August 25, 2014

Mom,

We were doing things with our sisters missionaries. haha not sisters in the ward. Good question though. I can see how you can get confused. But we like to spend time with the sisters on p-day so we can get to know them some more and participate in fun activities with them. Mostly, it's just really cool cause you help them to have fun.

I feel like nothing tooo crazy happened this week. Well actually funny story. We were teaching this man named Alex, and his girlfriend and a few of her friends were eating food in the kitchen. So we start teaching Alex about the restoration, say a prayer and start to testify about how awesome this gospel is, and one of the girls comes over and says, "excuse me, but I have a question. Are ya'll norman?" and I was like, "We are Mormon." and she goes, "yeah. I have some friends who are Norman." And Sister Smith says. "oh, that's cool that they are Mormon." She never caught on..... so all week long we have been making I'm a Norman commercials with each other. #missionhumor

Actually, a really cool experience happened when I was on exchanges with Sister Trickler up in Andover. I went up to her area, and we were trying to stop by one of their investigators that they haven't had contact with for the past little while. 1st of all, she was home. 2nd, She proceeded to tell us all about her experience at the 1 direction concert last week and 3rd, we went to teach her about Sabbath Day, and the importance of following God so that he can bless us. And near the end I asked her, "What do you want Christ to help you with?" and she just starts crying, and talked about how she wants to be happy, but feels like she can't because of everything that is going on. But that she knows she's supposed to be so she pretends like she's happy all the time. The spirit was so powerful! And she gained so much hope that she can actually be happy. I love this gospel so much. It's really the only way that people can find the peace and joy that they are looking for.

Also, we played Quidditch for zone p-day. It was so sweet. #masterseeker except it's totally a Utah thing cause tons of people came over and started taking pictures of them. We were tempted to tell them that they could join if they would become members of our church. #mission fail.

I know that this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. That we have the potential to change and become more like Him everyday. And one day we will all return to live with Him.

My name is Sister Terry, I'm a rad seeker. I preach the gospel. And I'm a Norman.


Love, Sister TERRY

Quidditch Practice with Sis. Smith

The  Zone

Minneapolis with Sis. Smith

The District

Aug. 18, 2014

Mom,

I finally wrote a thank you note to grandma. Sorry I don't write many letters anymore. It's hard to find time for anything.... lately we have been using our p-day to go spend it with the sisters and try to do things that they want to do. So my poor converts and my family don't get to have written letters from me anymore. But I will try to send you stuff soon!

SISTER COOPER'S BAPTISM!! ahh it was the cutest! Her husband baptized her, and confirmed her. We were practicing the baptism a few days before and she was really struggling to bend her knees and lean back. She was positive that he would drop her in the water. haha but it went well! While we were practicing they ran through the whole thing and Brother Cooper practiced saying the words. Oh my! the spirit was so strong! it just filled the entire room, I almost started crying. It is so wonderful that this family is completed, and now can start preparing to enter the temple. Triphena and Winet (their daughters) sang "When I am Baptized" with us. And the senior couple did the intermission.

This week I went on exchanges with Sister Shumway! I don't know if you remember her from the mtc, but she is super stellar! It was so much fun to go spend the day with her in Maple grove aka miracle grove! which is also where Elder Caskey is serving fyi. But anyways, she is basically the coolest person I have ever met and has taught me so much about how to be a diligent missionary. She developed plantar fasciitis (I don't know how to spell it) while on her mission and her feet are always in incredible amounts of pain and yet she is determined to stay out on her mission and never makes any excuses in skipping out on anything. ahhh I love these sisters so much. It is such a blessing to serve with them and learn from their righteous examples.

MOM. of course I loved the shirt. I swear I wrote home to you about it. I even showed the Jacksons when I got it. And I wear it all the time to bed.

ummm I don't know what else to write. Pray for the Liberians! These poor people are starving and dying and hopefully they will find a cure to the Ebola soon!

I LOVE YOU! keep being super awesome. Also they are not broadcasting the (Ogden Temple) dedication out here. Sorry.

Sister Cooper's Baptism

Love, Sister Terry

August 11, 2014

Mom,

WOW! I can't believe that Ian is already leaving on his mission! time goes by so fast!

Thanks for the package... I already ate everything. #thespiritiswillingbutthefleshisweak I'm working on my self control. Hahah so sad.

(I got to go to Cross Country Camp this year and while I was there I was told that one of the faster girls was not talking nice about a slower girl so I asked Sidney about her experiences and this is her response. I have deleted the names to protect the innocent) OH my goodness. That story makes me so sad! That poor girl, what a trooper for trying to run though. I don't really know. I feel like I LOVED all the girls on the team. Even like H. E. when she was super slow. Or K. who was in M.’s ward and I don't remember her name. But honestly the thing that was most impressive was seeing people like Jake Berlin when they had the partner run and he was with H., he just stuck with her the entire way and never complained or groaned about being paired with her. I guess it's really just priorities. Is it important for your team to win? Or for everyone to have a good time? And of course, I'm SUPER competitive and when I was like a sophomore or junior I just wanted to win. But I remember that HUGE change that happened senior year. All of the sudden I just really loved these girls. Whether it was Ashley or Hannah(girls on her team), or even Summer or Ashleigh or Ellie(girls on another school team). It didn't do me any good to belittle them, or hope that they fail. I don't know if I ever shared the story with you about running in state. Where Ashleigh had just ran the 800, and won. But she was EXHAUSTED, and couldn't breathe at all. She just seemed so miserable as we were preparing to run the medley, and as I talked with her she was saying that she was going to the doctor next week to see if she could get an inhaler since she hadn't been able to breathe lately. My heart just broke seeing her like this, and I got my powerade and gave it to her, and showed her how to use my inhaler. (which is totally illegal but yolo.) Even though it meant that she would run fast. And beat me. It was okay. In the grand scheme of things, I had made a friend that would last for a long time, and the race would be over soon and I would forget. SO it's not really that important.

But mostly when it comes to helping other sisters with their individual worth I focus on the ways we express love, Either by Words of affirmation, Touch, gifts, quality time, and service. As we go on exchanges I see what they respond best to and then for the rest of the transfer that is how I focus on showing them my love. If there is something that needs to be corrected, I first acknowledge that I am definitely not perfect but that things would be much easier if.... and then I connect it to her desires. Most people desire happiness. Or desire a change on their mission. SO it's easy to relate it to them that way.

And of course, I am a HUGE fan of quotes, so I send them really cool quotes throughout the week. The thing that I realized the most, is that you cannot force anyone to change. Instead you can help them to grow that desire to change and point them in the direction to grow. Mostly it's a lot of love, and encouragement, and helping them feel like someone cares.

Like with ragnar when we ran it. That poor little girl was being railed on by her brother for being slow. What a bum, but I'm totally guilty of it as well. So it happens. I would suggest reading charity in preach my gospel. As well as the conference talk by Pres. Monson, Love the essence of the gospel. And always remember, "never let a problem to be solved be more important than a person to be loved." I have been so blessed to be in this area. Especially as we work with the African people. They have no idea how to raise a child, and more often than not they beat the child into submissiveness. Then when we come bearing the news of Jesus Christ I try to show my love not only to the parents but also spending time focusing on each child. The relief on their face as they feel God's love is so apparent, and I hope that even if their parents don't accept it that they will remember how they feel and will find the joy that the gospel can provide.

This week was quite wonderful, and very busy! We went on 2 exchanges with the sisters. I stayed in the area for both times! It's weird how quick you adjust to the new areas, and I love Medicine lake SO much! Sister Parke and Sister England were equally wonderful and it is so refreshing to spend a day with new missionaries who are so eager to share the gospel and love Minnesota!

Sister Cooper is getting baptized this upcoming Saturday and we are SO stoked for her. She is an incredible lady, and is excited to finally join her family in this gospel so that they can start the preparation to the temple!

We also found a family who came to church this Sunday. I wish that I could just have you all come and visit here for the day. You would be awestruck by the faith that these people exhibit, as well as their desires to serve God. I feel like the luckiest missionary to serve among such capable members and missionaries (including my spectacular companion, Sister Smith). God has blessed me in making this my holy ground.

Love, Sister Terry

Pictures from Medicine Lake---

Sisters Smith and Shumway

Sisters Smith, Terry, Rebber, Parke

Sisters Richardson, England, Terry, Smith

Izzy's

Marshmallow Mateys!!

Paula

Rose's Baptism with Sister Smith

Stone Arch Bridge with Sister Smith

Old District

Zone Service

August 4, 2014

Dear Mom,

I can't believe that school is starting soon! I can't believe that it's been almost a year since I left! It seems like just yesterday.... :( Sorry I don't write much to you. Actually I write a bit to you, dad, Riker and Andrew. So if you combine all the emails you would actually get like A LOT of info on basically everything. Oh and we go running everyday in the morning. The other day we ran hill repeats :) I'm getting in shape! But also there is a slew of frogs and mice that are here and the road is always full of ran over ones. The end.

I didn't even know Katie was pregnant! Also, we visited a lady in our ward who is less active and she has a son named Kayson. I didn't even know that it's a common name.

The baptism was SWEET! I wish I could send you pictures, but I don't have a camera cord. haha my bad. But it was SO good! Rose was so funny and so cool and oh my goodness I just adore her. Her mom and 2 siblings came to support her and after the baptism we talked to her mom and she was like, "It'll be me soon. Rose will get me here. I'm going to start coming." hahah so great. It'll take time, but I really do believe that Mimi will eventually become a member, as well as her siblings Boogie and Brittany. They are adorable.

After Rose got confirmed she went back so her seat and whispered to us as she was sitting, "That was so cool!" hahah isn't she great? The gift of the Holy Ghost is SO real, and she could totally tell a difference right away.

We had a really cool MLC this week. As President was giving his training he talked about how we shouldn't be so obsessed with this checklist of what makes a good missionary. his exact words, "The Savior doesn't rate me on a 1-5 scale." it was so powerful, and makes it so much easier to remember that numbers really don't matter we are working on making sure these missionaries are truly converted to the gospel.

We had 2 exchanges this week, and I had a fantastic one with Sister Trickler, as we were going to bed at night she asked me, "So which one is more important to you, missionary work or the sisters?" And I immediately said, "missionary work" and then we went to bed. Except ALL night long I was thinking about it and finally in the morning as we were running I had to thank her for the awesome question that she asked and apologized for answering it so abruptly. Especially since the answer wasn't true. When I first became an stl, I was determined to make sure that the area was still being taken care of and that we were doing everything a normal missionary would. But as I was thinking about it, really my priorities are so different now. I would stop everything to help one of the sisters in a heartbeat, and would sacrifice anything for them to enjoy missionary work. It's been so wonderful to work with them and have their amazing examples in my life.

Also, that's super funny that you asked about hair. I've worn my hair up everyday for like the past 6 weeks. It's Humid here! and yesterday I decided to wear my hair down and as we were tracting I was DYING and I figured out that it was because my hair was down. SO I put it up. In a bun. Like I do everyday. haha except for when I take pictures cause that's when I'm at a meeting with other missionaries so I wash my hair on those days. so grand.

It goes, braid or ponytail on day 1, by day 2 it's a bun and it stays that way for the rest of the week unless we are biking.

Also, Sister Cooper pushed her baptism day back a week, which is a much needed and answered prayer. All week long I had been praying about her and I love her and her family so much. But I want to make sure that she is truly converted to the gospel when she is baptized and that she's not just joining because her family wants her to.

I have not gotten your package yet, but thanks in advance for it :)

Also, that's so cool that Andrew showed that mormon message. I'm a huge fan! A few days ago we met this girl named Cecilia. Her family is from Liberia and she is 18 and has a 6 month old boy. We were talking with her, and one of her friends is actually a recent convert from Elm Creek so we talked about how she had seen him change. She said he was ministering to her one day because she didn't understand her purpose on earth. Immediately we knew we needed to share the plan of salvation with her. And it was incredible to see the change in her as we discussed our life on earth, and how she can overcome those feelings of guilt and shame through the atonement. And then we invited her to be baptized on September 13th. WOOT WOOT.

Also people that we taught were from, Chicago, Sudan, Russia, Liberia, Minnesota, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Bela-rose, England, Alabama, and Mexico. Can I just say, I LOVE MINNESOTA. This is truly the greatest place ever, and I feel so blessed to take part in sharing the gospel here. It's been the greatest blessing of my life, and I wouldn't change it for anything in the World. I know that this is the gospel of Jesus Christ, that it leads to life eternal where we will be with our families again. God is so great, and so merciful and I am so honored to bear the name of Christ.


Love, Sister TERRY