Companion: Sister Maritza Espiritu
Well my family, my email was erased earlier today and I thought it sent, so now I have to write it all over again. It is probably not going to be as good though.
Yesterday was an amazing day! We had a wonderful fireside and it went really well. I was very pleased with it. The theme of our fireside was "Come Unto Christ". We had at least one member from each ward participate and it was very successful. We also had a recent convert talk. She did an amazing job. We had Jean talk to us and you would think that she was a member all of her life. She is going to do some wonderful missionary work. She was talking about how she observed the members of the church before she was baptized and she loved what she was seeing. She bore such a sweet testimony and it was so powerful. Everyone loved her so much and she brought so much life into her talk and into the meeting and you could really feel the spirit as she was talking. It was wonderful. She also brought humor into her talk because she said that she hated it when peoples talks were boring. She had everyone laughing one minute then crying the next. Jean is such a strong member of the church and is so faithful. After Jean spoke I was able to do a special musical number and I sang the song "Come Unto Christ" and I also had a slideshow going while I was singing and it turned out really well. People had no idea that I could sing. They came up to me after and said, I didnt know you could sing. And they wanted a recording of the song along with the slideshow that we put together. Lol So that was pretty cool. We then had President Romrell speak to us. he is the branch president out in Pegram. He gave such a great talk as well. He was talking about his son who was burned and that he had to go to the hospital to be taken care of. He was burned from the waist up. While he was in the hospital, President Romrell had to rub his skin to help it heal and it caused his son so much pain and he hated to do it. But he knew that in the long run that it would help him to heal. He compared it to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and how Heavenly Father had to let His Son suffer so that the world could be saved. President was saying that we go through trials for a reason and when his son was on his mission, they were teaching a lady who was burned. His son could not speak the language very well but he was able to connect with her through pictures. And because of that experience, the lady was converted to the gospel and she was baptized. Who knew that something so tragic could turn into a blessing? The fireside was so great and it really has helped me to come closer to my Savior and I am so grateful for the opportunity that Sister Espiritu and I had to put it together.
Now, I will talk about Monday of last week. Monday, we were able to meet with the Thomas'. Things there are going well. We were visiting with them for a little bit and we were going to share a scripture and there was a scripture that popped out at me and I wasnt sure if I should share it or not, but I kept going back to it and I felt that I should share it. And it talks about how the Lord will always remember us because we are engraven on the palms of His hands. and I said to Mia, just like Christ remembers us, we need to remember Him in all that we do, so will you do that Mia? And she said yes. Then Crystal, her mom, said, that it was ironic that I would chose that scripture and say what I said because Mia was just saying earlier that she was wanting to do everything as if Christ was standing next to her. And she told me that it was a perfect scripture. Monday we also saw the Bruners. There was a lady there and her name was Mary and we were able to talk to her and get to know her. She was actually telling us what she does for a living. And she is what they call a "healer". It was really cool to hear what she does. She visits with people who are depressed of mentally ill or anything like that and she asks them questions to find out when the problem started. She will ask someone a question and ask Heavenly Father to put the answer into their minds. And she will help them to go back to the problem. And the wonderful thing about her is, is that she does not give any credit to herself. She gives all of the credit to Heavenly Father. I would have to say that she is the perfect example of humility. It was great to sit and talk with her for a little bit.
Tuesday was a good day, we had our district meeting and it was really good. I actually had the opportunity to give a training and I loved the topic that I was given. I was asked to give a training on asking questions and listening. I love that every time that I am asked to give a training, the topic that I am given always is something that I personally need to work on! We then went to go see Grandma and Grandpa Truman, and that did not go as we had planned. We walked in, and Grandpa told us that things were not going well and that he was not sure about the church anymore. Grandpa gets really offended when people say something about him or to him that he does not like and he has a hard time letting it go. There was something that was said about him and he was really hurt and he could not let it go. He was really doubting the decision that he had made to be baptized and he said that since he has been baptized, things have all been going wrong. We talked with him about it and told him that because he is not baptized, that Satan is going to work on him a lot harder now and that he needs to stay strong. He was doing a lot better when we left than when we got there. We also had a lesson with a recent convert. She is nine. And her dad is very less active and there is no other sister in the house. So we had to ask a sister to come to the lesson with us. And the funny thing is, Brother Shelton was the one who suggested that we bring her. Brother Shelton is not married I believe. But anyways, when we got there he opened the door and he looked so put together! Way more than usual. And the best part is, he actually smiled! I believe that was the first time I have ever seen him smile! It was crazy. But, we came up with the conclusion that he was so happy because he has a little crush on the sister that we brought. But sad news for him, she is married and has a little girl. Lol. But other than that, the lesson went really well and April really enjoyed it and Brother Shelton actually had some input in the lesson. Maybe we should bring Patience more often! :)
Wednesday we saw some less active people. They are not interested in really coming to church right now, but we are still working on it. Something that I have realized since I have been on my mission is that when people get offended they tend to fall away from the church. I think that just comes to show of how converted those people were to the gospel. And I think that they really need to know that even if they do get offended that they need to keep going to church and continue to strengthen their testimony because them going to church should not be dependent on anyone else but themselves and their love for our Savior and Heavenly Father.
Thursday was a good day. We had weekly planning and that went well other than the fact that we dont have very many people to plan for. Which that was a little sad, but we are working on finding more people to teach and I know that with the Lords help that we can find more people. We were able to see Grandma and Grandpa Truman again on Thursday we were going to talk about forgiveness. It went pretty well. but, it did get on the topic of 8 year old getting baptized. He does not agree with that. I think that is the only thing that he does not agree with. Well, also women not being able to hold the priesthood. But, when he was baptized, he received an answer that he needed to be baptized. He acted on the faith and he will be so blessed for that. Thursday we were able to have dinner out in Pegram and that was pretty fun.
Friday was a good day. We spent some time out in Geneva and that was really good. We met a lot of people and to our surprise there are non members there! We actually met a guy named Kelly and he is a biker! he has a shop with knifes and leather and all that fun stuff and he was super nice. But, when we were walking up to his door we were a little nervous because people were telling us that he was this big tough guy and that he was scary. And when we got to the door there was a sign that said.. "WARNING Due to the price increase on ammunition... DO NOT EXPECT a Warning Shot! Sorry, but times are tough!"
.JPG)
Saturday was a good day. I am very happy with how it went. i loved the womens conference meeting that we had. It was so good. And I am sure that those who watched it would agree with me on that as well. I loved how much they talked about how we are daughters of a loving Heavenly Father and how we need to help each other in all that we do and serve one another and to become more Christ-like. :) It was super good. But we went to a families house and it was the Kings. Sister King in very active but Brother King is not active at all. We were talking with Sister King and when we were talking with her Brother King came in and he pulled up a chair and he was talking with us and we were talking about the church. And he was telling us how he knows that the church is true and that the people of the church will soon be running the country because the country is going down the tubes and the members are the ones who will be saving the country. And he said that the church has to be true because Heavenly Father has a plan for everything and this is part of His plan. And we were talking about how there are states that are in droughts and that they are in a famine because there are so many wicked people and he said that the people need to become righteous so that we can get out of the famine. And we compared it to the Book of Mormon and how the people in the Book of Mormon were in a famine because of the wickedness. It was really cool that he was carrying on conversations about the church. And when he left, we were talking to his wife and she said that she was so surprised and that she is so grateful for us and that we are a blessing to her. That meant so much to us and it made us feel good. She said that her husband loved us and that he is opening up. I commend her for the strength that she has to stay strong in the gospel even though her husband is not active and doesnt really want anything to do with the church. But, as you can see, his heart is being softened. And I know that that is because of this faithful woman who is standing up for what she believes. There was also another cool experience that happened on Saturday night, we went back to Montpelier and we went to go see Richard and Sandra and that was a really good visit. They had three foster children there and they were all so very very cute. But, we asked if we could share a message and they said yes. So, I shared a scripture: 1 Nephi 8:8 talking about praying when in darkness and also 1 Nephi 17:13 which talks about Christ being our light in the wilderness and it was really food and while I was looking for a scripture, I kept going back to those two so I shared the,. Sister Espiritu told me when we got home that night that she was wanting to share a scripture in Luke that talked about service but she had a voice in her head tell her to not share it. And she said that the scriptures that I shared were perfect and when we were talking to them, we said how they were a light to these children. It was really cool! It just shows you right there that Heavenly Father really is there leading and guiding us in all that we do!
I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to serve a mission and I can feel my love for my Savior grow more each and every day and I am so grateful for that. And I know that as I continue to study the scriptures and pray that I can continue to grow closer to Him! I love you all and I hope that you all have a wonderful week! I am so sorry if I missed anything but I think that I covered it all! :) LOVE YOU BUNCHES!! :)
Love,
Sister Ashley Halbison
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