Pictures

We made Navajo Tacos for district lunch after our district meeting

 

 

On our way back from the city we went to Pops on Route 66. This is the giant soda bottle outside of Pops. It lights up and changes colors at night. :)

 Sister Johnson and I at Pops on the way home from a Doctors appointment

That's me... Sister Cooper and I went to Morrison this week. It was a fun little adventure to say the least.

Still Here

Hello again!

I can't believe another week is gone. This week FLEW right on by! We got transfer calls yesterday. drum roll........... nothing is happening with Sister Cooper and I. Its really anti-climatic... sorry. haha! I realized yesterday that of all the transfers I have had on my mission this is the first time things have stayed exactly the same in the companionship. Every time transfers come around somebody leaves or somebody new comes in and its been like that my entire mission. It is kind of weird that nothing is really changing this time around.

The week has been pretty good. I mean, I don't think there are ever horrible, dreadful things that happen. I love my mission. Even when weeks are hard there always seems to be a handful of tender mercies that help you remember that God is always there for you. :) I have felt such a need throughout my mission to really rely on Heavenly Father. I have learned how much I need to follow Him and trust Him. I wouldn't have learned this had I not served a mission, for that I am grateful. I am thankful for all the hard times and all the joyful times.

The hard times remind me that I cannot do anything without Him. The joyful times remind me that even though life can be hard, He is always there for me.

On Wednesday we did splits with the OSU sisters. I took Sister Pfister to Moore for the new trainers meeting. I had the chance to go out with Sister Fraire. It was so nice to be companions with her again, even if it was only for a couple hours. I loved being companions with her in Norman. :D

Well.... I forgot to bring my journal with me so I'm having a hard time remembering everything that has happened this week. Training Sister Cooper is going well. I'm grateful for her patience with me. haha! Wow! I can't remember a thing that happened this week for some reason. OH! We met a lady last week who said we could come back to see her. We went back last night and she welcomed us right in. We got to talking about her family, about her religious beliefs, etc. She mentioned that she wanted to be better, but was so weak and kept slipping up.

We shared Ether 12:27 with her. "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." She really liked that verse. She got out a paper and pencil to copy it down, but we gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon. We told her that we teach people how to apply the Atonement of Jesus Christ in their lives. We have an appointment to go back and see her this week. :) It is pretty exciting! The work is moving along here!

I love you all! Thanks for everything you do (especially the prayers!) Have a wonderful week!

Love, Sister Record

Miracles!!

Happy Tuesday!

We didn't email yesterday because the library was closed. I have been really excited to write this email. Some pretty amazing things happened this week. First off, the weather has been BEAUTIFUL! I'm talking highs in the 60's. We have been on our bikes and walking a lot. It has been such a blessing. I think the "cold" weather and lack of sunshine had been getting to me. (I say cold, but I know Utah is a lot colder. Haha!)

Two Thursdays ago Sister Cooper and I were planning for the upcoming week. We read in Preach My Gospel that we should make goals of how many people we want to contact a day. So we made a goal but then adjusted it when we heard that Elder Ballard said missionaries should talk to 10 unplanned people everyday. That was an answer to prayers. We have been really struggling to get out of our comfort zone and talk to everybody we come into contact with.

Last week we didn't do so great at meeting our goal, but we were trying. We did meet a couple promising people though. I won't tell you what our average was throughout the week, it was pretty pathetic.

On Friday in district meeting our Zone Leader mentioned how somebody promised the current AP that if he talked to 10 unplanned people each day he would have a baptism every transfer, and he has (or so I heard). That gave Sister Cooper and I a boost of extra faith. Saturday we finally had miracles!

I believe it all started in companionship study. Sister Cooper and I practiced how to approach somebody and start talking about the gospel. That seemed to really help Sister Cooper know what to do. The weather was beautiful so we were out on our bikes for a few hours. Both of us would stop and talk to people and share mormon.org cards and talk to people about the gospel. By afternoon we had talked to seven unplanned people. We were pretty excited and felt really good. That evening we were checking on less active members to invite them to church. None of them were home, but we did talk to a few extra people.

Then we were walking and Sister Cooper stopped a lady who was getting out of her car. We got to talking to her about the gospel and the Book of Mormon. She was very excited because she is looking to make changes in her life right now. She wants to strengthen her relationship with God. It was so perfect! Sister Cooper taught her about the Book or Mormon. That is something Sister Cooper would've never done a month ago. She is improving so much! We set up an appointment with this woman for Sunday..... and then we went back on Sunday and she was home! We were able to teach her about the Book of Mormon and find out some of her goals in her life right now.

We took our relief society president and her 9 year old daughter with us. We gave the 9 year old daughter chances to testify of the gospel. The young woman we met loved it when she would tell her how the gospel has blessed their family. After the lesson, our relief society president told us that of all the people she has taught with the Sisters, she seems the most open and sincere.

Sister Cooper and I were obviously keeping track of how many people we had talked to. [Name withheld] was the 10th person we talked to. Not only did we find a solid new investigator, (something I haven't had since I got to Stillwater. Finding has been tough) but we also grew closer as a companionship.

Okay, that was the highlight of the week. We have another set of Sisters who work on OSU campus. They live about a mile from us. It is so fun to have them so close. On Friday morning Sister Johnson and I had to go on splits to drive to Edmond to go to the doctor. Afterwards we stopped by Pops, which is just off the interstate. Pops is a fun little place that sells hundreds of different kinds of soda. Thanks to Pops I have had cotton candy, lime, huckleberry and pear soda in the last year. It was a fun little outing. Since the sisters don't have a car and none of them are allowed to drive I get to drive them around. haha! On Wednesday Sister Pfister and I are going to Moore for a new trainers meeting (Sister Pfister is training).

I just found out yesterday that President Taylor opened up two new areas for Sisters. He opened up UCO campus and Woodward, OK. I am excited to find out who will be opening those areas. There are so many exciting things happening! It's a fun time to be a missionary! Serving as a missionary has been the hardest thing I've ever done, but it has also been the most rewarding. I love you! Have a wonderful week!

Love, Sister Record

Strength

Happy Monday!

I can't believe how fast this week went! We have taught a lot of great lessons this week and even invited a sweet lady to be baptized on March 2nd and she said yes! woohoo! The work is definitely hastening here in this ward! It is so exciting to be a missionary at this time. I love training new missionaries! It is the hardest thing I have ever done, but I learn so much. I become so close to my Heavenly Father that it is all worth it. :)

I have come to the realization that when President Monson said, "Life by the yard is hard. Life by the inch is a cinch." he wasn't lying! ;) I have really tried to focus this week on taking things a day at a time. It is so much easier to do things in the moment and not always looking at what you still need to accomplish.

I have learned a lot about how important it is to rely on the arm of the Lord and not my own. I love what Nephi says in 2nd Nephi 9:34, "O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm." And really, relying on our own "strength" is pretty miserable.

I tend to be one of those people who would rather do something on my own than let someone else help. Not because I don't want their help, but because I want to make sure things get done the way I want. I realized this week that I have been relying to much on myself and not on the Lord's strength. Thankfully Heavenly Father reminded me that "as to my own strength I am nothing", even if it is a painful lesson to learn. I am grateful for the Atonement and repentance. Yes, repentance is even for missionaries. Really, repentance is for everybody and we all need to do it daily.

I love you! Hope everybody has a great week!

Love Sister Record

Another Week... Gone!

Hi family and friends!

Look at all the snow! oh wait... this is Oklahoma. haha!

This week has been a pretty good week. :) Sister Cooper and I are working hard and trying to be obedient and humble. We taught one girl who is struggling to come to church. We were pretty bold and loving with her. We taught her about the Sabbath Day and how church attendance was part of keeping the sabbath day holy. The Spirit was strong and we told her that Heavenly Father wanted us to tell her that He wanted her to come to church. She is such a sweet girl! She is from China and really wants to know if the Book of Mormon is true. I love her so much!

We were invited to catholic mass on Saturday evening... so we got to go to that. It was very interesting to see the differences and even some similarities to our church. :)

Going to catholic mass! It was pretty neat! :)

One thing I have noticed over the past couple days is that the closer we come to Christ the more we realize how far we are from being like him. It's one of those weird things that happens. I have always loved Ether 12:27

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." (Ether 12:27)

It is a promise there that if we come unto Christ he will show us our weaknesses. The reason this happens is to humble us. All of this leads to what is described in the final verses of the Book of Mormon. In Moroni 10:32-33

"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot." (Moroni 10:32-33)

The purpose of God showing us our weaknesses is not only to humble us, but so that we can change and one day become perfected in Christ. One of the Sisters I serve around brought up that Jacob 5:9 talks about our weaknesses. The verse says, "Take thou the branches of the wild olive tree, and graft them in, in the stead thereof; and these which I have plucked off I will cast into the fire and burn them, that they may not cumber the ground of my vineyard."

She brought up that the wild branches can represent our weaknesses. Often times we have weaknesses that we want to get rid of, but really we just want to put them to the side so we can keep them handy. Heavenly Father is saying, "We don't want to put your weaknesses away only when it is convenient. We need to burn them and completely get rid of those weaknesses so they don't "cumber" or weigh us down. How do we get rid of our weaknesses?

We come unto Christ. We apply the Doctrine of Christ in our lives which is made possible through Christ's Atonement. We first have faith in Christ which leads us to action. Because of our faith in Christ we repent of our sins with full purpose of heart. As we repent, we then make and keep covenants (such as baptism) with Him. Because of our obedience we then have the Holy Ghost which gives us the strength to endure to the end. This process has completely changed me over the last year or so. I am so grateful for all that I have learned about the Atonement.

I have really come to love Jacob 5! Really the whole Book of Mormon is absolutely amazing! I've grown to love it more than I ever have before. :) I know it is a book inspired of God. My life has been completely changed by studying and applying the things I learn from the Book of Mormon.

I love you all! I hope you have a great week! :)

Love, Sister Record