Sister Efnor is loving her Mission!

Greetings fellow earthlings...

Soooo..Tuesday..

Remember when we found the dudes wallet last week?  We had a lesson with them on Tuesday.  Our WML and his wife came with us since they lived on the same street as them..

It proved to be another "interesting" lesson haha

 

So we are talking to the one from Boston, who has a girlfriend. We walk in and are informed (that what felt like 20 minutes ago because of the obvious tension in the air) they had just broken up..awka-akward.  So me, Nelson, and the WML and his wife are all LITERALLY in between them sitting on the couch.  The lesson got off topic and they started arguing about why they broke up (emphasis on the AWKA-AWKWARD).  The guy from Boston then says "I told her that she needs to take care of some things in Maine and Pennsylvanian"- His girlfriend then replies.."Im not going to turn myself in!"...uhhhhh..excuse me? What was that?

Our WML look over at Nelson and mouth the words " L E T S G O" hahaha

So thats what happened there.  We decided to not go back unless we have someone with us, better safe than sorry haha

 Sunset at the Draper temple!

F R I D A Y  F R I D A Y  F R I D A Y

We had ZONE CONFERENCE!  It was the best.  Sister Eberhardt (the mission presidents wife) is very....blunt.  She taught during part of the conference and I found it to be the most enlightening.  No beating around the bush, no vague advice.  ( I think im starting to like getting chastised lol)  She related us to fishes in a fish bowl, and how fish hide.  Why do fish hide?  They hide when they are scared.  She talked about how if we are in a sense "hiding" its because we aren't being obedient.  Her version sounded a lot better than what I just wrote out though.  Then the APs got up and spoke about "Spiritual Crocodiles", they basically listed all the things in our mission that they see we need to work on and where we are lacking.

After conference our zone hopped in the mission van and headed down to the Draper temple!

It was G O R G E O U S, and made me yearn for the day when I can visit the temple weekly.  Its interesting to me..how as a missionary (at least for me) you get this picture of who you think everyone is.  Then when you go into the temple with them, you see them in a different light.  It was a very special moment for me.  I literally cannot wait for when I can take advantage of how close the Gilbert and Mesa temple are to my at home.

 

Sunday, another MAAVELOUS day of rest.

During the relief society lesson, the lady teaching told a story about our recent convert Davida.  They had bumped into each other at the grocery store and started talking.  Davida made a comment about how her grandsons need to be more obedient during sacrament.  This lady then made the comment that she had seen her boys in sacrament and thought they they were such well behaved young men. Then Davida said "If they are going to serve missions they need to be VERY obedient." Davida has only been a member of the church for about a month.  Drake is 5, Ronnie is 9, and she already knows that she wants them to serve missions, BOOM!  Made my day!

 

One of our investigators in a matter of 2 weeks has prayed, read form the scriptures on his own, and has gone to church, all of which he hasn't done in 10 years.  More miracles are happening everyday and I am loving it.

 

Opening up my emails this week to nothing but good news was the cherry on top of this amazing week sundae.  My cousins going to Korea, and I have a friend going to Columbia, WHAAAT WHAAATT?! Church is so true and missionary work is the BEEZNEEZ!  I'm so excited for these two amazing future missionaries!  DO WORK!

Love 

Sister Efnor

June 9th- Ok... maybe all her letters are my favorite!

I know I'll probably say this 365 more times but, this week was the SICKEST week I have had since being out on my mission!

 (Mom Insert... Steph is in Heaven with these dog's... Her favorite!)

 Park City is so beautiful!

 

Monday we had a lesson with our recent convert Ellie and her family, just a little fun FHE activity for the kids. We talked about all the things that we could do to bring us closer to Christ, along with all the things that can draw us farther from him. The little kids were giving great answers, after the lesson the family wanted to know a little bit more about how FHE's are run. They wanted to know what other families did and why we do it, we talked about how families are essential to Gods plan. That through family togetherness we can feel the spirit stronger in our homes. Sister Nelson and I could already see a change in their family after experiencing Ellie get baptized, I am so excited to see their family grow together in the Gospel.

 

Wednesday the Relief Society through a baby shower for a lady in the ward who just had twins! We were invited to stop by and say hi, the husband isn't a member and I hadn't had a chance before to meet their beautiful family. While we were walking to the door Sister Nelson goes "What do we do at baby shower?!" (since missionaries cant hold babies) I said "Hold all the babies of course!" hahaha We didn't hold them :( but we were so grateful to be able to get and talk with her and with the other women in the ward.

 

This is what happens when you don't keep our appointment.... WE WAIT! 

 

Joe..not my Joe,  a different one.

Friday I got to meet Joe.  While on exchanges with another Sister, Nelson was able to find a NEW investigator! When we finally met up with each other she starts the conversation by saying "WE HAVE NEW INVESTIGATORS!"  Of course I am so pumped to hear all about them!  She begins "well, when we met the first one..he was higher than a kite, but he said we could come back!" I looked at sister Nelson -___- "wow, we are off to a great start" hahah Boy was I wrong for assuming!  Friday we met with Joe again.  Since we had last seen him he had shaved, and apologized for not being "all there" when the sisters first met him.  We had a great conversation with him out on a  field by his apartment (he's allllll about nature) (don't worry mom im not going out into abandoned fields with boys, it was a soccer field with a bunch of people around).   He is so opened minded and a really positive person, he said he doesn't want to "dive in head first" but that he wants to learn.  We are actually meeting with him today!

 

THEN YESTERDAY HAPPENED!

We were driving out in one of the neighborhoods that we cover when all of a sudden Nelson yells "A WALLET! GO GET IT!" I jump out of the car, (after the car had stopped of course) grabbed it and jumped back in. While looking for a name or number we turned the corner and saw to dudes, one riding a long board and the other on a bike. We drove up to them and asked the one on the long board if he knew the person whos wallet we had found. Turned out it was his buddy on the bicycle! So we handed him the wallet and drove off....Immediately we both thought "IDIOTS! WHY DIDN'T WE GET OUT OF THE CAR!?" So we went down the street and pulled over and waited for them to come down the street, missionary stalker status i know. Sometimes its necessary haha

So they come down the street, we get out of our car all nonchalant like. Then Sister Nelson says something to the effect of "Because I found your wallet you are basically obligated to listen to what I have to say" hahahaha So they came over willingly, we had an interesting conversation (there never seems to be a shortage of those on missions) and we talked a little about them and where they are from. One had never even heard of the church and the other only had a roommate who was LDS but didn't know a whole lot either.  We got their names and numbers and set up an appointment for tomorrow!

We had more lessons this week then we ever have before, the Lord heard our prayers. We were struggling, so we stepped up our game.  We were more obedient and diligent than I think we ever have been and we were able to see a direct correlation to the blessings and miracles we were able to witness this week.  I am so grateful to be a missionary, this growing/learning experience will be irreplaceable.  I love the Lord, my family, my companion, and PARK CITY!  I hope everyone has a great week, I love you all!

 

Keep it Real.  Keep it Righteous, and...Be a good citizen and return peoples wallets.

Love

Sister Efnor

 

June 2nd- Better Late than never!!

Hola!

So I really cant get over how beautiful Park City is, so much green, so much sunshine! I'm in heaven!

With all this warm weather, it given me and Sister Nelson a couple opportunities to just park our car and walk around certain neighborhoods instead of constantly getting in and out of the car every five minutes. Plus...we need the exercise hahaha

Highlight of this week...

On Tuesday we drove down with Davida who was baptized March 3rd, and her friend Deseret to the temple. We met up  with some sisters that we previously had met at the MTC, we talked a little about the points that we would really like to see on temple square and then we were off!  It was Deseret's first time going to temple square and she was in absolute awe of everything.  With the miniature replica of the temple that they have in the visitors center we were able to better explain about baptisms for the dead, this really interested both of them especially since Davida is the first (certainly not the last) to be baptized in her family so she has a lot work she can do!

Out of the whole tour however, the moment that has stuck with me is when we entered into the room where the Christos was.  Previously when going to see the Christos me and my family would walk up the ramp. To me, this gives a gradual build leading up to the Christos, but when we went to go see it this time we came in right through a door that lead to the room where the Christos was.  Sister Nelson and I both looked at each other upon entering the room because as soon as we walked in it was like BABAAAM! SPIRIT IN YOUR FACE! No joke, Sister Nelson and I were talking about it later and realized that we didn't walk up the ramp, there was no gradual build.  It was one of the most inspiring feelings that I have experienced since being on my mission. 

Getting to sit there and watch as the narration play, and seeing Davida and her friend feel the spirit strengthened my own testimony.  After leaving the both could not stop going on and on about how that was such an amazing experience.  Deseret hasn't picked up a cigarette in about a week and is committed to coming to church every Sunday with Davida and her family.  They both have a strong desire to learn more about the gospel, each Sunday they leave gospel essentials amazed, it is a blessing to be apart of their journey.

On Wednesday I believe it was, Sister Nelson and I were out walking around some apartments contacting people.  As I'm walking I remember clearly thinking to myself "Okay, you can literally put anyone in front of me at this point..ANYONE and I will talk to them, just give me someone to talk to you!"..No Joke, two seconds later this guy come walking up around the corner. He has no shirt on, sagged pants, tattoos all over the place, a beard, and a couple piercings..oh gosh hahaha

My next thought was "uhhh, foreal?"  I did talk to the guy, but he wasn't interested in stopping to talk to us. 

So I didn't get a baptism out of it, but I still count it as a success. Ive been reading The Power of Everyday Missionaries in my personal studies, something that really resonated with me was that success is not measured upon if they accept (because if it was id be in deep doo doo) but rather if we invite.  When you ask for opportunities, and are righteous in your desires, the Lord will bless you.

The ward where we are serving just started a 40 day fast towards Hastening the Work. 

 

So I don't ever remember participating in a 40 day fast, so when I heard this my first thought was "uhh, i know we are all trying to be more Christlike but if i fast for 40 days imma die" haha Then my companion explained to me that each day a family of the ward will be fasting, which is a great opportunity to go visited different families on whatever day they signed up to fast. The schedule got a little mixed up the first couple of days so me and my companion said that we would fast on Saturday. Even though we were out and about all day, walking and knocking on doors, the fact that I hadn't eaten all day didn't cross my mind.  I don't say this to be prideful, believe me, fast Sundays haven't always been so peachy keen for me.  Focusing on certain names of people in the ward, and people that we want to teach helped subside my desire to eat because my desire to find new investigators was greater.  This gave me an understanding of how my desire to "find" should be 24/7.  It just gave me an opportunity to realize what I need to work on.

 

Early this week we all got copies of this months Ensign, while I was flipping through I started to notice that there were quite a few sections on family history. When I first got to the Family Tree center I tried to look up my own family to see if I could find anything. Not a whole lot came up, very disappointing since I'm here at the center 25 hours a week! Then after my mom challenged me to find out stuff about certain areas in our line i decided to give it one more go.  After searching and connecting the dots I was able to fill out more of my family tree and find out names of people that my mom had given me. When I had finally found them i yelled out "HECK YES!" and threw my fists in the air hahaha Its was such a fulfilling moment for me, and it gets to be even more so when I have the opportunity to help others find their family members so they can take their names to the temple. There is so much work to be done and millions who never had the chance to be baptized that are waiting on us to get with it!  Once you get into it, there's no stoppin! There is such a great spirit when you have a hand in the Lords work.  

 

Its been another great week here in Park City, its hard, but more than worth it. Im honored to be serving my Heavenly Father, and im so grateful for the opportunities to grow and learn.  I hope you all have a maaavelous week! 

Thank you for all the love, ofa atu!

Sister Efnor

So my Mom emailed me and said... 13 months and 12 days to go! I can't believe I've been out almost 5 months!

HELLERR!

Okaay...so we still don't have any new investigators..or old ones for that matter...

BUT, this week we made it a priority to visit tons of active members so we could try and get more referrals. From just one visit we received 3 promising referrals, not only that but after visiting with a single sister in the ward who nannies, she said that she could possibly have a family for us to visit. THEN, the elders told us that they may have a referral for a family in our area that we could teach! 

Miracles?  I THINK YES! 

Lately when we have been going to members homes I'll share the scripture in 1 Nephi 17 where he is talking to his brothers. Nephi is having to build a ship, something that hes never done before and his brother are crackin down on him, calling him a fool. In verses 50-51 he delivers what i thought to be quite the comeback. Because of his faith in God AND the faith he had in himself he knew for a FACT that he could build the ship.  The same can be applied to each of us when trying something new, we need faith in ourselves and faith in our Heavenly Father because through him weak things are made strong.  I would then relate it to doing missionary work among their friends and co-workers, that through faith they can DO IT! 

When i shared this message with a sister in the ward she told us how she had been less active for years, and how you really never know.  It turned into a great discussion of how you can never predict the future, when someone is going to accept the gospel, or come back to church. It was just a good reminder to me that everyone deserves an opportunity to learn about the church.

Saturday we met with Davida, our recent convert. Every time Sister Nelson and I go there, there is a noticeable difference of the spirit in their home.  Her roommate who moved in recently has quit smoking!  Everyone is happy and getting along.  People who see Davida on the street come and tell us how there is a noticeable glow about her. Tomorrow we are going down to temple square with Davida and her roommate, they are both so excited to go with "their missionaries" haha I already know we are going to see miracles happen tomorrow.  We even get to have the tour done by a sister that i was in the MTC with so that will be even more special.

Sunday was one of the busiest days at the trees since Ive been here! People constantly in an out, member and non members. It was the best day at the tree since I've been here hands down...AND sister bates (one of the senior couples) made enough food for  me and sister nelson to eat with them on our lunch break. Roast, cheese potatoes, rolls, and cheese cake! yummy!

After our shift at the tree we went out to our area, upon getting into our car we realized we had about enough gas for a ride back to our apartment..so we parked the car and used the bus system all day yesterday! what a life saver! and its FREEEEE!  We were talking to the bus driver and told him how we were running on fumes so we had to park our car, after just two minutes of knowing us and that we were missionaries he offered us gas money!  We explained to him that we cant get gas on Sunday's, but that we were so grateful for his offer.  I was blown away, dude didn't even know us for more that a couple minutes, just knew we were missionaries, and was going to give us money. There are amazing people in this world.

We took a picture of ourselves on the way to get the bus-

Today is going to be another really busy day because its memorial weekend and the weather is perfect right now so i better go.  I love you all and thank you for all your support. 

Keep it real.  Keep it righteous.

Sister Efnor

p.s. if anyone has any pointers on finding new investigators I'm all ears hahahaha

p.s.s I also want to thank everyone for the wonderful packages.  I really feel the love from home.  I know I am lucky to have so many who support me while out on my mission!  

A May Day box from Mom and my Sisters... 

 Thanks so much Mills Family-  Love you guy's!

 Family is everything...

Thanks Brooks Family!  Perfect Lunch!

 And of course some Nauvoo family... It was so fun to see you at the Tree! 

BUENO!

(as my  "Padre Inteligente" (pA-dray in-tele-hent-A) would say)

Well my friends...its still the business to be a sister missionary.

On Sunday me and my companion had a girl come up to us and ask us what we thought about our missions so far. The first thing that seems to escape my mouth whenever someone asks me that question is " ITS THE BEST THING EVERRRRRR!"  Because that's the truth.

We have zero investigators as of now..zip...zilch..nada. 

BUT, its because we baptized them all. 

NOW the challenge is finding those that are out there, that are being prepared by the Lord. Lemme tell ya, when you have no investigators, your faith is really tried.  And when you are fasting and you have no investigators, and no one will answer their dang door..THAT is when you are REALLY being tested lol

This last week we moved out of the Tree and to our new apartment... I loved living at the Tree, but our new apartments is really nice too... Now that we have hot water that is! Taking a cold shower in Utah is a lot different than in AZ!

Thursday we knocked on about 30 doors.  A couple answered, some just shut the door right after opening it... We had a companion study with our district leader, and our zone leaders. We just roll played door approaches, and how we can be bolder when someone does open their door.  It was a big help... When we went out that day after our study i felt like Sister Nelson and I did a lot better at our door approaches.  I struggled my first month with door approaches..a lot.  Mainly because i was scared of embarrassing myself, so basically i was holding myself back. 

Then i realized after practicing those door approaches with the elders, that the worst they can do is say no.  It might be in a more colorful way than that, but its either going to be yes or no. 

After i realized that, and how bad i want us to have a new investigator, getting embarrassed or making a fool of myself seemed like such a minor worry.  Ive learned to embrace the awkward/embarrassing moments hahaha.

Thursday night i actually had a special delivery! 

 

My uncle Ron who lives in Provo walked into the family history center with 2 bags of burgers!  MY HERO!  It was awesome being able to see him and hear how the fam in Provo is doing!

I also received an awesome box from one of my favorite families!  THANK YOU!

Friday we had dinner at a members house..wait...actually this was last week..anyways, last week we had dinner at a members house. You know your in Utah when the members make you chicken cordon blue in a casserole dish hahaha  The only thing missing was some green jello and funeral potatoes lol

Saturday our whole zone was challenged to go on splits the whole day and whenever someone had a miracle they would text it to the zone leaders and then the zone leaders would forward it to the whole zone.  Our phone was constantly going off, as Holland once said "we believe in angels we trust in miracles".  

 

We also had a baptism, she was 9yrs old. 

 

There a lot of members from the ward that came and supported her which was great to see since the parents aren't both members. The girl who got baptized has a friend in the ward who is also 9, and her dad isn't a member and they are divorced. Seeing her friend get baptized made her want to be baptized even more, but her dad wont allow it. Without permission from both the parents they cant be baptized, we have a few more families in the ward who are undergoing that same situation. 

Sunday was mmaaaaavelous! We went to sacrament, lost our area book for 30 min.(me and sister Nelson both died a little inside during those 30 min). Went and visited some families and then we were on shift at the tree from 5 to 9. 

Ending the night with a ride on a moose, id say it was a pretty good week! 

 

I hope you all have a MAAVELOUS week! 

Keep it real. Keep it righteous.

Sister Efnor

18 months to serve, eternity to reflect... Better make it good!

It amazes me how every P-day I write down a list of things I need from Walmart and when I make it back to the apartment I have nothing that I need. I buy food that doesn't go together causing me to eat PB&J and noodles haha, and so it goes, the life of Sister Efnor..

While kneeling down to pray with Sister Nelson before we went to bed I lifted up my head and said "I love being a missionary, and most of the time I cant believe I have been out 4 months. But sometimes...", then sister Nelson interrupted me and said "and sometimes it feels like 12 years?!" ahhaha we both died laughing. 

We both love it up here in Park City I promise haha

Sister Nelson and I celebrating Cinco De Mayo

We didn't get 20 lessons in this week but we had lots of opportunities to give service. Getting to serve less active members or even active member, shoot even non members haha is the best! You get an opportunity to get to know the family and being able to help someone in need is the best feeling. 

Missionary work in the ward is definitely growing. The more we get to visit with members and teach them the lessons we would teach investigators the easier it is becoming for them to talk to their neighbors and friends. They see its not something to be fearful of, but that testifying of simple truths can open the door to possibilities. 

(We came a knockin but nobody answered... Nice fish greeting!)

With getting a new bishop and the fact that there are 600 people in the boundaries of the ward and we only know about 200 of them has become a priority. When we don't have an appointment we are knocking on addresses in our ward list to see if the person is even living there still. There have been some..interesting experiences but i love it!

We knocked on a door and the lady opened the door so i could only see her lips and one eye. We said hello and asked her how she was doing, she gave us short and direct replies. We could tell she wasn't going to let us in so i asked if the family name we had was the right one for this address. She said yes and then quickly asked "How did you know we lived here!?" What i wanted to do was clasp my hands together like an evil villan and say "The church knows EVERYTHING! (insert evil laugh)" But i didn't hahaha i just said that she was on the ward list and that we wanted to know if we can serve her in anyway. She told us that no one in the house was Mormon (which is a fib our they wouldn't be on the list haha) but we just said that we would love for her to come to church and that was that.

Sunday sister nelson and i had to speak in church. What kind of a sick joke is that?! Having missionaries talk about their mamas on mothers day?! 

But it was nice since we hadn't had a chance before to introduce ourselves in front of the ward. I talked about how it was through the love of my mom that i came to know of a greater love. The love heavenly father and Christ have for me and each one of us, then i tied it into how when we feel of that love we will have a desire to share that love with others. BABAMMM! THEN WE ARE DOING MISSIONARY WORK! 

Then after church we went to a members home and i got to Skype my family!

At first the video wasn't working but i could hear them, instantly i started balling! haha When we realized the video wasn't working I could hear my mom yell "THIS BETTER NOT BE GOING AGAINST MY MINUTES!" hahaha It was hard having to press the end button, but i felt even more pumped to DO WORK after getting to talk with them!

Oh and Sister Nelson and I are getting to stay together for another transfer! WOOHOOOO!

Everyday i thank the Lord that i have the opportunity to be a missionary, these 18 months are going to prepare me in so many ways for the rest of my life. 18 months to serve, eternity to reflect..Better make it good! haha I love you all! thank you for the emails, they uplift me every week :)

Keep it real. Keep it righteous.

Love Sister Efnor

Mom insert-  My Mothers Day call was simply the best!  I got 2 hours of love!  Steph had choreographed a number that she taught a YW group.  It was to a hymn.  Debbie asked if she would dance it for us-  She explained that it wasn't going to happen because she didn't have the music.  Anyway considering this was Debbie she was talking to she should have known what was about to happen- YES!  Debbie, Denice, and Ronnie all sang the hymn and Steph got up and did the dance for us.  IT WAS HEAVEN... 

HAPPY MONDAY ONE AND ALL!

So I actually started sweating a little yesterday, which is new. But I'm not going to get to over zealous, for fear that the snow monster will come and destroy my little ray of sunshine. 

 

ON TO A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF A SISTA!

Tuesday-

We had dinner at our ward missionaries home, the Trowbridges.  I don't think that I have ever laughed so hard at dinner. They are a pretty young couple and tons of fun.  In short, the evening ended with brother Trowbridge doing the worm and pulling his hamstring. 

Friday-

We set up a baptismal interview for a little boy Ronnie who is 9 years old. We met with him earlier that day and talked about baptism and he showed us where he is reading in those easy read Book of Mormon stories.  He opened up to Abinadi, he thought that it was so cool that even though he was being threatened with death he still wouldn't deny the things that he had said because he knew they were true. Before we left he said that he wanted to be a "baptizer" too! Me and Sister Nelson told him at what age he could eventually start baptizing people if he was obedient and always did what the Lord asked of him. To sweet.

Saturday-

Davida and her grandson were baptized. It was a beautiful baptism, we were able to get a young man from the ward who is leaving on his mission soon to baptize Ronnie and our ward mission leader baptized Davida. 

 

When people rise above the water there is a certain glow, and light in their eyes. 

I knew that as a missionary I would be involved in peoples lives, but i never had an idea of how i would truly love the people i taught and came into contact with. 

Ive never been so happy to wake up at 6:30 in the morning and read my scriptures. To find something new, to feel spiritually edified. 

I love when teenagers come into the family history center and they are deciding with they should serve a mission or they are going and they want advice. Because its then that i get a chance to tell them that being a missionary is THE B O M B!  I always think that if i can help encourage just one of them to make the choice to go that would make my 18 months!

Sunday-

Davida and Ronnie were confirmed in sacrament meeting and were welcomed into the ward. That fast Sunday most of the testimonies had to do with missionary work or how Davida and Ronnie have been an inspiration to the members of the ward. 

Oh and we are speaking next Sunday on mothers..so basically im gonna ball the whole time.

Me and sister Nelson are striving to be kinder not just in action but in thought. Being a sister missionary i find myself..lets say.."clashing" with others personalities. So me and my companion have decided that instead of saying something maybe not so nice..we say "I bet she bakes a real nice cake." hahaha Lets just say..there are a whole lotta sisters up in here that are bakin cakes! hahaha 

Im loving it up here in Park City, I cant believe this transfer is almost over. 6 weeks goes by to fast. Getting the opportunity to work at the Family tree and proselyte has helped me grow not only as a missionary but as a person. During our baptism this Saturday sister Nelson got up to bear her testimony. She put it perfectly when she expressed that we leave our families for 18 months, but days like that day make it all worth it. 

I feel so humbled to have the opportunity to serve the Lord, and to help others come unto Christ. I find myself coming closer with each day that passes.

I love you all, praying for you always.

Love 

Sister Efnor