Christmas is amazing

Hello! 

I am a happy missionary this week! Christmas and everything is amazing!! I am having fun getting to know more and more people in the ward.

I am loving the people we are teaching too! We are teaching this cool guy named Duane. We are trying to get him to read the book of mormon but he won't. he says he will read it when we read it with him but he wont on his own time. Hopefully his heart will change and he will have a desire to read the book of mormon. one thing I have learned on my mission is that the book of mormon is our most powerful tool in conversion. We showed him the christmas video a Savior is Born and he loved it. We have been showing a lot of people that video. I have seen it a billion times. I am pretty sure I can quote the whole thing. But it is so good. I love it. 

We had zone conference this week and it was really good. I love our mission president and his wife! Sister Morgan is amazing! She talked about the difference between Surviving in the mission and Thriving in the mission. She invited each of us to consider what we can do thrive in our mission. I love that! I want to thrive! A mission is so short and I don't want to waste it by just surviving. 

She also invited to make this the best christmas that someone else has ever had. Me and my companion decided that we wanted to 12 days of christmas with our recent converts they are not going to be near any family this christmas and they aren't going to be doing anything to celebrate so we thought we would make there christmas special :) They are a mom and a daughter and the daughter has some mental problems but they are both so sweet!  We started yesterday and the last day will be christmas eve! We first left a picture of Jesus that they could put in there house bringing in the true meaning of christmas and a nice note letting them know what's up! It was so fun to knock on there door and run away! We got some more great ideas ahead! I am excited! :)  

We also had a ward christmas party and a christmas concert this week. So much talent in this stake it is crazy. 

Also I got a wonderful email today! Michael (My investigator in Fulton who we did the stop smoking work shop with) Got baptized in Saturday!!! :) Oh boy that guy is awesome!! And look at my baby girl! she is growing up so fast! 

Also that is me and Barb. She is the returning less active that told me she wasn't going to church anymore. She is such a goof. She was so excited to see me. She has been going through a lot. A lot of dark stuff from her past has been haunting her and she didn't feel any love or support from the branch. She is doing better though. She told me that she knows that not going to church is not going to help her. She will be alright. The branch has been reaching out to her more. Sister Morgan challenged the missionaries to read the book of mormon in 100 days and invited us to give some one else the same invitation. So I gave Barb that challenge. So many challenges I know! haha In 100 days it will be general conference! :) So I am excited to do this challenge with her and read the book of mormon. I love the book of mormon!!! It seriously changes lives. It did Michael's. He progressed so quickly when he started reading the book of mormon. 

Thanks for the quotes! You would be surprized on how much I actually use the quotes you give me. The pictures of Baxter is so cute 

And thank you for the love. This truly is a gospel of love. And that love never runs out. All that people want is to feel loved and be loved. 

LOVE YOU! 

Sister Fisher 

Transfer Time

What a week it has been! Saying good bye to everyone in Fulton was bitter sweet. But I am so excited to be here in the Mahomet Ward!! We were busy busy from Monday till Wednesday morning, packing and saying good bye. 

Tuesday a member in the Fulton Ward gave me a going away present. Pigs Feet. It was so nasty but I had to try it. I have been telling them that I wanted to try it for a long time and they finally found me some. SO nasty. Will never eat that again. I also just got word from my trainee that Michael hasn't drank coffee all week and is still good to be baptized on the 12th!! I am so happy for him! I guess they celebrated with doughnuts haha 

My new companion is Sister Grover from Phoenix Arizona and she has been out for about 3 months. She just finish being trained so I am follow up training her. She has two older sisters who are married. and a younger brother. She is the first to serve a mission. She is pretty awesome! we are getting along just fine! :) We are sharing the Mahomet Ward with the Zone leaders and we don't have a lot of less actives in our area! I think this is my first area where we don't have over a hundred less actives. Probably because Elder Bednar visits this ward so often haha jk But there is a lot more tracting and finding in this area and less focus on less actives which is awesome! I felt like my last area we focused on less actives a lot. Also that lady I told you about that said she wasn't going to church anymore called me the first day I got here. It was so good to talk to her again! We are going to have lunch with her this Friday. She told me "Sister Fisher promise me you won't get mad at me!" haha I told her too late! It will be good to see her again :) 

My first Sunday in Mahomet was stake conference! Which was awesome because I got to see a lot of people from the Rantoul Branch!! Lots of hugs were given and I was glad people still remembered me :) It was a very good conference. I love the stake presidency here. We already have our day planned out for Christmas too! President McNab (First Counselor in the stake presidency) Is having our district come to his house for breakfast! Apparently he can speak Elvin from lord of the rings so I really want him to speak it for me. and then we are going to another members house to skype. I don't know what time yet though. probably around noon but I will keep you posted. 

My new address is:

2503 W Springfield Apt G6 

Champaign IL 61821

The weather in Illinois is quite different from Missouri. It is more north so it is colder and it has been VERY foggy out lately. Someone in the Rantoul Branch told me that my hair looks less tight than it did in the summer. so I guess less humidity in the winter haha No snow yet. Just lots of rain and fog. They don't get a lot of snow here until January or feburary. 

We are teaching a lot of cool people here too. A lot like Rantoul. A lot of Black people. Missouri has the red necks where no one has teeth, Illinois has all the black people and swag. I can freshen up on my ebonics!

But We are teaching an Indian lady named Raji and apparently she just showed up to our church building one day and wanted to learn more. She is super cute and super solid. Her Husband isn't into it though so that could be holding her back from being baptized. She came to stake conference and was playing on here phone a lot so I thought she was bored and wasn't paying attention but then I realized she was recording the talks! After stake conference she said that she really liked it :) 

I haven't been able to meet the ward very well yet but I love them already! The ward mission leader is awesome! We got to watch the Christmas Devotional at his house with popcorn and blankets. Made me think of our sunday movie nights and popcorn :) 

I love serving in the city again and having everything so close! We just cover the edge of champaign and other small towns too.

I am excited. It is going to be a good Christmas! The best time to be a missionary is at Christmas! People like to talk about Jesus this time of year :) 

Love you all! 

Sister Fisher 

Thanksgiving

Hello

This week was fun! The members of this ward are fantastic. We helped Brother Richabaugh and his family prepare for Thanksgiving on Monday and then he taught us some sign language! He taught us D&C 4 so I am trying to practice it. 

Thanksgiving was also this week! We played football all day long! I hope you got that video of me and my comp, Brother Papa, Brother Brake and Brother Schmauch doing the one bite dohnut challenge! I know you were unset that I didn't do the taco challenge so I figured I should do this one haha :) We then had two turkey dinners that day. one right after the other. And then played more foot ball. PS I caught the ball. more than once. I hope you are all proud of me.

The next day we were all so sore! Haha you could tell what companionships at district meeting played because everyone was so stiff! 

Saturday we got transfer calls and I am finally leaving Fulton. I will now be living in Champaign IL serving in the Mahomet Ward (Right next door to Rantoul) follow up training Sister Grover. She is from Arizona. I also know that Elder David A. Bednar's son lives in the Mahomet Ward. (He is in the Champaign stake presidency) Maybe Elder Bednar will visit for Christmas??? How cool would that be?!

I have to tell you this because it is crazy. I still keep in contact with a lady who lives in Rantoul and she is a returning less active member. Just last week she emailed me and told me that she decided that she wasn't going to church anymore. She told me she didn't want me to worry about it but I was bummed. But then I got the transfer call that I was going to Mahomet and I was like... nuh uh.. I KNOW WHERE THAT IS!! She works in Champaign so we are totally gonna meet up for lunch! Hopefully I can rekindle the fire she felt when she first moved to Rantoul. I just don't even know. I can't wait to see her again. 

Sunday was awesome too. Michael came to church again which was awesome. He still isn't smoking!! He just needs to quit drinking coffee! But One of the kids in the ward was getting baptized on sunday so we invited him to that and he came! He watched that baptism and the spirit was so strong! He really liked it! I can't wait till I see pictures of him being baptized on Dec.12th. But I guess you could say I ended my time in Fulton with a baptism :) It was just as good.

I love you all. The Lord works in mysterious ways. I know that happiness is found when we align our will with God's. That's when we become converted. I hope I can become more and more converted each day! I am grateful for the things the Lord has taught me in the Fulton area. Sorry If i sounded like I was annoyed or frustrated in the emails. It is because I was. God had to teach me a lot and give me experience. I am so grateful! 

I have also been loving the D&C count down! I am glad you guys are doing it with me :)

Hope you all have a great week! 

Love 

Sister Fisher 

Glow in the dark

Me and my companion made t-shirts and played glow in the dark dodge ball with the other sisters in the Columbia zone :) 

I drew the Missouri State on my back and then D&C 60:5 on the front. 

Super fun! 

138 day Countdown

We had a great week! We had exchanges and my MTC companion, Sister Madsen is my STL so I got to go on exchanges with her!!! It was so cool to be her companion again and to see how much we have grown since the beginning of our missions :) We decided that we wanted to do the D&C count down together. 138 days before you go home, you start reading one section of the Doctrine and covenants every day starting from Section 138 all the way down to section 1. The count down starts on Mom and Dads Wedding Anniversary! November 18th and then the last day will be April 3rd. The day before I come home. You can do it with us too if you like  138 days.. crazy (We want to welcome all to do the countdown if you like. Members and non-members alike. If you dont have a D&C then ask Me or Alysa and we can get you one)

We also met a less active this week for the first time and she is someone who got baptized and never really came back but we invited her to church and she told us to call her on Saturday to remind her. when we called her on Saturday she said okay I will set my alarm! And then Sunday morning she came! She really liked it too! 

We are also doing the stop smoking workshop with our investigator, Michael. I don't know if Brandon had this in his mission but it is a really great 7 day workshop where the investigator does 15 things each day to help themselves get rid of the "bells" or things that "trigger" the desire for a cigarette. He is doing great. He came to church a half hour early and was reading the book of mormon in his car. He is participating in Sunday school classes and praying! This part of conversion is really exciting! It is like watching a baby take there first steps haha We keep daily contact with him and he is doing great.  It is interesting to see the difference with him and our other investigator, Phillip.

Phillip does not read the Book of Mormon, comes to church once in a while and when he does he has a hard time staying awake and is doubting modern prophets and priesthood authority. I don't know how many times we can tell him to read the Book of Mormon or explain to him the simple principles of the Gospel but it is just not sticking with him. I feel like he just meets with us because he is "converted to the missionaries". When Moroni exhorts us in Moroni 10:4 to ask God "with real intent if the book is not true" he promises that God will tell us by the power of the Holy Ghost. I don't think Phillip has that real intent to know if this is the one true church yet.

But it is interesting to see the contrast between the two investigators. How one is anxiously engaged in the little commitments and is willing to do them on his own while the other I feel like we are dragging him along. 

It gives me a testimony on how powerful the Book of Mormon is in conversion. We are praying for Phillip in hopes that the Lord can touch his heart.

So much happened this week I just don't have enough time to type it all! But I love you and I am so grateful to be a missionary serving the people in Missouri! 

PS I got the fish jerky!! Yum yum! I was telling one of the less actives about it and she wanted to try it with me so we did :) 

PPS We met Santa! He came to Fulton! So of course we had to share the gospel with him!! 

I am so excited for Christmas and the new initiative that is coming out! Last years was called "He is the Gift". This year it is called "A Savior is Born". The video will come out November 29th!! SoSO excited!! 

PPPS I found this in my studies and really liked it. Romans 12:21- Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Chill'n

Hello. Thank you for that letter from home. It really helped. A few days ago I was also reading in the scriptures in the new testament and some verses in Romans really hit me. Chapter 5: 

1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 

2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 

3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also:knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 

4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 

5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 

 

That really hit me because I feel like everything I asked God for ended horribly. It can be tiring doing the same thing, teaching the same lessons over and over again and having rejection day after day. My first time training a companion and my companion ends up going home, which causes me to work two areas instead of one, I am now training again. Devon backed out the day before his baptism interview and told us that God told him that the church isn't true and advised us to pray and seek a different church, other investigators got lost in anti material and told all sorts of awful things about Joseph Smith to us and said they didn't want to meet with us. A member chewed us out over the phone because I guess we offended her less active daughter and she even called the bishop and the ward mission leader about it. Plus regular missionary stress on that. Understandably it can be hard to stay motivated. It is easy to say, "what's the point?"

The point is that I am trying my best and I am on the Lord's errand. I will never do anything like this ever again and this work I am apart of is amazing. The Lord is proud of me and every little thing that I am doing is going toward something that is great. I glory in tribulation because it is teaching me patience and is giving me experience. And because of that I can have hope for the future because I believe and have faith in Jesus Christ and when I do his work I feel the spirit work through me. 

I noticed there were specific times this week that I felt the spirit working through me, I felt it working through me when I was testifying of Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation a recent convert named Taylor. I felt the spirit when we taught Michael the importance of repentance and invited him to be baptized again. Which he accepted for Dec.12. :)

I felt the spirit when I taught a less active the importance of partaking of the sacrament. And I felt it as I taught Phillip the plan of salvation and how we can trust in God because he knows all things.

Even though everything doesn't always go according to plan, I can know that my Heavenly Father is pleased with me when I feel the spirit working through me.

I want to tell you about Michael's lesson because it was a memorable one haha. So we planned to teach him the word of wisdom again and the Law of chastity. But then it turned into a repentance lesson. That through Jesus Christ he could feel free of guilt of his past. we invited him to repent and to be baptized and he accepted! It was kinda cool. I never told someone flat out that they need to repent before. So hopefully he can get baptized on Dec 12th! Then after his lesson we got all the alcohol that was in his house and dumped it out with him!! It was so cool! 

We also invited Phillip (The guy with no legs) to be baptized this week and he accepted for Nov. 28th. I would love to see him get baptized. Not just because he has no legs but I desire for his salvation. haha but I guess if it is the Lord's will.

Anyways... THANK YOU! :) And you are right. Agency is cool. annoying at times. but a blessing. A mission is unique for everyone. And I know that That everything that I go through is for my good. It still sucks, but I really love being a missionary and I know I am going to miss it when I go home. 

The picture is of magenta, my comp and me. chillin like a villain. Love you all!

Love Sister Fisher

PS I have not got Salmon jerky yet but I did get a halloween card from yall and a pillow case from the yw. You should be expecting a card and pictures from me soon :)

Happy Halloween

Hey guys! 

Hope you all had a happy Halloween! This week was a little slow but we had a great Halloween! We had a chilly cook off and a trunk or treat at the Fulton ward and it was really fun and lots of people came out! Halloween felt like any other day but it was cool because it was really foggy looking out. Sorta spooky. I can't wait until I can actually celebrate this holiday again! On Halloween night we went to a members home who weren't very enthusiastic about Halloween, never really celebrated it and it made me sad because I know how much I love it because of how much mom got into it. So thank you for the pictures! 

I seem to ponder a lot about my experiences and what exactly God is trying to teach me. One thing I do know is nothing ever goes how I expect it. And sometimes I don't feel like telling you guys anything because I feel like the very next week I am like,"Never mind!! That didn't happen! That didn't go according to plan! I actually have no idea what I am talking about!" 

But it is all cool... You always hear that if you are the only one who comes home converted then that is all that matters. I didn't realize how not converted I was until I came out on a mission. I have also realized that I complain a lot. People like to lay out all there problems on the missionaries and I just sit there and think... What am I suppose to do? I know nothing. I grew up with literally no problems. I had it easy!... A lot of people get hurt in this world and a lot of the time it is because of the agency of others. 

Agency is a blessing and a curse. Sometimes I want to get rid of it. I look at people and my investigators who had just kept making poor poor choices in there life and just think, "it doesn't have to be that hard!! you can make good choices and be happy! Follow Jesus Christ and His teachings!" But does anyone listen to me? No. 

Jesus Christ said "Come Follow me" He didn't force people, He lovingly invited. And that is what we do as missionaries. We invite others to come unto Christ. And in Fulton I have really had to learn to find joy in doing the little things. I have had to learn to love others even though they make bad choices. It is hard but it is possible! 

"All things can be made right through the atonement of Jesus Christ!" (Plan of salvation lesson in PMG)

Well enough with my ranting! here are some pictures!

 And we found a turtle! Must be one of the last ones of the season! :)

​And our car got a little dirty on those gravel roads! President Morgan always gets at us missionaries for not having clean cars. We went to the car wash right after this haha