nyob zoo! hej nyob li cas?

that's "hello! how are you?" in hmong.... i think hahaha maybe the elders are pulling a fast one on us ;) i have no idea how to say it haha i though hello was "nao jong" so shows how much i know ;) boy do i have some funny & awesome hmong stories for you this week! i love the hmong people!!

 

one thing i forgot to mention about the Hmong culture is that they have shamanistic beliefs.... so for example, one time we went to visit a sister whose son just got baptized, she lives with her whole extended family in a little house, they have these little paper dolls on the door, i don't know what they're for but if we see them on a door we're not supposed to tract it because it means they're hmong. there's also a huge (HUGE) shrine in the house that's really pretty and has little dishes and pictures and things on it... and the door also had like corn husks & honeycomb? i think? something like that.... way interesting! i think it would be hard to be not only the only members in the home, but the only CHRISTIANS. J & S are awesome though, & the ward & the hmong-speaking elders do awesome work with them. J is a Relief Society teacher! so awesome :)

 

Other things I learned this week..... my name in Hmong! "Ntxhais Txib Muaj Txiaj!" it's pronounced "nt-sigh t-see(b) moo-uhj t-sigh-j" ..... or something...... hahaha Elder Y taught me. "Elder" is tub txib, sounds like "toot-sie" and means "son servant" ntxhais txib means daughter servant! (isn't that so cool?) & muaj txiaj means "prophet" (ha ha ha...) so that's cool. you have to have an old hmong lady "adopt" you & give you a hmong first name... i'm still working on that haha ;)

 

other cool things... so basically last district meeting turned into a tracting support group hahaha since we all had really bad weeks, numbers-wise.... so lame. but, Elder Green (DL) shared something that I really loved -- "disiples of Christ learn how to do hard things, & later learn that they weren't as hard as they thought." :)

 

Tuesday night we had dinner with the Y and... guess what? i love them!! they are just SO amazing and so so GOOD. just one of those families that truly keeps their temple covenants & gives everything they have & are to this gospel & to the Church of Jesus Christ. UGH. SO SO GOOD. & so cute!! they live all the way out in Neenah (since they're hmong.... the ward boundaries are weird, it's like appleton & a few other cities if you're white, and then ALL the hmong people in the fox valley, which is huge) so they have to drive like 30 minutes to the church building & even farther to do home & visiting teaching & ward meetings etc etc etc but they never ever complain!! they're just... awesome. so GOOD. & goodness is severely underrated i think. it's nice to be funny & smart & whatever, but GOOD... i just wanna be good. <3 i've met so many great examples of gospel families on my mission & i love it. <3

 

i would now like to share with you a parable called... the parable of me never getting any letters hahaha. so over the past two p-days i've sent out like..... 13 or 14 letters haha and i've recieved like 3. one of which was from mySELF haha since i got nathan's address wrong. so the parable goes like this...... sometimes you send out TONS of letters (put forth tons of work) and never see any results that week..... or the next week.......... but you just do everything you can! and write everyone you have an address for! and then write a parable in your next letter home about never getting letters so people will send you mail...... ;) haha just kidding. it just went well with our tracting support group district meeting about how sometimes you have weeks where you just put forth TONS of effort & see NO immediate results..... but then out of nowhere you get miracles! & they don't even seem related to all the work you were doing, but the Lord knows when you're doing your best & I know that He blesses us with miracles & that He loves us :) & i'm just kidding about the letters hahah it's fine ;)

 

Scripture chain for the week...... Jacob 5:20-23 & Alma 26:36-37. God always knows where we are! & He knows where His children who are ready for the gospel are! :) Also, 1 Nephi 17:13. "ye shall know it is by ME that ye are led" or something like that :)

 

Last Wednesday we had an amazing exchange with Fond du Lac... I was with a Sister who's only been out 4 weeks! (she was in the MTC with nathan!) She taught me a lot about persistance when ALL of our early afternoon appointments cancelled... that's like the worst time ever for contacting but we did it anyways! even though no one was home! we tried the next people over and over and over and over for hoursssss and finally we just drove down a street, pulled over, and she was like "let's knock that door!" WELL P (had a nametag) answered smoking a cigarette with a pack of them in his pocket, we introduce ourselves, he says he has his own church, which usually makes me want to back down, but Sister H was like "well have you heard of the Book of Mormon?" & gives him one and it turns out he's met with missionaries before! and only stopped because he got busy, & he's willing to have them come back!! so that was an AWESOME lesson on persistance. & when I asked if we could pray with him he was like "well i gotta go..." but then he bowed his head & let us say a quick prayer haha we just gotta be more persistant! our message is SO SO IMPORTANT!! alsooooo we asked for referrals from EVERYBODY and got so many!!! it was awesome!! a miracle! & we met these awesome people who are so willing to change, we taught them the plan of salvation & they just LOVED it and gave us like half a dozen referrals afterwards haha. it's so so effective to lay out the plan of salvation, invite the Spirit, let everyone feel how important & amazing this is, and then ask "Whom do you know that we could teach this to?" they LOVE it & they gave us so many manes haha it was awesome. So basically, Sister H is amazing & I LOVED the exchange :) (i put more in my journal.... it's so hard to get everything down in an email!!!)

 

Then on Thursday we were at Sister B's house for our weekly Book of Mormon reading session (she loves it!! she's less active and her daughter is a "dnc" that we're ignoring hahah) & her son-in-law (he's always teasing us) said to watch out because he's going to start "Wade's Discount Church of Present-day Saints" hahahaha with 5% tithing - all the blessings, half the price! it's like a 50% off church..... hahaha. hmmmm... now what's the problem with that? hahah ;) too funny.

 

Also, I ate stinky cheese lasagna. & it was delicious hahah.

 

AND THEN. okay. the most amazing relief society birthday party!!! Sister J K was in charge & I love her. Everyone brought a dessert from their heritage (hmong desserts = SUPER YUMMY) & then some people told their stories of their heritage & how they came into the church. so amazing!! okay but first i have to tell you about K.... I LOVE HER!!! remember a few weeks ago we went to visit some hmong members who speak english, but they weren't home, but the gramma was? that's K, & she only speaks Hmong & we only speak English but she is my BEST FRIEND hahaha EVERY TIME she sees us she just laaaaaaughs and laaughs and laughs & hugs us & laughs & holds our hands & laughs until she cries & covers her face with her hands hahaha she thinks it's the funniest thing!! & i just love her!! she's the best haha pssshh who cares about the language barrier?? she's awesome & we love her so so much :) :) the best is when we can tell that she's making fun of the way we mispronounce the hmong words hahahaha heyyyy!! sooooooooo funnyyyyyyyyyyy :) :) :) love her.

 

so 2 of the older Hmong ladies, K & Brother Y's mom N L, shared their stories. (Elder Y translated.) WOW. just wow. I was telling Joseph, Hmong people come from Laos & they helped us in the Vietnam war so they were hunted & chased out their country into Thailand (i think) & then to the U.S. Brother & Sister Y were both born in Laos. K told about the hardship she's endured in her life as a farmer in Laos & how her mother died when she was a baby & she was left alone her whole life, her dad didn't take care of her & she was just alone to farm & take care of herself. she bore her testimony about how now, having the gospel in her life, she knows that she is never alone. so amazing. i didn't know what she was saying but i could still feel the spirit of her words. so hard to imagine what her life used to be like. then N L, Brother Y's mom, shared her story, & WOW. She told that when she was young she lived with her brother & sister-in-law & learned a song about "God loves me, God loves me" but then moved back in with her parents & never heard any more about God. When she was married the situation in Laos became very bad & she told her husband she wanted to leave but he said they wouldn't have any food and besides, they had no potential so they might as well just stay there & die. (!!!) But N L knew that her sons had potential, so she moved her family out of Laos & sewed & sewed to make money so that her family could eat. Shortly after they arrived in America, her husband died & then one of her sons died, and she went into a deep depression where she didn't sleep for 3 years. people would come & try to get her to learn about their church but she didn't want to. her son S (s-t... brother y) invited her to his church (LDS) but she said they he'd have to wait for her to pass away to get her into a church. but then she met the missionaries and she felt the Spirit and knew that it was true, that God loved her. It was so incredible to hear her testimony.... I couldn't understand it (Elder Y translated every few sentences) but I could feel the Spirit as she was talking. amazing. She said that now we are her family, and she's grateful for all the trials in her life because they've brought her here, to have the gospel in her life, and she just wants her grandsons (s & e) to serve missions <3 so so so amazing. what a legacy of faith. she bore her testimony at the end that the church is true. "keep the commandments. pay your tithing. keep the commandments." there was a quote that always made her emotional that i don't think i got down right but it was something like "choose righteousness & walk away from evil, and the sun will always shine on your face." anyways that was amazing. & there were so many other amazing things from that night that i'll have to write down later because i'm running out of time!! but the moral of the story is who cares about the language barrier!! & i love the hmong people!! :) :)

 

We went to visit another Hmong family on Friday & watched the Mormon Message "He Lives" with them (so good! ) & then afterwards the mom bore her testimony to her son...... we taught about the resurrection & how we all get our bodies back, which was news to him, & he was like, "well how will i know where my family is??" hahaha so his mom said he'd just have to follow Jesus Christ, & said but what if i get lost? & she said -- "Jesus is the Light of life! If you follow him you will never walking in darkness! That's like turning on the light & saying, "what if i can't see?" of course you can see!" hahaha. such an awesome testimony! i love it :)

 

Also Sister M is a champion visiting teacher...... we were visiting with Sister B, who she VT's, and she was telling us how Sister M had invited her to be the "grandma" for her little kids (nathan & jacob! so fun) at grandparents day :) & i just thought that was awesome :) also we read Alma 44 with Sister B & she said "oh my G-d he scalped him??" hahahaha yep! hilarious :)

 

other things...... I wish I spoke Spanish!!!! everyone....... take a foreign language in high school. learn a foreign language haha i WISH i had!!! Also, learn to play the hymns!! or at least conduct them!! i'm so so so so glad I know how to play the piano, it's been such a service to the ward here & it feels so good just to be able to offer to help if they don't have anyone to play the piano & to be able to play whatever they ask. so thanks mom!!! haha :) I'm playing the piano for the ward hmong choir next sunday!! we're singing "come unto Jesus" & it's awesome :) :)

 

so basically, life is awesome :) I love being a missionary!! Can't believe this transfer is almost over already....... wow. where has the time gone??? i love you all SO SO much!!!!! I'm SO grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that through Jesus Christ we can overcome ALL weaknesses & truly become new. I know that He is with us every day. I know that His Gospel is truly the only path to enduring peace & happiness. I know that, & I'm so grateful for that :) Also......... have you heard??????? God has again called a prophet!!! yeah, it's true!! there's a living prophet again on the earth, who leads us & guides us & SPEAKS WITH GOD & tells us how to have lasting, enduring happiness!!! just like in the Bible!!! it's true!!!! tell your friends!!!! hahaha.... but seriously though. general conference is the most AMAZING thing!!!!!!! everyone needs to know about it!!! we have a PROPHET again!!!!!!!!!!!! truth is restored!!!!! the priesthood is on the earth again!!!!!!!!!!!! hallelujah, amen!!!!!!!!!!!! so tell all your friends :) :) :)

 

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/invite-others?lang=eng

 

:)

 

I love you!!! You're the best :) Keep writing me letters! haha xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

 

 

SISTER PROFFIT :) :) :)

18 March 2013

WELL this was a crazy week!! First of all, last week at Walmart someone stopped us and asked me where I got my shoes........ I was wearing my classic "sister missionary" shoes hahaha it just made me laugh.

Two member stories this week........ one horrible, one awesome haha. :)

soooooooo last Wednesday was exchanges, so I went up to Green Bay! (I always almost type "green bey!" since that's how everybody says it haha). it was fun, i got to work with a sister who's still being trained, we volunteered at St. Vincent's (thrift store), which i loved, we got to work check out so i just talked and talked to everybody about their families and "oh this is so cute!" and lalala, it was way fun :) AND a dream came true - someone used the phrase "yous two"!!! hahaha i about died. "are yous two sisters?" haha. loved it. the accents are even stronger in green bay, if you can believe it :) okay but now for the horrible story....... we went to a member's house for dinner, their daughter had JUST been released from her mission, like we were there for her release. which was kinda weird.... but cool? whatever. anyways, it was just a super weird situation, we were there for like a family dinner? with a less-active sister and her nm fiance? and it was just super weird, i don't even know these people... and without going into too much detail since i don't really like to remember it haha basically there was a huge expectation miscommunication and we got CHEWED OUT like hardcore by the mom for inviting the family to think about someone they could share the message of Jesus Christ with hahaha like CHEWED. OUT. it was sooooo awkward! she was way embarrassed that we would do that in front of her less-active/non-member family i guess. but it's what we're trained to do..... she just wanted a "Christ message" but uh we don't really do that haha. soooo that was horrible haha. luckily i was on exchanges and i never have to go back there again!! haha. ew. so horrible. basically the lesson i learned was to always clarify the member's expectations for your visit BEFORE you go over there hahaha. there's a huge culture shift that has to happen in the church... people have to go from thinking that the missionaries come over for dinner and a "spiritual thought" (ew) to the missionaires coming over primarily to help them in their missionary efforts. food is whatever... we get $155 every month for food. we don't NEED you to feed us. it's way nice of you, and it's an awesome service! but that's NOT our primary purpose for coming over. and we don't do spiritual thoughts hahaha we ALWAYS always invite people to repent and to do something and change because of our visit. soooooo that's a change that's gotta happen, and there's going to be some awkward moments along the way haha.

so that was... horrible. haha. so we went home to get ready to end echanges and i just felt ICKY. so i decided to pray (now there's an idea! haha) and it was kind of cool, just praying and thinking of the words to "did you think to pray?" and as i was praying i could picture so clearly Jesus with His arm around me, rubbing my back and helping me to feel better, and i just felt like i was leaning on His shoulder, and knowing that He's been through everything I have and He overcame and provided a way for me to do the same, and when I was done praying I could still imagine Him going with me where ever I went with His arm around my shoulder :) So that was nice. and I love that hymn "did you think to pray" now haha :)

Something I've been thinking about a lot lately... and I'm not sure if I've already written home about this but whatever... is the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how He's been in every situation that we're ever in and He has overcome it all... every sin, every temptation, every bad habit, personality trait, awkward situation.... EVERYTHING that would keep us from returning to the presence of God and living in complete JOY with Him forever, Jesus Christ has overcome. and because He's overcome, He's provided a way for Me to do the same - and that way is through Him! it's just awesome the strength He gives us to do the impossible... to forgive, to let go, to CHANGE... ahhhh. it's INCREDIBLE. <3 i know i'm not explaining it very well haha but it's just the greatest. :)

Now for the awesome member experience! :) last Monday night we went and had family home evening / dinner with the A****S who I've decided i LOVE FOREVER <3 <3 They're so awesome haha it's the Bishop's family and their SIX daughters 10-newborn. It's awesome. They both served missions in Provo Utah haha and their family is awesome. I'm overusing that word I know haha. anyways they're the best, their 4 year old did not stop talking the ENTIRE time we were there hahaha. they all got to ask us a question at dinner and we had to answer for our companion, but E***** just kept telling us a story about preschool when it was her turn to talk haha. So that was awesome.... they're just SUCH a great family and they love missionaries and missionary work. it's the best. K**** (the oldest) once had a friend over and they decided to play "sister missionary" so they dressed up and knocked on the front door and gave a schpiel about the Book of Mormon and invited their Dad to activity days haha. they were going to do the other doors on the street but their dad decided maybe they'd better ask her friend's parents first haha. anyways, they're just the best. we taught the family home evening lesson - after "i love yous," where one person says what they love about every other person in the family, and "spotlight," where K****** (the toddler) played the piano and then yelled out "SING!" so we all sang along...... hahaha. we asked what they had done that week to be like Jesus and the older girls all told stories about being friends to the friendless that were really inspiring.... kids these days. who even are you??? how are you so Christlike???? it was awesome. and we invited them to read a chapter from Preach My Gospel and K**** raises her hand (she's the most polite and helpful child i have EVER met) and says "thank you for telling me about this; i'm really excited to read it now!" haha. aaaaand she asked for our autographs hahaha <3 love. i just LOVE this family. :) :)

the work here is good.... it's going pretty slow right now, we're doing a lot of "finding" and that's fun...... haha. this week there were lots of people not home when we went to contact them, or busy or whatever, which is frustrating... but we'll go back this week and try again! haha we've been trying to use smarter finding techniques and a lot of them are kind of the slow process type... like finding through members and all that. but it'll be better in the long run! we put in our best efforts now, and the Lord gives us miracles later :) i know that's true -- i've seen it before! we've just got to keep putting in our best best hardest effort right now, which can be hard when we're not seeing immediate results haha. but it'll be good :) Sister Ross only has like 17 more days!! crazy!!

ALSO - this is hilarious (to me) - we've been asked to help break down the cultural barrier between the Hmong people and the Cauasian and Hispanic people, so we're trying to go visit more Hmong people but only like 3 of them speak English haha. Sooo we drive out to this Hmong members house kind of by us, and we knock on the door and this oldddddd old Hmong gramma just lets us right in! and we figure out pretty fast that she does NOT speak ANY English hahahaha it was just the most hilarious thing, i had NO idea what she was saying and she had no idea what we were saying but she was just SMILING and LAUGHING and it was crazy.... hahaha. Sister Ross knows how to say "goodbye!" in Hmong and i know how to say "hello!" (kind of.....) so we basically just said hello! and then asked the little hmong children if mommy or daddy was home and they said no and that they didn't know when they'd be back and then we said "goodbye!" and the Hmong gramma went on and on and on and we all just laughed and then left hahaha. She was so nice!! it was so crazy and funny!! hahaha. we saw her at church yesterday and i waved and she smiled and laughed hahaha ohhh boy she probably thinks we're just crazy hahah :) :)

Sooooo that was pretty much the week! it was a good one! it always is! This is God's work! :) :) the man in the computer lab at the library right now is singing along to his headphone music and it is CRACKING me up hahaha too funny :) yea, public libraries!! ;) oh - we got a new Relief Society President! So sad - I love Sister M*****! the whole ward does! Sister N***** will be great..... she's so young! she's only a few years older than me!! craziness.... it's exciting! it's crazy! i love the Gospel!! :) :) oh - & since they translate everything at church into Hmong we have to speak slowly.... haha guess how well that's going for me ;) it's pretty fun when the talks are in Hmong and the Elders translate :)

The Church is true!! I love you!! rhyme time all the time....... okay i'm done now haha :) :)

love you guys!!!!!!!!!

xoxoxoxoxoxo

SISTER PROFFIT :) :)

Joshua 3:5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you. :)

. Okay, so this is everything I know about Hmong people. They're from Laos, they helped us during the Vietnam war and because of that they were hunted down by their own government and so they had to escape and come to America. They came as refugees here and there are only a very few left. They mostly live here, in Minnesota, and in Sacramento. Some of the older Hmong people have the craziest stories about leaving Laos and Taiwan (I think...) and coming here. They gave up and sacrificed a lot to help America in the Vietnam war. It just blows my mind. We're going to Brother S*** and M***'s house for dinner tomorrow and they're making Pho! (fuh) Hooray! :)

 

i'm SO EXCITED for General Conference I can hardly wait!!!!!!!!! Hey here's a question for you all -- how can the missionaries best help the members to be finders? instead of just pestering and asking for referrals? what would be a more productive and helpful way to help you all? will you ponder that & get back to me? that'd be great :) :) chocolate cheese is BIZZARE hahah i can't even handle it :) :) yep, do not contacts are dumb. if they're more than a couple years old.... whoops! we "forgot"! hahah. :)

i love you alll!!! so so much :) :) the church is true!! I know that it is. and i KNOW that Jesus Christ lives!! and that He is our Savior & Redeemer! & the God of the whole earth :) (3 Ne 11:14)

xoxoxoxoxox

 

SISTER CECE PROFFIT :) :) :)

 

Mormon Messages - Power of God. so so good!! that one and "stay within the lines" and "sanctify yourselves".... ahh. get me EVERY. TIME. watch em!!

 

quick book of mormon sharing before the computer shuts off -- 2 Ne 31:3. Jacob 4:12. Jacob 4:13.

1st 3 lines - jacob 2:10

also the 1st part of jacob 1:7

i'm so worried the computers about to shut off hahaha

11 March 2013

 

Notice

Date: February 27, 2012

To: General Authorities, Area Seventies, and Mission

Presidents

From: Missionary Department (801-240-2222)

Subject: Adjusted Missionary Email Policy

Missionaries are to write to their families each week and are also authorized to communicate

by email with friends, priesthood leaders, and new converts. Mission presidents should allow

sufficient time on preparation day for missionaries to write emails and letters. While in the

mission field, missionaries should receive authorization from the mission president before

entering into communication, including via email, with converts and others of the opposite gender within the mission boundaries (see Missionary Handbook, 36–37).

:) can you pass the word on? :)

 

Oh I wanted to tell you - we had an experience with a potential investigator family calling us and asking us for financial help that was really crazy and intense..... it's hard to not be able to just give people money, but it really strengthened my testimony of the order of the church and how everyone has a stewardship and doing things in the Lord's way is really the best... we were able to get in contact with the Bishop of the other ward actually, who has stewardship over church welfare for transient people (they live in a motel right now) and he taught us what we should do, and this family (that we still haven't met face to face...) were able to get a ride to church, stay for all 3 hours, meet with the Bishop's counselor, recieve copies of the Book of Mormon, and now we have an appointment with them for next Wednesday! so who knows how it's all going to shake out, it was really really stressful & all the responsibility gave me a lot of anxiety haha, but it definitely strengthened my testimony of the order of the Church and in doing things the Lord's way :)

Being a missionary is like being a spy because we drive around to all these houses and try to discover if they're home and take notes and memorize addresses and write down everything that happens with people and report back to the ward council and it's just really fun and spy-like hahaha i love it :)

Yep we reset the trap and caught another mouse.... ew. horrible. we reset it again and now we're hoping we didn't catch a mommy and daddy mouse that have baby mice somewhere.... ew, yuck. the people here say it happens a lot during the cold weather, little critters get inside. ew, yuck!

yeah I've been noticing that theme in other Book of Mormon scriptures I've been reading - the world is rocky and shakey and we need to stand in holy places so that we will not be moved! hmm I like that too, that the philosophies of man are shakey but true doctrine is firm :)

This is the jacket story: http://www.lds.org/ensign/2002/06/singles-in-the-ward-family?lang=eng&query=stargazing+club+jacket :)

Last conference was SO SO good, i just can't wait for the upcoming one, it's going to blow us away I feel haha

The Atonement is.... incredible. This story http://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/03/you-are-free?lang=eng from this months Ensign is incredible... this part blew me away

"Years ago I presided in a Church disciplinary council. The man whose sins were the subject of the council sat before us and related something of his history. His sins were indeed serious, but he had also been terribly sinned against. As we considered the matter, my soul was troubled, and I asked to be excused to think and pray about it alone before rejoining the council.

I was standing in front of a chair in my office pleading with the Lord to help me understand how such evil could have been perpetrated. I did not see but rather sensed an immense pit with a covering over it. One corner of the covering was lifted slightly for just an instant, and I perceived within the pit the depth and vastness of the evil that exists in this world. It was greater than I could really comprehend. I was overcome. I collapsed into the chair behind me. The experience seemed to take my breath away. I cried silently, “How can we ever hope to overcome such evil? How can we survive something so dark and overwhelming?”

In that moment there came to my mind this phrase: “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Seldom have I felt such peace juxtaposed with the reality of evil. I felt a deeper appreciation for the intensity of the Savior’s suffering and had a better, even frightening, appreciation for the depth of what He had to overcome. I felt peace for the man who was before us for judgment, knowing he had a Redeemer, whose grace was sufficient to cleanse him and also repair the injustices he had suffered. I knew better that good will triumph because of Jesus Christ, whereas without Him we would have no chance. I felt peace, and it was very sweet."

The depth and the breadth of the Atonement are incomprehensible... and real. :)

fun to have Sisters in the stake! Any more on the way? :)

It's starting to feel like spring here too! it's been above freezing for the past few days haha :) lots of melting snow/ice, rain, birds singing... it's fun :) still tons of snow though!!

xoxox

Sister Proffit :) :)

well, well, well... another week down already!! crazy!!

Yesterday was a great Sabbath day... we got to attend Ward Council at 7am! which was really 6am! which was really early! haha but it was so so great, we watched segments from the Worldwide Leadership Training... have you watched that yet? it's super good! There was a great discussion in the Ward Council and the Spirit was very strong. We have a great, amazing Bishop in this ward. He's pretty young & travels a lot for work, but also does SO so much for this ward, AND he's funny & real :) He and his wife have SIX DAUGHTERS 10 & under, the baby is only a few months old. Such a great family; we're having dinner there tonight. Bishop was talking in Ward Council about his struggles in prioritizing God/family/employment/church, and he told a really touching story about having one-on-one time with L****, the 6 year old, and how instead of going to Chuck-e-cheese or something, they went to visit L R***, a elderly sister in the ward who is returning to activity and has just found out that she has congestive heart failure and probably only a few weeks left to live. On the drive out there (she lives in New London... like a 20-30 minute drive from Appleton), L**** colored a picture for her, and then they visited with Sister R*** for a while, and on the drive back L said "Dad, that wasn't even hard! that was fun!" (they have a club called the "hard things club"... not sure the details but i'll use my spy skills to find out) ;) It was really neat and a great example I think of this Bishop balancing and uniting his duty to God, family, & the Church. It's a privilege to be able to work so closely with such an amazing Bishop & Ward Council. We also went and visited Sister R*** and her granddaughter A***** this week... it's neat to be able to feel the peace in their home that comes because they know what comes next... it doesn't feel fearful or stressful, just very very peaceful. We had a very nice discussion about Alma 40:11-12 and what it means to be welcomed HOME. :) :) I love that.

Sacrament meeting was great as well, it was a Hmong missionary's homecoming! His mother spoke first, she bore her testimony in Hmong and one of the Hmong elders translated, which was cool. Then I spoke... I talked about a letter that Gramma Proffit had sent me that talked about how when they were living in Japan Dad and Uncle Robert were kind of obnoxious (imagine that..... ;) haha) and the Primary President came to their house and told Gramma that her kids were out of control and that the whole ward was concerned about how she was raising them etc etc - and Gramma wrote in the letter that that was the closet she had ever come to never going back to church. And when I read that it hit me so hard how grateful I am for the gospel of Jesus Christ - I never knew how close I came to not having it! I never knew how close I came to NOT having all these blessings in my life - being on a mission, being endowed in the temple, having an eternal family, a knowledge of the reality of God and Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon... all of that was almost not a part of my life. O.o. So I bore my testimony of how grateful I am for the small decisions that have brought me here to Wisconsin, decisions by Gramma to keep going to church, by Dad to gain a testimony of Jesus Christ & His Atonement, to serve a mission, by Mom to grow up in righteousness and love the Lord, for Mom & Dad to be sealed in the temple and honor the covenants they made there, and on and on and on... all the "small and simple" decisions that had led me to be right where I was - in a chapel of the Lord's church, in Appleton Wisconsin, as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, at 9:15 which was really 8:15. :) and I invited the congregation to think about the small decisions that had led them to be there as well. And I just bore my testimony of my gratitude for the gospel of Jesus Christ... and I might have almost cried...... and then I talked about how sometimes the joy of the gospel fades, but we're not the only people who have felt that way - last conference, Sister Dibb (President Monson's daughter!) talked about how "At different times in our lives... we may find that this vibrant enthusiasm has faded. Sometimes this happens when times are challenging and we must practice patience. Sometimes it happens at the peak of our prosperity and abundance. Whenever I have this feeling, I know I need to refocus my efforts on increasing my gospel knowledge and living gospel principles more fully in my life." and then I quoted parts of Elder Ballard talk "Bee Anxiously Engaged" {I always call it that cause it's about bees.... ha ha ha ;)} about how if we want to ingrain the love of God more fully in our hearts, we need to pray daily to be able to recognize opportunities to serve just one of God's precious children. and there's some nice apostolic promises in that talk that I shared too :) It went really well, which I was so grateful for because it was kind of a stressful week haha and I didn't feel really particularly prepared or inspiried and I didn't want to waste this opportunity to speak, and I'd been praying about what I could share with the Appleton 1st ward and nothing was really coming and it was stressful, but Saturday night I thought of Gramma's letter, and I'd already been thinking of Elder Ballard's talk, and Sunday during Ward Council the Spirit was very strong which helped me to know what to say... so I didn't have any notes written down, I just brought my Book of Mormon & my conference Ensign to the stand and bore my testimony. and I felt the Spirit, if no one else did haha. So that was a really great tender mercy this week :) and of course people did come up and say they appreciated what I said... which is always nice haha. So thank you Gramma! & all my grandparents, and mom and dad, for the choices you've made that have led me to be here now :) I'll never stop being grateful for you <3

And then the returning missionary spoke about the Atonement, which was lovely. He went to Minnesota on his mission hahaha he said "when I opened my call, I thought the prophet had sent me to the wrong mission!" (Minnesota is right next to Wisconsin... in case you didn't know :) ) But he loved his mission and said how grateful he was to have joined the church with his family. Hmong people really give up and sacrifice a lot to become members of the church... they have a very strong shaman tradition and a lot of them have never heard of Jesus Christ, and there's a lot of pressure to preserve their heritage since there aren't very many Hmong people and they've been through so much as a culture... lots of pressure not to become Christian. and there are so few of them it's hard to feel like you're a part of the ward. but they do, and they are, and it's awesome :)

This ward is so amazing and I feel so blessed to be able to work here and that I need to work extra super hard to deserve them!! they're so excited to share the gospel and so willing to help us in any way... the M*****'s even dropped off cookies at our house the other night while we were out haha and their little kids (B, N, and J!) made us cards that we hung on the fridge. So sweet :) We also had dinner with the Kings last night and they are AMAZING - he's the Ward Mission Leader, he's like 30 and she's maybe 27? they have the cutest little kids, K****** (5 almost 6) LOVES Primary and Jesus and her testimony, and they just have such a gospel-sharing home and a love for each other and the gospel. they're an amazing example to me :) :)

In other news... we drove past another Christian church and I read their little marquee or whatever -- "Jesus paid the price. You keep the change." :) I liked that :)

In other other news.... can I get Alison Ayubi's address? and Jaci Cummings'? and Ren's emails? :) and if you're ever looking for stuff to send me........ I LOVE reading the Ensign every month; sometimes I wish I got the New Era too! (hint, hint... hahaha). also music is always great :) the guidelines are in the missionary handbook... has to be consistant with my sacred calling, invite the Spirit, help me focus on the work, and direct my thoughts and feelings to the Savior. :) efy cds and stuff like that are great, contemporary Christian music..... the Prince of Egypt soundtrack?? haha anyways......... I just like music :) it's fun to listen to while we exercise or get ready in the morning or whatever. and it can be really powerful to invite the Spirit when we're having a frustrating day or just need to feel of God's love a little more. and who DOESN'T need to feel that? haha :)

Well that's pretty much it for this week... the other day Sister R*** & I were singing and I thought to myself, "is it more important for me to sing this right, or for us to sing it together?" and that's pretty much been the theme of things haha. it's working out pretty well :) thanks for your prayers -- please keep them coming!! :)

alsooooooo I'm allowed to email friends now! So you can give out my mission email address and people can email me if they want :) which will be really nice...... however I also LOVE getting mail and sometimes we plan lunch for around 2:30 so that we can be home and stalk the mailman........ yes. we stalk the mailman haha we love mail!!! so... all of the above are great haha :) i love mail! and email is also great and easy and cheap :) :) so. all of the above. hooray! :)

hey I missed getting the Book of Mormon sharing report this week! :) I'm still reading a page of the Book of Mormon every day... I read it once, then read it again looking up all the footnotes, then read it and mark it, then read it again. It's fun haha and I'm getting a LOT out of it. I'm getting such a greater understanding than I ever have before! especially of how the Book of Mormon connects, and ESPECIALLY of how it goes hand-in-hand with the Bible :) it's awesome! :) i get a way better understanding than before when I would just breeze right through it. This morning I was reading Jacob 1:4-8 and it hit how Jacob and Nephi and all of them knew what was going to happen to their descendants, and that's why they knew how important writing the Book of Mormon was! they knew it was going to play a KEY role in gathering scattered Israel & convincing everyone - Jew & Gentile - that Jesus is the Christ!! 2 Ne 25:23, 26; 1 Ne 6:4; 2 Ne. 15:17; 2 Ne 26:12; 1 Ne. 13:35-36, 39-40; 1 Ne. 15:13-14, etc etc etc :) :) it's awesome. :) So that's been fun...

What are you all learning from your scripture study these days? The other day Sister R*** and I read the entire book of Revelation during the "get-ready-for-bed" time... haha. It's actually pretty great. lots of good stuff in there :)

So that's been the week! I hope to hear from you all soon!! I miss you tons and love you so so much -- you're such good examples to me and I'm so glad we're a family :) love you so so much!!!!! I hope school's going well and all that :)

love, love, love

Sister Cece Proffit :) :)

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 :)