General Conference Time

Sister Winsor, Brittany Harrison, Sister Schmidt

Brittany's baptism ~ September 5, 2015 !

General Women's Conference was amazing! I liked the story of great Aunt Ruby. It reminded me of "Secondhand Lions." Well today is not officially our Pday this week because we are going to the temple tomorrow. But since we live far away we get to email, grocery shop, and do laundry today. We are driving ourselves to the temple. We couldn't find anyone that could take us during the week and we can't go on Saturday because it is prime proselyting. We had to ask permission if we can drive ourselves and Elder Fisher is so gracious enough to allow us to go. We even have extra miles. We have about 240 miles saved up which doesn't normally happen. It is about 224 miles round trip to get to the temple. I am so excited to go. We couldn't find a ride last transfer so we were determined to go this transfer! Then this Thursday there is MLC and that is in Spokane and I will be in Pullman for the whole day. We have to leave Lewiston at 6:15 in the morning so that we can get to Moscow at 6:50 so that Sister Winsor and other missionary leaders can get to Spokane before 9.  The meeting is from 9am-4pm. But Sister Winsor and other Sister Missionaries are going to go out to dinner so we won't be getting back to Lewiston until around 8pm.   But I am excited to be in Pullman. It is supposed to be an area that is one of the most desirable to serve in. So I at least have one day there if nothing else.

Lydia wasn't at the Stake Center watching Women's Conference but she could have been watching at her home. She did come to church yesterday which was awesome. Not a lot of people came but it was by far the best Sunday at the branch. It was fun and spiritually uplifting. Then we had "break the fast" which the food is always delicious. It is so nice not to have make food every once in a while. A return missionary made Chilean bread which was delicious.  He was in the middle of chile. Where did the van liew boy serve in chile?

So Devin texted us yesterday and said that he is not ready to give up being a teenager and that there is a lot that he hasn't done and that this is not for him. To me that does not make sense.  That was hard to take in. But we met with Pypre this week!! She is doing good and we are going to commit her to watch General conference, as well as a lot of other people. 

On the bright side, because there is always a bright side, we have two potential investigators that look very promising. I am super excited! I am also nervous about transfer calls this Sunday. I am just getting anxious wondering whether or not I am staying or leaving.  

Guess what!?!? I had green beans!!!!!!!!!!!!! man, they were amazing! Love them.

I don't think I told you but Lydia Bjornn at first was only all handshakes, but after about 2 months she gave in. She allowed me to hug her at church before we left. We commented on how good of a hugger I am. I told her this is what my Mom has been missing out on! haha ;-)

I am doing well. I love it. My testimony has grown stronger everyday. I just want everyone else to know what I know, feel what I feel, cherish what I cherish. That is why I am here.

Love you all and miss you bunches! Toodaloo!

Sister Schmidt

Week of September 21st

September 21st 

Hello Everyone!

This week was a lot better. We met with 14 RCLAs (recent converts and less actives).  Dad it seems that when we are determined to talk to people there is no one walking around on the streets.  But we did talk to people this week!  One guy was wearing ninja turtle pants and so I obviously commented on them and asked who his favorite turtle was? We learned that he believes in all the gods that people believe in. He said that if more people believe in a God then their existence is stronger and their power and if few people believed in a God then their existence was very little. Then he said that if he had to choose a religion it would be the kys. It is not a religion but from a TV show called Dragonball Z. So all we could do is testify because he was not ready and he was just saying wacky things to get a reaction out of us. Our reaction was to testify.

Everything is going well with Devin. We met with him twice this week and we invited him to come to church this next week and we invited him to be baptized and he said yes again and we asked him that when he comes to know that the Book of Mormon is true ~  we can set a date for his baptism and he said yes!! So we are excited for him and his progress. 

We were unable to meet with Pypre this week because she had a softball banquet and she can only meet with us on Tuesdays. But we are hoping to meet with her this week.

So about Greg Peterson (the EMT/nursing student)... we finally got ahold of him and he said through a text that he is not interested and that he appreciated our time. So that was a hard blow to take in, but I told myself that we planted a seed for future missionaries who knock on his door.

Something cool that happened. We were calling potentials in the area book and one of them was a guy named Austin. He has family members who are LDS and some who are Catholics. He agreed to meet with us and we have an appointment with him on Thursday on the school campus!

I don't know if you remember Lydia Bjorrn. I have talked about her briefly before and she is a less active. She has not liked the church for minor reasons she said. But we met with her again on Friday and we talked about the true nature of God. We talked about how our Heavenly Father has a body of flesh and bones just like us, He loves us, everything that He does has a purpose, and that he is a perfected being. So we talked about that with her and she cried. The spirit was there and it was so strong. It was so thick in the room you could slice it with a knife! haha what a cliché sentence. Anyway, we committed her to pray to our Heavenly Father and ask Him if He loves her and we testified that He does. The spirit was speaking through us. The only thing that I did was opened my mouth and used my voice. The spirit was leading that lesson. I love meeting with her and she loves meeting with us. She loves meeting with us so much that after our meeting with her she texted us and asked if we can meet again soon. And we did! We saw her again on Sunday. The spirit was there!! Our lesson that we planned was on following the prophet and once we walked in we were not directed to talk about that. We talked and laughed and quoted movie lines from Get Smart, Mulan, and Robots. We were laughing so hard. We instead talked about repentance because she asked us how to go about it. Ok I have to tell you we first met Lydia on July 25th and she didn't want to change. Now it is Sept. 20th and she wants to make changes in her life! So we talked about repentance. I know that Lydia is someone I was supposed to meet and help. We were directed to knock on her door and she said that she is grateful that she allowed us to come in and to come back. She loves meeting with us and she informed us that she usually doesn't like sister missionaries, but she loves us. I have grown very fond of her and I want what is best for her. That is what being a missionary is ~ you want what is best for the people that are around you.

I know that this church is true. If I didn't why would I be out on a mission for 18 months of my life? 

Oh and I know a little insight into General Conference. Elder Oaks told us (missionaries) what his talk is on for General conference. He is speaking in the Saturday Afternoon session and it is about the enabling power of the atonement. So there you go. I thought you would like to know.

Oh mom I was fed this in a member's home and I knew you would love it. SO you have two cookies and then you put cookie dough in-between the two cookies. So it is a full blown cookie sandwich. You're welcome! :) 

Well I love you all and I am going to go and do my laundry and play marshmallow dodge ball. Super fun!!

Love you all and miss you! Toodaloo!! 

Sister Monica

September 14

Hello Everyone,

The meeting with Elder Dallin H. Oaks went really well. We met with him Sunday morning and we all got to shake his hand, twice!! It went so fast, it felt like an assembly line. But man when he shakes your hand he looks into your soul. He talked about how our missions are not ours but the Lord's and He is kind enough to let us play a part of it. Also that many missionaries just do missionary things but they never become a missionary. At points I feel like I am just doing missionary things and I freak out because I am not being who I need to be. Other missionaries tell me that it takes time and it doesn't happen very fast, but then Elder Oaks said that many missionaries never truly become missionaries. So now I am a little depressed and not happy with my behavior. I want to become a missionary and not just go through with the motions. It reminds me of a talk about knowing the dance moves but not hearing the music. Right now I don't feel like I am dancing to the music, I am just dancing because that is what I am supposed to do. 

On that note let me talk about something more uplifting. Another thing that Elder Oaks talked about was when we are teaching we should not assume too much, especially for the first point of the first discussion. It is ~ we have a loving Heavenly Father, and Elder Oaks told us to not just breeze through this one but to actually talk about the true nature of God. So many people believe in just a thing that they call God but we need to specifically testify to them that we have a Heavenly Father who has a body of flesh and bone. During the conference on Saturday he talked about how the ward council is not a decision making body but a discussion body. They should discuss issues that are in their ward and discuss how to handle them.  Member missionary work is so much more efficient than just missionary work. I never fully understood how significant members are in the Lord's work. One thing that I love that Elder Oaks said, and he quoted from president Harold B. Lee, "the gospel of Jesus Christ is not a retirement home for the righteous, but a hospital for sinners." I love that because this gospel is for imperfect people to become perfect. He also talked about what it truly means to take upon ourselves the name of Christ. It means to become like Him, to act like Him in everyway.  The gospel is to help us become perfect and everyone on earth who has been and who ever will be will not be perfect. the gospel is for everyone. it will help people in their lives. It will improve the quality and will make everyone who accepts it and lives it happier than they ever have been. I know this to be true because when I live the gospel I am happy and joyful and I have hope. this is why I am on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I want everyone else to have what I have and to know what I know. Why else would I be dedicating 18 months of my life if I didn't know the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be true?  Brittany Harrison, the recent convert shook hands with Elder Dallin H. Oaks too. She was so nervous but she did well.

I was able to have one investigator come to stake conference. He could only come Saturday. We were supposed to have three come but the boy who we called by accident when it wasn't his number was going to come but the day before he got food poisoning, but we have an appointment to see him Tuesday. He told us that he read a little of the book of Mormon because he had exams all week but we asked how it was and he said so far it seems true! We hope he is sincere about that. Pypre said she could come too but she never came... it is so discouraging when people don't come. 

We met with Brittany and she had a wonderful baptism. Everyone cried and she felt the spirit so strong! I wish I was there but I am glad that she made the decision to be baptized!  

P-day last week there was a huge tire and the Elders climbed inside and rolled down the hill. This p-day we are going to be doing marshmallow dodge ball. I am SUPER excited! We will be using the humungous marshmallows! I will let you know how it goes! 

Love you all and miss you tons!!!!!!!!!! Toodaloo!!!

MO

This Week

Hello Everyone!

It has been raining here!!  Thank goodness!!  I hope it rains in California!  I will pray for that!  It is amazing how time goes by so fast!  I can't believe that I am on my second transfer.  I have been away from home for two months!  It feels like I was just saying goodbye to you guys just yesterday.  Time goes by fast when you're having fun!!!

Brittany's baptism went well!!!! We gave her the rest of the lessons last week and on Friday we got her baptismal interview done! She was so nervous. But she did it with flying colors! Anywho, we have an appointment with Brittany today and she is going to tell us all about her baptism because she wants to tell us in person. I will get a picture with her this week to send to you for next week. But she told us that she had an amazing experience and that it was memorable! yay!!! 

Our investigator, Greg, who is the nursing student has been very busy.  He doesn't have much extra time on his hands.  We are still trying to get a hold of him though.

We have a new investigator!!!!! His name is Devin Curtis and it is a funny story of how we found him.  So we were calling people in the area that are potential investigators and we called this number and on the recorder it says it is Tim's number. So we call it and it is NOT Tim's number. We then talk to the person and we say that we are the sister missionaries and he says that he is already Christian so we say goodbye. Then as we are about to call the next number on the list ~ the number we just dialed pops up and we realize it was the person calling us back. I initially thought that he missed dialed. When we answer he says, "Sorry..." I immediately thought that he meant sorry, I dialed the wrong number but he actually said, "Sorry I changed my mind, what do you have to say." My heart was racing! I am so glad that he called back! We told him that everything we share with people is centered on Jesus Christ and that we are just wanting to add to the truths that he already knows. He wanted to know more and so we set up an appointment with him for yesterday. We called him on Sunday and we set up an appointment for Monday. The lesson went well and he is interested. We shared with him the first point of the restoration ~ that we have a loving Father in Heaven.  He has midterms all this week, he is taking 6 classes, so we have a return appointment with him for next Tuesday. We gave him a Book of Mormon and a restoration pamphlet. We committed him to read both and to pray that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. We read him the promise in the back, Moroni 10:3-5. I know that if we pray to our Heavenly Father with a sincere desire to know if it is true he will answer our prayers through the Holy Ghost. 

Pypre is progressing!!!  She read a little bit of the Book of Mormon and she came to church!!!!  We are meeting with her today and we are excited!! 

I love reading the book of Mormon during my hour of personal study. It seems that everything relates to missionary work. The Book of  Mormon is for our day! So we should read it! 

Oh something funny that happened on Sunday. I accidently locked us out of our apartment because it is one where you have to lock it from the inside. So we called the Elders and they came over. One of the Elders we called used to live in our apartment so he knew what window was open. So he and his companion climbed through a tiny window (elders have no hips!) and ran through our apartment and unlocked the door. It was hilarious because we saw them jump up to the window (it was high in the air) and I was dying of laughter because we saw their legs flailing in the air. That was definitely memorable!! 

I am also very excited for Sunday!  We get to meet with Dallin H. Oaks before Stake Conference!!  I get to meet an apostle!!

Well I have to go!! Toodaloo!!

Mo

The photo of the Snake River ~ Washington is in the foreground and Idaho is in the background. 

 This tree reminded Mo of the eye in The Lord of the Rings

Rain Clouds rolling in.