Transfers

YES family, you guessed it I got transferred. I now live at the Whitmer Farm! Kinda funny how I went on and on last week, tangent style, about how awesome the Whitmer Farm is and now I live there! Haha. So I will be serving in the Fayette ward and my proselyting area is Seneca Falls. My new companion is Sister Earl. She is from Ogden, Utah. Right now we technically have two proselyting areas because both sisters that were serving in the area next to ours and living in the Whitmer House before I got there just went home. So the area is semi-closed for now... but we are taking care of their investigators and stuff. So it is INTENSE! Oh and I need to clarify, I don't live IN the Whitmer Log home. I live across the parking lot from it. It is awesome! I am not quite moved in yet, but getting there! Sister Earl and I set up a Christmas Tree that was in our basement today during lunch. So we are getting festive!

So let me update you on the past week. I had my last shift at the Peter Whitmer Farm with Sister Butters and we worked with the Fullers. I think I have told you about them. Well Elder Fuller is a hoot. For our open house FHE party for Christmas at the Smith Farm, he has to be in the log home reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas". So he said he has been reading it a lot and that he could pretty much say it without the book because he has it down. So I said, "Let's see it!" So he starts quoting it and he was doing such a good job. Then all the sudden the story turns into this, "I arose to see and stubbed my toe, opened the shutters, and fell in the snow. And what to my surprise did my eyes appear? A truck load chuck full of Budweiser beer." HAHAHA! I about fell off my chair. Theses senior elders make me laugh so hard. I thought you all would appreciate that.

Thanksgiving was great! We went and visited less-active members and recent converts and some widows. Then we went to the Grahams for Thanksgiving dinner (of course). I just love their family. I seriously have become one of them. I even know where all of their dishes go in all their cabinets... that is how much I have been there. I was so glad she invited us there so I could be somewhere that I was comfortable. It was delicious!! She had all of her side of the family there too and they are Italians. So their house was LOUD. I was glad though, just like our family :) Oh! Logan Graham got his mission call! He is going to the Arizona Tucson mission!!! heck yeah! I am excited for him.

We got to see Bethany this week! She came back home from school is Syracuse and we went to Wendys and got frostys with her. It was so much fun. She told us she was having a hard time away from home and with her situation. So we shared some scriptures with her and she loved it. Before we left she said, "This is what I miss. I miss meeting with you sisters and feeling so peaceful when you teach me! I am going to call the sisters in Syracuse tonight and set up a time each week to meet with them." YESSSSSS!!!!! I am so glad she is going to do that. She knows it is all true. It would not surprise me if she was baptized by Christmas.

I went and did baptisms at the Temple with Sister Butters and Lindsay this week too! IT WAS UH-MAZING. Being able to teach her, see her be baptized, and then go with her to do baptisms in the temple made my life! It is so cool to see everything come full circle. Lindsay is such a force for good, and she is doing really well. Went to the temple with the Elders Erekson and Houskeeper and their recent convert too. Elder Erekson ended up doing some family names for someone and he is six feet six inches tall. Haha seeing him get baptized was pretty great. He has to like bend in half to be immersed. But the Spirit was so strong and it was such a sweet experience.

So usually we get transfer calls on Sunday night. But it never came. So we thought it would come Monday morning...but it never came. So at that point we knew that it was going to be a huge transfer. Transfer meeting is in Rochester on Tuesday before noon. So waiting and not knowing where you will be or what you will be doing the next day is pretty stressful. The call finally came Monday afternoon and that is when I got the news. I was sad to leave Sister Butters and Newark North... but I knew it was time. I only had a few hours to pack and that was hectic because I have accumulated many items. Sister Butters and I hucked it all in my suitcases and bought a plastic bin from WalMart. I am so grateful she helped me. It is weird leaving Newark and Sodus and the Lyons Ward because I have been there for over half a year... but Sister Butters will rock it. I am excited to work in Seneca Falls and learn and grow even more with Sister Earl! I love you all and miss you bunches. But I am happy and healthy and workin' hard and LOVING IT. XOXO

Love,
Sister Alexandra Adams

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SISTER ADAM'S NEW ADDRESS IS:
Sister Alexandra Adams
1451 Aunkst Road
Waterloo, NY 13165
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Thanksgiving...Whaaaat??? + PICTURES!!!

I cannot even believe that Thanksgiving is coming up. Before you know it, I will be half way through my mission and calling you guys! Whoa.... that is weird to think about. Thank you for all the fun pictures! It was so nice to see my family and extended family! Can I just say how good looking my family is...? God must have made you or something because you all are beautiful! I think my favorite picture is Erika showing the gun she got for her birthday and Dad sucking in his gut haha. Keri sent me a picture of her and Kenzlee at Kenz and Logan's sealing! That made me soooo happy :) They are both big with child :) hahaha scripture talk. That is the nerdy missionary coming out in me. Did Erika get my birthday card? I hope so!

This week was an interesting one that is for sure. We had to go through Kathy Dunn's storage units because when we cleaned out her room she thought we packed stuff away that she didn't want us too... so Sister Butters and I went back to the storage units with Elders Erekson and Houskeeper and searched through every box. It was ridiculous. We didn't find anything in the boxes we packed up for her that she wanted back, so we really don't know how long those items have been missing. We were glad we did it though so that we could have a clear conscience knowing we didn't take things she needed on accident.

Lyons Ward had a pie auction this week. Some ward members bought pies for us! It was so nice. The pie auction was to help raise money to help the young women get to girls camp next summer. They do it every year. There is a pot luck dinner and then a hilariously intense pie auction. It was so fun to spend time with the ward in a casual setting with everyone just having fun.

We went to the family history center in the Palmyra Stake Center this week with some of our recent converts. It was so fun to get them started on their genealogy and to see their faces light up when they find family member they can do work for in the temple. We will be going to the temple with them this Saturday to do them!

Sister Butters has been so so sick this past week. She pushed through until Sunday. She was so miserable so we snuck in the back of Stake Conference Sunday morning, Sister Butters got a blessing from Elder Fowler and Elder Stroud, and then we went home. She felt so bad for not doing missionary work but she could barely talk and had no energy at all. Luckily Sisters Graham and Hawkes, who live with us, were able to take our shift at the BOMPS. I made her some lunch and then studied while she slept for five hours and then I made some mashed potatoes and snap peas for dinner. She said it sounded good to her and you better believe I did my best to spoil her while she felt sicky. She is feeling much better today and I have not caught whatever she had. We called Sister Christianson and she said a nasty virus has been going around but I haven’t got it… I swear my immune system is a ninja.

This week we had a specialized training with President and Sister Christianson again. We have been lucking out with all these special meetings he plans! This meeting was at the Whitmer Farm down in Fayette. It was so special being able to have a meeting in the very place the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized over 182 years ago, on April 6, 1830- just a week and a half after the Book of Mormon was published. April 6^th is a special day. It is the day Jesus Christ was born, the day the U.S. Constitution went into effect, and the day the Church was organized for the last and final time, never to be taken again on the earth. So cool. So many special things happened on the Whitmer Farm and you can feel it when you go there. It is in the middle of NO WHERE so you know what it means in D&C 1:30 to bring the Church “out of obscurity”. This is one of my favorite scriptures… it’s in the Doctrine and Covenants: Section 128:20-22—“And again, what do we hear? Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfillment of the prophets—the book to be revealed. A voice of the Lord in the wilderness of Fayette, Seneca county, declaring the three witnesses to bear record of the book! The voice of Michael on the banks of the Susquehanna, detecting the devil when he appeared as an angel of light! The voice of Peter, James, and Johnin the wilderness between Harmony, Susquehanna county, and Colesville, Broome county, on the Susquehannah river, declaring themselves as possessing the keys of the kingdom, and the sidpensation of the fullness of times! And again, the voice of God in the chamber of old Father Whitmer, in Fayette, Seneca county, and at sundry times, and in divers places through all the travels and tribulations of this Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! And the voice of Michael, the archangel; the voice of Gabriel, and of Raphael, and of divers angels, from Michael or Adam down to the present time, all declaring their dispensation, their rights, their keys, their honors, their majesty and glory, and the power of their priesthood; giving line upon line, precept upon precept; here a little, and there a little; giving us consolation by holding forth that which is to come, confirming our hope! Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing.” THIS IS IN MY MISSION! I have stood in the chamber of old Father Whitmer. It is a real place where the Book of Mormon was finished being translated. The voice of God was spoken there.

I love you all so much. Thank you for your love, support, and prayers.

XOXO, Sister Adams

PS- our meeting at the Whitmer Farm was about the Christmas campaign the Church is doing this year. Everyone go to mormon.org/Christmas. It is such a cool website. Free Christmas music, e-cards, bible videos to download, etc. Tell people about it! It is an easy way to open your mouth to tell people about the Church and help members and friends of other faiths refocus on what Christmas is really about. “Christmas is Jesus Christ”.

Sister Adams with Elder and Sister Jacobson



 



Talking to Elder and Sister Jacobson

 

Cool barn

Julia Thomas who we go visit- She is almost 99 years old now

SUPER MISSIONARIES!!!

Pumpkin success

Self explanatory - me just being me.

Our cute house!

fall time! in front of the Sacred Grove

An email from your favorite missionary

Hello Family!

I just looked at my blog and the last two bunches of pictures I sent you guys are not on there. I hope you got them! If not, I can try sending them again. Mom, you mentioned that you can't believe it is almost Thanksgiving...YEAH, your telling me! Time is flying by so quick. Sister Butters and I only have two more weeks in this transfer together. We are kind of sad about it. We are contemplating bribing President Christianson with the caramel apples we made this week to keep us together one more transfer. No... we wouldn't do that. We just joke about it. We want to be together for Christmas because we know the ward really well and we get along really well. But we will see. The past few days have been warmer than usual. No need for tights, a coat, and a scarf! But we walked outside this morning and it was back cold again. Oh my gosh Mom! We have been so spoiled this last week. We got roast and potato dinner twice. WHAAAA? Yeah! It was soooo good. We were spoiled by Elder and Sister Stroud, site missionaries at the historic sites that are serving in Lyons Ward with us, and by Brother and Sister Porschet, a really cool couple in our ward.

We have had some disappointing days this week, not going to lie. But they always end on a good note. For instance, we had a ward correlation meeting planned for Saturday and our ward mission leader cancelled last minute. We were so upset because we haven't had a meeting since I first got here in May. I am not going to go into detail about how this man does not do his calling, but let's just say that we have been tackling the work in this ward on our own this whole time. Well Elder Houskeeper and Elder Erekson call us and tell us that we are having our meeting at "Brother Wahl's". We all just died laughing. Tom Wahl's is a popular hamburger shop here and there is one right around the corner from our house. So Sister Hawkes, Graham, Butters, and I got in the car and we had district dinner together at Tom Wahl's. It was good and we had a lot of good laughs. We seriously have a celestial district in Lyons Ward right now. We all work hard and work well together. We also laugh really hard and have fun.

I bet you are all wondering about Jimmy. Well to be honest, he has been really discouraged lately. Sister Butters and I basically begged him to read the Book of Mormon. I bore my testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon to him and I have never had my heart so on fire in my life. I told him that I wouldn't be out here on a mission if I didn't know it was true. I told him about Erika and how I left her all by herself with no other siblings around her to come and share this book with people and if it wasn't true and it didn't change my life, I wouldn't even be here. It seemed to touch him and he promised he would pick it back up and continue reading. He was reading for a while but then he just stopped. We know that the Book of Mormon can lift his spirits and help him find the truth and the answers to all of his questions. He has some hard mountains to climb and we have given him the tools to do that. Now he just needs to act. I hope and pray he has been reading it since we saw him last.

On Sunday Sister Butters and I had a shift at the Smith Farm. It was actually busy! I was so surprised! We got a lot of locals because it was a warm, beautiful day. It was so nice to take so many tours and get to feel the Spirit that just resides at that sacred site.

We had zone conference this week as well and it was all about not getting discouraged. Sometimes our mission here is really hard. We get baptisms, but we work dang hard for them. In Alma 26:22 it says "given" four times. I really needed to read this because sometimes we work hard and we don't see the fruits of our labors. But success is given by God, and on His time. So never give up, continue to work in faith and plead to Heavenly Father for help and He will grant unto us success when it is the right time. It kind of reminds me of President Eyring's talk in General Conference. He talked about how God is not distant or hidden from us. We distance ourselves when we choose to not reach out, trust Him, and accept His timing. We can't see around the corner, but He can. God knows what is best for us because He knows us and loves us perfectly. I know that this is true. "But behold, they are in the hands of the Lord of the harvest, and they are his; and he will raise them up at the last day." Alma 26:7.

Sister Butters and I got up to Sodus a few times this last week and we stopped in to see Julia and the nursing home. She is almost 99 years old. She is so cute- we got there and she had on a cute pink shirt and cardigan and then she had hot pinks nail polish on. We were talking to her and her roommate, Marie, and Marie was telling us about how her eyesight is getting really bad. I asked Julia if she needed glasses, because I have never seen her wear any. She goes, "I am 99 years old! What do you expect!" Haha it was so funny. She wears glasses.

Jina completely dropped us this week. She told us that she hasn't been honest with us from the get go. I know that was a lie. I know she knows she felt the Spirit and the positive change in her life from the Gospel. She told us she loves us and feels different around us and that we make her feel happy, but that she doesn't want to learn anymore because she just can't accept Joseph Smith being the prophet of the Restoration. I just looked at her straight in the eye and told her, "The reason we are different, happy, and make you happy is because what we teach is TRUE- everything- and that includes Joseph Smith as the prophet who restored these truths." So for now Jina is in God's hands. He will continue to work on her. She is just afraid of the truth. Our two newer investigators Brooke and Dee are doing great. We are actually going to go teach both of them later today and we are excited about that.

Well I found a really good scripture this week that is in John chapter 8. In verse 29, it is Jesus Christ talking, but this is how I feel as a missionary: "And He that sent me is with me; the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please Him." Now, I am not perfect. But I want my family and my Father in Heaven to know right now that I know God has sent me here. I am not alone. And I want to be good and to do good continually to please my Father in Heaven. I know this is the work of Almighty God. He is my captain, and I am on the front lines of His army. And this work is going forth "boldly, nobly, and independent, until it has penetrated every continent, visited every climb, swept every country, and sounded in every ear." -The Standard of Truth.

I love you all. Keep pressing forward with faith.
-Sister Alexandra Adams

Halloweek!

First of all, I had an awesome Halloween! The Relief Society president fed us that night and then we got to go to temple with all of the site missionaries. It was great to get to do a session with all the sisters and senior couples. So special. Elder and Sister Heyn, a newer senior couple we have here, called me this morning and told me that Tatum Day is coming to our mission in February! I am so excited! She is my softball buddy! I guess I should say Sister Day. You should somehow get a hold of her and tell her I know she is coming and I am SO EXCITED. Oh and because you mailed stuff to my house due to online shopping, we are now getting some pretty apostate magazines in the mail box sometimes... is there anything you can do to stop that? Sorry if my card in the mail was too blunt. I just really want to focus and word my hardest throughout my mission even when it is Pageant and it is almost over. If I have my whole family here at Pageant I am worried I will check out mentally and I can't afford to do that. I have work to do and people here that need me.

The storm was pretty crazy but not nearly as crazy as anticipated. So that was good. We lost power during the night but we just bundled up and did just fine. Have I mentioned that it is cold here? I have already busted out the puffy coat. Oh and it has already been snowing. Not enough to cover the ground, but flakes falling from the sky. We were tracting in the cold a few times this week and it starts to snow and I think my fingers, toes, and nose are going to fall off. Then snowflakes start to fall from the sky and I realize I need to layer more. I am not used to this layering thing. This winter is definitely going to be an adventure. I saw a snow shovel for the first time this week too. I asked Sister Butters if that's what it was and she just laughed at me. What! I have never seen one before that I can remember. I'll be using one this winter! Crazyyyy.

So while we were hostage in our house due to the storm we did our best to still do the work. So we went through and started calling people that used to be taught by the missionaries but stopped for one reason or another. We called this former investigator named Dee. She was way nice but said we called her at a bad time. So later on in the week we stopped by her house but she wasn't home. We talked to her husband on the porch for a minute and then said we would call text time we came to see if Dee was home. Well TODAY we are walking through Wegmans (the grocery store by our house) and we get a phone call. It was Dee! She called and told us she has been waiting for us to call her because her husband said we came by and that we would. She wants to start studying the Book of Mormon again and she wants us to teach her! Miracle? YES. That NEVER happens. Especially here in Newark. Sister Butters and I are going to go teach her tonight after Lyons ward scripture study. YAY!

Jina half dropped us this week. I felt like I was being dumped. It was hard. She basically told us that she loves us and the Book of Mormon but she doesn't want to believe in the Restoration through Joseph Smith and she will never change her mind. She also said that she would like to be baptized... well we explained to her that the Book of Mormon was translated by Joseph Smith through the gift and power of God and that the priesthood authority that she wants to be baptized with was restored by Joseph Smith too. It didn't help. I think she is afraid of the truth. She also said she doesn't want to put a "label" on it. In other words, she doesn't want people to call her a Mormon. She has a lot of negative pressure from her family so that makes me sad but I know she can do it. She has been putting me on an emotional roller coaster. Sister Butters and I are going to try and get her to the historic sites and especially the Sacred Grove to help her gain a testimony of the Restoration of the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Things with Jimmy have been difficult this week. He is getting frustrated with himself and has some hard hurdles to get over. Teaching him is so great, but it is a challenge. I just feel so privileged that the Lord trusts me to be the missionary to help him come to a knowledge of the truth. I know that he will. His path won't be an easy one, but we will get there. He has that desire and when we have desire and faith the Lord will get us there.

We have a new investigator! That is good news! Her name is Brooke and she is way cute and nice and has a little 7 month old baby. We have taught her just once but she is eager and excited to learn.

The Lord has been blessing us in this area and in this ward. I know it is because Sister Butters and I have been serving with all our heart, might, mind, and strength. I am learning and growing everyday. When I am having a hard day instead of cry, I just laugh and search for the good. "Come what may and love it." Sometimes the Lord has to bring us low to lift us even higher. I know that is true. I may have shared this scripture with you before but who cares it's a good one. "Yea, they were encircled about with everlasting darkness and destruction; but behold, he has brought them into his everlasting light, yea, into everlasting salvation; and they are encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love; yea, and we have been instruments in his hands of doing this great and marvelous work. Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise of God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel." Alma 26: 15-16.

I get frustrated with email sometimes because I wish my words could really describe to you all the things I am experiencing. I cannot say the smallest part which I feel. I love you so much. XOXO
-Sister Alexandra Adams