September 21, 2015

I'M PREGNANT WITH TWINS!!!!

Holy Transfers. I can officially say I don't like transfers anymore! Just kidding. So here is the scoop! President PROMISED me that we'd get our transfer calls Saturday night. Well, Saturday night came and went and NO transfer calls. Me and Sister Maukeni both went to bed SO angry. All we wanted to know is what the next 6 weeks of our lives will be like.  We woke up Sunday morning and we got a call from President Palmer. He said that I was released as a Sister Training Leader but I was being called as a trainer. Then he said, there's a twist. You will be training not one, but TWO new missionaries. Can I tell you, I about fell out of my seat! I think I almost died right then and there. But I'm over it and I'm actually not stressing about at all. I feel so much peace. I think Heavenly Father is just trying to help me prepare here. So the verdict is: I am now Hermana Porter again and I am going to be training two new missionaries. Hopefully I am still alive next week! haha

This week has been a great week. We had two lessons with member presents! How amazing is that? One is with a man named Kevin. Kevin has been meeting with missionaries for a while and he is reading form the Book of Mormon. We were able to go with our branch mission leader, Ryan, to his appointment. We resolved some of Kevin's concerns about praying for an answer. He said he doesn't feel like he can pray because too many people already ask God for too much. He just wants to tell Him all the things he is thankful for. We told him they only ways to resolve his doubts is through prayer. Heavenly Father wants to be able to answer his questions and doesn't like it when he is constantly worrying about what's true or not true. During the lesson I realized I need to take more of my own questions to the Lord in earnest prayer and seek out the answers so I can grow my personal testimony. Our other lesson was with a guy named Amando. We went out with our member Ellyn and we were talking to her about how we don't have any investigators and right when we got home (aka back to her house) she said "Come on" and took us across the street to her neighbors house and we scheduled an appt for the following day! It was a really good lesson and Ellyn and Sister Palmer came with us. He had a lot of really good questions. He didn't want to be baptized but he said he would like to know more. The spirit was really strong. 

Here are a few things that I learned this week. 

Everyone has to have a clicking moment when it comes to the gospel. They have to have a moment when gospel makes sense for them and is something that they want. That is the point when all kids choose to live the gospel on their own or converts get baptized. They do it because they know it will please the Lord not because of obligation to someone else. Sometimes that clicking moment comes really quickly and others, it takes people awhile, but eventually it will come. 

Next I realized why I love my mission so much. this week Sister Maukeni and I were having a chat in the car and we were talking about how one day, we hope our daughters will go on missions. Then I was thinking, why do I wish that they would go? Because it is here on the mission, that as far as I can tell, I have learned what it means to fulfill our callings. I realize how important it is that we give all our time and energy to the Lord in all that we do. I've noticed when I started to do that, that joy came though the work. I know how important it is to constantly be doing missionary work like going and visiting less actives in their homes or going out with missionaries or making conversations with all those around us. We will feel so much more fulfilled when we do that. 

I'm so grateful for this opportunity I have to grow my testimony. That's all I need to do here, I grow and my mission will have been successful. 

I love you all. Hope you have a great week!

Love,
Hermana Porter

P.s. I got to go to another baptism this week for ANA. Beatriz and Enrique's granddaughter! It was a beautiful baptism and it was great to be able to see Lodi again!

September 14, 2015

 

New Haircut!!

 

 

This week has been great. I'm reading in the Book of Mormon in Nephi, the first book. I started it over and I love it even more this time. I am in 1 Nephi 19 and I read verse 9 which I don't think has ever caught my attention before. It is a beautiful verse talking about Jesus Christ. It reads  9) And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men.

Isn't that just beautiful? Christ did it all for us because He loves us. I think that might be my new favorite scripture. Maybe. Alma 7:11-13 might still take the number one spot. 

I was also studying a spiritual thought that my dad had sent me a while back. It was about the "as if" principle. If we would like to become something then we should live as if we already have it. That is something I have been reminded of this week and something I am going to apply in my life. The aspects of my life I want to apply it to are cleanliness and diligence. I feel like I get motivated to be clean or diligent and it last for a day maybe two. But if I try to remind myself that I am a clean and diligent person, then I will act as if I already have that as part of my life. Then it will become habit and then part of me. Me and Sister Maukeni were listening to a talk this week about change and about how most people let doubt keep them from changing because they see change as this huge long process that takes years and years. Elder Holland, very firmly, said that we shouldn't let that fool us. Change only takes as long as it does for us to get to our knees and tell Heavenly Father that we earnestly want to change. I LOVE that. Isn't that so true? That is something I am going to try to start to implement in my life. 

This week I got to go on exchanges with Sister Neeley again. Can I just tell you I love that sister? She is so motivated and has such a desire to work hard a be exactly obedient. It rubs off on me every single time I am with her. She is a new missionary but she seems like shes been out for years. She already has all the ropes down but she still has that new missionary fire! I wish I could be her companions so bad. We had a hilarious dinner with a few of our member. Jacob was feeding us be we couldn't go there alone because he lives by himself. He got LIz and Ellyn to come eat with us and they brought their friend William who is from Hong Kong. William just got to the states that day and he was cracking us up. He said "The first semester of college I ate 40 pounds of potatoes because I didn't know Wal-Mart sold rice." He was so serious too. Then he told me "You have the perfect complexion. You are so fare." Just imagine all of this in a Chinese accent and you would be laughing too. 

After our dinner Jacob came with us to an appointment with to a guy named Kevin. Kevin has investigated the church a lot before and he is really sick so Jacob and Brett came with us to give him a blessing. It was a really good experience for all of us. I hope Kevin felt the spirit strongly. WE haven't been able to meet with him since so we hope to talk with him about it the next time we see him. 

We met a promising guy named Marcus last night. He said he was going to come to FHE tonight at the church and to our huge "party" (thats what we tell the investigators it's called. haha)  this next weekend. He said he would come. WE are pretty stoked about it. 

I didn't hear back from any of you if you wanted to read the Book of Mormon with me. Does anyone even read my blog? Hope to maybe here some things this week! 

Love, 

Hermana PORter

 

 Right before a Sister's Conference

 

SELFIES!

I scream, You scream, we all SCREAM for ice cream!

I finally got a map of the United States!! (I've realized on my mission that I really don't know my country, at all!)

Yeah, I wore a blazer.........gross!

 

Monday, September 7, 2015

With Sister Palmer

I feel a lot of pressure to write really good email and because of that, I think they are starting to get stinky. Things in the Y.S.A Branch are hard and weird The branch is so good and they are working really hard to find us people to teach and we are working really hard at finding as well, there just hasn't been a lot of success yet. This week we did have a few good lessons were pretty cool.

We had a lesson with a man named Kevin. Kevin is a drop that we had heard about multiple times and so we finally decided to go check him out. We had tried at the beginning of the transfer but his grandmother said that he was sick and he wasn't up to company. We went back this week and we had a really spiritual experience with him. We had to meet with Kevin in his room and so we pulled up two chairs next to his bed. Sister Maukeni, noticing the empty aquarium next to his bed said "What's in there?" He said "Nothing, right now. But just to let you know there is a 8 foot long Boa  Constrictor loose in the room right now." As soon as he said that, I pulled my legs up on the chair and I was like "Oh my goodness. Where is it." I legitimately started to cry. I think I can say that my biggest fear is snakes! He started to laugh and then took us around the corner and showed us the huge snake. It was the grosses thing I have ever witnessed. I was so scared. We then continued to talk to him about how he was doing and how it was going. He told us about his experiences with the missionaries that he had had in the past. We asked him what he though of the Joseph Smith and the first vision.  He said " I believe that, that, is something true. Joseph Smith had that vision and the Book of Mormon is true as well." The spirit was so strong in the room. We were all crying. Sister Maukeni then bore sweet testimony on how the Lord knows each of us and what we need and when we need it. That there is no coincidence as to why were there that nigh and that we came when he needed us the most. Then, she offered one of the most powerful prayer and when she was done we could all feel the spirit really strongly. We were really excited about the experience and told everyone. We have a lesson set up for this week and hopefully we can get him a priesthood blessing.

That same night we had dinner with a really awesome member of the YSA. Her name is Rosemary and she is one of the ward missionaries. She told us on Sunday to tell her if there was a day we didn't have dinner and we texted and she took us to get some Mexican food! It was SO good. She told us all about her mission in New Mexico. She served on the Navajo reservations and she had some pretty crazy experiences. It was such a good dinner. We had really good conversation and I felt for the first time in a long time we got somewhere with a member. She understood what we were trying to teach to her and the spirit was strong. She was so easy to get along with. Sometimes YSA is hard because they are all return missionaries and you feel like they are judging you but dinner with here was a judge free zone! It was a good night. 

On Wednesday we went out with our branch mission leader Ryan. We had an appointment lined up but it fell through. We decided to go see a member of our branch Skye. She is going though a hard time right now and we had a really good lesson with her. We talked about Enos and his experience and the spirit was strong in the lesson. We talked about faith and about how it is only through faith that anything can be accomplished. Fe is such a broad topic that you could study for years and still not completely understand. That gospel is beautiful like that. Sometimes it is frustrating like that too. 

Exciting news!!! I FINISHED THE BOOK OF MORMON THIS WEEK!!!!! It was a monumental day. It was good this time. President Jardine extended a challenge that was to highlight every time the Book of Mormon talked about Christ, said an attribute of Christ, or Christ was speaking. It was so beautiful. My testimony of Christ has definitely grown since reading it again. I wanted to extend to you, everyone reading, to read the Book of Mormon with me for the last 6 months of my mission. I want you to email me if you accept. It is one tab a month and then by the time we finish, I will be home! I want you to choose a topic and read it. Family of mine. Accept it. If you don't I'll beat you up in 6 month! 

Alright, That was about the extent of my week! I love you all so much. Let me know how your week was! 

Love, 

Hermana Porter. 

 

 

I actually have more

We had an appointment set up with the zone leaders this week for a pass off lesson. The pass off lesson didn't actually happen but we had a really good lesson with a girl named Haley. Her grandma is a member of the elders ward and she is YSA age. She is also a member but wants to get active in the YSA ward. She was telling us about all of her missionary experiences that she's had in the last year. They have had 3 people be taught and baptized. It was so cool. The spirit was strong in their home and we got to spend D&C 18:10 and 15 with them about bringing people unto Christ and how great our joy is when we do it. This is a glorious work we are in. 

We also had an exchange this week. I got to go with Sister Clifton and we worked here in the YSA. She is the cutest girl in the entire world. We are going to be best friends after the mission, I'm almost positive. She is from Georgia and she is such a good missionary. She has the biggest heart in the entire world. I love her so much. 

Sunday was really good. We had a really good sacrament meeting. They YSA have amazing testimonies about the gospel and so many aspects of it. I love hearing people testimony. I feel like when people bare their testimony to me it makes me love them even more. Sometimes I don't like people and then they tell me their testimony and I'm like....I LOVE YOU. haha 

ok. officially done. 

 

 

August 31, 2015

SUPER STARS!!

 



A, hopefully, long email.

Alright, a lot happened this week considering I hit my year mark. Yeah, all of you who doubted that I'd even make it though the MTC, take that. Hermana Porter is here and one year in the making.

So this week was a week full of meetings and I learned SO much. SO MUCH. I'm going to talk about 

1. The meetings. 

2. My blessing. 

3. What I've learned one year in the making.  

So, our mission has been having some problems with getting a long with one another. Nothing TOO serious but yeah. SO President held an emergency Mission Leadership Counsel and we talked about it. Since this is the first transfer with every one combined we decided that we needed to start fixing it now because next transfer we are getting so many new missionaries and they can't come into this environment. The spirit was so strong as we talked about what we could do to help the mission. We decided we were going to help them by teaching them about the Christ-like attributes. WE also needed to make sure that we are setting the example and helping all those who we are serving with. THEN we went back and we taught what we learned in our MLC to our zones. Ours turned out to be a huge companionship inventory and it was kinda awkward but IT actually was really beneficial and the spirit was strong. Sister Maukeni said I got a little sassy and motherly...oooops. haha. 

After that meeting, on Thursday we had Elder Hamula from the 70 come and speak to us. IT was SUCH a great conference. He talked about the importance of exact obedience and also about how we are to work with our ward and stake leaders. He encouraged us to have dinner regularly with our ward mission leader, bishop and stake presidents. He also told us to make a focus on those who will be prospective elders. He said that is where the finding is at. Really all the church should be making a focus there but a lot of us aren't. He said if we start working with the prospective elders and their families he promises us that here will be so many baptisms that new stakes will have to be made. I thought that was a crazy CRAZY promise. But he showed us the numbers to back it up so we are going to start. The spirit was so strong in those meetings and we received SUCH good counsel. I'm so grateful we got to have those experiences. 

So for the last 6 weeks or so I've been having really bad head aches. They have been getting worse and worse and it was pretty bad. I've made a promise to the Lord that I was going to keep pushing through it and that I was going to keep working. Saturday it was nearly impossible to work and we were on exchanges. I felt like I should get a blessing and then Sister Neeley (the sister I was on exchanges with) said "Maybe you should ask for a blessing." When she said that I got an overwhelming feeling that I needed to ask the assistants for it. Well, a lot of things happened that night and it was looking like I wasn't going to get it. We were on our way home from exchanging back and it was almost 9:30 pm. and I was like "We should just stop by the church and see if they are still there." We did and they were. They gave me a blessing and it was probably one of the most powerful blessing I have ever received. The spirit was so strong. Elder Murdock gave me the blessing and he told me things that I needed to do about things I was struggling with that I didn't even know I was struggling with. The spirit was so powerful and I was so grateful for the blessing. The crazy thing is that after the blessing Sister Maukeni and Elder Bosswell said that they heard Elder Murdock start the blessing but the couldn't hear the rest. The spirit was so strong in that room. Me and Elder Murdock were both crying. Ever since then...I have been feeling great. 

Alright, now I think mom has forgotten but I recently hit my year mark and she's asked me to tell what I've learned about the Gospel, about Myself, and about Others. She didn't remind me so maybe everyone forgot about my year mark but here is what I've learned so far. 

Gospel Sense: 

1. The scriptures are a STORY! 

Believe it or not the scriptures are a story and it is the best story in the world. I've noticed that the more I read the more I understand and the more I love them. I've started finding little jokes in the scriptures and so many other things that I love. Like when Captain Moroni writes his letter to Pahoran and chews him out and Pahoran is just like "sorry dude." I mean, haven't we all been in the situation before? Or if we take Ammon as an example, the poor guy just gets so excited all the time. And every time he gets excited, HE FAINTS! Isn't that so funny? I just love it so much. The scriptures have been given to help us, not to kill us of boredom. 

2. Follow the promptings of the spirits. 

Just do it. Do it always. Don't be fearful or scared just have the faith, jump out the window and see where the spirit takes you. Plus, when you ignore the spirit, you always kick yourself afterwards. Just keep listening and see the blessings that come along. 

3. God's timing is Perfect. 

Seriously, as you follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost you realize how perfect God's timing is. You just have to be willing to follow what He gives you. His timing will line up exactly with everything that needs to happen. We are SO blessed to have a Heavenly Father who loves us that much. Before my mission I worried a lot about what I was going to do in 5 years or even 5 days but now, I know that as I follow the spirit, the Lord will never leave me and my life will pan out the way He wants it to. 

4. He will ALWAYS extend tender mercies. 

Every time I've been struggling and suffering He always gives me a tender mercy. Maybe it is an email or maybe a letter or a package, but whatever it is, it is always helpful. It just reaffirms my testimony that our God is a loving Father in Heaven who wants what is best for us. That brings me so much comfort. 

About Myself: 

1. I'm an emotional roller coaster. I"m just a hot mess all the time. I know all of you know that already but it is something that I've realized for myself. When things get anywhere greater or lower than a 4 on the emotional scale I freak out. My poor companions, they have to suffer so much. I've realized that the more I rely on the Lord the more Heavenly Father blesses me and the more I feel confident in my emotions. 

2. I have to have down time. That is something that I have learned on the mission. When I get home I have to have time planned where I don't do anything. On the mission every single minute is planned for you even the time to clean and that is too much for me. Because we have such a short amount of time to clean and do anything I feel like i have to use that to let my mind rest which make me lazy. 

4. I'm funny and that is not a bad thing. For the longest time people would tell me that I was funny and I took it as an insult. It always hurt my feelings a lot.  But I realized recently that being funny isn't a bad thing. I think I used to think that being funny meant I couldn't be spiritual or loving or kind or empathetic and that really hurt my feelings. But I realized that I can be all those things when I am funny. So now, i love the fact that I'm funny. 

5. " I am enough, I am of worth, there is a reason I came to this earth. I am a daughter o a daughter of God, I am enough." That is something that has been reaffirmed over and over again in my life. I feel like when being an SLT people expect you to have all the answers and be perfect  but that is quite the opposite in my case and I feel super inadequate but I've realized that I am enough and the Lord will qualify me. 

About Others. 

1. People like compliments. They will almost always talk to you for a long time if you start your conversation off with a compliment. 

2. Most people are doing the best that they know how. We get so impatient with them but really everyone is just trying to do their best. I've being trying to notice the good that everyone does. It makes me have a better outlook on life. 

Alright. That is all I have time for this week. I hope it was long enough. Hope you learned something. 

Love, 

Hermana Porter. 

 

 Old Companions Came to visit again

 

 Having Fun!!

 

Our Assistants.  Elder Bosswell and Elder Murdock (I found this on the computer I am using and I thought it was funny)