No Doubt

I'm so excited to hear about the Childs! They are going to be such a great mission president and wife. Mission presidents has such a big effect on missions, I can't even begin to describe all the wonderful ways President and Sister Holm have helped me and blessed me. It's a huge responsiblity, but they're going to be great.

 

Speaking of how mission presidents have an impact on their missionaries, President Holm had an interesting revelation this week that's really made our lives exciting the past few days. We had zone conference on Tuesday, which was really fun, as I'm sure you saw with the pictures and skits on Facebook. We also got to watch Ephraim's Rescue, which is an amazing movie. But anyway, on the way back to Columbia after zone conference, President Holm had this impression that every single companionship in the Greenville North Zone had someone they needed to baptize by the end of the year.

 

So he told the zone leaders and they told us. We found out on Wednesday, which gave us ten days. Since we didn't have anyone on date for the rest of the year, we had 10 days to find someone to put on date and get them baptized. I have to admit, at first I was really skeptical. I thought there was no way we could do this. But then I thought about how much I trust my mission president, and more importantly Heavenly Father, and I decided that I wasn't going to doubt anymore, that I was just going to have faith that this would all work out. And so we went right to work. We looked through all our investigators and former investigators and found all the ones that have been to church at least once and then we went to go see them and invite them to be baptized.

 

And the first day, we had absolutely no luck. No one was home. The next day we were supposed to have an exchange with the Sister Training Leaders. I woke up not feeling to great and by the end of companion study I had a full blown fever, but was freezing cold. But one of the Sister Training Leaders was also sick, so the two of us went to their apartment and slept all day, while Sister Rowley and Sister Paxman went and tried to contact all these people. They were finally able to talk to some of them, but none of them wanted to be baptized. I still wasn't feeling well on Friday, so we stayed in during the afternoon, but we went to the ward Christmas party that night and I was able to get a blessing there, which was really helpful. Also, while we were at the party one of the former investigators we'd been trying to contact called us and said she'd watched all of general conference, loved it, and wanted us to come over. So we're going to see her tonight.

 

We've talked with everyone and invited everyone that we possibly could to be baptized on the 28th, but none of them have accepted yet, so we're really praying this meeting tonight goes well. It's been a really crazy week. I don't think I've ever been more stressed on my mission, but I also don't think I've ever worked so hard and been so bold. We just haven't had time to beat around the bush with people. And no one has been offended when we've asked them to be baptized.

 

That was the thing that concerned us most, was that we would scare some of our investigators off by inviting them to be baptized so fast. But nothing bad has happened yet! I'm just really grateful for this experience, because it's really changed how I feel about inviting people to be baptized. When we left zone conference, I was thinking a lot about that, wondering if I really had the faith to invite people to be baptized, the faith that they would stay strong and active in the church and the faith that the ward would help them and support them. Well, after the past five days, I definitely do have that faith now.

 

Another funny thing that happened last night. All the missionaries in our district went to downtown Greenville, which is the cutest city ever, to go caroling. We ended up standing across the street from this building with big glass windows. There was a huge tv in there, and you'll never guess what show came on- Larkrise to Candleford! I couldn't believe it. It was a little distracting :)

 

I'm very excited to talk to some of you soon. Don't worry about Christmas presents, Grandma Terry's is already here, and the zone leaders will be getting the rest to us on Christmas Eve, so as long as it's in South Carolina it will get to me by Christmas. I also got a present from Sister Marsh and Brother Bobby Harris. She told us they'd ordered us Christmas presents before he died, but she hadn't gotten them by the time I was transferred. Getting that present almost made me cry.

 

Merry Christmas,

Sister Rudy

Great Week

It's been a great week here in Easley, although a bit more of a challenging one than normal. We didn't have much luck teaching that many of our investigators this week, they were all gone or wouldn't answer their door or were busy. It was really hard for Sister Rowley, because that doesn't usually happen here, while I was pretty ok with it, because that's how most days were in Moncks Corner.

That's something that I've been learning lately, that different things are hard for different people. Something that I struggle with isn't hard for Sister Rowley, and something that she struggles with isn't hard for me. That doesn't make her struggles any less hard than mine though. I've had to remind myself of that this week, when she was really getting frustrated, and I thought she was overreacting. I think that's one of the reasons Sister Rowley and I were put together as companions, because we've had very different experiences on our missions so far and we struggle with different things, so we kind of balance each other out. And she's helping me with my struggles, and I'm helping her with hers.

Their Creative Christmas Tree

One of the investigators that we tried over and over to see is a great guy. He's in his 50s; he's married and his wife has a lot of health problems. He's been investigating the church for about a year and a half now. He feels like he needs to read the entire Book of Mormon before he can know if this is the true church, so at least once a week we go over and read a few chapters and discuss them with him. He's really smart, and he and his wife take very good care of us. They were one of our Thanksgiving dinners, and we're going over to her mom's house on Christmas Eve. Every time we go over there he gives us peanuts and a Hershey's chocolate bar, and we eat that while we read. He's about to finish Mosiah, so he's got a ways to go, but we're really hoping that he'll figure it out soon.

We also started teaching this great guy I think Spencer would want to be his best friend. He's from the Dominican Republic; his family moved to New York, not far from Grandma and Grandpa Rudy, when he was 15. He just moved down here a year ago. He's already living most of the commandments; he told us he doesn't drink, and he doesn't have any law of chastity issues. So we're really excited about him. He's a very sincere, committed person, when he says he's going to do something he'll do it. Which is very refreshing, to have an investigator that actually does everything he says he'll do. It may take him a bit to get his answer, but I know he's going to get baptized in the near future.

As I'm sure you've heard, Charles and Kathie did come to my ward yesterday. It was really weird, but also very good to see some familiar faces. They also happened to come on the day that I was giving a talk, so that worked out perfectly.  [Kathie's mother, Carolyn Aiken Andrus Ginn, passed away on December 10 in Boise; her burial is in Greenville on December 17.] 

I hope by now you've gotten my Christmas package I sent. I was going to write a letter explaining more about it, but I don't know if I'll have time today, our district is getting together to practice Christmas carols so we can go caroling next week. So I'm just going to explain in my email. I was thinking about what I could give y'all for Christmas that would be meaningful, and this idea came to me. I sent 8 copies of the Book of Mormon, all of which I've written my testimony in. 

District Ugly Sweater Photo Op

Finding Out and Settling In

Thank you everyone for all your letters and emails. It's so exciting to find out that I have so many connections to this area and to Sister Rowley. [Sister Rowley is the sister of the mission companion of Kate's cousin's husband! And, our family friend and relative Kathie Smith still has family in Greenville, SC, so she knew Katelyn was serving there before we did.]   It really is a small world. Grandma Terry's christmas cds got here the middle of last week, and we've really been enjoying them.

Brad's baptism went so well! It was incredible. I've gotten to know him a little better this week and he really is such a great guy and he's really embraced the gospel. Even though Satan was giving him some opposition, he was really sticking to what we've taught him. We knew we wouldn't have to worry about him. 

Our goal for this week was to help him get to know the members of the ward better, so that he could start developing some friendships with them. We had dinner with him at the Kunzler family's house, and it was really fun. Brother Kunzler was able to baptize Brad, and he was so happy about it. He's the former stake president, so he's a really great member, and exactly what Brad needs as someone to help him learn more about the gospel. As soon as the baptismal service was over, Brother Kunzler was telling us he wants us to do the new member lessons at his house, and he was talking to the bishopric about volunteering to be Brad's home teacher. 

The ward here really is so nice. We stopped by to visit an older man in the ward, Fred Smith, who has cancer, and as soon as he saw us he presented me with my very own "Fred hat", which he makes for all the missionaries that serve in the ward. It's orange and light blue, because that's what I told him my favorite colors are. I'll send y'all a picture of it soon. 

The work here is going well, we have quite a few people we're teaching. Some of them aren't progressing very quickly. There's a few that have been meeting with missionaires for months, one over a year. It takes a lot of patience to teach them, as well as faith. We have to have faith that they'll be willing to change, and that all this effort we're putting into them will be worth it in the end. 

Yes, we do have a car and I am still the driver. We're praying it never snows here, because the roads are so curvy and hilly, it would be a nightmare in snow. It really is a great town. Sister Rowley has been telling me there's some great thrift stores, which makes me very excited. We're going to be going to some today, looking for ugly Chirstmas sweaters, for our district christmas picture. We have an awesome zone here. Everyone is super close to each other and so supportive. It's really nice to know we have other missionaries we can always count on for help. 

From Farm Girl to the City

Several times this week I've found myself thinking "My family has no idea where I am right now, just that I'm somewhere in South Carolina." It was kind of a funny thought. I'm happy to tell everyone that I'm in Easley, serving in the Greenville 1st ward. It's about two hours north of Columbia, on the completely opposite side of the state as Moncks Corner. And it's very different here. I feel kind of like a farm girl that ended up in New York City. There are so many stores, and gas stations, and houses here! I can't get over it. Everywhere we go there are neighborhoods and people. It's crazy.

My new companion is Sister Rowley. She's from Rexburg, Idaho and she's pretty amazing. She came out with Sister Bell, so she just finished her training. She was a ballerina, so we have lots to talk about. And she's a big singer, when she found out I sing alto she was thrilled!

It was hard to leave Moncks Corner. Even now I find myself thinking about the people back there, wondering how their Thanksgiving was and how everyone is doing. It was really hard for me to leave Sister Bell. I really love her; we went through a lot together, and we were really close. It's interesting because we really aren't very similar at all, but we complemented each other well. We've already made plans to meet up after our missions and I'm looking forward to seeing her soon, probably at the next Sisters' Conference. One of the sisters that was in my MTC district, Sister Eames, was transferred to Moncks Corner. That has brought me such comfort, because I love Sister Eames, and I know the people in Moncks Corner are going to love her too. Also, Sister Winsor and Sister Anderson, my trainer and my MTC companion, are now companions. I thought that was pretty great.

The work is moving so fast here in Easley that my head is spinning. We have six or seven investigators, one of which is going to be baptized this coming Saturday! He's in his early thirties. Sister Rowley and Sister Robinson (the sister before me; she came out with me) have been teaching him since October. He seems to really love the gospel. He's quiet so I haven't really gotten to know him that well yet, but I'm really excited for him.

Thanksgiving was pretty crazy, but we had a lot of fun. We had four dinner invitations. So, starting at 11:00 AM, we went to ihop with one of our investigators, and his wife and her parents. Then right after that we went to another dinner, with a couple who aren't members of the church, and aren't really interested in joining, but they love missionaries; they've been having the missionaries come over for about six years now. And they had invited a whole bunch of their family and neighbors over so that they could meet us and we could teach them. During dinner I got involved in a discussion with one of them and their neighbor; I didn't get to say much because their neighbor is an Independent Baptist and has very strong opinions, but it was an interesting conversation. Meanwhile, Sister Rowley managed to teach another neighbor the entire story of the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation, and that went very well. The lady really loved what we had to say; she thought it was really interesting. I don't know how seriously she would consider joining the church, but she said we could send more missionaires over to talk to her more. Then the last dinner we went to was with members. They were super nice, and we had a great time with them. It was a good day. I had way too much food. I didn't eat any pie, which was shocking to me, since I love pie, but I was just too full for dessert.

The Greenville 3rd ward had a wedding and a baptism on Saturday, so we spent a lot of time helping out with that. It was a lot of fun. The sisters in that ward had been teaching the girlfriend of a less active member; he's now become active, and she got baptized on Saturday. But before she could get baptized, they had to get married, so they had the wedding in the Relief Society room and then the baptism right after. They had a wedding reception in the cultural hall, but Sister Rowley and I couldn't stay for that because we went to dinner with some members. It was a really exciting day though, and it was fun to be a part of all the craziness.

There is so much to do here and so many people to teach. It's been a little intimidating for me, since I have very limited teaching experience, especially with investigators. But I'm so excited to be here. I'm glad everyone had a good Thanksgiving; I was sad I couldn't be with everyone. Thanks for the letters and the pictures; they mean a lot. I hope y'all have a wonderful week.

End of an Era

November 25, 2013

 

We had transfer calls this Friday night. I'll be leaving Moncks Corner, along with Elder Wright. I knew this was coming, but it's still kind of sad. I love Moncks Corner, and I really love Sister Bell. It's going to be strange to leave. These past couple days have been full of goodbyes. I've really gotten to love the members of this ward and I'm really going to miss a lot of them. Last night we had dinner with Sister Barron, one of my favorite members. It was hard not to cry when we left her house. We're going to visit Sister Marsh one last time tonight, I pretty sure I'm going to cry then. I just keep telling myself that I'll see all these people again sometime, whether that's when I come back and visit or sometime later.

I'm really going to miss Sister Bell. She's been a great companion and we've been through a lot together. We're very different, but we get along well. We complement each other in a lot of ways. Leaving her is going to be very hard. But we've already made plans to meet up after our missions, we're going to go see Finding Dory together when it comes out in two years. 

We got to go to the temple this week, which was so wonderful. Sister Barron and Sister Jarvis went with us. And we went on the day when a few members of our ward work in the temple, the Langdons and Brother Harrop. I did one of Brother Harrop's family names. It's been so long since I've been able to be in the temple, it was so nice and so peaceful. The Columbia temple is tiny, but it's so beautiful. As soon as we left I wanted to go back. After we went to the temple we went to the LDS bookstore across the street. I got volume two of the Lower Lights, and the BYU Men's Chorus cd, which made me very happy. 

We had an interesting experience the other day as we were out tracting. It was a kind of rainy day, it had sprinkled a few times, but had never rained very hard. As we were walking this guy called out to us so we went over and talked to him. We talked to him a bit about the restoration, and he told us he was very impressed with what we had been saying. But then he went on to say that he didn't think we were going to be part of the Latter-Day Saint church for much longer, he thought we were going to join a different church. We asked him what church that would be and he said the St. James AME church, his church. Sister Bell and I were looking at each other, trying to figure out what we could say. And as we were trying to think of what we could say to get us out of that situation without hurting his feelings, it started pouring rain. So we were able to very quickly end the conversation and walk away. I think that was Heavenly Father's way of getting us out of that situation, rather than giving us what to say, He just made it rain! 

My six month mark is on Friday. It's amazing how fast the time has gone by. Elder Smoot and I were talking about it on Sunday, since we both now only have a year left on our missions. In some ways it feels like it's all gone by so fast, but when I think about all the stuff that's happened and all the things I've learned it's amazing.

One of the things that I've learned, which surprised me, was how to be a better member of the church. Now I understand how important home and visiting teaching are, now I understand why fellowshipping and loving and serving other members is important, now I understand how the simple primary answers-praying, reading the scriptures and going to church- are what really make the difference. Doing those basic things consistently is what keeps our testimonies strong and helps us to become increasingly converted to the gospel.

I think so many people see the commandments as burdens, as extra things to do that they just don't have time for. But now I've seen that when we don't treat the commandments like burdens, when we put God first we're so much happier than we would be otherwise. Yes, living that way requires more work and sometimes it means that God asks us to do scary things, things we really don't want to do. But as we put our faith and our trust in Him and try our best, He helps us do more and become more than we ever could have on our own. God's agenda is always better than our agenda.

From a numbers standpoint, I haven't had a very successful mission so far. But I know that my mission has been successful, very successful. I know that Sister Winsor and I and Sister Bell and I have done a lot of good. And I'm just so grateful to be here. I hope I can work even harder and be even better in my next area and throughout my mission. This next year is going to go by so fast. 

I love you all so much, have a wonderful Thanksgiving, I'll miss being with you all. 

 

Learning with Elder Bednar

It's been an incredible week. Having Elder Bednar here was absolutely amazing, I don't think I've ever been in a more spiritual, life changing meeting. But I'll talk more about that in a minute. 

Last night [Sunday, November 17], we were able to finally get in contact with one of our investigators. He's a 50 year old black man, and he's pretty awesome. Last night he was telling us about how he found God after he'd been involved in drugs and stealing and stuff like that. He told us about how he went to church and went up and repented of his sins and as he asked to be forgiven a warm feeling came over him, over his whole body. He said "Drugs would only give me that good feeling in my mind, but this was my whole body! So I didn't want to use drugs anymore." Right now he's living with his mother-in-law, who's not a very religious person, so he wants us to wait to teach him until he moves out, which will hopefully be in a month. But he invited us to come to this singing time his church is having next Sunday, and we said we'd come, so that will be very interesting. He's AME- African Methodist Episcopal. So it will be a very different experience from what I'm used to. 

Yesterday was also the Primary program at church and so many less active and nonmember people came! It was great! The husband and mom, who's Baptist, of our friend who has returned to church came. They didn't stay for Sunday school, but we were really happy to see them there. I think as our friend continues to come to church and live the gospel more, her husband will join. He just needs her to set that good example and show him how much the gospel can bless their family. 

Now about Elder Bednar. It was amazing. We met with him for three hours on Saturday night [November 16]. He didn't talk to us, he talked with us. For that entire three hours, he asked us questions and called on people to answer them and then we asked him questions. But he never really answered anyone directly. Instead he would ask the other missionaries if they had any ideas, or he would ask the missionary a question, which would allow them to answer their question on their own. I'm sorry, I don't really know how to describe what happened very clearly. But the Spirit was there, and it was the teacher, not Elder Bednar. All he did was help us to hear what the Spirit was trying to tell us, and then he shared some stories and experiences with us. And we had so much fun! I can't even count the amount of times that we all just burst out laughing because of something that someone said; Elder Bednar laughed so hard a few times his face turned red. But then in the next instant something really profound and spiritual could happen. It was just amazing. 

I'll share one really cool moment that happened. This young elder stood up and asked Elder Bednar how he could stop overcomplicating the gospel, how he could teach it more simply. Elder Bednar asked him what he thought, and the elder said that he'd been thinking about it for the last 15 minutes, and he kept overcomplicating all the possible answers he was getting. Elder Bednar asked him why he thought he was doing that, and after he'd thought for a minute the elder said, "Because I don't trust enough." And just like that, he had found the answer to his question--trust in God more. That was how the entire meeting was. 

Elder Bednar talked a lot about the Book of Mormon. He said that if we would read the Book of Mormon every single day of our lives we would never fall away from the church. That made me think about all the less actives in Moncks Corner; I don't think many of them read the Book of Mormon. I think we're going to start asking them to read it daily. 

South Carolina Columbia Mission with Elder Bednar

So, it's been an incredible week. Transfer calls are on Saturday, and while anything could happen, it's most likely that I'll be leaving Moncks Corner. I'll be sad if that happens, but for now I'm just focusing on moving the work along here. There's lots to do. I love you all, and I'm so grateful for all the support that you give me. 

Bobby

[We have been humbled and yet grateful for the unexpectedly sad and tender experiences of Katelyn's first investigator to accept a baptism date.  We will remember him, his family, and the members in Moncks Corner who cared for him.  The letters have shared this unfolding story.] 

I guess I'll start with the most exciting thing that happened- we have someone on date to be baptized! Last night, Sunday October 20, we went to visit a recent convert that we love. She has a friend, Bobby, who she's kind of dating. He's been in and out of the picture since I got here, but he's come to church fairly regularly, and he's been reading the Book of Mormon a little bit every day. Last night when we stopped by he was there and he asked us what he had to do to be baptized! We were very excited to tell him everything he needed to know. He's scheduled to be baptized on November 16, but we're going to try and move it up to November 9, since we'll be up in Irmo with the apostle on the 16. We're very excited for him. Sister Bell was so happy when we left our friend's house. So now we're going to do our best to help Bobby get a testimony, I don't think he really understands or believes in our church doctrine, but he likes the church and he wants to be a part of it. We're very, very excited to teach him. 

After Sisters Conference [on October 22, Katelyn's birthday], we got our new car. Elder Fenton told us to take the new one, and to give our elders our old one. . . . We didn't get on the road until about an hour later than we were expecting to. And then before we could get to the interstate our gps died! We got so lost. Finally we stopped at a Wendys to get some dinner and someone there gave us directions. We didn't get back to North Charleston till almost 9:30. The elders weren't very happy with us, they had to wait at the church for us to bring them the car for about two hours. We were really disappointed that we weren't able to teach Bobby that night. 

And then Wednesday afternoon we got a call from his friend in the ward telling us that Bobby had been in a serious accident at work. He had been in the bed of his truck unloading something, when a lady hit his truck, and he went flying out. She completely totaled both cars. Bobby broke every bone in his face, and several ribs. He was in a coma for a few days, but he'll be ok, but it's going to take awhile for him to heal. So things with him are kind of on hold for now. He's down in a hospital in Georgia, which is where the accident was, but hopefully he'll be moved closer to here soon. 

Halloween night we had to be in our apartments early, by 7:00, so Sister Bell and I used that extra two hours to start redoing our area map, because it badly needed to be updated. We were right in the middle of that when we got a phone call from one of the members of our ward. She told us that Bobby's friend had just called her and told her that Bobby wasn't going to come out of his coma, so his family was going to let him go. We were absolutely shocked, since the last we'd heard, he was going to be fine. We immediately called his friend, and we had a very emotional phone call with her. We found out yesterday Bobby's family is waiting for a second opinion before they let him go, but he's basically gone.

Having an investigator die is something I never expected to have happen to me on my mission. At first I really didn't know how to handle it. And of course, Sister Bell and I both immediately started talking with each other and with our friend about the plan of salvation, about how Bobby can still be taught and baptized, and about how God knows what He's doing and everything happens for a reason. But at first just saying all that didn't really bring me that much comfort. But as I've prayed about it, and as we've talked about it with other people, those words have begun to bring comfort. Especially driving home from ZTM, when Sister Bell asked me how in the world we were supposed to share a postive, uplifting email with our family when we'd had such a tragedy this week. And as I told her "We'll tell them that while we won't get to teach Bobby, other missionaries will, and while we won't get to baptize Bobby, he will still be baptized," the full meaning of those words finally hit me. And I felt so at peace. And although it's still very sad, and I'm still disappointed that we won't get to teach Bobby and see him change and see him accept the gospel, he will still have that opportunity. And at some point on my mission, I will have that opportunity to teach and to baptize.

In a way I've kind of already had that experience, with another sister in the ward who has come back to church. We had dinner with her on Friday night, and as we were talking with her, she told us how much happier she is now that she's coming to church. And she said that if it hadn't been for us coming by so persistently and for her member friend encouraging her, she wouldn't have come back and she wouldn't be as happy as she is now. When she said that, it made me so happy! If for some reason my mission ended right now I could go home happy, knowing that I helped one person to find the joy of the gospel again. Moments like that really do make all the other hard times worth it. 

Tuesday afternoon, we found out that Bobby had passed away. We knew that it was just a matter of time before we got this news but it was still very sad. His friend went down to Savanna to see him, and when she got there the lady at the desk informed her that he had "expired" the day before. She was the first one to find out. . . . It was really hard for her, but she's hanging in there. His heart just stopped, which in a way was good. . . .  At least this way he went on his own. It's been kind of a bittersweet weekend, because this was the weekend he was scheduled to be baptized.