Week 54: Fireflies..the breakup and zone conference.‏

Dear Family!

How y'all doing? I hope you are doing well and that Life is treating yall well. I am happy to hear that your water heater is back up and running. I miss yall a lot and have some great stories to tell ya from this week.
So.. Straight from Flowood, MS here is the lowdown..
We had another great successful week in our new area. It has been really fun going in with a blank area-book and "making our mark on the area". There are some great people we are working with. Not that I want you to know my numbers..because numbers don't matter..but this last week we nearly doubled the standard and got 7! We also maybe loaned out 11 copies of the book of Mormon. I really love this area and am learning so much. It is amazing to me how much I was prepared to serve in this area. There are just little things that make me think this.. The other day we were going to try to contact a less-active member whom we didn't know. When we got there he asked us if we wanted to come in. We asked him if his wife was home..to which he responded..no I am divorced and told us about his wife.. who i know from serving in Clinton! Actually i never met her..but her mom is the one that is Japanese and gave us the Japanese names..who also would not give us her daughters address. Bam! now we have an in. It is little things like that make me feel like the Lord has really prepared me to serve in this area. There are also a few investigators that lord helped us find when I came here on new arrivals. I am so excited to start working with them.
One of our investigators I told yall about last week.. The couple that was really receptive and starting to learn more. the one that didn't make it to church because something came up?..Well they broke up last week. Pretty sad, but it is probably for the better. The Lords hand is in all things. We are working on contacting both of them right now. Hopefully I will have more to report next week.
This last week we had zone conference which was great. The Jackson and Clinton zones both met together in the Clinton building for zone conference. Yes I was part of the musical number. lol.
It was great we talked all about the talk the 4th missionary and how we really, to be great, need to give our whole heart to the work. Our desire and our will is really the only thing we can give our Heavenly Father.
We also talked about a new finding tool that we are using in our mission, it is called the Harvesting program. The harvesting program is where we ask members and nonmembers if we can come into there home and as representatives of Jesus Christ leave the Saviors Peace and blessing them and their home. We have had the opportunity to share this with one of our investigators so far. The spirit was so strong as we offered the blessing. I am really excited to continue to use this as a finding tool and know that it really has the effect to change around the attitude of any ward.
Another great thing they talked about in zone conference was about obedience and how we need to be consistent in our efforts. You will do more by steady consistent repentance and progression then by changing once all at once..it just doesn't work that way.This concept was presented to us by using the example of landing an air craft carrier. We need to be consistent about catching the third line every time. needless to say I learned so much and zone conference was great! They are really trying to prepare us well for the new mission president and that transition.

Lets see what else about Flowood...

This week I saw Fireflies for the first time! They are so beautiful!..I wish i had a picture for you of them..but they just wont stay lit long enough for me to catch one. lol.

Now here is the skinny on transfers.. I have no idea!..But I will tell you this. sadly my companion, Sister Platt, is going back to temple square on Wednesday. In her place will be a different temple square sister that is coming out. It has been great serving with Sister Platt and I have learned so much from her. We'll see what the Lord has in store next.
 We are off to have a great p-day with the Clinton Sisters. Wish us luck! lol.
So many great things are happening and Hope you have a wonderful week.
Love Sister Urie

Southernism: "Going the wrong direction? God allows U-turns" -church sign.
Scripture: 2 Nephi 31:5
Tracting TIps: 2 cents.

Week 53 Pictures

Welcome to Flowood!

New Apartment in Flowood

Not what you want to find in your apartment!

Week 53: "Let's hear it for..."‏

..."NEW YORK!!"..(Just wanted to see who would catch on..ha)

 Dear Family!

This was another great week to be alive and serving in the Flowood area. So many great things are happening here and I have been so excited all week to share them with you. We have been finding new investigators left and right..Also can you believe that I have been out a year? It seems like just yesterday that I arrived in Slidell. Every minute of this journey has been so enjoyable and I am sad to see it on the down hill.

First off you are probably wondering why I started off my email with that lovely song.. well I'll tell ya! We have a great new investigator who's nick-name is 'New York' ( we will call him that) and his girlfriend who lives with him. They both have so many questions and love it when we come over. New York was a referral given to us at the beginning of this transfer from the Elders. We went to see them and they right away set up a time for us to come back. We have been by quite a few times and the first lesson we were prompted to share with them was 'The plan of salvation." Surprisingly enough, as I said they have so many questions, the first question they asked us when we got there is if they needed to be baptized. Well we know the answer to that..yes you do! by the proper authority.
One great story that happened from when we were teaching them last week was when we were talking about Adam and eve. Lets go back though.. We have been inviting them to read the Plan of Salvation pamphlet for several visits, so finally when we went over this last time we told them we were just going to read it together. Sister Platt and I just knew that he was either going to love our view of Adam and eve, or hate it and have a lot of questions. So we strategically read through the whole section so he would get the "full effect" I guess you could say. After ward, you could tell something about it wasn't sitting right with him. He looks at us and says " He set them up! God set them up!" It was pretty funny. I love the verse in second Nephi and also in the Plan of Salvation pamphlet, that talks about how everything that happened was part of God's plan. None of it was a mistake. ( Just thought yall would enjoy that little experience..:) )

Unfortunately New York and his girl Friend were unable to come to church on Sunday because something came up and they were so sad they missed it. We are working on getting them fellowship. They are not married and are living together. So we might could possibly just make it a wedding and baptism like on the district! one thing at a time.. but Teaching them is going great. They are both seeking for the truth and it is great to see them both learn and progress in the gospel. True blessings from heaven.

So..yesterday was p-day..and you would not believe all the stores that they have here in Flowood. The lady at the visitors center said that Flowood is one of the fastest growing areas. The policeman at the police station ( don't worry we weren't in trouble, we went to find out which areas we should be avoiding.) said that there are no scary parts of Flowood either, all very very safe. To be honest, This area feels so much like home. You will be happy to know though that through all of our shopping adventures yesterday, p-day, we got two new investigators and loaned out a copy of the book of Mormon. Yes I would say that that was a very successful p-day..I will also say that those were the most expensive investigators of my whole mission. ( don't worry we do not use shopping as a finding activity.. all the time..) I once heard it said by a wise missionary " Preach the gospel..Shop if necessary!" Don't worry I'm being smart though. It is just nice to have so much at our fingertips. We are working on finding a park to do another chalk talk at..as school is out. It is just a little to hot though.. I can only imagine how it feels for yall down at home.

Another recent convert we are working with was baptized over a year ago. She is so sweet and really loves the church and the gospel. It is so hard to see recent converts who do not have the adequate fellowship that they need. ( in preach my gospel) President Gordon B Hinkley said that every convert needs three things.. a Friend, a calling, and to be nourished by the good word of God. She has one friend in the church ( not enough) she has a calling ( that she does not like) and she is not really being nourished by the good word of God ( Her calling takes her way from interacting with adults, but she is also preparing to go to the temple and taking temple prep class.) Another thing is that she told us that she needs other people to help motivate her.. Do you have any ideas as to how we could help her without her getting converted to another set of missionaries. She is extremely shy..but we might could bring over members with us when we visit her..  new converts are so fragile and we really love her and want her to progress well in the gospel.

Get a load of this! There is a lady, sister, in the ward that arranges music and is letting me borrow her violin and play the music that she is arranging. It is amazing and I feel so blessed to be able to play the violin. We are playing a musical number at zone conference tomorrow so I will let you know how it goes.

So you want to know how things really are going here in Flowood..? Things are so great. I love this area and I love working with Sister Platt. We work really well together and I have been learning so much from her. One thing I love about this area is there is so much potential here. We are working hard to rebuild and repair relationships between the missionaries and the members. I love love being a missionary and I love being able to serve the people here in Flowood.

One thing that was really cool is we went to the ward counsel on Sunday.. Previous to this we had met with the primary president and she told us that there was much debate amongst the ward counsel regarding the number of baptisms goal they were going to set for the year. Some felt it should be fairly low, while others had promptings that it should be much much higher. Then we showed up, The primary president told us that she knows great things are going to happen in this ward and We (sister Platt and I ) cannot help but feeling that it is because of how many missionaries are in this ward. The work is about to progress and explode in this area! How great is my calling. :)

Well Things are going great and I appreciate the letters and prayers that you send. I am working on writing everyone back. Opening a  new area has helped in me falling behind on letter writing. It doesn't help that my companion and I get along really well. ha. No excuse for not writing y'all.

I love yall and hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Urie

Scripture: Mosiah 5:15

Southernism: There is a lovely picture among the pictures that i have attached to this email of our house guest that we promptly through out the window. :) Great fun times in Flowood..haha
Tracting Tips: Found a few cents..nothing worth mentioning. lots of tracting though! Tearin it up Here in FloWood!

Week 52 Pictures

 Mowing the lawn!

 Shouldn't it say Keep Out!

 Its two chairs in one!

 She caught a Catfish!

Week 52 - The crazy amazing week

Dear Family,

I am not going to lie to you..this was another wonderfully great week in Clinton and Flowood MS. So much has happened in this past week and it feels like it has been a month.. You know those weeks that go by so slow, but you look back and it went by so fast? yes..this was one of those weeks. By no means was it a bad slow though..just jam packed with so much! ... let me see if I can give you an idea of what I mean..
So after I talked with y'all on Tuesday..transfers.. There were four of us sisters just "chillin" in Clinton waiting for the Flowood apartment to be ready. ( and by chillin I mean tearin it up and working really hard.) We had many great adventures and times. It was Sister Carter ( we were both trained by sister Hills..so my Sister!)..And sister Platt ( the temple square sister who is only here for two more weeks) and also of course the Lovely sister Aebischer. All 4 of us had a great time working hard to find the elect.. We got to do a lot of service and Would you believe it if I told you I mowed a lawn for the first time?..Also we were able to come back up for the day of service in Clinton and helped shovel dirt and rocks at a park. Very great. ( That took place on Saturday morning)
Well anyways..after a great week of service..and teaching a lesson in Jackson on half of a chair that I shared with Sister Platt.. We were able to move into our new apartment on Friday afternoon. Our area is Flowood and we are in the Brandon ward. ( I do not have pictures of our apartment this week but I will have them for you next week.)
So we decided to go to chick-fil-a for dinner Friday night of last week and whilst ( My companion is from England..lol) we were there a lady came up to us and said that she was raised LDS and handed us a check saying that dinner was on her. It was so sweet. Blessings falling out of heaven already in this area. So come to find out (after we got a ward list) She is one of the part member families in our ward. We went and visited her on Sunday night and she is wonderful. She has her patriarchal blessing and said that she wants to start trying a little bit more to get her husband to come back to church. It is great because the senior couple that lives in the same apartment complex as her has been talking with her and she recognizes that heavenly father is probably trying to tell her something. One thing that I love from all of this is that Heavenly Father knows each of us individual and knows the desires and intents of our hearts so well. He will always prepare a way for us to repent and comeback to him. What a loving Father we have!
So this email is a lot shorter then all of my other ones.. We went fishing today..and y'all would've been so so proud of me. I caught the biggest fish very first and it was a catfish! oh yes I did. :) Here are many pictures from our adventures this week.
Also great this week is I learned now to mow a lawn..yes you better believe I did .Dad when I get home this will be my job. You would've been proud. :)
Well When we went to church for the first time on Sunday we had a very warm welcome from the ward. Brandon Ward is a great ward and I am excited to be able to work with them and serve them. We have a lot of damage control to do from past elders, yet we are excited and up for the challenge. my current companion, Sister Platt is a temple square sister and she will only be here for 3 more weeks. I am sad about this as we are getting a long really well..but things will all work out.

Well this is the story on all things Flowood and Clinton! I have sent you my new address mom..so please pass it on! if not the mission office one works alright for now.

I hope y'all have a wonderful week!
Love and Live.-Sister Urie
Flowood out!

Southernism: ..I went Fishin!!! Check out that picture of me fishin. ( yes I know cop out..but this is a really southern thing to do. )
Tracting Tips: zero..will be lookin for more this week
Scripture: Scripture for the month in the Brandon ward is Doctrine and covenants 58:26-27

To see the pictures please see her blog at www.sisterurie.blogspot.com

Week 51 - Pictures

Week 51: Skype Home.. playin at the Eastern Star..Sister Aebischers Bday and Transfers!‏‏

Dear Family,

What a wonderful great week! So many wonderful experiences and memories happened this week. Life is great and I feel so blessed to be here. I know..I know what your thinking..Get to the stories sister Urie!...Ok here they go..

So to be honest this week was long..but so short! By this I mean that there was so many things jammed pack into one wonderful great week. For starters..never went fishing.. but that's besides the point... This was my last week in Clinton. We had a great district meeting and I will really miss all the people here that I have gotten to know and serve around.

Sister Aebischers Birthday was this week. (mom..I am sorry i forgot to take pictures of the apartment decorations, but it turned out good and she loved it! we had a lot of fun.) The elders were so nice and surprised her with a cake ( and decorated the CD case that you sent.) I think she had a great birthday. One of her favorite members fed her dinner ( but we don't pick favorites..) Also on her birthday a member invited her over for lunch and we went to frozen yogurt with the Elders. I have included pictures. it was great and I really hope she felt loved. because I love her so much!!

So.. Saturday I had the opportunity to play the Violin at the installation meeting for the order of the Eastern Star, held at the Masonic lodge here in Clinton. It was a very interesting and made for a good journal entry of an experience. I have included pictures. I will say this.. The songs i played for the "entertainment" were..Ill go where you want me to go..and a Jewish song called Jerusalem gold. There was such an absence of the spirit in that meeting, but only when I played " Ill go where you want me to go" was the spirit there. It was wonderful for a short moment and I felt it a privilege to share with them my testimony through music and represent the Lord. So many people said they loved it and said how much they enjoyed my playing. Once again I feel so blessed to be able to have a violin out here and to be able to use these talents that the Lord has blessed me with. so lesson learned.. cultivate your talents!

It was so great to see ya'll this week over skype. I love you and Hope you know that! I appreciate more then you know yalls support and patience. Jessi I loved seeing your dress and am so so excited for you and all your new adventures. I am so glad you are happy! :)

We got to take the new incoming sisters out last night to try some potentials. They are great and I am really excited to have them in the mission.

I love my mission and am learning so much.. and ( yes here comes transfer info) I have been called on a new assignment! I will be opening Flowood, MS to sisters. We will be apart of the Brandon ward. I am not going to lie..I am so excited for this new adventure. I I I..I sound so self centered... This mission has been such a great experience and I am so loving all of these learning experiences..not going to lie..things have not been a cake walk..but I am so loving the journey.

Well that pretty much sums it up..gotta go so that more missionaries can use the computer..

Love yall so much!
Sister Urie

PS..I love dark chocolate.

Southernism: Forecast!! The Son will shine forever! ( church sign)
Tracting Tips: none.. but be prepared for more!
Scripture: James 5:16 Effectual fervent prayer...availeth much.

Week 50-Pictures