Sunday, September 27, 2015

Operation Less Active Leprechaun

Hey Ya'll!!!

This has been a pretty awesome week! We have seen a lot of miracles!! For starters our zone leaders came up with "Operation Less Active Leprechaun" (leprechaun for all of the greenies in our zone! We are getting 20 every transfer!!) But we are committed to see 3 less actives a day and bring members with us. And let me tell you that we saw miracles!! I think we implemented this on Friday and we had 8 lessons!! That never happens!! (The standard for the week is 20 lessons and we hardly ever hit that and in one day we got almost half of that!!) I think we only actually saw 1 less active but you are supposed to clover tract (tract the surrounding houses) 5 houses and we placed a ton of Books of Mormon and got a whole bunch of return appointments! Yay for inspiration!!! We also got two new investigators! This is pretty dang cool!!! So we are huge supporters of operation less active leprechaun haha. 
We had an interesting experience at a recent convert's house haha. She loves horses and she started to tell us how they breed hahahaha! She went into a lot of detail which was...interesting haha! 
I had lemon meringue pie for the first time too!! It was actually pretty good! Oh guys we have a baptism this weekend!!! Patty and Becca are getting baptized!! And Patty's husband is going to be able to baptize them!! This is fantastic! It's both of our first baptisms so it's gonna be pretty awesome! 
So yesterday we were in Relief Society and we talked about pride...ya I got some of that haha. It was based on President Benson's talk "Beware of Pride." Well dang. Read that!!! I didn't know a lot of that stuff fell under pride! So my new goal is to get rid of that haha. 
I've also been thinking a lot about prayer, scripture study, and service too. That's been coming up a lot lately for me and really those principles seem like the answer to almost everything! There's a quote by Elder Bednar that says, "Each family prayer, each episode of family scripture study, and each family home evening is a brush stroke on the canvas of our souls. No one event may appear to be very impressive or memorable. But just as the yellow and gold and brown strokes of paint complement each other and produce an impressive masterpiece, so our consistency in doing seemingly small things can lead to significant spiritual results." Reading and praying will increase our faith, it will give us peace and invite the Spirit into our lives! Not reading out of obligation or rote prayers, but sincerely and treasuring the opportunity will enliven your life in so many ways! I used to read the Book of Mormon out of obligation and it honestly didn't do that much for me, but when I started to read it and treasure the words there's no words to describe the happiness that I have because of it! We have one hour of personal study each morning and it's not enough time! Read the Book of Mormon! I love you all!!!

Love,
Sister Larmouth   

Who would have thought it possible?

Hi Ya'll!!!

This week has been a bit crazy but in a good way haha :D Guys!!! I've gained ten pounds!!! 10 pounds!!!! In six weeks!!!! At that rate you might not recognize me when I come home hahahah!!
The first part of the week was hard because you never know what kind of companion you're going to get so I was a little apprehensive haha. But we spent the first part of the week saying goodbye to people and oh goodness. Another food story...so I am not a fan of melon but people really like to feed it to you. Well I can choke it down but this lady gave us a huge bowl of watermelon and then made this awful green drink...terrible awful. Usually I have something to wash down the bad taste but I had to alternate watermelon and the green drink. I can still taste that drink just thinking about it haha. 
Well transfers day came!! Sister Gerard is awesome! She likes a lot of the same things I do too! It's actually nice leading the area because I feel like I know what I'm doing a little bit better :) She's super spiritual and really receptive to the Spirit which is awesome! 
So I have learned a lot this week!!! I was studying in Mosiah 24 for personal study this week and the story really kind of hit me. It was when the Lamanites took Alma's people into bondage when they were in Helam. They would kill the people if they prayed aloud so they prayed in their hearts. The Lord heard their prayers but He told them that they wouldn't be taken out of bondage but He would make their burdens light. In verse 15 it says, 
"And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord. 
"And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage."
Those scriptures really struck me because the Lord won't always take away our trials but he will give us the strength so that "we may be able to bear them." I also love how because of their patience (which is what I'm trying to work on :) and cheerfulness during their difficulties, He delivered them out of bondage. 
I also had the opportunity to speak in sacrament meeting...again! This time it was on fasting and I learned loads! One quote, "...often our prayers have no power because we have turned our backs on the needy. If you feel that heavenly Father is not listening to your petitions, ask yourself if you are listening tot he cries of the poor, the sick, the hungry, and the afflicted all around you." That was by Joseph B. Wirthlin. I have never ever thought of that before. Not the whole giving to the poor but that's sometimes why the Lord doesn't answer our prayers!!! My talk was based on fast offerings :D
So another cool experience that we've had this week is "Spirit Driving." We had 20 minutes before curfew and so we decided to try out spirit driving. We get to a stop and decide which way to go as the Spirit directs. Well we ended up passing by a guy that I knew we needed to talk to but it was dark and he looked kind of creepy so we drove on. Finally the Spirit was telling me to turn around and so we went and talked to the guy. We acted like we were lost so we could talk to him easier. Well it turns out that he's been looking for a church to go to! We have an appointment with him this coming week!! So cool!!!
Well I love you all!!!

Love,
Sister Larmouth

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

My first anti.....

Hola!!!

This week was actually a really good week!! Last Monday we had a zone outing which was really fun! We played volleyball and watched Johnny Lingo and The Phone Call (church movies) at a movie theatre a member owns. Two girls from the ward came with us that we have gotten really close to. So on Tuesday we had the goal to give away 6 Books of Mormon. We didn't reach our goal BUT we saw some awesome miracles. Sometimes goals are there to give us opportunities we wouldn't have seen otherwise! So whilst tracting a street we had no success at all. Nobody wanted to listen to us (by the way people are really nice down here so I haven't ever gotten a door slammed in my face yet) and this one lady was actually really anti. My first anti experience!!! She was Jehovah Witness and she told us she already received a Book of Mormon and she threw it in the trash! She was really snobby and tried to argue with us. But after we went home a little dejected we saw a guy across from our apartment!! We ended up giving him a Book of Mormon and teaching a short lesson! Then as we were driving (we had just found out one of our tail lights was out) a cop pulls behind us and there was a stop light coming up, so I turned into McDonald's without braking which was really fun (I didn't even get an "aggressive driving" from Tiwi (the big brother we drive with haha)). I saw this guy on a motorcycle and we decided to talk to him. He was awesome and we talked to him for thirty minutes! We gave him a Book of Mormon too!! The Lord puts people into your path when you are doing all that you can do! 
 So I was reading in Preach My Gospel today and it quoted President George Albert Smith. He said, "We will attain our exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom only on the condition that we share with our Father's other children the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and observe the commandments that will enrich our lives here and hereafter." Isn't that awesome?! Guys! Share the gospel! I've never been happier in my life as when I'm devoting my time to sharing the gospel! 
Ok and another miracle. We needed to push back our investigator's baptism date and so we prayed about it. I felt really strongly that it should be the 26th and my companion felt that it should be the 19th. I remember when I read in Preach My Gospel it said to be confident in what you have been prompted by the Spirit so I was a little stubborn when it came to the date. So that is the date that we went with and it was the only day that she had off!! And it was her daughter's birthday! 
And then we had a couple lessons about reaching our potential with some less-active members. If you haven't watched the Mormon Message "The Will of God" watch it!! Heavenly Father knows who He wants us to be and He will mold us into that person. I love you all so much!!!

Love
Sister Larmouth

We really need a truck ha

Hi Ya'll!!!

This week was a great and fantastic week!!! I don't think I had any bad food experiences haha. Ok guys. We really need a truck! Yesterday we went to visit a less-active and we plugged it into the GPS and it took us to the middle of nowhere which is not an unusual thing out here haha. But this road it took us to was like what you go four-wheeling on maybe. And we're in this Toyota Corolla going off-roading haha. We kept bottoming our car and we couldn't go back because there was no place to turn around!!! We didn't even end up visiting the guy! Anywho we met two fantastic Pentecostal ladies. We were walking to an appointment and we were early so we knocked on this door and they invited us inside (which doesn't usually happen haha)!! We were able to tell them about the Restoration and we have a return appointment!!! They are the sweetest people ever!!! 
Ok so weirdest/coolest thing! The mission office called and told us to get out a sheet of paper they had an assignment for us! A guy from Utah called and said that his sister wanted the missionaries to come over and that he didn't want just any missionaries to go over there. So President chose my companion and I to go over there and she's is out of our area. So we're going to try to visit her this week but we're super nervous!!! President wants us to report to him after every lesson! And she sounds kind of scary too!! But we'll fast and pray and trust that the Lord will give us the words to say :) 
This is my last week, well full week with my companion which is really sad :( She's been an awesome trainer and she goes home next Friday! I find out if I'm staying in this area and who my new trainer is going to be this Saturday though! I don't want to leave this place!! I love Mountain Grove and all it's rednecks haha!! Well I love you all!!!

Love
Sister Larmouth

A Trip to the Looney Bin....literally

Hola Ya'll!!!!

I decided to mix mine and Terah's languages haha. Ok so this week has been a lot better than last week!!! Guess what?!?!?! I went to the insane asylum!!!! No guys, I'm not crazy...not that crazy anyways haha. One of the less-actives in our ward that we've been visiting had a mental breakdown because of the medicine she was taking. So we went to Springfield to visit her. It was definitely an interesting experience haha. She was soo happy that we came to visit her she cried and cried. She doesn't feel like she's worth much so our visit meant a lot. We were able to talk about the Atonement with her and the love of Christ and how he loves her with all His heart. Oh and one of the ladies who went with us, it was her birthday that day and none of us knew! She spent the whole day with us doing service and going to the mental hospital with us!! We found out the next day and got her a present and balloons. She is one of my favoritest people out here. She is hilarious and is so optimistic despite her circumstances. 
We fasted this week that we might be able to find somebody to teach and to find service. And we did!!! A member called us two hours after we broke our fast and asked us if we could help her hand out cotton candy at the Kids' Fest!!! We definitely didn't turn that down. An opportunity to make hundreds of kids' ecstatic and eat cotton candy while we're doing it? Yep we'll take it haha. I got a little sick after all of the cotton candy I ate haha. We also got a new investigator!!! She's a cousin of a recent convert and she has a lot of questions and is super teachable!! 
Ok and don't freak out but I actually kind of like corn on the cob....ya I know, it's crazy!!! The Lord is really blessing me with the ability to eat the food!!! And I clear my plate at every meal despite how disgusting it is!!! This is a big deal guys haha. We ate at one lady's house this week and the food. Oh my the food. It was so bad. The pork was repulsive, the mac n cheese made me want to gag and don't even get me started on the apple sauce. Why do people insist on serving apple sauce (for those of you that like it, it's probably not a burden haha)?!?!?! She didn't give us any water to wash it down with either!!! My companion and I choked down the food though and went to the ice cream shop afterwards to congratulate ourselves on accomplishing our feat haha (this was our second time at the ice cream shop that day hahaha). Oh and yesterday, we went to a member's house for lunch and the stench from the house made we want to vomit. It was so bad and sooooo not clean at all. And during the meal there was a huge bug on the girl's shoulder who we brought with us...ya. I used the napkin trick where you spit the food into your napkin...yuck. The Lord has really helped me be able to eat the food that is given me though. One of my first days here I couldn't eat the food it was so bad and I couldn't swallow it. I felt sooo bad so I prayed and prayed that the Lord would help me be able to eat the food and not offend the people and He has!!!
Well I love you all!!!

Love
Sister Larmouth

Solos and blisters.....

Hi Ya'll!!! 
This week has had it's ups and downs. Since my companion was sick we had to stay inside Monday and Tuesday. That was difficult. I got really familiar with all of the church dvds haha. On Wednesday, I had my first Zone Training. It was great because our zone leader wanted Sister De Mie and I to sing for it... yep sing. And my companion had this great idea that we should sing solo for one verse each and then come together on the third verse. Well guys, I sang a solo part for the first time in my life. It was terrifying haha. But it went alright. My companion says I have a good voice but I don't whether to believe her or not. I'm leaning towards the not haha. But we sang "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go" and it reminded me of the kids singing it at my farewell!! For the Zone Training, our mission president wanted us to study a talk called "The Fourth Missionary" by Lawrence Corbridge. That is one of the best talks ever written! Read it!!! It's about surrendering our will to the Lord and consecrating our heart to our mission. But it can apply to everyone not just missionaries!!! That talk will definitely change how I approach my mission!
We saw a few miracles this week that were so cool! We went to go visit a recent convert with the convert's sister-in-law but our appointment fell through because she forgot about it. So the sister-in-law still wanted to go out with us so we decided to visit some less-active members. We have been trying to get a hold of one sister for a week and a half now but we can't find where she lives or get a hold of her on the phone. Coincidentally, the member we had with us knew where she lived. When we got there, the lady had had a very difficult week and had relapsed into drinking. She started crying when she saw us because she knew the Lord wanted us to see her. We were able to share a message with her about the love of God. After we visited her, we went to see another less-active family but we missed our turn, so we turned into the cemetery to get back onto the right road. A car was blocking our path out so we waited. A family was next to a grave and was trying to take a picture so we got out to help them. It turns out that the family was a less-active family from West Plains and that they were visiting their grandparents/parent's graves to find a spot for their newly deceased brother/son. We were able to share with them a portion of the Plan of Salvation and pray with them. I knew we were where the Lord needed us to be. 
I love you all!!! 

Love,
Sister Larmouth

Its only been a week and a half?

Hola!!!!

I can't believe it's only been a week! I feel like I've been out for months haha (in a good way). Unfortunately I have passed my sickness onto my companion and she has been under the weather for the last couple of days. Yesterday, we stayed at the apartment so she could rest. But it was the best Sunday I've had in a while!!! Sacrament meeting was oober spiritual. Oh ya and I gave a talk :) The topic was the sacrament. I talked about President Seager when the sacrament wasn't prepared and then an experience I had at the MTC. Our teacher, Bro. Heath took us to the chapel (well what was sort of a chapel) and talked about the sacrament and how we need to bring something to the altar each week. It was really a powerful experience. While I was preparing for my talk the night before, all of the sudden I thought about how Jesus Christ asked his disciples to pray as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. When He returned, He found them sleeping and said, "Could ye not watch with me for one hour?" That was the basis of my talk. The Lord has done so much for us, the least we can do is "watch" with him during sacrament meeting and especially as we partake of the sacrament. I put what I learned to practice during sacrament meeting the next day as I sat up on the stand and I've never had a more spiritual sacrament experience! It was amazing! Sister Richardson (Bishop's wife) spoke on sacrament and the Sabbath as well. After sacrament meeting, Sister De Mie and I taught Gospel Principles (to recent converts and investigators (Duane was there :)) We weren't prepared to teach but the teacher didn't show up so...ha. We taught about having strength in the Lord. At the end, I felt like I should ask everyone how they personally have gained strength in the Lord through the Book of Mormon. The Spirit was so strong as people bore their testimonies. Sister De Mie later said that she had the same prompting. 
We currently have two progressing investigators named Patty and Becca (her daughter). They are doing well and are reading the Book of Mormon and praying :D We pushed their baptism back because we felt like they needed more time to learn all of the lessons. We've been focusing a lot on less-actives which has been going really well. The Bishop wants us to help them understand the importance of the gospel in their lives and how it can continually bless them. One of the less-actives has many many dogs. And her home reflects the number of dogs she has in it's smell. The entire time we were visiting her the dogs were licking her face and mouth and drinking out of her cup (which she then drank out of). Oh my goodness it was an interesting experience haha. She's a sweet lady though. 
I've had a couple of hard experiences with food but nothing absolutely revolting so I'm extremely grateful for that haha. And some days are hard but I know that this is where I'm supposed to be and that I'm doing the Lord's work. Love you all!!

Love,
Sister Larmouth