Monday, November 25, 2013

Elder Quentin L. Cook

Family and Friends, Loved Ones,

Yes, I got to hear from an Apostle of the Lord this week. And OHMYGOODNESS! It was just so AMAZING! So I'll get to why it was so amazing in a bit, first, the rest of the week! 
 
Tuesday, we let the Elders use the car, so we were on bikes. But it was good! :) 
 
Wednesday - We met Christopher! Christopher is so great! Let me tell you, he is so amazing! He has Hunter's Syndrome (so he's only 4 feet tall, maybe), but is a complete genius! He was taught by missionaries in the Raleigh Mission on Facebook, and now we're teaching him! Although he's not in our ward boundaries, but the ward he's in doesn't have missionaries. :P So we get to teach him! :) 

Thursday - I don't feel like ANYTHING happened! Because we had weekly planning and drove down to Charlotte. So we had probably had 4 or 5 hours of actual proselyting. But it was good!

Friday - The day you've all been waiting to hear about!! The Mission Conference with Elder Cook! It was just amazing as a I said before. His wife was there too! Which was a miracle because usually when they travel in the states their wives don't get to come with. He talked about how our missions are the best things we can do right now to prepare for a future family. And just so much more. I can't even tell you everything! After the Conference we drove back to Burlington and worked for a few hours then drove to Kernersville for a meeting on Saturday in Wisten-Salem.

OH! I almost forgot! So at the beginning of the meeting we were sitting, listening to prelude music and one of the Assistance gets up and says, "Elders and Sisters, we have a unique opportunity today, not only do we get to hear from an Apostle of the Lord, but Elder Quentin L. Cook wants to shake each one of your hands." Yes, I got to shake the hand of Elder Cook! It was so amazing! I will never forget this day!

On Saturday, we had a Special Sisters Meeting in Wisten-Salem. President and Sister Craven talked to us and their daughter Sister Fransen, who served her mission in Australia, in one area! But that's besides the point. She is so amazing! And she gave us sisters some great advice!

Sunday - Christopher came to church!!! :) It was seriously the BEST THING EVER!!!! This week has just been so great! And I'm ready to take on this next week, even though it's going to be COLD! and were on BIKES! But it'll be a great week! :)

Love,
Sister Loosle 

Monday, November 18, 2013

November Pictures

Doing Service for a less-active, Sister Mebane!

 Cruz Thru .... The weirdest thing about North Carolina!
Okay not really, but it still is.
It's a Drive Through convenient store.
So like a gas-station store, only you drive though it. So weird! 

My district :)

Sister Banks' last day hour in Burlington

Roller Coaster

I have never felt more like I was on a roller coaster in my entire life, than I did this week.
 
Family, Friends, Missionaries, and Everyone Else! 
 
Well I can't believe it's only been a week. Last Sunday feels like months ago, but I feel like I said Good-bye to Sister Banks and Elder Steenson yesterday. 

To start off with, Tuesday, we just don't talk about. If you think I was emotional at all when I left for my mission, man are you wrong! It seemed like every 5 minutes Sister Perez and I would just start crying on Tuesday. We had Breakfast with the Elders and Sister Moore. Then Sister Banks left with Sister Moore and Sister Thomas. 

Thursday was good, we saw Gaby :) She's so great! 
 
Friday we met the Sisters in Gibsonville, Sister Flake and Sister Tenny. Sister Flake also got trained by Sister Banks. 

We taught Reina at the Frei's home, it was such a great lesson because of them! (You should invite the missionaries to teach someone in your homes :) ) 
 
Oh and on Friday we found out some very import news! And change of rules! 
  1. During the first or second week of December everyone in the mission will be getting iPads!!!! :) 
  2. This Friday, our mission will get to hear from . . . Elder Quinten L. Cook! I know crazy!!!!
  3. We can't have meals with the Elders anymore. Ah well! It was fun when we did! 
This weekend was Stake Conference and we got to go to the Saturday Night session! Usually missionaries don't go. It was so great! 

On Saturday night we had Pizza with the Boyers, a great couple! And we took home the left-overs. So on Sunday morning I had cold pizza for breakfast! I haven't had cold pizza for ages! And it was so good!!! :) 

I love you all! :) 
 
-Sister Loosle

Monday, November 11, 2013

Transfers. . . Dun Dun Dun!!!!

Transfers are tomorrow and I bet you are just dying to hear what's happening! Well let me tell you I have never been more antsy (okay not entire true, when I got my mission call I was) than I was on Saturday. So we get a call from President Craven if you are training or opening a new area. Well all day every time the phone would go off my stomach dropped about 10 feet! So if you don't get a call all day, you have to wait for your district leader to call you at night and tell you who's going and who's staying. So we waited and waited! And at 10:20 at night (mind you we have 10 minutes til lights out) the phone goes off and who is it? President Craven! My heart and stomach dropped at that time. I answered and he said, "Sister Loosle you are staying in Burlington, can I talk to Sister Banks?" So I passed the phone to her and she left the room for a bit. When she got back she told us that she will be a new Sister Training Leader in Pineville (Just South of Charlotte, like Kyle is to Austin). We usually don't know where we are going until we get to transfers, but this was a special case. So guess who get's to drive starting Wednesday? This Sister!!! :) But really I am so sad that Sister Banks is leaving! I don't know what I'll do, but I know the Lord will guide me!

So the rest of this week: 

It was a week of Miracles! OHMYGOODNESS! On Monday night we got to see the Price family again (Part-member) with Sister Moore. And Sister Moore and Sister Price just clicked! It was so great! 

Tuesday we met David and Kristopher. David became a new investigator and is so ready for the gospel! I know that the Book of Mormon is true because of what happened with him! We shared Helaman 5:48 with him and then were talking more about the Book of Mormon. He told us how he just loves the Bible and just loves being able to open up the Bible and pick a random verse and it applies to him. So we invited him to do just that with the Book of Mormon and he opened to Helaman 14:12-13. It talks about Christ and the signs of His coming. He told us that is exactly what he needed to hear. It's amazing how true the Book of Mormon is and how wonderful God is.

Wednesday Tammy (a less-active) taught us how to make enchilada's. They were good, but I think mom's are still better :P But Sister Perez and Sister Banks didn't know how to make them at all! So it was fun! Then we taught her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a great lesson! I don't know if I told you, but she and her kids are from Texas :) 

We contacted Cheryl on Thursday. Her story is so interesting. So she's a media referral and she lives in Mebane (in the Raleigh Mission) but works in Burlington. So we visited her at work and taught a brief lesson of the Book of Mormon and gave her one to read. She is ready for the gospel and wants to learn more, but she works at the community college as a security guard so we can't teach her :/ So we're sending her information back and hopefully the Mebane Missionaries will be able to teach her. 

We had Zone Meeting on Friday and it was just amazing! We also had Zone lunch and that was really sad :( Because Elder Steenson (my District Leader) and Elder Masson (he use to serve in Burlington a year ago, and is now in Greensboro) are both going home. And at that time we didn't know who else was leaving out Zone. 

Saturday - well you know was just crazy! But we got to meet Jennifer (another less-active). She had a bad experience with the church in Las Vegas, but she's ready to try it out again for her daughter, Hope, who's 15 and wants to go to church. So they were both at church yesterday! It was amazing! We're hoping to teach Hope so she can be baptized in the next month or so and get Jennifer on track to go to the temple with her husband :) 

Sunday, we taught Gospel Principals :P We taught on Family History and Temple Work. It was good. Sister Elliot taught Relief Society and she told this quote from President Utchdorf that I love! 
"No, God does not need us to love Him. But oh, how we need to love God!

For what we love determines what we seek.
What we seek determines what we think and do.
What we think and do determines who we are—and who we will become."
Sunday after church the Elders and us ate lunch with the Simpsons'. They are so nice. They gave each of us a mug with hot chocolate! Then us Sisters helped Sarah (an investigator) with a project she is doing. She's crocheting together plastic bags to make a mat of some kind for homeless people. It's waterproof and insulated. So it's great! 

Then we went to dinner (again with the Elders) at the Mitchell's. And it was a crying fest. It was so sad, but so happy at the same time. Brother Mitchell started giving advice to Elder Steenson about when he returns home and so they were crying and Sister Banks hasn't stopped crying and I started crying and Sister Perez started crying and even Sister Mitchell started crying and she doesn't cry! But it was so good! 

This week was truly a week of miracles. And it confirmed to me that the church is true. Although I am sad to see Elder Steenson and Sister Banks go, I know they are going were they are needed at this time. I know the Lord is in even the smallest details of our lives. I love you all!

-Sister Loosle 

Monday, November 4, 2013

Happy (Belated) Halloween!

Happy (Belated) Halloween!
 
We started off this week with exchanges with the High Point Sister Training Leaders. I went down to High Point with Sister Carlsen and Sister Banks, Perez, and Ulibarri stayed in Burlington. It was such a good experience. I always learn so much. 
 
Oh and on Monday, Sister Banks, Perez, and I made cookies for our District! Well Sister Banks made them. They have vanilla pudding mix in them and our SOOOOOO GOOOOOOD!!!!! 
 
Wednesday we did a lot of tracking because our appointments fell through, but that's okay! We found some good potential investigators! And then we drove down to Charlotte! Yay for the forth time this month! (well last) We drove down for our trainer/trainee meeting on Thursday

Which that meeting was fantastic! Although I felt really rebuked! But that's okay, I'm changing what I need to! :) 
 
Friday we got in contact with a former investigator, Billy. His lesson was so great! We've never been that BOLD with someone before, but he needed it!
 
Saturday we work EXTRA EXTRA HARD because we wanted to be EXTRA EXTRA TIRED for Daylight savings! 
 
Sunday I felt refreshed! Not tired! It was great! Our lesson in Sunday School was on the Law of Chastity. Let me tell you, I don't care how old you are or how many times you talked about the Law of Chastity, it is still awkward! But maybe that's because our teacher is awkward! I don't know. Anyway! It was still a good lesson, but kind of weird as a missionary, because I feel like we take it to the extreme, which is good, but funny too. 

Then we taught Relief Society! We taught them principals to help them with their missionary work. Like:
  • Short Powerful Statements
  • Getting out of your comfort Zone
  • The Companionship of the Holy Ghost

It was a great lesson. Then we had the sisters practice and ROLE PLAY! It was good. But some of the sisters didn't get into it, so they didn't have fun, but that's life. 
 
Testimony meeting was so powerful! Elder Steenson (my District Leader) is leaving (like going home) next week, so he bore his testimony. He is such a good missionary and it's going to be sad to see him go, but he's definitely left his mark in this ward. Sister Banks also bore her testimony and it was powerful as well. I am so grateful to be working with these two wonderful missionaries. 

I love you all! :) 
 
-Sister Loosle