February 23, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

 

Last week was interesting.  We've been doing a lot of changing up who we're working with.  Some people aren't progressing so we've dropped them.  We did have a great zone meeting and President and Sister Hobbs joined us.  We learned a lot about how to improve our studies, so we have been working on that.  I just think our studies will get even better when we have iPads, but that's never going to happen soooo I guess we'll just deal with what we have now. 

 We were able to teach the Tullos family the Plan of Salvation and the lesson went great!!  Brandon, one of the teenagers, didn't have any questions the entire time, until the end.  We told him that murderers would go to the telestial kingdom and he said, "So if all the murderers go there then does that mean they will all kill each other until there aren't any people left in that kingdom?"  Most random question, but hey at least he was paying attention :)

 
We also rode bikes for the first time in a while last week.  We rode about 9 miles on Saturday.  We were doing pretty well until we were about .2 miles from our apartment when Sister Martinez decided to bite a chunk out of the concrete.  She totally flew off her bike...I heard a scream and I turned around...sure enough there she was on the ground.  Luckily the only thing that got hurt was her pride.  Good times.
 
Other than that this week has been pretty average.  It was cold last week so that's wasn't fun :(.  Hope everyone is staying warm and having a good 'ole time.  Love,

Sister Moon

 P.S.  My toe is doing just fine.

 

Pictures:

It got so cold last week this is what I felt like doing.  It was in the low 50's...what the heck?

 Also I found the key to love!!!!  It's called missionary work :)

 

February 16, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

 

Last week was amazing!!!!  We found 5 new investigators!!  3 of them are part of the T family.  Brother T is a less active and now his wife and 2 kids are investigating.  They are super awesome and have really good questions.  They are totally getting sealed one day :)  I can't wait.

 

Also, Jerome (Less Active) and his 2 little boys came to church yesterday!!  Jerome is like my favorite person ever!  He was sitting in Gospel Principles class and the teacher asked, "How has the restored gospel blessed your life?"  Jerome raised his hand and said, "Well, I'm a member already...I think...haha yeah I grew up in the church and it was good but then I just stopped coming.  I'm so grateful that my name was on some list and that the sister stopped by and visited me.  It's really nice to be back.  I'm grateful for them teaching me more about the gospel and helping it to bless my life."  He is AWESOME and his 2 boys are the cutest little kids ever!!

We did have the opportunity to play savage ball (dodge ball) this morning.  I'm pretty competitive so I was playing really hard.  I was jumping up and down and landing pretty hard on my feet. I finally got out and I sat down on the floor, and realized my toe was hurting...well I took my shoe and sock off and realized some of the skin underneath my big toe was not connected to my toe anymore.  So I went to the bathroom and taped it back together.  No worries  I'm sure I'll be fine.

Other than that things have been pretty much the same.  We are teaching people and working hard.  Have a great week.  Love,

Sister Moon
Pictures:
Dead Girl Moon...

My toe :)

February 9, 2015

Sister M and I are both staying in O in the MV Ward!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We are excited to stay in this ward because it is AMAZING.  We are planning to do so much work this transfer!

 
Our investigator Brandon is moving this week, but he asked us if we could hook him up with some missionaries in Santa Monica because he wants to keep coming to church.  I say he'll be baptized in a few months!!  We did teach the best lesson ever to him about the Plan of Salvation.  The Spirit was SOOO strong.  Sister M and I both started crying during the closing prayer when Brandon explained that he'd been wondering about some questions but he didn't ask us because he didn't think anyone knew the answers, but he got all the answers to his questions during the lesson.  MIRACLE! 

 

We had 20 lessons last week. We basically had a pretty normal week, so I'll share some of my favorite quotes from this week.  We meet a lot of interesting people here in California...

 1. "Matthew if you don't put that down I'm going to throw this salad dressing at you!"  -Our Ward Mission Leader to his special needs son

2. "My stove is broken!  That's why my meatloaf was dryer than heck!" -70 year old woman

3. "I don't even get stoned anymore, but if I did...I'd be trippin out on these plants." -Less Active

4. "I told my husband if he ever cheated on me I'd beat him the head with a baseball bat.  So far he's done good." -87 year old woman

5. "Do you smell flowers?"  "What?"  "Ok fine...it's marijuana....but don't worry it's medical.  Take a deep whiff" -Crazy Lady

6. "Sir can I get you to sign right here"- Me volunteering at the Food Bank  "Last time I did that I ended up in the U.S. Army...7 years I was in the U.S. Army..." -Crazy man

7. "Oh he doesn't live here anymore?  Well, do you have a forwarding address for him?"  -Sister Martinez and I  "Try...JAIL"- The less active's mom that we were trying to find

8. "That blessing was trippy" -Less Active who received a Priesthood blessing before surgery

9. "Sisters, if you ever see the lady I visit teach tell her she owes me money!  She better pay me back.  If not I'm gonna set my boys on her." -Active Lady :/

10. "The address is 718 E J street...then it's what the kids call a hashtag now-a-days then 18B" -Really old lady that apparently thought we didn't know it used to be a number sign.

11. "So what does unrealistic mean?...ohhh so it's like telling someone they look like a cow but really they're a human?" -A Tongan sister that's trying to learn English :)

12. "I graduated high school 55 years ago....oh wait...not that long ago...it was only 45 years ago...I'm not that old...haha" -A sister in our ward who really graduated high school 65 years ago, but we didn't want to be the bearer of bad news so we let her think it was 45 years ago :)

13. I'm taking this new medication.  I'm in so much pain....oh where's my baby??  Oh there's my cat..." -A Lady who is apparently taking "new medication"

 

So that is basically what missionary work is like...you get to have super amazing lessons like the one we had with Brandon then you spend the rest of your time talking to crazy people, but it's the best!  Have a great week.  Love,

Sister Moon

 

Pictures:

 

The District

Ward Volleyball Night

Brandon aka coolest investigator ever

The snake kept moving so we couldn't get a good picture...

 

February 2, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

 Last week was amazing!!  We had the privilege of getting 22 lessons!!!!  We got a new investigator that just moved here from Utah, and she knows about the church, and she wants to take the lessons!!  Andddd I hit my 1 year mark!  Woot woot.

This is the last week of the transfer so we are saying potential goodbyes to everyone...just in case.  I really love this ward and I want to stay another transfer, but we'll see what happens. 

We had a really great lesson yesterday in Relief Society about Christ helping us through our trials.  We read the story of the apostles who were sitting in a boat and Christ is watching them from far away.  He goes to help them and He's walking on water, then Peter comes out on the water too, but starts to doubt when immediately Christ helps him.  We read the 3 different accounts in Mark 6:45-52, Matthew 14:22-33, and John 6:15-21.

 We talked about how Christ allowed them to go through the trial, even though he could have easily helped them before they rowed 3 miles in treacherous wind.  He could've rescued them, but He knew they never would grow if they didn't experience these trials.  This is the same in our lives.  If we don't go through hard times then we never would learn to rely on the Lord.

 
Another interesting insight is the fact that the Savior actually told them to get in the boat.  Sometimes we pray for guidance and the Lord directs us to a certain path, things are going fine when suddenly something happens.  We get frustrated because we're doing everything right.  Why would this happen?  Well, just because we follow what God wants us to do doesn't mean that we won't have trials.  Sometimes these trials are blessings in disguise.  

"Moreover, enforced change usually does not last, while productive enduring can ingrain permanent change"   Neal A. Maxwell.

I know that Jesus Christ came to earth and provided for us an example.  We should always be striving to become like Christ.  I also know that it is impossible for us to be perfect by ourselves.  We need the Atonement so we can repent and be worthy to live in God's presence again.  I know that Christ lives today and He is willing to help us through anything, but we have to let Him in first. 

I love the scripture in Moroni 10:32  that says, "Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God."

I know if we come unto Christ by reading our scriptures, going to church, and asking ourselves "What would Jesus do?", and we use the Atonement and repent of our sins, and strive never to go back to our old sins, and if we love God with all our being then and only then can we be made perfect in Christ and have eternal life.  Have a great week.  Love,

 

Sister Moon

Pictures:

What the heck is wrong with people in California??

Restoration :)

Our investigators!!  The Noriega Family.