JOY AND HAPPINESS…
11/16/15

Well it has been another great week...despite the fact that it’s getting really, really cold and snowing a lot....

 Happily, we had many opportunities to do service and a lot of teaching!

We had the opportunity to serve at the animal shelter and at this awesome food shelter. Another church organizes food to give to those in need. And it’s really cool because they let the missionaries come and help! We also were able to help an older lady groom her horse and scoop the poop! Yup!

This week was great because we met new people to teach. We have found both new investigators and people who have not attended church in a while to teach. We started teaching an older man who is less active and he is so ready and wanting to come back to church! The entire lesson the spirit was so strong and he was crying and emotional the whole time. 

The German couple  we are teaching is doing really good. We had a great lesson about baptism. They are not quite ready, because they want to learn more English first. They are really awesome people!  We are also teaching this woman named Debbie. She has started reading the Book of Mormon and her countenance has completely changed!   it’s amazing to see!  We taught her Word of Wisdom and it was a powerful lesson and she committed to it!  

Sunday night was a crazy night! Lots of miracles happened....We found two new investigators and the husband is a Dallas Cowboy fan!! So that led him to letting us in!! Score! That night we had some very spiritual lessons. We could really see the Lords hand in this work. The people we saw and the messages that were shared were just what these people needed at this specific time!

It’s amazing to see the Lord's hand in people's lives every day and to be able to see the change in people!  Like president Benson said "I have tasted the joy of missionary work. There is no work in all the world that can bring an individual greater JOY and HAPPINESS"  How true that is!

I love my job!
Sister Titensor

DAVID ARCHULETTA AND SNOW!!!                     11/9/15

  

                             DAVID ARCHULETTA  SURPRISE VISIT!!!

This was a great week! We taught a lot of lessons despite the fact of how many meetings we had. We had Mission Leadership Council on Tuesday and Zone meeting on Friday. We also went on more exchanges this week. Plus on Wednesday we were asked to teach training workshop to all the senior missionaries at the Pine Valley Chapel. We gave training to all the senior couples on how to work with ward members. It was fun because we did a roll play with President and Sister Center and it was quite funny!  But it was really good to be around all the older missionary couples.  Oh, and the Pine Valley chapel is so beautiful! (it is an old historic building, I believe it’s the oldest church building in use today) Oh, and did I mention that it snowed that day? BEAUTIFUL!

Then Zone meeting on Friday was really cool! Our mission president told all the missionaries serving in St. George to meet at the chapel and be there early. He said he wanted to take an hour of our zone meeting (which is really weird for him to do). So we were there and no one knew what was going on. We were just waiting patiently. Then I hear everyone start to whisper. I turn around and David Archuletta walks into the room!   He came and spoke so some of us missionaries.  It was a really spiritual meeting. He sang some songs just for us and he talked about his mission and about his grandmother's conversion story. It was such a powerful meeting. Oh and funny but sad story...David ended up going to the Pine Valley chapel for church on Sunday.... and we were going to go to that ward on Sunday but we decided not to at the last minute! Dang!!!....

 We had an amazing and busy week. We are teaching this German couple..They moved from Cologne, Germany about 6 months ago.  It is really interesting to teach them because they are still working on their English.  We luckily have some members that go with us to help translate some things that they may not understand.  But, they are the most prepared people I have ever met!  They are so ready for the gospel. They strongly agree with everything we teach...even the Word of Wisdom! We taught them the word of wisdom and they completely agreed. That only problem was that the wife drank coffee but she gave it up the next day!  They are so amazing and the spirit is so strong when we go into their home.

I have really noticed how prepared some people are to receive the restored gospel. The Lord is preparing his children as we speak. We have been trying to find new people to teach but are falling short. We have me a lot of people recently who are not interested...YET!  But we can continue to plant seeds and it is all in the Lord's timing!

Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes! I really appreciated it and it made for a great day!

I love my job!

Sister Titensor

                                                   

                                                                P-DAY HIKE..

                                                                                 

THE "SISTERS"

                                                      PINE VALLEY HISTORIC CHAPEL

BIRTHDAY, HALLOWEEN, BAPTISM…

I LOVE MY JOB!

Hi all,
THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE BIRTHDAY CARDS AND WISHES!!!

It has been one crazy week here in Utah...and it has been a fun one for sure!

We had an amazing zone conference this week…It was centered on the Book of Mormon. It was such a spiritually uplifting meeting!  There is so much power in the Book of Mormon! It has changed my life and I have watched it change the life of others!

It truly is the word of God.

This week we had the opportunity to do more exchanges with other Sister Missionaries, which is always fun! I was with Sister McNaughton and she is from the Dallas area so it was fun to be with a fellow Texan for a day!

Friday was a special day...not because it was my birthday..but because we were able to take some of the people we are teaching to the St George temple visitors center. The visitor’s center is an awesome place and the spirit felt there is so strong!  Our investigators loved it. We also were able to take them to the Tabernacle and gave them a tour of that...there is a great spirit there as well.

Later we had the opportunity to work at the homeless shelter for the afternoon. Then we ended the day by teaching probably the most spiritual lesson I have ever had. It was a couple who are interested in learning about our church. We had dinner with them at the Bishop's home. The spirit was very strong and they agreed to be baptized! It was a miracle! I felt so much love for these people that I have only known for 3 weeks.

 It’s amazing to me because it gave me a small glimpse of how much God loves his children!

Halloween was another great day because one of our investigators, Peter, was baptized!  It was awesome!. Most of his family is not members of our church, but they came and supported him. Peter's girlfriend is a member and she is a great example to him. 

Halloween night we spent at ward parties and meeting tons of people!  It was a fun evening!  Oh and our Senior Missionary Couple took me out to lunch for my birthday. They took us to Texas Roadhouse. And on the back of one of the employee's shirt it said "I LOVE MY JOB" Ah I almost died laughing! I had to take a picture because I truly do love my job. It’s not always the easiest job but it is definitely worth it!

The gospel is changing lives here!

Sister Titensor

BAPTISM!  BUSY BUSY BUSY J

It was a great week! We had a baptism on Saturday for Gretchen! She is amazing and was so prepared. The spirit was so strong. Her countenance was beautiful and she is so full of light!

This past week we have been doing service for a woman we are teaching, Kamala. She is older and has horses and chickens, she needed some help.  So we have been going over twice a day and feed her horse and chickens and scoop some manure!  Ha it’s been good because it’s creating a great bond and friendship with her. We are only doing it for a week but it has been fun!

We also had another great opportunity to do service this week. We were able to go to

St George and help out at a Big Halloween Carnival. It was fun to be around a lot of other missionaries and meet a lot of people. It’s fun/funny because everyone here loves missionaries!

On Wednesday went on exchanges with other missionaries and we spent the day in Parowan. The missionary work is struggling in Parowan so we did lots of walking and meeting members to help meet people. The whole day it was raining and freezing. But we met some really great people!  It was a fun day to be on exchanges!

We have been really busy. We go on splits (taking members with us to help teach) a lot because we have too many appointments to do by ourselves...which is good!  We barely have time to contact all of the referrals we have and find new people to teach

.

 But, I have seen that when we are obedient and when we work hard...miracles happen! We have had two new investigators this week that have literally fallen into our lap! It was truly a miracle!  We were asked to speak in a church on Sunday. In my talk I focused a lot on how we can sometimes feel like we are in darkness but the Savior is the light. And while I was talking, this woman in the congregation with tattoos and dreadlocks was staring at me and listening intently to my talk. Afterwards, she told me how much she appreciated my talk. She has been very less active in church in her life and she wants to change. We will start teaching her this week!  Miracle!

The Savior and his teaching are truly that light that will help us out of darkness. Just as when Joseph Smith was engulfed in darkness while praying, he saw a pillar of light exactly over his head. The light of the Savior dispelled the darkness that Joseph was in. Christ can do the same thing for us when we are in "darkness". The Gospel of Jesus Christ is so true! And I love my job!

Sister Titensor

DAMMERON VALLEY       

Well St George North is an amazing area! We cover the whole Stake. It’s hard to explain what the area is like but it is SO BEAUTIFUL!  We cover several town/communities. Winchester, Dammeron Valley, Veyo, Brookside, Central and Pine Valley. It’s very spread out so we drive a lot!  The members here are amazing and help out a ton.

My new companion is Sister Gearheart! She is from Washington State. She and I get along really well and we have lots of fun together.

I’m really excited for this transfer.  We are teaching some amazing people!  Gretchen is one who is preparing for baptism soon. She is very humble and she has such a strong understanding and testimony of the gospel. We are teaching a new person we met this week her name is Kamala. She is older but she is very spiritually in tune and wants to learn! The thing that got her interested was the visiting and home teaching program in our church. She loved the fact that members of the church really look out for each other. It’s amazing to see her progress and she loves attending church. 

 There have been some stressful things ha ha… we are limited on how many miles we can drive(tracking mileage) a lot of times we  have to ask for rides from members to save on mileage. It’s sometimes hard to find house addresses in these areas so we get lost a lot ha!  And we have had some training meetings in St George and also several exchanges (trading areas and working with other missionaries). So, we have been super busy, but we have fun and miracles happen! With the Lords help, it all works out - I have really seen that happen and it is amazing!  I’m really happy and I know it because we are (trying) to do what the Lords needs us to do. I also know when we fall short, he is always there to bear us up!   

I love my job!

Sister Titensor

TRANSFERS!! GOING TO ST. GEORGE NORTH ...

Well my time has come to leave Kanab! i have loved serving here for the past six months. I have seen miracles time and time again! The people here are amazing and I am sad to leave them. I am being transferred to the St. George North area...which actually isn’t in St. George at all. It covers Dammeron Valley, Pine Valley and Veyo! So that will be interesting. I'm also assigned as a STL (sister trainer leader). So I will travel a lot again and be going on exchanges with other sisters in the mission so that will be fun :)

Well we had some really great lessons this week. We drove up to Alton to teach Mike another recent convert lesson. He is doing great and his testimony is so strong.  We are also teaching this less active family with 2 kids that haven't been baptized and they are doing awesome. Anne, another investigator is also doing great. She LOVED conference! She has a great understanding of the gospel and really recognizes the feelings of the spirit in her life. She is worried about being baptized because she doesn't like to be in front of people, she gets nervous.  But she will get baptized eventually!! I just know it :)

We also had the opportunity to volunteer/work at “Best Friends”. If you don’t know what that is..Google it. Ha-ha its a huge "animal sanctuary" and they have tons of animals. People come here from all over.  A bunch of people who are not members of our church work there so we went and volunteered. We helped clean some cat rooms. And we even took cats out for a walk in a stroller. No joke...they have a stroller that they zip the cats in!!! Ha-ha it was fun and funny!  And we made some great friendships with some great people. . It was fun!

Well I have felt a lot of doubt about myself and my own abilities throughout my mission but I loved what President Monson said in his conference talk! He said "Remember that faith and doubt CANNOT exist in the same mind at the same time for one will dispel the other" And that is so true!! We let our faith in Jesus Christ dispel our doubt. And I have seen that first hand!

The gospel is true and I love my Job!

Sister Titensor

Pictures:

-Our district

-painting nails at the nursing home

-volunteering at Best Friends! Animal shelter

-walking the cats haha

OCTOBER!!                                                                                                                                    10/5/15                                     

General Conference weekend was amazing! Really Inspiring!! It made a week full of cancelled appointments so much better!  We have high hopes for this week! Good things to come.

The weather is finally starting to cool off! And the tourism here is starting to slow down. But now…hunting season is starting and that’s a really big deal around here. We even had some elk ribs the other day! 

One day last week, we were walking and this random older lady just opened her door and invited us in! Ha-ha her name was Martha and she is actually studying with the Jehovah's witnesses right now. She is thinking about joining them. But, she wanted to talk with us and was asking all these questions about how there should be just one religion and it shouldn’t be this confusing to find it. In fact the way she was talking she sounded just like the young Joseph Smith. It was amazing to hear her story. She is one who is prepared! So’ we went and visited her a few days later. She wasn’t feeling too well at the time. So we just asked if there was anything we could do for her. She said yes actually. She had a Jehovah’s Witness party and she needed to bring 3lbs of coleslaw to it. Ha-ha! She gave us $20 and asked us to run and get it. She’s older and her knees are bad so it’s difficult for her to get out. Of course, we said yes.  But, we couldn’t get to the store, do we asked a member of our church to help and go and buy coleslaw for us. (They were happy to do it)  It was all quite funny but hey it was an opportunity to serve! Ha!

Anne, who we started teaching last week, is doing really well. She loved watching general conference and is so amazed by the spirit that this gospel brings. She is really an awesome person! This gospel can change so many lives!  But many people don’t realize it. When people slam their door or are just flat out not open to us... sometimes I wonder, do they realized what they are missing? Do they realize that we have the most amazing gift to share? We will do all we can and people will still reject or turn away from the gospel. It breaks my heart, but we just keep moving on serving and finding those who will embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ! The mission is the best thing ever and I love my job!

Sister Titensor