One Day More

Sister Ostvig, Alice and me at the temple :)

Hey y'all!

What a week!  It has been so full of miracles!  It never ceases to amaze me how people can pop up out of nowhere or lessons can go amazingly right or how days that seem like everything is falling through can turn completely around for the better.  Yep, it has definitely been a grand week to end on!

We had an awesome lesson with Jacob and Mayra!  We set their sights on the temple and were able to set long term and short term goals with them.  And the best part is they have been continually reading the Book of Mormon together!  They have grown so much in their testimonies, and they are really progressing together.  The Spirit was SO strong in that lesson - seriously one of the best lessons I have ever been a part of.  We watched the talk "Yes Lord I Will Follow Thee" from this past general conference and they were both inspired to set goals to build their faith.  And even though they were almost an hour late, they still came to church yesterday.  It was SO good to see them there because it has been a while since they've come.  And they both gave great comments in our gospel principles class too!  Basically they are amazing. :)

We found a new investigator in kind of a strange way... we got a church headquarters referral for someone by the name of Shaquaequay... of course we were afraid that we were going to pronounce it wrong, but we went to try anyway. :)  We got to the house and the person we talked to was as confused as we were, but as we talked and laughed about the situation (she figured that one of her friends had sent us there as a joke) she asked questions about what we do and who we are and eventually she invited us in and we were able to share our purpose with her and teach her about the Book of Mormon. We ended up having a long conversation with her and she invited us to come back this week to teach her more!  She is awesome, and I'm excited for her to continue to learn more!

And then we found another investigator through a member!  Hunter is a priest in our ward who is preparing to go on a mission and he has been telling us about his friend Isaiah for a long time.  He has been continuing to invite him to various activities and devotionals and such, and finally he decided it was time to invite him to meet with the missionaries.  So we met at Hunter's house with his family and Isaiah on Sunday and had an awesome lesson with them.  Hunter helped us teach it (he is preparing for a mission after all!) and I think it meant a lot more for Isaiah coming from a friend.  He has agreed to read the Book of Mormon, and Hunter will continue to follow up and teach him more, with the help of the missionaries. :)  Pretty exciting, huh? :)

A highlight of the week - we were able to go with Alice to the temple!  She was baptized and confirmed for her mother and both her grandmothers and had an unforgettable experience. :)  When she first walked in she said "I feel like I'm already in heaven!"  It definitely was a cool experience for her.  And a great experience for me to be able to take another convert to the temple. :)

As far as reflecting back on my mission goes... basically I've got all sorts of mixed emotions right now.  But I got the inspiration for a poem a few weeks ago, and I thought I'd share it with y'all. :)

Riding home at 9 pm

Almost 18 months through.

A slight wind blows around my face

Bright Christmas lights aglow.

The cool night air and silence here

Come with such a peace.

It's here the Spirit whispers to me

"You're going to miss all this."

It's true that I've been missing home

And my family -

I really miss talks with my dad

And my mom's understanding

"I've been working so long" "My body is sore"

These thoughts I've had recently.

I'm tired of biking everywhere

It's so exhausting for me.

Sometimes I wonder "What's the point?

These people aren't prepared.

I'll save my voice for someone else,

Someone who'll really care."

But I also remember the joy I had

The first time that I felt

Heavenly Father use my hands

To touch somebody else.

I love the sense of identity

That from my name tag comes

And the excited yell of "missionaries!'

From the children we know and love.

I remember the good times we had

Those long biking days;

The jokes, the laughs, the stories shared,

The joyous memories made.

I recall the many miracles

Of things timed just right.

In the perfect place at the perfect time

We found those filled with light-

The light that's found inside of souls

Touched by the Light of Christ

And with the help of the Holy Ghost

We led them closer to Christ.

And of course I can't forget

The most sincere prayer

Of someone searching for the truth

And hoping to find Him there

And the feeling of tears of joy

That have filled my eyes

As I've watched someone I've grown to love

In the water be baptized.

My heart swells with gratitude-

Like David I could sing

Songs of glory, songs of love

As I thank my Heavenly King.

I think of how my testimony-

Once a tiny seed-

Through these experiences has grown

Into a mighty tree.

I've grown to love my Savior - Christ

More than ever before.

Using his Atonement every day

I'm converted evermore. 

I love y'all! 

Sister Ririe

Matthew 25:21

A Happy New Year

Sister McLean and me on exchanges :)

Hey y'all!

It's amazing how fast time flies - I can't believe its already 2015!!  I hope y'all had a happy new year!  We didn't do much to celebrate... even if we could have stayed up I don't think I would have - when we get home at night I'm so exhausted!  I didn't even wake up when everyone set of fireworks at midnight, that's how tired I was.  Oh well... happy new year. :)

This week has been busy.  We had exchanges on new years eve so I spent a day with the singles ward sisters.  It's amazing how open young adults are!  Our mission president has been focusing a lot on finding during the evening hours because that is when people are home so we did some tracting before driving back to exchange back and found several people who are willing to learn more.  It was fun to go on exchanges with Sister McLean again (we went on exchanges once before at the start of our missions when we were both serving in Katy.)  It was fun to be able to compare ourselves now towards the end of our missions - we have both learned so much and changed for the better. :)

We were able to teach Jacob and Mayra twice this week - both lessons were so good.  They are both in a place where they want to change and do better.  We talked for a long time about how Mayra can receive an answer, and I think she already knows that it's true but sometime she doubts that... She has a hard time understanding the Book of Mormon sometimes, but she has had so many powerful experiences with what she does understand.  And they both recognize the change that is in their home and family when they are doing what they are supposed to - read the scriptures and pray and come to church.  They set some awesome goals and we're going to do what we can to help them.  ... unfortunately they didn't come to church yesterday... :'(  we're not sure why, but hopefully we'll be able to continue to work with them some more this week.

We haven't been able to see Melody and Chris and Andrew these past few weeks either... which is really frustrating because Andrew is supposed to be baptized this Saturday... We're going to do everything in our power to make it happen, but if we can't get in touch with them we may need to postpone. :/ 

We did meet with John yesterday, and that was so good!  He had wanted to share his testimony during fast and testimony meeting but hadn't been able to get the courage to get up, and so he shared it with us that evening instead.  :)  He is SO awesome, and he is continuing to work and learn and prepare for the end of this year when he and his family will be sealed. :D  He is loving his calling, and loving learning.  Basically he is amazing.  And SO converted. :)  I had the thought as he was sharing his testimony with us and telling us his plans to share the gospel with everyone that if he were the only one that I had helped bring closer to Christ through my mission then it will have been worth it.  :)

Alice got her temple recommend yesterday!  We're planning on going with her to do baptisms this Thursday - I'm excited to take another one of my converts to the temple! :D

I think that's all for the week.  I love y'all and hope you have a good week!

Sister Ririe

D&C 18:15

A Very Merry Christmas Week

Our gingerbread house with our melting reindeer

At the temple with John and family!  :D

For our Christmas Eve party with the Westbrooks we exchanged ornaments - the only requirement being that they be hand-made... So I made one in the shape of Utah - cute, right? :)

Sister Ostvig used one of her Christmas presents to dress our tree up like a ninja turtle...

Christmas Morning with the Grovers :)

Sister Ostvig and me hiding out underneath the playground (this picture was taken after we were a little wet but before we got completely soaked)

Hey y'all!

I hope you had a most wonderful Christmas!  It was so good to see and talk to you on Christmas day! :) The few days leading up to Christmas we were kept busy with less actives and part member families - I think we ended up having a "traditional Christmas dinner" (you know - ham, potatoes, and all the other fixings with some minor variations) three nights in a row... it was great. :)  We had dinner on the 23rd with the Glenns - the parents are ward missionaries and one of their YSA sons (who has moved out, but he was home for Christmas) is less active, so it was good to share the Christmas spirit with them.  We also had a fun adventure when they gave us a ride home and somehow Sister Glenn managed to drop her keys in a storm drain outside our house... :/  but don't worry - we enlisted the help of the the Grovers and their kids who are in town for Christmas and one of them managed to get them out. :)

On the 24th we had our Christmas dinner round 2 with the Westbrooks - I don't know if I've told y'all about them... one of the daughters was baptized (as a convert) when Sister Ostvig was here before and they've been mostly active since... just with a few times here and there where they struggle to come.  Sister Westbrook's husband isn't a member and his family came over for Christmas Eve and so we had fun getting to know them and sharing more Christmas spirit with them. :)

And then the 25th we spent the day with the Grovers. :)  I love them so much - they seriously have become my family out here!  We opened presents, had breakfast, talked to family (yay!), had Christmas dinner round 3 (this time with mac and cheese instead of potatoes to keep the grandkids happy ;) ), and even had a gingerbread creation contest (I would say gingerbread house contest, except my group was the only one that stayed traditional and made a house... other structures included an oil rig, the Eiffel Tower, and a working aqueduct.)  Ours was pretty creative though - we had Santa's sleigh made out of different candies, complete with reindeer sculpted out of chocolate flavored taffy.  Unfortunately they started to melt, so by the time we were done it looked like our reindeer had been run over by the sleigh... :/  We just called it "the last house on Christmas night" - those poor reindeer were exhausted!  haha :)

Oh, and while I'm speaking of Christmas I must say thank you to everyone who had an input in the quote/scripture book that my mom put together - I LOVE it!  Thank you thank you thank you!!!! :)

On to our other adventures this Christmas week - we have had SO much rain... we got caught outside in it on Saturday, and tried to seek shelter at a nearby park... but here in Texas, when it rains it pours and NOWHERE is safe (unless you're inside)... so we got drenched.  Oh well, it just adds to the fun, right? ;)  

Also, COLIN CAME TO CHURCH!!! Remember him?  he's the 10-year-old son of a less active member.  We've been meeting with them pretty much every week since I've been here and every once in a while his mom will come but for whatever reason he won't come with her... but this week the whole family (except the dad, who not a member and actually kind of anti-mormon...) came!! YAY!  We really want Colin to be baptized, but he needs to be in the habit of coming to church EVERY week.  This is a good start! We're SO happy! :D

And then - Honorio got a calling! Yes, he's still not a member, but he comes enough that they gave him a calling.  He and his wife Jennifer are going to be teaching in primary!  He's actually really excited for it, because he worked a lot with the kids in one of the other churches he used to go to.  And they'll be teaching the kids that are turning 8, so hopefully those kids that are getting ready to be baptized will have a softening effect on his heart!

I think that's all for the week - we're looking forward to a very busy post-Christmas schedule where all our investigators will be able to meet with us again. :D ... at least that's what we're hoping for. ;)  I love y'all and hope you have a great week!

Sister Ririe

Merry Christmas Week

One of Megan's ward members sent us this picture today with this note: "Monday night is Texans night at Firehouse Subs. :) We love your daughter!"  Good to know she is being well loved and taken care of. :)

Hey y'all!

Merry Christmas week!  I am SO excited to celebrate!  Between the two of us, I think Sister Ostvig and I have a total of 4 countdowns... yep, we're excited.  :)  We're spending most of the day with the couple that we live with and all their kids and grandkids - it'll be a full house and tons of fun. :)  I love Christmas!

It has been a busy week here.  The elders have officially taken over Fairfield, so now we're just over the Cypress Lakes ward.  Kind of bitter sweet - It's sad to say bye to the members and investigators that we know and love, but at the same time it is going to be good to be able to focus all our time and energies on one area so we can make sure that no one falls through the cracks.  We're doing everything we can to make sure the Elders have everything they need to make this a smooth transition.  It helped that the Fieldings came to church (yay!) so we could introduce them to the elders and they could get to know each other a bit before their teaching appointment this Tuesday.  

Because Christmas is the busiest time of year for most people, a lot of our investigators have found they don't have time to talk about Christ... how ironic... :/  But we're staying busy.  We're talking to everyone we see and inviting them to Discover the Gift.  That's a good thing about the Christmas season here in Texas - everyone is willing to listen to a good Christmas message.  Even if they're not Christian.  We've run into quite a few Buddhists who are busy setting up their Christmas decorations who will listen to us and wish us a Merry Christmas as we leave.  Gotta love the spirit of Christmas. :)  

We have been able to spend a lot of time with our recent converts this week - at least they don't think they're too busy for us. :)  We had a lesson with Alice, and she took us out to dinner one night.  I absolutely love that woman. :)  And during Gospel Principles class yesterday both Alice and John had a lot of good comments to make.  It is SO amazing to watch them progress in their conversions!  

The highlight of the week was being able to go to the Temple with John and his family to do baptisms!  It was such a spiritual experience for all of us.  I LOVE the temple, and it made me SO happy to be able to bring one of my converts there.  This is what it's all about - baptism is an important step but even more important is the temple.  Their family is looking forward to a year from now when they will be able to be sealed as a family for eternity!! :D

We also had a Christmas conference where everyone from the mission gathered together to celebrate our Saviors birth.  It was a great day full of thoughts of Christ.  I was asked to bear my testimony (all of the missionaries who are leaving this transfer were) and it was an amazing experience for me to see just how much my testimony has grown.  I know and love my Savior and I am SO grateful for His atoning sacrifice.  It is because of Him that we can change and become better - become the person that our Heavenly Father knows we can be.  I know that He lives.  And I know that He loves us.  I am SO grateful for this opportunity that I have had to learn of Him and come to know Him in a way that I don't think I would have been able to anywhere else.  I know that this is His church and His work.  And with Him we cannot fail.

I love y'all!  Merry Christmas!

Sister Ririe

Luke 2:11

sorry, my camera is being funny again... :/  Look forward to pictures next week!