A 5pm c-section? That means it will be 8pm here. That's forever away! I am so excited to see pictures of Tyler Jr. So what are we naming this baby anyways? Liam sounds like a good name to me ; )
Just a side note from Katy's mom - Aiden Kean Judd was born Monday, October 4, 2010 at 5:32 p.m. He was 7 lbs. 12 oz. and 20" long. Mother and baby are doing well and he really is a Tyler look alike.
This last week has been so great! Time is passing by really quickly. Last transfer seemed long, but this one is flying by. Mom, you asked if I would get a chance to see any other part of VA? I have no idea. I assume I have one more area in my future, but who knows if it will be somewhere new. I had a dream once about 2 months ago I was going to Harrisonburg. That'd be cool. They don't have sisters there now though. Pres. Perry has really been sending sisters to the other side of Richmond though, so you never know.
We taught this man named David Payne this week. We actually taught him twice this week. He has been friends with a member in VA Beach for 30 years or so and over the last 4 or 5 months David has really had an opportunity to read from the Book of Mormon and talk to his friend about the Church. So a few months ago the Stake had a High Priest Group social and he went and met Bishop Cluff and talked to him for a really long time. Bishop gave the elders his info and then the elders passed it to us because he lives too close to the beach. So we finally got to teach him and he is awesome. He already has a testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. He has committed to be baptized on November 20th! He has colon cancer and has been able to beat the odds over the last 2 years he's had it. He knows he's going to die and we know he will too. But that is why having the restored gospel is so wonderful and amazing. We know that because he will receive the ordinance of baptism he will be one of the valiant missionaries in the Spirit World. His testimony will convert many. He asks the question, why not be happy? He's dying of cancer and he asks, why not be happy? This man is incredible. He has two 15 year old twins who hopefully will be able to soon start the lessons and come to mutual activities. They need the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation to prepare for the inevitable event sure to come over the next year. Sister Dietz has come to both lessons with us and after the first lesson she said, I like him, we should keep him. Yes, we should and we are. David has to wear a bag to use the bathroom (tmi, I know) and mentioned that would be a concern in order to be fully immersed and before we could say anything about it, he said he'd check with his doctors and it will all work out. Seriously family, this guy is awesome. We will for sure visit him mom and dad when we come back next year.
We had some random man who may or may not have been under the influence of something shout to us as we were walking "ya'll are gorgeous ladies." So let it be known, the mission weight isn't too bad. As Sister Pinter and Sister Case say, we wear it well.
General Conference was so awesome! I forgot to bring my notes to the library with me :( So maybe next week I will give a conference review. They focused a lot on strengthening ourselves through faith and consistency. And they spoke a lot about agency as well. They quoted from 2 Nephi 2 more than anywhere else I think. If you haven't read this chapter in a while, it would be a good one to chase conference with. One quote I really liked was from Pres. Uchtdorf and it was proceed at the optimum speed for our circumstance. I like the idea of doing what is realistic for you. Sis. Wixom said that it took them 3.5 years to read the Book of Mormon as a family. They started by only reading a few verses a day, which was realistic for them at the time and then slowly increased as the kids got older. I am so glad she shared that story. Even if it is just one verse a day, it's something and it's showing the Lord we are willing. I also really liked the 14 points of why we need a living prophet and what comes with that. The prophet today is more valuable to us now than the standard works!!!!!! WOW!!! I talked to a member before conference and he said he told his 8 year old daughter that there was no church today. What!?!? I cannot believe people think General Conference is a weekend off. Just like Nephi says in 2 Nephi 33:15, "what I seal on earth (or what any prophet does), shall be brought against you at the judgement bar..." Makes me want to listen! I liked how Pres. Monson said at the end how our testimony should be a protection to us when the times get hard and someone also commented how the testimony should continue to be strengthened, so when hard times come we will have our strong faith to get us through. I read 3 Nephi 4: 10 this morning and I love the last half...the people were prepared and received strength of the Lord. Now is the time to prepare ourselves spiritually...but remembering to proceed at the optimum speed for our circumstances. Conference rocks!
I hope you all enjoyed Conference. Sister Vawdrey and I were talking this morning about how surprised we were at how many people we've talked to didn't watch it because they are waiting for the Ensign or just don't care about it. The prophet speaks for God...Conference is God speaking to us.
I seriously love this ward so much. The members are too cool and if I was married with kids, this is definitely the ward (not necessarily the city!) I would want to be in.
I love you!!!!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Hey Everybody!
Last night we had a Missionary Fireside and it was so good. The elders and us put it together and it turned out so nice. If only more people would have come though. As active and less-active members we have to ensure that we continue to have spiritual experiences and last night was. Jamien Basso was baptized last week gave his testimony for the first time and also Liz and Bella Otis who just hit their year mark of their baptism. Liz is such a rock. I love her so much and she really strengthens me everytime we teach her or hear her testimony. She just turned 26 and her daughter just turned 10. She had a rough patch in her life, but it was necessary because she sees now how necessary a Savior is and how the gospel blesses us. As far as individuals that have changed me on my mission, she is right up there with the Hamilton family. Oh by the way, did I tell you Sis. Dunn got transferred back to NN1? Pres. Perry has no idea what our old areas are, so there is still hope I can go back there someday! She is there with Sis. Woodruff now. Sweet! Back to the fireside...Sis. Stewart in the ward is an amazing pianist and she composes music, so she played one of her pieces. Bishop Cluff spoke and he shared insights from a book about William Tyndale called Fire in the Bones by Michael Wilcox. I want to read that book when I get home. Tyndale was around during the reformation era and translated the Bible. He suffered a lot of persecution and was a martyr for the cause. You can also read about him and other reformers in PMG, Chapter 3, end of Lesson 1.
On Saturday we taught Kat again. She is so great and I want so badly for her to accept the gospel. She admits that she has a hard time praying specifically to know the BoM is the word of God and that Joseph Smith is the prophet of the Restoration because she is afraid of the answer and because she is not quite ready to submit to the Lord's will. She helps to remember that this is real life. She reminds me a lot of me actually. Some of the things she says make me think if I wasn't born in the Church I would probably be like her. She has a great faith and is looking for more, so these are the times when we as missionaries develop patience and trust in the Lord's timing. But the lesson we taught was about real intent and asking questions in prayer. There is a lot of value in asking specific questions especially in regards to wanting to know truth and needing specific guidance. There haven't been many times on my mission where my own personal experiences have been relevant (never done drugs, never been to jail! haha) in a lesson, but in regards to asking specific questions I shared about when I was trying to decide where to go to college. I wanted one thing and I went for it and then ended up finally realizing it wasn't the right decision and then I made the decision to do what the Lord had in store. Kat is just so great!
We had a lesson with Jessica. I taught her once back in May. She is the young cute Navy wife who's husband is deployed and grew up in small town Baptist North Carolina town. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she loves the idea of eternal families. The way she was raised (Baptist/Adventist) they believe you remember you were married to your spouse after this life, but you are just brothers and sisters in the end. She at this point in unwilling to change her religion. But we are hopeful that she likes eternal families so much, that she will pray about it.
We were able to teach Shekaylia finally. We tried to pass her over to the Singles Branch, but nobody did anything. So we are hoping to see her every week! She pretty much fell less active after her baptism. Thank heavens that we rely on the Spirit to change people because we would not get anywhere with her if it was just us.
So we've been seeing lots of bugs and creatures lately. We had 4 cockroaches in our house. They were big ones too. Sis. V and I don't do bugs, so we yell for Sis. Case to save the day. The Kreitzer's took us to see this crazy spider at their house and when we were dropping off our laundry today the Kane's had a tree frog on their door frame. Ewww!
Relief Society Broadcast - It was soooo good! I really liked Sis. Thompson's talk a lot. She is great! I have really gained a testimony of VT on my mission because I see the fruit of when sisters do it and the potential fruit if others would do it. Sis. Long one of my favorite sisters in the ward came back to church about a year ago and she gives a lot of credit to her faithful visiting teacher, Sis. Royl.
Have a wonderful week!
On Saturday we taught Kat again. She is so great and I want so badly for her to accept the gospel. She admits that she has a hard time praying specifically to know the BoM is the word of God and that Joseph Smith is the prophet of the Restoration because she is afraid of the answer and because she is not quite ready to submit to the Lord's will. She helps to remember that this is real life. She reminds me a lot of me actually. Some of the things she says make me think if I wasn't born in the Church I would probably be like her. She has a great faith and is looking for more, so these are the times when we as missionaries develop patience and trust in the Lord's timing. But the lesson we taught was about real intent and asking questions in prayer. There is a lot of value in asking specific questions especially in regards to wanting to know truth and needing specific guidance. There haven't been many times on my mission where my own personal experiences have been relevant (never done drugs, never been to jail! haha) in a lesson, but in regards to asking specific questions I shared about when I was trying to decide where to go to college. I wanted one thing and I went for it and then ended up finally realizing it wasn't the right decision and then I made the decision to do what the Lord had in store. Kat is just so great!
We had a lesson with Jessica. I taught her once back in May. She is the young cute Navy wife who's husband is deployed and grew up in small town Baptist North Carolina town. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she loves the idea of eternal families. The way she was raised (Baptist/Adventist) they believe you remember you were married to your spouse after this life, but you are just brothers and sisters in the end. She at this point in unwilling to change her religion. But we are hopeful that she likes eternal families so much, that she will pray about it.
We were able to teach Shekaylia finally. We tried to pass her over to the Singles Branch, but nobody did anything. So we are hoping to see her every week! She pretty much fell less active after her baptism. Thank heavens that we rely on the Spirit to change people because we would not get anywhere with her if it was just us.
So we've been seeing lots of bugs and creatures lately. We had 4 cockroaches in our house. They were big ones too. Sis. V and I don't do bugs, so we yell for Sis. Case to save the day. The Kreitzer's took us to see this crazy spider at their house and when we were dropping off our laundry today the Kane's had a tree frog on their door frame. Ewww!
Relief Society Broadcast - It was soooo good! I really liked Sis. Thompson's talk a lot. She is great! I have really gained a testimony of VT on my mission because I see the fruit of when sisters do it and the potential fruit if others would do it. Sis. Long one of my favorite sisters in the ward came back to church about a year ago and she gives a lot of credit to her faithful visiting teacher, Sis. Royl.
Have a wonderful week!
Monday, September 20, 2010
Hey, Hey!
What's new this week? We had a great week. We had dinner last night with the Drake family. They are so cool. They invited Sis. Cobb and Sis. Cacho over, so it was a party. The Drake's were telling us how in Philadelphia they would get together with other dental students a lot and it was so much fun. Our ward here is pretty good about getting together and having FHE or dinners too. I hope my future wards in my life will be so fun like that. Bro. Drake also told me that Craig sent him a picture of a really disgusting mouth. I laughed because I knew that was my cousin. Haha
We had such a great lesson with this man named Anthony Calahan. We call him Bro. Calahan. We met him while tracting around a referral we received. He is retired Navy and was on the Enterprise for about 5-6 years. He grew up in Louisiana and was Catholic. I'm tempted to say his family came from the Carribean originally, but I'm not sure. While he was in the Navy he found himself a cute Filipino wife and has been married 23 years and has 4 kids. I talked to him this morning and he doesn't think his wife is very interested, but he already has read the passages in the BoM that we left with him. Now if we can get him to church and to pray specifically...! He lives around the corner from the Shealey's who are incredible and so willing to help, so they will be very instrumental in fellowshipping. Before we came to the lesson he had already read the pamphlet and looked at mormon.org (which if you still haven't done that...do it!). He seemed like he was skeptical, but by the end of the lesson he said he wanted to know and he knew that man would not give him the answer. So cool!
We had at least 7 less active families at church this Sunday. We again had to open the curtains! This ward is so awesome! Bishop Cluff is such a great bishop and is always willing to give his time and energy to serving. We always joke how he never sleeps. I learned early on in my mission that the leaders in the ward determine the success of the people in the ward. It's true and I've seen it over and over on my mission. Where the Ward Council is strong, so are the members and the missionary work.
Jamien Basso was baptized on Saturday. The elders have been teaching him for a couple of months. It was such a great baptism and was perfect for Jamien. We are super excited to have him in the ward. He is a man of many talents too. His mom is learning and so is his neighbor upstairs. They are both set to be baptized in October. They live on the roughest street in our area, so it's so awesome that the Spirit is changing it! There of course will still be lots of gang stuff and drugs on that street, but slowly but surely we'll convert the whole street! Bro. Corry used to live on it, but it was too bad he moved shortly after his baptism last August. The Lord has definitely prepared hearts in the ghetto areas here. I have had such an interesting experience in VA. I had no idea how many people were addicted to drugs and that it's normal for kids to be surrounded with it and with stabbings, etc. It's so sad. But I know the Lord will allow each of His children to choose to accept the gospel whether in mortality or in the Spirit World. I am listening now to a mom yelling at her kid in the library. I am truly grateful for the way I was brought up and that I have the gospel. The gospel truly blesses families!
I'm out of time, but I have a funny story to share first. We met this lady named Rhoda when we were going to contact another member referral (love those!). She asked us all sorts of sweet questions and then we set up a time to see her. She had to reschedule that lesson and so we finally saw her last week. When we got to her house she wasn't home. We were bummed, but we called her and she actually picked up. Usually they don't. Haha. She was at the store and originally in her mind I think she wasn't home on purpose. But the Spirit prompted her to return home for the lesson. She had lots of great questions for us and also some strange ones. She asked us randomly if we were virgins. If we would go to the Holiness church with her (we really hope we can work that out!). And if we wore perfume. This is where it got really funnny. She walked us out to our car and stopped at hers and said she wanted us to have this perfume. It's called Black Woman. She put a bunch on our arms and the smell was awful. She was like isn't this so good and nice and soft? Uh yeah sure. Haha. Well I tried to wash it off 3 times and it didn't budge. It was so stinky. We were telling a member about it and he said we should put in on the elders bikes. So after our meetings on Thursday we put some on their handle bars. It was so hilarious. They called us and said "you know what they say about paybacks right". Haha. They still haven't done anything to us. I don't think they will, they are too nice. Haha. The perfume is so strong it wouldn't surprise me if they'll be smelling black woman for a few months. Haha.
We had such a great lesson with this man named Anthony Calahan. We call him Bro. Calahan. We met him while tracting around a referral we received. He is retired Navy and was on the Enterprise for about 5-6 years. He grew up in Louisiana and was Catholic. I'm tempted to say his family came from the Carribean originally, but I'm not sure. While he was in the Navy he found himself a cute Filipino wife and has been married 23 years and has 4 kids. I talked to him this morning and he doesn't think his wife is very interested, but he already has read the passages in the BoM that we left with him. Now if we can get him to church and to pray specifically...! He lives around the corner from the Shealey's who are incredible and so willing to help, so they will be very instrumental in fellowshipping. Before we came to the lesson he had already read the pamphlet and looked at mormon.org (which if you still haven't done that...do it!). He seemed like he was skeptical, but by the end of the lesson he said he wanted to know and he knew that man would not give him the answer. So cool!
We had at least 7 less active families at church this Sunday. We again had to open the curtains! This ward is so awesome! Bishop Cluff is such a great bishop and is always willing to give his time and energy to serving. We always joke how he never sleeps. I learned early on in my mission that the leaders in the ward determine the success of the people in the ward. It's true and I've seen it over and over on my mission. Where the Ward Council is strong, so are the members and the missionary work.
Jamien Basso was baptized on Saturday. The elders have been teaching him for a couple of months. It was such a great baptism and was perfect for Jamien. We are super excited to have him in the ward. He is a man of many talents too. His mom is learning and so is his neighbor upstairs. They are both set to be baptized in October. They live on the roughest street in our area, so it's so awesome that the Spirit is changing it! There of course will still be lots of gang stuff and drugs on that street, but slowly but surely we'll convert the whole street! Bro. Corry used to live on it, but it was too bad he moved shortly after his baptism last August. The Lord has definitely prepared hearts in the ghetto areas here. I have had such an interesting experience in VA. I had no idea how many people were addicted to drugs and that it's normal for kids to be surrounded with it and with stabbings, etc. It's so sad. But I know the Lord will allow each of His children to choose to accept the gospel whether in mortality or in the Spirit World. I am listening now to a mom yelling at her kid in the library. I am truly grateful for the way I was brought up and that I have the gospel. The gospel truly blesses families!
I'm out of time, but I have a funny story to share first. We met this lady named Rhoda when we were going to contact another member referral (love those!). She asked us all sorts of sweet questions and then we set up a time to see her. She had to reschedule that lesson and so we finally saw her last week. When we got to her house she wasn't home. We were bummed, but we called her and she actually picked up. Usually they don't. Haha. She was at the store and originally in her mind I think she wasn't home on purpose. But the Spirit prompted her to return home for the lesson. She had lots of great questions for us and also some strange ones. She asked us randomly if we were virgins. If we would go to the Holiness church with her (we really hope we can work that out!). And if we wore perfume. This is where it got really funnny. She walked us out to our car and stopped at hers and said she wanted us to have this perfume. It's called Black Woman. She put a bunch on our arms and the smell was awful. She was like isn't this so good and nice and soft? Uh yeah sure. Haha. Well I tried to wash it off 3 times and it didn't budge. It was so stinky. We were telling a member about it and he said we should put in on the elders bikes. So after our meetings on Thursday we put some on their handle bars. It was so hilarious. They called us and said "you know what they say about paybacks right". Haha. They still haven't done anything to us. I don't think they will, they are too nice. Haha. The perfume is so strong it wouldn't surprise me if they'll be smelling black woman for a few months. Haha.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Good Food Week
So I have finally been to a Tepanyaki place. It's called Wasabi. It was soooo good. We went with the Mitchell's who are one of the coolest families in the ward. They are so fun! They grilled up some good food right at our table and we had some sushi and some Tempura cheesecake. It was cool when we shared our lesson, Sis. Mitchell said they have been studying PMG everyday since we came a week ago. So cool! Then at church I talked to another sister in the ward and she said that she has been studying PMG too. We are getting into every member home and teaching PMG. We share every member lesson practically out of PMG, so we always make them pull it out. Quite a few have started studying out of it on their own, which rocks. PMG-a guide to missionary service. It's purpose it to help every member learn how to be a missionary. It's so sweet! The day after we went to Wasabi we went to the Williamsons for dinner and a PMG lesson on Missionary Work. We gave them some pass along cards and they immediately set the goal to each give 2 away by the end of the month. So cool! I love this family. She does hair, so the first week of last transfer we all went to get our hair trimmed. He is from Scotland originally and they just moved here so he could do his PHD at Old Dominion University. And they made us curry!! This has been a good week for food I tell ya. I miss Indian, Thai, etc type of food.
So we have recently had some cockroaches in our apartment. Gross! Sis. Vawdrey and I have found 3 of the 4 and we just usually scream really loud and yell for Sis. Case to come and kill them. We're not sure where they are coming from suddenly because our apartment is clean. I'm afraid they are going to crawl on me in my sleep or something. We've gotten really freaked out. I hate praying next to my bed after the lights are out. I've been kneeling on my bed just to be safe. Haha
Vinolia is doing well. She was at church yesterday and really enjoyed herself. I didn't get to talk to her much because we had so many people at church. The last 2 Sundays we've had to open up the back! We see Vinolia for another lesson tomorrow. Her and her husband spoke about finding a church together, so she was hoping he would come with her to church, but she said that he wasn't ready. He wants her to wait to be baptized, but he's not doing anything about finding a church, so hopefully she can talk to him more about just letting her do what she wants to and he can come along when he is ready to do something about it. We need to start teaching more of the lessons when he is at home, so we can invite him to listen in.
We had a lesson at Mildred and Theresa's and Mildred's daughter Paulette who owns the house who just got out of jail was there. She was really interested to learn more, so we are going to start teaching her too. She is really cool and seems open to learning. She said she'd try to come to church, but she didn't make it unfortunately. There was a man who was fixing their toilets while we taught the lesson and then we ended up talking to him in the parking lot for 20 minutes. He was interested in learning more, but he's more of the skeptical type. The problem is that he would meet with us, but he lives in my last area in Newport News. He said he doesn't want to talk to other missionaries because he said he met us for a reason. So we're not sure what to do about him yet. We didn't set a lesson, so we'll have to call him.
Sunday we had 2 investigators at church (should have had more, but that's pretty normal) and a bunch of less active members. We had this one family show up. She has now come 4 times since I've been here in Norfolk and her husband came with her yesterday. He is on the Enterprise and this last run they had he got hooked up with the church members and I think he is ready to get the priesthood now. He grew up LA and never got the priesthood. They are a young couple and have an 18 month old, so it's the perfect timing for them to come back to church. He deploys in January and there are a bunch of members on the E, so it'll be a good situation for him.
Well time is up and I've got to go! I wanted to share some scriptures that I found recently that I have been sharing with lots of people because they've really helped me to understand more about the purpose of scripture study. I wish I had more time to elaborate, but I will share the scriptures and leave it to you. So read the section called Study the Scriptures on page 73 of PMG and then it's the verses on the top of page 74 I really like. My favorite is 2 Timothy 3:16-17. They are all good, but the Bible ones are my favorite. When I read this section the other day, it was like I had never read it before. I know that by studying scripture we can truly know what we need to do and who we can become. We learn about Jesus Christ and by doing so, can know what we can do in our lives to become more like him. We committed a member last night to read scripture everyday and I cannot wait to see how she is influenced because of it.
So we have recently had some cockroaches in our apartment. Gross! Sis. Vawdrey and I have found 3 of the 4 and we just usually scream really loud and yell for Sis. Case to come and kill them. We're not sure where they are coming from suddenly because our apartment is clean. I'm afraid they are going to crawl on me in my sleep or something. We've gotten really freaked out. I hate praying next to my bed after the lights are out. I've been kneeling on my bed just to be safe. Haha
Vinolia is doing well. She was at church yesterday and really enjoyed herself. I didn't get to talk to her much because we had so many people at church. The last 2 Sundays we've had to open up the back! We see Vinolia for another lesson tomorrow. Her and her husband spoke about finding a church together, so she was hoping he would come with her to church, but she said that he wasn't ready. He wants her to wait to be baptized, but he's not doing anything about finding a church, so hopefully she can talk to him more about just letting her do what she wants to and he can come along when he is ready to do something about it. We need to start teaching more of the lessons when he is at home, so we can invite him to listen in.
We had a lesson at Mildred and Theresa's and Mildred's daughter Paulette who owns the house who just got out of jail was there. She was really interested to learn more, so we are going to start teaching her too. She is really cool and seems open to learning. She said she'd try to come to church, but she didn't make it unfortunately. There was a man who was fixing their toilets while we taught the lesson and then we ended up talking to him in the parking lot for 20 minutes. He was interested in learning more, but he's more of the skeptical type. The problem is that he would meet with us, but he lives in my last area in Newport News. He said he doesn't want to talk to other missionaries because he said he met us for a reason. So we're not sure what to do about him yet. We didn't set a lesson, so we'll have to call him.
Sunday we had 2 investigators at church (should have had more, but that's pretty normal) and a bunch of less active members. We had this one family show up. She has now come 4 times since I've been here in Norfolk and her husband came with her yesterday. He is on the Enterprise and this last run they had he got hooked up with the church members and I think he is ready to get the priesthood now. He grew up LA and never got the priesthood. They are a young couple and have an 18 month old, so it's the perfect timing for them to come back to church. He deploys in January and there are a bunch of members on the E, so it'll be a good situation for him.
Well time is up and I've got to go! I wanted to share some scriptures that I found recently that I have been sharing with lots of people because they've really helped me to understand more about the purpose of scripture study. I wish I had more time to elaborate, but I will share the scriptures and leave it to you. So read the section called Study the Scriptures on page 73 of PMG and then it's the verses on the top of page 74 I really like. My favorite is 2 Timothy 3:16-17. They are all good, but the Bible ones are my favorite. When I read this section the other day, it was like I had never read it before. I know that by studying scripture we can truly know what we need to do and who we can become. We learn about Jesus Christ and by doing so, can know what we can do in our lives to become more like him. We committed a member last night to read scripture everyday and I cannot wait to see how she is influenced because of it.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Hurricane Earl
Another transfer in Norfolk for Sis. Vawdrey and I. Yay! I'm going to make it to at least 6 months here. One of the other sisters is transferring and another one coming in. With the elders in our ward, Elder Meacham who came last transfer is staying and Elder Cook who has been here for 2 transfers is transferring and they will both be District Leaders. So we will be getting Elder Crossley. I don't know him yet. A lot of changes are happening each transfer with Pres. Perry. Sis. Dunn is going back to NN1 and will be with Sis. Woodruff. That's crazy that she is going back there...she's only been away 2 transfers. They are also taking some sisters out of areas and putting in elders and also vice versa. There are 2 areas being opened to sisters this transfer on the other half of the mission which make a total of 4 sister areas on the other side. And I don't think he is done spreading the sisters out.
We have started teaching this new lady named Olivia. She is so cool. She has the 3 cutest kids ever. She used to meet with missionaries years ago, met with the elders once earlier in the year and now we are teaching her. The elders saw her in Wal-Mart last week on P-Day, so that's crazy she keeps running into missionaries. She lives in a bad area of town where she was raised and she wants so badly for her boys to grow up with a better life. She is a great mom and is trying really hard to help them be good. The gospel of Jesus Christ will definitely help her with that!
We are teaching this lady named Vinolia who is from Africa. She met her husband while he was in the Peace Corps assigned to Africa and have been married 5 years now. She has 3 kids still in Africa and she is trying to get her 12 year old here with her, but it's really expensive! The elders were teaching her, but have recently had us start teaching her. (It is so easy to pass the men to them and they pass the women to us.) We taught her in the Kreitzer's home yesterday and had dinner. It was fun. The Kreitzer's have 2 little girls and 1 little boy and Vinolia does so well with kids and they love her! She is one of those investigators who you know will keep her committments and tell you what she is thinking about what she is learning. Yay! We have talked to her about baptism and her husband who is not interested in learning but supportive said that she needs to wait a while. So we'll see what happens with him.
Yep, we survived Hurricane Earl. Haha. It was supposed to hit in the middle of the night Thursday night, but it took another path. All day Friday was windy and rainy though. But not really what I thought it would be. It wasn't like the Noreaster last year. The preparations for the hurricane were pretty funny. We had to carry our 72 hour kits with us everywhere. We also had to flip a huge trampoline upside down and fill a bunch of buckets of water. The Wal-Mart was really packed last week. We were looking forward to being Hurricane survivors, but we're glad it didn't stick around and cause us to have to be in. I had some weird flu last week and the day of the wind and rain it was the worst. But it's gone now and so is the rain.
Obviously the email is one day later than normal. With Labor Day, the libraries were closed, so we are emailing today. We forgot to plan it in our schedules, so we don't get the full hour. What were we thinking!?
Our youth had a fun activity this last Thursday. It was a YM/YW vs. Bishopric volleyball game. It was so funny! We wanted to go play too, but me in skirts and volleyball is a bad combo.
We have started teaching this new lady named Olivia. She is so cool. She has the 3 cutest kids ever. She used to meet with missionaries years ago, met with the elders once earlier in the year and now we are teaching her. The elders saw her in Wal-Mart last week on P-Day, so that's crazy she keeps running into missionaries. She lives in a bad area of town where she was raised and she wants so badly for her boys to grow up with a better life. She is a great mom and is trying really hard to help them be good. The gospel of Jesus Christ will definitely help her with that!
We are teaching this lady named Vinolia who is from Africa. She met her husband while he was in the Peace Corps assigned to Africa and have been married 5 years now. She has 3 kids still in Africa and she is trying to get her 12 year old here with her, but it's really expensive! The elders were teaching her, but have recently had us start teaching her. (It is so easy to pass the men to them and they pass the women to us.) We taught her in the Kreitzer's home yesterday and had dinner. It was fun. The Kreitzer's have 2 little girls and 1 little boy and Vinolia does so well with kids and they love her! She is one of those investigators who you know will keep her committments and tell you what she is thinking about what she is learning. Yay! We have talked to her about baptism and her husband who is not interested in learning but supportive said that she needs to wait a while. So we'll see what happens with him.
Yep, we survived Hurricane Earl. Haha. It was supposed to hit in the middle of the night Thursday night, but it took another path. All day Friday was windy and rainy though. But not really what I thought it would be. It wasn't like the Noreaster last year. The preparations for the hurricane were pretty funny. We had to carry our 72 hour kits with us everywhere. We also had to flip a huge trampoline upside down and fill a bunch of buckets of water. The Wal-Mart was really packed last week. We were looking forward to being Hurricane survivors, but we're glad it didn't stick around and cause us to have to be in. I had some weird flu last week and the day of the wind and rain it was the worst. But it's gone now and so is the rain.
Obviously the email is one day later than normal. With Labor Day, the libraries were closed, so we are emailing today. We forgot to plan it in our schedules, so we don't get the full hour. What were we thinking!?
Our youth had a fun activity this last Thursday. It was a YM/YW vs. Bishopric volleyball game. It was so funny! We wanted to go play too, but me in skirts and volleyball is a bad combo.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Mixed Reviews
All of these pics are from the Elders Quorum Fry Party that we had this last Saturday night. It was at the Banks house and it was so fun. I think the EQ definitely respects the sister missionaries! The big burger we ate (or attempted to eat) was called the Luther Burger. It is a double cheeseburger with bacon and an egg inside of a sliced in half krispy kreme donut. I gave Bro. Banks so much crap about this burger for months...until I tried it and it was actually good! We put the elders to shame who gave a weak effort. Haha
So this last week had some serious downers, but also some pretty awesome stories.
I never know if it's better to start with sad news or end with it. So I'll just go for it. Tomorrow we will be going to a funeral for 2 year old Dane Royl who was run over and died on his birthday this last Friday. It's so sad because Sis. Royl is one of the sisters I feel the closest to here in Norfolk and he was always the life of the party. She called us that night and asked us to come over. We quickly said of course and then I realized how underqualified I was to be the Lord's instrument at that time. But it's times like these that we truly learn to lean on the Lord and have confidence in Him and not ourselves. We didn't get home until 10:30pm and I slept horrible because all the events just kept replaying in my mind. I can't imagine what they are going through. She received a blessing and it said that the Lord has prepared her for this event. How interesting. It's strange that it sounds like almost all of us have funerals on Tuesday. Can someone please try and find his obituary and print it for me? We have no way to do that, but I would like to have it.
So you should have gotten the pictures for the EQ Fry Party. It was so funny. They started with the grill and did the Luther Burgers and then moved onto the deep fryer. They deep fried just about anything. They tried key lime pie, but it didn't work. They did pickles (so good!), oatmeal creme pies (not so good), nutty bars, rolos, twix and I think that might be it. It was such a hilarious party. It's not the first. Apparently it's at least an annual thing and I've heard rumor they do it more often...haha
The Primary had an activity called the Primary MTC. We were in charge of teaching the class on how to prepare to serve a mission and how to be a member missionary and then they wrote/drew letters for the missionaries serving elsewhere from the VA Beach Stake. I hope the kids got something from it. Those 3 year olds are a tough crowd. We enjoyed it a lot.
There is a section in Ch.9 of PMG that talks about going about doing good and so we are always looking for random service opps. They don't come around very often, but we went to tract this sketch area and we found one and then it turned super weird. This lady who was in a scooter was just looking around so we went to ask if there was anything we could help her with. She said she needed her wet laundry taken to the laundry room to be dried. Well we volunteered and she just kept saying it was too heavy for us. Well she underestimated us because we could do it no problem. We started walking to the laundry room and she came along on her scooter and was talking about how she forgot her helmet. We were talking to her about the Book of Mormon and she was saying really strange things, so we figured she wasn't really all there. When we got there we went back to her apt for the other bag and she sent us with her keys. So we go get it and then helped her put it in the dryer. The phone rang, so I was on the phone and then Sis. Vawdrey was setting up a lesson with a lady who walked up. Then this other lady started saying things like "are you saying I'm mental?' and all sorts of weird things while Sis. Vawdrey was setting up this lesson. Awkward! We ended up passing her a couple of more time and when we were back around her apt she was yelling about how "they stole my money. this is a drug place and they stole my money." We weren't sure who she was accusing but she gave us her keys at one point, so we decided it would be best to just leave at this point. It was the funny half hour ever.
We had some great lessons this week. We watched the Testaments with Mildred and Theresa Davis and they loved it. Their house keeps getting broken into while they are at church, so Mildred said she wasn't coming to church so she could catch the people. We both had a really bad feeling about that, but she had her mind made up. Until she watched the movie and then she's like "nothing is going to stop me from coming to church." Yay! So she came to church and it was so good. We also had a few other "returning members" show up at church. There is this one man named Bro. Crisler. He is so cool. He is a biker dude with the long ponytail. We haven't really taught him much, but we've stopped by a handful of times. He said that when he was going to come to church that he would surprise me. And he did yesterday! It was so cool to see him there. He came because his 8 year old daughter wanted to! Yay!
Well I hope this letter finds you all doing well. Norfolk is crazy as always, but that's why I love it so much!
When Sis. Clous (recent convert) painted our fingernails for us.
-District P-Day (b-ball, v-ball, ultimate frisbee!) and our coordinating outfits.
-Our current district
With the Book girls
We taught a class at the Primary MTC class. So fun!
So this last week had some serious downers, but also some pretty awesome stories.
I never know if it's better to start with sad news or end with it. So I'll just go for it. Tomorrow we will be going to a funeral for 2 year old Dane Royl who was run over and died on his birthday this last Friday. It's so sad because Sis. Royl is one of the sisters I feel the closest to here in Norfolk and he was always the life of the party. She called us that night and asked us to come over. We quickly said of course and then I realized how underqualified I was to be the Lord's instrument at that time. But it's times like these that we truly learn to lean on the Lord and have confidence in Him and not ourselves. We didn't get home until 10:30pm and I slept horrible because all the events just kept replaying in my mind. I can't imagine what they are going through. She received a blessing and it said that the Lord has prepared her for this event. How interesting. It's strange that it sounds like almost all of us have funerals on Tuesday. Can someone please try and find his obituary and print it for me? We have no way to do that, but I would like to have it.
So you should have gotten the pictures for the EQ Fry Party. It was so funny. They started with the grill and did the Luther Burgers and then moved onto the deep fryer. They deep fried just about anything. They tried key lime pie, but it didn't work. They did pickles (so good!), oatmeal creme pies (not so good), nutty bars, rolos, twix and I think that might be it. It was such a hilarious party. It's not the first. Apparently it's at least an annual thing and I've heard rumor they do it more often...haha
The Primary had an activity called the Primary MTC. We were in charge of teaching the class on how to prepare to serve a mission and how to be a member missionary and then they wrote/drew letters for the missionaries serving elsewhere from the VA Beach Stake. I hope the kids got something from it. Those 3 year olds are a tough crowd. We enjoyed it a lot.
There is a section in Ch.9 of PMG that talks about going about doing good and so we are always looking for random service opps. They don't come around very often, but we went to tract this sketch area and we found one and then it turned super weird. This lady who was in a scooter was just looking around so we went to ask if there was anything we could help her with. She said she needed her wet laundry taken to the laundry room to be dried. Well we volunteered and she just kept saying it was too heavy for us. Well she underestimated us because we could do it no problem. We started walking to the laundry room and she came along on her scooter and was talking about how she forgot her helmet. We were talking to her about the Book of Mormon and she was saying really strange things, so we figured she wasn't really all there. When we got there we went back to her apt for the other bag and she sent us with her keys. So we go get it and then helped her put it in the dryer. The phone rang, so I was on the phone and then Sis. Vawdrey was setting up a lesson with a lady who walked up. Then this other lady started saying things like "are you saying I'm mental?' and all sorts of weird things while Sis. Vawdrey was setting up this lesson. Awkward! We ended up passing her a couple of more time and when we were back around her apt she was yelling about how "they stole my money. this is a drug place and they stole my money." We weren't sure who she was accusing but she gave us her keys at one point, so we decided it would be best to just leave at this point. It was the funny half hour ever.
We had some great lessons this week. We watched the Testaments with Mildred and Theresa Davis and they loved it. Their house keeps getting broken into while they are at church, so Mildred said she wasn't coming to church so she could catch the people. We both had a really bad feeling about that, but she had her mind made up. Until she watched the movie and then she's like "nothing is going to stop me from coming to church." Yay! So she came to church and it was so good. We also had a few other "returning members" show up at church. There is this one man named Bro. Crisler. He is so cool. He is a biker dude with the long ponytail. We haven't really taught him much, but we've stopped by a handful of times. He said that when he was going to come to church that he would surprise me. And he did yesterday! It was so cool to see him there. He came because his 8 year old daughter wanted to! Yay!
Well I hope this letter finds you all doing well. Norfolk is crazy as always, but that's why I love it so much!
Monday, August 23, 2010
A Fun Week
This week was a lot of fun. We had a lesson with Terra and Zach Drake who are new in the ward. We were getting to know them and we asked about the Navy and all that good stuff. He's been in the Navy technically for like 5 years or something, but went to dental school right after he signed up. Guess where he went and when he graduated? He went to Temple and graduated in 2009...just like Craig. And yes, they know them! How cool! I haven't really had that many connections on the mission yet, but this is the best! Oh and guess who I saw on Sunday going to the Bayside Ward? Justine Wiltbank! I only saw her long enough to grab and hug and for her to call me Neely. Haha.
Tuesday night we taught Kat again. She read from the Book of Mormon, but I don't think she actually prayed to know the truth of it and also about Joseph Smith yet. She had a concern about Joseph Smith and about us following him. This is a valid concern with her background. She is Lutheran and Martin Luther was one of the great reformers who called the Catholic church out on lots of things (payment for forgiveness of their sins being one of them!). He was a good man, but he didn't want any followers, but those that believed his teachings created the Lutheran church. So she respects him a lot for doing what he did and not expecting people to follow and worship him. So we taught her a little more about why we talk about Joseph Smith, but that he was an instrument in God's hands and not to be the person we follow. She didn't come to church again, but she strikes me as a person who once she does, she will come every week. We are going to teach her next about prayer and humility. I think she is fearful of praying because she knows she can and will get an answer and it might just mean that she has to change. Submission to the will of God is challenging thing, but is necessary! We love her so much!
Bishop Cluff is getting really excited about missionary work. Our new ward mission leader is amazing and Bishop just called two more couples to be ward missionaries. We have so many now! I love my life! I really hope the Lord sees fit for me to stay in Norfolk for a little while longer. The elders in the ward are really good too and understand the concept of multiple missionaries in a ward.
After Bible Study on Tuesday we get a call from the sisters we live with saying they just got in an accident and they need a ride. Uh...?! The roads in Norfolk are weird and have medians that really make it hard to see oncoming traffic and it was dusk and they didn't see a tan colored car coming. It crushed the front end of the car, but the car they hit didn't really have damage to match that of the poor Corolla. They are okay, they just don't have a car. The elders in their ward have a car and bikes, so they have been able to use their car temporarily. It's not sounding like they'll get a car before the transfer either.
Oh guess what I forgot to tell you?!?!? Nylons are now optional in the VRM! And we can now use iPods! Pres. Perry has taken away all the restrictions pretty much. Before elders couldn't get within 2 blocks of beach, but that rule is gone now. This change is now going to allow more sisters to serve on the other half of the mission. I kind of want to experience the other side, but I also want to stay right where I am at!
We taught Mildred and Theresa about the Word of Wisdom this week. Mildred has been drinking green tea and we wanted to teach it to her so she knew it was against a commandment. She is hard core and when we were teaching it she's telling us how she drinks it everyday and said that she would no more. She just wants to live the best life she can for God. She's had a CRAZY past and she is just so motivated to do the right thing! She is awesome!
Well it's that time again. I love you! Thanks for the letters you send me!
Tuesday night we taught Kat again. She read from the Book of Mormon, but I don't think she actually prayed to know the truth of it and also about Joseph Smith yet. She had a concern about Joseph Smith and about us following him. This is a valid concern with her background. She is Lutheran and Martin Luther was one of the great reformers who called the Catholic church out on lots of things (payment for forgiveness of their sins being one of them!). He was a good man, but he didn't want any followers, but those that believed his teachings created the Lutheran church. So she respects him a lot for doing what he did and not expecting people to follow and worship him. So we taught her a little more about why we talk about Joseph Smith, but that he was an instrument in God's hands and not to be the person we follow. She didn't come to church again, but she strikes me as a person who once she does, she will come every week. We are going to teach her next about prayer and humility. I think she is fearful of praying because she knows she can and will get an answer and it might just mean that she has to change. Submission to the will of God is challenging thing, but is necessary! We love her so much!
Bishop Cluff is getting really excited about missionary work. Our new ward mission leader is amazing and Bishop just called two more couples to be ward missionaries. We have so many now! I love my life! I really hope the Lord sees fit for me to stay in Norfolk for a little while longer. The elders in the ward are really good too and understand the concept of multiple missionaries in a ward.
After Bible Study on Tuesday we get a call from the sisters we live with saying they just got in an accident and they need a ride. Uh...?! The roads in Norfolk are weird and have medians that really make it hard to see oncoming traffic and it was dusk and they didn't see a tan colored car coming. It crushed the front end of the car, but the car they hit didn't really have damage to match that of the poor Corolla. They are okay, they just don't have a car. The elders in their ward have a car and bikes, so they have been able to use their car temporarily. It's not sounding like they'll get a car before the transfer either.
Oh guess what I forgot to tell you?!?!? Nylons are now optional in the VRM! And we can now use iPods! Pres. Perry has taken away all the restrictions pretty much. Before elders couldn't get within 2 blocks of beach, but that rule is gone now. This change is now going to allow more sisters to serve on the other half of the mission. I kind of want to experience the other side, but I also want to stay right where I am at!
We taught Mildred and Theresa about the Word of Wisdom this week. Mildred has been drinking green tea and we wanted to teach it to her so she knew it was against a commandment. She is hard core and when we were teaching it she's telling us how she drinks it everyday and said that she would no more. She just wants to live the best life she can for God. She's had a CRAZY past and she is just so motivated to do the right thing! She is awesome!
Well it's that time again. I love you! Thanks for the letters you send me!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Weekly Happenings - Aug. 16, 2010
Mildred and Theresa Davis who are just so awesome and haven't missed a Sunday since we met them.
Canning corn at Sis. Hughes' house!
Leano Book's baptism...the gym was set up for a wedding dinner, so we just used their props for a picture!
We had a sister's meeting in Newport News. These are all the sisters we have! The most in any mission besides visitor centers.
Another week has flown by. Whenever I sit down to write I can never remember what I've done because there's too much to remember. Thank heavens for planners!
One funny quote for this week: We were at a member's house and painted our nails. When it was time to go the 6 year old daughter said the prayer and said "Heavenly Father, if you want to get your nails done, just call us." Haha, it was so funny! Little kids say the best prayers.
There is a gas station that has a sign and each week they post an oxymoron. It's so funny to see what they put. This week it's "Least Favorite". I like it.
So Friday the 13th was not my favorite day this week. We had our weekly planning session that morning, so after lunch I pull out of the driveway and turn the corner and realize that we have a flat tire. What?!?!? We always make fun of the elders because they get so many flats on their bikes. Ooops! I had driven over a huge screw at some point the night before. So we ended up at Pep Boys all afternoon. Luckily it's across from the Target that we never get to go to. We tried to find new investigators, but no takers. Weirdly enough, we didn't have any appointments scheduled, which is really weird for Fridays. We attempted to help change the tire to put the spare on, but our Samoan landlord Sister Book did it.
We have had a couple of really awesome lessons this week. One was with Kat on Monday night. She was a referral from someone in the ward, so we were really excited about it. She knows this other family in the ward too, so we had the lesson at their house. Kat grew up a Lutheran pastor's daughter. She of course had her rebellious period, but those events really helped to realize she wants to be Christian. She really has been prepared for this gospel. It's whether or not she lets herself accept it. We meet with her again tonight, so we'll get to hear more about how she's doing and how her prayers have been going. She is a successful photographer and a pretty lady and she has drive to get things done. So we know that she will try hard to keep her committments. The member whose house it was in shared a really powerful testimony and also shared a great conversion story. She was "raised" on and off in the church, but it wasn't till her husband converted that she really went through her own conversion. Now she is what we like to call in missionary slang, "solid". Kat is really great and she already knew about the reformation! She just didn't understand why it occurred and how we came out of it. Now she does!
We also taught Amy. She is a Navy wife/mom who also does some babysitting on the side. She is crafty and skilled and sells Stampin Up. She also is so prepared for this gospel, but she may not be so great at keeping her committments. We'll see. Her 7 year old turns 8 this week and he is super sporty, but helps his mom craft too. She says he's too young to realize it's a girl thing. She also has a 14 year old. We need more of them in the ward. We need this family! I pray for Amy all the time that she will keep her committments. There is a saying we use here "Committments are the threads through which covenants are woven." If people cannot keep committments, they will not be able to honor their covenants. She is so great and as she comes to know more I think she will just love it! She was so excited throughout our whole lesson and Sis. Kreitzer came with us and was such an asset to the lesson with her experiences and testimony. It was one of the best lessons that I've had on my mission I think. Everything just went well and the Spirit was there and we know she felt it. She is a mom and a wife. She is crafty and fun. She wants to know the truth. She is not yet a Mormon. Have you all seen the profiles on mormon.org? That is where this last part is from. Otherwise it won't be funny to you probably. You should go on and create a profile on mormon.org...and then let me know so I can look at it. We can now view mormon.org!
Erica is still doing well. She came to church again. She has this weird stare that makes me weirded out, so lessons are kind of funny. But she is really progressing and her faith is increasing! Did I tell you about her neighbor down the street yet? She isn't mormon because she isn't baptized but everything about her is mormon. Her circle of friends are all members in VA Beach and her daughter goes to Faith in God and her sons go to mutual activities. She loves gardening and wants to learn to can. Susan is amazing...and she talks a lot. But people in VA do. They like to talk A LOT! She always leaves us red bags filled with Tomatoes (oh goody!) and cookies or brownies on her porch. She said that she's not sure she's ready to have formal lessons yet. I think she knows she will accept it, but maybe not ready to make the change of having to be a part of a church. But I think with her it will be us seeing her regularly and sharing tid bits until she feels more like committing. She is so cool!
Well I hope you all have a great week. I always love hearing from you! In the snail mail too!!!
Monday, August 9, 2010
Me Again!
Norfolk is such an interesting city. It is so different everyday. One day we love the area and the next we're like this place is crazy! We had a lot of that this week. We taught a member referral this week named Rebecca. She seemed just a little off, but was soaking up what we were teaching. As we were teaching she randomly told us she had HIV. That's not so uncommon to have that dropped here, so we just moved on. Then a little while later her cat came up and jumped on her and the claw went into her arm and it was so sudden that we all jumped and the cat ran off. Meanwhile her arm starts bleeding and in my mind I'm like, oh no, she has HIV. It was so weird and she just kept apologizing for her cat. Haha. We taught her again this week and she was loving it and then she was supposed to come to church with the member and we saw her yesterday and hands us the Book of Mormon we gave Rebecca and said she decided to stop learning. Weird! I don't get people, but what's new. Something funny about Rebecca is that she kept asking me if I have ever thought about becoming a pastor. I think she asked me like 15 times. Haha. Well I guess that's an option for when I get home....haha
Sis. Mundy in the ward (who makes delicious scotcharoos) was telling us about a friend that she used to be a crossing guard with that she wants to share the gospel with. Well she didn't necessarily want to at first, but she felt prompted by the Spirit to and I think that helped her have the desire. So we had a lesson with her and practiced role playing with her. I don't know if I ever told you that we have to role play everyday. It helps when we have to give committments that make us nervous or when we are teaching something that we aren't sure how it'll go over. It was fun with Sis. Mundy and she is really good at it!
We had a zone meeting this last week and we talked a lot about ward mission plans. As missionaries we have no say in them, but it's our responsibility to help the members to know about it and to support it. I have no idea what the Norfolk 2 plan is. I think it's something that the Stake is going to be meeting with the bishops to get it rolling. But something that Sis. Vawdrey and I have decided to do was to introduce the idea of a family mission plan to our members in the meantime. Some members already have one, but most do not here. It's such a good idea and I cannot wait to have one of my own! Basically what it is are goals for how to be involved in missionary work as a family. The suggestions are for there to be 3 or less items on the list and for those 3 to be simple and actionable. So basically pick a few things that you think you can do as a family that are realistic. Some of the takers have been to invite other families over for FHE, pray (for missionaries all over world, missionaries in the ward specifically by name, and missionary opportunities), give away 1 pass along card week/month, study Preach My Gospel together (a guide to missionary service!), etc. If you don't already have a family mission plan, it might be something to look into. It makes for a fun FHE and helps to teach kids about member missionary work. The earlier they start the easier it will be for them to share the gospel.
Saturday was Leano Book's baptism. She turned 8 and had such a fun baptism. We gave the message while she was changing and talked about how the gospel brings us joy. Leano is one of the girls that lives below us.
This week we also met a girl named Erica. The elders in N1 gave her a pass along card at a bus stop and she called for a Book of Mormon. When we got the text for her request we just coincidentally were near her area, so we went by the drop it off and walked in a taught her a lesson. She has some mental health issues, which has resulted in a really hard life. She says she is Christian, but she doesn't really know much about religion at all. She never prays, but at the end of the lesson she said she would. It was great. A few days later we went back and taught another lesson and she prayed again. Then she came to church yesterday and really liked it. We are going to see her again on Wednesday and teach her more about the Book of Mormon and why it's important to read. The other 2 lessons we focused on faith and repentance and building a relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I haven't had many of those lessons here because most people already strongly believe. I like these lessons!
Well I guess that's all for now! I love you!
Sister Talbot
Sis. Mundy in the ward (who makes delicious scotcharoos) was telling us about a friend that she used to be a crossing guard with that she wants to share the gospel with. Well she didn't necessarily want to at first, but she felt prompted by the Spirit to and I think that helped her have the desire. So we had a lesson with her and practiced role playing with her. I don't know if I ever told you that we have to role play everyday. It helps when we have to give committments that make us nervous or when we are teaching something that we aren't sure how it'll go over. It was fun with Sis. Mundy and she is really good at it!
We had a zone meeting this last week and we talked a lot about ward mission plans. As missionaries we have no say in them, but it's our responsibility to help the members to know about it and to support it. I have no idea what the Norfolk 2 plan is. I think it's something that the Stake is going to be meeting with the bishops to get it rolling. But something that Sis. Vawdrey and I have decided to do was to introduce the idea of a family mission plan to our members in the meantime. Some members already have one, but most do not here. It's such a good idea and I cannot wait to have one of my own! Basically what it is are goals for how to be involved in missionary work as a family. The suggestions are for there to be 3 or less items on the list and for those 3 to be simple and actionable. So basically pick a few things that you think you can do as a family that are realistic. Some of the takers have been to invite other families over for FHE, pray (for missionaries all over world, missionaries in the ward specifically by name, and missionary opportunities), give away 1 pass along card week/month, study Preach My Gospel together (a guide to missionary service!), etc. If you don't already have a family mission plan, it might be something to look into. It makes for a fun FHE and helps to teach kids about member missionary work. The earlier they start the easier it will be for them to share the gospel.
Saturday was Leano Book's baptism. She turned 8 and had such a fun baptism. We gave the message while she was changing and talked about how the gospel brings us joy. Leano is one of the girls that lives below us.
This week we also met a girl named Erica. The elders in N1 gave her a pass along card at a bus stop and she called for a Book of Mormon. When we got the text for her request we just coincidentally were near her area, so we went by the drop it off and walked in a taught her a lesson. She has some mental health issues, which has resulted in a really hard life. She says she is Christian, but she doesn't really know much about religion at all. She never prays, but at the end of the lesson she said she would. It was great. A few days later we went back and taught another lesson and she prayed again. Then she came to church yesterday and really liked it. We are going to see her again on Wednesday and teach her more about the Book of Mormon and why it's important to read. The other 2 lessons we focused on faith and repentance and building a relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I haven't had many of those lessons here because most people already strongly believe. I like these lessons!
Well I guess that's all for now! I love you!
Sister Talbot
Monday, August 2, 2010
The USS Enterprise
So I will start by telling you about the cool P-Day we've had. We went to take a tour of the Enterprise! Yay! I've been wanting to do that forever. There is a member in the 1st Ward that asked us if we wanted to go and of course we say yes! You're all probably wondering what the Enterprise is and why it would be cool to tour. I've been hearing about the boat (yes, they call it a boat) practically my whole mission and have met so many people that are on it (they have 5000 assigned to it). It is an aircraft carrier and can hold 80 fighter jets on it. It also has 8 nuclear reactors. So it's a big deal. They leave tomorrow for a 45 day workup, so we got to go just in the nick of time. They are set to deploy in January. It's been in the shipyard for repairs for sooo long, so now that it's fixed, it's almost ready to go. I think some of you have heard that the Truman left in May and the Eisenhower just got back. We actually saw the Eisenhower from the Enterprise. They were parked right next to each other. Now if I can find a way to tour a sub...
Nope we didn't get to see the Eisenhower pull in. Yeah, I've heard it's pretty cool when they leave and come back. The Truman left shortly after I got here, so some of the wives showed us pictures of it. Quite the experience.
We are going to have a Sister's Meeting on the 10th, so that should be great. Last sister's meeting was really good and we always do a clothing exchange where we bring the clothes we are too fat for and the ones other sisters have left behind.
So I have forgotten to update you on my finger. Last week most of the nail seperated from the bottom and turned this weird green color. Gross! And then as I was knocking on the door of our lesson, I bumped it and it popped almost all the way off. I grabbed my finger just as she was opening the door and eventually I just had to tell her and take care of it. Not all the nail was dead, so we had to do some minor surgery on my nail. It actually was really good timing because she had lost a nail once and is really into nails, so she was really helpful. But now I have officially lost a fingernail. It was weird because there is a partial nail that was there when it fell off. It's pretty ugly right now.
Transfers were a success. Sister Vawdrey and I are having a lot of fun and it's been great to have her here. She is a very diligent missionary and we both just want to get out and work and do what the Lord wants us to. The area has already picked up so much since she got here. One thing President Perry said was that we are working towards the members doing all the finding and then never having a need to tract. Yesterday was a prime example. It started raining, so we decided not to tract on the road we had planned for. We had just received 2 member referrals, so decided to call them and see if they would want to learn more. So in a matter of a few minutes we set up 2 new lessons! Tracting has not been effective here at all. It was huge in Newport News, but I haven't had any luck with it here in Norfolk. This ward is so incredible at talking to people.
We just got a new Ward Mission Leader, Bro. Kreitzer. He and his wife are sooo excited about it and we are too. Sis. Kreitzer said that she was preparing for a mission when she met her husband, so she is excited to be a ward missionary. Another new couple, the Deitz, were also called to be ward missionaries and the wives already coordinated babysitting with each other so they can come out with us. It's a dream come true! We have 5 sisters who are ward missionaries. I love my life! And with Sis. Vawdrey here it's going to rock!
Sister Vawdrey is from Bluffdale, UT and went to Snow College before her mission. Then she did the dental assisting program at SLCC. She is just cute and little. I had 4 tall comps in a row, so it's a fun change.
Nope we didn't get to see the Eisenhower pull in. Yeah, I've heard it's pretty cool when they leave and come back. The Truman left shortly after I got here, so some of the wives showed us pictures of it. Quite the experience.
We are going to have a Sister's Meeting on the 10th, so that should be great. Last sister's meeting was really good and we always do a clothing exchange where we bring the clothes we are too fat for and the ones other sisters have left behind.
So I have forgotten to update you on my finger. Last week most of the nail seperated from the bottom and turned this weird green color. Gross! And then as I was knocking on the door of our lesson, I bumped it and it popped almost all the way off. I grabbed my finger just as she was opening the door and eventually I just had to tell her and take care of it. Not all the nail was dead, so we had to do some minor surgery on my nail. It actually was really good timing because she had lost a nail once and is really into nails, so she was really helpful. But now I have officially lost a fingernail. It was weird because there is a partial nail that was there when it fell off. It's pretty ugly right now.
Transfers were a success. Sister Vawdrey and I are having a lot of fun and it's been great to have her here. She is a very diligent missionary and we both just want to get out and work and do what the Lord wants us to. The area has already picked up so much since she got here. One thing President Perry said was that we are working towards the members doing all the finding and then never having a need to tract. Yesterday was a prime example. It started raining, so we decided not to tract on the road we had planned for. We had just received 2 member referrals, so decided to call them and see if they would want to learn more. So in a matter of a few minutes we set up 2 new lessons! Tracting has not been effective here at all. It was huge in Newport News, but I haven't had any luck with it here in Norfolk. This ward is so incredible at talking to people.
We just got a new Ward Mission Leader, Bro. Kreitzer. He and his wife are sooo excited about it and we are too. Sis. Kreitzer said that she was preparing for a mission when she met her husband, so she is excited to be a ward missionary. Another new couple, the Deitz, were also called to be ward missionaries and the wives already coordinated babysitting with each other so they can come out with us. It's a dream come true! We have 5 sisters who are ward missionaries. I love my life! And with Sis. Vawdrey here it's going to rock!
Sister Vawdrey is from Bluffdale, UT and went to Snow College before her mission. Then she did the dental assisting program at SLCC. She is just cute and little. I had 4 tall comps in a row, so it's a fun change.
On the flight deck of the Enterprise. This plane isn't one they fly. There is a fake person in there.
On the flight deck. We went all the way to the top after we got done with the flight deck.
The N1 and N2 elders with us right before transfers.
McKinnon, Dane, and Titus Royl with Sis. Boston and I in the back. Such cute little boys!
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