Pictures - emailed 07/16/12

Future Journal Entries - excerpt from 07/10/12 email

Yeah my journals arent gonna be comin in as much. I  dont really like the mormon.org time we are supposed to spend at the library. we have other things to do .... i got my work cut out for me.

Pics from the Mish

Pictures of waterfall in Virginia

Pictures of Jess with Julie and with comp and elders

Journal Entry from 06/19/12 - Deanna

June 19, 2012

Today we met with Deanna (between 35-50) and Vince (26). and they are engaged...but they havent got married because of their insurance and they need their meds. anyway, at first it seemed like they just had issues and might wanna use the system. but then when Deanna left to use the bathroom and she came back down she told us she prayed for the strength to come back to listen to our message. and she knows that we are not there to help with temporal needs but to strengthen and uplift mentally emotionally and spiritually. we shared the message of the restoration and strongly emphasized the atonement of Christ and the hope it brings. and then we asked them to be baptized, and they are gonna work towards august 18.

Journal Entry from 06/15/12 - Ryan

June 15, 2012

Today I met Ryan. He is 26. He is.....quite the character! He was rooming with Mitch an older man we met a while ago and when we got there Ryan was tellin us weird things were going on around that place and he has no idea where Mitch) was and he was talkin about some hog farm. so Ryan thinks that Mitch got knocked off by Daddy (the landlord) and hawled him off to the hog farm. then Ryan was askin about his "spiritual" experience he was in a field with his friends and started eatin the mushrooms they found...so we had to tell him there is a difference between being high and feeling the spirit. awkward!

Journal Entry from 06/15/12 - Bob

June 15, 2012

We saw Bob today and we talked about the atonement with him. Bob is a choice spirit. He is so forgiving and so loving and just has some amazing Christ-like qualities. He told us about his wife who cheated on him over the years with their neighbor (who is now dead). He told us how he has forgiven her and done kind things for her but she is always aggravated with him. We talked about the atonement with him and the gospel how it has changed our lives and then he said he had been praying for some companion so he wouldnt be so alone. I guess that is the day Noorlander and her companion showed up. He told us he jokingly told God, I only asked for one, NOT two! haha we just laughed and he told us he prayed to say thank you. He is reading from the scriptures and he is just an excellent man. I hope that the light of the gospel and the Atonement will take place in his heart and heal him.

Journal Entry from 06/13/12 - Don and Bella

June 13, 2012

We went to Don and Bella's and we went over the plan of salvation a little more, and went over the baptismal questions. We found out that Don is on probation and cannot get baptized until that is all cleared up. It was extremely sad to see the hurt in his eyes and Noorlander and I both talked about the time we have to wait before we can partake of the blessings of the gospel. This provided us with a deeper understanding of the Savior and it was just sad to see that he really wants it but has to wait. One thing that I really liked that Noorlander said was "In the Premortal when God sent us down, he trusted that we would make it." So that is was a cool thing to hear. God trusted that we would make it back.

Journal Entry from 06/20/12 - Jan and Rita

June 20, 2012

Today we had an appointment scheduled with Jan and Rita. Jan wasnt there and we called her and she said she hadnt been able to read cuz her mom was reading the book. her mom cant read the small print so in a weeks time with a magnifying glass held close to her face she read all of 1 nephi! she is so awesome! and we brought her a large print BOM! she asked if we wanted some coffee and brother arritt is like we dont drink that so she asked why. and she smokes (but wants to quit so we are gonna do the quit smokin workshop with them) and usually we kinda feel bad and dont bring it up til later but i just got an overwhelming feeling of comfort and thought if it's true it's true and i shouldnt be worried. but sometimes people will turn away before they know what they are missing but we started with prayer and read D&C 89 and she told her grandaughter to sit quiet and listen to God's word. I thought this woman was gonna be like i have my church you have yours. that is NOT the case! we invited her to live the word of wisdom and she said Yeah! i gotta ween myself off though. but before that she told us her doctor told her to drink coffee in place of having to buy an inhaler because some enzyme in coffee helps her out! and she says all that she has read so far doesnt contradict the gospel she understands and she prays about all that she reads. and i dont think she has even asked if Joseph was a prophet yet and she was like Yeah i will do that! What FAITH! She doesnt even know if he is a true prophet yet but she is putting it to the test!!! that was awesome!

Journal Entry from 06/13/12 - Brent and Nancy*

June 13, 2012

Today I met Brent and Nancy. they gave me a gift! it was some virginia blown glass. it is a coaster for my drinks! i love coasters. but it was so cool that they just were prepared to meet me and wow. so Brent was voluntarily ex-ed...he believes in the BOM and we go to read with them but he believes that not all of Joseph's teachings were inspired by God like polygamy and just that because he is man not everything can be trusted so he believes the book and not the church but he really did not want to talk about the disaggreements he has with the church because he doesnt want us, his guests, to feel like we have to defend our beliefs and that we should be respected and not offended. so we just read from the book of mormon with them. and Nancy isnt a member and believes the book and i told her my views on polygamy because she asked. and it was cool. but their dog likes to lick people and it kept sneakin past me tryin to lick my arm every once in a while cuz i told it no. and then the dog got smart....i was asked to pray and we knelt down holdin hands and while i prayed the dumb ol' dog came and licked me right in the mouth. how could i say anything!? i was praying....smart dog. haha we laughed hard at that one!

Journal Entry from 06/13/12 - Shay*

June 13, 2012

So we went to teach Shay* and her mom Raelynn* was there. I was a little worried with Raelyn there cuz she is a definite Christian woman. and I just figured the way her personality was that she was gonna shun our message and that she would be the type to say I am good with My church. But we taught, and she listened. and It was SO COOL to see her participate in the lesson and listen intently and then we went to schedule another appointment and she wants to have a B.O.M. and she said she has all the time in the world when it comes to Bible studies. and That was sooo impressive. while we were there we got to try some mullberries and they in fact were delicious. Raelynn told me she would send some to Utah for me! that was tight! I really like these ladies! they rock!

Journal Entry from 06/13/12 - Maria*

June 13, 2012

We met with Maria*. and she has  a lot of depression. what bothers me is that she is paying for cable and tv but yet struggling for food and her depression meds, so the church helps. Food is a need! and to struggle to pay for that is scary! she says that she gets up routinely everyday yet the missionaries had to buy her a special alarm clock for sundays and call her. she is a convert for about a year now and i dont know how converted she is.
I want her to experience the atonement in her life so that she can change and let the atonement heal her wounds and her depression. she has a lot of grudges she is carrying and maybe that is what we need to talk about is forgiveness. I dont want to be judgemental on her because we should serve others according to her wants and i know she loves her children but if she is struggling for food....wouldnt that be a little more important than tv? just a thought. but i hope we can get her to that conversion because true conversion leads us to action and to healing. so we talked with her a little about that.

Journal Entry from 06/13/12 - Dan and Luke*

June 13, 2012

Today we saw Dan and Luke. Luke keeps making these lame excuses after he set up a plan to get to church and finally i just hammered down and we talked about how the gospel causes us to act and i called him out on how we made a plan for him to resolve his concern he just doesnt want to, but says he does. and we asked them why they wanted to have us over cuz they are both members. but mostly we were crackin the spiritual whip on Luke. and Luke made some dumb comment and Dan was like why are you lyin? haha he just like called him out and anyway at the end we said you know we are sorry for comin down but we want to make sure we are making a difference in your life, the gospel is all about you progressing because if we teach you somethin and it affects your spirit and you dont allow it to change your life then it's a waste of your time. wisdom can be of NO worth if we do nothing with it. but yeah Luke really doesnt care and at the end Dan was like i needed to hear that. dan has an addiction problem and is really working on it and has a bunch of health issues but it was so cool how we cracked down on Luke and Dan was like I needed that! so we left them with a question to ponder for the week "what have you done with what the missionaries have taught you, how has it changed your lives?" i really am so impressed with Dan. he is great! Luke...he is comin along and i hope he stops bein so there and just starts to enjoy life a little more.

Journal Entry from 06/12/12 - Todd

June 12, 2012

Todd* is in the hospital and we go to visit him and now we are teaching his daughter-in-law and her mom! but he is an old guy and his legs were having real issues and extreme restless leg syndrome. and i asked if we could rub them for him cuz he was trying to do it in his hospital bed but it just wasnt working out. so we rubbed his legs and even his feet. I dont know why i would ever do such a thing cuz his feet were real dry and yuck and just not something i can imagine doing. but for some reason it felt like the right thing to do and noorlander FREAKS when it comes to feet. but for some reason both of us were comforted and not grossed out and did that for him. it was a really neat experience and i dont wanna share it to brag in anyway. but when he prayed it was just so sincere and neat to hear him pray cuz i think he is losin it too. but it was so cool to just feel the comfort and it is so sad to see him struggling the way he has been. it was a neat way to feel the spirit.

Journal Entry from 06/12/12 - Nadine and Lanae

Week of June 12, 2012

We went to read some scriptures with Nadine and Lanae*. we asked them to memorize D&C 18:10 and Nadine totally did it! I am WAY proud of her. She expressed a desire to go to the temple and we told her it was gonna take a lot of hard work and dilligence. so I asked her about the drugs she has been using and we asked to take them to get rid of and she was like no way you will get in trouble havin those so she went to throw them away but we didnt want her to dig back through the garbage to get them and Noorlander said to flush them and when she was takin the trash we followed her thinkin she just was gonna trash 'em, and before she knew we were behind her she did dump them down the toilet and that was an AWESOME step! however she told us she can get them for free, so was that even a big deal for her? i dont know but she has TONS of issues and i wanna do my best to help her.

 

Journal Entry from 06/11/12 - Warm Springs, VA

June 11, 2012

Oh my gosh! I think I found another Heaven on Earth. It is called Warm Springs Virginia! It was SO BEAUTIFUL to see the wonders of God! we went for a hike on pday to the waterfalls and down below you could walk under neath it and it wasnt just like a regular river flowing but had different levels of natural pools and mini waterfalls and the green forest surrounding it was incredible. in one of the pools a man was baptized there! wow that would truly be so wonderful to experience. then we hiked above the falls and there were logs over the river we could sit on and other natural pools just chillin in a calm river and there was a rope swing in one of them and i was so tempted to swing into it. the water was SO CLEAR and BLUE! i have never seen anything like it! but dont worry i did get to pull up my pant legs and walk into the river! if it is real shallow you cant swim so that was allowed but also i did it to pick up some trash. I needed a good excuse to get in it :) but wow it was sure amazing! and the water was actually warm even in morning with the cool air so it was just perfect. hopefully someday i will get to come back to this spot.

Journal Entry from 06/09/12 - Terry and Penny*

June 9, 2012

Today we talked to Terry and Penny*. they are not married but John is married to a woman and they all 3 live in the same house but his wife doesnt want to take the discussions but she will sometimes sit at the window and sneakily listen while we sit on the porch and teach them. Penny is RAD! she read the BOM in 6 days then is now reading it backwards. she knows it is from God and it is SO cool! like she doesnt know everything but her faith in that book is compelling her to have a desire to be baptized.
We taught about the premortal life and about adam and eve. that was a new concept for her (mostly adam and eve) but we taught her and she really soaked it in and just listened and believed it. we left with them 2 nephi 2 to read. but they both are gonna be baptized on july 7. so that is way cool!

Journal Entry from 06/08/12 - Harry*

June 8, 2012

Today, we decided to spend the day at Harry's. We helped Harry build a dog house and would have gospel conversations. Nyla his wife is a member and she was going to do a yard sale thing somewhere else and when we got there she was loading up her car and STORMED inside saying all types of colorful words to Harry that we were there and well, it was epic to say the least. They have serious marital problems but our goal is to get them to come regularly to church together and start praying as a family together etc. but we asked them both what the ideal family life was and they put down each other a lot...but they both had good ideas. now we just gotta help them turn those ideals into actual goals so their family and their children can have good examples and more happiness. Harry believes the church to be true, he just has an addiction problem and i feel like if the family support was stronger in their home he would be baptized and change his life but he is scared to get baptized cuz he doesnt wanna be a hypocrite and lose his temper with his wife etc. so the goal with them is to build their family ever so subtly. They are quite the couple thats for sure, but i sure do love them both and it was so neat on the next day to see them at church together as a family!

Journal Entry from 06/08/12 - Believing in Christ

June 8, 2012

Today we were doing service at the library. A guy came up to us and starting talking about religion. He proceeded to tell us that our religion is wrong and that ALL we have to do is believe in Christ. ok....so i am believing in Christ...so if that is all i have to do then how are we doing anything wrong especially if we are doing our best to make the world around us a better place? he just kept saying we were wrong....does he not get that we believe in Jesus Christ and according to him we should be good to go? anyway it did get a little frustrating cuz if that is true that is all you have to do then he should back off...haha but then he began to tell us that he is a prophet and this is his calling. Oh REALLY? haha wow...then he asked if he could pray for us and i said sure please do. it was wild...then after he left I looked at sister noorlander and i said " well, i guess i can cross off meet the prophet on my bucket list now." haha we had a good laugh at that one.