Week 49: Happy "Click" Day!!!

January 22, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

Using Hand Warmers---looking down from the top of our area

 

It's been a warm week, at least I think, I was joking around with President about how at around this time last year he was pushing space heaters in my direction and now I feel like a true Alaskan- it all starts to feel the same to me.  I haven't been in -75 like Barrow though. Today is my 11 month click day, or day that I entered the MTC 11 months ago. Can't believe how time flies! By the way did I ever tell you that we made cookies last week with Sis. Maisey in our ward again for her kids classes- we made 875 oatmeal cookies!  (We had Sister Bullen, who just came out a few weeks ago, with us for the day while everyone was at Zone Leader Conference.  We had a strange proselyting schedule that day because we had a referral that Sister H. met because she needed a haircut from her.  So while there she got to talk to her about the church.  While she was getting her hair cut, Sister B. taught me the purpose of life through a Rubics cube:  our purpose is to follow patterns set by Heavenly Father, become like him, and to not be confused like the sides of the Rubics cube anymore.  But we need his help to solve it.)

Sister Wuehler and Sister Hatfield

 

 

Sister Claspell and Sister Wuehler

 

 

 

This week has been so crazy- Sister Hatfield and Sister Askbrook were asked by Sis. Beesley to do an "Island" training for our Thursday training last week so we did an exchange with the Beachlake sisters and I was with Sister Claspell in Eagle River for about 24 hours-- loved it! I love seeing the way other missionaries work and put different ideas into play. We all met back up on Wednesday and Sister H. and I had a lesson with an investigator right after that.  We talked to her about the Plan of Salvation and where we have come from. One scripture about the veil of our previously living with God I love is in Ecclesiastes 1:11 (There is no ^aremembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.)  Heavenly Father wants us to make choices for ourselves and that's why we are all here, to learn and to make choices, and to improve.

 

Thursday, we did the training based around the hymn "I Have Work Enough to Do" in Anchorage; then the two sets of us sisters involved got to go to Wasilla to give the training again with Pres and Sister Beesley. It was really neat because Nome and Bethel and islands in the Southeast video conferenced in, and we could see them and hear them on the screen, whereas normally we've never done that. It would be so hard to be that far out in the Bush. SPEAKING OF WHICH we were just told that we were picking up the Bush branch, along with Rabbit Creek. The (Branch) Presidency is based in Anchorage so it will be fun- the Bush branch is for all who are way too far out and spread across Alaska- people even from north of Nome, etc and they can all polycom in for church, I will see more about it soon and let you know!

 

When we were up in Wasilla the sisters got Flu shots- there is an epidemic up here in Anchorage to Wasilla, and the mission decided to purchase it for all missionaries who wanted one.  So while we were up there we dropped into the office and got one- we all got really cool bandaids- sis hatfield, me, sis claspell, and sis ashbrook. Man I thought I was off the hook for shots when I came off for a while, but I am SO glad that’s done!!! Sister H and I drove back with Sister Beesley and went out to this grill in Wasilla- they split this burger with peanut butter on it- which doesn't even sound slightly appealing to me, called the "elvis burger", and they LOVED it.  When President Beesley heard, he shook his head and said "when would you ever see a cow with peanut butter?!?" Haha, I will never know why I really don't like peanut butter! Oh well! It was so awesome to spend time talking with sister B. It's a beautiful drive up there.

 

We did some family history training extra this week, made cookies for some less actives and potentials, but neither were where we thought they'd be so we gave the cookies to the elders, and we got to call two of the 3 sisters coming out who we hadn't talked to yet. Wow they sound so awesome! We went to dinner with a member who has this awesome car- it's a lotus, and after seeing it I wish I was into cars- it was so cool!

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday morning, we had ward coordination for the ward missionaries like we usually do and one man was talking about the gun show and how much he loved it for 15 minutes before we even got started. Haha, everything we talked about seemed to come back to that. Focus wasn't the strongest suit in that meeting, but hey, that’s something to work on- we love our ward missionaries! He was also the man who snored through Sunday school, he is a character!

 

We had a woman on Sunday give a talk about perspective- she began with a story (I think of someone from Valdez, where there was at least 16 feet of snow this last year). The story began with talking about how beautiful the fresh snow was and how they were shoveling the driveway and how the snowplow came and pushed MORE snow into the freshly plowed driveway.  But that was okay and it progressed in a day by day journal of how they saw kids playing on the snow at the second story of their house, and as time went on they just hated the dark and wanted to chase down that awful snow plow that kept ruining their driveway- it's all about perspective: this writer began happy and chose to become irritated when always we have the choice to become so either way.

 

We drank this clay/ mud thing that's supposed to have a ton of minerals in it from a sister in our ward- mostly I just wanted to be able to say I could :) , we have both decided that we'll never drink mud again-- haha too gritty- eeee!

 

In talking with Sister H and Sister Beesley on the hour from Wasilla to Anchorage, we talked about alot of different things, but a thought came into my head as we were all talking- Heavenly Father can see us sometimes as a rubber band- he stretches us beyond our own capacity to stretch sometimes, then lets us stop, and he keeps stretching us more and sometimes we d feel like we are about to snap. I know that our Heavenly Father loves us all so much and he knows that growing and improving is the only way we CAN be happy- it's all about our perspective sometimes.

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

 

Love,

Sister Wuehler

 

Scriptures:

Jacob 5:26

26 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto the servant: Pluck off the branches that have not brought forth good ^afruit, and cast them into the fire.

Doctrine and Covenants 121:45- notice that heavenly father tells us to "let virtue garnish our thoughts unceasingly" NOT "don't think about things that are bad" If someone tells you not to think about a pink elephant, you're going to think about a pink elephant- replace thoughts with better thoughts!

45 Let thy ^abowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let ^bvirtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy ^cconfidence wax strong in the ^dpresence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the ^edews from heaven.

ism: eating buffalo is just like beef, by the way.

The Pen Analogy:
Hold out your fist and ask one person to close their eyes, stick out their fist, and follow your fist.  When they realize they aren't always following your fist, it shows you that they need help to follow you. So you hold a pen and they hold the top of the pen and move around.  There isn't a problem following unless they let go.  It's like how we follow Heavenly Father, but the Prophet acts as that pen--to let us know what way to go so that we can follow him.
 

Week 48: ICE!!!

Dear Family and Friends,




Sister Hatfield and Sister Wuehler

So, today is an Ice Day for south high- which is actually kind of funny because the snow AND ice is almost ALL melted off our driveway and that is a HUGE thing that it's not there. The roads have been awful and they almost had to cancel church yesterday

because of it.  It has been raining NONSTOP these last few days. Honestly I would say that Rabbit Creek is probably the most dangerous for hills and ice in Anchorage- but don't worry- we're fine!!!! There's this road called Old Seward Highway which stretches through Anchorage, but there's this stretch of it that you ONLY go on to head out to a place at the Bottom of Anchorage, Potters Marsh, and we went there a couple of times this week.  The pond is frozen over on the road, but the alternate rout, New Seward, is SUPER windy and scary with the Rain storms.  It's like OUT in the marsh- weird, but everyone acts like the weather is no big deal- it COULD be negative 10 so i am counting my blessings!  



 




Moose at the Mission Home

We started out the week teaching lessons to some families who have boys headed out on missions soon, and one of the boys invited his Girlfriend who read along with the whole pamphlet as we taught the plan of salvation.  They are the sweetest family, and are the greatest example to me. They lost a daughter, but the mom has the best strength and never fears to use that as a teaching moment. I always feel like waterworks are near when I'm around her, she's just my favorite, but her spirit touches everyone. We went to the next family's house and the analogies were awesome while we taught them- they have a young family- Sis H. used the Pen analogy- (I'll add the Pen analogy when she writes about it in a letter home).

Interviews were awesome I got insights on how to study more on topics and it's going great!

 

We did some Christlike Attributes Training at Zone meeting and had people try and put together puzzles of each attribute.  We went a little crazy on cutting up the puzzles and only one group was able to get it together.  Hey, that is sometimes how it is to try and develop that character.  It is difficult but we can ask for help from Heavenly Father and receive them as gifts from God. We went to Weebees with the some missionaries after (It's this good burger place- the man who owns it is about 80 and talks your ear off).



 

There is a sister who just entered the MTC- we visited her parents this week and it just brings back so many memories thinking back to the MTC and seeing their family. We got to be in for a phone call for the first 19 year old sister in the mission last night and she is SO excited to come out- we are going to call the other two sisters a little later- they want them to talk to some sisters, and can I just say, mothers dominate phone conversations! One phone call went about an hour for a future elder- so funny though. (from Mom--I remember when they called Julie--it really made her feel special and so excited about her upcoming mission!!)

p.s. I am telling you, I have seen TOO MANY SWEETS in the course of my mission- they are just making me sick haha- i can't even tell you how many cookies I have stuffed into the side of my car hoping to never see them again--

Man, let me say, I had two trunky dreams in a row this week- one of them I was dreaming about being down at school and telling everyone about how COOL missions are and everyone was like, WHAT are you talking about?! Then, I had a dream that I left Alaska and didn't know what to do because I wanted to be back in Alaska,;as Sister H and I would say after a past sister, "Struggllleeeee- MAJOR struggle!" At least they were funny trunky dreams. I keep thinking, what place is as interesting as Alaska, and I am totally going to hyperventilate with how huge the world is when I get back home and how many people are in the bay. AH! Well, at least I don't have to worry about that for a WHILE! Love you all!!!

Love,

Sister Wuehler

Scriptures:
1 Peter 4:12,
12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery ^atrial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

Alma 36:3
 3 And now, O my son Helaman, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their ^atrust in God shall be supported in their ^btrials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be ^clifted up at the last day.

Alaska Dedicatory Prayer

ism: "Do you remember how I got Tabasco sauce in my eye!!!" --Sister Hatfield

 

Week 47: Happy NEW YEAR!

Dear Family and Friends,

 

So, Monday, we were supposed to pick up the (then) Petersburg Sisters but they missed their flight because Sister Hatfield was sick with the Flu, so we picked them up the next day after doing our "first harvest/ greenie tract" with (two other) Sisters. Since there was some unusual timing with transfers, we had the Sisters with us for 4 hours and took them to pick up Sister Hatfield at the airport (Tuesday). New Years Day we had prime rib at a members house- they had a ton of family around and they are seriously the best cooks!   I say this because I never go as rare as I did that night (because it scares me)- wasn't too bad on prime rib-- they teased us beforehand on if we wanted it more done, saying, "thats fine, you can just RUIN it if you Really want to." so, I just stuck with the rare stuff and trusted them.

 

We had some fortune cookies in our apartment, and both Sister Hatfield and I don't like fortune cookies, but decided to open one each morning-- most of the fortunes were kind of dumb, but I found one that I noticed I liked, it said, "If you will continually give, you will continually have"-- I ended up sharing this with a lot of people this week, but I don't agree with it all-- we can't have unless we receive, and even then, why is it important to have- necessity. Also, Christ was the perfect giver- he gave of himself, but he was also the perfect receiver, which I constantly struggle with- I have a hard time accepting any help, but am learning constantly. We are nothing without God, all we have is his, so we have to give and we learn to become better.

On Wednesday we had transfers, and since the group that was going home on this transfer already headed home, we got to go to the Temple and to dinner at the Beesleys- It was great to see missionaries that had been away for so long. Then, we dropped off Sister Morey on Thurday morning and have been having Sister H. meet the ward council and investigators since then, business as usual right.

We are focusing on Christlike attributes over the next nine weeks (and always). Last week was Faith, and this week is Hope.  We took the survey in Preach my Gospel and found our lowest score that we thought of ourselves in that specific section and setting goals to improve each week.  If we represent the Savior, then we need to focus on improving and developing attributes he has.

Yesterday, we went to a home and she was talking about how her Children had selective hearing, which is always funny when I think about it because when I took my Light and Sound class (at BYU-I), I was the one who they practiced on. On both sides of me, I had someone talking to me and I had to focus on the one reading the book and repeat it back to them. The second time the person telling me what he had for breakfast all week kept saying my name and I couldn't focus on the book.  I turned in the scriptures to Alma 37:44, the spirit was watching out for me in sharing that thought and looked at what it said-- I am accustomed to hearing my name- if we are accustomed to the Savior, we will hear his call.  (44 For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the ^aword of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land.)

Anyways, I hope that my letter hasn't sounded too much like a to-do list this week. We are back around to having interviews this week- Can't believe it's already been three months since the last official one. Have a great week! Love youuuu!!!

Love,

Sister Wuehler

Scripture: Alma 37:33-37, how to find happiness

33 ^aPreach unto them repentance, and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ; teach them to humble themselves and to be ^bmeek and lowly in heart; teach them to ^cwithstand every ^dtemptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.

34 Teach them to never be weary of good works, but to be meek and lowly in heart; for such shall find ^arest to their souls.

35 O, remember, my son, and ^alearn ^bwisdom in thy ^cyouth; yea, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of God.

36 Yea, and ^acry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy ^bdoings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy ^cthoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.

37 ^aCounsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for ^bgood; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the ^cmorning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

ism: "Luck is when opportunity meets preparation" -P.Beesley