March 26, 2012

Hi Family!

 

We're emailing on our actual preparation day again because we were able to get a ride to Sallisaw.  Sorry to throw you off! 

 

This week was a good one. Sister Johnson finished The Book of Mormon!  It took her a month and two days. She bore her testimony on Sunday and it was really beautiful.  Her two sons, who are autistic, came to church with her, and we're still teaching her husband. They are trying to quit smoking together now, so that will make it easier on her.  We helped her husband move his stuff out of a house he left in a rush so that was fun. 

 

We met a girl walking down the road in Muldrow a little while ago. We set up a time to visit her and met her family. They are pretty much already LDS. There are 8 kids in the family and they homeschool. They've met with missionaries before, when they lived in North Dakota. Two of them came to church on Sunday, so that was exciting. 

 

Today we went as a district to see some runes left by Vikings who rode their boats up the Poteau river. That was fun.

 

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

Love,

Sister Monson

March 20, 2012

Hi Family!

 

This past week was good.  One day we were tracting in a little town called Gans and we met a lady in a trailer who told us she was a "full-blooded Pentecostal preacher" and then peared around us and said, "That's a skunk. It's probably rabid because it's out in the daylight."  We made our way carefully around it and then a few minutes later heard some gunshots. Then we smelled it.  Also, at dinner the other night our conversation was interrupted when their chickens got in the house and their dogs chased them out.  Lots of adventures!

 

On a more spiritual note, our investigators are doing well!  Sister Johnson is almost done with The Book of Mormon and she got a blessing to help her stop smoking. We started teaching her husband who she's been separated from, and he was very open and receptive during the lesson.  We're teaching him again today.  They're separated right now but she told us that if he accepts the Gospel she will probably stay with him. The Gospel Principles lesson on Sunday was about eternal marriage and she wants that.

 

We taught a lady this week who just had twins a little while ago but one of them passed away. She has three other kids and the baby who made it is really sick and she and her husband are having such a difficult time. We're hoping that they will accept the Gospel and be able to have the peace of knowing they'll be with their daughter again.

 

President Merkley is coming to our Sacrament Meeting on Sunday to meet a couple of handicapped people in our branch who would like to be baptized. We're excited for that!

 

I love you all so much!  I love this Gospel.  I know we have a loving Father who watches out for each of us and is in control. 

 

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

 

Love,

Sister Monson

March 13, 2012

Hello Family!

Thank you for all the birthday wishes and for the wonderful package!  I had a good birthday. A family in the ward got a cake for me and made me a nice dinner. :)

This week was a good one. Our investigators are doing well. Sister Johnson has read up to Helaman 5 and is participating in church like a regular member. She'll be a great strength to the branch when she's baptized.  She's getting us new investigators, too, because she's so excited about finding the truth and wants everyone else to have it too!

Sister Ramos' daughter has been unsure about baptism for a long time, but she's decided that she's ready to commit! She wants to get baptized with her mom and brother. That was a great blessing, too.

We had interviews with President Merkley last week so that was fun. It's always good to see the Merkley's. Their mission is ending the end of June/beginning of July, a transfer before I come home.  It'll be sad when they leave. 

I love you all so, so much!  Thank you for everything!

Love,

Sister Monson

March 5, 2012

Hello Family!

 

I'm sorry to throw everyone off and email today!  The library is far away from our house so we have permission to email on Tuesdays, but today we had more things bring us up to Sallisaw so we're taking advantage of it and emailing on our actual Preparation Day. 

 

This week has been another great one. Sister Johnson is the most golden investigator I've ever had! She got the Gospel Principles manual at church last Sunday and she read the whole thing. We've only taught her a couple of lessons, but she it all now. She read about the Word of Wisdom and started working on quitting smoking and she knew that is was going to be Fast Sunday before we told her. She is so happy. She told us she was having doubts about baptism, but every time they came she would come across something in her reading about it. She wants to be baptized!  When we expressed our amazement at how much she's done she explained that she's found what she's been searching for her whole life.

 

Sister Ramos and her son came to church yesterday as well. She's still not smoking :).  She bore her testimony and it was beautiful.

 

A recent convert in the ward named Sam has a cousin who is an old man and handicapped but wants to be baptized. We talked to him about prayer and he teared up. It was very sweet.

 

I'm so thankful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the hope that it brings into my life and the lives of others. 

 

I love you all so much!

Love,

Sister Monson