Week 67

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas everyone!

So on Monday we had Zone Activity Day, and it was super fun! We had a Thanksgiving dinner as a Zone. Thursday was super fun, obviously.We went to a family's house for Thanksgiving lunch, and I learned how to fry a turkey. Man, it was so tasty. So you buy a turkey deep-fryer. Then you fry your turkey! Peanut oil, 350 degrees, about 3 minutes or so per pound of turkey. He did a 12 lb one, and it took about 40 minutes. It was so good!!! Yum. YouTube it if you have questions. It's a southern thing, but a delicious thing.  We then did some street contacting (no one was out), then went to dinner with the W'ss family! I love them so much. They are great. And the food was good, too! :)

My Zone at Zone Activity Day

Thanksgiving Day with the W's and the Q's

On Friday the Christmas video, #LIGHTtheWORLD came out. THIS is what I want to talk about.
Step 1- visit Mormon.org to view the #LIGHTtheWORLD video. The video is about how we can be lights of the world, just like Jesus Christ was, through service and our example. It invites you to serve
someone every day, for the 25 days until Christmas.
Step 2- watch the Day 1 video on Mormon.org and make plans to kick off the service on December 1st.
Step 3- every day, sign on to Mormon.org and watch the day's video. Complete one of the suggested ways to get involved and serve others as Christ does.
Step 4- feel the true spirit of Christmas. :)

Saturday we had an exchange. It was way fun. One cool experience I had was we went to the store, and when we went through the registers (I bought a kit kat), I talked to the two women at the register. One was bagging, the other ringing. But I asked if they've ever done a 12 days of Christmas thing before, then I told them about the 25 ways, 25 days thing. We gave them both cards for the video, and they were excited! We also had a lesson with a part member family, and we invited them to read the Book of Mormon together every day. It was awesome.


B was baptized this week! It took place out of town though, so we didn't get any pictures, but we will this week when we meet with her. We also taught a lesson with a part member family, and we invited them to read the Book of Mormon together every day. It was awesome. We also taught the Q's one last lesson before they move. I will miss them. I was glad to be a part of reactivating them! We taught another investigator we have- N. She is R's friend, and we taught her the Plan of Salvation.  Sunday at church, a young woman brought her friend! It was super cool.

Christmas is the best time of year to be a missionary. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior, and it is through him that we can receive forgiveness from our sins. My favorite scripture this week is Alma 42:22-25.

Love,
Sister Minson

PS- I've been counting creepy Santas since Friday. 15 so far! I love
this time of year.

Had a great photo shoot at the Night in Bethlehem set:

Week 66

It's Thanksgiving!

I made a turkey today!! Right now it is in the oven. It wasn't completely thawed when we opened the package, so we had to run some water through it. We had trouble finding the neck cavity, so we were
kind of stressed that we couldn't find the giblets package! We thought the giblets were still inside the turkey somewhere! But when we found the neck cavity, we learned that it was not the case. My hands still smell like raw turkey, even though I washed them many times over. Gross! We rubbed it with butter and sprinkled some seasonings on it. Hopefully it turns out ok! We stuck it in and we hope it will not cook too fast, or cook too slow. Ah! Cooking is such a gamble. 

 

So today for Zone Activity Day we are watching a movie (Ephraim's Rescue), playing Apples to Apples, then eating our Thanksgiving turkey as a zone! It will be so much fun.

 
Besides that adventure, we also finished teaching B and she had her baptismal interview on Thursday! I was at a meeting, so I couldn't get a picture with her, but Sister Porter did! 

The Mission Leadership Council meeting this week was really great!  President Cooper switched our daily schedule around. So now we are getting up at 6, exercising, getting ready for the day, and then at 8 we are daily planning for the day we are on. At 8:30 we start personal study, then at 9:30 we start

companion study. They changed it so we can plan, then prepare, then execute every morning. So cool! I also learned some new ways to plan more effectively. The gist of it was that when we plan, we shouldn't be scheduling. We should set goals for the people we're working with, and then we should write a list of action items, or plans, of things we can do to reach those goals. Then we should plan time in our planner of when we will do those things. It is a completely different way of looking at it than I've ever done before, but I love it! It works great, and it is so much more effective.

I should probably give more info on what Night in Bethlehem is. Night in Bethlehem is a live nativity that our Stake does every year. It is set up on the property next to the stakecenter, and it has a little town (Bethlehem) set up. People come, and they can walk through the town and do things. Like the Ren Fest, actually. Then every half hour the gates open and they go through to watch the show. There is a scene where Mary and Joseph are trying to find room in the inn, then we go through and see the shepherds, and the manger scene. There is music and acting and all that. Afterwards, people file into the church building where there are cookies and hot chocolate in the cultural hall, and a table in the foyer with Book of Mormons, dvds, and pamphlets and things. The missionaries will help with guiding people from scene to scene, as well as mingling in the village and talking to people. It won't be a "proselyting" experience, because it is supposed to be focused on Christ, but we can answer questions if people ask. There will also be missionaries manning the Book of Mormon table, and offering to show people the chapel, if they are curious. It is so cool! It goes over 4 nights, and it is amazing.

 We went to dinner at the M's this week! That was really fun. She made us chicken and rice, and fried plantains. They were so good! We also ate empanadas at the Qs house. The Q,s are moving next week though! I am so sad. G came to church! We have slowly been working with him because he is very busy, but he said he would like to learn more about sacrament meeting. Also, N and B came to church, too!

I hit my 15 month mark this week! So crazy! I can't believe how fast it is going.
 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,
Sister Minson

 

Pictures from setting up Night in Bethlehem last week:

Week 65

This week we set up for Night in Bethlehem (NIB), and it was so awesome! It is going to be an amazing event. We got to go in the church attic. I didn't even know the church had an attic until a few weeks ago, but we got to go in! It was really fun. We also did the exchange this weekend. That was really awesome. We taught two great lessons, G and F! Remember F from over the summer? He has been reading the Book of Mormon and wants us to come back again!

This upcoming week will be fun because we are going to have Zone Activity Day next Monday and we are going to be having Thanksgiving as a zone, too. We are going to make a Turkey! It will be very fun.

B is doing well with preparing for baptism! Her baptismal interview will happen this week and her baptism is next week. We are so happy and excited for her!

I was reminded me of something that Elder Klebingat said. He was talking about God and how us living with Him premortally is like us living at home when we are kids. We learn and grow and are taught by Him. And when we get old enough, it is time for us to be kicked out of the house so we can keep progressing and learning, so that one day we can own our own houses and raise our own kids the same way God raised us. Isn't that cool? And he said that God wonders and worries about us the same way our parents wonder and worry about us. 

 I am looking forward to this week because.. We have another MLC! Some people from the Missionary Department will be coming, so that will be cool. Also, It's the most wonderful time of the year! Holiday after holiday. Woohoo!

With love,

Sister Minson

Week 64

I can't believe it is already November!

A lot of things happened this week that were really awesome!

We are helping B, a 9-year old from a part-member family, to get baptized over Thanksgiving weekend. Our first appointment with her is tonight! I am excited to have those lessons to look forward to! We went to a baptism on Sunday for an 8 year old in the ward. Some of their neighbors came, and we talked to them! They said they would like for us to come by and talk a little more, which is really cool. yay!

Elder Klebingat from the Seventy came and visited our mission this weekend. We had a couple of different meetings. In the one on Friday night, he taught us about effective leadership and also about humility and exact obedience. It was really good. Then on Saturday he taught us some more about the scriptures, and then he talked more about exact obedience. Elder Klebingat is very familiar with the scriptures and remembers a lot of scripture references, and he used them for the training he gave us both days. At the end of the training, he taught us how he remembered the references and encouraged us to work on memorizing scriptures. He taught us some techniques to try, which were really cool! I will be working on those so I can memorize more scripture references. 

 This was our Missionary Leadership Council that we had with Elder Klebingat. He is in the back row, right in front of the Temple picture.

This upcoming week, we are going to help set up for the Night In Bethlehem activity that our stake puts on every year, and then we will go on an exchange! It will be awesome.

 We found this little cat while we were out, and she was so cute! Sister Porter fell in love with her, as you can see. We named her Tiger. She likes the scriptures, and she also caught a lizard! She followed us around for a little bit.

 

 The Book of Mormon is the Keystone of our religion. So when we found this sign, we HAD to stop and take a picture by it!

Week 63

Transfers!!! This is really quite exciting. I am staying! Sister Porter is staying! Surprise!  Haha, bet you really didn't expect that one at all. It was pretty anticlimactic, because we received a call this morning and our district leader just said "you both are staying". It took me a couple seconds to process that he was giving us the transfer info. So that's that!

So here I am in this town I call home, because Odessa is like my home, I have seriously been here that long.  It's good though, because I love it! I am having a blast here and I love the members so much!

We had some exciting meetings this week, but my favorite part was when we went to the Trunk or Treat on Friday. They had hotdogs and hamburgers, and there was a fun carnival inside. There were a ton of people there, and many non-members and less active members! That was really cool. The Bishop's family brought 3 families, which included 13 individuals, to the trunk or treat ALONE. We met them and they were so awesome. I felt like it was a great activity for missionary work to get accomplished. I hope there are more like it. The activities were fun, too, and we were able to help them set up because we got there a little early. They had a photo booth so we took some pictures before it got too busy!

At the Trunk or Treat

Some girls we are teaching

With a family we are teaching. I love the bacon costume!

 

We taught a few less active families this week, and one of them we taught them about the sacrament. They were really excited and they all came to church the next Sunday! That was super cool. We also taught R again, she is so awesome. She is really working on building her testimony, and is bringing a friend to church! That is really fun.

This upcoming week will be awesome because we are going to have a zone conference and even more missionary meetings. Elder Klebingat is visiting the mission, so it will be really good! 

Happy Halloween, everybody! Stay safe and eat candy!

With love,

Sister Minson

Me with  Halloween package. Thanks Mom!

Us on Sister Porter's 6 month mark!

A pretty bridge and golf course, with some sand cranes on the bridge

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