"Not Lake Placid by Coincidence, New House, #missionaryprobs resolved, & "When Will We Baptize Them Lyrics!"

"#soblessed with new investigators, fry pan key lime pie, & LOVING MISSIONARY WORK!"

Hello everyone.

Oh my goodness you guys this week was insanely awesome. Can I go on for 1000000 years about how much I love being a missionary? Ok thanks. So lets get to the story.

This week Sister Davis and I were really struggling with the idea of dropping a bunch of our investigators. It's seriously the worst thing to do. You don't want to give up faith on these people... but seriously they aren't going anywhere. It's a real inner battle. So when we were weekly planning we finally got up the strength to drop some of them. But when we did it, I felt ok about it. I received a confirmation that Heavenly Father wouldn't leave us high and dry but would help us find new people to teach. So we went forward with faith.

 

THE NEXT DAY.

We went and had lunch with a girl we recently met.   (Remember the girl in the story last week who randomly came to church after a recent convert rescued her?) So our plan was to just kind of feel out the situation, see what she was thinking about the whole situation. So we start to talk with her and she is like, "Ya, I'm ready to learn whatever you have to teach me!" So we jump in with the restoration. After we explained the first vision I asked her, "So what do you think about what we just explained?" She goes, "Oh, I know its true." um..... So then we start to explain the Book of Mormon and she's like, "Yeah, I've already started to read that, and I prayed about it, and I know its true!" WHAT?!?!?! I'm like "Heavenly Father led you here for a reason..." and she just gets so so excited and is like "I KNOW!" So then we ask her to be baptized and she says "YES!" So excited and with tears in her eyes. So good. We all seriously left on cloud nine. I literally don't think there is a single person on the whole world who is more prepared than she is.

SO THEN.

She came to church again this week and we were all happy. We had dinner with her that night, and she seemed a bit distraught. She was feeling all these mixed emotions and was so unsure about it all. Then we sat down with her and had the most powerful lesson I have ever had a part of my whole mission. There were at least 5 times where we would say something and she would say "You don't even know... that is an answer to my prayers." By the end of the lesson the spirit was so strong and she was so excited again. I can't even tell you how excited I am for her. Her testimony of Christ blows me away. I'm SO EXCITED to keep you guys posted on her progress because she is seriously amazing.

Ok. so that would be a blessing enough. BUT THEN.

At church this Sunday we had another amazing blessing. Mr. D (a guy who has been coming to church for a while now and is brothers with a really solid member) came up to us and said, "If I want to be taught by the missionaries now, who do I talk to? um..... WHAT! So we are going to meet with him this week. I'm not kidding. You take a step of faith, and Heavenly Father literally drops prepared people in your lap. WE ARE SO BLESSED.

Ok so you thought that was the end? nope.

We went and saw Floyd this week, (as we always love doing), and what do you know, there is a new person living with Floyd by the name of Mr B who sat in on our lesson and is very interested to learn for himself. So we have a lesson with him this week too. (Ok seriously? What is going on right now?)

...and now you are like... seriously Sister Langford.... is that it?

Nope. THEN we get a random phone call from this guy who apparently the sisters had tracked into FOREVER ago and then left him with a mormon.org card with our number. AND HE CALLED US...and he wants to meet. So moral of the story. Heavenly Father really isn't joking when he says he will bless us. Letting go of those who aren't progressing is so hard, but look at what Heavenly Father gives us when we move forward with faith. #soblessed

And our other investigators seem to be doing pretty sweet too. I would tell you all of their stories... but time is limited.

So are you ready for some laughs?

1. Sister Davis and I thought it would be a good idea to make a boxed key lime pie during lunch one day. Unfortunately we don't have a pie tin... or a beater.... so we ended up making it in a frying pan and trying to wisk the cream with forks as fast as we could. It turned out like one of those pinterest fails... but it still tasted good! During the process Sister Davis said, "I feel like this is something that elders would do!"

2. We played "Don't eat the prophet" with our nine year old investigator. It went well. it turned into everyone screaming "DON'T EAT THE PROPHET!" at each other... but I think she learned what a prophet was from it! Haha

3. *at a dinner appointment. Kids going crazy and running under the table*

"I think you guys have a lot of dogs... and cats... and monkeys... and mice..." -Sister Davis

*little girl gets all serious* "You aren't joking about the mice!" - Zoya

4. We are doing a missionary fireside this week and for part of it we are doing a skit about missionary work. This is how one elder explains missionaries teaching in the MTC...

"So... um.... Jesus, he came to earth and.... Families are important... um... so.... We can become God's some day"

......too good.

  

Well, I love you all! Thanks for all the prayers and support! They are being felt! Have a blessed week :)

XOXO,

Sister Langford

"Downtimes=Opportunities for Humility, Gospel Changing Lives, & Missionary Hashtags."

BLOG

Hello Mis Amigos!!

Well, to put it simply this week has been a week of lots of ups and downs. Not really from an outside perspective, but in my heart I suppose. That sounds kind of dramatic.... but let me explain. 

Every transfer, I try and think of one Christ-like attribute that I would really like to focus on. This transfer I chose "humility."  I thought it would be great! Well the thing is, when you pray for humility, God doesn't just instantly make you humble, He gives you opportunities to become humble. Such opportunities are usually not the most cheerful or fun, but they definitely strengthen you! So Heavenly Father helped me this week by helping me realize my weaknesses, and mistakes and compelling me to humility because of them. Not to mention many of our investigators choosing to drop us this week. But let me tell you something, this week I feel like I learned much about grace and how it plays a part in my life. I know that these moments are not to break me, but to strengthen me. I really felt like this video was the story of my life this week....

(mom I want you to put in the mormon message called "the will of God" just go to youtube and I'm sure you can find it and then put it in :) ) 

I know that we don't have to be perfect now. Heavenly Father IS patient with our progress. I'll finish this little thought with a quote by Brad Wilcox...

"There should never be just two options; perfection or giving up. When learning the piano, are the only options performing at Carnegie Hall or quitting? No. Growth and development take time. Learning takes time. When we understand grace, we understand that God is long-suffering, that change is a process, and that repentance is a pattern in our lives"

I know that that is true. I know that my Savior really does live and love me. I know that this gospel is true and definitely has the power to change lives, as I see it change mine every single day. 

Now on to the miracles of the week...

1. We had our second official lessons with our new investigators (remember, knocked on their door?) Ok. MOST. SOLID. LESSON. EVER. Nels told us that he knew we were an answer to prayers. You can see how much faith he has because he has so much anxiety and is so nervous to have people in his home, yet he invites us in and listens. ALSO. We invited him to say the closing prayer at the beginning of the lesson. He declined because he said he was far too nervous. End of the lesson, guess who said the prayer! It was so so powerful. The spirit was definitely there and prompted him hard core! Jo really related to the idea of the eternal perspective and you could see she was getting emotional over it. Ugh!! Just one more testimony that THE GOSPEL IS TRUE AND HAS THE POWER TO CHANGE LIVES! 

2. Ok.  Remember when I first arrived in Potsdam? When I first met this awesome lady, and she told me that she didn't even like reading the Book of Mormon, and that she wasn't sure if she wanted to keep coming to church? Well this Sunday she got up in front of the whole church and bore her testimony about how much she loves the Book of Mormon and what an amazing change it has made in her life. She talked about how her life has gotten so much better since we started diligently studying it with her. Now, I don't take any credit, but seriously, look how awesome the Book of Mormon is! Everyone, go read it. k? 

3. We may be picking up a new investigator tonight. But here's the way cool back story. 

There's this college kid in the branch who is a recent convert (we will call him RC for short).  So one day he is hanging out on campus with some friends and he sees this girl looking lost and sad with a ton of luggage. So he feels prompted to go and talk to her. SO HE DOES. He finds out that she just moved here from Michigan to be a live-in nanny. She has no friends, no family, and was lost. So RC helps her get to where she needs to, and gives her his number if she ever needs anything. Weeks go by, he doesn't hear from her.... THEN. She calls him, says her situation is not good and she needs help. RC goes and gets her out, then helps her move in with one of the member families of the branch. This family BRINGS HER TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY where we meet her and chat with her. I seriously think she may be the single most prepared person in the world. So we are having dinner with the family tonight and we will see what happens! But seriously, how amazing is it that Heavenly Father just works through people like this Recent Convert to help his children. SO AMAZING. 

Also... random fun facts...

We went to MLC (in Utica) again this week. during this two day trip we

           

            - Went to a target for the first time in 9 months. it was so great. 

            - learned a new style of teaching that seems pretty intimidating, but we are pretty stoked to try it out!

            - Just had so much fun with all the wonderful missionaries!

Now the giggles (I promise this blog is almost done!) 

1. "I've heard a laugh just like that at the zoo!" - Less-Active

"Are you saying I sound like a hyena?" - Sister Davis

"What does a hyena even sound like?" - me

"Can you laugh again please?" - Less-active  

(That's pretty much how our visits with them go!)

2. in the car ride home from Utica we thought of missionary hashtags (for our mission) for about 45 minutes. Enjoy!!

#10:31pm #disobedient #woodshed

#knockknockknock

#checkyourspeed

#scabies

#bewareofprideboyyoureternalsoulisatstake

3. "Ok, so we have them go over to their child of life... " -Elder

"WHAT?! YOU MEAN THEIR KIDS?" -other elder. 

Alright. Hasta luego.

XOXO,

Sister Langford

"2 Peas in a Pod with the New comp, Golden Investigator & Shortcake or Jerky?"

 Blog Blog

Hello everyone!

Well this week has just been fantastic... and I don't even know why. It was just one of those crazy busy, really good weeks for no reason at all. Unfortunately we lost Sister Bezzant... She went the way of all the earth. Rumor has it she is wearing pants and using facebook now. Weird. But on the plus side, I received a super wonderful new companion by the name of Sister Davis. I'm super excited to have her here! We are like two pea's in a pod. Needless to say I'm very, very, very, excited for this transfer. Anyway, lets talk about the week. 

 

The missionary life...

1. Ok. remember last week when we tracted into that super solid guy and we had that awesome conversation at his door? Weeeeeell, we went back this week and he was there, with his girlfriend, ready to learn. He has even read the first 7 chapters of the Book of Mormon AND he prayed to know if it was true. WHAT? I'm sorry but that never happens. It was awesome. So we taught him a super solid restoration lesson and they said they would love to keep learning and would definitely be baptized once they know its true! HOLLA TWO NEW INVESTIGATORS! Ah. It was such an awesome experience. 

2. Investigator #1: Ah. I feel like I have all of this focus and love for her. Every time we see her and teach her it's the best lesson ever. The spirit is crazy strong and she just gets it. She has the strongest desire EVER to be baptized and to learn and to do whats right. It amazing! But then we leave. I seriously had so much faith that she would come to church this week. This was her week to shine.... but she didn't come. Again. Its really hard when you know someone KNOWS its true and totally wants it for themself... but then they don't act. But I still have faith because this week we are going to do the stop smoking program and hopefully she will quit smoking! Honestly it just goes to show me the power of people's agency. We, as missionaries, can be doing everything we can to do what's right, the spirit can be strong as ever.... but people can still choose. And that's Heavenly Father's plan. Lets just pray that she makes a good choice this week :)

3. Investigator Family #1: They are so close too. We stopped by to see them and he said, it  was like "Your eyes killed me when we said we weren't coming to church!" so I said "Well you know what you need to do then? COME TO CHURCH!" Unfortunately that didn't work.... maybe this week I just need to look a little sadder and bring the spirit a little stronger and they will come! Haha. 

 

4. I could go on and on and on about all the super solid people we have to teach. Just know that the Lord is seriously blessing Norwood so much right now its incredible! 

The Laughs...

"I'm eternally stoked out of my mind for this transfer" - Sister Davis

"well monkey's are like 80% the same as humans... so like 80% of the time, I wouldn't be surprised if we got that urge to fling poop at people." -  daughter

"That is one phone call I do not want to get from the school!" - Mom

" I don't know why we cry when people die. If anything we should cry when people are born because they are entering into a cruel suffering world. When we die we go to heaven!" - Shirley

"Elder what's your favorite food? strawberry SHORT cake?" - one elder to a very short elder

"What's yours? JERK chicken?" - elder's come back

...and that's all for the week! Good things to come next week! :) BEING A MISSIONARY IS THE BEST!!!!!

XOXO,

Sister Langford

"Still living in the dark, phoneless age, New Companion & Great Investigators!"

BLOG.

Hello everyone! 

Oh man, this week has been STELLAR, and super quick. I will never get over how quickly our weeks fly by. But this morning a miracle happened. It was kind of light when we woke up. I was in shock! I thought to myself "did we accidentally sleep in?" nope, but SPRING IS ON THE WAY... maybe... 

Anyway,

 

Let's talk about this week. 

1. We went another entire week without a phone. Do you realize how annoying that is? 2 weeks living the phoneless life. Here's the best part, the second time they sent our phone to Norwood, NEW JERSEY! Like, what the heck are they doing over there? Luckily our mission office intervened and we received a new phone Saturday... which was the best news ever. We cried for joy when we saw our phone and realized we could now enter back into the 21st century. Awesome.

2. While living the phoneless life... guess what happened? Sister Bezzant and I are casually leaving our apartment, headed to a meal appointment, everything is fine and dandy. We are about to enter the car and Sister Bezzant says "shoot... I don't have the keys..." So here's our situation, locked out of our apartment, no keys (to car or apartment), and no phone. We had a small panic moment of "WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO NOW?" and then we knocked on our neighbors door (who we had never talked to) and used her phone. Luckily we got it all figured out and the member who we were to have dinner with picked us up! but... it was a pretty panicked moment. moral of the story, always keep a spare key in your bag. ALWAYS!!

3. WE GOT TRANSFER NEWS. 

Here's the story... I'm staying in Norwood (obviously) and Sister Davis is coming up here to work with me! aaaand... we are both still Sister Training Leaders so yay.  I'm super excited for her to come.  She seems super awesome. So I will get her on Wednesday... but while I wait for her to come I get to hang out with Sister Church (my MTC comp) for the day! Hurray! 

4. Sister Bezz and I had the wonderful opportunity to present a training to our zone this week... Which  was kind of scary... but it went really well! I mean, I would be fine if I didn't have to do it again though.

5. It snowed... A LOT. 

Now the cool missionary moments..

1. Another investigator family CAME TO CHURCH! It was so great. We had a lesson with them this week and we asked if they had received any answers to prayers. She said she really felt like they needed to be at church this week she said she realized they have been resisting and she doesn't know why.... so they came. It was so so so so good! Lets pray that they can just keep coming! 

2. We had a super cool experience this week. So we were going to try this potential... that we have tried 1000000 times with no success. But, there we were again. And again... no one was home. Which is always super disappointing because they seem so solid. So we are driving away and all of a sudden I thought "we need to go back" and I was really confused. So after a small inner battle I said, "Sister Bezzant I think we need to turn around and go back." So she flipped the car around. We got back to the house... and nothing had changed. Still no car in the drive way. But, we got out and knocked anyway. Knocked once.... nothing.....twice.... still nothing. THEN. They pulled into the drive way. right. then. Clearly, the Lord wanted us talking with them right then! Act in faith on those small promptings you get. I've seen so many good things come from them!

3. We had THE BEST lesson with Sister L this week. The spirit was so so strong... AND WE SET HER WITH A BAPTISM DATE! Let's pray she can make it! She seemed so sure she was going to make it to church this week. more sure than she's ever been. But then last minute, something came up. Lets pray that this is her week to shine!

4. Sweet tracting experience.... so we knocked on this guy's door. He looked at us all skeptically through his screen and said "what do you want?" (this is how the rest of the conversation went)

"We're missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints! We would like to share a message with you about Jesus Christ!" - us

"ok... what's your message?" - him

"That the same church that Jesus Christ established when He was on the earth has been restored to the earth today!"- us

"Really? Where's the proof?" - him

*whip out a book of mormon* - us

"oh really? Does the bible talk about it?" - him

*show him a scripture in the bible* - us

"wow... I didn't think you would be able to... ok. Now what?" - him

"Well... can we come in and teach you more?" - us

*lets us in* - him.

Love it when tracting goes like this! So basically we have an appointment with him next week and we will see how that goes! 

Haha!!

5. All our other investigators are doing so so good! No complaints from the Norwood sisters :)

The laughs...

"I don't know. All I heard was 'booty-less man'" - Mission leader.

"yeah. we actually have two beer mugs in our apartment" - Zone leaders

"Yup. He was really really short. But he's dead now." - Branch president.

"She's moving into the same apartment complex as us?" - Zone leader 1

"man. It just got a lot easier to go home." - Zone leader 2.

*during a prayer* "I'm calling because.... So what's the deal with this Joseph Smith guy?" -Investigator.

...and that was the week everyone! talk to ya soon.

XOXO,

Sister Langford

"Sent back to the 80's and phoneless, Great investigators, and... be careful what you Pray for!!"

BLOGGGG.

Hello everyone! What a week this one has been. It was one of those weeks where we were so busy that I barely had time to breath. But we actually love weeks like that right? Anyway, shall we dicuss the highlights?

The Deets: 

1. So this week my dear dying companion got to spend a day in Palmyra. It was pretty lucky for her. I got to stay in Norwood with the wonderful Sister Curtis! We had a good couple of days together. It was definitely good because it helped me realize that I am so ready to take over this area! We find out THIS WEEK who my new companion will be! Kind of exciting :)

2. We have been phoneless for this WHOLE WEEK. Like, we still don't have a phone. Am I upset? maybe. It is really annoying and pretty difficult to do missionary work without a cell phone? why yes, yes it is. But we've been making it work! On the plus side, people can't call and cancel on us because we show up anyway and are just like "oh sorry, our phone's broken. You ready for a lesson?" So that's been a small blessing. On the negative side, if we got stuck in a ditch in the middle of no where we couldn't call for help.... sooooo.... let's hope our phone comes soon!

The missionary blessings:

The Lord was for sure blessing us this week. We got in a lesson with almost everyone we teach and they were almost all really quality lessons. So that was way sweet. Here's the stories.

1. Family #1:

Hurray, we finally saw them again! AND we read from the Book of Mormon with them and they were all like "yes! this makes so much sense this is awesome! Why haven't we always been reading this?" and we said "That's what we've been trying to tell you!" So... good things to come from them!

2. Sister L.  We had a super sweet lesson with her! We re-taught the restoration using this really awesome visual! After we finished she was like " I don't know what it was, but I felt super good and really warm in my heart when you guys were talking. I just feel really good about this message!" AH! You can't ask for a better response from an investigator! We then invited her to pray and she offered one of the sweetest and most sincere prayers I've heard in a while. Man, it just testifies to me, again, the power of the message of the restoration! Love it!3. Sister D. We taught her again (second time) and she is doing SO GREAT! She did all this reading and had all these really good questions for us! We taught her the Plan of Salvation and it just really spoke to her. So... she's in the beginning stages, but I'm telling ya, good things to come from her as well!4. Family #2:. Ah!  So, we have been studying the Book of Mormon with them (which has been doing wonders for them!) and we went over yesterday for our lesson. Well she was just super happy and she said the sweetest thing ever, she said, "I'm so glad that you have come into my life. I feel like I see the world so much better. Before I would drive down the road and the world was just blah, but now I can see how wonderful God's creations are. And, its because you came here! I feel so blessed and happy to know you guys!" Ah, it made me want to cry! Sometimes I almost feel like coming here to strengthen Anita was a huge purpose in me coming to Potsdam! Ah, man I love them :)5. Floyd. Why is Floyd the best? This week he told us we were his angels because we helped him come to the gospel. man. We just love Floyd to pieces.6. Be careful what you pray for... So yesterday before church I was really praying that I would have a really good experience at church. That I would have opportunites to grow and learn more about the gospel. Well, we roll into church maybe 40 minutes before it starts and our branch president is like "Sisters! Did you get my text" (darn life of no phone), naturally we said "no, no we did not" So he says "Oh, well one of our speakers bailed for today. Will you both speak?" uh.... You would think that as a missionary you would be all pro at giving talks on the fly. Unfortunately, that is not the case! So naturally we panicked a bit. But then, I prayed for help and I knew exactly what I needed to speak on, and found a perfect President Uchtdorf talk to help me along! My talk ended up being on "the worth of souls" and it went super well. I know my testimony definitely grew and I learned a lot from the experience... so ... ANSWER TO PRAYERS! haha but seriously, we knew that this would have to happen at least once on my mission!The laughs.

*These may not seem funny... but we were dying laughing! sorry... its the best I could do this week!*

"You have dead mice in your apartment?" -elder"not anymore" - other elder."There was a church sign that said 'spread the gospel not gossip'" - elder"Thank you methodist church!" - other elder. 

"I was surpised that you hadn't made me stop for a diet coke... but then I realized it was kind of early in the day" - Sister BezzantAnyway, that was the week! Love you all!  Bye now!XOXO,

Sister Langford

"The Amazing Floyd, Bribes Playing Clue, Technical Difficulties, & Keep Chickens Under your house to keep warm."

BLOG:

Hello everyone!

I know I say this every week.... BUT WHERE DID THIS LAST WEEK GO? I swear, this transfer is going by in the blink of an eye! I can't believe we only have 2 weeks left! Two weeks, and then Sister Bezzant goes home, and I officially take over! Oh man. I would greatly appreciate it if someone knew how to make our days last longer!

Anyway,

Since this week flew by so quick... there isn't too much to talk about this week. With that disclaimer, if you feel like you are already bored and want to abandon reading this, I wouldn't be offended.

Ok.

So here's why this week was hectic... We spent two of our days in Utica for a meeting, then one day for PDay, one day for visiting members and avoiding people on super bowl Sunday... So that only left us with three days of work. But that's ok. Here's the cool stuff anyway...

1. WE PICKED UP A NEW INVESTIGATOR. We met her the other day when she was out walking her dog. Her dog was wearing boots, so naturally we had to strike up a conversation... AND NOW WE ARE TEACHING HER THE GOSPEL. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

2. Our investigator, Is doing just great! She has a new found commitment to meeting with us 3 times a week! So we will see how it goes. It was a week of small victories for sure.

3. Floyd just keeps being a boss. This week when we were over at his house teaching Amanda and Amanda's sister showed up. Floyd promptly passed her a For the Strength of Youth pamphlet and a Articles of Faith card. He then told us that if she feels good about those he is going to give her a Book of Mormon. I'm telling you. FLOYD IS THE BEST MISSIONARY! So we may start teaching Amanda's sister. Which is sweet. I'm being honest, I think our best finding activity right now is just hanging out at Floyd's house!

4. AMANDA! Amanda is doing so so,
so good! She came to church this week for the third time in a row and SHE BORE HER TESTIMONY! It was so sweet. We had talked to her about faith and repentance this week and it really struck a cord with her because she bore such a sweet testimony about Jesus helping us get rid of guilt and sadness! Ah! I love it!

5. Brandi, our 9 year old investigator, is coming along great! Haha we have to bribe her with games of Clue so she will sit and listen during our lessons. Ah, children.

and the random...

1. Can we talk about the Drive to Utica? Because its both the best and the worst. Basically 6 missionaries cram into this truck and drive 3 1/2 hours each way to Utica. Do I lose feeling in my legs on the way down? Why yes, yes I do. But at the same time, its some of the most entertaining drives you have ever been on with Alex Boye music videos being made and elders trying to write their own EFY songs. Its pretty good.

2. Aaaaaand.... our phone broke.... again. I'm gettin' real sick of all these technical difficulties! But... The Lord works in mysterious ways :)

and the Humor...

"My P Days would be great and not stressful if everything went like it was supposed to. But you know, sometimes my clothes catch on fire." - Sister Stapp.

"Why would anyone keep chickens underneath their house!?" - elder

"Why not? Its like a nice down comforter between your house and the ground!" - Mission Leader.

....and that was the week! I promise, next week will be much more exciting! But I love you all and I hope your week is amazing!

XOXO,
Sister Langford