Monday, September 29, 2014
Monday, September 8, 2014
HOLY NUTCASE!!! This week has been amazing!!!!
The Lord and His tender mercies are in complete abundance!!! He is sooo generous and is always tending to our every need!!
I feel so blessed and so honored to have witnessed the week I have witnessed...
So, the first miracle is the change in the key indicators... We have been asked to no more count lessons that we have on the street!! The only lessons we count now are scheduled lessons and lessons in homes!!! WHICH I LOVE! I think it is genius idea to keep missionaries from being competative, too focused on the numbers, and not focused enough on the people behind the numbers!!!
It is an inspired idea!!!
President Millar said in his letter this week to not let the smaller number of other lessons discouage us! Because the numbers are important, but it's NOT what furthers the work. What furthers the work is the want to become better in those numbers!
"Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved!" -Thomas S. Monson Oh, isn't that the truth??
I think sometimes, as missionaries, we become unfocused and let the numbers drive us more than anything else. Which is not the Christ like way in missionary work. Of course, numbers are there to motivate us in becoming better because, once again, our wise wonderful prophet has said, "When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported, the rate of improvement accelerates." So, numbers are there to further it all. But, they aren't the meaning of missionary work. The meaning of missionary work is the people behind those numbers! And helping those wonderful people know that they are very much loved!
Sooo, the week we had was AMAZING!!!
We started teaching the R family, the Napolese family that let us in last week....
We taught the Plan of Salvation! And oh my goodness, how amazing it was!!!!!
At first, the spirit was not there whatsoever! Because they're two five year old twin boys were going NUTS. So, while Sister Y continued teaching, I sat the boys next to me and said, "Boys, if you keep SUPER quiet, I'll give you chocolate." And, lo and behold, I happen to have a chocolate bar in my bag that day! :) I didn't know why, but earlier I had a feeling to bring it with me... There is reason behind everything!!!
So, after that, the boys sat down on either side of me and listened. And then, the miracle of the spirit was witnessed... The spirit came into the room like a wave. You could FEEL it soooo strongly.
As we continued teaching, the ten year old daughter, her name is S... She asked questions. "So, will we be with our families after this life?" "Can we say we are sorry for things we've done?" "When we say we are sorry, does Jesus forget that thing we did?" "Will we ALWAYS be together?"
HOLY FLIP. We were sitting there stunned. So we taught about the temple as well! And the dad, in very broken English, pretty much said, "We want to be married in the temple."
They BEGGED us to come back....
AHHH!!!
So incredible!!!!!
We showed them a picture of the temple and they were in awe!!!!
I looove being a missionary!!!
I have learned that my purpose as a missionary is not to get everyone baptized. My purpose as a missionary is to get people to the temple, and baptism happens to be a VERY important step along the way!
Sooo many more miracles were witnessed but that one was my favorite!!!!!
And I have learned the true meaning of family! Being a missionary, you see A LOT of different family situations... And a lot of those situations are broken families.. I am soooo grateful to be part of a family that is married and sealed in the temple and part of the gospel!! And I also have learned the true meaning of motherhood... I feel like a mother to all of these members and investigators... Because I am!! Heavenly Father trusts parents with one of His spirits as a newborn baby just as He trusts us missionaries with one of His spirits as an investigator...
I have sooo much respect for my mother and all the mother figures in my life....
I am grateful for them!! At the start of my mission, I was kind of grumpy about not being able to talk to them all the time. "If family is number one, why does that not apply to missionaries?!" Well, I think it's to help teach us how important families really are!
I am eternally grateful for these past 5 months and I am eternally grateful for the next 13 months that I have. "You had eternity to prepare, and you'll have eternity to reflect, but you only have EIGHTEEN months to experience." Sari, my sister, sent that to me my first week out.
LOVE YOU ALL!!!!
L<3ve, Your Sister Als
I feel so blessed and so honored to have witnessed the week I have witnessed...
So, the first miracle is the change in the key indicators... We have been asked to no more count lessons that we have on the street!! The only lessons we count now are scheduled lessons and lessons in homes!!! WHICH I LOVE! I think it is genius idea to keep missionaries from being competative, too focused on the numbers, and not focused enough on the people behind the numbers!!!
It is an inspired idea!!!
President Millar said in his letter this week to not let the smaller number of other lessons discouage us! Because the numbers are important, but it's NOT what furthers the work. What furthers the work is the want to become better in those numbers!
"Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved!" -Thomas S. Monson Oh, isn't that the truth??
I think sometimes, as missionaries, we become unfocused and let the numbers drive us more than anything else. Which is not the Christ like way in missionary work. Of course, numbers are there to motivate us in becoming better because, once again, our wise wonderful prophet has said, "When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported, the rate of improvement accelerates." So, numbers are there to further it all. But, they aren't the meaning of missionary work. The meaning of missionary work is the people behind those numbers! And helping those wonderful people know that they are very much loved!
Sooo, the week we had was AMAZING!!!
We started teaching the R family, the Napolese family that let us in last week....
We taught the Plan of Salvation! And oh my goodness, how amazing it was!!!!!
At first, the spirit was not there whatsoever! Because they're two five year old twin boys were going NUTS. So, while Sister Y continued teaching, I sat the boys next to me and said, "Boys, if you keep SUPER quiet, I'll give you chocolate." And, lo and behold, I happen to have a chocolate bar in my bag that day! :) I didn't know why, but earlier I had a feeling to bring it with me... There is reason behind everything!!!
So, after that, the boys sat down on either side of me and listened. And then, the miracle of the spirit was witnessed... The spirit came into the room like a wave. You could FEEL it soooo strongly.
As we continued teaching, the ten year old daughter, her name is S... She asked questions. "So, will we be with our families after this life?" "Can we say we are sorry for things we've done?" "When we say we are sorry, does Jesus forget that thing we did?" "Will we ALWAYS be together?"
HOLY FLIP. We were sitting there stunned. So we taught about the temple as well! And the dad, in very broken English, pretty much said, "We want to be married in the temple."
They BEGGED us to come back....
AHHH!!!
So incredible!!!!!
We showed them a picture of the temple and they were in awe!!!!
I looove being a missionary!!!
I have learned that my purpose as a missionary is not to get everyone baptized. My purpose as a missionary is to get people to the temple, and baptism happens to be a VERY important step along the way!
Sooo many more miracles were witnessed but that one was my favorite!!!!!
And I have learned the true meaning of family! Being a missionary, you see A LOT of different family situations... And a lot of those situations are broken families.. I am soooo grateful to be part of a family that is married and sealed in the temple and part of the gospel!! And I also have learned the true meaning of motherhood... I feel like a mother to all of these members and investigators... Because I am!! Heavenly Father trusts parents with one of His spirits as a newborn baby just as He trusts us missionaries with one of His spirits as an investigator...
I have sooo much respect for my mother and all the mother figures in my life....
I am grateful for them!! At the start of my mission, I was kind of grumpy about not being able to talk to them all the time. "If family is number one, why does that not apply to missionaries?!" Well, I think it's to help teach us how important families really are!
I am eternally grateful for these past 5 months and I am eternally grateful for the next 13 months that I have. "You had eternity to prepare, and you'll have eternity to reflect, but you only have EIGHTEEN months to experience." Sari, my sister, sent that to me my first week out.
LOVE YOU ALL!!!!
L<3ve, Your Sister Als
Monday, September 1, 2014
First week in ALDERSHOT
AHH!!! I thank the Lord soooo so much for sending me to two FANTASTIC areas... IN A ROW!!!!! I looooooved Haywards Heath and I looooove Aldershot!!!! oh, Sister Y.... IS AMAZING!!!!!!! She has such a powerful testimony and she is such an amazing example in the kind of sister I want to be!!!!!
My first Sunday in Aldershot was sooo awesome!!! The members are sooo warm and welcoming!!!!
I was able to meet one of the less actives my second day here!! hahha His name is A..... He is adorable!!! He carries a notepad with him and a bunch of pens everywhere he goes hahah!!!!
So, A hasn't been to church in four years so we are trying to get him back in to the swing of things by reading the Book of Mormon and such!!!! <3 He wrote down: "I promise to read one verse a day in the scriptures" and gave it to us with his signature... hahhahhahahha!!! He's so cute!!!!
And since he couldn't pronounce our last name, he has decided to call me Sister Blond.... HAHAHA!!! And he even wrote me a note!!!! Which says: "To Sister Blond- Welcome to England. I think you are very nice. For Sister Nice." (He switches from Sis. Blond to Sis. Nice every so often... hahahha) The entire lesson he would turn to me and say, "Sister Blond, I like you. You're funny. I love your sense of humor. Thank you for being so funny and nice. You're very nice. And funny too." hahaha.... He's a riot!!!
And then we have another member who is 24 years old.... His name is M... His mother's name is J and dang does she live up to her name!!!!! ahhaha But M calls me Sister Tough Boots hahahha and when he first saw me he said, "CRIKEY SHE'S TALL!!!" hhhahhahha!!!!!!
I have had such an amazing time teaching here!!!!!!! I loooooove it here!!!!!!!!!!
L is INCREDIBLE!!!! And sooo is G!!!! L is soo amazingly prepared to hear the gospel and G is sooo humble and willing to submit!!!
I loooove teaching them!! And Elder P is sooo goood with them!!!!!
Sooo I was blessed enough to be able to meet V and V (progressing investigators!!!) !!! They are from FIJI!!!!!! V and V are AMAZING!!!! The first time we were supposed to meet up, they forgot, so we knocked the flats around theirs! We knocked this one flat with a Napolise family!!!! They are Christian and... wait for it.... INVITED US IN!!!!!! Miiiiirrrraaacccllleee!!!!!!!! They asked us to come back!!!!! Ahhh!!!!! Soo exciting!
Well, the next day, we visited V and V again! We taught them the first part of the Plan of Salvation!!!! We asked Vee what she was thinking and she said, "This is AMAZING!"
OH, my goodness soooo cool!!!
So, since we were in the area, we decided to continue knock the flats around V and V's!! :) As we were knocking, we saw a guy walking his dog! He looked around our age!! :) We approached him and we asked him about his dog... And from there, it was soo natural to talk to him!!! The conversation went from his dog, to when he adopted her, to how he had just gotten married and how he loved her tons, and then the miracle of the teach.... I asked him, "Do you want to be with her forever?" And he said, "If I could, I would."
We told him that we talk more about how this gospel creates a happy marriage in this life and the next!!!
And he BEGGED us to come again!!!!
AHHH!!!!!!!!
So amazing!!
I just want to finish with one scripture! Doctrine and Covenants 50:24 - "That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth, brighter and brighter until the perfect day." SO TRUE!!!! may we alllways reflect the light of Christ with all our hearts might, mind and strength!!!! how blessed am I to be here!!!!!
ILOVE YOU SOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Please let me know if there is anything I can pray for!!!!!!! <3<3<3
Love, your Sister Blond. <3
My first Sunday in Aldershot was sooo awesome!!! The members are sooo warm and welcoming!!!!
I was able to meet one of the less actives my second day here!! hahha His name is A..... He is adorable!!! He carries a notepad with him and a bunch of pens everywhere he goes hahah!!!!
So, A hasn't been to church in four years so we are trying to get him back in to the swing of things by reading the Book of Mormon and such!!!! <3 He wrote down: "I promise to read one verse a day in the scriptures" and gave it to us with his signature... hahhahhahahha!!! He's so cute!!!!
And since he couldn't pronounce our last name, he has decided to call me Sister Blond.... HAHAHA!!! And he even wrote me a note!!!! Which says: "To Sister Blond- Welcome to England. I think you are very nice. For Sister Nice." (He switches from Sis. Blond to Sis. Nice every so often... hahahha) The entire lesson he would turn to me and say, "Sister Blond, I like you. You're funny. I love your sense of humor. Thank you for being so funny and nice. You're very nice. And funny too." hahaha.... He's a riot!!!
And then we have another member who is 24 years old.... His name is M... His mother's name is J and dang does she live up to her name!!!!! ahhaha But M calls me Sister Tough Boots hahahha and when he first saw me he said, "CRIKEY SHE'S TALL!!!" hhhahhahha!!!!!!
I have had such an amazing time teaching here!!!!!!! I loooooove it here!!!!!!!!!!
L is INCREDIBLE!!!! And sooo is G!!!! L is soo amazingly prepared to hear the gospel and G is sooo humble and willing to submit!!!
I loooove teaching them!! And Elder P is sooo goood with them!!!!!
Sooo I was blessed enough to be able to meet V and V (progressing investigators!!!) !!! They are from FIJI!!!!!! V and V are AMAZING!!!! The first time we were supposed to meet up, they forgot, so we knocked the flats around theirs! We knocked this one flat with a Napolise family!!!! They are Christian and... wait for it.... INVITED US IN!!!!!! Miiiiirrrraaacccllleee!!!!!!!! They asked us to come back!!!!! Ahhh!!!!! Soo exciting!
Well, the next day, we visited V and V again! We taught them the first part of the Plan of Salvation!!!! We asked Vee what she was thinking and she said, "This is AMAZING!"
OH, my goodness soooo cool!!!
So, since we were in the area, we decided to continue knock the flats around V and V's!! :) As we were knocking, we saw a guy walking his dog! He looked around our age!! :) We approached him and we asked him about his dog... And from there, it was soo natural to talk to him!!! The conversation went from his dog, to when he adopted her, to how he had just gotten married and how he loved her tons, and then the miracle of the teach.... I asked him, "Do you want to be with her forever?" And he said, "If I could, I would."
We told him that we talk more about how this gospel creates a happy marriage in this life and the next!!!
And he BEGGED us to come again!!!!
AHHH!!!!!!!!
So amazing!!
I just want to finish with one scripture! Doctrine and Covenants 50:24 - "That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth, brighter and brighter until the perfect day." SO TRUE!!!! may we alllways reflect the light of Christ with all our hearts might, mind and strength!!!! how blessed am I to be here!!!!!
ILOVE YOU SOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Please let me know if there is anything I can pray for!!!!!!! <3<3<3
Love, your Sister Blond. <3
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
ALDERSHOT!!!!!!
Mah familia!!!!!! I HAVE MADE IT SAFELY TO ALDERSHOT!!!!!! Since I was only able to email for a little while, I'm able to send out a quick email to let you know that I'm alive!!!!!!!!!!!! Soooooo, Aldershot is bomb dig!!!!! hahhaha my new comp is FREAKING ADORABLE!!!!!! She is from JAPAN and her name is Sister Y!!!! I call her Sister Yoshi... hahah she is HALF my size!!!!!!! hahahhhhhahhha
I just wanted to express my love for you!!!!!!
TODAY WAS COOL!!!!!
Soooo, we have an investigator here in good ole Aldershot named L, from Romania and his friend G, but they can't speak a WORD of English hahhaha soooo the Zone leaders in Redding, one of which is a really close friend of mine actually, travel all the way to teach him because Elder P. is from Romania!!!! Elder M. is from Utah though soooo a lil piece of home right dere!!! hahhaha and even though the whole teach was in Romanian, the spirit was SO strong!!!!!! GOD SPEAKS ALL LANGUAGES!!!!!!!
And then, these 10 year old boys came up and started swearing and all that, so Elder M. and I took them aside for a minute so that the teach could go on. I dared them to go find treasure in the forest (so we could have peace and quiet), and ten minutes later they come back with a bunch of tires hahhaha they started being distracting again so Elder M. and I took them aside again... hahahah.... I dared them to go build something with the tires, so they did!!!
One of the boys then told me to "f--- off" and Elder M., like the cool cat he is, stepped up and said, "Hey, you do NOT speak to a woman like that!" And then the boys friend stepped up and said, "yeah, man. don't swear in front of a lady."
THERE IS SOME GOOD IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!
But, I can testify to standing in holy places!!! And standing firm when it's hard to feel the spirit!!!!!!!!!
I love you all!!!!!
I just wanted to express my love for you!!!!!!
TODAY WAS COOL!!!!!
Soooo, we have an investigator here in good ole Aldershot named L, from Romania and his friend G, but they can't speak a WORD of English hahhaha soooo the Zone leaders in Redding, one of which is a really close friend of mine actually, travel all the way to teach him because Elder P. is from Romania!!!! Elder M. is from Utah though soooo a lil piece of home right dere!!! hahhaha and even though the whole teach was in Romanian, the spirit was SO strong!!!!!! GOD SPEAKS ALL LANGUAGES!!!!!!!
And then, these 10 year old boys came up and started swearing and all that, so Elder M. and I took them aside for a minute so that the teach could go on. I dared them to go find treasure in the forest (so we could have peace and quiet), and ten minutes later they come back with a bunch of tires hahhaha they started being distracting again so Elder M. and I took them aside again... hahahah.... I dared them to go build something with the tires, so they did!!!
One of the boys then told me to "f--- off" and Elder M., like the cool cat he is, stepped up and said, "Hey, you do NOT speak to a woman like that!" And then the boys friend stepped up and said, "yeah, man. don't swear in front of a lady."
THERE IS SOME GOOD IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!
But, I can testify to standing in holy places!!! And standing firm when it's hard to feel the spirit!!!!!!!!!
I love you all!!!!!
Monday, August 4, 2014
The Lord and His tender mercies.... < 3
When Heavenly Father says, "I have a plan for you," He isn't saying, "You have a plan for you!" He is saying, "I have made a beautiful plan FOR you. It is especially made FOR you. I designed to fit YOUR personality, YOUR dreams, YOUR desires." He fits it TO us in a way that we can gain ETERNAL HAPPINESS!!! And eternal happiness is living with Him again!! He just has different ways of getting us all there!
And when you go on a mission, you understand what He truly means when He says, "I have a plan for you!" Because you're teaching it A LOT.
There have been several times on my mission when He puts someone into my life I KNOW I needed to meet. I KNOW that I knew that person in the Pre-Earth life and I promised them, "I WILL find you and I WILL teach you the gospel!" And when you live up to that promise, Heavenly Father guides you to those people! Whether it's investigators or less actives!
England is AMAZING. Holy cow!!!! I will be witnessing my FIFTH baptism this week!!!!! HOW BLESSED AM I THAT THE LORD THINKS I'M WORTHY ENOUGH TO WITNESS THAT!!???
N AND D GOT BAPTIZED THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAMMMMMMAAAAZZZZZIIIIIINNNGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3<3<3<3
I can only think of one word to describe my mission so far: HUMBLING.
Before I left, I was sooooo confident in who I was and who I wanted to be. And, at times, I think I was TOO confident.
My mission has really taught me who I really am through the Lord's tender mercies and who HE wants me to be.
My life isn't mine. IT'S THE LORD'S.
This life isn't about what I want. IT'S ABOUT WHAT HE WANTS.
It has taken me four fetching months to forget myself. And not just forget myself, but LOSE myself.
Matthew 10:39 says, "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."
When you LOSE yourself in the Lord's cause, you FIND who you really are, who HE wants you to be, and who you are MEANT to be.
I have learned LOADS so far on my mission.
But one thing in particular sticks out to me..
A mission is hard and isn't fun sometimes. It's not meant to be. Because if you go on a mission to have fun, you're not going for the right reasons. A mission IS meant to be hard.
It's hard because I have left my friends, my righteous desires, my dreams, my goals, my family, my LIFE. But, I have done it so that others can have their friends, their righteous desires, their dreams, their goals, their family, their LIVES for eternity.
No, it's not fun sometimes, but, I can testify, if you go on a mission for the right reasons and you forget EVERYTHING about you, the Lord will make sure you have fun... :)
-Sister Vande Merwe
And when you go on a mission, you understand what He truly means when He says, "I have a plan for you!" Because you're teaching it A LOT.
There have been several times on my mission when He puts someone into my life I KNOW I needed to meet. I KNOW that I knew that person in the Pre-Earth life and I promised them, "I WILL find you and I WILL teach you the gospel!" And when you live up to that promise, Heavenly Father guides you to those people! Whether it's investigators or less actives!
England is AMAZING. Holy cow!!!! I will be witnessing my FIFTH baptism this week!!!!! HOW BLESSED AM I THAT THE LORD THINKS I'M WORTHY ENOUGH TO WITNESS THAT!!???
N AND D GOT BAPTIZED THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAMMMMMMAAAAZZZZZIIIIIINNNGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3<3<3<3
I can only think of one word to describe my mission so far: HUMBLING.
Before I left, I was sooooo confident in who I was and who I wanted to be. And, at times, I think I was TOO confident.
My mission has really taught me who I really am through the Lord's tender mercies and who HE wants me to be.
My life isn't mine. IT'S THE LORD'S.
This life isn't about what I want. IT'S ABOUT WHAT HE WANTS.
It has taken me four fetching months to forget myself. And not just forget myself, but LOSE myself.
Matthew 10:39 says, "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."
When you LOSE yourself in the Lord's cause, you FIND who you really are, who HE wants you to be, and who you are MEANT to be.
I have learned LOADS so far on my mission.
But one thing in particular sticks out to me..
A mission is hard and isn't fun sometimes. It's not meant to be. Because if you go on a mission to have fun, you're not going for the right reasons. A mission IS meant to be hard.
It's hard because I have left my friends, my righteous desires, my dreams, my goals, my family, my LIFE. But, I have done it so that others can have their friends, their righteous desires, their dreams, their goals, their family, their LIVES for eternity.
No, it's not fun sometimes, but, I can testify, if you go on a mission for the right reasons and you forget EVERYTHING about you, the Lord will make sure you have fun... :)
-Sister Vande Merwe
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