(Sister Putnam)
Hey, everyone!
I'm doing a different format for my weekly email this week.
I've decided to attach a 5-minute voice recording talking about the stuff that
happened this week! Please tell me if you like this way of hearing about my
week better, if the recording actually works, etc.
Love you all!!
(Elder Slade)
To the best friends and family a person could hope for!
Recently we have been trying to work with members a lot
more, and we've been seeing miracles. We had a lesson last night with a family,
and they invited like 3 or 4 kids over for the lesson! We taught the
Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and they said they would want to
come back for another lesson! We feel
really impressed that that is the way the Lord would have this work move
forward, by using the members of the church and for them to the recieve the blessings
of sharing the gospel!
I have loved reading the scriptures recently. I spend a lot
of my spare time during meals or before I go to bed studying them. To me it's
like a puzzle! I'm a big nerd, and so I love puzzles. Each time I read, I feel
like I find another piece of the giant puzzle of God's plan for me. It is
incredibly satisfying and edifying! I'd invite you to look into the scriptures
with the questions you have, and something in there will impress upon you the
answer!
Love you all! Keep being awesome!
1. We had zone council this week, and so here's our awesome
zone!
2. Elder Bird and I on exchanges!
3. Picture of MLC, where we went to a church campsite for!
Pretty sweet!
4. A picture from last week I forgot to include! One of our
wards had a Hawaiian themed BBQ and they gave us lais and grass skirts!
(Sister Putnam)
Hey, everyone!
It's been another week!
And this week I realized that it has officially been 1 year since I received
my mission call, and I've been out 9 months!
Also, I forgot from last week, but I cut my hair a little,
just a trim, and also, because of the delta variant that's going around (I
don't know much as I don't have access to the news), Washington State has
required us to mask up again in public places and for large meetings. Just when
we got used to not having to wear them!
On Monday we celebrated Sister Hatton's 21st birthday. Our district had a barbecue and cheesecake to
celebrate💓
On Wednesday we helped a lady move into her new apartment
within the ward boundaries, and that was fun.
Thursday we had Zone conference and also started
exchanges. Sister Crookston came to our
area, and Sister Hatton went to Harbour Pointe's area with Sister
Bertasso. The last few transfers we've
been doing overnight exchanges, which didn't happen for the first while in my
mission.
On Saturday we went to the adult session of stake
conference, and afterward, President Daybell, the stake president, came up to
us and said "lpl hey, are you ready to speak tomorrow?" And we were
like "lol yeah totally" and thought nothing of it.
Well on Sunday, we were at the general session of stake
conference, the speakers were all finished and President Daybell got up and
started talking about missionary work and then called us as well as the elders
up and had us talk a little about missionary wor. Then he invited the stake to invite the
missionaries into their homes, so we are hoping more members will be willing to
set up lessons with us.
Love you all!!
Sister Alyssa Putnam
(Elder Cummings)
I'm sure y'all know and have heard about Hurricane Ida and
her terror the last couple days, please keep the greater New Orleans area and
the surrounding areas in your prayers. As of this morning, about a third of
Louisiana were without power.
Do not fret, we were evacuated way before things got crazy.
Things just got crazy in a different way. Me and 13 Elders have been crammed
into the Farmerville Elders apartment since Friday night. We have been safe the
entire time and only got some rain showers today.
This week has been crazy, and we didn't have a lot of time
to proselytize cause it's the end of the transfer, plus there was a hurricane…
For transfers(which have now been delayed a week) I'll be
moved from the Denham 2nd Ward to the Denham 1st Ward! Not much of a change,
same church building, same apartment, but new area and new companion!! My new
companion will be Elder Smith. I've been living with him for the last month and
a half and there are only a few people I love more than him. I was overjoyed
when I heard I'd be serving with him.
Anyway, hope y'all are doing well and been having good
times. I wish I had some crazy stories and miracles but the fact of the matter
is the miracle is that out of 200 missionaries, all are safe. As well as the 14
of us in one apartment aren't at each others throats yet. And that we've been
getting fed like kings.
This email has been all over the place mostly cause so is my
brain. But I do know that the Lord is in control, that nothing comes by
surprise to him, and he has a plan and a way for the Louisiana and Mississippi
areas devastated by the storm. He is aware of them. Please pray for their
safety and recovery.
Have a blessed one y'all, keep on keeping on!
Elder Cummings
Photos:
Birthday dinner with some of my favorite Elders
Sleeping arrangements. Yes. I'm in a tanning bed. No. It
doesn't work. Yes. It's for decoration. Yes. It's cool.
The Denham Springs Zone. Enough Said.
(Elder Slade)
To the best friends and family a person could hope for!
Justin got baptized this week!! It was an amazing baptism,
and I felt great joy in seeing him take that step. If you remember, Juston is
the man who has talked with missionaries for the past 5 years or so, yet has
never pulled the trigger on baptism. He just recently made the decision to be
baptized. The title comes from someone who gave a talk at the baptism. Justin
is a big man, that looks pretty intimidating, but really he is just a lovable
teddy bear! 😂
We had another miracle this week, as we were able to find
two new kids to teach named Mousey and Aiden. Mousey lives basketball, and we
started teaching him by shooting some hoops with him, and Elder Thomas
connected with him over Naruto, and then we started talking with him about the
gospel, and he got really excited! He ran in side, came out with his wallet,
and showed us a picture of Jesus Christ on the bag. He told us that he wanted
to start being taught, and has recently been thinking about baptism!! Later we
found his brother as well! Pretty exciting things!
We also had zone conference this week! A man named Chris
Mabrey from Pennsylvania spoke to us, and he told us how the gospel is a party!
He referred to the parable of the lost sheep, and shared Luke 15:6 "And
when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying
unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost." I
feel joy every day because I get to help bring in these lost sheep, and I know
that Heavenly Father rejoices when any one of us is found and brought back into
His loving fold. I know He loves us, and is active in our lives!
Love yall!
Pictures:
1-2. Justin's baptism!
3. Random pic Elder Thomas and I took.
(Sister Putnam)
Hey everyone!
So last Monday after shopping we played soccer with the
district. I ended up with a toe injury that made walking difficult for the next
two days but I'm good now lol. Soccer was fun too, I hadn't played in awhile
and it felt good!
On Tuesday Sister Hatton showed me a game lesson that Sister
Branch hat taught her, called the Remembering game. Someone in the room closes
their eyes and everyone asks them questions about what is in the room to see
how much they remember, and I personally related it to being in the world. When
we shut the world out it is easier to forget the things of the world and listen
to the guidance of the Spirit. For those of us with photographic or
semi-photographic memories, remembering the room was easier. Likewise, some
people have weaknesses that make it harder to detach from the world and it is
important to keep what distance we can between us and the world in order to
maintain the presence of the Spirit in our lives.
On Wednesday at district council we set a goal to hand out
20 pass along cards per companionship this week.
(Here's a big paragraph. It's long, but trust me, if you
stick with it, it'll be worth it!) On Thursday we went Street Contacting at
Martha Lake in an effort to achieve our pass along card goals.
Now this was my
first time Street Contacting, as I came out on my mission when we were still in
lockdown and not even allowed to go inside people's houses. Sister Hatton knew
more than I did, but this was still fairly new to both of us. So I had zero
clue what I was doing going into this.
Anyway, on our way there we stopped by a family who was unloading a
moving van, and we offered help and asked where they were moving from, and they
said Texas, so we made a connection there, as Sister Hatton & I both grew
up in Southeast Texas, and we left them with a pass along card with our number
and told them to let us know if they need help with anything.
We ran into one
guy from India who asked what country we were from, and we spoke with him for a
bit, and then we talked to another couple also from India, who are expecting
their first child. We talked to a couple of girls who looked our age and were
sitting at a picnic table, and all of those were awesome, and we decided to
head back to the apartment.
When we were
almost there, I saw a woman in a hijab pushing a double stroller with her kids,
just beyond the entrance to our apartment complex, & I wanted to compliment
her outfit since I really loved it, so I said to Sister Hatton, "what if
we go and talk to them?" And she agreed.
So, we went & talked to them & found out that the mother doesn't
speak much English but that the 7-year-old daughter, named Uzmah, did.
We spoke for
awhile, and then Omah, the mother, invited us to come over to her house for
tea, and we felt like we should and our schedule was flexible for the rest of
the night, so we agreed, and we went over.
She offered us food, and gave us water (instead of tea) and we talked to
her through Uzmah (Uzmah, being 7, got sidetracked frequently while she was
translating 😂), and she thanked us for coming over and
making her family happy. We shared a
verse from the Book of Mormon how God loves all people, and that He is aware of
them. Omah also asked if we could help her learn English, and we said yes, and
agreed to come back to her house on Friday to try to practice English.
Well get this! On
our way back home, we ran into Anna, a woman who we have been trying to meet
with who lives in our apartment complex and haven't been able to. If we hadn't
gone to Omah's house, we wouldnt have seen Anna. She invited us in and so I got
to meet her for the first time, and she is INCREDIBLE!! And we set a time to
come over to her place for dinner on Friday, and she also asked for a simpler
version of the Book of Mormon because she wants to understand it.
All of that might
not have happened had we not followed that simple inspiration to talk to Omah!
Friday, We went over to Omah's and tried to practice English
with her, and it was difficult because we didn't have many resources, but we
did leave her with a sticky note with the link for EnglishConnect for her
husband, Sam, to help her sign up later, since he speaks fluent English. Then
we went to Anna's and talked to her and she is just a wonderful woman, and so
humble and so fun!!
We also had a lot of service this week so that was fun!!
Miracles are real and God is in the details!!
🪄What inspiration have you
seen this week?🪄
Love you all!!!
Sister Alyssa Putnam
(Elder Slade)
To the best friends and family a person could hope for!
This week I got bit by a dog. We turned the corner from
walking behind a parked car, and a huge pitbull came out of nowhere and ran
towards us! The dog ended up getting my shoe, and it now has a few teeth marks
in it. I didn't realize it at the time, but a woman was holding the dog on
their leash, so I was able to escape! I'm alright, but it definitely surprised
me. What made it better was that we learned after that the dog's name was
Chaos! I thought it was an appropriate name!
This experience ended up being a miracle though. We started
talking with them, and they let us in to share a message. We learned that she
is a member that wants to start coming back to church, and that she had a son
who is not baptized. We talked a little about baptism, and are going to put him
on date for baptism this week!
The Lord has been blessing us immensely! We met another kid
who calls himself "Mousey" and he really like basketball, so we shot
a few hoops with him, and he said he asked his mom if he could get baptized,
and he said he would love to have us teach him!
It reminds me of a verse I read recently, Helaman 3:25
"And so great was the prosperity of the church, and so many the blessings
which were poured out upon the people, that even the high priests and the
teachers were themselves astonished beyond measure." I have truly been
astonished by all the blessings God has bestowed upon us, both now and my
entire life. God is good, and I am humbled by the love he has for his children.
I love you all! Thanks for taking the time each week to read
my email!
Pictures:
1-2. Pictures from exchanges this week!
