July 20th 2015

This week was crazy! On Monday night I got a call From the MSTL's (Mission Sister Training Leaders...like sister AP's) asking if I would come to (MLC) The Mission Leadership Council on Thursday. They didn’t tell me why though. So I was running all these options through my head! The only people who go to MLC are leadership....and I’m not in leadership. So we went up to Vegas on Wednesday night and stayed with another set of sisters. Sister Robinson and I went to the meeting the next morning together. It was so cool!!! The director of proselyting form Salt Lake came to talk to the leadership of our mission. And President decided to invite a few missionaries who he felt needed to come. So I got to be one of them. What a huge blessing! It was an amazing meeting! It changed the way I look at missionary work!

The next day was new missionary temple trip so we stayed another night and went to the temple!!! It was amazing; it’s exactly what I needed!! Sister Bedont is doing great. She is picking up on things pretty fast. 

We had a few amazing miracles this week. The young man Andrew that we had met on the 4th of July at the gas station. We were supposed to go on exchanges Friday night but there was a huge storm rolling in so we were told not to be out driving in it. So we were making calls in the car when we saw Andrew pull up next to us. He got out of the car and we started talking to him. I'm not sure how we got on the topic, but we asked if he would be coming to church, and that led us into a conversation on the book of Mormon. He told us he didn't have one so we pulled one out and started talking to him about it! We basically taught him the whole first lesson!! And he was so interested, he just kept asking questions! And then HE asked us if we could come tell him more on has day off. So we will be seeing him tonight! He said he would start reading the book of Mormon that night and write down questions he has. When he walked away I started freaking out a little....I was SO EXCITED!! He has been prepared!

Another miracle we saw was on Saturday night. We were walking through our complex to go see a potential investigator, when we saw a woman and man over by their car. It was dark and I almost didn't want to go over...but I knew we needed too. So as we walked over we could hear the woman crying. We went to see what was wrong and she told us that just a few minutes before she found out her dad was in hospice, and would probably only live for another week. Then she said that she knew who we were. It turned out that they were a referral from the elders, but the elders didn't know what apartment number they would be moving to! I have no doubt the Lord led us there. She was so thankful for us stopping and talking to her. She asked us to come back. 

I love seeing the Lords hand in our work. It is such a testimony to me that we are really only tool in his hand. We just have to be worthy to let him work through us. 

I love you all!

Love 

Sister Loveless

Life of a trainer. July 13th 2015

This week has been CRAZY!! I went up to Vegas on Tuesday to be companions with Sister Robinson, who was another sister waiting for her trainee to come in. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday morning getting ready for our new missionaries! We even got them cupcakes to celebrate their "birthday" into the mission. We thought it was a cute idea! 

On Wednesday we went to the mission office where we met all the new missionaries. They sat on the 1st 4 rows of the chapel, and all the trainers sat in the back 4 rows as we waited for President to come in from his office where he was praying about who should be companions. 

The meeting started and I was the first trainer to be called, and he said "Sister Loveless will be companions with Sister Bedont". I jumped up and went over to give her a big hug. He finished calling all the new companionship's

and we all left to go jump right into missionary work! We were staying with Sister Robinson and her comp that night because we had New Missionary Training Meeting the following morning. So we helped them in their area. Being a trainer is just as hard as I thought it would be...well harder. There are so many things that I didn’t realize that I have to teach her how to do. So that night we went out and street contacted. It was a really great experience, we met some amazing people. There was a girl who was going through a very hard time, we asked if we could say a prayer with her. She agreed and told us everything that was going on and what she wanted to pray for. 

The meeting the next day was great! We had an opportunity to get a little guidance from President about training....but only like 5 min. We are basically just thrown into it and have to figure out what to do. 

The first week has been so stressful. I can’t tell if she is just nervous or overwhelmed or shy....or all of the above. We are kind of different from one another, so I can tell this will be an opportunity for me to learn lots. But I am excited. I remember being so stressed out when I first came into the mission.  I just really hope that I can help her open up to me. It is hard when your companion won’t talk to you. She is so amazing though, she has a very strong testimony! And she is ready to work hard. 

So this week has mostly been helping her get comfortable in the area and meeting our investigators. We had both our ward parties on Saturday so she got to meet lots of members. And our Bishop invited us over for a "greenie" lunch. Everything on her plate was green. Even her plate and fork and cup were green, and she got green pasta while everyone else got normal colored. It was so fun! 

We met the coolest guy! His name was Jessie, we met him in the park around sunset. He was playing his harmonica. We went up to him and started talking with him and he started telling us his life story. Right now he is riding his bike cross country, he has already biked down to Florida and all around that area and back, and he is on his way home. We were talking to him and I wanted to give him a book of Mormon but I didn’t have one with me. So we left him with a card and headed off to our appointment. But after it was over I felt prompted that we needed to go back and give him a book of Mormon. So we did. He gave me his harmonica in return because he was so impressed with how much we cared! It was amazing! 

It’s been a fun week, but so busy! And it’s time for me to leave already!! 

I love you all!!!

Love sister loveless

Drum roll Please! July 6th 2015

IM HAVIN A BABY GIRL!!!!!!!!! 

Yep you heard that right! She is due to arrive this July 8th around 10 am! (aka, I'm training a new missionary and she will get off the plane Wednesday morning!!) 

It’s super exciting!! I really do feel a little like an expecting parent though....I'm nervous because I’m not sure that i am really cut out for the job. But i know that it is going to be so fun and so rewarding!!!

This week was Crazy, my companion Sister Onorato has been preparing to leave for home. She actually left this morning. And I will be jumping around from different temporary companions till I go up to Vegas on Wednesday to get my new missionary!!!

We went and saw a lot of members so my comp could say good bye, and I LOVE THE PEOPLE HERE! They are so amazing!!! I am so blessed to be serving here. One of the members we had dinner with this week heard that Sister Onorato and I have the same birthday, so they threw us a mini birthday party! Because they knew sister O was leaving before her birthday. It was fun, it was just us and the two of them but we had a blast.

We had an interesting lesson this week.....we street contacted into a guy who said we could come back...and when we went back for the first lesson we realized he had some mental problems and it wasn’t the best idea for sisters to be over there....and I’m just gunna leave it at that. 

Mark, our recent convert was in town for a few days so we got to have the second new member lesson with him finally!! He is doing great; it makes me so happy whenever I see him because He is so happy!!

Our 4th of July was so fun! We went and volunteered at the 4th of July 4 mile firecracker race. And then we went out and did service for some families! I got to cut our bishop's wife’s hair and his two daughters! 

Oh but we had a huge miracle happen! One of our members owns a gas station and she told us to go stop by and get a treat for the 4th of July, so we did, and we got talking to one of the young men who work there, Andrew. We told him who we were and talked about missionaries, and then just started asking him about himself. Nothing really huge. But then the next day at church our member came up to us and told us that our conversation with Andrew sparked something so after we left he was talking with her son in law who is the manager and he asked what it would take to get baptized into our church. The only hold up is he is apostolic and his mother is not very fond of the church. So we will see what happens!! I’m excited!! 

We had our last District meeting of the transfer and had a blast, we have a fun group of missionaries here. And next transfer its all changing up. 4 of us will be training new missionaries, and that’s the majority of our stake. So I’m excited!!

Tomorrow i will drive up to stay in Vegas with another sister who will be training while we wait for our new missionaries. And today Sister Onorato left so I have a youth as my companion for the next 24 hours. It’s pretty fun!!! I can’t wait to find out who I will be training!! 

I love you all! I hope everything is going well!!!

Love

 Sister Loveless

Oh also random funny story. We went to a member’s house and they handed me a coke not realizing what it said on the back....we thought it was pretty perfect!

Hot Hot Hot! June 22nd 2015

Well its summer in Kingman! We are actually the coldest place in the mission right now, and it has been around 105* or more all week! So I am thankful that I am here, that’s for sure! And Kingman is pretty much the best place ever!!

This has been an amazing week! And so was last week!! Last week, I got to go on exchanges with Sister Herman In Lake Havasu (and its 10* hotter there...yikes! But I am working on my tan hahaha) It was a great day! I love exchanges; I love the opportunity to learn from other missionaries, it’s always an answer to prayers for me. Our goal with the STL's (Sister Training Leaders) is to try and do an exchange every week for the rest of the transfer, mainly to give us an opportunity to work more, and it is really helping me! I always feel the best after an exchange because I know I worked the hardest I could that day. It just feel so good when I walk inside after a hard day and you just feel ready to die :D 

We have been teaching the Carly kids, we had two lessons with them these past two weeks. They are crazy, but I love it!  Our goal is to teach them the plan of salvation this upcoming week, and set them with a date for baptism! Their mom is excited for them, and hopefully this will bring her back to church as well!! She hasn't come in a long time. But her daughter went to girl’s camp last week!!

We had to drop our semi investigator, Helen. Missionaries have been going to see her for over a year, she is in her late 90's and is just lonely. She wants nothing more than to just die. So missionaries have gone as a service, to just visit with her and share a scripture. She has no interest in converting, but she is an amazing lady. But we felt prompted that we needed to drop her because she has not been progressing. BUT we found out she is interested in family history. So we passed her off to the family history lady in the ward....and when we tried to tell her we weren’t going to be able to stop by you could just see her heart break :( she said "so this is you giving me the ol' kiss good bye huh?" ...we felt so bad that we told her we would come see her once a month, and I think that will be perfect. Dropping people is hard, but if they aren’t progressing then we have to move forward so the lord can lead us to the people who are prepared. 

Sergio is slowly progressing. He feels the spirit in the lessons; he is just very very shy. He is comfortable with us but we want him to get to know some youth so he will feel comfortable at church too. But every time we bring a youth with us he gets really quiet, so we are praying hard to know how to help him. He was supposed to be getting baptized this Saturday but we feel that he is not ready yet. He is living with Scott and Dyan, and they aren’t doing so well. Dyan ended up back in the mental hospital for another night because she was having a break down. We try to go over but most the time she makes up an excuse for us not to come, my heart goes out to her. She knows she needs it, she just feels guilty. So we are just really prying for them. I feel like Alma on his mission to the Zoramites. He is praying so hard for their hearts to be softened and for them to know that the Lord loves them, and to give them strength to overcome. (Alma 31:32-35 read it!) 

I love these people so much!! I love this area! I love being a missionary! We have Scripture study every week with our recent Converts in the White Cliffs ward, and recently we have been focusing on church history because that’s something they said they want to learn about. It has been so fun!!

We went on exchanges again this week, and I stayed in the area with Sister Hirsch. She is AMAZING! she is one of the sweetest people I know, we had such an amazing time serving together for the day. (i forgot my camera, I will have to send pictures next week cuz we took some fun pictures.) We were looking for a part member family and we were up on a hill that looked over the town, right at sunset, and of it was gorgeous!! I love the world! the Lord creates beautiful things! After all he created us!

This weekend was the wedding of one of our investigators to one of our members. Sister Tooley (Abby) and Brock. We got to go help with the wedding. We helped her make tons of decorations throughout the week, (it was so nice to have a change to be crafty, it is my stress reliever) And then we went up and set up in the mountains. She had a country wedding! It was so fun! We were the servers; we did all the food and helped take everything down. None of his family are members so we had lots of missionary opportunities! It was a very spiritual ceremony to, It’s just an amazing thing to see people vow to love one another. 

Father’s day was great, we had some amazing talks, it made me miss my dad! But I know that this is where he wants me to be, both my dad here on earth and my Father in Heaven! I am so blessed to have such an amazing and supportive family!! I love you all!!!

Until next week!

Love,

Sister Loveless

June 15 2015

Hey, it sounds like you all have been having so much fun!!! I wish I could be there, but then again I wish instead you could be here and you could meet all the amazing people I am teaching and who I love! I wish you could meet Mark, he is our recent convert, he is just glowing! He is so happy all the time! He reminds me of a big version of Michael! He took us and Andy,  Anna and Braden all out to lunch today, I wish I had gotten a picture of us all so I could send it home to show you! I really love me mission, I have been trying really hard to focus only on the good things and not let anything or anyone effect my mood in a negative way. Sister Onorato has a countdown, she leaves 3 weeks from today, and she tells me every day. It's been really weird serving my while mission with companions who are just about to leave.  But I can see a huge difference between my first companion and my second, Sister Harrison didn’t want to go, she did everything she could NOT to focus on it and instead just serve, that’s the kind of missionary I want to be. It gets so hot here!! It has been in the 100*s and it’s only going to get hotter from here!! yikes!!

I love you all! 

I am looking forward to transfers and a change, it’s been a rough 2 transfers together, I will most likely be staying here in the area because she is leaving for home. Everyone is predicting that I will be training next transfer, I hear it is one of the hardest and most rewarding things you do as a missionary, so that would be a fun change. I feel like it’s so true, every companion and person and place we are put in, is to help us grow and make changes in our lives, so we can repent and become better. I think the harder you have to work as a companionship, the more you learn, because the Lord wants us to make hard changes and until we are put into the refiner’s fire we may not be willing to make those changes on our own. I pray that by the end of my mission the Lord will have formed me into something far more beautiful than I could have ever imagined before.

These past 2 weeks have been the most amazing ones of my mission, we found  6 new investigators, we taught over 30 lessons these two weeks, and over the past 2 days we had an amazing spiritual experience with Sergio, the young boy who is now set for a baptism date on June 27th!! next Saturday, we are prying he feels he is ready by then! We had a lesson on the restoration and he actually started crying, the spirit was so strong, even though we were sitting outside with a whole bunch of drunken people walking around us. He said that we always make him happy when we come over but he had never felt that amazing and happy as he did that night, He even came to church with us yesterday! We also had an amazing experience with a lady named Nancy; she was a referral we got from the referral system. She was baptized in November and went less active when she moved, then she moved here and someone sent in her information. We went over to her house and knocked on her door and she looked so surprised to see us, then she got a huge smile on her face! As we talked with her she said we could come back next week and get to know her more, but I felt like we needed to invite her to church, so I asked if she would come this Sunday and she said "they told me there was no Mormon church here!!! they lied! Of course I will go, how far is it? I don’t have a car" so apparently someone had told her that we didn’t have a building in Kingman. We arranged a ride and she sat with me at church for all 3 hours. It was a huge miracle, she said that the timing was so amazing, and she felt so welcomed and loved in our ward, everyone came up and said hi to her.. She stopped going to church in her last ward she moved to because she was a new convert and her first Sunday in the ward no one said anything to her, and she had no idea where to go. She is the sweetest in the world, she started smoking again since her baptism so we gotta work on that ;) but I am so excited! It’s been a week full of blessings!!

Enjoy the rainy days! I loved our little rainstorm we had, it made me feel like I had a little piece of home with me!! 

Love your favorite sister missionary!

Sister Loveless

This was the last letter in May sorry I'm out of order.

This has been a crazy week!! We had a mission wide conference this week in Las Vegas to prepare us to receive “I pads”! The conference was not really about I pads, but rather about being wise and being faithful to our calling. It was about missionaries who use I pads as a tool to further the Lords work, we are not an "I pad mission" or "I pad missionaries" that is not what defines us.  

Because the conference was in Vegas we got to drive up the night before and say with my old companion Sister Harrison and her companion. It was amazing the strength and spirit you could feel with 170+ missionaries standing together singing the "Spirit of God"!! After the conference we got to go to lunch with some members from Warm Springs, it’s amazing to me the relationships that you can form with people on your mission.
The drive home was not so fun, I got sick on Tuesday so as we were driving back through the pass I was in a lot of pain because of the sinus pressure. I got pretty sick so we stayed in for a few days so that I could get better, but I've got some medicine and I am on the road to recovery!!

In warm springs I was teaching Edvin and he got baptized this week!! I got to skype in to see it because I am so far away, so I couldn't go in person. But it was so fun to see him finally make that step. And this Saturday Mark is getting Baptized! I am so excited!!! He is ready!!

This week is also transfers! Sister Onorato and I will be staying together here in Kingman AZ for the next 6 weeks!! Then she goes home, and I will most likely get a new companion here in Kingman. So it looks like I will be here a while! My first Companion Sister Harrison Is going home tomorrow. It is crazy how fast time flies on your mission. Another month and I will have been on my mission for half a year! We took pictures as a district and we all went out to lunch in the little Mexican restaurant. The owner was so impressed with us that he wanted to take a picture of us to put on his Facebook page (Federico's Mexican Food) then when the Elders went back this week he agreed to take the lessons!!! It was such an amazing miracle that we got to witness as a zone! 

 The Kingman Zone

June 1st 2015

Hello all!!!                                                                                              June 1st 2015

This week was exciting!!! I have been really sick over the past 2 weeks, and after a trip to the urgent care to get me some medicine I am feeling a lot better! 

But the work, oh i love it!! It always makes me feel better! Mark got baptized this weekend!! I am SO HAPPY! His has been a long road coming. We we so worried it wouldn't work out because of how often he driving truck, he is usually only home for a few hours at a time. He had his heart set on getting baptized the 30th, so he said he would do whatever he could to be here. The only problem was we still had 2 lessons to teach him and we needed to get the Elders over so mark to get his Baptism interview done! It was such a miracle, he pulled in Friday morning and we were able to go over after district meeting with the Elders, go over the last two lessons and then get his interview done!!! 

His baptism was the next day, and it was amazing!! The spirit was so strong in that room! One of our amazing members, Brother Walker baptized him, and he is this really short guy....Mark is 6'5 and broad shouldered! Mark had to kneel down in the fount and then he still hit his head on the back of the wall as brother walker tried to perform the ordinance. But when I asked him about it after his reply was "oh really? I didn't feel a thing, I just fell good!"

He asked me to give the talk on The Gift of The Holy Ghost. That was such an amazing opportunity for me. mark is the first person i have taught that i have been able to be at the baptism for! The spirit was so strong and while i was up there talking i felt like it was just me and Mark and the spirit in the room. Daniel had written me a letter that i got that morning & he told me a story about two people. One (who was a member of the church) was eating fruit-snacks and talking about how amazing they tasted to the other person ( a non member) who watched as he told him about the amazing fruit-snacks, but the member never offered them any because they were afraid of offending them. And then Daniel told me "dont be afraid to share your fruit-snacks, you have the largest stash of fruit-snacks i have ever seen!". I shared the letter in my talk to Mark and related it to how we can share our spirit and they see it, and then i handed him 2 bags of fruits-nacks, and told him one was for him to keep because i was sharing it with him, and the other was for him to share with someone else. Andy (his best friend who is the reason we met mark) has come so far, he has been concurring his social anxiety a little at a time. He gave the closing prayer at the baptism! We were all so proud of him, it took ever ounce of courage he had! 

Sunday was his confirmation, and again the spirit was so strong! He had to leave right after sacrament meeting to go take his next truck load. But we had a lesson with Andy, Anna and Braden. Andy told me that Mark loved my talk, and he LOVED the fruit-snack story. Then he said "and can you guess who he shared them with?" I started guessing but didnt get it right. Andy said "Thomas". My heart melted! Thomas is their son who struggles with anxiety more than them all. He wont come out of his room when we come over. It meant a lot to all of us when we heard thats who Mark shared it with. 

That was the best part of my week! Well probably this transfer so far! We have lots of mission meeting coming up, it should be a good week! 

I love the gospel!! Go and share your Fruit-snacks!!

Love,

Sister Loveless