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

Week Two My Room, Texas Sky(s), and my Companion.

July 22, 2013: First Week in da field wooo!

Hello my family! My goodness so much can happen in just 6 days. Well, I've arrived in hot, humid Houston! The Lord has greatly blessed me though because it really hasn't been too hot....even though the heat is supposed to really be cranked this week. So we arrived in Houston and we were greeted by my amazing mission president and his wife aka...my parents for the mish...They're the sweetest people ever! A couple of the sisters and I stayed and the mission home because we needed to be interviewed by President Pingree. As soon as I walked into his office I teared up because the Spirit was just so gosh dang strong! I felt like someone had put a warm blanket on me! He started off by asking me what Jesus Christ meant to me and I said, "Everything. Without Him, we would all be lost." He asked me a little bit about my spanish and I told him that I've been trying to keep up with it and whatnot. He told me that he's going to respect the Lord's calling for me but he'll always keep it in his thoughts and a situation arose..I told him about my family and I kept tearing up. Then he told me something that really touched my heart. He said, "Wow, you really have a beautiful countenance and I feel like you're one of the choice and noble spirits." Ok, this made me cry because the Spirit was just pouring out of me! By the end of the meeting, he was crying and I was bawling haha...Before I felt tired and worried...But now I feel like everything is going to be alright... (side note) President called me the other day and asked me again about spanish...There's a strong chance that I'm going to get switched! I'm excited and terrified and a little hesitant all at the same time! I love my companion and I love the people! But I'll do whatever the Lord asks of me! The next day...I met my companion and thank the Lord because she's awesome! She's super hard working and she just finished her training so she's only been out for three months!

She's 22 and her name is Sister Schellhous... Can you say german?...We are in the Parkway Ward which is located in Tomball...We're in the Klein Stake and the temple is like 20 minutes away...Speaking of which...we're going on thursday woooo....For payback about all of my crying baby comments with mom in airports, grocery stores, and churches, the Lord placed me in a ward where there are 160 primary children..yes..you read that correctly....they dominate the entire congregation..everyone has like 5 kids and everyone is preggers!!! So the ward is super young, I've gotten to meet with the Ward Mission Leader who actually has a huge role in missionary work. People have this misunderstanding about missionaries...They think we need to be knocking doors all day long when in reality, we need to be teaching! It's up to the members to find the people for us to teach! Our ward hasn't seen a baptism in like 14 months but that's going to change! Before I got here, the companionship really focused on finding people..They contacted tons and found a bunch of potential investigators. But the problem was that the investigators weren't getting the attention needed. So sister schellhous and I are picking our top 5 investigators and we're going to prepare them for baptism. But everyone who is anyone is on vacation right now so the summer isn't the best time to get the work done. We're not going to let that stop us though! We're also working with an inactive family that was baptized a couple of years ago..Our goal for them is to get them to the temple!! With the Lord's help, we can do it! The people are so very nice and I have yet to meet a rude person! Everyone here is Christian so that's a great conversation starter! Even if they don't want to learn more, they still turn you down nicely... Joel Olsteen??Heard of him??The guy grandpa seymour watches every sunday? yah..he's in houston..and his megachurch is just a few minutes away. When I say megachurch..I mean 20,000 attendees.. My comp and I always joke that we're going to convert him so his hoards of followers will come join the church! We've also just started working with a disabled woman...foot amputee and really bad knee on the other leg..Sis Schellhous and I think that it's a good idea to just serve her and help her in anyway that we can while slipping in little messages about the gospel. She is in need of serious spiritual and physical help and we can tell that the Lord has prepared her for the gospel! This work is hard but it's so great! We're always insanely busy and we're fed feasts EVERY night by the members. So don't worry about me going hungry! Our living situation...We are currently living with a widow from the ward with her two dogs..One big one and one little one :) Sister Schellhous hates dogs so I always make fun of her for that haha...Our room is so tiny that we have to have a bunk bed. and get this....We're living in the only home in Houston that doesn't have AC yayyyyyyyyy haha,,,,pray that I don't die of heat exhaustion...But it really isn't that bad so don't worry! Our best method for finding new investigators is contacting/tracting...But we haven't really done much of that lately because we've been meeting members so I can get a hang of the ward and we need to focus on our investigators! Before, the companionship was only seeing them once every other week, but now, we're going to be bold and meet with them at least every five days. I have faith that the Lord will help us! I love Texas and I love my companion! We work really well together and laugh a lot so that's good! I'm so grateful for her.. I'm so excited to be here and I feel like I can never get enough done in a day! This is where I'm meant to be! The Church is true erybodyyyy! Oh funny side note..On friday we had a stake dodgeball event haha...the youth are supposed to bring a nonmember friend and it turns into missionaries versus the youth..Lets just say that the Elders like to be ruthless haha....and I was the only sister that played haha To explain some terminology...A zone is made up of all the missionaries in the stake..And a district is made up of a few companionships in an area...So there are multiple districts in a zone.. There are two elders in my zone that were with me in the MTC so it was nice to see a familiar face at dodgeball. They're both hilarious! More about da weather...It always rains in the afternoon and the thunderstorms are awesome! We get some big ol fat rain with a little bit of sideways rain (forest gump anyone?) Well fam..I've gotta go! Vaya con Dios mis amigos! Love, Sister Seymour

The second and final week wahooo!!

Hola familia!

I can't believe I'm leaving tomorrow!! Um...are y'all alive?? I hope you're updating my blog! I got your dearelders and what not but hey, you can email me!! Thank you so much for the package grandmother and thanks fam for the delicious cupcake, it was just what I needed! I hope I haven't gained like 10 pounds here lol..Where to begin...Last wednesday during class, our teacher and Elder Wardle did a role play with Sister Montierth. Sister Montierth was the investigator and Elder Wardle and Brother Carter were the missionaries..Brother Carter asked Sister Montierth if she would think of someone personal in her life who would need to hear their lesson. She picked her less active brother. Brother Carter then asked the rest of us to think of someone that would need to hear it as well. So, I picked Matt. Elder Wardle and Brother Carter spoke with such power and the spirit was so strong that Sister Montierth began to cry. I could feel so much love for Matt and I could feel how much the Savior loves Matt. So that was a really amazing experience..

On Saturday, my companions and I taught a lesson with a new investigator and I felt so utterly alone. I couldn't feel the Spirit, I didn't really desire to be there, and my companions just wouldn't talk at all. So at every long awkward pause, I expected them to jump and help but they wouldn't! I was in total disbelief. We left the lesson and I was being selfishly sorry for myself. We went back to the classroom and waited for our class instruction to start. Exhaustion swept over me and the only thing that I wanted to look at was the back of my eyelids...As class began we were asked to study, converson. I said a humble prayer and asked for the Lord to help me wake up and to help me feel the Spirit. For the past day I had really been strugglying with trying to discern if I was being prompted by the Spirit or if it was just my thoughts. This problem would rule my thoughts during lessons that we would teach and I think that it was really starting to affect me.

I kept thinking that I needed to expect a miracle...every..day...We moved on from personal sutdying and our substitut teacher said that we would now talk about promptings and our thoughts. Um. Wow. Thank you Heavenly Father! We watched a clip of Edler Bednar giving a talk at the MTC...He said, "How do you tell when you're being prompted? Is it your thoughts tell you something? Or is it the Lord?" He then said something that took me by surprise, "Don't worry about it!" If it is something good, it is from God. After the video, we read Moroni 7 as a companionship and I could feel the spirit so strongly. Brother Larson, our sub, came over to my comps and I and said, "I feel prompted to share this personal story with you." At the time, we were reading about through faith, angels minister to us and miracles never cease. So he (bro larson on his mission) said that he went to an investigator's home for a lesson and met the woman outside her house. She had been living with her husband in her sister's house. Bro Larson said that he saw the sister (less active but served a mission) inside the house staring at him. She began to cry her eyes out. So he went inside to see what was going on. She proceeded to tell him that she saw angels surrounding him. Wow. He said that he could feel them but he couldn't see them! I know that angels will be with me every step of the way.

At times I question why am I really here. But then I think about all of the people in the world who are just waiting for the gospel. And if I want so badly for Dad to join the church, think of how many people want their family members to join! This gospel is so true and I'm so excited to finally get to Houston. I've been waiting for 5 stinking months!

Sunday was fantastic! In the morning, all of the sisters gathered in the auditorium to watch Music and the Spoken Word (Mormon Tabernacle Choir program). After that, we had Relief Society and the guest speaker was Carole Mikita, a salt lake city anchor who's relatively famous in Utah haha...She shared her story of how she found the church...As a child, the missionaries knocked on her door, the very last house on the street...Years later she was baptized and one by one, her family members were. Her family was eventually sealed in the temple in the 90s! One thing that she said really struck me...."The Lord opens eyes, hearts, and minds when the time is right." This brought me comfort because it made me think about Dad. For the past 19 years I've wanted for him to be baptized. But his eyes, heart, and mind haven't been opened. He's simply, not ready. For the past two weeks I've really begun to understand this concept. It's all about timing and it's in the Lord's timing, I know that things will work out!

For Sacrament meeting, our district sang Be Still Soul....We got to go to the departure devotional because we leave on Wednesday!!! President Nally said that we're the largest group to ever leave the MTC this week...974 amazing missionaries!!! This past week was the "peak" for missionaries in the MTC...Meaing that the MTC was at its largest occupancy EVER. It's amazing to think that I'm a part of this historic year! President Nally also said that no matter how hot, cold, wet, dry, or humid your mission might be, there's no such thing as bad weather! HA! I could really use some help from the Lord because I'm going to melt!

Some interesting things that he said:

-Don't give up on the call the Lord gave you.

-Your mission experience is the MTC for the rest of your life and the next.

-The number of missionaries in the MTC has doubled since January.

For the regular sunday night devotional here's a couple of bullet points:

-You're not "finding" anyone, God has already found them The only one that is lost is you! Find yourself!

-God gives people more than one opportunity to hear and accept the gospel.

-Look for God's hand in all things..

Well fam, time is up and I can't wait to leave...This is craziness!! This is what my itinerary looks like for tomorrow...Fly out of SLC at 6 am...Arrive in Dallas/Fort Worth at 9:40 am...Leave Dallas at 12:35 (gross layover), and land in Houston Intercontinental at 1:40 pm...I'll be calling home (hawaii) at the crack of dawn...Expect a phone call around 5 am haha PLEASE HAVE YOUR PHONES ON SO I DONT HAVE TO WASTE MY PHONE MINUTES repeatedly calling you.....I can't wait to talk to you!!!!!!!!! And...I'll try and give Matt a phone call! So give Matt a heads up!!

I love you all so much and the Church is true!!!

 

 

Love Sister Seymour

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Dear Family and Friends July 4th

Dear Family,
I neglected to tell you to use DearElder.com! This website lets you type up a letter, send it electronically and it'll be delivered to me on the same day. This would be greatly appreciated if you use it to write your long letters so I won't have to use my precious email time reading instead of writing!
  The days here are so very long! They pack in so much learning, my brain is fried by 2pm! Tonight for Independence Day, the MTC gathered (not all in the same room because there are so many of us) and a counselor in our branch presidency shared a short, personal story, we sang patriotic hymns with amazing power, the conductor was crying. Afterwords, we watched 17 Miracles ( a movie about the trek across Americas to Salt Lake City and the struggles they faced). There wasn't a dry eye in the room...When that was done, they let us watch the awesome fireworks! I want to go back to that story the councilor shared...His son-in law is a fighter pilot in the Air Force, he was asked to escort the body of someone in his squadron...Before he left, his commander gave him a ring and told him it might be the pilots wedding ring, but he shouldn't give it to the pilots wife...with the ring in hand, he boarded the C-130 with the casket. He prayed to know what to say to the wife and whether or not he should give her the ring. When he arrived at the home, the wife ask to speak with to him alone. He felt prompted to give her the ring and she said, "I've been praying that I'd be able to hold onto just one thing that belongs to him!" I have  testimony that the Lord answers our prayer and that he loves each of us.
  Tomorrow, we begin to teach investigators (people who are interested in the church)...Love y'all! I'm so happy!

                       Love Sister Seymour

To My Beautiful Family, July 3, 2013: Emma wanted us to post this for all to read.

  I literally have two seconds to write...so I just want to say my testimony.
This is the true church of Christ. My Savior lives and loves me and I'm so grateful to be here. There is no where else I'd rather be and I cant wait to get to Houston!
 It really is a mini BYU reunion here...Everywhere I look I find someone that I know! I must have seen six people that I already knew right when I got dropped off...
 My district is made up of 5 sisters (all going to Houston) and 6 Elders (all going to Richmond VA).

It later occurred to me that that is the mission that Matt lives in. Coincidence? No such thing. I'm in a trio companionship with Sister Davis and Sister Harrison.

They're very sweet and nice! Tonight, I was made the Sister Training Leader so I make sure all the girls are doing great and next week, I'll be like a mentor for when a new district gets here.
 Some 840 missionaries arrived today...We are the Lord's Army! I love my savior and I feel honored to wear His name on my name tag. This is so true, I cant even explain how I feel. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.

                          Love Always,
                          Sister Seymour
p.s. You can post on the blog :-)