Hello!
Deb was baptized this Saturday. It was the most crowded baptism I have ever seen. So many people came to support her that it was basically standing room only. She works at an elementary school and so many families came. It was wonderful.
I love both my companions so much. Sister Lamb is a dedicated worker and Sister Brown is so sincere, she truly will be a powerhouse of a missionary.
This work is so important, and I think each of us has the desire to be a perfect missionary, but we each have so far to go. The more I learn about the gospel, the more I realize how far I am from the mark. I absolutely dislike human weaknesses. It’s frustrating that even when you try…you can always do something a little bit better. The MTC, Preach My Gospel, and the handbook show you what an ideal missionary should be, but it can get overwhelming when there is so much to improve upon all at once. There are so many things expected of us, it's easy to recognize your inadequacies.
The mission is a learning process, I don’t think we can be perfect at once. How many missionaries go home saying that they wish they could start the mission over now that they know HOW to do it. I’m terrified of the time I don’t have left! It is very scary. I really don’t want to waste any of it! Complacency in the daily routine is so scary.
But the Lord needs willing servants to do his work in the latter-days. There are so few of us, that despite our inadequacies, so much good still gets done. Every little good thing that happens pleases our Heavenly Father so much. And I think he realizes that we’re trying to learn how to do this. Somehow, the Spirit can still work through us, despite our weaknesses. NOTHING can stop the work from progressing…even our own inadequacies. I love hearing stories about people who feel as if they are butchering the message, and little do they know that someone else felt the Spirit. The Lord merely needs us to open our mouths. He’ll make up for the rest.
Sister Lamb told me about a story regarding a woman whose friend was asking her questions about the Church. As she was telling the Joseph Smith Story, she started laughing. She was thinking about how it all must sound to someone who wasn't a member. She felt that it all sounded ridiculous. After the conversation, her friend went home and the member felt awful. She had mocked what she knew to be true. For the next month, she worried about how she had portrayed the gospel. Then one day her friend approached her and said that she had had a powerful witness of the truthfulness of the message. It just goes to show that the Lord works though us in ways we don't understand.
Training is an interesting experience because it makes you look back at the things you have learned throughout different situations and difficulties on the mission.
The first few months of the mission are such an emotional roller coaster. But I realized some time ago that I feel as though I’ve reached a point where it feels normal. This is my life, and I love it. I no longer feel isolated, or as if I’m missing things back home. I think it takes time to come to that point. But I LOVE it! This is my life. I've heard horror stories of what it's like to come home. I'm beginning to see why it is so hard.
I’ve learned that the mission is really one of the only times in our lives where we are forced to rely on the Lord. If you have problems, you don’t get to call Mommy and Daddy. Companions sometimes don’t understand. There is no one to physically give you an immediate response or even a hug. But the Lord respond’s to His missionaries’ cries immediately.
I am so happy in this area. I fasted and prayed very hard a little while before I got transferred here that there would be success. Heavenly Father answered my prayer in ways I couldn’t have expected. I think the prayers of Heavenly Father’s missionaries are very dear to him. I never thought I would love Albuquerque so much!
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Courtney's Coyote Adventure 11/02/2009
Hi All,
So last Monday was crazy. After I emailed you, we went to the Petroglyphs again to show Sister Brown what they were. She heard some coyotes in the distance and decided it would be funny to howl back to them. They definitely responded and so Sister Brown and the coyotes had a conversation back and forth for a good amount of time. As we continued on our hike, the howling started getting close and closer….almost like they were trying to find her! At one point it got so close that she got scarred and started to run. Sister Lamb and I weren’t too afraid, and so Sister Brown stopped running, looked at us and said it wasn’t funny. Apparently, she thought we had gotten the Elders in on it and that they were the ones howling at her. It took us a long time to explain that it really WASN’T a prank at all. Sister Brown is so much fun.
After the Coyote experience, we went on with preparation day as usual but Sister Brown had to have a mini orientation to the mission with President Anderson. That was pretty fun…except for the fact that we were running late because I lost the keys and had to find them before we could go. Phew!
Okay, so we had the craziest tracting experience but you have to promise not to worry about it, because we’re not going to be stupid about this. We were knocking doors in this one neighborhood….and we met a Muslim man. He was very nice, and said that he agrees with a lot of what the Book of Mormon says, and feels that both the Mormons and the Muslims get a bad reputation in the American media. He wanted a Book of Mormon, so we gave him one. Then he told us not to get scarred or anything, but that he trusted us and proceeded to tell us that he was from Iraq and used to be the scientific director for Saddam Hussein. We didn’t really know how to respond to that.
We were visiting with a sister who served her mission in Mexico, and she stressed that on your mission, you feel closer to the Spirit and our Heavenly Father than you do at any other point in your life and that it only comes once, so enjoy it. That has really stuck with me this week. I really do want to feel that way about my mission. And I think it’s a matter of taking the time to recognize it. I think everyone takes different things away from their mission. But for me, I have cherished the time I’ve had to study each morning. I went from merely tolerating the scriptures to loving them. I really hope that I’ll finish the standard works by the time I get home. I feel like I have grown so much.
Along these same lines, I had an experience yesterday that made me realize how I really do feel about this calling. Sister Brown got sick on Saturday afternoon, so we stayed in the apartment the whole time, and this morning is our fist day back outside. But one of our investigators really needed her home dedicated, and so our Ward Mission Leader and his wife offered to go on splits with me so that it could get done. This was the first time I’ve ever been without a full time missionary as a companion since I’ve been on my mission. And it was weird going on this split. The main thing I noticed was that Sister Lamb and I had been in the apartment pretty much just relaxing and chatting and trying to keep ourselves entertained while Sister Brown was sick. Our routine was off its regular schedule, so to a cretin extent I felt like I was back to my old self again. Then around 6:00 last night I went to go get dressed as a missionary. As I put on my tag (which I hadn’t been wearing for about a day and a half) it really struck me that I was in fact a missionary and how powerful that calling really is. I wish I could express what I felt, but I can’t quite put it into words. And the experience wasn’t life changing by any means. But I think there was a stark difference in how I looked at myself putting the tag back on after having it off and being relaxed for so long. You don’t really notice the difference while you’re in the daily grind.
We did dress up as the Triple Combination for Halloween. It was quite a hit. Hopefully, you've seen the pictures by now.
This area continues to be amazing. We’re excited for our baptism this weekend. We are teaching some very special people right now. Great people who have strong spirits… I can feel it when I teach them. I can’t wait to find more of them! This is missionary heaven. The mission is exploding right now. We’ve had to raise our baptism goal for the year two times now because we keep reaching what the goal was. I hope the whole world is having this kind of success, because it feels like everything is just speeding up. President Anderson said this mission has never baptized this many people since the mission was reorganized and boundaries were changed (Think that was when it used to be the Arizona Holbrook mission.) I love being here and I love BOTH of my sweet companions. I’m glad I have the opportunity to be a missionary.
Thanks for everything! I love you tons!
Sister Waters
So last Monday was crazy. After I emailed you, we went to the Petroglyphs again to show Sister Brown what they were. She heard some coyotes in the distance and decided it would be funny to howl back to them. They definitely responded and so Sister Brown and the coyotes had a conversation back and forth for a good amount of time. As we continued on our hike, the howling started getting close and closer….almost like they were trying to find her! At one point it got so close that she got scarred and started to run. Sister Lamb and I weren’t too afraid, and so Sister Brown stopped running, looked at us and said it wasn’t funny. Apparently, she thought we had gotten the Elders in on it and that they were the ones howling at her. It took us a long time to explain that it really WASN’T a prank at all. Sister Brown is so much fun.
After the Coyote experience, we went on with preparation day as usual but Sister Brown had to have a mini orientation to the mission with President Anderson. That was pretty fun…except for the fact that we were running late because I lost the keys and had to find them before we could go. Phew!
Okay, so we had the craziest tracting experience but you have to promise not to worry about it, because we’re not going to be stupid about this. We were knocking doors in this one neighborhood….and we met a Muslim man. He was very nice, and said that he agrees with a lot of what the Book of Mormon says, and feels that both the Mormons and the Muslims get a bad reputation in the American media. He wanted a Book of Mormon, so we gave him one. Then he told us not to get scarred or anything, but that he trusted us and proceeded to tell us that he was from Iraq and used to be the scientific director for Saddam Hussein. We didn’t really know how to respond to that.
We were visiting with a sister who served her mission in Mexico, and she stressed that on your mission, you feel closer to the Spirit and our Heavenly Father than you do at any other point in your life and that it only comes once, so enjoy it. That has really stuck with me this week. I really do want to feel that way about my mission. And I think it’s a matter of taking the time to recognize it. I think everyone takes different things away from their mission. But for me, I have cherished the time I’ve had to study each morning. I went from merely tolerating the scriptures to loving them. I really hope that I’ll finish the standard works by the time I get home. I feel like I have grown so much.
Along these same lines, I had an experience yesterday that made me realize how I really do feel about this calling. Sister Brown got sick on Saturday afternoon, so we stayed in the apartment the whole time, and this morning is our fist day back outside. But one of our investigators really needed her home dedicated, and so our Ward Mission Leader and his wife offered to go on splits with me so that it could get done. This was the first time I’ve ever been without a full time missionary as a companion since I’ve been on my mission. And it was weird going on this split. The main thing I noticed was that Sister Lamb and I had been in the apartment pretty much just relaxing and chatting and trying to keep ourselves entertained while Sister Brown was sick. Our routine was off its regular schedule, so to a cretin extent I felt like I was back to my old self again. Then around 6:00 last night I went to go get dressed as a missionary. As I put on my tag (which I hadn’t been wearing for about a day and a half) it really struck me that I was in fact a missionary and how powerful that calling really is. I wish I could express what I felt, but I can’t quite put it into words. And the experience wasn’t life changing by any means. But I think there was a stark difference in how I looked at myself putting the tag back on after having it off and being relaxed for so long. You don’t really notice the difference while you’re in the daily grind.
We did dress up as the Triple Combination for Halloween. It was quite a hit. Hopefully, you've seen the pictures by now.
This area continues to be amazing. We’re excited for our baptism this weekend. We are teaching some very special people right now. Great people who have strong spirits… I can feel it when I teach them. I can’t wait to find more of them! This is missionary heaven. The mission is exploding right now. We’ve had to raise our baptism goal for the year two times now because we keep reaching what the goal was. I hope the whole world is having this kind of success, because it feels like everything is just speeding up. President Anderson said this mission has never baptized this many people since the mission was reorganized and boundaries were changed (Think that was when it used to be the Arizona Holbrook mission.) I love being here and I love BOTH of my sweet companions. I’m glad I have the opportunity to be a missionary.
Thanks for everything! I love you tons!
Sister Waters
Friday, November 13, 2009
The Greatest Treat is the Gospel. Don't Trick Yourself Into Believing It's Only For You! 10/26/09
Hello!
Happy Halloween! It should be interesting to have people knocking on OUR doors for once. Yay for reverse tracting! One of the members suggested we dress up like a triple combination. Maybe we’ll see if we can pull it off.
We had our second flat tire yesterday, so we’ve spent the morning trying to get that fixed. But now we’re done, and get to enjoy Preparation Day!
I guess the biggest news from this week is that I am now in a trio. Sister Brown flew in from the MTC late Wednesday night, and President and Sister Anderson drove her to our apartment around 11:00. Sister Brown was Sister Lamb’s MTC companion, but injured herself playing Volleyball in the MTC and had to have knee surgery in Provo. So this puts me in the unique situation of training again. I have two trainees at the same time! I finally know what all the “older” sisters I looked up to meant when they would stress about training. I pretty much cried when I found out. I still feel like I’m the one that needs to be trained for heaven’s sake!
Sister Brown is from Twin Falls, Idaho. She worked as a veterinarian technician before coming on her mission, and I love her! She’s very sweet.
We had Zone Conference this week all about using the Book of Mormon. Some of it was inspired by Elder Holland’s talk in General Conference. President Anderson gave us some good door approach ideas, for example:
“Have you heard of the Book of Mormon?...Yes? Well do you know who Mormon actually was?”Or. “The Book of Mormon came forth to prove that the Bible is true.”
I love that last one in particular. So many people deny the Bible, and I think that is of concern to many of our Christian friends. We met a man this week who thinks that Christ wasn’t even a real person. That comment surprised me! Most people will concede that Christ was at least a good teacher. But this man refused to believe in the Savior because there is no archaeological evidence that he existed. He says there is proof for John the Baptist, but no evidence of Christ ever living. I had to point out to him that naturally, there wouldn’t be any evidence for Jesus Christ. He was resurrected, and so of course there would be no physical remains to study. It’s amazing how many different positions people have on religion.
Sister Palmer spoke in Church yesterday (and we did too actually!) She was baptized about a year ago and will be going through the temple in about three weeks! It’s so exciting! I’ve written about her in my first e-mail from Albuquerque, but didn’t mention a name. We’ve begun teaching her husband and he came to Church yesterday! Sister Palmer didn’t tell him that she was speaking until they were almost there. She kept asking him throughout the week if he was coming to church, and finally on Sunday morning he said, “Well yes I’m going to church because I promised the girls I’d go.” We were so glad he kept his commitment!
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. Sister Palmer kept mentioning one Elder in particular during her talk that really was “her missionary.” People talk about him all the time, and I actually knew him from Farmington, but he was transferred before she even got baptized! 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 first hand 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.
Kim got baptized on Saturday. It went well and there was a good turnout.
I don’t have much to say, really. I feel so blessed to be in this area and to have such hard working companions. They seem to put up with my worrying pretty well. I think my worrying is getting worse than ever. But I am amazed at how comfortable I feel in the ward, I leaned over to Sister Lamb yesterday as we were sitting on the stand. In some ways, it feels like these were families I grew up with in the church. I haven’t really felt that way about a ward before. I absolutely love Albuquerque.
Thank you for your letters!
Love you tons!
Sister Waters
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
She's Getting to That Dying Point. 10/20/09
Hello!
We got permission from President Anderson to have our Preparation Day on Tuesday this week because there was a family in the ward who wanted to take us up to the top of the Sandia Mountains, and this was the only day they could all go. So that explains why this is so late. I’ll forgo a lengthy intro and just hop into the highlights of the week.
Remember how we got invited to Bible Study? Well we went. People were very kind and friendly towards us but both Sister Lamb and I came away feeling unfed. I haven’t been to another church in a long time, and the thing that struck me this time was how casual they are in their prayers. But for the most part, we agreed with everything they taught. But there is so much more!
One of the members gave us this simile this week: Mormonism is to Christianity what Christianity was to Judaism. I like that, (not saying that anything can trump Christ’s mortal ministry of course) but the principle is that there is so much more that has been revealed! And for the most part, not many people want to listen.
I have seen some pretty interesting Area Books in my time. Sister Lamb and I laugh about this entry in regards to one family the Elders were teaching. There was a son living with his mother, and they described the mother by the following sentence:
“She’s getting to that dying point.”
We just laughed and laughed.
So I told you about the woman who first got interested in the LDS Church after attending the Donny Osmond fireside chats back in the 70s. Well she’s going to get baptized in a few weeks! We’re all so excited. Sister Lamb and I are already working on her baptism gift. Picture this: A photo of teen idol Donny Osmond. With a card saying: “it started with this (insert Donny) and ended with THIS” (We’re still debating as to what the ending item should be. We’ve got a couple ideas up our sleeves so stay tuned!
All humor aside, we are so blessed to be in this area. We are having our second baptism this Saturday, October 24th, followed by the one mentioned above which will be on November 7th. Heavenly Father certainly heard my prayers when I asked that my next area be filled with people who are prepared to hear the gospel. After a 7.5 month dry spell, it is so exciting to have 3 baptisms in a little over 2 months.
This week was also exciting because we finally got lessons with two different people that we have been trying to meet with since September! We were tempted to just give up trying, because one of them NEVER seemed to be home. But we had two of the best lessons! One woman in particular, has a lot of questions about her Mother, who passed away about a year ago. So we taught the Plan of Salvation, and the Spirit was so thick in the room. I really feel like she may have family on the other side of the veil who are anxious for their temple work to be done. She listened so intently to the lesson, her eyes soaking up our every word, and interrupting with so many heartfelt questions. One of my friends told me before I left on my mission that his favorite thing about being a missionary was watching light come into people’s eyes as they understood the gospel. That has stuck with me. And this was definitely one of those kinds of lessons. She still has a lot of concerns, but her eyes were so eager to know more.
We had lunch with the Relief Society sisters at the Super Saturday activity this week so that we could get to know more members. As we walked in, the Bishop was glad to see us because a few minutes earlier, a man had just walked into the church building. He told us that the Lord guided him to that building today, he had seen it for a while and finally wanted to know what was inside. Wow! We taught him a little bit, and gave his address to the Elders in the next ward over.
This week has been wonderful. I love being a missionary. Thank you for all the letters and support. I think I have a list of 11 people that I am supposed to write...but that clearly won't all get done today. Sorry I’m really behind on responding to letters, but that’s how it goes some weeks.
Love you all!
Sister Waters
Transfer News - 10/12/09
Hello Family! We didn’t think that the Library would be open today, since it is a holiday. Our district decided to have a fun Preparation Day Activity for our last day together, so we went to the Albuquerque Zoo first thing this morning. But I am so exhausted now! The Elders pretty much play football on every P-day, so this was our first time doing something with the other missionaries in our area. It was fun to get to know them more.
That’s neat that Sister Jordan is in your ward, she was a neat Sister and the teaching appointment I went to with them really helped me get excited about missionary work. She must be almost done with her mission, because that was nine months ago, and she was training a new sister at the time.
Well, the title of this email says transfer news. Our district leader called us on Saturday night and told us that our area was being split up. I would be covering the Paradise Hills ward with Sister M. and Sister Lamb would cover the Bandalier Ward with Sister Thude. We were shocked! Then our cell phone lost reception and the call was dropped. (YES! We have cell phones in our mission now!) We called back right away, and Elder Nash told us that he was just kidding. Sister Lamb and I would be staying together after all. Phew. That's good. (I think I will title every email at the end of transfers, Transfer News, just to be suspenseful!) We are getting three more sisters this transfer for a grand total of 20! So, two more areas must have opened up, but we don’t know where. Sad. But some exciting news is that one of my favorite Elders from the MTC is moving into my district. I haven’t served around anyone from my MTC district in three months, so this will be a fun little reunion. It’s funny how there’s a neat link between the missionaries you came out with.
We were tracting a few days ago. Most people weren’t interested, and some were quite rude. But we knocked on this one door, and the reception was quite different. Before I even opened my mouth, I felt like he was a member. There was a very familiar spirit in the home. We talked for a little bit, and the man expressed interest in what we were teaching, so we said we would come back another time. But I fell like this was a direct answer to prayer. I have been praying for a few months now that we would recognize those who are ready for the truth. I don’t know what is going to happen with this man, but the feeling was so distinctly familiar before we even said anything. That’s what it MUST feel like when you recognize those who are ready.
One of the things I LOVE about this area is that we are working with a great group of 15, 18, and 20 year old girls who just recently joined the church. Their testimonies are so sweet. One of the girls who was just baptized remembers what was said in her confirmation about preparing for a temple marriage and decided to dump her boyfriend this week. It sounds awful, but we were so excited for her! I think we’re going to have an ice cream party to celebrate.
The Family that knows the Metts family in Japan invited us into their home yesterday to teach one of their friends. This particular woman has been studying about the Mormons since she was 15 and was an Osmond fan. She is reading the Book of Mormon and loves to study on the Albuquerque Temple grounds. We’re really excited because she is a wonderful lady!
I can’t believe I’m hitting my nine month mark this week. It’s crazy. Time is a funny thing. It can seem incredibly fast and also long at the same time. I love you all very much, and miss you tons! I’m sorry this is so short. I just don’t have too much to say I guess.
Thanks for the letters. I love them. But I also don’t think I will have time to respond to any today. Napping sounds much more appealing.
Love you!
Sister Waters
That’s neat that Sister Jordan is in your ward, she was a neat Sister and the teaching appointment I went to with them really helped me get excited about missionary work. She must be almost done with her mission, because that was nine months ago, and she was training a new sister at the time.
Well, the title of this email says transfer news. Our district leader called us on Saturday night and told us that our area was being split up. I would be covering the Paradise Hills ward with Sister M. and Sister Lamb would cover the Bandalier Ward with Sister Thude. We were shocked! Then our cell phone lost reception and the call was dropped. (YES! We have cell phones in our mission now!) We called back right away, and Elder Nash told us that he was just kidding. Sister Lamb and I would be staying together after all. Phew. That's good. (I think I will title every email at the end of transfers, Transfer News, just to be suspenseful!) We are getting three more sisters this transfer for a grand total of 20! So, two more areas must have opened up, but we don’t know where. Sad. But some exciting news is that one of my favorite Elders from the MTC is moving into my district. I haven’t served around anyone from my MTC district in three months, so this will be a fun little reunion. It’s funny how there’s a neat link between the missionaries you came out with.
We were tracting a few days ago. Most people weren’t interested, and some were quite rude. But we knocked on this one door, and the reception was quite different. Before I even opened my mouth, I felt like he was a member. There was a very familiar spirit in the home. We talked for a little bit, and the man expressed interest in what we were teaching, so we said we would come back another time. But I fell like this was a direct answer to prayer. I have been praying for a few months now that we would recognize those who are ready for the truth. I don’t know what is going to happen with this man, but the feeling was so distinctly familiar before we even said anything. That’s what it MUST feel like when you recognize those who are ready.
One of the things I LOVE about this area is that we are working with a great group of 15, 18, and 20 year old girls who just recently joined the church. Their testimonies are so sweet. One of the girls who was just baptized remembers what was said in her confirmation about preparing for a temple marriage and decided to dump her boyfriend this week. It sounds awful, but we were so excited for her! I think we’re going to have an ice cream party to celebrate.
The Family that knows the Metts family in Japan invited us into their home yesterday to teach one of their friends. This particular woman has been studying about the Mormons since she was 15 and was an Osmond fan. She is reading the Book of Mormon and loves to study on the Albuquerque Temple grounds. We’re really excited because she is a wonderful lady!
I can’t believe I’m hitting my nine month mark this week. It’s crazy. Time is a funny thing. It can seem incredibly fast and also long at the same time. I love you all very much, and miss you tons! I’m sorry this is so short. I just don’t have too much to say I guess.
Thanks for the letters. I love them. But I also don’t think I will have time to respond to any today. Napping sounds much more appealing.
Love you!
Sister Waters
Friday, October 23, 2009
My Second General Conference While Serving in the Mission Field 10/05/09
I can't believe it's been six months since last General Conference!
Well family, this week was interesting. But that’s nothing new. We spent two days trying to get the car fixed. We had a flat tire one day. And then the next day, we found out that we have no brake pads left on the brakes. So unfortunately, a lot of our time was spent trying to fix mechanical problems.
There is a part member family that we’re working with. Both parents come to church pretty much every Sunday. The ward is very hopeful and so are we. At our last lesson, everything went exactly how we had hoped it would!
We also went to visit a “mystery name” the Elders left us (A mystery name is basically, a name and address written on a progress record without much of a story or history attached.) It seems promising, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Also, I don’t know what it is about General Conference, but both last April and this past conference, we’ve ended up having a minister come watch conference at the Stake Center with us! We had two people from a very popular church here in Albuquerque attend General Conference on Sunday afternoon. One was a member of that church that the elders serving before us had tracted into, and the other was the youth minister of the church, who he brought. He loved Elder Christofferson’s talk the most, and had questions about the Nigerian General Authority’s (Elder Sitati’s) talk regarding the Abrahamic covenant. So that was exciting! The fact that they attended Sunday afternoon also meant that they got to hear Jeffrey R. Holland’s smack down on those who deny the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. Wow! So, I’m interested to see how our follow up visit goes. It should be interesting. (Whenever I watch conference with an investigator I get so nervous, I listen from the perspective of, “What are they thinking about this?” I’m on edge through the whole conference! It’s an interesting way to listen to conference, but I’m excited to re-read the talks when I won’t be so nervous.) The man the elders before us tracted into invited us to attend their services, but with our rigorous Sunday meeting schedule as missionaries, it’s not even an option, nor good since the Lord has sent us forth to teach and not to be taught of the world. But even the extension of an invitation is pretty daring on his part. It’s basically comparable to asking a nun to attend a Baptist church. He teaches a Bible study class for young adults out of his home on Friday’s and invited us to attend his class. Maybe we’ll be able to visit. We’ll see. We’ll have to be careful on this one. But I can tell what amazing and genuinely good people they are because they take special effort not to offend.
We’re teaching a member who wants to get reactivated and prepare for the temple. She is super funny, and completely honest in her concerns and hold ups. The Elders left a note saying that “She is very fun to teach.” No. Corrections:
“She is an absolute riot to teach!” We lover her, she’s kind of like a teenager in an adults body."
The Hot Air Balloon Festival is going on this week. Our Bishop wants to take us, and it looks like we got permission to go later in the week (from the Zone Leaders). That surprised me. But I guess it evens out if we have a teaching appointment on preparation day.
President Anderson asked us to email him our notes from conference and ideas of how we can improve our teaching.
I loved the emphasis placed on relying on the spirit! Richard G. Scott talked about how we don't need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to teaching. He also talked about how we must respond to first impressions or else more revelation will not follow. I feel like receiving inspiration takes a lot of work. But the Spirit is so essential in this work, that I need to get better at it. I want to get even better at following impressions. I love how Elder Packer said, “The key to heaven is on our side of the veil.” In order to achieve heavenly and magnificent results in missionary work, we must get better at following the Spirit!
I absolutely loved Elder Osguthorpe’s talk on effective teaching. What stuck out to me most was the example of his primary teacher. “She had so much confidence in me that I could not refuse her invitation to give that talk.” I want to help people feel like they CAN live the gospel! This is the way I can extend better commitments, which is sometimes hard for me. But the key is to also help prepare people to live commitments. I loved how he described teachers as messengers of God.
I loved Elder Oak’s quote as well. “Real love does not support self destructive behavior.” We are devastated when investigators do not fulfill commitments. We need to extend powerful commitments.
Elder Bednar’s talk on consistence describes mission life so well. So often in our teaching and finding, we don’t have “masterpiece days” but we must remain consistent in order to both help people gradually develop masterpiece testimonies, and also find those golden investigators.
Following President Monson’s talk, it was clear that service can be an excellent teaching tool as well.
So many of these talks applied directly to our investigators! Sister Lamb and I are hoping to take our notes and develop lesson plans around them so they can be specifically applied to individual investigators.
Love you all!
Have a wonderful week!
Well family, this week was interesting. But that’s nothing new. We spent two days trying to get the car fixed. We had a flat tire one day. And then the next day, we found out that we have no brake pads left on the brakes. So unfortunately, a lot of our time was spent trying to fix mechanical problems.
There is a part member family that we’re working with. Both parents come to church pretty much every Sunday. The ward is very hopeful and so are we. At our last lesson, everything went exactly how we had hoped it would!
We also went to visit a “mystery name” the Elders left us (A mystery name is basically, a name and address written on a progress record without much of a story or history attached.) It seems promising, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Also, I don’t know what it is about General Conference, but both last April and this past conference, we’ve ended up having a minister come watch conference at the Stake Center with us! We had two people from a very popular church here in Albuquerque attend General Conference on Sunday afternoon. One was a member of that church that the elders serving before us had tracted into, and the other was the youth minister of the church, who he brought. He loved Elder Christofferson’s talk the most, and had questions about the Nigerian General Authority’s (Elder Sitati’s) talk regarding the Abrahamic covenant. So that was exciting! The fact that they attended Sunday afternoon also meant that they got to hear Jeffrey R. Holland’s smack down on those who deny the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. Wow! So, I’m interested to see how our follow up visit goes. It should be interesting. (Whenever I watch conference with an investigator I get so nervous, I listen from the perspective of, “What are they thinking about this?” I’m on edge through the whole conference! It’s an interesting way to listen to conference, but I’m excited to re-read the talks when I won’t be so nervous.) The man the elders before us tracted into invited us to attend their services, but with our rigorous Sunday meeting schedule as missionaries, it’s not even an option, nor good since the Lord has sent us forth to teach and not to be taught of the world. But even the extension of an invitation is pretty daring on his part. It’s basically comparable to asking a nun to attend a Baptist church. He teaches a Bible study class for young adults out of his home on Friday’s and invited us to attend his class. Maybe we’ll be able to visit. We’ll see. We’ll have to be careful on this one. But I can tell what amazing and genuinely good people they are because they take special effort not to offend.
We’re teaching a member who wants to get reactivated and prepare for the temple. She is super funny, and completely honest in her concerns and hold ups. The Elders left a note saying that “She is very fun to teach.” No. Corrections:
“She is an absolute riot to teach!” We lover her, she’s kind of like a teenager in an adults body."
The Hot Air Balloon Festival is going on this week. Our Bishop wants to take us, and it looks like we got permission to go later in the week (from the Zone Leaders). That surprised me. But I guess it evens out if we have a teaching appointment on preparation day.
President Anderson asked us to email him our notes from conference and ideas of how we can improve our teaching.
I loved the emphasis placed on relying on the spirit! Richard G. Scott talked about how we don't need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to teaching. He also talked about how we must respond to first impressions or else more revelation will not follow. I feel like receiving inspiration takes a lot of work. But the Spirit is so essential in this work, that I need to get better at it. I want to get even better at following impressions. I love how Elder Packer said, “The key to heaven is on our side of the veil.” In order to achieve heavenly and magnificent results in missionary work, we must get better at following the Spirit!
I absolutely loved Elder Osguthorpe’s talk on effective teaching. What stuck out to me most was the example of his primary teacher. “She had so much confidence in me that I could not refuse her invitation to give that talk.” I want to help people feel like they CAN live the gospel! This is the way I can extend better commitments, which is sometimes hard for me. But the key is to also help prepare people to live commitments. I loved how he described teachers as messengers of God.
I loved Elder Oak’s quote as well. “Real love does not support self destructive behavior.” We are devastated when investigators do not fulfill commitments. We need to extend powerful commitments.
Elder Bednar’s talk on consistence describes mission life so well. So often in our teaching and finding, we don’t have “masterpiece days” but we must remain consistent in order to both help people gradually develop masterpiece testimonies, and also find those golden investigators.
Following President Monson’s talk, it was clear that service can be an excellent teaching tool as well.
So many of these talks applied directly to our investigators! Sister Lamb and I are hoping to take our notes and develop lesson plans around them so they can be specifically applied to individual investigators.
Love you all!
Have a wonderful week!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
A Marvelous Work and a Wonder
Hello!
This week was amazing. Amanda got baptized yesterday, and the spirit of the baptism fit her perfectly. It was exactly what she needed. I know she felt the Spirit very strongly. She bore her testimony in gospel principles class. I find it amazing to think about the timing of the events leading up to her baptism. She had been searching for the truth for three years and had attended a total of eight different churches. In the middle of the summer, she moved in with some members of the Paradise Hills Ward. A few weeks later, their grandmother died. In Amanda’s testimony, she talked about how this event played such a significant role in her conversion. She watched the stability and sense of peace that came with the funeral. When they explained the Spirit World and the Three Kingdom’s of Glory, it seemed to be exactly what she was looking for. It just made sense. In her confirmation, they blessed her that she would be an example to others and strengthen or lead others into the church. She’s the type of investigator I had prayed to meet for a long time.
Another exciting thing occurred this week. Well, it actually happened last week, but I didn’t understand how all the pieces fit together until recently. That’s how life always seems to go. I think Elder Grow’s visit to the mission was a turning point in my mission. I was determined that from that point on I would pray very hard to know where to go so that I could find those who were “already to harvest.” I had a stronger reliance on faith than I had before. So, I had my companion and I study the map of streets and try to be led by the Spirit as to where we should tract that week. We narrowed down our selections until we found an area that we both felt was right. We planned to tract it, but then our plans changed, so we ended up tracting it a long time after we had intended to originally.
Before we began to tract that day, we prayed before leaving the car. We prayed that we would find people on that street who would be receptive to the gospel. We found two people that day who invited us to come back. But the story doesn’t end there.
As we were tracting, we met a member family that was very cool. They offered to help us with anything, and even talked about a few people they are sharing the gospel with. Probably five minutes after leaving their house, we tracted into the neatest 19 year old girl. She listened attentively to everything we taught her about the Restoration and said she would love to come to church with us if she could get a ride. Well, Heavenly Father had allowed us to meet a family just a few minutes before who would make the perfect fellowshippers. She missed the first Sunday because we didn’t introduce them at first, but on Saturday we had them meet. She came to Church yesterday, and even participated in Relief Society! Come to find out, some of her extended family are LDS. We are excited to start her official lessons this week.
Our prayers were answered as we sought out where we should go.
During the relief Society broadcast, Henry B. Eyring said something to the effect of: “You may not in this world see evidence that you have succeeded….but you are on the Lord’s errand.”
I think that’s how I felt about my mission for a long time. But I am grateful that I have been able to see a few successes this week especially.
In other news:
We broke out the sidewalk chalk again this week. For Amanda, and someone else we briefly met. I think chalk drawing messages might become the theme of this transfer.
I am still obsessed with hair. Some things never change. I had to get my roots done. But I don’t trust just anyone. So, I decided to highlight them myself. My companion thought I was crazy. But it turned out ok! I’m actually kind of proud of it. And she was surprised that I didn’t make a botch of it either. So that’s an exciting new development.
The misconceptions and uncharitable beliefs of the Anti-Mormon rhetoric greatly concern me. I’ve seen it destroy good strong families. We were confronted again last night with these opinions. It is dangerous in that it can sound very convincing to those who are weak in their testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and to those who are unfamiliar with our doctrines. It makes you think that you are an intellectual, when really God is the only intellectual and spiritual source of truth. Sometimes people don’t understand why we are counseled not to get into it. For me it comes down to two things.
1). God is the only source of truth.
2). We are encouraged to expand our knowledge but with the remembrance that the glory of God is intelligence. It also comes down to faith. Faith that there is a prophet on the earth who tells us that it's a danger. We may not understand why, but if the Lord asks us not to do something. Have faith in that! Be obedient!
Each time people bring up anti-claims…I find myself thinking “is that the best you can come up with?” I fell so blessed to have heard so many of the criticisms of the church answered by the Church before I heard them from those opposed to the church. The Lord prepared me so much before I ever met an anti-Mormon face to face. BYU archeology lectures, talks on CD about defending the faith, and mostly a personal witness of the truthfulness of this work are such a blessing that I am so grateful for.
My companion and I are tired of not doing anything fun on P-Day, so we decided that we would go to the Petroglyph Museum/National Park today. We’ll see how it goes. I think it’s supposed to be about Anasazi rock drawings…but I could be wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time.
General Conference is next weekend. It is also the kickoff for the Hot Air Balloon Festival which runs all week. There are rumors flying around that missionaries cannot go. But you will see hundreds of balloons all week long in the air. We have seen them a lot this week already, because they are practicing, I think.
Well family, that’s all the things I had planned on writing today. I love you very much and appreciate the letters you have sent me. I am glad to hear that the school year is going well, and that there are exciting new changes happening in the ward. Have a wonderful Monday!
Love,
Sister Waters
This week was amazing. Amanda got baptized yesterday, and the spirit of the baptism fit her perfectly. It was exactly what she needed. I know she felt the Spirit very strongly. She bore her testimony in gospel principles class. I find it amazing to think about the timing of the events leading up to her baptism. She had been searching for the truth for three years and had attended a total of eight different churches. In the middle of the summer, she moved in with some members of the Paradise Hills Ward. A few weeks later, their grandmother died. In Amanda’s testimony, she talked about how this event played such a significant role in her conversion. She watched the stability and sense of peace that came with the funeral. When they explained the Spirit World and the Three Kingdom’s of Glory, it seemed to be exactly what she was looking for. It just made sense. In her confirmation, they blessed her that she would be an example to others and strengthen or lead others into the church. She’s the type of investigator I had prayed to meet for a long time.
Another exciting thing occurred this week. Well, it actually happened last week, but I didn’t understand how all the pieces fit together until recently. That’s how life always seems to go. I think Elder Grow’s visit to the mission was a turning point in my mission. I was determined that from that point on I would pray very hard to know where to go so that I could find those who were “already to harvest.” I had a stronger reliance on faith than I had before. So, I had my companion and I study the map of streets and try to be led by the Spirit as to where we should tract that week. We narrowed down our selections until we found an area that we both felt was right. We planned to tract it, but then our plans changed, so we ended up tracting it a long time after we had intended to originally.
Before we began to tract that day, we prayed before leaving the car. We prayed that we would find people on that street who would be receptive to the gospel. We found two people that day who invited us to come back. But the story doesn’t end there.
As we were tracting, we met a member family that was very cool. They offered to help us with anything, and even talked about a few people they are sharing the gospel with. Probably five minutes after leaving their house, we tracted into the neatest 19 year old girl. She listened attentively to everything we taught her about the Restoration and said she would love to come to church with us if she could get a ride. Well, Heavenly Father had allowed us to meet a family just a few minutes before who would make the perfect fellowshippers. She missed the first Sunday because we didn’t introduce them at first, but on Saturday we had them meet. She came to Church yesterday, and even participated in Relief Society! Come to find out, some of her extended family are LDS. We are excited to start her official lessons this week.
Our prayers were answered as we sought out where we should go.
During the relief Society broadcast, Henry B. Eyring said something to the effect of: “You may not in this world see evidence that you have succeeded….but you are on the Lord’s errand.”
I think that’s how I felt about my mission for a long time. But I am grateful that I have been able to see a few successes this week especially.
In other news:
We broke out the sidewalk chalk again this week. For Amanda, and someone else we briefly met. I think chalk drawing messages might become the theme of this transfer.
I am still obsessed with hair. Some things never change. I had to get my roots done. But I don’t trust just anyone. So, I decided to highlight them myself. My companion thought I was crazy. But it turned out ok! I’m actually kind of proud of it. And she was surprised that I didn’t make a botch of it either. So that’s an exciting new development.
The misconceptions and uncharitable beliefs of the Anti-Mormon rhetoric greatly concern me. I’ve seen it destroy good strong families. We were confronted again last night with these opinions. It is dangerous in that it can sound very convincing to those who are weak in their testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and to those who are unfamiliar with our doctrines. It makes you think that you are an intellectual, when really God is the only intellectual and spiritual source of truth. Sometimes people don’t understand why we are counseled not to get into it. For me it comes down to two things.
1). God is the only source of truth.
2). We are encouraged to expand our knowledge but with the remembrance that the glory of God is intelligence. It also comes down to faith. Faith that there is a prophet on the earth who tells us that it's a danger. We may not understand why, but if the Lord asks us not to do something. Have faith in that! Be obedient!
Each time people bring up anti-claims…I find myself thinking “is that the best you can come up with?” I fell so blessed to have heard so many of the criticisms of the church answered by the Church before I heard them from those opposed to the church. The Lord prepared me so much before I ever met an anti-Mormon face to face. BYU archeology lectures, talks on CD about defending the faith, and mostly a personal witness of the truthfulness of this work are such a blessing that I am so grateful for.
My companion and I are tired of not doing anything fun on P-Day, so we decided that we would go to the Petroglyph Museum/National Park today. We’ll see how it goes. I think it’s supposed to be about Anasazi rock drawings…but I could be wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time.
General Conference is next weekend. It is also the kickoff for the Hot Air Balloon Festival which runs all week. There are rumors flying around that missionaries cannot go. But you will see hundreds of balloons all week long in the air. We have seen them a lot this week already, because they are practicing, I think.
Well family, that’s all the things I had planned on writing today. I love you very much and appreciate the letters you have sent me. I am glad to hear that the school year is going well, and that there are exciting new changes happening in the ward. Have a wonderful Monday!
Love,
Sister Waters
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