Read All About the S Family

Good Morning! How was your week last week? Mine seemed to last
forever. I am so excited for all of the people we are teaching and I
wish I had time for me to give you all the details about every single
one of them, but I will settle by telling you only about the "S"
Family for now. (As I know it, all things are to be determined)...

The S Family consists of, the dad, the mom, the 10 almost 11 yr old,
and the baby, probably around 2 or so. They have a long story before
we ever began to teach them. Sister S's bro-in-law (who was not a
member of the church) committed suicide a year or so ago and our
bishop's wife knew the family and reached out with the relief society
sisters and provided meals and other things for the widow. Because of
their generosity the S Family was touched. Another influencing factor
was that some of Brother S's friends joined the church. The S's moved
into our area in December and were semi-recently looking for a church
in the area to start attending. They thought about these occurrences of
the LDS Church in their life and decided to look into it. Bro. S was
on Mormon.org and chatted with a Sister Missionary in the Kirtland
visitors center and was asking about where and how he would go about
attending our church on Sunday. She proceeded to contact us and tell
us to look out for this family at church and then tell her how it
goes. Well they didn't come to church that Sunday and we were sad
about that and the Sister in Kirtland couldn't give us any other
information about them so we were left in the dark with only our faith
to guide us in how to find this family searching for truth. A week
went by and at church on Sunday a note was passed from the bishop to
the ward mission leader and then to us telling us that there was a
non-member family in the over flow of the chapel and what they looked
like. IT WAS THEM!!! We were so excited to see that they actually
came.

When Sacrament Meeting was over before we could reach them, they were
surrounded and welcomed by the ward members. It was amazing to see. We
couldn't even get close to them so we waited and then by the time we
got our chance we could tell that they were overwhelmed and ready to
leave. We introduced ourselves and that was that...Then they came the
next week and the same thing happened. The amazing thing is that this
is a ward missionary moment. They have been friendshipping this family
like I have never seen before! Our ward mission leader went to their
house to get to know them and brought "the missionaries" to their
attention. They were glad to have us come over and explain some things
to them. We went and taught the Restoration to Bro. and Sis. S with a
member of the bishopric and his wife. It went great! Then we went back
again for the next lesson and it was just Sis. S and the oldest
daughter so we taught them again the 1st lesson. Then we went back
again and taught the Plan of Salvation and invited all three of them
to be baptized. Bro. S said that they would think about it and pray
about it and talk about it all the time until they saw us again. So we
said that was ok and we suggested that they pray about the date of
October 27th.

We went over yesterday and taught them The Doctrine of Christ and they
were the ones that actually brought up the invitation to baptism
again. They said that they needed to know more first because they
understand how important of a decision it is for the rest of their
lives. We agreed. They said that they would most likely get baptized
but not on that date. We said that it was good that they understood
how important of a step that it is and that we would love to continue
to teach them more. They agreed, so we will. Even though I was sad
that we couldn't get them on date to be baptized I promised them that
when they made that decision that they would know that it was right.
They are honestly seeking truth. They told us that Bro. S was watching
Pres. Monson speak in Gen Con and he came it and told Sis. S that it
made perfect sense to him that there would be a modern day prophet. It
was an almost overwhelming realization for him and he was so excited
to share it with his family. When we taught lesson 2 and we were
talking about the Spirit World he said, "This is what makes this plan
true to me." It is so exciting to see that different things always
seem to stick out to different people.

I love teaching this family because they are soaking up everything.
They look, talk, and act like members! They have some things to over
come (word of wisdom) but they have already started to try to live it
and we haven't even had the lesson on it yet. They are reading the
Book of Mormon and praying and researching and I just love it! They
said that they know that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus and that they
never doubted it. I know that they have a testimony and all they have
to do now is act on it. :) I know that was a lot of information about
them but I couldn't help but to fill you in on this wonderful new
family that we are teaching.

I know that they Lord is preparing the hearts of people in this area
for us to find, teach, and baptize. We just have to keep doing our
part and trying our very best. I am so excited for the stake youth
fireside that Sister Dilworth and I have prepared. I know that we were
inspired to do this fireside at the exact right time and that Satan
doesn't want it to happen but we kept moving forward and now it is
really going to happen. I need to be better about going out of my
comfort zone in order to find new investigators. I am working on that.
:) I hope you all have a great week! I love you so much!

P.S. Shout out to Shada if you read this! Haha! See you later, my
friend! Hey, check it out: 2 Nephi 32: 8-9 ;)

Ask a Missionary

Hey everyone!

1. So who watched the Saturday morning session of General
Conference??? WASN"T THAT AMAZING!!! I was practically falling out on
my chair that entire session (and the rest of conference too of
course)! What does everyone think about the new missionary ages?
Crazy! But I am so excited because this means that a lot more work is
going to be done in building up the Kingdom of God! It is so exciting!
I also loved Elder Nelson's talk on missionary work! I hope everyone
heard it and if you didn't then you need to look it up and watch it or
read it! If you have any questions, ask a missionary, they can help
you! I love it! haha! Some of my other favorites were Elder Packer's
talk about the lower lights, and Elder Bednar's talk on testimony and
conversion. (Just to name a few) They were ALL amazing! I love
understanding now the importance of General Conference! I can't
believe how often I feel asleep before. I am upset with myself that I
missed so much! But that is the past and now I get to watch and enjoy
Gen Con for the rest of my life! :)

2. Anyway, so other then the amazing general conference we had when we
got to listen to our loving prophet, the apostles and the other
general authorities, we had the blessing of going to the temple today.
I am so totally exhausted from all the Spirit I have been feeling! I
absolutely love it! So I don't have too much time to write today but I
would love for everyone to send me a letter or an email an ask me a
question/s or just shoot me some of your take aways from conference! I
would love to hear them and the different view points on the topics
discussed.

3. We got to can MORE tomatoes this week....surprise surprise lol And we
cleaned lots of windows. This is probably the last week of sunshine so
the rain is about to hit. The trees are changing colors and it is the
most beautiful Autumn I have seen in my entire life! Gorgeous!

4. I love you all and I miss you and I love letter/cards *hint*

5. Have a great week!
I will send pictures next week! :)
--

8 Months!

 HEY! Can you believe it?? I've been gone for 8 months! It seems
unreal to me that it is October today! Wow! Next thing you know
Christmas will be here and gone and the new year will be upon us!
Craaaazy!
    So I spent a long time emailing President today, I have been
pretty scanty on my letter to him the past couple weeks. haha So this
week the letter home will be shorter. I guess I can't do both in the
same week.
      I was very appreciative of the opportunity I had to watch the
General Relief Society Broadcast this past Saturday. It was so
wonderful to hear from the newly sustained presidency. They are truly
called to be in those positions. I loved that they all focused their
thoughts on the Atonement of our Savior. It was very touching for all
the Sisters that we were able to talk to about it. We had an
investigator there as well and she really enjoyed it. I loved Pres.
Eyring's talk as well. I know that listening to the Spirit is so
important. Even though his thoughts were focused mainly on the
importance of Visting Teaching, I was thinking more along the lines of
missionary work. He related a story about his daughter and her VT
companion and how the other sister felt the need to go and visit her
companion even though they had no appointments set for the day. As a
result, lives were saved. I was thinking first about how my companions

can sense when I am having a hard day and they cheer me up. And I hope
and pray to still have that connection when the mission is completed.
Then I was thinking about all the times we have to rely on the Spirit
to show us where the Lord wants us during the day to day work. As a
result, souls are saved. I have never relied this much on the Spirit
till I came on my mission. And now I don't know what I would do with
out Him. I am so grateful that I have the blessing to have Him with me
constantly if I live the way I am commanded to. I love that He is part
of the Doctrine of Christ. I remember when I was serving in Walla
Walla and Elder Maynes came to visit for their Stake Conference and at
the adult session he spoke on the importance of the Holy Ghost. How
wonderful it is that two of the greatest gifts God has given us are
two of the members of the Godhead. I am eternally grateful for the
gift of my Savior and the Holy Spirit. I can't believe how hard it is
to explain and teach about him sometimes though. Some people just seem
to have a more difficult time recognizing His influence then others.
For example, one of our investigators has been taking the lessons for
years now and she studies the scriptures and the gospel principals
manual, she attends church at least twice a month, last week we
committed her to fast and pray for the answer, which we did with her.
We haven't had the chance to teach her again since then to follow up
and to be honest with you, I am nervous that she didn't the answer
that she was seeking. She seems to want a sign even though we have
read many scriptures and given examples and born testimony on the
still small voice. She understands and accepts and believes everything
except that Joseph Smith was a prophet. I know that this relys on a
testimony of the Book of Mormon and I feel like we have explained and
testified that fact to her. So pretty much what I am saying is that I
understand the role of the Holy Ghost in conversion, I just have a
hard time accepting the agency of others sometimes. haha!
     I am so excited for general conference this coming weekend! I
have developed a love for these very important 8 hours! We have been
given such a blessing to be able to hear from our beloved prophet and
apostles twice a year. I hope that everyone takes advantage of this
wonderful opportunity to listen to the words of the Lord given through
a living modern day prophet. A literal Moses or Noah or Abraham in our
day! Its so great!
     Next week we will be going to the temple in Portland so our p-day
will be changed to Tuesday instead. I am so excited to go to the
temple again. It seems too long to be able to go only once every three
months. I want to go all the time just to feel the peace and be taught
in the house of our God. I am excited to go with Sister Dilworth as
well. She's so cool! haha
     Well I gotta get going, time is up! I love you all and I miss you
and just keep on choosing the right. Keep praying and going to church
and reading the scriptures! Those are not just lazy answers! They are
true and they will increase your testimony! I expect a full report
about conference next week! haha! Keep praying for opportunities to
share the Gospel. Christ Lives! :)

Holy tomato

Howdy folks,
        Well this has been a week of service in the service! haha... I
have canned more in the past week then I have my entire life! Its
harvest season so everyone and their dog is canning it seems. We
canned tomatoes and peaches and more tomatoes! Holy Tomato there are a
lot of tomatoes! Along with canning we have been cleaning homes and
painting buildings. Needless to say, my arms are ridiculously sore!
haha!
        We also had transfers this week which meant pretty much
nothing to us because we didn't get transferred. But it has been nice
to stay with a companion for longer than just 6 weeks. It is great
working with Sister Dilworth because she is such a great teacher and
she is super smart (not that my other comps weren't) we just seem to
have a wonderful flow in teaching that I didn't really experience with
the others. We have quite a few miracles happening right now and I am
so excited for them!
       I realized that I haven't shared much about the people that we
are teaching so here are just a few of the miracles we get to witness.
         Miracle #1: We have been teaching a recent convert every week
before and after her baptism, which was a few months ago, and she
would not ever pray. The sisters had asked her in the past and she
refused. We eventually gave up on trying to force her and so we would
just be the ones to pray every time. We had our final lesson with her
this week and the only thing left that she didn't know was how to pray
out loud. She didn't want ANYONE to hear her pray. Not even her
husband, dog, us, anyone. We talked about the importance of prayer and
how we do it and why we do it that way and everything we could about
the topic of prayer with scriptures, testimonies and stories to back
up everything we said. Along with all of that, there was A LOT of
silence. I do not like silence!!!!! It was so hard for me. We finally
said that we would say a short prayer asking Heavenly Father to bless
her with strength and support to pray out loud with us. And then after
we were done with that prayer we would keep our heads bowed and our
arms folded and she would say a prayer. So that is exactly what we
did. Sister Dilworth said a short prayer and we stayed in that
position and waited, prayed in my head, and waited and prayed some
more.....about a minute and a half later of complete silence, Sister
S, started her first ever spoken prayer. I can not even describe to
you the feeling that I felt that instant when she addressed her Father
in Heaven. I had tears running off my nose by the time her simple but
fervent and heartfelt prayer was finished. I have never felt the
Spirit testify so strongly before that our God is truly mindful of
each and every one of us and that he really does hear and answer every
single one of our prayers. I hope and pray that I will never forget
that feeling.

 Miracle #2: We have been going over to another recent converts house and helping her a lot to clean up her home. She has a very hard time letting ANYONE in her home. She is a hoarder and she has kept the inside of her house hidden for decades. One of my first times over there about 7 weeks ago, she locked herself out of her house and Sis Dilworth had to climb in the back door to unlock the front door. That was the first time that any one had been in this Sister's home in years. Since then we have been able to go in to her home and help clean and organize and sort and throw away and take stuff out for a garage sale and this is a miracle. She is one of the sweetest lady's I have ever met. She is so embarrassed by her home and the way that she lives but there is nothing she can do about it. It is a mental health condition that she has had to deal with her entire life. It is so hard for me to see someone live the way she does. I am blessed to know that she trusts us enough to let us help her like this. She allowed some of the sisters before into one of the rooms that wasn't as bad to help her and they threw away things that she wanted to keep. She is so paranoid now that we will do the same thing that she looks at everything we put into a trash bag. And then before we leave and take the trash bag with us, she has to look through it again. It is so frustrating sometimes because I just want to tell her that everything in her house should just be thrown away because it is filthy and disease ridden, but at the same time it makes me so sad that I want to cry for her! Anyway.so being able to help her is a miracle.

Miracle #3: We have found quite a few new investigators and they are awesome!!!! I love seeing the changes that people are willing to make to bring themselves in closer harmony with the Lords teachings.

I am almost out of time now, and I need to go and write Pres Greer! I love you all so much and I am grateful for your endless prayers and support. They mean more to me than you will ever know! Have a wonderful week and I hope to hear from you again soon! Much love and many hugs! :)

-- SISTER MORGAN BROX