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)

 

Week 54: dodgeball, lost lane, and getting called up in church at the last second

You can go to Mormon.org and view Sister Wuehler's profile:
http://mormon.org/me/8GXC/Julie

Dear Family and Friends,

This week we have zone conference so the Barrow Elders came in and Delta Junction Elders, etc. We'll probably see them a lot at dodgeball in the mornings. We do a lot of that in the mornings and wake up at 6 to make it there at 6:20. Speaking of which there were two Elders that served in Third Ward that came up this week for a baptism of a man they taught.  We visited his wife, and Sister Sherwood knows them also through her sister-in-law who is a really close friend to them, but the husband got baptized on Thursday and confirmed yesterday and it was really special to see and be a part of it.

We picked up two new solid investigators this week-- it was a great week. We taught a guy who works on the slope and decided he wants to be baptized and saw him for lessons three days in a row before he left this week. He should be back in a few weeks or so though and we can see where to go from there, but in teaching him both Sister Sherwood and I weren't sure if he was really doing for himself until we started teaching him.  He's not just doing it because of his girlfriend, you can feel that his heart is in it, and we are excited to keep teaching him. It was also really exciting that he read the chapters we gave to him to read right after we left-- made us really happy when people keep commitments because that doesn't always happen. We also started teaching a guy yesterday who works on base, but came to learn a little more about his friend’s faith and the differences in beliefs- he is starting to read the book of Mormon, and we have a lesson for this week.

Our Branch president is a funny man- he almost doesn't realize it too.  We had the Elders Quorum president moving to Idaho this week and the last day we saw him (our branch) president kept calling him to "get your spuds over here!" so he could say goodbye to him with this serious face and light heart.  But I really noticed his sadness among his faith when on Sunday he came up to us and said, "There's a lot of sorrow attached to this calling.. you know what I mean?" He paced a little bit and started talking about how he was sure we saw it too, a lot of people make choices that send them in a direction that is not good, and sorrow is natural for that, but I could really feel how much he loves this branch and the people in it that day.

Our branches first counselor yesterday was talking on the phone because we needed him to make a phone call so that someone would send Sister Sherwood a video for our activity at zone conference this week; and he was telling them his email address at "alaska.net"  Then he went- "the net is for all those fish up here- she's a fisher of men , WAIT, I didn't mean of MEN" ...he is the funniest-- get's himself into trouble sometimes... a lot of the time, but he always has an open invitation for anyone who would like to come to Sunday dinner, so whenever we don't have a dinner we go there. There is this guy who we went to visit who is very innocent and who was so excited when we got to his house In his innocence he said "OH, they let the Mormons come over...I am sorry I'm not wearing any pants but come in, you may teach me a lesson!" He was sad and almost closed the door on us when we said we couldn't come in, but was so excited when he found out that we could come back the next day with another sister from the ward so we could actually go in. When we went back, we shared with him that God loved him and shared with him the new "father" mormon message-- it really makes you think about how much each of us really don't understand what we have been given from Heavenly Father. (http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=2119328537001)

We were driving back to Fairbanks from Eileson the other day and there was a car on the highway with a wheel that was shaking and looked like it was going to fall off-- shouldn't have been on the highway maybe? Ilooked at it and unconsciously said "guys' put your wheel on" and Sister Sherwood kept laughing at me. She does that a lot.  haha We have a lot of fun--I feel like I haven't really stopped laughing for days!

Zone Tracting this week went well- we tracted in 5th wards area and almost every door we knocked on opened up- that doesn't happen much!

Sooo we got lost this week on the way to a dinner out in Sixth ward. We were looking for a street sign way out in the Bush area to find it, and expected it to take a while to drive there. So we left at least 30 minutes before to get there, and we didn't see this sign for a while and noticed on the map that there weren't any turnoffs for a long stretch, but got worried when there were no signs for at least 20-30 minutes! Finally we get to an area with a sign in the distance so we can figure out where we really are- with little to no phone service, and we were already worried because we were late to dinner- like 30 minutes (ridiculous when we had left THAT early), and we got up to the sign and it said, "Leaving Fairbanks Northstar Bourough" WE FREAKED OUT! We were in the middle of nowhere and it was -25 below; and we ended up turning around to get gas, then finding the house, and got in contact with everyone. We ended up being an hour late but were so grateful that they were so understanding; but everyone got a good laugh and we got to get rid of some of the stress of that ridiculous drive. Good story, just made us feel Reeeealllly stupid. At least we got the jeep back from the Elders and had just enough gas to get back. What a waste of gas. It didnt help that we passed streets with names like "lost lane" and "tribulation trail".

This week has been around the negative teens and twenties, feet wouldn't even warm up one night  until we drove home and after I got into bed-- but i walk around without as many layers as I had in Anchorage originally when it was -10. different cold, but still cold!!!

Yesterday I was reading in Preach My Gospel about humility and had a thought that it sounded like a diagnosis, so I decided to write it up like one- it went a little like this:

Diagnosis: Pride
Symptoms: competitive, acknowledgement of self over God and seek to always be "more than" those around you, presume YOU are better
Side effects: feelings of anger, hatred, stumble and block the spirit from working in your life
RX: HUMILITY, willingness to listen, put trust in God and acknowledge him in that and everything, listen to what he asks us though his servants as well, gratitude
Pair with hard work, obedience, and selfless service

I thought it was pretty cool to put it into that basic thought process- it can work just like that sometimes. In the Words of Elder Bednar, "We love the Lord. We serve him. We Follow him. We represent him." We are worthy, clean, but not perfect because we cannot help others to overcome the bondage of sin if we ourselves are entangled in sin or even disobedience. We are here to become who he would have us become, just like a woman I met yesterday said that the Bible stood for "basic instructions before leaving earth." We set goals and we seek to reach them. As we reach them in the least though sometimes we forget that he’s the one who helped us in  the first place. Acknowledgement becomes gratitude in those cases.

I am having a blast up here but also the work is going so great and that is what is most important. In the words and thoughts of Sister Sherwood, "there is more to life than rodeo."

Love,

Sister Wuehler


p.s. sister sherwood gave a really good talk for like 25 minutes that she found out about thirty minutes before because the speakers didn't come, just saying, the spirit is real!


scripture:
Fatherhood mormon message  (http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=2119328537001)
Alma 26: 37
37 Now my brethren, we see that God is ^amindful of every ^bpeople, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.

ism: "We'll be hoppin' around like a jackrabbit in a cage of bumble bees!" --Branch President

"Take the first right on go thatta way then down to da neice which is right next to da nephew and youi can get out on go thissa way" --no joke, we received these directions almost word for word the other day to find a house, we're beginning to think that our like is one big joke haha

"I teach lessons at the northernmost denny's in the world... and I'm a mormon" --sister sherwood

Week 53: Fairbanks, where the banks are fair...?

Dear Family and Friends,

This morning it is -18! need I say more???

I do have to say it is a little warmer than I thought it would be at this temperature, but that's probably because I had a pea coat, hand warmers, my down jacket and three layers of tights on when I went out this morning. My socks even make it hard to put on my boots because there are so many layers.

Saying Goodbye to Anchorage

On Tuesday I said goodbye to Sister Hatfield and we all went to transfers, then whoever was heading far out got to go to the temple and then eat dinner at the mission home. I stayed back in my old apartment that night where the Inlet View sisters live;  and we all (Sister Burbank, Peterson, Claspell and Platero) sat up talking all the way till 10:30 (I know, late huh... I have been out way longer than I think! A year on the 22nd...) It was good to be around them and Sister Peterson and Claspell are bringing sisters back to Juneau finally! It's been at least a year and a half I think- something around that number. Before we had to leave, I was talking to Sister Peterson and we were talking about how sometimes the spirit speaks to one person and not the other to help someone or to notice where they are.   Most of the time we all (Everyone, not just missionaries) don't recognize what is REALLY going on around us and what others need. The spirit really is the only way to communicate that- there is no other way.

The plane ride went well (I'm heading to Fairbanks and will be working with the Young Adults there by the University), I just flew up with the Elders transferring here-- around 7 or 8 of us, me being the only sister- first time in a year being out of a 2 1/2- 3 hour radius (of Anchorage) so it's all pretty new still- but I met a woman from Delta who was very kind-- she talked about how she used to see missionaries where she used to work each week- i gave her a mormon.org card if she wanted to connect with them again. It was good to be there and talk to her- just a casual conversation, not pushy, but she accepted.

Sister Sherwood

Sister Sherwood is great...and pretty fun. She just got out of being trained so I am her "greenie breaker", or second companion- which is still harder than I would think it would be but she is awesome and a great missionary- Sister Peterson trained her, my MTC companion. It is really flat out here, not so windy and we get to go all over Fairbanks so it is really big, we even get to go out to North Pole (a town in Alaska--not The North Pole!), Eileson, to Fox, etc. The YSA is great so far- it is just a branch so it is pretty small, but they were all driving down to Anchorage for a temple trip this last weekend so it's been a little bit crazy and we have had a lot of cancelled lessons. It's amazing how in teaching situations how bold Heavenly Father sometimes wants us to be. I have noticed after the fact how I wouldn't have said things the same, and it's been in almost every lesson where there are people who may not change unless they are invited to-- Preach My Gospel teaches to invite and follow up, the Savior teaches it and that's why it is in Preach My Gospel.   He invited us throughout his ministry to come unto him, and it also talks about it in Moroni 7, about how all things invite and enticeth to do good--- if we are not inviting others to do good, then they can't come closer to Christ, we can all choose because he invites, and provides that opportunity.

North Pole, Alaska--almost everything is about Christmas!

Cool sign!

Sister Sherwood told me a true story that was shared with her by (a man) from 3rd ward whose family feeds us each week.   He told about a man in the army who was Mormon who was serving in the Vietnam war who was shot where his shirt pocket was, but he had a Book of Mormon in that pocket and the bullet shot it.  He was amazed that it didn't get to him and opened the book to the verse where it hit, which was Alma 44:4, which said, "Now ye see that this is the true faith of God; yea, ye see that God will support, and keep, and preserve us, so long as we are ^afaithful unto him, and unto our faith, and our religion; and never will the Lord suffer that we shall be destroyed except we should fall into transgression and deny our faith." (This Brother) turned to her and said, Now what do we see from this story; she answered, Well, we need to have faith and hold to it so that Heavenly Father can help us.  And he said, Sure that works but really, even a speeding bullet can't make it through Alma on the first shot!

One departing missionary said in their testimony, "I don't care if you're a test fighter pilot... get over yourself- just get over yourself. and go to work." We can be big in the eyes of the world, but none of that will ever mean anything if it is without Christ, we only become happy through him. Yesterday one of the high councilman spoke on his "parable of the bicycle" about how we have training wheels on our bike, but when we need to ride without, which wheels are we taking off- are we riding on wheels of testimony, prayer, faith, etc. or are we just going through the motions--if we end up taking off the real wheels, then that bike will never run. It was a good talk. "I have four pressed white shirts, am I not close to being perfect?? Of course not"

I think this transfer's going to be great- really cold though. We have students from UAF (University of Alaska at Fairbanks) in the ward and lots from the outskirts, and it'll be interesting being in YSA. It's wierd already, especially lessons we have had in restaurants because we haven't had people in town to come with us to lessons. "I felt the spirit with milkshakes in Dennys" is what he ended up saying about it- haha. I finally tried reindeer sausage at the loose moose cafe this week! One more Alaskan thing down! Let's see how this new adventure runs.


Love,

Sister Wuehler

scripture: Alma 31:13, 1 Corinthians 1 (true saints)

13 For they had a place built up in the center of their synagogue, a place for standing, which was high above the head; and the top thereof would only admit one person.

ism: They call snomobiles snowMACHINES here- they claim it's easier to say when it's said a lot, when i looked out of the airplane I saw a LOT of them.

Notice the sign!

The Awesome Train. 

Week 52: Goodbye warm weather...

Dear Family and Friends,

 

 

So, I am being transferred, and to a YSA ward! In the coldest place! Fairbanks!! eeeee! Surprisingly this wasn't the thing that I first thought of when I got the call on Friday night that I was going there. I will be companions with Sister Sherwood who just finished the 12 week training, that'll be fun- people rave about this ward so I am excited to see more.  Also the fact that it covers up to Barrow...technically... not really, just all those in Fairbanks zone in our reach, but Barrow is in that zone! (Note: Barrow is the northernest town in Alaska...and the coldest!)

 

Zone Lunch - Monday, February 4, 2013

 

Saying Goodbye to Sister Chan.

 

To begin, the week started off crazy, with two missionaries walking into a bar... How EMBARRASING! We went to this restaurant on Monday night to meet our dinner appointment, and it had two different doors between the restaurant and the bar. Totally missed that piece of info. Anyways I thought it was funny and ironic. We left as soon as the color left our faces in shock and we laughed about it over the hours and hours that followed. It's all good guys.

Sister Wuehler and Sister Hatfield --just themselves!!

 

 

 

We were invited afterwards to go to Family home evening at our ward mission leaders house with his family and a recent convert and her family. We had a lesson; then we frosted cookies. Let me tell you, I hate most sugar cookies, but I frosted 4- they were way too much fun and we got too creative with them.  The next day we helped the woman who we make cookies with make 520 heart shaped sugar cookies for February! I am cookied out, but her thought this month to go along with them was interesting... A lot of our week was spent in saying goodbye and tying up loose ends with different situations, doing service, and many meetings-- sister H will still be in the area though.

 

 

 

 

There's a priest who is leaving on his mission soon who was out of town when we went to dinner at his house, but he is always really quiet and awkward when we are around and his mom will slightly tease him for it. His mom and dad told us this time that he was glad to not be around us this time because he said that he didn't want to be attracted to sister missionaries because it's like being attracted to nuns! We are not nuns! haha we all had a good laugh because that had never occured to me- weird.

So Sister Hatfield turned to me this week and said, "remember how we high fived in the mothers lounge" So for the Bush branch, we call into a conference call for church, which is right before Rabbit Creeks' Sacrament Meeting, and the quietest place is in the mothers lounge with the comfy chairs.  A recent convert we had been teaching called into church and we were so excited because she hadn't before- I think I said that last week, anyways, we high fived. It was funny, probably had to be there, I just wanted to remember that thought one day. haha.

We finished MANY binders for new missionaries this week, planned for a training the sisters were giving for zone meeting on Friday, and helped out a little bit around the mission home while they were crazy with transfers and were hiding from everyone.  They had a hard time planning it, but when they were finally done they were so tired, but Sister B. tried to get President to read the roster over polycom to a beat at 6:30 a.m. in the most ridiculous way and President said, "In our happenings for the day, I think we lost Sister Beesley."

We had a fireside this week and Elder Christensen of the Seventy came to speak to all missionaries, bishoprics, ward missionaries... He talked a lot about how the Lord has prepared everything to hasten his work, I don't have much time to list it all out, but all has come together to begin that haste. Israel is being gathered constantly, it is now being hastened, and the Lord has his hands in that.  Just look at how many more missionaries are out--it went from 58,000 to 110,000. That is only one thing- Pres. Beesley said, "We see the Lord has already done all the heavy lifting, we just have to open our eyes." The Lord, quite obviously can do his own work, but desires us in it; it is the only way we can experience anything and strengthen one another as brothers and sisters. This is a great work and I am blessed to be here.

We had a face to face lesson yesterday with a man from the Bush Branch who has now become an investigato. He has had background in the church and wants to be baptized- it was so neat but our time this week has been nuts- we have given up many lunches and had a fireside that Sis H had to sing at in Eagle River, called The Love of God- it was good, but so crazy with saying goodbye and all and MAJOR COLDS that made it hard to sleep and plenty of tears.

Love you all! have a grweeat week!!!!

Shout out to Dad: Congrats dad on becoming bishop- make sure you take time to get sleep!

Love,

Sister Wuehler

"Always remember the experiences you have here are not what will be forever"

Scripture: Matt 6:21-24

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine ^aeye be ^bsingle, thy whole body shall be full of ^clight.

23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that ^adarkness!

24 ¶^aNo man can ^bserve two ^cmasters: for either he will ^dhate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and ^emammon.

isms: "Laundry is an eternal principle, nothing in life is more consistent, it's job security!" --Sister Johnson

 

 

 

Tuffie and Elvie, the silver Yorkie, and his pet fish that he protects and watches!!