meet with him a couple of times I guess. But he sounds like he will be around more in meetings, so I'm sure he'll get to know us all pretty fast.
We had a great meeting and one of the assistants (who each time he trains I swear he will be an apostle someday) gave a training on praying. He used the story of Rameumpton in Alma 31 to make his point. We looked at the elements of the prayers of the Zoramites and then we looked at that of Alma's prayers. Some key differences are that the Zoramites were not humble and they did not seek for knowledge or ask questions. They were rote and they were not in real communication with God. Alma prayed for his fellow laborers by name. Alma stated what the problem the Zoramites had and prayed for them. He was humble and you could tell he was conversing with God. It was interesting to think of how important our prayers are and how much thought should go into what we say. I get so tired on the mission, that I have to say them outloud or they are just pitiful. We are taught to pray by the Spirit which requires us to pray when and where we can be in tune.
We have a new member whose family is in town visiting. It was so crazy to learn that they live in the city that Sis. Dunn grew up in and they know a ton of the same people. And the mom is originally from Mexico and is going to be cooking us authentic Mexican food this Sunday! Yay!
Well my finger is recovering. It's stopped randomly oozing and it now is just about 2/3 black. I don't think I'll lose my nail. It is cut half way down on the one side, so it'll be a slow growing out process.
We were at a dinner the other day and the mom asked if I was excited to go home. I laughed and said February is a long time away. And she's like not really. It was so funny because it's not really something I think about. Probably because I have no idea what I'll do. Hopefully I can figure it out when I get back. Maybe I'll take the summer off.... :)
Well I love you all and can't wait to hear from you on Monday!
Sister Talbot
We just met our new mission president, Pres. Perry (formerly an Area Seventy out west) and so cross your fingers that he also will keep all sisters in cars. Haha I might melt out there if not. It makes for a funny day though. Some of the houses are pretty warm, but our half of the house is the hottest though. The night I hurt my finger it was 85 degrees in our rooms.
The Perry's are very nice. His wife is funny and I think will be quite involved. They have 2 daughters here (Eliza, 14 and Emma, 11) and they are just so cute. One of them is blonde. Yay! Of the 28 sister missionaries, only 3 of us are blondes. Weird! There were a lot more when I came out I think. Pres. Perry knows a lot of the General Authorities, so he drops a lot of big names. Maybe he'll be able to get some of them out here to speak to us! He is already starting to make some changes, but the ones for now are from SLC, not just him. The first order of business is that P-Day will now be on Monday.
YES, P-DAY WILL NOW BE ON MONDAY.
So yes, you are still obligated to send me a nice long email even though it will only be 5 days. :)
And another change is that they are experimenting with some changes that might take place in all missions eventually. But we are one of the testing missions. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but there is an additional booklet with 8 chapters that we will study from and there will be training meetings that the mission leaders (incl. trainers) will have to attend every transfer. They are cutting back on interviews with the mission president from each transfer to quarterly. So I'll only get to meet with him a couple of times I guess. But he sounds like he will be around more in meetings, so I'm sure he'll get to know us all pretty fast.
We had a great meeting and one of the assistants (who each time he trains I swear he will be an apostle someday) gave a training on praying. He used the story of Rameumpton in Alma 31 to make his point. We looked at the elements of the prayers of the Zoramites and then we looked at that of Alma's prayers. Some key differences are that the Zoramites were not humble and they did not seek for knowledge or ask questions. They were rote and they were not in real communication with God. Alma prayed for his fellow laborers by name. Alma stated what the problem the Zoramites had and prayed for them. He was humble and you could tell he was conversing with God. It was interesting to think of how important our prayers are and how much thought should go into what we say. I get so tired on the mission, that I have to say them outloud or they are just pitiful. We are taught to pray by the Spirit which requires us to pray when and where we can be in tune.
We have a new member whose family is in town visiting. It was so crazy to learn that they live in the city that Sis. Dunn grew up in and they know a ton of the same people. And the mom is originally from Mexico and is going to be cooking us authentic Mexican food this Sunday! Yay!
Well my finger is recovering. It's stopped randomly oozing and it now is just about 2/3 black. I don't think I'll lose my nail. It is cut half way down on the one side, so it'll be a slow growing out process.
We were at a dinner the other day and the mom asked if I was excited to go home. I laughed and said February is a long time away. And she's like not really. It was so funny because it's not really something I think about. Probably because I have no idea what I'll do. Hopefully I can figure it out when I get back. Maybe I'll take the summer off.... :)
Well I love you all and can't wait to hear from you on Monday!
Sister Talbot
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
The Most Painful Thing Thus far in my Life
So this email will probably be sort of shorter. I hurt the tip of my right pointer finger and it makes typing a little annoying. It isn't a great story really, just that a bungee cord came undone and the metal part whipped my finger. It hurt sooooo bad. I would venture to say the most painful thing thus far in my life. If you're queasy, stop reading...when it hit my finger, blood started coming out from under my fingernail. It was so gross. I've never seen that before! It didn't cut me or anything, but the force just bruised my whole fingertip and it's so swollen. The ridiculous part was that this happened at 10:30pm...when we go to sleep. So we flip on the lights and I'm just a mess because it hurts so bad and our half of the house is sooooo hot. After a while when it just kept getting worse we decided I needed a blessing. Well for a sister to get a blessing in the middle of the night in her apartment it involves waking up like 15 people. The whole order of things for a blessing is a little ridiculous in the middle of the night. But the ward mission leader and the 2nd couns. of the bishopric came finally and gave me a blessing. Bro. McClellan (WML) was telling his wife about it and he was saying that I would probably lose my fingernail and she thought he said I would probably lose my finger! Haha. I guessed she was concerned that meant I would have to go home. No, I am not going to lose my finger. But I may lose my nail. Gross. So finally around 12:30am I got to sleep that night. Sis. Dunn is a trooper and was awake the whole time too. The next day people kept trying to give me ointments and bandages and stuff. Sister Long (who made us the best cheeseburgers ever) wrapped it all up and it made me have a permanent boy scout sign. Haha
So that's my long saga of the night I hurt my finger.
We have been helping this lady Nicole in the ward and her husband pack and move stuff from an apt that has no air. Wow, I didn't know I could sweat so much. Luckily she is moving to a place with air! She is so cool. She is starting to come back to church and she just got married and her husband wants us to teach him. I'm so excited because they are so great! We showed up to help her pack the other day and she was running a little late, so we made a few phone calls. I called this lady Debbie who we are teaching and her son is a member of the ward. She just had back surgery, so we were calling to see how it went and etc. She says "not well, I'm not going to make it." So of course my heart drops and I'm like WHAT? I tried to be positive and then I asked her if she wants a blessing and she does. So we send the EQP and the 1st couns of the bishopric to go give her a blessing. I called her back to let her know they are coming and I decided to ask her what why she thinks she isn't going to make it and try and find out what they doctors were saying. Here's the good part... "I haven't talked to the doctors all day. But they are taking bodies and I'm next." "What do you mean Debbie?" "Well they just hauled the person next to me away and I'm next." So at this point I'm like duh, she is so drugged up she's not thinking straight. Haha. It was so funny to have this conversation. Esp cuz I called the EQP and relayed that she might not make it. Haha. We still get a good laugh out of that one. But the first time I talked to her I was so sad because I thought she really was going to die.
Anyways, here are the funny stories for the week! Enjoy!
Love ya,
Sister Talbot
So that's my long saga of the night I hurt my finger.
We have been helping this lady Nicole in the ward and her husband pack and move stuff from an apt that has no air. Wow, I didn't know I could sweat so much. Luckily she is moving to a place with air! She is so cool. She is starting to come back to church and she just got married and her husband wants us to teach him. I'm so excited because they are so great! We showed up to help her pack the other day and she was running a little late, so we made a few phone calls. I called this lady Debbie who we are teaching and her son is a member of the ward. She just had back surgery, so we were calling to see how it went and etc. She says "not well, I'm not going to make it." So of course my heart drops and I'm like WHAT? I tried to be positive and then I asked her if she wants a blessing and she does. So we send the EQP and the 1st couns of the bishopric to go give her a blessing. I called her back to let her know they are coming and I decided to ask her what why she thinks she isn't going to make it and try and find out what they doctors were saying. Here's the good part... "I haven't talked to the doctors all day. But they are taking bodies and I'm next." "What do you mean Debbie?" "Well they just hauled the person next to me away and I'm next." So at this point I'm like duh, she is so drugged up she's not thinking straight. Haha. It was so funny to have this conversation. Esp cuz I called the EQP and relayed that she might not make it. Haha. We still get a good laugh out of that one. But the first time I talked to her I was so sad because I thought she really was going to die.
Anyways, here are the funny stories for the week! Enjoy!
Love ya,
Sister Talbot
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Norfolk is HOTT!
Norfolk has been HOTT (yes with 2 t's) this week. And super humid. Can you do something about this please? Haha. It's been so hilarious because S. Dunn hates hot weather. We did a service project helping someone pack yesterday and the apt didn't have air in it. We sweated through our clothes. Literally! We went home and we had to hang our clothes to dry. It was so funny. Yesterday made for the first 2 shower day of my mission. What great memories I'll have of this place. But I do feel pretty lucky though. Because we are near the water, we get a little breeze randomly throughout the day. Newport News definitely didn't get many breezes blowing through unless it was a storm. We've enjoyed some pretty nice night storms these last few weeks. My favorite! I've thought a few times how nice it was being in Eagar last summer for those awesome summer rains. Wow, I cannot believe 4th of July is right around the corner. Time is flying by so fast.
Well I didn't make it to Ramnine's baptism :( I was pretty bummed about it, but we had a meeting for stake conference in VA Beach, so there was no way to do it all. But the exciting thing is that she did it! Well I wasn't there, so I think she did :) Stake Conference was really good. In all the meetings they repeated 2 themes. Being prepared for an emergency (could it be hurricane season? haha) and eternal families. Those are excellent topics to speak on and I heard people say this was the best they'd ever been to. Something I never had before my mission was a 72 hour kit. Do you all have one? It's something very wise to have because it's something with the last days that we will realistically use. So if you don't have one... :)
How was Father's Day? What did you all do? We had dinner with a family in the ward. The lady is divorced, so there was no father's celebration. But I thought about you fathers!
We are teaching this man named Stan. He is so cool. He is a retired religious petty officer (RP), so he knows about all religions and faiths pretty much. He's read parts of the Book of Mormon, but never in a spiritual growth sort of way. Yesterday was our 3rd lesson with him and it went so well. The Spirit was strong and I felt it as I was able to share testimony with him. We went with the plan to teach Plan of Salvation, but ended up answering some questions that he came up with during his reading. It was a really neat lesson. He is having jaw surgery today, so his mouth will be wired shut for awhile. He is a talker, so we always joke how that's going to be a good thing. I really have a good feeling about Stan.
We also met this lady who has been less active for most of her membership and grew up JW. She still refers to Heavenly Father as Jehovah, so I am excited to teach her. First order of business...a KJV bible, not a JW bible! Haha
The new comp is working out good. She's a lot different from S. Woodruff, but there is always a transition from comp to comp. I just got an email from Sister Cox. She got home last week. I cannot believe it! She is doing so well it sounds like. I am at the stage of the mission that she was when I got here. I remember her talking about what she was going to do when she got home and all that good stuff. I have NO idea what I'll do, so I doubt I'll be talking about it anytime soon. Haha. I just get confused when I think about it.
Well I love you all and hope all is going well back in AZ. What's it like 75 degrees there now ;) haha
Love ya,
Sister Talbot
Well I didn't make it to Ramnine's baptism :( I was pretty bummed about it, but we had a meeting for stake conference in VA Beach, so there was no way to do it all. But the exciting thing is that she did it! Well I wasn't there, so I think she did :) Stake Conference was really good. In all the meetings they repeated 2 themes. Being prepared for an emergency (could it be hurricane season? haha) and eternal families. Those are excellent topics to speak on and I heard people say this was the best they'd ever been to. Something I never had before my mission was a 72 hour kit. Do you all have one? It's something very wise to have because it's something with the last days that we will realistically use. So if you don't have one... :)
How was Father's Day? What did you all do? We had dinner with a family in the ward. The lady is divorced, so there was no father's celebration. But I thought about you fathers!
We are teaching this man named Stan. He is so cool. He is a retired religious petty officer (RP), so he knows about all religions and faiths pretty much. He's read parts of the Book of Mormon, but never in a spiritual growth sort of way. Yesterday was our 3rd lesson with him and it went so well. The Spirit was strong and I felt it as I was able to share testimony with him. We went with the plan to teach Plan of Salvation, but ended up answering some questions that he came up with during his reading. It was a really neat lesson. He is having jaw surgery today, so his mouth will be wired shut for awhile. He is a talker, so we always joke how that's going to be a good thing. I really have a good feeling about Stan.
We also met this lady who has been less active for most of her membership and grew up JW. She still refers to Heavenly Father as Jehovah, so I am excited to teach her. First order of business...a KJV bible, not a JW bible! Haha
The new comp is working out good. She's a lot different from S. Woodruff, but there is always a transition from comp to comp. I just got an email from Sister Cox. She got home last week. I cannot believe it! She is doing so well it sounds like. I am at the stage of the mission that she was when I got here. I remember her talking about what she was going to do when she got home and all that good stuff. I have NO idea what I'll do, so I doubt I'll be talking about it anytime soon. Haha. I just get confused when I think about it.
Well I love you all and hope all is going well back in AZ. What's it like 75 degrees there now ;) haha
Love ya,
Sister Talbot
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Email from June 16, 2010 - Transfers again!
So these last 6 weeks have flown by sooooo fast. Probably the fastest so far. So I am staying in Norfolk 2nd Ward and will be companions with Sister Dunn. When we had exchanges last transfer and I went to NN1, she was my companion. So it'll be fun to serve with her! She was also trained by Sis. Cox. I haven't served with anyone trained by my trainer yet, so this will be sweet. Sister Woodruff is going to Newport News 1st Ward! So cool huh! She is being sent in with a missionary that is going home at the end of next transfer, so neither of them know the area. It's called being "shotgunned" into an area. Basically fresh eyes in an area. So Sis. Dunn and Sis. Woodruff are swapping out. I am so bummed to have Sis. Woodruff leave, but I am excited to have Sis. Dunn come. The area needs a change and their is so much potential.
We had our first harmonica lesson this last week. We learned part of A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief. It sounds pretty good, but I have a feeling it might die out with transfers...we'll see. These are the times when I wish I had a recorder :)
So something we've been using a lot this transfer are the mormon messages. Have you all checked out mormonmessages.org yet? There is some really good stuff on there! I love the one called We Are Christians by Elder Coleman. We used that one at Shekaylia's baptism. There are so many gems!
Last Thursday we had a mission conference. It was the last time to see Pres. & Sister Millburn because they leave in 2 weeks. Sad :( I know Pres. Perry will be awesome, but big changes are always hard. Missions are full of change, so you'd think we'd get used to it, but nope not really.
The Norfolk 1 sisters had a fireside last Friday night titled "Why I Believe". It was really good and we had some of the people we are teaching come. The fireside consisted of some recent convert testimonies, 2 musical numbers, and the high councilor over missionary work speaking. It was so good. We are going to try and have one a transfer from now on. But it got me thinking for myself why I believe. It's such a good question. The main reason is because it's true. This is Christ's church! The more I think about it the more I know that it is. In every way and every aspect it is the Lord's church. It just makes sense. I get so confused when people reject our message.
I was reading in Moroni 9 this morning and came across a few lines I really liked. In verse 6 I like "...nothwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation;..." I like this a lot because as a missionary I have to keep moving forward trusting the work is being done how the Lord wants it to be. That every person I meet and every u turn we make was for a reason. Okay, if you haven't yet, read in Preach My Gospel under Hope.
Well I stink at updating you at what is going on with specific people. But at the mission conference I did get to talk to the elders who are now in NN2. They said that Nunez finally got baptized and Ramnine is getting baptized this Saturday. I hopefully will be there!!!! I am so excited for the elders to keep working with these people.
I love you all!
Sister Talbot
We had our first harmonica lesson this last week. We learned part of A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief. It sounds pretty good, but I have a feeling it might die out with transfers...we'll see. These are the times when I wish I had a recorder :)
So something we've been using a lot this transfer are the mormon messages. Have you all checked out mormonmessages.org yet? There is some really good stuff on there! I love the one called We Are Christians by Elder Coleman. We used that one at Shekaylia's baptism. There are so many gems!
Last Thursday we had a mission conference. It was the last time to see Pres. & Sister Millburn because they leave in 2 weeks. Sad :( I know Pres. Perry will be awesome, but big changes are always hard. Missions are full of change, so you'd think we'd get used to it, but nope not really.
The Norfolk 1 sisters had a fireside last Friday night titled "Why I Believe". It was really good and we had some of the people we are teaching come. The fireside consisted of some recent convert testimonies, 2 musical numbers, and the high councilor over missionary work speaking. It was so good. We are going to try and have one a transfer from now on. But it got me thinking for myself why I believe. It's such a good question. The main reason is because it's true. This is Christ's church! The more I think about it the more I know that it is. In every way and every aspect it is the Lord's church. It just makes sense. I get so confused when people reject our message.
I was reading in Moroni 9 this morning and came across a few lines I really liked. In verse 6 I like "...nothwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation;..." I like this a lot because as a missionary I have to keep moving forward trusting the work is being done how the Lord wants it to be. That every person I meet and every u turn we make was for a reason. Okay, if you haven't yet, read in Preach My Gospel under Hope.
Well I stink at updating you at what is going on with specific people. But at the mission conference I did get to talk to the elders who are now in NN2. They said that Nunez finally got baptized and Ramnine is getting baptized this Saturday. I hopefully will be there!!!! I am so excited for the elders to keep working with these people.
I love you all!
Sister Talbot
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Harmonica playing has begun!
Hola! So the harmonica playing has begun! It's so much fun and I am terrible at it. But we have a good time. We attempted to play Happy Birthday to Sister Jacob who shares a birthday with Neely! We snuck into her room early this morning and left a bunch of balloons for her and then ran back to sleep. It was fun!
We had exchanges this last week for 2 days and I went with Sister Jacob to Norfolk 1st Ward. I really enjoyed it. They cover the downtown area, so that was my first time being in a downtown since Phoenix. I forgot how fun it was to see big buildings up close. Well we didn't get too close. We got sidetracked doing some tracting :) While on exchanges we taught this man named Ed. They'd been teaching him for a little while, but never taught the Restoration lesson. So we decided that's what we were going to teach him. We had a couple from the ward with us and his son and daughter in law (members) were there as well.
So we were walking up to an appointment and we see this grungy worker man sitting on the back of a truck across the street and as we walk up the house we hear him whistling Called To Serve. Sis. Woodruff was about to knock and I lean over and say, he's whistling a church song. We looked at each other and were like what? Who's he? So of course we go talk to him and found out he "used" to be a member and is an RM. His parents are in our ward actually. It was so random to hear him whistle that. It's such a good song to hear!
Can you believe I am out of time and I have hardly shared everything I wanted to? Lame. But that's how it is. Sorry!!!
But I love you all and am looking forward to your letters.
Love ya,
Sister Talbot
We had exchanges this last week for 2 days and I went with Sister Jacob to Norfolk 1st Ward. I really enjoyed it. They cover the downtown area, so that was my first time being in a downtown since Phoenix. I forgot how fun it was to see big buildings up close. Well we didn't get too close. We got sidetracked doing some tracting :) While on exchanges we taught this man named Ed. They'd been teaching him for a little while, but never taught the Restoration lesson. So we decided that's what we were going to teach him. We had a couple from the ward with us and his son and daughter in law (members) were there as well.
So we were walking up to an appointment and we see this grungy worker man sitting on the back of a truck across the street and as we walk up the house we hear him whistling Called To Serve. Sis. Woodruff was about to knock and I lean over and say, he's whistling a church song. We looked at each other and were like what? Who's he? So of course we go talk to him and found out he "used" to be a member and is an RM. His parents are in our ward actually. It was so random to hear him whistle that. It's such a good song to hear!
Can you believe I am out of time and I have hardly shared everything I wanted to? Lame. But that's how it is. Sorry!!!
But I love you all and am looking forward to your letters.
Love ya,
Sister Talbot
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Fun times in Virginia
At Botanical Gardens with the Duncans...the boys in this pic. Norfolk's theme is mermaids, so there are mermaids all over the city.
Rose garden at the Gardens.
Gardens
My super cute ring! Thanks Cody, Jen, Ashlyn, Haze, and Rigg!!!!
Thanks mom and dad for the scarf! I love it!
Sister Carbajal and Sister Woodruff holding my birthday whoopie pie.
The cake Sister Shumaker made for me...red velvet
Our cute toes
Picking strawberries in Pongo
Bad picture, but you get the idea. There is a bunch of Talbot stuff in Norfolk. Weird.
Skekaylia's baptism...Her dad is on the end and Elder Shelley baptized her. He is serving in Kempsville, but used to serve here and teach her.
Bro.Maldanado (the man with the glass eye) and his gigantic cake
It's Wednesday again! This week flew by so fast. I sent a bunch of pictures (3 emails), so pictures will say 1000 this week.
We are working with a member named Nicole and she is so cool. She makes wigs and does hair, so she is going to braid us in a fake strip underneath sometime. That's not just why she's cool though. When we first met her she was pretty angry and had a hard heart. By the end of the first meeting she softened up a lot and then the next day she showed up in the church building at the end of Bible Study to tell us she had a break through. It was so cool! Then we went over a few days later for a lesson and to help her pack (she's moving to another place). We shared a 20 minute lesson or so and then when we were done, she's like "that's all?" She wanted us to keep going...so we did! It has been so cool to see her change so much in the few times I've seen her. Her fiance lives there too and so we told her we would help her get the wedding underway and she wants us to be her witnesses. haha, we don't know how that works, but sounds good to me!
We had a dinner and lesson with the Mitchells. They are such a cool couple. They remind me a lot of Cody and Jen actually. Similar personalities. When we were leaving he challenged us to learn to play some hymns on the harmonica. Remember when I wanted to learn how to play for a resolution in 2009...or was it 2008? Oh well. So we are going to try and find some today and learn to play. Haha
On Sunday Shekaylia was sick so she couldn't come to church, but we looked outside right before church started and we see her dad walking up. He came and stayed for 2 hours! He told us he would stay all 3 this Sunday. How cool! We haven't taught him or anything, he just has been showing up. We hope he keeps showing up, so we can teach him.
Memorial Day was fun! The Books (who we live upstairs from) had a block party, so we bbq for dinner. And then immediately went to another members and they had us eat dinner. I was full when we got there. This has been happening a lot to us. We have 2 dinners or we have a big late lunch and then a dinner. Wow, I am getting fat and I don't like it. Well I've really only gained around 10 pounds. Anyways... When we were stopping by an investigator's house we started talking to this group of people down the way and this drunk man kept telling us he needs the message and yada yada. Then he's like you could come over and I could cook you dinner and we can talk. We start laughing and his friends were just like he's ridiculous. Haha, it was a hilarious Memorial Day experience.
Norfolk 2 is doing great. Lots going on and the days are flying by. It's been super humid this week, so the weather of ponytails has begun. It's a good thing my hair is now long enough to rock the ponytail and it not look ugly :)
Well I love you all and hope things are going well. I love being a missionary and am grateful I have a family like you to support me!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
News for the Week
Hello again. Thank you everyone for the fun birthday surprises! It was a good day and I ate soooo much that I wanted to be sick. We had an FHE with 3 of the families in the ward and it was fun. We played Do You Love Your Neighbor. It's a game where you sit in a circle and someone is in the middle and asks to one person Do You Love Your Neighbor? You can say yes and the people on your sides have to switch places before the person in the middle steals their seat. Or if you say no you have to say "But I do love...(everyone with brown hair) and everyone has to switch chairs and the person in the middle has to try and grab a seat. It was fun! Sister Shumaker made me a cake...red velvet...it's still sitting in our fridge...we've been on overkill sweets, so we haven't even dived in yet. I want to today though, it looks appetizing :)
This morning we went strawberry picking with Sister Book. She is the lady who owns the house and lives below us. Her daughter Macina came too and she brought a friend Juliette with her. Juliette is a funny lady. Sister Book brought her because she has been talking to her about the church. She committed to come to church, but she is a believer in the gift of tongues, but not in the same way we believe if you know what I mean. It was sooo fun! We picked strawberries, peas, and cauliflower. They have all these produce fields out in the country, so it was so pretty to see the country. There were some huge houses out there. It was east of us somewhere. I think it's called Pungo or it's near there where we went.
After email we are going to go get our nails done. Yay! Thanks so much parents. I am excited about this and so are the other sisters.
We have a new investigator named Jessica who is just great. A lady from the Sanbridge Ward called us and told us about her. They have a mutual friend from N.C. where Jessica is from. Her husband just deployed on the Truman (and so did a bunch of ward members), so she has been bored and lonely. She is 20 and just got married in December, no kids. So we called her and she came to Bible Study with us last night and loved it. She is very smart and said she feels that she's been in the dark for awhile and is excited to learn more. She has the thickest accent. She is from a small town at the base of the Appalachian (sp?) Mtns. in N.C. I'll have to let you know more about how that goes.
Last Saturday we had the annual ward picnic and I got to play some softball!!! Yay! Well it was a few adults and a bunch of kids, so we sort of played. But it was sooo fun. The picnic was a good time. One of our investigators showed I guess but it was at the end and we were on the field. And we had this less active family come and they had a good time. Ward picnics at a park are a good activity.
Yay! Shekaylia was baptized last Saturday night. It was such a good baptism. Sister Jacob sang I Know That My Redeemer Lives and we had some great talks. And then she was confirmed on Sunday!!! Her dad came to both events, so hopefully he'll come to church with her again.
So on Sunday we had a member lesson with the mother-in-law of one of the recent converts who went less active. I've been asking about her since I got here and apparently it was weird when they went less active with the other sisters, so there hasn't been any contact for a few months. So when we were at this lesson we hear someone stop by and talking in the other room. And what do you know, but the recent convert shows up. We ran into the other room and she was happy to see us. She wasn't sure why missionaries stop coming, so hopefully this chance run-in will help her to come to church again soon. Her daughter turns 6 soon, so we are going to help her decorate on Friday.
I have 2 quotes for you. The first is by President Harold B. Lee on testimony. "Testimony isn't something that you have today and you keep always. Testimony is either going to grow and grow to the brightness of certainty, or it is going to diminish to nothingness, depending upon what we do about it. I say, the testimony that we recapture day by day is the thing that saves us from the pitfalls of the adversary." I like this quote and it makes me think of before my mission and also about after my mission and asking the question "Am I working day by day to strengthen my knowledge and testimony?" I found in my reading this morning these 2 verses: 3 Nephi 26: 9, 11 and I thought they were great. Sometimes we have to search (study not just read) in order to gain greater knowledge.
The other quote is by President Boyd K. Packer. "True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior." I LOVE this quote. I've taught a couple of women over the last few months that say they are amazed at how much more patient they are after they started reading their Book of Mormon. They've noticed their tempers don't flare as easy and they relate better to others and their kids. How cool is that?
Well I love you all and hope things are going well. I know that as you put God first in your life everything will fall in to place. If you don't know this for yourself, then experiment and try it out. Alma 32:27.
Sister Talbot
This morning we went strawberry picking with Sister Book. She is the lady who owns the house and lives below us. Her daughter Macina came too and she brought a friend Juliette with her. Juliette is a funny lady. Sister Book brought her because she has been talking to her about the church. She committed to come to church, but she is a believer in the gift of tongues, but not in the same way we believe if you know what I mean. It was sooo fun! We picked strawberries, peas, and cauliflower. They have all these produce fields out in the country, so it was so pretty to see the country. There were some huge houses out there. It was east of us somewhere. I think it's called Pungo or it's near there where we went.
After email we are going to go get our nails done. Yay! Thanks so much parents. I am excited about this and so are the other sisters.
We have a new investigator named Jessica who is just great. A lady from the Sanbridge Ward called us and told us about her. They have a mutual friend from N.C. where Jessica is from. Her husband just deployed on the Truman (and so did a bunch of ward members), so she has been bored and lonely. She is 20 and just got married in December, no kids. So we called her and she came to Bible Study with us last night and loved it. She is very smart and said she feels that she's been in the dark for awhile and is excited to learn more. She has the thickest accent. She is from a small town at the base of the Appalachian (sp?) Mtns. in N.C. I'll have to let you know more about how that goes.
Last Saturday we had the annual ward picnic and I got to play some softball!!! Yay! Well it was a few adults and a bunch of kids, so we sort of played. But it was sooo fun. The picnic was a good time. One of our investigators showed I guess but it was at the end and we were on the field. And we had this less active family come and they had a good time. Ward picnics at a park are a good activity.
Yay! Shekaylia was baptized last Saturday night. It was such a good baptism. Sister Jacob sang I Know That My Redeemer Lives and we had some great talks. And then she was confirmed on Sunday!!! Her dad came to both events, so hopefully he'll come to church with her again.
So on Sunday we had a member lesson with the mother-in-law of one of the recent converts who went less active. I've been asking about her since I got here and apparently it was weird when they went less active with the other sisters, so there hasn't been any contact for a few months. So when we were at this lesson we hear someone stop by and talking in the other room. And what do you know, but the recent convert shows up. We ran into the other room and she was happy to see us. She wasn't sure why missionaries stop coming, so hopefully this chance run-in will help her to come to church again soon. Her daughter turns 6 soon, so we are going to help her decorate on Friday.
I have 2 quotes for you. The first is by President Harold B. Lee on testimony. "Testimony isn't something that you have today and you keep always. Testimony is either going to grow and grow to the brightness of certainty, or it is going to diminish to nothingness, depending upon what we do about it. I say, the testimony that we recapture day by day is the thing that saves us from the pitfalls of the adversary." I like this quote and it makes me think of before my mission and also about after my mission and asking the question "Am I working day by day to strengthen my knowledge and testimony?" I found in my reading this morning these 2 verses: 3 Nephi 26: 9, 11 and I thought they were great. Sometimes we have to search (study not just read) in order to gain greater knowledge.
The other quote is by President Boyd K. Packer. "True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior." I LOVE this quote. I've taught a couple of women over the last few months that say they are amazed at how much more patient they are after they started reading their Book of Mormon. They've noticed their tempers don't flare as easy and they relate better to others and their kids. How cool is that?
Well I love you all and hope things are going well. I know that as you put God first in your life everything will fall in to place. If you don't know this for yourself, then experiment and try it out. Alma 32:27.
Sister Talbot
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