Tuesday, January 20, 2015

"Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening and Good Night"

Wow! This will be the last time that you all will hear from me on my mission. Words cannot express how I am feeling right now. Everything is so surreal to me at the moment. 

     This week was a really good week for us lessons wise and we went on a couple of exchanges with some sisters in our zone because one of them has a concussion(nothing too serious but has to stay home), but we got a lot of work done in both of the areas.  

  I don't have much time but I want to tell you the highlight from my week, it was on Sunday.  We had 9 less actives at church!!! We filled up a whole pew, I cannot tell you the feelings of joy that I had that day.  It was in that moment where I didn't want to leave, I am going to miss moments like that.  We had Sister Dilworth and Jeff Hitesman come out, I haven't really written you about them too much but they are ones that we started working with when Sister Broberg and I were together.  They finally both made it out to church along with the McEvoy family and a less active youth we are working with and an older lady as well.  I think I had the biggest smile on my face the whole time! They all had such good experiences there, I hope that they will all come to church next week as well.  It was crazy at times and hectic trying to get everyone to the right classes, but it was all worth it in the end.  I wish I could just bottle up the feelings I felt that day and hold onto them forever.

     So I don't really have much time, lots of emails that I had to read today but I just wanted to tell you all what these last 18 months have meant to me.  It is hard for me to write this all on paper, but I feel like a way that a close sister missionary said it sums it up. My missionary experience was so sacred! I have learned so much about myself on my mission and have grown so much spiritually and temporally.  I wouldn't change the experiences I have had these past 18 months for the world. I wouldn't change one companion, one area, one convert, one less active, one tough day for ANYTHING! Each and everyone of those has played a part to where I am today.  Before leaving on my mission I thought I already had a pretty strong testimony of the gospel, but it has grown so much on my mission.  My testimony burns so strong inside me each and everyday, it is something that no one will ever take away from me and something that I can never deny.  To be honest I was a little timid to talk to those about my beliefs before leaving on a mission. I feel like if there was any Apostle that I could relate to it would be Peter.  He was still unsure of his testimony and wasn't deeply rooted.  But then he had an experience with Christ that truly converted him and he became one of the greatest Apostles known to man.  That is what my mission has done to me.  It has truly converted me to the Gospel, God, and Christ.  I hope to be one of Christ greatest disciples.  Elder Holland has said it perfectly for me. 
"When (Christ) comes, I so want to be caught living the gospel. I want to be surprised right in the act of spreading the faith and doing something good. I want the Savior to say to me: “(Sister Breanne Metcalf), I recognize you not by your title but by your life, the way you are trying to live and the standards you are trying to defend. I see the integrity of your heart. I know you have tried to make things better first and foremost by being better yourself and then by declaring my word and defending my gospel to others in the most compassionate way you could.”

He will certainly add: “I know you weren’t always successful with your own sins and with the circumstances of others, but I believe you honestly tried. I believe in your heart you truly loved me.”

     On my mission I have come to know how much God truly knows me and how aware he is of me and my situation.  He knows what I need and what trials need to be put into my life to push me to become the person that I need to be.  One of my favorite scripture stories that I have come to love on my mission is the story in the Book of Mormon of the Jaredites [Ether chapter 6(To read the story click here) ] when they are traveling over to the Americas.  It talks about them being in the barges and them being pushed along by the storms and the winds and how they cried continually to the Lord, but that is what was needed to push them to the promised land.  If they would of been on a calm sea they would of never of moved forward.  That is the same for our lives as well.  If we don't have trials or hard times in our life we will never progress we will never be pushed forward to "our promise land" to where and who our Heavenly Father needs us to be.  But most importantly is in verse 10 that they had light continually in the darkness, we have that light continually as well.  It is the light of Christ.

    The one thing that I am most grateful for on my mission is the relationship that I have built with my Father in Heaven and my Savior.  I would never be this strong if I wouldn't of gone on my mission.  My mission has humbled me so much, as most of you know I am a very independent person and I don't like to rely on others.  My mission has pushed me to get on my knees and to rely on my Father in Heaven because in times of need I had no one else to turn to but Him.  I couldn't just call any of you to talk to know what to do or to help me when needed or for you to just listen to me in my times of struggle as well as my times of joy.  My first resource was my Father in Heaven.  He, as well as my Savior have become so real to me on my mission.  I have grown an even deeper love for them.

    I have missed you all so much and am excited to see all of you and to see how much all of you have grown and changed as well.  But know that it will be bittersweet for me. It was hard reading some of your letters, to be honest I started to cry a little bit, it has started to hit me a little bit that I will be leaving in less than a week.  I don't think I am ready for this part of my life to end.  These 18 months were not just the best times of my life but FOR my life.  I am not ready to take off this name tag to stop being a full time missionary, but I know that it has to end at some point.  I promise that I will try to make it to the airport, but if my mission President offers for me to extend, I just might take it hahahaI know that this is where I was suppose to serve, I know that this is where the Lord needed me to be.  People laugh when they here others being called to Boise, but know one will ever know just how special and sacred it is to serve here.

     I just want to end with the testimony I have of this Gospel.  I know that this is the true church that contains the fullness of the Gospel.  That through a 14 year old boy, Joseph Smith, the Priesthood power, that power and authority to act in God's name, was restored through him.  It is by that same power that we can preform saving ordinances that are essential for entering into the Kingdom of God like Baptism, and that Families can be Sealed together forever.  I know that we have a Father and Heaven who loves us and knows us so perfectly.  We also have a Savior of the World who Lives.  Jesus is the Christ! There is so much more I would love to say but it has come to that time for me to sign off.

   I love you all so much, be safe! I hope to better explain what my mission means to me to all of you in person. I am going to miss everyone here that I have met on my mission, I know that I will be able to see them again, but it won't be the same without my tag on :(

Love

Sister Metcalf

    Last time from The Great Idaho Boise Mission

Monday January 12, 2015

"Timing is Everything"

So let me start off with some pretty exciting news, well at least to me it is.  This week was the week that I was grateful that I extended for those two extra days, everyone else laughed but it is paying off.  So earlier in the week I got a call from the sisters that serve in the Summerset ward that called to tell me that Henry Cuiellar (his wife and two kids got baptized a few months ago. They are someone that I had found in that area) is getting baptized!!! And it is going to be on the 25th! I am so excited for that, but I am more excited for him and his family.  Such a tender mercy that I will be able to see one last one of my investigators enter the waters of baptism before I leave.

    The other exciting news is that Elder Russell M. Nelson(random fact did you know he is 90! Ya I wouldn't of guessed it either) is coming to visit the mission!!! On the 24th at 8:00! So if I would of left on my scheduled day I would of for sure had missed him.  I can not tell you all how excited I am to meet an apostle of the Lord, I was really hoping to meet one on my mission and the Lord pulled through right towards the end.  I mean I would of been find not seeing one, but I am just that much more excited. On the bright side if I have a heart attack at least he could be my surgeon hahaha 

    This week was a pretty good week for us with teaching opportunities, I feel like the further and further I have gotten along in my mission the more I see the Lord's hand in everything and the tender mercies.  Things with Amber are going so well, we talked to her about Baptism and she decided that she wanted to pray about the day when she wanted to get baptized.  She is really grasping onto everything.  One of the main obstacles is getting her to church, it is weird because she has that strong desire to go.  She knows that she needs to go to receive the blessings, but with work she is a nurse at an assisted living home and she is at the bottom of the totem pole.  So she has to work Sundays, she says there is a slim chance that she might be able to get it them off since there is going to be a change in supervisors. A part of me wanting to write her boss and tell her how important it was for her to have Sundays off so she could go to church. I ended up leaving it in the Lord's hands hahahaha She is just so great and so prepared, I am excited for her.

    So this week we had zone meeting and it was really good, they talked a lot about building up the mission and how we can fruther along the work in the Great Idaho Boise Mission.  So the zone leaders challenged all of us to from that point on until Sunday night to go and try to find a new investigator.  They then had us go pray about it in our companionship's to get a confirmation of it.  So fast forward to later that night, all of our plans fell through for the 8:00 time frame, this I feel like is sometimes the hardest time to work as a missionary.  Everyone we tried was not home or was busy.  We pulled the car to the side of the road trying to figure out where we should go and what we should do.  I said a little prayer in my heart and instantly Rebecca's name popped into my head.  Rebecca is someone that Sister Broberg and I had tracted into over a month ago with "He is the Gift". We had seen her one time previously but nothing had really come of it.  Well we stopped by her place and she allowed us right in. It was so amazing to see the Lord guide everything so perfectly for us.  She started talking to us about her feelings towards the church, a lot of it were misconceptions of things.  She told us how her main issue was how we "worship Joseph Smith", I think that is a common what that I hear out here, but then she added about how he is even on top of our temple.  That I had never heard before, she said it was something that someone had told her, we explained to her who it was a tried to give a simplified version.  It lead us into to talking to her about the Book of Mormon and if she had ever read it before, she said she had not.  We explained about how we believe in both the Book of Mormon and the Bible.  That had shocked her, she said she never knew that.  We introduced the Book of Mormon to her and invited her to begin reading which she accepted.  She said that she wanted to learn more and for us to straighten out all these misconceptions she has heard about our church.  It was such an amazing lesson. I am excited to begin to teach her before I go home.  She is having surgery this week though, but she wants us to come by before she goes, so that is a positive.

     Another tender mercy was that the McEvoy family made it to church this week! I can't even tell you how excited I was to see them walk in the door, the joy I felt was unexplainable.  They were gonna go to their old ward because one of their good friends was having their baby blessed at 11.  Well we stopped by Saturday night to try to invite them to 9am because Sister Smith and I were speaking and she said that she wouldn't miss it. I was bummed that we couldn't sit with them but we promised her next week that we would.  And next week they plan on staying for all three hours.  In church my topic I focused on was us as members being the "light of the world". One thing that my mission has helped me with is giving talks, that is for sure.  I can easily free hand my talks now and just talk, it is such a weird feeling.  I am so use to just reading what I have written down, but I love just being guided by the spirit of what I should talk about.  Is it weird to say that I kind of like giving talks now(don't get any ideas and sign me up for talks anytime soon). But that is one thing that I am grateful for.

    Well it's that time again. I can't believe I will only be e-mailing you one last time before I go home.By the way next week is Martin Luther King day so you might not hear from me till Tuesday since the Libraries are closed. Anyway, where has the time gone?! Seriously. I love you all so much!

Love 

Sister Metcalf

Monday January 5, 2015

"Don't look back, look towards the future"

This week was a pretty good week for us, we have had some obstacles that have been placed in front of us with those that we are working with but we are slowly trying to figure those things out.

    We saw Amber St.George this week and she is doing really well and is progressing well. We taught her the Plan of Salvation this week(Click here to what that is) and it went really well, but of course Satan was trying to throw everything at us with distractions. I can't even tell you how many times while teaching that something has happened to distract from the spirit.  Anyways so when we first starting teaching her we were unsure about her living sitiuation.  Well this week we found out that her "roommate" who is a less active member she is dating, although she hasn't admitted that to us. But they are living together so that will have to be something we will address, but we are unsure how it will go because I know they are not ready to get married(they have only known each other for 7 months) and I don't think she is financially stable to move out or be there by herself.  Plus the baptismal date that we had for her is not going to workout, she has to go to court that day for some legal stuff with her ex-husband.  Nothing seems to be playing out right now, but I know that it is all going to be in the Lord's timing and I just need to trust in that.  She is an amazing person though and is so strong after all that she has been through and she really is just trying to find that path for her boys to be raised the best that they can be.  We are hoping to start figuring out some of the pieces to this puzzle this week, hopefully all will go well.

    So update on Sallie Fogg, things are progressing with her, a little slowly though.  She is still reading the Book of Mormon but still isn't ready for church. I can feel her starting to pull back and it is hard and sad to see. I have been praying to know what we can do for her to help her.  Her husband has been playing a big part in it as well.  We talked to him this week and he still has some hard feelings towards the church from the past and isn't ready to let them go.  We tried talking with him but he is very stubborn, his heart is too hard at the moment.  The sad thing is that I he is influencing his wife I feel like.  So again trying to figure all that out as well.

    The McEvoys are doing pretty good, sadly they didn't make it to church this week.  Her kids were up all night throwing up.  I think we might of found the problem as well.  We went over like two days before to help them clean and organize some stuff and we worked on her food pantry.  Well turns out that they have mice.  I swear I can't get away from those things, I feel like in every area that i have been in I have had to deal with them or help someone clean them up after them.  So we helped them start to figure out that, nothing too big but I am pretty sure it played a part in her kids sickness because they had gotten into some of their food and we had to throw a lot of it out.  So i am determined this up coming week to get the family there.

   Another lady that I started working with when I first came to the area has decided that her news years goal this year is to make it to church and for her daughter to come with her. So each Sunday I am going to be texting her each Sunday and saving her a seat.  I feel like sometimes you just need to get people to church one time to feel the spirit that is there and to start making the connections there with other.  But that is the hardest part sometimes is getting them there the first time. 
     We have gotten some less actives that are starting to come more regularly and that is exciting to see them to become more active.  We got a gospel principles class started this week as well so things are progressing along in this ward.  I found out the other day how many converts this ward had 5 years ago from part member families in the area, there was quite a bit.  It also made me realize that that resource has probably been exhausted so I just need to continue you talking to everyone I see and tract even more and try different ways of finding new people in this area. "If you do the same thing that you have always done, your gonna get the same thing you always got" So if i keep trying the same thing I have been trying where there is not much success then that is what I am gonna get until I start using other resources more and more.

    New years Eve and day there really wasn't anything too excited going on, I am a little excited for the Holidays to be over because lots of people kept telling us how busy they were and to come back after the Holidays.  I also love this time of year because people have set new goals for the new year, I just got to find those ones that set a goal to go to a church.

   Okay so a little sad news for the week, to be honest this news was bitter sweet. It was exciting to hear, but it was probably one of the most heart breaking things to hear as a missionary.  So remember back to my first area when Joe Rarick was Baptized? Well I had only written him twice on my mission and life for him has been up and down with everything but he has always remained strong in the gospel which has been awesome.  Last time I wrote him was back in September with his year mark coming up I was seeing how things were going and if his goals were still the temple.  He was taking the temple prep. classes, but wasn't sure when he was gonna go yet. His wife wasn't ready to go through and be sealed just yet.  Well this week at District Meeting I was talking to my zone leader who had served in that area, we got talking about Joe and I asked him if he could find out for me how he was doing.  So he I got a text from him a few days ago to tell me that Joe had gone through the temple back in November. I was so excited for him, and then I started to cry.  I was sad that I could not be there with him for that experience, that I couldn't see the change that he had made this past year, to see the different steps in his life.  I know that most missionaries don't have that opportunity to go to the temple with their converts in their mission because it is so big.  But we can in ours, to be honest I am mad a little at me because I should of written him again,I had thought about how he was doing a lot last transfer.  But a big part of me is pretty upset with the Elders  in that ward for not letting me know about him going through the temple.  I know there is nothing I can do about it now, but it was just hard to hear that the one convert I could see go through the temple on my mission I missed. I'll have some after my mission I know that, and I want to try and be there when him and his wife get sealed.  When I ran into my mission president at a baptism he didn't really seem to care, that was kind of harsh for me.

   Well sorry to end on such a sad note, but I hope all is well with you! I love you all so much! 

Quote I heard at church that I loved "You can't build a home in Zion and have a vacation house in Babylon" 

Okay and just one funny quote from my ward mission leader.  So we were talking to his family about their new years goals and his youngest son said that he wanted to try to work on his singing talent because he has a deep voice.  His mom told him he should do the ward choir with her, my ward mission leader response was "ward choir only works for African Americans" bahahaha so funny, okay all you might not think it is funny or that it doesn't make sense, but in the context of everything it was funny.

   Love you all!!!!

Love 

   Sister Metcalf

Monday December 29, 2014

White Christmas

I am pretty sure this year was the first white Christmas that I have ever had in my life, or at least that I can remember.  This week has really been a pretty good week, all such a blur so this email may be a little jumbled up.

   So on Tuesday we taught Amber St.George, the family that we had found the week before. It went so well and she was so prepared.  The spirit was there so strong and she understood that when she was baptized it wasn't part of that priesthood authority and she wants to be baptized by that proper authority! I can not tell you how many times I have recited Joseph Smith's first vision and every time I feel the spirit so strongly, it is by far my favorite lesson to teach those learning about the gospel.  I have decided that when Megan and I go to the Stake Presidents house to be released I just want to teach that lesson one last time to him(that is my request).  Anyway I also can testify how the adversary is real! No joke right after the first vision, her roommate came in who is less active and just started throwing out random facts. Nothing bad but it didn't add to anything. And then when extending the baptismal date all heck broke lose with kids and everything, so the mood was gone, but this week we are planning on putting her on date.  One sad thing is that she is holding off on her kids learning for the moment because of all the changes in their life and as well as some legal issues and she wants to learn for herself first. But I am still pretty excited for her! It was a great lesson overall, very typical as a missionary, there is always something that distracts from the spirit.
    Christmas eve and Christmas was a really great day to see members and those that we are working with. We had tons of fun and were filled with food to the brink.  I even got the chance to have some family traditions still, the people I live with acutally have pizza for their Christmas eve dinner as well so I got to have some when I went home. I also got to participate in a gingerbread house competition.  Christmas time is such a unique time as a missionary, but I just love the spirit that is in the air.  I plan on still using the "He is the Gift" as much as I can until I go home to keep the "Spirit of Christ" going here in the Boise area.

    So the day after Christmas my companion was sick. I was not too happy about that, but I wasn't going to let that stop me.  After all of my normal missionary study schedules in the morning I called up some sisters to go on exchanges with. Even though I am not an STL anymore I got our STL to approve me going with some sisters that live literally a street away from us.  So i still got to go out and work and see one of our investigators.  Just being home for those few hours made me stir crazy, i really hope this is the last one for this transfer. I did not like that feeling of being home.  But for those few hours that I went out I felt so productive and the Lord blessed me and the sister I was with to be able to teach in unity.

    So when I was on exchanges we went to our appointment with Sallie Fogg and it was such a great lesson.  We focused a lot on prayer and how she is going to recieve an answer.  We focused on Moroni 10:3-5. about the desire she has and the real intent.  She told us she wants to read all of the Book of Mormon, she is in Alma 30, before she prays about it.  We explain to her about not waiting for the "right" moment but to be continually praying and asking if it is true while she is reading. I don't want her to wait till the very end expecting something and then not get anything because the whole time previous she hadn't been reading it with the spirit.  She said she is not ready to come to church yet, there is something that is holding her back and now it is our job to figure out what her real concern is and help her to resolve it.

    Okay funny story for yesterday. So there is a less active family that I told you about last week. Well yesterday we went over to help the mom(in her late 20s) get her 4 kids under 7 ready for church.  It was a little chaotic and we were running around like a chicken with our heads cut off hahaha So she knew that the church was on Locus Grove so we left the house first and I had a thought about making sure she knew which one but brushed it off. So we got to the church and waited 5 minutes and they were there. For a second I thought maybe they had bailed out and turned around, so I texted her. So turns out that she went to another church on Locus Grove hahaha Well I laugh at it now, but I was a little sad yesterday. We had put so much time and effort getting the family ready and next week will be harder because we switch from 1pm church to 9am. I guess she knew some people in the other ward like her family doctor so it all worked out. She text us "first goal make it to A church, next week make it to the RIGHT ward" hahaha Only in Idaho and Utah would you have the issue of having multiple churches all on a road(there is four by the way on Locus Grove).  So hopefully next week it will all work out.

    It was so great to talk to all of you on Christmas! And to hear about all the exciting news! I love you and miss you all! I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas.  Thank you for all the gifts as well! I love them and will put them to good use, you all treat me too well! Until next year....take it easy.(Get it? cuz next time you will hear from me will be next year hahaha) I am loving every minute of my mission and soaking it all up knowing that it is going to end soon :(

Love
Sister Metcalf
He is the Gift

How will you keep the spirit of Christ going in your own life?

 SNOW!

Me with my "Beach House"

Monday December 22, 2014

Glad Tidings of Great Joy!  He lives!

Wow! Where has this week gone?! Seriously I feel like this week has just flown by :( But it has been a week of miracles, it really has been a great week! So on Monday after all our preparation activities we didn't have dinner until 7 so we went out trying to contact some people. Literally everyone we were trying was not home, but looking back I knew that the Lord was slowing leading me to where we needed to be.  After trying another house, I remember that their neighbors were also last less active that I had tried before but was unsuccessful in the past. So we went to try them again and write away they opened the door and welcomed us right in.  It was one of those things where you are kind of just standing there dumb founded not quite sure if that had just happened.  So they are both less active, a complicated situation but they have four kids all under the age of 4.  They use to live in caldwell and would go once in a while with his family which is all active.  They use to meet with missionaries all the time. So they were super excited to see us.  It was funny because at first she had asked us who had sent us because earlier that day she was emailing one of her former missionaries that had been working with them and the missionary had asked her if they were going to church.  When they said no they missionary had responded about finding out who the missionaries were in the area, this family had just moved in about 5 months ago.  It is funny the way that the Lord works.  She was really excited to finally meet someone from the ward because she had been wanting to go but was afraid to because she didn't know anyone.  They were suppose to come yesterday to church but one of her sons had some breathing issues so they had to bring him into the hospital for a breathing treatment.  She was super bummed and said how Satan must know that they are wanting to come back so he is working hard on them.  She wants us to come back this week and is really determined to make it to church this next week.  It was such a tender mercy from the Lord and a good way to start off the transfer right, this was the first hour of our companionship.  Her kids are adorable, they are all under 8 and just remind me of all my neices and nephews.  Is is sad to say that I am already attached to this family and am really determined to help them to come back active.

     But this isn't it, let me tell you of an even bigger miracle from this week.  This week we had set goals as a companionship for this transfer, and one of the goals that I set is that I have always wanted to find, teach, and baptize a family on my mission.  I figured I shouldn't let that goal go just yet.  So during weekly planning on Thursday we got a call from another set of sisters who had a referral for us.  The bishop of their ward knew of a lady who was interested in the church, she had gone through a divorce a while back and is kind of in a sticky situation with her ex so she had to abruptly leave and move for safety purposes.  She happened to move into our area and is actually dating a less active memeber.  So later that day we went to go see her with the appointment that the previous sisters had set up for us.  She has three boys(16,14,11) and she told us how she is looking for something to straighten out their lives and to keep them on a good path.  She had gotten a Book of Mormon from the other sisters bishop and has already read up to Mosiah! She is just soaking it all in and is loving it, she already knows how to apply the scriptures to her life.  We shared with them the "He is the Gift" video and they soaked it right up! When we explained what our purpose is as missionaries they had eagerly excepted our invitation to take the lessons. She came to church yesterday which was just so great.  She could only stay for Sacrament meeting because she had already previously made an agreement to go to a family birthday party.  Her sons went to it, but she went late to in because she felt like church would be more important and it would be okay to show up late.  She had such a great experience and was even taking notes!  The sad thing is is that we found out talking to her after church that she has recently started a new job and she normally has to work on Sundays :( but she got lucky and got this Sunday off.  She said that she is trying to get Sundays off, but she thinks it might take a while.  We are going back tomorrow to teach them so we will have to see.

    This was such a testimony builder to me of how aware God is of our wants and our desires.  This was such a great tender mercy from the week! I have been on cloud 9 since Thursday, to be honest I can't really remember all that happened this week.  It is funny how just a few events of the week can turn your whole week around.  That can replace the negative with so much positiveness.  We have been working hard this week which has been a blessing to me because I was nervous that I would be home a lot this week with my companion.  But she has been doing really well, I hope and pray that she can stay this strong these next 5 weeks so I can continue to finish strong.

    I cannot tell you how much I love this area and the people here.  When I got transfered here, I kind of had closed off my heart.  Because I had grown so attached to Eagle and it was hard leaving after 2 transfers and I knew coming in I would only be here for 2.  To be honest I didn't want to try to allow more people into my heart when I knew I would be leaving so quick.  But they snuck up on me, they have caught me when I was off guard.  I have grown to love this area so much and in such a short period of time, I know feel so much tie to all 5 areas that I have served in.  Things are going so well! I am loving every minute of my mission!
     I am excited to be able to see you all on Christmas.  Last little note, yesterday we went to the institute choir concert and one of the songs they had a group of missionaries come up and say where they were from and to send Christmas wishes back home while someone was singing "I'll be home for Christmas". To be honest it made me tear up a little bit, a part of me wishes that I could see you all for Christmas, but overall I rather be out here in the field serving the Lord.

    I love you all so much and I hope you have a Merry Christmas.  My little spiritual message for you this week is this video to help you to remember what Christmas is all about Glad Tidings of Great Joy.

Love
Sister Metcalf

Monday December 15, 2014

Lucky #13

This past week was pretty jammed packed with a lot of stuff and it was all bitter sweet as well.

    On Tuesday Sister Broberg and I ended preforming in our Mission Christmas talent show.  We did a parody of the song "The Scientist" by Coldplay.  I will have to show you all the video when I get home,it was pretty funny.  It was there that I realized signing is defiantly not a talent that I have.  Only one other person did something funny, everyone else kind of took it seriously.  That was a little sad. We were more of the show I guess than talent, but it was great to see half of the mission.  We got to see Sallie Fogg earlier that day, she took us out to lunch to say goodbye to Sister Broberg.  We talked to her about Faith and how it is more of an action more than a passive belief.  She told us how she is already all the way to Jacob in the Book of Mormon.  I really see such great things for her, we are hoping to get her out to church and to help her to see that Baptism is the goal for her.

    The highlights from Wednesday and Thursday was the Live Nativity that our stake did.  It was so awesome, the youth did such an amazing job, sister Broberg and I walked through a couple of times.  The spirit there was so awesome.  Over 3000 people came out those two nights and there were quite a few nonmembers.  We ended up going through the live nativity with a potential that lives in our area! It was a great event to reach out to the community and to remind those on what the true meaning of Christmas is all about.

   On Friday I went to all of the departing missionary stuff, there was 15 of us.  It was crazy and weird all at the same time.  I was just thinking how I was glad to be there to see how much all of my friends and those that I came out with have grown, but it was also hard because they were all leaving and I still have a transfer left.  I joked with them that it felt like that book "My friends are all dead" It is a dinosaur book hahaha Anyway so we went to the temple and it was so amazing there, I balled so hard talking to some of the missionaries in there and the office staff that was there as well when I first came out.  It was there when I was praying that I had an overall whelming feeling of peace and knowledge that my Heavenly Father was proud of me thus far on my mission. And how I knew that I just neede to keep working hard and finish strong.  A tender mercy that made me aware that my heavenly father knows me happen there as well.  Before going to the temple I became all anxious with my companion leaving, plus I had 3 other companions that I had served with also going home :( So it was kind of emotional for me, but it was when I was waiting for our session that I saw the card that they give us to make sure that we had a seat.  On there was the #13.  I started to tear up, I knew that was a sign from my Father in Heaven.  For those of you that don't know, #13 is my favorite/lucky number.  It was a reminder as well that I was suppose to be here for 13 transfers with 13 companions.  There are no coincidences in with the Lord.  It was cool because before our session the temple president spoke to us and he was talking about that.  We got to ask a lot of questions and I got to ask some questions I had had for a while, it was great to see things in a different perspective. Afterwards we went to the mission home to have dinner and a testimony meeting.  It was a great experience overall.  I was ready to go though when those who were being picked up by their families started to show up.  It was cute to see, but hard as well.

    I don't know what it was but their was a couple of times this week, during the departing stuff and during our Christmas devotional when our mission president was showing a video of a family that made me a little homesick.  It was then that I realized how much I miss you all.  I mean I love serving out here and I am focus I promise, it was just a moment when I realized how long it has been since I have seen you all.

    Saturday I dropped Sister Broberg off to the mission office to be taken to the airport and also saw Sister Hatch there, lets just say that Friday and Saturday were pretty emotional days for me.  There are so many sisters that I have grown so close too and just to think of the impact that they have had on my mission and so many I consider such good friends.  I know they are glad to be home, but I will miss them as being fellow missionaries.  And I will miss the good times that Sister Broberg and I had together and all the miracles that we saw.
   We got a few lessons squeezed in this week but not that many with all the things going on and with sister Broberg starting to pack and going home.  Plus for the last few days of the week I was with another sister in her area whose companion also finished her mission.  Someone who I have really come to love in our ward is Sister Dilworth, she is so great.  She is a less active member we have just started to work with who actually has a son out on the mission.  I think that I have talked about her before, but she said how she wants to start coming out to church! I was so excited to hear that, its tender mercies like that that the Lord sends you that make your day.

   Okay now on to Transfers! So I am staying, that shouldn't be a shocker.  But sadly I am not training :( To be honest I was a little sad about this, I think I got my hopes up too much on it and was too confident since I was "killing"(being with someone for their last transfer) companion.   My new companion is Sister Smith.  I don't really no her very well, all I know is that she has some health issues and has been in the hospital a couple of times. Her last companion told me that they had to stay home quite a bit when they were together these last two transfers.  I am a little nervous, but I trust the Lord.  That is one thing that I was wanting to do this transfer, is fully give my will to the Lord.  I just hope that I am able to continue to work hard and give my all until the very end.  

   This is the end of the fourth quarter, there is no time to let up and there are no overtimes or do-overs.

  I hope all of you had a great week, thanks for keeping me updated with life back at home.  I love you all so much!!!!

Love
Sister Metcalf

Monday December 8, 2014

"It depends on the hands"
I can't believe that it is already Preparation day again! This letter might be a little shorter since I just wrote you a few days ago.  So last Thursday the people we lived with took us out to dinner.  Brother Olsen left for China on Friday so this would be his last time seeing sister Broberg before she left.  They took us out to a restaurant named Fork, it was super good.  I love this family, they are so awesome and they really do take good care of us.

    On Friday we had zone meeting, the zone leaders asked me to do the following up training on finding vs. referrals trap.  It is the same thing that I did in District Meeting.  I think that is the one thing I miss the most of being a Sister Training Leader(except for going on exchanges of course), is training.  I love telling people the things that I have learned.  I love helping increase their knowledge as well as help motivate them to be better missionaries and to work.  It is so true what they say, I learn so much more than they probably do when I study for and give a training.  We tried to contact some people but were on successful, we ended up stopping by an older couple in the ward to provide service.  We helped them put up their Christmas decorations, they were so grateful for that.  Last year they didn't have the energy to do it and they weren't sure if it was gonna happen this year! I seriously love seeing the joy and happiness on peoples faces when doing things for them.

   A tender mercy from Friday happened around8:30, it is always at the end of the night.  We had gotten out of visiting a part member family, which that within itself was a miracle as well.  We had been trying to contact them forever.  He opened the door and let us right in.  He went on a mission and is less active and his now second wife is not a member.  They have a son that is actually serving a mission right now.  So we are gonna try to start working with them.  Walking out Sister Broberg and I realized that their son has probably been praying for them while he has been out on his mission and we could be an answer to that prayer.  Anyways so after that tender mercy it was about 8:30 and we seriously had no idea where to go. We tried a few people but nothing was working out, I said a prayer to know who the Lord needed us to go see a Rebecca popped into my mind.  She is someone that we tracted into on Sunday and was interested in the live nativity.  So we decided to go back and to give her a flyer.  As soon as she opened the door she invited us in.  Last time we only visited with her for a few minutes on her doorstep.  She was so happy to see us, we only had a few minutes so we invited her to the nativity and she told us that she wanted to bring her non-member family with her.  It was awesome!!! She even gave us some muffins before we left and asked us to come back.  It is just like Megan has said before, it is always the last house!

     Saturday was a pretty busy day for us as well! We helped make fruit baskets the ward gives out to those they try to keep in contact with in the ward that are less active or might be struggling.  We then help set up the lights for the live Nativity that the youth put on which is this week! Afterward we helped a less active move out.  That was pretty hard, I seriously loved working with her.  She so wants to be active, but her husband is not wanting to at the moment.  They are expecting a kid so I hope that that softens his heart.  We were trying to get her to come to church and go to the temple with us.  I pray that the missionaries and members in that ward will swoop them up.  They are so ready to come back, or at least she is.  All she needs is some friendship!

    So later Saturday night I got to go back to my old are of Boise South again!  I got to go see Charlie Wilson baptize and confirm his daughter! It was such a cool thing to experience, to see someone you have helped come into the gospel baptize someone else.  He has totally change, you can see it in him.  He did such a good job and you could tell how happy he was that he got to baptize his own daughter and not another relative.  I got to talk to Bishop Bates a little before and he updated me on everything.  He told me how he sees Charlie being in a bishopric in about 5 years.  That is just so amazing to me to see how much the gospel can bless someones life.

   So I just want to end with the concept that I had heard the other week that really had a big impact on me... I call it 

"It depends on the hands"

 A Basketball in my hands is worth about $20.99, a basketball in the hands of Lebron James is worth 19 million per year.  It depends on whose hands its in.

A tennis racket in my hands is worth about $17.99.,a tennis racket in the hands of Serena Williams is worth about 20 million per year.  It depends on whose hands its in.

A baseball in my hands is worth about $3.00, a base baseball in the hands of Derek Jeter is worth about 35 million per year.  It depends on whose hands its in.

Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands would make a few fish sandwiches.  Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in the Saviors hands will feed 5000 people until they are full, and still leave 12 baskets left over.  It depends on whose hands they are in.

Some nails in my hands are worth about 5 cents.  Some nails in the Saviors hands will provide Eternal Salvation for each person who has ever lived on this Earth, and all of Heavenly Fathers' children.

It depends on whose hands they're in.  When we put our lives in the hands of the Savior we can achieve infinitely more than we ever could on our won.  It depends on whose Handsthey're in.

I love you all so much! I am so grateful to have you all in my life!  I hope you all know how important you are all to me, but more importantly I hope you know how important each and everyone of you are to our Father in Heaven and to our brother Jesus Christ.  They each love you immensely and I challenge you all this time of year to discover and embrace that love that they have with you and then share.  Discover the Gift of our Saviors birth.  Embrace that Gift. Share it.  Keep being amazing, look for opportunities to reach out to those around you and share that love that you and God has for them. Find the good and the positive each day, look for those tender mercies from the Lord.

Love
Sister Metcalf

Thursday December 4th, 2014

"He is the Gift"

It is hard to try and summarize a week and half worth of stuff that has been going on here, but I will try to do my best. It might be a little scattered and their won't be any pictures this week because I forgot my SD card reader once again hahahah

   Every week our ward mission leader feeds us, I seriously love that family.  And a while back ago we made a challenge where they had to read and pray as a family every single day and Sister Broberg and I had to find a new investigator.  If the other held up on their end of the bargain then the others had to eat a worm.  Yep a worm! So we all ended up accomplishing our goals which was awesome.  So last week on preparation day we bought some worms and we completed the challenge.  Sister Broberg and I ended up going first.  When it was the families turn only our ward mission leader and one of his sons did it.  It seems pretty crazy, but it was great.  We really got the family fired up and motivated to making it a habit.  But I don't think I will ever do that again, once in a life time type of thing, i don't think my body was too happy with me afterwards hahaha
      So last Wednesday I got to go to a baptism from my old area! I seriously have been so blessed by the Lord. Elizabeth Croft was supposed to be baptized in April when I was still in Boise South. Things came up with her husband (who is in prison) and it had to be pushed back but it finally happened. Before the baptism, I walked into the building and saw her standing by some missionaries outside of the Relief Society room.  We both just started crying before we even started hugging each other.  I really grew close to her. We had our weekly scheduled appointments but stopped by randomly through out the week. She always called us her angels because when we would show up unannounced, she usually had something happen that made her question or just ruined her day. Truly the best feeling is when you know you have answered somebody's prayers and we did for her a lot with out knowing. Love her and she is going to do amazing things!  I don't know what it is but my last few baptisms of mine have been people that have been investigating for a while, so there always tend to be tons of missionaries there. Got to love it.
    So last week was actually a really great week, I can't believe that it was Thanksgiving.  That seems like forever ago! But pretty much the whole week was Thanksgiving because all the people that feed us before Thanksgiving were going out of town but the still wanted left over turkey( good for them not for us).  And then even after Thanksgiving we got left overs with what ever they can think of with putting turkey in.  Let's just say that by Sunday evening we were all turkey out and we were done with having feasts.  Thanksgiving was great though, we got to see so many people and I even got to see a few people from my old area! It seriously was so great, it was such a great day and I feel like we didn't over eat...too much.

   On Friday Sister Broberg and I thought it would be the perfect time to try and accomplish the Big Judd's challenge.  It is a restaurant that actually a member from my old area owns, and they have an eating challenge that we both have been wanting to do since we came out.  It consists of eating a 1 pound burger, a pound of fries and a 72 ounce drink in 30 minutes.  We thought the day after thanksgiving would be perfect with our stomachs already being stretched out.  We spent that morning preparing for it, we had district meeting so the whole morning we just kept drinking water, which resulted in us going to the bathroom a ton hahaha The people we live with took us because they wanted to try to see us do it(i am sure mom you got all the videos and pictures).  We were so confident that we were going to be able to do it and everyone watched us that were in the restaurant.  Sadly we were defeated, and it was on that day that I vowed to never do a food eating competition again, i guess I can cross that off my career list hahaha

     Things with Sallie Fogg are going so well! Her health have finally been great and she is back to working again, but she has us come over on her day off to teach her.  It has been so great working with her, we taught her the Plan of Salvation last week and then this week we focused a lot on prayer with her.  The whole time that we have been teaching her she kind of has been responding like all religions are the same and they are all great, but this week she finally admitted that she believes that she is one true church(or one that contains the fullness of the gospel).  So the lesson this week was perfect, we explained how for her to find out the truth she needs to pray.  She agreed to pray about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon.  I think she is a little hesitant to receive her answer because if it is true she will have to talk to her husband, who is a less active member and still has some hard feelings towards the church.  She is already in second Nephi which is amazing! We also got her to come out to a Relief Society activity this week! A lot of the women really reached out to her and so we are hoping that that she has made a few friends and knows so people in the ward she will feel more comfortable to come to church.  I see the change happening in her and I hope to be able to help set a date for baptism before I leave.

   So I am sure all of you are well aware of it and have heard of the big push that the church is doing this Christmas season.  We actually had a special meeting on it last week and have been focusing on that a lot this past week.  For those of you that haven't seen the video, it is amazing and you need to watch it! He Is the Gift This really helps us all to remember what the true meaning of Christmas is all about. So many people have been open to us talking about our Savior Jesus Christ, I guess this time of year has been really helping us with this.  We have had quite of few people that have been really excited and willing to go to the live nativity that the church is putting on in my area.  This is the perfect time of year to find those that are searching for something more.  

    As you go about your shopping this holiday season, don't forget the the reason for gift giving is to show our love.  That same love that our Father in Heaven showed to us by giving us the first gift of Christmas.  Christ was the first and greatest gift that we all could of received, it is only through Him that we are all able to be together with our families forever and be able to return back to our loving Heavenly Father.

    Things are going so well out here, I am loving every minute of it! There is no other place that I would rather be this time of year then trying to show everyone the love that God has for them.  I encourage all of you to share that video and while giving out cookies this year put one of those pass along cards you got in the Ensign(church magazine) or giving them a copy of "The Living Christ".  Don't forget the true meaning of CHRISTmas and share that love with those around you!

Love
Sister Metcalf

1) Elizabeth's baptism

2) "How to eat fried worms"

Monday November 24, 2014

A week of "A-has"‏

Let me start off with talking about one of the greatest highlights of the week: The Cuiellars' Baptism!!!!! So this is a family from the Summerset ward that I had been working with for over a year!!! So the Elders back in March 2013 tried to work with them but they had dropped them because they didn't know what to do with them.  So when I opened the area back in Sept. 2013 there was no teaching record or info of them.  It was when I was going through old progress records trying to get information on stuff that I came across them.  They were written in on only two progress records but a long time ago, but I decided to go and try to contact them again.  I started working with Juanita who is the mom.  I worked with them a ton and then when I left I didn't hear too much about them.  Until a month ago we got a text from the mission office about their baptism(i think i wrote about this a few weeks ago).  This was a testimony to me of how I always need to go through all old papers and information.  What if I would of thrown all those papers out assuming that the area was well organized and the teaching records would of been there(well i guess they never really taught them, we were the ones that started teaching them) they could of been lost forever and would of never came to know the truth.
    Anyways so I went to the baptism and it was so good!!! As soon as I arrived it was packed with members from the ward and missionaries.  I went right up to Juanita and her two kids getting baptized and just hugged them.  Juanita and I hugged for such a long time and just cried to each other.  I told her how proud I was of her and the example that she has been to her family and how strong that she was.  She told me that she has never been this happy before in her life and she told me that there was no way that she would be able to go through her Baptism without me there.  She is seriously an amazing woman, some day I will tell you all about it.  It was such a neat experience to see her get baptized.  When the Bishop was welcoming her into the ward he did something that he had never done before.  He had every that was serving a mission and had ever served a mission stand up, then he had those that were not currently serving to sit down, and then he had all the other missionaries that had not served in the Summerset ward sit down as well.  As I stood there with a handful of other missionaries Bishop Root talked about how valiant we were and how grateful he was to work with us.  It was there that I started to cry! It hit me as I look at Bishop Root and at the Cuiellars and at all the other members in that room how much I missed them all.  That area  and ward had such a huge impact on my life, I could never forget them.  I had an ache in my heart thinking of all the great memories there and it killed me to know I will never serve them as a missionary again.  But I am grateful for the opportunity that I got to go to that baptism and feel the spirit there so strong and to see all the ward members and to hear the impact that I had on their lives.  I promised them that when I get home that one day I will just show up in the church meeting.  That is a promise that I am going to keep!  That is one thing that I am grateful for that I got the opportunity to serve in a place so close where I could come back to visit those that I have served.
   So things are going well with Sally Fogg in our area, we got to see her this week a couple of times because she is off work, but she goes back this week :( She has already read most of 1 Nephi!  You can really see the spirit working on her.  Last night we went with her and her less active husband to Hymns of Thanksgiving.  It is a community event that was actually started by a member in the church where the sing hymns of thanks.  It was really great to be able to bring them there.  Sally always jokes about us that one day we will "tie her down to the floor" to convert because that is what she thought missionaries do before she met with us.  But what she doesn't realize that it is her that is really "tying herself down to being converted".  It has been great to really see the change in her these past few weeks.

   Things are still hard at times in our area, but I came to a realization and committed myself to something this week.  Okay my thoughts are scattered but I hope this will all make sense to you.  This came to me as I was studying for a training that I had to do at District Meeting. Our meeting was focused on "traps" as missionaries.  Mine was on finding vs. referrals and us falling into the trap of waiting and relying on our only source of finding through referrals.  I have decided that this is such a great time of a year where people hearts are soften and receptive to the spirit and listening to a message about the Savior.  Even our stake is doing a two night event where they have a live nativity that is outside with the youth as actors and they bring in live animals, even a camel!!! hahaha Anyways, so here is what I declared to my district and to myself.  That I want to go home with bloody knuckles.  I want people to think that I was in a fight because in all honesty I am, I am in a fight against the adversary.  I want to knock on every single door in our area, even though tracting is not as effective.  But you know what, I want to go home swinging, I want to go home knowing that I tried to bring every single person I could closer to Christ.  I can't just wait until they come to me, I keep saying the area is tough.  But I know that I can't stay that there is no work until I have knock on every house.  So that is something that I have committed to: to knock on every door.  I want to come home so tired!

    Don't worry about me for Thanksgiving, I am going to be well taken care of! We have a Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Desserts, and lots of other people that have asked us to stop by the home on this wonderful day.  I think I might be too well taken care of this holiday season, hopefully you will still be able to recognize me when I get back ;)
   So I had this realization today as I was having personal study of why as missionaries we don't live in the world and the reason for the rules that we have.  They are all there to help us build our testimony.  This is the time in our life's where I have solely focused on spiritually things. I have been able to figure things out and question things while focusing on getting those answers by using spiritual resources(i.e. the scriptures and prayer) and not having the influence of the world.  There has been no other point in my life where things have been so clear to me and I know exactly what I know to be true with out a shadow of a doubt.  I realized how important it is for me to write down my testimony that I have right now because when I go back home that influence of the world will try to start to put its input into my testimony.  I see those that I am working with how the word has shaken their testimonies, it made me realize that if for whatever reason I start to question what I know to be true that it will be because of what the world is trying to make me think.  That I can look back at this point in my life and realize where I should when I was not apart of the world.  That is something that really burned deep inside me today and I just had this overall reassurance of how important my testimony is not only to me but to those around me. I realize how special and precious it is as well and that I need to continue to nourish it when I get home.  I challenge all of you that may be struggling or questioning things about what you believe to "take the world out of the equation". Study it out in the scriptures and talk it over with your Father in Heaven.

   I can not tell you how much my testimony has grown not only over the course of my mission, but so much even more this past transfer.  As I have been rereading the Book of Mormon and studying the conference talks about Joseph Smith, my whole body burns with the testimony that I have of him.  Over and over there is evidence that he was called to restore Christ original church and that there is no way that he himself could of written this "book from heaven".  I also had a realization this week as I was studying talks how important it is for me to know where my testimony is at and to strengthen it before I can help others.  

    If there is one thing that I could be grateful for this time of year it would be the opportunity I have had to be here out serving a mission.  This period of my life has changed my life and has changed my testimony for the better! I needed to serve a mission not only for others, but for myself.  I now know that I will never waver because of the experiences I have had on my mission that have built my testimony to where it is at today.  I am even more grateful for my Father in Heaven and my Savior Jesus Christ.  Isn't it interesting how Thanksgiving come right before Christmas? That we realize what is good in our lives to humble us and prepare us to receptive to the spirit to remember what our Savior has done for us. Coincidence? I think not.  And last but not lease I so thankful for all of you. For all your love and support that you have given me on my mission, you will never realize the impact that you have had on my mission and life.  It is because of all of you that I am out here and still out here serving a mission.  I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Take a moment to not only public express what you are grateful for to those around you, but specifically to your father in Heaven as well.  

Love

Sister Metcalf

Pictures: Juanita Cuiellar and I

All the missionaries that I have worked with them

Sister Broberg and I in Idaho City

Monday November 17, 2014

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

This week has been another slow one for us up here in Meridian.  We walked most of the week to help keep us busy trying to talk to people on the street.  It ended up snowing Wednesday night up here and no joke probably snowed for almost 48 hours straight.  It was so nuts!  We really didn't have much planned for Friday so we headed so we spent a good part of the day shoveling peoples driveways.  Man I have never been so sore in my life.  We defiantly slept well that night.  A lot of people looked at us like we were crazy offering to shovel to shovel their walks for free. 

    The ward had a chili cook off which is such a great opportunity for them to invite their friends to.  I don't think that was ever anything that we did down in Simi, but I think it is a great idea.  I feel like in this area almost every ward does it.  Even though the roads weren't that great and it was pretty cold Friday night there was still a really good turn out.  It was also a great opportunity for me to be able to meet more people in the ward.

    A tender mercy from the week was picking up a new investigator.  Her name is Sallie Fogg, her husband is a less active member. The sisters had visited with her before but she hadn't shown much interest.  When I came into the area she has had some events in her life to humble her, she got a priesthood blessing the first week that I was here so I really didn't get a chance to know her.  This week we went by to see her because she has to now stay home due to some new health issues.  While we were talking she randomly asked us when church was and where just in case she ever wanted to sit in the back and observe.  This just blew our minds, no one has ever been the one to bring up going to church to us first, so we talked to her about learning more.  She has really come along ways and we invited her to take the discussions and she agreed.  We taught her the Restoration and it went really well, we committed her to read the Book of Mormon. And when we went by her house Friday to shovel her driveway for her she had told us that she had been reading! From what Sister Broberg has told me she has been taking leaps and bonds this transfer, we really have high hopes for her. We have really been trying to push the work along in this area and its been tough not gonna lie, but it was such a blessing from the Lord to be able to pick up a new investigator.

    One thing I learned this week as well came from a less active family.  They don't as active or don't come to church very often due to their daughter playing basketball.  The don't force her to go to mutual because she claims that their aren't girls there that she gets along with or play sports.  Their whole life revolves around her and her sports, they see her playing in college so they are doing everything in their power to help her make it there.  It made me realize how grateful I was for you Dad and Mom, that you didn't let my life be revolved around sports.  That you helped me see the importance of the Gospel in my life.  That one day I wouldn't be playing sports and their were different things that needed to be a focus in my life to prepare me for that day.  You helped me to start building my treasures up in Heaven then here on earth.  So thank you for helping me to build my testimony when I was young and making me go to mutual to help me to branch out and to be friends with those around me.

   This week we have been going around contacting people and teaching the members the Lesson of the Restoration to talk to them about those around them that would be receptive to hear our message.  It has been a great experience and it really has affirmed to me over and over again how true this message is.  It just burns in my heart and soul, one of the members we taught returned from his mission five years ago and he said to remember the feelings we have on our mission because we will never be able to feel them with that much intensity again.  That really hit me, so I went home that night to write my testimony down and to write the feelings that I had.  I love being out here teaching and testifying to everyone even when things feel like they aren't going at the pace that I would hope.

   I am just trying to enjoy every moment of the mission, snow or shine!

Love

Sister Metcalf

1-So much snow!

2-Us by our car before we went to go shovel peoples driveways...got to bundle up! 

Monday November 10, 2014

Faith has a short shelf life

Dear Family and Friends,

      I feel like at different points of this week that it went by quickly and other times it went by slowly.  The area I serve in is different from the one that I was in previously.  I know one thing that I wanted for the end of my mission was to be diligent and work hard and I feel like the Lord is really testing me.  There is not much work going on in this ward, and it is less than a square mile big so I am really going to have to dig deep and work hard to build up this area and get the work moving along.  Most of this week I spent the time organizing things and getting the area in order so we could more effectively plan and work.  It is funny because I feel like I really don't OCD about things but I guess when it comes to the Lord's work I like it to be organized.  I was a little shocked coming into the area because not much was marked up and not much information was written by people.  Luckily they had progress records from all the way back to before I came out on my mission which was funny to see.  So i went through all of them and wrote down the important stuff on the ward directory or teaching records and then threw out the rest that weren't recent.  TO be honest a lot of them just said about people not being home.  We then went through and redid our white board that way we could see everyone and all the potentials that we have to work with and even went through and created a street list( a list of all the members by street).

    We pretty much walk around a ton because our area is so small.  I think that is one thing that has been hard for me this week that our area is so small and their aren't really many people that we are working with.  We have one investigator but he is a schizophrenic and has actually removed his names.  So staying busy is really hard, I have been trying to figure out how to approach things in a different way here because it is so small and because it has already been worked in so much.  But I am going about it in a positive attitude.  I have so much faith that there is people in this area that are ready to be baptized, and that is something that we want this transfer.  We might have to track the whole area to find them(which we could probably do by the end of the transfer to be honest).  A lot of people have heard about the church before or know of us and so your typical door approach just won't cut it here.  Luckily we have a lot of activities coming up and holidays as well which should help.  I guess this is my big test to really see if I am willing to be diligent and work hard till the very end. 

    This week we met a lot of people, mostly those that are not interested, but Sister Broberg and I just saw that we are weaving out the "tares".  We had zone meeting this Friday which was really good, we actually have 30 missionaries in our zone which is a huge difference from 12 in my last zone. Things are moving along and we are determined to keep the work really picked up in the area.  It has been good serving with Sister Broberg, I feel like we are laughing all the time which is great and helps when we find those that aren't ready to take the next step in their life.

   So here is a little rewind for you, I didn't get an opportunity to write about zone conference that much last week so I wanted to this week because it was so great! The theme of Elder Godoy's address was "Every phase is building the future of you". He really focused on marriage and future families. As missionaries we've all gone through the stages of being a new greenie/missionary. Some of us have been a new leader or trainer. One day we will all be new RMs, new couple, new parents or grandperents, new dead person on the other side (he mentioned how he's pretty sure there is a MTC for the newly deseased). One day we will all be new gods talking classes like 'How To Create Worlds 101'. Elder Godoy brought up the idea that as important as DOING what you're supposed to in what ever phase of life is BEING who the Lord wants youto be. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." No one can be perfect in every phase as Christ was but we each have a level that we are perfect at. An apple is perfect as an apple should be. A banana is perfect as a banana. One should not look at the other and judge according to what they see as perfection (And then he started to go off on the Barney song about apples and bananas. I told you, he's crazy in the best possible way). So we all are given a level that we have to achieve at that time and no more. Just a brilliant talk. He then brought up that the baptisms in the world have gone up 11% across the world and 13% in the United States. How much in the Idaho Boise Mission? A grand total of 31%! Wooh! Just random tidbit he threw in:)

   Things here are good! I read a talk this morning by Elder Eyring, where I got the title of my subject.  This talk was so good and really hit me hard. I really feel like you all should read it! Spiritual Preparedness . You all should read it and really apply to your life, we need to be doing things daily to build our faith, we can't just build it all up and store it for a time that we need to dip into it.  This talk was given almost ten years ago and I feel like it applies to us so much today, it is a testimony builder today that the Prophets and Apostles have been called my the Lord to prepare us.

    I love you and miss you all and hope that you have a great week.  Pray with faith for and expect miracles, I know I am.  Create those miracles and tender mercies in your life.

Love
Sister Metcalf