Elizabeth at the Wedding!

Patrick got married last weekend and the life size Elizabeth and Alex were a huge hit! We missed you Lil but what you are doing is a little more important.

Yay for weddings!

Well, this past week was quite an exciting one.

So we had a sister in our mission that was supposed to go to Brazil, but she didn't get her visa, so they sent her to our mission for a while. She was here for about 3 months and last monday we found out she got her visa, so she left to Brazil. As for her companion, President decided to send her to us, so now we are in a trio! So for 3 weeks, it will be Sister Jacob, Green and I. It has been a fun week with another missionary with us! We have our 3 beds crammed in our bedroom which is hilarious, because it is pretty much just one big bed because there is not any room.

So we have been very slow with investigators in this area, so I have been praying for more investigators. Well, we got them this past week! We ended up with 4 new investigators and a lot of potentials. The interesting thing about these wonderful people, is that they are probably the hardest investigators I have ever had to work with. I am so grateful for them and the experiences I am having with each of them. The Lord sent me investigators, and so I am happy with them!

So we were street contacting one day, and I had a feeling to walk across the street and knock on a door we had tried knocking on before. So we did, and waited a while, and suddenly we hear this guy yelling at us coming down the street. "JEHOVAH WITNESSES??" Over and over again. So I walked up to him and said we were Mormons, and he said, "well come on in sisters!" This guy who had been walking down the street at that time was the guy who lived in the house we were knocking at. His name is George and he told us about his life and how his daughter had died and he started to cry. We told him about how he can see her again and what he needs to do here on this earth. He was so excited, and wants to change his life, and said he wants to come to church. I am so grateful for the Holy Ghost who leads us to where the Lord needs us.

The Lord is blessing me so much in this area! I am so grateful for the opportunities we have been given and all of the exciting things that are about to happen!

I love you all!

Love,
Elizabeth

TAWANDA!!

This past week was legit!

Wow, this past week ROCKED! Let me expound.

So last Sunday we fasted to find more investigators for this area because it has been so slow, and every single day this past week, we found someone who wants to be taught. Heavenly Father blessed us with more than we ever asked for! I am so grateful for the blessings he has poured upon us. I am going to tell you about one experience. So one night, it was around 8:30 p.m. and we were both exhausted and visiting potential investigators. I was feeling discouraged thinking that everyone was asleep and no one was going to answer the door and my comp was feeling the same way. But we decided to just keep going hoping that someone would answer the door. So the next door we go to, we knock and this lady answers the door looking surprised saying, "Are you the Mormons?? Come in, my daughter is sick and I need you to pray for her!" So we went in and talked to her about everything that was going on and she was discouraged with life and just wanted an answer about which church was true. Then she said, "maybe you two are my answer." Her 4 children just loved us. They wanted us to hold them and wouldn't leave our side. I knew they felt the spirit that we had and loved that feeling. So we all knelt together and I said a prayer for their family and their sick little girl. I cannot even tell you how strong the spirit was in that prayer. I am so grateful for the power of prayer. I prayed that Rose (the mom) would feel comforted with everything and a lot of other things were said that I can't remember. So when I ended the prayer, Rose had tears streaming down her face and she said, "I know Heavenly Father sent you two to me tonight because I needed you." I felt such a powerful feeling as I left her house that night. I keep thinking about what if we had just given up and gone home, we would have never gone to her house. She is now listening to the lessons and can't wait to bring her children to church on Sunday. THere is no greater work than that of a missionary. I am so grateful that I am able to be a missionary in the Lord's hands.

So our stake was blessed enough to have Elder D. Todd Christofferson come to our Stake Conference yesterday and it was incredible. He talked about what we can sacrifice of ourselves for the temple that is coming here. How can we become more holy to enter the Lord's house? He also said this quote which I loved... "We are not strangers or guests, but children in Heavenly Father's home." I was able to shake his hand after the meeting and it was such a blessing. Needless to say the spirit was incredibly strong during the meeting. What a wonderful time to be on a mission with a temple coming to this area.

I love you all and hope everything is going well with wedding preparations! Woo Woo Weddings!!

Love, Elizabeth

TAWANDA!!

My purpose as a missionary is to be akward...

Hello Family!

Well, in accordance with my title, I have never had so many awkward moments on my mission. The best part is I get to live through them and think in my head, "that JUST happened." People are crazy and I love it.

Ok, well my first awkward moment starts with our Book of Mormon night. This guy comes every week and he is interesting. So S. Jacob and I are teaching and he raises his hand and asks, "So, is church a stumbling block in our lives?" Both of us just sat there. What??? So we started to answer, and he turns to the elders to make sure they approve of what we are saying. Ya know since sisters have no idea what they are talking about. So annoying. So after the elders answered the question, he raises his hand again and says, "so... did Satan have the Priesthood in the premortal life?" But this time he instantly turned to the elders because supposedly we don't know the answer. I guess you had to be there. So strange.

So we helped this lady do her laundry this past week because she had surgery, and we were asking her what she does to help her surgery feel better. She responds, "I use a heating pad." Then we of course ask, what do you use as a heating pad? "My dogs butt... It applies pressure and heat."...... Sister Jacob and I just sat there not knowing what to say. THe rest of the time the conversation was quite interesting. I would rather not repeat it.

I would go on, but I would like to tell the cool stuff that happened this week.

So on Sunday no investigators or less actives showed up to church that had said they would. I became a little frustrated and sad because we had worked so hard that past week. I just felt like the last week had been a waste because no one came. So I sat there in sacrament wondering what I did wrong and what I could have done better. I prayed that I would know why this happened and what I can do to do better. So we taught Young Womens and our lesson just happened to be on not getting frustrated or discouraged when you work hard because it weakens our faith and drives the spirit away. So of course the lesson was just for me. The Lord continues to bless me with answers to my prayers.

So then that night, we got a call from an unknown number and it was this guy we met street contacting and he wanted to meet with us so he can learn more about the Book of Mormon that he had started to read!!! Then, the next night we were street contacting and went a way we usually don't go and ran into a guy that needs what we have in his life. He can't wait to learn more.

Although these are such simple things, they were great answers to my prayers. After I had realized the lesson I was supposed to learn, the Lord blessed us with work to do. That is how my mission is, I am always learning and being blessed.

I love it out here so much! I hope you are all doing well!

Love,

Elizabeth

TAWANDA!

Happy Valentines Day!

Hello!

So yesterday in church, the bishop notified us there was something for us in the office. We went in and there was a large arrangement of flowers for us from MW (Manchester Ward). There were also a box of chocolates and a bouquet of flowers made out of cupcakes and frosting. So cute! This ward is so nice and treats us very well.

Well, I first want to talk about Bill. He is doing so great! We taught him this past week and wants to know if this is true and will do anything to know. So he is going to read and pray about it and I know he will get an answer. He has such faith and diligence that I know he will get an answer. He came to church yesterday and just loved it again. We are meeting with him on Wednesday so hopefully everything will go well. The thing I found out this week that is so cool is that the elders who were here before us have been trying to get a hold of Bill for almost 6 months and haven't been able to meet with him. The last elders taught him a year ago and he never called them back. Now I am not pointing out the fact that they were elders and that is why they couldn't teach him, but that he just wasn't ready to hear the gospel for the past year. He has needed this time to prepare to hear and accept the gospel. Last year at this time, he had no faith and didn't have any idea about religion. For the past year, he has slowly started to pray and come closer to the Lord through prayer and study. He has finally decided he wants to know what church is true. It has been interesting to see the Lord's timing on everything. Because we happened to be getting our haircut and he happened to be getting his done at the same time and we said one statement that made sense to him, he is now accepting the gospel because he is ready. I am so grateful for the knowledge of the Lord's time, not my time.

Well I love you all and hope you have a great week and a WONDERFUL VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!

Love,

Elizabeth

TAWANDA!

This is me and a member who I absolutely love! Her name is Diana Fusco. Her daughter emailed this to me, I thought you would like to see it. Love you!

Mission Change!!

Well, listen to this CRAZY news. In fact I will just copy and paste the email from my mission president...

Dear Missionaries:

In a recent meeting of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, approval was given to discontinue the Connecticut Hartford Mission and realign the boundaries of the Massachusetts Boston Mission to include the area of the discontinued mission."

"The discontinuance of the Connecticut Hartford Mission will be implemented July 1, 2011."

Sister Pehrson and I are excited that you will be joining the Massachusetts Boston Mission under the leadership of President William T. Evans and his wife Sister Jan Evans. They are outstanding people and you will come to love, admire and respect them as you get to know them.

President Evans and I will be working closely together over the next several months to consolidate the missions. I know that you will respond positively to this change. I know it is the right action to take. As missions are integrated your opportunities will be many and I know that you will give President and Sister Evans your complete loyalty and support.

In the meantime we remain focused on our purpose. Our diligence for the work does not change. We move onward!

So, ya. As of July 1st, I will be serving in the Boston, Massachusetts Mission and the Hartford, Connecticut Mission will no longer exist. Patrick, I am sure you are freaking out right now, as am I! What if I serve where you served? CRAZY!!!!!

Anyway, the mission is going awesome. We were INCREDIBLY blessed this past week, I cannot even believe it! People are just showing up everywhere that want to be taught and learn more about the gospel. Today we were in a hair salon and this guy walked in that had been meeting with the missionaries, but just didn't understand what they were saying and didn't like the church. After we resolved his concerns and cleared up what he was confused about, he was craving more information and invited us over to his house for us to teach him. We just so happened to be there at that time. Incredible.

We were teaching one of our investigators, and he had concerns with people's examples in the church. He loves the church but not some of the people in it. So we talked to him about how we all have agency and some people do not use their agency in the right ways. The next day in church all of sacrament and sunday school was all about agency. It was a complete answer to his prayers, and he was so excited. I love it when Heavenly Father shows His love for us all of the time!

All in all this past week was just wonderful. We have been so blessed, and I am just wondering why he has blessed us so much! We have gotten more snow than I have ever seen and its gonna keep comin! This week we are supposed to get 6 inches of ice. What???

Love you all!!
Love,
Elizabeth

TAWANDA!