Transfers! November 7, 2016

Transfers are here! I'm going to the land of the bears, Grants Pass!

Whoot whoot!

I have LOVED my time in Medford! I have become dear friends with the
members, and the people I have taught have helped me grow my testimony
and it has been a joy to share the gospel. I have really felt that I
was needed in this area, to be here for 6 months. I feel that Heavenly
Father is really proud of me. I have tried my best to serve Him, and I
have determined that I will continue to serve Him with everything I
am. 

This week we had lots of meetings! MLC we did something different, for
one hour, president and sister Russell taught us about our purpose and
of how Christ is always by our side. Then for two hours we talked
about what we learned, and about what the mission needs. We determined
what to teach, then it was left up to us to teach our zones according
to their needs. Teaching ZTM was amazing, and such a strong spirit was
present.

We talked about if we truly love Christ. Do you love Him? If so, do
you remember your purpose? Do you remember why you are here?

I want to ask that question to you: Do you remember Christ in all you do?

HALLOWEEN PAAAARRRTTTY!!! October 31, 2016

Sister Wood, Lisa (a recent convert), and I. 

We are going to have so much fun today! Y'all are jealous!

We had a great week full of miracles! But I don't have a lot of time

today, so I will just tell about a few things that happened this week.

Tina and Donald have dropped us, which is very sad, but Tina is still

reading Book of Mormon, even if she isn't meeting with us anymore

because of Donald. But we still pray for them.  My life has changed

because of them.

We had a lesson yesterday with a guy named Rob. I had met him way back

when I was with Sister Connelly, and we had given him a Book of

Mormon. We got out of contact with him, but felt that we should go see

him. So we had our lesson with him. His first question was what makes

your church different? We taught him the Restoration, and as I recited

the First Vision, the Spirit danced within my soul, and I knew he was

feeling it to. I looked at him and said: "Rob, what you are feeling now

is the spirit, and the spirit teaches truth. I know that Joseph smith

really did see God and Jesus Christ, and now we have modern day

revelation. And you can know it is true too. In Moroni 10:3-5, we read

this promise...." He decided that he wants to read it and pray about

it. 

And that is why I am a missionary!

I feel something different. October 24, 2016

This week has been quite the week! I can't believe that Halloween is a

week away, and transfers are in two weeks! It's pretty crazy!

Sister Wood and I have worked hard his week! This past week was Book

of Mormon week, and we passed out 9! Miracles abound! And for most of

them, we set up appointments so we have a busy week ahead of us.

We also found some new investigators. One is named Taylor, and she is

really sweet. She doesn't understand why there are so many religions,

and so we explained a little bit about the Restoration and left her a

Book of Mormon. She seemed pretty excited to read it, and even put a

reminder in her phone for when we come by later this week! We are

excited to teach her!

We went on exchanges this week as well. I was down in Yreka this

weekend, and I had a great time with Sister Viiga! They are doing

great things in California and they are meeting with so many wonderful

people. It really helped me to be able to go there, it reminded me

that there are people who are prepared and ready to hear the gospel.

That's why we have to keep on finding and seeking and searching. 

Yesterday, we had dinner with a member named Sister Fish. She is a

caretaker for a 90 year old woman named Minnie. Minnie is a non member.

During dinner, she sat in a different room and watched TV. At the end

of dinner we sang "More Holiness Give Me" and said a closing prayer.

As we got up to leave Minnie called to us. "Girls, come here." We

walked over, and smiled. "I just want to let you know that you have a

great spirit about you, and I am grateful you came to my home."

We do not realize all that we do, or the spirit that is around you.

You are the chosen people of the Lord, and have the gift of the Holy

Ghost. You are different, and that makes you special. So always be

worthy to have the spirit with you, and seek to be an example and

defend Christ.

An Apostle said my name! October 17, 2016

This weekend was pretty fun:  long but really great. And yes, a storm

came through Medford. They told us it was going to be huge, that the

wind was going to get up to 30 mph and flooding. But when it actually

hit, it was just raining for the weekend. It was well needed, and I

was happy to get out my boots, scarves and coat! Gotta love fall in

Oregon!🍂🍁🍂

On Sunday, we had the primary program, and to make it even better,

TINA AND DONALD CAME TO CHURCH!!!!!! 😆😆😆👌 They loved the primary

program and I really believe they felt the spirit. Tina gave us three

hugs as they left.  I really love them. ❤️

Now, for the moment you are waiting for! Elder Christofferson came to

the Central Point and Medford stakes. It was the meeting of the week!

There were close to 1,000 people in that building. We were in the

hallway, frantically watching for an investigator. We were focused,

looking down the hallway. All the sudden, the spirit whispered one

word: Apostle. At the same time, Sister Wood grabbed my elbow. And

there, right in front of us was Elder Christofferson! He smiled really

big and said: "Hello sisters!" And he kept walking. I couldn't believe

it! Later, as we were leaving, we somehow got all mixed up in the fray

of people, and ended up in the path he was taking to leave. So

we figured we might as well stay there and shake his hand. When he

came up, the air suddenly became still. A quiet power is around him,

and he shook our hands. He said my name, but I guess it helps to have

a name tag! I really like him! He had lots of funny jokes that he said

during his talk. And one cool fact: they carry around scriptures that

Elder Holland thought of for the General Authorities,  they  don't have

all the study material inside, so it's easy to pack and carry. "We

call it the Holland edition,"  he told us. 

He talked about three things that the Apostles do and related it to

our lives. He told of how in the upper room in the Salt Lake Temple,

there are three pictures above the First Presidency. The one on the

left is the one of Christ calling the apostles from the shore. The one

on the right, the Savior on the cross. The one on the middle, the

resurrected Lord. The call, the message, the witness. He told how the

missionaries all over the world are companions with the Apostles in

sharing the gospel. We have been called, we share the message, and we

are a witness for his name. It was powerful.

He spoke of the importance of daily scripture study and of daily

prayer. He told of when he was new apostle and went to that room in

the temple. Elder Packer was just staring at him as he walked in

(didn't help much, as I felt pretty inadequate already...frankly, he

was staring.) He went up to him and said, 'you look surprised to see

me here.' Elder Packer said: "No, we are pleased to see you here."

He blessed us that the spirit will bring to mind an image. The image of

when the Savior will hold his arms out and say: "I am so pleased to

see you here."  He blessed us with strength and courage and faith to

endure.

I learned that I already knew he was an apostle, even before I met

him. But the words he offered to us really helped me out. I've been

stressed lately, the work really has slowed down in our area. And

those thoughts of inadequacy start to sneak in. But we are shoulder to

shoulder with the Savior. Shoulder to shoulder to the apostles. I have

been called. I bear a message. And I testify it is true.

Temples, rain, and fall, oh my! October 13, 2016

These past few weeks have been very busy! We had MLC last week and had

a great time teaching ZTM. We taught about how to teach to help your

investigators understand and how to ask inspired questions. I want to

ask better questions during lessons, they really help investigators

learn for themselves what the truth is.

Throughout the week, I kept scheduling lessons on Sunday, and finally

on Friday, I realized that we scheduled back to back lessons all day.

We literally had no time for lunch. We were crazy!! Well, finally

around 3:00 we were fainting from hunger so we got some food. And

resolved that we will not do that to ourselves any more. Hahaha.

We did find a new investigator! His name is Brandon! He is homeless,

and is friends with a member of the ward. He has lots of questions,

and has a sincere desire to know. He is excited to read the Book of

Mormon, and has even agreed to get baptized!

This week has been long...Sister Wood had to go to a doctor's visit. On

Monday we stayed inside all day to help her recover a bit. Then on

Tuesday we did weekly planning and it took us nearly all day.

We were able to have a lesson with the Millards! We taught them the Word

of Wisdom last week, and met with them multiple times as they decided

on what they want to do. Their only hold back is coffee and tea.

(Which is crazy considering all the other stuff they could be on...)

after lots of thoughts and prayers, they have decided that they want

to hold off their baptism day, but still continue to meet with us.

They don't feel ready yet. But we are so blessed to still be able to

meet with them! The fact that they are willing to try to start to

break their habits means that their faith is growing. And that they

know that the gospel is true. I love them a lot. I pray daily for

them.

The temple today was well needed. I have found that I am getting

tired, and pick me ups are just wonderful! The temple has an amazing

spirit inside, and no sacrifice is too great to go there. Truly you

are in the presence of God within those sacred walls. It reminds you

of the divine being that you were before this life, and of the great

things you can achieve in the next.

"Be Still, and Know I am God." October 3, 2016

A rainbow on Gen. Conference Sunday with Sister Wood.

General Conference was AMAZINGLY! Also, I'm going to hit my year mark

this week, so that's weird too.

This week was kind of slow, it's getting cold out, and I'm pulling out

my boots and scarves! Yay! Fall! We didn't find as many people this

week, most people stay inside now. And it's getting dark pretty fast.

But every day we plead, praying for miracles. We know that our faith

is sufficient and that God will open the way for us.

Sister Wood is so amazing, she laughs all the time at my half-hearted

attempts of making jokes. She's been out for 16 months, so I'm really

blessed to be with her!

This week, Tina messaged us on Facebook and told us she had a really

important question to ask us. We rushed over there and she had gotten

ahold of some anti-mormon stuff. After a deep discussion, we resolved her

questions and eased her troubled soul. We encouraged her to pray and

to continue to read the Book of Mormon. She and Donald watched a

little bit of conference, but they had to do it at home because they

got really sick (gotta love flu season!).

We found a woman during power hour named Donna. She let us in and we

taught her a bit about the Restoration and she accepted a Book of

Mormon and wanted to watch General Conference. The next day we

stopped by her house, and knocked on her door. A man answered, super

confused. We asked if Donna was there and he said: " Donna hasn't been

here for 5 years..." So I guess we taught a ghost....

General Conference was amazing! I felt the spirit so strong! I loved

hearing the choir of missionaries. I felt their testimony, and I knew

that what they sang was true.

I will add my testimony to theirs. I know that Joseph Smith is a

prophet. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. And I know

that Heavenly Father loves us and wants what is best for us. We need

to stay on the old ship Zion. We need to pray, to hold on to the iron

rod. For, there is a grand plan in store, and, if we but endure,

salvation will be ours.

We were passing out flyers for the Red Cross.

Transfers. September 26, 2016

I'm staying in Medford! Again! I going to be here for 6 months! It's

just fantastic! Sister Peterson, however is going up to Coos Bay. She

is training, and opening an area! She's just boss like that!

Best Friends Forever. 

Also,

Sister Lunt, my trainee, is training as well!

My new companion is Sister Wood. She is from California and is the

oldest of 6. She has been out for 15 1/2 months. 

This week was the last week of the transfer. The AP's gave us all a

challenge to find 5 new investigators, and invite 7 to be baptized (at least

for the STLs). We found 7 new and invited 3 to be baptized. It was a

really busy week! We also did language training with the new Spanish sisters in our

zone for two hours every day. Sister Santiago is from Mexico, and she is

sweet! Sister Hart is her companion and she is the best! They are

great! We now have sisters closer to us!

Women's Conference was great, I loved hearing President Utchdorf's

story of his wife joining the church, it just gives me more of a push

to keep pressing forward!

This week we had a lesson with the Millards. Literally the BEST lesson

of my life. Before we started Tina said "Sister Peterson should come

back when I am baptized." I stopped her.  "Wait, what do you mean?"

She smiled all bright and happy. "I am ready. I want to be baptized."

The spirit just touched all of us and we felt tears come to our eyes.

We set a date for November 5 for both of them. 😊 We taught them about

temples and they were so excited to learn about being sealed together.

And Donald is ecstatic to receive the priesthood after he is baptized.

Tina had to keep reminding him that they have to get baptized first.

With Tina Millard.

As we have taught them, I have seen how the gospel is changing their

lives. Tina told us how before we came, she was loosing her faith. She

started to believe that God didn't exist. And now, a light has come in

their eyes that has given them hope for a brighter future. Their lives

are changing. And it is glorious.

Ponciroli's are the best family ever!

20!?!?!? I can't believe it! September 19, 2016

First off, thank you so much for all your letters and emails wishing

me a great birthday! Even though it's tomorrow, I feel so old! I guess

I'm two decades old now. 😎✌️

This week was great! We had exchanges again, I was down in Yreka

experiencing the lovely people of California. And I got kisses from a

llama. Hehe.

Mike is progressing still, we gave him a small notebook last week and

within a few days he had already filled up four pages of scriptures he

likes from the Book of Mormon. He also gave a great prayer! We also

invited him to be baptized, but he didn't really commit.

On Thursday we had a lesson with the Bernardi family. They haven't

really been keeping their commitments, and so to help them be more

comfortable going to church we gave them a church tour! As soon as we

opened the door to the chapel, the spirit just washed over us. It was

powerful. We taught them about the sacrament, and had Jason read the

sacrament prayers. After a series of inspired questions (gotta love

the spirit!) he realized that in order to feel the spirit, he has to

seek it out. We hope now that he will keep his commitments. He is so

close!

The sisters, while on exchanges, found this man named John. He lives by

the church. He is missing a leg and gets around in a wheel chair. He

has long hair, and was wearing a tie dyed shirt when I was able to

meet him. He's such a hippie! He told us how when he was younger, he

lived off the land for three months. Then, it got cold, so he couldn't

do it any more. 😜✌️ We had a good lesson, just talked about a few

simple points. He has already read 4 chapters in the Book of Mormon!!

We invited him to be baptized, and he said he was baptized before, but

he will think about it. 😉

The highlight of the week was our lesson with the Millards. They are

AMAZING!!! Tina is reading everything we are giving her! And Donald

just loves the gospel, he knows it is true! We taught them about

repentance, and at the end of our 2 hour lesson, we invited them to be

baptized. Donald: "Can I do it tomorrow?" We all laughed, but really,

he's so excited. We all looked at Tina. "I want to learn more. I am

willing to be baptized, but I want to learn more before I make the

decision." We nodded. "How about we set a goal? A date to work

towards?" We tried, but they didn't really want to commit. Tina

though, wants us to come by every other day! And, SHE SAID THE CLOSING

PRAYER!!! It is amazing! She is progressing so much! The light is

growing in her eyes and the scales of darkness are falling away!

I love being a missionary. It's been such a blessed time to serve the

Lord and to help others come unto Christ. 😊

"And the remission of sins bringeth meekness....." September 12, 2016

Playing water balloon volleyball with the Young Women. 

That scripture is found in Mormon 8: 25-26. Truly a great scripture.

This week has been amazing, and yet difficult too. We had MLC on

Tuesday. We learned about prayer, planning, inviting/promise

blessings/testify, and about how with God nothing shall be impossible.

It was a great meeting, I really want to be better at promising

blessings to investigators. I realized I haven't been doing that, so

why would people want to change if I didn't even give them a reason

to? 

Yum bowls with the Sisters at MLC. 

We had a great ZTM! The spirit was really there and I am loving being

able to teach such amazing missionaries in this zone!  I got really

excited about missionary work and about faith, and did a little pump

up session for the zone. They all thought it was pretty funny, but

really good too! 😏😜

As I have been focusing on promising blessings more, the spirit really

comes into lessons as I do that. People are just glued to what you say,

what you promise them. I really believe that people want to change,

but they need a reason to.

We had a lesson with Raymond. He's this huge guy, who has a sweet

heart. He said he will protect us (so don't worry mom😉). We taught

him the whole Restoration again, and he keep saying how he got

goosebumps during the lesson. He is really excited to read about Jesus

Christ in the Book of Mormon! He also said he wants to come to church,

but we unfortunately didn't see him there.

We had a lesson with a woman named Cynthia. She lives over by us. She

was telling us how God sent us to her and that she is meant to read

the Book of Mormon.

I love you all! I hope y'all have a great week! We are keepin' it REAL

in Oregon!

A member gave us these necklaces. The letters are for our last names.

Ashland..again...? September 5, 2016

We did exchanges again this week! I was down in Yreka and they have

been experiencing really bad fires, so it was very smokey down there.

But we were able to hang out in Ashland for a little bit, but their

was a protest going on, so we didn't stay too long. Ashland. It's the

best. 😉

We had a lesson with Mike this week, he showed us another scripture

that he loves: Jacob 1:13. He said: "That's a lot of people!" We were

laughing pretty hard at that one! He wants to get a study notebook and

scripture markers to keep track of all the verses that he likes. We

have become good friends with him!

We had a lesson with Tina and Donald! They gave us brownies, so I

guess we got points for them! 😆 We taught them about God and about

faith. Donald has read three chapters from 1 Nephi and he is loving

it! Tina too, is developing a desire to read and both of them have

progressed so much. They are finding that their questions are being

answered and they are developing faith. Oh they are the best!

While I was in Yreka, Sister Peterson and Sister Viiga met with Ben.

Ben is the dad of Ruben and Enrique, the boys who had been on date for a

little bit, and we have been praying that Ben's heart would be

softened. He stopped the sisters as they were going to contact his

neighbor. He explained how he feels so unworthy when we are around.

The sisters explained the Atonement to him, and he expressed that he

wants to change his life. He wants to be better. He accepted to be

baptized on October 8th! We have a lesson later tonight with them, and

we are praying that it will go well.

For my thought today: Alma 32:27. These people we are blessed to meet

with, they have a desire. And that is the beginning of faith. And once

they start reading, once they start praying, the light of the gospel

will become clear to them. I am so blessed to be a missionary. I can

share this light with others, and in the process, I have seen how

truly bright it is. And I wish to share it with everyone.

By small and simple things are great things brought to pass. August 29, 2016

This week was a little rough, but we kept pressing onward! The

scripture in the heading is in Alma 37:6.

We had a lesson with Jason, Jayce, and Ryden on Monday. We taught them

the gospel of Jesus Christ. When speaking about repentance, I bore my testimony on

the power of the Atonement. The spirit that came into the room was

peaceful and powerful. On Thursday, they hadn't read Alma 32

(we left it as a commitment) so we read with them. I didn't realize

until we left, but there was a great spirit in their home. Truly, the

power of the scriptures is real.

We finally had a lesson with Tina and Donald Millard! They had a great

trip in California, and Bishop was even able to come with us to the

lesson. We taught them the Restoration. Donald loved it. He said: "You 

have answered questions I've been asking my whole life. You have

answered the pleas I have asked in prayers to God. My life is changing

before my eyes. "

Tina is a little bit more skeptical of it all, but they are willing to

read the Book of Mormon to know if it is true. I hope and pray that

the spirit will touch their hearts. :)

We had a lesson with Mike and he showed us his remote controlled car!

He told us how he knows the Book of Mormon to be true and he knows

that Joseph Smith is a prophet! It's amazing!!

Some new investigators:

Clara was hanging out outside the church and we taught her about God.

I testified to her of God's love for her. She was very emotional about

it, and even told us of the struggles of her life. We offered help,

and told her that the gospel will change her life. She was really

grateful to have meet us.

Mike was walking back to his apartment as we were walking away from a

lesson that had fallen through. We just started talking to him and he

told us of the struggles that he is facing right now. I asked him if

he had ever turned to religion. He told us that he kind of had, but it

was hard to know what to do and where to turn. We taught him about the

Plan of Salvation, and he started to cry a bit knowing that God does have a plan for

him.

We felt prompted to go see a former investigator, but he wasn't home. We talked to

his neighbor, Raymond. He told us of how he has studied religion most

of his life. All he knows for certain is that Jesus Christ is his

Savior. I asked him if he had ever heard of the restoration? He

didn't, and he was enthusiastic to read the Book of Mormon and

discover if it is true! He is pretty awesome. 

This weekend, we had a lesson on Saturday that was 2 1/2 hours long

and another on Sunday that was 2 hours long. Both of the

'investigators' in these lessons asked really hard questions. They

were bashing with us, to say the least. And I have learned, from both

of those, that everything hinges on the Book of Mormon.  I am at

fault. I was prideful, and wanting to prove that our gospel is true. I

kept going on with the conversation and bashing. But I have learned. It is not my

job to 'prove' that the gospel is true. All I do is invite. The spirit

does the proving! All I have to do is show them the Book of Mormon,

bear my testimony, and walk away. It is that simple. And that is

powerful. Humility is being able to walk away from a situation and not

having to prove anything. For I know the gospel is true. But others

need to discover that for themselves.