February 24, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

This week we only had 2 cancelled appointments!!!!  If you were praying for me I would like to thank you!!!!  You are awesome.  

The only thing that was frustrating about this week was the fact that we didn't find any new investigators.  We taught 14 less actives so that was pretty exciting, but no new investigators.  We decided to go tracting in a different neighborhood and that was a terrible idea because the people on Alston and Bangor Street are ruthless!  One lady answered the doors and said, "You ladies should figure out what you're teaching people and what you believe because you have no idea.  It's not a religion.  It's a cult".  Then she slammed the door.  I turned to my companion and said, "Actually I do know what we believe and I know it's true because of the Spirit I've felt while teaching people and reading the scriptures."  Sister S said, "Amen!  Now what's a cult?"

I've also continued my crocheting and I finished one ball of yarn.  It's still not fun, but I've made a goal to finish it so I'll do it.  Why did I set that goal?

Also we went to the L's house and they had a trampoline so I had to do a few backflips.  Keep in mind that as missionaries we are always in skirts.  Maybe that was not "appropriate", but it does not matter it was in the past.  :)

I have also started reading Jesus The Christ by James E. Talmage and it is a great book!  It is very hard to understand because of all the big words.  Like Mrs. B says "Words is Hard", but it is a great book and it will strengthen anyone's testimony of the Savior.  I encourage all to read it, whether you're a member of the church or not.  Just beware that it is a difficult read.  I've been reading for 3 hours and I'm on page 27.  There are great cross references that take time to read but are so worth it!

This week we had our zone conference!  We learned so much and my favorite part was when we watched a talk by Joseph B. Wirthlin.  He said, "The Lord doesn't shield anyone of grief, but He does open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings.  So with every trial: come what may, and love it!".  We will all have hard times in our lives, but the most important thing for us to do is to put our trust in the Lord and allow Him to lead us along.  Another quote that I love is "Our destiny is not determined by the number of times we stumble, but by the number of times we get up".  I've stumbled a lot through the first few weeks of my mission, but I've gotten up every time.  When we can't find the strength to stand, kneel and ask God to give you that strength and I promise He will.  He knows us better than we know ourselves.  Give it all to Him and He will take care of you.  I love you all and miss you!  

Love,

Sister Moon

 

The J Family

February 21, 2014

I am so excited to share this AMAZING video put together by our great friend, Emma R.  It is a celebration of Lauren's life and her call as a missionary! It made us miss her terribly, but we know she is doing what the Lord wants her to do!  Check it out!   http://animoto.com/play/yGJ7fsEKEPx6J0hZPEkjGw#

February 18, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

Soooo Solomon had more wives than I have days left on my mission!  That's good news right!? (Maybe not if you were one of those wives, but whatever). (1 Kings 11:3)

This week actually went by faster than last week so I guess that's good news!  We only had 8 cancelled appointments as opposed to the 12 from last week.  The weather here has been great though so we have had a good time tracting.  We've been doing a lot of walking!  We've also found a lot of crazy mailboxes (including one that looks like a unicycle, which makes me miss my unicycle).  But there is some bad news...  We found 6 new investigators last week and this week they all fell through.  They all are not interested or they won't call us back.  It's been hard because we really felt good last week and slowly this week we've just been let down time and time again.  Hopefully we will be able to find those that the Lord has prepared this week.  One thing that has helped me a lot has been praying to know where we need to be and when so that we can run into the people that the Lord has prepared.  My companion and I just started saying that almost in every prayer we say! 

 

On Wednesday there was a meeting in Rancho Cucamonga for the new missionaries!  I was able to be a part of that, in fact I had to drive there.  It took about 45 minutes to get there and I thought I was going to die!  People in California cannot drive!!!!  It was a scary moment in my life.  I'm glad I got to drive in Utah for a while because if I went to California straight from Burkburnett I would have fainted.  But the Lord really does watch over His missionaries because nothing happened to us! 

 

This week we taught Bill.  He is a former mayor and he's about 55 years old (totally guessing but I'm sure that's close).  He has a 5 year old son and a foreign exchange student from China living with him.  He is really nice; he even invited us to go on his yacht last week, which we declined because we had lots of appointments and it's against our rules.  But the great thing about Bill is that he is progressing!  He knows the Book of Mormon is true because of the code in the book and how it relates to other books he's read.  He has proof that the Book of Mormon is true because of physical evidence (He reads lots of ancient America and History type stuff).  Sooo Sister S and I are trying to get him to gain a spiritual testimony of the Book of Mormon!

 

I received two packages and lots of letters this week for Valentine's Day.  Thank you to all who sent things to me.  Especially Susie  for the delicious cake balls :).  I thought my tub of ice cream was going to be my Valentine but I realized that I have lots of people who care about me.  Thanks y'all! 

 

On February 15th Liz was baptized!  Although I did not help find her or began teaching her, I was able to meet with her several times.  It's a great story because her husband was a less active member so the missionaries went to see him and they ended up talking to Liz. Long story short:  her husband began coming back to church and last Saturday he was able to baptize his wife!!

 

This week at church we were able to study the Savior in depth and talk about His life.  Before this lesson I had a testimony of the Savior, but now I've personalized the stories in the New Testament to help me through this hard time.  I've often wondered if I could make it through my whole mission.  I now know that I can.  I know that Christ calmed the stormy sea and it seems that my life is a stormy sea at times, but He can and He is calming it.  We were listening to a song in the car and the song was quoting scripture and it said, "This is My work and glory, if ye love me feed My sheep".  After strengthening my testimony of Jesus Christ and then hearing this song I have come to realize my purpose.  I love the Savior so that's why I'm here.  I'm spreading the good news of Christ; I'm feeding His sheep!

 

Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you;

And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours. (Doctrine and Covenants 78:17-18).

 

Love,

Sister Moon

February 10, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been interesting!  It has been really good, but I'm not going to lie, it's also been really tough.  Sister S and I have tried to keep busy and this week was pretty productive!  We had 6 new investigators and we visited 10 less actives!!  We taught a total of 23 lessons which is pretty good (last week was 13).   Although we had success we also were let down a lot!  We had 12 cancelled appointments in one week and they all cancelled the day of, or the minute of, because they just didn't answer their doors.  It was quite frustrating! 

Since we had appointments cancel we decided to go tracting.  That had its ups and downs but I did get 2 funny stories out of it:

We knocked on this door and this one Japanese guy (less than 5 feet tall) swung open the door and jumped off the top step.  He then said, "Hello what can I help...oh I don't talk to Jehovah Wit...Jehov...ummm y'all.  Bye!"  He then did this evil laugh and slammed the door.  As we walked away I looked at my companion and said..."We're Mormons!"

 

The next guy was really scary.  He opened the door and said he was a witch.  We just laughed and starting talking to him.  We asked him a question and he said he was Wicked.  He then proceeded to cast a spell on us, but got really upset when we didn't disappear.  Needless to say, we will never go back there again. 

Besides teaching lessons, this week, we also continued to learn how to crochet from Sister L.  I hate crocheting.  Why would I spend hours making a scarf that doesn't even look good?!  We also did some service for Sister H (she's like 80 years old).  I had to take each little figurine off her shelf and dust them off because she can't do it herself.  Holy cow that took forever! 

 

Then the best thing happened on Friday!  I got a package from my mom and there was a letter inside that was filled with everything that I needed to hear.  It also had Nashville Tribute Band CD's and EFY CD's.  And Candy and Cookies!  Oh it was the best.  Oh and did I mention a Panda Express Gift Card?!  Yes, it was perfect.

Well, hopefully this week we stay busy and don't have any appointments cancel on us.  Here are some quotes that helped me through this week:

"We cannot predict all of the struggles and storms of life, not even the ones around the next corner.  But as persons of faith and hope, we know without a shadow of a doubt that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and the best is yet to come!"  - L. Tom Perry

"Let us not wait too long on our road to Damascus.  Let us courageously move forward with faith, hope, and charity" - Dieter F. Uchtdorf

 

Next Monday is apparently President's Day so the library will be closed.  But I should be able to write on Tuesday! You guys are awesome!

 

Love,

Sister Moon

 

Lauren and Sister H....who likes to collect figurines that like to collect dust! 

February 3, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

I am in California!!!!  I didn't have time to write last week so I've got a lot to talk about.  Let's get started.

My last week in the Missionary Training Center was packed full of exciting new things.  I even sang in the choir, which was crazy because I cannot sing!  The Spirit and the message made it so worth it though.  We sang "Precious Savior, Dear Redeemer" (from the Hymn Book), but it was a different version of it and it was amazing.  If you Google "Precious Savior Dear Redeemer Utah State Morningside" or something like that I'm sure you'd find the version we sang.  It's wonderful.

On a different note, my companion got sick so I had to miss several hours of In-Field Orientation.  I was there for the boring stuff, but I missed the games and the skit.  It was unfortunate, but hey this patience thing is getting better. 

We also had two investigators in the MTC: Patty and Leah.  Patty was our golden investigator.  We committed her to baptism on February 12th, and taught her the first 3 lessons.  Leah on the other hand, she's crazy.  She is a real non-member and she doesn't really want to hear our message.  She has no interest in the Book of Mormon.  We kept teaching her doctrine from the Bible and the Book of Mormon hoping that she will have a desire to read it.  Don't knock it till you've tried it.

We also heard from some amazing speakers.  I'll share a few of my favorite quotes:

"If we find ourselves away from God, who moved?...Not God" - Brother Brown

The power of grace allows us to be extraordinary in the ordinary things we do" - Gerald Causse

"Quit trying to be your own Savior, stop carrying that cross.  He [Christ] already paid that price" - Stephen B. Allen

"If we wait until we have some amazing revelation to act...we are being acted upon and that's not what we're here to do" - David A. Bednar (video recording)

In the Bible we hear about how Christ was sleeping on the ship and his disciples came, during a storm, and said, "Carest Thou not that we perish?".  Rosemary M. Wixom said, "Out of everyone in the world, Christ is the only one who really actually cares...A few months later He laid down His life to show us how much He really actually cares".

 

So that was how my last week in the MTC went.  Then on January 28th I arrived in California.  The first day everyone was so tired (we got up at 3:00AM).  We had a ton of interviews and meetings.  President and Sister Hobbs are my "parents" for the next 18 months and they are really nice but kind of strict as well...

I met my new companion on Wednesday, Sister S.  She's from the Philippines and has been out 4 months.  She is awesome and we have been staying busy.  WE are in the A Ward in H which is the desert which means it's really cold and windy (since it's winter).  I thought it would be warm but no it's not...at all.  We have 3-4 lessons everyday and we have also been knocking on doors and finding new investigators.  Right now we have about 8 potential investigators so this week we will meet with them and see how things go.  My companion is a little shy so I've been leading discussion and talking to people when we knock on doors.  It's been a little hard, but it's becoming a little more bearable. 

I do not have a bike because I'm in the desert and it is too hilly.  I am also driving because my companion does not have an American license.  California has some crazy drivers.  Not as bad as Provo but still...

The day I will be coming back is July 28th, 2015 (I'm not sure why the two weeks in the MTC doesn't count but oh well)!!!!  "No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing, persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done" -The Standard of Truth.  Love,

Sister Moon

Here are some photos!

Four sisters going to Rancho Cucamonga.

 

A friend from Writing 150 last semester.

 

 Three elders from the MTC district going to the Oklahoma, Oklahoma City mission.

 

Lauren and President and Sister Hobbs.