Talk on Personal Revelation

Lorielle gave a great talk yesterday on personal revelation, testimony and conversion. This is her final official talk relating to missionary work since she had come home. She is saving and planning to go to college soon. A great life awaits.

End of Blog

Talk Today!

Lorielle spoke in the YSA Ward today on gospel centered plans. It was great! She will be speaking in the Spanish Highlands ward on 9/22 at 11:00am.

Talk

Lorielle spoke with her brother, Jason on Sunday. They both did an outstanding job. The Spirit was so strong and the testimony they bore was wonderful to hear. Lorielle will be speaking again sometime in September in the Spanish Highlands ward, probably on 9/22.

Lorielle plans on working and preparing to go to college in January.

Welcome Home, Sister Record!

Sister Record is home, and we are so glad to see her again. We have a great ride home and talked about lots of experiences. Here are some homecoming pictures. Sister Record's flight was about 30 minutes early, so we go to see her all the sooner.

Sheri, Jason, Sister Record, Jason, Annelise, Chris, Eric and Poppy

Sister Record was the only missionary on her plane.

Sheri going to greet Sister Record

Sheri and Sister Record

Sister Record and Sheri

Sister Record was surprised how tall Chris is.

The Family saying hello.

Sister Record giving her youngest brother (Eric) a hug.

Coming Home!

Sister Record will arrive at the Salt Lake City airport Thursday, Aug 22 at 8:00am. We will meet in terminal 2 by the baggage claim area near the escalators. Feel free to meet us there to greet Sister Record with a warm welcome home.

Speaking Assignment

Sister Record will be speaking this Sunday, Aug 25 at 1:00pm at the Canyon Ridge Ward building at 2162 East Canyon Road, Spanish Fork, Utah. She will be speaking with her brother, Jason Record, who was recently released as a missionary from the Alaska Anchorage Mission.

Speaking Topics

Sister Record: Recognizing and Acting on Promptings from the Spirit
Jason Record: Faith in and Use of the Priesthood

I am told you need to get there really early if you want a seat. 

A Fabulous Week!

It has been a fabulous week! We have taught a lot of people and seen miracles!

One that stands out is we finally found all the information we needed to do the temple work for one of our member's grandparents. (this is the same story from last week). We were able to print the things needed to take those names to the temple. I am so excited to go to the temple for these people!

The second miracle involves somebody we've been teaching for a couple weeks now. We invited him to be baptized a few weeks ago and he said yes, but wouldn't commit to a date. Then this week Sister Zaleski felt inspired to invite him again. He was a lot more willing to think about the date we had set for him to get baptized. He came to church on Sunday and after sacrament meeting told us he was ready to get baptized! wahoo! I'm so excited for him!

I have absolutely loved my mission! It has, by far, been the best decision I've ever made up to this point in my life! I am thankful that Heavenly Father knows me better than I know myself and helped me get on a mission. It wasn't what I wanted to do 2 years ago.

I am thankful for what I've learned about myself on my mission. Growing up I always heard that I was a "daughter of a Heavenly Father who loved me." I don't think I ever disbelieved it... but I never felt it deep inside. My mission has helped me know, not only in my mind but in my heart, that this is true.

I have had experiences where God has taught me that by the Spirit. It is amazing! Do you know who you really are? Because it is incredible!

I am so grateful that God has given me the opportunity to see His other children the way he sees them. I am grateful for the opportunity I've had to help my Heavenly Father with his great and marvelous work.

To be honest, most of the time I feel like a child in the kitchen helping mom make cookies. Mom could make the cookies perfectly fine without my help. She doesn't need my help at 3 years old, but she lets me. She lets me help because she knows I will learn a valuable lesson. She lets me help because she loves me. She lets me help because she knows our relationship will be better because of it.

I love the people of Oklahoma. They are wonderful! I am going to miss it here. However, I know that God has more for me to do in my life. I'm ready to see what he has in store for me. It will be an awfully big adventure! :D

Well, I love y'all! See you soon!

Love, Sister Record

Family History Miracle

Hello everybody!!

Its been a good week! We have so many amazing people in the ward here. One of them we didn't know about a few months ago. We found her tracting. She had joined the church in the last place she lived and when she moved to Stillwater last summer she didn't know anybody from the church so she had not gone.

Elder Zerkle, Elder Lott, Elder Hendersen, Elder Burr, Elder Fee, Elder Salmon, Elder Kennedy, Elder Moore, Me

Anyway, we've been working a lot with her over the past couple months. She is WONDERFUL! We've been taking her out teaching with us. She has such a powerful testimony of her Savior and Heavenly Father. She has a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon.  She has connected with so many of the people we've taken her to go see. Its been amazing!

We had an experience with her on Wednesday and Thursday We taught her on Wednesday about family history work and temple work. She is so excited to search out her family names and one day wants to be able to go to the temple to do that work for them. 

As soon as we started to teach the Spirit in that room was so strong! I had this impression from the Spirit to ask her a question. After about 15 minutes I asked her. I said, "I am going back to Utah in a couple weeks and I will be doing a lot of temple work. Would you like me to take a couple of your family names to the temple in Utah and do their temple work for them?"  She started to cry (and I got a little teary eyed) and said she would really love that.

So on Thursday we went to the family history center and found her grandparents information. IT WAS SO EXCITING!!! (she literally had no information other than names of her grandparents.) We also found her great grandparents and their children!  She asked if I would do the temple work for her grandparents on her mom's side! We are so excited! If everything works out, we're going to have the names ready this Thursday to take to the temple when I get home.

We were doing weekly planning on Thursday. I was so exhausted! I told sister Zaleski that we needed to take a short break so I could take a power nap. Well... this is how I fell asleep for about 10 minutes.  Missionary work is exhausting, but so much fun! Aslo.... Chris' picture isn't on my wall because it wouldn't stay up. Dont' worry... its on my desk :)

Well, I love y'all so very much! Thank you for ALL your support and encouragement! :)

Love, Sister Record

A Good Week

Hello everyone!

Its been a good week! We got to go to the temple, which was awesome! Love that place!

We watched general conference with a woman we are teaching. It was too perfect! She had questions about prophets, but so many of her questions were answered. The Spirit was so strong! I loved it!

I have to apologize, the closer I get to coming home.... the less I have to say. I do love you though! Life is good! Being a missionary is great! I'm going to miss it. Have a great day!

Love, Sister Record

Hello Again!

Hello again!

I can't believe it is Monday again... time flies so fast. On Friday as I was sitting in a meeting and the thought, "don't idle away your time, you have eternities to prepare for." came to mind. I know a lot of missionaries getting ready to come home say they realize they spent a lot of time before their mission doing things that were not important.

Well... it is true for me as well. I wasted so much precious time that could have been used for much better things.

This week has been amazing! We had somebody we've been teaching get baptized this week! She went to girls camp in June and felt the spirit there. She came to us and told us she wanted to get baptized. We've been teaching her for the last month or so. It was a beautiful baptism and the spirit there was strong!! All the young women sang I Know That My Redeemer Lives. Wow! It was powerful! :D

Its been a great week! We have temple conference tomorrow and then right after temple conference I'm going on exchanges on of the campus's in our region. I'm excited! Its going to be a busy day! I'm excited to go to the temple, it's been nearly 9 months since I went last. So this will be good.

I'm really going to miss serving in this area! I never thought I would spend half my mission in one area, but I feel so blessed to have had this opportunity. I don't think a lot of missionaries get the chance to see an area grow and develop like I have.

I was here when we only had 3 sets of full-time missionaries and one senior couple. Now we have one senior couple and 5 sets of full-time missionaries.

I have seen people's hearts softened by the truth of the gospel. I have seen more miracles than I could possibly tell.

I have seen the Lord's work hasten in each of the wards here. What a blessing! God is good! I am so thankful for the opportunity I have had to serve a mission in the great state of Oklahoma! I love this place!

I know the Book of Mormon is a new and additional witness that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world. I know this book is true. I know the message in this book CHANGES hearts. I have seen it a countless number of times, not only in my life, but in the life of others.

If you haven't read the Book of Mormon recently I would invite you to do so. If you have never read it before, I would invite you to do so. If you read it daily, I would invite you to study it even more. This is the best book! I love the message about my Savior, Jesus Christ, in it.

I love y'all so much!!!

Love Sister Record

Picture Post

I'm just sending pictures this week :D  I love you all! I love being a missionary! It has been the biggest blessing of my life up to this point.

 

Hermana Loveland and I

The OU/OSU blanket Sister Pfister and Sister Allen made for me. (Sister Record and Sister Allen)

Sister Zaleski and I

 

 

I love you!

Love, Sister Record

Miracles Abound!

It's been a pretty amazing week! Sister Loveland and I wanted to start doing this thing we call "power hour". We got the idea from President Walkenhorst. We weren't able to start it until Sister Zaleski came to Stillwater though. So what is power hour? We go to a member's home and teach them about faith and miracles. We then ask them to pray for and with us for the people we will be talking to for the next hour. We ask them to expect miracles to happen in the next hour.

Then my companion and I go out and talk to everybody we see. We are bold in testifying of the restored gospel. After power hour is over, we go back to the member's home and share with them the miracle that happened.

On Saturday we had 3 hours of tracting time. We decided to go do our power hour for the first time. We chose to go to one family that we eat a lot with and who come out with us a lot. I just felt strongly that we needed to go over there.

Anyway, we introduced them to "power hour" and both of them were awesome! As we left we started walking one way. Sister Zaleski felt she should grab another Book of Mormon from the car. After that I saw a woman on the other end of the street watering her yard. We went to talk to her..... and she completely rejected us. She wouldn't even accept a pass along card. So we turned around and walked the way we came.

Both Sister Zaleski and I felt prompted to knock on a door on this street. We did and the woman we talked to had just talked to her husband the day before saying that they needed to find a church. They wanted to have a strong family with Christ at the center of their family. It was amazing! We are going back on Tuesday to teach them more! MIRACLE! We had other miracles but that was the biggest one.

After the hour was up, we went back to Brother and Sister K to tell them about the miracles. They were so excited to hear about their neighbor who is interested in learning more. It was a faith building experience for them as well as for us. It was POWERFUL! I feel so blessed that God used Sister Zaleski and I to do his work. The Spirit was so strong as we knelt with brother and sister K in their living room before we left.

The Spirit of God is what changes hearts. When we open our mouths and act in faith, God provides miracles. He allows us to be a part of His great work! It is incredible!

We have an amazing person getting baptized this Friday! wooo! I'm so excited! The only thing we have not taught her is tithing. Our Relief Society lesson was on tithing. After the lesson she told us that as she grew up her mom would pay tithing but she was never "sold" on the idea. She told us that now she realizes that she owes God for everything she has. After relief society she went and paid her tithing. :) It was such a tender moment. Her and her daughter had been saving and collecting money for a few weeks so they could pay tithing to the best of their knowledge of what tithing was. The spirit is really working with her. I can't wait for her to get baptized!

I am so thankful for this opportunity I have to represent the Lord, Jesus Christ, in this amazing place! I love Oklahoma! I feel so blessed that I get to serve my mission here. :D I love you all!

I read something that I absolutely love! If you are struggling, I would ask you to remember this: "In the gospel of Jesus Christ, you have help from both sides of the veil, and you must never forget that. When disappointment and discouragement strike... you remember and never forget that if our eyes could be opened we would see horses and chariots of fire as far as the eye can see riding at reckless speed to come to our protection." Elder Jeffrey R Holland, Apostle of the Lord, Jesus Christ.

Love, Sister Record

New Companion

We got transfer calls this week! I am staying in Stillwater! That is 7.5 months. By the time I come home that will make a grand total of 9 months! I absolutely love this area! I love the people, I love the city, I love the ward and it's members! My new companion is Sister Zaleski. I am really excited to work with her for the next 6 weeks.

I have loved being companions with Sister Loveland! She is an amazing missionary and she has taught me so much! Seriously, she is great! I'm really going to miss her, but it's time for her to go back to a Spanish area. :)

I know the Book of Mormon is true! I have seen it change people's hearts! It has changed my heart. I have a stronger desire to follow Christ. I have seen that those who sincerely read it have an increased desire to follow Christ as well. It is amazing!

I love you all! Check out this talk. It helped me A LOT! http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1022 Have a fabulous week!

Love, Sister Record

Sister Record's Intinerary

We received word from the mission office that Sister Record will arrive at Salt Lake City International on Thursday, 22 Aug 2013 at 7:54am. We are so excited. I have added the count down to the blog.

Sister Record: Roach Slayer!

Hey hey!

So I am a professional roach slayer! Maybe that isn't something to be proud of, but here I am telling you about it. We were at the LDS institute yesterday. I went into the bathroom and there was a cockroach on the ground.... a VERY BIG cockroach. It looked dead... so I got a paper towel to flush him. HE WASN'T DEAD! The second I started to pick him up he freaked out. Anyway.... I finally got him by is antenna and flushed him. It was yucky! Enough of my roach slaying adventures and on to my gospel preaching adventures.

[Name withheld 1] is getting baptized on Saturday!! wooo! Sister Loveland and I and [Name withheld 1] and so many others are so excited! She is so ready and prepared! We are teaching her about fasting today. I have such a testimony of prayer and fasting. The first fast Sunday in May Sister Loveland and I decided we were going to fast and pray that we would find somebody in our area who was ready to accept the gospel and get baptized. Well... two weeks later we met [Name withheld 1]! She has been such an answer to prayers! I have been here in this area for 7 months and all the hard work to finally be able to teach [Name withheld 1] has been worth it! I don't even remember all the sad things that have happened because they are all "swallowed up in the Joy of Christ".

I feel like Heavenly Father has blessed me with a unique experience, being in one area for 7 months. I have been able to see how the area has grown and developed. We have an amazing ward who are all so willing to come out with us.

Sister missionaries in front of the Oklahoma City Temple. Sister Record on the far right.

We have been focusing a lot on the Book of Mormon over the last few weeks. We have been using the Book of Mormon more in our teaching, proselyting, everything! I have such a strong testimony of the converting power of the Book of Mormon. The message in it is all centered on Jesus Christ. Because Christ and his Atonement are central in the Book of Mormon, the Spirit is powerful. I have seen the spiritual power in the Book of Mormon over the last couple weeks! I am seeing it transform lives! Two weeks ago one of our investigators stared reading the Book of Mormon. She is almost half way done. The other day she told us that she has felt so much healing and love over the past couple weeks. I know it is because the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know the word of God "HEALS THE WOUNDED SOUL". -Jacob 2:8

Our theme for a specialized training meeting a couple weeks ago was flooding the earth with the Book of Mormon. I would strongly encourage each of you to flood your own life with the Book of Mormon. As you do so, I promise you'll find healing where healing is needed. You will feel closer to your Savior, Jesus Christ. You will feel a greater desire to follow in Christ and do what he would want you to do. I LOVE the Book of Mormon! I know it is the word of God. I love you all! Have a great week.... and don't forget to flood your life with the Book of Mormon. :)

Love, Sister Record

A Peaceful Sleep

Helllllloooooo!

I don't really have anything to write in this email for the blog. After last weeks email, I feel like I just don't have a lot. I told my companion that I felt like we rose up to our potential but this week we have faced quite a bit of opposition. I won't go into detail, it isn't important what the opposition was/is. Just know it was very real. We are determined to get back on our feet and have another amazing week! Despite the challenges we've faced I know that God had been helping us. He has sent divine help for Sister Loveland and I. Miracles did happen this last week... but it was more on a personal level than in our proselyting efforts.

I know that when we have hard times, God will ALWAYS be there to bear us up. I have no doubt of that. There was one night this week I was trying to sleep. I was extremely worried about something and getting pretty anxious about it. Sleep would not come. Finally I rolled over onto my side and started to focus on Jesus Christ. I started to pray earnestly for relief. I told Heavenly Father that if things were going to work out I needed to feel peace. Immediately I felt peace come into my heart about the situation. I was able to fall asleep within 5-10 minutes. I was reminded of the scripture in the Doctrine & Covenants section 6

22 Verily, verily, I say unto you, if you desire a further witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things.

23 Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God? (D&C 6:22-23)

http://www.lds.org/training/wwlt/2013/hastening/priesthood-leaders?lang=eng

Just as a side note, here is additional video that was filmed in the Stillwater stake. President Bowman is an amazing man! He spoke in our ward yesterday and gave a powerful talk about service. He has this incredible talent to get up and quote scripture. 80% of his talk was scriptures and quoted them... not once did he open up his scriptures or look down at notes. It was inspiring. I hope to develop that talent one day. :)

President Taylor is amazing! I am so thankful for the opportunity I've had to serve with him. He and Sister Taylor have changed my life now and forever. I am sad they are going home this week. I will really really miss them. Well, I love you! I will have more to write next week! :D

Love, Sister Record

Miraculous Week!

I decided to share my letter to President Taylor with you. It is everything I wanted to share with y'all. I love you!

President Taylor,
This has probably been the best week of my mission in at least a year. The last time I remember being this enthusiastic and excited was a year ago when Jeff got baptized in Norman. Sister Loveland and I have been working hard this week and trying very hard to be consecrated missionaries. The result has been miraculous! I don't even know where to start. I want to tell you about all the miracles that have happened... we have seriously seen miracles EVERY DAY. One miracle that I have seen is that I am happier. I feel like I have more light in me. 

During my whole mission I have felt like I have struggled with being loving and patient. As I have tried to be consecrated this week, I have realized I never once struggled with it. I felt like my heart was FULL of love and I was patient with those around me. It has been incredible. I wondered why that happened. As I was eating dinner one day, the scripture in Helaman 3:35 came to me. "Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God." I realized that as I have the Holy Ghost more in my life then he purifies and sanctifies my heart. This comes my giving up our will to God's will. Sister Loveland and I are pretty excited for this upcoming week. Last week was amazing, but we have to be even more consecrated this week to continually see miracles. I know God will provide as we put forth the work. I want to give you an idea of some of the miracles we've seen this week. We've seen a significant miracle at least every day. I'll start with last Monday.

OPERATION CONSECRATION:
Monday: Sister Loveland and I had an AMAZING comp study where the importance of sharing the gospel was taught to us by the Spirit. We were ready and fired up to be consecrated. My younger brother had a life changing experience at scout camp. He wants to change his life! That was amazing!

Tuesday: We started the day off by getting out of the house right at 10:00am. Even in the day that we had been trying to be consecrated we felt happier. We had more faith to go out and find people to teach. We taught our investigator, [Name withheld 1], and she told us she has been praying about her baptism on July 6th. She said she feels God is telling her to do it. She also told us that she feels once she has the Gift of the Holy Ghost she feels life will somehow be better. She feels like the Gift of the Holy Ghost is what she is missing in her life. (She loves the Gospel! She can't get enough of it!)

Wednesday: We had been wanting to teach [Name withheld 1] about the Restoration and the Priesthood for a while. We knew today was the day.. however during comp study while we were preparing and real playing for her we felt totally unguided and uninspired. Seriously, it was like running into a brick wall. When 10am came we still felt super jumbled and like we had no direction. We prayed that God would give us the words to say to help [Name withheld 1]. After the prayer, I felt a peace come into my heart that everything would be ok. We took Elder Jensen, the new CES missionary on OSU campus. We got into the lesson and Elder J. taught ended up teaching the whole Restoration and the priesthood. We would give comments here and there, but he was on fire! He explained it in a way that Sister Loveland and I never could have done. However, [Name withheld 1] understood when Elder J. explained it. I wish you could have seen this moment. [Name withheld 1] was on the edge of her seat the WHOLE time Elder J. was talking. It was truly miraculous! 

[Name withheld 1] is a wonderful woman! She is one of the prepared, one of the elect. She is a former investigator. She told us that she is more open this time because we came back. She told us she had felt like she had been forgotten. The exact moment we knocked on her door she was praying for peace in her life. She told us that in the last two weeks since she's been meeting with us she feels so much more peace in her life. She is amazing! I don't have words to say how much I love her. She has been an answer to our prayers and fasting.

We had more miracles on Wednesday. We were out knocking on doors and we weren't sure if we should be at this place. We didn't feel super guided by the Spirit. So we left... THEN we felt the Spirit distinctly tell us to go back. So we turned the car around and went back. We went and knocked on more doors. The third door we knocked on a guy answered and he wasn't interested. He shut the door and we went to go on to the next door. Then a woman ran out of the house. [Name withheld 2] told us she wanted us to pray for her. We talked about the Atonement and that she could be cleansed from sin before we prayed. She was in tears. We learned that she had been baptized in the city over a year ago. She stopped going to church but really wanted to come back. She just hadn't come back because she didn't know anybody here. It was an 8:50pm miracle!

Thursday: We got weekly planning done in TWO HOURS woohoo! :) In the evening we were tracting and found a less active who is engaged to a nonmember. She really wants to start coming back to church. She is a couple years younger than me, but we went to the SAME elementary school and lived in the same small town at the same time. It was crazy! She has a real desire to come back to church. She recognized something is missing in her life.

Friday: We did exchanges.... it was really hard to have Sister Loveland not be with me. We had been seeing miracles all week and our excitement slowly died as the day went on since we didn't have each other to bounce off of.

Saturday: Saturday was tough! Sister Loveland and I had been on fire all week, but discouragement really set in today. EVERYTHING we had planned had fallen through. We had tried all day to get hold of [Name withheld 2] because she REALLY wanted to come to church on Sunday. Both of us were having a hard time staying positive. We were driving our member home from a teaching appointment when I saw [Name withheld 2] walking on the side of the road. We turned the car around and went to talk to her. She was so excited to see us. We confirmed that she would be coming on Sunday. This happened at 8:45ish. It totally renewed mine and Sister Loveland's faith. We were so happy!! The fact that this renewed our faith and energy to be consecrated was a miracle in and of itself. We really needed it.

Sunday: ALL OUR INVESTIGATORS we were counting on coming to church came to church! So many miracles on Sunday. [Name withheld 1] and [Name withheld 2] met at church and became best friends! [Name withheld 1] really encouraged [Name withheld 2] to be better and do better. After Sacrament meeting [Name withheld 1] told us that she had been praying last night. She had been telling Heavenly Father that she believed all the things she had been taught were true but she wanted to KNOW they were true. She told us that as she was praying she heard and audible voice say, "yes! it is all true!" :D She said she had to turn to see if anybody was there. (there wasn't) She said she not only heard the voice, but she felt it strongly in her heart. She said she was so excited to tell us about it. She also calls us "her sisters". :) 

So basically church was amazing! I haven't even shared all the miracles that happened. I have one more miracle I want to share though. One of our members has a granddaughter who, back in April, decided she wanted to go to girls camp. She is not a member but has consistently been coming to church since April. She just went to girls camp and got back on Saturday. After church we went to her grandma's house to visit her. We didn't know [Name withheld 3] was there. We started talking about the Holy Ghost. [Name withheld 3] told us that she WANTED TO GET BAPTIZED! It was amazing! When I saw her at church today I recognized that [Name withheld 3] had more light in her eyes than she ever had before. We talked to [Name withheld 3] about the Holy Ghost and about testimony and about her experience at girls camp. She wasn't sure she had a testimony. We told her to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know it's true. Then she quickly told us that she already knew it was all true. Sister Loveland told her that was a testimony. You should have seen how [Name withheld 3]'s face lit up after that! We are excited to start teaching her this week.

Well President, I finally feel like I'm living up to my potential as a missionary. I feel like I'm being a missionary, not just playing missionary. This is how I want to live the last two months of my mission. I want to live as a consecrated missionary!

Love, Sister Record

Miracles Are on the Far Side of Obedience and Hard Work

This morning if I were to put a theme song on how I feel it would be "Oh What a Beautiful Morning!" Actually, that is not the best theme song. I think it would be "On This Day of Joy and Gladness!" (p64)

Sister Loveland and I had a powerful companionship study this morning... and yesterday. I'll start with yesterday. We talked about the parable of the 10 virgins and how the oil and the lamp are comparable to the Doctrine of Christ. It is living the Doctrine of Christ that prepares us to one day meet God again.

I drew a picture on our white board, but never took a picture. I'll see if I can describe it.

1- the flame of the lamp represents faith

2- the wick represents repentance. If we are not constantly trimming our lamp, the wick folds over on itself and the flame goes out.

3- Our reserve oil that we need to constantly be pouring into our lamp is baptism. To take that one further, it is making and keeping covenants with our Heavenly Father.

4- The oil in the lamp is like the Holy Ghost. As we keep our covenants, we have the Holy Ghost with us which leads to continually put the oil in our lamps which is enduring to the end.

Today we were preparing for a lesson with a potential new investigator. (I'll tell you how we found him later.) As I was in my personal study the quote from President Benson came to my mind from Chapter 1. He said, "We are commanded by God to take this gospel to all the world. That is the cause that must unite us today. Only the gospel will save the world from the calamity of its own self-destruction. Only the gospel will unite men of all races and nationalities in peace. Only the gospel will bring joy, happiness, and salvation to the human family.” The Spirit testified to me very strongly that we needed to tell this man we are going to teach this.

We were talking about how important the How to Begin Teaching Points were from Preach My Gospel. One of the points is that our message is centered on Jesus Christ, which make it of great value and importance. Why is it so important? Because the gospel is the only thing that will unite ALL men. It is the only thing that will bring joy and happiness. It is the ONLY thing that will bring salvation to all of God's children.

It was a very powerful moment to have that really sink deeper into our hearts. Sister Loveland and I made some goals to be more obedient and more consecrated missionaries. We are praying and expecting miracles this upcoming week, so it is important that we do our part.

In ward council yesterday each member made specific commitments to somehow share the gospel with a friend. It was AMAZING! Us and the Elders told the ward council that we were going to be 100% obedient and consecrated because they were putting a lot of trust in us as missionaries. It's hard to describe the spirit that was there... but it was exciting and nothing short of miraculous!

Sister Hunt and Sister Record

So about this guy we are teaching today, I was on exchanges with Hermana Hunt on Friday. We were in my area. We had a lot going on and didn't have a whole lot of time for tracting. Before we went out we prayed that Heavenly Father would provide us with a miracle, even though we didn't have a whole lot of time to be out tracting. We got to the place we had planned to go. I told Hermana Hunt that we needed to follow the Spirit in finding so we could use the time we had effectively. The first door and second doors we knocked on nothing happened.

I asked Hermana Hunt which one we should go to next. She went into the parking lot and closed her eyes. She opened them and walked straight to this one door (it was the one I was hoping she would choose because I felt we needed to go there too.) The guy answered the door and we told him who we were and what we were out doing. He let us pray with him. He wanted us to pray that he would be able to have more love for people and also that people would have more love for others. He said so many of the world's problems would be solved if people had more love in their hearts for other people. (As I thought about what he said, the quote from President Benson came to my mind during studies this morning.) Sister Loveland and I are really excited to teach him today.

We taught Sister H this week! She is still as amazing as ever! She is getting baptized on July 6th! Sister Loveland and the other sisters set a baptismal date with her on Wednesday while Sister Pfister and I were in the city for a meeting with President Taylor and the Zone Leaders. So many miracles have been happening and we feel like this is just the beginning! I hope I get to stay here until the end of my mission. This area and this ward are fabulous! I love each of you! Thank you for all your prayers!

Love, Sister Record

Tornado Shelter in the Backyard is a Good Thing :D

Hello!!

It has been a week FULL of miracles. I do not know where to start. I was so excited to write you yesterday and tell y'all about what has been happening. First off... I am thankful for my safety and for the safety of all the missionaries in the mission. Stillwater usually doesn't get much... but Friday evening we got put on tornado watch and then it went to a tornado warning. President Taylor told all missionaries in the mission to get to their underground shelters. That was the first time I got to use a tornado shelter for reals. We were only in there for about 20 minutes. Nothing touched down in Stillwater. I'm sure you know a lot more than I do about what has been going on in the weather. I want to assure you that we are safe though and when the next wave of storms come we will be safe. :) Here is a video clip of what has been going on with the tornado clean up. I'm not in it... but missionaries I know are. They interview Elder Fee. He is the AP and we were in the MTC at the same time. 

We got to teach our amazing investigator, Sister H, three times this week. SHE IS SO READY FOR THE GOSPEL! We finished teaching the plan of salvation and when we asked when we could come back she said "tomorrow". So many miracles have happened with Sister H and with the members we have taken to teach her with us. The other day we invited her to be baptized after teaching about baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. We taught her the difference between the power of the Holy Ghost and the gift of the Holy Ghost. You could see that when we described it to her it made so much sense. When we told her that the power of the Holy Ghost comes in and out. She said that is how she feels. When we described the Gift of the Holy Ghost she got really excited.

Picture of clean up in Carney, OK on 5-25-2013

She didn't say yes when we invited her... she asked a question about the priesthood. She told us it made sense. Then in her prayer at the end she prayed that she would be able to get baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. :D I wish you could meet this woman. She is so sweet. She has been through a lot, but has AMAZING faith in Christ. She told us she feels hungry for the things we have to teach her. Over and over she has told us that she wants to be humble and learn about all these things. Last fast Sunday Sister Loveland fasted and prayed that we would find those who are PREPARED and who are ready to get baptized.

Well... Sister H has been an answer to that prayer! Sister H told us how thankful she was that we came back (she's been taught by missionaries before) and how much of a burden has been lifted from her as we taught her the Plan of Salvation. We have told her how much we love her and how much of an answer to our prayers she is.

Another miracle that happened this week is actually kind of funny. We were preparing to go to a lesson with our investigator from mainland China. She has been taught EVERYTHING multiple times. She has such a desire to know if all of this is true. I've been teaching her for 6 months and don't really know what to do anymore. We feel like we should keep working with her and just helping her recognize the hand of God in her life.

Now we are reading the Book of Mormon with her. We are in 2 Nephi 12... an Isaiah chapter. I was telling Sister Loveland (I regret it now...but the Spirit taught me a good lesson.) that we should just skip the Isaiah chapters because the person we're teaching wouldn't understand and I barely understand it. I won't be able to answer all the questions she had. Sister Loveland (being the awesome missionary she is) told me that even though the Isaiah chapters are hard to understand they are in the Book of Mormon for a reason.

Playing in the rain (don't worry... there was
no severe weather warnings when this picture was taken)

So... we went into the lesson praying that we'd be able to answer her questions. We read 2 Nephi 12 and the Spirit was very strong! We got to a verse 10 which says, "O ye wicked ones, enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for the fear of the Lord and the glory of his majesty shall smite thee." Our investigator just started laughing because the verse reminded her of a parent getting after their child. (I must admit, her enthusiasm about the verse surprised me.) After we finished the chapter she told us that the verse made her feel like God was more human than she had felt before. (She wasn't trying to demean God, but to say he seemed more personable than He had before.) She told us that as she read that chapter she really felt that God was close to her. WOW! That was definitely the Spirit working with her! :D Lesson I learned: Everything in the Book of Mormon is there for a reason, even the Isaiah chapters. :)

On Saturday the whole mission went down to Moore to do tornado clean up. Before that Elder Rasband of the 70 came and spoke to us. It was very powerful. He told us that President Monson wanted us to know three things. 1- He loves us 2- He is Praying for us 3- He thanks us for our service over the past couple weeks. It was very inspiring and very touching!

Us and our wonderful ward missionary who came looking
for a family with us. We ended up not being able to find
the address. so we just took a picture.

Yesterday we tried to go find an inactive family. We had an address and vague directions, but they were not on the map. We took one of our members out with us. Well... we never found the address. We just ended up in the middle of nowhere, OK. It was very pretty.... just nothing there. So what do we do... we took a picture of course. :) The member we had with us was a trooper!

On June 23 2013 there is going to be a worldwide training by Elder Andersen. Elder Andersen sent a film crew to our mission to film a couple missionaries and the work they did in the Edmond 3rd ward in the Stillwater stake. They filmed Elder Byrd and Elder Cutler. Elder Cutler is my current Zone Leader. Elder Andersen was impressed with all the work done in this ward over the last couple years to turn it from a non baptizing area to a baptizing area. It is kind of cool. :)

http://www.lds.org/church/events/the-work-of-salvation-missionary-broadcast?lang=eng

I love you! Have a great week! I will talk to you next week.

Love, Sister Record

Mission President Update 6/1/13 11:05am

Dear Parents: 

Your sons and daughters are safe.   Thursday and again yesterday we experienced severe storms and additional tornados in our mission area.  Yesterday’s storms were more dangerous and destructive than Thursday’s storms.  Our missionaries were never in any danger on Thursday but yesterday caused us more concern because we had missionary relief crews out working in the morning.  As is my practice, I sent the work crews home well in advance of the approaching storms so they could be near their local weather contacts and shelters.  My practice is to personally monitor the storms and alert missionaries directly and through our mission leadership.  Local weather contacts are also very helpful to us. 

Based on preliminary reports, yesterday’s storms caused substantial new damage and sadly, additional lives were lost.  103,000 homes in the City (including the mission home) are without power.  The damage, downed power lines and traffic have prevented me from communicating with you earlier this morning.   We also had all our missionaries in South Oklahoma City this morning for a meeting with Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Presidency of the Seventy.  Now all of our missionaries are out working on tornado cleanup projects for the day. 

I will generally not communicate with you after every storm.  I will reserve these communications for storms that strike near where we have missionaries stationed.  If power is out and I am prevented from emailing you I will call the Church operators and let them know the missionaries are safe.  I will also inform the Missionary Department of the safety of our missionaries.  As you can imagine, we have a lot going on out here right now.  The safety of our missionaries (your daughters and sons) is our paramount concern and priority.  We will tend to them first and inform you once I have verified their safety and tended to other priorities related to the missionaries.  Thank you for your patience and prayers.

We are grateful for the Lord’s protection and your prayers.  Many miracles are occurring through these events.  The Lord truly does make all things work together for the good of those who believe. 

Warm Regards, President Taylor