week 6

Hola, familia y amigos! 
Man, I wish I was in a Spanish speaking mission sometimes. I use 
Spanglish a lot and sister meek thinks it's so cool for some reason. 
Haha. 
This week has been super eventful. We first had Zone Training on 
Thursday in Bozeman. It's where out whole zone gets together 
and...trains. Hahah. President and Sister Wadsworth and the assistant 
were there too and it was so neat. We learned how to work with ward 
council and members better and role played scenarios. At the end, 
President Wadsworth pointed out that Sister Meek and I are the only 
sisters in the zone and that we had more lessons than the elders 
lately. I didn't even notice. 
Afterwards, we had exchanges with our Sister training leaders 
(basically zone leaders but for sisters). I went to Big Timber with 
sister Rasmussen. She is so cute and I loved being able to have a 
change of scenery and get to know another sister. We stayed at a 
members house and they are the bomb. They are huge into food storage 
and they let us go "shopping" and take home what we want. We tracted 
and went finding. We also taught a less active lesson to a lady who is 
the sweetest thing ever and to a member family. 
Then we had General Women's Session this weekend at the Bozeman Stake 
Center.  We brought some less active members and they loved it. 
Afterwards, we came back into Livingston and there was a power outage 
and it was really creepy. We did our daily planning by flashlight. 
We also started a Zone fast through conference call for some of the 
people on-date in our areas. It was cool to have the missionaries in 
the whole zone in on it! 
Then get this- we were supposed to speak in the Gardiner branch 
sacrament meeting yesterday but Sister Meek woke up with a sick 
feeling that we were not supposed to go there. She felt prompted to 
come get me out of the bathroom and we prayed about it and we felt 
like we shouldn't go there but we should go to Big Timber and that we 
needed to leave Livingston right then and there (it was like 6:30 am- 
we woke up earlier to prep our talks). So we did. We had to call and 
apologize to the Gardiner branch president because we couldn't speak 
in sacrament and we left. We did our studies in the Big Timber church 
building and went to church and stayed in town for the day. At the end 
of the day, after we met with certain people, we felt like we knew why 
we were in Big Timber that day. 
Also, something funny that happened is that I made Sister Meek laugh 
so hard she puked. It was great. I didn't even think I was that funny. 
Spiritual thought: In General Women's meeting, my favorite talk was by 
President Uchtdorf. He spoke on happiness and I felt like it really 
applied to me. Everyone says the first transfer is the hardest because 
of having to adjust to missionary life and dealing with homesickness. 
Some things that I wrote down from his talk was that 
-God didn't design us to be sad. If we turn to Him, he'll help us find joy 
-the happiest people are those that focus on the good things, 
miracles, and fill their lives with meaningful things 
-LOVE is what makes us HAPPY :) 
 
Hope you all are happy! 
Love, 
Sister Ney 
 
Pic 1- us during the power-out 
Pic 2- according to people here in Livingston, to the left of the 
highest peak is the face of Jesus laying down (facing left). You can 
see his brow bone, nose, lip, and beard. It's so cool! 
Pic 3- there's a fish and a letter "p" on the mountain for some reason.... 

week5

Hey, family and friends! 
So good news! We are putting everyone on date for baptism over here! 
We put four more people on date for baptism! We have had to postpone 
some of the other peoples' baptisms because of lack of church attendance 
but they are still going strong! The thing is- their baptisms are all 
scheduled for mid or late October, which is after transfers. So if I 
get transferred out, I won't see any of the fruit of our labors! :( 
No Bueno. I guess that's how the elders before us felt, they both were 
transferred out with 4 people on-date. It's just hard because 
the mission goal is 4 baptisms per companionship per month...and when 
transfers are every 6 weeks, everyone you put on date yourself will 
probably be baptized afterwards and then the new missionaries have to 
somehow keep rolling with them. 
We finally got to do some service this week! We helped serve at Loaves 
an' Fishes, a locally owned soup kitchen. We helped serve dinner and 
got to see some people. Some other members served with us too. Funny 
thing is, we saw a couple there and ended up tracting into them and 
now we're teaching them! 
On Thursday, our whole zone had to drive to Helena (around 2.5 hours 
away) and sister meek and I had to use our own truck and use our own 
miles because we are the only sisters in the zone and we can't ride 
with elders. THEN we got there and figured out the conference was 
cancelled and had to drive back. Sister meek doesn't believe in 
coincidences so she believes we drive all t way to Helena for a 
reason. Then she asked me, "don't tell me you prayed for a muffin." 
(Because we picked up breakfast on the way there and I got a muffin.) 
No. I did not pray for a muffin....-_- So we used well over 200 miles 
on Thursday... So that was a bummer. Now we have to bike a lot to save 
the rest of our miles for the month. And I cannot take us seriously 
when biking for the life of me. Two girls on bikes, wearing skirts 
with helmets come up and approach you and start preaching. Ahahaha. 
The image of it. 
So because we scheduled everything for Friday due to our belief that 
there was a conference on Thursday, we had 7 lessons set up and 5 fell 
through. That was disappointing but seriously the epitome of 
missionary work. Hahaha. When that happens, we start knocking doors 
and finding people. Our numbers are pretty good though still. Lots of 
referrals and such. 
Here is something cool: one day we didn't have a dinner appointment 
with any members and I was so sick of my bland food (like college 
food-very simple) so I prayed for someone to feed us. Then, like 10 
minutes later, the members we lived with offered to feed us AND gave 
us a cookie. (It was awesome because we don't eat with them 
normally.)The church is true. 
We spoke in church in Big Timber yesterday. Let me tell ya, branches 
are teeny. I spoke on the Book of Mormon and I thought I was pretty 
bold. I even quoted "safety for the souls" by Elder Holland and said 
at the end in my testimony,"If we are to be called Mormon, we better 
know the Book of Mormon. We better read the Book of Mormon, we better 
live the Book of Mormon, and we better share The Book of Mormon". But 
then sister meek was asked to speak on member involvement in 
missionary work and she apparently delivered. One of the members said, 
"wow. Your talk was all hellfire and damnation!" She really 
"chastened" them- as she liked to say. And there's a lady in the 
branch who makes homemade loaves of bread for people who speak on 
Sunday's and for ten sacrament. So we each got a loaf of bread and we 
were so hungry, we ate half of it on the car ride home. 
Oh! And the mountains have snow. And I broke out my winter coat even 
before it snowed. So ya. People understand once I tell them I'm from 
Arizona. Hahaha. The struggle is real, everyone. 
And I have continued to "sleep-preach". It's the weirdest thing. It 
happens almost every night. Sister meek just tells me to be quiet.  
Spiritual thought: I have started to see people for what they can 
become. We have met people who have reached the lowest of lows and 
really want to change but don't know how. We are literally handing 
them the way to turn their lives around. Being a missionary of Christ 
helps me to see them as children of God and how much he loves even the 
vilest of sinners. I am so glad I represent the Lord everyday and am 
here in His place to share the gospel with everyone who will hear it.
Love,
Sister Ney 

Week 4

Hey everyone! 
So I'm slowly but surely getting a hold of the duties of missionary 
life. It's definitely challenging. It I see the Lord's hand in it all. 
So coming into the field- we had 4 people on date to be baptized but 
for their own reasons, 3 of them had to get postponed but we got 
another one out on date this week in the first lesson! It was awesome! 
This week we had stake conference and Elder Pino, of the 70, spoke at 
the Saturday and Sunday sessions in Bozeman. He spoke in Spanish too- 
so he had an interpreter. The overall theme was on missionary work and 
getting members involved which was cool because, in this case, I am 
the missionary! Even before stake conference, the members in our ward 
in Livingston and branches in Big Timber and Gardiner were really 
involved and came with us to 99 percent of our lessons and gave us 
referrals. But now, totaling referrals before and stake conference- we 
have 22 referrals!!! Also- our area hasn't had sisters in 7-8 years 
and many people have come up to us because they've been praying for 
sisters and didn't want to give certain referrals to elders. So it has 
been so cool being an answer to people's prayers. :) 
Our towns are so spread out that we have driven over 100 miles in one 
day once. It was crazy. But now my companion has a helmet- so we've 
started biking too. It's definitely interesting riding a bike in a 
skirt in the windiest town in Montana....and my bike bar is high too. 
Apparently there are bikes made with a low bar that work better with 
skirts but I didn't know that so I have to suffer the consequences. 
Hahah. 
Oh. And one of the branches is so small that they have only 4 active 
priesthood holders!! It's insane coming here from AZ and  seeing that! 
We're Just gone have to reactivate them all! :) 
I tracked into my first Bible Basher this week. That was fun. It's so 
interesting coming across so many people with different views and 
figuring out how to respond to them with the gospel. It's a mind game 
that's led by the Spirit. Haha. My companion is super good at knowing 
what to say at people's doorsteps too and how to get the back on 
topic. (I've heard soooo many different kinds of tangents. It's 
insane.) I learn a lot from her and her persistence. 
And guess what is funny- I still sleep talk by bearing my testimony 
and teaching lessons. I do it like almost every night. Last night, I 
taught "how the gospel blesses families" from the first lesson and 
sister meek told me to be quiet and that we're not in a lesson. Haha! 
She said all of her companion shave slept talked and that she's cursed 
with it. :) 
Spiritual time: The Holy Ghost is so cool. We pray a lot about which 
members to invite to each lesson and most of the time, the person we 
choose ends up being the persons home or visiting teacher, friend, 
coworker, etc. Another time, Sister Meek thought of a woman's name and 
I thought of a woman's face. We then decided to call the woman sister 
meek thought of and when she showed up at the lesson, it ended up 
being the same person! The Holy Ghost showed me her face but I didn't 
know her name but Sister Meek knew the name but not the face. So cool! 
That's why there are companionships. 
 
Anyhoo- we're going to a members home who offered to teach me how to 
sew today so I'm so excited! She's the sweetest lady. :) 
 
Love, 
Sister Ney 

Week 3

Hi family and friends! 
This has been the most insane week so far! So the 30 MBM missionaries 
( including myself) flew out to the field on Tuesday. We had to catch 
a bus, 2 trains, and a plane..... Just to get to SLC. We had to load 
and unload our luggage to and from everything within minutes too or 
else the train would leave, so we were all dripping sweat. 
It was so hard to leave my MTC district because we got so close! It's 
like EFY on steroids. 
We all stayed in Billings for two days when we got here. Some of us 
stayed in the home because the 2nd floor is all dorms, and the rest of 
us stayed in members houses and a hotel. I stayed at a bishops house 
in the area. We had training for those 2 days and had recent converts 
tell us their stories. It was SO inspiring to see how missionaries and 
the gospel changed their lives. This is a super strict mission. 
Obedience is exact. For example, we can't say any nicknames or 
abbreviations at all. We have to say "companion" not "comp", 
"preparation day" not "p-day", no "greenies", we have to say "Mormon 
tabernacle choir", no calling each other by last names, etc. it is SO 
hard. And we have to wake up at 6:23 and not 6:30. There's no fishing 
on preparation day, no caffeine, no weight-lifting, obey the schedule 
exactly. It's because this mission has the most baptisms per 
companionship because of exact obedience. So President Wadsworth set 
the goal for 4 baptisms per companionship per transfer. Him and his 
wife are SUPER nice though. Everyone in the mission home is awesome. 
We got to go through the Billings temple too! It's gorgeous! 
So I'm in the Bozeman zone and my area is Livingston, Gardiner, and 
Big Timber. We are right above Yellowstone. The towns are miles and 
miles and miles apart so that's kind of stressful and I get carsick. 
Hahaha. We are the only sisters in the zone too and our area hasn't 
had sisters in years. The Lord needs sisters here right now I guess! 
We were doubled into this area- meaning neither of us have been here 
before so the first couple of days we were completely lost and 
stressed out. I had to spend 3 days just mapping out where people live 
here. Haha. 
It's super duper windy here and my skirt flew up right when I walked 
out of church on Sunday so that was fun. And it's already freezing so 
I'm living off my 3 cardigans right now. Haha. It is amazing how 
different Livingston is from home. Many people live in trailers and 
teeny tiny poorly lit homes that are completely filled with stuff and 
garbage, and smell like smoke, other drugs, and alcohol- so it's very 
humbling serving here. 
The ward is way small compared to home but they're all super nice and 
love to help the missionaries! 
We live in the basement of a members home and they are soooo nice. 
It's close quarters but cozy. Me and my companion have a truck too- 
which is nice for mountains and such. 
Oh! And my companion is Sister Meek. She's already training even though 
she's only been out here for one transfer.  It's just different being with only one person 24/7. 
In the MTC we were with a roomies and district most of the time, so it 
wasn't just one on one. 
We have 4 people on date to be baptized already from what the elders 
before us did, so that's cool! And we are having great success 
tracting. Lessons have fallen through so many times though because of 
distance and lack of ability to communicate because many people don't 
have phones here. So that's disappointing because we spend soooo much 
time planning for people and then we don't even see them. 
This week has been the most challenging mentally and physically (from 
being sick still), but I know I was called on a mission for a reason 
and I am trying to stay positive. I know this church is true and that 
the Lord is with us in all our trials. My joy in being on a mission is 
solely from knowing I am doing Gods work. He loves each of us and will 
pour out His blessings if we follow him. 
 
Love, 
Sister Ney 
 

Me and President and Sister Wadsworth

Me and Sister Meeks