June 20, 2011

hello. this week I can't really remember what happened. On monday we were going to go fishing with an investigator and we got all the way to his house and...he was not home. His girlfriend was home though. We stayed for an hour and a half talking to her and we petting the horses and played with the german shepherd puppies. They were so cute and fat and furry. It was cute. Then we looked at all her chicken and roosters. it was pretty fun.

Tuesday we met with Jackie sturgill. He is actually getting baptized this weekend. I am so very excited for it. He has stopped smoking. I was so nervous about him because he went home for the weekend and I was scared he would smoke but he was still good. phew. just a couple more days and he will be baptized. It is going to be a great thing. It will be different to see him get baptized because he is soooo tall. I hope that he does not bunk his head on the font.

Judy Jones. She wants to be baptized. We were tying to get an official date with her but she did not commit to a date just yet. She is supposed to think about a date and then tell us tomorrow when she wants to be. She has to get rid of her tea and coffee and then she will be all set. I am excited about her as well.

We met with a new person named Kendra Lundy. She is interesting. I like her. She is very very smart and she actually picks up on things that most people do not pick up on. I believe though that she may have some kind of mental illness. It is almost like she has two different personalities. Sister Nelson believes that she may be posessed but only time will be able to tell. I hope that everything turns out well.

We have had crazy storms the last couple days. They only happen in the morning time around 7:00. There is really loud thunder and lots of rain. It is actually quite scary how loud the thuner was. Last night was the worse. I couldn't go to sleep really fast. When I finally did I was awoken. I don't know how long I was alseep for but I remember just hearing thunder and the walls shaking. it also looked like there was a stobe light in the room. There was a huge storm that was right over our house it seemed like. I couldn't get back to sleep for the longest time. I went back to sleep when the storm passed a little and the thunder was not so loud but I woke again about an hour later and then thunder was going again. CRASH!!! It was quite scary again. I sunk into my covers and tried not to cry. haha. okay. I was not going to cry but it was the scariest thing ever. Eventually I fell back to sleep. And good news. Not one house in the neighborhood fell down. :)

We are stressed this week on miles. We have a week and a half and only have 350 miles left for all those days. So, guess what we are going to do? We are going to bike. :) We have a couple bikes and we just have to get helmets and we are good to go. So, I hope that I will not crash while on the bike. I tested it and I am very wobbly on a bike now. It is weird with a backback on and a skirt. Wish us luck. :) we would go with more members if there were more members who were ladies that could actually go with us. The only people that have the time to go are guys. That does not work out for us. bummer.

ummm, i don't really know what else has happened. Oh, yesterday was interesting during church. I was playing the organ and got done and the sacrament was being passed. The deacon who came onto the stage forgot me. So I was figuring out how I would be able to take the sacrament. So, I got down off the stage and I walked all the way to the back. I was trying to look for a seat that was open on the edge but there was not one so I just stand in the back. Surely the deacon would see me. One deacon came and administered to the side I was on. He got to the last row and then off he goes. He doen't see me and I don't get the bread. I whisper "excuse me" but he does not hear me. They all line up and they are going to the front. They pass in the trays. I was on the brink of tears. I was really not going to be able to partake. But thankgoodness, the bishop looked at me and he pointed to his mouth and I shake my head no and he gets up and he tells one of the deacons to administer to me. So he is going back and all the heads turn of course but it just mattered that I partook. I felt so much better. I got the water and then after the sacrament was all done I sat down. I think I needed that experience though. It would have been my first week without partaking and i was getting so sad inside. It really made me think of how much the sacrament means to me. It means alot to me. :)

So that was my week. Nothing too exciting. expect that there is going to be a baptism soon. It is about time I think. :) haha. I love you all. Love, Amanda

June 13, 2011

Well, this week was great. It started out with Jackie Sturgill calling us and telling us that he thought the church was the worst ever and that he was no longer going to get baptized. But hang on to your seats because the ride is not over. We called him and he was very very mad. Apparently he ran into the member that gives him rides to church and they offended him. Jackie had been offered a place to stay by this random person and this random person invited jackie to church with him. Well, jackie saw the members at walmart and they were talking and the member said, "when do you want us to pick you up for church?" then jackie says that he was going to go to another church this week. I guess this member got pretty mad or upset that he was going to another church and things just blew up. I don't really know what was exactly said but I do know that things were not good. I acutally know that the member told Jackie that he would tell the sister (us) to not see him anymore. Oioioioioi. He shouldn't have said that. It was to our discretion anyway. So, we try to meet with Jackie and the only time we were able to was on friday. During that time spance, we got to talk to the member to get details. I believe that things were taken way out of proportion. Jackie had been stopping his tobacco and so his nerves were probably way up. So, we got to talk to him and things went well. I was nervous but jackie was still excited about everything. We got to talk about why people choose religions. Some people choose because of the friends, pastor, the activities which are all wrong. But Jackie said that we all should choose a church because of the doctrine of it all. Amen to that. I was hoping he would say that and he did. He then recommited to being baptized and to coming to church on sunday. Phew! That was a close one. :) He is moving to Pikeville in two weeks though. Sad days. There is a job available for him hopefully. I believe that there are missionaries there and I am sad because it is not in the Kentucky Mission. It is in the Virginia mission. So, missionaries there are going to get a great referral. :) One funny thing Jackie said was when we were leaving. He said, "man, I wish ms. sister ralph was not a missionary and I was not married and divorced. Then I would marry you. I have a crush on you like you wouldn't believe." hahahaha. It makes me glad that he is moving partly.

Judy Jones: She is amazing. I can't remember if I talked about her or not. But she is amazing. She got the book of mormon in feburary and she was not really taught the lessons because the sisters could not find her. (she was sent the book of mormon through mail). So, in april the sister finally met her and taught her one lesson. So, then I got there and sister nelson and I taught her the lessons. She is living off the grid so she pretty much is a pioneer. She has built her own house and transports her own water and using natural gas to get electricity. She has no mortage bill so that is really cool. It really is neat to see her place. She lives off of 130 acres. that is a TON. So, we have taught her pretty much all the lessons. On Tuesday, she had very excited news. We brought some members with us and that was a great idea. They talked alot. But Judy said, "I finished the Book of Mormon last night. I have prayed about it. I have prayed concerning baptism. God woke me up at 2:00 in the morning and told me that I needed to get baptized and so I started for an hour to repent of some things that I need to repent of. I already feel better." She has also started to drink less coffee. Can I tell you just how elect she is? She is the elect of the elect. We have not set a baptism date with her because we didn't have the time b/c of the members talking so much. :) I believe it will be some time in July. When she stops her coffee she can get baptized!!!! Whoohoo.

I got sick a little bit. On saturday night I got a really bad sore throat. Sunday was not so good. I went to church and everyone else was pretty much sick as well. Everyone had a cold. that is what I had. When I got back from church and visiting with someone, I took a nap. A one hour nap. It felt good. I forced myself to go out that afternoon. Then we came in for dinner and stayed in. It felt good to rest. My body was so achey. I am going to be getting some cold medicine today that is for sure. :)

Willard is doing good. We fasted for him this weekend. He needs to be baptized but he does not think he does because he was been baptized before but he know this church is the true church. So, we are hoping he gets his answer that he needs to be baptized. :)

That is pretty much it. We have been working like crazy. We have a lot more people to teach but they are not progressing too much yet. :) I love you all. Have a great week. Amanda

June 6, 2011

So, I have been out for one complete year already. It feels as if time has gone by so fast yet so slow. I think I am ready to come home soon but I still have six more months of learning to do. What do I need to learn? We shall find out.

This week was pretty good. We have been having some success. We had a lesson with Connie and Mitchell Brookins. Connie is the one that is the next Relief Society President. She is really searching to see if this is the true church of Jesus Christ. She has asked so many questions. I am gald that she is asking all these questions because that will only strengthen her testimony. She had a concern about the priesthood and thought that ladies should have more say in the church. Really, the ladies have a lot of say but we don't have the priesthood (which I am fine with not having). :)

One day we tracted and we knocked on 40 doors and only 5 answered and they didn't want anything to do with us. It was great. We ran into this lady who was a friend of a member and she was quick to say, "Yeah I went to your church once with my friend and I don't believe it holds water." I was confused with what she meant but I finally got it and she meant that the church has holes and is not the restored complete gospel. Well, she will understand one day right? I figured out during that day that I am glad that we pray the way we do. That may seem silly but some guy prayed for us and the spirit was not there at all. Some people were saying Amen during the prayer and it was really awkward. We made it through.

Willard Cox is amazing. He will not accept baptism though even when he knows it is true. We are trying to dig into the real reason why he is not accepting and I think I know why. We shall see. He is amazing because I keep thinking about Grandma Ryan. Willard has had a stroke. I really bad one that affected his left hand side. He is paralyzed and he died for four minutes and came back when he had his stroke. it is truely amazing at how much coherence he has. He is very understanding and can hold a conversation real well, he can retain information, he can walk pretty well. He did not let the stroke affect him like the doctors said it would. he is strong. Once he becomes un-stubborn (is that a word?) he will be baptized i believe.

Jackie sturgill we talked to him about the word of wisdom. He is struggling with it. He has been smoking for many many years, smoking 2 packs a day. He is now down to 4 cigarettes a day. he is doing great but at church you could tell that he is struggling. he can do it though. He really wants to be baptized and really wants to change his life.

Judy Jones. What an experience that was. No kidding. We went to her place which is a thirty min drive from london. She lives far out. We wanted to watch the one hour long video with her about Joseph Smith. When we got there I needed to use the restroom but for somereason I didn't ask if I could use hers. She brings up some lemonade and I wonder if I can drink it. We start the movie after 20 of talking. We were not planning on talking that long but she talks alot. haha. The movie goes and half way through I am really in need to use the restroom. My bladder is getting really full. I didn't ask to go then because i didn't want to ruin the spirit. So I wait and I look at my watch and I wonder when the movie was going to end. My bladder started to hurt. It was not going to stretch any longer. haha. So the movie ends finally and my companion is just bawling practically and so I talk. Then Judy responds. Then Judy goes in and out of the room many times because she was called to do something and then she went to go get us something. She gave us a washcloth that she crochetted. It was really nice. Then she gets into this 10 min talk of how her counter tops have been ordered with out any dents and they come with dents. All the while, i was thinking, "we need to go. We need to go." Finally, I was able to talk and say that we needed to go. She says a wonderful prayer and for some reason again, the time was not right to ask if I could use her restroom. We were suddenly outside and then I got in the car and then I started down the bumpy, hilly, rocky road. That is great on a full bladder...not. haha. Then I get on the main road and it seems like it is taking forever to get there. 20 min later I see the nearest resturant and I go to it and then with dignity I rush into the Arby's and use the restroom. It was very very good. haha. i was no longer in pain and I could actually think. :) So that was my funny story. Judy came to church which was a great improvement. I think she may get baptized. It has been a slow but good ride.

Some funny sayings. "Rock paper scissor shoot, jesus is calling." haha.

I love you all. have a great day. Amanda

May 31, 2011

Well, do you know what I thought was funny this week? Corbin is a lot more Hill billy-ish than Beattyville. I thought it was aboslutely crazy. I cannot understand people. We had a conversation with someone and it was strange because I probably understood about 1/3 of the converstation. The rest of the conversation I just laughed when he laughed and nodded my head even though I didn't understand. If he asked me a question I don't think I would have caught it. I will get used to it right? Then there are different words that people use. They use this one alot. 'yuns.' It is like yall. 'Yuns get over here.' There was another person that said "it may get better but it may get worser before it gets better." Haha. that one was funny. I was really trying hard not to laugh at that one. :)

This week was pretty hard for me. It is the most I have ever wanted to come home. On thursday night I was having a pretty hard time. It was the first time that I cried because I was not going to be at Tessa's wedding. I fell asleep shortly though and the next day I was feeling a little better. The the end of the day I determined to have a great day. I was thinking, "why be sad when you could be happy?" I wanted to remember tessa's wedding as happy. So saturday came and it was not as hard as I thought. I prayed really hard that I would be okay. The Lord blessed me alot. I felt really close to everyone. I felt happy because Tessa was feeling happy. It was another one of those 'sister talepathy' things. I knew everything was going well, (even if it was stressful that day). It is strange to have my sister married. Tessa Brimhall. I guess it will be normal eventually. :)

The Lord blessed us on that day for another reason. We were out doing missionary work and we were visiting with Jackie Sturgill. He is the homeless guy who is very humble. He is 6 foot 8 inches tall. he almost hits his head while entering the church building. Well, he was having a pretty rough week. He was told that he needed to leave the homeless shelter and find a new place to live. He has a not so stable option. He may live with his boss. Jackie is worried that his boss is just using him and that he will not get paid. We are hoping everything will go well. But that day we visited him at his work and he was just splattered in paint. From head to toe he was covered. We taught the Plan of Salvation and he absolutely loved it and agrees with it. He was feeling the spirit. We asked him the most important question. "Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by one holding the priesthood authority of God?" Then he said, "Well, yeah. Yeah I will." Sweet. He said, "I was thinking about it and I really do not think that my baptism was done correctly the first time." He will be batized the 2nd of July, 2011. I am very excited. I am nervous because he has quite a few tobbaco problems so I am hoping that he will want to quit them.

Something strange happened on Tuesday. it was a near tornado experience. It was crazy. The weather was very different that day. While we were studying, it was raining really really hard. There were just sheets and sheets of rain. The wind was so strong. We stopped studying to just watch the rain. As we were watching all of a sudden there was this lightening that hit and then 1/4 of a second later, the thunder. It was soooooooooooooo loud. It made me cover my ears and it shook the whole house. It was crazy. We watched the weather some more and the water was just piling up. The neighbors yard was flooded and ours was getting it too. I could not see the sidewalk in front of our house. The sewer holes were not keeping up. There were some cars that were pretty...stupid. The trucks I was not too worried for them but the cars they would go right on through the flood. I was so scared that they would get stuck or they would stall. There was one car that I was sure would get stuck and I really prayed that they would turn around and they thankfully did. Maybe if they did get stuck than we would be able to teach them. :) Then a little while later we were looking to the side of yard. There was a tree and all of a sudden, we saw it falling towards us. We were in the house thankfully but we didn't move. We just stood there watching it fall towards us. The tree did not hit the house though. Phew. The storm lasted for about an hour. then we went out and the throughout the day there were times that the rain started and we would hardly drive because the rain was so thick and i could not see the signs to different storms. It was crazy. I wore my hair straight and I said, never again for the whole spring would I wear my hair straight. haha. just my natural curl. But I have had staright hair this week. It is just funny because it seems like if I straighten my hair then it will rain therefore defeating the purpose. :) That night while we were sleeping there was a huge storm warning. I remember waking up and the wind was unbelievable . We woke up and President Glende called for a misisonary count. As far as I know, no missionaries were hurt. I just heard that there was a huge storm especially in the western part of Kentucky. When we were traveling about, we saw a neighbors house and there was a tree on top of it. YIKES! Their tree fell over on their house because of the wind. It was not a small tree either. It took two days for them to cut it all the way down with out hurting anymore of the house. The roof was very very much damaged. Hopefully they will be able to fix it. :)

so yeah. That was pretty much my week. We did a lot more but nothing else too important. oh. I am playing the Organ in the ward now. The organ has not been played for 15 years. that is a long time. The ward has about 500 members but only about 100 go. There is alot of less active work to do. It is a whole bunch larger than Beattyville that is for sure. :)

I hope you all have a great week. I will talk to you next week. Thankgoodness it is not a holliday that day. I didn't like it too much that I did not get to email yesterday. All is good now though. :) I love you all. Amanda