November 16, 2010 "Fare Thee Well"

Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink [or keyboard and computer]: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.

-2 John 1:12

November 9, 2010 "Remember Remember the 5th of November"

A bible from 1838

Friends from Inde 3rd coming to visit.

Squishie break with our cute teamup.

A torture device.

Flower Power

Making pear sauce with the Kings. They are ward missionaries, just like you Mom and Dad! AND she makes dilly beans just like you! So good. I was home again.

I asked Sister Power what I should put as a clever subject line and she said "You know you're a missionary when you get more excited to look at new.lds.org than to email your family." Then I had to confess that I had actually explored the website BEFORE I began typing this. It's true!! Waaaaa! I'm such a geeky missionary. I'll have you know it's way more user-friendly and the Search is incredible!

We can listen to EFY CDs! Woohoo! We are so happy! It's been Benton Paul, Mindy Gledhill and Peter Brienholt all week. The first song I listened to was "Child of Light". Man. it's just 17 months a little late, President. I'm glad, though.

A member in our ward, Sis C. invited her friend A*** to come to a relief society activity last month. Sis Nelson and I were talking to her and someone next to her leaned back and mouthed the words: she's not a member. Oh! Well suddenly, it was "getting to really know you" time. We found out her mother is dying of cancer in her blood. She's a single mom and has overcome lots of scary addictions. She is recently getting into the whole "church thang" and attends a protestant church called "Celebration and Praise!!" (awesome, I am sure). She took our number, but wasn't comfortable giving hers to us. So last week, I was thinking about her. I called up Sis C. and asked if I could have A***'s address. We stopped by a few times, and Tuesday, she was finally home! She talked with us out on the porch. It ended up being so special. She opened right up and told us of all her current struggles and how it's so hard that her father is turning against God instead of toward Him in this difficult time. We taught her about the Atonement and helped her to feel God's love for her and her family. We could tell she was touched. She said we could come visit again. We invited her boys to come join us in a prayer. She asked me to say it, which was so neat. I think it's something like a priesthood holder must feel when he lays his hands on your head for a blessing. I could just feel what to say. I could feel the love of our Father in Heaven so strongly. They are such a special family and they have gone through so much.

So on Saturday, Sis C. invited A*** over for a dessert/movie night. We decided on Together Forever, which was perfect. As we sat there and sipped our hot cider, we all felt so comfortable. When people describe the Holy Ghost as being a big snugly blanket--it was exactly that. At the end, we discussed how hard things are part of a bigger Plan. It reminded me of a quote I got from Sis Wathen: "I may not know what my future holds, but I know Who holds it." She is starting to see the big picture and now she is open to hearing more Truth. I can see how the Lord has prepared her for the message of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have come to know firsthand that the Atonement of the Savior can heal all wounds. Conflict, pain, loneliness, aching in the pit of your stomach, guilt, fear---it can all disappear because He already suffered for it. Man! I love the Gospel! So we shall see what happens with A***. She still is kind of freaked out by the rumors she has heard about the Mormons, ya know. :) Don't worry, we told her we hide our horns during the day.

Oh yeah, as of this week, WE CAN TEXT! It's revolutionary! I can't even tell you. It's so so so so much more convenient. The church is finally grasping these great technologies and putting them to good work. We have had SO many miracles of people who have NEVER answered our phone calls, but they will respond to texts and we have gotten in several homes where before it literally would have been impossible,. I never thought I'd love texting so much. If you remember me before my mission, you'll be able to picture how stupid I thought it was. Well, it still is, but now I see some good in it. I have a testimony of texting. :)

I got to go on exchanges with Sis Nelson! So fun! We visited all of her favorite people in the ward. She's my last companion, PS. This ward is her greenie ward. I used to forget all the time that she was new because she was just born to be a missionary. Anyway, we took our perfect teamup member friend over to teach M***. We got to the house and chaos erupted, as always. I stopped the lesson and said, "Can we go to the Jail?" M*** laughed and said, "Oh, I've spent enough time there." It was hilarious. It worked. We got their teenager to babysit the girlies and we stole M*** away for the evening. He walked into the door at the jail and immediately took his hat off. He whispered, "Whoa." It was so special. I am going to miss this so bad. I hope the hermanas need me like every day. Then I will need to find some sisters in Logan...hmmm....back to M***. The lesson was bomb-rockin'. He agreed to start taking this more seriously. He wants the formal lessons and wants to be baptized! Good thing the message we teach is true. I liked what our teamup, Bro J. said when he invited him to church, "Please don't think we're trying to manipulate you or trick you into this. Do you feel good right now? Then it must be right." So simple. It's been such a miracle to watch Mark and his son make changes and find more purpose in their lives.

We keep having dinners cancel the last few weeks. It's been kind of a secret blessing, because then we can call people we want to get to know. We can also call up less active families or our investigators to have them see us in a more casual situation. So that's been fun. We went to the K***'s last night. You should look up his art. We got to see his Hallmark cards from last Christmas. First name M***. Beautiful talent.

Umm, new area books have been so amazing! I don't know if I already wrote about this, but Sis Nelson had circled some names of former investigators she felt we needed to visit. I got over my phone fear and called them. The very first one I call says, "I'm so glad you called! I've been thinking about my sister missionaries lately. I've moved and have been trying to find out which ward I am in." Assuming she has been baptized (wouldn't you?) I asked her if she had. "No, I wasn't ready at the time, but I've prayed about it and I'm ready now. Thanks for asking! Send over the missionaries!" Oh my word. It was seriously awesome. Heavenly Father knows exactly what he is doing.

While weekly planning, we decided to pamper ourselves since it can be sometimes very torturous. We soaked our feet in the bathtub while making phone calls and updating the area book. So fun. Best last companion ever. Sis Power said she's going to change her first name to Magical. Get it? Man, she is funny. To bad she's from CA.

Lots of miracles going on these days. Just last night, we got into one of those "careful contacting this family" homes. By the time we left, the Dad (not a member of the Church) said "I like them. They can come back." Also they are the most darling family.

Oh yeah- we don't have to wear nylons anymore. What is the world coming to? Ha ha

Love you all. The church is true. Jesus is the Christ. And....He loves you lots and lots and so do I.

Now go do something productive instead of sitting at a computer. Oh, shout out to Jessyka who shut down her Facebook account. That takes courage.

Luff you,

Hermanita Rooey

November 2, 2010 "HalloWeek"

A Paul Mitchell advertisement taken in our bedroom. I gave Sis Power full freedom to do whatsoever she wished to my hair. It got in the way of my napping capabilities, so I had to take it out.

This awkward one of sis Power and the Bishop's son is hilarious! Bishop teased him about sitting too close to the sister missionary and they both moved. The painting in between of Christ was done by Bishop's wife. She is amazing!

Bishop got this fun toy for his birthday, so his son made it into a suicide drink. He had so mnay liquids in him by the end of the night. He does not recommend anyone combine 4 drinks like that, by the way.

Liberty Jail key. It's a miracle how we have it. A woman in the community wrote in her will to give it to the "Mormon Jail" when she died.

My beautiful companera modeling the new curls look for Fall. This is out front from the house we live in. Babelicious.

Talent show at Bishop's. My companion can literally lick her nose, no problem. Love her.

Our costume for a couple of seconds--elders! All day at church we wore each other's nametags.

3 generations! I've beena "grandma" for several months now. I trained Sister Howe (who is currently one of the sherriffs at the jail...aka sister leaders) and there's my lil' baby, Sister Glade. Mission lingo is lame, I know. Get over it.

We went to the Community of Christ temple last P day. This is a photo of us right before going into the middle of the big spiral. The field is certainly white! Just add water. Maybe our tour guide from there will be next.

Jump-starting our car. We happened to run into two members of our ward. One had cables. One knew how to use the cables. Thanks, Heavenly Father. Perfect timing.

Hey everybody,

Welcome to this week's edition of "What's Going on in the Life of Hermana Adamson?". Thanks for joining us. Here are the highlights and lowlights. In fact, let the lower lights be burning. Send a gleam across the wave.

We were walking back to our car to head home for the night, and I spotted a man in the road. He looked friendly enough. Possible future bishop--you know the type. I was out of pass along cards and my companion was about 20 feet closer, (I know!! Terrible!) and so I told Sis Power to give him one. She approaches him and starts talking to him. He goes, "Are you guys sister missionaries?" I got all sorts of exciteds because it's always a plus when people have a smile in their voice and ask that. Keep in mind, it's really really dark and I can't see his face. "We are! Do you know anyone who is Mormon?" He laughs and goes, "I'm in your ward." I knew I had a good feeling about him.

We've had a few of those "I feel like we need to go stop by and see_____" experiences where unplanned activities turn into miracles. Love those.

2 exchanges this week. I got to be with my old companions! With Sister Howe, we ended up raking someone's leaves. I had never done that before. It killed my back and since then, I have been sleeping on the ground. It's my new favorite discovery! It's just like when Shayla and Donny would come down and I would be "stuck" on the floor. Secretly, it's my favorite way to sleep. Well, secret's out. You now know one of my darkest ones ;)

Interjection: My companion's mom just wrote her and said she (Sis Power) voted by absentee ballot. Sister Power's like "Who did I vote for? I'm so glad I'm not involved in the political garbage that's pa-rob-ably going on in this country." She makes me laugh so hard! ... and she even got a sticker. She has everything.

We were unfortunately not able to spend much time in our area this week. With sicknesses flyin' around every which way, we keep taking shifts for other sisters at the Jail. Then the new sisters got to take their big annual History Trip to Far West and Adam-Ondi-Ahman, so I was on shift from 9AM to 9PM. Long. Fun, though. It's good to serve others.

We had a neat practice at our district meeting where our Zone Leader was the investigator, our District Leader was the observer and Sis P and I taught. When we did the first one, it felt off. It seemed so shallow, so robot. We did it again, having our ZL be himself, just taking on characteristics of someone he knew. It was amazing. I love how charity works. I remember at the MTC when E. Holland came, he said, "The Holy Ghost cannot and will not bear testimony of superficiality and phoniness." We were having such a difficult time in that first practice because it was all planned out. When he answered our questions honestly and naturally, it made all the difference. I love the new way they are having us apply Preach My Gospel. And I appreciate my mission this week because I have learned how real the voice of the Holy Ghost is. He will always be there when Truth is around. It's up to us to clear out our hearts and minds to hear the way He teaches us.

Several of our investigators have disappeared this week. With the holiday, many people were not home or had to cancel appointments. Meh. You win some, you lose some. We have one more with a baptismal date! 12- year old B*** will be baptized on Nov 10th, which is rare because it's a Wednesday. Bishop approved to have the youth put on the "show". They will plan talks, make the refreshments, type up the program, fill the font. Everything. Isn't that so great! I love involving the youth. How else will they become the leaders we need them to be? I have loved working with so many different personalities and people. Kids these days know way more about the Atonement and what it means than I did when I was young (er---I'm still young). It's taken me years and years and years to figure any of it out. I know it works, though. And I know through Jesus Christ, we can be complete, whole, healed, happy. I feel like 5-year olds are learning that in Primary these days.

Sis Power said the most interesting thing this week that made me think. She suggested we should give at least 10% of our time to the Lord, like we do with Tithing. I got out my calculator. If we are awake for let's say...13 hours of the day, then that's 780 mins. We should be giving the Lord 78 mins a day, at least. I loved that idea. So if you do an hour of personal study plus about twenty more minutes where you are thinking about the Savior or doing service or something good...that's my challenge to you. If you feel like you have drifted from the Lord, He is a little more distant, then do this challenge with me. I'm excited to see the results. It's only 10% :)

"Does it strengthen you to share the Gospel with others?"- Gospel Principles teacher

"I feel like Hercules!!" - recent convert

I want to end with a quote, but it will take too long to type, so I will email it as a photo.

I love you all. Know that I am not ashamed of the Lord, Jesus Christ. I, like Paul, am His soldier. I love being a minister for this work. God is in charge. I can testify of that. He is so pleased with us when he sacrifice our hearts to Him. Blessings are out there waiting! Don't forget: almost being obedient is almost getting the blessings.

-Hermana Adamson