bad news: today will not be a long email.
good news: i will email again tomorrow.
Sister Porath was invited to go to the temple this transfer. they make one trip per transfer and they usually take missionaries at their half way mark. at the end of this transfer it will be 9 months for her. crazy. so, i am in lindenwold. with the hermanas. just for the day. its real close to camden. they actually go to church in camden. but! i'm here until tonight and then we'll be back in manahawkin. so... i won't be emailing much right now. but tomorrow, when s. porath and i go email, i will write you all. i love you all so much! crazy news about kat colby. but thats awesome. also good news about daniel and his new found love for slo. hope all is well!
email me some more, just for fun.
love love love love love
sis m
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so, as i said, yesterday i was in lindenwold with Hermana Guenter and Hermana Leonard. Both are amazing missionaries. they live in this awesome complex with a pond and a little bridge. there are these ducks and frogs and we saw a midsize snapping turtle! it was cool. but the funniest thing was the geese. there was a little gosling and the mama goose was really protective. we were trying to run in the morning and the mama goose started hissing at us. since when do geese hiss???? it would scrunch up its neck, and then straighten it out real tall and open its beak and hiss with its tongue sticking out. it was bizarre. so i imitated it. and H. Guenter cracked up. so, they kept asking me to do the goose face all day. and because i was in a spanish area they were calling me hermana. and i'm pretty sure H. Guenter won't remember anything other than the goose face. hence, hermana goose face. it was a fun day.
Sister Porath got to go to the temple. so jealous. i'm running out of time... i may not be able to write much more today. but i'll try. i love you all!
sis m
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sorry, this week has been a little weird, but good.
we had this less active lady at church this week. her name is terie. short for teruko. she is the most amazing lady i've ever met. she is hilarious. she's from japan and acutally understands more english than she lets on. but she is my favorite person to visit. its like having a 3rd grandma. she's 88 though. but she doesn't look it at all! she's phenomenal. and she loves me back. i sat next to her during sunday school and she turned to me when she couldn't understand what was being said and said in an almost whisper, " i don't know nothing!" it was classic. she left before rs but it was worth having her there. she lives in a nursing home so she doesn't get out much. it was lovely having her at church and letting her get to see all the people she knows.
we found a new investigator on tuesday. her name is chelsey. she's only 16 but it was amazing when we met her. we were tracting, and i had picked the streets out the day before and we were just trying to get as many houses in before we went to our dinner appointment and she came to the door. i asked her if she would allow us to share a message about Jesus Christ and we ended up talking about prophets. i asked her what it would mean to her to have a prophet on the earth today. she said it would answer a lot of questions she had. we commited her to pray and ask God if there indeed was a prophet on the earth and i bore testimony that there was and s. porath gave her the restoration pamphlet. we have an appointment with her tomorrow and i am way excited. the best part was that i felt like the whole situation was guided by the spirit. i felt the holy ghost speaking for me. i had no inclination of talking about prophets, but it was amazing for me to re-realize that God has a mouthpiece on the earth today. President Monson guides us as children of our Heavenly Father. What an incredible thing to know. i can't wait to tell chelsey more.
work in the stafford branch is going right along. they are still as crazy as ever, and the missionaries are working hard to help them get excited about our work and calling as members of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love the people here, and I can't wait for you all to meet them.
President Winegar changed around our key indicators this transfer. we no longer count other lessons. we are just counting member lessons and new investigators. i think he wants to motivate us to have member present lessons. so, i guess thats what we'll shoot for. we also count hours tracted. we have a required 5 a week. about 1 a day not including pday and sundays. but we tract on sundays anyway.
the work is going. i love being a missionary. time goes by so stinkin' fast its not funny. its not fair that i'm already in my 3rd transfer. s. porath and i were reading the white handbook today and it says on page 13, "time is one of the most precious resources Heavenly Father has given you. the period when you are able to serve the Lord with all your time and all your efforts is extremely short. Use it fully and wisely. Such an opportunity is a priviledge." how true?! Sisters only get 12 or 13 transfers. and unfortunately they make us choose. Hermana Guenter goes home after this transfer and because she was spanish in the mtc, she only gets 11!! its so scary! my time is running down! there are people that need me to teach them and i have yet to find them! I'm so grateful for modern revelation and the prophet's and apostles' guidance and the motivation i can get from their words.
being a missionary is the best thing i have ever done. i love it with all my heart. it has its downfalls, but the pay-offs are 10 fold.
I'm grateful for such a wonderful Gospel to share and that it makes sense and adds up. not like some other ones i've learned about. Heavenly Father is exactly that. Our Father in Heaven. Jesus Christ is His only begotten son. His only son in the Flesh. The Holy Ghost is a personage of Spirit who speaks to us through thoughts and feelings. All of them help and guide and create. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is real. i'm so grateful i have this knowledge and the priviledge of sharing it with others. I have been set apart as a missionary of the Church, and as such, i have authority to preach the principles of the true and everlasting gospel. what a blessing!
i love you all so very much! keep praying for the work and the Stafford Branch. and keep praying for missionary opportunities.
love love love love love
sis m
ps- melia, if you read this, do you remember a michelle leonard from the colony? she's here on a mission and she's amazing. thought i'd ask.
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