November 17, 2014

BBBBRRRRRRRRR!!!!! 

OH, how the cold is not for me. Ha, but I am surviving! it has gotten a little warmer this week which is nice and by warm i mean like 16-22 degrees. Isn't that sad?  That is warm! Ohmygosh. Who have I become. Haha

This week rocked though! There were two days this week where we were booked from noon to 9pm.  I LOVE days like that.  AND! We gained 3 new investigators this week. HOLLA HOLLA ERRBODY! The first! Sister Roberts.  She is the mother of a recent convert that was baptized in February. She asked us to check in on her mom and she is the sweetest woman.  We taught her the restoration and it went really well. I don't think she fully understood the priesthood though because when we invited her to be baptized she said she had already been baptized.  Story of my life.  that is the answer I get 90% of the time.  SO then we have to go back to the priesthood and explain it all over.  But she invited us over for next week. Cross your fingers. :) 

Investigator 2! His name is Mark.  He is one of Brother Bailey's tenants.  Apparently he went out with Brother Bailey to his ranch to help him with the horses and he asked a lot of questions about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith.  Later that night we taught him the restoration and answered a million questions he had.  It was honestly one of the best lessons I think i have ever taught on my mission.  He was very intrigued by Joseph Smith and said things like, "Well how could he have translated the Book of Mormon without the power of God?"  He was also so impressed by the fact that Joseph Smith died for his beliefs.  He again went on to say that he must have been a man led by God to have died for the beliefs he had.  Get out of here Mark! WHO ARE YOU! He even compared Joseph Smith's life to Jesus Christ's.  Saying that just as Jesus Christ was hated and killed for his beliefs and teachings so was Joseph Smith.  He completely understood the need for a restoration of the priesthood and he just got it.  I was so impressed.  We didn't even need to ask him to read teh Book of Mormon he said, " Well I better get on reading this then if I am going to learn about your church."  Correct mister mark. Correct.  Hahaha We are seeing him 2 other times this week :)  I have high hopes for this man.  PRAY! 

Investigator 3! One of our investigators Heather referred us to one of her friends who just lost all parental rights of her 1 year old son.  She called us and said that her friend was in need of spiritual guidance and wanted us to come over.  So we did! And it was awesome! Heather hasn't come to church but her friend Katrina did yesterday! And she loved it! YESSSS!!! We are seeing her again tonight :):):):) 

ALSO! LISTEN TO THIS MIRACLE! 

A couple weeks ago the Elders and I and my companion had another lesson with one of Brother Bailey's tenants.  His name is Dennis.  He had been talking to and asking questions to Brother Bailey about life after death.  He just recently had a brother pass away and was struggling with his loss.  Later that night we all taught him the Plan of Salvation. I forgot if I had written you about this or not.  But the man is an inspiration.  He bore his testimony to us about how he came to find God is one of the darkest times of his life.  He has an amazing love for our Savior Jesus Christ and loves talking about it.  One of the Elders invited him to be baptized and invited him like 3 or 4 different times and each time Dennis said, " I've already been baptized."  I could tell he was getting a little peeved.  But it all ended well.  He didn't show at our next appointment but two nights ago we were driving to see a member and we passed Dennis's house.  I got this small thought that we should stop by and see if he was still interested in meeting with us.  So I flipped around and knocked on his door.  He seemed a little surprised to see us but let us in.  He said, "I remember you, Sister Moline (kinda freaked me out). I have got a couple questions for you." He is kinda a rough looking guy, super sweet, but him saying that made me start to reach for my pepper spray....hahaha He asked me where I was from and then asked the names of my parents.....weird.  He said "well I will be darned! Did you know that there are Moline's in Montana!?"  He then went on for the next 15 minutes about how he has Molines in his line and that he wanted to talk to me again because I was a Moline.  He said I should ask you if you know of any Dale Molines, Chris Molines or a James Hardinbrook.  I don't know if that is how it is spelled and apparently they were big to do people in Geraldine Montana.  I told him I would ask you about it. Haha BUT that isn't even the good part.  The good part is he told us that this time of year is really difficult for him because of the death of his mother and brother. He began crying as he told us the heart ache he felt but the love he has felt from Jesus Christ. He said he was feeling really lonely and was praying to God and saying to him, "I know that you are there and are with me, but I feel so alone". Then BAM! We knocked on his door.  TALK ABOUT MIRACLE OF THE SPIRIT.  As he was telling us this he began to cry and kept thanking us for coming over and bore his testimony of his love for Jesus Christ. I asked him what he was doing for Thanksgiving and he said he was thinking of making himself a Thanksgiving dinner but that it seemed pointless. MY HEART BROKE! So I told him to forget about that and to come with us to Thanksgiving dinner.  He began to cry again and took my hand and said thank you with tears in his eyes.  No one should ever be alone during the holidays.  I am far from home and not with my family but luckily no matter where I am I will always have my ward family to lean on and take care of me.  I am so grateful for that.  So he is coming to Thanksgiving dinner!   WOOT! WOOT! For some reason he is apprehensive of coming to church or really trying to learn anything about our beliefs.  But hopefully Thanksgiving dinner will help soften his heart. 

LARRY ALBERT! I am telling ya, if there is one person I am so thankful I got to be apart of teaching on my mission, it is Mr. Larry Albert.  We met with him twice this week because of teh snow and they were wonderful! He is getting more comfortable with the people we are bringing from the ward.  I asked him if he was going to come to church and he said he wasn't sure because of his work.  He works nights and lately the girl that is supposed to take the shift after him hasn't been showing up.  So he has been getting home really late.  But this man rocks! And will still come and meet with us.  Sunday morning his ride went to pick him up but he didn't come to the door.  In the middle of Gospel Principles who walks in....that's right the rock star Larry Albert. I almost started cheering and crying.  The lesson was on Spirit Paradise and Prison. Afterward I went up to him and told him it was nice to have him there and he just said, "well I don't want to end up in Spirit Prison."  Oh you tease Larry! Hahaha you have to understand that he is super humble and quiet and sincere man, so his jokes come once in a blue moon and are pretty funny.....I guess you had to have been there.  But he said he got off work at 3am that morning and didn't go to bed until 5. But when he woke up he walked to church.  HE WALKED.  IN THIS WEATHER.  THIS MAN IS THE MOST WONDERFUL PERSON EVERRRRRR. I can't get over it.  Larry, you dawg. 

Anyway, this week was great.  I am loving life and just loving my mission.  I am so thankful I have this opportunity to serve.  The Lord is so aware of us.  I am so grateful for my knowledge of the restoration.  Lately we have been having members write down blessings tehy have seen because of the restoration and my list has gotten huge! We have so much because of the restoration of the gospel.  WE ARE SO BLESSED.  This gospel makes me so happy. I wish I could adequately describe to you how happy I am as I live this gospel every single day and give it my all.  It is so worth it.  

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week!

Love you much!

Sister Big Sky Moline

 Look at what we woke up to this morning!

November 10, 2014

GOD IS GOOD! 

OH SO STINKEN GOOD!

But before I get into the good stuff let us please address the fact that it is 16 degrees outside right now.  A snow storm came in full force last night and I wept as I pulled out my suitcase of winter clothes.  I am so not even ready for this.  Hahaha, oh Montana.  And Great Falls is one stinken windy city.  Not the best for those of us who have to wear skirts. Ha  I am still in disbelief that summer is over.  I still feel like it should be summer. But alas, we are passed summer and fall and now approaching the 400 months of winter.  Gotta love Montana.  

I feel like I say this every week, but I am amazed at the love our Father Heaven has for his children. And as of late, I am amazed at how well he knows me and hears my pleading prayers.  The past couple days we had evenings full of appointments.  But last minute they would cancel or not even show and everyone that told us they would be at church this week didn't come.  I was feeling pretty lame, I  was getting really frustrated and down on myself, wondering what I was doing wrong, and why no one wanted to see us or talk to us, blah blah blah and the list goes on.  And one thing after another happened and it sounds so sillly looking back, but I know that it was God telling me to keep my chin up and move forward.  One of which was talking to Dawn.  There is a woman we are working with in the ward by the name of Dawn and since our other appointments canceled we thought about calling her up and seeing her.  We saw a number in our phone under "Dawn" so we called it.  Turns out it was not the Dawn we were looking for, but that it was someone that missionaries had taught a couple months back.  She said, " You are the Sisters!? Well Sisters I have been reading my Book of Mormon like I have promised!"  Shut up woman, who are you!?  She had moved so we got her address and she invited us over this Tuesday. Out. Of. Control.  She is not in our ward boundaries anymore, but still.  What the heck. Another one was a family I had been trying to contact for months.  Just so happens that this night they chose to be home and let us right in.  We got to meet the whole family and they invited us back to have a Bible study with them last night.  Then, yesterday at church Brother Bailey came up to me and gave me an envelope with a poem inside.  It was just what I needed at just the moment I needed it.  It is called "He's Been There Before" By Elder Troy Whittle who at the time was serving in the Houston Texas Mission.  If you can look it up. Do it.  

This email wouldn't be complete without talking about my favorite person on this planet earth. Brother Larry Albert.  If there was any reason I was supposed to come to Great Falls, it was so that I could learn from this man.  He never ceases to amaze me with his humility and desire to know God. He was the one who came searching so he makes meeting with us, reading the scriptures, the gospel principles manual, and church a priority.  He works nights starting at 10pm and still no matter how tired comes to meet with us.  He eats up what we ask him to read and does what we ask him to do.  It is amazing what happens when people actually choose to listen to the Spirit and act.  I met this man from the beginning and I have seen amazing strides in his understanding of the gospel, his faith, and outlook on life.  He is a new and changed man because of what he is allowing into his life.  

So I read this in the Book of Mormon a couple days ago, and try and follow me on this.  Maybe I am totally off.  But it seemed really cool to me.  So in the gospel we talk about the baptism of water being the literal baptism and immersion into water and the baptism of fire being the receiving of the Holy Ghost.  I was reading in Helaman 5 about Nephi and Lehi and how they were preaching the word when they were thrown into prison. It goes on to talk about how the guards came in to kill the two of them but they were encircled about by fire.  In verse 23 it says, "Nephi and Lehi were encircled about as if by fire, even insomuch that they durst not lay their hands upon them for fear lest they would be burned.  Nevertheless, Nephi and Lehi were not burned and they were as standing in the midst of fire and were not burned.  And when they saw this....their hearts did take courage."  It made me think about how as members of the church we have received the gift of the Holy Ghost, we have received that baptism of fire. And the Holy Ghost acts as a protector and although we may not be able to see it, I do believe that we are encircled about by fire everyday.  To protect us and defend us in our daily lives.  And if we really understood the protection that was on our side, we would do as Nephi and Lehi did and our hearts would take courage knowing that the Spirit of God was with us encircling us.  Maybe I am way off. But it really hit me at that moment that we are being protected.  We are being surrounded and that our hearts can and should take courage for the difficulties we face because the Lord is with us. He is on our side, protecting us and leading us in the right way.  

I went on exchanges to Shelby this week. Shelby is surrounded by a whole lot of nothing.  It is a lonely and ugly drive out there and you just keep driving and keep driving until you almost hit Canada.  By the time I left the exchange I was so thankful to be serving in Great Falls.  In the city! Hahaha Shelby is a cute little town with a small branch.  Everyone knows everyone so it is really easy to talk to people and people are really kind.  But man was it small.  Too small.  Haha I was on exchanges with Sister Memmott.  She is such a dedicated and consecrated missionary.  I really enjoyed  being able to learn from her.  

Oh! I almost forgot! Transfer news came and Sister Black and I are staying! Woot Woot! My zone leader Elder Buntrock is leaving. He told me how old he was yesterday and I felt really old.  But Saryn! He is adorable and wonderful! You should love him.  He comes home from his mission in June and I told him I had a flaming hot sister  that could show him the ropes at BYU when he got home. Hahaha I am going to make this happen....I am so excited :)  But guess who is coming in to be my zone leader and share the ward with me.....that's right, the only other zone leader I have had my entire mission. Elder Holland. He seriously has followed me my entire mission.  6 months in Bozeman, then he came a transfer after me in Missoula for 6 months and now he is coming to Great Falls.  I obviously am not learning what I am supposed to learn from him.  Third time is the charm right?  

Well my familia! I am sorry this is short! My mind and brain are fried.  We did a lot of finding contacted a lot less actives in the ward. Pray for me and pray for miracles. I am ready to blow up Great Falls.  Let's make this happen! 

Really quick, I was reading my patriarchal blessing the morning and I wanted to share a part of it to you.  It says, " The Lord knows you.  He knows you well.  He knew you in the preexistent state and He knows you now.  he is watching over you to help you make the decisions pertaining to your life and to you situations and circumstances within your life. The Lord knows you well and He will guide you and direct you.  Pray unto the Lord. Ask for His help and His guidance in your life and He will magnify it to you and help you in fulfilling your responsibilities here upon the earth."  I was filled with so much love for the my Father in Heaven and my Savior Jesus Christ as I read those words. How true they are! The Lord knows us.  He knows us each so perfectly and knows us each so well.  Because we were with Him before, we were walking and talking and learning and growing with Him, he knows where we can be and who we can become.  I trust Him.  Even when my faith shakes at times and I wonder where He is taking me. I know deep within my heart that He knows and He just asks us to put our faith in Him and His gospel that was placed here for each of us.  I love Him.  I trust Him.  And I love this gospel with all of my heart.  It fills me with so much joy to know that I know my Redeemer and I know Him because of this gospel that is here upon the earth. 

You all are fantastic! I love you so much! Thank you for your support and prayers. I feel them lifting me everyday.  

Sure Love ya! Moline's Rock! Missionaries Rule! 

Sister COOOOOLLLD Moline

 Elder White is leaving. :( The best Zone Leaders!

 Sister Majors and me - totally normal!

November 1, 2014

HAPPY HALLOWEEN,

The time is flying by! Can we just talk about how it is already November and we just had Halloween?  How did that happen?  I feel like we should still be in summer. Dang, it went by so fast.  And this week was crazy.  It went by so fast, but at the same time I looked back on the beginning of the week and it feels like forever ago.  

So quick awkward update.  When Sister Black became my companion she was told that she was going to be an STL with me.  But apparently she is not supposed to be an STL with me.  The assistants called to ask me a couple questions about some sisters and I was like, "well you can talk with me and Sister Black since she is an STL as well..."  They were kind of awkward on the phone.  Then the next day we get a call saying there must have been some miscommunication and that I was a solo STL.  It was really awkward. So I am supposed to do exchanges all by myself....that might be rough.  But at least I am only over 4 sets instead of like Missoula where I had 16 sets.  Haha. 

Also, I love Sister Black.  She is like a breath of fresh air! We teach the same, our humor is the same, the way we think is the same.  It is wonderful.  She is a real champ. I don't think I wrote a whole lot about her, but she is the 2nd oldest of 4.  She has an older brother that is married to a recent convert.  She has two little sisters a 16 year old and an 11 year old.  And Sister Black goes home next transfer.  She talked with President and he asked how we were getting along and asked her if she wanted to stay with me until she finished her mission.  She said yes, so it is most likely that I will finish her mission.  She is from Price Utah and went to school for a little and wants to go into Elementary Education.  

I went on exchanges with the Sisters in Lewistown for a couple days.  Sister B (the love of my life)  and Sister Kupfer, who just came from Nauvoo.   It was so much fun! I have this love/hate relationship with exchanges.  I love it when I am on them, but going on them is really hard. I hate leaving my area.  HATE IT! It's the worst.  But I love getting the opportunity to help lift sister’s confidence and just praise the heck out of them, especially when they deserve it.  Sister Kupfer and Sister B could not be more opposite, but they make it work.  It was really neat to see Sister Kupfer come out of her shell and get comfortable with teaching. She has some crazy stories of protestors and anti Mormon people coming to Nauvoo.  But she said that a proselyting mission is much harder and more draining than what she was used to.  I hope I was able to help her a little.  

I have about had it with ____ and _____.  They have been frustrating me to no end recently.  Sister Black and I prayed about and really thought about a lesson we could have with them that would help them progress and help them desire to make changes for the right reasons.  Right now Becca is nowhere near baptism.  She has no desire anymore.  None.  And_____ just goes through the motions and we aren't sure where his testimony actually lies.  We feel like it is much more social than it is spiritual.  So we had this rockin lesson planned and they totally destroyed it.  UGH! My life.  We got there and _____ wasn't awake and didn't wake up for another 30 minutes.  And then the whole entire lesson he was making crude jokes, not paying attention, teasing _______ while she was reading and both of them gave us ridiculous answers to the questions we asked them.  We read 3 Nephi 11 with them and I asked what they were doing to prepare to meet God.  And _____ just laughs and says, " I am dying......get it? I am dying to meet God!?"  ______ I AM GOING PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE!  I was not having it. Sometimes I have to remember I am a missionary and not say the things that come into my mind.  I bit my tongue and said it was time for us to go.  I almost took my tag off and went off on both of them.  But, I kept my cool.  It is just so frustrating when you invest so much time and energy into someone, and they don't even care.  I think we are going to give them a  break and see where it all goes.  It makes me so sad.  But I refuse to baptize someone just because I taught them all the lessons and they answered correctly to the interview questions.  They need to feel it. They need to understand the seriousness of the covenant they are making  with God.  :(   

BUT! on a happier note! Brother Bailey had a cobbler party on Thursday and invited one of his tenants, Dennis.  Wonderful. That man is wonderful.  Earlier that day Brother Bailey gave Dennis a ride somewhere and Dennis started asking questions like, what is my purpose in this life, where is my brother who died.....yeah. Real talk. That happened.  So we taught him the Plan of Salvation and it went beautifully.  He is prepared my friends. prepared. prepared. prepared.  He is a very spiritual man that has gone through a lot in his life.  Between being homeless and having family members die, and being an alcoholic.  He has had some very profound experiences that lead him to God and have subsequently lead him here.  The Spirit was so strong in that lesson.  He was feeling it.  We are scheduled to have another meeting with him this Thursday.....with cobbler, which never hurts.  

Brenda, oh Brenda.  Pray for Brenda.  We taught her about tithing......and she was not about that. At all.  We had a recent convert, Martha Jones come to the lesson.  Sister Jones's husband is not a member nor does he want anything to do with the church.  It is the same with Brenda, so they connected really quick on that point.  So we thought it would be good to bring Sister Jones to the tithing lessons so she could bear her testimony how she was able to gain an understanding and testimony of tithing and how she has been able to do it without her husband supporting her.  But Brenda had a really hard time committing to living the law of tithing.  But understandably so.  She said they are barely able to make ends meet as it is and there was no way that her husband would allow her, nor would she be able to pay tithing to the church.  I think that lesson scared her off. She told us she didn't need a ride to church, but that she would walk. And when we woke up Sunday morning and it was snowing she texted and said she still didn't need a ride.  And she never showed.  We are going over tonight to see what's up.  I really hope that we can resolve her concerns and get to come to church.  She is so close! And this is when it really gets tough! She is so close, and that is when the adversary comes in full force. Dang you Satan! You little punk! Shave your legs!  

One of my companions always says, " SHAVE YOUR LEGS SATAN!" she went to this fireside where they were all given little cheap razors and the speaker said that when Satan was beating on you, hold up your razor and say, "SHAVE YOUR LEGS SATAN! Oh wait, you don't have any!" hahahahahahahahahaha I died. But I love it because it goes to show us that we have so much more power than Satan.  We have a body, we chose right, we are on the Lord's side. Hahah so when life gets tough everyone....just tell Satan to SHAVE HIS LEGS! 

We went to see Penny Taylor last night. OH how I love Penny Taylor.  She just cracks me up.  She is 70something and is the sassiest woman I have ever met.  So sassy.  She is a convert to the church and has a rock solid testimony. She amazes me.  She struggles in some aspects, which is why we see her, but she is incredible.  When we went over there last night, she was telling us about her family growing up.  I wish you all could come to these lessons with me and hear these people's stories. It would make your jaw hit the floor. And make you never complain about your life again.  Her Dad was an alcoholic and her mom smoked like a chimney.  Both of them were physically, emotionally, and mentally abusive.  Penny said she would cry herself to sleep as her parents had screaming drunken fits in the middle of the night.  She married 5 different times and married the same kind of guy that treated her like dust beneath his feet, she was raped as a young 19 year old girl at knife point and her own daughter was molested by her father.  I'm talking ROUGH life. And as we were talking I was overwhelmed with the Spirit bearing witness to me that God knew and she knew coming into this world that this was going to be her life.  And I could promise that God probably sat her down and said, "Penny, now  listen here, I am sending you to an abusive home, where you won't feel love, or significance and you will be treated terribly.  But I need you there because I need you to find the gospel and bring it to your family's life.  I know that I can trust you in finding the gospel.  I will be with you every step of the way, and when you find it, you will know. And you will know what to do."  And that is exactly what this amazing woman did.  She joined the church and because of her membership she was able to baptize her parents and her brother as well as do their endowments and sealings in the temple.  She bore a powerful witness to us that she knows they accepted it.  She knew they were there and they have thanked her many times.  One thing that I absolutely love about my mission is the love that I have for the people. I know missionaries say that all the time.  But it is so real! I love these people so much.  I meet them and tehy tell me some of the darkest places they have ever been and I can feel the Savior's love for them.  I am so grateful that I have this time to represent the Savior and when I say they are worth it, that they are loved beyond measure, that they have a purpose and diving gifts and abilities, that they are known and understood by God, that it isn't just what I think, but what the Savior knows about each of them.  Seriously, I leave every appointment with so much love for these amazing people. (well except for Karl and Becca at the moment....jk)  I am so blessed! I love my life!

I also got to be interviewed by President this week.  Oh how I love him! What an inspiring man.  I just leave those interviews feeling like I can do and become anything I want.  He has a way of making people feel worth it, and capable and loved.  He is just so wonderful.  At the end of the interview he gave me a big hug and told me how much he loved me.  Totes not allowed to hug.  But I guess the mission president does what the mission president wants.  Hahaha,  but I needed a hug from someone that I knew understood and loved me.  I will forever be grateful for President Mecham and what he has helped me become.  

I love my mission.  I can't lie and say it is always the best.  There are some hard days where I really just wish I could be home.  But those feelings and those thoughts of negativity are always followed by a spiritual confirmation and hug from my Father in Heaven that I am known.  I am loved. And I am where I need to be.  This gospel has changed me completely.  I am so grateful for the hard times and the good times.  Because it has stretched me to become and reach a higher level.  I love the gospel. I love my mission! 

Love you all! 

SIster Big Sky Moline