December 8, 2014

This week was out of control! So much happened! I will try my best to remember and tell you all! It is also a blur because I was sick a majority of the week. IT WAS AWFUL. I never want to do that again.  Ugh.  There has been something going around lately and so many people have been out sick as a dog.  I felt like I was knocking on deaths door. Not cool Robert Frost! But I am better now and I we back out working like wild animals.  \

Last week I wrote about visiting a less active woman and how her active husband came up to Sister Black and I told us that our visit was one of the best visits his wife had had from missionaries and to come back.  We went back earlier this week and got talking with the two of them and Cliff, the husband, began to tell us his conversion story.  After he was baptized they had a stake conference and a General Authority was coming to visit. As a new member he didn't really know what that meant so he didn't pay any mind to it.  He said that at the stake conference he sat pretty far in the back with a friend of his in the church when the General Authority walked in the room. Everyone stood as he walked to the stand.  He leaned over to his friend and asked him why they were standing.  The whole while watching the General Authority walk up onto the stand.  The General Authority stood on the stand then started walking down the isle straight to the back of the gym and turned right into Cliff's isle and shook his hand and said, " I understand you are a new member of the church.  I would like to personally welcome you into the church and hope to speak with you after."  Guess who it was?  BOYD K. FREAKIN PACKER! Yeah that is right! Cliff Holmes got choked up as he was remembering the feelings and emotion that came over him at that special moment in his life.  He had the opportunity to meet privately with Elder Packer on multiple occasions and spoke to us of the amazing and incredible spirit he felt.  He told us there was no denying that he was a man of God and held Priesthood keys.  I was so touched by his story.  That experience took place over 40 years ago and the feelings he had were still so visible.  He told us that it was those experiences that held him to the church when things got rocky and he questioned his faith.  And that is exactly how we need to be in order to stay strong.  We must remember.  We need to reflect and remember on the tender moments the Lord has given us throughout our lives.  Because it is those experiences that the Spirit can make manifest to us again of the truthfulness of the gospel. that God loves us and that His Son Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.  I hope to never forget the amazing experiences I have had while on my mission.  And it will be those experiences that I will rely on when my faith begins to shake.  The Lord does not give us spiritual experiences and manifestations just to strengthen our faith in that time but for the rest of our lives.  May we never forget!

Great Falls comes alive at Christmas time! It is awesome! Every year they close down Central where all the shops are and they have fun activities for families and all the shops are open and have fun sales or things to get people in their stores and it is just so much fun.  Everyone comes.  A man in one of the wards in the stake owns one of the stores down town.  He hasn't found anyone to rent it so he decided to have the missionaries help him in setting up his store for the Christmas Stroll.  We brought down two of his big plasma TVs, couches and Christmas tree.  His wife owned a craft store so she had LOADS of Christmas decorations.  The goal was to set up the store with He is the Gift playing on repeat and Mormon messages about Christmas playing on the other TV and to get people in by handing out free hot chocolate.  We spent two days decorating the place, and setting up a window display.  We had 18 missionaries in town come in to hand out hot chocolate and just talk to everyone.  We had 3 tables filled with pamphlets and pictures of Christ. We got members to donate some of their pictures of the Savior to help decorate the store. IT WAS A HUGE SUCCESS.  We had over 1300 people come through the store for free hot chocolate and missionaries were talking to people like CRAZY!  I got a couple of people's address and numbers.  Missionaries were outside the store holding signs and handing out pass along cards and singing Christmas Carols. And get this! I was talking to man and when I finished I got up and saw a family from BOZEMAN! That's right! My ward in Bozeman.  Sister Coltrin came up and gave me a big hug and we caught up with everything.  Her daughter was playing in the symphony so her and her husband came down and decided to go through the stroll.  It was a tender moment for me because my biggest fear is that no one from Bozeman would remember me and if I were to ever go back, no one would even think twice of me being there.  But seeing Sister Coltrin was such a tender mercy for me. They said they missed me singing with them in their home. :) Oh tenders.  Also Larry Albert came to the stroll....made my life. I was so happy he came.  But all in all the Stroll was a huge success.  A member posted some pictures of me on facebook in action spreading the good word of the Lord. haha it was cool.  

We also had Christmas Zone Conference this week.  PRESIDENT MECHAM IS INCREIBLE.  That man.  For each Christmas Zone Conference it is a lot of singing.  And I got to accompany everyone.  It was really cool to do.  The arrangements of what we did were awesome! I loved it.  I am so happy Sister Mecham asks me to play. Practicing is such  a release for me.  I also accompanied a couple missionaries in a musical number they did.  Woot! Woot! Those piano lessons are really paying off Mom! But President Mecham spoke and spoke about facing your fears.  I wish i could just record him speaking.  The way he says things is so powerful.  But he spoke about fear and how we need to stop it.  hahahaha it was awesome.  He said to act, and do! The Lord would bless us and we would see miracles.  Love. Also let's please address the fact that you picked the most disgusting and most embarrassing photo ofALL time to have put in the slide show.  OHMYGOSH! I had like 7 million people come up to me after and say, " Hey Sister Moline....I liked your picture." hahahahahaha so embarrassing.  Everyone's pictures were cute little baby pictures or family pictures....and then there was me.  Dad...I know that was your doing. You will never be forgiven.  

I still ahve so much to write! AH! Basically I love this area.  We had the ward Christmas party and I feel so at home here. I feel like this ward is my family.  There is so much love and so much support for missionaries in this ward.  I love it. I hope I can finish here. I will be so heart broken when I leave.  Gentry came to the Christmas party and really enjoyed it as well as a less active named Nikki! AND! Penny Burkstrand came to the party as well! WOOT! She came to church last week for the first time since Feb.  The ward saw her and pounced.  It was awesome to see the ward step in like that. 

A recently reactivated member in our ward, Debbie, has a friend she works with that said she wanted change in her life.  She gave her friend out number and we had a lesson with her on Wednesday. I spoke to her the day before to set up the appointment and Debbie called us later that day and said Jenna told her she felt the spirit as we spoke on the phone and knew that this is what God wanted her to do. The lesson went perfectly.  The Bishop's wife came to the lesson and did a phenomenal job.  We taught the restoration and when it got to the apostasy she stopped us and said, "Well does it come back!?  Does God ever bring back the power?"  hahahaha JENNAAA! YES! WE got to Joseph Smith and talked about having a prophet today and she was like. "this just makes sense to me.  No other church has this?  Why doesn't any other church have a prophet?"  hahaha we invited her to baptism! And she said yes, no doubts.  January 3rd.  She cried, we cried.  It was great. She has been through so much and has hit rock bottom and has nowhere else to turn.  On the way home the Bishops wife told us taht she sat in the car and was like, "I am so happy! Why am I so happy?"  And she asked her if as a member she still felt happy like that, if that lasted.  It was awesome.  Butttttttttt we found out she doesn't live in our stake.,......BOOOOO! I am so bummed. I can't even tell you.  Almost distraught.  But she lives with some psycho man and is trying to move.  SO we will try and get her to come to our side.  Cross your fingers. 


So all in all this week was very eventful and a lot of things got done.  This Christmas season I am so pumped to go out and talk about Christ with anyone and everyone. I want people to feel of the love of Jesus Christ and to know there is so much more! A woman in our ward bore her testimony yesterday.  She is older and has some mental disabilities. She is really soft spoken and can easily be overlooked. She said in her soft tone, I know I have a lot of friends here, because they hug me when I come here. I am proud to be a Mormon because I know I am loved."  That is what this is all about.  Loving people! People need and want the love that this gospel brings. And we are teh people to bring it. I am so thankful that I get this time just to love people.  It hit me at the Christmas party that I will never get to love people like this ever again.  I will never be able to have someone's progression and someone's life become the full focus of my time and life.  I will never be able to just show up at people's homes unannounced and talk solely about Jesus Christ and tell them that they are loved 24/7.  I won't ever be able to do this again.  I know that I still can do all of those things, but that is all I do right now. And when I go home life gets in the way.  I love my mission.  I love it so much. It has taught me so many things and helped me become so much more.  I can say that I have changed.  I am still me and I am still super weird, but I know who I am. I know my Father in Heaven on a much different level than I ever thought possible. I love this gospel. It means the world to me.  It has changed me and I have seen if change people.  I LOVE IT!

ALSO! Lindsay Shwendiman's sister just got her mission call to the Billings Montana Mission! She reports in January! INSANE!!!!!!


LOVE YOU! 

Sister Moreeeen