Week 75 - Pictures

A southern Spider

Flowers

Camo Snuggies

Week 75 - Farewells of good friends and the postponed baptism.‏

Dear Family,

 

Transfers are today... Time has flown by too fast and I cannot believe that it is so close to the end... as of today we are looking at only 6 weeks left of being a full time missionary.. and I am so sad. I love being a missionary and am going to do my best to serve faithful to the end. You're just as much a missionary your first transfer out as you are your last!

Lets see... Transfer Info..Sister Johnson and I are staying together this transfer in FLOWOOD!! I am really excited. We get along really well and work well together so.. I'm excited! :)

 

Sooo this week was another great week in Flowood, MS.. I think last week I told you we had stake conference..well Cody came!...and this week he is going to be baptized! Saturday at 7pm. We pushed it back so that we could announce it in church on Sunday. No worthiness issues or anything..just wanted to do it at a time when he could have the most support. I cannot wait for him to be able to enjoy the gift of the holy ghost in his life. This man is so worthy and deserving of baptism. I am so excited for him...Now the icing on the cake..Noah..his son wasn't thinking about baptism for himself..but after going to the youth trip and having a great time.. we asked him on Sunday at church if he wanted to take the lessons for himself to get baptized and he said he does!! He set a date for his baptism of November 17th. :) We are so very very excited for him!! :) This is the best family and they deserve this.

 

Well what else happened this week...oh I know! CRAFT NIGHT! We had a craft night on Thursday night.. but no one came... but.... We had book of mormon class on Wednesday night and guess what! (what sister Urie..) we had 7 ward members come and two of our investigators come to the class plus all three sets of missionaries! It was an amazing class and we are hoping to continue to have a great turn out.. we texted 51 people to remind them to come..so hopefully..if we keep texting and reminding so many people then our numbers will stay high..ha..well we hope. ha.

 

We were able to go out on exchanges with Sister McDonough this past week. It was great to be able to visit the less active sisters with her. There are so many sisters that are less active that just want to feel loved and wanted and when they feel the spirit again and remember why they were there in the first place they will come back. Remembering... Funny that that's all it takes.

 

Well I cant wait to tell you about the baptism this week..that is actually going to happen! love you and hope yall have a wonderful week!

Love, Sister Urie.

Please write me.

 

Southernism: don't know if I told yall this.. but I heard the one of  instead of saying oh man or oh wow..or what'd ya know...say "dagum!"

Tracting tips: 5 cents?

Scripture: Alma 5 ..the whole chapter! :)

 

Week 74 Pictures

Only in the south

Week 74 -WOW

Dear Family,

 

All I have to say is ..Wow.

It was truly another great great week in Flowood,MS. I love serving here..there are so many things going on.. I say Wow, because of all the great experiences that we were able to have this week. I will touch on a few..

First this past week Wednesday we were able to have zone conference. Elder Nash of the 70 came and spoke with us. It was such a great meeting and the spirit was so very strong. Elder Nash really talked a lot with us about how many less actives we have down here and how that is a "gold mine" for us. So many missionaries look on missionary work..and success of missionary work basically on how many "investigators" they are teaching. While this is great we need to be focused on inviting all others to come unto Christ and helping everyone receive the next ordinance that they are to partake in.. for example..those who have been baptized and not attending church regularly need the ordinance of the sacrament. The numbers roughly of how many less active there are in our mission could be disheartening..but is a great opportunity for growth here. he told us that this new serge of missionaries that will be coming are going to end up coming here..to the south. The work here is about to take off..
As a result of the work hastening so much, President has said that this area of the Brandon ward is like his "Porto-type" for the mission.. We have, as I've told you before, 2 sets of elders and one set of sisters..which is going to be happening a lot more throughout the mission. He is working closely with us to help us make this area very successful. I am very excited for the things that are going to happen in this area. This is what I have been praying for since I got here..there is so much potential..but it'll be pointless if we do nothing with it. Tomorrow we are going to work hard on Maps and getting all the less actives in the ward accounted for ( this we've done as sisters..just gotta bring the elders up to speed. ;) lol ) 

So also..This Zone conference being my last one I got to bear my testimony.. Bitter sweet..and Weird! I never thought the day would come when it would be my last zone conference..but it did.. and it was great to reflect on my mission so far. I have had so many great experiences..and I know with all my heart that the Atonement of Jesus Christ..when understood and lived can changes lives and hearts. Also This zone conference was the sister Urie show.. I played the piano .. prelude..for the hymns..also played the violin for the musical number..and the piano accompanying for the other musical number. Then I gave a talk!..psh.. no big deal..haha. It was really fun. :)

 

So this week... We were able to have some amazing lessons with Cody and his son! President invited them over to his house for a meeting and it went great. There were many questions answered and I think it helped Cody's son a lot..who has a lot of questions and a few reserves about things.. Cody is a great support to him though and has been sharing the Gospel with everyone. I am so excited for his baptism on Saturday and Know he is so ready. Words cannot even describe how wonderful he is. Sister Johnson and I frequently listen to the song from the work CD I think its called "knock"? All about how there is a recent convert singing about how excited he is that love came knocking on his door and that he is found what he was missing..then he bears his testimony on fast Sunday..yeah awesome. :) We also had a lesson yesterday with Them and an awesome member family. they all had so much in common and its was great for them to bond. Oh! and They both ( Cody and his son.) came to stake conference in Clinton Yesterday!...it was so great! :) 

 

So our miracle of stake conference.. The Clinton Sisters ended up saving us seats..and after the meeting was over I got to talking with the lady next to us..turns out they just moved into the Brandon Ward..they are in our area..and they have a 12 year old daughter that has not been baptized yet!! woo hoo! we are going over to their house on Sunday to share with them the restoration. They are a great family and I cant wait to tell you more about how our visit with them goes. This is just one of the many blessings and miracles that has come from the 40 day fast.

 

So last week I think I told you id have to tell you about the Catholic priest... well.. We have some members in our ward who own this business and they were so kind to give us passes to go to the fair..When we went to their work place to pick them up we ended up giving a book of mormon to one of their employes who is studying to be a catholic priest..he said it intrigued him ..He was kind of ..different. So we received a phone call from him saying that ..he wanted to know who the best mormon scholar was in Jackson, MS..so we told him we were called to preach the gospel. Up until this point wed been playing phone tag for a few hours ( he wanted to read Joseph smith history..that was sighted in the restoration pamphlet) After finding out that he lives out of our area we gave his name and information to the Elders who lives in his area. He was glad because the questions he asked me he told me that I did not teach good. His definition of teaching was "articulating the truth"..hmm.not the definition I know of teaching for sure. ha! He also told us we needed to have a love affair with Jesus.. yeah right! ... Anyways..long story short.. the elders set up a time to meet with him and he never showed. Told them that he was moving after they called him. Some peoples children...

Well That is pretty much it on the week for me! it was a great week and i cannot wait to tell you all about the new people were teaching and all the great things that are happening here in Flowood! by the way.. Transfers are next week..

I love the Lord! I know he lives and that God loves us and wants us to return to him. The path is clearly marked we need only keep the commandments and head the counsel of the prophets.

 

I love yall and hope yall have a great week!

Love and live!

Sister Urie.

 

Southernism: This lady called herself a 'Soul Bender" the other day..meaning that she can "win souls for Christ" ..or she witnesses to a lot of people and her words help them decide to choose the right. something like that! lol " a good converter.." hehe

Scripture:Alma 7: 22-25

Tracting Tips: 2 pennys..

Week 73 Pictures

The Sisters at the Jackson State Fair

Old friends..MTC companions

Bring it on!

Alligator on a stick...Yum?

Chitlins is 5 lb enough?

Week 73..Young Womens..Baptism..At the Fair

Dear Family!

 

It was, yet again, another great week in Flowood, MS. Things are great..in real life! We are finding so many people ( left and right!) and teaching like crazy! Thank you so much for your prayers and letters. I am working on responding to them all. I feel like this week was all a blur because so much happened. I'll do my best to remember as much as I can.

 

First..last Monday we went to the Fair...Jackson State Fair. Sounds pretty sketchy but it was really fun. We ended up meeting the Clinton Sisters and the Madison sisters there. I have included some pictures from the fair..we ate fried Gator! (have yall tried gator before?..well you'll love it! ) We "AI'd" ( Additional Invited..where you invite someone to do something that you meet at the store, on the street, basically anywhere besides tracting.) We brought Mormon.org cards with us and were giving them to everyone. Pretty fun!

 

Next story.. We didn't have a baptism this week. I remember last week I told you that Cody was going to get baptized?.. he was all set..we went over the baptismal interview questions with him and he was very ready..When we finally were able to get a hold of him Monday evening he told us that he wants to put off his baptism a month. His reason... He wants to be sure that the priesthood was restored to the Prophet Joseph Smith by John the Baptist and Peter, James and John. Pretty valid concern I'd say. It was just really sad for us because we love him so much and want him to be able to make this covenant with God. ..On the upside he still wants to keep meeting with us and he came to church on Sunday! Following the meetings he was able to sit down with bishop, get to know him and ask him some of his questions. I know that Cody will get baptized soon. ( for selfish reasons I hope its before I get transferred out of the area.) His Son is not looking into it for himself any more. We had a really great visit with Cody though, the other night, and he said he is going to push Noah a little harder about studying more of this. This family is going to be such a great contribution to the ward and to the work..Satan is working extra hard on them.

One reason we think his progress slowed down so much this week is because he was not able to come to the church and watch general conference with us. He has since been listening to it on his phone..It would have made a huge difference had he been able to see it that weekend. I feel his testimony would have been strengthen much more of the restored gospel.  I will update you more on them soon..hopefully with better news of his new baptism date!

 

Do you remember me telling you about that one family that we taught? ( I know ..I tell you about a lot of families?) this is the one that the dad went on mormon.org and was talking with the missionaries their..then we showed up..? He has a friend who is a member from the Hattiesburg ward.. Well We were finally able to see him again after weeks and weeks of him not returning our phone calls (..yes that was a sign) and not being able to catch him home.. We asked him after if he had been able to read anymore..His response is he wasn't really into the Book of mormon or anything anymore because there is no factual evidence. There are different things they have found that make the bible factual..such as Noah's ark..or pots that say Goliath name on it..but nothing from the people in the book of mormon.. So i asked him if he could see a pot from that time then would he believe?.. It is so silly to me that people seek for tangible evidence. Is not the testimony of so many witnesses enough? also is not the book of mormon evidence enough?... We asked him from what source he was getting all this information..he named some anti ( people who were once members and had left the church ) websites. Yeah..there's some great hard facts for ya!... He was also concerned that Joseph wasn't a true prophet because not all of his revelations and prophesies had come true he said.. false. he brought up the temple in Kirkland.. Also he brought up that he didn't think Joseph could've seen God because no one can look upon Gods face and live..he said that Moses didn't see god face to face..false.. at this point sister Johnson and I knew his window of learning was closed and his heart was to hard to even let the truth in..So I said..oh So what about Stephen? ..to that he replied..who?.. well in the bible he saw god face to face.. he was a little taken back..had to throw that out there..and we left. There is no point in talking to people if they are not going to try to learn truth with the help of the Holy Spirit..because it is by the power of the spirit that we can know the truth of all things. ( we did not bible bash with this man..Ive never bible bashed and wont ever..just kinda funny that he keeps trying to get facts from everywhere but the true source.)

 

Even though we didn't have a baptism we were able to go to one on Saturday in Clinton for a sweet 9 year old girl that I helped teach when I was there. Very fun. :)

 

I have included some pictures of a lesson we had with a little boy teaching him he plan of salvation..used sidewalk chalk! fun stuff!

.. So Sunday we finally had all the hours of church it was great! it really feels weird when we only have one. We were finally able to teach the young woman lesson on dating ( funny huh?) It turned out great and the girls.. I hope really enjoyed it.

 

So we have zone conference this Wednesday..Elder Nash from the 70 is coming..cant wait to tell ya more about it! :)

 

Well that's pretty much it on the week for me.. Things are crazy..things are great.. just finding and teaching like crazy.. please pray were guided to the members who have friends who are prepared to receive the restored gospel! I know with all my heart that there was a great apostasy..and that the authority needed to be resorted to the earth. The power of god is on the earth again. The power to bind on earth and bind in heaven. Something we should shout from the roof tops! This is joy..that Christ lives! I Know it..and God loves us.

 

Hope yall have a wonderful week! Love, Sister Urie.

 

bah! next week I have to tell you about he catholic priest..gonna go do service someones moving in...if I don't get to come back remind me to tell you about him!  love ya!

 

Scripture: 2 Nephi 4:35

Southernism: "If only the best and loudest little birdies sang, the the forest would be silent."  ( not sure if its a southernism..but i liked it..it was someone encouraging us to sing louder at a meeting.ha)

Tracting Tips: 2 pennys...

Week 72 - Pictures

We saw this tracting..baby Jesus on a hook..yikes!

Week 72-Another great week in Flowood MS

Dear Family,

 

It was, yet again, another great week in Flowood,MS...So much and so little happened all at the same time..

Can I just say though how wonderful General Conference was this weekend? ( General Conference is a twice a year televised event where the prophets and apostles speak to the whole world. checkout www.lds.org ) anyways.. If asked what my favorite session was I do not think I could tell you just one. They were all so wonderful and to be honest there was not a talk this conference where I was "bored" ( if that is bad so say?) I could've done with a whole other day of conference.  I will say though I loved the address by Holland in the Sunday morning session and also the address by President Utchdorf in the Saturday Morning session as well. We need to live in the moment and find happiness now. I am learning more and more everyday that the only constant in our lives is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. True joy comes from learning more about it ( by keeping the commandments) John7:17..and also in doing so we will have the holy spirit with us, the comforter that Christ promised he would send after he left..Therefore we will desire that spirit to be more in our lives and will live life accordingly. What a great thing!..

So.. I'm certain yall heard about the new age for Elders and Sisters to serve missions? ( 18 for the boys and 19 for girls). I think this is great. Bring it on! more sisters need to serve missions. They make for more stable mothers and homes. The work is hastening and going forth!  One thing I thought was great..was in the press conference following the first session of conference they said that this was not a requirement for boys and girls to leave at that age..it was simply a new option. Also the MTC time would be cut down by 1/3rd. Don't know weather that's good or bad..but it sure means that those who want to serve missions are going to have to step it up!

 

So we had a few experiences this week.. Missionary work sure is exhausting but rewarding...

Cody is still planing on getting baptized this Saturday..please keep him in your prayers so that we had have a good service and things come together.. We went over the baptismal interview questions with him this week and he is more then ready..gave better answers then I would have!

 

We had two awesome exchanges this week with members.. The first was an awesome member that helped us go to try to visit sisters in the unassigned visiting teaching list. We were only able to see one person with her and they yelled at us and said she was not interested..very uplifting..but we did have a cool experience. we went to this one door and weren't able to speak with the sister but she had a picture of Christ taped to her door. (The picture of him in the red robes? if you know which one I'm talking about..)..It was humbling that even though she isn't active in church right now there is hope for her return. The door as we stood there almost said to me.."I want to come back I love Christ and his gospel..I just need help in returning." I cannot wait to tell you how our visit with her goes this week as we try to see her again.

 

The second exchange was totally spur of the moment. One of our amazing members called us up to see if she could take us to lunch..so of course we said yes!..then after she said..well do you have any errands you need to run?..of course to this too we said yes! so she came with us to see some people..We were able to take her to two different visits with people and she hit it off with both of them! It is amazing how when you go the extra mile things happen and fall into place..

I say this because we were able to finally catch up with( when she was with us) that family I told you about a few weeks ago .. where it was a referral of the daughter in law of the little sweet old lady wed been visiting? .. well we had a great visit with her and during our visit learned that she used to be at 0% sure of things..and now shes to 50% sure that this is for her.. crazy part is we've only seen her a grand total of 3 times! all the other times our appointments have fallen through or we've stopped by and not been able to see her and only talk with her kids. Things are happening her in Flowood..just ever so slowly now..and I wouldn't even say slowly.its all on the lords time and we are on his errand. I love love love my commission to serve as a full time missionary!

 

So..funny story..book of mormon class Wednesday night we had people bring refreshments and only two people showed up for class..well at the end of class just before the prayer this little girl comes in and seeing on the brownies and chips on the table says..( picture a little girl with faded cat whiskers painted on her face saying this..) " uhm..excuse me..but I'm really hungry..can I have some of those chips.. please?".. ( I just sat there..it was too funny and I didn't even know what to do..) so we told her that she could have some..but we needed to have a prayer first..and asked if she would say the prayer..she said she would..her prayer went something as follow " Dear father in heaven, Today was a great day a really great day, it was a beautiful day. please help us to not have bad dreams tonight..we don't want to have bad dreams..name of Jesus Christ amen!".. with that she got her plate of brownie and chips and left.. the best part was about 5 minutes later she came down the hallway with her pose of her dad and several other little kids..she was going to show them where her spoils came from.. mean while we had moved all the treats to the kitchen..so the table upon which once sat all these treats now was barren and the white table clothe was all that was left. as the walked through the door you could almost here the confusion in her voice as she saw it was all gone.." yeah it was right..here..?" ha..it was too cute.

Needless to say we've been quoting her all week.

 

So conference almost didn't happen for us Saturday morning. God always provides a way though and we were able to watch it with President and Sister McDonough. Thank heaven for small miracles and the wonderful people.

 

I love yall so much and hope you have a wonderful week. Thank you for the letters..I am working on writing yall back. I feel your prayers ( that are much needed) and your love. Know my prayers are with yall and that The work is great.

I know with all my heart and mind that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet in these days. A true prophet. and that if we listen to his counsel and the words of all the other prophets and apostles we will have happier lives.

 

Love yall, Sister Urie.

 

Scripture:"Your future is only as bright as your faith."-Thomas S. Monson. Ether 12:27

Southernism: the pictures are both southernisms this week..the one is one we saw tracting..baby Jesus on a hook..yikes!

Tracting tips: zip!

Week 71-Pictures

Another funny sign.

I love the rain hats!

Week 71-

Dear Family,

I cant even begin to tell you how disappointed I am that yall didn't get my letter from last week. It was my longest one yet and had the best stories yet.. but No use crying over spilled milk..So I will attempt to tell yall the stories again, and tell yall the stories from this week too!

So..It was, yet again, another great week in Flowood,MS. I will start by telling you about this week and moving on to last week...To be honest not much happened this week. It was a pretty weird, "UN-eventful" week. ( To be honest a lot happened..but none story worthy like last week.. )

Last week we had a miracle happen. Our investigator ( the one who didn't think we believed in birthdays) came to church and brought his son! Backing up to Saturday, the day before Sunday and them both coming to church. we were going to meet with them but they had to cancel to get some things ready..so we just dropped by..we had a great lesson with them. During the lesson we asked the dad ( who we'll call Cody) if he hoped the book of mormon was true, believed it was true, or knew it was true. Cody told us that he believed it was true. He also showed some concern about if he would be ready for his baptism date. We told him that we had prayed about that date and felt good about it..but that its for him and that he needs to ask God to confirm if that is right for him. SO that he did! ..( I will tell you about church now..then about his answer).. So he came to church and brought his son! Cody's son loved church ( he is 15yrs old) and told us he liked it even better then the church hes going to now. His son wants to get involved in scouts and everything..as we were talking to Cody's son about how there are many opportunities for leadership in the church Cody pipped in and said.."yeah! and when you learn more about the priesthood, you will see many more opportunities.."  Who says that!? Why even knows that! ..mind you we still need to teach him the commandments. which is another funny thing..we went over this last week and brought him the word of wisdom, law of chastity and tithes and offerings pamphlets also a true to the faith and our heritage book...he read them in a night and when we talked with him he had already read through all of the pamphlets ( he found them to be "healthy and wholesome" lol ) and was already halfway through true to the faith.. Another great thing was during that visit he was working on cleaning up his house and making things look nice so that he could have some more home visits. :).. So Sunday! last Sunday we had a meeting with Cody and his son at a members house. It was a great great visit. The member is great fellowship for the both of them. During the visit Cody said " I prayed about it and want to be baptized on October 13th..what do I need to do to be prepared for that date?" AMAZING! this just doesn't happen..it is and was such a blessing from heaven..

Also this last week we had an investigator that was a referral from a nonmember. Sweetest little non member lady who gave us the referral of her daughter in law? Do you remember me telling ya about that?..well the daughter in law and her daughter are so sweet and loved us coming over..and wanted us to come back! So that day we came back for the appointment that we set on p-day?.. Not home..So we were going to set up another appointment..but she called us and said she would talked with her 'spiritual adviser who told her that we worshiped Joseph smith and believed that Jesus Christ was just a prophet.. ha! Don't know who your spiritual adviser is but I hope you're not paying him... Come to find out her spiritual adviser was her neighbor that is a baptist preacher... long story short..(because I just found the email from last week.). Once we found out it was her birthday she let us come over and bring her a cupcake. we helped address her concerns and all was well. She committed to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. when we went over for our visit this past week she was super sick so we have had to reschedule and will let you know how progress with this family goes this week.

Also the other great family we were working with never made it to Wednesday night book of mormon class so we are going to have to followup with them and ill let you know!

This week.. we haven't really been able to see Cody this weekend since he went out of town..but were meeting with him today. Its been raining so much and pretty cold and dreary outside..its nice to not have the humidity.

We were blessed with the opportunity to go watch the Relief Society General broadcast. It was so wonderful. Two points that stood out to me were first.. The doctrine of the atonement was one of the focuses. It is so important that we know and teach the doctrine..that is what will change hearts.. Also I loved president Eyrings remarks..If only we viewed visiting teaching as more then going over to teach a lesson to sisters in the ward. Teaching is so much more then talking and telling. it is about caring and loving and teaching by example. As the old saying goes..No one cares how much you know( and the things you can share with them..)until they know how much you care! ... Think about it.

To be honest this week was a little off..probably because we had such a wonderful week the last week. I am so grateful to the people who wrote me such wonderful letters and the prayers that were said in my behalf and for the work..they were felt. Thank you..

Last thing about this week....we asked someone this week how their scripture study was going..a simple question.. I would have you ask that of your selves..and even of myself. how is our scripture study going? I know we have time for it..we ask this of so many people..and before we ask them this question they had to turn off the TV..so we know they have time for their scriptures.. why do we let things that are not going to help us grow spiritually rob us of our precious time of probation here on earth? Yes I know I am not in the "real world"..but it is true.. we do have time. It is how we each choose to spend it that is the beauty of agency... 

....

Which brings us to yesterday,only one hour of church again..all the priesthood were asked to go back down to the coast and help clean up..that makes 3 weeks that they have got down to help with Issac clean up. Crazy if ya ask me. Following church we had a baptism for another youth in the ward. It was great to see the baptism. there is such a great spirit that comes when the ordinance is performed... the great part about yesterday was that it was fast Sunday and we had this less-active couple we have been working with come to church! It has been 20years since they had been to church. It was such a humbling experience to hear the wife bear her testimony about how important it is to not let silly things keep you from coming. When we first started visiting with them they were so grateful and told us that no one from the church had been to see them in 20 years! After 5-7 weeks or so of going over at least once a week they came back! We just need to love people into obedience and make them feel welcome. Everyone was so glad to see them at church. Fellowship and callings will be key to help them stay active.

Well that is it for me on the week..I found last weeks email so hopefully yall well enjoy both of the weeks of stories.. apologize for the repeats.. Hope yall share the gospel and be good!

Keep the Faith and have a blessed week!

Sister Urie.

Southernism: "Jibber Jabering" ( talking) .."slobber Knocker" ( I guess this is a phrase used for someone who is showing out.. (showing off.ha ))

Scripture:3 Nephi 11:31-41 "and this is the doctrine" of Christ. :) The good news! he lives and there is a way to return to the father. I know that he lives and that if we have faith in him and repent..we can be saved!

Tracting Tips: 3 cents!

week 70 Pictures

That looks pretty scarey

Only in the south do you find things like this.

The homemade rolls that were yum.