The Holy Ghost Ran Away                           March 31, 2014

It's hard to believe that another week is down! As well as the month of March! It has gone by so fast!! And to think that I've been a missionary for 10 months doesn't even feel like real life. 

This past week has been full of miracles as always, and only one person that anti'd us. So that was a plus. 

Last Tuesday there was a HABOOB! And to make matters better, we were on bikes in one of the farther places of our area that I loving refer to as "The Dirt." We walked out of a families house, and there it was. I have gotten accustomed to biking in a skirt, but not in high winds. All efforts to keep everything covered was a definite fail. But hey, that's just the way it is. We talked with an older couple that haven't been to church in like 40 years! Their records aren't even in the church! But we got their information to have their baptismal records moved to the ward, and they said they are interested in being active again. They are so sweet!  We also visited this awesome family, the Brewer's. Upon finding out that we didn't have a dinner appointment that evening they fed us! Score. They have a 14 year old daughter Riann, and she said she wants to serve a mission now. That she didn't realize how cool sister missionaries are.ha. She obviously doesn't know me too well. 

Wednesday we did service the majority of the day for a non-member family. They are Pentecostal...as in the kind that can't cut their hair, they have to wear skirts, and aren't allowed to wear makeup or jewelry. They were super friendly. And first wanted to know if they could donate money to the church in our name, or if their was someone they could call to say what a good job we were doing. They didn't understand that we just love to serve and volunteer to do it all! We also found a couple new investigators. Two 16 year old girls, Alex and Maddie. They accepted to be baptized so that was a pretty exciting thing! And that evening we went to New Beginnings with the young women. They went all out. The decorations seriously looked like a wedding reception, and they even hired a legit ice cream man. It was insane I tell you. 

We did more service on Thursday. The kind that leaves about 1000000 tiny thorns in your hands from picking weeds. We were able to talk to quite a few people on the street. It stinks because the heat is already coming so people are already starting to hibernate. Some days we literally see not a single person outside. Lame sauce. That just means we have to come and knock on your door. Which we did, and were able to teach this guy, Sergio about the Book of Mormon. He's going out of town and so hopefully we'll be able to start teaching him whenever he gets back. He asked us if he could "purchase" the Book of Mormon from us. And was shocked that we were just giving them away. I like surprising people. 

Friday we went to visit this family that isn't very active and their friend Barbara was. Barbara isn't a member of the church and is from Uganda. She was hilarious. And she did not think that girls should be serving missions. She told us that we needed to get married and get a job if we wanted to have purpose in life. 10-4 Barbara. She had gone to the temple open house and loved it. We found out her real concern with the church...polygamy. She had a hard time believing that we didn't practice polygamy. She's watched lots of the TV shows about polygamist. Even though she knows lots of Mormon couples that clearly only have one wife...she was a little skeptical. Oh, Barbara. In other news, Mom, the Marten's made spaghetti like you did that one time at the beach. Not even joking. I asked them what they put in it and they said the key was chili powder...I think. 

Saturday just flew by! We did some more service for a few hours. And the Women's Conference was that evening. I liked Linda K. Burton's "Help Wanted" talk about "Help Wanted...true disciples of Christ." And President Eyring was my favorite. Sister Hibbard says that I'm sexist because I always skip over the women's talks and such. But I can't help it. President Eyring is so sincere! I loved how he said that, "You are more alike as daughters of God than you are different." And that our Heavenly Father sees more potential in us than does our earthly parents. Which is saying a lot! The trick is trusting in God enough, to become the person that you can be. I know that is something that I'm still working on.  It reminded me of this new Mormon Message that came out about bullying. It moved me to tears the first time I watched it, so here it is! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYVvE4tr2BI

Last night we visited what seemed to be this really nice family. Shared a nice message, they all shared what blessings the gospel has brought into their lives. Then the dad, started going off on how he didn't believe the same things as the church. The funny part was, he was using the Book of Mormon and Doctrine & Covenants to try and proof that the church is wrong. Hello, that is the evidence this is true church of Jesus Christ. He was out looking for an argument. It wasn't the most pleasant environment to be in. He had some very interesting views that make absolutely no sense.  My favorite part of people telling us all sorts of things that they think is true is that you can literally feel the spirit just disappear. The Holy Ghost runs away. You know that what they're telling you isn't true because the spirit isn't there to testify. It's kinda cool. But in all, I feel sad for him, because he is just searching for things that are wrong , instead of relying on the things that he knows are true. Breaks my heart. AND we got fed fried chicken yesterday. :) So that made it a little better. 

Most of this week we've been on bikes because we've pretty much used all of our miles for the month. We have barely enough to make it today. Luckily the month starts anew tomorrow. And thanks for the package mom! It was the best!!! I was excited to pull that out of the mail box! I can't really remember anything all to exciting that happened. Renatta came to church! Our ward is starting to get things going how they should! General Conference is this weekend!! We also have interviews with President Nattress this week. I can' understand a single thing that Elder Legrand, the elder in our zone from France, says. It's kinda like that Asian guy that worked at the hotel in San Francisco. One family signed up to feed us 9 times for the month of April, and that's not an exaggeration. I guess they like us? All is well here in the desert. Just carrying on one day at a time. I love being here serving the Lord. I love being able to feel of the spirit and being directed each day as to what to do and what to say. Makes my job a lot easier. Thanks for all y'all do and I hope to hear from you soon! I love and miss y'all! 

Love, 

Sister Adams 

Dog Treats for DAYZZZ     March 24,2014

Hello Hello! 

Another week serving in the sun. And the sun is slowly starting to get hotter and hotter.haha. It's gonna be a long hot summer...and not the kind that Keith Urban sings about. All in all it was a good week, not too many really exciting things. We had tons of meetings which is a pain. Especially when we have to drive to Gilbert for them, because it practically takes up our entire day. 

We were able to teach the Restoration to a part member family. They are so awesome. Anthony really just took everything in. He has tons of questions, and we were there way too late...they are SO chatty. AND they have the cutest kids, but also the most distracting. One of them, Bella even started brushing my hair at one point in the lesson. And she doesn't speak well so if I wasn't paying attention to her she would basically start yelling at me in some form of jibberish. There was also one point when she took off her pants and underwear and went on the back of the couch and hopped on my back. All while I'm trying to teach.haha. It was fun. Hopefully we'll be able to answer more of his questions this week! Last night we were supposed to eat and then teach them, but Saturday Grace told us that she was really sick and would let us know if she felt better...and never did. So we thought it was still canceled...until we check our phone at like 7 when we're headed to another appointment and see that at around 5 they texted to say that the food would be done soon. AHHHH! It's the worst not being able to be in 2 places at once. Sometimes we just can't please everyone all the time and it's the worst. Still feel terrible about that. 

We were able to get in with a few people that we've been trying to meet since we first got in this area, so like 7 weeks. Which was a MIRACLE! One house was blasting a Luke Bryan song that I probably enjoyed a little too much.haha. I've found that it's seriously so hard to not be distracted by a TV being on...even if it's like the dummest show ever. If it's on the TV, it's hard to not watch it! So make sure you turn off the TV when the missionaries come over!haha. 

Wednesday was transfer meeting. It's so much more enjoyable when you aren't getting transferred or a new companion! So it was lots of fun. It's always good to see everyone. We went out to lunch at Chick-fil-A with one of my favorite people ever, Sister Carroll. And Sister Carroll's companion was Sister Hibbard's MTC companion so that was lots of fun. And a man paid for our food. Double bonus. When we got back, we had to go shopping since we didn't shop last Monday since we thought we might be moving houses. I tried to sneak the cake mix for Sister Hibbard's birthday but that was a fail. And then we went to mutual to try and get to know the youth more! And we just moved to a brand new church building so it was basically just helping getting things set up for Sunday. 

Thusday we were able to meet with our investigator Renatta. She is going throught SUCH a hard time. It's unbelievable to see the hope that she has. She is so strong. And hopefully her situation changes soon, it's supposed to today so we'll see. We also did the most random service EVER. we made dog treats. Like 100 of them. I may or may not have tasted them and they may or may not have been that bad. 

Friday we had to go to a new missionary meeting in Gilbert once again for Sister Hibbard and didn't get back to our area until like 5:30! Our zone leaders also had us run all sorts of errands up there since they don't wanna drive up there. Lame sauce. We ate at the Minor's and they fed us ribs! Sister Minor is the one who also got me movie theater popcorn and a Dr. Pepper! She is awesome! And Mom, I hope that you got the pictures she took on SUnday! 

Saturday we had a great day, and were able to get in with an investigator that is super hard to meet with. Her husband doesn't really like Mormons...so she told us not to come by when he's home. Kinda sketchy. But she is such a sweetheart and is going to see if her husband will at least just talk to us once! And see that we aren't actually terrible people! 

Sunday was super random. The coolest part of the day was going to an Addiction Recovery Program! It was awesome! One of our investigators asked for us to go with her for support. It's done through the church. At first I was super nervous to be there. And it was just like the movies. As in, "Hi, I'm Sister Adams." and then everyone responds, "Hi Sister Adams." It was pretty awesome. There were people of all ages and faiths with different addictions or people that have been recovered for years. They all have such strong testimonies of the atonement. It was truly amazing! Also, this part member family that we live next to(who isn't even in our ward) gave us all this food, and shampoo and conditioner and clothes and all sorts of stuff...including a laxative. Not really sure about that. But our DL wants us to make him a cake this week so that might come in handy.haha. Oh yeah, we also hiked a mountain for exercise one morning. We just had to get up really early.. 

Everything is going great here! THe people here are amazing and I love serving them. There is never enough time in the day! And I am always incredibly exhausted at the end of the day. I know that it's worth it though. And I wouldn't make it an hour without the help of my Savior. I loved this thought the other day...Don't pray to change your circumstances, but pray for the strength to endure your circumstances. Whatever we're going through is for a reason, and Christ will lighten our burdens. I know that to be true! Thanks for all that you do for me! 

Love, 

Sister Adams

I forgot my bag and only had my BOM...by the end of the day, that was gone as well!!

Someone is obviously in love with Nacho...Nacho Cheese!!

it's HIS work                     March 17, 2014

this week...umm. lets see.

Last Monday we had a sisters "meeting" which consisted of eating, playing games, a water balloon fight, and clothing exchange...all at President and Sister Nattress's house! It was so fun to just get to have fun and be back in GILBERT for the day. I hadn't realized how much I miss Gilbert. And President Nattress lives right by the temple which makes it even better. And Monday night we actually had a couple lessons with people which was so nice to have lots of plans. One lesson we taught with a couple elders which was a little odd. And both appointments we had decided to feed us....what are the chances of that.ha.

Tuesday after district meeting, we had a full day of contacting and just trying to still meet more members and such. There is so much work to do in this area. And we seriosuly do so much service! Which, I love...and not just because I get to where comfy clothes. We do some service nearly everyday. And sometimes it's super random. Like this week, we pulled TONS of weeds, cleaned a fishtank and painted a porch.haha. It keeps things interesting, and keeps us from knocking on doors all day every day. I should count how many doors we knock on and the percentange that opens the door.

Wednesday we went on exchanges again. Sister Walker spent the night and whole day with me in our area. It was fun being with Sister Walker, since besides seeing her at meetings, the MTC was the last real time we actually were in the same room for more than a couple hours. She's a great missionary! And we saw some miracles. A couple of our appointments did cancel. But a lady we've been trying to meet finally was home. And when she open the door she said, "If you were the boys, I wouldn't have opened the door." SWEET! Perks of being a sister missionary!ha. We're gonna be doing some service for her this coming week. We're also trying to get to know the youth more so we stopped by mutual. This one girl screamed, "ARE YOU A REAL GIRL MISSIONARY?" Yes, yes we are. It's funny how many people down here don't ever see sister missionaries so when they do, they freak out.

In other news, we starred teaching the husband of Grace. His name is Anthony. And is super open. Apparently he always talks about his Mormon friends so Grace asked him, "Do you wanna be Mormon?" We're going to teach them again tonight...and they're going to feed us. Score.

Our stake conference was this weekend and they split out stake into two! I'm in the Queen Creek South Stake, which used to be the biggest stake in the mission by like 10 fold. But they created the San Tan Valley Stake out of us. So that was pretty excting. Elder Cardon of the 70 came down for it, and Elder Hansen(who called me up at the other stake conference) was there as well. There were some great talks and such. The Saturday evening session was on hastening the work. And one thing that stood out to me was that Elder Hansen talked about how there was a hastening of hearts being changed. I had never thought of that, but it's a pretty cool thought. And makes lots of sense. I also loved this quote(regarding temple work), "Whoever helps those on the other side receives help in all the affairs of their lives." I'd say that's pretty good motivation to go to the temple.

This week was full of miracles, my brain is dead though. I didn't have time this week to write  down what I wanted to write you about! OH! One crazy thing. We found tese beer cans strangley screwed into the roof of our house, and i started banging on them with a broom stick and then someone would make the same sound back. Well, it freaked out the sisters I live with...they thought I had like signaled drug dealers or something. So they freak out screaming and run inside. One of the sisters wanted to call someone. Anyway, we ended up all sleeping in the living room...the rest of the week, And that was on like Tuesday.hahaha. Our housing coordinators came to check it out on Saturday and determined that they were used for bird nest.haha. Lets see, all the old people were out this week in very very litte clothing. We walked up on a conversation and all I heard were the words, "I was stark naked..." Snowbirds...they're crazy.

I've really put Elder Anderson's promise to the challenge lately. The one that says if we pray to know with whom to speak names and faces will come into our minds, words to speak will be given, oppurtunities will be opened to you, faith will overcome doubt, and the Lord will bless you with your very own miracles. And it WORKS! I literally had peoples faces pop into my head. For some reason Mrs. Hardy, Caleb's mom, kept popping into my head and I was so confused. Turns out theres a Hardy in our ward that when we stopped by was really in need of a visit and hadn't come to church in over 10 years. My mind was blown away. The Lord works in mysterious ways! I'm so grateful for this time to serve Him. I counldn't do it without his constant guidance. He gives me strength. He guides me. He comforts me. He leads me to those that are in need to feel of His neverending love! I am honored to be a representative of Jesus Christ. To testify of him daily, that He is the living Son of the living God. And it it in and through Him that we are able to return to our loving Heavenly Father. Jesus loves you :)

Thanks for everything! I miss and love y'all!

Sister Adams

We are going to find people to show them Christ love!!

Slumber Party because I rattled the beer can bird nest and everyone thought I was attracting drug dealers!!

Girl Elders?                  March 10, 2014

 This week  I learned...

 -that tracting can be pretty exciting and even productive!

 -old men always try to hug sister missionaries.

 -the Book of Mormon is the most powerful tool that we have!

 -God speaks!

 -lots of people don't know sister missionaries are a thing.

 -blessing come after a trial of our faith.

 -and being pregnant is miserable.

 

This past week was probably one of the hardest that I've had on my mission. And I'm not really sure why. It was just hard, personally. It isn't my companion or the area or such. It was just not my most happy of weeks, until the end of the week. I prayed and prayed to be able to help someone and just forget about myself and that seems to be exactly what happened.

 Lets see, last Monday we got in with a part member family. Grace is a member, that left the church like 15 years ago and her husband Anthony isn't a member. She spilled out her guts to us and her whole life story and just went on and on. She literally talked to us for like 2 1/2 hours. And we barely got anything in during that time. She has had a hard life! And she loves the church, but says she doesn't believe the Joseph Smith story. Well, the Joseph Smith story kinda had to happen in order to have the Church of Jesus Christ on the earth again. It sounds to me like she believes it but has had her feelings hurt in the past by some members. So we're trying to get her some good fellowship. She's pregnant and has something where you are way way sick. Her past two pregnancies she had to have a pick line and be hospitalized almost every week. It's way crazy. So we're getting the relief society sisters to help with meals and things for her family. We also went by later in the week to clean her house, since she can't do that either. I love Grace, and want to see her happy! One of her kids, Bella, is like three. And she can't really talk...it sounds like Japanese. Seriously. It's probably one of the funniest things ever...or maybe a more appropriate comparison would be the minions on Despicable Me.

We also have started tracting more...and were able to find two new investigators. Lala and Joe-on(we clearly don't know how to spell his name). We talked to them about the Book of Mormon and gave them one and committed them to read and pray. So hopefully we will be able to begin actively teaching them this week. We also have lessons set up to teach 6 other people that could become new investigators this week! Miracles I tell one. And all but one of those is from talking to people on the street! Our focus has mailny been on the Book of Mormon. People don't seem interested but when you tell them about the BOM, their interest goes up by like 50000%.

We were also able to go to the Mesa Temple for the last time, (aside from bringing investigators to the visitor center and easter pageant and such). We talked to some sisters there and they said, "We heard their were sisters in your mission that had to train at 3 weeks!" hahaha. Yep, true story. They had iPads and were showing us all the cool stuff they can do....a few more months for us!

We also had exchanges this week and I went with Sister Raubenheimer for the day in Florence. It was a lot of fun. We were talking to this old man on the street,who was holding a dog. Towards the end of the conversation he finds out that I'm from GA(he's originally from Mississippi) and puts down his dog and quite literally throws his arms around me.haha. It's so fun to meet people from the south, even though most of the time they're a little crazzzy.

One of the ladies in our ward told us how one of her friends came up to her at work and wanted to know more about the church. She asked what sparked her interest. Apparently, she was driving by the temple with her 4 year old son and he said, "Hey Moroni" while waving at the Angel Moroni on top of the temple. She didn't know how he could have known that, so upon asking the people that he stays with if they had talked about it, she asked her son, "How do you know his name is Moroni?" And he told her, "God told me." How amazing! So now their family is investigating the church! AMAZING!

Another thing we did this week...pull weeds. It's strange. People have yards of pretty much gravel and they have so many weeds! How is that even possible! Just grow some grass, if the weeds are gonna grow so much surely you can grow some grass! And every single plant in AZ has some sort of thorn on it, so our hands were quite cut up.

On Sunday, our investigator that we haven't been able to meet with since coming to this area came to church! She has had such a hard life! When I hear peoples story and the trials they have to face it just makes me all the more thankful for the life that I have and my wonderful family! Her daughter literally beats her. It just broke my heart to hear all that is going on. She's gonna kick her daughter out this week, and then she said she'll be able to actually meet with us. She has been reading the Book of Mormon and said that has helped her a lot. She even asked for two extra to give to her friends that she has been telling about it! So amazing! SHe is such a tough lady and as sweet as can be! Please keep her in her prayers this week! Her name is Renatta.

All in all, life is pretty good. Can't really complain about much! Thanks for all that you do for me! I love hearing from y'all! Read the Book of Mormon! It truly brings peace, strength, and protection. I read from it any spare minute that I can! Also, you should ask the missionaries for the names of their investigators to pray for them by name, as well as the missioanries serving in our ward. How is the work going back there? Dallan seems to be finding so many people in Atlanta, so hopefully the same thing is happening in Commerce. But then again, who could really resist Dallan? :) I'd let him teach me :) Hope y'all have an awesome week!

 

 love,

Sister Adams

Abby actually cooked!!!

"I made these!!"

At the Mesa Temple

 

TOMMY BOY                                                March 3, 2014

Oh happy day. I seriously feel like going to email on P-Day is kinda like Christmas. But instead of waiting to see whats under the tree, it's waiting to see what emails are on the computer. Needless to say, some days are more exciting than others.

When we were at the store earlier, this lady came up and gave us like 3 huge boxes of food..pretty much all of it looks old and stale. But it's the thought that counts, right? People are so sweet to us.  And earlier this week this lady gave us like 50 million boxes of Special K cereal. Maybe we look hungry?ha-ha.

Um mm. This week most of our time was again spent doing service. We did so much service this week...and mainly cleaning. And the houses were so gross. I seriously don't know how people live in the places that we served in. But really. We scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed. One house, our entire zone came to help clean and paint and such. It was a non-member and they bought us like 25 pizzas and their hearts were truly touched by our service. We were there for hours! So hopefully they start investigating the church soon, if not then they know that we are nice people!

One day this week we were going to visit someone and there were these four kids playing outside. A 10 year old boy, Austin, came and we were talking to him. He told us how the friend he was playing with wasn't a member and so I asked him if he ever invited him to come to church. He just paused and said, "Hold on." Then he walked over to his friend and invited him to church, told him what church we go to, and where it's at. Then he walked back over to us and said, "He's gonna ask his mom." It was great! Kids are such great missionaries. They aren't afraid to do anything, and they don't put anything off for weeks. The youth here are just awesome.

The cultural celebration for the Gilbert Temple was this past Saturday. And of course the first time it rained in months, was on the day and into the night of the outdoor celebration. Despite the pouring rain the youth did amazing! They seriously put on quite the show. It was really impressive. And the biggest cultural celebration that the church has ever done. It was cool how the temple was in the background. It was actually on TV. You might can find it online as well. I'm not entirely sure. We watched it from our stake center. President Monson and Eyring were there. Along with a few members of the 70, including Elder Callister and Elder Walker!

The dedication on Sunday was amazing! We watched two of the three sessions. During the cornerstone ceremony President Monson had a few little kids come out of the crowd to help fill it in. So sweet. And it showed him hugging some children. Here are some things that I got out of the sessions that I watched. Elder Callister talked about how all that we do in the church, and the temple, is focused on the atonement of Jesus Christ. And how every baptism, marriage, etc. that we do in the church would be invalid without it. He compared it to writing a bad check that comes back non-sufficient funds. That there would be insufficient funds for the price that needed to be paid in order to perform those ordinances without the atonement. A lot of people talked about the family history part of the temple,and told stories from their ancestors. I want to learn more stories about my ancestors. More than just see their name. Elder Walker spoke some to the youth and quoted President Hinckley, "Please, please,please don't do anything that will disqualify you from entering the temple." The blessings are worth more than any sacrifice that we have to make!

Let's see. One miracle we saw this week was with Dan and Diana. Dan is a member,and Diana isn't. He's like 26, reminds me a lot fo Seth. And Diana is 24. They have 2 little kids. They let us in, and ended up feeding us-our second supper. We showed them the temple presentation and then taught some of the restoration. It was funny, Dan was like, "If I didn't already know that was true, I would have believed you based on what you just said." And it was literally like a 3 minute version of the restoration. At least I know it made sense to someone! But it seemed like it touched her and we'll be going back to share more this week! They are so much fun! Dan is from Alabama, and even though he's a Bama fan we get along. We decided since neither Sister Hibbard or Diana has had fried okra that we need to make some for them.

We also met this recent convert, named Aaron. His brother, Chris, wants to take the missionary lessons. We're meeting with him this week. This weekend they went to Vegas for Aaron's 21st birthday...so that's awesome.haha. They were a little hesitant to tell us where they were going. Oh, how funny.

Last night we visited this member, Caley. She's 25 and is a single mom. She has had such a hard life! She was baptized at 18 and kicked out by her parents. She was married a couple years later in the temple, and then her husband had an affair. Jerk. And her family goes through spells where they don't talk to her,still, because she's a member. But she is as strong as ever. She loves the gospel and knows that it's true. Nothing that anyone does or says can change that. She is awesome! She fed us last night. It was all gluten free...and DELICIOUS! I just might go gluten free...jokes.

At one of our meetings this week, an elder walked in and had cut his slacks into pretty much booty shorts. No joke. He just acted like everything was completely normal. It was super funny. Probably slightly inappropriate, but funny none the less. I really wanted to take a picture, but thought that might look kinda bad if someone were to pick up my camera and see it. If it happens again, which I'm sure it will, I'm gonna snap a picture.

Lets see. We visited lots of people and are really starting to see some of the fruits of our labors. Sister Hibbard had a bit of a cold this week, but we were still able to be out! So that is good news! This week is going to be full of lots of miracles, just as every week! But things are starting to come together in the area. It's still weird only having one ward, but it's fun. Even though, our ward mission leader forgot to pass around our meal sign up for March, so we may be hungry this week. So I bought all this taco stuff to try and simulate some tacos we had a couple weeks ago. It could be interesting. Ha ha

All in all, all is well! I'm loving being a missionary. I love training new missionaries. They are just so excited about everything and Sister Hibbard is awesome! We are just loving life and trying to serve the Lord the very best that we can. There's only a couple more weeks of the transfer which is weird. And I got the Day's  "Hump Day" package! It was so much fun. They are the sweetest! I hope y'all are having a good week! It's starting to reach the 90's...so I think it's gonna be a bit of a hot summer here. I'm actually excited for the summer. I've gotten rather pale. I miss y'all! And eat some Zaxby's for me this week.

LOVE.

Sister Adams

 

1 Nephi 15:24...I LOVE THE BOOK OF MORMON! And the peace and protection that it brings me!

Abby & Sister Hibbard- SCARED????

Hey Everybody!!

Silly faces everyone!

Nothing to say.....

Everybody smile!

Abby is just plain goofy!!