26 Dec 2012

Christmas was great, the members here took really great care of us and we even got to go caroling so that was fun :) we went with a less-active member named Sandi. we stopped by her house when i first got to Racine and she was pretty grumpy... but Sister Casdorph wanted to see her again before Christmas so we went back friday night when we were in the area. and she let us in! haha. and when we asked if we could share a message she said yes! and then i joked "maybe we should sing the message haha" since it was Christmas and i love Christmas hymns but Sister Casdorph was like "actually let's do that" so Sandi picked a hymn (silent night) and then SANG ALONG and she has a great voice so we invited her to come caroling and she said yes! which made me so happy because i really wanted to go caroling! and thennnnnnnn she showed up at church on Sunday for the first time in like 20 years and no one even had to ask her to come! so that was awesome :) and we got to have crepes on Christmas Eve morning with a family in the ward, so that was super fun. :)

also the people here go cRaZy with the lights haha it's awesome.

did i already tell you about the bottle of Squirt we got with the label that said "may your days be merry and Sprite!"? haha i thought that was the funniest thing ever.

Gramma and Grampa Proffit I wrote you a letter but I forgot to mention that Jellystone Park is in my area! haha :)

and I wrote Lindsay Pugmire a letter too but I can't send it cause I don't know her Snohomish address..... and the envelope the schwartz's letter came in got thrown away so I don't have their address either haha.

something i've been thinking about lately is how knowing that something will be hard, that it's supposed to be hard, knowing why it's hard and even being grateful that it's hard doesn't change the fact that it necessarily IS hard haha. i think i thought that if i understood WHY something was hard, that would make it go away? or be less hard? nope haha. but it's so much better to know that there is a purpose - to make us more like Christ! everything has a purpose - Jesus Christ doesn't do anything that's not for our benefit. He loved us so much that He laid down His life so that He could draw all men unto Him (2 Ne 26:24) :)

and I think there are two different kinds of "hard"... Jacob what you wrote made me think about how we have to be true to what we know, even if it is hard, and it definitely will be hard, but in a good way, a transforming way :) it's much more difficult and also pointless to "kick against the pricks." (Acts 9:5) When we know that what we're doing is right, we will still face trials, but we can know that they're shaping us and making us more. If we fight against God and His will, we're just making life difficult for ourselves and we're not even improving! haha hopefully that at least kind of makes sense... :)

something else I've been thinking a lot about on my mission so far is the character of Christ and what that means... because a mission is really so not about you, it's all about other people and their needs and helping them come closer to Christ. so I've just been thinking about Jesus Christ and how His mission probably wasn't all fun, and how He didn't things He probably didn't necessarily want to do, and lots of things were frustrating and hard but He did those things because He wanted more than anything for us to be able to have eternal life and live with Him and our Heavenly Father again. And I've also been wondering why He asked me to go on a mission. I know that He did, and I know that every commandment He gives us is for our benefit and ultimately to make me more like Him, and so I'm thinking about how Jesus Christ never made anything about Him, even when by all rights it should have been about Him! the Atonement, His birth, His life, His miracles - nothing more significant had ever happened or will ever happen ever. but He never brings the attention to Himself! after His cousin John dies He goes to have some alone time, but because it's never about Him, He feeds the people who have come to see him. Right after Gethsemene He is healing someone's ear, from the cross He is concerned about others... it's incredible. and that's how He wants all of us to be. and so He gives us opportunities to forget about ourselves and what we want and what makes us happy, and instead focus on others, and become more like Him in the process. :)

"where is the pavilion?" - great talk.

what have you all been reading and learning from God? :)

a scripture chain for you - I told you about the first two last night but the romans one is great too :)

mosiah 3:3, matt 1:24, romans 13:11

alma 33 - is this the great undiscovered chapter of my life? maybe so haha it comes right after Alma 32, which we all know is about what faith is, but Alma 33 answers the question - "okay how do we begin?" ! so awesome :) what do you think the answer is? :) (also look at the first part of alma 34)

more scriptural goodness -

isaiah 40:28-29 (28-31) (actually all of isaiah 40)

2 cor 12:7-10

we've been reading PMG Ch. 13 this week and it's pretty interesting, reading about how it's all supposed to work haha it's cool :) and you should definitely make a family mission plan! it's on PMG p. 220 :)

here's the thing....... Preach My Gospel is the best. it has everything. all you ever need is Preach My Gospel and the scriptures, amen. i can't believe all the stuff in there I never knew existed!! The little mini one would not be bad to have in addition to the big one because we take PMG with us everywhere and my big one's getting kind of beat up, plus it's just big. but i like having it to take notes in and mark up and stuff :)

Before you go on a mission you should definitely get real familiar with the 10 "how to begin teaching" points on pp 176-77 of chapter 10, learn the principles behind them and use them often! and chapter 1 is so good & important. and definitely know chapter 3 super well before you get to the MTC. you could spend a whole day's study on each of the principles in the lessons, so good. and then learn to teach each principle in 60 seconds or less. try that! haha it's kind of hard. you could try what Sister Casdorph and I do, teach a principle (God is our loving Heavenly Father) in 60 seconds, then the next person testifies, maybe asks an inspired question, then teaches the next principle (the gospel blesses families) in 60 seconds, than the next person testifies/asks/teaches in 60 seconds, until you've finished the lesson. it's kind of fun haha but maybe it's only missionary fun.... anyways it's good practice! i joked this morning that i spent 60 minutes studying a principle and then i have to teach it in 60 seconds haha but it's good, and it helps you to really understand it :) also! Nathan (but also other future missionaries) - learn the doctrine of Christ. i wish I'd known before I entered the MTC that the doctrine of Christ (see 2 ne 31, 3 ne 11, 3 ne 27) aka THE GOSPEL aka HOW TO ACCESS THE ATONEMENT aka THE MISSIONARY PURPOSE is everywhere! it's the 4th article of faith haha but i never even noticed it... the 3rd article of faith is WHY we teach, the 4th is WHAT, and the 5th is HOW :) so that's cool. anyways go through the Book of Mormon and mark all the times faith, repentance, baptism, the holy ghost, and enduring to the end are mentioned. it's everywhere! because the Book of Mormon, along with the Bible, contains the fulness of the GOSPEL :) it's how we take advantage of the Atonement every day! it's how we live our lives :) everything comes back to increasing faith, repenting, making & keeping covenants, living with the spirit, and continuing on faithfully for the rest of our lives :) the gospel is what allows us to be saved FROM our sins, not IN our sins (hel. 5:10-11). that'd be like sitting in a dirty diaper for all of eternity. disgusting. instead of being like "oh that's okay, i love you anyways dirty diaper baby!" the grace of Jesus Christ allows us and helps us to CHANGE, through faith and repetance, and be clean! and become better! hallelujah! :)

a cool story about recognizing spiritual promptings that i heard in the MTC - "the 20 mark note" http://www.lds.org/liahona/2009/06/the-20-mark-note?lang=eng&query=%22the+20+mark+note%22. the cool part was we learned the story from Elder Bednar's perspective, how he didn't know the whole story until 40 years later when President Packer gave this talk. he didn't even remember handing President Packer the money. he said, "i could not have told you in that moment it was a spiritual prompting." interesting!

also i've been eating like a hobbit lately (how was that movie? did you see it?) haha i just get so hungry!!! i found my yummy granola here though haha so i usually eat that with some greek yogurt at about 7:30 and then i'm starving by the time studies end at 11:30 so i work in "second breakfast" and "elevensies" and all that haha.

also i had custard for the first time, delicious and weird haha. they have a restaurant out here called "culvers" that i guess is pretty classic wisconsin? or something. i still need to try their wisconsin cheese curds hah

We taught a lesson to a part-member family in an assisted living community and when Brother U******** came around the corner I almost fell out of my chair because he has a long like punk-rocker ponytail and earrings hahaha no one warned me!! they gave us cookies and aprons :) so sweet.

QUESTION for you all - and i'm still learning about this so I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas - WHY Nephi? in d&c 33:8.

another question - why does God have us set goals we don't achieve? sometimes Sister Casdorph and I prayerfully set goals and we feel good about them, we feel it's what God wants us to work towards, but then we don't achieve the numbers we set our goal for. how come?

some thoughts (but i'd love yours as well)

p.146 of PMG has some goodness on the topic of goals and what they're for.

also I was thinking about Nephi and how he probably had a goal to help Laman and Lemuel stop being stupid and get their act together. and Nephi worked consistantly towards that goal and did everything he was supposed to and never gave up even though they weren't very nice and told him to leave them alone and even tried to kill him (i would've given up after the first murder attempt, i think. they were probably marked "do not contact" in the area book ;) ) but Laman and Lemuel never came around! Nephi never reached his "goal" where they were concerned. Does that mean it was a bad goal?

let me know what you think :)

other things i've been thinking... the church puts out so much good media for us to share :) i loved the "o come o come emmanuel" christmas video this year :) mormon messages, "i'm a mormon" videos, all so great :)

how is maddy doing? is she still meeting with the missionaries?

also i'm almost out of that great shampoo.... :) and music would be good. we listen to cds in the car and we only have two haha. we could listen to my efy cd or my lower lights cd or anything mo tab or anything church really :) we listen to ipods in the house.

there are TONS of geese here, i'm not sure why... and EVERYONE has at least one cat or dog, usually more. EVERYONE haha.

also, the lady who we help out at the thrift store where we volunteer is named "Siri" and everytime we ask her something I feel like I'm using an iphone haha. Sister Casdorph doesn't know what Siri is so that's weird haha. she also doesn't know what one direction is!!! also Lyndy sent me the most hilarious letter about moving a cardboard cut-out of Harry Styles around the house and scaring people hahaha i was dying.

this is kind of Christmas-y but still good - i was thinking about the wise men in matthew 2:2, 9-10 (verse 10 is especially interesting... why did the rejoice when they saw the star?) and wondering if they could see the star the whole time or if it came & went, and why did they have to stop and ask Herod for directions, and sister casdorph pointed out that usually you can only see stars at night, so I wondered if you could apply following the star to following the Spirit and how we can't always see clearly where we're going or feel the Spirit super strongly, we just act in faith and as we go, we get to see the "star" and that makes us rejoice and leads us to Christ :) just interesting!

well sorry this letter is kind of scattered and repetitive haha, i feel like they're always that way so oh well :) i love you all so so much!! it was so so good to see you and i miss you all a lot. but i'm glad i'm doing what i know i'm supposed to be :) write me letters!

i love you :)

sister cece :)

ps NATHAN i want to hear all about the temple & your first semester of COLLEGE! how did it go? how were finals? nice job on your mission prep final :) what did they teach you in that class? what did you learn? what stuck beyond the final? haha love you lots

xxoxo

also ammon's pose in the morrill family christmas letter cracked me up hahaha

17 Dec 2012

another week here in Racine! & it has been a crazy one haha. i forgot to say a lot of things last time haha i always get so excited and then i forget what i was going to say so i tried to be a little more organized & take notes this week. we'll see how it goes :)

mom - thank you for the skirt! i love it & i wear it :) haha i loved the package from you!! I got your "sunday letter" on friday dec 14 so that's about how long it takes i guess :) i loved getting that too! for Christmas this year I just want letters haha :) also tell Sister Volkert thank you for the card and that it was an answer to prayer!! i prayed that i would get a letter haha and the next day I got her card! so she sent it even before I prayed for it..... hmm God's timing is so great! :)

so - to answer your letter!

it's actually not that cold! today it's actually pretty nice haha. yesterday was pretty nippy but i'm good with my coat, a few layers of leggings, & my gloves. all the locals say it's crazy mild this year so we'll just call that a tender mercy haha. the people here L O V E the packers, they decorate their houses like it's Christmas and they have the flags and everyone wears packer stuff all the time. also - pop quiz! - what does the "G" stand for on the green bay packer logo? not "green" haha - "Greatness." so now you know :) also, everyone here says "green BEY" not "GREEN bay" like i would. and, i heard someone say "see yah later eh" just like the canadian moose from brother bear, so that made my day. also, some of my clothes smell like cigarettes haha.

Jacob - definitely pray about when to serve a mission! God's timing is so great, and life is so great when we're following His timing :) didn't President Eyring give a talk about that kind of last conference? maybe look it up and let me know haha. also, this is only semi-related but President Eyring's mormon message "choose ye this day" is really great :) i loved that you sent me that part about Ammon & King Lamoni's joy :)

yeah when DID joseph turn 16??!? what the heck. haha so great. the ward here has exactly 9 youth, i know this because they did a musical number yesterday and i counted. crazy huh? like i said, the church feels SO young here, very few "born-and-raised" members. also, no one really knows who/what we are.... i feel like in Snohomish, people at least recognize the mormon missionaries as such. here, people have NO idea. we were volunteering on wednesday at a lutheran thrift shop (like DI) and another volunteer (except he gets paid by his school to volunteer?) was asking us the FUNNIEST questions haha he could not understand why we were actually volunteering for free... "don't you guys like shopping??!" hahaha. he also was like "yeah i would go to church except i do the weed" and we didn't really know what to say..... haha. it was funny.

Which mission is Lindsay going to?? there were sisters in my MTC branch going to tampa and they were WONDERFUL. i'm so excited for her!!! she'll be great :) :) love her.

I loved that you said "the Son of Man is come to save that which [is] lost" because I feel like as a missionary especially but really everyone who has been baptized and taken upon them the name of Christ is called to do just that! Luke 4:18 is a great definition of my (our) calling as well :)

also i love the sacrament because it means that every day can be Christmas! when we "always remember Him" :) how BLESSED we are to be members of His Church & to know Him & love Him & draw closer to Him each day :) :) love love love it.

Mom I love your December filled with service! I just love you so much - you're such a great example to me & I've really been grateful lately for our family and how we've been raised because so few people get that. It's a miracle to be a part of this family :) and to have two parents who love the Gospel and each other and us, and to have been raised in such a gospel-centered home... really a miracle and such a blessing. :) anyways i just love all of you and love being part of your family!! and i love the service-centered december, and i know Christmas is so much more meaningful as we make it about loving Him & serving Him :) which reminds me - mormon.org/christmas! such a great resource, i hope you're using it! "This Christmas season will have greater meaning as we seek to follow His example and live His teachings." :) it's awesome to be able to teach the Christmas message to so many this season :) also - Book of Mormon Christmas! I read 1 Ne 11, Mosiah 3, Alma 7, Helaman 14, and 3 Ne 1. i read the whole chapters haha cause how can you go wrong with that ;) give them a look! the first three are actually my favourite :)

also mom I LOVE that verse in moroni 9:31; Sister Casdorph and I talked a lot this week about our weaknesses haha. and I loved "every person eventually is backed up to the wall of faith, and there he must make his stand. don't be surprised when it happens to you!" so true. and we can be refined and strengthened!! and it's also true that we cannot fall when our rock is Jesus Christ! because He always wins!

I LOVED looking at Helaman 5:10-12; we had Zone Training on tuesday and we looked at those verses and it changed my life. so good. Look in Helaman 5:10-11 how it says that we are not saved IN our sins, but FROM our sins. i never really got that before but on tuesday it hit me - WHAT A BLESSING. seriously, who wants to be saved IN their sins? whooooooo even wants to be an immortal sinner? that would be the worst! that's what Satan is! nooooooooo thank you!!! Jesus Christ's Atonement is so great, His power is so infinite that He can save us FROM our sins! WE CAN BE FREED FROM SIN. w h a t a miracle that is. we aren't saved IN our sins, but FROM them. WE CAN BE CLEANSED FROM SIN. we can be TRANSFORMED through the atoning blood and grace of Christ. what a MIRACLE that is, and how grateful I am for Jesus Christ and His life and Atonement. oh my word. so good. thank you thank you so much Jesus. and He has POWER to redeem us from our sins because of REPENTANCE. here's something i'm doing - every time i see the doctrine of Christ in the book of mormon - that's faith repentance baptism holy ghost enduring to the end aka THE GOSPEL aka HOW TO ACCESS THE ATONEMENT - i box it in red. it's amazing how much it shows up and how much i never saw it before haha. but anyways, through repentance we can be saved from our sins - THEREFORE he hath sent his angels aka MISSIONARIES aka ALL OF YOU to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the POWER of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls. How great the importance to make these things known unto the children of men! (2 ne 2:8). what glad tidings of great joy! (mosiah 3:3, also luke 2) ahh so good :) what a blessing to be His angel. read moroni 7:25-39 and replace "angels" with "missionaries"... and we know that we are all missionaries :) replace "angels" with your name! :)

and then back to helaman 5:12 - guess who shall have NO power? satan. what a loser. haha. Jesus = INFINITE POWER. satan = no power, IF we build our lives on the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Lord Omnipotent. (omnipotent means "all powerful") :) haHA! we win :) :) which reminds me of Elder Holland's talk where he got in our faces and singed our eyebrows a bit - "the way a good coach does when the game is close and VICTORY MEANS EVERYTHING." viiiiiiiictoryyyyyy, viiiiiiiictoryyyyyyyy through Hiiiim that Redeemeth! viccccctoryyyyyyyy vicccctoryyyyyyy through Jesus Christ our Lord! vistory! vistory! victory! through Jesus Christ, our Lord :) :) hallelujah!

which reminds me, since my (our) purpose is to "invite others to come unto Christ" I pretty much just walk around singing "comeeeee to Jeesusssss! flyyyyyy to Jesussss!" and it reminds me of my efy friends haha. they should write me! hint hint :)

Julia i love that you got to be Mary, hooray :)

I am liking Wisconsin! I think it's so so so so beautiful and hopefully i can send you pictures soon! also - if you send me an SD card with pictures on it i can put it in my camera and look at them all any time i want :) so that's a cool idea sister casdorph gave me.... that would be a great present ;) haha

Maryanne I love that scripture!! i read it to Sister Casdorph and she loves it too :) thank you so much!!

we had an interesting discussion last night, sister casdorph and I, about what it means to have "success." actually i'll just tell you everything that happened last night cause it's great :)

so I was praying and saying what the man in Mark 9:24 says "Lord, I believe! help thou mine unbelief" because that is just my mantra right now... seriously. and so i decided to look up that story and see what happens/ what Jesus does after that, and then I would do it. :) (side note - so grateful i got to study and teach Mark for seminary!) so I was flipping through mark trying to find it and i saw a note i'd written in the margin next to mark 15:33 about how the people who saw Jesus on the cross didn't even get what His mission was, and I commented to Sister Casdorph how that has to have been one of the worst parts of the crucifixion, hearing people say things like "oh yeah isn't he the guy who was going to tear down the temple and rebuild it in three days?" and feeling like you'd failed because they hadn't even gotten what you were there for! they didn't even realize. ack. and i was talking about how isn't satan the worst because he's always doing that! it's always IF thou be the Son of God, do this or do that. it happened on the cross and it happens in matthew 4. there's really only the one temptation - IF thou be the Son of God. doubt yourself, doubt your mission, and PROVE it. show me a miracle to prove to yourself that you really are the Son of God. that sneaky little devil. so I just said that kind of off-handedly as i was flipping through the Bible and Sister Casdorph said something like "i think i really needed to hear that right now, thanks" so that was cool.

side note - sorry - but one of my favourite things about being a missionary is that my purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ, and I can ALWAYS do that! even if no one will listen or let us in or anything, there's always at least one person I can serve and invite to come unto Christ - my companion! and i can write home and encourage you all to come unto Christ, and have faith and repent and be baptized/keep your covenants and live worthy of the Holy Ghost :) so i can ALWAYS be a successful missionary, regardless of other people's choices :) hooray, missionary work! anyways, back to the story.

so I found the verse I was looking for - Lord I believe; help thou mine unbelief - in Mark 9:24. and i read what happens next and i landed on verse 29 - "and He said unto them, this kind can come forth my nothing, but by prayer and fasting." and i was like - fasting! no! i'm always so hungry! that can't be the answer.... and then i was like satan! you sneaky little devil! you're trying to get me to not do what Jesus asked! you're lame. so I quick told Sister Casdorph that I was going to fast tomorrow (today) so that I would be accountable, and she said she would fast too. so TAKE THAT Satan. haha. I know that was my answer! so that's cool. God answers prayers, amen :) and the scriptures are GREAT.

Ether 12:27 is still the verse of my life haha that whole chapter is so great. also moroni 7, and 8, and 9, and 10... what's cool about the last 10 chapters of moroni (that's the whole book...) is that they especially were written JUST FOR US, and we almost didn't have them. Moroni ALMOST didn't write them! he's just wandering around alone running from the lamanites and waiting to die, but then he gets the impression to write more. and WHAT IF HE HADN'T. what if he hadn't listened to that prompting and he'd just finished up after ether!! we wouldn't have moroni 7, or "moroni's promise," or the sacrament prayers in the book of mormon, or any of that stuff! so you should read those chapters some time :) haha you should just always read the Book of Mormon always, and read it to receive revelation! go in with a question, and watch God work His miracles and answer you as you turn to His word :) so great!!

so that's me answering your letter.... haha :)

other cool things i learned...

commandments are a blessing, because they allow us to be obedient so that God can bless us! so more commandments - like the missionary handbook - are a great opportunity to be MORE obedient and get MORE blessings! Alma 29:9 - study that one. SO GOOD. ah so good. I learned at Zone Training that we can't ask other people to be obedient to things like the Law of Chastity (i'm looking at you, investigators who shall not be named...) if WE'RE not living in exact obedience too. and one of the rules i need to obey is to exercise in the morning. we have exercise time from 6:30am-7:30am and for a while there I was mostly doing "yoga" and by yoga i mean "relaxation pose" and by that i mean sleeping on the carpet in the basement. haha. so i decided that i need to be more obedient, and so now every morning i throw the weights around and do the stretches and stuff they gave us in the MTC. so now i'm SUPER SORE haha but I tell myself i'm doing lunges for Jesus! and that makes it better.

just in case anyone was wondering - there is NO WAY i would be doing lunges in a basement in racine wisconsin at 6:30 in the morning if I did not love Jesus. the Church is true! let my early morning lunges be a witness of that haha owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. ;)

also! GOD ANSWERS PRAYERS and He reaches out in so much love to us every single day. even though our days here are really hard sometimes haha and we don't have much "success" numbers-wise and we write a lot of 0's... (like poor elder whatever his name is from wyoming in "the best two years" haha) God still reaches out in love to us and He answers our prayers, usually through other people :) LIKE SISTER SUE JOHNSON. let me tell you that story. but first of all, I AM SO GRATEFUL for your prayers, I can honestly feel them and I need them so much, and last thursday especially I just felt Mom's prayers and Dad's and all of you and the grandparents and cousins and aunts and uncles and friends and everyone, I just knew that you were praying for me and it meant SO MUCH and God answered those prayers and this is how :)

Sister Johnson is a ward missionary and she is great. she is so willing to help us in anyway and we just love her. So on Thursday we asked if she could drive us around to a few places that are maybe a little sktechy so we need a member, or kind of far and we don't have many miles on our car, things like that. and of course she said yes cause she's wonderful. so she drove us ALL the way out to the far reaches of Racine and didn't even mind. even though no one was home haha. she was so cheerful and she's also the seminary teacher so she was talking about that and those kids are so lucky to have her, she cares so much and is just so great. so that was fun, and then after a couple of hours with no real "success" she invited us over for dinner and gave us the most d e l i c i o u s creamy chicken noodle soup and little cheese sticks and jello and she set the table so nicely and it was just SO NICE of her, it meant the world to me and it was such an answer to prayer. and the people here are funny when you thank them haha they're very much "oh don't mention it" "no SERIOUSLY don't mention it" haha so that's fun :) AND THEN she brought out peppermint ice cream which is my FAVORITE and it had a little <3 sugar cookie in it in a fancy bowl and it just made my whole life, i loved it. treat the missionaries well when they come over haha it's a special treat, at least here :)

we've eaten meals in some weird places haha the other day we went to a house with no table so we ate sitting on the couch and drank (water) out of Budwiser cups hahaha. it really is a foreign experience, even just here in Wisconsin! the culture is so different from back home, and the ward is really different. more tattoos & piercings in sacrament meeting than at home haha, and a lot of the people are new members or are just coming back to church, things like that so it's very... i guess accepting and when we brought A**** & J**** (oh - A***** AND J***** CAME TO CHURCH! and they brought s***** the 5 yr old) :) they didn't stand out much. not as many skirts/dresses/suits here. so that's different (not in a bad way) and the people are much more open, like in relief society they'll just tell you they messed up so they can't go to the temple, or that this is the longest streak of church attendance they've ever had, etc. also there are several single parents, part-member families, partially-active families etc. Also - and this is sad - active members are the minority here. :( but we're working to change that! :)

also it's not weird having a companion go everywhere with me, but it is weird not to be independant anymore. now everything i do has to be a WE thing... if that makes sense. i don't do hardly anything by myself anymore, which is taking some getting used to haha since i'm so independant? but Sister Casdorph is great and I love her and I'm so grateful for her patience with me haha :)

anyways, this is officially the world's longest letter haha. things here are good! keep the prayers coming, i need them and love them :) and i love you! so much! we pray about once every hour haha every time we leave the house or the car or begin or end anything... it's great. never repetitve because we're honestly just BEGGING for help and giving so much praise back :)

and thanks to everyone who's sent me letters!!!!!!! i love them so much :) :) and merry christmas!! i'll write again next monday and we'll set up a skype time!! :) be good to the missionaries in our ward :) invite a family over for dinner and then invite the missionaries too! let them give a Christmas message of Christ and then y'all can sing Christmas hymns :) i miss singing with y'all!! we sing every day here, just me and Sister Casdorph :)

also check out the CD "nearer" from shadow mountain... we listen to it in the car and it's good. my kind of music, but hymns :)

and we have a tiwi who yells at us when we speed haha. whenever we drive with members it's terrifying cause they actually drive over the speed limit haha. and yes, i do have to get out and back sister casdorph every time we go in reverse haha.

okay this letter is officially WAY to long but i love you all so much!!! merry merry merry Christmas!!! i'll write a better Christmas letter next time haha it doesn't feel much like Christmas here yet - no snow!! or christmas music! or family! but lots and lots of Jesus so that's good :) write me often & soon!!! i love to hear about your days :) mom feel free to edit out all the boring stuff haha whoopsie.

i love you all!!!!

xoxoxoxoxx

Jesus lives & He is the Son of God :) hallelujah! He is our Saviour :)



SISTER PROFFIT

oh i forgot - sister casdorph taught me later that we don't have to "prove" that we're good missionaries through our numbers. no "IF thou be a good missionary, do xxx in racine." nope! we've gotta stay humble. it is NOT ABOUT US! nothing is on a mission. get the character of Christ! :) miracles WILL happen here, but not by our own efforts. only through Christ! :)

hopefully that makes sense haha

love!

also we can't tract during packer games HAHAHA

xxxox

ALSO I HAD A DANISH KRINGLE AND IT WAS THE YUMMIEST THING EVER. peppermint & chocolate. also a delicious bagel that changed my life with cheese on it. (the cheese here is good)

also i met a 180lb dog who didn't eat me, yay!

and God protected us in the ghetto when we went to visit someone there. i was scared so we prayed. and we were protected haha yay for that :) and yay for our house! and for snohomish! and for all the blessings we have! and for Dad and his job! we really are SO abundantly blessed :)

okay now i'm done for reals haha love you xoxoxoxox

cece :)

hello from racine!

i'm here in the lovely little town of Racine, WI, and the missionary work is just grand :) also my companion/trainer Sis. Casdorph is wonderful, AND she's from worland, wyoming. so that's fun :)

Racine is kind of the ghetto which is kind of hilarious. Don't worry we're very safe, we just can't go on this one street & we're supposed to take members with us other places & be home after dark etc. Sometimes I laugh because we're just two little white girls and other people don't have teeth.

Yesterday in church I saw someone yawn and their jaw moved but their teeth didn't. (dentures.)

Hopefully this will be a very uplifting letter eventually haha.

anyways it's fun here, and i think it's really pretty so it's lovely :)

it's definitely different than home/utah though... first off it's SO weird being the missionary now & i can hear people talking about "the sisters" and i'm like oh that's me... I'm not really a person anymore I'm a Missionary if that makes sense? which gets me into strangers homes (so weird) and also makes some people hang up on me or shut the door in my face haha. it's funny. tracting hasn't been too bad, we don't do it very much since it's not very effective but sometimes we knock on doors looking for people and then try to get in & then they shut the door. but everyone's really friendly about it!! haha it makes me laugh. such funny people.

the ward here is very small (exactly 20 sisters in relief society yesterday including we two missionaries) & i can hear like one other person singing during sacrament meeting haha. but they're good people & the church is true in wisconsin too! also the income level here is pretty low, a lot of people are unemployed/underemployed/on welfare/etc. so it's a very different dynamic. way fewer white shirts & ties. a few more tattoos & piercings haha.

I was sitting in Gospel Principles yesterday kind of thinking about that actually and wondering where Jesus would go if He came to church and I feel like He wouldn't go to Gospel Doctrine, He'd go to Gospel Principles. If you think about who Jesus spent time with while He was alive, it wasn't the people who had it all put together, it was the poor & the sinners & the people with issues they were dealing with. So it's cool to be where (I think) Jesus would be if He were to visit the Racine Ward.

Every day I get to ask myself the questions, "what am I doing to invite others to come unto Christ?" and "what am I doing to become more like Christ?" every single moment is a WWJD moment when you're wearing His name on your name tag. which is kind of awesome. and intimidating haha. also the Atonement is awesome. also Preach my Gospel is awesome. it has EVERYTHING WE NEED in there. & the little ones are so cute :) read the 3rd lesson of the 3rd chapter. it details how to access the Atonement of Jesus Christ. hello, where have you been all my life. why did i not know this existed. the awesome thing about the gospel is we can have DAILY repentance. we can access the Atonement DAILY and make changes to become better through Jesus Christ. how awesome?? if you're not repenting every day........ what what what are you doing. don't let the Atonement go to waste!!

also it's fun to have a Christmas message of the gospel of Jesus Christ & how EVERYONE can come closer to Him & how His gospel is restored & Christmas means so much more than just presents & dinners & getting fat :)

my first lesson EVER, literally 2 hours after we left the stake center where we met our trainers, was on the Law of Chastity. we taught A***, who is living with her boyfriend & raising two kids with him. {note: mom please don't post any details about investigators online... i don't care if people read MY personal stuff, but not other peoples'. :) ) it was good actually, but pretty intense for a first lesson haha i had nooo idea what i was doing. she has a baptismal date set for december 29th so we're trying to help her either have J**** move out or marry him before that day. Also, real investigators are 3309480283 times more complicated than the ones at the TRC haha. but she's great & we love her :)

also my first member meal included purple potatoes. which are actually really delicious. they're like sweet potatoes kinda. & it was fun because we ate with a new family in the ward, they have an 8 yr old daughter who reminds me of myself at that age & then two little boys. we watched a nativity video from mormon.org/christmas and the little girl Alayna said she felt "amazed & happy" so we talked about what the Spirit feels like & how we can make Christmas more about Jesus :) even though "lex is mean sometimes we still have to be nice to him" haha

which reminds me, VISIT MORMON.ORG/CHRISTMAS. it's really cool & also whenever someone in our area requests a missionary visit we get a text & then we go visit them & it's really cool :) so check it out & share it on facebook etc :)

also I love this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugV6QGcafEE & you should share it on facebook since I can't :)

We live in a member's home on the upper floor, it's a middle-aged couple, the wife works a lot & the husband works really far away so he's only home on the weekends, so we usually have it to ourselves. but last saturday i heard the husband talking downstairs and he sounds E X A C T L Y like, i mean EXACTLY like Mr Hamm/the abominable snowman/the circus flea/Mac etc from all those pixar movies. it is unCANNY. so if you're wondering about what the people sound like, that's it.

also the accents here are WONDERFUL hahaha i have to keep myself from laughing sometimes :) yesterday at dinner Sis. June said "ahrson scaatt cahrd" and i almost didn't register that as "orson scott card" haha. I'm the one with the funny accent here so that's weird. anyways the accents are just as strong and prevelant as anyone could ever hope for :) it's wonderful. basically every vowel becomes either "aaaaaaah" or "uuuuuuuuu". okay that's hard to type but hopefully you get it. :)

also awesome thing! Alma 8:19 - Alma met Amulek because he was hungry. What a human weakness! and yet the Lord used it to make MIRACLES happen :) we pray for miracles every day here & just hope that we're not getting in the way of God doing His work here in Racine :)

there's a man here at the library who looks precisely like that evil guy from LOTR who whispers in the King of Rohan's ear & then kills Saruman. the library's having HobbitFest & i hope that's who he goes as. He could also pull off a great Smeagol though, so it might be a tough choice.

ALSO I NEED TO TELL YOU THE MIRACLE OF YESTERDAY. so tracting is fine, like whatever, except it never ever works & no one lets us in & sometimes they're grumpy BUT THEN. after church we were going to stop in & visit a less-active member who no one's ever seen named J*****. also it was raining. & we have a car but limited miles & there was no legal parking in this neighborhood (?) so we parked really far away at a nursing home & walked in the freezing rain. whatever, we're missionaries, nbd. so we knock on the door, no one answers, we wait a while, knock again, we hear some swearing from inside haha and then the door opens & it's a lady in a green bay packers shirt (people here LOVE THE PACKERS SO MUCH) and she's like oh i thought you were someone else so we're like uhhh no haha does joshua live here, no he doesn't but can i help you anyway? oh no, we're just looking for him... actually, we're missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and we have a message about Jesus Christ, would you be open to hearing more about it? and she says............ YES come on in I could use a little more God in my life right now can I get you something to drink here have some cookies do you want some homemade fudge can I make you a pizza. ??????? this NEVER happens hahaha so we obviously walk in and just take a drink of water from her and she tells us a lot of stuff but the gist of it is she just ended a 24 year marriage because he cheated on her and she was sitting in a pit of despair writing out Christmas cards when we knocked on the door so she knew we were sent from God. and it was just SO AWESOME, God's timing in leading us to D*** (that's her name) at that exact moment & everything about it was just a miracle & we gave her a Book of Mormon & when we asked her to be baptized she said "absolutely, what day?" and then said "you know who else would like to hear from you guys? my neighbor, S****..." and we went and talked to S**** & set up an appointment with her for next saturday to share a Christmas message. ANYWAYS it was just a miracle & such an answer to prayers because i prayed that someone would let us in the house because it was cold & we prayed that whoever lived in the house would have an open heart and they DID. God answers prayers!! Hurrah for Israel! So that was cool. We're not sure how well she exactly understood our message because she mostly just talked and cried, but we prayed with her (twice) & set up an appointment to come back on thursday :)

We do a lot of praying with people... sometimes they won't let us come in but they'll let us pray with them, so we do doorstep prayers which are pretty cool. it's just awesome to be God's hands in His amazing work :)

I love being a missionary!! and I love you!!!

 

:)

if you send anything to the mission office make sure it's united states postal service not FedEx or anything, or else they can't fwd it to me & i won't get it for a long time haha

thanks for the oatmeal & cookies mom!!! they saved my life haha we haven't been able to go grocery shopping yet :)

pray that the hearts of the people of Racine will be open & that Sister Casdorph & I will have the faith to work miracles here!!! and read preach my gospel!! and the book of mormon!! they're the greatest!!


Jesus Christ is born! & He lives! Hurrah for Israel!!

xoxoxoxox

sister proffit :)

ONE DAY MORE!

It's my last day in the MTC!!!!!!!!!!!! SO crazy. the time has FLOWN by and i'm really going to miss it here and all the friends i've made. we talk about how this is like the garden of eden, it's pretty perfect but there's only so much we can learn, only so far we can progress here & it's time to learn & grow more out in the real world. it's time to leave the nest and try out our eagle's wings :) hopefully some natural instincts will kick in soon and we'll be able to fly haha. & if we're true & faithful to what we've learned here, we'll get more & more out in the field & for the rest of our lives :)

SPEAKING OF WHICH I have new address!
Sister Cecelia Proffit
Milwaukee Wisconsin Mission
5651 Broad Steet Ste 1
Greendale WI 53129-1889


Mom - I can read conference talks but I LOVE when you send me quotes since I can't get on the computer very often. and i don't know if i'll be able to out in the field so please send me more!! :) we get to use the computers on p-day & sunday. but just lds.org, mormon.org, & the missionary website haha.

also the gyms are fun here! there's a small gym with machines & weights & tvs to watch mormon messages & church movies on hahaha. i watched the martyrdom of joseph smith like a dozen times..... kinda depressing haha. but the machines are really nice, and there's a big gym with volleyball basketball weight machines elipticals bikes & a track & stuff. so it's fun.

POP QUIZ: true or false when we are baptized we take upon ourselves the name of Christ.



FALSE. we show we are WILLING to take upon ourselves the name of Christ. :)

I learned things here that I can't believe I didn't know sooner!! So I will tell you so that you know :)

The GOSPEL = the DOCTRINE OF CHRIST = ACCESS TO THE ATONEMENT. faith repentance baptism holy ghost enduring to the end. that's how we access the atonement. WHY DID NO ONE EVER TELL ME THIS. it's ALL OVER the scriptures too, especially the Book of Mormon but also the Bible. 2 Ne 31, 3 Ne 11, 3 Ne 27. check it. those are the main ones but it's EVERYWHERE. look for it in Mosiah 4:9-12.

the RESTORATION is about JESUS CHRIST restoring His Gospel - His WAY for us to more FULLY ACCESS HIS ATONEMENT. that's why it's so important!!! it's Jesus' way for us to take COMPLETE & FULLY advantage of His Atoning Sacrifice. He restored doctrines, principles, authority, ordinances, & covenants - all about helping US come unto HIM. that's is the purpose of missionary work!!! we INVITE OTHERS to COME UNTO CHRIST by helping them to receive HIS restored GOSPEL. it's just the 4th article of faith!! it's that simple! why did no one ever tell me this!!! to access the Atonement of Christ, have faith, repent, be baptized & keep those covenants, live with the Holy Ghost, rinse wash & repeat forever!! it's that simple!!! incredible.

the question was raised in class the other day - are we living as if the Atonement never happened?? or are we taking advantage of it EVERY SINGLE DAY. are we repenting every day, or do we just rely on the Atonement when we really need it? think about what life would be like if the Atonement never happened -- and then NEVER take it for granted and use it every. day. (nacho libre voice)

"crying repentance" just means inviting others to ACT & keep commitments. we aren't here to convince people of anything, we just invite them to act in faith & ask God for themselves. check D&C 18:11-14, 19:16

also, if you plan on serving a mission, READ PREACH MY GOSPEL BEFORE YOU GET HERE. they teach us here the 8 fundamentals - teach people not lessons, revelation through church attendance, revelation through the holy ghost, revelation through the book of mormon, revelation through prayer, we invite they commit we follow up, how to begin teaching, and something else i can't remember hahaha. anyways, with revelation through the book of mormon we've been doing something really cool that i think you should try :) we come up with questions, things we want to know, and then we start reading the book of mormon as a class, out loud in a circle one verse at a time, and if we have a thought we share it and we all gain revelation together :) it's awesome to see how this works with ANY chapter of the book of mormon because it IS THE WORD OF GOD.

i've been thinking about Elder Bendar's counsel to "BECOME a missionary long before you GO on a mission" (btw we just watched a video of his devotional, only Elder Holland has come in person.) :) and i'm realizing that being a missionary isn't about having "missionary experiences" it's about INVITING OTHERS TO COME UNTO CHRIST - all others, in all ways. ALL WAYS ALL THE TIME. it's a way of life, not something that you do. develop attributes, not skills. we represent Jesus Christ. read "my mission commission" by elder mcconkie. so good. Luke 4:18 - the Savior's purpose is MY purpose now.

serving a mission is not like school where you can just get by without studying because it's not about KNOWING stuff it's about showing FAITH and receiving revelation and that takes WORK, every day. we study not to know stuff, but to show our faith & access the blessings of heaven. & you can't skimp on that.

also there will be about 500 new missionaries every week starting in january!! and maybe 25, 30 new missions!! that's all just speculation but it's kind of incredible :) also i saw Elder Ferguson a LOT this week cause of all the departure stuff, so that was fun. we took a picture, i'll send it later :)

Nathan! Watch out for Elder Simmons & Elder Pfister in Ft Worth. We took a picture with them haha since we sat next to them so often & i was always so excited about them going to your mission. :) i'll send that too.

Elder Holland said that this is HIS work (God's) and we do it HIS way, or it doesn't get done. That is a fact.

Also a Christmas thought - be like the star of Bethlehem & lead people to Christ. :)

So grateful for all of your prayers :) I'm very weak & inadequate, and I'm praying every day to rely more on Jesus Christ & be more humble. it's incredibly, incredibly humbling work. Ether 12:27 - as I come closer to Christ, He shows me my weakness. but His Grace is sufficient if I humble myself, so please pray that I'll be able to do that & rely more on Him every day :) and pray for the people of Wisconsin, that their hearts will be softened & that they'll be open to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We're leaving at 4am tomorrow!!!!! so we'll get to the airport around 5am, then we have to be ready to board around 6:45 so I'll call probably around 4:30 your time............ is that okay??? I hope so!! I really want to talk to all of you!!!! Nathan I want to call you too :) so answer your phones!!!!

I love you all so so much :) :) I'm so happy to be a missionary every day, even though it's hard & humbling & hard, it's also great & wonderful & great and honestly GOD'S WORK and I love being a part of it. love love love :) we've had hard lessons & great lessons & they're all lessons that i'm grateful for :)

"It is true that we are in many ways ordinary and imperfect, but we have a perfect Master who wrought a perfect Atonement, and we have call upon His grace & His priesthood." - D. Todd Christofferson

"Missionaries... are young in the ways of the world. But they are blessed with gifts - such as the power of the Holy Spirit, the love of God, and testimonies of the truth - that make them powerful ambassadors of the Lord... Missionaries strive to follow Jesus Christ, in both word and deed." Russell M. Nelson

GRAMMA PROFFIT et all THANK YOU so much for the cookies!!! i loved them, and i loved all the letters & pictures!!!! love you all so much :) :) I loved that quote from Uncle Robert - "The best adventures you'll ever have are the ones that happen in your own soul." can't wait for this adventure!!

& thanks to everyone else who's sent me letters!!! i'm working on replying to all of them but it's been a crazy busy week :)


love you all so so so so much & i'll try to send pictures later today :) :)
i thought of you during the Christmas devotional last night - so good. miss you guys :) i like how singing Christmas carols reminds us of how it felt when we shouted for Joy that Jesus would be our Savior :)

xoxoxoxoxxooxoxoxox families are forever :)


SISTER PROFFIT

Thanksgiving in the MTC

hello family!!! it's been another great week here at the MTC :) :) I'm still loving it here! I tried to take notes throughout the week haha of things I wanted to tell you so we'll see how this goes :)

I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving!! Thanksgiving here was great. We had a special fireside and ELDER HOLLAND came and brought his family!! they gave some musical numbers & testimonies, and then he and his wife spoke. it was great. we waited in line for like two hours (indoors thankfully) but it was worth it to have 4th row bleacher seats :)

Something Elder Holland's grandson said I thought was interesting - Jesus sacrificed not only so that we could be with Him, but so that He could be with US. He wanted the joy that only comes with family. :)

JOYCE TRAN this is for you - Elder Holland said "This is REAL LIFE. This is as real as your life is gonna get. You will never be closer to God, if you do this right. You will never be as close to the Way the Truth and the LIFE."

He also promised us that there is nothing more important that we could be doing. By definition, this is the most important thing we will ever do. Other things might equal it in importance, but nothing will ever exceed in importance the work of salvation. This is, after all, what God spends ALL of His time doing. Everything God does is devoted to saving His children. It's incredible & humbling to be engaging with God in this His most important work - to bring about eternal life for all of His children.

He also told us that God buoyed up every prophet of old by showing them OUR DAY. Every other dispensation ended in apostasy, but THIS ONE WILL NOT. This time, it is going to work. This time, WE WILL NOT FAIL. We are destined to succeed.

Also Elder Holland & President Brown have both floated guesses that we could very well have 90,000 missionaries come spring. 90,000. in the words of elder holland, "we've never had 90,000 anything!!" hahaha

Elder Holland also taught us the importance of names & taught us that God knows each of our names & that's important because He knows us personally & individually, not just generally or collectively. He knew Abraham's name, Moses, Samuel, & He knows ours. He knows everything about us :)

It's so inspiring to be here with 2000 other missionaries, all preparing to preach the gospel to every nation & in every language. seriously EVERY LANGUAGE hahah it's so crazy!!! & really amazing to be here.

oh also Elder Bednar taught us that "each of you was individually considered & assigned to a mission by a man you sustain as a prophet of God." amazing!! & true!! & often forgotten I think!!

speaking of foreign countries, there's an australian missionary in my zone who just cracks me up. he says "being an australian in americar is the worst because everyone loves you but i don't love everyone!" hahaha. also, i guess in australia they call periods "full-stops"? so he got super confused in grammar class when they were talking about sentences & then all of the sudden periods came up so he raised his hand and asked why they were talking about girls periods hahahaha

also, yesterday at dinner an african-american elder came up & started talking to me in spanish, even after i explained that i don't know spanish. he just repeated things slower. but i know he spoke english because he's from california haha. anyways we finally communicated where we were from & where we were going & how long we'd been here & how long we had left (the only questions anyone asks around here haha) & then he asked if he could take a picture with me so i said sure. and it made me think of LYNDY & ALANNAH :) also alannah i look for you every breakfast but i forget when you work!!! so send me a letter so i can see you!!! i usually eat behind the salad bar by the combo line :) :) i want to see you!

it's weird being here so close to all my BYU friends but not being able to see them. :) we go to the temple monday mornings at 6:50 and we take walks up there on sunday afternoons, so that's nice :) i'm trying to figure out a way to send home pictures!!! haha

also, we get sundaes on sunday. it made me laugh :)

now when we sing "I am a child of God" it has a whole new meaning to me and I think about other people singing it to us missionaries, if that makes sense. we also sing "we are NOW the Lord's missionaries" when we sing armies of Helaman, which is pretty cool :)

another fact - sorry this letter is so scattered - but we learned that 38% of missionaries are out of commission DAILY because of health problems. partly because if you're companion's sick then you can't work either. so be healthy!!

i think being with a companion all the time is more of an adjustment for elders than sisters haha because girls go everywhere with other girls anyways :)

I still love being called Sister Proffit :) Sister kind of sounds like Cece haha so I keep thinking people are calling my first name when they say "sister" :)

It's really cool to watch the elders growing up & maturing & becoming missionaries, & to know that the same growth is happening in myself even though i can't see it. We also have really great teachers here :)

ALSO, someone the other day stopped me and asked me if i was from seattle because i looked like i might be? haha he was going to Seattle & did some research i guess on how we dress...? it was funny haha.

also nathan i met a district full of elders headed to Fort Worth & told them to watch out for you!! they seem great :) you should be excited :) :)

EVERY PROSPECTIVE MISSIONARY SHOULD READ PREACH MY GOSPEL BEFORE THEY GET HERE. you really really need to read it BEFORE you enter the MTC because they assume you've already read it. also, they sell little tiny ones with the full text for less than $5 i think! get em get em :)

"We do not take counsel from our fears." Neal A. Maxwell

John 3:30 - He must increase but I must decrease. Also John 15:5

Pop quiz - who restored the gospel? nope, not Joseph Smith..... JESUS CHRIST did, THROUGH Joseph Smith :) important distinction!

Also they remind us here that WE are God's investigators, & that everything we want for our investigators (pray with real intent, read the scriptures & seek answers, etc) GOD wants for US.

Teaching has been going really well!! it reminds me of how far i have to go haha. Sometimes when I pray to feel charity God teaches me by showing me my weakness & reminding me that we all sin & fall short of the glory of God. I'm too busy worrying about my own weakness to be judging other people for theirs. Anyways the lessons are definitely humbling. the way they teach here it's like HERE GO DO IT and THEN they teach us how haha so sometimes in class it's like WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS EARLIER BEFORE I MESSED EVERYTHING UP???!?!?!?? hahaha. it's really SO humbling to think that I am who God has chosen to do this His most important work. I see my teachers being so great and i'm like well why don't YOU go on missions haha you already know how to do it! you'd be great! why did God choose me! i'm no good at this!!! but really, it doesn't matter about me. I need to not rely on myself but on God. which is really hard but really essential & rewarding. :) THIS is God's most important work. & who does He ask to do it? TEENAGERS. and young adults. let no one ever doubt that God loves His teenagers, & that he works through the weak things of the world. & praise be to God for that & for His loving mercy & grace <3

Also they take such good care of us here!! they even have sweet old lady tutors to help some of the elders & sisters with their reading & comprehension skills :) God works in all of us!

Something I love that we do here is prelude singing! we sing 3 or 4 hymns before every devotional, & it's awesome :) also, i saw one of my efy babies! he got a picture :) crazy haha.

also a video you should watch - GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD. it's on biblevideos.org :)

also Elder Phelps in my district told me i reminded him of his mom......... hahaha

also I need Uncle Robert's address!!! i met one of his french students & he really wants to write uncle robert!!!! :) :)

Thanksgiving was amazing. I just realized I didn't finish writing about it haha. so after the fireside we had thanksgiving "lunch" which was okay for what it was... i'm not really a huge fan of thanksgiving food but it was nice of them to try haha. i felt kinda bad for the international missionaries though. :) then in the afternoon we put together hygeine & education kits to send to - and this is a real place - OUELESSEBOUGOU. we-less-ee-boo-goo hahaha. but that was fun & nice. we had a lot of down time which was weird, and the low point was probably eating a sack lunch hoagie in our room for thanksgiving dinner haha, but afterwards it got really great. we had a HILARIOUS program where we watched a "first thanksgiving" skit & the characters would say something (the same thing) every time they were mentioned (if that makes sense) puritan preacher would shout HALLELUJAH & pretty soon ALL the missionaries would shout AMEN afterwards hahaha & it was just so great. there were some great musical numbers & fun stuff & we sang hymns about what we are thankful for & then they handed out POPCORN & we watched 17 miracles which was SO GREAT because it reminded me that i really am just SO THANKFUL every day to be here, to be doing the Lord's work, & to know that this is where I'm supposed to be. I LOVE wearing the name of Jesus Christ on my nametag & i just love Jesus Christ so much. He truly is my Savior & my best friend. I'm grateful every day to know Him, to love Him, & to be serving Him.

also praying with investigators is THE BEST. when they're praying to know if God is there & what they should do... SO GOOD. we taught a less-active sister & the Spirit was so strong & she was so grateful & it was amazing that all she needed was someone to come in & bring the Spirit back into her home & help her see what she should be doing to bless her family.

I wish i could write more but my time is almost up!! IMPORTANT: i get to call home on tuesday from the airport!! we got our travel plans! we leave 5am december 4th & we'll be in milwaukee by 3 in the afternoon :) I'll write next monday. also THANK YOU to everyone who wrote me letters :)

ALI my efy bby chicken <3 love you. thank you for your letter dear!!

ALYSSA GREEN you are a treasure & so is your letter & i am writing you back today!!

& thanks for the news article gramma :)

i love you all!!!

1 Cor 15:5 -- thanks be to God, who gives us the victory :) :)


I'm SO GRATEFUL for such a loving & supportive family :) I love you all so much & pray for you every day!!!! keep writing me - i love letters!! i love to hear just what's going on in your lives, what music you're listening to, whatever. i just love to hear from you guys :) let me know what you want to hear from me!! i'll send home my schedule after i'm done here at the mtc :)

love you!! God bless :)


xoxoxoxo SISTER PROFFIT

Week 1 :)

first of all, I AM SO HAPPY HERE :) :) I LOVE being a missionary and i LOVE being called Sister Proffit :) it's the happiest. the mtc is like disneyland only 21934889345789 times better :) :) it's been so so great. i hope i can get it all down in the 30 minutes they give us to email, and if i don't i'll send a letter with more :)

also, if everyone could write me using DearElder.com that would be great - i'll get a hard-copy delivered to me the same day so I can read it and keep it with me and i won't have to spend any of my email time reading, just writing :) also, thanks to those who have sent me letters!!

Shaney - you're so sweet & i'm so happy you're loving BYU :) i love you!
Shaelyn - I LOVE YOU AND YOUR LETTER WAS PERFECT i'm writing you a super long one back today :)
Robyn - I'm so excited for you to serve a mission!! You will love it :) :) & thanks for your letter!

SISTER TRAN if you're reading this SEND ME A LETTER so that i can send you my love :) :) you will LALALALALALLOVEEEE THE MTC!!!!!!!

So the MTC started off GREAT, seeing Ren seriously made my whole life, it was God's way of saying WELCOME and YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE IT HERE and THIS IS WHERE I WANT YOU TO BE and I LOVE YOU and it was so so great so THANK YOU elder ferguson :) Also I've seen ren quite a few times and it's been awesome! he's doing really really well, still the same hilarious great Ren but there's a spiritual maturity about him now & it's great to see him as Elder Ferguson :) he's doing great, learning the language well and i know he'll be a great missionary :) Also I've seen Elder Peterson a few times, he seems to be doing well too :)

the cafeteria food is great! they feed us really well, there's a different salad option for lunch & dinner every day so i usually get that & some fruit or soup or something. it's been delicious. they really do take SUCH good care of us here, it's a top-notch training center and i'm loving it.

i also LOVE LOVE LOVE my companion. There are 4 sisters in our district & 6 elders. All 4 of us sisters and two of the elders are going to wisconsin; the other two elders are bound for arcadia california. Also Nathan - I met some elders going to your mission! they were excited & i told them to watch out for Elder Proffit :) :) I'm so so so excited for you.

My companion is Sister Stuart and she's amazing. I love her so much already, she's such an example to me in the way she really works hard & LIVES what we're learning. Last night we watched the most AMAZING devotional by elder bednar "the character of Christ" (LOOK IT UP) and we learned that a mission is NOT ABOUT US and that we need to serve way more, and then afterwards instead of just walking back to our residence Sister Stuart noticed some missionaries putting away chairs so we stayed and helped and LIVED what we LEARNED. :) that's how she is. also we get along wonderfully and our unity is really coming across in our teaching, even though we're still learning and struggling haha. We learn through our struggles! Elder Scott (i think) said "Essential personal growth will come to you as you STRUGGLE" and we're definitely finding that to be true :) it's a good struggle though, and it's teaching us that God truly is in this work. It is His work, and he definitely has a hand in it :)

The focus in our MTC training is much more on how to teach, not what to teach, and this is a change they made in the past few months. We're expected to come already knowing the doctrine of PMG ch 3 and they started us teaching THE VERY FIRST DAY. it was crazy & a great learning experience. Sister Stuart & I have also taught two lessons on our own already, to our teachers role-playing "Ben" & "Joe," based off people they already know. We do a lot of role-playing here & we try to base it all off of real experiences, real people we know, & real feelings. We've spent a lot of time talking about our Purpose - "to INVITE others to COME UNTO CHRIST by HELPING THEM to recieve the restored gospel through faith in JESUS CHRIST and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, recieving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end." "Others" means EVERYONE - companions, teachers, strangers, investigators, EVERY ONE, member or non-member, so it doesn't really matter if the people we're role-playing with are already baptized or not. We can invite them to come unto Christ where ever they are in their walk with Him & we do that by inviting the Spirit. It doesn't matter what we say, it matters what THEY feel. It's not about us :) what we say only matters so far as it INVITES and HELPS them to feel & come closer to Christ :)

Also Mom - thank you for that scripture. It was perfect :)

I love the other sisters in my district too - we share a room and they're lovely :) Sister Christensen is wonderful, so caring and such a good example. she's 24 and from sacramento. & Sister Edwards is 21 & from Mesa. she's wanted to be a missionary since primary like me :) Sister Stuart is 21 too and from bountiful. The Elders are great too... I forgot what it's like to be around 19 year old boys though haha. But they're trying hard & learning too, & the Lord works through all of us in our weakness as we give ourselves to Him.

Also I've adjusted REALLY well, it's surprising actually & a great blessing haha. It's been easy to wake up at 6:30 every day & just turn on the lights, get dressed, and get to work. I was thinking the other day about how EVERYTHING we do is to invite others to come unto Christ - even the way we dress & do our hair. It's pretty awesome :) these have been the LONGEST DAYS OF MY LIFE, they feel like weeks or years, but they've been so so so so good :) :) :) I really do love every day here and i never ever ever get tired of being called "Sister Proffit" :) :)

Also I forgot to give Nathan his boots!!! I'll watch out for Kelley. Also I saw Kristen Lavering at the front desk!! That was fun :) I've seen Elder Price here too. It's just such a great place to be :) :)

Some funny things that reminded me of you --

They posted some scripture from Job about "clean hands" next to the purell machines haha

We sing the hymns so fast!! love it :) :)

they also said no wrestling haha

We're the largest group they've had in at least two years - 111 missionaries came in on wednesday!! but soon we will be dwarfed when the new age missionaries come in january :) :)
They've had more sisters submit their papers than there are currently serving!!!! :) :)

Oh yesterday was Sunday - we all have to prepare a talk every week (just 5 minutes) and then they call on you to speak from the pulpit haha. "We will now here from... you! followed by you, and you" haha. it's good practice though!

I'm sorry this is so out of order haha i just have a bit of time and i'm trying to remember everything i wanted to tell you :)

I'm so glad I'm here now!!! I'm so glad I didn't want until January to be available, it's just so clear to me that NOW is when I'm supposed to be here, not any sooner and NOT any later. Our Branch Presidency said that they're training US to be the trainers of the new younger missionaries heading out in January. Crazy!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!! We'll be doing humanitarian work all day and having some special devotionals :) I'm so happy I'll be in the MTC for thanksgiving because THIS is what I'm grateful for. I'm grateful for this Gospel and to BE A MISSIONARY. there isn't anywhere else I'd rather be. I love you all so much & I'm so thankful for you & your support :) i can't say it enough how much i love you & am grateful for you.

We watched the most amazing video yesterday!! I want you to try & find it & watch it & post it on facebook haha. I think you can find it at facebook.com/groups/mormonhelpinghandsnyc or something like that. it's just like a 10 minute film about the mormon helping hands effort by the missionaries & members of new york, i think it's called "helping hands". try to find it!! it was so so good. it helped me to remember that i'm going on a mission to HELP people. i liked the quote, "everything we can do to help! this is why i came on a mission - to help the people of new york. whether that's by sharing the gospel or this." it reminded me of what elder nelson said that has become like my mantra "We SERVE with the sole hope of making life better for other people" !! :) We really have been called to SERVE and it is SO NOT ABOUT US.

elder bednar in that "character of Christ" devotional did an impression of Cookie Monster that has CHANGED ME FOREVER haha he said that cookie monster is like the natural man "ME WANT COOKIE NOW" and that we can't be the "natural man" as missionaries - none of this "ME WANT BAPTISM NOW. ME WANT INVESTIGATOR NOW. ME WANT DISCUSSION NOW" business. we need to develop the character of Christ. turn OUTWARD and SERVE when the natural woman wants to turn inward & think about herself.

we pray like 2938057349875 times a day but it never gets repetitve because we REALLY mean it & we're REALLY asking for the Lord do bless us. we CAN'T do this just us, it literally just WOULD NOT WORK & it's so humbling that God has called US to be His Hands in doing His great work. :) :)

also we've been practicing the invitation to baptism on the first lesson because really it's a way of inviting people to learn more & to be blessed by following the example of Jesus Christ (see 2 ne 31 :13!!!) & it lets them know you care... our purpose is to invite them to come unto Christ through baptism so if we don't INVITE them to do this great happy thing then we must not want them to be happy! haha

Some verses that have stood out to me - 1 Tim 4:14 neglect not the gift that is in you

2 Cor 2:1, 3-5, 13. Don't try to be eloquent in speech, it won't work. demonstrate the Spirit of Power. we don't teach by our wisdom, but His.

1 Cor 13 - it doesn't matter what you've got if you haven't got charity

Ether 3 - be a shining rock!! also elder bednar gave a REALLY GREAT & LIFE-CHANGING LESSON from this chapter but i'll let you find it in his "character of Christ" devotional :)

D&C 15:2 - His arm is over all the Earth :)

1 Cor 16:14 - let all your things be done in charity :)

2 Cor 12:10 - when i am weak, then i am strong. when i recognize my own weakness, i rely on the strength of Christ (see also alma 26:12)

the Elders here are so nice & always holding door for us & calling us "Sisters" and i just really NEVER GET TIRED of that haha. We took pictures on our sunday temple walk yesterday that i'll try to send you!!!! also we went to the temple this morning & it was so good, i didn't think i'd miss it as much as i did haha but it came just in time :) & so did letter writing time.

anyways it's been amazing here, i'm glad it's p-day haha but i'm loving the work & i'm loving it here :) I'm so so so happy. i love this work! the church is true. God is our loving Heavenly Father. Jesus is the Christ. He lives, & He lives for us. He loves us & is not far from us (acts 17:27) The Book of Mormon is God's truth. It testifies of Christ & it changes lives. It's changed mine for good :) The Bible is a record of Jesus Christ. We can learn of them, we can know them, we can love them, & we can be in a joyful relationship with them as we obey & follow the doctrine of Christ - faith, repentance (returning, changing), following the example of Jesus Christ & being baptized, & recieving the gift of the Holy Ghost - a gift God gave us to help us know Him :) anyways I'm so so so happy & i'm sorry this letter is crazy & weird haha, i can't say everything i want to in half an hour but i love you guys!!!!!! i can't wait to recieve your letters, they're the light of my life :) :) i love you all!!

also mom you can post whatever parts of this you like to the blog. let people know i'm happy & loving it here :)

ps please send my green skirt & sports bras mom :)

I love this Gospel!!! read the book of mormon!!! be baptized!!! be a missionary!!! follow Christ!!!!!!


love you all -

also Julia Green the scripture you wrote at the end of your letter to me was perfect & if i could remember it exactly i would write it here.

basically,

I love you all & I hope you're feeling God's blessings in your life :) The church is true. Christ lives :)



all my love forever ---


SISTER PROFFIT :) :) :) :) :)

write me letters!

Hello my internet friends :) 

On Tuesday November 13, 2012, I'll be turning off my phone & logging out of all my {many} social networking sites for the next 18 months. 

{This is why}

On Wednesday November 14 I'll report to the missionary training center where I'll be for about three weeks.

My address there is: 

Sister Cecelia Proffit

MTC Mailbox # 215

WI-MIL 1204

2005 N 900 E

Provo, UT 84604-1793

& then on December 4th I'll move to Wisconsin to actually start my mission 

& my address there will be 

Sister Cecelia Proffit
Wisconsin Milwaukee Mission

5651 Broad St Ste 1

Greendale, WI  53129-1889
United States

I'm not sure yet exactly where I'll be serving but that's the "mission home" address & they'll forward anything to me :) 

Write me write me write me! I promise to write back & include illustrations :) Also send me pictures. I'll send you some back :)

this will be my face if you do not send me letters

you're invited...

to learn more about my mission! haha :) 

like any good first-grade journalist... i've decided to write out the "5 W's + H" of my mission {please tell me i'm not the only one who learned those in elementary school haha}

WHO 

Jesus :)

missionary me :)

Here's the thing... it's really not about me. It's mostly about Jesus, and it's mostly about other people. :)

WHAT

A mission is a voluntary act of service to God & humankind. We serve with the sole hope of making life better for other people. :)  My purpose will be to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. I'll be waking up early, studying my scriptures, meeting new people, sharing my testimony of Jesus Christ, teaching the gospel, and inviting people to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and follow His example :)
I'm dedicating this part of my life to Him as completely as possible, so I'll be very selective about the music I listen to, I won't be on facebook or twitter or anything, I won't be using my phone, and I'll just be emailing my family once a week. Every one can please write me letters though! :) :)

WHEN & WHERE

I report to the Missionary Training Center on November 14th. I'll be there for a couple weeks, and then I'm headed to the Wisconsin Milwaukee mission for 18 months! :) 

HOW

I'd like to quote a Book of Mormon prophet here:

"Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in His strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever." Alma 26:12

He is how. :) 

WHY

I first considered serving a full-time mission when I was like... seven. But mostly just because my aunt was the age to go and she was thinking about it. She didn't end up serving, but the idea stuck and it felt good :) So I've sort of always planned on it, and experiences during high school and college have only strengthened that desire. 

Then, while I was working at efy, it became less an option and more a necessity haha. I felt and still feel very strongly that a mission is where I need to be as soon as possible. The gospel of Jesus Christ is something I love more than anything, and I can't think of anything more important that I could be talking about or more beautiful that I could be doing.
 I know that God lives, and I know that He loves & is aware of us. Some people don't know that. How can I not at least try to share my happiness with them? Jesus Christ atoned for the sins of the world. Because of Him, we all can have hope. How can I not share this hope with people? God has a plan for our happiness. We can be with our families forever. There is life after death. There is a purpose to our life here on earth. Somethings are too important to keep to myself.

While I was at efy, my angel Amanda shared with a group of us a verse that hit me as very few verses have before or since. I knew I wanted to serve a mission, and my application was already in the works, but I was struggling with how much I'm going to miss the things I love... my friends, my home, my family... even stupid stuff like my music and my clothes haha. The Savior's question to Peter - Lovest thou me more than these? - hit me SO HARD, and I knew my answer. I knew that this is why I'm leaving everything else I love behind. I love home. I love my friends. I love my family. But I love Jesus more. And He has asked me to feed His lambs. So I'm going.

"Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of Him to declare His word among his people, that they might have everlasting life." 3 Ne. 5:13

From my call letter:

"The Lord will reward you for the goodness of your life. Greater blessings and more happiness than you have yet experienced await you as you humbly and prayerfully serve the Lord in this labor of love among His children. We place our confidence in you and pray that the Lord will help you become an effective missionary."

aaaaaaaamen! WISCONSIN HERE I COME. :) :)