Week 41

Hello Everyone!!

This week has been good!!  We had some slower days because I haven't been feeling well on and off, but it was still a pretty successful week!!  First of all, James and Jeremy are on date!!!!  We are pretty excited for that!!  They fed us Monday night and we talked with the parents and they are super on board!!  Then in our other two lessons this week, their mom Lupe sat in and then Tom their dad sat in on Friday night!!!  Then Sunday they didn't come to church because they slept in :/ But they did come to a fireside that night and they were talking with the Bishop and other ward members and had a great time!! They are an awesome family and I absolutely LOVE them!!  So they are doing great and things are coming together for their baptism!  It's such a great feeling to be able to watch someone actually progress towards baptism!!  Anyway, then Josiah was good this week, although he did have a bad day on Saturday and was feeling really low so he told us that he wasn't going to be baptized.  It broke our hearts because he is so ready!!!  So we went over yesterday afternoon and we helped him resolve his concerns and we hope to help him make it to his baptism!  He is having a hard time right now and says he isn't feeling that it it's the right time to be baptized, but we know that if he is baptized he will receive the blessings that he needs to make it through this hard time!  Anyway, we will be working hard to keep him on date!  Then we have some good referrals that we will be contacting this week so that's exciting!  We are still working with Kim and she is ready to make the changes she needs to make to go to the temple, but some of the main things aren't just dependent on her, so she is patiently waiting for things to change.  But she is amazing and we love her!  Then Thursday we were able to go to the temple!!!  It was so amazing!!  As a missionary, going to the temple is just about the greatest thing you can do!  I love it!!!  Other than that, it has been a slower week, but we have been striving to continue to be exactly obedient missionaries and are definitely seeing the blessings!  I hope you all realize how blessed we are to have the gospel in our lives, and that that gratitude will lead you to want to share it with everyone around you!  I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful week!!

Love,

Sister Zimmerman

Me by my trusty bike!  Don't know why but I think I look so much older here....

 At the temple! I love this Sister!!!

 This was for a project that our zone is doing!  An Elder that is on FB in our mission will be putting them on our FB page!  Check out the Scottsdale Arizona Mission page!  I think that's what it would be called...I wouldn't know! ;)

Week 40 1/2 way mark!

Hello Everyone!!

This week has been absolutely AMAZING!!!!  And I hit my 9 month so I'm halfway done!  I still think I have a whole mission left, but sooner or later reality will hit!  I've learned so much already and have SOOO much more to learn!  Anyway, missionary work.  So this week we have been riding our bikes around neighborhoods in our area to street contact from 8 to 9 and then any time in between going to homes of potential investigators, less-actives and so on.  This week we had at least a short conversation with 26 people!!!!!!  I told my STL that I felt like a real missionary this week.  She said "opposed to a fake missionary?"  Haha, what I meant is I just feel like I've finally gotten over myself to just go and do the Lord's work and OPEN MY MOUTH!!  We have met some interesting people for sure!  I love getting to meet so many different people, it's something that I definitely cherish out here!  On to investigators, James and Jeremy are doing great!  AND....their mom participated in both of their lessons this week!!!!!!!!  It was so cool!!  The second lesson she basically bore her testimony on the peace that we can feel from feeling the spirit and how it must feel in the Temple!  Then she told us she would come to church, and she did!  She loved it!  She said that it's so different, but she likes it a lot.  She likes the differences.  She told me that she is just going to stick by us during church so that we can guide her.  Oh, and pretty cool fact: she is originally from a city near Guadalajara but also around the cities that Haley has been serving near!  I got a tie to my twin!!  So fun, just thought I would share!  Then we have Josiah....and HE'S GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!  We are so excited!!  We set it last night, but he set it.  Right now it's set for September 9th, but we may have it earlier, we will just wait and see.  But that is his date for now!  It IS a Tuesday, but that's when he has his two little ones, and he really wants them to be there, so if anyone was confused, that is the explanation!  He is so ready for baptism!  He has a testimony, he comes to church (he hasn't quite made it on time to Sacrament, but we are working on that!), and he accepts every commitment that we extend to him.  I'm so excited that I have been able to see him progress since I've been here!  Then Monica sadly dropped us just today, she thanked us for our time and told us that she would call us up if she wanted to take the lessons again, she just wants to look around in other churches for right now so that she knows what church she really wants to join.  Marie is doing okay...she's still crazy....we may drop her but we are kinda waiting for her next lesson to see where she really is.  Then we have Kim coming to church with her boyfriend, and he is actually opening up a lot because at first Kim said he definitely wasn't going back to church....well...he's come twice! Yay!!  Our next step is getting them to the temple!  We are also going to be working with Shawn on getting to the temple!  It's just been an amazing week and I'm so grateful for this time that I get to be a missionary!  I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful week!!!

Love,

Sister Zimmerman

 Here are pictures for my 9 month mark!  I burned some socks because I didn't want to burn any clothes....

 

Well, I crashed on our way out of our apartment Wednesday, but it's all good!  I landed on a pile of rocks..but could have been a lot worse!  First crash on bike! 

 

Week 39

Hello Everyone!

These past few days have been good!  There isn't much to tell, but it's been good because serving the Lord is ALWAYS good! :)  So Wednesday night we taught a sweet lady named Betty.  She was actually first contacted by Sister Heap!  So almost a year and a half ago!  We followed-up on our commitment to read the Book of Mormon.  She hadn't really read much, so we read the first two chapters with her.  I think it helped her a lot and I think reading with her will help a lot as well, because it can be a little confusing if you aren't used to it.  Anyway, she is a sweetheart and I love her and hope that she progresses to baptism one of these days!  Then Thursday we taught Jack about the Plan of Salvation and it was a very long lesson....he soaks everything up that we teach him.  And he is almost done with reading the Doctrine and Covenants, so he had a lot of questions for us!  Then Friday we did weekly planning all day and talked with the other sisters about our plan of attack to get our ward members involved in missionary work.  We will still be working out kinks to better motivate our members, but I think we are starting in a good place.  Then Friday night was the best.  So, we had a lesson with Marie at 6:30 but we were a couple of minutes early, and she wasn't home.  We didn't want to leave so we walked over to Josiah's so that we could talk to people along the way if we saw anyone.  We actually did talk to a lady who we see around the complex a lot, but haven't really had a conversation with her.  She was a really neat lady, and maybe one day she will let us talk about the gospel!  Then we saw Josiah and had a good visit with him.  Then we walked back to Marie's and she opened the door and starting ranting about how we were an hour and a half late and she was only 10 minutes late, but we asked where she had been and she had actually been in the hospital.  Anyway, it's funny because she was looked happy to see us but was trying to get mad at us at the same time, and we think she has some mental problems but is pretty there.  Anyway, it was pretty exciting.  It was good to know how much she cares about us!  And she actually came to Sacrament meeting on Sunday which was awesome!!  Then Saturday morning we went out with the other sisters to do what we call "member teachings".  We taught two different families how they can participate in missionary work, and it was good!  Then that afternoon we were busy with studies and more planning.  Then that night we saw James and Jeremy because they weren't at our appointment we had set on Thursday.  Then we had our scripture class that night and we talked about how to find answers for yourself in the scriptures.  I think it went really well!  Then Sunday was good!  We had the boys and Marie at church and ALL of our recent converts came which is exciting to see that retention!  Other than that, nothing really happened.  It's been a good week, and Sister Lords and I have recommitted to being consecrated missionaries.  This happens a lot, but we honestly have to recommit almost daily!  Anyway, I'm really excited to see what this week brings!  I love you all and hope you have a great week!!

Love,

Sister Zimmerman

 So...I finally wore my hair down and it's getting so long so I had to take a pic of it!

I love my companion Sis. Lords!!

 

Week 38

Hello everyone!

I hope your week has been great!!  This past week and a half has been so great!!  I LOVE the area that I get to serve in!  We of course always need to work on getting the members involved in member missionary work...but that's nothing new, and we are getting more enthusiasm which is awesome!  So last Monday we met with Monica and taught her the Word of Wisdom, and she committed to living it and that it all made sense!  Then we met with her again this past Monday and she said it's been hard to keep it, but it's a work in progress, which is fine as long as she still has the desire to keep working at it!  That meeting we talked about tithing, and again she committed to paying her tithing after she is baptized!  She's coming along, we just need to get her to church and get her a baptism date!  Then Tuesday we were able to have a good visit with a less-active member, and we hope that she is coming around and will gain a solid testimony of this gospel.  Then we saw James and Jeremy that night.  We taught them about scripture study, and they did great during the lesson!  Then the next lesson we had with them we taught them about obedience, and again they seemed to grasp it!  Then the next time we met with them which was Monday night, they joined us at Audrey's house for a back to school Family Home Evening.  They both received back to school blessings from another member of the ward, and after they told us that they felt happy and warm!!  We are SO happy that they are grasping the gospel so well and seeing it bless their lives!!  They are wonderful little boys and we love teaching them!  Then Thursday we met with a less-active member who is a convert that didn't really have a firm testimony.  So we sat down with him and answered questions that he had about 1 Nephi 1.  He had some awesome questions.  We were so happy that he was asking so many questions and being open with us so that we can know how to best help him.  He's a very sweet man. Then we had another movie night at Brother Monson's house and this time we watched 17 Miracles.  It was really fun, and Josiah came!  He really enjoyed it and was also able to meet some more members!!  Then Friday we met with Nalani, who is a sweetheart!  She has been less-active for a long time, and is ready to learn more about the church and start getting involved again!  Friday we just listened to her and her troubles, then Tuesday we set up a plan as to how we are going to help her.  We decided that we are going to teach her the lessons as if she is an investigator.  We are so happy that she is so eager to learn more about the gospel and hopefully make the steps that lead to happiness!!  Then we met with a man named Shawn who is less-active as well.  He has a strong testimony, we just have to help him get to church!  That seems to be a common problem..but by the end of my mission I'm going to be really good at convincing people to come to church! ;)  Anyway, Saturday we didn't have any lessons, but worked on some paper work to track our member missionary work.  I hope you all follow Elder Ballard's request to invite QUARTERLY!!!!  Anyway, missionary work is awesome. :)  Then Sunday was Testimony meeting, and our ward mission leader bore a strong testimony on member missionary work, then I bore my testimony, then Audrey bore her testimony on how awesome it is to go out with the sisters to lessons!   Then two other sisters bore their testimony!  It was really powerful, and I personally hope that it gets our members more excited to participate in this wonderful work!  Then Tuesday we saw the Watrous kids who are recent converts.  They are super sweet kids and we got to re-teach them the plan of salvation and they knew it all!  So, it's been a pretty awesome week!  I hope you are all doing well and helping the Lord Hasten His work!  I love you all!!

Love,

Sister Zimmerman