Letter 05-18-14

Some weeks are just different. This last week was one I think. I feel my heart very apparently. We are working with some members who are Karen--they are refugees. They don't know a lot of English so we are trying to teach English to as many as we can. They work so much! It hurts to not to be able to communicate the simplicity of the Gospel the way I want to. It hurts to not be able to give them the beauty of the Book of Mormon as freely as I want. You see, there is no church material to order in Karen. No Book of Mormon, no Gospel Principles books. So, in order to share it, a Karen person must be bilingual. I am realizing more and more how much I love and rely on that book when I can't have it--I can't give that to everyone. Where would I be without the Book of Mormon?

Not here. My conversion is so bound to the Book of Mormon that I can't imagine going without. How would I have truly felt faith without Alma the Younger and his conversion of the Lamanites? How would I known of true conversion without the people of Ammon? How could I have known fearlessness without Moroni and his strength in the Lord? Alma, Abinadi, Nephi, Alma the Younger, Helaman....too many to name. How would I have understood the Spirit without that steady flow of spiritual input? How would I have known Joseph Smith was a Prophet without realizing that this couldn't come from a man--it was too good. And with all the claims (the First Vision, the angels,...) it would have to be true because "no good man would write this book, save it were true..." (Elder Holland said something along those lines, quoting his Grandfather I believe, in a talk a while back). How would I have known without "experimenting upon the word"? (Alma 32:27-29) Honestly, I don't know how I would have. I don't know if I would have. No, I wouldn't have. What a terribly sad thought.

But this I know--with God all things are possible. Early missionaries went to foreign lands with only the clothes on their backs and a Book of Mormon. We have Karen people with beautiful English here; people wanting and willing to learn; a reading program designed by very intelligent people to help speak, read, and comprehend scripture in English; we have a wonderfully willing and helpful ward; we have visuals and videos and other aids. We have all these things. Those men with only clothes and a Book were able to spread the Gospel into longing souls. With God there is a way--God's way. All we need to do is not hinder it.

So, we work slow and steady to teach them English and teach all we can (explaining scriptures, principles, prayer, etc.) and just praying so hard that we can help. We search for all who are ready; we seek to share this beautiful message. We pray we can help. We just want to help so much.

My last thought is this--we have so much going for us. We are educated. We have the Book of Mormon in our Native tongue--in it's pure first translation through a Prophet of God even! We have churches nearby, loving neighbors, and the technology to help (using such things as lds.org). We have everything going for us. How can we justify not truly diving into the Book of Mormon? How can we justify not asking the Lord--not reading to see the goodness of it? Not knowing the story of Joseph Smith and understanding the repercussions of it? We can't. Please take this chance to look for yourself--it's more important than I can even express. I know it's true and I am so happy because of it. Please, I want you all to know too.

With love,

Sister Short

Letter 04-20-14

So here's the big news of the week--transfer calls were this Saturday night and I am getting transferred! I am shotgunning (which, if you've forgotten, means that both missionaries in the companionship are new to the area) out Elders again (according to my sources) and my new companion is named Sister Powell! Right now I am so so SO thankful for the GPS my family sent me.

So I have been thinking about it and, for the record I have had all these companions and been all these places

Sister Torgersen (MTC)

Sister Pereira (MTC)

Sister Larsen (Springdale, AR)

Sister Smith (Springdale, AR)

Sister Andrew (Bartlesville, OK)

Sister Lowe (Henryette, OK)--Shotgunning

and now:

Sister Powell (Clarksville, AR)--Shotgunning

 

I have never had a companion for more than one transfer. The only place I've been in two transfers was where I was trained. I am taking that as a compliment to my ability to adjust.

 

Sidenote! In Henryetta we also cover a town called Okmulgee. (Yeah! Fun name!) But since we can't say "Okmulgee" right we usually settle for calling it "the Mug" or "Mugtown". Thank goodness for nicknames.

 

Stories! (the name of the investigator has been changed)

We had a miracle this week! We have this adorable member who is 19 and a recent convert. She LOVES to come out teaching with us, and, let's face it, both Sister Lowe and I adore her so it works out perfectly. Her testimony is awesome and she is willing to go and do anything--she doesn't shy away or panic. She steps us and goes, does, and laughs. Her name is Angel.

So we go pick up Angel. "We had four appointments but they all fell through," Sister Lowe informs her. We don't panic--this happens. We can always find work to do. So we start discussing who of those on our list of people to see we should go see first. We ask Angel if she has any preference.

"We need to go see Sister Mary." Angel pipes up clearly.

"We don't know a Sister Mary--who's Sister Mary?""

"I don't know," she laughs.

So we head off to some lessons, forgetting the silly conversation. We work all day and then, after dinner, we get a clear impression to go see a certain member of our ward. We had known she had family visiting, but we had thought they had left. So we get there and (tadaaa!) they hadn't! Well she hadn't--there was one woman visiting. So our member invites her in and introduces her daughter--an ADORABLE, softspoken, gentle woman--and proceeds to tell us that her daughter wants to get baptized. Her daughter asks her mom if she had set this up--apparently they had been talking during dinner and she had been talking about having the missionaries over. We reasurred her that, no, it hadn't been set up. We got talking again and it came up that we asked what she wanted to be called (she had a longer name and nickname shorter version and all that). She started explaining that she had a few names--first and middle or changed (I'm not sure).

"Well, my name has bad memories...so I think I'd like to go by Mary if that's okay."

"Sister Mary?" Angel, shocked, asked.

"Yes I think I like that."

Angel was so excited that night about her miracle that she called us and talked to us on the phone as we drove home.

Sister Mary came to church Easter Sunday (yesterday) and sat with us and her mom. She is a very gentle soul, and a great blessing to us.

The Lord pulls through in mysterious ways sometimes. This was a miracle--small, simple, and tender, but a miracle none the less. God is mindfull. We are so blessed. We are so glad we listened to that gentle tugging of the still, small voice.

 

Love you all!

~Sister Short

Letter 03-10-14

Thank you for the Garmin! I will need it so I am so glad I asked because (drum roll please) I am getting transferred! I am going to a little town called Henrietta OK. We are shotgunning (it is a term that means both missionaries in the companionship are new to the area) Elders (now they get Sisters) and my companion is Sister Lowe!

Yes, pause for a second, think it through, wait for the penny to drop

SISTERS SHORT AND LOWE

Haha you can laugh now.

I am so excited!

I will have to write more in letter-format because I'm almost out of time.

So I'm leaving Thursday and packing all week.

Time for a new adventure!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Letter 03-03-14

The Book of Mormon

It really all comes down to the Book of Mormon. We want someone to accept the church? Start them reading the Book of Mormon. We want to reactivate someone? Get them reading the Book of Mormon.

The Book of Mormon is the strongest, most undeniable witness of the Church. Why do missionaries teach the Restoration first? So people can understand the importance of the Book of Mormon in their conversion. The Book of Mormon IS a miracle and people feel God in that book if they care enough to look. I have found that if I can convince someone to read and ponder the Book of Mormon daily then I don't even worry about them--THEY WILL COME BACK. If they keep reading then either they have to come back or they have to deny the Spirit and they stop reading. The book is too pure and good and full of the Spirit for it not to change the honest seeker of truth. It is our proof. The story of the Restoration of the Gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith is too big a claim to be somewhat true. It must be true or false, and reading the Book of Mormon tells us that. The Book of Mormon is full of goodness and truth and light and Jesus Christ--why in the world would a wicked person write such a book? They couldn't. Therefore he is a Prophet of God. Everything is held up by that one little book. Want motivation? Just start. Want more happiness, purpose, peace, joy? Just start. Just pray often and start.

So, my question is this; after all God has done to give it to us, how are we going to answer God when he asks us about how much we loved His gift?

For those of you that may not be doing well with it, or those of you that haven't read it, I would say there's no better time to start than now. Mormon.org has free copies you can request. 

Letter 02-24-14

Dear Everybody!!

My mom sent me this in her email to me this week and I want to show it to all of you! (My comments are directed towards Latter-Day Saint Members specifically.)

   

Thought for the day - 1 Peter 2:9 "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people".  We are a covenant people and great are the obligations which go with that covenant.  We cannot be ordinary people.  We must rise above the crowd.  We must stand a little taller.  We must be a little better, a little kinder, a little more generous, a little more courteous, a little more thoughtful, a little more outreaching to others.

I love that! We are a peculiar people! Sometimes I think we fall into the trap of wanting the unique blessings the Gospel has to offer, while still wanting to be "normal". We don't want to stand out, we don't want to be weird, we don't want to disregard the social norm. Well guess what? We don't have that right. We are a "peculiar people". Now I'm not saying we need flaunt ourselves. Pride was never meant to be in the equation. I am asking everyone to think about themselves and to consider whether or not we, through our everyday actions, show that we are ashamed of the Lord our God. Do we remain firmly and lovingly loyal to the Jesus Christ who has gathered us as his own? Do we awkwardly mumble answers to those who ask us "Wait, you're Mormon?", do we feel we have to toe the modesty line to be attractive, do we feel we need to compromise to be acceptable? We do not have to. Standing up for what we believe--loyaly, RESPECTFULLY, gently, and WITH OUR TESTIMONY--is not wrong. Using pride, overbearing words, or in any way acting like we are better IS wrong however. We are blessed. Period. Everyone who wants to reach for it may be a member of our church and share in everything we have. We can show love. We can share our testimony, and we can show humble thanks to God for making us a peculiar people.

This is my personal testimony. (I wrote it fast so if I need to rephrase things, expect that next week please.)

Love,

Sister Short

Letter 02-17-14

God can make things work out! Sometimes annoying thing happen, but God can make them used for good! Like my story for this week is that there was a man that tried to bash us--though I call it "softball bashing" because it isn't like yelling or anything; it's just being like confrontationally disagreeable and not listening. Anyways, it wasn't bad or anything it was just I suppose sad and annoying to me. But the thing was that I was thinking about what he was saying and I thought through the logic of it and came up with the answer. Of course, the man probably wouldn't be open to my answer, but I felt like I could explain it and I understood why this was important and whatnot. But anyways, so later (the next week) we went into this lesson with this amazing new investigator. She expressed a concern that was answered by the answer I had figured out based on this other man's comments! So the opposition of this man allowed me to think through this certain concept, and then God sent a person who was ready to hear the explanation! It was wonderful! And I believe that if we are willing, God can use our thoughts and experiences to His advantage, but only if we are willing.

Letter 02-02-14

Sorry I'm going to send you a letter later because I only have 1 hour on the computers in this area.

Love,

Sister Short

{Desi sent some pictures but she hasn't told us who is in the them yet}