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
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
October 15, 2012
Dear Family,
I am amazed at how much the Lord is aware of us, he knows what we need before we need it and knows exactly how to help us.
This last week was a super crazy one, most weeks are but this was crazier than most. Sister Luker and i had two exchanges planned for this week. The first was with sister Johnson and Sister Crandall in Parkway. They're white washing the area and doing an amazing job. I find so much joy in doing these exchanges, and am blessed with being able to recognize the spirit of the lord more and more in the work. I had an opportunity to go tracting with sister Johnson (she's been out as long as Elder Salmon and swears she saw him in the MTC) and we were blessed in being able to find a couple of potentials. At one of the houses we tracted into we found this young teenage girl sitting in her car as her phone charged. We had no parting of the seas experience but, she said she'd be interested in meeting the sisters again. That was how the rest of our day went.
And then on Thursday and Friday we were in St. Charles. as we were driving it felt like i was going home. We worked hard, and spent a lot of time outside knocking doors. Sister Fallentine and sister Dutson are also whitewashing and are having a difficult time finding people to teach as well. But we all made the best of it and recognizing that this is god's work. Thursday night sister Dutson lucked out and was able to contact a referral from their bishop. Becca is marrying a member of the ward in two weeks and the bishop had been asked to marry them at the church. Becca is so prepared for the gospel. She's grown up around members and even has some family who are currently members as well. We shared with her the book of Mormon and why it is so central to our message. We then invited her to be baptized if she found these things to be true and she said yes. This was a reminder that people are being prepared, and sometimes all we need to do is ask and invite. Friday morning for exercise we all rocked out to a Richards Simmons workout video. It really gets your heart rate up! :) One last experience. As sister Fallentine and i served together Friday we met this one man named Scott. It broke my heart as we talked with him because he shared about a time in his life when he longed for religion, but because he couldn't find truth has turned atheist. Although he didn't accept our invitation to be taught, I knew there would be a day when he would be able to recognize truth and feel the joy the gospel brings to one's life.
Love to all
Sister Salmon
I am amazed at how much the Lord is aware of us, he knows what we need before we need it and knows exactly how to help us.
This last week was a super crazy one, most weeks are but this was crazier than most. Sister Luker and i had two exchanges planned for this week. The first was with sister Johnson and Sister Crandall in Parkway. They're white washing the area and doing an amazing job. I find so much joy in doing these exchanges, and am blessed with being able to recognize the spirit of the lord more and more in the work. I had an opportunity to go tracting with sister Johnson (she's been out as long as Elder Salmon and swears she saw him in the MTC) and we were blessed in being able to find a couple of potentials. At one of the houses we tracted into we found this young teenage girl sitting in her car as her phone charged. We had no parting of the seas experience but, she said she'd be interested in meeting the sisters again. That was how the rest of our day went.
And then on Thursday and Friday we were in St. Charles. as we were driving it felt like i was going home. We worked hard, and spent a lot of time outside knocking doors. Sister Fallentine and sister Dutson are also whitewashing and are having a difficult time finding people to teach as well. But we all made the best of it and recognizing that this is god's work. Thursday night sister Dutson lucked out and was able to contact a referral from their bishop. Becca is marrying a member of the ward in two weeks and the bishop had been asked to marry them at the church. Becca is so prepared for the gospel. She's grown up around members and even has some family who are currently members as well. We shared with her the book of Mormon and why it is so central to our message. We then invited her to be baptized if she found these things to be true and she said yes. This was a reminder that people are being prepared, and sometimes all we need to do is ask and invite. Friday morning for exercise we all rocked out to a Richards Simmons workout video. It really gets your heart rate up! :) One last experience. As sister Fallentine and i served together Friday we met this one man named Scott. It broke my heart as we talked with him because he shared about a time in his life when he longed for religion, but because he couldn't find truth has turned atheist. Although he didn't accept our invitation to be taught, I knew there would be a day when he would be able to recognize truth and feel the joy the gospel brings to one's life.
Love to all
Sister Salmon
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Wednesday October 10, 2012
Dear Family,
Sorry this is really late, with it being a holiday on monday the library was closed, and then I had exchanges on Tuesday which is why it has taken me so long...I'm still alive and kicken against the pricks.....Mom could you make me a corn bag thing that i warm up in the microwave? and maybe some wool socks. I'm staying warm. its only started to get cool, the leaves are turning their vibrant fall colors. Its so beautiful.
General Conferance was amazing. We were invited over to our mission presidents home to have breakfast and watch both sessions of conferance. The speakers were amazing! When President Monson made the annoucement about lowering the age for missionaries everyone in the room gave a shout for joy. What an inspired announcement. These are the last days and we need more missionaries. I think that this decision shows the need and the great confidence the Lord has for the rising generation. And especially the great need for sisters to come out and serve. Though i can't see them say it, but as sisters, we are being asked to serve missions. God truly is pulling out all the stops. The stone the prophet Joseph smith prophecied would roll forth is picking up momentum. And with the possibility of having a Mormon president, more and more people are become intereested in the church. Infact, just this last week sister Luker and i were out knocking doors prior to our dinner appointment and a women (whom we're hopefully seeing tonight) let us in because she was interested in what the "mormons" believe because of Mitt Romney. More and more people have become curious. They see that we are different and they want to know where the source of happiness flows from.
For the sunday morning session sister Luker and I were at the church. I think it was during that session that Elder Holland spoke about missionary work. It was an amazing talk and was very similar to a talk he gave in the MTC, but with a little less flame. :) Elder Eyring's talk titled Where is the Pavilion was also another favorite of mine. "The pavilion that seems to intercept divine aid does not cover God but occasionally covers us. God is never hidden, yet sometimes we are."...It was also during this session that I nearly froze. To say it was freezing in the chapel would be a huge understatement. I even pulled my mittens out of my bag and put them on, and i had a blanket. Between sessions sister Luker and i went out working and although we felt sure about the street we started working, no one was home and by this time it was close to the start of the second session. We stopped by our apartment to grab something before going to Sister Burton and Sister Cox's home to watch the second session. While walking from our car to our apartment i see this women coming out. I call out a friendly hello and soon fall into a friendly conversation. She was on her way to work and asked us to come by her apartment later this week. Sister Luker and i were super excited about that.
I'll talk to you all soon. sorry its so short. I love you all.
Sister Salmon
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Monday October 1, 2012
Work in the field is going amazingly. I don't know if i told you, but earlier on
in the year we made a mission goal to find and baptized 365. It isn't that we
are doing this for numbers sake, but to help us be motivated in the work and to
get out there to find, teach and bring people into the gospel so they can
partake of the blessings their Heavenly Father has for them. Currently to date
the day number is 275 and we have had 282 baptisms. The Lord has really been
blessing us in being able to find those elect who are searching for the truth
but don't know where to find it.
MOM- Yes sister Luker and I are companions again. We served together back in Champaign. She doesn't like to run, but she'll watch me from the window as I run back and forth up the street. Its starting to be dark in the mornings so getting up is getting hard. Morning comes too early, but that's to be expected. But by the time 10am comes around I'm ready to get to work. Days and nights are too short....We saw Lauren again this week. this time she brought the person she helps who is a member. Lauren also came to church on Sunday because the member she lives with was speaking. She enjoys coming and will come if it doesn't conflict with mass. We told her about conference and she's really excited. She's another one whom we are trying to teach but don't want to be pushy on. She'll come around, the lord will help her.
We had some amazing miracles this last week. We haven't been successful in finding people to teach, but we have had many opportunities to visit with people and to plant seeds.
We are still teaching Sarah. LOVE HER! She is awesome. Last week she told us she will never leave her church and be baptized somewhere else. Her faith is such a part of her. What sister Luker and I hope to help her see that It is Jesus Christ she loves. I hope that with the guidance of the spirit she can know that The Church of Jesus Christ is Jesus Christ restored church. She may not see it with me, but I feel blessed to be able to be a part of her quest. We also had an oppertunity to go on exchanges this last week with the Fredrick town sisters (i was called as the exchange sister again), sister Lowe and sister Randall. They are doing so well, they're area is on fire. I had a blast being able to work along side them again and see the changes that they have experienced since the last time i went on exchanges with them. They are amazing missionaries with great desire to share their testimonies. I was privileged to be paired up with sister Lowe Saturday morning; one of the visits that we had planned was to visit Melissa, an investigator that i had helped find last time i was up there. She wasn't there when we stopped by but, as we were out walking she drove by and stopped to talk with us. She seems to be progressing very well and last i heard was planning on attending that R.S broadcast later that night. Miracles are happening everywhere i Love it! We made it home in time for the R.S broadcast and were spiritually fed.
This morning as i was getting caught up in my journal writing i was reflecting on that last couple of days, thinking about my missionary efforts and what i could do differently to help my area progress. Compared to the areas that i visit we're not doing too good. But then i had a thought come to mind that the Lord truly is aware of me and my companion. He knows our desires to find, teach and invite people to be baptized...Earlier i was a little down because we seem to be good at finding people for other missionaries to teach and never for ourselves. But then that thought came to mind. And i was reassured that we are doing all that the Lord is asking of us. We know who to find, and how to teach. It doesn't matter where people are being found, just as long as they are being taught the true gospel. And i know that this is true. That as missionaries we can only do what the Lord asks of us. Maybe the people in my area need more time preparing. Who know's?
With us being out of town for the last 48 hours sister Luker and I went to right to work. Sunday we spend a good amount of time out contacting and tracting the streets in what i am told is the lower class section of my area. I told this to Sister Luker and she just laughed me. I don't think this place really knows what lower class is. :) But the people here awesome. They're super busy so its hard to catch them at home. Before we went home Sunday night we stopped by Jane Kinnaman's home who has been LA for 30+ years. We shared with her the messages that were shared at the R.S broadcast. She loved them and was a little shocked by them. She was shocked because the things we shared where things that she had been pondering that last couple of days. Sister Luker and i both shared our testimonies of the restored gospel with her, of the atonement and how much the Lord loves her. The Spirit then touched her heart and i know she knew what we shared was true.
I am so excited for general conference this weekend. OH baby oh baby! We haven't been invited over to a members house yet so if that doesn't happen we'll most likely watch it at the church. We invited Sarah to come and watch it. Hopefully things will work out.
Love you all
sister salmon
MOM- Yes sister Luker and I are companions again. We served together back in Champaign. She doesn't like to run, but she'll watch me from the window as I run back and forth up the street. Its starting to be dark in the mornings so getting up is getting hard. Morning comes too early, but that's to be expected. But by the time 10am comes around I'm ready to get to work. Days and nights are too short....We saw Lauren again this week. this time she brought the person she helps who is a member. Lauren also came to church on Sunday because the member she lives with was speaking. She enjoys coming and will come if it doesn't conflict with mass. We told her about conference and she's really excited. She's another one whom we are trying to teach but don't want to be pushy on. She'll come around, the lord will help her.
We had some amazing miracles this last week. We haven't been successful in finding people to teach, but we have had many opportunities to visit with people and to plant seeds.
We are still teaching Sarah. LOVE HER! She is awesome. Last week she told us she will never leave her church and be baptized somewhere else. Her faith is such a part of her. What sister Luker and I hope to help her see that It is Jesus Christ she loves. I hope that with the guidance of the spirit she can know that The Church of Jesus Christ is Jesus Christ restored church. She may not see it with me, but I feel blessed to be able to be a part of her quest. We also had an oppertunity to go on exchanges this last week with the Fredrick town sisters (i was called as the exchange sister again), sister Lowe and sister Randall. They are doing so well, they're area is on fire. I had a blast being able to work along side them again and see the changes that they have experienced since the last time i went on exchanges with them. They are amazing missionaries with great desire to share their testimonies. I was privileged to be paired up with sister Lowe Saturday morning; one of the visits that we had planned was to visit Melissa, an investigator that i had helped find last time i was up there. She wasn't there when we stopped by but, as we were out walking she drove by and stopped to talk with us. She seems to be progressing very well and last i heard was planning on attending that R.S broadcast later that night. Miracles are happening everywhere i Love it! We made it home in time for the R.S broadcast and were spiritually fed.
This morning as i was getting caught up in my journal writing i was reflecting on that last couple of days, thinking about my missionary efforts and what i could do differently to help my area progress. Compared to the areas that i visit we're not doing too good. But then i had a thought come to mind that the Lord truly is aware of me and my companion. He knows our desires to find, teach and invite people to be baptized...Earlier i was a little down because we seem to be good at finding people for other missionaries to teach and never for ourselves. But then that thought came to mind. And i was reassured that we are doing all that the Lord is asking of us. We know who to find, and how to teach. It doesn't matter where people are being found, just as long as they are being taught the true gospel. And i know that this is true. That as missionaries we can only do what the Lord asks of us. Maybe the people in my area need more time preparing. Who know's?
With us being out of town for the last 48 hours sister Luker and I went to right to work. Sunday we spend a good amount of time out contacting and tracting the streets in what i am told is the lower class section of my area. I told this to Sister Luker and she just laughed me. I don't think this place really knows what lower class is. :) But the people here awesome. They're super busy so its hard to catch them at home. Before we went home Sunday night we stopped by Jane Kinnaman's home who has been LA for 30+ years. We shared with her the messages that were shared at the R.S broadcast. She loved them and was a little shocked by them. She was shocked because the things we shared where things that she had been pondering that last couple of days. Sister Luker and i both shared our testimonies of the restored gospel with her, of the atonement and how much the Lord loves her. The Spirit then touched her heart and i know she knew what we shared was true.
I am so excited for general conference this weekend. OH baby oh baby! We haven't been invited over to a members house yet so if that doesn't happen we'll most likely watch it at the church. We invited Sarah to come and watch it. Hopefully things will work out.
Love you all
sister salmon
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Monday September 24th, 2012
Dear Family,
So i guess to start off this week was transfers, we kept ourselves busy working. We made sure to set up appointments with families we are working with at the beginning of the week so that sister Grover and Sister Pedersen could have one last time teaching them...and to say goodbye. Tuesday we received a call from sister Clark, our mission presidents' wife asking if one of us wouldn't mind coming over to the mission home and spending the day with the new sister that was coming in. Sister Pedersen readily agreed which was fine with both sister Grover and I.
Sister Luker is my new companion. We arrived home Wednesday spent a few short hours unpacking and getting situated before going out and working. Sister Luker has such a wonderful outlook when we go out to work that is highly contagious. We spend a lot of time out sowering... or "planting seeds" is what we call it. Its kind of difficult finding people at home, and those we do find are usually too busy. When we hear this excuse i just want to tell them "you're too busy for Jesus?" I don't think that would go over well.
We had an awesome experience teaching Saturday morning. Lauren Milburn is a young single adult who loves the Mormons. BACKGROUND: She grew up coming to Mormon activities and is really good friends with a prominent LDS family in our ward. She has her own quad and loves reading the conference talks. The one problem is she is Catholic. And she feels like she needs to be Catholic at this time. We've asked if she would like to be taught the lessons, she wasn't too interested in that but would like to come out with us to tract and watch us teach..... She called us Saturday because she is working as an aid for a LDS Mormon in another ward who suffers from epilepsy and seizes and wants to know more about what we as members believe so she can help build up the faith of her friend. She asked us to teach her the Plan of Salvation which went very well. The Spirit was there and sister Luker and i were blessed with being able to teach in unity. We are praying that this might be the way to help Lauren gain her own testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel.
Later this weak sister Luker and I were blest in being able to find a new investigator. Her name is Sarah, she lives in our same apartment complex and already believes the Book or Mormon....She belongs to a branch off the the original church. They call themselves restorationalists? Yesterday we spent some time comparing scripture, specifically the doctrine and covenants. They have a lot of new doctrine, and doctrine that has been changed. It make same sad and angry when man takes it upon themselves to interpret the will of God.
I'm currently reading in Helaman 6 and 7, this is the transitional period when the Lamanites are become more righteous than the Nephites. As i was reading is was ponder upon what causes people to turn from the Lord and to fall away from the church. In chapter 6 of Helaman the Gadianton robbers are on the rise and the Lamanites knowing how destructive this group of people are ran then out. In 6:20, "and they did use every means on their power to destroy them off the face of the earth." But what did the Nephites do? They accepted them. They gave into pride and forgot God. And this happens in such a short space of time. When they stopped remembering, when they stopped feasting upon the scriptures they became weak and susceptible to Satan's power.
I want to share was a miracle that happened yesterday after church. I was in the library making copies when i saw two individuals who looked a little out of place. Come to find out they are members of a local Scientology church, but had heard something about a "latter day library" and had come looking. We introduced ourselves as missionaries and invited them to meet with us. We gave them a copy of the Book of Mormon and a restoration pamphlet. Peter, the young, man seemed really interested in meeting with us at first.. Towards the end of our visit you could see his countenance change. It was almost like you could see the adversary working upon him. He kept the book of Mormon but said he wanted sometime to think about meeting with us. We have his number and address and if we don't hear from him by the end of this week are planning on calling on him. So although this story doesn't have the greatest ending, a seed was planted.
Please, NEVER push a missionary to eat more food. Always offer, but don't slop it on their plate. Yesterday we had dinner with an awesome family, the food was delicious but she wouldn't take no for answer and kept piling it on. And then when we thought we couldn't eat anymore they pulled out dessert. Sister luker, sister burton, sister cox and i were all good sports and just and just laughed about the entire experience. But oh my goodness it was rough. :)
To end the night we went over to Brother Menlo Smith's home to watch a fireside being given by a member in our ward. (Bro. Smith invented the willie wonca pixie stick FYI) Brother Thomas gave the presentation. He spent the last two weeks over in Rwanda on a humanitarian service mission. He shared slides about his time over there and the Church's influence in that country. It hasn't been until the the last 6 months that the church has been able to send missionaries into its borders. What a blessing it is to live in a land where we have the right to worship when and what we please.
I love reading my Book of Mormon. It is true! Every time I read I am blessed with some new insight. God really new what he was doing when he asked his holy prophets to write the record of their people. The gospel is true. There is no room for doubt!
love sister salmon
So i guess to start off this week was transfers, we kept ourselves busy working. We made sure to set up appointments with families we are working with at the beginning of the week so that sister Grover and Sister Pedersen could have one last time teaching them...and to say goodbye. Tuesday we received a call from sister Clark, our mission presidents' wife asking if one of us wouldn't mind coming over to the mission home and spending the day with the new sister that was coming in. Sister Pedersen readily agreed which was fine with both sister Grover and I.
Sister Luker is my new companion. We arrived home Wednesday spent a few short hours unpacking and getting situated before going out and working. Sister Luker has such a wonderful outlook when we go out to work that is highly contagious. We spend a lot of time out sowering... or "planting seeds" is what we call it. Its kind of difficult finding people at home, and those we do find are usually too busy. When we hear this excuse i just want to tell them "you're too busy for Jesus?" I don't think that would go over well.
We had an awesome experience teaching Saturday morning. Lauren Milburn is a young single adult who loves the Mormons. BACKGROUND: She grew up coming to Mormon activities and is really good friends with a prominent LDS family in our ward. She has her own quad and loves reading the conference talks. The one problem is she is Catholic. And she feels like she needs to be Catholic at this time. We've asked if she would like to be taught the lessons, she wasn't too interested in that but would like to come out with us to tract and watch us teach..... She called us Saturday because she is working as an aid for a LDS Mormon in another ward who suffers from epilepsy and seizes and wants to know more about what we as members believe so she can help build up the faith of her friend. She asked us to teach her the Plan of Salvation which went very well. The Spirit was there and sister Luker and i were blessed with being able to teach in unity. We are praying that this might be the way to help Lauren gain her own testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel.
Later this weak sister Luker and I were blest in being able to find a new investigator. Her name is Sarah, she lives in our same apartment complex and already believes the Book or Mormon....She belongs to a branch off the the original church. They call themselves restorationalists? Yesterday we spent some time comparing scripture, specifically the doctrine and covenants. They have a lot of new doctrine, and doctrine that has been changed. It make same sad and angry when man takes it upon themselves to interpret the will of God.
I'm currently reading in Helaman 6 and 7, this is the transitional period when the Lamanites are become more righteous than the Nephites. As i was reading is was ponder upon what causes people to turn from the Lord and to fall away from the church. In chapter 6 of Helaman the Gadianton robbers are on the rise and the Lamanites knowing how destructive this group of people are ran then out. In 6:20, "and they did use every means on their power to destroy them off the face of the earth." But what did the Nephites do? They accepted them. They gave into pride and forgot God. And this happens in such a short space of time. When they stopped remembering, when they stopped feasting upon the scriptures they became weak and susceptible to Satan's power.
I want to share was a miracle that happened yesterday after church. I was in the library making copies when i saw two individuals who looked a little out of place. Come to find out they are members of a local Scientology church, but had heard something about a "latter day library" and had come looking. We introduced ourselves as missionaries and invited them to meet with us. We gave them a copy of the Book of Mormon and a restoration pamphlet. Peter, the young, man seemed really interested in meeting with us at first.. Towards the end of our visit you could see his countenance change. It was almost like you could see the adversary working upon him. He kept the book of Mormon but said he wanted sometime to think about meeting with us. We have his number and address and if we don't hear from him by the end of this week are planning on calling on him. So although this story doesn't have the greatest ending, a seed was planted.
Please, NEVER push a missionary to eat more food. Always offer, but don't slop it on their plate. Yesterday we had dinner with an awesome family, the food was delicious but she wouldn't take no for answer and kept piling it on. And then when we thought we couldn't eat anymore they pulled out dessert. Sister luker, sister burton, sister cox and i were all good sports and just and just laughed about the entire experience. But oh my goodness it was rough. :)
To end the night we went over to Brother Menlo Smith's home to watch a fireside being given by a member in our ward. (Bro. Smith invented the willie wonca pixie stick FYI) Brother Thomas gave the presentation. He spent the last two weeks over in Rwanda on a humanitarian service mission. He shared slides about his time over there and the Church's influence in that country. It hasn't been until the the last 6 months that the church has been able to send missionaries into its borders. What a blessing it is to live in a land where we have the right to worship when and what we please.
I love reading my Book of Mormon. It is true! Every time I read I am blessed with some new insight. God really new what he was doing when he asked his holy prophets to write the record of their people. The gospel is true. There is no room for doubt!
love sister salmon
Monday, September 17, 2012
September 17th, 2012
HeY FAmilia
This week was pretty crazy for me. It was the first time I'd been in my area the entire week. The last three weeks we were on exchanges so my days have been off all week.
We did a lot of finding this week, which i was really happy about. Because we haven't been in our area a lot, i feel like we've abused the people in Frontenac. The weather has been perfect for finding as well so that's been a blessing. I wish i could report that we found some people to teach, but we didn't. We had some really good conversations, but once we would start bringing up 'new teachings' like additional scriptures, or that we existed as spirits before we lived they'd close up. We started talking to this one man, and was very hopeful. But then once we brought up that he lived as a spirit he got really angry and no longer wanted to talk about religion. One of my companions took this very hard. We ended up going to Oberwiess to cheer her up. Oberwiess is this really nice dairy story. They have really good ice cream, milks, etc. That seemed to brighten her mood. As missionaries we can't offered to take those things personally. It breaks my heart when i meet people who reject this message. I don't think they understand that its Christ they are rejecting. We are here to help them strengthen their faith in Christ. We only want them to be happy.
We were able to get a hold of Eugene this week and talk about baptism and the coventants we make at baptism. I think that really helped him understand why we need to be baptized. We again invited him to be baptized and to pray about a date. He seemed more sincere this time about it.
Saturday night was transfer calls. I will be staying in the area and my new companion will be sister Luker. We've served together before, and I'm really excited to serve with her again. She is an awesome missionary. I've had an opportunity to serve with her a couple of times on exchanges. She has grown so much as a missionary. Frontenac has so much potential as an area and I'm excited to really dig in. Sister Pedersen is going to Mexico Ill? and sister Grover is going to Glen carbon. They are both pretty excited.
Yesterday sister Pedersen put sister Grover and i on house arrest. We've been feeling under the weather.(i didn't know what to do with myself. So i finally went to sleep. I slept for 4 hours, waking up at 8:30pm...don't worry mom I'm feeling much better :) ) While we were at home resting sister pedersen went out with sister Burton, an elderly sister missionary who works in the office. They were able to go and meet with a family in the ward that has been battling a lot of physical trials. And then they had an opportunity to stop by rob's home and visit with him. They shared a message about finding peace from reading the scriptures and from the words of the prophets. They invited him to read 2Nephi 31 and sister Luker and I will be following up with him later this week.
Love Sister Salmon
This week was pretty crazy for me. It was the first time I'd been in my area the entire week. The last three weeks we were on exchanges so my days have been off all week.
We did a lot of finding this week, which i was really happy about. Because we haven't been in our area a lot, i feel like we've abused the people in Frontenac. The weather has been perfect for finding as well so that's been a blessing. I wish i could report that we found some people to teach, but we didn't. We had some really good conversations, but once we would start bringing up 'new teachings' like additional scriptures, or that we existed as spirits before we lived they'd close up. We started talking to this one man, and was very hopeful. But then once we brought up that he lived as a spirit he got really angry and no longer wanted to talk about religion. One of my companions took this very hard. We ended up going to Oberwiess to cheer her up. Oberwiess is this really nice dairy story. They have really good ice cream, milks, etc. That seemed to brighten her mood. As missionaries we can't offered to take those things personally. It breaks my heart when i meet people who reject this message. I don't think they understand that its Christ they are rejecting. We are here to help them strengthen their faith in Christ. We only want them to be happy.
We were able to get a hold of Eugene this week and talk about baptism and the coventants we make at baptism. I think that really helped him understand why we need to be baptized. We again invited him to be baptized and to pray about a date. He seemed more sincere this time about it.
Saturday night was transfer calls. I will be staying in the area and my new companion will be sister Luker. We've served together before, and I'm really excited to serve with her again. She is an awesome missionary. I've had an opportunity to serve with her a couple of times on exchanges. She has grown so much as a missionary. Frontenac has so much potential as an area and I'm excited to really dig in. Sister Pedersen is going to Mexico Ill? and sister Grover is going to Glen carbon. They are both pretty excited.
Yesterday sister Pedersen put sister Grover and i on house arrest. We've been feeling under the weather.(i didn't know what to do with myself. So i finally went to sleep. I slept for 4 hours, waking up at 8:30pm...don't worry mom I'm feeling much better :) ) While we were at home resting sister pedersen went out with sister Burton, an elderly sister missionary who works in the office. They were able to go and meet with a family in the ward that has been battling a lot of physical trials. And then they had an opportunity to stop by rob's home and visit with him. They shared a message about finding peace from reading the scriptures and from the words of the prophets. They invited him to read 2Nephi 31 and sister Luker and I will be following up with him later this week.
Love Sister Salmon
September 10th, 2012
I had a blast at the city museum. We met up as a district and spent a couple
hours climbing through tunnels, sliding down slides etc. It was loads of fun.
And then for the next couple days we were reminded of the fun we had by the
appearance of bruises that appeared on our elbows, knees and other random
places. There weren't any rides there. It was like an adult play toy, and had to
try everything because i didn't want to get left out. Its kind of like
missionary work. When you are fully committed to something the fear of things
have a hard time surfacing and you have a blast.
I wrote James last week and heard back from him. He sounds like he's having so much fun and has learned so much from the short period of time.
We haven't been able to meet with Eugene this week because we were out of town for exchanges again. And then he had his son in town over the weekend and was unable to come to church because he wanted to spent time with his son.
For exchanges we went to Glen Carbon Illinois. Sister Shutt, Luker and Brinck are all serving there. The first day i served with sister shutt. We were blessed with being the ones on bikes that day. And that tuned into such a blessing. Everywhere we went we biked into someone who was willing/wanting to learn about the gospel. We didn't have any specific roads. We had only talked about a general area. One particular time, sister shutt suggested we bike further down the street. We came to a park, chained up our bikes and while crossing the street we see this young man coming closer, walking almost adjacent to us. We started to talking to him. Found out his name is Marquies. He's had a really ruff life. His little brother died when he was younger, resulting in a lot of confusion and anger. His parents seem to still mourning over his death, which as a result have caused them to shun Marquies. We were able to sit down with him in the park and testify to him that he is a son of God. That he can see his brother again and that his father in heaven is very much aware of him. The Spirit was so strong during that lesson it was awesome. We were able to set up an appointment the following day which i wasn't present for but heard it went well. That was how our day went all day. One of us would suggest a direction and we were led to someone to talk to. When we were finally able to come back to our own area we were able to contact some potential investigators. One being Rob. He was a media referral we received last week. He was very open to taken the discussions. Apparently he has a lady friend in Utah, they've been talking about the church. We are going to see him tomorrow.
I'm glad that everything is going so well at home.
love you all sister salmon
I wrote James last week and heard back from him. He sounds like he's having so much fun and has learned so much from the short period of time.
We haven't been able to meet with Eugene this week because we were out of town for exchanges again. And then he had his son in town over the weekend and was unable to come to church because he wanted to spent time with his son.
For exchanges we went to Glen Carbon Illinois. Sister Shutt, Luker and Brinck are all serving there. The first day i served with sister shutt. We were blessed with being the ones on bikes that day. And that tuned into such a blessing. Everywhere we went we biked into someone who was willing/wanting to learn about the gospel. We didn't have any specific roads. We had only talked about a general area. One particular time, sister shutt suggested we bike further down the street. We came to a park, chained up our bikes and while crossing the street we see this young man coming closer, walking almost adjacent to us. We started to talking to him. Found out his name is Marquies. He's had a really ruff life. His little brother died when he was younger, resulting in a lot of confusion and anger. His parents seem to still mourning over his death, which as a result have caused them to shun Marquies. We were able to sit down with him in the park and testify to him that he is a son of God. That he can see his brother again and that his father in heaven is very much aware of him. The Spirit was so strong during that lesson it was awesome. We were able to set up an appointment the following day which i wasn't present for but heard it went well. That was how our day went all day. One of us would suggest a direction and we were led to someone to talk to. When we were finally able to come back to our own area we were able to contact some potential investigators. One being Rob. He was a media referral we received last week. He was very open to taken the discussions. Apparently he has a lady friend in Utah, they've been talking about the church. We are going to see him tomorrow.
I'm glad that everything is going so well at home.
love you all sister salmon
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Tuesday September 4, 2012
Well this last week my companions and i were on exchanges, this time we went to st. charles. It was so great to go and teach in a previous area. I already new most of the people the sisters had been working with and it was good to see their progression. I was able to see Angel one of our recent converts and was so happy to see that she was doing amazing. Her testimony is growing so much. With it being Labor day the library was closed and we we weren't able to write home yesterday so I'm haviong a hard time remembering all that we did. We had a really good lesson with Eugene, we reveiwed the plan of salvation with him. It had been a while. When it came time to talk about the Celestial kingdom we shared with him that those who want to enter this kingdom must be baptized by someone holding the authority of God. He shared that he had already been baptized (something we heart alot). We then reviewed how the authority was lost and then restored on the earth. We each took turns then sharing our testimonies of how we knew that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was true and that it contains the fullness of the Gospel. He accepted our invitation to be baptized but wasn't ready to set a date. Said he wanted to pray about it first. We also stopped by Dorthy Callaways' home Saturday night? She had mentioned that she wants to go to the temple so we brougt by the temple ensign and talked to her about the joy of temple attendance.We scheduled a lunch date for this thursday on the temple grounds. There is such a spirit about the temple, that we want her to feel. And then, we were all so excited when we saw her the next day anter the chapel, she also had her Daughter and her grand children there as well. Her daughter is a member but is also slowly coming back to church. And only one of Dorthy's grandchildren is baptized, we're hoping to be able to start teaching her soon.
Sunday night the office elders and us were invited to dinner at Mission home. It was like a family dinner, in fact our mission president and his wife joked around that we were all his kids, three daughters and two sons. After dinner we gathered in the living room where we had a mini family home evening, and then read the scriptires together. It was so great!
Yesterday for pday we went to the city museum with our district. Pretty much its this huge play toy for kids. You crawl through caves and metal bridges that are suspended 50+ feet in the air. So fun. I'll have to send pictures. They even had this slide that is 10 stories. You climb up these stairs that look like an image our of Harry Potter.
we're currently on exchanges with the Glen Carbon sisters in Illinois. We got here last night and will be here until tomorrow night.
Well the church is true. The gospel does change people, and its for everyone. Jesus Christ lives, he is our savior. The atonment is real and it works. We just need to let it work our our lives.
Love sister Salmon
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Aug 27, 2012
Mom I can't believe its here for James.That so exciting.
"James, you are going to love your mission. My advice to you would be to never compare your best to anyone else' best. Do your part to be obedient. Love your companion, and if you struggle with that, prayer to love them. The best way to have love for someone is to serve them...There heart may never be softened but you will have done your best and the lord will bless you for that. Always have a prayer in your Heart and a cheerful song (hymn, Disney movie) in your head. This truly is a great work and a wonder that we both have an opportunity to take part in. Every day i am reminded how the lord doesn't need our help in sharing the gospel. But he loves us and wants to let us help him. I am so proud of you little brother. Make sure to email me."
I can't think of anything i need. I have clothes, blankets.. all the necessities. No sweets! But if you think of anything i am more then willing to accept. Pictures are always good. Updated ones. CAN YOU MAKE SURE TO SEND ME JAMES ADDRESS AT THE MTC. MAILING AND EMAIL. Just in case i want to send him anything. Its funny how this was pretty much a year ago that went through this same thing.
DAD- That's so cool that you have sisters now. I didn't even know our mission had sisters. We do have senior companions. I haven't really served around them,. Many of them serve in the office. But i think there are one or two sets that are proselyting missionaries.
On Monday we got together with the zone and had a Zone P-day. We Played Volleyball, soccer and then ended with a water fight. I can't jump anymore, its so sad. And then for the water fight, the elders filled up pitchers and water balloons and placed them in bowls all around the front of the church. I didn't feel like getting wet because we had an appointment right afterwards but elder Terrazes quickly changed that. He came out of no where and soaked me with a pitcher of water. LET THE GAMES BEGIN!. But miracle that night. We were headed home after an appointment and on the way home one of my companions wanted to stop by a gas station to pick up a Dr. Pepper. As we were pulling in, on of my companions and I saw a girl with no shoes on filling up her car; she was wearing mismatched socks. My companion said that i should go and talk to her. So i did, I made a remark about her socks and the conversation took off from there. It was awesome. I introduced myself and then we had a neat discussion about Jesus Christ and what we love about church. We were talking for a while when a voice came over the speaker and they told us to move our car because we weren't filling up our car with gas. We finished our discussion across the street and set up a time to meet up with her later this week. Sadly we haven't been able to meet up with her yet, she's pretty busy with school, work and other etxra-curricular activities. But we're hoping maybe later this week when we return from exchanges. Meeting Kelli was such an awesome experience. We would never have met if I hadn't gone over and said hi. Only the Lord know if she is ready, or even close to being ready to receive the gospel. Its so important to as missionaries and as members to open our mouths and speak to everyone around us. When we don't share with them the knowledge of the Gospel we aren't letting them exercise their agency to accept or reject the message. I think as members we go about looking for that golden investigator. That one person who is ready and will accept. Although there are those who are ready, there are so many others who are not. There is a section in D&C that talks about how we need to not rush through life searching for that one person while we are surrounded by people who are perishing in unbelief. We are all sons and daughters of God. We see them at the grocery store, at school, work...Everywhere we go. It is my testimony that if we simply put our trust in Heavenly Father and open our mouths we will know what to say and how to say it.
We had exchanges with sister Randall and sister Lowe on Thursday and Friday last week in Fredrick Town. It was soo small. Its only a little branch, and they meet in this tiny chapel right off the highway. I love exchanges, its such a refresher for me. Its gives me an opportunity to see new places, and new people.
I had a really neat experiences finding with sister Randall on Friday. Our first door we set out to knock was a potential investigator. The individual we were looking for wasn't currently home but his wife was there and gladly welcomed us in. As we were talking, she told us that she could feel herself getting closer to God. And that when she saw us she couldn't close the door on us. She knew God had sent us. That set the stage for an awesome lesson. We introduced the book of Mormon using the pictures in the front cover. We invited her to read and prayer about Alma 32. She accepted the book and said she'd read it while she was at work. We were able to set up a follow up appointment for this coming Thursday.
Heavenly Father is so amazing! He is so aware of all of us and our decisions. There have been so many instances on my mission when I have felt the Love my heavenly Father has for me. He is so loving, and so merciful. He wants more than anything so see us come safely home. That's why the plan was presented. Its the through the plan of Redemption that our souls can be redeemed. Its through that same plan that we can find eternal happiness. We were never promised that this life would be easy, or that we would be above trails. I know that it is through those trial we are given that we are able to more fully appreciate the blessings of our Heavenly Father has for us. We have to experience opposition in all things, if we don't, we wouldn't appreciate how good things really are. Jesus Christ is my savior, i love him so much. I know that this gospel is true.
Love
sister salmon
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