Week 27

Hey all!

This is probably going to be a short email because not much has happened this week except for the fact I got my new companion who I am training!!! She's awesome and super nice. Her name is Sister Shupe. We dropped Sister Schwendiman off in Helena for her to be transferred and then I went back to Butte to stay the night and we went back to Helena the next day to pick up Sister Shupe and then later that night we went back to Dillon.

And it DOWN POURED rain RIGHT as we were unloading luggage. Last time, it was a blizzard. So I've never had good weather transferring in Helena... Haha.

So we got to do work in Butte for two days. We were in a trio the first day and then a...quadro? the second day. Butte is interesting and there's a lot of streets. I realized I can only handle small towns right now. There are less streets to keep track of.

We have been tracting a lot to build our teaching pool and we have had some success! We are going to start teaching a FAMILY! WOO! Hopefully they will progress. :)

Well. Not much to tell. I know that we always need to trust in Heavenly Father. Just work and trust in His plan. Proverbs 3:5-6.

Sister Ney

Week 26

Hey all!

Transfer news: I'm staying in Dillon and TRAINING a new missionary!!! Kindof excited and kindof scared. I don't know who she is. I will find out on Thursday in Helena...when I pick her up. Sister Schwendiman is going to my last area: Livingston!! Woo! So I get to tell her all about it and how the wind is awful. :)

So this week we were still trying to build up the teaching pool here. We did find 3 new potential investigators in a couple hours of tracting which was sweet. So hopefully they'll keep their appointments this upcoming week. Atleast one of them seemed super solid. 

Last Monday, we helped brand and tag cattle on a ranch that some members manage outside of town. It was way fun but smelly. I got cow poop on me within the first 10 minutes. And the burning of the hair and skin stuck on us for a while. We had to help keep them in line with cattle prods to go through a squeeze shoot that keeps them still while we shave them, brand them, untag and retag them, vaccinate them, and weigh them. It was fun working with the real life cowboys.

For valentines day yesterday, we had dinner at a members house and decorated some sugar cookies and delivered them afterwards to some people we teach. We also decorated cookies at the nursing home this week too! Lots of sugar.

We had a church open house this week and we had been advertising it all week and we set it up all nice with each auxiliary and quorum giving a little presentation in their rooms about what they do and we had pictures of Christ set up in the halls and the Restoration movie playing the chapel and refreshments in the gym. And we were prepared to give a tour to people who showed up but we had such a small turnout, it was sad. But atleast it was a good practice run.

We have been sharing what we call "the M&M lesson" with all of the members lately. We got the idea from the missionaries in Helena. We ask them if they've seen miracles come out of prayers and then we read Alma 16:16 and Alma 8:10 and discuss how praying with faith resulted in the Lord pouring out His spirit among the people in the cities to prepare the hearts and minds of the people for the gospel. And then we pull out a little pack of M&Ms and ask them what the think it stands for. Member missionary! Duh! And we invite them to pray and ask God to prepare the people in Dillon for the gospel in every prayer and then they can reward themselves with m&ms. And there is power in faith-filled prayers and praying for the same thing as a whole ward. I am so excited for the results. :D

Oh, here's a funny story. So we once were tracting and we saw this guy walk by as we were leaving a doorstep and we both felt guilty because we didn't say anything. So in my prayers that night I told Heavenly Father that if he was put in my path again, I would talk to him. And lo and behold, we saw him walking a few days later. So I turned to Sister Schwendiman and said, "I promised God that I would talk to him! So we need to talk to him now!" So we parked the car and started walking on the street parallel to the one he was walking on, and we walked fast, hoping we could turn right sometime and intercept him. So we kept track of where he was because we saw him crossing intersections the same time we were. But then when we did turn right to "run into" him, he was too fast and we crossed his path a little too late and he would know we were following him if we started walking directly behind him through the alley he was going through. And I was about to do it anyway or atleast yell at him because I had the fear of God in me but we both made a split second decision that we didn't want to be creepy and we tried our best. But maybe the third time is the charm. Hopefully God saw that we tried and it will be easier next time. 

Here is something I read and liked this week: "The only thing you need to worry about is striving to be the best you can be. And how do you do that? You keep your eye on the goals that matter most in life, and you move towards them step by step."- Joseph B. Wirthlin (One Step After Another). Amen to that. 

Love,

Sister Ney 

BRANDING COWS

Week 25

Hello everyone!

So, for the record, I am ready for the snow to melt. I never missed Arizona so much in my life. Winter is just forever long.

This week we had exchanges with our Sister Training Leaders. This time we both went to Helena and just had exchanges there and stayed the night. It was a fun time. We taught a lady who was severely depressed and she seriously changed right before our eyes as we taught. She started smiling more, talking more, making eye contact, willing to have us drop by everyday, willing to have a priesthood blessing, and she said she felt lighter. It was amazing! The spirit really is a wonderful thing. 

The next day, we drove back to Dillon but then out to Polaris to teach a recent convert and then Jackson for dinner with the Big Hole branch president . We were so sick of driving by the end of the day.

We also had the baptism and confirmation of our older investigator. It went so well and he only had to go under once! Woo! Sister Schwendiman and I both spoke at the service again. And his kids (who are not members) came and it made him the happiest man in the world. He called us multiple times thanking us for helping him change his life and for giving him the opportunity to embrace the gospel. His daughter even said that she saw the difference in him once he started taking the lessons. 

The area is lagging in missionary work but we think the work might be within the YSAs right now. We just have to get through this barrier that is separating them from the church. They are their own distinct group of people that require us to approach them differently and we are still trying to figure that out. We also had a Ward Council fast for missionary work so I have faith that it will help.

Here's a funny encounter this week: we were inviting a Ysa potential investigator to our open house coming up and we were talking to him on his doorstep and he told us about how we went  on a fishing trip recently and then he came out with a package of fish for us to take home and cook up. He was all proud of how good it tasted and told us how we should cook it. So we took it and I then read a scripture from the Book of Mormon and I offered it to him to have and he was a bit hesitant, so I told him it was a trade. We would take the fish if he took and read the Book of Mormon and he said he would. Haha. That's how we do it in Montana.

Something I learned this week: Living up to our baptismal covenants is not as easy as it sounds sometimes but we need to do it for a reason. Do you remember what those covenants are? If not, read Mosiah 18 again! We need to mourn with those that mourn, comfort those that stand in need of comfort, bear one another's burdens, keep His commandments, always remember Him, and take His name upon us. Are we doing all these things? If not, ask Heavenly Father how we can improve on it so that we can receive the blessings we are promised and others can feel the love of Christ too.

Sister Ney 

Week 24

Hello Everyone!

This week has been a bit slower. We dropped a lot of people because they weren't progressing or not showing real interest or putting the gospel as a priority in their lives. So it's been a lot of tracting and finding lately. We tracted the whole town of Argenta in under 2 hours. It was more like one street with houses on both sides of it. Right as we got there, a blizzard it and that was fun. We tried talking to a guy outside and we were facing the snow and we were just eating it the whole time. There's no way to be dignified in a snow storm. Haha.

Here's a funny story of when we were there: When we were walking up to one house, I saw a  dog, but I swear from behind it looked like a chimpanzee because it looked like one and it walked funny- as if it had hands, not paws. So when I first saw it, I turned slowly to Sister Schwendiman with wide eyes and said, "that's not a dog...." And she freaked out thinking that I meant it was a wolf but then a second later we saw it was a dog. Haha. Woops.

Our investigator who is getting baptized this Saturday is stellar. He says he wouldn't miss church for the world and when someone asked him to push back his baptism a week so that they could attend, he was like "No way!" He has been waiting for this day and he reads the Book of Mormon constantly. He said that his neck hurts sometimes from reading so much! That's how it should be! :) and he said he didn't really feel like he had purpose in life until the missionaries showed up as an answer to his prayers! How cool is that?! We can all be answers to people's prayers!!

On a different note, one of my favorite things on the mission is hearing people's stories about the spirit. It's the coolest thing to hear how people experience promptings of the spirit and the outcomes from it. Such a testimony builder! Here's my challenge for you all- share an experience you've had with the spirit with someone this week! 

Love you all!

Sister Ney