March 30, 2010 "It's me again"

Can you read the Graffiti? I laughed so hard! (it says "mexican")

El Centro

"The privilege of a lifetime is to be who you are." -Anonymous


I wanted to start this week with that quote because it has gotten me through a lot. Missionary work is just that- work. It's hard and it can be overwhelming. But I have come to know more than ever that I am me. I am a daughter of a King. I have been given exactly the talents and gifts to get me through my challenges. I can choose to be me. Before, "me" meant that one girl who played rugby, who hung out with or dated so-and-so, who can make people laugh, who loves to hike and loves the color green. Now, "me" means I do what my Heavenly Father wants me to do. I try my best to say His words. I smile because I want someone else to sense my love for them, not because I have always done that. I talk to people because my Savior, Jesus Christ would talk to them, not because I am bored or I need to feel fulfilled. This probably won't make sense to you, but I feel different today.

The language is a struggle, of course. I had my district leader give me a blessing for me to have the gift of tongues, but instead it turned into a blessing of comfort. I'm doing better. We are doing better.

It's such a culture shock to be in the city. I mean like "El Centro". Downtown. We be up in der mos' da day. I be da only white gurl fo' miles. But i's coo'. I ain' skurd. I laugh every week when I hear the sacrament prayer start with "We AKS dee..."

It seems I've hit a writer's block.

A few days ago, as we were driving down the street, Sister M said to stop the car. We got out and talked to a cute Hispanic lady. We got her info and visited her yesterday. She didn't seem very receptive. She kept arguing that it doesn't talk about Joseph Smith in the bible. Near the end, Sis M stopped and looked her right in the eye. "We lived with God before we came to Earth. We knew each other then. And I promised you I would come and find you to remind you about the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ." Whoa. It worked. She wants to meet with us again. I looked over at her daughter, who had walked in maybe like 3 minutes before. She had tears in her eyes and was staring intently at Sis M. It was amazing.

Funny quote from this week:

"Adamson...isn't that a famous gorrilla researcher?" - Sis B, ward member. Will someone look that up for me?

Well, I know this is the Lord's work. I know this is truly the church of Jesus Christ. Hope each of you have a great week. Don't forget about me. I like letters...

Love,
Hermana Roo

March 23, 2010 "Estoy Nadando en el Rio"

I got canned and they sent me back to the VC (PS It was brand new, so no garbage in there)

Alyssa Nelson. Apaprently we went to high school together? I met her when she got off the bus. I think she's out in Lawrence, KS. She is a cute girl (well, sister missionary now)

Big news!!



I got switched to Spanish-speaking and am serving in the Riverview ward in Kansas City, Missouri. I am back at the VC and trying to adjust. And let me tell you- it has been an adventure! Sometimes, it's like I'm drowning.



My companion's Hermana M. Her family is from Puerto Rico, but she grew up in New Jersey. She is GORGEOUS and really sarcastic and hi-LAR-ious. She is very patient with me and encourages me to speak Spanish all day long. I don't even know what to say. It is a dream come true! Seriously.



A few people have commented that my accent is very natural, which made me feel good. I just need to learn how to conjugate verbs because I never really learned. And what in the world is vosotros and why don't they teach it to us in high school? It's all over in the scriptures; don't they know?! My goodness.



I am full of mixed emotions. When President called me, I was at Cookees, the local drive-in down in Pleasanton, KS. I started jumping up and down on the phone. Then when I hung up, I told Sis Hafen the news and she said "So you'll be back at the VC, huh?" And it sunk in. No more cows. No more water towers. No more humble country folk. I did not feel ready to be back at the Visitors' Center. But, it's like Sis Hafen said, it really is the only familiar thing to me.



The language is coming along OK. Sister M is a wonderful teacher. Yesterday, I helped teach part of the lesson instead of just my testimony at the end. It felt great to be able to help Heavenly Father's children hear the Gospel in their native tongue. I love the Hispanic people! They give when they have nothing to give. I feel I have a lot to learn from them. I am grateful beyond words for this opportunity to stretch and rely on the Lord more as I do my best to learn how to communicate my feelings in Spanish. Also we just commit everyone we meet for baptism and they say yes. I wonder why it's so much easier with Hispanics...probably because they all say yes.



Here are some Qs my mom asked: "How will that work out with you having to travel into Kansas City? How far is it? Will you go with only your comp. Or team-ups? Tracting or referral only? Will you have to study espanol or just wing it? Do you live back in your old house or somewhere else?"

We live in Inde, but we drive to Kansas City when it's proselyting time. Our area is about 20 mins away. BUT our companionship is in charge of all the Spanish-speaking people in Indep, so we can visit any of the wards to try one person. Kind of weird. Just me and my comp drive to KC. We have teamups sometimes, but the problem is that everyone in the ward is so poor, they can't just come get us and drive us around all day....so we haven't had any yet and the other hermanas haven't had much. We have SOOO many investigators, so many people who are interested and progressing that we mostly visit them. Remember that we only have about 4 hrs of proselyting time. We haven't tracted at all yet, but we can if appts. fall through. Yes, I have one hour of language study, but I do it everyday at the VC while I shift so it doesn't cut into proselyting time. Our new house!! Oh my gosh. It's adorable. Some members donated it to the Church and it's all fixed up and WAY too cute for missionaries. I'll send pics. It's adorable. And we have our own washing machine and kitchen, etc. Super nice!

I can understand most of what is going on in lessons and at church (the ward has one sacrament mtg in ingles and one in espanol). I get confused sometimes with the questions people ask me about myself. But it's neat because I can feel more than I can hear/understand and so Heavenly Father steps in and helps me communicate. Like this one appointment- it's a part member family where the daughter has just started to get interested in the church. She is already a mother at age 13 or 14. The whole lesson was in Spanish and then at the end, I just told her that even though I didn't get everything, I could feel God's love for her more than anything I had ever felt. I started crying and she just looked at me and said "I know." She wants to get baptized as soon as possible, and I felt impressed to tell her that she needs to be sure she reads the scriptures everyday. On the way out, she said "Sister, you also need to be reading and studying everyday. It's the only way to learn Spanish. You can do it!" Isn't that interesting? I was trying to help her learn the language of the Spirit. Turns out, no matter what you are doing, you need to work hard and then find the strength through the Lord to do it.

And also my district leader is Elder Ben Cisternas, from Northridge Stake. He and I are buddies. He and his companion also serve in Riverview with us. I am so so so excited! He is great. And it's fun to talk about Orem stuff with him.

The other day, Sis M and I both felt prompted to talk to this one women (Hispanic). Another woman showed up. We got talking and figured out that they were Jehovah's Witnesses. But I kept my commitment and asked them if they knew of anyone we could visit. It was so normal to do. Then we get back in the car and Hna M goes "Sister, you just asked a J-Dub missionary for referrals. Who ARE you?!"

The first thing I learned was how to pray, bear my testimony and say "Estoy alergica a pescado". :)

Man, I love this work!! I hope you can feel my excitement somehow! This change feels so right. I know it's from God. He lives ,and through His son, Jesus Christ, He directs this work. I know this.

Yay! Estoy feliz al servir aqui, espeakin' da spaneesh.

Con amor,

Hermana!! Adamson

March 8, 2010 "Halfway Done"

Companion Sister Hafen

We decided to go on a road trip to Europe. Do you see the population?

The 5 Stooges

Our PB&J demonstration to show how the Book of Mormon and the bible support each other. We made a sandwich with too much jelly for an elder and he struggled through it. Then we made another and he goes "mmmm, the fullness of the everlasting Gospel". It was hilarious!

It's true. March 2nd was my halfway mark. To celebrate, we bought ice cream (1/2 the fat) and ate in the park in a "Lil Johnny Deere" tractor. Pretty much the coolest party I've ever attended, besides that animal party at The Riv last year. Wish you were there!

This week, we had a fun little countryside photo shoot. I may just use the rest of the time attaching photos. You'll love me after.

It was a weird week. A lot of our appointments fell through. I feel like my weaknesses are more apparent than ever. What is frustrating is that there are things I thought I had mastered that suddenly are problems again. We (Sis Hafen and I) decided we have the same weaknesses. Both of us have had people in the past, companions for example, who have taken care of the "hard stuff" for us. Both are afraid of old people. Both hate making phone calls. Whenever I set a goal, I talk to her about and she will say "I'm working on that, too." It's weird. I can't explain it. I used to be able to invite people to do things and now the commitments I extend are wishy-washy. I don't know what the deal is. BUT What is amazing is that I am coming out of this rut. I no longer feel like I'm stuck on a plateau. We are improving. We are involving the Lord more. We are getting better.

I promise I'm fine. However, words of encouragement are always appreciated. My companion would love to get a letter.

"Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends." I hope when you hear that, you remember how much your older brother, Jesus Christ, loves you. That was one of the scriptures that our sacrament hymn referred. It meant a lot to me when I read it this week.

Sorry this isn't very long. I don't even remember this week. But I can tell you what I do know- prayer works. Heavenly Father does answer them. Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Roo

PS transfers are next week, so only write to the La Cygne address until Monday the 15ish because by the 17th, I could be somewhere else. You can always write the mission office one in Independence, though. Thanks!

March 1, 2010 "Liberty and Justice for All"

Looks like I got wound up in Kansas!

Hi Everyone,

I keep finding out the most interesting people are reading the blog. That makes me happy! I'm glad I have readers. And it's easy- all I have to do is email, then my darling family does all the blogular work. Thanks!

This week, I finished the Book of Mormon. I don't know what number that is for me (PS Grandpa, I want to read it for every year I have been alive just like you), but I want to take a second and just tell you that the Book of Mormon changes lives. Reading the words it contains makes people want to be better. Please read it. You are denying yourself SO many blessings by not reading it. I know it was translated by the power of God. It is His words. It proves to the world that Jesus is the Christ and that Joseph Smith is the prophet chosen to bring back His Gospel in its fullness. Take advantage!

Our cute investigator with a baptismal date has been trying to quit smoking for a while. She needed to quit for a surgery she was going to have, but when it didn't work out (the surgery), she lost a bit of the urgency. She told us that the other day, she lit up a cigarette and just had this thought, "This is disgusting. You don't need this. You can quit!" And then she handed over the rest of her carton. I am so proud of her. I love hearing about the Holy Ghost working on people. Sister Hafen and I were able to attend a baptismal service and wedding in her last area (Liberty First Ward) of a couple she helped to find and teach. It was so wonderful to see how happy they were. We took a less active member of our branch and another active young adult. We took a tour of the Liberty Jail. I knew it would be an incredible experience, but I was not expecting for it to feel so much like how I remember the temple. It made me think of what Sister Van Komen challenged us in our sisters' meeting/breakoout last Zone Conference, to make our mission a "mountaintop experience." I want everyday to feel like that. Already Mound City has become sacred ground for me. It's where I have come to really know my Savior and understand more than ever what it means to rely on Him.

I am almost out of time. Sorry! Here are highlights of this week:

We were parked by the side of the road to go tract a trailer park and we kept seeing a cop circling the block. Finally, he drives up to us and says "Do you happen to be affiliated with a man who has been knocking on doors and asking strange questions to people? We had a complaint about him and your car looks similar." We assured him we weren't and he went his way. Ten minutes later, we stopped by our branch mission leader's home and he said he heard our tag or our license plate get called into the police scanner. "Missouri Independence Mission, The Church of Jesus Christ of Letter-Day Saints" So for the next couple three days, we got so much from people we know. Everyone thinks we are criminals now. Gee, thanks.

Some of our investigators' daughters put on a skit for us. "This is called the Mormons". So cute!

We went to Wal-mart this week, it was the first time I had been since like the beginning of January. It seriously felt so strange. Civilization! We got pictures printed. Finally!

This week's quotes:

While wearing my white VC jacket at the baptism, I got asked by a ward member, "Are you a doctor?" I said, "No, but what am I?" He was excited to see I was a missionary. I asked if he was going to be a missionary when he grew up and he said with a huge smile, "NO!! But I'm going to be a jet pilot!"

While talking to a member's family member that wants to start coming to church, the member said "You're not supposed to be changing them. They're supposed to be changing you!" This was while she was telling us about her crazy biker friends and the things they like to do for fun.

After explaining she should be studying the Preach My Gospel manual, a member asked, "Now, it's a preach what gospel?"

What would you rather say at the end of your life- I wish I had or I'm glad I did?

Ahh! I hope this makes sense. I am pressed for time. I love you all. The church is true. Thanks for your Atonement responses. They have been extremely helpful.

Sister Adamson