Six on Sunday and Loving Being a Missionary!!

So hey,

Well its official, I've finished one transfer on the mission!  Six weeks in the misison field complete. And good news, Sister Smith and I are staying in Cooperstown!  Holla.

This week was pretty much the greatest. We saw so many blessings this week. So do you want to hear about them, Mmmmm Okay.

1. Grandma Dorothy is sooo ready for baptism. We went over the interview questions and she totally aced them! Now we just wait two weeks! She will be the greatest member EVER!

2. Another amazing lesson with a woman and her son.  This boy, who is 14 is probably the cutest. He asked us "When can I be baptized? Today? We have a swimming pool out back!" to which I just died laughing. They are great and we are so blessed to have found them!

3. A creepy hippy man told me I had "deep eyes, like the virgin Mary" and that he could 'Learn more from staring into my eyes for ten minutes then listening to me talk." It was pretty uncomfortable. I have come to the conclusion that people in New York are weeeird. But you know, thats why I love them.

4. We got to contact some of our potentials that we have been trying to see for FOREVER!  Such  a blessing.

5. I sweated so much that I probably lost 10 pounds.

6. We helped out at a random bible camp and the women really liked us! Thank heavens!  They  invited us to this concert we couldn't go to, and they are taking us to lunch on Tuesday! Its really nice when these things happen.

7. This is the biggest one. are you ready? We had SIX INVESTIGATORS AT CHURCH YESTERDAY!  SIX!  Not to mention 3 others who are kind of our investigators as well (except the Elders stole them from us).  This is the biggest blessing ever. In the past we had none, except Grandma Dorothy, but yesterday we had SIX! They all had such great times! The greatest was in Sunday School. One of our investigators,  there, we had just taught her the Plan of Salvation a few days before. In class they asked if someone could explain the Plan and she got up and did it!  Not to mention she answered all these questions, ah!  It was heaven!  I could have cried for joy when they all came to church. They're all getting baptized. I know it.

 

8. I get to stay in Cooperstown with Sister Smith. So so grateful that I didn't get transferred!  I'm not ready to leave!

9. I really learned how important it is to act upon our faith. We had a man tell us that he didn't believe that faith needed works. I was so confused how anyone could believe that. The truth of the matter is, If we truly understand Christ, if we believe in what he taught, there is no reason we shouldn't be trying to act in a Christ-like manner. Following Christ is an action. It's  not something we can sit idly by and expect to happen. It takes constant work. Work, work,  work. That's our motto here in the New York Utica Mission!

10.   I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY.

That is all.

Thanks for all the support and prayers!  Missionary work is a rollercoaster, but it really is the best. Being a missionary is the most important thing we can do!  It is our calling as members of the church to share his restored gospel. Always share it!

I love you all!

XOXO,

Sister Langford

Golden Investigators, Fireflies, Service!!

 Hello everyone,

Another week of the mission has flown by. Seriously. What happened to this week? But let me tell ya, we had some amazing experiences this week! So let me tell ya,

1. Golden Investigator:  So we have this investigator and she is the best. We taught her Monday and it was only the second time we had ever met her. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she was just really into it. She was like "yes this all makes sense. I feel so great right now!" and we were just so excited and the spirit was way strong! So we said 'Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized?" and she said "well, what do I have to do to be baptized?" We look around, she is drinking coffee and her house smells like smoke so we briefly talked about the Word of Wisdom and she says "ok I will make a plan to quit both. what else?"  We told her she would need to come to church and continue to learn and pray and read, and she was just like ok ok ok. So then her husband comes in and she looks at us and says "Is it ok if I tell him now?" and we're just stunned like... ok go! So she says "So I've decided to be baptized into their church and in order to do that I have to quit smoking and drinking coffee. Also I'm going to church. You don't have to come at first, but eventually you will bring up the rear.  Now, can we pray?" Sister Smith and I just sat there stunned. So basically she is fantastic! We taught her again on Saturday and she is doing so great! We just need to figure out a baptism date with her!  Pray that she stays strong!

2. Flood Clean Up. It was flood clean up round two. We helped Thursday and Saturday. It was really, really hard work, but we had so much fun! It was a blast to work with all the other missionaries. I swear I haven't laughed that hard since I've been on my mission. It was fantastic. But also... dirty. At this one house, there was literally a foot and a half of mud covering everything. But we had a good time cleaning it out and the woman said she wanted to learn more about the church and that we really lifted her spirit! On the less positive side, we found two dead cats, a 5 foot wall of spiders, and the worst smell in the entire world. So.... it was good times. Hopefully we get to do it again!

3. Fireflies! We spent Thursday night at the mission home in Utica. While we were there we all went out back and caught fireflies! It was so magical!

4. Sunday. Sunday (yesterday) was a day full of miracles! The Lord truly blessed us because we had been out of our area for so long to serve. We got to contact all these investigators that we haven't seen in forever! We had fantastic lessons, and really saw them grow. It's  true that when you are in the service of your fellow men you are only in the service of your God. He blessed us big time!

Basically, it was a wonderful week. I'm excited for what is to come!

Thanks for all the support!

XOXO

Sister Langford

(Or as the Elders named me, Sister Short-Chevy.... Don't ask me how that makes sense

Trying to help Dorothy Get Home and Muddy Helping Hands!!

 Hello Peeps!

It has been quite the week in New York! Let me tell ya, we started out July right! I feel like I have just been getting more and more into the missionary mode. It's hard work, but it  builds character. That has been my motto for this week. Let me explain.

So first, we experienced the greatest miracle! We have been teaching a woman who we call "Grandma Dorothy". Grandma Dorothy is 89 years old and her daughter and her husband who she lives with are like some of the greatest members in our branch. But, Grandma Dorothy is not a member. Like, her entire family is, but she has always said no. He daughter had finally given up on her. But one day we asked Grandma Dorothy if she would be willing to take the missionary lessons. She said "I guess... as long as no one makes me get baptized!"  Haha little did she know the spirit would make her get baptized!  So we taught her a few times and this week we were teaching her the plan of salvation. We explained all the different kingdoms and asked her where she wanted to go. She said "Well the Celestial I suppose."  Then we asked her "So what do you have to do to get there?" and she said "Well, I've been thinking I should get baptized!" Sister Smith and I just died. We were like... ya! So we have set a date for her! I HAVE A BAPTISM!
Yay! Haha Last night we taught her Word of Wisdom and threw away all her coffee! We are so excited for her.

Now here's where the hard work comes in.

This weekend we had a really great service opportunity. There has been some serious flooding here in Herkimer. Tons of damage. So all the missionaries in my zone got to be part of the Mormon Helping Hands! I shoveled mud for two days straight. 8 hours a day. It was how you say... exhausting. The worst moment was when we were helping this one family move all of their stuff out of their basement. It was all completely covered in muck and I swear they were hoarders. They had SO MUCH STUFF. But anyway, we were carrying it out and a man handed me a box and said "this one should be covered in JUST mud" and I was like........ I'm sorry what? Are you implying that these boxes have been covered in things other than mud. Needless to say, I have never been so disgusting and tired in my life! But it was really great to help. You could tell the people really needed it! We actually get to go help again this week! Hello muscles! So... the work was really hard. and hot. but... it builds character right?

So that was the week! Thanks for all the support! Love you all!

XOXO

Sister Langford

Momon Cliches, Trees, Cows, and Teaching with the Spirit!!

Holla for missionaries!

So this week has been a roller coaster. I swear, every minute on a mission has like a thousand ups and downs. But, lets talk about the ups right?

 

So we found and taught quite a few new people. I think my best experience this week was teaching this great investigator . Ugh, I just love her. She is so smart and she is just searching! So she had us over and we talked to her for a really long time! She just asks so many questions and goes off on a lot of tangents. But anyway, as we were teaching her, the spirit was so strong and we started teaching her about faith and repentance and baptism, which we had kind of done before. But Sister Smith just looked at her and said "I just... have to ask you a question. Will you be baptized?" and she just sort of looked stunned. She was like "Well I know you girls would only ask if you really meant it, but no I don't think I want to." So then we asked some questions about why she felt that way, and we were able to address her concerns. Then Sister Smith and I both bore powerful testimonies of the importance of baptism and the blessing of having the Holy Ghost. But she was still not sure. She was really concerned about not knowing the Book of Mormon is true and things like that. So then I told her about how I gained a testimony of the Book of Mormon, how she can too, and then I really bore my soul to her about the Book of Mormon. It was one of those moments where I didn't know what I was going to say, but the Holy Ghost just filled my mouth and she started crying too! It was crazy powerful! When we left, she still hadn't committed to baptism, but you could see a change. She is just so on the right path. I know she  can do it!

 

Also this week I went on my first exchange! Since Sister Smith is a sister training leader (so basically I am too), I was in charge of training the other Sister (who has also been out like 2 weeks), and being in charge of our area. Needless to say, I was terrified, and basically not excited at all. But I did it. I took charge! It ended up being really great! I really learned how much I can do! Its true what they say "God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called!" It was such a growing experience for me! It really taught me to, (Mormon cliches comin' up), "Come what may and love it", "Try a little harder to be a little better" and "Forget myself and go to work!"

We also really experienced the joys of farm life! Haha these one investigators have horses that just roam all over their property! So we went up to their porch and there were two horses just hanging out by their porch! What? So naturally we took some sweet pics! We also stopped and petted some baby cows and took a nice picture with them. I guess what I always said about upstate New York is true. It really is just trees and cows.

Well team, that's all for now! Hang in there! Thanks for all the support.

XOXO

Sister Langford