Transfer 10 Week 4

Family.

What a miracle baptism is!!! Elizabeth is now officially a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was a beautiful baptism with a great turn out of people. This is also the first baptism Galena ward has had in just over a year. Crazy, huh? Elizabeth had some of her kids who weren't members come and a couple friends, too. Someone told us one of her friends in particular was next to be taught. We'll cross our fingers :o) And the lesson we taught with her this week was fun--we did the 10 commandments and using a "fence" to teach it. We put a commandment on each little thing that goes horizontal and it gave the visual that we need all commandments in our life in order to have full protection from the outside world. Literally the idea came to me as we were driving back from a missionary meeting. Heavenly Father prompts us randomly--so we must always be on our toes so that we can be prepared to respond :o).

Saturday was actually an overall AMAZING day. Brother Chatterley shared with us a story about how Tanner (his son) and Calvin bore testimony and talked about the gospel to their friend for 2 hours late into the night. Calvin is on fire. He has prayed and knows that there are folks here that need HIM to come into the gospel. How amazing is that? I'm so thankful to be a part of his life and to have taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I can't wait for June 11!!

Jacqui is ON FIRE!! We had dinner at her house Saturday and had a discussion and saw that she had bought multiple things from the "Mormon Bookstore," not just scriptures! She bought a quote by President Uchtdorf, she bought a "Families are Forever" sign, "There is no place like home," and a 10 commandments thing too. She also had a friend over and without realizing it, bore an amazing testimony about the truthfulness of the church--about how it makes sense that there would be another testament of Jesus Christ because it makes sense that God would talk to all His children. AH it was amazing. I wanted to do a backflip, except I'm pretty sure I would've severerly hurt or killed myself :o).

Friday...ah!! We met with Jo, a new investigator. She's GREAT!!! She is VERY blunt, has a bit of a potty mouth, but is amazing none-the-less. She called us upset Friday night and we didn't hear an explanation until Saturday, but she was upset because of someone's lack of faith in God. And she called US for comfort because she knew we'd understand. I was touched by her trust in us already. She's so great...just like everyone else we're teaching.

Sunday night we met with Paul, an investigator we hadn't seen for a while. It was nice because we taught the apostasy in a way we hadn't before. We committed him to baptism in the first lesson, and he agreed, though we didn't set a specific date. He is excited to receive answers to prayers. We are too :o)

Last night we went to a Fireside with President and Sister Dyer (future mission presidents in Bolivia) and two other couples. It was such a touching experience because when President and Sister Dyer got up there to talk all they could talk about was Elizabeth (they have been the ones fellowshipping them). I was moved to tears on several occasions, including one where Sister Dyer read from her journal about our first encounter with Elizabeth and she mentioned me!! They have been too kind with complementing us and our teaching, and I was further humbled to know and recognize the growth I've experienced as I've tried to align my will closer to the Lord's. He has changed me and made me better. I've been able to enjoy the blessings of that growth, too. I am more in tune with the spirit--more likely to follow it's promptings without worrying about what will happen. If the Lord wants it done, who am I to not do it? I've enjoyed the amount of knowledge He has blessed me with as well, but realize how little it is in comparison to what it could be. I look forward to a lifetime of learning in the Gospel.

I love this gospel. I love the opportunity I have to grow closer to my Savior. I'm thankful for the growth I've been able to have and for the continued growth I'll get to experience. Life is awesome.

love love love,
Sister Mack

Transfer 10 Week 3

Can we get an AMEN?

We are so excited. First and foremost, Elizabeth is being baptized on Saturday. That's just a few days from now. We've had dinner with them (there's currently snow at their house) for the last time prior to her baptism and we ate DELICIOUS ribs. We meet again with her Thursday to go over to the church building and try on baptism suits. Man, it's been too long since of these!!! The last baptism I've been able to be a part of was February 12. But the Lord has been generous with opportunites to teach and by July we should have 4 baptisms. We haven't found lucky number 4 YET, but he or she definitely out there, waiting to receive the restored truth. We'll find 'em :o)

And it's also May month of Miracles. We've been able to witness so many!!! My comp made a brilliant suggestion that we tt miracles that we've been able to witness daily. That's been a cool thing to do--it helps us to be aware of how much the Lord is involved in this work.

Ps, we got to go to the Reno Temple today. It was absolutely beautiful and the clouds were beautiful. It was awesome. I love the temple and feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to go while I'm a missionary. Everyone is so nice there and they just love the missionaries so much!! It's such a beautiful place.

Calvin is still doing well. He's such an amazing young man. We had an awesome lesson last week where everyone told Calvin how important he was to them. It was hard to keep my emotions under control as I told him how much I cared about him. It's amazing how you just love these people with every fiber of your being. It's a little scary when you first realize how much of your heart you're giving away, but in the end it is more than worth it. This is the most satisfying work, outside raising children probably, that cossibly exist. Mainly because in a way these folks are my children. I love this work so much. Every day that slips by my fingers I wonder if I did my best that day. And as I climb into bed utterly exhausted, I know the Lord has accepted my days work. I know as my time is getting shorter how important it is to give the Lord the heart and a willing mind. Crazy. Only 5 months left.

JACQUI holy night. Can I just tell y'all how amazing this beautiful woman is???? She texts us today asking if we have anymore church movies. "Yes of course, why? Do you want to watch more?" Was my simple response. "Yeah! I went to the Mormon book store today but a lot of the movies were too expensive...and I doubt they have them in redbox :)" WHAT?! She went to the "Mormon Book Store" to look at church movies?! Amazing. BUT IT DOESNT END THERE!!! "I may not have bought any movies, but I did buy a $60 bible!" ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? She has already purchased scriptures??? ALL ON HER OWN INITIATIVE!!! I am soooo stoked she is in our lives!!! I want one more transfer in Reno so I can witness the miracle of her baptism. We're going to talk about a date with her on Saturday when she's feeding us :o). She and her little girl are just so amazing. I never want to leave my mission!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But I know Mom wouldn't be very pleased.... :o)

Allow me to tell y'all now about a sweet old lady who likes us to call her "Oma." She's so fabulous. She's a heavy smoker and loves her coffee, but loves our visits and the thoughts we share with her about the gospel. She was baptized way back when with the dinosaurs (jk) in Salt Lake and loves to tell us stories....including how her 22 year-old cat died. One evening she was trying to call her cat inside, to no avail. "Fine you stubborn fool," she said to the cat, closing him outside for the night and trudging to her bed. Around 2:30am she hears his woeful cries and she decides to resist his calls...until she heard some rustling in her front yard. She decided to check things out...and what does she see when she opens her front door in Reno, NV? A black panther's rear end!! She said, "oh!" and apparently the black panther got spooked, grabbed her old cat in its mouth and took off running. One of our favorite stories she tells us...hahaha. She did say the black panther escaped from Washoe Valley where a man had them as pets. Hahaha...oh man. We also have been weeding her yard a lot lately and some Elders who were helping us found an old horse or really large man's bone. It was hilarious.

I also learned a lot from the weeding experience. Oma's yard was a reflection of her life. It was full of weeds and needed a good effort put forth to remove the weeds. She has fears, addictions, and worries that rule her life in such a way where there isn't really room for joy (which could represent flowers or other nice shrubbery). So we, the missionaries, come over and try to help her pick some weeds. We try to teach her how to pick weeds on her own (by reading scriptures or praying or coming to church). And no matter how many weeds we remove, it is not effective if she doesn't remove some on her own while we're not there. And then she would need to call the ultimate weed killer--the Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the only one that can permanently remove the weeds from our life. And the best part of the Atonement is that it NEVER runs out! We can always call upon it when another weed pops up in our life. What a beautiful thing it is. But it all has to be our doing--our reaching out to Him.

I'm sorry if that analogy doesn't make sense...but it worked in my mind. I love this gospel so much. I long for my friends and family to really take hold of it and learn of their great potentials. We all have such great things that lie in store for us--if we seek them out.


Love y'all. Be good, do work, and feed a missionary :o)


love love love,
Sister Mack

Transfer 10 Week 2

Hi family and others.

I spent the day in Fallon on Monday and most of Tuesday. It was an experience to have, that's for sure. That place is soooo small, and yet it has 2 whole stakes full of wonderful members!! We ate dinner @ a single mom's (a recent convert) and it was pretty sweet. We had FHE on prayer and then played a board game. Tuesday was a day to behold--we got $1.00 ice cream that was delicious, saw a camper that was camoflauged and that had a moat around it in the middle of no where. Literally that place is in the middle of no where. The biggest thing that has happened there ever is Wal-Mart. But it's half-way pretty and smells like cows.

I got my greenie, Sister Woznow (pronounced was-no) on Tuesday, and can I just tell you how INCREDIBLE she is??? Like, holy smokes y'all she's amazing. She came pre-trained, so I don't have to do much. All I feel I need to help her learn is to trust the spirit to guide her to what to say. But even still she's great and already knows how to do that essentially. She's hilarous, legit, and has that greenie fire to work. It has literally been rekindled in myself and I'm SO excited for the transfer(s) that we'll have together!!! And she's exactly who I needed when I found out Gramma passed away on May 5th. President Black called me and told me and it was really bizarre to hear that. I just got a letter from her 2 weeks prior and was about to send her a Mother's day card. I have felt that through my mission I have gained a deeper understanding of the importance of family and knowing their history. I am sorry to have her physically off the earth, but I know with assurity she's not gone forever. She's back with Grandpa who has been waiting patiently for her to finish her mission here on earth. I know she's with me now, helping me to do this work. This is a crucial time on my mission--my last stretch. I need all my grandparents helping me and pushing me forward to find these people I've been sent here to find. I am thankful for the Atonement and the plan of Salvation, where we know with assurity that life and relationships don't end here--they continue for eternity. I truly felt that as I was at a leadership training meeting (and out of 30 missionaries I was the only sister there besides sister Black). One of the APs was testifying about the atonement and the spirit world, where our loved ones are waiting for the return of our Savior, and I felt so assured that everything is okay. It will always be okay. I honestly cannot say it enough--I absolutely know what I teach people daily is true. It has been confirmed to me over and over. And it takes one simple act to find out for yourself--one simple prayer. Ask. Ask and learn for yourself. I know God answers prayers and will answer yours. He has answered mine. He has answered the prayers of numerous people I've taught. It's such a simple thing, and yet the hardest thing for people to do. Why is it so scary to ask with real, pure intent if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true? I wonder sometimes if folks are merely afraid of the answer and of the changes in their lives they'd have to make if they found out that it is true. And it is :o).

Jacqui, one of our new folks, asked us how our church is worldwide. I simply told her that it's because people have discovered the truth that this gospel contains. It speaks to our hearts. It is true. How else would or could you explain such a huge, world-wide organized church? It's the absolute same everywhere. She understood and it was a wonderful time spent with her. We also took her a Mother's Day treat yesterday and she told us that she had gone to Costco to start her "food hording" aka food storage. She was like, "It's great. have enough toilet paper and paper towels to last years!! I like this food-hording thing!" She's soooo awesome.

I'm excited for the next 6 weeks. I feel that amazing times are coming. "Expect miracles" they say. And I think it's about time I begin to expect them every minute of every day. I'm ready, finally, to fully submerge myself in the work, leaving all inhibitions behind and truly becoming a servant fully dedicated to the Lord. I'm putting full and complete trust in the Lord. My fears? They don't matter. My desires? Simply to do as the Lord would have me do. And I'm excited. I'm excited to be bold and hold nothing back--to tell folks exactly what the Lord would want me to say to them.

This church is true. I cannot say it enough. I know it. My parents know it. My gramma Ruth and other grandparents know it. I am certain of this. I love you all so much and pray that you will allow this message to prick your heart. All you need to do is ask and listen.

love love love,
Sister Mack

Transfer 10 (double digits WHAT?!), Week 1

Whoops!!! I just realized I have zero time. So I have like 10 minutes to do this and a prez letter. So my apologies about this--next week will be GREAT!!

Sister Dixon got transferred--she's opening up a Sister area with a girl she was in the MTC with and that's in Vegas. I'm training again, Sister Woznow. I'm obsessed with her name. I'm excited--she's walking into a very good situation and I pray it keeps getting better (2 baptisms, 2 strong investigators on their way to baptism, and 2 referrals to contact!!). The Lord is blessing us TONS!! I'm obsessed.

I'm excited for Mother's day calls.

Uhh....what else. I have no time. MAN I'm so sorry. But I love this work and I love my Savior. I'll remember funny stories and hopefully have time today to finish some letters. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! Especially my parents. I love the life changing experiences that my mission has provided me with and for the solid relationship I've been able to build with my Savior Jesus Christ. Never lose hope, He's always there.

love love love,
Sister Mack