3/23/15

Hello! I enjoyed reading all y'alls letters and looking at pictures! So Sweet!

Man... I am really struggling to find out what to say for this week :)

Monday 3/16/15

On monday, after p-day was over, we went over to Ami's and she was babysitting her grandson. So, we put her grandson in a stroller and we had a nice walk. We talked about her experience at church and taught about her baptism. We had a good conversation and didn't teach her much. We just wanted to catch up on how she was feeling and she is doing great. She is still excited for baptism!

After Ami's, we felt Prompted to visit Alyssa and Randy who lived sown the street. When we got there, Alyssa was having a major hard time taking care of some life issues and also dealing with a pregnancy. So, we decided to help her out by making her dinner and bringing it to her on Wednesday.I am hoping that we were able to uplift her somehow.

Tuesday 3/17/15 (Exchanges)

We had exchanges and I went to Tupelo, Mississippi again! :) I had a blast. Something really funny and awkward happened while on our exchange.

On our Exchange, Sister Gibbs told me that the Jones' were going to feed us and that we had a dinner appointment with them at 5:00pm. So, we packed up our stuff and headed over to their home about 30 minutes away. While trying to figure out where they lived and getting wrong directions from the GPS, we got an unexpected call from the Elders. They had informed us that both the Jone's AND the Williams had signed up for us to go eat with them! Oh goodness...

So at the Jones (Our First Dinner Appointment) they had made this HUGE deluxe meal. They had rice, gravy, pork chops, vegetables, rolls, and last but not least a creamy and gooey caramel cake. It was so amazing and they had gotten out their China set and everything. Way good! But man.. I was stuffed. I am so happy for their Hospitality. They have such a great conversion story as well.

Soon after we ended that dinner date, we plugged the William's address in the GPS and headed over there to have another dinner date. We got there, I introduced myself, and they got really excited. These people are from Gilbert Arizona y'all! They told me everything about where they lived, how much they Loved living near the temple, why they moved, and how they want to go back. What a really cool thing. They prepared a really good vegetable stir fry and then their Daughters, (8 and 5 years old) showed off their guinea pigs and the tricks they could do. I didn't know guinea pigs could do tricks until now. One of them knew how to play dead. :) hehe. After the yummy dinner, We had blue bell ice cream in a cookie cup. It was way good. I felt like I gained 10 pounds this night.

Wednesday 3/18/15

**** We had a really Good Lesson with Sandy this day. We visited her at morning side because it was her BIRTHDAY and we wanted to quick wish her a happy day and give her a present. Well, what was planned to be a quick in and out, we stayed there for a good hour. We got there and gave her the present (Missionary Style: A picture of Christ and a Book of Mormon with our testimonies written in it) and she absolutely loved it! To this point, we haven't taught her the Restoration, so after visiting with her for a few moments we began to teach her about it. After telling her the background of the Book of Mormon, she asked us, "How come I have never heard of this? This just makes so much sense! I am going to read this as much as I could!" We were then able to testify about why we were so young and why we were dedicating our lives in the service of God. We told her how special the message we have is and then we watched at how amazed and interested she was. She is a sponge! Just soaking up every thing that we tell her. She is way golden.

**** On Wednesday night, we went on a team up with a member and went to go see a Less Active who was trying to get back to church. Well, we ended up having a really good lesson and listened to a talk by Brad Wilcox "His Grace is Sufficient." This talk CHANGED MY LIFE! I invite all to read it or listen to it. It has become one of my favorite talks out there.

Speaking of talks... I am so excited for general conference coming up! :)

Thursday 3/19/15

We visited Sister Bryant this day and was informed that she is moving to A nursing Home where she won't be living alone anymore. I am so happy that she made the decision to go there. Now we don't have to worry if she has fallen or is not feeling well enough to take care of herself. It is still close to where we live which is good because we could still visit her often :) She is moving in Today.

Friday 3/20/15 THE TEMPLE!!!!

We went to the temple this day! :) We had to be at the temple at 8:45am so we woke up at 4am to travel there. Once there, I met many other missionaries and had a ton of fun. This temple is teeny tiny and super cute! Wow!  President and Sister Hanks were there as well and they told me all about Kiersten Carr's visit! haha :) They LOVE her!!!!

After our session was over, we went outside to take pictures and I was reunited with some people in my MTC district! I got so excited! All of them were transferred and I wasn't. They told me that at transfer meeting they were wondering if I had gone home or not because I was not there. haha Nope! I am still here!!! :D ( I guess a lot of people who came out the same day I did went home because of sickness, and they were worried  I was one of them).It was way good to catch up with them :)

Sorry this email is a little short. Nothing else really happened this week. The work is going good and I am seeing miracles everyday!

I love y'all and I hope this is a really good week for everyone!

(: Missy :)

3/16/15

We have had an abundance of Sunshine today and it has been wonderful! The weather here finally matches up with the winter weather in Gilbert. Still a tid bit chili but not warm yet.

 

Monday: March 9th (Sister Bryant)

 

****We had the most wonderful opportunity to go over to Sister Bryant's home to visit with her and uplift her. She is such an angel let me tell ya. While at Sister Bryant's we were able to go on her Facebook and find the missionaries who baptized her. So wonderful! Since we were not allowed to type anything on Facebook or do anything on it, we had to tell Sister Bryant where to click and what to type in :) haha. It took a little longer than if we were to just do it our selves, however, she was tremendously happy that we had actually found them,. She kept looking at their profile pictures and repeated over and over, "I cannot believe we found them. I am so glad we found them!" She proceeded to send one of her missionaries a message reminding them of who she was and how much she missed them and loves them. She then told us all the details of how she ran into the missionaries, the stories that they shared, and the impact they had on their (Her and her families) lives. This moment was so special and I am happy to know that missionaries have the capability to change the lives of  precious children of our Heavenly Father. What a blessing it is to be serving on a mission. I also got a picture of me and Sister Bryant :) That itself is a miracle, for she never wants to take pictures! Score! :) 

 

Tuesday March 10th (Leah and Jacob, Ami and Kayla)

 

**** We had an AWESOME visit with Leah and Jacob this day. Every time we go visit them, it feels like we are visiting members of the church instead of investigators. The only reason why they have not been baptized yet is because Leah has been having a really difficult time quitting smoking. She is continuously pressured and influenced by the adversary and finds it hard to deal with most times. We went to go see Leah when I first entered into the field, but ever since that visit, she felt WAY too much pressure to stop smoking and began to ignore us completely. This unfortunately meant that she would ignore our texts, calls, and even her mother (who is a member of the church). Today however, she answered our text about seeing her 8 year old granddaughter Mikale that lived with her!!!!!! Yay! After a long while, she was finally able to let us come over. :)

 

While teaching the granddaughter and preparing her for Baptism, Leah told us that she was ready to get out the rut she was in and that we were an answer to her prayers that day. I am so happy that she is willing to get help from the Lord and is ready to move along. We made a ton of progress with her. 

 

While at her home, we taught her granddaughter and two other grand children the restoration and they LOVED it! They sat in a little circle, each said an opening prayer, and listened intently to the things we taught. They are too cute! It's fun to teach children :) Mikale was a little nervous for her baptism but we practiced how it was done and let her know what would happen on her baptism day. We also showed her a video of when Jesus was baptized and then she calmed down a bit. She is adorable and very intelligent :)

**** Also on Tuesday, we went to go teach Ami and her friend Kayla. We decided to reteach them the restoration with the use of puzzles. :) To begin, the investigators would help put both of the puzzles together. Welllllll......... While Kayla was putting the puzzle together, her one year old daughter wanted to "Help" but ended up mixing the two puzzles together. oops. haha :) I had to keep her daughter distracted and engaged in other things but she wanted me to pick her up the whole time. What an awkward situation, especially because we are not allowed to hold babies. :( Since I could not hold her she would cry and fuss, and it was even harder to keep her away from the puzzle. oh boy. When the puzzle was finished though, Kayla asked me to hand her daughter over and I become instantly hesitant. I did not know if I was allowed to do that and I quickly glanced over at Sister Merriam for approval. She nodded that it would be okay. So,  (Since I technically had permission) I picked her up and passed her over. I wasn't really holding her, rather lifting her over the table to her mother, but it was the best feeling ever getting to kind of hold a baby again! It was short but way awesome!   

Wednesday March 11th (Young Women's)

 

***** We went to the Young Women's New beginnings this night and I am so excited about the theme this year. The theme is "Embark" and I absolutely love it. We were given a CD with awesome church music on it and Sister Merriam and I listen to it a bunch. :) 

The theme reminds me of a scripture that we include in our daily recitations in companionship study. 

 

"Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men.

Therefore, O ye that EMBARK in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind, and strength, that you may stand blameless before God at the last day" (Doctrine and Covenants 4:2)      

Super Cool!

 

Thursday March 12th (Morning Side)

 

**** On this day, we got to sing and play piano at Morning side, the place that we visited Sandy at and committed to do some volunteering there. The elderly loved all the hymns, singing solos, and piano solos we played! I am glad that we were given the opportunity to share our testimonies through the powerful sound of hymns and music. Many of them were just so quiet and peaceful as we sang, "I know that my Redeemer Lives", "Savior Redeemer of my Soul", and other hymn arrangements. You could tell that the room was illuminated and completely filled with the peaceful presence of the Holy Spirit. Many hearts, including mine and Sister Merriam's, were touched. 

 

My favorite thing though was when we had finished up and I got the most wonderful compliment from an old woman. She told me, "You have a great voice and such a beautiful face!" haha :) why thank you!

We also got a few questions about "If the SEAGULL story actually happened in Utah and Why so many Mormons live in Utah." fun times. 

 

Most of the compliments went to Sister Merriam though haha :) she has a BEAUTIFUL Voice and I was so happy that she got the opportunity to use it to bless the lives of others.

 

Friday March 13th (Friday the 13th!)

 

Friday we had Zone Training and one of the topics the Zone leaders talked about was health and fitness. They told us that President Hanks is now requiring everyone to do P90X every morning and needs us to send a weekly report of what we ate to him. It is a new program that our mission is starting to help us be healthier. Especially with all this southern food. haha

PSYCH! Just kidding!

 

They mixed up Friday the 13th with April Fools day and decided to pull that prank on us! hahahahaahh :)  SO MANY people believed them! :) meanies

Saturday March 14th

****  PIE DAY! YEAH! 3.14.15 :) The Elders bought some pie and insisted that we eat a piece of pie at Correlation (A meeting with the Ward Mission President). We had a ton of fun and the pie was delicious! :D 

 

Sunday March 15th

**** I played the piano in Sacrament today. I did not know how to play the organ, soooo I played the piano instead and I was way nervous! It all turned out okay though.

Also, AMI CAME TO CHURCH TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She could now get baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited! :) 

Puppies/Dogs

**** These past two weeks I have had quite interesting stories about dogs.

 

1) Micha's dog: Micha ended up dropping us and no longer wants us to teach her  :'( The last time we taught her though, she had just gotten an 8 week old puppy who was really cute but was majorly teething! He wouldn't stop chewing on things and most of her attention was on her dog. man...

 

2) A recent convert was dog sitting a 5 week old black and white puppy who reminded me of Bo :) He slept on my lap the whole lesson! Super cute!!!! :)

3) This one is the scary one. While visiting a Mexican Potential Investigator last night, we had taken a member who spoke Spanish to help us translate. While we were walking towards his door, a dog was barking rapidly! He ended up charging at us and was going to attack us! ahhhhhhhhh!!! Not a friendly, I repeat! Not a friendly! Thankfully, he was on a chain and we were saved from this very vicious Labrador Retriever. YIKES! 

 

4) While knocking an another Potential Investigators door, the 4 year old daughter answered and accidentally let her 8 week old puppy out of the door. Well, the puppy was about to run away, so I went and chased it. As I picked up the puppy, it did what all excited puppies do.... It peed all over me! Gross! The person we wanted to go meet was having morning sickness so we left to go home so I could change. Yuck!

 

5) Our bishop now wants me to go visit their home so I could train their dog. haha! :) 

6) This one is not about dogs, but, while tracting, SO many cats came to our direction wanting us to pet them.

  

Other then that. this week has been way good and very busy. The work is picking back up again and I am excited!

 

I love y'all and enjoy all the emails and pictures that are sent. They uplift me in so many ways and gives me the fuel I need each week!

 

Y'all are awesome! Have fun and don't die!

Sister Ralph