UNCLE CHRIS

Look who Chris just by chance saw in St. George. Chris said he went shopping for our unmarried sons and found one from Brazil, Ireland and Utah.

July 29, 2013

This week was great! Lot's of great things happening!
So Wednesday was Pioneer day. We got to walk in the Parade over in Washington City. We were told that we were going to walk behind Elder Holland. Which I guess we technically did but he was way further ahead so we only got to see him for like 5 seconds as he rode by on a wagon. It was super neat though. We were all freaking out! The parade was cool though. We all felt like celebrities. We pretty much are here in Utah. Haha it's funny!
Thursday Uncle Chris came in to the Visitors Center. It was so funny! Sister Sporl and I were in the back and I see some man walking up but he had a hat and his face down so I couldn't really tell at first. But then I realized it was Chris. He came up and said "Teach me. i want to be baptized." It was so funny! He definitely made a show at the VC. He kept calling Sister Sporl his future daughter in law because she is from Brazil and that is where Willie went. He came back and brought us Nelsons Custard. He is the best!
Then Saturday we had our miracle baptism! Fe got baptized! We did all her lessons in a week and a half and she was baptized July 27th and confirmed yesterday in church. Everything went so well. She is just so excited to be a member of the church! She is constantly feeling the spirit at church and her baptism was just filled with the spirit especially. She is great!
Yesterday we talked in church. We talked about... Missionary work! Hahaha of course! I used an analogy about Grandma Mary's Pancakes and how much we love it and that you share it with everyone and that should be like the gospel. If something has blessed our life we should share it! Everyone loved it and a few people even asked for the recipe. Haha. I also talked about one of our ancestors and their story traveling from Ireland to Missouri to Utah to be with the saints. I have been looking at my pedigree chart a lot this week and it is so interesting. When I get back Mom you will have to help me do Family History because I think I would really enjoy it!
Anyways, I gotta go soon so I'll talk to you later. This time next week Mom and Dad, you will be in the MTC! Crazy!
Love you all and hope you're doing well!

Ma Fe's baptism July 27, 2013 :)

Pizza at the Brigham Young home

24th of July Celebration

The back of Elder Holland's head in the wagon!

GROBERG FAMILY

I hope this is an ok size to send:)  Summer looked beautiful and she was such an awesome tour guide through the Brigham Young Home.  There was a constant flow of people while we were there:)  She said Sundays were a busy day!  I wish you well on your final preparations to leave on your mission! I think it sounds fabulous!!!  Can't wait to hear your return report:)

Smiles,  Beverly Grobreg

July 22, 2013

Hello! How's it going? Sound like the fam is doing great! I can not believe that you're farewell is this Sunday and you leave in 2 weeks! Funny thing, I am talking in church this Sunday too and at the same time as your ward. So we will be freaking out together! Haha!

It was good to see David, Jessica and their kids yesterday. It doesn't make me homesick at all. Just nice to see some familiar faces. Although that usually happens a lot. I can almost always make a connection with someone everyday. The world is so small within the church!

Can you guess what this past week was? Yep, GREAT! Haha they always are. We are having a miracle baptism this weekend so how could I not be great!?

One of our investigators, Tiana was supposed to get baptized on Saturday but she pushed it back. They are in the process of moving so they are super stressed. We actually don't even know if she will get baptized before they move in a month. And who knows where they are moving so we will see..

So another one of our newer investigators.. Fei. I think I wrote about her last week. Well we had 2 lessons with her this week and she went to church again on Sunday. She is great. Right when we got into her house yesterday she asked "So how many lessons do I need to have before I can get baptized?" We hadn't even asked her to be baptized yet. She read our minds cause we were going to that day. She is SO prepared. She loves church and has already gotten so many answers found in the Book of Mormon and at church. from the first time we met here (the week before) to yesterday you can just tell the huge difference in her. She is so much more happier!! Her faith has grown a ton and she is just awesome. So as of now she is getting baptized this Saturday!!!! Miracle! She didn't wanna wait longer and we didn't see the point in it either. She had already been to church a bunch and just wants to be a member so badly! So pray that it'll go through.

Our other new investigator from the previous week, Hailee is wanting to get baptized too. We only have 1 lesson left before she can. She is just waiting on her dad so hopefully we can put her on date soon. She is 9 years old and so cute! Her parents are both just so awesome. They were last active but have been coming back to church and really have the desire to.

So this past week I had my first Zone Conference! Zone Conference is where 2 zones get together and we get to have training from the Mission President, his wife, the assistants and others. It was so great!!! I just love President and Sister Center so much! They are hilarious and just so loving!!!!! We are so blessed to have them.

Well I think that is my week in a nut shell! Love you all!

Sister Sordes, Sister Luebbert, and I at Zone Conference!

Glasses Day

Elder Ramirez, Sister Loski, Me, and Sister Sporl

David and Jessica and their kids

 

July 15, 2013 Monday

Hello How's it going?? This week has been super great! There is always so many tender mercies. This week was stormy! FINALLY! We have been praying for rain and it finally came! Not as much as we'd like but it was still enough to cool us down a little :) Plus we got 3 new investigators!

So last week we decided to visit a bunch of less actives we had in our area book. We had tried to find this one guy named Clint before but couldn't find his apartment but we decided to try again. So we finally found it. And he and his wife invited us in right away. They have a daughter who just turned 9 and isn't baptized. Her name is Hailey. They are coming back to church and want her to get baptized!!!! Because she is older than 8, we are teaching her the lessons. She will probably get baptized in August!

Ok Remember last week I told you about that girl that Sister Sporl had taught in her first area? Well we had an appointment over at that home and she actually doesn't live there, she lives in another apartment in that complex buutttt we did get a new investigator from that apartment. His name is Tyler and his girlfriend is a member but has been less active for a while. But they came to church yesterday! YAAYYY! So hopefully we will be able to set something up with them this week again!

Then we also got a referral for a lady named Fei. We had gone to her house a while ago just randomly but she was getting ready for work or something so she couldn't talk and didn't seem interested. Well last week she was talking to her next door neighbor, who is a member, and Fei told her she wants to come to our church! Her husband passed away about a year and a half ago and she now lives alone. All of her family is in the Philippines still. She has been very lonely and feels something pulling her to the church. She was very excited when we stopped by her house and was glad that we told her we would sit by her at church. We are meeting with her this weekend for our first lesson with her. I am excited to see how she will progress!

There was another day that we were tracting and this Hispanic guy asked when we could come teach him! HELLO! Where do these people come from!? We had a lesson with him, but unfortunately he is more comfortable with having the lessons in Espanol! So he came to church with us yesterday (SO AWESOME) but we had to switch him to the Spanish Elders. He is so golden though!

The Visitors Center has been so great this week too. I am finding people everyday from Mesa or at least Arizona and always finding connections. I love it! There was a nonmember couple that came in the other day from Mesa. I gave them a tour of the Visitors Center and we talked about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. They both took Book of Mormons and gave me their phone number so I can follow up! Keeping my fingers crossed that they will actually read it!!

Life as a missionary is just amazing! The Lord is AMAZING! He is always there to bless us if we do our part. We have been doing so well lately, finding lots of people and I know it is nothing we do. We just are obedient and try our hardest and the Lord puts people in our path. We are just his instruments. It is amazing! I love life! And love you all! Hope you have a great week! :) Until next time..

 

Oh I forgot to tell you about my new mission president! I met him like 2 weeks ago and then we had out interviews with him and his wife last week. I LOVE THEM!!!!! They are so great. They are so loving! Sister Center is super quirky, I love it! I feel really comfortable with them and I know I can turn to them in anything! I feel so blessed to have them as my mission president!

 

 

 

July 8, 2013 Monday

Heyyy How's it going? Things are going great here!

Codie got baptized on Tuesday! It was so amazing! She was just beaming with light and so excited! She got her temple recommend that night too so she could go and do baptisms for the dead right away. She is awesome!

I never remember what I say the previous weeks so sorry if I repeat myself! I don't remember if I have talked about Leah, Gilberto, and Tiana.. I think I might have a while ago. Anyway, we had had 1 lesson with them like a month ago and they agreed to baptism but they have been super busy and going out of town so we haven't had another one. They have twins that are like a month and a half old and they have been sick and so that was part of why we hadn't met with them too. Well the babies got blessed yesterday in church. So good! And we are going to meet with them later this week so I think things are progressing with them again :)

Ok so crazy story.. So like 2 weeks ago Sister Sporl and I were walking to an appointment and this girl rides by on her bike and Sister Sporl thought it looked like a girl she taught in her very first area literally 18 months ago! Then a few days later we were walking in that same area and saw the girl again outside! Sister Sporl still wasn't sure if it was her though. Then that night we got a referral from the Spanish Elders to that home! We go over there the next day and it WAS the girl Sister Sporl thought. I guess this girl was going to get baptized! The font was filled and everything but she just never showed up! Ok then literally the next day we got a referral from someone in the mission office to that same home!!!! You think God really wants us to teach them huh!? So amazing! So we have an appointment set for tonight with them so we will see!!!!

The 4th of July was super fun too! Obviously not like the Heber Firework show but it was good! We went to a parade in the morning, then I worked at the Brigham young home and than that evening we had an activity with the Visitors Center sisters and then with our zone. We just played games and ate pizza, which I hadn't had my whole mission so far! So it was good :) 

It was kinda tough because we weren't able to tract that day so we felt behind a little bit but yesterday was the best tracting day yet! We got 3 return appointments from door knocking! That doesn't happen much! We have really been praying hard to find more investigators that have been prepared. So we meet with them all this week so we will see :)

The Lord is really so amazing. I think I have a new favorite chapter in the book of Mormon. Mosiah 24- I especially loves verses 13 and 14. The Lord is always there for us we just need to ask Him to be there and to have faith. Even if it's not in our timing He will lighten our burdens! You will all have to go read it again :)

Well hope you are all doing well! Hope your 4th of July was great, and hope you have a good week!

Love you!

Sister Summer Allen

4th of July with my MTC companions- Sister Luebbert and Sister Sordes

 4th of July with Sister Luebbert

Sister Bergreen served here in the Visitors Center but just finished up hre mission last week. She was the oldest missionary out. 90 years old!!!!!

Codie's baptism :)

Sister Sporl and I on the 4of of July

July 1, 2013 Monday

Alright this past week has been an interesting one.. Haha it was good, they always are! So we had another lesson with Codie last week and it went super well! We filled out everything for her baptism program. Then comes Saturday which was going to be such a great day. We had 4 lessons planned and 1 of them being Codie. While we were at the Visitors Center that morning we got a call from every single one of our appointments cancelling :( And one of them was Codie's grandmother cancelling her baptism. Codie's parents are less active and so they haven't been supportive at all and Codie was getting really down about that. We were super bummer of course! But we immediately turned to prayer and pleaded with Heavenly Father that she would know that this is the right thing to do. We fasted on Sunday as well for her. She is such an awesome girl, it would kill us to not see her get baptized! So that night we just tracted, not finding anyone to teach. But my companion reassured me that when something bad happens it usually means something really great is about to come.

Well then comes Sunday, we had the morning off from the Visitors Center so we were able to go to all 3 of our wards sacrament meetings. Fusi and Rico (one of the families we are teaching) came to church! It was awesome. The lady who spoke in church literally had the perfect talk for them. Fusi and Rico have 2 young daughters and want a religion in their lives to grow their children up in. The lady that spoke had the same thing in her life at one point. She talked about coming to the church and just feeling at peace like this is what they needed in their lives. It was just perfect!! I am really excited to see how everything goes with them!

Then in between sacrament meetings we got a call from Codies grandma.. She decided she is going to get baptized still!!!! HALLELUJAH! So everything is back on and she is getting baptized tomorrow evening! :)

I just love the Lord and the way He works. Ya know, He really does have a sense of humor and really does know what we all need. I think through this we were all strengthened! I know for sure Sister Sporl and I were. Prayers and fasting really does work! The Lord is just waiting to answer and bless us we just gotta show Him how much we really need them.

Well love you all, have a great week!!!!!!