Just Another Week in Paradise :)

Hola! The weeks have just been flying by and I am SOOOO not ready to return home. But sadly, time is an enemy and it waits for no man. And I must soon return home, despite my best tries to convince someone to kidnap me at the airport. I don't think that will be happening. But until then, MISSIONARY WORK!

This week has been SOO crazy. With the area just exploding and the work taking off, we have been incredibly busy. First some updates on people:

1. Paulina. Oh my dear Paulina. We had such a stellar lesson with her this week. ALL week long I had been freaking out about her being baptized this Saturday, thinking "is she really ready to make this commitment?" and "Is she really going to leave her church to join ours?" SO nervous. As we prepared the lesson, we decided to share Alma 32 with her, about the fruits of the church, and taking Alma's quiz if the gospel has: enlarged her soul, enlightened her understanding, and begins to be delicious. We go into the lesson, and the spirit was SOO strong. She bore such a powerful testimony of how the Book of Mormon and knowledge of the gospel has blessed her life. And then as we asked her about why she wants to be baptized she said, "I don't know everything about why I need to be baptized again, but I know that I need to be a part of this church, there is more I want to learn. I want to go to the temple." ahh isn't she amazing? Unfortunately, we are postponing the baptism due to immigration stuff that she is dealing with. But I am SO incredibly happy that she is confident in her decision and that sometime soon she'll be a member. Tears. I cried like a baby in that lesson. She is such a special lady!

2. I could not even TELL you how many hours I have spent in the hospital the past few months! All of our recent converts in this area have the worst health problems, you would not even believe! This week, we went and visited Sister L'herault, and not 50 minutes after our lesson we get a call from her that she's in the emergency room, and has an infection in her toe. So we brought the elders over to give her a blessing, And then the next day she was still in there and pretty down. We decided to bring her dog along to visit her (the nurses gave permission) Oh she was so elated! haha people and their dogs. Minnesota is famous for it. She's still in the hospital, trying to fight of the infection, but it has certainly been an adventure! I'm just glad that Sister Sperry is studying to become a nurse, she understands all the medical terms that they use and then has to translate it for me :)

3. So to top it off that I need to prepare to go home, Bishop's daughter Ellen just returned home from her mission. Her homecoming was this week, and we got to go to the bishop's youth discussion at his house as she shared stories from her mission. So surreal. I'm totally not ready for IT! But it's been fun to take her teaching with us, and learn a little bit about her experiences in the Philippians. She even cooked us some really good Filipino food!

4. Speaking of food. So I don't usually share much about the weird food that we eat. But this week was beyond crazy in the variety of everything! We had SO much Asian food, it was insane. From lettuce wraps, to spicy green bean salad. Our poor stomachs have been stretched to their capacity. One thing I LOVE about Minnesota is all the variety of people! We got some Laotian food, some Micronesian food, some Chinese food, and of course African food :) I could not even pronounce most of the stuff we ate. and sometimes we didn't even want to know what was in it. It was heaven sent when we had a dinner with a member and they fed us some chili. haha good ol merica!

5. And then a story to end all stories. Last night it snowed over 6 inches. I joke you not. We were driving home from bishop's, and it was quite a treacherous journey. We decided not to test our luck, and just drive home and we can walk from there. We took a picture at 8:00 when we started our journey. And then at 9:00. we were COVERED. We tried to visit with a less active, but he wasn't home. So we knocked around on some of his neighbors' doors. One Chinese man answered the door and said, "woah. what you guys doing?" We literally almost peed our pants laughing. I'm sure we were quite a sight. But God's work be done, in whatever weather!

We saw tons of miracles this week! as we have been trying to work in unity with our ward council better ( our ward mission leader moved about a month ago, and we haven't gotten a new one yet) we got to take a lot of the leaders out teaching with us! One of the coolest appointments that we had was when we took a lady from the primary presidency out with us. She set up an appointment with a part member family that she is friends with. And we got to go over there and share a message with them. We talked about scouting and participating in the activities and the boys were SO excited! And at the end we talked about meeting with them a few times a month and getting to read scriptures with them. The family loved the visit and were stoked about us coming back! God is so good.

Funny story: It was actually really warm this week (we've been biking!) and the kids are on spring break. So we had a lesson outside with the part member Micronesian family that we have been working with, and their neighbors who are also a part member family. ANYWAYS, as we had the lesson outside, this little Asian boy about 4 years old started running around with a stick shouting "I am booty warrior!" and he comes up to us and explains that his super power is that he runs around and pokes people in the butt with this stick. We were dying laughing. It was outta control, but so funny. At the very end of the lesson he gave me the stick, and said I can be the next booty warrior. haha I politely declined, and said I prefer just being a missionary.

It has been such a fantastic last few months. I love being a missionary so much. God has been so good to me, and I have been so blessed to participate in the journey of God's children coming closer to him. I am so incredibly blessed. And I love the people of Minnesota. This is the best place ever, and I will never forget the lives that have made such a big impact on me!

On the very first day of my mission, my mission president's wife read a scripture from Mosiah 18. and then she said, " This is how we read it here in Minnesota:

And now it came to pass that all this was done in Minnesota, yea, by the waters of Minnesota, in the forest that was near the waters of Minnesota; yea the place of Minnesota, the waters of Minnesota, the forest of Minnesota, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them that came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever.”

So true. I will never forget my time here in Minnesota. It has been beyond incredible. And rewarding. I will forever praise the Lord forever for trusting me enough to serve him, and teach my brother's and sisters.

Ahh there is just tooo much to share in just one email. Sorry I haven't been updating much on our adventures. I was hoping if I didn't write much I could pretend that time wasn't passing by so quickly and I wouldn't ever have to leave. Since that didn't work out so well..... here is my essay for the past week. Hope you enjoyed it!

Love, Sister Sidney Terry

March 22, 2015 8:00 pm

March 22, 2015 9:00 pm

March 22, 2015 Their poor car covered in snow

Taking a doggie for a visit

so true (according to Sister Terry)

March 15, 2015

Mother,

Well hello! Another week is down.... and I have 9 more to go!! woot woot! I figure if I live in denial long enough it'll eventually become reality. :) We'll see how it goes!

Well start planning our spring break adventure! journey up to Camie? maybe shopping for clothes? or finding sister terry a job. cause she needs one. I got your last letter. I'm glad a still have a scholarship! miracles do happen! so I have to sign up April 2nd for classes? ahhh future. It's hurting my brain. haha

for p-day I am... writing my farewell letter to president and cleaning up and packing. hahaha I'm SOOO lame. Well I was going to go to the mall of america, but because of terrorists that probably won't happen. But we'll see. I live life on the edge.

Man, this ward is just toooo good. I love it so much. It'll be so sad to have to leave. The work is completely taking off. So far Paulina is on track to be baptized march 28th. She's a little nervous but has such a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon despite it all! She just needs to have the courage to do what God is asking her to do. So if she doesn't get baptized then it'll for sure be in April. But we have had some super stellar lessons with her! We had brother Brother Mkwapatira teaching with us, and talked about how he can baptize her, and he bore such a powerful testimony of how he made the decision to be baptized even though he was nervous. Incredible people. Both of them. People from Africa have the strongest faith ever.

Then we visited with a part member family where the mom, and oldest daughter are members, but the 2 kids ages 11 and 9 are not. They are Micronesian. Which aka is SUCH a cool place! We have a lot of Micronesians who live here, and they are some pretty awesome members. Anyway, we visited with them, and some things have happened in their life recently that caused them to be a lot more open about the gospel and want to participate it in. it was incredible. We talked about the plan of salvation and how we can overcome adversity and that our choices have eternal significance. And then we committed them to be baptized and prepare to go the temple. And then they all came to church! It really was sooooo cute. All the other Micronesian's in the church were SO happy to see them. Somehow all of them are related somehow in a very islander way. So they were STOKED for their cousins to be at church for the first time in years. and all of them volunteered to come teaching with us to them. AHH I love these people. Good things are happening here! I'm so sad that I won't be there for their baptism, but Sister Sperry is already ready to take over the area and party haaaaaaard.

oh, last p-day we taught the elders in our district how to tye-dye. haha it was hilarious. You better believe that I am the tye dye CHAMP! now all I need to do is find a pair of white overalls that I can tye dye :) and then I die in peace.

On Sunday it was my last president's fireside! where we go to the mission home and recent converts share their experience of meeting with missionaries and making the decision to be baptized. Oh wow. it's always amazing to hear such strong testimonies come from these members who joined just a few months ago. And they go through such difficulties. Like one lady joined the church in December with her husband. And then he died in January. And she is still valiantly pressing forward to the temple. It such a great reminder of how real this gospel is. It binds up our wounds, heals our hearts and sets our spirits free. And people feel it. I feel so incredibly lucky to have this opportunity to preach the gospel. I wish I had time to write to you every week of all the amazing miracles, or even just one or two I guess... but it's just so overwhelming to see God's hand in literally EVERYTHING we do. Something as small as making a phone call, offering some service, knocking on a door. God is so involved in all of it. I am so lucky to represent his son and make a difference in people's lives. These past 18 months have been such a blessing, and I could never thank my father in heaven enough for everything that I have gained and lost here. We are so lucky to have this gospel, so blessed with this knowledge and the relationships that we can have with God and Jesus Christ because we can know them, truly know them. Ahh too incredible.

Have a great week!

Love, Sister TERRY

Making hearts and eating toast with Sister Sperry

March 8, 2015

Hello MOMMY!
Things are going well. Daylight saving nearly killed me. haha meetings SO early. yikes! But things are great. The weather is warming up and the work is taking off. Ahh I love being a missionary. it's so good.
Sounds like you are keeping busy, better do it all now because in April we will play :) yay! haha and go shopping. and craft. it'll be some good stuff.
Good job on having the missionaries over for dinner. I'm excited to go out teaching with them. It'll be weird to just be a joint teacher, but how exciting that we can continue to share the gospel even when we don't have a badge. :)
sorry this letter is so short. I'm so lame. haha but one day I'll share all my exciting adventures with you!
That's weird that President Forbes wrote you....ahh I can't imagine what he said, but I'm glad that it was good stuff.
I got my "death papers" this week. and I know they emailed you. so now you know that I have a plane ticket and what not. I'll probably send some stuff home soon so I don't have to bring it with me on the plane :) and I'm selling my bike for $50 to one of the sisters in my district who needs one.


love, sister terry

March 2, 2015

M<3M,
HELLO! I can NOT believe that Riker is 18. I'm like 99% sure when i left that he was 12 years old and still watched Fairy odd parents. Now he's an adult and playing video games, and dating. Ahh I'm not ready for the real world.
That's so cool that you have almost made it to the end of the old testament. That is hard stuff to do! But I'm impressed. It's kinda sad to see this repeated pattern happen of God choosing prophets and them being rejected and killed. but then I realize that in the Book of Mormon they do the same thing. We just don't have all the records of all the prophets. but in 3 Nephi it talks about how often they stoned and rejected what the prophets had to say. Silly people. They just don't have the faith to act.
Things with Sister Sperry are good. She's awesome, and has a good sense of humor and likes to work hard. So we have lots of fun and had a lesson this week with a part member family that is living with a grandma that is HILARIOUS. she became a member less that 10 years ago, but she LOVES missionaries. And when we went over there she proceeded to tell us about how she was was constipated for 5 years one time. hahaha it was the best lesson I have EVER HAD. but then the part member family came to church! and they haven't been to church since I've been here. so that was a cool miracle.
Sister Sperry is not a runner. she has arthritis and can't run out in the cold. So we haven't been running really at all. :( but that's okay. I bought some weights and now I'll just get super buff and beat Jeff in a arm wrestling contest.
Gators are doing well! We are teaching a lot of Part member families, and we have an investigator named Paulina that is preparing to get baptized on the 28th. I'm SO excited for her. She's from Nigeria, and is a grandma. She's super smart too, just loves reading from the book of mormon. God is SO good, and we have a lot of work cut out for us!
Hey, is Once Upon a Time still good? SO many people here watch it. I guess I'll find out soon!
SEE you in a month. Stop telling my friends that I come home in April. I've been telling them I come home in June. And they don't believe me.
I love you!
Sister TERRY

February 23, 2015

Hello mummy!
I don't know what you are talking about that I am joking about extending. It's a real thing. I got to finish training my new companion! Surprise! I'm never coming home. Minnesota has adopted me into it's family. That tends to happen quite frequently actually. (She's teasing again, don't worry, she's coming home soon)
So my new companion is Sister Tristan Sperry. She's from Lehi, Utah, graduated in 2012. She likes to camp and play sports. and dance. K.
But anyway, she's the oldest of 3, has 2 brothers. is going to UVU to do nursing. Her dad died last April from cancer so it's really cool to see how strong of a testimony that she has about the plan of salvation. She's a hard worker and loves God, so it'll be really cool to see all the amazing things that will happen in this area in the next 6 weeks!
Sorry I haven't been writing very long of letters. I need to write to you first. by the time I get to you I'm just exhausted from typing and don't have much more to say. haha
But this Sunday was OH so good. We had ward conference. And I am CONVINCED that God places the best of the best stake presidents here in Minnesota. And Pres. Naatjes is no exception. It was so incredible to hear from him, and the way that he can encourage, and support and well as exhort and invite people to change. And it was all focused on the book of mormon. Completely incredible. I love it. I learn so much from these great leaders that are here.
OH! and I finally memorized The living Christ! haha it took me FOREVER, but it finally happened.
Also, some quotes from what I've been studying this week.
"Too many are giving up on the church because they are tired of constantly feeling like they are falling short. They have tried in the past, but they always feel like they are not good enough. They don't understand grace."
"Grace is not the absence of God's high expectation. Grace is the presence of God's power."
"If the foundation of faith is not embedded in our hearts, our capacity to endure will crumble."

Things are going well in Burnsville! as always, the work is on fire! There is so much to do and so little time, but we are trying to be like the Savior and reach out to the one and lift them higher and hopefully I can do what God needs me to in the short amount of time that I have left (6months :)) but I am SO thankful for the opportunity to serve. I am grateful for the chance to impact the lives of my brothers and sisters, and even more for them to impact me. I have been blessed beyond what I deserve to be sent here to such incredible people, to bear Christ's name and represent Him. I feel so honored and blessed.
Love, Sister TERRY

February 16, 2015

Things have been going really well! I hope you are having a great president's day! I have to go soon, so this is a poopy letter. sorry.
Today is transfers. I'm staying in Burnsville and training again so I'll get a new companion on Wednesday.
Sorry I have to go! things are great, I love being a missionary, work on finding a black baby for me, k?! thanks!
This is a pic of the bag I crocheted for sister Neville. 

have a great week! 

love, sister terry

Actually, funny story really quick.
We are working with this Sudanese family that is less active. and we were talking with the kids. They have a daughter who is 12 and a son who is 7 and then a 3 year old. So we ask the girl where her Book of Mormon Stories book is. and her 7 year old brother says that it's in her closet and I ask him how he knows that and he was like, "oh I was sitting in her closet earlier today. and I was like, "why" and he just goes, "well, I was bored!" It was hilarious. but now I'm 99% certain that will be me. I'm not going to have any social after the mish but I'll just sit in your closet and read until you come home :)
I love you!  (Funny thing is that she doesn't know she will be working at a track meet the first two days she is home!  hee hee)

Sisters Terry and Neville

the Mkwaptira's baby boy

Yep, she knitted a tie!

At first I thought the Elder was proposing.  Now I see that it's all Sidney's fault.

Burnsville District

February 9, 2015

MOM.

I am so jealous of your 60 degree days! ahh life is so cold in Minnesota! But on the bright side I shaved my legs the other.... month. So they aren't so hairy anymore.

hmm the food I eat. Well actually there was a guy we talked to the other day. and he was a nutrition major. he told us that the healthiest way to eat is to fast in the morning and eat a big meal at about 3:00. no joke. it's called interminute fasting or something (she means intermittent). Look it up. But I don't do that. I just eat a banana in the morning. or cheerios. and then I eat pb&honey for lunch. or a quesadilla. or potatoes. I eat a lot of potatoes and rice. mostly a lot of rice. it's a staple for Minnesotans and Africans. and sister Neville likes eggs so we eat some of that. and some wraps. or yogurt with granola. I dunno. I just eat food.

Sounds like you've had a good week! I totally know what you mean about agency though. Sometimes I just want to shake these less active people. There are so many people who stopped coming to church just because someone said something mean and they got offended. Sorry, I didn't realize that you joined this church because it was fun. haha these crazy goons. Sometimes we forget the real purpose of things .that we are trying to come closer to our savior and receive his grace. I feel like that's one of the things I focus on a lot when we teach the plan of salvation. God gave us this great gift of being able to choose. And he expects us to. He doesn't want us to be slothful, or be compelled to do everything. We have to make that choice ourselves. And we show our love to God by the choices that we make. Ahh clearly that's a passionate subject for me.

But sites in b-ville! uh... apartments? haha there isn't many sites. in general Minnesota is SO pretty. just so many trees and it's so green! there's a sledding hill somewhere in Burnsville but since we aren't allowed to sled I don't even know where it is. most of the pretty sites and fun adventures are "up north" no joke. Everyone travels up north to do anything. Except maybe ice fish. you can do that anywhere. they aren't joking about the 10000 lakes.

p-day. I like to nap. no. I don't ever do that. right now I'm doing a lot of crocheting or knitting on p-days. or we spend time with the zone. we hang out as a zone a lot. like pretty frequently. So we usually play volleyball. or whatever I tell the zone leaders that I want to do.

um, so I want a baby to be at the airport when I get home. so I can hold him/her.
the Mkwapatira's had their baby on Sunday. we got to go and visit them. AHH too cute. a black baby. my favorite. can you make that happen for me? and I want everyone to wear a doo-rag

I love YOU!

sorry my letters have been lame. I'll talk to you in... a few months (I'm extending my mission for 6 months:) )

love, Sister TERRY