I apologize for the length - skip to the bottom if you just want to feel uplifted and skip the funny business.
Drum roll please.....
This
girl is in Connecticut! Ellington for those who know where that is. It
is BEAUTIFUL, but dont think of Boston when you think of my mission.
Not. even. close. Lets just say, flip open a page to Country Living
Magazine....and guaranteed they probably took that picture of my front
yard. Our neighbors are so nice....I have tried sharing the gospel with
them several times, but all they do is keep their head down and say moo.
I think they are progressing quite nicely though. Yup - my neighbors
are cows and corn fields. It's kind of the most precious thing on earth.
Shout out to Ashley who I immediately thought of the first time driving
down the street to our house: "Look! Cows! Grab the camera!"
You're kind of not allowed to say you have the best
mission in the world, because it's all the Lord's work and we are all
building the kingdom, so that's not fair. HOWEVER, I CAN SAY that i have
THE BEST mission president that has ever lived and ever will live.
Right after the prophets and apostles, I'm pretty sure he is the most
inspired man i have ever met. He is originally from Texas than then
moved to CA for a couple years, and then got called to Mass. So he has
the texas love, heart, and hospitality with some modern CA flare, and a
whole lot of Boston go gettem attitude. He has the most amazing young
family and has sacrificed everything for the Lord. He really is teaching
us how to live a consecrated life in word and deed. I stayed at the
mission home for 2 nights. They have a whole wall of bunkbeds in the
basement. Everything is just perfect - yelllow house with slate blue
shutters with a President who calls his wife "mama" and "baby" and
"queen bee" - its the most adorable relationship i have ever seen. They
act as one. He really knows the scriptures and uses it almost in
everyday language and in prayers, and he does it almost sounding
texas/baptist - its awesome. He interviewed each one of us and prayed
about where the Lord wants us to go.
The day before I got sent out and knew where i was going
they send you to the heart of Boston to contact people in the park and
give you
mormon.org
cards and BOMs to pass out. Me and Sister Klecker (my MTC Comp) paired
up and went out. we walked to the other end of the park because we knew
that the other pairs would stick around close. After a while of walking I
turned to sis K and was like ok we have to do it sometime. We spotted a
couple ladies sitting eating lunch and went to talk to them. Sis K
froze up so i did all the talking. I asked them their religious
background la di da...ended up giving them a
mormon.org
card. I walked away thinking "wow that was not missionary work - that
was so not natural." the ladies looked at me like i was an idiot and boy
i felt like one. good think i really dont give a care so we walked on
and Sis K was starting to point people out and I just wasnt feelin it. i
saw a guy in a yellow dress shirt eating and apple on a bench and i
said, "yellow shirt - lets do it." She's like "umm...he looks very
angry." My response?: "Well that probably is a good reason to go talk to
him then, dont you think?". We walked over and i asked if we could sit
down and talk to him for a minute. he instantly recognized us as "those
missionaries/mormons". Little did i know that this "quick minute" would
be almost TWO hours of a conversation in a park! Ill spare you the
details but this guy is "jewish" (not practicing) and we talked to him
about himself...did lots of listening. It's all about segmenting
conversations back to the gospel which led into basically giving the 1st
discussion. The spirit prompted me to share a scripture from something
he said and i asked if he would keep the Book of Mormon. Long story
short he said yes and asked me to mark that scripture I read (so i did
and marked some others too). I gave him the local missionary's phone
number because he is moving and I told him to call because we love
helping people move. at first he wasn't so sure - but by the end he was
just astounded that people would want to do that. Im so bummed i have to
leave out the juicy details - but really, im sorry if this is an
ignorant greenie thing to say but by the end of the conversation i KNEW
he was going to call. We were about to leave because we were already 20
minutes late and sis K was like, "Im sorry, i just feel like somethings
missing....i feel like i need to tell you something but im not sure
what." and all the sudden he started to cry and was like, "I actually
need to tell YOU guys something. You asked me earlier if I have prayed
and i said i didn't like talking about it. Theres a reason." He began to
tell us how his son died a couple years ago. I was so proud of Sis K
for listening to the spirit to slow down and wait. She was supposed to
say that so he could express that to us. How many people do you meet for
the first time in a public place, talk for an hour, and by the end are
crying and have them telling you their life story? He's going to call.
He's going to be ok. and it kills me that I'm not going to be the one to
pick up the call.
in CT we do a lot of visiting less actives and working
with members to talk to their friends. Getting less actives back to
church is just as important or more important in my opinion than getting
someone baptized. They have made covenants - and to not keep those
covenants is worse than not making any to begin with. we are having
amazing progress with our less actives. The timing is working out
awesome. its said previous missionaries go through all the dirt and hard
work and i get to be here for the success part. But its a team effort
to build zion and im sure i will be preparing people for other
missionaries in the future to say the exact same thing. one of our less
actives name is Sis. Gilkes. She's black and you know for some reason I
instantly love them so things are going great. Just picture the first
black woman you see in your head - yup thats her. Shes got attitude and
its awesome. She has lots of questions and isn't afraid to ask them. We
are teaching an investigator named Cory....like i said, the other
missionaries did the dirty work. This past lesson we taught him. he's
black and probably a good 200+ lbs and i figured out he's a huge lakers
fan. instant respect.
We taught him about the priesthood b/c he's been baptized in
other churches before and we want to make sure he really understands the
difference this time. He's been invited to be baptized before...but
this lesson we set a date! He's so excited! We set it for July 13th!
he wants it to be sooner but he's quitting smoking and doing good so
far, but we want to make sure he really is good and we still have a
couple more lessons for him. I am so excited. Im sure of it he really is
going to get baptized. July 13th
can't come soon enough. The spirit in the lesson was so strong. And
Sister Crane said she was impressed by how I taught but im telling you
right now - it wasn't me - it was 100% the spirit without doubt.
I have THE BEST COMPANION!!! I hope i have her for the
whole 12 weeks of training and more. She has only been out for 3 months
and in the area for one transfer. So its definitely still a learning
process for the both of us. Her last comp had all the knowledge stored
up in her head so its kind of almost like starting over, but not really.
The best part? SHE WAS ON THE RUGBY TEAM!! We died laughing. Pres knows
we were both on the team but there is no way he made that connection
when he interviewed me. He is beyond inspired. We werent really friends
because she left after 1st semester and wasn't on the traveling team but
still....things could not be more perfect. Instant sisterhood. In the
MTC I had 2 girls i was best friends with on the team in my zone and now
i get another one as my actual comp? I'm still trying to figure out why
heavenly father loves me so much. I think she is a little stressed out
knowing she's training me and she's still relatively new. But she's
amazing. I couldn't ask for a better companion.
Fun fact: A boy in my new ward just went to the MTC and
is serving in the Ventura mission. The whole ward thinks its so funny we
swapped - we joke about how we couldve saved a lot of money if we
would've just stayed where we were at! he'll be in the MTC for another
week but look out for an Elder Hill. His mom said she'll update me on
his areas.
enough of the sugar and spice - lets get to the meat:
1.
Everyone needs to get a copy of Every Member a Missionary by Clayton
Christensen. He was ranked the most brilliant man in the world last year
or something like that? He lives out in the east coast and gave
everyone in our mission a free copy of his book - its the one outside
book we are allowed to read because it is that powerful.
2. Honesty is the best policy? False. Sincerity is the best
policy. People can tell easier than you think. When handled with love,
the look in their eyes is unforgettable. Stop. Close your mouth. and
listen. Thats all anyone really ever wants. Half the time they ramble
and i think "what are you saying?" then the other half they tell us of
previous suicidal tendencies and i think "you are scaring me". (its
weird sometimes how much people tell the missionaries). Just remember
the next time you think what you have to say is better or what you say
will be so inspiring and they need to hear it. nope. just remember: Stop
- Close your mouth - and listen. The spirit will then be able to prompt
you in that silence of REALLY the right thing to say instead of what
YOU thought you needed to say.
3. Are you living a consecrated life? I'm not asking you to
give up your house and all you have and live on the streets - that's not
what that means. Our president says he cringes when he hears people say
"oh, yeah we dont live the law on consecration anymore." are you
kidding me? Think back to when you go into the temple. I challenge all
of you to dig into that a little bit more. i am so grateful i can live a
consecrated life the way i do right now as a full time missionary, and
it will be a little different for you. But I promise you that you can do
things now that will prepare you to live that full time. Look into it.
4. I am giving a talk not
this sunday,
but the next in church. assigned to speak with a member of the high
council. greeeeaat. it's on "The blessings of agency and importance of
personal responsibility". Especially for mom and dad but if anyone knows
of any talks or good thoughts on this that would be superb. it's kind
of hard not having instant access to
lds.org
I love you all. Sorry this letter isn't as great as the
last one and it was longer. I couldn't be happier being a missionary. I
know this is where I'm supposed to be at this time. I know Heavenly
Father has called me to Connecticut for a reason. I think of you all
often and love hearing about your families. Write and send pictures! :)
Love,
Sister Bell
Keepin it real...because it is real.
