Missionary Letters

GONNA BE A GOOD TRANSFER - May 13
First week of transfer 6 in the books. It wasn't a great week because of some things, but we did have a lot of good things happen that will make this upcoming week fantastic.

The problem this week was that Elder Ward was sick from Monday to Thursday. That made it very hard to be effective missionaries. When your companion is sick, you have to sit inside with him. The good thing was that I got a lot of time to study, and I had just been given a bunch of talks to listen to from Elder DeMoux. I got to listen to some Hugh Nibley, Hugh B. Brown, and Truman G. Madsen. They know the gospel really well, and I learned some cool stuff from them.

Elder Ward got better by Friday, so we spent the second half of the week visiting everyone we couldn't visit during the beginning of the week.

The good thing that happened this week was that even while we couldn't do much in our apartment, things were still happening in the ward. We talked to a couple people at church today who have been sharing the gospel with people in their lives. There are a few people that might be ready to start meeting with us. It's amazing when members of the ward do missionary work of their own.

We also got 2 Book of Mormon media referrals. Those are very rare, so it was amazing that we got 2 on the week that we weren't able to find people by ourselves. #miracle! Their names are Wendell and Elizabeth. They are amazing and want to learn more about the Book of Mormon, so hopefully we will have some good lessons this week. We have a few people that we are going to try and set a baptismal date with this week also. Now that we are back to full force I should have a lot to report next week.

I always find something fun to put on when we are sorting clothes at service. This is what I found this week. 

8 MONTHS IN - May 20

It's crazy, I am a third of the way through the mission. I feel like a greenie still, and I guess I will be one until I finish. There's always more to learn. Little known fact: no missionaries really know what they're doing, they just do their best and trust in the Lord. It works out though, this week we put a lot of time into finding and found 5 new people to teach. It was a great week.

3 of the people we found have been taught by missionaries in the past. I saw their records and they seemed like they had lots of potential. Jennifer and Virginia were 2 of them. They were taught about 1.5 years ago by one of my friends Elder Cannon. We knocked on their door and started talking about what they talked to the past missionaries about. We found out they are still looking for a church, which they were doing 1.5 years ago, so we invited them to come to ours. #miracle. We will teach them this week and hopefully get them to church this Sunday. 

Another person we found is named Wendell. He was a Bible referral about a week ago that we haven't been able to contact yet. We stopped by yesterday and he wasn't home, but had seen us driving by while he was at his neighbor's house. He said the spirit told him we were going to his house, so he ran home and right as we were leaving he ran up and introduced himself. #miracle. We gave him the Bible and introduced the Book of Mormon to him. He accepted it and said he'd start reading that night and that we could come by again this week. We are super excited for him.

I also went on an exchange this week with Elder Pennock, who is an amazing missionary. He is so consecrated and loves Christ. I learned so much from him about being genuine and really putting your trust in the Lord to guide you.

I really don't know what I'm doing as a missionary, but it's been amazing to see how as I put forth effort and do my part the Lord provides. This is His work. President Monson said "If we are on the Lord’s errand, we are entitled to the Lord’s help." I hope each of you focus on being "On the Lord's errand" so you can experience the miracles he works through you.

This kiddo loves me. He is a cutie.

Zone Training Meeting pic 

My reading life

"I was born a reader, it seems, surrounded by books, with free choice and plenty of time to read under my covers with a flashlight." (Passionate Readers)

That one statement pretty much sums up my reading life. A question surfaced the other day from a colleague: Did I remember learning how to read?

That made me really dig deep into the filing cabinet of my memories.

No. I don't recall how I learned to read. But I do remember my library card number . . . 176. I didn't have tons of books at my house growing up, but I did have access to the library and I had a reading mom. One of my favorite places to read was in the closet of my brothers' room surrounded by books like Go, Dog, Go (one of my favorites). My dad had built a shelf in there that recessed into the closet. What kid doesn't like holing up in a small, tight space to read. Under the covers and beneath the Christmas tree were some other favorite spots.

"People read for a multiplicity of reasons. . . . I'm grateful for my one life, but I'd prefer to live a thousand--and my favorite books allow me to experience more on the page than I ever could in my actual life." (I'd Rather Be Reading)

The books that really instilled a love of reading were the Little House on the Prairie books. Back in the day of the Sears Christmas catalog, I would browse through that toy book, dreaming and hoping that I would some day get the entire series for myself. 

I still have that set 34 years later.

My summers were spent walking the two blocks to the library and sprinting back home to hermit in my room reading. I recall one summer I was really intrigued with space and wanted to be an astronaut. Maybe it was the summer of Christa Mcauliff, the first teacher to go to space. My timeline is vague, but I wanted to know all I could. I remember thinking that if I really studied one thing in depth each summer, I would have learned a lot after several years. Well, I began with space. I read a lot of what our little library had on the subject of space. And unfortunately, my quest for extensive knowledge began and ended that summer.

My mom was a reader of novels. My dad read the magazines Time and Reader's Digest (my first foray into the internet was a search for Reader's Digest in 1996 while sitting in a computer lab at Utah State University with Tyler sitting beside me). I remember pulling A Wrinkle in Time off the shelf at the school library and stumbling through it. A junior high class requirement was to read a biography, so I went to the library and found a book on Chuck Yeager, the pilot who broke the speed of sound. I hated that book because I found it so boring. I picked up James Fenimore Cooper's Last of the Mohicans off a shelf in our basement and didn't get very far due to the difficulty of the writing. Did those experiences make me less inclined to read? No. In fact today biographies or memoirs are one of my favorite genres to read. And perhaps Mohicans might be easier to read 25 years later.

My life as a reader has evolved over the years. Babar, Harriet the Spy, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, The Boxcar Children, and Beverley Cleary's endearing Ramona Quimby were a few I indulged in as a child. My desk in Mrs. Jones's third grade class even held the Bible that I would pull out and read. In my tween years it was the drama of Sweet Valley High and the mystery solving of Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden. I later moved onto authors Dorothy Keddington, Lois Duncan, and even admit to ashamedly reading a V.C. Andrews book or two. I loved Jack Weyland and Gerald Lund.

To Kill a Mockingbird was the first book I bought for myself. I can still vividly recall being in a Deseret Book store at a mall, looking through that book, and deciding to buy it.

During my college years, there's quite a gap in my reading experience. I claim to never have read a book for fun in college, but I'm sure I read something at least during the summer months.

In my 20s as a young mom, I read a lot of "self-help" books, namely parenting books and a few biographies. However, one of the most engaging novels that surfaces again and again in my literary conversations was a book suggested to me by a dear friend, Nancy Peixhot, in my Salt Lake ward: Phantom, the story of the Phantom of the Opera told from the viewpoint of the phantom. Such a captivating read. In fact Erik is spelled with a K instead of a C because of the main character of that book. In my 30s I started attending a book club which renewed my interest in other genres. That was a major turning point in my reading life. I have been exposed to books I wouldn't have otherwise picked up. I have loved talking about the books we read and making connections.

And now in my 40s I'm on a quest to teach my young students to be better readers and to instill a love of reading in them. Those are really my two goals as an educator. And I believe with 6 days left of school I just may have accomplished at least goal #2 when they beg me to let them read their books.

Tell me how I'm supposed to say no to that? So we sit and read and talk books and I love it.

So where am I now as a reader?

Well, I need reading glasses :) and I need deadlines. Books I borrow from the library get read more often than books I've bought and stored on my bookshelves at home. 

I continually add to my bookshelves, real and virtual. I most likely have way more books on my actual and virtual bookshelves than I'll ever read and that is quite all right. It reminds me of all that I do not know and have yet to discover and the stories I have yet to experience.

I am discovering a love for picture books. My students love it when I read to them. So I've been on a quest this year to discover picture books that tie in to the lesson I'm giving that day.

I document the books I read and have begun leaving a brief synopsis in Goodreads. I've found that I can remember reading books but I can only remember if I liked it or didn't. I want to recall more than that about the books I read. Plus Goodreads is a great site to get recommendations or to do a little sleuthing about a book I might be interested in reading before I actually commit to it.

I am still a bibliophile who seeks out bookstores on vacation much to the chagrin of a son-in-law. On our last family outing we discovered a bookstore in Boulder, Colorado that was a close second to Powell's in Portland.

I was born a reader and will always be a reader. It is definitely one of my most favorite things to do in my "spare" time.

State tennis

Well, it's another wrap for tennis. Our region has some tough competition with both Bonneville and Park City. Nate took third in region for 2nd singles which gave him a spot at state tennis. Last year his first match was against the kid who took state which ended his state run. This year his first match was INTENSE. It was so reminiscent of Erik's state match last year. Nate split sets which sent the match into a third set. To win, it's the first player to six games, winning by two. At the end of the third set, they were tied six games a piece. This entails a tiebreaker game where the typical scoring is put aside and it then becomes the first player to get 7 points, winning by 2.

The score was 5 to 6 with Nate down a point. His opponent went to slam it on him for the win, but put it into the net instead and cramped a muscle at the same time. It took about ten minutes before he felt he could finish the match. They were now tied 6 to 6. Nate defaulted on his serve, giving his opponent another advantage. Nate held on to win 10 to 8 after a 2 1/2 hour match. My heart has never pounded so much. When I first became a tennis mom trying to figure out how tennis was scored, they were many times I had no idea who was winning. But once I figured out the game, my heart became a little more involved and got a little more of a workout.

I was anticipating a year like last and had made alternative plans for the day. After his win, I ecstatically messaged Tyler and Kiersten and Jason. They were all able to make it to his next match. He won the first set closely, but then muscle fatigue set in and he dropped the next two sets and therefore the match.

Nate played hard and tough and he's only a junior. He's got next year. Plus, Bonneville and Park City who won state in both 1st and 2nd singles are moving up to 5A next year.

And in other news, my transcript has been finalized at Weber. I am officially done!! I guess I can take this off my board now. I thought I was going to have a quiet summer until I learned last week that I am moving classrooms. So now I have a classroom to put together.

Temple run

I went for my first run in a few weeks. I had to have a minor surgery on my foot to remove part of my toenail, and I haven't dared run as it continues to heal. But yesterday I went and it ended up being part run, part hike.

President Nelson announced a new temple in the Tooele valley and the rumor is it is being fast-tracked due to the Salt Lake Temple being closed for renovations for four years. Everyone like to speculate about where the temple might be and hope that it is in their backyard. I'm no different. As I've driven from Tooele to home, I've noticed this bluff where it would be visible from all over. As I was chatting with my foot doctor whose office faces this bluff, he made the same observation. So that's where I headed on my run.

You can see Tooele and Erda.

You can see Grantsville.

You can see Lake Point and I-80.

Stansbury is a little hidden at the base of this bluff, but you'd be able to see it from my neighborhood.

The location reminds me so much of the Manti temple which is up on a hill and seen from all over. Wherever the temple ends up will be fabulous. Nate and Ash have been going every Friday morning for many months to do baptisms, and with school out of the way, I'm going to up my attendance.

What a blessing it is going to be to have a temple so close.

6 more in Rockledge

I had another busy week. We had exchanges, which is always fun, on Wednesday. We also found someone named Charmisa who will probably get baptized, so that's cool. This week we also got transfer calls, and I'll be staying here another transfer with Elder Ward. I'm hyped to be able to be here another 6 weeks with him.

I got to go on an exchange with Elder Nielsen this week. He was in my district in Lake Placid, and then we both came here together, so I got to do an exchange with him here, too. We had a whole bunch of lessons that day, so he got to meet a bunch of our peoples. It was really good.

We also got a referral from some Sisters in Salt Lake. Charmisa requested a Book of Mormon and so we dropped it off to her. We found out that she wanted to come closer to God and have him in her life more, and we testified that the Book of Mormon will help her with that and with her other problems. She is pretty golden. We will hopefully set a baptismal date for her and her daughter this week.

This week we also had a few lessons where we had to basically drop some people for now because they aren't progressing. We will be focusing more on some different people and on finding new people this week.

In other news, I'm not one'n'done-ing in Rockledge. I get to stay here for more than 1 transfer, which I haven't been able to do in a while. We have a lot of good things coming, and I think we will get baptisms this transfer. I'm going to the beach now though, so I'll put some cool pics in the Google Drive folder. 

We saw BYU socks at Ross. In Florida. 

You can't really tell, but there are bugs here called love bugs, and they are everywhere. You look out the window and it is just black, and you can't walk outside without running into them. They were created in a lab in UCF to kill mosquitoes a few years back, but they don't and now they are everywhere.

April 22 and April 29 Letters

HAPPY EASTER
It's been a good week. We had interviews with President Clark this week which is always nice. We also found a few new people and they are really solid. Plus I got to talk to my family twice last week because of Easter.

Usually interviews are the last week of the transfer, but they were in week 3 this time. President Clark is a genius and he always has great insights. He gave me a lot of advice and things to try to help out investigators. This mission is really lucky to have him, he knows what he is doing.

We found a new person to teach last night named Alycia. Her husband is a member, but she isn't. They were all sick, so we went to give them priesthood blessings, and it turns out that she has actually been wanting to join the church. Crazy. So we have them all blessings and then set up a time to come teach the first lesson this week. She is so ready for the gospel. #miracle

We also started teaching a lady named Kathy who has been taught before. She is basically a member, but can't be baptized because of some Word of Wisdom issues. She is working hard to overcome them, but it will take a lot of time and effort. 

There is another guy we teach named Alan who is really unique. He reads the Book of Mormon with us nightly for a half hour and loves it and knows it is true, he comes to church every week, and he knows all the members and is good friends with them. He won't get baptized until he reads the Quran and the Bible though. He wants to make sure this is the true church before joining. We will start teaching him about faith and acting in faith, because he has the faith but won't act on it. 

Basically we have a lot of people who are planning on getting baptized (Alycia, Kathy, Alan, Jen, Abbie, Jon, and Marie), but they each have their own challenges and obstacles in the way. We are working hard to break those obstacles down though. Hopefully I will be able to see all these people overcome their obstacles. 

I got to talk to my family yesterday because it was Easter. It was great because they were at a family party, so I got to see a lot of my extended family who I haven't seen in 7 months. The new guidelines about calling home are a huge blessing for me and I'm very grateful that I get to see my family more often now.

I ate 50 nuggets in 45 minutes. Yes, it was terrible and yes, I'm crazy. Do not try at home. 

THIS TRANSFER'S ALMOST OVER!

Time flies out here on the mission, but it also just drags on at the same time. I don't know how to explain it. But this is the last week of the transfer already, which means I've been in Rockledge for more than a month. That's crazy to me. I love Rockledge, and I really hope I'll be able to stay another transfer here. I'll find out on Saturday.

Anyway, this week was a good week. We visited lots of people this week and had some good lessons. The highlight of the week was having a 3.5 hour lesson with one of the Port St. John Elder's investigators. It was very interesting. We also had a very long discussion with a few of our own investigators. We taught a lot of doctrine this week.

So on Friday we were talking to our district leader about one of their investigators who has studied with the Jehovah's Witnesses for ten years, and she doesn't believe in their church so she decided to meet with us instead. They didn't know how to help her with a few doctrinal issues that the Jehovah's Witnesses has ingrained in her. Let's just say they emphasize the fact that Jehovah is Heavenly Father, not Jesus. (Jehovah actually is Jesus FYI) We said we could help, because we knew how assist with fixing the problem doctrines. So on Saturday we drove over there and had a lesson with the four of us. It went on for 3.5 hours of using Bible verses to show where we get our doctrine of different things from, bearing testimony, and lots of discussion. In the end she actually progressed quite a bit, and we gave her a few simple things to study and pray about that could help her even more. I really enjoy lessons like that, so Saturday was a good day.

We also have a guy we teach named John. He is a super funny guy and we are constantly joking with him. He has a Ring doorbell that he loves watching the videos of people coming to his door on. So we always do something funny in front of it. A few weeks ago Elder Ward did something pretty funny in front of it, (he crashed his bike while trying to do something funny), and we got the video of it this week when we visited John. I put that in the Google drive for y'alls to see.

Anyway, John is agnostic and doesn't really believe in anything because he has too many unanswerable questions he says. We had a long lesson where we answered probably 15 questions he had about different things. We told him if anyone had answers, it was us. So he put us to the test. It was mostly just because he was entertained by trying to stump us, not really because he wanted to learn. Either way though, he learned a lot of doctrine this week.

As far as other investigators go, Jon, Jen and Abbie are now more free to meet and have lessons because they got new jobs with better work schedules. Yay! They want to be baptized, but have some issues to clear up first. Hopefully we will be able to help them more now.

If nothing else, this week helped my testimony a lot. I know the Church is true because logically our doctrines make sense and are backed up by scripture, but more importantly because of the spirit I feel as I live it and because of the happiness it brings me.

To finish this email off, here's a few verses I read this week that I enjoyed. 

Helaman 5:40 And it came to pass that the Lamanites said unto him: What shall we do, that this cloud of darkness may be removed from overshadowing us?

41 And Aminadab said unto them: You must repent, and cry unto the voice, even until ye shall have faith in Christ, who was taught unto you by Alma, and Amulek, and Zeezrom; and when ye shall do this, the cloud of darkness shall be removed from overshadowing you.

42 And it came to pass that they all did begin to cry unto the voice of him who had shaken the earth; yea, they did cry even until the cloud of darkness was dispersed

44 [And] they were filled with that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory.