Monday July 28, 2014

"We aren't here on Earth to earn Heaven, but to learn of Heaven"‏

This week was one of those weeks that was the "highest of highs" in the mission.

I will start from the beginning of the week and then try to move on from there.

We went on two exchanges this week, I left the area for both those exchanges.  I love seeing the different areas and even though they are only 5 minutes apart, they are so different.  On the first exchange we had, we had dinner with this awesome family with an amazing story.  They were both less active when they got married and a few years ago they had some experiences that brought them back to the church.  About a year ago they got sealed in the temple and now have a little boy, and they are such missionary minded.  They had invited over 2 less actives in the ward that the sisters are working with, we had a good discussion with them and their desire to come back to church.  On the second exchange, I went with the Spanish Hermanas.  Can I just tell you, that after that day I have decided how grateful I am that the Lord called me to English speaking.  I know I wouldn't be able to survive, but I was able to pick up words here and there to understand what they were talking about.  It was actually  funny because we did some contacting that day and there were a couple of times when someone would answer the door and they would not look Hispanic.  We both would kind of pause for a minute before we started talking in English.  In one of these instances we talked to a lady for a few minutes at the door and soon found out that her husband is a Pastor at a church up in Eagle.  She wasn't too interested in what we had to say but did say she appreciated what we did.  As we were saying goodbye she had asked us if we would like some water, I didn't really want any, but when I looked at the other sister I had this feeling to say yes, so I agreed.  She invited us in her home and we ended up talking for 10 more minutes. We testified to her about the Book of Mormon and Joesph Smith, she even asked us about our testimonies.  It was a neat experience until she started asking us some deep doctrine questions.  You could tell she was trying to contradict us, but I always tried to bring it back to the basics.  I tried to give her a Restoration pamphlet, but she wasn't interested.  But honestly walking away from that situation I felt good, it was a great opportunity to testify and open our mouths even though the outcome wasn't what we were wanting.  I have been reading a lot of different talks this week and one thing that stuck out to me is that "When we don't open our mouths in fear that we are going to offend someone, in the process we are not saving them".  I really liked that and I feel like I have been trying to search for more and more opportunities to be able to open my mouth more and try to run into people more to share what I know.  It has been a really neat experience.

   So I don't know if you all remember Ann, i use to talk about her all the time, but she kind of wasn't progressing or keeping her commitments so we kind of dropped her a few months ago.  Well a couple of weeks ago we went back to check on her and have really been trying to work with her.  She finally met with the Stake President and her Bishop and we saw her last night and she told us that they set a Baptismal date for September 6th.  I am so excited and happy for her.  It has been almost over a year since the missionaries have been trying to get her re-baptized.  She was so excited that she said she wanted to tell us first because we were the missionaries that really gave her that push that she needed.  Even though transfers are coming up she wanted to make sure that I would be there since I will most likely be the one leaving. 

      It is just amazing the success that our area is receiving. We had a lot of less actives show up to church on Sunday as well, I just love seeing them walk into the door.

      Okay now for the highlight of the week......CHARLIE GOT BAPTIZED!!!!! It was such an amazing day, we got to meet most of his wife's family(she is from a family of 14).  There was proably at least 50 people from her family and about over 100 people at the baptism.  We filled up the whole primary room, it was such a great program.  Charlie was so excited and you could just tell that he was ready.  There were so many missionaries there as well that had taught him previously.  Sister Hatch and I both just started crying when he got baptized, I cannot explain to you the feeling of seeing him come up out of the water.  He just glowed and he looked so happy, he even gave a thumbs up, he is still good old Charlie.  He was just beaming after that and was just giving everyone hugs and everything.  The next day at church when he got confirmed it was amazing, as well as I got to be there for him to receive the Priesthood,which was the first time for me to see for my investigators.  Bishop talked about how he had interviewed him before and how he could tell that Charlie knew how serious the Priesthood was and how much he could bless his family with it.  In both his confirmation and receiving the Priesthood his brother in law talked about him and his family getting sealed in the temple.  Bishop talked about that as well when it was just the family in the room when he received the Priesthood.  I just started crying and had this amazing feeling of joy thinking about his family being sealed together forever.  So what is it you asked that got Charlie to finally get baptized? It was my companion to be honest with you.  As I have mentioned before my companion has a stutter, just like his daughter.  So as we worked with him he realized that she was a sign from Heavenly Father that it was now time for him to change.  It is amazing when investigators see those signs.  He talked about how we both had changed him and how grateful he is for that.  I cannot explain the joy from this weekend and seeing the joy that he now has in his life.  I know that I am going to come back for when he goes through the temple and gets sealed to his family.  I feel like it is so hard to convey my feelings over an email.  I feel like each time one of the Lord's investigators gets Baptized that I have worked with I always think "If this is the last one I have on my mission I am okay with that and it is worth it" But then someone else decides to enter into the fold and it brings me so much more joy.  I am just so excited for this step that Charlie has taken in his life, it has been a long time coming.  Next week he will be passing the sacrament and I am excited to see that.

    As we were talking to bishop after everything he told us how grateful he is for us and how much good he has done in the ward and how much he truly loves us.  As we were there talking it just hit me how this won't last forever that I won't be here in the Shoshone ward forever that I won't be able to serve a mission forever.  It made me realize how precious these last 6-8 months are going to be for me and how I need to make every moment count.  Not that I already haven't been doing that already but I feel like it gave me that drive to dig even more deeper.  I can't tell you all how much I have really come to love this area and the people and how they have all changed my life so much.

   I hope you all know as well that each and everyone of you have changed and effected my life as well to help me be where I am at today and to become the person that I am today.  I love you all so much and pray for you everyday.  Know that I am being blessed and just loving my time out here in the Mission.  There is no greater feeling in the world when you help someone enter into the Lord's fold or you help one of those lost sheep to come back into the fold.  I have seen that happen so much on my mission, but especially these past few months.  I am so grateful for the people the Lord has placed into my path.  I wish I could just tell you everything from this week, but I guess I will just have to have you read my journal when I get home.  There is too much stuff that happens in one week of a missionary's life.  I love you all so much!!!

ALL IN!

Love

Sister Metcalf

 Washing a smokers wall, who smoked for 60 years! 

 All of us missionaries with Bishop Bates

Found Malibu street on exchanges

Monday July 21, 2014

"Sometimes the journey is more than the destination"‏

I can't believe that Monday is already here again, I feel like the further you get along in your mission the quicker it goes.  This week has kind of been an up and down week for us, so really just your typical missionary week.  Charlie is doing really well, we finished up the commandments with him so tonight we just have to teach him the last few laws and ordinances that we didn't tie into previous lessons.  It kind has been a little of adjustment teaching lesson 5, but I kind of like it. I feel like we are helping people connect baptism and the temple and helping them see that baptism is just a step.  He is super excited for his baptism this week and he even has started counting down the days!  Funny story from our lesson this week.  So usually his wife is the one that sits in on the lessons but that night she got called into work so we met with him at the church and we got the Bishop's wife to come(after calling like 20 other people). Side note: can i just tell you that whenever someone gets close to baptism anytime that they call us I always feel like they are calling to give us bad news, especially with Charlie. Just a few more days and i won't have to worry about that. Anyway so we were at the church and teaching him the rest of the commandments lesson and we talked to him about obeying and honoring the law.  One thing you have to understand about Charlie is he likes to kid and joke a lot, we are use to this but sometimes others think that he is serious.  So he asks us if marijuana becomes legal in Idaho, would it be okay for him to grow and sell it.  He said he would be obeying and honoring the law, and he knows that he wouldn't be using it because it is against the word of wisdom.  I just started laughing and the bishop's wife just looks shocked.  I explained to Charlie that he shouldn't because it would be like Satan in the Garden of Eden tempting Adam and Eve. He was just like "Oh, okay. Ya I guess that wouldn't be good since I have three kids."  I guess this story gives you a little more insight into the type of person that he is.  But I seriously love him and I have loved teaching him.  He knows when to be serious and he has such a strong testimony of the gospel.

    So this week we had leadership exchanges.  Pretty much it is just a mass exchange in the mission and we have a training from President Winder.  This time he decided to talk to us about Recognizing the Spirit. I think the Lord was trying to prepare me for it because on Tuesday we still hadn't heard from our dinner and we had called them a couple of times and left them a message.  So by 530 we decided to just go eat on our own, we ended up going to subway(FYI, i am a little sick of that place, no more gift cards there por favor. well we don't go as often anymore but last transfer we went a lot). Anyway so as we were heading over there I told my companion that i had this feeling that we were going to get there and order our food and then dinner was going to call us. Well literally two minutes after we had finished eating dinner called us and asked if we were still gonna come over.  One of the people that lives with them is less active so we couldn't pass up on that opportunity, so i paid for not listening to the promptings by having two dinners hahaha Anyway the training was really good though on Thursday and President showed the series by Elder Bednard, if you haven't seen them recently i highly suggest going back and re-watching them.  My district leader asked me as well to do the training at District Meeting this week as well, so wish me luck. I love training but I dislike training for it.

    Another funny story from the week is while on exchanges, in the other sisters area a member asked if she could use her tazer on us. Yep you read that right. She is like 21, but i seriously was thinking why would you think it was okay to taze missionaries.  Anyway I told her no and that she shouldn't ask any other missionaries because it would not be okay.  It was just kind of funny in the moment.

   We saw Elvira this week as well, we have been trying to separate teaching her daughter and her since we have to teach her the new member lessons.  I seriously love her.  She has such great faith and I feel like i have seen such a change in her life.  I will tell you that on Sunday I wanted to cry though.  So Sister Hatch and I were heading to PEC and Elvira's ward meets before ours so we were walking by the chapel and looked in and her and her daughter were there, sitting by themselves.  This is one thing that is tough in this stake and even in our ward. We talked a little bit with Bishop about it because whenever we talk to less actives or even active members and they talk about how they struggle with the ward.  The members are nice and friendly, but it is kind of at the surface, they need to form deeper connections.  For example there are a couple in the ward that we have had dinner with a couple of times and we have gotten to know them really well.  Well last week the wife went into the hospital because of possibly delivering her baby early, a lot of the people didn't even know she was pregnant and we knew back in March and she is due in September.  We talked to bishop how we want to extend to every active member we see to sit by someone different each week and get to know them.  Everyone usually sits in the same spots every single week. Sister Hatch and I have been really trying to figure out how to strengthen the ward.  Bishop felt like this was a good idea and he felt like the ward is getting really complacent.  So i want to extend that same commitment to all of you back at home, sit next to someone you don't know very well or maybe of someone that you think you know and get to know them really well. Reach out to everyone in the ward.

   Yesterday at church though was really good, we had a lot of visitors, i love greeting people when they come in and when they are leaving as a missionary and helping the visitors feel welcomed. Also a serious miracle this week. So there is a less active couple in the ward that we have been trying to meet but they seriously avoid members like the plague. Well this week we finally got in and it was such a good visit! They said how they really needed to come back to church and they had just gotten out of the habit and how they needed someone to tell them that they would save them a seat. So yesterday they showed up to church and they actually saved us a seat! It was so amazing, i love seeing less actives come to church.  I really do truly feel like I have seen so much success in this area, in all different aspects of missionary work.

   I seriously am in love with my mission and it makes me sad that I have already been out for a year, time is going by too quickly! I love you all so much and I hope that all is well with you and that you are enjoying your summer!

Love

Sister Metcalf

P.S. Every night we like to send out quotes to the sisters that we are over so if you got any good quotes, wither they be uplifting or funny

 One of my favorite sisters in the mission-Sister Whightman, she leaves in a few weeks :(

Monday July 14, 2014

Christmas in July

So earlier in the week i had this thought come to me after a few events that took place(i will explain them later) and Mom sent me a year mark card with that exact same thing this week so I felt like it fit my subject line perfectly.  Yes mom I got the little gift and i love it, i wear the necklace almost everyday :)

    So let me just start off with the biggest miracle for me in the longest time.  So you all remember Charlie Wilson right?! I have been teaching him since I have gotten here and he has been taught by missionaries for the last 5 years.  So last week we talked to him about picking a date, that we weren't going to pick one for him but he needed to since it was all being factored around the family reunion.  Well we sat down at his house last Monday night and were just small talking, and then Charlie brings up his baptism.  He said "I have a date" And I just said"okay sounds good, when are you thinking". He then replied "That it wasn't going to be in August". My heart just dropped, i thought great he is pushing it back like he has done in the past. He then walked over to the calendar to check the date and asked if the 26th would work. I paused and said of "which month?!" and he said "July". My mouth just dropped opened.  I said "Wait July 26th?! Like this month" and just said "Yep". I just replied "I think that could work", but inside I seriously was screaming and jumping up and down. I seriously cannot believe still that this is happening! We actually taught he again lesson 1 that night, he had read the pamphlet before we had come over. He seriously was the one that taught us, we just asked him questions and he just taught us the lessons.  I was so shocked because he was taking everything seriously and we could tell that he had actually retained and remembered a lot of things from these past 5 years. We set up an appointment to go back on Wednesday later that week to teach him the next lesson, because we had less than 3 weeks we would have to meet with him twice a week to get everything in.  He called us on Wednesday and I seriously thought that he was going to cancel, but he was just letting us know that he had read all of the pamphlets.  I couldn't believe it! This was not the Charlie that I have been working with for the past 5 months.  We went and taught him the next lesson and it was just as amazing as the the last one.  He literally just taught us everything, we just asked him questions and he just led us straight into the next section.  I seriously haven't been able to stop smiling this whole week and just jumping up and down with joy.  This is for real, I can just tell that this is serious for him this time and that he is taking everything seriously.  I don't know what it was, but I know this has been a testimony builder to me that I just need to trust in the Lord and his timing.  JULY 26TH!!!! It is happening! I can not explain to you the excitement I have and the feelings that I am feeling right now. It is moments like these(and of course other ones as well) that just makes everything worth it, all those hard days and lessons that you have with those investigators, those moments when you just want to drop them or take away their agency. It just clicks and miracles happen.  I feel so lucky to have been here, I know that this is one of the reasons why the Lord needed me to stay in this area for one more transfer.

     Also this week we went back to visit Anne, I don't know if you remember me talking about her.  She is an excommunicated member in the elders ward(that requested sisters) that has been meeting with missionaries as well for about over a year.  I had really been thinking about her a lot lately. A few weeks ago we really didn't feel like she was progressing, all she had left to do was to set up the interview with the Stake President but she was dragging her feet about it.  Sister Hatch and I told her that we felt like we had done all that we had done and that it was on her and that we wouldn't be stopping by anymore.  Well we hadn't heard from her in a few weeks and the Elders were telling us that she hadn't been to church as well for the last few weeks. I was really worried about her and I called her to ask if we could come by the next day which she agreed.  We met up and it all went really well. We had a good talk about everything and she had said that what we did had really shaken her up, but it was the wake up call that she needed.  She is out of town this weekend, but she said that as soon as she got back she would set up the appointment and asked us to call and remind on Tuesday. It was just a tender mercy of the Lord, I am glad that I stayed here another transfer because I feel like I would of never been able to know what happened to her after I left.

     This week we went on two exchanges and went two 3 district meetings. Kind of a lot.  Our mission president asked us Sister Training Leaders to attend the other sisters district meetings once a transfer of the zones that we are over that we don't attend their zone meeting.  As much as it seemed, i kind of loved it, ill take every opportunity I have to get a spiritual upliftment. I feel like this week has been great overall! Just a lot of tender mercies and miracles. We actually received 3 media referrals this week which is unheard of!

   One of them I am a little excited about, we received a referral of a family moving to Boise that is in our area, and the person who sent the referral told us to contact him with results and gave his phone number.  Well that person just happened to be the Mission President of the Spokane Washington Mission. Yep, i get to call and talk to Megan's mission president.  I think that is just so funny. What a small world, I wounder if it is a quiescence that this happened. 

   We saw some miracles at church as well this week, we had some less actives come that we haven't seen in a while as well as an investigator that we actually dropped a few weeks ago because we weren't able to  meet up with him and teach him for the longest time.  I guess it is just all in the Lord's timing. That is one thing that I have learned a lot this past transfer I feel like.

   Things are going really well, I seriously cannot believe that I hit my year mark this week! That is just crazy to me and scary at the same time.  I hope all of you are receiving those blessings that you deserve, I love you all so much! Keep doing what you are doing!

ALL IN!

Love
Sister Metcalf

P.S. Found a Bruins street at just had to take a picture 

Monday July 7, 2014

Ida (home)

This place is really starting to feel like my home to me.  I have really come to love the people here in Boise Idaho.  This week was kind of a slow week with us being the forth of July,we did see some success,but with the holiday and meetings this week it took a toll on our numbers for the week. Not to mention how blazing hot it is, it is already in the triple digits up here! It is crazy!!! 

   This week we actually helped a part member family that we have been working with build a wood picket fence. It took a couple days to do(we only helped out a few hours here and there). I blame their uncle who was in charge of it because whenever we finished one part of the fence he would have something else in mind and then have redo it or have us do it a different way.  It was a great opportunity though to really bond with them.  They have a 20 year old son and his friend(mikey and ryder) that lives with them who we have talked to from time to time on the street.  They have really warmed up to us and this was a great opportunity for us to better get to know them.  On the last day of the fence we actually had the elders come over to help that are over the YSA ward that these guys would attend.  They got a little intimidated because they were in the slacks and shirts and didn't want to change. They did start to warm up to them and Ryder actually showed up to church yesterday.  We were so shocked, we have been inviting them to church for months! We are hoping that he will go next week to and bring Mikey with him as well. Last week the parents came but sadly this week they didn't. But hey we will celebrate with this success. It was kind of a lot for him, he hasn't really ever gone to church before and this week as you know was fast and testimony meeting.  I feel like while being on the mission i have become more sensitive about the talk topics and peoples testimonies, especially when we have an investigator there.  People love to tell stories, i am realize that a lot of the times Christ isn't even mention until the end when they close. And that is sad to me sometimes, because this is His Church and we tell people that everything we teach is centered around him.  With about 15 minutes left i decided to bear a short simple testimony of the Savior and I had my companion go up after me, i feel like that really change the meeting, people started giving shorter testimonies more focused on Christ and gospel principles.  Remember that paper the bishops read a while back about testimony meetings? Ya i think they need to read that again.  Overall though church was good. We had some less actives that we have been working with come to church.  One of them i was a little shocked about because the day before we had met with them.  They essentially told us that the reason they don't come is because of the people and they had gotten offended. I talked to them about the purpose of church and why we go and how they shouldn't let others stand in the way of them receiving blessings.  The husband started going off about some things and he and my companion got into a heated discussion.  I would try to calm her down by taping on her leg and she would, but then she would just get right back into it again when he would bring up a new point. The spirit was defiantly gone there and so i just tried to be polite and tell them that we had an appointment to get to.  This is what Satan wants us to do, to get all upset and get angry at the people, when we should be trying to see them as Christ does and just love them. My companion apologized for getting upset, but the damage was already done.  I was shocked to see them the next day, they came with their daughter(who is active) that was visiting for the holidays. You could tell there was tension between us and I didn't like that.

    This week we had Missionary Leadership Council as well, it was really good and I really enjoy going to those meetings.  I feel like they really pump me up and give me the energy that I need to carry on through out the week. No big chances but we did set a goal for our mission for the next two transfers for baptisms.  We want to keep the fire going here. 

  The fourth was an ordinary day for us, we did get invited over to some peoples houses, but it was funny because some of the people that we had set up appointments we ended up going over there and then when we showed up they had some change of plans and cancelled.  So it was stressful for a few hours trying to figure out what to do, but it all worked out.  We saw some fireworks that night outside our bedroom window but not many.  It was tough going to sleep but we eventually did. This week was a pretty average week for us nothing too special, except for that we set a baptismal date with Elvira's daughter for the 9th of August. We are pretty excited about it.  Things are kind of getting into a routine here for me, it is kind of strange.  Nothing too big happened this week for us, this might be the calm before the storm hahaha

    I hope that all is well with you back at home, know that I love you and miss you all! Remember ALL IN!!! 

Love

Sister Metcalf