Transfers

This week has been so totally crazy! The biggest miracle ever happened!!

So it turns out that Sister Bullard and I are both leaving Maricopa... that's not the miracle. The miracle is that we are staying together in our new area!!!! That seriously NEVER happens, being transferred together. We are so stoked. The crazy part is that the members we live with now are out of town, so because they don't want 2 strangers to be in their house when they get back we are going to stay in Maricopa for 2 more weeks until they get home! Then we will both leave and go to a Young Single Adult ward! It will be different not working with families but I'm just glad we get to stay together and I know this is what the Lord wants for us at this time. It was weird going to transfers and seeing our name go to a different ward but then we got to come back to Maricopa for 2 more weeks! I have been here for 7 months now and going on 8 and I still LOVE  IT! So we are going to work our hardest these next 2 weeks to find more people to teach!

Another crazy thing that happened is about this one guy we have been teaching. He's the one with the brain injury where we don't really know how much he understands. But he has been coming to church, so that's great! This week we found out that he looks at me more than just a missionary... He told Sister Bullard that I was making "googly eyes at him and he was making them back at me" during the lesson and that's why he couldn't focus. He then proceeded to tell her that he was in love with me and called us like 3 times a day to have us come over and see him. Then he started posting shrines on Facebook using the Book of Mormon and other pamphlets we had given him... it was super weird. We talked to him yesterday and hopefully made things VERY CLEAR with him that that is not our purpose as missionaries and that we can't come by anymore. oh the joys of being a sister missionary. haha

The craziness continues as we played Zone sports last Monday we played chair soccer and I guess after not playing soccer for a long time I forgot how competitive I am... I accidentally tripped one of the other sisters and she got a minor concussion. I had a long repentance process with that one... haha so because A* got baptized we don't have any other super solid people we are working with, so for the past couple weeks and especially these next 2 weeks we are doing a lot of finding. By going tracting, talking to everyone we see, asking members for referrals, just doing everything we can! We talked to this lady one day that told us we were going to Hell because we were being deceived by false doctrine. That was fun and took a lot of patience not to bash back with her.

But don't worry, "No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing"! There were many tender mercies this week as well! For FHE on Monday we got to go with T* and her family to the temple visitors center to watch Meet the Mormons! I got a really cool blessing from one of the members telling me that my next phase of my mission is going to be really impactful and rewarding! A less active, Brother R*, told us we were his 2 little angels and then he had never let any missionaries in his house before us! We read the Book of Mormon with our Jehovah Witness friend and he really enjoyed it and is going to read a couple chapters a day! While getting lost in the desert, we asked for directions, only to find out the guy we asked his a less active member living with his non-member girlfriend and they said we could come back! We met A*'s neighbor, who is not religious at all, but her 7 year old daughter has lots of questions so she invited us back as well! We found this less active lady who has a 13 year old granddaughter that she wants us to teach and baptize!

so I don't know if you know the parable of the wheat and the tares, but that is kind of my life right now! And it takes a lot of patience and longsuffering to not pull the tares out... But we are finding the wheat and helping it to grow! Matthew 13:24-30.

I love you all and I am so grateful for your love and support! And I am doing a project on Facebook to promote happiness and cheer! So I was wondering,if you want, if you all could take a picture of you doing something that makes you happy and send it to me through e-mail or facebook with a sentence or two of why it makes you happy! And then I can post it on my wall! Thanks so much, I am excited to see all of your great and HAPPY pictures! have a HAPPY week!

Sister Dewey

Conversion

Happy Martin Luther King Day! And because of that, the library is

closed, so therefore there won't be any pictures this week either...

So sorry. But I hope you had a wonderful week! I sure did, every week

on the mission is wonderful and filled with interesting experiences!

We had a cool district meeting about our earthly fathers and Heavenly

Father. We took turns sharing attributes about our fathers. I said dad

was kind, patient, loving, smart, witty, and a rockstar. Aka, I pretty

much have the best dad in the world! But the cool part was as everyone

was sharing about their dad I realized that each of these attributes

relate to our Heavenly Father completely.

We were walking on the street playing some football with

these little kids and talking about Jesus when we saw this lady

walking her dog, so we started walking with her and found out she

doesn't believe in God, never has and never will... It was so sad. So

then we looked and saw these 3 guys playing basketball in their

driveway. One of them has a "rip city" shirt on so I was like heck

yeah, I'm going to talk to them! We started talking about the Blazers

and Oregon and found out that 2 of the guys were brothers and are

probably moving to Oregon soon! They asked us who we were and we got

started talking about religion. M is only 18 but he is the most

well versed about religion person I have met on my mission so far. He

truly is searching for the truth. He hawked us some challenging

questions and I just prayed for the spirit the whole time. We got to

testify of the Restoration and invite them to find out for themselves

if it was true. The other kid, A*, is Christian and said he

wouldn't mind having us over to his house and this is parents are

probably interested! At the end of lesson I said "if I make this shot

then you all have to come to church". I missed the first one because I

had my bag around me (threw off my balance... Haha) so I took it off

and made 5 baskets in a row, so now they all get to come to church at

least once! It was really cool to see how Heavenly Father led us to

play football with the little kids which led us to talk to the lady

walking her dog which led us to the kids playing basketball.

We had a member come with us to visit this guy named N*. He has a

disability and it's hard for him to remember things so we teach him

really slowly. We're nearing hate end of the lesson and it was going

alright. Then the member starting Bearing her testimony and holy cow

the whole lesson changed!! The spirit was so strong as she testified

of the Book of Mormon and promised him blessings if he read. It was

cool how even though he may not understand everything we say or read,

he could still feel the spirit, especially when the member testified!!

Members are seriously the BEST!!

We had zone interviews and it was great!! Sister Bullard,

the zone leaders and i gave a training to the zone about the Nature of

God, how life is like a football game, and how to come to know God

through revelation. The AP's said that out of all the zones our

gaining was the best because we are super United, energetic, and

enthusiastic! Maricopa is the Best! I am just scared that in a week

and a half when transfers come that I will leave this amazing place!!

An example of how amazing Maricopa is: for lunch after interviews we

went to subway and met this super cool guy named D*. He started

talking to us and asked about Joseph Smith. So we taught him the

restoration, gave him a book of Mormon, and got his address for the

elders to go by! No big deal, this all happened in subway.

We had a lesson with A* this week and went over the baptism

interview questions! She is so far good to go for her baptism on

Saturday! We are so excited for her and we will continue to pray for

her!

We talked to this crazy girl on the street. She is a

sophomore, Protestant, and very against MORMONS. She started talking

to us and bringing up all this anti material. She had a book with her

that talked about all the wrong things about Mormonism. Apparently she

goes on mission trips around the world too. I asked her what her

purpose was in her mission trips and she said to go out and tell the

world how Mormonism is wrong. It was pretty sad and pitiful if you ask

me. But we were very kind and then just went our way.

We taught a Jehovah's Witness this week about the restoration and he

actually took it surprisingly well! He pretty much accepted Joseph

Smith and said he would pray about it and soft committed to baptism if

he found out he knew it was true. He still is insistent on giving us

his Bible and pamphlets though. So we will see how it goes!

Last night was the best ever! Our recent convert T* spoke at the

mission president's devotional! When she spoke it was so wonderful!

She was a natural and truly spoke with the spirit! I got a little

teary-eyed as she testified of this gospel! It was so cool to see how

truly converted she is. We found out she went to the Gilbert

Temple to do baptisms for the dead for the first time! Every time she

talks about her conversion she just shines and light is just beaming

from her! I love her so much and I'm so grateful to be a part of her

conversion. I know without a doubt that this gospel is true and that

it truly does change our lives if we let it. May we ever be more

converted today than we were yesterday! I love you all! Have a

wonderful week!

Sister Dewey

For Sis. Dewey's Birthday!

Temple day with the Zone

Sis. Dewey's birthday!

Christmas morning with sis. Dewey & sis. B

Thanksgiving Miracles!

This week was so great! So many miracles happened that I am SO grateful for! I noticed that the more grateful I was for little miracles, the more I was able to recognize them and therefore the more happened! Heavenly Father is so amazing, He truly is in the "details of our lives"! :)

To begin with, we have been working with our recent convert, K*. We are trying to get him to come out with us to go visit people so he can prepare for a mission! His bike tires were flat so Sister Bullard and I (being bike experts... haha not really) changed his tires and amazing found a pump at his neighbors house to pump up his tires! All in the process talking to his neighbor and showing her the "He is the Gift" video! It was a miracle! We picked up a new investigator, fixed K's bike, and in the process his non-member mom came home from work and we were able to talk to her for the first time in like 2 months!

On Tuesday we had our first district meeting as a sister district! #Sistrict! Sister T* is an amazing district leader and because she is going home at the end of this transfer, she is so wise and always knows how to help us! That night we had another miracle! Bishop P* came out with us, he is the best bishop ever, So missionary minded! We went to A*'s house because we haven't seen her in a while. And her husband who is really against the church right now, actually came down and sat with us, participated in the lesson, listened to bishop, and committed to start reading the Book of Mormon! And the other miracle is that day we had 3 different members out with us and I was just praying that we would have a lesson while we were with each of them and we did! Heavenly Father truly answers prayers.

Thanksgiving was SO FUN! In the morning we went running to a park and Sister B* and I just played around on the playground, it was fun! Then I found a huge package from my family! It was perfect! After studies in the morning we made a bunch of thank you cards for members in our ward that come out with us! We had dinner with a family in our ward, the S*'s. They are awesome! Then we had another dinner with this single lady in our ward, and her 3 dogs, 3 cats, and 10 parrots! that night we got to watch an actual movie with our zone! We chose to watch FROZEN! IT was so good! I love that movie!

The next day was a miracle because we had a BAPTISM!! C and J-K were baptized that night. The miracle was that their dad, who thought he wasn't worthy, was able to baptize them! The spirit was so strong that night as he performed the baptism, I just know the power of the priesthood is real. Then Sister B* and I were able to present the Restoration while the boys were getting dressed and as I told the story of Joseph Smith the Spirit witnessed to me how true it is. I know without a doubt that this church was restored through Joseph Smith and that this church is true! Then that night we went to the K*'s for a bonfire and pizza! It was fun, I haven't roasted a marshmallow in over a year! And sister K* told us that we will always be apart of their family!

The next day we had a lesson with T*, who is just amazing! we went over the baptism interview questions and she is going to be baptized this week! As well as the B* Family! Please pray for both families that they will continue progressing toward their baptism!

Last night we had another miracle! After having a pretty slow day, we went to this part member family's house and they were going through their Christmas lights and ornaments! So we decided to help them out! And at the end, the 9 year old boy, J*, came up to us and said "I want to be baptized"! That was miracle! So we are going to meet with him on Wednesday and hopefully start teaching him and preparing him for baptism as well!

This work is amazing, The church is True, Jesus is the Christ and is the first gift  of Christmas! I invite you all to #sharetheGift this Christmas season! I love you all and thank you for the support!

Sister Dewey

- Haircut!-

~We love our beautiful sister Dewey!!~

THANKSGIVING!! (11/24/14)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!! I truly am just so grateful! For everything! Seriously, being on a mission has made me more grateful for everything! For my family, for the Gospel, for Jesus Christ, for my relationship with God, for friends, for a nice house, for food, for clothing, for being apart of a Heavenly Family, for my companion, for the mission president, for the people we meet everyday, for laughter, for trials, for the Atonement, for the Book of Mormon, for the plan of salvation, for this wonderful world in which we live, and for just BEING A MISSIONARY! And everything that encompasses that. I do want to Thank my parents for being the best Parents in the world. I am so blessed and so grateful to have a mom and dad that care so much for me! I am so grateful for everything that you have done for me growing up and for all that you will do for me, I just can't say thank you enough. I love you lots!

On Tuesday we had an amazing Zone conference! We learned about the "He is the Gift" initiative that the church is coming out with on Nov. 28th! We already saw the short video, which is amazing! This is seriously going to be so big! The church bought an advertisement bar on youtube and bought a huge corner in Times Square to show advertisements and the actual video! Please try this Christmas season to "Discover the Gift, Embrace the Gift and Share the Gift!"

On Wednesday Sister Bullard, the ZL, and I were in charge of another Zone meeting! It was even better than last week! We made a tree of life/iron rod walk through in the gym and had all the missionaries blindfolded. Then it ended in the chapel with soft music playing. We talked about how before our missions we went through trials and challenges to get on a mission, and now we are here. So WHY are we here? We talked about our purpose as missionaries and then at the end we ran in with the Title of Liberty that we made for our zone! it was a huge success and really got our zone motivated to work hard!

We had an amazing lesson with T* this week! It wasn't so much what we talked about but her prayer at the end of the lesson. She was so sincere and just thanked Heavenly Father for sending us to her and for all that the Gospel has blessed her with. She thanked Him for the peace that she now feels in her life and the comfort and guidance that the Book of Mormon brings to her! She started tearing up a little bit and so of course I did too and afterwards she just gave me the biggest hug. This is what the gospel is all about my friends, changing lives and bringing true happiness. She told us that her divorce is getting moved back to Feb, but she doesn't want to wait that long to be baptized so she moved her baptism up a week and is getting baptized onDec 6th!

We had a cool experience while trying to contact some referrals. Both of them weren't interested, so we decided to knock on the 2 neighbors houses on each side of the house. We met this older guy named R* who said he would be interested and told us to come back on Tuesday! The Lord really does lead us to people who are prepared!

We met with the B* family on Saturday and went over the baptism interview questions! We were really nervous that they were going to say that they don't believe in Joseph Smith! But when we got to that question they all said yes! Brother B* said he is taking a leap of faith but knows this is right for him and his family! They will be baptized on Dec 6th as well! And they need all the prayers we can give! We have been working with them for 6 months now! I have complete faith in the Lord that He will help them make it!

The week ended SO GOOD with CHURCH!!! WE Had so many investigators and less-actives come it was a miracle! The R* family, who we have been working with ever since I got to Maricopa, finally came to church! For Brother R*, that's the first time in 20 years! You can just tell the spirit is working within him and his family! We also had 3 other less active families come that haven't come in years! As well as T* and The K boys! The K boys had their baptism interview on Sunday and passed so they will be baptized this Friday!!! It is so exciting to see hard work pay off!

The Gospel is amazing and I'm so blessed to be on a mission! I will miss all of you during thanksgiving but I would not want to be anywhere else right now! Thanks again for all you do!

Sister Dewey