Hey all!
Just another typical week in the WA-TAC. I always feel like my emails are way jumbled when they're not sent on preparation days...so who knows how this one is going to be! We did some walking, door knocking, teaching, had a zone conference, did an exchange...yeah, pretty much normal.
We've been doing a lot of walking lately, in an effort to save miles, and in an effort to talk with more people. It's really funny to see people walk towards us, make eye contact with us, and then do all they can to avoid us completely. It doesn't happen too often, but it's just funny when it does. It's really sad how, in society now, people just don't talk to teach other! They're so...suspicious or so wrapped up in their own little world, that if someone walking by waves and says hi, they just look at them, shocked, or just completely ignores them. What happened to friendliness? But, even if we don't get to talk with people, we know it's good to be out looking, because people will at least see us walking about. We actually had a member comment about how happy it made him to see us out and about. I know it's also showing the Lord our willingness and diligence, and I just keep hoping that one of these days we'll come across someone walking who will actually listen!
We've gotten a few new investigators these week, two of which were actually taught before! It's really neat to see how the Lord gradually prepares people - that's why it's important to talk with everyone and invite everyone. Even if they don't listen now, it might be preparing them for a later time in their life where they WILL listen!
We had another pretty neat miracle - well, it was a series of little things that just showed me that the Lord is the one doing this work, and His hand is in everything! We had stopped by a potential investigator's house, to see if she was home. She wasn't, so we decided to try to visit Sue Carson, one of our investigators. Except, we remember that we hadn't brought the Restoration DVD, and we wanted to watch that with her. But, it turns out that they neighborhood we were in was right across from the elders' apartment, so we ran over there to see if they were home and if they had an extra dvd we could use. They WERE home - they had just gotten home - and they gave us one. so, we go to Sue's, and she wasn't home. In my mind, I was like, "That's way weird. well...maybe we'll need the dvd for something else, because that totally was a tender mercy from God that we got ahold of one!" So, we try to visit a few more people. Our list of people to see runs out and we don't really know what else to do. Then I thought of one more person we could visit, Mary Betheson! I think I've mentioned her before. She's a single mom of three kids, working full time, going to school full time, and interested in learning more...just doesn't have time! So we stop by, and she's actually home! She's never home. I grab the dvd, thinking maybe she's the reason why we have it. she says she's been reading the Book of Mormon when she has time, and is wanting to come to church - when she has a weekend where she's not working. We give her the dvd, and tell her it will explain a little bit more about Joseph Smith and what he did, and why the Book of Mormon is so important.
It was such a little thing, but it truly was a miracle and tender mercy. We can't really get in and teach Mary - I'm hoping her life will slow down it the summer - but we can create ways where she can still learn and the spirit can work with her.
Anyways...I don't have much else to say. I hope everything is going well for ya'll! I love you lots, and I'm so grateful for all that you do! I haven't gotten to many emails sharing missionary experiences for my birthday...so I'll just expect them for next week! But, really. go search for a missionary experience. I only ask because it blesses your life, and it allows you to be an instrument in God's hand.
I love you!
Sister Beth Ann Root!
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
Letter from May 19th, 2014
ey all!
It's been a pretty good week. I ended up catching another cold. I just can't get away from them! And, just like last time, I ended up starting to get sick right at the end of an exchange; this time, though, I didn't give it to the sister I went with. I would have felt way bad, especially since we had another fireside this weekend, and singing with a cold is miserable. I pretty much shot my voice for today, but it was a miracle that my voice lasted the entire fireside! I was able to participate in my musical number good and strong!
It was a pretty rough week for us; investigators were dropping us left and right (ok, so...just a couple) and none of our appointments went through, and no one was home or wanted to talk to us when we stopped by. We were just struggling! Karin sent us a text and said that she wanted to continue to learn more, but was too busy with school and getting ready to move to Colorado at the end of this month. She'll continue to seek it out there, and that's AWESOME, but it was hard to lose such a promising investigator. So, we were going through the week, just kind of struggling for positive things, but then Friday was FILLED with miracles!
WE ended up finding a part member family, by trying to visit a less active on our ward list, who apparently has moved. But, that's ok, because we found Alyssa and Levi! They are looking for a church, because they've been through a lot the past couple years of their lives, and they recognize that they've been in bad places, doing bad things (for example...they're living together right now, engaged, but not married...but we'll work on that...:) ) but they want to overcome and turn to God. They recently moved in a couple months ago, and where they were living before, they were kind of casually talking to missionaries. It was a huge miracle for us, because Alyssa - who is the one who is a member - is way sweet, and just let us in immediately and wants to dive in with all of this.
we also heard back from Kathleen, who we haven't heard from in like a week and a half. She said she had been out of town, and wants to see us on Tuesday! And then we proceeded to schedule two other appointments with some flakier investigators. It was just a much needed boost to us. The work...slower, and we're not discouraged, we're just trying to figure out what we're supposed to be doing to be effective! We just keep putting ourselves out there, and hope something will come of it! And we keep seeing miracles, no matter how small they may be, so we know the Lord is working with us.
We went on another exchange this week - of course! :) - and I went with Sister Bishop. She's a greenie, and this is her second transfer. Oh my goodness, I've never met a greenie like her! I would have guessed she's been out 9 months! She was so composed, knew what she was doing, and just approached everything and everyone with confidence. It was kind of funny. At the end of our companionship study the next morning, right before we exchanged back, she was like, "So...is there anything else with this exchange?" It was like the only greenie thing to come from her mouth. It made me laugh. I was like, "Yep! It's pretty much just like any other day! I'm just hear to make sure you and Sister Cassell are doing ok!" It's nice; there's not much correction that I have to do. And I think that's what I like about exchanges, is that it really isn't different; it just gives the other sister - AND me, of course! - the opportunity to learn more. I love it!
Well...that's all I really have to say! It wasn't a too exciting week, until the weekend. But, that's ok. It can't all be exciting, or even that would get boring! Thanks for what all of you do for me! I love being out here, and the things I get to do and learn. I think that's one thing exchanges do for me, is that they remind me how awesome it is to be a missionary! Because I get to go with so many sisters who love this work and are here to serve God. It's the best! I love it! And I love you! Thank you!
Sister Beth Ann Root!
It's been a pretty good week. I ended up catching another cold. I just can't get away from them! And, just like last time, I ended up starting to get sick right at the end of an exchange; this time, though, I didn't give it to the sister I went with. I would have felt way bad, especially since we had another fireside this weekend, and singing with a cold is miserable. I pretty much shot my voice for today, but it was a miracle that my voice lasted the entire fireside! I was able to participate in my musical number good and strong!
It was a pretty rough week for us; investigators were dropping us left and right (ok, so...just a couple) and none of our appointments went through, and no one was home or wanted to talk to us when we stopped by. We were just struggling! Karin sent us a text and said that she wanted to continue to learn more, but was too busy with school and getting ready to move to Colorado at the end of this month. She'll continue to seek it out there, and that's AWESOME, but it was hard to lose such a promising investigator. So, we were going through the week, just kind of struggling for positive things, but then Friday was FILLED with miracles!
WE ended up finding a part member family, by trying to visit a less active on our ward list, who apparently has moved. But, that's ok, because we found Alyssa and Levi! They are looking for a church, because they've been through a lot the past couple years of their lives, and they recognize that they've been in bad places, doing bad things (for example...they're living together right now, engaged, but not married...but we'll work on that...:) ) but they want to overcome and turn to God. They recently moved in a couple months ago, and where they were living before, they were kind of casually talking to missionaries. It was a huge miracle for us, because Alyssa - who is the one who is a member - is way sweet, and just let us in immediately and wants to dive in with all of this.
we also heard back from Kathleen, who we haven't heard from in like a week and a half. She said she had been out of town, and wants to see us on Tuesday! And then we proceeded to schedule two other appointments with some flakier investigators. It was just a much needed boost to us. The work...slower, and we're not discouraged, we're just trying to figure out what we're supposed to be doing to be effective! We just keep putting ourselves out there, and hope something will come of it! And we keep seeing miracles, no matter how small they may be, so we know the Lord is working with us.
We went on another exchange this week - of course! :) - and I went with Sister Bishop. She's a greenie, and this is her second transfer. Oh my goodness, I've never met a greenie like her! I would have guessed she's been out 9 months! She was so composed, knew what she was doing, and just approached everything and everyone with confidence. It was kind of funny. At the end of our companionship study the next morning, right before we exchanged back, she was like, "So...is there anything else with this exchange?" It was like the only greenie thing to come from her mouth. It made me laugh. I was like, "Yep! It's pretty much just like any other day! I'm just hear to make sure you and Sister Cassell are doing ok!" It's nice; there's not much correction that I have to do. And I think that's what I like about exchanges, is that it really isn't different; it just gives the other sister - AND me, of course! - the opportunity to learn more. I love it!
Well...that's all I really have to say! It wasn't a too exciting week, until the weekend. But, that's ok. It can't all be exciting, or even that would get boring! Thanks for what all of you do for me! I love being out here, and the things I get to do and learn. I think that's one thing exchanges do for me, is that they remind me how awesome it is to be a missionary! Because I get to go with so many sisters who love this work and are here to serve God. It's the best! I love it! And I love you! Thank you!
Sister Beth Ann Root!
Monday, May 12, 2014
Letter from May 12th, 2014
Hey all!
I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day, full of either spoiling or being spoiled. It was really nice to be able to talk with Mom and Dad yesterday. Haha definitely not nearly as emotional as last Mother's Day, and not nearly as distracting as Christmas. In fact, afterwards, I was way pumped as we went out to do some work. We weren't able to do much work, because it was at the end of the day, but people weren't nearly as cranky to have us knock on their door on Mother's Day as we were expecting!
This week has been a pretty good week! The Lord is blessing us with new investigators to teach, and we are SO grateful! We still often to struggle to find things to do, so we often will just get out of the car and just walk around. We had a pretty neat experience doing that, the other day. It was 8:30 (and it's getting to the point where it's not completely dark at 8:30 anymore) and we literally had no where to go, and with all these exchanges that we have to do, our miles are pretty tight. So, I was kind of fed up and was like, "well, let's just get out and walk around! We have no one to visit this late, anyway, so if there's someone Heavenly Father wants us to talk to, we're not going to find them sitting in the car!" So, we park the car, and start walking around. And, of course, no one is out. But, we end up running into this man, and we start talking to him. Turns out he's from Germany and is just visiting. He wasn't fluent in English, so he didn't understand much, but we gave him a Mormon.org card, and told him they had it in German, and he seemed pretty excited about that. He was the only person we talked to, but we both felt like that was ok. Heavenly Father does His work in His own way, and all we have to do is get out and work. Whether or not he actually looks further into, we still were able to extend that invitation, and we were where we needed to be, when we needed to be there. Remember that! To have missionary experiences, you don't need to see the fruits of your labors! You just have to follow the spirit and be where you need to be, when you need to be there, and, as the spirit directs, open your mouth and testify and invite. I know it sounds scary, but, trust me, once you actually do it...it's not so bad! Because it's God working through you!
Anyways, one of our new investigators is Karin (not like Karen, but like car-in. As in the car that you drive.) and she's way awesome. We found her earlier this week while knocking and set up an appointment for Thursday. I ended up not being there, because we were on exchanges, but Sister Bayles called me that night and was way stoked because the lesson was so amazing! We're meeting with her again tomorrow, and I'm way excited for it! She's definitely elect and prepared by God.
A couple of other investigators who seemed promising we haven't been able to get in contact with, for awhile. I'm a little bit worried about one, Kathleen, but I'm trying to stay optimistic. The other ones have either been sick or WAY busy, so I'm not too worried. We just need to work at getting to talk with them again. Things are beginning to happen, here in Lacey 5th. I'm excited!
The exchange that we did this week was amazing. I went with Sister Graves to the Lacey 3rd area, and Sister Palmer came here with Sister Bayles. Sister Graves and Sister Palmer have been having some...personality conflicts, as well as Sister Palmer seems to be quite passive and timid by nature, and Sister Graves is not. This sometimes isn't an issue in a companionship, because the one who isn't timid is okay with just taking the lead. Sister Graves doesn't like that. She wants to be working in tandem and in unison. The only problem was that she's been letting irritations and frustrations get in the way of her helping Sister Palmer, instead of just focusing on her weaknesses. I knew Sister Graves when she first came out; we were in the same zone in her first transfer. We became kinda buddies, so Sister Graves was able to open up to me during the exchange. We had several good, long, heart-to-heart conversations, and it was very good for the both of us. It was SO neat to see Sister Graves change over the past 9 months! she is a wonderful example of a missionary who strives to change and to do the work. I tried to show her that and turn her efforts to not only helping herself and her investigators grow, but also her companion. It was so neat to just talk with her, and to fully recognize that the words I was say were NOT mine. I literally had no clue what to say, but as I listened and then opened my mouth, words came out. I'm very optimistic about how this transfer is going to turn out for Sister Graves and Sister Palmer. I think it will be one of great growth for the both of them.
Welp. It's been a great week! I'm excited for what this one will bring! I love you all, and I'm so grateful for all that you guys do for me, so support me and keep me out here. I really can't express the gratitude. I love you!
Sister Beth Ann Root!
PS my birthday. May 28th. The best birthday gift you could give me? Go and pray for a missionary experience, diligently seek one out, and then tell me about it. It doesn't have to be some grand thing like inviting someone to be baptized! That's the missionaries job! :) It can be as simple as giving someone a Mormon.org card, just as we did that one night. Or giving someone a Book of Mormon, or inviting someone to church, or ANYTHING! just helping. Bearing your testimony of a gospel truth. you will be so blessed for doing it. There is a spirit, a peace, and an excitement that comes from having these experiences. and you will never regret asking for one and having one.
I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day, full of either spoiling or being spoiled. It was really nice to be able to talk with Mom and Dad yesterday. Haha definitely not nearly as emotional as last Mother's Day, and not nearly as distracting as Christmas. In fact, afterwards, I was way pumped as we went out to do some work. We weren't able to do much work, because it was at the end of the day, but people weren't nearly as cranky to have us knock on their door on Mother's Day as we were expecting!
This week has been a pretty good week! The Lord is blessing us with new investigators to teach, and we are SO grateful! We still often to struggle to find things to do, so we often will just get out of the car and just walk around. We had a pretty neat experience doing that, the other day. It was 8:30 (and it's getting to the point where it's not completely dark at 8:30 anymore) and we literally had no where to go, and with all these exchanges that we have to do, our miles are pretty tight. So, I was kind of fed up and was like, "well, let's just get out and walk around! We have no one to visit this late, anyway, so if there's someone Heavenly Father wants us to talk to, we're not going to find them sitting in the car!" So, we park the car, and start walking around. And, of course, no one is out. But, we end up running into this man, and we start talking to him. Turns out he's from Germany and is just visiting. He wasn't fluent in English, so he didn't understand much, but we gave him a Mormon.org card, and told him they had it in German, and he seemed pretty excited about that. He was the only person we talked to, but we both felt like that was ok. Heavenly Father does His work in His own way, and all we have to do is get out and work. Whether or not he actually looks further into, we still were able to extend that invitation, and we were where we needed to be, when we needed to be there. Remember that! To have missionary experiences, you don't need to see the fruits of your labors! You just have to follow the spirit and be where you need to be, when you need to be there, and, as the spirit directs, open your mouth and testify and invite. I know it sounds scary, but, trust me, once you actually do it...it's not so bad! Because it's God working through you!
Anyways, one of our new investigators is Karin (not like Karen, but like car-in. As in the car that you drive.) and she's way awesome. We found her earlier this week while knocking and set up an appointment for Thursday. I ended up not being there, because we were on exchanges, but Sister Bayles called me that night and was way stoked because the lesson was so amazing! We're meeting with her again tomorrow, and I'm way excited for it! She's definitely elect and prepared by God.
A couple of other investigators who seemed promising we haven't been able to get in contact with, for awhile. I'm a little bit worried about one, Kathleen, but I'm trying to stay optimistic. The other ones have either been sick or WAY busy, so I'm not too worried. We just need to work at getting to talk with them again. Things are beginning to happen, here in Lacey 5th. I'm excited!
The exchange that we did this week was amazing. I went with Sister Graves to the Lacey 3rd area, and Sister Palmer came here with Sister Bayles. Sister Graves and Sister Palmer have been having some...personality conflicts, as well as Sister Palmer seems to be quite passive and timid by nature, and Sister Graves is not. This sometimes isn't an issue in a companionship, because the one who isn't timid is okay with just taking the lead. Sister Graves doesn't like that. She wants to be working in tandem and in unison. The only problem was that she's been letting irritations and frustrations get in the way of her helping Sister Palmer, instead of just focusing on her weaknesses. I knew Sister Graves when she first came out; we were in the same zone in her first transfer. We became kinda buddies, so Sister Graves was able to open up to me during the exchange. We had several good, long, heart-to-heart conversations, and it was very good for the both of us. It was SO neat to see Sister Graves change over the past 9 months! she is a wonderful example of a missionary who strives to change and to do the work. I tried to show her that and turn her efforts to not only helping herself and her investigators grow, but also her companion. It was so neat to just talk with her, and to fully recognize that the words I was say were NOT mine. I literally had no clue what to say, but as I listened and then opened my mouth, words came out. I'm very optimistic about how this transfer is going to turn out for Sister Graves and Sister Palmer. I think it will be one of great growth for the both of them.
Welp. It's been a great week! I'm excited for what this one will bring! I love you all, and I'm so grateful for all that you guys do for me, so support me and keep me out here. I really can't express the gratitude. I love you!
Sister Beth Ann Root!
PS my birthday. May 28th. The best birthday gift you could give me? Go and pray for a missionary experience, diligently seek one out, and then tell me about it. It doesn't have to be some grand thing like inviting someone to be baptized! That's the missionaries job! :) It can be as simple as giving someone a Mormon.org card, just as we did that one night. Or giving someone a Book of Mormon, or inviting someone to church, or ANYTHING! just helping. Bearing your testimony of a gospel truth. you will be so blessed for doing it. There is a spirit, a peace, and an excitement that comes from having these experiences. and you will never regret asking for one and having one.
Monday, May 5, 2014
Letter from May 5th, 2014
Hey all!
Man, oh man, it's been a crazy busy week! I'm so completely exhausted, but it's so good to feel this way! We had transfer meeting, which was a little bit rough. It's the last transfer meeting where ALL of the missionaries could be together. Now transfer meeting is just going to be for the missionaries getting transferred. I had to say good bye to some peeps, and I only have a small handful of transfers left, so, I just kinda freaking out. But, it's ok, because I had A LOT to do right now, so I don't have to worry about it!
Wednesday, we ended up seeing SO many miracles! We found two new investigators, found several potentials, and passed out a lot of Book of Mormons. One of our new investigators, Kathleen, seems way interested. We met with her on Thursday and taught her the restoration, and she seemed to love it. We invited her to be baptized, and her response was, "Well, I've never been baptized before!" We're hoping when we meet with her again, we'll be able to get a solid date for her to work towards. It's exciting! We also met Leyna, who, literally opened the door, and was like, "Oh! Hi! Come on in!" She says she doesn't really know anything about the church, but that she and her family moved in about two or three months ago (her husband is in the military) and they haven't been able to find a church, yet. We're seeing her tomorrow, and we're excited to see what happens! Throughout the week, we've found a lot of other potentials that seem promising, and we're just really excited to see what's going to happen this transfer.
It's just incredible to see the blessings of the Lord. We haven't been doing anything different, or anything special, but the Lord has decided that it's time to just pour out His blessings. I can't wait!!
We also went on our first exchange as STLs. It was SO much fun! It was way last minute, but it was prompted by the spirit, and it all worked out. On Friday, we went on an exchange with Sister Crosby and Sister Allred. Sister Crosby was my STL for two transfers, when I was in Port Orchard, so it's kinda odd being her STL, now. So, Sister Bayles went to Lakewood with Sister Crosby, and Sister Allred came with me. Sister Allred came out a transfer after me, and she just got released from being an STL. She is way awesome, and I think I made a new eternal friend. I think this exchange - and probably all of them - was more for me than for Sister Allred. I learned a lot about what it means to be an STL, and I learned a lot just about being a missionary! Sister Allred is a WAY good missionary, and she inspired me.
I've decided that I have 3 goals for these exchanges that we're going on. 1: I want these sisters to know that I love them with all my heart, and they can trust me and Sister Bayles. 2: I want to inspire these sisters to be the best missionaries - and person - they can be - and to help them see that potential. and 3: I want them to come to love their missions even more.
Welp. Life is great. I love it! And we're going to be SO busy! It'll be awesome! I love you all! Thanks for everything you do! To all you mothers, have a happy Mother's Day!
Sister Beth Ann Root!
Man, oh man, it's been a crazy busy week! I'm so completely exhausted, but it's so good to feel this way! We had transfer meeting, which was a little bit rough. It's the last transfer meeting where ALL of the missionaries could be together. Now transfer meeting is just going to be for the missionaries getting transferred. I had to say good bye to some peeps, and I only have a small handful of transfers left, so, I just kinda freaking out. But, it's ok, because I had A LOT to do right now, so I don't have to worry about it!
Wednesday, we ended up seeing SO many miracles! We found two new investigators, found several potentials, and passed out a lot of Book of Mormons. One of our new investigators, Kathleen, seems way interested. We met with her on Thursday and taught her the restoration, and she seemed to love it. We invited her to be baptized, and her response was, "Well, I've never been baptized before!" We're hoping when we meet with her again, we'll be able to get a solid date for her to work towards. It's exciting! We also met Leyna, who, literally opened the door, and was like, "Oh! Hi! Come on in!" She says she doesn't really know anything about the church, but that she and her family moved in about two or three months ago (her husband is in the military) and they haven't been able to find a church, yet. We're seeing her tomorrow, and we're excited to see what happens! Throughout the week, we've found a lot of other potentials that seem promising, and we're just really excited to see what's going to happen this transfer.
It's just incredible to see the blessings of the Lord. We haven't been doing anything different, or anything special, but the Lord has decided that it's time to just pour out His blessings. I can't wait!!
We also went on our first exchange as STLs. It was SO much fun! It was way last minute, but it was prompted by the spirit, and it all worked out. On Friday, we went on an exchange with Sister Crosby and Sister Allred. Sister Crosby was my STL for two transfers, when I was in Port Orchard, so it's kinda odd being her STL, now. So, Sister Bayles went to Lakewood with Sister Crosby, and Sister Allred came with me. Sister Allred came out a transfer after me, and she just got released from being an STL. She is way awesome, and I think I made a new eternal friend. I think this exchange - and probably all of them - was more for me than for Sister Allred. I learned a lot about what it means to be an STL, and I learned a lot just about being a missionary! Sister Allred is a WAY good missionary, and she inspired me.
I've decided that I have 3 goals for these exchanges that we're going on. 1: I want these sisters to know that I love them with all my heart, and they can trust me and Sister Bayles. 2: I want to inspire these sisters to be the best missionaries - and person - they can be - and to help them see that potential. and 3: I want them to come to love their missions even more.
Welp. Life is great. I love it! And we're going to be SO busy! It'll be awesome! I love you all! Thanks for everything you do! To all you mothers, have a happy Mother's Day!
Sister Beth Ann Root!