as sister porath and i were walking out to our car, from a rest home, she went to the back of the car and turned around and asked me this question. i said, "yes, i can!" haha! she has been hearing tiny rips all day, and when she turned around, i looked at the back of her skirt, and the black liner of her skirt at ripped at the seam all the way up to the waistband!!! i could see much to much of her! it was hilarious. i compared it to daniel's chaps experience. haha. fortunately we had some safety pins in the car and we fixed her up for the day, but it was definitely funny. and even funnier when we told a member from the branch about it. oh heavens. really really funny.
so! things are good! Howard Farkas is coffee,tea and alcohol free! he stopped it cold turkey. he is really doing great. but he has a concern about priesthood and relief society and the separation of the sexes. he went to ya shivah university in nyc and he is really against separation of the genders because of it. he is one hilarious person. he doesn't believe in satan, which is probably beneficial but we're not sure if thats a requirement for baptism yet... i can't wait to see him get dunked. but it will take a while i think.
have i told you about the rasmussen family yet? they are amazing. sister rasmussen has come to some appointments with us. and she is one of the most normal people in the branch. she always gets us treats after the appointments too. its awesome. we're going over there today to hang out and help her move in some more. but that will be fun.
so, i feel like i haven't really talked about sister porath at all. but here are some basics.
i study with bare feet, she's already got her nylons and shoes on.
we both have curly hair. hers isn't as tight, but apparently people are jealous of the pair of us.
she went to u of u for pyschology for 2 years.
we laugh about a lot. we love our investigators.
she loves practical jokes. i don't so much. but she loves it. april first was interesting.
she doesn't really like opening up about feelings and personal things. so its been interesting getting to know each other. i'm essentially an open book. i don't hide a lot, but she keeps a lot to herself. but i'm slowly breaking her out of that habit.
when her family gets together, they all dress up nice and have nice dinners and things. and apparently there is not one single "junk drawer" in her house. i don't believe it. not for single second.
she has lived at home, in holladay, ut, since she graduated hs. so the mish is her first away from home experience.
she's very bright, and she knows how to just talk to people. she is a great companion and a great trainer. we have our own way of doing things but we are great friends. and getting to be greater. i love her.
thanks for all you do, family!
i love yas! [jersey talk]
i hope everything is going well! keep me updated on the haps! and keep praying for missionary opportunities!
love,
sis m
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
quote of the week: "I know nephi! I read about him in the comic!"
our investigator, Howard, has been assigned reading in the children's Book of Mormon. He has most definitely been reading. and when we called him up to check on his assignment we mentioned Nephi and thats what he said. its not scripture, its comics. i wish i could have you all present at his lessons. the are a crack up.
so, this letter may be a little short. just cus i took some time to write some personal emails. but i just want you all to hear about some really amazing things that happened this week.
we gave TWO referrals to the spanish elders and i, ME, talked to them in spanish and understood what they were saying to the elders on the phone! it was awesome! augustine and carlos. [not the catfish] i hope to keep in touch with the elders so i can keep updated on their progress. and i felt totally blessed when the people i was talking to could understand me. amazing.
yesterday, sister porath and i were on our way to contact a referral and we passed our investigators house. i had thought about him earlier and she asked if we should stop by. we hadn't met with him in a while and i said yes. we pulled over and went to his house. he told us he had given up and we both thought we were going to have to drop him on the spot. you have to understand that this investigator has so much weighing on him that i can feel the sorrow he feels for hours after our appointments. its really hard for me to be with him. so it was going to be even worse having to drop him. he started talking about prayer and how he gets on his knees occasionally and asks God for help. and then i went on a rant. i told him everyone has those prayers, and that when we feel down its not because of God at all. that satan knows how to get him down. but that Heavenly Father is looking out for him and sending him help. that we pulled the car over in order to come see him. i testified that when we feel we're at the bottom of the barrel and there is no hope, and that not even the missionaries or our family can help us, there is one person that knows exactly how we feel and He's the one that can help us. long story short, we left him with the commitment to read every day from the Book of Mormon and pray for the strength to make the right decisions. i told him not to give up and we didn't have to drop him.
this is why i am here. there is absolutely nothing better in the world for me to be doing with my life at this time. i love being a missionary. i was meant to do this work. Heavenly Father knows who i am and He knows what I'm feeling. and He knows what i'm capable of. I have experienced the blessing of being a messenger of glory and an angel of the Lord multiple times this week. So many people are in need of the Gospel. and sometimes, missionaries are the only people looking out for certain people. if any of you need my help, you have it. whatever i can do, i will do. absolutely everyone that asks for my help will get it. i can say it lots of ways, but please know that if there is anything i can do to help you, i will do it. i love you all so so much. thank you for being supportive to me.
new jersey rocks. its full of nuts, but i love them all.
i love you all forever, keep praying for missionary opportunities!
Heavenly Father will bless us for our efforts.
love,
Sister McNeil
so, this letter may be a little short. just cus i took some time to write some personal emails. but i just want you all to hear about some really amazing things that happened this week.
we gave TWO referrals to the spanish elders and i, ME, talked to them in spanish and understood what they were saying to the elders on the phone! it was awesome! augustine and carlos. [not the catfish] i hope to keep in touch with the elders so i can keep updated on their progress. and i felt totally blessed when the people i was talking to could understand me. amazing.
yesterday, sister porath and i were on our way to contact a referral and we passed our investigators house. i had thought about him earlier and she asked if we should stop by. we hadn't met with him in a while and i said yes. we pulled over and went to his house. he told us he had given up and we both thought we were going to have to drop him on the spot. you have to understand that this investigator has so much weighing on him that i can feel the sorrow he feels for hours after our appointments. its really hard for me to be with him. so it was going to be even worse having to drop him. he started talking about prayer and how he gets on his knees occasionally and asks God for help. and then i went on a rant. i told him everyone has those prayers, and that when we feel down its not because of God at all. that satan knows how to get him down. but that Heavenly Father is looking out for him and sending him help. that we pulled the car over in order to come see him. i testified that when we feel we're at the bottom of the barrel and there is no hope, and that not even the missionaries or our family can help us, there is one person that knows exactly how we feel and He's the one that can help us. long story short, we left him with the commitment to read every day from the Book of Mormon and pray for the strength to make the right decisions. i told him not to give up and we didn't have to drop him.
this is why i am here. there is absolutely nothing better in the world for me to be doing with my life at this time. i love being a missionary. i was meant to do this work. Heavenly Father knows who i am and He knows what I'm feeling. and He knows what i'm capable of. I have experienced the blessing of being a messenger of glory and an angel of the Lord multiple times this week. So many people are in need of the Gospel. and sometimes, missionaries are the only people looking out for certain people. if any of you need my help, you have it. whatever i can do, i will do. absolutely everyone that asks for my help will get it. i can say it lots of ways, but please know that if there is anything i can do to help you, i will do it. i love you all so so much. thank you for being supportive to me.
new jersey rocks. its full of nuts, but i love them all.
i love you all forever, keep praying for missionary opportunities!
Heavenly Father will bless us for our efforts.
love,
Sister McNeil
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
quote of the week: "oh, i forgot you have midget help"
qow: "oh, I forgot you have midget help!" while painting in the Harshbarger home, i was painting the upper half of the wall while sister porath painted the bottom half. paige walked in and was like, wow, your fast! and then said the quote of the week. it was hilarious. sister porath was on her knees for quite some time... but it was a good day.
SO! the work is moving along! transgers were today! only elder hill got moved. he got sent to moorestown. and we are getting elder peterson. he'll have to earn his keep here. elder hill will be missed.
yes, i did get the easter package! thank you so much! i don't know what i'm supposed to do with all that candy though.... the chocolate bunny is tastey. and i loved the note. very funny dad. i support it too!
easter was good. we went to the new family's house for a little while to get to know them. they ordered pizza. [yeah, on easter.] i felt totally at home with them. they are amazingly funny. we were quoting nacho libre and i really like them. they just moved from boise. then we visited this great little lady named Terie. She's from japan and is quite possibly the funniest person ever. she hoarded and gifted the jelly beans from the activity at the nursing home and gave them to us. it was really cute. then we went to the Thornwell house and had easter dinner and watched a church movie. all in all it was restful and nice. our church program really brought the spirit of the holiday. it felt like more of an easter than i've had in a while. it was great.
sister porath and i are getting along fine. sorry for the comment about differences. we really are different. but its a good different. we are both very driven in the work and it is going well. she loves practical jokes and pranks, which i detest. and she doesn't like my singing. but everything is good natured and we are teaching in unity more and more. so its good. we laugh and we work. today we tracted the last 6 of our 100 streets!!! it was amazing. we are having what we call a "NorEaster". this is a storm that comes from up north, and east. hence the name. and its awful. and i am very cold, still. but we accomplished our goal. really the only goal we had any control over. and we did it! i'll send my memory card home soon so you can see all the recent pictures and videos!!! hahaha. i just remembered about the videos... haha. remember howard. and you will laugh.
Howard Farkas is our jewish investigator who is actually quite slow on the uptake, but he is progressing. we set a date for him to be free of coffee, tea and wine, so we are excited. it was one of the best lessons. and the only lesson that i got to teach something other than the restoration. we've been doing a lot of finding... i'll just keep saying it. lots and lots of finding. but the teaching is going great. and howard is hilarious. i can't help but smile when i think about him. he is so unique and amazing. and more mormon than he knows.
my hands are freezing and we have a lot to do before our dinner appointment tonight. i loved hearing from you! sounds like things are reasonable and let sabina know my prayers are with her and little lorena and the family. arthur emailed me this week. :) highlight.
i love you all so much! thank you for all that you do! say hello to your ward missionaries for me and encourage them in everything they do!
keep praying for missionary opportunities!
love,
sister mcneil
SO! the work is moving along! transgers were today! only elder hill got moved. he got sent to moorestown. and we are getting elder peterson. he'll have to earn his keep here. elder hill will be missed.
yes, i did get the easter package! thank you so much! i don't know what i'm supposed to do with all that candy though.... the chocolate bunny is tastey. and i loved the note. very funny dad. i support it too!
easter was good. we went to the new family's house for a little while to get to know them. they ordered pizza. [yeah, on easter.] i felt totally at home with them. they are amazingly funny. we were quoting nacho libre and i really like them. they just moved from boise. then we visited this great little lady named Terie. She's from japan and is quite possibly the funniest person ever. she hoarded and gifted the jelly beans from the activity at the nursing home and gave them to us. it was really cute. then we went to the Thornwell house and had easter dinner and watched a church movie. all in all it was restful and nice. our church program really brought the spirit of the holiday. it felt like more of an easter than i've had in a while. it was great.
sister porath and i are getting along fine. sorry for the comment about differences. we really are different. but its a good different. we are both very driven in the work and it is going well. she loves practical jokes and pranks, which i detest. and she doesn't like my singing. but everything is good natured and we are teaching in unity more and more. so its good. we laugh and we work. today we tracted the last 6 of our 100 streets!!! it was amazing. we are having what we call a "NorEaster". this is a storm that comes from up north, and east. hence the name. and its awful. and i am very cold, still. but we accomplished our goal. really the only goal we had any control over. and we did it! i'll send my memory card home soon so you can see all the recent pictures and videos!!! hahaha. i just remembered about the videos... haha. remember howard. and you will laugh.
Howard Farkas is our jewish investigator who is actually quite slow on the uptake, but he is progressing. we set a date for him to be free of coffee, tea and wine, so we are excited. it was one of the best lessons. and the only lesson that i got to teach something other than the restoration. we've been doing a lot of finding... i'll just keep saying it. lots and lots of finding. but the teaching is going great. and howard is hilarious. i can't help but smile when i think about him. he is so unique and amazing. and more mormon than he knows.
my hands are freezing and we have a lot to do before our dinner appointment tonight. i loved hearing from you! sounds like things are reasonable and let sabina know my prayers are with her and little lorena and the family. arthur emailed me this week. :) highlight.
i love you all so much! thank you for all that you do! say hello to your ward missionaries for me and encourage them in everything they do!
keep praying for missionary opportunities!
love,
sister mcneil
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
quote of the week: try Jesus! if you don't like Him, the devil will always take you back.
so, the quote of the week: try Jesus! if you don't like Him, the devil will always take you back! is off of a sign in front of what we call a "Holy Roller" church. rock music and hands up in the air kinda worship. it was in front of the church just down the street from ours called King of Kings. or Rey de Reyes. haha. it is one of the funniest experiences ever. And its really cool to think that i have mission memories already! the elders [Hill and Pena] invited us to go with them the sunday morning of conference and boy was i glad to sit for two hours and listen to the spirit. it was so loud there! crazytown.
BUT! things are good! we had interviews on friday. President and Sister Winegar came to the apartment and were very pleased with our cleaning efforts. they took note. Interviews were good. I really like President Winegar. He is such a great man. He served his mission in Korea, back when they served for 2 and a half years cus there was no mtc. but, he is great and i asked him about transfers[weird that we're so close to transfers already...] and he said it was unlikely that either sister Porath or I would go anywhere. He's pleased with what we're doing. the elders on the other hand... something is changing there... we had district meeting yesterday, and the AP's came to chaperone. and the AP's know whats happening with transfers... so the Elders know whats going to happen. and i guess one or both of them are leaving. though i will be sad to say goodbye. Elder Hill has been a great district leader and I hope he doesn't leave. and Elder Pena knows this area well and the members will miss him. But whatever happens should happen.
so... investigators: Charlie and Kaitlin. I think i talked about them before, but we had a little scare where we thought we had to hand them over to the elders but we DON'T! HA! they are ours! and we will get them until their baptism! its not set yet, we're just trying to be positive.
ummm... we're doing a lot of finding. still. sister porath and i are tracting 100 streets this transfer and we are past 75! so we've got to get a minimum 5 a day till the end of the transfer. we've got this. its all under control. it will be a great achievement and we will be blessed next transfer. we know it.
So, as for the member info of this week... Jimmy and Judy Roberson are great. He is the branch mission leader and he reminds me a lot of dad. they raised their kids here and they are just a great, strong, faithful couple. definitely people you will all have to meet eventually. Sister roberson works in the manhattan temple every wednesday. she's the coordinator, so you should be able to locate her easily. but really, they're both amazing.
also, sister Barbara Jackson is so so fun. he husband died a few years ago but she is strong and kicking. one of the bounciest ladies ever and very loving. she mentioned me in her testimony the week before conference and i could just feel the love she had for me and for the missionaries and i just love her back. she's great. she has "friendly home evening" every other monday night where we can bring investigators to her house and have a member present lesson. and sister porath and i were just really looking forward to being welcomed into a house. people are friendly here, for the most part. but it hurts when they really don't know what they are rejecting.
we were tracting at the very southern end of our area last week. down in mystic island and we were right on the bay and it was fairly clear and sister porath said, "whats that city over there?" i looked up and we could see atlantic city. it was so weird. so one day tracting we decided to pause and see a little bit of AC. haha. it was fun.
i'm running out of time. but i may try to send some more personal emails.
i love you all! have a most happy easter week! remember the things that Christ was doing this exact week so far back in history. this is a very special holiday and one of the best to help missionary work along. keep looking for missionary opportunities and always remember... "God love you just the way you are, but He loves you too much to let you stay that way."
i love this work! its emotional and draining, but oh so worth it.
love love love love love
sister mcneil
BUT! things are good! we had interviews on friday. President and Sister Winegar came to the apartment and were very pleased with our cleaning efforts. they took note. Interviews were good. I really like President Winegar. He is such a great man. He served his mission in Korea, back when they served for 2 and a half years cus there was no mtc. but, he is great and i asked him about transfers[weird that we're so close to transfers already...] and he said it was unlikely that either sister Porath or I would go anywhere. He's pleased with what we're doing. the elders on the other hand... something is changing there... we had district meeting yesterday, and the AP's came to chaperone. and the AP's know whats happening with transfers... so the Elders know whats going to happen. and i guess one or both of them are leaving. though i will be sad to say goodbye. Elder Hill has been a great district leader and I hope he doesn't leave. and Elder Pena knows this area well and the members will miss him. But whatever happens should happen.
so... investigators: Charlie and Kaitlin. I think i talked about them before, but we had a little scare where we thought we had to hand them over to the elders but we DON'T! HA! they are ours! and we will get them until their baptism! its not set yet, we're just trying to be positive.
ummm... we're doing a lot of finding. still. sister porath and i are tracting 100 streets this transfer and we are past 75! so we've got to get a minimum 5 a day till the end of the transfer. we've got this. its all under control. it will be a great achievement and we will be blessed next transfer. we know it.
So, as for the member info of this week... Jimmy and Judy Roberson are great. He is the branch mission leader and he reminds me a lot of dad. they raised their kids here and they are just a great, strong, faithful couple. definitely people you will all have to meet eventually. Sister roberson works in the manhattan temple every wednesday. she's the coordinator, so you should be able to locate her easily. but really, they're both amazing.
also, sister Barbara Jackson is so so fun. he husband died a few years ago but she is strong and kicking. one of the bounciest ladies ever and very loving. she mentioned me in her testimony the week before conference and i could just feel the love she had for me and for the missionaries and i just love her back. she's great. she has "friendly home evening" every other monday night where we can bring investigators to her house and have a member present lesson. and sister porath and i were just really looking forward to being welcomed into a house. people are friendly here, for the most part. but it hurts when they really don't know what they are rejecting.
we were tracting at the very southern end of our area last week. down in mystic island and we were right on the bay and it was fairly clear and sister porath said, "whats that city over there?" i looked up and we could see atlantic city. it was so weird. so one day tracting we decided to pause and see a little bit of AC. haha. it was fun.
i'm running out of time. but i may try to send some more personal emails.
i love you all! have a most happy easter week! remember the things that Christ was doing this exact week so far back in history. this is a very special holiday and one of the best to help missionary work along. keep looking for missionary opportunities and always remember... "God love you just the way you are, but He loves you too much to let you stay that way."
i love this work! its emotional and draining, but oh so worth it.
love love love love love
sister mcneil
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
quote of the week: that was rather intelligent.
quote of the week: sister porath and i did young women last night and it was AWESOME! we went to michaels and bought some self drying clay and we were "supreme creators". just like our Heavenly Father. [the lesson was that heavenly Father loves us. we are his children and he created us to be us and no on else. it went well.] two of the girls, one a member, one not, were grabbing chunks of clay and "high-five-ing" each other. the clay obviously slapped together and made a loud sound and they showed one of the girls dad. hannah said, "dad, look how smart we are!" and after he saw it, he had a bland face and sort of a smirk and said, "that IS rather intelligent..." it was hilarious. but the young women loved the activity and i really enjoyed seeing some of them take it seriously. i loved getting to know the yw and it felt good to be doing something i know how to do.
so, i don't have a whole lot of time today. we have to drive up to eatontown for a zone activity. we are waxing our cars. oh so exciting.
the work is progressing... we found two more investigators this week and helped out a less active. she really seems close to coming back to church and we just met her! you can tell she loves the gospel but just has a few issues with the "church". but don't we all. the Gospel is perfect. the people are not.
sister porath is amazing. we laugh all the time. it is so much fun to be trained by someone who loves this work. she doesn't think about anything else it feels like. she and i are maybe the most opposite you could get, but we are definitely learning a lot and having fun.
interviews are this week and President and Sister Winegar are coming out here to check the apartments and do the interviews. I've got to have a few scriptures memorized and we've got to clean a BUNCH! but it will get done i'm sure. we are finally feeling busy and it will be hard to get the cleaning time in, but it will work out.
ps- the weather has been INCREDIBLE this week! it is starting to SRPING TIME! and i am so excited. sister porath doesn't know what to do tracting without a coat, but she will adjust. i'm just enjoying being in the sunshine. though the bad weather does seem to be better for tracting. people either quickly send us away or are super nice about it being cold. which it is. but its getting better! i'm sorry i couldn't write more this week. we were trying to pull a trick on the elders, who moved into our complex last week, but they deadbolted their door... silly elders. we couldn't get in so we ended up being late to kmart to read emails!
i love you all so much! jackie, thank you for the tastykakes advice. delicious. i hope all is well! keep praying for missionary opportunities!!
love,
sister mcneil
ps- new baby!? any pictures you want me to see will need to be sent snail mail. at kmart i can't open jpegs. i can't really open anything else... i do want to see little lorena and congrats to her! but i can't look at pictures online while serving in manahawkin! dumb. also! thank you for kristins address! much appreciated! again, i love you all! keep on keepin on! three rules we live by: just relax, act in faith, get over it! loves!
so, i don't have a whole lot of time today. we have to drive up to eatontown for a zone activity. we are waxing our cars. oh so exciting.
the work is progressing... we found two more investigators this week and helped out a less active. she really seems close to coming back to church and we just met her! you can tell she loves the gospel but just has a few issues with the "church". but don't we all. the Gospel is perfect. the people are not.
sister porath is amazing. we laugh all the time. it is so much fun to be trained by someone who loves this work. she doesn't think about anything else it feels like. she and i are maybe the most opposite you could get, but we are definitely learning a lot and having fun.
interviews are this week and President and Sister Winegar are coming out here to check the apartments and do the interviews. I've got to have a few scriptures memorized and we've got to clean a BUNCH! but it will get done i'm sure. we are finally feeling busy and it will be hard to get the cleaning time in, but it will work out.
ps- the weather has been INCREDIBLE this week! it is starting to SRPING TIME! and i am so excited. sister porath doesn't know what to do tracting without a coat, but she will adjust. i'm just enjoying being in the sunshine. though the bad weather does seem to be better for tracting. people either quickly send us away or are super nice about it being cold. which it is. but its getting better! i'm sorry i couldn't write more this week. we were trying to pull a trick on the elders, who moved into our complex last week, but they deadbolted their door... silly elders. we couldn't get in so we ended up being late to kmart to read emails!
i love you all so much! jackie, thank you for the tastykakes advice. delicious. i hope all is well! keep praying for missionary opportunities!!
love,
sister mcneil
ps- new baby!? any pictures you want me to see will need to be sent snail mail. at kmart i can't open jpegs. i can't really open anything else... i do want to see little lorena and congrats to her! but i can't look at pictures online while serving in manahawkin! dumb. also! thank you for kristins address! much appreciated! again, i love you all! keep on keepin on! three rules we live by: just relax, act in faith, get over it! loves!
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