His wife sent him traditional African ceremonial robes to wear on his baptism day. He said he would “look like and angel”
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Monday, December 23, 2013
Week ending December 23, 2013
Hey Everyone! Sorry this will be extremely short! I just wanted you to all know that I love you and I hope you have a great Christmas. Sorry no group email about my week today really because I will be skyping mom and dad on Wednesday! I wish I could skype you all though!
Kidney stones are still there and they KILL but I go to the Dr. the day after Christmas so I hope they figure things out then. Until then I will remain on Vicodin (which doesn't make me loopy thankfully but it does make me extremely dizzy. ) So Sister Thompson and I are stuck inside most of the time right now but that will hopefully change after this week. I am ready to get out and help people!
Our investigator Jonathan is getting baptized on Saturday! He is such a Christmas miracle! I will have to tell you more about him next week!
I love you all and I sincerely hope you have a Christ filled Christmas!!!!
Love always
Sister Jennifer Franzen
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Week ending December 17, 2013
Well folks it's a week from Christmas!!!! WAHOOO!!!! I hope you are all finding ways to make the Spirit of Christ the focus of your Christmas season!
I wish this email could be full of amazing miracles from missionary work this last week, but alas it cannot.... but this next week will hopefully be chalk full of them!
So this week Sister Thompson and I did soooo much! ha ha not.. we stayed in all week :/ we got 8 lessons though! Wahoo for phone lessons and dinner appointments. So I had an eventful medical week. So I was put on a gluten free diet last Monday. Ya that didn't help. My pain still got worse!!!! So on Saturday I was talking to my Sister Training leader sister Mcbride, Sister Nudd, and Sister Thompson and they were ready to take me to the Hospital! Yikes!!! So we called Sister Choi (Mission president's wife) and we had a bunch of phone calls to try and get a plan of action... so finally an ultrasound, Cat scan and x-rays later we now know that... I have KIDNEY STONES! yup tiny little calcium suckers are the source of my pain. :/ And not just one.. nope I have "several" Says my doctor. Here is the best part though! Vicodin does nothing for me! It didn't even make me loopy! I got a little dizzy when they had me take two and that was it! So i am no longer on pain meds because even narcotics DON'T help. Hence the reason we are staying in. Laying down is what helps the most. But Hopefully I will be back on my feet soon!
Sister Thompson and Sister Mcbride took our investigator Jonathan to an awesome Fireside while sister Nudd "babysat" me. They were all pretty worried that two vicodin would be really bad for me but it turns out I was normal. Sister Nudd and I had a blast though! We did a puzzle, sort of. Ha the life of a missionary that is sick is very boring. Our Area book is great though! So up to date!
Jonathan is still on date for baptism this Saturday but I am still kind of on house arrest ha ha.
We had our stake Christmas party and I went for a little bit. Just long enough to get some fun photos with sisters and then it was back to bed for me! We also had our Mission Christmas party. That was fun but short lived ha ha I practically ran out of the room to get to the car... but once again I think I am going to be on the up swing of things soon! i have an appointment with the Urologist on Friday to figure out how to deal with "Several" Kidney stones. So we will see.
Week ending December 10, 2013
This last week was… difficult. My stomach got worse by far. I went to the drs. twice since I have last emailed. (ps before I forget sorry p-day is on Tuesday this week and next for mission wide temple trips!!! Wahoo!!!! So I will email on Tuesday afternoon next week!) Anyways the Dr. thought I had stomach ulcers so he put me on a different antibiotic. Well instead of helping my on again off again stomach pain my stomach went to hurting 24/7. So needless to say this week was difficult. I couldn’t sleep most nights and we had to come in from working a few times because I was in so much pain. I went back and the Dr. put me on a gluten free diet for the next few weeks. If that doesn’t work I have to go get a scope :/ Can’t wait for this pain to be gone ha. In spite of that though the work continued and we worked as hard as possible when I could. So here is my weekly update J
The work is going well here. It was slow but we still have had miracles! Brother Jonathan Tengbeh has been the largest miracle of our week by far! When I emailed last week, Jonathan was being persecuted by his housemates for meeting with us. Instead of dropping us to have a place to stay he chose to leave that house leaving himself homeless. Our ward jumped into action and are housing him for the time being. He is diligently seeking a place to live and job hunting as well. While he has been living with a ward member though he has been having gospel discussions with him every night and the progress has been amazing! We met with him on Wednesday night and taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He said he wants to follow the example of Jesus Christ and… is on date for baptism on Dec. 21st and he is the most amazing person I have met. His testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ is amazing and his love of the Book of Mormon is contagious. He makes me want to make myself more converted to this gospel. I am working on that everyday but I want to be like him. New to the truth and drinking it all in with pure joy. Make sense? Wonderful example. Here is the best part though. His wife and baby girl are stuck in Africa waiting for him to get a place for them to come to. He took a trip to the temple with the ward member he is living with this last week though and we wants to take his Wife and baby girl to the temple!!!! So sweet! I look forward to his lessons each day we meet with him! So inspiring!
Sister Alicia White is unfortunately back off date. :/ She is on date for Jan. 11th now. The 14th of December was too soon for her. She went swimming with her activity days group and it took her over an hour to get into the water :/ She is trying so hard to combat this fear but still needs to work on it. We are continuing to have faith though and we are praying that her faith will overcome her fear. She is very sweet and she wants to baptized in the worst way she is just so afraid of water!
Our investigator Sister Valerie Narjano is FINALLY progressing again! Sister Mullins and I started working with her in September and she hasn't been reading or coming to church, but we couldn't get ourselves to drop her. She is so sweet and loves having us over. This week she came to church again (Second time) and she read all of the scriptures and answered the questions we left for her! So glad that she is wanting to come closer to her Father in Heaven! I have loved seeing her grow! She really connects with Sister Thompson which is great! We are headed to her place after this though so I can teach her how to crochet ;)
Our Recent Converts The Bynum family came back this week! Sister Latrece Bynum called us on Monday and has been in contact with the Bishop every day since and is soooooo involved now. She is back on track and feeling the spirit work in her life! So happy that her and her son Jeremiah decided to come back to church and give it another try. She called us this morning sooooo happy with church and life and everything! So wonderful! She also has a great job opportunity! Wahoo I love seeing miracles happen in the lives of those that I am teaching. I know that they are coming because of their obedience to the Lord’s commandments. They make changes in their lives and he blesses them!
We also worked with a less active elderly couple named the Halls. Sweetest couple ever. The Husband Bill showed us his “train room”. He said that it took over a year to build. I have never seen something like it. So precise and detailed down to coal and bark dust and pebbles in the right spots. Dad you would love it!!!
I hope you all watched the Christmas devotional! So great!!!!!
So funny/crazy stories of the week:
We had a dinner appointment on Sunday and Sister Thompson and I got there just on time…. But we were late anyways. Here is why: There were chickens on the road. Yup. 5 chickens to be exact just wandering around. We found the house they belonged to and Sister Thompson and I herded the chickens back into their coop. I bet it was hilarious to watch!
Sunday night was an …. Adventure. We broke curfew by a long shot. But our mission president was involved so that’s okay. We were on our way home from our last appointment of the night when we got a call from our STL (Sister training leader) who happens to be companions with Sister Nudd at the moment. We found out that her bed was against the wall heater and she had tried to move it. In the process her leg rubbed up against the wall heater and burned her leg… bad. They called us to have us administer First aid. …… um….. ha that didn’t go so well. We showed up and I had her put her leg in the bathtub but it was bad. It was blistered a lot already and I didn’t know what to do. So we ended up going to the ER. Ya that was fun. It ended up being a second degree burn but I still had no clue what to do. When we got out of the exam room our mission president was there to greet us. Ha ha. Awesome!
Also on Monday (Yesterday) While my STL and I were in Drs. Appointments, Sister Thompson and Sister Nudd went on a mini exchange… and they got us a tree. His name is Trevor apparently. It is really a tree topper but it is sooo fun! We have two ornaments on it! An owl and a mustache. So fun.
Well that is our crazy fun filled, exhausting week in the life of a missionary!
Scripture of the week Jeremiah 17:7! If we have hope we cannot fail!
I love you all and I hope that you have a good week! I will send pictures of “Trevor” next week.
Love you!
Sister Jennifer Franzen
Week ending December 3, 2013
I’m officially a missionary!!! I made it through my twelve weeks of training! Wahoo!!! And I also made it through another transfer call….. and I am staying in NORMANDY PARK through the new year! I am soooo excited about this! I did not want to leave yet! Sister Thompson will be staying with me which is great since we have only been together for two weeks now ha ha .
I have still been sick so I had to go to the hospital and doctors this week which is a bummer but we were able to still teach 19 lessons this last week! WAHOO! Plus it looks like I may have my medical issues under control…hopefully.
We got to spend thanksgiving with an awesome family named the Gonzalez’s. Their son is serving a mission in Peru right now so they wanted missionaries here to make it feel like he was there too. We got so much delicious food. After Thanksgiving dinner we got to visit a family named the Ledrews. They didn’t get thanksgiving dinner due to health so we were able to take our leftovers to them and help them out. It was so sweet they gave us a “Christmas” present. It was a bag of rice. We know that is about all they can afford too and they thought of us and chose us to be the recipient! So honored ;)oh awesome story. We had a thanksgiving day activity as a mission and we played basketball and volleyball. One sister wanted to learn how to walk on her hands so I was helping her do handstands. As she was upside down in a handstand our mission president walks in. (Who is a General Authority) He asked “what are you doing?” she got so red in the face and came out of her handstand and said “Hi president” instead of getting upset though he asked if he could try! So he did!!! When he came down out of his handstand though his kicked my companion in the arm HARD… she is super bruised there now.
We are still working with getting Alicia baptized on Dec. 14th but her fear of water isn’t as intense anymore! She is also going swimming with the activity day girls tomorrow so there is a chance that she will actually get baptized!! YAY! We took Alicia to a baptism on Sunday night and it went really well. The only bad thing on our part was that we accidentally took her to a Spanish baptism. Oops. So she couldn’t understand what they were saying but we explained it and had her watch. She is so anxious to be baptized so I hope everything works out.
We unfortunately lost another investigator this week but that is okay. It was Sean who sister Mullins and I put on date so that is super duper sad but all is well. It wasn’t his time yet. Oh our Investigator Jonathan!!! Jonathan is from Sir Leon Africa, and he moved here three months ago. He had to leave his wife and baby girl behind in Africa but he moved here to try and get a job and place for them to live when he comes. We have been teaching his off and on for the past few months. Three weeks ago we were super busy and didn’t end up making it to his house. He hadn’t seemed very interested so we didn’t worry too much. The next weekend though he called us and asked us where we had been. He told us he missed us fellow shipping with him and helping him better understand Jesus Christ. So Sister Mullins (before sister Thompson came) and I rushed on over to his house and taught him a lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He loved it! He came to church two weeks in a row. He didn’t come this Sunday and we were really bummed. He texted us yesterday and let us know that he was sorry he wasn’t at church. He then proceeded to tell us the family he was staying with has been persecuting him for taking the discussion with us so he moved out and was homeless!!!! We freaked out! So we called our Bishop and he jumped into action. He is staying with a ward member for a few days at least and looking for work. It was a miracle though. Jonathan was so polite and so happy for the help given. The man he is staying with called us this morning and said Jonathan has one of the most caring hearts of anyone he knows. And that he is really interested in the Gospel. Apparently they stayed up really late talking about the gospel for a long amount of time and he is really interested!!!! MIRACLES!
Well that is all for this week I hope you all have an amazing week and I will write more next week
KYI
Love Always
Sister Jennifer Franzen
Week ending November 25, 2013
This has been a great week! I have a new companion and her name is Sister Thompson! She is from Farmington Utah and guess what!!! She is shorter than me! Didn't know it could happen right? She has been on her mission for over a year and is teaching me a lot!
We had to adjust to having a surprise new companionship a little bit but we are working great together. She has been on her mission for a little over a year. She is super sweet and funny. We laugh a lot together which is a lot of fun. It is a little weird to adjust to a new companionship though. I am trying to make sure she feels 100% welcome here in Normandy park because it is awesome here!!!
I found a perfect location to get a picture of Mount rainier and the Puget sound together! Now I just have to time it right and get the sunset too! I will work on it! ;)
So funny story of the week. Our focus family (Active family the Bishop asks to have the missionaries go and visit) invited us over for dinner last night. We decided to do a gratitude activity. We found out that the dad has Narcolepsy! (Falls asleep with no notice) as we were writing things we were thankful for down he zonked!!! I mean snoring and everything! and then out of nowhere he sat bolt upright and said "Adversity" ha ha ha because that was something he was trying to write that he was thankful for. Sooooo funny. Sister Thompson and I weren't sure that it was real.
Our recent converts kind of fell of the face of the earth which is soooo hard. The Mom called and said she is not sure this is what she wants for her and her son anymore. That crushed me! This church is true and I have personally seen it touch not only my life but hers! She was happier and things were finally falling into place for her! We are NOT GIVING UP on her! She will feel the spirit again and
Miracle of the week:
one of our investigators moved a few weeks ago and we didn't have her new address to send her as a referral. She called us two nights ago and told us that she saw elders on the street one night and approached them and asked them where the church was and things. They talked to her and found out that Sister Mullins and I had been teaching her. She is now an investigator in the federal way mission and so is her 9 year old daughter! She went to church on Sunday and called us to tell us it was great! She is moving back to Normandy park in Jan. So we have to make sure that whatever missionaries are here then help her stay in the church so she can progress towards baptism!
So sorry this week is so short!!! Just know that I am so good and I love and miss you all! The work is going great and i will be sure to write you more about how people are progressing this next week!
Love you all
Sister Franzen
P.s. everyone NEEDS to read "Our search for happiness!" Please if you haven't pick up a copy and start reading it!
Week ending November 18, 2013
This week was crazy and wonderful. Ha crazy wonderful! We were supposed to have a baptism with our 9 yr. old investigator Alicia this last week but she has a phobia of Stairs and water. So the font freaked her out to the point that she had a panic attack. So we are going to try and work with her to not be so afraid of water. The Bishop has agreed to put her into swimming lessons to help her out with that. It was so sad to see her not breathing and so frightened. Sister Mullins and I both talked to her and told her that if she was that freaked out she should not be baptized that day but that we will work with the ward to get her comfortable with having water on her face for her new baptism date of Dec. 14th!
We got 4 new investigators this week! And Sister Mullins and I invited 3 people to baptism the first time we met him! Wahoo! That means we have increased by 300%! And one of them named Sean accepted the invite! The other two said maybe, but they both agreed to keep meeting with us and to learn more. It was the coolest experience! Sister Mullins and I were tracting and we both saw Sean sitting outside of his house and we both knew that he was the one and that we were going to put him on date. It turns out he had a really awful day, and that he was looking for a way to feel better. So we talked to him about the restoration and the Book of Mormon. He had heard some rumors growing up about the Mormons so he asked us some questions. We talked with him for a good bit and asked if we could meet with him regularly to teach him more about the gospel. He said yes and then we invited him to be baptized if he came to know that what we will teach him is true! He said yes!!! It was the best feeling in the world. The spirit was so strong and we felt like we could talk to everyone!!!
Two elders in our district got us two investigators through referrals and they are both on date for the 14th of December! We now have 4 investigators on date for that day ha (Alicia, Sean, Rochelle, and William!) So that was a great miracle. We had less lessons this week but I like to think they were more effective lessons. We gave two church tours! And giving more church tours has been one of our companionship goals!
We got the call this morning that Sister Mullins is being transferred today, because the Lord needs her elsewhere. I am sad that my “Mother” will be leaving me but I know that she is going where the Lord needs her. I have LOVED having her as my companion. I know that she and I will be lifelong friends (to the point we have talked about making road trips back to the mission together, being roommates, being in each other’s weddings one day etc. ) She really has become one of my best friends and I am excited to see who my new companion will be. I am confused how transfers will work in two weeks now though ha. So today will be full of crazy quick packing! But it will be full of fun with the spirit and we will both have amazing weeks with our new companions.
I am excited for this next week! My new companion and I will be raising our expectations for sure! We will be trying to reach a goal of 34 lessons taught this week. This is more lessons then I have taught yet on my mission but I know that it is possible, and we will have a great week full of tracting and street contacting! It is going to be a great week and I am ready to get to work!
I am no longer sick which is such a blessing! The meds the dr. gave me worked like a charm!
P.s. Dad happy early birthday! 51!!! you old man! ;) Love you!
Sorry this email is short but we have to go get Sister Mullins packed!
Also now that ward choir is cancelled we will be emailing earlier on Mondays! 10 am-12 somewhere in that time frame! Love you!
p.p.s I was supposed to sing with Sister Mullins at a funeral on sat. And now I may have to sing a solo. Yikes not cool!
Love you!!!
Sister Jenn Franzen
Week ending November 12, 2013
Jenn was running short on time so she sent us the letter she sent to her mission president.
Hello Family and friends! This week has been great! Due to the holiday I am emailing on Tuesday! I don't have much time so I am sending what I sent my mission president! I hope you all had a great week and I would love to hear from you!
President Choi,
This week has been crazy full of ups and downs! Luckily the downs were not really in missionary work but just other circumstances. I still did not feel good at ALL this week but thankfully I was able to go to the Doctor today. (PS that is why Sister Mullins and I are emailing this evening. We had to go to my dr. appointment around our normal lunch time so we switched emailing to dinner since I had to go.) I hopefully found out what is going on but only time will tell. The doctor gave me some meds and I should see a big improvement in my stomach pains in the next few days. With that being said I will be honest that missionary work was hard this week. Stairs KILLED! But I know that our Heavenly Father blessed me because each and every time Sister Mullins and I entered into a lesson the pain would go away and I would be okay… until the lesson ended and then whoosh the pain was back! I am so glad that he helped the pain subside when teaching so that I could be sure to feel the spirit! That was a really neat miracle for me to see.
In other news this week was crazy for a few various reasons. An interesting part of the week that might bring you a good laugh… I was peed on by a dog. Yup that was a great highlight to my day ;) In all reality though it gave me something really good to laugh at. I also accidently deleted all of my photos from my mission which I was devastated about but the Lord is so good. He blessed me with a few computer genesis living in the ward I am serving it. They were able to restore 100 of my 400 lost photos. So much better than nothing!!! So those were the challenging things… now on to the great things. Zone conference was wonderful!!! I loved hearing about our goal for baptisms in 2014 being 1200 souls in seattle Washington!!! I loved it even more that as missionaries we made goals that took us to 1600 souls to be prepared and baptized. I also love that my zone made a goal of 300 baptisms for 2014 and we bumped it up one baptism so that it could be 301 or “I am a child of God”. There is so much work to do and I know that it will be a hard, exhausting, and rewarding year. I am really ready to give it my all! Sister Mullins and I have a baptism for a 9 yr. old girl this week and we are ecstatic about it! I can’t wait to see who else the Lord is preparing for me to meet and help learn and grow in the gospel.
I am admittedly sad that choir is no longer happening, I am not a trained singer and it was great to learn from Sister Choi. I also know that choir has truly touched my missionary work. Today in fact Sister Mullins and I had an opportunity to put our singing to use. I was supposed to have an appointment at 1:50 today and for some reason they didn’t take me back until 2:30 so to still feel productive we sang hymns because there was 4 other people in the waiting room. It may seem crazy that we sang in a waiting room but when we finally went back one of the woman waiting thanked us. It was then that I realized “what better place to sing then somewhere where people don’t feel good and are looking for ways to feel better” Hello best medicine out there… the Gospel! So that was really fun. I am glad that I can take what I have learned from Choir and apply it to my missionary work!
This morning I was studying 3 Nephi 17. I love this chapter soooooo much! I don’t think there is a single verse where I didn’t find something important. Verse 4 in particular struck me by surprise though. It says (concerning the lost tribes of Israel): “They are not lost to the father, for he knoweth whither he hath taken them.” I could not help but think of the scriptures shared in Zone conference in Alma 26! We must go and teach the people of Seattle everywhere! Their streets, hills, homes, temples, EVERYWHERE! The lord is preparing the people and waiting for us to do our part to find them! I am trying to do my part to find the people that are waiting and I know this week will be even better than this last week! Thanks for everything you and Sister Choi do! I will miss seeing you both on Mondays but that is okay! Onward to Zion! Sing, Sing, Sing. TO ZION!
Sister Franzen
P.s. sister mullins and I won our car inspection and look at our reward!!!
Oh ya! Golden Plates :) Hope you are all doing great! I love you and will write more this next week!!!
P.s. keep the Philippines in your prayers! I know some missionaries there/from there! Luckily all missionaries are safe and accounted for but others are not so lucky!
Monday, November 4, 2013
Week Ending November 4, 2013
This week was full of fun and laughter as well as hard work. It was unfortunately a slower week but it was a huge testimony builder for Sister Mullins and Myself. We have been averaging 30 lessons a week and we figured that would be our standard every week. This week we only got 15 lessons. So that was very humbling for us and we tracted for hours this week. Ha so we decided that we would only get the number of lessons we are meant to get if we truly work our hardest. I believe if we work our hardest we will know and there will be no room for being upset. Even though we would have liked more than 15 lessons I know for a fact that the 15 we did have were exactly the lessons we were supposed to have.
Monday 9/28
This day was incredibly slow. But then again most P-days are. I loved being able to chat with Mom and dad while I was emailing. That was soooo fun! (We usually email between 2-5 so be on the lookout for that ;). If you get email on your phone do it so you can chat with me ;) ) Our appointments all fell through for the day so we mostly did area book updates.
Tuesday 9/29
This was our Slow day #2. I went on exchanges with the STL’s (Sister Training Leaders) and it was a blast. I got to stay in Normandy park with one of the STL’s. Her name is Sister Mcbride and funny story. We are pretty much the same person. She is a dancer too and guess what she was engaged. And she got engaged the same month as me, and broke off her engagement the same month too… because she was prompted to prepare for a mission. Hmmm. The only difference is she is an age change missionary and I am not. Other than that we pretty much have the same life which was really fun. And not just major facts a lot of our small facts about the last three years were almost in 100% harmony. Crazy! We went and saw a family named the Gendreau’s (Mom aren’t we related to some Gendreau’s?) Well anyways they are definitely less active ha. She opened the door expecting someone else with a huge glass of wine in her hand. She tried to hide it when we saw our badges which was so funny. We weren’t judging but she obviously felt uncomfortable. We also went and saw Alicia again (On date 9 yr. old) and we covered the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the 10 commandments. It was the best lesson ever! We had visual aids and hand signals and everything ha ha it was a lot of fun! And she really paid a lot of attention!
Wednesday 9/30
This day was so much fun. We were on exchanges till 5 pm so the first part of the day was with Sister Mcbride and the rest was with Sister Mullins. So we went and saw a less active couple that has some health concerns. We found out that they have the following: Schizophrenia, Autism, Agoraphobia, Split personality disorder, OCD, Epilepsy, and Chronic back pain. Whew! It was a lot of fun talking to them but it was hard to share a message with all the concerns going on. We had our ward Trunk or Treat this night and it was an absolute blast!!!! Sister Mullins and I decided to be really creative (as creative as missionaries get) and we became each other ;) I will attach pictures! It was so much fun and we took the opportunity to proselyte and had book of Mormons in tons of languages, Mormon.org cards, pamphlets and the sort displayed in the trunk as well as having the I-pod Bryce gave me playing Mormon messages! It was awesome!
Thursday 10/31
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!
This was the strangest Halloween for me. Ha but it was still a lot of fun. We didn’t get a whole lot of lessons and we were not allowed to tract after 6 pm but we still had a good time. We had dinner with our Bishop this night and he made us AMAZING salmon! It was sooooo Gooooood!!! He invited his less active son and his non-member Girlfriend. We had a lot of fun chatting with them and we were able to share a message on faith with them… Then we went to a less active part member family home and guess what?!? They used to own a jewelry store and they gave us Jewelry! I got a necklace that has a mustard seed in it! And Matt. 17:20 is on the back about faith being like a mustard seed. I love it! I also got REAL opal earrings that are BEAUTIFUL! They said it was our Halloween and Christmas present ha! It was so sweet of them. After seeing them and helping them hand out candy to little kids we went and saw Alicia again. (Once people are on date for baptism you are supposed to see them more than one time a week) We reviewed the 10 commandments with her and then we taught her about the law of the fast. She really seemed to understand it which is great since this Sunday was fast Sunday.
Friday 11/1
It is November! That is so crazy! I can’t believe I have almost been out for 3 months. Time is going so fast! We had Zone conference on this day and we made a zone flag. We have a zone challenge to get 26 baptisms before the end of the year! I am excited about it and know we can do it! Our recent convert bailed on our lesson again today L We were really bummed about that. We are not sure exactly what is going on but it stinks. :/ Oh ha we witnessed a drug deal today! We were headed to go tracting and we drove by a man on a bike and another man. They were talking and acted really suspicious. We watched them in our mirror and we both some them exchange something. We turned to each other and said “I think we just saw a drug deal!” ya it was super crazy. We went to see the Wilcken family that evening and we had a blast! We decided to play scripture charades which was soooo fun! We picked tons of stories from the scriptures and had the kids act them out. I think my favorite was when their sons played Joseph leading Mary through Bethlehem ha ha way funny. It was a blast.
Saturday 11/2
This day was SO windy! There was a huge storm and branches flew everywhere! We tracted in the storm which was kinda fun… and dangerous. We saw a part member family unexpectedly which was great. It was a really great day.
Sunday 11/3
Sorry running out of time so this will be short. Great fast Sunday. We had an awesome lesson in Relief society. We saw the Wilcken’s again and gave a lesson on the Holy Ghost. It was really good. Then we got to eat dinner with a family in the Ward. We visited with a nonmember named lee tonight. We got to share the differences/similarities of the Book of Mormon and Bible. It was a great time.
Other things this week:
I may be allergic to egg. Awesome one more for the list ha ha
Elder Ballard gave a challenge at Christmas that if every person in the church will reach out to one person between now in Christmas that we will be able to touch and affect thousands of lives! Do IT!!!!
Scripture of the week: Alma 32:27-28 Just a particle of faith will work miracles in our lives!
It was a week full of singing and praying for miracles. I am thankful for the experience I had this last week because I was able to use it this week. We visited the Wilcken family again and I discovered that Brother Wilcken had been feeling alone and abandoned by the spirit. I was able to testify to him that we are never alone and that as long as we do the things we are supposed to we WILL have the spirit in our lives. When we are praying, studying the scriptures, going to church, and looking for opportunities to bless other people we are inviting the spirit into our lives. It says in Corinthians 12:3... "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost". So now I say this by the power and gift of the Holy Ghost: I know that my savior lives. I know that he loves me and would NEVER leave me alone. I am promised this each week as I partake of the sacrament: "...That they may ALWAYS have his spirit to be with them" (D&C 20:77) I know that my savior suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane for all mankind but specifically for me! I know that He suffered for me so that I would understand that someone always understands what I am going through. I have a testimony that because of our loving savior and friend that the Plan of Salvation is true and works! I know that families are eternal and I am so thankful for this. I know that I will see and be with my little sister again whether it is in this life or after we leave this earth. I find so much joy in this plan and I am thankful that I have the opportunity to proclaim this joy to the world (Of Washington Seattle). I love this gospel and I love that I get to be a missionary during this time of my life. I say these things in the name of my savior, even Jesus Christ, Amen.
I love you all!
Love Sister Franzen
Us dressing as each other. Her fav. Outfit and my fav. Outfit.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Week Ending October 28, 2013
So this week was really crazy! We didn’t get as many lessons as previous weeks… but we know that we went and saw who we were supposed to. Sister Mullins and I are glad we recognize and respond to promptings like this but we are trying to do better at ending appointments on time.
A woman in our ward passed away on Monday. That was crazy because Sister Mullins and I went to visit her a week ago and she was as healthy as a horse. So we were really shocked. Here was the amazing thing though! Instead of mourning the loss of their mother, the Children called us and asked us to turn her passing into a missionary opportunity. They asked us to provide plan of salvation pamphlets and Book of Mormons for her memorial. Then they invited us to the Luncheon to walk around and answer questions people had, that was really great! I was so floored by the missionary mindedness of her children.
Our Recent convert Latrece fell off the face of the Earth on Monday and her phones were both disconnected. We went by her house and she was clearly home and ignored us. We were so worried that her family had been trying to Anti her but she called us last night and was apologizing and asking when we can come and visit! I am so thankful for this because We were so worried that she didn’t want to have anything to do with the church!
We also felt like we should go visit a LA member due to health problems. Her name is Sister O’sullivan and she is SOOO sweet. She fell and literally shattered her arm right before I got here. She is still in a sling and it gives her soooo much pain. We felt bad because we woke her up, but she was happy to see us and even told us “I had a feeling it would be you two stopping by”. She also told us how our singing last time we saw her had brightened her day and she had told her Catholic friend all about us and was going to try and have her over one day to hear us sing! So great! I love when we receive promptings from our Father in Heaven and we are able to respond and reap the blessings of it! (1st Corinthians 9:16-19) I preach the gospel because… how can I not! I have seen the blessings of our Father in Heaven, his son, and their plan in my life and I cannot deny it! Instead I can share it with all the energy of my heart! My reward for teaching others is far greater than any material reward!
I LOVE CHARITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am developing such strong love for every single person that I teach and I cannot wait to see them again and see the Lord bless their lives even more than the previous week! One Investigator in particular is doing great! Her name is Valerie and she committed to try and stop smoking this week! She is not on date for baptism at this point but we have asked her and she told us she is seriously considering it !
Favorite scripture of the week… Deuteronomy 31:6. Sometimes missionary work is scary but we have NO need to fear! God is ALWAYS watching over and protecting us!
Well that was my week! It was crazy wonderful and fun. Sorry there are no pictures. They will come this next week with some Halloween fun ;) I love you all so much
Remember to rely on more than sight when we walk in a dark world! (2 Corinthians 5:7)
P.s. you should all watch Patterns of light by Elder Bednar. It is a three part series and it is amazing!
Have an amazing week! KYI
Love Sister Jennifer Franzen
Washington Seattle Mission
10675 NE 20th St
Bellevue WA 98004
oh ps I auditioned to sing a duet with my comp. at a mission fireside ha so nerve racking ha ha they asked who could play what instrument in addition to singing. I wish they would ask for dancers haha I would NAIL it! ;) Doing great in Seattle!
Week Ending October 22, 2013
Okay Transfer number 2!
I am staying! Wahoo!!! I am so happy about this I absolutely love Normandy park and I was actually a little sick at the idea of leaving. I felt like I would have to say “no not yet!!!” If I was asked to transfer ha. But luckily I wasn’t. So I normally look at my planner/journal to give you a recap of the week but I accidently left it at home so wish me luck remembering ha ha.
This week was really good. Sister Mullins and I did not have as many lessons as last week but that’s okay we both felt as though we saw exactly who we needed to see. We have more investigators progressing than we have ever had before and for us that is a huge miracle. We had all but two of our investigators at church this week as well! It was so good to see them there and it was even better to see God bless their lives because of it. One of our investigators is really into family history… we had a talk on Family history. One investigator is a young mom… there was a talk on eternal families. Finally one of our investigators found out on Friday that her husband may have cancer… our last speaker got us and shared a sweet message that seemed to be catered to a focus family in our ward and then he closed by telling us that he has cancer! He went on to tell us how he knows that it is okay because the Lord is watching over him. He also said how he knew he had an assignment to be in Normandy park that morning and asked God for strength to make it there. Our investigator Valerie (The one who’s husband may have cancer was floored, she told us that was for her and she knew it!)
We also saw miracles in the sense that people came up to us and said they felt as though they needed to speak to us right then and there! One woman was at a dinner appointment at an investigators home and she told us she didn’t want to talk to us but that she felt a little voice telling her “Talk to them… they can help… talk to them”. It is so sweet to see the spirit is other people’s lives even when they don’t identify the source prompting them as the spirit. That made this week so amazing! There was no doubt in our minds that God was sending specific people to us!
Friday was a wonderful day! We had Paul V. Johnson of the seventy here to help give us guidance on how to work better with the ward and auxiliary leaders. He had some really great insight and I am excited to see it in affect with the ward here in Normandy park.
Not sure if I mentioned this last week or not but we have another baptism scheduled!!! Wahoo! It is for a 9 yr. old little girl named Alicia. We are meeting with her twice a week now to teach her the rest of the lessons.
We have 4 investigators who we are going to try and put on date this week please keep us in your prayers for that! The area is booming and the ward is a big part of that. We have a awesome ward missionary named Melissa that comes everywhere with us so we can get into more homes!!! I got to teach another lesson in Spanish this week which was great except… he was fast!!!! It was really hard to understand but I continued to smile and make it look like I knew what was going on ha ha.
So we have to all get flu shots in the mission which I am not looking forward too. I swear I get sick every single time I get a flu shot… but the mission president asked us to and he sent 1st Nephi 3: 7 with it ha how can I not… so I am getting one. We tried to go and get them this morning at the mission office and this was our Tuesday p-day/transfer day fiasco. We got lost. Like really really lost. We gave our GPS back to it’s original owner this last week as we don’t need it in our area. Well the mission office is in Bellevue. Ya we were stuck somewhere in seattle for 3 hrs. L It stressed Sister Mullins out really bad. So to d- stress us we went to the temple. Shhhh don’t tell. We aren’t supposed to go there unless it’s a scheduled temple day… but we were so lost and the only landmark we knew and recognized was the temple… so we decided to go there to get our bearing and calm down and then go home. So we really took the light house analogy of the temple to heart. We would not have gotten home without it! We bought maps and everything but we were on the wrong island and couldn’t find a way back that didn’t involve toll bridges. It was a mess ha but… we survived! So that was the stress for today. In half an hr. we are headed to Melissa’s house to paint pumpkins with her and her little sister Jackie who isn’t a member. Awesome P-day activity. I will send pics later.
Well that is all my brain can remember right now but I promise next weeks letter will be longer with some great photos! Love you all!
Love Sister Franzen
P.s. Either Sister Mullins or myself will most likely be here till Christmas now! They don’t usually white wash an area and the next transfer is Dec. 3 so I may be here through the new year! Pray for that please! I LOVE it here!!!
Monday, October 14, 2013
Week ending Oct 14, 2013 Transfer one-last week
So this week was amazing!!!!! It was the best week Sister
Mullins or Myself have ever had!!! So we thought that our week was going slow
and we had some unfortunate set backs and then Sat. Rolled around and it was
awesome. So here was our week.
Monday: Monday was p-day and we had an eventful start to our week . We had a potential call us and say she needed to get moved out of her house by that afternoon! So we called our ward and worked super quick to try and get them involved. We ended up helping for a short amount of time before choir and it was a disaster! The house was so dark and dirty and there was a lot of inappropriate things in the house! Sister Mullins, Myself, and the ward wanted to help her and let her know we cared but it was not what you would call a “house of the spirit”. So Sister Mullins and I started singing a Child’s prayer that we sing in mission choir, and it didn’t seem as dark anymore. We got through the work and headed to sing. Choir was great as always! The rest of the day was a lot of cleaning grocery shopping, and trying to see people with no success. So our lessons that day were super low!
Tuesday: On Tuesday we decided to go and see a potential named Awate. We went to her house and she wasn’t there… but her family was. We met her brother Jonathan and her Sister Victoria. Jonathan moved from Africa 2 weeks ago and Victoria has been here for 6 years. We got to share an intro to the Book of Mormon and Restoration with them. They were so sweet and we were able to give them Book of Mormons and set up a time to come back. We invited them to church but they unfortunately didn’t come. :/ But we did get to sing with them and share with their sweet spirit. It was a great lesson. After our lesson though we tried to get in our car to go to the next appointment and the car was dead… again! We had to call the vehicle coordinator Elder Allen, and he came rescued us. We got some jumper cables and an appointment for the next day. We did however get to visit with three RCLA’s which made up for losing tracting time.
Wednesday: On Wednesday we had to go to pepboys to get our battery looked at. Turns out it was dead, and the car is still under warranty so they sent us to the dealer ship. We had to jump start it that morning and so we knew there was a problem. Luckily the dealership was able to see us without too much of a wait. Although it ended up taking 4 hrs. by the end. We went tracting after we got our new battery and only got two lessons and no potentials. So by this point we were feeling kinda frustrated and thought we were not going to have lessons this week. So Wednesday night was kind of stressful.
Thursday: On Thursday we had weekly planning and we decided to try something new. We decided to put our focus members, inv., and all people we knew we wanted to see directly into our week that day. I really hope that helps improve lessons this week since we are going into the week with the people in mind rather than thinking of them only the night before we visit them. We saw our ward mission leader this day and talked about who we want to focus on currently. We also talked about starting a scripture study class in the ward which we are really excited to invite investigators too. That night we visited a sweet family named the Johnsons. This family is a grandma and her granddaughter that she has guardianship over. Alicia is the granddaughter and she is 9 and has not been baptized. The Grandma wants her to be baptized but wants the decision to be something she comes up with. So we were really allowed to push it. We decided to cover the plan of salvation though and Alicia practically taught the lesson and invited herself to baptism!!!! She is getting baptized Nov. 16th! And We are so excited.
Friday- On Fridays we visit with a ward member and go over the gospel principle lessons. This week one of her sweet friends that lives next door joined her. His name is Jim and he was so sweet. We discussed how God is our Loving Heavenly Father. We sang Nearer my God to thee and he sang with us!!! So sweet! We contacted quite a few referrals that night and then went to our ward fish fry. This was put on by the high priests and it was delicious. It was great though because we were able to have individual lessons with every single non-member that was invited. We got to visit with one gentleman named Bill. We didn’t know he wasn’t a member but it turns out he cleans the windows of the house we are at and was invited to the party. Sister Mullins had me take the lead and give him a Book of Mormon and invited him to read it and to come to church. It was great because there was a ward member at the table that joined in and helped with the lesson. Bill had some great questions that led into a mini plan of salvation lesson. I am pretty sure we taught the plan of salvation 9 times this week and I loved it! I get new insights each time! We took Bill’s business card and we are planning to see how he is doing this week. We also taught a Woman named lee and a man named Benny, both were so sweet and we got to share a message and sing with both of them. Loved it!!!
Saturday- This is the day where everything started getting really good! I know I know someone on date and three lessons in one hour is a miracle, but this is the day that Sister Mullins and I realized we could possibly get a perfect week. For once we could reach every goal we had set for the week even with some of those goals pushing ourselves! We ended up tracting, visiting potentials, investigators, members you name it! We even got a ward member to come with us for 2 hrs of proselyting and it was AMAZING!!!! The spirit we felt and the Dynamic of having three was soooo cool! It was a long cold day full of work and we practically fell into our beds for Sunday.
SUNDAY!!!!!!- So basically my fav. Day of the week. This day is the BEST to see ward members/get them to come with us to appointments. We had 10 lessons this day!!!!! Sister Mullins and I went to see a family right after church and it was so sweet. It is a part member family and we found out from the mom that the dad is warming up to the gospel and sees how it touches his kids lives J After that we weren’t hungry and it was technically lunch time but we really wanted a perfect week so we stayed out and went and saw more part member families, referrals, and members. We went tracting in the evening and it was great!!! We tracted the Hermanas apartments because they can’t and can I say GOLD MINE!!! In one hr we didn’t even finish one building of apartments! So great we got to sing, share scriptures, give out book of mormons, and we met Consuelo. Consuelo is a beautiful Hispanic mother in her 30’s that speaks Spanish. I know Spanish and I have been using lately but only to ask if someone is interested in knowing more about God and a plan he has for them. (A little rusty) but I really felt we needed to stay and speak with this woman… so we did. The spirit that was felt was amazing!!! I worked really hard and struggled and said some things wrong but I was able to give a lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Spanish and she understood! She wanted to know more, she wanted a book of mormon, and she wanted to come to church!!! I bore my testimony in Spanish about the Book of Mormon and how the gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families. Without even knowing what I said Sister Mullins testified of the exact same things in English and then Consuelo told us a sweet story of how she was not supposed to get pregnant. She tried for years and nothing. And then she got pregnant with her sweet son. After that she wanted more kids but the doctors told her again that she can’t get pregnant and they don’t know how she did in the first place. She told us that her son is her miracle and she know that that is because of God and because of that she wants to come closer to him!!! So Golden! So sad we had to give her to the Hermanas but I know that they will be able to touch her life and give her exactly what she is looking for… in her language. We walked out of that appointment literally on cloud nine and then we looked at each other and realized something! We had made so many of our goals without even trying! God blessed us so much this week! Even with 9 hrs of being stranded/getting our car fixed we were able to get 31 lessons!!!! I have never been so elated in my life. We were able to teach people and not lessons in each and everyone and that was because God put people in our path that were ready and waiting! We only fell short on one referral, one church tour, and a baptism!!! WE CAN DO ANYTHING THROUGH GOD!!!! It finally hit me this week that this is 100% his work. Because it is his work we can’t wait for it to be done. The message in conference this session seemed to be the same over and over:” The lord is hastening his work” or “The time is far spent”. Not to be dramatic but we are running out of time. I often think that after this life we will have those that we are able to be an example to and teach thank us and hug us, but those we feel like we can’t talk to or approach they come up to us and simply say “why?”. “Why didn’t you just share your light with me? Why didn’t you just try? Why didn’t you think of my family and my salvation” Every single person we teach is a beloved spirit son and daughter of God! He loves each and everyone so much that he created this plan for us to return to him. Don’t you think that if he spent so long to create a perfect plan we can include others in it? Even if it seems daunting. Elder Uctdorf said in conference: “Come and join with us, there is room for you here” I want every single person I learn to see, love, teach, and grow from on my mission to know I did my best to get them to come and join us. I have a deep love for my savior and I am learning to understand and love his plan for us so much better. Death is not something to fear but something to find joy in. We are given this plan so we can become as our Father is “Perfect”. But much like a diamond our perfection will take time, trials, heat, pressure but in the end we can become perfect. I am so thankful for this promise and I am even more profoundly grateful for this gospel. It truly does bless families, and I know that families CAN be together because of this great plan. I know that my Savior lives. I know because I have seen him in my life. He has blessed me with a loving and wonderful family. He has blessed me by creating the earth I get to look at each and every day. He has blessed me by his example to help me know “to what source they may look for a remission of their sins” He has made it possible for me to go home. To return to my father. I know that he loves me and that this mission is his and not mine. I know that as I turn to him I will be blessed with opportunities to serve those around me and to be a tool or instrument in the hands of my savior (Alma 29:9) I know with as much faith as I can muster that God lives, he IS the reason I live that my family lives, and that my faith lives. I say these things in the name of my dear savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
I love you all and I have a missionary challenge for you:
This next week please take a moment to make a list of a few names of people that are less active, non members, or someone you know that is going through a difficult time. Please take the time and pray for them BY NAME! you will see your heart is softened and opened and you will KNOW how to help them ! God will let you know how to succor the weak! and to Mourn with those that mourn. Mosiah 18:9 (By serving those around us we are keeping our baptismal convenants) We are all member missionaries and we all have a commision to do our best to bring other to zion by our examples, talents, prayers, voices etc. Find the way you are comfortable helping and get involved!!! Let me know how it goes!
Monday: Monday was p-day and we had an eventful start to our week . We had a potential call us and say she needed to get moved out of her house by that afternoon! So we called our ward and worked super quick to try and get them involved. We ended up helping for a short amount of time before choir and it was a disaster! The house was so dark and dirty and there was a lot of inappropriate things in the house! Sister Mullins, Myself, and the ward wanted to help her and let her know we cared but it was not what you would call a “house of the spirit”. So Sister Mullins and I started singing a Child’s prayer that we sing in mission choir, and it didn’t seem as dark anymore. We got through the work and headed to sing. Choir was great as always! The rest of the day was a lot of cleaning grocery shopping, and trying to see people with no success. So our lessons that day were super low!
Tuesday: On Tuesday we decided to go and see a potential named Awate. We went to her house and she wasn’t there… but her family was. We met her brother Jonathan and her Sister Victoria. Jonathan moved from Africa 2 weeks ago and Victoria has been here for 6 years. We got to share an intro to the Book of Mormon and Restoration with them. They were so sweet and we were able to give them Book of Mormons and set up a time to come back. We invited them to church but they unfortunately didn’t come. :/ But we did get to sing with them and share with their sweet spirit. It was a great lesson. After our lesson though we tried to get in our car to go to the next appointment and the car was dead… again! We had to call the vehicle coordinator Elder Allen, and he came rescued us. We got some jumper cables and an appointment for the next day. We did however get to visit with three RCLA’s which made up for losing tracting time.
Wednesday: On Wednesday we had to go to pepboys to get our battery looked at. Turns out it was dead, and the car is still under warranty so they sent us to the dealer ship. We had to jump start it that morning and so we knew there was a problem. Luckily the dealership was able to see us without too much of a wait. Although it ended up taking 4 hrs. by the end. We went tracting after we got our new battery and only got two lessons and no potentials. So by this point we were feeling kinda frustrated and thought we were not going to have lessons this week. So Wednesday night was kind of stressful.
Thursday: On Thursday we had weekly planning and we decided to try something new. We decided to put our focus members, inv., and all people we knew we wanted to see directly into our week that day. I really hope that helps improve lessons this week since we are going into the week with the people in mind rather than thinking of them only the night before we visit them. We saw our ward mission leader this day and talked about who we want to focus on currently. We also talked about starting a scripture study class in the ward which we are really excited to invite investigators too. That night we visited a sweet family named the Johnsons. This family is a grandma and her granddaughter that she has guardianship over. Alicia is the granddaughter and she is 9 and has not been baptized. The Grandma wants her to be baptized but wants the decision to be something she comes up with. So we were really allowed to push it. We decided to cover the plan of salvation though and Alicia practically taught the lesson and invited herself to baptism!!!! She is getting baptized Nov. 16th! And We are so excited.
Friday- On Fridays we visit with a ward member and go over the gospel principle lessons. This week one of her sweet friends that lives next door joined her. His name is Jim and he was so sweet. We discussed how God is our Loving Heavenly Father. We sang Nearer my God to thee and he sang with us!!! So sweet! We contacted quite a few referrals that night and then went to our ward fish fry. This was put on by the high priests and it was delicious. It was great though because we were able to have individual lessons with every single non-member that was invited. We got to visit with one gentleman named Bill. We didn’t know he wasn’t a member but it turns out he cleans the windows of the house we are at and was invited to the party. Sister Mullins had me take the lead and give him a Book of Mormon and invited him to read it and to come to church. It was great because there was a ward member at the table that joined in and helped with the lesson. Bill had some great questions that led into a mini plan of salvation lesson. I am pretty sure we taught the plan of salvation 9 times this week and I loved it! I get new insights each time! We took Bill’s business card and we are planning to see how he is doing this week. We also taught a Woman named lee and a man named Benny, both were so sweet and we got to share a message and sing with both of them. Loved it!!!
Saturday- This is the day where everything started getting really good! I know I know someone on date and three lessons in one hour is a miracle, but this is the day that Sister Mullins and I realized we could possibly get a perfect week. For once we could reach every goal we had set for the week even with some of those goals pushing ourselves! We ended up tracting, visiting potentials, investigators, members you name it! We even got a ward member to come with us for 2 hrs of proselyting and it was AMAZING!!!! The spirit we felt and the Dynamic of having three was soooo cool! It was a long cold day full of work and we practically fell into our beds for Sunday.
SUNDAY!!!!!!- So basically my fav. Day of the week. This day is the BEST to see ward members/get them to come with us to appointments. We had 10 lessons this day!!!!! Sister Mullins and I went to see a family right after church and it was so sweet. It is a part member family and we found out from the mom that the dad is warming up to the gospel and sees how it touches his kids lives J After that we weren’t hungry and it was technically lunch time but we really wanted a perfect week so we stayed out and went and saw more part member families, referrals, and members. We went tracting in the evening and it was great!!! We tracted the Hermanas apartments because they can’t and can I say GOLD MINE!!! In one hr we didn’t even finish one building of apartments! So great we got to sing, share scriptures, give out book of mormons, and we met Consuelo. Consuelo is a beautiful Hispanic mother in her 30’s that speaks Spanish. I know Spanish and I have been using lately but only to ask if someone is interested in knowing more about God and a plan he has for them. (A little rusty) but I really felt we needed to stay and speak with this woman… so we did. The spirit that was felt was amazing!!! I worked really hard and struggled and said some things wrong but I was able to give a lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Spanish and she understood! She wanted to know more, she wanted a book of mormon, and she wanted to come to church!!! I bore my testimony in Spanish about the Book of Mormon and how the gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families. Without even knowing what I said Sister Mullins testified of the exact same things in English and then Consuelo told us a sweet story of how she was not supposed to get pregnant. She tried for years and nothing. And then she got pregnant with her sweet son. After that she wanted more kids but the doctors told her again that she can’t get pregnant and they don’t know how she did in the first place. She told us that her son is her miracle and she know that that is because of God and because of that she wants to come closer to him!!! So Golden! So sad we had to give her to the Hermanas but I know that they will be able to touch her life and give her exactly what she is looking for… in her language. We walked out of that appointment literally on cloud nine and then we looked at each other and realized something! We had made so many of our goals without even trying! God blessed us so much this week! Even with 9 hrs of being stranded/getting our car fixed we were able to get 31 lessons!!!! I have never been so elated in my life. We were able to teach people and not lessons in each and everyone and that was because God put people in our path that were ready and waiting! We only fell short on one referral, one church tour, and a baptism!!! WE CAN DO ANYTHING THROUGH GOD!!!! It finally hit me this week that this is 100% his work. Because it is his work we can’t wait for it to be done. The message in conference this session seemed to be the same over and over:” The lord is hastening his work” or “The time is far spent”. Not to be dramatic but we are running out of time. I often think that after this life we will have those that we are able to be an example to and teach thank us and hug us, but those we feel like we can’t talk to or approach they come up to us and simply say “why?”. “Why didn’t you just share your light with me? Why didn’t you just try? Why didn’t you think of my family and my salvation” Every single person we teach is a beloved spirit son and daughter of God! He loves each and everyone so much that he created this plan for us to return to him. Don’t you think that if he spent so long to create a perfect plan we can include others in it? Even if it seems daunting. Elder Uctdorf said in conference: “Come and join with us, there is room for you here” I want every single person I learn to see, love, teach, and grow from on my mission to know I did my best to get them to come and join us. I have a deep love for my savior and I am learning to understand and love his plan for us so much better. Death is not something to fear but something to find joy in. We are given this plan so we can become as our Father is “Perfect”. But much like a diamond our perfection will take time, trials, heat, pressure but in the end we can become perfect. I am so thankful for this promise and I am even more profoundly grateful for this gospel. It truly does bless families, and I know that families CAN be together because of this great plan. I know that my Savior lives. I know because I have seen him in my life. He has blessed me with a loving and wonderful family. He has blessed me by creating the earth I get to look at each and every day. He has blessed me by his example to help me know “to what source they may look for a remission of their sins” He has made it possible for me to go home. To return to my father. I know that he loves me and that this mission is his and not mine. I know that as I turn to him I will be blessed with opportunities to serve those around me and to be a tool or instrument in the hands of my savior (Alma 29:9) I know with as much faith as I can muster that God lives, he IS the reason I live that my family lives, and that my faith lives. I say these things in the name of my dear savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
I love you all and I have a missionary challenge for you:
This next week please take a moment to make a list of a few names of people that are less active, non members, or someone you know that is going through a difficult time. Please take the time and pray for them BY NAME! you will see your heart is softened and opened and you will KNOW how to help them ! God will let you know how to succor the weak! and to Mourn with those that mourn. Mosiah 18:9 (By serving those around us we are keeping our baptismal convenants) We are all member missionaries and we all have a commision to do our best to bring other to zion by our examples, talents, prayers, voices etc. Find the way you are comfortable helping and get involved!!! Let me know how it goes!
Thursday, October 10, 2013
October 6, 2013
This week has been crazy!!! But wonderful! Lesson
numbers were not as high for Sister Mullins and I which dissapointed us a
lot but... we had a baptism! YAY!!!! Well I will just give a rundown of
our week! :)
Monday-
P-Day! P-day is always so hard to get lessons on. We try to talk with
people as our day goes on but I feel as though we are lucky if we get
one of two lessons. :/ but we still work hard and try to get everything
else in. I love emailing everyone on P-Day but my favorite part is
actually Mission choir. I love it! I love that we are prepping to sing
at various upcoming events! After our P-day ended we went to a members
house named Alicia Ojeda. She just moved into our ward and is still
struggling to get settled so Sister Mullins and I got to eat dinner with
them and then we helped them unpack! We got to help them get their
kitchen and living room to be finally set up! Their Gospel library was
all packed so we unpacked it and placed it front and center in their
living room (Sneaky Sister missionaries ;) ) That was Monday
Tuesday- Tuesday was rough!!!! On Sunday our Baptism was changed from Sat. the 5th to Wed. the 2nd ha so what we had a week to plan changed to having two days. So Tuesday we made A LOT of phone calls. Sister Mullins and I called every single person in our ward and invited them to the baptism. Then we went tracting and tried to visit some part member families in our ward. NO ONE was home! So Tuesday was kind of discouraging. We had District meeting which was great though! Sister Mullins and I both received the same inspiration to revisit a dropped contact. So we did.... and she is still not interested and doesn't need anything. We are unsure why we both felt so strongly why we needed to contact her but we are glad all the same that we did.
Wednesday- BAPTISM DAY!!!!! This was a great, long, and crazy day filled with SO many emotions. We had our interviews withour Mission President in the morning and those were great! I really love the insight my mission president gives me!
Then we headed to try and get ahold of some of our potentials and investigators and invite them to the baptism. All of them were busy :( but we kept our happy faces on and kept going! We got to visit with a Less active in our ward that is becoming more active! She has been to church the last two weeks and it has been great! She had some medical errands she needed done but couldn't get to them because she was sick. So sister Mullins and I went and picked up her medication for her. Her smile when we got back was priceless! Serving people in little ways makes a huge difference!!!
We ended up using our dinner hour to make dinner for us and Latrece and Jeremiah, our Bishop and Ward mission leader (We had to stay at the Stake center while the font filled so we decided to cook and study :) ) It was really fun to eat with all of them before their baptism. Then it was show time. The baptism was great and the spirit was so strong! Latrece and Jeremiah bore their testimonies after and it was so sweet! She talked about her path with Christ being more clear and Jeremiah talked about feeling "Good". To us that was the best testimony any nine year old could ever have. They were both confirmed that night due to conference and the spirit felt in the room was tangible! So beautiful. So many ward members came to welcome them as well! It was great!
The rest of the night was kinda crazy. Sister Mullins got a migraine in the middle of the baptism but thought she was okay. While Latrece and Jeremiah were cleaning up we had the ward write letters to them with their testimonies, and we got Sister Mullins a priesthood blessing. Her Migraine just got worse though. Right after the service we went to the bathroom where she proceeded to lie down on a bench and cry. I have never seen her cry. From there it kinda got worse, Luckily a married couple in our ward are nurses. I ran and grabbed them and they helped her out. Eventually the advil kicked in and her migraine went away. She had really bad chills though (Apparently the tail end result of a migraine) so the ward members drove us home and we got her to bed. So scary but she has been 100% fine since. We both think (Due to her priesthood blessing) that she hasn't been drinking enough fluids. So we are now working on that.
Tuesday- Tuesday was rough!!!! On Sunday our Baptism was changed from Sat. the 5th to Wed. the 2nd ha so what we had a week to plan changed to having two days. So Tuesday we made A LOT of phone calls. Sister Mullins and I called every single person in our ward and invited them to the baptism. Then we went tracting and tried to visit some part member families in our ward. NO ONE was home! So Tuesday was kind of discouraging. We had District meeting which was great though! Sister Mullins and I both received the same inspiration to revisit a dropped contact. So we did.... and she is still not interested and doesn't need anything. We are unsure why we both felt so strongly why we needed to contact her but we are glad all the same that we did.
Wednesday- BAPTISM DAY!!!!! This was a great, long, and crazy day filled with SO many emotions. We had our interviews withour Mission President in the morning and those were great! I really love the insight my mission president gives me!
Then we headed to try and get ahold of some of our potentials and investigators and invite them to the baptism. All of them were busy :( but we kept our happy faces on and kept going! We got to visit with a Less active in our ward that is becoming more active! She has been to church the last two weeks and it has been great! She had some medical errands she needed done but couldn't get to them because she was sick. So sister Mullins and I went and picked up her medication for her. Her smile when we got back was priceless! Serving people in little ways makes a huge difference!!!
We ended up using our dinner hour to make dinner for us and Latrece and Jeremiah, our Bishop and Ward mission leader (We had to stay at the Stake center while the font filled so we decided to cook and study :) ) It was really fun to eat with all of them before their baptism. Then it was show time. The baptism was great and the spirit was so strong! Latrece and Jeremiah bore their testimonies after and it was so sweet! She talked about her path with Christ being more clear and Jeremiah talked about feeling "Good". To us that was the best testimony any nine year old could ever have. They were both confirmed that night due to conference and the spirit felt in the room was tangible! So beautiful. So many ward members came to welcome them as well! It was great!
The rest of the night was kinda crazy. Sister Mullins got a migraine in the middle of the baptism but thought she was okay. While Latrece and Jeremiah were cleaning up we had the ward write letters to them with their testimonies, and we got Sister Mullins a priesthood blessing. Her Migraine just got worse though. Right after the service we went to the bathroom where she proceeded to lie down on a bench and cry. I have never seen her cry. From there it kinda got worse, Luckily a married couple in our ward are nurses. I ran and grabbed them and they helped her out. Eventually the advil kicked in and her migraine went away. She had really bad chills though (Apparently the tail end result of a migraine) so the ward members drove us home and we got her to bed. So scary but she has been 100% fine since. We both think (Due to her priesthood blessing) that she hasn't been drinking enough fluids. So we are now working on that.
Thursday-
Sister Mullins woke up with a residual headache this day so I let her
sleep through personal study and I stayed in the room while she slept
and studied. When comp. study came her headache was gone and she was
ready to work! She is such an inspiration she is seriously one of the
most motivated people I know when it comes to missionary work. We had a
few lessons and they went great! Then we met with our Ward coordination
members and we got to give them a challenge! We challenged them to be a
Preach my Gospel ward! Every week at ward coordination now we are going
to try and have our spiritual thought come from Preach my gospel. ( It
was so cool to listen to conference and have almost every talk quote
preach my gospel!)
Friday- On Friday
I went on my 24 hr. Exchange with the Sister Training Leaders. This was
a fun experience for me. It was very different going from the Normandy
park ward to the Tongan ward. Especially since a lot of the people we
visited did not speak English at all and I don't speak Tongan ha ha. But
it was fun all the same! We got to teach a Woman named Morgan about the
word of Wisdom and the Law of chastity. Very spiritually strong lesson
but also very interesting. It was fun to see how other companionship
work and how other wards work to. I really enjoyed it but I also missed
not getting to see my regular Friday
appointments with Latrece (New Investigator), Sister Caffaro (New-ish
member that also considers herself Messianic Jew), and the Wilcken's (A
focus family given to us by our Bishop)
Sat- GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!! Ah I love general conference! It was
honestly like I was seeing conference for the first time. Sister Mullins
and I kept talking afterwards about how we never saw a conference where
each talk had something specifically for us but this conference did! I
have so many notes now and I love reading them!!!! It was great to go
over them as well and compare and see what insights the other person got
or what we missed. A lot of our insights were the same though :) That
was my main highlight from this day! Seriously great
Sun- General Conference again, and it was just as powerful. In between
session we got to visit a LA that is moving and we got her new address
which was great! We also got to visit with one of our Investigators who
we are hoping to get to church this next week. We could tell she was
really in need of someone to talk too and we both felt prompted to go at
that time. So cool. Finally in the evening we went and visited a LA
family named the Salee's. They are such an interesting family. They are
inactive due to the children's activities. One of the children (the only
daughter: 11) was excepted into the Olympic training program for
Gymnastics!!! Wow! The Two boys are also heavily involved in soccer,
basketball, football, and karate! So busy and the poor single mom is
having to work 4 jobs to support them. Such a sweet family. We are
hoping we can help them to see the importance of church attendance. We
will see how that goes in the future.
So kinda a low week on numbers but a great week on experiences and helping people's faith grow :)
(In other news: * My boot is finally off!!! hopefully for good! So kinda a low week on numbers but a great week on experiences and helping people's faith grow :)
September 30, 2013
Hello!
I hope you all had another wonderful week! I had a great week in Seattle Washington. It was a wet week but it sure was a good one! We made a lot of progress with our Investigators Latrece and Jeremiah! They are being baptized this Wednesday and I am so happy for them! We only have two lessons left (We need to finish the plan of salvation and the law of chastity with Jeremiah and then we are ready for baptism) They came to church on Sunday and Jeremiah was so funny he told his mom "I'm ready for some baptism" ha ha Sister Mullins and I loved that! Latrece shared her testimony with Sister Mullins and I and it was so sweet. She talked about how she knows that It will be hard on her Pastor and Her mother to leave (She went to the same church as her mom) but she knows that she needs to continue on her relationship with her Heavenly Father and she needs to make her own path. She also talked about how she wants a good influence on Jeremiah and she knows she has found it in our Church. Her back got hurt really bad this week at church and we got to have the Bishop and another brother from our congregation came over and gave her a blessing! It was so sweet and she was bawling. It was really special because the blessing talked a lot about receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and that is something in particular that she is looking forward too. We were all bawling! We have really seen a lot of change in her this week.
I got to go on exchanges with the Hermanas this week and I loved that! It was great to get to use my spanish, but also I really had to think about my choice of words. I am finding that in english I over explain things or make them complicated. When I try to explain them in spanish I simplify them and they still have the same effect! The Gospel is true!!! Loved that witness this week. I also got to do my very own street contact for the first time this week and it was in Spanish as well! After that I have so much more confidence in talking to others in English ha ha. Weird that it took me using a language Learned in school rather than my primary language to be comfortable talking to others. It is great though because one of our investigators Husband is Cuban and spanish is his primary language. I got to invite him to be baptized in Spanish this week. No "Yes" from him yet, but he does seem a lot more willing to talk with us now that I make an effort to use his native language even though we are english speaking missionaries! So cool!!!
I loved the General relief society broadcast this Sat. It was phenomenal and it seemed like it was specifically designed for our investigators. That was really neat.
Sister Mullins and I got to take an investigator to the Family History Center and She loved it! We actually ran into her here at the Library when we first got here working on Family History!!! So neat to see the spirit of Elijah working in her life! I am loving Missionary work!!!
There are hard days though. We have had a few people drop us over the last week and that was hard, but the good days make up for it a thousand times over. Our Ward is great! They are doing a 40 day fast for missionary efforts (one member fasts a day and we call them the night before and the night following. We ask them to fast for specific investigators and then we call back at the end of their fast to share miracles we saw that day) Such a cool effort. Today is day two and I have already seen a difference!
I am loving singing to everyone I see! I am not much of a singer but it makes a huge difference. It feels weird now to leave a lesson without singing a song. It is amazing to see how each hymn is picked by the spirit for each individual person too! I am loving seeing the spirit in my life. I have started carrying a notebook with me to write down all the impressions and times I feel the spirit! Such an amazing thing to be able to sit down and see the Lord's hand in my life that day!
I feel like training is going great! I have felt like a missionary since day one of the MTC but this week I REALLY felt like a missionary!!! For the first time I was willing to take the lead on discussions and I thought of scriptures with no effort that fit the situation. I really felt like I was helping this week! It was an amazing feeling! I know that the training system we have works! It's hard and role plays aren't my favorite thing but I still know they work!
Sister Mullins is sooooo great! She does a great job encouraging me and making me feel like a great missionary. Most recently she has been placing little notes by my bed every once and a while that say something she likes about my missionary work. She really makes me feel like I am doing a good job. I am so thankful that she is my trainer. Cool story I haven't shared yet: The first day I got into the field I was sitting in the sacrament room and the missionaries that were all the trainers came in. When Sister Mullins walked in I looked at her and thought "That's my trainer" Not until later that evening did I found out that she had the same impression when she saw me ! Such an awesome testament that our companions are hand picked by God for us! I Love that our Mission motto is "Have fun with the Spirit" because sister Mullins and I have so much fun with the Spirit! I am loving the work.
So here are some funny stories from my week really quick! So
Sister Mullins and I decided to go tracting this week and we did. We saw
a beautiful dog outside a house that looked just like frosty!!! (Dog I
grew up with) Anyways we went up to say hi and he decided he loved me. I
mean LOVED me! (Not in the most appropriate way) and I couldn't get him
off of me! Sister Mullins just laughed at me while I yelled at the dog
and tried to push him off of me. Ya so that was an interesting time. And
at the next house a puppy decided I was his chew toy! ha ha oh dogs. I hope you all had another wonderful week! I had a great week in Seattle Washington. It was a wet week but it sure was a good one! We made a lot of progress with our Investigators Latrece and Jeremiah! They are being baptized this Wednesday and I am so happy for them! We only have two lessons left (We need to finish the plan of salvation and the law of chastity with Jeremiah and then we are ready for baptism) They came to church on Sunday and Jeremiah was so funny he told his mom "I'm ready for some baptism" ha ha Sister Mullins and I loved that! Latrece shared her testimony with Sister Mullins and I and it was so sweet. She talked about how she knows that It will be hard on her Pastor and Her mother to leave (She went to the same church as her mom) but she knows that she needs to continue on her relationship with her Heavenly Father and she needs to make her own path. She also talked about how she wants a good influence on Jeremiah and she knows she has found it in our Church. Her back got hurt really bad this week at church and we got to have the Bishop and another brother from our congregation came over and gave her a blessing! It was so sweet and she was bawling. It was really special because the blessing talked a lot about receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and that is something in particular that she is looking forward too. We were all bawling! We have really seen a lot of change in her this week.
I got to go on exchanges with the Hermanas this week and I loved that! It was great to get to use my spanish, but also I really had to think about my choice of words. I am finding that in english I over explain things or make them complicated. When I try to explain them in spanish I simplify them and they still have the same effect! The Gospel is true!!! Loved that witness this week. I also got to do my very own street contact for the first time this week and it was in Spanish as well! After that I have so much more confidence in talking to others in English ha ha. Weird that it took me using a language Learned in school rather than my primary language to be comfortable talking to others. It is great though because one of our investigators Husband is Cuban and spanish is his primary language. I got to invite him to be baptized in Spanish this week. No "Yes" from him yet, but he does seem a lot more willing to talk with us now that I make an effort to use his native language even though we are english speaking missionaries! So cool!!!
I loved the General relief society broadcast this Sat. It was phenomenal and it seemed like it was specifically designed for our investigators. That was really neat.
Sister Mullins and I got to take an investigator to the Family History Center and She loved it! We actually ran into her here at the Library when we first got here working on Family History!!! So neat to see the spirit of Elijah working in her life! I am loving Missionary work!!!
There are hard days though. We have had a few people drop us over the last week and that was hard, but the good days make up for it a thousand times over. Our Ward is great! They are doing a 40 day fast for missionary efforts (one member fasts a day and we call them the night before and the night following. We ask them to fast for specific investigators and then we call back at the end of their fast to share miracles we saw that day) Such a cool effort. Today is day two and I have already seen a difference!
I am loving singing to everyone I see! I am not much of a singer but it makes a huge difference. It feels weird now to leave a lesson without singing a song. It is amazing to see how each hymn is picked by the spirit for each individual person too! I am loving seeing the spirit in my life. I have started carrying a notebook with me to write down all the impressions and times I feel the spirit! Such an amazing thing to be able to sit down and see the Lord's hand in my life that day!
I feel like training is going great! I have felt like a missionary since day one of the MTC but this week I REALLY felt like a missionary!!! For the first time I was willing to take the lead on discussions and I thought of scriptures with no effort that fit the situation. I really felt like I was helping this week! It was an amazing feeling! I know that the training system we have works! It's hard and role plays aren't my favorite thing but I still know they work!
Sister Mullins is sooooo great! She does a great job encouraging me and making me feel like a great missionary. Most recently she has been placing little notes by my bed every once and a while that say something she likes about my missionary work. She really makes me feel like I am doing a good job. I am so thankful that she is my trainer. Cool story I haven't shared yet: The first day I got into the field I was sitting in the sacrament room and the missionaries that were all the trainers came in. When Sister Mullins walked in I looked at her and thought "That's my trainer" Not until later that evening did I found out that she had the same impression when she saw me ! Such an awesome testament that our companions are hand picked by God for us! I Love that our Mission motto is "Have fun with the Spirit" because sister Mullins and I have so much fun with the Spirit! I am loving the work.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
September 16, 2013 - 1st pday in the field Normandy Park Washington
I'm
in the Field!!!! wow it has been a crazy... but wonderful week! I am
sorry you don't get to hear about my last week at the MTC really. Too
much to say about this week ha. But I will say that I finally found
Kristin Trone and Tyson Wilson! So fun to see people from home :) Okay
MTC blurb over lets start from last tuesday....
Hippie vans everywhere
Jenn
Sister Franzen
Sister Franzen
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Sept 4, 2013; 1st p-day at the MTC; first letter home
Mom! and Dad!
Hey! so Wednesday is my p-day here in the MTC! Things are going really well!
The first couple of days were so rough! My companion and I had a hard time
getting along at first but we aredoing so much better now! Her name is Sister Matheney
and She is from Texas. She turned 21 yesterday and she and I are very similar. We are both
pretty energetic and stubborn people which leads for some fun situations.
Ha but I think this weekend was the final rough patch we had a few
companion inventories and now we seem to get along much better!
She and I were both called as Sister training leaders for our Zone this
last Sunday which is fun but also stressful! We are in charge of all the
new sisters in our zone that come in while we are here. Luckily it is a two
week job ha ha. But we get to welcome the newbies tonight! Kristen Trone
comes in today too! I was in the office and heard them putting info packets
together and I walked in right as they said :"Sister Trone" ha I was like "
I know her!!!!" So that was pretty cool!
Okay Sunday was amazing. The fast and testimony meeting was GREAT!!!! I
have never felt the spirit so strong in any meeting in my life. It was so
cool to be in a room where everyone truly wanted to be! We also got to
watch a talk given by Elder Holland called mission are forever. That is the
best talk I have ever heard in my life! I was so excited afterwards I
wanted to go into the field right then and there. Ha but I still have so
much to learn.
The learning curve here is insane!!! My day two we were teaching
investigators (fake ones but still!!!!) We have a TRC investigator that we
are teaching right now. It is kinda cool because they can be real or not
and we will never know! I have felt so inspired to keep teaching about the
Love of God these last few days and thankfully so has my companion so what
better lesson to teach then the restoration. It covers apostasy, atonement,
love of god, restoration, BOM! Everything!!! P.s. Bryce I taught the plan
of salvation and the cards worked great!!!! My teacher laughed at the
resurrection one and said it was creepy though.
So I fly out early on Tuesday! Crazy how fast time has flown. I don't know
how to fit it all in here. I will have to write you today as well to get it
all in!
One unfortunate thing.... my foot is messed up again. But it's my right
foot. I have a small boot thing they gave me for free to wear until I am in
the field and then I am supposed to have you send me my boot. :( I was so
hopeful these new shoes and inserts would work :( but at least my branch
pres. Is cool with me proselyting in a boot. I told him I taught dance in a
boot and he was like "Okay well then I think you would be okay to just wear
that in the field " ;) so I will.
So Sister Nudd is here and she is awesome! We get along great and joke
around so much! This morning we took our dork dots (dots you get when you
are a new missionary so people help you out) and put them back on our tags
so people would welcome us again today only... we used English accents ! It
was great! so many people believed us. but then we got in trouble so we
took them off ha ha. Oh that was fun! Told you I would use an English
accent though dad ;)
I got to go to the Provo temple this morning! So beautiful!!!! I love it! I
did get pics dad just for you ;) Today Sister Nudd and I are hanging out
and writing people and stuff so we are doing a little comp. Switch. (she
was having probs with her comp. who is an awesome Aussie ;) )
Oh bryce I got Lauren bean a nicaruagua shirt for $8.00 but I don't have
her address. I sent it home will you please give it to her? Thanks!
Oh okay so funny stories:
*one elder in my district ate 10 bananas in one sitting (Disgusted)
*Sister Nudd got her tongue stuck to a popsicle at lunch and ripped it (OW)
Oh p.s. dad the food would be great I am sure but because I have so many
allergies they asked me to get my food in a special room for gluten free
people usually (They have shellfish out and about so they didn't want to
risk it) So I have a limited amount of food options :/ but it is still good
;)
*Oh during our fireside the computer glitched and everyone except me
noticed so they stopped singing but of course I didn't so I was the only
person left singing in the room awesome!
*Our teacher said we looked tired so she made us run a lap around the
building in skirts and sister Nudd carried me because of my foot ha ha.
Awesome Sister
Spiritual stories:
* One elder shared a story about how he had a dream about a family in
Seattle waiting for us! super awesome
*Fast and testimony meeting
*Teaching experiences are great and scary you finish them and go "what just
happened, I have no idea what we said ha ha"
* spontaneous singing happens everywhere!!!!
*This place is spiritual in general
Small what I wish I knew before the MTC list:
*The learning curve in the MTC is huge!!! you won't be the same person
after 2 hr.s here. You will never be able to prepare enough spiritually but
you have to try!!!! If you are prepping really prep! reading each day isn't
enough! STUDY hard each day!
*The sleep sched. will get you! you will be working 13 + hr days! start the
sched. early
*Get as many pairs of no show socks as you can
*Pack packs are not really allowed in any of the buildings at the MTC make
sure you have a smaller purse or bag to carry things
*2M is the best exercise room! They play church videos and you can use
headphones and listen while you work out!
*Obedience is KEY!!!!! be as obedient as possible. Obedience brings
blessings but exact obedience brings miracles.
*The MTC is hard!!!! you have to use your gym time to unwind or you will go
crazy!
*It goes by so quickly after Sunday! Take lots of pictures!!!
Well that is it for this week I love you guys sooooo much!
Hey! so Wednesday is my p-day here in the MTC! Things are going really well!
The first couple of days were so rough! My companion and I had a hard time
getting along at first but we aredoing so much better now! Her name is Sister Matheney
and She is from Texas. She turned 21 yesterday and she and I are very similar. We are both
pretty energetic and stubborn people which leads for some fun situations.
Ha but I think this weekend was the final rough patch we had a few
companion inventories and now we seem to get along much better!
She and I were both called as Sister training leaders for our Zone this
last Sunday which is fun but also stressful! We are in charge of all the
new sisters in our zone that come in while we are here. Luckily it is a two
week job ha ha. But we get to welcome the newbies tonight! Kristen Trone
comes in today too! I was in the office and heard them putting info packets
together and I walked in right as they said :"Sister Trone" ha I was like "
I know her!!!!" So that was pretty cool!
Okay Sunday was amazing. The fast and testimony meeting was GREAT!!!! I
have never felt the spirit so strong in any meeting in my life. It was so
cool to be in a room where everyone truly wanted to be! We also got to
watch a talk given by Elder Holland called mission are forever. That is the
best talk I have ever heard in my life! I was so excited afterwards I
wanted to go into the field right then and there. Ha but I still have so
much to learn.
The learning curve here is insane!!! My day two we were teaching
investigators (fake ones but still!!!!) We have a TRC investigator that we
are teaching right now. It is kinda cool because they can be real or not
and we will never know! I have felt so inspired to keep teaching about the
Love of God these last few days and thankfully so has my companion so what
better lesson to teach then the restoration. It covers apostasy, atonement,
love of god, restoration, BOM! Everything!!! P.s. Bryce I taught the plan
of salvation and the cards worked great!!!! My teacher laughed at the
resurrection one and said it was creepy though.
So I fly out early on Tuesday! Crazy how fast time has flown. I don't know
how to fit it all in here. I will have to write you today as well to get it
all in!
One unfortunate thing.... my foot is messed up again. But it's my right
foot. I have a small boot thing they gave me for free to wear until I am in
the field and then I am supposed to have you send me my boot. :( I was so
hopeful these new shoes and inserts would work :( but at least my branch
pres. Is cool with me proselyting in a boot. I told him I taught dance in a
boot and he was like "Okay well then I think you would be okay to just wear
that in the field " ;) so I will.
So Sister Nudd is here and she is awesome! We get along great and joke
around so much! This morning we took our dork dots (dots you get when you
are a new missionary so people help you out) and put them back on our tags
so people would welcome us again today only... we used English accents ! It
was great! so many people believed us. but then we got in trouble so we
took them off ha ha. Oh that was fun! Told you I would use an English
accent though dad ;)
I got to go to the Provo temple this morning! So beautiful!!!! I love it! I
did get pics dad just for you ;) Today Sister Nudd and I are hanging out
and writing people and stuff so we are doing a little comp. Switch. (she
was having probs with her comp. who is an awesome Aussie ;) )
Oh bryce I got Lauren bean a nicaruagua shirt for $8.00 but I don't have
her address. I sent it home will you please give it to her? Thanks!
Oh okay so funny stories:
*one elder in my district ate 10 bananas in one sitting (Disgusted)
*Sister Nudd got her tongue stuck to a popsicle at lunch and ripped it (OW)
Oh p.s. dad the food would be great I am sure but because I have so many
allergies they asked me to get my food in a special room for gluten free
people usually (They have shellfish out and about so they didn't want to
risk it) So I have a limited amount of food options :/ but it is still good
;)
*Oh during our fireside the computer glitched and everyone except me
noticed so they stopped singing but of course I didn't so I was the only
person left singing in the room awesome!
*Our teacher said we looked tired so she made us run a lap around the
building in skirts and sister Nudd carried me because of my foot ha ha.
Awesome Sister
Spiritual stories:
* One elder shared a story about how he had a dream about a family in
Seattle waiting for us! super awesome
*Fast and testimony meeting
*Teaching experiences are great and scary you finish them and go "what just
happened, I have no idea what we said ha ha"
* spontaneous singing happens everywhere!!!!
*This place is spiritual in general
Small what I wish I knew before the MTC list:
*The learning curve in the MTC is huge!!! you won't be the same person
after 2 hr.s here. You will never be able to prepare enough spiritually but
you have to try!!!! If you are prepping really prep! reading each day isn't
enough! STUDY hard each day!
*The sleep sched. will get you! you will be working 13 + hr days! start the
sched. early
*Get as many pairs of no show socks as you can
*Pack packs are not really allowed in any of the buildings at the MTC make
sure you have a smaller purse or bag to carry things
*2M is the best exercise room! They play church videos and you can use
headphones and listen while you work out!
*Obedience is KEY!!!!! be as obedient as possible. Obedience brings
blessings but exact obedience brings miracles.
*The MTC is hard!!!! you have to use your gym time to unwind or you will go
crazy!
*It goes by so quickly after Sunday! Take lots of pictures!!!
Well that is it for this week I love you guys sooooo much!
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