It’s hard to believe it’s been another week already! Time is flying.
Ready for another rundown?? Okay, so last Monday, after emailing, our district joined up with some other missionaries and we went to Revere Beach for some Ultimate Frisbee! It was so fun! Picture attached.
We had less events during the weekdays this week, so we got some online work done. One project we’ve been working on is in an effort to help the Digital Elders. They’re creating a “Digital Mission Commercial” that they will use to present what we’re doing here in Conferences and Seminars all over! Elder Simmons hadn’t used Adobe Premiere Pro before, so I’ve been helping him with the basics that I’ve figured out over the last month of movie-making. Between his computer smarts and my limited experience, we’ve been able to make some quality headway! I’m so excited—this commercial is going to be really good. We even are going to have President Haight (Brother Haight now, I guess) recorded in the Megquires’ studio for the narration. It'll be super classy. :)
Zone Conference was this week! That's always good! I was able to get some good direction from Heavenly Father during conference.
This weekend we went on exchanges! Sister Cruz had a baptism to go to in Marlborough, so I went to Central Falls with Sister Saito! Another Brazilian. :) I love her! It was like a double slumber party while seeing miracles on the Lord's errand! What could be better?? We crashed at the Sisters' house on Friday night, got ready, then set up for a full Open House in the teeny little chapel that I love! The Spanish Branch was in charge, and I was so impressed with how many people actually came to support and help out. I haven't seen an Open House that successful in Central Falls since I was serving there. It was amazing! The Lord really poured out His blessings, I think especially because of all the effort and preparation that went into it from the branch and the missionaries. The whole district showed up to help, we divvied up the streets to contact on, and went at it! It was so fun! Final count: 32 non-members that came in for a tour. <3 I love being a PVC Sister. Those displays and videos are so inspired. Everyone was busy, the spirit was strong, and there's just something so fulfilling about inviting everyone you see to learn more about Christ.
That night was crazy. I had to practice the song I'm singing at transfer meeting with Elder Scott, and people were trying to help pack everything away. . . Haha, I should have just manned it. Everything was misplaced and packed wrong and so chaotic by the time I came to check on things. :D When we finally got it all figured out, we couldn't find the keys. We searched and searched. . . then waited for another 30 minutes for the Sisters who accidentally pocketed them to return. Haha. Needless to say, Sister Saito and I got home at about midnight. It was so fun!
Yesterday we attended a Spanish baptism in Boston, and today. . . we went fishing!!!! It was wicked fun! Warwick, Rhode Island with Elder Williams, Elder Liston, Elder Crandall, and Elder Riches. I'll have to send another picture for that.
Looks like I'm going to have a stellar week. I'm excited! Thanks for everything!!!!!
We've had quite the week in the PVC. Lots of events and mercies and miracles and friendships. I truly love my mission with all of my heart.
The first major event of the week was an Open House at the New Haven chapel. It was great, because one of the Elders that had been serving in Hartford (the place we've been going every month for incredible, street-contacting Open Houses) was just "shotgunned" into New Haven. (Shotgunning means he opened the area. They never had English Elders there before him.) The very first phone call he made was to us, the PVC Sisters! He had seen the miracles and wanted it to happen in his new area, which just so happened to be another high-foot traffic area. This is the chapel on Yale campus, if you remember. So within a few days we had set up a time, packed up, and traveled out there!
It was a really big success. :) New Haven is a little more difficult than Hartford. I think it's because people are poor and humble in Hartford, and on Yale campus, more people just come inside for an intellectual battle. Still, we had 21 people walk in from the street for a tour! What an incredible experience! These Elders are so grateful to start off their area on the right foot. :)
Thursday we went back down to Ashford for their fair. So many people from the Zone came to help. We must have passed out over 80 Book of Mormons, and drawn so many people's attention with the Book of Mormon roundtable! I have an ever-increasing testimony of street-contacting and talking to everyone. You'll never know who the Lord will place in your path. So many people are so prepared. It was another incredible success.
We also got to travel to a chapel I've never been to, up in Keene, New Hampshire! They were having a big dinner and a Meet the Mormons movie night for everyone who wanted to come! I couldn't tell them apart, but apparently about 20 people who weren't members attended and had a wonderful time. Everyone there loved the Jesus Christ display. I'm so grateful to see this tool being put to good use, especially in new areas! Also, Keene is the only area that covers Vermont. So, since we were so close to the border, we took a little side trip for a picture! I'll have to send it! I've officially been to 5 states on my mission! Vermont is absolutely stunning.
Our second ever PVC-ran Primary event was this Saturday! In Weston, my home area. :D Those events take a ton of work, but they're so much fun! We had all of the stations set up with Watch and Learn and an activity attached to each. The missionaries in the area helped us run everything so the kids could go in any order to get every station checked off. They love planting their seed and building prayer sandwiches and the huge map of the world they could run all over. It was so fun. Those kids are adorable, and I really think this Primary event will become so popular. It's perfect for so many wards.
We had a party up in Cambridge, and yesterday we went to Central Falls to train the Spanish ward on how to give tours themselves, prepping them for their upcoming Open House! I'm so excited. You know how much I love Central Falls. We have the potential to do something amazing here, I know it. The Lord is at the helm of this great work!
You are all in my thoughts and prayers! Thank you, again, for your constant support and love. You mean the world to me, and I draw strength from your examples every day. I love my mission--I love the gospel. We are so so so blessed.
One more week down. One more crazy transfer over. One more incredible transfer left. I go through some serious emotional turmoil every six weeks. You’d think goodbyes would be easier for me by now.
But it was a great week. <3 Lots happened, and I love the feeling of being continually busy!
Tuesday we I did a lot of work on the digital mission, and I had my first lessons on Skype! I taught three different people, all of whom happened to be from Brazil. How neat is that?? These people are golden. I was amazed. One of them, as soon as we connected on Skype, said, “So you’re a missionary! What is your purpose? And I have a question. . . I recently became Christian, but I don’t understand why there are so many different churches in the world if there’s one truth.” ?!?!?! If that’s not golden, I don’t know what is. :) I have 3 new friends that are eager to learn more about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
That night we picked up two of the incoming missionaries from the mission home so they could sleep at our apartment for the night. The two Spanish Sisters. They’re adorable and full of fire for the work. It makes me happy to see so many fresh missionaries filled with the Spirit. This work is going to keep racing forward!
We took them back to the mission home early the next morning, worked in the office, then went to the Weston Chapel to prep for Transfer Meeting. We were privileged to attend “Forces Unite”, the meeting where all of the greenies get their trainers. Sister Cruz was in charge of the photography. :) We have 23 new missionaries! Wahoo! And transfer meeting. . . best/worst meeting ever. Here’s the thing: Sister Gocalves, Sister Hansen, and Sister Lewis, all of whom I flew out with, were giving their final testimonies and going home. Reality check much? I’m the only one from my group going home next transfer! Also, Elder Terry, Elder Wright, and a couple of other friends went home, too. :( The testimonies were inspiring, though. Tears were shed, hugs were given, and people took the time to watch the videos on the PVC. :)
The next day we drove down to Hartford for another Open House! You know how much I love those! It was a little different this time, though, because so many people had been transferred out, Elder McGurk was in the hospital, and we had 2 greenies who had never even seen the PVC! But they were full of fire, and everyone talked to everyone. More miracles happened. More strangers wept over the powerful videos. We had 2 people who wanted to be baptized and are ready and willing to come to church, read the Book of Mormon, and meet with the missionaries to prepare for that step. I had the privledge of taking a man named Robert through on a tour with the greenies. Not only was it incredible to teach with the greenies, but that man is so golden. He was floored by the experience of Joseph Smith and told us all about how he had asked God the same question about which church to join not too long ago. Neither of us believe in coincidences. He's completely turned around his life and has been so prepared by Heavenly Father this whole time, until a greenie approached him from the street and invited him to an Open House. I love being a missionary. There's nothing more rewarding. :)
Friday was an adventure. We had district meeting first. The new district is sooo fun. We have 2 greenies! But then, well, recently Sister Cruz has been experiencing some numbness in her arm/fingers. Because of the accident. So we were finally sent to the emergency room to get it checked out. I don't like the ER. We were there for five hours. Sheesh! Didn't get home until 10:30, and everyone was all worried. So it's a pinched nerve that wasn't happy because we went straight back to lifting heavy boxes and such. Now she's got a bunch of medication to help everything, but she's not allowed to lift anything heavier than a pencil. Hahahaha! I laughed when they said that. Looks like I'll be setting up all the displays for awhile. Don't worry mom, I'll get help lifting and carrying to and from the Spaceship.
We attended a lovely wedding reception in Worcester with the temple display on Saturday. And yesterday was super fun! Somehow, even though we got out the door late, we made it to four different events all on time! Set up in Weston for a missionary homecoming and left. Drove to Central Falls and brought Sister Couto a display for a baptism there. We attended sacrament meeting with these people that I love so so so so so dearly. :) From there we were off to West Bridgewater for a baptism, and from there we took the two-hour drive and made it on time to a RM fireside in Springfield! Whoo! He was great. His family aren't members of our faith, and they were able to feel the Spirit as he talked about his mission in Mesa, Arizona. Lots of people watched the videos, too!
So that was my wonderful week! Today is the first official day of the new transfer, and I'm so excited to do this last transfer right! Ready to work harder than ever! Thanks for everything you all do for me! I love you with all of my heart!
Man, this week! If I could only tell you! It's been a roller-coaster.
First of all. . . so this week the Moving Elders (Weston 1) had to take in their truck to get it fixed. We had this great plan that we would take them to meet a less-active family I taught a year ago. So we were driving to pick them up from the Ford place. . . I was merging, coming off the freeway, so I slowed down. . . and the person behind me didn't.
Yup. This little Toyota Corolla rear-ended the SPACESHIP. :P :P At at least 30 mph, when we were almost stopped. We jolted hard, heard the bang, I screamed, and then we pulled right over! My first accident ever!!!! That got my adrenaline pumping. I was all woozy even jumping out of the van.
It didn't look pretty. The whole bumper was smashed up into the doors, which were smashed up into the frame. The trailer hitch and metal were all bent. . . the other guy got away less smashed-up. We were lucky the Moving Elders were right there. They helped us out a lot. And my back started hurting when the adrenaline started fading. It's hard to believe how jarring that hit was. Like bumper cars x100. I never liked bumper cars. . .
Sister Miller got in a crash that same day! And we had to go to Urgent Care and fill out reports and all sorts of lame things. *Sigh*. It's going to be a pricey repair. Firestone ripped off our bumper so we could open the back doors. But I'm okay, don't you worry!
Friday we had a wonderful Zone Meeting. :)
Anyway, Saturday was incredible. Guess where I went??? Central Falls. Because of the most incredible thing ever. I don't know if you remember this girl I love, named Alexandra. I taught her the lessons to prepare her for her baptism. She's ten, and we were the best of friends. Her mom was returning to full activity at the time, but Alexandra was too afraid to ask her dad for permission to get baptized, which is what prevented her from baptism when I was there. And then last week. . . his heart was softened, Sister Rhoderick asked him for permission, and he said yes.
So last second they planned a baptism, I got notified, and we raced over to Central Falls for a beautiful Saturday morning baptism! I love Alexandra so much!!! She tackled me as soon as I walked through the door and stayed by my side the whole time. She's crazy and hilarious and has a strong, wonderful personality. :) I've missed her. When I told them how soon I'm going home, Sister Rhoderick started crying and said it was just in time. The Lord has perfect timing. It was s tender mercy for me, too, to see something I worked and prayed for happen. It reminded me that I'm capable of being an instrument in the Lord's hands still--that big things can still happen before I go home, as a result of my efforts and the Lord working through me. It was a special day. Alexandra stood to sing "I Am a Child of God" during the service, then got scared and grabbed my hand. She pulled me to the front and whispered that she wanted me to sing with her. So I did. It was precious. This is what missionary work is all about.
We had a Brazilian/Cape Verdian party in Central Falls that night, too. Lots of non-members came, and we taught some people a powerful lesson using a display and videos upstairs. <3 It was neat. And their music and dancing is so cool!
Sunday the Brookline Sisters came on splits with us! Sister Cruz went to Hingham and West Bridgewater, and I went to 2 Haitian baptisms! Crazy, right??? One of them was for a family I know in Weston. Haha, I set the display up by myself in 5 minutes flat in front of everyone. . . No pressure! Haha, it was because we were running from the baptism in Boston. It was a success, though!
We got transfer news, too!!!! Guess what??? I'm staying. :) :) Hahaha. That's right. Half of my mission is in the PVC. I will finish everything here. <3 I intend to sprint.
I love you all so much! Thanks for news and emails and letters! I feel your love!
It's been an interesting week. The whole mission seems to be in a constant state of transition, with the change in of the Mission President and all. That on top of the fact that I got my flight plans and my "Book of Gold" to document the highlights of my mission are really making these weeks feel surreal. September is coming fast.Yikes!
Last P-day we went to the Museum of Science again! It's my favorite place in Boston. I'll have to send you a picture--it's incredible! :)
Throughout the week we scheduled, edited videos, and worked on the digital mission. The digital mission. . . man. . . I can't believe I haven't really explained it to you. Hang tight; You'll love this! It's another pilot program we have in the MBM. Basically, we have 2 Elders assigned to full-time find people online to teach the restored gospel, through social media. They run everything and have trained the entire mission on how to find people, too! Different companionships are assigned to different social media sites, and when we make new friends, we Skype them! That's when we get to teach them the lessons. It's incredible how fast you can pick up investigators online. As a mission, we're Skyping with people all over the world! (Except a few no-fly zones, which the Church has a policy that we can't proselyte in.) We apply all the same things we would as a regular investigator, including members at every lesson (3-way Skypes), daily contact, commitments. . . The only difference is that as soon as they set a baptismal date (or earlier, depending on their progression) we call up the missionaries in their area to step in. It's so cool. So far we've had 8 baptisms from the digital mission. This just really got started 7 or 8 months ago. And it was because President Packard was inspired and knew what missionaries to call to make it happen. So yeah, I'll be doing some regular teaching again!
We also had interviews with President Miller this week. I really love him. :) It's so different, but he's incredible.
On Friday we went back to Providence for another Open House! For some reason it's gotten harder and harder to get people to tour that building and see the displays. I'm trying to figure out the difference. It's a high foot-traffic area there, too! But anyway, after we set everything up, Sister Jessup and I tried contacting people. We were getting rejection after rejection, and suddenly I had an idea. I had my guitar with me, because we had just sung a musical number for District Meeting. So we ran and grabbed my guitar and a chair, and Sister Jessup and I sang and played Primary songs on the street while the Spanish Sisters contacted everyone! We certainly got a lot more attention. :) And it was fun. I've always wanted to do that. The Elders joined us for awhile and we had 3-part harmony going on. We ended up having 2 solid conversations from that, and even got to show them a couple of videos. One guy was just back from Iraq and clearly suffering from PTSD. The other was a young guy who was smart and really on the right track for what the purpose of life is and such. I hope something comes from it! :)
We got home super late and woke up super early on Saturday! And we went on exchanges again, this time with the Marlborough Portuguese Sisters. I went with Sister Goncalves to Woodbridge, Connecticut so that our companions could go to the recent convert temple day with someone they both taught. It was really fun! It's a 2 1/2 hour drive to Woodbridge. Gah! But we talked the whole time. Sister Goncalves flew out to Boston with me nearly a year and a half ago. How crazy is that? Now she's going home in a week and a half. She chose to go home this transfer instead of the next, so she could make it to school. I really like her. Our event was an Asian Culture Fair. It was really fun!
Yesterday Sister Cruz and I went crazy to get to three different baptisms! One was in Framingham, one in Gardner, and one in Worcester. :) I know the names are kind of meaningless. But it was pretty crazy! We made it, though! I love being busy. The videos are as powerful to people now as they were when I started in the PVC 7 months ago. :) I love it. Then the Dowlings had us for dinner, which was nice.
That's my life! On Friday we get T-texts again. So I'll find out if President Miller sees fit to transfer me for my very last 6 weeks. That's insane. I wouldn't know what to do with myself! I've been on this special assignment for so long. . . and I love it!
Thanks again for everything! I love my mission with everything I have. This is insane how fast time flies.
