Week of Feb 2 – 9
(in Slidell, Louisiana):
Happy Mardi Gras, y’all!
Also, it's been exactly ONE YEAR since I arrived in the mission!
On Tuesday we helped at the Bishop's storehouse! helllllooooo pants!
Our investigator and her sister-in-law were asked if they'd help and they asked
us to come with them! So we spent like 2.5 hours putting vegetables in bags to
send out to the wards around the area! I actually wasn't working at the same
table as our investigator but, at one point, the Senior Elder in charge came up
to me and was like, "Look! The
member I told that she's getting baptized this weekend is talking to her! It's
going well!!" I was just so
impressed with his plan! The member talked to her about Joseph Smith the whole
time! It was awesome!
That night we had a great lesson with our recent convert and the
Relief Society president. The new
sister has been having a really hard time recently with her brother and her job
and just life. Afterwards, I said, "That
was so good!" and my companion was like "really? they both just
complained the whole time." which was true but it was good because it
wasn't the missionaries helping the recent convert; the RS president knew her concerns. That’s how it should be!
On Wednesday, we had district meeting in Waveland, MS. Afterwards we were talking about where to go
for lunch and trying new Southern stuff and one of the elder said, “How about
alligator po’ boys?” So of course we had
to. haha it was good! Now, I've eaten
alligator! Fried! On a po’ boy! I'm a true Southern girl now. :) It tasted like
chicken. haha
That afternoon we went over the interview questions with our
investigator and she gave us DEER JERKY. It was a day of adventurous eating.
The deer jerky was actually way better than the alligator. haha Her brother
went hunting over the weekend and was making his own jerky. SO GOOD. I must be
a true Southern girl.. haha
Then we had her interview at the church! It was good because we
just talked with her sister-in-law and played with the nursery toys with her
daughter while we waited :)
On Thursday we had an impromptu 30 minute lesson on tithing with
someone who was NOT at all ready for tithing. It's the worst when the
Restoration turns into tithing... haha It
was awkward but at least the person wasn't rude or trying to BASH or anything!
There's definitely a reason why you teach the Restoration and the Plan and the
Gospel of Jesus Christ BEFORE you teach commandments.. haha
On Friday we were planning on having mini-exchanges on Saturday
so we washed and cleaned our car! It took us forever to figure out how to take
our bike rack off! We had to call like 3 sets of elders. haha it took us like
20 minutes of tugging and wiggling and shoving to get it off! It was hilarious.
That thing is never going back on. haha
Saturday was the BAPTISM!!! The elders volunteered to do pretty
much all the set up (which was super nice) so we just showed up about an hour
before and took pictures! It was so good! There were a lot of ward members who
showed up so that was awesome! It's been really hard for her and her whole
family (her brother and his wife and kids) to get to know members ‘cause there
are 4 kids under 4 years old and every Sunday has been weird for some reason.
It's been hard. But they're starting to meet people!
The baptism was so great. She was baptized by her brother and he
was SO NERVOUS. He is super quiet and, between his sister and his wife, he
never really gets to say too much in our lessons haha He's really nice though
:) When she came out of the water, I hugged a perfect person! I love baptisms. OH THE BEST DAY. Then our district leader bought
us ice cream. So, it was a perfect day
in spite of all the tracting we did before. A GOOD DAY. haha
On Sunday, our newest convert was confirmed in Sacrament meeting
by her sister-in-law’s father. As she
was walking off the stand, her little girl RAN up to the stand yelling "MY
TURN!" it was the cutest thing in the history of cute things. After
they both sat down again, the mom wiped away tears and said "that felt
awesome." Everyone was super nice and so welcoming to her! It was the
best. :)
After church we tracted to get our 7 hours in. It's fun to try
to tract on Superbowl Sunday AND Mardi Gras. We didn't talk to anyone :(
although we did meet an old guy who believes in the Norse gods. I don't know if
he was serious or not but that was interesting. He told us that the only way to
get to heaven is to die in battle. When we walked away, I told my companion
that I didn't think he was going to make it to heaven and she was like
"SISTER NASH!" and I was like "by HIS definition!!! not by the
right one!!" haha and then we met a Satanist who told us to get off of his
porch. In all my mission, I have never met 2 people who believe in something SO
not even close to Christianity and they lived literally next door to each
other. WEIRD.
Yesterday's day of excitement was ZONE CONFERENCE! We haven't had
a normal zone conference in forever! Literally since August! Crazy. We had car inspections and even that was
different because we have a new vehicle coordinator. We learned that some of the
elders washed their car on Saturday and then WRAPPED their car in BLANKETS and
didn't use it at all on Sunday so that they would win the clean car award. They
didn't win. hahaha it was hilarious.
But zone conference was super good!! A lot of things changed!!
Let me think if I can remember them all.. President made a big deal about
accountability… like I am accountable to the Lord FIRST and that needs to be
our first motivator. Also, he took away
a lot of the standards of excellence that we had before. Like before, it was a
standard in our mission to tract for 7 hours every week. No longer a thing!
We'll no longer report on a lot of things either! Harvesting Thursday is no
longer a thing.. we should be harvesting souls every day! It was actually
really relieving! I've spent my whole mission trying to reach all of these
really high standards (like giving away 5 Book of Mormons a week) which are
GOOD things but I didn't realize how much pressure it was. Especially when you
get that one district leader who calls and says "why exactly did you not
get 7 hours of tracting this week?" NO MORE! It feels really good!
Especially because they introduced a new way of planning! And by
a new way of planning, it is literally going back to Preach my Gospel. We are now going to be exactly like the missionaries
in The District. President made a big deal of "if we want
to get different results, we need to do different things" which is
awesome! It's true. We need to be more creative in our planning to get
different results. This is really hard because I've been doing the same thing
for literally an entire year and now I need to do it differently. haha it made
me feel better when the zone leaders stood up and said "literally none of
us have been trained to plan like this. We all need to change!" the whole
mission is trying to shift and become better, more Preach my Gospel
missionaries! It's exciting!
Church signs: "Serve
one another in LOVE"
LOVE,
Sister Nash
Week of Feb 9 –
15th: whatta week!
It started with an AWESOME zone conference on Monday! And then
we had pday on Tuesday and I had a really good nap! :)
On Tuesday night, we tried a potential and met another guy who
lived at the same house. We taught him the entire Restoration and he was sooo
interested in the Book of Mormon.
Then on Thursday, we went around and tried to find less actives!
And we found less actives! Normally it's not very productive; we get a lot of
"they moved 4 years ago. Go away" but almost everyone we found was
either the less active we were looking for or someone else who was actually
interested in learning! It was awesome!
We met a sister who invited us right in! We learned that she not
only reads at LEAST one chapter of the Book of Mormon per day, she also reads
along the student gospel doctrine manual AND the teacher manual to get more
insights. Why is this lady not teaching Sunday school let alone not attending
church?? She was saying she just got out of the habit! Her husband kinda lost
his testimony and her teenage son has never been baptized even though he took
all the lessons a few years ago. We asked if we could share the lessons and she
was like "yeah I think it'd be good for both of them!" Whaaaat. It
was awesome.
Then we tried another less active family. I had actually met the mom my first week here,
when we were tracting on her street. She told us then that she wasn't interested
in coming back to church. Well, when we knocked on her door again, she opened
up and was like "well I'm not super interested in coming back to church.
But have y’all had dinner? You must be hungry. Come in and eat chicken
nuggets." So we did and it was awesome! We just ate chicken nuggets and
chatted with her and her husband and adorable kids. As we were leaving, she was
like "sorry that we're not going to come back to church and you can't
count us in your list of successes." and we were like "whut? we don't
do this so that we can check you off a list. We don't even have a list!"
We didn't even try to share a scripture or a message or anything! It didn't
count for a lesson in numbers, but it was like the most successful, productive
time of the week. I hope she realized that we actually do things because of
LOVE. So we heart attacked them yesterday. We be sneaky. And those were good
chicken nuggets. She deep fried them. ‘Cause
it's the South.
Friday we weekly planned forever ‘cause we're trying the new
method of planning which is super in-depth. It was good but it took FOREVER! We
spent the rest of Friday tracting. We met a lady who had a lot of questions
about what we believe (and she repeatedly told us what we believe... "I
think you actually DO believe in purgatory." I hate that) but we talked
about it and we left her a Restoration pamphlet. As we were walking away, my
comp was like "we should go back and give her a plan of salvation
pamphlet!!" so we did! I hope it helps. It feels good to go above and
beyond.
Friday night we also talked to a potential who came out on his
porch and asked if we would call his wife (whom we met before) and schedule an
appt for a different time. We were like "okay sure" and he was like "let me tell
you why. I've been drinking and I can't advance with God when I've been in the
devil's ways" and we were like "yes sir that is true!" The missionary name tag is synonymous with "confess everything
to me." Haha
Yesterday we had a great experience tracting! At one door, I was
thinking the guy wasn't really interested so I kinda cut it off and we left. As
we were walking away my comp was like "we kinda cut that off. You didn't think he was interested??,"
cause she did. I felt so bad that, at
the NEXT door we talked to this negatively interested lady foreverrrr about her
dogs, about the car driving around the street, about the weather... I wasn't
going to cut her off so I was waiting for my comp to do it. haha well we talked
to her until her husband came home! As soon as he pulled up, she like ran
inside and he walked up to us and was like "she didn't tell you I'm a
member? I want to get back in church. We need to put some pressure on her. And
oh yeah, my friend who lives with us just finished reading the Book of
Mormon." WHAT. We talked to him more and he was like "you didn't ask
if she knew any members? You would have walked away and never would have
known." WHOA. It was awesome.
Then we had dinner with a member family and we ate deer. It was fried (are you noticing a Southern
trend?), so they were deer nuggets instead of chicken nuggets. They were chewy
but good. Then we had a lesson with them and it was the cutest thing ever! We
sang "Families can be Together Forever" and, even though the dad
didn't know it, he tried to sing along! He said that he wants to be bonded with his
family forever! He was baptized last March so it's coming up for them!! I'm so
excited.
Church signs:
"Lost? The map
home is inside!"
"God doesn't have
favorites but the sign guy does! Go Broncos!" (This was before the Superbowl)
"God is love.
Love one another"
"Thank you Pastor
Larry for all your service" <--- I thought that one was funny
haha
I LOVE YALL!
Love,
Sister
Nash
Week
of Feb 15 – 23: MY LAST WEEK IN LOUISIANA
Hey y’all. I ain’t in Louisiana anymore!! Whhaaaat. I'm emailing from the library at the
University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg! It's super weird to me to be
on a college campus cause 1) I feel like I'm at BYU and 2) we weren't allowed
on the Mississippi College campus. It is
a Baptist school and they hated Mormons. So it's weird to me to be on a college
campus as a missionary!
Anywho… I left Louisiana! It was so sad!
It was a week that went out with a bang! though. On Monday there was a crazy tornado warning
and it was POURING rain all day!
On Tuesday we had only the best lesson ever. Last week we tried like every less active we
didn't know and met a lady who was living where the less active was listed. She sure seemed interested so we went back
with a member. ONLY the best lesson ever. She kept saying over and over how we were
God-sent and she really was looking for religion. We taught the Restoration and
it was a little rough but, between all the testifying we did of God's love for
HER and the member's testimony of the Book of Mormon, she sure felt the Spirit.
It was a GREAT lesson. The Spirit was really strong :)
Then we went back to see another less active. We were a little
worried to see her because, the last time we stopped by, she was a little short
with us and told us to call first. But she hadn't been responding to any texts
so we had our excuse in place: we weren't going to try to teach an hour long
lesson, just drop off a flier for the RS activity that night! Well, she invited
us right in and told us her entire life story. NO LIE. We talked about God's love for like an hour.
It was the best, most unexpected, thing ever.
On Wednesday, after district meeting, we went over to see our 12
year old investigator and played 4 square with her and her neighborhood
friends. Like really. It was fun except that the 11 year old boy kept going
easy on us. RUDE. WE CAME TO PLAY. Except not really. It was funny ‘cause we wanted
to get to know her better but, at one point she was like, "I'm gonna be
serious about this game. I'm not going to talk anymore to show how into the
game I am" and I was like "for reals? I'm playing 4 square in a skirt
in the middle of the street so I CAN TALK TO YOU." It was kinda funny.
haha
Thursday was interesting. We had a PACKED day. Like jam-packed, looking-at-the-schedule,
don't-know-how-it's-going-to-fit-in type of day and then literally EVERYONE
cancelled. It was SO sad. We did see our
most recent convert, though, and she taught us the plan of salvation! Love her.
Saturday's excitement was transfer calls! President called during the day and told me
all about being an STL (Sister Training Leader)!
Then we had another GREAT lesson about the Book of Mormon and the
investigator kept saying that she didn't know WHY she hadn't read from it yet!
It sits right next to her while she watches TV and she was like, “This is so
much more important than tv!" She'll be baptized for sure.
Sunday was ward council and, when I said I was getting
transferred, Bishop threw his pen down and said "no you can't! Call the
mission president!" which made me feel AWESOME. Then he thanked me a whole lot after ward
council (like 4 times) for all that I did there. And so did the RS president. I felt pretty
good. I love feelin’ the love.
Okay I'm going to wrap this up because the lights are going out here
and the library will close in a few minutes because of the weather.
Church sign: "A smart cookie can't be crummy!"
I LOVE Y’ALLLLLLL
Love,
Sister Nash
Week of Feb 23 –
29th: A hello from Hattiesburg!
An email from your favorite Sister Training Leader!.. jk. But really. It's really funny ‘cause other missionaries
are making a big deal: "Sister Nash! What's it like to be an STL so far??
do you love it??" and I'm just like "I dunno. It's been like a
week." haha I don't really feel like I've done anything tooo STL-y yet! We call the sisters in our zone and we're
gonna go on exchanges and that's about all I know of! Oh and we're gonna go to
MLC (Mission Leadership Council) this week! Apparently that's fun.
Back in Louisiana, my first trainee is finishing training my second
trainee. And it's weirding me out! How much does that happen?? It's cray. I've
been freaking out about it all week. Haha
This week has been interesting! It's been BUSY! I don't even
know what's happened.
Tuesday's excitement was that big freaky tornado! We just stayed
at the church building all day waiting for the transfer van to come so we
didn't have to go out and about in the storm. Then, once the vans came and left, we
still had to wait until the tornado left. But everyone was okay.
That night we ate dinner with the ward mission leader’s family. We're the only set of missionaries in the
ward! Isn't that weird? In my last 2 areas, there were THREE sets of
missionaries in each ward! And now we're the only ones!
Wednesday we had district meeting. This is the smallest district I've ever been
in... just 3 sets of us! Our lesson was
on planning on so our practice was teaching the plan of salvation backwards! I
think the point was "look at how hard this is when you haven't
practiced!" it was interesting, to say the least.. haha
Then we went around teaching that good ol’ gospel and I met a
lot of people! I've realized how connected the South is; it seems like all the
Mormons are related. Like at our dinner appointment on Wednesday, the dad is
brothers with a man in the Clinton ward and is related to a family in the Gulfport
stake. I'm just following the same families all over.
It's kinda crazy. It was weirding me out until I realized that I've spent like
my whole mission in like a 3 hour circle, so it’s not that weird I guess.
:)
On Thursday we spent a good chunk of the day volunteering! We went
to a local thrift store that the Grace Temple church owns. We just helped go through donations and
straightened racks and swept and went through hangers and stuff. It's cool! I
bought a duffel bag for exchanges for $1.50, so that was cool. We go there like
twice a week! I've never done so much service before!
That night we went to a "why I believe" fireside. It was
fun to see all the missionaries! Guess
who I saw! My MTC companion! She's in
my zone! So that means I get to call her every week and see her all the time!!!
And go on exchanges! The dream has been for us to go on exchanges together and
now we can! Isn't that crazy! It's weird to be out so long ‘cause now we're
like experienced and stuff (not headless chickens) and we get to talk about how
all the missionaries we know already went home. haha
Friday was our day of excitement! We spent like all day in Sumrall which is a
tiny town outside of Oak Grove and I met our 2 progressing investigators! We also went to see a little old man with no
teeth who knows that he needs to change but doesn't really want to. It was a
very interesting lesson because I had never met him before so I didn't know
what he is normally like! He's a character that's for sure. He like tried to
drop us but then didn't. (?) It was interesting. haha
Then we had dinner with members and a sister missionary who went
home last transfer and then already came back out to visit! We were in the same
district my first transfer so it was fun to see her! And weird. haha She was wearing pants!
Our lesson that night was with our other progressing investigator!
Well guess who she is best friends with? A recent
convert, whom I taught, in my last ward. FOR REAL.
I freaked out when I heard that! She
is so great! She's in kinda the same situation that the other person was in and
she said how much her friend’s progress has really been an example to her! Who
knew that the work that I did in my LAST area would affect my new area so
directly?? Man. I never thought I'd ever see such a direct
influence from the results of my actions, let alone while I'm still on my
mission!
Saturday's excitement was that we helped out at the
Activity Day girls’ day camp!! THAT was fun. The stake primary president is in
our ward and she is great. We taught the girls about scripture study and
ponderizing and then they made friendship bracelets to help them remember their
scriptures to ponderize! ‘Cause our scriptures are our friends! It was really
fun :)
Yesterday at church, I met even MORE people who are related to
people I know from other areas! I
didn't think that was possible. haha And, the man we taught came to church! He had
a big toothless grin as a bunch of high priests took him to class after Sunday school.
He's just a cute little old man. haha
I know next week will be more exciting because: 1) I’m going to
MLC (Mission Leadership Council; and 2) I'll actually know people here!
haha
Anyways! Lots of new churches and new church signs!
"you're on
heaven's most wanted list"
"God will never
give you so much to do you don't have time for Him"
"Thank God for
answering prayers"
"Call out to
God. He is available 24/7"
I LOVE Y’ALL. Keep the
faith. Fight the good fight. It really is worth doing the hard and
uncomfortable. I feel like my motto this week has come from Elder Durrant's
recent General Conference talk: "Exercise your faith, discipline yourself
and DO IT."
LOVE,
Sister Nash
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| Yesterday was so pretty! |
 |
| Seriously. SO PRETTY. I love the South! |
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