Week 33 - Psychic

Olá tudo mundo! Como vocês estão?

This week was great! We called lots of people, left lots of voicemails, and we messaged a lot of people on Facebook. We've been trying this new tecnique to be more specific in our finding, rather than just sending out dozens of friend requests. 

So what we've been doing, is we say a prayer to start Facebook finding, we pray know where to look on Facebook, and once we've decided that, we pray to know who God needs us to find, and we don't open our eyes until a name and profile come to mind, and then we go look for them. And it's actually been super cool to see! One time after we prayed, Sister Kinikini felt like we should look for a lady named Tonya, a black lady wearing a tank top. We looked up the name "Tonya" in Niles, and sure enough, the third person on the list was a black lady wearing a tank top. We sent her a friend request and started a good conversation! After that, we prayed again, and Sister Kinikini felt like we needed to find someone named Natalie, who's profile picture was outside at a baseball game. We looked up "Natalie", and there she was, pictured at a baseball game! And she accepted our friend request like 2 minutes later! Every single time we prayed, we had a name and description come to mind, and then we found them! So cool!!! We are freaking psychics! My magic revelation skills are still a little weak but it's been super cool to see the Lord work. Specific prayers will get specific answers! It's definitely been a testimony builder and has helped me put more trust in God.

This week has also got me thinking about how much confusion there is in the world. We talk to a lot of people and there are so many different interpretations of what is true. Some people believe that God is everywhere and in everything, some people believe in the trinity, some people only believe in the Bible, others believe that anything can count as scripture, some people think that God doesn't speak to us anymore, others believe that they are a prophet and say that Jesus speaks to them, or that they are Jesus, etc. etc... 

How do we know what is true? They can't all be right. 

So what we have to do is study it out, and pray about it! And what I've found, as I've studied this gospel as well as other beliefs, is that this church is Christ's true church!

The truths of the gospel feel right! Our friend Rita told us that she's been meeting with some Jehovah's witnesses, and that as she has learned more, she is left confused and a little upset. When meeting with us however, she says that she feels great and it leaves her feeling happy! The truths of the gospel just feel right. For example, most people believe in their heart that families can life together for eternity, but their churches teach "until death do you part." People also believe that God is merciful and loving, but their churches teach that those who aren't baptized, even children, will go to hell. Now that doesn't seem quite right. 

There are so many questions out there, but there is the one church that can answer them! Guess which one it is? You got it! It's the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I'm confident that any question can be answered by the doctrines we teach. 

(Go check out the "Saints Unscripted" channel!! It's basically crash course but 100x cooler)

Not only does this church just feel right, but it makes so much sense! It makes sense that a loving God gives everyone the chance to accept the gospel, even after this life. It makes sense that trials are to help us grow, rather than to punish us. It makes sense that baptisms and other ordinances need priesthood authority from God. It makes sense that God has called an authorized prophet to lead his church. It makes sense that God continues to speak to us even today! This gospel feels right spiritually, and intellectually. 

I love being a missionary and teaching truth! I really wish everyone would listen to us because there is so much understanding and so much joy that comes from this gospel.

So go study it out! When we ask, God will answer and he will lead us to truth! (See James 1:5 and Moroni 10:3-5) Go try it, I promise it will work.

Ok sorry for my big rant - I just get excited. Let me know of you made it through ‍♀️ Love you all!! My inbox is always open and I would love to hear from you!

- Sister Wride

Week 32 - Pancake Nelson

Olá!

I hope you all are doing well! 

There wasn't too much that happened this week, but here are some random highlights:

• Sister Kinikini is my new comp and I seriously love her. She is super fun and energetic, and asks me a lot of random get-to-know-you questions. She also memorized all 11 of my siblings names and it only took her 5 days!

• We have a bird feeder hanging on the tree outside of our window so we have become hardcore bird watchers. There are cardinals that come by every day and I get way too excited about it 

• I've decided to become a pancake artist. 

• We took a 5 hour road trip to Indianapolis and back to drop Sister Olsen over to the airport, and then did it all again for zone conference the next day. We carpooled with my old comps Sister Hassell and Walstad for the second trip and it was a party :)

• We had a great lesson with Ashley, a friend we found on Facebook! We walked around a park as we talked with her about our beliefs, what we do as missionaries, who God is, etc. She seemed super interested in what we had to say, and she wanted to keep talking even after the trial ended! So we walked another trail and introduced the restoration, Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon!! She is super cool and you'll hear more about her later ;)

• We were in a scary situation this week where we were kinda involved in a car accident. I'll spare you the details but basically we were turning left and another car swerved into a pole trying to avoid hitting us. We didn't get hit, and thankfully, no one in the other car was hurt. (God protects his missionaries!) I'm pretty sure they determined the accident wasn't our fault, but I'm not totally sure. But just made me think about how much peace this gospel brings! The girl who was driving the other car was really shaken up. She was crying and swearing and having a hard time. Sister Kinikini and I however were very calm. We knew that everything was going to be ok, that God is watching over us! I love this gospel so much, and the perspective that comes from it. It truly is through Christ that we can find peace that endures through anything!

I hope you all have a great week, and let me know what you've been up to!!

Tchau!

- Sister Wride

Week 31 - Emergency Transfer!!

Olá Tudo mundo!

So we had transfers this week and Sister Black has left us. I'm actually really sad about it. It was a good transfer. She was especially sad about moving because we have met so many awesome people lately! (Brad, Martha, Jim, Reggie, Dan, etc.) We were just like "Well, sucks for you!!" Glad it's not me!

Sister Walstad and I thought it would just be us holding down the fort, then the day of transfers, we found out that Sister Hassell would be joining us! The APs forgot to tell us she was coming haha. Sister Hassell is awesome - It's definitely been a party with her around. She's very in tune with the spirit, and she has a lot of love for people, she's very bold, and also a little crazy. (See the picture below of her sitting in a nasty puddle).

We had lots of great things happen this week! We've had a lot of first lessons, Brad is reading through the Book of Mormon and he's been working on giving up alcohol and tea, I got to play my flute for our friend Jim (video attatched) and our friend Meshak is on date for Baptism!! We've met so many amazing people and I'm super excited to see how they progress. I've come to really love this area and all the people. Missionary work is so fun!!

Then on Saturday I got a call from President, telling me to pack my bags because I'm getting transferred out of Indiana!!! Brazil here I come! 🇧🇷

Jk. You thought! I'm getting emergency transferred to Niles, Michigan with Sister Kinikini! Sister Olsen in our district is going home for health reasons so I'm taking her place. It's very sudden but I'm actually super excited! I wouldn't actually want to go to Brazil quite yet. 

Well I think that's about it from me. But have a good week, and enjoy my photo dump of flowers. Indiana is so beautiful 

Tchau tchau!

~ Sister Wride

Week 30 - More photos! (sorry not sorry)

Yes I sent out an entirely new email to include these pictures. You're welcome

1. Me strangling a chicken 

2. My hair looks cool

3. Corn dog casserole mmmm

4. The district

5. This is Jean, our Brazilian friend :D

6. Conference!

7. Aunt Ellen

Also enjoy our flute video

Week 30 - A very eventful week

Wowza what a week! Tons of stuff happened so sorry in advance for the long email. I wish you all could just watch a long movie of all the things I've experienced here because missions are so fun!! But oh well. A brief summary will have to do. Here are some highlights!!

• On Monday the Barcklay family sent us home with way too much food. (like 5lbs of ham!) And we felt bad because most of it was just going to be thrown away. They even gave us paper plates and forks! On our way home I spotted a couple on the street with a sign asking for help, and although it was a little weird, we pulled over and gave them some food, and they were so grateful! When the lady saw us she said "Hey, you're the Sisters!" It turns out that we met her a few weeks ago at the food pantry where we serve! She's a member but hasn't been to church in a while, and wants to start coming back!! I'm so grateful I followed that promoting to pull over. Serving others makes me so happy!

• We started serving at this new place called Unity Gardens and it is such a cute place! We planted some trees and shoveled around some dirt and it was so fun!!! (Go look it up: Unity Gardens in South Bend)

• One of our friends dropped us saying "Sorry, I'm a Christian", because apparently we're not?? Kinda sad, but I still have faith in him

• Our friend Reggie is on date!! He was a guy that was taught a while ago but the missionaries lost contact. We felt prompted to call his number a few weeks ago, and now he's back on track! 

• We got a referral from some Elders in South Carolina! Someone they were teaching told their friend Martha how awesome the missionaries are, and Martha was like "Yeah I want that!" So we got Martha's number and she wanted us to come over the next day! She the sweetest lady and she is super excited about having us over :) We also gave her a Book of Mormon and she's started reading it!

• We met Bill! We were on a wild goose chase trying to drop off a Bible to an address that didn't exist, and It was very confusing but in the meantime we talked with this dude who was out sitting on his porch. He knew the lady who wanted the Bible so we gave it to him. We talked with him a bit, and asked if we could come over again to share a message. He was like "Sure, ok.." So we got our first appointment from tracting!! Don't tell President Page! (Jk).

• I got my covid shot! We were at Walmart today and over the intercom they announced "Free covid vaccines!" A few people didn't show up I guess and so Sister Black and I got the last two.  

• Now for the biggest miracle!!

On Tuesday we had some lessons fall through so we went to a park to study. We noticed this one guy who passed by, but he had headphones in so we didn't say "hi" like we usually do. He passed by us again and smiled at us, then he passed by us a third time, and we chatted for a bit. He seemed like he really wanted to ask us something, but we didn't keep a conversation, and he walked off. Oh well. After a minute we looked over, and we saw him on a bench close by, staring at us! It was maybe a little creepy but we felt ok about him, so we decided to casually pass by again. And we started a good conversation! His name is Brad and he is so awesome! He asked who we were and what church we go to, and said he has questions about if there is meaning to life and how to find happiness! We gave him our number to talk later, and he actually texted us first, saying thanks for reaching out! We met up the next day and had an awesome lesson, and he had a ton of great questions! We gave him a Book of Mormon and he's cruising through it super fast! We've now had 3 lessons with him and he even came to the church to watch general conference with us!! (It was a wee bit awkward since it was just us and the Elder missionaries, but it was great!) Brad is so awesome and so open minded! I've never seen anyone progress that quickly. He is super grateful that we met too. But I'm pretty sure he's actually a member and he's just pranking us. More to come with Brad!

Speaking of, I hope you all enjoyed conference!!! It was great. 20 new temples?? So cool! I love being a part of this wonderful church and I especially love sharing it with others! Just like President Nelson said, no other message brings this much joy or peace. 

Love you all!! If you made it this far you deserve a gold star! And let me know if you don't want to be on this list anymore lol. 

Have a good week!!

- Sister Wride