Monday, April 8, 2013

Hello Everyone!

I hope y'all had a great conference weekend, and were spiritually fed :)

Conference weekend is THE BEST as a missionary... Its the equivalent of taking a field trip when you were a kid. Some things I noticed was that they focused a lot on the bible (almost every scripture reference given! I only had 2 BOM ones written down, but tons and tons of bible!), the building of strong families and homes, and obedience.... all of which I was super grateful for, because that is what the people in my area are struggling with! My area is kind of .....ghetto? (not the best word to describe it, but its all I can come up with...), so its a really rare occurrence to find an actual, real life family anywhere. It makes me so very grateful that I grew up where I did, with the family I did... mom and dad, you're amazing! I'm also super excited for the new training on the priesthood... we're supposed to get to watch it in ward council next week, but I might use part of my mormon.org time (we get an hour every Tuesday) to watch it :) In between sessions, we worked on some office-y stuff like copies and maps and ward directories, because the church building is really far away, and we couldn't take the hit to our limited miles to go back and fourth. it was good, because our area was just recently opened, and not well organized, so we were able to figure out lots of logistics and get organized.

So,, know how I mentioned that my area covers 5 counties? well, there are two women in my ward, sister Ingram and sister Howard, who live in one of the farthest counties, and they are two of the most missionary minded members I've ever met. They're fantastic!!! they have decided to set up an open house in the county library for us, with mormon.org and family history and all of the auxiliaries there... Its so exciting! its kind of like a 'meet the mormons' type deal, where we can talk to people and they can put in referrals for themselves or family and friends. we have really high hopes for this meeting! I'll let you know how it goes.

This week, Sister Gardner and I worked our tails off! Sister Gardner said she has never worked so hard on her mission, and we had amazing results! the lord truly blessed us for our work! this week, we ended up with 30 lessons taught, over 100 people we met, and 13 new investigators!!! these numbers almost triple our goals for the week! it was incredible! I look forward to trying to beat my numbers next week, and bring lots and lots and lots of people to Christ.
last week, I mentioned Wanda, one of our investigators. On Friday, We were impressed to go see her, but she wasn't home! we were sitting out in the car, making a phone call, when someone knocked on our window, and it was Wanda! She was like " Y'all come to see me off?!?" and we were like, off where? apparently, she's leaving for Florida to be with her daughter, permanently! If we hadn't been there we would have never known... and now we have all her Florida info so she can meet with missionaries there. I'm so excited to see where she ends up... she would be a fantastic YW leader! :)
last night, I got to teach the first lesson, almost all by my self! Super exciting! I taught Tasha, a black lady with a baby who is having lots of health problems. She was super doubtful at first, but after I testified she opened up alot, and accepted the challenge to be baptized! Super cool!
dad- I started putting all of my notes and thoughts on 3X5 cards.... Its wonderful! I should have listened to you sooner!
This week in my scripture studies Ive been looking at having faith to receive.  In 2ne. 4:35, there is a promise from a prophet that "god will give to him that asketh... if I ask not amiss." The lord defines amiss as "that which is contrary to my will." (hel. 10:5) Do I have the faith to ask things of the lord and know that it WILL happen, as long as it's not contrary to his will? Do I have the faith to believe in miracles? Because as long as I do the work to get me there, I'll get them. Other verses on the subject: Alma 29:4, and 3ne. 14:9-11
Well, Its about time for me to go... but know that I love you, and so does the lord! Catch the wave!
Sister Derrick
Sister Gardner with her trainer (on her right) and all her trainees.
Bryndee and Sister Gardner

An Easter Tradition for the Baptist's down south.  They hang a purple sash on the cross then on Easter morning they change it to white.

Visiting on Easter Sunday.

One of her favorite parts of P-Day...Washing the Car!

No comments:

Post a Comment