Thursday, September 9, 2010
Kaelynn's Mission Return, September 8, 2010
Kaelynn returned home! She looks great, she had a wonderful experience and is ready to move on. We had a lovely dinner with many family members that night. Also, Andrea and Chris called her. Thanks to everyone for making it a great day. First day back started well--we started the day with a three mile run and then scripture study.
Friday, September 3, 2010
3 September 2010
So I just found out the libraries will be closed on Monday and Tuesday morning I have to go to the mission home first thing because Sister Thomas is picking up a greenie. Long story short, I won't be able to email after today, so here it is, my FINAL EMAIL from the mission field. Craziness.
The Boston Temple was absolutely wonderful. I left feeling very reassured. I still have only a few vague ideas about what to do with my life, but I know that if I stick with those the rest will be given to me in God's time. I have a lot of faith and hope and excitement about my post-mission life. The last few days have been very emotional. I go from one extreme to the other very quickly. Either it's "I can't stand this anymore, get me on the plane this second" or I feel as sad and depressed as if someone just died. Someone is dying! My mission is dying! I'm leaving these people that I love so much. But such is life. Change is good.
Mostly I'm just grateful. Grateful for this whole experience. I'm so blessed to have been here.
See you very soon. Love,
Sister Monson (until Wednesday)
The Boston Temple was absolutely wonderful. I left feeling very reassured. I still have only a few vague ideas about what to do with my life, but I know that if I stick with those the rest will be given to me in God's time. I have a lot of faith and hope and excitement about my post-mission life. The last few days have been very emotional. I go from one extreme to the other very quickly. Either it's "I can't stand this anymore, get me on the plane this second" or I feel as sad and depressed as if someone just died. Someone is dying! My mission is dying! I'm leaving these people that I love so much. But such is life. Change is good.
Mostly I'm just grateful. Grateful for this whole experience. I'm so blessed to have been here.
See you very soon. Love,
Sister Monson (until Wednesday)
Monday, August 30, 2010
29 August 2010
So we’ve been getting these new trainings based on a curriculum the First Presidency put out. Our numbers have been skyrocketing the past few weeks since we implemented the new things we were taught. This week we taught 26 lessons. That’s definitely the highest number of lessons I’ve ever taught in a week. President Eyring wants all the missionaries to shoot for 20 a week, and I think we’ve hit 20 once or twice before.
We had a difficult moment with an investigator who really, really wanted to be baptized on Sunday. We told her to plan on it, but we should have communicated her progress more clearly to the WML and the bishop…anyway, the bishop really wanted her to wait at least another week so we had to tell her she couldn’t be baptized on Sunday, after she had already started planning it and shopping for a white dress and gotten all excited. She was really discouraged and disappointed and we felt terrible about the whole situation since it was our fault for jumping the gun. We were really upset about it on Thursday night—I was on the phone giving our numbers to the district leader and we got a call on the other line, which Sister Thomas was hoping would be President Pehrson so we could explain the situation to him, but it turned out to be our WML, whom we had just hung up with. To be precise, it was actually his wife. She said, “Brother Tillinghast feels prompted to come visit you, can we come over?” So they came and said a prayer with us and talked us through the situation and helped us feel a lot better. It was definitely an answer to prayer and a testimony that the Lord is aware of our every need and can work through us to answer the prayers of those around us if we just listen to the Spirit.
Quote for the week is: My guardian angel has cankles and needs a gastric bypass. (This stemmed from the idea that you feed your guardian angel when you read your scriptures…and it went from there…one of those “you-had-to-be-there” moments, I guess.)
Back to the Empire State
A Few Neat Little Knick Knacks
Amenia, ain't it a quaint little town?
What a quaint little sign.
And here we are, back to the Constitution State...I'm signing "three weeks," but now I can say ONE WEEK AND THREE DAYS! I'm not excited to leave here, just excited to be at home and see the family/friends/home that I miss. From this point in my life I will have two homes, I guess. I just won't live at the Connecticut home all the time.
We had a difficult moment with an investigator who really, really wanted to be baptized on Sunday. We told her to plan on it, but we should have communicated her progress more clearly to the WML and the bishop…anyway, the bishop really wanted her to wait at least another week so we had to tell her she couldn’t be baptized on Sunday, after she had already started planning it and shopping for a white dress and gotten all excited. She was really discouraged and disappointed and we felt terrible about the whole situation since it was our fault for jumping the gun. We were really upset about it on Thursday night—I was on the phone giving our numbers to the district leader and we got a call on the other line, which Sister Thomas was hoping would be President Pehrson so we could explain the situation to him, but it turned out to be our WML, whom we had just hung up with. To be precise, it was actually his wife. She said, “Brother Tillinghast feels prompted to come visit you, can we come over?” So they came and said a prayer with us and talked us through the situation and helped us feel a lot better. It was definitely an answer to prayer and a testimony that the Lord is aware of our every need and can work through us to answer the prayers of those around us if we just listen to the Spirit.
Quote for the week is: My guardian angel has cankles and needs a gastric bypass. (This stemmed from the idea that you feed your guardian angel when you read your scriptures…and it went from there…one of those “you-had-to-be-there” moments, I guess.)
Back to the Empire State
A Few Neat Little Knick Knacks
Amenia, ain't it a quaint little town?
What a quaint little sign.
And here we are, back to the Constitution State...I'm signing "three weeks," but now I can say ONE WEEK AND THREE DAYS! I'm not excited to leave here, just excited to be at home and see the family/friends/home that I miss. From this point in my life I will have two homes, I guess. I just won't live at the Connecticut home all the time.
Monday, August 23, 2010
23 August 2010
My USB cord for my camera had a temper tantrum and ran away. I haven’t tracked it down yet. So until it gets hungry and wet (it’s raining!) and decides to come home, do your best to imagine a picture of me standing under the “Welcome to Connecticut” sign, doing the ASL sign for “three weeks.” Except now that picture is out of date because it’s more like TWO WEEKS! We got to go to New York again this month and we had so much fun eating lunch with the member who lives there. Turns out there is another member family that just moved to Amenia and goes to the Goshen ward also, and they came to lunch. He used to work on the set of “As the World Turns,” and now that the show has ended they moved to Amenia and decided to open a cute little furniture store where he is selling a lot of the furniture from the old set. I had no idea that much work was put into soap opera sets. He showed us the shop (which hasn’t officially opened yet). It’s full of all sorts of beautiful antique furniture and knick-knacks. Again, I have pictures that cannot be transported to you, thanks to the temper tantrum. (Before it left it told me all about how I got it from the orphanage to do its work, and then before it slammed the door, it said, “I’m running away! I’m running away!” Sound like anyone you know?)
Chris didn’t write anything too exciting this week and he’s getting after me for plagiarizing his emails. Since I am not creative enough to tell you anything interesting on my own, I will recount the week in random stories.
Calling a member of the bishopric who just asked us to speak in church next week:
Sister Thomas: “We can’t speak in church next week. We just found out we’re getting emergency transferred and we’re leaving Wednesday.”
Brother So-and-So (after a long pause): “You’re kidding.”
Thomas: “Yeah, I’m kidding.”
So-and-so: “You are a rotten human being! You little puke! You’re Sister Puke. I’m going to hang up.”
Thomas: “No, don’t hang up! We have a favor to ask you.”
So-and-so: “Oh, NOW you want to ask me a favor!”
Thomas: “It’s a favor for the Lord.”
So-and-so: “Are you hungry? Does the Lord want me to feed you? Well, come on over. I’ve got an arsenic sandwich waiting for you!”
Moving on to stories that don’t involve death threats, but stalking:
One member of the ward has the most hilarious child. She is such a talker. Every time we go over there she bombards us with questions, e.g.:
Kid: “What are you doing?”
Me: “We’re going around visiting people today. What are you doing?”
Kid: “Well, I’m just sitting here on the porch talking to you.”
After Dad introduces her new baby brother- “My little brother cries sometimes.”
Dad: “So did you when you were a baby.”
Kid: “I was a baby?”
Sister Thomas: “Even we were babies a long time ago.”
Kid: “Was Grandma Cathy a baby?”
Before we left: “Where do you guys live? Do you live by Grandma Cathy? Will I see you guys tomorrow? Can you come over every day? Can I sleep over at your house?”
Aliens, Yu-Gi-Oh, Ugly People, and Four-Legged Animals:
“I don’t believe none of those UFO crap.” –cool Jamaican guy
“Lewis is a young buck. We found him with Elder Seamons. He’s into Yu-Gi-Oh, so yeah.” –old teaching record
“I wanna see your ugly little faces.” Sweet old woman from the ward wanting us to come over
“Bible-pants!” Sarah referring to her former pastor
The missionary work for this week can be summed up in one word: intense. We have a lot of investigators. We still have several baptismal dates. We’re very busy and are seeing lots of miracles. Our investigators are struggling with Word of Wisdom issues and a LOT of opposition.
Miracle story for the week: We were supposed to get our oil changed Thursday morning. But when we went in Midas was busy and it was going to take a few hours, so we made an appointment to come back in the afternoon and had to rearrange our plans a little bit. Because of that we ended up street contacting on South Main and randomly decided to stop by a woman who lives on that street (we had set up one appointment with her before, but it fell through and we hadn’t gotten in contact with her since). When we rang her doorbell she told us all about the bad day she’d had and how she had been praying for help when the doorbell rang. I love that things like that happen so much on the mission that they aren’t even really surprising anymore. Still exciting, but not surprising. At the beginning of my mission I would have freaked out and written pages in my journal and said, “What a crazy coincidence!” or something to that effect. But now the reaction is more like, “Well, of course. God puts us in the right place at the right time to answer prayers. It’s just how it goes.”
Reflection/philosophizing/pretending to be deep and profound and such: I’ve been thinking about what to do with my life after I go home. I left on my mission with absolutely no clue as to what would come after. I just knew that if God had a plan for me to be here, he must also have a plan for afterward. I still feel that way, and I still don’t really know what I’m going to do. I have a lot of ideas bouncing around in my mind, and they are all just still in the idea stage.
But I came upon this song by Relient K and one verse really spoke to me.
Still wondering why I’m here,
Still wrestling with my fears but oh, he’s up to something.
And the farther on I go,
I’ve seen enough to know that I’m not here for nothing.
He’s up to something.
So now’s my time to be a man [insert “woman” here], follow my heart as far as I can.
No telling where I’ll be ending up tonight.
I never slow down, or so it seems,
Singing my heart is one of my dreams.
All I have to do is hold on tight.
There is hope for me yet,
Because God won’t forget
All the plans he’s made for me.
I’ll have to wait and see,
He’s not finished with me yet.
So there you have it, kids. God's not finished with me yet!
Lots of love and looking forward to seeing all ya's in two weeks!
-Monson
Chris didn’t write anything too exciting this week and he’s getting after me for plagiarizing his emails. Since I am not creative enough to tell you anything interesting on my own, I will recount the week in random stories.
Calling a member of the bishopric who just asked us to speak in church next week:
Sister Thomas: “We can’t speak in church next week. We just found out we’re getting emergency transferred and we’re leaving Wednesday.”
Brother So-and-So (after a long pause): “You’re kidding.”
Thomas: “Yeah, I’m kidding.”
So-and-so: “You are a rotten human being! You little puke! You’re Sister Puke. I’m going to hang up.”
Thomas: “No, don’t hang up! We have a favor to ask you.”
So-and-so: “Oh, NOW you want to ask me a favor!”
Thomas: “It’s a favor for the Lord.”
So-and-so: “Are you hungry? Does the Lord want me to feed you? Well, come on over. I’ve got an arsenic sandwich waiting for you!”
Moving on to stories that don’t involve death threats, but stalking:
One member of the ward has the most hilarious child. She is such a talker. Every time we go over there she bombards us with questions, e.g.:
Kid: “What are you doing?”
Me: “We’re going around visiting people today. What are you doing?”
Kid: “Well, I’m just sitting here on the porch talking to you.”
After Dad introduces her new baby brother- “My little brother cries sometimes.”
Dad: “So did you when you were a baby.”
Kid: “I was a baby?”
Sister Thomas: “Even we were babies a long time ago.”
Kid: “Was Grandma Cathy a baby?”
Before we left: “Where do you guys live? Do you live by Grandma Cathy? Will I see you guys tomorrow? Can you come over every day? Can I sleep over at your house?”
Aliens, Yu-Gi-Oh, Ugly People, and Four-Legged Animals:
“I don’t believe none of those UFO crap.” –cool Jamaican guy
“Lewis is a young buck. We found him with Elder Seamons. He’s into Yu-Gi-Oh, so yeah.” –old teaching record
“I wanna see your ugly little faces.” Sweet old woman from the ward wanting us to come over
“Bible-pants!” Sarah referring to her former pastor
The missionary work for this week can be summed up in one word: intense. We have a lot of investigators. We still have several baptismal dates. We’re very busy and are seeing lots of miracles. Our investigators are struggling with Word of Wisdom issues and a LOT of opposition.
Miracle story for the week: We were supposed to get our oil changed Thursday morning. But when we went in Midas was busy and it was going to take a few hours, so we made an appointment to come back in the afternoon and had to rearrange our plans a little bit. Because of that we ended up street contacting on South Main and randomly decided to stop by a woman who lives on that street (we had set up one appointment with her before, but it fell through and we hadn’t gotten in contact with her since). When we rang her doorbell she told us all about the bad day she’d had and how she had been praying for help when the doorbell rang. I love that things like that happen so much on the mission that they aren’t even really surprising anymore. Still exciting, but not surprising. At the beginning of my mission I would have freaked out and written pages in my journal and said, “What a crazy coincidence!” or something to that effect. But now the reaction is more like, “Well, of course. God puts us in the right place at the right time to answer prayers. It’s just how it goes.”
Reflection/philosophizing/pretending to be deep and profound and such: I’ve been thinking about what to do with my life after I go home. I left on my mission with absolutely no clue as to what would come after. I just knew that if God had a plan for me to be here, he must also have a plan for afterward. I still feel that way, and I still don’t really know what I’m going to do. I have a lot of ideas bouncing around in my mind, and they are all just still in the idea stage.
But I came upon this song by Relient K and one verse really spoke to me.
Still wondering why I’m here,
Still wrestling with my fears but oh, he’s up to something.
And the farther on I go,
I’ve seen enough to know that I’m not here for nothing.
He’s up to something.
So now’s my time to be a man [insert “woman” here], follow my heart as far as I can.
No telling where I’ll be ending up tonight.
I never slow down, or so it seems,
Singing my heart is one of my dreams.
All I have to do is hold on tight.
There is hope for me yet,
Because God won’t forget
All the plans he’s made for me.
I’ll have to wait and see,
He’s not finished with me yet.
So there you have it, kids. God's not finished with me yet!
Lots of love and looking forward to seeing all ya's in two weeks!
-Monson
Monday, August 9, 2010
9 August 2010
I got a whole slew of emails this week from my long-lost brother, Chris the mad scientist. And I quote:
”I'm not sure how this works out for sisters, but for elders the general guidance is: the harder you work and the more you suffer on your mission, the hotter your wife will be. I don't think God is sexist, so I think it is pretty safe to assume that you can replace "wife" with "spouse" and have a saying that suits all comers. Just remember, you only have a few weeks left to work up in the marrying world - if you squander them, you will be stuck for all eternity with a sub-optimal specimen. We wouldn't want that to happen now, would we?”
So I guess that means the other day when that lady told us she wasn’ t interested and to get off her property, and our baptism got postponed and the family didn’t show up at church, and our investigator had 31 pairs of shoes fall on his head from a broken shelf at Payless (thereby spraining his neck), not to mention Mom broke her pelvis thanks to someone who decided to randomly spray some slippery oil on the road, that means that “somewhere your future husband is building his pecs, or perfecting his tan, or something like that. My goodness, this is WHY you would want to serve a mission! Don't mock me on this - it worked for me. I worked hard in Brazil, and in every picture Lisa sent she was hotter. When I got sick (typhoid, or yellow fever, or some crazy food poisoning, depending on who you ask) and was throwing up and had diarrhea for an entire week, I could feel her getting hotter the whole time. I tried to go tracting a few times, but I just couldn't manage it, and maybe that's a good thing. Lisa's already much better-looking than me. Had I managed to work while that sick she may have become a Miss America Supermodel, and I imagine there would be a lot of pressure being married to someone so hot.”
Really, it was a great week, I just like to exaggerate things so I can add up the “husband points.”
By the way, Chris, you are doing a very good job of redeeming yourself and working your way up to an OLWK award. Maybe not first prize, but definitely a runner-up. Thanks for the emails. Feel free to keep it up if you wish. Even if you still have absolutely nothing to write about. Write about anything! ANYTHING! Boogers. The Easter bunny. Gravel. Asbestos. Pencils. Cucumbers. There’s a few suggestions to start with. (Brian, take notes.)
On Sunday Bishop Zeiner approached us and asked us to teach all the lessons to a 12-year-old this week before his baptism next Sunday. His whole family has been attending church and meeting with missionaries on and off for about 8 years, so he knows it all and has a great testimony, but his parents wouldn’t let him get baptized and they weren’t progressing so we dropped the family back in April. But for whatever reason, they have decided to let him get baptized and he wants Brother Jones to baptize him before the Jones family moves away next week. So, here we are. Baptism on speed dial. We’re so excited!!!!!! It’s truly a miracle that they have decided to let him get baptized. Now, the next miracle will be to baptize the rest of the family, including the parents.
Well, due to the endless battling with the Trunky Monster all night long (I think I wrestled him in my sleep), I have no energy left to write anything more. Until next time,
Kaelynn
P.S. Word on the street is that Sister Thomas’s mom met President Monson at a party somewhere this week and told him that we are serving together as Thomas/Monson, and he got a kick out of it. I knew he would! Mean old President Pehrson wouldn’t let us send him a letter. L
”I'm not sure how this works out for sisters, but for elders the general guidance is: the harder you work and the more you suffer on your mission, the hotter your wife will be. I don't think God is sexist, so I think it is pretty safe to assume that you can replace "wife" with "spouse" and have a saying that suits all comers. Just remember, you only have a few weeks left to work up in the marrying world - if you squander them, you will be stuck for all eternity with a sub-optimal specimen. We wouldn't want that to happen now, would we?”
So I guess that means the other day when that lady told us she wasn’ t interested and to get off her property, and our baptism got postponed and the family didn’t show up at church, and our investigator had 31 pairs of shoes fall on his head from a broken shelf at Payless (thereby spraining his neck), not to mention Mom broke her pelvis thanks to someone who decided to randomly spray some slippery oil on the road, that means that “somewhere your future husband is building his pecs, or perfecting his tan, or something like that. My goodness, this is WHY you would want to serve a mission! Don't mock me on this - it worked for me. I worked hard in Brazil, and in every picture Lisa sent she was hotter. When I got sick (typhoid, or yellow fever, or some crazy food poisoning, depending on who you ask) and was throwing up and had diarrhea for an entire week, I could feel her getting hotter the whole time. I tried to go tracting a few times, but I just couldn't manage it, and maybe that's a good thing. Lisa's already much better-looking than me. Had I managed to work while that sick she may have become a Miss America Supermodel, and I imagine there would be a lot of pressure being married to someone so hot.”
Really, it was a great week, I just like to exaggerate things so I can add up the “husband points.”
By the way, Chris, you are doing a very good job of redeeming yourself and working your way up to an OLWK award. Maybe not first prize, but definitely a runner-up. Thanks for the emails. Feel free to keep it up if you wish. Even if you still have absolutely nothing to write about. Write about anything! ANYTHING! Boogers. The Easter bunny. Gravel. Asbestos. Pencils. Cucumbers. There’s a few suggestions to start with. (Brian, take notes.)
On Sunday Bishop Zeiner approached us and asked us to teach all the lessons to a 12-year-old this week before his baptism next Sunday. His whole family has been attending church and meeting with missionaries on and off for about 8 years, so he knows it all and has a great testimony, but his parents wouldn’t let him get baptized and they weren’t progressing so we dropped the family back in April. But for whatever reason, they have decided to let him get baptized and he wants Brother Jones to baptize him before the Jones family moves away next week. So, here we are. Baptism on speed dial. We’re so excited!!!!!! It’s truly a miracle that they have decided to let him get baptized. Now, the next miracle will be to baptize the rest of the family, including the parents.
Well, due to the endless battling with the Trunky Monster all night long (I think I wrestled him in my sleep), I have no energy left to write anything more. Until next time,
Kaelynn
P.S. Word on the street is that Sister Thomas’s mom met President Monson at a party somewhere this week and told him that we are serving together as Thomas/Monson, and he got a kick out of it. I knew he would! Mean old President Pehrson wouldn’t let us send him a letter. L
Sunday, August 8, 2010
2 August 2010
The Trunky Monster has attacked me. Every night he hides under my bed, waiting for me to turn the lights off. Last night I think he dragged me out of bed and bit my legs off. But I was too exhausted to notice. (I keep telling Sister Thomas there’s a monster under my bed, but she doesn’t believe me!) I’m still working and still love it here, I just don’t want to be here anymore! Tonight I’m going to wait up for the Trunky Monster, club him with a baseball bat, and demand my legs back.
This week we walked around for hours and got burned to a crisp and found no one. Well, that was the first two days of the week, I should say. Later in the week we were blessed to find 4 new investigators! I feel like God is blessing us for trying to be diligent.
On one of those “walking around for hours and getting fried” days, we tracted one side of a street called Upper Valley Road. We have since renamed it Upturned Nose Road, Upper Snotty Road, Nightmare on Elm Street, and other such things. Every single person slammed the door, many of them while we were still in midsentence, and I started talking to the closed doors since no real people would listen to us. And the street was a “Long and Winding Road” to the point of being comical. We kept reaching a bend in the road and thinking, “We’re almost done!” only to the point of going around the curve and finding the road still kept going. On and on and on. At one point I started questioning my level of consciousness. “Are you sure we’re not dreaming?” It was like those nightmares where you keep running and running or never get anywhere. (Or like my nightmares, where ET was trying to strangle me and my voice didn’t work, as my family will remember.) Finally at the end of the street, we found a guy who would give us the time of day long enough to take a pamphlet. That was our miracle for the day.
One night this week we were planning backups for the next day. I asked Sister Thomas what we should do if our four-thirty appointment fell through. She said, “Take turns stabbing each other in the leg with forks.”
In all seriousness, life is good, we are so incredibly blessed, and I still love my mission. The greatest blessing of my life. I’m just slowly succumbing to the Trunky Monster. (I can hear him laughing right now! He’ll be going for my arms next. Then after I am armless and legless he’ll start making ME sleep under the bed, and he’ll take over my bed and I still probably won’t even wake up.) I keep reminding myself I only have five more weeks to be Sister Monson, to wear this name tag, to have no responsibilities except sharing the gospel and learning and serving. Like I said, I keep reminding, because I need it about every five seconds.
Everyone, be safe. Sleep with a baseball bat next to your bed in case a monster pays you a visit. (Whatever kind of monsters you have, I don’t know.)
-Kaelynn
This week we walked around for hours and got burned to a crisp and found no one. Well, that was the first two days of the week, I should say. Later in the week we were blessed to find 4 new investigators! I feel like God is blessing us for trying to be diligent.
On one of those “walking around for hours and getting fried” days, we tracted one side of a street called Upper Valley Road. We have since renamed it Upturned Nose Road, Upper Snotty Road, Nightmare on Elm Street, and other such things. Every single person slammed the door, many of them while we were still in midsentence, and I started talking to the closed doors since no real people would listen to us. And the street was a “Long and Winding Road” to the point of being comical. We kept reaching a bend in the road and thinking, “We’re almost done!” only to the point of going around the curve and finding the road still kept going. On and on and on. At one point I started questioning my level of consciousness. “Are you sure we’re not dreaming?” It was like those nightmares where you keep running and running or never get anywhere. (Or like my nightmares, where ET was trying to strangle me and my voice didn’t work, as my family will remember.) Finally at the end of the street, we found a guy who would give us the time of day long enough to take a pamphlet. That was our miracle for the day.
One night this week we were planning backups for the next day. I asked Sister Thomas what we should do if our four-thirty appointment fell through. She said, “Take turns stabbing each other in the leg with forks.”
In all seriousness, life is good, we are so incredibly blessed, and I still love my mission. The greatest blessing of my life. I’m just slowly succumbing to the Trunky Monster. (I can hear him laughing right now! He’ll be going for my arms next. Then after I am armless and legless he’ll start making ME sleep under the bed, and he’ll take over my bed and I still probably won’t even wake up.) I keep reminding myself I only have five more weeks to be Sister Monson, to wear this name tag, to have no responsibilities except sharing the gospel and learning and serving. Like I said, I keep reminding, because I need it about every five seconds.
Everyone, be safe. Sleep with a baseball bat next to your bed in case a monster pays you a visit. (Whatever kind of monsters you have, I don’t know.)
-Kaelynn
Thursday, July 15, 2010
10July2010
I waited all week long for Monday to get here.
Then on Monday morning I waited all morning long for email time to get here.
We got to the library and there were no computers available in the front of the library, where we usually go. So we went to the children’s section which has two computers. One was occupied by a small child playing Star Wars. And boy, was he vocal about it. He did not know how to use the Force. And he wanted to be Anakin on his next game. And then his three friends had to come and watch and comment.
So Sister Thomas was on the other computer, and I sat at a nearby table. Just as luck would have it, I didn’t bring any paper to write letters, and I didn’t bring my Bible to finish my New Testament reading. All I had was my hardback Book of Mormon.
After poring over the Samuel the Lamanite story, AGAIN, I started looking for other ways to entertain myself. I love being surrounded by books I can’t read! At least these were all kid books. Young adult novels. Like the Traveling Pants books, and all their sequels, “The Traveling Pants and He Broke Up With Carmen,” and “The Traveling Pants Travel to Greece Again for Summer Break,” and “The Traveling Pants Find Another Small Child Dying of a Terminal Illness—This Time It’s Lupus,” and “The Traveling Pants Go To Soccer Camp Again and Hook Up With a Different Coach.” Maybe “The Traveling Pants and Carmen Goes on a Diet,” and “The Traveling Pants and Whatsername Gets Laid Off from Wal-Mart and Gets a Summer Job at a Slushee Stand.” Okay, those aren’t really the names but they should be. I think my titles are better than the original ones.
Then I found lists of recommended summer reading for kids and preteens, and they had short summaries of each book. Gotta love those young adult fiction novels. “Jimmy’s mom is having a new baby, and he gets paired with Meanie Jeanie for a school project. He and his best friend have a fight. He gets kicked off the playground. His Popsicle falls in the dirt. COULD ANYTHING ELSE GO WRONG?! IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD. Until Jimmy and his dad have a little heart-to-heart and then they hug and he punches him on the arm and says, ‘Go get ‘em Little Chief!’ ”
When I had read all the lists and had nothing else to do I listened to Star Wars’ older sister come and try and drag him off: “Jimmy, it’s time to leave.” (Yes it is, Jimmy! Oh please! I promise it is.) “No it’s not.” “Yes it IS!” “Tell Mom I’m staying a little longer, okay?” “It’s time to go!” “It’s time to go!” “Stop imitating me! You guys are so immature! I’m telling Mom!” (Hurry back with Mom! I’m bored out of my mind!)
After what seems like a brief eternity later, Mom comes. Mom comes! And in her sweet voice she persuades Jimmy to leave his game and give the headphones back to the nice lady at the front desk. Unfortunately Jimmy was mad so he turned off the computer as he stormed out. And seeing as these are computers dating back from the Jurassic Age, they take approximately two millennia to reboot and regain their bearings and find the Internet again.
Sister Thomas was so sweet and let me use her computer while she waited for Grandma Dell to wake up.
Anyway, this email does not sound like it was written by a missionary…it doesn’t say much about missionary work, and I will tell you now, that is because this week was a lot of drama and not much else. Good things are still happening, but nothing monumental enough to write home about. So this was my opportunity to learn patience, and pray that the drama resolves itself. It will, I’m sure. The Church is true, computers are slow, and children will play computer games until the Second Coming unless you drag them out by their earlobes.
Much love,
Kaelynn
Then on Monday morning I waited all morning long for email time to get here.
We got to the library and there were no computers available in the front of the library, where we usually go. So we went to the children’s section which has two computers. One was occupied by a small child playing Star Wars. And boy, was he vocal about it. He did not know how to use the Force. And he wanted to be Anakin on his next game. And then his three friends had to come and watch and comment.
So Sister Thomas was on the other computer, and I sat at a nearby table. Just as luck would have it, I didn’t bring any paper to write letters, and I didn’t bring my Bible to finish my New Testament reading. All I had was my hardback Book of Mormon.
After poring over the Samuel the Lamanite story, AGAIN, I started looking for other ways to entertain myself. I love being surrounded by books I can’t read! At least these were all kid books. Young adult novels. Like the Traveling Pants books, and all their sequels, “The Traveling Pants and He Broke Up With Carmen,” and “The Traveling Pants Travel to Greece Again for Summer Break,” and “The Traveling Pants Find Another Small Child Dying of a Terminal Illness—This Time It’s Lupus,” and “The Traveling Pants Go To Soccer Camp Again and Hook Up With a Different Coach.” Maybe “The Traveling Pants and Carmen Goes on a Diet,” and “The Traveling Pants and Whatsername Gets Laid Off from Wal-Mart and Gets a Summer Job at a Slushee Stand.” Okay, those aren’t really the names but they should be. I think my titles are better than the original ones.
Then I found lists of recommended summer reading for kids and preteens, and they had short summaries of each book. Gotta love those young adult fiction novels. “Jimmy’s mom is having a new baby, and he gets paired with Meanie Jeanie for a school project. He and his best friend have a fight. He gets kicked off the playground. His Popsicle falls in the dirt. COULD ANYTHING ELSE GO WRONG?! IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD. Until Jimmy and his dad have a little heart-to-heart and then they hug and he punches him on the arm and says, ‘Go get ‘em Little Chief!’ ”
When I had read all the lists and had nothing else to do I listened to Star Wars’ older sister come and try and drag him off: “Jimmy, it’s time to leave.” (Yes it is, Jimmy! Oh please! I promise it is.) “No it’s not.” “Yes it IS!” “Tell Mom I’m staying a little longer, okay?” “It’s time to go!” “It’s time to go!” “Stop imitating me! You guys are so immature! I’m telling Mom!” (Hurry back with Mom! I’m bored out of my mind!)
After what seems like a brief eternity later, Mom comes. Mom comes! And in her sweet voice she persuades Jimmy to leave his game and give the headphones back to the nice lady at the front desk. Unfortunately Jimmy was mad so he turned off the computer as he stormed out. And seeing as these are computers dating back from the Jurassic Age, they take approximately two millennia to reboot and regain their bearings and find the Internet again.
Sister Thomas was so sweet and let me use her computer while she waited for Grandma Dell to wake up.
Anyway, this email does not sound like it was written by a missionary…it doesn’t say much about missionary work, and I will tell you now, that is because this week was a lot of drama and not much else. Good things are still happening, but nothing monumental enough to write home about. So this was my opportunity to learn patience, and pray that the drama resolves itself. It will, I’m sure. The Church is true, computers are slow, and children will play computer games until the Second Coming unless you drag them out by their earlobes.
Much love,
Kaelynn
Monday, June 28, 2010
28 June 2010
This was a wonderful week, commencing with the baptism of Domingo. As he put it, he became “a new Domingo.” Sweetest man ever! Unfortunately my camera cable is playing hide and seek so I will send a picture next week. (Those kids and their games!)
So, I’ve decided Connecticut owns about 90% of the world’s cat and dog population. These people are obsessed with their pets. Everyone has about twelve dogs and twenty-six cats. Okay, well, not quite that many but close. Being surrounded by it, a non-cat-and-dog-lover has to either learn to enjoy them or offend an awful lot of people. I have succumbed to the temptation and started petting kittens in spite of myself and my allergies. I pay for it every time in sneezing and puffy eyes, but I still don’t stop. (“I can stop anytime I want!”) Anyway, so I was petting someone’s cat the other day and I said, “Cute puppy!” I must have been tired. (Don’t worry, I’m not to the point where I want to go out and buy a dog or cat. They’re fun to visit with and then leave. Like Mom and Dad always say about their grandkids.)
Speaking of cats, yesterday we met the most hilarious cat. If he were a person he would have escaped from the psych ward of Charlotte Hungerford Hospital and be panhandling out by the West Side Package Store (that’s Connecticut-ese for a liquor store) in Torrington. He is a stray that the ward mission leader and his wife have kind of adopted. (They already have about a thousand cats anyway, so what’s another one?) Yesterday they introduced us to Fu (as in fu man chu- I don’t know how to spell that- because his whiskers are very long and unshaven-looking) after giving him a bath. (They said he smelled.) He has six toes on each foot. And his eyes are crossed. Sister Tillinghast decided that if he were a person, not only would he be panhandling, but he would be saying, “Mithter Tillinghatht thaid I could come in and have thomething to eat.” (“Hey Mister! Got any change? I got me a real neat watch. It’s a Rolex!” It’s a miracle that I still remember that movie from my previous life.)
Speaking of the West Side Package Store, it’s a couple blocks away from our apartment. I can’t remember if I already mentioned that a truck ran into it a few weeks ago. As in, ran off the road and into the store. I laughed really hard at first because I thought the truck driver must have been a too-recent customer of the store (it also has a bar in the back). But it turns out someone had cut him off and he was swerving to try to get out of the way. Still, that’s quite the swerve, don’t you think? All the way off the road and into the front of the store.
One of our investigators is a writer who happens to have written several other books, including a slasher novel. It’s not published yet and she’s told us a little about it before but on Saturday night we got her to tell us the entire plot. For some idiotic reason. We kept dragging more information out of her. We wanted to know how it ended SOOOOOOOOOO bad. Then we got in the car and drove home and we were FREAKED OUT, our little pure missionary minds were on scare overload. I was afraid to let Sister Thomas get out of the car to back me, because a serial killer might be hiding in those bushes. Anyway, so we made it home and we had some rotten tuna fish in our garbage that was making the apartment unbearably smelly. (Are we sure it was only tuna fish? No. Someone probably hid a dead body in our garbage.) We took out the garbage to the big bins that are behind the house. Big bins, by that old empty hot tub, there could be anything hiding in there, and it was so dark…anyway, so we had to cross the driveway to get back to the door of our apartment. I walked by the neighbor’s SUV and had a heart attack at what I thought was a face in the window. Turned out to be a “Baby on Board” sticker.
Earlier this week we ran into a man that we had tracted into a few weeks before when Sister Mortimer was here. He was a very staunch Catholic who proceeded to tell us all about how we are a cult, and as we work our way up in the cult we learn more secrets, and blah blah blah. Needless to say, I didn’t feel too warm and fuzzy about him at first. But when we saw him again we started talking and he asked if he could read to us from a book about cults. This book is written by a Texe Marrs, who claims to be quite the authority on “cults and new-age religions.” It has a section on “The Mormons” and another section on the RLDS church. The section on the RLDS church, in talking about the origins of the church, mentions how it was reorganized “after Joseph Smith died in his native Ohio.” Really? Native Ohio? Aren’t they supposed to have editors to make sure they double-check their facts before letting stuff like that actually making it into the final draft? Some drunk on the street could have given him more accurate information. Anyway, that gives you an idea of the accuracy of the rest of the stuff in the book. Most of the stuff on Mormonism was incredibly offensive, but some of it was outright hilarious. For instance, did you know that Mormons teach that Christ was married to Mary and Martha, and Mary Magdalene, and that all of his wives and children were present at his crucifixion? Did you know that Joseph Smith worshiped Jupiter? (Ummm…that’s not really true, just so you know.) Really. I can’t believe the kinds of things people publish. I think I will go home and write a book about how aliens drive minivans in Fiji. Because I have totally been to Fiji and I am an expert on aliens AND minivans, and I even drove a minivan a few times. My book will be much more factual than Mr. Marrs’. Seriously. You think I’m joking.
Where was I going with that story? Oh, I digress. The story has a happy ending. The man who read us the book actually really listened to what we had to say. When we told him he could find better information about the Church from “The National Enquirer” than from his book, he actually believed us. He seemed to gain much more respect and appreciation for the Church, and actually believe that we are Christians and normal people and all that. He turned out to be very nice.
Driving is fine, it's tolerable. I don't really mind it as much. But I am definitely not an excellent driver and I am an endless source of entertainment for Sister Thomas. I keep telling her, my brain works well with words and sounds and noises. Not things you can see. Like the road. Or judging distance. Or backing out of a driveway. Or directions. We all have our different gifts. I think my gift for driving got taken back to the store and exchanged for the "freakish pitch monkey" gift. Not complaining though! I like the freakish pitch monkey.
Guess what else? I am already picking up some horrible New England driver traits. Like stopping out in the middle of the intersection instead of actually behind the line. I really should not do that. I am not a talented enough driver to safely bend all the rules like they do.
I have never had so many mixed emotions all at the same time. I really really really do and really really reallly don't want to go home. But I am so blessed that this area is busy and keeps me from getting too trunky. Sooner or later, that going home part will come, whether I want it to or not.
I love the humor of missionary life. It’s so much fun! And Torrington is absolutely wonderful. Got another baptism coming up next week! Can’t wait! Lots of love,
Sister Monson
So, I’ve decided Connecticut owns about 90% of the world’s cat and dog population. These people are obsessed with their pets. Everyone has about twelve dogs and twenty-six cats. Okay, well, not quite that many but close. Being surrounded by it, a non-cat-and-dog-lover has to either learn to enjoy them or offend an awful lot of people. I have succumbed to the temptation and started petting kittens in spite of myself and my allergies. I pay for it every time in sneezing and puffy eyes, but I still don’t stop. (“I can stop anytime I want!”) Anyway, so I was petting someone’s cat the other day and I said, “Cute puppy!” I must have been tired. (Don’t worry, I’m not to the point where I want to go out and buy a dog or cat. They’re fun to visit with and then leave. Like Mom and Dad always say about their grandkids.)
Speaking of cats, yesterday we met the most hilarious cat. If he were a person he would have escaped from the psych ward of Charlotte Hungerford Hospital and be panhandling out by the West Side Package Store (that’s Connecticut-ese for a liquor store) in Torrington. He is a stray that the ward mission leader and his wife have kind of adopted. (They already have about a thousand cats anyway, so what’s another one?) Yesterday they introduced us to Fu (as in fu man chu- I don’t know how to spell that- because his whiskers are very long and unshaven-looking) after giving him a bath. (They said he smelled.) He has six toes on each foot. And his eyes are crossed. Sister Tillinghast decided that if he were a person, not only would he be panhandling, but he would be saying, “Mithter Tillinghatht thaid I could come in and have thomething to eat.” (“Hey Mister! Got any change? I got me a real neat watch. It’s a Rolex!” It’s a miracle that I still remember that movie from my previous life.)
Speaking of the West Side Package Store, it’s a couple blocks away from our apartment. I can’t remember if I already mentioned that a truck ran into it a few weeks ago. As in, ran off the road and into the store. I laughed really hard at first because I thought the truck driver must have been a too-recent customer of the store (it also has a bar in the back). But it turns out someone had cut him off and he was swerving to try to get out of the way. Still, that’s quite the swerve, don’t you think? All the way off the road and into the front of the store.
One of our investigators is a writer who happens to have written several other books, including a slasher novel. It’s not published yet and she’s told us a little about it before but on Saturday night we got her to tell us the entire plot. For some idiotic reason. We kept dragging more information out of her. We wanted to know how it ended SOOOOOOOOOO bad. Then we got in the car and drove home and we were FREAKED OUT, our little pure missionary minds were on scare overload. I was afraid to let Sister Thomas get out of the car to back me, because a serial killer might be hiding in those bushes. Anyway, so we made it home and we had some rotten tuna fish in our garbage that was making the apartment unbearably smelly. (Are we sure it was only tuna fish? No. Someone probably hid a dead body in our garbage.) We took out the garbage to the big bins that are behind the house. Big bins, by that old empty hot tub, there could be anything hiding in there, and it was so dark…anyway, so we had to cross the driveway to get back to the door of our apartment. I walked by the neighbor’s SUV and had a heart attack at what I thought was a face in the window. Turned out to be a “Baby on Board” sticker.
Earlier this week we ran into a man that we had tracted into a few weeks before when Sister Mortimer was here. He was a very staunch Catholic who proceeded to tell us all about how we are a cult, and as we work our way up in the cult we learn more secrets, and blah blah blah. Needless to say, I didn’t feel too warm and fuzzy about him at first. But when we saw him again we started talking and he asked if he could read to us from a book about cults. This book is written by a Texe Marrs, who claims to be quite the authority on “cults and new-age religions.” It has a section on “The Mormons” and another section on the RLDS church. The section on the RLDS church, in talking about the origins of the church, mentions how it was reorganized “after Joseph Smith died in his native Ohio.” Really? Native Ohio? Aren’t they supposed to have editors to make sure they double-check their facts before letting stuff like that actually making it into the final draft? Some drunk on the street could have given him more accurate information. Anyway, that gives you an idea of the accuracy of the rest of the stuff in the book. Most of the stuff on Mormonism was incredibly offensive, but some of it was outright hilarious. For instance, did you know that Mormons teach that Christ was married to Mary and Martha, and Mary Magdalene, and that all of his wives and children were present at his crucifixion? Did you know that Joseph Smith worshiped Jupiter? (Ummm…that’s not really true, just so you know.) Really. I can’t believe the kinds of things people publish. I think I will go home and write a book about how aliens drive minivans in Fiji. Because I have totally been to Fiji and I am an expert on aliens AND minivans, and I even drove a minivan a few times. My book will be much more factual than Mr. Marrs’. Seriously. You think I’m joking.
Where was I going with that story? Oh, I digress. The story has a happy ending. The man who read us the book actually really listened to what we had to say. When we told him he could find better information about the Church from “The National Enquirer” than from his book, he actually believed us. He seemed to gain much more respect and appreciation for the Church, and actually believe that we are Christians and normal people and all that. He turned out to be very nice.
Driving is fine, it's tolerable. I don't really mind it as much. But I am definitely not an excellent driver and I am an endless source of entertainment for Sister Thomas. I keep telling her, my brain works well with words and sounds and noises. Not things you can see. Like the road. Or judging distance. Or backing out of a driveway. Or directions. We all have our different gifts. I think my gift for driving got taken back to the store and exchanged for the "freakish pitch monkey" gift. Not complaining though! I like the freakish pitch monkey.
Guess what else? I am already picking up some horrible New England driver traits. Like stopping out in the middle of the intersection instead of actually behind the line. I really should not do that. I am not a talented enough driver to safely bend all the rules like they do.
I have never had so many mixed emotions all at the same time. I really really really do and really really reallly don't want to go home. But I am so blessed that this area is busy and keeps me from getting too trunky. Sooner or later, that going home part will come, whether I want it to or not.
I love the humor of missionary life. It’s so much fun! And Torrington is absolutely wonderful. Got another baptism coming up next week! Can’t wait! Lots of love,
Sister Monson
Monday, June 21, 2010
21 June 2010
What a great and crazy week. Suffice it to say that Monson is not the world’s greatest driver. (Big shock, I know.) But we have been miraculously protected and not gotten in a wreck. I’ve been feeling pretty scatterbrained with Sister Mortimer gone, and having lots of airheaded moments. Like the time we were driving home from district meeting in Canton…I somehow managed to go the wrong way until we were all the way in Bloomfield instead of Torrington. That’s at least a half hour in the wrong direction. Maybe more. I was on the right road…I just forgot to go west instead of east on the 44. J
Sister Thomas is majoring in sign language interpreting. This week she taught me to sign “Families Can Be Together Forever.” Yay! I am so excited to learn more signs.
On Saturday we did a youth fireside where the youth invited their friends. We got five nonmember visitors there. I was proud of the youth. They are such strong kids. They did a good job of inviting their friends.
Earlier in the week one of our investigating friends called and said he wanted to go back to his old church because he knows the people there and he’s afraid of not being accepted in the Church because of his past. We had a big heart-to-heart with him about the Atonement and he ended up taking his last pack of cigarettes and tearing them up in front of us. He is done smoking! And ready to think about a baptismal date! His friend, who is also taking the lessons with us, wasn’t planning on coming to church until he had a dream on Saturday night. In the dream he was in prison, tied up, and the guards were asking him, “Didn’t you used to go to the Goshen Ward?” He woke up and decided he needed to go to church.
These guys have such a crazy past, they have been through so much, but it has taught me so much about the Atonement. We love them so much and want the best for them, we don’t think about their past because they are different people today, and I know that those loving and compassionate feelings are just the tiniest portion of comprehending what God feels for each of his children. The Atonement is so real and so deep! God takes the Sauls and Alma the Youngers and molds them into missionaries and prophets. I think I sometimes take for granted the power of the Atonement. It is so important not to judge, or label people as having “baggage,” or whatever, because the Atonement works these kinds of miracles all the time. It is so important that we allow people to change, and that we let go of their past so they can put it behind them as well.
Did I mention we have six baptismal dates now? We are so ridiculously blessed. It has nothing to do with us, this area is just amazing.
I love life. I love the mission. It’s all great. The Church is true!
-Sister Monson
Sister Thomas is majoring in sign language interpreting. This week she taught me to sign “Families Can Be Together Forever.” Yay! I am so excited to learn more signs.
On Saturday we did a youth fireside where the youth invited their friends. We got five nonmember visitors there. I was proud of the youth. They are such strong kids. They did a good job of inviting their friends.
Earlier in the week one of our investigating friends called and said he wanted to go back to his old church because he knows the people there and he’s afraid of not being accepted in the Church because of his past. We had a big heart-to-heart with him about the Atonement and he ended up taking his last pack of cigarettes and tearing them up in front of us. He is done smoking! And ready to think about a baptismal date! His friend, who is also taking the lessons with us, wasn’t planning on coming to church until he had a dream on Saturday night. In the dream he was in prison, tied up, and the guards were asking him, “Didn’t you used to go to the Goshen Ward?” He woke up and decided he needed to go to church.
These guys have such a crazy past, they have been through so much, but it has taught me so much about the Atonement. We love them so much and want the best for them, we don’t think about their past because they are different people today, and I know that those loving and compassionate feelings are just the tiniest portion of comprehending what God feels for each of his children. The Atonement is so real and so deep! God takes the Sauls and Alma the Youngers and molds them into missionaries and prophets. I think I sometimes take for granted the power of the Atonement. It is so important not to judge, or label people as having “baggage,” or whatever, because the Atonement works these kinds of miracles all the time. It is so important that we allow people to change, and that we let go of their past so they can put it behind them as well.
Did I mention we have six baptismal dates now? We are so ridiculously blessed. It has nothing to do with us, this area is just amazing.
I love life. I love the mission. It’s all great. The Church is true!
-Sister Monson
Sunday, June 13, 2010
7 June 2010
Once upon a time I was on a mission in a place called Torrington. That was a good time. Don't worry, I'm still here. Might never leave. Still threatening to lock myself up in Sister Musselman's house and "accidentally" miss my flight home. No, I wouldn't really do that. I'd at least go home and see the family first before coming back.
Below is a picture of a zone conference in Manchester, one of the wards where Dad served back in the day. ( I picked up all the dinosaur bones before I took the picture.)
Basically it’s raining miracles out here. We’ve started teaching a former investigator who originally had a baptismal date, but she cancelled it. A couple of weeks ago she told us she now wants to get baptized in July. Since we’ve been teaching her again she is really understanding it, and enjoying her reading. Her whole countenance is different. She’s like a completely different person.
We have three baptisms scheduled. Craziness! President Pehrson just told us we had 26 baptisms in the month of May which is more than he has ever had his entire time as mission president.
We had an amazing first lesson with a referral. She understood everything immediately. When she read Moroni 10 she started to cry. She says she feels like she already knew this, and it feels right. I love when that happens!
It just occurred to me how many labels for people I use in my emails. Let me explain that I think of these people as actual people, and not as “investigator” or “less-active” or whatever. I use the labels to avoid using their names, since this is going on my blog. (I have a blog, which I’ve never even seen myself. How weird.)
Funnies/quotes:
-The other day we parked our car near the corner of a street we were about to tract. While we were still in the car getting our things together, a woman came out the side door of the house we were parked next to. She was talking on a cordless phone. Then she went back inside. We were just about to get out of the car when she came out again, this time with a razor in addition to her phone, and started shaving her legs. Yes. Shaving her legs, on her doorstep facing the street. We gave her a pass-along card.
-“We’ll read a scripture and break him in the heart” (referring to a less-active member)- Monson
-A native of this "yuppy heaven" state, describing the "Welcome to Connecticut" sign: "Welcome to Connecticut. Please dress nicely."
The following conversation occurred between two investigators, whom I will call Bob and Bill:
Bob: “I want to go to the celestial kingdom.”
Bill: “With our luck, we’ll have tents instead of mansions in heaven.”
Bob: “Leaky tents. No, we’ll have a Winnebago. Loaded.”
Bill: “Loaded with what? Beautiful women?”
Bob: “Beautiful…books.”
Bill: “You take the books. I’ll take the girls.”
Sister Mortimer: “YOU’LL be in the leaky tent.”
Bill: “That’s all right. I’ll have the girls plug up the leaks with their hands.”
I love life. Especially right now. Best time ever. "These were days never to be forgotten."
-Sister Monson
Below is a picture of a zone conference in Manchester, one of the wards where Dad served back in the day. ( I picked up all the dinosaur bones before I took the picture.)
Basically it’s raining miracles out here. We’ve started teaching a former investigator who originally had a baptismal date, but she cancelled it. A couple of weeks ago she told us she now wants to get baptized in July. Since we’ve been teaching her again she is really understanding it, and enjoying her reading. Her whole countenance is different. She’s like a completely different person.
We have three baptisms scheduled. Craziness! President Pehrson just told us we had 26 baptisms in the month of May which is more than he has ever had his entire time as mission president.
We had an amazing first lesson with a referral. She understood everything immediately. When she read Moroni 10 she started to cry. She says she feels like she already knew this, and it feels right. I love when that happens!
It just occurred to me how many labels for people I use in my emails. Let me explain that I think of these people as actual people, and not as “investigator” or “less-active” or whatever. I use the labels to avoid using their names, since this is going on my blog. (I have a blog, which I’ve never even seen myself. How weird.)
Funnies/quotes:
-The other day we parked our car near the corner of a street we were about to tract. While we were still in the car getting our things together, a woman came out the side door of the house we were parked next to. She was talking on a cordless phone. Then she went back inside. We were just about to get out of the car when she came out again, this time with a razor in addition to her phone, and started shaving her legs. Yes. Shaving her legs, on her doorstep facing the street. We gave her a pass-along card.
-“We’ll read a scripture and break him in the heart” (referring to a less-active member)- Monson
-A native of this "yuppy heaven" state, describing the "Welcome to Connecticut" sign: "Welcome to Connecticut. Please dress nicely."
The following conversation occurred between two investigators, whom I will call Bob and Bill:
Bob: “I want to go to the celestial kingdom.”
Bill: “With our luck, we’ll have tents instead of mansions in heaven.”
Bob: “Leaky tents. No, we’ll have a Winnebago. Loaded.”
Bill: “Loaded with what? Beautiful women?”
Bob: “Beautiful…books.”
Bill: “You take the books. I’ll take the girls.”
Sister Mortimer: “YOU’LL be in the leaky tent.”
Bill: “That’s all right. I’ll have the girls plug up the leaks with their hands.”
I love life. Especially right now. Best time ever. "These were days never to be forgotten."
-Sister Monson
Monday, May 3, 2010
3 May 2010
Life is good! The Hartford stake had conference this weekend and Elder Condie from the 70 visited. He is such an entertaining speaker. It was wonderful to see a few people from the Bloomfield ward where I served last spring and summer. (Was it really that long ago? It doesn’t feel like it.) Attached is a picture of me with Tony, who got baptized in July and is still going strong. Yay!
After the conference there was a special meeting for investigators and new members to meet Elder Condie and also President Wood, the president of the Boston temple. I shook hands with President Wood after he had just finished talking to one of our investigators. Of course he asked if I was related and I said no. Apparently our investigator had been saying good things about us, so President Wood said something to the effect of, “You are bringing honor to that name.” Needless to say, it was a Dear Diary moment. In all seriousness, it was an answer to prayer. I remember feeling so intimidated by the prospect of being called to Dad’s mission and trying to live up to the name. Of course, anyone who knows me can attest that I am a professional worrier. I can find just about anything to worry about and fuss over and the name thing was something I worried about a lot. I think this was another way of God sending me a reminder that I don’t need to fear and worry and fret so much. As long as I do my best everything will work out, and I can say, “I have done nothing with your name of which you need be ashamed.” Which prophet told that story? I can’t remember.
Most of our investigators are doing amazingly well, getting rid of their booze and coffee and sharing the gospel with their friends. We have baptisms planned for May 30th and June 19th. This transfer stretched my capacity so much, I feel like I grew more than in the past three transfers or so.
This morning in my study I was thinking about the word “bar” in the context of Jacob 6:13: “Finally, I bid you farewell, until I shall meet you before the pleasing bar of God, which bar striketh the wicked with awful dread and fear. Amen.” I first thought of the word “bar” in terms of law and judgment—standing before the judgment bar of God. But then you can also think of “bar” as a verb, how the judgment of God is when the wicked are barred, or stopped, from progressing because of their own choices. Then I thought of the Tennyson poem “Crossing the Bar,” which talks about a sailor crossing a sandbar to reach the harbor and meet “my Pilot face to face,” which is a metaphor about death and meeting God. So all these things talk about being judged, seeing the face of God, being stopped in your progression if you made bad choices, etc.
Finally, I looked up the word “bar” in the Bible dictionary, and it turns out that it is Aramaic for “son”—hence, “Simon Bar-jona” is “Simon, son of Jona,” etc. “Until I shall meet you before the pleasing bar (Son) of God, which bar (Son) striketh the wicked with awful dread and fear.” The Son judges us, and “strikes” us with dread and fear if we are not prepared for that final judgment. Then he brings us to the presence of Heavenly Father, to see him face to face, through His Atonement. Yay! I am going to have such a hard time conversing about normal, real-life things when this is all over. J
Much love,
Sister Monson
After the conference there was a special meeting for investigators and new members to meet Elder Condie and also President Wood, the president of the Boston temple. I shook hands with President Wood after he had just finished talking to one of our investigators. Of course he asked if I was related and I said no. Apparently our investigator had been saying good things about us, so President Wood said something to the effect of, “You are bringing honor to that name.” Needless to say, it was a Dear Diary moment. In all seriousness, it was an answer to prayer. I remember feeling so intimidated by the prospect of being called to Dad’s mission and trying to live up to the name. Of course, anyone who knows me can attest that I am a professional worrier. I can find just about anything to worry about and fuss over and the name thing was something I worried about a lot. I think this was another way of God sending me a reminder that I don’t need to fear and worry and fret so much. As long as I do my best everything will work out, and I can say, “I have done nothing with your name of which you need be ashamed.” Which prophet told that story? I can’t remember.
Most of our investigators are doing amazingly well, getting rid of their booze and coffee and sharing the gospel with their friends. We have baptisms planned for May 30th and June 19th. This transfer stretched my capacity so much, I feel like I grew more than in the past three transfers or so.
This morning in my study I was thinking about the word “bar” in the context of Jacob 6:13: “Finally, I bid you farewell, until I shall meet you before the pleasing bar of God, which bar striketh the wicked with awful dread and fear. Amen.” I first thought of the word “bar” in terms of law and judgment—standing before the judgment bar of God. But then you can also think of “bar” as a verb, how the judgment of God is when the wicked are barred, or stopped, from progressing because of their own choices. Then I thought of the Tennyson poem “Crossing the Bar,” which talks about a sailor crossing a sandbar to reach the harbor and meet “my Pilot face to face,” which is a metaphor about death and meeting God. So all these things talk about being judged, seeing the face of God, being stopped in your progression if you made bad choices, etc.
Finally, I looked up the word “bar” in the Bible dictionary, and it turns out that it is Aramaic for “son”—hence, “Simon Bar-jona” is “Simon, son of Jona,” etc. “Until I shall meet you before the pleasing bar (Son) of God, which bar (Son) striketh the wicked with awful dread and fear.” The Son judges us, and “strikes” us with dread and fear if we are not prepared for that final judgment. Then he brings us to the presence of Heavenly Father, to see him face to face, through His Atonement. Yay! I am going to have such a hard time conversing about normal, real-life things when this is all over. J
Much love,
Sister Monson
Thursday, April 29, 2010
26 April 2010
Well, Torrington is INSANE. This week we were out tracting and while walking from one door to the next we saw a girl sitting outside her house across the street. We said hi to her but I was lazy and didn’t go talk to her. (Lesson learned! Don’t walk past the elect because you never know who they are!) After we were done tracting and walking back toward our car she called out to us, “Are you Mormons? I want to talk to you.” She told us she was writing a fictional novel with a Mormon girl as one of the main characters, so she had been doing lots of research on the Church and wanted to ask us some questions. She invited us into her house and we sat there for maybe two hours answering her questions. She has been researching for over a year, and knows more than probably most missionaries do about the Church. She has the scriptures and Preach My Gospel on her iPhone and has been listening to them. We figured out pretty quickly that she is already converted and just doesn’t quite know it yet. She has some fears about changing her lifestyle and her friends, so she hasn’t really been able to bring herself to pray about the Book of Mormon or about being baptized. It’s because as soon as she gets an answer, she will definitely act on it. Just needs to bite the bullet and do it. It was CRAZY…CRAZY…I don’t understand what is with Torrington these days. Not complaining a bit, though!
Things are moving right along. One of our investigators is getting cold feet about her baptismal date which we are concerned about, but other than that, the place is on fire still.
Fun fact: Yesterday I discovered something called sausage bread. It sounds disgusting but it’s actually incredibly delicious. Sausage and bread…could there be a more perfect combination?
This week Sister Mortimer and I were talking a lot about our attitudes about our missions and life in general, and how to think about the future. Ever since then messages are coming at us, from all over the place, that basically say to be excited about the future and remember that while the mission is wonderful, life gets even better afterward. We attended a member’s wedding at a Catholic church. Some of her friends there were returned missionaries and they all told us that. I’ve been pondering that a lot since then, and how to enjoy the moment and also look forward to the future. I didn’t realize before how much I tend to hold on to the past.
I’ve also been impressed very strongly with messages about honesty and refraining from gossip. This is something I want to improve on. Gossip is so destructive. It’s so tempting to engage in it as a missionary because day-to-day life can be monotonous, and gossip is entertaining. But it’s dishonest!
That’s all. I’m boring today. That’s okay, the Church is still true!
-Sister Monson
Things are moving right along. One of our investigators is getting cold feet about her baptismal date which we are concerned about, but other than that, the place is on fire still.
Fun fact: Yesterday I discovered something called sausage bread. It sounds disgusting but it’s actually incredibly delicious. Sausage and bread…could there be a more perfect combination?
This week Sister Mortimer and I were talking a lot about our attitudes about our missions and life in general, and how to think about the future. Ever since then messages are coming at us, from all over the place, that basically say to be excited about the future and remember that while the mission is wonderful, life gets even better afterward. We attended a member’s wedding at a Catholic church. Some of her friends there were returned missionaries and they all told us that. I’ve been pondering that a lot since then, and how to enjoy the moment and also look forward to the future. I didn’t realize before how much I tend to hold on to the past.
I’ve also been impressed very strongly with messages about honesty and refraining from gossip. This is something I want to improve on. Gossip is so destructive. It’s so tempting to engage in it as a missionary because day-to-day life can be monotonous, and gossip is entertaining. But it’s dishonest!
That’s all. I’m boring today. That’s okay, the Church is still true!
-Sister Monson
Monday, April 19, 2010
19 April 2010
To give you a better visual image of what I have been up to this week, here are some pictures:
1 and 2: Elizabeth Park in Hartford. This place is gorgeous beyond belief. The only thing almost as pretty as autumn in New England is springtime in New England.
3: Um, yeah.
4-14: These are all of a beautiful place in Litchfield called Daffodil Hill. Apparently some person went crazy and planted a gazillion daffodils one day. Or something like that. Whatever its origins, it is a gorgeous place. Ignore the shadows as I attempt to learn by trial and error about taking pictures.
15-17: No, that is not a tiny octopus. It is a SQUID. (I thought it looked like an alien.) And yes, I did eat it, as you can see from the pictures. It was at a Chinese buffet in Torrington called the Lotus Blossom. The red eye makes me look really evil, doesn't it? It tasted pretty good, as long as I didn't look at those tentacles with the tiny suction cups on them...
Miracles this week:
-At the end of Church on Sunday a member of the bishopric approached us and said he needed to talk to us ASAP. Turns out a member's husband, who has attended many times with her, suddenly decided he wanted to be baptized. He felt the Spirit so strongly in church, he almost couldn't contain himself. He was crying and when he talked to us he said, "I've never felt anything like that before in my life." We told him he needs to take some lessons before he can get dunked, and he agreed and set up an appointment to be taught, and set a baptismal date.
-Saturday we taught a referral and her two daughters for the second time. We had assigned them to read 3 Nephi 11. The older daughter pretty much recited the entire chapter to us. During the lesson she said she knew it was true not only because she had a good feeling, but "something whispered to me that it's true."
-On Sunday we taught Miracle Mark (the one who went to Temple Square and has been attending ever since). He taught US the entire third lesson, and about keeping the Sabbath day holy. He was in Salt Lake again this week and bought himself all the missionary packets and has them all memorized.
HOLY SNOT!!! We have 3 baptismal dates right now! Our ward mission leader asked us yesterday if we were putting something in the water. :) We've definitely experienced a great deal of opposition throughout the transfer, and I know this is why...great miracles are happening and the adversary did not want us to make it to this point.
This week I've found many verses that talk about the devil's devices in metaphors such as "chains," "cords," "bands," etc. One I noticed a lot was "snare"- a snare of iniquity, a snare of death, etc. "In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare" (Prov. 29:6). Well, today I was looking for scriptures on courage and I found this: "The fear of man bringeth a SNARE: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe." (Prov. 29:25). Fear is also a snare! As I read this and many other verses on fear and courage, I was blessed for a moment to feel completely fearless. Now that I've experienced what that is like, I have more motivation to be courageous and work harder at putting fear and doubt out of my mind. I am so blessed!
Love to everyone,
Sister Monson
1 and 2: Elizabeth Park in Hartford. This place is gorgeous beyond belief. The only thing almost as pretty as autumn in New England is springtime in New England.
3: Um, yeah.
4-14: These are all of a beautiful place in Litchfield called Daffodil Hill. Apparently some person went crazy and planted a gazillion daffodils one day. Or something like that. Whatever its origins, it is a gorgeous place. Ignore the shadows as I attempt to learn by trial and error about taking pictures.
15-17: No, that is not a tiny octopus. It is a SQUID. (I thought it looked like an alien.) And yes, I did eat it, as you can see from the pictures. It was at a Chinese buffet in Torrington called the Lotus Blossom. The red eye makes me look really evil, doesn't it? It tasted pretty good, as long as I didn't look at those tentacles with the tiny suction cups on them...
Miracles this week:
-At the end of Church on Sunday a member of the bishopric approached us and said he needed to talk to us ASAP. Turns out a member's husband, who has attended many times with her, suddenly decided he wanted to be baptized. He felt the Spirit so strongly in church, he almost couldn't contain himself. He was crying and when he talked to us he said, "I've never felt anything like that before in my life." We told him he needs to take some lessons before he can get dunked, and he agreed and set up an appointment to be taught, and set a baptismal date.
-Saturday we taught a referral and her two daughters for the second time. We had assigned them to read 3 Nephi 11. The older daughter pretty much recited the entire chapter to us. During the lesson she said she knew it was true not only because she had a good feeling, but "something whispered to me that it's true."
-On Sunday we taught Miracle Mark (the one who went to Temple Square and has been attending ever since). He taught US the entire third lesson, and about keeping the Sabbath day holy. He was in Salt Lake again this week and bought himself all the missionary packets and has them all memorized.
HOLY SNOT!!! We have 3 baptismal dates right now! Our ward mission leader asked us yesterday if we were putting something in the water. :) We've definitely experienced a great deal of opposition throughout the transfer, and I know this is why...great miracles are happening and the adversary did not want us to make it to this point.
This week I've found many verses that talk about the devil's devices in metaphors such as "chains," "cords," "bands," etc. One I noticed a lot was "snare"- a snare of iniquity, a snare of death, etc. "In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare" (Prov. 29:6). Well, today I was looking for scriptures on courage and I found this: "The fear of man bringeth a SNARE: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe." (Prov. 29:25). Fear is also a snare! As I read this and many other verses on fear and courage, I was blessed for a moment to feel completely fearless. Now that I've experienced what that is like, I have more motivation to be courageous and work harder at putting fear and doubt out of my mind. I am so blessed!
Love to everyone,
Sister Monson
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
12Apr2010
We saw some amazing miracles this week.
We are teaching a man who was introduced to the church at Temple Square on a business trip. Since then he has been coming to church regularly. He works in Ohio during the week so he meets with the Kirtland Visitors Center missionaries and has been asking them questions. He’s read everything and is already into the Pearl of Great Price. We met with him for the first time this week and he basically told us, “I don’t need any more convincing, I just want to know what I need to do to get baptized.” Then he taught us the first lesson. J What a miracle!
On Saturday we went to contact a referral and we started teaching her about the Restoration. Her two daughters, ages 9 and 13, hid in the kitchen at first, but apparently they were secretly listening because after Sister Mortimer recited the First Vision account, the 9-year-old poked her head in and said, “That was a great speech!” J Sister Mortimer asked her, “Do you think it’s true?” and she said she did. She and her sister are excited to read the Book of Mormon and learn with their mom. Good heavens, kids are amazing. They are so in tune with the Spirit. That’s something I’ve noticed even when tracting and talking to strangers on the street—kids are drawn to us, sometimes before we even say a word, and even if their parents are not interested.
I had some health challenges this week. But as always, I could feel God carrying me through. I find so many “tender mercies” in times like these. Small things that help me keep going, like tracting into a nice old lady who lets us in, or a member who suddenly wants to take us out for ice cream or invite us over for dinner. It’s like God pats my head and gives me a piece of candy and says, “I PROMISE this is not as hard as you think it is...but because I am perfectly loving and patient, I won't call you a crybaby, but I'll encourage you."
We had a wonderful baptism on Sunday. The Spirit was so strong! They’re already planning to come to Utah for their sealing next year so we can come, along with the sisters who first taught them. Yay!
I’m attaching two pictures of the baptism.
Well, everyone enjoy the spring (Connecticut is on spring break, are you?). Love,
We are teaching a man who was introduced to the church at Temple Square on a business trip. Since then he has been coming to church regularly. He works in Ohio during the week so he meets with the Kirtland Visitors Center missionaries and has been asking them questions. He’s read everything and is already into the Pearl of Great Price. We met with him for the first time this week and he basically told us, “I don’t need any more convincing, I just want to know what I need to do to get baptized.” Then he taught us the first lesson. J What a miracle!
On Saturday we went to contact a referral and we started teaching her about the Restoration. Her two daughters, ages 9 and 13, hid in the kitchen at first, but apparently they were secretly listening because after Sister Mortimer recited the First Vision account, the 9-year-old poked her head in and said, “That was a great speech!” J Sister Mortimer asked her, “Do you think it’s true?” and she said she did. She and her sister are excited to read the Book of Mormon and learn with their mom. Good heavens, kids are amazing. They are so in tune with the Spirit. That’s something I’ve noticed even when tracting and talking to strangers on the street—kids are drawn to us, sometimes before we even say a word, and even if their parents are not interested.
I had some health challenges this week. But as always, I could feel God carrying me through. I find so many “tender mercies” in times like these. Small things that help me keep going, like tracting into a nice old lady who lets us in, or a member who suddenly wants to take us out for ice cream or invite us over for dinner. It’s like God pats my head and gives me a piece of candy and says, “I PROMISE this is not as hard as you think it is...but because I am perfectly loving and patient, I won't call you a crybaby, but I'll encourage you."
We had a wonderful baptism on Sunday. The Spirit was so strong! They’re already planning to come to Utah for their sealing next year so we can come, along with the sisters who first taught them. Yay!
I’m attaching two pictures of the baptism.
Well, everyone enjoy the spring (Connecticut is on spring break, are you?). Love,
Monday, April 5, 2010
5 April 2010
We witnessed two amazing miracles this week:
We have an investigator who lives in Bethlehem (Connecticut) on the weekend but lives in Ohio during the week. He was drawn to Temple Square on a business trip and since then has been spending his free time during the week with the visitors center missionaries in Kirtland, and on the weekends he comes to our ward and we are going to start teaching him. We found out on Saturday that he has already finished the Book of Mormon and is starting the D&C. He came to a session of conference and absolutely loved it.
A husband in a part-member family is being baptized this Sunday. His stepdaughter has expressed a desire to be baptized, and at conference she said she wanted to change her baptismal date from June to May because she was so excited and felt the Spirit so strongly during conference.
The ward and some families gave us Easter presents that were so thoughtful. We are so spoiled! I love this ward. Can't wait to get to know the rest of it.
Here are some fun little pictures:
1- An Easter egg hunt/jam session in between sessions on Saturday with some members of the ward.
2- With Sister Mortimer. She does hair. She did mine. For the first and probably only time in recorded history, my hair held some curl...it was amazing...had to be recorded on camera for posterity.
3- All the sisters at transfer meeting.
4- The aprons were just too darn cute! Sister Mortimer and Elder Reynolds missed out, I tell you. (Dyeing Easter eggs.)
5- Having a little flower child moment, with Elder Carr's guitar. Name that chord! Anyone?
I loved conference so much. I was really surprised at how similar all the talks were. D'you think God's trying to tell us something? :) I started to get almost bored with the repetition of variations of the sentence, "The Church will do all it can, but the ultimate responsibility of teaching children the gospel rests on the parents." How many times did they say different versions of that statement? How many times did they mention the sons of Helaman? Sister Mortimer and I decided there was a secret conspiracy to trunk out the missionaries with all the talk about families and mothers.
I especially loved Sister Beck's talk. And of course Elder Holland delivers the smackdown, like no one else can. I was actually surprised that was the only pornography talk. When President Monson gave the closing remarks, it hit me like a ton of bricks that the last general conference of my mission was ending. I felt like he was speaking directly to me when he thanked us for praying for him, said he loved us, and invoked the blessings of heaven upon us.
Well, guess what...the Church is still true...what more can I say? Happy Easter! Love to everyone,
Sister Monson
We have an investigator who lives in Bethlehem (Connecticut) on the weekend but lives in Ohio during the week. He was drawn to Temple Square on a business trip and since then has been spending his free time during the week with the visitors center missionaries in Kirtland, and on the weekends he comes to our ward and we are going to start teaching him. We found out on Saturday that he has already finished the Book of Mormon and is starting the D&C. He came to a session of conference and absolutely loved it.
A husband in a part-member family is being baptized this Sunday. His stepdaughter has expressed a desire to be baptized, and at conference she said she wanted to change her baptismal date from June to May because she was so excited and felt the Spirit so strongly during conference.
The ward and some families gave us Easter presents that were so thoughtful. We are so spoiled! I love this ward. Can't wait to get to know the rest of it.
Here are some fun little pictures:
1- An Easter egg hunt/jam session in between sessions on Saturday with some members of the ward.
2- With Sister Mortimer. She does hair. She did mine. For the first and probably only time in recorded history, my hair held some curl...it was amazing...had to be recorded on camera for posterity.
3- All the sisters at transfer meeting.
4- The aprons were just too darn cute! Sister Mortimer and Elder Reynolds missed out, I tell you. (Dyeing Easter eggs.)
5- Having a little flower child moment, with Elder Carr's guitar. Name that chord! Anyone?
I loved conference so much. I was really surprised at how similar all the talks were. D'you think God's trying to tell us something? :) I started to get almost bored with the repetition of variations of the sentence, "The Church will do all it can, but the ultimate responsibility of teaching children the gospel rests on the parents." How many times did they say different versions of that statement? How many times did they mention the sons of Helaman? Sister Mortimer and I decided there was a secret conspiracy to trunk out the missionaries with all the talk about families and mothers.
I especially loved Sister Beck's talk. And of course Elder Holland delivers the smackdown, like no one else can. I was actually surprised that was the only pornography talk. When President Monson gave the closing remarks, it hit me like a ton of bricks that the last general conference of my mission was ending. I felt like he was speaking directly to me when he thanked us for praying for him, said he loved us, and invoked the blessings of heaven upon us.
Well, guess what...the Church is still true...what more can I say? Happy Easter! Love to everyone,
Sister Monson
Monday, March 29, 2010
29 Mar 2010
Well, I am still disoriented and don't know where I am. This area is ENORMOUS. Fourteen towns. But the ward is wonderful and the work is going well, so I am excited to be here.
Today Sister Mortimer and I were reading Alma chapters 26 and 29 (great chapters BTW) and talking about the way we felt about our missions. So I put on the reminiscing and reflecting hat and haven't taken it off yet so here are my rambling thoughts, to go on for who knows how long...
Things I have gained or learned from my mission (not necessarily in this order):
-A real testimony! I think I was in the "knowing but not knowing that I know" camp before my mission. I have a real testimony of everything in the Church but especially the Book of Mormon. Nothing like defending it every day to make you appreciate it. The Book of Mormon is true, and all the whining in the world cannot make it otherwise. Because the Book of Mormon is true, everything else in the church is true. It's beautifully simple. Any questions or concerns either are resolved or put on the back burner by diligently studying the Book of Mormon. Like your green tea? Read the Book of Mormon. That's all you need to do.
-An appreciation for the Church. I thought I had a clue before my mission...I had NO IDEA how much work goes on "behind the scenes." I had no idea about the fires bishops have to put out every day. I had no idea how important visiting and home teaching are. The way the Church is set up, it is a perfectly organized system for God's children to take care of each other and the fact that it has all been set up voluntarily, continues to run, and continues to grow is another testimony to its truthfulness.
-I am realizing how important it is to live in the moment. I don't do this perfectly but I am consciously trying to soak it all in while I can.
-I've learned how vital humor is to my sanity.
-I've gained a greater appreciation for my parents and for growing up in the Church. To anyone who grew up in the Church and rebelled against it, I wish I could tell them all that I know people out here who would give their right arm to have grown up in the Church. The gospel just makes life more simple, it spares you from the heartache that comes from repeating the mistakes of others, and it promotes stable families which is what kids need to grow up normal. And if that weren't enough, it's true! and that's what matters most.
-I have a much greater appreciation for God's living mouthpieces. Last conference was especially wonderful for me. I have never felt more honored to be a representative of this Church, and these great men and women who lead it. (And conference is coming AGAIN!!!!!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Like President says, it's the time when we get to "recharge the batteries.")
-I have a true appreciation for the priesthood. And I no longer covet it. :) What a relief, right? I don't want it! But I'm so grateful for it and for my own role in God's plan for his children. Anyone who knows me well can testify that I could blab on this topic for hours, but I won't. But I wish I could help every woman in the Church understand what the priesthood really is and what it means.
-For the first time in my life, I enjoy exercise. :)
-I'm learning how to better communicate with people, especially the people close to me, and how to resolve and appreciate differences.
-Learning how to cope with emotions and think more realistically and positively- this has been a huge change for me.
-I think one of the most important things is that I really, truly know that God has a plan for my life which is much better than my plans for myself, and that all I need to do is trust him and follow as well as I can and everything will be fine.
To be continued...but for now that's all, folks. Love you! The Church is true!
-Sister Monson
Today Sister Mortimer and I were reading Alma chapters 26 and 29 (great chapters BTW) and talking about the way we felt about our missions. So I put on the reminiscing and reflecting hat and haven't taken it off yet so here are my rambling thoughts, to go on for who knows how long...
Things I have gained or learned from my mission (not necessarily in this order):
-A real testimony! I think I was in the "knowing but not knowing that I know" camp before my mission. I have a real testimony of everything in the Church but especially the Book of Mormon. Nothing like defending it every day to make you appreciate it. The Book of Mormon is true, and all the whining in the world cannot make it otherwise. Because the Book of Mormon is true, everything else in the church is true. It's beautifully simple. Any questions or concerns either are resolved or put on the back burner by diligently studying the Book of Mormon. Like your green tea? Read the Book of Mormon. That's all you need to do.
-An appreciation for the Church. I thought I had a clue before my mission...I had NO IDEA how much work goes on "behind the scenes." I had no idea about the fires bishops have to put out every day. I had no idea how important visiting and home teaching are. The way the Church is set up, it is a perfectly organized system for God's children to take care of each other and the fact that it has all been set up voluntarily, continues to run, and continues to grow is another testimony to its truthfulness.
-I am realizing how important it is to live in the moment. I don't do this perfectly but I am consciously trying to soak it all in while I can.
-I've learned how vital humor is to my sanity.
-I've gained a greater appreciation for my parents and for growing up in the Church. To anyone who grew up in the Church and rebelled against it, I wish I could tell them all that I know people out here who would give their right arm to have grown up in the Church. The gospel just makes life more simple, it spares you from the heartache that comes from repeating the mistakes of others, and it promotes stable families which is what kids need to grow up normal. And if that weren't enough, it's true! and that's what matters most.
-I have a much greater appreciation for God's living mouthpieces. Last conference was especially wonderful for me. I have never felt more honored to be a representative of this Church, and these great men and women who lead it. (And conference is coming AGAIN!!!!!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Like President says, it's the time when we get to "recharge the batteries.")
-I have a true appreciation for the priesthood. And I no longer covet it. :) What a relief, right? I don't want it! But I'm so grateful for it and for my own role in God's plan for his children. Anyone who knows me well can testify that I could blab on this topic for hours, but I won't. But I wish I could help every woman in the Church understand what the priesthood really is and what it means.
-For the first time in my life, I enjoy exercise. :)
-I'm learning how to better communicate with people, especially the people close to me, and how to resolve and appreciate differences.
-Learning how to cope with emotions and think more realistically and positively- this has been a huge change for me.
-I think one of the most important things is that I really, truly know that God has a plan for my life which is much better than my plans for myself, and that all I need to do is trust him and follow as well as I can and everything will be fine.
To be continued...but for now that's all, folks. Love you! The Church is true!
-Sister Monson
Monday, March 22, 2010
22March2010
My suspicions were correct. I am getting shipped out to Torrington. Last night I had a brief temper tantrum and then I felt truly peaceful about it. I know it’s what needs to happen. Even though I feel like I’m leaving a part of my heart behind me here in Trumbull. Seven and a half months is a long time to be in one area! My new companion will be Sister Mortimer, who was my MTC companion.
I just got an email from Pres. Pehrson saying three missionaries were sent home this week. Usually when people get sent home they keep it very hush-hush, so I don’t know why we heard about it this time, but it sure breaks my heart. Especially because it’s obvious how much it breaks President’s heart when these things happen.
We’re also getting, in addition to one greenie, a sister from another mission and she is coming to Trumbull. There will be a trio here again. So we’ve been preparing for her and I spent the last two nights on a bunk bed as a result—the TOP bunk, nonetheless. That was exciting. We’ve been told to keep the beds not right next to a wall, because bedbugs sometimes come through walls. So there is a big open space between the top bunk and the wall. Might as well have a neon sign saying “toss and turn in your sleep and FALL RIGHT IN!” I have discovered I’m not the most rambunctious sleeper. I have avoided falling into that big open space so far. I was nervous because I still have vivid childhood memories of Andrea falling off the top bunk in her sleep. :) Between that and my fear of heights with which you are all well acquainted, I am very proud of myself for being SO brave as to sleep on the top bunk.
I have learned how important it is to use P-day for actual P-day things. Last Monday we helped someone move most of the day. We didn’t realize how much that would affect our energy the rest of the week. We got really drained and our motivation took a nose-dive. It was a rough week. Lesson learned! So I’m excited for the changes that are coming.
Other than that, it really hasn’t been a terribly eventful week. We’re still trying to sort our way through a bunch of member referrals, but none of them have turned into actual investigators yet. That project consumes the majority of our time.
This morning Molly, one of our favorite five-year-olds, told Sister Johnston that she (meaning Sister J) is “a teenager.” When Sister J asked for a high-five Molly said, “BORING!” She said the same thing when I asked her for a hug good-bye. Wouldn’t hug me even after I reminded her that I was moving.
Last week I called the Relief Society president’s house and her 18-year-old son answered the phone. After I asked to talk to “Sister Trump” (keep in mind missionaries are practically the only people in church who use the titles “brother” and “sister” out here, so by process of elimination it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out who we are on the phone), I heard him calling her to the phone. When she asked who it was he said, “I don’t know. A WOMAN.” I have finally graduated to the level of “A WOMAN”! Tell that to everyone else who still thinks I look like I’m sixteen. (Yes, I know, I know, I’ll be grateful for my youthful appearance when I’m forty and look thirty-five.) “Woman” sounds so old and dignified. “Who’s Sister Monson?” “Oh, she’s that WOMAN over there who’s always with that GIRL.”
Now that I have become a real WOMAN in Trumbull, it’s time for me to leave. Torrington must be in dire need of some real WOMEN. So I will take my WOMANLY self outta here to pack my bags and say goodbye to my fan club. (No, of course I’m kidding! I don’t really have a fan club. But it is nice to feel so accepted and supported by the ward.)
Love to everyone,
Sister Monson, the WOMAN
I was so distracted by my WOMANliness that I forgot to put my new address in the last email. Here it is:
227 Riverside Ave. #1
Torrington, CT
06790
I just got an email from Pres. Pehrson saying three missionaries were sent home this week. Usually when people get sent home they keep it very hush-hush, so I don’t know why we heard about it this time, but it sure breaks my heart. Especially because it’s obvious how much it breaks President’s heart when these things happen.
We’re also getting, in addition to one greenie, a sister from another mission and she is coming to Trumbull. There will be a trio here again. So we’ve been preparing for her and I spent the last two nights on a bunk bed as a result—the TOP bunk, nonetheless. That was exciting. We’ve been told to keep the beds not right next to a wall, because bedbugs sometimes come through walls. So there is a big open space between the top bunk and the wall. Might as well have a neon sign saying “toss and turn in your sleep and FALL RIGHT IN!” I have discovered I’m not the most rambunctious sleeper. I have avoided falling into that big open space so far. I was nervous because I still have vivid childhood memories of Andrea falling off the top bunk in her sleep. :) Between that and my fear of heights with which you are all well acquainted, I am very proud of myself for being SO brave as to sleep on the top bunk.
I have learned how important it is to use P-day for actual P-day things. Last Monday we helped someone move most of the day. We didn’t realize how much that would affect our energy the rest of the week. We got really drained and our motivation took a nose-dive. It was a rough week. Lesson learned! So I’m excited for the changes that are coming.
Other than that, it really hasn’t been a terribly eventful week. We’re still trying to sort our way through a bunch of member referrals, but none of them have turned into actual investigators yet. That project consumes the majority of our time.
This morning Molly, one of our favorite five-year-olds, told Sister Johnston that she (meaning Sister J) is “a teenager.” When Sister J asked for a high-five Molly said, “BORING!” She said the same thing when I asked her for a hug good-bye. Wouldn’t hug me even after I reminded her that I was moving.
Last week I called the Relief Society president’s house and her 18-year-old son answered the phone. After I asked to talk to “Sister Trump” (keep in mind missionaries are practically the only people in church who use the titles “brother” and “sister” out here, so by process of elimination it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out who we are on the phone), I heard him calling her to the phone. When she asked who it was he said, “I don’t know. A WOMAN.” I have finally graduated to the level of “A WOMAN”! Tell that to everyone else who still thinks I look like I’m sixteen. (Yes, I know, I know, I’ll be grateful for my youthful appearance when I’m forty and look thirty-five.) “Woman” sounds so old and dignified. “Who’s Sister Monson?” “Oh, she’s that WOMAN over there who’s always with that GIRL.”
Now that I have become a real WOMAN in Trumbull, it’s time for me to leave. Torrington must be in dire need of some real WOMEN. So I will take my WOMANLY self outta here to pack my bags and say goodbye to my fan club. (No, of course I’m kidding! I don’t really have a fan club. But it is nice to feel so accepted and supported by the ward.)
Love to everyone,
Sister Monson, the WOMAN
I was so distracted by my WOMANliness that I forgot to put my new address in the last email. Here it is:
227 Riverside Ave. #1
Torrington, CT
06790
Monday, March 15, 2010
15 March 2010
-Trumbull is home to the smallest Indian reservation in the United States? A fourth of an acre, with one house on it. And a member lives there, so we’ve been there a few times!
-There is a very rare disorder called Menke’s kinky-hair disease. At any given time there are only a handful of known cases in the United States. Trumbull has the distinction of having had a family with the disorder. Isn’t that fun?
-Easton is the birthplace of Helen Keller. (I think I may have mentioned that before.)
-Fairfield County is supposedly in the top ten wealthiest in the nation. (But as far as I understand, most of that wealth is concentrated in Stamford, Danbury, Greenwich, New Canaan, and everywhere else that is not part of the mission. I think Fairfield is as wealthy as it gets in our mission. Then again, what do I really know? Everywhere past the Fairfield town line is like a mythical land to me. Someday, in another lifetime I will see what is beyond that line!)
-I think Barnum and Bailey must have had something to do with this area because a ton of things in Bridgeport are named after Barnum. There is also a Barnum Museum in Bridgeport.
-Combined, Connecticut and Rhode Island have three stakes total. Compared to Centerville which in itself has five stakes…that would be like comparing Centerville to Connecticut/Rhode Island/Massachusetts. Utah is its own world, isn’t it?
This week we had stake conference. One of the speakers was a Brother Chatfield from the Boston temple presidency. Apparently they served a mission in Albania as well. Mom and Dad, did you know them? I didn’t get a chance to talk to them and ask them if they knew you.
We had an amazing experience last Tuesday. We tend to have not-so-positive experiences with tracting at night—pretty much anytime between 6:30 and 8 at this time of year, people are ornery or refuse to answer the door. (Tracting in general isn’t my favorite thing…there are so many other ways to do missionary work…but President asks us to tract two hours a day so that’s what we try to do.) So last Tuesday it was around 7:45 and we were in Shelton. It had been SUCH a long day and neither of us wanted to tract…we sat in the car trying to work up the willpower…and finally we said, “Okay, just three houses. We’ll do three houses.”
At the second house a mom let us right in. I was so shocked—that almost never happens—and she even let us teach her a first lesson and she said she would read and pray. She seems like a very spiritual person and she said she knew it wasn’t a coincidence that we found her—she wasn’t even supposed to be home that night but for some freakish reason she was. She said she would be willing to be baptized if she received an answer that it was true, even though she knew it would be very disruptive to her family and her lifestyle. She’s AMAZING—everyone please just pray that we can get another appointment with her. J Anyway, lesson learned: God prepares people and puts them in our path, even late at night when people aren’t supposed to answer the door and when we are tracting just to do our duty, not because we want to. J
So I’m counting my blessings. (Even though I want to whine instead, because I’m tired and we all know how the Monson women get when we are tired. J)
Love,
Kaelynn (Sister Monson)
-There is a very rare disorder called Menke’s kinky-hair disease. At any given time there are only a handful of known cases in the United States. Trumbull has the distinction of having had a family with the disorder. Isn’t that fun?
-Easton is the birthplace of Helen Keller. (I think I may have mentioned that before.)
-Fairfield County is supposedly in the top ten wealthiest in the nation. (But as far as I understand, most of that wealth is concentrated in Stamford, Danbury, Greenwich, New Canaan, and everywhere else that is not part of the mission. I think Fairfield is as wealthy as it gets in our mission. Then again, what do I really know? Everywhere past the Fairfield town line is like a mythical land to me. Someday, in another lifetime I will see what is beyond that line!)
-I think Barnum and Bailey must have had something to do with this area because a ton of things in Bridgeport are named after Barnum. There is also a Barnum Museum in Bridgeport.
-Combined, Connecticut and Rhode Island have three stakes total. Compared to Centerville which in itself has five stakes…that would be like comparing Centerville to Connecticut/Rhode Island/Massachusetts. Utah is its own world, isn’t it?
This week we had stake conference. One of the speakers was a Brother Chatfield from the Boston temple presidency. Apparently they served a mission in Albania as well. Mom and Dad, did you know them? I didn’t get a chance to talk to them and ask them if they knew you.
We had an amazing experience last Tuesday. We tend to have not-so-positive experiences with tracting at night—pretty much anytime between 6:30 and 8 at this time of year, people are ornery or refuse to answer the door. (Tracting in general isn’t my favorite thing…there are so many other ways to do missionary work…but President asks us to tract two hours a day so that’s what we try to do.) So last Tuesday it was around 7:45 and we were in Shelton. It had been SUCH a long day and neither of us wanted to tract…we sat in the car trying to work up the willpower…and finally we said, “Okay, just three houses. We’ll do three houses.”
At the second house a mom let us right in. I was so shocked—that almost never happens—and she even let us teach her a first lesson and she said she would read and pray. She seems like a very spiritual person and she said she knew it wasn’t a coincidence that we found her—she wasn’t even supposed to be home that night but for some freakish reason she was. She said she would be willing to be baptized if she received an answer that it was true, even though she knew it would be very disruptive to her family and her lifestyle. She’s AMAZING—everyone please just pray that we can get another appointment with her. J Anyway, lesson learned: God prepares people and puts them in our path, even late at night when people aren’t supposed to answer the door and when we are tracting just to do our duty, not because we want to. J
So I’m counting my blessings. (Even though I want to whine instead, because I’m tired and we all know how the Monson women get when we are tired. J)
Love,
Kaelynn (Sister Monson)
Monday, March 1, 2010
1 March 2010
Well, even though half my high-school graduating class got married while I was on my mission (at least that's what it feels like), at least I got to attend one wedding while ON my mission. One of our recent converts, and her fiancée who is working his way toward being baptized, were married by the bishop. It was a very simple but sweet ceremony. Sis. Johnston overheard one of the nonmember guests say that they felt the Spirit. Here are a few pictures:
1- The bride and groom from behind a tall person
2- We appreciated the support of many of the ward members, including the family of these two, Ben and Max (Ben is the one who was baptized a few weeks ago that I told you about). Do you think he can finish that whole IBC root beer by himself? Neither did I. (I don’t think he did, I wasn’t there long enough to find out.) Max told me all about how he wanted the root beer to explode and go up to the ceiling and through the roof. Don't you love five-year-old boys? :)
3- Aww, how cute. All married and such.
4- Check out those cakes. Someone in the ward made the guitar cake. Isn’t that amazing?
We're so, so happy for them and so excited for them to work toward a temple sealing. They really want it. I hope I can be there when it happens.
This week we had a zone conference with Elder Richards from the Seventy. It was incredible. I'll have to write more details next week when I have my notes with me.
Although we didn't pick up any new investigators this week, a less-active member asked us to teach her the missionary lessons. She has been out of the Church for over forty years. But her brother, who was called to be a mission president, challenged her to take the lessons, and she accepted. Even though she grew up in the Church she doesn't remember much at all, but she is ready to learn and wants to know it for herself. YAY!!!!
Here are a few funny quotes from another less-active member we met with this week:
"I need to come back to church and get the bishop to stamp my get-out-of-hell-free card."
"There are some people who should be alive, and some who should be dead. If you can't make the dead people come back to life, you shouldn't make the live people dead."
"Oh yes, I'm watching what I eat. I watch it very carefully as it comes off the plate toward my mouth."
Well, guess what everyone? The Church is true...still true...the fact that every missionary says that in every single letter they write makes it even more true!
Love,
Sister Monson
1- The bride and groom from behind a tall person
2- We appreciated the support of many of the ward members, including the family of these two, Ben and Max (Ben is the one who was baptized a few weeks ago that I told you about). Do you think he can finish that whole IBC root beer by himself? Neither did I. (I don’t think he did, I wasn’t there long enough to find out.) Max told me all about how he wanted the root beer to explode and go up to the ceiling and through the roof. Don't you love five-year-old boys? :)
3- Aww, how cute. All married and such.
4- Check out those cakes. Someone in the ward made the guitar cake. Isn’t that amazing?
We're so, so happy for them and so excited for them to work toward a temple sealing. They really want it. I hope I can be there when it happens.
This week we had a zone conference with Elder Richards from the Seventy. It was incredible. I'll have to write more details next week when I have my notes with me.
Although we didn't pick up any new investigators this week, a less-active member asked us to teach her the missionary lessons. She has been out of the Church for over forty years. But her brother, who was called to be a mission president, challenged her to take the lessons, and she accepted. Even though she grew up in the Church she doesn't remember much at all, but she is ready to learn and wants to know it for herself. YAY!!!!
Here are a few funny quotes from another less-active member we met with this week:
"I need to come back to church and get the bishop to stamp my get-out-of-hell-free card."
"There are some people who should be alive, and some who should be dead. If you can't make the dead people come back to life, you shouldn't make the live people dead."
"Oh yes, I'm watching what I eat. I watch it very carefully as it comes off the plate toward my mouth."
Well, guess what everyone? The Church is true...still true...the fact that every missionary says that in every single letter they write makes it even more true!
Love,
Sister Monson
Monday, February 22, 2010
22 Feb 2010
The most exciting thing that happened this week (other than the bubble in my eye—see previous email) was Sunday night. We were asked (on Thursday) to do a youth fireside on missionary work. It went really well- the youth enjoyed it, they asked great questions and they seemed to be paying attention (judging by the snarky comments from the deacons J ). The best part: we passed around a sheet of paper and asked the youth to write down the names of some of their friends to refer us to. We got twenty referrals out of it!!!! TWENTY!!
I remember in the Bloomfield Ward thinking that two or three member referrals a month was nothing to complain about. We got 17 last month and this month we are already up to 22. I think I will always remember this time in my mission as the area where we had gazillions of member referrals—not necessarily baptisms, but member referrals, which is great because it means the ward is excited and things will keep rolling forward. And these youth are amazing. I wish I could apologize to every missionary who ever tried to get a referral out of me back home. “Well, I live in Utah…” What an original excuse. NOT! I’m so sorry for treating those missionaries that way. I definitely learned my lesson.
Elder Kent F. Richards from the Seventy is coming to our zone conference this week. Yay!!!
In all seriousness, I was so glad we got to do the fireside—not just because we got the youth excited about missionary work, but because it was another opportunity for reflection. I am so grateful to be on a mission! Doesn’t mean every day is a party—this week we had a couple of days that seemed to be about ten years long. But it’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done in my life.
The Church is true! Love,
Sister Monson
I remember in the Bloomfield Ward thinking that two or three member referrals a month was nothing to complain about. We got 17 last month and this month we are already up to 22. I think I will always remember this time in my mission as the area where we had gazillions of member referrals—not necessarily baptisms, but member referrals, which is great because it means the ward is excited and things will keep rolling forward. And these youth are amazing. I wish I could apologize to every missionary who ever tried to get a referral out of me back home. “Well, I live in Utah…” What an original excuse. NOT! I’m so sorry for treating those missionaries that way. I definitely learned my lesson.
Elder Kent F. Richards from the Seventy is coming to our zone conference this week. Yay!!!
In all seriousness, I was so glad we got to do the fireside—not just because we got the youth excited about missionary work, but because it was another opportunity for reflection. I am so grateful to be on a mission! Doesn’t mean every day is a party—this week we had a couple of days that seemed to be about ten years long. But it’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done in my life.
The Church is true! Love,
Sister Monson
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
16 Feb 2010
Remember that Toyota recall that’s shaking up the world? Well, we had to take our Corolla in for some work. And of course the nearest Toyota dealership is clear out in Milford, and we’re going to be here at least 2 hours. They have a fancy little waiting room full of tempting forbidden things like TV’s and computers with unlimited Internet access. Time to break out the willpower guns! “Bang bang! I’ll fight you off with my white handbook and my Book of Mormon.” Who needs TV anyway?
Well, at least we can do our Internet hour today while we’re here since the libraries were closed yesterday. So get ready for a long, drawn-out novel while I struggle vainly to block out the sounds of Dr. Phil and the radio.
Unfortunately I don’t have a ton to report on about this week, because we were attacked by a flu bug and shut up in the apartment, and are just now starting to feel one hundred percent normal. Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a missionary and be stuck inside the apartment? I ALMOST LOST MY MIND, I was so bored. After I’d read through every single Ensign in the apartment, we started coming up with REALLY creative things to do, like making up word searches (when we weren’t sleeping). We learned lots of useful facts. For example, did you know CVS (it’s a pharmacy chain) makes a generic of Mucinex? They also sell orange juice there.
On Friday we helped a family in the ward with their son’s baptism. His grandparents were supposed to fly out from Texas to give talks, but they were stuck with snow in Dallas. (Snow in Dallas?) So we spoke at the baptism which turned out to be pretty entertaining.
You really have to know this kid to completely understand the humor. He is very, very smart for his age. His dad described him as having “the vocabulary of a 40-year-old without the social skills”. He takes everything very literally and wants to understand everything he is told. So, as is often done at baptisms, we addressed our talks to him and spoke mostly to him. And instead of listening and nodding, which people usually do at their own baptisms, he replied to everything we said, and asked us questions, while the congregation listened, highly entertained. Here are some examples:
M: “Ben, have you ever made a promise to someone?” (about to lead into talking about covenants)
B: “No, I haven’t. I’m not the most popular kid in school.”
M: “So you’ll keep going to church and taking the sacrament every week, just like you did before you were baptized.”
B: “I’m not baptized yet.”
M: “When you’re baptized you promise to stand as a witness of Christ and take His name upon you.”
B: “Could you translate that?”
In her talk Sister Johnston referred to the invitations Ben’s mom had made for the baptism. They had his picture on the front and a copy of the Articles of Faith on the back. Sister J. mentioned that the Articles of Faith list some of our basic beliefs. Ben said, “Is that why those are on the invitations? I thought my mom was just being cheap.”
When Sister J. stuck some visual aids on the white board to represent faith, repentance and baptism:
Ben: “Faith is crooked.”
She tried to straighten it.
“It’s still crooked.” She tried again.
“Faith is STILL crooked. Oh well. Whatever.”
Love you!
-Sister Monson
Well, at least we can do our Internet hour today while we’re here since the libraries were closed yesterday. So get ready for a long, drawn-out novel while I struggle vainly to block out the sounds of Dr. Phil and the radio.
Unfortunately I don’t have a ton to report on about this week, because we were attacked by a flu bug and shut up in the apartment, and are just now starting to feel one hundred percent normal. Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a missionary and be stuck inside the apartment? I ALMOST LOST MY MIND, I was so bored. After I’d read through every single Ensign in the apartment, we started coming up with REALLY creative things to do, like making up word searches (when we weren’t sleeping). We learned lots of useful facts. For example, did you know CVS (it’s a pharmacy chain) makes a generic of Mucinex? They also sell orange juice there.
On Friday we helped a family in the ward with their son’s baptism. His grandparents were supposed to fly out from Texas to give talks, but they were stuck with snow in Dallas. (Snow in Dallas?) So we spoke at the baptism which turned out to be pretty entertaining.
You really have to know this kid to completely understand the humor. He is very, very smart for his age. His dad described him as having “the vocabulary of a 40-year-old without the social skills”. He takes everything very literally and wants to understand everything he is told. So, as is often done at baptisms, we addressed our talks to him and spoke mostly to him. And instead of listening and nodding, which people usually do at their own baptisms, he replied to everything we said, and asked us questions, while the congregation listened, highly entertained. Here are some examples:
M: “Ben, have you ever made a promise to someone?” (about to lead into talking about covenants)
B: “No, I haven’t. I’m not the most popular kid in school.”
M: “So you’ll keep going to church and taking the sacrament every week, just like you did before you were baptized.”
B: “I’m not baptized yet.”
M: “When you’re baptized you promise to stand as a witness of Christ and take His name upon you.”
B: “Could you translate that?”
In her talk Sister Johnston referred to the invitations Ben’s mom had made for the baptism. They had his picture on the front and a copy of the Articles of Faith on the back. Sister J. mentioned that the Articles of Faith list some of our basic beliefs. Ben said, “Is that why those are on the invitations? I thought my mom was just being cheap.”
When Sister J. stuck some visual aids on the white board to represent faith, repentance and baptism:
Ben: “Faith is crooked.”
She tried to straighten it.
“It’s still crooked.” She tried again.
“Faith is STILL crooked. Oh well. Whatever.”
Love you!
-Sister Monson
Monday, February 8, 2010
8Feb2010
Sunday was the most amazing, miracle-filled day. I don’t know if I even have time to list all of the wonderful things that happened on Sunday. I’ll try to summarize a few highlights.
The recent convert’s fiancée, that just started taking the lessons, not only bore his testimony on Sunday, but announced over the pulpit that he wants to be baptized. When he said that I grabbed Sister Johnston’s arm and said, “Pinch me!” It seemed too good to be true.
One of our other recent converts, that has been struggling, came to church—but he forgot about the time change and went to the 9:30 service with the Bridgeport ward. But because the Bridgeport missionaries had called that morning and said, “Sister Monson, our pianist bailed, can you come play the piano for our sacrament meeting?!”, we were there to greet him. The person who was going to play the piano actually ended up coming. But we were there anyway, so I got to play the organ, which I loved.
A teenage convert of a few years, from a part-member family, has been struggling. We’ve been trying to work with the family. This teen got up in sacrament meeting and shared his testimony and said that he finally knew he had found the true church. AMAZING kid. Love him.
The member referral that we’ve taught a few times came to church again—AND stayed for the whole block, AND went to Gospel Principles instead of hanging out with the Young Men.
A girl we’ve been trying to teach, who has been coming to church for months (she met with the elders but for various reasons related to her family, we haven’t been able to teach her), bore her testimony for the first time and said she can’t wait to become a member of the church.
A member in the Bridgeport ward shared the following experience he had had recently: He got rear-ended which damaged his bumper and broke the window in his truck. The ward mission leader happened to be in the car with him. When the brother said he couldn’t afford to have the car fixed, the WML asked him if he had been paying his tithing. He said, “Yes, that’s the only thing I can afford to pay these days.” The WML said, “You are better off living in a cardboard box than breaking your covenants.” He continued to pay his tithing. A friend at a glass company was able to replace the window for free, and he took a sledgehammer to his bumper and fixed it that way. But he still didn’t have any money to pay his bills…until the insurance company of the person who rear-ended him dropped by his work and handed him a check with just enough to cover the bills. If that’s not a miracle I don’t know what is.
We were able to have the Bridgeport elders give one of our investigators, who was in the hospital for a heart attack, a blessing. In the blessing he was promised very specific things, e.g. that he would be able to leave the hospital within the week, and that God would give him the strength to quit smoking and other bad habits if he would make the effort. After the blessing was over the gentleman asked Elder Thiel what he had meant by a specific phrase in the blessing, and Elder Thiel said, “It wasn’t me!”
Best miracle of all…transfer calls came last night…but again, we sat by the phone and never got a call!!! I have been graced with another six weeks in Trumbull.
“Behold, this is joy which none receiveth save it be the truly penitent and humble seeker of happiness.” (Alma 27:18)
-Sister Monson
The recent convert’s fiancée, that just started taking the lessons, not only bore his testimony on Sunday, but announced over the pulpit that he wants to be baptized. When he said that I grabbed Sister Johnston’s arm and said, “Pinch me!” It seemed too good to be true.
One of our other recent converts, that has been struggling, came to church—but he forgot about the time change and went to the 9:30 service with the Bridgeport ward. But because the Bridgeport missionaries had called that morning and said, “Sister Monson, our pianist bailed, can you come play the piano for our sacrament meeting?!”, we were there to greet him. The person who was going to play the piano actually ended up coming. But we were there anyway, so I got to play the organ, which I loved.
A teenage convert of a few years, from a part-member family, has been struggling. We’ve been trying to work with the family. This teen got up in sacrament meeting and shared his testimony and said that he finally knew he had found the true church. AMAZING kid. Love him.
The member referral that we’ve taught a few times came to church again—AND stayed for the whole block, AND went to Gospel Principles instead of hanging out with the Young Men.
A girl we’ve been trying to teach, who has been coming to church for months (she met with the elders but for various reasons related to her family, we haven’t been able to teach her), bore her testimony for the first time and said she can’t wait to become a member of the church.
A member in the Bridgeport ward shared the following experience he had had recently: He got rear-ended which damaged his bumper and broke the window in his truck. The ward mission leader happened to be in the car with him. When the brother said he couldn’t afford to have the car fixed, the WML asked him if he had been paying his tithing. He said, “Yes, that’s the only thing I can afford to pay these days.” The WML said, “You are better off living in a cardboard box than breaking your covenants.” He continued to pay his tithing. A friend at a glass company was able to replace the window for free, and he took a sledgehammer to his bumper and fixed it that way. But he still didn’t have any money to pay his bills…until the insurance company of the person who rear-ended him dropped by his work and handed him a check with just enough to cover the bills. If that’s not a miracle I don’t know what is.
We were able to have the Bridgeport elders give one of our investigators, who was in the hospital for a heart attack, a blessing. In the blessing he was promised very specific things, e.g. that he would be able to leave the hospital within the week, and that God would give him the strength to quit smoking and other bad habits if he would make the effort. After the blessing was over the gentleman asked Elder Thiel what he had meant by a specific phrase in the blessing, and Elder Thiel said, “It wasn’t me!”
Best miracle of all…transfer calls came last night…but again, we sat by the phone and never got a call!!! I have been graced with another six weeks in Trumbull.
“Behold, this is joy which none receiveth save it be the truly penitent and humble seeker of happiness.” (Alma 27:18)
-Sister Monson
Monday, February 1, 2010
1Feb2010
KAELYNN'S ADDRESS IS: 6295 Main Street Trumbull Connecticut 06611
Yesterday I discovered a new delight called chicken apple sausage. The joys of sausage never cease!
Miracle for this week: a recent convert’s fiancée suddenly decided he was ready to meet with us (he had been strongly opposed to it the entire time they were dating), and he’s having some really neat experiences with reading the Book of Mormon. Truly miraculous. I love being able to witness these miracles!
Miracle number two: we have an investigator praying about being baptized in March. She’s close. Really close. She’s been taking the lessons for about two years. So excited for her!
Miracle number three: we had FOUR investigators at church yesterday. I haven't had that many for months. Yay!!!!!!!
Last Monday/Tuesday we did an exchange with the Torrington sisters, first meeting them at Yale on Monday and spending some time to walk around campus. It was rainy so there was no guided tour, and we only had a couple of hours, but it was still a lot of fun. I loved seeing Yale again. I’ll try to upload the pictures now…no promises with these finicky library computers. Oh, and I took some pictures of Torrington too while I was there. It’s a beautiful area. The area itself consists of about 13 towns (huge!) in northwestern Connecticut.
Explanation of pictures (hopefully they came in the right order):
1. The famous Munson Real Estate building. The one people always talk about when they first hear my name. There are lots of locations, this is just one of the many, on Reef Road in Fairfield.
2. Munson chocolate!! The other thing people always associate the name with. The writing on the wrapper is too small to see, but it’s a chocolate Santa that says, “Munson Chocolates, Bolton, CT.”
3. Bridgeport district picture. The flash wasn’t working for some reason, but at least you can see the pretty snow in the background.
4. With Sister Darrington in Torrington.
5. Supposedly the most frequently photographed church in Connecticut. This is in Litchfield.
6. A monument to Harriet Beecher Stowe in Litchfield, not too far from her birthplace.
My new email is kaelynn.monson@myldsmail.net.
7. A barn in Litchfield. Ain’t it quaint?
8. The Yale Musical Instruments Collection building. The building wasn’t even open! Lame.
9. Wishful thinking. J
10. The entrance to the gym. Logo look familiar to anyone? J I thought so.
11. A REAL original Gutenberg Bible. Last time it was being cleaned or something so we couldn’t see the real thing.
12. Pretty stained glass window!
13. Sister Darrington and Sister Murray on the steps of the library.
Well, hope you all are enjoying the nice dry Western winter. Love you!
-Sister Monson
Yesterday I discovered a new delight called chicken apple sausage. The joys of sausage never cease!
Miracle for this week: a recent convert’s fiancée suddenly decided he was ready to meet with us (he had been strongly opposed to it the entire time they were dating), and he’s having some really neat experiences with reading the Book of Mormon. Truly miraculous. I love being able to witness these miracles!
Miracle number two: we have an investigator praying about being baptized in March. She’s close. Really close. She’s been taking the lessons for about two years. So excited for her!
Miracle number three: we had FOUR investigators at church yesterday. I haven't had that many for months. Yay!!!!!!!
Last Monday/Tuesday we did an exchange with the Torrington sisters, first meeting them at Yale on Monday and spending some time to walk around campus. It was rainy so there was no guided tour, and we only had a couple of hours, but it was still a lot of fun. I loved seeing Yale again. I’ll try to upload the pictures now…no promises with these finicky library computers. Oh, and I took some pictures of Torrington too while I was there. It’s a beautiful area. The area itself consists of about 13 towns (huge!) in northwestern Connecticut.
Explanation of pictures (hopefully they came in the right order):
1. The famous Munson Real Estate building. The one people always talk about when they first hear my name. There are lots of locations, this is just one of the many, on Reef Road in Fairfield.
2. Munson chocolate!! The other thing people always associate the name with. The writing on the wrapper is too small to see, but it’s a chocolate Santa that says, “Munson Chocolates, Bolton, CT.”
3. Bridgeport district picture. The flash wasn’t working for some reason, but at least you can see the pretty snow in the background.
4. With Sister Darrington in Torrington.
5. Supposedly the most frequently photographed church in Connecticut. This is in Litchfield.
6. A monument to Harriet Beecher Stowe in Litchfield, not too far from her birthplace.
My new email is kaelynn.monson@myldsmail.net.
7. A barn in Litchfield. Ain’t it quaint?
8. The Yale Musical Instruments Collection building. The building wasn’t even open! Lame.
9. Wishful thinking. J
10. The entrance to the gym. Logo look familiar to anyone? J I thought so.
11. A REAL original Gutenberg Bible. Last time it was being cleaned or something so we couldn’t see the real thing.
12. Pretty stained glass window!
13. Sister Darrington and Sister Murray on the steps of the library.
Well, hope you all are enjoying the nice dry Western winter. Love you!
-Sister Monson
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