Week Six What a Crazy Week

Hi fam!

To be honest, this week was such a blur, I couldn't even tell you what we did on Wednesday! All of the days are starting to blend in and many times I'd say, "Oh, didn't we see that family two days ago?" and sis. schellhous would say, "No, we saw them two weeks ago!" A ward member, Sister McQuay, came up to us after church and told us to come by that day...We stopped in at 7 and we were a little confused as to why she was being so vague. She sat us down, and told me the news about Claire. To be honest when she started saying, "Sister Seymour, your mom wanted someone to tell you in person...." the first thought that ran through my head was, "Dad's getting baptized!" But unfortunately, that was not the case. It was hard to hear it because it came from nowhere! It was like hearing about Clayton's passing...None of us expected it to happen. (Don't misunderstand me, I'm not comparing Claire's death to Clayton's). I didn't cry, I choked down my tears for later. Sister Shelly and Sister McQuay seemed concerned but I said, "I'm fine, we just have to go back to missionary work." I knew that if we had gone in for the night, it would've been terrible. So we decided to visit a less active for our last activity. Going to bed was difficult, I felt like a flood of memorys of Claire rushed before me and I couldn't hold my tears back any longer.

I'm happy to say that today is much better, I've accepted the news and now, I'm putting my trust in the Lord. I'm trying to keep myself positive by serving everyone around me and not focusing on myself. Elder Bednar has talked how Christ turns outwards, when we turn in. It is my goal this week to turn outwards as much as possible and serve the people here. Serving others brings the most happiness in my life!

We had one investigator show up at church this week..It was Verma, the older woman who has a baptismal date for Sept 14th..Well, Verma is just amazing. She was so sick but still wanted to come to church. We knew she wasn't feeling well so after sacrament meeting, Bishop gave her a blessing, and his wife (Sister Sanford aka...wonderwoman in disguise) drove her home with us. We found out later that night that Verma was so sick, she called sis sanford and sis sanford flew to Verma's and drove her to the hospital. Yeah. like I said..she's wonderwoman. Verma has kidney disease, been on dialysis for 4 years and just had a lung drained 3 weeks ago...

Hmmm something happy and uplifting....well..I don't have to think too hard to find something to share! After church we went over to Jerry and Adrianne's for a lesson...Jerry is the one who wants to be baptized but is waiting for his divorce to finish and Adrianne is his less active girl friend. Guess what we taught them hehehe...The Law of Chastity wahoooo! And guess what, it wasn't awkward at all! It went so well! Adrianne is willing to do whatever it takes to get him baptized, she just doesn't want to be pushy with him. She's willing to move out and everything, the problem is finances. Jerry's affraid that they won't be able to afford two homes. We promised him that as he put his faith in the Lord and lived the Law of Chastity, the Lord would provide a way for things to work out. Jerry agreed to pray to know what to do and how to do it...We're confident that things will really get rolling if they decide to separate. The Spirit was so strong as we bore witness of the power of the Lord. We were so nervous before the lesson but it went great!

We met with Susan on tuesday and taught her the Plan of Salvation. She was very distracted and the lesson didn't go very well because she kept asking weird, random questions that didn't really matter...We're planning on reteaching her again on tuesday..

Oh my word I almost forgot!....We went to the temple on friday with our zone and it was so great! It was so nice to just rest for a moment..The temple was decorated with Blue Bonnets and Magnolias...BEAUTIFUL. 

And last but certainly not least....prepare yourself for the biggest, most craziest news ever. I'm going to be training next week! WHAT. I'm so nervous and excited because I've only been her for six weeks! Sister Schellhous and I are praying that we get to trio train someone and that we won't get separated because our companionship rocks! But, the mission is in need of english sisters to train..I found this out when we were outside the temple. Elder Myers (one of the APs) asked me if we had room to fit another bed in the room. Um. No. we can barely survive with the two of us in there! He said that he knows how strong our companionship is and that we don't want to be split up so he wants to do everything possible to keep us together...He was like, you can't tell anyone or else President will kill me!!! So...yeah...either way..I'm going to be training someone..I'M STILL A GREENIE! I don't think I could even find my way to our house..Well..I better start paying more attention!

I'd also be super sad if sister shelly left because she has worked so hard for all of these investigators and she doesn't want to leave when all of them are about to get baptized! Transfers are next Thursday....This is so crazy! I can't believe the Lord has entrusted me with this!

I love yall and I don't want you to worry about me. The Lord is on my side! All is well in Zion :)

Love,

Sister Seymour

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Week Five My Week of Miricles

Hey family! Are you ready to read the most amazing, crazy, awesome email of your life? Okay, good. 

Last Sunday, our ward fasted for missionary opportunities and I was expecting the ward members to have tons of miracles and opportunities so that we would get a lot of referrals...Well..All of the miracles really happened to us!

Here are some of the few that happened...I can't wait for yall to read my journal...If I told you every one, I'd be sitting at the computer for the entire day! Anyways.....

Monday night...We went to Susan's house (disabled woman) with Brother Kunz (Ward Mission Leader) and Elder Matthews (a senior, service missionary who focuses on employment). She received an amazing blessing and afterwards she felt "at peace and calm", and it all felt surreal to her. She was feeling the spirit! We talked a little bit about baptism and priesthood authority...She kinda had a hard time grasping "authority" so I was felt prompted to bluntly say, "This Church is the only church that has the proper, priesthood authority." Then it clicked in her mind! We were going to extend an invitation to be baptized but she got a little caught up with Elder Matthews, talking about jobs and that whole process. Sister Schellhous and I know that she's going to be baptized..After the lesson, we were on such a spiritual high. I. love. Sister Schellhous. I am so blessed to have her as my companion. 

Tuesday: We stopped by an old, black woman's house who hasn't answered the door for a couple of weeks now..We feared the worst..but she opened the door! Her name is Verma and she's had a really hard life. She's kind of hard to understand because she has a super thick Louisiana accent and she doesn't have that many teeth :) We taught her some of the principles of the gospel and invited her to church..She said she'll come, she just needs a ride..Then, we invited her to be baptized and she said, yes! when?? Surprised by her question we said September 14th...We have a baptismal date whatttttt!?!? We need to meet with her for a couple of times a weeks to help prepare her..

In the evening...we contacted a former investigator (who never picks up his phone) and he told us we could come over to chat!!...We taught him the Restoration and man...the spirit was so strong! His name is Alex...and he works every other sunday so he'll be at church next week! 

We taught the Restoration to another man named, Sam and he's so prepared for the gospel...He's already in the Book of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon! He said that he'll be baptized if he comes to know that the BOM is true..He said that he's not ready to pray to know if it's true, he wants to read more...I'm fine with that!!

I feel so humbled when we teach the Restoration because I get to tell investigators about Joseph Smith and the First Vision. I have it memorized and when I say it, I look the people directly in the eye and I can tell that the Spirit is working inside of them. They understand it and they want the gospel. 

We taught the Resto. another time with a woman named Erin...Her bosses are LDS so she wanted to learn more about what they believe...She agreed to read the BOM and pray about it!
We have so many investigators right now, we don't know what to do! 

Ok..this is the grand finale...the biggest miracle that has happened so far on my mission.....Drum roll please.... :D

Last night after our dinner appointment with a part member family, we had an hour before we were going to visit less actives and families so we thought we'd go tracting..Our area, the Parkway Area, is divided into 4 smaller areas that we visit. The night before, we planned on tracting in area 2..so we drove over there and parked on the side of the road in a neighborhood. We prayed for guidance about where exactly, we needed to be. I pulled out my tracting map and blankly stared at it. I kept thinking, "How am I supposed to tell if I'm being guided by the Spirit? I feel like it's just my thoughts and my thinking!" I looked around and just started to stare at a street named, Camden Cross. Ok...did I just zone out and my eyes happened to be focused on that street? When I looked at the other street names, they didn't feel good to me..It was only that street that stood out. Sister Schellhous asked, "Did you pick your 3 streets?" I responded, "Not really, there's this one neighborhood and one street that sound good." Before she asked me this, I was thinking about how crazy it would be if we picked the same exact street because there are hundreds to chose from.
Sister Schellhous continued on and said, "Ok, my first street is...Camden Cross.." WHAT. I threw my map up in the air and said, "Are you kidding me? Drive there RIGHT NOW." She said, "I take it that that was the street you picked?" YES.

Holy. Cow. We were freaking out. Our companionship is so strong and we live so closely to the Spirit. I'm starting to learn that as you are obedient and have the spirit, our thoughts become His thoughts. We don't need a lightning bolt moment to know what to do. If we are keeping the commandments and living worthy to have the spirit, the Lord will trust you to make your own decisions and He'll guide you to where you need to be. 

So, we drove to Camden Cross, parked the car, prayed, got out enthusiastically. We were faced with the decision of which side of the street we needed to start on..I felt like the right side was the one and so did Sis. Schellhous. I said out loud, "Ok, Heavenly Father, why do you want us here? Who needs the gospel?" First house we knocked on...no answer..Next house..we ring the door bell and we hear a cheerful, "Just a second!"..Sis. Schellhous and I looked at each other with smiles on our faces knowing that the woman behind the door was the one. 

A woman in her mid 30s opened the door with a beaming smile and was definitely not expecting to see us at her door step haha...We did our door approach and she said that she has already accepted Christ as her Savior and that she's been saved...So then we talked a bit about the BOM and sure enough...she let us in! WHAT. No one EVER lets us in when we're tracting..Then, she whipped some cookies out of the oven and said, have some! Take a seat! 

Ok....We were talking for a while and then the conversation led into the Restoration...We gave the whole lesson with this woman and the Spirit was so strong! Her name is Crissy, and she agreed that she'd read the BOM and pray about it...She LOVES Jesus..a lot..which is great! When we asked her to read she then said, "Ok I will...But will yall fast and read it and ask God if we need this additional scripture and if its true?"
Umm..sure! We already know it's true but why not ask again! We agreed to do so and we're planning on seeing her again next week. We talked with her for over an hour and by the time we were done, we only had time to visit one family.

ARE YALL FREAKING OUT? This is the kind of experience that every missionary dreams about and you only hear about other people having this happen to them! 

I just wanted to cry with joy..And when we left her house, we were greeted with one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen.

I know that the Lord has a hand in all things and He is using me as His instrument to find His lost sheep. 

In closing I just want to share a few scriptures that describe how I've felt the past few days..Alma 36:24-25 Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto ^arepentance; that I might bring them to ^btaste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be ^cborn of God, and be ^dfilled with the Holy Ghost.

Yea.... the Lord doth ^agive me exceedingly great joy in the fruit of my ^blabors;

I AM SO HAPPY. This is the happiest I've ever been. EVER. We work so hard every day and in return, the Lord blesses us with prepared people to teach.

And then in Moroni 7:29 my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased? Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have ^aangels ceased to minister unto the children of men.

Miracles NEVER cease and I know that there are angels helping us every day.

Oh funny moment of the email...Last pday..we showed up and the elders were about to pick teams for basketball..I didn't want to sit around and watched so I joined them! It was hilarious because none of them wanted to pressure me or try and take it away so my team would just give me the ball and let me take it in for a lay up every time :D It was a hilarious site...I had an elder record us playing dodgeball...so when I send my memory card, yall can watch it :) The way we play, it's every man for themself. And when you get someone out, that person is out until you get out! One time, I was one of the last people standing and I finally got out....Half of the missionaries were back in! 

Unfortunately...my entire ward now knows that I was on the BYU mens hockey team...THANKS BISHOP SANFORD. Well, it was really Sister Schellhous' fault...she told the Ward Mission Leader and then it spread around like wildfire..So now everyone thinks I'm going to check them into a wall at church...I'm a nice person, I swear! And I have all of my teeth :D

Well fam...it was great to hear from yall! 

Love, 

Sister Seymour

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Week Four

Dear Family,

Thanks for all of your letters and emails! Hmm where to start...So much has happened in just a week! So..I'll start with last Monday. After emailing we went to the stake center to hang out with the other missionaries. It was so much fun because we just went crazy and played dodgeball :) Me being the competitive person that I am nearly threw out my arm haha..But it was worth it because I dominated hehe..Can you send me some humble pie please? Our p-day ends at 6 pm. We went to a part member family's home for dinner. Sister Goodie, the mom, is married to Korey a black nonmember. And the reason why I told you his race is because their children are literally the most beautiful children I've ever seen. They have blonde hair, with perfect tan skin, and gray eyes. 'Nuff said. Sister Goodie told us her life's story and it's the exact same situation Mom is in and was in. So I told her that and how Dad's heart has been softened over the years. She really appreciated it and teared up. It felt so good to connect with her and to be able to promise her that through her faithfulness, her husband's heart will be softened. Maybe I'll be that missionary that is able to connect with him and help him learn about the gospel. (He wasn't there when all of this was happening because he knew we were coming over for dinner haha) She also told us that she loves doing her family's temple work so I shared the Malachi 4:5-6 and told her that through temple work her husband's heart will be softened. He comes to church when the kids sing in primary (ages 6,4, and 18 months), when she gives a talk, and when he wants to make up for fighting haha..At the end she hugged me and thanked me for sharing my story. I have come to realize that this is one of the many reasons why the Lord specifically needs ME here. 

Tuesday was kind of forgettable..All of our appointments fell through..again..I know that this work requires a great deal of patience and I've learned that I have to experience hard things before I can find success and true happiness!

Wednesday I woke up feeling really nauseous...And I actually threw up! I went back to sleep and didn't feel better until 1 pm..We finally made it out the door! We did some tracting and found two people who seem interested! One woman, Norma, said she believes in the same things that we do and that she has met with the elders before, when she lived in California. 

Interesting experience..We met with an "eternal investigator", someone who has had the lessons a million times but refuses to get baptized. His name is Chip and he has read the entire standard works and anything and everything written by a past prophet or apostle ie..the journal discourses..Needless to say, he ate the meat before the milk. He's so confused about everything and he asks all of these questions that we do our best to answer them. We asked him if he has prayed about it and he said no, I don't want God to give me a false answer. LAME. We called President Pingree because we had no idea what to do with him (if we should drop him) because he stresses us out wayyy too much. President wants to come with us to our next meeting with the investigator which will be on Wednesday! 

Thursday: We did weekly planning for a really long time so the highlight of my day was this: We went to Eric and Vida Frausto's for a lesson. And I must say that I was sooo nervous to teach! I had taught a couple of lessons before to members and less-actives, but this was my first time teaching a planned lesson to an investigator(s). So, Eric and Vida are hispanic, with Catholic backgrounds. They have 5 kids so they'd fit right in with the ward! They're so sweet and just have this hunger for more. They have tons of questions that we're able to answer and they've had their doubts about their church's views and teachings. They've told us that everything we've taught them makes sense in their hearts. Our lesson plan for the night was to focus on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We watched a mormon message about the Atonement and we could instantly feel the Spirit. Vida asks a lot of deep questions that we did our best to answer. We also brought a member with us, Sister Sanford (bishop's wife). She was amazing too! We began to talk about how Christ cleanses us and having faith in Him. They both believe Christ to be our Savior...The discussion glided away from the plan but we were okay with that. They expressed their desire to attend church and they said they'd come! We were planning on committing them to baptism but we didn't get to talk about baptism so we felt like we should wait. We committed them to read and pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true. Sister Schellhous and I both know that they're going to get baptized, it's just a matter of time!

Friday: We had a district meet and it was a lot more helpful and meaningful than last week's. (Probably because I was exhausted and didn't know what was going on!) We discussed concerns that some investigators might have about getting baptized. We listed them all up on the board and then found scriptures to help dissolve their concerns. The last thing we talked about was fasting. It is the most underused tool a missionary has. So, Sister Schellhous and I decided to fast on Saturday for our investigators to come to church. After the meeting we went to Susan's house (woman with tons of ailments who needs help cleaning her house). She almost didn't let us in because she was in so much pain..But we got in and went to work! Afterwards, we sat down with her to share a brief message. Sister Schellhous thought it would be smart to talk more about The Book of Mormon...As soon as we sat down, Susan dumptrucked us with all of her problems. She can't pay her bills because she can't work, and she can't work because she needs a knee replacement, which she's on the waiting list for because she doesn't have insurance! You see the problem here? Oh, and she's divorced and has two sons leaving for college in 4 weeks so she's afraid that she's going to curl up in a ball and waste away because she has no one to talk to. We told her that she has a loving Heavenly Father and a Savior, Jesus Christ, to always be there for her. She said that she wasn't raised in a religious home so she has a hard time believing in God. But she wants to believe in Him. We testified to her as representatives of Christ, that He lives. The Spirit was so powerful when I bore witness to her. And then the saddest thing happened. She looked deeply into my eyes and sincerely asked, "If God loves me, then why would He make my life so hard?" I felt so horrible because I couldn't answer that question. I just stared at her like an airhead. All I wanted to do at that moment was cry. To cry with her because I felt such a profound sadness for her. Her life is one of the saddest things I've ever heard. The amazing part about all of this, is that she recognized we (us missionaries) were in her home for a reason. It was not a coincidence that we found her, it was a miracle. We gave her a Book of Mormon and asked her to read 3 Nephi 11. She was more than willing to do so! We invited her to church but she was unsure if she could physically make it...Then, Sister Schellhous felt prompted to tell her about the priesthood and blessings. Her first response was, "Can I get that?" Wahoo! She said that she'd do anything...The next time we meet, tomorrow, she's going to receive a priesthood blessing. We left her with a prayer and when she walked us to the door, she said, "Oh, my knee feels fine now!!" WHAT A MIRACLE. 

Saturday: we fasted until dinner time and let me tell you this. It was so hard. Not having food or water for the entire day while out in the hot, humid heat, it was so challenging to just put one foot in front of the other. But I knew that what I was doing was worth it. It was for Eric, Vida, Susan, and the Medeiros family (less actives). We wanted them to come to church. During the day we were trying to decide where to go next. I said, let's try Jane Street! Sis. Schellhous looked at me like I was crazy and said, "That's the most ghetto, sketchy place in the area!" So the crazy person that I am was like, Lets do it!!!!! We drove to Jane street and it was so legit. There were dogs roaming and the houses, well, trailers were so ghetto! We saw this one woman, mowing her lawn while smoking and the only tooth she had was her front one! Don't get me wrong, I'm not making fun of Jane street, I love it! But the thought slipped into my head, "I wonder if they cook meth back here." One of the dogs that chased our car (which we never got out of while on the dirt road...) was a mutant! It had utters. Huge saggin utters that were flying everywhere as it ran at us! It was hilarious and crazy! I love Jane Street haha..I love to see those sketchy places that you thought were only in movies.

Sunday: To our dismay, none of our investigators showed up...Eric and Vida went to a late concert the night before and felt bad that they missed church...The day was also hard because all of our appointments dropped and we were left to go tracting. We didn't have any luck..The questions that I keep asking myself: What is the Lord trying to show me? Should we looking for new people to teach? And I have no idea what He's trying to tell me so I'm just going to keep working hard and continue to pray. The talks in church were all amazing...They were all based on a recent talk by Elder Anderson about the trial of your faith. Go look it up! 

I'm out of time family and sorry for the long email! I love you everyone and pray that the heat doesn't kill me! Everyone here says August is the hottest month. Hopefully, we'll find people to teach so we'll be inside during the heat! LOVE YALL!

Sister Seymour

Week Three