Dear Family,
It's been a pretty good week. We've been blessed with wonderful people to teach. A couple weeks ago we looked up a former investigator in our area book who was taught by the Elders a couple years ago. She's a sweet older woman named Mary. When Sister Reas and I went to go see her she was excited to have visitors and as we got to know her we learned more about some of the concerns she had when she was taking the lessons with the Elders. She learned a lot from them but felt strongly that what they shared wasn't true and she gave them the Book of Mormon back. Sister Reas and I invited her to learn more but she politely declined and told us we were welcome to come back and visit her.
We waited a week or so and went to see here again this week. We learned a little more about her and then we asked if we could watch a couple videos with her on Mormon.org. The Spirit was great and I could tell He was softening her heart, especially when we watched things that talked about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. After we watched a few videos, Sister Reas and I shared our testimonies with her and we invited her to re-read the Book of Mormon prayerfully. She accepted, and we gave her another copy:)
We were also privileged to meet another older woman when we were knocking doors. Her name is Ellen and she let us right in. She told us a lot about her and she's had wonderful experiences with members throughout her life, and has been to church several times with them. She had nothing but good things to say and she enjoys reading which led her to read the Book of Mormon. She believes it could be true but was never invited or told what to do with that knowledge (until now:). She's interested in having us come back to share more with her and throughout our visit she kept saying: "I'm so glad you stopped by I was feeling really lonely today."
It always feels so good to know that we're in the right place doing the right thing, and I love that we can have that confirmed when we speak to others. The gospel is still and will forever be true. Have a great week.
Love you guys,
Sister Green
P.S. I attached a picture of the Bishop and his family (the Parkers) taken this week at dinner.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
02/14/11
Dear Family,
Last Sunday we had Stake Conference and it was a broadcast from Salt Lake. The broadcast was through Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. We heard from Elder Marvin K. Jensen of the Seventy, Sister Ann M. Dibb of the Young Women Presidency, Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve, and President Monson; the Lord's prophet.
Elder Jensen spoke about covenants and how we need to keep them. He gave the example of Nephi and Zoram and invited us to be able to be so honest that people will know we will do whatever we say and that Heavenly Father's "fears will cease concerning [us]" (1 Nephi 4:37).
Sister Dibb spoke about virtue and she invited all of us to commit or recommit to living a virtuous life. She gave the example of Ruth and Naomi (one of my favorite stories in the Bible) and invited us to live in such a way that, just as Boaz said to Ruth, people can say of us; "For all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman [or man]" (Ruth 3:11). She also invited us to live the young women theme, PROS. Pray every morning and night. Read the Book of Mormon for at least five minutes a day. Obey all of God's commandments, and Smile.
Elder Ballard talked about the gospel and invited/cautioned us to remember to keep the gospel simple. He went over faith, repentance, baptism, the holy ghost and enduring to the end. He invited us to live the gospel fully and said if there was anything in our lives that kept us from doing that to repent. He reminded us of the Savior's Atonement and told us we should be repenting daily so that every week when we partake of the sacrament, we can be cleansed and continue to have the Holy Ghost with us.
President Monson spoke about members of the church who are not currently active. He invited us to reach out to them wherever they are and invite them to come back. It was a wonderful conference and the Spirit was strong there.
Yesterday was also a good Sabbath day. During the evening we were in a part of our area when a previous investigator came to mind. Her name is Stella and she was born and raised in China, and became a Christian there also. The previous sisters taught her but we haven't been able to have solid appointments with her because of the holidays. She's interested in learning more about the church so she can make a decision about the faith she wants to be a part of. She struggles understanding the Book of Mormon even in her own language so we read a little with her last night.
We began in 3 Nephi when the Savior comes to visit the people, and we read and explained each verse carefully. She had wonderful questions and a strong desire to understand every word. As we got to the part where the Savior descends and tells the people to come touch Him, she paused for a long time in deep thought and then she asked: "Is this true?" We bore testimony that it was and I admired her willingness to ponder and truly think about what was written. It's made me evaluate my personal scripture study and be more certain that I understand and don't just read it to read it.
It's been a great week and we're looking forward to another one. We have a lot of good things planned for the area and the ward mission is really pulling together and trying to increase the missionary efforts in the area. Hope you all enjoy your week. Happy Valentine's Day.
Love you all,
Sister Green
Last Sunday we had Stake Conference and it was a broadcast from Salt Lake. The broadcast was through Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. We heard from Elder Marvin K. Jensen of the Seventy, Sister Ann M. Dibb of the Young Women Presidency, Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve, and President Monson; the Lord's prophet.
Elder Jensen spoke about covenants and how we need to keep them. He gave the example of Nephi and Zoram and invited us to be able to be so honest that people will know we will do whatever we say and that Heavenly Father's "fears will cease concerning [us]" (1 Nephi 4:37).
Sister Dibb spoke about virtue and she invited all of us to commit or recommit to living a virtuous life. She gave the example of Ruth and Naomi (one of my favorite stories in the Bible) and invited us to live in such a way that, just as Boaz said to Ruth, people can say of us; "For all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman [or man]" (Ruth 3:11). She also invited us to live the young women theme, PROS. Pray every morning and night. Read the Book of Mormon for at least five minutes a day. Obey all of God's commandments, and Smile.
Elder Ballard talked about the gospel and invited/cautioned us to remember to keep the gospel simple. He went over faith, repentance, baptism, the holy ghost and enduring to the end. He invited us to live the gospel fully and said if there was anything in our lives that kept us from doing that to repent. He reminded us of the Savior's Atonement and told us we should be repenting daily so that every week when we partake of the sacrament, we can be cleansed and continue to have the Holy Ghost with us.
President Monson spoke about members of the church who are not currently active. He invited us to reach out to them wherever they are and invite them to come back. It was a wonderful conference and the Spirit was strong there.
Yesterday was also a good Sabbath day. During the evening we were in a part of our area when a previous investigator came to mind. Her name is Stella and she was born and raised in China, and became a Christian there also. The previous sisters taught her but we haven't been able to have solid appointments with her because of the holidays. She's interested in learning more about the church so she can make a decision about the faith she wants to be a part of. She struggles understanding the Book of Mormon even in her own language so we read a little with her last night.
We began in 3 Nephi when the Savior comes to visit the people, and we read and explained each verse carefully. She had wonderful questions and a strong desire to understand every word. As we got to the part where the Savior descends and tells the people to come touch Him, she paused for a long time in deep thought and then she asked: "Is this true?" We bore testimony that it was and I admired her willingness to ponder and truly think about what was written. It's made me evaluate my personal scripture study and be more certain that I understand and don't just read it to read it.
It's been a great week and we're looking forward to another one. We have a lot of good things planned for the area and the ward mission is really pulling together and trying to increase the missionary efforts in the area. Hope you all enjoy your week. Happy Valentine's Day.
Love you all,
Sister Green
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
02/07/11
Dear Family,
I don't have a lot of time this week. The week went well but I will wait until next week to write about it. My mission president's wife asked the departing missionaries to send her some mission pictures last week, so I spent most of my time taking care of that and reading e-mails.
I'll write more next week.
Love you guys,
Sister Green
I don't have a lot of time this week. The week went well but I will wait until next week to write about it. My mission president's wife asked the departing missionaries to send her some mission pictures last week, so I spent most of my time taking care of that and reading e-mails.
I'll write more next week.
Love you guys,
Sister Green
Friday, February 4, 2011
01/31/11
Dear Family,
It was a rough week as far as finding and teaching goes. Sister Reas and I only taught one lesson and had one new investigator. It was sad reporting our numbers to our leaders this week but they're all so encouraging and reminded us to not be discouraged and to keep building upon our faith. My mind turned to the "No effort is Wasted" section from Preach My Gospel where it talks about how we all have agency and people can except or reject the message we share. It states that as a missionary, we need to teach in such a way that they will be able to make a clear choice.
Sister Reas and I strive to "develop the faith to find [those] that will receive us." We want people to see that the gospel is for them. I've found a lot of comfort from the scriptures; especially when other missionaries experience some of the same things I am at this time. In a district meeting a few weeks ago our district leader Elder Platt, shared a scripture about Nephi and some of his struggles trying to share the gospel. We've all at one time or another felt this as missionaries:
"And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be."
I love that he remained diligent and continued to be a powerful missionary/leader and I love that we have his example in the scriptures. Speaking of Nephi that reminds me of a funny moment this week. Sister Reas and I had lunch with a member who is a convert to the church. She's been divorced longer than I've been alive and the thought of getting married again doesn't excite her much. We asked her how her scripture reading had been going and she told us she has also been reading in Nephi. She shared her testimony of what a good example he is and then we started talking about marriage and she asked: "Do you think Nephi is married?"...She'll find her own Nephi one day.
I've also found strengthened when the members tell us of their "missionary experiences". Yesterday during Sacrament Meeting the bishop invited the members to look at the Mormon.org and lds.org websites. These websites have been updated a lot. So much so that the first presidency has allowed us to go online for at least three hours (on a day other than P-Day) and familiarize ourselves with Mormon.org so we will know how to direct people, when we invite them to use it. We will also be given new pass-a-long cards for the website soon.
A few days ago for a dinner appointment a member showed us another website that I've never heard about before. It's www.mormonsmadesimple.com. They have two minute clips describing different things about our beliefs like missionary work and the Book of Mormon. It was really neat and it explained a lot. Go there when you have time and don't forget about Mormon.org. You can create a profile if you want and it'll be more beneficial than Facebook:)
Love you all,
Sister Green
It was a rough week as far as finding and teaching goes. Sister Reas and I only taught one lesson and had one new investigator. It was sad reporting our numbers to our leaders this week but they're all so encouraging and reminded us to not be discouraged and to keep building upon our faith. My mind turned to the "No effort is Wasted" section from Preach My Gospel where it talks about how we all have agency and people can except or reject the message we share. It states that as a missionary, we need to teach in such a way that they will be able to make a clear choice.
Sister Reas and I strive to "develop the faith to find [those] that will receive us." We want people to see that the gospel is for them. I've found a lot of comfort from the scriptures; especially when other missionaries experience some of the same things I am at this time. In a district meeting a few weeks ago our district leader Elder Platt, shared a scripture about Nephi and some of his struggles trying to share the gospel. We've all at one time or another felt this as missionaries:
"And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be."
I love that he remained diligent and continued to be a powerful missionary/leader and I love that we have his example in the scriptures. Speaking of Nephi that reminds me of a funny moment this week. Sister Reas and I had lunch with a member who is a convert to the church. She's been divorced longer than I've been alive and the thought of getting married again doesn't excite her much. We asked her how her scripture reading had been going and she told us she has also been reading in Nephi. She shared her testimony of what a good example he is and then we started talking about marriage and she asked: "Do you think Nephi is married?"...She'll find her own Nephi one day.
I've also found strengthened when the members tell us of their "missionary experiences". Yesterday during Sacrament Meeting the bishop invited the members to look at the Mormon.org and lds.org websites. These websites have been updated a lot. So much so that the first presidency has allowed us to go online for at least three hours (on a day other than P-Day) and familiarize ourselves with Mormon.org so we will know how to direct people, when we invite them to use it. We will also be given new pass-a-long cards for the website soon.
A few days ago for a dinner appointment a member showed us another website that I've never heard about before. It's www.mormonsmadesimple.com. They have two minute clips describing different things about our beliefs like missionary work and the Book of Mormon. It was really neat and it explained a lot. Go there when you have time and don't forget about Mormon.org. You can create a profile if you want and it'll be more beneficial than Facebook:)
Love you all,
Sister Green
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