November 3

Weekly Update:

SUNDAY: We had a great sunday afternoon. None of our investigators were at church, but it was still an awesome week. I dyed my hair............"was it suppose to be this purple?"

MONDAY: We had p-day and we had a wonderful lesson with some members in our ward.

TUESDAY: We had an interesting day. We had district meeting, and then we went and visited a ton of people. It was a miracle that we got  to see as many people as we did. We saw lots of miracles. No new investigators but tons of seeds planted! After dinner, we took the member who fed us to a referral's house to teach them. We taught most of lesson 1... and then something told me that I should ask them why they wanted to have missionaries over. They told me that the only reason was that their daughter wanted to learn more. Not the parents.  Ahh…so... lesson learned. First establish that you're teaching the right person. We had her come in and listen as well. So yeah... it's a lot better to teach someone who's willing to listen. The spirit can teach their hearts so much more powerfully.

WEDNESDAY: Well today one of the other elders in the other manhattan ward, Elder Shumway,  got E.T.ed.... (Emergency Transferred).  Super random…but I guess thats how Emergency Transfers are.

THURSDAY: ZONE CONFERENCE! Super great!  After zone conference we had dinner and then got a call from the Wamego elders, and now Elder Clay is being E.T.ed!  He is a really fun elder and he made our district so fun! We got to be really great friends, and he plays the guitar really well. It's sad….but Wichita will be getting a great Elder! (Emergency transfer numero dos)

FRIDAY: Sister Brusch was told by Sister Bell (our mission Mom) to go to the chiropractor. So we took her there and while we were there they check her shoulder that has been bugging her. It turns out it's popped out of place and it's too inflamed to do much about it.   Ooops... probably shouldn't have punched my companion...jk jk!  I didn't hit her. We have no idea how it happened. Sister Brusch was not feeling well so she went on splits with the sisters to Ogden so she could sleep in the car. Sister Phadnis and I went street contacting. On our way out the door we got a call from one of the AP's Elder Ives......…(for any of the return non-missionaries out there,  getting a call from the ap's is not a good thing).... But Sister Phadnis is getting E.T.ed!!   Emergency transfer  numero tres!!! It looks like she's going to Concordia, and nobody is coming to replace her :( so we literally have no idea why our companion was taken.  So yeah it's just us two now.

SATURDAY: Well... we got sister Phadnis all packed and then gave her to the Sister Training Leaders to go to Concordia. Then we went to the urgent care to check out sister Brusch's shoulder. It took us 3.5 hours to find out that it COULD be torn and that we need to see an orthopedic surgeon, to see if it really is torn and if it needs surgery. Scary thought, that sister Brusch might be going home to have shoulder surgery.  After that we went to the evening session of stake conference, had dinner and then prepared for a very good night rest seeing as it is daylight savings and all. Yes one more hour of sleep!!

SUNDAY: BEST MORNING EVER! No ward council, an extra hour of sleep and stake conference starts at 10 instead of 9!!! There were some great things said in conference! One thing that the stake president wants to have happen in each ward is to have the bishop will call two youth to be indexing specialists. They will teach families to index during the second hour of the block.  How cool is that?!  Well who knows technology and computers better than teenagers?! It makes total sense! I really liked the idea! This stake conference was all about doing missionary work as a family.  Not just proclaiming the gospel, but perfecting the saints and redeeming the dead. Those are all parts of the lords work.

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!

Thank you for the prayers!!

Have a great week,

Sister Moffat

ME, Sister Brusch, Sister Phadnis! Awesome Trio!

My temporary name tag

October 27

MONDAY: So today we had a really great p-day and we visited less actives

TUESDAY: We had a doctor's appointments for Sister Brusch and Sister Phadnis and so we hardly  had any proselyting time.  But we did have two super solid lessons with a recent convert and a member family

WEDNESDAY: We had a meeting with the zone leaders. They just talked to us about how our week was going and if we needed any help with anything. I think they were just wanting to see how we were doing emotionally. haha!  We have a new investigator named Lindsay Poe! She came with her family to the church tour that we had a while ago (that totally failed…but I guess not totally)  YAY!

THURSDAY: We had another doctors appointment and a meeting with the STL's. They wanted to follow up on exchanges, and they want us to tract less..... I can see why they say that. Tracting isn't the most effective way to use our time... but I love tracting!  I really used to hate it but now I don't.  But apparently we shouldn't plan for time to tracting. It's ok…. repentance is real. And it totally works! yeah, It can solve a lot of problems if I'm willing to learn.

FRIDAY: We had a pretty good day. We visited a lot of people.

SATURDAY: We had a slow day. We had a ton of places to go. First it was a funeral in the morning for the Riding's baby boy. That was really sad. Funerals are always emotional and a little draining. Then we had to go up to a baptism in Wamego about 20 minutes east of Manhattan.

Then we had to come straight back and then start making mac and cheese for our fall festival (Thank you mom for the recipe! It came just as we were getting home to start making it!) It turned out really well! Then we headed over to the church to help set up for the fall festival, which was a blast! We handed out candy at our trunk or treat, and we sat in the trunk and were trunkie missionaries! hahaha! Super funny!

SUNDAY: Today was a miracle day! We worked really hard and we did everything that we could and everything fell into place and we hit standard on everything except 'on date'. We needed 2 people and then we would have hit standard! yes! Finally some progress! It's been so long since I've been able to see some progress in this area. I love comp unity!!!!!

Over all this week was amazing! I love my new companions!  We grew really close this last week, and we saw miracle after miracle after miracle!  It was beautiful with all the colored leaves and such. It's really awesome!

Over and out-

Sister Moffat

Sister Phadnis

Sister Brusch

LOL! I Love halloween

October 20

I absolutely adore my two new companions Trios are the best ever! We get along so well, and I can already see the work starting to progress! Now that Sister Phadnis, Sister Brusch and I are united in the work, it's going so much smoother and we found 4 new investigators this last week! Crazy how comp unity can change everything!

MONDAY: We had a great p-day lunch. A member from Wamego came all the way to manhattan to feed us...drum roll please...DEEP FRIED BURRITOS! Oh my goodness they were so good! They were stuffed with beef and cheese, and probably the most unhealthy thing I've ever eaten. 

TUESDAY: We went and visited a few less actives and packed and packed... and cleaned and packed.

WEDNESDAY: I drove all the way down to Wichita and back! And I am very happy to report that no one was injured. I almost hit a tire that was just chillin in the road though. Transfers were so awesome! Sister Judy was suppose to be up in Wichita from dodge, since her companion was going home.   But  there wasn't room for her in the van, so she had to stay. Such a bummer! She's my pretend "mom",  and her pretend "mom" is Sister Christiansen.  Sister Christiansen is going home and so we could have taken a three generational picture! But Sister Christensen and I took a picture and sent it to her. My camera just died so you all have to wait till next week for pictures. sorry.

 Sister Brusch and Sister Phadnis are super great! We had a bit of a fiasco trying to get a third bed into our apartment.... but it happened. Such a ghetto apartment. Super small for two people... and now we have three. Partay!

THURSDAY: Yes, I still love my companions! We went and visited a ton of member and introduced the sisters to the ward. Lots and lots of fun! We walked a ton and my feet hurt.

FRIDAY: We visited some more members and we tracted some.  We visited a Nepalese family and made them new investigators! Woot Woot!! 3 new investigators! Makund, Divi, Babpoo, and Mietri. They are so cool! Their house always smells like Kohinoor! (that Indian restaurant on state street in Orem). Sister Phadnis is part Indian and her dad was raised Hindu. She has a lot in common with them and it was perfect that she came to Manhattan. We have another investigator who is Hindu and a member who is part Indian. Perfect! No such thing as coincidence! The lord has a plan for EVERYTHING!

SATURDAY: We had a lot of appointments! Yay! I love sitting on couches! We did some service and we found a new investigator! that makes 4! (We had a total of three for the ENTIRE transfer last transfer…. so only 3 investigators for 6 weeks.)  I now have a  FIRM testimony of comp unity. Last transfer was a struggle but we now we have some unity and are already seeing so many miracles! If there is anyone who just drives you nuts... work it! Your life will be some much better without any contention! Make sure your relationships are where they need to be  and you will feel so much more joy in your life. I promise!

SUNDAY: We had a great idea to do a MMTC…. (MEMBER MISSIONARY TRAINING CENTER) for like 3 hours on the last week of November. We are going to have people come and we are going to give them tags and missions calls, and then put them in classes on how to be member missionaries and how to do missionary work. We'll do some roll plays of differnet situations with investigators and such. The missionaries are going to be the teachers and then investigators just like in the MTC. Then we'll  give everyone m&ms because "Member Missionaries". Its going to be so much fun! I can't wait! I'll take pictures and videos of it and send them home next month.

LOVE LOVE LOVE you all and miss you so much!

-Sister Moffat

PS. Mom, could you send me a home made mac and cheese recipe in the mail? I have to make mac and cheese for our ward fall festival and for a baby funeral in our ward. So so sad. The Riding family in our ward just lost their baby. She had him at 27 weeks and he was doing good, but went down hill really fast. He past away a couple of days ago. Their four other children didn't even get to see him because the NICU is on lock down. If you would pray for them I am sure they would appreciate it.

Manhattan is BEAUTIFUL!

Sister Brusch and I

October 13

MONDAY: P day was fun. We played an epic game of ping pong. Sadly my ping pong skills are not up to par :( I got my hair cut... finally! the mullet is no more. Then we had a great dinner and lesson at a member's home with one of out investigators. It went really really well. We're getting her closer to baptism.

TUESDAY: We had another great lesson with that same investigator and she seems to be doing well. We had a great district meeting. We tried a bunch of less actives but no one would visit with us.

WEDNESDAY: We did service at habitat for humanity and they're putting us in their news letter because we help out so much! Yay publicity! We then visited one of our favorite recent converts. She's 11, and really really enjoys coming to church and feeling the spirit. After dinner at another recent convert's house we had a  great discussion on the priesthood. They are so strong in their testimonies its ridiculous! And they have only been baptized for 3 months. Crazy, Awesome!

THURSDAY: So today both sister Prince and Sister Herrin got sick, so Sister Call and I went on a random exchange. We visited a potential investigator, but she wasn't home. But we talked to her roommate and made her a new investigator for the university sisters! YAY spreading the gospel!  So when we went to dinner, I totally forgot which apartment the member we were suppose to have dinner with lived in. So we just knocked on the door we thought it was in and it was not our member, but we got a new investigator! Yay! Finally a new investigator!!!! Happy dance!!!

FRIDAY: We got a referral from a family in our ward and so we tried her. Her name is sarita and she is so prepared! We also found out that her mom is a less active that we didn't know lived in our area! Sa-weet!!! We had a really awesome lesson with them and the spirit was there! Best day ever!

SATURDAY: We went to visit some less actives members but we went to the first one we found out that she's not a member.  She was on the ward roster because she had visiting teachers and was going to get baptized but never. She said it was because her family in Nepal would have beep upset by it. But we asked her if she'd like missionaries to come and teach her and her family again and she said that she would. We also invited her to see the movie meet the Mormons when it comes out on dvd, and she was really really interested in that. But most importantly she want's to come back to church! "New Investigator! oh yeah!"(I said that in my vector voice)

SUNDAY: We finally got one of our investigators to come back to church! Yes!

We made cookies and took them around to memebers and less actives. We took some to a family in our ward who is going through a really tough time. The mom was going through a really tough pregnancy and then she had her baby at 27 week. She came home from the hospital but she has to leave her baby in the NICU in Topeka, 2 hours away! The NICU is in lock down because it's cold and flu season, so her other four children can't see they're baby brother until Christmas! How rough is that?! My heart just brakes for them!

After we visited with them for a while we went to dinner and had a great lesson with a less active in our ward. He's coming to church on sunday.

Sister Prince and I got caught in a rain storm

Love being a missionary!

I found this picture of Sister Judy and I before she left

October 6

Hello!
I wish I had more if an update this week, all I can say is that things are still slow. Nothing seems to be working. I'm working on my pride and learning to be teachable. I've never known how much I've needed humbling until now. I knew that humility is being submissive and meek, but I never understood why we must have confidence and also be humble and not prideful. Well I read in preach my gospel that we must have confidence so that we can do all that the lord requires of us.  I thought that was beautiful! It makes so much more sense to me now! 
Also,  go watch Meet the Mormons! It's great!  (President Bell was able to get permission for us watch it.  He's the best mission president ever!) 
Love you!

September 29

Wow. It's really cold in the library right now. My fingers are really numb.  I don't have a lot of time because I needed to take a driving test. I'll write you some more this week in a letter.

Love you all

Letter written Sept 30:

HI! So I have to be super fast because I only have a few moments to write, but I just had an incredible experience during our nightly prayer.  Remind me to tell you in my email next week.  Just know that it all makes sense now! I know why I was called on a mission and I know why I came out. 

I love you all so much!

XOXO Sister Moffat

September 22

Yay! we found a shopping cart!

Teaching a lesson on the Second Coming

September 15

Hey everyone,
It's been a really stressful, emotional, crazy week.
We visited a lot of members and less actives to say goodbye and to introduce Sister Prince to everyone.  
And then Sister Judy left….
She was my rock.  Whenever something went wrong I could always just turn and look at her and she would reassure me and everything would usually turn out fine.  And now I'm in charge and Sister Prince doesn't know the area or the members at all, so I'm the one she looks to.  I'm actually the most senior missionary in the area…and I've only been here for 3 months, yikes.
Its a little stressful… Sister Judy was like my mama.  She understood me and she knew what to do when I was getting frustrated or anxious.  She was so funny and a lot of fun.  She is an incredible missionary and I miss her so much.  She really knew what it means to be a testifying missionary.  She worked hard, but she played just as hard.  This transfer will probably be one of my hardest.  
So…I'm sort-of down.  Our numbers weren't as high as we wanted them to be but we are still trying and working hard.  I'm sure things will get better soon.  
Love you all

September 9

HEY Y'ALL

So this week was transfer week, and we did as much proselyting as we could but it was sort of slow.  My new companion is Sister Prince! I'm so excited that she's here in Manhattan!  I sure miss Sister Judy, but I have a new best friend! But she goes home next transfer so it doesn't give us much time to develop an eternal friendship. Oh well ….such is life as a missionary.

Oh, I got my driving privileges! YAY! It's a little strange since I've not driven in 3 1/2 months, but it'll smooth out. So because Sister Prince is going home, I am almost guaranteed to stay here in Manhattan until the end of November. Yay! And I'm a little excited to drive in the upcoming winter!

Ok I think that's all for now.

Love all y'all!

The church is true,

Sister Moffat

September 2

Hey y'all!! Sorry it's been a while. It's so crazy right now

MONDAY: P-Day! Lovely lovely p-day. After p-day we had a really great Member motivational lesson with a member of the bishopric and his family.

TUESDAY: Our last District meeting as a district! So sad... we knew for sure half of us were leaving. Sister Judy got called to be an STL in Dodge, out west.  The missionaries call it the land of milk and honey! Or the promise land! There are a lot of hispanic people there and they have a ton of baptisms.  She's so excited!  Elder Brailsferd and Elder Lee are going home and Elder Goodsell has been here forever and finally got called to Great Bend. So that leaves Me, Elder Mckellar, Elder Clay, and Elder Kartchner. WOW! Crazy transfer! My new companion is Sister Prince. I don't know her but I'm sure she'll be great! Apparently she's a good cook, has an amazing voice, and has really long dark hair. Anyway after district meeting we were able to go and visit Nicole (a less active member), and Sabrina (a coming-back-to-activity less active). 

WEDNESDAY: Weekly planning. We were finally able to visit Donovan! He broke is wrist this last week so we were able to go get him a treat and take it to him. He was in church on sunday, too!! Yes!

THURSDAY: We did family history today! Yay! I traced my line all the way back to Italy to the 1400's! And the 1400's as well to England! So cool! I love family history! We got to visit Marsha with one of our recent converts, Sabrina M.  It went really well, but we have no idea how to address her concern with water. She is deathly afraid of water and refuses to be baptized. Any suggestions?

FRIDAY: Sister Judy's brother got married today, and her great aunt and uncle came down from Kan-city to take us out to lunch. It was so nice of them! Then we had a 12 week conference call! My training is over! I'm no longer a greenie! We had a chance to visit our favorite coming-back-to-activity less active, Sabrina E. She's the best! She's not too happy that Sister Judy is leaving though. We had a birthday dinner for one of the older lady's in the ward and we got to talk and laugh with her family. They are so funny!.  I don't think I've laughed that hard for a long time.

SATURDAY: We got to go do a ton load of service! We volunteered at Habitat for Humanity again, and we painted a members home. It took us a while. Then we had our dinner and went and visited Kyaisha. We love her! She wants to be baptized so bad but her mom doesn't really like us that much, and won't give permission for Kyaisha to be baptized.

SUNDAY: Only Donovan was at church. But we got his grandparents to come! YAY! We decided to go and visit as many members as we could to say goodbye and then got stuck in a crazy storm. We got stuck at an investigators home after we visited Kyaisha. It was so scary! It knocked down a huge tree by the institute building. So the other sisters were at the institute building and that is were our storm shelter is so we decided to brave the storm and go there. While we were there Sister Clerico heard a huge crash and then a huge tree fell over and busted the fence and blocked off half the parking lot! So crazy! The storm soon calmed down enough for us to go home. So…yeah.  Crazy.

Oh and by the way…I chopped my hair off again. I was missing my short hair :)

August 25

Hey Family and Everyone,

This week was kind of crazy...We got 7 new investigators!!

MONDAY: We had p-day.  Vest days ever right in a row…Sunday and Monday! We had a great FHE lesson with a family in our ward.

TUESDAY: We waited for a ride from District Meeting forever….and we were late to our appointment, so we had to reschedule and did weekly planning instead.  We tried a couple of potential investigators, but nobody seemed interested.  After dinner we went over to a lady's house and helped her go through all of her temple pictures and helped her pick out which ones to put up on her wall. 

WEDNESDAY: Exchanges.  I went to Salina again.  Super fun.  I learned a lot! I found out that I am related to Elder Moyle from Utah who just went home.  I don't know why I didn't realize it earlier….uh….MOYLE!

THURSDAY: Exchanges as well and then we switched back in the afternoon. We had a great lesson with a recent convert then we tried to go visit a new investigator but they needed to reschedule.

FRIDAY: We tried a new investigator and she is super solid.  Her name is Angie and she's so sweet! She loves the idea that the Book of Mormon can change her life.  The only problem is that she is crazy busy.  Then we went to talk to this cute old lady in our ward.  She gave us water and Ensigns to pass out to people!

SATURDAY: The Church Tour! So….yeah.  It wasn't as successful as we hoped it would have been. Only a few families showed up.  I feel bad that we weren't able to get more enthusiasm from our members about it.  

SUNDAY: So good! We taught sharing time about keeping the sabbath day holy.  Oh and Beth, one of our high councilmen looks like Benedict Cumberbatch :)

Ok….so transfers are next wednesday.  Sister Judy might be leaving :(

August 18

WEEKLY UPDATE

MONDAY: We hung around the institute and had awesome ping pong wars. Super fun day.

TUESDAY: We had our Weekly Planning session because we had specialized training on Wednesday. It was really, really great. After, we had an early dinner and tried to contact less actives a little.  Then went to a yoga activity at the church for the relief society. Nobody in the ward had really seen us in 'service clothes', so it was funny... when we walked in nobody recognized us.  But we had a few recent converts and an investigator there! Great turnout!

WEDNESDAY: Specialized training! Super great! The ZL's and STL's put on an object lesson about the road that investigators take to get to baptism. They likened it to lehi's dream. It was really powerful! We tried to contact James but met his daughter instead, and we made her and her three kids new investigators! 4! sweet!

THURSDAY: Our only full proselyting day. We tried to contact less actives and potentials all day.   We were successful in contacting a less active member and invited them to church. Then we had to drive to Randolph which is like 45 minutes north of manhattan, for dinner. That was fun!

FRIDAY: TEMPLE TRIP!!! The temple is the greatest place on the planet. Don't ever, ever settle for anything less that an eternal, temple marriage! Everything we do in the church points us toward the temple. So everything we do personally should also point us to the temple.  If it's not, don't do it. Simple really. Set your sights on the temple. Do everything you can to get to the temple! The temple is the most important place in the world. I know that because I've been and I have felt such strong love from our heavenly father in the temple. The peace and love felt there, can't be compared to anything else. 

SATURDAY: We tracted for a bit and we planned our Church open house activity. Hopefully it goes well.  It's next Saturday so I'll let you know how it goes. We talked to Kia a little bit.

SUNDAY: We didn't have anybody at church :(  Next will be better I just know it!

God be with you until the next weekly update!

Sister Moffat's Current Address

Sister Madelynn Moffat
1700 N. Manhattan Ave. #312
Manhattan, KS   66502

madelynn.moffat@myldsmail.net

August 11

HEY YA'LL

MONDAY: We went bowling again.  I think I bowled  a 205 this time! Yes, way better! We had a great lesson with Kyashia and we got her back on date for August  29th. YAY!

TUESDAY: We had a great district meeting and the Wamego elders brought sushi for everyone in our district, yummy!! We tracted for an hour and a half, and we only had a handful of doors open, so no new investigators :( We also had apartment inspections. We just moved in so we kind of scrambled to get a couple last minute things organized. Then we had a meeting with one of our investigators fall though, and we haven't been able to get in contact with them yet:(

WEDNESDAY: We had weekly planning so we didn't get out of the apartment until later. We tracted a bunch again…but no new investigators :( We had dinner at a members home and they fed us pizza and they gave us all the leftovers. Um… yeah. This is why I'm gaining weight. Good thing one of our members gave us a Jillian Michael's video that we can work out with! haha!  (don't worry... work out videos are approved)

THURSDAY: More tracting and no new investigators. We had an awesome lesson with Kia and Lagina (who are living in Manhattan again. Yay!)

FRIDAY: ZONE TRAINING -- We had our ward mission leader come speak. Not about member missionary work, but about depression.  How to deal with and understand depression as a missionary. It was amazing! We also had a fabulous lesson with Natasha and challenged her to pray about being baptized on the 16th of August. YES! PROGRESS!

SATURDAY: Tracted forever…but we finally got 1 new investigator!

SUNDAY: Kyashia was in church! And so was Natasha! I love it when investigators come to church!

Sorry so short! Next week's will be longer.

Sister Moffat

Celebrating Elder Lee's Birthday at the Rowley's

Little Lady Rowley, Sister Moffat, Sister Judy

August 4

HEY Y'ALL!!!

WEEKLY UPDATE

Monday: We had dinner at a members home and had pork chops! Yummy! I've gained a little weight since I've been out. The members love to feed the missionaries :)  

Tuesday: We had to take the car in so it could bee fixed. Funny how that landed on our car week. Anyway we had our district meeting and that was great, and then we went and tried to talk to less actives but nobody opened up. We also tried to stop by Kia and Lagina's and they didn't answer either. Then we went to dinner at a member's house. They told a lot of stories of their family when their kids were little... and all the kids were so embarrassed.  It was really funny! We did manage to squeeze in our member motivational lesson though! Yay! Last time we were at this family's home for dinner, we had a hard time ending the conversation  for a lesson and ended up staying 3 hours…with no lesson!  But this time was better.

Wednesday: We went over to the Murphy's and had a picnic with Lisa as a farewell of sorts.  She's moving back to Pennsylvania next week. We tried more less actives, but nobody opened. Then...WE HAD SPAGHETTI FOR THE FIRST TIME ON MY MISSION! It's a miracle that we have not had it yet. That's usually one of the go to meals for missionaries. Although, in Manhattan it's usually fajitas (which is awesome!) or pizza (which is slightly less awesome). After dinner we had a great lesson with Natasha about forsaking our family for Christ. Her family is still really upset that she's going to church. She said felt the spirit really strongly while talking with us. She told us that she knew the church was true and that God would never tell her to not be baptized, so it must be herself getting in the way of her answer to be baptized. YES!!!!!! We are following up with her this week to she how she's feeling about her baptism now. She will be baptized in August!! I can feel it!

Thursday: We had a great lesson with a less active family this week and we committed all of them to come to church, and they did! Yay!! We tried a lot of less actives again, only a couple opened up. Then we had dinner with a new young couple. They are hilarious and sort-of geeky! They love star wars... and I commented on their posters and their 'rebel symbol key holder' and they now love me!! T hey also served us "something that looks like what Yoda gave Luke on Degobah" Haha! It was a lentil curry sort of thing, super healthy and super yummy!   We went home early that night so we could pack up and move up to the third floor. Yay!

Friday: So we moved today and we're all settled in to our new place.  It doesn't smell like smoke any more! yay!! And we now have a light in the kitchen and in the bathroom,  we also have drawers in the kitchen too! Leaps and bounds less ghetto then our last apartment!!

Saturday: We went and did a lot of service for a Methodist community event. It was a ton of fun!! Lots of people (and we weren't suppose to proselyte but we did get our name out there :) )  After that we went and had a great lesson with our new investigator kyashia.  Then we had dinner with a great family….they made us fajitas! haha!  Oh, one of our recent converts dog died this week, and so we took her a little stuffed dog, a card, and a cupcake  to cheer her up. She called us afterwards and told us about how awful her day had been and how our gift totally made her feel better and how she  needed something like that. Miracle!

Sunday: No investigators at church :( but we had a great lesson on eternal families and it really resonated  with one of our recent converts. Stellar Sunday even though nobody came to church.

It was a great week as a missionary! I love this work!! I hope y'alls week was great too! love you!

Sister Moffat

July 28

Weekly Update-

Monday: We went bowling for p-day. I bowled pretty good for a couple rounds but then I wasn't focused (I was writing letters in between turns) and did pretty bad. I think I bowled 120 for both games. Like... combined. Yeah, pathetic!

Tuesday: It was super hot! About 104 without heat index (with heat index about 115!!!) We rode bikes and Sister Judy got a flat tire. We walked to our next appointment and then the elders helped us fix her flat.  Then we rode to Donovan's house, but they weren't home for some reason. Sister Judy and I thought we were going to pass out, because of the heat. It was really hot. 

Wednesday: We had weekly planning, in which we planned for a baptism. There is a lot of drama with Donovan's family. It seemed like everywhere we turned there was brick wall blocking us from getting this little boy baptized. The adversary was working hard against us. Obviously heavenly father has a plan for Donovan.

Thursday: Super hot again!! We rode bikes again, and sister Judy's tire seized up. Not sure what happened. Luckily the elders were close and could come pick up our bikes. There was more drama with the baptism, but we finally got everything figured out and everything is back on schedule.

Friday: REALLY HOT! 106 without heat index 118 with heat index! What in the world, Kansas?!  But we got rides almost everywhere (plus we got to ride in an AUDI!! One of our member took us out to dinner in her super nice car! haha) 

Saturday: The baptism! It was awesome! And then we went to a pool party! We had a lot of non member families come and the turn out for Donovan's baptism! His family is all pretty much less active, coming back to activity... all because he wanted to be baptized! They were so supportive! There was so much love in one room! It was an incredible baptism! Oh and Donovan's mom's boyfriend was there.  He's a non member and the ZL started teaching him earlier that morning! What?! MIRACLES ALL DAY LONG!!

Sunday: We had only one investigator at church, but at least there was one!  We had a really yummy dinner with a part member family:) It was a great day!

JULY 7

Hey Y'all!

This week has been so great! Thank you for all the prayers and love. I can really feel it way out here in Kansas!

So last Monday I got a nasty chigger bite on my ankle and  so now I have a nasty scab.

Anyway lets start at the beginning: Saturday our district leader was emergency transferred because an elder went home early. So we have a new district leader and his name is Elder Kartchner. He's pretty cool! I really like the way he leads our district meetings.

On Monday we went to do laundry at a family in our ward's house. She's the sweetest and makes us breakfast! Their family reminds me Steve and Jen Moffat's family ( they have 8 kids).

Tuesday- Woohoo! First day of July! Our mission is one  year old today!  Our district is doing really well and we're all finding people and seeing miracles. We went to a pizza shop for lunch. Yay pizza again! After luch we went and visited one of our new investigators, Lisa. She's the daughter of one of our recent converts, the Murphys.

Wednesday- I woke up tired and after eating breakfast ...and was still tired.  I couldn't get warm and was falling asleep during studies, so I knew something was up. I called Sister Chumly (she's our mission doctor) and she said to go in early and get lots of rest. We went in early around 6:45 and I was out cold until 8 the next morning. I was a still a little fevery the next morning, but now I'm great!

Thursday- We tried some less actives but nothing successful. We had a sort of bummer day. just nothing worked out well.

Friday- Fourth of July!! whoopee! Too bad we have to be in at 9 before it even starts to get dark. No fireworks either, and our apartment faces a bunch of rock so we couldn't watch them inside. But we had a great day! We went to a bbq at the bishop's house and we met all his family. All were members so not a lot of missionary opportunities. Then we went to a Kia and Lagina's house and Kia was really confused why we had to work on holidays and she prayed, "Lord, if it be at all possible that these girls don't have to work on holidays, please go to the prophet and tell him."  Haha! We love her.

Saturday- Two of our investigators were suppose to be baptized today but we had to push back to the end of July and the middle of August. We had a couple of girls from the ward come with us to Kia and Lagina's house. It was a great lesson! Kia loved that the girls were learning how to be missionaries and that they wanted to go on missions.  The girls loved baby Zion, and they gave their numbers to Kia so that they could babysit for her. Super awesome testimonies were shared by both the girls in sacrament meeting the next day. Plus Lagina came to church! It was an awesome Sunday!

July 22

Letter (Sent July 15)

Hey all,
Wow! I'm in the greatest mission on earth! I love President and Sister Bell so much.  They are incredible people.  President Bell always addresses us as "Sisters and Elders" at Zone Conference haha!
Oh, Dad! I came out with an Elder Mejia from Chicago.  He was called to serve in the Garden City area, and met a less active member there.  This less active is being reactivated, but while Elder Mejia and his companion were talking to him for the first time, this gentleman asked Elder Mejia where he was from.  Elder Mejia said he was from Chicago, but originally from Colombia.  This less active member served his mission in Colombia and baptized a family by the name Mejia.  It was Elder Mejia's grandfather and his wife. How cool to know how much the Lord loves each of us.  The Lord knew this man needed to know of God's love and so He sent the grandson of one of his converts all the way to Kansas to reactive him.  Such a cool story!
Zone Conference was awesome! Ezekiel 3:17-19.  I will he held accountable for what kind of missionary I am.  I've learned that it's not the big rules that are hard to follow… Like not calling your family or not being far from your companion.  It's the little things that are hard…Like waking up on time and starting comp study right at 9:00.  Those ones are so simple and insignificant and they don't seem so challenging….but they are hard.  I'm a good missionary, but I need to be more 'exactly' obedient.  This week I've been trying harder to be more obedient and things have gone a little smoother.    Things have fallen by the wayside…like keeping our apartment totally organized.  But our teaching went really well this week.
I love being out here.  The people are awesome and the Kansas State fans are great! I got a k-state button to pin on my back pack, so GO WILDCATS! There is so much purple.  Nearly every house has purple wildcats on it or a purple door or something! They seem even more diehard than Provo BYU fans! Crazy!
Anyway, I've been sick for a few days.  I think I mentioned it in an email but I've been super congested.  I have to sleep sitting up in our big recliner in our room.  It smells weird and makes at the worst squeaking noises when you move it.  But it's better than suffocating :) Hopefully by the time you get this I will be well.
I love you and I love my mission!

July 21

 Hey all!
How was camping? I'm sure it's nice being in the woods without having to worry about chiggers. I have 19 chigger bites. Mosquitoes aren't a problem right now, but the chiggers are really bad!  They are like 10X worse that mosquitoes and spiders combined. They live in grass and in low hanging trees... so pretty much anytime you walk outside you are sure to get bit. Benadryl may have to be an option at night. Plus…today is suppose to get up to 110. Lovely :)  Just pray I don't get heat stroke. Or pray that the Lord will open the heavens and send rain! The humidity is alright if it stays in the  low 90's, but once it get's passed 98 its an adventure for sure. I guess its the best of both worlds here in Kansas. They say it's going to be a really cold winter here, too. YAY! Can't wait for that!  I'll  get to wear all my long sleeved shirts!

So this week was sort of a downer. We haven't been able to find any investigators in 2 weeks. We've been trying to help less actives come to church, and then ask them for referrals.  But we've been meeting with a family. The mom and her boys have been coming to church the past couple of weeks! Yay! Hopefully we will get the chance to ask them for referrals this week.

This week we had an investigator get really upset with us when we asked her how quitting smoking was going. We are supposed to follow up as missionaries , and She didn't like that. We had a recent convert with us,  she asked her why she joined the church.  Christina, our recent convert, was a little vague at first but then she talked about how she had chaos in her life and then when she joined the church she had more strength to carry the burden. But our investigator wanted to know more, and was still upset.  So, although we did everything we were suppose to do as missionaries, we didn't tailor to needs of our investigator very well. Now she has dropped off date and doesn't want us teaching her anymore. :(  She said we can still come by and teach her sister though. Needless to say we were not the most upbeat sisters for the next couple of days.

Sister Judy, Lisa Murphy, Sister Moffat

Donavan is still doing really well! Lisa's baptism was this week on saturday! It was soooooo awesome!! 1ST CONVERT! And I've only been out 6 weeks!! I'll send pictures. I don't have very much time right now, but I'll try and write more in my letters tonight, but this is where we are at:  Kia dropped us, Lagina is on date for August (cross fingers), Donavan is on date for the  July 26th, and Lisa was baptized!

Pray we can find people this week! 

PS. It was transfer day….But I'm staying here in Manhattan!  And so is sister Judy, Sister Herrin and Sister Clerico. YAY! The four amigos get to stay together! (Well actually we call our selves the Man-sisters,  haha!). Oh and we have a new DL elder McKeller.

Sister Moffat, Sister Judy, Lisa Murphy, Steve Murphy

July 14

HELLO EVERYBODY! It's been a great week!

Monday:  We went to a super cool Japanese place for lunch called Umi. It's a hibachi house so they cook your food right in front of you. so fun! some of the workers there are investigators so we were able talk with them and see how things were going.

Tuesday: ZONE CONFERENCE! So….. I was called tot the greatest mission on earth! (Our mission president always says that, and I believe him!) I love my mission! So yeah...  I want to stay a missionary forever! Sorry family :)   Anyway, we learned so much at zone conference. We had the Manhattan and Salina zones there. President Bell and Sister Bell where there and I got to meet sister Bell!!  She was in Utah for a funeral when we got off the plane in Wichita, so that was exciting. After zone conference we had enrichment and Kia and Legina came! It was an awesome lesson! we talked about the women of the old testament and Kia loved it!

Wednesday: SISTER JUDY'S BIRTHDAY!! She's 20! I made her breakfast,  a happy birthday sign,  a birthday crown that said "queen for the day", and I gave her a mustard seed. We went and talked with a less active today and she committed to come to church! She had already talked with the bishop  about getting slacks for her boys because she didn't want them to feel out of place. We went and visited one of our new investigators who isn't keeping commitments as they should.   We are still going to go over at once every other week to see how she's doing, and see what we can do for her. Maybe we'll start teaching her again if she shows and real desire to be baptized. We went to dinner with one of our favorite new members, Christina. She is the best! So funny!  We're in the process of trying to commit her to start doing family history work, and we're also trying to commit her to go to the temple and do baptisms for the dead. She's nervous and "doesn't want to let down the dead".  We told her to think of her baptism day and how happy she was, and to think of those people who have passed on who haven't felt of the blessings of baptism. We asked her to think of how long they have been waiting, and how happy they will be once she went to the temple for them. She's still a little nervous.

Thursday: IT WAS SO HOT! buckets and buckets of sweat. Good thing we have lots and lots of water on hand. We got Donavan on Date!! Wooohooo! He's getting baptized on the 26th of July! Sister Judy and I are so stoked! Two baptism weeks in a row! We had dinner with a family in our ward. He served his mission in Salt Lake. Anyone Know an Elder Moberly?

Friday: We rode to a new investigators house, but he was just leaving when we rode up. Bummer! We asked when we could come back and he basically said that he doesn't want us to come back. We visited our non progressing investigator again, and we talked with her about the book of Mormon. We haven't gotten a solid commitment to read from her yet, but it was more than usual, so that's a good sign. We biked to one of our favorite members' homes for dinner. The Siegs. Her husband is deployed right now so it's just her and her three little boys. They are the Cutest!!!  "Big boy", "Chippy", and "Cubbie' are their nick names.

Saturday: I woke up pretty congested and not feeling too well. I took a little rest during our lunch break. We headed over to another one of our favorite Members house to do 'Service Saturday', which is when we put on our service clothes and go to members homes to do service. They can't refuse you when you're in service clothes standing on their porch :)  So yeah, we rode around for a little bit until we found a member who was home. Then we helped her paint her master bedroom. She wanted to get it done before her husband gets home from deployment. After that we had dinner with the bishop's family. We had gotten a ride there, and forgot to call for a ride home…. so we ended up walking for quite a bit until we could get a hold of somebody. It was another one of our favorite members and her boyfriend that came and picked us up.  They asked if we had eaten dinner. You always answer no to that question! (Teaching opportunity!!)  So they took us out for ice-cream.

Hanging out with a member of our ward

I'm out of time so I'll write about Sunday later.  XO Y'all!

Look who I ran into!!  Brookelyn Langhaim!
(Previous Alpine 7th Ward member)

June 30th

Weekly Update-

Saturday: I was on exchanges with our STLs. I Went down to Salina! Its a little hotter down there. Its so flat, but it gets even flatter! So weird, I'm getting used to it though.   So in Salina I was with Sister Roquemore and Sister Walker. They are so cool! We knocked on so may doors I lost count.  They are like the top proselyting missionaries in the mission. Always one more door, one more door. Hey look another door!…. Lets knock this door, eh? One more door. Oh we're home?! .... lets go across the street and knock a few doors :) 

 Both of them have "cop knocks".  They knock super loud only three times.  So its scary whenever they knock. So they made me knock doors haha!   A LOT OF DOORS! It really made me stretch, and I am so grateful for it!  Being a missionary is to be continually growing. You're always growing and continually learning and changing for the better. Its awesome!

Sunday: Well both our progressing investigators came to church YAY!  But none of our investigators who are on date. Bummer! That's only 2 of 7 who should have come. Its ok,  we'll try again next week. There's always next Sunday.

Monday: After emailing we went hiking. Yes, you can go hiking in Kansas. They call it hiking, I call it walking. But there where some substantial hills. Once we got on top of them we could see all of Manhattan and beyond. Kansas is so gorgeous! I totally forgot to bring my camera to the library so I will try and send those pictures later. OH!  I almost forgot about the turkeys! We saw a flock of wild turkey running around. I realized then, that I don't think I've ever seen a wild turkey, and it sort of struck me.. I need to get out more when I come back to Utah.

Ok, so on top of the hills (that Kansas calls mountains) it started to rain... and rain hard. This wasn't no skimpy Utah rain. It was like someone turned on a faucet. No joke! It was glorious! I was sort of scared though, it suddenly got cold ...and that is a sign of a tornado. Luckily we didn't see any tornadoes.

OH! I almost forgot! Elder Goodsell saved my life! When we got down to the cars he noticed a tick on my arm. Who knows how long it had been there, all I know is that its head was burrowed under my skin! AAAAH! One of the other elders had a pair of tweezers, and they were able to get it out without breaking off the head.  So  I decided, well... I guess I'll check to see if I have anymore ticks. Yup I had another on my shoulder. I was able to brush it off because it hadn't had the chance to get its head in my skin yet. So two ticks in one day right? Nope!  I found another on my back pack, and another in my clothes after we got home. I HATE TICKS! Please pray I don't have lime disease.

Tuesday: So we finally decided to knock our apartment building and we were able to find a potential investigator! Cool! Her name is Kate.
So today I noticed how pretty the sky is here. The sky is gorgeous. Its goes on forever! It has layers, upon layers, upon layers of big white fluffy clouds.  Its crazy! Today was our first day on bikes. We worked hard today. Really hard. We are in quite a bit of pain. Really, really sore. I cant really sit down.

Wednesday: IT'S MOM'S BIRTHDAY!! YAY

Thursday: We rode our bikes again today. We are sort of exhausted. But I love it! I got a really rude door today. She told us (not very nicely) to go away.

Hiking :)

June 23

We had a cricket in our tub a couple days ago. Sister Judy had to shower with a bug in the shower. Gross. It wasn't as big as that giant thing  you guys caught, but still pretty big. 

Oh! President Bell has given us permission to play musical instruments on P-Day :) so I can play my ukelele. Will you guys send that to me?

Its humid as all get out here and nothing in comfortable except t shirts and full skirts. All the sisters pretty much live in White t shirts and skirts. Its miserable in anything else.  The sisters here have a trading system going on. Unless there are elders moving into the apartment after you, you can leave any clothes you don't want or don't fit into, in the apartment closets and other sisters can take it and leave other clothes. (Ps I've gained like 8 pounds since I've left. Dead serious.) SO, I grabbed a skirt form the other sisters hand out closet. We had elders in the apartment before us so no handout closet for us. Oh well. …we're  hopefully going thrifting today :D

Here is my weekly update:

Monday: P-day we spent like three years in Wal-Mart.  It took us forever to get bikes.  I finally got one... its red….and called the ADMIRAL!  I love it. Its a men's bike but it works great for me.  Then we were able to stop by a Referrals house. Their names are Kia and Legina. They are super awesome! We committed them to read the book of Mormon and come to church, they really like reading the book of Mormon, but they didn't come to church  :( They came to a church tour we had on Friday though!

Tuesday: We contacted less actives and we met a girl who wanted her records removed from the church :( super sad! We tried to ask her why, but she wouldn't answer the question and was adamant about us talking to the bishop to get her records removed.  One thing I  have learned is to BE BOLD! BE BRAVE! and open your mouth and testify of truth!

Wednesday: We have new investigators! We met Angelina and Christian, a mom and son with a less active grandmother who lives with them. I think they're interested but we need to apply our lessons to their life. I don't think the grandmother understand how much this will changer her life and make her so happy. We are hoping that as we teach Christian and Angelina, their grandmother's testimony will grow and she will become active again.

Thursday: One of our progressing investigators is pretty much a "dry Mormon".  She comes to church and she has a calling and she has visiting teachers and she lives the word of wisdom and pays her tithing, but she hasn't been baptized yet. Her family is the only thing holding her back. They are anti-mormon, and would not be happy if she joined the church…. but she wants to  be baptized so badly! Her father was in the hospital Thursday night and she asked us to pray for him. I hope this will help her see how important baptism is.

Friday: We met With Donavan. He's ten and wants to be baptized, so we're planning on getting him on date next week.  YAY! super solid and loves church!

LOVE it here!

Anyway, I need to go.  But I love you all!

Me with Sister Judy after an institute meeting

June 16, 2014

Well…. so here I am in Kansas! I'm up North about 2 hrs from Wichita, in a little place called Manhattan! Its so cute! They call it the little apple! 

So my first companion, my trainer's name is Sister Judy, she's form Idaho, Ammon Idaho.   I also totally met Sister Miller, who knows aunt Jodi.  My first day here I was on exchanges with Sister Miller and we helped a lady pull weeds.  I totally  tripped over a plaque and cut my leg.  It was bleeding everywhere! Ugh.

So our apartment sits about half way up a hill, yes hill. We're up North in the flint hills. LOVE it! It's really green…. and humid. Really, really humid. And I'm told it gets worse WAY worse. I think I'm going to die in August. I'll send you a letter so you will know my address. Or you could just send packages to the mission office, they'll know where to send it.  

Sister Judy and I are opening up the area, they haven't had sisters in our ward forever! So we have a lot of work to do!  We got a ton of former investigators from the elders, but when we contacted them, none of them were interested. Bummer.

Our apartment smells like smoke, pretty much constantly, and we have no idea where we're going. Neither of us know the area or the members, so we work hard, and don't accomplish much. But I've never been happier! I LOVE THIS WORK!

Me with President Bell

"MANHATTAN"