Saturday, November 22, 2014

10-6-2014

Phewww...Time flies (she says over and over again). Understatement, right? BUT, let me not overlook this opportunity to wish my sweet brother Mason a happy birthday (Hurrah!) and myself, a wonderful half-birthday (hurrah once more!). He's 19 and I'm 21.5. Weiiiird...But without further ado!

UPDATE:

Pretty good week! Some solid lessons, 3 new investigators (very good for YSA), LOTS of referrals to contact, and general happiness and well-being (except for Saturday when I got mad at Sister Van Leuven for loving other sisters more than me. But then I got over it. Let not thou notst believe that missions work out all the imperfections and oversensitivities of the missionaries, for behold, they do not! :P ). Christine had a killer lesson (Law of Chastity and Tithing) where she showed us that she already knew all about these commandments and was committed to live them. SWEET! Only bummer is that then she missed conference, so she can't get baptized this week...but soon! Soooon...that is, if the Navy doesn't ship her to Africa tomorrow. We have yet to see.

PROFILE:

Name: Rachell Cluff
Age: 21
Hairstyle: BIG 'ole bun atop the head
Accessory of choice: Baggy sweatshirts and minnie mouse pj pants UNLESS she's going out, in which case she gets all dolled up. 
Defining Characteristic: Very quiet. Very gentle. Timid, definitely. But very sweet.
Religious background: A little bit of Christian background...but really not much. She's barely been to church in her life before.
How we found her: Referral from the Meadowdale Elders. Yeah boyz.
Favorite hobbies and past-times: (and this is a near direct quote) "Music...and touching people's hair." (she just graduated school to be a hair-stylist)
How she responds to our teaching: Doesn't have a lot of answers to our questions, but likes listening and feels good when we come. She said (in response to Sister Van Leuven asking her what she thought of our teaching her so far) "I like it. Thank you for inviting me to things, even when I don't come." She's scared, but we're working on it. ;)
How SVL and I feel towards her: WE LOVE HER. We also want to protect her from all the bad things. 
Our desires for her: GET BAPTIZED! COME TO CHURCH! Having a really good fellowshipper will help we think, so we're working on that.
What we love: When she smiles. Oh man. She looks so down trodden so much of the time, but when she smiles, it's just like a beautiful gift. So sweet.

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

Conference was wonderful this past weekend. Whew! 2 years ago yesterday they lowered the age for missionary service? Isn't that insane? That's one of the greatest blessings I think of being part of the 'true and living church'. The foundational doctrinal truths (who we are, where we came from, what we're supposed to do here, where we're going after this life) remain the same, but external policies and practices are always changing and adapting to better facilitate the spread and teaching of the gospel. (age change, missionaries using ipads, mormon.org, all that great stuff)

Here are some of my favorite talks that I'd recommend to you to give a read or listen to:

>Elder Lynn G Robbins (Saturday Morning)
>Elder D. Todd Christofferson (Saturday Morning)
>Elder Jorg Klebingat (Saturday Afternoon)
>Tad R. Callister (Saturday Afternoon)
>Elder M. Russell Ballard (Sunday Afternoon)
>Elder Carlos Godoy (Sunday Afternoon)
>Elder Larry S. Kacher (Saturday Afternoon)


And if you're not a member of the church and have the question about why we even do all this crazy missionary work, please read Elder Bednar's talk in the Sunday Afternoon session. It's directed towards non-members, and is pretty awesome.

I love the spirit I feel at conference, and the resolve I make to improve as a result. I'm grateful for the Spirit and it's sanctifying effect on me. I understand that now the responsibility is mine, to actually follow through on those impressions and qualify for the blessings God wants to give me. I encourage you all to do the same!

PICTURE:

So many good ones to choose from this week...you might get 2 again!



















Exchanges this week! Herman Brunsdale is one of my hipster faves :)



And then this is me in the middle (no duh), Christine on the left and Brittany on the right. Hard not to have favorites when you work with such awesome prepared people :)

LOVE YOU ALL! This was too long already, I apologize. XOXOX!

Sister Hale

No comments:

Post a Comment