Picture's from BBQ

I had a member from the branch send this to me- its from our bbq.

My comp is in the collared shirt and Sister Mcgrath is a spn sister

We love those kids to death! 

Monday, July 15, 2013

HEY!

Thanks for the update!  I love hearing about it!  When you get a moment I would love this letter when you can send it.   I only really got to skim it but I’m glad you are safe!

:) So much to tell!  This week was my first interview with president!  It went great!  He was gracious and thanked me for my hard work and I'll I’m doing.  I haven't gotten a pat on the back in a while; like I’m normally used to at home, so I was thankful to know my efforts are good even if they don't feel rewarding all of the time. Haha  I am realizing more and more that I am here to help other missionaries just as much as I am to help New Yorkers.  I am thankful for my spiritual gifts that I have been blessed with.  I think that it is safe to say you don't really get anywhere without them!

This week we also weeded an entire yard for this family in the branch :)  They are the greatest.  Her husband has dementia and they need to move.  Her basement needed a lot of cleaning from Sandy and so we had the opportunity to help do her yard and basement to have someone come and look at the house tomorrow.  This woman is a great example of being of good cheer; even when you are pelted from every angle with hardship.  She is amazing!

Our district is amazing!  I love them all.  Sister Lee and I are getting closer than ever to the sisters we serve with. There is always so much to learn from other people’s strengths!

The Elders in our district got the cops called on them just one street over from our pad.... all they were doing was knocking. I felt bad!   The complaint was "They are two people 'claiming' to be missionaries" I got a good laugh!  haha

 

Linda is still going strong and keeping commitments!  I love her to death!  The Spanish Hermanas had a baptism yesterday at 4:00!   We invited Linda to come and she loved it!   They showed the Restoration video while Flor was changing and she felt the spirit so strong.  As she explained her feelings we helped her understand that that is the spirit testifying of truth.  She is the funniest lady!  We’ll have a lesson today with her and she is making us dinner :)

I have had so many experiences where the Lord puts you where he wants you - and I know this is where I’m supposed to be.

The beach was fun last week!  We had a great time!  Today we are going to Flushing (little Asia) and Jamaica to get Korean ingredients for Sister Lee to make a member a meal she requested and to get some I love NY tee-shirts.  I’m excited to go to the city and walk around.  I’ve never done that really except my first day in New York.  haha

I hope everyone is doing well.  I need to be better about writing in my journal so that when I sit down at the computer I have good things to say.  I guess it is nice to be able to focus more on the work and less on home- that was such a struggle.

Love you all! :) Letters are always nice.  I appreciate them!  Thanks for the prayers and support.

Sister Freeze

Monday, July 8, 2013

Well fan club—here’s the latest!!

Time has been FLYING- I received an email from a friend reminding me of how long I’ve been out! Nuts!

Well- The weather has changed drastically! it is super hot- it was a solid 95* and when you add humidity it feels like 100--110! :) haha.   We went to visit a less active and when I got in her house I was so dehydrated that I almost passed out. The woman we were visiting was in the back room so Sister Lee said a prayer, and I was able to make it for the next hour while we were there.  It was quite the experience :) She is in a new religion now and prayed in what she believes was tongues.  It was good for me to experience, to further understand what other religions believe and do haha. I drank plenty of water after that!

I got all the packages! Thankkkkkkks! They made me cry :) Amber- Sister Lee was in the shower when I opened your letter in the box and the first sentence was "go get sister Lee" haha so I put it back in the box and waited for Sister Lee to be done so I could figure out what was in the box. haha! We looooove them! :) We also love the iPod.  I think my favorite part is the Alvin and the chipmunks Christmas album.... haha there will be some music that I’ll have to delete ;) thanks for putting it together dad and Amber.  We were desperate! Haha.   Also, thanks for the treats Dad- that package made my week!

Linda is our latest investigator and she is keeping commitments!  She is so great! She was a HQ referral and she came to church 2 weeks ago and then we met with her, taught the restoration and committed her to baptism, she agreed to be baptized after she comes to know its true :) She is the one I think I told you about that made all the life changes.   She is quite the woman!  She even agreed to cut our hair or do our nails for free on p-day :) apparently.  She is super good!  So that is exciting. She heard in Sunday School about the Word of Wisdom and is starting on her own without any prompting from us to stop drinking coffee! COOOL,  RIGHT?!  She came to church again yesterday and LOVED testimony meeting and nudged me and told me to go up too.  So that was neat :) She even asked us why everyone doesn’t know about the gospel! "Why aren’t there people holding signs for this on the news!" toooo funny.... she’s great.

I have tried to apply mosquito repellant better- but you get out of the car for like 3 minutes and get "swarmed" not really, but it feels like it.  I currently have a solid 25 bites.  19 of them are on one leg haha.  I guess one of my legs has better blood in it or something ;) speaking of bugs- the fireflies are SO awesome! I’ve never seen them until I got here!

We also go to businesses every day now and offer service to them. The family owned businesses appreciate the offer :)

Elder Pulla, our DL, had a great idea to sing at a laundry mat, so we went yesterday and sang then talked to the people there.  I met a man that said he was Christian, and I said very excitedly, "We are too!" haha.  He then told us how he was looking for a good Christian church- and I just expressed how this one would change him and his family’s life.  We exchanged numbers and we will see where it goes from there :) the Lord is putting people in our path :)

Today we are going to have our zone activity- we are going to the beach it should be fun.  As long as we don’t get in the water it isn’t against mission rules.  Last p-day we had our branch missionary who is a GREAT bargain shopper help us buy enough groceries for our pantry for only $100 between the two of us- so we split it:) It is nice to have some good things to eat.  I’m just super glad I don’t have to cook it....

We knocked into this woman that seems not to be interested in the church, but when we told her we would help her move she listened some more (she had a for sale sign in her yard).  Then she told us about a family member that is a member of the church and she was excited to have us come and teach. She broke her cell phone and because of the move didn’t have a land line, so we will go back and talk to her again :) The neat part of that story is that the Lord wanted  us in that house, she didn’t invite us in until it started POOOOURing- and as soon as it poured she had us come in, which allowed us to talk longer. :)

We also passed out flyers for our blood drive and the restoration fireside at the train station and passed out bottled water to go with it :)  It went well, we even witnessed a man break into the train station lobby - a police man came to shut off the alarm, I didn’t know if we needed to tell him what we saw, and the officer says "what? You want him arrested?" and I was like "no- I just didn’t know you if you needed to know what we saw".  I never know if you have to tell what you witness- especially since dad "yelled" at me for not staying when I saw the man on his bike get hit by a car.

:)

Thanks for the prayers :) I really love it here!

Hope all is well!

Sister Freeeeeeze

Monday, July 1, 2013

:) I love you guys!

 This week went by so fast! Thank you for doing the iPod Amber and Dad- Sister Lee and I are looking forward to getting it!

 You asked all the right questions, mom- you had down what I was going to tell, so that made it easier for me to answer it! haha

We had a neat experience this week- We took a member with us to visit some families in Heapstead and we fearlessed this woman who was great!  The whole conversation started because we liked her hair and told her!  It spurred a conversation of families and she gave us her number and when she gets back from being out of town we'll call.  It's the little things that are tender mercies.  That same day we went to visit a LA (Less Active) man, but met his nonmember wife- she just had her ceiling fall in and was taking care of a lot of different things so with tears streaming down her face, we blessed her home (term we use to say we prayed with her). She asked us to come back again.  We meet some wonderful people every day.

Sister Lee and I were asked to start teaching an "every member a missionary" Sunday School class each week.  Our mission is trying to get these classes started in every ward/branch.  It will be the same class every week (for 5 weeks) and different people will rotate into the class, so not too many people are missing the regular Sunday School class.  It will be a great way to get the members pumped about missionary work.  Speaking of this class- the zone leaders trained us on how to teach it- and in the middle of it Elder Parker passed out because he was sick!  It was quite scary!  He was out for a solid 10 seconds, but came conscious.  I have never experienced seeing something like that.

Our Zone leaders, Elder Labaron and Elder Brilles have named this transfer the "Iron Man" transfer. haha!  They went and bought iron man masks and did a dance.  We are all to buy a mask- and put a scripture in it for the transfer vision that we have. :)

I continue to love it here.  I LOOOOVE the people, I actually get depressed that I can't become best friends with all of them, but with continued faith and help of the Lord, hard work, and learning the best ways to do the work we will find and teach :)

I'm glad Craig doesn't think I've changed! Holy moly-- I'm surprised I don't look fatter! ;)

I had my first Haitian meal!  It was delicious!  Rice, plantains and this really good flavored chicken!

I think that is it for this week!  President is hounding "vision, goals and plans" so we have been trying to refine our planning skills.  I was given the idea to create a vision goals and plans for my mission as a whole.  I will keep you posted, but I think I might have my mission vision be "Keeping the Constant Companionship of the Holy Ghost" :)

I love you all- hope all is well!  I literally feel the prayers from everyone, so thank you!  Get a pass along card from the church and hand it out to anyone!  It is a great opportunity to bear your testimony!

Have you tried out the Mom's Chinese Restaurant across the street from your pad? We actually haven't, but Sister Lee has said previously she wants too haha :)  I'm glad you can see the area.  We work in other towns too, Hempstead (sketchy at night), Garden City, Uniondale, Valley Stream, and Hewlett.  

Who did you teach this week?  No investigators.   We are having a really rough time getting peoples schedules to align.  So many cancelations - it doesn't help that we have been focusing a lot on less actives so no time to really find.  When we set goals this week - that was what our plan was: find like no bodies business, then arrange for appointments, pray we get people that will allow us back.

What did you do on P-day?  P-day was Elder Campbell's last -day here- so we celebrated!  We went bowling ("randomly" saw a less active YSA from the branch there and then we went to get ice cream! :)  So much fun!  Sister Mcrath insisted on bumpers-- so I won the second game ;)  It was enjoyable!

Are you learning any Spanish phrases while you are around Spanish speakers or Creole phrases for that matter?    No, not really.  I'm not really around it enough to catch things... I probably get more Korean from Sister Lee than anything haha.

Any stories about reactivation efforts that you can share?  There is this AMAZING woman that we met yesterday.  Her name is Shirley.  Get this,  her maiden name is actually Temple.  I laughed so hard!  She has quite the testimony of the church from what I can tell- we plan to go back often.  I feel like we spend a lot of time visiting teaching essentially because VT is just being started here.  So a lot of visits with an Ensign talk is what we do.  I love it though.  There are some amazing people that no one even goes out to visit- I feel blessed to have the opportunity.

Have you volunteered at the senior center yet?  Yes! It was great!  We worked in the area with the people that have dementia.  It was so sad - you can't help but see that Heavenly Father holds them dear. I am excited to go back.

If so what did you do?  We seriously just talk to them, we also helped the activities coordinator put on a 101 year olds birthday party!  The woman said the trick to living that long is a drink a day! haha... maybe we can come by with a word of wisdom pamphlet ;) jk  What service did other missionaries do?  idk- we go on different days

Love you! Sister Friz-eezy.

Monday, June 24, 2013

FAN CLUUUB!

Things are great!  This week has been super SUPER busy!  It went by so fast!

This week was a lot of preparations!  We are really trying to get to know the branch and really trying to get investigators to things.  The first problem is, there aren't any activities.  So we were trying to get some going.  We had a BBQ so this week.  There was prep involved with that.  We handed out a ton of flyers and called a ton of people. :) It went well.  We had a man that had met elders previously come, we knocked his door and he had us over for dinner with our branch missionary! He was a great help! Very good cook!

We have a blood drive and a restoration fireside next month- so we hope to get people to that. Fingers crossed!

Tomorrow is the last day of my first transfer!  Can you believe it?!  I can't...... It went by so fast! Our district leader goes home tomorrow :( SOOO sad.  He is a hard worker and helped the area so much.  If I learned anything from him it was the importance of having fun while you work!  We had a few dinners for him with members and so all was good.

We had a few neat experiences with following the spirit.  There is nothing greater than having the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. I am so blessed.

I look forward to teaching Linda, read about her more below.

Time is short.  But I love hearing from everyone!  The area is picking up and I know that the Lord is blessing us!  Be sure to be member missionaries.  There is nothing more important.  Watch the broadcast online--- I'm so serious!  It will change your outlook on it.

  

Is your pad run down, nice or moderate?  It's nice-- newly painted (white) but good.  What kind of apartment is it? (a four-plex, upstairs/downstairs, 10 floors)  It's a 3 level building.  We're on level 2.  It's a studio apartment.  Our bed is in our living room and our study desk is too. I don't mind, my only complaint is you can't pray out loud except in the bathroom, with the fan AND the bathtub on :) haha  How many rooms are in your pad?  ..... yeah..... Give me some examples of a day in the life of Sisters Freeze and Lee?  Get up, study, phone calls, we do a lot of less active visits.  We are really trying to get to know everyone on our branch English speaking list!  There are like 250ish names, but we are doing well.  We do a lot of birthday cards to meet people.  Then we knock... we knock more than we'd like, but what can you do- we need people to teach.  What were the last three days like from beginning to end?   Do you knock doors?  Yeah- 3-4 times a week for a few hours.  It is fun, I'm starting to like it- and I'm starting to know how to listen to the spirit more and more and move away from a script.  Which is a relief :)  Do you work off of referrals only?  We don't get enough referrals for that.  I've only done a few referrals actually and they usually aren't home most of the time.  We are currently teaching one woman that is from a referral though.  She wanted a missionary visit!   She came to the BBQ for a bit, and then to church! :) She has a member friend in AZ so he has told her a lot.  She came to church 15 years ago, but is making HUGGGGGGGE life changes to make church a priority and we haven't even taught her one lesson yet! We have one planned for tomorrow! :) She is so ready! MEEEEEEEMBERS ARE THE KEY!  I'm serious.  Members HAVE to be involved to make missionary work happen.  Just listen to me.  Pray about it if you have to, but do whatever it takes to be a part of the Lords work. How do you receive referrals?  mail, text message, branch president.   Do you have a full block program for church, sacrament, sunday school, priesthood/RS, primary, YM/YW?  Yes, but it is RS/Priesthood, Sunday School and then Sacrament.  It makes it hard on investigators to get them there all three hours.  Do the YM/YW have mutual in the week? Yup, the YW president and counselors are great women :)  Are they fully staffed?  Pretty sure.  How do the different languages interact for activities?  Most people know English even if it is broken English.  The cultures in the ward are so nice to have :)   Have you had a zone conference yet?  We have zone conferences every other week-ish and the meeting with Elder Kollicker was a mega zone conference- so we had like 3-4 zones there.  Have you had a presidents interview yet?  No, as I understand it it happens every other transfer- so mine will be next transfer.  How much do you have to spend on gas, food etc.?  Most of our money goes to food. We save a fair amount for going out to eat- it makes for good opportunities to meet with people when we need a reason to get to know people.  We have a separate mission card for gas only.  There's no limit to that.  We just have a limit of miles for a month which is 1200 miles.  Is your GPS working out now?  Yes! It's saved us SOOOO many times!  We have way more time now too, since we don't have to worry about dumb maps!

Love you all!

Sister Freeze