Old Lady Parties, Golden Investigators, and Trail Clean Ups

April 27, 2015 

Sorry again about last weeks letter. You get days where you get nothing and other days everyone decides to write you all at once. haha. It's just like our days out here. Some of them are packed and we run around like chickens with their heads cut off and others are those really long days where you wish that just one person would let us in. haha. Gotta love it

Well oh well, what happened this week? Uuum....., the week started off with the old lady luncheon. Those are the best. All of the old ladies get together for a lunch and they talked about old people stuff but it always feels so nice to be included. I always feel so loved. 

On Saturday we headed out of our area to Silverwood lake for a Stake clean up project. It was SO nice to see a different scenery. The same couple of square miles get kinda boring after awhile. haha. We drove through boonies and I felt like I was in Idaho again. For the service project we cleared trails and I got to use those massive clipper thingies. I like feel so boss when I use those. It has been super cold and windy here the last week so everyone was kinda cold but it turned out to be a really fun morning. While I was sitting there in the Dement's big truck with the engine humming, all nice and warm staring out the window, I had one of those moments where you just know that God loves you and knows what we need and when. I needed that little break and moment of peace so bad. I sometimes get so stressed that I don't even realize that I'm stressed until I'm not anymore and I realize the difference.  We got done really early though so we kinda had to figure out what to do with our extra 3 hours. We couldn't really tract in 65 mph winds though so we had to be creative. 

Our investigators are progressing so well. Gilbert is moving along towards his date and passing everything with flying colors. Carol is getting a blessing so we hope that that will help her get to church. In the mean time her faith continues to grow and I can see it changing her whole countenance. She is using the Atonement.  Nothing has changed much, other than me. I still have the same personality and I'm still Becca but my outlook on life has changed a lot. My priorities and dreams have definitely been refined in a lot of ways. That's the miracle of missions. It is literally changing my eternity. I've been thinking a lot lately about how I want to apply my learning and growth when the time comes for me to go back to the real world. It is one of my greatest excitements but one of my greatest fears as well. Even though I know that I won't be perfect at it all and not everything in life goes the way that we plan, I know that what the mission has given me is a greater desire and a greater knowledge of how I can serve my Heaven,y Father better. If anything, I've seen just how important the small every day primary answers are and how much they really do help us. I've seen what happens when you do do them and I've seen what happens when you don't. I know that the little things in life make all the difference. It takes faith to keep those "celestial habits" up and sometimes we're just not in the mood to read, pray or go to church, but when we finally do  them we are reminded of just how amazing they are. As humans we forget really really fast. We forget feelings and thoughts and we too often forget what is most important. That is why we need daily and constant reminders to help us to remember. When we are true to the little things, God will give us greater things. I don't know if that alll made any sense to anyone, but it does to me. haha. So I'd encourage everyone to exercise their faith and go back to the basics. Remind yourself of just how great they really are and just how much they help. I promise that you will feel the Spirit more abundantly  in your life and that Spirit will make all the difference in everything that you do. Our testimonies are like a fire. They need fuel to stay bright and big but if you don't keep putting wood in the fire goes out. You can't blame it for not staying big if you never do anything to keep it burning. We can always fan the flame back up though, even if it is merely a little dim amber still holding on to keep glowing. So yeah, that is what I've learned. haha. .

Well, I love you all! Transfers are this week so the next time I email I'll let you know if I stayed or left my area. I kinda have a feeling that I may be leaving( knock on wood) but we'll see. Only God knows and that's ok with me.

Love ya lots,

Sister Prows

Out of Time

April 20, 2015

So this week has been filled with lots of little moments where I just knew that the Lord was very aware of me. I fasted for something on Sunday and little my little I have seen how the Lord has helped me because of it. My testimony of fasting and prayer has increased so much. So, I'd encourage anyone who reads this to fast for something that they need help with. It is one of our most powerful tools. 

This week has been full of lots of long meetings and lots of old people. haha. Wednesday was zone conference. I loved it! It was exactly what I needed to hear. It went right in line with what I needed and what I have been working on trying to do. Never in my life have I actually understood the enabling power of the Atonement and for the first time I finally feel like I'm starting to figure it out. Hurray! God really does provide a way for us to do everything that He asks us to do. He helps us get there with His help. 

AAAAAWWWWW I just realized that I have about 30 sec before i get kicked off so I will finish this next week. haha. Love you all! 

Taxidermy Restaurant

April 13, 2015 

This week was pretty great..in it's own little way. One of the other Sisters has been out of service due to the flu for the past 2 weeks but they still had appointments and things that they had to get done so we we went on a couple of mini exchanges to help them out. I went our with Sister Cromwell both times. It was so nice to get out my 6 by 6 mile radius for almost the first time in 4 months. haha. And I didn't even have to be the one to plan what to do next! Yep, it was great. I forgot how nice that feels. I loved it though. We went and saw this little old lady from Puerto Rico. Oh my gosh, I have never laughed so hard. She was hilarious! She told us everything she knew;) but it was actually really enjoyable and fun. I always love getting to meet such fun people like her. We had a really fun dinner appointment with the Jackman family and then headed off to visit one more less active, only we never actually got to the door. We had most amazing conversation instead. haha. That sounds bad but we both really needed it. It was one of those times where I knew that the Lord was very aware of me. Everything that she said was exactly what I needed to hear. I knew that the Spirit was guiding our conversation and we both learned and grew together. Hurray for answered prayers! 

We had lots of fun at squash4friends too. We had to take out all of the old winter crop of broccoli and whatnot so by the time we were done hauling it all off we looked  more like homeless old people than missionaries. We were hunched over and covered in dirt from head to toe. Yep, we were quite the sight, I still look like I got attacked by a dog from all of my scratches. It was way fun though. Look out California! The glamour girls are comin to town! I love being with the other missionaries! We also got to take home the last little bit of the veggies that were left. I didn't even have to buy produce this week! Which is nice because that is basically my diet when we aren't with members for dinner. I make a green smoothie every morning for breakfast so I go through a lot of greens. I've seen the results of eating crud every day and it aint pretty. haha. Motivation comes from all sorts of places. 

I don't have much of an update for you I just wanted to let ya know that I love you all and I'm keeping busy. Gilbert reset his date for May 9 so we are super excited. The Winklers also agreed to get baptized! Hurray! So life is good, hard, but good. I love my mission and I love you all!

Love ya lots,

Sister prows

We went to a whole in wall Mexican restaurant that looked more like a taxidermy shop than a restaurant. It was quite the surprise when we walked in. This wart hog looked really happy to see us

 I picked them myself

Some-Bunny Loves You

April 6, 2015 

So we had a pretty sweet week! Starting with my favorite part......GENERAL CONFERENCE! Hurray! Man oh man, I didn't want it to end. I loved Elder Uchtdorf's talk on Grace! and Elder Holland's was amazing as always. I'm so grateful for such amazingly inspired leaders. I felt like so many of them were written just for me.....along with 15 million other people haha. Yep, it's pretty great. Miracle moment: Carol, the one who has a hard time with crowds came and watched General Conference with us at a members place! She stayed for both Saturday sessions and we had a nice lunch in between. Gilbert and Abby also watched it at our ward mission leaders house with us. Yeah, I was excited to say the least. I was so conscious of whether they would understand what the hey anyone was even talking about haha, but that is where the Spirit comes into play. It teaches us in ways that words can't and I felt like they were all able to understand it pretty well. They really liked it too. Carol has come so far and I'm so grateful to see her growth and progression in the gospel. We taught her the Word of Wisdom and she readily accepted it and everything, even though she loves her tea and coffee. I feel like she is happier and happier every time we go to see her. 

So for Easter we wanted to get out the HeLives video to as many people as we could so we went and bought a whole boatload of candy and Easter eggs and a member help us print a really pretty quote on a little 2 by 2 card and on the back it said  "the Sister missionaries have an Easter Video message for you" and then it listed the website fr the video. So we stuck those to the eggs and dropped them in all of the members mailboxes and doors. It was so fun and it made me happy. I like doing little things like that.

 Easter is the most important day of the year. It means a whole lot more to me this year than it ever has. We really do owe everything good in our lives to Christ. My understanding of the Plan of Salvation has really grown a lot since I've been out. It really is such a great plan. It gives me so much comfort because I know that everything will work out for everyone. The people that don't understand now will get a chance. The people that suffer will find peace and the seekers will find what they are looking for. We will be judged by an all knowing and all loving God that knows all of the could haves, should haves and would haves. It really is all in His hands and none of our happiness and joy in life would be possible with out Christ. My heart almost hurts sometimes when I know that people don't understand or believe that. I love them so much and I just wish that they knew everything that I do. I wish that they understood just how much it can mean in their lives. I wish that they knew how much God loves them and wants them back with Him someday. But I'm mortal and all I can do is my best and hope that they feel His love through my words and actions. God will take care of the rest.

I love you all so so much! Have fun at the family get together and take lots of pics!

Lov ya lots,

Sister Prows

Double Wammy!

March 30, 2015 

Man, I never know how to start these letters. Sorry if they all sound the same haha. Sometimes you just run out of things to say, ya know? Oh well.

So, uummm, uh, funny story. We kinda, sorta locked ourselves out of our car this week. Not once but TWO TIMES. And get this, the second time was only the day after haha! Yeah, it was embarrassing to say the least. The first time, they fell out of my pocket onto the seat and I got out and closed the door and when we tried to open it it didn't obey my yelling at it to open. So, we called the mission office and and luckily they had a spare that they sent up the hill with another set of missionaries. We got it just in time....three hours later. It's okay though, because we had an awesome tracting spree and found 3 potentials! hurray! It still shocks me when ever people actually say yes to another visit haha. I'm like " would you be interested in learning more about our message" and these people actually said yes! It shocked me so much that I didn't even really know what to do next haha. I just stood there like a deer in the headlights. Nah, I'm just kidding but it was an awesome feeling. You get so used to the same answer sometimes that anything different throws you off a bit haha. 

The second time we had just gotten done with a service project and I needed something out of the trunk so I threw all my stuff down in the back and grabbed what I needed and started walking to go get something. Well my comp thought that I was done and closed it. It was jsut like in the movies where I turned around in slow mow yelling NOOOOOOoooooooooooooo in slow motion right as she closed the trunk that had no button to open it on the outside. So there we were, two chicks sitting on the trunk of their car in the middle of a huge empty field in the desert, all alone and stranded. I was just picturing everyone coming back the next week to find two skelotins with names tags next to the car. We could see the vultures already starting to circle plus it was stinken hot..... but luckily we had our phone so we could call someone. The night before, we were helping some old ladies in our ward move boxes and stuff and we told them about how we had locked ourselves out. They offered there AAA next time that ever happened, and since I was not about to call the mission office AGAIN and tell them that we had locked ourselves out AGAIN, I decided to have the old ladies rescue us instead. They got a kick out of it when we called them to ask for help haha. So we just sat there and waited, snacking on some left over broccoli that we had just picked for all of the soup kitchens in town. haha. It was awesome. So yeah, that is my adventure for the week.

Now for best part. So for the mission fast that we had at the beginning of the year we were all asked to figure out something that we wanted to work on. I decided that I wanted to work on listening to and following the Spirit. Well, that was definitely manifested this week. On Tuesday, we were driving off to go see who we had planned but I had the impression to go see if Aby was home. So I turned my little Toyota around and drove back. She wasn't there but Gilbert was! we haven't seen him in forever because he has been working so much and we caught him on his only day off that he has had in weeks! hurray! We were able to help and comfort him about some things and he says that he is going to put i=his foot down and tell his buddy that he is serious about having Sundays off. He is such a god guy. The next night we had planned a billion names in a couple of areas. It took us like an hour when we were done I had a feeling to scratch all of it and go down and trct area 6. I was reluctant at first because of all our planning that we had just done and plus it was so far away so I didn't really want to waist so many miles when we were so low on them this month. But, we went anyways and we ended up finding several potentials. But wait! there's more! the Next day, we randomly planned to go and see the Kirby's. Well, that was random but I felt like we needed to go anyways. So we did, and Bro Kirby, our ward mission leaders, wasn't even there haha. But we got talking to his wife instead. She had been having horrible heart burn all day and she was having an anxiety really bad but by the time that we left she expressed how it had all melted away as we talked. How cool is that?!! Moral of the story-listen to the Spirit and fasting works!

 Keep being amazing! Know that I think about and pray for each one of you often. 

lOVE YA LOTS!

Sister Prows

watch this video!!!!!!!!!!!!!  it's amazing http://www.mormon.org/easter

Miracles!

March 23, 2015

So I just completed my 7th/13 transfer! Pretty crazy, eh? We got the calls late Saturday night and I'm staying in the same place with the same comp. My work isn't done here so I get to spend the next 6 weeks figuring out why. I love my ward so I'm cool with it. 

This week we had so many cool miracles. Friday we had a feeling that we should go to one members house after dinner to ask her a question about family History that a less active wanted us to find out about. Long story short, a lot of things happened that should have kept us from going but we did anyways. When we got there and we had asked our question she remembered some temple names that another Sister had agreed to take to the temple for her in order to get them all ready for sealings. She asked us if we could take them to her before we went home for the night and even had us go get another Sisters names as well. So that was cool. We were able to be used as instruments in the Lord's hands to help people. That is a really short version of what happened but it was really neat. We also did the Food Ministries again this week and the other Sisters that came with us started talking to this one lady. Turns out she is a recent convert and when she moved she didn't know what ward she was in so she fell away. So they are going to start teaching her! Hurrah for miracles. Those are the main ones of the week but there have been so many other little ones that we have been able to see too. God is so aware of us. There is no better feeling that being able to participate in miracles. 

Sorry this is so short this week but I wanted to get something in at least. Love you all! 

-Sister Prows

pic 1:  My healthy version of a shamrock shake

pic 2: My favorite person ever went home today. Ignore the creeper in the background haha

Lost Investigator

March 16, 2015

Our week had a couple of crazy moments to say the least. On Friday night, the YM/YW had a fundraiser for girls camp/high adventure. Abby, our 13 year old investigator, wants to go so we had someone pick her up and bring her. We left after the dinner because there was no need for us to stay and watch the auction and I told Abby who would be taking her home. About 45 minutes later we got a text from the Sister that was supposed to take her home that said nobody could find her. I did a mini freak out session. After awhile of no one being able to find her we went back to the church and all the leaders were there. We called Gilbert and asked him if he had come and picked her up and he hadn't so then he started to freak out. So nobody knows where she is and I'm just thinking how horrible it is that we lost our investigators daughter haha. Long story short, she got a ride with someone and didn't tell anyone and didn't get back until later. That's what we thought but it was still kinda scary. So yeah, we lost our investigator haha.  

So this week our whole entire mission and all of the the ward councils did a huge fast for missionary work. it was really cool and I can't wait to see all of the amazing miracles that will come from it.

On Thursday we did sqaush4friends again and I got to take home a bunch of broccoli and cauliflower. You know me, I was SO happy! I've been putting it in my smoothies and making it for lunch everyday. Yep, it's been great. I've done like 7 hours of gardening this week. On Saturday we hula hoed for two hours at the Elders investigators place and then went straight to another old lady and did two and a half there and then went straight to go help someone else clean and organize her newly painted cupboards. We slept well that night haha I loved it though. It feels awesome serving people..... and you get buff arms really fast haha. 

We started teaching the Langs again this week. They are the ones that tried to remove their records. They decided to give it another chance so hopefully we will be able to help build their faith enough to stay. I'm kinda scared though. Her testimony is wavering and she has a very strong personality so explaining things can be hard. It's all in God's hands though. I've been realizing more and more just how little control over things I have. This really is HIS work and the only one I can control is myself. It's hard seeing people make not so great decisions. It's been harder on me than I ever thought it would be. You come to love people so much and when they make bad decisions it's hard to see. I can't even imagine how God feels. Opposition in all things, right? Salvation was never an easy task. It wasn't for the Savior and it's not going to be for us. It's all good though. We see so many blessings throughout our day that keep us going and we have a wonderful ward family that takes care of us.  

Sorry that I don't have anything cool to report but maybe something will pop up next week haha. Thanks for being so great! 

Love ya lots,

Sister Prows