4 March 2013
well THIS is
extremely exciting!!!!! http://www.lds.org/scriptures/new-edition?lang=eng
and THIS is
awesome :) :) http://www.lds.org/church/news/members-are-key-to-effectiveness-of-increased-missionary-force?lang=eng
This week has
been great! The Appleton ward is seriously SO amazing :) :) It's awesome. And,
we had stake conference!! Which was AWESOMEEE. Seriously a slam dunk. Thumbs up
for prophets & apostles of the Lord!!!!! :) :) :)
In other news,
I have eaten chocolate cheese. It takes like fudge but you can tell that it's
cheddar. and it has walnuts in it. Yea, Wisconsin! ;)
I'm not sure if
I've mentioned this beore, but being a missionary is like being a spy. It's
awesome haha :)
We've been
spending a lot of time going through the area book & ward directory,
contating all the former & potential investigators, working through a list
from the Bishop & Relief Society President, and contacting all the
part-member families. So that's been good. It's productive, even if they tell
us they want their name removed from the records. Also, we went with Sister M
(Relief Society President -- so great!!) to contact C W (a new move-in) to see
if she wanted Visiting Teachers... well, it turns out that C is a male, and
he's currently in prison in Illinois haha. BUT the person who answered the door
was like "yeah, you can come back! I'll never turn down a message of
Jesus!" so that was awesome :) We're also working with the C family, and
their kids are SO CUTE. I love them :) Brother & Sister C have a CRAZY
background & they're very open about it.... it blows my mind. And it
testifies of the reality of the Atonement - lives can change!! It's so so
awesome :)
On Friday we
went to dinner with a part-member family, and Sister P opens the door and says
"I have been waiting all week for this!" haha it was just so cute,
she didn't even say hello :) We also contacted a less-active/part-member family
in that same area... they're from Mexico so they're most comfortable in Spanish
but they speak & understand English pretty well. Well, I know about 3
phrases in Spanish, but I understood quite a bit (which was a pleasant
surprise) when they were talking to their kids in Spanish. And I used 1/3 of my
Spanish to say "What's your name?" and then the Dad asked me (in
Spanish, so I'm guessing) "Oh, you speak Spanish?" "Um.......
pocito??? (a little bit?)" haha. Anyways, I wish I'd taken Spanish in High
School. Even though I'm not speaking a foreign language on my mission, I really
wish I knew another language. Also, I'm trying to learn a few phrases in
Hmong...... HAHAHA just guess how that's going haha. Yesterday at church I
greeted a Hmong sister - "Nao Jong!" and she starts going off in
hmong and I'm just like uhh... and then the hmong-speaking Elders laughed and
said she was like "oh you speak hmong!" and then they told her that I
didn't....... anyways. That's not that interesting of a story hahaha sorry :)
Oh - mouse update. It's dead. We trapped it. IT WAS HORRIBLE. EW. YUCK. this is
why they did not send me to the philippines hahah. SO HORRIBLE EW.
Okay... now for
spiritual stuff. Actually, first, I just have to say how much I love this ward.
So many couples here are just AWESOME examples of how a Gospel-centered family
should be, and the Spirit is so strong in their homes. They have family home
evening; they love each other & their kids; their homes and lives are
centered on Christ; they're unselfish & willing to do anything it takes to
build up the kingdom of God. It's AWESOME :) :) It's such a privilege to work
here. I just hope we can work hard enough and be obedient enough to help this
ward the way they deserve :) Also, we had dinner last night with the M's! Their
oldest is a daughter, and then they have two sons -- Nathan and Jacob!! so
that's pretty fun :) :)
Something I've
been thinking about in my scripture study lately is the youth theme for 2013 -
"Stand in Holy Places & Be Not Moved." I've been reading 2 Ne
23:13 / Heb. 12:26-29 / D&C 87:8 / 2 Ne 28:19 / 2 Ne 9:40 and thinking that
you could also phrase that, IF you stand in Holy Places, THEN you will not be
moved! kind of interesting. let me know what you think :)
SO - Stake
Conference. SO SO GOOD. One of the speakers pointed out that in Alma 22:15,
when King Lamoni's father says that he will give away his whole kingdom to know
God, Aaron (the missionary) has already done that exact thing! He gave up his
kingdom to go & serve the Lord. it made me think (again) about how we can't
ask anyone to do something that we haven't done ourselves. We can't help
someone to become converted beyond our own conversion. :) Just pretty cool I
thought :)
THEN Elder
Dallin H. Oaks was the concluding speaker. He said there's been an increase of
10,000 missionaries over the past 6 months. !!! He emphasized that more and
more wards & branches will be getting 2 & 3 sets of missionaies,
instead of just 1. We're going to have to rely more & more on the finding
efforts of the ward council and on the leadership of the ward mission leader
(that's kind of what the 2nd link talks about). He also slammed home that EVERY
member is going to need to be a missionary, and bulleted our responsibilities.
1st, Pray for help. Then, talk to friend about religion. Bear testimony.
Provide reading material. And invite your friends to church :) He also gave 4
things we can do to help less-active members - 1. be their friend; 2. listen
& seek to understand their concerns; 3. help them feel God's love by
showing them their eternal possibilities; and 4. help them feel that they can
change. That's just from my notes so that's not 100% accurate but it's pretty
close :) He also emphasized that the MEMBERS must lead out in this rescue
effort. AH SO GREAT. :) :)
He also told
the jacket story hahaha. that was fun :)
Anyways, it's
been a pretty great week :) I'm still adjusting to a new companion & area,
but it's been pretty good :) I love you guys so much!! I hope to hear from you
soon.... you're the best :)
love, love,
love,
Sister Cece
Proffit :)
xoxoxoxoxxoxoXOXOXOxxoxoxooo
x :)
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