September 28, 2009 -Alma 32

20 Lessons!

Me and "Pider-ma" (he was free at a garage sale!)

Bro Jeffrey, the man who helps at the VC. We saw him at church all pimped up, so I had to get a photo. He is amazing. He's super funny!

Iguana Lady!! I love Missouri!

"Why'd you get sent home?" (our favorite pasttime, thinking of funny ways you'd get sent home) "I told the President I was sick of being frumpy" -My companion Sister Moody

That's SISTER Cruella Deville to you!

I feel like a totally different person. This was an incredible week. I think I've grown a lot. I don't have much time, so I will copy/paste parts I had written to president.

It's been quite the week of ups and downs. One of the sisters, who is from Argentina, had a brother who died (self-inflicted). She was already having a really really hard time because she feels trapped in the VC. She has been out full proselyting and misses how missionary work goes out there in the real world. the VC is a TOTALLY different thing. It has very different challenges. She's been so mad all transfer, like "How dare Pres VK put me here, when he knows I hate it". And then the Lord throws a curve ball to show her why she needed to be here.

The night she found out, she had sisters to hug. She had shoulders to cry on. She had a family. She had dear, sweet senior missionaries who were her temporary father and mother. When she left, we all gathered at the Christus and sang hymns. The Spirit there was way beyond words. I think there is so much power in having so many righteous sisters in one place. We all fasted for her family. We've been doing our best to make her feel loved and supported. She's doing really well. She's staying busy.

As far as ups go, we hit our goal of 20 lessons! We had nine new investigators! We saw miracle after miracle when we really involved the Lord more in our goals. We had a district meeting this week where Elder Lamprecht invited us to challenge 5 people to baptism. That is something I have yet to do/see. It was good for both Sis Moody and I to remember that baptism is central to our purpose. We haven't been challenging people. I don't know what we were waiting for. Lame, I know. And here I am, brand new, like "Uhhh, is this what we're supposed to be doing?"

I passed off my "Preach My Gospel" lessons and feel more confident in our appointments. AND I can drive! Today is my first day. I'm grateful to have been able to focus on just that--the doctrine in PMG. I know it will help me as I try to become the missionary God would have me be.

I'll leave you with some miracle stories. We were on team ups with a young woman in our ward. The person we had planned to visit no longer lived at the house. We talked with the children who were playing outside across the street. The mother and grandmother were very, very welcoming. They invited us in and asked if THEY could come to church with us. They don't have a set religion and have been looking for a church that is family-oriented and has a Sunday school for children. Thank you, inspired prophets, for the Primary Program! The grandmother had read parts of the Book or Mormon in the past and has LDS friends. We gave them a fresh new copy. I can't wait to see what unfolds.

Last night, we visited this less active that we just love. Sis Moody is pretty sure she's gonna be transferred (we find out tomorrow night), so we've been visiting people she will miss. This lady finally, finally opened up to us. She told us about how when she was growing up in the RLDS church, she had some amazing spiritual experiences that molded her into who she is now. When she had Mormon missionaries show up, she felt like she'd been lied to all her life. Like she had been jaded. And so now, she has a hard time opening up her heart. she's so afraid it will get stepped on. Last Sunday, she said she got all dressed for church (for the first time in 20 years!!), got in the car, but sat there with white knuckles on the steering wheel. Poor lady! She just gets bad anxiety. Any suggestions? We're gonna get her home teacher over there, right away to give her a blessing. then she said she would come to Gen Conf at the stake center, as long as we were there. Anyway, we left from that lesson just feeling very loved. Very needed. I had no idea that was why she didn't go to church. Who knew? :) Oh, wait, the Lord. That's why he sent us over last night.

Anyway, the work is picking up. I'm doing well. I'll probs have a new companion next week. I hope I get to stay in the Inde 4th ward. I love them.

Have a great week! Thanks for all you do.

Sister Adamson

ps And also we met this man this week that is a Restorationist. The lesson went well. We read from the BoM. Then he started attacking us about polygamy and stuff. We bore simple testimony and left the house. Then on the porch, he goes "And I've met and talked to one of the three Nephites. I swear on my life."

Oh. My. Word. Who is this man? Sister Moody goes, under her breath "Cherry on top." It was ridiculous. The Spirit that we had worked so hard to invite was smashed in about 2 seconds.

September 21, 2009 Chubby Devil and Frozen Custard

We got hula hoops for morning exercise when it's raining. 25 cents each at a garage sale!
Sister Moody

Our district went out to eat after a meeting. Here we are! Take it or leave it.

We went bowling last Prep Day. My new haircut! The bowling place was darling.

I know you're curious about my subject line. 1) I was on exchanges and we knocked this door. A young man came out. His eyes were half open. He agreed to a lesson, said he felt we were inspired to come here, etc. turns out! He was totally intoxicated! He started to explain how he sees the devil. "He's got pale skin. He's really chubby and his teeth are.." I cut him off because 1. I was about to laugh and 2. it was creepy. We got out of there as fast as we could. We gave him a pass along card and ran away. Yikes!

2) Thank Heavens for Sheridan's frozen custard. We had an awful day. One of those where ALL your appointments fall through (even dinner from a ward member), none of the people you stop by to visit are home, you have nothing. Lame! So Sis Moody decided to break her no sugar oath and get frozen custard. It was SOOOO needed. I got this one called Chocolate Voodoo Pothole.

Umm, I'm so sorry I didn't write last week. The lds mail system went down. And I'm not allowed to write from my gmail or anything. Lame, I know.

Our ward mission leader was out of town and he asked S Moody and I to teach Gospel Principles. The lesson was on the Creation. OK, so Preach My Gospel has like two lines about that. We have to talk about it for an hour? To investigators? Ahh! BUT the Spirit led us to how we could best prepare and then did His job to guide the lesson. We read from a talk called Christ and the Creation by Bruce R McConkie (1983?) INCREDIBLE!! I went through and marked like every verse of Moses 2-4ish. He has so many great insights. Go read it right now. My question was why do we study the Creation? And I guess what I pulled from it was 1. A better appreciation for the power of the Holy Priesthood and the beauties we enjoy in the Earth 2. To see that everything. Everything testifies of the Savior. 3. Apply principles God teaches us through the scriptures about the Creation: Order, Efficiency, Planning...so good. I remember Bro Dowdle, my mission prep teacher saying how the scriptures would really come alive while I was out here. He said to use up the margins as much as possible. I am- let me tell you! Holy cow. Alma 13 is GOLD. I'm so grateful to be a member of God's kingdom on the earth.

Today S Moody and I were reading the "white handbook". We were at the part that talks about priesthood ordinances. If you know me very well, you'll know that I have always struggled with not feeling equal to men. But today, it hit me that, right now, I am equal to the elders who are out here on missions. Then S Moody said "Yeah and when is the only other time anyone is called an elder? When they are members of the quorums of the 70 or Apostles. We are equal to the Apostles". Then I remembered something my MTC teacher had pointed out. In the Bible Dictionary, there is no entry for missionary, but there is for apostle and ministry. The one under Apostle says that a missionary IS an Apostle--a witness of Christ. Ho-ly smokes. This is a big deal.

This week we have a zone-wide goal to actually teach 20 lessons like we're supposed to and have each companionship have at least one investigator at church. this is it. this is the week we're gonna do it. We have gotten 19 before, but not yet 20.

I am so exhausted, but it's good because it's from working so hard. Thanks for your letters, emails, packages, love, prayers and support. I love you all!

PS We saw a sign yesterday that said "Free Garage Sale" I love Missouri.

September 14, 2009

Sis Moody and I pulled up to the VC adn saw everyone standing around. Our first thought was "Maybe it's someone famous", so I grabbed my camera. Well, it wasn't David Archuletta again, but it was Emeritus Elder Hartman Rector Jr, from the 70. So we all got a picture in front of the Christus. Funny man. He was the guide for a tour hitting all the sites.

Zone Conference with the sisters. We got $1 ice cream cones at McD's after...our little tradition.

September 9, 2009

Donuts at the Laundromat with one of the senior couples: The Hallows from Heber City

Birthday flowers for one of the sisters. Sis Moody took this one

"Welcome to the Independence Visitors' Center. How can I help you?"

Our preparation day was on Labor Day, which means the library was closed. So here I am emailing today. We're in a hurry, so it might be short. But know that I love you all!

We met lots of new investigators this week, mostly while we were on exchanges. There is something about the idea that "This is someone else's area. I won't see these people again" that allows you to be more bold.

I'll just tell you about one. We talked with this young woman who was out jogging. She seemed really excited to go to church and wanted us to come over. But the more we talked to her, the more apparent it was that she is mentally handicapped. She told us all about her neighbors and how nice they were. She suggested we visit this one house. We're always looking for referral, so...OK. The mother was really short at first (might I add it was 8pm and completely dark). We figured we would invite her to the photography exhibit at the VC and leave. She softened up and we were able to discuss scripture with her. She told us about a tornado they survived (No, I haven't seen any since I've been here. For some reason, people keep asking me that), and I was reminded of Helaman 5:12 that talks about how Christ is our foundation and the devil's whirlwinds can't stop us. The Spirit told me to ask if we could go inside since it was so dark. She let us in! Usually, we just do lessons on people's porch's since they are often uncomfortable letting total strangers into their homes. Here's where I want to say that "Planting seeds" is huge! You ARE making a difference.

They already have 2 copies of the Book of Mormon. One from a garage sale she picked up and one copy from a friend at school who is a member. then seed #3 is an invitation to an art exhibit. They're a great family. I'm excited to work with them. We have an appointment this week.

Sat, we stopped by one of our part member families. Husband=LDS, wife=Catholic. He wants to get back to church really bad, but she is iffy about the whole thing. She has really warmed up to us lately, so that has been neat. Only the husband was home. We committed him to fast that he could get off work in time to make it to church at 2pm. Man, I must have no faith. I don't know why Heavenly Father keeps blessing me...

He came to church!! First time in years! We were so pumped. And then...one of our other investigators showed up out of the blue. We invite her every week and she's always like "yeah, yeah. I know where the building is. 2 o clock. OK" But she came!! It was fast and testimony mtg and she loved it. We all just need to hear other's testimonies sometimes. We are here to strengthen each other.

Also our ward has suddenly been super supportive in coming out on our appointments. We have team-ups for every day this week. I know the work will be so much more effective when we use this ward more. They're so great. My attitude has totally changed and I hope I don't get transferred because I love the Inde 4th ward.

AND we're having an all mission conference in October where Elder Russel M Nelson will be our speaker. I love serving in Zion!

And my favorite family that I talk about all the time (the one I gave the shoes to) finally went to the Addiction Recovery Class! Baptism, here we come. She picked a date on Sunday, the mom.

Zone conference. It was good, but not as good as last time. I don't think any will be as good as my first one. They talked about service and obedience and how to have a closer companionship. I ate three bagels. And we watched a video clip from the news where Pres Van Komen went to a little island in Peru to do humanitarian work. He's a doctor PS. It made me miss Central America. I want to go back to Guatemala!

Not sure what else to say. When you're on the winning team, you have nothing to fear.

Sis Adamson

August 31, 2009 "You gotta have Faith-uh, Faith-uh, Faith-uh"

Hi everyone!

Preparation days are gonna be great. We played soccer or like 3 hours last time. I think I'll just write postcards from here on out, if anything. Don't hate. The "new missionary trip" to visit Adam-Ondi-Ahman etc. is planned for mid-October.

Funny quote:

At district meeting, we had the elders pretend to be random people on the street and the sisters go practice talking to them. One elder acting a 75-yr old Catholic man. He talked about how his wife had died and sister moody goes "So where do you think you're going in a few years?" He broke character and we all couldn't stop laughing! That's one way to begin talking about the Plan of Salvation...

This week, I finally feel like I am becoming a missionary. I am slowly becoming more confident with how things work around here. On Monday, I feel like things really started to go up. We had a dynamite first lesson with a woman and her daughter. She brought us upstairs where she had laid out her Bible and notebook. She took notes excitedly about Joseph Smith, didn't have many concerns and voiced that it would make sense to have a prophet today. She asked if we would sign her copy of the Book of Mormon, so we had the opportunity to write our testimonies in it. I loved it! We had a second appointment with her at the VC, which also went well. She is interested in how she can help her friends to receive the Gospel. She really has such a great heart, very service-oriented and loving. She committed to come to church, but something must have come up because she didn't make it yesterday. I'm so excited to see how the Spirit will convert her. She already lives a "Mormon" life with high morals, so it wouldn't be too much of a change as far as habits/lifestyle.

Thursday, I was on exchanges with Sis Jacobs. She helped remind me that missionary work is fun! We worked hard and made it a goal to talk to everyone. We had a lot of success and witnessed quite a few miracles. In one neighborhood, we purposefully parked the car and walked down to the less active's house we planned to visit. This is something I had never done before, but will definitely do in the future. We found 3 potential families and one allowed us to have a lesson with them and made a return appointment. We had planned to visit some referrals next. One woman invited us in and we taught the first lesson. She soaked it all up and is very excited to meet members of the ward. She is ready to come out of the dark life she has led and give her heart to the Lord. I love that the Lord does not waste time when you are ready to work. He definitely prepared this woman for the message of the Restored Gospel.

At our dinner appointment, we asked for referrals and ended up going a few houses down. The large man who answered the door was a bit intimidating with his tattoos and earrings. His grandmother had died that week and his heart was soft. We discussed the afterlife and read with him from the Lesson 2 pamphlet. He asked if we were Mormon and then said "I'm RLDS. In fact, Joseph Smith is one of my ancestors." Sister Jacobs and I were blown away! We said "cousins", *bones* shared our testimonies with him and then he had to leave. When we got back in the car, we talked about how Joseph Smith was most likely there, watching us, and making sure we were taking good care of his descendant. We shared a common feeling that we had felt very led with the words we had shared with this man. And of all places, we are serving in Zion, the New Jerusalem! I love being a missionary.

Sister Moody and I are getting to be closer friends, which I know will help the work move quicker. We had an investigator pick a baptismal date when she came to church yesterday! Out of the blue!

Our goals for the week are geared around the members. We're going to keep the dinner conversations spiritual by discussing our investigators and try very hard to teach in members' homes this week. We've had a hard time connecting with the ward in the past and it will only go up from here.

I know working with the members of the ward is important and I am excited to see how my testimony of that will grow as we use them more. The Independence 4th Ward is about to see many miracles! I'm so honored to be a part of the Lord's work. He leads this Church. He lives!

Have a great week,
Sister Rufis Adamson