Severe Alert - Flash Flood Warning

#1 - Sister Walker and me in the rain

#2 - My district at the temple

#3 - Also, just look at the sky here...the weather is crazy! One minute it's torrential downpour, the next is blue skies. I just don't understand.

Hey Y'all!

It has been a crazy week, and let me tell you - the rain has been coming down hard!  We got several texts throughout the week with flash flood warnings - luckily there was enough break between each storm that there wasn't any flooding, at least not that I've heard of.  But we've been safe - thanks to awesome members and the Lord.  We have gotten a little wet... but a little water never hurt anyone, right? ;)  There was one storm at the end of the week and sister Jeppson (we were on exchanges) and I were walking through the neighborhood to our next appointment and listening to the loud thunder roll through the sky when all of a sudden we see a flash right above us and hear the zap and the thunder at the same time - super scary!  I have no doubt that the Lord protected us there - and always.  

In spite of the rain, we've been doing the same things we always do - finding and serving and teaching. :)  Wes and Kelly are doing awesome - we taught them twice this past week.  Last night we taught them the Plan of Salvation, and the spirit was SO strong and I could tell they were feeling it.  Kelly testified of the things she learned as a child, and it was really powerful.  We invited Wes to be baptized, and he has some concerns... mostly that what we're teaching is very different from what he grew up believing and he's already been baptized.  But we'll keep working with him, and help him learn the truth for himself.  I love teaching them - they are both so open and friendly.  Of course, I love teaching anyone about the gospel.  I just hope that when I teach, the people I'm teaching realize that we are doing it because we love them and care about them, not just because it is our job.  That is something that Sister Walker and I have really been focusing on - making sure that people know we care about them, and that we're not simply "trying to convert them".  We ARE trying to convert them... but it's because we care and we want them to have the blessings that we know come from living the gospel.

We had kind of a cool experience with that this past week, with a less active named Martha.  We've been visiting with her for a while, and it's always been the same.  We visit, share a message, invite her to change and come back to church, and leave.  But this time, we visited for a while, and all of a sudden, we were able to get through a wall that she's put up between herself and the church.  She shared her conversion story with us, and expressed the concerns that she had with coming back to church (her family is pulled in all sorts of religious directions with her husband's church, the church her kids like, and the church her husband's parents want them to attend, and she doesn't want to add another church to the mix.)  After she had finished talking, she said that she didn't know what had made her share all that, but she also said something I will never forget: "I don't know exactly what it is about the two of you, but I can tell you care."  I ALWAYS want to be the type of missionary - the type of person, really - that people can tell that I care about them. 

We have an AWESOME finding experience from this past week:  Sister Walker and I were out walking around, contacting people, when we felt a strong impression to tract a certain street.  So we walk to the street, walk all the way down the street to start at the other end.  We didn't plan it that way... it just happened.  And for a good reason:  The first door that we knocked on we got talking to a guy named Joey.  He said that he got a copy of the Book of Mormon a few years ago from some elders, and that he had read it, and liked it so much that he had been to visit Temple Square.  At this point, I'm astonished, but not completely "beyond all measure" (in a good way)- that part is coming. ;)  He hasn't taken the missionary lessons yet, but he said he'd be willing to, so we'll hopefully be visiting with him later this week.  We shared Alma 32:27 on his doorstep and had a good discussion about acting on our faith.  And then we got his info, and left.  Here's the best part - we continued knocking doors on his street, and a few houses later, Joey comes out with his Book of Mormon in hand (this is the one he got a few years ago - we hadn't given him another copy) and says "excuse me - could you remind me again where that passage you read is?  I'd like to study it more later."  Yup, astonished beyond all measure, right there.  Maybe I shouldn't be.. after all, our message is amazing and people really should react in this or similar ways... but unfortunately that doesn't happen very much.  Anyway, he is golden.  G-O-L-D-E-N.  I'm excited to have more encounters with him later. :)

We went to the Temple this week - SO exciting!  I love the temple SO much!  And the work we do is SO amazing.  Also - Sister Walker and I feel like missionary work is the most stressful thing ever, and it's only in the temple that we can feel completely at peace.  It's amazing.  I'm so happy and so blessed to be able to go as often as I can. 

We also went on exchanges this week - Sister Jeppson came to visit me here in Memorial Springs, and SO much happened, and I learned a lot from her, mostly the "go about doing good" part of missionary work.  While we were out walking in the rain (after the lightning part had passed) we saw a little old Asian lady struggling to pull some wet bags of grass to the curb.  Without hesitation, Sister Jeppson ran over to help her, and after we finished with that we had a good conversation with her where we were able to testify of the eternal nature of the family.  She said she'd be willing to hear more, so Sister Walker and I will hopefully be able to teach her the Plan of Salvation sometime this week.

The Lord really is moving his work forward - there is SO much going on here in my little Memorial Springs world.  I love being a missionary, and I love this work.  Yes, sometimes it's stressful, and sometimes I'm more exhausted than I ever thought was possible.  But it is worth it - I do know that.  The church is true - there's no denying it.  I love y'all so much, and hope you have a fantastic week!

Sister Ririe

1 Corinthians 3:6 -- possibly my new favorite scripture - I love it!

Happy Memorial Day!

Pictures of Sister Ririe at Zone conferences this week

Hey y'all!

This week - great. :)  SO much good stuff happened.  Where to start...

Houston.  It's great.  Except for the bugs.  And now that it's officially summer here, they are all out in full force.  Including the mosquitoes and fire ants - no fun.  Basically I smell like bug spray ALL the time, because if I don't, I come home with a bazillion new bites.  But that's alright - we survive.  

On to more spiritual and missionary matters (it's funny - at Zone Conference (more on that later) Sister Pingree gave each of us a cute little picture to put on our walls with a whole bunch of little sayings of how to be a good missionary - stuff like "smile" and "talk to everyone" and "wear your black name tag with honor."  One that had to make us laugh was "ignore the weather" ... kind of hard to do, when you're outside in the heat and humidity pretty much all day... but we do our best. :)  )  Now that my random tangent is over, I'll REALLY move on to the more spiritual and missionary matters of the week.

First miracle... Wes and Kelly came to church!!!! we were able to teach them this past week, and invited them to come, and they said yes, and then they actually came, and loved it. :) So for the first time since Robert was baptized, Memorial Springs had an investigator at church.  Things are moving forward - slowly but surely.  We're meeting with them again this week - Wes said he'd feed us barbecue, so we're excited.  And of course there will be plenty of gospel teaching too. :)  He's excited to learn, and Kelly is excited to be more involved, which is great.  It was awesome - at church, we sat with them (of course) so we could be there to kind of explain what was going on during the meetings.  It was fast Sunday, because we have stake conference next week, and I turned to talk to Wes to see that Kelly was already answering his questions.  She knows it all, she just hasn't been to church in a while.  I think she felt good to be back. :)

On a sadder note - We think Candy and Karen dropped us... they've been meeting with Jehovah's Witnesses for the past few months, and after their weekly appointment with them, Candy cancelled their meeting with us... we think the JWs convinced them to not meet with us anymore... :/  we'll try by a few more times, and see if we can't meet with them again.  When we met with them before, they said they had a lot that the JWs believed in that didn't make sense to them - I think we can answer some of those questions, if they give us the chance.

We were able to see Jo and Lesa again, finally!  Jo has been in the hospital for the last month or so, so we haven't been able to visit her.  But she's out, and doing well. :)  She's a sweetheart, I love visiting them! :)

Zone Conference was absolutely amazing!  I always love meetings with bunches of missionaries and President Pingree speaking to us.  It's weird to think that President PIngree only has about a month and a half left... I will miss him and his family!  But I'm sure the new mission president will be great too.  During Zone Conference we had great discussions about learning and working to please God instead of pleasing man.  It is SO important to focus on pleasing God, especially as missionaries, where we are called to be His servants in spreading the Gospel.  We aren't called to tell people the things they want to hear - we are called to spread the Gospel; some people call it hard, but it really is the thing that will lead them, and us, to lasting happiness.  

Each Zone Conference we have the opportunity to prepare a 3-5 minute talk - the subject for this meeting was "What have I learned from studying the Atonement in the Book of Mormon?"  Each of us prepare our talk, and then whoever is conducting announces the lucky few that will get to speak during the conference. ... yup, I was one of the lucky few... I thought I would be off the hook because I had been asked to give the closing prayer... guess not.  But it was good - I love reading the Book of Mormon, and as a missionary I have learned so much about the Atonement.  It was neat to share what I've learned with my fellow missionaries, even if it did mean I had to stand in front of everyone - still not my most favorite thing to do.  But I'm getting more used to it. :)

I'm running out of time - because of Memorial Day, the place that we usually email is closed, so there's only one computer for the two of us...  But I love y'all so much, and I hope you have a great week! :)  The gospel is true!!  I know it. :)

Sister Ririe

1 Nephi 6:5

Sometimes we over complexicate things...

Sister Walker and me with our bikes. :) The flash went off on my camera - that's why the reflectors are so bright.

the subject line doesn't have much to do with the week... it's just a funny quote from one of the sisters in my district. ;)

Hey y'all!

This week has been absolutely amazing!  With the ward split and reorganization and such, it almost seems like I'm serving in a different ward, but without nearly as many goodbyes.  It's nice.  We have a good, solid foundation to work off of, along with a lot of new to work with.  So far it's been good. :) 

When the ward split last week, we lost a few neighborhoods, but we also gained a few as well.  Sister Walker and I have been working a lot in that new area, getting to know the members there as well as the layout of the streets so we feel comfortable walking around without our nose in our map all day.  There is SO much potential up there - I am really excited to see what happens as we continue to work hard!  The members that we gained are awesome, and I'm excited to get to know them better.  And a lot of them are really missionary-minded - when we stopped by to meet them, there were a few that were telling us all about the less actives that live near them, and their friends down the street, and their co workers... it's great. :)  Like I said - the new addition to Memorial Springs is awesome!  I can feel good things are going to happen soon! :)

Sister Walker and I were invited to go to seminary on Tuesday this week, and although it was super early, it was fun. :)  They were learning about baptism, and the teacher had asked us to help by explaining what we teach an investigator about that sacred ordinance.  We had a great lesson, and the students were getting involved, which was good.  We helped them do some role play, and before we knew it, class was over.  It was a neat experience - I love working with the youth and helping them prepare for missions.

We were able to teach Karen and Candy this week - we taught the restoration, and it went well.  They're also meeting with the Jehovah's Witnesses, but they said they won't join their church because there are some things that they don't agree with.  They both want to develop their relationship with God, and they are searching for the truth.  We're meeting with them again tomorrow - I hope it goes well and that we'll be able to answer their questions and resolve their concerns!

Awesome miracle - Sister Walker and I were walking down to the apartment office to pick up a package in the morning one day, and a guy (named Harold) stopped us and told us how he had got a copy of the Book of Mormon from the trio of sisters that was here a while ago.  He'd been reading it, but somehow he had lost his copy when he was somewhere in the war chapters.  (he's convinced that someone stole it, because it's an awesome book ;) ) So he saw us and asked us for a copy and said he'd love to have us come over to teach him more.  We gave him our number (he'd just moved to a new place, so he didn't have his number or address memorized yet...) but he said he'd contact us.  I hope he will soon!

Second awesome miracle that involves us walking down our apartment stairs in the morning - Sister Walker and I decided that we need to do our companion study outside from now on! - A guy came running up to us, and started talking, and then paused to say "I'm a Mormon" and then continued.  His name is Gannon, and he's here for the summer selling pest control. (Side note, pest control guys are awesome!  Most of them are return missionaries going to BYU that came out here for the summer to make money.  Talking to other missionaries in the area, we've found that these new additions to the ward REALLY like to help with missionary work... gotta love those RMs. :)  We've already had a few referrals from them - it's awesome.) Anyway, Gannon was out selling pest control, and his bike broke down, and a guy named Wes helped him to fix it.  They got talking, and somehow Wes found out that Gannon is from Utah.  He asked if he was Mormon, Gannon said yes, and Wes said that his wife was a member, but hadn't been to church in a really long time.  He wanted her to start going back, and he's looking for a church to raise his family in.  Long story short, Gannon worked it out to introduce us to them, and we all went over there yesterday night.  Wes is SUPER interested - and his wife Kelly is interested in coming back too - she's just a little nervous because she doesn't want to be judged and all that.  But right now, with the ward being reorganized, it's the PERFECT time to come back, and simply fall right into place.  So yeah, they're golden.  We're meeting with them again on Wednesday, and they've already agreed to come to church on Sunday, and Gannon said he'd come to our ward with them (he's in the singles ward) so they'd have a familiar face to sit with.  I'm SO excited to keep teaching them!  Kelly seems perfectly active - there's even a picture of the temple in their home, with the date that Kelly was sealed to her parents on it.  She definitely has a testimony.  And Wes has some questions that the church can answer.  Like I said... GOLDEN! :)

I've just got to say - I love this work!  The church is true, y'all!  And I love finding people that are prepared to hear our message! It's great - I couldn't imagine doing anything else with my time right now. :) I love you all so much!  Thanks as always for all the love and support and friendship! I hope y'all have a great week!  

Sister Ririe

Alma 26:12

An Eventful Mother's Day

#1 - Me and my new companion, Sister Walker

#2 - Either this shows how short my new companion, or the "everything's bigger in Texas" (even the mailboxes) mentality... maybe both. ;)

#3 & 4 - Skypeing with Sister Ririe on Mother's Day - she is seriously so happy!!

Hey y'all!

This week has been great!  Of course the highlight was getting to talk to the family yesterday - happy mother's day mom!  It was great to see your faces and talk to you for a bit. :)  I love y'all so much!  But now- back to the beginning of the week...

The week started off with transfers, where Sister Bonner was moved to College Station and Sister Walker came to join me here in Memorial Springs!  Sister Walker is great - she's from Billings Montana (my first companion not from Utah!), she has been out for almost 9 months, and she's a super hard worker, loves being a missionary, and has a gorgeous voice.  I love her already, and I'm excited to get to know her better!

Most of the week was spent helping Sister Walker get to know the area - she was in a full car area right before this (probably one of the largest areas in the mission) and now she's in one of the smallest areas and on foot all the time.  And it's hard, because we're getting into the hot and humid summer... but it will be great. :)  

We did a lot of tracting this week, and actually had an awesome miracle.  We were planning the night before, and were trying to decide where we should be for an hour where we had nothing to do.  So I looked at the map and a certain cul-de-sac stood out to me, so I suggested that we tract there.  The next day, when we got there, there was a woman standing on the opposite corner, and Sister Walker told me later that she had the strongest impression that we needed to talk to her at some point.  But she walked away before we could cross the street and talk to her then.  We continued tracting, without much success, until we got to a house at the end of the cul-de-sac, and I swear it was the exact spot that had caught my eye the night before.  The woman that had been standing on the corner answered the door, and we were able to teach her a bit about the Book of Mormon and share a scripture with her.  We asked if we could come back to teach her some more, and she said yes.  We set up a time that we could meet with her and her sister-in-law - she told us that they (their names are Karen and Candy, by the way) are searching for a church right now.  So we have an appointment with them tomorrow morning, and it's going to be great.  :)  I know that the Lord led us there because they are ready to hear the restored gospel!  I'm so excited to see how their story unfolds!

We had another cool experience this week - we got a text referral from Church Headquarters - someone had referred themselves on mormon.org.  His name is Joshua, and he's a Baptist Seminary Student and wanted a Book of Mormon so he could write his paper, giving us good evidence for our faith or something like that.  (this was all information that we got through him putting it in mormon.org)  We called him and set up a time to drop it by, and this Thursday we were able to drop it off.  We were planning on teaching him about the restoration briefly and pointing out Moroni's promise, but he kind of just took the Book of Mormnon, saying "oh, you brought it? Thanks!" and then started to shut the door.  We did manage to give him a card with our number, telling him to call us if he has any questions.  I wish we had been able to talk to him longer... oh well.  At least he's researching the actual book and not just the anti-mormon websites.  Hopefully he's not looking at them at all.  We hope he has questions and gives us a call. :)

Unfortunately we were not able to meet with Jo and Lesa yesterday for mother's day - Jo is in the hospital, and Lesa was really sick too when we stopped by on Saturday. :( I hope they get better soon so we can visit them again and have a belated Mother's day celebration. :)

The big event of the week was the ward split!  After hearing all the different member's theories all week long, we finally learned how our ward and the wards in the surrounding areas will look moving forward.  We lost a neighborhood that is highly concentrated with members, and half of another, more wealthy neighborhood.  And we gained a neighborhood - Sister Walker and I are excited to explore and meet the members that are now in the ward and all their neighbors. :)  The neighborhood that we lost that is highly concentrated with members also had most of the ward council in it... so it will be interesting to see who the new leaders of the ward will be. :)  Our bishopric was called yesterday, but it won't be until next week that the rest of the ward council is organized.  Like I said, it will be interesting, and exciting too.  New, fresh blood for us missionaries to work with. ;)

Well, that's pretty much how the week went. I love y'all so much, and I hope that all you mothers out there had a wonderful Mother's day. :)  And to my mom - I love you so much!  I hope y'all have a great week!

Sister Ririe

Alma 56:48