Sister Denton's Marvelous Mission: July 2011

Monday, July 25, 2011

7/25/11- Letter to the World

Well hello world!

Monday
First P-Day for Sis. Mortensen, so we ran our errands and then wrote letters.  We actually had an appointment scheduled with Ben at 5, so we had to catch the bus at 4:30 (P-Day normally ends at 6).  He didn't show up, but he rescheduled (see Friday :D).  Afterward we went to the Memmott's house.  They are an older couple we met.  We started recording their personal history!  They have some great stories.  Near the end, he asked a little about the last days...it was even more promising on Thursday!

Tuesday
We got to meet with Zack!  He is the coolest.  We had given him a lesson 2 (Plan of Salvation) pamphlet to read over, and he came with it all marked up and ready to ask questions!  He asks questions I've never even thought of before!  What amazes me, though, is that the gospel answers all of them.  This truly is Christ's church, restored in it's fulness to the earth.  We had a forum later that day and stopped by some members that had moved in the night before.

Wednesday
After District Meeting, we met with Caden.  He now has a date for September 3.  He's accepting everything well, but he just needs to take it seriously and I know he'll get an answer!  We got to teach Shaun, a recent convert.  Actually, we had him teach us, and it was amazing!  We actually took him out teaching with us later that week because he was so awesome! 

Thursday
We went to a forum for a little while and then off to service at the food bank.  Next we got to teach Richie, our friend from India.  He is one of the happiest people in the world and you can't help but smile when you're around him!  We started teaching lesson 1 (Restoration), but didn't make it too far.  We talked a lot about the Priesthood.  After dinner, we went and saw the Memmotts again.  While there, his brother and niece came over, but they left after a few minutes.  We were able to talk about the Priesthood that night and Sis. Mortensen gave them a Book of Mormon, which they took!  I really hope they read it.  It's amazing what family history can do!  We're hoping we can compile it to give as a gift to their children and them at their wedding anniversary in October.

Friday
We got to teach Zack again!  He had more questions about the Plan of Salvation.  He is seeking to know so much!  I absolutely love teaching him!  I got to volunteer at Youth Conference and help teach an ASL class.  That was fun to use it some!  We had an appointment at 4 that fell through, but our 5pm appt came early, so it worked!  It was with Ben.  Shaun was there for our team-up, but Ben could only stay like 10 minutes.  We were able to introduce the concept of God to him (he's from China) and he said the closing prayer!  He's willing to meet again, though he's very busy.  We got to teach Rachel that night, another investigator from China.  She's working toward Aug 20 for baptism.  We ended up reading with her again because she hadn't read this week.  In her prayer, she told Heavenly Father that she thinks it might be important to read on her own.  I hope this happens!

Saturday
We started the day with our correlation meetings.  We went to follow up with a referral we received, but they weren't home, so we headed back for an appointment that didn't come.  Next we headed up to Bellefonte to teach Bro Rich.  He received it pretty well, except for the Priesthood being held only by men and only in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  He agreed, though, that if he reads and prays and comes to know that Joseph Smith is a prophet, that it's all true!  We'll meet with him again!

Sunday
Sundays we are at the church from 7:45-4:30pm, so the day really starts with our dinner appointment.  Our RS President had encouraged us to do more finding further away from State College, so we prayed about whether we should go to Centre Hall or Spring Mills.  I felt one and Sis. Mortensen felt the other, so we flipped a coin and went to Centre Hall.  A less active member who is out of town came into my head, so we decided to tract her street.  On the way, this member actually texted us and asked us to check on her pets (she'd been out of town about 3 weeks).  As we drove up, the landlord's daughter and the neighbor were over.  The neighbor had been taken care of the dog, because no one else had been doing it and the landlord's daughter had been told the house had been abandoned, so they were checking it out.  I'm glad we were able to be there to at least know what's going on!  We didn't want to tract the street after that, so we headed off to Spring Mills.  I'd never been there, so we put it in the GPS and picked the first street...it led us up to a little trailer park!  We only had about 20 minutes left by this time, but we knocked the first door and met Bro Mott.  He took a Book of Mormon and may meet with us again!  Super exciting!

Well, my time is dwindling, so I must bid you adieu!

Love you all!

Sister Denton

Monday, July 18, 2011

7/18/11- Letter to the World

Hello world!  It's been a crazy week!

Monday
After P-Day, Marie took Sis. Johnson and I out to the Olive Garden.  I love her so much!  I'm sad to see her go back to Kuwait!  Then we drove out to Pittsburgh and arrived around 10:00pm.  We stayed the night in the HUGE Pittsburgh sister's apartment. 

Tuesday
The next morning, Sister Quijano (who I came out with) and I left Sister GIbson and Sister Johnson to get to work!  Sister Quijano and I went off to meetings.  I had a training meeting and then lunch with the new missionaries.  Sister Mortensen is my new comp.  She's great!  She's from a ranch in Colorado and is super excited about missionary work.  She's had two sisters and a brother serve so far.  Then we went to a training meeting together and then the transfer meeting.  Around 4, we headed back for State College.  We arrived around 7:30 and then waited for the Lancaster Sisters to bring Sister Juliano and an extra car up.  It was fun to see all the sisters within two days!  That pretty much never happens!  So now Sister Quijano (key-hawn-o) and Sister Juliano are serving in the other State College area and I am the pseudo-District Leader.  It's not technically a calling, but I do what the elders would do if they were here.

Since we were gone, James (our branch mission leader) and Heidi (a branch missionary) met with Zack and read with him.  He kept asking questions that led right into the remainder of the Restoration.  He said, "If Jesus set up a church when he was on the earth, I think the right church would be the one that's most like it."  He asked, "If there were prophets then, shouldn't there be prophets now?"  He's so awesome!  We have another appointment with him tomorrow.

Wednesday
Off to work!  We now have 2 hours of companionship study almost every day, so we did that and then all came together for District Meeting.  We taught Caden and set him with a date, although he didn't come to church, so it's changed now.  Jordan dropped us.  We met with Shaun, our recent convert and Stephanie stood us up. 

Thursday
We got to do a forum!  It was Sister Mortensen's first street contacting experience and she did really well!  I'd have been terrified if State College was my first area, I think.  We did service at the food bank and then went tracting.  We met an awesome couple who isn't interested in learning just yet, but will let us help them record their personal history.  He, Bro Memmott, is 91!!

Friday
We taught Caden again, and he had read!  We also got to teach Deb again.  I think I said she was from Lybia, but it's Liberia.  She is SO cool!  We read the introduction with her since she hadn't read, and she's just picking it right up! 

Saturday
We went up to Bellefonte to follow up with a potential--Bro Rich.  He is 84!  We had to teach him on the porch, since there wasn't a woman home, but it was good.  We taught the Plan of Salvation and he was able to see how similar it was to some personal beliefs he'd always had, but that aren't taught outside of the Restored Gospel.  We got to teach Deb the Plan of Salvation, and it was AMAZING!  She absolutely loved it and was so excited to learn about the whole plan.  It just confirmed to me the truthfulness of the Gospel.  It really has been restored!  We also got to teach Rachel, one of our Chinese investigators.  She rescheduled her baptism date for Aug 20 and committed to be better at church, reading, and prayer. 

Sunday
After church, we went with the Elder's Quorum President to give Bro. Rich a blessing for his health.  I really hope he felt the Spirit.  Then we had dinner with an awesome couple in the branch.  While walking, we met Ben who moved here from China 5 days ago!  We have an appointment with him tonight.  We had an appointment fall through that night, but James was with us, so we went over to teach Sariah.  She's moving to Western PA soon.  Sad day!  She cancelled her baptism for now, but I know it will happen eventually.  It's got to be so hard to have your family against it!  She is awesome, though!

Well, there's the week! I hope all of yours was great, too!  This truly is Jesus Christ's church and I'm excited to be a part of it!

Love ya!

Sister Denton

Monday, July 11, 2011

4/11/11- Letter to the World

Hello world!!!!

Well, we have some exciting news this week!  I'm going to be a mom--it's a girl!  (Mission lingo for "I'm training!")  Her name is Sister Mortinson (not sure of spelling yet) and she is from Colorado.  Sister Johnson is getting transferred to Pittsburgh.  We're driving in tonight and spending the night with the Pitt sisters.  Then I have training in the morning, transfer meeting, and drive back to State College!  Sis Juliano and Sis Quijano are doubling into the other State College area.

On the investigator front we have the following:

Branch

Sariah

She doesn't think she'll be ready by Jul 31, but she's still one of the most active members in the branch!  This week we were on the way to Institute a little early to teach her and we mentioned the family history center was open.  She got REALLY excited and spent 2 hours there!  She LOVES it, which is exciting because I do too!  It's so fun to see people get excited about their family history!  She's been reading every morning, too, which is awesome!!

DanWe taught him part of lesson 2 this week.  He was out of town for church, but we have another appointment with him next week.

Brittney and SamWe brought them cookies because of Sadie's surgery, but they weren't home.  We've been in contact a little, but we're not sure where else they're going to go from here.

JordanWe have an appointment this week, so we'll see.

Richie
I love this kid!  He's been out of town.  He made a random friend, Amanda, and brought her to the BBQ last week and he told us she wants to learn, too, so he's trying to coordinate a joint lesson.

CadenHe's been MIA for a couple of weeks, but texted us yesterday as he passed by on the bus and asked when we could meet!  We have an appt for this week.

Joey
He got a job, which is great, but it means he's moving out of town.  I thought he was completely uninterested after our mission rules/word of wisdom discussion, but he seems to still be interested, so we're going to try and hook him up with missionaries in Indiana.

ZackHe's new this week and AWESOME.  We met him at a forum (we set up a table of Book of Mormon on campus) and we met with him.  He's probably mid-30s and is a researcher at PSU.  He really wants to research and find out if God is there!  He said the closing prayer and it was SO sweet and innocent!  "Hi God.  I don't know what is true, but I want to know.  I like you.  In the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen."  He came to all three hours of church and seemed to enjoy it.  Our Branch Mission Leader is awesome and was at the first lesson, so is an AWESOME fellowshipper.  He's actually going to have to do the appointment tomorrow, since we'll be in Pittsburgh.

DebShe is from Libya.  We tracted into her Saturday and taught her Sunday.  It was awesome!  She is also seeking for truth and is willing to search this out and see if it's true!  I love it when people are truly seeking!

Family Branch

Bro Randall
We didn't get to teach him this week, nor will we be able to see him tonight, but we have an appointment for next week.  He came to church this past Sunday, all three hours, and said he'd go again next Sunday!  He is another one who is truly prepared.

Ward

Rachel
She still has a baptismal date of Jul 26th, but we haven't seen her in awhile.  She's been pretty busy with deadlines, etc.

Bro WalkerHe's been MIA this whole transfer.  We got an appt with him this week, but he cancelled.  We're hoping we can reschedule.

AmyShe has also been MIA for awhile, but she called this week and said she'd been reading the Ensign on campus and would like a copy, so we were able to go over and teach.  She studied for awhile before, and she wants to be careful this time and make sure she knows.  She is going to start reading again and see where it goes.  She is an amazing woman and I hope she continues learning with us!

Bro. McAllisterHe's a Recent Convert, but he is AMAZING!!!  He's 75 and so excited to learn everything he can.  He was just baptized the end of May, but already read the entire Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price.  He's on his second time through the Book of Mormon.  Meanwhile, he's reading Our Search for Happiness, the Gospel Principles Manual, and True to the Faith.  He took us out for Mexican food this week.  Yum!

SamanthaShe's a recently reactivated woman who moved here about a month ago.  We've been able to spend more and more time with her and it's amazing to see her diligence in turning her life around.  She is committed!  Her little boys are adorable, too!

Funny story--we were tracting these apartments and there was tons of construction, so we were trying to make this elaborate plan to get to the apartments when we realized a path to the temporary stairs.  I said, "That's disappointingly convenient" and it has become one of my favorite phrases!  I hope that was funny to someone...lol

Well, I think that's it!  I am so blessed to have all of these amazing people to work with.  I'm excited for the adventure that lies ahead!  This truly is God's work!  We quote the Standard of Truth every morning, and I love it.  It says, "The standard of truth has been erected.  No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing.  Persecutions may rise, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent 'til it has penetrated every continent, visited every climb, swept every country and sounded in every ear.  'Til the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say, 'The work is done.'"

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

7/5/11- Letter to the World

Hello World!

Let's get down to business!

Monday
For P-Day we took some pictures on campus and I got to rock out on the piano...well, as much as you can rock out to church music lol.  It was fabulous though!

We taught Bro Randall again--the referral out in the Elders' old area.  He had read all of 1 Nephi!!  In a week!  He really wants to know if this is true, and I'm excited to help him find out!  He said he'd pray about a date to set for a goal to be baptized.

Tuesday
We had a forum in the morning--we set up a little table at an assigned place on campus and get to contact anyone that comes by!  It's quite fun.  We had District Meeting afterward on campus, since we 4 sisters make up the district.  Our 3:30 stood us up, but James, our team-up, suggested going to see Sariah.  It was a great lesson!  She agreed to try reading every day so long as we text her.  In reality, though, she's been AWESOME this week and has read every morning before we even remind her!!

We had dinner at a member's with Rachel and her husband, Hank.  They are from China and she reminds me so much of YeYang!  We talked about the Word of Wisdom and she said, "Mormons don't drink?  Even the men?  Maybe you just don't know..."  lol.  Hank keeps the Word of Wisdom perfectly, but he's not really interested in learning.  Because it was a member's, though, he was at least in the room as we read from the Book of Mormon

After they left, we went out tracting and got POURED on, so we ran to another member's home to dry off and teach a little lesson.  'Twas a good day!

Wednesday
We volunteered at a blood drive on campus--we got to run the food station.  We met an awesome FBI agent who lived in Utah for awhile.  He told us that John Huntsman had announced his candidacy...funny how we find out those things through nonmembers! lol

We had dinner with a member and then taught Marie again.  I LOVE her so much!  She is the Muslim from Kuwait who came to church on Sunday!  She gave me a beautiful hairpiece that I had complimented on Sunday.  We watched the Restoration DVD and she said that she felt like she was kneeling next to Joseph as the light came down.  Wow! 

ThursdayWe went on exchanges and I got to be with Sister Wilson!  Woot!  I love her so much!  We did another forum.  Sister Johnson stayed in our area and we got a new investigator.  She also went to see Marie again and she had had a dream about Christ.  Ashley had read through 1 Ne 13!  In one day!  Sister Wilson and I went to see this awesome guy named John she'd met last week.  He'd already read halfway through!  (He finished on Sunday!)  He's ROCKIN'!

Friday
We taught Justin, who is another awesome new investigator.  Hopefully you'll hear more about him.  We also went to see Samantha, an amazing woman who has recently started coming back to church.  She then came with us to teach Bro. McAllister--my favorite 75-yr-old Recent Convert ever!  He has such a strong faith!  His wife sat in too, which is great :D

Saturday
We had meetings in the morning and then went to see Sis. Mickels--a less active who got in a crash the night before.  We then went to a baptism, which was so great!  It was for an 8-yr-old, but I LOVE baptisms!!  We taught a member afterward and then went home for dinner.  We went out contacting and then went and taught Sariah a lesson.  I love her!

SundayChurch was pretty standard--awesome.  Sis Kost went home, so we're back to a threesome.

Monday

'Twas great!  We had to be in by 6pm and do paperwork till 9.  At 9, we made an AWESOME music video.  O ya.

I love you all!  This truly is Christ's church and can bless everyone!  It's not just for some :D

Love ya!

Sister Denton