Happy November!!

November 5th ...

I loved your emails and LETTERS (yay) this week...I laughed and even cried. I'm all over the place.  haha  Sounds like you had a fun Halloween.  You didn't send any pictures...Shanny I think that's funny you carried around a stereo and had the theme music playing in the background all day.  You're too funny.

Ben told me you got a new cat....at least I'm not there. ;)

So!  We had a really good week.  We had a ward Halloween party which was really fun.  There were a lot of nonmembers there, so that was really good.  I had pictures, but I forgot my camera, so maybe next week...

We also found a few new investigators!  We found a YSA named Paige whilst street contacting.  She doesn't really have a belief in God, but she wants to know if something is there.  We taught her and her boyfriend a lesson.  I'll let you know how everything goes!

On our way to Paige's appointment we were street contacting and we stopped a young couple with a cute little baby.  We talked to them about families and the plan of salvation...they said we could go by later that day!  That night we stopped by and they let us in!  It's sad that that's such a surprise to me. ha.  Anyway, we had a brilliant restoration lesson.  Oh, their names are Kyle and Rebecca and (baby) Liam.  Kyle has always had a belief in God, but doesn't have a religion.  Rebecca doesn't really have a belief in anything.  It was amazing to see the change in Rebecca throughout the lesson.  She started off really quiet, looking at us like we were two weird mormon missionaries (haha), and with plenty of doubts.  But as we taught about Jesus Christ and the restoration we saw the spirit really touch her heart.  By the end she was asking questions and wanting to gain for herself.  Kyle said the closing prayer and it was so sweet.  We left just beaming.  And just loving being missioanaries.   Best thing ever.  Wanna know what's cool?  We found out that Kyle's grandma is a member in our ward!  woo!  Pray for them, please. :)

Our investigator Danni (the sisters had been teaching her) is doing okay.  She is changing in a million ways (for the better) and is gaining a testimony.  Her fiance is against it all though, and he just moved in with Danni and her mom.  So she isn't scheduled for baptism anymore, but we're still working with her.  We had a lesson with her this week at the park by her home (we aren't always allowed in...), and it started raining so we had a lesson sitting in the woodchips under the playground.  The things we do sometimes...   well, my mind has gone blank and I don't really have too much more to say!  I hope you have an excellent week....I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving!  I hope someone will take pity on my and my American ways and have a Thanksgiving dinner. ha. That's exciting that Jed is leaving the week after Thanksgiving!  Tell him hello and I'll pray for him. :)

I love y'all!

Sister Rindlisbacher

Snow at our flat in Montrose.....

Montrose beaches...

 



Happy Halloween

We had zone conference, which was AMAZING!  Remember President and Sister Walker from the MTC?  Well they came up to talk to us at our zone conference!  It was soooo wonderful to see them.  Oh man I love them.  We learned so so much.  We talked a lot about having a "white Christmas"...baptisms!  I studied hope this morning.  Hope is an assurance that something will happen.  It's believing and expecting that it will.  No more wishful thinking that we will find people to teach and baptize...we believe and expect it will happen. :)  And if not...we will just keep working. haha

Some of my other favorite moments from the week:

1. I was on exchanges with Sister Ryan, and we stopped a young woman (25?) on the street.  She said she normally would pass us by and not speak to us, but today she decided to stop.  We found a place to sit and just talked to her about Christ and His gospel.  She basically did our job for us, "Can I have this book?" "Can I come to your church?" "Do you do home visits?"  "Can you find a verse about such and such in the Book of Mormon?"  and so on.  It was brilliant.  She lost her baby daughter and was searching for 'something more' in her life!

 2. Yesterday we were taking a short cut through a park, and we saw a woman off to the side picking up leaves off of the ground (to make decorations or something...she was really worried we thought she looked crazy).  We went over to talk to her.  I think we scared her at first haha.  We got talking to her and it turns out she met with missionaries almost 30 years ago, and was very close to baptism!  Even better...she told us that a few days ago she was really struggling.  She was really nervous about something and was about to leave the house when one of our pass-along cards popped through the door.  :)  It says Faith brings hope or something like that.  Anyway, she said it really helped her at the perfect moment and it's hanging on her fridge.  And now we stop her in a park to talk to her??  Freaky. ;)  God is in the details.

3. We tried by a former investigator and she let us in!  I can count the number of times that has happened on my mission on one hand.  So we were excited!!  She is Polish.  We talked to her about the Book of Mormon and she even sang us a few Polish hymns! 

4.  I know this might sound dumb, but thank you for praying for me and my driving. :)  God cares about the big and small things (even driving), and he has answered our prayers!  haha  I've had to drive a lot this week and it's going well.  I haven't killed a soul!  I even had to drive to and through Aberdeen, one of the biggest cities in Scotland, and we made it out alive.  So thanks.

5. It SNOWED this week!  It snowed for you too..wahoo.  We were doing some gardening...in our skirts...in the snow.  Loved it.  I will be able to do anything in a skirt when I go home.  I think I was the only one in all of Scotland who was excited that it was snowing.  It was so pretty, totally a hallmark moment! 

Welp...I think that's all I've got time for!  Send me pictures of your halloween costumes.  I'm dressing up as a mormon missionary!  It's gonna be good.  Have a great week...I love you!!!!!!!!!!

cheerio,

Sister Rindlisbacher

Haggis.....

Hey everybody!

How's it going?  Sounds like things are good back home.  I guess it's been pretty rainy, welcome to my world. haha.  I hope everything is so great back in the promised land. :) We've had a good week here, we're a little less lost than we were last week.  But not much. :)  We're still trying to get around to meet all the members and see less-actives.  And we're really trying to find new investigators!  We know they're out there (Alma 26:22)...the trick is finding them.  We are working with a girl named Danni, the sisters before were working with her.  She came to church yesterday!  woo!

She really liked it.  She likes everything she's been taught, and wants to be baptized! yay! But there are a lot of things standing in the way.  The answer: pray!  (I just wanted to rhyme-I'm a nerd).

Soooo....my driving.  sigh.:)  It is STRESSING me out learning to drive manual in the UK, where they drive insanely (is that a word?), on streets that are half the size of one of our lanes in America, and on the wrong side of the road. haha  But I'm improving a little bit.

I know this might be a weird/unimportant request, but will you pray that I'll be able to learn how to drive? :)  I think I need it.

Thanks a million.

Oh I have exciting news!  I had haggis this week!  I tried like a bite in the MTC, but that didn't really count.  This week we had dinner at a member's home and we had haggis.  Sister Shead already loved it (her dad is scottish!), and I was dead scared to try it.  They were all trying to freak me out haha, but I actually REALLY loved it!  It was so good.  I don't know how to make it, but we're gonna eat it when I get home. :)

Also, everybody here tells me an Elder Rindlisbacher served here a few years ago (so they all have practice saying my name, it's great)...his name is Kurt Rindlisbacher...do I/should I know him? :)

 Yesterday Sister Shead and I both spoke in church.  We spoke about commitments and what they mean to us as a missionary.  I read part of Alma 7, verses 14-16.  They just really hit me.  We need to show Heavenly Father that we're willing to follow him.  We have to prove it to Him.  We need to be COMMITTED to Him.  Another member in the ward spoke with us, and his talk was brilliant.  He spoke alot about missionary work (full time missionaries and members included!)  He said something like, "Are we committed?  It's our duty.  DON'T LEAVE IT UP TO SOMEONE ELSE.  It's up to you.  It's up to me."  I want to be more committed to Heavenly Father.  More committed to the Savior.  And so much more committed to their work.  This is the GREATEST work EVER.

 And I don't know why I sometimes forget that.  Let's not forget. :)

Montrose!!

Where do I start?  I got my new companion...her name is Sister Shead.

She's from Chorley in England!  She lives right by the MTC. ha.

Another Brit!  She's already a really good missionary, so it'll be good.  So, we're settling into the new area.  It's soooo pretty.  It's a bunch of little towns spread apart from each other by country or beach.  Pretty great. The ward is really great, very missionary oriented.  I'm excited to get to know everybody, and find those souls who are searching. :) Our flat is super nice. Oh!  And we do have a car!  Don't worry I haven't killed anyone yet.  I actully haven't driven much yet.  Thank goodness the Lord sent me a companion from the UK who can drive manual. haha The other day I was trying to drive down this street and I stalled in front of a man's driveway as he was trying to back out, and I could not get going again.  I killed it at least 346 times. I'm praying I'll get better.  The Lord can do anything! :)  We're still a little lost and trying to figure everything out, but it's going well so far.

I picked Sister Shead up at the mission home on Wednesday.  I was the only sister training, so I knew who my companion was right off the bat, I didn't have to wait till later that night when they announced it.  phew.  We got to climb Pratt's hill.  Don't worry, it wasn't as horrible as last time.  :)  It was actually a beautiful day.  It was good to again go to Heavenly Father in prayer and makes some goals/promises on the top of such a pretty place.  I love Scotland.

I thought I'd give you a couple of updates from Greenock.  :)  Mark is doing good.  He needs time to figure things out, but maybe when they put missionaries back in Greenock he will be ready.  "I won't let you down, and  I won't let God down either...one day I'll become a saint."

-Mark :)

 

Brian the tattoo guy: the tattoo shop has been closed for a couple of weeks, so we haven't been able to talk to him about the Book of Mormon or anything, and we were sad cause we were leaving soon.  But on our last day we walked by and it was open again!  miracle!  He had been reading the Book of Mormon on his holiday and really likes it.  He said he was halfway to becoming a mormon. haha.  Again...when they put missionaries back in Greenock maybe he'll be ready.  He said he'd miss our happy smiles and cheery attitudes. haha.  I'm just glad to know we made a difference no matter how tiny.

TRANSFERS!

Okay..I'm just so excited and nervous and have so much to tell you I can't even really think.  This week...and the past few days have been really good, and have been really interesting!  I'll start out with transfers...we got moves call last night!  This is crazy...Sister Millward and I are BOTH leaving Greenock.  They're actually closing the area.  So our hearts hurt a little bit, because we love this place so much, but the assistants assured us that they'll take care of Matthew (who should be baptized hopefully this Sunday).  And I just pray that when missionaries come back that they will find Mark, and he will be prepared to take the next step.  ANYWAY!  I'll start with Sister Millward, cause I'm soooo excited for her.  She is going to Ireland!  And not just Ireland, but Limerick!!  My birthplace. :)  I'm secretly (well, pretty openly ha) jealous.  BUT!  I will be going to Montrose!  It's on the east coast (I think) of Scotland!  woo!  And what's even crazier is that I'll be white washing again (third area-third white wash.  Which is probably why I feel like I'm losing my hair ha), but just wait it gets better...I get to train again.  what?!  White wash training in Montrose.  Family.  Friends.  Anyone who reads this email...please pray for me.  haha Heaven knows I need it.  I'm actually pretty excited, but super nervous as well.  I guess it's  HUGE area, and they had a car until last week...one of the senior couples' cars was stolen, so they got the Montrose car.. I got so close to a car! haha So now we're just trying to deep clean/get everything out of the flat, pack, oh and do missionary work. :)  Ok.  Everybody take a couple of deep breaths, and we'll move on to the rest of the email. ;)

GENERAL CONFERENCE:  I loved it so so much.  We got to see all of the sessions except Sunday afternoon.  We just go to the stake center to watch it.  Wasn't it amazing? Everybody asked me what I thought about the mission ages changing for elders and sisters...um....I am still in shock!!!  I still don't really know what to think about it.  My mind is blown.  There are a bunch of 18 year old elders in our mission already (from Enlgand), so that part wasn't TOO shocking, the weird thing to me is that Ben is a lot closer to 18 then he is to 19.  crazy!  But exciting.  And sisters going at 19..that is what I can't wrap my head around.  After conference everybody asked us if we were mad we didn't get that chance....I don't think I am.  I'm really grateful that I am where I am at the right moment.  The only thing is we're gonna be the old lady missionaries.  sweet.  haha

I absolutely loved all of the talks.  I especially loved everything about missionaries.  It really made me realize how grateful I am to be one.  Even with the ups and downs and feeling like you can't always do it...I'm pretty sure this can never end.  (being a missionary) :)

Elder Holland's talk was amazing.  "Sister Rindlisbacher, do you love me more than all of this?  Then why are we back here?  Did I not touch your life more deeply than this?"  I think that's what he said. :)

October

So my week was pretty good...you know...just did a lot of missionary work.  Mark is okay.  He thinks he wants to be baptized sometime after Christmas.  We'll see him this week and talk to him about it.  Miracles happen.  :)

Have I ever told you about Mattew?  I don't think I have...so he is the son of a less active family in our area.  They live really far away though, so we stopped by their house a couple of times, but never got in.  Anyway, he has never been baptized, and he spent the summer with his uncle in Utah and had the missionary lessons (sisters!) and really wants to be baptized!  Isn't that soooo exciting?  We didn't teach him or anything, but we're just excited to see this miracle happen.  Should be in a couple of weeks.  :) 

Also, there is another less active family here and their cute little girl, Bethany, just turned 8, so we're teaching her and she is planning on being baptized in November! :) Miracle.  She is such a little sweetheart.  At first none of the kids really liked us/ they were scared of us. ha But yesterday at church wee Bethany ran up to give us each a hug.  Another miracle. ha.

This whole week I've been studying all about the heart.  Weird, I know.  It's because lately as I've been reading the scriptures I've noticed how often they mention the heart.  And as I've studied it, it really blows my mind.  The heart is where it's at.  It's not just what we do, but why we do it.  We can change our behavior, but what really matters is that we change in our heart as well.  The scriptures are full of phrases like: they softened their hearts, they hardened their hearts, they did not apply their hearts, they did understand with their hearts, serve with all your heart, he changed their hearts, and so on.  This is something I really need to work on.  Giving my heart.  Here are a couple of my new favorite scriptures: Psalms 27:14, Alma 45:7, and Mormon 9:27

The Book of Mormon

Since this week has been kind of hard, and I had a couple of homesick moments (am I allowed to say that? haha) (and don't worry I'm fine!!)...I was feeling kinda "bleh".  But I had an experience that just made me so thankful for what I have, and just feel so dang lucky.  We were on our way to an appointment and we stopped a woman who was walking her dog.  After a couple of seconds we could see she was really drunk.  We talked to her about God's plan for us.  She just burst into tears.  Man.  I hate it when we make people cry. haha.  People look at us like, "what did you do to her??" :) Anyway, she told us that her son had died five years ago.  We just testified to her that she could see her son again.  She just said, "really?"  with so much hope.  We read a scripture and said a prayer with her.  She just kept hugging us and kissing us on the cheek.  It was just so sad.  She was so low and had nothing and didn't even think she could ever see her son again.  That experience just hit me.  Even though things can be hard, I have so much.  We know so much!  And I'm just grateful.

 Also, I finished the Book of Mormon again this week!  I love that book!  Are you still reading it as a family and trying to finish it?  Remember to pray about it....I ask God if it's true all the time.  It's not just a one time answer that we get.  We need to continue to read and pray about the Book of Mormon to gain and strengthen our testimony of it. 

Hmmm.....oh!  Something I thought you'd be interested to know....we talked to this guy on the street last night.  Normally, people ask us where in America we're both from, but this time he only thought Sister Millward was American.  I was so excited! (not that I don't love being an American, I do...and it's totally the promised land ha) but that means my accent is getting somewhere! wahoo! 

well, I gotta go!  I love you all!  Have a good week!