December 1, 2014

“Has the day of miracles ceased? Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? Or has he withheld the power of the Holy Ghost from them? Or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man upon the face thereof to be saved? Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought… (Moroni 7: 35-37).

Sister Layton and I have had a miracle filled month. We've never set goals with such faith and we've never seen the faith of President Dusty, our branch president, increase as much..as well as our members. It's been touching to watch the way he made announcements in the beginning of the month about these goals to the way he's talked about them this past Sunday. It's funny how most of the time we don't even see the impact we are having on ourselves. We've practically tripled our teaching pool and tripled the amount of members that have gone out with us. We had a baptism date but we rescheduled it for December for multiple reasons, which we know was the right things to do. As a result, North Brookfield didn't have a baptism this month. However, we are still so grateful for the miracles that god did give to us. Sister Layton and I woke up November 30th, last day of the month, and there's are still 3 people i can think of that we will see at church that are ready and able to be baptized. I turn on the primary song titled Baptism and we both agree that we have no choice but to wear what color today? Blue of course. We've fasted every Sunday of the month for miracles, and they have occurred, just in unexpected ways. This time we fasted not just for miracles, but for understanding of why we didn't meet our area goal this month. I feel like i've received that answer and probably through out my life i will continue to learn more about what really happened this sacred month.

The even betters news? The mission's goal was to assist in having 70 individuals enter the waters of baptism this month. Something this mission has never even touched. 2 years ago we were in the monthly 20s. We have significantly increased since then, but still have never been able to meet the 70. President Packard has had a vision ever since he got in the mission that there would come a day that we would be able to baptize 100 people in one month. As the month went by, we quickly realized that 70, while still a miracle, was becoming more and more doable. A lot of us started praying that we'd be able to get to a 100 with the faith that we knew we'd get 70.

The result? At the end of November 30th...the Massachusetts Boston Mission has had EXACTLY 100 individuals enter the waters of baptism in the month of November. We had a mission wide mass telephone call last night to have the number announced and said a prayer of gratitude all together praying for each of those individuals by name. EXACTLY ONE HUNDRED.

On a funny miracle note, this week we had our own little miracle...we got struck by a wicked awful snow storm - storm Cato. We text Sister Brown because we have dinner at their home that evening - she said her roads were plowed so we should be ok. We start driving but this hilly new england means cute little Corolla aint gonna make it up that slushy hill. We get stuck in the middle of the hill. I try reversing and going up again but at this point its too late, we'll never make it up. We turn around but long story short...we end up getting stuck in someone's driveway. We call brother Brown - good thing they live a minute away. The miracle? -- we got to be rescued by not only Brother Brown but his new Toyota Tundra!! God really does show us in small ways his love for us sometimes. :) I am convinced that purchasing a Toyota Tundra is the most selfless thing you can do in this life..think of the emergency preparedness factor! Cough - Brandon!  I got to give my last lesson at the Browns with hot chocolate and a sweet teaching and going home lesson given in return by Brother Brown. Thank you storm Cato.

I'll love my last week full of more miracles because we have an appt with all of my favorite investigators stacked right before I go! This new christmas inititive the church has of He is the Gift is awesome. One of my favorite last memories will be knocking on people's doors asking them right then and there if they want to watch the video on their doorstep. We're probably the only missionaries in the misison that get to do that....thanks to the handy dandy laptop. It's so fun and has put a new twist on things.

I feel so grateful that because of the MBM, I know a little bit more now of what Zion looks like. What it looks like to have successful relationships with those you meet and work with. What it looks like to joyously live the law of consecration. What it really looks like and feels like to bring people closer unto Christ. What it means to be baptized by the proper authority. What it sounds like and feels like to receive direction from the Spirit. To know what it looks and feels like to be literally in an unfolding miracle. I know what it feels like to have prophets and apostles pray for you. I know what it feels like to be worthy for the Lord.
I am more ok with things that don't have words now. How do you describe your mission? Great? Awesome? A learning experience? Fun? Sweet? Cool?

I think ill choose Sacred. Sacred things are things that are impossible to describe with words. Sacred things don't need words because thats not how they're understood. Sacred things are more than just things.

I'm so grateful to God for this sacred experience, something that I know is just preparatory for more sacred things to come. I'll think about these 18 months every single day for the rest of eternity. I hope I can work even harder when i'm the Lord's servant at home. I hope I know now how to run even faster. I look forward to going to god's "AP" style of living for his students.

Much Love for the last time,

Sister Bell

Kept it real....because it is real and will always be real. All of it.

1. When weekly planning gets desperate, and so do your cupboards - kraft mac and cheese. gasp.

2. Baking pies at the youngs last p day

3. Before the strike of winter and storm cato

November 17, 2014

God's Thanksgiving Letter to the North Brookfield Sisters:
"Happy Early Thanksgiving. I won't just give you ONE humble pie, but i'll give you SEVEN - one for each day of the week. And because it's the season of giving, you can probably continue to expect one more each day until Thanksgiving. Enjoy. Let me know how it tastes Love, God."

As a result, it was quite an unexpected week. I always knew the importance of working with members - I am a firm believer, but this week in the coolest way...our members totally showed us up!!! It's actually the most exciting thing that can ever happen. It was a reminder to me that this really is the Lord's work - not our work. Sometimes we think we know better, well you know what, we just don't.

We had dinner at a member's home - the Browns for the second time this week. Rare. Best Christmas gift from God. I am convinced that one of the reasons why I was sent to North Brookfield was purely just to learn from the Browns. Bro. Brown taught us principles of teaching and helped us with some concerns we had with our investigators. The spirit was so strong in their home, it literally leaves my mouth empty for words. We were so excited because we were going to try some of these principles at our next lesson that evening with our investigator, MJ.
I don't know if i've ever taught so bad. It's not because the principles were inaccurate, it was just our lack of skill set or spirit or something. We brought a member who we have recently discovered how incredible she is. When the lesson went a different direction, the member knew exactly what scriptures to pull out. It fit MJs needs exactly. She kept apologizing and later apologized if it seemed like she took over the lesson and I was like are you kidding me? You were 110% inspired. And 200% extra bonus points that it came from you and not us because now you guys are best friends. While the lesson ended well, I still left feeling there wasn't a good sense of direction moving forward.

That night we went to bed and I just felt so sad inside. So happy that Jessie was inspired to fill MJs needs, but so sad that I'm the missionary that needs to know how to bounce off of that and work it towards progress for Mary Jane, and not a temporary fulfillment, and i felt like i just didn't do the job. I felt sad that here we had left the Browns - who have so much horsepower of knowledge and skill set, and yet we failed to deliver.

Sister Layton and I talked the next morning and discussed together that we needed to repent as a companionship to Heavenly Father. I've been okay at following the spirit but it was evident to me this week that I have not been filling my capacity. I needed to more frequently do as President Packard always says, "Work like everything depends on us and pray like everything depends on the Lord." We had a shift in ourselves that morning. We went back to a potential investigator's home - she let us in and while our teaching skills are still weak, the discussion was guided by the spirit and we left having a new investigator. The facts just didn't add up on that one, and yet, a miracle happened. Her name is Kim - she has a family, and she said she will invite her kids to sit in on the lesson the next time we come. We left thinking ok, what member should we bring to Kim's? Instantly we both thought, 'yes! sister brown would be perfect with her!'. Then, we look at our calendar and Sister Brown had already signed up to go out with us that day. We felt so blessed from the Lord, especially considering our recent promise to him of our change.

We had to drop MJs baptism date for Nov 21. She was our only date we had set for November. We have a lesson with her this evening, and we hope that the spirit is such and the timing is such that she'll still be baptized in november. Sister Layton and I talked about our goals and at our current state, what our possibility is that we'll meet our goal. We are praying for a miracle...praying like everything depends on the Lord and trying to act accordingly.
We got to teach a different investigator with Brother Brown on sunday. It felt so good teaching with him. He asked everyone in the room what the spirit has been telling them to do during this lesson, and then he said, "the spirit's been telling me that on my way home im going to stop by my friends, the Buzzles, becauses sisters, we need to find more people for you to teach."

I've learned so much about being in tune and listening to the still small voice more this week than the past 3 months combined. When you act and feel like that, it doesn't matter if you meet your goal because you have the faith the Lord still needed you to set it to raise your sights.

Here's to another learning and humbling filled week!

Love,
Sister Bell

p.s. we had our first snow fall this week! YIKES!

AND how could i forget - S. Layton went into the E.R. almost died, yeah its fine.
that felt like a month ago. really dont know how i forgot that.
here is a picture of her getting pampered. The other is a picture at multicultural night - only in north brookfield.

November 10, 2014

Im pretty sure that dumb singer got it wrong - love isn't like a battlefield...LIFE is like a battlefield. Someone has to correct her lyrics.

What a miracle filled week! Not just for us, but the entire mission. As I said last week, Elder Lawrence from the 70 and his wife visited. We had set a goal as a mission to do what we has never nearly been done before in the history of this mission.

President & Sister Packard went to a mission presidency seminar the week before E. Lawrence's visit where he promised the mission presidents that what they promise their missionaries in faith and gods will, will happen. President Packard wrote Elder Holland to tell him about what the mission's goal was and that we were praying in every private and public prayer about this goal. Elder Holland responded "I am so proud of your challenge to the missionaries. I am praying for the mission goal with every morning and evening prayer…. I am fully confident you will reach it.”  CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?

With great blessing and great out pouring of the spirit however comes the adversary with just as hard of a force. One of our investigators who has a baptism date for Nov 21st was all lined up to come to church and she did not show. On the flip side, the unexpected showed up to church. We are in the biggest tug-a-war match of our lives. I had the opportunity to speak in church. My topic was 2 Nephi 31. If only we comprehended the sacredness of that most simple chapter! It is the chapter that was the catalyst for the prayer that led to the restoration of the Priesthood. All of the available saving ordinances we have is because a young man read that chapter, asked a question, sought prayer, and was spiritually prepared to receive the answer and heavenly visitation. How appropriate that in this month of November the talk would be about baptism. Shocking. Not. It's taking every ounce of spiritual energy we have. I feel like we are shooting at a target, have our eyes on the bullseye, and are even equipped with the right arrows, but sometimes I feel like we are missing the target every time. Archery really does take a lot of practice - and I feel like I'm running out of time. Im learning things about missionary work and who I am in a way that I haven't practiced before. I'm pretty sure I've been doing it all wrong. But ya know what, life wouldn't be fun if you didn't learn a thing or two.

The answer is always the spirit - if we help provide experiences for others around us to help them feel the spirit, recognize the spirit, and teach them how to act on the spirit - it really does solve everything. Well, almost everything :)

It's like mom's best friend, Julie B. Beck said - that the greatest thing we can obtain in this life is the ability to recognize and follow the spirit.  

Good luck on the battlefield this week troops.

Love,

Sister Bell

November 3, 2014

Hello family!

What a special week we had with Elder Lawrence visiting. I wish I could describe just a small portion in words - but you're just going to have to bear with the fact that my letter will probably completely miss the mark. What else is new.

For one, we had a great Mission Leadership Council. For the past few months, President Packard has felt inspired to set a goal as a mission - something that we have never reached before in terms of baptism. We had set the goal for a month over the summer and despite our diligence and the outpouring of the spirit, we didn't quite make it. It was still a revolutionary mark for the mission. As we discussed as a council, we knew that November was the month to complete this goal of 70 baptisms. We created a plan of how we are going to work with the missionaries and wards to bring unity and facilitate this miracle. We were interviewed as companionships by Elder Lawrence which was neat, but not as life shattering as you'd think.

The Lord has been preparing us for November. It was not a coincidence how everything is lining up like clockwork. We had Elder Lawrence's visit, MLC at an unusual time, it's right before November, and we had Zone Conference where it was a good time to announce the goal. In Zone Conference we learned some literally remarkable things about the gospel that I had never thought about as deeply before. Changes everything about the way and the why of my missionary work. If only I would have known this a year ago. Sister Layton and I are of course beyond excited about this goal and experience - I tell ya, the spirit works perrty quickly around here. In less than 24 hours we had prayed and laid out a plan individualized for the branch, met with President Dusty for his counsel so that it could come from him when he announces it, printed inserts of our unit goals for the programs, and invited a family to fast for the first day to kick it off. Oh the powerful things the spirit can allow you to do in less than 24 hours.  We feel so confident that these ideas were directly from the spirit to solve the branch's concern for unity and sharing the gospel. We don't need to please one or the other! Both are knit as one!

So we are calling it the North Brookfield November 3. The 3 things each member of the branch is going to do in the month of November to assist in bringing about a branch baptism this month.

We woke up to November 1st and we knew that the spirit and the devil were already awake. It has been an emotional contemplative weekend. The power of the adversary is real. The harder we work, the more weapons he seems to try. We are praying harder than before and helping our investigators understand this as ever as before too. I've never felt like I had to be more on my guard. It will take more faith than I currently have, more work than I currently give, and more sincere prayers than I currently offer. In fast and testimony meeting I bore my testimony about the power of these goals and the promise that we'll have a baptism conditional upon our obedience to these goals that President Dusty has asked us to do.

Elder Lawrence taught us 6 steps of faith. I invite you to apply these principles to what you are working on or know you should be working on. I wont go into depth on each one - ill let you do you own homework on that. He reminded us that righteous goals are those that have a gap - those that require divine intervention in order to be accomplished.

1. Choose a righteous desire/goal

2. Be believing

3. Plead your cause to the Lord

4. Commit yourself fully

5. Expect trials and obstacles

6. Expect the Lord to preform. [Jacob 4: 6-7]

We don't have quotas - but we do know that so many people right in front of our eyes are looking, waiting, and ready for the gospel. We do know the Lord preforms when we do our part and set worthy goals by the spirit. Doubt and fear can't reside in the same room as faith. We can be doing so much more in our lives that we currently are. Not more as in adding something to the to do list - but it may require that we change some of the things on the to do list, or change the way that we do them.

Please keep the MBM in your prayers this month. See, I told you I couldn't accurately snap shot it!

Love,

Sister Bell

Don't forget your sword and shield at home folks. Ain't nobody got time for that this month.

October 27, 2014

The good news is there's a baptism this week! The even better news is that it's in Uganda! One of the first people Sister Layton found during online proselyting was this guy Josh from Uganda. He has been more than prepared. We skype with him sometimes and chat online to keep supporting him as his baptism is this week, but the Ugandan missionaries did most of the teaching which is perfect and how it should be. The week after he started taking the lessons we asked him what his favorite lesson was with the missionaries. He said, "The restoration of the gospel. Man, that is powerful. I realized if I love Jesus Christ, I have no choice but to follow the 2nd commandment - to love my neighbor. and I wouldn't be showing God I loved them if I didn't share that message with them. The missionaries came and taught my sister and my friends today. They are coming back tomorrow to teach them more."

Yeah, close your jaw from hanging wide open, we can hardly believe it either.

We are mostly grateful not only because it's great that he's chosen to be baptized, but how kind it was of Heavenly Father to be willing to work through the means of the digital mission. Kind is the lamest word to describe how generous of a blessing. Josh was so ready that God would have and could have worked through other means - it would not have been hard to have the missionaries find Josh on the street. But God knew that Josh was already on the internet and has blessed the faith of now hundreds of missionaries by having him be found first on there to show that God is behind the work we are doing here and that he knows the digital mission can work. Isn't it amazing that sometimes God goes out of his way to accomplish a simple act so that hundreds of more people can be effected? What a kind, supportive, and loving Heavenly Father we have.

Miracles are happening left and right in North Brookfield too and are just as evident as the miracle of Josh. What miracles are occurring right this very second that are effecting us that we don't even know God is orchestrating? And then you decide to use a phrase like 'how kind'?? Pathetic.

Elder Lawrence of the 70 is coming to visit. For this month's leadership meeting we get to hear from him and he has planned so far to interview all of the leadership that day, wednesday. Ooooo scary. Then we get to listen to him for an investigator fireside on thursday and then zone conference on Friday! What a spiritually fed week this will be!

Hope you have a miracleous week!

Love,
Sister Bell

October 20, 2014

Oh relax, of course I’m staying in North Brookfield! I get to stay with Sister Layton too! The lucky little dog gets to kill me off. This week I feel like a lot more internalized. The more I internalize and understand what it means to be an effective missionary, the more frustrating it is because now I feel like I have to race the clocks. I’m trying to work the hardest and smartest that I can, and even then I know that the glass is still only ¾ of the way full. I feel like I finally know what it means to pray, what it means to teach to someone’s needs, what it means to have effective visits with members, and how to really plan and schedule. There’s a lot I still have to learn and improve upon in each of those categories, but I definitely see the hand of the lord in helping my eyes and ears to be less foggy. I think President Monson accidently left his ‘changing missionary service to 2 years for young women’ talk at home on the printer this past conference.

Mary Jane has officially gone a week living the word of wisdom! We committed her last Monday…well…really she committed herself. When we explained it to her she responded with, “yeah, I know it’s time for me to start. Ok, I’ll start tomorrow.” Uhh…yeah, good choice? By a miracle we had an amazing member attend that said exactly the points we wanted to cover, even the ones we didn’t even tell her about. We couldn’t do it without you members I tell ya. She bore powerful testimony of how reading the Book of Mormon everyday helped her overcome her addictions. In my mind i was like, "Uh, what addictions?" Turns out she had been struggling back into activity and had her feet on the ground only since about March. Woa. We asked MJ what would be helpful for her to be a good support and person to check in with. She said that the hardest time is in the morning when she first wakes up and that we could text her then or some other point in the day. So we’ve been waking up at 5am every morning to send her encouragement right as she wakes up. The example of Mary Jane just goes to show when people put their mind to something, they can really do and overcome anything when using the Atonement.

We had 2 surprisingly amazing lessons with Tara this week. Attending the Joseph Smith fireside turned out to be revolutionary for her. We had a sweet appt planned with a member that rarely comes out with us and so we were really excited. The appt ended up canceling which ended up being the biggest tender mercy of the century! Last minute we were like shoot! We gotta still take this awesome member with us somewhere! What are we going to do?? Hey, Tara said we could come Friday to do a Fireside lesson review but maybe she'll let us come tonight! We called her and she said yyyess! It was a tender mercy to know how the Lord works in weird ways sometimes. If we didnt have that original appt, we wouldn't have thought to bring that member, and we would have never been led to go there that evening with that member and then Tara would have never had the opportunity to ask solid questions about Christ's restored church. Is God's Church on the earth? If so, why is it necessary to be apart of it to receive salvation? What is my purpose in this life? Who can help me fufill that. Shes been taught the answers to these questions - what she is asking is if the church is really Christ's church on the earth and if she should be apart of it. 

Tender mercy #782: We have a few minutes before our dinner appt so we look up this woman on our potentials sheet. Her name is Kim. Knock knock. 

"hi are you kim?"

"yes"

"Great..ladi da introdctions..we saw that you've had contact with our church in the past and wanted to know if you were still interested."

confused look

"I dont think i have actually."

"You're kim?"

"yes."

is she lying like the other 1500 people? 

"Oh, but you know what, the woman before me's name was kim too. I just moved in like 2 weeks ago." 

Bust up laughing.

"Well we share a message with people that brings hope and a deeper relationship with God. Would you be interested?"

"yes. yes, actually, i would. Give me a week or two to unpack."

WOA. 

Tender mercies folks. If you claim you dont got um, it's probably because your hands are over your eyes. Wake up kids. 

Love,
Sister Bell 

Pictures: Be jealous of fall. You haven't even seen the half of it.

October 13, 2014

What a magical day. No, a magical week.

Fireside

TEMPLE TODAY! HOORAY!

AND - got to watch Meet the Mormons today. SO GOOD.

The day was topped off with MJ committing to live the word of wisdom.
I swear, I have the BEST life ever!!

This past friday we had President Packard's Joseph Smith Fireside roll into town. I have been to a ton before because of the Visitors' Center, but it was interesting viewing it in a different lense. The area has spent months prepping for this fireside - getting it out in the community, inviting friends. It was all we talked about. The fireside is a presentation about what answers we have because of the restoration of the gospel and what revelations Joseph Smith received like what happens when I die? What's heaven like? Why do bad things happen to good people? You name it.

Miracle story:

We've been working with this man John. John is my favorite - he's taken the lessons before and knows more about President Benson than 90% of church members. We were fightin to get John to this fireside. We knew itd be a game changer. So we follow up with him - wednesday he says hes coming. Thursday - says hes coming. We get a text Friday afternoon a few hours before the fireside starts that says he woke up at 3am with a fever of 101.3 and that it hasn't broken so he doesn't think he'll be able to make it. Sister Layton and I want to pull our hair out, yet it also made us extremely happy because if the adversary was working this hard..it means something good was in store for him. Instantly, Sister Layton and I drop to our knees. We prayed and talked about what we needed to say to him. We decided that we needed to promise him a number. We need to give him a bar line to hit so that when he hit it, it would be a sign that he was well enough to come. After praying, we looked at each other and both agreed upon '99 degrees'. Fireside started at 7, we knew that if he was at 99 degrees by 6pm, he could come. We call him and the words just flew out. We told him that he knew exactly why he had a fever. He said, "I do?" We said, "yes. this isn't a fever. this is a delusion of Satan. You're not contagious and you're feeling fine. You will break to 99 degrees by 6pm, and if you do, you can know that you're well enough to come. Go take a hot shower, and say the most sincere prayer you've ever said. Tell God what you're intending to do. Then call us back immediately." He agreed. 20 minutes later we get a call. "I took a shower. I feel very enlightened. I think i'll come."

He does come. Just as the firesides about to start he leaned over and said, "It was weird - i checked my temperature right as I was leaving the house - it was exactly 99 degrees." While I was overjoyed, I wasn't exactly shocked. We knew that he would be! I said, "John, we prayed right before we called you because we knew that we needed to tell you a number. We knew that God would break your fever to 99." He was like, "are you serious?!?!" Dont act so surprised John. We told you there was a war going on up there while you were running around trying to decide if you were going to come or not.

I know that God is aware of each one of us - he does care about what we do. He does know if we go to church on sunday or not, and if our heart's in the right place when we are there. He knows exactly when we choose to watch tv before we choose to study his scriptures. He also knows that we have the gift of making our own choices and he will never ever stop us or force us into decision making. However, when we listen closely, are in tune with the spirit, and have the courage to make the right choice, we will be able to see the Lord's hand and his miracles VIVIDLY.

We have been hearing a LOT about prophets lately. it seems every where I turn it's about prophets. Even when we skype taught the man in Uganda, his main question was: "How can I tell between a true prophet and a false prophet?" You are asking the right question my friend. It's amazing that a random man with no context of the church is still spiritually aware of the main topic going around. Are we prepared to follow the prophet at his next command that may require more faith than we currently have? What are we doing now to follow the prophet? What kinds of activities fill our time that will help bring in the right spirit to discern between a false prophet and a true prophet. How lucky we are that we have the promise that our prophets will NEVER lead us astray. What a steady anchor in a shifting world. Who wouldn't want that spiritual security? 
Choose to listen. Choose to follow the prophet. Choose to act on faith before you act on the natural man.

And as the glorious Sister Crane would say - CHOOSE CELESTIAL :)

Love,

Sister Bell

Pictures:

1. S. Laytons B day on general conference!

2. Apple picking with the coolest branch missionary