So this week was not the best. It was hard and not a ton happened. We
had lots of pains and afflictions.... I will talk about it more in
just a bit. But all that matters is that we improve this week and
become better. The Lord will always give us trials, it just depends
what we do with them that matters. We are very optimistic for this
week and for what is to come.
So Tuesday morning I woke up sick and was just feeling awful. Luckily
it didn't last for too long. At the beginning of the week, Sister
Greene mentioned that her knees were really bothering her. We called
the mission Doctor, but they just had her keep trying different things
to ease the pain. But nothing was working, it just continued to get
worse. So they had a doctor call her from Salt Lake, and diagnosed her
with arthritis. They think it's that, so they are having her take
medicine for a week to see if gets better. I feel so bad for her--it
is never fun to be a missionary when you are in pain.
We also had a crazy experience yesterday. We were having ward council
(it's basically where all of the congregation's leadership gets
together to discuss the needs of the members) and the Primary
president mentioned that there was a outbreak of Hand-foot-mouth
disease in the kids. So they cancelled church for the last two hours.
It was a madhouse trying to disinfect the chapel before the ward got
there. So fingers crossed, it ends soon!
We had a really great lesson with an investigator. Her
grandpa recently died and she is going through a really tough time. It
was difficult for me as well when my Grandma passed, but the only way
I got through it was with the gospel. I knew exactly where she was and
that I would see her again in the future. It was wonderful to be able
to share that and to help her through her trials. I know
that God gives us challenges to help us become better and to rely on
him more. The wonderful thing is that he never leaves us alone during
them. He is always there for us.
I love you all! Keep the prayers coming because I will need them for
this week!! I am really excited to meet Elder Holland and receive
counsel for the last part of my mission.
Love,
Hermana Erickson
Monday, April 25, 2016
Monday, April 18, 2016
Visitors and new friends
This week has been pretty good! It was a little slower than the last
couple, but it was bound to happen at some point. But, all is good. We
still taught a lot and found some people to teach. It was a good week
overall :) We had some really fun experiences and some pretty amazing
miracles!
There was a big zone conference this week, and President had an
announcement for us...... A few weeks ago, we found out that one of
the Quorum of the 12 would be coming to our mission! For those of you
that have no idea what I am talking about, here's some help :) As
members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we believe
that we have a modern day prophet on the Earth. His name is Thomas S
Monson, and he has the same responsibilities that prophets of old had.
He also has 12 apostles, just as Jesus Christ did. So to meet one of
the them is a pretty big deal! The apostle that will be visiting
is...(drumroll please!)......HOLLAND!!! GAH!! I am ooper dooper
excited beyond belief! We each get to shake his hand....it's going to
be intense!! :D Definitely the highlight of my week :) He will be
coming April 29th!
The not so exciting part of zone conference was getting our new
"friends"...... We call them the black boxes. Black boxes of death
basically. They go into your car and hook up to the odometer and
computer inside. And then they talk to you if you go too fast, and
make hard stops or turns. You have to slide a card each time you get
in or out of the car......it's really fun getting used to. So we all
are loving our new amigos. Claro que NO Jajajaja.
One thing I LOVE about being a missionary is seeing how God works out
His plan. Basically, there are no such thing as coincidences. Last
week, we had an appt that fell through. As we were walking away from
the house, there was a guy across the street working on his car. We
went over and started talking to him. At first he said he wasn't
interested, but then asked about missionary life since he had a friend
that served a mission. We talked about that and the BOM, and it ended
up being a great lesson. We weren't able to set up another appt, so we
decided to visit him the next Sunday. When we went there, his mom
answered the door. At first she wasn't interested, but then asked a
question about the Book of Mormon. Then we taught her a lesson, and
she committed to come to church. It is a testimony to me that God has
it all worked up out there....we just need to trust in His plan.
We are teaching this super fun couple. They let us
inside because of how windy it was one night. They are so funny, and
really love to talk. This last week, we had the
opportunity to teach them. We had left her a chapter to read in the
BOM, about faith. When we what the chapter was about, her eyes got all
big. She then asks "How did you know?" I had no idea what she was
talking about....and then she asked it again! It turns out that two
people that week had told her that she needed to work on her faith.
And then we gave her a chapter to read about faith. It was so cool!
She also told us that whenever we come, she feels peaceful and she
doesn't hear the wind or traffic outside. I love the power of the Holy
Ghost!!
That was our week here in Pueblito :) We are now starting our
"prepping for Holland" for the next two weeks. I can't wait to see the
miracles that come! Love you all :)
Love,
Hermana Erickson
couple, but it was bound to happen at some point. But, all is good. We
still taught a lot and found some people to teach. It was a good week
overall :) We had some really fun experiences and some pretty amazing
miracles!
There was a big zone conference this week, and President had an
announcement for us...... A few weeks ago, we found out that one of
the Quorum of the 12 would be coming to our mission! For those of you
that have no idea what I am talking about, here's some help :) As
members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we believe
that we have a modern day prophet on the Earth. His name is Thomas S
Monson, and he has the same responsibilities that prophets of old had.
He also has 12 apostles, just as Jesus Christ did. So to meet one of
the them is a pretty big deal! The apostle that will be visiting
is...(drumroll please!)......HOLLAND!!! GAH!! I am ooper dooper
excited beyond belief! We each get to shake his hand....it's going to
be intense!! :D Definitely the highlight of my week :) He will be
coming April 29th!
The not so exciting part of zone conference was getting our new
"friends"...... We call them the black boxes. Black boxes of death
basically. They go into your car and hook up to the odometer and
computer inside. And then they talk to you if you go too fast, and
make hard stops or turns. You have to slide a card each time you get
in or out of the car......it's really fun getting used to. So we all
are loving our new amigos. Claro que NO Jajajaja.
One thing I LOVE about being a missionary is seeing how God works out
His plan. Basically, there are no such thing as coincidences. Last
week, we had an appt that fell through. As we were walking away from
the house, there was a guy across the street working on his car. We
went over and started talking to him. At first he said he wasn't
interested, but then asked about missionary life since he had a friend
that served a mission. We talked about that and the BOM, and it ended
up being a great lesson. We weren't able to set up another appt, so we
decided to visit him the next Sunday. When we went there, his mom
answered the door. At first she wasn't interested, but then asked a
question about the Book of Mormon. Then we taught her a lesson, and
she committed to come to church. It is a testimony to me that God has
it all worked up out there....we just need to trust in His plan.
We are teaching this super fun couple. They let us
inside because of how windy it was one night. They are so funny, and
really love to talk. This last week, we had the
opportunity to teach them. We had left her a chapter to read in the
BOM, about faith. When we what the chapter was about, her eyes got all
big. She then asks "How did you know?" I had no idea what she was
talking about....and then she asked it again! It turns out that two
people that week had told her that she needed to work on her faith.
And then we gave her a chapter to read about faith. It was so cool!
She also told us that whenever we come, she feels peaceful and she
doesn't hear the wind or traffic outside. I love the power of the Holy
Ghost!!
That was our week here in Pueblito :) We are now starting our
"prepping for Holland" for the next two weeks. I can't wait to see the
miracles that come! Love you all :)
Love,
Hermana Erickson
Monday, April 11, 2016
Monsoon Season is here!
It has been another great week in Pueblo :) The beginning of the week
started out really slow, and to be honest, I felt really out of it.
Missionary work is not an easy thing.....but the best part is that we
have the help of the Savior! He is our best ally, if we are willing to
use His atonement. Something really cool Sister Greene and I have been
doing is evaluating our week. So if something isn't going right, or we
aren't being as successful as we were the week before, we stop and try
to figure out what we can do better. It has been really helpful and
has helped me improve a lot!
We had a really cool miracle this week! It will take me a little bit
to explain, so bear with me! When I got into the area we had an
investigator, Eric, but Sis Greene had no idea where he lived. We just
had his cousin's address, and they wouldn't open their door to us. We
were going to drop him, but the day we decided to do that, we ran into
him on the street. We went back for the appt we had set up, but he
wasn't there. We ended up talking to his sister, Tifha. She wasn't
that interested at first, but we shared the meaning of Easter, etc.
She missed her next appt, but we were able to catch her this Monday.
She said that she had gone to Mormon.org, and had been really thinking
about the things that we said. She even was thinking about baptism! We
had another lesson with her on Friday, but the atmosphere was crazy,
so we didn't think that she got much out of it. (Here comes the good
part!) Sunday morning, she texts us 10 min before church and asks if
we could find a ride for her. We had no idea who to ask, so we
suggested just to wait a week. She decided to walk in the rain to come
to church!!! It was amazing :) We are super excited for her and feel
blessed to be teaching her.
We had opportunities to do some service this week. We talked to
someone outside that was pulling weeds in his yard. We offered to help
out whenever he needed it. We got a text a few days later, from a
member. Apparently the guy we talked to was friends with a member! We
were able to go and help him pull his weeds, and he was really
appreciative. We also made hats for the homeless shelters. We learned
how to knit with circle hoops.....haha! It was super fun and relaxing
to knit ;) This week we get to help paint a house! Yay :D! Service is
the best!
Another miracle to close off the letter. We were able to get a RM to
come with us. He served in our mission, and now lives in our ward. The
lesson that we were going to teach, cancelled, so we went to try the
next people that we had planned. Right across the street was a guy
working on his car. We started talking to him, and he said he wasn't
interested. We were about to walk away when he told us that he had a
friend that served a mission. We stayed and talked for a good 30
minutes, and were able to share the BOM with him. He was really
excited to read it and to learn more. I guess the reason why I share
this experience is for two reasons: God always put people in our path.
There are no such things as coincidences! We just have to trust in his
plan. And #2: I can't wait to be an awesome member missionary! I have
learned so much, I just want to share it with everyone around me. It
was cool to see how much a mission had affected the RMs life.
Well, I love you all! Enjoy the warmer weather as we try to stay dry
here in Vegas. I'll attach a picture of the crazy rain. Les amo
muchisimo :D Hasta la proxima semana
Love,
Hermana Erickson
started out really slow, and to be honest, I felt really out of it.
Missionary work is not an easy thing.....but the best part is that we
have the help of the Savior! He is our best ally, if we are willing to
use His atonement. Something really cool Sister Greene and I have been
doing is evaluating our week. So if something isn't going right, or we
aren't being as successful as we were the week before, we stop and try
to figure out what we can do better. It has been really helpful and
has helped me improve a lot!
We had a really cool miracle this week! It will take me a little bit
to explain, so bear with me! When I got into the area we had an
investigator, Eric, but Sis Greene had no idea where he lived. We just
had his cousin's address, and they wouldn't open their door to us. We
were going to drop him, but the day we decided to do that, we ran into
him on the street. We went back for the appt we had set up, but he
wasn't there. We ended up talking to his sister, Tifha. She wasn't
that interested at first, but we shared the meaning of Easter, etc.
She missed her next appt, but we were able to catch her this Monday.
She said that she had gone to Mormon.org, and had been really thinking
about the things that we said. She even was thinking about baptism! We
had another lesson with her on Friday, but the atmosphere was crazy,
so we didn't think that she got much out of it. (Here comes the good
part!) Sunday morning, she texts us 10 min before church and asks if
we could find a ride for her. We had no idea who to ask, so we
suggested just to wait a week. She decided to walk in the rain to come
to church!!! It was amazing :) We are super excited for her and feel
blessed to be teaching her.
We had opportunities to do some service this week. We talked to
someone outside that was pulling weeds in his yard. We offered to help
out whenever he needed it. We got a text a few days later, from a
member. Apparently the guy we talked to was friends with a member! We
were able to go and help him pull his weeds, and he was really
appreciative. We also made hats for the homeless shelters. We learned
how to knit with circle hoops.....haha! It was super fun and relaxing
to knit ;) This week we get to help paint a house! Yay :D! Service is
the best!
Another miracle to close off the letter. We were able to get a RM to
come with us. He served in our mission, and now lives in our ward. The
lesson that we were going to teach, cancelled, so we went to try the
next people that we had planned. Right across the street was a guy
working on his car. We started talking to him, and he said he wasn't
interested. We were about to walk away when he told us that he had a
friend that served a mission. We stayed and talked for a good 30
minutes, and were able to share the BOM with him. He was really
excited to read it and to learn more. I guess the reason why I share
this experience is for two reasons: God always put people in our path.
There are no such things as coincidences! We just have to trust in his
plan. And #2: I can't wait to be an awesome member missionary! I have
learned so much, I just want to share it with everyone around me. It
was cool to see how much a mission had affected the RMs life.
Well, I love you all! Enjoy the warmer weather as we try to stay dry
here in Vegas. I'll attach a picture of the crazy rain. Les amo
muchisimo :D Hasta la proxima semana
Love,
Hermana Erickson
Monday, April 4, 2016
Tan Lines, General Conference and Miracles!
Summer has come once again.....! The weather has been super bipolar lately with wind one day and then 80F the next! Sister Greene and I keep saying how hot it is....but I just keep remembering last summer. We ain't seen nothing yet! But I'm attaching a picture of my ridiculous Tom shoe tan line....haha
Though its crazy to say, we had an even BETTER week than last! The miracles just keep coming and I keep praying that it never stops :) We've been finding, teaching, learning, and having fun. It probably has been some of my favorite weeks of the mission so far. To add to it all, we had general conference, where we were able to hear from our modern day prophets. It was really good, and I was happy to receive a lot of guidance for the rest of my mission. I keep trying to convince myself that I am a young missionary. But I told an elder today how long I have left...and he told me that I was on my death bed. Haha! I'm denying it ;)
So we found some super cool people this week. One, we met her son looking for her, and we shared about our message, and he invited us to come back. When we did, he wasn't there, but his mom was. At first, she had a lot of questions so we kept answering them with the Bible and the Book of Mormon. She invited us back and apologized for not having us sit down!! It was amazing to see the spirit change someone's heart so quick. The spirit was so strong, and it has to be one of most favorite experiences!We are teaching one of our member's in home nurse. He served a mission with his wife, so he loves to share the gospel. He started reading the Book of Mormon with her (he had her read it to him ;)) and she really likes it! So we started reading more with her. This last week, we taught about General Conference, and how we receive the revelation that we need. She was really intrigued by that, and asked if she could write down more questions than just one :) she has such a great spirit about her....we are excited!
Well, I'm loving little O'l Pueblo and Sister Greene. Keep the prayers coming, cause they are definitely helping us out :) I love you all! We having a saying here that I will sign off with: Keep the faith! The church is true!
Love,
Hermana Erickson
Monday, March 28, 2016
Feliz Pascua y Bienvenidos a nueva area!
Hello Everyone! :) I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and were able
to reflect on the life of the Savior. As we were talking with people
yesterday, everyone kept saying "Come back a different day, it's
Easter today." I couldn't help but laugh--wouldn't Easter be the best
day to hear a message about Christ? ;) It was a pretty awesome week!
This area has so much untapped potential, and I am super excited for
this transfer.
Sister Greene is awesome! We have had such a fun time this week
together :) She is from Georgia, and has been out for 6 weeks. I am
follow-up training her; it is so fun to be around some "greenie" fire
again :) We were able to find a lot of people this week and teach a
lot of lessons. She kept telling me "this never happens! Why is this
happening? This is awesome!" Though it is different than being a STL,
I love being in this area. I realized that I learned a ton from the
last two transfers, and I have been able to apply a lot of things. I'm
so grateful that I had the opportunity to be in leadership, and that
the Lord provided ways for me to improve and learn.
We had a baptism this Saturday! It was weird walking into one, but
luckily I was able to teach her a few times before the actual baptism.
Her name is Kerra, and she is a firecracker! She is 12, and has known
about the church for a long time. Her mom just starting coming back to
church, so Kerra expressed a desire to be baptized to the Sisters. The
baptism was very spiritual, and Kerra was so happy when she got out of
the water. She is going to be a great example to her family and
friends!
We had some crazy things happen as well....haha. It wouldn't be
missionary life without a little bit of that right? For one, we
totally confounded a bible basher, and he is one of our new
investigators! Whoop whoop! :) I hate bible bashers, and just usually
walk away, but he was being really nice about it....haha. We will see
how it goes this week! 2. When I met our new bishop, he said "Welcome
to the hood!" Hahaha! This is definitely not anthem anymore. 3. We had
to go rescue some sisters on a bike trail b/c one of them crashed. She
had to get 7 stitches in her foot (at least I got to practice some of
my nursing skills ;)).
I am happy and loving the new experiences. I can't wait to hear from
our Prophet this weekend. It's going to be great! I love you all :)
Love,
Hermana Erickson
to reflect on the life of the Savior. As we were talking with people
yesterday, everyone kept saying "Come back a different day, it's
Easter today." I couldn't help but laugh--wouldn't Easter be the best
day to hear a message about Christ? ;) It was a pretty awesome week!
This area has so much untapped potential, and I am super excited for
this transfer.
Sister Greene is awesome! We have had such a fun time this week
together :) She is from Georgia, and has been out for 6 weeks. I am
follow-up training her; it is so fun to be around some "greenie" fire
again :) We were able to find a lot of people this week and teach a
lot of lessons. She kept telling me "this never happens! Why is this
happening? This is awesome!" Though it is different than being a STL,
I love being in this area. I realized that I learned a ton from the
last two transfers, and I have been able to apply a lot of things. I'm
so grateful that I had the opportunity to be in leadership, and that
the Lord provided ways for me to improve and learn.
We had a baptism this Saturday! It was weird walking into one, but
luckily I was able to teach her a few times before the actual baptism.
Her name is Kerra, and she is a firecracker! She is 12, and has known
about the church for a long time. Her mom just starting coming back to
church, so Kerra expressed a desire to be baptized to the Sisters. The
baptism was very spiritual, and Kerra was so happy when she got out of
the water. She is going to be a great example to her family and
friends!
We had some crazy things happen as well....haha. It wouldn't be
missionary life without a little bit of that right? For one, we
totally confounded a bible basher, and he is one of our new
investigators! Whoop whoop! :) I hate bible bashers, and just usually
walk away, but he was being really nice about it....haha. We will see
how it goes this week! 2. When I met our new bishop, he said "Welcome
to the hood!" Hahaha! This is definitely not anthem anymore. 3. We had
to go rescue some sisters on a bike trail b/c one of them crashed. She
had to get 7 stitches in her foot (at least I got to practice some of
my nursing skills ;)).
I am happy and loving the new experiences. I can't wait to hear from
our Prophet this weekend. It's going to be great! I love you all :)
Love,
Hermana Erickson
Monday, March 21, 2016
New assignment: Free Agent!
Yet another week has passed by in the mission. The time just keeps going faster and faster. I can't seem to get it to slow down for me. I lose track of what happened when since it all melts into one big long week. The end of last week was also the end of a transfer. It does not feel like I have been here for 7 weeks.Transfers came as a huge shock. I got a call Friday night from one of the mission STLs asking if I could train a new missionary instead of being a STL. I agreed, but I was pretty sad about it. I thought I had done something wrong to not be a STL anymore. I talked to our Mission President the next day, and he explained the whole picture. It wasn't what I hadn't done, it was what I had done. He know wants me to be a "free agent", which is basically STL undercover ;) haha. He wants me to use the skills I learned in leadership and go out into mission field to help. I am excited for another new journey :)
I am getting transferred to the El Dorado/Lake Mead stake in Old Henderson. I'm going back to the humble people! ;) My new companion is Sister Greene, and she has been out for one transfer. So I will be finishing up her training. We have one ward, Pueblo (no, I'm not in Spanish. Still English). A lot of changes are going to be coming my way in the morning....but it will be great!
We found a few more people to teach this week. One is from Korea. He speaks very little English, but luckily we have a Sister from Korea serving here. So we exchange with their companionship, and she comes in and teaches the lesson in Korean. It is interesting being the person who doesn't understand anything that is happening. Haha! Also, we noticed that when people think someone can't understand English, they talk slowwwweeerrrr and LOUDER. ;)
We received a referral a few weeks ago from Mormon.org. She had requested a Book of Mormon from the website. We were able to teach her , and it went great! Turns out that she is only 15 years old and has some family that are members of the church. It is so interesting to me when teenagers investigate the church. If I hadn't been born in the church, would I have found it that young? Would I be willing to do it without my family? I have so much respect for the people we teach. It is a hard journey, and usually there some sort of back lash. But the blessings are always worth it!
I love you all and I love the work! Yes, it is hard but I love the blessings that come from it :)
Love,
Hermana Erickson
Monday, March 14, 2016
Reality of Missionary Work
This week has been difficult. We didn't have all that much proselyting time all week long, and our teaching opportunities were lacking. We have definitely been struggling to find new people to teach and people that aren't flaky. It was just a weird week....! And we only have one more week to go in the transfer.....crazy!So our amazing golden investigator might have dropped us. We had a lesson with her this week, and really had a hard time understanding why we need the priesthood. A lot of the things we teach, her church does too, it's just that they don't have the priesthood/proper authority to do it.We are wondering if she took the time to read the Book of Mormon. The BOM is the physical evidence that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that this is Christ's church. If you are struggling in your testimony in any way, read it!!
We were able to find a family that had taken the lessons before! There are five girls, and three are above baptism age. I have never taught a family before!! It's pretty exciting to have them to teach. Their problem is that they have tons of activities that keep them super ooper busy. But they miss having family scripture study and prayer. I really hope that they take the time to relearn the lessons. We aren't sure what stopped them from getting baptized the first time, but we
hope to resolve any concerns that they may have had. I know that a family based on the gospel can never fall. I can't wait to teach them!
The reality of missionary work is that we are on a roller coaster! I have felt like I have been through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows on my mission. But that's ok, because that is exactly how life is. Whether you are a full time member or a full time missionary, there will always be ups and downs in the work. All that Heavenly Father cares about is if we are doing our best all the time, not just during the good times. I love the work! I am so happy that I made the decision to serve a mission. It is not easy. But it is worth the time. I love you all!!!!
Love,
Hermana Erickson
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