Service!! Smiling while Shoveling Snow :)

So I bet you all are wondering....what is up with this title?? So I must tell then right? Well this past week was pretty interesting! Let me tell you! It was great though!! Man I had so much fun!

So this past week we had the wonderful opportunity to be able to go and carol to some people in the ward here and also to investigators! It was so much fun! We, as in the sister missionaries :), made cookies to bring to the people that we went and caroled to and that was just awesome! They got the cookie recipe from The Friend! Can I just say that is using the church materials for good? Because I think that it is! I can say that we were pretty good at caroling without a lot of practice! :) I was super happy with that! It was a lot of fun though!! We did that for a pretty good portion of the night and it was great! The people who we caroled to loved it! So that was pretty sweet! :) Then the next day on Saturday we were supposed to have our ward Christmas party! Oh yeah! It is definitely safe to say that we were all really excited! But so as the day went on we heard about snow that was going to come in and we really didn't think much of it. Then we had a lesson with a guy named Juri Hein with our Elders Quorum president Brother Wilkes and that was really sweet! Juri is an awesome older man with a great testimony! He teaches us a lot! He is such a fun guy to visit! Our time with him was well spent! Then we got out side and boom! There was snow everywhere! And we got news that the ward Christmas party had been cancelled. That was pretty sad. Oh my goodness I was so sad! I was looking forward to this awesome gathering and then it was cancelled because of the weather! Which makes perfect sense, because we don't want someone getting hurt or losing a life over coming to a Christmas party. So then we had a lunch after church the next day instead.

But!!! What happened the rest of the night was so awesome! We went out to a street called Belle Blvd. and we did some more caroling and giving out cookies and talking to people! Oh my goodness it was sweet! Better yet we brought snow shovels with us so we started to shovel the sidewalks along the road which was good because we don't want anyone slipping on the snow right? So we started to do that! Let me tell you I loved it! Every second of it! I was shoveling outside of a super cuts store on the road just clearing it off and a lady came up to me and asked "Why are you doing that? Why are you shoveling right here?" So I responded saying well because we love to help out! And we gotta keep this place running somehow! :) She was so happy that I was doing that and she said "We need to get you a free hair cut!" Boom! I was so pumped! She went inside and a couple minutes later nonetheless she came out and gave me a coupon for one. I was so surprised! I had no idea that something like that would ever happen! I am super happy about that because that means next time I go back I get to talk about why we were doing that and share a little with her about the main message we carry! How God lives and loves us and how Jesus our Savior and how His church has been restored on the Earth today once more! :) So I am a little excited for that! :) After that wonderful experience we went to other peoples houses and shoveled their driveways and sidewalks! It was so awesome! I was having so much fun! :) I just love doing service! We did some members and investigators driveways and then we would go and do their neighbors and a lot of people on the same road! :) So that way people had an idea of who these mysterious people were shoveling their driveways and sidewalks and walkways up to their houses, every time that we finished an area I shoveled a HUGE smiley face in the road by the houses! It was awesome! I mean now these people know that the people who did this were happy while doing it! I called ourselves the Smiling Snow Shovelers! :) :) So we did that for like 4 hours straight! And man! I could have done it all night long! It was so much fun! I specifically remember one house that we did all of us Elders, that is 6 of us!, lined up on the driveway and shoveled the whole thing at once and I looked up and a man in the house was looking down at us just kinda smiling and probably wondering why we were doing that. THAT in and of itself, really that is the best part about Christmas and this season. When we do things without being recognized but we get to see the reaction of the person who we helped or gave something too. It provides us with that warm and good feeling inside that we did something good. That feeling is contagious! That feeling is the Spirit of goodness, which is the spirit of Christ! I love that!

I know that as we serve others, especially in this season we will be blessed with the happiness that comes with helping others. It is one that cannot be described! Only experienced! So please! I invite all of you are are reading.....GO AND DO SOMETHING GOOD FOR SOMEONE ELSE! YOU WON'T REGRET IT! I promise! :) I hope that you can be up to the challenge! I am! I will try my best to do something better and to help and serve someone too! Spread the joy along. Please do. Others need it! No matter what it is you do...do it great! :) And with love. That is the most important thing about this time of year. Christmas and the Gospel of Jesus Christ are centered on love and selflessness, not being selfish greedy and self centered. Because we truly do find our inner selves when we love and serve those around us. No matter who they are. I love you all so much! My advice...LOVE, SERVE, and SMILE! You won't regret it! I promise! Life is amazingly beautiful when we do these things! Remember the reason for the season! :)

Let Us Remember...

Wow the holiday season is continuing right? It is so good to see! I love this time of year because it gives us that wonderful chance to reflect back on what has happened and we can see how grateful we are for the things that have happened and for the things that we have accomplished. It is just awesome and I love it so much!

This past week has been so wonderful and I am just so happy to be a missionary! Man is it a privilege! It really is. When I think about it I realize how blessed I am to be able to be doing what I am doing right now! it is just so wonderful! It isn't all of the time that I get to take two years and dedicate them to the Lord! So I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have to be here!

So last week we got to visit and meet with Mike and Sandy at Sandy's house and that was a lot of fun! We had a great lesson with them and enjoyed it a lot! Mike is just such an amazing guy! He really is! He is an awesome New Yorker and he is just loving learning about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and applying it in his life. It really is so amazing to see his progress and to see how the spirit works with everyone in their own individual conversion. Mike really is doing so well and Elder Schreiner and I are so happy to be able to know such a great man! He is such a great friend to us and we are in contact with him all of the time. He is just such a good hearted guy with a desire to keep on the path that he is on which is so great to see. I love having the opportunity to share this wonderful message of hope with others! :)

We also got to teach out free English class last week which was a lot of fun! Our regular friends came! Roger and Franklin! Franklin is from Costa Rica! Oh yeah! He is the first person from Costa Rica that I have ever met! So that is pretty sweet! And Roger is from Peru! Which is also sweet! These guys are just so awesome and they are so dedicated to learning English it is great! Roger has only been in the United States for around 4 months and man you guys should hear him speak! It is so cool! And Franklin! Man he is so cool! He knows a pretty good amount of English too and he is doing just fantastic also! What is sweet is that we gave Roger a Book of Mormon about 2 weeks ago and he is already in Mosiah! It is incredible! He works all the time and he says he just reads when he has free time! And I am thinking....uhhhh...how do you even have free time? Because he is so busy! And what is so cool is that he is using that time to read the Book of Mormon! Oh yeah! So awesome! And Franklin said to us when we started talking about the Book of Mormon all excited "Why don't I have one????!!?" It was so awesome! So we went and got him on eand gave it to him to read! We asked him if he was familiar with the bible and he said that he had a bunch of Bibles that he had been given previously but he hadn't ever wanted to read them. But this time he said he was really excited to read from the Book of Mormon and read from it! That was so cool to see that excitement in his face and that light in his eyes! That is what the word of God does! It makes us excited about life! :) 

On Friday we had the wonderful opportunity to help a family move a treadmill out of their house! That was great! The daughter called us and asked us to help and we were way excited to do that! We went there and the parents couldn't do it because they were in their late 60's and we had to lift it down some stairs and stuff, but the best part was that we got to stay after and have dinner with them and get to know them! It was awesome! The daughter was a recent convert and her parents and boyfriend weren't members of the church and it was just so great to be able to sit down and have a "family meal" I loved it! The dad had a HAM radio set and we got to use it and talk on it! Man I was loving that! :) It reminded me of Grandpa Densley! :) It was so much fun to meet them and we hope that we can see them soon again.

Saturday we had a great chance to visit some less active brothers form the ward! That was a lot of fun! They are great guys! One is originally from Germany and has some crazy stories about WWII and that is sweet and the other one is born and raised here in New York and we always have a great time seeing him. Our Elders Quorum president came with us and it was great! :)

Sunday was such a wonderful day at church! Mike came! It always is so great to have him at church! Later that day we had the privilege to go to our mission presidents home to have a lesson with Mike and sandy and President and Sister Calderwood! Wow! It was amazing and so powerful! I am so grateful for them! President and Sister Calderwood are the best! They are amazing teachers and so dedicated to helping us missionaries here in the New York South mission! Then right after that we had the blessing to go to a member family's house to catch the end of the Christmas devotional! That was awesome! We love the Motzing family so much! Brother Motzing and Sister Motzing are just so great! They are so loving and so nice to us missionaries! And oh my goodness their son Liam! Man I love that guy so much! He is a 6 year old just full of energy! Kids just make me laugh so much and I just love being around them! :)

Monday we got to visit with the Hartrick family! They are so awesome and we love being able to visit at their house. Brother Hartrick isn't a member and they have two sons! They are such an awesome family and so fun to be around! The boys are just hilarious and they remind of the old times of our fun family dinners! :)

Oh my goodness yesterday was transfer meeting tuesday! Holy cow was it inspiring! President and Sister Calderwood are the best! They just teach us missionaries so well! Elder Schreiner and I are staying together! Woo! :) And Elder Hernandez came to my zone where I am now! Oh my goodness I am so happy about that! Also we have a new sister in the district which is way cool! We got some trio greatness going on! 9 missionaries in Little Neck! All I gotta say is we are ready! :) Also Sister Ellsworth left! Oh my goodness I couldn't believe that! I served around her for 2 transfers in Dyker Heights! She is an awesome sister missionary and I am sad to see her go! She taught me and so many others a lot and she left a great legacy of service!

It is a new transfer once more and I am so grateful for this wonderful holiday season that we have to be a part of right now! Let us all remember the true reason for the Season! I know that a baby born in Bethlehem grew up to become the Savior of the World. I love him and I am so grateful for him. Being a messenger of Christ isn't always easy, but it is so worth it! :) This is the place to be! I love it! :) Love you all! Thanks for reading! :)

He Will Guide Us!

Well hello there! It is me! Oh my goodness! It is officially December once more! :) I really can't believe it! I am so happy for this time of year though. It really is so important! And it helps us to put things back into perspective! :) I love it! I really think that this time of year is so beneficial to us and to others if we really try our best to help others who need it most.

 I was thinking of how sometimes we get to those points in our lives where we feel like we really don't know what to do and where to go and sometimes even how to act. I have found that a lot in my life! And especially here on a mission for my church. There are so many things that we are supposed to do and love! Being a missionary has really blessed me and my life so much. I have seen the Lord bless me so much and strengthen me in my many times of need. He really does know us all perfectly! I really have found that I am happiest when I am doing my best to not think about myself and to only think about others. I know that as we do that in life we really will find ourselves and our true character. I have noticed and see as we are up and about doing our best to serve those around us we find the answers that we have been looking for the whole time right in front of our very faces!!! :) I have realized that it isn't that we are ignorant in the first place, it is that we needed to go to a loving Heavenly Father and ask for help. And when we do this he seems to open our minds, hearts, and our eyes to see and feel the things that we need to help us! :) It really is so simple but so true.

He truly will guide us! All we have to do is entrust everything in Him and Him only. Because as we do this we are showing our faith that we know that what he has in mind for us will help us so much more than our own plans.This really is so true. Sometimes it is so hard for us to accept especially if we are struggling with our belief in God. But something that I have learned that is said by an apostle is to lead with your belief and not your unbelief! That is so important! Because when we lead with our belief we feel more confident in ourselves and in God! But it we lead with our unbelief it is "like trying to stuff a turkey through it's beak!" I love that analogy! It is so true though! When we may be struggling through anything we need to hold onto the faith that we already have and trust that God is in control at all times. He really is. All we have to do is trust him! And when we do he blesses us so much more than we can imagine. Yes sometimes it takes time, sometimes it takes a lot more time than we want for the help we need to come, but as we do our part we will always be blessed! :) When we recognize that God is in the details of our lives, when we try to develop a relationship with him, is when we will see that he has always been there and always will be, and that one reason why is because he loves us. He wants us to become like him! :) I know that as we try to serve others and help those around us we will find the answers to our prayers. Like Thomas S. Monson says..."There are lives to brighten, There are hearts to touch. There are souls to save." Let us be the ones to brighten others up touch their hearts and save their souls. We will be so blessed as we do this. It only begins with a simple sharing of what we believe! :)


I know that God is in the details of our lives. He loves us and he always will!!