Oh my heavens

Hey everyone!

Oh my HEAVENS.

This week was nuts.

I loved every second of it :)

Seriously, this crazy experience of being a missionary is one that I will never forget and hope to never take for granted. It goes by so incredibly fast. There were so many tender mercies this week and I wanted to share a few of them with you all.

I'm just so grateful for the companions I have had on my mission. There were so many moments this week where I so clearly needed to be with either Sister Pearson or Sister Crosland to have the experiences we had. It's so amazing to see the different talents and gifts that God gives us each individually. I've also realized that with each companion I get, I am reminded of weaknesses of my own that I need to overcome. It becomes so crystal clear that my Heavenly Father has a specific plan for me in his grand plan of happiness for his children. He molds us and makes us into the person we need to become in order to inherit the celestial kingdom.

Tawny. Oh goodness I loooooove Tawny. She's so funny. We taught her the restoration this last week and she knows it's true! We read Ether 12:27 with her and her reaction was the greatest. We explained how the Book of Mormon can answer questions we have and what Ether was trying to tell us. Her eyes got big....her jaw was gaping open...and she exclaimed, "WOAH. That's flippin INTENSE!" We send her scriptures everyday and get similar responses. Hahaha I love the Book of Mormon! It boldly testifies of truth.

Mark and Chris. Man oh MAN. They know the bible so well and it sure is throwing me for a loop. Our lesson with them last week did not go as planned. It was so frustrating. Their questions have been occupying my mind for most of the week. Marks big thing is that he thinks that you have faith AFTER you receive some evidence. Which is totally not true doctrine #alma32. He used the reference of faith without works. But since he doesn't yet have a testimony of the Book of Mormon...we are at a bit of a standstill. Many of the people we have met this week have also questioned us on how we can go on blind faith since we cannot see the gold plates and cannot see where the ancient prophets lived. So. All of these thoughts are swirling in my head all week, and
I'm starting to feel like I'm kinda crazy! What really is faith?! And then...Woman's Conference. The tender mercy of all tender mercies.

President Uchtdorf point-blank said, "Faith is being certain of what we do not see."
Yep! THATS RIGHT! Faith is being CERTAIN of what we do not see.
CERTAIN
aka
KNOWLEDGE. FOR SURE.
So.
I'M NOT CRAZY!
We have a lesson with them tonight and I'm STOKED. I can see glimmers of hope if they will just soften their hearts. I feel like Chris has some real intent and that Mark is willing to test it out...so...fingers crossed!

We got to have lunch with Ron and Shoni this last week. I taught them in my first area. I just love them :) it's a tender mercy to hear so much about my first area from Sister Crosland and to know that people I love oh so very much were being very well taken care of after I left. :) We also got to see many people from mission at woman's conference.

Well my dearest family and friends. The church is true, the book is blue. I'm having the best day ever so far :)
Be happy work hard!

Love, Sister Fletcher

 Oh just some Book of Mormon stories scavenger hunt. (Ammon:)

 Nephi building a boat...Laman and Lemuel just chilling.

 The Liahona pic...hahaha

 President Lindsey's!

Proof

Hey everyone!

Its definitely feeling like fall here in Missoula! The leaves on the trees are turning vibrant colors and it makes everything seem so much brighter despite it getting darker earlier. TRANSFER NEWS. I will be staying in this great city and Sister Crosland will be coming here from Wyoming to be my companion! Sister Crosland also served in St. Ignatius for 6 months after I was there so I'm STOKED to serve with her. :)

This week has been pretty crazy. The theme of the week seems to be "Where is the proof for the Book of Mormon?" This is a subject that I already was pretty passionate about, but the further I've delved into it, the more sure I am that The Book of Mormon truly is divine. We are teaching a guy named Mark. Mark is a youth pastor for a local congregation and holy cow does he know the bible. We met Mark while teaching his friend Chris. (Chris is doing awesome. Super prepared) Anyway. Mark wants evidence for the Book of Mormon, and although we've tried to explain SO MANY TIMES that the Holy Ghost is what really testifies to us that it's true, he wants more of an explanation. So, we are teaching him today in hopes of explaining more how the Book of  Mormon came to be and the miracle it truly is. And most importantly that it a testament of Jesus Christ.

One thing really struck me as I have studied this week about the Book of Mormon was this quote by Tad R. Callister: "Years ago my great-great-grandfather picked up a copy of the Book of Mormon for the first time. He opened it to the center and read a few pages. He then declared, “That book was either written by God or the devil, and I am going to find out who wrote it.” He read it through twice in the next 10 days and then declared, “The devil could not have written it--it must be from God.” That is the genius of the Book of Mormon--there is no middle ground. It is either the word of God as professed, or it is a total fraud. This book does not merely claim to be a moral treatise or theological commentary or collection of insightful writings. It claims to be the word of God--every sentence, every verse, every page. Joseph Smith declared that an angel of God directed him to gold plates, which contained the writings of prophets in ancient America, and that he translated those plates by divine powers. If that story is true, then the Book of Mormon is holy scripture, just as it professes to be; if not, it is a sophisticated but, nonetheless, diabolical hoax."

That is the essence of the Book of Mormon. There is ABSOLUTELY NO MIDDLE GROUND. Zero. It is either from God or it's from the devil. We can know of its truthfulness by reading it and abiding by its precepts. By judging if it truly does help us to come unto Christ. And, I think it does. In fact, I know it does. Nephi sums it up pretty amazingly at the end of his writing in the Book of Mormon "And now my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all the ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if he believe not in these words believe in Christ . And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words for they are the words of Christ and He hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good."

So. If you are reading the Book of Mormon, read it more. Find out how it testifies of Christ and supports the Bible. Find how the bible supports the Book of Mormon. (Hint hint. Preach my gospel chapter 5) If you aren't reading the Book of Mormon EVERY SINGLE DAY...repent and do it. It will bless your life more than you can even imagine. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. It truly testifies of Christ and contains the fullness of the gospel.

Well, I'm outa time! Love you all!
Love, Sissy Fletch

Laser tagging.  Guess who got second...

 Missoula Zone

 Sunrise 

 Updated sticky note wall by my study desk

"That's Awesome!"

My favorite people!

Hey :)

Whata week! :) it FLEW by. I must sound like a broken record at this point, but really, everyday just goes by so fast. Things are great here in the Missoula. We got on the bikes a little bit this last week which was FANTASTIC. I never thought I'd enjoy biking in a skirt...but lo and behold I DO! Don't get me wrong, it's probably one of the most complicated things ever. You have to wear the right kind of skirt. Not too long, not too short, not too tight, not too flow-y.  Just right. Like baby bear's porridge ;) Once you have the skirt figured out, the balancing act begins. You have a bag full of tons of stuff. Typically 2-3 copies of the Book of Mormon, 5-10 pamphlets, the iPad, a water bottle, granola bars to snack on, and any other odds and ends. So the bag makes riding a little lopsided. Then you also have to use correct hand signals and be prepared to stop suddenly to talk to anyone and everyone, while also being super dignified while getting on and off and making sure your skirt doesn't blow up in the wind. It works out for the most part ;) The wind though. Not possible in the wind.

I spent some time in Frenchtown this week. Oh how I love that little town :) we had a super cool miracle! The sisters there are working with this lady, lets call her Lynn, and she is SUPER busy all the time but GOLDEN. So we had this member drive us to Lynn's house which is CLEARRRRRRR up in the mountains of Huson. It took us a half hour to get there. Lynn didn't get home until 8:50, curfew is 9:30. PANIC. So we sit down and teach a very brief part of the plan of salvation to her and her 10 year old daughter. Lynn and the member we brought really hit it off. Their daughters are the same age and know each other! PERFECT. So anyway, we get to the end of the lesson and ask Lynn to pick who she would like to say the closing prayer. Her 10 year old raises her hand and asks if someone can teach her how. We explained how to pray, and then got to witness this sweet 10 year old say her very first prayer. The times I have felt the spirit the strongest is when I am able to hear someone pray for the first time, and this moment was no exception. It was such a simple prayer, but so real and so heartfelt. Instant tears. I love being a missionary!

We had interviews with president on Wednesday. Oh my heavens. I JUST LOVE THE WADSWORTHS SO MUCH. President was super behind on interviews, so we ended up having a lot of time to talk with Sister Wadsworth. Her testimony of the gospel strengthens mine so much. You can just tell that everything she says about the gospel- she lives it. It was good to reminisce and talk about the miracle that missions are :) And then President. Oh man. We had interviews in the same room that we had had our very first interview over a year ago. It was amazing to see the change. I love soaking up all the knowledge I possibly can from him. I LOVED what he said in his weekly email to the mission this last week. He said:

"The nature of the work that we are engaged in requires us to have faith and a determination to push forward.  “…shall we not go on in so great a cause?  Go forward and not backward.  Courage …: and on, on to the victory!” (Doctrine and Covenants 128:22)  It is easy to slide backward because it requires no effort—gravity and nature take its normal course.  Going forward requires focus, effort and determination. Many of us are comfortable with who we are and where we are at in life.  That is a mistake that will have eternal consequences.  We should never be satisfied with the status quo.  The expectation for our lives is to be growing and changing.  E. E. Cummings said, “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”  Heavenly Father and the Lord know who we really are and what we have the potential to become.  It is only through giving ourselves up to Them that we will be in a position to find our true selves.  Elders and Sisters, courage, and on, on to the victory!"

It's so true! I am so guilty of letting gravity chart my course. It's hard to figuratively paddle upstream when you can see everyone else floating down the lazy river. And the hard part isn't really even the paddling! It's seeing everyone else enjoying themselves floating the river while you are fighting your way up. The only way we will continue to paddle upstream is if we know WHY we are doing it! So when it comes to those real life situations where we are doing exactly the opposite of what the world is doing, we need to have a firm knowledge of why we are doing what we are doing. That is why we are asked to study the scriptures everyday. That's why we should pray always. And why we attend church! It guides us to what our motives should be in living the gospel. I've found that for me most often the answer to why we do the things we do is: Because our Heavenly Father has asked us to. I strive for that answer to be sufficient for me in any commandment I need to keep. I love how Elder Ringwood put it in his talk "Truly good and without guile." He said "All I really want in life is to please my fathers--both earthly and heavenly." When that is our goal, everything falls together so much easier. We are able to happily obey and see the blessings, sometime immediately. We can be
paddling upstream with a big grin on our face when we know that we are paddling towards eternal life.

This ended up being a lot longer than anticipated...haha :) I love you all so much. I'm so grateful for all the support I have been given from friends and family to help me come on a mission and stay on a mission. It's the best day ever so far every single day.

Be happy, work hard!
Love, Sister Fletcher

Oh. The title of the email. Funny story. Sister Pearson has this funny habit of saying "that's awesome!" in response to just about anything and it's starting to rub off on me. The best ones are when we are at the doorstep and they say "Oh I'm not interested" to which she responds.... "That's awesome!" Hahahahahahahahaha No! That's not awesome that they're not interested! 😂

 

Sister Thacker and I :)

 

Exchanges with the Frenchtown Sisters! :)

The Clark Fork :)

  Brittany and Jeff got married! Sister Hodgson and I taught them
for a bit 3 months ago and then they moved to 1st Ward and the sisters
there as well as the bishop worked it all out so that they could get
married and Brittany could start working towards baptism! WOOT!!! :)

Biking yesterday...There was a storm that came out of nowhere. *shivers*

Rainy days and smiling faces

Man oh man

This week was insane.

One second I was in Hamilton....then the YSA....I blinked and was back in third Ward...and now I'm sitting here stunned that Monday has already rolled around.

Because I was outside of the area most of the week on exchanges, I'm not too sure what to update you all on other than...
1. We found out that May and Ray are actually outside the Ward boundaries....by like 50ft. So bugged. But their daughter is in our primary program so they will stay until then. It's just a matter of when and how to tell them...
2. Still dropping a lot of investigators and cleaning out the area book.
3. Had a lesson on the temple with Jessica, Ray, and Ty. They're doing so great and are SO excited to work toward the temple.
4. We met with Morgan again. She's doing well. We showed her the video "the hope of Gods light" and she LOVED it.
5. Finding lots of promising people! Just praying it all goes well.

We're chugging along :) it's getting colder. Mixed feelings about that. We went BOWLING today!!! So fun :)

Okay. Ready for a cool story!? So I was sitting in gospel principles and our Ward mission leader, Brother McBride, was teaching the lesson. In the lesson he shared a story about how he served his mission in Oakland California. While he was there there was a huge earthquake. Well hey...my dad served there...and it was during a big earthquake...hm. So afterwards I asked Brother McBride about it AND GUESS WHAT. Not only did they know each other on their missions...They were in the MTC together and were best buds throughout it! SO COOL. So I got to spend some time looking at pictures of my dad on his mission. :) It was a pretty sweet experience. God really had to orchestrate all of that to work out the way it did. It was a testimony to me that He truly knows each one of us and wants us to be happy. Truly the essence of a "tender mercy" :)

Other than that... I'm excited for this next week! We're working hard and excited to see miracles everyday. I love being a missionary. :)
Over and out :)
Sister Fletcher

 Bowling!

(mom didn't get an explanation of this one...but yes, that's a snake.)

 YSA Sisters

 My daddio breaking into his car on his mission ;)