Week 62

 

 We actually had a crazy experience this week! We are starting to teach M 3 times a week, and his mom too. They are progressing! M has been keeping his commitments, and he really wants to get baptized. It is so cool!  We also met a man named J. He really wants to be baptized and already believes Joseph Smith is a prophet! He is so excited to learn, and he even came to church this week! So, that's 2 baptismal dates set :)

We had 2 other people at church this week, which was amazing. R's friend, B came to stake conference last week, Mutual on Wednesday, and church yesterday! R wasn't even there, because she was out of town, but B got a ride with a different Beehive. It was so awesome! Also, R.t. came to church again, but he left before we could catch him.

I went on an exchange with the Spanish sisters in our zone this week. That was so much fun! We went to some lessons and it was so awesome! I loved it, because even though I didn't really understand when they were speaking Spanish, I knew what they were talking about because the Spirit was there. I felt the Spirit while they spoke, and I didn't even understand what they were saying! It was the coolest thing. I think I felt a brief portion of the gift of tongues that day, because I knew the words I had learned in Spanish class, but I understood what they were talking about in the lesson, even when I didn't know the words. That was so bizarre, but it was a miracle, I think.

This week I celebrated my 14 month mark! I only have 4 months left of my mission. I can't believe it! It is so crazy. We had Zone training meeting this week, and Sister Swanson and I trained on unity, which was really good. Then we talked about weekly planning and diligence. It was great!

Zone Training

 We had members come with us to two different lessons this week, and in each one they spoke Spanish with our investigators. It was a Spanish week for me!

The weather: I love it! It is so gorgeous. We had a cold front come through, so it has been beautiful! But it should go back up again, in a little bit. 

 

 The most gorgeous day I've ever been in in Florida. WOW! Not a cloud in the sky, it wasn't humid at ALL, and there was a nice cool breeze. It was beautiful. It reminded me of Rexburg in the summer.

Me wearing slacks on the most beautiful day ever.

We are going to the ward trunk or treat this week! There are a ton of members that are bringing their friends, so it should be really good. I am debating dressing up as an elder... (At least wearing a white shirt with my slacks) That would be funny. Well, transfers is next week. Have a great week, everybody!

With love,

Sister Minson

 

We saw a scary Halloween decoration that I saw last year... Yikes.

 

We saw a baby alligator sunbathing in the lake !

 

Week 61

Hello! 

We had Stake Conference this Sunday, and it was crazy! We were taught by Elder Pearson of the Seventy. I saw D and M (my converts from Palm Harbor), as well as their daughter and her new husband! He is very nice. I also saw a man that I taught a few times in Palm Harbor, and then he moved to Hudson and apparently got baptized in June! So that was really cool. The stake is being split, and they are forming an Odessa Stake. We are in the Odessa Stake, but we have the same stake president. The stake conference was good, and some of the things Elder Pearson said were really helpful.

A tender mercy I had this week, was we went slacks shopping again this Saturday morning, and as I went to return another pair (they were patterned) I found a light gray pair of slacks! They didn't have ones in my size the last time we went to the store, but they had one that was in my size. So I bought those, and then we went to Loft and I found 2 slacks that fit and were black and dark gray. So that was a tender mercy, definitely. It is finished! We wore slacks for the first time on Saturday. It is so bizarre. Definitely hot, too!

 

First time outside in pants!! It's so weird.

Me and Sister Porter in the car acting happy when we're stressed :)

We taught R about the Law of Chastity. She had already learned about it with the Elders when they taught her, so we briefly summarized the law itself, and then focused on dating and modesty. We talked about why we wait to date until we are 16, and why we dress modestly and don't get more than 1 piercing in each ear. It was a good lesson, and she said she will pray about it to know from God what she should do about those topics.

This week we went to a basketball game for a less active member! It was good, I think. We met some members of their family, who live in Ocala. Oh! We received a referral from a member in our ward! It is his business partner and friend who lives in Seoul, Korea! He is interested in the gospel. So we wrote a teaching record for him and sent it off. How cool is that?!

 

 We went on another exchange this week, and I couldn't help but get some fun pictures when we found a secret pathway in a huge neighborhood. :)

 

Exchanges on Tuesday with Sister Durrant

I couldn't help but get some fun pictures when we found a secret pathway in a huge neighborhood. :)

 

 This week on Friday I went to Mission Leadership Council. I was asked on Thursday to do a musical number for it, so I found a song and sang it. It was Lead Kindly Light. It was really fun! And it was a very pretty arrangement.

 

MLC (Mission Leadership Council)

Me and Sister Swanson, my STL companion. This is us after MLC.

Sister Clement, Sister Swanson, me, and Sister Porter

Have a great week, everybody!

With love,

Sister Minson

Week 60

Hurricanes and Slacks! 
 

Some pretty exciting things are happening in the mission! Because of the mosquito born illnesses, Church Headquarters has recommended that Sisters in our mission start wearing slacks! So we are going slacks shopping and getting those in the next few weeks. That will be really weird. We will still wear skirts to meetings and church and things, but slacks whenever we're proselyting. In 2 weeks you will start seeing pictures of me in pants!!  Crazy crazy.

Here's what happened with Hurricane Matthew: I am safe, and there wasn't any damage in Tampa. We got wind up to 20mph and some rain Thursday and Friday night, but that was about it. Sometimes the wind was scary, though. It was loud when it blew through the many trees. We went inside early on Thursday night, and then Friday we chose to stay inside because the wind was making us worried, but we helped some new sisters that live in a building next to us clean their apartment. It was pretty trashed from the last missionaries that lived there. It took all day to clean! Everybody around me is safe, but the East Coast took it pretty hard. There are a lot of ward members going out there to help clean and take care of people. There were some evacuees who came to some ward member's houses over the weekend.

 

See where it's really red? That's around the eye of the hurricane

Clouds on Thursday night, around 7:20

 10 minutes later! 7:30 Thursday night

 

On Wednesday we went on an exchange with the Land O Lakes Sisters. It was awesome! Sister Blanchard and I had a really interesting experience. So we drove to a street, and had a guy slam the door in our faces. Then, as we knocked on the last house on the street, he walked up and said "I wanted to apologize. but you girls really are too young to be..." and then the door opened! It was really awkward. He turned and walked down the driveway and waited there. the woman who answered the door said "is he harassing you?" We said "we're not exactly sure yet." she invited us in and rescued us from a potentially bad situation.  Turns out, she was a Jehovah's Witness! She gave us huge glasses of water and the sat us down and tried to hand us materials. She talked for a bit, but we drank our water, kept our hands busy so we didn't have to accept other books, and stood by the door. Then we got out. She was nice, but definitely interesting.

I hope you all have a great week!

Sister Minson

 Trying on pants!

Trying on other cute stuff, just for fun!

Fun time shopping :)

 

 Exchanges this week!

Sister Blanchard and I on the dock

Me on the dock

We got caught in the rain, so we ran back to the car and took a picture

Me with Sister Blanchard, Sister Brewer, and Sister Swanson

 

Week 59

My two favorite parts of this week were the bookends. Last Monday we had another Zone Activity Day. One missionary nicknamed it ZAD. I like it. It's an event where the whole zone gets together on a P-Day and play games. President and Sister Cooper came to our ZAD! It was really fun. Sister Swanson, a missionary in Carrollwood, and I were in charge since the Zone Leaders were late and then left to get pizza, so we just improvized and played some fun games. It was a blast!

Our Zone at ZAD

An elder taking a seflie with whoever's around.

Me, Sister Chavez, Sister Gucake, and Sister Porter

I'm explaining the game signs in this picture.

 The rest of the week was pretty good! We worked hard and had a lot of fun! We also went on an exchange with the Carrollwood Sisters. I love exchanges. They are so much fun, and you always learn so many things.  We met a girl that we were able to pray with, and I was prompted to share an experience I've had with answer to prayer, which helped her get a confirmation of her own prayer. :)

General Conference (GC) was this weekend, and President Cooper gave special permission to have dinners with members over conference weekend, so we had quite a few meals. It was pretty tasty. And there were so many good things I learned!

I absolutely loved Elder Uceda's talk on prayer this general conference. I really liked the idea of comparing our prayers to the one's said by Christ and the prophets in the Book of Mormon. I think that is a principle I will be applying, because I want to improve my communication with my Heavenly Father. I also thought Elder Oak's talk was amazing. ;P Member Missionary Work is the way to go! We are really working on developing stronger relationships with the members and helping them take ownership for their missionary work. It's slow going, but it's getting there. 

These are some points I loved:
- Prayer engages all three members of the godhead
- Grace is accessed through faith
- Member missionary work is an attitude of love towards each other
- Joy has to do with the focus of our lives, not our circumstances
- Repentance works by faith
- Service is the fiber that a life in the Celestial Kingdom is made of
 - Christ's strength is made perfect in our weaknesses
- The atonement bears no scars

I know that the Atonement indeed bears no scars. We are able to be completely forgiven for every mistake and sin we've committed, and it will be as if it didn't happen, through Jesus Christ.

 I hope you have a great week, everybody! I'll talk to you next week.

With love, Sister Minson

We got Chinese food for Sister Porter's 5 month mark!

Me and a fun swamp we saw

Week 58

 Hello Everybody! This is going to be a short email.

This week was pretty good. We actually had some exciting things happen. 1- I spoke to the mission president this week and he called me as a Sister Training Leader again!  I appreciate his confidence and trust in me! I'm excited about it. I love that calling. One thing I learned from Elder Foster of the seventy when he was here was that a true leader helps others realize their full potential. I'm going to work on that. We also have exchanges and interviews this transfer, so it is going to be so busy and full of change! It is going to be a great transfer!

We are still trying to find and teach new investigators, but we did have a cool experience this week. We met a woman named V! She actually lives next door to O and R (a recent convert), so that's cool. She is really searching to know if she is missing any pieces. She is really genuine and her son also plays basketball with the Land O Lakes Elders at the church building on Mondays!  We are going to keep meeting with her.

 I got a call from W, an ex-police officer we met in Palm Harbor back in March. He said he was in Canada for the next 6 weeks, but that he's been reading the Book of Mormon and he wants to be baptized! That was super cool.  I told him I had left the area and moved closer to Tampa, and that there are elders that can teach him in his area.

 We are having a zone activity day today. It should be fun!

Sorry, I don't have any pictures this week. I didn't do too good at taking them.

Love you all!

With love,

Sister Minson

Week 57

 

Hello dear friends and family,

Transfers is this week, but I am staying in Odessa. Sister Porter is too! Woohoo!

 

This week was quite a good one! On Monday we went to Steak 'n Shake and saw D, one of my converts from Palm Harbor! That was so good. I got a pumpkin shake. I love her, and her shakes! :)   We also went and taught A again. He is still wanting to learn, but he's having trouble recognizing his answer. We are going to focus on teaching from the Book of Mormon and helping him recognize the spirit. 

 

Tuesday we had District meeting, and we took some fun pictures! I learned about Christ-like Obedience. That was a cool lesson, and I am striving to be more Christ-like in my obedience! 

 

We also watched the talk by Jeffrey R Holland called "The First Great Commandment", in Oct 2012. Holy cow! I highly recommend that you all watch it talk about the importance of leaving behind our nets to show our love for God. It was so good!! We also taught a father and daughter about the book of Mormon, and they committed to read it.

 

We got donuts on Wednesday, and they were delicious! We also taught R and went to mutual. It was really fun.  

Donuts!

Thursday we met the M's again, and we taught them about the temple. We also had the bishop's wife, come with us to missionary coordination.

Friday we taught O and his wife, and our ward mission leader came. Then we went to the M's again, and Bishop came! They were great lessons.

Saturday a young man named A got baptized! He is in the Tampa 2 area, where Sister Hunt is. She called me the day before and asked if we could perform a musical number, and have Sister Felt play the piano. So we did I Know that My Redeemer Lives, the arrangement you sent me. Sister Cooper (mission president's wife) came and heard it, and she wrote our names down on her talent list. Hopefully I'll get to sing more! I was so nervous though. I had forgotten what it was like to perform.

Sunday we went to the J's, a new member family that moved into the ward recently, and we talked about missionary work with them. We also set up a dinner appointment with a less active family! That was cool.

That was my week! Whew! It was a great week. I hope you have a great one, too!

Love, 

Sister Minson 

 

A crazy lost dog sign!

A crazy snake skin we saw while walking in a neighborhood.

 

A rianbow!

Week 56

This week was great!

On Monday we had a lesson with a less active family, the M's, about temples and family history. It was great, and Sister M wants to go get her endowments! We are going to have an appointment where the bishop comes soon so she can ask him questions about it.

Tuesday we met a woman named K who wants to quit smoking, so we are going to do the stop smoking program with her. I'm excited to help her out with this.

Wednesday we weekly planned and then went straight from appointment to appointment all day. We had members come to almost all of them! It was super great. We taught O again! His mom passed away, and we had a lesson with him and his wife about the Plan of Salvation. It was very good. We also had dinner with a member family (they had a less active son) and I'm 90 percent sure I'm allergic to something they put in their pulled pork. I got itchy eyes, itchy throat, runny nose, sneezes, and watering eyes when I ate it, twice. Ugh! No allergies!!

Thursday we had Zone Training Meeting with President Cooper.  The rest of the day was good. Nice and busy.

Sister Briggs(my MTC companion) and I at Zone Training Meeting. It was so fun to see her again.

More pictures from Zone Training last week.

 Sister Porter and I got 50-cent frosties! It was her first time ever eating frosties. They were delicious.

Saturday we taught Sister G, a Less Active member, and she came to church the next day! It was a miracle.

And Sunday we had a meeting with Bishop. it was so great! Then afterwards we met with R, a guy the elders had taught back in July, and we set a baptismal date with him! He had been coming to sacrament meeting the past few weeks, but we haven't seen him! So crazy.

Anyway, it was an awesome week! I'm excited to talk to you again next week!

With love,

Sister Minson