THIS WEEK
Well, we were supposed to have a baptism on Saturday.... (Chris) but we ran into a little Word of Wisdom issue. There's a rule that says you can't be baptized if you haven't kept the Word of Wisdom for a full week and we met with him Thursday and he casually mentioned that he accidently drank coffee that morning... so basically we had to do the hardest thing in the world and tell this guy who has such a strong testimony and already told all his friends about this baptism that he was going to have to wait a week. It pretty much broke his heart... it was so hard! So hopefully he won't slip up again and we'll be able to follow through with his baptism this Friday. Since Halloween is this Thursday, our P-day has been moved to that day and we get to go to the Bountiful temple in the morning, then shop and what not, then we're supposed to be inside our apartments at 6 until the rest of the night. The mission president told us to "plan for the week" but..... like, it's Halloween hahah - we're baking sugar cookies and deep frying everything in the fridge, let's be real here.
Earlier this week, me and Sister H were pretty stomach sick.... like it was bad, so we stayed inside 2 days this week and watched every church movie Linda owns (Linda's the lady we live with. But not really because she's never there). So that was kind of nice to have some down time. Therefore we didn't get many lessons taught this week and it was rough to get back on track with things.
So I don't know if I've told you about one of the people we're teaching, Amanda. We've taught her all the lessons and she really believes and understands everything we've taught, but she doesn't understand the reason she needs to be baptized. She hasn't been fully "converted" yet and doesn't understand that this is the only true church, not just a good church, ya know? She's really nice and friendly and likes us a lot but she hardly ever texts us back and it's really hard to get a hold of her. Plus she has this boyfriend who's inactive and hates Mormons so we can only come over when he's not there. Anyways yesterday she texts us and asks if we could come over and we were shocked. Like, I thought it was the end of the world basically. We had a super packed schedule yesterday so we said we would try to make it. She texted again and said it had been a really rough day and she was just going to go to bed. We were supposed to meet up with our president but decided this was more important and hoped he would understand (which he did). So we go over to Amanda's and she basically apologizes she couldn't make it to church that morning.... she said she woke up her kids on time and they were all ready to go and pumped and then they got stuck at the railroad tracks for 40 minutes waiting for a train to pass so they were going to be really late. Amanda decided to go to a Catholic church instead because she was raised Catholic and whatever.... this is where we got scared, hahah. So she went to the Catholic church and she said it was terrible and didn't feel the way she remembered it feeling. She didn't learn anything or feel uplifted at all. She said she realized right then and there that she was "sold" to the Mormons, hahahah. Our jaws were seriously on the floor at this point. But it gets better.... she said she dumped the scummy boyfriend because she realized she wants to get closer to God with or without him. He's a total loser, like he's always drunk and high and being mean to her. We never thought she would break up with him though because she just had his baby and she can't afford to pay for the apartment without him because she can't work and whatever.... but she dumped him! Amanda loves the idea of having a strong family and she really just cares so much about her kids.... she said she's worried no good Mormon guy will want her because of her past and the fact that she has 2 kids with 2 different dads.. But seriously, she doesn't even understand how special she is and that Heavenly Father is watching out for her. By her making this change in her life, she's gonna be blessed like crazy. It was just the coolest experience, I didn't tell it as cool as it is, sorry. Oh and side note, as she was talking, she said she used to be a "dancer"... I said, "no way, how cool!" she looks totally shocked and goes, "well, that's not the reaction I was expecting from you!" That's when I realized she meant a different kind of "dancer".... hahah, and I said something like, "no seriously, how cool! you'll have to teach us!" Lesson learned; I think I need to think before I speak from now on, hahahah, but it was funny.... so hopefully we'll be able to put her and her daughter Nevaeh on date for baptism soon!
Oh and I got to sit and talk to our mission president's wife alone for an hour or so last night while Sister H was in an interview.... She asked me if I could cut the sister's hair if they did a sister's conference. So that's cool, I get to do 60 missionaries hair! But she likes me now, so it's whatever.
Hope all is well, thank you for the prayers. Wish I had more time to reply to each of you. Love you all!
Heidi
Monday, October 28, 2013
Monday, October 21, 2013
Did you know I speak Spanish? JK
So guess what I did yesterday? I went on splits... with the Spanish sisters.... and sat in all of their lessons... In Spanish. As you are well aware, I speak not a word of Spanish, haha, so it was interesting to say the least. I learned a little bit though! Aren't you proud of me? Hmm what else... I talked in church yesterday and it was fantastic, of course. Butch has successfully stopped smoking and he is deciding on a baptismal date sometime this next week! We're so excited. Also one of our investigators, Chris, took himself off date this week because he wanted to "learn more"... then our next lesson halfway through he goes, "so I know I said I wasn't sure about getting baptized Saturday.. but I was thinking about it and people kept asking when I was going to get baptized and I just kept telling them the 26th and realized I didn't ask you guys first.... is that day still open?" We were like, uhhhhh we can baptize you in an hour if you really want, hahaha! But anyways, he's doing really well! We're excited.
Also this week... I got to do hair for one of my investigators, Marcella! She's so super sweet and always cooks us full blown meals and she's from Romania so they're always deep fried and delicious... but her and her husband are really tight on money so we feel really bad when they insist on feeding us and taking us places with them. It's her birthday this week and she was saying how she really wanted to go get her hair done but she didn't think they could afford it. So, me being fantastic and loving and skilled and such, offered to do her hair for free. I colored and cut it real nice, then styled it super cute. When she looked in the mirror after she started tearing up and kept saying I'm an angel... like, yes I know, I know. Hopefully she'll get baptized soon now! We'll see ;) Side note, transfers are tomorrow and I'm staying here and keeping the same companions! But they made me and Sister P assistant STL's (sister training leaders, like girl zone leaders) because I'm a beast. Actually it's probably because Sister H, our trainer, is seriously President Hansen's favorite. He loves her so much and gives her all these crazy assignments. She had to talk for all the general authorities' wives last transfer! Anyways I'm staying in Layton. But anyways, my district was talking about the first impressions we had when we first met everyone. one of the elders told me, "when I first met you I thought you were a princess who'd never lived away from home and never worked a day in your life" and I was like, kind of offended? Thank you? Anyways now everyone calls me princess and it really kind of offends me.... haha.
My district hiked Adam's Canyon again this morning and it was super fun. We got a free chiropractor and I'm quite excited about that... I sent mom a letter the other day so that should come soon. All is well, I'm happy. I hear all of these terror stories about sisters with terrible companions and people being miserable and not getting any people to teach and it's really scaring me because I've had such good luck so far..... It's worrying me. Also this week we helped one of our favorite member family's son answer a girl for a school dance... We took a video because it was so funny and awkward. I'll try to send it if I have time. I'm going to hook him up with Kayla, he's so cute and sweet.
Here's some awesome quotes I found this week:
"Only by aligning our wills with God's is full happiness to be found... As one's will is increasingly submissive to the will of God, he can receive inspiration and revelation so much needed to help meet the trials of life. The submission of one's will is really the only unique thing we have to place on God's altar. The many other things we "give" are actually the things he has already given or loaned to us." -Neal A. Maxwell
"Love is like the North star; in a changing world, it is always constant" -Gordon B. Hinkley
Lauren's favorite scripture that I've learned to really like: Proverbs 31:25-26
Have a good week!
Heidi
Also this week... I got to do hair for one of my investigators, Marcella! She's so super sweet and always cooks us full blown meals and she's from Romania so they're always deep fried and delicious... but her and her husband are really tight on money so we feel really bad when they insist on feeding us and taking us places with them. It's her birthday this week and she was saying how she really wanted to go get her hair done but she didn't think they could afford it. So, me being fantastic and loving and skilled and such, offered to do her hair for free. I colored and cut it real nice, then styled it super cute. When she looked in the mirror after she started tearing up and kept saying I'm an angel... like, yes I know, I know. Hopefully she'll get baptized soon now! We'll see ;) Side note, transfers are tomorrow and I'm staying here and keeping the same companions! But they made me and Sister P assistant STL's (sister training leaders, like girl zone leaders) because I'm a beast. Actually it's probably because Sister H, our trainer, is seriously President Hansen's favorite. He loves her so much and gives her all these crazy assignments. She had to talk for all the general authorities' wives last transfer! Anyways I'm staying in Layton. But anyways, my district was talking about the first impressions we had when we first met everyone. one of the elders told me, "when I first met you I thought you were a princess who'd never lived away from home and never worked a day in your life" and I was like, kind of offended? Thank you? Anyways now everyone calls me princess and it really kind of offends me.... haha.
My district hiked Adam's Canyon again this morning and it was super fun. We got a free chiropractor and I'm quite excited about that... I sent mom a letter the other day so that should come soon. All is well, I'm happy. I hear all of these terror stories about sisters with terrible companions and people being miserable and not getting any people to teach and it's really scaring me because I've had such good luck so far..... It's worrying me. Also this week we helped one of our favorite member family's son answer a girl for a school dance... We took a video because it was so funny and awkward. I'll try to send it if I have time. I'm going to hook him up with Kayla, he's so cute and sweet.
Here's some awesome quotes I found this week:
"Only by aligning our wills with God's is full happiness to be found... As one's will is increasingly submissive to the will of God, he can receive inspiration and revelation so much needed to help meet the trials of life. The submission of one's will is really the only unique thing we have to place on God's altar. The many other things we "give" are actually the things he has already given or loaned to us." -Neal A. Maxwell
"Love is like the North star; in a changing world, it is always constant" -Gordon B. Hinkley
Lauren's favorite scripture that I've learned to really like: Proverbs 31:25-26
Have a good week!
Heidi
Monday, October 14, 2013
That darn Word of Wisdom .. haha!
Family,
I'm glad California was fun. Disneyland is better, I think. One of my companions, Sister H, worked at Disneyworld, isn't that cool?
Good for you Anna, for being brave; you're legit. I lol'd at the Jennifer Garner sighting - HAHA! I'm glad you called Lauren, she loves you guys and she's good with hair.
Well, this last week my district went and hiked Adam's Canyon ... is that where we hiked with Grandpa last summer? I can't remember. It was really fun; my district thinks I'm like the most athletic sports-y person ever ... which I'm really not but I'll just let them keep thinking that. It was really fun though, I definitely needed it. Except my pink Nikes got kind of muddy and I cried a little bit but it's okay. We had a baptism this week! Technically 2, but only one counts as a convert baptism because one of the boys was 8 ... oh, the other day we were teaching the boys tithing and I showed them how to fill out a slip ... I ripped the white copy from the yellow one and Ryan (the 8-yr-old) goes, "Sister Shields, you're magic! Tithing's magic!" Hahah, it was so cute!
We got the elders in our district to sing with us at the baptism and that was fun. So one of our investigators with a baptismal date, CJ? We brought him to conference with us. Well, we were a little concerned about him really getting baptized because we hadn't gone over the Word of Wisdom at all with him ... and he obviously has some issues there. So all day we were planning to teach him that lesson I was freaking out. Like, he's gonna think we're crazy and he's not gonna want to give up his drinking and weekend partying and we're going to lose our golden investigator ... all that. So we go into the lesson; he has a bunch of alcohol bottles on the top of his fridge and that's all I could focus on, no joke. We read the Word of Wisdom pamphlet with him and then there's a long awkward pause after we finished ... then he goes, "I'm sorry girls, I eat meat every day .." After reading all that, he was concerned about the single sentence "eat meat sparingly" HAHA! He said he only drinks socially and it would be no problem to give that up. Prayers answered! We had to postpone his baptism because he does have a problem with coffee ... but we're working on it!
It's a joke among my companions and I that I'm only on a mission because I had to stop myself from getting married ... whenever we eat dinner with a young married couple and they tell the story of how they met, 3/5 times I'll cry a little during their story. I don't know why, I can't help it, I just do! And when I have time in personal scripture study, I like to read about eternal marriage. I just think it's interesting! But every morning when we share what we learned that day, they always go, "so let me guess .. Sister Shields read about eternal marriage," hahah, it's funny, they think I'm crazy, I'm sorry.
Also this week, we taught the stop smoking program to one of our investigators, Butch. It went really well and the next 7 days are his trial so please pray for him! We kept praying he would have the strength to stay away from social situations where there would be smoking this week, and yesterday we found out he has gall stones and has to get his gall bladder removed so he's in the hospital ... well, prayer answered, haha! Kind of sad, bu we'll take it. There's no smoking in a hospital, right? anyways, we were teaching him the program and our elders came with to help us (we've never taught it before and they have) and randomly in the middle of it, Elder Keenon takes a tithing slip out of his pocket, rips a corner off it and eats it. Right there in the middle of a serious lesson! I DIED! It was so hilarious, you have to know him .. I'll send you pictures later of our hike; he's the one wearing a green wig.
Have a good week everyone!
Sister Shields
I'm glad California was fun. Disneyland is better, I think. One of my companions, Sister H, worked at Disneyworld, isn't that cool?
Good for you Anna, for being brave; you're legit. I lol'd at the Jennifer Garner sighting - HAHA! I'm glad you called Lauren, she loves you guys and she's good with hair.
Well, this last week my district went and hiked Adam's Canyon ... is that where we hiked with Grandpa last summer? I can't remember. It was really fun; my district thinks I'm like the most athletic sports-y person ever ... which I'm really not but I'll just let them keep thinking that. It was really fun though, I definitely needed it. Except my pink Nikes got kind of muddy and I cried a little bit but it's okay. We had a baptism this week! Technically 2, but only one counts as a convert baptism because one of the boys was 8 ... oh, the other day we were teaching the boys tithing and I showed them how to fill out a slip ... I ripped the white copy from the yellow one and Ryan (the 8-yr-old) goes, "Sister Shields, you're magic! Tithing's magic!" Hahah, it was so cute!
We got the elders in our district to sing with us at the baptism and that was fun. So one of our investigators with a baptismal date, CJ? We brought him to conference with us. Well, we were a little concerned about him really getting baptized because we hadn't gone over the Word of Wisdom at all with him ... and he obviously has some issues there. So all day we were planning to teach him that lesson I was freaking out. Like, he's gonna think we're crazy and he's not gonna want to give up his drinking and weekend partying and we're going to lose our golden investigator ... all that. So we go into the lesson; he has a bunch of alcohol bottles on the top of his fridge and that's all I could focus on, no joke. We read the Word of Wisdom pamphlet with him and then there's a long awkward pause after we finished ... then he goes, "I'm sorry girls, I eat meat every day .." After reading all that, he was concerned about the single sentence "eat meat sparingly" HAHA! He said he only drinks socially and it would be no problem to give that up. Prayers answered! We had to postpone his baptism because he does have a problem with coffee ... but we're working on it!
It's a joke among my companions and I that I'm only on a mission because I had to stop myself from getting married ... whenever we eat dinner with a young married couple and they tell the story of how they met, 3/5 times I'll cry a little during their story. I don't know why, I can't help it, I just do! And when I have time in personal scripture study, I like to read about eternal marriage. I just think it's interesting! But every morning when we share what we learned that day, they always go, "so let me guess .. Sister Shields read about eternal marriage," hahah, it's funny, they think I'm crazy, I'm sorry.
Also this week, we taught the stop smoking program to one of our investigators, Butch. It went really well and the next 7 days are his trial so please pray for him! We kept praying he would have the strength to stay away from social situations where there would be smoking this week, and yesterday we found out he has gall stones and has to get his gall bladder removed so he's in the hospital ... well, prayer answered, haha! Kind of sad, bu we'll take it. There's no smoking in a hospital, right? anyways, we were teaching him the program and our elders came with to help us (we've never taught it before and they have) and randomly in the middle of it, Elder Keenon takes a tithing slip out of his pocket, rips a corner off it and eats it. Right there in the middle of a serious lesson! I DIED! It was so hilarious, you have to know him .. I'll send you pictures later of our hike; he's the one wearing a green wig.
Have a good week everyone!
Sister Shields
 |
| My district |
 |
| Me with Ryan and Jaden at their baptism |
 |
| Me and Sister P, with Ryan at his baptism |
 |
| Hiking Adam's Canyon |
Monday, October 7, 2013
General Conference weekend!
Hello family, how is everyone doing?
I got to go to 2 sessions of General Conference down at the Conference Center, I went to the Saturday afternoon and the Sunday Morning. The Saturday afternoon we were sitting literally 10 rows from the front so we could see all the general authorities and what not.... it was so amazing I cannot even describe to you how awesome it was. This week we put 2 people on date for baptism! They're both young black guys... haha, and honestly we're kind of worried because they both obviously love the party, drinking, girl lifestyle so we're dreading the day we have to get into that..... ekk. If you would like to pray for my investigators, the ones we have right now are CJ, Claud (ugliest name ever, I know), Chris, Amanda, Butch (specefically pray he can stop smoking) and Marcella. CJ, Butch and Chris are all on date, Claud's almost on date and the rest are hesitant. Wish I had more time to share about what's going on but I really don't.
I'm just going to tell you straight up that I am gaining so much weight. Like the members feed us so much; every night I go to dinner completely stuffed and not hungry but I still have to choke down whatever they feed me... at conference this weekend, a member fed us cinnamon rolls and eggs and pancakes for breakfast before the morning session and then steak and potatoes and ribs and strawberry shortcake for lunch. and then we had a dinner appointment 2 hours later. Like, I've never been so sick in my life. I don't know how to deal with it. I don't even know what to do..... all my companions and other sisters out on the mission are struggling with homesickness and stress and all this, but I've been totally fine with that ... I'm just worried about this food issue. Sister P is so supportive and willing to help me, I know she was supposed to be my companion just for that reason.
Wanna hear what I liked about conference?
-"look ahead and believe"
-"doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith" -Uchtdorf
-"if the bitter cup is not past, drink it" -Holland
I wish I had time to share more, but Conference was just so good... I've never gotten anything out of conference before the mission, it's crazy. I loved how they stressed so much the importance of the family and how everything should be centered around that. I loved all the talk about the priesthood and what a blessing that can be in our lives. Also, did you notice all the talks about the importance of women? :)
Love you all, have fun in California.
Heidi
It was Sister H's birthday this week! So we had a little party with cake and what not. Sorry I look stoned in a couple of these ...
I got to go to 2 sessions of General Conference down at the Conference Center, I went to the Saturday afternoon and the Sunday Morning. The Saturday afternoon we were sitting literally 10 rows from the front so we could see all the general authorities and what not.... it was so amazing I cannot even describe to you how awesome it was. This week we put 2 people on date for baptism! They're both young black guys... haha, and honestly we're kind of worried because they both obviously love the party, drinking, girl lifestyle so we're dreading the day we have to get into that..... ekk. If you would like to pray for my investigators, the ones we have right now are CJ, Claud (ugliest name ever, I know), Chris, Amanda, Butch (specefically pray he can stop smoking) and Marcella. CJ, Butch and Chris are all on date, Claud's almost on date and the rest are hesitant. Wish I had more time to share about what's going on but I really don't.
I'm just going to tell you straight up that I am gaining so much weight. Like the members feed us so much; every night I go to dinner completely stuffed and not hungry but I still have to choke down whatever they feed me... at conference this weekend, a member fed us cinnamon rolls and eggs and pancakes for breakfast before the morning session and then steak and potatoes and ribs and strawberry shortcake for lunch. and then we had a dinner appointment 2 hours later. Like, I've never been so sick in my life. I don't know how to deal with it. I don't even know what to do..... all my companions and other sisters out on the mission are struggling with homesickness and stress and all this, but I've been totally fine with that ... I'm just worried about this food issue. Sister P is so supportive and willing to help me, I know she was supposed to be my companion just for that reason.
Wanna hear what I liked about conference?
-"look ahead and believe"
-"doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith" -Uchtdorf
-"if the bitter cup is not past, drink it" -Holland
I wish I had time to share more, but Conference was just so good... I've never gotten anything out of conference before the mission, it's crazy. I loved how they stressed so much the importance of the family and how everything should be centered around that. I loved all the talk about the priesthood and what a blessing that can be in our lives. Also, did you notice all the talks about the importance of women? :)
Love you all, have fun in California.
Heidi
It was Sister H's birthday this week! So we had a little party with cake and what not. Sorry I look stoned in a couple of these ...
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