Hello Family!
This has been a very long week. A lot of our appointments cancelled, but I guess that’s the life of being a missionary. We’ve gotten the opportunity to go “finding” a lot this week, and have actually had a couple of good experiences.
We also decided to try to contact a few former investigators this week, and that’s how we met “Tavern Guy.” As we approached this house, he came outside to meet us, and after talking on the doorstep for a while, he invited us in. Now, why do Sister Allred and I call him “Tavern Guy?” Well, it’s because as we were talking with him and his friends, we came to the conclusion that they remind us of people sitting in an 18th century tavern, talking politics, smoking, just down to earth. Tavern Guy has a very strong Jersey accent, if that helps you picture the situation better. He told us how he has studied the Bible and gone to a lot of different churches, but doesn’t feel like he knows which one is true. So as any missionary would, we tried to explain a little bit about the restoration of the gospel. Tavern Guy asked us a few questions and after a while, it just became contentious, almost borderline argumentative. I’ve had my fill of bashers on the mission, but for some reason, this guy was making me really angry. Suddenly I hear myself burst out “Don’t you tell me what I believe!” I was a little surprised at myself, but even more surprised at their response. Tavern Guy said, “I like this one! She’s cool!” Still, I apologized for being out of line. I don’t get upset with people very often, but when I tried to apologize, all three of them turned their heads almost in unison and said “Don’t Apologize!” Instantly, I had gained their respect, and the environment changed from one of hostility to one of respect. Not very often does abrasiveness gain that kind of response, but I guess my instinctive remark to defend my beliefs must have been so unexpected that it was taken well. Towards the end of our conversation, I went to apologize once again, and Tavern Guy had had enough of it. “Did Jesus Christ ever apologize for who he was? Did He? Hmm? No. Did he apologize for what He believed? See? So don’t go there.” Fair enough.
We also met another guy when we were tracting that I can’t decide if he was cool, or really off the rocker. He has studied the Bible for 37 years and knew it very well. He talked to us for about an hour, getting very metaphysical, and deep, yet at the same time telling us that he had died before, and that he had gotten the chance to re-live life. That he had met us before and that this conversation had all happened before, but that he had been given the chance to be more polite and respectful this time than last time. He showed us another passage from the Bible that he said, explained Déjàvu. He reminded me of some character out of a book written by someone like Earnest Hemingway, “Old and Lonely”. We must live life, and enjoy it! Studying the Bible is good, but I think there is a truth in that staying cooped up can make one go crazy.
As we were knocking doors on Saturday, we came across a house with HUGE mean dogs. We could see them through the window, so I thought we were safe and I went to approach the door. Suddenly we hear a woman yelling, “Get out! Get out!” My companion looks at me and says, "We’ve got to go!” So we both start running. I’m not sure if the woman was yelling at us, or if she was yelling at her dogs, and trying to send them out the back door to come and get us. But as we go to the next house, we hear the door open and the woman scream, “I’m Atheist!!!!” Wow, I think she must have felt stupid when there was no one there. We didn’t even knock on her door or anything. People are so crazy.
But for the most part, people have been very good and kind. At church yesterday, we heard the line “when evil is made invisible to you.” I wouldn’t be surprised if that is a blessing we’ve received as missionaries, because this was really one of the first few mean people we’ve come across. Knocking on random people’s doors every day, you would think you’d run into more rotten people, but really I feel like I will come home and say there is more good in the world than bad.
Well, Sister Allred and I have had enough of being lazy on Preparation Day, so today we’re going to Bernalillo, another little town in our stake boundaries, and hopefully we’ll find something cool to do. We might look into visiting a few local attractions.
Hope all is going well back home. I love you all and miss you tons.
Love,
Sister Waters
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Catholic Nuns? No, Mormon Nuns. 01/25/2010
Hello Everyone!
I can’t believe another week has gone by. It’s true what they say, the days go by like weeks and the weeks go by like days! I’m sitting here in the library, and as I begin writing my weekly email, I notice that someone is staring me down. I look up and this man says, “Your little badge confused me.”
“Oh!” I respond, hoping that this might be a great missionary opportunity. “We’re missionaries…”
“I understand that,” he said. “I just thought you were Catholic nuns.”
I’ve heard a lot of things on my mission, but I don’t think I’ve ever been mistaken for a nun before. But I guess I can understand that. The title “Sister” must throw some people off. But anyway, no inspiring gospel conversation grew out of that encounter. Such is life.
Speaking of Catholic nuns…we met a former nun this week when we were tracting. Heavenly Father certainly answers our prayers to be able to meet those who are searching for truth. This particular woman opened the door, and I didn’t expect her to be interested, but surprisingly, she let us in, and explained her life history. She was a cloistered nun in a convent in Hollywood, California. I didn’t understand completely, but it sounded as if her convent did a lot of penitence for the sins of Hollywood. Gradually, she came to the conclusion that it is only Jesus Christ who can suffer for the world’s sins, and she fell away from the Catholic Church. She told us that she has been praying very hard to find the truth and that she was hoping she would run into some Latter-Day Saints. Her daughter-in –law, whom she lives with, is a Jehovah Witness, and the day we tracted into this woman, her daughter-in-law was out of the house, otherwise there was no way we would have been able to go inside. I’m finding more and more that timing is so crucial in missionary work. Our former nun friend, said that she believes that there are other holy records out there, and wanted a copy of the Book of Mormon and any other literature we had. She asked us a few questions, and told us that she was learning about the Baha’i faith, and she agreed with some of the things that they taught, but that she was still very open and searching. I really hope we’ll be able to see her again soon.
This week was a kind of “day of reckoning.” Over the past few weeks we’ve tracted a ton, and found so many potential investigators. Our goal was to “pester” each of them until we could narrow this pool down to people who were sincerely interested in learning, and eliminate those who were just trying to be polite. It has been going well, and on Saturday, we were able to nail down three return appointments. Our area is still a little slow, which is frustrating, but I do feel like heavenly Father is pleased with our hard work.
I was studying about Mormon and Moroni out of the Book of Mormon this week, and it struck me that they were some of the most obedient ministers of the gospel ever, yet they had absolutely NO investigators. The people of their time were engaged in some of the most horrific activities that people can be involved in, but their efforts were still important to our Heavenly Father. I think I’m finally internalizing what it means when they say you can’t measure a missionary’s success by outward signs of success, such as baptisms. While I have certainly been blessed to see a few baptisms on my mission, I’ve also had those periods of dry spells. But it’s ok. I really think the work will pick up. One of our new investigators came to church this Sunday (she’s engaged to a member), and filled out a new move in form…so hopefully that means she feels at home here.
We made a very comprehensive map of our area when we first got here, plotting out all the less actives that the Bishop said would be good to visit, and all the potentials that the Elders left us. We were looking at that map yesterday, surprised to see that we’ve tried almost every single person on that map. I want to start on another updated one.
We visited a lot of less active families this week. It surprises me how often, if you invite them to come to church, they accept the invitation without much hesitation. I think people may think it is intimidating to invite less actives out to church, but it isn’t that scary after all! One of the couples we visited is hilarious! She was talking about how the church doesn’t want you to write church headquarters for complaints, and how you’re supposed to send them to the Bishop first. Her big complaint is that all the hymns are too old. They are all from 1820, 1843, and 1890 she complained. She always tells the Bishop about this, and he always tells her not to send a letter. I told her that she sounds just like Gladys Knight. Despite the boring music, they’ve come to church for two weeks in a row now!
Preparation day is going to be pretty low key again. I don’t mind at all. Sister Allred and I are pretty boring, and enjoy writing letters and sleeping on prep day. It’s great.
I love you all and hope everything continues to go well. I’ve gotten a ton of mail this week. Thanks to everyone.
Love You Tons!
Sister Waters
I can’t believe another week has gone by. It’s true what they say, the days go by like weeks and the weeks go by like days! I’m sitting here in the library, and as I begin writing my weekly email, I notice that someone is staring me down. I look up and this man says, “Your little badge confused me.”
“Oh!” I respond, hoping that this might be a great missionary opportunity. “We’re missionaries…”
“I understand that,” he said. “I just thought you were Catholic nuns.”
I’ve heard a lot of things on my mission, but I don’t think I’ve ever been mistaken for a nun before. But I guess I can understand that. The title “Sister” must throw some people off. But anyway, no inspiring gospel conversation grew out of that encounter. Such is life.
Speaking of Catholic nuns…we met a former nun this week when we were tracting. Heavenly Father certainly answers our prayers to be able to meet those who are searching for truth. This particular woman opened the door, and I didn’t expect her to be interested, but surprisingly, she let us in, and explained her life history. She was a cloistered nun in a convent in Hollywood, California. I didn’t understand completely, but it sounded as if her convent did a lot of penitence for the sins of Hollywood. Gradually, she came to the conclusion that it is only Jesus Christ who can suffer for the world’s sins, and she fell away from the Catholic Church. She told us that she has been praying very hard to find the truth and that she was hoping she would run into some Latter-Day Saints. Her daughter-in –law, whom she lives with, is a Jehovah Witness, and the day we tracted into this woman, her daughter-in-law was out of the house, otherwise there was no way we would have been able to go inside. I’m finding more and more that timing is so crucial in missionary work. Our former nun friend, said that she believes that there are other holy records out there, and wanted a copy of the Book of Mormon and any other literature we had. She asked us a few questions, and told us that she was learning about the Baha’i faith, and she agreed with some of the things that they taught, but that she was still very open and searching. I really hope we’ll be able to see her again soon.
This week was a kind of “day of reckoning.” Over the past few weeks we’ve tracted a ton, and found so many potential investigators. Our goal was to “pester” each of them until we could narrow this pool down to people who were sincerely interested in learning, and eliminate those who were just trying to be polite. It has been going well, and on Saturday, we were able to nail down three return appointments. Our area is still a little slow, which is frustrating, but I do feel like heavenly Father is pleased with our hard work.
I was studying about Mormon and Moroni out of the Book of Mormon this week, and it struck me that they were some of the most obedient ministers of the gospel ever, yet they had absolutely NO investigators. The people of their time were engaged in some of the most horrific activities that people can be involved in, but their efforts were still important to our Heavenly Father. I think I’m finally internalizing what it means when they say you can’t measure a missionary’s success by outward signs of success, such as baptisms. While I have certainly been blessed to see a few baptisms on my mission, I’ve also had those periods of dry spells. But it’s ok. I really think the work will pick up. One of our new investigators came to church this Sunday (she’s engaged to a member), and filled out a new move in form…so hopefully that means she feels at home here.
We made a very comprehensive map of our area when we first got here, plotting out all the less actives that the Bishop said would be good to visit, and all the potentials that the Elders left us. We were looking at that map yesterday, surprised to see that we’ve tried almost every single person on that map. I want to start on another updated one.
We visited a lot of less active families this week. It surprises me how often, if you invite them to come to church, they accept the invitation without much hesitation. I think people may think it is intimidating to invite less actives out to church, but it isn’t that scary after all! One of the couples we visited is hilarious! She was talking about how the church doesn’t want you to write church headquarters for complaints, and how you’re supposed to send them to the Bishop first. Her big complaint is that all the hymns are too old. They are all from 1820, 1843, and 1890 she complained. She always tells the Bishop about this, and he always tells her not to send a letter. I told her that she sounds just like Gladys Knight. Despite the boring music, they’ve come to church for two weeks in a row now!
Preparation day is going to be pretty low key again. I don’t mind at all. Sister Allred and I are pretty boring, and enjoy writing letters and sleeping on prep day. It’s great.
I love you all and hope everything continues to go well. I’ve gotten a ton of mail this week. Thanks to everyone.
Love You Tons!
Sister Waters
Friday, February 5, 2010
Blessing of Having to Rely on Heavenly Father 01/19/2010
Hello Family,
Our second week in Rio Rancho went very well. It’s still a difficult area in some ways, but I know with all my heart that Heavenly Father is helping us find people to teach. My negative attitude from the initial shock of having almost no investigators has been softened as I have realized that this may be a blessing. We really have to have a lot of faith, and rely on Heavenly Father to find people to teach, whereas before, people were already provided. I am really trying to ask Heavenly Father and then look for the answers. It seems like almost every day, we find someone who invites us to come back. They seem pretty genuine in their invitation too! While we are still trying to turn these potential investigators into real investigators, I think the work will come along. It’s a lesson in patience, faith and perseverance. I continue to trust in the promise that the field is white.
Some of the exciting developments from this week:
It was exciting to get a phone call from one of our potential investigators this weekend. We stopped by her house, and were greeted by a very clearly disinterested husband. She gave us a call and said that she would still like to set something up with us, when her husband isn’t around, so hopefully she’ll get back in touch.
We also visited a part member family that is wonderful. Her husband is Amish! Crazy right? But amazingly fascinating. She said that they realize that their children need religion, but that an Amish lifestyle just won’t work. I hope that she’ll get back in touch with us as well.
Then we went tracting on Saturday and met a woman who is friends with a less active woman that we’re trying to meet with. It was a cool lesson, because she is looking for a church, but hates how many different translations of the bible there are, she was pleasantly surprised to hear that the Mormons use the King James Version of the Bible. Towards the end of our visit, she even made the comment, “I wish I was a part of your church”. I think she still has some concerns and a lot of issues, but it was a good experience.
Funny story of the week:
We met an 82 year old less active member our first week here. She is hilarious. There was a dog barking as we were trying to talk to her at her doorstep. Sister Allred made the comment that those dogs were scary looking. Without missing a beat, Pat responded: “Well, the way I see it is that some people are pretty scary looking too.” Later in the week, the High Priests went to go visit her, and when they told her that they represented the High Priest group, she responded, “Well that’s impressive.” It’s hard to believe she’s in her 80s.
One of the less active members here grew up in a pueblo that is within the stake boundaries. He invited us to come see a dance ceremony with their family. This is a very rare invitation, because in order to enter a pueblo, you must be invited in by someone who is a member of the community. There are only a few times during the year that guests are allowed to go in. We’re hoping that we can get permission to go with their family. Missionaries in the past have gone, but we want to be sure that it’s ok with the mission, since the church’s standing with the pueblos of New Mexico is on very unstable ground. I wouldn't want to cause any more tensions. The Yazzies were telling us about different festivals, feasts, dances, and traditions that occur in the pueblos. For example, whenever a new governor is elected, the family of the governor throws food, household items, and basically everything, off the roof as a thank you to the community for choosing their son. The members of the pueblo all gather round to catch the gifts.
I didn’t get to go to the baptism, but it’s ok. President read one of my letters in Zone Conference this week. It relates to this period of my mission when I have to miss baptisms. Back in October, I wrote:
“One thing that I have known for a while, but really hit me yesterday was how much work went into preparing this area for us. Not only was Heavenly Father preparing the area, but there were some really good missionaries who were persistent in their efforts, but never got to see the fruits of their labors. Having been on the other side of this situation when I was in Bloomfield, it makes me wish I could write some of these Elders and let them know how much good has happened because of their diligence. I know firsthand how hard it is to pour out your everything into an investigator and then never see any immediate success. It can be heart wrenching! But because of their efforts, I get to reap the benefits! I only hope the people I left behind will progress the same way.”
That’s how the mission goes. It’s a tag team effort.”
Thank you for your letter Dad, I needed to hear what you said. It meant a lot.
We’re doing well. Thanks for all your love and support,
Sister Waters
PS As I said, we didn't go to the baptism, there is a policy in place that prevents us, which I understand and support, but as a result, I feel that we were directly blessed that day. We got to teach more lessons that Saturday than we usually do. The Lord understands our "sacrifices." If that is even the right word.
I love you and hope the weather starts to warm up! I love you tons and tons!
Sister Waters
Our second week in Rio Rancho went very well. It’s still a difficult area in some ways, but I know with all my heart that Heavenly Father is helping us find people to teach. My negative attitude from the initial shock of having almost no investigators has been softened as I have realized that this may be a blessing. We really have to have a lot of faith, and rely on Heavenly Father to find people to teach, whereas before, people were already provided. I am really trying to ask Heavenly Father and then look for the answers. It seems like almost every day, we find someone who invites us to come back. They seem pretty genuine in their invitation too! While we are still trying to turn these potential investigators into real investigators, I think the work will come along. It’s a lesson in patience, faith and perseverance. I continue to trust in the promise that the field is white.
Some of the exciting developments from this week:
It was exciting to get a phone call from one of our potential investigators this weekend. We stopped by her house, and were greeted by a very clearly disinterested husband. She gave us a call and said that she would still like to set something up with us, when her husband isn’t around, so hopefully she’ll get back in touch.
We also visited a part member family that is wonderful. Her husband is Amish! Crazy right? But amazingly fascinating. She said that they realize that their children need religion, but that an Amish lifestyle just won’t work. I hope that she’ll get back in touch with us as well.
Then we went tracting on Saturday and met a woman who is friends with a less active woman that we’re trying to meet with. It was a cool lesson, because she is looking for a church, but hates how many different translations of the bible there are, she was pleasantly surprised to hear that the Mormons use the King James Version of the Bible. Towards the end of our visit, she even made the comment, “I wish I was a part of your church”. I think she still has some concerns and a lot of issues, but it was a good experience.
Funny story of the week:
We met an 82 year old less active member our first week here. She is hilarious. There was a dog barking as we were trying to talk to her at her doorstep. Sister Allred made the comment that those dogs were scary looking. Without missing a beat, Pat responded: “Well, the way I see it is that some people are pretty scary looking too.” Later in the week, the High Priests went to go visit her, and when they told her that they represented the High Priest group, she responded, “Well that’s impressive.” It’s hard to believe she’s in her 80s.
One of the less active members here grew up in a pueblo that is within the stake boundaries. He invited us to come see a dance ceremony with their family. This is a very rare invitation, because in order to enter a pueblo, you must be invited in by someone who is a member of the community. There are only a few times during the year that guests are allowed to go in. We’re hoping that we can get permission to go with their family. Missionaries in the past have gone, but we want to be sure that it’s ok with the mission, since the church’s standing with the pueblos of New Mexico is on very unstable ground. I wouldn't want to cause any more tensions. The Yazzies were telling us about different festivals, feasts, dances, and traditions that occur in the pueblos. For example, whenever a new governor is elected, the family of the governor throws food, household items, and basically everything, off the roof as a thank you to the community for choosing their son. The members of the pueblo all gather round to catch the gifts.
I didn’t get to go to the baptism, but it’s ok. President read one of my letters in Zone Conference this week. It relates to this period of my mission when I have to miss baptisms. Back in October, I wrote:
“One thing that I have known for a while, but really hit me yesterday was how much work went into preparing this area for us. Not only was Heavenly Father preparing the area, but there were some really good missionaries who were persistent in their efforts, but never got to see the fruits of their labors. Having been on the other side of this situation when I was in Bloomfield, it makes me wish I could write some of these Elders and let them know how much good has happened because of their diligence. I know firsthand how hard it is to pour out your everything into an investigator and then never see any immediate success. It can be heart wrenching! But because of their efforts, I get to reap the benefits! I only hope the people I left behind will progress the same way.”
That’s how the mission goes. It’s a tag team effort.”
Thank you for your letter Dad, I needed to hear what you said. It meant a lot.
We’re doing well. Thanks for all your love and support,
Sister Waters
PS As I said, we didn't go to the baptism, there is a policy in place that prevents us, which I understand and support, but as a result, I feel that we were directly blessed that day. We got to teach more lessons that Saturday than we usually do. The Lord understands our "sacrifices." If that is even the right word.
I love you and hope the weather starts to warm up! I love you tons and tons!
Sister Waters
Friday, January 22, 2010
Greetings from Rio Rancho 01/11/2010
Hello family,
We survived our first week in Rio Rancho. It was very easy to get lost because there is a lot of road construction, and the area is so new that some of the roads that appear on our map aren't exactly where they appear they should be. Our area is pretty big and very new. Rio Rancho is getting its own Stake Center soon, they are putting up all the artwork right now. It should open in March.
Thank you for the birthday cake and presents. I loved it! It was very kind of you. I cried and cried at getting your card. Thanks. I miss you all a ton. Thanks to Grandma too! I can't believe that in in a few days, I will have been on my mission a whole year. It has gone by pretty fast.
Well, this area is very hard; it's definitely my hardest yet. But the ward is wonderful, and our Bishop and Ward Mission leader are very passionate about missionary work. The Bishop in particular feels very strongly that we sisters are here for a reason, and I have felt the Spirit confirm that on a few occasions, but I am having a very hard time seeing that perspective. We really have no investigators to speak of. I’ve never been in an area before where we didn't really have a lot of people to teach. It makes it harder to feel at home here when we don't have those relationships with investigators. So we tract a lot, and visit less actives. We've got a few leads of people who might be "golden" but they are difficult to get scheduled or even meet. We've got our first real bright appointment on Wednesday with a recent convert's mother. So we're excited for that.
The area has a lot of potential, but it is easy to get frustrated when there is no immediate progress. I miss Paradise Hills a lot, especially since we had a few baptisms coming up that it looks like I'll have to miss out on :( That's the saddest thing for me.
In good news, we invited a part member family to come to church on Sunday and they actually came!
We were walking for a few hours so that we could try to save miles, and we met a woman. We talked with her for a moment and she said something to the effect of, "We go to a church, but surprisingly enough, I've always wanted to learn more about what you believe. I see you guys walking around a lot and I've wondered about it." We're excited to meet with her again!
My new companion, Sister Allred, is wonderful. She is very sweet. Sister Allred grew up just outside Boise Idaho. She is very happy all the time, and very upbeat even when I get discouraged at the lack of progress. She previously served on the Navajo reservations in Gallup, so being in normal neighborhood subdivisions is quite the culture shock for her. I remember feeling that way when I left Bloomfield. For being out only a few months, she is excellent at jumping right into lessons and teaching opportunities. I'm glad to have her as a companion.
Our apartment is HUGE. But it was a disaster when we moved in. It was very filthy, with a smelly fridge, a greasy stove, and socks under the beds, lost underwear, and dust everywhere. But after cleaning for about a day, it's a really fun place to live.
I decided to study out of the Doctrine and Covenants this morning. More than any other book of scripture, this book has a way of comforting missionaries when it all gets discouraging. Doctrine & Covenants 6:10-11 talks about how we each have special gifts and abilities that we can each use in missionary work. I'm relying on what I know...and that is exactly what Heavenly Father has promised: "there ARE people who are prepared to receive the gospel." But I need to rely on the Lord to figure out where in the world these people are. It is a complete mystery to me! I also love D&C 35:3. No matter how wonderful (or awful) our experiences on the mission can be, the Lord is preparing us for a greater work. It's great preparation, and that scares me a little bit to be honest. Speaking of the word "awful", one of our departing senior missionaries bore her testimony at our last Zone Conference and I love what she said. "How can you say goodbye to the most awful thing you've ever done, and the most wonderful thing you've ever done?" I LOVE that honesty. It's true it is awful and wonderful at the same time. She went on to talk about how when she felt like she couldn't walk another step, the spirit just lifted her up and carried her. I've felt that as well.
Thanks for all your love and support. I love you tons and tons.
Sister Waters
We survived our first week in Rio Rancho. It was very easy to get lost because there is a lot of road construction, and the area is so new that some of the roads that appear on our map aren't exactly where they appear they should be. Our area is pretty big and very new. Rio Rancho is getting its own Stake Center soon, they are putting up all the artwork right now. It should open in March.
Thank you for the birthday cake and presents. I loved it! It was very kind of you. I cried and cried at getting your card. Thanks. I miss you all a ton. Thanks to Grandma too! I can't believe that in in a few days, I will have been on my mission a whole year. It has gone by pretty fast.
Well, this area is very hard; it's definitely my hardest yet. But the ward is wonderful, and our Bishop and Ward Mission leader are very passionate about missionary work. The Bishop in particular feels very strongly that we sisters are here for a reason, and I have felt the Spirit confirm that on a few occasions, but I am having a very hard time seeing that perspective. We really have no investigators to speak of. I’ve never been in an area before where we didn't really have a lot of people to teach. It makes it harder to feel at home here when we don't have those relationships with investigators. So we tract a lot, and visit less actives. We've got a few leads of people who might be "golden" but they are difficult to get scheduled or even meet. We've got our first real bright appointment on Wednesday with a recent convert's mother. So we're excited for that.
The area has a lot of potential, but it is easy to get frustrated when there is no immediate progress. I miss Paradise Hills a lot, especially since we had a few baptisms coming up that it looks like I'll have to miss out on :( That's the saddest thing for me.
In good news, we invited a part member family to come to church on Sunday and they actually came!
We were walking for a few hours so that we could try to save miles, and we met a woman. We talked with her for a moment and she said something to the effect of, "We go to a church, but surprisingly enough, I've always wanted to learn more about what you believe. I see you guys walking around a lot and I've wondered about it." We're excited to meet with her again!
My new companion, Sister Allred, is wonderful. She is very sweet. Sister Allred grew up just outside Boise Idaho. She is very happy all the time, and very upbeat even when I get discouraged at the lack of progress. She previously served on the Navajo reservations in Gallup, so being in normal neighborhood subdivisions is quite the culture shock for her. I remember feeling that way when I left Bloomfield. For being out only a few months, she is excellent at jumping right into lessons and teaching opportunities. I'm glad to have her as a companion.
Our apartment is HUGE. But it was a disaster when we moved in. It was very filthy, with a smelly fridge, a greasy stove, and socks under the beds, lost underwear, and dust everywhere. But after cleaning for about a day, it's a really fun place to live.
I decided to study out of the Doctrine and Covenants this morning. More than any other book of scripture, this book has a way of comforting missionaries when it all gets discouraging. Doctrine & Covenants 6:10-11 talks about how we each have special gifts and abilities that we can each use in missionary work. I'm relying on what I know...and that is exactly what Heavenly Father has promised: "there ARE people who are prepared to receive the gospel." But I need to rely on the Lord to figure out where in the world these people are. It is a complete mystery to me! I also love D&C 35:3. No matter how wonderful (or awful) our experiences on the mission can be, the Lord is preparing us for a greater work. It's great preparation, and that scares me a little bit to be honest. Speaking of the word "awful", one of our departing senior missionaries bore her testimony at our last Zone Conference and I love what she said. "How can you say goodbye to the most awful thing you've ever done, and the most wonderful thing you've ever done?" I LOVE that honesty. It's true it is awful and wonderful at the same time. She went on to talk about how when she felt like she couldn't walk another step, the spirit just lifted her up and carried her. I've felt that as well.
Thanks for all your love and support. I love you tons and tons.
Sister Waters
Transfer News & Happy New Year! 01/04/2010
This week was very long. I found out that I am being transferred to the Rio Rancho Stake, High Range Ward. It is just a few miles away from where I am serving now. But it will be another double transfer. I was thinking about this recently, every area I have served in has been a double transfer. We’re opening the area to Sisters, just like we did here in Paradise. Which is always fun; people are generally pretty excited to get Sister Missionaries. My new companion will be Sister Allred. She has only been out for three months, but from her transfer board picture, she seems really cute, and I think we will really get along well. I’m excited. This next transfer presents a fun challenge: regain the trust of the ward and help them get excited about missionary work. Elder Johnson, who is in my district right now, served in the High Range ward three months ago and has been sharing information with me about the area.
So… I’ve already got big plans for the first Sunday there. I think it was Sister Crossley that told me about something they did when she was double transferred into an area. She and her companion made cute little notes and put them in all the hymnbooks to bookmark the opening hymn their first Sunday there. The notes said something to the effect of, “We’re the new Sister Missionaries. We’re excited to be in the ward and to get to know all of you! Let us know what we can do to help.”
I’m a little nervous about this transfer, but faith is for the future. Faith is knowing that Heavenly Father is capable of giving you something better than you’ve already had. My goal in coming to Paradise Hills was to find those of our Heavenly Father’s children who were prepared, and to see at least one baptism. Just ONE, I remember pleading! (Ultimately, He allowed me to see three! More than I thought he would bless me!) My goal for my new area comes from an article I read recently. I want to see miracles in this area. We can expect miracles as we do our part, and I really do want to see more miracles on my mission.
I am slightly heartbroken to leave the Paradise Ward. As I have said so many times before, coming to this area was a direct answer to fasting and prayer. It will always be a magical area for me. It felt so much like home, and for the first time on my mission, I was able to witness baptisms. The people really were prepared to receive the gospel, just like I prayed for. But the same thing can happen again.
It’s a hard time to leave. We have a baptism scheduled for January 16th. Craig has been taking the lessons for years. He even has a calling with the scouts, and apparently, some of the ward didn’t even know he wasn’t a member yet. But he’s getting baptized! I love their family so much. He has been plowing through the Book of Mormon, and it is so amazing to see him feast on that book. It truly enables people and gives them power and greater light! I’ve seen it over and over again on my mission. Prayers ARE answered. I’m hoping that President Anderson will give me permission to come back on the 16th, since he’s getting baptized only a few miles away.
The other thing I will be sad to miss is Sake Conference. Deb, who was baptized in November, will be speaking at Stake Conference along with Sister Parks, her friend that started everything. This is amazing. I wish so badly that I could come hear Deb speak, but this would be impossible, since that also happens to be the first Sunday we’re going to be in the new ward.
Still, faith is for the future. I have plans to make our first Sunday there memorable, so we can hopefully see miracles.
We taught another wonderful family last Monday. A few weeks ago, I felt impressed to teach them about baptism, but they cancelled that night. When we went back the next week, I ignored the prompting, partly because we had pushed baptism a lot in the past few months, and partly because we had another idea. You can imagine my surprise when at the end of the lesson, the wife announced that she had been thinking about baptism and decided that she wanted to do it. She wanted us to go over again the steps and commitments required. Wow! Needless to say, we’re going over that tonight. Heavenly Father is very involved in the lessons He wants us to teach. I’m very aware of that.
I’m doing well. Thanks for all the letters. Well, I love everyone. I can’t believe its 2010! A whole year has gone by! Crazy! Hope you have a wonderful New Year!
Love,
Sister Waters
So… I’ve already got big plans for the first Sunday there. I think it was Sister Crossley that told me about something they did when she was double transferred into an area. She and her companion made cute little notes and put them in all the hymnbooks to bookmark the opening hymn their first Sunday there. The notes said something to the effect of, “We’re the new Sister Missionaries. We’re excited to be in the ward and to get to know all of you! Let us know what we can do to help.”
I’m a little nervous about this transfer, but faith is for the future. Faith is knowing that Heavenly Father is capable of giving you something better than you’ve already had. My goal in coming to Paradise Hills was to find those of our Heavenly Father’s children who were prepared, and to see at least one baptism. Just ONE, I remember pleading! (Ultimately, He allowed me to see three! More than I thought he would bless me!) My goal for my new area comes from an article I read recently. I want to see miracles in this area. We can expect miracles as we do our part, and I really do want to see more miracles on my mission.
I am slightly heartbroken to leave the Paradise Ward. As I have said so many times before, coming to this area was a direct answer to fasting and prayer. It will always be a magical area for me. It felt so much like home, and for the first time on my mission, I was able to witness baptisms. The people really were prepared to receive the gospel, just like I prayed for. But the same thing can happen again.
It’s a hard time to leave. We have a baptism scheduled for January 16th. Craig has been taking the lessons for years. He even has a calling with the scouts, and apparently, some of the ward didn’t even know he wasn’t a member yet. But he’s getting baptized! I love their family so much. He has been plowing through the Book of Mormon, and it is so amazing to see him feast on that book. It truly enables people and gives them power and greater light! I’ve seen it over and over again on my mission. Prayers ARE answered. I’m hoping that President Anderson will give me permission to come back on the 16th, since he’s getting baptized only a few miles away.
The other thing I will be sad to miss is Sake Conference. Deb, who was baptized in November, will be speaking at Stake Conference along with Sister Parks, her friend that started everything. This is amazing. I wish so badly that I could come hear Deb speak, but this would be impossible, since that also happens to be the first Sunday we’re going to be in the new ward.
Still, faith is for the future. I have plans to make our first Sunday there memorable, so we can hopefully see miracles.
We taught another wonderful family last Monday. A few weeks ago, I felt impressed to teach them about baptism, but they cancelled that night. When we went back the next week, I ignored the prompting, partly because we had pushed baptism a lot in the past few months, and partly because we had another idea. You can imagine my surprise when at the end of the lesson, the wife announced that she had been thinking about baptism and decided that she wanted to do it. She wanted us to go over again the steps and commitments required. Wow! Needless to say, we’re going over that tonight. Heavenly Father is very involved in the lessons He wants us to teach. I’m very aware of that.
I’m doing well. Thanks for all the letters. Well, I love everyone. I can’t believe its 2010! A whole year has gone by! Crazy! Hope you have a wonderful New Year!
Love,
Sister Waters
Our Mission Exceeds Their Baptism Goal for 2009! 12/28/2009
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. The beginning of this week went really well. We got to teach a lot of people and we even found a woman who admitted that she was searching for truth. Yay! I love finding people to teach! We haven’t found many new people that actually want the lessons lately, so I hope this woman lets us teach her legitimately.
One of our investigators said that it may not look like she’s progressing, but that she really is starting to get answers, and that the Mormons are the greatest friends she’s ever had. She’s a single mom, and told her employer that she needs to have Sundays off. What a leap of faith! One of the sisters from the ward was with us at our teaching appointment when our investigator relayed this information to us. This sister has gotten the ward to rally around her so that she can start her own daycare. Presently, she’s got about three children, with more coming after the New Year. I think this is the Lord’s way of providing a way for her to come to church . . .sooner than later! This ward is so wonderful!
Some of our investigators were too busy with the holiday season to meet with us. I’m hoping things will progress more after the New Year. Almost every single one of our investigators did something for us for Christmas. I was so amazed at their love. I wasn’t expecting anything at all. It was surprising that they would think of us, but at the same time, I hope they realize that what they really love is the gospel and the spirit it brings into their homes.
Our mission almost doubled the number of baptisms we had this year compared to last year. I feel that the work is really speeding up. We met the mission’s goal for the number of baptisms we wanted to have for the Whole year in August. They had to raise the goal at least once or twice before the end of the year. So far, we’ve had over 500 people enter the covenant of baptism. It’s an exciting time to be in this mission! That is more people baptized than the mission’s ever had since the boundaries were established.
Have a Great Week!
Love,
Sister Waters
One of our investigators said that it may not look like she’s progressing, but that she really is starting to get answers, and that the Mormons are the greatest friends she’s ever had. She’s a single mom, and told her employer that she needs to have Sundays off. What a leap of faith! One of the sisters from the ward was with us at our teaching appointment when our investigator relayed this information to us. This sister has gotten the ward to rally around her so that she can start her own daycare. Presently, she’s got about three children, with more coming after the New Year. I think this is the Lord’s way of providing a way for her to come to church . . .sooner than later! This ward is so wonderful!
Some of our investigators were too busy with the holiday season to meet with us. I’m hoping things will progress more after the New Year. Almost every single one of our investigators did something for us for Christmas. I was so amazed at their love. I wasn’t expecting anything at all. It was surprising that they would think of us, but at the same time, I hope they realize that what they really love is the gospel and the spirit it brings into their homes.
Our mission almost doubled the number of baptisms we had this year compared to last year. I feel that the work is really speeding up. We met the mission’s goal for the number of baptisms we wanted to have for the Whole year in August. They had to raise the goal at least once or twice before the end of the year. So far, we’ve had over 500 people enter the covenant of baptism. It’s an exciting time to be in this mission! That is more people baptized than the mission’s ever had since the boundaries were established.
Have a Great Week!
Love,
Sister Waters
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Merry Christmas From Albuquerque 12/21/09
Hello Family!
This week has been great! Thanks for all the packages. I got three of them yesterday. That is very generous of you. We are CRAZY busy today, and so I feel a little scatter brained…hopefully I’ll write everything I need to.
I had my first tamale of the Christmas season on Saturday. Our investigator made some, and invited us to try them. Yay! We were going to try to make them with her, but she got them all finished before we had a chance. But I’m so glad we got to try them. I was getting worried we wouldn’t get any authentic ones!
We got a call from one of our investigators on Thursday, asking what the process was for baptism! We hadn’t gotten a chance to really sit down and go through the lessons with her yet, but she has been meeting with missionaries for years. On Saturday, we went out to dinner with them, and she said she still had reservations about the church, but we invited her to listen to the missionary lessons. (It amazes me that some of the investigators in our teaching pool, which we inherited when we got to Albuquerque, had no idea that missionaries actually teach lessons. We’re hoping to help them realize that baptism is the goal). The thing I love about the Missionary Discussions is that just like Reading Rainbow, “You don’t have to take my word for it”. Anyone who asks Heavenly Father can gain a knowledge for themselves. It’s not really us that’s pushing…we just present the information and invite them to make commitments.
We also had Christmas Zone Conference this week. I love Zone Conference; it is always a spiritual re-boost. It was good to see half the mission. President and Sister Anderson participated in the missionary talent show, and performed their missionary version of, “I’m Gettin' Nothin' for Christmas.” All about how disobedient missionaries have been nothin' but bad, and how they keep gettin' snitched on. It was great! Don’t worry…I made sure to video tape it.
Another one of our investigators decided to try to quit smoking this week! We had no idea, but when we went over on Thursday, he said that he’d been cigarette free for two days. We’re excited for him to get baptized in January!
We’re teaching a 12 year old that does not respond to questions. We try to get him involved in the lessons, but he doesn’t answer or respond to anything we say. He doesn’t even just shrug his shoulders and say “I don’t know,” like most shy people would do. It’s a challenge. But at least we get to teach more now!
The Schoen family has been looking out for missionaries for years, so as part of an inside joke, we’re making a Popsicle stick puppet theatre for them today. We’re getting photos of all the missionaries that served in this area for the past 2 years or so, and gluing them to Popsicle sticks for their Christmas present. It should be pretty funny, I’m hoping.
Speaking of Christmas, we don’t really know what our rules are. So far, we’ve got families offering to feed us all three meals…but we don’t really know if we’re going to be tracting, or if there is a curfew, or if they want us to run the day like we ran Thanksgiving Day…which was mostly just visiting with members. But we do have guidelines on our phone calls.
Oh boy, I feel like there are a million things to do today, and no time to get it all done!
Like my trainer and I did at Easter, we’ve been trying to read the Christmas story in Talmage’s Jesus the Christ. I love this:
“Unto Moses, with whom the Lord spake “face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend,” the course of the human race, both as then past and future, was made known; and the coming of the Redeemer was recognized by him as the event of greatest import in all the happenings to which the earth and its inhabitants would be witness.”
I love that! This is why we celebrate Christmas! His coming into the world was the most important thing, for without him, none of us could ever have hope of life again.
I’m doing well, and learning a lot this Christmas. I love you and hope all is well.
Merry Christmas,
Sister Waters
This week has been great! Thanks for all the packages. I got three of them yesterday. That is very generous of you. We are CRAZY busy today, and so I feel a little scatter brained…hopefully I’ll write everything I need to.
I had my first tamale of the Christmas season on Saturday. Our investigator made some, and invited us to try them. Yay! We were going to try to make them with her, but she got them all finished before we had a chance. But I’m so glad we got to try them. I was getting worried we wouldn’t get any authentic ones!
We got a call from one of our investigators on Thursday, asking what the process was for baptism! We hadn’t gotten a chance to really sit down and go through the lessons with her yet, but she has been meeting with missionaries for years. On Saturday, we went out to dinner with them, and she said she still had reservations about the church, but we invited her to listen to the missionary lessons. (It amazes me that some of the investigators in our teaching pool, which we inherited when we got to Albuquerque, had no idea that missionaries actually teach lessons. We’re hoping to help them realize that baptism is the goal). The thing I love about the Missionary Discussions is that just like Reading Rainbow, “You don’t have to take my word for it”. Anyone who asks Heavenly Father can gain a knowledge for themselves. It’s not really us that’s pushing…we just present the information and invite them to make commitments.
We also had Christmas Zone Conference this week. I love Zone Conference; it is always a spiritual re-boost. It was good to see half the mission. President and Sister Anderson participated in the missionary talent show, and performed their missionary version of, “I’m Gettin' Nothin' for Christmas.” All about how disobedient missionaries have been nothin' but bad, and how they keep gettin' snitched on. It was great! Don’t worry…I made sure to video tape it.
Another one of our investigators decided to try to quit smoking this week! We had no idea, but when we went over on Thursday, he said that he’d been cigarette free for two days. We’re excited for him to get baptized in January!
We’re teaching a 12 year old that does not respond to questions. We try to get him involved in the lessons, but he doesn’t answer or respond to anything we say. He doesn’t even just shrug his shoulders and say “I don’t know,” like most shy people would do. It’s a challenge. But at least we get to teach more now!
The Schoen family has been looking out for missionaries for years, so as part of an inside joke, we’re making a Popsicle stick puppet theatre for them today. We’re getting photos of all the missionaries that served in this area for the past 2 years or so, and gluing them to Popsicle sticks for their Christmas present. It should be pretty funny, I’m hoping.
Speaking of Christmas, we don’t really know what our rules are. So far, we’ve got families offering to feed us all three meals…but we don’t really know if we’re going to be tracting, or if there is a curfew, or if they want us to run the day like we ran Thanksgiving Day…which was mostly just visiting with members. But we do have guidelines on our phone calls.
Oh boy, I feel like there are a million things to do today, and no time to get it all done!
Like my trainer and I did at Easter, we’ve been trying to read the Christmas story in Talmage’s Jesus the Christ. I love this:
“Unto Moses, with whom the Lord spake “face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend,” the course of the human race, both as then past and future, was made known; and the coming of the Redeemer was recognized by him as the event of greatest import in all the happenings to which the earth and its inhabitants would be witness.”
I love that! This is why we celebrate Christmas! His coming into the world was the most important thing, for without him, none of us could ever have hope of life again.
I’m doing well, and learning a lot this Christmas. I love you and hope all is well.
Merry Christmas,
Sister Waters
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