Email #10, sent March 31--new photos up on Facebook
Sister Hoynacki and I think that President Monson will make a huge announcement over the pulpit in General Conference this weekend. We think he'll allow all missionaries to drive convertibles. How ill would that be? (Sorry I used "ill". I'm just trying to stay hip with the trends among the youth today.)
I started this email off with that because this past week has been utterly exhausting. Sister H and I have worked our bee-hives off this week but our numbers don't show it. It's been our ultimate low since we've been in this area. We just caught everyone at bad times so we couldn't teach as many lessons as usual. But numbers aren't everything. It's just that everyone else (namely the ward council) may think we were slacking this week.
Let's start with K. Sister V invited us over for dinner one night with K, her neighbor. We taught K the first lesson and she invited us back this week. And we taught her the Plan of Salvation. She attended church twice these past two weeks and is, therefore, our only progressing investigator. Her 11-year old daughter wants to sit in on the lessons, too! She even attended the General Women's meeting last Saturday night!
(Quick aside from Eden: Illia told me to keep the anonymity of her investigators. She said, "I'm giving a lot of background on this girl so change her name to Sokdfiehrl or something." So for Sokdfiehrl, I did.)
Sokdfiehrl. Sokdfiehrl's 16. She doesn't like going to school so she goes every now and then, very sporadically, because she doesn't understand how to do any of the work she's assigned. Sokdfiehrl is on date for April 26 and she really wants to be baptized. She's been involved with several different things including pot, anti-depressants, drinking, and smoking but she's been 9 months sober from pot and drinking and almost a good 9 months sober from drinking but still working on smoking.
This week, we were walking towards her house when we heard someone behind us say, "Hey guys!" Lo, and behold, it was Sokdfiehrl riding her little sister's bike. We were wondering why she hadn't responded to any of our texts. Turns out, she went to South Dakota for the weekend and she got her phone back (apparently it was taken away from her...?) Anyway, the phone we'd been texting was her boyfriend's. Now ex. But that's another story.
Showing posts with label investigators. Show all posts
Showing posts with label investigators. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
It's A Small World
Email home #9, sent March 24; new photos on Facebook
We found 2 new investigators this week! *cue shouts of rejoice* and not only that, but one of our investigators came to church AND a less active member did too! *cue roars of exclamation*
If it's one thing I've learned since being in Denver, it's that it's basically only the people from outside the country that are accepting of our message. Of all the investigators we have, TWO of them are from the states. For instance, we have a family from India, a woman from Soviet Russia, a man from Africa, a couple from Nigeria and Jamaica...etc. Even though I'm not serving a foreign mission, I'm getting all the countries here all at once!
With that in mind, we came by a house that was clearly Asian. We're talking pictures of cartoon Asian girls in traditional red clothing stuck on the door with the Chinese character for "luck" sticking upside down. Not to mention the shoes lined outside the door. So we knocked on their door just hoping their hearts would be softened to see another Asian. Lo, and behold, they were softened! They're Vietnamese BUT they know a little bit of CANTONESE! Woohoo! So she told me to return later that night when her daughter who knows English is home.
We returned that night and offered a prayer for the daughter, C, and her family. We asked her to invite her family to join but I heard the TV on in the background. It was the Hong Kong channel! I guess their Cantonese is pretty good!
But after we said a prayer with C, we asked her how she felt. She said, "Relaxed." That's probably the most amazing thing about prayers. No matter how horribly un-eloquent I am, the prayer always invite the Holy Spirit in and provides us all comfort and calmness. There's actually something we recite every morning called The Standard of Truth. The beginning says, "The Standard of Truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing." And that is so true. And also so very relieving because even if I don't explain everything clearly, the Holy Ghost will always come to testify to the individuals that what we are saying is true.
That night we visited a members' home. They'd just gotten their piano tuned so they let me play it and sight-read some songs. It made my heart melt because I didn't realize how much I missed playing the piano. So advice to those piano players who want to serve a mission: bring some pieces to play on P-day!
We found 2 new investigators this week! *cue shouts of rejoice* and not only that, but one of our investigators came to church AND a less active member did too! *cue roars of exclamation*
If it's one thing I've learned since being in Denver, it's that it's basically only the people from outside the country that are accepting of our message. Of all the investigators we have, TWO of them are from the states. For instance, we have a family from India, a woman from Soviet Russia, a man from Africa, a couple from Nigeria and Jamaica...etc. Even though I'm not serving a foreign mission, I'm getting all the countries here all at once!
With that in mind, we came by a house that was clearly Asian. We're talking pictures of cartoon Asian girls in traditional red clothing stuck on the door with the Chinese character for "luck" sticking upside down. Not to mention the shoes lined outside the door. So we knocked on their door just hoping their hearts would be softened to see another Asian. Lo, and behold, they were softened! They're Vietnamese BUT they know a little bit of CANTONESE! Woohoo! So she told me to return later that night when her daughter who knows English is home.
We returned that night and offered a prayer for the daughter, C, and her family. We asked her to invite her family to join but I heard the TV on in the background. It was the Hong Kong channel! I guess their Cantonese is pretty good!
But after we said a prayer with C, we asked her how she felt. She said, "Relaxed." That's probably the most amazing thing about prayers. No matter how horribly un-eloquent I am, the prayer always invite the Holy Spirit in and provides us all comfort and calmness. There's actually something we recite every morning called The Standard of Truth. The beginning says, "The Standard of Truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing." And that is so true. And also so very relieving because even if I don't explain everything clearly, the Holy Ghost will always come to testify to the individuals that what we are saying is true.
That night we visited a members' home. They'd just gotten their piano tuned so they let me play it and sight-read some songs. It made my heart melt because I didn't realize how much I missed playing the piano. So advice to those piano players who want to serve a mission: bring some pieces to play on P-day!
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Livin' la Missionary Life
Email home #7, sent March 10
So last P-day, we went shopping for the rest of the day. And let me tell you something. Shopping as a missionary is the weirdest thing ever. It's probably weirder for other people to see, though. People with black tags roaming around the shopping mall. But it's still weird for me because it was like...normal life.
But I got a cool panda watch. It's beautiful.
It snowed a couple times this week. But the nice thing about Colorado is that even if snow piles up, it melts within hours. It's amazing. One day we went to crossfit at 6 in the morning and our car had a huge pile of snow on it but by the time we left the house again at 10AM, it was all gone. 360 days of sun! #OHYEAH
We had a potential investigator that we met probably our second week here. She was diagnosed with cancer and told us to come back during the weekdays. So we did. We prayed for her and we were so excited to teach her about the gospel because we knew it would help her through this difficult trial. Buuuuuut she ended up rejecting us. She just didn't know how to say no so she felt bad turning us away the first two times we visited her. My heart sank. It was painful to see her turn it down....Then I realized the new lyrics I wrote to that Frozen song had a whole new meaning to me now. Oh man, it was so sad to see her push away the message of the gospel.
An elder in my district said something interesting: the only thing that trumps the Atonement is agency, our own free will to choose to accept or not.
On the bright side, we visited the family with a baptismal date last Saturday. Vince asked, "What do I need to do to get baptized?" It was so amazing hearing that. He thought he needed to fill out some paperwork or something. Heh. But we just explained to him that in order for someone to be baptized, they need to show they're obeying the commandments of God including diligent prayer and scripture study, attending church, obeying the Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity, following the prophet...etc. As for the Word of Wisdom, Vince was all in. He said he'd stop drinking coffee and tea, though he doesn't drink that much anyway. As for Kathy, however, she drinks tea at least 3 times/day so she was a little hesitant. But we know that in obeying God's commandments, she will be blessed with the strength to overcome and to add onto the knowledge that our Savior, Jesus Christ, is by our side rooting for us on our journey back to Heavenly Father.
So last P-day, we went shopping for the rest of the day. And let me tell you something. Shopping as a missionary is the weirdest thing ever. It's probably weirder for other people to see, though. People with black tags roaming around the shopping mall. But it's still weird for me because it was like...normal life.
But I got a cool panda watch. It's beautiful.
It snowed a couple times this week. But the nice thing about Colorado is that even if snow piles up, it melts within hours. It's amazing. One day we went to crossfit at 6 in the morning and our car had a huge pile of snow on it but by the time we left the house again at 10AM, it was all gone. 360 days of sun! #OHYEAH
We had a potential investigator that we met probably our second week here. She was diagnosed with cancer and told us to come back during the weekdays. So we did. We prayed for her and we were so excited to teach her about the gospel because we knew it would help her through this difficult trial. Buuuuuut she ended up rejecting us. She just didn't know how to say no so she felt bad turning us away the first two times we visited her. My heart sank. It was painful to see her turn it down....Then I realized the new lyrics I wrote to that Frozen song had a whole new meaning to me now. Oh man, it was so sad to see her push away the message of the gospel.
An elder in my district said something interesting: the only thing that trumps the Atonement is agency, our own free will to choose to accept or not.
On the bright side, we visited the family with a baptismal date last Saturday. Vince asked, "What do I need to do to get baptized?" It was so amazing hearing that. He thought he needed to fill out some paperwork or something. Heh. But we just explained to him that in order for someone to be baptized, they need to show they're obeying the commandments of God including diligent prayer and scripture study, attending church, obeying the Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity, following the prophet...etc. As for the Word of Wisdom, Vince was all in. He said he'd stop drinking coffee and tea, though he doesn't drink that much anyway. As for Kathy, however, she drinks tea at least 3 times/day so she was a little hesitant. But we know that in obeying God's commandments, she will be blessed with the strength to overcome and to add onto the knowledge that our Savior, Jesus Christ, is by our side rooting for us on our journey back to Heavenly Father.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
A-wo-wa!
Email home #6, sent March 3 / new photos in Facebook photo album
The email title is "Aurora" in baby talk. I might name my child Aurora just so I can say that all the time.
So none of the investigators came to church yesterday. The family from India that committed to coming but their daughters got sick like last Thursday/Friday. We were bummed but we're still praying that they'll get well soon.
There are 2 other investigators we've been trying to visit for the past 3 weeks now. We ask them for their phone numbers but they won't give it to us...they say they'll just call us but, as usual, they never do. So Sister Hoynacki and I thought it'd be better to drop them and stop trying to visit them. So we gave them one last visit. We saw one in his garage fixing his bike and (wait for it) he actually invited us back to visit next week (what!). Yeah. I learned about perseverance. I also learned that I sometimes get too lazy to persevere.
There was a sister in our ward that we met the very first week we were here. She was offered an amazing job in Utah so she's moving down to Provo near BYU! Sister H and I helped her move and pack and clean and basically everything else. I told her and her husband that I'll find them at BYU after my mission. It's happening.
One of our ward missionaries gave us 4 referrals. We've contacted 3 of them and 2 of them invited us back! One of them is a nice Jewish woman whose brother joined the Church when he was 10 or 11. Her parents divorced when they were little so her brother went with her father who joined the church while she went with her mother. She remained Christian, like hard core Christian. She went to school and became a minister so she's very well-versed in the Bible. She ended up questioning a lot of Christian beliefs and now considers herself practicing Judaism.
She's so knowledgeable but she's just missing the entire core of Christianity! She has the intellectual and logical side down but she's missing the emotional and spiritual side of relying on the Atonement of Christ. Jesus Christ wasn't just a teacher or a prophet. He did so much more than that. He performed the greatest miracle of all: the Atonement!
The email title is "Aurora" in baby talk. I might name my child Aurora just so I can say that all the time.
So none of the investigators came to church yesterday. The family from India that committed to coming but their daughters got sick like last Thursday/Friday. We were bummed but we're still praying that they'll get well soon.
There are 2 other investigators we've been trying to visit for the past 3 weeks now. We ask them for their phone numbers but they won't give it to us...they say they'll just call us but, as usual, they never do. So Sister Hoynacki and I thought it'd be better to drop them and stop trying to visit them. So we gave them one last visit. We saw one in his garage fixing his bike and (wait for it) he actually invited us back to visit next week (what!). Yeah. I learned about perseverance. I also learned that I sometimes get too lazy to persevere.
There was a sister in our ward that we met the very first week we were here. She was offered an amazing job in Utah so she's moving down to Provo near BYU! Sister H and I helped her move and pack and clean and basically everything else. I told her and her husband that I'll find them at BYU after my mission. It's happening.
One of our ward missionaries gave us 4 referrals. We've contacted 3 of them and 2 of them invited us back! One of them is a nice Jewish woman whose brother joined the Church when he was 10 or 11. Her parents divorced when they were little so her brother went with her father who joined the church while she went with her mother. She remained Christian, like hard core Christian. She went to school and became a minister so she's very well-versed in the Bible. She ended up questioning a lot of Christian beliefs and now considers herself practicing Judaism.
She's so knowledgeable but she's just missing the entire core of Christianity! She has the intellectual and logical side down but she's missing the emotional and spiritual side of relying on the Atonement of Christ. Jesus Christ wasn't just a teacher or a prophet. He did so much more than that. He performed the greatest miracle of all: the Atonement!
Monday, February 24, 2014
Investigators
Email home #5, sent Feb 24. (Also. Photos on Facebook.)
Herro famiry!
So much happened this week! Where to start!? I'll never know.
We had appointments with 2 different families (4 investigators) this week and they both cancelled on us. This week was the third time one of those families cancelled on us. It was disappointing the third time but I know that work schedules can always get in the way. Not only that, but Satan likes to annoy good people who are trying to develop an even stronger relationship with God.
BUT! On the bright side, we found 2 new investigators this week. Yes. New (#ohyeah). One of them is a high schooler whose boyfriend is an active member of the Church. The boyfriend and all his priest friends from church are apparently best buddies and whatnot. One of the other priests' girlfriend has been meeting with the elders since before Sister Hoynacki and I arrived here.
Speaking of the elders, they seem to have created some kind of competition between them and us, the sisters, as to how man investigators we can get...but we're all in this together (cue music)! But then again, it is pretty awkward every Sunday in ward council when Bishop praises us and doesn't even bat an eye for the elders....Not my fault, right?
The other new investigator is from Jamaica and her husband is from Nigeria. They have a beautiful 6 month old son who is beautiful.
Also, one of our families who we consider as our "progressing investigators" accepted the invitation to baptism! WOOHOOOO! They've always wanted a home built on a Christian background, mainly for their daughters who are 7 and 3 years old. They couldn't come to church yesterday but the 7 year-old apparently had been begging her parents to go to church....so they dropped her off at church on Sunday. They just dropped her off and went home to run some errands! It was so funny but their daughter had an amazing time and wouldn't stop talking about it when she went home.
Herro famiry!
So much happened this week! Where to start!? I'll never know.
We had appointments with 2 different families (4 investigators) this week and they both cancelled on us. This week was the third time one of those families cancelled on us. It was disappointing the third time but I know that work schedules can always get in the way. Not only that, but Satan likes to annoy good people who are trying to develop an even stronger relationship with God.
BUT! On the bright side, we found 2 new investigators this week. Yes. New (#ohyeah). One of them is a high schooler whose boyfriend is an active member of the Church. The boyfriend and all his priest friends from church are apparently best buddies and whatnot. One of the other priests' girlfriend has been meeting with the elders since before Sister Hoynacki and I arrived here.
Speaking of the elders, they seem to have created some kind of competition between them and us, the sisters, as to how man investigators we can get...but we're all in this together (cue music)! But then again, it is pretty awkward every Sunday in ward council when Bishop praises us and doesn't even bat an eye for the elders....Not my fault, right?
The other new investigator is from Jamaica and her husband is from Nigeria. They have a beautiful 6 month old son who is beautiful.
Also, one of our families who we consider as our "progressing investigators" accepted the invitation to baptism! WOOHOOOO! They've always wanted a home built on a Christian background, mainly for their daughters who are 7 and 3 years old. They couldn't come to church yesterday but the 7 year-old apparently had been begging her parents to go to church....so they dropped her off at church on Sunday. They just dropped her off and went home to run some errands! It was so funny but their daughter had an amazing time and wouldn't stop talking about it when she went home.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Email home #3b: In Denver
(Continued from 3a: On the way to Denver)
Denver all started with finding our new car (red Subaru #OHYEAH), slipping on ice and scraping my knee (#livingontheedge), getting lost on our drive to the completely opposite end of the mission, and also realizing that Sister Hoynacki and I are actually new sister missionaries in the ward we were placed in. This means...both of us don't know our new area or ward very well.
So, our area book is completely empty and the elders in our ward already only have 2 investigators. We split up the area so that we actually ended up with NO investigators at all....We have a lot of work to do.
And it's already been hard work. Getting the 8.5 hours of sleep last night helped but I'm still very much in a daze from lack of sleep. I feel like I'm not 100% myself because I'm so tired, which might be a good thing, but still. Sleep is my biggest temptation right now.
On the other hand, the members' house we're staying at is very nice and they themselves are very hospitable. They generously fed us dinner last night but I basically said nothing because I was just SO TIRED. I couldn't keep my eyes open at all. Not even when the elders came over to explain the ward a bit. Sometimes I even pretended to be looking down at the papers they gave us just so I could get a little shut-eye. They probably noticed anyway, though....
The members' basement was renovated just for missionaries. They'd apparently been waiting for new missionaries for 5 months now! The basement has a nice little bedroom with a large closet and even a dresser. The bathroom is also really nice and so is the living room area where there's a table for us to study on.
Denver all started with finding our new car (red Subaru #OHYEAH), slipping on ice and scraping my knee (#livingontheedge), getting lost on our drive to the completely opposite end of the mission, and also realizing that Sister Hoynacki and I are actually new sister missionaries in the ward we were placed in. This means...both of us don't know our new area or ward very well.
So, our area book is completely empty and the elders in our ward already only have 2 investigators. We split up the area so that we actually ended up with NO investigators at all....We have a lot of work to do.
And it's already been hard work. Getting the 8.5 hours of sleep last night helped but I'm still very much in a daze from lack of sleep. I feel like I'm not 100% myself because I'm so tired, which might be a good thing, but still. Sleep is my biggest temptation right now.
On the other hand, the members' house we're staying at is very nice and they themselves are very hospitable. They generously fed us dinner last night but I basically said nothing because I was just SO TIRED. I couldn't keep my eyes open at all. Not even when the elders came over to explain the ward a bit. Sometimes I even pretended to be looking down at the papers they gave us just so I could get a little shut-eye. They probably noticed anyway, though....
The members' basement was renovated just for missionaries. They'd apparently been waiting for new missionaries for 5 months now! The basement has a nice little bedroom with a large closet and even a dresser. The bathroom is also really nice and so is the living room area where there's a table for us to study on.
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