Group E-mail 10/14/2013

Awhile ago, a girl in the singles ward gave a relief society lesson and in it she shared a quote on a card that her sister had given her. It said something along the lines of "When something not so great happens, just yell "PLOT TWIST!!" and move on." I thought that that was genius and this whole week the words "plot twist" kept popping into my head as a bunch of unexpected things happened. 

 

Last week started off with Sunday night, President Pingree texted the mission and said that transfers are now going to be on Tuesdays, unless you are training, then you still don't get your new companion until Thursday. That threw everybody off. It was a little hectic because nobody was used to it and nobody knew exactly what was going on, but it all worked out in the end.

Because of this twist, we had a sister in a our district, who is our zone's sister training leader, Sister Allred, stay with us for two days. Her companion got transferred on Tuesday, and Sister Allred was training so her new companion didn't come until Thursday. So for Tuesday and Wednesday we were in a trio and it was a lot of fun. Sister Allred is a great missionary and knows way more than Sister Stepp and I do and so we learned a lot over those two days and we are much better missionaries because of it. Plus, Sister Allred is really fun to be around. We got to do a couple of things in her area while she was with us, so we did quite a bit of driving back and forth from one area to the other, trying to keep all of our appointments in both areas. 

We had a really great lesson on the Gospel of Christ with our investigator, Colton, on Wednesday. He really loves the church and the gospel and wants to get baptized so badly. The thing that is holding him back from getting baptized is he is living with his fiance, who is a member, and they want to get married asap, but they didn't know if he was married. He had gotten a marriage license with a girl, but they had never gone through with anything. Well at our powerful lesson, we decided to set a baptismal date to show our faith to Heavenly Father that it will all work out. We set it for the beginning of November. The next day, we found out that Colton is married because they never returned the unauthorized, marriage license to the county office and neither him or the girl know where it is. Texas marriage laws get in the way a lot. That was another twist.

Also on Thursday, we found out that one of our favorite families in the family ward was moving to Georgia the next morning! They were supposed to be moving Thursday night to a different apartment complex that was still in our ward. We showed up Thursday afternoon to help them finish cleaning and packing and the sister said that her husband had showed up to work that morning and they laid him off, so now they were moving back home to Georgia, instead. It was really sad. We will miss them a lot. We took some pictures. 

Then on Friday, we tracted into a preacher who spent a really long time telling us all about his beliefs and then at the end tried to convince us that we could have so much more power if we joined his church. He believed in having the Holy Spirit and that through that you can heal the sick and speak in tongues and stuff. When we told him that we have the gift of the Holy Ghost and that our church also has the priesthood, he was shocked. Then at the end he went on about how we have been very deceived and we are cursed and are going to hell. While he was saying this in my head I was thinking "You know, it is funny. I have never been more sure in my life that I am not going to hell, now that you just told me that I am going there." I was grateful for our knowledge of the Plan of Salvation and the love that Heavenly Father has for all of His children -- enough to give us multiple chances to accept the truth. I was having a really hard time trying not to Bible bash. Sister Stepp said that she could see steam coming out of my ears as I was trying to hold it all in :) Towards the end, Sister Stepp simply bore her testimony about how she knew this was the true church and she has prayed about it and found out for herself. He completely disregarded her testimony and again said that she had been deceived and that her answer was not from God. I bore my testimony in the end and said "I have the gift of the Holy Ghost. (since that was really important to him) I have been endowed with power from on high. I know this is Christ's true church. I know Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and I know Thomas S. Monson is a prophet today. I'm glad you believe in Christ and keep doing what you are doing." He just looked at me and didn't say anything. I think he was a little scared :) And then we walked away before I exploded. I could feel the Spirit and power of God coursing through my veins. It was a great feeling. The Spirit testified to me that this church was true. Sister Stepp said that she could feel the power behind that testimony. It was an interesting experience to say the least.

Then on Sunday, we were sitting in the singles ward sacrament meeting and realized that our investigator, John, who ALWAYS comes to church, wasn't there. He is awesome. We taught him last week and it went so well. He loves our ward and he is so prepared. Before, he would always say that he would never get married and family life wasn't for him. But then when we met with him this week, he said that he has been starting to picture himself Mormon. Randomly he would imagine himself getting married...IN THE TEMPLE! How great is that!? He is so awesome. But he got offered a job in Shreveport, Louisiana and that he would probably be moving there at the end of October at the earliest. Anyway, other people noticed that he wasn't at church too and we were all a little confused. So last night we texted him and just said that we had missed him at church. He texted back and told us that his job actually wanted him asap and so he was in Shreveport already! Seriously?! I looked at Sister Stepp and said "I'm so done with this week :)" We will miss John a lot. But he said that he is going to get in contact with the ward and missionaries there, this week. 

Despite all of the random events of this week, most of them pretty sad, it was a good week. I felt totally at peace and just really, really happy all week long. There was one day where I literally couldn't stop smiling. Being a missionary is the best thing in the whole world! I love it so much! The Lord is hastening His work and this church is Christ's true church restored upon the earth. I love it! 

Love,

Sister Sylvester

Group E-mail 10/7/13

First of all, our investigators are all doing well. We have had a hard time meeting with a lot of them over the last couple of weeks because they have all been really busy. So it has been a bit slow. We are also having a hard time finding new investigators lately. Our whole district is. At every district meeting the last few weeks, all of the companionships asked for prayers to help them find new investigators. We have quite a few potential investigators that were referred to us, but we only have their address and so we try and go visit often, but they are never home. It is difficult to get in contact with them so that we can start teaching them. 

A lot of you ask what we do in a typical day, so here it is. We wake up and exercise, get ready, do studies and training, and eat lunch. Then for the afternoon we will usually meet with an investigator or visit with some less-actives in the ward. For dinner we almost always eat at a member's house. Our ward is great at keeping us very well fed. After dinner we do power hour. "Power Hour" is something that we have in our mission that is an hour from 6-7 pm every night set aside for finding new investigators. It is a time that our whole mission is unified and doing the same thing and we are all praying at the same time for the same thing. After power hour is over we usually visit one or two more people for the night. Pretty much our days are time between appointments with investigators is filled with visiting less-actives and finding new investigators. The last couple of weeks we have had lots of people stop us thinking that we are Jehovah witnesses, which is totally great because it leads perfectly into a discussion about the gospel. And usually the people just ask for a card and say they will think about it and let us know and then we never hear from them again. But that is okay because we are sharing the gospel with the Spirit and it is up to them what they choose to do with it.

The last couple of weeks have been slow, but we still are feeling good about what we are doing and accomplishing. I believe the Lord is happy with our efforts. Of course we are always trying to improve, but knowing that the Lord is pleased is always comforting. Despite the slowness of things the last little bit, I have had A TON of small moments when the Spirit has testified to me of the truthfulness of this Church and Gospel. With every little thing that has happened or been said, the Spirit would be right there touching my heart. My testimony has grown a lot. And in the end, the most important convert on your mission, and in life, is you, so I am grateful for those times when I feel that my testimony is stronger and my conversion is deeper. 

Well wasn't General Conference fantastic! All of our church leaders are amazing. I liked all of the talks. I don't know what one was my favorite, but I really loved President Uchtdorf's, Elder Bednar's, and Elder Holland's, to name a few. Of course, who doesn't always love their talks :) President Monson said that he would write in his journal that this was one of the most inspiring sessions of conference he has ever been to and he has been to a lot. I think that means that we should all continue to read and study the talks over and over again until the next conference. 

I am so grateful for this Church and Gospel. I know that this is Christ's true church restored upon the earth. I know that President Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet of God and that Jesus Christ is the head of the church. Please work on strengthening your testimony every. single. day. Read the scriptures every day. Pray every day, all day. Go to church every week. These are small things that are so important and that make a huge difference. A critical difference. I liked the story one general authority shared about his grandparents who chose to go on a drive in the country with their family one Sunday instead of going to church and that one, seemingly small decision ultimately led to their inactivity. Do not give up the blessings of keeping our covenants and keeping the commandments. Heavenly Father loves all of us. Abide in His love forever. 

Love,

Sister Sylvester