Group E-mail November 11, 2013

Hello everybody! I hope you all had a great week this week!

Let me tell you about all of the tender mercies of the Lord this week: 

1. We started going to this park by the library a lot this week to go contacting in efforts to find some new investigators. We haven't found a new investigator at the park, yet, however every time we have gone there we have been able to teach at least one brief message to somebody willing to listen. They don't want to hear anymore after our brief message, but at least they listened to that. We talked to one lady about the eternal families and ended up discussing the spirit world a little. She said that the spirit world made a lot of sense and she really liked the idea, but she was good with her church and didn't want to change. It was just nice to be able to add to the knowledge that she already had. 
2. We haven't been able to meet with Samuel, our McDonald's guy, yet because he has been working a lot and his phone completely broke so the only way to get a hold of him is to go to McDonald's, which we did a couple of times this week. He should be buying a new phone this week. Every time he sees us he gets so excited and it makes us feel great. 
3. Tammy Sue, an awesome member in our ward, gave our elders a referral for one of her friends last week. She told them to knock her friend's street and not to mention her name, just to see what happens. Tammy Sue had told her friend about missionaries and how they don't have much money so lots of people feed them dinner. So when the elders knocked on her friend's door, she was excited to see them and gave them a bunch of shampoo, body wash, and shampoo and is having them for dinner tomorrow night. They haven't started teaching her, yet, but hope to this week. Well the day after the Elders knocked on her door, we were at Tammy Sue's during a slow time of our day, to practice teach the Restoration. Right when we were about to start the lesson, this friend knocked on the door. Tammy Sue invited her to sit in as we practice taught the restoration. We felt a little bad for teaching the Elder's potential investigator, but as long as she gets taught, is doesn't matter too much who teaches her. However she thought we were "practice teaching" her, so it won't be awkward for the Elder's to teach it to her again. Anyway, the Spirit was really strong, especially as we shared the First Vision with her and testified of Joseph Smith. It was a great experience and that powerful lesson gave us a little boost to keep going.
4. We got a referral last night from our Bishop for a guy in the singles ward. We called him today and set up an appointment to meet with him on Wednesday. Thank goodness! We are excited to finally have a new investigator!
5. Last week, Tammy Sue and Sister Stepp mentioned to me that I talk with the Spirit. Their comment made me feel really good. This week I prayed a lot to recognized the presence of the Holy Ghost more. I felt the Spirit so strongly this week! It was the best feeling. I also was really able to feel the Spirit speaking through me as we talked to investigators and members. There were multiple times when we were sharing a message and I said something and the Spirit was really strong. And afterwards I would just think "Where did that come from? I've never thought that thought in my life." and then I would remember that the Spirit was really strong as I spoke and that it was probably the Spirit speaking and not me. It has been such an amazing week being able to better recognize the Holy Ghost. The gift of the Holy Ghost truly is one the best gifts Heavenly Father gives us in this life.
6. We visit this elderly widow every week to reteach her the lessons. So we have been visiting her for a couple of months, and she is so cute and we love her so much. Anyway this week when we were leaving her house, she thought I was going to leave without giving her a hug and said "Hey! come her and hug me." I laughed and gave her a hug, during which she told me she loved me. It was so cute! And she had never told us that before so it made us feel really good and appreciated. It pretty much made my whole day.
7. We had specialized training this week with President Pingree. We didn't have ours until Thursday, but on Tuesday there was one being held at our church building. We had just finished contacting at the park and saw a voicemail from President Pingree asking if we could come open the library at the church building for him because he needed a dvd player for the training. We hurried over and opened the library for him. He was SO grateful! President Pingree is so kind and loving. He just kept telling us thank you, the whole day. We were just glad that we had the chance to help him out, even though it was only a small little thing. 
8. And one more tender mercy... Elder Brown and Elder Graham. They are the Elders that we have the wonderful chance to serve with in the White Oak Ward (aka the W.O.W!) Elder Brown is our zone leader and has been out 21 months. He is an amazing missionary! Such a great example of an obedient, hard working, humble missionary who just wants to serve the Lord with all of his heart, might, mind, and strength. He is training Elder Graham, who is also a great missionary and I have no doubt will do great things on his mission. They are so funny! Every time we talk to them, we are cracking up laughing. They are just so fun to be around. We had dinner with them at members homes a few times this week and they always made our whole day. They are so great and I'm so grateful for the chance that we have had to get to serve with them. I have learned so much from their example and laughed so hard talking to them.

Well that about sums up our week. I hope you all have a great week and remember that Heavenly Father loves you. You are children of God. and All is Well!

Love,

Sister Sylvester

Group E-mail November 18,2013

As of this Friday, I will have officially been out on my mission for 6 months! That is insane! There is no way that I have been out that long. And I have loved all of it!

And I've spent that whole time in the same area. But, tomorrow I am getting transferred. I don't know where yet. We don't find out until tomorrow. I'm really excited, but a bit nervous, too. However, I know that it will be great and that I will love that area just as much as I do this one. I have loved serving in the White Oak and Sam Houston 2nd wards. They are so great and full of amazing members who have been so kind and loving and are great examples of true disciples and followers of Jesus Christ who serve everyone. 

This last week was really great. Sister Stepp and I stayed very busy. We had one day where we had so many people we had to visit -- including 3 new investigators, that popped up out of nowhere -- that we couldn't visit all of them. Of course, that is the best dilemma that we could ever ask for. 

One of the new investigators that we started teaching this week is named Luis. His girlfriend is a member and lives in Kentucky, right now, going to school. He is so sweet and kind and we love him so much. He has such a sincere and genuine desire to find out for himself if the Book of Mormon and Church are true. At the end of our first lesson, he said the prayer, and it was the most sincere prayer I have heard an investigator offer. He loves Christ and wants to follow him and he is already reading the Book of Mormon. He came to church yesterday, and he is going to the YSA's family home evening tonight. 

A few weeks ago, we had zone conference and President Pingree mentioned how the Book of Mormon is a "catalyst of the Spirit." Just reading the Book of Mormon will help us feel the Holy Ghost better and quicker than most things. I have thought a lot about this since he said it and I have gained a strong testimony of the power that the Book of Mormon has. A few days ago, we were visiting one of our investigators, and her brother-in-law was there. His name is Michael and he is currently attending a school of Ministers. He joined us for our lesson. We were planning to talk about faith. When we saw Michael there, we instantly were trying to think of the best way to invite and help them feel the Holy Ghost as quickly as possible. And I thought about what President Pingree said. So we decided to read Alma 32. The Spirit was so strong. There was one point, when I was saying something, that I was so overwhelmed with the Spirit that I couldn't form any words. At the end of the lesson, we invited him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. He eagerly accepted the invitation. Sister Stepp and I left and just looked at each other for a minute and then talked about how powerful that lesson had been. It was a big testimony builder of the power of the Book of Mormon. 

The other thing I have grown to love about the Book of Mormon over the last couple of weeks is how simple it is to understand. I think one of the reasons why it is so "plain and simple" is because it is full of stories -- stories of prophets of God and their experiences of living the Gospel of Jesus Christ and keeping His commandments. The prophets are wonderful examples of what we can do to LIVE the Gospel. They don't just spew out a list of things we need to do. They show us what to do, just like Christ did. I love it. I'm so grateful for all of the people that have filled my life that have been examples to me of how to not just preach and study the gospel, but to live it. Please study the Book of Mormon every day. If you do not yet have a testimony of its truthfulness, please read it and pray and ask God if it is true. I know you will receive an answer. All the Book of Mormon tells us to do is to love and follow Jesus Christ and keep His commandments. I know that when we do that, we are so blessed and we can have peace and happiness in this life and in the life to come. 

I love you all so much! Thanks for all that you do. I hope you all have a great week.

Love,

Sister Sylvester

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

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