Nov 26, 2019

(Elder Petersen)

Monday

               Today was average until the evening when we went to a pass off lesson from another set of Elders to us. We got so involved with the lesson that we spent a full hour there teaching this nine year old about the commandments and the Word of Wisdom.

Tuesday

               Today was a harder day due to the fact that transfers are tomorrow and my companion Elder Coupe is getting transferred out so packing and deep cleaning took up a bunch of our time. But the hard part was watching Elder Coupe say goodbye to the good friends that he has made over his past 9 months here in providence. He says that it is a bitter-sweet moment and I truly believe that is is and will be for me as well. But to happier subjects our teaching pool has gone up a lot so we actually have something to keep us busy for the next little while!

Wednesday

               Transfer day! My new companions name is Elder Ladd and he is great. We managed even on a transfer day to get a fair bit done in our work which was awesome. We got so much done that it does not seem that it should be the same day.

Thursday

               Today we had Zone conference and we were trained on how to do Ministering With Members effectively. Also we were given an inspirational talk by one of our Senior Elders about how we should never give up on ourselves or our area. That he will never give up on us so we should never give up on ourselves.

Friday

               So today we had a huddle with Elder Waldner which went well. He then took us to a Musical devotional practice that I am in. After our practice we went to dinner and got a lift for one of our homeys who went with us to every member visit that we did tonight and to contact some formers on our lists until it was time for us to go in.

Saturday

               Today began like any other day we had a lesson set up with Heather but she canceled so we did not end up meeting with her but we did try contacting a few of the formerly taught people in our area book. We managed to get to a few of those as well as do some service for some members all before dinner and then after dinner we had a good number of member visits that we went to after diner and after that our day ended.

Sunday

               Today we had a lot of meetings to go to and at the start of the day we we had two member lessons which both rescheduled. Then we did former contacts had dinner and went on splits to get all of our appointments done. Then we went into another fire discussion with a non-member and had another meeting after that. So we are doing good today.

When there's something strange in your neighborhood, who you going to call? Missionaries!

(Sister Slade)

Guess what? We actually got to go out and work for most of the week! And it was a wild week.

On Tuesday Sister Faleafa had to see a Neurologist in Bentonville. Ironically, it was the same neurologist that I went to a year ago. They figured out what was causing the migraines really quickly and gave her a nerve blocking shot and she's been great the rest of the week. Hopefully it keeps working.

On Wednesday we went ghost hunting. Someone we are teaching texted us a d said that there was an evil presence in his house and that he wanted us to help him investigate. We went over to tell him that we could help bless the home or cast it out but that we couldn't be involved in the investigation and that we definitely shouldn't try to speak to it. And then he was like ok and then proceeded to hand us recording devices and heat sensors. The problem was that we couldn't just leave because of various unrelated situations. So we were there for FIVE HOURS. He even downloaded this app (it was definitely fake) that let us speak to the demon (because that's what he determined it was). It said things like bacon, legion, hundred, fear, agent, and objection. The person then said he knew what the demon meant; it was "afraid" of us because we were "agents" of God and we had "hundreds" and "legions" of his angels around us (I don't know how bacon fit in). Anyway, that is where today's title comes from. I will admit that there was definitely something weird in that house and I dos not like how it felt. You better believe I was praying the whole time I was there.

On Friday we had a district Light The World activity. We did service at the library where our bishop is head over facilities. He had arranged for the library to basically do light the world without calling it that. So for Fayetteville's light the square event we handed out light batons that prompted people to do kind deeds throughout the month of December. It was pretty cool.

Unfortunately, sister Faleafa picked up a bug somewhere and has been sick the whole weekend, so there's not much else to report.

God is good!

Sister Slade

Pictures:

 Light the World activity

The library's idea of no shave November

Us at service

 some neat candles we made for light the world

a funny meme

HUMACAO

(Hermana Ellsworth)

I am so sorry that it has been a little bit since I have been able to email a group email but I am in Humacao now and it is one of the most amazing areas. I love it here so much. My companion is Hermana Allred from Las Vegas, Nevada and from Saratoga Springs, Utah!! We lived 20 minutes away from each other in Utah but did not meet until we came to Puerto Rico:) She is a spiritual giant and is helping me grow so much. We are seeing some amazing miracles from being obedient to our mission rules and the advice of our mission president. As a mission we are asked to talk to 10 new people every day for every missionary. That is 20 new contacts every day and we have been able to complete with that promise everyday for these past 2 weeks and now we are seeing some wonderful blessings.

We are teaching Jaileen who is getting baptized on the 7th of December. We were able to go to a members house and have lunch with the Youngs :)  We have some pictures from that really fun lunch. We  are also teaching a man named Tony :) He is amazing at painting and drawing and he drew a picture of the Puerto Rican Temple as his way of keeping his eye on the temple :) 

I love you all so much :)  We had a wonderful Mission Leadership Conference yesterday with Brother Corbitt from the missionary Department of the Church and he talked a lot about the faith that we had in the premortal existence and how we really just to be reminded of the faith that we already had. We are of infinite worth and value and are able to go through hard things. As a companionship we are working on increasing our faith to find the Elect of God who are the ones who will listen to us and not harden their hearts :)

Also my companion had the talk on Sunday in church. .... And when we looked down in her bag after the sacrament we realized that she did not have her talk... SOOO while the other speaker was giving her talk we RAN ALL THE WAY TO OUR HOUSE to grab the talk and ran back before the 1st speaker finished her talk! It was the most stressful sacrament meeting but she got her talk and no one noticed that we were gone for 10 minutes :) So we are good. Its fine, im fine, its fine. :)

GO FIGHT WIN!

Remember to tuck your tail.

Have a wonderful week friends and family!

Serving a mission is like climbing Mount Everest

(Sister Slade)

My emails have got to be super boring recently. Sorry about that.

Not much happened this week except zone conference. President shared a workshop on the doctrine of christ. He compared serving a mission to climbing Mount Everest. Then he said that the doctrine of christ are the things we use to get to the top. Faith is the belief that when you see the mountain you can get to the top, so you start climbing. Repentance is course corrections; making sure you take the best route to get to the top. Our covenants are the climbing gear that helps us get to the top safely. The Holy Ghost is like the mountain Sherpas. They know the mountain so well that they can guide you to the top and back safely. Enduring to the end is the patience, hope and diligence to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Without the gospel of Jesus christ, climbing the mountain would be almost impossible. Serving a mission (or any other experience or trial you're going through) is a whole lot easier when you have and trust the gospel of Jesus Christ. This made me think a lot about why I am climbing. So I invite you to do the same. Why are you climbing? If you aren't utilizing the gospel, then do so. Believe that with the help of Christ you can climb your mountain. Know that it is possible to get back on the path. Remember the covenants you made at baptism and the promises He made to you there. If you haven't yet made that covenant, then consider doing so. I know that it will help you climb your mountain. Trust that the Holy Ghost knows the mountain better than you do and that he can and will guide you if you let him. And finally, don't ever lose hope that there is a top to the mountain. I promise that when you reach the top and look out over the breathtaking view you will ask yourself if that was really all you had to endure.

I love the gospel and I'm eternally grateful that I have it in my life. I know that Jesus Christ lives and loves us.

God is good.

Sister Slade

Pictures

1. Zone conference (Sister Faleafa moved when they took the picture so she looks kind of funny if you zoom in)

2. Mold that I found cleaning the apartment (Elders used to live here and it is bad)

3-4. all of the sock monkeys I've made (12 to date).

Transfer Roster!

(Elder Petersen)

Monday

               Today when we were shopping we stopped at a store called great harvest bread and one of our Stake Presidents who owns the Great harvest chain was there and gave us some free loaves of bread to take home which was another new thing that has not happened to me before and then after our P-Day ended we went to a MWM appointment and then after that we finalized a referral conversation that we had been having with a member so now we have a non-member appointment set up for Thursday!

Tuesday

               Today we texted a lot of people to set up appointments for latter in the week after we finished that we started to walk home for lunch we ran into a member that asked us to come into his house and give him a spiritual thought which we did and thought was cool as we did it. After lunch we had a house inspection so we did some cleaning before the senior couple came to do the inspection. After that we had my additional Companion Study and then dinner with some ministering appointments.

Wednesday

               Today we had District Council as well as a mission assigned service which took up most of our day. Both of those finally ended at around four so after that we did additional Companionship Study for that hour and then had dinner at home. After that we had a few ministering appointments which ended our day.

Thursday

               Today we had a Back to Basics meeting basically just to teach us what we should be teaching those people whom we are teaching. Although before that we had a huddle with Elder Waldner during lunch. After both of those we did additional Companionship Study.

Friday

               Today I had a musical devotional practice after our morning studies. After that one of the members in our area took us out for lunch which was a bit of a surprise at the time. After that we had weekly planning and additional Companionship Study. After those we had dinner and a few member appointments then we went to be.

Saturday

               Today started out normal with our studies and then going to a church building and doing tech time. But when we went to lunch Elder Coupe started to feel really bad so we stayed in the rest of the day trying to still be productive even though I cannot go outside because of Elder Coupe being sick. He should be fine by tomorrow though, he got a blessing and he will have a full night sleep to enjoy so we should be able to get to all of our meetings tomorrow.

Sunday

               Today we had a busy day that ended in two news and a transfer roster. So today we had a few meetings went to three sacraments and met with quite a few people in member visits. The big thing that happened today though was that the transfer roster was sent out and now I know that I am getting a new companion and staying in my same area.

November 11 2019

(Elder Petersen)

Monday

               Today we had Chick-fil-A for dinner and we met with a few bishops over the wards that we cover.

Tuesday

               Today we went on a blitz with our zone leaders which basically means that the zone leaders split with us and we tried to find as many new people as possible as we work our area. And we found a new! I personally have not met him but my companion says that he is an interesting guy. After that we had a non-member lesson that went pretty well and a few member appointments.

Wednesday

               Today we had District Council as well as a service at the humanitarian center tying quilts. After we got home our evening basically canceled so we only had one appointment left. Then we had dinner and my companion Elder Coupe got sick and we had to cancel our last appointment and stay inside. That was our day a pretty good one until the end but you win some you lose some.

Thursday

               Today we had interviews with the mission president, President Hobbins. It went well and right after the interviews ended I went on a exchange and did a lot of stuff in my District Leaders area. We did dinner appointments as well as ministering appointments. Then at the end of that we exchanged back and went back to our old areas.

Friday

               Today we had a pretty good but uneventful day so we spent most of the day sending out texts and calling people that we needed to in order to set up appointments for our coming week and more. After that we wrote our talks because we will be speaking in a ward on Sunday.

Saturday

               Today was a really good day we managed to get in about an hour of service this morning and right after lunch. Then I texted and called people that we needed to contact for the upcoming day and week manly because my companion was having some stomach problems and needed to rest it off. After that we had a one non-member appointment with Heather then a MWM appointment with one of our bishops dinner and another non-member appointment that lasted way longer than it should have but it was interesting.

Saturday

               Today was packed with meetings from 9am to basically 5pm we went to 2 full sacrament meetings. We had a MWM appointment right between the two sacraments and Stake meetings from 2 pm to 5. Then we had dinner and went to another MWM meeting and found a potential new in our spare time. We also during the day had a running conversation with a member who referred someone to us and we are in the process of getting an appointment set up their!

Last weeks pictures

1. Sister faleafa dying

2. our missionary pumpkins

3. an apron that sister Faleafa made

4. 32 dresses that i made in 2 weeks

5. some sock monkeys

6. a fun car selfie

7. a missionary ghost that we made

Jeffrey :) Transfers

(Hermana Ellsworth)

  This week we had a baptism for Jeffrey. I have been teaching Jeffrey for the past 6 months and he has become one of my best friends out here. We have celebrated birthdays, cried together ( me more than him) , and have grown for our love of God together. It has been one of the biggest blessings in my life to teach and struggle with Jeffrey and then see him grown in his trust and Faith in God. He was baptized this last Saturday and received the gift of the Holy Ghost  yesterday.  I learned a lot about how the Lord really is taking care of his children here on earth. I know that our Heavenly Father Loves us and is incredibly patient with our faults and weaknesses. Heavenly Father really does answer prayers and when Jeffrey received his answer if really did confirm to me that our Father loves us. We come from loving Heavenly Parents and they want us to come home to them.

The hard part about the Baptism of Jeffrey is that I will be leaving Toa Baja and him behind. I have fulfilled my purpose for the people in Toa baja and I will be moving on to Humacao back into the zone of Caguas which is on the southeastern side of the island. I am so grateful for the time I had with Hermana Carrasco and her hard work and everything that she has taught me with our time together. I will miss some of the most amazing members here. Hermano Toro, Joanna, Hermana Nerida, Gina Lopez, Los Bushers :) SO many amazing members here in Toa Baja :)

We also had a really wonderful district activity where we went to a cool lookout with one amazing district. But also we have a shout out to part of our old MTC district :) #8A

Jesus would be a Hufflepuff

(Sister Slade)

Today's title comes from Sister Faleafa who is a Hufflepuff at heart and claims that Jesus would be a Hufflepuff. My emails have had a lot of Harry Potter references lately. I guess we know what my first books to read when I get back are. :)

This week we got to go to the temple with Rick and Tommy. It was a really neat experience because we were able to do the work for their mom. Sister Faleafa was able to be baptized for her and I was confirmed for her. A couple of weeks ago, Rick was talking to us about their mom and how she would be praising our names forever because of what we had helped her sons do. Now we were able to help her progress as well. I love the temple and what it means for families.

Sister Faleafa was pretty sick again this week, so I did some more sewing. I finished the quilt that I'm planning on giving to President and Sister Strong for Christmas and made 3 more sock monkeys. Then I deep cleaned the apartment because I can't sew any more without going crazy.

That's about it.

God is good.

Sister Slade

pictures

 temple pictures

We got to hold some puppies

 some crystals that a member gave me because they would "help me find my voice and find peace."

 A face mask that made me look really funny

The finished quilt (mom you should be really proud of me)

Someone sent me a giant thing of hot Chocolate. Thank you!

November 4th 2019

(Elder Petersen)

Monday

               We had a fun day today. It was our P-Day so we went shopping for all of the stuff that we needed for the upcoming week. Then one of our favorite members by the names of Mike and Terri Smith took us out to dinner with some of their friends, so in total there were 12 of us dinning together at the restaurant. After that we had a Conference call with all of our mission at 9:30 and it was really good we learned a lot about how we should be communicating with our stake presidents.

Tuesday

               Today we had a Conference with our mission president and all of the training missionaries. It was basically just them telling all of the new missionaries who is who and where they need to go for specific information. Other than that we went to a ward party tonight and managed to set some appointments up throughout the day.

Wednesday

               Today we huddled with the Waldners and discussed with them what we are doing in their stake as well as what they are doing. We had some time between the end of our huddle and the service project that was assigned to us by the mission so we played some pool with Elder Waldner while we waited to go. That mainly happened because it would have been very ineffective to try and proselytize during the basically half hour that we had before we had to leave to make it to the service project on time. We then had a ministering appointment after that and then our day ended.

Thursday

               So it's a bit late as I am writing this email so it will be short. Today we packed all day because me and my companion are getting kicked out of our house tomorrow due to a baby being born shortly. So it has been a frenzy to get everything packed up so that we can move. So that is how we spent most of our day but for the last 5 hours from 4 to 9 pm we got to go to the temple due to Halloween and all. This was because the mission president did not want us to be out on the streets on Halloween night.

Friday

               Today we had MDC or Multi District Council and we learned about how best to use members to their fullest. We learned how to teach how to pray and how best to use the Book of Mormon. After that we moved which took up the rest of the day and we went on exchanges once more. From tonight to tomorrow night.

Saturday

               So today started out fairly normally with all the normal things. But it got slot more interesting with a surprise service that we participated in from 8 to 9 then after dinner we went to a non-member with intent of giving our condolences for the loss of his wife. We went there with one scripture in mind to share with him and it was John 16:33 which says "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." and I know that he loved that scripture and was touched that we shared it with him even though he is a very smart very anti LDS. That was my day we finished our splits and then we went to bed.

Sunday

               Today was a pretty good day although very tiring. The day started out fairly normally with fast Sunday and all so we went to 3 sacraments today and in each one of them I got up and bore my testimony in each of them. After that we had a meeting with one of our Stake Presidents to discuss what we would be doing in their stake and what we have been doing after that we met with a member family to discuss one of our previously taught non-members. Then we had dinner two other ministering appointments and a coronation meeting with our high Councilor over missionary work and then our day ended.

Did you say bean or being?

(Sister Slade)

Today's title comes from an experience sister faleafa and I had. I said something sarcastic (highly unusual for me) and sister Faleafa said, "You are a sarcastic bean." But I couldn't tell what she said, so I asked her, "did you say bean or being?" And then she said, "bean." But I still couldn't understand which word she was saying. So I asked her what she said again. This went on for about 5 minutes and by the end of it she was yelling "bean!" At me and we were laughing so hard we were crying.

This week was very boring. Sister Faleafa accidentally ate something she was allergic to at our ward trunk or treat on Wednesday and she was sick the rest of the week. So anyone want to guess how much time I spent sewing this week? TOO MUCH. I made 17 dresses for girls in 3rd world countries and then decided that I couldn't look at another dress. So I started making pillows and sock monkeys for people we're teaching (pictures attached below). I told sister Strong about the sock monkeys with an idea I had, so now we're going to make sock monkeys to deliver to the children's hospital here on Christmas.

On Sunday, because it was fast and testimony meeting, Johana decided that she wanted to bear her testimony. So she got up and did! It was one of the most amazing testimonies ever. I'm pretty sure that half the congregation was crying (I definitely was). She said that since she met us she said she felt like she had been found and was coming home. She said she felt this unbelievable warmth and happiness when we were in her home and that she was being taught things she had felt her whole life but couldn't put words to.

We got transfer calls on Saturday. Both Sister Faleafa and I are staying.

God is good!

Sister Slade

pictures

Technology is being dumb and won't let me upload my pictures, so you'll just have to wait until next week to see them because I've been trying for half an hour to get them to upload.

Oct 28th 2019

(Elder Petersen)

Monday

               Today was pretty much a lazy day until 6 pm and then we talked to a convert as of a year ago who is getting a little annoyed with the church right now so we went over to talk to her and help her feel better about her life in the church. Then we went and tried talking to a few bishops and after that the day basically ended.

Tuesday

               Today we had a service and a huddle with Elder Waldner and they were back to back. After our huddle we had our additional companionship study in which our zone leaders joined us and I tried hard to get my 4 minute resto down in which I managed to get all of my points in but was still just under 6 minutes at my best so far. Then we had dinner with a member whose husband had just passed 6 months prior and we all had a pretty good time. After that not much remarkable happened just a few more member visits and then our day ended.

Wednesday

               Today we did a few things, the first thing that we did after lunch was to walk up to a guy's house to talk to him his wife had just recently died and one of bishopric in that ward said that it would not be a bad idea to go see him. We have been a bit hesitant to do so though because he is a Bible basher so we went up today and knocked on his door, he was not home though so we left and did some stuff around the neighborhood and then went home to have dinner. We then went to a member visit and then afterwards our day basically ended.

Thursday

               Today we had zone conference and we got out our flue shots so we did not get home until after 4. Then we went to a soup potluck dinner at 6pm and had dinner there. We had fun with that and learned a lot of interesting stories that a member told us about dinner. Not the most interesting day but during conference we went over these verses with a fine toothed comb. (John 15:1-5)

1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

In these verses I have a thought to share with all of y'all, in these verses we see that Jesus is talking about how he represents the vine bringing forth good fruit. But in the last verse in the line that is bolded it says "I am the vine, ye are the branches:" I really like that because it shows that through Jesus Christ we can bring forth good fruit, but the vine has to have something to grow from and that is the branch which represents us. So now since the branch represents us we have to put in the work to grow that vine. So to simplify it we have to through Jesus Christ put the work in to grow the vine so that Jesus Christ through us can put forth the good fruits.

Friday

               So today was a pretty normal day except for us going to the hospital because Elder Coupe needed to get a CT scan. After that CT scan we got Chick-fil-A for dinner and watched the Book of Mormon video that came out today. And finally we are having an exchange today so I have left our apartment.

Saturday

               Today began with an exchange but our district leader by the name of Elder Ficiur had stomach trouble so we switched back and I went to a non-member appointment with Heather which went well especially considering we managed to put her on date for the the first week in December the seventh is when it is happening so that was exciting. Finally though we had ministering appointments which ended at 10. So a pretty normal day in the life of a missionary.

Sunday

               Today started out with snow! I love the snow it has such a peaceful air to it as it snows. To me the snow blankets the noise of the world and brings in peace. When it snows you have a perfectly white landscape to see. So I love it because it reminds me of what I truly want to be like. I want to be as pure as I can be just like the snow, but I know that I will never be perfect just as the snow will be trampled over and turn nasty. I know though that through Jesus Christ's atonement I can become clean again just like the pure white snow. Hope y'all have a great week this week and have fun as the holiday season comes upon us.