Sister Missionaries to the Rescue!

HOLA! Sorry I wasn't able to get an email out to ya'll on Monday! The library was closed due to the holiday but because our mission president is amazing he let us come today! :) This past week was full of amazing things! We taught Young Womens last week. It was lots of fun! We took them through a typical day of a missionaries life. We printed of mission calls for each of them to open. The girls were so excited about that they loved it :) It was fun to see their excitement and joy to find out where they would be serving. Reminded me of when I opened my call. What a neat experience for me. In two months it will be whole year from when I did open it. CRAZY! and if my calculations are correct in two weeks from today I will hit my sixth month mark! which means I have a year left! I cannot believe how fast the time is going.

 

Friday night we were out and about when it started down pouring rain!! We booked it to our car but we didn't make it in time to stay dry.  We were soaked! head to toe. Then we got a frantic call from the bike elders in our ward, announcing that Elder Reynolds fell off his bike and thought that he broke his arm. SISTER MISSIONARIES TO THE RESCUE! :) After driving up and down a couple of streets we found them siting on the curb with their bikes. We strapped the bikes to the back of the car and tried to figure out if we should take the poor elder to the ER. It didn't look broken, and he seemed fine so we decided they would just have a member take them in the morning to check it out. Needless to say that next day we found out that he had broken it in two places!! I felt so bad because I didn't think he had broken it. But glad he is ok. And thankful I don't have a broken arm!

 

Yesterday morning we had the opportunity to hear from Elder Pino of the 70 and his wife. We had to be in Fort Worth by nine which meant we had to wake up at five! yay......I'm the driver so while everyone else took a nice little nap I drove for straight two and half hours! haha but that's okay I like driving. They shared some really neat stuff with us! Elder Pino doesn't speak very good English so one of the Elders in the mission translated for him! it was very cool. While he was addressing us he had one of the elders (Elder Foulcher who is my zone leader) come up to the stand to help him do something. He was talking about our missions and how we should live it to the fullest. Then he came to the end of his talk and said it was time to go home. He looked at Elder Foulcher and removed his name tag and set it on the stand. The elder looked down at his name tag trying to fight back the tears. The hairs on my back stood up and I had goose bumps on my arms. Me and sister Tuck began to cry. It made me realize how precious my time truly is. I must appreciate the time I have because it will be gone before I know it. " I am 100 % missionary RIGHT NOW. I will never ever have an experience like this again. Such an eye opener to me.  The mission is not easy. BUT indeed is rewarding. I love that.  It reminds me of the fall of Adam and Eve. They had to experience sorrow to know joy, and darkness to see the light. And same with missionary work, we have to go through the hard times so we can gain a better and more full appreciation for when things do work out. "Salvation is not a cheap experience!"  We must work hard for the good things to come to pass!! :) And I have learned that patience is required in order for this to happen in our investigators life. They have work for this conversion. We must pay a price to win the game.  But indeed this is all possible with our eyes single to the glory of God boasting only in him and no one else.

 

TTTTTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKKK YYYYYYYOOOOOOUUUUUUUUU for the package! :) I love it!! soo soo fun. I love Halloween! Me and sister Tuck are gonna make those cupcakes on Halloween and bring them to district meeting. Are ya'll doing anything fun for Halloween? It just still continues to blow my mind that time is going so fast. I'm so grateful for my loving family. :) Ya'll are such a blessing to me. And I know with out a doubt that one of the main reasons why we are so close is because of the gospel. We are centered around Christ. The family is the best place to teach learn and apply the gospel in our lives. We help each other endure to the end by sharing our testimonies with one another and reaching out and helping. By being an example and serving one another. LOVE MY FAMILY!

 

Ayrikas moms name is SUE! :) haha When is bay due? Is it a boy or girl! I don't think ya'll ever told me..... Is Kodi getting her mission call this week? keep me updated. Today it was actually pretty cold outside it hit the 60s! Everyone has on their big jackets and stuff, pretty funny. Ya, its kind of hard to get stuff up here because my area only has Wal-Mart....crazy I know. I can get by with simple stuff like tights and what not but I honestly think it will be cheaper to send up just some of my stuff. I could probably just wait until you send me a Christmas package or what not. Just send up maybe another one of my jackets and some of my long sleeved stuff. And I have a pair of gray boots that I could probably wear. That's about it. I just don't have any warm clothing! haha But Dont worry about it for now I will figure out for sure what I should do. And you don't have to buy new stuff I have TONS of winter clothing. Okay I wear xs on both G's. bottom and top. Thank you so much for getting that for me. Oh and for buying me face stuff too! cause I know how expensive it is so ya. My face looks beautamous now! :)

 

WE are indeed part of our heavenly fathers plan. We help guide it along. Its amazing to think that we chose this plan. I can stand her now and say that "I am a follower of Christ" ...no one told me to be, no one made me be this way. But I chose it. Becuase I know its true and I have felt his love. I love you! missin ya! hope all is well. Have an amazing week!!

-Sister Porter

ps. remember when me you and Kylee would have pizza nights on Mondays? good times! :)

1st pic: This is my zone! lots more elders than sisters! haha crazy.

2nd pic: These are the elders being crazy!

3rd pic: me and sis Tuck getting McFlurries @ mickey D's pretty for sure I have chocolate on  my lip.....

 

 

 

 

Young Women------So much fun!

 

Pancakes For Breakfast Every Day

 

Dear Family,

 

I sit here and think..."How did I get so lucky?" This weekend was extraordinary. Our beloved prophet and other leaders were able to give us ten hours of loving advice and specific instruction on how we can better our lives as members of the church and people of this world. I love that our prophet is not a seer and revelator for just the members of the church but for everyone! His words were loving and kind and I KNOW with all my heart that he is a man of god.

 

All of the missionaries got to ride over to the stake center and watch all the sessions there. It was lots of fun "hangin" with all the elders. In between sessions we all went out to lunch and played card games. Ricardo was able to come to the Saturday afternoon session and with the amazing ability we have to watch on the internet he was able to tune in and watch at home all of the Sunday sessions. During Elder Holland's talk he began to cry. After it was over he looked at us with tears in his face and just smiled. I knew Heavenly Father had touched his heart:)

 

Apparently its pancakes for breakfast everyday this week. haha I guess we were just in the mood. We've been busy busy busy! I gave a training last week in district meeting, will be giving another one in Zone conference tomorrow, me and sister Tuck are teaching the young women about missionary work for mutual, AND I'm giving a talk in church!! PLUS we are just teaching the gospel like crazy. It really awesome.

 

Im so happy to hear that ayrika is doing good!! :) It so fun to see her go through and experience these amazing things. She is gonna do great things for the people in her mission :) Next is Kylee! has she thought about a mission? Sad that the volleyball team is having a hard time. But exhilarating that they won the whole tournament for basketball. Good group of girls. I will pray for you everyday until your surgery! that's so scary :( haha maybe now youll be able to hear huh?:)

 

I will have to share with ya'll some of my notes that I took from conference next Monday because I forgot my journal.

 

LOVE my Savior. LOVE this gospel. LOVE my family :) I pray continually that he will watch over ya'll. Send my love to everyone.

 

-Sister Porter  

PS. Okay, so I might need you guys to send over some winter stuff my way. It still in the 90's during the day but at night its pretty cold! Plus I think its gonna be getting cold soon and I didn't bring anything with me. So I need some of my long sleeve stuff sent over and maybe some tights and a pair of my boots? just let me know what you think? And Maybe an early Christmas present?  I need some more garments.

 

The Work is Progressing!

This is hard work. But anything is possible with Heavenly Father.(Luke) I'm so jealous that it beginning to look like fall up there! It is still in the 90's down here and looks like mid July! haha Apparently there is not too much of a fall here anyways. So that's a bummer because I love the fall! :) Its gonna be weird not being home for the holidays. BUT what a neat experience to be here on a mission right? :) This past week was absolutely amazing! The work is progressing so much. Me and Sister Tuck have found tons of new investigators and have been teaching a lot of lessons! We met a lady named Melissa on Thursday. We told her that we were missionaries and I asked her if we could share a message with her. She willingly said "sure!" I was shocked and became very excited! No slamming the door in our face or "I'm not interested" but instead a sweet desired "sure!"  We began to share the restoration with her, and when I cited the first vision she began to cry. She had felt the spirit during that powerful experience that Joseph Smith had. She said "God will answer my prayer huh?" YES let us not forget that we are daughters of our Heavenly Father and that he loves us. We are destined to achieve great things and he wants to help us by answering our prayers. 

 

Ricardo came to church again!! :) it was fast and testimony meeting and right as the first counselor was going to get up and end the meeting, Ricardo stood up and made his way up to the front. My heart was beating fast and I prayed that everything would go okay. He shared the most deep and powerful testimony I had ever heard.  As soon as he began to testify of Christ the room became silent and the spirit overtook us. I began to cry I was so happy! He looked over at us and thanked us for bringing the gospel into our lives. then he proclaimed that he was ready to become a member of the church and part of this family! I almost fell off my seat! He will be baptized on October 26!! :) It feels nice to see a happy ending to this story! 

So I will be giving a training tomorrow in our district meeting on "How can I benefit MOST from General Conference?" And I thought I would share with ya'll what I will be sharing. :) The first thing that came to my mind was 

 

1. Pick Questions: Specific Questions=Specific Answers! Why is this so important? "Picking out and seeking for questions that are specific for the needs of us and others will help us search more fully and abundantly for those specific answers." 

 

2. Recognize The Spirit: The Holy Ghost works in perfect harmony with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He reveals and teaches us the "truth of all things" (Moroni 10) 

-All honest seekers of the truth can have this confirmation by the spirit. 2 Nephi 32:3 says "Angles speak by the power of the holy ghost, wherefore they speak the words of Christ" If we invite the spirit while we are listening, it will testify of truth! 

 

3. Excitement: Mosiah 18: 11 "And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy and exclaimed THESE ARE THE DESIRES OF OUR HEARTS!" :) These ARE the desire of our hearts! lets us rejoice and be "excited" for our beloved prophet and other leaders of the church speak to us. 

 

4. Pray for Inspiration: D&C 9: 7-9 Why should he tell us these things if we haven't asked of him first. "STUDY IN YOUR MIND"--then ask him--[your bosom shall burn] and you will feel that it is right. +shows our faith and yearning to know. 

 

5. Awesome Note Taking: On Page 18 of Preach My Gospel is says "As you [listen to conference] pay careful attention to the ideas that come to your mind and the feelings that come to your heart" --Write these ideas and feelings down!! They will come to great advantage to you in the future! (Plus we arent going to remember EVERYTHING) 

 

6. Render Yourself: In the fourth Missionary by: Lawerence E. Corbridge, he explains what he calls "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER" --"The fourth missionary gives his will to the Lord. He surrenders all of his desires, dreams, ambitions and his wishes to the Lord. In his heart and in his head, he lets go of what he wants to do. He wants to do the Lords will" ----Let us forget ourselves and open our hearts to the council of our leaders. AND thing "What does my Father In heaven want me to learn????" 

 

7. Evaluate and Apply: !! Let us Restudy our notes and take what we have learned and apply it to our work so that we can be effective servants of the Lord.

I know with all my heart that Thomas S. Monson is Gods True and loving prophet!

I dont think I need anything at the moment!! Still wondering what I should do about my pain in my uppper right back. I put Icey hot on it a lot ..... And take some meds to stop the pain. I LOVE MY FAMILY!! :) 

-Sister Porter