9/22/11- Letter to the World

Okay world....I have 35 minutes, so this is going to be AWESOME because I just lived one of the best weeks of my entire life :D

Super Funny
Super Awesome
That's right...back to color coding :D

Monday
After P-Day, we went to find a referral.  He wasn't interested, but we went tracting.  The next house, a man was outside, so we went to talk to him and he gave us a giant box of tomatoes.  We had 2 more hours to tract, what were we supposed to do with a giant box of tomatoes?  So we carried it with us to the next house and set it to the side.  The people talked to us for a little while, but weren't interested, so I asked if they wanted any tomatoes.  They were discussing it when I mentioned that the neighbors had just given us the box.  The woman responded that the day previous, she had given THEM a box of tomatoes.  Super awkward.  Anywho, we went to give some to a couple we'd met a couple of roads down who was super nice and invited us in and gave us water last time.  They took some.  Then we took some up the street to another woman we'd met who is older and super sweet.  Turns out she LOVES tomatoes and thanked us.  :D

Tracting the rest of that street was relatively uneventful.  Actually...no it wasn't lol...at least not compared to regular tracting terms.  We met a woman who ended up yelling at us.  We got a return appointment with an older woman.  We met a cool guy named George from Germany.  We're teaching him tonight.  Lol...we met this guy named Dan who I'd actually met before.  I knew he looked familiar, but couldn't place him.  Last time I met him, my companion and I had been walking through the library and he passed and just said, "Hi Sisters!"  Well, no one but members of the Church call us sisters, and we didn't recognize him from the branch, but he was gone.  We continued out the door and I wished I'd said something more.  Next thing we knew, he came up behind us and just started walking with us on campus!  Turns out his bro is LDS, though he's not interested at all.  He just walked across the campus with us like we were all lifelong friends and as soon as we parted ways that was that, he was gone!  It was like a whirlwind or something, but he was just a happy person.  Okay, so back to Monday night.  I walked up to hand him a card and was like, "Wait, do we know you?"  "No"  "Have you talked to sisters before?"  "Not recently"  "Oh--okay, well we're missionaries....(intro)"  "Will you do me a favor?"  "Um...okay."  "Will you sing a song with me right here right now?"  (Mind you we're standing in the middle of the road, but I am me and I do love to sing...)  "Sure!"  "I was in a Mormon church once and I know you sing this song....'Because I Have Been Given Much'"  So we sang it.  Right there in the middle of the road!  He actually knew the song better than we did lol.  And once it was over, he was gone again!  I want to be like him though, he just changed our entire night!  We were so happy afterward!

The moral of that story is...go make someone happy!  :D

TuesdaySo we got to teach Zack again!  If you'll remember from last week, he almost dropped us.  We taught the Word of Wisdom with James and it was awesome!  Before we even got into it, though, he asked some typically amazing Zack questions: 

• If we have to experience life to know what happiness is, did God experience earth life so He can know how happiness feels?
• Where did God come from?
• If our body is a temple, why does God give it cancer?

Man I love that guy!  So, we committed him to the Word of Wisdom!  He usually drinks tea while doing his research all day, but ever since Tuesday he's just had hot water!  Woot!  He kept trying to give scientific reasons for why it's good and then James was just like, "You've just got to do it because it's a commandment from God!"  Man, member team-ups are the best!

Next we had a forum, but they were painting our assigned area, so we went tracting instead.  We had a member dinner with a cute new family and then went to a less active lesson.  They canceled, though, so we went tracting again.

This is where we had our first awesome tracting experience!  We've been struggling in this companionship to get other lessons while finding.  Well, we did it!  We got 6--a personal high!  It's especially hard in neighborhoods, which is where we were!  We met a COOL guy named Chase.  He was listening and was just saying how he has a church, etc.  So I was like, "Well, this is Jesus Christ's church--the only one on the earth today...." and talked along those veins.  He asked what our purpose was and Sister Mortensen was like, "Really?  It's to help you and your family to progress toward baptism."  It was just like bam, bam, you know!?  It was great!  He said he wasn't interested in baptism, but knowing that was our end goal, he still said he'd be willing to meet again!  I love the Spirit!  We also met a cute young family that I hope decides to learn someday!

Wednesday
This was another day full of tracting, etc, though not quite as effective as Tuesday.  We rode the bus up to Bellefonte and followed up with a referral and then walked to dinner after tracting some.  Another family picked us up and brought us back to the chapel where we practiced our song for the baptism and then went out tracting again.  We did get a cool referral tracting, but he lives in Pasadena, CA. :D

Thursday
We started the day off with a forum!  And the zone leaders came, so it was really fun!  It was neat to see everyone's different style of contacting.  I met a SWEET girl from China named Susanna.  One of the first things she asked was if she could join our group--um yes!!  After that we all went out to lunch and then had District Meeting--no pressure to be in charge and have the Zone Leaders there lol.  It was good, though, and then they interviewed Jane (who is INCREDIBLE) for baptism.  We went and taught Richie the Word of Wisdom with Alan.  He just started to quit smoking like that day, which was awesome and he agreed to avoid alcohol, but wasn't so sure about coffee or tea yet.  As were were finding some afterward, we had two lessons OYMing, which almost never happens for us...and both agreed to meet with us!  Next we went to dinner with this awesome family.  I won't tell you there names, though, so I can tell you this hilarious story.  They have 3 little kids and as we were finishing up dinner, we looked over and the little boy was standing on the coffee table with a puddle under him.  His parents were like, "Aw!  Did you just wet your pants?"  As we're watching all this go down, he started splashing his feet in it and his sister came over and started playing in it.  Haha. It was disgusting but HILARIOUS!  That night we went to our appointment, but they weren't there, so we took our team-up to the Day's house (we met them last week).  The boyfriend, Jordan, was there and we ended up talking to him for like 15 minutes!  It was a great conversation and I REALLY hope we'll be able to teach this family!  He'd looked through Jessica's Book of Mormon and took his own and said he'd read it :D  Awesome!  I really hope we're able to teach this family!

FridayThe morning was filled with more errand type stuff, but the evening was AWESOME!  I just searched it, and I guess I've only talked about him in one letter!  He was a HQ referral back in June.  He read the whole Book of Mormon in like a week and basically just had the church on his short list as he was searching for the truth.  Well he found it :D  The other sisters have been teaching him and he was baptized Friday night!  It was SO cool and he bore an awesome testimony at the end.  The other sisters and I sang "I Am Not Ashamed"  a song my cousin wrote.  Zack and Richie both came!

Saturday
Again...phemonal day!!  (AHHH  4 minutes left!)
We had three lessons with potentials that all turned into other new investigators!!
Sutton--we met him a while back and finally met with him.  He is very into his church, but after our lesson, he is really going to seek it out!  Woot!  We're meeting with him again next week
Levi--He has very low English, but is willing to learn!  I'd met him awhile ago, but when I called he said he didn't want to meet.  Last week, I saw him at the bus stop again, and he didn't sit by me on the bus---till about halfway through when he rushed up, sat down, and said, "You believe in a different Jesus."  The Chinese Church out here is very anti-Mormon, so we get a lot of that from the Chinese people.  It made him interested, though!  And while we were teaching, an older Chinese man was paying attention the whole time.  he waved me down and said, "What church are you from?"  I told him.  "You said you're the only true church?"  "Yes"  "And you have a prophet today?"  "Yes"  He said his name was Jordan, "Like the prophet"  :D  He came to the church Sunday, too!  But he's in the other sister's area.
Susanna--she's great (45 seconds!!)

Sunday
Ahh Just believe me when I say it was absolutely incredible!

This truly is God's work.  Missionary work is amazing and I am so blessed to have the opportunity to serve!

Love ya!
Sister Denton

8/15/11- Letter to the World

So...I was just surfing LDS.org wondering how I had so much extra time when I realized I hadn't written a Letter to the World!!  And now I have 4:30 minutes left!

Tuesday
Taught Zack.  He almost dropped us, but he is going to keep meeting with us!  I'm so glad!  He's awesome.  We also met with Kalea.  She's doing well and always feels calm as she meets with us!  She's out of town now for a week and a half.  We went and helped Caden clean his apartment, which his roommate had left DISGUSTING.  He's on a trip to Europe now.  After dinner with the Smith's, we went to their neighbor's house to teach and it went well!  They said we could come back!

Wednesday
Tracting ever tracting :D

Thursday
We taught Richie, and he totally pulled one over on us!  We asked if he'd read and he said, "No, but I prayed."  We asked if he received an answer and he said he'd had an "experience."  We were SO excited and he said, "As I was praying, this bright light started shining and Joseph Smith appeared to me."  Haha.  Very funny.  Anyway, he'll keep reading and praying!  We went and saw Bro Rich that night and watched the Restoration--intense lesson!  We saw the Memmott's later that night--still not interested in the gospel, but full of great stories! 

Friday
Off to Harrisburg for Leadership Training!  We also got to teach the awesome Wesleys!

Saturday
Helped out the RS Pres and got to teach Bro McAllister (75 yr old Recent Convert)

Sunday
Went out to the Philipsburg Branch to speak. 

Love you all!

Sister Denton

8/8/11- Letter to the World

Hello World!!

MondayWell, the awesome thing I was going to tell you last week was about this woman--Sis Ron--who called us last Saturday and asked if she could come to church!  She was a former.  We went over Monday and had a great lesson, but she told us yesterday that she doesn't want to meet again.  She's gone back and forth at least 4 times now, so hopefully she'll come back soon!

Tuesday
We went on exchanges this day, so I got to spend the time with Sis Juliano.  She is a rockstar!  It was so amazing to see her talk to people--she has a great way with them.  I need to learn that better!

We went to meet with Gary and as we were walking in the building, he canceled. 

We had a forum that morning, and during it, Zack canceled.  The forum was pretty slow, so once the other sisters came for their half, we went off to the creamery for lunch.  About that time, Ian canceled.  Ian is the referral we got a hold of last week.  But then, he did something that made me SUPER happy!  He sent a text beginning with the words, "I was reading the Book of Mormon last night and I have a question..."  He asked us about pre-earth life, prophecies of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon in the Bible, and grace/works.  I hope we get to meet with him soon because he seems to have a lot of the same beliefs!

Because Zack canceled, we taught Gary during Zack's time.  Gary is the other sister's new investigator, but he is SO cool!  He reminded me of Joseph Smith with his questions!  "Sometimes I wonder which church is right, or if they're all just wrong!"  He's just awesome!

Next was Deb, who didn't show up for her appointment.

Next was Shaun who canceled while we were waiting for Deb.

Next was Cole who didn't show up for his appointment.

Then on to our dinner appointment!  Woot!  They were a great missionary-minded family!  She's actually coming out to teach with us next week!

Because of all the appointments falling through, we spent a good amount of time tracting, but it was still an AWESOME day!  I just felt great at the end!  The gospel is true!  I just wish more people would get that :D

Wednesday
After District Meeting, we taught Kalea the Word of Wisdom.  She said she was planning on implementing it a  little at a time.  At the end, we asked if she would live it and she asked if she could finish the tea she brought with her.  I told her it was her choice, but afterward I told her I'd buy her a smoothie or whatever if she didn't finish it.  She's super sweet, but we haven't been able to get a hold of her in a couple of days, so I hope we'll get to see her again...

We taught Caden next--the Word of Wisdom.  He is progressing a ton now.  I'm so excited!  We're going to help him clean his apt tomorrow.

Next was Richie.  He is SO fun to talk to!  His accent is probably my favorite and add to that he's one of the happiest people you'll ever meet!  Slowly but surely he is progressing too! 

We had dinner with Samantha, a woman that I absolutely love!  She is doing wonderfully!

Thursday
This day was pretty much awful lol.  Lots of cancellations.  Lots of nothing.  Caden did meet up with us to ask us a question and since James (our branch mission leader) was waiting with us for someone who didn't show up, he came along.  We did get to go to a returning member's home for dinner though.  His family is great!  It really was the highlight of the day.  Add to that that he's a chef....it was a DELICIOUS dinner!  Turkey, potatos, corn, peas, stuffing, pasta, and pie for dessert.  Mmmmm.

Friday
We taught Caden again and it went well.  We tracted for awhile and went to meet a new family.  There are TONS of new families moving in because most of the ward is made up of Master's students and schools about to start!  We had dinner with a cute family and then went to Rachel's house.  She won't be getting baptized here, but we did get her Cali info!

SaturdayCorrelations this morning.  The ward one was at the Olive Garden.  Yah buddy!  Shrimp Ravioli.  Yum!!  The whole rest of the day was tracting ever tracting.

Sunday
After meetings (7:45-3:30) we went to the Branch Break the Fast.  Then we went back to the church for more study and then had an AWESOME missionary open house. 

The work is awesome and my time is up!

Love you all!

Sister Denton

8/1/11- Letter to the World

Hello World!!

Here's the week!

Monday
We're back to one car, so we went with the sisters to run all of our errands.  We went tracting that evening and met Yogi, who set up a return appointment.  That's his nickname because he can do the impression!

We also had a woman call that day from Indiana with a referral!  Those are the best.  We found him and it turns out he wasn't interested, but it's still awesome to see people trying to share the gospel with their friends!

Tuesday
Our Relief Society President took us out to the Waffle Shop to help us look over the less active list and know who to help where.  After that, we got to teach Zack again!  That guy is so amazing!

Next we got to teach Callie.  Sis Johnson and I met her back in early June and we didn't think she was too potential.  Sis Mortensen and I stopped by to see if she was interested and she told us that last time we'd stopped by, she was having a really bad day, but it was much better.  Also, she told us that each time she read from the Book of Mormon, it made her feel better.  Unfortunately, she also said she was moving.  We left, but I kept feeling like we needed to do something more.  We had a couple of appointments set up with her last week, but they all fell through, so we finally got to meet with her on this day.  It was so great!  She really wants to learn and even accepted another Book of Mormon since she had packed hers.  The sad thing is, she moved on Thursday.  We'll try and keep in contact, but she didn't want missionaries where she lives.  I hope that she will continue to seek this out!  It was amazing to see someone really get the message of the Restoration!

We had interviews with President.  It was great to see him and Sister Topham again.

We got to have dinner with Samantha, an amazing woman that's been coming back to the church.  She has two of the cutest little boys I've ever met in my life!!

We also got to teach Sandy for the last time--she's now in Pittsburgh.  We called the Elders there to brief them and it seems she's in good hands :D  I'm going to miss her a lot!  It was weird not to see her at church.

WednesdayAfter District Meeting, we went and taught Caden.  We taught him with Shaun, a Recent Convert.  It was one of the best lessons we've had!  It was amazing!  We asked him to pray at the end, and he said no as usual, but Sis. M shared an experience and he agreed to pray!  He truly is progressing and it's exciting to see the change coming over him!

We also got to teach Kalea--the girl who recognized me from the bus.  It was a GREAT lesson and she really recognized and felt the Spirit.  She agreed to baptism on Aug 27!

That night we went and taught Yogi.  He was less accountable than we originally thought, but he may come to church at some point!  We went with our team-up to drop by the Memmott's and on the way home met a wonderful woman from Mexico named Janelle.  I really hope we're able to teach her more!  It was an amazing little lesson right there in the street.  It really is so important to talk to everyone!

Thursday
We taught a new potential named Wes, but he wasn't too interested in progressing.  He did agree to read and pray, however!  We met with Zack right after.  We'd given him The Restoration DVD to watch.  One of his questions went as follows: "Many times in the movie, Joseph's dad told him to ask and pray."  "Yes..."  "Why didn't HE just ask?"  So then we got to have a whole discussion on foreordination and how prophets are called.  He very much wants to know that these things are true!

We did a forum at the HUB and met a less active who's records aren't out here.  I gave him a Book of Mormon and he came back about 10 min later having read from it and double checking what he should where to church!  So cool!

We also went over to the Memmott's and recorded more stories.  We also found out that he'd read a couple dozen pages from the Book of Mormon!  Hopefully that will progerss!!

Friday
We had another great lesson with Caden with Shaun as a team-up again.  It's so great to have the testimony of a convert!  Shaun was just baptized in January.

We had dinner with an awesome family again.  He is from Zimbabwe and we had Madza!  It's cornmeal mixed with water--kind of a dough--and stew.  You make a ball and scoop the soup up!  It's messy, but fun :D While we were there, we saw a black bear lumber across the parking lot!  Crazy!!!

We taught Deb that night--we hadn't seen her for awhile.  She's the one from Liberia. We read with her since she hadn't and got another return appointment.

We also got to teach Rachel.  She still hadn't read and hadn't been coming to church, so we really emphasized the importance of doing so.  She came to church this week :D  We'll have to follow up on her reading still!

Saturday
We met with Kalea again and she said she acted too hastily and wants to push her date back a year.  Hopefully she will change her mind as she learns more :D  She loved the Plan of Salvation!  I do too!  It's so true!

We met with Kyle--another Chinese man we met.  We're teaching him English through gospel discussions.  He's not interested in learning at this point.

We also got to see Bro Rich again and read from the Book of Mormon with him.  Our team-up was my freshman year RA!!  Cool :D

Sunday
We got to see Bro. McAllister receive the Aaronic Priesthood (he was baptized end of May and is 75).

30 seconds left!

Caden, Zack, Rachel, and an AWESOME woman I'll talk about next week came to church!

Love ya!

Sister Denton

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

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

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 RandallWe 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

RachelShe 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.'"