November 28, 2011

Dear Family,

 

This past week was wonderful!!!!  And amazing!!!  The Sisters Conference was so fun. It was all rest and relaxation. We carpooled to Tulsa on Tuesday. The Elders in Springfield have a van so we used it and they used ours while we were gone.  I drove all the way.  We picked up sisters in Springfield and in Joplin. It was crazy to be able to see Joplin. It's been months since the tornado, but there's still a lot of damage. 

 

At the conference we watched a couple Journey of Faith DVDs, visited, played a game called tower ball that's like a mix between baseball and cricket, took lots of pictures, made little candy turkeys, watched a really funny home video the Merkleys made years ago, had a talent show, watched Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concerts, decorated the mission home for Christmas, had a clothes swap, played basketball and visited a lot. We also had a really amazing discussion with President Merkley about some deep and amazing parts of the Gospel. I learned so much from that. It was a great time and it was so fun to meet all the sisters and see Sister Gray again. She and Sister Boone were the only companions I've had that are still in the mission. The sisters are all amazing. 

 

I got a transfer call!  I'm leaving Nixa on Thursday and going to Sallisaw, OK with a sister named Sister Williams. She was one of Sister Boone's companions in the MTC. I'm finally going to Sallisaw.  That's where I was going to go all those months ago but it never worked out. I'm sad to be leaving everyone here that I love so much, but it'll be cool to go to a new place and work with new people. I know that it's where Heavenly Father wants me to be. 

 

I love you all so much!  Have a wonderful week!

 

Love,

Sister Monson

November 21, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving Family!

This week has been good. We got to teach The Plan of Salvation a lot this week and it made me grateful for it. It makes so much sense and bring so much peace. 

We taught a new lady this week whose uncle is a member and sent her a Book of Mormon, which she's been reading regularly. She's older and has leukemia. She is the sweetest thing - she's making us a pie today. We got to see Brother Donelow's daughter a couple of times this week and teach her at his house and at another member's house. She came to church again and liked it. She's a fun lady.  The Browns are doing great! The girls are working on their personal progress and fit right in to young womens. We taught them the Word of Wisdom last week and they've been getting a little persecuted about it by their family, but they're staying strong.  There are so many wonderful people here. People do so much more for me than I do for them.

We moved last week!  The members we were living with are moving. We're living in an apartment now. The new address is 230 W Tracker in Nixa. Transfer calls are this Saturday, so I might be leaving the week after this one, but that'll be my address for a week and half at least :).  We live in a complex with a few less active families, so that will be handy. 

I love you all so much!  I hope you have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!

Love,

Sister Monson

November 14, 2011

 

Dear Family,

 

It was a great week!  We got to go to the Brown's wedding and it was great. They got married by Bishop in a park in Springfield. We moved up their baptism dates up to Dec. 10th. It's been amazing to see the power of The Book of Mormon, and the Spirit that people feel when they attend church. At first one of the girls was really hesitant about joining the church, but as she's read, gone to church, and met with us, she's come to know that the church is true, and the Spirit in her testimony is strong. Her mom felt it was true from the start. It's been wonderful to see them make changes and become a stronger family.

 

We had a wonderful Sacrament meeting yesterday. Two of our investigators came to church who have never been before. One was Brother Donelow's daughter, and another was a lady who grew up Lutheran and always hated going to church, so she hasn't been for years. We've been teaching her for awhile and it has been really hard to get her to church, but she came and enjoyed it very much and will come again. I can't tell you how happy it made me to see these people and our other investigators there!

 

Sis. Liccardi went to her church Wednesday night and brought up that she's been meeting with us. That, of course, led to people telling her to stop seeing us. She said she gave a "Mormon sermon" for 30 minutes straight, defending The Book of Mormon, and showing them Ezekiel 37 where it talks about the stick of Judah and the stick of Ephraim. She said she knew God was telling her what to say.

 

Zone Conference was wonderful, as it always is. We got a new car again. We lost Gray Thunder to some Elders who have more dirt roads than us, which was sad, but we have a nice little white Ford Fusion now that used to be the Assistants' car.  The instruction we got was wonderful.

 

I'm so excited for next week!  We're having a sisters' conference, so all the sisters in the mission (there are 18 of us) will go to Tulsa Tuesday through Friday. We'll get instructed and have Thanksgiving in the mission home! I'll get to see some past companions again. It'll be a lot of fun.

 

I love you all so much, and I love the Gospel! I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers the prayers that we say with faith and that He is ever mindful of us. I hope to be better at being ever mindful of Him.  I know The Book of Mormon is true. I know it changes peoples' lives and brings them more understanding of the Savior's life and sacrifice. Have a wonderful, safe week!

 

Love,

Sister Monson

November 7, 2011

Dear Family,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY THIS WEEK DAD!  I hope it's a wonderful day!

 

We had another great week! We are being so blessed.

 

Brother Brown proposed to Sister Pratt!!!  They're getting married on Friday!!!  It's been so amazing to see the changes they've been willing to make for God.  They're a great family and I love them very much. They feed us a lot. We had a lesson last night on the 10 commandments and they made us tacos and pumpkin pie. Sister Pratt wants to move her baptism date up, and the girls got permission from their dad to get baptized, so that was great.

 

We also have a date with a lady named Sister Liccardi. She's had a rough life, but she's so funny and honest. We did a stop smoking workshop on Saturday and it was fun. There's a part at the beginning where they have to sign something promising to themselves and God that they'll never smoke again. She read that and said, "this is a vow to God!! I thought this was just a workshop to help me want to quit!  You guys are stressing me out! I'm not even kidding." and then went outside and smoked her last ever cigarrette. She went to Stake Conference that night.

 

We saw the Chappells - the foster kids - for the last time yesterday. It was really sad. I love those kids so much. We didn't realize it would be the last time, but they found out they'll be going back to their mom very soon. She hasn't been meeting with the missionaries and might not let them go to church, which made them, and us, very sad. They've got strong testimonies of The Book of Mormon, though.

 

Stake Conference was fun. Branson is in our stake so the performers did the musical numbers. This week is zone conference, so that will be fun.

 

I love you all so much!  I hope everything is going well for you!

 

Love,

Sister Monson