Happy Holidays!

Hello Friends and Family!

This week was amazing! I loved being able to Skype my family. We had a great week. Really tried hard to build relationships and find. We went finding yesterday for 2 hours and it was great! We taught a miracle 5 lessons! We were able to make our goal of lessons taught and exceeded the zone goal of 20 by one. So it was awesome! We have a full week ahead of us and have planned 30 lessons! It'll be interesting to see how it all pans out. I know we'll be able to make it. Even if we only have a few finding lessons, we'll be able to see the area grow. I'm excited for this week. Especially on Wednesday. We're going through the Temple with a sister who was baptized a year ago in Frankfort (Sister Simmons' last area) and we are invited to go with her! It's going to be wonderful. I love going to the Temple. :)

We were invited to our investigator's house for Christmas Eve and Day. She spoiled us with cute gifts and we just had a blast. Got to talk to the family of course. Watched a part of inside out (Because we can on Christmas) and had a great time relaxing all day. It was very needed. :) I loved being able to just relax. Back to the grind then. :) This week we have New Years. (Happy Early Birthday Mom!) It's 2016? Like what?! Really? So soon?! It was just 2014! AND yesterday was 16 months in the field. O.O Say what?!?!?!?!

Time keeps going faster and faster. Don't know what to do with all of it! Haha jk. Work! And that's what we've been doing! Lot's of work. Going to keep going until the end. :) Love you all!!!!!

Love,

Sister Halverson

This is the Place!

Hello Friends and Family!

I've found Zion!!! Haha. :) I'm here in the lovely Zionsville with Sister Simmons from Alpine, UT. :) We've had so much fun together and have seen MIRACLES!!!! Within the first 5 days we found a new investigator and have made contact with the Branch Mission Leader and Relief Society President. Branch President Hansen is really busy so we understand why we haven't met with him yet. We're still planning on meeting with him. We have been involved in so much so fast and we're loving it.

We found a family!!!! OF 6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We're praying for them to have a soft heart and it was incredible how we met them. We tracted into Kelly (the Dad) and met one of his daughters. He invited us in with his wife upstairs and we shared A Savior is Born card. He loved it and invited us to come back. We set up an appointment for the next night but they were busy with a dinner party. We met the wife though! And two more of his girls! She said to come back tonight around 5 pm and we're going to go back with a member from the Branch! We've had such great blessings and we're praying this lesson goes well! I'm so so so excited for the work that we're doing here in Zionsville. I love this place. :)

It's been so great and I can't wait for this area to explode with all the work we're planning. :) There's another investigator named Nicole who wants to be baptized and we're going to help her and her daughter come to be baptized. We want to share with the the Book of Mormon and strengthen her testimony of it's truth and divinity. We've been able to get so close to them within literally 24 hours. We've been able to build that relationship up and she invited us over for Christmas Eve AND Day! It's been a blast being around her and seeing the kind giving heart she has. She's been in a terrible Semi Accident and has been able to recover the best she possibly can from that. It's still a struggle for her but she's a true example of Christ-Like Hope and Love.

I love Sister Neuton! She's so sweet. We want to help her build a testimony of the Church and of the Book of Mormon. She's very close to the Spirit and loves to pray and fast. She's so close to Heavenly Father. We want to see her come to church. This first week flew by. I can't wait to get to work now that we have a vision and a plan. I love Sister Simmons and we have SO MUCH FUN! She and I just want to work and have fun while doing it and working hard with members. :) It's great. I'm really happy in the area. :)

We've already had adventures like B-Dubs on Thursday after weekly planning with the Carmel Missionaries, serving at the Ronald McDonald House in Indianapolis, Riley's Children's Hospital, decorating a Christmas tree in our apartment literally the very first second we walked in the door, and  the list goes on. It's been such a blast here. :) I'm so excited for Christmas and to be able to see mi familia again before coming home in a few months. That's weird to say it like that... Gonna fight to the very end!!!!! Love you all!!!! See you soon!

Love,

Sister Halverson

 

Sister Simmons and I

 

Transfer Time Is Here Again

Hello Friends and Family!

Wow. This transfer ZOOMED by. I'm so not looking forward to the last two but it'll be good. I've only got 2 more left. Can you believe that? 12 weeks! Not thinking about it. :) Hahaha.

This week was hard. We still pushed for those lessons. Only one door opened to us and we shared the "A Savior is Born" card and she loved it! No interest in learning more but it was a heart softener. Well, like my Title, I'm being transferred! No idea where to! Hopefully up north! That would be AMAZING!!!!! I loved Elkhart. I would love to go back to that Zone. :) I'm sad to leave Fishers and had a hard time saying goodbye to some of the members yesterday. They really opened up to us and we saw miracles. I made my goal. I got 20 lessons every week except the one. That was incredible. I'm going to rock it in my next area.

I'm so excited for Sister Eralie to take care of this area. She and I have set up goals and plans and she's taking off. It's awesome to watch her go. She's such a great missionary and loves to teach. She's fearless and fabulous and would be a great trainer. We both love to work and that's something that I've valued with her being my companion.

It was so much fun in Fishers. I feel like we were able to see miracles as well as see the ward turn around. They opened up to us and we've been given assignments by the Bishop. It was inspired by Elder Nash to talk about how to help the Bishop. That's what we've been doing this entire transfer! He gave us an assignment that we've been plugging away at and it's been great to see that trust being built. I'm so grateful for the time I got to spend here in Fishers and I'm so looking forward to tomorrow too. It'll be interesting that's for sure. :)

I love you all! Hope your week is wonderful!

Love,

Sister Halverson

Last picture with Sister Eralie before transfer

Christmas Lights and Foggy Nights

Hello Friends and Family!

This week we saw miracles. The ward is beginning to open up to us and we're seeing people willingly come out with us. We have time set aside on Thursday to go tracting with a member. We're going to introduce the Cookies and Caroling initiative and we've already found a sister who wants us to go with her. :) We're seeing people we've had on our lists and radars and we're seeing so many of our plans come to fruition. I'm so excited too. Cheyenne is praying for a date!!!!! She wants to find out for herself and that's what we want! She's coming to church and wants to keep meeting with us. :) I love being around her. She's become so happy and energetic and not at all like she was. It's been great to see the change in her. :)

Things are going well. We're doing what we can and improving where we can't. We stand at the doors each Sunday and hand out the programs. To start it was very cold and no one really talked to us. But now it's becoming a staple and they're very friendly and we talk to them. The members are actually in good moods now in the mornings for church! I'm so happy that it's been working out as well as it has been. We're going to keep going and do what we can to change this ward. They're beginning to give us referrals!!! They have been working with a few people and the trust is there!

It's been a great great great week! I'm getting better too. I feel more energized and I feel like I can do it. It's been a good week and I have felt it. My studies are taking off and I love the Isaiah Chapters in 2 Ne.

I'm looking forward to working hard my last two transfers and getting as much done for the Lord as I can with my remaining time. :)

We're working hard with less actives and recent converts. We have a meeting with a set of converts tonight and we're going to help people come closer to Christ. That's what I was called to do. So that's what I'm going to do with my last two transfers. It'll be interesting to see how things go once I get home. :)

I'm currently rereading the BOM and am in 2 Ne 12. I love the Isaiah chapters. I feel like I can really get into it and I actually learn better in metaphors and I can see how the all fit together. It's so wonderful and I think in pictures anyway. Isaiah talks in pictures. :) It's a ton of fun. I love 2 Ne. 8 : 3. It has become my new favorite. It's so beautiful and an amazing promise that shows the power of God and His love for us. :)

Sister Eralie and I went to the Nickle Plate District on Saturday night and walked around. They had live music, a petting zoo with adorable creatures, and a light display that they turned on around 7. It was cute and small but a ton of fun. Oh and don't tell the elders but we're sending them on a treasure hunt tonight. :) It's going to be GREAT.

Hope you all have a great week! Love and miss you all!!!!! See you sooner than you think!

Love,

Sister Halverson

The only Lamp Post in Indiana. They seriously don't have very many out here.

And I think it's supposed to be Jeep upside down but it really isn't. So yeah.... Hoosiers. LOVE THEM! :D

Ward Christmas Party

Turkey Day!

Hello Friends and Family!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Even though it's a few days late! :) It's almost December. O.O Time is flying by. This week was good. Lot's of turkey dinners (6) and tons of time with members. It was really cool seeing it all work out this week. Hopefully this week will be more of tracting and finding new investigators and getting the ball moving again. We've been pretty good. Twenty lessons each week except the week when we were both so so sick. It's an improvement than what it has been. It goes to show that Fishers is capable of great things. :)

We went tracting and found that people are more open than not. They have conversations with us and we've had a lot of success getting the word out. So it's been fun to see and hopefully we can see more of that. Most of the investigators we get come through the members. So this Thursday we're going to see a girl who works with a Recent Convert. It's really cool to see people so new to the Gospel branch out and meet more people and share a love of the Gospel with them. :)

I love being here in Fishers and helping people open up more. I feel like we've seen that. But we are still having a hard time finding service. We offer everything known to man to do for the members or anyone else in the area but no one is taking us up on our offers. I just wonder what we could do more to help them trust us more to serve them. I know it's hard to find in affluent areas but it would be nice if our members would let us help them. The only form of service we do is for the community and that's for two hours each week. It's been getting at me and I would like to know more of what I can do to help.

I'm sure it will get better and it takes time. So we'll keep asking and building the relationships that we can. It'll be good.

Love and miss you all!

Love,

Sister Halverson

 

 

It's here...O.O Snow!

Hello Friends and Family!

This week we had a great week! We taught 21 lessons and have done so much with our ward. The trust is starting to be there. We're still struggling to find service and doing our best to find it in the community but it just isn't happening the way we need it too. We were told to go to the Chamber of Commerce to ask for service opportunities and once we can find that we will be better. But we've decided to just go and do service for the ward members or even go service tracting. That seems to have worked really well for the Carmel missionaries and we're going to go do the same. It'll be nice to get out and shovel walkways. Get our hands on some shovels and GO TO WORK. Once it starts coming down and anything we can go and do, we'll do it.

I'm so excited for this week. It's Thanksgiving! That means preparing for Elder Nash to arrive as well as spending time with our members. We've been invited to 3 dinners and we're STOKED. This is Sister Eralie's first Thanksgiving as a missionary and she's pumped. It's been a great week last week. We went to the Temple and enjoyed a morning session, the first snowfall of the season hit, (I love tracting in the winter. More families are home staying warm (than out and about in the cold.) and we're going to perform in Sacrament meeting for the members. It's been a wonderful week and we're really trying to get out there and tract more. I'm super happy. :) I love Fishers.

I'm super excited for Lisa and Cheyenne. They both want to be baptized and more realistically Lisa doesn't want to do it alone. We're hoping to start teaching her daughters this week and get them on board too. She wants her family to be involved. Cheyenne wants to change so badly. She's going through a lot especially as an 18 year old and we're helping her see how she can do it through Christ. It's been a wonderful change and the Spirit is always SO strong. It was last night too at dinner with Carl and Linda. They both want the New Member Lessons (her missionaries didn't teach them to her) and we really emphasized Joseph Smith and the major role he played in bringing the Gospel to the world once again. It was amazing. :) I'm so happy we get to go out and be doing more with our members and this area. It's needed some much deserved TLC and we've been seeing that and have been doing our best to plan and take care of this area. :) It's been a good week. :)

Love,
Sister Halverson

 

November at the Indy Temple with Sister Eralie

I love the Indy Temple!

 

Smoothies, Sunset, Leg Lamp and Sickness...

Hello Friends and Family!

This week was interesting. Got sick again. Haha. So close as a companionship we got each other sick! Well, not really. I had it a couple of weeks ago and so did Sister Eralie. So we just managed to get the virus at the same time. YAY! No but seriously. This week was so slow! Got so gosh darn sick we couldn't get out much. We tried and when we tried we crashed. So managed to get SOME lessons but didn't want to get others so sick.

This week will be better. I'm sure of it. :)

Monday we decided to go to the Fashion Mall in Indy because we got our car moved someplace else and are now sharing again. I felt so very poor going to the rich people mall. Some stores I felt I couldn't even step into everything was so expensive! Like the Saks on Fifth Avenue. Yes. They had one here. Looked at all the fancy dresses, much cheaper than I thought they'd be! And then this really fuzzy vest was like $800!!! Really?! For a VEST?!?! It was gross. Let's not forget the Louis Vuitton store in the BASEMENT of this place. Ridiculous. But that was an adventure. Got a blueberry pomegranate smoothie and enjoyed the sunset on the drive home.

We were also attacked by a flying squirrel perched on the roof over the door. We realized he wanted to get out as we wanted to get in. So he decided to jump off the roof and into the tree over our heads. We both thought we were going to be squirrel chow. These Hoosier squirrels are something else! Have we learned nothing from the vicious man eating black squirrels of the north? Warsaw..... Man I miss that place.

We're hoping to go to the temple this Friday. Sister Eralie hasn't been in a long time. So we're going to get permission to go this week. :) It'll be good. :) I'm excited. :D More family names!!! Yay! :) Maybe I can do initiatories too. That would be fun.

Well, that's my crazy week! Oh yeah. We visited a member last night and they showed us the leg lamp shade hanging in their window. It was awesome haha. Hope you all have a great week!

Love and miss you all! Won't be long now.

 

Love,

Sister Halverson

Another Indy Sunset

Blueberry Pomegranate Smoothie

Leg Lamp

Um...Can Time Rewind?

Hello Friends and Family!

Time is going by way too quickly. As my mother pointed out I only have 4 more months left from today.... :P I don't know how I feel about this..... I want to stay in Indy forever. Didn't think that at the beginning of my mission...but now I've determined to stay in Indiana and live here forever. Man I love the Hoosiers. :)

Anyway, It was a great week. We're together flipping Fishers on it's head. :) Haha. We have a lot of goals and plans we want to see come to pass and we're having a ton of fun doing it. This week will be experimental and we're going to tract like mad. We decided we need to work with members and build up trust. And the way we can do that is through tracting around them, getting them involved in the different aspects of missionary work, and inviting them to share the Gospel with their Friends. I think the one way we'll be able to see and get more out of this area is as if we treat them as investigators and get them excited about Sharing the Gospel. I think it'll be a great way to shake it up and also to talk to our recent convert friends about their friends. That's another great way we can get solid investigators. It's all a big process.

Sister Eralie and I have created this plan to work harder with our members. We took our plan we had created to the Bishop and Ward Council and have asked that they make use of us as well as give us lists of names they want us to get in contact with. There are less actives and part members alike on this list. These wonderful people are in the Lord's hands and HE wants us to get in touch with them and work hard to strengthen the House. Keep the Ward strong, keep the family strong, keep the work Strong. It was a great start to a new transfer and we're going to dominate. :) I'm stoked. We still have every intention to work hard and experiment with tracting in this area. We did a bit on Wednesday and it felt phenomenal. People were open to us and kind. It was a great experience and this is how we began to formulate our plan. I'm so excited for this week and to see what kind of works we can bring to the table.

I learned a lot this week about repentance and learning to rely on the Spirit. To me it means to change. To want to become better. Not just the superficial but the super deep as well. Anything, everything is an aspect that we can change. It's a great feeling KNOWING I can be cleansed from sin and help others on their way. What does Heavenly Father ask? Live like His Son. This is how we can live like His Son. We can give our weaknesses to God in earnest prayer and hope for a better future. Don't forget the action side of things. This is our faith. If we can push ourselves to ACT and act openly, we can see the miracles unfold in our own lives. You don't have to be a missionary to see miracles. God is hyper aware of us as we seek to earnestly change. This all comes back to full circle. Hope. Have Faith. Change. Seek to be clean. Hope. Have faith. Change. Repeat.

It's a cycle. A pattern. A pattern for the welfare of God's children on the earth today, tomorrow, and in the future.

It's truly been a great week. We're having fun we're working hard. We got ukulele's and have been practicing fun songs for trainings and maybe even the Christmas conference. Lol. It'll be interesting to say the least. No idea what we're going to do but it'll be good. :) (Performing in front of 200 + Senior and FTM's? Sure! Why not!) "Why would we not brothers and sisters?" - President Cleveland. :)

The work is good. The plans are good. The time is wonderful. I'm stoked. :)

Love and miss you all!
Love,
Sister Halverson

Another gorgeous Indiana sunset

District Meeting with Sister E and me

Sister Eralie and I

Two New Members :)

Hello Friends and Family!

This week was so hard. It was ultimately rewarding as two people I have come to know and love became clean from their sins and received the precious gift of the Holy Ghost, being confirmed members. It was so rewarding. And that's what I'm grateful for. It was difficult in send a companion home. It was hard dealing with feelings of discouragement as the week progressed. It was hard feeling homesick and realizing I only have 2 transfers left after this one. Kind of a smack in the face. I'm not ready to go home. There is still so much more I can do and NEED to do 4 months fly by too quickly. It seems like just yesterday I was barely starting and now I've been out for 14 months...

It passes too quickly and I have work that needs to be done. I'm ready for a new transfer. I'm ready for change. I rearranged the furniture in the apartment and cleaned everything. It felt good to vacuum and get everything so clean. I feel so much better knowing things are changing this time. Which is weird. I originally hated change. Now it's an everyday constant. It's been wonderful to see the change in my atmosphere and mindset. I know things are getting to where they need to be and I earnestly want to seek improvement. I've made goals with my STL and I'm going to make goals with my District Leader too. I want it. I want to see Lisa and Cheyenne baptized. I want to see Joe come to church and actually want to make this a priority. I want to find new investigators and have the ward surround them and hold fast to them. I want to go through my ward roster and have a ward wall established in my apartment.

I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure the Lord's work is done in Fishers. I want 20 lessons EVERY week this transfer. I want to improve my exact obedience. I want to improve my communication skills and also my study habits. I want to delve deeper in to the scriptures and listen to more talks. There are so many things I want to do and I understand I need to pick a few goals that I can work on steadily. That's where I want to be. I've got a desire to see this work done before I leave or go home. If I stay in Fishers the rest of my mission I wouldn't be opposed to it. There are people here I need to see to the baptismal font. Whether it be in the Temple or accepting the Gospel for themselves. I'm going to do it.

Heavenly Father has helped me through difficult times and has helped me feel the peace and comfort I've needed to in turn reflect my good feelings on these amazing people. I'm going to sit down with my WML and ask him what he wants to see us do for the area, what the area needs, and how we can improve to be the vessels of the Lord. There is so much Potential here. Let's see how much we can tap. :)

Love,
Sister Halverson

Baptism - Mike

Baptism - Carl

Walking on the Stars!

Hello Friends and Family!

This week has been absolutely incredible. We have two baptisms this weekend and Jesse from Crawfordsville told me he is going to be baptized in December!!!!!!!!!!! I have seriously been on cloud nine this week! I tried my hardest to get up on time and I feel like I did a pretty good job of doing it. Sister Munoz helped me and it worked. I felt better all in all of the morning and I feel like we've had a pretty successful week out of it. I'm so excited to work in Fishers and I want to keep chugging along with the work. We picked up a sweetheart of an investigator who is so sincere and wants to change her life around. She needs it right now. It'll be good for her to have this kind of change in her life. It's been great to see and begin the journey with her. I know Heavenly Father put her in our path for a reason. It's going to be wonderful.

Lisa wants to be baptized as well! She wants to make sure her foundation of faith is where it needs to be and that this is what she 100% wants to do but I know she knows that this is a good path. Her daughters are starting to soften their hearts and they are going to be ok I think if their mom joins the church. I feel like she is changing so much and experiencing the healing aspect of the Atonement and having that wonderful joy and peace fill her. She has been searching for some light and has found it. I cannot wait for the day to see her receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost and become truly clean. I think that will be the day she looks forward most to as well. :)

I'm really happy here and I'm so grateful for these wonderful members. All of our investigators thus far have been given to us through the members. It's amazing. I really hope we can go out and find those in need and be able to build up a member wall and increase trust as well. I feel like we have a lot of Part Member families we could reach out to and bring to church. We're actually working with a family named Joe and Natasha Porter and they are so nice! The only problem is that he works graves and has a hard time focusing. We also have a hard time meeting with them in a time that he can have had sleep and be aware and functioning in the lesson. We have a great member fellowshipping them and we're going to work hard to bring her back to church because she is less active and they want to raise a family together in a Church. He wants to know about her church.

I have loved serving in Fishers and I'm excited to be able to continue that work. I love this ward and feel like I'm home especially with people who have been so kind to me and we have a great new bishop. It's been wonderful!

This week we also went to the temple with two recent converts/returning members and were able to see them do 10 names for my family in the temple. Ten of my ancestors were baptized and the joy I felt in that room as I watched these two wonderful sisters who I've gotten so close to was unimaginable. I loved being there to watch that sacred ordinance performed. It was amazing and so wonderful. I'm so grateful for this work and for the Spirit I have felt while I've been here in Fishers and I'll be able to stay here for a while longer to continue that work. :)

Love and miss you all!
Love,
Sister Halverson

There Was A Baptism :)

Hello Friends and Family!!!

WOOO HOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dave and Vikki are Baptized!!! So exciting!!!! It was a great night last night. :) I'm so so so happy. It really does pay off. And in the grand scheme of things, I know it's going to continue. :) It was a nice event last night. Sister Thalman and I gave talks at the baptism and the Spirit was so so strong. :)

Ok so they were not in our area but they have become really close friends and we've been team teaching with the Elders to help them become trusting and comfortable. This family is so stinking awesome! We've helped them a lot and provided service and have loved being there. We're hoping that they can continue to make goals to later be sealed in the temple. :)

I love them and I'm so excited for Carl. He's doing really really well and is setting things up and finalizing things for his upcoming baptism. He's so excited. We had a lesson with him Wednesday night and he literally glowed. Carl and Linda are just so happy and it shows now that they have the Gospel in their lives. They have brought up valid concerns with what they do bring up and they just want more answers. He loves getting the pamphlets and I'm so excited. We're also teaching a man named Michael. He's from the Philippines and his Parents converted a long time ago. They were very less active and the Sisters went over to help Soledad, the Mom, become active again. We also found out that her son Michael wants to be baptized! He's been looking for the true church. Grew up Catholic, been searching ever since. Most of the things we've taught him resonate and he wants to take this Gospel back to the Philippines to his family! We looked up where he would live in the Philippines and have found he lives really close to a church building!!! It's seriously so cool. :) He wants to be baptized and convert his family. :) It's the best feeling ever. And then there's Lisa. She's been LOVING the lessons! She calls it guidance which is so funny. But honestly it couldn't be more true. I feel like we've been seeing progress and have been texting her scriptures each night to read. Which she does! She's had to start from the beginning I feel and start with a basic testimony of a loving Heavenly Father. I know she is seeing a difference as well and that is helping her see the bigger picture.

It's been hard the first couple of weeks but I feel like I can manage well before times flies and I'll be heading home. It's been a good learning experience for me to bring back past experiences with companions and being able to let go. I've valued that more than anything. I've also come to laugh with my companions and love them as sisters as we've been seeing miracles come to fruition here in Fishers. It's been interesting to say the least and I feel like everything is working out ok. Sister Munoz is helping me to see the things I can improve on and helping me set out a way to do it. We made a goal to have her wake me up at 6:30 in the morning so I can be more exactly obedient. I've been trying really hard to do just that and improve my morning routine. Sister Thalman is kind of comic relief. She's the laid back one out of the three of us and I feel like I'm pretty chill. So it's good to have a stable medium. :)

I've also come to see some changes that need to be made as well. But I feel it is in my best interest to do all the things that I can do with my companions before changing this area. I would love to stay here in Fishers. We're working hard with people and I feel like we can still work harder. Sister Thalman has been sick and we've been taking it easier so she doesn't get worse. It's been steady for the most part but I want to get high numbers and reach higher goals. I think we can do it. Whatever happens next transfer will be a great turn around. I feel it has been stressful on all of us in a trio to do what is needed here. We're working on it and doing the best we can. We've had many great lessons and are definitely seeing miracles. :) I'm excited to keep working here and I would love to be here the rest of my mission. I feel like I can do great things and have been able to see what I can fix to move forward too. I feel like I'm doing and learning a lot here and the miracles are never ending and baptisms are catching up. :)

Love,
Sister Halverson

Miracles for Dayzzzzzz!!!!!!!!!

Hello Friends and Family!

Miracle time! We've been helping the Elders team teach a woman who is more comfortable with Sisters teaching her. So we've been up with that and have been really coming close with her and her husband. I's been awesome.   So the other day this couple calls us and tells us that they want to be baptized and have chosen a date!!!!! The only catch is it's 6 days away on the 18th! O.O Crazy right?!?!?! We're so stoked for them! All the prayers in the world will help for Vicki and Dave!!!!! They really need it in order to make this work!!!!

We've been meeting with Carl as well! He really wants to be baptized and has been waiting so patiently for his opportunity to do so! He's been on date now for October 31 at 10 am! I'm so excited for him. It's really hard to get in contact with him because he's so busy but he is doing those things that are helping him and he's working hard with his Recent Convert girlfriend to meet the goals he's set. We're looking forward to helping him come to baptism and see him at church. :) We're also working with a sweet lady named Lisa. She's been having a hard time lately and we've been helping her feel God's love and help her with her struggling 12 year old daughter. She's been reading and we're going to meet with her again tomorrow at a member's house. :) It'll be good and it's been so good for her.

I'm doing well! we're just trying one day at a time basically. That's all I can do and that's what is working. Trying. I'm not always successful but at the least we're trying to get one lesson a day. Need to build that back up and this week we're going to hit hard. Tracting went well the other day when we went out. Many people out here are set in their faiths and that's very admirable. They're very kind and we get to have really good conversations with them. I'm just praying Heavenly Father will soften their hearts to our message. That's what I want. A softer heart and happy heart to go out and do this work. Which is happening. :)

Love,
Sister Halverson

General Conference and Interviews

Hello Friends and Family!

I think we had a really good week. We have a lot to keep improving on but we had a really good lesson the other day with our investigator Lisa. She's been having a hard time lately and is in a rather dark place. We are helping her let light come back into her life which she is flourishing with. It's a hard process for her at times but I think the worst of it is over. She has loved the Book of Mormon and the feeling of the Holy Ghost. She radiates light. She's learning that the feeling of the Holy Ghost is something she wants to keep working towards. It's been fun being in a trio and teaching her. Other appointments are falling through but we're trying and setting up appointments with others and always trying to get a return appointment.

I'm truly excited to get out and tract this area because it's a different challenge and I've been looking forward to working hard with the members to try and strengthen them too. :) I really want to unify this ward. They seem super awesome but I feel like there's something missing. I really want to start a member wall in our apartment and help them to get to know the missionaries and us get to know them and ASK FOR REFERRALS!!! I've been doing so much better about it than I have in the past. I make it a point to just ask. It comes up naturally in the conversation and we have fun. :) I feel good about being here. Really I do. I want it to flourish. I know it can too. :)

This general conference was really hard. I actually was told yesterday that the Relief Society President in my last area just passed away from an unexpected heart attack. It was a blow and I was so so shocked especially when we had just talked to her weeks previously. It was also a blessing and comfort to me as well at an unexpected answer to my career prayers. Elder Renlund's talk helped provide peace as well as President Nelson's. Both men talked about the heart and their careers in the medical field and the problems that they overcame. This really helped me and I felt peace and God's love for me and for His Daughter that just returned home a few days ago. While I'm still sad at the unexpected loss, I know she is doing the Lord's work on the other side. :) I loved hearing from the General Authorities and from our beloved Prophet.

Love,
Sister Halverson

Fishers of Men!

Hello Friends and Family!

My week has been a whirlwind of crazy! Fishers is so much fun! Again, I've already learned so much and it's been about a week. I've also hit over a year. That's sad. I'm doing good! I've been pretty busy this past week! It's been nice. :) We've seen more miracles like putting people on date for baptism and seeing many members. I really hope we'll be able to keep them on date. They only have like 3 weeks before they move back to the Philippines. We had an elder from the Philippines and they'll be able to help teach his family when He moves back. It was so cool. :) Michal accepted the invitation to be baptized and has also been put on date for the 30th of October! It was so cool and the Spirit was so strong. We shared the message of the Restoration and asked if he had any questions. He is from the Philippines and has been searching for the truth. He's been to so many different churches and he likes this one. He went to the temple open house and loved it. We believe his father was with him in the temple the day he went. Both of his parents are less active members and he wants his family to be sealed. I've only met him twice (One of the times eating Balut....I would not recommend it.....EVER) and he's been reading the things we have given him. We're looking forward to him watching Conference and being baptized. It'll be my first baptism! I'm praying really hard for him to continue on this path.

The sisters have really been kind to me and have welcomed me here. I was nervous at first to be in a trio but they've been really good. :) We've been working hard and implementing ways to get out and do work. I've been getting SO MUCH BETTER at asking members and the people we teach for referrals. It's been wonderful. I needed the fresh start and so far SO GOOD! :D I still have things to improve on but I'm doing good and I'm going to continue doing the good that needs to happen here. :)

So Balut is a boiled duck egg with a 1 day old Chick still inside. Yes. I ate a boiled baby duck. :P But it's ok! A relationship is kind of worth it when it means we become friends and he can accept the Gospel and trust us! Michal likes to feed us weird stuff. Like last night. Gave us chicken hearts and other various organs... Woo. It wasn't terrible. Not my favorite but not terrible.

We also spent Saturday serving! We helped the boy scouts with a recycling project and spent time running the awards stand for the Special Olympics in Avon!!!!! It was so fun! The missionaries gathered with us and helped cheer on the players and they had tons of fun! It was sweet to see them light up when we gave them their medals! :)

I hope you all have a fun week and keep on keepin' on! I love and miss you!

Love,

Sister Halverson

Sister Munoz and I

Sister Munoz and Sister Thalman with me!  My new companions.

Welcome to Fishers

Hello Friends and Family!

Transfers have come and gone. Well. I got moved out of Crawfordsville. I'm now in Fishers which is an hour east of Crawfordsville which I'm 100% ok with because it means I'll be able to go to Jesse's baptism. He's going to be baptized around Christmas and I'm going to go back. It's a rule here where you have to be within an hour and get permission to go or get a member to bring you or have it on Monday to go. Monday is P-Day.

And I'm going to show President how things are done here in Fishers. Here's the kicker about my area which is where I think I'll actually thrive. We're not allowed to tract. It's strictly Personal Contacting and member work. I want to create a member wall again or at least get photos of the members or a little info on all of them. That would be super cool. Also, we want member presents at everything and have been asking if anyone could use service or a message. So we're going to see what happens and how well this will work. I'm going to get in shape. 5 to Fabulous. I'm on it this transfer.

I'm in a trio which is SUPER weird and I thought I'd actually DIE when I got told the news. I think I can handle it though. I think some previous assumptions are incorrect so I'm going to fix that in my mindset. They're really sweet and have welcomed me into the area. It'll be good to be here and do a lot of what I've been doing in Crawfordsville for the past three months. Wow. That's so weird that I've been in 5 areas now. This one felt like home from the very first minute. I feel comfortable here doing what I've been doing in other areas which is LA/RC work and strengthening the members. I'm excited.

Other than that I've been doing good. We taught a couple of super strong lessons so far and they come from members. Which is good. I'm excited too. I'm going to have a baptism. It'll be the first time a baptism happened in my area. WITH ME IN IT. :) I feel like a lot of things are actually coming back up into play. Like the whole of my mission is finally adding up to a grand finale. I'm going to have fun here. :) It's been great so far. Now it's going to be even better. :)

I hope you all have a good week!

Love and miss you tons!

Love,

Sister Halverson

Transfers... :(

Hello Friends and Family!

Well. Bummer. We got the call and I'm not sure how to handle it. I literally cried all night Saturday and all morning Sunday. We had Stake Conference so that was interesting sitting there trying not to cry. It just about killed when we had to say goodbye to Jesse. We are both out of Crawfordsville. :( I'm so so so sad. I love it here and I'm not ready to leave. We've seen miracles here! Jesse is doing awesome. He's committed to finishing the Book of Mormon by Oct. 3! He wants to be baptized around Christmas so Courtney can be home for it. It's so cool! It'll be good.

This week was rather uneventful. We had Stake Conference. President Ellis is really cool. We heard great talks. Had dinner with the Samuelsens, they posted a video of Sister Anderson's birthday on Youtube. That was interesting hearing about that...

But it's going to be good. New area, new companion, new chance to learn and grow together. Make more friends. Enjoy the Fall Weather. Etc. :)

Love and miss you all!

Love,

Sister Halverson

Temple Time!!!!

Hello Friends and Family!

We had a great week this week! Started Tuesday with a bang and had more lessons in a single day than we had in a while. It was great! We've been trying and trying and trying and that's something I'm super proud of. It's been a great week! I'm doing great! Jesse is awesome. He is progressing along so wonderfully. He's about to get to the good chapters in 3 Ne. Chapter 11! It's so cool to see how he's progressing and he's really open with concerns with the Clark family because they're the ones helping him to learn more without pushing him. He's doing great though! We're going to call Jim and Este tonight to set up an appointment. We haven't been able to get in contact with them in a while. It'll be nice to meet with her and Jim again. Crawfordsville is doing good. We're getting out and trying and working and making contact with people. We got out and tried yesterday which is more than we can say for other days. It's been a slow and steady progression. We're hoping we can meet and/or beat our goals this week to end things on a high note. It'll be really good for both us and Crawfordsville.

It's been a great week here and I'm going to continue working hard. I'm exited to see what happens with calls. I feel like I'm now more prepared than ever for whatever changes occur. It'll be great!

We also went to he Temple this last Wednesday!!! I got to do a family name from Mom's side and have been looking for her ever since in Familysearch. I'm so happy to have been able to provide my ancestor with the opportunity to accept the work done on their behalf. It felt like they were just waiting for it and was a big sigh of relief. I love the temple and doing work. I want so badly to become a worker when I get home. :) I'd love it.

Love and miss you all! Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!!!

Love,

Sister Halverson

 

Same Shades - Mom sent these for us!

A Member's Backyard in Crawfordsville, IN

 

Temple Trip

Hello Friends and Family!

We've had a stellar week! We went to one of our outlying areas this week and were able to contact a referral that had requested a Book of Mormon. Our ward has been doing this Book of Mormon marking program that helps outline the main points of the Book of Mormon to give someone a baseline of where to start if the whole thing seems super daunting. It's been interesting to see where it goes and the verses that are highlighted. Sister Anderson had this marked copy and we gave it to the referral in Bloomingdale, IN which is one of our southern most cities. It was nice to be able to visit the town and also see where another member lived. We'll have to make appointments with these members and that is what we plan on doing on Weekly planning so we can have appointments and also visit with them. It's been wonderful. We've been trying to get out and talk to more people, nothing short of talking to the mechanics who had serviced our car before the Temple Open House.

We've been meeting with Jesse and he's seriously SO solid.  We've been working hard with Less Actives and the members in the ward and have been seeing the fruits pay off.  Like this Thursday for instance.  We've been working in the outlying areas and were able to get to the southern most part of our area and contacted people down there.  We're hoping to visit all of our Less Actives and Members on our ward roster which will be nice and a good way to get to put names to faces with the pictures we've been taking.  We're going on Tuesday to do it again and find more people on our list.  Hopefully we can meet with a girl who wants to learn more about the church and be baptized.  We're hoping the Spirit can soften her older sister's heart to let her meet with us.  She made it a goal to be baptized this year and we want to help her with it.  So hopefully we can do that and help our members get to the Temple too.  We have new and returning members we want to see starting to learn about the temple ordinances and how special they are to us.  :)  I have a family name from Great Grandpa Holmes side of our family and I'll be going through for her tomorrow (September 9th).  I'm so so so excited to be able to go and do that for her.  It'll be a special experience to say the least.  :)

 

We spent Sunday night in West Lafayette going to Why I Believe. It's been a LONG time since I went to one. And it was great. An Elder from Sao Paulo, Brazil bore his testimony of how he was converted and the blessings he's seen since being on his mission. It was inspiring. :) I learned a lot this week and I'm trying to improve. All in all we've done great things and have felt so much better about what we're doing and where we're going. :) All I have to worry about now is not getting sick as the leaves start to fall and Autumn comes in to play. :) Indy Falls are GORGEOUS!!!!!

Love you all!

Love,

Sister Halverson

Another Great Week!

Hello Friends and Family!

We had a great week this week! We set a goal of how many lessons we wanted to see and made a steady progression each day. We got phone numbers from a potential who had been coming to the youth activities for a while and actually made it a goal to be baptized this year! We're going to meet with her Wednesday after Activities and see what she wants to do. It's been incredible that the Members have gotten hold of so many potential people before we did and all it takes is to ask our members for referrals. We truly had a great week and next week will be even better. Jesse wants to read the Book of Mormon first before he decides if this is something he wants to do. He's in Helaman 11 as of now which was farther than our first meeting with him and he's progressing! We're so excited to see him keep finding if this is true for himself. He came to church yesterday and participated in the Gospel Principles lesson on Repentance and said the closing prayer! We committed him to start thinking about a day to be baptized. We have another lesson with him this Friday. We're so excited.

It's really been a great week and this next one will be better. We started putting the pictures up on the wall for our members and are continuing to go out and contact more and more less actives. We went with a sister in the ward to go to homes of members she knows so we can catch them when they'll be home or help us figure out when a good time will be to contact them. I'm going to be following up with a member we met with last week to see when a good time to go and visit them will be. We're also going to contact a referral tonight with a member. They requested a missionary visit and we contacted them to set up an appointment. Nervous but excited. This area has been so centered on referrals and building trust with members. I've been learning so much and trying to do things differently than I have in my other areas. I love being here. It's definitely been trying but so rewarding as we're pushing ourselves and getting out and trying to contact more and more people. It's been wonderful. :)

Also, I get to go through the Temple on the 9th! I'm so excited!!!!! It's so so so pretty and I'm grateful that I have family names I get to take through. It'll be a first for me. I've taken others family names through like for Amanda Stokes when we went on our Senior Trip but I haven't taken my own names through. It'll be an incredible experience. I'm so looking forward to it. It'll be on the day I actually entered Indiana one year ago. CRAZY!!!! 6 months left. Holy Cow. So much has happened this last year. Let's see what happens these last 6 months shall we? :)

Love,
Sister Halverson

We have a Temple!

Hello Friends and Family!

It was such a wonderful experience attending the Temple Dedication yesterday. I loved being able to hear from President Eyring and hearing the words for the dedication of the Temple. I'm so excited to be able to go to the temple again. Last time I went was in February. I'd love to go to the Indy Temple sometime soon. :) It's amazing to think that two years ago the ground was broken and now stands a beautiful House of the Lord. I love the Temple and all the Blessings it brings to families now and beyond the veil. It's amazing. I'm so excited to go through again. Especially for my ancestors.

This week we had a miracle lesson with our new investigator. Jesse has been dating a member for a while now and started reading the Book of Mormon in May. He's now in Helaman and is thinking about a baptismal date! We taught the Message of the Restoration to him with her family there to support and answer further questions. It was amazing. He has been finding this truth on his own and that's the important part.

We continue to feel the promptings of the Spirit telling us to visit members and to help strengthen the ward. We feel that the work will catch and we can see miracles pick up as they become more missionary minded and can then support each other better. We've seen miracles of the trust that is being built by them and have contacted several of the referrals they have given us and are in contact with the referrals from the Temple. It's amazing to see the relationships build between us and our members as we share thanks and love with them and serve them. It's been a wonderful learning experience. I'm glad we can do such meaningful work amongst the members in Crawfordsville. We've been contacting more of them and have been trying to establish our investigator pool through them because they have friends who are ready and waiting to hear the Gospel. And once they learn a little from their friends that's when we will step in. It's becoming member missionary work here. I love it. :)

It's been a good week. We had a rainstorm yesterday and we felt it wash away the old and can help us see tomorrow in a better light. It was great to stand in it for a sec and just laugh too. Also, I retired a pair of beat up shoes I wore for a long time tracting. It's a great feeling to see how worn they are from all the hard work. :) It's been a great year to say the least. Tons of growth and I have definitely been trained and have learned so much. It's crazy and weird but I'm excited to see these last 6 months through!

Much love! Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Halverson

Hard Work Really Does Pay Off!

Hello Friends and Family!

Our hard work is paying off! This week was a little stressful regarding companionship but we have everything under control and I'm going to get a blessing just because it's the start of a new transfer and I would love a little Counsel from Heavenly Father to help us know how to help this area work and see miracles. Which leads me to my miracle!!!!!

So there is a young man who comes to church pretty regularly. He's dating a member and he is a non-member. The family wanted to let him explore and not push it on him because their daughter who is dating him has been burned before. So any and all contact made with the Church has been in his own interest and on his own time. Well, he's been attending church with her for the past 4-5 months and has been listening to the Book of Mormon on tape while driving to work! We finally felt prompted to approach the family and ask if he was ready to meet with the missionaries, especially after the Temple Open House and how strong the Spirit has been in the ward. He said yes! We have our first official meeting with him on Wednesday and we're so super excited!

Our members have been meeting with their friends and sharing the Gospel with them. A lot have come through the Temple Open House and are good friends with Several members of the Ward. They've been doing EXCELLENT member missionary work and with the feelings we've been getting of working with members the work is starting to pay off. We're so so happy to be able to build their trust in us and I am so thankful we have been listening to the voice of the Spirit to help our ward and have them in turn trust us with their friends and families. It's been a testimony builder of the trust they have in us and the strength of the relationships we share one with another as a congregation to missionaries and as companions. All of it plays together with the strength of our personal relationship to God and how we all work together to bring about His great work.

The stress has been building up but now that we have seen the miracles and have implemented changes that will better the work in our area, I feel very much accomplished. We've been doing little things like offering service to an animal shelter a couple of times a week for an hour to walk some of the dogs. It's a great way to contact people and to help out the community to get the name out so to speak. Plus we have wanted to play with dogs for a transfer and have found a way to do it! It was a blessing in disguise! We're really happy working here and I'm so so glad we have work to do and have finished a map of our area, have started going out and attempting to meet ALL of our members, and have been receiving referrals from them as we leave their home with a spiritual message. It's been so great. Like yesterday!

We shared the Restoration with our dinner appointment and the Spirit was so strong. We taught in unity and I have had a wonderful time getting to know and serve with Sister Anderson. We definitely know miracles are happening in Crawfordsville. :)

We also got a new-ish car at Transfers! It's a 2013 Cruze. :) With a bike rack! Haha like we ever use those..... (Knock on Wood). But it's nice so we can help elders. I feel bad. We take their cars and then make them ride bikes. The least we can do is to use the bike rack and help them out at transfers. Oh well. I'm doing really good this week! Things are getting moving in Crawfordsville. :) It'll be a great transfer!

Love you!

Love,
Sister Halverson

The End of the Indiana Temple Open House

Hello Friends and Family!

Well, transfer calls came and honestly we were both shocked to find out we were staying together for another transfer. I'm excited at the same time and wondering why this happened. It's going to be a great transfer and we have already seen things fall into play after the temple open house. I'm excited to see if more referrals will come in and also be able to spend a bit more time with the missionaries in my district. It'll be so much fun to see them and get to know them more. I was worried things might get tight with my companion but we have it worked out and will continue to work it out. She's become like a Sister to me more than anything and this area will see a lot of good things.

There are lots of families in our ward working with individuals who are interested in the Gospel. We are patiently praying to see when a good time to approach these individuals will be. So many of them have gone through the temple and I'm so happy to hear how they are doing. We feel with the members being there with them every step of the way, we'll see the Crawfordsville ward grow in ways we couldn't even have imagined. I'm so excited to work with these members and help the people they're working with to grow and learn and become thriving members of the Church.

We also have planned to work with the Less Actives and visit every member on our roster this transfer with the help of the active members willing to come help us. It's a transfer I'm looking forward to because we feel prompted to do a special kind of work that will help us and others. It's been a great year honestly. I can look back and see how much I've grown and learned from all of my past companions and areas. Different lessons came at different times and I'm happy about how things have turned out. I'm really looking forward to the future as well. It can only go up from here!

We've got lots to do. Also! The ending tally for the temple open house was 91,000!  They got it together as far as ushering people through the temple by the second to last day but at least they figured it out.  Better late than never! It was amazing to be a part of this special event and they're giving us the referrals from the open house. The people who were interested enough to come see the temple and walk through it and who want to know more makes me excited to go and talk to them. Hopefully we will be doing a lot of that this transfer as we kind of take over Crawfordsville and help the wonderful people here. :)

Love you all! Miss you! See you in 6!

Love,
Sister Halverson

20 and a Transfer!

Hello Friends and Family!

This transfer is already almost over. Where did the time go??? I feel like it was just yesterday that I was in Warsaw to Crawfordsville and now who knows what will happen??? It's so weird how fast time really does fly by. It's amazing but really weird. I feel like this Transfer was meant to help build Sister Anderson and I. We made goals and plans for this area and were able to help it rest for what it seemed it needed. I'm excited to see how things work out after this transfer and the Temple is Dedicated. I think that's when we'll see the miracles roll in. Not that they haven't already. More will come. We started our member wall and I'm determined to finish it. I'm glad things will be able to settle down a bit more because our ward has been so engaged in the Temple. It's been cool to see how many people are being built like Elder Sinclair said in his training for the Sisters. We truly are being built.

I'm super excited to see what happens. I love Sister Anderson and being able to serve with her was so so much fun. She's become one of my best friends out here in Indiana. It was so much fun! Tons of memories and laughs! 

This weekend was a weird one. I don't feel like I'm 20. It doesn't feel like I have two decades under my belt. And I think back and look at how much I've learned since being on my mission and everything turns into perspective for me. Bizarre and really edifying too. I'm glad I am serving a mission. :) We had so much fun this weekend. Shooting each other with Nerf guns and having a total blast! Ate a ton of cake and got to have fun on Saturday at the temple. It was a wonderful birthday!!! :) Hope you all have a wonderful week!!!!

Love,
Sister Halverson

20!

Good morning Crawfordsville

Sister Anderson and I