Moe’s letter – March 24, 2014

Howdy Y’all!

Basically – I’ve been moved to the promised land of the mission. VIDOR, TEXAS! I don’t think y’all will ever fully understand how happy I am to be here. Vidor has been a dream of mine ever since… Well, ever since I was born into the mission. It’s a dream come true!

My companion is Sister Leigh Martinez. She just came from Huffman and was in Summerwood just before me. So yes – we are both brand new to Vidor! We’ve had the joy of figuring everything out together (: They call it “White washing” – like when you shove someone’s face in the snow, which is awful and painful… Well, two new missionaries to an area is awful and painful. But we’re getting the hang of it! (:

There are four wards in Vidor and we are the only sisters. We cover the Williamson 2nd Ward. Our ward is the one who struggles the most. We have the most in-actives and tons of semi-actives. There were less than 100 people at sacrament.

We live in a trailer! A real life trailer (: haha it’s so… “vintage”… it’s the real deal. It comes with a sketchy shower, a family of roaches, wasps, spiders, and moths. It comes with a microwave full of ants, and nasty rotting food in the fridge! I kind of feel like I’m camping… But it’s awesome! I really feel like I’m experiencing a true missionary lifestyle now.

But the country has welcomed me nicely! Our relief society president, Connie Williamson, drove us home from transfer meeting. She fed us 4 times in less than a week… All my mission, people have said, “If you don’t have a meal, just come on by!” but I’ve never had to take people up on that since our meal calendar is chuck full. Well… not in Vidor. We’ve dropped in on them a lot (: And she’s always been nice. She doesn’t really talk a lot; just sort of stares at us. She’s not what you normally see in a relief society president, but I love her! She’s helped us a lot already.

All the elders who serve out here are happy to have us. Apparently the sisters before us (and sisters have only been here 6 months… elders have dominated Vidor for years) had a problem with working in the elders areas. I thought they were kidding, but… no… all of our recent potentials and investigators belong in other wards, so we’ve had to pass everything off. So we’ve been able to spend a lot of time looking for new people to teach! We have a couple of people in our area the sisters left us, but not a whole ton. But the elders are thrilled to have us! I’ve served around a couple of them before so it’s AWESOME. We are going to have so much fun!

One girl we are working with is named Aly Haynes. She’s 13 years old. This poor girl has seen more in her life than any person should have to at her age… her dad passed away and now her adoptive mother is slowly dying of heart failure. She’s amazing though; she attributes everything back to God. She is SO THANKFUL and always so happy to have us over! She is so ready to be a part of the gospel. We were able to make some calls and get a member to go with us; Sister Mott. Sister Mott and I both cried as Aly said the closing prayer to our first little lesson. She said something like this, “Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for letting me feed the pets today, thank you for feeding me today, thank you for my mother. God, she’s not getting any better, but I thank you for her life today. Thank you for the ladies visiting me. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen”. Yeah… I cried and cried when we got in the car. She’s amazing.

Another lady we’re working with is in her 50’s and is pretty much certified crazy. We found her in the formers list… Her name is Susie (: She has severe bi-polorism. Her teaching record says she once stabbed a man, but we didn’t let such a minor detail deter us from meeting a daughter of God! I really like her (: She’s going to be fun.

On Saturday I convinced Sister Martinez to ride bikes with me. I don’t know that we will ever do that again. Remember how I almost got eaten by a great dane in woodville? Well… When we started riding, a dog started chasing us literally right as we left the Williamson’s driveway! (We store out bikes in their garage). So I was screaming from the very start. Well, we detoured and went down another road; we got chased by two smaller dogs and they nipped at my ankles. Nothing too damaging, but horrifying enough. Well, onward we rode. When we went down another street, this dog was laying in the middle of the road. Sister Martinez has the mentality that if we act like we’re in charge, the dog will respect our authority. I do not agree. Dogs who kill just kill! They are cold blooded and heartless! Well this dog nearly bit Sister Martinez, but she still wouldn’t back down on her theory. So that’s 4 so far… As we continued to ride, dogs were trying to jump their fences, chase us up and down from the yard… It was scary. It’s like an email went out letting them know we were on our way! We finally took our bikes home cause I had had enough. We got the car and went to our dinner appointment with the Zambranos. Well dinner wasn’t ready and his wife wasn’t home yet, so we went down the street to look for people. We knocked on a door, and the girl sort of laughed at us… So no luck. The next house has an open car port. We walked passed it and to the door. Right as I was about to knock, it’s like someone released their ravenous beasts on us! Honestly – I really think someone did let their dogs off the chain out back. But these two huge dogs came tearing out of the car port and started to attack us! Sister Martinez tried to keep her cool but I LOST IT! Heavenly Father totally protected us though. The dogs started to bite Sister Martinez and she was able to move her bag just before they took a chunk out of her booty. But I, unknown to myself, began to mace them. Yes – Sister Clegg’s parents had sent me pepper spray when I was in Woodville! Just minutes before this happened, I had the thought to stick the mace onto the keys. I almost put the keys in my bag after the girl laughed at us, but decided just to carry them. But I started to mace them and didn’t even realize it! I froze when I saw orange stuff coming out of my hand, and I realized what I was doing! Pretty soon they were both rubbing their faces on the grass, so I grabbed Sister Martinez by the arm and started running. I could not stop shaking. We literally almost got torn to pieces. A part of me felt really bad for macing dogs, but I don’t even care. They were going to kill us! There are so many stray dogs here, and dogs who’ve been trained to hunt and kill, so I’m not so sure we’ll be riding our bikes ever again.

So that’s the most exciting thing that happened this week… I’m so excited to be out here in Vidor! I love the country. I love these people so much already! It really feels like I’ve been here my whole life. Driving into Vidor on Tuesday felt so familiar. I know that Heavenly Father places us where we need to be!

Oh – our ward mission leader is stinking awesome! He and his wife own a photography business. The field has been slow, so they started photographing dogs! Everyone seems to think that’s so weird, except for me… I mean – so much of our family breeds dogs now that it’s just the norm to have their pictures taken! But some of the wedding pictures in their studio are INCREDIBLE. I can’t wait to pick his brain (:

But I miss and love y’all so much. Thanks for all the emails and prayers!

Moe’s letter – March 17, 2014

This week has been a good one… We started off by meeting with Monika Monday night. Three doors down from her is a member, so we dropped in to see if she’d walk down with us. So sister banda dropped what she was doing and came along! It was great. Sister Banda has been a member for a little over a year. She and her family just got sealed last November! It’s so great(: So she came and she said everything we needed her to. She talked about how it’s okay to be open to change, that reading the book of mormon will change your life, and that coming to church is what will really help. We didn’t even have time to prep her! She totally listened to the spirit. When it was all done, I think Monika’s heart was softened a bit more (but not all the way!) so we sang to her “how great thou art” again. She cried, like usual.

We haven’t been able to see Nona for a couple weeks now. She has a lot of health problems apparently… Monika doesn’t tell us the specifics, but we kinda know what’s going on. So, it’s a bummer…

We were able to have a lot of members out with us this week. It’s so great when they make the time! Members testimonies really do make the difference (as you can see with Monika).

We’ve been stressed all week about transfers. On Friday we had a lovely surprise… The assistants called us and said they needed to meet us at our apartment. Err… what? They needed to drop off a bed. Why? Because Summerwood is going to be a trio! AHHH! So we had to rearrange our whole apartment. It looks like an orphanage. There’s hardly any space between all the beds! But it’s kind of fun. haha. Sister Stofferahn and I made a firm agreement that whoever was coming in, we would love her. We wouldn’t shun her from this great companionship that we’ve had. haha trios are hard…

We went and dropped by a family who I had met a couple weeks ago. Melissa and Tim Stahl! They live right next to some members, the Perry’s. Sister Perry went with us to their house Saturday morning. It was AMAZING. Probably one of the best lessons we’ve had in a long time. They read the pamphlets, had tons of questions, listened intently… The spirit was so strong. At the end of the lesson, Tim said the prayer. I wanted to cry. It was A GOOD PRAYER! He asked Heavenly Father to be open with them so they could understand the book of mormon and build a testimony. WOW! Sister Stofferahn said she could see them in the temple together (: We were thrilled!

Well Saturday night we got a phone call. Turns out, I’M BEING TRANSFERRED! Wow – that came quick. Sister Stofferahn has been here 4.5 months and I’ve been here 3. Crazy huh. And I’m the one who got the boot! Goll dang… Stoff cried and cried; she hates trios. And getting 2 new? that’s cruel. But the pain doesn’t stop there… They took the car. THAT’S RIGHT! We wanted to be mission legends. So what did we do? We created the first sisters bike area. Our 40 day fast was very successful; we proved – through our faith, diligence, and killer quads – that summerwood is tough enough. So now it’s going to be a trio of sisters biking all over Summerwood (: I feel so bad for them… It’s about to get HOT.

So right now I’m in limbo. I have no home… No companion… no bed to call my own… So, sorry, no address right now besides the mission office!

Sunday we spent the day saying goodbye to members. They all wrote me little love notes to glue in my journal… It was so sad 😦 I brimmed, but never cried. I’m learning to control that. I cried all my makeup off when I left Humble, shed a few tears when I left Woodville, and didn’t cry at all now leaving sWood. SUCCESS. haha 

I’m just so bummed! I love this zone. The zone leaders are the best I’ve ever had! My DL is a little crazy… but we can deal with that. But I really, really, really love Sister Stofferahn. I really expected to be her comp for another transfer! I’m so sad. But… I guess we do what the Lord needs us to do!

I have tons of pictures to send, so I’ll end this now… I miss and LOVE y’all so much! Thanks for everything!

 

 

March 10, 2014

Y’all, this has been a weird week…

It started off good! Like… Really good. We went to a less active/part member family’s house. Brother Garza (I may have mentioned him before…) was baptized as a kid but hasn’t been to church since he was 10. He has a 14yr old son and a 9yr old daughter. So right now we’re trying to simply get them to church! Brother Garza has worries about his son, River, because of the path he may be headed down. Brooke, his daughter, has no reservations. She’s totally ready to come to church! She even goes to A-days sometimes. I love them! They are amazing.

Tuesday… Well… Hello Sickness! I started us off with a lovely funky bug, and that went till Thursday. On Friday I was totally pumped to get out of the apartment and work! Except my companion was then sick. We have such great comp unity – we share! So then she was only sick Friday and Saturday, so Sunday we went to church. Well right after church we had to book it home because I was… SICK AGAIN! We called our zone leaders because they attend the singles ward at our building in the afternoon, so we met up with them and they gave me a blessing. We just can’t have another week like this… it was terrible! But it happens I guess.

So in thinking about – what did I accomplish this week? – I realized I really got to dive deep into the scriptures. When we study in the mornings we study for our investigators needs. We don’t read the scriptures for our own benefit… So sometimes, even though we’re reading gospel things all the time, I don’t always feel “fulfilled” because I didn’t get to read something my spirit was hungry for. So we studied for our investigators, but then also go to spend a lot of time searching the scriptures for ourselves! It was amazing.

2 Nephi has become one of my favorite books. I feel like I’ve received so much revelation! I have always loved 2 Nephi 4 (Nephi’s psalm) but now I REALLY love it. And 2 Nephi 5? Wow! I always kind of skimmed this chapter I think… Nephi is all talking about how they became industrious, learned to work hard, built a temple, and studied the gospel… Then in verse 27 he says, “And it came to pass we lived after the manner of happiness”. Everything leading up to verse 27 is a guide to living happily! Work hard, study the scriptures, keep the commandments, and go to the temple. What more do we need? I love it.

In the bible I really attached to the story of Lot. There’s a Mormon message video, “New Years: Look Not Behind Thee” that I’ve fallen in love with. But they talk to random New Yorkers about Lot. It’s funny – but it has one of the best messages! Even though it’s not New Year’s, it still applies. The problem with Lot and his wife is… She desired to be back in the city. It wasn’t that she simply looked over her shoulder to see the destruction, she looked back to see the destruction of everything she deeply loved. They’re leaving Sodom! A wicked, wicked place… But she longed to be there. The Lord said, “…Look not behind thee…” (Gen. 19:17) but she did anyways. She was attempting to live in the past. Kind of like how we start diets? “Okay – one last cookie before I swear them off for the rest of my life!” for her it was, “One last glimpse of everything I love”. She probably didn’t even give the future any consideration – that maybe it could be better than the past! So LOOK NOT BEHIND THEE! Live in faith and hope for the future. Don’t look back and say, “Look how unsuccessful I’ve been at inviting people to hear the gospel” Say, “Look how many people I’ve tried to share the gospel with!” Move forward, keep trying, and don’t give up on yourself. Let go of what’s holding you back! Two feet in the present.

Well I love y’all and miss y’all! I hope y’all have a great week.

Moe’s letter – March 3, 2014

 

Well this past Monday, the 24th, we kicked off our ward’s 40 day fast! One family or individual for 40 days will fast for the short term ward mission plan, which is to pick a date and have someone in your home with the missionaries. SO. Our ward is fasting for their own efforts, but we get to benefit from it as well (: It’s been a pretty incredible week!

 

On Tuesday we met the new mission contacting minimum of talking to 20 people. It was awesome. We hadn’t really talked with anyone that day but then in the last 2.5 hours of the night we contacted all 20! It was amazing. Out of those 20 people we were able to set 2 return appointments. We also got to endure this crazy rain storm… seriously, it was probably a flash flood. We were on the feeder road which is 50mph (and everyone goes 65) and we were going 30! It was wild. 

 

On Wednesday we had a mission-wide sisters conference. It was amazing! We have 80 sisters in our mission out of 210 missionaries. So it was pretty amazing to look around and see so many sisters. Our mission president loves to cry and he cried almost the whole day. It was great… We learned a lot of good stuff!

 

On Wednesday we had a great experience during hour of power. It was much needed since all of our hour of powers here in Summerwood usually don’t go very well. The member we had dinner with referred us to a house around the corner. That lady opened her door, immediately invited us in, and let us chit chat for a bit. She then referred us to two of her neighbors. It was awesome! 

 

We also received a phone call from a guy in NY telling us that he was moving his nonmember friends down here and needed help unloading. He also wanted us to talk to them. We were like, “oh wow, he’s really setting these people up!” but we were excited. Pretty soon we realized his nonmember friends were sitting right next to him while he talked to us. It was awesome! However, we found out they were moving just outside of our ward boundaries so we had to refer them to other missionaries… BUT it was still a pretty neat miracle.

 

On Friday we were a little disappointed. Our relief society president goes above and beyond in her calling and hosted a lunch for all the new move in sisters. She also told us to invite Nona and Monika. They were both so excited! Buuut then they didn’t come… So we were really bummed. We had dinner with a new family in the ward and they were really neat. The mom has been fighting all kinds of illnesses; breast cancer being one of them. She has such a strong testimony and the will to endure! She was awesome. I want to talk to her all the time…. PLUS she’s related to the odom’s! So that was crazy. She has family in Woodville and Vidor Texas! It’s such a small world.

 

On Saturday we had a lesson with a young mom, Michelle. She lives in the really rough part of our area. We had met her on Friday while she was outside and asked if we could come back the next day at 1. She said, “yeah, yeah that’s fine” which to us didn’t sound very solid. Well, we went anyways (even thought it’d take a bit of our miles…) and she was waiting for us! We sat down in her garage and had the first lesson. I don’t think I’ve ever had a lesson go like this… She has had such a terrible life. It took everything in me to not cry. She has 4 kids, not married, been abused growing up (her mom just threw her out on the streets when she got boyfriends, then would drive around looking for her when the boyfriends were gone), was forced into drugs by men in her life, raped multiple times… she’s had it bad. So she doesn’t really have a lot of trust or faith in Christ and our Heavenly Father. She knows they’re there, but she doesn’t know how to talk to people who haven’t ever rescued her when she needed it. So we focused a lot on the Atonement (which you don’t normally do in lesson one) and how the restored gospel could heal her. She was a little stiff at the start of the lesson, opened up to us, and by the end of the lesson she PRAYED! I love prayers. Especially when investigators pray for the first time (: My heart was soaring! She had the biggest smile on her face after the prayer. We are SO excited to go back! She even said she’d come to church the next morning, and we arranged a ride for her. However…

 

Sunday morning at 7:45am we got a call from Michelle. She had just gotten home from the hospital and was so tired. Her friend Maria was beat by her husband really bad so they were there all night. I have never, in my whole mission, had someone call and tell me that was the reason they wouldn’t be able to make it to church. She wanted to come, but physically couldn’t. She just cried on the phone with us; so tired and upset. My heart BROKE. I know that as missionaries we tell them as they come to know the truth of this gospel, they may face challenges, but God would help them. Is this real life?! Satan so desperately doesn’t want Michelle at church that Maria suffers? Maybe it would have happened anyways, but it was terrible timing… My heart hurt so bad all day at church. It really broke my heart that that happened… I can’t imagine living in a way that you were fearful of your spouse. 

 

Even though that was terrible, and we don’t ever want it to happen again, we are excited to keep working with Michelle. It’s experiences like these, ones that bring us so low, that make us soft and pliable for the Savior to mold us. Michelle has had a horrible life, but she is now prepared to receive a message of happiness! That she can change, that the hurt can literally be taken away. We had asked her if she’d be willing to place her sorrows at the feet of the Savior, and she hesitated. She really doesn’t know how. But we know, without a doubt, that the Savior can heal us. I LOVE this girl! 

 

Our Bishop spoke to the relief society on pornography yesterday. It’s what he spends 90% of his time on as a bishop, and one of the top 3 things the general authorities are worried about for the entire church. It was a little scary at first… he told us that 9 out of 10 young men (10-20) develop a problem with pornography. It freaked me out. That means, that the chances of me meeting a guy who’s never been plagued with that disease is very low… It’s scary! But he talked about how the danger is when people slip and see it, then go months without it because they “have it under control” but then slip again 9 months later. it doesn’t seem like a problem because it’s occurring so irregularly. He said that people need to speak openly about it, that kids shouldn’t feel scared to talk to parents and spouses need to talk openly all the time. But then he gave the women all homework, which I think would be good for all of us… he said to visit the church’s website, combatingpornography.org and also put filters on your computers, smart phones, and tablets. A lot of them are free! he mentioned ‘net nanny’, and ‘covenant eyes’. Most of the time it’s all an accident, but you can’t get rid of it. So don’t take the chance and but the blocks up! Since I have two teenage brothers who need to get ready for missions… this would be a good place to start taking all defensive action against the adversary (: So yep, a little awkward in relief society but it freaked me out and made me worry about the boys. Brother Tuttle from the Saratov approach movie said to all the youth, “If you’re not worthy, get worthy. You either won’t be able to go or wont be successful”. and it’s true! So this is one of those things that you gotta take to the bishop and he’ll lovingly handle. So, LOVE YOU ALL! GO PUT UP A BLOCK EVEN IF YOU DON’T HAVE A PROBLEM! (: 

 

So yes, it’s been a great week. So many amazing things! I miss and love you all so much. Thanks for everything you do!

 

— Sister Stockinger