Hi!
I'm still in Colorado. I'm loving it here and having a blast living with three other sisters. Sometimes it feels like a sleepover but don't worry we are still working really hard. They are struggling and having a hard time getting our visas and we (me and sis. Ellison) are afraid that if we are still here by the end of transfers (Nov. 7) that we won't be going to Mongolia. We'd only have a year and one month left of our mission.
Our whole mission is struggling right now in finding people to teach. Pueblo, where I'm at, is the hot spot and the place where everyone wants to go because one teaches a lot here. But that hasn't really been the case since I got here. Sis. Yancey said that before we arrived that she would be teaching 20 or more lessons a week. Now we are down to 5 lessons a week. It is hard to tract all the time without much success. I have to keep telling myself that I'm not doing anything wrong. I keep working hard and I'm obedient so I'm doing the best that I can. None of our investigators showed up for church. Bummer! Kelsey, the girl we've been working with, got really sick and we haven't taught her all week.
But there was a miracle this week! Our zone leaders called us on Tuesday to try and fire us up to have the faith to find. Me and Sister Yancey were all pumped that day. We went out to work that day having the mentality that we were going to find someone. So we went out that day to start tracking. As we were walking to where we wanted to track, a guy waved us over to talk. We thought that was really weird because people never do that. We talked to him on his porch and asked if he would like to learn more about our beliefs. He said yes and asked if we could teach him right there. We've taught him three times this week, the Restoration, Plan of Salvation, and Word of Wisdom. We gave him a baptismal date of Nov. 8th and he told us that he wanted to be baptized earlier but we told him that he had to come to church at least twice and take all the lessons. He's read everything we've given him and he has prayed about it too. He said that he hasn't got a super strong answer but he feels that getting baptized is what God wants him to do. We almost fell out of our chairs when he said that. When we asked him to follow the word of wisdom (he smokes, drinks coffee) he said that he wanted to stop anyway and that he knows how bad it is for him. He started to change his life around five months ago by quiting drugs and alcohol. So he's been clean of those things for five months. The funny thing is that before we started the lesson on word of wisdom he said, "Instead of drinking coffee this morning, I prayed. My day has gone a lot better." He's in his early twenties and goes to culinary school, which surprised us. Also, after teaching him the word of wisdom. He told us that he should stop listening to the bad music he likes because he feels that it isn't good for his spirit. We looked at each other and thought "Who is this guy?" He then surprised us again by asking, "Is body piercings against the word of wisdom? (he has a nose ring)" Our mouths dropped open because he was on top of things and is wanting to do the right things without us saying it. We taught him last on Friday. He said that he was going to come to church but he didn't show and then he wasn't at home for our appointment on Sunday either. But we aren't going to give up on him yet (Bill). We hope he has a good reason for not coming to church. The problem that we are going to have with him is that he might have to go to jail. He was charged with a misdemeaner and is going to court on Monday so he might be put in jail for 60 days.
I've come to realize that what we are teaching people isn't taking away from their faith but building upon it. What we have is 10 times better than what they think is great. It can bring them closer to our Heavenly Father, Christ and they can feel the full extent of the Atonement through the gift of the Holy Ghost. The gospel and the plan of salvation just makes so much sense and it gives me wonderful peace and comfort to know why I'm here and what I'm doing on this earth. I wouldn't be able to get through the hard times without that knowledge, that I'm a daughter of God.
The church is true so keep the faith no matter what!
Love, Sister Sumsion
Monday, October 26
"Can I get baptized earlier because I might be going to jail."
Hi!
I'm still in Colorado. I'm loving it here and having a blast living with three other sisters. Sometimes it feels like a sleepover but don't worry we are still working really hard. They are struggling and having a hard time getting our visas and we (me and sis. Ellison) are afraid that if we are still here by the end of transfers (Nov. 7) that we won't be going to Mongolia. We'd only have a year and one month left of our mission.
Our whole mission is struggling right now in finding people to teach. Pueblo, where I'm at, is the hot spot and the place where everyone wants to go because one teaches a lot here. But that hasn't really been the case since I got here. Sis. Yancey said that before we arrived that she would be teaching 20 or more lessons a week. Now we are down to 5 lessons a week. It is hard to tract all the time without much success. I have to keep telling myself that I'm not doing anything wrong. I keep working hard and I'm obedient so I'm doing the best that I can. None of our investigators showed up for church. Bummer! Kelsey, the girl we've been working with, got really sick and we haven't taught her all week.
But there was a miracle this week! Our zone leaders called us on Tuesday to try and fire us up to have the faith to find. Me and Sister Yancey were all pumped that day. We went out to work that day having the mentality that we were going to find someone. So we went out that day to start tracking. As we were walking to where we wanted to track, a guy waved us over to talk. We thought that was really weird because people never do that. We talked to him on his porch and asked if he would like to learn more about our beliefs. He said yes and asked if we could teach him right there. We've taught him three times this week, the Restoration, Plan of Salvation, and Word of Wisdom. We gave him a baptismal date of Nov. 8th and he told us that he wanted to be baptized earlier but we told him that he had to come to church at least twice and take all the lessons. He's read everything we've given him and he has prayed about it too. He said that he hasn't got a super strong answer but he feels that getting baptized is what God wants him to do. We almost fell out of our chairs when he said that. When we asked him to follow the word of wisdom (he smokes, drinks coffee) he said that he wanted to stop anyway and that he knows how bad it is for him. He started to change his life around five months ago by quiting drugs and alcohol. So he's been clean of those things for five months. The funny thing is that before we started the lesson on word of wisdom he said, "Instead of drinking coffee this morning, I prayed. My day has gone a lot better." He's in his early twenties and goes to culinary school, which surprised us. Also, after teaching him the word of wisdom. He told us that he should stop listening to the bad music he likes because he feels that it isn't good for his spirit. We looked at each other and thought "Who is this guy?" He then surprised us again by asking, "Is body piercings against the word of wisdom? (he has a nose ring)" Our mouths dropped open because he was on top of things and is wanting to do the right things without us saying it. We taught him last on Friday. He said that he was going to come to church but he didn't show and then he wasn't at home for our appointment on Sunday either. But we aren't going to give up on him yet (Bill). We hope he has a good reason for not coming to church. The problem that we are going to have with him is that he might have to go to jail. He was charged with a misdemeaner and is going to court on Monday so he might be put in jail for 60 days.
I've come to realize that what we are teaching people isn't taking away from their faith but building upon it. What we have is 10 times better than what they think is great. It can bring them closer to our Heavenly Father, Christ and they can feel the full extent of the Atonement through the gift of the Holy Ghost. The gospel and the plan of salvation just makes so much sense and it gives me wonderful peace and comfort to know why I'm here and what I'm doing on this earth. I wouldn't be able to get through the hard times without that knowledge, that I'm a daughter of God.
The church is true so keep the faith no matter what!
Love, Sister Sumsion
I'm still in Colorado. I'm loving it here and having a blast living with three other sisters. Sometimes it feels like a sleepover but don't worry we are still working really hard. They are struggling and having a hard time getting our visas and we (me and sis. Ellison) are afraid that if we are still here by the end of transfers (Nov. 7) that we won't be going to Mongolia. We'd only have a year and one month left of our mission.
Our whole mission is struggling right now in finding people to teach. Pueblo, where I'm at, is the hot spot and the place where everyone wants to go because one teaches a lot here. But that hasn't really been the case since I got here. Sis. Yancey said that before we arrived that she would be teaching 20 or more lessons a week. Now we are down to 5 lessons a week. It is hard to tract all the time without much success. I have to keep telling myself that I'm not doing anything wrong. I keep working hard and I'm obedient so I'm doing the best that I can. None of our investigators showed up for church. Bummer! Kelsey, the girl we've been working with, got really sick and we haven't taught her all week.
But there was a miracle this week! Our zone leaders called us on Tuesday to try and fire us up to have the faith to find. Me and Sister Yancey were all pumped that day. We went out to work that day having the mentality that we were going to find someone. So we went out that day to start tracking. As we were walking to where we wanted to track, a guy waved us over to talk. We thought that was really weird because people never do that. We talked to him on his porch and asked if he would like to learn more about our beliefs. He said yes and asked if we could teach him right there. We've taught him three times this week, the Restoration, Plan of Salvation, and Word of Wisdom. We gave him a baptismal date of Nov. 8th and he told us that he wanted to be baptized earlier but we told him that he had to come to church at least twice and take all the lessons. He's read everything we've given him and he has prayed about it too. He said that he hasn't got a super strong answer but he feels that getting baptized is what God wants him to do. We almost fell out of our chairs when he said that. When we asked him to follow the word of wisdom (he smokes, drinks coffee) he said that he wanted to stop anyway and that he knows how bad it is for him. He started to change his life around five months ago by quiting drugs and alcohol. So he's been clean of those things for five months. The funny thing is that before we started the lesson on word of wisdom he said, "Instead of drinking coffee this morning, I prayed. My day has gone a lot better." He's in his early twenties and goes to culinary school, which surprised us. Also, after teaching him the word of wisdom. He told us that he should stop listening to the bad music he likes because he feels that it isn't good for his spirit. We looked at each other and thought "Who is this guy?" He then surprised us again by asking, "Is body piercings against the word of wisdom? (he has a nose ring)" Our mouths dropped open because he was on top of things and is wanting to do the right things without us saying it. We taught him last on Friday. He said that he was going to come to church but he didn't show and then he wasn't at home for our appointment on Sunday either. But we aren't going to give up on him yet (Bill). We hope he has a good reason for not coming to church. The problem that we are going to have with him is that he might have to go to jail. He was charged with a misdemeaner and is going to court on Monday so he might be put in jail for 60 days.
I've come to realize that what we are teaching people isn't taking away from their faith but building upon it. What we have is 10 times better than what they think is great. It can bring them closer to our Heavenly Father, Christ and they can feel the full extent of the Atonement through the gift of the Holy Ghost. The gospel and the plan of salvation just makes so much sense and it gives me wonderful peace and comfort to know why I'm here and what I'm doing on this earth. I wouldn't be able to get through the hard times without that knowledge, that I'm a daughter of God.
The church is true so keep the faith no matter what!
Love, Sister Sumsion
Monday, October 19
Missionary work is hard!! Who would have thought?
Hi!
This week has been tiring and it has seemed unsuccessful. We gave our investigator, Kelsey, who last week had the blessing from the elders, another baptismal date. We were so excited to extend her another date because she had an amazing experience with her blessing. We went to her house and were going to give her a date about two weeks away, which would have given her a chance to go to church twice, hear all the lessons and work out any other problems. She told us that she wanted to get baptized (Yeah!) but wanted it to be special to her. She wanted to do it around a holiday so near Thanksgiving. We were excited that she wanted to get baptized but a little disappointed. I'm afraid that Satan will work on her before she can get baptized and receive the strength of the Holy Ghost. We are praying about how to help her realize the importance of baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. We invited her to church and she was playing on coming yesterday but got sick and couldn't make it. It is a major disappointment when someone doesn't show up for church. Because you sit all through Sacrament meeting on the edge of your sit and look at everyone who comes through the doors. She didn't show up so we stopped by her house after church to see how she's doing. Her son, the one that received the blessing, is doing amazingly well. He is eating like crazy and isn't on a lot of medicine anymore. So that was a miracle and the priesthood does work. But she was really sick with the flu when we were over there. She felt bad that she couldn't make it.
Me and Sister Yancey have been thinking about how to help her. We want her to see how wonderful baptism is and the blessings one receives from it and the gift of the Holy Ghost. I think that her testimony of the restored gospel, especially in Joseph Smith is strong but I don't think she realizes what that means and how what it means that Christ's Church is on the earth and that it is lead and directed by him. So we've been praying about how to best help her.
I've been so exhausted this week. We've been biking and walking everywhere because we have no other investigators and everyone we talk to says that they aren't interested. Every night it takes me about five seconds to hit the pillow and I've been going to bed about 9:45 pm everynight. Sister Soldinger, whose been out 6 months, says that it gets worse. You begin to become spiritually exhausted and you feel tired and drained all the time. Somehow my body finds a way to keep going. I never realized how much work missionary work was on the body, mind and spirit.
The Lord's tender mercy for this week was from a scripture I read. Me and Sister Yancey can't get any new potential investigators, or any investigators for that matter, except for Kelsey. Sister Ellison and Sister Soldinger have been finding alot of potentials but then they never want to meet with them so they are always getting ditched. So we've been having a tough week. So I had been thinking about the struggles and trials that people go through and what missionaries go through. I was thinking about how trials or the trial of our faith comes before a blessing or some great event. So one morning while eating breakfast I picked up a Book of Mormon off our table and just turned to a random page. It opened up to Alma 21 about Aaron and the sons of Mosiah. Aaron is teaching the gospel in a city but they just argue with him and reject him. He goes to another city and is rejected. He goes to another city and is thrown in prison. While in prison he suffers (Alma 20:29). But after being released from prison, he goes back to work and continues preaching. Then in verse 17, the Lord blesses him and allows him to be the instrument in bringing many to the truth of the gospel. That scripture really stuck out to me. If I keep pushing forward through the sorrows, struggles, rejections, disappointments, trials and tribulations, the Lord will bless me. I don't know how He will bless me or when, but He will.
This week we got a new resident in our apartment. One afternoon, we were making lunch and all of a sudden, Sister Yancey and Sister Ellison yell bloody murder. It scared me so bad because I thought someone was dying. Then I realize that they saw a mouse. Then I started laughing my head off. Me and Sis. Soldinger going looking for it and were trying to catch it when it comes out of hiding again. Sis. Yancey sees it and runs around the kitchen like a chicken with her head cut off. It was soo funny! Sis. Ellison started screaming even though she didn't see it. So they made me set up a mouse trap and that night we caught it.
My testimony has grown so much during the four months I've been on a mission. My love for my Savior and for my Heavenly Father has grown so much. I see everything that they have done for me and have given me. They have done it out of love for me. When I try to comprend the love they have for me, I just can't do it because it is stronger than anything that I could imagine. They only thing that comes even remotely close is the love I have for my family. I would give up everything for them! That is just how my Savior is. He gave up everything for me. He suffered and died for me. His whole Earthly existence was to help me. There is nothing in this world that I could do to repay him and he knows that but he still did it anyway. The thing that he asks of me is to just follow him and to love as he would love.
I love you all!
The church is true so keep the faith!
Love Sister Sumsion
This week has been tiring and it has seemed unsuccessful. We gave our investigator, Kelsey, who last week had the blessing from the elders, another baptismal date. We were so excited to extend her another date because she had an amazing experience with her blessing. We went to her house and were going to give her a date about two weeks away, which would have given her a chance to go to church twice, hear all the lessons and work out any other problems. She told us that she wanted to get baptized (Yeah!) but wanted it to be special to her. She wanted to do it around a holiday so near Thanksgiving. We were excited that she wanted to get baptized but a little disappointed. I'm afraid that Satan will work on her before she can get baptized and receive the strength of the Holy Ghost. We are praying about how to help her realize the importance of baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. We invited her to church and she was playing on coming yesterday but got sick and couldn't make it. It is a major disappointment when someone doesn't show up for church. Because you sit all through Sacrament meeting on the edge of your sit and look at everyone who comes through the doors. She didn't show up so we stopped by her house after church to see how she's doing. Her son, the one that received the blessing, is doing amazingly well. He is eating like crazy and isn't on a lot of medicine anymore. So that was a miracle and the priesthood does work. But she was really sick with the flu when we were over there. She felt bad that she couldn't make it.
Me and Sister Yancey have been thinking about how to help her. We want her to see how wonderful baptism is and the blessings one receives from it and the gift of the Holy Ghost. I think that her testimony of the restored gospel, especially in Joseph Smith is strong but I don't think she realizes what that means and how what it means that Christ's Church is on the earth and that it is lead and directed by him. So we've been praying about how to best help her.
I've been so exhausted this week. We've been biking and walking everywhere because we have no other investigators and everyone we talk to says that they aren't interested. Every night it takes me about five seconds to hit the pillow and I've been going to bed about 9:45 pm everynight. Sister Soldinger, whose been out 6 months, says that it gets worse. You begin to become spiritually exhausted and you feel tired and drained all the time. Somehow my body finds a way to keep going. I never realized how much work missionary work was on the body, mind and spirit.
The Lord's tender mercy for this week was from a scripture I read. Me and Sister Yancey can't get any new potential investigators, or any investigators for that matter, except for Kelsey. Sister Ellison and Sister Soldinger have been finding alot of potentials but then they never want to meet with them so they are always getting ditched. So we've been having a tough week. So I had been thinking about the struggles and trials that people go through and what missionaries go through. I was thinking about how trials or the trial of our faith comes before a blessing or some great event. So one morning while eating breakfast I picked up a Book of Mormon off our table and just turned to a random page. It opened up to Alma 21 about Aaron and the sons of Mosiah. Aaron is teaching the gospel in a city but they just argue with him and reject him. He goes to another city and is rejected. He goes to another city and is thrown in prison. While in prison he suffers (Alma 20:29). But after being released from prison, he goes back to work and continues preaching. Then in verse 17, the Lord blesses him and allows him to be the instrument in bringing many to the truth of the gospel. That scripture really stuck out to me. If I keep pushing forward through the sorrows, struggles, rejections, disappointments, trials and tribulations, the Lord will bless me. I don't know how He will bless me or when, but He will.
This week we got a new resident in our apartment. One afternoon, we were making lunch and all of a sudden, Sister Yancey and Sister Ellison yell bloody murder. It scared me so bad because I thought someone was dying. Then I realize that they saw a mouse. Then I started laughing my head off. Me and Sis. Soldinger going looking for it and were trying to catch it when it comes out of hiding again. Sis. Yancey sees it and runs around the kitchen like a chicken with her head cut off. It was soo funny! Sis. Ellison started screaming even though she didn't see it. So they made me set up a mouse trap and that night we caught it.
My testimony has grown so much during the four months I've been on a mission. My love for my Savior and for my Heavenly Father has grown so much. I see everything that they have done for me and have given me. They have done it out of love for me. When I try to comprend the love they have for me, I just can't do it because it is stronger than anything that I could imagine. They only thing that comes even remotely close is the love I have for my family. I would give up everything for them! That is just how my Savior is. He gave up everything for me. He suffered and died for me. His whole Earthly existence was to help me. There is nothing in this world that I could do to repay him and he knows that but he still did it anyway. The thing that he asks of me is to just follow him and to love as he would love.
I love you all!
The church is true so keep the faith!
Love Sister Sumsion
I'm loving Missionary work in Colorado!!
MIRACLE Stories:
We have a woman, named Kelsie, who we are working with. But recently one of her sons became really sick from a flu shot. She had to take him to the hospital and now he is on five different medications. So I called the other night to see how he was doing and I offered her son a blessing. She seemed very grateful for the offer and asked if we could come over tomorrow. I could feel that this was a chance for a big miracle and could be a great testimony builder for her. When we went over to her house the next day, her little boy seemed alot better and I felt a little disappointed. But as we talked, I found out that he was still having internal issues. She was super tired and stressed out because she was working so hard to comfort her child and to take care of him. When she said that, I thought of mentioning that she should get a blessing of comfort and strength. I mentioned that to her and she was up for it. While we sat at her house and was waiting for the Elders, nothing seemed to be going right. She was babysitting some of the neighborhood kids who kept getting into trouble outside and her little boy was really restless so I figured that he wouldn't sit still for the blessing. I kept thinking that this wasn't going to work. The Elders showed up and explained more about blessings. As they were giving the boy a blessing, I was praying my heart out that the spirit would come and touch her heart and that Elder Prior would speak through the spirit and that the kids outside wouldn't come in and interrupt. In the blessing, he gave a specific amount of time of when he would be healed. The spirit was there. After giving the boy a blessing, the Elders proceeded to give her a blessing. I once again started praying like crazy. Her little boy was quite and still for both blessings and the kids outside didn't interrupt. The Spirit was so strong there and Elder Prior was saying things in the blessing that only the spirit could have told him about her. It was a wonderful blessing. He told her that God was pleased with her desire to be a good mother, to follow Him and to find out the truth. After the blessing, she was crying and she seemed really touched. The Elders talked for a few minutes about what she felt. She said that before this blessing that she had doubts about the church but after the blessing it confirmed to her the truthfulness of our message. Me and Sis. Yancey were smiling so big! She then asked if she could say a prayer. She gave a wonderful prayer of thanksgiving and for help. She was so overcome with the Spirit that she suprised one of the Elders by giving him a hug. Elder Prior (our district leader) told her that they're not allowed to hug and so she felt really awkward. But after the Elders left, we talked to her. She said that she has never prayed in public before but she felt so grateful that she wanted to pray. She said that she had received blessings from some clergys before but their blessings hadn't really meant anything to her. We explained to her that this one was different because it was the actual power of Chirst that was given to Joseph Smith. We explained more about how blessings work, how the person giving the blessing tries to feel the spirit and tries to say what God wants them to say. After we left her apartment, me and Sis. Yancey turned to each other and started hugging each other and we couldn't stop smiling. Today we are going to recommit her to baptism. Now I don't want to leave until she is baptized. I didn't find her but I've taught her all the lessons so she would be my first baptism. She is an amazing woman who has a powerful testimony and faith.
Sis. Ellison got a new companion named Sis. Soldinger who has had alot of experience with working with members. She is all fired up about contacting inactives and doing member missionary work. So we are all excited to have her here.
We had Zone Conference this week. It was wonderful! We talked alot about teaching by the Spirit. I love this district and the zone and the mission president. I could be here forever! Well, not really.
Testimony: I've gained a stronger testimony of Priesthood power and the miracles it can bring. Not only can it heal people from sicknesses but it can heal hearts and faith. I know that God is there because He listened to my prayer that Kelsie (the one who received the blessing) would gain a testimony. He is wonderful to me and is always blessing me with tender mercies. It is wonderful to be on a mission and to see the miracles that happen everyday. The many hard days are worth that one amazing day!
The church is true so keep the faith!
Love, Sister Sumsion
We have a woman, named Kelsie, who we are working with. But recently one of her sons became really sick from a flu shot. She had to take him to the hospital and now he is on five different medications. So I called the other night to see how he was doing and I offered her son a blessing. She seemed very grateful for the offer and asked if we could come over tomorrow. I could feel that this was a chance for a big miracle and could be a great testimony builder for her. When we went over to her house the next day, her little boy seemed alot better and I felt a little disappointed. But as we talked, I found out that he was still having internal issues. She was super tired and stressed out because she was working so hard to comfort her child and to take care of him. When she said that, I thought of mentioning that she should get a blessing of comfort and strength. I mentioned that to her and she was up for it. While we sat at her house and was waiting for the Elders, nothing seemed to be going right. She was babysitting some of the neighborhood kids who kept getting into trouble outside and her little boy was really restless so I figured that he wouldn't sit still for the blessing. I kept thinking that this wasn't going to work. The Elders showed up and explained more about blessings. As they were giving the boy a blessing, I was praying my heart out that the spirit would come and touch her heart and that Elder Prior would speak through the spirit and that the kids outside wouldn't come in and interrupt. In the blessing, he gave a specific amount of time of when he would be healed. The spirit was there. After giving the boy a blessing, the Elders proceeded to give her a blessing. I once again started praying like crazy. Her little boy was quite and still for both blessings and the kids outside didn't interrupt. The Spirit was so strong there and Elder Prior was saying things in the blessing that only the spirit could have told him about her. It was a wonderful blessing. He told her that God was pleased with her desire to be a good mother, to follow Him and to find out the truth. After the blessing, she was crying and she seemed really touched. The Elders talked for a few minutes about what she felt. She said that before this blessing that she had doubts about the church but after the blessing it confirmed to her the truthfulness of our message. Me and Sis. Yancey were smiling so big! She then asked if she could say a prayer. She gave a wonderful prayer of thanksgiving and for help. She was so overcome with the Spirit that she suprised one of the Elders by giving him a hug. Elder Prior (our district leader) told her that they're not allowed to hug and so she felt really awkward. But after the Elders left, we talked to her. She said that she has never prayed in public before but she felt so grateful that she wanted to pray. She said that she had received blessings from some clergys before but their blessings hadn't really meant anything to her. We explained to her that this one was different because it was the actual power of Chirst that was given to Joseph Smith. We explained more about how blessings work, how the person giving the blessing tries to feel the spirit and tries to say what God wants them to say. After we left her apartment, me and Sis. Yancey turned to each other and started hugging each other and we couldn't stop smiling. Today we are going to recommit her to baptism. Now I don't want to leave until she is baptized. I didn't find her but I've taught her all the lessons so she would be my first baptism. She is an amazing woman who has a powerful testimony and faith.
Sis. Ellison got a new companion named Sis. Soldinger who has had alot of experience with working with members. She is all fired up about contacting inactives and doing member missionary work. So we are all excited to have her here.
We had Zone Conference this week. It was wonderful! We talked alot about teaching by the Spirit. I love this district and the zone and the mission president. I could be here forever! Well, not really.
Testimony: I've gained a stronger testimony of Priesthood power and the miracles it can bring. Not only can it heal people from sicknesses but it can heal hearts and faith. I know that God is there because He listened to my prayer that Kelsie (the one who received the blessing) would gain a testimony. He is wonderful to me and is always blessing me with tender mercies. It is wonderful to be on a mission and to see the miracles that happen everyday. The many hard days are worth that one amazing day!
The church is true so keep the faith!
Love, Sister Sumsion
Tuesday, October 6
I'm still alive......in Colorado
Sorry about the day delay. Transfers are on Wednesday so they moved P-day to Tuesday so people could use it for packing. Sister Downs is moving to a new area and another Sister is taking her place. My companion is still Sister Yancey which makes me happy. The longer we're together, the more we found out how alike we are. Luckily, she laughs at all my jocks.
Momma: I haven't got your letter yet because they were holding all the mail that goes to the mission office until transfers (which are on Wednesday). I also bought a coat the first day I got here because it was 40 degrees outside. It cost me 30 dollars. This friday it is suppose to snow. They have been giving us money to get food and supplies. The first day we got here it was 35 dollars and then we got 65 dollars yesterday. We will get some more money in two weeks.
This week has been alot better since I've gotten into the swing of things and becoming more comfortable in the Area. Sister Downs and Sister Ellison had a wonderful companion inventory, which concluded with dumping water all over Sis. Yancey and I. Sister Yancey wasn't to happy about that but we let it slide because they were bonding.
This week has been hard. Every appointment we made with potential investigators, investigators, members, recent converts and inactives, fell through! Every single one! So we spent alot of time tracting (which I don't like very much) and ITLing. I realized that no matter what you say, while tracting, people will give the same response. They seem to have an automatic response. I found this out when they give really different responses to what we said. Sometimes I'll say "Christ's church has been restored to the earth" and then they'll say "I'm Christian and I'm not interested". Okay...didn't you just hear me. CHRIST's church has been restored. Some people can be quite rude to us. When we contact people on the street, half the time they won't stop and talk to us so we have to follow them and talk to them at their break neck speed. Some won't even give us eye contact. The worst is when you can see a group of people about a block away. So you start walking to them and they see you coming! So then they scatter. Then your self-esteem is crushed because you think that you smell bad or look funny or something;) But then you get the really nice people who appreciate what we are doing, even though they don't believe in it. They stop and talk with us for a little bit. So I always thought that I had to say the right things to get people to let us in to teach them. But in reality, it's the Spirit that they feel and see when they talk to us which motivates them to want to know more.
Miracles stories: We were about to drop an investigator, named Bobby, after a week of trying to get a hold of him. He was the one we taught the first lesson to. We found him while we were tracting. We had called him earlier on Sunday but there was no answer. While we were ITLing in the park, we ran into Bobby. He seemed really excited to see us and apolgized that we couldn't get a hold of him. His phone had been shut off because he hadn't been paying the bill. He asked if we could try to set up an appointment for the next day. Sis. Yancey had felt prompted to go to that park. We wouldn't have ran into him if we hadn't gone to that park. But then we couldn't get a hold of him the next day. His phone was still off and he wasn't home. But it was still a miracle.
We did have a lesson yesterday with a single mother named Kelsie. She is 24 years old with two 3-year old boys. She has had a rough life but she has tremondous faith. She reads the Bible everyday to her boys and reads them the little kids bible stories. We taught her the first lesson a week ago. We stopped by her house a few days ago just to say hi which we ended up talking to her for 30 minutes. We then went to her house yesterday to teach her the second lesson. We asked her if she had read the portions of the Book of Mormon we left her. She said she had and she had prayed about them. She then told us that she feels that they are another Testament of Christ. She had always thought that it was Joseph Smith's words and writings. But now she believes that the BofM was saved and preserved. We taught her the plan of salvation and afterwards she told us that she feels that the plan fills in the holes that the Bible leaves. We were so excited when we left and we set up another appointment with her. Yeah!!
General Conference was wonderful and many of the talks were answers to my prayers. When Pres. Monson mentioned Mongolia, I knew that that was a reasurrance from God that He has not forgotten me in Colorado and that someday I will get to teach His children there. He is always answering my prayers and offering me comfort even though sometimes feel unworthy of His love. He will always be there for me, to lead and to guide me. He wants the best for me and gives me experiences to mold me into the person he knows that I can become.
Keep the faith! The church is true!
Love, Sister Sumsion
Momma: I haven't got your letter yet because they were holding all the mail that goes to the mission office until transfers (which are on Wednesday). I also bought a coat the first day I got here because it was 40 degrees outside. It cost me 30 dollars. This friday it is suppose to snow. They have been giving us money to get food and supplies. The first day we got here it was 35 dollars and then we got 65 dollars yesterday. We will get some more money in two weeks.
This week has been alot better since I've gotten into the swing of things and becoming more comfortable in the Area. Sister Downs and Sister Ellison had a wonderful companion inventory, which concluded with dumping water all over Sis. Yancey and I. Sister Yancey wasn't to happy about that but we let it slide because they were bonding.
This week has been hard. Every appointment we made with potential investigators, investigators, members, recent converts and inactives, fell through! Every single one! So we spent alot of time tracting (which I don't like very much) and ITLing. I realized that no matter what you say, while tracting, people will give the same response. They seem to have an automatic response. I found this out when they give really different responses to what we said. Sometimes I'll say "Christ's church has been restored to the earth" and then they'll say "I'm Christian and I'm not interested". Okay...didn't you just hear me. CHRIST's church has been restored. Some people can be quite rude to us. When we contact people on the street, half the time they won't stop and talk to us so we have to follow them and talk to them at their break neck speed. Some won't even give us eye contact. The worst is when you can see a group of people about a block away. So you start walking to them and they see you coming! So then they scatter. Then your self-esteem is crushed because you think that you smell bad or look funny or something;) But then you get the really nice people who appreciate what we are doing, even though they don't believe in it. They stop and talk with us for a little bit. So I always thought that I had to say the right things to get people to let us in to teach them. But in reality, it's the Spirit that they feel and see when they talk to us which motivates them to want to know more.
Miracles stories: We were about to drop an investigator, named Bobby, after a week of trying to get a hold of him. He was the one we taught the first lesson to. We found him while we were tracting. We had called him earlier on Sunday but there was no answer. While we were ITLing in the park, we ran into Bobby. He seemed really excited to see us and apolgized that we couldn't get a hold of him. His phone had been shut off because he hadn't been paying the bill. He asked if we could try to set up an appointment for the next day. Sis. Yancey had felt prompted to go to that park. We wouldn't have ran into him if we hadn't gone to that park. But then we couldn't get a hold of him the next day. His phone was still off and he wasn't home. But it was still a miracle.
We did have a lesson yesterday with a single mother named Kelsie. She is 24 years old with two 3-year old boys. She has had a rough life but she has tremondous faith. She reads the Bible everyday to her boys and reads them the little kids bible stories. We taught her the first lesson a week ago. We stopped by her house a few days ago just to say hi which we ended up talking to her for 30 minutes. We then went to her house yesterday to teach her the second lesson. We asked her if she had read the portions of the Book of Mormon we left her. She said she had and she had prayed about them. She then told us that she feels that they are another Testament of Christ. She had always thought that it was Joseph Smith's words and writings. But now she believes that the BofM was saved and preserved. We taught her the plan of salvation and afterwards she told us that she feels that the plan fills in the holes that the Bible leaves. We were so excited when we left and we set up another appointment with her. Yeah!!
General Conference was wonderful and many of the talks were answers to my prayers. When Pres. Monson mentioned Mongolia, I knew that that was a reasurrance from God that He has not forgotten me in Colorado and that someday I will get to teach His children there. He is always answering my prayers and offering me comfort even though sometimes feel unworthy of His love. He will always be there for me, to lead and to guide me. He wants the best for me and gives me experiences to mold me into the person he knows that I can become.
Keep the faith! The church is true!
Love, Sister Sumsion
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