The muddy car!

January 26, 2015

This week was seriously OUT OF CONTROL! 

Miracle after miracle! It is crazy that this transfer is basically over. Next Sunday we get transfer calls. I AM SO NERVOUS. Part of me thinks I won't get transferred.....but if I do, it won't be the first time someone has been transferred their last transfer. I would love, love, love to stay and finish here. So much is happening and so many miracles are taking place. 

There is a family in our ward, the Hodson family that I am just obsessed with. LOVE THEM! And they just ooze talent.  Sister Hodson is an incredible pianist.  She graduated from BYU in accounting, but took piano from some of BYU's finest piano professors.  She composes, and accompanies professionally and is just plain ridiculous.   She called me up a couple weeks ago and told me that she had written this song a couple of years ago after she lost her son and wanted to put a video of the song on youtube with a slide show of pictures of kids with their parents and mothers with their children.  She asked me if I would sing and record the song for her!   Stttoooopppp.  She said she had been thinking of people to sing the song, and she woke up in the middle of the night with my name on her mind.  Shut upppp! I am too flattered.  But I learned it and recorded it this week with her and her husband.  It was really cool to talk with her about her experiences and how she came up with the music and everything.  She told me that her inspiration for music is actually a really spiritual experience for her and that the things she writes are never for her, but something God is using her to bless someone else.  There was a line in the song that said 

"I can't believe God would take you from me" and then later in the song it goes, " I am so glad that God sent you to me."  She explained to me that she had gone through these stages of grieving when she lost her little boy.  But that she had come to appreciate that trial so much more.  She said what a blessing it was for her that God didn't present us with an option of our trials.  Because she said if she had to choose between losing her son and going through all the pain, doubt and heartache but knowing he would always be hers and she could have him again  VS. not having to go through any of it and not have to deal with the pain and hurt but also never be able to have him, she probably would have chosen the second option! But she said it was through the heartache and struggle that she came to understand Christ's Atonement more fully and understand that her son is very much apart of her life and her family and she will have him again one day.  It was very powerful to hear of her hardships and hear her strength from them.  And that is what this life is all about.  Becoming.  God wants us to become and to be something greater and it is only through our trials and weaknesses that we come to rely upon something so much greater than ourselves and we draw strength and become stronger through accessing the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

This ties perfectly into one of our miracles this week.  We went to go see a less active in a locked apartment complex.  There are a couple of less active members that live there, including Tamara.  I have talked with her a time or two but she has never been super enthralled to talk to me.  We were standing outside of the complex waiting to be let in when Tamara wheeled by in her chair and passed by us, saw us then wheeled back and let us in.  She said, "Are you the church people? "  We laughed and said yes then she said, " I knew it, you just oozed church."  Hahahah good, good that is our job.   Then she told us that she wanted to meet with us as soon as possible. She seemed hesitant asking us and kept saying if we didn't have time it was okay and she understood if we were busy.  But we told her we had time for her and went up to her apartment where she burst into tears and  sobbed to us.  She said she had never felt so hopeless and so alone. Her mother had just passed away and she informed us of some other awful experiences she has had within the past year.  She said she loved the church and wanted it back so bad, but for so many years she had pushed the church and pushed the people in the church away and didn't know how she could come back.  We testified of the Atonement and her worth to us and to the church. I had her read Isaiah 41:10 and 13 and she sobbed and sobbed as she read those words.  The spirit was so strong and touched her so deeply.  If we had not been there right at that moment, she wouldn't have seen us or helped us into the complex. OH THE LORD IS IN THE DETAILS LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! HE IS IN THE DETAILS

Another example of perfect timing was when we were looking for a less active girl in the ward that is turning 12 and entering Young Womens.  The Young Women's president asked us to see if she would be interested in activities.  We went to the house and no one was home.  This was probably the 3rd time we had tried the house with no luck.  But right as we were pulling out of the driveway, the school bus dropped off a little girl.  Sister Storrs and I were like, ITS HER! So we went all creep status and rolled down our window and asked if she was Alexa.  We got talking with her and I am sure scarred her for life.  But if we had arrived just minutes later we would have completely missed her.  

I don't know if you remember me writing about Leanne and Charly.  We had a bomb lesson with them and then could never touch base with them again.  It broke my heart.  We have been praying that we would be able to somehow get in contact with them again.  Earlier this week Leanne called us and told us she needed us to come asap.  We called a member and ran over there as quickly as we could.  We were able to pray with her adn teach her about the plan of salvation and her purpose here.  The Spirit was there and so strong.  She cried and said the closing prayer and each of us had tears in our eyes as she spoke to her Father in Heaven.  Really spoke to Him.  When we got there she brought out all these purses she and earrings and necklaces she had and wanted to give them to us. I laughed it off, but she was serious and gave us all these things.  I was thinking about why she did that and how she probably knew of no other way to thank us and wanted to give us something.  The Lord has been preparing this woman for a long time and she is ready.  She joked about how no matter where she goes missionaries always find her and that God is obviously trying to tell her something. She said, "I could probably go to Japan and some Sisters would find me! "  hahaha The Lord is so aware of His children and she is probably right.  She could go to Japan and God would send her his messengers to bring her the gospel once more because He knows she is ready for change.  

Also this week we got hard core stuck in mud.  HARD CORE! WE made the mistake of going down a road that wasn't really a road.  And since the snow is melting everything is slushy and muddy.  Our car got DESTROYED with mud.  Hahaha poor Sister Storrs had to get out of the car and push and she got soaked in mud.  

ALSO MIRACLE!! I had my come to Jesus talk with Larry and he didn't really like that.  He said he would call us when he was ready to meet again. I thought I would be upset about it, but I felt like I did what I was supposed to in telling him it was time to move forward and stop staying in this comfortable zone.  We haven't talked to him a week.  I turned around after Sacrament meeting yesterday and Mr. Larry Love of my Life was sitting in the back row in a nice button up shirt with nice dress shoes and a smile.  He saw me and threw me a peace sign. Hahaha I sat with him in gospel principles and apologized and told him that I only said the things I did because I love him and see his potential. I told him the ball was in his court and he could call the shots.  He laughed at me and said, "Moline, get over it."  Haha as he left gospel principles he came up behind me and said, " I will see you Wednesday at 4:00"  and walked away. hahaha Oh that man. I love him. And Bishop pulled him aside and they had a good talk. OH Larry Larry.

We also had our lesson with Kirby the Book of Mormon man.  It rocked. Let's just say he knows it is true and believes in the Book of Mormon and the Restoration.  He has a lot of trust issues and has lost a lot of hope in humanity. He threw us some curve balls but we dodged them like pros.  He told Brother Bailey that he had never met people that cared so much and so willing to work with him and work at his level.  This poor man has no self esteem, but as we testify of God's love and mercy the expression on his face and the feel of the room changes drastically.  He knows and feels it's truth.  I LOVE THE GOSPEL.  It brings hope to the hopeless and meaning into our lives.  He is now seeing a purpose and a reason to live all because of the gospel.  

I am trying to think if I am leaving anything important out....probably. Ha this week was crazy awesome with all of the miracles and lessons we had! I love this work and I LOVE GREAT FALLS! Call President Mecham and tell him if I get transferred I am going on strike. 

I love you all so much! 

Sure love ya! Moline's rock! Missionaries rule!

January 20, 2015

FAMILY!

DANA MAY IS BAPTIZED! 

It went so well :)  He brought two of his non member friends and brought an inactive member to church to watch his confirmation on Sunday.  The Spirit was so strong! I love baptisms! AH! After he was baptized he told us over and over that he wanted to do it again. Oh Dana May! 

We had MLC this week in Helena.  Every time we have MLC I just get Spirit slapped around.  I feel like I am doing good and getting by and then we go to those meetings and I am reminded how much more I could be doing or how much better I could be performing.  Although I hate it, I am thankful that the Lord is willing to push me to go above and beyond and remind me that I am capable of being better than I am today.  

The Gilletts in our ward texted us one evening and asked if we would be available to come over and teach Sister Gillett's sister the Restoration.  Her sister came here from Alaska to visit and had a lot of questions about the Mormon beliefs.  She had met with missionaries in Alaska but was turned off after they were unable to answer her question as to why Nephi had to go back and get the plates in the Book of Mormon. COME ON! We taught her the Restoration....SO GOOD. OH SO GOOD. Brother and Sister Gillett have only been members for 22 years and Brother Gillett is the 1st counselor in the Bishopric. They are solid members. They are so converted to the gospel.  Every where they go they carry the Spirit with them.  I know the Spirit in that lesson was a majority because of them and how they live their lives.  When they bear their testimonies you can't help but feel the convincing witness of the Spirit. It is because they know that the church is true. They have no doubt.  The sister came to the baptism on Saturday, came to church on Sunday and we are teaching her again on Tuesday.  She will be baptized. Prophesy of Sister Moline. Ha, it may not be here or soon, but it will happen. 

We had some awesome miracles this week!
Miracle #1 I believe I have written previously about Myrissa.  Quick recap she is the mother of Penny Burkstrand's (a recent convert that is less active) two grand sons. Her boyfriend (Penny's son) is crayyyyyyy! So CRAY! UGH! He is bad new bears. Let me tell you. But Myrissa is so prepared.  We had a scheduled lesson on Wednesday with her and she cancelled last minute. I started to feel pretty discouraged about her and the progress she was making.  But we had a lesson with Penny on Saturday and Myrissa was there.  She had a huge list of questions for us.  She had been doing some research on mormon.org and posted some of her thoughts on facebook and gotten some nasty responses. She got a little freaked out by what some people were saying.  we were able to answer all of her questions and the whole time she said, "well that makes sense. Why wouldn't they believe that, it makes so much sense."  We invited her and Penny to church and they both came! We called to remind them about an hour before church and Penny answered and said that Marissa had already gotten up and showered and was ready to go.  We had a lesson with her last night and that girl is ready.  It is just a matter of her feeling ready.  

Miracle #2  

We had dinner with Brother Bailey this week and asked if anyone had been on his mind that we should go visit.  He mentioned one of his tenants that had been really struggling and could use an uplifting message.  Our appointment after dinner had cancelled on us so we went to contact Kirby and see if he would be interested.  Brother Bailey came with us to contact him.  If any one needs the gospel, Kirby does.  He let us right in and we had a very good discussion.  We gave him Book of Mormon and testified of power.  He voiced to us that he didn't see a reason to live anymore.  He saw no purpose in his life and no reason to move forward.  The Spirit was so strong and Sister Storrs looked him in the eye and said, " You are holding the reason to live in your hands Kirby." BOOM! Spirit smacked! We set up another time to see him this Friday.  We just talked with Brother Bailey and he said that Kirby thought that he was going to have to return the Book of mormon to us on Friday, so he has been reading in like crazy. He was reading it any free chance he got.   He said to Brother Bailey, "I don't know what this book has done for me but it has just given me so much more confidence."  Kirby had been working at his job and hadn't been paid for the last few months and he told Brother Bailey that he walked to work the other day and told his boss that if he wasn't going to pay him he was walking out.  THAT IS NOT KIRBY AT ALL.  Kirby has gone through some very awful things and his self confidence has hit rock bottom. He lets people walk all over him, and he never stands up for himself, hence why he doesn't feel a reason to even be alive.  It has been 3 days since we gave him the Book of Mormon.  And that is why you follow promptings ladies and gentleman! I strongly felt when we were sitting with Kirby that he needed a Book of Mormon, that the thing that was going to bring him reason to live was the Book of Mormon, not what we said, not what Brother Bailey said, or even for that matter the pamphlets that we gave him. But the Book of Mormon.  Just hearing that has increased my testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon and that God knows his children. He knows them and loves them.  And he knows what it is that each of his children need in this life in order to find happiness.  I know that when you choose to follow God and keep His commandments, you grow in wisdom and strength of character.  You can experience joy even in times of trial,  you can face life's challenges with a spirit of peace. And that is what the Book of Mormon offers.

THE CHURCH IS TRUE! It changes people's lives! 

Stay tuned for next week! 

I love you all! 

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

Sister Moline

 Dana's coffee and cup.  

Painting service project for a part-member family.

1-12-15

THIS WEEK FLEW BY! Saturday came and I had no idea where the week had gone.  This week was great though! So many miracles! 

We had dinner with a member of our ward, Sister Lahaderne. She is from Italy and moved to America to marry her husband when she was 22. She has this gorgeous thick Italian accent and makes THE MOST DELICIOUS FOOD EVER! We went over on January 6th for dinner and she told us some of the Italian traditions.  Apparently they do the 12 days of Christmas after the 25th and Christmas officially ends of January 6th.  And that is the day where La Befana comes and gives all the good little girls and boys presents.  It's like the female version of Santa Claus.  But La Befana is a good witch that used to be a princess or something.  Haha, So on the 25th is when they have a family dinner and focus of Jesus Christ and on January 6th, the last day of Christmas is when they have all the presents and stockings and stuff.  She told us the best thing about La Befana was the stockings.  She always put the best gifts in the stockings.  So la Befana had come and gave Sister Storrs and I our stockings with Italian candies and socks.  It was so much fun.  

DANA MAY UPDATE! When we had thought we had everything under control we heard from some other missionaries that he had been talking about Sister Storrs to them and he even brought up to Brother Bailey that he liked her too.  OH GOODNESS.  But. the Lord is good, good, good.  We had a lesson with him and Brother Bailey brought him to the church to have our lesson.  Brother Bailey was aware of our unfortunate circumstances and spoke to him in the car while they waited for us. He told Dana that having those feelings were inappropriate and that Sister Storr's reason to be on a mission was not to date or get married but to bring people to Christ. He asked him why he wanted to be baptized and if seeing Sister Storrs was why he was meeting with us.  At the end of our lesson Dana said, "and I know I can't like Sister Storrs.  I don't want to get you fired or something."  hahahah WONDERFUL! He apologized and said that he didn't want to do anything to get us in trouble and wanted us to have a good mission.  Dana is getting baptized this Saturday! We are going to be seeing him everyday this week to follow up on Word of Wisdom and read the Book of Mormon with him, so that the adversary has no room to make any moves.  One of the biggest issues was his coffee.  He carries around this thermos type deal that he always has full of coffee.  He told us earlier that he was married to that cup and quitting coffee was going to be hard.  In our lesson we told him that he had to be clean from coffee and smoking a week before he could be baptized and that this week was critical for him to make his date.  I asked how badly he wanted to be baptized and he said he didn't want to be baptized but needed to.  I asked him if he had faith, he said he did.  So I asked him to give me his coffee mug.  He not only willingly handed over his coffee mug, but he gave us all his lighters, coffee grinds, and matches.  He emptied all his pockets and said, I will be baptized Saturday! Ain’t nothing going to stop me! It's Monday and he hasn't smoked for 4 full days or had any coffee.  We also gave him a challenge that whenever he saw a missionary that he had to go up to them and ask them to share with him their favorite scripture.  There are a million missionaries at the library right now and he is walking around to everyone telling them he is getting baptized and he wanted to know their favorite scripture.  I know Dana's love is to Sister Storrs, BUT I LOVE HIM! He is so ready! 

Dion, is another investigator we have who is friends with Dana. We met with him this week and he came to church with Dana and they both were wearing white shirts and ties! My heart melted.  It just melted.  I loved it.  Dion is on board and is loving church and reading the Book of Mormon, but the only issue is he is on probation and doesn't get off until October. :(  BOO! Maybe we can pull some strings...we shall see.

OKAY EVERYONE! Babi.  Babi Nakai is in our ward list as a recent convert. But no one knows who she is, where she came from or anything about her.  When I got here to Great Falls I added her on Facebook and messaged her.  I have been to her apartment 400 million times, but never had any success or spoken to her at all. Her name always came to my mind, never knew why.  But a could months ago I messaged her again, and this week I got a response.  She told me that she was a member and had been going through some difficult things and she knew it was time to get back to church.  She asked if we could meet up sometime and talk.  YES! We brought our Relief Society President and met with Babi.  She was baptized about 2 years ago in Arizona.  She had a little boy in Arizona and put him up for adoption and the family that adopted her son was LDS.  They invited her to church and Boom! She was baptized.  She has a little 1 year old girl now and told us that she knew she needed to go back to church and feel the happiness she felt when she was baptized.  And sure enough, she came this Sunday.  We are going to Institute with her on Tuesday. BOOM BABY! My whole time in Great Falls I have looked for her and here she is all ready and good to go.  I love it.  You just have to trust in the Lord's timing.  

This week at church between the Elders we share the ward with and us, we at 18 less actives and investigators at church. Can we just talk about that for a second?  18!  Let that number just soak in for a moment.  We worked our tails off to get people there. Penny Burkstrand is the most wonderful person on this earth.  I think I had written about her before.  But she gave us a key to her house.  She said to call and wake her up in the morning and if she didn't answer to come wake her up....so we did. It was probably the strangest thing I have ever done on my mission. But we went to her house and woke her up and got her car and clothes all ready for church. AND SHE CAME! It was a miracle.  She hasn't been in so long.  I was so happy to have her there.''

Also Penny Burkstrand's son's girlfriend took the lessons with Penny.  Her name is Myrissa and she stopped taking the lessons after a while and no one really knows why.  But she has lived such a rough life.  SO ROUGH.  And Penny's son is not much help either.  He is an abusive, drug addict and is just a terror.  Sister Storrs and I were with Penny this week and invited Myrissa to participate and she did.  It was really cool to hear her speak up and say what she thought. She is only 20 years old and has two kids and literally has the worst life I could ever imagine.  We asked her about her experience with the Book of Mormon and the church and she said she felt something when she read the book.  She offered the closing prayer and in it she said, "God, I know that I feel you when I read the Book of Mormon, and I believe it is true.  I know that when I feel your presence if must be from you and it must be good."  OHMYGOSH WHY ARE YOU NOT BAPTIZED.  We taught her the restoration later in the week and she said she wanted to be baptized and wanted to pray and figure out the day God wanted her to do that.  SO AWESOME! Sister Storrs and i have been praying for there to be some divine intervention when it came to her cray cray boyfriend.  And God answers prayers. He is in jail until the end of February. I am so excited to see what happens.

  

ANNNNDD! I had a come to Jesus talk with my main man Larry Albert.  I basically told him that God was giving him these resources and tools and it was up to him what he was going to do about it. I talked with him about constant progression and taking steps of faith.  He reads everything we ask him to.  He eats it up. But for some reason church is rough for him.  I asked him why he thought we asked him to read and to do things.  He said it was because we wanted him to grow with God. I asked him if the readings we asked him to do did help him grow with God.  He said it did that he felt so much closer to God than he had in awhile.  Then I asked him why he thought we invited him to church.  He got the idea. And I told him that I was leaving in 2 months and I wanted to see him get the priesthood before I left.  That I had been working with him for 4 1/2 months and I knew he was ready. I wouldn't invite him to do something he was not prepared for.  And Larry Albert came. I could have cried. I could have cried. His fellow shipper gave him a  ride home and told me later that Larry wanted to meet with him some time and talk about the Priesthood because he wanted to receive it.  Again, tears came out of my face. I love that man.  Sister Storrs thinks I am crazy, but as cheesy and creepy as it sounds I feel a connection and bond with Larry that I don't with most other people I work with. I know for a fact that I was supposed to meet him that he was why I was supposed to come on a mission and come to Great Falls.      

I have to run! President is in town to do interviews so I need to get out of here.  I love you all and LOVE this gospel.  I can't think of a better way to spend my time than doing the Lord's work. It is indeed the work of God. I feel his hand leading and guiding me in everything I do.  I love the people here and it is incredible to me that the Lord trusts me enough to entrust me with his beloved children. I hope and pray I am making Him proud. 

Love you!

Sister Molinsky

 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

If you are wondering if that is Hugh B. Brown's grandson, well yes, it is!  Creeping at its finest!

1-5-15

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It is so weird to think that for the whole year of 2014 I did not participate in society at all.  The whole year of 2014! I have no idea what happened in the world besides Robin Williams dying and Ebola.  Ha, so weird to think about.  

New years was great! It sounds like New Years was great for everyone else too! New Years we went over to a couples house in our ward with the Elders, the Hickmans, and got to play games. P.S.  Phase Ten is MY GAME! I smoked everyone like there was no tomorrow.  BOOM BABY! Watch out! It was so much fun.  We ate appetizers and laughed and played games.  It was the best.  We got permission to stay out until 10:30 and let me tell you, by 9:00 I was so done.  I have tuned into an old man.  The night time is no longer my friend. But we went home and went straight to bed.  We celebrated the new year at 10:00 which was really funny and strange, but it was fun.  I am so happy that you all went out and banged pots and pans.  That just makes my life.  I love it.  

Two very eventful things happened this week. HAHAHAHAH! So for Christmas we got a million Subway gift cards from members and on Tuesday we decided to go to lunch there...I don't even like Subway, but I took one for the team.  As missionaries whenever the car is in Reverse the passenger has to get out and back the car.  I was doing that for Sister Storrs and backing directly behind the car. I now know that if there if you are standing in between the car and a wall it is probably not the greatest place to be. She was getting pretty dang close to the wall and she didn't hear me yell at her to stop the car, so she kept backing until she pinned my right leg up against the wall! LET ME REPEAT! MY LEG GOT PINNED UP BY A CAR AGAINST A WALL.  Let that sink in for a moment.  I immediately started hitting the car and yelling at her to pull forward.  When she did I hobbled over and flopped  my body into the rolled down back window.  She pulled forward with half my body hanging out of the window.  Let me tell you we were quite the scene!  My leg hurt pretty  bad, but I could not stop laughing.  I just kept replaying in my mind that I had just gotten pinned by a car.  No big deal.  Luckily it just turned into a huge bruise.  I can finally walk without limping which is always a plus. hsahahaha.  

Eventful thing numba two! HAHAH remember Dana May the most wonderful man ever?  This eventful experience I didn't even get to experience first hand because I was on exchanges in Shelby. But We taught Dana and his friend Deon earlier this week the Plan of Salvation and the Word of Wisdom.  It went really well and they both agreed to start now in living the word of wisdom.  We encouraged them to write down some of their goals in the back of the Word of Wisdom pamphlet and we could go over them our next lesson.  Later in the week Sister Storrs saw Dana at the library and asked him how living the word of wisdom was going.  He said it was hard but that he was able to write down his goals in the pamphlet.  He handed her the pamphlet and started walking away. Sister Storrs told him to wait  and she would give it back to him.  He said she could just hold onto the pamphlet until our next lesson.  What happened next was not expected. AT ALL.  She opened it up and he had written down his goals.  #1 to stop smoking, #2 stop drinking #3 have a family #4 BE WITH SISTER STORRS! then he wrote out how he wanted to be with Sister Storrs and how tired he was of being lonely and all of this stuff.  NO DANA! NO! YOU LOVE THE SPIRIT! YOU DO NOT LOVE HER! The spirit is the love you feel!   It was so sad. Poor Sister Storrs was just beside herself. She had no idea what to do or say. Don't worry we role played it about a million times and at our next lesson Sister Storrs was able to talk to him about the Spirit and the church and our role as missionaries.  it went well. She is still freaking out about it and doesn't feel like she can even look at him anymore.  I thought it was hilarious.  But hopefully the love in the air will settle down and he will be able to be baptized on January 17th. 

MIRACLE! So Leanne and Charly were the girls we taught that are related to larry Albert and we had a super rockin lesson with them.  I swear this keeps happening.  We meet someone absolutely golden have a super spirit filled lesson, put them on date, then never see them again.  We have had lessons with them but they keep canceling over and over again.  Luckily we had  Sister Hickman at our lesson with them and she was able to talk with Charly last night and Charly said she was really struggling and having a hard time.  So Sister Hickman invited her over for dinner tomorrow with us and offered to pick her up.  WOOT! Even though we haven't had a lot of contact with them Sister Hickman was able to talk with her and help build her up. Members are the greatest.  

Exchanges were really good.  Shelby is not the place for me though. I swear. every time I go on exchanges it just solidifies my love for my area and my companion.  Small towns are not my thing. But we had a really funny experience there.  We went up to a less active mans house and while we are on the porch Sister Wing leans over and says, it will look like he is not wearing pants....but he is, don't worry.  WHAT IN THE WORLD!? HA and sure enough.  He answers the door and it looks like the man is wearing no pants.  He is wearing a normal T-shirt but he was wearing women's athletic shorts. Like Nike shorts or something.  It was so interesting.  All there was to see were some long hairy man legs.  And a lot of it.  Hahaha we had a good lesson with him and committed him to renew his covenants at church and he was really touched and agreed to come.  

Because of exchanges and New Years we didn't get to teach as much as normal, but pray for me the weather is insane and snowing like the cray and I am the one to drive.....pray for the safety of all others on the roads....

I love you all and hope you have a great first week of classes and everything! You are all in my prayers! 

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

 Gingerbread house making with Sister Black!

 Goodbye Sister Black

 MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!  From Sister Storrs and Sister Moline

Missoula sisters I saw at transfers.

December 29, 2014

CHRISTMAS WAS JUST SO DANG WONDERFUL! 

Talking to all of you was definitely the highlight of my day! I had a companion that when she talked to her family just hated it. She felt like it was so awkward.  NOT WITH US! I just feel like everything resumes back to normal when I get to talk with you. I love being able to tell my companions that my siblings are some of my greatest friends. Dad sent tons of pictures and it looked like you all had a blast.  

Christmas was great! We had breakfast with the family we live with that morning and then I got to skype all of your beautiful faces.  And then we got to go from house to house and play games and eat food with ward members.  We played Apples to Apples and Taboo (which I owned at p.s.)  and Clue.  It snowed on Christmas Eve and Christmas and basically everyday since then.  It is lame stuff.  We tried drive to our dinner from our house yesterday and it took us 30 minutes for this Texas girl and my Californian companion to get us out. We definitely have extra angels doing something for us because we have had so many near death experiences driving in this.  Example A:  We were at a fairly large intersection at a stop light.  The rode I was on was a giant hill and I had to stop at the tip of this hill and wait for the light to turn green.  The moment we got up that hill I knew we were going to have a problem.  The light turned green and I went to go, but instead of moving forward we started slipping backward!!!!! AND THERE WAS A CAR BEHIND US! I just screamed at Sister Storrs to pray.  PRAY SISTER STORRS! PRAY!!! HAHAHAHA We both were screaming.  Luckily the poor car behind us escaped and we were able to burn some rubber and make it up the hill.  Angels...let me tell you. Angels.  

Christmas day we had dinner at a part members house and they had a friend over and we were able to talk to her for a little bit and she said she would like to have her own copy of the Book of Mormon and meet with missionaries.  BOOOM!  

Do you remember me talking to you about Dana May?  He is the homeless guy that walked 30 minutes to church?  So I guess technically he is not homeless.  He lives at The Mission which is a place for people to live until they can get a job or find a place to live permanently.  But we met with him on Saturday and he brought a friend of his.  We taught the Restoration and invited both him and his friend, Deon to be baptized.  Dana was all about it! He said he wants to be baptized and that he loves church.  Deon was a little more skepticle and said he wanted to learn more before committing but wanted to come to church with Dana.  They both came to church and Dana even wore a tie! It was wonderful!  AND! THey both participated in Gospel Principles. I am in love. They are wonderful. 

So super sketch moment.  There is this man I see at the library ALL the time.  He lives at the mission too.  Dana told us he is really strange. I didn't think anything of it, but he approached us the other day and asked if could have a Book of Mormon.  We had just handed out all our copies but told him we would get him one.  He said he would catch us later, but then came up to us again asking for the address for our church.  Totally normal except he wouldn't look at me in the eye and kept walking around not paying attention to what I was saying and when I handed him the card he held my hand....SUPER AWKO TACO.   I just saw him here and gave him a Book of Mormon.  He was at a computer and I approached him and said hello and he completely ignored me so I just set the Book of Mormon next to him. Kind of akward?  YES more like supremely awkward.  But it gets better.  Moments later he gets up and comes up behind me and gives me a hug.  IT SCARED THE PANTS OFF OF ME.  It was uncomfortably long.  And then he walked away....strangest encounter I have ever had...by far. 

But something that is so interesting that has happened for the past two weeks is that we have found so many new investigators but not at all by our doing.  Literally they have just come to us by our less actives.  We would go to teach a less active and they would have a friend there.  Crazy, crazy.  So even though we had Christmas this week we were still able to teach 20 lessons and find two new investigators.  God is good, good, good. 

Larry is doing wonderful.  I love him.  He is back to happy go lucky self.  LOVE THAT MAN

I just wish I could have you meet and love these people like I do.  They are so wonderful.  

By the way! I loved the package from the ward and the primary from the Plano 8th ward. As well as all the wonderful lotions and PAJAMAS! Thank you madre and padre.  Also for the money :) Get ready to see the new hair do next week. :)  Big shout out to Grandma Warr and Grandma Shirley for the wonderful heart felt packages full of goodies! You are wonderful! Love you all.  

I love you all so much and love this gospel.  It is the source of happiness in this life.  I love Great Falls, I love my companion and I love my life! 

Love you and miss you!
Sure love ya! Moline's Rock Missionaries Rule!

Sister Molinsky

December 22, 1014

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 

I literally am almost in tears I am so excited to talk to you on Christmas! AH! I just can't stand it! I am so stoked. So here is the deal.  Our Bishop had members sign up to see us every hour on Christmas Eve and Christmas day starting at 1:00 pm.  So if we could figure out the Skype thing that would be superb.  So basically anytime before 1:00 I can Skype. And it will probably have to be skype on my ipad and not a google chat because I don't have a computer I can use.  So let's figure out who I will be skyping and stuff.  If you happen to be on now, go ahead and email me and we can figure it out now, or I will just have to get on later this week and see what you say. But President encouraged us to have you write back as soon as possible so we could get it all figured out.  I AM SO EXCITED! Also, did my package come?  :)

So! I got my new companion, Sister Storrs! I told you a little last week about her, but I served with her for 6 months in Missoula as her Sister Training Leader.  She is now STL with me and I honestly could not think of anyone better.  She is awesome.  She is from Palmdale California and went to BYU and was studying Psychology but wants to go to a dental hygiene school when she goes home. Let's see....she has 3 older brothers that all served missions and are married....hmmm and she just rocks! I am excited to get things going here. But real talk.  We had a BOMB week! So many amazing miracles.  

Usually transfer week it is pretty slow because there is a lot of traveling and meetings and figuring things out with the new comp in the area.  BUT NOT US! WOOT! WE had over 30 lessons this week. Found 6 new investigators and put 3 of them on date to be baptized.  And these people literally just fell into our laps.  UNREAL.  

One day this week we went over to Larry Albert's house to cancel a lesson we had set with him.  A woman answered the door and let us in and as we were talking to Larry I just had this thought to invite her to come to our next lesson.  I told her she was always welcome to come and that we were meeting with Larry at 4:00.  She didn't say much but appreciated the invitation.  The next day we were at the library with Larry and I saw her walking by us! So I yelled her name and she came over and studied with us.  It just so happened that we were reading the talk "Using the Supernal Gift of Prayer" By Richard G. Scott from the April 2007 general conference.  And she ATE it up.  She kept relating the talk back to herself and how she felt about prayer and God.  We testified and she was SO there.   We gave her a Book of Mormon and asked if she wanted to meet again. She said yes and that she wanted her daughter Charlie to be apart of it.  WOOT! WOOT! Later that week we met with them and they were super late and we had another appointment so we showed them He is the Gift and gave Charlie a copy of the Book of Mormon and testified our faces off.  And then bold SIster Storrs asked them right then and there if they wanted to be baptized.  BOOM! Spirit was high and they said yes! Immediately.  Right on Sister Storrs! We had a member there with us and we set up another appointment for last night to teach the Restoration and our member picked them up and brought them to their house.  Seriously. Most incredible lesson I think I have ever taught in my life. You know the expression when people say the spirit was so thick you could have cut right through it?  Yeah. This lesson.  There were so many times when I opened my mouth and was speaking and literally had no idea where that even came from.  Leanne began crying when we invited her to baptism again and set a date.  She said she just felt so warm and tingly and so peaceful.  Charlie,  her daughter is a lot more quiet but she said at the end of the lesson she felt so loved.  The members we had there were so inspired. They said the right things at just the right time. Leanne is temporarily living with Larry and I have been over at that house a million times to talk with Larry or try and find him and never have been let in or spoken to anyone there. That house is so sketchy though.  A lot of drugs and a lot of sketchy stuff happening there.  Leanne told me that there would be such a dark spirit in that home when she would visit and she would pray for God to help them and then two Sister missionaries would knock on her door and she looked at me and said, " you are my hero."  I could have just broken down in that moment. I know that we were meant to find and teach these two women.  They are so prepared.  Missions are so hard at times, but this makes it all so worth it.  I have such a good feeling for Leanne and Charlie.  WOOT! GO SPIRIT! 

Another miracle of the week! I was at the library earlier this week and saw a man sitting on a couch in the library.  I saw him when we walked in and thought I should give him a He is the Gift card, but we were in a hurry so I didn't.  As we were leaving he was still sitting in the same place and although we were running out of there I promised myself I would not let a prompting go by not acted upon.  So I gave him the card, our number and teh address for the church.  Later in the week I saw him again at the library and said hi.  He said he stopped by our church during the week and two men showed him around.  He said he wanted to come to church on Sunday.  AND HE TOTES MAGOTES DID! He walked! HE WALKED TO CHURCH IN THE DANG COLD! We gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and set up an appointment.  I just saw him and he came up to me and said, " I haven't forgotten about our appointment! I will see you Friday." My heart! He has stolen my heart! He is a rough looking guy, living at the Mission.  But let me just tell you, this gospel is for everyone and everyone can feel the Spirit and have it testify of truth. I know that!  I did not expect honestly anything to happen by handing him a card, but God knows who is ready, it is just up to me whether I am going to pay attention to God when he is telling me. 

Baby Llama Drama Mamma! Larry broke up with us and then took us back this week.  It is kind of anti climactic now that I tell you because we worked things out and now we are back to teaching him. We had a lesson with him and the moment I saw him I knew something was up.  He was not himself at all.  We had a lesson with a member, and at the end of the lesson I asked him a question and he pointed at me and said, "I know you. I have met with you and trusted you.  I am not going to tell random strangers my life. You get that?"  Whoa Nelly....where did that come from? and immediately after he bolted for the door. The whole lesson he was so off and not engaged or there at all.  I ran after him and asked him what was going on and he said things were going on at home and he needed to leave and just left.  The next day we go to meet up with him and right when we approached him he just told us. no.  Not today.  And was really upset.  He said if he wanted to be enlightened he would call us.  He told us not to come by anymore.  Apparently he was offended by something the member said that just set him off.  It literally felt like I was getting broken up with.  I have met with Larry EVERYDAY for the past 4 months.  He trusts me and knows me very well.  I can read him like a book.  I know exactly when to let him ponder and think and when I need to probe the conversation with a question.  I just get him.  And Larry is a very slow to warm person. It has taken so long to get where we are and then BOOM! He drops us.   I am not going to lie, my eyes filled with tears.  I am so invested into Larry and getting him to progress and renew covenants.  But I trusted that he would feel a difference from meeting with us everyday to not meeting with us at all. And sure enough.  We get a call THE NEXT DAY and he basically could have sung "BABY COME BACK!"  He apologized and asked for our forgiveness and said he knew that he needed to meet with us in order to get out of the hole is has been in.   We met with him yesterday and he said, " I come in peace and repentance"  Haha i love that man! Larry honestly is someone that I know God has placed me here for.  He has changed me so much and my goal is have him receive the priesthood by the time I leave.  That is happening.  

Also, fun fact, I totally stepped in dog poop and almost threw up.  Literally I was gagging over the sink as Sister Storrs, this angel sent from God, got it off my shoe.  My poor children...I will never be able to change their diapers either they are being shipped off until they are potty trained or the hubby will have to do.  Too much gagging. 

Also something that I just adore about Great Falls is definitely the people.  I don't know what is in the water or what, but people here instantly treat you like they have known you your whole life. You immediately become family.  I feel so at home here with the people.

It never ceases to amaze me how the Lord is able to comfort me and bring me back to reality.  There are times where I wonder where my efforts are going and what I am doing but I was reading in 2 Nephi 4 and I forget what verse, but where Nephi says, "For I know in whom I have trusted." Why do I freak out when I know that God is in control? HE IS THE KNOW ALL BE ALL.  I have no need to wonder or fear, because I trust Him.  And He is God. I know He will take care of me and my companion and my investigators and less actives.  I know that He is aware of our greatest concerns as well as the smallest concerns we have.  I am so grateful to have come to know him like I have.  He is my everything.  I have watched the He Is the Gift video 700 times and what I cannot get over is the fact that God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten to us.  We are often told that Jesus Christ is the reason for the season. But I also think it is appropriate to say that we are the reason as well.  We are the reason He came.  He came because He loves us all infinitely. Which at times is difficult for me to comprehend. But I believe that.  I know that as we trust in Him and act we will know the peace we all are wanting to find.  I don't even know how to express my thoughts correctly.  But just know that I know He lives. I have felt his power and his enabling and redeeming power DAILY.  How I lived before knowing Him like I do...I have no idea.  He lives and I love Him.  

I love you all and cannot wait to talk to you! Peace and Love! 

Sister Holy Moly

December 15, 2014

Sister Black is officially home! SO WEIRD! We were able to say goodbye to a lot of people in the ward.  But I never want to do that again.  Sister Black was awesome and I love her to pieces. But being with her 24/7 made me feel like I was going home too! I am glad I wasn't. I still have so much to do.  But it's weird to think that this actually comes to an end.  Really sad to think about.  

But we did get transfer calls and I am staying here in Great Falls and am getting Sister Storrs! I actually was her STL in Missoula and absolutely love her.  I am so stoked to be able to work with her here.  I was so stinken nervous for transfers and who I was getting. I have no idea why. And I even had this cray cray dream that I got some insane psycho companion that tried to kill me.  SO glad that is not happening! Hahaha, But I am really excited.  

Sister Hixon was a missionary in this mission that went home last transfer. She actually knew Maurie from BYU. But she served in teh same ward that I am in now.  She came back up here with her parents to visit the mission and I got to talk with her about people she worked with and that I am currently working with.  It was really fun to be able to catch another perspective from someone that has been here before.  

 Larry Albert, aka the most wonderful man on earth, is making some sweet progress. It is my goal to have him receive the priesthood before I go.  That man is the best.  We had a lesson on the Holy Ghost this week and he talked about the ways that he has felt the influence of the Holy Ghost.  He talked about the Book of Mormon and meeting with us as well as prayer, but he mentioned something I wasn't expecting.  He said the members of the church.  He said, " I don't know many people in the ward, but every time I go, complete strangers approach me and welcome me to church.  And it isn't fake.  I can just feel that these are good, genuine people.  I feel a power and Spirit about these people that I don't even know." ROCK ON OVERLOOK WARD! A mission has really helped me know what kind of member I want to be.  Larry is not a super social guy.  Very private and reserved, so when people talk to him, he doesn't give much of a response. But it makes an impact.  A mission has just really given me the behind the scenes kind of outlook on a lot of things.  I have come to know that I want to be the kind of member that goes out of their way to say hello to an unfamiliar face regardless of the reaction that is given to me in response.  It makes a huge impact on those that go out of their way to come to church.  He also said that it is coming to a point where he knows he is going to have to make a choice about church and his old life.  I asked him what he was feeling and he just held up his gospel principles book. I just got a huge smile on my face.  LARRY ROCKS! I just want you all to meet him.   We talked a lot about the Priesthood and the Temple.  He wants to be able to go to the Temple and receive the temple one day and when I told him that he could get it now.  He just looked at me and said, "I can?"  I told him that if this was something he wanted, it could happen. Rock on larry! He feels the weight of the responsibility and knows of it's importance. But he said he is willing to work towards that and become worthy.   


P.S. Rhenon emailed me and said she is going to the temple in February! WADDDDUUPPPP! I am so there.  I can't even explain how insanely happy that made me.  Rhenon! That woman! I just love her to pieces.  

We went to Gaby's house this week for a Christmas party. HAHAHA Gaby is a convert to the church from Germany.  She lives with her bed ridden sister and care giver.  She is in her 70's and is THE FUNNIEST PERSON I HAVE EVER MET.  She always calls us honey and darling and literally pinches our cheeks. I have never had someone legitimately pinch my cheek before.  But it happened. And I never want to experience that again.  Hahaha she is totally not active and has no desire to come back but she loves the social aspect of it.  We went to her party because we knew there were going to be non members there. She swooned over my past zone leaders.  Always calling them and telling them how cute they were.  But ended up using them like there was no tomorrow.     Haha We went with our zone leaders now and let me tell you. Gaby has a FAT crush on Elder Holland.  He came in and it was like no one else existed.  We got talking with some of the women that work there and got to share He Is The Gift.  But not Elder Holland.  hahahah Gaby had him under her little thumb.  She asked us all where we were from but no one else existed but Mr. Elder Holland.  And when we left She gave him a kiss! hahahahahahahahahahahahahah I DIEDDD! Literally died.  And she kept telling him that he was so darling and just a cute little man. Hahahaha I guess you may have had to be there to experience the supreme awkward spirit there. But it was so funny.  

While Sister Black has been gone, I have been able to be companions with Sister Major.  She actually knew Maurie too from school.  SHE ROCKS. She is an older missionary, 32 years old to be exact. But she is killing it. She is so ready to work.  That is such an awesome benefit to having an older missionary.  She definitely had to make the decision to come out and is willing to make this worth her time. We have been covering both areas for the past little while and it has been crazy hectic covering both wards.  But I have loved teaching with her.  She is so in tune with the Spirit.  There will be times in some of our lessons that something will come into my mind to say and the next thing that comes out of her mouth is the exact same thought I had.  

We had an experience teaching an investigator in her ward this week. Her name is Carissa and she had a baptismal date for January 13th. We got there and you could just feel the stress.  She has 3 kids. A 14 year old, 2 year old and a 3 month old.  The 3 month old was teething and crying and crying the two year old kept nagging at her trying to get her to do things.  She is a single mom, her husband is in jail and she just recently got out of jail.  And you could just see the exhaustion in her face.  She brought out her BOM and pamphlets and said she wasn't sure about baptism.  She said she barely had time to breath. It was already 8:30 and she hadn't even had time to make dinner for her kids let alone read the BOM and think about the things we have been teaching.  And she began to cry.  My heart just sank. Can we just talk about how much Satan is just the biggest butt muncher! I got so mad sitting there with her. Just leave the dang woman alone! She is trying to make these incredible changes in her life and he has to get in the way! We sat there for about an hour and let her just vent to us and we were able to testify of the enabling power of Jesus Christ and his atonement.  She brought her BOM to work with hopes to read it and wasn't able to. But I stopped her right there when she said she didn't read and couldn't and didn't have time and said, BUT YOU BROUGHT IT! You had all intentions of doing it and God knows that! God does not nor will he ever ask us to be perfect, but he asks us to give it our best shot. I looked at her through tears in my own eyes, this woman I just barely met, and told her not to give up on God because He was never going to give up on her. My heart just ached for her knowing the pain she was going through and the stress she was feeling.  And I feel like I got a small taste a very small glimpse at how our Heavenly Father feels for each of us when we are in pain and suffering.  HE CARES.  HE KNOWS! And dumb dumb satan just tries to ruin the progress we are making towards knowing our Savior more.  What a chump.  But the Spirit was incredibly strong as we spoke to her.  

I am sorry this email is wicked short and really random.  This emailing session has been kind of nuts. I have gotten a lot of calls and had to take care of some things.  But all is good!

I love you all so  much! I want you to know that I LOVE MY MISSION. This is the best thing I have ever been lead to do. I have never felt so much love for people that I don't know ever in my life.  I know my Savior lives and that He knows us! I know that! This gospel is the source of joy and peace in this life amidst the chaos and confusion this life brings. I cherish this gospel and everything it entails.  I have never been so full of joy before in my life.  The Book of Mormon is true and I know without a doubt in my heart and mind that it is God's word and that as we read it we will come to know our Savior Jesus Christ more fully.  

I love you all so much! Talk to you soon!