9-4-13

Annie’s Letter

Hello wonderful family of mine! Thank you all for your emails! I think this is the first week in a long time I actually got an email from ALL of you! Yay! I'll have to send more people out there to meet you! The Youngs had a great time with you, they just love you guys and Sister Perrine as well. She was raving about the cookies you gave her dad. Thank you guys for being so amazing. I'm so lucky to have you all! So this week... JONI GOT BAPTIZED!! It was such a miracle!
On August 23 during weekly planning Sister Nalls and I set a goal. One baptism. Joni was getting baptized dang it! So we went and saw her, we hadn't been able to get a hold of her for weeks, but she was standing at her door! So we took her to the church and gave her a church tour. She had never seen some of the rooms, or the font. So at the font we had a very spiritual lesson and talked about baptism. We knelt and prayed and then she got a blessing from Brother Wozniak and Brother Sponseller. She decided to get baptized. So I called Elder Merkely (new albany) and he agreed to come to Mt Vernon the next day to do an interview. NO PROCRASTINATING FOR JONI! She passed with flying colors and the date was set for Saturday. It was a long week. I was a little nervous all week, we couldn't get ahold of her very often (shocker) but she was still good to go. Elder Duranll called EVERY DAY to check if it was still on. geesh. So Saturday rolled around and she showed up at the church. She was so happy. For a musical number we had the primary sing I am a child of god. There weren't very many people here since it was a holiday weekend, but we had a good crowd. The Amish kids made up most of the group, a few kids from the ward and then 6 missionaries joined in! SIs Nalls, Sis Arnell, Sis Meredith, Elder Durnall, Elder Bean and Elder Hansen. I played the piano... of course. The spirit was so strong and it was so perfect for Joni. It was wonderful :-)

Last August when I was with Sister Richardson in Marysville we had a miracle baptism as well. I love august! Refresher on Kyle. This is from my emails sent on August 13 and August 20, 2102. :-)
We a mission goal of getting 50 baptisms in August. We have been praying and fasting and working hard to be able to contribute and not rely on the other companionships in the mission. (Bonus, check out mormon night for the Columbus Crew... If we get 50 baptisms we get to go to the Crew game (pro soccer) and all the missionaries get to be on the field at halftime and members and investigators can get discount tickets to the game! I'm stoked!!) Well...On Friday we got a referral from the media center. This kid wanted a Book of Mormon and wanted to know more about the church. That same evening we got a call from Sister Missionaries in Kirtland about him, he was chatting with them. He really wanted us to contact him. We promised we would as soon as possible. We went to his home the next day but no one was home. So we called him and he told us he would call us back. Sunday after church we had a missed call from him! So we called him back...and missed him. But then he called us back! And asked if we could meet with him at the church right then! We said of course! So we quickly called a member, Shelly Lundstrom and she came with us. We love the Lundstrom's. They are very missionary minded and so willing to do anything they can to help us out. So we run over to the church and met Kyle. Kyle is great. He has been involved in the Marysville ward scout troop (when he was younger) and knows several of the families in the ward. He has member friends, has attended church once, and has met with missionaries before and just really been surrounded by members for a lot of his life. We extended a baptismal invitation to him and we barely got to finish the question before he answered "YES" not maybe or a hesitant yes, a resounding total and complete yes. This boy has a testimony that is growing and he has a desire! We are very excited! He wants to be baptized before he goes to college in a week and a half... he will have only attended church twice at that point and we don't like doing confirmations at the baptism. So we called Elder Harris (our DL) and asked what he thought he said "it should be okay, call the assistants" so we called the assistants and Elder Lund said "baptize him and confirm him! But ask President first." So we called President Nilsen this morning...and couldn't get a hold of him! His family has been unavailable all weekend as his daughter got married on Friday...to a former assistant. haha! anyway... that means this story is at a cliffhanger ending right now. I will be able to tell you... "the rest of the story" (thank you Paul Harvey!) next Monday. But pray that everything will work out so he can be baptized! He is our August baptism! he has been so prepared! He is just a stellar kid! We have another lesson with him tonight. We have to get through all the lessons before August 21 (the baptism is scheduled for the 22 and he has to have an interview...) so we will be seeing Kyle a lot this week! This is one of those mission miracle stories. When you have faith, work hard, and never give up Heavenly Father really does bless you. Don't ever forget that. Hello family and friends! I'm sure you have all been just on edge all week waiting for the outcome of this story of Kyle... well let me tell you all about it! We talked to President Nilsen and he told us to teach Kyle and call him later that week and report on his progress to see if he could be baptized here or when he gets to school. So we did. We taught a lesson on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. It was really neat on Tuesday because he came into the lesson and said "It's gotta be short today, my dad is in the hospital and I need to go to Columbus." WOW! He didn't call and cancel or anything! He is definitely making his lessons a priority! Due to his dad and his work schedule we didn't see Kyle on Wednesday but we did call President Wednesday and left a message. We didn't see Kyle on Thursday and didn't hear from President. Oh, let me tell you a little about how Kyle progressed. He is just amazing. He was connecting the things he was learning to the scriptures he was reading and to the pictures that he saw in the church. He was really doing awesome with reading and his insights were incredible. He could have been teaching the lessons instead of the other way around! So we were very excited for him. We were talking about how he was a golden investigator and decided that wasn't quite right. We determined that Kyle is our *platinum investigator* So we finally got a hold of President on Friday morning and he told us that Kyle wouldn't be getting baptized on Wednesday (which is the day we were shooting for). Now, I'm sure you're all asking why couldn't he be baptized on Wednesday. He was progressing so phenomenally and was just doing great! Well, fear not. The reason he couldn't be baptized on Wednesday is because by Wednesday he would already be a member. That's right! He would be baptized before Wednesday! Like on Sunday! So we met with Kyle on Friday and had a lesson and asked if he wanted to be baptized on Sunday, which of course he did! Saturday we had another lesson and an interview. Friday and Saturday Sister Richardson and I were busily making plans for the baptism. Talks, people to perform the ordinances, prayers, witnesses, programs... all sorts of stuff and it all went great. I love planning things :-) It was actually really funny. On Sunday after church we started filling up the font. One of the brethren from the ward closed the drain (because he didn't think we knew how...) and we started the water and everything was great. We ran home to grab some lunch and were back at the church about 40 minutes later. We walked into the primary room (where the font is) checked the water level and to our horror... IT WAS DRAINING!! So I bravely went into the water (there was about 6 inches) and made sure the plug was all the way in. I then sat by the font for the next few hours while it filled up. I didn't just sit there...I was also folding programs and doing other last minute things :-) Then we were in the chapel ready for the baptism to start. Kyle was there, people were there, I was playing beautiful prelude music and thinking I really should go check the font (which had filled up and turned off) to make sure it hadn't drained anymore. But I didn't because I was busy playing beautiful prelude music :-) Well... we got into the primary room for the baptism and I couldn't see any water in the font. But I was like...it's just because of the mirror and glass all the reflections and the water is still. It's okay. And it was. It had drained about 4 inches so it was a little low. Thankfully Kyle isn't any taller than me so he was still able to be completely immersed in the water. I was so worried all day that something was going to go wrong. But that was all that happened. And that is definitely something that was no big deal. If Kyle would have been like 7 feet tall there may have been an issue. But it all worked out beautifully. Sister Richardson and Sister Rutter (from the ward) sang a beautiful song "Beautiful Savior" accompanied by yours truly and Kyle was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was fantastic. The spirit was so strong and the member support was great. We also have been in contact with the Bishop and missionaries in the Wintersville ward who are waiting for Kyle to drive into Stubenville on Thursday so they can welcome him and help him to continue to progress and develop his testimony. It has been such a privilege to teach Kyle. He has been so prepared by the Lord. :-)

Things here are going well. Sister Nalls and I had such a great week. We haven't heard about transfers yet...so I don't know. But I'm sure sister miller will tell you. :-) It's weird to be in my last 6 weeks... well, 5 1/2 rather. I'm cool with whoever comes to my homecoming the more the merrier! As for lunch... I don't know. I just want sourdoughs for breakfast when I'm back! I'll try to get some more black raspberry jam when/if I get out to Danville again. I'm sure I can work something out. I do have one bottle that I have set aside to bring home, and another bottle of homemade jam from Sister Weaver. yum yum! :-) Megan, you look so cute! I'm not sure if I'll ship more things home or not. Mom... ask dad. :-)  Natalie, congrats on getting rhrough your first week of school! Just remember, DON'T STRESS OUT! Make sure you have fun every day! Landon, keep up the great work! 6 new investigators! I am so proud of you buddy! Rachel, enjoy your senior year to the fullest. It is so much fun. Good luck with your auditions tonight. You will do amazing. I'll get that music sent out to you asap. Well, I love you all and hope you have a great week! tata!

Annie

ps the youngs have a hard time calling me sister webb now. haha.

Landon’s Letter

Hey mi famillia

Hey how is my wonderful family doing?

I was so excited to see so many emails this week! Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy days to write Annie and I emails. They mean a lot for us I know I really appreciate them.

So this week was a slower week for us but it was still good. We had Zone Conference yesterday and also we had a holiday the day before as you know so it was really really good. Long week till today but that means a short week next week. We won't get a full day of work until Friday since Monday. So I will be glad to hit the pavement again.

It was really cool to see all of the pictures that were sent in the past week. 4! thanks for all the pictures and I did get the pictures from Dad i don't know if I mentioned that the past week. I have been meaning to send a box home but as of now it is still empty because of my laziness. It is crazy to have 4 elders living in a small apartment. But it is really fun.

So at Zone conference we learned about doing member missionary work with one of the ideas that is mentioned in Preach My Gospel. And this is something that is easy but it does take work. Think of about 20 people that you know who are not members of the church. (and yes I can think of 20 people in Lyman Wyoming) then prayerfully select 3-5 names. Then set a date to (invite them to the christmas dinner, Relief society activity, church, fhe, or even be taught by the missionaries). Then think about everything you need to do from now to that time them to help them to get to that point

(ex. if you are going to invite them to a relief society activity then you need in the month of October then you need to 1. ask help from Heavenly Father for guidance, 2. stop by for 5 minutes and invite them while briefly informing them what to expect, 3. offer to give them a ride, 4. Ask someone else who knows this person to invite them to the activity as well in the same kind of way, 5. remind them weekly and give a little more information of who will be there, and anything else you feel they could know more about, 6. then take them or meet them there.)
that is an example that I thought of on the fly while typing this. You ca honestly do what ever you want but try it out. It's easy.

Rachel- I am glad you are using the help provided. Use as much as you can get and it will help you out I know trust me. thanks for the picture of Koda

Natalie & Jon- I am glad that your first week went well. remember time is important. managing your time is the most important thing to do.

Annie- I can't believe you have so little time left :( Thanks for the example you are and for all of the service you give. who else are you working with at this time?

Megan & Justin- thanks for the pictures I was pretty excited to see them. I wish I could go camping. I have missed it so much. When in December is your due date? I always forget.

Mom- That is crazy about Wayne and Josie. I can't believe it. I hope you get your mormon.org profile up soon. I think it is a great thing. thanks for all you do.

Dad- Nice profile I just found it. I think it is really awesome. What picture is that? It almost looks like one of the ones that you took with one of us kids because you aren't in any pictures of just yourself ;) don't worry that will change when I get home. haha

I love you all