October Emails (and photos!)

October 3, 2011

I hear it should be cooling off here and in Utah....I don't quite believe it, but it's supposed to be like high 80's here. Oh my heck, it'll be like a dream or something.

Other news of note. We say some javelinas last night. BAAAHAH! A whole heeeerrrrd of them (totally thinking of Tarzan here as she is telling her dad about all the monkeys. Most of you will have no idea what I'm talking about, but if one of my old roomies reads this, I hope you can picture it. "monkeys?" "monkeys!" but with javelinas. :) ) They really were sick, but it was incredibly exciting. Pretty sure Heavenly Father had a good laugh at our reaction....it was a bit ridiculous. But I've been hearing about them for months, and they've alluded me this whole time. But, we had some cross the road for us and it was grand indeed.

Conference was a huge highlight this weekend....we got to watch each session at the Visitor Center in the theater. Every talk was so good, I really enjoyed them. They talked so much about the importance of reading scriptures, specifically the Book of Mormon. I totally believe it, I've seen that on my mission already how much the Book of Mormon has helped me. That book is key to everything we teach people. If it's true, it's all true, and then your life can be changed. I love the Book of Mormon!

The media campaign coming up is going to be incredible. the Church will have commercials, billboards, and internet ads to help people refer to mormon.org for information about what we believe. With all the attention the Church has been getting recently, it will help people go to the actual source of truth--go to the Church itself for answers. mormon.org is a great resource for people to learn as much or as little about what we believe as they are interested in. I have a profile on there--you should all look me up! It's great. :)

Anyhow, gotta run. Love you all!

October 11, 2011

Hey everyone,

Thanks for all the emails and stuff--I'm all out of time to write you all! But this week was great, we got a new investigator.

Did you catch that?? A NEW person to teach! Her name is Nelda....her husband is a member but hasn't been active in the church for years and years. I'm not sure if she knows that we are planning on her getting baptized yet, but hopefully she'll find soon that she'd like to be.

We've seen quite a few miracles lately--just catching people home that we haven't ever been able to. We have been super busy with appointments--especially with members. We've been teaching them the lessons so that they will get excited about missionary work and come to like and trust us as well. And we could use the practice teaching together. It's a total win-win situation.

We are teaching a boy, named Josh. I know I've written about him before, but he has a date for his baptism now! It's for October 29th, so I'm pretty excited for him. :) He is real excited too, and has had a good time picking out the songs and who he wants to talk on baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. :) It's so good to watch.

Sister Dyer isn't new--in fact she's going home from her mission in 3 weeks! It's after that that I will most likely be training somebody new. Though, I suppose it's not guaranteed. Sorry that I wasn't clear and it's all confusing. That picture of all the sisters here was one that was taken before the new ones arrived.

October 17, 2011

It's been really good out here in Arizona. The weather has been nice, the people are great. :) We had a few miracles this week and were able to see a few people we have tried a lot but haven't ever been able to get a hold of. There is one couple. People have been trying to get in their home for a long time. They are really nice, and are letting us come back next week. They are both members of the church, but haven't gone in years. They haven't been coming to church because of feelings of guilt, so we are just going to go in and help them understand the love and joy that they can feel as they repent and do what they know they are supposed to be doing. :) I think a lot of people just try for a bit and then give up. They may take some time, but as we show them we care by being consistent--it's gonna be really good. They are a really sweet couple.

We have been doing a buttload of member lessons too. We did about 10 of them this last week, and we have about 15 scheduled for this upcoming week. ! (These lessons are just us going into the ward members homes, and teaching them the first 3 lessons we teach investigators: the message of the Restoration, the plan that God has for us, and how we can live to be successful in that plan.) I love these lessons, and it's been great practice for us. It's nice to get to know the members better as well, and gain their trust. As they better understand what we teach and how we teach it, they will trust us with their friends and neighbors more. :) Hopefully we will start getting some more people to teach soon.

We are going to the mall after this to get Sister Dyer's ears pierced! She's never done it cause she's scared, so this is a big step for her. :) I've totally been there myself too--so I feel like I can tell her she'll be fine. I still feel it was unjust to have to go through this when I was 12, but alas. What's done is done I suppose. :P It'll be a fun day though!

I love you all, and pray for you often.

Love,

Mary

Ps. What are your plans for Halloween? Sister Dyer and I may switch name tags or something. :)

October 24, 2011

Things have been going great here! One of the boys that we have been teaching since July is finally getting baptized on Saturday! :) Woohoo! He'll be the first person that I've taught and has gotten baptized, so that'll be really nice. He's a great kid and is really excited. It's been kinda a rocky road with him, but he's really come to know that it's all true and wants to be baptized! It'll be great. :)

We also found a new investigator this week. Those seem to be few and far between, so that was such a blessing! He wants to learn more about families and how to strengthen and bless them. Him and his girlfriend are real interested. We are teaching him again tomorrow--I'll let you all know how it goes next week! :) But I feel really good about it, I'm excited.

I'm about out of time...sorry! But I will try to write you all letters today. :) Thanks for all the mail and the emails! I love you all!

Love,

Mary

Ps. That house looks like a castle! Sweet, huh? Also, that's what my area looks like. Tons of rocks and cactuses and poky plants. Pretty cool though huh?

Pss. Okay, that hill is one of the biggest in my area, with a huge mansion on top. And then look at that dinky little (or normal) house on the bottom. Isn't it just kind of sad looking? Each time I see it it makes me kinda laugh a little. It's just funny.

Psss. People put in fake grass here to make them feel better.

pSSSS. My companion is going home next week! Found out that fewer English sisters are coming than we thought so maybe I won't be training (which would be a relief.) I'm not so sure about having to be the one that's definitely in charge. Either way, I'll most likely stay here longer, so that a missionary in this area knows what's going on.