She comes home on Monday!!!

Week of July 11 – 19: Did you know Bossier City…

...is pronounced "bo-" (like a bow and arrow) - "sir."    But it's spelled Bossier which looks like bossy-er. WEIRD. But that's where I live! 

I'm trying to remember what we did this week.  I feel like I've been in Bossier for like 4 years but I simultaneously don't know anyone or anything about here.

Last Monday, we emailed and then went to Chick-fil-a for lunch!  We spent that night walking around trying potentials and tracting. We were just walking down the street when a guy called us over and asked if we would pray with him. He called his wife outside and told us how his wife's father and brother just died last week and someone else was in the hospital. We said a prayer with him (he was a prayer talker: "please bless this family-" "YES LORD JESUS AMEN" "that they'll have peace-" "THANK YOU JESUS"  I haven't heard a prayer talker in a while and it takes a lot of concentration) and left them with a Plan of Salvation pamphlet. It was double cool when my comp said that she's tracted that street before and the same lady said they weren't interested!

Tuesday we went to the Renesting Project and helped out there for a couple of hours.  During that time the zone leaders called and asked if we could do a musical number for the zone training meeting the next day... um NO. We tried to convince them to ask someone else and they said that we were the back-up. YIKES.   The sassy lil’ lady who works there heard us on the phone telling the zone leaders we didn't want to and she called my comp over: "Sister, will you come over here?" - all serious like -  "The Lord wants you to perform this musical number." It was so funny!

After renesting, we saw a lady and her family who were tracted into like a year ago and were given a Book of Mormon.  My companion and her last companion found them in the potential pages of the area book and taught them the Restoration.   Then the 3 of us taught them again our first week here.  We went back to follow up and see if they had read 2 Nephi 31.  Her 13 year old daughter had and she was just shyly holding the Book of Mormon and smiling and saying "yes ma'am."   It was so cute! We talked about their plan for baptism (September 3 is the date they decided on!) and left them to read the testimony of Joseph Smith.   So cool.

Then we saw a less active member and her non-member husband.  We talked about Joseph Smith for a long time and then she said, "I want to come to church this Sunday!"   He husband asked what church was like and, I guess since we had been talking about the musical number all morning, I said "We can sing you one of the songs!" so we sang a couple of hymns for them and they LOVED it!   He said that when they came he'd want to sit by us because we sang so good! We sang a couple more hymns for them and they said they could really, really feel the Spirit. It was awesome. 

That night we had dinner with a recent convert family. They were taught by the zone leaders and they are great! At the end of the lesson, we asked, "Is there anything we can do for yall?" and the sister was like, "NOPE.  I don't let missionaries do anything for me. Y’all do a lot already!" So we just laughed.   Later, they brought me a bed! They had an extra mattress so they brought it over that night and I’m not sleeping on an air mattress anymore!  SCORE! 

Wednesday was a looooooooooooong day. We got a text that morning that we WERE in fact doing a musical number so we got permission from the zone leaders to go to the church early and practice since we had NO idea what we were going to do. We decided to sing "Have I done any good in the world today?" a capella and sang that 900 million times until I was sick of it already. haha we were sick of the song before we even sang it! 

Then we had lunch and I saw a former companion that I trained!  She's been in the Shreveport zone since she left Slidell and I was so excited to see her! I definitely surprised her! AKA I forgot to email her and tell her I got transferred. haha   She's been training and I got to meet her companion! That was fun. :) the zone meeting itself was good! It was on prayer and fasting and it was wonderful to sit and be taught instead of doing the teaching! I don't miss being an STL. It was fun and I liked being able to help but I'm okay that I don't have to teach at things anymore. :)  Another one of my former companions is one of my STLs! I was a proud momma on Wednesday :)

That afternoon, we were right by the library so we stopped in and did MyPlan. I like MyPlan! Last week, we made 1 year goals on who we want to be. I enjoyed it!  I liked being able to make goals! I realize that I really didn't know how to make personal goals before my mission. I hope that's something I can really use at home.  That night we went to correlation meeting.

Thursday we helped at Renesting again for a while. I answer the phones there and it reminds me of all my other secretary-like jobs. We went out to the small town connected to our area, Haughton, and tried some people! We didn't see a whole lot of people but we did stop by and see a sister who had a stroke or something so she can't leave her house.   At first, I thought we were going to visit her and give HER company, but then it became very clear that we were there to give her caretaker daughter some company. It was a fun visit. Her daughter had served a mission so we all had lots to talk about! 

Friday was weekly planning! I don't think that weekly planning will ever be a short experience in this companionship.  THEN we went and had the BEST lesson!  The 13 year old had taken NOTES on the testimony of Joseph Smith for us to talk about! She had questions that she and her mom talked about and then we all talked about together. We had a great discussion on false prophets (they got some stuff in the mail) and read 2 Nephi 2 together. It was WONDERFUL.   The mom works Sundays so we invited them to tour the church this week and she said yes like it was nothing. "Yes.  What time?" They're so great. It was awesome. 

Friday night, we had a Plan of Salvation lesson with a golden recent convert :)

Saturday morning we started by packing up a sister’s house! She doesn't actually know when she's moving. She's on a waiting list for a senior place and she WANTS to really bad so she has already packed up her whole house. Haha  

We spent a LOT of time on Saturday tracting. 

Nash Security Systems!!

We didn't talk to ANYONE until the last door! An adorable family came out and we talked about the restoration and the dad seemed really interested!   My companion and I were saying that only as a missionary are you happy when you do the ring check and there is one! "YES they're already married!!" haha they're so cute. THEN we were worried that if we went home for dinner, we'd spend too long (we were SO TIRED) so we used a gift card and got PIZZA.

Sunday, I tried to be better at getting to know people at church. It is kinda rough knowing that in a couple of Sundays, I won't be going to this ward anymore. I tried though!  After church, one of the sisters who helped with the packing on Saturday asked how long I’ve been out and she was like "I could tell that you've been out for a while! It's just something that returned missionaries can notice!" That was awesome! A HUGE compliment in my mind at least. She's so awesome.

That night, we tracted for like 2 1/2 hours without really talking to anyone.    We have a goal to work up to 4 hours of tracting! Why? Sometimes you just don't have a lot else to do. Also it made us feel INTENSE. FOUR HOURS. haha it wasn't bad really. We were pretty tired but that's just missionary life for ya. 

Yesterday, we had interviews! I love interviews!   I was trying to tell the President, "I'm really trying to work hard at the end of mission!!" and he was like "yeah yeah" not that he didn't believe me but like "yeah I don't even need to hear about that" that was funny :) I love interviews! Probably because somehow President knows that I just need to hear good things in interviews. haha 

This week we have EXCHANGES!!! I'm going to be staying in Bossier with a former companion and I am SO EXCITED. I hope I don't get tooooo lost but whatevs. I'm so pumped that I get to be with Sister Morris!!! :) 

In other news...church signs!

"when the time is right, I the Lord will make it happen"

"because you love me, I will rescue and protect you because you know my name"

"our true freedom is in Christ"

"God bless America this land that we love"

"7 days without prayer makes one weak"

"every burden becomes a blessing when God does the mending"

I LOVE Y’ALL

Love,

Sister Nash 

Week of July 19 – 25:  this week FLEW by!

…because we had interviews AND exchanges!

I think I already wrote about interviews.  The rest of Monday was kind of a struggle because we were READY for pday and it did not come. We did meet up with a lady we met last week though! We had a great lesson and I'm really excited for her! She listened to everything we had to say about the Restoration and she said that she was really interested in it! SCORE. It was a good lesson :)

Tuesday we had our pday!   That night we had dinner with a family in the ward and I enjoyed petting their dog (who is named Jackie Chan because he is a Chinese something or other). It was really fun to talk to them about coming to church with a question in mind! They LOVED the idea!

Wednesday was a day of excitement! We went and visited a lady that a ward member has been telling us forever to go visit!   We went and she was so excited to see us! We set up to see her again next week!

Then the BEST district meeting of my whole entire life. It was taught by the most dedicated district leader of my whole life, about motivation! He related the whole thing to the story of Derek Redmund and how he got injured while running at the 1992 Olympics and his dad came and helped him finish. It was just about the most perfect lesson. It was perfect for a district with 3 missionaries going home this transfer AND a brand new missionary. It was the best lesson. AH I love good district meeting lessons.

After district meeting, we went on exchanges! My only exchanges this transfer! I stayed in Bossier while my 2 companions went to Stonewall.  We had one lesson with our new family and the RS president! It was great because she alternated teaching points of the Plan of Salvation too like the champ that she is :)

Friday we went out to Haughton! We met a part member family and taught their 9 year old son.  He is just about the SMARTEST kid I've ever met in my life!

Then we had dinner with a young air force couple who live on base.  She made homemade lasagna and it was fabulous.

Saturday we taught a recent convert another Plan of Salvation lesson.  Or rather, he taught us! He is so sharp  and he took it very seriously!  He went out with the zone leaders the other day and really liked it.  :)

And then CHURCH!   I had read all the lessons before church so I actually really got a lot out of it! It was awesome. :)

We spent a lot of Sunday afternoon visiting less actives. I love being able to find out how people joined the church and then trying to figure out why the heck they aren't coming anymore. It's a conundrum. We met a family yesterday and we were talking about God's love.  I asked the father how he sees it and he was talking about all the times that he's felt God's love for him and then he turned to me and asked,  "well how about you?" And I didn't even hesitate! I told him I see it in all the little things! It was a fun lesson :)

That night we found a new couple! They live at the address where a member used to live. The zone leaders texted us and said they didn't know the member and that we should visit the member. Well we went and found this couple instead! They had seen missionaries before and always wanted to talk to them but never had the chance! We're going to see them again tonight!

This week is pretty busy with a lot of missionary work! I'm excited. We have a lot of members lined up to go out with us! AND this Thursday is our 18 month mark from entering the MTC!  So we are going to eat 18 scoops of ice cream each. We might die. haha

Church signs!

"church cannot fix you. Fixes come from God"

"you think its hot here..."

and from a fitness center:  "birthday suits tailored here"

I LOVE Y’ALL

Love,

Sister Nash

Week of July 25 – August 1: the time is far spent

WELL we have arrived. The LAST pday before, as Amy said, I will enter the land of eternal pdays. WEIRD.

On Monday night we went out with a sister in the ward whose husband is out of town for the week.  She said that it was probably a better use of time for her to come out with us than to sit at home and watch Netflix. #probs. Our appointment canceled (aka wasn't home!) so we went tracting with her! She and one of my companions took one side of the street while my other companion and I tackled the other side. I love trios. 1 hour of tracting in 30 minutes! It was fun too :) we did this a lot this week!

Tuesday we helped with the Renesting project and then helped a member paint her house! The family lived on the military base so we helped them paint all their colored walls white again before they moved.  I got the roller and I went to it! I've painted a lot on my mission. It was fun :)

That afternoon we went on splits again!   One of my companions and I went to Haughton and met such a Christian woman! I will miss this about my mission: she was telling us how she works at Circle K and how a lot of customers know her as a prayer warrior so that, whenever they need a prayer, they can go to her and she will pray with them. At Circle K. Like this seems so crazy but it is SO normal here. When you think about it, WHY the heck would you not pray with a random stranger in Circle K if they need it?  I love how there are so many Christians here who HONESTLY try to live their religion. We talked to her about the Book of Mormon and asked her if she'd like to read it and she was like "sure! I love reading more scriptures!" it reminded me of the quote that the honest seeker of truth will recognize the truth of the restoration. It just really hit me - standing on her porch sweating in like 100% humidity, telling my testimony of Jesus Christ to a lady who already knew Him really well - how much I love the people of the South.

Wednesday's excitement was meeting a part member family!   The husband is the member and he is just SO happy.  He LOVES the gospel and wants his wife to love it to but she just doesn't.  I hope she can really desire the gospel for herself!

Thursday was exactly 18 months from when Sister Williams and I went into the MTC!  And yes, that night, we collectively ate 18 scoops of ice cream! 6 scoops each! It was still a lot of ice cream... haha

Saturday we had dinner with a family in the ward that has 3 girls and that is clearly just the best type of family you could have. Their oldest daughter is 11 and she not only answered every single question that we asked, but also volunteered to sing TWO primary songs for us! The new ones "if I listen with my heart" and "Gethsemane."  It was adorable.

That night we stopped by and met a 1 year convert.   She just kept saying how she wants to be the person she was a year ago again and it was awesome to see that desire in her. You could just TELL that she wanted to be better. It was awesome.  It's hard being in lessons armed with just your scriptures but, if you have the Spirit, that's all you really need.  I haven't had ANY of the life experiences she has had, but I don't have to know exactly how she feels because Christ does and I know that I have a book that can tell her how much Christ loves her. I love that feeling as a missionary. I've been overwhelmed at times in lessons not knowing what to say or do because I really HAVEN'T had the same life experiences, but when I have the Spirit, I don't have to feel unprepared. 

Okay yesterday was the BEST Sunday! We were walking to Sunday School and one of the primary presidency came up to us and said "SISTERS you wouldn't mind filling in one of our classes would you?" And I was like HECK YES! So we taught the plan of salvation to 15 9-11 year olds because there were 2 teachers not there. It was SO fun.  It was really fun because they were kinda rowdy (there were SO many of them) but every time that we'd start to share our testimony they would calm down and you could really feel the Spirit. #score.   The 11 year girl from our dinner appointment the night before brought her neighbor too! :)

Y’ALL I HAVE LOVED MY MISSION. 

I just realized that I might never have shared this quote from Vaughn J. Featherstone with y’all but I've heard it since the very beginning of my mission and it has been an inspiration to lots and lots of missionaries here!  It's referred to as the Vision of the South:

Make no small plans: They have no magic to stir men's souls.

This is the vision I have for the South.

I believe that one day the South will baptize more people into the church than all other English-speaking missions in the world together. There are great hosts of marvelous Baptists, members of the Church of Christ, Methodists, and Catholics who are honorable people, and have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and love him.

As they see their church veering off to the right or to the left of those basic teachings, they will begin to search for truth; and as pivotal teachers come into the church and have influence, we will see the time when we will baptize hundreds and thousands, tens of thousands.  In your day, you will see a million members of the church in the South.  There will be Temples (plural) in the Southern States. What a great call you have to serve with these marvelous people.

AND IT'S SO TRUE. These people KNOW and LOVE their Savior. They generally want to serve and follow Him. I have no doubt that there WILL be temples plural in the Southern states. I especially love the beginning: MAKE NO SMALL PLANS!   My companion and I would say this to each other when we would weekly plan :) 

And finally the lyrics to one of my favorite hymns. I honestly never remember hearing this hymn before my first area. We sang it for sacrament meeting in Ocean Springs, and it has been my favorite ever since! In fact, we sang it once in Slidell in Sacrament meeting and I leaned over to Nina and told her that it's one of my favorites and she wanted to sing it at her baptism because she knew I loved it! 

The Time is Far Spent

1.      The time is far spent; there is little remaining

To publish glad tidings by sea and by land.

Then hasten, ye heralds; go forward proclaiming:

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven's at hand,

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven's at hand.

2.      Shrink not from your duty, however unpleasant,

But follow the Savior, your pattern and friend.

Our little afflictions, tho painful at present,

Ere long, with the righteous, in glory will end,

Ere long, with the righteous, in glory will end.

3.      What, tho, if the favor of Ahman possessing,

This world's bitter hate you are called to endure?

The angels are waiting to crown you with blessings!

Go forward, be faithful, the promise is sure.

Go forward, be faithful, the promise is sure.

4.       Be fixed in your purpose, for Satan will try you;

The weight of your calling he perfectly knows.

Your path may be thorny, but Jesus is nigh you;

His arm is sufficient, tho demons oppose.

His arm is sufficient, tho demons oppose.

I love it because I have found it to be true! The time to publish the gospel IS short! We've got a lot of work to do. But as I've tried really hard to do that for the past 18 months, I have learned very very clearly that the arm of Christ is definitely sufficient no matter who opposes. I have relied on Jesus Christ and He has always come through for me. I remember the last line of Amy's last email home: I depended on heaven and heaven was there. It has definitely been true for me. If I did not have a testimony that God is my loving Heavenly Father and He hears my prayers and that Jesus Christ is my Savior before my mission, I definitely have one now. His arm IS sufficient so it doesn't matter WHO opposes. 

I have loved my mission!

Final church signs:

"forsake not assembling yourselves together"

"smile! God loves you!"

I LOVE Y’ALL!

Love,

Sister Nash