10 Months Already?!?

Hello Friends and Family!

The time has come and gone for yet another transfer! All four of us are being transferred out!!! Can you believe that?! What's even crazier is that Elder Jones is training! AGAIN! Now THAT'S crazy! Anywho.  It just seems like time is passing way too quickly! By the way, I've been out 10 months...I don't want to hit my year mark! And a month from Wednesday I'll be 20! Too much time on my hands and it's sliding away too quickly to keep a hold of it!

This week we tried really hard to find a new investigator and all week it just didn't seem to pay off. Yesterday we had about 30 minutes to tract to talk to a couple more people before the week ended, trying for that new investigator. We taught a woman named Kay briefly then went to the next house. A woman named Terry opened the door and we began talking to her about the church and our beliefs. She expressed her beliefs and that she has a lot of questions. She asked us why we're called Mormons and we taught her about the Book of Mormon and invited her to learn more! She accepted the invitation and we set up an appointment for the next Thursday! We're so excited that we found a new investigator right before we'll be double transferred out of Warsaw! It showed us how God works and has his Hand in our lives! We're excited for the new missionaries to teach her!

I'm excited to see what will happen at transfers. I feel like I'm ready to leave Warsaw. Not the people we have met but I'm ready to go on to the next adventure. I feel like we've left Warsaw better than we found it and I'm grateful for the missionaries I've been able to serve with and learn from. :) It'll be a new adventure with more chances to grow and be better and that's what I'm looking forward too the most. I'm excited to see what happens and what I can do to help the next area. Of course I can really do nothing without God. He has helped me so much. Yeah times have been hard but He's still there. If it's true to teach to others who are struggling with that acceptance and knowledge, then it's true for the people who teach that principle. I'm looking forward to the change and other things that I can accomplish. 

Hope you all have a wonderful week!
Love,
Sister Halverson

Storms, Storms, and More Storms!

Hello Friends and Family!

We've had a ton of rain this past week in the Lovely Warsaw. TONS of thunderstorms too. Not my cup of tea... But I can manage. :) Pretty sure I'm going to get pro at taking Lightning pictures haha! This week was INSANE. We had Interviews and exchanges (Went up to Mishawaka with Sister Allred! It hit 101!!!!!) Zone Meeting was on Friday and we had it combined with South Bend. Had a BBQ with all the missionaries. Elder Nyman is back up in Mishawaka and he was the grill master. Kid did pretty good! It was absolutely nuts this week. Yet we still managed to do a lot of good work. :) Always the best.

So for the last few weeks I've been emailing my friend. He's about ready to go home and is working his hardest to the very end. During these conversations we've been talking a lot about time and how relative it is in the grand scheme of things. There are things we can do to either help time move forward while making the best of it, or continue to let it slip away with a little regret in each passing second. I've chosen to try and make the best of it. It's been almost 10 months since I started my mission. Ten months of trials, lessons, and miracles. Ten months of friendships, fellowship, and discipleship. It's been hard. But it's been the best thing I could have ever done in my short 19 years of life. The MTC prepares you for a mission. A Mission is the MTC for life. We learn SO MUCH in the time we're allotted to serve the Lord. And SO MUCH goes in to every single day. I've seen blessings come from walking in the rain (Like Yesterday), miracles come in the middle of lessons when an Investigator says she's received an answer that she should keep meeting with us, hardships come in the form of family issues and companionships, and lessons learned from each trial we face on a daily basis. Some days are ALWAYS better than others and Christ is always there to help us if we can be humble enough to let Him in.

It's been a great week. Busy. But great. It seems like it was a year ago now or at least in different months and not all wrapped into seven days! Zone Meeting was fun, I learned a lot from Sister Allred on our exchange, and I'm definitely looking forward to the week ahead of us. :)

Love,
Sister Halverson

Harvesting the field...literally

Daryann

6/8/15!

Hello Friends and Family!

There has been so many wonderful things going on in Warsaw! SO MANY THINGS! Always something to improve on and I'm just narrowing down the list and trying to get a reboot. Our investigators are progressing and we're helping them feel the Spirit as much as possible. Hopefully we can help them get to the point of baptism but I don't think it's going to be this transfer. Probably next or the one after. We're trying to help them to their needs and they don't need to be rushed that's for sure.

Just keeping on at this point. There's something more but I'm not quite sure what it is. Always feels like that's the case. Oh well. :) I'm sure I can use some time to ponder what it is and take it to the scriptures. :) I did have an awesome time reading the Book of Mormon all the way through. I had gone through it once before but listened to the last half to finish it. It's different when I can actually put down the last page and have finished it. I know it's true and it's so important to have. I don't think I could do it if I didn't have the Book of Mormon in my life. I've grown up with it. It wouldn't be the same WITHOUT it. It has to be true if it's that important.

I didn't have much other than we went to a garage sale for our investigator Judy. Her Boyfriend was there and they played some gospel music. She's blind but played the spoons while he strummed the guitar. She's so stinking cute. Sister Hathcock and I got these fun western pins from her. It was good. We tracted a lot. found 3 new! Woo! One man we found was named Darrell. He was run over by a truck and his feet are still working. It was a miracle. He had this rod sticking out of his leg to keep it straight. Epic. But that was a cool lesson. :) Friday was another First Friday. We gave out glow sticks to the kids and told them it was to remind them about the Light of Christ. We all have it. And it's always there when we do good things. It helps us recognize truth. So that was way fun. :) I need to update my journal. I suck at writing in it. Which is why I'm grateful I have a daily planner. Now THAT is a good daily reminder. :) I love being a missionary. It's the best in the world!

Trying. Always trying. :)

Love,
Sister Halverson

Sister Hathcock and I

Lightening from today's storm.  Tornado warnings this morning.

Happy June!

Hello Friends and Family!

Sorry about the communication last week, or lack thereof. It was a bit of an interesting week, slow, but interesting. :) I was sick for a day or two, resting as much as I could while still going out and working. The rest we spent finding and finding and teaching and finding some more! We found a cute couple named James and Rhonda. We taught them the first part of the restoration and planned on returning a couple of days ago. They have a weird schedule so they weren't there but we spent that time tracting instead. Met a couple of people who weren't interested but I know seeds were planted. Especially in one woman named Brianna. She had a hard time believing in God because she lost a child. We testified to her that even though bad things happen, they happen for a reason and God still loves us even when we're mad at Him. It was very spiritual.

Then we had a lesson with Judy.

This woman has so much faith in Christ. It's through the way she received it that puts it into perspective for me. Judy has progressively lost her sight over the last 10 years. She's now almost 100% blind. She has been humbled by her trials and has come to know Christ in such a personal way. She loves listening to the scriptures and we've given her a copy of the Book of Mormon on tape so she can listen to it as many times as she wants. She was so excited. Also, we met with her on Tuesday and shared the message of the Restoration with her. She asked us questions and told us that she had been telling her friends and family that she's been meeting with us. Of course they tell her that we're "evil and bad", the usual anti. However she said to them that she will be the judge of that. And in the middle of the lesson she told us that she had been praying to God to know if we were good or if she should stop meeting with us. She then told us she had received an answer right then that we were from God and this is what He wanted her to continue pursuing. It was incredible. She's so stinking sweet. I can't wait to bring her to church. She and Geneva have just melted my heart and I know I'm here for them. I really love these sweet women.

We've been finding and have seen the blessing come from specific set aside times to go tracting. It's fulfilling knowing that as a mission we are dedicating time to go out and find the Lord's children who are ready to hear this message. And it has paid off! We've found so many new investigators from this experience. We even took out a member to go tracting with us yesterday night! AND we found a new investigator named Linda. It was so cool!

That's basically it for my week. Looking forward to interviews and ready for a new week in June! Hopefully it will warm up this week. It's been in the 50's the last couple of days. It won't stop us though. I'm really grateful to have Sister Hathcock here with me. She's been a blessing. This whole District has! We've been able to connect and help the Ward and get members involved. We're trying to reach our goals and even exceed them. They help us push harder and we've helped them. We've got a month together to see even more miracles! Needless to say, I'm excited. :)

It's been fun here in Warsaw. :) I absolutely love it here and I love the people here. Best 3 transfers ever! I'd be happy to stay or move on whichever happens at the end of this month. Oh yeah, 2 more months until I'm 20!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY COW!!! Weird. I'm old in the Mission and in real life. :P So bizarre.

More soccer this week. It's become one of my new favorite pasttimes. :) Especially when I get to beat up the elders in their own game. They're lucky today. I'm still a bit under the weather haha. :) Love you all!

Love,
Sister Halverson