September 19, 2011

Hello family!

 

I hope everything went well with the other reception this week!

 

This week for me was good. We went up to Springfield and got to teach Tyler Jones again. It was fun to be able to see him. We also found a young guy who is very lost and in need of the Gospel. Hopefully we'll be able to see him again and help him to know God is there and will help him.

 

We got a couple of new investigators this week from less active members' significant others. It's nice to be able to teach less actives and investigators at the same time and have them help each other. We had a Sacrament Meeting on missionary work yesterday and we're having a missionary fireside this coming Sunday, so hopefully the ward is enthused and we will be able to teach their friends soon! 

 

Covering two wards that are spread out and a distance away from each other has been a challenge. Sometimes I wish I could be in two places at once. Being busy is good, though.

 

There was a girl in the University Ward who would help us a lot, named Amelia. She met a guy online and got engaged since I was last there. Yesterday he came to church with her, and he's a guy from Timpanogos High! That was really, really weird.

 

We played mini golf as a district last preparation day and I'm proud to say I won. For the first time. Ever. I'm sure it was a fluke.

 

I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to be a missionary. It's definitely a learning and growing experience.

 

I love you all so much!

 

Love,

Sister Monson

September 12, 2011

Hello family!

 

I'm glad to hear the wedding was beautiful and great! I'm glad the weather held up with just enough time. 

 

This week was a crazy one! We picked Sister Knudsen up on Wednesday and on Thursday President came and picked her up and took her back to her old area, where there was a problem. It was a fun day of being in a three-some, but it'll just be the two of us this transfer.

 

We set another baptism date this week with a lady named Sister Walker. She has had a hard life but she's doing well. It's been cool to see her learn about the gospel.

 

We decided to go tracting a little bit before we picked up Sister Knudsen. We drove to this dirt road and then once we'd tracted that we walked across a field to a paved road. We got to this house just as a lady was getting out of her car. She invited us in and we had a lesson with her. She said the closing prayer and prayed that she could learn how to have a closer relationship to God with our help. It was such a blessing.

 

We also started teaching a returning member's son named Anthony this week. After we taught him we asked if he had any questions and he asked, "when can I get baptized?" It's amazing to see how receptive kids are to the Spirit.

 

Sunday Sister Boone and I did splits so we could go to both of our wards. I went up to the University Ward. It was fun, and weird, to see everyone again.  They were surprised to see me.  Bang was at church, so he and Do are back from Vietnam, and another recent convert, Luke, was there and he's doing well. 

 

I love you all! Good luck with everything this week!

 

Love,

Sister Monson

September 6, 2011

Hello Family!

First of all, HAPPY WEDDING WEEK!  Good luck with everything! I'm so happy for Kristen and John and I hope it is a beautiful, perfect day.

Brother Donelow was baptized on Saturday! Nothing ever goes the way you plan it to... the lady who was supposed to talk on baptism heard the wrong time, so another lady gave a last minute talk; the piano was still being played when the baptism prayer started; and other things funny and crazy things like that, but he's baptized now and the Spirit was strong.  He looked so happy and peaceful as he was getting the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was wonderful.

We got transfer calls on Saturday and the pattern of surprise has continued.  I thought the two options were me staying in Nixa or going back to Springfield, but Sister Boone and I are covering both and we're getting another sister, so we're going to be a three-some! It'll be an adventure.  Hopefully we can cover both well.

We set a baptism date with a girl named Heather this week. The next morning she went to seminary with her friend and they talked about baptism. Heather sent us a text saying, "maybe God is trying to tell me something."  It was really cool.

We're also meeting with a lady named Sister Scott. She is such a character. She's pretty ghetto and she's had a crazy life with a lot of bad things and a lot of good things. She's been reading The Book of Mormon diligently and loves everything she learns. As Satan is, he sent a really, really anti guy her way who told her some lies, but she did her own research and proved him wrong.  It was great to see her desire for the church to be true, and to see her overcome that opposition. 

I love you all so much! Take lots and lots of pictures of the wedding and send them to me! 

Love,
Sister Monson

August 29, 2011

Hello Family!

 

Sorry I didn't get to respond to your emails last week. I was just writing an explanation one when I ran out of time on the computer. I'll respond today!

 

This week was a good one. It was Sister Boone's birthday on Thursday, so that was fun. She had three chocolate cakes made for her, so we're all sugared out now. She's a convert to the church of not many years, so she's reading The Book of Mormon all the way through for the first time, and it's so fun to see how excited she is about it. She reads it all the time and tells me about it. A lot of people here have heard bad things about The Book of Mormon, and it's the Bible or nothing for them. I'm so grateful not to have been raised believing that.

 

With the acquisition of Gray Thunder, we were able to help a lady move last week. The truck bed isn't very big, so we packed it very, very full. Overflowing. The tail gate was down on one of the loads. It was an adventure.

 

We watched The Restoration with Mary and Jacob this week and Jacob was smiling the whole time. It was wonderful to see him feeling the Spirit and knowing that Joseph Smith was a prophet.

 

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful week! Good luck with the wedding preparations!

 

Love,

Sister Monson