It has been three months since returning home from Indiana as a Full-Time Missionary. In that time I've found two jobs working as a lifeguard and a reception hostess, I've enrolled in school with a college algebra course, I've decided to change the major I've wanted for the last 7 years to what I'm not sure yet, been on TWO dates, gone on two trips to St. George, UT and Lincoln City, OR.
In that time I've discovered I have a lot of issues. I miss my mission terribly so. I want to go back and do things over again. All of it. I guess every missionary feels that way at some point and it has taken a bit of convincing for me to truly understand what I was meant to learn as a Missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It's taken time but I think I'm now at peace with it. I made my fair share of mistakes as well as haven't been the most obedient missionary in the world. I'll admit it. I'll gladly admit it. But I feel now as I've become a Youth Mission Prep teacher for my stake that I have worth and value and I can make a difference in the next generation. They can learn from my mistakes as well as my successes how to become effect teachers as they receive calls and explore the world that our Father in Heaven has given to us.
And we are so blessed! I'm blessed because I have three other teachers with me who are faithful young men going through similar trials and struggles. and we've taught on all corners of the globe! My state-side experience helps connect to teaching in English and understanding something simply to teach the blessed souls of Indiana. I'm so thankful I had that experience! One brother served in Mexico, another served in Japan, and the last served in Denmark! How crazy is that?!
It goes to show that the Gospel is the same, no matter what language we speak. The Spirit of the Lord testifies of ALL truth. Not just the truths we can hear!!! The Spirit was so so strong today as we taught the Restoration in UNISON as a motley crew of RM companions called to serve in a new way. :) Helping the next generation of missionaries. What a wonderful feeling!
Three of my companions returned home on Wednesday. These wonderful young women inspired me and have helped me grow in crazy ways I never thought could be possible. I love them all so much and am still learning to love them more. It was hard. Don't get me wrong. Missions are agonizing at times when all you want to do is sleep but you need to pray for these blessed souls you are teaching, it's torment talking to strangers that have the choice to be rude to you and reject your message of love or choose to follow their Savior enter the waters of baptism, it's frustrating when you and your companion don't see eye to eye and can't get along to save your lives let alone anyone else's soul, it's heartbreaking to see people walk away from their covenants from fear or sorrow or anger and leave what they know to be good, it's joyous to watch your loved ones make that commitment and be baptized, and no word can describe the feeling knowing you completed the time you gave up and return to your family or walk off that plane knowing you served a mission with your heart.
I feel I have served with my heart. And while my heart may still fear that the people I have come to love don't love me or have forgotten me because I was what I call a Fixer and don't think I was very memorable, I still love them. I know good things will come. Maybe not even until the next life. But I know they come and I know they will be worth it. These blessings will come. I have already received some.
I know that God lives and loves us. It's up to us to follow Him however we may feel so inclined to follow. He gives us that gift. He knows we will use it well. I know the plan He has in store for me is good and real and right. I know things may be bad. But I know they get better. I have a long journey ahead of me of actually facing my fears and conquering them and actually saying I haven't failed my mission. Right now I feel I have. But it's getting better. I can see my work is in the Lord's hands as he helps the people I have loved continue to love this Gospel. I love this Gospel. And even Returned Missionaries still doubt and fear and hope and pray and fight to find what is true and real and right. I would know. I'm one of them.
Love always,
Alli
The Fighting RM
The Errand of Angels
I came, I saw, I served, I returned, I'm moving forward. :) The Errand of Angels is given to women and this is a blessing as sisters we claim. Whatever it may be as I move forward with my life after returning from my Mission, I'm ready and willing to accept that call.
Sunday, June 12, 2016
Monday, March 7, 2016
This Isn't The End...
Hello Friends and Family!
Bobbie, Jesse, Mike, Carl, Michelle, Dave, Vikki. The list doesn't stop there. I learned recently that Mike's family in the Philippines is taking the discussions. Jesse is doing great. Carl is getting sealed to his girlfriend this October and they're getting civilly married this summer. Seeing all of these things happen is incredible. Simply incredible.
Well...Who would have
thought it would ever come to this day?? I swear when I first started I
had forever left and now? Days. In TWO days, to be exact. That, my
friends, is insane. I cannot believe that after all this time I'll be on
a flight home headed for Salt Lake by this time on Wednesday.
It's
been with mixed emotions that I've completed this week. I don't have a
planner anymore. That's not ok. I soon won't have a name tag, which is
not ok. (I waited 5 months for it!) And I've been able to see some
amazing people come unto Jesus Christ, to make that commitment and come
to the waters of baptism. That is totally ok! I'm so grateful I was
called to serve as an Indy Missionary. I never would have thought it
would be this kind of ride but man, it was worth the 18 months.
In
a grand final review, my mission in a nutshell included 11 companions
including the MTC, 6 areas ranging from 6 weeks to 4 1/2 months, and
tons of miracles that the Hand of God was willing to give to us as we
worked and did all those things that He needed us to do.
Greenwood: 4 1/2 Months, McKendrick and Bulman
Seymour: 6 Weeks, Hofheins
Warsaw: 4 1/2 Months, Bradshaw, Hathcock
Crawfordsville: 3 Months, Anderson
Fishers: 3 Months, Munoz and Thalman, Eralie
Zionsville: 3 Months, Simmons
I feel like it's the hardest thing trying to write out how you felt about the last 18 months of your life when you've been so close to Heavenly Father and are helping Him in His plan to bring Souls unto Him. I mean I feel like I can catch a glimpse of parenthood because of it. Spending all this time taking care of people and loving them as well as hoping to see them go places, being disappointed when they say no or push you away, being overcome with love as they take the steps into the font and are baptized then confirmed at church. I've seen and been to a lot of baptisms. So many people have followed Christ into the True and Everlasting Church. I'm so happy to be one of those people and to help my loved ones see that too.
When
looking back at it, there were a TON of ups and downs. Hardships,
heartaches, and difficulties were not few. Seeing the miracles of Christ
help others in their life, or even just adding to the light they
already have were many. I've made friends and had opportunities I don't
think I ever would have had had I not served a mission. I'm grateful for
the experience and for the chance to come to know my Savior a little
more. When I was in the MTC someone once said it was My Time with
Christ. I can see now how true that statement is. My Savior has helped
me see so much and open my view of the world and how merciful the Lord
truly is.
I just think by the end of this I've
learned life lessons and values I've been lacking. All these life
lessons, all these spiritual lessons, all of these things that happen
when you're a missionary.
It truly is
incredible. This has been one of the hardest weeks of my mission. It was
so hard saying goodbye to the people I've come to love. I'm excited to
add them on Social Media, of course, but it will never be the same. I know
Indiana is a stone's throw away and I'm grateful to be so darn close to
home and have the opportunity to come out whenever I want. It's not
going to be the same without the tag. I know it's only temporary to feel
like this and I'm going to miss Indy a ton. I'm going to miss everyone
so much and to know the people I knew and helped, it's just incredible. I
made a ton of friends and have now three bridesmaids for my wedding one
day. :) It's been incredible. I'm ready. Let's do this.
I
know that this Church is True. It is the Church of God and I've come to
know my Savior more through it. I know His love for me and He would go
through the Atonement again if only for me. He would do it again for you,
if only you. That's how much He loves us. I'm so grateful to know of
His love. I know Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God. I know he translated
the Book of Mormon through the power of Heavenly Father and Because of
Jesus Christ. I know these things are true and if you are struggling,
kneel down and pray. I've seen how it helps and affects me. I know it
can help you too. I know by the power of the Holy Ghost you can come to
know that these things are true too. I love you all and know Heavenly
Father does too. :)
In the Name of Jesus Christ Amen.
Monday: played sports, hung out, said tons of goodbyes.
Tuesday: Had dinner with the Bullocks! Departing Interview with President Cleveland :(, preparing for life.
Wednesday
- Sunday was a blur of people and seeing them and saying good bye. I
made wonderful friends here. I will miss Indy. But I'm coming home and I
can ALWAYS come back. :)
It's not about point A to point B. It's about the Journey. And boy oh boy was this a journey. :) Love you all. See you Soon.
Love,
Sister Halverson
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Where Did the Last 18 Months Go?
Hello Friends and Family!
So Saturday was a very big
day! 18 months ago I entered the Provo MTC as a brand new missionary.
Today I'm almost done with my mission. I still have a week left (I'LL BE
HOME NEXT WEEK?!?!?!?!?!) and we've been working hard this entire week.
We reached a total of thirty lessons, found a new investigator, took
not one but FOUR youth tracting with us on Saturday (My 18 month mark!),
and have spent a total of 2.5 months together in the land of Zion.
Needless to say, we've been busy.
This week was
a busy week to be honest. We had appointment after appointment and then
adventure after adventure. We managed somehow to get out alive! :)
Hope you all had a great week yourselves!
Monday
we had another P-day and hung out at Fishers. We had awesome Japanese
soup with bean noodles and tofu. It was so good! We also saw a recent
convert and spent some time with her too. :)
Tuesday
Was crazy! We taught Seminary, spent time with our new investigator
Judy, she has asked us to help her clean up her apartment from her cat
and to help her get her life back in order. She's had a hard time with
depression and clutter hoarding. So we're helping her get that taken
care of. Then we had MORE service and helped Sister Neuton clean up her
apartment too. Then a few more lessons later, we taught the Activity Day
Girls about Joseph Smith and the First Vision as well as judged the Cub
Scout Cakes. It was busy busy busy.
Wednesday,
District meeting, Kina and the Fassmanns. Sister Simmons ate a Thai
chili and just about died. And it also seems whenever we have dinner
with the Fassmanns, the Thompsons are also there. It's too funny. :)
We've had dinner with the Fassmann 3 individual times! Too funny.
Thursday was Judy Ellis and Nicole and the Johnson and the Bullock family. We love this area! Pretty uneventful on Thursday.
Friday
was an adventure. I had my departing interview scheduled for Friday but
they moved it and I never got the text so we drive to Fishers and it's
not until 15 minutes after the scheduled time before we realize there was no interview. So we drove 14
miles for nothing. Well, actually we went to Panda Express. :) It wasn't
worth the calories lol. :)
Saturday we had a
stake youth exchange and we had 4 sisters join us on Saturday and had a
ton of fun with them and taught quite a few lessons with them! It was a
great experience. We tried our hardest and we have been doing the best
we can. It was a great day. :) We spent time with Carla and President
Hansen's family for dinner. Enchiladas! :)
Sunday
we hit 30 lessons for the week total! WOO HOO! Had Alfredo with Nicole
and her family and spent more time with Michelle and Aaron Huff! So much
fun! :) I love their cat Spookie. She's too much fun and weirdly enough
doesn't give me a reaction. Or Michelle who is REALLY allergic to cats.
TI's so funny. She's really talkative.
We
found a new investigator named Ryan! It was on the day we went out with
the youth! It was so cool. and apparently every time Sister Simmons
goes on splits she get the new investigator. just makes me laugh. We're
going to meet with him this Saturday. I'm excited!
I
go home really soon and it's so bizarre to think I've been out for 18
months! Time has flown by and I can see all the good and the positive
things I've learned from each area and companion. Each lesson was unique
and I know Heavenly Father had His hand in my life. He still does of
course. It just made me more aware of how much He actually is there.
I've
been grateful for the time I got to spend with these wonderful people
in Zionsville. Even though there have been things here or there that
haven't been the greatest we've been able to get through it. I feel like
we've been able to do and see a lot here. We're hoping Nicole will be
baptized soon. Or at least get her husbands permission. She just wants
it. We're hoping a miracle happens this week.
I'm ready for whatever life throws at me I feel like. With only a few days left I think I can take on anything now. :)
Love and miss you all!
Love,
Sister Halverson
SEE YOU SOON!
Friday, February 26, 2016
That Moment When it's Warmer in Indy than Utah
Hello Friends and Family!
We had a BUSY week this
week! Meeting after meeting and the Temple both on Friday for us
(Endowment) and the Saturday for Recent Converts. :) It's been a
wonderfully busy week. We've been trying really hard to work and to do
those things we know we need to be doing. :) So we've been working hard
with the members as well as our members. We're spending a ton of time
with them and have been utilizing our clubhouse gym in the complex. It's
been really good for us! I feel like I'll be able to have a good system
set up to just be healthier. :)
Monday was a
great Preparation day! I played soccer and volleyball with the other
Elders and Sisters in the Zone. I AM the oldest sister in the Zone. :)
Haha it's so weird. And Since I never trained, I'm considered the Great
Aunt of the zone. It's really really funny. :) Hahaha.
Tuesday was a lot of work as we went out and about trying to find our members and have a lesson with them. :)
Wednesday
was Zone Conference all say long. It was great! :) Received a lot of
revelation for myself as a missionary and what I need to do when I get
home. It was great. We got out at like 5:30 but it was still great!
Thursday
was weekly planning as per the usual. We had a great day of
visiting and working. Not much to report for Thursday.
Friday
sister Simmons and I went to the Temple!!!! It was so cool being able
to do family names again. I have one left and I can do the work for
her! I also found out that I have a card where I can quick do
initiatories and then go through for her for my temple visit with the
missionaries I'm going home with. I'm so excited. We went to Sheridan on
Friday and had a ton of fun meeting with a less active sister who can't
attend because of health problems. It's rather sad but it's worth it to
go see her. :)
Saturday we had a Ladies Brunch
at the Branch Building. It was so much fun! We had basically our entire
teaching pool in the room and most were sitting at our table! It was
too funny. :) We also had the mission wide temple day! I had two recent
converts help with the family names I had. 10 names were baptized and
confirmed this weekend. It was wonderful. Sister Simmons and I got to do
some confirmations too! It's always so cool when they lay their hands
on your head for someone else. It was amazing. It always is. :)
Sunday
was nice to be in Church and to go visit others. We went tracting for a
bit, met with some less actives and toured a big church called Traders
Point. This Church is the BIGGEST MEGA CHURCH I'VE EVER SEEN IN MY
LIFE!!!!!!!!!! It has a STADIUM wit's so big!! Non-denominational
churches have worship concerts and they play really good music about the
Lord but it just is lacking something. It's just more and more
testifying of how badly we truly need the Priesthood in our lives.
It
was a good week this week! We were swamped which honestly kept us
really busy. It's been good to stay busy. We deep cleaned this morning
and are planning on sending all of the junky stuff we don't use to
Goodwill where it will go to good use. I'm really happy we're getting
rid of things and dejunking. I found over 20 church books that no one
was using and will be giving them back to the Zionsville branch. It'll
be a good thing to get rid of a bunch of stuff. I'm excited to have it
be open. :)
We have been working hard and our
Less Active Family the Bullocks have come to Church for three weeks in a
row now. :) It's been amazing! I'm going to be SO SAD to leave them.
And Nicole. I feel like we're trying to break through to her and we just
need to find something that will help her make that leap and do it. She
wants to be baptized. All we need to do now is help her make that solid
decision. :) To have her on date before the next set of missionaries
get here would be a dream come true. :)
It's been a really good week. Super busy but all in all, awesome. :)
Love and miss you all!!!!!!!
Love,
Sister Halverson
Oh yeah, Last week was SNOWY and cold and awful. But now? It's sunny and warm. Talk about Bipolar. :)
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Because Of The Fall....We Have it All!
Hello Friends and Family!
Things
have been good here! We had a wonderful Valentine's Day. :) We had
visited our Less Active family twice and they came to church. We were
sick that day but they still came. That was two weeks ago. We went over
Saturday night and had a discussion that changed our relationship for
the better, and they came to Church the next day too. Even if they think
it's only for their girls, they still came to church. It was
remarkable. I know the Spirit was there and was SO SO strong. So given
time and a new way to help them through the members, they can be
spiritually edified and uplifted that will help them enjoy their times
spent in the temple. :)The Little girl was running around in Gospel
Principles and filled the room with a special spirit. The lesson was on
The Fall of Adam and Eve. And without the fall, That precious little
tike wouldn't have been there. We wouldn't have been there. Without
good, we'd never know bad. But without bad, we'd NEVER know good. Any
good. The Good of the Father, the Good of the Son, the Good of families
and temples and everything. It was a great lesson and we loved having
them there. They haven't been to Church in years because she has a
hardship with a personal loving relationship to God. It's always been
out of fear. Not love. So we've been trying to help her feel loved by
Heavenly Father and help him come to know he can find truth through
Sincere Prayer. It's always hard when people look up Anti information.
So it made it hard on him. All of it has been wonderful.
We've
been working hard and finding new ways to connect with the ward. We've
been trying really hard these past few days to make a plan and execute
it. We did that yesterday with Brother Matthews. We're going to be
experimenting again with some less actives and those who we can't get a
hold of. So we'll see what happens. We're going to work really hard this
week. Last week, not sure what happened. We had an interesting week to
say the least. Satan had his hands in the work. But we were able to take
the Sacrament yesterday and it helped us feel rejuvinated. The
cars were grounded yesterday due to snow so we took to calling people and having conversations
with them about the Savior and His love for all of us. Even the love of
God. Through His love, we can come closer to Them and be able to Return
to live with Them someday. I'm excited to do all I can to help me come
to know Them. I've come to know Them so well since being a missionary.
I'm excited for more time with Christ and my Father in Heaven.
It's been a great week and we're going to do even better this week. :)
Monday,
great P-Day! Played a ton of Soccer and had a blast! It feels like
Warsaw again! WOO!!!!!! Then we had a Swiss dinner that involved melting
cheese over potatoes and cooking Garlicky Shrimp as well. Mom, I want
one. It's a cool Machine. :)
Tuesday, We came
up with a new lifestyle change (because diet has the word DIE in it and
that's how I feel when I think about it) that will help us lose weight
and just feel good about what we're putting into our system. :) we saw a
ton of people, went tracting for a bit. Found out where a Less Active
lives so that's cool. Had a good day. :)
Wednesday, Tracted, taught a Recent Convert, and Had really really good Roasted Chicken for dinner. Oh. Man. Good stuff. :)
Thursday,
had a lunch "date" (JK!) with some elders on their way to Avon for an
exchange. They're kind of assistants but not really. They work with
LA/RC's from the White River/Crossroads area (Basically Indianapolis
area). We had pizza. :) It was really good. :) Then we tracted and
taught three lessons in an hour before dinner. Had three really solid
lessons. :) Spirit = STRONG!
Friday, District
meeting, had lunch, partied, tracted, Recent Converts, partied, Drove
home, Partied and then slept. :) Haha we always have fun together,
Sister Simmons and I.
Saturday, Had a birthday
brunch for Sabrina (Nicole's Daughter). That was a blast. :) We got her
Roses and Nail Polish. It was a hit! :) Went to a basketball game but
missed it entirely. So we actually get there and no one is there... That
was a bummer. So we made an appointment with the family we missed. :)
Had Curry. Met with the Bullocks! Our amazing Less Active family. :)
Sunday,
WE GOT SNOWED IN! Cars were grounded after we had had a couple of
lessons and we spent our night calling people and spreading Gospel Love.
:)
1 John 4: 18-19. :)
Love you all! Hope your day was wonderful and that you have a wonderful week! Love you!!!
Love,
Sister Halverson
Monday, February 8, 2016
Superbowl and Super Lessons!
Hello Friends and Family!
It's been a great week
this week! We've been out tracting more which is good! Found a new
investigator from contacting a referral, and have had some SOLID
lessons. :) It's been wonderful seeing the work progress. OH YEAH! We
had quite the miracle last Sunday. A less active family that hadn't been
to church in years came to Church not yesterday but last Sunday! It was
amazing! The Bullock family is from Canada and have been meeting with
us for a little bit. We love them so so much and they're really happy to
have us over as well. It's been wonderful getting to know them and
sharing the Gospel with them too. It's making a difference and you can
see it. :) I love this area.
We're trying to
work with the members a little more. Get them involved with everything
we're doing. Reaching out more. It's been an uphill climb but things are
going places. :) We're so excited to work and work and work. We hit 30
lessons this week! We're pushing ourselves harder and hoping that this
week will turn out even better!
The Superbowl
was yesterday! Woo! Who won? My vote is the Broncos. Haha jk. Someone
told us the Broncos won. :) Super cool! It'll be weird to watch it next
year when I'm home. Bleh. Not thinking about it.
We're
doing great! We've taught many wonderful lessons and have had seeds
planted. It's been wonderful to get out and about in our lovely 50
degree weather. Yep. 50's. It's supposed to snow tomorrow and today and
then get really cold but I don't believe it anymore. It's been weird.
All the snow melted and it's getting green. And lighter! Woo!!!!! It
means summer and spring is coming!!!!!!! WOOHOOO!!!!! no more cold
winter nights! No more icky! Yay! Makes me happy. :)
But I hope you all have a wonderful day! I love you tons! See you in a months! O.O Crazy.....
Love,
Sister Halverson
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Mega Death...Take It How You Like It!
Hello Friends and Family!
This week was really
something special! On Monday we started out with a Heat contest at our
dinner appointment on Monday. We both love spicy food, Sister Simmons
and I. And we found a family who likes Spicy as much as we do! So we had
Texas Style Chili and they brought out their hot sauces. :) We both
went for the HOTTEST hot sauce they had: Mega Death. It was hotter than
hot. Or so they thought. I got four drops in mine and it was hot but it
had a burn to it. Not super spicy and painful. But a really good burn.
Some of you probably think I'm absolutely insane but I honestly could
have gone for more. :)
We had quite the
interesting weekend. We were both SO sick. It's no excuse to not work
but we were so so ill we called Sister Head and she told us to rest for
the day. We felt the same on Sunday and did not want to risk getting any
small kids or young families this virus either. It had been going
around in the branch too which may have been how we got it as well.
But
I'm happy to say we have new energy and are going to work hard this
week. :) We're excited because we found a new investigator named Keelyn
on Thursday! She's so cute! She's 18 years old and is a CNA. We went
tracting during the nicest part of the day where it was sunny and warm
and we felt on top of the world. We prayed and started knocking doors in
this one neighborhood near a Less Active Sister we had an appointment
with later that day. We knocked the first two and no one answered. Then
we knocked hers and had a wonderful lesson about the Restoration of the
Gospel and emphasized how God wants us to know who we are and He uses a
prophet to do so! She commented on how we seem to know who we are and we
both felt like it was a way to help her discover her identity as a
Daughter of God. Too cool.
To make it better,
we had previously felt inspired to go visit a family in the branch who
we met a couple of times and literally fell in love with how awesome
they are. So we went and visited them last Sunday and had a wonderful
time getting to know them. But for whatever reason we didn't share a
message with them . It didn't feel right. Well, because of Keelyn, we
found out. One of the daughters has some questions about the church and
we didn't know about it. We immediately thought of her to bring to our
return appointment and asked her and she told us about her concern about
not being in total agreement with the Church. And now we are made aware
of a sweet spirit we can help both a member and not. It was an awesome
experience. No one else opened their door on that street. Well, except a
grouchy man that said he was busy.
We've also
been using a new form of tracting, offering service first instead of
using a message right off the bat. It's been working REALLY WELL! I love
how open people are to receiving the opportunity for us to serve and
then we can share a message of Christ with them. It has been working so
well! :)
We've had a wonderful week and we're
hoping to improve this week by a TON. We feel great and now we're going
to get off to a great start having just recovered from an illness. :)
It's going to be a blast!
Love and Miss you all! Five weeks... I can't decide if I'm ready or not? Haha either way it's coming.
Love you!
Love,
Sister Halverson
Spot the Missionary car (they are all Chevy Cruzes) |
Sister Simmons and I (sickos) |
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