I'm BEING A MISSIONARY! YAY!

Feb 18 2013

Our Bedroom! There is Sister Howell

Sister Howell's desk
(plus welcome sign I made for when she arrived)

      This week has gone well. The first few days were kind of crazy with the schedule change but I had an opportunity to learn a lot and increase my faith as I went with the Spanish sisters and prepared to train. Sister Howell is an amazing missionary. Sometimes I do not feel like I am a trainer but that I am just with another companion as at any other point in my mission. Perhaps it is because she was at the MTC for 10 weeks but she seems so much more prepared than I was. I do have to train her but mostly its just helping her apply what she has already learned to the challenges of the mission field and real life application to investigators. She is actually a visa waiter, waiting to go to Brazil, so she is also learning Portuguese, part of why she was at the MTC so long. She is extremely positive and I really enjoy being her companion. I suppose I am showing her the ropes, but more like teaching her tricks and teaching things that I have found to work well and adopted from previous companions or trainings. We are practicing and trying to get used to teaching together and I am teaching her what I can about approaches I have seen work and such. I have not been as diligent at street contacting as I should be, so I am recommitting myself to contact everyone. Part of the problem is that we are driving too much, we need to walk more. Miracles have already occurred in the short time we have been together. We were able to get in to see a less active lady who has seemed to be avoiding us and she told us what was going on with her. It was a very intense meeting but I think we will not be better equipped to help her come back to church. We also brought a member along to try to contact an investigator who is hard to meet with and the lesson was a perfect example as to why it is so important to bring members along. The member was able to relate to Elizabeth in ways we couldn't and bear testimony and share advice as to how the Lord helped her get through similar things.

My desk

     The members in the ward love Sister Howell, and our investigators are adjusting smoothly. Training is hard and I pray for help a lot, every day. Without planning to I have found myself demonstrating powerful teaching tools in lessons and then I try to explain them later. I can see the Lord's hand in this, showing her how missionary work can and should be. Melissa and her family are still progressing, we recommitted them to read together as a family and they are diligently and earnestly seeking. We also have a lesson tonight with a part member family we had never met before Saturday. The husband has been inactive more or less because all he can go to is night church and since his wife (Catholic) cant understand Spanish they don't really go much. We are going to talk to our Bishop to find out if there is a late English sacrament and when the latest English ward meets. Tonight we are going to be teaching them the restoration and Sister Howell is going to invite the wife (Erica) to be baptized and we have spend some good time role playing the invitation with her doing her best to identify and address different concerns Erica may have. Things are going well and we are happy and as obedient as we can be. Sister Howell says I am a good trainer. I am glad the Lord is making up for my weaknesses.

Have a Nice Day!
(My catch phrase in the Sister Fine Era
she gave me this pen because of that)

     Also this week we got to help someone paint their kitchen. It felt so good to do service but I was really worried because my back was hurting really really bad that morning and I couldn't lift my arms without them hurting a lot. I decided to trust that the Lord would help me get through since we were doing service and when we got to their house I took a paint brush, got up on a step ladder, and started edging the walls where they touched the ceiling. My back hardly hurt at all and felt a bit better all the rest of the day. The Lord really blesses us when we put our faith in Him and serve Him.



Remember that I love you a lot and The Lord loves you tons. It will all be alright in time.
Your daughter, Alyssa






Feb 25 2013

Me and Elder Halpenny!
Awesome Elder, just went home from his mission.
He lives in California but he is legally a resident of Canada.

I'm BEING A MISSIONARY! YAY!
Its fun and tiring.

     This week has been tough numbers wise. We are focusing on street contacting. Sister Howell is learning really well. She is an extremely prepared missionary and is continually focused on her purpose and how to help us achieve it. Our Investigator Anthony did not come to stake conference this week. Melissa is struggling because she is miffed at how he flip flops. We are endeavoring to do daily contact to help strengthen them. We get the feeling that the wedding is not going to happen, Anthony does not seem ready for commitment. We are obeying the white handbook and not giving Melissa personal advice, only teaching them the doctrine and encouraging them to pray and read and obey all the commandments of God. Anthony could be amazing, he just has to make that choice.

Elder Balloon!

     Sister Howell and I have been really focusing on improving our transitions and teaching together. I fear I have been taking the lead too much and one of my main goals is to focus on preparing her more before hand then pulling back in actual lessons; not that she needs much preparation. We have seen many miracles this last week and many of the less actives we have really been working with were able to come to stake conference. The Gospel is such a wonderful blessing. I want everyone to have it. I am sad to say I sometimes get frustrated because people cannot see, they are happy with what they have. I am striving to be more humble and more patient and praying that the Lord will purify my heart. I am doing the Purification Challenge again. I hate it, but I hate exercise too and the purification challenge is like exercise for your will and spirit. Its like doing stair laps. Its painful but it makes you strong. I am happy.

Green Smoothie maker
Mom you will be proud to know
that I am drinking my vegetables 

     Our area is doing well. We have a new investigator, her name is Teresa, she is really interested. She came to Stake Conference and the RC/I meeting before and loved them so much. She was mainly baptist but has studied and been to most religions, rather like our recent convert Dave, so it was really wonderful that Dave was asked to bear his testimony in the early meeting. So far she loves what she has seen and felt and we will be meeting with her soon. Some members have already offered to have her taught in their home.

I don't know what to write! I love you a lot!
Be happy and read the scriptures
Sister Alyssa Monson

PS Tell everyone I love them and I love the letters and cards everyone is sending me. It makes me really happy, I wish I could write everyone back, and I am, its just taking a while.