Photos

Biking Week #2 and I Am Still Awake, I swear

Another Biking week! It was like each day I had less and less energy as my muscles got tighter and tighter by Sunday. 

Our week was full of dinner appointments, and I am glad that we were fed this week;

On Wednesday, all of our appointments cancelled, and no one came to the Book of Mormon class which we decided to hold at the church. 

No investigators yet to church, and no set baptism dates. 

. . . 

I've had some thoughts during my studies this week: 

"The scriptures mention 'the brother of Jared'. Who is the brother of Jared, and why didn't they ask for his name? They mention Jared, and his brother Pagog; but they still call this other brother, 'the brother of Jared'". My companion laughed at this one. 

I also have realized that the reason why the Prophets in the Book of Mormon have received their revelation in the way they did, was because they were prophets, and they held all the Priesthood Keys in order to receive that revelation. I pondered on this because I have never received any revelation as direct and as bold as the Prophets have. My revelation might be an idea or  two, or a name of who I can help today, or what to teach a certain person, or a small whisper of the spirit such as, "wait." "stay." "Be patient." "You can do this." "so-and-so loves you." "Heavenly Father Loves you." "Jesus loves you." "Be careful, this has [food allergy] in it." Etc. But never so much revelation as the prophets. Makes sense, I guess. 

I have also realized that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have different personalities. Heavenly Father is the judge, and Jesus Christ is the Advocate. Jesus does not judge, but invites us all to come unto Him. I knew this before, but when I studied the words that both of them say and the way that they said them, really intrigued me. 

. . .  

For our mission, we are now doing a 'Walk-and-Talk' for 3 hours where we go outside and walk and talk to people, and our focus is to share the restoration of the gospel. It was really Fun. We met a lot of people, and we found 4 investigators out of it. I met a lady named Candi Barr; she really wanted to know what our religion is about, and we had a lesson with her discussing why good things happen to bad people, etc.  We talked about the plan of salvation, and how in the Pre-earth life, we accepted Heavenly Father's Plan, and how that also means that we accepted everything that we were going to face here in life. That means that we accepted all of our trials and challenges, and everything that we were going to face in life. All of our trials and challenges, and how we react to  them, prepare us for our next life. Each  trial tests us, and each trial shapes us. God sends more things are way because he knew that we could handle it, and he also wants to put us through the refiner's fire, just like what they do to purify silver. By the time we are perfected in a certain thing, He can see His reflection in us.  We accepted everything that was going to come our way, so we might as well ask ourselves, "What can I learn from this experience? How can I grow from this? What can I do so that I can get through this?" Everything we go through, is for the good, regardless if it doesn't seem that way.

We wouldn't know good, if we didn't have the bad. Therefore, we know, as human beings, because of the Fall of Adam and Eve. In the Garden, they didn't know good from evil, until they were tempted to partake of the fruit. 

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I enjoyed the Womens Broadcast on Saturday. Even though it was an hour and a half long, I felt it was too short. I love conferences, and the General Conferences. Which is coming up, by the way! I am super excited for that!

President Uchtdorf made a great comment about how we are all worth the same, regardless of what we wear, what we do, and what we look like. No one is above anyone else, and Heavenly Father sees us and loves us all equally. I heard that has been going around Facebook and I wish I could see that. Those words are precious. 

...

Meet The Mormons is about to hit Regal, AMC, and Cinnamark Theaters in October (around the 16th, I believe). The missionaries just got to watch it early. Our Mission President Streamed it for us and we got to watch it. It has been produced by the General Authorities of the church and is a church video. It was made in the hopes that it will clear up any controversies about this church. It mentions about 10 different families and what they go through their normal lives. It even mentions a section about what we do as missionaries. There was a part that made a lot of the missionaries cry - even me, because we all went through that experience when saying goodbye to our families for 18 mos to 2 years. I recommend everyone to see it! 

It mentioned a quote by President Gordon B. Hinckley, and how Anger is a sign of weakness. 

If you go to meetthemormons.com, you can request the movie to come to your area. Please do this! It's such a great movie! 

I have a headache and I hope all of my letter made sense by the time it was through.

I would write more but I am almost out of time!

I love you all, and I hope you all are doing well. 

-Sister Marshall 

Photos from This week in Morehead City

Saw  wild horses 

My parents' package came! Thanks!

Cockroach: dead. 

A Week of nothing but Tests, Patience, and Trial

Well, this week we had the car again. I am so glad we did! 

I bought a bike and later today (hopefully) I get to test it out; it's not the best bike, and I bought it at wal-mart. 

This week we were invited to dinner and we visited Michael and Stephanie. Michael is less-active and Stephanie used to be an investigator. The previous sets of missionaries were overbearing with her, and she mentioned how that pushed her away. Michael has a desire to come back to church, but only when he is ready. I really hope they can come back to church, in some point of their lives!

We visited Eunice, and she has been a member for over a year now. Her testimony is strong, and I love hearing what she has to say. She mentioned that when she found the gospel, she found a spot in her heart that she didn't know she was missing, and she was able to fill it. She also mentioned how there is no way she can turn back now to how she used to be because she wasn't living her best before. The gospel has changed her life, and she is a living testimony of that change. I am so glad that Eunice is a member. She certainly strengthens my testimony about the gospel. 

We went with Sister Matthews to go and find someone who we found on the street while on our bikes. He told us two different street names but with the same number 410, when we asked again what the address was. This was in text. Well, we went to both locations, and the first was in a trailer park, and then the other one was off the street where we live. With the apartment where we live, the person was not there. Through that, though, we found a new investigator, Trish, along with her two children. That is a blessing in disguise. 

 The craziest highlight of the week was when Sister Putnam and I had a lesson with Deb and Jo. They say that their beliefs and our beliefs are very similar, but, in reality, they're not. Deb and Jo believe that we are in a state of consciousness, and there are many levels we have to go through in order to clear up our Karma. Jo said that he worships by meditation, and when he says a certain phrase, or sound, he was so bold when he exclaimed, "And I get to see purple!" and.. this experience was just... different. When they prayed, it's like they have to go through many levels of consciousness in order to pray to Heavenly Father. In a way, it was like they had to part the clouds in order to contact Heavenly Father. They mentioned the sound consciousness, and the space consciousness, and all these other things; they did end the prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, though. We dropped them last week because they were interested, but they did not have a desire to change; they wanted to learn, but not to act. They also wanted to share some of their religion with us, but Sister Putnam, the member, and I could tell that something was missing in their life. Deb is excited to die to get to the next level of life. The only thing we could do at this point, was to drop them, meaning, 'to not stop by anymore.' 

We had to go to a missionary conference, and we had to drive over 90 miles, with our own vehicle, because no member would take us. Members were supposed to take every set of missionaries and we were not supposed to use the miles for the mission, which come from Salt Lake. We cannot go over our set miles, and this means that we just have less people to see. But, the meeting was good; we learned more about how to handle our stress and how we all go through certain stages of stress in our lives; we also learned that we needed to listen to music that had full sentences (even musical phrases, which run in sentences), and how rock music can disrupt our brain waves and the way we think. Our brain follows the pattern of music, and that is why a lot of music can relax and soothe us. Classical music has been proven to help us relax and to grow in knowledge; rock music can do opposite. That stuff was good to know. 

Oh. Another thing. A cockroach 2 nights ago. I saw it in the morning, and I didn't know where it went. Later that night, I was afraid of sleeping because I didn't know where it was. I woke up screaming in the middle of the night because I felt something crawl on my face. I woke my companion up. and she wanted to know what was up. When I turned on the light, the cockroach was right next to me on the bed, and I had to pretty much tear my bed apart (it was moving super fast) so that I could get it. I took the blankets off, flipped the mattress to its side, and then I kept looking for it. It eventually crawled back to the backside of the box spring, which faced me, and I hit it with a shoe. When I did that, the bug touched my hand and flew to the floor. When it was dead, did sister Putnam finally get to see it; I had been telling her that whole session that I did see a cockroach. Well, I was finally able to sleep in peace after 2:45ish in the morning. 

Church was really good; none of the investigators shown up, though. We have a full meal calendar this week, which is really good. 

Oh. Also -- I did some studies and I noticed that it mentions in the Bible that we are not supposed to drink Wine and Strong Drink. God's law has been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith, which is called the Word of Wisdom.

That is all I can say for now! 

 I know that my Savior lives, and I have felt the Atonement in my life as I have come to access it, through repentance and forgiveness, and through prayer. Even though He died for our sins,  we have to receive that access on our own; that is how we can feel God's forgiveness. I know this to be true, and I am so grateful to be a member of this church.

I love you all, and I wish everyone a good week.

-Sister Marshall

Biking, Biking, and More Biking

Our progress record was full on both sides, plus half way through on another progress record. We saw over 20 people last week, and it is so hard to remember each one since a lot of the visits were short. We also taught a lot of men. It's surprising how many men there are walking about. 

Biking - All week. The first day biking, I had to bike with Sister Putnam in the warm rain later in the evening. 

We stopped by a former (who was dropped), and her name is Joy. We saw joy after biking in the wet rain. We asked if we could do any service for her, and she said we could vacuum. Since she had a busy week, with this little act of service, she had tears fill her eyes and at the time I did not understand how something so small could mean so much. My companion said she watched me the entire time. Afterwards we shared a message with her about the Atonement and how our burdens are a lot lighter because Christ died for us. We can access more power of the atonement when we pray, and sincerely ask for forgiveness. As strange as this experience was, I don't think I'll ever forget it. 

We did some service at the thrift store on Tuesday, and we biked all the way there and it took over 10 minutes. Along the way this elderly man said "Hey, cutie!" To the both of us and my companion freaked out after we passed him. She mentioned how men say something a lot here.  We just assorted clothes and since we did service there, we get a discount. Too bad we can only buy things on our Preparation days!

We had exchanges last Friday and so I went to Havlock for less than 24 hours. During the exchange, we visited a lot of less actives, and we also had some miracles. 

We brought Willow, a 16-year-old with us to be a member present in our lessons that evening. I was so amazed at her testimony and how she was able to explain how she felt about the gospel and how she explained what we read in the Book of Mormon with the investigators.

We tried to see another woman in the area and someone else answered the door. My companion and I mentioned what we do as missionaries, and she asked how old I was. I said 22, and her eyes were wide, and she exclaimed, "Really, I thought you were 16. You look so young!" This is the first time someone thought I was that young on my mission. Usually people thought I was 19. 

We visited a woman who was due that day with her child, but was not about to go into labor anytime soon, in her home. She had a 3 year old and a 1 year old. The 3 year old was trying to pester his mother the whole time, and while doing so he grabbed his little sister's diaper off and his mother realized that she needed to be changed. This was all happening while we were trying to teach her gospel principles, and we had to continue as if nothing was happening. That was for sure an experience for me. The 3 year old was so rowdy, and then his mother turned on the TV; he was instantly quiet as he sat in timeout. His little sister tried to get his attention with the cup she wore on her fist, and he was completely zoned out on the TV. After the quiet, we were able to explain more about 1 Nephi 2. I loved Nephi's diligence to God and how he was willing to do anything that He commanded him to do. Willow mentioned that obedience played a great role in that. 

We also met a woman named Lori who watched a child for a lady that we were planning to go see. She recently had her baby and it was a darker skinned; she was a very pale woman. She was also Catholic. We asked at the door if we could share our message with her and she said sure; we were able to go in, first try. We taught her the restoration and with everything we mentioned, we could feel the spirit.  We have a return appointment. Sister Hymus (the missionary I was with for this exchange, said after we left, "what just happened?" and I beamed. I love moments like this on the mission). 

After exchanges, and I was back with Sister Putnam, we encountered a 17-year-old boy, named Tristin, who was walking on the street. We stopped our bikes and introduced ourselves. We asked him what his relationship with God was, and he said it was pretty good. He said that his days were getting worse as time went on, and he was trying to find peace. He also mentioned that he was escaping what was going on in his household. We mentioned that the message we had to share about the gospel can really bless his life, and we bore testimony of the restoration of the gospel, one point after another. He asked us, "How old are you?" to Sister Putnam, and she and I said "21," and "22." When I said I was 22, he did something similar what this older woman did to me: his eyes were wide, and his expression was in a way like he didn't believe me. Another interesting thing that happened was that every time I bore truth to something, he gave me a "really?" look, like he did not believe me. He asked us, [" You say you are 21 and 22 - how can you find peace when you are so young?"] "Have you really found peace?" We both said we had. I mentioned that I found it by praying and coming closer to Jesus Christ, and applying the principles of the gospel in my life. Eventually, he said  ["I can find peace on my own, thanks."] We gave him a plan of Salvation pamphlet.  After this experience, I can gladly admit that I have found peace. It doesn't matter the age. There is no age barrier when it comes to Christ-like service, and if you think about it, anyone who finally finds peace in their golden years has had many years without that peace. They could have enjoyed that if they found it earlier. There is also a scripture that mentions 'learn thy wisdom in thy youth', and I know this to be true. 

On the street we also bumped into a 14-year-old girl named Brianna while we were on our bikes. She was walking to her friends house when we stopped her. We introduced the Book of Mormon to her and she said she felt good about our message. She said for us to talk to her dad to see if she could take the discussions. Her dad's neighbor broke a fence with a lawn mower and got the truck stuck somehow. It did rain hard the previous night, and I guess that area where the fence was, was swampy. It was a mess. The neighbors were laughing their heads off. My companion laughed. And I had no comment. After we saw that, Brianna's dad came to the door and he said that he told the Elders that he wasn't interested. He also mentioned that Brianna was probably just trying to be nice, like him. He also said, ["She's 14, she doesn't know any better"] and the first thing I could think of was that Brianna felt the spirit within our message, so regardless of what he says, she may have more interest in the near future. 

Also - at church, we had no investigators come to church; my companion mentioned that no investigators have came these past 7 weeks she's been here, which is disappointing! 

Right after this email session, I have to go to Wal-mart and buy a bike, since I'm using Sister Averett's currently. I have to give her bike back by Thursday, after my companion and I go to Goldsburrow for our zone meeting. That is over 90 miles, and we have to find a member to take us! 

This is all I can say for now. 

It's fun planting seeds. 

-Sister Marshall 

 

Photos from Transfer Week

Jackie!

Brooks 

Millie

Teresa 

Transfers, Chaos, and Peace

Well, it was the week of  transfers! Such a busy week! 

I got to say goodbye to some people who I had came to know and who I love dearly. 

We also had some miracles and we were able to teach an investigator whom we had not seen for over a month - Teresa - about the gospel. 

I had a spiritual prompting to give Millie my great-grandmother's scriptures and when I gave them to her, she burst out in tears. This was something she had been wanting for a very long time. She mentioned how she was going to read them all the time and how she was going to bring it with her where ever she went, and even put them next to her in bed (hopefully she will remember to read them when she wakes up! :D ). I am going to miss her. 

When it came just the day before transfers, though, we had to find our own ride to Greenville, and a ride that would take Sister Mahler up to Virginia, which was going to be about a 4 hour drive. It was around 8:30 pm and we still did not have a ride - we had to be up by 4 am or so. Brown was willing to give us a ride after the Relief Society President Called him. We could not ride with him, because he was a male. We eventually got a hold of Jackie, who we wanted to have a ride with (She went with the Elders for a lesson) and she said she could.  The Elders called us back (for they were trying to help us) and told us that they found a ride for us and they set everything up for us. So we had to call Jackie back, around 11 at night, and tell her that she didn't need to pick us up. 

I got to stay with Sister Griffin, one of my MTC companions in Greenville and I got to help her clean and pack; it was so good to see her, and Sister Bowen again (they share the same apartment!) 

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Morehead City - this place sure is interesting - and.. I'm right by the water!

 It's offensive to call someone 'African American' over here, and the correct term is 'black.' Where I'm from, it's completely opposite!

There are a lot of women who have a 60's hairstyle with a thick hairband on their head. It almost reminds me of the movie hairspray, but in a southern way. There are even men with 60s hairstyles... 

Some people ask if they can ask someone a question before asking it. 

I am now with Sister Putnam - her and I get along pretty well, and I am relieved. I am now living in a small house. I love the wooden floors.

Anyways, that is all I can write, for now! 

-Sister Marshall 

 

Transfers this Thursday!

Hey, so by this Thursday, I am going to Morehead City, which is about 30 min from New Bern. This is a biking mission - I may have to purchase my own bike, and I have to ride in a skirt (I have no idea how this is going to work!). 

My companion Sister Mahler is staying in New Bern, and she is going to be training a brand new missionary. 

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This week: We didn't do a whole lot of teaching, and many appointments fell through. We had 4 member presents, 1 investigator at sacrament meeting, 1 other lesson, 2 progressing investigators, 7 lessons taught to Less-active members/ Recent converts, and 1 blue book. 

We held a Book of Mormon Class on Tuesday, but only Jackie came. Instead of going in depth about the Book of Mormon, we decided to address her concerns. For days she was prompted to go back to a chapter in Nephi and she would pray about it. She didn't understand it but she did as we talked about it and she made a connection to what her sister had told her about her going to the Temple. That really made my night.

We went to Thai Thai Seafood restaurant again, and we went with the Brown Family. We shared a message with them at the very beginning, and right as we were about to leave, Brother Brown brought that old conversation back up again, with something like, "Oh, yes... back to Faith..." and his wife, sister Mahler and I laughed. He does that sometimes and brings conversations around a lot. 

We taught Ann again this week; the lesson was quite interesting. She does not understand why there needs to be a second book to the Bible; we asked her if she would like to continue these discussions and she said that as long as the church talks about the Bible, she would (our church does talk about the Bible, A-LOT).  She didn't come to church this week. We hope she is still interested in some way!

The highlight of my week was when we taught Colleen. We brought Sister Downing with us.

Colleen believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet and she believes in the Plan of Salvation. She believes in the 3 degrees of Glory because she can see how there are different degrees of living on earth right now (I would think of it being different types of people/ living situations / 1st class, 2nd class, etc). She does not understand the Great Apostasy and would like to see proof that all the prophets were killed at one point to show that the Priesthood Authority had been removed from the earth (the different churches today - since the Priesthood - the Authority to Act in God's name had been removed from the earth, many different churches were formed because they were in search for the truth. If the authority had not been removed, people would not need to search to find the truth. There one true God, and one true church <3 ) 

- Colleen also says that the only church she is going to attend is the Mormon religion and she mentioned how the Baptist faith prepared her for Mormonism. 

-She mentioned how her husband told her that the missionaries are trying to convert her, and was warning her of that; she mentioned to him how this was her decision, and after he realized that, he said that he would read the Book of Mormon right after she was done reading it. She also mentioned that God was telling her to keep reading the book. She is far into 2 Nephi now - I've never heard of an investigator read so far in such a short amount of time before. 

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The missionaries helped Margie move into a new trailer this week, too. It is far bigger than her previous one. It was interesting to see that when they were preparing to have the U-haul in the yard, Margie, and her other daughter outside the U-haul brought out their cigarettes. I don't think I missed a day where I saw someone bring out a cigarette. People smoke so much in the south! 

There was a woman in a nursing home that was out in the hallway, with her head down low. She was a very elderly woman and she said, "I'm by myself." And then she started crying. Sister Mahler and I went to talk to her and Sister Mahler gave her a Book of Mormon and explained it to her. She said she would read. I wanted to tell her that through Jesus Christ, she can never be alone, but, the opportunity passed. 

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Other things:

My new favorite tree besides the birch tree are crepe Myrtles. I just love the wood and how some branches can curl. 

- I have noticed that, as pointed out by my companion - that when we talk about negative things, we invite a negative spirit in. When we talk positive about others and we do not talk about evil things, we have a better chance at keeping the Holy Spirit to abide. 

-Many people in the south have a hard time letting things go in the past. They don't let you forget anything! 

This is all I can post for now!

It is quite amazing how Simple the teachings are with the gospel, and how great the blessings are that come from following Christ. It has been seen time and time again where the wise and complex cannot understand the gospel, because it is so simple. So many cannot comprehend it, especially those who are carnally-minded rather than spiritually minded. A scripture that reminds me of this is Alma 32:23 - "And now, he imparteth his word by angels unto men, yea, not only men but women also. Now this is not all; little children do have words given unto them many times, which confound the wise and the learned. " 

I know this gospel is true and I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve. I cannot express in words how I completely feel about serving the Lord, but I can tell you this: by being a latter-day saint, and by following the teachings within the church, I have been happier than I have ever been. I hope that for those who want something more in their life, this church has it. I invite y'all to church and I can promise you that as you live the gospel, your life will be blessed beyond this life.

-<3

Sister Marshall