Sister Bridges is getting released on Feb 23rd - her dads birthday! Of course we expected her to come home in January - but she and her President felt otherwise.....sigh. She left on my birthday and is getting released on her dad's birthday~~what fun gifts for us both. Lynn and I are heading out to Maryland to pick her up, so she may not arrive back home until a few days after the 23rd. She is excited for us to meet the many people she has grown to love so much, we are thrilled that we get such an opportunity to watch and observe our cute missionary in the field.
Here is a tidbit from her last letter...
Sorry about not e-mailing yesterday but the libraries were closed around here for Columbus Day. I forgot to mention that to you last week. This week was so much fun! I was on exchanges with Sis. Buchanan from my MTC group from Monday to Thursday while our companions were in a 3 day long leadership training. The leadership training is for all of the DL and ZL but they invite some of the Sisters as well. All the sisters get a chance to participate, which is awesome! While they were gone, it was fun to be in a new area with a good mission friend. We were able to get a lot of good work in and comitted two people for a baptismal within 3 hours of each other. The work in the mission is outstanding. With the baptisms this past weekend we have tied our year mark last year of baptisms. Our goal as a mission is to get 300 baptisms and we are well on our way of accomplishing it.
The most amazing and best part of this week was being with Jane Halterman at the DC temple. What a humbling experience it was to be Jane's escort in the temple. When walking into the temple I felt like I was going home. It was such a peaceful feeling. During the endowment session Jane was fully concentrating. She was eating it all up. She has been prepared for this since day one~when we met over a year ago, I felt like she was just waiting for us and the gospel. It was a wonderful opportunity to see someone get baptized then a year later go through the temple. I have attached some photos of the temple. Sis. Hales and Byers were able to be there as well as Bishop & Sis. Kimble and their daughter in law Lucy Kimble. (By the way parents....I am taking you to Petersburg WV to attend church when you come pick me up in February -- Bishop and Sis Kimble said we could stay at their house!)
On that note -- my release date is Feb 23rd. It is weird to know the exact date -- too much still to do out here! FEB 23rd -- Happy Brithday to Dad!!!! How funny is that?! I will leave on mom's birthday and get home on Dad's! I 'm so sad about Stone. I was hoping he would still be around when I got home. He almost made it through. Glad you were able to see the Morgans! Thanks for the fun packages! Are you trying to fatten me up?! But it was very much appreciated and the Elders in my district loved it as well. We brought some of the candy to district meeting today.
LOVE you all so much ~ Sis. B
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
The Yangs were baptized!
Talofa Family:
It is true, Brother and Sister Yang got baptized on Sunday!!! Crazy story...two weeks ago on Sunday in between Sunday school and relief society Sis. Yang and Sis. Lin were talking in Chinese to each other. Sis. Yang was inviting us over to a Chinese lunch on Friday and at the end she said that her and her husband wanted to get baptized sometime in September and wanted to know when. Sis. Lin was shocked and leaned over to tell me. I freaked out (as expected) and said NEXT WEEK! We were both blown out of the water. An investigator asking us when they could get baptized. That never happens. Later on Sunday I had to call President to ask if I could go to Gage's funeral and told him about the yangs. He was reacting like a little kid on Christmas Morning.. excited, shocked, giddy and couldn't believe it at first! On Monday after the funeral we went to visit Sis. Yang to give her the baptismal questions. She was so nervous for the interview but she passed with flying colors. During lunch on Friday we asked what caused the change of heart in which she went on to tell us they have been wanting to get baptized for a long time but were worried about the information they have heard from their friends and on the Internet about the church. The more they interacted with the members and came to church they realized everything they had heard was false. The members are actually good people and the doctrines taught in church were true. Their baptism on Sunday was very special. The spirit was extremely strong and there was great support from the ward. The primary room was packed. Mandy, their 14 year old daughter, was touched by the experience as well. She is wanting to get baptized now. We need to work with her a little bit but it will happen before the month ends. What a remarkable experience it is to bring families into the gospel. The Yangs are going to be an eternal family. This gospel changes lives on a continual basis.
Gage McIntyre: 3 weeks ago on Sunday night Gage was riding his bike on a dark road and a car hit him head on causing Gage to fly to the ground and pass out. He was immediately flown to John's Hopkins and put on life support for 3 days. After many tests he was categorized at being brain dead. On Wednesday afternoon he was confirmed dead. I didn't find out about the accident till Wednesday night. I was shocked and speechless. Sis. Hales (who was also trained by Sis. Lindsey and one of my best mission friends) told me the news. Both of us got really close to the McIntyre family while serving on Kent Island. The McIntyre's were my second family. Sis. McIntyre was Mamma McIntyre, Gage was the annoying but incredibly funny little brother and Desiree was my Sister. The McIntyre's did so much for us and were trying to have the missionaries move in with them. We had a lot of fun on Monday nights with FHE and great dinners.
Gage's funeral was such a bitter sweet experience. It was great to see the branch members as well as the McIntyre family but it was under horrible circumstances. during the drive to Annapolis I was pretty composed but the moment we pulled up to the Stake Center and saw the hearse in the parking lot I got a real sick to my stomach type of feeling. I couldn't walk into the chapel for a number of minutes, as I walked into the chapel and saw his casket I lost it. Gage was a huge skate boarder and the way his friends showed their respects was covering his casket in skate boarding stickers. Minutes before the funeral started a group of his friends went up to the casket to put their stickers on. At that moment I started bawling. The funeral service was amazing. the entire chapel was packed with non-members. A lot of Gage's friends showed up as well as extended family. President Robinson, Kent Island Branch President, and President McConckie, Annapolis Stake President who happens to be the Nephew of Bruce R. McConckie, spoke. There was such a peaceful feeling in the room. President McConckie is a very powerful speaker who has a close relationship with the McIntyres. He spoke on the resurrection and brought up a good point I would like to share. He referred to the story of Christ raising Lazarus from the dead. He said this miracle is something we were all praying would happen to Gage; he would suddenly wake up from his "sleep." But it didn't happen, instead Gage is with our Heavenly Father smiling down on us. Pres. McConckie said that when Lazarus was raised from the dead he was still subject to all kinds of diseases, bruises, scares, and uncertainties which we are surrounded with every minute of every day. Gage is never going to be surrounded by this. When Gage, and all of us, raise again from the dead, or in other words resurrected we will be perfect in every form. NOTHING will happen to us.
The week I found out about Gage's death, and things going on at home made the week hard for me. We worked anyways, it was comforting to me to know that the work much go on. The Lord blessed us with a Celestial week last week. We got amazing numbers in Member Present lessons as well as Investigators at Sacrament Meeting. We worked our hind ends off and it brought in lots of miracles. The week ended with the wonderful baptism. The Lord does provide when you continue on in righteous pursuits. We were able to find another family to teach as well as got a solid member referral.
The Udalls who live in the ward invited us over for dinner to meet their former next-door neighbor Karen. Karen is a single mom of an adorable 5 year old daughter who now lives in Pennsylvania. Karen had ordered a BOM off of the TV when she was a kid but her mom forbid her to read it. Sis. Udall built a good friendship with Karen and talked about the church with her. Karen even came to a ward activity in the summer and enjoyed herself. We had a great lesson on the BOM and she committed to read it. She was excited to have a copy of her own. Right now she doesn't go to a church but was raised catholic. She has great spirit about her. We had to rush off to another appointment so the lesson was brief but it seemed to touch her. After we left Karen watched the Restoration DVD with the Udalls and was very touched by it. She wants to continue to meet with us.
We also found another Chinese couple to teach. Kind of a funny story...Last friday was Chinese day. We had a lunch scheduled with Sis. Yang and dinner with the Cheung family ( who are obviously Chinese). Before lunch we had planned to check on a former investigator who was from China, named Han. We had called Han a couple of times but never were able to set up an appointment. We decided to stop by and he happened to be home. We had a great lesson with him. He is lost and is going through a hard time financially. He is an unemployed accountant but is able to get little side jobs from different individuals. His wife is going to nursing school and their son is in his last year in high school. He has a lot of respect for the church and enjoys the missionary visits. He seems a little uncommitted but we were able to have a good meeting with him. On Friday during companionship studies we got a media referral on our cell phone from a woman who requested a BOM while visiting temple square and guess were she is from.....CHINA! How funny is that?! On Chinese day we get a media referral from a Chinese woman! We were only able to meet her husband. He is extremely nice and is in his last year of graduate school in getting is MBA. They will be moving back to china when the school year is over. He was excited for us to meet his wife, who still is out of town visiting the west coast.
With all of this great work going on the Lord has said my work is done. I am getting transferred on Wednesday. Just as everything is picking up and the work is on FIRE I get whipped out of the area. Oh well. I'm at peace right now in knowing that the Yangs got baptized. Nothing else matters. I'm excited to see were I will be going. If I have time on Wednesday I will write a quick e-mail with my new address.
Love you all~
It is true, Brother and Sister Yang got baptized on Sunday!!! Crazy story...two weeks ago on Sunday in between Sunday school and relief society Sis. Yang and Sis. Lin were talking in Chinese to each other. Sis. Yang was inviting us over to a Chinese lunch on Friday and at the end she said that her and her husband wanted to get baptized sometime in September and wanted to know when. Sis. Lin was shocked and leaned over to tell me. I freaked out (as expected) and said NEXT WEEK! We were both blown out of the water. An investigator asking us when they could get baptized. That never happens. Later on Sunday I had to call President to ask if I could go to Gage's funeral and told him about the yangs. He was reacting like a little kid on Christmas Morning.. excited, shocked, giddy and couldn't believe it at first! On Monday after the funeral we went to visit Sis. Yang to give her the baptismal questions. She was so nervous for the interview but she passed with flying colors. During lunch on Friday we asked what caused the change of heart in which she went on to tell us they have been wanting to get baptized for a long time but were worried about the information they have heard from their friends and on the Internet about the church. The more they interacted with the members and came to church they realized everything they had heard was false. The members are actually good people and the doctrines taught in church were true. Their baptism on Sunday was very special. The spirit was extremely strong and there was great support from the ward. The primary room was packed. Mandy, their 14 year old daughter, was touched by the experience as well. She is wanting to get baptized now. We need to work with her a little bit but it will happen before the month ends. What a remarkable experience it is to bring families into the gospel. The Yangs are going to be an eternal family. This gospel changes lives on a continual basis.
Gage's funeral was such a bitter sweet experience. It was great to see the branch members as well as the McIntyre family but it was under horrible circumstances. during the drive to Annapolis I was pretty composed but the moment we pulled up to the Stake Center and saw the hearse in the parking lot I got a real sick to my stomach type of feeling. I couldn't walk into the chapel for a number of minutes, as I walked into the chapel and saw his casket I lost it. Gage was a huge skate boarder and the way his friends showed their respects was covering his casket in skate boarding stickers. Minutes before the funeral started a group of his friends went up to the casket to put their stickers on. At that moment I started bawling. The funeral service was amazing. the entire chapel was packed with non-members. A lot of Gage's friends showed up as well as extended family. President Robinson, Kent Island Branch President, and President McConckie, Annapolis Stake President who happens to be the Nephew of Bruce R. McConckie, spoke. There was such a peaceful feeling in the room. President McConckie is a very powerful speaker who has a close relationship with the McIntyres. He spoke on the resurrection and brought up a good point I would like to share. He referred to the story of Christ raising Lazarus from the dead. He said this miracle is something we were all praying would happen to Gage; he would suddenly wake up from his "sleep." But it didn't happen, instead Gage is with our Heavenly Father smiling down on us. Pres. McConckie said that when Lazarus was raised from the dead he was still subject to all kinds of diseases, bruises, scares, and uncertainties which we are surrounded with every minute of every day. Gage is never going to be surrounded by this. When Gage, and all of us, raise again from the dead, or in other words resurrected we will be perfect in every form. NOTHING will happen to us.
The week I found out about Gage's death, and things going on at home made the week hard for me. We worked anyways, it was comforting to me to know that the work much go on. The Lord blessed us with a Celestial week last week. We got amazing numbers in Member Present lessons as well as Investigators at Sacrament Meeting. We worked our hind ends off and it brought in lots of miracles. The week ended with the wonderful baptism. The Lord does provide when you continue on in righteous pursuits. We were able to find another family to teach as well as got a solid member referral.
The Udalls who live in the ward invited us over for dinner to meet their former next-door neighbor Karen. Karen is a single mom of an adorable 5 year old daughter who now lives in Pennsylvania. Karen had ordered a BOM off of the TV when she was a kid but her mom forbid her to read it. Sis. Udall built a good friendship with Karen and talked about the church with her. Karen even came to a ward activity in the summer and enjoyed herself. We had a great lesson on the BOM and she committed to read it. She was excited to have a copy of her own. Right now she doesn't go to a church but was raised catholic. She has great spirit about her. We had to rush off to another appointment so the lesson was brief but it seemed to touch her. After we left Karen watched the Restoration DVD with the Udalls and was very touched by it. She wants to continue to meet with us.
We also found another Chinese couple to teach. Kind of a funny story...Last friday was Chinese day. We had a lunch scheduled with Sis. Yang and dinner with the Cheung family ( who are obviously Chinese). Before lunch we had planned to check on a former investigator who was from China, named Han. We had called Han a couple of times but never were able to set up an appointment. We decided to stop by and he happened to be home. We had a great lesson with him. He is lost and is going through a hard time financially. He is an unemployed accountant but is able to get little side jobs from different individuals. His wife is going to nursing school and their son is in his last year in high school. He has a lot of respect for the church and enjoys the missionary visits. He seems a little uncommitted but we were able to have a good meeting with him. On Friday during companionship studies we got a media referral on our cell phone from a woman who requested a BOM while visiting temple square and guess were she is from.....CHINA! How funny is that?! On Chinese day we get a media referral from a Chinese woman! We were only able to meet her husband. He is extremely nice and is in his last year of graduate school in getting is MBA. They will be moving back to china when the school year is over. He was excited for us to meet his wife, who still is out of town visiting the west coast.
With all of this great work going on the Lord has said my work is done. I am getting transferred on Wednesday. Just as everything is picking up and the work is on FIRE I get whipped out of the area. Oh well. I'm at peace right now in knowing that the Yangs got baptized. Nothing else matters. I'm excited to see were I will be going. If I have time on Wednesday I will write a quick e-mail with my new address.
Love you all~
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Mormon Night at Camden Yard and Ace of Cakes!
August 22. 2010
This week was so much fun! It was a blast to spend the day with Sis. Baice on exchanges. She is having a hard time right now with her companion so it was great to be able to talk. Mormon Night at Camden Yards was so much fun! This was the first time in a year that we were able to just hang out with a whole bunch of missionaries and not get in trouble for it! The only time I watched the game was the final two plays other than that I had no clue what was going on. So many of my friends from the mission were there, some I haven't seen in about a year or so. Jane Halterman from Petersburg was there as well. We talked for a long time. In 7 weeks she is going to to the Temple. How exciting!!! I can't wait for that day. It is going to be very special.
Here is a low down of our progressing investigators:
Karl Roberson and Carrie Backert: Early last week Karl got involved in a hit and run accident while riding his bike to work. The SUV which hit Karl drove away immediately after the accident. Karl flew 40 ft over his handle bars causing him to now be in a neck brace with a bruised and swollen face. This accident humbled both of them. Carrie really wants to get baptized. She appreciates how the members have reached out to both of them in their time of need. We had such a great lesson with them. Ever since meeting with them the first time I have been confused on how to bring up the law of Chasity and the best way to explain the need for them to get married or live separately in order for Carrie to get baptized. While in Petersburg we handled this situation the wrong way which caused our investigator to get offended. Recently in some training President Belliston suggested to use the Family Proclamation to teach the law of Chasity; something I have never thought of doing. It worked!!! The lesson was extremely spiritual. While explaining that the Bishop could marry them and in a year they could be sealed in the temple the spirit entered into the room. I felt a confirmation that marriage is going to happen for them. They agreed to pray and weigh out both options then give us an answer at our next appointment. Karl has an interview scheduled with the Bishop for next week to discuss marriage and his living situation. While at church Carrie was more at ease and really enjoyed herself.
Yang Family: They are still not on date for baptism. Last night we were able to have a FHE lesson with them at the Cheung home. It was so much fun! They really enjoyed themselves. Our focus with them is to build their faith. We have completed all of the commandments and are in need of helping them realize blessings from following the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have to be patient with them, something you all know I struggle with thanks to the genes past down from Mom and Dad (I still love ya!). It is hard because as a missionary we want the results to happen fast, before we leave an area or during the transfer to say we got a baptism, but everything with the Lord has to be on His timetable, not ours. The Yangs have been prepared from day one. They enjoy everything about the church and haven't missed one single Sunday for over 2 months. We now have to get them to read and pray daily. To help them recognize answers to their prayers.
Last week we knocked into a Burmese family!!! They are letting us come back tonight! I'm so excited!!!!! This area is booming with families. In my other areas I haven't had the opportunity to teach so many families. It is tons of fun!!!! The church is so true!
Last night we had a dinner appointment with a new family who moved into the ward. They have been in the Inner Harbor ward for two years and ended up moving just outside the ward boundaries and into our ward. They are great! It was fun to get to know them better. Their row home is the cutest! Amber you would love it! It is right in downtown Baltimore and is green on the outside. Mom guess what happens to be only a block away from them.....CHARM CITY CAKES! During dinner I mentioned my goal of finding Charm City Cakes to take a picture for mom and they said it is only a block away. So after dinner we went on a walk with them to take pictures. It is in a stone building with all of the windows covered in black paper. Nothing too unusual. The members LOVE Ace of Cakes so it was fun for them to move into the neighborhood!
Love you all!
This week was so much fun! It was a blast to spend the day with Sis. Baice on exchanges. She is having a hard time right now with her companion so it was great to be able to talk. Mormon Night at Camden Yards was so much fun! This was the first time in a year that we were able to just hang out with a whole bunch of missionaries and not get in trouble for it! The only time I watched the game was the final two plays other than that I had no clue what was going on. So many of my friends from the mission were there, some I haven't seen in about a year or so. Jane Halterman from Petersburg was there as well. We talked for a long time. In 7 weeks she is going to to the Temple. How exciting!!! I can't wait for that day. It is going to be very special.
Here is a low down of our progressing investigators:
Karl Roberson and Carrie Backert: Early last week Karl got involved in a hit and run accident while riding his bike to work. The SUV which hit Karl drove away immediately after the accident. Karl flew 40 ft over his handle bars causing him to now be in a neck brace with a bruised and swollen face. This accident humbled both of them. Carrie really wants to get baptized. She appreciates how the members have reached out to both of them in their time of need. We had such a great lesson with them. Ever since meeting with them the first time I have been confused on how to bring up the law of Chasity and the best way to explain the need for them to get married or live separately in order for Carrie to get baptized. While in Petersburg we handled this situation the wrong way which caused our investigator to get offended. Recently in some training President Belliston suggested to use the Family Proclamation to teach the law of Chasity; something I have never thought of doing. It worked!!! The lesson was extremely spiritual. While explaining that the Bishop could marry them and in a year they could be sealed in the temple the spirit entered into the room. I felt a confirmation that marriage is going to happen for them. They agreed to pray and weigh out both options then give us an answer at our next appointment. Karl has an interview scheduled with the Bishop for next week to discuss marriage and his living situation. While at church Carrie was more at ease and really enjoyed herself.
Yang Family: They are still not on date for baptism. Last night we were able to have a FHE lesson with them at the Cheung home. It was so much fun! They really enjoyed themselves. Our focus with them is to build their faith. We have completed all of the commandments and are in need of helping them realize blessings from following the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have to be patient with them, something you all know I struggle with thanks to the genes past down from Mom and Dad (I still love ya!). It is hard because as a missionary we want the results to happen fast, before we leave an area or during the transfer to say we got a baptism, but everything with the Lord has to be on His timetable, not ours. The Yangs have been prepared from day one. They enjoy everything about the church and haven't missed one single Sunday for over 2 months. We now have to get them to read and pray daily. To help them recognize answers to their prayers.
Last week we knocked into a Burmese family!!! They are letting us come back tonight! I'm so excited!!!!! This area is booming with families. In my other areas I haven't had the opportunity to teach so many families. It is tons of fun!!!! The church is so true!
Last night we had a dinner appointment with a new family who moved into the ward. They have been in the Inner Harbor ward for two years and ended up moving just outside the ward boundaries and into our ward. They are great! It was fun to get to know them better. Their row home is the cutest! Amber you would love it! It is right in downtown Baltimore and is green on the outside. Mom guess what happens to be only a block away from them.....CHARM CITY CAKES! During dinner I mentioned my goal of finding Charm City Cakes to take a picture for mom and they said it is only a block away. So after dinner we went on a walk with them to take pictures. It is in a stone building with all of the windows covered in black paper. Nothing too unusual. The members LOVE Ace of Cakes so it was fun for them to move into the neighborhood!
Love you all!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Ace of Cakes!
Sister Bridges finally found "Charm City Cakes" -- TLC's Ace of Cakes place! I told her that was one of her goals when she received her call to Baltimore!
MORMON NIGHT at Camden Yards -- "Go Orioles!"
Saturday, July 31, 2010
My "Soa" is leaving....
July 26, 2010
Talofa Family:
Yes it is true my dear "Soa" Sis. Baice is leaving me. It is so sad. Transfers are so hard. We have gotten really close these past couple of months. She is the greatest!!! So many funny memories as well as some powerful lessons and spiritual experiences. She has grown so much as a missionary and person. It is going to be hard to be here without her.
Sister Baice's birthday was a blast! She was very excited for the package from you which came on Wednesday. It was like she was a little kid waiting for Christmas every time we were in our room she would walk over to the package and shake it and ask if I knew what was inside of it. It was torture for her to wait till Sunday to open it. She woke up at 5 a.m. on Sunday to open her presents. When the alarm went off in the morning she jumped right out of bed and turned on the light, something especially rare for her...not a morning person at all! Her reaction was priceless. She was freaking out over everything in the gift. The bag with her named embroidered on it was by far her favorite. Throughout the entire day she kept on modeling her bag. At church she sat it next to her on the bench and refused to put it on the ground. She wanted a new bag so bad but never had money to buy one. You must have been inspired by your purchases, she didn't have a watch, wanted another bag, and only has two t-shirts. You are the greatest! Unfortunately the Samoan CD didn't work. Will you send another copy to me then I will mail it to her when I found out where she is going??? Oh man she is so funny!!!!!! I will miss her so much.
I was so grateful that you sent her such a great birthday package, she didn't get anything at all from her family. The rest of her birthday was great. We taught a very spiritual lesson to the Yangs and then had dinner with the cutest family, the Hales, they have 3 little girls and a baby boy. The oldest one, Grace, gave us some of her Silly Bands, so now we are in on the latest fad. She gave me a star and an elephant. Don't know much about the Silly Bands besides that they are taking over the world! After dinner we didn't have any appointments so we went to the church and watched Legacy. I wanted to do something special for my Soa's birthday but being missionaries and it falling on the Sabbath put a little damper in the plans so we decided a movie would be great.
Other than the heat this week has been AWESOME!!!! We were able to teach 20 total lessons. It is always a goal to get 20 lessons and now we finally did it! OH my goodness, l LOVE the Yang family! Hands down they are the coolest! We had a wonderful lesson with them. Brother Cheung, who is the main fellowshipper/translater who has been with us to every appointment wasn't able to make it. We found out about that at church and the appointment was an hour after church...a little to late of notice to find someone else to come so we just went. I was a bit nervous because of the language barrier but we went in with faith. The minute we walked in the spirit comforted me. It was a neat opportunity to just talk with them. We had planned to do the Plan of Salvation but never fully did the entire lesson. We asked them about their previous reading assignments and how they understood the last lesson (which was the Restoration). They watched the Restoration movie which helped them so much. Then we got talking about the BOM. They had some questions on where it came from and how Joseph knew were the plates were buried and also who buried them and who wrote the book. Pretty basic questions. Luckily we had the Gospel Art Book and were able to show pictures of Mormon abridging the plates and was able to bear testimony of the BOM. Then we started the Plan of Salvation lesson. As we got to the part of the lesson which talks about our life on earth I just flat out asked them what is holding them back from baptism. They responded that they were scared of drowning. So once again we whipped out the handy dandy Gospel Art Book to show them the picture of someone getting baptized. They were still unsure of how the motion is so Sis. Baice and I got up and showed them. It is true! Sis. Baice magically got the priesthood and baptized me in the Yangs living room. It was HILARIOUS!!!!! Then I bore a sincere testimony explaining how at baptism we get the gift of the Holy Ghost which will help us as we learn more about the gospel. They are scared of not knowing enough. I testified the gift of the Holy Ghost will help them as they seek to learn more of Christ's teachings. Sis. Baice also bore a solid testimony of baptism. I then went on the say "Let's make August 15th a special day for the Yang family." They accepted!!!! This work is real. I'm so humbled to have been lead to this wonderful family. What a wonderful experience it is to bring a family into the true and everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ.
Man I LOVE this work! It is such a unique opportunity to be a part of helping others find value to their lives. To help others come into the fullness of joy within the gospel of Jesus Christ. Acting according to the will of Heavenly Father allows us to find true joy in this life and eternal joy in the life to come.
Love you all!
Sis. Bridges
Words of Mormon verse 7: "And I do there for a wise purpose for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will."
Talofa Family:
Yes it is true my dear "Soa" Sis. Baice is leaving me. It is so sad. Transfers are so hard. We have gotten really close these past couple of months. She is the greatest!!! So many funny memories as well as some powerful lessons and spiritual experiences. She has grown so much as a missionary and person. It is going to be hard to be here without her.
Sister Baice's birthday was a blast! She was very excited for the package from you which came on Wednesday. It was like she was a little kid waiting for Christmas every time we were in our room she would walk over to the package and shake it and ask if I knew what was inside of it. It was torture for her to wait till Sunday to open it. She woke up at 5 a.m. on Sunday to open her presents. When the alarm went off in the morning she jumped right out of bed and turned on the light, something especially rare for her...not a morning person at all! Her reaction was priceless. She was freaking out over everything in the gift. The bag with her named embroidered on it was by far her favorite. Throughout the entire day she kept on modeling her bag. At church she sat it next to her on the bench and refused to put it on the ground. She wanted a new bag so bad but never had money to buy one. You must have been inspired by your purchases, she didn't have a watch, wanted another bag, and only has two t-shirts. You are the greatest! Unfortunately the Samoan CD didn't work. Will you send another copy to me then I will mail it to her when I found out where she is going??? Oh man she is so funny!!!!!! I will miss her so much.
I was so grateful that you sent her such a great birthday package, she didn't get anything at all from her family. The rest of her birthday was great. We taught a very spiritual lesson to the Yangs and then had dinner with the cutest family, the Hales, they have 3 little girls and a baby boy. The oldest one, Grace, gave us some of her Silly Bands, so now we are in on the latest fad. She gave me a star and an elephant. Don't know much about the Silly Bands besides that they are taking over the world! After dinner we didn't have any appointments so we went to the church and watched Legacy. I wanted to do something special for my Soa's birthday but being missionaries and it falling on the Sabbath put a little damper in the plans so we decided a movie would be great.
Other than the heat this week has been AWESOME!!!! We were able to teach 20 total lessons. It is always a goal to get 20 lessons and now we finally did it! OH my goodness, l LOVE the Yang family! Hands down they are the coolest! We had a wonderful lesson with them. Brother Cheung, who is the main fellowshipper/translater who has been with us to every appointment wasn't able to make it. We found out about that at church and the appointment was an hour after church...a little to late of notice to find someone else to come so we just went. I was a bit nervous because of the language barrier but we went in with faith. The minute we walked in the spirit comforted me. It was a neat opportunity to just talk with them. We had planned to do the Plan of Salvation but never fully did the entire lesson. We asked them about their previous reading assignments and how they understood the last lesson (which was the Restoration). They watched the Restoration movie which helped them so much. Then we got talking about the BOM. They had some questions on where it came from and how Joseph knew were the plates were buried and also who buried them and who wrote the book. Pretty basic questions. Luckily we had the Gospel Art Book and were able to show pictures of Mormon abridging the plates and was able to bear testimony of the BOM. Then we started the Plan of Salvation lesson. As we got to the part of the lesson which talks about our life on earth I just flat out asked them what is holding them back from baptism. They responded that they were scared of drowning. So once again we whipped out the handy dandy Gospel Art Book to show them the picture of someone getting baptized. They were still unsure of how the motion is so Sis. Baice and I got up and showed them. It is true! Sis. Baice magically got the priesthood and baptized me in the Yangs living room. It was HILARIOUS!!!!! Then I bore a sincere testimony explaining how at baptism we get the gift of the Holy Ghost which will help us as we learn more about the gospel. They are scared of not knowing enough. I testified the gift of the Holy Ghost will help them as they seek to learn more of Christ's teachings. Sis. Baice also bore a solid testimony of baptism. I then went on the say "Let's make August 15th a special day for the Yang family." They accepted!!!! This work is real. I'm so humbled to have been lead to this wonderful family. What a wonderful experience it is to bring a family into the true and everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ.
Man I LOVE this work! It is such a unique opportunity to be a part of helping others find value to their lives. To help others come into the fullness of joy within the gospel of Jesus Christ. Acting according to the will of Heavenly Father allows us to find true joy in this life and eternal joy in the life to come.
Love you all!
Sis. Bridges
Words of Mormon verse 7: "And I do there for a wise purpose for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will."
Friday, July 16, 2010
The Joys of HUMIDITY....NOT!
7/12/2010 -- Talofa Family and Friends!
First of all -- I so do miss the HOT 105 dry degrees of STG. I would much rather be living in the dry heat than this wet heat! It feels hotter and the temp is only in the 90's! It is awful! My make-up is rubbed off by all of the sweat on my face so I pretty much wear a minimal amount of makeup for the time being. Whew....
Anyway -- man I love missionary work! Things are still a little rough right now with finding people to teach but we are working through it with faith. On Friday we held a special fast to find people to teach. It was a long hard day but I know the spiritual blessings will come from it. We are really working hard in the hot, wet, sticky, heat to find people. It is fun! We have talked to so many wonderful people but we were not able to nail a return appointment. We did have a sort of cool experience though -- we decided to knock this road and on the second house we talked to this guy named "Bob" (he hesitated when he said it so I don't think it is his real name) about the restoration for about a half an hour but wasn't able to get a return appointment. We were sad but it felt good to talk to him. It was such a testimony builder for me to explain the need for a living prophet on the Earth. So, even though we didn't get a second appt., we felt the spirit and know he surely must have felt it too. We did plant the seed - which is great! The gospel really is true!!!!
Our chinese investigator family, the Yangs are so AMAZING!!! I know I say that every letter but it is true! They prayed at the beginning and the end of the lesson. We taught all about baptism and following the example of Jesus Christ. It is so much fun to teach them. During the lesson Sis. Baice was able to extend her first baptismal invitation. The spirit took over the lesson immediately and it was very powerful. They are still hesitant about setting a date but they are working towards it. It is crazy to think that a month a go they had no idea who God or Jesus are and now here they are committing to baptism. That is just another testimony builder to me of the unseen forces in this righteous work. The next day on Sunday during church the Gospel Principles lesson was on baptism...imagine that?! Coincidence, I think not. They were asking Brother Cheung (the main fellow shipper/translator) a lot of questions after the lesson. I just wished I spoke Chinese to know what they were asking!!!! First Burmese and now Chinese~Ha!
This morning as we were at the library e-mailing one of our investigators called us out of the blue and wanted to meet with us this afternoon. His name is Jerome Saunders and was found a few days before I arrived in the area. He is hard to get a hold of so we haven't been able to meet with him as much as we would like to so it was such a blessing for him to call us. It rarely happens that an investigator would call and ask to meet with us; usually it is the other way around. We were able to have a great lesson with him about his reading assignment in Mosiah 2. Helping him focus on the power that the BOM has to answer questions of the soul. Everyone should check out Preach My Gospel chapter 5, it is all about the BOM. Very good stuff!!!
Mom, sounds like camp was amazing. I got goose bumps while reading your letter. It was powerful. What a neat idea it was to have the camp dedicated. Wow, mom you are so great. I really was praying for you all week that you would be calm and the spirit would be with you. I'm a little sad I missed it (just a little). No doubt in my mind about Ruth. She is such a special person with a rare gift of speaking and bearing testimony. Mom I'm so proud of you. You are such a great leader and dedicated servant of the Lord. Your testimony inspires me. Yes I did get your package. The Hawaii pics are beautiful! Sis. Baice was jealous!!!! Kambria is just the cutest. Please give her an Auntie Lerin hug and kiss for me. We are going to be best friends when I get home!
In about 45 minutes we are going to have dinner with Brance, Jannette, Brian, and the kids. I'm so excited to see them!!!! Woo Hoo....how cool to see and have dinner with relatives while on a mission!!!! Love to you all!
Love, Sis. Bridges
First of all -- I so do miss the HOT 105 dry degrees of STG. I would much rather be living in the dry heat than this wet heat! It feels hotter and the temp is only in the 90's! It is awful! My make-up is rubbed off by all of the sweat on my face so I pretty much wear a minimal amount of makeup for the time being. Whew....
Anyway -- man I love missionary work! Things are still a little rough right now with finding people to teach but we are working through it with faith. On Friday we held a special fast to find people to teach. It was a long hard day but I know the spiritual blessings will come from it. We are really working hard in the hot, wet, sticky, heat to find people. It is fun! We have talked to so many wonderful people but we were not able to nail a return appointment. We did have a sort of cool experience though -- we decided to knock this road and on the second house we talked to this guy named "Bob" (he hesitated when he said it so I don't think it is his real name) about the restoration for about a half an hour but wasn't able to get a return appointment. We were sad but it felt good to talk to him. It was such a testimony builder for me to explain the need for a living prophet on the Earth. So, even though we didn't get a second appt., we felt the spirit and know he surely must have felt it too. We did plant the seed - which is great! The gospel really is true!!!!
Our chinese investigator family, the Yangs are so AMAZING!!! I know I say that every letter but it is true! They prayed at the beginning and the end of the lesson. We taught all about baptism and following the example of Jesus Christ. It is so much fun to teach them. During the lesson Sis. Baice was able to extend her first baptismal invitation. The spirit took over the lesson immediately and it was very powerful. They are still hesitant about setting a date but they are working towards it. It is crazy to think that a month a go they had no idea who God or Jesus are and now here they are committing to baptism. That is just another testimony builder to me of the unseen forces in this righteous work. The next day on Sunday during church the Gospel Principles lesson was on baptism...imagine that?! Coincidence, I think not. They were asking Brother Cheung (the main fellow shipper/translator) a lot of questions after the lesson. I just wished I spoke Chinese to know what they were asking!!!! First Burmese and now Chinese~Ha!
This morning as we were at the library e-mailing one of our investigators called us out of the blue and wanted to meet with us this afternoon. His name is Jerome Saunders and was found a few days before I arrived in the area. He is hard to get a hold of so we haven't been able to meet with him as much as we would like to so it was such a blessing for him to call us. It rarely happens that an investigator would call and ask to meet with us; usually it is the other way around. We were able to have a great lesson with him about his reading assignment in Mosiah 2. Helping him focus on the power that the BOM has to answer questions of the soul. Everyone should check out Preach My Gospel chapter 5, it is all about the BOM. Very good stuff!!!
Mom, sounds like camp was amazing. I got goose bumps while reading your letter. It was powerful. What a neat idea it was to have the camp dedicated. Wow, mom you are so great. I really was praying for you all week that you would be calm and the spirit would be with you. I'm a little sad I missed it (just a little). No doubt in my mind about Ruth. She is such a special person with a rare gift of speaking and bearing testimony. Mom I'm so proud of you. You are such a great leader and dedicated servant of the Lord. Your testimony inspires me. Yes I did get your package. The Hawaii pics are beautiful! Sis. Baice was jealous!!!! Kambria is just the cutest. Please give her an Auntie Lerin hug and kiss for me. We are going to be best friends when I get home!
In about 45 minutes we are going to have dinner with Brance, Jannette, Brian, and the kids. I'm so excited to see them!!!! Woo Hoo....how cool to see and have dinner with relatives while on a mission!!!! Love to you all!
Love, Sis. Bridges
Monday, May 24, 2010
Transfer to the City
Lerin is now in the "city" and is serving with Sister Baice, from Samoa. She loves her new companion and she is teaching Sister Bridges Samoan! She was sad to leave Kent Island because she and her companion, Sister Vaughan had committed five for baptism and then "poof" she gets transfered! Below are a few photos of her experience on Kent Island...
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