February 25th, 2013 Stephanie

Dear family

    So wow, like wow, everyone is all over the world T in Hawaii.  So cool!!!  And Maren in New York!!!!  Wow, the Lord is giving us so many opportunities to spread the gospel. It’s so cool to see.  Oh and I have news. I may be switching missions. Crazy huh?  They are going to spit my mission into two!!!  Starting July 1, we will see who the new mission president is and will, well, see if I will be in the same mission or if I will change. We will have to see. Hah.  It’s exciting to see the work progress so fast here and to see the kingdom of God grow.

    I am going to send you my letter to the President because I don’t have much time.  I am so sorry .

Dear President Glazier

         I hope you have a great birthday this week.
This week in our area it was really hard. I have never seen Satan work so hard in my life and it was an eye opening experience for me to realize that he is real and is working against us. Our investigators, wow, are having such a hard time. Freddie almost died because his sugar was so low. And the wife of a recent convert was bed ridden because she has water in her knees and can’t walk. We walked in. I have never seen someone so helpless and the first thing she said when she saw me was. Oh Hermana and began to cry ....I can’t walk. I can’t walk. It broke my heart to see her like that. A recent convert just lost his only uncle who was more like a brother than an uncle and it has been a really hard time for him and his grandma. The uncle died from an accident and it was very unexpected. ...... I have seen the powers of hell rage around us and I have also seen the arm of God work through the power of the priesthood by the two elders that came into our area. It was as if Satan knew they were coming and how hard it was going to be for him to work in our area when there is priesthood here.....But I have seen the hand of God help and uplift and give comfort to those that need it and I know for certain that he is in this work and that if we trust him that all will work out in the end.
I am not going to lie I got discouraged and disheartened this week for half the day. But I then realized that is what Satan wanted and I changed my attitude right then and there and we went to a appointment and it was incredible the thing we planed was literally an answer to the prayers of the people we were teaching. I know God lives and loves his children and it is sometimes through the fiery furnace of afflictions when we come to know our Savior and his love for us. It is in those moments when we learn to truly rely on him with all our hearts. I am grateful for those moments in my life for it is when I have felt my Saviors’ love. I know he lives and loves us so much. This I testify with all my heart.
Hermana Hale

 And this is a thank you letter that I wrote to him for his birthday but it has my testimony so I thought to send it too.

Happy Birthday! I want to personally thank you for all the work and effort and prayers on our behalf. I have a hard time with just 15 or so investigators and I could not imagine how it is for 250 missionaries.  You once said that your greatest hope and purpose here is to help us become the best people we can and to become more deeply converted to the Lord.  I was thinking of something I could say to you to thank you adequately for what you have done for me personally.  

                I have been thinking a lot about my personal conversion and want to thank you for helping me find and strengthen my testimony of this gospel. Because of what I have learned here I know that my Lord and Savior lives. He is in our lives, he loves us- I know that this gospel is true that we have a prophet of the lord here on earth. The priesthood is his power on the earth to bless his children and offer the saving ordinances of salvation. I know that my family and my future family with be one that lasts forever. I know the atonement is real and has great power to help us in every aspect of our lives. I am not just learning the principles of the gospel I am living them here on the mission and the things I have learned will last me my whole life.

                 The only way I know how to thank you is to show you that you are accomplishing your goal and objective and I am and will be ever grateful for what you have done here to help me and also my investigators. I hope you have a great birthday!!!

   Wow I feel bad that I can’t write to much this week especially when so much has happened. We now have 2 Elders in our ward and they are great and are going to help the work so much I feel like a huge weight has been taken off. The work has been cut in half and I feel like we can concentrate more on the investigators and mense activos that we have. Cause there is a lot. We have about 107 people coming to church right now and our goal as missionaries in the ward is to raise it to 170!! Pray for us to accomplish our goal. We need the Lord’s help a lot. I know we can do it and we will with his help.

Family I know that this gospel is true stay close to it no matter what you do!!!! Nothing will bring more peace and joy. BOYS GET READY NOW!!!! The world is in need of willing and ready hands to share the gospel. Be ready when the call comes because when that time comes the time for preparation is passed and the time to perform is here. Be better than me and start from the get go and help as many people as you can!!!!!

 I love you. I have to go if I want time to read your letters I hope everyone is fine and I want to hear about everyone. T how was Hawaii?  And Nate how is basketball? And Caleb and Isaac and Simeon  how is school? And Jake how are you feeling about work and well the mission!!!! Tell me all every one, please. I live to hear word from you guys.

I love you

Hermana Stephanie Hale

February 25th, 2013 Maren

Hey Family,

 

It is soooo good to hear from you. Didn't know how much I missed you until I read your email this morning. Man I miss getting mail everyday at the MTC. Haha. I was spoiled rotton. Lets be honest, I am still being spoiled rotten. I've got the cushiest gig around.

 

I hope that this email doesn't sound negative... and now with an intro like that here is my first week.

 

In the MTC they preped us, saying that our trainers would probably have appointments already set up for the day and we'd barely have time to drop our suitcases off before heading off to start teaching the gospel... I was prepared for that. But thats not what happened. Because we are blinding this area we didn't know anyone... so we didn't have any appointments. So day 1 we spent unpacking and doing a little grocery shopping. I was grateful for the slow start...

 

But... its still been REALLY slow. I don't even feel like we've even taught a real lesson yet. We've visited a lot of members and some inactives and met with two investigators but mostly its just trying to get to know people, where they are at in the process, and figure out what steps to take next. We still haven't made contact with some of the people the Elders that were here were working with before. Its doesn't help that the Elders that are here in Riverhead with us seem to be going 100 miles a minute... They're not really blinding the area but man... I wish we were that busy. I was prepared to get up in the morning, get ready, and leave the apartment not planning to return all day... I wasn't prepared for this. I just want to feel like I am using the Lord's time well.

 

O! I kinda lied to you. When I wrote last week we were under the impression that we were English only, turns out all four of the missionaries stationed here are called spanish so we're working what is called a Zebra Pool. Basically that means we can teach in both English and Spanish. It actually makes it really nice because when we knock on a door we dont have to worry about what language will be spoken, either way we will understand... and if by some miracle they let us in we can teach them whether they speak English or Spanish (which means if we find an awesome English investigator we don't have to pass them off to the English missionaries or vise versa.)

 

Daddy... I'm discouraged... I know this is where I am supposed to be... but i'm still trying to really want to be here. That sounds so bad. I'm sorry. Don't let the boys read that part... or maybe do... I dont know its just hard out  here. I wonder what I would be doing differently if I wasn't new... What would I know how to do better if I wasn't a greenie fresh out of the MTC. My companion is timid too, she tries really really hard but she's just as scared as I am... that means we probably don't push each other as much as we should, me because I'm new and barely know which way is up and her because she's shy. We've really got to start figuring all this out.

 

The people that I have met I find myself falling in love with almost instantly. They all have crazy stories and I am surprised at how much information they are willing to share. I can tell my heart is going to take a beating out here. The first day my mission president asked me "If you can only tell me one thing about yourself what would it be?..." when I hesitated he modified the question so it said "If there was one thing your mom would tell me about you what would it be?" After he asked that It was a no brainer... I told him "I love and I love hard." He said that love would serve me well, but I would also get my heart broken. Its true. But I think I'm going to chose to love anyways.

 

Okay... lets try to liven things up a bit. Let me tell you about some of these awesome people we have met that I have already started loving.

 

The first is Sister Batista. She is an awesome Dominican woman, been a member all her life (with some bouts of inactivitiy) and right now she is a single mother raising 5 AMAZING kids. They range in ages from 15 to 6. The circumstances that brought her to her current situation are very sad, but o man she is so strong. She is always being pulled in 100 different directions but she does everything to give her kids every chance. She helps them do lots of sports, excel in school, and whatever else they want to do. She is an amazing woman and mother, and her Faith! She has witnessed some pretty awesome miracles and her faith is strong, she knows God will take care of her no matter what. We've just got to help her see the part that church has to play in that equation. She just got in a pretty serious car accident that she probably shouldn't have survived but pretty much walked away without a scratch. Unfortunately that means she doesn't have a car right now so its hard for her to get to church. Its amazing to me how many people don't have cars out here. Members are awesome in their willingness to give rides but there aren't a lot of big cars out here that can handle that many people. We need a few mission 15 passenger vans. That would be awesome!

 

One of our investigators lives a few doors down. The elders were working with her a little bit before they left but she has been suffering from horrible horrible headaches for the past 7 months so she has a hard time accepting company. She had pretty much told the Elders not to call her, she would call them if she had any questions (they'd given her a book of Mormon.) She has slow comprehension and I guess the Elders would really overwhelm her with information that she couldn't handle, I think she liked our pace better because she agreed to set up a weekly appointment with her. Its not very often but hopefully its a pace that will work for her. She really just wants to find happiness, not sure how much she wants to work for it but we'll try to help her see that this path can bring her what she is looking for. She has had a rough go of it, came from a family and a home probably not much different that the one I grew up in and even raised her family in a similar setting... but recently she's had to move to an apartment and has lost both her cars. She's trying to turn to God but doesn't see that its making her situation any better. She trust him but she's wondering why it almost seems like its getting harder when she's trying to do the right thing. I really hope we can help her. (Her name is Diane by the way).

 

Another investigator the Elders left to us is named Gjina. We met her for the first time at church yesterday. She has already committed to baptism! And more than that she is really proactive in wanting it to be done sooner than later. Originally the goal was March 3 but since missionaries have switched and nobody really knows her story the District and Zone leaders want to push it back so we can be sure its  true conversion. From everything I have heard from her I think she really is... We'll meet with her again today and hopefully set things more in stone. She still has to be taught some things but I think it'll all work out. One of the things she said is that her family is mostly indifferent to her decision or happy that she has found something that makes her happy but her sister, who unfortunately she lives with, is very very against it. She gets discouraged by that sometimes but she says what she really wishes is that she could just shake her until she get it, until she can know what she knows. If that isn't a sign of true conversion I don't know what is. Wanting to share the gospel with others is a big step towards it at least. We're hoping we can set her baptism date in stone today.

 

We went tracting in a mobile home park this week and tracted into a young hispanic girl named Liliana. She was so cute. I don't know if she was super interested in what we had to say and she was about to run out the door but she did set up a return appointment with us for tomorrow. I have high hopes for her. I'm not going to lie, I am already so grateful that I have been called to speak spanish. The hispanic people are amazing and their culture is so friendly. I'm glad I've been called to work primarily with them.

 

Finally... last night we had our first Dinner Appointment with a member. Her name is Lorraine and she was baptized maybe only a year and a half ago and Wow! What a lady. She made us amazing food and shared with us the first talk she had ever given in sacrament meeting which had been almost a year ago. It was the story of her conversion and the discovery of her own testimony. It was so tender. There was so much emotion, I feel like we went through that journey with her. After a long day and week of feeling discouraged what she read to us was exactly what I needed to hear. More than once already I have heard missionaries talk about how the only people they baptize out here are the ones that are already looking for the Gospel. The ones that come to them basically instead of the ones they find on their own. Lorraine was that way, but the point is she still needed the missionaries. If I can find just one person like her, just one who is looking for the truth and really gets what is being placed before them... then my mission will all be worth it. Just one. I know they're here somewhere... I just have to be obedient and faithful and then God will send them my way. God is the fisherman, we are just the Net in a way, he drops us where he wants us, where he knows the good fish will be and then, if we are a good net and doing what we have been made (called) to do, then we are allowed to catch some fish. (is that a weird analogy? I dont know, it makes sense in my head.)

 

I wouldn't be surpirsed if I am here for at least six months. Maybe more. Honestly I may have to be training as soon as I am done training and they better not send me back to the city to do that... I think I would curl up and die. We're getting 20 new sister missionaries in the next transfer out from the MTC and yet there aren't even that many sisters in the mission right now... especially since 7 of them are training the 7 that came in with me. Some of them will be in trio's and who knows how many the next transfer with bring after that. Everything is exploding out here! The branch here is so so excited to have sister missionaries, I think they've only seen elders for a long long time. I really think we can do things here that the Elders couldn't... its an amazing thing.

 

Today is a zone activity for P-day so we're going to go play laser-tag up in terryville. Pretty cool huh? Haha. We'll see how it compares to laser tag back home... hopefully I can hold my own and the Elders wont completely kick my but. Wouldn't it be cool if I could totally cream all of them. :D I'll have to try and find a good sniper spot.

 

O yeah! Another cool thing... since we're out here in a branch we may (not sure if this is a rumor) but we may be allowed to go with the Branch to the temple on their Branch Temple Trip. How cool would that be?!? To get to do to the temple in my first transfer!? Can i get anymore spoiled. The trip is set sometime in late March so we'll have to verify if it really true but I really really hope so.

 

I had to buy a GPS for our car. There is no rhyme or reason to the roads out here... Brigham Young was an amazing city planner. There is not way to know where this road is or if it connects to this road. There is no grid! Maps are hard because there aren't really numbers so it all depends on if you can manage to find it on a map in really small writing. The Beal's (the senior couple we live with) let us borrow theirs a few times and honestly its so much easier. We went to target one day and they had one on an amazing sale so I took the money I had just gotten back on my card from my baggage receipt and got that for us. Its been a HUGE blessing. Like I said I am gussing i'll be out here for a while so I think it was a good value buy.

 

Sorry, this is getting kinda scatterbrained, I am just writing things as they come to me. Please don't be afraid to write me handwritten letters, they wont take too long to get here and I promise I will respond in kind.

 

I miss you. Mommy, I really wish I could get a hug right now... there is no substitute for Mom hugs. Jake you should probably start stocking up on those... they run out fast out here.

 

I love you all. I am so grateful everyday for the family that I have, the parents that raised me, my sisters that have supported me, and my brothers that have taught me so much. We are so amazingly blessed. Utah is an amazing place to grow up, I don't care what anyone says. The bubble is great! One of the biggest trials out here is when we baptize someone and then they start dating a non-member... but really... who else are they suppose to date? I love being able to assume that 95% of everyone I talk to is LDS or at least understand and respect my standards. Boys... be ever so grateful for it. Love it and take advantage, there is no where else like happy valley Utah.

 

Les Amo!

 

-Hermana Maren Hale

February 18th, 2013 Stephanie

Hope you like the pictures ha. T thanks for the masks they are so much fun.....the one picture is me trying to get rid of my piojos ...lice ha and the other is a picture of me and my companion Hermana Caal we have so much fun together .....

Dear Family
    Thank you Mom and Dad for writing me each week.  You have no idea how much I look forward to Mondays to hear from you all.  Literally there is a spiritual strength that comes to us missionaries when we hear that God is blessing those that we love at home and in the field. Wow, is all I can say about this week.  God has truly blessed me and my companion so very much it’s hard to believe. I have never been happier. I got Maren’s letter and reading her letters reminds me of my time in the MTC and the things I learned. And it’s so amazing because so often in my life I have to learn the same thing two or three times before I understand and start living what I learned.  With reading Maren’s letters, I  am relearning things that are so important on the mission like the fact to open my mouth more and share the gospel with everyone.....literally everyone. I need to be better in opening my mouth and look for the people God is putting in my way to learn about the gospel. So thanks Maren you’re helping me from where you are and I hope my experiences will help and get you excited to serve with all your heart and mind and strength. If you are not tired by the end of the day.... do better the next. This is our time to give to the Lord.  Let us give him our best and our all. I love you and know you will bless so many people in New York.... wow, every time I think you are there…  I don’t know it just fits you hah.
     So I need to catch you all up on what is happening in my area.....they are splitting it, and putting 2 Elders in our ward next change or Wednesday!!!.  I found out that I will be staying for another change.  I can’t tell you how happy I am to be blessed with the opportunity to be in the same place for a long time and this time my companion is staying the same. She and I are so excited. Words can’t express. With her it’s like I am with Maren or Tania. I love her so much and learn from her every day. She is the sister I have gotten along the best with and we get to be together for another 6 weeks!!!!! We have so many plans for this change. It will be different with two elders in our ward working with us. Our area just got a whole lot smaller but I am excited it will give us a good chance to work with menos activos and such which we need to do.
    So this week lots happened.  I wanted to send you the letter I sent my President to explain what happened.


Dear President Glazier

          I can’t tell you thank you enough for not changing me ha or my companion ha I know it’s not your decision it’s the Lords but man we have so many plans for this next 6 weeks.  We have never worked harder or seen bigger miracles in this area.  I have seen a complete change in this area since I came here! We are finding people so ready for this gospel!  So much so that it was a great blessing that we are splitting the area because we were having a hard time getting to all of the people  This next 6 weeks we are going to have more time to work with non members and increase the people in church so watch our numbers in sacrament meeting because they will be going up from here on out !!!!
       I love being a missionary. I woke up one day and realized I have the coolest and greatest and more rewarding job in the world.  I cringe to think that this can’t last my whole life that one day I will have to go back to the real world.  I have been reading a lot about conversion this cambio. There are so many conference talks that are on becoming converted to the Lord.  It has made me stop and think if I am truly converted to the Lord and his gospel. One thing that I have learned is that a testimony is not the same as conversion. We can know something is true but until we act and become we are not converted. ....So my question is how do we know if we are converted?  And what can we do to become more converted to the Lord? I have been finding my own answers such as true and lasting repentance, living the principles I have been taught, service to others ....to have a change of heart ...to literally change our nature and characteristics to become like the Lord. I want that change so bad  but sometimes it seems so daunting a task that many times I don’t know where to start.  ......Please send me your suggestions and thoughts. I know they will help me as I try to change my heart and get rid of the things that are keeping me form the Savior.
     Wow, this week so many miracles. I don’t know where to start. One of our investigators got baptized his name is Antonio and he is 17. I am so amazed at the youth of the world today.  There are so many that are searching, yearning for the truth and so many are stepping up and changing their lives to follow their Savior. They are willing to make these changes when it is hard for their parents to do so. They are the examples to their parents and leaders of the church. They are an example to me. After the baptism, we were talking to Antonio and his father and he was telling his father "Dad I am going on a mission in a year and I get to go to another country for two years to preach the gospel.”  It was not a question it was a statement and it was incredible to see his faith and desire to serve a mission. It made me the happiest person alive.
   Not just this but we saw miracle upon miracle this Sunday. First with Antonio receiving the spirit, but one of his friends a 40 year old man who is a son of a recent convert came to church to support him and learn more.  I  "oh me of little faith"  never thought to see him in church.  For the last 4 weeks, we have been inviting him and he would always say yeah I’ll come but then avoid us when we come to pick him up or he would have an excuse or he would be gone. BUT HE CAME and he liked it too !!! Miracle number two. But wow, miracle number three is what brought tears to my eyes and a joy indescribable. For the last 7 months, I have been teaching a family named, Orillana. The grandfather was baptized last year and we stated to teach the family the week I got here. We baptized the granddaughter and she has two children one of which will baptized in March and the other is thinking about baptism. This family, wow, is my family. I love them so much and will do anything for them. The grandfather is married and his wife in the first was very hard hearted would not even listen to us. She utterly refused to read the Book of Mormon and said she would never come to church. We have been working with this family for 7 months they have seen many Sisters coming and going.  But I have seen them, how they were, and the changes that have happened ....God has worked a great work in this family.... and I have had the privileged of seeing it day to day, week for week. This woman Gregoria, the grandma, of the family, wow I never thought I would be around long enough to see her in chruch. We would joke, her and I.  She said she would go to church if I would let her pierce my ears ha. . . .  I will always remember the 17 of February when this woman, who has seen so much sorrow and tragedy in her life, the woman I have grown to love and want nothing else for her other than the gospel and the atonement of Jesus Christ, came to church. She was wearing her best clothes with makeup ....never seen her with makeup and with the biggest smile I have ever seen. As I watched her and her family walk into the chapel and sit down in time for the sacrament, I began to cry for the great and incredible tender mercies of the Lord, for the great miracle that he worked in the heart of this woman.
   Wow so much to be thankful for this week and the great part of it is me and my companion, Hermana Caal,  will have 6 more weeks to work and see miracle in this area. We have so many great goals and plans that we know God will help us achieve this change.
   Thank you for all your help and for everything you do. Your job is hard and exhausting.  I am realizing that at the end of the day I am not just physically tired but spiritually drained. This work is hard but nothing brings the soul more joy, true and lasting joy. Thank you and Hermana Glazier for everything. You are both such an example to me.
     Hermana Hale

      So this week and well this change, I have been thinking a lot about conversion. I was talking to President about this conference that happened in October. There were so many talks about this topic. I want to become more than I am. I want to become what God has in mind for me. I want to leave behind my sins and give all to him and trust in him more than I do. It sounds so easy on paper but to do it is ....well I have learned that’s why repenting is hard.  It’s not easy we have to change our heart or change our very nature, we need to have a new heart. Such a drastic change that the prophets and the scriptures say that it is being spiritually reborn. This process is not easy to change us and put off the natural man but it is possible and the great part about it is that we never have to do it alone. Christ is there every step of this process and is there to increase and uplift and give strength and give us what we need to make these changes and become this new person that he has in mind. I need your prayers as I try and make these changes in my life in my character. I want to invite you all to find your weapons of rebellion that you are holding on to and invite to let them go and come enjoy the fruits of the gospel, the fruit of the tree lehi partook of, the fruit that is desirable to make one happy that brings joy to the soul. This gospel is wondrous incredible and eternal. I know it, I love it and we all need to strive to live it. Family, grandparents, sisters on missions, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends I want to thank all you for the help and support and example you have been placed and given in my life. I am the sum of all of you and I am so grateful  and extremely blessed.....so blessed ( seeing people here that may only have one or two people left alive in their family’s or don’t know who their family is ... I am so extremely blessed ) thank you all for who you are and helping me become who I am I love you all.
God lives and love us. Christ is my savior and redeemer of my soul. he live and love me, he works though our faith to change us and give us blessings trust in him and everything will work out no matter what the circumstances’ don’t know what else to say but that I love you and miss you all so very much
   love your missionary
   Hermana Stephanie Hale.

 

February 20th, 2013 Maren in New York

Hey family!

 I made it here to New York! Its amazing! Its so beautiful here and its cold! The first day we went out street contacting (they call it sweeping) and we were freezing! I had dressed warm but a lot of our Elders didn't have anything but their suit coat. We were grateful to get indoors. Welcome to missionary work!

They then took us up to a building called the Brooklynner, it has 51 stories and is the tallest building in Brooklyn. We went all the way up to the roof and we could see everything! We could see Manhattan, we could see Ellis Island and the statue of Liberty (cool!) and all 5 bridges onto long island and all 5 bouroghs. It was quite a view. I'll send pictures if I can. :D (put them on the blog please?)

So... We got our trainers today. Mine is Hermana Madsen and we have been assigned to work in zone 9 in an area called Riverhead... look it up... haha... its not at all the kind of place I thought I'd be serving.... (Hermana Madsen will be going home as soon as she is done training me... I'm killing her.) O yeah! and we are actually assigned to teach in English.... I will have to try really hard to keep learning spanish... its a half and half branch thought so hopefully i'll have people to talk to still. (some of the Elders in my MTC district would die if they new I was English, they were all praying that they could be switched to English. Ha!)

Its actually in the country! We live in a house with a senior couple but they are going home at the end of this transfer so we might have it all to ourselves after that. Crazy huh? There aren't a ton of members here, its a new branch, maybe only 5 years old or so... oh, and we are blinding the area (I think they call it white washing in other missions.) It means that both of us are brand new to the area. :D we had no idea what to do today! Haha. So i actually got lucky and had a really slow first day, i think i'll get to ease into things instead of having to dive in head first and hope i can swim. Don't worry, we're both really excited to be here and ready to attack this area with everything we've got. :D

Dad. My address is:

959 Middle Road

Riverhead, NY 11901

But please please please don't put that on the Blog.... Send everything to the mission home and they will forward it on immediately. It just makes everything easier and it will make sure nothing gets lost. (btw... our area is in the general neighbor hood of the hamptons... we're on and over the north fork of long island, the hamptons is on the south fork. But still, this is a lot nicer than the city.)

I can't remember what else you asked me for on the phone so send me a list of Questions and i'll answer them as best I can.

I am afraid I'm going to get soft our here. I already feel spoiled rotten. What am I going to do when I am done training and they move me to the city... I will be so LOST! What an adventure this is.

I love the mission president and his family. I told him that he can trust me and i'll give him everything i've got so I have a lot to live up to already. But I am ready and willing to do it. I meant it. I want to do this right. I've only got one chance right?

They told us that 25% of all the missionaries in the NYS mission are involved in the training program in someway... next transfer there will be 50% involved... WOW! I could be training really really fast. The number of sisters serving all over the world is growing exponentialy! Its awesome.

Well I need to go. This was supposed to be super duper fast. My P-day will regularly be on Monday so i'll talk to you then.

I love you!