Gunnison 15 and 16

Merry Christmas!

Zone Conference was this week. It was great as usual. The entire thing was focused on Christmas.  I gave a training on how to have a more Christ centered Christmas. 

We have been showing everyone the Christmas video and we have been able to get in and see some less-active people because of it so that is awesome. 

We went caroling with the Harvey family and stopped by some members and less-active people that they know so we were able to meet them.  

Monique was in the hospital this week so we went and saw her and showed her the Light the World video.

The members of the branch are doing a great job fellow-shipping Shay. The Branch President invited the entire branch council that if they did not know her they have to find a way to meet her and introduce themselves.  

Something super exciting though is that a member moved into the Gunnison Branch yesterday and he is super on fire about missionary work so that is awesome. He got back from a mission about a year ago it is great.  

I hope you all have a great Christmas and don't forget to help light the world. 

[Letter is from this week, photo is from last week. She didn't have time to write a group email last week and didn't send any photos this week. Photo is Ana with a note made on the "honor your parents" day of Light the World. I can't read what is written on the side, but the middle says "I love you Mom and Dad". There is a picture of her in CO with hearts and dashed lines to us in MN and Isaac in Brazil. It's super cute, I love it :-)]

 

Gunnison 14

Last Night I Had A Dream I Was Drinking A Root Beer Float

We were watching the Christmas Devotional at the Seelbinders and Mark made us all root beer floats.  He said "Last night I had a dream I was drinking a root beer float; and look at me now, follow your dreams." 

This week was the Night of Lights.  That is were the entire town of Gunnison gets together and people have booths that line Main Street and at the end of the street there is a giant Christmas tree and Santa comes; at some point all the kids follow him and he lights the tree. The church had a booth and it was pretty close to the tree so that was awesome. We handed out a lot of pass along cards about the Christmas video.  We also had a little fire and people could roast marshmallows. 

It was also the Branch Christmas party this week.  We ended up singing Mary, Did You Know? with the Seelbinders.  The kids all did a little skit about what Christmas would have been like in the Americas.  

We had a lesson with Shay this week. We ended up teaching the 10 commandments and why we should live them.  

We were finally able to meet with Grace this week. Grace is a 13 year old girl who wanted to be baptized, but her mom does not think she is old enough to make that decision.  Grace really loves church and the gospel.  We started doing personal progress with her so she can still meet with the missionaries.   

I hope you all have a great week. 

 

[the link for "Christmas Devotional" links to the lds.org main page. Currently you can watch the video right on the main page. I don't know how long it will be up, maybe for the week. 

Ana may eye roll at the version I picked for "Mary Did You Know?", but some of the versions are pretty cheesy (imo), and I thought this one was pretty great.]

Gunnison 13

Gunnison for Christmas

Well I am staying in Gunnison for the next 6 weeks.  It will be an adventure and we will have to see how cold it gets.  

On Monday we met with a less-active named Monique. She is super great and is 19.  Her sister went on a mission so that is exciting.  She hasn't been to church in about a year and said she wants to start coming again. At the end of our lesson she said you know I was planning on not showing up tonight but I am glad I did.  

Shay is doing great. The Seelbinders had her over for our lesson and then they also had her over for Thanksgiving.  They are great fellowshipers.  Shay and Mark have very similar pasts and both struggle with anxiety and depression. Mark's testimony has really helped Shay realize how important the gospel is and that it can help. 

Our landlord's family had us over for Thanksgiving.  They are super great. 

The new church Christmas video came out. It is amazing everyone should watch it.  It is about 2 minutes and you can find it by just going on mormon.org 

I also sprained my ankle this week so that was exciting.  

I hope you all have a great week. 

 

[Part of Ana's letter to me because I asked her some related questions and thought maybe this could be inspirational to some:]

 In church on Sunday two sibling gave talks on being grateful in times of trial.  [one] said he was going to go a little different way and talk about a life experience.  He went on to say that on his mission he was assigned to go to Brazil.  When he was in the MTC he thought he got over his homesickness and all the emotions of a mission. He then went on to talk about how it was apparent that his Visa was not coming so he got reassigned to the Las Angeles mission to wait for his Visa.  While he was there he realized that he was not happy and not enjoying himself and he realized something was wrong about 5 months into his mission.  He ended up being diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety that meant the they were going to permanently reassign him to the Las Angeles mission.  He said that in all of that and with the help of a loving mission president, patient companions, and kind members and less-actives he was able to serve a full 2 year mission and it was an amazing experience. He never thought he would be able to finish.  He said when it was happening he felt abandoned but he knows now that he was never alone and the it is only because Heavenly Father loves him that he was able to do it. It was a super powerful story. 

There are a lot of missionaries that struggle with depression and anxiety and people are willing to work with it.  If [anyone] wants to serve a mission it is possible.  

[And this little "oh yeah, by the way" because I asked how her hike last week went cracked me up and I thought other moms might appreciate it:]

I sprained my ankle while hiking.  Other then that it was pretty good though.  If you get a notification about someone using your insurance that is why. 

I love you

Gunnison 12

Donny Osmond Really Knows How to Get Down to Business

He came in with the force of a great typhoon.

Well I think that was the highlight of my my week. Skyping with Donny; it was a blast. He really has a testimony like a coursing river.   He has a pretty good Minnesotan accent.  He was so happy he was able to join us for a lesson and he was very grateful we thought to Skype.  He has a son on a mission in Italy so he was happy that he can tell him about his missionary experience.  He talked about how it is a miracle that his son was even able to go on a mission because he had struggled with anxiety for a long time.  He talked about how the gospel had helped his son.  Then he also shared about how he gained his testimony of the book of Mormon.  It was super cool and the Spirit was so strong.  Shay ended up praying about a day to be baptized and Donny said he would come.  He ended up having to hang up because he was supposed to be on stage soon and his manager kept coming and telling him he needed to start getting ready.  It was a great lesson and probably one of the best ones I have had with Shay.  

The other member that we brought to the lesson (Sister Seelbinder), has started to fellowship her. She offered to pick up Shay for church and invited her to dinner. We are going to have a lesson in her home tomorrow. Sister Seelbinder thought it would be a good idea to have her over and to have her and Mark talk because it sounds like they have very similar pasts. I was going to send a picture of the lesson, but for some reason the member that took the photo says it won't send to my email so that is weird.  

I also got crazy sick the night before the lesson.  I had a fever of about 103 it was crazy.  I am doing okay now.  

I hope you all have a great week.

Gunnison 11

 We Made it On Time to Seminary

We were actually the first ones there, we were so proud of ourselves. We went to Seminary to give everyone in the class a Book of Mormon.  A week ago the class had a discussion about handing out copies of the Book of Mormon to their friends and not many of them had done it. We had dinner with the teacher last night and we talked about sharing the Book of Mormon with our friends and talking about it and she told us about the conversation with the class.  This morning we went to invite the class to write down their testimony of Jesus Christ in the front then pray about who they could give it to.  I figured I would just share a little bit of mine, since I committed all the seminary kids to share it with their friends I should probably do the same.  

I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ.  Through reading it I have come to know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and that he really did come to the earth and suffer and die for each of us.  I have felt Heavenly Father and Jesus's love for me.  I know that they know exactly what I feel and know how to help me.  I have learned that because of Christ I can feel happy even in trials.  I know that Heavenly Father loves all of his children all around the world.  

This week we went on exchanges I was with Sister Pond for a day.  She got to teach a Spanish lesson with me to Ruben.  We read a little bit of the Book of Mormon with him.  We talked about how sometimes God asks us to do hard things but if we have faith then we can do what he asks.  

Tuesday we had a lesson with Shay.  We talked about prayer and how if we pray then the Spirit can witness to us of the truth.  Also how we can ask for peace and comfort.  She turned to the Book of Mormon this week when she was having a bad day. She opened it to a random page and it was exactly what she needed.  She read Ether 15.  I had never before thought of that chapter as a comforting one.  It helped her realize that sometimes we do have to sleep on our swords in a sense because we need to always watch out. We also need to keep fighting until the end no matter what.  It was a new perspective. 

We got to help Claressa with service this week.  She is doing a craft fair. We helped her to make bird feeders and pine cones for starters. After we did service she let us share a message and we set up an appointment to go back, so we are now teaching Claressa again.

We taught Jared again this week. We taught him the restoration of the gospel.  We asked him to read the Book of Mormon so we will see if he does that.  

We saw the Heckers this week. We talked about Sabbath day observance. They also fed us dinner and brother Hecker taught us how to make a stew out of all food storage things.  That was exciting; he is supposed to get me the recipe.  

We also did service at the High School play. They did Willy Wonka.  We helped hand out tickets and concessions.  We got to talk to some of the cast so that was fun.  

I hope you all have a great week.

[a little extra from her letter reply to her dad:  In Gunnison we have zero snow right now.  On the mountain is Crested Butte, they have some.  I do like the snow I am excited for it.  I think the most exciting lesson we taught this week was that we were talking about the word of God and how we need to read it.  On the TV that was going that was not going to be turned off it started talking about the Book of Mormon so that was fun.]

Gunnison 10

100 Days More

JK Sister Carlson did the math wrong.  I was trying to figure out if I wanted to read the Book of Mormon another time before I get home how many pages I needed to read a day.  I did not want to figure it out though because then I would know how many days I had left and I did not want to know that.  Sister Carlson ended up doing the math for me and was like you have 100 days.  I was like the whole point of you doing this is so that I would not know how many days I have left. Now she wants to make a paper chain.  I agreed that we might be able to make one until February 15th when all the candy goes on sale from Valentines day.  We will see if it ends up happening.  We did find out that she did the math wrong though so that is good.

Last week Brother Richter our Branch Mission leader gave us some names to go try of less-actives.  A lot of them I had tried before but we decided to do it again. We have been able to see miracles. 

We got in contact with this Lady named Donna.  We had tried her last week and she told us that she was not interested.  We went back this week to try her again and she opened her door and was like I know who you are come in.  We went in and shared a scripture with her.  She mentioned that she really missed having the Sisters come over and the church.  

Another is named Doug and he was in the middle of chopping wood when we tried him but we were able to set up another appointment to teach the whole family.

We were also able to get in and see Sister Friedman again which was great.  

Shay is doing great. She didn't come to church again. She did tell us that she made a covenant with God that she would meet with us once a week though.

Jared ended up getting stuck doing a group project so we were not able to meet with him but hopefully this week. His Birthday was on Wednesday so we told him that he missed out because we might have brought him a treat or something. 

We had dinner with the Harveys this week. Which is always fun.  Anders and Alex had to tell me all about how badly the Gunnison High School band lost at state. They are still really bitter about it.  Anders is going to be drum major next year and is super excited about it.  They also all shared their missionary moments from the week with us.  Anders was telling his friend about the Book of Mormon and put one in his back pack so next time it comes up he can give one to her. It is always exciting to hear about the members' missionary moments.  

I hope you all have a fantastic week.  

Gunnison 9

WE ARE GOING TO A LAKE 

Well this week was Mark Seelbinder's birthday.  We decided to 'heart attack"* him.  We pulled it off. Sister Thompson told me that they always get caught.  It was a miracle that the dog did not bark. 

We were able to do a church tour with Shay this week.  She enjoyed it.  She also came to the Halloween party so that was amazing.  She didn't come to church but baby steps.  

We were able to teach Jared Jacobsen again this week. It was awesome.  We taught him about how Heavenly Father loves us and he sent Jesus Christ. We can trust Christ with anything.  It was a super good lesson.  We are hopefully going to go over and teach him again this week.  His best friend goes to USU and he goes there for every Thanksgiving and Christmas break.  

This week was our Branch Trunk or Treat and our land lord helped us decorate our car.  Her daughter Realynn came and helped us with our game at the trunk or treat and dressed as a Sister Missionary it was awesome. We were all going to be old ladies but then we were not aloud to dress up so she decided to come as a Sister Missionary.  

I hope you all have a fantastic week.  

[*"heart attack" is when they cover someone's door in lots of paper hearts]

Gunnison 8

Sister Carlson Knows Alex From Target 

We found another Spanish investigator this week her name is Alejandra.  She is great.  We talked about the book of Mormon with her and she said she wanted to read it.  

We met with Ruben and read a little of the Book of Mormon with him and talked about recognizing the Spirit.  

We got to see Shay this week and she is doing good.  She says she doesn't want to commit or make a promise to God that she might break.  We started to read the Book of Mormon with her because if she reads it then that is how she is going to get a testimony.  I also ended up promising her that if she reads the whole thing then by the time she gets to the end she will not want to smoke any more.  

This week was Train the Trainers and the Mission tour. That means that Tuesday morning we left for Grand Junction and then  we got back Wednesday evening.  The Mission Tour was great; Elder Gaverrett of the Seventy came and it was great.  It was a whole day of training and it was great.  We also got to spend Tuesday night with the Grand Mesa Sisters in Grand Junction.  Sister Crawford and I went on an exchange.  We found a new investigator named Leah and she is great. She was super excited to learn more about the gospel.  

There is a less-active guy named Chris who is moving here in January so we got to meet him and teach him a little this week.   

We have been giving everyone in Gunnison an invite to the Branch Halloween activity so we will see if anyone ends up coming.  

Random funny story of the week is that at the mission  tour we were all supposed to prepare a training. I was not called on but there was an Elder that got called on and he gave pretty much the same training that I had prepared. 

I hope you all have a great week.

Gunnison 7

Tomatos are Red, lettuce is Green, Welcome to Subway We're Fresh and Clean.

Well a miracle happened yesterday.  We were going to try someone then we remembered that a member had not showed up at church and we felt like we should go make sure she was doing okay.  While we were there we decided to try another member that was not at church that day first. They live in the same apartment complex.  As we were walking around the back we ran into Able.  We got to talk to him a little and that was good.  He said that he had been reading the Book of Mormon and that it has been "heavy" (when he says that he means it has been calling him to repentance) and he needs to meet with the missionaries.  He also is moving to California soon so we will have to hook him up with the missionaries there.  

We were finally able to meet with Shay again this week.  It went great.  She has been talking with Donny a lot about commitments and covenants. She wants to be baptized but is not really sure she can do it.  It was great because our lesson that day was all about covenants and commitments.  She already started keeping one of her commitments. She texted us to let us know that she read the chapter in the book of Mormon we wanted her to so that is great.  

Joe has officially gone to Lakewood.  He made it to church though before he left and that was the greatest.  We were so happy especially since one of the first things he said to the sisters was that they could teach him but he would never be attending a church meeting so don't bother with that.  He looked so happy.  We also were able to have one last lesson with him before he left.  We talked about the atonement and how we can be forgiven of anything if we look to the Savior.  

We went to Young Womens yesterday and it was great. We talked about having a grateful attitude and how miracles and things to be grateful for happen every single day and we need to find them.  It was great.  

Brother Seelbinder wrote me a song on his a guitar and it was pretty great. I told him I need to get a video of it. 

This week we went with the Barretts to Subway for dinner.  Brother Barrett is the band professor at the college.  Both of the people working decided to write him a song on the spot and that was also pretty good. (It's my email subject line)

Oh also, my companion's name is Sister Carlson.  She is from Dallas Texas.  She worked as a life guard.  Yay for pool staff.  She is great and super fun to be around.  She is super "excited" to spend winter in Gunnison.  Another miracle was that she did not bring winter stuff and we were able to get permission to buy some in Montrose after district meeting on Thursday.  We were like okay we are going to stay focused and only get what we need then leave.  We were able to go to Target and as soon as we walk in there were the hats and gloves. Then we walked around the corner and there were the boots; we didn't even have to look for things it was great. I think it might have been the fastest Target trip ever. 

Gunnison 6

It's Snowing!!!

Yep it is snowing outside right now so that is super exciting.

Well, transfer news came and I will be staying in Gunnison and training a new missionary.  

We ended up finding a Spanish investigator this week.  We taught him The Restoration* and he loved it.  I really didn't know what was going on but it was great.  Since Sister Thompson is leaving a member has agreed to translate for us so we will see how it goes. 

We have been trying to contact this less active guy named Jared. We finally were able to meet with him this week so that was awesome.  He is not really interested in coming back but said we could come teach him the lessons if we want.  We are hoping that the lessons might re-kindle his testimony.  His best friend also goes to Utah State so that is cool.  

I got to go on another exchange in Uncompahgre which was super exciting.  

Shay is still on bed rest but she did watch conference which was awesome.  

The older Nelsons decided to bring waffles back so that is amazing.  

I hope you all have a great week.

 

[*Two video links for The Restoration: "Apostasy and Restoration" and "The Restoration"]

Gunnison 5

HOMECOMING 2.0

This time we lit the W on fire.  Actually we just watched as it was lit on fire but still it was cool. 

This week we were going to invite Shay to watch conference.  She has been put on bed rest so it has been hard to meet with her. We didn't get the chance to stop by so Saturday night we texted her about it.  She responded back that Donny had already told her about it and to watch it.  He beat us to the punch.  She ended up having unexpected company though so she was not able to watch it. 

This week I went on exchanges in Uncompahgre and that was a blast.  I was able to teach Mike and Mitch. I also was able to see some of the members.  It was a great day.  

Joe is doing great. He is probably the most progressing person we are teaching right now.  He has been reading his scriptures and is super excited to come to church next Sunday.  

General Conference was amazing.  I am so grateful that there are living prophets today. 

Gunnison 4

 

 

 HOMECOMING WEEK!!!!

Shout out to Anders Harvey for getting the marching band to take a picture with me.  The band might all think I am crazy, but they all know who the Sister Missionaries are now so that is great. I accidentally forgot my camera so you will all get the picture next week. 

Shay is doing great. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she loved it.  She has been praying and says that she is starting to know that it's true which is weird [to her] because she has met with the missionaries before but for some reason this time it is different.  She still has not made it to church but wants to.  She says it is strange that Donny will text her or have a conversation with her about what we are going to teach her next before it happens.  I don't think that I have ever prayed that "Donny Osmond could continue to be a great example and keep being a great missionary" before so that is fun.

We had an interesting experience with Able this week.  We had some great lessons and he felt the Spirit.  He said that he could feel it and knows what he needs and wants to do.  On Friday we went back and his entire attitude had changed, the Spirit was definitely no longer there, and that was weird. 

Also Mark Seelbinder blessed that sacrament for the first time yesterday.  He got baptized in April I believe.  He got up and shared his testimony on how much joy the gospel had brought him. This Sunday marked a year since he had come to church for the first time. 

Zone Conference was this week. As always, it was fantastic.  President Gifford gave a training on Mission Rules. He talked about how so many people always ask why missionaries have so many rules.  We talked about why the church has rules. He mentioned that as we stay in the church and learn and grow then the more responsibilities we have. The guidelines we have now are helping prepare us for guidelines in the future. There are so many church handbooks of things to do.  We read scriptures on why it was important that there were rules and expectations.  It was a very interesting training. 

Also Women's session of General Conference was amazing.  Everyone should go watch it if you have not.  

I hope you all have a great week. 

[link to Plan of Salvation is to a video this time since I think I've shared the link to the lesson a couple times already]

Gunnison 3

I Can See My Breath!

We taught Shay this week. She is doing great. We taught her a little more about The Restoration and she thought it was great.  

 The Heckers are doing great.  We taught them about prophets. They are going to be thinking of some questions to think about during conference.

We also are teaching this less-active man named Joe. He is super cool.  He makes masks and belts then sells them.  He signed a contract to sell his masks in Crested Butte for another few weeks on Sunday. This week he said after that he really wants to start coming to church again so that is fantastic. 

We had an amazing lesson with Able the other day.  The Alarcon's came and they are great.  He said that he knows it is true.  He is going to meet with President Hall on Saturday and see what he needs to do so he can be baptized.  He also has been doing missionary work and has started to stand up for what he believes so that is amazing. 

Sad waffle news.  The family that does waffles is moving.  There last day of doing waffles was yesterday. That does mean that they went all out though. We had pizza waffles, strawberry cake waffles, and regular they were super good.    

Also a highlight of the week was I saw someone at district meeting and it was fantastic.  Brother Caras my ward mission leader in Craig showed up and it was the greatest thing ever. It was great to see him and catch up on how he has been the last 4 months.  

I hope you all have a fantastic week.

Saturday Henry received a letter from Ana in the mail. Here's a portion that everyone may enjoy: "Earlier in the week we ran into a lady that had been looking for a dog.  We decided to help look. After looking for a little while we decided to say a prayer. Less than a minute later the lady found her dog so that was cool."

Here's an excerpt from an exchange between Brian and Ana today about her brush with fame a couple of weeks ago:

"None of the missionaries know who Donny Osmond is.  I was actually really proud of myself for knowing who he was."

 "Tell the other missionaries that Donny Osmond was the Harry Styles of 1975.  That's when he was super popular and in all the teen girl magazines."

 "I will.  I tried to tell Sister Thompson that he was like Harry Styles and she was like, 'oh, are you sure?' and I was like, 'yeah.' She was like, 'that is probably what will happen to Harry Styles too, no one will know who he is.' and I was like, 'nooooooo.'"

Gunnison 1 & 2

(This is Gunnison 1 and 2 because last week was Labor Day and the Library is closed so Tuesday she just wrote that she didn't have time to write.) 

How Zelda Relates to Missionary Work 101

Sister Thompson is way into The Legend of Zelda. She started making a list this week of all the ways the two relate.   

Little update from last week.  Before transfer meeting I had this feeling that I should bring the New Eras that we got for the Roybal family with me to transfer meeting.  I was like that is a weird idea. On the way to transfer meeting we got lost three times.  We didn't have a GPS so we were trying to follow the road maps. In all that mess guess what? We ran into the Roybals so that was crazy. Lesson that if you feel like you should do something and it is good, Do It because it might be the Holy Ghost. 

We are teaching this girl named Maeve. She is a 19 year old studying law at Western.  A lot has happened in the last two weeks with that. She has been reading the book of Mormon for a little while and she wanted to learn more.  We started teaching her and she came to church and wanted to be baptized.  Her mom she was not sure would be on board, but we had a lesson and she said she talked to her mom and her mom said she would support her so that made Maeve really happy.  Then we had a lesson a few days later and she said she called her mom and dad and told them that she decided to be baptized.  Apparently there was a lot of yelling and crying and basically they are not really on board.  She said they think she needs to focus on school more and if in a year she still wants to be baptized then that is okay.  She still wants to meet and come to church but not as much.  The branch is aware of the situation and says, "well we will still welcome her of course and even if she doesn't get baptized that is okay."  The branch is fantastic.  That is the really short sum up story. 

We are also teaching this guy named Able.  He has word of wisdom issues.  He knows that this is the restored gospel.  He is afraid to stand up to people and is always concerned about what people think of him.  He says that we should not give up on him and keep teaching him.   

There is this nice lady named Shay.  She likes to feed us sometimes.  She is really good friends with Donny Osmond and will tell you all about it.  

We are teaching this less-active family named the Heckers.  They are super cool.  They have a goal to get to the temple.  

The branch here every Sunday has waffles for all the college kids and it is fantastic.  

I hope you all have a fantastic week.

(Here's a portion of Ana's letter to her Dad this week- adds just a few more little details about her week)

Gunnison is good, very pretty.  We cover a lot of tourist towns and so people are like, "no, I am not interested in the gospel I am on vacation."  People are usually nice though so that is good.  It is just a branch so not that big.  I think the most exciting thing that happened is that Donny Osmond said hi to me.

I hope you have a great week

XOXoxoXoxOX

Uncompahgre 12

 Uncompahgre is Family

Well we got transfer news.  I will be leaving for Gunnison tomorrow.  I don't think anyone was expecting me to leave but that's what is happening. I am super sad to leave Uncompahgre but I am sure I will love Gunnison too.  Sister Thompson told me that it is already getting cold and they have to scrape frost off their car in the morning. That means that snow is coming soon which will be amazing. I will be with Sister Thompson.  She is super sweet. We have been on exchanges before.  Her companion is also going home this week so we get to spend today together too.  She is being super awesome and helping me to clean out the apartment and pack. I really don't remember a lot of what happened this week. After this weekend everything is a blur.

Mike and Mitch are doing great. Mitch is super excited to be baptized.  We taught the Word of Wisdom this week and he smokes.  We told him that as homework we wanted him to make a plan. He said "I already know. The goal is to get baptized on September 16th the plan is to stop smoking and trust that God will help me."  Mike just loves learning and the gospel.  

Chuck is starting to study his scriptures more.  We taught a lesson on scripture study and have really been focusing on finding the principle in what we read and how we can apply it to our own lives.   

I hope you all have a fantastic week.

Uncompahgre 11

Looks Like Firebending is Back On

Well the eclipse was super exciting.  We laid on the Pulsipher's trampoline and ate french bread; it was a blast.   

Mitch is doing great. Yesterday he told us the he feels like he has walked onto a football field with the lights on.  The gospel is just so clear and makes sense.  It is so simple and is just the greatest thing ever.  

Mike this week ended up moving out of his old house and is renting a room from Mitch.  They have little study sessions every night where they study the things that Mitch is learning.  They are just both so excited.  Mike also has read half of Preach My Gospel. He mentioned it yesterday and was like, "Oh, it says that in your book." and we were like, "What?"  He said, "You did that one lesson with me on charity so now I read the entire chapter on Christlike attributes and I also just started reading it. I am about half way."  I think they might study more then we do. They only study what we have taught Mitch though when they study together.  

I hope you all have a great week.  

Uncompahgre 10

It's Just A Tiny Spaceship-Mike

Well we went disc golfing this morning that was super fun. Mike has wanted to teach us how to disc golf for a while so he was super excited.  The Purpers also came so it was super fun.  

Also this week a member always has been teasing us about how we need to get permission to go to the bike rally in Sturgis.  He said he guessed we were never going to get permission so he went without us and just brought us t-shirts so that is awesome. 

This week was crazy... well you remember that guy Mitch?  He is on date to be baptized.  Crazy miracle that happened with that.  On Monday Mitch cancelled on us so we were a little sad, but later that night we got a text from Mike asking where Jesus comes to the Americas in the Book of Mormon.* We told him and asked why; he said well you see I am with Mitch he had a bad day and so we are just reading the Book of Mormon together and we wanted to read that part.  The next day we had a lesson with Mitch and Mike came.  We taught The Restoration and Mitch was like, "oh , Mike and I went over this pamphlet yesterday. He told me about the app.  This thing is awesome. We read the Book of Mormon for 2 hours yesterday and then Mike left and I just explored the things on the app for 4 more hours."  Mike was like "sorry." We were like, "Mike, it is fine."  We finished teaching The Restoration and Mitch loved it.  They are both so passionate about the gospel and it is super awesome.  We taught Mitch the Plan of Salvation and he said that it totally made sense.  He and Mike have decided that they are going to get together and read 2 Nephi together.  That is right, Mitch has already read to 2 Nephi 5. He is just so excited about the gospel it is amazing.  He came to church yesterday and loved it. 

Sister Purper was also super awesome and invited her friend that we are teaching and got her to come to church; it was amazing.  

Chuck also came to church and that was awesome.  

I hope you have a great week.

 

[*this is a link to the book of Third Nephi in the Book of Mormon. If you click  the link you can read a summary of each chapter; if you click on the chapter you can read the entire chapter]

Uncompahgre 9

Baptisms and Sweet Corn

Well Mike got baptized and that was super awesome.  He is so happy.  We asked him yesterday how he felt and he said, "Can you not tell I am literally like glowing! Also my cheeks hurt I don't think they have ever hurt this bad" (from smiling so much).  His family came and that was super awesome. He is super excited to share the gospel with all of his friends.  

We found this guy named Mitch.  He is friends with one of the members and also with Mike.  The member's daughter came out of the house as we were trying to visit their neighbor. She said, "Hey so you know that guy Mitch? Well, he told my mom that he wants you guys to teach him more about Jesus. Do you guys want to do that?" We said, "of course" and we taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He is super excited to learn and loved everything that we said.  We are seeing him again tonight.  

This weekend was Cornfest and we helped out with trash duty.  It was super fun... since basically you get all you can eat Olathe Sweet Corn for free and it is great.  Then you can put different things on it. Sister Poulton tried a poultry meat rub.  I also tried sweet corn gelato.  It was surprisingly really good.  

I also just read my Mission President's email and he is GETTING ALL OF US GLASSES FOR THE SOLAR ECLIPSE!!! I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS THING SINCE 8TH GRADE AND I AM SO EXCITED. HE IS THE BEST. 

Hope you all have a super great week. 

 

(Ana with the Bakers- a family that used to live in our ward, but moved to CO.  They were able to go out to lunch together one day this week since they are in Ana's area)

Uncompahgre 8

I Thought it Was a Dead Cat But it is Just a Pile of Poop!

Well I kind of lost track of time so this will probably be a little short. 

I went on exchanges in Gunnisen and we helped at the assisted living center and helped them play bingo.  That was super fun.  

I also hit my year mark which is just crazy.  Elder Lunt from my MTC district is in my district so we took a picture.  I will have to send it next week.

MIKE IS GETTING BAPTIZED ON FRIDAY!!! I am only a little excited. He also asked if he could teach the lesson this week because he had a friend that was really struggling and he wanted to share the gospel with him.  We said of course. The friend didn't end up coming but we ended up talking about humility and it was a great lesson.  His mom also sat in again which was awesome.  

Chuck came to church again and loved it.  

Also we saw an entire rainbow.  Like we could see the full arch and see where both ends touched the ground it was amazing.  

Have a great week.

--

Sister Holcomb

Uncompahgre 7

 So You Are Saying Basically I Should Grow Anything Besides This- Yes That Is What I Am Saying.

We have an investigator that is growing a weed garden.  He showed it to us and I was like, "You should grow tomatoes in your garden."  Sister Poulton was like, "Or cucumbers those are good."  I was like, "Yeah, or corn; that seems to be a hit around here."  He was like, "So basically you are saying anything besides this" and starts to pet his plants with a sad look on his face.  

On Tuesday this week we went to get our tires changed in Montrose and we decided to stop at the A&W in back and it was amazing.  

Mike is doing great he is getting excited to be baptized. He loves the scriptures and learning new things about the gospel.  The other day in our lesson he told us his goal is to one day get the Melchizedek Priesthood. His fire end excitement about the gospel has kind of made his less-active mom take an interest. We taught them both a lesson the other day, it started as a lesson for Jodi that Mike sat in on then we ended Jodi's lesson and started Mike's and Jodi decided to sit in on it.  Jodi came to church with Mike and it was great.  

We are teaching this really awesome guy named Chuck.  He is working for a member of our ward and lives on his property.  He had been meeting with the missionaries in Montrose before he moved.  The member found out and now we have started teaching him again.  He came to church the last two weeks and loved it.  

This week we were eating dinner with a less active family and we made a joke to one of the teenage girls that she should come to a lesson after dinner.  Long story short she ended up coming and it was great. She ended up sharing a super awesome testimony of how she came to know that the Book of Mormon was the word of God and it was great.  After we went and got Sonic and she kind of opened up to us it was amazing.

William is still doing good.  He still does not really understand why he should pray. We have been reading scripture stories with him and talking about how prayer helped them in that story.  

Well I hope you all have a great week 

(Our area summed up in two pictures)

 

Uncompahgre 6

Our Awesome District

I am Killing Sister Poulton!

Well we got transfer news on Saturday and Sister Poulton and I are staying together.  It is her last six weeks in the mission which is crazy.  

This week we were at a dinner appointment and we were sharing a thought about the Title of Liberty and asked each member of the family what they were fighting for.  The Nephites were fighting for their families, land, liberty, and freedom.  We talked about how pretty much everyday we are fighting a battle. The teenage son said that he was fighting for all friendships, naps, and Taco Tuesday. That made us laugh.  He also has been writing the blues and he wrote a song about a bunny. We recorded it and it was great.  I will have to see if I can attach it.   

Joan was able to make it to church yesterday which was great.

The other day we went over to Mike's to teach his mom and she was not there so we ended up teaching Mike instead.  In the middle of our lesson Mike got a phone call from a member of the ward and the member basically cleared up his hold back [what was holding him back] and it was great.  We were talking to the member later and he said he got the feeling to call right then and so he did. It was great because we were about to have a conversation about it, but the member took care of it and it was great.  Go Brother Pulsipher for listening to the Spirit and calling Mike.  

We were teaching this lady named Judy who is a less-active in the ward.  We were talking about scripture stories and talked about Moses and the fiery-serpents and how people could have just looked at the brass serpent but didn't because it was too easy.  We talked about how sometimes we seem to look for big things to fix our problems but it really is the little things like reading our scriptures.  She looked at us and said, "Sisters, this is exactly what I needed; I was having a really hard day and was trying to think of how to fix it and then I came and talked with you guys."  It was great.  

I went on an exchange in Gunnison this week and that was fun.  We did service in Crested Butte at the Wildflower Festival.  It was super pretty.  

It was the last district meeting of the transfer which was a little sad but one of the Elders made us all funnel cakes so that was great.  The Delta Elders also decided to saran wrap our car; we are thinking of ways to get them back. 

I hope you have a great week.

Sister Poulton with the car

Uncompahgre 5

I Almost Gave My Family The Plague

 

Well in zone conference last week we had a talk on how we need to be careful out in the country because the black plague is still very much alive and they do not want us to get sick so watch for fleas and stuff.   Well, we were at one of our investigators' house and our member said she saw a flea jump on her from the dog while we were outside.  She also warned us to be careful.  Well, remember a few weeks ago when we skinned rabbits? Well, we each got to keep rabbit feet.  Well, we were letting them dry in the sun and we went to check on them and they had fleas so that was an adventure.  We do not think the fleas had the plague but better safe then sorry.  I was thinking about sending the rabbit feet home but now I decided it might be better not too. 

We started teaching a new family called the Roybals.  The dad is a member and the rest of the family is not.  They are super awesome.  

For the Fourth of July we went to Mike's house and had a BBQ with his family that was super fun.  We also asked CK if he would pray and then open the scriptures and find his answer.  He actually tried it, yay.  

Omar is doing great, he made it to church yesterday.  He felt the Spirit so strong during the sacrament that it scared him.  The member that was sitting with him told him to wait until sacrament was over then he could step out.  He ended up staying for all of the first talk then leaving to go in the hall to regroup then he came back in for a little.  He said he would definitely come back.  

We also started teaching a man named Chuck.  He was being taught by the Elders in Montrose.  He ended up coming to work for a member and is now living on the property.  The member found out and we now started meeting with him again.  We had a super awesome lesson on Friday and we invited him to church.  He was like, "Well I will have to look at my work schedule and check." The member was like, "I think we can figure something out."  It was great.  

I hope you all have a fantastic week.

Uncompahgre 4

Blame It On the Nuns

 

There is this recent convert that we teach.  He has this girlfriend that is super jealous/mad that he meets with the sisters. He explained it to her that we are basically nuns so that she does not get super mad.  In our lesson something came up and we were like, "just blame it on the nuns."  He said that sounds like a good band name or video game id name.  

Zone Conference was this week and that was exciting.  I also have basically had Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise stuck in my head all week. It is the mission song.  

This week we taught Joan and she is doing well.  She read the Book of Mormon on her own a little this week which is really big.  She does not totally understand why she needs to read it on her own and how reading it with us is not enough.  We brought a member this week who told her that when she was learning about the church her answers came faster and it was easier to understand them when she was reading the Book of Mormon.

Mike is doing great.  He wasn't able to make it to church yesterday because he got sick.  Later that day we brought him soup which made him laugh.  He had a question about how he can make his personal prayers more meaningful.  We ended up finding an Ensign article all about it so we dropped that off.     

We were able to teach Omar the Restoration of the Gospel so that he could better understand where the Book of Mormon came from.  We have to remember to explain things very simply.  He is full of questions and has a desire to learn which is awesome.  

We were in charge of mutual this week and that was a lot of fun. We talked about Individual Worth. We did the first value experience with them then had them write on shields what they liked about themselves.  Then we had a crazy flour dodge ball war and talked about how with our worth (shields) it is a lot easier to block the fiery darts (the flour).

Happy Fourth of July!   

Have a great week.

Uncompahgre 3

We went hiking this morning, that was fun.  President and Sister Hall took us up to the Grand Mesa.  Sister Poulton and I got matching sweatshirts so that is exciting.  We also had interviews with President Gifford today and it was nice to see them again.  President Gifford got sick so he had to cancel last zone conference so we have not seen them since April.  He is doing a lot better though so no worries.  

This week after district meeting it was one of the Elders' year mark so we made fried oreos. They were super delicious.  

Awesome Mike story this week.  We taught him about temples this week. He has been asking questions and we were like, "Be patient we will get to it."  Well, we were teaching about doing baptisms for deceased ancestors.  He was like, "wow that is so cool! I have been thinking about that. I wanted to baptize my brother, but I didn't know I actually could. That is so cool." (his brother passed away about 4 years ago). He also is trying really hard to get his mom and brother to come to church.  We had a lesson at Mike's house and Jodi and CK both were there and listened.  CK didn't want to come outside so it was great that he came and listened.  

Omar (the satellite man story) is doing good.  He does not have a phone and is always super busy so it is kind of hard to contact him.   We were able to see him the other day though right before he was out the door.   We asked him if he had read the pamphlet and guess what? He did.  He had it all marked up and said that when he got to the end he was kind of sad that there was not more.  He also read the introduction to the Book of Mormon and wanted to read more of it.  

Joan is doing good and was super excited that she was able to make it to church two weeks in a row.  

I forgot my planner in the car so I am really not sure what what else happened this week.

I hope you all have a super fantastic great week.

[Follow up from last week, Ana said they did get the satellite guy's contact info and he turned out to be a member from Fruita, "so that was exciting." About skinning a rabbit, she did find "the rabbit thing interesting because from science perspective." 

"The Pulsiphers said, 'yes' they remember grandma." My Grandma asked me to ask Ana if she met Bishop Pulsipher since she knew him when she lived in Paonia, in that stake, and it turns out he is the ward mission leader now and he and his family are who the Sisters are staying with.

The people who took Ana and her companion hiking took a whole bunch of pictures and emailed them to her today so she forwarded them to me. So lucky us, we get pictures of Ana and beautiful Colorado :-)]