Week 80: Last Letter

Dear Family and Friends,

It does not seem real that these are my last few days on my mission! I have loved it so much and I’m so grateful for the experiences that I have had.

We don’t have any time to email today because of all the fun things that we did today!

Thank you so much everyone for wishing me a Happy Birthday! I can’t believe I’m 21!!

I love y’all and will see you so soon!!

Hurrah for Israel!

Sister Moon

Week 79: Last Full Week in the Arkansas Bentonville Mission!

Hey Family and Friends,

This week has been pretty amazing!

This next week is my last full week here! I can’t believe this is real! I don’t think I’m going to accept the fact until I see all your wonderful faces again!

The Wickel family is amazing! They are working on becoming active again, We have FHE with them every week and it’s been so fun! They also went on an exchange with us to another returning less active family, and they just hit it off! It was awesome! Then they invited them to come to their house to have FHE with us, So that’s what we are doing tonight! We are so excited! Two of our favorite families in the same night! 🙂 Then we were at the Wickels for dinner and they have someone living with them for a bit until they find a house and they brought them to church with them, they will also be there tonight and said they want to learn more.

We went on Exchanges with our Sister Training Leaders this week. I was in Bartlesville with Sister Petersen who is also going home with me. We are sitting next to each other on the plane. She’s so awesome! It was a really great exchange. So once I got back the next day Sister Chatlin told me that the Owasso Elders had left a vacuum on the front porch of our apartment, it had a note saying, ” This is to help you clean up your act.” So we have kind of a rivalry going on with these Elders, so we have been taking pictures with the people we’ve been teaching with the vacuum and we are going to post the pictures on their car today with our vacuum that doesn’t really work in their back seat! It’s been so funny when we come up to people’s doors with the vacuum. We’ve had a couple of them say “….uh we already have a vacuum thanks tho.” hahha

I’ll send the pictures of their car next week!

I love y’all!

Hurrah for Israel!

Sister Moon

Week 78: Investigators & a Loose Tooth!

Dear Family and Friends,

Sorry this letter will not be very long because we got back late from a sisters outing we had and we have to leave for a dinner real soon!

Highlights from the week:

We got 3 new investigators at the beginning of the week and it was a miracle. We were going to have a lesson with a less active family and they were not home so we called them and they said they were not going to make it back in time for our lesson but that the mom had been talking with her older son and he and his girlfriend were asking questions and that we should go over and talk to him instead. They lived next door to them in a trailer on their property so we walked over there and they let us right in. We were able to have a really great lesson with them and they want to take the lessons! It was amazing!

A less active family that we have been working with for a while all came to church yesterday! They have a new calling and they are pretty excited about it. Bishop met with them and they have a goal to be sealed in the temple in December. We are excited for them!

We brought a member to a lesson that we had with them this week and their son had a loose tooth and was playing with it so the member we brought with us asked if he could see it. The member wiggled it and then grabbed him and YANKED his tooth out! Their son starts bawling and screaming for 20 minutes it was so sad!! But they came to church so I guess it wasn’t too traumatizing! hahaha

Again sorry it’s so short! Next weeks will hopefully be better! Good luck and safe travels Melinda on your flight to Tonga!!

I love y’all!!

Hurrah for Israel!

Sister Moon

Week 77: Referrals & Flooding Toilets

Dear Family and Friends,

It’s been a pretty good week!

We have been getting a ton of referrals this week and have been able to contact quite a few of them, no one super interested yet, but we still have some more to contact so we are hopeful for those!

Last Monday we had FHE with a darling family!! I love them tons! The Silvas. They are so funny! They get off topic really easily. They were talking about spiritual dreams that they have had. And the littlest girl stands up on the couch and says. “I had a dream!…… that I was a hot dog!” Then Sister Chatlin pulled out this random temporary tattoo of a hot dog and said. “Do you want this?” haha Then the 15 year old was like ” What is wrong with this family?! ” It was super funny! We are having FHE with them tonight too and we are excited! They are the greatest!!

We are also having FHE tonight with another family who is returning to activity. The Wickels! They are awesome too! The first few times we went over there they had a new animal each time. First time they had Guinea Pigs and the next time they had a new cat and the next time they had another turtle! They remind me of the Goyettes in Harrison! We are just waiting to see what animal they think of next! haha

We were able to finally get in contact with the potential we found about a week and a half ago. David, he’s awesome!! We talked to him out on his porch for a bit and he is super prepared! He had some really good questions that can be answered by the gospel, and he is in a Joseph Smith like phase. He sees the confusion and the different ways people interpret the bible and just wants to know the truth. It really is a blessing that we found him and that we have the opportunity to teach him! We are so excited! 🙂

A funny thing that happened this week, Our toilet overflowed and flooded our bathroom Wednesday right before we were about to leave for District Meeting! We were frantically trying to make the toilet stop pouring out water and we had plastic cups scooping water into our bath tub and we put a bunch of towels to soak up the water and then we would ring them out in the tub and put them back on the floor! It was so crazy! We called our District Leader and told him that we would definitely be late for our District Meeting. We rolled in about a half an hour late so it wasn’t too bad. hahaha We could not stop laughing it was so funny!

A cool experience that happened this week was our relief society president texted us and asked if we could make dinner for a lady who just got out of the hospital from surgery, and her family. Even though they had just moved out of our ward into another ward close by. We made the dinner and gave it to the Elders that are serving in the ward that they just moved in to. It was super awesome cause they let the Elders in and they were able to talk to the husband for a while who isn’t a member. And I guess that when the sisters before me tried to meet with them they had never been let in and they wouldn’t really talk to them. So it was really cool that service really does help and we can see miracles come from that!

I love Y’all and hope you have a fantastic week!

Hurrah for Israel!

Sister Moon

Cool shot from our first day!

They change this sign every month and… we are not flexible! haha

There are these weird statues around Owasso so we’ve been taking pictures with them.

The Toilet flooding incident. There was about and inch and a half of water.. you can’t see it that well.

And this is my lovely companion! We were just getting ready to pray and I couldn’t take her seriously!We know y’all want her to teach your friends the gospel! haha 🙂

Week 76: Getting to Know Owasso

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been great! We didn’t have a whole lot of success number wise but that’s not what it’s all about right?

I’ve been working on getting to know everyone and know my way around still. We’ve also been working on finding new people to teach and so that’s why we haven’t had as many lessons this week but had some really cool experiences instead!

On Tuesday we were contacting less actives who Sister Chatlin didn’t know anything about, we went to this one house and she wasn’t home so we were writing her a note when a car pulled up and someone got out and started talking to us. His name is David. He said that the lady we were looking for had moved and we asked him if he had found a church yet and he said no. So we invited him to come and he said he would like to and wants to learn more. So we were talking to him and getting to know him, when one of our members walks up and says, “Hey Neighbor” The member lives right across the street from David and he also invited him to church! It was super awesome!

We have also been going through and contacting former investigators and trying to find out if they still live there or are interested. We came across one named Kenneth and he sounded promising so we went and knocked on his door. He was so nice and talked to us for a while. He said he was still interested in studying with us and said his wife might join him in the lessons too. It was so awesome! He’s so nice and open and we are excited to start teaching him!

There’s a less active who has started coming back before I got here but we are still teaching him and he blessed the sacrament yesterday! We were so excited! He’s so awesome! Last week we taught him Patriarchal blessings and he’s thinking about it and also meeting with bishop so that he can receive the Melchezedec priesthood! It’s so exciting!

I really love the people here so much and we have amazing members! They are all so nice and willing to share the gospel with everyone!! 🙂

We were able to set two baptism dates this week! Patrick and Kelsey are father and daughter. Their baptism date is for October 24 so I won’t be there, but I’m so excited for them! They are super awesome and I’m excited to keep teaching them.

We also had a less active family who came to church! Usually the mom comes about every week but this week the whole family came! We also had a lesson with them last night and they are so awesome! Their hearts are sincere and they really want this for their family!

Yesterday in church was a great experience! I loved all the talks and lessons. They were all about families! I have noticed lately how much families is being focused on and came to the realization that everything in the gospel points to families. The reason we have the commandments and things that we do in the church is all to strengthen the family. I love the quote by Boyd K Packer. “The end of all activity in the church is to see that a man and a woman are happy at home, sealed for eternity!” It is so true! As I have been studying lately I have been trying to apply the things I learn to families and it all connects! It’s amazing! I’m so greateful for yall!

Sister Moon

Week 75: Owasso Oklahoma!

Hey Family and Friends,

I don’t have a ton of time today because we are on Library computers and we are timed.

This week was pretty great! It was super hard to leave Springfield but I really love Owasso already! It’s an amazing ward and I love the people we are teaching! So I accidentally messed up on my companion’s name! It’s Sister Chatlin not Chatwin. haha Oops!

She is so awesome!! It doesn’t seem like she’s only been out for 6 weeks because she’s so great at missionary work! I think she trains me more than I do her. I love her so much already!

So we had the opportunity to eat FRIED TWINKIES!!! We always wanted to try them after we saw them on the bike trip and finally it happened!! They are SO delicious! We have a less active family that we had dinner with and that was our dessert! There are pictures below!

Here we are working with a lot of returning less actives and we have a couple of recent converts. I’ve only met a couple of our investigators so far but they’ve been pretty awesome so far!

I’m still trying to learn everyone’s names and it’s been going pretty good so far. We have awesome members and great leaders so I’m excited!! It’s really weird knowing there is a foreseeable time limit on how long I will be here, and I am praying that will help me to work harder and faster to get everything done that I was sent here to do! I’m grateful for this opportunity to be in a new area and to meet so many new people. That’s one of my favorite things about being a missionary. I am surprised how big my heart can grow and that I can love so many people!! And everyday my heart grows bigger as I meet more amazing people!

I love y’all so much!!!

Hurrah for Israel!!

Sister Moon

Week 74: Back to the good ol’ Oklahoma!!

Hey Family and Friends!

So for my last transfer in the Arkansas Bentonville Mission, I will be moving to Owasso Oklahoma, serving in the Elm Creek ward and I will be finishing training Sister Chatwin! I am super excited! But I am also so so sad to leave Springfield YSA. I had such an amazing time and LOVE all the people here!! Sister Barrett is also leaving, She’s going to Miami (pronounced Miama) Oklahoma and her companion is Sister Millett. The ward is getting Elders. This is the second time that I’ve had Elders come into the area after me.

We had an amazing baptism on Saturday! Jesse is so awesome! She was so happy! I will send pictures this time! She is so great and super solid. Her mom and grandma came and 3 non member friends and her dad who isn’t a member came as well. It was amazing!

Next week is Bri’s baptism and we are both super sad that we won’t be able to be there, but she is doing so well and hasn’t let both of us leaving affect her which is really good. It shows her commitment and that she’s not doing this for us! We love her so much and we are going to try and get permission to go back for the baptism but we are not sure that will be possible because of the distance.

We are super busy getting everything ready for the Elders. I think it will be really good for the ward and for the investigators and less actives that we have. So it will be a good change but still sad that we won’t be here.

We’ve had a really good week and it’s going to be hard to leave here and say goodbye to everyone but I know that the Lord has a plan for each one of us and I’m excited to continue to meet new people!

Hurrah for Israel!

Sister Moon

My new address:

8757 N. 97th E. Ave.

Owasso, Oklahoma

74055

Sister England is from my house stake

Week 73: God’s Grace!

Hey Family and Friends,

I thought that today instead of listing what I’ve done this week I wanted to share what I learned the past few weeks and especially this week.

This week I’ve learned a lot about how important reading and pondering the scriptures is. For a while I think I was just reading my scriptures every morning because I was supposed to and didn’t really think very deeply or focus on them as much. But when I realized this and started to change how I thought about the scriptures, then I started learning so much more! I remember telling mom in an email when I was in my first area, I told her that I never wanted to stop reading the scriptures because I loved them so much! That’s how it can be all the time when we are reading them with the intent of learning what Heavenly Father wants us to! As I’ve been reading with all of my heart I’ve realized how much I still need to learn, and how much I still don’t know. We don’t learn everything in this life and that gives me a lot of hope for the future. That there will still be things for us to learn even after this life. God doesn’t expect us to know everything now. He understands that we have weaknesses and finite minds. He only expects us to do our best! I love him so much for that. He loves us so much! I am so grateful for the scriptures and the prophets for their words.

I started reading Jesus the Christ again this week. I started reading it a long time ago but stopped about 10 chapters in. I remembered Jared saying how much that book changed his life and his mission and I want the same thing. I have started reading it again and am amazed by the life of our wonderful Savior, Jesus Christ! His love for each of God’s children is so great! He performed miracles when he was on the earth and continues to perform miracles in our own lives every day. His grace moves us forward every day! Every blessing that we receive each day is through his grace. I learned this week that every person evil or righteous lives through the grace of Christ. The fact that we live and breathe every day is a gift of Grace! As we keep the commandments, we increase the capacity that we have to allow God’s Grace to fill us and change our lives.

I learned a lot about our hearts this week and how we can give our hearts to the Lord. And why it is important to give the Lord our whole hearts! There is a quote from a talk that I love and it talks about why God wants our whole hearts.

Lawrence E Corbridge

“In the end, your heart and your will is all that you have to give that the Lord does not already have. If you give your time, two years, and your strength, you give only that which He grants to you with each beat of your heart and each breath that you draw. If you dedicate your gifts and talents, you only return to Him what He already has given to you. If you pay tithing you only return to Him a tenth of what he has already given to you. Everything that you have to give to the Lord, has its origin in Him, except one thing: your will. He does not have your heart, nor your mind, unless you give them to Him. It is the only gift you have to offer that He does not already have. And so when you give yourself, you truly give everything to Him.”

I really love this quote because it is so true that everything we have is the Lord’s and the only thing we can give to him is our hearts!

I Love Y’all so much and am so grateful for everything that God has done for me and for our family!!

We have a baptism this week and we are so excited!! And we were able to move up someone’s baptism 2 weeks! So she’s getting baptized on the 1st of August instead of the 22nd! That’s a couple of tidbits from this week!

Hurrah for Israel!

Sister Moon

Week 72: 16 Months down, 2 to go!

Hey Family and Friends,

I hit my 2 months left mark this week! It’s so crazy!!! I can’t believe that I have so short of time left! But I’m so excited to keep working hard and go out with a bang!

This week was pretty grand! We have been making progress with our investigators who have a baptism date. Our first one coming up is Jesse on the 25! She is doing awesome! We went over the baptism interview questions with her and she’s doing really well!

Bri has a baptism date for the 22 of August and she is super excited about being baptized!!

There’s not a whole lot that went on this week. Sister Barrett was kind of sick all this week so we took it pretty easy this week so she didn’t get more sick.

We’ve had some success with Less Actives this week. There’s a less active that we have tried to visit multiple times who randomly showed up for institute and now is coming to church and is coming to FHE tonight as well!

That’s about it for this week. Sorry that it’s so short!! I love y’all!!!

Hurrah for Israel!

Sister Moon

Week 71: Another Week in Paradise!

Hey Family and Friends,

This week was super great!! We weren’t able to hit our goal of 40 lessons but we were able to get 30! Which is a huge deal for us. It’s been crazy here lately and now things are exploding. We have had investigators who have gone away for a while and then they are slowly coming back and wanting to meet with us again. We are really excited about that.

We got 2 new investigators this week. One’s name is Kay and it seems like all 3 of us have known each other our whole lives. We all just hit it off right away. She’s super awesome she knows a ton of people who are LDS and her boss is the one who called us and gave us her information. We were able to give her a Book of Mormon and she’s in LA right now on vacation but she said that would give her plenty of time to read on the plane. The other just moved from Kansas and his name is Andy. He was taking the lessons from the missionaries there. He was working at Walmart in Springfield and a member started talking to him and then gave us his information and we have started teaching him.

We had 6 non members at church yesterday! It was so amazing! I love when they come to church! It’s one of the most important commitments and I’m always so happy when they come and make friends! Our ward is super great at being so friendly and loving to everyone who comes to church!

We had an investigator who went away for a while (Bri) cause she was super busy with moving and working a ton. But she started meeting with us again and she has come to church twice now. She was talking to her friend who is a member and said that Bri was asking about when she can get baptized.

On the 4th we went to a couple of BBQ’s got to teach a recent convert and an investigator. Then we went to a park and watched fireworks! It’s was awesome!

One of our investigators has been out of town for a while and he just got back so we were able to teach him yesterday and he has a baptism date for the end of August. He’s super awesome!

Today we are going fishing! It will be super fun! I will send pictures next week! It has been crazy raining here and it’s been nice and cool!

I love y’all!!!

Hurrah for Israel!

Sister Moon