Transfer 2 Week 2

Dear Family of mine....oh and friends too!

One really awesome thing this week was we set a baptismal date with Charley!!!! He is getting baptized June 22!!! I am so excited although I doubt that I will be here that long. It would be awesome to serve six months in my first area. I love it so much!!! The people here are the best!! I am told I will feel that way about all my areas so I am excited!!!! I don't have a ton of time this week because we have a meeting with our stake president but I will try to make this one super awesome!!!

Something that President Young has asked us to do is make these next four months a time of constant miracles and a time when the OEM was on fire!!!! So I decided to track our daily miracles because they do happen every day. I was reading over my notes I took when I was in the MTC (seems like that was forever ago when it was only in January!) and one of my notes said "One of the most amazing miracles is that we can be happy through our trials." Today during study I focused on hope because that is what we happen to be teaching tonight at a FHE. I really like what preach my gospel says about it. (Great book by the way. Yall should read it.) It says "Hope is an abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promise to you. It is manifest in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance. It is believing and expecting that something will occur. When you have hope, you work through trials and difficulties with the confidence and assurance that all things will work together for your good. Hope helps you conquer discouragement." We also looked at a lot of scriptures concerning hope and almost all of them mention or say something about the reason that we can have hope is because and through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It is funny how the things I study in the morning for the lessons we will teach later that day help me in what I feel at the time. Just as Joseph Smith needed a message of hope when he was in Carthidge, we all can receive that message when we turn to Christ. In Doctrine and Covenants 122-124 Joseph Smith poured out his heart. The Lords comforting words he gives him are, in part, to serve others. I have a testimony of serving others, not only serving them but serving them with a smile. President Young wants our mantra to be "What would Jesus do?" It has become one of my favorite study topics, looking at the character of Christ. He is consistently turning outwards. Even at his lowest he turns outwards. When I read about hope this morning I felt a ray of light enter my heart. I know this is the Lords work and I am so excited to share the miracles that come with all of you. I know that when we do this work the Lords way we will be blessed!! He loves each of you so much and knows what you are going through. He brought with him hope as he entered the world and hope of eternal salvation as he exited. 

Ok...So the miracles that we have seen this week.....We started teaching a new investigator who is super excited to learn and she loves church. Her dad is very Catholic and kinda anti but she is filled with the desire to know more about our church. This week was a week of finally being able to contact those whom have been elusive and hard to reach. We have been able to find several things out about these people which helps us know what steps to take next instead of their names being written on our white board in the 'Limbo' category. While we are our tracting we spoke with a Jewish man, as we were walking off he called us back and requested a Book of Mormon. That was neat, we rarely get people who request us. There are some less actives that have not been interested in the past but we went over there and they let us in and they agreed to here the discussions again! We are super excited for the opportunities that this week brings!!

Oh and more about my lovely companion...Sis. Marble. She is a beam of light! She is such a fantastic person! She is very excited and is fantastic at staying positive and having a positive outlook. She has a lot of enthusiasm for missionary work. She has such a powerful testimony and she is just such a sweet person. She is from Arizona and does not like peanut butter. Which is a shame because I eat it every day!!!! She doesn't like horses but she loves tomatoes. She is just super chill! 

I love you all so much!!! I wish you all a fantastic week!!!

Pictures from transfers

 Rena with Sisters from the MTC who are now training 

                           Rena and new companion Sister Marble, whoops Sister Adair and Sister Marble

                                  Three Generation: Sister Kennedy, Sister Adair, and sister Marble

2 Transfer Week 1

For the General public:

So this week I discovered that I begin almost every sentence with the word 'so'. I am pretty cool like that. Any how. This week has been crazy long. So on Monday was the last day with Sis. Kennedy because her mission was over and she was going home. We spent the time we had packing and cleaning. We drove to Eugene at 2 and got there around 5. We dropped her off at the mission home and then I was picked up by two other sisters who would be training this transfer as well. We went to our dinner which was pizza and then went to a talent show for the singles ward. There were so many Babylonian songs I felt kinda apostate. That was a joke by the way. It was super entertaining to be back in the Singles ward scene especially seeing it as a missionary. So then it was time for us to turn in to pumpkins so we went back to the apartment. The next day we did some missionary stuffs such as study, tracting and then we had a couple of lessons. Oh and yeah, we totally ate lunch too. Rest assured, missionaries do eat! Oh boy can we eat! Then at 2 we went and met up with all the other trainers at the stake center and then we car pooled to the mission home. We enjoyed lots of training on how to train the new missionaries. There happened to be 3 other sisters who are training who have also only been out 5 weeks like me.  I put a picture of all of us. They all happened to be from my MTC district. It was good to see them again and to learn from all of the other missionaries who will also be training. They had so many wonderful insights and advice. So we sisters slept at the mission home and the Elders were all put at different Elders apartments. In the morning we went on a run/walk and it was great. Then we all showered and ate breakfast. 11 Sisters in one shower. It was pretty exciting. We all got ready to go by 9:45 which is pretty good if I say so myself. Then we had more training until the new missionaries got here at 1 ish. There were 35 missionaries!!!!! Crazy!!! That means there were over 70 missionaries in one place at a time. Crazy cool! So we ate food and got to know them while president interviewed each of them and then we received our new companions. Mine is Sis. Marble. She is pretty much awesome and I love her already!! I am excited to serve with her for this next period of our missions. We got back to our area late Wednesday night. On Thursday we got started. There is also a picture that I sent with Sis. marble, Sis. Kennedy and I. A three generation picture. Sis. Kennedy was making the rounds with her parents and happened to go to Larry and Rita's when we were over there for dinner. I cross my heart it was happen stance but good thing it happened that way because Sis. Kennedy had but an important baptismal record in her bag that I needed to send in. So It was good that I was able to get that from her. 

Sis. Marble and I are so excited to work together and be companions. I am so grateful that the Lord gives us opportunities to learn and grow. That is what a mission does. As we teach others to learn and grow we must learn and grow ourselves so that we may better teach how to do so. I am so grateful for the atonement and the opportunity and blessing that I have to spread this glorious and happy message!

I love you so much!!!

First Transfer-Week 5

Dear Family whom I love so much!!!

 

I am now going to start titling my letters in a boring manner so that I can keep track of the time line of my mission so that I can print them off when i get home. I love you all so much!! It was good to hear from each of you. This week was awesome!!! But first i want to write to all of you and do the general part last so I make sure I write to my family!

 

Ryan: Thanks for writing like Dickens  My brain got its work out. I am pretty sure you have lots going in your life and that you promised me paper mail. ;D So I am excited to get it! Indexing.... it is awesome and important because that is how all of the paper records get online so people can search them from anywhere. There is a method to the madness. I promise. I am happy that you are doing it!! I love you so much!!!

 

Ty: You should index while you are bored. And yes I will pray for you!! I hope all is well and that you get to feeling better soon. Thanks for the tip about alligators. I shall keep that in mind. I love you lots!! Being hurt does not sound like its any fun! What an adventure to tell your kids one day! P.S I totally went and played Frisbee golf this morning with my district and I thought about you!

 

Emily: I am so sorry that you had that experience. That is no fun at all. I would have given him a piece of my mind. That dang kid. I know you don't want to hear this but, I kinda don't blame the kid. I mean any guy can only resist your charm and magnetism for so long. You are just to much awesome!!! We gotta make you a boy beating stick or something! I did get your letter and It was hilarious!!! I made Sis. Kennedy read it to me because I was driving (p.s I am the driver. I'll tell you all what that means in a bit.) and so she thinks your also hilarious! As does Elder Bennett. Do you write him still? That is so awesome for Danny!!! I am so happy that you have surrounded yourself with good friends!!!

 

Dad: That sounds like a fun toy to use, the snow blower! I bet it helps your back too! Good luck on nights, its never fun to be cut off from the family. I love you so much!!! You are the best dad ever! Oh and also they are adding a mission to Oregon. It will be the Salem mission. So I could be getting transferred over there in the summer time. They will probably be taking 1/3 or our missionaries and 1/3 of the Portland missionaries. Fun stuff right there!

 

Mom: I got your letter! I loved it so much! I am sorry that Ty is not doing well. I will keep him in my prayers. Good luck with both Ty and Emily. I hope those doctors ate their morning Wheaties so they can help my siblings properly!

 

And I've decided not to share the following with the public but wanted to let you know:

Also this week since Sis. Kennedy is leaving tomorrow, went to the temple with the departing missionaries on Wednesday and so i took a girl who is getting ready to go on her mission around with me all day. It was good practice for the both of us. For her because we taught lessons and went tr acting. For me because.....we got transfer calls on Saturday and guess who has two thumbs, is shaking in their boots and training a new missionary? That's right. This girl. I am not ready for this at all but the mission President does and I guess in connection to that so does the Lord. I am way nervous but excited also. I just don't want to mess them up right off the bat. That is also why I am driving. They had me start driving about a week ago so I could get to know the area, I didn't know I would be training though. I am trying not to be scared because fear is the absence of faith. I know the Lord knows what he is doing and am trying to focus on that. Also I am praying the new missionary will be forgiving of my short comings, I am not a perfect missionary yet, nor do I ever think I will be. I do know I can be perfect in obedience in following the schedule. Through obedience we can see an increase of miracles so that is my focus. Any advice from those who have served and trained before me?

 

Uncle Robin and Aunt Kemi: I love you both!!

 

Ok. On to the public!!!

 

This week has been one of ups and downs. A lot of the downs were because we were not sure if our baptism was going to happen this week but it totally did! It went really well! Chennan was absolutely glowing and her 12 year old kept saying how she looked shiny and clean. It was awesome! I feel like they are moving in that direction!! She is lighting the path for her kids! She asked me to speak and Sis. Kennedy to sing. I gave the both talks because the person we asked to speak on the Holy Ghost called in with sick kids and couldn't come. But it went well any how!   

 

This week was really good. We taught quite a few lessons and were fairly productive. We did some good service which totally reminded me of when we went up to Grandpas farm and hauled logs and such. That's basically what we were doing. It was quite fun. Sis. Kennedy and I can pick up sticks like our lives depend on it. Of which, I totally told her to visit yall. I hope she does, I think you will love her. She is lots of fun.

 

I am trying to think of a really good story to share before I sign off.........ok... I will tell you more about the baptism and one about Brandon. So Brandon first. He is this 16 year old we have been teaching. He is friends with a family in the ward. The last time we met he said he wasn't sure this was the path for him. Then we went over the importance of how he needs to read the BOM first to know if it is or not. So he said he would. We didn't expect to meet with him because he said he needed time. We figured he dropped us but on Saturday, the mother of family he is friends with called us and said he was coming to church with them and he wanted to meet with us after. We were so excited because we didn't realize that we would still get to teach him! We taught him about the atonement and how through faith and repentance we can be with them again. When we were done he goes, "You forgot to talk about how mercy is extended through forgiveness." We told him that he gets to teach next time!! That kid is amazing!

 

Ok. So more about the baptism  Like I said, it was a bit of a roller coaster this week with not knowing if it was going to happen or not. But she is such a strong woman and wanted this so badly. After several phone calls and her interviews we were in the clear. She was so excited!!! Sis. Kennedy and I got there an hour early to make sure the font was going and to set everything up. We made it look really nice!! We were all set up in about half hour because we had a member helping us who is also getting ready to go on a mission. Then Chennan showed up with her kids, we took pictures and got her dressed in her white jumpsuit. I am sorry I forgot my camera but I will send pictures next week. Imagine Barbie in a baptism jump suit. She was gorgeous and glowing!!! Her twelve year old said "When you went under you looked sick but when you came up you looked so pretty and clean and glowing" He kept saying all night "Hey mom, look at me, you look so shiny!" It was awesome. And her daughter who has been super apprehensive with this church has given up coffee and said she really liked the service. Sis. Kennedy and I were able to stand in the wings and hold the towel and hug her when she came out. It was so perfect. The spirit was so strong and tangible. I love her so much!! I want you to meet her!! She is amazing!!!

 

Thank you so much for your prayers and for your love!!  I will be praying for you so much!!!!

Proof that she's not starving

Me and Kennedy and proof that our fridge is full of food. 

And Elder Cooper and Ludlow and Kaitlyn who helps us out.