Hello World!
Monday
We're back in Lancaster which means back to basketball at the church with the Elders! Woot! None of the other sisters played, so the elders decided I was on the team of whoever had the ball. Haha...fine with me :D
Afterward, we tracted some and then went to a member's home for dinner. Next we went and had a first lesson with Victoria, who we'd met the day previous. She is so amazing and the Spirit was so strong! She committed to be baptized Nov 26. We haven't been back in contact with her, but I'm hoping she's just been busy.
Tuesday
We taught Bro. Shaw in the morning. He's working toward Nov 5. It was a good lesson. We had dinner and then some cancellations. Such is the life. It ended up being good, though. We got to stop by a couple of less-active families that I love and commit them to come out to church. We also went to the Day home and had an official lesson with a return appointment to make them formally investigators again :D
Wednesday
We went to see this sweet Pratt lady who has now been back to church for about a month. She's living with her boyfriend, so we talked about eternal marriage some. She lives in a trailer park, so we knocked some doors for a few hours. A lot of them are Spanish with limited to no English. When that happened, all I could say was the church's name. Haha..maybe I should've taken Spanish, eh? I called our Spanish elders and asked how to say "Can we watch this DVD with you?" so when we went back we could watch the Restoration. I was able to ask it, but the answer was normally no. We went to see another less active woman and watched The Lamb of God with her. That night we went back to a couple we used to teach. It was an interesting lesson. They're pretty set in what they believe, but both Sis Davidson and our team-up feel we should go back. So we will!
Thursday
We had a few people fall through and then went to volunteer at Luthercare. It was fun to visit with the older women I used to see! That night, we got to go to Harrisburg for a regional ward council training by Elder Zwick of the Seventy. The State College Sisters were there! And they got to come back and spend the night for Mission Tour the next day! I found out that Alan has a date, Kalea now has a date, and Zack is getting closer! I love those people!
Friday
We had Misison Tour from 9-4! Pure awesomeness. We heard from Pres and Sis Topham, Pres Rhem, and Elder and Sister Zwick. The afternoon session was particularly incredible. Afterward we had dinner with a family that I love to death and then stopped by Sis Russell's.
Saturday
We went back to the trailer park with not much luck. We stopped by some less actives with again not much luck. We ended up walking to downtown Lititz, "open your mouthing" some, tracting some, and walking back.
Sunday
Best day of the week! I love church. A bunch of less actives came, which was awesome! Mostly tracting besides that.
Well, I'm off to another week! Time just goes by so fast! On Friday I'll only have 5 months left. I plan to be able to say awesome things about those last 5 months!
Love you all!
Sister Denton
Monday, October 17, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
10/10/11- Letter to the World
Coming to you from Lititz once more!
Monday
We had P-Day and spent the last hour of P-Day at a little going away party--'twas fun! Then Sister Juliano and I drove off to Pittsburgh. We had a huge gathering of sisters--7 of the 9 of us--at the Pittsburgh apartment. It was a lot of fun!
Tuesday
Training meeting! We got to meet the three new sisters and realized that all three training sisters matched up, clothing wise, with each of the new sisters. We thought it'd be funny if we were assigned as such. We were! All of the other missionaries were laughing way hard as the two purples, two peach sweaters, and two black/whites were matched up. Sister Davidson is now serving with me in Lititz! It's great! We get along really well. We dropped Sister Franklin and Sister Samuelson off at their apartment around 10:30pm, drove back to Harrisburg to get our luggage around 11:30pm, and got to our apartment at 12:30am. Ya. Long day!
Wednesday
We had District Meeting first. It was so cool to be back at the Lancaster building! Elders Cluff and Valenga are our elders. There are four others as well, which will make for some great P-Day basketball action. We taught Bro. Shaw, a 78-year-old investigator who's working toward baptism on Nov 5. We also taught Alexis, a Chinese woman. She became a new investigator. Went to dinner and then went to the GORGEOUS new building that opened after I left to meet with Bishop.
Thursday
We got to go to lunch at a member's home and then help her in her yard with her less active son for a few hours. We went to dinner with a mostly active family and then went to see the Day family, who I love from before! Nadia, who is 5, is SO cute. She took a pass-a-long card and went and tracted on her neighbor's door while we were talking to her mom haha.
The rest of the week was great, but I've got to go! Love ya'll!
Sister Denton
Monday
We had P-Day and spent the last hour of P-Day at a little going away party--'twas fun! Then Sister Juliano and I drove off to Pittsburgh. We had a huge gathering of sisters--7 of the 9 of us--at the Pittsburgh apartment. It was a lot of fun!
Tuesday
Training meeting! We got to meet the three new sisters and realized that all three training sisters matched up, clothing wise, with each of the new sisters. We thought it'd be funny if we were assigned as such. We were! All of the other missionaries were laughing way hard as the two purples, two peach sweaters, and two black/whites were matched up. Sister Davidson is now serving with me in Lititz! It's great! We get along really well. We dropped Sister Franklin and Sister Samuelson off at their apartment around 10:30pm, drove back to Harrisburg to get our luggage around 11:30pm, and got to our apartment at 12:30am. Ya. Long day!
Wednesday
We had District Meeting first. It was so cool to be back at the Lancaster building! Elders Cluff and Valenga are our elders. There are four others as well, which will make for some great P-Day basketball action. We taught Bro. Shaw, a 78-year-old investigator who's working toward baptism on Nov 5. We also taught Alexis, a Chinese woman. She became a new investigator. Went to dinner and then went to the GORGEOUS new building that opened after I left to meet with Bishop.
Thursday
We got to go to lunch at a member's home and then help her in her yard with her less active son for a few hours. We went to dinner with a mostly active family and then went to see the Day family, who I love from before! Nadia, who is 5, is SO cute. She took a pass-a-long card and went and tracted on her neighbor's door while we were talking to her mom haha.
The rest of the week was great, but I've got to go! Love ya'll!
Sister Denton
Monday, October 3, 2011
10/3/11- Letter to the World
Okay world...this one is going to be a doozy, I think! It's been an AMAZING week!
Monday
The Philipsburg Elders came out to State College so we could play basketball. I wrote letters for most of the time, but when the elders left, Sisters Quijano and Juliano were still out, so I ran out and played them 2 on 1. I was the 1. And I did awesome! Since when do I play basketball? Dribbling, driving, shooting...it was awesome!
After P-Day, Heidi came with us to teach a potential who didn't show. We decided to go over to Caden's since we'd not seen him in awhile. He was sick, but we were able to talk to him for a little while and teach a little lesson. Heidi dropped us off at Wal-Mart and we picked up some saltines, sprite, and chicken soup for him since he hadn't eaten anything in awhile. We tracted the rest of the night.
Tuesday
Tuesday started with what might just be the very best experience of my entire mission. First, let's review the first time we met with Zack:
from July 11
Zack
He's new this week and AWESOME. We met him at a forum (we set up a table of Book of Mormons on campus) and we met with him. He's probable in his 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 appt tomorrow, since we'll be in Pittsburgh
Okay, that being said, we've been teaching him ever since...almost every week. A few weeks ago, he was really busy and took a break from us for a couple of weeks. When we met him again, you could tell how good it felt for him to see us again. The next week, he told us he'd been reading from the Book of Mormon--trying to do it every night! So this Tuesday morning, he said the opening prayer. Parts of it went as follows, "I've been reading the Book of Mormon and I feel the spirit of the Book of Mormon. I've felt a change in me, but I don't know what it is. Even though it's a rainy and stormy day, it's a beautiful day because I'm here with my friends and they are going to teach me about you." Oh my gosh! I didn't even know how to react. I am SO happy that he is feeling the Spirit! He's been so scientific about everything. Even that first meeting, I remember him saying that we couldn't tell him he'd know by feelings because it can't be proven. He said he couldn't have faith because he didn't have faith. I told him to live like he believes...come to church like he believes it's true, read the Book of Mormon like he believes it, pray like he believes in God. Then, if his life improves, he can know God is real! Well, he's been doing it! He gave up his tea he drank during work and now just drinks hot water every day. He comes to church. He's reading the Book of Mormon. I love it! I love him so much! Imagine how much our Heavenly Father loves all of his children--that's why we need to go out and share this gospel message with everyone!
So, the day didn't end there. We taught Leonel from India, who had canceled the last week. I didn't even really know how interested he was, but when I asked if he'd read from the Book of Mormon (expecting an "I didn't get a chance") he said, "I read it every day." "The Book of Mormon?" "Yes" "That's...awesome!...that's great!" I couldn't find words haha I was so excited. He only reads a few verses a day, but he's doing it!
Next was Suzanne, but she didn't show up :( She's avoiding us now. We went out to do a forum for a little while, but I was just on air from the first two appointments. We went back in for Alan. I love Alan too! He's also from China. We got to teach him part of lesson 3 and he said he'd come to conference (which he did :D). He is so innocent and so earnestly wanting this truth. We committed him to baptism and he asked his grandma (his grandmas are Christian, but his parents in China are not). She said it's up to him. We told him he could pray about anything, so he prayed for help on his test and it worked :D He said it was easier than he expected and now he has this sweet testimony of prayer--though we did emphasize afterward that we don't always get the answers we want, but we always get answers. He is so sweet and I just love him to death!
After dinner we went tracting. One of the first doors we knocked on was Nobuko. She let us in and we talked for like an hour! She was raised Catholic, but isn't really sure what she believes now. We had some good conversation though! She took a Book of Mormon :D
Wednesday
We got to teach Kalea! It went well. She was SO excited for conference. She is just so sweet! Next was Levi--another Chinese investigator. With him, language is a huge barrier. We discussed the Plan of Salvation more, but will probably have to do so again. That's alright, it's a good lesson!
Thursday
We had District Meeting, which was great, and then service. After that we got to go to the awesome Skinner family's house! I love them! He is the institute teacher out here. That night, we stopped by the Ponces, a hispanic family we met a few weeks ago. She let us in and became a new investigator! We'll have to turn her over to the elders, though (we're getting elders in State College...sisters will be only in the branch :D)
Friday
All of our morning appointments canceled! Sad day! We got to go to the Wesleys for dinner--a family that I just adore! After that we got to see Bro McAllister, who I also love. Both are recent converts in the ward.
Saturday
Conference! Woot! 'Twas great. All three appointments canceled, though. Sad day. Also, I found out between sessions that I'm leaving State College :(
Sunday
Conference Part 2! Double Woot! Kalea came to the morning session. Alan and Zack came to the afternoon. Alan took notes and told me he received answers to his prayers!!! Zack said he received some answers, but not as strong as he was expecting. Both were really sad when they found out I was leaving. I'm going to miss them so much! One of the talks that day was about feeling love as a missionary. I totally do for these two. I love Chinese people! I may just start learning Mandarin when I get home...who knows...senior mission to China? :D Also, President called and asked me to train this night.....in Lititz! I'm going back to Lancaster for at least 3 more months--that'll be at least a year of my mission! Crazy! I love it there and I'm excited to meet my new companion tomorrow. I'm driving to Pittsburgh tonight (Monday) after the branch's going away party.
I was very reflective this morning during my personal study. I wrote a lot. Ever since I found out I was getting transferred, really. This is the hardest time I've had leaving. Alma 26 is a huge comfort to me, though. My investigators are in the hands of the Lord. I also love Alma 26:9 with some changes, "For if [I] had not come up out of the land of [Utah], these [my] dearly beloved brethren, who have so dearly beloved [me], would still have been...strangers to God." I "open your mouthed" Zack at the forum. I talked to Alan on the bus. Not glorying in myself, but in the fact that I've been able to be an instrument in God's hand. I am forever grateful for my time here in Pennsylvania.
Here's a poem I wrote this morning:
My heart is lifted up in praise
as I learn of Thy mysterious ways
I seek to follow all Thy will
and find I'm blessed as I fulfill
"Less than the dust," dear Moses taught
"of infinite worth, a child of God"
We're nothing on our own, you see,
but with our Father, everything
I sometimes question my own worth
am I just another birth?
but something whispers quietly
"A princess now, a queen you'll be"
My God can make much more of me
than anything of myself could be
I'll hold His pockets, follow steadily
and climb the mountain of divinity.
The church is true. This is Christ's work. We are disciples of Him. I am so grateful for this!
Love you all so much!
Sister Denton
Monday
The Philipsburg Elders came out to State College so we could play basketball. I wrote letters for most of the time, but when the elders left, Sisters Quijano and Juliano were still out, so I ran out and played them 2 on 1. I was the 1. And I did awesome! Since when do I play basketball? Dribbling, driving, shooting...it was awesome!
After P-Day, Heidi came with us to teach a potential who didn't show. We decided to go over to Caden's since we'd not seen him in awhile. He was sick, but we were able to talk to him for a little while and teach a little lesson. Heidi dropped us off at Wal-Mart and we picked up some saltines, sprite, and chicken soup for him since he hadn't eaten anything in awhile. We tracted the rest of the night.
Tuesday
Tuesday started with what might just be the very best experience of my entire mission. First, let's review the first time we met with Zack:
from July 11
Zack
He's new this week and AWESOME. We met him at a forum (we set up a table of Book of Mormons on campus) and we met with him. He's probable in his 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 appt tomorrow, since we'll be in Pittsburgh
Okay, that being said, we've been teaching him ever since...almost every week. A few weeks ago, he was really busy and took a break from us for a couple of weeks. When we met him again, you could tell how good it felt for him to see us again. The next week, he told us he'd been reading from the Book of Mormon--trying to do it every night! So this Tuesday morning, he said the opening prayer. Parts of it went as follows, "I've been reading the Book of Mormon and I feel the spirit of the Book of Mormon. I've felt a change in me, but I don't know what it is. Even though it's a rainy and stormy day, it's a beautiful day because I'm here with my friends and they are going to teach me about you." Oh my gosh! I didn't even know how to react. I am SO happy that he is feeling the Spirit! He's been so scientific about everything. Even that first meeting, I remember him saying that we couldn't tell him he'd know by feelings because it can't be proven. He said he couldn't have faith because he didn't have faith. I told him to live like he believes...come to church like he believes it's true, read the Book of Mormon like he believes it, pray like he believes in God. Then, if his life improves, he can know God is real! Well, he's been doing it! He gave up his tea he drank during work and now just drinks hot water every day. He comes to church. He's reading the Book of Mormon. I love it! I love him so much! Imagine how much our Heavenly Father loves all of his children--that's why we need to go out and share this gospel message with everyone!
So, the day didn't end there. We taught Leonel from India, who had canceled the last week. I didn't even really know how interested he was, but when I asked if he'd read from the Book of Mormon (expecting an "I didn't get a chance") he said, "I read it every day." "The Book of Mormon?" "Yes" "That's...awesome!...that's great!" I couldn't find words haha I was so excited. He only reads a few verses a day, but he's doing it!
Next was Suzanne, but she didn't show up :( She's avoiding us now. We went out to do a forum for a little while, but I was just on air from the first two appointments. We went back in for Alan. I love Alan too! He's also from China. We got to teach him part of lesson 3 and he said he'd come to conference (which he did :D). He is so innocent and so earnestly wanting this truth. We committed him to baptism and he asked his grandma (his grandmas are Christian, but his parents in China are not). She said it's up to him. We told him he could pray about anything, so he prayed for help on his test and it worked :D He said it was easier than he expected and now he has this sweet testimony of prayer--though we did emphasize afterward that we don't always get the answers we want, but we always get answers. He is so sweet and I just love him to death!
After dinner we went tracting. One of the first doors we knocked on was Nobuko. She let us in and we talked for like an hour! She was raised Catholic, but isn't really sure what she believes now. We had some good conversation though! She took a Book of Mormon :D
Wednesday
We got to teach Kalea! It went well. She was SO excited for conference. She is just so sweet! Next was Levi--another Chinese investigator. With him, language is a huge barrier. We discussed the Plan of Salvation more, but will probably have to do so again. That's alright, it's a good lesson!
Thursday
We had District Meeting, which was great, and then service. After that we got to go to the awesome Skinner family's house! I love them! He is the institute teacher out here. That night, we stopped by the Ponces, a hispanic family we met a few weeks ago. She let us in and became a new investigator! We'll have to turn her over to the elders, though (we're getting elders in State College...sisters will be only in the branch :D)
Friday
All of our morning appointments canceled! Sad day! We got to go to the Wesleys for dinner--a family that I just adore! After that we got to see Bro McAllister, who I also love. Both are recent converts in the ward.
Saturday
Conference! Woot! 'Twas great. All three appointments canceled, though. Sad day. Also, I found out between sessions that I'm leaving State College :(
Sunday
Conference Part 2! Double Woot! Kalea came to the morning session. Alan and Zack came to the afternoon. Alan took notes and told me he received answers to his prayers!!! Zack said he received some answers, but not as strong as he was expecting. Both were really sad when they found out I was leaving. I'm going to miss them so much! One of the talks that day was about feeling love as a missionary. I totally do for these two. I love Chinese people! I may just start learning Mandarin when I get home...who knows...senior mission to China? :D Also, President called and asked me to train this night.....in Lititz! I'm going back to Lancaster for at least 3 more months--that'll be at least a year of my mission! Crazy! I love it there and I'm excited to meet my new companion tomorrow. I'm driving to Pittsburgh tonight (Monday) after the branch's going away party.
I was very reflective this morning during my personal study. I wrote a lot. Ever since I found out I was getting transferred, really. This is the hardest time I've had leaving. Alma 26 is a huge comfort to me, though. My investigators are in the hands of the Lord. I also love Alma 26:9 with some changes, "For if [I] had not come up out of the land of [Utah], these [my] dearly beloved brethren, who have so dearly beloved [me], would still have been...strangers to God." I "open your mouthed" Zack at the forum. I talked to Alan on the bus. Not glorying in myself, but in the fact that I've been able to be an instrument in God's hand. I am forever grateful for my time here in Pennsylvania.
Here's a poem I wrote this morning:
My heart is lifted up in praise
as I learn of Thy mysterious ways
I seek to follow all Thy will
and find I'm blessed as I fulfill
"Less than the dust," dear Moses taught
"of infinite worth, a child of God"
We're nothing on our own, you see,
but with our Father, everything
I sometimes question my own worth
am I just another birth?
but something whispers quietly
"A princess now, a queen you'll be"
My God can make much more of me
than anything of myself could be
I'll hold His pockets, follow steadily
and climb the mountain of divinity.
The church is true. This is Christ's work. We are disciples of Him. I am so grateful for this!
Love you all so much!
Sister Denton
Monday, September 26, 2011
9/26/11- Letter to the World
Hello World!!!
Man, being a missionary is AWESOME! Just sayin' :D
First of all, shout out to the THREE new South Jordan elders coming out this next Tuesday! They're all in the MTC now, I guess, but we're welcoming Elder Mouritsen, Elder Nelson, and Elder Spohn. Three points for South Jordan! Woot!
Monday
For P-Day we took pictures on campus, which was way fun. I'll try to send some pictures. It was just tracting after that
Tuesday
Tuesday was AWESOME! We had exchanges and I got to be with Sister Quijano from the Philippines. We came out together, but weren't in the same District since she's international. 'Twas so fun! We did a forum for a little bit (where we set up a table and contact people on campus).
Next we got to teach Zack for the first time in a few weeks! It was SO good to see him again and I think he felt the same. He said he'd been reading from the Book of Mormon and keeps it by his bed to read at night! Awesome! We taught the Law of Chastity and he told us it is needed in China. It's needed here too :D Zack is just amazing.
Next we got stood up by Leonel, but he later told us he had an advisor meeting that ran long, so we have an appointment with him again this week. Since we had lunch on campus, I got to play on the baby grand, which was wonderful :D
Next we taught Alan, a new investigator from last week, and set him with a date of October 9! Woot! He's a sophomore at Penn State from China. He's awesome!
We went to our dinner appointment and then went to teach the Rojass with Sis. Skinner. It was a lot of question and answer again, but it was just Sis. Rojas this time, which actually helped a lot. We knew they had an issue with people who don't believe in infant baptism, and that was the first question she had. I said, "Do you think babies who aren't baptized go to hell?" "No" "Then why do you do infant baptism?" "I guess it's a comfort." So Sis Skinner was able to tell about baby blessings! This church is so true!!
Wednesday
After District meeting, we were supposed to teach Caden, but he canceled, so we ended up tracting a lot. We got a lot of lessons, though, so it was good. We went to the Miles's, this awesome family from Mexico. While there, she called the Matts family we met a week or so ago and they had a great conversation. They seem to already be friends, which is awesome! Hopefully we can start teaching the Matts. We did more tracting tha tevening.
Thursday
After studies, we went out and tracted. Seems to be a favorite pastime :D One funny story...
*knock knock knock
*person sticks their head out from a back room--short white hair, collared shirt, slacks, sitting in an office chair with a phone. Sis. Denton's head registers "man"
*person says, "Come on in" in a high voice. Sister Denton's head registers "woman....or man with high voice."
We can't go in if it's a man...but how do we find out if it's a woman?
"Is there a woman home?"
"I am a woman..."
shoot...what now?
"Is there another woman home?"
"No."
"Okay, we'll just leave this card in your door then. Do you want us to come back?"
"I don't even know who you are."
"We're missionaries."
"Don't worry about it."
Okay, so it was super awkward. Especially because afterward Sis M was like, "Why couldn't we go in?" "We could." "So why didn't we?" "Because then she'll know that I didn't know she was a woman." And as our Branch mission leader pointed out....it's not like she didn't know. Lame.
Richie canceled on us. We taught Suzanne, one of our new investigators. She was awesome. We have another appointment next week.
We got to go teach a LA family. They were awesome! I forgot how much I love less active work! That's basically all we did in Lancaster.
Friday
We got to teach Kalea! She's still doing well, though not reading as much. She came to the RS broadcast though!
Saturday
Went to baptism for the other sisters--Alan Terrell Bao from China. Love that kid! He's 18 and awesome. We went tracting for awhile and after dinner went to the INCREDIBLE Relief Society Broadcast. Watch the talk by President Uchtdorf if you haven't already!
Sunday
Zack and Alan came to church! Yay! We had dinner with an awesome couple.
Missionary work is awesome! I'm out of time! Love you all tons! The church is true :D
Sister Denton
Man, being a missionary is AWESOME! Just sayin' :D
First of all, shout out to the THREE new South Jordan elders coming out this next Tuesday! They're all in the MTC now, I guess, but we're welcoming Elder Mouritsen, Elder Nelson, and Elder Spohn. Three points for South Jordan! Woot!
Monday
For P-Day we took pictures on campus, which was way fun. I'll try to send some pictures. It was just tracting after that
Tuesday
Tuesday was AWESOME! We had exchanges and I got to be with Sister Quijano from the Philippines. We came out together, but weren't in the same District since she's international. 'Twas so fun! We did a forum for a little bit (where we set up a table and contact people on campus).
Next we got to teach Zack for the first time in a few weeks! It was SO good to see him again and I think he felt the same. He said he'd been reading from the Book of Mormon and keeps it by his bed to read at night! Awesome! We taught the Law of Chastity and he told us it is needed in China. It's needed here too :D Zack is just amazing.
Next we got stood up by Leonel, but he later told us he had an advisor meeting that ran long, so we have an appointment with him again this week. Since we had lunch on campus, I got to play on the baby grand, which was wonderful :D
Next we taught Alan, a new investigator from last week, and set him with a date of October 9! Woot! He's a sophomore at Penn State from China. He's awesome!
We went to our dinner appointment and then went to teach the Rojass with Sis. Skinner. It was a lot of question and answer again, but it was just Sis. Rojas this time, which actually helped a lot. We knew they had an issue with people who don't believe in infant baptism, and that was the first question she had. I said, "Do you think babies who aren't baptized go to hell?" "No" "Then why do you do infant baptism?" "I guess it's a comfort." So Sis Skinner was able to tell about baby blessings! This church is so true!!
Wednesday
After District meeting, we were supposed to teach Caden, but he canceled, so we ended up tracting a lot. We got a lot of lessons, though, so it was good. We went to the Miles's, this awesome family from Mexico. While there, she called the Matts family we met a week or so ago and they had a great conversation. They seem to already be friends, which is awesome! Hopefully we can start teaching the Matts. We did more tracting tha tevening.
Thursday
After studies, we went out and tracted. Seems to be a favorite pastime :D One funny story...
*knock knock knock
*person sticks their head out from a back room--short white hair, collared shirt, slacks, sitting in an office chair with a phone. Sis. Denton's head registers "man"
*person says, "Come on in" in a high voice. Sister Denton's head registers "woman....or man with high voice."
We can't go in if it's a man...but how do we find out if it's a woman?
"Is there a woman home?"
"I am a woman..."
shoot...what now?
"Is there another woman home?"
"No."
"Okay, we'll just leave this card in your door then. Do you want us to come back?"
"I don't even know who you are."
"We're missionaries."
"Don't worry about it."
Okay, so it was super awkward. Especially because afterward Sis M was like, "Why couldn't we go in?" "We could." "So why didn't we?" "Because then she'll know that I didn't know she was a woman." And as our Branch mission leader pointed out....it's not like she didn't know. Lame.
Richie canceled on us. We taught Suzanne, one of our new investigators. She was awesome. We have another appointment next week.
We got to go teach a LA family. They were awesome! I forgot how much I love less active work! That's basically all we did in Lancaster.
Friday
We got to teach Kalea! She's still doing well, though not reading as much. She came to the RS broadcast though!
Saturday
Went to baptism for the other sisters--Alan Terrell Bao from China. Love that kid! He's 18 and awesome. We went tracting for awhile and after dinner went to the INCREDIBLE Relief Society Broadcast. Watch the talk by President Uchtdorf if you haven't already!
Sunday
Zack and Alan came to church! Yay! We had dinner with an awesome couple.
Missionary work is awesome! I'm out of time! Love you all tons! The church is true :D
Sister Denton
Monday, September 19, 2011
9/19/11- Letter to the World
Haha...funny story
I'm sitting in the library and there are these two boys behind me at another computer doing some sort of financial chart. I've not heard pretty much any of their conversation until just now--"The profit is not gross." Haha...that may be true, but what I heard was, "The prophet is not gross!" Ahh, joys of being completely surrounded by the gospel. Another sister just showed me a letter from home about her return missionary brother--apparently he's having trouble socially because he can't have a conversation without bringing up the gospel. Pretty sure I'm going to have that problem. Just sayin'.
Okay. Well Hello World! I hope all is going well! It's been a FABULOUS week!
Monday
It was my debut at early morning seminary! We got to teach "How to teach the Plan of Salvation to your friends." It was fun! Sis. Mcdaniel, the teacher, took us out to The Waffle House afterward. Yum! We went to play Ultimate, but I was SO tired, so I took a nap in the grass and used a tree root as my pillow. Did you know tree roots have sap on them too. Ya. 'Twas a good nap though! We met some great people who we'll hopefully be able to teach!
Tuesday
We got a new investigator--Leonel from India. We had met him tracting and taught him on campus. He believes in all Gods, but is willing to learn more! We went to teach Sis. Rich the Word of Wisdom, but she is still adamantly Baptist. She's also pretty busy, so she said we can drop by in November. We got to have dinner at Susanna 's house. I love her family! Then we went to teach the Rojas's with Sis. Skinner and her almost missionary son, but the Rojas's baby was sick, so we had to reschedule. We tracted more of the trailers there for the rest of the night.
Wednesday
We were able to teach Caden with a newly returned missionary, so that was fun! They got along pretty well. We also taught Alan--a new investigator from China. He is so sweet! His grandmothers are both Christian, so he's interested! Love it! We were going to have dinner at home, but President and Sister Topham called and invited us out to dinner. Texas Roadhouse! Yah! It was nice to get to talk with them more. They are really amazing!
Thursday
ZONE CONFERENCE!! Best day of the week! It was incredible. President Topham talked about his vision for the mission--Continual Improvement. It was great. He focused on just stepping it up each transfer--leaving the area better, the relationships with the ward better, and your own Christlike attributes improved. The Area Psychologist and his wife spoke and also did a great job. The highlight for me was the Assistants. First of all, they are two of my favorite missionaries--my first District Leader and first Zone Leader. Second of all, they're just awesome! They both shared some things that Elder Jay E. Jensen had shared when he visited Pittsburgh. Elder Nielsen spoke on recognizing revelation, which is something I've always struggled with. He talked about how even a passing thought to do something good can be from the Spirit. He shared an experience of being prompted to invite someone to be baptized. They said yes, but he said that even if they hadn't, he would've known the Spirit had instructed him to. I think that's awesome! He said it's impossible for us, as humans, to have a thought to do something good without it being revelation. Awesome! Elder Densley was next and he spoke about the 6 M's of Missionary Work--Mission President, Missoinary, Message, Media, Methodology, and Members. He focused on the last one and asking for referrals. He made this chart that laid out how to ask for referrals in a completely new way to me. It was AWESOME! After Zone Conference, both of us sets of sisters were recorded for the mission video. That night we had dinner with the Wesleys--one of my favorite families. We tried asking for referrals the Elder Densley way and it worked!! They started listing all sorts of people they could ask! It was AWESOME! Man, I love being a misisonary!
Friday
We taught a potential named Ponce. We didn't get a solid return appointment, but hopefully we'll be able to see him again in a couple of weeks. He's awesome. We went to an appt that wasn't there and then came back to teach Kalea. I just love Kalea! She is so amazing. I really hope I'm able to see her baptized! We went to Ashworth to follow up with some people and then our Ward Mission Leader picked us up to go out to the Ward Missionaries' house for a dinner/meeting. 'Twas great! We closed it up by teaching Shaun--another awesome Recent Convert.
Saturday
Another AWESOME day! After Branch Correlation, we tracted some and then went to Donnie's house. We received a text from Donnie this week that basically said, "My friend said you were in the area and I want to learn about your church. Here is my address." Awesome! So we went over. He is Muslim and his friend Matthew is Hindu. They basically just asked us questions and said they'd call us if they had more. We stocked them with pamphlets and headed on our way. Next we got to teach Levi--another Chinese investigator. He speaks very little English, but wants to learn! He came to Elder Oak's fireside last Sunday and we asked him what he thought. He said he didn't understand anything. We asked him how he felt and he gave us the thumbs up sign. We told him it was the Spirit! We taught a very simple Plan of Salvation and invited him to church again. We did just meet a member who speaks Chinese in the other ward, so we're definitely going to use him! All four sisters went to dinner with the Becks and it was wonderful as always. Next was the best part of the day--the baptism! It was an 8-yr-old girl, but every baptism is amazing. Kalea came, and the Spirit was just so strong! It reminded me of my baptism. The opening song was even "When I am Baptized," which I sang with some of my cousins at my baptism. It almost always makes me tear up. Kalea really enjoyed it and also had some questions about temples (the closing song was "I Love to See the Temple"). Wonderful day!
Sunday
Yesterday was great as well! Church until 3:30 and studies until dinner. All four sisters went to the Harrison's. They are SO fun! He's new in the branch presidency, so it was good to get to know them better. And for all of you cooks out there, google "pioneer woman cooks." She's apparently amazing and based on dinner, it's true! We had "Chicken Spaghetti"--an amazing casserole dish.
Well, the work goes on ever more! It's true, ya know? I love the Book of Mormon. I love the Prophet Joseph and know that he's a prophet. I can't wait to meet him! I know that Thomas Monson is a prophet and I can't want to hear his words, along with the Apostles, this weekend (RS General Session) and next. Start now to write down questions for conference! I did it last session and literally every single question was answered. It's amazing! God knows us individually and loves us. This is His church and I get to share it with others! "Shall we not go on in so great a cause?"
Love ya!
Sister Denton
I'm sitting in the library and there are these two boys behind me at another computer doing some sort of financial chart. I've not heard pretty much any of their conversation until just now--"The profit is not gross." Haha...that may be true, but what I heard was, "The prophet is not gross!" Ahh, joys of being completely surrounded by the gospel. Another sister just showed me a letter from home about her return missionary brother--apparently he's having trouble socially because he can't have a conversation without bringing up the gospel. Pretty sure I'm going to have that problem. Just sayin'.
Okay. Well Hello World! I hope all is going well! It's been a FABULOUS week!
Monday
It was my debut at early morning seminary! We got to teach "How to teach the Plan of Salvation to your friends." It was fun! Sis. Mcdaniel, the teacher, took us out to The Waffle House afterward. Yum! We went to play Ultimate, but I was SO tired, so I took a nap in the grass and used a tree root as my pillow. Did you know tree roots have sap on them too. Ya. 'Twas a good nap though! We met some great people who we'll hopefully be able to teach!
Tuesday
We got a new investigator--Leonel from India. We had met him tracting and taught him on campus. He believes in all Gods, but is willing to learn more! We went to teach Sis. Rich the Word of Wisdom, but she is still adamantly Baptist. She's also pretty busy, so she said we can drop by in November. We got to have dinner at Susanna 's house. I love her family! Then we went to teach the Rojas's with Sis. Skinner and her almost missionary son, but the Rojas's baby was sick, so we had to reschedule. We tracted more of the trailers there for the rest of the night.
Wednesday
We were able to teach Caden with a newly returned missionary, so that was fun! They got along pretty well. We also taught Alan--a new investigator from China. He is so sweet! His grandmothers are both Christian, so he's interested! Love it! We were going to have dinner at home, but President and Sister Topham called and invited us out to dinner. Texas Roadhouse! Yah! It was nice to get to talk with them more. They are really amazing!
Thursday
ZONE CONFERENCE!! Best day of the week! It was incredible. President Topham talked about his vision for the mission--Continual Improvement. It was great. He focused on just stepping it up each transfer--leaving the area better, the relationships with the ward better, and your own Christlike attributes improved. The Area Psychologist and his wife spoke and also did a great job. The highlight for me was the Assistants. First of all, they are two of my favorite missionaries--my first District Leader and first Zone Leader. Second of all, they're just awesome! They both shared some things that Elder Jay E. Jensen had shared when he visited Pittsburgh. Elder Nielsen spoke on recognizing revelation, which is something I've always struggled with. He talked about how even a passing thought to do something good can be from the Spirit. He shared an experience of being prompted to invite someone to be baptized. They said yes, but he said that even if they hadn't, he would've known the Spirit had instructed him to. I think that's awesome! He said it's impossible for us, as humans, to have a thought to do something good without it being revelation. Awesome! Elder Densley was next and he spoke about the 6 M's of Missionary Work--Mission President, Missoinary, Message, Media, Methodology, and Members. He focused on the last one and asking for referrals. He made this chart that laid out how to ask for referrals in a completely new way to me. It was AWESOME! After Zone Conference, both of us sets of sisters were recorded for the mission video. That night we had dinner with the Wesleys--one of my favorite families. We tried asking for referrals the Elder Densley way and it worked!! They started listing all sorts of people they could ask! It was AWESOME! Man, I love being a misisonary!
Friday
We taught a potential named Ponce. We didn't get a solid return appointment, but hopefully we'll be able to see him again in a couple of weeks. He's awesome. We went to an appt that wasn't there and then came back to teach Kalea. I just love Kalea! She is so amazing. I really hope I'm able to see her baptized! We went to Ashworth to follow up with some people and then our Ward Mission Leader picked us up to go out to the Ward Missionaries' house for a dinner/meeting. 'Twas great! We closed it up by teaching Shaun--another awesome Recent Convert.
Saturday
Another AWESOME day! After Branch Correlation, we tracted some and then went to Donnie's house. We received a text from Donnie this week that basically said, "My friend said you were in the area and I want to learn about your church. Here is my address." Awesome! So we went over. He is Muslim and his friend Matthew is Hindu. They basically just asked us questions and said they'd call us if they had more. We stocked them with pamphlets and headed on our way. Next we got to teach Levi--another Chinese investigator. He speaks very little English, but wants to learn! He came to Elder Oak's fireside last Sunday and we asked him what he thought. He said he didn't understand anything. We asked him how he felt and he gave us the thumbs up sign. We told him it was the Spirit! We taught a very simple Plan of Salvation and invited him to church again. We did just meet a member who speaks Chinese in the other ward, so we're definitely going to use him! All four sisters went to dinner with the Becks and it was wonderful as always. Next was the best part of the day--the baptism! It was an 8-yr-old girl, but every baptism is amazing. Kalea came, and the Spirit was just so strong! It reminded me of my baptism. The opening song was even "When I am Baptized," which I sang with some of my cousins at my baptism. It almost always makes me tear up. Kalea really enjoyed it and also had some questions about temples (the closing song was "I Love to See the Temple"). Wonderful day!
Sunday
Yesterday was great as well! Church until 3:30 and studies until dinner. All four sisters went to the Harrison's. They are SO fun! He's new in the branch presidency, so it was good to get to know them better. And for all of you cooks out there, google "pioneer woman cooks." She's apparently amazing and based on dinner, it's true! We had "Chicken Spaghetti"--an amazing casserole dish.
Well, the work goes on ever more! It's true, ya know? I love the Book of Mormon. I love the Prophet Joseph and know that he's a prophet. I can't wait to meet him! I know that Thomas Monson is a prophet and I can't want to hear his words, along with the Apostles, this weekend (RS General Session) and next. Start now to write down questions for conference! I did it last session and literally every single question was answered. It's amazing! God knows us individually and loves us. This is His church and I get to share it with others! "Shall we not go on in so great a cause?"
Love ya!
Sister Denton
Monday, September 12, 2011
9/12/11- Letter to the World
Hello World!
Well, another week has gone by. I don’t even understand how that is possible!
Cool thing for the week—after talking about the John Tanner movie two weeks ago, my Aunt and Uncle informed me that he was my 5th-great-grandfather. I knew we were related, but didn’t know how. This past week at dinner, one of the boys said, “Do you know who John Tanner is?” And I said, “Yes! He’s my 5th Great-grandpa.” He said, “He’s MY 5th great-grandpa!” I done eat dinner with my 6th cousins! Fun day.
I forgot my planner, so I guess I’ll talk about people :D
Kalea
She is doing GREAT! We taught her about tithing this week and she asked if she had to wait until she was baptized to pay it. Nope! So she paid it this Sunday when she was at church! She came to the CES fireside as well, which was awesome!
Caden
He hit some rough patches this week, but he’s doing a lot better. He keeps reminding us that he came from a Jewish background, so we can’t expect huge changes, and yet he is making great leaps! He’s currently planning on being baptized Oct 12.
Levi
He is from China and we have some communication barriers, but he really is interested in learning! He came to the fireside too! It was good to see him there. Our branch mission leader is doing a great job of befriending him.
Those are our main investigators right now. Have a great week!
Love ya,
Sister Denton
Well, another week has gone by. I don’t even understand how that is possible!
Cool thing for the week—after talking about the John Tanner movie two weeks ago, my Aunt and Uncle informed me that he was my 5th-great-grandfather. I knew we were related, but didn’t know how. This past week at dinner, one of the boys said, “Do you know who John Tanner is?” And I said, “Yes! He’s my 5th Great-grandpa.” He said, “He’s MY 5th great-grandpa!” I done eat dinner with my 6th cousins! Fun day.
I forgot my planner, so I guess I’ll talk about people :D
Kalea
She is doing GREAT! We taught her about tithing this week and she asked if she had to wait until she was baptized to pay it. Nope! So she paid it this Sunday when she was at church! She came to the CES fireside as well, which was awesome!
Caden
He hit some rough patches this week, but he’s doing a lot better. He keeps reminding us that he came from a Jewish background, so we can’t expect huge changes, and yet he is making great leaps! He’s currently planning on being baptized Oct 12.
Levi
He is from China and we have some communication barriers, but he really is interested in learning! He came to the fireside too! It was good to see him there. Our branch mission leader is doing a great job of befriending him.
Those are our main investigators right now. Have a great week!
Love ya,
Sister Denton
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
9/6/11- Letter to the World
Tuesday
Zack--it was an interesting lesson, but he is still meeting with us :D
Richie--Interesting...we're struggling with how to get him to obey the commandments we teach...
Rojas--A family we're teaching. Our team-up was AWESOME, so the lesson ended up going well :D
Wednesday
District Meeting--got an AWESOME talk...look up 4th missionary.
Oh! I am out of time. It was a great week! The work is awesome. The gospel is awesome. The church is true!
I love you all!
Sister Denton
Zack--it was an interesting lesson, but he is still meeting with us :D
Richie--Interesting...we're struggling with how to get him to obey the commandments we teach...
Rojas--A family we're teaching. Our team-up was AWESOME, so the lesson ended up going well :D
Wednesday
District Meeting--got an AWESOME talk...look up 4th missionary.
Oh! I am out of time. It was a great week! The work is awesome. The gospel is awesome. The church is true!
I love you all!
Sister Denton
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