Week 18

This week wasn't too exciting, but there were some miracles, don't you worry!  Wednesday we had a great Zone Conference!  President Sweeney first talked about not worrying about being a "robot missionary" and that if you really want to be a rebel in this world, be good.  That is sooo true!  Don't worry if you are a "molly mormon" or whatever.  You're going to be more individual being exactly obedient than just going with the flow!  We also talked about not worrying about being in a certain calling in a missionary leadership position.  He said that we all have special callings because we are set apart to be missionaries!  We also took a behavior quiz of sorts that told us what our natural nature was and I am a blue in case you are all wondering.  That means I'm responsible, a listener, etc. I don't remember but it was fun!  Then President and Sister Sweeney talked about how we can use these natural gifts that we have been given to try to contact people on the street which we call TTI which is Teach Testify Invite.  So that was exciting!  I personally gained more motivation to go out proselyting and TTIing and being able to use my strengths to talk to people about the church.  Thursday was a long day of knocking on doors and we also had a Zone Training meeting which was good.  We learned about how to teach simply and it was just really good.  All of it made me just want to get out and teach so many people!  And we're going to get so many poeple-miracles are on the horizon!!  Then Friday we met with Nyla...just please pray for Nyla and Jeff Cramer.  Long story short, they just need some prayers.  So please and thank you!  And we were also able to help a less-active member move some boxes to her truck because she has a bad leg and can't do it all on her own!  We also went out to TTI Friday around 5 and boy....President Sweeney was right about going at 4 because you have to catch them before they get drunk!  But some nice men said hi to us then left once they saw our tags ;)  Saturday we also went out to TTI at an art festival that they were having that day!  We met a couple of members there and also talked to a man who has studied the mormon religion and then talked to his wife and invited them both to the Mesa Easter Pageant!  It was a fun afternoon!  Then Sunday we had a great ward conference on missionary work (my favorite topic ever)  so that was a great Sunday!  And no, no investigators came to church but fun story: A young man walked in after sacrament meeting and walked past us with earphones in and coffee? and dressed really casually.  He ended up talking to some members asking if a congregation met there.  They said no, it had just ended, but there was a Young Single Adult ward that meets at 1 in our building so he could go there!  We are not sure what happened there, but hopefully he went back or comes back next week!  I hope you all catch the wave of missionary work!  It is just so exciting!  I love you all and hope you have a great week and talk to ONE person about the church!  :)

Week 17 - A new companion :)

This week was quite exciting! Surprise I'm training!! Haven't even hit 4 months! :/  So Tuesday we did our studies then we stopped by to see Meiwan to help her pack because she moved on Friday :(  All is well though because she will be baptized soon enough!  then we went to a less-active's house to maybe help her with organizing her kitchen, but instead just visited with her and in the meantime got a call from President Sweeney letting us know that Sister Fairbanks would be going to Mesa to be a co-STL with Sister Cole and that Sister Krutsch (crooch) would be coming here from Payson and I would be training her.  And this all went down Wednesday at 1, so we really didn't have too much of a warning, so we went around to different people that Sister Fairbanks wanted to say goodbye to, which was sad.  Then we came back early to let her pack.  Then Wednesday we were able to go to a session at the Mesa temple.  It was such a great experience!  There were a lot of missionaries that went, including some from the Mesa mission, but it was fun especially because it was my last time with Sister Fairbanks!  Then we stopped by Meiwan's because she wanted to give us notebooks for our missions to write down our addresses for people ;)  Then we went to the mission home to switch companions around.  Once we got home, we unpacked then went out to dinner and to contact people and ended up at the Peterson's because I just love them so much and they always answer the door ;)  Then Thursday we had District Meeting that was really good and we learned more about being more in tune to the Spirit to let us know what exactly to say to our investigators.  Then Friday we saw Heather again which was so exciting!  We talked to her some more about how interested she is in learning more, and she keeps her Book of Mormon out and will read the assignment I gave her a few days ago.  She is having a hard time convincing her husband to listen to us because he wants to find a Christian church to go to......yup.  But she is very open and was interested in going to a relief society activity that we have coming up!  Then we also visited another less-active who has many hurt feelings from a bad divorce that ties into the church, but we had a great visit and were able to start a good relationship with her!  Then Saturday Sister Krutsch wasn't feeling too great so we stayed inside all day while she slept for most of the day!  So I crocheted while listening to the Book of Mormon!  Then Sunday we had meetings and church, which no one came to :( but that's okay because that just means that miracles are on the horizon!  then we saw some less-actives last night, one of them being a 17-year-old young woman that a few months ago was mad at her dad for dragging to church events, but has recently been asking her dad when certain activities were. So we had a great conversation with her!  So this week has been a little crazy!  But I LOVE being a missionary!  I just love being able to share my testimony all day everyday with so many different people!  I hope you are all jumping on board in this wonderful work!  I love you all and hope that you all have a great week!   Oh and those who are curious, my companion is 24 years old, has gone to a couple of years of college, and is from Springville!  I love her to death already and we have known each other for 5 days!  :)

 Rachel and Sister Fairbanks at the Mesa Temple

 Rachel and Sis. Fairbanks with  Meiwan

new companion Sis. Krutsch (crooch)

Week 16

This week has been a little slow, but it has still been a good week!  On Monday we were able to have a lesson with a recent convert that went very well!  Then on Tuesday we brought a member out with us to try to have a lesson with someone, but no one would open their doors, even though we could see them through their windows.  Then we had a lesson with a less-active lady who said at the end that she feels she is almost ready to talk to the bishop which is a huge step from where she was!  She has been hurt by people in the church and has held it against the church, but her heart is slowly softening!  Then we took out a young woman in our ward who wants to serve a mission, and we tried to contact more people without success, so we ended up at the Peterson's who are very reliable!  We had a great lesson with them!  Then Wednesday we had District meeting and we were asked to do a training on how the Book of Mormon supports the Bible!  We had a fun time preparing for that and had a good training in the end!  We had a lot of participation and were able to learn more about how to help our investigators!  Then we saw Meiwan and had a short lesson with her, and she told us again that she doesn't want to meet with any other missionaries, but wants to meet with us at a member's home in our area.  We hope that we will be able to persuade her to open up to the new missionaries in her new home!  Then we had dinner with a new couple in our ward and had a great time getting to know them better, then saw another member and were caught up on different things that we needed to know about recent converts and other members, then we saw a less-active man whose daughter actually went to young woman's that night!  We were excited because she really wanted to go which hasn't been the case for a long time!  Then Thursday I was in bed for 3 hours with a migraine, then got up to go to a lesson with a less-active and her new visiting teacher!  Before we went to the lesson, we picked fresh sweet peas from her garden and put them in a vase to give to the lady we were going to see!  Then we saw Don later that night then came home so I could rest.  Then Friday we saw Nyla and had a good conversation with her!  Then we had dinner and saw another less-active member who was very tired, so we made it short and sweet, then went home.  Then Sunday we were able to go to the Gilbert Temple dedication broadcast at our building!  It was very good and sweet President Monson was so funny as usual!  And before going inside after putting on the mortar, he had 4 children come up to put mortar on the cornerstone!  It was very cute!  Then we came home and I slept again until dinner then a fireside that we had with Stephanie Meyers!  We sang in a missionary choir so we had to be a little early, and I was able to see Sister Heap!  So that was exciting!  And the fireside was very good and Stephanie's testimony was wonderful and it was just a great experience!  So this week has been good!  I love being a missionary during this time!  I hope you are all being wonderful examples in everything you do!

Comfy clothes on P-day !

Week 15

Wow, another AMAZING week has just occurred!!! ;)  Wednesday I was prompted to see a referral from the previous week since we hadn't seen her the day before, and as we were going to see her, we ran into another potential investigator named Johnny who has coworkers that are LDS and we had a great talk with him and he asked for the information to come to church!  He didn't come, but he was more open than when we talked to him before so that was great! Then we saw the person we were going to and she has picked up the Book of Mormon and likes it and has talked to her husband about being more open to listening to what we have to say!  We also saw a potential investigator that we have written down for a few months and finally saw him!  He isn't interested in changing his views, but hey, we now know who he is!  We also saw the Bauers and talked to her about her job and she wants to work with her husband now as a bus driver so she has the weekends off and can come to church!  So please pray for Lori Bauer to get a new job!!  Then Thursday we had an abbreviated District Meeting that went well then we saw two less-active members in the afternoon that we have also been trying to see for a few months!!!  That was awesome!  The first one we rescheduled a time to see her this week and bring her visiting teacher to meet her!  The second we shared a scripture with her about the atonement and she said she was going to leave her copy of the BoM out so that she could read it later!  Then later that night we visited another less-active who we wanted to get to know better, and hopefully we can figure out how to help her!  Then we saw another less-active in the ward who hasn't been to church in a lot of years, and who I saw a week or so before Christmas before she was going to bring her husband home from an Assisted Living.  At first her response to us was "it's a little late for you to be here, but you can come in I guess" but then as we showed that we cared about her and our concern for her husband's welfare, as we left she said "thanks a million!  God bless you!" Miracles I'm telling you!  Then Friday we saw Sarah on our way to someone's house, and that was a miracle because we haven't been in contact with her for over a week because she has been sick!  She is much better now and we are going to visit with her tonight!  Then Saturday we were going to visit another less-active in the ward, and his mom answered and let us in because she thought we were the police?  Anyway, she told us she was Catholic and so was her son, but by the end she accepted the Book of Mormon and marked where we wanted her to read and said we could see her this week!  Miracle!!!!! Then we saw Alexis and....just pray for Alexis.  She has a really hard life right now and could use all the prayers she can get.  Then we saw Meiwan and had a lesson with her and she told us when she moves she wants to have lessons with us at her neighbors house!  Then she came to church on Sunday!  Then we also saw a less-active lady who we have been trying to see for a while and it was great getting to know her and we hope to establish a relationship with her again!  Then we saw Terri.....please pray for her and for us to know what we can do to strengthen her testimony...she is basically trying to disprove the Book of Mormon is true to find out if it is true....and she thinks it is false right now.  Then Sunday we just saw a widow in our ward who was hurt earlier in the week then saw a less-active family who we haven't visited with altogether but we did last night!! We had a great conversation with them and they might take us out to dinner this week!!  Please try your best to be member missionaries!  Offer your homes for lessons and just offer your friendship!  Remember what our church is all about-love of Christ! :) I hope you all have a great week!!

Beautiful Arizona sunsets! With Sis. Fairbanks

Week 14

This week was sooooo good!!  On Monday, after getting back from errands I went on a cleaning frenzie...nothing new there ;)  Then we visited the Hankins family and Mike (the husband) asked for a Book of Mormon!!!!  Terri has one, but he didn't have one and hasn't accepted one so far!  He was talking to Sister Fairbanks while I talked to Terri and they got into the discussion of if you want to find out if what we are telling you is true, read the Book of Mormon and pray about it to find out if it is true!!  So that was awesome, then we had a lesson with a lady named Heidi who is almost 50 but doesn't look anywhere close to it!  She does hot yoga, and that is basically her religion is what she says!  So we said we would come back later to get to know her better!  Then Tuesday we had a get-to-know-you with an investigator named Terri O'Shaughnessy.  She is awesome!  She knows a lot about the church from coworkers and friends and hasn't really acted on any knowledge although she really admires us Mormons.  So when her dad passed away this fall, she decided she needed something solid to rely on, so she chose to rely on her Heavenly Father.  She has made a goal with her sister to read the Bible and/or Book of Mormon (!!!!!!!!!!!!) every day for 10 min or up to an hour even!! So, she is converting herself and we are very excited to see what happens with her and if she will come to church soon!!  Then we went to see Danny, and his mom gave us back the Book of Mormon because the print was too small for him to read, so that was sad :(  Then that night we had a Relief Society activity and Meiwan came!  And after we gave her a church tour so that she would be more familiar with our building when she comes to church!  She also met the Bishop, which was great!  Then Wednesday we met with a less-active that we hope finishes her reading assignment soon!  We also visited a Recent Convert who gave us little heart necklaces and cookies for valentines day!  He is such a sweetheart!  (don't worry, he is 86).  We also received a referral for a girl named Heather and contacted her that night!  She is sooo cute!!  She has been married to her husband for 6 years, they moved just last week from Las Vegas, he is now going into culinary school, and she is a massage therapist!  We also found out that they have been talking about finding a church to go to!  Good thing we came just in time! :)  Then Thursday we stayed in all day because Sister Fairbanks had the stomach flu....don't worry I haven't gotten it..yet..prayers would be appreciate.  So I crocheted and listened to General Conference and listened to almost all of 2 Nephi!  Then Friday she was still sick, but was able to come with us to "heart attack" our mission president's office for Valentines day!  It was really fun and he really enjoyed it!  Then we came home to rest some more, then with lots of insistence from Sister Fairbanks, we saw an older widow in our ward to see how she was doing, then we had dinner, then visited with Meiwan....she wasn't feeling too well by the end of all that :(  Then Saturday we went to a baptism of a YSA that Sister Fairbanks had met her first day out in the field!  And Meiwan came to that as well!  She had some questions, so we set up an appointment for later that night.  At night, we had the lesson with Meiwan and brought a member from our ward.  The member was a little frustrated because Meiwan likes to talk a lot and has a lot of questions, too many all at once, so it wasn't that productive, but we did invite her to watch the 20 minute video of the Restoration!  Then Sunday we had PEC, then no one came to church, then we had Ward Missionary Correlation, then we were able to visit with some kids who were baptized last year.  We talked about Family History work, and they were so excited it was awesome!!  Add technology to anything and kids will jump right on board!  But really, they are very excited to learn more about their ancestors!  Then we had a lesson with Heidi and a member from our ward!  When we got there, Heidi had friends over, one who knows the Bible inside and out, and has read the whole Book of Mormon.  She has her own views so she left to go to bed because of work the next morning.  Then we were able to talk to Heidi some more and clear things up that she had heard about the church.  She was very open to what we had to say and stayed on gospel topics really well, which seems to be a miracle sometimes!   Then Monday we had another lesson with Meiwan, which went much better!  She understood the Restoration really well after watching the video!  Then later that night we were trying to contact people, and there was a flyer for someone who was making and selling jewelry in an apartment so we decided to go check it out and have a reason to contact someone!  We hope to see her again, she was really nice!  Then yesterday, we saw a less-active with a very hyper and large dog that drooled all over us...that was fun!  Then we saw Don and started going over the Book of Mormon stories with him!  This week has been great!!!!!  We have seen soooooo  many miracles!!  Thank you for all of your prayers!!  Oh, and we didn't get a third companion, we are both staying in our area, and for good reasons I am starting to see!  I love you all!! Hope you had a great week!

Week 13

This week was amazing!  Of course we faced trials yet again, but we are finding that as we do everything that we possibly can, we find many miracles along the way.  Monday we just had a couple of lessons with Recent Converts, one of them just recently baptized, and she is awesome!  She is so enthusiastic about the church and loves having us come over to teach her more about the gospel!  Tuesday we had our regular studies, then we had to get the oil changed in our car so we ended up at the car shop for about an hour and a half sitting outside reading our Book of Mormon and trying to talk to anyone who would listen!  Which was no one, but it was nice to spend some time outside which is rare since we are in a car!  Then we went to the temple with two investigators!  We rode with one investigator and two members and the other investigator was taken by his roommate who is a member!  The investigator in our car asked a lot of different questions and the driver answered them so well and connected very well with our investigator which is sooo wonderful!  We can only do so much as missionaries, so having members that are friendly and open with our investigators is golden!  She also loved the temple and has since called the member who answered her questions a few times to talk to her!  Then Wednesday we went to the temple with the Petersons who are a less-active couple in our ward that we love so very much!  We had a wonderful time with them!  Then Thursday we found a new investigator!  His name is Danny and we found him while trying to contact a less-active and part-member family in our ward!  He was outside washing his car, so we walked up and started talking to him.  We invited him to the temple, but at first rejected because he is Greek Orthodox.  But as we kept talking to him and he was telling us his story about his sister has recently passed away and his wife left him a while ago, he said he thought he should take one of our invitations.  So we talked some more then he wanted us to talk to his mom about what we had told him about the plan of salvation and the restoration because she was struggling as well.  We had a wonderful discussion and hope that we can see him again soon!  We have tried twice without success, but hopefully we will see him again soon and bring him the wonderful news and hope of the gospel!  Then Friday we planned and studied most of the day, then we visited a Ward Missionary to thank her for taking us to the temple on Tuesday and were able to help her feel appreciated and had a wonderful conversation!  Than Saturday we had a lesson with a member with the Hankins family, and are praying that she soon gets an answer about being baptized because we are hoping to see them be baptized in March!  That is our goal for them so please pray for the Hankins family!  Then Saturday night we had dinner with an investigator named Christie who is actually moving to another ward, so we just helped her pack up her kitchen, and she said she will come again to Arcadia before starting at the Coronado ward, but is sad to leave our ward, even though she isn't a member...yet!  So Saturday was very good!  Sunday, none of our investigators came to church, but we did have less-active members come and recent converts come that have a hard time coming sometimes.  So that was good and we also had a wonderful Ward Council that was very productive and many of the auxiliaries are ready to jump on board with our efforts of missionary work in our ward!  Then we went out last night with a recent convert to contact people!  He got a taste of what it is like to be a missionary and face much rejection!  But it was so fun to have him join us and we were able to help him feel wanted and needed in the ward!  So, lesson learned on patience and doing your very best.  I am also learning more about how to apply the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives as we face hard trials in our lives!  I hope you will all continue to strive to be ward missionaries in this wonderful cause!  I love you all!!

 Arizona Beautiful Sunsets!

 Gilbert Temple at night

Gilbert open house with the Petersons

Week 12

This week was WONDERFUL!!  It had it's struggles as usual, but I am trying to be as faithful as I possibly can be, and there will be miracles on the horizon!  On Monday, we had a few lessons and we visited one Recent Convert of almost a year who had her baby blessed on Sunday and we gave her our notes that we took of the blessing.  Then Tuesday was wonderful!  I think it was a long afternoon, but I can't remember the bad things ;)  But Tuesday night we went to check up on a family that we had talked to a few weeks ago and she kept saying that we came at the perfect time and she felt like something was really missing from their family, and really admired the LDS church, but her husband told us he wasn't going to be converted then left.  So Tuesday, we visited her, and she had had a surgery that weekend, so the husband answered the door, and we reminded him about the Gilbert Temple Open House, and he told us that he was planning to go with his nanny and her new husband who were married in the temple recently.  Then he told us that they would love for us to come back at a better time because he was busy being a single parent until his wife recovered from her surgery.  I wanted to shout for joy when we left their house because I KNEW that Heavenly Father had a hand in softening his heart!  I'm so excited for them!  Then we weren't' able to see Maria this week, but that's what this week is for!  ;)  Then Wednesday we had a lesson with an 18 year old that has had a really rough childhood.  She was treated really badly by her mom, and was essentially kicked out three months ago and now lives with her dad who is a drummer for a club so he works all night and sleeps during the day so she doesn't really see him.  But we took a young woman who is 18 and they connected so well it was wonderful!  If anything that came out of that lesson, this young girl now has a friend so that was great!  Then on Thursday while I was in a different area on an exchange, Sister Fairbanks and Sister Hubmann went to visit a less-active couple in our ward that we love so much and they want to change and start coming back to church!  Turns out that she was a smoker although we never knew, but on Thursday she told Sister Fairbanks that it had been 9 days since she had smoked, and she believes it is because she went to church on Sunday!  It was so good to hear that!!  Oh and on Wednesday we saw Felita outside while we were going to sneakily drop off a Triple Combination for her!  She wanted to come to the temple Thursday, but that fell through because of her husband, so PLEASE keep her in her prayers!!!  She is such a wonderful person and deserves the very best!  Unfortunately, her current situation won't permit that, so all we can do is pray for her!  Then on Saturday we were able to go through the Gilbert Temple with the Hankins family!!  We were a little worried it wouldn't turn out, but they came, even though they were much later than we got there!  But they LOVED it and she has a lot of questions for us!  Hopefully we can answer them, but if anything, the spirit will testify to her of the truth of our message!  We are working with such wonderful people and our goal now is to baptize 8 people in March!!  We want to baptize the Leiber family and the Hankins family in March!  So if you could say a prayer for those two families in particular, that would be WONDERFUL!!!  Keep being walking testimonies!  Remember that this is the time for members and missionaries to work TOGETHER!!  I love you all!!! Thank you for all of your support!! 

Here is a baby blanket that I crocheted at different random "free" times for the baby that got blessed last sunday.

 This is me with the mom and the baby and the blanket!

This is the Gilbert temple that we went to on Saturday!  It is soooo beautiful!!