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.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Week of Adventures...
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Transfers and the very interesting week...
Hello Friends and Family!
This week has been anything but a
cake walk.
Ask my mom. She can tell ya... Haha. But I have a new
companion now! :) Her name is Sister Bulman from Blairstown, Iowa! She's been
out ten months and we get along swimmingly! We now have cute decorations in our
apartment and the Shelbyville elders stole our Christmas tree! :( It's ok.
They're giving it back to us this Friday. :) We are doing well! I'm getting over
being sick so it will give us a chance to get back on our feet. We're about to
go shopping and then go to Mickey d's and the church to hang out. Much
fun!
Monday: Packed Sister M up and got her to Carmel. Not a fun day...
Monday: Packed Sister M up and got her to Carmel. Not a fun day...
Tuesday! I was in a trio until transfers the next day. We
taught a lot of lessons and got a lot of work done. It was fun! I started
getting sick Tuesday morning. So that wasn't fun. I've been sick all
week.
Sister Halverson
Picture right before passing out |
Decorations and my new companion, Sister Bulman |
Sister Bulman |
Friday, December 5, 2014
Turkey Day and Killing Trainers!
Hello Friends and Family!
I wanted to get out an email last
week ON Thanksgiving but unfortunately the library was closed and we aren't
allowed to use member computers. So I'm writing one now! :)This Thanksgiving was so interesting. We had three dinners and talked to everyone for ever and a half. It was fun. :) We went to the Franklin Chapel afterwards with most of the zone and hung out. We watched the Best Two Years. So funny! We also had a mission-wide conference call. It was pretty cool. And the very first ever! We talked to President about the Christmas goal we have of sharing this special message with everyone! He is the Gift! If you know what it is or have heard of it share the message with your friends! :) If you haven't go to christmas.mormon.org and watch the video clip! :) It's very special and reminds us of what Christmas should really be about.
Playing Munchkin on P-Day |
Bob Evans again |
Bob Evans. This happened after a baptism fell through. He didn't show up to the baptism and we had people there from two hours away. Our elders were very sad. They ate their cares away. |
Our Christmas Tree |
Peacock ornament |
Beautiful skies! |
Yet another obligatory "date" |
Sis M and I |
Angus the stray neighborhood cat. |
More Indy skies! :) |
Thanksgiving cards from my sister Samantha's 4th grade class |
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Let It Snow!
Hello Friends and Family!
Another week passes by but this
time, this one begins with snow! :P Not fun. There's ice on the ground and the Elders helped scrape off our car for like twenty minutes this morning. Terrible.
But it was nice that we had some help! We had breakfast at this little place
called Long's Bakery. They had yeast donuts that were so amazing! I had this
pumpkin cake doughnut and one I don't even remember the name of but it was so
good! It had caramel frosting and peanuts and a chocolate kiss on top. Day =
Made. Then we went to Mickey D's and I had white hot cocoa. Yum! So the day
started off right despite the bitter chill of winter setting in. This one is
supposed to be worse than last. :P Yay...
We had one of the coolest lessons taught last night. We had a member of the
ward who is Spanish come with us to talk to our Spanish family. They sat for the
better part of the hour discussing the doctrine and he asked questions left and
right. I didn't know what they were saying completely but I knew EXACTLY what
was being said. It was so cool. The spirit was definitely there. We got to the
root of the problem and he is going to do some wrestling again. He has an
earnest desire to know if this is the way God wants him to go. He wants black
and white facts in the Bible but I know if he can put his trust in God and
really read the Book of Mormon and have that earnest desire to pray he will
receive his answer and be blessed. We know he's making the right decision and we
are letting the Lord take over now.
Thursday-Saturday we worked and got in some lessons. It was great. We saw
one of our progressing investigators and she is coming so much closer! We
should be able to work with the nursing home and get her to church. So
cool!
Wednesday we had 9 lessons! So cool!!! Total grace!
Tuesday was the preface to Wednesday. We had tons of lessons and lots
of miracles.
Then Preparation Day we had lots of fun with all the Elders and Sisters
together. President wants us to become more unified so we are now required to go
on obligatory "dates" with the missionaries in our zones/district/areas. Super
awkward. We don't have to like each other. We just have to love each other. And
be best friends. But hey, if it gets us the spirit and helps us become a more
unified mission then by all means I'm good to go get some food. It's an
adventure.
So that is my week in a nutshell! We see the Lord's hand in every thing.
It's really cool to see and have so many wonderful experiences. Everything we do
is so centered on Christ. I know I've got my work cut out for me but I know that
I'm not alone. Members and missionaries alike are hastening the work. There were
lots of talks given on the Spirit of Elijah and family history work. There is
always more work to do! Let's find our cousins! (Joke from Stake Conference.
They had a song talking about family history work. Too funny.)
Anyways! I have had a lot of questions about Thanksgiving and my comp so
here are the answers!
1. We will have Thanksgiving with one of the members in our ward. The Elders are going with someone else. Either way we will have dinner. :)
2. Sister M is from Highland, UT. She's dying. AKA going home in 15 days.
(Dec. 2.)
3. I am doing great! Every week is a new adventure and we learn lots. I
know what to do, and what not to do, and try my best with the Lord's help every
day.
I love you all!!!
Sister Halverson
WE GOT A NEW OVEN!!!!!!! These are the first fruits of my labors! :) Sugar Cookies! |
Snow.... Yay....... |
Our obligatory breakfast date. Elder Busath is the blond one, then Elder Lorsch, Sister M, and myself. :) |
Monday, November 10, 2014
Impromptu P-Day Dance Classes
Hello Friends and Family!
This week was quite the miracle! We
had great times with less active members and are finding people to teach left
and right. We're getting so much done and learning a lot! I'm so glad it's p-day
today that's for sure! I'm going to run around like a headless chicken and get
my energy out. I think that's the key to keeping myself sane haha. Getting a
good workout in is like Manna out here. Can't tell you how many times I've been
anxious and realized I needed a good work out. So there's that! I'm just going
to give y'all a quick recap of the week and then a little bit more of the
miracles! :)
Monday was the same as it's going to be today. Prep day and then dinner and
FHE. We got the car washed and had some fun taking pictures. At the gym in the
Stop 11 Chapel, this siter was giving all of the elders dance lessons. It was so
funny seeing them against the wall trying to do splits! Oh! And none of them can
do the worm! Go swimming! Turns out butterfly technique doubles as a killer worm
move! Haha! :)
Tuesday we taught a sales man. He went on and on forever but we taught him
about the Book of Mormon! HA!
Wednesday we picked up a former and are now teaching her. She has a
learning disability and is trying her best to be a good grandma to her grandson
whom she is adopting. (Long story) But it was cool!
Thursday we were all over the place with teaching and finding. Oh we also
have weekly planning which is three hours of sitting there bored as we plan the
next week. Lots of fun... But we got it done and are doing good.
Friday We had these bomb.com taquitos!!!! Home made and
fried!!! Thank you brother Olguin!!! So good. It was a fun day.
Saturday we helped the Relief Society with their Souper Saturday. It was a
blast! We learned how to knit (or in my case tie knots) And also ate some
deliciouso soup!
Yesterday was a nice rest. We taught some families, got our people to
church, took the sacrament and had a lovely nap before going out to work. Great
week!
The Lord has blessed our lives in so many ways! I'm so grateful to be a
missionary on the Lord's errand. It's truly a blessing. I get to work with such
great missionaries! And Sister M is kinda legendary! She goes home on the 2nd to
Highland, UT where she is from. Crazy! I love you all! Stay warm!
I love you!
Sister Halverson
Elders doing splits? |
Monday, November 3, 2014
Burnt Marshmallows... It's Like Eating Cancer!
Hello friends and family!
Don't worry I'll explain the title
in a second! :) This week was really good! We had a great Prep Day! We got our
own car!!!!! A Chevy Cruze! I'm doing terrible with my picture taking but I will
show you more next week! So excited! And on top of getting a new car...WE GOT A
VACUUM!!!!! :D The one we had was this beat up old dirt devil that looked like
it had been through the ringer with the elders. It couldn't stand up on it's own
and picked up basically nothing. But this new one! YAY! It works, it stands up,
and it picked up everything! I don't even want to talk about the stuff this baby
pulled up today. Eew. But now the house is clean and disinfected! Perfect. :) We
are going to get a nice car freshener too! When we got it last Monday we had it
washed and they sprayed this cherry vanilla car freshener and it smelled D-Vine!
I will find it if it's the last thing I do! :)
There was a convert baptism this week (on Saturday) and we were asked to help with her! She
forgot a towel and we had to dry her off with extra baptism jumpsuits! Too
funny! It was cool seeing her be baptized by Elder Lorsch (His first!).
Definitely felt the spirit. :)
I pray that all of you at home are doing well! Thank you for your
prayers and all your love! I definitely couldn't be where I am today without my
wonderful friends and family back home.
Love you
all!Sister McKendrick is always cold so I call her Sister Lizard! |
Monday, October 27, 2014
Two Months!
Hello Friends and Family!
It's already been two months??? It
feels like it's been years! Haha. :) So I've been in the mission field for two
months. Sweet! It doesn't seem like that much time but the fact that it's flown
by so quickly is incredible! It seems like yesterday I was a new little
missionary. It still feels like that with transfers out of the way, but I'm
beginning to get the ropes.Saturday, October 25, 2014
Transfer Week!
Hello Friends and Family!
This week we are having transfers!
Which means a lot of missionaries are leaving and even more are coming in!
Crazy!!! Luckily I'll be in Greenwood until December and then for a little bit
longer after that (She said hopefully). We should be getting to Stop 11 Chapel (The stake center in
Greenwood) early and I'm going to pound out some well needed letters. I've got,
like, 20 I need to get out. I'll see how many I can get out
today.
So on Thursday we followed a prompting to deliver thank you notes to some of the families who have helped us. We went to
the Relief Society President's home and we were able to help a little. She had
to have emergency surgery and had her gallbladder removed. :( No fun. Then we
met with a woman named Jo Jo and she seems interested. We have an appointment
with her tomorrow. :) She's super down to earth. Then we went and served a family in our ward whose
daughter had to come home early from her mission due to severe depression. :( It
was sad. So we cleaned her kitchen for her and we'll hopefully be able to take
Liesel out with us on splits so she can transition better. It was hard to see
her on Sunday. She's such a sweet girl. I pray she can go back out in the field.
Her brother is serving in Africa! Crazy! And from what Sister Jackson says (the
mom) the ebola outbreak hasn't even touched the country he's in.
We've been working hard with members and
now this week we are going to try and contact some teenagers we ran into. They
seem super open and I've got them on my prayer list. I know Heavenly Father is
going to help us out. We have been so blessed with all these contacts we have and I know it is because of the "finding fast" everyone did for us. Thanks to all who did this. Fasting really works!
I've also
gone through a whole planner! Crazy! We decorate them each transfer. This one I
have now is green and has cut outs from some pass along cards with I'm a Mormon
on the front.
Ogden will be receiving an Elder from my area! His name is Jake
Weston. Elder Weston will be in Utah around the end of November
beginning of December.
We were able to go see Meet The Mormons. President Cleveland was able to have a private screening for all the missionaries the day before it hit theaters here in Carmel. The Church was very specific as to where the movies
were allowed to be played. So it was only in Carmel. We were all able to see
it. If you have not yet seen it, make sure you go. The show is absolutely incredible.
Thank you for all the packages!!!!! I got my boots, the bountiful box, and those awesome shoe covers! They were a hit when I showed them to the other missionaries.
Monday, October 13, 2014
Christmas Trees and Bunco
Hello Family and Friends!
So this week has been very cold and
rainy. The leaves are changing colors which is beautiful! But the cold is
definitely not my favorite. So! This Friday we had Zone Conference. After every
training we play Bunco and everyone is supposed to bring a gift. I brought
random treats from around the apartment and made them all clever with little
mission related sayings like "Mint" to be a missionary. It was fun. An elder
decided it would be a grand idea to bring a Christmas tree as his gift. Well, I
kinda fail at playing Bunco and it was the very last gift. Needless to say, we
won't have to worry about Christmas decorations this year! And to top it off,
when we checked the mail when we got home, we had an Xfinity mail thing for Dawn
Butt. Yep. Dawn Butt. Dawn Butt and the Christmas tree. Oh how could my week get
any better?
On Thursday we went and saw Meet the Mormons! IT WAS SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!! Good
Gravy we loved it! The last story had most of the Missionaries in the room in
tears. Me especially. But we still loved it. No idea about any relations
concerning Gail Halvorsen. But it was pretty cool to have the same(ish) last
name! :)
I love you all! Go see it if you can! You'll love the movie! Thank you for
your letters and love! I'm trying to write back but we're only allowed to write
on Monday for everything! :(
I love you all!
Sister Halverson
Monday, October 6, 2014
General Conference Weekend
Hello Friends and Family!
What did you think of conference? It
was weird watching it from here, but cool too! What did y'all think of the
different languages? That was unexpected. It was way cool though! We were able
to get one of our investigators to conference with us on Sunday morning at the
Chapel. Her name is Needa and she's super sweet. We are going to try and get her
on a date this week. Fun!
I just realized I never told y'all about Greenwood! It's green. and there
are lots of trees. :) A very fitting name if you ask me haha. The people here
are humble and very kind. A lot are set in their ways of thinking, teaching and
preaching. There are many churches here but where Utah has a Mormon church on
every corner, here it's every church BUT Mormon. It's pretty funny. The weather
is starting to get cold. The leaves are changing and falling. Winter is upon us.
Not ready for it. It's projected that this winter will be worse than last year.
Fun fun fun.
Monday, September 29, 2014
A Month Gone By So Quickly
Hello Friends and Family!!!
Has it really been a month?! It
seems like yesterday that I just got here! Crazy! Time flies when you're
working the Lord's Vineyard. We've had a slower week this week. Mainly because
we had Mission Conference on Tuesday with Elder Perkins of the Seventy. He and
his wife came and spoke to us on having questions in meetings and not calling
meetings meetings. They are now called Revelatory Experiences. Meetings is such
a dreary word. Haha. So! Other than that things are good! Our investigators are
asking a ton of questions about the priesthood and I consider myself very lucky
to have elders in my area to explain more to me. I mean I know about it but
there's always more to learn.
We have
a whopping total of like 13 investigators! Many of them are in families but
that's even better! We have a focus on finding families to teach and baptize.
The mission wants a goal of 400 by December and we have 250+ so far! Awesome.
:)
We share a car with the elders which is weird but it works. We
have hardly any miles left because we are only allotted a certain amount each
month and someone *cough* the elders *cough* used them up. So out of 1225 we are
left with 15 for the next two days. Luckily our zone leaders are awesome and
helped us get 50 more until Wednesday. Which is awesome! Now we can actually
drive!We've been given many challenges this week and I want to give my family and friends some challenges too. :) If you know what a church tour is, go on one! It's really cool to be taught by the missionaries! It's cool for me to give one! Listen/watch General Conference with questions that you want answered. Pray about them. Write them down. And listen! :) Pray for someone to refer them to the missionaries. We LIVE off of referrals. Plus not to mention, it keeps us from tracting. They don't like us to tract as often. They want us to have appointments and be busy. I know it's a lot of challenges but you don't have to do all of them. Pick a couple that really stand out to you and work on them this week. As for the names challenge, please do this one. Out of all of the ones I've given you please do this one. It'll not only bless you for being in the House of the Lord but will bless them with the opportunity to accept the work.
Things are great other wise! House is clean, we have GOOD groceries, and
are busy at work. I love you all!!!
Sister Halverson
Inspiration Wall |
The Washing Machine of DOOM! Sounds like a freight train. |
I love to receive surprise boxes in the mail! |
Monday, September 22, 2014
Week Two In Indiana
Hello!
This week has been so awesome! We have an investigator on date for baptism! And we kinda blew the standard of excellence out of the water. Our district was super happy/shocked to hear the work that's been going on. And boy do we have a lot of work to be done! We are teaching several families and many people. It's exciting to feel the Spirit so strongly and guide us. The other day we were trying to visit an investigator from the previous elders and I saw this guy walking down the street. I had a feeling that said to give him a Book of Mormon. I wasn't sure what to do then it said we'll get him next time. Well the next time came sooner than I thought! Sister McKendrick does the driving because she's senior companion and went around the block when this investigator didn't answer. I saw the guy again and made her stop. The feeling was so strong! It said GIVE HIM A BOOK OF MORMON!!! So I made her roll down the window and ask if he wanted one! Haha the look on her face was priceless! Needless to say he accepted. Haven't heard much from him since but we planted the seed anyway.
This week has been so awesome! We have an investigator on date for baptism! And we kinda blew the standard of excellence out of the water. Our district was super happy/shocked to hear the work that's been going on. And boy do we have a lot of work to be done! We are teaching several families and many people. It's exciting to feel the Spirit so strongly and guide us. The other day we were trying to visit an investigator from the previous elders and I saw this guy walking down the street. I had a feeling that said to give him a Book of Mormon. I wasn't sure what to do then it said we'll get him next time. Well the next time came sooner than I thought! Sister McKendrick does the driving because she's senior companion and went around the block when this investigator didn't answer. I saw the guy again and made her stop. The feeling was so strong! It said GIVE HIM A BOOK OF MORMON!!! So I made her roll down the window and ask if he wanted one! Haha the look on her face was priceless! Needless to say he accepted. Haven't heard much from him since but we planted the seed anyway.
Other than that we've been
pretty busy. We have to share a car with the elders in our area and we only have
a certain number of miles we can go. The elders have been racking up the miles
pretty quickly and our stipend is down to 15 miles a day. We corrected it
yesterday by not even using the car. So now it's up to 20 miles a day. We have
lots of kind members in our ward and they feed us almost every night. It's nice
to get to know them and learn more of how the Spirit works in our lessons. We
love church too! Plus I found out that one of my friends from mission prep is
companions with the daughter of one of the ladies in my ward! It was so cool
when we found out!
Justin! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! This is the most exciting yet aggravating time ever! It's a long wait but it's worth it! Read your scriptures, buy a Preach My Gospel, and get involved with missionary work now! You'll be thankful you did. I didn't very much and regret it. It's cool to see full time missionaries at work and to be with them when it happens. So go on splits with the elders! Challenge your friends who aren't members to read the Book of Mormon or to take the discussions or to go on a church tour! Get involved!!! And then your transition won't be so hard. I mean you'll still have to learn Spanish but that will come to you. I have to learn and I'm not even on a Spanish speaking mission. We've got Portuguese AND Spanish families here! Thank goodness for French class too! So congrats again and let me know how you're doing so I can help you! Oh! And the Missionary Portal will be your best friend and worst enemy. Do the activities before you head into the MTC but don't go on it to only look at the count down. No Bueno.
Justin! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! This is the most exciting yet aggravating time ever! It's a long wait but it's worth it! Read your scriptures, buy a Preach My Gospel, and get involved with missionary work now! You'll be thankful you did. I didn't very much and regret it. It's cool to see full time missionaries at work and to be with them when it happens. So go on splits with the elders! Challenge your friends who aren't members to read the Book of Mormon or to take the discussions or to go on a church tour! Get involved!!! And then your transition won't be so hard. I mean you'll still have to learn Spanish but that will come to you. I have to learn and I'm not even on a Spanish speaking mission. We've got Portuguese AND Spanish families here! Thank goodness for French class too! So congrats again and let me know how you're doing so I can help you! Oh! And the Missionary Portal will be your best friend and worst enemy. Do the activities before you head into the MTC but don't go on it to only look at the count down. No Bueno.
So! I think
that's about it for this week! Finally got to vacuum and we're continuing to
make it feel like home!
To
answer some questions!
MTC District |
The Indianapolis, Indiana Temple |
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