week 48

two stories for the week:

The story of Miss Ashley:

Four months ago I was sitting in the hospital with Sister Huber when I got a text from Sister Harper. She had been in the mission field for less than a week and I had sent her out with another brand new missionary. The text explained that a young man in the ward had brought a friend to mutual named Ashley and she's planning to come to church on Sunday. I was so proud of my little trainee and I was excited to meet Ashley. Over the next month we started meeting with her and it went from her being interested in the social aspects of the church to her truly being interested in the church. We met with her for four months and watched the changes happen in her. She was baptized and confirmed yesterday and her mom was so touched by the spirit that was there. We are planning to keep working with her mom. After the baptism, Ashley came up to us and hugged us both and said, "Thank you! I couldn't have done any of this without you!" It was touching to see how the Lord worked through us to help Ashley change. I love that sweet girl.

The story of the Sister going home:

We went to do an apartment inspection this last week of a trio where two of the three sisters are going home. Their apartment looked great, but one of the sisters did not. She proceeded to tell me that she was not proud of the last 18 months and she was trying to make it all up in her last week. My mouth literally dropped as I have served around this sister for the majority of my mission and I have seen her do MANY great things. So I pulled out a chair and told her to stand on it. She looked at me like I was crazy and I told her to stand on it again. She finally did so. 

I asked her, What is the biggest thing that you are proud of that has changed over the last 18 months? She said one thing. I asked, what else? And she looked at me like one was more than enough! She finally started listing things off. 

I asked, "Are you proud of the last 18 months?" She still said, "No, I'm not"

So we continued. "Sister- tell me about one moment on your mission that you wanted to shout for joy". She told me one... and then I asked for another and another and another. 

I asked again, "Are you proud of the last 18 months?" She said, "Ummm... yes? Nope. I'm not"

So then I asked, "If you came out here to just touch one persons life who would it be?" She then couldn't pick. She told of a couple different stories where she had the opportunity to be an instrument for the Lord in changing others lives. 

I asked, one last time, "Are you proud of the last 18 months?"

She yelled, "YES! I am proud of them".

Sometimes missionaries are like less actives, you just have to help them remember the spirit they have felt. I'll miss these sisters, but I am so happy for all that they have taught me. 

We are each an instrument in the Lord's hands, we just need to figure out what He needs us to do.

Love you all!

Sister Mal

p.s. Transfers come tonight!

This is the grandson of Tina Parker- he got a recliner for christmas and came into the room in the middle of the lesson and started snoring. he's four.

week 47

Can I first start off by saying, I AM SO EXCITED THAT THIS NEW YEARS I GET TO GO TO SLEEP AT 10 PM AND NOT FEEL BAD ABOUT IT. 

 

It's going to be a great week for that reason alone!! Happy new years everyone!!

 

Three lessons learned this week....

 

fleas: This might be one that I should save for after the mission, but it was so funny. I won't go into great detail... but here's a basic summary. We taught in a home this week where there was a two year old running around the house in a diaper, covered in red big bites. They have a dog, three cats, a bird and three bearded dragons. His mom made a comment that she wasn't sure what was biting him. We had a member with us and when we left this home she told us she watched multiple fleas jump up and bite this child. They were jumping all over the carpet right where the member was sitting. We jumped in the car, drove down the road, before jumping back out and shaking out our clothes and hair to make sure we were rid of fleas. We think we escaped okay, but we went home and threw our clothes in the wash and showered. It was a mission moment. Like I said, there's a lot more to the story, but it's best to be saved for later :) I'm not sure if I will ever own animals. 

 

drugs: When teaching the Word of Wisdom, go over, IN DEPTH everything it includes. Also even if you teach it three times and bring it up in every lesson, people will still hold things back. It's important to be honest and to recognize where we fall short. We are exercising a lot of faith this week in God's timing and his plan for our investigator.

 

god-sent miracles: We found ourselves lost as to what to do one night. Our plans fell through, our back-up plans fell through and we had prayed to ask God what to do and we had no luck in what we were directed to do either. We had one hour left and found ourselves completely clueless as to what God wanted us to do. We started driving towards an apartment complex to go tracting, but suddenly I realized I had gotten in a turn lane without even noticing. We realized that we were right next to Tina Parker's house. We taught her a couple months ago and she was progressing well before life happened and she told us she couldn't meet with us any longer. So we decided God wanted us to go see her. She welcomed us in and we taught her about the Book of Mormon again. We have an appointment to meet with her and her daughter and grandson tonight. As we left she said, "You just brought peace into my home, thank you!" We were so happy to see her again and plan to recommit her to baptism tonight. God works in mysterious ways, we need to make sure we are effective instruments.

 

Happy New Year!! I think this might be the first year ever that I'm actually PUMPED for new years :) Missions are the best.

 

Love you!

Sister Mal

christmas package

it was a "smell good" christmas... i think people are trying to tell us something hahaha

this is what happens when a member finds out your first name. dang it!

Family- I know you're already sick of me talking about Night in Bethlehem, so sorry for the continuation of it. But also, I'll be skyping with the you this week so I don't feel like I have to say much... oops.

 

But to everyone else out there.

 

This weekend we had the incredible experience of seeing and working at a live nativity that the Tampa Stake puts on every year. I have literally heard about this since day one in the mission field, so after 10 and a half months... I finally got to see it. It was worth the wait.

 

The first night, my companion and I went through one of the first shows and the spirit that was present was indescribable. As we sat there watching the reinactment of the birth of the Savior, I was taken aback at just how scared of an occassion it truly was. Christmas on the mission is amazing because everything is focused on the true meaning of Christmas. The first scene in the show is of Mary and Joseph looking for room in the inn and a song is sung as Joseph runs from inn to inn. At the beginning of the scene they posed the question, "Do you have room?" And I want to pose the same question to each of you... Do you have room for the Savior? I think the song explains itself.

 

Do you have room?

They journeyed far, a weary pair
They sought for shelter from the cold night air
Some place where she, could lay her head
Where she could give her babe a quiet bed

Was there no room, nor corner there?
In all the town a spot someone could spare?
Was there no soul come to their aid?
A stable there was where the family stayed

Do you have room for the Savior?
Do you seek him anew?
Do you hold place for the one who lives and died for you?
Are you as humble as a shepherd boy?
Or as wise as men of old?
Would you have come that night?
Would you have sought the night?
Do you have room?

The star arose, a wondrous light
A sign from God this was the holy night
And yet so few would to come to see
The babe who rescued you and me
This child divine is now a king
The gift of life to all the world he brings
And all mankind is saved from doom
But on that night for him there was no room

Do you have room for the Savior?
Do you seek him anew?
Do you hold place for the one who lives and died for you?
Are you as humble as a shepherd boy
Or as wise as men of old?
Would you have come that night?
Would you have sought the night?
Do you have room?

Will you come tonight?
Will you seek the light?
Do you have room?

I know that Jesus is the Christ. He is my Savior and Redeemer. What a wonderful time of the year it truly is. 

 

I love you all and have a Happy Christmas!!

 

Love,

Sister Mal

we passed out 250 copies of the book of mormon to all the non-members that came this weekend. there was well over 2500 people that came to Night in Bethlehem

we got a couple of our investigators to participate in the angel choir or be villagers. we love the youth in this ward. they are absolutely amazing. all of our work comes from them

week 45

Saturday was probably one of the best days of mission. Two things happened that I really don't even think I can explain just how happy I was...

 

1- John Moore was baptized.

2- Mike Mesick agreed to be baptized on December 26th.

 

John first. I was looking back on my journal to when we first met him. May 23, 2015. Over the last 7 months I have seen so many changes in that man and I really can't express how grateful I am that I have been able to see his conversion. Everytime I see him, I've been asking how he feels, and he just says, "peaceful". The spirit at his baptism was truly just that, "peaceful". I look back to July when he told us he needed some time and how heart broken Sister Olson and I were... but it was 100% worth it for the joy and happiness that came from seeing that man follow the Savior. I am so incredibly proud of him.

 

Mike. I wrote about Mike last week and how the ward member sat him down and was so bold and loving. Well we met with him again this week and he still feels like the Lord has not given him an answer. At the beginning of the lesson I felt like I needed to explain to him my experience of whether or not to go on a mission, but I didn't want to take the attention away from him, so I didn't. As the lesson continued, I felt like I really needed to tell him, so I did. I told him that I prayed about a mission for almost three years and an answer never came. I explained that I chose to act in faith because I learned that the Lord trusted me enough to make the decision. It wasn't until after I received my call that peace came. He was fairly surprised. This lesson happened Friday night. We got a text from his wife on Saturday night that said, "I thought I would tell you the exciting news, Mike just told me he wants to be baptized on December 26th". We called and told him we were so happy that he had received his answer to which he said, "NO! I haven't received my answer. But your story made me realize that the Lord trusts me and its time for me to act in faith too! I'm waiting for the peace to come". Peace will come, it always does. My heart was so touched that the Lord used me as an instrument to do His work. 

 

If the only reason I came on my mission was to see these two men be converted to the gospel, it was ALL worth it. I would do it again and again and again just to see John and Mike follow the Savior. This truly is the Lord's work and the gospel is the only source of true peace on earth.

 

Love you all!

Sister Mal

we can't hold babies... but we can hold puppies. haha

mike and sister mesick

maddie remaley came biking with us to a lesson again. we love her.

some members gave us a little christmas tree and cookies yesterday... we were SO happy.

week 44

"For behold, this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" -Moses 1:39

 

immortality and eternal life of MAN, not men, but MAN.

 

The Lord's work is always focused on the one. And this week I learned the importance of truly focusing on the one.

 

There is a man named Mike who married a member of the church almost 20 years ago. She has struggled with attending church over the years and staying active, but she knows without a doubt that the church is true. Almost five years ago she finally convinced her husband who has never attended ANY church in his life, to meet with the missionaries. He felt the spirit immediately, but has never felt worthy to be baptized all these years.

 

He has a lot of health conditions and when I very first came to the area, he was progressing. We tried to meet with them, but health got in the way and they both literally disappeared for six months. Bishop called us a few weeks ago and explained that she wanted to come back and that he wanted to take the discussions again.

 

This man listens to the Book of Mormon every day and prays over meals, as he wakes up in he morning, with his wife when they are arguing, everything. He knows more about the church than most members do. But he has never prayed to know if the Book of Mormon is true. The last time we met with him, we got him to FINALLY agree to baptism, but we couldn't get a date set. And we haven't been able to meet lately because of health.

 

Well this last week, they gave us a call and asked that we arrange for Mike to be given a blessing because of the health difficulties. He had told us before of a man in the ward that he felt very close to and Mike knew that this man loved him and cared for him. So we gave this brother a call and arrangements were made.

 

As we talked before the blessing, this ward member said to him, "Mike, what is holding you back from being baptized?" to which he responded, "I don't feel like I'm worthy". 

 

I can't even begin to explain what happened after that. This brother explained the power of the atonement. No one is worthy before they are baptized. The whole purpose of baptism is to be made clean and to receive the spirit of the Lord. We don't have to wait for the atonement to work because we are all broken and we all need to atonement no matter our circumstances. Baptism is only the beginning to help us know how to more fully access the powers of Christ's sacrifice in our lives. The spirit was beyond tangible. It was so powerful. This brother then said in the most loving bold voice you can imagine, "Mike, I want to baptize you a week from Sunday. I want to help you take this step. I'm here to help you through this. We're going to do it together".

 

There was not a dry eye in the room. We then asked Mike to pray and ask the Lord if he was to be baptized a week from Sunday. I'm not sure if I have ever felt the spirit so strong in my life. It was incredible.

 

His story has only just begun, and due to a rough weekend with his health, the baptism will not be able to happen this next weekend, but we will be meeting with them tomorrow to create a better timeline. He's ready, even if he doesn't feel like he is, he just needed someone to help him through it.

 

We were reading "The Miracle of a Mission" this morning and I loved this quote: "This is higher and holier and more sacred and more eternal than anything you've ever done. It is by definition the most important thing you can do in the world, in time or eternity. For this reason you are engaged in the saving of the human soul. And that is the highest and holiest work in the universe" -Jeffrey R. Holland

 

It's not about everyone, it's about the one. It always has been and always will be about one human soul.

 

Love you all!
Sister Mal

Meet Maddie Remaley and Ashley Lahey. We've been teaching Ashley for awhile now and she'll be baptized just after Christmas break. We convinced Maddie, one of our favorite beehives to come out biking with us to her lesson. Maddie is the best missionary ever. It was a blast. I love these girls.

you can't see it here... but that tree looks like it's snowing. i love christmas!

week 43

dear family and whoever else is out there-

 

I'm not sure if I have anything imparticular to share from this week, rather a bunch of little miracles that have happened lately that I am extremely thankful for.

 

Tina: remember Tina? She was the LA we started working with when I VERY first came to the area. We have continued to work with her and she is doing so great. She is the one who married the muslim man and hasn't been able to come to church in 30 years. Well she now has a temple recommend and is doing family history. She's been a great example to her family all these years and has silently tried to share her testimony with them. Well last Sunday she told us she wanted us to teach one of her sons... She explained that they had a long talk about life and how he was having a hard time. She told him the only way to find peace and happiness is through learning about Jesus Christ and his church. We'll be meeting with her son this week. 

 

John Moore: Remember him? He broke Sister Olsons and my hearts back in July. We've stopped by his house multiple times and had no luck. Well the other sisters stopped by a couple weeks ago and he welcomed them in. He was at church yesterday and I don't remember the last time I was so happy to see someone. He's planning to be baptized on December 12th.

 

Jaylen Clark: Remember him? He dropped off the face of the earth about three months ago. Well last night as we were eating dinner Sister Harper said, "Let's call Jaylen!" So we did. He answered and we know have an appointment to meet with him. 

 

I am thankful to be in an area long enough to see things come full circle. I am grateful for the miracles that are placed before us every day. I am grateful for this short amount of time I have to serve the Lord. I am grateful for my family. I am grateful for the gospel. But most of all, I am grateful for Jesus Christ and the strength He gives me every single day. 

 

Love you all

Sister Mal

A Mad English Man lives here... we talked to him for 20 minutes one day about the gospel and how we aren't nuns...

 

but he also spray paints his palm trees orange because he thinks it adds a good "pop of color" to the house. you can't see it but the flag he is flying is half brittish and half american

week 42

So we met with sweet Ashley this week and came up with a brand new game plan. Due to holidays and being a teenager- we reset her baptismal date for January 9th. But we wanted to make sure she still REALLY wanted to be baptized... so we talked all about it at our last lesson. 

 

We asked why she was still meeting with us and she said, "Well you know my dad passed a couple years ago and ever since I've been meeting with you I feel closer to him. Like I feel like he's proud of me and this is what he would want me to do. He loved church and Jesus and the bible so I just feel this connection to him as we talk".

 

We explained more about families being together forever and how proud her dad is of her. I think one of the coolest things of being a missionary is being able to feel an ounce of God's love for others. It's the strangest thing, and I'm not even sure how to describe other thatn I just want to tell everyone that I love them! But I know that's creepy, so I don't. But in this moment I truly felt not only God's love for Ashley but that her dad was so pleased with what she was doing. 

 

There are angels all around us that are helping us through each day and they sure do make missionary work a lot easier for us.

 

I have always loved this quote by Jeffrey R. Holland but over the past couple weeks I have come to understand it more and more as I have truly felt the help of the angels that surround us.

 

In the gospel of Jesus Christ
 we have help from both sides of the veil. When disappointment and discouragement strike—and they
 will—we need to remember that if our eyes could be opened, we would see horses and chariots of fire
 as far as the eye can see, riding at great speed to come to our protection. They will always be
 there, these armies of heaven, in defense of Abraham’s seed.

 

Love you all!

Sister Mal

biking with sister haper down my favorite bike path

our dishwasher broke this week... it was smoking and i tried to save the day and ended up burning my little fingers. not smart sister sackley, not smart.