week 58: to anchorage and back...

Dear Family and friends,

So my companion's name is Sister Washington- she's from Utah and is 20 years old. This is her first week and she is doing great- she even got to invite one of our investigators to be baptized in April!
 
 
 

SISTER WASHINGTON AND I IN FRONT OF MT. MCKINLEY

 

SISTER WASHINGTON AND I AT THE ANCHORAGE ALASKA TEMPLE

 

So the trip to Anchorage was gorgeous.  Sister Sherwood dropped the other sisters in the car in Wasilla for the night and dropped stopped off at Target to get a few things from the dollar bins for our greenies-- We went through Denali Park and saw some caribou, etc.  When we got in to Anchorage, we dropped in to see the ward mission leader and got to see the family in Rabbit Creek-- they pulled us in to teach family home evening, but it was good to see them again too. We stayed at Rabbit Creek and found out that the 5 new missionaries were delayed--they left Salt Lake early morning and went to San Francisco; then a flight got cancelled and they headed to Denver; then to Seattle; then to Anchorage and got in at 11 at night Alaska time, when they left at 4 a.m. Utah time! (Utah is 2 hours ahead of Anchorage); so we were delayed in Anchorage heading back up to Fairbanks for a day and didn't drive back until Thursday.  Down there I also got to see a sister we used to visit in Turnagain, who is doing so well.  We got to go to the temple on Tuesday after transfers, and met our companions earlier that morning before the transfer meeting.


DENALI FOREST AND PARK

 

SISTER SHERWOOD, ME, SISTER GERBER, AND SISTER MOREY

 

SAYING GOODBYE TO SISTER SHERWOOD
 
 

 

SISTER GERBER AND I



MEETING OUR NEW ELDERS AND SISTERS

SISTER WASHINGTON


 

We have gotten a lot of snow this last week in Fairbanks-- we came back to a pile of it. The drive went great and the work is going strong this week even with only being back for a few days.  We haven't had any extra time to just visit people-- it's been packed with appointments- that's good, though. We did service at the ice park, met members of the branch council, taught some more lessons and did a lot of companionship study (in training you do 2 hours almost every day so you have to fit that in)

We found out that we can teach our investigator over skype- he is way out on a rigg- 45 miles away from everything and 22 miles down an ice road way up out of Prudhoe Bay-- can't wait to teach him! Another investigator is waiting to be baptized but is having trouble coming to church right now, but knows it is true.

We had a fireside broadcast up from Anchorage last night focusing on OYM-ing, or opening your mouth, and sharing the Gospel. A member from the branch got to speak there and a recent convert shared her conversion  from this last December  even though her family doesn't support her decision. She knows it is true and has changed her for the better. A member from the branch quoted Romans 10:13-15, then said, "I guess if you share the gospel, then you have beautiful feet." There you have it guys, my feet must be gorgeous! The fireside was great and President Beesley pointed out that when Andrew knew that Jesus was the Christ, the first thing he did was run to his brother, Simon Peter and say, we have found the Messiah (probably not word for word, but I can't remember the reference).

At transfers, one of the missionaries going home said something that stuck- he quoted where Christ asks Peter if he loves him, and Peter answered back so many times with the response of Christ being the same question. Then he took our white handbook and held it in the air and said- "do you love me? keep my commandments." As missionaries our set of rules can seem extreme sometimes, but we signed up to be out here and are also following the principles of the gospel if we follow that little white handbook, I was grateful for what he pointed out.

Things are busy! The viewpoint is way different from a trainers perspective than a trainee but the Lord is hastening his work even within this area- Love you guys, have a great week!

Love,

Sister Wuehler

scripture:
Doctrine and Covenants 24:12, 50:22

 12 And at all times, and in all places, he shall open his mouth and ^adeclare my gospel as with the voice of a ^btrump, both day and night. And I will give unto him strength such as is not known among men.
 22 Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are ^aedified and ^brejoice together.

 

 

 

ism: "You aren't supposed to drive faster than your guardian angel can fly"

"See that coat, it's green, you can take it off in another 6 months" - A brother to Sister WA

 

Week 57: transfer calls!

***One year since being in Alaska as of last Tuesday, 3/12/13!!!  Time is going by fast!!  With 2 new Sisters coming in this week, we will have 20 Sisters in the mission. This part of the blog is 2 days early because they will be driving to Anchorage on their P-day!


Dear Family and Friends,

So, this morning we went at 6 a.m. for transfer call dodgeball. All the Fairbanks missionaries get together for that- it's their tradition, and we all got our calls. I am STAYING in Fairbanks 4th YSA and will be training- don't know much yet but I will find out on Tuesday morning who my trainee is! Sister Sherwood is training down in STERLING! She gets to see Soldotna and Kenai area! I miss it there, she will love it, I know I do!

This week has been so great so I will just bullet point it this time:

• For ice carving service this week we worked in the concessions stand. At first the ladies there were slightly hesitant to talk to us. I don't know why, I don't bite. After a while we were all having a blast and they finally asked us a little about what we were doing and found out what missionaries did- one thing they said, "What, you can't talk to your families? I am all about my family- I love them too much" and of course, with these ladies we could say "What and you don't think we love OUR families?!?" haha, after a bit they were like, oh, that's true and we talked about how it's the sacrifice we made when we decided to come out here and helps us focus-- they were really fun to be around- and we got to talk to them each a little about their religions. These ladies had so much personality, it was great to serve with them.
• We had dinner with a recent convert and his girlfriend, who is the stake president's daughter and also her family this week-- The stake President's hope for us there was that we would remember whenever we see someone to share doctrine and then tell a story about how it helped or changed you or someone else. He went on and shared a story with us about how these copies of the Book of Mormon were in a bookstore and a man found it when studying religion for a class marked with what we use as "the Book of Mormon challenge" and he read it and knew it was true. He shared it with his friends and they found the missionaries and were all prepared to be baptized- true story!
• We found a YSA less active and his room mate wanted to keep our institute information and was excited to hear more about the church. We also found out this less active has been talking with his roommate about it a lot. I was so happy to see how excited he was about church, his roommate is pushing him to do good.
• We got a text last week that a less active and his friend wanted to hear the lessons to come closer to Christ and to change.  We found out his friend was a former (?not sure what she was saying here) and he accepted the invitation to be baptized!
• Our investigator who just got engaged, who prayed about when to get baptized and felt good about May, found out that he will be on the slope until the end of April anyways! He recognized an answer to his prayer of when to set his baptism and also came up with the idea to do lessons over skype! He and (his fiance) will probably get married in July and sealed sometime next year! YAY!
• We taught a lesson last night about the Sacrament and about faith. We all wrote out on index cards about what we do by faith after reading Hebrews 11:1-34, and talked about the promises we make at baptism. The spirit helps us as we prepare our lessons because the spirit was powerful and clear there.
  
• Whitehorse (in Canada, but part of their mission) had 60 member referrals last week, and only four Elders.  It's never been so busy, but the referrals were looking like there might be a 1 in 4 interest (still good), and so the Juneau and Petersburg sisters went over to help for the week--whatever has been happening is good!

Well, we are driving down to Anchorage on Monday (March 18)-- 7 hours! We will get to go to the Temple on Tuesday, and maybe I'll get to see someone I know in Rabbit Creek (staying at her last place of residence with the Sisters there)!
Love you all! t Things are going great here, can't complain! I am excited to train but just hope that I won't constantly mess up!

Love,

Sister Wuehler

scripture: Hebrews 11, Mosiah 18

ism: We saw a guy wearing a hat that was furry with ears on the street and said, "Those look like Mickey Mouse Moose ears..." "MICKEY MOOSE".

Week 56: ice scultures, melting in 44 degree weather...

"Man cannot live without faith, because in life's adventure the central problem is character-building--which is not a product of logic, butof faith in ideals and sacrificial devotion to them."  (Richard G. Scott, The Transforming Power of Faith and
Character, Oct. 2010).

Dear family and friends,

It was a warm week- didn't make it below zero the whole time, but will drop this week. It's spring break for everyone here, but thankfully we have a bunch of planned appointments this week and not EVERYONE will be out of town, I hope. We have also been doing some painting for someone we go and visit. A member took us to the Turtle Club this week- known for it's prime rib! (and it was good)

So the ice carving championships are going on-- we have been doing service for it and will be all month-- selling tickets for them. it's a blast! We get to hang out with all the older ladies, who are usually the other ones in the gift shop, and with being a volunteer for it, we get to go there for free, so we will go and see the ice sculptures today for prep. day. There are even ice slides and a ton of different things there. I have seen more people from Australia there than I believe I have seen throughout my life.  People travel from all over to see the ice sculptures and dog sledding. I don't know why. It's surprising to see how many people get courage to come up here-.  Fairbanks is awesome, but with the weather I will just put it in the words of Sister Sherwood: "WHY is there a Town here?!?" They use water as glue on the ice to fuze them together and they have been working on the double block competition, so they should be done pretty soon with that. Impressive carving, not going to lie.

I noticed this week that when we went back to visit someone who was offended by our last visit, because he felt like he was being judged, turned around this last week when we went and visited him and shared something on the exact same subject that originally made him upset.  He apologized, but told us he would always be blunt about what was on his mind, and we were fine with that ,but what really got me was the difference in attitude from the week before. Someone was talking in church yesterday about a broken heart and how often we associate it with a bad thing; when if it is from God, or more of a willingness to change, that is where we trust God. "Meekness is not weakness"

Our investigator got engaged to his girlfriend this week.  We got to our lesson with them on Friday morning and she was telling us about her day before and she goes, "...yeah he came in from the slope, he came and picked me up from volleyball, we went to the ice sculptures, he proposed, and then we got dinner..." SO we were not expecting that and she was just so casually working it into the conversation. We were excited for them, but right after you hear that so non-chalantly, there was no more to say, so I was just like, "SO, the restoration..." ...awkward transition but those two are so great.  May is looking like a time he will get baptized so far but he will decide as soon as his work schedule is in place and once they finish moving his rigg up in Prudhoe Bay.

It seems like the Lord has been sending out miracles one after the other, even just in promptings of those who we need to see came one after the other this week specifically, and we got a few comments that were either like "We want to come closer to God, will you start teaching us" or with a few "Thank you for bringing the spirit", "I was so glad I came to church today, thank you for that lesson", and another lesson that helped me see how much the spirit works to teach us when a girl in the ward asked us just come over because she wanted to feel the spirit more and receive more help for her and her boyfriend preparing for their missions. It's been a good week.

Hope you all have a great one! Transfer calls are coming on friday or saturday so we will see whats going on!


Love,

Sister Wuehler


scripture: 1 Nephi 2:20

20 And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall ^aprosper, and shall be led to a ^bland of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands.

ism: "Most of the time, people will rise to the level of expectation that you set for them"

"Fairbanks: We're all here 'cause we're not all there"

"I'm poppin smoke! ...that means I'm leaving" our branch president picks up the most ridiculous things

Week 55: IFSS, ZC, Moose and the CES fireside

Dear Family and Friends,

This week went well, lots of 6:20 dodgeball and it was fun to have the zone together. A little bit sick for part of the week; and also it warmed up for a few days (the days when the Beesleys came); then it dropped below zero again. But today I haven't been wearing my coat- just a little tired of taking it on and off- I am sure that the cold will soon get the better of me.



Zone conference



 

 

 

President and Sister Beesley and Me!

President Beesley did a training at zone conference about Jonah that hit me this week. He pulled us to Jonah 1: 1, 2, and 3. Jonah is commanded by the Lord to go and serve but he runs- he flees, he takes off- too scared to try, and we see that the boat that he is on is tossed around just until the time he is finally taken up by the whale, and finally the storm stops (now that's not ironic at all, I am sure).  In Jonah 2 I noticed the repentance of Jonah. He had softened his heart. Heavenly Father knows more about our divine potential than we do- why would we ever hope to second guess him. I have always laughed when I think about President Hinckley saying "you can be wise and happy or stupid and miserable" but sometimes when I pick stupid I am just glad that he lets me feel miserable so I can correct that- not without bitterness, but always turns me back to what is most important. We feel that bitter so that he can turn us to what is sweet, and change.


Becoming better is most of the time like we are on a down escalator we are trying to move up on- if we are not constantly stepping upward, then we will definitely go downward, and that can become exhausting without his help- even imposible. I read this from President Eyring this morning from his talk "Choose this day"- it says, "For those who are discouraged by their circumstances and are therefore tempted to feel they cannot serve the Lord this day I make you two promises: (1) Hard as things seem today they will be better in the next day if you choose to serve the Lord this day, (2) the other promise I make to you is that by choosing to serve him this day you will feel his love and grow to love him more. You would not want to delay receiving that blessing and feeling his love will draw you back to his service wiping away both complacency and discouragement." What a promise.

 

 

 

At Zone conference Sister Sherwood and I did a training and we talked about things we have to sacrifice to be able to become better, or to focus more, etc. She showed everyone how she roped and had to give up time growing up to learn and time to rodeo, and showed how bits are used for horses and sometime the bit is harsh to help them to improve. We had all the Elders get a smore that said "Give him s'more of your heart", about Heavenly Father and then it had this scripture on it: Doctrine and Covenants 117:13 says "...and when he falls he shall rise again, for his ^asacrifice shall be more sacred unto me than his increase, saith the Lord." They took a paper and wrote something on it that was difficult for them to let go of and to focus and they cast it into the fire, our 'increase' bucket and the 'sacrifice' basket that had been weighing down got lighter and as it was balanced on the basketball hoop, the increase became heavier than the sacrifice as they let go of it into the fire. It was a good Zone Conference focusing on softening our hearts. These next few months we are focusing on the theme "Peace, Be Still" and the scripture we are memorizing with it is John 14:27. Always a favorite!

We have seen a TON of moose this week. 3 or 4 days in a row and that was more than Sister Sherwood has ever seen in her life-- The picture I sent was out of my car window- that moose was HUGE and only a few feet away from my car door- I thought we were going to die and for some reason Sister Sherwood was a little too comfortable with it being that close saying, "They don't charge cars." Let me tell you, moose are pretty dumb creatures and they will do whatever they want. At least we got a good picture and finally moved out of the road after 15 minutes of staring at it. hah. I am glad she has seen them finally.


There were a few experiences this week that humbled me, but I saw the spirit working in each person we saw and whether or not they were willing to listen to it. That was made clear to me in a matter of 2 hours one night where we visited two different people and felt to share the same thought from Doctrine and Covenants 6-- fear not to do good... doubt not, fear not. I noticed one found every reason to fight and we did not seem to say much or at least I thought to offend him, and the other mentioned about how it was funny we mentioned that- how she had a hard day at work- customers giving a hard time and complaining, but that she just had to keep moving forward. Remembering that Heavenly Father is right there can help us to feel we are not alone in our decisions, but justifying our every deed can pull us away from him and his love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We did service on Saturday at the IFSS which had sled dog teams from all over the world-- they were a bit overstaffed so we didn't stay for too long but got to see some really cool dogs and huskies and how mushing works. I want to get a picture with a mushing team of full huskies if i ever see one.
The work is going well, We have an investigator who came to church for the first time and we had another lesson after church, he asks many genuine questions.

Love you!

Love,

Sister Wuehler


Scripture:
Alma 61:9 Pahoran Chose not to be offended,
9 And now, in your epistle you have ^acensured me, but it mattereth not; I am not angry, but do rejoice in the greatness of your heart. I, Pahoran, do not ^bseek for power, save only to retain my judgment-seat that I may preserve the rights and the liberty of my people. My soul standeth fast in that liberty in the which God hath made us ^cfree.
1 Samuel 16:7
 7 But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord ^aseeth not as ^bman seeth; for man looketh on the outward ^cappearance, but the ^dLord looketh on the ^eheart.


Ism: We got stickers this week that say, "Oh, By the way. I am never too busy for your referrals"-- best stickers EVER

"It's not enough to stare up the stairs, we must step..."

"Not Shrinking [from God] is much more important than surviving" --Elder Bednar (CES fireside 3 March 2013)