Dear everyone-
Well from the sounds of it, out west has had a pretty dry winter and
out here has had a record breaking winter. I found out that our
cumulative snow fall for this winter is about 60 inches so far!! I
would be more than happy to send some of our snow. If it's not
freezing cold, it's snowing. But such is the life of an Illinois
missionary. This week we went to to eat out and we saw these small
mountains in the parking lot of Walmart. It took us a while to realize
that they weren't really mountains at all but big giant piles of snow.
In the picture I am sending with this email that is a car compared to
these massive snow piles!! Who ever said there wasn't mountains in
Illinois has never seen these snow piles in the parking lot of
Walmart!
Well this week was extremely slow and easy going compared to last
week. I don't know how anything can top last week though. Leena had
her temple recommend interview yesterday and will be going to the
temple this weekend! She looks so different, she looks happy. She even
told us that since her baptism she feels so happy and has seen so many
miracles in her life. Her husband has been much nicer to her and she
can feel the Holy Ghost all the time. Such an awesome miracles! It was
worth every pitcher full of water. And since Leena was pretty much all
our teaching pool consisted of, we are really relying on the members
since it's impossible to find anyone outside to talk to and we can't
go tracting if it's below 0 so that's pretty much all the time. But
the Elders were teaching one lady named Carrol. Now Carrol is the
grouchiest 70 year old women you've ever met. Her son is a member and
that's how she knows the church. But before we got here she told the
elders to never come over again. But we have met with her twice and
she agreed to let us come over and read the Book of Mormon with her.
So we went over this week and the lesson did not go well at all.
Carrol was all over the place, she couldn't focus, her dog started
licking my face (ew!!!), but she had read some of the Book of Mormon
by herself. So we left this lesson really frustrated because we really
felt like Carrol could be baptized this month but with lessons like
that it's not going to happen. And so we had fasted for this lesson so
to break our fast we went and got ice cream. Because ice cream makes
everything better right?! Absolutely! So were sitting in the drive
thru and we get a call from Carrol. After we had left she went outside
to smoke her cigarette. She smoked half of it, and then realized that
she needed to change, so she put it out!! We were so thrilled because
smoking is the major thing holding her back and this was a big deal
for her! And she told us that she's ready to change and promised that
she'd be at church yesterday but she wasn't there. We'll have to go
smack some sense into her! But this just showed me that as we exercise
our faith, and fast and pray, The Lord will bless us. It may not be in
the way or the time we expected but he will help us.
Yesterday was our Ward conference and it went so well! I love how the
focus of most meetings is missionary work. Doesn't that tell us how
important it is? We have been coming up with this awesome lesson to
teach the members that helps them think of names, deadlines, and to
form a family mission plan. Hint: you should all do this for FHE!
First, kneel in prayer as a family and ask Heavenly Father who of your
friends, neighbors, or acquaintances are that are ready for the
gospel. Think of some specific names and write them down. And then
make a deadline for each different goal. If your goal is to invite
somebody to a mutual activity then set a deadline that by next
Wednesday you'll have invited this person. Or if your goal is to
invite your kids soccer coach over to your house for dinner with the
missionaries then set it for a month away. The reason we have to set
goals is not to scare us into doing it, but to motivate us and to make
us desperate. In Clayton Christensen's book he talks about how The
Lord can trust us when we show him that we are desperate to share the
gospel at any opportunity. And then DO IT!!! Don't be afraid,
missionary work is supposed to be uncomfortable. Members tell us all
the time that they just don't feel comfortable sharing the gospel. You
know what Sister Dias and I say? Good!!! It's a sacrifice to share the
gospel and it's not easy, but the reward and the feeling you have is
well worth it. You think we as missionaries are always comfortable? Of
course not! Do you think Alma and Amulek were ever comfortable as they
were being stoned and spit upon? I don't think so. So get over your
fears, pray for courage, and go invite someone to meet with the
missionaries. I can promise you from the bottom of my heart that you
will feel such joy you didn't even know existed. And having the
missionaries teach the discussion in your home brings the spirit more
than anything else. And if you get rejected, keep trying! The Lord has
a plan so never give up. And most importantly, act out of love. If you
remember those things you will be successful! Alright, well sorry I
ranted there but it's my favorite thing to talk about! So that's all
for my week! I love you all so very much!
Love always,
Sister Hauser
Well from the sounds of it, out west has had a pretty dry winter and
out here has had a record breaking winter. I found out that our
cumulative snow fall for this winter is about 60 inches so far!! I
would be more than happy to send some of our snow. If it's not
freezing cold, it's snowing. But such is the life of an Illinois
missionary. This week we went to to eat out and we saw these small
mountains in the parking lot of Walmart. It took us a while to realize
that they weren't really mountains at all but big giant piles of snow.
In the picture I am sending with this email that is a car compared to
these massive snow piles!! Who ever said there wasn't mountains in
Illinois has never seen these snow piles in the parking lot of
Walmart!
Well this week was extremely slow and easy going compared to last
week. I don't know how anything can top last week though. Leena had
her temple recommend interview yesterday and will be going to the
temple this weekend! She looks so different, she looks happy. She even
told us that since her baptism she feels so happy and has seen so many
miracles in her life. Her husband has been much nicer to her and she
can feel the Holy Ghost all the time. Such an awesome miracles! It was
worth every pitcher full of water. And since Leena was pretty much all
our teaching pool consisted of, we are really relying on the members
since it's impossible to find anyone outside to talk to and we can't
go tracting if it's below 0 so that's pretty much all the time. But
the Elders were teaching one lady named Carrol. Now Carrol is the
grouchiest 70 year old women you've ever met. Her son is a member and
that's how she knows the church. But before we got here she told the
elders to never come over again. But we have met with her twice and
she agreed to let us come over and read the Book of Mormon with her.
So we went over this week and the lesson did not go well at all.
Carrol was all over the place, she couldn't focus, her dog started
licking my face (ew!!!), but she had read some of the Book of Mormon
by herself. So we left this lesson really frustrated because we really
felt like Carrol could be baptized this month but with lessons like
that it's not going to happen. And so we had fasted for this lesson so
to break our fast we went and got ice cream. Because ice cream makes
everything better right?! Absolutely! So were sitting in the drive
thru and we get a call from Carrol. After we had left she went outside
to smoke her cigarette. She smoked half of it, and then realized that
she needed to change, so she put it out!! We were so thrilled because
smoking is the major thing holding her back and this was a big deal
for her! And she told us that she's ready to change and promised that
she'd be at church yesterday but she wasn't there. We'll have to go
smack some sense into her! But this just showed me that as we exercise
our faith, and fast and pray, The Lord will bless us. It may not be in
the way or the time we expected but he will help us.
Yesterday was our Ward conference and it went so well! I love how the
focus of most meetings is missionary work. Doesn't that tell us how
important it is? We have been coming up with this awesome lesson to
teach the members that helps them think of names, deadlines, and to
form a family mission plan. Hint: you should all do this for FHE!
First, kneel in prayer as a family and ask Heavenly Father who of your
friends, neighbors, or acquaintances are that are ready for the
gospel. Think of some specific names and write them down. And then
make a deadline for each different goal. If your goal is to invite
somebody to a mutual activity then set a deadline that by next
Wednesday you'll have invited this person. Or if your goal is to
invite your kids soccer coach over to your house for dinner with the
missionaries then set it for a month away. The reason we have to set
goals is not to scare us into doing it, but to motivate us and to make
us desperate. In Clayton Christensen's book he talks about how The
Lord can trust us when we show him that we are desperate to share the
gospel at any opportunity. And then DO IT!!! Don't be afraid,
missionary work is supposed to be uncomfortable. Members tell us all
the time that they just don't feel comfortable sharing the gospel. You
know what Sister Dias and I say? Good!!! It's a sacrifice to share the
gospel and it's not easy, but the reward and the feeling you have is
well worth it. You think we as missionaries are always comfortable? Of
course not! Do you think Alma and Amulek were ever comfortable as they
were being stoned and spit upon? I don't think so. So get over your
fears, pray for courage, and go invite someone to meet with the
missionaries. I can promise you from the bottom of my heart that you
will feel such joy you didn't even know existed. And having the
missionaries teach the discussion in your home brings the spirit more
than anything else. And if you get rejected, keep trying! The Lord has
a plan so never give up. And most importantly, act out of love. If you
remember those things you will be successful! Alright, well sorry I
ranted there but it's my favorite thing to talk about! So that's all
for my week! I love you all so very much!
Love always,
Sister Hauser
No comments:
Post a Comment