Week 56 - I'm.....TRANSFERRING!!!

Tomorrow is our Transfer Meeting so I'll find out then who I will be with and in what area. I'm excited for this next transfer and what is has to bring. I know that there are things in my new area and from my new companion that I have to learn from. 

This week was filled with many miracles, as per usual. Our Investigator, Brother G*, got BAPTIZED! There was a lot of opposition leading up to his baptism because I know he is going to be a very solid member. His wife was already a member (but had been less active up to this point) and shed tears as he was baptized by one of their long time family friends in the ward. He received the Holy Ghost following the baptism. Immediately we noticed a countenance change. He lit up the whole room. All throughout church on Sunday we saw him with a big grin on his face. His wife even received a calling to be the Activity Day leader. It is so beautiful to see strong families united in the gospel.

Our other investigator, T* brought her best friend to church with her. She informed us that she had been to one of our church services before and LOVED IT! When she stood up in Relief Society to introduce herself she said, "My name is...and I'm going to be back every week so you better get USED to this face". We later taught her and her friend about the Restoration and she cried because she knew it was true. She jumped at the opportunity to be baptized and said she was going to invite everyone! She is the most elect person I have ever met!

All week we were struggling to find new investigators. On Sunday night, however, we were knocking and found a Haitian family of FIVE!!! We taught them about the Restoration of the gospel using the pamphlets and pictures and they loved it. They kept asking for the address to church and all accepted baptismal dates. Sister Morrow and I walked away in SHOCK! God just placed them in our lap!

I read in the Book of Mormon about laying up for yourself treasures in heaven. I thought it was so interesting that when the people were wicked they were deprived of the word. They were to focused on the present, rather than the eternal consequences of their actions. That is what I love about the Book of Mormon. It lays it out so clearly that the path to Eternal Life is feasting on the words of Christ. 

It rained like CRAZY yesterday. We were getting out of the car to take a picture in the "puddle" (aka a mini lake) when a van came perusing by. I thought for sure they would slow down, but they continued to drive with a wave of water that came splashing on my back. Good times, just like the movies. 

I love you all!!

Sincerely, Sister Matheson

Brother "G's" Baptism

We ate Sorbet at a famous Ice Cream shop called Jaxsons

More food!

The Hollywood District

Contacting by the beach. No big deal.

Week 55 - What the Miracles?!?!

God is too good to us. This week we weren't able to work as much in our area as we had hoped because Sister Morrow wasn't feeling too well. God compensated when we gave the 100% that we had. On Saturday night we were walking to our car from our investigators house. I had the impression to talk to a woman taking her garbage out. When we got talking to her she expressed a desire to find a church that was close by. We ended up praying with her right then and there. She accepted baptism, church, AND a return appointment. We already loved her! Sunday morning we gave her a call to remind her about church at around 8:20 (Church starts at 9:00). She had just woken up, but told us that she would be there. We sat in Sacrament, a little sad that she hadn't shown up, when we got a text from her telling us that she was IN THE FOYER! She came in with her two little kids, looking all spiffy. 

After church she accepted a date for baptism. 

We had the opportunity to do a "mini mission" this week with a Young Women from our ward. We picked her up on Friday night and she stayed with us till Saturday evening. It was fun to have a change of pace and show someone how fun missionary work can be. 

While taking our lunch break on Wednesday we had quite an interesting experience. A homeless man (who had previously been sleeping on the side of the road) came up and sat at the table next to us outside. He asked us if we could spare him some change and we gave him a picture of Jesus Christ. He got all excited and said, "I've been looking for you all over the place!!" as he came and sat at our table. The conversation was very interesting. We found out that he was George Washington, St. Peter, and that he ....and I quote "Went 5 fathoms deep to get his scepter back from the dragon". Good times. 

It reminded me of Dad's story with the hippy. 

We ran into a lot of people who had previously been members of the church but had had their names removed from the records. I kept having the impression that a common theme with all of them is the lack of doing the basics every day! Because they lacked the spiritual protection that comes from reading the Book of Mormon daily, they were subjecting themselves to the snares of Satan. I read this scripture during my personal study and thought I'd share...

"And they did pray unto the Lord their God CONTINUALLY, insomuch that the Lord did bless them, according to his word, so that they did wax strong and prosper in the land." (Alma 62:51) 

The basics are repeated so much because they are the things we neglect the most. They are also the things that will save us and protect us from the powers of the adversary. 

This is a quote from President Monson:

"The call for courage comes constantly to each of us... It has ever been so and so shall it ever be" From the beginning of time everything God has asked has need of a step of courage. It’s not any different now….”

If you don't already have a regular schedule to study your scriptures DAILY then DO IT! 

I promise that you will notice a difference in your ability to discern the Spirit and stand up for your beliefs. Stay strong. I love you all!

Sincerely, Sister Matheson

Pictures:

We went fishing last P-day with our district

Our little Trio for the night

We had a "birthday party" lunch for one of the Elders in our District...

The farmers market

 

Week 54

This week was rather slow in comparison to last week, but we persevered. We took our investigator, along with his wife who is a member, to the temple and walked around the grounds. As we drove into the parking lot the wife said, "So this is where we're going to be getting married". So precious. Because of her limited ability to walk we stayed in the front and showed them the pamphlet from the Temple Open House. They felt the Spirit and we drove around the side so they could get the full view. They even came to church on Sunday and said that they liked it. That was definitely a silver lining on our week. A lot of the investigators that we have been finding have not been keeping their return appointments despite accepting everything when we first meet them. Satan is definitely working harder than ever to deceive and distract these children of God. It makes me that much more motivated to get out there and tell everyone about the "good news"...aka

the GOSPEL!!!

I've been reading in the war chapters in the Book of Mormon this past week. Prior to my mission I found myself skimming through these chapters, however, I am more than intrigued at the symbolism now. Although we do not fight with literal swords as missionaries, I know that the battle is just as real. It is so important that we are "armed" and "prepared" for whatever Satan has to throw at us. This way we know that we will be protected just like Moroni's army. "[T]hey were prepared for them, in a manner which never had been known among the children of Lehi. Now they were prepared for the Lamanites, to battle after the manner of the instructions of Moroni. " (Alma 49:8). I know that as we heed the council of our leaders and of our Prophet that nothing will be able to stop this work

. 

Here is a snip bit from our Mission President's email...

 “We cannot foresee what the Lord has in mind for us. Our only course of action is to be prepared and worthy for whatsoever He requires. We must govern our actions every day with our future in mind… 

(M. Russell Ballard, “Purity Precedes Power)"

Funny Story: On Friday we went to visit a Member on our ward list whom we've never met before. As we pulled up to what looked like a little apartment complex, we walked into the door that said "Entrance". We walked into what looked like a little cafeteria and as we explored the room we realized that we were in an "old folks home" with all of these old men, surrounding a TV, sitting in their wheelchairs. We went back to the entrance, only to find out that the door automatically locked and we couldn't escape. At this point Sister Morrow began freaking out because of her fear of old people and I just laughed at the predicament that we had gotten ourselves into. 

We found a door that led to a maze of apartments. Sitting outside of most of the apartments were old people, sitting on chairs and looking at us funny. We tried to find the woman that we were looking for with no luck. A crazy old man kept yelling at us as we walked away, "COME BACK AND SEE US. COME BACK AND SEE US. COME BACK" Hahaha! I attempted to ask some old men if they knew how to get out and apparently they couldn't hear me so we continued finding our way back to the entrance. I asked one of the old men watching TV if he could let us out and he followed us to the main office where there was no one to be found. He typed in the door code and opened the door to the office (Which did NOT have an exit). We looked at him funny and then FINALLY a nurse came and buzzed us out. Sister Morrow may or may not have been hyperventilating the entire time. It was Hilarious. 

I love you all so much. I can never tell you that enough. 

Sincerely, Sister Matheson

Our Temple Trip

Sister Morrow had to get a biopsy this week for problems with her thyroid. 

Poor girl!

Week 53

I'M A YEAR OLD!!!!! WAHHOOOO 
I never thought I'd be this old on the mission....I'm excited to learn and grow even more over these next 6 months. Watching General Conference was a wonderful way to remember a year ago when I sat in the MTC, watching it with hundreds of other missionaries like myself. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. 

Our investigator, Niarobi, got baptized!!!! Her whole family made it just in time to witness the step she was making. Her stepfather even cried! While watching her get baptized, Sister Morrow and I had our arms around each other and I wanted to soak every moment of it up. I know this is what I'm supposed to be doing at this time in my life. Nothing is more exciting than seeing the joy of repentance in other people's lives. She was the one we found after the specialized training when the AP's promised that we'd find a family!

Our Mission did AMAZING things in the month of march #miraclemarch with the help of God. Here is a snip bit from President Richardson's email this week:

While listening to General Conference and the announcement of the new temple being built in Haiti, everyone was so excited! It's been a blessing to be able to work with and teach the wonderful Haitian people while here in Florida. I could not be more excited for them and their families as the missionary work in Haiti is really going to pick up with the addition of the temple. 

"First let me say how “proud” I am of “all of you”, for your great effort in finding and teaching and working with those ”elect”, & to bring to the waters of baptism…! And thanks to all of your efforts, we were able to achieve our goal, and be blessed with “101” Convert Baptisms, and 34 Rescues….which added a total of 135 additional souls joining together with us in the Sacrament Meetings across this Wonderful Mission."

This week I felt God compensating all of our efforts. We made sure that we were out, knocking everyday and we even took the opportunity to ride our bikes and talk to everyone we met. We did not, however, meet anyone while knocking who seemed very interested in baptism or church. We knew that, because we were obedient, God would provide a way for us to find new people to teach. When we returned home on Friday night, the Zone Leaders called us with a referral!!! They had found a family of 5! We were so excited...we may have been jumping up and down and then quickly knelt in prayer to thank our Heavenly Father. 

After our prayer we received another phone call from the Elders, telling us that they had gone through their list of potentials and called a woman who wanted us to come pray with her. After General Conference, we went to her house and  said a prayer with her. After the Prayer we shared a short lesson and Sister Morrow felt prompted to invite her to be baptized with a specific date. When we asked her she immediately ran to get her phone, telling us that she was going to request work off so that she could be BAPTIZED!!! She told us she had never been baptized, but had promised herself that when she turned 21 she would be and then we showed up. 

I love you all! Make sure that you're doing the little things: Family prayer, scripture study, studying PREACH MY GOSPEL!!! Seriously, it makes a difference. It's that 1% improvement that makes a difference. 

Sincerely, Sister Matheson

 

Pics:

 Niarobi, got baptized!!!!

 

The cutest "FROZEN" Cookies ever from the cutest Arnold's ever!

We celebrated my 1 year mark by eating free Popeyes! 

(Missionaries eat free at the one in our area. BLESSINGS!)

 Forgiven

We may or may not have made our bedroom into the most epic fort of all time...

Easter Morning!

Watching General Conference at the Church!

A member fed all ten of the missionaries in between sessions of conference

 

Just chillin' in the hood with our good less active friend.

I finally got all the cards for my Birthday:)

 

Me today!