July 9, 2012

Hello Family!

This week was good. I think I always start off with that. All weeks are good as a missionary :).  

We had a good, hot 4th of July. We were walking around in the evening and came across a former investigator and her family shooting off fireworks. She was excited to see us and wanted us to come over. She isn't really interested in religion, but tonight she's feeding us and we're teaching her how to do family home evening. That will be good.

We met a teenage girl recently from a struggling part member family. She was happy to see us and told us she wanted to take the missionary lessons and get baptized!  On Thursday we'd planned to stop by again but every time we went by their house we didn't feel right about it. At about 8:30 we went by again and she and her mom and friend and brother were all outside. They were happy to see us and all wanted the lessons. I'm grateful for the Holy Ghost.  

We were able to see Cassie again this week. We didn't get to see her last week and she hadn't read. She recognized that her week went better when she had. Her sister was there, too, and had actually met sisters before and had some lessons because she'd had a friend who was a less active member. She accepted a baptism commitment, when she finds out what she's learned is true. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week!  Stay cool!

Love,
Sister Monson

 Sister Meredith is at the end next to Sarah

Their apartment is on the top floor

July 3, 2012

Hello Family!

This past week was a good one, and a full one. We had a mission tour yesterday and met President Shumway so our preparation day is today.  

My new companion is Sister Meredith. She's a sweet girl, very excited and energized to do missionary work (it's hard for her to even take time to eat lunch :) ).  She's from California. 

The day of transfers we were told we would be there all day in order to be companions with a sister who would be companion-less because of transfers, so I didn't plan anything. When we got there, though, we found out she had other sisters to stay with, so I had an empty day and a brand new missionary. It ended up being one of the greatest days of my mission, though. All day long we met people and had lessons and saw miracles. 

In the evening we were walking by a house that me and past sisters had been to before for different reasons, never with success. Our branch president's cousin lives there so he sent us, and sisters had gotten a media referral for a girl who wanted a Book of Mormon, but had been told she didn't live there.  Some people were outside so we went to talk to them. One of the girls said she had met lots of missionaries before and had several Book of Mormons but as we talked she started asking us questions and then let us come up and teach her and the other people there. We met the girl who had requested the Book of Mormon (she lived there after all) and we were able to finally give her one. The first girl is overcoming alcoholism and is so receptive! We asked if she wanted to come to church with us and she said she did. It's amazing how the Lord sent missionaries there over and over.

We have an investigator who was struggling with the Word of Wisdom. He didn't understand why it mattered if he drank coffee or not. We asked him to pray about it. We saw him yesterday and he told us he hadn't drunk any coffee before church on Sunday. He had mountain dew instead and was fine. He looked so happy. It was wonderful.  

President and Sister Shumway are wonderful!  When we got to mission tour I was feeling a little unsure about things. I knew the Lord had called President Shumway but I wasn't ready to let go of my allegiance to President Merkley. As he spoke and as I met him, though, the Spirit confirmed to me that it was right and good and that I could look forward and not backward.  That was a blessing.

I love you all so much!  I hope you have a wonderful week! Happy 4th of July!

Love,
Sister Monson

June 25, 2012

Dear Family,

This week was a good one! We set a baptism date with Cassie! We're very excited about her. She's so sweet and so receptive.

Transfer calls were shocking again. It's been that way every time, so my last transfer call fit in with the rest.  President had told us the 2nd week of the transfer that Elders would be coming into the area. We let everyone know and got things ready for them.  Friday, the day before transfer calls, President called and said they wouldn't be able to bring Elders in after all. The next day Sister Merkley called to see if our apartment could fit three sisters.  When the call came, though, we found out that Sister Birati is going to Indian Springs (which is pretty close by) and I'm going to be training my last transfer. Because President Merkley is leaving transfers are different and instead of happening on Thursday they're happening tomorrow, so at 6:30 am we'll go and pick her up!  Two sisters are coming in and I don't know which one will be my companion yet.

I forgot to tell you last week about a neat thing that happened in the mission.  An Elder in our district came from a part member family. On Saturday his dad flew in to Tulsa and he got to baptize him! It was a really special day.  

Sister Paff's parents came to church and liked it!  That was wonderful.  We also had a fun lesson with the adopted neice of a recent convert in Cleveland.  We had a good lesson with a new investigator named Tyler. Some recent converts from the ward came with us and bore their testimonies of how they came into the church and how they know it's true.  We also met with a less active lady who is ready to come back to church and she was so kind to us.  We saw a lot of blessings this week.

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

Love,
Sister Monson

June 18, 2012

Hello Family!

This past week was a good one.  We met some good new people.  

We have an investigator named Sister Paff. She and her boyfriend have been meeting with the missionaries for a long time. She's always spoken highly of the sisters to her parents who are really good Christian people. They invited us to dinner with them last week and want to come to church with her next week. We're excited for them.

We met with an old lady named Dolorus who is such a character. She's a Catholic, but she told us she could convert more people to Mormonism than Catholicism.  She loves the church. Her best friend is a member.  She gets on a Mormon soap box and can talk forever about how misunderstood we are. It's fun to visit with her.

We had such an amazing lesson last week with a girl named Cassie. Her boyfriend's grandpa called us and referred her. He let us right in and the Spirit was so strong during the first lesson. She was so sincere. She happily accepted a soft baptism commitment (meaning we ask if they'd be baptized if they knew the things we taught were true) and said she thinks it is true. I was so, so happy. There's no greater joy I've felt than seeing someone accept the Gospel.

There's an old couple in the Cleveland ward that we've visited with. He is a descendant of BF Johnson and grew up in Mexico in the same place as great grandma.  I told him her name was Anna Turley and he said Anna Turley was his aunt! I don't know if it's the same Anna Turley, but that was pretty neat.  His last name is Jarvis.

I love you all! I hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,
Sister Monson

June 4, 2012

Dear Family,

I hope you all had a great week! Mine was good. We had Stake
Conference and interviews, so that was fun. They broadcasted the
conference from two buildings, which was interesting. Half the
speakers were in our building and half were in the other. One of the
new Melchizedek priesthood holders was a Durney! They were in the
other building so I didn't get to meet them, but it was neat to know
that Dad's cousin is in my stake after all.

We had a good lesson with a part member family we live with when we're
in Skiatook. The husband isn't a member.  I've felt strongly that we
need to talk to him about The Book of Mormon. We did and committed him
to read it. He told us that just a couple weeks ago a visitor at
church committed him to read it, too, and he thought that was funny.
He said that he would and then said a beautiful closing prayer that we
would have success and that he and his wife could read The Book of
Mormon.

We had a couple of interesting days last week when we ran out of miles
we could drive and we left our phone charger in Skiatook so our phone
died.  I was a little stressed :).  We were miraculously able to get
the rides we needed, though, and it all worked out and we met a lot of
people. At about 8:30 on the last day without a phone or car I was
exhausted. We'd been walking around a lot and everywhere nearby had
already been tracted. I didn't want to go home early but I knew I
couldn't walk anywhere else. We got to a park and I sat down on a
bench while Sister Birati put some pass along cards around. Three
teenagers walked into the park. One of them was a girl who had come to
church before with her best friend. She said she'd talk to her friend
about coming again. Then as we were walking away from them a less
active teenager and his friend came to the park and we were able to
talk to them. By the time we were done it time to go home. I was so
grateful to God for once again providing me with a miracle when I was
lost and tired. I know He's there and He answers prayers.

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

Love,
Sister Monson

June 11, 2012

Dear Family,

Happy Father's Day on Sunday, Dad!  I love you!

This week was a good one.  We had a lot of tender mercies from the Lord and found some good new investigators.  We taught a couple in Hominy. She's black and he's Mexican. She's Baptist and he's Catholic. They were really sweet and open. We didn't get through the whole first lesson so we're excited to teach it to them this week.  

We also had a fun first lesson with a lady named Taima in Skiatook.  She was so excited when she heard about the Restoration. She wondered why she'd never heard of it before and wanted to know why there wasn't a movie about it :).  We showed her how to watch the Joseph Smith movie online and she said she'd share it with her family and friends. It was a great lesson.  

Yesterday we visited with a family we found last week for the 2nd time. We read from 3 Nephi 11 with them and the Spirit was very strong. There is a lot of power in The Book of Mormon.

We were walking in an area on Friday where a less active lady lives. We've stopped by before and she didn't seem interested in visiting with us. On Friday, though, she came running out of her house when she saw us and said she wanted to visit with us. At the end of the visit she talked about how she wants to give a talk in church and how she would be there Sunday. I was very grateful for that experience.

I love you all very much! I love the Gospel. I'm very grateful for the evidences of Heavenly Father's love in my life. 

Have a wonderful week!

Love,
Sister Monson  

Jasper the cat with a tarantula

Sister Birati

Scorpion Sarah found in the bathroom

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Hello Family!

 

We're taking our preparation day today since yesterday was a holiday. This past week was good. We taught a boy who is friends with a recent convert and has been coming to church and activities. He wants to have the lessons and is very sincere. He had heard a lot of things about Mormons that weren't true, which he's discovered from coming to church, and teaching him was great. We're excited for him.

 

We also taught a part member family (there are so many here - lots of stubborn husbands :) ). The wife came back to church about a year ago and the husband has never been very religious. As he's made friends in the branch and started coming to church he's changed a lot, though. He told our branch mission leader last week that he can't stand up and say like everyone else that he knows the church is true, but he knows that he feels good at church. He told his wife the day before we taught him that he thinks he should start reading The Book of Mormon.  We're excited for him, too.

 

Yesterday for Memorial Day we walked around a lot (and got pretty burned - Sister Birati always says she burns like a chocolate cake) and went to a get-together the branch had. A lot of our investigators came and some more part member families, so that was good.

 

I love you all so much!  I hope you have a wonderful week!

 

Love,

Sister Monson