I'm meltinggggggg

Dearest family and friends,

Hey :) how are all of you hooligans!? I hope you had a wonderful week! I'd like to inform all of you that my waterproof boots are indeed waterproof. And thank heavens for that! All the snow is melting here and the slush and water is INSANE. And it freezes over night making the roads a complete mess. #gottalovemontana

This week had a rough start but ended pretty super great! Haha on Tuesday we had 6 set appointments with investigators and less actives and SO much to do. I was excited, I love being busy :) annnnnnnd then 5 of the 6 appointments fell through :( *weep* but sadly, it happens, and we still find productive things to do and keep on keeping on. We knocked on so many doors and tried to find so many less actives and members, and no one was home! We talked to everyone in sight- got a lot of weird looks- and almost got eaten by a three-legged pit bull.  haha but all’s well that ends well right? 

Wednesday was THE BEST. We got to watch the worldwide missionary broadcast. As we all sang Called to Serve I couldn't help but think of the other missionaries I know all across the world that were singing that same song at the same time. The spirit was was so strong :) It was a spiritual feast to learn from Elder Neil L. Andersen, Elder David A. Bednar, Bishop Waddell, Sister Oscarson, Elder Clayton, Elder Nielson, and Elder Dallin H. Oaks. At the very end, Elder Oaks got up and said, "I have rejoiced greatly in the things that have been taught today" and I couldn't help but grin and agree whole heartily with him. To me, a lot of the teachings focused on helping people understand the doctrine of Christ. It starts with a faith in Jesus Christ. We believe that he lived and that gives us a whole lot of hope. Hope and Faith that we can return back to our Heavenly Father and especially in the atonement. We know that we can repent and know that someone hears and answers our prayers. That knowledge leads us to a love of keeping covenants. We want to renew our commitment each week by partaking of the sacrament, as well as feel the relief that comes from really applying the atonement. And we do this over and over and over again throughout our lives, continually coming closer to Christ and progressing in his gospel :)  HOW GREAT IS HIS GOSPEL?!?! So great. :) I wish I could explain all that was talked about, but there simply isn't time! All of those that spoke bore very simple and very powerful testimonies. They taught the way the Savior did: by example. That was a huge testimony to me that this really is Christ's church-restored-on the earth today. How. Amazing. Is. That?!

In other news, we got to meet with lots of elderly people later in the week :) best thing ever. :) I love hearing their stories. Most of the time they turn into the teachers and us the learners ;) but that's okay. I can use all the help I can get! We heard stories about being a member of the church in the Navy from 86 year old Henry. He sure loves the Book of Mormon. His caretaker says that he is reading the Book of Mormon almost constantly! And we visited Lu. She has to go to dialysis 3 times a week. She is a firecracker! So sassy and so independent. What a cool lady :) We also visited sister Sanders. She was baptized when she was 67!!!!!! And she's proud of it! Haha she has such a strong testimony of the priesthood :)

Funny moment: Sister Hurst and I are in the car parked in front of this apartment complex praying before we go into our last lesson of the night. I was EXHAUSTED so I just sort of rested my head on the steering wheel. It took about a minute to realize....I was leaning on the horn..... hahahahahahahahaha

The rest of the week was full of service, big dogs, and tired eyes. I love being in this area :) and I love being a missionary! I know that living the gospel of Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to return back to our heavenly home. I'm so grateful for the gift of repentance and for prayer :)

Love you all so much :) be happy and work hard!
Love, Sister Fletcher

...she raved about her husband that  passed away just a few years ago the whole time we were there. She pulled out this picture and with tears in her eyes said "if you can find a man that looks at you like this....you will have all the happiness you can ever imagine. I had that. You go find that." So sweet.

 

for mamma. Hi. I'm tired. But happy. #thatmissionarylife

the only pair of jeans I have*weep* cleaned the nastiest bathroom I've ever seen. Thanks mom ;)

May exist? WILL exist.

No one likes a frown-y face...

Hey all!

As I type, the epic sounds of Podball are sounding in my ear. I love Podball, but I sure love all of you a lot more ;) haha. There really isn't too much to report on this week!  It was super crazy and all over the place. (Insert from mom: Sister Fletcher sent me a separate email saying it was a struggle this week and the work didn’t progress as desired.  She’s also super exhausted from her previous illness.  Such is life right? Especially missionary life, but please include her and Billings in your prayers and add her name to the temple prayer roll. Thank you:)

 We had zone training on Friday. LOVED IT. We are focusing on maintaining daily contact with our investigators and on having lessons in member’s homes. Guys. It's so amazing the difference you can feel when you walk into a member’s home and when you walk into a nonmember’s home. It made me tear up just a little bit the other night. I'm so grateful for the refuge a home with the spirit in it provides.

I also went on exchanges later in the week. I love exchanges! This was my third one with Sister Major! I. Love. Her. So. Much. We spend the day in her area teaching some recent converts and investigators. I always learn so much about lovingly inviting people to do things that stretch them when I'm with Sister Major. She provided me with some much needed counsel and advice. It was a testimony to me that Gods hand really is in every little detail :)

I'm in 3 Nephi now in the Book of Mormon. I just fall in love more and more with that book with each time I read it. I love how in 3 Nephi 12:16 Christ tells us to "let your light so shine" That light we share points people to the true source of light, our Heavenly Father. Let your light shine! SMILE. "A smile is like the sunshine" :)

Sorry this weeks email is so short! I love you all so much!
Love, Sister Fletcher

 No one likes a frown-y  face.

 Change it to a smile! Makes the world a better place by smiling all the while!

Cold air and country roads

Hey howdy hey people that I love!

I could just tell you all to look at the pictures and be jealous and then end the email there...but that isn't very Christlike is it? ;) haha this week was a good one. I love being a missionary in Montana :) Best mission ever. And don't even try to argue that. *see pictures* haha

For reals though. I had the time of my life visiting Broadview a few times this last week. We cover two wards here, Monad and Echo Canyon. Monad is closer to our apartment and most of it is in the "city". The Echo canyon Ward is out past the temple and cleeeeeeeeeeeeeear out to the middle of nowhere above the rims. It takes about 40 minutes to get to Broadview from the apartment. Needless to say, we don't get out there much. BUT this week was different. We had a dinner planned with the Brown family. Man oh man. I love the Browns. They have....wait for it....11 kids! Yep. A regular Seegmiller family dinner for me! I loved every second :) They invited a less active and a non member to dinner and we taught the restoration with the other kids helping us teach. I love the spirit felt every time we are able to teach the restoration. There is power in truth my friends :) Anyway, Rex is working towards getting to the temple. He's the less active that came and his sister is the nonmember. He owns a pizza place and we go and teach him there once a week. We are hoping to go visit his sister this next week and see if she wants to learn more :)

Later in the week we spent the afternoon in Acton and Broadview visiting members and finding less actives. This is the first time I've been there when the sun has been up. GORGEOUS. And. We could actually find people because we could see the house numbers! ...and the actual houses...Hahaha #smalltownprobs After meeting with a bunch of members (I LOVE THEM SO MUCH) we embarked to the outskirts of town find our dinner. ...that sounds wrong....I mean to find the house of the family that was feeding us dinner. It starting to get dark, and Google maps lied to us *1 hour and 6 hay fields later* we  finally found it and had the best chili ever :) I'm amazed at how hardworking all the people are that I have met here. Many have built the homes they are living in. Many work on farms. And they serve in the church happily giving their all to their Father in Heaven. I'm so grateful that my Heavenly Father sent me here to meet the people that I have met and learn from their examples.

I'm so excited to dive into the Book of Mormon this year again :) I love seeing my missionary Book of Mormon becoming more and more filled with notes and markings. My scriptures will be VERY loved this year. I just finished Alma. SO MANY GREAT THINGS. One chapter that particularly stuck out to me was chapter 37. Alma is speaking to his son Helaman. I put myself in Helaman's shoes (after all, we should liken the scriptures to us right?)

33 Preach unto them repentance, and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ;
teach them to humble themselves and to be meek and lowly in heart;
teach them to withstand every temptation of the devil, with their
faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.
34 Teach them to never be weary of good works, but to be meek and
lowly in heart; for such shall find rest to their souls.

We should never "weary of good works." It even says throughout the scriptures that we need to be "anxiously engaged in a good cause." Must be important eh? So. I encourage you all, myself included, to never weary of good works. :) Have you done any good in the world today? No? Change that ;)

Love y'all!
Sister Fletcher :)

 

She lovingly finishes her granola bar outside because she know the smell makes me sick ;) haha she's great. 

  

awkward pose in the snow outside our apartment   

Ohh look! A bunny! .....that's a rock....whoops....

Hey all!

Guess whaaaaaaaat! I get to stay in this wonderful place for 6 more weeks! I'm so excited. I nearly cried when I found out :) #alwaysavoidingtransfers Sister Hurst is also staying! WOOT! It's amazing how fast my love for the people here has grown in just 6 weeks. Ah. Missions are the best:)

I had a pretty cool moment yesterday sitting on the back row of the chapel, just looking around at the "Mighty Monad" Ward. What a blessing and a privilege to be a missionary serving there. There were so many amazing examples sitting right there that it brought tears to my eyes. As missionaries, we have the trust of a lot of information of people's personal lives, and it really hit home for me seeing the things that so many of the Ward members are going through.

I see the new sister that moved in who courageously introduces herself to as many people as she can before the meeting starts. The single mom of 4 kids under 4 -whose husband left her just 3 days previous- with all of her kids braving church for the first time completely alone.  I see the recent convert who is blessing the sacrament. The man whose wife left him just a week previous to follow her addictions, greets other members of the Ward cheerfully. The recovering addict who came to sacrament meeting because she knew she needed to take the sacrament, only to return right after the meeting to visit a granddaughter in the hospital ICU. The bishop who races the clock to hug as many of his ward family as he can The former bishop- battling heart failure- who gets to sit with his family for the first time in a long time now that the time has changed. The young dad that won let his wife leave the chapel and instead takes the kids out himself:) The young man preparing for a mission that gathers the courage to bear a powerful testimony and set the example for the rest of the youth to come and share their testimonies. The returning less active family that arrives to church early and chooses not to sit on the back row this week. The family of 6 that is there every single week sitting reverently on the 4th row.

Those are only a few examples, but it really made an impact on me. It reminded me of a quote by President Uchtdorf I think, "The church is a hospital for sick people to come and be healed." How true that is. We are all there to be able to partake of the sacrament and be free of all the mortal clutter we have collected throughout the week. Our wounds are bound and we are healed through the atonement.

Let's see... What else has happened this week? I'll insert some random journal entries :)

Tuesday: welp. I currently smell like I smoke 5 packs a day, dog drool from at least 3 different dogs, and enchiladas. It's a miracle anyone lets me in their house. Hahaha

Wednesday: I read a quote today that I really love. "Do we just talk the talk or do we ENTHUSIASTICALLY walk the walk?" It's not enough just to do. We have to love it :)

Thursday: *tries to read handwriting*  *not possible* it was a long day ;)

Friday: We spent the day delivering cookies annnnnd weekly planning. #woot we had antelope for dinner and that was super good! Slept through all the fireworks ;) how cool is it that we not only get a clean slate when the new year starts but a REAL renewal every time we repent.

Saturday: visited St. Vincent's hospital today. Vanessa's granddaughter is in the hospital so we brought the Elders with us so she could get a blessing. Oh man. Pediatric ICU :( so sad. But the spirit was so strong and her granddaughter stopped crying right as the blessing ended. :) OH. When we first walked into the hospital, these people pointed at us. And said they might need us later. We had no idea who they were. But eventually we figured out they were members from Wyoming and had a son in critical condition. They needed oil to give him a blessing. The timing could not have been more perfect. God truly is in charge. :)

It was a great week! Happy new year! Love you all!

Love,
Sister Fletcher :)

 The biggest dog I've ever seen. And my sweet companion.

 

MBM<3

 The district. #alwaysawkward #grouppictures (thanks brittney for the head warmer:)

 The Zone:)