June 10, 2013

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.