FALL!

 FALL!

 Amish

Carved pumpkins for Pday :)

 Hershey last week!

On the trolley

Chocolate World

I have also been reading Preach My Gospel, and I started the "How to Work With Ward And Stake Leaders" section. I felt like we needed to meet with the bishop, because for some reason I hadn't since coming to this area! At first it was bad. He got super defensive when we asked what his vision for the ward was, slowly but surely as we continued talking with him we were able to express that we were there to help accomplish that vision, and the whole spirit of the room changed. Yesterday while in PEC the whole focus was on the people who need extra attention at this time and who we could go see! He also later on invited us to their house for dinner as well!

We also went on exchanges this week with the Hershey sisters! Before exchanges we got to go to Chocolate World! That place is GREAT! The sisters have a neighbor who was the original manager and he got us free tickets to ride the trolley around the city! Such nice people! I stayed in E-town with Sister Noorlander. Sister Noorlander is such a great missionary! She has great insights, and she has a great testimony of this gospel. She has also only been out for 3 weeks! Though quiet for most of the lesson, when I turned to her to ask if she had anything to add she would happily share that testimony! I can tell that she truly is enjoying this chance to serve the Lord. 

We also had the opportunity to have a Logistics Committee meeting. President Johnson put together a committee to find ways to improve the whole transfer process. We were able to come up with some great ideas together as a group (it is us, The Assistants to the President, Harrisburg Zone Leaders, and Chambersburg Zone Leaders). So I am super excited to see the changes that are to come such as service, testimonies, locations, and the possibility to find out where we are going the Saturday before the transfer meeting! 

Something that I have realized this week is the happiness that can come from living the gospel. So I have realized the unhappiness that can come from Satan, and I know that by truly putting trust in Jesus Christ we can put that behind us. I was watching a Mormon Message this week and just seeing how happy they looked and wished that for myself. As I continued to ponder that, I realized that it was my own decision to continue to listen to the criticism that comes from Satan, and I also realized that I AM happy! I am happier than I have ever been before and that continues to grow! On Saturday we were having dinner at a members home, and her non-member son who has never shown an interest in the gospel asked me why I am always so happy, and I was truly able to testify that it was because of Jesus Christ.

 Sister Blackwell and I :)

 #1ancaster zone :)

Alright, so this week we had the opportunity to go on exchanges with the Columbia Walk Sisters (they are in a walk area, actually in Lancaster, but they are in the Columbia Spanish Branch) I got to stay in Etown with Hermana Blackwell. It's a small world after all! We totally went to the same High School and knew a lot of the same people, but had never actually talked before the mission, so it was super weird to be able to talk about things back home with someone who actually knew the people and places I was talking about! But it was  great exchange, Hermana Blackwell and I have a lot in common, but she is just an amazing missionary. We both came out at the same time as well! We got to do some service, got to scrub a burnt pan for about an hour, and we got to visit Deb (recent convert) in the hospital after a surgery. So something we found out this week is that we get to go on exchanges now with the Sunbury sisters, which is where my trainer is! It should be a super cool experience to be able to see how much we have both changed over the past 7 months! We got a call from a Less active member, Sister Yordy. I love her SO MUCH! So when the Elders were in this area they were teaching her, but she didn't really like them too much, but one of them told us to go see her, so we did (like a month ago)! She was just super ready to come back when we went over, she said she would come to church if we found her a ride, so we did and she came! So we also gave her some pamphlets and the other day she left us a message saying "Your second book is absolutely beautiful (the Plan of Salvation pamphlet) PROFOUND. I Am telling you! About the 3 heavens, the 3 places that you live, well I wanna live in the top place if I can make it, the Celestial one"  We also have Zone Training this week! We learned about Opposition and Anti, and Sister Landa and I got to train on using Mormon.org. There is seriously SO much going on in the world, especially online, so what better place to find information than lds.org or Mormon.org? We all got to share 3 minute talks on our favorite conference talks, so powerful hearing the testimonies of so many missionaries! After we did a zone activity to build the unity in our zone with volleyball and chair soccer! I have grown more of a love for sports while on my mission, so much fun! Friday we walked ALL DAY! We probably almost walked every street of Columbia.. The Lord places people in our path every day, we just have to talk to them and help them to come closer to Christ! Saturday... #servicesaturday we helped someone move, someone else paint, #servicesoftenshearts Sunday we went to Sister Aipas house for a ride to church, to help her get there, and we made it there early! PLUS she brought a friend! It was so great to partake of the Sacrament, after General and stake conference, it really helped to to appreciate more the ordinance of the sacrament. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and his willingness to perform the Atonement for EVERY ONE OF US! None of us are excluded from that!!!

This week!

Drive home from MLC (Mission Leadership Council)

Fall is HERE!!!

MLC Selfie

 MLC:

 

Lunch Time!

Members of the MLC:  Front:  Elders Hyer, Bryant, Bell, Wadsworth, Schofield and Scott

Center:  Sister Johnson, Elder May (purple tie), Sisters: Johnson, Landa,Roberts, Oliver, Crockett, Busath, Sibley, Robinson, Sears and Smith

Back:  Pres. Johnson,Elders: O'Keefe, Loretto, Millis, Cuthbert, Baker, Ord, Gates, Redford, Redd, Mills, Saylor, Gray and Camp

 Pretty sunset

 Sis Landa, bro Conger, Nikki, me

 

Nikki loved the activity and she's not a member! :)

 

Stripes on stripes on stripes...You could say I really like stripes.

 Exchanges with Sister Zaugg, she is home now though!

 Our district, VanLeewen, Mills, Wood, May, Landa, me

 We played tennis for Pday with our district!

One thing that is harder about this area is that there are so many people who will listen as you talk about Jesus Christ, but it doesn't seem like too many people are ready to act! 

So last week Sister Landa and I had decided that we needed to organize our teaching pool, figuring out who is prepared and who is not, so we did just that on Thursday during weekly planning. We made a list of some people to try in each area, and we are putting our trust in the Lord that everything will work out!

So on that note, we were walking around Columbia on Saturday and we saw a guy waving down on of his friends in a car and Sister Landa says, "I wish people would wave us down to teach them the gospel", not even joking like a minute later a guy was calling for us from across the street to come and teach his friend! We went over, and the friend didn't seem too interested, but we were able to teach Robert (the guy who waved us over) the whole Restoration! Sadly, right after that we went to try one of our investigators, who write us a note saying "I don't need you to teach me no more, have a good day" so that was sad, but I know when the time is right he will accept the gospel!!! 

On Friday we had MLC (Mission Leadership Council) all of the zone leaders and Sister training leaders meet with our mission president. We met in Altoona! Usually it is held in Pittsburgh, but Altoona is a central location, but we ended up having to drive there AND back that day! Needless to say I was done sitting after that. We had to go pick up the York Zone leaders, Elders May and Mills, and the Harrisburg ZL's, Elders Bell and Sailor. Not sure if I ever told you, but at Zone conference we got these devices in our cards called TIWIs, they monitor you speed, sharp turns, fast breaks, accelerations, and all that fun stuff. We didn't want to drive, so we made the Elders drive, and that TIWI probably said "check your speed" more than 20 times. There was also a lot of traffic on the way back so we didn't end up getting back until 10:45... We are supposed to go to bed at 10:30. But the meeting was super good! We were able to discuss the needs of the mission, and we had a great training on how people will get Anti and apposition, it was totally prophesied, but we can help them focus on the Savior, which is the MOST important thing!!

So Sunday we got a call from the husband of someone wHo had met, but he sadly told us they were not interested. Later on in the day though we were walking around Marietta and we met a guy name John! He has such a great faith in Christ, and was excited to read the Book of Mormon! We also had Stake conference and one of the big themes was keeping the Sabbath day Holy, IT'S SO IMPORTANT!!! What sign do we want to show the Lord on the sabbath day! 

Love you, and thank you so much for all of your prayers

Weekly Update- General Conference and NO transfer :)

Hey, I hit 10 months last week! Time sure is flying, and I am glad to be in the service of God! I have grown SO much in my testimony and in many other aspects of my life!

I LOVE General Conference! I am so very grateful for the many WONDERFUL leaders of the church, and I was truly inspired to do better as I heard their words and felt of their spirits Saturday and Sunday.

 One of the biggest things that I got out of the whole conference was that none of us are perfect, there are so many things that I know that I need to work on, and we can all improve, and the way that we can improve is by working together, and most importantly we can improve because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Through him all things are possible and I am so grateful for that. I also know that family really is so important, I am so very grateful for the family that I have, and I am grateful that I get to prepare for my future family now, while I am strengthening my relationship with Jesus Christ, by serving others and helping others to come unto Christ.

If you weren't able to watch, I would definitely encourage you to do so! I KNOW that you will feel the spirit and that you will find what you can do in your own life to come closer to Christ. Before the first session of conference started I wrote down a list of some questions that I had, EVERY SINGLE ONE of them was answered!!! OUr Heavenly Father knows us personally and he knows EXACTLY what we need!

Also, transfers are this week... and I am NOT getting transferred! I am so excited to continue serving in Elizabethtown, and as a Sister Training Leader! It's amazing the love that I am able to have for our sisters, I truly do know that I am able to see a portion of the love that our Heavenly Father has for them, and I know that love will continue to grow!

I am just really grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that he loves me and I know that he is so patient with me as I make mistakes every single day, and he still loves me just as much!