Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Aug 8, 2016


Sis Havey is the bomb diggity. Love her. #soulsista. ❤️
Our mini missionary Sis. Sours. It's where the stake assigns youth who are thinking of going on missions with full time missionaries so they can see if it's really something they wanna do.
I love LOVE this idea. I wish I could've done it. If any of you currently reading this are in a position to suggest this to your stake president DO IT.
It's so rad.
Our mini missionary Sis. Sours was awesome!!!! It was way cool to see her confidence and attitude change throughout the 3 days she was with us. She was able to give out a Book of Mormon with her testimony in it. It was hard for her, but she did it. I'm so proud of her!
She's gonna be an awesome missionary.
WE FOUND A CHICK FIL A!!!! #INHEAVEN 😻😻😻😻😻😻😻😻
Brother and Sis. Mette. I love Bro Mette!!!! He's the kindest and sweetest person ever!
He has Parkinson's and has a hard time doing things, but he sure shows you how much he loves you by getting you water and just really making you feel important. The light of Christ LITERALLY illuminates him in ALL he does. He's such a great example of Christlike love and the Christlike attributes that I hope to fully gain someday. It's just amazing cause there's so much that he could be mad or negative about, yet he CHOOSES not to. He chooses to be happy and look outward just like Jesus Christ did. Brother Mette is one of my heroes.
Sis. Mette isn't a member. But we still call her Sis. Mette anyway. She's gonna be baptized one of these days, though. I know it. Service is gonna be the way to her heart and long and lasting conversion. I KNOW it. She's awesome.
This is Jim Bray. He's the Zone Leaders (elders who share the ward with us) investigator who was just baptized. He is so awesome too. He was so golden. We call him Santa. He also drives a red semi truck. So he's pretty legit, I'd say. So y'all better watch out...Jim is comin' for you. He gonna find you and bring you to church with his red truck.... But no worries. This isn't sketchy...this is YOUR eternal salvation. You'll thank us all later. I promise 😊.... Do you wanna be on the nice list or not ? Ha jk about the list. But for real, there are churches ALL OVER THE WORLD! So go find one and check it out.
It was way cool cause Jim's friend from Iowa actually introduced him to the church and came to church with him here once AND came to speak at his baptism this last weekend.
Seriously what an awesome example Linn is to us all. I know that as we open our mouths like Linn did we WILL see miracles and CHANGE LIVES... not just once but FOREVER.
" FOREVER. FOREVER. FOREVER!"
ELDER BENNETT (well okay NOW it's JOSH and no I'm not joshin' ya) came back to visit the mission with his family. It was so awesome!
He's become one of my bestest friends from the mission so it was cool to see him.
He's such a stellar missionary! And I learned so much from him. It was an honor serving together. The rest of us missionaries have BIG shoes to fill.
Hermanas FOR LIFE. ❤️ #soulsistas
Me and Sister Griffin are ALWAYS twinning. If you didn't know it
already ... She's super awesome!

WASHINGTON CITIZENS RUN & HIDE FROM SISTER MISSIONARIES 
#JONAHSTYLE πŸ‹πŸ‹πŸ‹WHALE OF A STORY...


Funny story..... 
This week we saw people walking towards us, and we thought "awesome! More people to share the gospel with!" But then psych, one guy saw us coming down the sidewalk and started walking super fast into his garage and closed the door and hid. We knocked on his door, and even though he totally knew we knew he was home, he kept hiding. We left a pass a long card of the Nauvoo Temple on his door. One day he'll call the missionaries.  One day he'll be baptized. I know it. 

Another couple was walking on a lovely, cool, summer evening and when we approached them friendly and nice, they said, "Nope we already have a home church." Then they walked super grandma fast. I just kept talking to them saying, "No, y'all should come back because I know this message is true, and it'll bless your lives forever. I promise you won't regret it." It makes me laugh, but at the same time "You don't even know what this is, cause you haven't even tried it yet. Come back!"  It's interesting how so many people run away from us and hide. They're like Jonah. WHALE πŸ‹πŸ‹πŸ‹ it's gonna be great when they finally accept this forever life changing message. 

Seriously I feel like I'm E.T. or something when everyone runs away from him cause they're way scared they're gonna get Ebola or some thing. And then Satan is like the government people who are trying to get E.T. cause they know how wicked awesome and life changing he is. Seriously let's be real...E. T. is the coolest and so are missionaries! I seriously cannot get over how funny it is that people are running away from us. I didn't think I was scary looking. We are just 2 AWESOME 19 year old girls that have THE BEST message for YOU! This isn't Mary Kay or Avon y'all...so OPEN UP. 

Miracles
  • Sis. Merkle framed my note 
  • Sis. Hamer had missionaries over for dinner in Freeport! She's a less active who might be returning after a long time.
  • another ice cream place, The Ice Cream Shack.  Another miracle happened there.  We met a guy who didn't know anything about the church.  We were his first contact. How cool is that? Ice cream still answers prayers and brings miracles. It's cool how Heavenly Father speaks to us through the Holy Ghost by many different.  He KNOWS I love ice cream so he places people in my path when I get ice cream. It happens EVERY TIME. 
  • This week we have been on fire! We took the Assistants up on their invitation and wrote our testimonies in Books of Mormon & handed them out within 24 hours. We've found 3 new people to teach. One of them we taught right there and then about the beautiful message of the Restoration. We have also still continued to talk to everyone, and it's been so fun. We really have made a game of it. We take these things seriously, so we really do talk to everyone. It was really cool writing my testimony in a Book of Mormon and giving it to someone.  When you give one with your testimony, the power of the message becomes so much stronger and more real. It is so personal. It's a piece of yourself. It's scary, but so worth it. Morton  is growing and having things happen. We invited everyone to Jim Brays (the elders' investigator) baptism.  No one came, but it's ok.  The success is in the invite. 
  • Emily and Jason Boyd moved (soooo sad).  The miracle is they gave us the rest of their totes so we are set for life!!! 
  • The Assistants asked that someone from our zone give the spiritual thought for zone conference. I said yes but I was soooo nervous. I really feel that Heavenly Father helped me pull my thoughts together. I was super excited to get to share because it was about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon.  (Theme of the whole Zone Conference.)  It REALLY strengthened my testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. I really can stand as a witness and say I KNOW WITH ALL OF MY HEART, MIGHT, MIND, AND SOUL THAT JOSEPH SMITH REALLY WAS A PROPHET CALLED  OF GOD to Restore the church back upon the earth and translate the Book of Mormon. I'm grateful to have an even stronger testimony of these beautiful things. 
  • Brittany dropped us  (the one with a date for August 27, but it's ok. She is still being prepared cause she said she's gonna keep reading the Book of Mormon.  We FOUND 3 new people to teach. BOOM. 
  • I GOT TO EAT 2 CORNDOGS THIS WEEK #INHEAVEN😻😻😻😻
  • The Holcombes, (some  of the awesome members in our ward) made us a BBQ feast yesterday after Fast Sunday...one of the best things to eat when you're done fasting. I love me some BBQ! 


("Rise Above" Mormonad) Anyone else find it interesting that the colors are the same as Batmans colors?😈  Let's RISE ABOVE together and let go of our weaknesses and things that are holding us back from becoming the best we can become. I know I wanna become the best missionary I can become so I'm gonna think of all the things that are holding me back from my full potential and work on letting them go.  President Griffin talked a lot about this during new missionary training this last week. He related it David and Goliath and how the leaders of war wanted David to wear all this armor, but it was weighing him down, so he took it off. And he was able to defeat Goliath and yet if he had kept the armor on he probably would've died. So I'd like to invite all of y'all to take the time to take this challenge with me and let go of your " armor of war" and see the difference it makes in your life as you become closer to Christ and closer to the vision of the person you see yourself becoming and God knows you can become. I know we cannot do this alone.  It's not easy, but because we have Jesus Christ in our lives we CAN AND WILL rise above everything IF we first have the desire and ACTUALLY DO IT. Let's RISE ABOVE.  


The Lord says if we labor all our days and save but one soul, how great will be our joy with him; on the other hand how great will be our sorrow and our condemnation if through our acts we have led one soul away from this truth.  How cool is it that we get to talk to EVERYONE? We seriously talk to EVERYONE. We've even run a couple people down.  (Don't y'all worry we AIN'T EVEN CLOSE to "prancercising".    I've truly seen so many blessings from that. So many miracles. We are always looking for more people to teach... to build up our teaching pool and also so we don't let anyone miss out on this awesome message. I have really come to better understand the importance of ALWAYS OPENING YOUR MOUTH to share the gospel. It would be selfish of us NOT to SO WHY SO OFTEN do we just sit there and not say anything?  YES sharing the gospel can be hard, but y'all it's soooo important and I KNOW God really will help us know what to say. 


I was reading in the August 2016 New Era magazine "The Message You Send"... "Talking, thinking, dressing, and acting in a way that’s truly modest is a message that’s based in the gospel, and that’s a powerful message. It reminds us of who we really are and sends a message--to the world, to us, and to God--that we know God really is there, that we love Him, and that He’s ready to help, no matter what problems we’re facing. That message can inspire and empower. And it certainly will change someone’s life--including yours.   So, what message do you want to send today?" 
----
Remember, "There's never a second chance for a first impression." so.....THINK & ACT wisely. 

I loved this quote:
"It's important to be patient with imperfect people, because God cares a lot more about who we are becoming than who we once were. And we are all imperfect people striving for the same purpose, to become better." 
----
NONE of us are perfect so it's important that we all be kind to each other. Be patient. 

President Gordon B. Hinckley once said, "Take a chance on people. Think of the chance God took when he called you." 
---
WOW. if that isn't a slap to the face idk what is. For real, let's be kind. Remember we are all imperfect people striving for perfection. Again this isn't always easy but with Jesus Christ's help I know we can overcome this and become more patient. I know my patience level has grown a LOT since I've been here. It's definetly NO WHERE near perfect but it's getting better. It's improving and that's all that matters. 



We had a little fireside for the mini missionaries before we got them and President asked, "are there any Hermanas?"  I raised my hand  and President said, " Awesome, we have 1".  I totally psyched President for a minute and then, "oh no, you're not an Hermana. She's wanted to be an Hermana from day 1." Haha. It was so funny. I'm an Hermana at heart. Haha. 


Here's some talks  to read  cause they're the BOMB!  I'd like to invite y'all to read these from April 2015 GENERAL CONFERENCE: found in Gospel Library app under " general conference" or on Lds.org 
  • Is It Still Wonderful to You?  by Bishop GΓ©rald CaussΓ©
  • Returning to Faith  by Rosemary M. Wixom

  • Where Justice, Love, and Mercy Meet by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland


You KNOW you're a missionary when
You think of churchy analogies for EVERYTHING. πŸ˜‚
So here's some for y'all this week ...
I was washing the dishes and it made me think of us and Jesus. Why you might ask? Because some of the dishes were able to be cleaned super fast and the stains or food was way easy to get off. Yet others had been on the plates for awhile and it took some scrubbing, extra soap, or even help from the comp.   We are not perfect people and we sin and make mistakes and some are easy to overcome and get rid of. However, there's some that take a LOT of time. And so we need the Savior's help ALWAYS.  Please remember Jesus Christ LOVES YOU MORE THAN YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE.  He's always, always gonna be here to help us. Remember to use the precious gift of the Atonement in our everyday lives. There's always, always, always, ALWAYS a way back. 



Bug bites ...... So the mosquitoes here are really bad. They are evil little devils. They like to bite you until there's nothing left to bite. The big bites itch and are painful and can even scar if you're not careful. They're annoying and distract us from the more important things in our lives. That my friends, is just like SATAN πŸ‘ΉπŸ‘ΉπŸ‘ΉπŸ‘Ή Satan likes to attack us with his buddies with all of these worldly things and weigh us down and hurt us and weigh us down from our most important tasks in life.  Yet with bug spray and anti-itch cream, which is like the Savior, we really can overcome these things. Again, it's NEVER a too late to come back & FIGHT OFF SATAN with help from Jesus Christ. It's so important to read the Book of Mormon  and pray daily. It's the small and simple things that will help us stay away from Satan and his buddies grasp. Prayer is our link to heaven and Heavenly Father so KEEP ON PRAYIN. I love the gospel. I love Jesus Christ. I'm grateful to have the knowledge that it's NEVER too late for me to come HOME to Heavenly Father. To come back from being the one lost sheep...to be part of the group again. SATAN CAN BITE ME. πŸ˜‰  Actually, no he CANNOT, because I'm putting my "bug spray" on.  So he has NO power over me! And I know the same can be for each of you as you apply these things in your lives. 




Last night Sister MΓΌhlestein and I taught a young couple who were taught previously. The previous missionaries answered some of their questions, but they still had lots more. They told us a few days ago that they had questions on eternal families. We studied a LOT and went to the lesson with an awesome member. We got to know them a little, and answered their questions. I wanted to tie it into the Restoration, which we did, yet it was kinda scattered. Even though it didn't go quote like we wanted it to, it was the lesson they needed. I was sooooo beyond nervous. They had sooooo many awesome questions which were pretty deep. My comp and I really know the member needed to come with us, cause she helped a TON on the things we weren't sure about. And it was cool to see Heavenly Father's help in that lesson.   He brought soooo many things to our remembrance... Even things we had only heard once in seminary or Sunday school or church long ago. I am grateful He really does help us when we prepare and do the very best we can
Even though I was feeling a little discouraged and defeated in the lesson with this young couple--who wanted all their answers and to know where the "evidence" was RIGHT THEN, and told us things they heard about Joseph Smith that were TOTAL misconceptions-- I felt comforted by something Elder Bennett once said, "You're more successful than you think you are. Don't get discouraged. Be happy." That phrase just kept running through my mind. I knew I had prepared the best I could. I knew God would do the rest. I knew my companion, and the member, and the Holy Ghost were there to help me. I am so grateful for all of that. It was a great experience even though it was pretty rough. That phrase brought peace to my mind and my heart.  I am grateful to have the opportunity to learn and grow because I KNOW we CANNOT  grow in our comfort zones. I'm ever so happy & grateful  to have had that experience to help them learn more about the church and the things I believe & KNOW deep within my soul to be TRUE.  


Sister MΓΌhlestein said us having our mini missionary training is prep for me  being an STL(Sister Training Leader). HAHAHAHAHAHA isn't she  funny πŸ˜‚??? NOT. πŸ˜πŸ˜³πŸ˜‚



Here's some cool quotes I loved this week : 
"You cannot change someone else. You can only change you. You can lean on Jesus Christ to make yourself stronger." 

"When we decide we won't participate in church. we are drawing ourselves away from the Savior." 


"Being offended is a choice." 


"No one can make you feel inferior w/out your permission." 

"We can act or be acted upon."



YALL ENJOY YOUR DAYS OF LIVING THIS WEEK¡¡

Love sista Γ„llowitz


1319 Butterfield Rd. #552
Downers Grove, IL 60515




Monday, August 1, 2016

August 1, 2016

And you thought you were sick of corn ..... 🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽PSYCH.
Emily and Jason Boyd. I'm soooo sad they're moving. Besties for life. ❤️
MTC PALS. ❤️❤️❤️
My killer comp ❤️
Alma 34:15-- people are so hardened here in icwm. It's sad to see people reject this beautiful message and Jesus Christ. I
am grateful to know that this is true. I watched "Legacy" the movie about the pioneers and Joseph Smith. It's one of my all time
favorites because the spirit is so strong--these pioneers sacrificed so much for us to have this restored gospel of Jesus Christ
here upon the earth. I love Joseph Smith. I love the pioneers. I love the gospel!

My companion shared this insight with me, and I loved it because I honestly don't care what people think of me. What I do care about is that people KNOW Joseph Smith WAS INDEED a prophet of God and that Jesus Christ lives.
1 Nephi 19:7–9. "The world shall judge him to be a thing of naught." The Savior was unimportant to them. He was deemed to be “good for nothing, 
but to be … trodden under foot of men” (Matthew 5:13). Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles noted how men today often follow the same fateful thinking: “For many moderns, sad to say, the query ‘What think ye of Christ?’ (Matthew 22:42) would be answered, ‘I really don’t think of Him at all!’” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1995, 27; or
Ensign, Nov. 1995, 22–23). On another occasion Elder Maxwell taught 
that regardless of what the world says, we must stand fast in our testimony of the Savior: “At the center of the Father’s plan is Jesus Christ, mankind’s Redeemer. Yet,
as foreseen, many judge Jesus ‘to be a thing of naught’ (1 Nephi 19:9), or ‘consider him’ merely ‘a man’ (Mosiah 3:9). Whether others deny or delimit Jesus, for us He is our Lord and Savior! Comparatively, brothers and sisters, it matters very little what
people think of us, but it matters very much what we think of Him. It matters very little, too, who others say we are; what matters is who we say Jesus is”
(in Conference Report, Apr. 1984, 27; or Ensign, May 1984, 21).

There was a thunderstorm AGAIN this last week. Of course, we being the super smart 19 year old girls that we are, didn't have umbrellas because it was super bright and sunshiny out. Then all of a sudden the storm from Satan came and we got SO soaked. We knocked on some doors hoping to get an answer, then ran back fast to our car in pouring rain. I said, 
"hey this is awesome cause people will feel bad for us and let us in, and we can share the gospel with them." Hah, knock on wood....the guy said ,"you didn't have the decency to get out of the rain? Go get out of the rain."
He LEGIT wouldn't let us in. I just laughed. I didn't care about getting wet as much as about his eternal salvation. 
But I guess he isn't ready. I hope his heart was softened just a little. BUT hey it was a fun adventure.

When we are with God and center Jesus Christ in our lives and read the Book of Mormon and pray daily we are WITH God and are able to be above the world. We can be in the world but not of the world. We can stand above Satan and his buddies trying to get us down. We can have a firm foundation when the whirlwinds of life come. ( Helaman 5:12)


We were so excited to finally contact Diane. When the door opened and we asked for Diane the guy said, "yeah, my mom died. She's gone." ...... And then slammed the door in our face. But we did see a lady above Diane's apartment. She was nice until she realized we were Mormons. She said if we didn't go she'd hit us with her cane cause she knew mom would've beat us cause that's what she always did to Mormon missionaries. She wouldn't have been able to, since she was in a wheelchair. I would've taken it, but we wanted to respect her so we bore testimony again and left. It's interesting people's perspectives of the church. There's so many misconceptions out there. It breaks my heart. But how COOL IS IT that I get to be here preaching the gospel to get rid of these misconceptions!
We are like Nephi. People are like Laman and Lemuel and won't listen. They only time Nephi got them to listen was when he bore his testimony. People are so hardened here. Service and bearing sincere testimony is what's gonna soften people's hearts. I know that's true cause I've already seen it. Even through this we must humble ourselves and become like Nephi because at times we can become like Laman and Lemuel. So let's not murmur. I sure ain't speaking "whinese". It's not a language I have or wanna put on my resume and none of us do, so let's rise above.

You know your companion knows you super well when she knows she can scare you by hiding and waiting for you to come outta the bathroom....WHY ? πŸ˜³πŸ˜¬πŸ˜‚

We all make mistakes and no one is perfect. We all fall short at times and Satan & his buddies try to get us to believe things that aren't true. They try to get us to keep digging ourselves bigger holes and continue to dwell in our sin. And yet GUESS WHAT? Our Heavenly Father LOVES us SO MUCH & wants us to return back to him. He wants us to better ourselves and improve. And he knew we wouldn't be able to do it on our own so He sent his son, Jesus Christ, who suffered & atoned for us.
So please please DON'T procrastinate repentance! I know it's not always easy but remember you're not alone! You never are! And "anything worth having takes time" , so get on your knees and pray DAILY for things you're needing to repent for.
I have seen my life change so much as I've taken the time to repent daily. Digging holes doesn't do anyone any good. Daily repentance heals wounds and scars. It helps us to become more Christlike. I can promise you it's NEVER EVER too late to come back regardless of how far you feel you've come!!!! Jesus Christ IS our Shepherd. We are HIS sheep. 🐏🐏🐏🐏 and he WILL place us on his shoulders and carry us home. I know this is so true, because Jesus Christ has left the 99 for me so many times.


So beyond grateful for parents who taught me the value of hard work and how to do it. This missionary stuff isn't even close to being easy, but sooo worth every bit of character I'm gaining here.

Miracles this week:
*Brittany's gonna be baptized Aug 27. We are gonna baptize her ENTIRE FAMILY. She said she normally would've turned us away but she saw and felt something different within us. Such a spiritual experience! Most spiritual experience I've had on my entire mission. With that experience alone I KNOW this church is true. And I CANNOT deny it.
* Met guy named Vance who actually accepted a Book of Mormon and said he wants to come to church
* Tonya,a less active, came to church for the first time since I've been here.
* THE JARNIGANS MOVED HERE. Ice cream prophesy brought to pass.

We had zone preparation day today. It was a blast! We played ultimate frisbee and volleyball and the Elders BBQ'd for us. We have an awesome zone !

Ps- yes Sis. Metcalf got GEESEN poop on herself from all the GEESEN in the lawn at the church. Cause STORY TIME :
Seester Metcalf was chilling in the grass enjoying the sunshine day when all of a sudden she realized she had GEESEN poop πŸ¦ƒπŸ’© on herself. She didn't eat it though that's a disclaimer.
She is still alive and well and no longer has any residue on her from this event...just priceless memories to write about in her journal.

I love the missionary life!
Love Seester Γ„llowitz

Also we found a new person to teach. This bunny. Many people here won't listen to us like I said but this bunny did.