13Jul09

Only the craziest week of my life. Three baptisms in one weekend! to make a long
story short, they all followed through (sigh of relief). One of them almost fell through but didn't, and then the programs were stressful as they always are because things always fall apart at the last minute--someone doesn't bring towels, someone doesn't show up to give a talk, no one has keys to unlock the dressing room by the font, no one brings paper plates or napkins, blah blah blah. But in spite of it all things always work out, in my experience. Everything went really well. The ward has been really supportive of these new members which we so appreciate.

I'm attaching a few pictures. I don't want to include names or specifics on the
Internet, but if you have questions about them just ask. The conversion story of one of them, in particular, would take pages and pages to tell but it's quite the story.

This week a member had us over for dinner and we had LOBSTER. Seriously! Neither of us had ever had it before. Lobster is a pretty big deal here but rumor has it it's much more popular in Maine. For all of you non-East Coast people, there is a science to the cooking and eating of lobster. First of all, you buy them alive! they're a dark reddish-brownish-black color when they're alive, not bright red like you would think. And they come with elastics around their claws so they can't pinch you. You get the water boiling and stick them in headfirst (yes, alive) and as they cook they turn that bright red color. After they've steamed about 20 minutes you take them out, let them cool and then rip off the claws (you know it's done when you can rip off the claw easily). You take a nutcracker-like thingie to break open the shells of the claws. This is the part where it gets really really messy and you have to wear a bib, because they spray everywhere. You break off the shell and then eat the meat inside. (Yes, the claw. Who'd've thought you would eat the claw? I would think you'd eat the body, but no, you don't unless you're from Maine apparently people from Maine like to eat the liver of the lobster.) After you've eaten both claws you rip the tail off (that is also very messy), take off the shell and that's where the bulk of the meat is. It's really yummy dipped in butter--kind of like fish but more tender and less fishy.

This week about a thousand people were released, including our ward mission leader. On Sunday after the baptisms the new ward mission leader had us over for dinner at his house in Suffield. Holy banana peels, Suffield is gorgeous. We're going to petition Pres. Pehrson to have it added to our area. It's just above Windsor Locks, so it's convenient and since the elders in our ward are the Assistants and insanely busy it makes sense for them to have a smaller area. That's our reasoning, anyway. :) Oh, and the ward mission leader's wife is a seamstress who did some work on the curtains for the Extreme Makeover house in Suffield. That episode will be airing in September sometime, I hear. Everyone watch it so you can see Suffield. It's very pretty and full of historical buildings and old, beautiful, colonial-era houses.

Transfer calls came last night. I'm staying here in Windsor Locks (another sigh of
relief) and my new companion will be Sister Darrington. She's from Idaho and has been out about a year. Her brother was in my ward, freshman year at Utah State. Small world in the Mormon community. :)

Well, if any of you have endured to see the end of this novel I have written,
congratulations. Hope you are all well. Love you,
Sister Monson

Life is super. The reason? We have THREE baptisms scheduled this weekend! one on
Saturday and two on Sunday. Please pray that everything goes well. More details next
week. We've been so blessed!

Other than that, not much is new. We had a nice Fourth of July, some members had a big picnic and invited most of the ward, and we were able to go also which was so kind of them. They have a beautiful home in Granby. Word of advice to any future Connecticut travelers: Granby is GORGEOUS. Take a drive out there. There are some fun little berry-picking farms. And go to West Hartford and eat at Bertucci's. Those are some good eatins. Sister Haueter was introduced to gelato ice cream. Can you believe she had never even heard of it?

I did an exchange in Southington (farther south and west of Hartford closer to New
Haven) which was fun. We tried a new tracting approach--family history. Yes, I realize this is not new to some but I had not yet learned about it even though it's in Preach My Gospel. We wrote the info about the local Fam. History Center on Book of Mormon pass-along cards and talked to people about family history, then gave them the cards. It was in the morning so we didn't talk to a ton of people, but it's something I definitely plan on doing more of in the future.

Anyway, Southington is a cute little town. Every town in Connecticut is very unique. I hate to use the phrase "cookie-cutter Utah town" but Utah towns really are very boring in comparison. Well, maybe not boring, but just that they all look the same.

Still speculating on who my new companion is going to be. I hope I don't end up being senior. That would mean I would have to drive. Stressful experience! Actually, the driving in Windsor and Windsor Locks isn't all that bad, after the horror stories you hear about New England drivers. Rhode Island is supposed to have the worst drivers in the nation. So far the only thing I've really noticed that's out of the ordinary (besides that people speed more), is that people are always "creeping out" at the intersections and stop signs. (So that's where Dad gets it from!) Recently we saw a car that was a full car length's worth ahead of the line at a red light. A FULL CAR LENGTH. As in the white line was a foot behind them. Oh, and people start honking IMMEDIATELY when the light turns green if they're behind you. Drivers are funny out here.

That's all for now. The Church is true! Love,
Sister Monson

29 Jun 09

Anyone else ever heard of grinders? I hadn't before I came out here. Apparently
that's just the Connecticut name for meatball subs.

Thanks to everyone for your letters and support. Last Sunday we had a wonderful baptism and this week he was confirmed. I am still in the process of trying to attach a picture of the baptism. Someday it will come! someday!I think it might actually work! You lucky people might get to see a picture.

Anyway, things are going well and I'm getting more excited every day about Windsor
Locks. The last few days of this month have been a bit crazy. Without a lot of advance warning we were told that our zone conference would be in Goshen, which turned out to be 100 miles away round-trip. When you only have 950 miles a month and you're constantly commuting back and forth between two towns in your area, that is a lot. So we've been scrimping and saving on our miles the last couple weeks of June!we had to get creative since we don't have bikes. BUT, we've been greatly blessed. I'm going to inherit a bike from a former sister next transfer, and the new companion and I will be able to bike/walk Windsor Locks and only drive in Windsor, which will help a lot.

We're also trying to build up a teaching pool in Windsor Locks. Due to mileage restrictions, this town hasn't been worked a whole lot for the past few years. It has been sadly neglected, and it NEEDS missionary work. The field is white here, which is exciting to say the least.

We volunteer at an adult day care center in Windsor and on Friday they asked us to help them take their clients to the New England Air Museum. They got a special guided tour and they just needed some extra hands to push wheelchairs. I wish the family could have come! they would have loved it especially Dad and Chris. I'll be sending postcards of some of the planes they have there. They have a prototype of one of the Wright Brothers' engines, and a bunch of planes from WWI and WWII. It was incredible and I just wish I knew ANYTHING about airplanes, I could have appreciated it that much more. Connecticut's best kept secret, I think. Or at least Windsor Locks' best kept secret. Windsor Locks is where the airport is, along with a military base, so there are planes flying overhead constantly. They're super loud and frequently they fly so low the apartment shakes. Nothing like living next to the airport to trunk you out!

Poor Sister Haueter, she only has six weeks left. I don't know how she does it. (Yes, I am still with my mom, this is our third transfer together and we're still getting along really well- what a blessing!)

This was one of those weeks where a lot of members suddenly decided to give us food. I mean, a LOT. Typically we only have 3-5 dinner appointments a month! This month people just started shoving food at us. It has been a great blessing. God takes care of us. He has certainly taken care of me, for which I am so grateful. What a crazy almost-five (five on July 18th) months it has been. Overwhelming, exciting, frustrating, fun, bizarre, hilarious, depressing, infuriating, crazy, exhilarating!and in spite of the obstacles I have encountered I am grateful to still be able to say that I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world right now.

Love you all and have a happy 4th of July!
-Sister Monson

23 June 2009

Funny tidbits:

-We knocked on the door at a former investigator's house and her two kids answered the door. She wasn't home and we asked if we could speak with her husband. One of the sons ran to get him. Then he came back and said, "Dad can't come to the door because he's going number two."

-Me: "We're missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we
talk to people about God's plan for us and how we can be happy"
Random lady walking her dog: "Well, you can talk to somebody else."

-Someone at the library asked us, "So are women still not allowed in your temples?"

-Someone at the town hall asked us why we had short hair- "Aren't you not allowed to
cut your hair?"

-This is one of my favorite conversations. I called a former investigator, we'll say
his name is Bob:

Me: "Hi, is Bob there?"
Kid: "Who is this?"
Me: "It's the missionaries, he was expecting our call."
Kid: "Hang on, Dad?...Wait, who is this again?"
Me: "The sister missionaries."
Kid: "The WHO missionaries?"
Me: "The sister missionaries. He was expecting our call."
Kid: "Okay,Dad?...Um, he's sleeping right now."
Me: "When would be a better time to reach him?"
Kid: "How about tomorrow?"
Me: "Okay, what time tomorrow would be best to call?"
Kid: "Um, let's say between 2:00 and 1:50."

-I asked a family what music they wanted at the baptism and the 12-year-old son said, "Can we have 50 Cent?"

-We were running late to an appointment with Sue so we called her home
phone number to tell her we were on our way.

Sue: "Hello?"
Me: "Hi, is Sue there?"
Sue: "Speaking."
Me: "Hi, Sue, it's the sisters"
Sue: "I'm at work."
Me: "We had an appointment for 2:30"
Sue: "Yes, but I'm at work."
Me: "When can we reschedule?"
Sue: "Not for a month."
Me: "What day should we call you?"
Sue: "Call me next week."

I could write a novel about the funny things that happen out here.

We were blessed with a wonderful baptism this week but since my computer time is almost up I'll wait until next week to post the details.

Love you all,
Sister Monson

8 June 2009

Well, heaven only knows when this will get out because the computer is giving me
grief and not letting me access my email.

Lots of good things happened this week. I am really excited to spend more time in Windsor Locks. It definitely has a different feeling from Windsor. Besides being smaller and more working-class, it just feels different. Sad and depressing. Definitely a lot of needs a lot of unhappy people and a lot of work to be done. It's exciting. Now the difficult part is that all our current investigators live in Windsor which doesn't help with the mileage restrictions. We're trying to figure out how we can gradually transition things over to Windsor Locks.

As of right now we still have one solid baptismal date for June 21st.

The new apartment building is hilarious. It has an institutional look to it and there are lots and lots of long, dark hallways. Kind of like Mike and Andrea's last apartment in Texas, except with a lot more hallways. Every hallway has its own unique (but not in a good way) smell. Our apartment has a very unique smell. I'm sure all of these smells can be at least partially attributed to a combination of Connecticut's lack of smoking laws, the people's obsessions (!) with their pets, and all the little mold-and-mildew type friends that grow in such a wet environment.

Random fact for Dad: I was informed by a native New Yorker that John Travolta is from Engelwood (spelling?), New Jersey which apparently is close to Ridgewood. The guy that told me confused the two and first told me he was from Ridgewood and I got all excited. "My dad lived in the same town as John Travolta!" Not so much, but close.

I'm going to hurry and send this in case the computer kicks me off.
Love,
Sister Monson

1 June 2009

Why is it called Windson Locks?

I wish I knew. No one seems to know. And it couldn't mean "lakes" because there are
no lakes here, only rivers. We moved this week and things are hectic. Trying to get organized, figure out things like where the grocery store is, how to conserve our miles when everyone we work with is in Windsor etc etc. Fun stuff.

The other day someone called me "Sister Manson" on the phone. People are so funny. In terms of people's names, they hear what they are used to, so if they've never heard the name "Monson" before (nonmembers of course) they automatically substitute the name of someone or something they know. Usually people call me "Munson" after the Munson Chocolates that are famous here. Or it's "Manson".

My other favorite thing is when I meet members who of course ask if I"m related to the Prophet, I say no, and then they don't believe me. "Are you sure? Really? Not even distantly? No, you must be, way back when. There must be SOME connection". I think one of these days someone doing your family history work will figure it out. Really, folks? No one would like to be related to a prophet more than me! don't you think I would have figured out a way if there were?

This was a week of small miracles. The work continues to move forward. Super busy, which is great. And so my third transfer begins. Sis. Haueter and I will be companions for this transfer and then she's going to another area for her last four weeks before dying. Sister Glenn is going home with her (they're going to close that area) so there will be still fewer sisters in the mission, and there will be only four sisters' areas. Makes things less nerve-racking when transfers come around, that's for sure. "Where will I go? Let's see, there's all of four choices! Windsor Locks, Fairfield, Groton or Rocky Hill."

Andrea, I still can't upload this video I made for you. Maybe someday before the
Millennium you will see it.

Still trying to figure out this whole Atonement thing and be better, work harder, grow up and fix my attitude. I'm a work in progress.

Love,
Sister Monson

25 May 2009

Well, I guess it wasn't exactly a lifelong dream. Just something I've been wanting to do since I got out here. Dunkin' Donuts is HUGE on the East Coast and they are everywhere here in Windsor and Windsor Locks. I was so excited to try the donuts, and after all the anticipation, I discovered they are just normal overpriced donuts. BUT, I have yet to try the hot chocolate, which is supposed to be really good. So I still have hope that Dunkin' Donuts can be everything it promises to be.

The second performance of our mission music fireside was last night, at the Bloomfield chapel for the Hartford stake. It went really well. Attendance was decent considering it was a holiday weekend. Speaking of holidays, Memorial Day is HUGE here in Connecticut. Yesterday when we went to do our grocery shopping we thought the town was deserted, until we saw that everyone was gathered at the center (that's Connecticut-ese for downtown) near the city hall, listening to someone give a speech.

We're moving to Windsor Locks today and the new address is 266 Main St. #213, Windsor Locks, CT 06096. Latest word from President is that I will stay in this area until at least August. Sister Haueter will be here one more transfer.

I forget if I've already mentioned this or not but I did an exchange in Rocky Hill a
couple weeks ago which was fun. Rocky Hill is a town south of Hartford—the area covers the towns of Rocky Hill, Cromwell and Newington. Sister Baird is more on the reserved side, like me, which was good because it required both of us to talk more in order to carry on the conversations. The Rocky Hill apartment is HUGE! Each sister has her own bathroom! I'm so jealous…Try being sister missionaries with only one bathroom. Then try having BOTH of you shower, dry your hair and do makeup in a half hour. I know I'm not the first sister missionary in the world to point out that this schedule is unrealistic for us, especially if they expect us to ook the message. What ends up happening is that you have a bunch of very tired sisters who got up earlier than the crack of dawn to get ready. Elders have NO RIGHT to complain about getting up at 6:30!
Crybabies.

The work is good planning on three baptisms in June and we have at least two more
investigators that are super close to scheduling baptismal dates. Forgive me for not
throwing out anyone's names. I figure since this is going on the Internet (and
apparently anyone can just Google it and find the blog! Not what I'd prefer but I
can't do anything about it except beg Mom and Dad to make the blog more secure), and I have no control over the security, I'd better not.

I've discovered that just like every other gospel topic in existence, I don't know as much about the Atonement as I thought I did. I've been studying it more in depth and trying to understand how to apply what I'm learning. Everyone always says, Use the Atonement! Use the Atonement! but no one seems to be able to explain to me HOW to do that beyond, of course, the obvious repenting and using the Atonement to be forgiven. I know that in some way the Atonement is supposed to heal our heartaches and our pains but I don't understand how that works. How do I use the Atonement to move past my own insecurities and become the kind of missionary I'm supposed to be? I know that I believe in the Atonement, but I don't know how to use it. Anyone with wisdom, please feel free to impart.

Hope everyone is doing well. Thanks for the letters. Lots of love,
Sister Monson