19 Feb 2013

okay MIRACLE.... Sister S is REALLY super shy, & we ask her to say the closing prayer every lesson and then we all hold our breath for like 30 seconds and then she says "no, i can't do it" so we either say okay & one of us says it, or we talk a bit about it, ask her again, hold our breath again, and she says no again. haha. but THIS week, we take her on a church tour, and then afterwards i say, "who would you like to say the closing prayer?" and she takes a deep breath, then bows her head and SAYS THE CLOSING PRAYER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! which.... seriously, if you only knew...... is a miracle. next miracle - getting her to church! she doesn't really like to be around people/strangers so that's gonna take a while but it's going to happen! awesome :) i love her!! she is such a great lady :) :)

 I love Sister E so much!!!! she is seriously SUCH an inspiration. She has come SO far & has such a great desire to live the gospel. Pretty much every week she has an amazing inspiring story to tell us and i love it. Last time we went over we read with her from where she's at in the Book of Mormon (which she reads EVERY DAY..... do you?? ;) ) which happened to be Alma 62, which is perfect because we wanted to talk about verses 4&5 anyways about raising the standard of liberty wherever you go & how thousands will flock to it... & we invited her to pray for opportunities to share the gospel and she said she would. WELL THEN yesterday we went to see her and she goes (without us even asking) "okay a couple of things happened but i'm not sure if they count....." basically while she was at work (she drives for FedEx) her boss & a coworker were talking about what religion all of the drivers are & one of them was like "i don't think we have any mormon drivers..." and the boss was like "yeah huh, b!" and b was like "yeah i'm a mormon!" and then they grilled her with questions about all kinds of things & she explained how she's quit drinking alcohol & coffee & even tea & her coworker was asking her all these questions and she's like "i don't know! i just know i'm happier now!" & all these things. SO we invited her to give him a copy of the "word of wisdom" pamphlet & she agreed :) and THEN she told us about how an old friend that she's not really friend's with anymore had a grandma pass away & B just felt like she ought to go over and talk to her and i guess her friend's daughter is having a really hard time with it so B invited them to come to church with her & her friend said she didn't have a car & b said that missionaries would come right to her door! hahaha so she gave us her friend's address & everything and we gave it to the Kenosha Sisters... and at first Sister E was like "don't tell her I sent you" but then she was like "actually, why not? i'm not ashamed of this" :) :) :) :) so BASICALLY, she's awesome. AND, she's been working really hard to quit drinking tea and it's been hard for her since she hates tap water & her fiancee (who she lives with) only buys alcohol & tea basically. SO the other day she was REALLY REALLY THIRSTY and all they had was tea and tap water and she was like "i'm just gonna drink the tea! i've been really good and it's just once and no one will ever know!" so she got it out and poured it and then just looked at it, and looked at it, and looked at it... and put it away and drank TAP WATER. !!!! so basically, Sister E is the champion of everything and i love her so so much. she has such a determination to live the gospel & she knows it blesses her life, and even though it's hard she keeps moving forward :) :) :)

 also -- about the G's, I forgot - one of the really cool things about being a missionary is being able to make promises to people. We invited the Gs to pray as a family and individually every single day for opportunities to share the gospel & promised them that if they did so, an opportunity would happen within the week. which isn't a promise we make to just anybody... but we (sister casdorph & i) both just felt right about it! so that's pretty cool :)

 awwwwwwwwwww A & J & S & S!!!! :) :) :) :) LOVE THEM love them :) :) we had another great family home evening last night!! we made valentines from Heavenly Father to us & talked about ways we know Heavenly Father loves us... Br. J said "problems" & Sister D said "prayer" & "forgiveness." we spent a lot of time talking about how He forgives us & how we can forgive ourselves & others. we also watched the Mormon Message "reclaimed." so good. :) and then we ate those valentine fruit snacks!! thanks, mom!! :) :) :) also S did not bite me this week. hooray! hahah. he likes to grab my name tag off my coat & run away with it... so i covered it with my hand... so he bit my hand to try and lift it off hahaha. but obviously i didn't say anything cause that's not helpful.... hahaha just so funny!!! cute kid ;)

 Brother & Sister M!! the WML & his wife :) I feel that Sister M & Gramma Proffit would be really good friends.... :) So Br & Sis M used to be (in their own words) "crazy old drunks" hahah. they used to drink & smoke a LOT - Brother M showed us a picture from before his baptism 20 yrs ago and he was SCARY looking hahaha he had this big beard & looked like what he was - a tough ol' motorcycler! like one of Hell's Angels hahah. the gospel changes lives! :)

also - Sister M LOVES to feed us and I'm like 2304982390lbs in this picture hahah. oh well....................

oh yeah.............. I'm being transferred!!!!!!!!!! I leave for APPLETON tomorrow at 7am!!! Sister Casdorph will drive me to Milwaukee where I'll get on the "Fun Bus" & head up to Appleton to meet my new companion, Sister Ross!!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! I'm so sad to leave!! I love the people here & I feel like there is SO much potential in this area........... but Appleton will be great too............. but right now I love Racine hahaha :) :)

 

this is the craziest least organized letter ever hahaha. a random quote from Weekly Planning Day (Thursday) - trying to draft a text message to a potential investigator who keeps canceling & rescheduling - "Happy Valentines Day, how's your week going, can we come by & share the gospel?"

maybe that's not that funny to you hahaha but we laughed really hard..... stress will do that to ya haha.

also we put food as a "back-up plan" some days.... does that mean we're working hard enough? :) 3 Ne 13:31! (Matt 6:31

oh this is for Lyndy - and the rest of you - Brother B went to school with John Metusek? or something? he plays sloth in the Goonies..... fun fact!

alsooooooooo guess who came to church!!! Inez! from district meeting!! and her whole family came too! hooray!! :) :) :)

Also this is Brother Bs' parting advice to me:
- Never buy a mansfield toilet- Never eat chittlins (pig intestines)- Get the piece of paper! (college degree) - No one is guaranteed a room at 72 degrees. (we all have trials)

also, can I get Ali Kilpatrick's address? :) and dad - you had a referral from a member of our stake? in wausau? can i get that address? :)

 

Other miracles...... we're meeting with a Sister who is returning to activity who is AWESOME... she was going to move in with her boyfriend in Milwaukee (mi'waukee) (muh-wah-kee), but she was praying and asking God for a sign and then her best friend (who is Sister Y's little sister) was like "hey i'm mormon and i'm going to go back to church, do you want to come?" & Sister R was like "whaaaaaaaaat? i'm mormon too!!" so now they're both coming back to church :) :) :) and she told her boyfriend "hey i'm going to live the law of chastity, I love you but I love God more, so if you can't handle that just let me know" and he came back after a few days and was okay with it! and he's reading the Book of Mormon with her & they're talking about it! they're on chapter 15! are you reading the Book of Mormon every day? if not....... get on that :) :) so so important!!! it makes a HUGE difference. seriously. anyways... that was a miracle :) and i don't know if i told you this already but her first Sunday she decided to come back to church EVERYTHING went wrong... dryer didn't work, clothes were wet, car wouldn't start, etc etc etc - but every time something happened she would just say "I AM DETERMINED!!!" and she made it to church!!! and she is amazing!! and i just love her so much!! so, so sad to be leaving her. but! there will be good memories in Appleton as well :) :)

 

AND finally, one last tender mercy. We went to see Brother R yesterday with Sister M (who I LOVE) and we were planning on bringing brownies for a little family home evening treat, but we didn't do the timing super great so they still had (at least) 3 minutes left in the oven when it was time to go! sooooooo we turned off the oven & just left them, which was sad. so we were kind of bummed we didn't have a treat to bring but we hadn't told anyone we were bringing them so it was okay. so we had a lovely little meeting with Brother R, talking about who he knows that he can share the gospel with, and then at the end, Sister M pulls out two bags of McDonald's cookies and was like, "I don't know, I just felt like I should bring these!" and we had our family home evening treat after all!!!  things like that are so small, but it's honestly things like that that let me know that we do have a Heavenly Father who loves us & watches out for us. brownies = not a big deal, McDonald's cookies = 3 for $1. but it meant so much to us, & there was no way Sister M could've known. So grateful she listened to the Spirit! :) :) love love love

 

& I guess we'll end with this awesome quote from Jeffrey R. Holland that meant a lot to me when I read it last week -- it's from this http://www.lds.org/ensign/2000/03/cast-not-away-therefore-your-confidence?lang=eng) awesome talk that i haven't read but i'm sure is awesome :)

 

"Once there has been illumination, beware the temptation to retreat from a good thing. If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it, it is right now. Don’t give up when the pressure mounts. Certainly don’t give in to that being who is bent on the destruction of your happiness. Face your doubts. Master your fears. “Cast not away therefore your confidence.” Stay the course and see the beauty of life unfold for you." :) :) :)

 

i love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!! families can be together forever :) :) :)

 

& i promise i'll respond to letters soon!! today is crazy busy (yuck, packing!) but i promise promise promise to write everyone back soon!!! i love you!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :)

 

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

 

hahaha what a great email :) i love the stories!! i laughed out loud! in the library! haha :) today is a crazy busy day but i promise to write more & respond better next email!! i have so many letters to respond to hahah. i'll write you next from APPLETON!!! :) :) :)

Elders and Sisters!

What a wonderful time to be missionaries for the Lord Jesus Christ. With new transfers and new companions, it's a great opportunity start again and be the best we can be. While watching a sunrise, I was amazed to see how it started as just a sliver, peaking over the horizon. With in a matter of minutes, and almost imperceptibly, it was completely in view and a bright new day had begun.
So it is with each transfer. Almost without us noticing, new transfers and adventures break upon us and we have new opportunities to refresh our commitment to the Lord and His work. Remember the words from Hymn # 217: Come, let us anew our journey pursue, Roll round with the year and never stand still till the Master appear. His adorable will let us gladly fulfill, and our talents improve By the patience of hope and the labor of love, By the patience of hope and the labor of love.
We truly are engaged in a labor of love. Let us use transfers to renew ourselves in commitment, faith, obedience or whatever we need to serve our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ more fully.

Love,
Elder Stephen L. Serrano & Elder Bradley D. Johnson