10/18/10 - Letter to the World

Well hello all!

Thanks to my mom who reminded me of things I needed to write about!  Also, congrats to her for finishing radiation!!!

Congratulations to the Lambert Family on their little girl!  I'm excited to see her in 2012 :D

Now story time!

So, our first P-day in Lancaster, we (us and the Elders) were trying to find parking at HACC, a college in the area.  There was none in visitor parking and we couldn't find any other place to park.  We were following the Elders (the Senior Comp always drives) and they turned left, so we followed them.  I noticed a giant sign we were turning left in front of that said no left turns, but didn't say anything because we were following the Elders.  At the bottom of that hill, a cop was standing there and directed both cars and one other over to the side.  He told the Elders it would be like a $200 or something ticket and because we weren't students it was from the city, etc.  For whatever reason, he let us off with just a warning!  Apparently there are no left turns between 9am and 3pm.  Random.  Pennsylvania signs are weird.  Many stop signs have a sign under them that say "except right turns."  There are random rules here.  Anyway, we made it safe to e-mail!!

Investigators

• We haven't followed up on Benji and Cait yet.  They told us they were pretty busy in Oct, but hopefully we will this week.  We need to see them again!
• We didn't see Lynnda this week either.  We called and left a message and she called back (a rarity), but we got no service (something that happens often in Lancaster county :D).  We tried calling back a couple of times and left a message, but haven't heard more.  I hope her friend in Utah prods her to continue meeting with us!
• Mandy is doing well.  We still need to get her to agree on a date!  We're hoping for Nov 13 and 20.  She's going to pray about the two.
• YeYang is got accepted to BYU this week!  That was our super exciting news!!!!!  She leaves Dec. 30.  We keep teaching her and she keeps keeping all of her commitments!  She is golden!  Sister Longmore keeps saying that she thinks Ye Yang will be like the General Primary President in China! 
• This week we finally met Cynda.  She is a referral from the Elders.  She knows SO much about the Bible!  She seemed super distracted with her son while we were teaching, but responded very intelligently to all questions.  She was actually quoting bible scripture that supported what we were teaching!  Woot!  She said she'll read the Book of Mormon and she knows God will tell her if it's true.  He will :D
• We got another referral we haven't met yet...Andy.  He does ghost tours in Lancaster!  Just brings people around the city telling ghost stories!  Cool :D  His wife seems nice, so maybe we'll get to teach her too :D
• A potential that I REALLY hope we teach is Ryan.  He is SO funny.  He's a college student.  The first time we met him he totally accepted the Book of Mormon and agreed to read.  The next week, he said his roommate who he wanted us to meet wasn't there, but to come back another time.  When we came up the steps though, he was like "Ladies!  How have you been!"  It's a big contrast from other people we visit lol.  He said he had read some of the Book of Mormon too :D
• Another potential is also named Ryan.  He's older and just got released from a Rehab center, so we're hoping to get him to go to the ARP program the church does at our building and then teach him from there.

A lot of the work we do is with less actives.  The problem is, they don't answer calls or return messages, so we have to just show up at their houses to talk to them and often they aren't home.  A lot of the time, besides lessons, is spent driving between LA members homes.

Something AMAZING this week was interviews.  I usually dread them and was dreading this one as well.  President Summerhays is so amazing, though!  The Spirit was so strong during the interview and he really lifted me up and reminded me that I, specifically, am needed at this time in this place.  He pointed out the tender mercy that Ye Yang was to us as we doubled into this area that the elders kind of messed up.  (The Elders were just going to members houses and playing games and hanging out.  They actually got evicted from their Apt for having noisy sleepovers.  That's why we were doubled in.)

Also, we have an Area Authority coming on Friday!  I can't remember his name though :(.  But, I got a call from an Elder who plays the violin and guess who gets to accompany him?  That's right!  Me :D  I'm SO excited to play the piano!!!!!!

Love ya!

Sister Denton

10/25/10- Letter to the World

Hello World!

This week was awesome!  We'll go day by day, shall we?

Monday--P-Day!  The Holland in our ward took us and YeYang out to lunch for her birthday.  We went to a Chinese buffet and taught the Word of Wisdom afterward, at the restaurant.  We thought it'd be fitting :D

Tuesday--We tracted some and got some potentials.  We taught a LA (less active) lesson and the whole family sat in!  It was especially exciting that the 16-year-old joined us because last time we were there, she came right as we were leaving and acted like a complete brat.  This time, she listened and asked questions!  Also, I think this was this day, we had a way cool experience!  We took the car in for an oil change and while we were waiting for it to be done, a member called and asked if we had jumper cables.  We were at an auto store!!  So we bought cables and drove out to meet her.  Some clients of hers (not members) needed a jump so we were able to help them, refuse the money, and give a pass-a-long card :D  And thank goodness for Sister Longmore who knows about cars!!

Wednesday--Our walking day.  We were walking for awhile and as we approached a house to tract, we were talking about all of those stories of missionaries who go to a house and the people are like "We prayed you'd come!" or whatever, so I said I hoped this would be that way.  It was way different than I expected.  The guy was certifiably insane.  He was nice and stuff, but for instance, we asked for his phone number and he said,. "Honestly, if I give my phone number to the Mormon church, I think they'll kill me."  Okay....then as we were leaving we went to shake hands and he said, "I don't feel comfortable touching you, but we can do an air five!"  So that's what we did.  Ya.  We tracted into some other fabulous people that hopefully will turn into more!  Gregorio doesn't currently have religion, and was just running out the door, but said we could come back.  Claretta is a mother of five young kids who listened to basically the Restoration on the porch and took a Book of Mormon.  Ardith is in nursing school and doesn't feel she has time for religion, but took a Book of Mormon.  A concern we often here is that with so many people claiming visions, how can we know Joseph Smith isn't just a cook.  We just testify and tell them they can ask God :D

Thursday--We called the Bishop to ask if he could baptize YeYang on October 30th and he brought up some concerns about the date and some other things going on.  Between him, the building scheduler, and YeYang, we tried the 23rd, 24th, 27th, 30th, 31st, 3rd, and 6th, none of which worked.  Satan much?  He's such a terd.  We ended up getting Nov 3rd to work, so that's when she will be baptized!  Right after mutual :D  We taught a recent convert who's doing great and Mandy, another investigator.  We're shooting for the 18th, but it depends on her dad's job and her aunt, who is like her mother.  Her aunt doesn't want her to be baptized, so we're praying for her and encouraging her to fast for the inspiration on how to approach her aunt.

Friday--Today was the Mission Tour!  Unfortunately, the GA couldn't come, so we had training instead.  It was great.  Then we began exchanges.  I was with Sis. Rogers for 24 hours.  I learned a lot!  It was really fun.  We taught a less active and YeYang that night.  It was also the first time I've seen someone talk until the door was shut in their face :D  haha

Saturday--We taught YeYang again and then went out to lunch with her at a cute French Cafe which may or may not have been legit...probably not...We went to follow up with a referral/former and had met quite a few potentials that I really hope are potential!!  Sis. Rogers makes people PROMISE to read and pray if they want a copy of the Book of Mormon.  We got phone numbers and these women seem excited for us to come back!  Hopefully we'll be able to teach Davina, too, the referral.  We had dinner with some recent converts and then taught Mandy again and then switched back to our regular companionships.

Sunday--I knew a fam in our ward had lived in West Jordan awhile ago, and I found out this week it was in the Oquirrh 3rd Ward!  Say what?!?  They know the Boyer and Dunlap and Clarke and Bray!  It made me happy to talk to someone who knew my deacons (albeit they were like 3 yrs old then haha).  That was pretty cool.  We also got to teach 2 less actives lessons, which was good.

The work is good!  Sorry for the novel!  Love you all much!

Sister Denton

10/11/10- Letter to the World

This'll have to be SUPER short.

I wrote some lyrics this week for a friend that I want to share.

Sometimes in life, I wonder
Did I really know life would be hard?
Could I really have agreed to come down here
if I knew these things were in the cards?

Did I know that I'd have to struggle?
And sometimes feel oh so alone?
And feel like I can't ever do something right?
Or do anything but whine and moan?

I know that I am a daughter of God
but sometimes that isn't enough
When for days on end I feel so overwhelmed
And think all that I do is fluff.

On days when I just want it easy
I find myself slightly chagrined
When the Spirit itself beareth witness to me
that it never was easy for Him

In Gethsemane I might spend a moment or two
To Calvary a step or two climb
Christ did so much more and He suffered for me
He gave His life so I'd have mine.

I added this the next day

So life up your head and be joyous
Whenever it's hard, think of Christ
and live your life as His disciple
with all of your heart mind and might.

Anyway....ya missions aren't easy, but neither is life.  Hopefully that'll help someone, because it helps me when I'm feeling overwhelmed.

YeYang is doing GREAT!  This week she said how much she misses church and was excited for it Sunday and after church she said she felt it was so short because everything is so interesting!  We had an addiction recovery combined RS/Priesthood and she said how much she loved it because it really made her think about how people are suffering.  Her testimony strengthens mine SO much!!

That's it for today!  Sorry, I had LOTS to respond to in my inbox.  Time's up!  Love you all!

Sister Denton

10/4/10 - Letter to the World

Hey World! 

I'm going to try and actually write this time!  It'll probably be just a bullet point type thing again, but we'll see :D

We got here Sept 20 and were picked up at the airport by the Mission President, his wife, and the APs--one of which is none other than Elder Clark!  He knows Cody and Kyle from school and is the son of Jeff Clark--my boss at Deseret Book!  I told him how amazing his dad is, but I'm sure he already knew :D  (The next day I met Elder Winters, a grandson of a coworker and a kid who graduated my same year from BHS that I didn't know)  We all went out to a buffet restaraunt and then home to their house.  We had milk and cookies.  I went to drink the milk and it was disgusting, but I figured it was just some weird PA brand--kind of like Winder Dairy in Utah (yuck!).  Then I watched Elder Willes make a really weird face.  I just kept trying to drink it--taking a bite of cookie and then some milk.  When President drank it, he asked what was wrong with it.....apparently it was WAY old!!!  So I drank sour milk for the first time :D

We all went to bed at like 8pm--we were exhausted.  The next morning, Sis. Quijano woke me up saying it was 7:30am.  Woops.  That's when we were supposed to be at breakfast downstairs.  Typical Sis. Denton.  We then went to training and met our companions and found out where we were going!

My comp is Sis. Longmore from Riverton, UT.  She has been out almost 10 months.  We are whitewashing this area--elders were removed after being evicted from their apartment for being too loud.  We drove for 5 hours to get here.  We were following Tom's directions (the GPS) and all of a sudden I saw a sign that said "Welcome to West Virginia."  Crap.  We decided to just keep driving and then saw a sign that said "Welcome to Maryland."  Double crap.  So, we had dinner in MD at a place called Penn Alps.  We did end up in Harrisburg, where we were supposed to. We waited for our luggage and then headed another 45 minutes to Mountville.

We got to our brand new, 3rd floor apartment at about 11:30pm.  It is beautiful and it's great that it is brand new, but brand new doesn't mean stocked.  We had 0 food and a couple of boxes of pots and pans.  Our beds weren't even put together!  The mattresses were leaning against the wall.  And no toilet paper.  Just sayin.  Luckily, I found some 48 hour kits that had toilet paper in them, so all was well.

The next day, we scoured the area book for information.  Turns out the Elders didn't keep records.  Great.  So we've been working like crazy in this area to find out anything and everything about the investigators.  We had two recent converts that we didn't even have a confirmation date for, but we're working with one of them now.  The other we can't get ahold of yet--she's been out of town.

Wednesday, our first real day, we called Bro. McBride, who we had met in Harrisburg.  We asked him who the bishop was and he said we could meet him at the church that night at an eagle court of honor and go to institute in the meantime.  Sweet!  So we met the bishop and as soon as he realized we were in his area, we were introduced to YeYang.  She is awesome!  She had a friend in China who was LDS--a foreign exchange student.  She spent the summer of 08 in her home and went to church all summer.  She now wants to go to BYU, so went to mormon.org to find Bishop Kenley.  She wants to be baptized!  How awesome is that!?  Because she has no Christian background, we are really starting from scratch.  We taught her for the first time Saturday night (though she came to church and the RS Broadcast last week).  We said we'd start with a prayer and she said she didn't know how to pray.  When we said we end in the name of Jesus Christ, she asked who He is.  While explaining, we said "Savior" and she asked who He was.  It's really cool, though, to teach these basic things I've always known.  It's amazing to see her be taught for the first time that there was a God who came to the earth 2000 years ago and performed miracles and suffered for your sins.  Like--it's a lot to take in, but she's loving it!  Last night when we met with her, she said the closing prayer and in it, told Heavenly Father she believed us and knew that what we were teaching was true.  So cool!

While tracting, we met Ben and Cat.  Cat is a Jewish Catholic who is now a Protestant Vegan.  Ben is Protestant.  They let us in and we taught the whole first lesson!  We went back this week and they fed us a delicious vegan meal and we taught the Plan of Savlation.  Ben asked a lot of great questions and we asked if he would be baptized when he knew these things were true.  He said if he converts, he'll convert.  We then went to schedule another meeting and they dropped the bomb.  They said that they felt two meetings is enough for now and we'd gvien them a lot to chew on, but that we could check up on them.  We will most DEFINITELY check up on them.  I hope beyond hope that he really does just want to study it out for himself and is not just trying to send us off.  They are an awesome couple!

On 9/30, it was POURING all day!  We had a little pond and puddle in our backyard that became a lake.  I have pictures to prove it.  I didn't have rainboots or a coat or an umbrella, so we stayed inside and worked on the area book (which REALLY needed work).  As we were about to go out, we got a call from our district leaders.  President said we had to remain inside the rest of the evening because of a tornado warning.  WHAT?!!?  Tornados in Pennsylvania!?  So...we didn't leave the house all day except to take out the trash.  We did get the area book organized though!

While tracting Saturday, we met two more potential investigators.  One is Brian.  He was just released from Rehab and is doing the 12-step program at another church.  He seemed interested and took a BoM, so we're going to give him the info for the 12-step at our church :D  We also met Andrea, the mother of 3, who was interested in learning and took a BoM. She is friends with one of our ward members, so that was a great help, too!

Well, hopefully this novel makes up for the shortness of the last two weeks!  I probably forgot tons, so ask questions.  I try and write exciting things on a post-it note throughout the week.

Love you all!

Sister Denton