Lessons in Training

Family,

Introducing my new trainee, SISTER HOGGE! She is from Alpine, Utah and 19. She went to Lonepeak High School and a year at Utah State. Youngest, has 4 older brothers. 

We made it through the first week of training! It has been NUTS. haha for some reason everything just decided to go to the dogs this week.  Poor Sister Hogge, she just doesn't know what to think!  I have to keep reassuring here that things like this happen alll the time in missionary work and it's not just her.  Transfer day was crazy.  We had to leave at 6:30 a.m. which meant up by 5:15 after having stayed up most the night getting Sister Mendoza packed.  It was seriously through the enabling power of Grace that I made it through that day! 

To begin, we have her very first lesson the day she arrives in Pinehurst.  A man named Tyron who had requested a Bible.  Sister Mendoza and I had visited him last week to deliver the Bible and start teaching him.  He was mostly interested cause he's studied a bunch of religions but we thought we'd give him a chance.  We tried to teach him more about the Book of Mormon but unfortunately he only wanted to argue everything we said and tell us that we couldn't "Evangelize" because we haven't studied enough religions… We just testified and told him to read the Book of Mormon and pray.  So yeah, not the best experience for a brand new missionary. 

The next day we got treated by the Kucinski's who are a recent convert couple of a year, they just went through the temple!  They took us to the famous Pinehurst #2 where they are members and we ate at the club for lunch.  I got pictures for you Grandpa! 

We redeemed ourselves by going to see the Galford's that night.  Sister Hogge was really excited because they are a normal family! haha It was great.  We taught the Plan of Salvation as sort of a review for them.  They seem to be enjoying church and are getting to know the members more and more.  Last time we met with them we said that one of them was going to have to say the prayers because we always say it.  So Sophi said the opening prayer and Cole the closing. The first prayer they have ever said out loud!!! It was the sweetest experience ever.  Truly it has been so amazing to see this family change and how their hearts have been truly touched and softened. 

Sister Hogge and Sister Dearden as "Regular People"

I took Sister Hogge out for her first tracting experience Saturday.  We got many of the same standard rejections, "I have a church already," "I don't need a prophet I have Jesus", "I don't have time" etc.  Plus it was her first experience in the humidity. After finishing the neighborhood, we went and tried our other plans, no luck.  So I took to the gps and went to some random former investigator.  He had moved but the woman who lived there let us right in. She had known a woman who had been married to a Mormon and when we brought out a Book of Mormon she asked if she could have it and wanted us to give us our neighbor so she could call if she had questions, it was such a tender mercy! 

I learned a lesson this week and that is don't make your trainee do something just because 12 week tells you to.  "Twelve weeks" is the training booklet that we use and there are certain applications to do each week.  This week was have your trainee invite someone to be baptized.  We had a lesson this week with our investigator Robert.  Unfortunately the member we took completely steam rolled the lesson and Sister Hogge.  The member just started telling stories and carrying on as southerners do.  We coulnd't get a word in edge wise.  It was extremely frustrating. We had planned for Sister Hogge to invite him to baptism, so I wrote a note to Sister Hogge, invite him to baptism.  But I wasn't thinking about Robert and his needs or the spirit that wasn't present in the lesson any more, I was just thinking that this was her application this week and she needed to do it.  So she did and and he thankfully accepted and we finally made it out.  As we were driving home, Sister Hogge said, well I did it but the spirit wasn't there.  It really hit me that I wasn't following the spirit I was just focused on what we needed to do.  I continue to work on coming to understand that LOVE is the motivation for all that we do.  When we have that charity for others we can better understand them and their needs. 

Here's to another week!

Love, Sister Dearden