Group E-mail 9/30/13

Another one of our investigators got baptized on Saturday! Her name is Thi and she is so awesome! She has been on track and wanting to get baptized ever since we met her. She is the little sister of a recent convert in the singles ward. The baptism was beautiful and the Spirit was really strong. Our ward mission leader in the singles ward said that on his mission the missionaries would always teach a short restoration lesson while the people were changing after the actual baptism was performed. So Sister Stepp and I decided to do that and the Spirit was very strong. I know that this church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is Christ's true church restored upon the earth. It is the exact same church that Christ established when He was on the earth with prophets and apostles leading it through revelation and the priesthood. Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet, as well. We are so excited for General Conference this weekend. It is such a blessing to have a prophet on the earth who can receive revelation for our day. I love the scripture 1 Nephi 19:24. It talks about how we need to listen to the prophets and apply what they are saying to our lives. Please, please listen/watch General Conference this weekend. Take notes. Listen to the Spirit teaching you. And take the things that they say and you learn and apply them into your lives so that you can become more Christlike and and a better disciple of Jesus Christ. 

I have felt the Spirit of Elijah very strongly this week. Sister Stepp and I have had lots of meetings with our ward mission leader and the elders in our ward this week. We are working on putting together a family history workshop for people in the community.So we have talked a lot about our ancestors. I LOVE my ancestors. They are my heroes and I look up to them. There was a time in the MTC when I was questioning why in the world I was on a mission. So one night I prayed and was asking Heavenly Father to comfort me and help me remember why I was there. My ancestors came to my mind. Particularly my pioneer ancestors. I love them so much and I want to help their legacy, and the legacy of all of the early saints, continue and grow stronger. I was reminded that my ancestors are always going to be at my side to help and support me even if I can't see them. I feel their love. All of our ancestors love us so much! It is up to us to learn to love them. As you learn to love your ancestors, you will want to do more family history work and do their temple work and it won't feel like a chore anymore; you will feel their love for you and know that they are there supporting you. The Spirit of Elijah is so real and it can bless every aspect of your life and help you in anyway. I read an article in an Ensign, the other day, that talked about how doing her family history work and learning about her ancestors, helped this girl forgive people who had greatly wronged her. I don't know about you, but I would never associate doing family history with giving us the strength to forgive, but it does! And that is one of the amazing things about the Spirit of Elijah. It can help us with pretty much everything! And family history work isn't just for members. Everyone around the world, members and nonmembers alike, are feeling the Spirit of Elijah (whether they know it or not) and are doing their family history work. Invite everybody to do it. It can bless everyone! I love my ancestors so much and I am so grateful for them! I hope that you will one day gain a love and appreciation for your ancestors, as well. 

I am so grateful to be a member of this church. The Lord is truly hastening His work. I am so grateful to have this chance to serve the people of Houston at this time. I love Houston! It is a beautiful place full of beautiful people! The Gospel of Jesus Christ can help everybody and bring peace to all of our lives!

Love,

Sister Sylvester

Group E-Mail 9/23/13

I just want to start off saying that I love being a missionary! It is a lot of fun and it is so great to be able to serve the Lord 24/7 and always be thinking of Christ. And it is such an honor to see the gospel start to change people's lives and see people progress in the kingdom of God. And Houston is so great! Sister Stepp and I always comment about how nice everyone here is. 

This week was really good. We had a lot of powerful lessons this week. One of the lessons we taught was to a new investigator named John. He just walked into the Singles Ward last Sunday all by himself a and wanted to learn more about the gospel. We taught him the Restoration this week and he said that it made a lot of sense. He is excited to read the Book of Mormon. The Spirit was very strong and you could tell that he was feeling it. After that lesson I thought a lot about how it is very important for us to be converted by the Spirit and feel that it is true and not just be convinced by how much sense it makes. But even though that is the most important, it is still really cool to think about how much sense this church makes. God really is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

Another powerful lesson this week was with our investigator Colton. We taught him on the covered porch of his trailer. While we were talking he randomly asked us what our favorite spiritual experience was. Sister Stepp shared an experience she had involving prayer and I talked about how I gained a testimony. Right after I finished sharing my experience, Colton said "Did you see that?" 

"No"

"Three hummingbirds just flew in here at the exact same time. That never happens. They felt that Spirit."

Later in the lesson we were talking about prayer. Last time we met with him he said that he refused to pray in front of other people and he was very adamant about it. When we were talking with him this week we asked him why he didn't like it and he just said that it just felt weird to him. We talked about it some more, but eventually moved on, thinking that eventually he will pray in front of others, but it will probably take awhile longer. Then at the end of the lesson, we asked him if we could say a prayer and he said "Yeah, yeah! You got me! I will say it!" Sister Stepp and I just looked at each other and we were both thinking "Well we weren't going to ask you to, but ok!" He gave a beautiful prayer. The Spirit was very strong. It was a testimony builder that the Holy Ghost is really the one who does the talking and the converting. We could never have convinced him to say a prayer in front of us, but the Spirit touched softened his heart so that he would. 

We had a huge thunderstorm on Friday night. Storms in Houston are really cool because it down pours and they are just so big. The streets get flooded and it is a bit scary to drive in. We ended up going home and did training for an hour waiting for it to pass so that we wouldn't have to drive in it. But the rain cooled everything down, so the past few days it has been so nice outside! We even had Sunday School in the YSA ward outside yesterday. 

I hope everyone is doing well! Thank you everyone for their emails and letters. They are very much appreciated! Remember that we are all sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father and He is always there for us.

Love,

Sister Sylvester

Group E-mail 9/16/13

So the last couple of weeks were ridiculously slow, but this last week was really great! We found three new investigators and the Lord gave us many miracles and blessings. 

Two Fridays ago, we had zone meeting and we talked about finding new investigators, extending more baptismal invitations, and prayer. One of the sisters who just came out a few weeks ago shared 1 Nephi 3:7 and talked about how the Lord has asked us to find one new investigator everyday and because He has asked that of us, He will prepare a way for it to happen, every. day. if we have faith, are obedient, and work hard. That really hit me. That reminded me of a sign in one of my young women's leader's houses that said something like "Faith is not knowing that God can. It is knowing that he will." I realized that lately my faith had switched to "Well the Lord CAN help us get a new investigator every day" more than "The Lord WILL help us find a new investigator every day." So I started last week determined to have faith that we would find a new investigator every day with the Lord's help. We found more investigators than we have ever found before. We got lots of referrals. We tracted into a lady who actually let us inside to share a message with her right then (which had never happened to me before) and a nonmember just walked into the singles ward on Sunday and said he wants to learn more about our church. How awesome is all of that! II know that this was not all just a coincidence. The Lord was telling me that I still needed to keep increasing my faith (we always need to be doing that), but that I was doing good and going in the right direction. The Lord is truly great and blesses us tremendously if we have faith in Him! That is why faith is the very first principle of the gospel. If we have faith in Him, anything is possible. 

And Marcus, our recent convert, received the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday and it was so awesome! We were very proud of him and all that he is doing. It is so great to see people progress in the kingdom of God. 

So lots of people have been asking for more details about the mission, so I thought that I would share those this week.

Sister Stepp and I live in a really nice apartment that is the perfect size. We have a car, even though a lot of the times we wish we had bikes. Don't get me wrong. We are very grateful for our car, but it is easier to talk to more people when you are on a bike. Nobody in Houston is every outside, at least not in the summer because it is so hot and humid. But on those days when it is a little cooler, more people actually come out of there houses. It is starting to cool down a little bit. 

There are a lot of really nice cars in Houston. You do not see very many old, beat up cars on the roads. There are also a LOT of Ford Mustangs in Houston, which I love :) 

All of the members in both of our wards are so awesome and take very good care of us! There are so many members in the family ward who keep telling us to come over whenever we don't have a dinner appointment or just need to share a message with somebody, etc. They keep us very well fed. I eat a ton of mexican food and it is delicious! I am realizing that I really love Mexican food, and I always have. I crave burritos all of the time. 

Anyway, I need to go. Have a good week! Remember that we are all children of our Heavenly Father who loves us!

Love,

Sister Sylvester

Group E-mail 9/2/13

Well not much happened this week. It was really, really slow with school starting for everyone and Labor Day weekend. But this week will be really good and busy, filled with lots of appointments.

However we do have a baptismal date set for September 28 for a girl named Thi (pronounce like tea) in the Singles ward. She is really awesome! And totally ready to get baptized and she knows it!

Transfers were this week. I am training this transfer. My new companions name is Sister Stepp from West Jordan, Utah and she is 22. She is really sweet and excited to work hard and be obedient which is very important. We are still in the same area and this next transfer is going to be a great one.

Not much to say besides that. I will send more next week. God is good! The Lord will always give us the strength that we need if we follow Him and keep His commandments. All is well!

Love,

Sister Sylvester