Oh the adventures just keep coming here in Anderson!!!! We had an amazing experience last Tuesday while tracting. We received a refferal and so we went to see if they were home, and they weren't so we tracted on that street, because there is probably a reason that we were sent there. So we tracted the neighborhood and talked to a lady who was baptized years ago but she and her husband had a bad experience with missionaries and so they stopped going to church. We started talking to her on her front porch and the Spirit was so present there and I can't even tell you what we said but it was wonderful. We talked her for about half an hour and we just bore pure testimony the entire time. We gave her a Book of Mormon and asked her to read Alma 32 which is one my FAVORITE chapters. We were walking back home and we just were on such a spiritual high and we were so happy!!! We went to visit her yesterday and she read the chapter but she still has lots of questions but oh she is wonderful and we were so thankful to be led purely by the Spirit.
We had interviews with President and Sister Collins this past week in Muncie and it was AMAZING. Oh I love them so very much and they really helped uplift my spirits and not let the slow progress of the area get me down. One thing that has stuck with me that President Collins told me after I expressed my discouragment was that people have their agency and we are doing everything that we can. He also told me to imagine how Heavenly Father must have felt to see 1/3 of His children walk away after they knew the whole plan, they still walked away. So even though the area is having a tough time right now, Sister V. and I are still going and going.
Oh my goodness last Wednesday was the craziest night EVER! We went to dinner at the Michaels, and then Sister Michaels went with us to a lesson. The weather was absolutely beautiful that day and then it just turned for the worst...Rain...Wind....lots and lots of wind. So she is driving us home and we hear the tornado sirens going off!!! So she calls her husband and he tells us that there is a tornado warning and so we turned on the radio and they are saying the same thing on all the radio stations. So we finally get home and we ran to our basement with flashlights, pillows, and scriptures and waited the storm out. We called our district leader and apparently it wasn't bad where he is serving in Marion, but luckily there was no damage:) It was kind of scary though for a minute, 2 girls from Utah, we had no idea what to do! We just laughed the rest of the night though!
On Saturday I did exchanges with Sister Humphreys and she came to my area and we had a good full day and I was able to learn a lot from her. She was companions with Sister Summers in the MTC and she is great. She is serving in the Kokomo area, which is a little over an hour from my area. We had a lot of fun! I am so excited for conference this weekend. A member of the bishopric made us little fliers to pass out to those that we come in contact with so we are hoping we get a lot of people at the church this weekend.
I love you all so much and thank you for all your love and support!!!! The weather is staying fairly nice so we are walking a TON but it feels so good!
Love,
Sister Erica Lamb
Monday, March 28, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Well this week has been so nice and warm! It's been nice to be outside more and enjoy the sunshine:) It actually makes knocking on doors all day bearable. The area is slowly progressing but we are enduring and knowing that we are doing our very best. We have had some memorable visits especially with less actives and recent converts. We are definitely getting our foot in the door so that the ward members can transtition and help them, since we move around all the time. The ward has been great at making an effort to help us make these transisitons, so we have some great appointments set up for the upcoming week.
The other night we had a lesson with a Spanish family, yeah didn't think I would have to learn spanish. There are no Spanish Elders in our area so we are teaching them:) The daughter speaks English but the parents don't so we brought a member of the ward, Bro. Gill, to help translate. Luckily we have Spanish editions of the Book of Mormon and the pamphlets we use, so I have been studying up on those so I am slowly understanding what they are saying. We had a refferal that wanted a Book of Mormon and they are Spanish as well, so that's been a highlight:)))))
Like I mentioned earlier our work with less actives has been pretty effective this week and hopefully it will help them remember the importance of coming to church and those feelings that they had. My personal study has been improving a lot this week and I have been able to study the lessons but I am able to apply it more to their personal situations. Yesterday, in sacrament meeting, the topic was Joseph Smith, and one of the Bishopric was reading the account of Joseph Smith when he went into the grove of trees to pray. As I was following along in my Book of Mormon, I was touched by the part where as he started to pray he was overcome by a dark feeling that almost took over but he continued to pray and the light came. I think a lot of us go through experiences like that where we just have to keep going and the light will come. I was reading a talk by Jeffery R. Holland, 'None were with Him' and I know that the Savior went through those experiences that he did and was alone for a time so we never have to be alone. I am coming to know my Savior more than I ever thought I could and I want others to have that comfort too. We taught a woman, Sister Wilkerson, the other day and she is incredible! She taught herself how to read by reading the Book of Mormon, yeah she gets so excited when we come over. We read with her 3 Nephi 11 and she just got so excited when we read that when the Savior comes and teaches the people. I love that chapter and I keep reading it over and over:)
It's still been a tough week, with a lot of appointments that keep falling through or we go to visit some people and we can see that that they are there but won't answer the door. I think people can be scared of change, but we see so much potential in them, they are breaking my heart. Sister Vanderhooft and I felt the Spirit so strongly in those lessons, and so it is hard to swallow when they don't want to meet with us anymore. We have been keeping them in our prayers though and we won't give up on them yet. Sister Vanderhooft and I have been doing well at being motivated as we tract and we know that we just have to bear simple, pure testimony on a doorstep and it's amazing that the Spirit can touch people for a short time, even if they don't want to learn more. We just need to keep going and love as the Savior did.
Sister Vanderhooft is so encouraging and is helping so much, oh my goodness she is just the bees knees:) Every night before we go to bed, after our prayers, we tell each other something that great that the other did that day. We have definitely been doing well at looking at the good in each day and seeing the Lords hand in the work. We got called a jazebelle the other day, so the only thing we could do was laugh and tell ourselves that I guess we aren't frumpy then:))))) I have been learning how to be sweetly bold, as Sister Collins would say, and some people just need to hear it straightforward. We also started talking to this lady and her son on their doorstep, they are very Catholic, and they were asking questions of our beliefs and why the Book of Mormon is necessary. Then she mentioned something that made me sad, she believes that when we get to heaven that we won't be with our families and that we will just be brothers and sisters but won't recognize each other; she told us she won't recognize her son and that it's just temporary. We testified that we know we will be with our families for eternity and that it's a good thing and that is part of the plan of a loving Heavenly Father, she didn't believe us. She was very nice, but it's just sad because that doesn't sound like heaven to me. Yeah I have definitely heard it all this week, and my knuckles are starting to have caluses on them:)
I cannot wait for General Conference to come!!! Sister Vanderhooft mentioned a great way to get more out of general conference, as missionaries we are like pitchers of water and we are constantly pouring our water out to others and general conference is a chance to fill our pitchers back up. A member of the bishopric is making fliers for us so that we can invite those that we come in contact with to come watch general conference.
We have interviews with President Collins this week and I'm looking forward to that, oh my heavens he is so amazing. We email a letter to him every week and he responds every week, I just can't imagine reading through 150 emails a week and responding to them personally! He's amazing:) Love you tons and thank you for your prayers, I truly have been able to feel that strength!!!! Big Hug, Little Kiss, Little Hug, Big Kiss
Love,
Sister Lamb
The other night we had a lesson with a Spanish family, yeah didn't think I would have to learn spanish. There are no Spanish Elders in our area so we are teaching them:) The daughter speaks English but the parents don't so we brought a member of the ward, Bro. Gill, to help translate. Luckily we have Spanish editions of the Book of Mormon and the pamphlets we use, so I have been studying up on those so I am slowly understanding what they are saying. We had a refferal that wanted a Book of Mormon and they are Spanish as well, so that's been a highlight:)))))
Like I mentioned earlier our work with less actives has been pretty effective this week and hopefully it will help them remember the importance of coming to church and those feelings that they had. My personal study has been improving a lot this week and I have been able to study the lessons but I am able to apply it more to their personal situations. Yesterday, in sacrament meeting, the topic was Joseph Smith, and one of the Bishopric was reading the account of Joseph Smith when he went into the grove of trees to pray. As I was following along in my Book of Mormon, I was touched by the part where as he started to pray he was overcome by a dark feeling that almost took over but he continued to pray and the light came. I think a lot of us go through experiences like that where we just have to keep going and the light will come. I was reading a talk by Jeffery R. Holland, 'None were with Him' and I know that the Savior went through those experiences that he did and was alone for a time so we never have to be alone. I am coming to know my Savior more than I ever thought I could and I want others to have that comfort too. We taught a woman, Sister Wilkerson, the other day and she is incredible! She taught herself how to read by reading the Book of Mormon, yeah she gets so excited when we come over. We read with her 3 Nephi 11 and she just got so excited when we read that when the Savior comes and teaches the people. I love that chapter and I keep reading it over and over:)
It's still been a tough week, with a lot of appointments that keep falling through or we go to visit some people and we can see that that they are there but won't answer the door. I think people can be scared of change, but we see so much potential in them, they are breaking my heart. Sister Vanderhooft and I felt the Spirit so strongly in those lessons, and so it is hard to swallow when they don't want to meet with us anymore. We have been keeping them in our prayers though and we won't give up on them yet. Sister Vanderhooft and I have been doing well at being motivated as we tract and we know that we just have to bear simple, pure testimony on a doorstep and it's amazing that the Spirit can touch people for a short time, even if they don't want to learn more. We just need to keep going and love as the Savior did.
Sister Vanderhooft is so encouraging and is helping so much, oh my goodness she is just the bees knees:) Every night before we go to bed, after our prayers, we tell each other something that great that the other did that day. We have definitely been doing well at looking at the good in each day and seeing the Lords hand in the work. We got called a jazebelle the other day, so the only thing we could do was laugh and tell ourselves that I guess we aren't frumpy then:))))) I have been learning how to be sweetly bold, as Sister Collins would say, and some people just need to hear it straightforward. We also started talking to this lady and her son on their doorstep, they are very Catholic, and they were asking questions of our beliefs and why the Book of Mormon is necessary. Then she mentioned something that made me sad, she believes that when we get to heaven that we won't be with our families and that we will just be brothers and sisters but won't recognize each other; she told us she won't recognize her son and that it's just temporary. We testified that we know we will be with our families for eternity and that it's a good thing and that is part of the plan of a loving Heavenly Father, she didn't believe us. She was very nice, but it's just sad because that doesn't sound like heaven to me. Yeah I have definitely heard it all this week, and my knuckles are starting to have caluses on them:)
I cannot wait for General Conference to come!!! Sister Vanderhooft mentioned a great way to get more out of general conference, as missionaries we are like pitchers of water and we are constantly pouring our water out to others and general conference is a chance to fill our pitchers back up. A member of the bishopric is making fliers for us so that we can invite those that we come in contact with to come watch general conference.
We have interviews with President Collins this week and I'm looking forward to that, oh my heavens he is so amazing. We email a letter to him every week and he responds every week, I just can't imagine reading through 150 emails a week and responding to them personally! He's amazing:) Love you tons and thank you for your prayers, I truly have been able to feel that strength!!!! Big Hug, Little Kiss, Little Hug, Big Kiss
Love,
Sister Lamb
Monday, March 14, 2011
Hello my lovely family,
Sorry I didn't write back last week:(((((( It's been one of those weeks that's for sure. Sister Vanderhooft and I have been continuing to have a blast and just enduring especially these last couple of weeks. I am so thankful for you all and for the wonderful blessing that family is. It has been hard to see a lot of families that don't have the Spirit in their home and we are trying to help them get that but it's so hard.
The ward has been so great to us and are always so willing to go to appointments with us and they are a strong ward. A member passed away 2 weeks ago from cancer and we went to the funeral and she was an amazing lady. She used to be in the tabernacle choir and her and her husband served their mission at temple square. He said that all the sister missionaries loved her because she would always give them massages:) My testimony has been strengthened of the plan of salvation, that's for sure.
We had an awesome district meeting last week and we all testified of the Book of Mormon and the spirit was so strong and I love the Book of Mormon so much!!!! We are definitely using the power of the Book of Mormon in our lessons and when we tract. Then Sister Vanderhooft and I went and listened to Jeffery R. Hollands talk that he gave a couple of conferences ago, 'Safety for the Soul' oh my goodness I get chills everytime I listen to it. I know the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and it really can change people's hearts. I didn't realize that Indiana was in the bible belt, so I've been studying the Bible as well and becoming more familiar and helping people understand that the Bible and the Book of Mormon support each other. A lot of people don't accept that, but we have our testimonies to stand on.
This past week has been hard, just because we have had these golden first lessons with potential investigators and then they just dropped off the face of the earth. So it's been a rough time just knowing that they felt the Spirit and so did we and then they just aren't interested anymore. It's been hard to swallow that and to keep going, but Sister V. and I had a really good talk last night and we are going to keep going and going and know that the Lord is on our side.
I love you all and miss you dearly!!!!!!
love,
sister erica lamb
Sorry I didn't write back last week:(((((( It's been one of those weeks that's for sure. Sister Vanderhooft and I have been continuing to have a blast and just enduring especially these last couple of weeks. I am so thankful for you all and for the wonderful blessing that family is. It has been hard to see a lot of families that don't have the Spirit in their home and we are trying to help them get that but it's so hard.
The ward has been so great to us and are always so willing to go to appointments with us and they are a strong ward. A member passed away 2 weeks ago from cancer and we went to the funeral and she was an amazing lady. She used to be in the tabernacle choir and her and her husband served their mission at temple square. He said that all the sister missionaries loved her because she would always give them massages:) My testimony has been strengthened of the plan of salvation, that's for sure.
We had an awesome district meeting last week and we all testified of the Book of Mormon and the spirit was so strong and I love the Book of Mormon so much!!!! We are definitely using the power of the Book of Mormon in our lessons and when we tract. Then Sister Vanderhooft and I went and listened to Jeffery R. Hollands talk that he gave a couple of conferences ago, 'Safety for the Soul' oh my goodness I get chills everytime I listen to it. I know the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and it really can change people's hearts. I didn't realize that Indiana was in the bible belt, so I've been studying the Bible as well and becoming more familiar and helping people understand that the Bible and the Book of Mormon support each other. A lot of people don't accept that, but we have our testimonies to stand on.
This past week has been hard, just because we have had these golden first lessons with potential investigators and then they just dropped off the face of the earth. So it's been a rough time just knowing that they felt the Spirit and so did we and then they just aren't interested anymore. It's been hard to swallow that and to keep going, but Sister V. and I had a really good talk last night and we are going to keep going and going and know that the Lord is on our side.
I love you all and miss you dearly!!!!!!
love,
sister erica lamb
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