Westchester #24

Hello my lovely loves

I do not have much time! I will start off by sharing some random events of the week:

1. I stepped on a bee last thursday and it stung me!! It hurt so bad! And now it is really itchy! I don't know how, but some creepy crawlies keep finding a way into our room. We also saw a huge centipede thing the other day. It was sooo fast! But my shoe was faster. ;) 

2. I got on a elevator today with a man who had a little dog. The dog had a leash that was dragging on the floor. So the dog walked into the elevator with the lease dragging behind him. Then the doors closed with the leash still outside of the elevator. We start going up, and I watch in horror as the the dog starts sliding towards the door closed doors!!! It was being tugged towards with doors because of it's leash!! Then the elevator stops and it is jammed! We thought we were going to be stuck in there! But luckily we got the elevator to go back down and the pulled the leash in! But we decided to get out and take the stairs instead!

3. At the grocery store a man looks at my tag and the looks at me with bulging eyes and asks me if I am Jesus Christ... haah I was like "no...I'm sister Lounsbury. I'm a member of the CHURCH of Jesus Christ of Latter-dday saints." it was pretty humorous. 

4. Highlight of this week was that a general authority Elder Bruce R Carlson came and visited our mission. it was AMAZING. And I forgot to tell you all but Sister Matthews and Elder Hurst were asked to perform a musical number. We decided to make our own arrangement of Let Zion in her Beauty rise and hark all ye nations. And I got to help make the arrangement. it was amazing to see it all come together and to hear the final performance. I don't exactly know why but it almost brought tears to my eyes. it was so amazing because I got to see how the Spirit really took over. Sister Matthews played beautifully and Elder Hurst sang better than he ever had... It was amazing. I love it. it was amazing to be taught and instructed by President Morgan and Elder Carlson. I came away feeling truly blessed. I wish I could share all the insights and truths I learned, But there is not enough time :/

 

I learned that becoming a consecrated missionary is a process and becoming a consecrated member and disciple of Christ is a goal I will have for the rest of my life. If we do not have a baptism this Saturday, we were told that is not what is important. What is important is that we changed, we improved and we are more consecrated. I can say that this goal has pushed me to a higher plane and I am a much better missionary because of it. I have learned so much about myself. I am learning more about how hope conquers discouragement and how we need grace each and everyday to empower us so that our capacities can be increased. I know that through the grace of God we can become more than what we naturally are on our own. It is through grace that we can overcome our daily weaknesses.  And I continue to be amazed as I can see that all that I go through is strengthening my faith and shaping me into the person I know my Heavenly Father wants me to become. 

We do not have a baptismal date for this saturday, but we have seen miracles. We have had  our numbers go from in the teens consistently to in the 20's consistently every week. The Lord is trusting us to teach more of his children. We have so many more people we are teaching. I am starting to recognize the hand of God more and more in our work. I talk to way more people on the streets then I have previously. And miracles have happened. There was one lady we stopped and talked to whos name is Memunatu. She is from Africa. We stopped her on the street, introduced ourselves and asked if she'd be interested in meeting. She said yes! We met with her this last Monday and we found out that her daughter in Africa was recently baptized. memunatu said that every time her daughter calls she tell her about the Church and tells her to be baptized! because of her daughter memunatu (who was muslim) decided to follow Jesus Christ! I just felt that it was a miracle that we stopped her and met her. I am sure that her daughter in Africa is praying that her mom can find the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Chirst, and here in new york Sister Matthews and I found her and started teaching her! She is going to pray about being baptized. 

Esther is another real miracle. I met Esther at the lemonade stand APF we had a few months back. She has been impossible to get in contact with. But we finally had a lesson and the spirit was so strong! We were able to clearly teach and she was able to understand the significance of baptism by someone holding the proper Priesthood Authority of God. She said she that she wanted to be baptized! She is not ready to get baptized this month, and we told her that was fine. She said that she would read from the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it truly in the word of God. We had the total of 6 new investigators just this week. Oh! And we had a new referral given to us. We stopped by her house last night and she said that she wants to start meeting with us! 

When God knows that we are really committed to give it our all to this work, then He can trust us. He will place the Elect and those who are prepared in our path. I have seen that. I know that I need to open my mouth to everyone and to share this gospel with all that I see! Fear holds me back sometimes and I pray for the courage. Rejection can be hard, but the joy of finding someone who is seeking for truth and watching them change their lives makes it all worth it. 

I am so thankful for all of you and for all of your prayers. The New York New York North mission has more than doubled the normal amount of baptisms they have every month! And this week there are 55 more scheduled baptisms! I know that the Lord has truly poured out blessing upon us. Thank you, thank you for your faithful prayers.  I love you so much! September is almost over, but we are going to push forward with just as much enthusiasm and faith. I know that as we as a mission continue to consecrate ourselves to this work, we will continue to see miracles happen. I hope all is well!

Love Sister Lounsbury

Westchester #23

Hello my most wonderful family!!

How is everyone?? Boys, thank you so much for the letters from each of you!! That just put a big smile on my face. I wrote you back right away so you should have a letter in the mail soon :) 

Well the weather here is cooling off as well. I suspect there will still be some random days/weeks where is gets hot again. The weather is so sporadic that you really don't know what to expect. But it has been cooler and the wind has picked up as well. Today for P-Day we went shopping because Sister M doesn't have a winter coat or jacket yet...You know how I feel about shopping...but I have to admit it was kinda a little fun. It was probably fun because we were in and out in an hour haha ;) We went to the Burlington Coat factory. I got a  20.00 jacket for fall (because all I had was that massive down feather coat) It was cheap and cute so I was happy with our trip. And Sister M treated me to lunch afterwards. So it was a good day :) 

Oh and we went to a super stop and shop to get groceries. It was HUGE! We tried some new fruits including a Japanese pear and a star fruit. And that was my P-Day :) 

Well, let me tell you about our adventure this week... haha oh man

Ok so on thursday we had an appointment with Albert Sr. It went really well. I forgot what I had told you about the Albert jr and Albert Sr but they are 18 year old twins from Ghana. They are 7th day Adventists and they are very very knowledgeable about the Bible. They've agreed to read the Book of Mormon but they really struggle to accept the idea of continuous revelation. Anyway, we had a lesson with Albert Sr and it went really well. We shared a scripture telling him how he can come to know if what we are teaching is true. (Moroni 7:5;10-19) and then we read scriptures about how the word is like a seed and he has to give place for the seed in his heart in order for it to grow (Alma 32:21;26) and then we bore our testimonies and recommitted him to read. He said he would which was awesome. 

So we left the library to go to our car (that was parked a good mile away) only to find out it was raining out as well as thundering and lightening. We speed walk/jog to our car and take cover under a parking garage for a bit. Albert dropped us off at our car and this is where our adventure really begins. We get in our car and it really starts coming down. We have to get on the freeway to drive all the way up to Sleepy Hollow at the very top of our area. The rain is POURING down. It was as if someone was dumping bucket after bucket on the windshield. We are driving 30 MPH just so we could see where we were going. Lightening is striking right above us. The clouds looked like there was a giant strobe light because the lightening was flashing every few seconds... I have never seen anything like it. It was really quite frightening and it made me realize just how small we are as humans. We truly are at the mercy of God and His power. The rain starts collecting so much that there is a solid inch of standing water on the road. We weren't going to make it on time so we called the lady and let her know due to the storm we would be 15 minutes late..... so we thought. Well, we are driving along and the rain was coming down so hard, and I was so pre-occupied with not dying that I drove right past the exit.... Which just so happened to be the last exit before the Hudson River!!! I'm pretty sure that Sister Awerkamp had done the same thing when she was serving with Sister Johnson. I remember her telling me it took a full hour detour... Sure enough, our GPS informed us that our arrival time would no longer be 8:00 but 9:00... and that was to get back to Sleepy Hollow! It would be an additional 30 mins back to Yonkers. Sister Matthews and I look at each other and I just start screaming as there is no way to turn around and nothing we can do hahah I was half kidding, but really I was rather nervous. First off, we were leaving our area and second off we were in a giant rain storm and I was a little nervous about flooding as well as getting home even latter then the GPS said we would due to road conditions. ON the bridge the lightening was literally directly above our heads. I've never seen lightening like that. After it would flash, you could see what appeared to be sparks or flame dripping off of where the lightening stuck. It was crazy. After we got off the bridge we got really lost. Really, really lost. It was so dark, and I was driving in an unfamiliar area and it was dumping rain. Oh man, Long story short, we ended up driving for a total of 2 and a half hours. It was later reported to me that we may have been out of our mission!!! I'm not really sure where we were...but we definitely missed our dinner appointment. I was so tense from driving that I had a bad head ache and my shoulders and hands felt like they were permanently clenched. haha but we made it home alright. And we got to see a spectacular show in the sky. It was an adventure. :) 

This week we were tracting at night and we heard something rummaging through the garbage can. I looked to see what it was and out pops out a skunk! One look, and we were out of there! Haha it was a close call. 

Also, this week in broad day light we were passing this man. His eyes were buldging out and he looked angry. I said hi to him and passed him by. Sister Matthews was a little behind me (the sidewalks are very narrow) and he grunted and then tried to punch her!! He kept walking, but it freaked us out. I think he was on some drugs or something... 

Well As far as a baptism this September, we were planning on having Chanel baptized, but some issues came up. We are still meeting with her but she is not planning on getting baptized as soon as we thought. It was really hard for me and Sister M, but we both know that this goal is possible! Earlier in District meeting, I had it confirmed to me in my heart that President Morgan does indeed hold the keys for our mission. And he receives revelation for our mission. It was confirmed into my heart that the goal he has presented to our mission to have a baptism this September, is inspired of God. I know it is possible as we put forth our best efforts. At this point, I am unsure of how we will achieve it, but we know it can be done. This week we met with a new investigator Landa and her daughter. We also met with a new investigator Taneasha.  And we finally got in contact with a lady Daisy that we've been trying to see for 2 months. And then there are the Alberts. So that is who we are working with right now. Keep us in your prayers. 

I love you all so much!! I hope all is well!

Love, Sister Lounsbury

Westchester #22

Hello family

Well this week was another good one :) We are working really hard as a companionship to become more consecrated and to put everything on the altar of sacrifice.. all our time, every ounce of energy, every thought--everything we do is focused on the work and helping to bring God's children back into His presence. Personally I have broken down Moroni 7:45 on charity and started picking on or two attribute to practice daily. Please keep our mission in your prayers. Keep Sister Matthews and I in your prayers. We are working so hard to be able to find someone who is prepared to hear the gospel and who will be baptized this September!!

We have continued to work with Sandra. I have worked with Sandra ever since I arrived in New York. She is quite the lady. My love for her has grown so strong over these months. It has been a long journey with her with lots of ups and downs. But this Sunday it finally happen. Sandra finally came to church and stayed for all three hours! This was the Sunday I have been waiting for my whole mission!! I was so happy to see her there :)) We have been working with her a lot more recently. We meet about two times a week. We discuss her reading for the week and if she has any questions. We have been reteaching her the lessons. We talked about the restoration and we are currently on the plan of salvation. She is soaking it up. She is learning so much! And she can see her progress. She recognizes how far away she had drifted and how she can feel more and more of God's presence now. She is has almost quit smoking entirely. She is down to 2 cigarettes a day. She felt amazing at church. She is recognizing more and more the lies and deception of the devil that has pulled her down in the past. It is amazing to be a part of it all. I feel the Spirit so strongly as we teach her. I know for sure that Sandra is a big reason I was sent to serve in this part of New York. I needed to meet her. I feel that it is a great honor to be able to help her come closer to Christ. And every lesson she ends up teaching me something new as well :) It's clicking and coming together. I know her journey and story is not over yet, but she is making amazing progress. She wants to go to the temple soooo badly. She recognizes that the closer and closer that she gets to reaching that goal, the harder and harder satan will work to stop her. She told us last time that she knows that we were sent to her to help her progress so that she can return home to God. She told us she wants us to go to the temple with her when the time comes. I prayed that I will still be in this area when that time comes. I love Sandra Hurley. 

Well this week we were walking down the sidewalk around 8:30 and we saw a group of people gathered outside a shop. There was a man they were holding down while waiting for the police to come. We walked right past them and then saw the cop pull up and hand cuff him. It was crazy. Then we get in the car and start driving and down the same road, in view of the police car there was a fight breaking out between 5-6 guys. We saw this all within 3 minutes...haha it can get a little crazy here sometimes. But the Lord always keeps us safe :) 

We met an older lady named Liz in the parking lot. She stopped us and recognized us a missionaries. She asked if we could donate some clothes for her. We agreed and ended up talking to her for an hour in the parking lot! She is fairly familiar with our faith and has seen a documentary of Joesph Smith on BYUtv channel. We had a lesson with her later at the church. Afterward she treated us to dinner and this yummy Irish shop. This this Sunday she came to church! She says that she isn't interested at all in converting, but she is still attending so we'll see what happens with her. She is very friendly and loves to talk to us. She's a very kind lady.

This week we did some service outside which was really fun but my legs got eaten alive. I have at least  20 bites on my legs alone. Last month, mosquito bites were an on going thing. We would get new bites weekly. We got better at applying bug spray, but if we forgot even once, we'd get bitten up. So that has been fun to deal with. 

Well that's about all for now! I didn't get an email from you this week family, so I expect extra letters and packages to make up for it ;) haha I hope all is well. I love you all and miss you a lot. 

Love Sister Lounsbury

Westchester #21

Hello family!!

Sorry but it's gonna be another short one!

So exciting news this week!! The New York New York Mission is going to be a full online proselyting mission by the end of this cycle! We will each be given a mission facebook account. We will be using blogs. We will be on LDS.org and chats. We will use skype and facetime for lessons! Isn't that awesome? And by the end of this cycle, every companionship will receive a ipad mini!! Ah man, I'm gonna have to get on board with this whole technology thing now I suppose. Haha I've put it off for a while now, but I think I really need to get up to date with all the new technology. 

Also, I wanted all of you to keep our mission in your prayers. As a mission we have set the goal that each companionship will have a baptism in the month of September. Everyone is striving to become more and more consecrated and focusing all of our energy and efforts to missionary work. We want everyone to know about our goal! And we want everyone to keep us in your prayers! We know that with the combine faith and efforts of all of the missionaries, ward leaders, families and friends, that we can all have a baptism for this September! So please, please keep us in our prayers. Pray that people will be prepared and that we will be able to find those people who are ready to receive the gospel in their lives! 

Currently Chanel is scheduled to be baptized on Sept 21! We are working really hard to help prepare her for her date. :) She has a cute 8 year old who we are hoping to baptize as well. :) 

Oh, Also this week at church there was a HUGE thunder and lightening storm! The rain was beating down and the thunder was roaring outside while we stayed safe and warm inside. It made me think about how coming all the way into the gospel--fully immersing yourself in the gospel-- will keep you protected from the coldness and storms that rage on around us in the world. The gospel will keep us safe from the craziness of the world. It was also really cool to partake of the sacrament with the storm raging. It also made me think of how after Christ was crucified how thunder and lightening filled the sky and the earth trembled in despair. It was a really cool church meeting. :) 

Also, on a funnier note I accidentally rolled Sister Matthews finger in the window the other day!! haha... we laugh about it now... but I was really horrified when it first happened. 

Also we are teaching identical twins Albert Sr and Albert Jr. They are both 18 and from Africa. So that has been fun trying to tell them apart! haha

Well I love you all so much!!

Love Sister Lounsbury