Transfer 4 Week 1

Phsyc!!!!! I was told wrong! I thought I was going to Lincoln city which would put me in the other mission but I actually went to Junction city which means I stay in the Eugene mission. I am actually very happy to stay with my mission President. It would have been fine to move areas but at the same time I am very happy to be where I am. Ok. So you want to know about my new area. It is a lot smaller than the one I just came from. It is a town of about 5000 people. We cover about 5 other towns that are super tiny. So we have a large area. My companion is from Tahiti and her name is Sis. Levy. She is fantastic. It is amazing to me to realize how little I know my own language. When she asks me questions about words and such I have to say 'I don't know' so often!! Also i am discovering that I truly am not that funny. Seriously. This came as a total shock to me. For real. I bet you are siting there right now shaking your head and thinking....'that can't be true. Sis. Adair is hilarious. She must be kidding.' I kid you not. My funniness has come to an end. I have discovered that I am not internationally funny. I am only funny when people understand what I am quoting or the ism I am spinning off of. I say hilarious things all the time and my comp stares at me with crickets chripping. Now I know how Emily feels. But really. I will come home so funny on an international level that no one will know what hit them. .... I promise I am not that obsessed with being funny as I sound. Ok.

So my comp is rather hilarious. She says it like it is. She is very sweet and will knock your head off if you mess with her family. She eats basically everything. She likes the fatty part of meat.She loves raw fish. She says 'Oh Shoot' all the time. She has an adorable islander accent even though her native language is French. Tell Emily she has been saying the 'Yes i'm hungry' in French incorrectly. Yep. She loves to sing all the time. She is pretty much wonderful. And I'm going to visit her in Tahiti after our missions. She goes home in four months. She served in my old area before I did so we joke around that I am following her around the mission. She is great.

My area. It is comprised of two things: neighborhoods and farms. Not really any in between. Junction City is really flat. (GP was super hilly) The people are great. They like to feed us. My new ward mission leader and his wife came to pick me up in Eugene when I got dropped off and they told me too things: Only the best missionaries are called to serve in Junction City and the 11th commandment which is 'Thou shalt not go hungry". 

We are teaching a woman by the name of Dotti. She is very sweet. One day when we were street contacting we saw her in a laundry mat and we went in and had a lesson with her. She is wonderful. I love her so much. We work with a lot of elderly in this area. We go to the assisted living home every Sunday and have some lessons and pray with people. We also work with a lot of youth. So kinda the two opposite ends of the spectrum. 

I love you all. This week. I have learned a lot in being here even though its only been a week. I am so grateful for this opportunity to learn and grow. Our days we spend street contacting, tracting and visiting.

Have a wonderful week!

Transfer 3 Week 6

So this Last week has been crazy awesome!!!! I am attatching the letter i wrote to my president so that I don't have to type it all out again.

President Young,

I will try to keep this brief but we wanted to share with you our miracles from the week. We truly have been so blessed as we have tried to apply the counsel we received from Sisters Conference and from Zone teaching meeting. Our faith has been increased and we know that this is truly the Lords work.

This week we were blessed to find ten new people to teach. It has been an amazing experience as we have diligently sought to be led by the spirit to be where God wants us to be. 

Tony, Christina and Ashley: We had tracted into the husband (Vic) awhile ago (when Sis. Kennedy was here) and we went back and set up an appointment with him and we ended up teaching him, his wife and their two daughters and we are going back this week!

Elizabeth: We were driving down the street and we saw a man pushing a stroller and decided to go talk to him. We parked, got out and tried to catch up to him so we ran a little bit to close the gap. He crossed the street and we were about to follow when a girl walked around the corner. She happened to be the granddaughter to a less active that we have been working with. We invited her to sit in on the lesson this week because she wants to learn more.

Jaycee: We went over to see her sister whom we've been teaching but her sister wasn't home. So we had a lesson and she said she would like to learn more as well!

Jonah: We drove by him last week and stopped and talked to him. We gave him a book of Mormon and didn't get his number. This week we were driving and saw him. So we stopped and talked to him again and he said he wanted to learn more as well and we are meeting with him this week also.

Kristen and Samantha: We tracted into Kristen a week ago because Sis. Marble had an impression that we needed to knock on a certain door. So we did. We went back to follow up and her sister answered and said she wanted to learn more as well. We are teaching them this week also.

Scott: We drove down the highway and saw him walking and stopped to talk to him. He said it was crazy that we stopped just to talk with him because he has been having a hard time and we will be teaching him this week also!

Rob: Sis. Washburn and I tracted into him when she was here on exchanges. He wasn't interested and then we prayed with him and he ended up taking a book of Mormon. We went back, he has been reading it and has questions so we will also be meeting with him this week. 

I know this is a little longer but we wanted to share with you our finding miracles. We truly have been blessed by the Lord. Thank you for following the inspiration you receive to help us to become the missionaries that the Lord knows we can be.

Sis. Adair

This week has been truly incredible and we have been so blessed!

Also I wanted to tell you a story of tracting.... We went up to knock on this door and this alarm went off and a voice started saying "You are trespassing  You are trespassing!" Very loud and very repetitive. So we turned around and walked maybe fifteen feet away and it stopped. so funny! I about peed my pan....skirt. 

Transfer 3 Week 5

Hello!! 

So this woman told a funny story in church that I would like to share to kick off this letter. She was writing an email to the young women telling them that she would be holding an afternoon when they could come work on personal progress. So she started it off with "Hello young women, we will be having...." But when she went back and read through it after she had sent it out she realized she left the 'o' off of hello and wrote instead "Hell young women, we will be having..." Even the Bishop giggled. Sometimes its good to laugh at things that go wrong. It helps us through the day. It makes me think of a talk given by Elder Worthlin about being Happy. Um... not sure what its called.."Come what may and love it" It is so good!! (Mom...can you send it to me?) But that phrase has definitely been a theme this week. It's been a good week but the people we have been around seem to have been having bad weeks. And as usual there are down moments in each week. I have come to learn of the importance of accepting Gods will. Having faith in him that he will extend his arm and also excepting and believing that he has a purpose for the things that happen in our lives. I really do want to name my children after Shadrack, Meshac and Abedngo because they had that unshakable faith in the Lords plan. Come what may and love it.

Sorry that first paragraph was not worded the best but I hope the message came through. To illustrate this I want to share a story. The other day all of our appointments cancelled. Except for 1. When our appointments cancelled we go to our back up plans. For us, it happened to be streets to tract. We ended up tracting all day. It was hot. People were not being friendly. (Oh Favorite Door slam tactics: Knock Knock. "Nobody is home" Knock Knock. "No!" Knock Knock *slam* Knock Knock "We are happy with where we are at") We almost turned around to go back to our car but something in me knew we needed to keep working, whether it be for our good or for the good of the kingdom we needed to keep knocking doors. Thats when we knocked on this guys door who immidiately started to try to disprove us by using D&C. We were not really in the mood. He bid him politely good bye and we really wanted to go else where but we kept going. Then about half hour later one the same street we found this girl who was geniunly interested. She let us pray with her and we left her a copy of the book of Mormon and she even agreed to have us come back. Miracles do happen when we prove faithful.

I love you all.

Sis. Adair

Transfer 3 Week 4

How is it going my favorite people ever? Yes. That is right. I love you. Ok. Let the shock wear off. Alright now you can read on.

So this week was super fantastic. Normally we have 2 cancellations a day and this week we had 3 all week. It was so great!! And we topped it off with a wonderful baptism this weekend!!! Brandon got baptized! He is such a solid kid!!! I love him! I love that he is now enjoying the gift of the Holy Ghost! I love that now he is a member of the church! I love that he can enjoy these wonderful blessings in his life!! he has changed so much and it is seriously amazing to see! I was very blessed to begin teaching him. He was the kid we taught in the foyer of the temple. He truly is fantastic and has such a desire to learn. After his baptism, the family that he is friends with took him out for pizza and they invited us as well. It was lots of fun to eat pizza and be filled with so much joy! I could not imagine a better evening!!!

So last night we had dinner with a fantastic family whom I love so much! They always have such an energy in there home. It is beautiful chaos! They have five kids from 1 -12. The little girl loves to sit next to the missionaries every time we go over there. She is about 4. She loves to be hilarious. She says something, looks at me and says, "Is that funny?" and she also eats potatoes and ketsup with her hands. I felt as if I were in a danger zone. And they have a 10 yr old who was telling us that he decided to make third grade his spiritual year. Sis. Marble and I died inside it was so precious. And the little girl didn't want to eat her cauilflower like her mom asked her to. I asked her if she had ever tried it and she said "I ate it in heaven." It was amazingly adorable. I love them so much and wish all people every where to know such wonderful families.

Families are such an important vital part of the gospel. I feel so blessed to have so many families in my life. My immediate family whom I love so dearly and am so grateful I get to be with them forever. My 'friend' family. I love my friends so much, they have been a support and blessing in my life. My mission family. My companions that I have had so far really have impacted my life. I love my mission President and his wife so much. I love all the families and the members that we work with in this area of Grants Pass. I love Gods children. We can help lift one another through service, kind words and prayers. God never meant for us to go through this life alone. He truly wants us to seek him and as we do that we find ourselves helping and being lifted by others. The Lords plan truly is amazing! I love being apart of this, his restored gospel. I know that Joseph Smith truly did restore the church to the earth through the power of God. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and a true testament of Christ's divinity. I love the peace and the comfort I feel in times of need. I love the peace and the comfort that can be felt in the lives of others. Prayers are answered and God does indeed love each and everyone of his children.

Things I learned this week:

1. I am not a nun.

2. God watches out for his children.

3. God blesses his missionaries.

4. God blesses all his children as we continue to strive to do that which is right.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

Sis. Adair

Pictures! And a MOVIE!!!!!

 

 

Transfer 3 Week 2

Hello everyone that I love so much!!!!

How are you all doing? I love you all so much!!!! Joke for you all from my awesome companion.... Jeffery R. Holland makes Chuck Norris look like a pre-schooler with pig tails. I liked it a lot. So any returned missionary can probably attest to this but missionary jokes are hilarious! There are times when they just come into my mind and I bust up so hard! I love it!

Things from this week: We had interviews with the President! I love him so much, he is amazing!! In fact... I will include an excerpt from the email he sent out to all of us this week. These are quotes from Elder Bednars talk from conference on chastity.
"Will I respond to the inclinations of the natural man, or will I yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit and put off the natural man and become a saint through the Atonement of Christ the Lord?"  That, he declared, is the test. Every appetite, desire, propensity and impulse of the natural man can be overcome by and through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, he said. It is also through the Atonement that individuals are able to be forgiven from misuse of their bodies. It is the Savior, the "Great Physician," Who makes it possible to be healed from any "injury or wound." From the Atonement of the Savior flows the soothing salve that can heal our spiritual wounds and remove guilt," he said. "However, this salve can only be applied through the principles of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance and constant obedience. ... I promise that obedience to the law of chastity will increase our happiness in mortality and make possible our progress in eternity."

It was a good week over all. It kinda blurs together. Some highlights would be a lady told us we were too young to be nuns. We began teaching this amazing woman who has such a desire for peace in her life. This kid we've been teaching got his answer through the priesthood session of Conference to be baptized! And...interviews.

Oh and something I have been super impressed with is the character of this ward that we are working in! They are amazing at reaching out to whomever is close to them. They serve in a multitude of ways. They truly apply the mantra 'First observe, then serve.' I love them so much and am so pleased to be among such amazing individuals.

Transfer 3 Week 1

Hello All!!!

Another transfer and I am still in Grants Pass! I am super happy about that!!! And I am also still with Sis. Marble. Another happy note! Thank you so much family of mine for all the wonderful emails!!! I was super happy to hear from all of you! This week was pretty fantastic! And I suppose I can tell you why. ;D So last Monday we were out tracting in the evening and all of a sudden my stomach is throwing a temper tantrum and letting me know how unhappy it is. It hurt rather badly. I made Sis. Marble drive even. Tuesday I woke up with a sore throat and a super congested face. Wednesday it worsened and by Thursday it was all gone. And by it I mean my voice. Yep. Sis. Adair couldn't talk about a whisper. It was that bad. And since I know you all know me I don't have to tell you how much i didn't like that. Whispering is so obnoxious!!! So we stayed in on Thursday and I got a blessing that night. The next day my voice was some what audible. So out the door we were! Although on Thursday I went over to a members house who was also sick and we hung out on the couch while Sis. Marble was out saving the world. And by that I mean teaching the gospel to those who want it and need it. She came back just glowing because the lesson went so well! I was so excited for her! She has been needing a boost in self esteem from others. With out me there she was able to feel confident in her teaching. (Which makes me sound like a bad trainer.......) So with that boost of self confidence we went out tracting on Friday. It was fantastic. She took the lead at all the doors and did the bulk of the talking. I would talk but most of the time people would lean forward and say 'HUH?" so she would help a sister out and say it for me. She has been making all the phone calls and all around being a rock star. It was really good because it forced her to shine which she needed. She asked me 'Sis. Adair, how do you feel about God punishing you to teach me a lesson?" I actually feel so blessed. We were able to find some new people to teach as well! On Saturday my voice sounded like a man pretty hard core and we were able to watch the first session of conf. with Brandon. He is one of the most boss 16 year olds you will ever meet. He watched all four sessions and the priesthood one all on his own choice. We asked him about it and he is all 'Oh yeah I was already planning on it." He is way chill. Then we watched the second Session with Chennan and her children. They are such an amazing family!!! I met them and was all.... 'Wait, your not already LDS?" They are so super!! And on Sunday we watched the morning with a returning less active named Krista. She is amazing!!! We have been reteaching her. She became a member about three years ago. She was in a real dark place and was praying to God that he would let her die or show her the light.  The next day the missionaries knocked on her door. She stopped going not to long after. She got married and moved to Texas. She moved back recently because her husband is deployed. She was having a real tough time with loneliness and she prayed to God that he would help her and the next day the Elders called her. They figured out she was in our area and we went over. We basically have re-taught her because she didn't remember a lot. Everything we teach she accepts on faith. We told her about R rated movies and tattoos and piercings and the word of wisdom and modesty. To every single thing she agrees to start doing and then immediately does it. She is awesome!!! And she moves in a month...which is good for her sad for me. Then the afternoon session we watched with Charley and Shirley. They are such a cute old couple. Shirley is seriously Grandma Sue. They are so similar. It is great every time we go over there. And Charley is a 9 year old in a 74 year old body. He is the greatest thing ever!!! Charley is getting baptized in June!!!!! 

So I LOVED conference!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was great! I loved Elder Hollands talk!! I actually loved the reoccurring themes about faith, missionary work, values and centering our lives around Christ. I noticed a few years back that they were focusing a lot on the temporal needs. Service, and food storage and getting out of debt. Now they are focusing a lot on spiritual needs and reinforcement. We need to get our 'spiritual food storage and debts' paid off. I love listening to conference because it does beouy us up. It is a huge wave of spiritual light. We need to be careful as the wave dissipates not loose or forget the very personal and special insights that we have gained. As we store up our spiritual feelings and thoughts we can use them as added strength through times of hardship and trials. I am so glad that you all watched them and loved them as well! Also Elder Ballards talk on the priesthood!!!! Awesome!!!! and the talk by Elder Uchtdorf!!! And the light from the door!! Amazing! and as Always, President Monson. Hilarious fire to the field story!! So good!!!

I love you all!! Have a great week!!!

Sis. Adair

Transfer 2 Week 5

Hello.

 

Sorry this is coming a day late but yesterday the church was being cleaned and the city Library was not open. It was a pain to do emails this week but I really wanted to hear from my family. Unfortunately this will be really short. I sent more photos in the mail. This week was good. It was kinda a blur. We did a lot of tracting, which is fun. Sis. Marble seriously is the jam to my peanut butter. We click so good together. I feel so spoiled to have such amazing companions. I love them all so much! Sis. Kennedy wrote me and said that she would stop by in the future...she is pretty much the greatest trainer. To bad only two sisters ever got to have her as their trainer. Super awesome that I am one of them!!! So our tracting led us to a lot of crazy people, a lot of grumpy people and some people who are interested!! It was a great reminder as we were walking all over the back woods of Grants Pass that we are here for those who are ready as it says in PMG. Sometimes they may not know they are ready. Sometimes we are nurishing a seed and other times we are planting it. Sis. Marble and I got to teach in church because it was a fifth sunday and as we were taking coments a woman raised her hand and she said how we answered her prayers. She is divorced and had been praying we would tract into her ex husbands home where her daughters spend most of their time. We did. He kinda brushed us off but before we left we asked for a referal and.... he got a phone call. But man did I want that referal....so what does any self respecting Sis. Adair do? Play basketball with the kids of course!!! Yep. Totally got that referal. But it turned out to be a bust. Point of this story. A) God answeres prayers. B) We may not know whose prayers we are answering. C) Productivity to God is differant than productivity to us. I am not sure if I shared this with you all before but Sis. Marble was sent a quote that said "The good days are for the growth of Gods kingdom and the bad days are for the growth of the missionary." I can atest to the truth of that statement. I am so grateful for this time around Easter. As we talked with so many differant people about what Christ has done for us it was amazing to see the differant views. I have learned so much about differant religions lately and the more I learn the more certain I am that this one is the Lords restored church on the earth today. I know that my Savior lives. I know that we can return to live with god and Jesus again with our families. I love that I get to go out everyday and spread that message to 'the souls who know not where to find it'

 

I love you all! Next week I will write more!

 

Sis. Adair

Transfer 2 Week 4

Dear Everyone,

I love mail. Not only am I sharing that fact to encourage you to write me but I am also sharing it because it has been a tender mercy in my life. On more than one occasion I have received a piece of mail that has been an answer to a prayer, or desire or a concern. There is a woman that we have been meeting with and she has been having a lot of hesitation lately. I got a letter from a friend and I felt very strongly to share it with her. I had no idea why. None of the contents of the letter even applied to this woman. As we were talking with her I realized that this letter really did correlate with how she felt. I pulled it out for her to read and half way through she looked up and said 'Are you sure I didn't write this?" I know that Gods timing is perfect. I know that as we learn that and continue to develop trust in him and his will we will be blessed. Things will work out in the end and if they are not worked out yet, it is not the end. 

In church a talk was given about grace. I enjoyed the talk so much because the woman who gave it taught the plan of salvation with such simplicity and passion that it was hard not to pay attention. She testified of the love that they savior has for us and of what he has done for us. Christ has already over come our problems. He has already overcome my weakness in teaching. I know that as I trust in him and rely on his strength and love I have do as he wants me to. The Spirit truly is key in missionary work. As missionaries we a glass. We are not the water in the glass or the hand lifting and pouring the water out but only the glass. When we live our lives and do our best to have the spirit in us we can bring it to those who need to feel of the Saviors love. 

We got to do splits this week. Since we are the only sisters south of Eugene we had the Eugene YSA sisters come down since Finals are going on and no one wants to meet with them. So they came down with us for Wednesday and Thursday. It is hard planning for four sisters in one area. It was a lot of fun though. Sis. Washburn (in the MTC with her) and Sis. Hollingshead came down. We were able to learn a lot from them. I love them so much and I love the opportunity to work with such amazing missionaries who truly have been prepared for this time. I love this area and I love the people!!! 

Oh and we volunteered at a foster adult care home again and I asked one of the ladies how she was today and she said "Trying not to commit suicide." and I said "Oh that would be a bad choice." and she said "Yep. That's why I'm not doing it." and I decided that I love that old woman. She is so much fun to talk with because she is sassy. She is the one who told me I had rude behavior because I made the Alpaca's run away. Love her.

I love you all. Have an amazing week!!!!!

Sis. Adair who loves letters!!!

Pictures!

Ok. So its mainly Sis. Marble and I..... but there is a view of Grants Pass... pretty right? Oh and funny story about my hair. Sis. Kennedy and I went to go get hair cuts and we decided that we would go to a less actives house so we would have an excuse to talk to her about church. And....she cut off four inches of hair and cut it in a really odd way....after I had told her what I wanted....but we are starting to teach her the lessons again and her husband and two grand daughters that live with her have the potential to sit in so I guess it paid off. I want it to grow back so bad! But I guess sacrifice goes along with missionary work right? Hahaha!

Transfer 2 Week 3

Hello Friends and Family!!!!!!

My week was fantastic!! It was a bit like a roller coaster but the ups most definitely out weighed the downs. I love being a missionary so much! I know that the Lord will bless us. One thing that I have learned as of late is that as missionaries we do teach the basics. Sometimes they may seem vague and non specific. But I know that as we earnestly apply the basics they become very specific to us in our lives. They become our precious foundation upon which we can stand. They give us stability in an ever changing world. One constant in live is change. Another constant is the doctrine of Christ. Knowing that I can repent so that I can return to live with God. Knowing that I can have the Holy Ghost with me as a companion, as a comforter and as a guide. Knowing that through promises we make with god at Baptism  when we take the sacrament and also in the temple keep us safe. Knowing that my faith in my Savior and his atonement can bring me peace and happiness in times of darkness and struggle is one of the most precious miracles we can witness daily. I love the atonement and I love talking about it. It is my favorite subject and I feel like I can never learn to much about it.

So on my roller coaster....

UP: We set a date for Bryce, Byron and McKenna for the 30th of this month!!!!! We are so excited!!!!

down: One of the members that we have been close with moved to Wisconsin.

UP: We got return appointments with some less actives that no one has been able to get into. And... they have been keeping the appointments!!!!

down: When precious truths are distorted and thrown in our face.

UP: When tracting or visiting less actives I have gotten the comment a few times that I can hold my own and it is clear that I have a firm conviction to this gospel.

down: Letting little negative moments throw off the missionary groove.

UP: Finding Jake, a new investigator!

UP: Receiving more and more referrals each week.

UP: We had Zone conference where we learned how to improve areas of finding and teaching by using what we already know and putting it in a new light. The book of Mormon is an amazing tool and my favorite subject to talk about....next to Christ and the Atonement. And prayer is a miracle in and of its self to soften the hearts of the people. One night we delivered a DVD to someone who requested it...'Finding faith in Christ' and she was polite to us in the beginning and after we prayed with and for her her attitude changed and she opened up and she agreed to start seeing the missionaries.

down: One of my favorite investigators dropped us.

UP: My companion! She is amazing and most definitely what I need at this time. She has a calming effect on me and helps keep things in perspective which helps me to focus.

Thank you for riding on this my roller coaster! I love you all so much! Thank you for the letters! Oh and on a side note it is now okay for missionaries to email friends as well. As long as we follow specific rules. I would love to get emails from yall but I still only have an hour to reply so I may just snail mail you back. I love you all! Your great! Have a wonderful week and remember that members are key to missionary work...and that is the truth!!!!

Oh and P.S to mom... The new has not worn off yet. I am constantly reminded that I have only been out in the field for about 2 months. I am still new and learning. I think I will always feel that way. There is so much to learn!

P.S to dad.... My comp is from Mesa Arizona.