Grand Junction 5

Today Is a Gift That Is Why It Is Called the Present 

Something that my mission has taught me is that in every day there is something great that happens.  It might be a super little thing or something big in every day there is a miracle to be grateful for. Also that Heavenly Father has His timing and He really does know what is best for us and what we need. 

I got reminded of that a lot this week. It also stood out to me this week that Heavenly Father always answers our prayers. A few different times this week there was something we prayed for that happened. 

The first experience was when we were planning for our day we prayed for an unplanned service opportunity and that same morning we got a text from someone seeing if we could come help them.  

The second experience was when we decided to walk to the Benefields. It was super far and I was not sure we were going to be able to make it on time. At least not in the two hour slot we allotted.  At one point we ran into a member who offered us a ride; we said we were good because we still thought we would be able to make it. A few minutes after we ran into her Sister Lokotui remembered how far it was, she had forgotten about part of the walk. She said a little prayer that we would run into someone who would be able to give us a ride. Not even two minutes later a member pulled over and offered us a ride. We had dinner with the member that night and we shared that experience with him. He said that it was definitely Heavenly Father's timing. He was not even so supposed to be over there, but someone had cancelled so he decided to go to Fruita to do something else and on his way he ran into us. 

The third is that one day I had not gotten much sleep the night before and I was super tired.  I prayed that I would have enough energy to be able to get through the day. I think that I had the most energy that I had in a while.

Fourth, Sister Lokotui's eye started bothering her in church. After Church it just kept getting worse. Eventually it got to the point were she could not open it. We said a prayer that we would be able to figure out what to do. We remembered that there was a member near by. We decided to stop over there and see if we could try rinsing out her eye. We tried that and it didn't really work​​. Then the member realized that a member of the ward was an eye doctor. We called him and he was able to do an eye exam and now she gets to wear some super nice looking glasses.

This week we were also able to start teaching Steve.  We have been able to teach him three times now. His wife was there for the last lesson and that was a miracle. She is super against missionaries.  He is doing great and loves the gospel.

We helped the Knowles family take apart a car and that was super exciting. We tried to take a picture in it and we dropped the keys behind the seat so we had to rip off the back seat to get them out.  

 Breakfast was great it was exciting to see Grandma. We went out to ihop and both sister Lokotui and I have never been there so that was fun. (I didn't mean to strike a pose I pulled a face because I almost dropped my leftovers on the floor then caught them and that is when the picture was taken. I was supposed to be smiling.)

I hope you all have a great week.

Aunt Cathy, (Great) Grandma Sharp, Ana, Sister Lokotui (Hooray! They finally got to meet up!)

 

Ana, her companion, and Sister Holt (texted from Sister Holt)

(from Sister Holt)

(from Sister Holt)

(texted from Sister Folga)

Grand Junction 4

We Are Going To Build A Ship!

This week was exciting we had Zone Conference. I love zone conference you always feel so inspired.  President Gifford gave a training on how this last year we as a mission have gone through some struggles but now we are in a good place. He related this to the story in 1 Nephi 17 and said Nephi's family had to travel in the wilderness and got to Bountiful and it was good.  Then the Lord commanded Nephi to go and build a ship. He said the Lord has commanded us that we should build a ship and work together so we can get to the Promised Land. Now we are all super pumped to build a ship.  

Yesterday Sister Lokotui and I spoke in Church all about missionary work.  We talked about how we can be better missionaries. Now the ward is pumped about missionary work so that is great. 

Steve came to church this week so that is great.  He is so ready to meet with us; he just doesn't know it.  

I went on exchanges to Fruita and that was fun. We found three new people that want to learn more so that was amazing. I actually got to ride in the same car Sister Davies and I drove in Bowels Grove.  I don't know if anyone remembers, but I love that little blue Ford Fusion. 

There is a park by where we live called The Duck Pond and it makes me think of the park by home that we call the duck pond.

I hope you all have a great week.   

 

[Excerpt from Ana's letter to me] 

I got my flight info this week.  This week was interesting it was pretty good. I have kind of been having a rough time because it was a week full of lasts. I had my last zone conference my last interview with president.[She also shared a story about a mild disagreement with her companion about not feeling included in planning and she still want to "serve with all my might mind and strength."]

I am seeing grandma next week.  

I love you

Grand Junction 3

From Ana's letter to me:
This week is my last zone conference so that is a little strange. This might be bad but I have kind of reached the point when I don't really want to come home I just want to be a missionary forever.  It is kind of weird being in an area that you know you are never going to be taking over.  It is a little stressful because I just want to work but you also can't just like over work. I don't think that explained it very well.

Sister Lokotui Hits Her 11 Month Mark

 Steve's wife came to church yesterday.  He was so excited.  His wife has been giving him anti and things and said she would never come so that was a huge step. He went hunting with some members this last weekend. The member said they talked a lot about the gospel and Steve said he is just looking for the truth. The member said he testified that he will find it.  Steve is up to 1 Nephi 10 in The Book of Mormon.

We taught this less-active man named Ron. We are going to start reading the Book of Mormon with him because he said he has never really seen how it applies to today.  He has always loved the history of it and how it teaches of the people in the Americas but he has never seen it help him.  He said he is excited to start reading it with a new perspective. 

We also have been working with a family, the Laukes. Their daughter Ali recently got baptized. She is 9 and the mom has been less-active for years and is trying to come back.  Ali loves crafts and art projects so we have been thinking of ideas to help her focus in lessons.  

Yesterday there was a stake music recital and we were able to go help hand out programs. Music is always a great way to feel the spirit and to remember how much heavenly father loves us. 

Grand Junction 2

I Will Get There

 

This week was exciting.  We have been walking a lot because we are a little short on miles*. We have this song called "I Will Get There," and we joke that it is our song because we walk all the time and we motivate ourselves by singing the song, "I Will Get There." We like walking for a few reasons though. You talk to more people when you walk and we need the exercise. 

This week 4 less-active [members] came to church so that was great.  We have appointments scheduled with all of them this week so that is great. 

On the investigator front we ended up dropping all of them so we are starting from scratch.  Our ward mission leader brings his friend Steve to church so maybe we can start teaching him soon. One of the less-active [members] also brought a friend with them so that is fantastic.  

I met sister Lokotui's trainer yesterday she was visiting Fruita and stopped by.  

We have been taking a picture every single day so that is awesome; I will have to add some next week because I do not have much time.  

I hope you all have a great week. 

*The missionaries are supposed to only drive a certain number of miles in so many days- I think mostly for wear and tear reasons.

Just a guess, but this could be the song Ana is talking about.

It seems Ana did not have a lot of time this week for writing (even though this letter isn't much longer than her others lately). Normally she writes a little something to her parent's personal letters, but this time it was "sounds like an eventful week.  I am running out of time but I love you and will talk to you more next week." 

At least Ana's grandma wrote me an adventure of Ana's she heard through the grapevine:

This is as I remember it from Dad [Ana's grandpa] telling me what Grandma [Ana's great grandma] said, which makes it a condensed she said she said he said version.  Grandma's friend Lola lives in a ward that is not the Monument Ward, but her friend Lola goes to dinner at a friend of hers in the Monument Ward.  The sister missionaries were there when Lola went to the friends' and Ana mentioned her [great] grandmother lives in Grand Junction and Lola asked her name.  "Martha Sharp," said Ana.  Lola was delighted of course because Lola Sampson was a very dear friend of your grandmother [Ana's great grandma].  Lola taught your Dad [Ana's grandpa] Primary [Ana's grandpa's family joined the church when he was primary age] and also her husband was the branch president of the Aspen Branch who filled out your dad's [Ana's grandpa] mission papers and called your dad [Ana's grandpa] into his office and asked your dad [Ana's grandpa] to sign them.  I think he also encouraged your dad [Ana's grandpa] to go to BYU instead of Colorado State [BYU is where Ana's grandparents met].  So anyway, Ana and her companion ran out of miles on their car, so they had to walk to the dinner appointment with Ana on crutches.  Apparently it was like a 4 mile walk.  After the dinner they also had a teaching appointment, so Lola took Ana and her companion to the appointment.  At the appointment, Lola knew the man there (I suppose a member, not the investigator) and Lola asked him to be sure and drive the missionaries home, which we suppose he did.  Lola fully intends to get Grandma and permission if necessary to take Ana, her companion, and Grandma to lunch.  :)

Grand Junction 1

 

 

Welcome To Grand Junction

 

Well I have left Gunnison and I am now in Grand Junction in the Monument ward. My companion's name is Sister Lokotui and she is great. She is from California, but her family is Tongan. She is super fun and loves the gospel.
The last week in Gunnison was great. Shay kept her commitment to read the Book of Mormon so that was good. We met with Maria and she said she wants to set a goal to get to the temple and wants to be a better example for her brothers. The Branch seemed excited about that. Sister Carlson also got to stand on a frozen lake for the first time ever.
We are already seeing miracles here in Monument. We have been able to make contact with a lot of less-actives that have said no in the past and have been able to meet them and set up return appointments so that is awesome. The ward here is a lot bigger then in Gunnison and will take some getting used too.
I hope you all have a great week.

 Our District (Gunnison)

[in a letter to me in response to my question about how her ankle is doing]
My ankle is healing, the Branch President looked at it just before I left and said it is just badly sprained and will take a while to heal I will just have to wear the brace for a few months.
[in response to my very excited, "Grand Junction?! Are you in your great grandma's ward?"]
No, I am actually in the other zone (non mission term other stake) so I probably will never see her. I am not allowed to leave my zone. Also in doing this my plan thing I just signed up for an institute class and have committed to go to the temple once a week. I just thought I should let you know so when I am home I am not like, "well I got to go to Institute" and you like planned something. I signed up for Tuesday nights at 7 at the Anoka building.
 

[and here's a quote Ana thought I would like]

In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to BECOME something.”
ELDER DALLIN H. OAKS

 

[bonus picture someone texted to me- Ana and her new companion and they are sprained ankle twins]

 

Gunnison 17 & 18

Ana's letter this week is pretty short- she mentioned when we talked on Christmas that it would be short because Monday the library would be closed and Tuesdays are usually busy, being a regular work day and that she would need to spend most of her free time today working on My Plan.

It was great to talk to her on Christmas. She seemed in a very good mood and we laughed over a handful of jokes. She mentioned her ankle is still healing and also that she's used her Minnesota winter weather driving skills and gained mountain winter weather driving skills after being in rural mountain areas most of her mission. She and her companion (who is from Texas) were driving and hit a patch of black ice.  Her companion kept saying, "What are we supposed to do?!" and Ana kept saying, "I'm doing what we're supposed to do!" and she did (stayed steady and steered straight) and they were safe and didn't go off the road which would have been bad because they were in a rural area meaning no cell service and no other travelers. We are glad they are safe :-) (and glad we got to talk to her because she tells more stories in person than in writing).

Gunnison

Well it happened, I have officially spoken to all of the less-actives [members not attending church regularly] in the Gunnison Branch. Or at least tried to find all of their houses and the houses that we found I have talked to.  That is pretty exciting; I don't think I have been able to do that in any of my other areas.

Shay still is not coming to church. She did start reading the Book of Mormon by her self again so that is progress.  

This less-active family, the Chonas, we were able to meet with.  The daughter kept her commitment to read the Book of Mormon so that was great.

We had another family move into the branch this week.  Also Chris brought his mom with him to church this week and she is not a member so that is super exciting.  

I hope you all have a great week.

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