Transfers again??

 (Sister Putnam)

Hey everyone!

This week we had transfers again, and Sister Hatton & Wayman left Alderwood, so the first half of last week consisted of us going out so that Sister Hatton could say goodbye to our friends.

Then Wednesday came, and we showed up to transfers. After awhile of being there, and everyone knowing who their new companion would be, I still hadn't received my new comp.  So, I asked the APs and they said that my new companion would arrive on Thursday, and she's a Sister coming from the Nauvoo historic sites, coming to do the proselytizing part of her mission. So Sister Fodnes and I were companions for the day!

So I met her on Thursday, and she is wonderful! Her name is Sister Rice and she and another Sister, Sister Wayment, came to the mission from Nauvoo! I am learning a lot from her!

We gave a lesson to a family using paper airplanes this week. For those of you who are missionaries, you might want to snatch this idea for kids!

🛩Paper airplanes! As you make the paper airplanes with the family, have them write by each fold the things they do to choose the right. This is how we allow the lord to shape us. And because we allow the lord to shape us we can go a lot further than without those things, like a paper airplane vs an untouched piece of paper.

Sister Alyssa Putnam

S9 E2: "A lesson and a blessin'."

 (Elder Cummings)

So we're cruising down the windy road in the RAV4, trying to find the neighborhood we had planned to contact in. We get there. We turn right. We park. We get out. And BOOM. There is a man decked out in BYU gear standing outside of his trailer waiting for us.

"I thought I seen y'all" he says as he waves us inside. We weren't planning on visiting with him, we didn't even know he lived there, we didn't know HIM, but we walk in.

Besides behind his Christmas tree that was still up, there is not a foot of space on the walls between his pictures and paintings of family, Jesus, and Church History. We look down at his coffee table and see stacks of temple names. This guy is such an amazing man and we could feel it when we walked in.

"Brother Walters" he says as he shakes our hands with a grip only those 35 lbs dumbells at the foot of his couch could produce, "and I'm glad y'all came today".

As we get talking with him we learn that he was having a rough day. He felt that the devil was attacking from all and every side. He said he had read his scriptures, did some temple work, and been saying prayers and could just not get bad thoughts out of his mind. We were able to share a quick message and he looks at us and says "Boys, I believe I prayed y'all here. Y'all ain't leavin till I get a blessin' ".

We were able to give him a blessing and it seemed that a load was just taken off of him afterwards. He smiled his Cajun smile and gave us the biggest hug. We had never even met him before.

God works in mysterious ways. He has a plan for us all. He answers prayers. I am so so grateful that I was able to be part of an answer to another of His children. He is aware of us. And this is all because He loves us. And "in this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him"(1 John 4:9).

Have a blessed week y'all!!

Elder Cummings

Miracles and Transfers!

 (Elder Slade)

To the best friends and family a person could hope for!

I am getting transferred! I'm really sad to see this area go. There are so many wonderful people I care about and love! I'll miss my companion Elder Thomas as well! But the Lord is taking me another way. I am getting sent to Ammon 2 to be companions with Elder Gurney. He is an amazing Elder, and I look forward to learning from him!

We had a cool experience with a kid we're teaching named Mousey this week. Mousey is the coolest kid you'll meet! It's been hard to get him to church however. In the past he had hated church, and even ditched the missionaries and church halfway through the meeting! 😂 But this week, we were able to get him a ride, and get him to church.  After the second hour, the first thing he said was, "That was AWESOME!! I want to come next week!" It is amazing to see how the Lord works on people, and helps prepare people to come closer to Him!

We also had a cool experience with our friends Gabe and Sadie as well. We had stop teaching them because their family had gotten way too busy! However we felt impressed to stop by this week and we caught him at just the perfect time. They said that they felt a noticable difference when they were doing the basics of prayer, reading the scriptures, and church. They want to start making it more of a priority for them, and we set up weekly meetings, and they came to church this Sunday!

I love being on a mission SO much! We see miracles and tender mercies every day! I love the people here in Idaho! I love the Gospel! I love the Lord! I love you all! 

Pictures:

1-2. Saying goodbye to my district. :(

3. Our growing pringles collection! I'm pretty excited about the Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich pringles we found today! Should be super good!

Elder Renlund and Transfers!

 (Sister Putnam)

Hey everyone! A lot has happened this week!

Amy is still sick so we are waiting for her to recover so we can meet with her again. We brought her some cookies to let her know we are still thinking of her and met her husband, Kerard.

We tried to get another lesson with Royaleen.  She said her husband has some concerns about us meeting with her since their family shares the house with other people, so she said she would back with us. She also said she'd be interested in meeting somewhere else and she's super excited to have us as a part of her life! So please pray for Royaleen!

We had some transfers this week and we got a new sister, Hermana Wayman! She is awesome, she was originally assigned to Uruguay, and Sister Hatton will be training her. We have transfers this Wednesday too, and Sister Hatton & Hermana Wayman are transferring, and I will be staying here. We are super sad to be splitting up, but they will do awesome in their new area!

Elder Dale G. Renlund came and spoke to our mission! We had a conference with the whole mission and we talked about being better motivated & planning things better.  We sat front row for it! We also had a women's session and a stake conference with him too! It was awesome!

Okay, love you all!!

Sister Alyssa Putnam

10 Months!

 (Sister Putnam)

Hey, everyone!

Sooo the voice recording didn't work for everyone, which is unfortunate, but it was worth a shot.

This week after preparation day we went over to a family's house for a lesson, the same family I spoke of last week. The lesson went a little off track of where we intended for it to go, given that there are young children involved and they tend to become sidetracked. Towards the end, we were talking about the atonement with the 8 year old girl, and she was rather engaged in the conversation. It was incredible to see her understand, possibly for the first time, that someone understands her perfectly. We invited her to pray to know what we taught is true.  We invited the grandfather to help her to remember to do so, and he said he would be willing to. So that was cool, and I hope that it will make a lasting impression of the family.

Amy! We were supposed to meet up with Amy on Thursday but she got really sick and had to cancel.  We know it was the adversary getting in the way because she is excited to be baptized and we  were planning to set a realistic baptismal date on Thursday.  So, if yall could, pray for Amy so she can get better so we can put her on date!!

We also met with our friend Anna.  We were planning on teaching her about the Restoration, but we ended up having a Spirit guided discussion abiout where we were before this life and where we go after we die. She was into it, so that was pretty cool!

We tried to get Royaleen to Church but she said "let me check with my husband" and then a few minutes later she said "sorry we have go cancel".  We were pretty sad and we'll have to see what's up.

Sister Hatton got the news that she will be training one of the missionaries coming in tomorrow, so that's exciting.  But we are SO sad that we won't be comps anymore. She's gonna do great though.

Love you all, bye!!!

Ps congrats to BYU for winning the game!

Sister Alyssa Putnam

S9 E1: Supercenter = Superior

 (Elder Cummings)

Howdy y'all!

This week was super weird and unusual, so I wish I had more to share. Because of Hurricane Ida we got our transfers pushed back so transfers were this last week and it's just a 5 week transfers too. On top of that about half of the New Orleans missionaries have been displaced to our zone because of the storm and so our district is currently 21 missionaries strong.

We spent most of Wednesday working stuff out for transfers. My previous companion going into the office and my new companion leaving the office, I was stuck in the middle of a lot of office stuff and odds and ends.

The highlight of this week was probably a simple answered prayer by Elder Smith. We were leaving our apartment to go to Walmart with 8 other missionaries (cause their car was in the shop and a ton of other stuff), and Elder Smith simply asks in the prayer that despite how busy we have been and how much we have going on, that God will provide us opportunities to find those who are willing to let Him prevail. With a week of no proselytizing cause of hurricane relief, and then a week of meetings and transfers and whatnot, we were itching to do some real missionary work. So we head to Walmart. 

Now first we hit up the Walmart Neighborhood Market cause that is usually sufficient for our needs. But upon arriving we realize again that a hurricane had come through just about 2 weeks prior and the Walmart was barely stocked. So we head to the Supercenter baby. As we are making our way to the canned tuna aisle, we run into two super awesome friends who are restocking shelves.

Brian straight up asks us "Who are yall?" and we are able to have a nice simple conversation with Brian and his friend Jermaine about welding and the gospel of Jesus Christ. They want more in their life right now and would love to meet with us!

It was just really comforting to know that despite everything that we had on our plate(and that lack of things on our plates cause we had no food) that God still heard our plea to do His work. I know that's not much of a miracle compared to some that you have heard or even some that I may have shared before, but like Elder Rasband says, "the magnitude does not determine a miracle, but only by Who provides it". I know God answers prayers and listens to our desires.

Love yall and have a blessed week!!

Elder Cummings

Photo:

-The Alexandria gang meeting up at MLC

Flat Tire!

 (Elder Slade)

To the best friends and family a person could hope for!

Man, life as a missionary is SO good! It's definitely not perfect, but it's possible to remain optimistic and happy in all circumstances! For example, we got an flat tire this week! My first flat tire, woohoo! We were driving and heard a pop as we ran over something. We pulled into an parking lot, and despite a lack of experience, we were able to switch it in 15 minutes. We went back to work, and were able to get to all our appointments on time! It was a tender mercy we figured it out!

Similarly, we have a lot of questions as missionaries. Questions such as, what do we do, what do we say, where do we go. However the Lord's hand is active in this work! Every time we turn to the Lord and humbly ask for guidance, he somehow answers those questions. In someway he communicates His will to us. I can promise to each of you, as a servant of the Lord, that each of you can recieve similar guidance. With all questions you have, you can turn to the Lord for help, and He will direct you.

I love each of you and hope the best for you!

Pictures:

1. Took a selfie with a peacock.

2. Exchange with Elder Higgins.

3. Exchange with Elder Vorwaller

4. The Sisters and Elder Thomas are doing a song for social media (Elder Thomas is a beast on guitar!)

5. We are collecting pringle cans! We are trying to get all the exotic flavors!