Monday, November 2, 2015

First Week in Oklahoma

Hey guys!

So this week was a fun week! We had Halloween which was fun. On Saturday we had to go in early but we made cookies and brownies and cleaned so that was fun. We ended up not having vanilla so the cookies didn't turn out as planned haha. On Wednesday we had the Trunk or Treat! That was fun. We dressed up as much as we could while still being dignified missionaries. I was a pirate and my companion was Mary Poppins. We decorated our trunk with spider webs and dangling Books of Mormon and handed out pass-a-long cards with candy! It was pretty awesome! I'll send a pic. 
This week we had some Active Member Lessons which our Ward Mission Leader wanted us to do more of. They are a great way to get referrals because you share a short message with the member and help them feel the Spirit and ask if there is anybody that they know who could use the same message. We got a good amount of referrals doing that this week! And we had a lot of spiritual experiences with members! When contacting one of these referrals I learned more about the K-2 vitamin than I care to share. This guy probably talked to us twenty minutes about this dang vitamin and we tried to fit the Word of Wisdom in there but he was determined to give us all knowledge about this vitamin. So if anybody wants to know, I probably a professional on the subject by now haha. 
Ok guys awesome experience!! So we had a member referral and this guy was willing to go with us to our appointment which is awesome because most of our referrals want to stay anonymous. But anyways, this lady's name is Samira and she works with the member and she's from Ghana and has two kids. She asked the member for a Book of Mormon (she likes studying religions for educational reasons not spiritual) and he said yes the missionaries can come teach you about it. And so during the lesson we gave her a Book of Mormon and she started crying! The Spirit was so strong in that room! It was amazing! Towards the end of the lesson she said she felt different now and she felt peace and we explained to her that that was the Spirit telling her that what we were sharing with her was true. We taught her about the Restoration and Joseph Smith and she made a soft commitment to be baptized!!! Ah it was the best lesson I've ever had!! So cool! 
This week (we decorate our planners with pictures and stuff) I was pondering the picture on my planner and why I like it so much (this picture is gonna be hanging in my home some day, I love it so much) (it's a picture of Jesus with children and he's smiling btw) and I came to the conclusion that I love it because Christ is smiling. There are a few pictures with Christ smiling but this one is kind of different to me. A lot of the pictures of Christ we see, He is somber, but the Christ I know is happy and joyful and smiles all of the time! It was such a testimony to me because Christ suffered more than anyone ever has or ever will. A lot of times we associate him with those times of hardship and sorrow and pain because of the Atonement. But despite the intense trial and hardships that Christ went through, He is perfectly happy. And we can have that too! I love you all! 

Love
Sister Larmouth

OKLAHOMA!!!

Hey ya'll!!

So I'm officially in Okie ville. Bartlesville...where to begin. It's really really big compared to my last area. I'm used to the rural areas and this is definitely not rural haha. It feels bigger because it's a suburb. But I'll probably get used to it soon. It was really hard to leave Mtn. Grove! But I'm determined to love this place just as much or even more! But before I left I was able to get a blessing from Bishop Richardson. I love his blessings! He's so in tune with the Spirit! But it was a great comfort to me. Duane and Belle (not members but our neighbors who love us lots) had a fire and we roasted hot dogs and starbursts. It was awesome! It reminded me a bit of home. I introduced them to roasted starbursts which they loved :D 
So my new companion is Sister Murray. She's been out one transfer longer than I have and she's a sister training leader! She's really nice so this transfer will probably be pretty awesome :) The wards that we're over seem pretty good too. We have like 18 referrals which is pretty dang amazing! In one of the wards, the ward mission leader is pretty pumped and is getting the ward excited to do missionary work so that's pretty awesome! He's having different auxilaries schedule some of our days which is how missionary work should be! There's like three different tiers of missionary work:
1. We go out and teach people the gospel. This way is good.
2. They members go out with us and help us with our missionary work. This way is better.
3. We help members with their missionary work. This way is best.
And the latter is what our ward mission leader is working on which is so cool! I've really been focusing on good, better, and best lately. Some of the things that I do are good things, but are they the best things? Food for thought haha. 
We had the Primary Program yesterday which was so cute! Kids are great haha. Well I hope all ya'll have a fantastic week!!!

Love,
Sister Larmouth