September 22, 2014

MOM,
hey hey! sorry I don't have much time to write, but this week we are going to Como Zoo as a district! #holla
so we have to leave pretty soon.

WOW! I am just so thankful for you! as I go on exchanges with all these sisters one of the most common problems that we face is that they aren't feeling love from home so they can't focus on the work. It's difficult for them to love people, if they aren't feeling love in return. And I am just so thankful that it has never been a problem for me on my mission. That I've always been able to stay focused on the work and that I've always felt your love and support for me. so thank you! I realize that I am one of the luckiest girls ever to have a mom like you. :)

This week was really good! We are preparing for Victoria Hernandez's baptism this Saturday. She got her interview on Sunday and turned 9 today! woot woot! It was so funny, the other day we had a lesson in her home, and she came out wearing this shirt that said, "What does the fox say?" and I was totally wigging out trying to think of what that was from until I remembered that totally wicked youtube video! So sweet!! she's basically the coolest kid ever! I am so excited for her to be baptized! she has such a sincere desire to serve God, and is full of excitement to read and keep the commandments.

Also, by way of ridiculous stories. I went to a dinner with a member family this week. AND THEY HAD A LIVE PET TARANTULA. I joke you not. I literally had several miniature panic attacks and it probably took several thousand angels from heaven to comfort me and keep me from completely wigging out. Also, fun fact. Tarantula's molt. And they like to keep the exoskeleton thing and put them around the house. it was the most awful dinner that I have ever had. Even though they served really good food.

Hmm, what else. I had 5 Guys this week for the first time. Went on exchanges with a sister named sister smith. And another named sister Huang from Taiwan. Last Monday I went to St. Mary's Basilica in Minneapolis! it was so beautiful! it reminded me of the churches we went into in Germany. Beautiful. But they don't bring in the spirit like this gospel does. But very fun to check out. I'll have to send pictures.

Also, If you could pray for Rose Flahn that would be wonderful. She's going through some stuff, and has decided to go back to her old church. It's been so hard but I'm praying and fasting that she'll remember how she felt when we taught her and she'll come back soon.

And Taylor Sanford who I taught in Eden Prairie just moved into the ward that meets at our building at 9. so I saw her at church! it was SO great! :)

have a fantastic week!

love, Sister TERRY

Random Picture

St. Mary's Basilica

Sisters Terry and Smith, but not her companion, in Cedar Lake at Sis. Smith's apartment

September 15

This week was so good! Ahh I love being a missionary. It's so good. I just will never be able to get over how wonderful it is to be here in Minnesota. Even if I had to mourn a little bit this week as I broke out my handy dandy tights again. It's turning into winter too soon!

Some highlights from this week:

EXCHANGES! WOOT! I love going on exchanges. I stayed in med lake, Sister Taito (from Hawaii) came. It was SO GOOD. We had some awesome lessons. And she told me that my spirit animal is a DRAGON #intimidationfactor haha I learn so much from these sisters. It's so cool to see their desires to improve. With her we set a date with a soon to be 9 year old girl from Mexico! Her family are members, but have been less active as of late. They came to church though! And Victorica has the cutest little brother named Vinny. He's built like a tank and likes to wear our high heels. :) Him and Max would be like best friends! We also had a lesson with the raddest lady named Tina. She's SO cool! We taught her about repentance and she talked about how much her relationship with Christ has changed since we came.

ALSO. Sister Rebber came to med lake with me as well! We had a 36 hour exchange and then slept over in..... ELM CREEK! man. I miss that place. It's SO cool! But we had some great lessons too. We taught a lady named comfort. oh it was so heart breaking. We went to visit her on Saturday and as we talked tears streamed out of her eyes. She told us that her Sister in law had caught Ebola and her Husband is starving to death and hasn't had food for 2 days. It was so heartbreaking to hear of the struggles that she is facing, but as we read verses out of the Book of Mormon with her, the spirit touched her heart and gave her peace. After sacrament meeting we went over to her and her fellowshipper, Sister Comfort had on the biggest smile I have ever seen and said, "Thank you! Thank you for letting me come!" It was a miracle, and one that I will not soon forget!

A funny moment. We had dinner with the Kamarah family, who are African. Sister Smith wanted to try African food so badly! We had cassava leaf soup. It was delicious! but also super spicy. Poor sister smith was sooo sick. She turned so green and sister Kamarah kept apologizing for how spicy it was. But we were trying to tell her that we loved it! but then sister smith could barely hold it in so I ended up giving the entire dinner thought. But overall it was GOOD COOKING. I've learned that you can eat just about anything when rice is included and when it has been deep fried. #africanforlife.

7 of our people came to church this week! WOOT WOOT! I love it when they come! and then they feel the spirit, and there's no denying that there is something special.

Minnesota life is just too good. I have no idea how I got so lucky that God placed me hear. But I feel so blessed everyday of my life. This past year has been hard, but oh so good. And full of the tender mercies of God.

Today I was reading in 2 Nephi 16. I Love verses 8-11. I want that to be me! Saying Here am I, send me! and that I can labor and serve so that the people can be converted until the end of the world comes.

I hope you have a wonderful week!



Love, Sister TERRY!

September 8, 2014

Howdy mom!

I can't believe the young women are already reorganized. I feel so old. One day, I'll be called in to teach those little girls. Except I still feel like one.... also, since the infamous I'm a Norman day, you would be so surprised at how many people ask us if we are Normans. Maybe I just didn't notice it before. But it's an astounding amount.

My new companion is, wait for it.....Sister Smith. No joke. It's the same name, just a different face. She's from Farmington, Utah. I think. Wherever lagoon is, that's where she is from. She's been out a little over a year. Just a transfer longer than me, and she spent 10 months in her last area. Her dad works at toll house cookies, which is UBER SWEET. Literally. But also, those cookies. Yum. She's doesn't like to run, and she likes to eat sugary food. hahah which means trouble for me!! But I'm trying to be healthy and it's good practice for how to stay in shape when it's -20 degrees outside. People have already started warning us that it's supposed to be a colder winter than even last year. YIKES!

I'm still a sister Training leader, and I'm teaching Sister Smith how to be one. Honestly, it's a lot like the blind leading the blind. But hopefully we'll be able to be guided by the spirit :) I'm excited for the awesome things that are coming this transfer. Many blessing and guidance from God!!

I've started reading the new testament lately (aka like 2 months ago and then I got distracted, but now I'm trying to again) and Oh my goodness! I just love reading about Jesus Christ! It's amazing the way that he treated people, and how he was able to teach so clearly, naturally and lovingly. So much so, that those who were sinners wanted to change their lives and forsake their sins. SO COOL!

Actually, I was thinking about it cause we are teaching this super rad lady name Tina. She's part native american, and has lived a lot of the native american ways. But she has such a strong desire to change! And we taught her the word of wisdom this week. She used to drink coffee. I don't really know why it was so different teaching it this time, but it was just a lot more clear and the spirit was so strong as she accepted to live it! AHH I'm obsessed with her. Baptism soon. But first. law of chastity. She has 2 super cute kids. And they all came to church for the first time this week. yay!!!

But back to the new testament, I have just been so floored at the love that Christ shows for the people, his caring and gentle nature. I'm so excited for this transfer because it gives me an opportunity to start all over, with a different companion, and understanding her needs and what I can do to show my love for her.

Like always, I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. I don't think I could ever say it enough. This has been the greatest blessing from God ever. I have experienced such a change of heart, and mind. I have seen the joy of my redeemer, and I am so grateful to witness these mighty changes of heart that my investigators experience. What greater way to spend my time than to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to my brothers and sisters here in Minnesota. I feel like the luckiest person ever to be able to participate in this work, and I'm thankful for my Father in Heaven for trusting me with his children as well as to represent his son Jesus Christ.



Love, Sister TERRY

September 2, 2014

Hello MOM!!

yes. I can wear maxi skirts. I would love one! But only if they are super cute :) hahahaha

I haven't gotten your letter yet. But guess what! I don't know if i ever talked to you about sister Toone. She's like the raddest missionary ever. But anyway. she lives in Erda. And she had her family send me an Erda tshirt. haha so rad!! It's awesome. I'll take a picture and send it to you soon.

Food that I like? Everything! I had broccoli and stir fry the other day. which was good. And wraps. Lots of spinach wraps. hmmm lots of rice too. And some fried fish. it's pretty good when African's cook it. As well as cous cous. that's good. And some yogurt. I eat lots of yogurt. Most people just feed us some soup in the winter. Or regular American meals. It's never anything crazy. just REALLY good cooking. Just like yours :) I had key lime pie yesterday. It was DIVINE!

oh my goodness, crazy story. But you can't freak out k? So we were visiting a part member family and teaching them about the restoration and all was good. We left and started contacting around their house and as we are teaching this man from Mexico we hear TONS of shouting and crazy yelling coming from the house of the part member family. So we start walking back towards them (you know, cause we can.) and through the window we see them beating on each other hard core. It was so sad. And we had to call the police on them. so we haven't been back since then. But hopefully things are okay for them all.

Also, the next day we went to the temple (I saw the old film for the first time.... I felt the spirit. But also, it's ridiculous.) And that was really cool. I LOVE being at the temple. I totally took it for granted at home. But as we were leaving we saw that the car parked next to ours had the window broken. So we had to go back and report it. Turns out that an old lady left her purse on the seat of the passenger and someone broke the window and took it. I felt so bad for her! We helped clean up all the glass and such from her window and our member helped her call her insurance agency. Poor lady.

But overall it's been a fantastic week!! I am constantly so overwhelmed with the Love that God has for these people. I feel so blessed to be in this area. The ward members are wonderful, and the people we are teaching have such strong desires to follow God. Being a missionary is the greatest thing ever. I feel so blessed and lucky to participate in this great work.

Transfers are this Wednesday. I am staying in this area. But sister Smith is leaving. :( She's getting replaced by a different Sister Smith. I am so sad to say goodbye to her, and anxious to take over this area. But I am excited for the great things that God has in store for the people here!



Love, Sister Terry

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