May 27, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

 I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day.  I am so grateful for the sacrifices of our military men and women.  God bless America!  Thank you to all who have served and all who are still serving especially my dad!  He's awesome!

This week was pretty good.  We had 21 lessons and found 2 new investigators.  Our new investigators are both teenagers.  It's crazy that we've been spending time trying to strengthen the youth, and now we are teaching youth.  The Lord was definitely preparing us for that!  Sister Soleta and I only have 1 week left together :(  We both have no idea where we will go, or who will be our next companions, but we will figure that out sometime this week.  Ahhhh...I'm scared.

 This week we did have some fun times.  Our investigator, Charlie, donated some pants and asked if we could find someone who wants them.  These pants were big so let me tell you...Sister Soleta and I had some fun.  We both fit in the pants at the same time!  Pictures attached.  Oh that was a fun night :)

 We also had our zone conference.  It was awesome!  We talked a lot about agency.  Agency, our ability to choose, is the only thing that is not God's.  When we choose to follow God we are actually giving Him the only thing that is not already His.  He doesn't really need our money, but He does ask us to pay tithing to see if we will give Him our agency.  When we think of it in this way, it means so much more. 

We also talked about having softened hearts.  Our Mission President said, "The gospel cannot be written in your heart if your heart isn't open!"  Let us all humble ourselves enough so we can listen to what the Lord is asking of us.  Let us all soften our hearts so we can learn what the Lord wants us to learn.

 

We don't have much time today, so that's basically all that happened last week.  One last quote I really liked from Zone Conference:

 

I won't give up, shut up, or let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, and paid up for the cause of Christ.  I must go till He stops me.  And when He returns for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me.  My banner will be clear.

 

Love,

Sister Moon

 

Pictures:

Charlie's pants :)

MTC buddy reunited at Zone Conference!

Sister B

 

May 19, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was filled with service.  We did about 9 hours of hula-hoeing and digging up trees!!  Let me tell you: I'm getting stronger!  The weather last week was really hot and super windy, which was good and bad.  It was nice to have a breeze, but our piles of weeds just blew everywhere.  Oh well.  We had 19 lessons this week, which isn't that bad since we did so much service. 

We had a couple bumps in the road as well.  We met with Charlie and taught him about Tithing and Fast Offerings.  He said that he would never be willing to pay tithing so he doesn't want to get baptized anymore.  We will go back and talk with him, and hopefully he will understand the blessings that the Lord is willing to give him if he obeys this law.  Please keep praying for Charlie. 

We also had a good discussion with Jerry and Ellen at the Johnson's house.  We ate dinner with all them and then we had apple pie for dessert.  Jerry made the pie and he put an "S" and an "M" on it to dedicate the pie for S and Moon.  It was so sweet.  He's super nice, and he makes us pie or cookies every time we visit him.  He's retired so he says that's all he likes to do.  I'm totally fine with it because he's a great cook.

Part of missionary work is to strengthen the members, so we have decided that we are going to help the Young Women out.  We are going to start going on walks with them at night when we don't have an appointment, so we can just talk with them.  Most of them are really struggling so we want to see if we can help them turn their lives around.  The teenagers in California are pretty bad examples for the member's so we need to help them stay strong.  Since we are young we figured we could relate to them, so we'll see what happens.  Pray for them...and us :/

 

Well that's about it.  Hope everyone has a great week!  Love,

Sister Moon

Pictures:

The oldest of our Ward missionaries :)  The Taylor's

Service!  Yes we filled that entire trashcan!

 

 

May 12, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

BILL GOT BAPTIZED and CONFIRMED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This week was the best week ever :)  We did have 21 lessons this week, too.

I had the opportunity to give the talk on the Holy Ghost for Bill's baptism, and it was awesome.  Bill was struggling with knowing that Jesus Christ is our Redeemer.  When I was researching I found a quote that said, "The Holy Ghost is the ONLY one that can give you a sure testimony of Jesus Christ".  When I told Bill that he was going to get confirmed on Sunday and that the Holy Ghost could give him his testimony, he started to cry,and so did I.  It was amazing to be a part of his conversion.  The confirmation was also one of the best confirmations that I have ever seen.  Brother Gallagher said exactly what Bill needed to hear; revelation and the Spirit are amazing!

 

We also talked with Jackie last week.  Missionaries have been working with her for over 9 months.  When we sat down with her we talked about baptism and asked if she had been praying about it.  She said , "Yes, I've been praying and I talked with my husband about it, and I'm going to do it.  I know it is a step in the right direction.".  We went over the Restoration with her again, and she believes it all!  Fasting totally works, and the Lord is looking out for all His children!  I love missionary work!

We had several other great lessons this week, and we are seeing a lot of investigators start to ask some really good questions.  We are trying to help Jackie, Charlie, Lynn, Jerry and Ellen B, Yolanda, Peggy, and George to progress.  If you could keep them in your prayers that'd be awesome. 

We had a great Mother's Day and I'm pretty sure the whole Relief Society was crying their eyes out yesterday.  We had 4 women talk about what they love about their mothers.  We also had 3 musical numbers about mothers.  We had Sister Mikkelson and her daughter (10 years old) sing "My Mother My Daughter" and that's when everyone lost it!  Well, I really miss my mom, but I know I need to be here at this time.  I did get to talk to my parents yesterday and that was such a treat.  I love my family and I really miss them, but I know that as a missionary I "leave my family for a short time, so that others can be with their families for eternity".  And that makes it all worth it. 

 

Hope everyone has a great week. 

Love,

Sister Moon

Pictures:

Bill's Baptism!

Bill took us out to lunch!

 

And my family...not the best picture, but hey I got to talk to them!

 

 

May 5, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was amazing!  We had 23 lessons and found 7 new investigators!!!!  We rode about 34 miles this week on our bikes, and really followed the promptings of the Spirit!

On Saturday we had a cancelled appointment and then a service project that got cancelled, so we had 3 hours that we needed to fill up with something productive.  We decided to go up the big hill and try to visit some Less Actives.  We usually go up the Jenkins hill, but I felt that we should go up the Newhall hill.  We talked about it and then decided to go up the Newhall hill.  On the top of the hill there was this man watering his lawn.  His name is Al.  We started talking to him, and he said he asked God for a sign because he didn't know what path he should go down in his life.  We talked about how we could help him, and teach him more about God.  We taught the Restoration and he's really interested.  We talked again with him yesterday, and answered all the questions he had.  He is so awesome!

Also, there is this family in our Ward, the Johnson's (who have a daughter on a mission in the Philippines), who have someone (Jerry) that they really want us to teach, but they were having trouble getting him interested.  Jerry's daughter-in-law is Filipina and so is Sister S!  We talked about him and decided that we needed to teach him and his wife, Ellen.  We told the Johnson's that we would make Filipino food for them, and they should invite Jerry and Ellen to eat with us.  We did that last night, and then taught the Restoration to them, and they want to read the Book of Mormon and learn all they can about the church.  We will meet with them again on Thursday.  We all had a great time, and ate a ton of delicious food!  Everyone was happy :)

Two weeks, we extended the baptismal date of May 10th for Bill, and he said he didn't think he would be ready.  He promised to pray about it though.  We know he is ready, and we've been working with him for forever!  We were getting a little frustrated because we had to keep moving the date, but we decided when we met with him on Friday that we would just listen to what he had to say and follow the Spirit.  Usually he will give excuses for why he isn't ready and we'd explain why we knew he was ready, but we decided this time to just listen.  When we sat down with Bill, he looked at us and simply said, "May 10th is going to work for me.  I'm ready."  Sister S and I basically freaked out.  We are so excited for Saturday!!!!!!!!!

Those are probably the three coolest stories from this week.  We are having a blast being together in the A Ward and we're working hard!  We will only be together for 4 more weeks so we need to enjoy every minute of it!  It's not necessarily easy, but it's totally worth it.  I don't remember who said this, but it's one of my favorite quotes: "I know the Lord has a plan for me.  It's not always easier, but it's always better."  That is so true.  We don't grow if we aren't challenged.  I hope everyone has a great week and enjoys the tender mercies the Lord blesses you with. 

Love,

Sister Moon

 

Pictures: A huge pinecone!

Me, Sister S, the J's and Ellen.  (Jerry refuses to have his picture taken)

 

April 28, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

I have been out 3 months as of today!

This week was crazy!  We have Elder's in our Ward now, so we had to split the area.  It was sad to give them some of our investigators and people that we visit, but it wouldn't be fair to them if we kept everyone so it needed to happen.  We did get the area that we wanted though, so that was good.  We now have to bike 2 miles before we even get into our area, but it's the nicer area so it'll be worth it.  We had 23 lessons this week, and bikes about 40 miles.  This weekend it was really cold (random!) so we only biked 2.5 days this week.

This week we decided to focus on helping our investigators to progress.  We extended 4 baptismal dates.  Bill accepted his for May 10th, and Jackie, Charlie, and Peggy said they would pray about theirs.  We have been working with Jackie forever and she is so close.  We fasted for her to accept the date (May 24th), because before she has said "No, I am not ready".  When we asked her, she said she needs to pray about it, and keep reading the Book of Mormon, and talk to her husband because she wants him to be there (and he works in Texas!)  She is so close!!  We went over the Baptismal Questions with her, and she believes that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God, which is a step up from last time.  She is just struggling with the church being restored through Joseph Smith.  She says she believes it, but she wants to have a little more faith before she is baptized.  Jackie is really trying to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon, so if everyone prays for her then I know she will gain that testimony.  Prayer works!!

We also went on a 25 mile bike ride on Thursday to visit a ton of Less Actives.  We went to the very end of our area to visit 4 people that we had never visited before and they all turned us down and told us not to come back.  We were feeling pretty discouraged because we rode about 10 miles out of the way, with no success.  On our way to dinner, there was a lady who was walking out to her car with her 2 little boys.  I felt impressed to stop and talk to her.  We did, and we talked about what we do as missionaries and asked if we could teach her and her family.  She said yes and we made an appointment for Tuesday.  That was just one example of the little tender mercies that the Lord has blessed us with this week.

We also helped out with the Mormon Helping Hands.  We hula-hoed for over 3 hours at an elementary school.  Thanks to Sister Hansen we are professionals!  It was crazy and really tiring, but then we got to relax a bit.  Jennifer (her daughter, Piper, just got baptized) needed to practice her facial skills, and so we each got to have a facial.  It was interesting because we did it ourselves.  She just told us what to do.  Last night, Sister Soleta and I each gave each other massages because we were sooooo sore.  I'm feeling a little better now haha.

I read 1 Nephi 22:26 today and really studied it.  I found a quote that President Petersen said a while ago.  The verse says, "because of the righteousness of his people, Satan has no power".  President Petersen said that "That could happen now.  If we are righteous, Satan can essentially be bound".  Let us all strive to be 100% obedient so Satan can have no power over us.

 

Hope everyone has a great week!  Love you,

Sister Moon

Pictures:

Dinner at Bill's

Facial with Jennifer

Beautiful sunset :)

 

April 21, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

 Happy Easter!  Sister S and I are staying together in the A Ward!  Transfer #3 here I come.  We really wanted to stay together, so when the call came we didn't answer it.  We were afraid.  Then they called right back and we answered it.  Elder B said, "I've got some bad news for you..........you are staying together!"  Our hearts dropped a little bit, but then we were relieved.  We really didn't believe it.  Oh I love our ward, and I want to stay here for a really long time!  Also Sister H needs us to finish cleaning her yard.  We hula-hoed...again.

We had a great week until Friday.  So Sister S and I were helping the Lee's move and we were jumping on their trampoline.  First of all, I'd like to confess to hurting her leg.  We were jumping on the trampoline and we were trying to do the double bounce thing, where you bounce the other person up high.  Well she didn't understand that she was supposed to go up, so when she landed (she's supposed to land on her butt) she landed leaning back so she went sideways instead of straight up.  It was an in-ground trampoline so she didn't fall off, but she did land on the metal part.  She hit her shin.  Luckily, nothing really bad happened.  It was only bruised.  She's getting better now, but we didn't get to ride our bikes this weekend.  We did ride at the beginning of the week though...A LOT.  We rode 38 miles in 3 days :)

 Another crazy story: While walking up a hill with my bike, Sister S said, "Is that a snake?!"  So I went backwards with my bike to see (only a few feet), but my chain popped off, so my bike immediately stopped, but my body didn't.  I flipped backwards over my bike and cut up my left leg and ankle a bit, but it wasn't bad.  Don't worry it wasn't a snake...and I fixed my chain!

 Alrighty so this week we visited Nelson.  He's 15 and wants religion in his life.  We have been meeting with him, but it's always on the front porch.  We met with him yesterday and asked if he would be willing to be baptized.  He opened the door and yelled, "Yo Mom.  You down with me being baptized?!"  It was probably the funniest thing ever.  But he agreed to be baptized on May 10th so that's amazing!!  Please keep Nelson and Bill in your prayers!  They are progressing!

 This Sunday was the best church meeting I've ever been in!  Sister H gave an amazing lesson in Relief Society.  We talked about reflecting during the sacrament.  Reflection means more than just thinking.  When you look at your reflection you see yourself.  When we reflect on the Savior we should be thinking of things we can do to make ourselves more like the Savior. 

When Christ went into the Garden and suffered, He came back out and noticed that His disciples were sleeping.  We need to make sure that we are always awake!  We cannot be asleep during the sacrament or awake during church and then fall asleep during the rest of the week.  We need to always remember Him!  "Because of Him death has no sting, the grave no victory.  We can start again and again and again.  Because of Him guilt becomes peace, regret becomes relief, despair becomes hope.  Because of him we have second chances, clean slates, new beginnings.  There is no such thing as the end, because of Him."  Watch the video "Because of Him".  It's the best. 

 

I hope everyone has a super fantastic week!  Love,

 

Sister Moon

Pictures: 
District Leader, Elder B,  Sis S
Zone Leaders, Elder N and Elder F.
Sis S
California flowers!

April 14, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was the best week ever!  In our area, no one has ever had more than 30 lessons.  Sooo Sister S and I made a goal to get 30 lessons.  We had 28 lessons on Saturday, and had 4 appointments set for Sunday.  We were so excited, but then 3 of our appointments cancelled, so we went out to all our investigators houses and tried to find people to teach.  We ended up having 31 lessons!

 We also rode our bikes 52 miles this week.  Our Mission President encouraged us to talk to everyone, so whenever we passed people we would always say hello, then keep pedaling.  At the beginning of the week, Sister S and I promised that we would STOP AND TALK to everyone we saw.  We decided we should give everyone the chance to hear our message (not just hear us say hello).  We did this, and we found 5 new investigators this week, because we stopped and talked to people getting their mail, watering their trees, and walking home from school.  We will continue to do this and hopefully find more and more people to teach. 

 

At the end of this week I noticed that I wore the same shoes everyday, and now everyone can tell.  It's hot here and the sun is shining and I am tanning :)  You gotta love tan lines.

 

We went to contact a referral, but the person we were trying to see didn't live there.  We ended up talking to the lady that answered the door; her name was Christina.  She said that she is looking for a church and she believes we were there for a reason.  She asked us if we would come in and pray with her to give her strength.  We read some scriptures with her, and then prayed with her family.  Hopefully we can meet with her this week, and encourage her to come to church.  She is going through some really hard times right now, so keep her in your prayers. 

 We also met Charlie while we were riding our bikes.  He is looking for direction in his life, and wants to join a church.  He came to church with us yesterday, and really enjoyed it.  He told his story of how we found him during Sunday School.  He said that he saw us pass by once and we didn't stop, so he kinda felt bad.  Then he said, "this week they stopped and actually wanted to talk to me".  He said he really wanted to make friends and was very glad that we took the time to stop and talk with him.  That made me feel great to know that I was able to be an answer to his prayers when we stopped and talked with him. 

 And Bill...Bill is struggling with the fact that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world.  He just needs to put aside the facts and read the scriptures with faith.  I felt impressed to give him Mosiah 14 to read because it is about Jesus Christ.  The next morning I was reading 1 Nephi 19:23 and it says "but that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord, their Redeemer, I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet Isaiah".  This scripture basically says that if you want to believe that the Lord is the Redeemer then read Isaiah.  Bill needs to know that and Mosiah 14 is compared to Isaiah 53.  I know that the Spirit prompted me to give that chapter to Bill, and then reassured me, the next morning, that that is what Bill needed.  Please pray for Bill that he will know that Jesus Christ is our Redeemer.  We will move his baptismal date to make sure he is ready.

Transfers are also this week so I need one more prayer from y'all.  Pray that Sister S and I will stay together!  We love the Ward we are in, and the investigators we are teaching.  We would love to stay together for another 6 weeks.  I will let you know, next week, if I'm staying and who my companion is.  Hope everyone has a fantastic week! 

 

Tip of the day: Always be grateful!  Thankfulness is expressed in words.  Gratitude is expressed through actions.

 

Love you guys and miss you guys!

Sister Moon

 

Pictures:

Hula Hoe-ing...again

Tan Line!

Our zone shirts (yes I know the saying is not grammatically correct.  I told the zone leaders, but they didn't care)

April 7, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

 

This week was awesome!  Conference week is always awesome!  We taught 23 lessons this week, and found 1 new investigator.  We also did some more service for Sister H (the 80 something year old).  We raked, hula hoed, trimmed bushes, and dug up dead bushes.  Oh it was quite the day.  We had 2 cancelled appointments Thursday morning so we went and helped Sister H for over 2 hours!  We were so sore the next day.  I also finished the Book of Mormon yesterday and in case anyone was wondering...it's still true!

 

We taught Bill this week and he agreed to get baptized on April 19th!!!!  We will continue to work with him to make sure he's ready.  He's a great guy, so it should be good.  :)

We had our District Meeting on Tuesday morning.  We began with a song and a prayer and announcements, like normal.  Then Elder S was in charge of giving a training.  He went up and said this is a very unique training that you will only get once on your mission, then he pulled out an IPAD from his backpack.  He said our mission is now getting IPADS.  He told us everything about it.  He said we will get it next month because they are letting the District Leaders and Zone Leaders have them first.  He explained exactly what we would be able to do on them, and if we keep all the rules we can take it home with us when we leave!!!!  This training went on for 15 minutes!!!!  Then he said, "Oh yeah and I forgot one last thing...April Fools".  You can imagine how excited everyone was.  We were all freaking out, only to have our dreams crushed by Elder Swan.  I will admit that was the best April Fools joke. 

We also went on exchanges on Wednesday.  I stayed in Arrowhead with Sister Cook while Sister Soleta went to Silver Lakes with Sister P.  We had a pretty great day.  It was super cold and windy, but luckily we didn't have to tract because we kept busy and had 4 lessons.  Sister C is really smart so we had a great Companion Study, but she is really shy and quiet so I'm glad to have Sister S back!  Sister S and I know how to have fun :)

Friday was a rough day.  We came out of a lesson, and my tire, on my bike,was flat.  We went to the closest member's house and pumped it up and rode as fast as we could to Brother G's house and he patched it up.  We thought everything was good, so we went to our next lesson.  After we talked with Liz we started to head home for dinner.  When we got halfway home my tire went completely flat.  We called Brother G, but he didn't answer so we called Brother R.  He came and picked us up and told us that he'd have it fixed in the morning.  He's such a great guy!  In the morning we went to pick it up and apparently when Brother G put the patched tube back in he pinched it so that's why it went flat so fast.  The tube was not patchable, so Brother R bought me a new tube that morning!  He's awesome.  I'm so glad we have men that know stuff about bikes in our ward!  Hopefully this tube will be better than the last one.  This week is supposed to be in the 80's so we should be riding like crazy!

And of course the best part of the week was Conference.  I will share some of my favorite quotes with you.  I won't share all of them though, so I encourage everyone to watch or re-watch General Conference!!

"It's a narrow path, but it can be successfully traveled" - Jeffrey R. Holland

 

"Love what the Lord loves.  We do this by being a disciple" - Ronald A. Rasband

"Coupled with prayer, the Book of Mormon gives power to strengthen families" - Linda S. Reeves

"Don't let whirlwinds drag you down. This is your day to stand.  Follow more diligently his commandments" - Neil L. Andersen

 

"Faith is the anecdote for fear" - Russell M. Nelson

 

"Don't become overwhelmed with trivial things.  Learn simple things.  Righteously influence others...He [Jesus Christ] taught, served, and loved others.  That's what we need to do.  He invited us to follow His perfect example. - Richard G. Scott

"Being grateful in our circumstances is an act of faith in God" - Dieter F. Uchtdorf

 

"There is no physical pain or weakness that the Savior did not experience first.  The Son of God perfectly knows how we feel.  He has perfect empathy.  He can extend to us his arm of mercy.  He can help us be more than we could ever be without Him.  - David A. Bednar

 

Hope everyone has a great week!  Love,

Sister Moon

Pictures:

Making Filipino food

Sister C and I

Helping out Sister H and the "fruits of our labor"- lots of sticks and weeds.

And Bill

 

March 31, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was pretty great!  We had 22 lessons!  It was a struggle to get that last one; we went to like 7 less active member's houses until someone was finally home, but we got it! 

The weather was awful this week.  We didn't ride our bikes very much, only about 20 miles total, because it was super windy.  Sister S also said it was too cold, but it was like 65-70 degrees.  This week is supposed to be worse so we will see how much we ride.  But, we were the only ones in our District that didn't go over our miles!!!!  Thanks to our super awesome bikes.

Also, on Friday, I experienced my first earthquake.  We were doing our nightly planning and the table and refrigerator started shaking.  It wasn't bad at all, but still, my first earthquake :)  I believe it was a 5.1.

We now have 4 progressing investigators: Bill (it was his birthday yesterday :)), Jackie, Yolanda, and Wendy.  I think Yolanda is golden.  She has great questions, and really wants to learn!  They are all striving for a testimony of the Book of Mormon, so Sister S and I are working hard with them and answering their questions through the Book of Mormon.  It has been a great week working with them!

 We also met Mary; she's our new investigator.  She is 73 years old, and has decided she wants help with her Family History.  Since Sister S and I are experts, NOT, we decided to help her.  We can use a computer a little better than she can, but that's about it. Haha.  No, but we actually have been able to find her mother, father, and uncle.  We are building her family tree, and she is so excited.  I love Family History!! 

This week we also had the most interesting meal ever.  We went to the Lee's and ate spaghetti...except she wouldn't let us use plates or forks.  She dumped the spaghetti and sauce in the middle of the table and told us to dig in.  It was quite disgusting!  I have no idea why she decided to do that!  It was so weird.  We just used the garlic bread to pick up the spaghetti so it was a little less gross, but it was still nasty!

On Saturday we also had a Sister's conference!  We went down to Rancho Cucamonga and watched the Sister's Conference, broadcasted from Salt Lake, with all the other Sister's in our Mission.  It was a great experience!  I have a few great quotes I'd like to share with you:

"We are covenant making daughters.  Making covenants protects, prepares, and empowers us".  -Rosemary M. Wixom

"Everyone is welcome to walk the path of eternal life" - Rosemary M. Wixom

"We need to not only love each other more, but love each other better" - Bonnie L. Oscarson

"All the easy things the church has to do have been done.  It's hard work now!" - Linda K. Burton

"Here I am send me...The Lord needs women like that say this" - Linda K. Burton

 

"Help wanted: parents to bring up their kids in the gospel, serve as mentors, listen and act to promptings, live the gospel daily, to do temple and family history, to be missionaries, to be rescuers, to be convent keepers and to stand firm, and to be true disciples of the Lord, Jesus Christ" - Linda K. Burton

"Our trials are perfectly chosen for us.  People have been chosen to help us through our trials, and we have been chosen to help others through their trials". -Henry B. Eyring

"Heavenly Father smiles on you when He sees you help a women on the covenant path of God.  He sees you as what you'll become.  When you progress, Heavenly Father is pleased.  Now we have a great responsibility" - Henry B. Eyring

 

Hope everyone has a great week!  Love you all,

Sister Moon

 

Pictures: Crazy Californian House, Weird Spaghetti Dinner, and Sister M from the MTC and I!

 

March 24, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was SO TOTALLY  WICKED (Incredibles reference...come on).  Remember how I told you we would get 22 lessons this week?  Well, we ended up not having 22...we had 24!  We also had 5 investigators come to church (which is the most we've ever had)!!  This week was so successful!  We worked every second we could and ended up finding 7 new investigators.  Our Zone (18 people) goal was 14 new investigators in 2 weeks.  Sister S and I found half of our Zone's goal in 1 week.  We have been praying for new investigators and have been so blessed. 

 

We also bought new bikes online and they came in last Monday so this week we rode them everywhere!  We rode over 42 miles and we are so sore.  My bike even got a flat tire on Friday, but luckily our Assistant Ward Mission Leader is awesome and he fixed it that night and we continued riding the next day.  Sister S named her bike Bruno because she loves Bruno Mars.  My bike just doesn't look like a Taylor so if anyone has any name ideas let me know.  It needs to be very unique and a guy name.  A scriptural name would be nice too.  I'm thinking Nimrod or something weird like that.  :) 

We have been going to bed at 10:00 instead of 10:30 because we are so exhausted when we get home.  On Wednesday, someone texted us at 10:19 and it woke Sister Soleta up, so she went to grab the phone off the dresser and she ended up falling out of bed.  Let me remind you that our beds are almost 4 feet tall.  It was pretty much the funniest thing ever.  :)

 

This week we got to serve a lot as well.  We helped Sister H (who is like 80 something) with her yard work.  We raked and raked and raked...  We also helped Sister L plant some flowers because she can't bend over.  And we went on a scavenger hunt to find some clothes for Sister M so she could come to church.  We were able to find some that fit her, and we dropped off a box of church clothes at her house on Saturday.  Her face was filled with light and she was so excited.  It felt so good to be able to help her out.  "When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God" (Mosiah 2:17)

 

Well we taught Bill again and we talked about the Atonement.  He asked why Jesus Christ had to come and suffer for us.  Why couldn't God just accept His children as sinners?  We talked about how no unclean thing can dwell with God so we must be made clean in some way.  Then we watched the Mormon Message called "The Mediator".  If you haven't seen it...please watch it.  It is my favorite video.  They talk about justice and mercy and how they play together.  There is a man who is in debt and he needs help because if justice wins then he goes to jail, but if mercy wins then the creditor doesn't get paid.  He pleads out, "Isn't there some way that both justice and mercy can be served?"  There is a way, but that way requires another...a mediator.  Someone else comes and pays the creditor so justice has been served and the man doesn't have to go to jail so mercy was served also.  He tells the man that he must pay back the debt to him.  He says, "It will not be easy, but it will be possible."  This is what Christ does for us.  He forgives us when we show Him that we are willing to do all we can to pay Him back.  He is the Mediator.  He allows us to receive mercy.  Without Him we could not return to our Heavenly Father's presence.   

 

Love,

Sister Moon

 

 

 Sister H, her granddaughter and I raking up a storm!

 

Sister S, Bruno, myself, and my unnamed bike.

 

 

Sister B and I at church.  Nerding it up because my allergies were getting the best of me Sunday morning.