First is me with my new companion on transfer day! Sister Johnson and Sister Kleisler :)
This is me after a week of so many lessons- Totally exhausted!! lol
Monday, June 15, 2009
Pics for the week 6/15
Hey here are some pics!!
First is me with my new companion on transfer day! Sister Johnson and Sister Kleisler :)
This is me after a week of so many lessons- Totally exhausted!! lol
First is me with my new companion on transfer day! Sister Johnson and Sister Kleisler :)
This is me after a week of so many lessons- Totally exhausted!! lol
"Nothings too hard for the Lord!"
Hey Y'all-
Ahh mi familia y mis amigos- como estan? Sorry, I have a lot of Spanish stuck in my head, I made this crazy deal with a good friend of mine back home. I had to give up English all this week and she had to give up "fluff" aka TV, movies, internet, stuff that gets in the way of focusing on the important things in life. So anyway this deal would have been great had I not just lost my native Spanish Speaking companion! Lol But hey this is an experiment and it will for sure have some interesting results!
So anyway, on to my new companion- Sister Alyse Johnson from Lindon utah! She was called as an English Speaking sister, so when it comes to the Spanish, it's all me! She has been out on her mission for about 5 months and this is her second area. She just came from a very suburbia like area up in North Austin so when we got to Pleasanton she was in shock! So different!!! She loves every minute of it! It is so cute she is always like, oh I need a picture of that, oh my goodness look at that, etc etc. She loves the small town feel down here. Lol She is an amazing missionary who has a great knowledge of the scriptures and a positive attitude about, well everything!! We have had an amazing few days together and already are teaching in such unity. We are so excited for what this transfer is going to bring. This week we taught 25 total lessons- the most I have ever taught in a week, and that is crazy especially since it was a transfer week and those are notoriously bad across the mission. So anyway things are really great here- I miss Sister Larrosa, but she is doing amazing up in Austin and she called me last night and they just committed a family of 5 for baptism! Way sweet!! So yes, good things going on all over the mission!!
As for our week here in Pleasanton- it was FABULOUS!! Our investigators are doing so well. Clarrisa came to church yesterday and she also came to the new member lessons and we went over and taught her and her boyfriend Gary twice this week. Gary is actually coming along now. At first he refused to even listen to us, and I kept hoping she would leave the jerk. But the Lord has softened his heart and there is hope for them and their relationship now. Yesterday we went over to answer all of Gary's questions and concerns- we didn't even plan a lesson we just told him to make a list of questions. After Gary was being kind of non committal and wishy-washy Clarissa looked at him and said, "I have a question for you Gary- Do you know who Joseph Smith is?" He said no, so we taught him and watched the Restoration video. After talking about the Book of Mormon and the importance of it, he said "so what I really got to do is Pray. I have to pray to find out if this is all true" We were like, Yes!!! So ya Gary is finally starting to progress in the gospel. Clarissa is as amazing as ever. Yesterday something came up about our mission calls and how it is decided where we go, so we told them and then Clarissa looked at me and said "I think you were sent here for me" I got all teary eyed cause I had been thinking the same thing all week. It is also so cool because I feel that Sister Johnson is here for Gary. She can answer his questions and talk to him in a logical way that I just don't do as well. I am so grateful that the Lord knows us all and our strengths and weaknesses. I am grateful he gives us companions to help even us out. So also this week we taught Toby and that went well. He came to church as well and loved it. That makes 3 times he has been to church and 2 times for Clarissa. I KNOW that both of them will be getting baptized this transfer. Toby is so excited to get baptized, he told us yesterday that his mom said she wants for him to make his own decisions and if he wants to get baptized then he has to really know that this church is true before he does it. So Toby is doing all he can to find out if it is true! It is so amazing!!! We had a great lesson about the Plan of Salvation with him and tonight we are going to teach the Gospel and also tithing. I am hoping we can double up on the lessons from now on, teaching 2 at once, that way he will be getting the info he wants, sooner! We are working on getting Shaun prepared for the priesthood, then he can baptize his son, how cool is that?! So ya anyway those are our two progressing investigators.
We also have a few other people we are working with, all of them part member families. One of them has a cool story as to how we found them. Yesterday I was thinking about Rudy and Vanessa and whether we should go over and visit them or not. Well as Sister was saying a prayer as we were about to leave the apartment after dinner she asked that the Lord would guide us to the people we needed to talk to. As soon as she said that, I got the distinct impression that we needed to go see Rudy and Vanessa. SO we went over there and we knocked on the door and Shaun answered. We went in and talked with Shaun and the boys for a minute but Rudy and Vanessa weren't there. So we left feeling a little sad that we had felt impressed to go there and they weren't there. For a second I started doubting the impression, but before we got in the truck to leave I had this thought to go visit the across the street neighbors, the wife is a less active member of the church. SO we wen't over there and their home teachers were there and they finished up their lesson and left us to sit and talk with this couple- the Pattersons. We talked with them and they told us that they needed to quit smoking and read the Book of Mormon. We then asked Doug if he wanted to be baptized, he said he did but he wanted to read the Book of Mormon. So we are going over there tonight to get them started in the BoM and to work on getting Doug ready for baptism. It will be a long process but with the Lord's help it will all happen according to his will. So after we left their house and got back in the truck sister Johnson and I looked at each other and were both just so grateful for that prompting I received. I learned a VERY valuable lesson- sometimes we don't quite understand the meaning of our promptings or they don't work out the way we think we should, but we need to just trust in the Lord and follow them. I am so thankful that I was able to follow the prompting to go to Rudy and Vanessa which ended up being a way for the Lord to get us over to the Pattersons. So neat!!!
Well I want to end this week with a thought I learned from Scritpure Scouts- "Nothing's too hard for the Lord!" It's a song that "Nephi" sings right before he leaves to go get the plates. I have had that song running through my head all week and it sure keeps me going. Especially when we are knocking doors in 105 degree weather and the humidity is so high that everything is sticking to me and giant drops of sweat roll down my face as I contact people on the street. This is the Lord's work and He can do it, I am just his instrument and I will trust in him, "cause nothings too hard for the Lord for the Lord, nothings too hard for the Lord."
Love y'all very much, thanks for all your support!!!!!!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Hermana Kleisler
Ahh mi familia y mis amigos- como estan? Sorry, I have a lot of Spanish stuck in my head, I made this crazy deal with a good friend of mine back home. I had to give up English all this week and she had to give up "fluff" aka TV, movies, internet, stuff that gets in the way of focusing on the important things in life. So anyway this deal would have been great had I not just lost my native Spanish Speaking companion! Lol But hey this is an experiment and it will for sure have some interesting results!
So anyway, on to my new companion- Sister Alyse Johnson from Lindon utah! She was called as an English Speaking sister, so when it comes to the Spanish, it's all me! She has been out on her mission for about 5 months and this is her second area. She just came from a very suburbia like area up in North Austin so when we got to Pleasanton she was in shock! So different!!! She loves every minute of it! It is so cute she is always like, oh I need a picture of that, oh my goodness look at that, etc etc. She loves the small town feel down here. Lol She is an amazing missionary who has a great knowledge of the scriptures and a positive attitude about, well everything!! We have had an amazing few days together and already are teaching in such unity. We are so excited for what this transfer is going to bring. This week we taught 25 total lessons- the most I have ever taught in a week, and that is crazy especially since it was a transfer week and those are notoriously bad across the mission. So anyway things are really great here- I miss Sister Larrosa, but she is doing amazing up in Austin and she called me last night and they just committed a family of 5 for baptism! Way sweet!! So yes, good things going on all over the mission!!
As for our week here in Pleasanton- it was FABULOUS!! Our investigators are doing so well. Clarrisa came to church yesterday and she also came to the new member lessons and we went over and taught her and her boyfriend Gary twice this week. Gary is actually coming along now. At first he refused to even listen to us, and I kept hoping she would leave the jerk. But the Lord has softened his heart and there is hope for them and their relationship now. Yesterday we went over to answer all of Gary's questions and concerns- we didn't even plan a lesson we just told him to make a list of questions. After Gary was being kind of non committal and wishy-washy Clarissa looked at him and said, "I have a question for you Gary- Do you know who Joseph Smith is?" He said no, so we taught him and watched the Restoration video. After talking about the Book of Mormon and the importance of it, he said "so what I really got to do is Pray. I have to pray to find out if this is all true" We were like, Yes!!! So ya Gary is finally starting to progress in the gospel. Clarissa is as amazing as ever. Yesterday something came up about our mission calls and how it is decided where we go, so we told them and then Clarissa looked at me and said "I think you were sent here for me" I got all teary eyed cause I had been thinking the same thing all week. It is also so cool because I feel that Sister Johnson is here for Gary. She can answer his questions and talk to him in a logical way that I just don't do as well. I am so grateful that the Lord knows us all and our strengths and weaknesses. I am grateful he gives us companions to help even us out. So also this week we taught Toby and that went well. He came to church as well and loved it. That makes 3 times he has been to church and 2 times for Clarissa. I KNOW that both of them will be getting baptized this transfer. Toby is so excited to get baptized, he told us yesterday that his mom said she wants for him to make his own decisions and if he wants to get baptized then he has to really know that this church is true before he does it. So Toby is doing all he can to find out if it is true! It is so amazing!!! We had a great lesson about the Plan of Salvation with him and tonight we are going to teach the Gospel and also tithing. I am hoping we can double up on the lessons from now on, teaching 2 at once, that way he will be getting the info he wants, sooner! We are working on getting Shaun prepared for the priesthood, then he can baptize his son, how cool is that?! So ya anyway those are our two progressing investigators.
We also have a few other people we are working with, all of them part member families. One of them has a cool story as to how we found them. Yesterday I was thinking about Rudy and Vanessa and whether we should go over and visit them or not. Well as Sister was saying a prayer as we were about to leave the apartment after dinner she asked that the Lord would guide us to the people we needed to talk to. As soon as she said that, I got the distinct impression that we needed to go see Rudy and Vanessa. SO we went over there and we knocked on the door and Shaun answered. We went in and talked with Shaun and the boys for a minute but Rudy and Vanessa weren't there. So we left feeling a little sad that we had felt impressed to go there and they weren't there. For a second I started doubting the impression, but before we got in the truck to leave I had this thought to go visit the across the street neighbors, the wife is a less active member of the church. SO we wen't over there and their home teachers were there and they finished up their lesson and left us to sit and talk with this couple- the Pattersons. We talked with them and they told us that they needed to quit smoking and read the Book of Mormon. We then asked Doug if he wanted to be baptized, he said he did but he wanted to read the Book of Mormon. So we are going over there tonight to get them started in the BoM and to work on getting Doug ready for baptism. It will be a long process but with the Lord's help it will all happen according to his will. So after we left their house and got back in the truck sister Johnson and I looked at each other and were both just so grateful for that prompting I received. I learned a VERY valuable lesson- sometimes we don't quite understand the meaning of our promptings or they don't work out the way we think we should, but we need to just trust in the Lord and follow them. I am so thankful that I was able to follow the prompting to go to Rudy and Vanessa which ended up being a way for the Lord to get us over to the Pattersons. So neat!!!
Well I want to end this week with a thought I learned from Scritpure Scouts- "Nothing's too hard for the Lord!" It's a song that "Nephi" sings right before he leaves to go get the plates. I have had that song running through my head all week and it sure keeps me going. Especially when we are knocking doors in 105 degree weather and the humidity is so high that everything is sticking to me and giant drops of sweat roll down my face as I contact people on the street. This is the Lord's work and He can do it, I am just his instrument and I will trust in him, "cause nothings too hard for the Lord for the Lord, nothings too hard for the Lord."
Love y'all very much, thanks for all your support!!!!!!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Hermana Kleisler
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Pictures from Texas!
A beautiful Morning at the San Antonio Temple! :)
Companionship unity!!!! We LOVE texas!
Check out that shirt- so sweet- Walmart 5 dollars, Ya baby!! :)
We begged the Swaims to let us do some service for them because NO ONE EVER LETS US DO SERVICE!! So they let us mow their lawn! We loved it!! :) Sister Larrosa got to use the riding lawn mower and she loved it- she calls it her "mini tractor".
The downfall of serving in Texas- LOTS OF MOSQUITOS!!!!
Companionship unity!!!! We LOVE texas!
Check out that shirt- so sweet- Walmart 5 dollars, Ya baby!! :)
We begged the Swaims to let us do some service for them because NO ONE EVER LETS US DO SERVICE!! So they let us mow their lawn! We loved it!! :) Sister Larrosa got to use the riding lawn mower and she loved it- she calls it her "mini tractor".
The downfall of serving in Texas- LOTS OF MOSQUITOS!!!!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Changes happen'n in the Country
Hey Y’all!!
Well first off I want to say that the Lord has plans for each of us and sometimes they are unexpected. What I mean by that is… Sister Larrosa is being transferred. I am pretty sad to see her go- we only got to be together for one transfer, but I know that the Lord needs her somewhere else. She is moving up to Senior Comp and she is gonna be a step mom now (aka she is getting a comp who is fresh off her trainer). I am pretty sure I know who I am getting as my new companion and if I am right then I will be in good shape! Ha ha I will tell y’all the details about my new comp next week after I find out for sure who it is! Lol But for now I will tell you about this week!!!
This week was SWEET! First off… Clarissa. She came to the new member lessons on Wednesday and we took her on a tour of the church afterwards. She loved it all. Then on Friday we went over and taught her. When we first got there her boyfriend wasn’t there yet- so I felt the need to teach the Law of Chastity so that she could start thinking about it and pray about what she should do. She understood the law of chastity and we committed her to Pray about her situation. She says that she and Gary (her boyfriend who she lives with and is the father of her 2 children) will get married eventually. Sister Larrosa and I truly would rather she left him- he is not a good guy, he doesn’t treat her right and we are pretty sure he is cheating on her. But we figure the more she gets into the gospel of Jesus Christ the more she will have the desire to change her life and hopefully dump the jerk. So anyway then after we taught that Gary came home from work and sat in on our Gospel Of Jesus Christ lesson which went well. Then on Sunday guess who showed up to church, Clarissa and the boys!!! Yay! Clarissa’s member friend didn’t even come, but Clarissa did- she is SO AWESOME! So we sat with her at church and helped her with the boys. She was so self conscious that her children were so rowdy during sacrament meeting, but they really weren’t that bad. I brought my little bag of tricks- toys and snacks- and kept the 4 year old busy while Clarissa tried to put the baby to sleep and listen to the testimonies at the same time. Then when it came time for Primary- Aaron (Clarissa’s 4 year old) didn’t want to go, the poor kid had never been to church or day care or anything like that before, so it all was a very new concept for him and he didn’t want to be alone. So because I love my investigators so much and want them to progress in the gospel- I went to Sunbeams! Ha ha Sister Larrosa and I went on “exchanges” and the Sunbeam teacher was my companion for 2 hours. Lol Aaron did just fine in Primary since I was there and he is used to me. Man I have to say though that I am not sure which is a tougher job- Sunbeam teacher or missionary! Ha ha after my two hours with the sunbeams I was EXHAUSTED! Sister Larrosa said that Clarissa did well in her classes and enjoyed them. So that was great! Clarissa said she is going to come to church every week and Aaron will get used to it and I won’t have to stay with him anymore. I don’t care man, as long as she comes to church!! So anyway that was all good and then Yesterday we called Clarissa just to see how she was doing- daily contact is so crucial with progressing investigators- and she said that she was cleaning and organizing all day. I offered to help, but she said no she was fine. –No one EVER lets us do service and we hate that, so I have to FORCE people to let us. So I kept telling Clarissa we wanted to and she finally said we could come over to keep her company while she cleaned. Ha ha well when we got to Clarissa’s I went into Aaron’s room with two trash bags and said ok- one is for garbage (broken toys etc) and one is for goodwill. Let’s get sorting. Sister Larrosa went into the kitchen and started washing the huge pile of dirty dishes and sweeping the floor etc. Clarissa and I worked on Aaron’s room and organized like crazy! Man that kid has TONS of toys. But man when we were done it looked SO good!! And she was SO grateful!!! She kept saying how can I ever thank you, let me make dinner for you, etc etc. Well we already had a dinner appointment that night so we said well, how about you let us teach ya a lesson real quick. She of course said sure! So we sat down and went over the scriptures we had left her to read which of course, she read cause she’s awesome! So anyway then we asked her if she had any questions or comments. She then said “well I wanted to tell y’all something. I told Gary that I am gonna live the law of Chasity and if he doesn’t like it, well then there’s the couch” ha ha man we were so excited! So she is not sleeping with her boyfriend, but she is still living with him, so we are still gonna have to work on that part but man it’s a start!! So she is just progressing way nicely and I am watching as the gospel is taking over and changing her life- it is such a treat!!!! :) So ya Clarissa rocks and I love teaching her!
Next we have… Toby!! He is the 10 year old son of our recent convert Shaun Roberts. Shaun finally moved in to a new place –our apartment complex, ha ha so sweet. And Now he has his boys for the summer (he is divorced) and so yesterday we went over and had Family Home Evening with them! It was so fun!! We taught them the restoration (with my magnet board visual aids- so helpful!) and then we taught them about the Book of Mormon by having them act out the story of Nephi getting the plates. We used props and dress up clothes and everything!! Oh man they LOVED that!! It was awesome. After we finished the lesson they asked, “can we do it again?” Ha ha those kids rock! So then we played a game with them and ate the cookies I baked the night before. The Oldest son Toby is so cool- that kid is elect!! I have never seen a kid be an elect, but he is!! He is so prepared for the gospel and he loves it! He wants to be baptized the only problem is his mom, we have to get her to be ok with the idea. But for now we are just gonna keep teaching the boys and know that God will make everything work out somehow. The other 2 boys, Mallory who just turned 7 and Billy Boy (yes that’s his name- remember we’re in Texas) who is 6 were bummed that they can’t get baptized yet but we are getting them excited for when they turn 8! :) So anyway we have an appointment to teach them again this week and they are so excited- they LOVE to “learn about church”!
So other than that we don’t have any other super sweet investigators, but two man- that is a blessing right there!! I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve down here in the boonies! Lol It is truly an awesome experience and I am learning so much! I think I am becoming a country girl- oh no!! lol So in other news, this week I was able to go to the temple. Our district carpooled up there and since there is 6 of us in our district and our Chevy Colorado has six seatbelts we all squeezed in the truck to the temple. It was pretty hilarious. Sister Larrosa in the middle front seat with her hip jabbing into mine as I drove, Elder Cozza (our district leader) in the front passenger seat squeezing himself as close to the window as possible so as to not be butt-to-butt with Larrosa. Then three big elders in the back seat!! Ha ha when we got to the temple people literally stared as we piled out of the car! Ha ha We looked hilarious! But man it was worth it for the temple. We had a great time and I saw people from my old wards. It was pretty fun being in the celestial room and having people come up to me saying hi, we miss you!! It is pretty cool to have so many great friendships with people here! So ya that was a fun trip and the other cool thing about it was we got to go to the only “church” bookstore in San Antonio. I was so excited cause I wanted to buy a new cd. We get so sick of the same stuff! I was like a kid in a candy store- so many cds all of which I was ALLOWED to listen to… and do you know what I bought… Scripture Scouts!! Ha ha If any of you are familiar with scripture scouts you will be laughing right now. When I was a kid we would listen to scripture scouts tapes as we laid in bed to go to sleep. I LOVED them! They are kids tapes that have songs and stuff about the scriptures and the characters act out parts. Oh man, I have now listened to those cds like 12 times! Ha ha Sister Larrosa woke up one morning and was like um, I think your scripture scouts songs were in my dreams last night! Ha ha I was like um, actually once you fell asleep I went and brought the cd player next to my bed and listened to Scripture scouts to help me go to sleep! Lol So funny!! So ya, scripture scouts- are awesome!
Alright well before I sign off I wanted to leave you with a thought. There is a very interesting little pattern that Sister Larrosa and I have noticed that I want to share with y’all and apply to your lives. Whenever we watch the Restoration DVD with investigators the spirit is of course so strong but the peak point of the spirit comes when Joseph Smith goes into the grove to pray. “Joseph Smith’s First Prayer” plays in the background as he walks through the field- Sis Larrosa and I get goosebumps every time at this point. Then as he kneels down to pray, without a doubt every time while we watch it Satan gets mad!!! Something happens EVERY time, the baby cries and we can’t hear it, the dog barks, the kids run in front of the tv, the phone rings, the dvd skips, SOMETHING happens EVERY time!!!! Sister Larrosa and I were talking about this the other day and came to the conclusion that Satan KNOWS how powerful that part is and he does his best to keep our investigators from feeling it. Now to me I take something very meaningful from this whole thing. As soon as things start to get rough, as soon as Satan really starts to work on you- you know that you must be doing something right!!! He is preventing you from doing whatever it is that you were doing cause he knows that is gonna bring about some good in the world and he HATES that! So the next time Satan starts messing with you, just think “Alright, I must be doing something good cause Satan is mad!” There is a quote I heard at Education Week when Mom and I went a few years ago, this is something I tell myself every night. When I get up in the morning I want Satan to say “Oh no she’s awake again!!!!” Cause he knows just how much good I am gonna do in the world- and he isn’t strong enough to stop me! :)
Well y’all I love you so much and hope you have a great week!!!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Hermana Kleisler
Well first off I want to say that the Lord has plans for each of us and sometimes they are unexpected. What I mean by that is… Sister Larrosa is being transferred. I am pretty sad to see her go- we only got to be together for one transfer, but I know that the Lord needs her somewhere else. She is moving up to Senior Comp and she is gonna be a step mom now (aka she is getting a comp who is fresh off her trainer). I am pretty sure I know who I am getting as my new companion and if I am right then I will be in good shape! Ha ha I will tell y’all the details about my new comp next week after I find out for sure who it is! Lol But for now I will tell you about this week!!!
This week was SWEET! First off… Clarissa. She came to the new member lessons on Wednesday and we took her on a tour of the church afterwards. She loved it all. Then on Friday we went over and taught her. When we first got there her boyfriend wasn’t there yet- so I felt the need to teach the Law of Chastity so that she could start thinking about it and pray about what she should do. She understood the law of chastity and we committed her to Pray about her situation. She says that she and Gary (her boyfriend who she lives with and is the father of her 2 children) will get married eventually. Sister Larrosa and I truly would rather she left him- he is not a good guy, he doesn’t treat her right and we are pretty sure he is cheating on her. But we figure the more she gets into the gospel of Jesus Christ the more she will have the desire to change her life and hopefully dump the jerk. So anyway then after we taught that Gary came home from work and sat in on our Gospel Of Jesus Christ lesson which went well. Then on Sunday guess who showed up to church, Clarissa and the boys!!! Yay! Clarissa’s member friend didn’t even come, but Clarissa did- she is SO AWESOME! So we sat with her at church and helped her with the boys. She was so self conscious that her children were so rowdy during sacrament meeting, but they really weren’t that bad. I brought my little bag of tricks- toys and snacks- and kept the 4 year old busy while Clarissa tried to put the baby to sleep and listen to the testimonies at the same time. Then when it came time for Primary- Aaron (Clarissa’s 4 year old) didn’t want to go, the poor kid had never been to church or day care or anything like that before, so it all was a very new concept for him and he didn’t want to be alone. So because I love my investigators so much and want them to progress in the gospel- I went to Sunbeams! Ha ha Sister Larrosa and I went on “exchanges” and the Sunbeam teacher was my companion for 2 hours. Lol Aaron did just fine in Primary since I was there and he is used to me. Man I have to say though that I am not sure which is a tougher job- Sunbeam teacher or missionary! Ha ha after my two hours with the sunbeams I was EXHAUSTED! Sister Larrosa said that Clarissa did well in her classes and enjoyed them. So that was great! Clarissa said she is going to come to church every week and Aaron will get used to it and I won’t have to stay with him anymore. I don’t care man, as long as she comes to church!! So anyway that was all good and then Yesterday we called Clarissa just to see how she was doing- daily contact is so crucial with progressing investigators- and she said that she was cleaning and organizing all day. I offered to help, but she said no she was fine. –No one EVER lets us do service and we hate that, so I have to FORCE people to let us. So I kept telling Clarissa we wanted to and she finally said we could come over to keep her company while she cleaned. Ha ha well when we got to Clarissa’s I went into Aaron’s room with two trash bags and said ok- one is for garbage (broken toys etc) and one is for goodwill. Let’s get sorting. Sister Larrosa went into the kitchen and started washing the huge pile of dirty dishes and sweeping the floor etc. Clarissa and I worked on Aaron’s room and organized like crazy! Man that kid has TONS of toys. But man when we were done it looked SO good!! And she was SO grateful!!! She kept saying how can I ever thank you, let me make dinner for you, etc etc. Well we already had a dinner appointment that night so we said well, how about you let us teach ya a lesson real quick. She of course said sure! So we sat down and went over the scriptures we had left her to read which of course, she read cause she’s awesome! So anyway then we asked her if she had any questions or comments. She then said “well I wanted to tell y’all something. I told Gary that I am gonna live the law of Chasity and if he doesn’t like it, well then there’s the couch” ha ha man we were so excited! So she is not sleeping with her boyfriend, but she is still living with him, so we are still gonna have to work on that part but man it’s a start!! So she is just progressing way nicely and I am watching as the gospel is taking over and changing her life- it is such a treat!!!! :) So ya Clarissa rocks and I love teaching her!
Next we have… Toby!! He is the 10 year old son of our recent convert Shaun Roberts. Shaun finally moved in to a new place –our apartment complex, ha ha so sweet. And Now he has his boys for the summer (he is divorced) and so yesterday we went over and had Family Home Evening with them! It was so fun!! We taught them the restoration (with my magnet board visual aids- so helpful!) and then we taught them about the Book of Mormon by having them act out the story of Nephi getting the plates. We used props and dress up clothes and everything!! Oh man they LOVED that!! It was awesome. After we finished the lesson they asked, “can we do it again?” Ha ha those kids rock! So then we played a game with them and ate the cookies I baked the night before. The Oldest son Toby is so cool- that kid is elect!! I have never seen a kid be an elect, but he is!! He is so prepared for the gospel and he loves it! He wants to be baptized the only problem is his mom, we have to get her to be ok with the idea. But for now we are just gonna keep teaching the boys and know that God will make everything work out somehow. The other 2 boys, Mallory who just turned 7 and Billy Boy (yes that’s his name- remember we’re in Texas) who is 6 were bummed that they can’t get baptized yet but we are getting them excited for when they turn 8! :) So anyway we have an appointment to teach them again this week and they are so excited- they LOVE to “learn about church”!
So other than that we don’t have any other super sweet investigators, but two man- that is a blessing right there!! I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve down here in the boonies! Lol It is truly an awesome experience and I am learning so much! I think I am becoming a country girl- oh no!! lol So in other news, this week I was able to go to the temple. Our district carpooled up there and since there is 6 of us in our district and our Chevy Colorado has six seatbelts we all squeezed in the truck to the temple. It was pretty hilarious. Sister Larrosa in the middle front seat with her hip jabbing into mine as I drove, Elder Cozza (our district leader) in the front passenger seat squeezing himself as close to the window as possible so as to not be butt-to-butt with Larrosa. Then three big elders in the back seat!! Ha ha when we got to the temple people literally stared as we piled out of the car! Ha ha We looked hilarious! But man it was worth it for the temple. We had a great time and I saw people from my old wards. It was pretty fun being in the celestial room and having people come up to me saying hi, we miss you!! It is pretty cool to have so many great friendships with people here! So ya that was a fun trip and the other cool thing about it was we got to go to the only “church” bookstore in San Antonio. I was so excited cause I wanted to buy a new cd. We get so sick of the same stuff! I was like a kid in a candy store- so many cds all of which I was ALLOWED to listen to… and do you know what I bought… Scripture Scouts!! Ha ha If any of you are familiar with scripture scouts you will be laughing right now. When I was a kid we would listen to scripture scouts tapes as we laid in bed to go to sleep. I LOVED them! They are kids tapes that have songs and stuff about the scriptures and the characters act out parts. Oh man, I have now listened to those cds like 12 times! Ha ha Sister Larrosa woke up one morning and was like um, I think your scripture scouts songs were in my dreams last night! Ha ha I was like um, actually once you fell asleep I went and brought the cd player next to my bed and listened to Scripture scouts to help me go to sleep! Lol So funny!! So ya, scripture scouts- are awesome!
Alright well before I sign off I wanted to leave you with a thought. There is a very interesting little pattern that Sister Larrosa and I have noticed that I want to share with y’all and apply to your lives. Whenever we watch the Restoration DVD with investigators the spirit is of course so strong but the peak point of the spirit comes when Joseph Smith goes into the grove to pray. “Joseph Smith’s First Prayer” plays in the background as he walks through the field- Sis Larrosa and I get goosebumps every time at this point. Then as he kneels down to pray, without a doubt every time while we watch it Satan gets mad!!! Something happens EVERY time, the baby cries and we can’t hear it, the dog barks, the kids run in front of the tv, the phone rings, the dvd skips, SOMETHING happens EVERY time!!!! Sister Larrosa and I were talking about this the other day and came to the conclusion that Satan KNOWS how powerful that part is and he does his best to keep our investigators from feeling it. Now to me I take something very meaningful from this whole thing. As soon as things start to get rough, as soon as Satan really starts to work on you- you know that you must be doing something right!!! He is preventing you from doing whatever it is that you were doing cause he knows that is gonna bring about some good in the world and he HATES that! So the next time Satan starts messing with you, just think “Alright, I must be doing something good cause Satan is mad!” There is a quote I heard at Education Week when Mom and I went a few years ago, this is something I tell myself every night. When I get up in the morning I want Satan to say “Oh no she’s awake again!!!!” Cause he knows just how much good I am gonna do in the world- and he isn’t strong enough to stop me! :)
Well y’all I love you so much and hope you have a great week!!!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Hermana Kleisler
Monday, June 1, 2009
Pics of the Week!
First- me with my ticket, that night I decided to just laugh about it and so we took a pic. It took awhile for me to not be mad about that stupid ticket, but I finally got over it.
Next- Me at Chili's. Sister Larrosa and I went to Chili's on a night that we didn't have a dinner apt thanks to some awesome people back home who sent me gift cards!!! We had a lot of fun- ooh and p.s. my hair is weird cause Sister Larrosa wanted to play beauty parlor with my head. lol That is how much I love my companion! :)
Next- Me at Chili's. Sister Larrosa and I went to Chili's on a night that we didn't have a dinner apt thanks to some awesome people back home who sent me gift cards!!! We had a lot of fun- ooh and p.s. my hair is weird cause Sister Larrosa wanted to play beauty parlor with my head. lol That is how much I love my companion! :)
Every Member an Innkeeper!
Hey Y'all!!
So this week was a pretty busy one. It started out with another run in with the cops- 5th time on my mission, I think this is a record!! But this time it did not turn out so well, I got a speeding ticket. Whoops my bad!! I think you have to be some kind of dope to get a speeding ticket on your mission in the church's car. But well, I did, but at least now I have learned my lesson- I have slowed down and I pay attention to speed limit signs now. SO ya that started off my week, but then it got better after that. My ticket was on Tuesday and then on Wednesday we had this new thing we started up- New Member Lessons. See, in this ward it is REALLY hard to get the members involved in helping our investigators and fellowshipping the recent converts. When a person is baptized they are supposed to receive a series of new member lessons from someone in the ward- usually ward missionaries or the recent convert's home teachers. Well that has not been happening here and the recent converts usually start to slip through the cracks without the love and attention they need. So we were talking about this with the Swaims and Brother Swaim just so happens to be a counselor in the bishopric and he decided that he would do something about this. Since he is always down at the church on Wednesday nights since its mutual night and there are usually always ward members floating around there then he figured we could do a new member lessons type class and try to get all the recent converts to come as well as active members to help fellowship. SO last week we had the first one. Brother Swaim taught the restoration and sadly ym/yw had been canceled that night so there really wasn't anyone at the church but some of our recent converts came. Shaun Roberts came and also Raymond and Vanessa- technically Raymond is not a member yet, he will be, as soon as his divorce goes through he can get married to Vanessa and then he can get baptized. They are a really awesome really strong family!! And so they came and also they brought their friend Clarissa with them and she is not a member. The sisters had taught Clarissa once or twice before whenever she was at Raymond and Vanessa's but she just wasn't ready for the gospel yet and wouldn't come to church. Well on Wednesday she came to church and really enjoyed the lesson. Before we started into the restoration, Brother Swaim had us all go around the room and share our conversion stories. When we got to Clarissa I told her she could just tell us why she came tonight and what it is that draws her to the church. Tears began to flow from her eyes and she said that she knows that this church and the things that we teach can change her life for the better and help strengthen her family. Sis Larrosa exchanged a glance and Smiled REALLY big after hearing that!!! The lesson went great and afterwards everyone mingled. So every week we are gonna have these NMLs (New Member Lessons) at the church, we are gonna get even more people there and we decided that we need to have dessert and also a nursery (last week Raymond and Vanessa's kids and Clarissa's ran around the room while we talked, ha ha) So anyway I am arranging everything and getting these NML's in order because they are awesome!!!
So as far as investigators go- well after the NML we asked Clarissa if we could come over and talk to her some more. She said yes, definitely she wanted to learn more and more about everything. SO we went over on Friday and taught her a bit about the restoration. The sister had already given her a BOM awhile ago but she hadn't read in it yet. But after the NML she went home and read all of the testimony and introduction stuff and then the first two chapters in Nephi! So we talked to her some more about Joseph Smith, then watched the Restoration video. It went very well and afterwards I explained to her about how we pray and asked her if she would be willing to offer the closing prayer and in her prayer ask Heavenly Father to help her to know if Joseph Smith really was a Prophet and if the Book of Mormon is true. She said she would do it! (That never happens; it is hard enough to get an investigator to pray in front of us, let alone about the Joseph Smith and the BOM) She said a great prayer and the spirit was strong. We were pretty darn psyched. She then told us that she wanted us to come to her son's 4th Birthday party on Saturday. Well we didn't really have the time for it, but we felt like we should go. So we went to an investigator's son's b-day party, hmm. Lol No really though it was great, it was awkward at first cause it was just us -the missionaries- and all of her family and her boyfriend's family. Well the Lord truly has blessed me with the ability to BRT (build relationships of trust, also known as just talking to people about themselves and getting them to like us) anyone!! So I played nice nice with Clarissa's family and then Raymond and Vanessa came which was nice cause well, we know them! So us and Raymond and Vanessa sat in the kitchen with Clarissa while all of the family members were in the other room. The whole time Clarissa would stay in there and talk with us as long as she could. It was so interesting to see how much she wanted to be around us and Raymond and Vanessa. We treat her different, we are kind to her and love her and the spirit is with her when she is around us and she notices it! So ya that was cool, she then told us that she would be coming to church on Sunday. Well sadly Sunday morning she and her baby woke up sick, so she didn't make it. But Vanessa told us that the night before Clarissa had gone over to her house to borrow clothes for church. So ya, we aren't sure though cause we called Clarissa and left a message and she hasn't called us back. But hey there is hope for sure- she is elect! Ok so in other news, Elizabeth and Wesley didn't show up to church again and haven't returned any of our calls, our WML (Ward Mission Leader) - the one who referred us to them, said they are really flaky but they want to get baptized. So ya and also Rudy and Vanessa didn't come to church. We went over there yesterday and they hadn't read in the Bom and Vanessa totally had the time to, so we told them how devastated we were and Vanessa felt bad. I was then just going to politely bow out and leave without teaching a lesson because they just aren't ready, but the spirit told me, nope we needed to teach a Plan of Salvation. SO I got out my handy dandy white board (thanks Jennie) and my Plan of Salvation visual aids and taught the lesson. It was exactly what Vanessa needed to hear. I then gave them a mini drop talk at the end, telling them that we love them and enjoy coming over, but our purpose as missionaries is to baptize and so when they're ready to read in the BOM and come to church give us a call and we would be thrilled to come over and teach them more!! After we had the closing prayer and got up to leave Vanessa stopped us pretty much begging us to come back- she said she loves what we tech and it makes her think. I told her great, then you read the chapter we left you in the BOM and then call us! So we left it at that. I know she will call, it's just a matter of time. So ya that is pretty much the story with all of our investigators right now. I have learned that out here in the country things are different. Both Adam and Moran wrote me about that and now I see it. We have to slow things down a bit and be patient, people here don't fit into the typical "teach 'em baptize 'em in three weeks" mold that we are taught to work in. So ya, I find myself having to be more patient and look at the big picture, only time will tell what will really happen. SO ya I am learning a lot out here in the country for sure!!
So now finally on to the subject heading- what does that mean? Well it was the topic of my talk yesterday. We had missionary Sunday yesterday and Sister Larrosa and I spoke as well as one of our ward missionaries, Sister Bourne (she's awesome!). I planned the whole thing and came up with the topics- that is another thing about this ward, if we want something done we have to do it! Lol I don't mind it at all, I plan things and it gets done right. :) So anyway I called Sister Bourne and asked her to speak and gave her the topic of why. Why with all of the many things she has to do in her busy schedule, why does she make time to share the gospel. She gave an amazing talk!! Then Sister Larrosa spoke on how. She spoke on being an example. It was also great, it was her first talk in English and she was so nervous, but she did amazing. Then I spoke on Being an Innkeeper. I related the parable of the Good Samaritan and how he was so awesome and helped the poor man, but what about the innkeeper. The innkeeper also played an important role. He was there when the Samaritan brought the man to him and he took him in. He took care of him. We as members can be innkeepers! Yes of course you are all encouraged to invite your friends to learn more about the gospel, but sometimes there is only so much you can do with that. But there is more to missionary work. We can as members be the innkeepers and be there for the investigators and recent converts who come to church and help them to feel loved and welcomed. We can be the innkeepers and take these people in, we can fellowship and befriend those who truly need us. So I went on to talk about simple ways to be an innkeeper- saying hi to people at church that you don't know. Sitting by someone that is all alone. Invite a less active or a recent convert or investigator over to your house for dinner. Smile at people at church!! Simple things. I then talked about the blessings that come from being an innkeeper. I concluded my talk by sharing a story that is very close to my heart. I told the story of how my parents moved to Washington and my dad was still a recent convert and they didn't know anyone and so they became less active. They didn't go to church and my family lost touch with the gospel for awhile. But one innkeeper changed all that. A man in the ward, who had been assigned to be my family's home teacher, took his job seriously and he became good friends with my dad. He loved and supported him and most of all made my dad feel welcome at church. SO my family started going back, and thanks to this innkeeper when I was three weeks old my family was sealed for time and all eternity in the Seattle Washington temple. I owe so much to that innkeeper and he will never have any idea how long reaching his efforts went. Because of him I am a member of the church, I am serving a mission. I cried a little bit as I related this story because the spirit was so strong. I then ended with my testimony and invited every member in the Pleasanton ward to be an innkeeper. Afterwards we had several people tell us how much they enjoyed their talks. One lady took me aside and told me that my talk hit her so powerfully, she said she has always wanted to do missionary work, but never felt successful in doing so- but being an innkeeper- that was something she could do. I am so grateful the spirit was able to prompt me to talk about such a topic and I want to encourage y'all to think about it as well. Think of whom you can fellowship and try to be an innkeeper- your life will be blessed immensely for it! And remember - by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.
Well Y'all I love you so much and I am so grateful for your love and support! Thank you to all of you who wrote me this week- oh man did I feel loved, a full mailbox makes for a VERY happy missionary! Thanks to: Jennie and C, Amy, Hailey, Kiley, and Maicy, Adam and Downy, Moran and I think that's it. If I forgot anyone sorry, but you can be sure that you'll be getting a letter this week! :)
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Hermana Kleisler
So this week was a pretty busy one. It started out with another run in with the cops- 5th time on my mission, I think this is a record!! But this time it did not turn out so well, I got a speeding ticket. Whoops my bad!! I think you have to be some kind of dope to get a speeding ticket on your mission in the church's car. But well, I did, but at least now I have learned my lesson- I have slowed down and I pay attention to speed limit signs now. SO ya that started off my week, but then it got better after that. My ticket was on Tuesday and then on Wednesday we had this new thing we started up- New Member Lessons. See, in this ward it is REALLY hard to get the members involved in helping our investigators and fellowshipping the recent converts. When a person is baptized they are supposed to receive a series of new member lessons from someone in the ward- usually ward missionaries or the recent convert's home teachers. Well that has not been happening here and the recent converts usually start to slip through the cracks without the love and attention they need. So we were talking about this with the Swaims and Brother Swaim just so happens to be a counselor in the bishopric and he decided that he would do something about this. Since he is always down at the church on Wednesday nights since its mutual night and there are usually always ward members floating around there then he figured we could do a new member lessons type class and try to get all the recent converts to come as well as active members to help fellowship. SO last week we had the first one. Brother Swaim taught the restoration and sadly ym/yw had been canceled that night so there really wasn't anyone at the church but some of our recent converts came. Shaun Roberts came and also Raymond and Vanessa- technically Raymond is not a member yet, he will be, as soon as his divorce goes through he can get married to Vanessa and then he can get baptized. They are a really awesome really strong family!! And so they came and also they brought their friend Clarissa with them and she is not a member. The sisters had taught Clarissa once or twice before whenever she was at Raymond and Vanessa's but she just wasn't ready for the gospel yet and wouldn't come to church. Well on Wednesday she came to church and really enjoyed the lesson. Before we started into the restoration, Brother Swaim had us all go around the room and share our conversion stories. When we got to Clarissa I told her she could just tell us why she came tonight and what it is that draws her to the church. Tears began to flow from her eyes and she said that she knows that this church and the things that we teach can change her life for the better and help strengthen her family. Sis Larrosa exchanged a glance and Smiled REALLY big after hearing that!!! The lesson went great and afterwards everyone mingled. So every week we are gonna have these NMLs (New Member Lessons) at the church, we are gonna get even more people there and we decided that we need to have dessert and also a nursery (last week Raymond and Vanessa's kids and Clarissa's ran around the room while we talked, ha ha) So anyway I am arranging everything and getting these NML's in order because they are awesome!!!
So as far as investigators go- well after the NML we asked Clarissa if we could come over and talk to her some more. She said yes, definitely she wanted to learn more and more about everything. SO we went over on Friday and taught her a bit about the restoration. The sister had already given her a BOM awhile ago but she hadn't read in it yet. But after the NML she went home and read all of the testimony and introduction stuff and then the first two chapters in Nephi! So we talked to her some more about Joseph Smith, then watched the Restoration video. It went very well and afterwards I explained to her about how we pray and asked her if she would be willing to offer the closing prayer and in her prayer ask Heavenly Father to help her to know if Joseph Smith really was a Prophet and if the Book of Mormon is true. She said she would do it! (That never happens; it is hard enough to get an investigator to pray in front of us, let alone about the Joseph Smith and the BOM) She said a great prayer and the spirit was strong. We were pretty darn psyched. She then told us that she wanted us to come to her son's 4th Birthday party on Saturday. Well we didn't really have the time for it, but we felt like we should go. So we went to an investigator's son's b-day party, hmm. Lol No really though it was great, it was awkward at first cause it was just us -the missionaries- and all of her family and her boyfriend's family. Well the Lord truly has blessed me with the ability to BRT (build relationships of trust, also known as just talking to people about themselves and getting them to like us) anyone!! So I played nice nice with Clarissa's family and then Raymond and Vanessa came which was nice cause well, we know them! So us and Raymond and Vanessa sat in the kitchen with Clarissa while all of the family members were in the other room. The whole time Clarissa would stay in there and talk with us as long as she could. It was so interesting to see how much she wanted to be around us and Raymond and Vanessa. We treat her different, we are kind to her and love her and the spirit is with her when she is around us and she notices it! So ya that was cool, she then told us that she would be coming to church on Sunday. Well sadly Sunday morning she and her baby woke up sick, so she didn't make it. But Vanessa told us that the night before Clarissa had gone over to her house to borrow clothes for church. So ya, we aren't sure though cause we called Clarissa and left a message and she hasn't called us back. But hey there is hope for sure- she is elect! Ok so in other news, Elizabeth and Wesley didn't show up to church again and haven't returned any of our calls, our WML (Ward Mission Leader) - the one who referred us to them, said they are really flaky but they want to get baptized. So ya and also Rudy and Vanessa didn't come to church. We went over there yesterday and they hadn't read in the Bom and Vanessa totally had the time to, so we told them how devastated we were and Vanessa felt bad. I was then just going to politely bow out and leave without teaching a lesson because they just aren't ready, but the spirit told me, nope we needed to teach a Plan of Salvation. SO I got out my handy dandy white board (thanks Jennie) and my Plan of Salvation visual aids and taught the lesson. It was exactly what Vanessa needed to hear. I then gave them a mini drop talk at the end, telling them that we love them and enjoy coming over, but our purpose as missionaries is to baptize and so when they're ready to read in the BOM and come to church give us a call and we would be thrilled to come over and teach them more!! After we had the closing prayer and got up to leave Vanessa stopped us pretty much begging us to come back- she said she loves what we tech and it makes her think. I told her great, then you read the chapter we left you in the BOM and then call us! So we left it at that. I know she will call, it's just a matter of time. So ya that is pretty much the story with all of our investigators right now. I have learned that out here in the country things are different. Both Adam and Moran wrote me about that and now I see it. We have to slow things down a bit and be patient, people here don't fit into the typical "teach 'em baptize 'em in three weeks" mold that we are taught to work in. So ya, I find myself having to be more patient and look at the big picture, only time will tell what will really happen. SO ya I am learning a lot out here in the country for sure!!
So now finally on to the subject heading- what does that mean? Well it was the topic of my talk yesterday. We had missionary Sunday yesterday and Sister Larrosa and I spoke as well as one of our ward missionaries, Sister Bourne (she's awesome!). I planned the whole thing and came up with the topics- that is another thing about this ward, if we want something done we have to do it! Lol I don't mind it at all, I plan things and it gets done right. :) So anyway I called Sister Bourne and asked her to speak and gave her the topic of why. Why with all of the many things she has to do in her busy schedule, why does she make time to share the gospel. She gave an amazing talk!! Then Sister Larrosa spoke on how. She spoke on being an example. It was also great, it was her first talk in English and she was so nervous, but she did amazing. Then I spoke on Being an Innkeeper. I related the parable of the Good Samaritan and how he was so awesome and helped the poor man, but what about the innkeeper. The innkeeper also played an important role. He was there when the Samaritan brought the man to him and he took him in. He took care of him. We as members can be innkeepers! Yes of course you are all encouraged to invite your friends to learn more about the gospel, but sometimes there is only so much you can do with that. But there is more to missionary work. We can as members be the innkeepers and be there for the investigators and recent converts who come to church and help them to feel loved and welcomed. We can be the innkeepers and take these people in, we can fellowship and befriend those who truly need us. So I went on to talk about simple ways to be an innkeeper- saying hi to people at church that you don't know. Sitting by someone that is all alone. Invite a less active or a recent convert or investigator over to your house for dinner. Smile at people at church!! Simple things. I then talked about the blessings that come from being an innkeeper. I concluded my talk by sharing a story that is very close to my heart. I told the story of how my parents moved to Washington and my dad was still a recent convert and they didn't know anyone and so they became less active. They didn't go to church and my family lost touch with the gospel for awhile. But one innkeeper changed all that. A man in the ward, who had been assigned to be my family's home teacher, took his job seriously and he became good friends with my dad. He loved and supported him and most of all made my dad feel welcome at church. SO my family started going back, and thanks to this innkeeper when I was three weeks old my family was sealed for time and all eternity in the Seattle Washington temple. I owe so much to that innkeeper and he will never have any idea how long reaching his efforts went. Because of him I am a member of the church, I am serving a mission. I cried a little bit as I related this story because the spirit was so strong. I then ended with my testimony and invited every member in the Pleasanton ward to be an innkeeper. Afterwards we had several people tell us how much they enjoyed their talks. One lady took me aside and told me that my talk hit her so powerfully, she said she has always wanted to do missionary work, but never felt successful in doing so- but being an innkeeper- that was something she could do. I am so grateful the spirit was able to prompt me to talk about such a topic and I want to encourage y'all to think about it as well. Think of whom you can fellowship and try to be an innkeeper- your life will be blessed immensely for it! And remember - by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.
Well Y'all I love you so much and I am so grateful for your love and support! Thank you to all of you who wrote me this week- oh man did I feel loved, a full mailbox makes for a VERY happy missionary! Thanks to: Jennie and C, Amy, Hailey, Kiley, and Maicy, Adam and Downy, Moran and I think that's it. If I forgot anyone sorry, but you can be sure that you'll be getting a letter this week! :)
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Hermana Kleisler
Monday, May 25, 2009
Patriotism is Alive and Well!
Howdy Y'all!!!
Happy Memorial Day to Y'all! Here in Texas- Memorial Day truly is a day of remembrance, and food! Ha ha Since it is a holiday the libraries are closed and we have permission to email at a member's home. We are at the Swaim Family's home and they are all geared up for a bbq and a good 'ol fashioned good time! I love being in the homes of members and feeling the spirit and love that encompasses them! So ya I am kinda distracted right now, lots of little kids running around in their red, white and blue! I am gonna be honest I really would rather go play with them then sit here at the computer! ha ha So ya I think I am gonna make this short! lol
Well ya'll this week was another one of SICKNESS! Not in a good way. lol I caught some obnoxious flu bug and then Sister Larrosa caught it and it hit her WAY worse than me- so it's been some tough work lately but we are recovering now. I am all better and Sister Larrosa got a blessing yesterday and she is doing better now. We have managed to get some work done this week, not a whole ton and nothing super awesome but we are trying! lol So now for the stories of the week....
First off, my hump day came and went. I woke up sick that morning which was a bummer, but we had district meeting so we drove up to San Antonio. The Elders were really sweet and put together a cute little "party" for me! We had a great district meeting and the elders even made me brownies with candles to blow out and everything! I got spoiled! :) We then went to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch with our district. After that we drove to the part of San Antonio that is our area and we went to work. The best part of the whole day was.... a super sweet spirit filled lesson with a new investigator!! Elizabeth was a member but she asked for her records to be removed, but now she wants to come back and bring her non member boyfriend with her. We had such a powerful lesson with them and they were both very touched. We will see them again this week and continue to work with them. They will have a lot to overcome- Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity issues for sure. But after we left their house after the first lesson I had this great picture in my head of them all in white with giant smiles on their faces! They are gonna get baptized- I know it, it's just a matter of time! :) So ya that was way sweet and sure made my hump day- I can't believe I am half way through my mission- crazy!! As for an update on Rudy and Vanessa- well she has pneumonia so ya that is a problem. She is recovering right now, so we weren't able to teach them last week and they couldn't come to church. We stopped by and Rudy came out and talked to us- he said that he isn't sure yet whether he is going to change his religion, but he likes having us over. lol So ya that is every missionaries dream to hear their investigators say that- NOT! lol It's like when the guy you like tells you that he would rather just be friends! lol SO anyway that's our investigators.
So this week instead of doing anything for a baptism the phrase was I would do anything to get someone to church! lol We were visiting a less active who hasn't been to church in a long time and he said he wanted some oatmeal cookies. SO we told him we would make him some oatmeal cookies to bring to church and if he came he would get them and if he didn't I would eat them and take pictures of me eating them and we would bring him the pictures! Lol So ya he didn't come to church so I guess I get to eat some cookies! lol Seriously it is amazing how much fun you can have with missionary work!! I truly am having a blast out here in Texas! I have even learned to love the country. I am gonna be a cowgirl after all! ha ha So ya things are going great out here honestly as always we could have more investigators, we could have had some people at church yesterday, we could have more teaching appointments, we could have more members who like us, we could have a lot of things- but that is not what matters. What I am learning out here is that it is all in how you look at things! I am so happy to be serving the Lord and to have a few investigators who truly do want to learn more about the gospel. I am in the home of an amazing family right now which I have come to love VERY much! I am working my butt off for the Lord and I am truly happy. I am choosing to look at my life and all that is going on in it as if from the perspective of Nephi. I am finding the positive and it ROCKS! Lol
So I have one last story for y'all. And it involves.... Police officers! Geez what is with me and the cops- this makes 4 times now that I have had a run in with the fuzz while on my mission. OK so here's the story- we were in Jourdanton, a town right next to Pleasanton, and we picked a street to knock. SO I parked the truck at the end of the street and we started working. We knocked all the way down one side of the street and it was a LONG street!!! So about an hour and a half later we walked back up towards the truck. The closer we got to truck I was starting to wonder why their were so many people outside right by our truck. Of course my missionary brain was so excited thinking- lots of people to EBP!!! So as we get down there- I get pounced on, is that your truck? Uh, yep! Oh man we were so sacred! (I'm thinking why cause the Mormon girls are here to convert you?) This lady goes on to say that she saw our truck parked in front of her house and she got so worried cause her dad was out of town and they didn't know whose truck was parked in front of their house. SO they got all worried and called the cops. SO then when they found out that it was us they called the cops back but it didn't work, they were already on their way. SO I real quick like got in the car and just as we were driving off they came and the cop pulled us over lights and all. He makes me get out of the car, walk to the back the whole nine yards! lol So he asks what we were up to and we explained. I totally EBP'd the cop! Ha ha and he asks for my license and then asks if we have bibles in the car and I was like ya you want to see them! Ha ha silly country folk- don't have much to worry about except everybody else's business. So the cop let me go after checking out my record and seeing I was scott free. SO ya just another run in with the police to add to the list. :)
Alright well I gotta go- it's time for a good 'ol fashioned Memorial Day BBQ at the Swaims!! I love y'all much and hope you have a great week!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE,
Hermana Kleisler
Happy Memorial Day to Y'all! Here in Texas- Memorial Day truly is a day of remembrance, and food! Ha ha Since it is a holiday the libraries are closed and we have permission to email at a member's home. We are at the Swaim Family's home and they are all geared up for a bbq and a good 'ol fashioned good time! I love being in the homes of members and feeling the spirit and love that encompasses them! So ya I am kinda distracted right now, lots of little kids running around in their red, white and blue! I am gonna be honest I really would rather go play with them then sit here at the computer! ha ha So ya I think I am gonna make this short! lol
Well ya'll this week was another one of SICKNESS! Not in a good way. lol I caught some obnoxious flu bug and then Sister Larrosa caught it and it hit her WAY worse than me- so it's been some tough work lately but we are recovering now. I am all better and Sister Larrosa got a blessing yesterday and she is doing better now. We have managed to get some work done this week, not a whole ton and nothing super awesome but we are trying! lol So now for the stories of the week....
First off, my hump day came and went. I woke up sick that morning which was a bummer, but we had district meeting so we drove up to San Antonio. The Elders were really sweet and put together a cute little "party" for me! We had a great district meeting and the elders even made me brownies with candles to blow out and everything! I got spoiled! :) We then went to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch with our district. After that we drove to the part of San Antonio that is our area and we went to work. The best part of the whole day was.... a super sweet spirit filled lesson with a new investigator!! Elizabeth was a member but she asked for her records to be removed, but now she wants to come back and bring her non member boyfriend with her. We had such a powerful lesson with them and they were both very touched. We will see them again this week and continue to work with them. They will have a lot to overcome- Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity issues for sure. But after we left their house after the first lesson I had this great picture in my head of them all in white with giant smiles on their faces! They are gonna get baptized- I know it, it's just a matter of time! :) So ya that was way sweet and sure made my hump day- I can't believe I am half way through my mission- crazy!! As for an update on Rudy and Vanessa- well she has pneumonia so ya that is a problem. She is recovering right now, so we weren't able to teach them last week and they couldn't come to church. We stopped by and Rudy came out and talked to us- he said that he isn't sure yet whether he is going to change his religion, but he likes having us over. lol So ya that is every missionaries dream to hear their investigators say that- NOT! lol It's like when the guy you like tells you that he would rather just be friends! lol SO anyway that's our investigators.
So this week instead of doing anything for a baptism the phrase was I would do anything to get someone to church! lol We were visiting a less active who hasn't been to church in a long time and he said he wanted some oatmeal cookies. SO we told him we would make him some oatmeal cookies to bring to church and if he came he would get them and if he didn't I would eat them and take pictures of me eating them and we would bring him the pictures! Lol So ya he didn't come to church so I guess I get to eat some cookies! lol Seriously it is amazing how much fun you can have with missionary work!! I truly am having a blast out here in Texas! I have even learned to love the country. I am gonna be a cowgirl after all! ha ha So ya things are going great out here honestly as always we could have more investigators, we could have had some people at church yesterday, we could have more teaching appointments, we could have more members who like us, we could have a lot of things- but that is not what matters. What I am learning out here is that it is all in how you look at things! I am so happy to be serving the Lord and to have a few investigators who truly do want to learn more about the gospel. I am in the home of an amazing family right now which I have come to love VERY much! I am working my butt off for the Lord and I am truly happy. I am choosing to look at my life and all that is going on in it as if from the perspective of Nephi. I am finding the positive and it ROCKS! Lol
So I have one last story for y'all. And it involves.... Police officers! Geez what is with me and the cops- this makes 4 times now that I have had a run in with the fuzz while on my mission. OK so here's the story- we were in Jourdanton, a town right next to Pleasanton, and we picked a street to knock. SO I parked the truck at the end of the street and we started working. We knocked all the way down one side of the street and it was a LONG street!!! So about an hour and a half later we walked back up towards the truck. The closer we got to truck I was starting to wonder why their were so many people outside right by our truck. Of course my missionary brain was so excited thinking- lots of people to EBP!!! So as we get down there- I get pounced on, is that your truck? Uh, yep! Oh man we were so sacred! (I'm thinking why cause the Mormon girls are here to convert you?) This lady goes on to say that she saw our truck parked in front of her house and she got so worried cause her dad was out of town and they didn't know whose truck was parked in front of their house. SO they got all worried and called the cops. SO then when they found out that it was us they called the cops back but it didn't work, they were already on their way. SO I real quick like got in the car and just as we were driving off they came and the cop pulled us over lights and all. He makes me get out of the car, walk to the back the whole nine yards! lol So he asks what we were up to and we explained. I totally EBP'd the cop! Ha ha and he asks for my license and then asks if we have bibles in the car and I was like ya you want to see them! Ha ha silly country folk- don't have much to worry about except everybody else's business. So the cop let me go after checking out my record and seeing I was scott free. SO ya just another run in with the police to add to the list. :)
Alright well I gotta go- it's time for a good 'ol fashioned Memorial Day BBQ at the Swaims!! I love y'all much and hope you have a great week!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE,
Hermana Kleisler
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