Crazy Week

"This is one of M-E*'s friends from Springfield Oregon! Her name is Sister F and we are now in the same zone!" 

This week has been super crazy!

But then again, every week as a missionary is super crazy... especially in m*. You never know what you're going to run into.

"A* and his family!"

On Tuesday was Sister M and I's first time getting anti-Mormon. It was not very pleasant. The lady totally set us up too. The first time we came by she seemed interested and we talked a little about the Book of Mormon. And she told us to come back in 2 days. So we did and apparently she had studied online and come up with all this anti material and was just nailing us hard. Every time we would try to speak or say something she would cut us off and go on this 20 minute rant how there is no proof the Book of Mormon is true. The spirit of contention was there the whole time and the air was just really heavy. It was a very different experience for me, but looking back it humbled me a lot. Because I totally wanted to just argue with her and tell her what I believe and how we need faith and just smack her to wake up and listen to herself... but as a missionary, I had to control myself and look at her with the eyes of God and just love her. It's sad sometimes.

BUT, later that day it made it all worth it. Because we taught the recent convert K*'s sister, J*! Before we came K* had talked with her for about an hour just telling her all this cool stuff about the church and sharing her testimony, so when we came she was totally prepared to learn and feel the spirit. She said that at K*'s baptism the talk about the Holy Ghost really touched her and she was interested to learn more. She seems very interested and at the end of the lesson when we showed the bible video of Jesus getting baptized she said she wants to follow the example of Jesus Christ! The spirit was there and K* was able to testify to her of how much this gospel has blessed her life.

This week was transfers and our whole zone pretty much got changed! Out of 10 companionships, only 2 stayed the same. We also got another set of Elders in our ward, that is exciting! President T* invited all of the mission again to transfer meeting. He issued a big challenge for our mission. The goal is to have every companionship baptize once this transfer! And when that comes to pass, it means we would double the number of baptisms we currently have every transfer. To help accomplish this goal each companionship was assigned a different companionship to fast and pray for their success. I am really excited to see how when we come together in faith and prayer the miracles that will occur.I know this challenge has come from God. We also moved apartments so now we actually live in our area! 

We are still working with A*, the 9 year old boy who is getting baptized on Saturday! Sister M and I have found some cool ways of teaching him using games to help him stay focused and remember more. Some other funny things we saw this week:

-a car pulling a trailer that had a Llama, chicken, rabbit, and pony in it. and they looked like they were going to fall out.

-a man walking with this purple cloak that had a top hat and random scarfs tied to arms and legs. It honestly reminded me of Willy Wonka. Haha

Lastly, I had a wonderful surprise when I got to church on Sunday... The organist in our ward, Sister W*, had an appointment and wouldn't be at church... so there was literally no one else to play and I had to... I did so bad and messed up a bunch. But now I can say I played the organ for sacrament meeting. Hopefully I never have to do it again. haha The joys of being a missionary! I truly do love it though! And I hope you all have a splendid week!

Sister Dewey

"Me playing the organ during sacrament meeting. One of the other missionaries snuck a picture of me... haha its so embarrassing!" 

It's Heatin' Up!

So this week was SO GOOD! I thought last week was good, but it just gets better and better. I love missionary work. There is truly no greater joy than being able to share what makes me happy with everyone else :)

This week we were focusing on receiving and contacting referrals. it's amazing what God can bless us with when we exercise faith in Him and are diligent and obedient. We received many referrals this week and ended up contacting 11! And now we are going to start teaching several of them. And I know that the Lord is truly in the details of this work.

This week I went on exchanges with the Hermana M*. It was really good, I love her to death. During the lessons, I would share my testimony at the end and she would translate for me. It was cool to see how even though they didn't understand me or I understand them, I could still feel when the Spirit was there.

It's been super hot these past couple days. And sometimes our member that was going to take us to lessons had to cancel so we rode our bikes in 105 degree weather, no big deal... But it was funny riding bikes because random people yell at us all the time, like this lady thought we were Jehovah's witnesses. And then like 2 minutes later we actually saw some.

Stake conference was this weekend. President and Sister T* actually spoke at both the adult session and general session. Their talks were super good and the theme of the adult session was all about missionary work! President scolded the members a little bit and said don't be so kind to the missionaries. He said "a lot of you think when you feed the missionaries or give them a ride you are doing your part, but that's not even what will help them." He then went on to say, "i'd rather them go hungry or thirsty and have you introduce them to your friends or give them a referral." It was really cool because even though it was harsh, it's so true. We would rather talk with their friends or help them do missionary work than be fed.

Last night we went to the mission president's devotional in Tempe with our recent convert K*. It's where recent converts share their testimonies, and it was super powerful. On the way home from that K* told us that after her baptism her younger sister J* had a lot of questions and wants to learn more! So now we are going to meet with her on Tuesday! It's amazing the spirit and power baptisms and recent converts have.

Last night was also transfer calls!!! Luckily, sister M* and I will be staying in M*! I am so excited! I absolutely love sister M*. We will however be moving apartments so that we are actually in our area! I will send the address next week. And we will be getting another set of missionaries in our ward this week! so now we will have 3 sets! The work is truly hastening and is heating up here in Phoenix. I'm excited for this new transfer!

Sister Dewey

"Look at how raised this car is! it's insane! haha only in M*"

"We found this street that was lined with palm trees and it looked so pretty like an oasis or something."

"When we went to the mission presidents devotional at the ASU campus in Tempe, and the institute building with our recent convert K*"

K*'s Baptism!

This week was super good! And super windy! it's quite an adventure in a skirt on a bike. :)

On Saturday, K* H was baptized and the spirit was so strong! I had to give a talk on baptism. Hopefully it went well, that was my first talk since I've been out. But K* has come so far. Her boyfriend of 3 years, is a member and actually got to baptize her! When we first started meeting with her she was hesitant and not really interested. But the more we came and the more she kept her commitments the stronger her faith grew. It was so amazing to see how her prayers were answered through the Book of Mormon and the Holy Ghost. She is just so sweet and I can see her being married in the temple!

This week we reached our goal of 16 member presents! It was a faith building experience as Sister M and I put our trust in God and then did everything we could to have members come out with us to lessons. We went by potential investigators and because we had members with us who could connect with them, some have become new investigators and we are going to start teaching this week! This week my testimony has really grown of goal setting, planning, and having the Lord put prepared people in our path.

We are still working with A*, the 9 year old boy who lives with a less active family. It was also cool this week when we visited a member, T*, who is 13. He invited his friend, D* to meet with us and we were able to talk about God and how he has blessed his life and why we need prophets. It stood out to me how easy and simple it was for this boy to just invite his friend over to meet with us. It's not a scary thing and T* just did it out of love because he cares for his friend.

On Saturday we got to do service and help make tamales with some of the ladies from relief society. It was super fun and now I have the recipe! Also this week we met some crazy people! haha it was hilarious. We were riding our bikes one night and met all these people:

-a less active lady who asked us if we had cigarettes and then told us that she doesn't need any of our messages and that she is a walking time bomb and told us to leave.

-someone who waved at us with his comb on the street

-this lady who was just singing at the top of her lungs (a lot of people do that here... walk around town just singing like nobody cares haha)

-another lady who started yelling at us about mormons and going to utah

-this guy who called us cowgirls and told us "ya'll have a blessed night!"

Phoenix is awesome. We see the most random things everyday. I love it. And I love all of you! Hope you have a wonderful week!

"The cool dragon wall"

"Making tamales" 

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

You know what? They don't even celebrate that holiday in mexico... so it's not even a big deal here. It's an american mexican holiday. haha Well this week has truly been amazing. We had a zone meeting on tuesday, a zone conference with President T* on Wednesday and then a meeting with President and the AP's on Thursday because I finished my training last transfer. All of those meetings were SUPER COOL and SUPER POWERFUL. President T recently got back from a meeting in Texas with Elder Bednar. And he said some powerful things. I wish I could just write all my notes in here. Just know that it changed my perspective of missionary work.

"last p-day we bought squirt guns and attacked everyone haha it was sweet" 

K* is still doing amazing. She is so excited for her baptism on Saturday! She is the most sweetest and kindest person ever that is so prepared for the gospel it's not even funny! we taught her the law of chastity on Tuesday and we found out she is already living it! She said that even if she wasn't dating a member she would still be living it. yesterday we were planning on going to the temple visitors center with K* to watch the Joseph Smith, prophet of the restoration movie with her. We got to her house and found out she was super sick. Some members in the ward came and gave her a blessing that was super powerful. She said she was feeling a lot better after that and we ended up just watching the movie at her house. After the movie the Spirit was so strong as she testified that she knows it's true and she has no doubt that those happened. She explained how far she has come and how grateful she is for the gospel. She knows that because of what Christ and Joseph Smith went through she can be strong and not worry about her catholic family.

We also had a very powerful lesson with J* this week. She was disappointed because the bishop told her she needed to work on a few things before going to the temple. We came and showed her the Because of Him video and testified that through Jesus Christ we truly can repent and come unto Him and be healed. She was crying because she knows its true. That setback motivated her to move forward even faster now. She is flying through the BOM (Book of Mormon) and has read all of preach my gospel. She came out with us to lessons yesterday and it was so cool!

This weeek was just wonderful. We went to teach A* again and had dinner with Him. They are a native american family and we had Navajo Tacos for dinner. They were SO GOOD. Also this week it got up to the 100's twice! Yesterday it was 104! it's crazy how people live like this! haha And on Saturday we got to go to a baptism in Maricopa, it was Sister M*'s last area. It was really cool to watch a familly enter the waters of baptism. Well happy mothers day to all the mothers this week! I just want to say that I love my mom so very much and would not be the person I am today without her! Love you Mom!

Sister Dewey