The Unexpected~

Well this week has been pretty great! I don't think there's a time that me and Sister Smith haven't been having fun. We actually were in the same MTC district, we've been waiting to be companions our whole mission, and then just when we thought it was impossible. It happened!

 

So here's part 3: The unexpected 

This is what I wish I would've know before the mission

 

1. Missions aren't the best 18 months OF your life they're the best 18 months FOR your life.

 

2. Missions are 90% attitude.

 

3. If you're bored, you're probably doing something wrong.

 

4. Some companions will become the sisters you never had.

 

5. If you don't get along with a companion, just remember that you aren't sealed for eternity.

 

6. If you aren't having at least a little bit of fun, you're doing it wrong.

 

7. You shouldn't wear flowy skirts when you're on a bike. They could get caught in your spokes and cause your bike to stop in the middle of a busy intersection.

 

8. There will be tons of awkward moments....

 

9. Elders are still just 18/19 year old boys.

 

10. If you tell the mission president what you think should happen, the opposite is most likely going to happen.

 

11. Sometimes sketchy things happen. But the Lord will always protect you, or at least give you a warning.

 

12. You never really recover from being tired. You just get used to it, then more tired, than used to that. And so on.

 

13. Whatever bad moments you have, will be heavily outweighed by the good moments. You will hardly remember that bad things that happen.

 

14. The mission will become the hardest thing you ever loved to do.

 

15. You will have "mission brain" and you won't be able to remember a whole lot from the world like movies and music.

 

16. Sometimes when things are slow your brain will convince you that your investigator is kidnapped and in the middle of the desert. That's probably not true, they're probably just busy.

 

17. You will come to love these people that are practically strangers.

 

18. Because you love them you will become so frustrated when they turn down the very thing that will bring them the peace and the happiness they're looking for.

 

19. You will come to understand the Atonement on a more personal level because you yourself will spend a few moments in Gethsemane.

 

20. Missions are completely worth everything you go through. Hands down the best decision you will ever make.

 

Well I love you all! Thanks for all that you do and for all the support!

Lesson of the Week: Open Your Mouth!

This week was pretty crazy! We had our Fall Festival and trunk or treat. It turned out really great! We had 3 investigators show up! And an even bigger miracle happen! (I'll get to that later)

 

One of the investigators has 3 kids under 3 and her husband didn't stay. So we were running ALL over the place trying to find people that would watch her baby, or take her kids trunk or treating. Or just trying to find a ride for them was crazy hard! There was one great member who helped us out so much! She answered so many prayers that night, I don't even think she understands! The investigator was super thankful that she was invited and glad that everything turned out well!

 

About half the people that attended were actually non-members! We were able to talk to a few but not too many because we were too busy asking people to talk to our investigators or finding people to watch her baby so we didn't get stuck with him, because that's a really big rule to break!!

 

There was a string of miracles that happened! Weeks ago we talked to this guy on the street and he was super nice. Not really interested, but he said his daughter has been a member for 5 years. We ended up seeing him again a week later and we invited him to the Fall Festival. He said that, that was the same weekend his daughter was coming in town and that he'd really try to make it with her.

 

Well they actually showed up!! We were amazed! It turns out that it was only they're second time ever seeing each other! We just happened to talk to him, his daughter just happened to be a member, she just happened to be coming into town seeing her dad, seeing her dad for the second time ever, the very weekend we happen to be having the Fall Festival. It's just one string of miracle.

 

Our ward mission leader talked to them a little bit more than we got to and invited them to church and to have a lesson after. All 3 lessons were on temples and family history work. haha not exactly the best thing for a newbie. He seems pretty golden! He really enjoyed the first lesson and was able to feel the spirit. He told us that if he came to know that these things were true than he'd get baptized!

 

The best part of this was I think for the daughter, she served a mission and is now a ward missionary in her home ward. She was so excited that he agreed to take the lessons and that we talked to him one day on the street. It was just one simple oym (open your mouth) one contact, that answered a lot of prayers.

 

My lesson I learned this week is that you should talk to everyone because you never know what prayer you're answering. Whether it's just someone wanting a nice little conversation, or if it's a family member asking to help the one they love, a prayer is a prayer no matter how small. Or how "small" it may seem. If it matters to you it matters to Him.

 

I know that all prayers go answered. Even though they may seem "unanswered" God always does what's best for us. That may mean helping us learn a little more about patience, or it may mean that what's best for us is going through whatever we're going through. That just means we really have to learn to rely on Him to get us through it. I know that while He may leave prayers "unanswered" He never leaves us.

 

Well I love you all!

BONUS FOOTAGE OF THE WEEK!!!

IT'S WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOUR COMP IS SICK AND YOU'RE A TINY BIT BORED

(MUSTACHE AND GLASSES COMPLIMENTS OF "NERM"..LOVE YA PUNKIN!)

The Call~

 

Well here it is part 2: The Call

 

There's nothing more anticipating than finding out where in the world you're going to spend the net 18 months of your life. Waiting on a piece of paper to tell you how your life is going to be can be really nerve racking.

 

With everyone getting mission calls I had it down to a science when it would come. If it didn't come Wednesday it came Thursday. Well my call didn't come on Wednesday so I knew it would come. Thursday just happened to be my day off.

 

I was expecting the mail man to come around 1:00 like it usually does. Well this guy was running 3 hours early! I anxiously watched the mailman pull into the circle put mail in a mailbox, and completely drive by our mailox! I was really shocked for a second, until he parked in front of the house and got out, witht he call in his hand. Which would be a good thing if you were prepared. I just woke up, my hair looked like Medusa, I didn't have a bra, It was just a mess.

 

It's safe to say I was freaking out. He rang the doorbell, I grabbed the first coat from the closet, quickly tried to tame my mane. then answered the door. He asked if I was Sister Ririe, haha I sure didn't look like any sister at that point!

 

Well I finally had the call! Now all I had to do was wait until everyone came home.

 

I had to get out of the house instead of just staring at an envelope forever, wondering where God was going to put me. so me and a friend played racquetball. while we were out I told her about my dream I had the night before. In my dream I was with friends on vacation. I remember looking around and not really knowing where I was. But since I was supposed to know I didn't want to ask anyone in my dream. We were one our way to a basketball game, when I decided we were either in California or New Mexico. I decided we were in New Mexico. After I told my friend this she was saying how cool it'd be if I went to New Mexico on my mission. I thought it'd be cool but definitely not my first choice.

 

Later it was finally time to open my call. family and a few neighbors were there with friends on Skype. When I read that I was called to the New Mexico Albuquerque Mission I knew without a doubt that that's where I was needed. I was so excited! It also proved to me again that God has a sense of humor since I always said I never wanted to go anywhere touching Utah :)

 

Heavenly Father showed me in little ways that I was supposed to go to New Mexico ever since I've been here I've been so grateful. It really is the best mission in the world. There's no place like it.

 

I know that I've been here to help people. I also have seen that people have been here for me. It's crazy how God knows exactly what we need and what is best for us. I never would've picked New Mexico for a mission but I'm so extremely grateful that Heavenly Father knows me better than I do and didn't pick my 1st choice, but picked the best choice.

 

Hope ya'll have a good week!

Bonus Letter!

Mom and family!

Bonus letter!  My comp isn't feeling too well, so I thought I'd write my favorite family!  Thanks dor the package!  It was awesome! It was good timing too because my comp is sick, so I had fun with the mustaches! I wish I could mentally send pics to you.  You'll have to wait till p-day  :)

I thought I'd write a little more about the miracles that happened this week since I didn't so much explain them in my email.

Saturday, a ton of people were home.  It was a good day!  The greatest one was when we were out - we had plans to walk around and contact.  Sis. Montini had the impression to go see someone we didn't plan on seeing.  So we headed on our way.  This house is tough to get to.  Their street is closed because of construction.  Well, we finally got to her house and she was outside!  She has this giant gate that you can't get into.  We started talking to her and she said that she's only home 1 weekend a month so we caught her at a really good time!  We ended up talking to her for 2 hours.  She's not on good terms with a lot of people int he ward, but we were able to connect and get on good terms!  It was so cool!  And now her mom is bringing someone to the Fall Festival!  Her mom is actually super cool.  So 80 years old an does Cross Fit!  I'm not even lying!  So she's bringing one of the trainers that just had a baby.

The Fall Festival should be an exciting time!  It's the trunk or treat.  The ward goes all out!  It's the biggest event of the year.  Everyone invites non-members.  We're really excited to see what happens form it.

Another thing that happened was pretty cool, but it was more personal.  We were teaching a less active guys.  He's actually a return missionary.  He served in the Tucson Mission when El Paso was part of that mission.  But he never servered here.  He is just struggling a bit lately with his testimony.  He's way fun to teach!  He knows what he needs to do, he just needs a little push to do it.  So we're that push and that extra spiritual shoulder to lean on.  We finished our 2nd lesson with him and asked him to say the prayer at the end.  He was a little hesitant at first.  He said there was going to be some lightening and thunder if he said it. But that was ironic because it was already stormy.  Anyways, he said the prayer and it was super sincere!  He was thanking Heavenly Father for sending the missionaries and for our time.  And he started crying!  He almost couldn't finish the prayer.  I can't even describe how that feels.  It's one part of serving a mission that makes everything worth it.  One prayer can make all the weird looks you get, all the investigators that drop you, all the hard companions; it makes ALL of that worth it.  When you know how much you've helped someone - well - more like how much you were able to bring the Spirit into their lives, it makes the whole 18 months worth it.  I hope that made sense.  (I kept getting distracted)  :s

Nerm!  When I get home we're going to the temple once a week! (I'm watching a "Mormon Message" on temples right now)  We'll find names and go do baptisms for them!  Deal?!  You can get a head start on finding names if you want to  :)  It'll be our thing.  We'll go before school and then get breakfast.  the temple is a lot cooler when you go before school.  The sacrifice of getting up early brings even more blessings!  And your day goes much more smooth.  I know it may be hard to find names, but just try it  :)  Your temple experience will mean a lot more if you find the name yourself. Guaranteed!

Oh Mom, heads up!  I told a former sister to contact you.  Don't be alarmed if Rachel Wilcock tries to friend you.  I told her you 2 should hang out.  It'd be good for both of you!!!

Den!  There's a Victory dealer in our area.  I think of you every time we drive by it.  Someone that lives in our complex own a nice Victory.  I have no clue what bike it is, but it's really nice!  Mom told me about your Halloween costumes!  I think it's awesome!  You'll have to send pictures!  For Halloween I might go as my companion..haha  You can't get too creative on a mission.

Oh, if y'all want something to do on Sunday, you should look up the Mormon Message "Moments that Matter Most".  There's a part where this lady is standing in front of a grave, there's a headstone behind her.  It's a little blurry, but you should see what name is on it.  I won't give it away  :)  That'd take all the fun out.  But I'll be waiting for an answer.  Which reminds me, I almost forgot!  This p-day is going to be Monday the 27th to be exact (Last transfer of her mission!!!)  Just a heads up!  Whooo I'm glad I remembered to tell you!

Well, I hope you enjoyed the bonus letter.  Thanks for the package!  It was the best!  Thanks for all you do and for all your support!  I love you all!

I hope you have a great week!
Love,
Sister Ririe  :)

The Why

This week was a pretty good week. We were able to have zone conference and watch Meet the Mormons! It was way good. Everyone should see it Mormon or not. I still learned something new from it, and it's just uplifting. Yep, that's my plug in it for that.

The big lesson of the week was Lori. She was the one we watched Finding Faith in Christ with. When we started teaching her she said that her biggest fear is that there's one true church and that she's in the wrong one. We taught her the Restoration and by the end she was a little overwhelmed. She said she was scared. I think she was scared because she knew this was her answer and that it would mean change. Most people don't like change. But it was a really great lesson! Over all it's a huge miracle! We're excited to teach her tomorrow and ask her what she thinks about what she's read!

So I thought it would be fun to do something a little different and do a 3 part segment. Part 1: The Why. Part 2: The Call. Part 3: The Unexpected.

So here's Part 1: The Why

Why did I choose to serve a mission?

The age changed happened and it was weird because all of the sudden this option was open to me. Of course it was a big decision so I put off thinking about it. I didn't want to go just because I COULD go. I told myself I wouldn't think about it for a month.

Before this I never wanted to go on a mission. The seemed scary (which they are!) and it didn't seem like me to go. People would always ask me if I was going to go and I'd say no, without hesitation. For mutual, when they had missionary activities I'd do them half heartedly because I "knew" I was never even going to serve.

Well exactly one month later I was at work washing dishes. A thought came into my mind. I can't remember the second half it it but the first part was "well on my mission, it'll be like this...." This thought scared me! I didn't say if, I said when. I looked at the calendar and it was exactly 1 month later. this thought came out of no where and I know it was by the spirit. I wasn't going to remember the date, but Heavenly Father sure did!

So I started thinking about it and talking to a few people. One of my good friends who I never ever thought would serve a mission decided to go, and she seemed SOO excited about it, that changed my perspective a little bit.

I didn't really announce to anyone in my family that I was planning on going. It was a big surprise when Dennis called a super random family council and started talking about saving for missions and how we're supposed to pay 1/2. I really don't think they were expecting me to go. It surprised them a little when I said I was really thinking about it and that it looked like I was going to go.

Oop. I forgot a big part. In the middle of all my thinking and pondering about a mission, I read my patriactchal blessing which was semi-neglected. After dusting it off... I read that I would serve as a full-time missionary, in the mission field. Heavenly Father really had to spell it out for me ;)

So I started my papers and saving even more. It's really interesting how my life just kind of lined up for a mission. It was really clear that I was supposed to go. I had exactly enough time to save 1/2, school just... well it probably wasn't the best way to do things but it worked out.

At first I wanted to come out to help people, and there were a lot of other cool benefits, like living outside of Utah, meeting new people, new friends, new food. A lot of temporal reasons.

While all those things do come from a mission, I've realized that there's even more and better reasons. The spiritual growth, I don't think I'd get anywhere close the where I am now spiritually, without my mission.

While I may not have changed very many lives or converted very many souls, I changed y life, and I became more converted. The mission was the best decision of my life. It's made me grow, and become someone I never thought I could be. It's helped me live up to my divine potentional It's going to help me for the rest of my life.

I've been able to see amazing miracles, and I've been able to help people come closer to Jesus Christ and help them access the Atonement. I've been able to see first hand exactly how much Heavenly Father loves all His children

I'm thankful everyday for this opportunity and privilege, I hope that for these next 2 months I will be more able to serve Heavenly Father, to be an instrument in His hands and help His children come closer to Him. He's shown me a lot of love and now I get to show other people that love. I get to help them experience that change that brings peace and happiness. I get a front row seat to the Atonement. I get to be a missionary.

Goat Head Stickers, Obedience, and Scripture Power!

And sometimes we play "try to figure out the picture"!

This week went pretty swell like. We were able to talk to a lot of people and find a lot of potential investigators! We've also spent a lot of time getting ready for a movie night. We're going to play the Testaments at the church and have popcorn and root beer floats. And then we're going to have a some people in the ward dressed up and be characters from the Book of Mormon. Kind of like Disneyland! Or Moroni's quest but not as cool.

 

We were walking around one morning and Sis. Morco walked through some weeds and ended up with a TON of goat heads in her skirt! So then we spent a little while picking them off, we started walking again and it was perfect timing to meet up with this guy that was just walking down the street. He wasn't interested but he was super nice and semi-willing to listen. It just helped my testimony grow a little more that everything really does happen for a reason. Even goat heads. You may never know the reason now, but eventually it will all make sense in the Eternal view of things.

 

I had another pretty cool experience but it was more of a personal thing. Earlier in the week I felt a stronger desire to be more obedient. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't breaking any rules, I just wanted to make sure to do everything right. Sometimes there are a lot of rules to keep track of. I really wasn't sure why this desire was there but it was.

 

Then came zone training (a big meeting with about 9 sets of missionaries) they announced that there was a rule change, that we could now only listen to hymns. Which is a pretty big deal for me. I LOVE my church music. They aren't necessarily hymns but they're still really good songs. But with this desire to be more obedient I was really being prepared to be able to follow this rule change. Everything really does happen for a reason. And while this is a hard rule to follow I know that I'll have help and receive even more blessings :) So I'm excited for the chance I have to be blessed even more than I already have. Which can be pretty hard to imagine sometimes!

 

Something else that has come up a lot is the power that comes through daily scripture reading. We have a recent convert and she hasn't really been doing it as diligently as she should. Well I think she's stopped completely. You could tell too, there was a whole different countenance about her, and what she was saying. But I know that there is power that comes through DAILY reading. Power that Heavenly Father is more than willing to give us. We just have to do our part. I know that the scriptures are here to guide us and help and comfort us, they are truly a gift for us in THIS day, not for the people back then (they didn't have a printing press, normal people didn't have access to them). I know the scriptures are true and will bless you!

 

Love you all!

Everyone is One of God's Creations, They're Who He Wanted Them to Be!

This week I learned a valuable lesson on not judging people. We were out contacting and there were these 2 teenage boys around 15 or so. I didn't want to talk to them because I really didn't think anything good would come out of it. I thought they were just going to talk to us because we were girls. The conversation was really hard at first. We didn't really know what to talk about at first. But then we started talking about the gospel and this 15 year old kid started crying a little bit when he was talking about how much he wanted to change his life. It was sweet. So we asked him if he would ask his mom if he could talk to us and be taught.

 

He ended up taking us up to talk to his mom, they were in the middle of a big move so they couldn't talk right then. But the mom seemed super excited to have us come over, she genuinely wanted us to come and teach her and her family. She told us that she knew it was important. They're moving out of our area. But there are missionaries everywhere and we have her number :)

 

The lesson I really learned from all this is that you really can't judge who is ready for the gospel and who isn't. It's really not our place to judge. Everyone has a divine potential and you really can't say who they are based on what they look like, or even what they've done in the past. But everyone is one of God's creations, they're who He wanted them to be.

 

The hard part is really applying the lesson. So this week my goal is, when I'm out talking to people that I will remember who they really are and what they really can become. The Atonement covers everything. So it's really not up to me to decide what the Atonement doesn't cover, or what people aren't ready for it.

 

This week I want to invite everyone to use the Atonement somehow, or to remember how the Atonement has blessed their lives. And then to invite someone else to either learn of the Atonement or a little more about Christ and His sacrifice. I know that as you do this you'll grow closer to Heavenly Father and to Jesus Christ and you're excitement to do missionary work and to share these blessing will increase!