October 19, 2015

I already know this is gonna be my favorite transfer ever. I'm just so glad I get to serve with Sister Johnson. It's so cool to see how much we've both improved since the MTC. We all teach so well together and the area is having so much success. 

Miracle! We went this former investigators house to try and meet him and this giant Sudanese man answered the door instead. He wasn't the guy we were looking for but we talked to him and his name is Daniel and he said that he had seen a Book of Mormon a while back and had read some of it and knew it was true but he didn't know who to talk to about it and he said there was no way he could get to Utah so he had given up on joining the church. We told him he didn't have to go to Utah to join and he got so excited. We invited him to be baptized on November 7 and he was like "Yes! Definitely! I can't wait!" He's so cool.

Second miracle! So we were trying this other former investigator who lived in an apartment and she was not interested AT ALL, and shut the door pretty quick, but then Sister Johnson decided to try the door across the hall so we did and this cute lady answered named Tamra and she has the most adorable 4 year old son named Joel (Jo-el) and she's super quiet but she let us in and we taught her about the Restoration and invited her to be baptized and she said yes! She really wants to come closer to Christ. Good thing we know how to help people with that. And she actually came to church yesterday!!! I get so excited when that happens because it almost never does. People aren't good at following through. But she totally came and stayed for 2 hours.
But she kind of got drowned in gospel principles class with waaaaaay too much information, so we're hoping that doesn't scare her away. We're really worried about that. They were talking about all kinds of crazy things that never need to be mentioned in gospel principles class, and they even mentioned briefly that we're trying to become gods, sooooooo maybe you could pray for Tamra. That would be much appreciated.

This is called a wire worm. They're basically the worst things ever. We find them all over the basement and they're so annoying. Good thing Sister Johnson is brave enough to take care of them for me and Sister Tiritilli. 

We got to go to the temple on Saturday with our recent convert, Eden! She's 14 and she's my favorite person in all of Nebraska. She and her mom (who recently became active again) got to do baptisms in the temple for the first time and we got to go and watch and support them. I loved it. 

​I just love being in the country again. So much better than a city.

You can never take too many pictures of the sky.

Quote of the week: "You're kind of making me uncomfortable . . . " ~This awkward lady we tracted into the other day. Yes, because you don't make us uncomfortable at all. We are completely comfortable knocking on random doors trying to talk to people about Jesus.

Actual quote of the week: Be cheerful and be fearless.

~Sister Temp
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October 12, 2015

Best transfer ever. I'm in Nebraska City now! WITH SISTER JOHNSON! And her trainee. This is literally my favorite place ever. I can't decide if it's better than York or not, but either way it's pretty close. Even though it's just like straight south of Elkhorn, it feels more like out west, so I like it. And we have a truck! Being in a trio is so fun. 

This is the three of us together. We get along great.​ I'm so happy to be with Sister Johnson again. We knew we would serve together someday. Her trainee, Sister Tiritilli, is really fun too.

The members here are great. It's a ward but it's not that much bigger than the Aurora branch because it has so many people who are less active. There's this one family that loves the missionaries so much, they make gravestones for all of the ones that serve here. They even already made me one. Apparently I'm dying next year.

Well, that's all the news I have since I've only been in Nebraska City for about 48 hours. 

Quote of the week: "Don't mistake God's patience for His absence. His timing is perfect and His presence is constant."

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~Sister Temp

October 5, 2015

Transfers was last Friday! I forgot to mention that in my last email. But that happened. And Sister Peters and I both stayed in Elkhorn! Although I did hear from my sources (my sources being the mission president) that I was intended for a new area, but the Lord directed otherwise. 

Although . . . okay it's a long story. But long story short, both Sister Peters and I will be going to new areas in next week or two or three. We're not sure when, but President told us he's hoping to move us soon. So yeah, that's the abbreviated version. So for now, if you have a letter you're planning on sending today or tomorrow, then go for it, but otherwise send it to the mission office. 

11027 Martha Street

Omaha, NE 68144

No, there was no disobedience or anything, and she and I got along fine. He just received revelation that we would benefit more from being somewhere else so he's trying to move us as soon as possible. So that's fun.

General Conference was so awesome!!! It was so good. I laughed, I cried, it moved me. I still think Uchtdorf's talk from the women's session was still the best one, but Sister Marriott's was a close second. I also really liked Elder Durrant's talk about ponderizing a scripture every week. That was awesome. I'm gonna do that for the rest of my life. Here's a bunch of cute quotes from conference in cute little boxes! https://www.lds.org/media-library/images/category/october-2015-general-conference-picture-quotes?cid=HP_SA_10-3-2015_dOCS_fMLIB_xLIDyL2-3_&lang=eng 

Sorry this email is lame. Not much happened this week besides conference. But nothing would compare to conference anyway.

Quote of the week from Neill F. Marriott: When we offer our broken heart to Jesus Christ, He accepts our offering. He takes us back. No matter what losses, wounds, and rejection we may have suffered, His grace and healing are mightier than all. Truly yoked to the Savior, we can say with confidence, “It will all work out.”

The corn is dyyyyying! Good thing I'll still be here when it turns green again.

 

~Sister Temp

September 28, 2015

​Look at that face. Moose is seriously the cutest dog ever. I'm so glad I live with people who have dogs.

OH MY GOODNESS. I can't believe Elder Richard G. Scott passed away this week! That's too many. They better stop this, I don't like it. I even happened to use and Elder Scott quote as my quote of the week last week! Augh. But I am so excited for General Conference. I just want it to be today. The Womens Broadcast was awesome! I normally don't really like the women's broadcast because they're all too sugary sweet, but it wasn't that bad this time. I LOVED Elder Uchtdorf's talk. It's probably my favorite talk ever. Everyone should read/watch it. Here's a link, so you know I 'm serious. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/watch/2015/10?lang=eng&vid=4512255275001&cid=10 I don't know if that's exactly the right link. . . But you know how to find it.

Oh, fun story. We set someone for baptism! The stake president, President Perkes, is in our ward and he is the best member missionary ever. He's been responsible for 4 of the 8 baptisms that our ward has had this year. He invited us to his house to teach this guy that he's been working on for a couple three years. His name is Mohsen (he's from Iran) and he's dating this woman who's a member but has been less active for years. Her name is Nancy (She's from Columbia (so basically we have trouble understanding either of them)). She came to our lesson too. We taught him the Restoration and he wants to be baptized and have Christ in His life. He's so humble and sincere, he kept apologizing for crying. He and Nancy came to church yesterday and they're just awesome.

We had a lesson with Amanda. I don't know if I talked about her yet. Her husband got baptized last spring and then they moved here from Kansas and nobody has any clue why she's not baptized too. She comes to church every week with her family and has had missionaries coming to teach her for like a year. She's heard all the lessons 4 times. Our bishop and ward mission leader both told us that they believe she'll be baptized by sisters, and we're the first sister missionaries she's ever met. We met with her and her visiting teachers and one of them had the idea for all of us to do Personal Progress together. So we've been working on that for a couple weeks and it's kinda fun. And she's actually doing it! She's like the first person I've ever taught who actually keeps commitments. I was shocked that she actually did it, which I shouldn't have been. I need more faith. Good thing we're on the faith section in Personal Progress.

We got to see Joe and he asks a LOT of deep questions that we don't really know the answers to. . . like a lot about the apostasy and comparing the LDS church to the Catholic church and stuff. So it's a really good thing that our team-up is a seminary teacher and he answered all of his questions perfectly. I got to play his piano and it's the most beautiful grand piano I've ever played. Joe is so excited to watch general conference with us! I'm excited. He really has a desire to learn.

Quote of the week from Women's Conference: “There is enough that doesn’t go right in life, so anyone can work themselves into a puddle of pessimism and a mess of melancholy. But I know people who, even when things don’t work out, focus on the wonders and miracles of life… God didn’t design us to be sad. He created us to have joy! So if we trust Him, He will help us to notice the good, bright, hopeful things of life. And sure enough, the world will become brighter. No, it doesn’t happen instantly, but honestly, how many good things do?" ~Dieter F. Uchtdorf

​The clouds kinda look like cotton candy. Or just cotton I guess, but I like cotton candy better.

There was a blood moon last night! It looked a lot cooler than it does in this picture. I wish my camera took better pictures of the sky.

​~Sister Temp

September 21, 2015

We got to go to the zoo today!!! This is my favorite picture. This fish has a great nose.

​Here's us at the desert dome! It felt like home to me. There were tons of cacti. That was my favorite part.

Here's a penguin!

The cacti felt like home.

I really can't think of anything else to talk about this week. Ummmm we had exchanges on Saturday and Sister Peters and Sister Manning and Sister Allan found an AWESOME new investigator! Probably. I've heard he's awesome but I haven't actually met him yet. His name is Joe and he's in his 50s and he asks a lot of really good questions. They also said that he really wanted one of them to play the piano but none of them play the piano. Augh I wish I had been there! Apparently he has a really nice piano. So Immina play it next time we go. It's cool because a member in York told me that when we get into people's houses I'll convert them by playing the piano. Sweet! Prophesy fulfilled!

We're getting closer to cracking the Elkhorn elders. They still won't approach us (ever) but now when we talk to them, they'll talk back to us a little longer than they used to. They actually just walked into the library and they're sitting at computers like 8 feet away and they didn't even wave or nod or anything. But they're getting there.

We had stake conference and it was awesoooome. Elder Stacy of the 70 came and he is so inspired. It was amazing. I wish I had taken more notes.

Quote of the week: "Scriptures can calm an agitated soul, giving peace, hope, and a restoration of confidence in one's ability to overcome the challenges of life." ~Richard G. Scott

~Sister Temp
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