August 18, 2014
Dear The Cool-iest of All Epic
Families in the World & Friends!
Weather here has been muggy as usual,
but hear it's going to get hotter this week. Bah! Don't worry Mom, I think I
act my shoe-size far more often than Sister Trent likes. I am a child. Forever.
And there's no escaping it.
That is like a mega-miracle about the
BOM's at the musical. I hope that Bruce keeps on reading it!! I love how the
truth shines through no matter what...we just have to be...as Elder Martino
said at Mission Tour...SMART about it.
Thank you for your kind words and
faith in me. I need it, because sometimes it's just A LOT to handle. I'm still
adjusting to how things work around Sun Prairie, and sometimes I feel the
fellowship and support of the other missionaries in the area lacking...I truly
did take getting along with the Milwaukee ones for granted. Oh well, Sis.
Anderson is right: either the people you work with are awesome or you
completely clash. Thanks for the videos too! I was able to watch them. I love
that pioneer one! It is true!
So I gave a talk in sacrament meeting
again and this time on covenants. I just related how much they intimidated me
before coming out on the mission and how no matter what is keeping us from
making eternal covenants with God, we can overcome our fears through the
Atonement of Jesus Christ. Sister Trent also spoke and played the piano (we may
or may not have used that as leverage for our investigator Brother Stoll to
come to Sacrament Meeting) ...Also! One of our less-actives Harriett Shroud and
her family (except for her husband Jim) came to church for her grandbaby
Isabelle's blessing! I was so happy that they were all in attendance and that
her daughter Cheryl requested that her baby be blessed by the Bishop! Brother
Stoll was also there at Sacrament Meeting to hear Sister Trent, myself, and a
recent convert Brother Miller speak. He said he was moved by the testimonies
and stayed for all three meetings. Yay!
Guess What??? I found a pic of a
awesome great-great-great-Grandpa Henry Holmes on Family Search.org. The
grandpa whose journal entries I brought with me I read like every day! He's
attached. He's is so epic, I can't wait to meet him in the afterlife :) Read
his journals if you haven't yet. Nani should have them.
Mission tour!!! Elder Martino of the
Seventy came and threw down the phenomenal cosmic pluthera of spiritual
euphoria that is his vision for this mission to see baptisms before the October
General Conference. He hit on the importance of the Book of Mormon in bringing
others into the gospel, and also the mega-oober-importance of finding the right
"Amulek's" (or less-active members) who can astonish others into the
gospel, strengthening their own testimonies in the process.
 |
| Elder Schvanny and Wiscombe at Mission Tour. The gang's together again! |
Although our numbers do not show it
this week, we made major progress with the members in our ward in regards to
who they can visit and fellowship into the gospel. We visited Sister Pitman,
and invited her to be our go-to fellowshipper for our investigator Latrina.
Latrina's daughter is a friend with Sister Pitman's daughter so they plan to
invite her over for dinner sometime next week when they all can be there.
Patti is an investigator with a lot
of promise. The Edgar's are fellowshipping her. She recently has gone through a
nasty divorce so she is opening up and trying to find meaning in her life. The
Edgar's are wonderful friends to her and she has been much more receptive ever
since Brother Edgar boldly told her "As a friend, I feel very strongly
about this: you need to meet with the missionaries." We will follow up
this week with them and their invite for bringing her into their home so we can
finally teach her.
We are also keeping tabs on a
referral we received from the SP Elders who flagged them down and set up a time
to ask them questions. We met with her and although she appreciated us
answering her questions and testifying of the Book of Mormon, she declined our
invitation to read and come on a church tour. Do you have any advice of how I
can extend more bold invitations...but not too bold that I scare people away?
I have high hopes for the
fellowshipping efforts in this ward and the members involved. I am so thankful for
how missionary-oriented this ward is and I pray that we may continue to see
growth and receptiveness from their friends and family so that this week we can
reach the bounds that Elder Martino set for bringing others into the gospel.
Here's an excerpt from my talk:
"How often do you reflect that your covenants reach
beyond mortality and connect you to the
Divine? Making covenants is the expression of a willing heart;
keeping covenants, the expression of a faithful heart.
Sounds so simple on paper,
doesn’t it? Of course, the doing is where we prove who we really are. Thus,
every time we reach out with love, patience, kindness, generosity, we honor
our covenants by saying, “Here am I; send me.”
-Sister Bonnie D. Parkin,
RS General President
I love you all and thank you for your
continued service in the gospel and in our whole family unit in bringing our
brothers and sisters into the gospel. It's a work far greater than who we are,
and the more we realize this and continue only for the glory of God, the greater
we can become.
-Sister Weaver-
