27 October 2014
This week I had the opportunity to be interviewed by our mission president, President Mecham. It was great to be able to talk with him about some of my goals that I have and be able to get his advice.
A mission is a wonderful opportunity to work with many leaders and to see those whom the Lord calls. It's interesting to see that leaders come from all sorts of backgrounds; some are qualified leaders and others have no experience at all, but the Lord qualifies whom He calls and it is cool to really get the chance to see that as we work closely with ward councils and mission leadership.
This week we took members out with us like crazy! We had 11 member present lessons this week, which is a ton! That means that we had members at 11 lessons with someone who is not a member. We would have had more but a few people cancelled on us. That isn't counting all of the lessons with less active and active members. It is so great to see the ward getting involved! Just last night we were able to go on splits to track down people that were quite a ways from town. Both of the members really enjoyed the experience, which makes us really happy! I have yet to have a member go out with us who didn't like the experience. You should all go out with the missionaries in your area, it's a great opportunity!
The W--- moved out of our ward which makes me really sad. As we were helping them move Sister Beckstrand and I joked that it "seemed like we had moved all of this stuff before" because we had just moved it just a little while ago.
We gained a new investigator, put her on baptismal date, and then she dropped us less than a week later. It was a bummer! But it leaves us more time to go find the people who are ready, I guess. It's always sad when someone chooses not to accept the gospel. We know how happy it can make their life and we try to explain it to them, but sometimes they just don't understand or aren't ready to make the needed changes in their lives to follow Christ yet.
We had a miracle this week as we were going to visit one of our investigators. She wasn't home...again. But the girl that opened the door happened to be a less active from 4th ward  who was staying with her and we were able to teach her a lesson and set up an appointment for the 4th ward sisters to meet with her. It was a miracle for them because they had been praying to get in contact with her for quite some time. The Lord works in mysterious ways!
We had another lesson with C--- and R--- this week. We brought a member, a recently returned missionary from South America. Oh boy did my inner Bible basher come out. They were trying to prove the things they believed with the Bible and so many scriptures came to mind that were in the a Bible that contradicted what they said. I eventually had to make myself stop showing them the other scriptures because they just weren't going to listen. I felt bad at the end of the lesson for letting myself get so drawn in. Simple doctrine is the way to go.
We had a great lesson with J--- this week. He came with so many questions and we were able to sit down and answer all of them with the pamphlets and the scriptures. It was an amazing discussion and he wants to come back to church! (He didn't make it this Sunday, we aren't sure why yet). But what made the lesson even more amazing is that Sister M--- came to the lesson when just 3 hours before she had cancer removed off her nose. Talk about one tough lady! No one else from the ward was free to come with us and so we called, not knowing about the surgery, and she wanted to come despite it!
The other day Brother H--- (a recently reactivated ember) called us up and told us he had a friend named L--- who really wants to quit drinking and he asked if we ever could just "happen" to show up the next time he was over and talk to him about the addiction recovery program, so we did! It was a great discussion, but we were pretty sure he was at least a little drunk. He said he would come to church this Sunday with brother H---, but he wasn't there either.
We did have one success this week as far as church goes: K--- and his cousin J--- came! They only stayed for Sacrament meeting, but it was a good start! Everything worked out great, the people we had asked to sit by them came and grabbed them and they all sat together. We are excited to hear what they thought of church.
And the elders got an investigator to come to Sacrament meeting and he stayed for all 3 hours, so that was so great!!
This Saturday I got kind of sick, luckily it was just a stomach ache and we were having a ward craft Saturday, so Sister Beckstrand went in and talked to people while I died on the couch. After an hour or so I was fine and the day continued. It was a great activity and so many people were there! It's called "Souper Saturday" where they do crafts and bring soup to have for lunch.
We had another amazing miracle, the elders tracted into this little girl who mentioned that "the Mormons haven't been around in a long time" and they gave her a pamphlet and told us to go over. I'm still not sure why they didn't knock on the door, but I'm glad they didn't! We went over a couple hours later and knocked and we didn't even have time to introduce ourselves before they pulled us in and had us sitting in their living room. Apparently the I--- LOVE sister missionaries and they were so eager to talk to us. It's a part member family. Inactive dad and the wife and their kids aren't baptized. Actually it's two grandparents raising their grandkids. So we are going to start working with them. We are way excited!
We also found another part member family, the H---, and the member husband wasn't home, but the wife invited us in anyway. We had a great talk with her and she showed us all of her wedding pictures and told us all about their life. We were able to have a lesson with them and it turned out really well. Hopefully we will start teaching them soon!
And yesterday we had a lesson with the M---. We have been trying to get in to see them for months and they let us in last week and we had a great talk and lesson. Well, brother M--- came to church yesterday and very nonchalantly said, so when are you coming over tonight? He told us that his wife really likes us and that she will talk to us, but whenever the elders come she hides in the basement. So he really wanted us to come back. We had a lesson about the light of Christ and she tried to give us a bottle of homemade pickles. She succeeded in getting us to take the applesauce. She is warming up to us and we hope that she will soften her heart and allow the elders to teach her too.
Well, that's a condensed version of my week! I hope you are having an awesome month and are enjoying the nice fall weather! Don't forget to go out with the missionaries, or post a #BookofMormoning!
Love you all!
Sister Draney

This week some members took us out to eat at a place that was attached to a casino. Thankfully they were separate, but both Sister Beckstrand and I were a little apprehensive about it. It ended up being good though and we had a ton of leftovers to take home.
On Tuesday we went to visit the H--- family with Sister S--- our Primary president. We had tracted into them and this was our return appointment. We arrived a little bit early and sat in our car to wait for her to arrive. We could see their house across the street and we were a little concerned because all the blinds were drawn and the lights were off. We watched as this little girl biked up and knocked on the door. No one answered. She rang the doorbell and no one answered. We were a little discouraged as we watched her bike way until we saw movement in the upstairs window. They were peeking out of the blinds! They were hiding from us!
So we didn't want to look like creepers sitting across the street so we pulled farther down the street to wait. When Sister S--- arrived we walked down the street to their house, but right as we got there, their car pulled out of the driveway and they left. It was kind of funny, but very disappointing. So now we have to go back and talk to them and see if they actually want to meet with us.
So we went to some other teaching appointments with her.
Sister S--- gave me an ammonite necklace and it is the coolest thing ever. It's a fossil that is cut in half and polished. It's hard to describe over email, you'll just have to see it later.
We had the coolest miracle this week! We planned to go visit the W--- after Sister S--- dropped us off at our car, but it was too early to go over. We decided to go tracting in J--- trailer park. We felt that we needed to be there but we both felt a little nervous about tracting a trailer park at night.
So we decided to go ask J--- for referrals so that we could go to the safer places. However, she was no help because she doesn't really know her neighbors. So we set out and started knocking on doors but no one answered. Finally, one man opened his door. His name is S--- and we were able to give an overview of the Plan of Salvation because one of his sons had passed away.
We set up a return appointment and he really wanted us to meet his son, S--, but he wasn't home. Steve told us that Seth is super spiritual.
We walked away to continue tracting after praying with S---, but we didn't feel that any of the doors we were passing were right. Somehow we ended up heading back towards S---s trailer after only a couple minutes. I saw that there was a new car in front of the trailer with people getting stuff out of the back, so I called out, "Hey, are one of you S---?" And one of them called back, "yeah, that's me!" And bounded over to shake our hands.
He introduced us to his two friends C--- and B---. They told us they had been out DJing in the park and we told them we had just talked to S---s dad and we asked if we could share a spiritual message with them really quick and they agreed.
We started with an overview of the Plan of Salvation but they had so many questions and became so engaged that we ended up teaching the whole lesson and inviting all of them to be baptized!
S--- agreed and was so excited, C--- agreed a little reluctantly because he still isn't sure if there is a God; B--- is content in his church but said that if he came to know that the things we taught were true that he would be baptized.
It was such a miracle because we had been praying to find people who were prepared to accept the gospel and we have at least two, if not four!
The next day Sister R--- came out with us all morning! We visited B--- first and had a lesson with him. We had planned to extend a baptismal invitation but the lesson got so out of hand that we couldn't. He just wanted to talk about politics, world chaos, disease, etc. so it was hard to get the gospel in and when we did he started talking about how it's possible to have too much religion and "don't we ever talk about anything but religion?". Needless to say, it didn't get anywhere and we explained what our purpose was as missionaries, so we were going to talk about religion. We probably won't be going back for a while because he is clearly not ready right now.
We had our next appointment cancel on us so we took Sister R--- tracting. She definitely got a firsthand look at how rude some people can be. I think it's good for members because it shows them what missionary work can be like and makes them more willing to help us with referrals.
We had our first lesson with K--- after we tracted. As we talked with him and did "how to begin teaching" we came to realize that he knows nothing about the religion he was baptized into. He is super open and we were able to teach him the Plan of Salvation because he cared for his mom when she was terminally ill up until she died. It was a great, spiritual lesson and he really wants to get his answer if the Book of Mormon and the gospel is true. We have a return appointment next week. And he just texted us as I was typing this and he said, "it's funny, after you guys left I got a warm feeling" and we just were like, "Ahhhh!" We are so excited!
If he becomes reactived it will be just like a convert baptism because he has never had a testimony or been active.
We also had our first lesson with P--- this week. I don't know what it is with the Plan of Salvation but everyone seems to need it this week! Sister W--- came to our lesson with us and when we knocked on the door this lady came and looked like she was about to tell us to go away, so I quickly asked for

 P---.
We ended up having to have his lesson outside because his wife wasn't too thrilled that we were there. We had planned to teach the Restoration but then he started telling us about how his ex-son-in-law had just died as he drove to his 8 year old son's birthday party. It was so sad! So we started talking about the Plan of Salvation instead. He listened intently to everything we talked about but kept his answers short. I invited him to be baptized after the lesson and he wanted to know how baptism into our church was different than any other baptism, so we talked a bit about the Priesthood.
He said he would have to study more before he agreed and he honestly seemed to intend to study. I have high hopes for him! He seems very sincere in his approach to all that we shared with him.
After the lesson we went to go visit P--- and found out that she actually has set aside her tithing for the first time in forever! We are so excited! Not only is she paying her tithing but the G--- family also paid their tithing for the first time in years! What a miracle!
This week I hit my year mark and I got to read the letter I wrote myself a year ago. It was interesting to see how much I've changed since I first wrote that letter. I have accomplished to some degree all of the things I had hoped to accomplish so far. Overall I was very pleased as I looked back over my year of missionary service.
Sister Beckstrand celebrated my year mark with sparkling apple cider and weekly planning (it was an unfortunate way to spend a lot of the day, planning.)
I had to go on splits after planning, so I was out of my area all night. I ate tuna casserole on a coffee table for dinner, and we had a few lessons.
When I got back to our ward I found out I missed the most exciting night EVER!
They were walking around when someone called out, "hey, are you the Mormons?" And they replied that they were, and he said, "well, I'm ready to be baptized!" They couldn't believe it! His name is 

T--- and it turns out that he has received all of the lessons but can't be baptized because of an open parasitic wound that can't be submerged in water. So we are working with some nurses in our ward to see if there's a way around that with airtight, waterproof bandages.
And then they had a lesson that was set up for us by a member with a girl named J---. She accepted the invitation to be baptized, came to all the sessions of stake conference, and told us yesterday that she got her answer that the Book of Mormon is true and is going to be baptized! We are SO beyond excited!!! Member referrals are the BEST!
I had a water-chugging contest with Elder Denslow, one of the elders in our ward and I totally would have won, but he got a .5 second head start.
We have had such a great week of finding! We found a bunch of less actives and part member families that are going to let us come over again to teach them!
We had our first lesson with one of them, J---, last night and he is so ready to come back to church! His dad and step mom who live with him (they're way older, J--- is in his 30s) ramble constantly. They are both members but they smoke pot and think that they're perfect, we are going to start going over when they aren't there to detract from the Spirit.
We also found a potential investigator as we were trying to track down a less active man. It's been such a productive week for finding!
We also got to go to the Priesthood meeting because we are missionaries. Sister Beckstrand and I kept joking about how cool it was to be invited to the "super secret Priesthood meeting". I find it funny that so many people make such a big deal out of going when it's not any more exciting than any other meeting.
Overall this week was awesome!

I love you all and hope you are having a great week! Don't forget to write me!

Sister Draney

Holy cow what a week! We have been so busy, mostly with tracting. We have almost doubled our potential investigator pool and we have return appointments with all of them in this coming week. It's so great! It was originally frustrating because all of the people we had planned to see weren't home, so we thought that there must be some reason why we felt prompted to visit those people when they weren't even home, so we started tracting and had a ton of success.
We visited M--- again and we had quite the interesting conversation with him. We had planned for it to be a short lesson because we had given him the pamphlet and he read it. The only problem is he had some issues with the fact that we claim to be the only true church. We talked to him about how Jesus only set up one church while He was here and M--- was like, "Oh, you got me!" But then he went right back into the circular conversation that he started, so we didn't get anywhere.
We talked to his daughter though and she is one of those that believes that she is closer to God outside, that God is nature. There are a lot of those kind of people here in Montana who feel like they are closer to God while they are in nature rather than in church. It's one of the biggest problems we face is trying to teach people why church is essential.
We had a big meeting this week in which they introduced some new things we are allowed to do on Facebook, but with it there were a ton of new rules introduced. One thing that's pretty cool is that the mission introduced a new hashtag that they have created as a mission. They had to teach most of us what hashtags actually were which was pretty funny. So the new hashtag is called @bookofmormoning. It's where you take a picture of yourself doing something with a Book of Mormon and hashtag @booofmormoning. If you want to see some examples you can check my facebook later this week. You should use it and help it spread!!
That night we knocked on a door and it turned out to be this hardcore atheist that we met a few weeks ago. We had nicknamed him Corihor because of his attitude to everything we told him. He wanted to talk to us but was just as stubborn as before. He told us the only reason he wants to talk to us is because he thinks we are amusing and entertaining. It was kind of creepy because he told us that he doesn't have the thing in his brain that releases chemicals, so he doesn't have feelings. He said he is clinically labeled as a psychopath, minus the violent behavior. He just has no emotions. He wants us to logically explain how there is a God, but he won't accept the possibility that there is a God. We don't really think it's a good use of our time to go back even though he wants us to.
We had a great dinner at Sister R---; we talked about the law of chastity which was kind of weird, but she wanted ALL the lessons and that was the next one in the line. Then again, it's always a little uncomfortable to teach the law of chastity.
We visited a referral and she was not happy to see us at all, so the conversation lasted less than two seconds, but it ended up being an inspired referral because we walked next door where a family was building a basketball hoop and started talking to them. They couldn't really escape because they were working (which is the best) and we ended up having a pamphlet lesson with them outside and setting up a return appointment! We are excited to go out this week.
On Friday morning all of the people we had planned to see weren't home or they were ill, so our morning was suddenly completely clear as we decided to go find some less active people that were in the area and we had the strangest experience.
We met L---, who lives in this house surrounded by a high fence and tons of bushes. The front door doesn't open and she saw us walk up and she motioned us around to the back yard. She came out and it was very strange; she seemed quite guarded but showed us around her backyard. She insisted that we take some of her seashells and then sat outside and smoked and drank her coffee. She kept making this disgusted face and said that one of us smelled, talk abut embarrassing! Well, it turns out she is hyper-sensitive to smells like perfume and hairspray. Well, neither of us we're wearing anything besides deodarant. Well, L--- was so determined to figure out where the smell came from that she started grabbing our hair and clothes and sniffing them. The most awkward part was when she came up and smelled my ARMPITS. I was mortified. She came to the conclusion that it was our drier sheets. She wanted us to come back and do some service for her, but now we have to go back, odorless, for a test run first. I'm glad to know it was a good smell rather than a bad one though. I was super self conscious about it the whole time we were there.
She is super atheist and isn't willing to change, so we will do the service and probably won't return until she is more prepared to hear the gospel. She was also super rude about her opinions, so it wasn't a good place for the Spirit to be. She is a fiber artist, so she quilts and does thread art.
I can't really describe all of the people we tracted into that didn't accept our message. The real topper was one girl at B--- house who was super, supreme rude. I'm shocked at how rude some people can be. We should be nice to everyone no matter if we agree with them or not. We should try to lighten other people's lives. There is plenty of bad in the world without us adding to it.
We had dinner with the B--- after MCM and she was so kind; she took us out to go find a referral for an hour, until it was so dark that we couldn't see the house numbers (a common problem in Montana where there are no street lights). We didn't find the girl, but she came back very enthusiastic about missionary work and told us she wanted to help us more and thought about tracking the girl down on hear own. She was just the greatest because we didn't have enough mile allotment on the car to go find our referral. Even though we didn't find our referral we found another man, C---, who wants us to come back and teach him! We also found a woman that had taken the missionary lessons and isn't interested right now, but now where know where she is at. :)
We have been having a lot of temple prep lessons to help people get ready for the temple prep class that we are hoping is going to get going soon. We are so excited for everyone that is preparing to go to the temple. We got to work with C--- this week to help her prepare to go to the temple before her mission.
We spent all of Saturday morning trying to track people down. We didn't have any success with the people we were looking for. Only one was home. We were able to have a lesson with her, even though she was the door that we were most antsy about knocking on because the had a sign that said, "No soliciting, we know who we are voting for, we have found Jesus, unless you're selling thin mints, seriously GO AWAY!" So we were nervous to knock on her door, but we did anyway and braced ourselves for the verbal lashing we were sure we were going to get, but it didn't come. She was more than happy to see us and we were able to have a lesson with her.
Then on our way back this man flagged us down. We had talked to him the week before and the other people in the driveway when we had last talked to him were super rude and uninterested (which was quite the opposite of his neighbor who was polite and uninterested), but they were gone this time and he waved us over and showed us everything about the car he was working on- a Chrysler 300 for all of you car buffs- and we got talking to him and ended up having a pamphlet lesson with him. He wants to come to church and he asked to keep the pamphlet. We have a lesson set up with him for next Wednesday!
We got to drop a hat off at the deaf family's house and I got to sign with the little three year old again, he is so cute!
We went to go track down a less active and he turned out to be the mayor! Ha, ha go figure... Anyway, he wasn't home, so we will have to go back. They were like, "do you know whose house this is?" And we were like, "yep, and he's a member so we re trying to track him down" (but we said it more tactfully).
We ended up going across the street and having an amazing lesson with the man across the street. It turns out he isn't a member, he had an LDS girlfriend a long time ago, she had given him a Book of Mormon and he believes that it finishes the story of the Bible and has a testimony of it already. He last read it 6 months ago! So we have a return appointment with him next week!
I just can't believe how much the Lord has blessed us this week as we have been out trying to find people. He has been blessing us so much! We are so grateful. We hope that it goes somewhere with all the people that the Lord has given us.
I also wanted to mention how awesome it is to have iPads because I had a number of scriptures that came to my mind that were just part of a scripture and I was able to search where they were quickly because of the iPad so they lent a lot to the lesson. It's such a blessing to have modern technology because it enhances the lessons so much because it makes things the missionaries know so much more easily available.
This letter is coming out late because of Columbus Day yesterday. I had a great preparation day. Sister Beckstrand and I split because she is going to the temple on Saturday and I can't go because a different sister needs to go with her. They both worked with the same family while they were in Missoula and that family is getting endowed and sealed this Saturday so they got permission to go. So they had to give up their p-day in exchange for going to the temple. So I chilled out with Sister Parr and the other sisters. We had a great time but it was kind of weird because they are all going home really soon, so it made me more aware of how long I have left on the mission which was both a good thing and a bad thing. :)
Well, I hope you all are having a amazing week! Don't forget to be a great example to those around you!
Love,
Sister Draney

Hello my dear eternal family!

I hope you are all having fun on your lovely vacation! I am so jealous!

This week we went on a lot of visits with our only sister Ward missionary. She took us out to visit a lot of people that we normally can't get in with. We visited this really old sister named E---. She is so cute because she try's so hard but despite her best efforts she always sleeps all through church and she snores so loud, but there's nothing anyone can do. Sister M--- even tried to give her a five hour energy but it didn't even keep her awake for an hour. She was so excited to have visitors and the other ladies in the home were so excited to see us too. It makes me wonder how dull their life must be. It's sad because so many of them say that they feel like they have no purpose to being alive.
We visited Sister S--- again and she seems very unhappy to see us, but we went in anyway and she warmed up to us as we started talking to her and her husband. Her husband talked our ear off and we ended up being there for quite a while. It ended up being good because they agreed to watch General Conference.
We got to visit the new Sunday School president, Brother T---. He is a great man with a lovely family. I'm excited to have him as the president because he is so enthusiastic. He has only been in the ward a few weeks, but he will be a great president. I guess that's what you get for asking the bishop to out you to work in your very first interview with him. Be careful what you ask for, haha!
We had a lot of dinners cancel on us this week. We had quite a few crockpot dinners. The C--- almost cancelled on us because sister C--- went to watch "Gone With the Wind" in the theatre. So we ended up eating out on the porch with brother C--- because we couldn't go in the house with him. It was slightly problematic because I didn't have a jacket. I had left it over at Sierra's house, so I froze all through dinner even though they lent me a small jacket.
Of course, right after dinner we went to go get my jacket. It ended up working out perfectly because we got to have a much-needed talk with many of the J--- family.  We were able to find out what to do about R---, who had been excommunicated. We talked with sister J--- and her daughter about teaching them out of the temple prep book because her daughter is getting ready to go on a mission. It ended up being worth freezing throughout the week.
We had an awesome finding experience this week. We were trying to find a referral and it didn't start well. A man yelled at us for "soliciting" (may I point out that missionaries never solicit, according to the dictionary) and then proceeded to stare at us as we knocked on other doors to try and find the woman we were looking for.
We ended up giving a lesson to an active member family and they gave us two referrals in their apartment complex.
One of the families turned out to have two hard of hearing members and one deaf child, with several hearing children. I was able to talk to them because they do a mix of signing and talking. They invited us back in a few weeks because she was having her baby the next day.
Then we went to go visit the second referral and she told us immediately that she was Catholic and started to close the door but we started talking to hear about family history and we caught her attention for a moment. Then the little deaf boy rode up on his scooter and started signing to me and so I signed back to him and all the sudden the woman wanted to know different signs so that she could talk to the boy because she loves him but can't communicate with him.
She ended up letting us into her home and telling her about her family history and her hobbies for almost an hour.
By the time we left she kept repeating for us to come back and she kept saying that it was just like having her daughter's visit her. It was such a success!
We had a great lesson with Sister R--- this week! She is officially considered reactivated!! We planned and role-played for our next lesson with her because we planned on teaching the Word of Wisdom because we saw a coffee maker in her home. I was a little nervous about how she would take it.
When we arrived it was a really cold, windy day and she greeted us with warm cookies and hot chocolate. It was the greatest thing ever! It was like visiting the little old ladies you read about in books. It was so cute because it was all set up like a little kid tea party. :) as we sat down and ate a bite, she said, "So, ladies, let's talk about the Word of Wisdom.
I was flabbergasted! It was so unexpected because she didn't know what we were landing on talking about that day. She told us all of her questions and concerns and we were able to resolve it all ad she committed to keeping the Word of Wisdom! We will follow up on it soon.
We had a lesson with C--- and she texted us as we were walking into her house and asked us to talk about black people and the Priesthood. We had a little panic moment because that is something we don't often teach together. Luckily, she accepted the official declaration 2 without throwing any super hard questions at us. Just when we thought we were good, she launched into telling us about how she loves the fellowship of the church but doesn't feel like she has a testimony. So now we have a whole new mountain to tackle in the coming weeks.
In other news, because I don't have much time, here are the rest of the highlights of the week:

-I chopped off 4-5 inches of my hair...again.

- conference was AWESOME!

-I finally caught up in my journal'

-  I got overly enthusiastic about a massage chair and ended up bruising my whole back, ouch!

- It snowed for the first time, blech! :(

- some members told me a scary story and it gave me nightmares for the next two days. I'm re-sensitized to all the scary/gruesome/gross stuff in the world again

- We reactivated S---! :D So excited!

Well, that's about all I can think of! I hope you are having a fabulous, wonderful, exciting week!

I love you!!!

Sister Draney