"Sister Reunion, unhappy ending?, & transformation Sunday!!"

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Hello friends.

The weeks keep flying and I seriously don't even know what to do about it. I honestly can barely remember what happened this week. We probably taught some people and then drove somewhere or something... ok let me think about it....

Ok, I remember. Let's chat.

1. We had the all-sisters conference this week and that was a blast! I remember last year when I went to this same event and I was just like "meh... I don't know ANYONE." and this time I was like "Oh my goodness I know everyone and have pretty much been on an exchange with like every sister in the mission!" So it was good fun. I got to see all my friends and talk about sister things. I got to train with my home girl Sister Fiefia which was a joy. All in all it was a super awesome day. We finished the meeting by letting go a ton of balloons in the church parking lot. Did we kill a couple of deer? maybe. But the Tangled effect was pretty bomb. You gotta love all-sisters conferences.

2. Then we came home and got back to the usual missionary work. Let me tell you though, we had some super sweet miracles. We went and taught our investigator, B, who we hadn't seen in about a week (Which for us is a long time). Last time we saw her we committed her to watch the full length Joseph Smith movie on mormonchannel and hurray she did! It was so funny. She was like "yeah I liked the movie... but why didn't you tell me it was going to be so depressing! Where is the happy ending? I thought he would live until he was like 80 and everything would work out... be he was killed! Come on sisters!" It was pretty much hilarious. But then we started talking about Joseph Smith and everything he went through and she was like, "Yeah, there's no way some farm boy from New York could write this book. There's no way he would do what he did if he wasn't a prophet." IT WAS SO GOOD. This was like a huge step for her and we were so so excited. Anyway, its the small miracles :)

3. On Saturday we had a true tender mercy from the Lord. We had prayed that people would be put into our path who were willing and ready to act on our message. Well, as the day progressed, nothing spectacular had happened. We had a church tour set up with one of our investigators, but she never showed up :( So we were chillin' at the church, waiting to see if she would come, when all of a sudden this member family rolls in with their son's girlfriend (remember the girl who literally ran out of the house when we tried to teach her?) yeah her. Her name is M. She, M, just sits right down next to us on the couch and is like, "So, do you guys want to teach me a lesson?" ummmmmmm...... hello yes. So we went into a room and taught M the restoration and it was super sweet. Then on Sunday she came to church and just fit right in. It was amazing. So basically I have learned that if something doesn't work out, it's because Heavenly Father has something better in mind.

4. OK THIS IS THE BEST STORY. So if you choose to skim the rest of this blog, at least read this part. So who remember's JF? He's our investigator. He is this old guy with a huge white beard and long hair that goes to the middle of his back and he pretty much only wears wife beaters. He's the best. So he has been doing so so great, reading the Book of Mormon, he's done a church tour, all that good stuff. When we went to teach him on Saturday he assured us that he would be at church on Sunday and that he had a surprise for us. Well Sunday morning comes, and he is nowhere to be seen. We go and find the member who was supposed to give him a ride and he's like "oh I couldn't find his house!" *facepalm* So ten minutes before church starts we zoom to Riverside (which is like a 7 minute drive) to show the member where Jim lives. I'm not gonna lie, we were kind of ticked. But as we rolled up to Jim's house, there he was, standing outside ready to go, hair cut short, no beard and wearing a shirt and tie. OH MY GOODNESS it was life changing! I wish I had a before and after picture because it was so amazing. But he had the best time at church and made so many friends. The first thing he said to us at the end was "Well, I'm comin' back!" It was too great. Blessings from heaven :)

The laugh's...

"I think you guys are like ninja's!" -little investigator kid

"Whatever they aren't ninja's! Have you seen them play volleyball?" - His dad.


"Hey Sister Langford! You look like this Asian girl in the conference ensign. I call her Lasiangford." -Elder

Well guys, that's my news from the week. This weekend we have MLC again and I think some exciting announcements could be made... I'll let you know next week! We also find out if we get transferred this week.  (I can't believe it's that time again!) So I will keep you all posted on that one too. Thanks for all :)

XOXO,
Sister Langford

"3 Day Super Exchange, goal Reached, & The Lord always has a purpose!"

Hello my friends.

Oh my goodness gracious. This week has been another crazy crazy run around with your head cut off week. But hey, its better than being bored riiiiiight? So let's get to talking.

The first and biggest news is....

THE THREE DAY SUPER EXCHANGE.

Oh man those were three very blessed and fun days. I got to spend them in Owego (the land I love) with Sisters Ashcraft and Collins. I can't remember if I said this last week, but the purpose of these crazy exchanges was to help the sisters catch the vision of what's possible and especially show them how they can teach more and how they can teach better. So naturally, going into these exchanges, we were pretty stressed. I was just thinking "How can I even inspire these sisters and help them catch the vision?" I was feeling pretty inadequate to say the least. I just prayed that my efforts (no matter how weak they were) would be enough.

Well through out the course of these three days, I met some people that I absolutely adore and KNOW there was a reason I met them, and we had some super stellar experiences. I will tell you about just one...

So on one of the days we went out with this recently returning less-active girl named K. Well we decided that rather than try and knock on doors with four people we would split up and go two and two. Sister Ashcraft and I went together to go knock on some doors. Well we were knocking and knocking... and we were not having any success. And I'm thinking in my head "ah man! I'm supposed to be here to inspire her... and nothing is happening!" so we stop and I say "Hey can we say a prayer? I just don't know if we are in the right place right now." She agreed, so we prayed that we would be led to the right place so that we could find a new investigator. Right then Sister Ashcraft was like "come on, lets walk this way." So we did. We are walking and walking and then we see this old lady up on the top of this massive hill. We just looked at each other, and then started trekking up the hill. We got to the top and started talking to her, but she said she couldn't talk then, so we set up a return appointment. The day that I got home from the three day exchange they texted me and told me that they had gone back and taught her and that they picked her up as an investigator! PRAYERS ARE ANSWERED!

We had also been praying the whole exchange that they would be able to teach 20 lessons this week. It was a pretty big prayer, since they had been no where near that before. Last night they texted us as said "Hey sisters! Guess who just taught there 20th lesson this week!?" SO BLESSED. I just know that Heavenly Father made the efforts that I could give enough. Not only was I able to inspire those sisters, but they truly inspired me and had such a great effect on my mission. Such a blessing to be able to go on that exchange.

Now back to Corning...

1. We had a VERY eventful lesson with Vanessa this week. Before the lesson we were feeling kind of like we might have to drop her. She had printed off this whole sermon trying to prove us wrong, and I was just kind of like "Come on!" But we went in with a humble attitude that we would listen to what she had to say. She started to talk and was having a hard time getting it all out. We started to get into a huge discussion about the apostasy and all that good stuff, and then the spirit just filled my mouth and I said "But, WHAT IF what we are saying is true? Because I feel like you are just trying to prove us wrong, and as long as you have that attitude, you will never know." Oh man it was intense, but strangely enough, I think it was EXACTLY what she needed to hear. Just before we left she told us that she would read the book of Mormon and pray with a more open mind. We told her that in order to find out, she would have to be willing to take at least a few steps straight into the dark. It was powerful guys. I think there are good things to come here as she begins to take some steps into the dark.

2. An investigator CAME TO CHURCH. Oh man. It was so good to have a new investigator at church I can't even tell you! #blessed.

3. So this is my final story. We went to go teach The M's, but they weren't home. We were kind of like, ah man! We were banking on this lesson. So then we didn't really know what to do. So we said a prayer and then opened up our planner to see if we had any good back ups planned. We looked and both of us were like "Let's go see L."  So we went to L's house (She is a potential investigator) and knocked on her door. She came out as well as her son and his girl friend and we taught them a very powerful restoration. When we arrived she was really frazzled because her dad had passed away just a few weeks earlier. By the end of the lesson she stood up and said "I feel so much more peaceful. I know I needed to see you two!" It was such a blessing. I know that Heavenly Father has a purpose in EVERYTHING. When things don't go the way we planned, its simply because He has something better in store.

and one giggle...

"They do have... for lack of a better word, souls!' -District Leader

"hahahaha its so funny because we mostly only teach gingers!" - His companion.

Well, another crazy week coming up! We head to Utica again today. I hope the craziness never ends!

XOXO,
Sister Langford

PS. Just want to say a quick shout out to my family. I feel so blessed that they were watched over and protected. I know the Lord truly sent angels to be by their side.

"25 Lessons, Tender Mercies & Free Ice Cream, & Christ will save us if we have Faith"

B to the L to the O to the G.

Hello hello hello.

You guys. This week was seriously nuts. Do I say that every single week? Probably. But seriously this week was more nuts than other weeks of my life. Ok. Let me tell you why it's crazy...

1. We had more teaching appointments than I have ever had in my whole mission life. (We taught 25 lessons this week... which is a crazy ton since the standard of excellence is 20 lessons). 

2. We went on an exchange, and went to Zone Conference. (these things take a lot of time away from your area).

3. At Zone Conference we got news that we would be doing this new thing where we go on like 3 day exchanges with the sisters. 3 DAYS. Do you know how long that is in missionary week time? So we are doing that this week. We are actually going to work in trios. I'm going to Owego to work with the sisters there and Sister Glenn will be going to Ithaca to work with the sisters there. So it's going to be probably the most crazy, fun and stressful week to date. This transfer is nuts and that's all I have to say.

Now lets talk about the miracles of the week.

Tender Mercy #1.

Last Monday, we were literally going to have 0 time to proselyte. We had a dinner appointment and then we had to go spend the night with some sisters in Horseheads. So we were feeling kind of bummed. We prayed that within our limited time, we would still be able to do some missionary work.

Well we stroll into our dinner appointment and their son had his girlfriend there. So the member is like "hey! I was thinking for your spiritual thought tonight you could practice teaching us the restoration *wink wink*" We are just like... "ok". So we start to teach it and this poor girl has no idea what's just hit her. Apparently they did not mention to her who missionaries are and that they were coming over for dinner. Oh man it was rough. So we finish our message and then we are going to go have dinner and this girl straight up sprints out the front door. Sister Glenn and I look at each other and are just like *facepalm*. Well after some prodding from his father, the kid went out to go bring his girlfriend back. We then had a nice dinner and she apologized for running out. It was too awkward.

Luckily, the story doesn't end there. (Although we were pretty sure it would).  On Sunday, we see this member family rolling into church and who should be with them, but the son's girlfriend! #sistersaywhat. Anyway she came up to us at church and was like, "Hey sisters! I'm sorry I bolted the other day! I didn't know what was going on and I felt super awkward. But I talked it over and I've decided that I actually want to give this all a chance and learn about it!" Ok, hello, thank you tender mercies of the Lord! So now we are going to officially start teaching her! This sweet little chica even volunteered to come out teaching with us once she understood what we were talking about! SO GOOD.

Tender Mercy #2.

Also on Monday, after leaving the super awkward meal appointment, we realized that we were actually 8 minutes early! So we had a baby bit of time to do some work. Well we are driving down the highway, and there is this cute little ice cream shop right off the highway that we had been wanting to go to for forever, but never had a chance. So I think to myself,  "ah. we should go get ice cream!" but then I think... "hmmmm... yeah that's probably not the very best idea." So I with held my thought. Right then Sister Glenn goes "Hey! Do you want to get ice cream at that place?" So naturally I gave in.

Well it turned out to be a drive though ice cream shop #newyork. So we ordered our picks and then we are just chillin. Then the lady working the window goes, "Where are you guys from? I see you have those name tags!" *money question* So then we start telling her about missions and all that good stuff. Then we gave her our card to pay for the ice cream, but she wouldn't take it. She said "This one's on us for all you guys do!" Then she told us that she went to a church called the "Christian Missionary Church" We were able to talk to her a bit about the church and give her a card with our number on it.

As we drove away we were just so amazed by how much our Heavenly Father loves us! Not only did he answer our prayers to be able to do missionary work, but the prompting involved free ice cream! BEST ANSWER TO PRAYERS EVER.

Tender Mercy #3.
Remember how praying for specific things is like, crazy awesome? Yeah! So this week on one of the days Sister Glenn and I were praying that we would be able to set someone with a specific baptism date. We had a couple of lessons set up so we were just praying it would happen. Well all our lessons went through and nothing nothing nothing. We only had one left. We went in and they were feeling pretty iffy about baptism. We had planned to talk about the Plan of Salvation, but as we were saying the opening prayer, I received a prompting that we should talk about "CPR" (church, pray, read) and so we did. At the end of the lesson we had set them with all of these awesome goals, and then Sister Glenn invited them to be baptized on a specific date,  (something they have always dodged). AND THEY AGREED.

Tender mercy. Answer to prayers.

Then as we were leaving their house, right before I closed the door, I heard her say, "I just think those girls are so sweet." My heart was then too happy.

AND FINALLY.... one cool insight.

This week at Zone conference during the testimony meeting, one of the elders got up and bore his testimony about the story in the New Testament when Peter is walking on the water. He said that he recently realized how he had always misunderstood the story. We always think of it that Peter jumps out of the boat and starts to walk on the water, then he sees the huge crazy waves and starts to doubt that he can stay on top of it all, it is then, in his doubt, that he sinks. Then Christ reaches out and pulls him up and says, "Oh ye of little faith. Wherefore didst thou doubt?"

But here's what the elder pointed out that I thought was pretty applicable to my life. He said that the way it's worded, we can tell that Peter started to sink, AND THEN he doubted. He then said, "I like to add a couple of words onto Christ's response. I like to think what He really said was 'Oh ye of little faith. Wherefore didst thou doubt that I could save thee?' " Peter was going to start to sink, no matter how much faith he had. He was mortal, and it was part of his life that he would sink. But where Peter lacked faith was in the promise that Christ would save him. I think of that in terms of our own lives. We are not meant to always be walking on water. When we agreed to come here, we knew that it meant from time to time the storms would come and we would start to sink. But Christ's promise to Peter is the same promise he gives to us. He will always save us. He will always reach down and pull us back on top of the water. We never need to doubt that Christ is walking near us, that He is always watching, and His arm is always reaching out.

Well that was the week of one sister missionary in Corning, NY. Oh wait let me tell you a funny quote or two...

"The roof is not my child, but I will raise it!" -Member

"But wait! I was always told that you weren't to beat no children!" -Less-active member during Gospel Principals class...

Alright. We'll talk again after another crazy week.

XOXO,
Sister Langford

"Cat or Tithing, Everything is Possible, & Happy MLC Birthday America!"

Hello hello.

Oh man. This week was too crazy. I don't think I have had a minute to breathe this week. So let me take one now.
...
Ok, we're good. So should we chat now? Ok cool.

THIS WEEK WE...

1. Went on exchange with the Horseheads sisters. I had the joy of spending a day in the life of Sister Peterson. It was super fun. But, here's my best story from the exchange...

Sister Peterson and I go and teach this less-active lady (we'll call her Pat). So Pat has recently decided that she wants to come back to church. Sister Peterson and I go in there to teach her the restoration, and help her make the transition back. We are teaching her the restoration lesson and it's all going super well. The spirit is strong and the discussion is really flowing. So as I know I've mentioned before, part of this new teaching method is that we ask them to say the closing prayer, asking a question, and then we have a minute of silence for them to receive an answer and feel the spirit. So she starts saying her prayer and she asks what she can be doing better to live up to what God wants of her. It was a really powerful prayer. Then at the end of her prayer she instantly goes, "I don't need a minute of silence. I already got my answer!"

*The following is the conversation that followed this statement."

Sister P - "That's awesome! What was your answer?"

Pat- "I know I need to start paying my tithing."

Sis L- "That is amazing! I definitely know that as you pay tithing, blessings will come into your life....."

Pat- "Yeah, I know.... But I don't know how I'm going to do it! I don't have a lot of money."

Sis P- *testifies about the importance of tithing and how God will provide a way*

Pat- "Or I have another idea! What if I just payed partial tithing until I saved up a reserve fund in case of emergencies... like what if my cat got sick and I didn't have enough money to take her to the doctor... and then she died. No. I can't pay tithing, because then my cat will die."

Sis L- "Pat, I know if you pay your tithing that things will work out! God will provide a way."

Pat- "No. I know that even if I did pay my tithing and the church helped me out, my cat would be dead by the time they got me the money."

Sis P- "Is your cat sick?"

Pat- "well.... no...."

THIS IS THE STORY OF MISSIONARY WORK IN NEW YORK. ugh. We walked out of that lesson kind of ticked and then I looked at Sister Peterson and I was like, "That lady won't pay tithing, because her cat MIGHT get sick. What is wrong with New York?" And then we laughed. Oh how I love these people.

2. Then we worked our tails off in our area. I swear I have never taught so much in my entire mission. What I've learned recently is that if you believe that something is possible, and you have faith that Heavenly Father will make it possible, then it will happen. I just think of the scripture in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." That is so true. There is nothing that doesn't fall under the "all" category. If we have faith that Heavenly Father will help us do something, we. can. do. it. I have never seen this be more true than these past couple weeks. I mean, this very week we found 6 new investigators! It's so amazing. People are making progress, miracles are happening, and its all because this is the Lord's work, and He's getting it done. Let me tell you about a couple of the people we found/ taught...

              - Randy. Super cool guy who was really receptive. When we asked him if he knew what a prophet was he gave us this analogy. Picture this, you are walking around in a dark room with a map on the floor. We, only have small flashlights to see the map on the ground, but prophets hold a huge flash light. If we stand next to the prophets and listen to them, we will be able to find our way. It was so great. As Sister Glenn and I walked away we were just like, "Dude, he's going to be Corning's next branch president!"

            - Vanessa. This week we saw some serious progress. Its almost like she doesn't want to believe us, but there is something that keeps drawing her in (probably that our message is true). This week we talked with her about prophets and she was like, "I have always wondered why there isn't more unity... I guess a prophet does make sense!" You guys THIS IS HUGE. So hopefully more good to come.

            - Jeff. He's an 18 year old kid who is super smart and solid. We taught him about the Book of Mormon and the whole time he was like "no way this is so cool! My mind is seriously blown!" ah I love it!

Missionary  work is too fun! :)

3. We also went down to Utica for MLC which is always fun. Some possibly big announcements were made. We will see what happens with those, but they got all of us pretty stoked. Including President Wirthlin who said, " I'm just really pumped!" oh yeah, this was how we spent our Fourth of July! Happy Birthday America! We will sit around and discuss missionary policies for you.

Anyway, life is good. We are blessed. We're never slowing down. Love ya all.

XOXO,
Sister Langford

"Loving the new Comp, Chance of Rain 100%, New Investigators, Busy Transfer, & Fire Alarm."

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Hello my friends. Another week has rolled by... but oh my goodness THIS WEEK. It's so amazing to be in the Lord's service and to just see miracle after miracle happen. It's just too good. Ok. Enough of this chit-chat. Lets talk about the week.

This week was TRANSFERS. And as I expressed last week, I lost my lovely proxy-trainy, Sister Fiefia. But I was so so blessed to get Sister Glenn. She has been out on her mission for one month longer than I have, (so we are both oldies), she is from Vegas, and she has some serious faith and drive. It's amazing to me how Heavenly Father knows exactly what I need to progress and become better. If I ever get comfortable with where I am, He quickly reminds me how much room I have to grow. That's what Sister Glenn is. An example and reminder of where I can grow to be. It's incredible. So anyway, I went to transfers, sat in a mini van for approximately 7 hours, and then arrived back to my home in Corning.

but before Fiefia left...

1. One morning we decided to go walk around and see if we could find anyone to teach. You know, classic missionary morning. Well it looked a little cloudy so I said, "meh. I'll bring my umbrella... you know. Just in case." Well then we started walking. Once we had walked about a mile and a half away from our apartment the largest storm New York has ever known,(not really... I might be being a little dramatic right now), hit us head on. So Sister Fiefia and I crouched under my one little umbrella and tried to make it the mile and a half back home with out drowning. It was a pretty hysterical sight. Luckily we made it home with only minor water log.

So then the miracles...

1. This week, the work has been EXPLODING. We have found more potentials in this very week than I think Corning has seen the entire time this area has been open. For example, yesterday we were out tracting this apartment complex and almost half of the people there seemed interested and wanted us to come back. IT WAS AMAZING. We also met some haters... but you win some and you lose some. In the midst of all this finding, we actually picked up 4 new investigators! So here's who they are...

                  - T. Super sweet girl who I swear is like, one of the most prepared people I have ever met. I am so excited to see where things go with her. She's in her mid 20's. As we were talking with her about the restoration she was just like, "I feel so good about everything you guys are saying! This is such an amazing message!"

                   - E. He is a cool guy, also in his 20's. We ending up starting our lesson with him at 8:45 at night. while out walking. He was super interested and I am excited to see where he goes! It was funny though because the whole time during the lessons the mosquitoes where basically eating our faces off... then we finished our lesson and we only had like 5 minutes to get home, but our apartment was like a 10 minute walk away. So what did we do? WE RAN. Like we literally ran the whole way home. We made it home only 2 minutes late.... I think the Lord will forgive us for that one! haha.

                    - R. I can't remember if I told you guys about her. But she is too good. She is an indian lady who doesn't speak english too well... but she is so so sweet and says she really wants to come to church! AMAZING.

                    - AND FINALLY, N. He is the husband of one of our investigators. We were able to go over and teach them about the Plan of Salvation and it was one of the most powerful Plan of Salvation lessons I've had in a while. ESPECIALLY when we were talking about the Atonement. It was amazing.... SO good things to come from them as well.

2. And in the midst of all this finding, we also were contacted by two random people. THEY CONTACTED US. We got a text from this guy asking why we never tried to stop by any more... and we got a call from a guy who said that he had come to our church a couple of years ago, but hadn't been in a long time and wanted to come back! So there's a couple more blessings. Now that I'm typing this all up I'm really realizing how incredibly amazing this all was. Wow. We are blessed.

and a few stories...

1. We went and visited this Less-active couple. They are pretty hot and cold about the gospel, so we decided to see how things were going and to practice teaching them the restoration using the new method. Well it was going so well. The spirit was really knocking it out of the park. And part of this new teaching method is that at the end we ask them to pray, then after the prayer we have a moment of silence so they can get an answer to their prayers and listen to the spirit and such. Well we invited the husband to pray, and he asked some really inspired questions. Then after the prayer we had our moment of silence... dude I swear... that moment of silence turned into like 10 minutes of silence. It was kind of awkward... but I just kept seeing in my head on the paper where it says "WHAT EVER YOU DO, DON'T BREAK THE SILENCE" So we didn't. And it was kind of weird. But at the end, he looked up at us and just looked to enlightened. So we asked him "How are
you feeling?" and he was like, "I got my answer and I know what I need to do." IT WAS SO COOL. And now this less-active couple wants us to come and teach them all of the lessons over again. saweeeet!

2. Also, V. That girl! haha. So we taught her a bunch of times this week and she was doing really good! So then we asked her to do a church tour and at first she said yes! ... but then she texted us and was like "I don't think I need to come to your church, because I'm not going to join it." and we were just like "bah! V!" So we went over and we really listened to her, and it turned out great. I guess she just needs some time and love... but she will get there!

So that was basically the week! Sister Glenn and I have SO MANY good things to come. Just in this transfer we have 4 exchanges, 2 MLC's, Zone Conference, and All Sister's Conference, and people to baptize. Its gonna be soooo sick! Not to mention we have to melt in the heat a little and lose our legs in mosquito bites. It should be good!

*Just as I was about the finish this email, the school where we email had a fire drill... So that was weird.*

Anyway, talk to ya'll next week! Adious!

XOXO,
Sister Langford