We had Zone P-Day today and went bowling. It was a lot of fun!
So last Friday we had a baptism for Ashley Pauley. She is 13 and her testimony rocks! This is number 3...not everyone we set for baptism has gotten baptized yet...soon though hopefully.
We had exchanges again and Sis. Cox went to Smithfield and I was with Sis. Halliday again. It was weird being without my trainer, but I actually felt really confident. So I feel like I am getting better and my knowledge is growing.
It's so crazy Christmas is next week! I don't know when we'll call yet. But it's probably going to be whenever we want. Our P-Day is moved to Thursday, so I can tell you then. But chances are Sis. Hamilton will let you know.
We have a Mission Conference tomorrow in Virginia Beach. We still don't have a ride...but we will! It should be fun. We will meet with all the sister's for an hour beforehand.
P.S. We are having a white Christmas. We right now have 3 baptisms, but that could change one way or the other. I'll keep you posted.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Keeping busy
Yo se que La Iglesia de Jesu Cristo de Los Santos de Los Ultimos Dias es verdadera. I am working on my Spanish. We knock a lot of Spanish doors, so I am creating my own door approach. Haha
The YM/YW had a really fun mutual activity last week. They did ice cream sculpting. They had a big gallon thing of ice cream and had to create something from the Book of Mormon. One group created the Book of Mormon opened to Moroni 10:3-5. Another did a fortified city. It was so fun to watch and it gave them opportunity to meet new people, work on teamwork, and think of a Book of Mormon story.
So I started reading the Doctrine and Covenants again. It's so interesting how before I read it as direction given to Oliver Cowdery or Peter Whitmer, etc. and not so much me. But if it was just for them, why would we bother to have it in print right? What I've come to realize is that we are to apply and internalize all the instructions given to those men. Those revelations in D&C were given to men in this dispensation for a reason. We are all here at this time and in this dispensation (the last!!) to help and prepare each other to meet God again. We know that Christ will come at the end of this dispensation! The people born in the other dispensations were also responsible for missionary work, but they were not called to declare repentance like we are. The whole book talks about how we are to "declare repentance" and that what should be of most worth is the work of helping to save souls. In other words, we all should be a part of the missionary effort throughout our lives. My mission is teaching me a lot, but I think the thing of most value is what I am learning about who I want to be after my mission. Sis. Cox and I talk all the time about how excited we are to be members when we get back. And how we will hold each other accountable for what we say now!!
So the Ellis' are doing pretty good. He came to Church on Sunday, then we taught the kid's the Restoration. Monday night they came to an FHE at the Turner's house. It was sweet! (The Turner's are one of my favorite families in the ward.) We are going to teach Plan of Salvation tomorrow. We are going to a thrift store today...you know how much I love those!!! We are going to find some dresses for the mom and daughter. This will be fun!
For some reason I don't have much to say this week. So I'll work on sending some pics. Now that my battery works I can take pics again!
I love you family. Have fun with the holiday preparations! I still don't know the plan for Christmas. No Skype though. I think we may call from our phone...not positive though. And we can talk for up to 40 minutes. I don't think we will have a designated time, so we'll probably just pick a random time and let you know.
Love ya,
Hermana Talbot
The YM/YW had a really fun mutual activity last week. They did ice cream sculpting. They had a big gallon thing of ice cream and had to create something from the Book of Mormon. One group created the Book of Mormon opened to Moroni 10:3-5. Another did a fortified city. It was so fun to watch and it gave them opportunity to meet new people, work on teamwork, and think of a Book of Mormon story.
So I started reading the Doctrine and Covenants again. It's so interesting how before I read it as direction given to Oliver Cowdery or Peter Whitmer, etc. and not so much me. But if it was just for them, why would we bother to have it in print right? What I've come to realize is that we are to apply and internalize all the instructions given to those men. Those revelations in D&C were given to men in this dispensation for a reason. We are all here at this time and in this dispensation (the last!!) to help and prepare each other to meet God again. We know that Christ will come at the end of this dispensation! The people born in the other dispensations were also responsible for missionary work, but they were not called to declare repentance like we are. The whole book talks about how we are to "declare repentance" and that what should be of most worth is the work of helping to save souls. In other words, we all should be a part of the missionary effort throughout our lives. My mission is teaching me a lot, but I think the thing of most value is what I am learning about who I want to be after my mission. Sis. Cox and I talk all the time about how excited we are to be members when we get back. And how we will hold each other accountable for what we say now!!
So the Ellis' are doing pretty good. He came to Church on Sunday, then we taught the kid's the Restoration. Monday night they came to an FHE at the Turner's house. It was sweet! (The Turner's are one of my favorite families in the ward.) We are going to teach Plan of Salvation tomorrow. We are going to a thrift store today...you know how much I love those!!! We are going to find some dresses for the mom and daughter. This will be fun!
For some reason I don't have much to say this week. So I'll work on sending some pics. Now that my battery works I can take pics again!
I love you family. Have fun with the holiday preparations! I still don't know the plan for Christmas. No Skype though. I think we may call from our phone...not positive though. And we can talk for up to 40 minutes. I don't think we will have a designated time, so we'll probably just pick a random time and let you know.
Love ya,
Hermana Talbot
Email from December 2, 2009
How is everyone doing? All is great here! I cannot believe it is December already. I've heard time outside of the mission stands still and I am experiencing that right now. I feel like it's September!!!! It was pretty weird how on Dec. 1 we had a little frost on the grass when we went running. Suddenly the weather got a little chillier. But it's already warmed up again though. The running joke is that if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes. That's so how UT and AZ are too!
P-Day is an awesome day never to forget. Why you ask...because Sis. Cox and I went and got free massages!! It was awesome and can I just say well needed too. There is this lady that we met who is an instructor at a tech college and she was telling us how we could get massages for free. Okay, twist our arms. So we called our Zone Leaders and asked and they said we could. It was sweet!
The sad thing about today is I went to apply for my VA driver's license. They punched a big hole in my AZ one :( I need to figure out how that will work with residency though. I think I can get a change of address form and fill it out... So in 7-10 business days I will have a new driver's license...only a temporary paper one for now.
Sis. Cox and I spoke in church on Sunday about Christ. I tell you what, it's much easier coming up with a talk on the spur of the moment now than it was before! Writing talks is not something we have time for, so we kind of just got up there and went for it. Pres. Hansen spoke as well, so it was a sweet sacrament meeting to have our investigators at. I cannot tell you how nice it was to not hold my breath hoping that the talks aren't crazy! Bishop spoke in the 3rd hour and it was amazing. He said that the Lord will keep giving the ward new members for as long as we can care for them and handle it.
Thanksgiving was so fun! Thanks for the video you sent! That was cute. I loved the Turkey song Ashlyn!!!! And I am so glad Tyler did his letter B thing. I thought of it a few weeks ago and couldn't remember exactly how it went. We did our weekly planning session that morning and then went to the Hamilton's. We cancelled all of our other appts.! We ate some good food...including sweet potato souffle!!!!! Yeah! Thanks mom for sending the recipe. It was a HUGE hit. Bishop really liked it and Sis. Cox could not find the words to describe it. She just kept saying WOW! WOW! It was hilarious. Then we hung out for a little while and then went bowling. We bowled with 2 of the Hamilton kids and then one of their friends. We bowled different ways each time. We did the "slide" and wow, I have a sweet bruise on my knee. Who knew I got old and couldn't do a sweet bowling slide very well?!?! Haha. But we are for sure going to have to make bowling one of the new T-Day traditions. It was so fun!
We have been working hard and really fighting against anti material. It seems that everyone we teach gets anti within 5 seconds! It is horrible! Apparently anti-Mormon stuff is preached from the pulpits here. I had no idea. I think it's so weird. But that is one of the best ways for Satan to attack our investigators. Because our stake is having such a push right now (reading the BoM and fasting, etc.) for the rest of 2009, Satan has really been working hard. We've had investigators in the hospital and family members die and get sick and all sorts of weird stuff come up to keep them from coming to Church. Bishop once said that he'd hate to be related to an investigator right now. It's sad, but true. Everyone we teach has something really dramatic happen in their family. But it's so obvious - it is because Satan is trying everything he can to stop them from doing good things that will bless their lives.
We just got into contact with one of our less active families yesterday. They are so amazing and really do want to come back to church. They have had the worst luck throughout the year, so they really need the blessings from coming to church. They used to have a nice house and lived a normal life. Then he was out of work and came to Newport News for a promised job, which fell through. They put all of their belongings into storage and firgured they would move all the stuff to their new house. But because the job fell through, they had no money. So everything in the storage was auctioned off including personal stuff like photo albums. They've been in and out of dumpy long stay hotels and he picked up smoking again. She found work, but he still hasn't because he's overqualified for everything. He works in mental health for adults, so a lot of those jobs have been cut recently. They've got 2 or 3 kids...not sure. But 2 are of baptismal age and have not been baptized yet. They said they will be at church Sunday and then we'll meet with them Sunday afternoon and again Monday night for FHE...both at member homes. They are such a cool family that ran into some serious back luck. But they've been humbled in a way that they will be rocking members once they are consistent. We are excited for them, so look for future updates. They are the Ellis family...
Well things are great in NN! I hope with the holiday season we are all looking for ways to serve our fellow men. Cody-it sounds like your family's ideas are awesome! I can't wait to hear about how it goes.
Making this suggestion has been on my mind for a few weeks, so I'm just going to suggest it. Ways to serve your local missionaries: 1) meet their investigators at church and invite to take them to classes 2) tell the missionaries that you would be willing to have lessons in your homes 3) ask the missionaries when you can go with them to lessons (don't worry...it's not scary) 4) invite recent converts, less actives, or investigators to your house for dinner, FHE, etc. (this is even cooler if you just did it without the missionaries.) 5) invite your non-member friends to ward activities or a dinner at your house (and tell the missionaries, of course!) I don't know who will take these suggestions, but these are great ways to serve the ward. Retention is a big job and missionaries come and go, but the ward stays around. If they get the HT, VT, and fellowshipping they need, new members will be more likely to stick around and keep developing their testimonies. The first little while is hard for them because they are completely changing their lifestyle. Imagine a life totally opposite of you and then think of the process it takes to go from that to where you are now. Crazy eh? Okay, done now.
Well I love you all!
Sister Talbot
P-Day is an awesome day never to forget. Why you ask...because Sis. Cox and I went and got free massages!! It was awesome and can I just say well needed too. There is this lady that we met who is an instructor at a tech college and she was telling us how we could get massages for free. Okay, twist our arms. So we called our Zone Leaders and asked and they said we could. It was sweet!
The sad thing about today is I went to apply for my VA driver's license. They punched a big hole in my AZ one :( I need to figure out how that will work with residency though. I think I can get a change of address form and fill it out... So in 7-10 business days I will have a new driver's license...only a temporary paper one for now.
Sis. Cox and I spoke in church on Sunday about Christ. I tell you what, it's much easier coming up with a talk on the spur of the moment now than it was before! Writing talks is not something we have time for, so we kind of just got up there and went for it. Pres. Hansen spoke as well, so it was a sweet sacrament meeting to have our investigators at. I cannot tell you how nice it was to not hold my breath hoping that the talks aren't crazy! Bishop spoke in the 3rd hour and it was amazing. He said that the Lord will keep giving the ward new members for as long as we can care for them and handle it.
Thanksgiving was so fun! Thanks for the video you sent! That was cute. I loved the Turkey song Ashlyn!!!! And I am so glad Tyler did his letter B thing. I thought of it a few weeks ago and couldn't remember exactly how it went. We did our weekly planning session that morning and then went to the Hamilton's. We cancelled all of our other appts.! We ate some good food...including sweet potato souffle!!!!! Yeah! Thanks mom for sending the recipe. It was a HUGE hit. Bishop really liked it and Sis. Cox could not find the words to describe it. She just kept saying WOW! WOW! It was hilarious. Then we hung out for a little while and then went bowling. We bowled with 2 of the Hamilton kids and then one of their friends. We bowled different ways each time. We did the "slide" and wow, I have a sweet bruise on my knee. Who knew I got old and couldn't do a sweet bowling slide very well?!?! Haha. But we are for sure going to have to make bowling one of the new T-Day traditions. It was so fun!
We have been working hard and really fighting against anti material. It seems that everyone we teach gets anti within 5 seconds! It is horrible! Apparently anti-Mormon stuff is preached from the pulpits here. I had no idea. I think it's so weird. But that is one of the best ways for Satan to attack our investigators. Because our stake is having such a push right now (reading the BoM and fasting, etc.) for the rest of 2009, Satan has really been working hard. We've had investigators in the hospital and family members die and get sick and all sorts of weird stuff come up to keep them from coming to Church. Bishop once said that he'd hate to be related to an investigator right now. It's sad, but true. Everyone we teach has something really dramatic happen in their family. But it's so obvious - it is because Satan is trying everything he can to stop them from doing good things that will bless their lives.
We just got into contact with one of our less active families yesterday. They are so amazing and really do want to come back to church. They have had the worst luck throughout the year, so they really need the blessings from coming to church. They used to have a nice house and lived a normal life. Then he was out of work and came to Newport News for a promised job, which fell through. They put all of their belongings into storage and firgured they would move all the stuff to their new house. But because the job fell through, they had no money. So everything in the storage was auctioned off including personal stuff like photo albums. They've been in and out of dumpy long stay hotels and he picked up smoking again. She found work, but he still hasn't because he's overqualified for everything. He works in mental health for adults, so a lot of those jobs have been cut recently. They've got 2 or 3 kids...not sure. But 2 are of baptismal age and have not been baptized yet. They said they will be at church Sunday and then we'll meet with them Sunday afternoon and again Monday night for FHE...both at member homes. They are such a cool family that ran into some serious back luck. But they've been humbled in a way that they will be rocking members once they are consistent. We are excited for them, so look for future updates. They are the Ellis family...
Well things are great in NN! I hope with the holiday season we are all looking for ways to serve our fellow men. Cody-it sounds like your family's ideas are awesome! I can't wait to hear about how it goes.
Making this suggestion has been on my mind for a few weeks, so I'm just going to suggest it. Ways to serve your local missionaries: 1) meet their investigators at church and invite to take them to classes 2) tell the missionaries that you would be willing to have lessons in your homes 3) ask the missionaries when you can go with them to lessons (don't worry...it's not scary) 4) invite recent converts, less actives, or investigators to your house for dinner, FHE, etc. (this is even cooler if you just did it without the missionaries.) 5) invite your non-member friends to ward activities or a dinner at your house (and tell the missionaries, of course!) I don't know who will take these suggestions, but these are great ways to serve the ward. Retention is a big job and missionaries come and go, but the ward stays around. If they get the HT, VT, and fellowshipping they need, new members will be more likely to stick around and keep developing their testimonies. The first little while is hard for them because they are completely changing their lifestyle. Imagine a life totally opposite of you and then think of the process it takes to go from that to where you are now. Crazy eh? Okay, done now.
Well I love you all!
Sister Talbot
Sunday, November 29, 2009
HaPpY tHaNkSgIvInG y'all - 11-25-09
Wow, I cannot believe Thanksgiving is tomorrow!!! Wow, no Black Friday shopping for me this year I guess. Haha. It doesn't seem weird that I'm not home for some reason. We were originally told that we had a normal proselyting day on Thanksgiving, so we ended up having 8 dinners scheduled with ward members who HAD to have us come over. Can you imagine Sister Cox and I eating 8 dinners? Hahahahahahaha. But then we decided to ask our zone leaders and not trust our district leader and lo and behold Thanksgiving is NOT a proselyting day! That makes a lot more sense. So we are slowly but surely cancelling dinners. It's hard because everyone wants the missionaries to come teach their families. It's awesome, but so not practical. So we are going with the Hamilton's for lunch and then bowling afterwards. That is their T-Day tradition-which we should totally start doing. I think that sounds like so much fun! We're not sure what else we are doing, but we are looking forward to it!
We are teaching this way cute couple and guess what???? They are getting baptized and married!!! They are like 20 and have a baby boy named Job. He is so cute and not being able to pick up kids is the worst!!!! Amanda grew up going to church with her g'ma, but was never baptized. She has been taught by the missionaries for forever, but we met with them last week and got them to set Jan 31st for their wedding and baptism. That is just a goal, because I think they may not get baptized on the same day. It's sweet-I get to play missionary wedding planner. It's been fun getting things planned and the ward members are so cool and totally helping with everything for free. We are crossing our fingers that they get married before the 30th of Dec, because we think transfers are that week and we don't want to miss it.
Call me crazy, but I totally want to be a scout leader when I get home. We talked to the scout lady here because we have a lot of 8-11 year olds we are working with. Scouts is such a cool program, I had no idea!!! I have heard for ages that scouts is the worst calling-Why is that?
Have y'all been able to check out MormonMessages.org yet? Do it if you haven't! And when you talk to people, that is a great website to refer them to. Check out the one on Thanksgiving. It's my new favorite. We share this website with lots of people. And Mormon.org too!
As a missionary I commit people to do things all the time, so the commitment I am going to issue you is to share a pass along card with at least one person before Christmas. You don't even have to know the person. It can be the checkout lady at the store and you can just say I want to give you this as you walk away. I have discovered how easy it is to give away pass along cards to strangers. No commitments and no pressure are involved. So will you do this and then email me and tell me who you gave it to? I cannot wait to hear about it!
Blessings is something that we have been talking about a lot this week, so I want to share my 2 cents. Blessings will come to us as we strive to keep the commandments. It's when we fail to make an effort to keep the commandments when Satan will have that influence over us. Obedience brings blessings! The Lord always promises incredible blessings for every command He gives. He is bound by law (...there is a law irrevocably decreed in heaven...D&C 130) and MUST give us the blessings if we keep his commandments. It sounds so simple, but yet it's so hard. But I know that if we make an effort (even just a small one) to be obedient we will see our lives change for the better. If you want to learn more about the specific blessings we will receive review the covenants you've made. And also study the commands in the Book of Mormon, because a promised blessing will ALWAYS follow. So that's my 2 cents.
Anyways have a great Turkey Day! I love you all!!
Love ya,
Sista Talbot
We are teaching this way cute couple and guess what???? They are getting baptized and married!!! They are like 20 and have a baby boy named Job. He is so cute and not being able to pick up kids is the worst!!!! Amanda grew up going to church with her g'ma, but was never baptized. She has been taught by the missionaries for forever, but we met with them last week and got them to set Jan 31st for their wedding and baptism. That is just a goal, because I think they may not get baptized on the same day. It's sweet-I get to play missionary wedding planner. It's been fun getting things planned and the ward members are so cool and totally helping with everything for free. We are crossing our fingers that they get married before the 30th of Dec, because we think transfers are that week and we don't want to miss it.
Call me crazy, but I totally want to be a scout leader when I get home. We talked to the scout lady here because we have a lot of 8-11 year olds we are working with. Scouts is such a cool program, I had no idea!!! I have heard for ages that scouts is the worst calling-Why is that?
Have y'all been able to check out MormonMessages.org yet? Do it if you haven't! And when you talk to people, that is a great website to refer them to. Check out the one on Thanksgiving. It's my new favorite. We share this website with lots of people. And Mormon.org too!
As a missionary I commit people to do things all the time, so the commitment I am going to issue you is to share a pass along card with at least one person before Christmas. You don't even have to know the person. It can be the checkout lady at the store and you can just say I want to give you this as you walk away. I have discovered how easy it is to give away pass along cards to strangers. No commitments and no pressure are involved. So will you do this and then email me and tell me who you gave it to? I cannot wait to hear about it!
Blessings is something that we have been talking about a lot this week, so I want to share my 2 cents. Blessings will come to us as we strive to keep the commandments. It's when we fail to make an effort to keep the commandments when Satan will have that influence over us. Obedience brings blessings! The Lord always promises incredible blessings for every command He gives. He is bound by law (...there is a law irrevocably decreed in heaven...D&C 130) and MUST give us the blessings if we keep his commandments. It sounds so simple, but yet it's so hard. But I know that if we make an effort (even just a small one) to be obedient we will see our lives change for the better. If you want to learn more about the specific blessings we will receive review the covenants you've made. And also study the commands in the Book of Mormon, because a promised blessing will ALWAYS follow. So that's my 2 cents.
Anyways have a great Turkey Day! I love you all!!
Love ya,
Sista Talbot
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Snug as a bug in a rug. Compared to some apts, we have it good!
Nikki and Fatima at YW in Excellence. Nikki is one of the YW we are teaching.
Fatima is from Sierra Leone and made this poster for her project.
At Sis. Estep's baby shower. Sis. Estep and her husband were baptized in Feb and are the most rocking ward missionaries. The other girl is actually Sister Moss who went home in August. She is one that taught Sis. Estep.
We had to go to the Zone Leaders apt to get some supplies and just had to snap a pic in their sweet hats. Haha.
November 18, 2009
Well I guess you are wondering the verdict of the transfer calls..........I am staying in Newport News 1st Ward with Bishop Hamilton!!! And my trainer Sister Cox is staying here as well. Sister Case is actually going to become a trainer this transfer and move to Salem. She is being shotgunned in (meaning the missionaries come out and her greenie and her move in, without bias and knowledge of pretty much anything). The area needs it...I guess it's been "dead" for a year or so. Sister Case is such a great missionary and she is so bold, so she will do wonders there. I'm so excited to hear how she tears it up! It'll be crazy to go from 2 comps to 1, but it'll be good. It'll require more of me, which is necessary for me to progress and grow. I am a lot more quiet than I realized (bet ya never thought you'd here that!), so without another person talking...it's going to be a quieter transfer! Elder Frampton and Elder Timmons are both staying and we haven't heard about the Spanish Elders yet. I hope they stay-they are awesome. We are tag teaming a couple right now. The girl is American and speaks little Spanish and he is Mexican and speaks little English. Crazy right? I guess it actually happens a lot so we hear. But we are trying to get them married and then baptized all in December. This will be fun :)
We are teaching 4 young women right now. Hands down my favorite investigators right now. I can't believe how many light years ahead of me they are at their age. When I was their age I was so lazy when it came to the gospel. The youth in our ward are a dream! They share what they know with their friends and it comes easy to them it seems.
My comps and I had an interesting discussion yesterday. Being a full time missionary made us all realize that we didn't know what it meant to be a disciple of Christ and be a member missionary. I'll ask you now to hold me accountable in my future for this. I remember Dad telling us when we were little that the Lord comes 1st above all else. Of course being little, I was probably like yeah okay. But now I am realizing that I never really understood what that meant. If I did I would have helped more people come to know that Christ is our Savior and that they are a child of God. Being a disciple of Christ is taking what I know and sharing it with others. Being a member missionary is taking what I know and sharing it with others. Putting the Lord #1 means taking what I know and sharing it with others. The gospel is not just what we believe and what we do---it's who we are! If something is so much a part of us, why do we struggle to share it with others? It's so weird looking back at my life and seeing how many opportunities I was given to be a disciple of Christ and a member missionary and I didn't take them. I would love to use fear as my excuse, but then I would be saying I didn't have faith that the Lord would help me. We all know that fear and faith cannot co-exist. I don't want to be one of those missionaries that call everyone to repentance, but I do want to be one of those missionaries that invites others to come unto Christ and really truly know what that means. So family, consider the questions-What can you do to make sure you are putting the Lord 1st in everything you do? What changes do you need to make in your routines to ensure that you are studying (not just reading) the Book of Mormon daily and praying with a a sincere heart and with real intent? And when I get home from my mission, hold me accountable because I want to be the kind of member that missionaries dream of working with...ones with strong testimonies who share it! If the Lord is going to do his part and give me a testimony I better be doing my part and doing something good with it!
So I guess you heard about our little storm. Since we don't watch news or read newspapers we really had no idea it was so bad. Last Wed. night it was pretty awful outside, but that was just the beginning! We were on "house arrest", as we like to call it, for all of Thursday and half the day on Friday. It was so weird not going out and not knowing anything about what was going on. Bishop stopped by in the morning to make sure we were prepared with 72 hour kits and flashlights. Then in the afternoon Sis. Hamilton stopped by with food for us. They are the most amazing people ever. This means they had to go out in the storm! And bishop was doing this for a lot of ward members too! But being inside helped us get a lot of little things done that we always talk about doing..like mapping out all the less active members and updating teaching records. Important stuff that there is never time for!
Well we are still super busy everyday! We are going for something like 15 baptisms in our ward by the end of the year, so this will be FUN! To answer your question Mom-We don't have a huge ward-active members would probably be like 4th Ward. Less active members is HUGE though. But the field is white, which requires lots of missionaries! I think retention is a big concern of Bishop Hamilton's, which totally makes sense with all the baptisms.
The weather here rocks by the way. I am in a short sleeve today!
Love ya,
Sister Talbot
We are teaching 4 young women right now. Hands down my favorite investigators right now. I can't believe how many light years ahead of me they are at their age. When I was their age I was so lazy when it came to the gospel. The youth in our ward are a dream! They share what they know with their friends and it comes easy to them it seems.
My comps and I had an interesting discussion yesterday. Being a full time missionary made us all realize that we didn't know what it meant to be a disciple of Christ and be a member missionary. I'll ask you now to hold me accountable in my future for this. I remember Dad telling us when we were little that the Lord comes 1st above all else. Of course being little, I was probably like yeah okay. But now I am realizing that I never really understood what that meant. If I did I would have helped more people come to know that Christ is our Savior and that they are a child of God. Being a disciple of Christ is taking what I know and sharing it with others. Being a member missionary is taking what I know and sharing it with others. Putting the Lord #1 means taking what I know and sharing it with others. The gospel is not just what we believe and what we do---it's who we are! If something is so much a part of us, why do we struggle to share it with others? It's so weird looking back at my life and seeing how many opportunities I was given to be a disciple of Christ and a member missionary and I didn't take them. I would love to use fear as my excuse, but then I would be saying I didn't have faith that the Lord would help me. We all know that fear and faith cannot co-exist. I don't want to be one of those missionaries that call everyone to repentance, but I do want to be one of those missionaries that invites others to come unto Christ and really truly know what that means. So family, consider the questions-What can you do to make sure you are putting the Lord 1st in everything you do? What changes do you need to make in your routines to ensure that you are studying (not just reading) the Book of Mormon daily and praying with a a sincere heart and with real intent? And when I get home from my mission, hold me accountable because I want to be the kind of member that missionaries dream of working with...ones with strong testimonies who share it! If the Lord is going to do his part and give me a testimony I better be doing my part and doing something good with it!
So I guess you heard about our little storm. Since we don't watch news or read newspapers we really had no idea it was so bad. Last Wed. night it was pretty awful outside, but that was just the beginning! We were on "house arrest", as we like to call it, for all of Thursday and half the day on Friday. It was so weird not going out and not knowing anything about what was going on. Bishop stopped by in the morning to make sure we were prepared with 72 hour kits and flashlights. Then in the afternoon Sis. Hamilton stopped by with food for us. They are the most amazing people ever. This means they had to go out in the storm! And bishop was doing this for a lot of ward members too! But being inside helped us get a lot of little things done that we always talk about doing..like mapping out all the less active members and updating teaching records. Important stuff that there is never time for!
Well we are still super busy everyday! We are going for something like 15 baptisms in our ward by the end of the year, so this will be FUN! To answer your question Mom-We don't have a huge ward-active members would probably be like 4th Ward. Less active members is HUGE though. But the field is white, which requires lots of missionaries! I think retention is a big concern of Bishop Hamilton's, which totally makes sense with all the baptisms.
The weather here rocks by the way. I am in a short sleeve today!
Love ya,
Sister Talbot
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
November 10, 2009
This week was a great week. The work has been going well and we are gearing up for a lot of baptisms that will happen in the next 7 weeks in our ward. We have been told that it is the faith of the leaders that makes a ward a missionary minded ward. We are in the middle of a 40 day fast and reading the Book of Mormon before the end of the year in Newport News 1st Ward. We have a lot of members who aren't really getting excited, but those that are, are incredible. We are getting a lot of referrals and with their faith we are finding people who are ready for the gospel.
One thing that I have noticed with members (and all non-members) is that a lot of people still don't understand their purpose in this life. I think that is where actual study comes in versus just merely reading the word of God. When we come to understand why we are here on earth we learn how important the Atonement is and how we could not fulfill our purpose in this life without it.
This week went by so fast as they all seem to. We had a BBQ at this park to try and get investigator's too. It turned out pretty good and all 3 missionary companionships had people there. We even found new investigator's and was able to set one of the families we found for baptism yesterday. Turns out the teenage girl used to always go to the Church with her member grandfather when she was little and the dad is a baptized inactive member. AND they've been talking about how they need to find a church to go to. Talk about prayers being answered. We've been praying to find families who are prepared to accept the gospel and be baptized this year. And they also have a 10 year boy too. We have a ton of boys his age, so he will fit right in!
We tracted into this older guy named Tuck a few weeks ago and then met his wife. We really liked them and we all felt that they needed to join the Church. But we weren't able to get an appt with them. We decided last night that we would pay them a visit. We talked for about a half hour, but left without an appt. Afterwards we all talked about how we are positive that they felt the Spirit and know what we are saying is true. They mentioned once that they are too old to change. haha, She's only 65 and seems totally young. But we are going to keep working on them. The scripture about either choosing to be humble or being compelled to be humble keeps coming to mind with them. That makes me super nervous. But we all 3 keep thinking we need to teach them. So I'll keep you posted on how that goes.
In one of the letters that I got when I got my call says that I am called to preach repentance and prepare people for the Second Coming. How interesting. I didn't think much of it at the time, but now it is like holy cow! My purpose as a missionary is to prepare people for the Second Coming of Christ.
Love ya,
Sister Talbot
One thing that I have noticed with members (and all non-members) is that a lot of people still don't understand their purpose in this life. I think that is where actual study comes in versus just merely reading the word of God. When we come to understand why we are here on earth we learn how important the Atonement is and how we could not fulfill our purpose in this life without it.
This week went by so fast as they all seem to. We had a BBQ at this park to try and get investigator's too. It turned out pretty good and all 3 missionary companionships had people there. We even found new investigator's and was able to set one of the families we found for baptism yesterday. Turns out the teenage girl used to always go to the Church with her member grandfather when she was little and the dad is a baptized inactive member. AND they've been talking about how they need to find a church to go to. Talk about prayers being answered. We've been praying to find families who are prepared to accept the gospel and be baptized this year. And they also have a 10 year boy too. We have a ton of boys his age, so he will fit right in!
We tracted into this older guy named Tuck a few weeks ago and then met his wife. We really liked them and we all felt that they needed to join the Church. But we weren't able to get an appt with them. We decided last night that we would pay them a visit. We talked for about a half hour, but left without an appt. Afterwards we all talked about how we are positive that they felt the Spirit and know what we are saying is true. They mentioned once that they are too old to change. haha, She's only 65 and seems totally young. But we are going to keep working on them. The scripture about either choosing to be humble or being compelled to be humble keeps coming to mind with them. That makes me super nervous. But we all 3 keep thinking we need to teach them. So I'll keep you posted on how that goes.
In one of the letters that I got when I got my call says that I am called to preach repentance and prepare people for the Second Coming. How interesting. I didn't think much of it at the time, but now it is like holy cow! My purpose as a missionary is to prepare people for the Second Coming of Christ.
Love ya,
Sister Talbot
Friday, November 6, 2009
Service Report from Sister Bishop Hamilton - Nov 2, 2009
This is Katy's mom with a short report. We had a phone message from Sister Stephanie Hamilton who is Katy's Bishop's wife. She called to let us know how much they love Katy and are glad she is there. The 3 Sisters wanted to surprise the Bishop and his family by raking leaves for them, thinking the family would be gone, but the Bishop's family surprised them by being home. Sister Hamilton also sent an email with the pictures that follow and a note saying that they brought popcorn and lemonade, too. Following the pictures is Katy's response.
That's awesome Sis. Hamilton emailed you. I love her tons! Their family is incredible and the rumor is that he is the best bishop in the whole mission!!! I don't know how I got blessed with that, but I am praying to stick around for a while. We had a meeting at his house that morning and the family was acting more somber than usual, so we decided we were going to sneak up on them and rake their yard. Only by the time we got the rakes the boys were already out raking. So we went and joined them and then Bish and Sis. Hamilton eventually saw us out there. We decided not to change into our work clothes because it wasn't too hot, but that was a bad idea. It was so humid, we were so gross for the rest of the day. Haha
My Weekly Accounting - Nov. 4, 2009
What's going on family? How was Halloween? I am dying to see pics of the kids costumes. We of course couldn't attend our ward party without a costume...so we dressed up as each other ;) We unfortunately didn't get a good picture of it, but it's not like our clothes are that different from each other though. We had a ward Octoberfest/Trunk or Treat. This was a sweet party. We had so many investigators come and we got more out of it. It's one of those activities that is easy for ward members to invite their friends and neighbors to. Norman's (elders) baptism was right before and we had one of our investigators there. Right after she was like I want to be baptized. We've only taught her the 1st lesson so far, so we have a ways to go before she actually can be baptized. But nonetheless, she is set for baptism for an undecided date. She lives with her boyfriend who speaks little English and she speaks little Spanish. But we got the Spanish elders over to start teaching him. I really like Elizabeth, so I hope they can work out their living situation. She is pregnant, so there are all kinds of ways Satan will try and get in there and change her mind. Satan works so overtime on our investigators and it stinks. They don't realize that it is Satan though. That's been one of the hardest things about the mission so far is Satan's influence on people and how he can disguise himself so well. Ahhh!
Norman's baptism. He's the one we stole the cigs from.
And our Halloween costumes!
Me and Sister Turner from the ward
Our cute door on Halloween.
People always give us random plants from their yards...
those Chinese lanterns being just one of the many.
Funny story-We went tracking in the neighborhood of a media referral and some half dressed man answered one of the doors. He looks at us, shakes his head and closes the door. First time for that. But awhile later and a few blocks away, we just pulled up to a members house and he comes by on a bike and awkwardly hands me his business card and said to come by later. Well it was on Halloween and we had to be in by 6pm, so that didn't happen. But I'll keep you posted if we ever teach him. It was just funny that he hunted us down on his bike.
We had temporary exchanges this week. Sister Case went to Smithfield for 2 days and Sister Halliday came to us. It was a good experience. This was good to be able to have the opportunity to teach more and be more involved in the by the way contacting (talking to the random people we see everywhere we go).
Sister Halliday - exchanges
Before I got here my ward had a Book of Mormon read a thon. It's sounded way cool. They basically had it over the course of 2 days and everyone would take turns reading and they would have random activities to break it up. But they just had all sorts of fun ways to keep people reading.
Thanks for the letters! I love ya!!!! Sister Talbot
P.S. Oh and if you ever email me pics, just be sure to mention it in the email because it's hard to tell when I have attachments. It's not as obvious on myldsmail.net. Weird I know.
Random pretty road we came across
Random water pond that is really pretty in a neighborhood.
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