Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Como estan?! I have decided that being a missionary is just bipolar.
There is no consistency it is always up and down with emotions and
events. So this last week was definitely like that. We started out with
an amazing experience with a less-active named Hermana Salgado. Our
first week here everyone told us to go find her. We went and went and
she was never home. Finally we found her and she was all alone in this
dinky little trailer and did not talk much. All we could understand was
that she might need some food. Coincidentally the day before we had been
at a members house who had housed the Elders before we got here. He
gave us all their extra food. Because we had been moving around so much
we just never took it out of our trunk. So when we thought she said she
needed food (yes our Spanish is still not so great, but the spirit makes
up for it) we went out and brought her the food. We said we would come
back and we kept trying, but she was never there. Finally this last week
we had a lesson fall through and the member Sister Tveten was still
with us so we asked if she wanted to try some other people. We went and
saw Sister Salgado and it was amazing and so sad. Sis. Tveten speaks
Spanish and just started talking to her. We found out that her husband
had left her and gone to California, She had just returned from a trip
to Mexico to see her dying mother (who did die while she was there) and
go to the funeral of her son who was shot while trying to cross the
border. She made tomales to save up for the flight to Mexico and when
she came back her husband left her and she had no money, no job, and
couldn't speak English. She had been so lonely and literally starving.
We were the only people she had seen since coming back and the food we
had brought her had saved her. Wow! The Spirit does work in mysterious
ways. I watched as Sis. Tveten addressed each of her concerns, went to
her car and brought all the food, money, and medicine she had and gave
it to her. Then she went and started to massage Hna. Salgado's neck
while she told us her story. The next day she came back with the Bishop
and food and now all her needs are being met. It was a true witness to
me of true Christ-like love. This is what the church is about. Not just
offering help, but giving it. Not just saying I love you, but showing
it. I was so humbled by this great service.
After that the week was pretty rough. We have met everyone in the branch and were quickly running out of names to try. All week we were really stretching to find people to teach. Then on Saturday everything suddenly turned completely around. We met with Jennifer who was our investigator. She wanted to know if she could be forgiven of her sins. We taught the Plan of Salvation and then she said "oh I have my answer. If I want to be forgiven I have to actually change what I'm doing and really be sorry. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do that. I'll have to think about it." It was so amazing! She finally understands! She wants it, but she's not sure if she's willing to do what it takes. We haven't seen her for a few days and so hopefully we'll be able to see her soon. We're definitely praying for her.
Our next miracle was Kathryn. We had tracted W. Whitman street completely out. We weren't going to go back for a while but we wanted to try one more door. Kathryn opens the door and invites us right in. We taught her the Restoration and she said it made complete sense and it felt so right. We invited her to be baptized and she said yes! She said she had been praying to find the right church for 15 years and finally felt like she had! She came to church the next day and that was a whirlwind. I was talking, Sister Donaldson was singing and translating, and a recent spanish convert was speaking, and we had an investigator in church that we had to accomodate for. It was crazy, but amazing! She said she loved it and she came to all three hours. The Relief Society lesson was on Elder Holland's talk about the 11th hour workers. She started crying and said she felt like the 11th hour worker just coming into the field and that now she knew that God still loves her and she can have all the blessings we have. It was so incredible! We were so excited! And then we haven't seen her since. We were supposed to have a lesson with her and she wasn't there and we called and called and she hasn't answered. Hopefully all is well. We're going to keep on trying. Miracles will happen!
For Willis and Leanette - I forgive you for pulling my hair ;) and Celeste's records have now been transferred to her correct ward and so the Bishop can start working with her. The missionaries in the area have her information and are going to tract into her. I'll keep you updated. Unfortunately Lisa does not want to learn more she is very happy where she is at. Hopefully in the future sometime.
Another random connection. The parents of an Elder Frank are in my ward and he is serving in the Tulsa, Oklahoma mission and knows Sister Reeves very well. He says she is an amazing missionary and works really hard. That's my cousin :)
Well the work is continuing. The Church is true! Miracles do happen! I'm finding that if we daily count all the tiny miracles that happen than the big mishaps don't really matter so much.
I love you!
Sister Probst
After that the week was pretty rough. We have met everyone in the branch and were quickly running out of names to try. All week we were really stretching to find people to teach. Then on Saturday everything suddenly turned completely around. We met with Jennifer who was our investigator. She wanted to know if she could be forgiven of her sins. We taught the Plan of Salvation and then she said "oh I have my answer. If I want to be forgiven I have to actually change what I'm doing and really be sorry. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do that. I'll have to think about it." It was so amazing! She finally understands! She wants it, but she's not sure if she's willing to do what it takes. We haven't seen her for a few days and so hopefully we'll be able to see her soon. We're definitely praying for her.
Our next miracle was Kathryn. We had tracted W. Whitman street completely out. We weren't going to go back for a while but we wanted to try one more door. Kathryn opens the door and invites us right in. We taught her the Restoration and she said it made complete sense and it felt so right. We invited her to be baptized and she said yes! She said she had been praying to find the right church for 15 years and finally felt like she had! She came to church the next day and that was a whirlwind. I was talking, Sister Donaldson was singing and translating, and a recent spanish convert was speaking, and we had an investigator in church that we had to accomodate for. It was crazy, but amazing! She said she loved it and she came to all three hours. The Relief Society lesson was on Elder Holland's talk about the 11th hour workers. She started crying and said she felt like the 11th hour worker just coming into the field and that now she knew that God still loves her and she can have all the blessings we have. It was so incredible! We were so excited! And then we haven't seen her since. We were supposed to have a lesson with her and she wasn't there and we called and called and she hasn't answered. Hopefully all is well. We're going to keep on trying. Miracles will happen!
For Willis and Leanette - I forgive you for pulling my hair ;) and Celeste's records have now been transferred to her correct ward and so the Bishop can start working with her. The missionaries in the area have her information and are going to tract into her. I'll keep you updated. Unfortunately Lisa does not want to learn more she is very happy where she is at. Hopefully in the future sometime.
Another random connection. The parents of an Elder Frank are in my ward and he is serving in the Tulsa, Oklahoma mission and knows Sister Reeves very well. He says she is an amazing missionary and works really hard. That's my cousin :)
Well the work is continuing. The Church is true! Miracles do happen! I'm finding that if we daily count all the tiny miracles that happen than the big mishaps don't really matter so much.
I love you!
Sister Probst
I think the subject line just about sums it up for the week. It was
crazy! It's amazing what you accept to do when you accept the call to
serve. I don't even know what to say. Unfortunately some of the people
we teach seem to make some rather sad decisions in their lives that have
adverse consequences and somehow we ended up showing up right in the
middle of them all. Funny thing though is that even though it may have
been awkward for us it seemed to help them out which is good. We had an
investigator come to church yesterday. It was amazing! Jennifer who told
us she would never read our book or come to our church said she wanted
to come on Sunday and she did! She loved it and wants to come again next
week. It's such a huge change! We were pretty excited. We met this new
guy named Alex who we took on a church tour and he said he'll come to
church. We also had a ton of less-actives come to church! It felt like
pulling teeth to get them there, but they came and loved it!
We almost made our weekly goal of having 20 lessons! We were so excited! We taught more this last week than the entire transfer and it was great. We got to invite a lot of people to the daily dose classes we're going to start teaching this next week. Those are English classes for the Spanish people. As you can probably guess I have not been transferred and neither has Sister Donaldson. Our zone went crazy though! President combined some areas and switched everything around. It's pretty fun.
And I officially now have a normal bed! I'm so excited! The bed I was sleeping on what some kind of water/floater bed. I would just sink into it every time I got on it, but now I don't have to! And Brother and Sister Jantzer are the sweetest ever. We've decided we may have to adopt them as honorary grandparents. He's started giving us random rocks and jewelery that he has collected over his life. They're so great. I might have to send home a bag of rocks though someday :) We met this other less-active cowboy guy. He was so funny and he even gave us flowers. We might be able to get him to come back to church. All the old guys are giving us rocks and flowers and all the young guys are just creepy. Funny.
Thank you all so much for the letters and package! Happy birthday Grandpa Dinsdale! Sorry I'm late and grandma thank you so much for the sweet note. You are all so great! Congrats Dan and Kimber on your upcoming wedding. I'd be there if I could ;)
I love you all so much! Thank you for all you do! I miss you, but I love this work! Keep praying and reading the scriptures.
love
Sister Probst
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We almost made our weekly goal of having 20 lessons! We were so excited! We taught more this last week than the entire transfer and it was great. We got to invite a lot of people to the daily dose classes we're going to start teaching this next week. Those are English classes for the Spanish people. As you can probably guess I have not been transferred and neither has Sister Donaldson. Our zone went crazy though! President combined some areas and switched everything around. It's pretty fun.
And I officially now have a normal bed! I'm so excited! The bed I was sleeping on what some kind of water/floater bed. I would just sink into it every time I got on it, but now I don't have to! And Brother and Sister Jantzer are the sweetest ever. We've decided we may have to adopt them as honorary grandparents. He's started giving us random rocks and jewelery that he has collected over his life. They're so great. I might have to send home a bag of rocks though someday :) We met this other less-active cowboy guy. He was so funny and he even gave us flowers. We might be able to get him to come back to church. All the old guys are giving us rocks and flowers and all the young guys are just creepy. Funny.
Thank you all so much for the letters and package! Happy birthday Grandpa Dinsdale! Sorry I'm late and grandma thank you so much for the sweet note. You are all so great! Congrats Dan and Kimber on your upcoming wedding. I'd be there if I could ;)
I love you all so much! Thank you for all you do! I miss you, but I love this work! Keep praying and reading the scriptures.
love
Sister Probst
Yes, it is raining again! We had awesome sunshine for a few days last week and now we're back to rain. Crazy weather!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! for the letters! I loved them! I keep reading them over and over!
So this last week was interesting. We found out that our golden investigator Kathryn got antied. This means that right after church she met with some friends who showed her a ton of anti-mormon material. It was so sad. Some day hopefully she'll find the truth. We had exchanges this last week and so Sister Roskelly came from Quincy and Sister Donaldson went there. It was so fun! Sister Roskelly is just a bundle of energy and so we were laughing so hard. I have not laughed that much in almost a month! This transfer is already almost over! Crazy! This Sunday is tranfer calls. Who knows what will happen.
So we spent a ton of time tracting this last week. I feel like we're stepping back into the olden days when all the missionaries did was tract ;) We're focusing our efforts out in the boonies instead of the city because it has been tracted out! It's kind of fun off-roading down dirt roads to random cabins :)
We finally got our car back. Woohoo! We spent a lot of time riding our bikes and walking around. It was good excercise. So I've decided I can't speak/write English or Spanish anymore. They just kind of mix into one. So if my spelling is horrible that is why :)
Well I love you all! The church is so true! Read the Book of Mormon! It will change your life!
Love you
Sister Probst
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! for the letters! I loved them! I keep reading them over and over!
So this last week was interesting. We found out that our golden investigator Kathryn got antied. This means that right after church she met with some friends who showed her a ton of anti-mormon material. It was so sad. Some day hopefully she'll find the truth. We had exchanges this last week and so Sister Roskelly came from Quincy and Sister Donaldson went there. It was so fun! Sister Roskelly is just a bundle of energy and so we were laughing so hard. I have not laughed that much in almost a month! This transfer is already almost over! Crazy! This Sunday is tranfer calls. Who knows what will happen.
So we spent a ton of time tracting this last week. I feel like we're stepping back into the olden days when all the missionaries did was tract ;) We're focusing our efforts out in the boonies instead of the city because it has been tracted out! It's kind of fun off-roading down dirt roads to random cabins :)
We finally got our car back. Woohoo! We spent a lot of time riding our bikes and walking around. It was good excercise. So I've decided I can't speak/write English or Spanish anymore. They just kind of mix into one. So if my spelling is horrible that is why :)
Well I love you all! The church is so true! Read the Book of Mormon! It will change your life!
Love you
Sister Probst
Yay!!! We finally have people to teach! To say the least we are very
excited. This week was an amazing week! We had zone conference on
Tuesday and it was soo good. Can I just say that the Palmers are the
best! He talked all about listening for the promptings of the spirit.
The Lord is talking to us all the time, we just might not be listening.
He also talked about transition :( That means he told us what is going
to happen on July 1 when he spends 1 hour with our new Mission
President, President Mullen. He explained the whole process and what
happened to him and he talked about priesthood keys. We're going to miss
him so much, but we know that President Mullen is supposed to be with
us and that he is called of God. It will be good. I got to see Sister
Haws! Ahh!!! That was so great! And she writes to me and gives me advice
now. Pretty nice. It's weird not having someone to fall back on who
has more experience. Before if I didn't know the answer to something she
always knew the answer because she's been here forever and has a ton of
experience. Now I do have a better source to rely on, the Lord :) but
she's still amazing.
This last week we were finally able to see some progress happen. We have visited almost every member of the ward that would allow us in and have received referrals from many. We ask for referrals from everyone we meet and it's really fun actually. We were able to find 3 new investigators. We found two while tracting. Chenae is really open and loves to learn she is very free-thinking, but loves the idea of a prophet. She has a lot of potential. Lisa we found while trying to contact Celeste Clyde. Trying to find Celeste has turned into a multi-ward miracle. So Lisa is Celeste's mother-in-law and is amazing. She is budhist ( I don't know how to spell that) but very kind and open. She has a lot of potential and she really wants to meet with us. We found out that one of her good friends that she works with is LDS and is in the ward right next to ours named Sister Smart. She actually called us the day after we met with Lisa and told us how she had been praying for this to happen. She said that she has been praying for Celeste for a long time and for her husband and that whole family. We told her that we would do what we could to get missionaries to Celeste's and that we were teaching Lisa. It was such a miracle to see all these ends start coming together. So if anyone talks to Willis and Leanette let them know that Celeste is definitely being watched out for by many people and especially the Lord.
Our last one is Jennifer. She is a hoot. She has gone through just about everything difficult a person can go through in this life and she loves to talk about it. She said her one glimmer of hope for anything good in her life is her 6 year old son. She said he made her start believing in God because she wants a better life for him than she ever had and than she gave her older children. At first she wouldn't read or say anything positive about God or religion or anything. Now she wants to meet almost every day, she promised us she'll read, she loves the idea of repentance, but is not sure she can really be forgiven. She has a lot of anger and hate, but she has so much promise. She loves how she feels when we teach and it's such an opposite feeling than the rest of her life. The Atonement is already starting to bless her life and she doesn't even realize it yet. We're super excited for her and for her to feel Christ change her life. We've been working a lot with the Bishop and the ward members to try and really help the ward. We've had a lot of service opportunities to really help out. It's fun to see our 3 weeks of hard work starting to show glimmers of fruit. The Bishop wants us to be involved in the ward as much as possible and is really giving us opportunities to do so. We have met almost everyone in the ward and now we're trying to take all of them on church tours and get them set up with mormon.org. This ward has so much potential and the members are so willing they just need a direction and they're off. It's really exciting to work with.
Even the couple we live with is making progress. They actually said they might come to church. She even cut us some lilacs. He loves having company, but she was a tough cookie to crack. I think she's finally warmed up to us now. I feel like I could write comic strip every day with all the funny experiences we have with them. Most of them center around their crazy cat Charlie. He is our stalker. We invaded his favorite room that had a hole in the wall where he could sneak into all the other rooms. Now everytime we turn around he's watching us even through the window. Last night he brought a mouse into the master bedroom and they spent the night chasing it around. We just tried to imagine them doing it and it was so funny.
This week truly was a week of miracles. When we were teaching Jennifer she was sharing some very intense details about her life. When we finally had an opportunity to share with her a little bit all I could feel was the Savior's undying love for her. This woman has done a lot of wrong things her life, but I know that the Atonement can heal everything. All those pains that she feels can truly be swallowed up in the joy of the Lord. She doesn't have to be so afraid of the future because it is as bright as she allows it to be. I love the Atonement. I know that it breaks all bonds and heals all hearts. We had Stake Conference yesterday and in the middle we stood up and sang The Spirit of God. It felt like an army of angels. I felt like everyone had a tiny glimpse into heaven and we all wanted to grasp what we could and fight to do what is right. It was such an amazing experience standing and singing anthems to our King. I love this Gospel more than anything. I would give anything for it.
I love you all! Thank you so much for being so great! Please write!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love
Sister Probst
This last week we were finally able to see some progress happen. We have visited almost every member of the ward that would allow us in and have received referrals from many. We ask for referrals from everyone we meet and it's really fun actually. We were able to find 3 new investigators. We found two while tracting. Chenae is really open and loves to learn she is very free-thinking, but loves the idea of a prophet. She has a lot of potential. Lisa we found while trying to contact Celeste Clyde. Trying to find Celeste has turned into a multi-ward miracle. So Lisa is Celeste's mother-in-law and is amazing. She is budhist ( I don't know how to spell that) but very kind and open. She has a lot of potential and she really wants to meet with us. We found out that one of her good friends that she works with is LDS and is in the ward right next to ours named Sister Smart. She actually called us the day after we met with Lisa and told us how she had been praying for this to happen. She said that she has been praying for Celeste for a long time and for her husband and that whole family. We told her that we would do what we could to get missionaries to Celeste's and that we were teaching Lisa. It was such a miracle to see all these ends start coming together. So if anyone talks to Willis and Leanette let them know that Celeste is definitely being watched out for by many people and especially the Lord.
Our last one is Jennifer. She is a hoot. She has gone through just about everything difficult a person can go through in this life and she loves to talk about it. She said her one glimmer of hope for anything good in her life is her 6 year old son. She said he made her start believing in God because she wants a better life for him than she ever had and than she gave her older children. At first she wouldn't read or say anything positive about God or religion or anything. Now she wants to meet almost every day, she promised us she'll read, she loves the idea of repentance, but is not sure she can really be forgiven. She has a lot of anger and hate, but she has so much promise. She loves how she feels when we teach and it's such an opposite feeling than the rest of her life. The Atonement is already starting to bless her life and she doesn't even realize it yet. We're super excited for her and for her to feel Christ change her life. We've been working a lot with the Bishop and the ward members to try and really help the ward. We've had a lot of service opportunities to really help out. It's fun to see our 3 weeks of hard work starting to show glimmers of fruit. The Bishop wants us to be involved in the ward as much as possible and is really giving us opportunities to do so. We have met almost everyone in the ward and now we're trying to take all of them on church tours and get them set up with mormon.org. This ward has so much potential and the members are so willing they just need a direction and they're off. It's really exciting to work with.
Even the couple we live with is making progress. They actually said they might come to church. She even cut us some lilacs. He loves having company, but she was a tough cookie to crack. I think she's finally warmed up to us now. I feel like I could write comic strip every day with all the funny experiences we have with them. Most of them center around their crazy cat Charlie. He is our stalker. We invaded his favorite room that had a hole in the wall where he could sneak into all the other rooms. Now everytime we turn around he's watching us even through the window. Last night he brought a mouse into the master bedroom and they spent the night chasing it around. We just tried to imagine them doing it and it was so funny.
This week truly was a week of miracles. When we were teaching Jennifer she was sharing some very intense details about her life. When we finally had an opportunity to share with her a little bit all I could feel was the Savior's undying love for her. This woman has done a lot of wrong things her life, but I know that the Atonement can heal everything. All those pains that she feels can truly be swallowed up in the joy of the Lord. She doesn't have to be so afraid of the future because it is as bright as she allows it to be. I love the Atonement. I know that it breaks all bonds and heals all hearts. We had Stake Conference yesterday and in the middle we stood up and sang The Spirit of God. It felt like an army of angels. I felt like everyone had a tiny glimpse into heaven and we all wanted to grasp what we could and fight to do what is right. It was such an amazing experience standing and singing anthems to our King. I love this Gospel more than anything. I would give anything for it.
I love you all! Thank you so much for being so great! Please write!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love
Sister Probst
Hello world. So yesterday was awesome being able to see and talk to my
family. It was so weird actually seeing you all in real life, but
awesome.
So we finally have a place to live. I live at C/O Jantzer P.O. Box 277 10236 High Street, Peshastin, WA 98826. It's with this funny little old less-active couple. There son is the young mens president and he just moved them here in February from Oregon. They might be slightly crazy, but they're so funny. We only see them at breakfast and it's always a treat because Brother Jantzer will sit there and tell us stories about gnomes and trolls and magnet powered bikes. I can't say I've had a more entertaining breakfast. They're so sweet. We live in their basement and it's all our area which is nice. We will finish evicting the previous occupants (spiders) this afternoon when we get some cleaning supplies. They have an ancient cat named Charlie that is always crawling through the holes in the walls and somehow always ends up in our bedroom. Sister Donaldson hates animals in the house so she's always trying to chase him out of the holes. It's rather entertaining.
We have now met almost met every single member in the ward including less-actives. I would say that is quite a task, but the ward really isn't that big. It is really funny though because we are literally off-roading it some of the time to get to some of these random cabins. We see a lot of rancher/cowboy/hill-billy/
So tomorrow we have a zone conference down in Moses Lake. I'm so excited. It will be the last time we get to be trained by President Palmer. He leaves at the end of the transfer :( But I also get to see Sister Haws!!! I'm so excited. Then this Sunday is Stake Conference so I get to see all the people from East Wenatchee again. It's like a big reunion week. Cool beans.
We went and tried to visit Celeste Clyde from Heber last night. We found out that she used to be in this ward, but she has since moved to Wenatchee. If anyone can talk to her parents and get her current address I can send some other missionaries to her place.
Well I love you all! Keep the faith and write me please! The Church is true and the Book of Mormon really is the word of God.
Love Sister Probst
So we finally have a place to live. I live at C/O Jantzer P.O. Box 277 10236 High Street, Peshastin, WA 98826. It's with this funny little old less-active couple. There son is the young mens president and he just moved them here in February from Oregon. They might be slightly crazy, but they're so funny. We only see them at breakfast and it's always a treat because Brother Jantzer will sit there and tell us stories about gnomes and trolls and magnet powered bikes. I can't say I've had a more entertaining breakfast. They're so sweet. We live in their basement and it's all our area which is nice. We will finish evicting the previous occupants (spiders) this afternoon when we get some cleaning supplies. They have an ancient cat named Charlie that is always crawling through the holes in the walls and somehow always ends up in our bedroom. Sister Donaldson hates animals in the house so she's always trying to chase him out of the holes. It's rather entertaining.
We have now met almost met every single member in the ward including less-actives. I would say that is quite a task, but the ward really isn't that big. It is really funny though because we are literally off-roading it some of the time to get to some of these random cabins. We see a lot of rancher/cowboy/hill-billy/
So tomorrow we have a zone conference down in Moses Lake. I'm so excited. It will be the last time we get to be trained by President Palmer. He leaves at the end of the transfer :( But I also get to see Sister Haws!!! I'm so excited. Then this Sunday is Stake Conference so I get to see all the people from East Wenatchee again. It's like a big reunion week. Cool beans.
We went and tried to visit Celeste Clyde from Heber last night. We found out that she used to be in this ward, but she has since moved to Wenatchee. If anyone can talk to her parents and get her current address I can send some other missionaries to her place.
Well I love you all! Keep the faith and write me please! The Church is true and the Book of Mormon really is the word of God.
Love Sister Probst
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