4/26

Ack! I am always so short on time, but here are the highlights from this AMAZING week!

Elder Kevin W. Pearson of the first quorum of the Seventy visited us on Thursday. I cannot adequately describe that experience. He changed the way I think about myself, my work--pretty much my whole life. He talked a lot about the vital importance of the Holy Ghost, our identities as disciples of Jesus Christ, and the power that those two things hold. He challenged us to change a lot of things, but President Bahr's "Change Your Heart" theme prepared me well. Sister Bean and I got to work applying his instruction immediately, and.....

We found eight new investigators within 48 hours. Suddenly I cannot think of anything better to do than work. I have always enjoyed the work we do, but now I live for it. I cannot wait to finish shopping today and just get out there and find more people, because they are EVERYWHERE. Oh my goodness, we could not turn a corner without finding someone else who had been prepared to hear and accept the gospel.

For FHE tonight, study "Flooding the Earth with the Book of Mormon" (Ezra Taft Benson). It will rock your world.

Forgot one little detail last week. We had a couple really hot days and I realized that there was no way I was going to survive the summer with my long, thick, frizzy locks, so--I chopped my hair. It's really short. I'll send pics soon.

4/19

Sister Bean and I are sure that the state of our apartment was the result of years of culmination. BUT--we've worked hard to purge it of all uncleanliness, and, entering our fourth week here, we are finally feeling comfortable and at home in our apartment. Diane, our wonderful landlady, is helping us "sisterfy" it, including shampooing the carpets (it STILL smells like elder) and putting pretty curtains on all the windows.

Oh my goodness, Diane is a riot. We feel like we are living a sitcom sometimes. There are three floors/apartments in the house. She lives on the first floor, we're on the second, and Tommy and Ray are on the third. It's like a big Italian family. Diane frequently cooks dinner for the whole building--including "macaroni and gravy" and ham. We got a message the other day from her--"Just cwalling to see when yous are gonna be home--I've got some ham for yas." On many occasions we come home to find foil-wrapped dinners waiting for us in the fridge. Just an example of normal everyday conversation: [Tommy stomps down the stairs] Diane: "Tommy! Is that you makin' all that noise?" Tommy: "You don't like it, move out!"

The work has ups and downs. Overall Sister Bean and I are making good progress. It's been a little like slogging through mud as we've struggled to get things organized. It is SO important that the area book is in good shape so that new missionaries like us can hit the ground running. So we're still working on that. But, we continue to find new investigators every week. We had a tour of the church on Saturday for our investigator, Cathy. She's been meeting with missionaries for quite some time now but has never gone to church or made any other step that would help her progress towards baptism and seems almost terrified of doing so. The tour was very helpful. She seemed much more comfortable with the idea of coming to church, and is praying about being baptized on May 9! We have high hopes for her. We're struggling with Nabil, who had a baptismal date for April 25--he didn't come to church, so his date will have to be pushed back. But we still have high hopes for him.

Sister Bean and I are both wracking our brains for other ideas on how to get people to church. I never would have expected it to be so, but it is THE hardest thing to do as a missionary! Even committing people to baptism is easier than getting them to go to church. We're also trying really hard to win our ward members' love and trust. Previous missionaries'--ahem--lack of effort has left them slightly less than welcoming. There are a few families that love us already and frequently have us over, but the vast majority of the ward distrusts us. SO. Sister Bean and I are planning to do some major brown-nosing this week to win their affections. We'll also be finding as many people to teach as we can through our own efforts to show them that we mean business.

4/12

So Sister Bean and I arrived in our new apartment late the day of transfers and were greeted by sticky floors/counter/tables, dirty dishes in the sink, and several garbage cans full of...garbage. There was also lots of left-behind clothing and personal items, along with TONS of food in the fridge and pantry--including green hot dogs (I shrieked when I found those) and 50+ POUNDS of top ramen and mac n' cheese alone. I kid you not. 50 pounds. I know because I used to haul 50 lb. bags of chicken feed to the barn. Suffice it to say, it smelled like stinky boys. It was gross. The next day the Hoboken sisters and two senior couples came to help us clean. The poor senior sisters were on their hands and knees scrubbing the floor and walls! It took several hours to get the biggest cleaning jobs done, but Sister Bean and I spent the next two days washing dishes, scrubbing cubboard shelves, cleaning windows and blinds that had years of dust and grime on them...etc. It was a nightmare. Not to mention that the area book was completely devoid of information about the area and ward. We had no idea who the bishopric or other important ward leaders were, like the ward mission leader. There were many teaching records that had no addresses or phone numbers, and a lot of investigators' names were listed in the planners we inherited, but again...no information.

So, if anyone thinks that missionary work is only spiritual, I can bear you my testimony that it is most definitely NOT. Cleanliness is next to godliness, as they say. The Spirit was not present in that apartment, and the general disorganization and chaos made it really hard for us to get to work. It was like trying to run in quicksand. BUT, we trudged on through, and things are beginning to move along. We had a blitz on Wednesday in our area which has given us a lot of potentials to work with. We contacted and taught some former investigators and have some return appointments, and Thursday we set an investigator with a baptismal date! April 25! His name is Nabil, he's 20 and is pretty much golden.

President Bahr has really raised the bar this month (no pun intended, he he he). Wow. Bad joke. What can I say, I'm an awkward missionary now. So our Zone especially is working really hard to be obedient. The scriptures say that greater obedience equals greater faith, which means greater success, etc. Sister Bean and I have definitely seen truth in that. The days that we are the most obedient to ALL the rules, even the little ones, the most success we have.

And my time is up. Moral of the story, be good, be obedient, and CLEAN, for goodness' sakes, take your stinky socks with you when you leave an apartment!!!

4/5

I hope you enjoyed Conference. I don't think I have EVER been so excited for it before. Each session seemed to go by far too quickly, and by the end of the last session on Sunday I was wishing that it could start over. I loved the overwhelming emphasis on the Savior and families. This is the first time I have listened to the messages directed to parents at Conference and included myself in that category. Even though I am not a parent yet, I came to a realization that I have crossed the awkward inbetween-adult-and-child stage and need to prepare to help the children and youth of the Church. Especially during Sister Beck's talk, I wanted nothing more than to get married and have a bajillion little babies. Crazy. I am ready to make something of myself and make a contribution to the world!

My new companion is Sister Bean, and we have been doubled into the North Bergen area. We live in Union City, which us just north of Jersey City. HUDSON FRONT!!!!!!!!! Two blocks to the east of us is the best view of New York that I could ask for. It is a cement jungle! Busy, noisy, and perfect for contacting. We love it, and we love each other, and we are excited to get to work. We have set some good, challenging goals for this transfer and are getting ready to make good on President Bahr's promise that EVERY companionship will baptize this month.

There is SO much more to tell you--unfortunately I am woefully short on time... Look forward to reading more about transfers, our landlady Diane, our vehicular woes, and moving into the Elders' apartment...yes.

3/29

Well, my time is up. Sister Greenwood and I got a call from the Assistants Friday afternoon, instructing us to update and organize our area book and clean up the apartment as though we "were going to present them to the Savior". According to Sister Greenwood and Sister Cornish, the more experienced missionaries, this meant that Sister Greenwood and I were both being transferred out of Fair Lawn. Sure enough, the transfer fax came in last night with both our names on the list. Sister Erickson is being transferred as well. We won't know more until tomorrow, but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people are being transferred and area boundaries are being redrawn, some areas closed and others opened, all in preparation for the absorption of Cherry Hill in July. It has come up a lot lately in Zone Conferences and other meetings, and President/Sister Bahr have really emphasized obedience and charity. The poor Cherry Hill missionaries are probably completely demoralized--I would be if my mission was being dissolved. So we're getting ready to welcome them in and help them adjust. We're having to adjust as well. Our MSF amount is going to go down from $171/month to $151! So we're going to get some more practice in budgeting as well!

I'm sad to be leaving my first area, where I have gotten to know so many people and really grown close to a lot of the members, especially less-actives. We also have made some real progress with some of our investigators, and I'm hesitant to hand them off to someone else--but President Bahr always promises us that our new assignments are inspired, so I'll have to have faith that whoever is taking over for us will take good care of them. Ariv, our investigator from India, has been working a lot and has not had time to see us as much, but we've seen a lot more of his family in his absence, and they have all expressed an interest in coming to church and learning more (wife Shakila, daughter Rhuksar and son Asahd). Yesterday Sister Greenwood and I walked from the church to their apartment and walked back with Rhuksar and Asahd so that they could go to church (Shakila could not go). They are both wonderful! Rhuksar is 13 and Asahd is 7, and they both were so excited to go to church. They both loved it and made lots of friends, and the whole family is hoping to go to General Conference this Sunday. I am going to miss them a lot. I hope that they keep progressing and that the whole family can be baptized!