December 10th, 2012

 

in Fredericton on the way back to the car. We're told to teach every living creature right? 

 

 



this was Sunday night at Jane kinnaman's home

 

Paint Louis

 

It was been another wonderful week here in Missouri. This last week has been really nice, but this morning it decided to turn cold. As i was coming in from my run i saw an icicle hanging from the bottom of one of the cars. Not a good omen. :) last week was trainer calls, and i was called to train the only sister coming in. We were expect to have two, but we lost one. However we're expected to have 8 sisters coming in next transfer. Pretty much every sister will be training next transfer. My new companion and i will be white washing Glen carbon Ill. which is I'm nervous/excited about. I've been to that area before for exchanges so it won't be all new.

Sister Luker and i had a lot of fun in Fredricktown Missouri this last week. We were up there working with sister Lowe and sister Allen (new sister). I have throughly enjoyed my time serving as an exchange sister and am going to miss being able to go and see all the other sister. But i am excited for sister Luker as she has been called for this transfer.

We had a neat experience the other day. We went tracting with one of members. She is an RM and really misses doing missionary work. We had a great experience finding two new people for sister Luker and sister Johnson to teach.

There was a baptism on Saturday for a young girl in the ward. Her mother is a convert for only two years and her father is not a member. It's interesting because this family is jewish, and although the mother doesn't still practice, the father (still a practicing Jew) sees the benefits and blessings for having his children in the church and has agreed to let them be baptized when they come of age. We had invited Eugene to come so he could see what it will be like at his baptism, but he was unable to make it because he wasn't feeling well. As i was sitting watching the program, my heart was filled with such love for my savior. He set the example and made it possible for us to then follow his example and be forgiven of our sins. What an amazing gift! I was also reminded of my own baptism. Feelings of love and excited as family and friends shared in my special day. I remember that i was baptized with Jared and that we had waited or Grandma and Grandpa Newton. I think they were serving mission. Tears filled my eyes when i thought of the simplicity, and sacredness of this special act of faith. Why can't people see how necessary it is for our salvation. Jesus is the Christ. I love this time of year when we get to spend a good solid month remembering and thanking him for his selfless act of love.

Eugene hasn't been doing to good. He's been a little down due to this time of year. He said it brings back memories of the his "brothers", the men he served with during the Vietnam war. He didn't make it to church yesterday so we're thinking about moving it back a week. On a happier note, we went to the YSA ward yesterday with Julie. She's been touch and go the last week but seems to be doing better. We've talked a lot about small and simple things and how we need to nourish our testimony everyday through small acts of faith. We're going to the YSA FHE tonight and hoping we can find her some good fellowshippers.

I received my stories, thank you so much mom. I had some from last year, but you included some different one this year. I read the one about "may our alms be in secret". It always brings tears to my eyes. I think becuase this was one dad always seemed to have a hard time reading. I love my memories from this time of year. I've been reading the Christmas stories to my companion by flash light these last couple of days. Not quite the same, but close. And I also got my small PMG. And i love it! Thank you. Also I was in the office yesterday and saw my package, so i should be getting it at transfers on Wedesday. I'll wait and only open the ones I"m suppose to.

Also i loved my Fish tails. Everyone looks so great!...But where's my T-shirt? Not feeling the love on that one.

love you all
sister salmon

December 3, 2012

Dear Family,
Dad told me about all the excitement that has been happening in our ward/home this last week. Sounds like there has been a lot of missionary service rendered. That's really exciting about the Rojas Family. I think I mentioned last week that we have set a baptismal date with Eugene. He's doing amazing; he's really excited about his baptism. We had asked if he wanted to move up his baptism a week, and at first he said yes. But then he said he'd rather keep it the same. He’s has been telling friends and family and doesn't want to mess with any plans that have been made. He wasn't able to attend all three hours of church yesterday because his medicine was making him nauseous but we went to visit him prior to the First Presidency’s Christmas Devotional. We took Sister Clark with us (our mission president’s wife) and taught the Ten Commandments and the law of Chastity. It went extremely well. Eugene didn’t have concerns and has the same values. Also ever since we taught him the W.O.W he’s been smoke free and coffee free. He’s been doing it on his own, he said when he puts his mind to things he just does it.
We were in St. Charles for Tuesday and Wednesday. I always feel like I’m coming home when I go back for exchanges in St. Charles. It was great to see old faces, and to again teach people that I had once taught and love so much. One night Sister Dutson and I went and visited one particular person whom I had spent a lot of time with. She’s a PM/LA family and had some obstacles that she wasn’t willing to overcome and work through in order to come back. During this particular appointment she brought up some of those concerns that I had previously talked with her about. She mentioned that she those things no longer bothered her and that deep down in her heart she will always be a “Mormon”. Although there are still a few things that she needs to work through before she will allow herself to come back to church, I was ecstatic at the news. This was a huge tender mercy for me. I’m not serving in that area and to be able to go back and hear that type of news from someone I care about so much. …Sometimes as missionaries we don’t always see the fruits of our labors. I am so grateful that God let me be there to witness this person’s change of heart.

Once a transfer we are able to attend a session at the temple. Sister Luker and I were able to attend Friday night with the Killers’; they’re an older couple who work in the office. They had already put the lights up so when we came out of session the tress and everything around were dusted in little white lights (I’ll enclose a picture). The temple is a wonderful place; I love the spirit I feel whenever I attend the temple. A friend pointed out a verse in 2 Nephi 9:20 that talks about holiness. It shares how God is holy because of his omnipotence. He then shared how on our temple it says holiness to the lord and how when we go to the temple we are increasing our knowledge. So when we go to the temple and gain knowledge, when we attend our church meetings, read our scriptures, even increase our knowledge of the world around us we are becoming more holy and more life our Heavenly Father.
Love you all

I know the Gospel is true. I hope you’re enjoying your cold weather. We’ve been in the high 60’s and low 70’s the last couple of days and I am loving it!
Sister Salmon

November 2012

November 26, 2012

Dear family and Friends- Missionary work has been awesome this week. Sister Luker and I were out of our area Tuesday and Wednesday on exchanges. We went to Mexico (got a tan, felt great), Mo. :) We arrived just in time for a gathering put on by a member in our ward. They rented out this old Presbyterian church and they held a little program filled with remembering, giving thanks, and singing. It kind of reminded me our our family thanksgiving programs minus our funny turkey song. But it was great and we had one of our investigators come along. She seemed to really enjoy it. Thanksgiving we were told to just enjoy the holiday and spend time with ward members our investigators eating. I love holidays, although i sometimes don't know what to do with myself. I don't handle free time that well. We played some volleyball at the church with some of the elders from our district and then we had a lunch app. @ 1pm with the Ereksons. They are an amazing family. They're also really good friends with a young women who we've been trying to get a hold of. Her name is Lauren, she's the dry Mormon i think i told you about. Anyway, she was there and it was good to see her, I've been missing her. After the Erickson's we had a dinner app. @3:30pm with the Shumway family. I'm grateful that I've learned how to pace myself. Dinner was great, and then afterwards they asked what sorts of things we did on thanksgiving. I mentioned that we played card games...They know how to play ROOK! We played a couple hands. It felt so good to have a card deck on my hand. They play the right way, but they're not as competitive/aggressive players as we are. At first they started the bid at 50's and had a hard time going past 120. The shumways then invited us to Shaw park where they were hosting at the local skating rink. I guess its a tradition every year to rent out the rink for two hours and invite friends/anyone to come and skate. We didn't end up skating, but we did talk to many of the people there and found a good contact. She's a friend of the shumways and another member in our ward. The last three days we were playing catch up. The lord really blessed us in teaching this week. We had appointments fall through but our back up plans always went through. I guess that's because our first plan wasn't the right one. Thank goodness for back ups. Sunday Eugene came to church. This was his fourth time coming since I've been here. We called him prior to sacrament to remind him and told him we'd save him a seat. Sacrament started and he wasn't there. He ended up coming half way through which is better than not coming at all. I asked him what happened, and he said SATAN. haha I guess everything went wrong for him. We were able to see him that night with a member in our ward and taught him part of the third lesson. We reviewed Faith and then went on into Repentance. It was an amazing lesson. Eugene gave the closing prayer and afterwards he sat up and you could see that he had been touched by the words that he had said in the prayer. The Lord is very much aware of him, he's changes so much its so exciting. He has a date to be baptized on Dec. 15th. He still needs to overcome smoking and drinking coffee. Heaven Father is such a loving merciful God. The more i learn and desire to serve him the more i see his hand in my life and the lives of others. I just finished the Book of Mormon again and started this morning and am excited for things i get to learn this time around. I know that the book of Mormon is is true. It truly testifies of Christ and as we read it our capacity to love God and those around us increases. There's a song on a CD a fellow missionary gave me. Its titled aren't we all beggars? On the way to the library i always see this homeless young man holding his sign. And i think at first we might think that he did that to himself, that he could get help if he truly wanted. And maybe he could, but I'm not the judge. So finally this morning i decided that i would put a bag of food together for him. I forgot to tell my companion what i had planned so when i quickly veered off the road into the nearby gas station she was a little started. I'm not sharing this story for recognition by any means. The point i wanted to share is that truly we are all brothers and sisters. We are all in different situations, and some need more help than others. This Christmas season please take the time to look around and find those who could benefit from your help. I know that when we are in the service of our fellowmen we are in the service our God. love you all sister salmon

November 19, 2012

Dear Family, This week has been great! We picked up a golden investigator on Monday. Julie has been taught the lessons before but got freaked out when she was first asked to commit to a date. We were able to meet with he twice this week and we went to the YSA ward with her to help her meet other young single adults. On Wednesday we had a lesson with Marty. She's someone we picked up from the Maryland Heights elders. We had a great discussion talking about the verses she read in Alma 32, we had planned on going into the restoration with her but after talking a little bit more she shared how she had two really good friends pass away just in the last couple months, years? and is still mourning them. That led us to teaching the plan of salvation which went really well. Half way through the lesson her boyfriend came home and sat in the rest of the lesson. He seemed somewhat interested, he's also on a path for strengthening his faith in Christ. They invited us back for dinner this week so we'll see where it goes from there. Yesterday besides prepping for Thanksgiving (two dinner app. right on top of each other.) we had a miraculous day. After PEC on Sunday I called Eugene to remind him of church. It was so sad to hear him on the phone, he was not feeling good at all. Because of his service he has many wounds that still cause him pain occasionally. The elders went over before their church service and administered a blessing. That night, we had an appointment set up to visit a potential investigator, we had a young couple from the ward. It was going to be perfect. The potential wasn't home so we went and stopped by Eugen's home. He welcomed us right in. We asked about his experience with a priesthood blessing, and then brother Burnside shared his testimony of the power of the priesthood and read from 2 Nephi 31. We had previously asked him to pray about a date to be baptized, but he hadn't yet gotten an answer. It was at the time in the lesson that both sister Luker I felt we needed to set a date for baptism. The last verse of 2 Nephi really stood out to him. He said he liked it because it was true. That's what we were waiting for. Once he said that i invited him to prepare for baptism on Dec. 15th. He accepted the invitation. It was such a powerful experience to see how the spirit works. I know if we had started with asking him about a date the moment wouldn't have been right. The Holy ghost is the Master teacher. This last week i went to the chiropractor because of my accident (nothing serious, just being safe mom) and he's a member and he shared a neat insight with me. Its from 2 nephi 9:20 it is talking about the holiness of god and one of the things that makes God a God is is Knowledge. So that would mean that as we gain greater knowledge, spiritual righteous knowledge we to are becoming more holy. When we go to the Temple ( holiness to the Lord) we are going their to learn and gain more knowledge, how to become like God. I know that God wants us to be like him, that was why the Plan of Happiness was presented. I know that God lives, and that the Gospel is true. love sister salmon NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

November 2012

November 11, 2012

well the say a picture is worth a thousand words, i was hoping this might help in my letter writing because its getting harder to write. The short old lady is Kay Baynes she was someone i worked with back in st. Charles. She's the one who called you. You should call her again. She needs to feel the love. That's not good about your knee mom. I'm so sorry. Exercise is so good for it, and strengthening the muscles around it is good too. Maybe you should look into doing water aerobics somewhere? Happy Halloween! We had transfers on Wednesday which is always bitter sweet. Its coming to the point where many of my dear friends are going home. We picked up sister lowe at transfers. She has been staying with us until her new trainee arrives tomorrow, and then they will be returning back to Fredrickstown. We had many tender mercies this week but the miracle that stands out the most happened last night. We had written out a list of people that we wanted to go see and no one was home. This can be a little disconcerting but what can you do but carry on. We had one last home we wanted to try before dinner, she was a women the sisters in the Maryland Heights had taught a long time ago. The elders found her progress record in their storage unit earlier in the week and had just given it to us after church. It was late in getting cold and she opened the door we could see that she had been crying. We introduced ourselves and asked what we could do to help. She recognized us right away as missionaries from the church and welcomed us in offering us some hot cocoa to warm up. She then openly shared everything that was on her mind, how she had fallen into financial problems and wasn't going to make it after 3 months. She then told us that the previous sisters used to come and read inspiring passages from the scriptures and wanted to know if we had anything for her to read. We started out by reading the introduction of the book of Mormon and then proceeded to share scriptures that had brought peace and comfort to us during times of trial. We all bore testimony of the peace that is found when we rely upon our Savior Jesus Christ and how the book of Mormon teaches us how we can do that. It was such a spirit lead lesson, it was amazing. Before we left we hadn't yet invited her to read anything and so i felt the need to extend the chapter Alma 32, we set up a follow up appointment and then closed with a prayer. Another miraculous part of the story came when we were leaving. Sister Luker my companion turned to me and asked me how i knew to give that chapter because that was the chapter she felt she needed to extend as well. We all knew that the the spirit was attending us and was guiding us to say the things we said. Everything that happened that night happened because God knew that Marty needed to feel his love. I know that we were sent to her, and that we came at exactly the right time. Timing is everything, and it has to be in Gods time for it to work. I know that God lives and loves all his children. love you all sister salmon

October 28th, 2012

Hey dad, mom and family
i think all your notes made sense. That really helped me out, i have know idea what most of the things were all about. Our mission president and his wife have really been putting a push on voting. Half of us don't know what to vote for.

That's really exciting about the Calgary temple. What a cool gift to have it snow. I bet the temple was lovely all blanketed in white.

Wow that's super exciting about Talmage. Too bad he can't wait until the early march. :) then i might be able to make it. But you can't please everyone so you might as well please yourself.

This week was another great week on the mission. Super busy as always. I'm not sure how frequently Gabriele works in Seattle. She didn't make it so the next appointment. We were able to contact her via text message yesterday and found out she's been really involved with her sister and her her family. Her sister is due with their first next week and Gabriele's trying to help them prepare.

Our contacts? That's a good question. Its really hard to get in contact with anyone in this area. They're always doing something. This last week we had sisters conference. This happens about every 6 months, and is time for the sisters to congregate at the mission home for our own little conference. We went to the temple Wednesday and then after having dinner we gathered together in the living room of the mission home and had a little testimony meeting. Sister Clark asked us to share our road of discipleship, and so we went around in a circle sharing how we had gotten to this point in our lives and some of the fears and obstacles we had to overcome. It was a very spiritual experience; there wasn't a dry eye by the end of it. To end our conference President Clark and the Ap's came and we had a little Q&A session. It was during this time that president and sister clark wanted us to become more comfortable with our leaders and to also express some of the issues we experience as sisters. And when i mean issues i mean the gap some of the sisters feel from the elders. We understand the need for some space, but many (most) of the elders don't know how to function around sisters and so some sisters are avoided like the plaque. Not a good thing when we are trying to become more unified as a mission. It was during this meeting that President Clark asked sister Shutt and I to attend ZLC the next day and talk about the concerns that were being brought up.

ZLC was something new. It was amazing to see how everything is addressed and processed. We were able to share some of the sisters concerns and to help the ZL's understand how to act around sisters. I received a call from Elder Christensen this morning and he wants me and sister Fallentine, the other exchange sister to give a training next week at leadership training. The topic is on priesthood duites and how they can be better men? Not very explicit. They also want us to go over how to act and treat sister missionaries in their districts and zones. So dad/mom if you have any advice or know of any good talks send them my way.

Due to ZLC Sister Shutt and i were companions until Saturday. During that mini exchange we were able to see Eugene. He's doing much better. He's been struggling a lot with health problems, but lately he's been doing a lot better. We had planned on going over the plan of salvation with him, but when we asked him about his reading the Book of Mormon our plans took a different route. He reads his daily bread every morning, a little book that has a spiritual thought attached to it for everyday of the week. I shared with him how important it is to add reading the book of Mormon to his daily bread session, that the Book of Mormon is a true and how it bless him. When i shared that he opened his Book of Mormon to Alma 32. The chapter we had asked him to read. We took turns reading a couple verses and then expounding what was read. The lesson went so well, better than anything we could have done. I know that the spirit was there helping us know when to stop and what to say. He wasn't able to come to church, but we're really praying he'll make it next week. Sister shutt and i were also able to meet with Erica Martin. She grew up in the church but never had a testimony. We had a really great discussion. She had some great questions about the story line of the book of Mormon and how it was found in America. This lesson was the most engaged she'd been in.

People go all out for Halloween here. They don't just do the jack-o-lanterns, they do the lights, and zombies and skeletons, and little ghosts holding hands in a circle around objects. Its kind of creepy. We had our wards trunk -o- treat activity Saturday at the church. And then for Halloween we have been told that we stop proselyting at 5pm, we aren't allowed to drive our cars and if we don't have appointments we need to be in.

Transfer calls were Saturday as well. Sister Luker and i are staying together here for another 6 weeks. I'm really excited about this. I really wanted to stay for at least one more transfer.

Something that i have really learned this transfer is my best one week isn't necessarily my best the next week. I need to constantly be changing and growing. I know that the gospel is true. Jesus Christ did come to earth for us, and was lifted up on the cross so that we can be redeemed from our sins. The atonement works when we let it. I know that when we are humble the work, life is so much easier.

love you all
sister salmon

October 22, 2012

Dear Family
I'm trying to think where to start. Pretty sure this is the hardest part when it comes to writing is just starting.

At the beginning of the week we were able to contact a former investigators. One in particular is named Jackie Skincoff. She had been taught by some missionaries a couple of years ago so sister Luker and i decided to start with her. She is a sweet older woman, she's Jewish but is open to meeting with us. She didn't let us in at the moment because she was battling a virus so she we talked through her screen door. She told us to try back in a week or two so we're planning on stopping by her home towards the latter end of the week.
That night after visiting with Jakie we went to try an old referral. There was a note that said the address wasn't correct but we wanted to make sure. Its true, the address is incorrect. There wasn't a house there, but we did find someone on the way there. As we were walking we stopped to talk with a young family who were out on their porch enjoying the sweet fall air. We shared with the mother a short message of the plan of Salvation gave gave her a pamphlet to read then asked if we could return and share more on this topic. She was a little hesitant, but told us we could come by the following tuesday night.

Wednesday was spent in Mexico, MO. (Nothing like the actual country Mexico). We drove up Tuesday night and spent all day Wednesday helping sister Pedersen and Silvers in their area. Sister Pedersen and i were able to contact an investigator and share a little message before she had to run out the door. And then when i was teamed up with sister Silvers we spent a lot of time driving back and forth from different houses trying to contact potentials and La's.

Thursday were blessed in finding another new investigator. Her name is Gabreile. She works in Seattle,WA at the university doing research for a cure for breast cancer. How cool is that? She self referred herself because she wants religion in her life. We were able to share a message about the book of Mormon and its importance. We have an appointment with tomorrow night and I'm really excited about it. She seems really solid.

Saturday we had a mini blitz. Some of the elders from our district came and helped work our area.

Sunday was our stake conference. (We had primary prgram the week before general conference) The messages were really good. They called some people from the audience to come up and share their testimonies and the thoughts that were on their minds. One young man they called had just turned 16 and shared that he was thinking of the girl he likes. He asked her to a school dance and then had started receiving a lot of pressure from friends to steady date her. He shared a very powerful testimony of the for the strength of youth and ho he knows we are not suppose to steady date until we are looking for a spouse. The spirit was very strong during the entire meeting and brought tears to my eyes. I can see how the lord has and is preparing his children for these last days.

I have also seen how important it is to make sure we are following and honoring the Lord's will. I know that when we are humble and accept his will for us we are so much happier.



sister salmon