September 28, 2010

Hey family/friends/whoever-actually-reads-these,

So...I'm trying to think of what happened this week. Oh! I know. It's been kind of weird for me. S. Corrales and I have really been working on learning and using the pioneer history in order to teach the gospel. We received what's called the "Simplified Curriculum" for missionaries where it brings it all down to the Doctrine of Christ, love, and how we can teach people to receive personal revelation (ie answers from God) through scripture study, prayer, and attending church. For T2 sisters, it's a bit different because we don't have the opportunity of helping people progress. However, we focus on what we call the "do" doctrine (John 7:17) and how we can teach the two truths on the square: Jesus Christ our Savior, and Restoration of His church through Joseph Smith. A powerful tool we have is the sacrifice and faith of the pioneers. It's been interesting. I think the biggest thing we're focusing on is english basically.

We've seen some random miracles happen: we took a tour with this girl from CA. She had just a short time and we tried to show her what we could. She wasn't really religious but she had some friends that are LDS. We told her about temples and prophets and authority and shared how all of the buildings had come to be (because of the pioneers, right?) and I didn't really expect a lot when we asked if she'd want more information through missionaries and she accepted! And she wrote down her friend's name and number for us to call to see if she'd be interested as well! It was crazy!
Then there was this man from FL who had a lot of questions. Sometimes he'd throw out the question and then, before we had time to answer, he'd already have moved on. He was taking pictures the entire time and listening in between that. We taught him very briefly and had a good conversation with him as well. At the end, we talked about the BoM and how it was the reason why the church members came out here: they had received an answer that it was true and knew that Joseph Smith had been the prophet to restore Christ's church. We told him how that was something we believed today and it was a personal answer/promise that is available to all of us; that we can pray to know the truth. We asked him what his thoughts were on it and how he felt about it and he said "Well, I'd like to learn more about this church." So we told him that he could have the missionaries to come and teach him more and he said "that would be great". It was so amazing!
I think the biggest thing I've learned from this week is, once again, it's nothing that we do as missionaries; all of us are just little pawns in God's grand scheme. I feel very privileged to be a part of it.

Funny thing with S. corrales: she doesn't really know a lot of the words to songs in english and she was trying to sing "Be Still My Soul" all the while singing "Please take my soul" haha. I let it go one day but then told her about it the next day when she kept singing the same thing. hahaha. She said "Oh!! this makes much sense; the elders always laughed when I sang in MTC" haha.

Next thing: Dad and Mom, I met a girl named Natalie Riker who was in the same stake (originally same ward) as Uncle Les and Aunt Ginger. She said she knew them and said to see if they knew the Rikers and remembered Natalie, the youngest.

Rando: who is your ZL? someone wanted me to ask...I don't remember who that is though. oh wait, now I do. Let me know.

Did I tell you that instead of having a "chat" zone they now have two "teaching" zones where the sisters still teach over chat but also teach people they meet here on the square. so cool! Btw, one of the people we taught is getting baptized!

Ok. that's all. sounds like everything is really busy but going well for all of you. Mom, tell S. Wu that the sisters here are no longer able to write sisters that are outbound; president wants them to maintain singleness of heart and mind.

love, sister hulet

September 21, 2010

Hey,

Hmm...I'll finish up what we ended with last transfer and briefly go over this last week. So S. Moseng and I found out that we would both be out of the Chat Zone on Wednesday. So we tried to wrap it up with our investigators and have them contacted by the missionaries in their hometowns. One of our investigators, William, went to the church Sunday (the day before we found out that we would be leaving) and met the Elders there. From that, they said that they would call and set up an appointment with him. He was really sad about not being able to talk to us. We had called him (when we looked back) everyday for about 2 weeks and were able to teach him about the restoration of the authority and Christ's gospel, God's plan of happiness, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was amazing and he was so into the scriptures. He was able to, finally, receive a hard copy of the Book of Mormon from the Elders and started to study it more and more. He said that church was different from what he was used to (he was catholic), a little bit noisier because of the children and a mix of hispanic and caucasian people, but he loved Sunday School. He said he was happy because he was able to answer some of the questions they asked and understood what they were talking about because of what he had been taught. He said that he would go back. After the missionaries have contacted the investigators we have to stop calling them and teaching (we can stay in touch through email) but he seemed to have a hard time letting go and we really committed him to learning what he could from the missionaries and to continue reading and praying. He is so good and so humble as he was learning and as he studies; I was really so impressed the whole time that we taught him. He said that he had been reading the BoM and praying about it for an entire month before he called us. It was a great blessing for us to teach him.

Larry (the ranger from Texas) was having trouble with believing fully in the BoM and what we were teaching and we realized it was that he hadn't really investigated Joseph Smith being a prophet. We realized that we were not able to teach, fully, about the BoM and what its significance was; what it tells us. That as it testifies of Jesus Christ, it also testifies of the reality that Jesus Christ restored His church (authority and all) through Joseph Smith and that the book is evidence of the power and authority that he had received. So we taught him more about it and about really praying and asking God if the Book of Mormon is true. He was really struggling with it and facing a lot of opposition from his family and, possibly because of it, he took offense from the local missionaries who called him up. Anyway, we had to tell him that we wouldn't be able to call him anymore and hoped that he would be able to meet with the local elders (in spite of his being offended....). Oh well. He's still really good and I have high hopes for him and his family.

Morgan (the 22 yr old) was still doing well. We told her that some more sisters would be able to call her (they have) and teach her more. We're still waiting for the missionaries to contact her and are now trying to find a church that she can attend that will fit with her schedule (she has to conduct music at the catholic church every Sunday). She's still going strong, still reading the BoM. Her major is focused on planning events and conferences so she works a lot with that and she has told us that the Book of Mormon is the first thing she uses to de-stress and that she loves to read it when she can. She's so amazing and we hope to continue to hear about her progression.

We started teaching a kid named Chris who is interested in a girl who is LDS. We were able to teach him about the restoration and the BoM and how we need to find it out for ourselves, but we didn't feel he was ready for the local missionaries yet. So we've also had to pass him on to other sisters and hope he will be contacted soon. He was really good and his "friend" has good brothers who have returned from their missions and he lives closest to Kirtland, Ohio. It was fun to talk with him because he had been raised going to a church but stopped going when he was 8 yrs old. He said that everything (going to church, reading the scriptures, praying) was pretty weird for him just because it had been so long since he had done it. But he really wants to see what it is all about and wants to explore the Book of Mormon so we're happy about that.

We also heard about our investigator in Norway (Joao, who is studying to be priest) has been contacted by the missionaries and will be meeting with them on Friday!! He wanted all the materials from the church and to learn all about it so we hope to continue to hear from him and about how things go for him. And then I think that's about it.

So Moseng was transferred to Cover Zone and is with a sister from India. I was transferred to the North Zone again (same as last October's conference) and am....training again. My companion is named S. Corrales and she is from Uruguay. I wasn't necessarily unhappy or happy about training but it has been good. It's been a lot different from the other sisters I was with because she doesn't know english as well as they did. So the approach has been different and I've tried to be a good support. She is really amazing because she has such a desire to really fulfill what our purpose is: to invite others to come to Christ. She loves to serve everyone she sees; she's pretty stubborn about it too :) She's such a great example to me because of the love she has for EVERYONE who comes to temple square and the compassion she shows. She's the first to give a hug to someone she sees is in need and she loves to be the one to comfort them. Our ways of teaching are different but it works really well. So I'm excited to be with her.

Life is good though. My feet hurt and my legs ache again and it's a really good feeling for me. We're all gearing up for conference and look forward to the direction we will receive from the leaders of the church. We saw President Monson (the prophet) at "Music and the Spoken Word" (the Mormon Tabernacle Choir broadcast) last sunday and that was pretty exciting.

So that's pretty much it. So remember: TUESDAYS. that's your special day.

Love,

sister hulet

September 9, 2010

I have the ocean in my bathroom...so...

First email:

Hello family

I apparently have to evacuate this building...so......later

love, hulet

Second email:

Oh hey....I'm back. So no emergency. We all just exited the building and came back.

So.....this week has continued to be great. We've continued to teach our three pretty solid investigators: Larry, Morgan and William. It's nice because they're all truly sincere and searching for truth. We sent their information to the local missionaries (Larry was sent just last weekend) so hopefully contact will be made so that they can continue learning from missionaries there. Larry has continued to progress but he struggles with the idea of a prophet. We feel like he gets much opposition from his wife's family but he really wants to keep learning and has come to the conclusion that it is either "true or completely made up". We've told him several times that that is exactly why the Book of Mormon is important. Because without the BoM, we have no religion; however, because it is true everything falls into place. So it's a focus on prayer and finding truth from God. So we've encouraged him to continue to read the BoM because some of the points that didn't sit well with him were because he hasn't really read too far into it and the Book of Mormon really speaks for itself (I have to remind myself of that regularly...).

William is doing great!! He's almost 100 % positive that he wants to join the church and he knows that this is the right decision (he started to pray about it long before we started to talk to him). He feels a little nervous because he already told his good friend (who is the preacher at his parrish) that he has decided to join this church and he was unsettled by it, but he knows it is the right decision. He said that he's already given up alcohol, coffee, and tea (he drinks herbal now...) and he just started his stop smoking program today. He had already cut back a lot and he wants to be "clean" of cigarettes when he attends church this sunday. He'll hopefully be able to make contact with the missionaries then and, unfortunately, we'll have to cut out our phone contact/lessons after that. It was funny last time because I asked him, in the context of his decision to quit cigarettes the next day, if there was anything we can do to help (ie phone contact, email, etc....I know there isn't much....) and he went off on a big speech of how appreciative he was for what we had done and how we had helped him, etc., as if we were leaving him then and there. so we had a good laugh and told him that we wouldn't cut out until he'd made contact with the missionaries. Then I asked if there was anything we could do to help with his quitting smoking and he was like "What? What could you both do??" and I timidly offered email/short phone contact again, but he laughed and said it was ok. Ah well. I've had a good amount of stupid moments this week.

Morgan is still good. Really busy though and still hasn't been able to meet with the missionaries. However, we're hoping to help her get some contact with them before transfers (we find out on monday...) so that she (and actually all of our current investigators) can make contact with the missionaries and be good to go. I really really hope it will work out though. She's a lot of fun. She's 22 as well so we are able to have a good laugh and learn more from the scriptures whenever we talk.

All is well. I tried and prayed that I might feel differently about being in the chat zone and I do really like it. I love being able to teach our investigators and even though I get really impatient with people we're talking to, I realize that we're just wading through a lot of nonsense to find people that are sincerely interested. We just picked up a guy that is studying biophysics in school that has been really good about reading the BoM and wanting to find answers. So we'll see how that goes. I do love it though. It was just a bit of a rough patch for me. I know that what we share can change people's lives; that the knowledge of family and strengthening those relationships through living the gospel is something that can help anyone's situation. That Jesus Christ offers the greatest happiness and hope as He extends His truth and His loving hand to all of us. We just have to invite them.

Anyway, I get to watch a movie with the Zone today and then we're going Art Masterpiece mini-golfing (or putt-putt-ing in Moseng Texan terms...haha last night she was trying to get me excited and was like "Hulet!! PUTT-PUTT!" and the first thing I thought of was a little cartoon car swirling around in time....haha not quite the effect she wanted. I might have just stayed silent and wondered if that's what she was intending to talk about)

Love, Sister Hulet

A random man (Randy Peterson) sent this picture to us by email and told us what wonderful missionaries these girls were. What a nice man.

The power of voo doo, who do? you do! do what?
June 15, 2010

Dear fambly,

I'm glad to hear that you're doing well. Life has been same as always: Same square, different people. Everyday. That's the coolest part. S. Gunter has been saying that "small talk" was usually hard for her but that she's getting the hang of it now. We had some really cool things happen this week! haha, I had to go back and check what I wrote last time to see what was this week or last week (it all blends together sometimes).

So the first thing that comes to mind were these two guys from Hungary. They both walked into the Tabernacle and looked pretty amused when we talked with them (so in my mind I was thinking "what is your deal?") but we offered to show them around. It ended up being that, while we changed venues and continued to walk, we continued to talk about different points of doctrine as opposed to history/pioneer stuff. That was crazy. I kept thinking that we needed to talk about the pioneers but we found that the two could really care less. So at the beginning they were getting a little contentious as we talked about the Bible and whether or not they believed it was true. They started to get pretty heated about creation and science, etc. So we took it over to the SVC and we talked about the Plan of Salvation (really briefly) and they were asking about what we believed concerning God, etc. because we talked about how we believed that families were meant to last forever and they wanted to know how Adam and Eve were created and why we...well..blah blah blah. We shared a bit from the Family: A Proclamation to the World how we believe we came from Heavenly parents. That's not usually something we share, but it answered their questions (they also asked about women and their role---they felt it was a subversive role with regards to prophets, etc.) and made sense to at least one of them. They seemed to like to play off of each other during the tour to ask questions that they felt would throw us off. But it was all ok and we ended by sharing about the BoM and kind of split them up and talked to them individually. You could tell that they were curious and also that things were starting to make sense. It was really good to talk to them each separately, because we were really able to help them understand that there is a God there that is aware of us and we can really know it as we read and pray. They both had talked about the church that Christ had set up not being a church but a group of followers, but we were able to help them see that it's not about having a building, etc., but the authority and the leadership coming through God by people holding that authority. That it's about the unity that comes from truth. It was amazing and I'm pretty sure I didn't explain it well enough to see how amazing it was, but it was more about the change that the two went through beginning with joking around and asking stupid questions to really seeing the value of what it means to have God speak to prophets today and how that helps in life. It was just something you could see in their manner and their faces. So cool!

Then the next thing that comes to mind was a German motorcoach. S. Gunter has still been a little hesitant to take one by herself (she's done one with another sister only once before) so we were helping out with one that another German sister gave. So we usually have 4 positions: lead (gives the tour), support (companion of the lead), backer (herds everyone and tails the tour), runner (runs ahead to make sure everything is clear). So I was the runner and I discovered that two people on the tour were not really paying attention. come to find out they didn't speak german! They're from Belgium and they speak french! So I was explaining things in English and we told them that there were missionaries that spoke french on the square and we ran into the only Belgian sister as we were leaving the Tabernacle. Come to find out, the sister (Sister Leroy) lives only about 15 minutes from the couple. So I continued to explain things for the couple but did a bad job because I had to run between them and opening doors and doing the "runner" thing. But at the very end, I sat with them in the back at the Assembly Hall (a former church building) and explained a bit about the building itself and then explained why the pioneers came. I could tell they didn't understand everything so, where I could, I threw in the french words that I knew for the different things. I explained Joseph Smith's experience in REALLY REALLY broken French and left it at that. They said thank you and were off to walk around and take pictures. I gathered up the stuff I needed to and helped the german group wrap up. Then, as we were walking outside, I looked around for Sister Leroy or SOMEONE who spoke French and spotted the sister from France. I sprinted over and told her that she had to talk to the couple. Then S. Gunter and I went off to the next place we planned to be. We saw the French sister later and she said that they requested to have missionaries to come and share more with them!!! It was sooo cool!

And that's pretty much the two miracles we saw. Oh! one more. heh heh. So we were looking for someone to take to the God's Plan movie but the family we talked to was leaving and there were a lot of people coming and going in the Christus. So we went around the corner and there was a couple standing there, looking at the Old Testament Paintings and our goal as a companionship was to talk to everyone so we walked up and asked what they came to do at Temple Square. We chatted a bit and S. Gunter asked if they'd like to see God's Plan. So, we assumed that they were dating or something and felt it was a nice movie, etc. At the end of the first segment (a family looking at old photos and reminiscing) the guy said "That was so great!" and walked into the "baby's room" and said "Awww! How cute!!" and S. Gunter and I looked at each other and tried not to laugh. Then he continued to saw "awww" during the baby segment and sister gunter, looked at me and couldn't hold it in any longer and out popped a "Ha!" It was hilarious. But we tried to keep quiet the rest of the time. At the end, we invited them to have us call a friend who would appreciate the message that families can really be together forever and he said he had a lot (which was surprising b/c most LDS people that come don't have anyone they can think of). Come to find out, he's the ward mission leader and was going to have his missionary prep class fill out the cards. Then we find out that he and the girl he was with were on their FIRST date. They had met at Gateway two days prior to that and he said "I'm still in missionary mode....I go after things I like". yep. weird. But it was a miracle because we haven't felt like we've done a good job with the members that come because we don't really uplift them much, it's more just chatting about different things and then we feel bad about inviting them for friends b/c they would have no reason to have us call. if that makes any sense. Anyway, it was cool.

Last of all, I saw Becky French. Tell Shawn that I love her and am praying for her! What happened, btw? Yep. that's it.

Love, sister Drools

May 4, 2010

Dear fam, please forgive me for not writing yesterday. We changed our Pday to today because we went to the Temple in Spokane! It was awesome. We had a girl named Sarah Fisher drive us up (she's heading off for her mission on May 26 to Chile) and we had a GREAT time. All I have to say is that she loves the movie A Goofy Movie. Instant best friends! :) haha. It was awesome.

The temple was amazing. I was afraid I would forget everything (it's been three months since I have been) but never fear! It was beautiful though! And it was wonderful to be able to have time to sit and think a little bit and try to find some answers. We've not seen much progression lately from our investigators so I needed direction. Yesterday, though, we did find some people who said we could come back and talk with them! I'm pretty hopeful about it! It was weird because one of the kids we met didn't recognize the full church name and so I said "Mormons?" And there was no reaction! I was so surprised! People usually run and hide, kick our feet out of the way of the door to slam it or something :) So that was cool. Someone who had no prejudices! Awesome!

So some interesting things last week: we went up to Northport (the smallish village north of Colville) and went boony tracting in the area where we knew Jane Russell supposedly lived. So we saw a mailbox that looked like it said Jane and knocked on it while it was pouring rain outside. An older man answered the door and invited us in. Then offered us 7up and cake to drink/eat and we chatted a bit. Come to find out, it's Jane Russell's brother who had moved up to Northport area following his brother who had been led up there by God. Their mother was a pentecostal preacher and so was the rest of the family. To cut it short: the man's wife (oh, their names were Jamie and Pamela) had the gift of prophecy and so makes prophecies every wednesday. They gave us a copy and then said that Colville was to be the Sanctuary when Seattle and Los Angeles fall off into the ocean from earthquakes, etc. So we need to hoard food in empty warehouses here to save all the refugees.

Anyway, my comp is waiting for me to finish. Sorry I couldn't make this longer than last week. We did have fun last pday playing vball and whatnot. I've been good though. Still challenged here in the work but I like it that way and life goes on.

Have a good one!

love, sister hulet