J--- was baptized this week!! It was an amazing experience.
She was so excited even though none of her family showed up to support her and
her uncle told her friends that she is ruining their family.
The Spirit was there so strongly and when she bore her testimony she talked about how she felt like her heart was going to explode! She said she felt amazing!
Everything went really well and one of her friends even showed up! The whole room was completely filled with people to the point where there was standing room only. The wards did such a good job coming out to support her.
They're going to have to transfer her over to 4th ward because that's technically where she lives. So her boyfriend, is going to go with her to both meetings until she feels comfortable switching. Everyone is being really relaxed about it which is nice.
She is such a special spirit and she is so prepared! All of this adversity before her baptism will just make her stronger for all that will continue to come later.
Nothing else this week was quite as exciting, but we had some other good moments.
We have been trying to get in to see the C--- for months and we finally got in this week! All of our appointments had cancelled one night and we were discussing what the Lord wanted us to do, because clearly He wanted us somewhere or all of our appointments wouldn't have cancelled. So we decided to try the C--- and they were actually home and free to talk! We had a great lesson and the Spirit was there very strongly. We testified of the need for them to return and of the blessings they are promised for returning. We were quite bold with them but because the Spirit was there so strongly they really listened rather than getting defensive. One of the members of our ward joked that only sisters can get away with being so bold. People would get angry with elders. Ha, ha perks of being a sister missionary!
Sister C--- said she wanted to come to church this Sunday if she could make it. She didn't actually end up coming and I don't know if something came up or if she just decided not to come, but it's a step in the right direction at least!
We had another lesson with the I--- where we were really bold. We told them how it is, and told them that if they don't keep commitments that we can't continue to visit. Our purpose isn't to just be friends, it's to help them move forward and if they're not doing that then there are other places the Lord needs us to be. I really pushed Brother I--- because he always says that someday he will come back to church and we managed to progress to he will "try" to come to church, but I wasn't having any of it because either he is going to put in the effort or he is not.
We talked about not letting other people influence his salvation because he wants to be fellowshipped back in and he had some past offenses.
We were also bold with M---, even though she isn't a member. She knows the Book of Mormon is true, but she isn't acting on it.
We had a long talk about how to increase our faith and set out a game plan for helping them return to church. We will have to try it and see if they start to progress. They don't want us to give up on them and I told them that we never would as long as they were progressing and keeping their commitments, which means they will be active in the near future. It was the longest lesson I've had in a long time, but it was completely needed.
The Spirit was there so strongly and when she bore her testimony she talked about how she felt like her heart was going to explode! She said she felt amazing!
Everything went really well and one of her friends even showed up! The whole room was completely filled with people to the point where there was standing room only. The wards did such a good job coming out to support her.
They're going to have to transfer her over to 4th ward because that's technically where she lives. So her boyfriend, is going to go with her to both meetings until she feels comfortable switching. Everyone is being really relaxed about it which is nice.
She is such a special spirit and she is so prepared! All of this adversity before her baptism will just make her stronger for all that will continue to come later.
Nothing else this week was quite as exciting, but we had some other good moments.
We have been trying to get in to see the C--- for months and we finally got in this week! All of our appointments had cancelled one night and we were discussing what the Lord wanted us to do, because clearly He wanted us somewhere or all of our appointments wouldn't have cancelled. So we decided to try the C--- and they were actually home and free to talk! We had a great lesson and the Spirit was there very strongly. We testified of the need for them to return and of the blessings they are promised for returning. We were quite bold with them but because the Spirit was there so strongly they really listened rather than getting defensive. One of the members of our ward joked that only sisters can get away with being so bold. People would get angry with elders. Ha, ha perks of being a sister missionary!
Sister C--- said she wanted to come to church this Sunday if she could make it. She didn't actually end up coming and I don't know if something came up or if she just decided not to come, but it's a step in the right direction at least!
We had another lesson with the I--- where we were really bold. We told them how it is, and told them that if they don't keep commitments that we can't continue to visit. Our purpose isn't to just be friends, it's to help them move forward and if they're not doing that then there are other places the Lord needs us to be. I really pushed Brother I--- because he always says that someday he will come back to church and we managed to progress to he will "try" to come to church, but I wasn't having any of it because either he is going to put in the effort or he is not.
We talked about not letting other people influence his salvation because he wants to be fellowshipped back in and he had some past offenses.
We were also bold with M---, even though she isn't a member. She knows the Book of Mormon is true, but she isn't acting on it.
We had a long talk about how to increase our faith and set out a game plan for helping them return to church. We will have to try it and see if they start to progress. They don't want us to give up on them and I told them that we never would as long as they were progressing and keeping their commitments, which means they will be active in the near future. It was the longest lesson I've had in a long time, but it was completely needed.
We had another lesson with P--- and we brought the W--- couple with us
this time. I was sincerely hoping that he would actually invite us in to his
house this time despite his wife's attitude, but I was completely wrong and I
wasn't dressed to stand outside for an hour and give a lesson, so I was
freezing the whole time. It was a good meeting though, we talked about the
Priesthood a lot and explained what it is, what it does, and how it sets our
church apart from other churches.
I never know what he is thinking because he answers all of our questions in one or two words statements, which makes it really hard to get a feel for what he is learning and how he feels about all that is being taught. Hopefully the lesson this week will result in more active question-answering. He knows the Book of Mormon is true, he just doesn't quite have a grasp on the rest.
We had a fun Word of Wisdom lesson with one of our active families. We got two big containers and labeled one "good" and one "bad" and as we listed off foods they had to throw the ball into the right container. It was pretty fun! They certainly enjoyed it and the little kids got the point, which is what we were hoping for.
We had a good Word of Wisdom lesson with D--- as well. He's really starting to change but he won't admit it. He actually has been saying some of the prayers at our lessons and has been doing our assignments each week. This week we had a lesson about the Word of wisdom and he committed to keep it for one whole week, which is a start. It will be perfect because we meet with him a week from today and we can commit him to another week! Luckily he doesn't seem to have any strong addictions that will really be a struggle to get over. He does really like his coffee, but he says he can give that up. I'm excited for him! We both feel that he could be ready to start coming to church in a few weeks. He won't commit to it yet, but we are getting there.
We had a lesson with the M--- and we talked about where they stand. Sister M--- believes that any church could be right, she thinks what matters most is where you are comfortable. She has tried the Book of Mormon but isn't interested in reading it. She doesn't read the Bible often either. She hasn't gone to church in years. We talked a lot about faith and talked about how it has blessed their lives. She prays regularly. She has attended a few LDS services a few years ago. She feels fine where she is at. She doesn't want to read the Book of Mormon with us.
It's so interesting how so many people believe that all the churches can be right, but yet they don't have the things Christ said must be present in his church.
S--- and S--- weren't home for our appointment...again. It's getting really frustrating because we brought the same member with us all three times and I feel bad that he keeps having to drive out, just to have to turn around and go home. He is such a trooper though. We have been discussing dropping them. We have had several doorstep lessons with him in which he is really interested, but every time we actually set an appointment he isn't there.
Our zone leaders have started having companionship study with all of the companionships in the zone. It sounded really strange at first, but we had ours this week and we were able to work on teaching at the door, which is something Sister Beckstrand and I really wanted to improve at. It was hard and awkward to role play it with the elders, but it turned out to be really effective! We had so many door lessons this week and even found a potential new investigator named L---!
L--- is so cool. He can do all sorts of impressions and Sister Beckstrand and I were laughing so hard as he demonstrated! He says he is Baptist but hasn't been for a while. He is very open to new ideas and is going to read the copy of the Book of Mormon we gave him before our next appointment (not the whole thing, obviously), but we are so excited! He's a cool guy who seems really prepared.
We had 31 lessons this week which is a lot for us! The mission goal is 20 lessons a week. What a way to finish a transfer!! We have also been getting 100% pamphlet lessons and the mission goal is 75% so we are pretty proud of that. And we have been getting 100% member-present lessons which is a huge accomplishment! Not to brag or anything, I'm just so excited about what has been going on here!
I'm really sad Sister Beckstrand is leaving. We teach so well together and one of the people we taught on the doorstep remarked how we just seemed to feed off of each other because our transitions were so smooth. It was quite the compliment. I will really miss her because she isn't afraid to go out there and work hard. I know I can depend on her when we are in stressful situations and I know she has got my back if I suddenly draw a blank. It's going to be a little frustrating to start all over with a new companion. I guess I still don't get to break my record of having a companion for more than two transfers.
Sister Lasson will be my 10th companion and I will only get her for one transfer because she goes home at the end of the transfer. Hopefully that will mean she will want to work hard. I really, really hope she isn't trunky because that could make things really tough, especially because the weather is so rough, it's going to be all I can do to motivate myself to get out in it ha, ha.
We had another awesome moment this week when everyone cancelled on us. Once again, there was somewhere better the Lord needed us to be. We had decided to go track down less-actives and tract around since we had so much now-open time. However, as we were driving out of the trailer park I looked over atS--- house out of
habit because we are always trying to catch her home, but she is never there.
This time was different though! I saw her sitting on the porch and made Sister
Beckstrand turn the car around.
We ended up having an amazing lesson with her. We were able to talk about the Plan of Salvation and what happens to babies who pass on, because she had just recently had two miscarriages. It was a very good lesson and the Spirit was there. She still wants to be baptized which is a miracle in and of itself because the first question she asked was a make it or break it question.
She looked right at me and asked what the church's standpoint was on gay people. I was able to explain and talk about the law of chastity that God expects all people to live by. It was a satisfactory answer thankfully. It was such a miracle to catch her though because we have been trying to for so long!
We were asked to visit the L--- this week. Brother L--- has gone inactive because he believes that he can prove that the church is false and he is well on his way to atheism. We had a good lesson about the human body and the world and how it couldn't have all happened by chance. We also talked about the scientific method and null hypothesis and how it is possible to test the promises in the Book of Mormon to see if they are true. He really looked like he was thinking about what we talked about, which is a good start.
We found a ton of people that are on our lists that have either moved or have gone less active. There were a few angry ones as always, but luckily only one of them turned out to be dead. That's always awkward. For example, "Hey, is Jody home?" (Awkward pause) "Jody has been dead for almost 3 years." (Us) "oh goodness, I am so sorry....". Yep, there is all sorts of fun to be had while trying to find people. We keep hoping and praying to find the prepared ones.
We have been going in circles with C--- and C--- which has not been fun. They will probably need to be dropped soon.
We introduced C--- to the R---. They had such a good time talking and discussing church that we had to interrupt them frequently to get the lesson in. It was good though because C--- needs more friends and she needs a couple that can come to lessons with us and help her build her testimony. Our ward is so great at missionary work!
We stopped by E--- place at the care center. She is the little 90+ year old lady that snores all through church. It was a really funny visit because we had to yell everything- the lesson, the prayer, the song. But it was totally worth it because she seemed so happy. We also got to share a message with two other non member ladies who were sitting in the living room. The caretaker was standing right there and looked kind of intimidating and we hoped she wouldn't tell us off for sharing a message and singing to them, but afterwards she pulled us aside and thanked us for coming and told us that we had made the ladies day. Apparently they don't get visitors often. It's so sad. It's like they were just dumped there by people waiting for them to die. The ladies were really nice.
Yesterday at church we had a ton of people there! Jess was confirmed and that was wonderful! We also had two excommunicated members there, one of which we have been working with for a looooong time. I was so shocked to see him and his wife walk in!
We also had quite a few less active members there which was so great! J---, K--- cousin, even came all by herself! I was so impressed. She didn't stay for all three hours, but this is the second time she has come to Sacrament meeting and it is definitely a start!!
It has been such a great week and it was a great way to end a transfer. I am so excited for all of the wonderful things that are going to happen this transfer! Hopefully our lessons will continue to improve, our investigators and less actives will move forward, and we won't lose any toes to frostbite.
Thank you for all of your support and prayers! They do matter and they are needed! And a shout out to those who have sent me letters, it makes my day so thank you so much!
Love,
I never know what he is thinking because he answers all of our questions in one or two words statements, which makes it really hard to get a feel for what he is learning and how he feels about all that is being taught. Hopefully the lesson this week will result in more active question-answering. He knows the Book of Mormon is true, he just doesn't quite have a grasp on the rest.
We had a fun Word of Wisdom lesson with one of our active families. We got two big containers and labeled one "good" and one "bad" and as we listed off foods they had to throw the ball into the right container. It was pretty fun! They certainly enjoyed it and the little kids got the point, which is what we were hoping for.
We had a good Word of Wisdom lesson with D--- as well. He's really starting to change but he won't admit it. He actually has been saying some of the prayers at our lessons and has been doing our assignments each week. This week we had a lesson about the Word of wisdom and he committed to keep it for one whole week, which is a start. It will be perfect because we meet with him a week from today and we can commit him to another week! Luckily he doesn't seem to have any strong addictions that will really be a struggle to get over. He does really like his coffee, but he says he can give that up. I'm excited for him! We both feel that he could be ready to start coming to church in a few weeks. He won't commit to it yet, but we are getting there.
We had a lesson with the M--- and we talked about where they stand. Sister M--- believes that any church could be right, she thinks what matters most is where you are comfortable. She has tried the Book of Mormon but isn't interested in reading it. She doesn't read the Bible often either. She hasn't gone to church in years. We talked a lot about faith and talked about how it has blessed their lives. She prays regularly. She has attended a few LDS services a few years ago. She feels fine where she is at. She doesn't want to read the Book of Mormon with us.
It's so interesting how so many people believe that all the churches can be right, but yet they don't have the things Christ said must be present in his church.
S--- and S--- weren't home for our appointment...again. It's getting really frustrating because we brought the same member with us all three times and I feel bad that he keeps having to drive out, just to have to turn around and go home. He is such a trooper though. We have been discussing dropping them. We have had several doorstep lessons with him in which he is really interested, but every time we actually set an appointment he isn't there.
Our zone leaders have started having companionship study with all of the companionships in the zone. It sounded really strange at first, but we had ours this week and we were able to work on teaching at the door, which is something Sister Beckstrand and I really wanted to improve at. It was hard and awkward to role play it with the elders, but it turned out to be really effective! We had so many door lessons this week and even found a potential new investigator named L---!
L--- is so cool. He can do all sorts of impressions and Sister Beckstrand and I were laughing so hard as he demonstrated! He says he is Baptist but hasn't been for a while. He is very open to new ideas and is going to read the copy of the Book of Mormon we gave him before our next appointment (not the whole thing, obviously), but we are so excited! He's a cool guy who seems really prepared.
We had 31 lessons this week which is a lot for us! The mission goal is 20 lessons a week. What a way to finish a transfer!! We have also been getting 100% pamphlet lessons and the mission goal is 75% so we are pretty proud of that. And we have been getting 100% member-present lessons which is a huge accomplishment! Not to brag or anything, I'm just so excited about what has been going on here!
I'm really sad Sister Beckstrand is leaving. We teach so well together and one of the people we taught on the doorstep remarked how we just seemed to feed off of each other because our transitions were so smooth. It was quite the compliment. I will really miss her because she isn't afraid to go out there and work hard. I know I can depend on her when we are in stressful situations and I know she has got my back if I suddenly draw a blank. It's going to be a little frustrating to start all over with a new companion. I guess I still don't get to break my record of having a companion for more than two transfers.
Sister Lasson will be my 10th companion and I will only get her for one transfer because she goes home at the end of the transfer. Hopefully that will mean she will want to work hard. I really, really hope she isn't trunky because that could make things really tough, especially because the weather is so rough, it's going to be all I can do to motivate myself to get out in it ha, ha.
We had another awesome moment this week when everyone cancelled on us. Once again, there was somewhere better the Lord needed us to be. We had decided to go track down less-actives and tract around since we had so much now-open time. However, as we were driving out of the trailer park I looked over at
We ended up having an amazing lesson with her. We were able to talk about the Plan of Salvation and what happens to babies who pass on, because she had just recently had two miscarriages. It was a very good lesson and the Spirit was there. She still wants to be baptized which is a miracle in and of itself because the first question she asked was a make it or break it question.
She looked right at me and asked what the church's standpoint was on gay people. I was able to explain and talk about the law of chastity that God expects all people to live by. It was a satisfactory answer thankfully. It was such a miracle to catch her though because we have been trying to for so long!
We were asked to visit the L--- this week. Brother L--- has gone inactive because he believes that he can prove that the church is false and he is well on his way to atheism. We had a good lesson about the human body and the world and how it couldn't have all happened by chance. We also talked about the scientific method and null hypothesis and how it is possible to test the promises in the Book of Mormon to see if they are true. He really looked like he was thinking about what we talked about, which is a good start.
We found a ton of people that are on our lists that have either moved or have gone less active. There were a few angry ones as always, but luckily only one of them turned out to be dead. That's always awkward. For example, "Hey, is Jody home?" (Awkward pause) "Jody has been dead for almost 3 years." (Us) "oh goodness, I am so sorry....". Yep, there is all sorts of fun to be had while trying to find people. We keep hoping and praying to find the prepared ones.
We have been going in circles with C--- and C--- which has not been fun. They will probably need to be dropped soon.
We introduced C--- to the R---. They had such a good time talking and discussing church that we had to interrupt them frequently to get the lesson in. It was good though because C--- needs more friends and she needs a couple that can come to lessons with us and help her build her testimony. Our ward is so great at missionary work!
We stopped by E--- place at the care center. She is the little 90+ year old lady that snores all through church. It was a really funny visit because we had to yell everything- the lesson, the prayer, the song. But it was totally worth it because she seemed so happy. We also got to share a message with two other non member ladies who were sitting in the living room. The caretaker was standing right there and looked kind of intimidating and we hoped she wouldn't tell us off for sharing a message and singing to them, but afterwards she pulled us aside and thanked us for coming and told us that we had made the ladies day. Apparently they don't get visitors often. It's so sad. It's like they were just dumped there by people waiting for them to die. The ladies were really nice.
Yesterday at church we had a ton of people there! Jess was confirmed and that was wonderful! We also had two excommunicated members there, one of which we have been working with for a looooong time. I was so shocked to see him and his wife walk in!
We also had quite a few less active members there which was so great! J---, K--- cousin, even came all by herself! I was so impressed. She didn't stay for all three hours, but this is the second time she has come to Sacrament meeting and it is definitely a start!!
It has been such a great week and it was a great way to end a transfer. I am so excited for all of the wonderful things that are going to happen this transfer! Hopefully our lessons will continue to improve, our investigators and less actives will move forward, and we won't lose any toes to frostbite.
Thank you for all of your support and prayers! They do matter and they are needed! And a shout out to those who have sent me letters, it makes my day so thank you so much!
Love,
Sister Draney
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