Halloween

So I know that it isn't Halloween yet but we were at our ward party so that's as much Halloween as we get out here ;)  We wanted to go 'tracting' on Halloween but President said no.  Sad day.  But the party made up for it.  Craziest, funnest party I have ever been too!  And every missionaries dream.  There were about 200 people there (yes, in a tiny ward building) and we didn't know most of them so we went around and just talked to everyone.  We were in charge of the doughnut game and it was so entertaining to see all the little kids trying the eat them without hands.  Some of them made me laugh so hard, especially the little little ones.  They looked like little birds trying to get to the food.  So cute!  Maybe I have just never really lived in a neighborhood but this area really gets decked out for Halloween!  Lots of people have sensor motioned creepy things on their porch so when you walk up things start wailing at you and moving.  Makes tracting a little more interesting!  There was this one skull that it's eyes turned red and it started laughing when we walked by.  It was funny, Sis Ward jumped out of her socks and was down the porch and out of there before you could even say boo.  

The rest of the week is a blur....it was kind of crazy.  If missions were a movie, they would not be G-rated.  Several things came up and a couple people we were working with either had family pass away unexpectedly or end up in jail or relapse while in treatment for alcoholism.  I was scared to go see anyone else because we would just hear more bad news!  Just kidding...but really.  

Anyway.  I'll end on a good note.  We went to see Susan (a less active in our ward) and her boys.  Ryan, who is 9 really wanted to have a sword fight with us.  So we told him that if he could tie it into the scriptures somehow then we would.  He was funny; told us all out David and Goliath and then got distracted and went onto Meshac, Shadrac and Abindigo, where they were tossed into the furnace and then to Ammon where he chops off all the arms.  Basically gave us a run down of all the 'little boy favorite' scripture stories.  So we ended up having a sword fight with him.  It was pretty fun.  

I think that's it for this week!  Hope ya'll enjoy your week and hopefully are having warmer weather than us!  (We woke up to snow on the hills by us)

My new best friend

Best costume award goes too....!

Can you tell what I was for Halloween?

Love,
Sis Rae

Well, this week has been a crazy week.  Everyone has been sick so most of the people we regularly visit canceled on us.  BUT that freed up some time so we were able to try to see some former investigators that we have been trying to get a hold of for the longest time.  That was probably the highlight of my week.  

One lady in particular, her name is Sue and has a 6 year old son named Michael.  Her boy has some severe developmental and health problems which is why it has been so hard to get a hold of her (and the reason she stopped taking the lesson from the Elders about 2 years ago) because they are always at therapy or the hospital.  It was a fantastic lesson though.  She has some issues with Joseph Smith and if he really saw what he said he did, which is understandable, but told us that she was willing to read the Book of Mormon and pray 'extremely hard' to know if it was true.  Which is all we ask!  During the lesson, it was so cute, Michael would scoot around and just giggle at us and then start signing.  Sue could continue the conversation with us AND sign to Michael at the same time.  It was really cool to see.  Michael has surgery this week though so we don't get to see her this week for a lesson but please send your prayers that it will go OK and that we can meet with her again!  

There are so many people just seeking for the truth and that peace that they are missing from their lives.  I love being a missionary so that I can help people find that!  Best feeling in the world.

So.  Crazy story of the week.  We were standing on the porch talking to Kelly (the bird lady up on the Res) and it was really hot outside.  Hotter than it should have been in October.  Well I was super hot because the sun was hitting me right on the back and as we were talking my vision went dark and I completely fell over on her porch.  So embarrassing!  I was fine once I got inside and had a glass of ice water but Sis Ward hasn't let me forget it.  Also, Kelly told us that she is having a hard time coming to church because she has to get up and feed her birds in the morning and doesn't have enough time to do that and get ready.  So guess what I stupidly did.  Yup, volunteered to come help feed her 11 crazy birds before church.  But I survived!  Usually the birds are in their cages but we showed up Sunday morning and ALL of them were out and flying around.  Luckily we were just in charge of washing dishes and cutting up fruit.  Kelly put the bowls in the cages.  She came to church though, so it was all worth it!  AND she said she wanted to get her husband to come as well.  Cha ching.  That would make my life.

Any who.  That's about it for this week!  Hope ya'll have a fantastic week and enjoy the small stuff.

Love,

Sis. Rae

Nice and comfy!

A downtown statue

 I forgot my nametag so I wore Sis Wards extra one :)

Another Transfer Gone

So this big news this week is....*drum roll*  Sis Ward and I are staying in Eagle Canyon together!  So tons of big changes haha.  This week was such a great week, end the transfer with a bang!  We had our highest lesson count yet and didn't even see a couple of our 'regulars'!  

General Conference worked some miracles and we had several people at church that haven't been in years including a couple families.  We also met with this family (Brent and Katie) we have been working with for a while.  She has been a member all her life but hasn't been to church since High School and he is a convert of about 3 years.  He told us his conversion story and it is the coolest thing ever.  So he was at work on the internet and saw a couple ads for Mormon.org.  One of them was advertising/explaining the Book of Mormon.  When he saw it, he heard a voice in his head, plain as day, say that he needed to read that book.  That was right before lunch.  Brent goes home to eat lunch and cannot get the thought out of his head that he needs to read that book.  Which he thought was ridiculous because they didn't even have a Book of Mormon!  He would get it later from someplace.  Then he heard someone telling him to go to a box in the garage and look through it.  He goes out and rummages through the box but doesn't see anything so he turns to leave and he felt someone turn him around and tells him to look in the box again.  At the very bottom is a Book of Mormon.  How cool is that?!  He was baptized in 3 weeks.  It gave (and still gives) me goosebumps.  The people that have gone before have such a hand in missionary work now and it is comforting to know that they are there helping us and guiding us.  If I can help this family get back to church and sealed in the temple, my life would be complete.  It's crazy how much love you can feel for people that you have only known for a short while.  It's my favorite part of being a missionary.  Seeing how much the gospel changes peoples lives for the better.  Lots of people have such good lives already but the gospel brings that much more joy and peace into them.

Ok, so crazy story of the week.  I found out why you and everyone else has been having such a bad week this week.  Apparently, Mercury is in Retrograde.  Let me explain.  We were at Kelly's house (she is the Pagan lady we teach) and she was having a really rough week.  Lots of things going on.  But she should have known because Mercury is in Retrograde!  It happens once a year when Mercury is in a certain position in the sky and anything that can go wrong will in the 10 days leading up to it and the 10 days following.  The apex of the 'bad luck' is on October 21st.  So stay in bed and don't do anything!  Don't say I didn't warn you.  The funny (well kinda) thing is that while we were there, Kelly had a gold crown pop out, her cell phone broke, and we were on exchanges and the sister we were with had a severe allergic reaction to the parrots and we almost had to take her to the hospital.  Insane! haha  But now anytime anything goes wrong, Sis Ward and I look at each other and say "Mercury is in Retrograde." Keeps us entertained.  

Well, that's all for this week and hope ya'll are enjoying the weather!

Love,

Sis. Rae

A Week of Meetings

This week was crazy busy!  In addition to General Conference, we had Zone Conference which took up our whole Friday.  Good stuff though!  Always fun to get with other missionaries and see ways we can improve.

So this General Conference was probably the best I have ever listened to.  Let me tell you why.  So for the past couple weeks we have been extending an invitation to everyone we teach.  We ask them to write down a couple questions or concerns they have, to pray about them, and then to listen to Conference and they will hear an answer to their question, no matter what it is.  Sister Ward and I joined in the experiment as well.  Several people told us their questions so we were aware of what some of their needs were.  Things ranging from tithing to depression to schooling.  As we listened to Conference, EVERY SINGLE question was answered.  In multiple talks.  Such a testimony builder to me and the Spirit was so strong!  I can't wait for this next week to talk to people about it!  I'll let ya'll know how it goes.

In other news, this week I had two people tell me that I reminded them of their Golden Retrievers...don't know if that is a compliment or not...Gotta love people!  

Sorry again this is kinda short, still typing with one hand.  The long letter from Rae Elder should make up for the shortness of this one ;)

Have a fabulous week and give your missionaries some referals!

Love,

Sis. Rae

From the Mission President

Dearly beloved parents and loved ones of Nevada Reno missionaries.

 

I just wanted to let you know that my sweet wife has updated the mission blog, which you can access at nevadarenomission.blogspot.com.  Pictures from the site can easily be saved and stored on your computer by right clicking on the image, then “saving picture as” and indicating where you want to save it on your computer.

 

I hope you enjoy seeing pictures of many of our missionaries, including your own sons and daughters.

 

Thank you for your support, prayers and faith in our behalf in this mission.

 

All the best,

 

David N. Hermansen

President, Nevada Reno Mission

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

1146 Prater Way

Sparks, NV  89431

775-671-7118 Cell

One Thing After Another

So!  This email might be a little short because right now I only have the use of one hand.  Last Monday (you know, those crazy P-days) we were playing volleyball with all the missionaries in the zone and about halfway through, I hit the ball weird and sprained my thumb and wrist.  So my hand got (and still is) super swollen so I get to learn how to be left handed!  Sis. Ward has also been feeling really sick so we spent a lot of this week at the doctor's office.  Fun fun.  We are the crippled companionship.  I don"t have an arm and she can no longer eat any gluten.  

Then we got a call from my two of my favorite people, Randy and Petra, who said they had decided that Christianity was not for them. They are so sweet though and deep thinkers so it is fun to talk with them.  Last time we were there they spent 10 minutes telling us about watching a bee get pollen from a flower and it was fun to listen to!; they just find joy in the smallest things. But they said we could come back by this week so we'll see how things go.  

We are mostly teaching people who haven't been to church in a while and this week we had 5 people who don't normally come to church and stay the whole time!  Several of them are families with little kids so it is fun to teach them.  This week we did family home evening with Susan and her two boys.  One of her boys collects Nerf guns and always wants us to play with them and him.  So this week we acted out Samuel the Lamanite with Nerf guns and then had a lesson off of that.  It was pretty fun.

Then we had the Relief Society broadcast and after it was done, they had all of us sister missionaries in the stake stand up front and they gave us a rose.  It was so cool though to be a part of the group that stood up; there are about 15 sisters in the stake.  I didn't realize there were that many!  Sister missionaries are the best! ;)

Well, I hope everyone has a fantastic week and the church is true!

Love,

Sis. Rae