Settlers of Chinese Florida, STLs, Body Work, and Banana Cake (Week 6)

Hello everyone,

Last Monday was district P-day, which is when the district does an activity together.  It also allows Sisters and Elders to do the same activity.  Normally, we can only do volleyball with the Elders.  I think it is so we don't become too close.  However, it is more annoying to the Sisters, since there are fewer of us.  A lot of Sisters go shopping, which Sister Taylor and I don't really care to do.

For district P-day we went to an ice-cream place that sells Italian ice with soft served ice cream.  I just bought some mango and straberrry flavored Italian ice.  It was really good.  We then went to the stake center and played Settlers of Catan and Signs.  I had lots of fun, although Sister Taylor thought it was kinda lame.  She doesn't really care for board games.

Starting on Monday night we had exchanges with the sisters in Olympia.  Those sister are STLs (Sister Training Leaders).  Their job is to take care of the sisters in the zone, and they go on exchanges with them.  I have a question: were therer STLs when you went on your mission?  I hadn't heard about them until the MTC.  I had fun with Sister Kirkham.

We had temple service this week.  We got to go on top of the Temple.  We bleached and mopped the roof, so it would be white again.  It was lots of fun.

Because of the car crash, we had to go to two auto body shops and get estimates.  It takes up so much time.  I'll be honest -- I hate it.  It's hard being a missionary when you're not being a missionary.  What I mean by that is it is hard living the missionary standards when you're not sharing the gospel.

Thankfully, that night I had a good experience sharing the gospel.  We were driving home from English class, and we got to a red light.  The car next to us had the window rolled down.  I rolled down my window and started talking to him.  He is Christian, but he wasn't interested in our message, but he was thankful for us sharing.  Even though he said no, it was the highlight of my day.

The Gospel Library app is amazing!  Just saying.  You should all use it if you can.

On Saturday, we went to an inactive's home for dinner.  We talked to her before.  Our ward doesn't have her records, and she doesn't want them to find her.  Hermie is her name.  I forgot if I emailed about her last week, so I'll tell you again.  She is from New Zealand.  Sister Taylor's grandma is from New Zealand, so they bonded on that point.  Her neighbor is a member, and she told us about her when we went over to her house for dinner.  Hermie has a lovely yard, and we have offered to help her take care of it.  We have yet to do that still.  She cooked us a chicken noodle soup and banana cake with chocolate frosting. Both were amazing.  She is a great cook.  She says she doesn't use any canned vegetables, but buys them fresh.  I also know that her food is healthy.  She gave us some food to take home.  We didn't need it, but since we have her dishes now we have to come back.  Hopefully, she'll come back to the church someday.  I think she was offended over people pushing her to get married.

That night was also the Trunk or Treat.  The Elders brought some candy to pass out.  I had one Peanut Buttercup, which tasted like licorice.  Nasty.  I think the sun's heat made fumes from the licorice in the bag that went into the chocolate.

Mirth and Mom: Thanks for the bookmark.  Sister Taylor and I love it.  It is also the perfect size to go into my scriptures.  Mirth I love how you said I would want a bookmark for each companion.  I was thinking about telling you that very thing. 

Mom: Could you make another bookmark for Sister Taylor?  I want it like the first one that says Orlando is where she belongs, but I also want some Mandarin Chinese on it.  She knows this is where she is supposed to be right now, but her heart is still in Australia.  I know the Lord needed to have a weird situation with her, so he could get a Mandarin missionary to Orlando.  Normally, they don't call Mandarin missionaries to this area.  Technically, her new mission call was changed to English, but President Berry wants her to keep using Mandarin.

Mirth: I love how you are changing crews so you can do Family Home Evening.  I always wanted to do FHE on Mondays, but something always interfered.  I am glad you are making the change.  By the way, 88 is a good crew from what I know.

Mom: We do have music on the iPads; it is just the hymns and children's songs though.

Mom: The Crowleys in the Winter Garden Ward are home-schooling for the first time this year.  She was asking the type of books and programs you use.  You could send them to me, or I could give her your email.  Whatever you want.

Dad: Nils has already moved back to China, but I'll be sure to email the information that Grandma and Grandpa sent to me. Thanks for also sending me your thoughts on the election.

I got the flash drive okay.  It think it will take two stamps though.  Since it looked like you paid 21 more cents.

I need to get off I'll sent you pictures next week.

--
~Sister Aurora Pack

iPads, Facebook, & Karaoke (Week 5)

Hi everyone,

The most important thing I need to tell you about is Nils.  We taught him three times and his wife two times.  He isn't our investigator since he is in another area, but he is Chinese so Sister Taylor taught him.  He has gone back to China, and he likes what he has learned, but he is afraid of the Chinese government.  He has a copy of the Book of Mormon in Chinese.  We taught about the Plan of Salvation a lot.  Nils' wife had a lot of really good questions.  Why does everyone have a different body?  Would there have been a fall if there was only Adam and no Eve?  Were animals in the pre-Earth life?  Why are there so many gods in different religions?  She also asked many other things.

Nils and his wife

I rode my bicycle last week.  I rode it in the rain for the first time.  We got soaked, but it was fun.  The bike is really nice.  Mom and Dad, thank you for buying it for me.

The Temple is next to the Stake Center, so every other Tuesday we get to go to the Temple grounds and help out.  It is lots of fun.  The Temple is really pretty as well.


Mom, I'm not in Winter Park; I'm in Winter Garden.  By the way, Sister Fairbanks liked the bookmark.  I gave it to her at trainer's follow-up.

I got the iPad I'm going to use throughout my mission at that meeting.  It has some really cool apps we use.  The area book app replaces the area book as well as the missionary planner.  It is useful, but it can also mess up, since it is technology. I will eventually use Facebook on the iPad.  They want to train us a little at a time, so I'll use Facebook once my training is over.  I will make a new Facebook account and use it to contact people in my area.  It's not for making personal connections, however; so no friending.  My focus has to stay on the mission.  We can also use Facebook to teach lessons.

Thanks for the package.  It made me smile with all the green things in it.  Also, if you haven't sent the package with music discs, you can wait until Christmas and add it to that package.  I don't want you spending lots of money on something simple like that.

While we were contacting people, there were two funny stories.  First, the person said he looked into our church before, and that it is good, but not for him.  After we talked with a few more people, we saw him again.  He asked us if we were over 21.  We told him 20 and 19.  He then continued and asked us to karaoke and to get a drink.  We said no.  He asked us where we were from.  Utah and Colorado.  He said a person from Florida would show us how it is done.  We again said no.  He then told us he just broke up with his girlfriend.  We parted ways then.  It was funny.  I don't get why he asked if we were over 21, but then ignored that we weren't.  Second, I told another person my name was Sister Pack.  He said it sounded gangster.

Mom, a previous missionary left orange oil, like the oils Heather sells.  What is orange oil good for?

I saw Meet the Mormons at a Tri-Zone Conference.  The movie is really good.  It just came into theaters this past weekend.  I would recommend seeing it for anyone who can afford to.  If you want more information about what it is about, look it up online.  I really like Gail Halvorsen's story about being the Candy Bomber, since I learned about the event in Gore's history class.  I also really connected to the missionary mom.  Also look up what Elder Holland says about the movie.

Investigators:

Jason: Things are going well with him.  We just want him to read the scriptures daily.

Stan and Ruth:  Things got complicated.  Let's just say we dropped Stan, and we hope we can still meet with Ruth and her children.  I really think Ruth is ready to hear the gospel.

Mat and April:  We taught a lesson with them last night.  It went really well.  Sister Taylor has taught April before with her son, who is now living with his father.  Mat has taken some lessons with missionaries before as well.  We were going to teach the restoration, but we switched it to the Plan of Salvation.  It was the best lesson I have taught so far.  It was more of a conversation than a lecture.  Mat said he would get baptized if he knew it was true.  April is interested, but she is concerned with all the rules, especially the Word of Wisdom.  I know she can give up [tobacco, tea, coffee, and alcohol] with Christ's help.

Miracle time:  We visited a less-active sister with the Relief Society president.  After the lesson, there were tons of police cars in the area.  We wondered what was up but went home.  The next day, at Jason's lesson, we found out that the police weren't letting anyone in or out of the apartment complex until 2 am.  Sister Sorenson (the RS president) wasn't able to get out, so she stayed at Jason's house.  Jason's wife, Vanessa, is Sister Sorenson's daughter.  I know the Lord was watching out for us as we went home and were able to make it back to our apartment in time for curfew.  I know we could have stayed at Jason's with Sister Sorenson, but it was better that we got home.

--
~Sister Aurora Pack

The Lord leads us to Investigators in Mysterious Ways (Week 4)

Hi everyone,

      I am sometimes wearing my hair in a bun.

      Each day we have a motivational scripture or thought.  We read each on the appropriate day.  On Sunday, we recite our purpose found in Preach My Gospel.

      This week was great.  I want to tell you about our investigators.

     Ruth and Stan:  Ruth has three children, but Stan acts as their father, so we are teaching a family.  :)  We are trying to get the kids involved with the lessons.  Last time we were at the Walker's house, Sister Walker brought out pictures from her family home evening kit.  It was really helpful.  We have taught Ruth and Stan's family the first three lessons.  We are meeting with them tonight, and we are watching the 30 min. version of the Joesph Smith video.  Ruth and Stan requested to see it; their children are really excited about it.  They say they have some questions for us, which is great.  They watched the Sunday morning session of General Conference.  We made Conference Bingo for their children Saturday night, but they heard from the Walkers that they could watch it on the Mormon Channel at home.  We wanted them to come to the church building, so we could talk to them right after the session.  It's sad they didn't come to the church, but at least they still watched it.  They have a baptism date for November 11.  :)

     Jason: His wife is a member.  His mother-in-law is the relief society president.  He comes to church every week, but he isn't certain about getting baptized because he already was baptized in a different church.  He has the cutest twin daughters, who are around 2-3 years old.  He also has a three-week-old baby boy.  I believe he wants to be with his family forever, so I hope he will see the need for the temple and then for baptism.  [Dad's Note: We believe the priesthood authority needed for the baptismal covenant was restored by John the Baptist to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.]

     Mat:  We taught him for the first time this week.  At first he seemed really promising, but he was at work during the time of our appointment on Saturday.  I hope we can still meet with him sometime.  It was a miracle when we taught him though.  We have been having problems with something from our apartment leaking into the apartment below us.  Sister Taylor says it has been going on for more than seven weeks now.  Mat came up to our door to say its still a problem.  We thought it was fixed.  Mat is the boyfriend of April, who lives below us.  We went down to talk with them.  Mat wanted to know more about our faith.  His daughter is friends with a few Mormons.  We taught him the Restoration.  A friend of theirs, who is an inactive member and was present, helped explain things.  The inactive member is in the elders' area, so we talked to the elders about him.  Mat said he would go to General Conference, and he set up a time to meet again.  Although I told you it fell through, I still hope something comes from this.

     This week I was in my first car accident.  Good news: No one got hurt, but we all were a little shaken up.  Bad news: It was still a car accident, and Sister Taylor got a ticket.  Super good news: At first it looked like the other driver was going to be a nightmare, since she got out of her car and yelled at us.  Later, though, she turned out to be really nice.  I could tell Sister Taylor was upset, so I suggested we pray.  Afterward, the other driver, Lena came up to us and said she wanted to pray.  We prayed with her, and we told her who we were.  She said she was looking for a church.  She wasn't able to make it to General Conference, but she is still interested in coming.  She doesn't live in our area, but she is thinking about moving here.

     One more miracle I want to share with you.  After doing online proselyting (I'll explain more later), we were about to leave the library when we saw Marla, a daughter to one of Sister Taylor's former investigators.  Previously, Marla wanted to take the lessons, but she was working.  Now she doesn't have a job, so she is open.  The mother is Kate, who Sister Taylor said just disappeared.  We found out that Kate is in the hospital, which is good because they are making her stop smoking -- but I still want her to get better.  We got the information about where Marla is living, since they moved since Sister Taylor last visited them.  That is one reason why they lost track of those investigators.

     I loved General Conference.  I liked many, but I'll highlight Elder Scott (Audio) and Elder Bednar.  I loved Elder Bednar, because he explained why I'm out here on a mission (Audio).  :)

~Sister Aurora Pack

Shortest, Tallest, and Chinese-Speaking (Week 3)

Aurora and Sister Taylor

Hi Everyone,

     I have one hour to do email (including email President Berry).  Just so you know.

     Sister Taylor is my trainer.  She is five feet tall, so I'm exactly one foot taller.  When I walked into the room, Sister Taylor said she was standing next to tall people, so she felt short.  Then she looked around and thought, "oh, they'll put me with her."  When President Berry read our names everyone laughed.  It was funny.  The tallest and the shortest sisters in the room are companions.  :)  

     Sister Taylor isn't the shortest sister though.  I saw a sister who was shorter than 3 feet.  Sister Taylor was just the shortest trainer.

     I am serving in South/West Winter Park.  I am loving my mission so much.

     Mom, the bike is great, but I haven't ridden it yet.  I will this week though.  We have a car because the church building is far from our area.  We still need to bike sometimes.

     Sister Taylor is a Chinese-speaking missionary.  She was called to Australia, but because of visa troubles she served in Texas.  Then her visa came through, so she served in Australia for a little bit.  Then she had more troubles, so she went home for a while, and then they recalled her to Florida Orlando.  This is her third transfer in Orlando, all of which have been in Winter Garden.

     Because she is Chinese-speaking, we sometimes go out of our area to visit Chinese people.  She is teaching some Chinese members English.  Last night we went to their house, and they fed us some food.  The food was really good.  Most of it anyway.  I have now tried pig's feet.  It was better than I thought it would be, but it still wasn't that good.  It was the texture I didn't like.

     Okay, before I finish I need to tell you some spiritual things.  We were in an area that we knew we needed to be in, but everyone we went to wasn't home.  We were about to visit an inactive member when someone came up to us.  His name is Drake.  He was interested, so we taught him the restoration.  He sounds like he wants to learn more, but he has a busy schedule, so he didn't set up another appointment.  Drake called last night, and I was hoping it was to set up an appointment, but he was asking if he could give out our phone number to people who needed help.  We said he could.  I am still hoping he will become an investigator.  I also hope the people who get our number through him will call us and want to know more.

     We have some other investigators, but since I'm running out of time, I'll tell you next week or in a physical letter.

     Speaking of which, if you send me a letter or package, please send it through the US Postal Service.  The mission office only forwards things sent by USPS.  If it is sent by another service, then it will wait till they can give it to me personally or until someone coming to my area, which might take weeks.

--

~Sister Aurora Pack

Photos from the MTC (Week 1 & 2)

Aurora and her companion, Sister Fairbanks,
on their way to the Provo Temple

Aurora's MTC district with Branch President & his wife

MTC district with their teacher, Brother Flores

MTC district with another teacher, Brother Forrest

MTC district with their third teacher, Sister Benson

Elder Harper and Elder Pace with long hair

Later -- with shorter hair

Elder Pace singing in Spanish

Elder Ruby and Elder Dorius

Provo Temple

MTC district at the Provo Temple

Aurora, Sister Fairbanks, Sister Burnette and Sister Lewis,

all of whom are in Orlando with her.

Another district in Aurora's zone that came went 

to the temple with them.

Playing volleyball in the sand during preparation day.

Sister Burnette and Sister Lewis

Sister Fairbanks and Aurora

Arrival in Orlando (Week 2)

     I arrived in Florida safely.  President Berry is nice.  The blog for the mission is  www.floridaorlandomission.com.  I know Mom already knows about it.  I love you all.

--

~Sister Aurora Pack

Leaving the Missionary Training Center (Week 2)

Hi Everyone,

     We are allowed to email and do laundry today, because we fly out on Monday.  I won't have a Preparation Day next week, so this is that email.

     Thanks everyone for your advise on what to say to Rachel.  I took some but not others.  I have just learned to love Rachel so very much.  I hope God helps with her work, her Rheumatoid Arthritis, and her PTSD.  Someone in my branch presidency said that he believes that sometimes missionaries meet people, who they are just suppose to love and pray and fast for.  I really love Rachel.  I can't say that enough.  :)

     When we asked Rachel to pray, she asked Sister Fairbanks and I what we had seen God do for us that day.  She also asked what we were struggling with.  She then prayed, going from me to Sister Fairbanks to herself, thanking God.  She thanked God for Sister Fairbanks and my love for her.  She then prayed and asked God for help regarding what each of us are struggling with.  I am nervous about missionary work.  In her prayer she said she didn't understand because I have been sweet and loving with her.  That really helped me.  I'm glad she thinks that about me; it helps me with my confidence.

     I'm really glad Heavenly Father allowed me to meet her.  I am grateful for the chance to visit with her.

     I'm sad I'm leaving the MTC.  I'm sad I'm leaving my district.  I'm sad I'm leaving my teachers, Brother Flores and Sister Benson.  I'm sad I'm leaving Rachel.  :(  However, I'm grateful for email, so I can stay in contact.  I am also excited to be entering the field in Orlando.

     I can call on Monday at the Airport.  My plane takes off at 10:10 am.  I don't know when I will get a chance to call, so please wait for me.  Also, I know Mirth needs to get to school.  Mom, could you have one of the other Moms take her, so I don't miss anyone I don't have to.  I understand if you need to drive her though.

     Elder Parkinson (in my zone) is dyslexic too.  He said I should read the "Gift of Dyslexia."  I thought you would enjoy it, Mom.

     Jen is someone Sister Benson taught on her mission.  She said her youngest daughter and her got baptized last February.

--
~Sister Aurora Pack