Most commonly used word as a missionary?
"Awesome" We do so much listening to people and the immediate
response is always "awesome...." To the point that if someone said
"My dog just died today" I would probably say "awesome."
Sister Har. and I always say things at the exact same time in lessons and one
lesson we both said in sync, "That's awe-" and then just stopped and
looked at each other out of the corner of our eyes. We made an agreement that
if one of us says awesome in a lesson, that
person has to invite someone to be baptized at the door that day haha ;)
This week was another great week as a
missionary :) We did a lot of work with less actives this week. When we called
in our numbers on Sunday Elder M. said "The Zone Leaders are not going to
be happy because you got more less active lessons than they got total
lessons." The Elders are always commenting on how hard we work. On Sunday
they said "Alright sisters this isn't fair anymore- either we all have to
start working harder or you need to stop working hard so we can balance this
out." I appreciate the encouragement but sometimes it's hard because even
though we work really really hard everyday there is still so much for us to
work on. In the mission it feels like there is so much pressure to get baptisms
and I know, I know, baptisms do not show success but it's hard to not think
that way.
We had a couple trainings this week and
throughout them I just kept hearing all the things I'm not doing and all the
things I need to improve on. We need to be better teachers, better
representatives of the Savior, work better with the members, I need to train
better, etc etc. When we got in the car to leave I asked Sister Har. if we
could pray for help in becoming the missionaries we need to be. The instant we
prayed and turned everything over to the Lord I felt so much peace. I know that
I don't need to let myself be overwhelmed- that's what the Atonement is for.
The Savior is there to help us become what we need to be. I often forget that
I've only been out for 2 transfers and I have so much time to learn and grow
but I just don't want to waste a single moment of this year and a half. 18
months is so short!
We are really trying to balance our finding
and teaching. We do a lot of teaching because there are so many less actives
but our finding efforts lately have been dependent on working with the members
which is going! Just not quickly enough so we gotta step up our game :) Since
tracting isn't effective, we now do what is called the "prayer
approach." We knock on people's doors and ask if we can come in and leave
a blessing on their family and their home. When we are in there we write down
everything they need prayers for: friends, family, illnesses, work, peace, etc.
then we kneel down with the family and leave a blessing on the home. For the
times that we tried it this week be were completely guided. The first doors we
knocked on each time became a potential or an investigator!
One of my favorite things and one of Sister
Har.'s least favorite things is talking to random people that we see. (Sister
Har. is getting much more comfortable with it. It's great! :) ) When an
appointment fell through we saw a family moving a bunch of furniture and
offered to help. They said no like they
always do but we kept on insisting till finally we just took the furniture and
started carrying it. The mother had three kids and was moving out with help
from her boyfriend. She seemed on the verge of tears the whole time and before
we came we could hear her yelling at one of their boys. She was so excited to
give us her new number and address for us to come by and talk with her and the
family. We had more experiences but I'm running short on time and I want to
answer some of mom's questions.
What is Denver like? It's a lot like Utah as
far as weather and geography. We don't have a great view of the mountains but
we can still seem them. We can see the skyline of the city really well from our
area. We see about 10 airplanes a day because we are so close to the airport.
The sky is HUGE and so beautiful. The sunrises/sunsets are phenomenal! Our car is a white Chevy Cruze and his name is
Kevin :) All the mission cars are really new. We live in a small room at Sister
P.'s maybe I'll take a picture of it one day, and a picture of Sister P.'s home
:) We don't live in a neighborhood because Sister P. owns a self storage place
so we are just around that. My area has a ton of apartment complexes. People in
this area are not super wealthy which makes it a fabulous area. I never ever
want to leave the Malley ward I love it so much! The weather is wierd, it
changes every 10 minutes from pouring rain to sunny skies. There are a lot of
ghetto stores and the roads are a little beat up but if you drive right into
the neighboring ward/area, everything becomes really nice haha. I would guess
that we are the lowest income ward in the stake. I still sing! We sing all the
time! We are singing in church on Sunday with the Webster Lake ward elders. We
sing at nursing homes every Saturday and sometimes we sing in lessons. Hope
that answers some questions about the Denver area. Our mission is REALLY small
now but still 250 missionaries! It's all the metro area.
I absolutely love being a missionary. Even
though this week I got more discouraged than usual (don't worry that means I
was discouraged for maybe an hour on two days. I still am so happy :) ). I
found that when I am discouraged it helps me turn to the Savior and it helps in
lessons because I feel his love so much stronger. I love this Gospel and I know
that it's true. Like just get this---
IT IS THE TRUTH OF GOD!
Okay got that out of my system. This week our
invesitgator D. dropped us. I called and she said "I'm not going to be a Mormon."
I asked her if she had read and prayed about the Book of Mormon and she said
"yes, God told me that it is true but I can't be a Mormon" I didn't
really know how to respond. I wasn't sure if it would be rude to say
"you're telling me that God revealed that the Book of Mormon is true
but you do not believe the things it teaches?" I kept asking if we could
just come back one last time but she said no /:
I know the Savior lives, that the Book of
Mormon is true, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. How do I know that?
Because I asked God. It just makes sense, if God had prophets to guide his
children before he will have prophets now. He is the same yesterday, today, and
forever. He loves his children so much and I know he loves me. I can feel the
happiness that the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings. There is nothing like it and
I will never deny it. If something you read or learn brings your confusion or
sadness it is not from God and therefore it is not true. If something you read
or hear brings you pure joy and revelation it is from God and it is true.
I feel so blessed to know that we have absolute truth, there is a purpose to
this life, this life is a time for us to keep the commandments and in so doing,
be happy. :D We can find answers through prayer! There is one God and he will
give you the answers. I love you all and appreciate all the prayers that
are sent my way :)
I got a letter from someone named V. who just
got baptized in Escondido. Is she in the Felicita Ward?
Have a wonderful week and share the Gospel! You
all are such incredible examples to me and I admire everything you do :) Thank
you :)
Love Sister Knowlton!!!!
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