February 25, 2013

How is everyone doing?

My companions and I have truly loved the box. We have had way too many goodies and I have just loved looking at the pictures.

Trent- Mom and Dad are so very proud about your talk on Sunday. They say that you did an amazing job. I am so proud of you too. You are great. I love you so much I can't wait to get a copy of it! I'm secretly lucky that i haven't had to talk in front of really big crowds. Quick, knock on wood!

Amberly- Mom and Dad said that you made a basket on the buzzer! How exciting is that! You are growing up way tooo much! I teach people who are 10 and i think there is no way Amberly is this grown up now. nope. not at all :)

Dad I hope you get better soon!

I have to admit that I'm not quite sure what I want to say today. We had a good week. On Tuesday, our zone fasted to find new families to teach. It was wonderful in that we received 3 referrals all in that same day. Quite a miracle!

We have a girl preparing to be baptised on March 9th that I am very excited for. She loves everything in the church.

Getting to go to church this week was fun. I love getting to see all the new faces and getting to know everyone. We actually had to go into primary classes 3 times because the teachers wanted help with their lessons from "missionaries" It was fun. Why does everyone always get a kick out of the fact that we eat lunch during church :)

It was kinda fun to get to go to young women's this week. I kept thinking about what y'all were doing in Katy Mills. It was a good lesson in the Picaho ward with a very small group of girls. It was really funny because I kept thinking, I definitely am not (myself) in young women's anymore.

A miracle that we had this week occurred when we ate at a Thai Restaurant with a member. When it came time to pay the bill, the waitress came up to us and told that the bill had already been picked up. It was a miracle because it was just a little act of kindness from a unnamed stranger.

Recently, we have been doing a lot of tracting ideas. when the weather is its coldest. But the other night, I met a man that I really admire. He was outside putting things in his truck when we came up to visit with him. He said that he had been to a few churches but now he just practices his own faith in God. It was evident that he had been searching for God in the past, but without any luck, he had put it on the back burner. I admire him for talking with us and for accepting a BoM. I pray that he will accept our invitation to read from it and to continue the search to fill the void that he has been missing. I also admire him for standing out in the cold, in socks with us as i was shivering. Hey, sharing and learning of the gospel is a marvelous work and a wonder.

We also taught a woman who had gone less active because of her trials. She'd ask why me and why now? What I truly admire about her is that after some time away from the church, she has started to realize that God does love her, that she agreed to her trials, and that although things do not happen the way she wants them to, God still answers her prayers. I love her faith and her desire to have the spirit in her heart again. She knows that it will be hard to come back to church again, but after this little hiccup, all will be OK.

My companions and I have been talking about what would make us fall away from the truth, and the answer of "nothing" is illogical without actions. I know that when we keep to the commandments, and keep to doing the little things in life, then, can nothing stand in our way. It does not mean that we won't have trails, but that our trails will not over come us with determination to follow the Savior in faith.

I have also began to really tell the difference between people who are not members and people who are at heart. They way they face trials is so different. The members at heart have strength and hope in the atonement. In the fact that through the atonement of Jesus Christ, all that is wrong in this world will be made right. It is also true that the spirit is already there in there home when we come in. It is amazing to teach in a members home because we are not always bringing the spirit in with us, but rather magnifying the spirit that is already there.

Mom- Oh, yes, we heard about the missions! SO cool! Also, our new mission prs. in July will be..... President and Sister Miller! :) just, a different set of Millers... not confusing right :) I'm really excited for it,

Mom- bacon, sausage and lots of it.

 

Ward Council is soooo weird. its like knowing the organization of the church and participating in it. sooo odd.

I LOVE Y'ALL SOOOO MUCH!!!!! I pray for you everyday

2/19/13

Hey 1 year till I come home! Exactly! Weird.

Alright, so y'all keep telling me to be good and have fun with my companion, but my question is which one? :) I am serving with Sister Davidson (Wyoming) and Sister Smith(Australia, Melbourne- also a temple square sister here for her last transfer proselyting) and they are awesome! It is so strange to be in a new area with 2 sisters rather than one. I really like the change honestly. We have a lot of fun! I love the area and it is soooo much warmer down here! no chance of snow for sure. The sisters I am with pink washed this area last transfer. It is very nice to be with them because although they do know they area, they are still learning everything too. I have a little catch up to do but that's it.

Ok, so before I tell you of all the exciting stuff, I have one bit of sad news. Do you remember my investigator named Charles? Black man with a small Afro and a bit older (60s) He gave me the garlic that I sent home for Christmas? Well, a few weeks ago he had a stoke. I found out on Thursday that Charles had passed away this last week. Its been a bit hard to think about, because I love him sooo much and you don't really think about those types of things happening in the mission. But I am sooo thankful, because the day he had a stroke, was the same day that we had ramdonly decided to stop by. I was able to truly testify of the Church and truly explain how much I loved him, not because I wanted him to get "dunked- his words" but because I knew it was true and I loved him so much that I wanted it for him too. I love him sooo much. I am so happy and have comfort in knowing that he is now an investigator with his wife in the Spirit World.

:) This area is very different in that we have a very small teaching pool that we are working to build up. We had so many people in our last area, that the wards were split and I hope to eventually see that here too. I am in the Picacho and Dona Anna Wards. I loved getting to go to church with y'all this week. That was really funny. I loved Elder Richard G. Scotts talk funny enough. But I think it was because I was thinking about people in my last area that really needed to hear it. Its also different because I have to wait another week to see the ward. Oh, this transfer is only 5 weeks due to changes at the MTC.

I also wanted to tell y'all about the best P-day ever! Our zone went to White Sands and played ultimate Frisbee/football and then went sledding on the sand. I loved it so much. We have a great zone with a lot of hard working missionaries. We have some good pictures that I am really excited about.

Also, I wanted to tell y'all that for some reason I really do think that Eyn will be able to serve a mission in the next 5 years. Im not sure why, but I do. It is a hope that I have in my heart. I pray for him all of the time. I love him a lot.

I got your package! Most especially the hugs! They made me smile! except the hugs are all MUCH bigger than mine! (except Amberly's hehehe)They were the best ever! haha, and the pictures I loved!

Oh, I wanted to tell y'all, DO you remember the Tennis Shoe Series? Well, his mom is a member and we are going over there to teach her and share things with her! We actually accidentally tracted into her. It was awesome to get to meet her! strange huh? Also found out, that the story is based from something that happened to him in the caves in Wyoming. Sounded like he dreamed the stories up, literally.

We have also been doing service activities. We have done some in the nursing home and then today we did some at a soup kitchen. Both are really fun. I loved the soup kitchen (did with the stake) and getting to prepare the food. I made a million sandwiches today. Lets just say that for lunch today, I did NOT come home and make a sandwich. Oh, Sister Smith is vegetarian. The other day, I bought some sandwich meat and it was the best thing in the world! I had no idea i would miss it so much just after a few days!

I received a blessing the other night and I wanted to tell y'all a bit of it. I received a special blessing on my family. That they would be in good health. and many more. I want y'all to know that I love y'all tons! Ya'll are the best in the world. I am happy whenever y'all do well and especially as y'all recognize the blessings of Christ in your life. Ya'll are the best ever!

Oh, Kenzie sent me a package!!! had to add that!

Trent- I am happy you get to go to seminary again! That is awesome. it sounds like you had a great bball year

Amberly- I hope that you foot gets better! And you are trying to read books by Gail Carson Levine (yeah, i remember her name! since 5th grade) i love those books. I hope you and mom get to read Ella Enchanted together. This will be the first year I haven't read it since 5th grade. i like it that much. it is very funny,

Mom- these pictures are awesome. it looks like y'all had a lot of fun. My comps saw pictures of me and you and kept saying we looked a lot alike. weird huh? Hope your freezer is epic! And thanks for telling my friends about the change of address I am sooooo excited to make everything and your card is sooo sweet. I save everything that i get.

Dad- What 2 memory cards? I only got one? I felt like I was IN priesthood session too. Did you notice how all the couples got closer and held hands during his? And then when Elder Eyring talked it was like "ok, moment over" :)

Super Special Shout Out to Lauren Riggs!!!!!!!! Write me or give me your address!!!!! I have stuff to tell you about! I miss you tons, gal. We need to catch up!

I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!! Y'ALL ARE THE BEST!

2/11/13

Hey family! How are ya'll! Well, Transfer news first. They are splitting the area! Sister Daines will be staying in the Bernalillo Ward and I was told to pack my bags! So hopefully I wont forget anything. I mailed a package home today, but y'all really wont like it. it is just some of my clothes that I want to keep but cant really use out here on a mission. So AMBERLY! KEEP OUT! YOU TOO MOM! I have no idea where I will be going. Its been so hard to say goodbye to people and to the wards. I LOVE Bernalillo ward! I am going to miss all of them so much! But at the same time I am very happy to leave the area. I love them, but there is just no one left here for me to teach. My work in this area is done. However, for all I know, I could actually be put in the Enchanted Hills ward to open it. Who knows! It would be fine to be there again, but really hard too. Because I am already saying goodbye and it would be nice to be somewhere new and get to meet knew people. I do know that I am not going to be a trainer. I hope to get to email you tomorrow and let y'all know where I am. However, if I don't email you, call Sister Marble in the mission office and ask her for my address. (Oh, and then, would you mind calling/face booking Kenzie, Shaila, and Mindy my new address please! that would help me a lot!)

Do you realize that I have lived here for the last 5.5 months! That is longer than I have lived anywhere in the last 3-4 years! (since going to school) I can tell you though, I did not miss needing to pack my bags so often! Oh, and my zone is getting split in half. It use to cover the Rio Rancho and Santa Fe Stakes, but now each stake will be its own zone. That will be very different. We are sure seeing the effects of all the new missionaries coming out! I made copies of each ward list so that I can keep in contact with them :)

Between this week and last week, I knew a countless number of people who went to the hospitals in the area or worked at one. Everywhere we turned, someone would bring up a hospital. We kept getting the impression that we needed to go and see what we needed to do there. So on Saturday, we had a member drive us (out of area, but in the zone) to the 2 local hospitals in town where we found out that everyone we had wanted to see had been discharged or moved. So we were all at the hospitals and wondering what we were meant to do. We after a few prayers, we had the impression that we needed to pray and ask Heavenly Father to bless the hospital. We did. It was an amazing experience. It was small and quiet and on the third floor of the building. Nothing fantastic happened, but the spirit was there and it was strong. We knew we had done the right thing and for some reason we knew it had to be us. I do not understand why the missionaries in the area couldn't do it, it had to be us. The power of prayer is significant. The more I study and learn about it, the more I desire for the people we teach to really feel the effects of it. I never thought about how hard it might be for someone to humble themselves and have faith as they pray. It is interesting.

We had a first lesson with a young man named Aaron last night. It went really well. The spirit was very strong in the room and I am so excited for him to keep learning more in the gospel. He has great fellow-shippers that live in the ward and allowed us to teach him there. I know that the environment created a real change in the way that it effected him. To go in to a home ready to hear the gospel message, helped the truth of the words ring throughout the room. I will miss getting to know and teach him more, but I know that the new missionaries is exactly what he needs.

When tracting, we met a man named Felipe who is awesome. We are not currently teaching him... yet... but it was amazing to be able to talk with him and to answer his questions. He was full of desire to really know what we believed and to an extent even wanted to know how it would effect him. He is atheist, but very respectful of others. I truly hope that the next set of missionaries will be able to find him and teach him more about the gospel. So many people desire to know, but only those who are willing to act upon it will know of the truth. I truly hope and pray that he is one of those that will act upon the message when he is found again and can truly learn more of it.

I am sooo excited to get to go to church with all of y'all this Sunday! Wherever I may be! It will be great to listen to the words being said! and actually know exactly what y'all are doing!

Oh, and Mom I really hope that you liked that little surprise call from Sister Pinon. I know that she loved being able to call you for a few min. and Dad with that, I loved being able to eat a piece of it with you.

Any news on Eyn?

If you hear of Stephanie's new address (or Lauren's too) Please let me know! So I can write them!

And I really need my memory card!

I love y'all soooooooooo much! Y'all are the best ever! Always smile and be Happy! I LOVE YOU

Happy Valentine's Day! and I hope I get to email you tomorrow!

2/4/13

Dear Family,

This week was amazing! We had exchanges with the Los Alamos Sisters and Sister McFarland came down here! It was a blast! I promise that we were in bed at about 10:30 that night... we just might not have been asleep until 12:50 :) haha, It was great and it was truly needed. I think that we both needed to hear from each other and get advise on certain things. Its crazy to think that we have been out almost 6 months. It feels like forever, that I know so much more, but that I still know absolutely nothing at all! She is one of the best people that I know. I love her sooo much. (Although we are pretty sure that our companions almost killed each other... oops!)

So, transfers come up next Tuesday on the 12th. Who knows where i will be??? This area has a history of having the same missionaries here forever! Like 9monthes or so. We are 99 percent sure that this area is going to get split up this transfer. It is sad to think about because it means that no matter what I will have to say bye to half of the people I see all the time. That would be strange.

Something great that happened this week was being able to see Brother Simpson and setting a date for baptism. I was sooo nervous about inviting him (thinking he would have a million excuses) but it all went perfectly. He is so ready for the gospel. He is very old and it is like he was just waiting for the time that he could accept it into his life. I have high hopes for him!

Get this, we now have 2 investigators in the hospital! I promise, we are being very nice to them! haha, I am sure it is Satan up to his old tricks- attacking them and us. We are praying a lot for these simply amazing people. It is hard to see people being "compelled to be humble" but maybe this is what Heavenly Father has in store for them now? I truly hope that these choice spirits of God listen to his voice and rely upon him in the time of difficulty.

The young women (Bern. ward) have decided to throw a dinner together for some of our investigators as well as some of the other people that we visit regularly. It will be very interested to see how it turns out. I am mainly excited for a few of our poorer families. This is going to mean so much to them to just be loved and fed. Its funny though, on the invitation, the girls put the "Bern. Ward" and i'm not quite sure what some of these people think about coming to a "ward" we will see.

I am also so excited because Isabella, the 12 year i was here to teach and baptize her, will be going to do baptisms for the dead this Wednesday! I am sooo excited and proud of her! It is amazing to see her continue to stregthen and grow always. Althought I do have to admit I wish I could go with her. A few weeks ago, her mother told us that she had heard that she wouldn't be able to go to her daughters wedding in the temple and asked us if that was true. We answered honestly, and her mom said that it would all be up to Isabella. That was a blessing, at least for now.

Do you remember the picture of Payne and his family (the boys were baptized)? Well, after they were baptized, they stopped coming to church. The dad had gotten a new job and is now a single parent and he has not had su ndays off liek he had planned. Us and the ward have been so worried about him and the boys without the gospel in his life. However, we recently saw him and We are so proud of the things that he is doing. he is trying to be the best Dad possible and he is readying and praying everyday with the boys. Amazing! I am still so sad that they are not coming to churhc to partake of the blessings there, but I am so excited that they are trying to build there relationship with Christ and with the Church. It is one step at a time. I have seen and heard so many recent converts tell me about how they were offended or how they just got so "busy" in life. I truly hope and pray that they will will be able to come back to church and be active once more.

This week, without a car and a bike, we get to do a lot of tracting and contacting. I am really excited and hoping for good weather all week. It will be fun. We also have awesome members who are willing to driving us places, even if it is just from one ward to another. They truly are the best.

Something cool that happened this week came in going down a street, at night, to find that one person who needed us down there. We had tried a door or two, but just kept walking when Sister Daines came to a home and knew that was where we were meant to be. But when we got to the door, we didnt feel like knocking on it. Instead, we left a book of mormon in a pot of rocks by the door. But before we left, we felt impressed to say a prayer that the right person would find this Book of Mormon. As I said that prayer, It was amazing the way I felt. Weasked that the book be kept safe, that the one person who needed that book would find it and that the rest would overlook it and not see it. We asked for the book to go where it needed to be so that the person who needed it would find it. I even asked that if it be possible for us to one day know the destination and the intent of this particular book, to let us know. But i also recognized that that was a selfish wish, and asked for God's Will to be done in all things. It was incredible becasue of the way I felt and the thought I had afterwords. I knew that the book would be kept well and safe. I also knew that the prayer I said would have been like unto the prophets of old. This miracle was also an answer to my own prayers in being able to live the scriptures. The more I study the Book of Mormon, the more I love them with my whole heart. I have learned more about how the prophets of old were men, doing the Lord's will before there own. Wow.

I love yall lots and lots and lots and lots and lots! and i think about Eyn every day as well. Yall are amazing! I love yall!