Alfred: YSW, Muslim, Christian, or something else? (Week 41)

Alake poses with her family at her baptism!

Hello,

This week was amazing.  We hit all of our goals, except when it came to referrals.  I honestly don't know how we did it, other than with God's help and blowing all our miles.  (We will have to bike a lot this week to make up for it.)

On an exchange with Sister Horrocks!

First off, I want to make it clear that I didn't send the pictures on Wednesday.  I sent them on Monday, but the internet connection was bad, so they didn't send.  I didn't think much of it until I saw that they sent when we connected with WiFi. 😱  I wasn't trying to be disobedient.  But all is good, God knows the intention of my heart. 😀

So, after district meeting, we were really bummed out.  (*Check note at the bottom of email.)  We didn't feel like doing anything, but we did anyway.  We had the option of going to a less-active home where we know they will let us in or going out and finding people to teach.

Tammy and Horrocks!

Sister Johnston asked me what the best possible outcome for the night was.  I told her I really wanted to find a family to teach.  We went finding.  We thought we should try this teenager, I meet awhile ago, Zifnab.  We didn't know how her parents would react.  When we get there, the parents were outside.  At first it was a little awkward, but we taught them and picked them up as new investigators.  It turns out they were taught by missionaries awhile ago.  We prayed to find a family, and God gave us what we asked for.  Hugh - father; Sinistrad - mother; Dynast - 18 (not living at home right now); Sabia - 16; Zifnab - 15; Devon - 14 or 13; and Balthazar - 12.  I love this whole family already.

We meet this really awesome person.  He is really knowledgable about the scriptures.  He said some things that I feel are true.  A lot of it was symbolism in the scriptures.  He said the first 10 prophets in the Bible from Adam to Noah have a special meaning if one knows the interpretation of each name. He said to google "Adam to Noah code."  Obviously, everything one finds might not be true, but I think there is a lot of truth in it.

An Avatar Egg

He also had some interesting views on the Book of Revelation.  He was discussing politics intertwined with religion.  He said one group already feels that the Book of Revelation has happened.  The website is raptureless.com.  He said it all happened with Nero, and he told us one event that would suggest that this theory is true.  When he was explaining this, I was at first thinking he is crazy, but as he explained I think, "Okay.  Maybe it happened before, but it doesn't stop it from happening again."  He thinks the same thing; he said, "God works in patterns."  After all, the scriptures have many meanings.  He said John was trying to warn the Christians of the day.  I can see that as true, but he was also warning us.

The whole time he was trying to share with us what he believes, which I am okay with even if I don't agree with everything.  Some of the things he said, I don't believe.  Other people I have meet on my mission just try to destroy my belief.  When I talk with people, I don't want to tell them what they believe is wrong, but I'd rather share with them the truth I have to offer.

Before we left, he said a prayer.  In it he asked God to help us know truth and that we would continue bring people unto him.  He also prayed that we would find good husbands when the time came.

Miracle: As the title suggests we met someone named Alfred.  He is so awesome.  We were deterimed to get a high number of contacts* this week, so we set out to do it.  We talked to 40 people on Tuesday; our Mission President has a goal of 12 each day.  Alfred was number 37 or something like that.  He was really close to 40, which just goes to show that talking with everyone really does work.

We were biking, and we asked if we could share a webaddress.  He said yes, and he got really confused, since he had never heard of Mormons before.  We tried to explain, but he only got more confused.  He asked us the difference between Mormon and Mohammad.  We gave him the pamphlet, and he said he would go home to read it right then.  We also set up a time to meet him on Saturday.

Sister Johnston thought he was a Muslim, which is fine; we would just have to get him interviewed before we really started teaching him.  The reason is because it is dangerous for a Muslim to convert to Christianity.  I thought he was a Christian, who looked up Islam and didn't quite know who Mohammad was.  We made sure to ask him on Saturday.  It turned out I was right, but something we weren't expecting was that he grew up as a Jehovah's Witness.  I have never taught one, so this will be interesting.  He was also asking how he can become a Mormon, so we set a baptismal date with him for August 22.

We told him church was at 10, but to come at 9:30, so we could show him around the building.  He was really excited to come, so on Sunday we kept looking for him, but he didn't show up.  The Sacrament was passed, and we both were really tired -- staying awake was a problem.

After the Sacrament was done, Alfred walked in!  He sat on the other side, so we were thinking, "oh great, how is this going to work out?"  We wanted to sit next to him, but there wasn't room.

Thankfully, a member noticed and talked to him and pointed at us, so he came to join us.  It turned out he was looking for us at 10:30, so we think he confused the times.  During Sacrament meeting, he was writing down questions he had.  He is so awesome.  The ward also loved him.  The Elders told us, at the end of Priesthood meeting, he asked how he can become a missionary.

Also, we thought he might be YSA (Young Single Adult).  If he was, we needed to pass him off to the YSA Elders.  It turns out Alfred is 31!  Wahoo!  We get to teach him. 😊

*Side note on the contacts: We reached 48 on the first two days, which is pretty good for a week, but we were going to do better.  Then, at district meeting, it was announced that we aren't counting contacts anymore. This way the district leader doesn't have to call us on Sunday night to get numbers -- he just looks online, since we have iPads.  It was a huge bummer, but oh well.

✨Sister Aurora Pack

What makes our Church Different? (Week 40)

An old picture of Fricke and Pack.  It's easy to get these two confused?!

Hey Everyone,

This week was awesome!  We had so many miracles.  We taught so much.  We also got a baptism date set for Essix!  Since she still has physical challenges to overcome, we set it for September 19th.  I am so excited for her!

We had exchanges, which was fun.  I will send a picture [next week].

During two days we took Tammy out with us.  We used so many miles in our car.  (We only get to drive 620 each month for Pleasant Hill South.)  But we saw so many miracles.  We got to meet with Trian and meet with some other people.

One scary thing happened with Tammy.  We knocked on a door, and we asked if Bane was home.  The lady who answered the door said he had moved.  We asked her if she wanted to learn.  She said no, which is fine, but then she started telling us she believes in Satan.  She told us, "Satan be with you."  Needless to say, we left.  We said a prayer and put on hymns in the car to get the spirit back.  Creepy devil lady.  I hope and pray she changes and turns to Christ.  I also hope she was just trying to creep us out and doesn't believe it, but, even if that is true, she doesn't know what she is messing with.

We had some awesome lessons with Drugar.  Since he is nine, we found ways to keep his attention for longer periods of time.  He really likes reading the scriptures especially if we have pictures to go with it.

My mom has sent me a few pictures from Big Horn.  If any of you read this, just know that I miss Big Horn and all of you.  Tanner, your face is so goofy.  Dillon, that is so awesome that you are SPL for Week 2.  I guess that is happening this week.  I wish you well.

Miracle: I don't think I can just pick one, but I will highlight the lesson with Roland.  The other things I wrote about today are also miracles in there own way (except the devil lady).  Weeks ago Sister Fricke and I taught Roland, but we have never been able to see him again.  He works a lot.  We were planning on just seeing what he remembered about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

He remembered that we like to start and end with a prayer, which was super awesome.  After the prayer, he asked us really good questions, like what makes our church different from all the other Christian churches.  The answer, of course, is that we have modern living prophets who lead and guide us.  If that isn't enough, we also have the priesthood and the Book of Mormon.  We explained a lot about the prophet, and we explained how a new one is called.

 

At the end of the lesson, he told us that when we last meet he said he was unshakable, but that he was still willing to meet with us.  However, now he said he might be shaken from his faith to another, as long as that faith believes in Christ.  He told us that Sunday evenings are usually a good time to find him home.  Also during his prayer, he called me Sister Fricke.  I will try to correct him next time.  I didn't want to say anything.
--

~Sister Aurora Pack

Sister Johnston finally connects! (Week 39)

Sister Johnston has arrived in the same area as Sister Pack... finally!

Hey everyone,

I heard Mom and Mirth are up at Big Horn.  That is so much fun.  I love Big Horn so much, so have a blast. :)

 

My new companion is Sister Johnston!  She was born (first area in the mission) in Winter Garden and her second area was New Smyrna just like me!  She was Sister Taylor's first companion in Florida.  Sister Brown replaced her at Winter Garden; then the next transfer I came and replaced Sister Brown.  When I left Winter Garden, I went to New Smyrna and replaced Sister Johnston.  She has served in every area that I have.  She has also served in two other areas.  She has been out 14 months.

 

We meet this person named Rega.  We were talking to her and then she answered her phone.  We then started talking to her granddaughters.  A little bit later Rega is off the phone, and we continue to talk to her.

Her daughter, who is inside, finds out that we are there.  She yells that she didn't want us to baptize her daughters and that there is only one God.  It was pretty clear that she didn't like us, but Rega told her daughter that she was being rude.  Rega told us to come back on Tuesday, so we are.  Hopefully, Rega will talk to us before believing anything her daughter tells her.

Miracle: We were trying to see some potential investigators.  We weren't having any luck, but we talked to a person across the street.  She didn't have time then, but she said to come back.  She said she recently moved here, and she used to have missionaries come by.  It was really cool.

Sorry this week's email is short.

✨Sister Aurora Pack

 

One more photo of my birthday cake!

 

Birthday Party and Lots of Visits (Week 38)



At Tammy's birthday party for me!



Hey everyone,

First off , you need to know transfer doctrine.  Sister Fricke is leaving me!  How rude.  She is abandoning me tomorrow.  Anyway, we have had so much fun together.  This last week was amazing.  Sister Fricke is awesome, and she will do great good in her new area.

 



Sister Fricke's birthday sign for me!



Sister Fricke made this sign for me.  She made it without me knowing and then put it up the night before my birthday.  I didn't see it until my birthday.  She is so awesome.

Sister Fricke befriends a lucky local cat!

On Saturday Elder L. Tom Perry, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, passed away.  He was one of Sister Fricke's favorite apostles.  She named her stuffed unicorn Perry after him.  It is sad to see him go, but I know it is his time.  The Lord has a plan, which is perfect.  I bet Elder Perry is needed on the other side.

 

We met Haplo, who is super awesome.  He has heard about the church in New York with all the advertising, but has never meet a member until us.  He wants to learn more, but is going back to New York tomorrow. 

 

He is getting everything ready, so he can move down here to stay to be with his family.  When we told him about Joseph Smith, it really touched him that it was in Palmyra, New York.  I would never have thought that that part of the story would matter to anyone.

Haplo cared because he was in Palmyra when he found God.

My birthday party!

Thank you all for your birthday wishes.  I had a wonderful day.  Now I am officially 20.  We had a really great day.  Tammy invited us over for dinner.  She also invited over Sister Xar.  She wanted us to invite someone, so we asked Trian to come.  She came and loved it.  We were able to teach the first lesson to her.

All the attendees at the party (except cameraman Fricke)

The first part of it went terrible!  Trian was so distracted.  She went into the bathroom to fix her makeup.  We both said a silent prayer asking for the spirit to come.  After she came back, we taught her about Joseph Smith and the first vision.  The spirit was so strong.  Trian asked us not to make her cry, because then she would have to fix her makeup again.  She said she knew what we said was true.  We explained that she was feeling the spirit.  It was awesome.

Grandma Tammy and Sister Fricke

The spirit changes everything in the lesson.  Also, after the spirit was there, Trian was calm, which is weird for her.

Samah and her family

These two transfers with Sister Fricke have been amazing.  We ended it with a fantastic week.  I think this has been one of my best.

Dalton and me

Miracle: At the end of church, we ate lunch and then went to fill up our water bottles, near the bishop's office.  Brother Vasu (second counselor in bishopric) was talking with someone.  He called us over, and we started talking with Limbeck.  He had a lot of good questions.

Essix is still confined to bed, but she's happy -- and we're happy to be with her!

We were able to answer them and teach him the first lesson.  He wants to learn more, but didn't set up a time to meet.  He said he would come to church next Sunday.  He and his wife moved to Florida three weeks ago.  He said his wife is a member, and he wanted to come check it out.

✨Sister Aurora Pack



My last district meeting with Sister Fricke

P.S. There was an Elder who found a picture of Elder Ashworth, who is one of our Zone Leaders.  He convinced all the other Elders to set the picture as their background.  At the end of district meeting they showed Elder Ashworth.  They told him if only they could be as good as him.

The Ashcroft Phone incident

Climbing Fourteeners & Silver Linings (Week 37)

Conquering the highest peak in Florida -- their only 14'er.
That is, 14 feet above sea level!

 Hello,

Cole was baptized on Saturday!  When he came up from the water he had a huge smile.  It was so awesome.  He also had a great smile when he was confirmed on Sunday.

Brother Ramos baptized him.  He and his wife are his primary teachers.  Sister Ramos wasn't able to come, which was too bad.  However, Marit Wyatt was able to come.  She rides the same bus to school as Cole.  When she heard he was getting baptized, she really wanted to come.  Because Sister Ramos wasn't able to come and give the talk, we asked Marit to give her testimony on baptism.  We also shared a few thoughts.  It was good, since Sister Wyatt also came, because Marit was speaking.  Also Sister Hiatt and her family came.  She was the missionary that first started helping Mira and Cole.  She is home now, and she just happened to be in Florida with her family.

When we went to the Bishop's house for dinner, their six-year-old son heard rockamole instead of guacamole.  He then sang "Icecream, icecream, rockamole."  He then asked if I knew that song.  He kept singing it.  It was so funny.

Essix is doing great.  She still needs to recover.  I am not sure what to do other than pray.  I keep praying.  I know she will recover in the Lord's time.

One day this week, I prayed during the whole time of personal study.  Elder Clarke suggested it.  It was great.  We can always pray.

Thanks everyone who is emailing me.  I really appreciate it.  It is nice to know what is going on in your lives.

Miracle: We knocked on a door to find a former investigator.  She no longer lived there, but Nate and Conor did.  They are super awesome.

We talked with them about families and did a quick restoration overview.  They said we could come back tonight.  The day we found them our appointments canceled on us.  Miracles always seem to happen when our appointments cancel. I think God knows someone else needs us then, so he causes things to come up in the other people's lives.

That is how we found Essix.  Someone canceled, so we went to go see Abeke, which led to Essix.

✨Sister Aurora Pack

Exhausted after reaching the summit!

P.S. We decided that this is the tallest hill in Florida (not really, but we like to pretend, since Florida is so flat).  The first picture is me exhausted from climbing it. ;) The second picture is me standing triumphant since I conquered the hill.  It was fun to pretend that it took a lot of effort.

Book of Mormon Miracles (Week 36)

Tennis as exercise!

Hey Everyone,

Last Monday we bought some tennis balls.  We found three tennis rackets in the apartment.  There is a tennis court next to our apartment.  We decided to play tennis in the mornings as our exercise program.

It has been a lot of fun.  We both are not very good, so our goal is to become half-way decent.

Cole is getting baptized this Saturday.  We are really excited; he is too.  He was so worried he wouldn't pass the interview.  We tried to reassure him he would be fine, and, of course, he was.

Thanks Dad and Grandpa for the scriptural references regarding my resurrection question.

We went to find a potential investigator, but they weren't home, so we knocked a few doors in that area.  A boy, named Eric, answered the door.  He said his parents weren't home, so we gave him a card to give to his parents.  Later, we said a prayer with another potential investigator, and had a brief lesson, and it turned out Eric was friends with her son!  They live somewhat close, but not right next to each other.  What are the chances that the boy we talked to earlier would come by later?  We don't think it was a coincidence.

Elder Norton drew the district as Greek Gods (good thing no one takes this pantheon seriously any more so we can just enjoy the stories as mythology)

Essix is doing really good.  She still needs to heal to make it to church.  She loves the Book of Mormon.  We leave her with one assigned chapter, and she will read more.  Right before we come she re-reads the chapter we gave her.  She said whenever she reads, she just wants to read more.

 

The Elders come to the end of Preparation Day (not looking too much like the cartoon)

Sister Sebastion gave herself a date to start doing the things she needs to get back to the temple.  I am so happy for her.  I know she can do it.

 

Sister Aurora sports her short hair!

Miracle:  I got a haircut last Monday.  I wanted my hair longer than it already was.  I just wanted a trim [to help it grow].  I have decided to only get a haircut from someone who speaks english fluently or, if I ever learn a language, we can go with that one.  She spoke English, but there was still a language barrier.  She cut too much of my hair off.  It still looks okay, but I had a hard time with it being a lot shorter.  At first I told myself it was fine, but one night I just broke down in tears.  I went and filled up my water bottle in the fridge.  As I walked back, I felt like I should pull out my iPad and read from the Book of Mormon.

I picked a place randomly and started reading.  It calmed me down.

Afterwards, I felt peace.  I still want my hair longer, but I was no longer upset about it.  I love the Book of Mormon.  It always can bring the Spirit who brings peace.

✨Sister Aurora Pack

P.S. Here is something I made with my iPad.  Elder Hunt showed me the basics, then I messed around with it until I made what I wanted.  Sister Fricke suggested that I turn the bottom upside down to make the mirror.

The Detroit Temple meets Sister Pack's iPad

Mission Grandma & Mother's Day (Week 35)

Newel and all of his missionaries!

Hey everyone,

It was great seeing you on Mother's Day.

One of the highlights of the week was Newel's baptism.  Every companionship in the ward taught Newel.  First, we taught him, then, after one lesson and his coming to church, we passed him off to the Elders, since he lived in their area.  Then they passed him off to the Spanish missionaries.  He is so awesome, and he has a great testimony.

Another highlight of the week was Zone Conference.  Elder Clarke stayed for it.  It was so sweet. There were a lot of good things, but I will mention one.  He talked about being a Preach-My-Gospel Missionary, which is a missionary who follows the spirit, obeys all the commandments (including ones found in the Missionary Handbook), studies the scriptures, and applies what they learn.  All
that can be found in the introduction to Preach My Gospel.  He said we can't expect our investigators to keep commitments if we can't keep the mission commandments.  He also said that missionaries should study the scriptures in the role of a missionaries and parents should study the scriptures in the role of a parent.  He said that when he became a seventy he was told to buy a new set of
scriptures and to study it in the role of a seventy.

Just so you all know.  Wawa has the best sandwiches.  I don't think we have any in Colorado.

While we were weekly planning a thought came into my head to bring Essix's mom a Mother's Day card.  We did that, but we just left it taped to the door.  Later during the day, Essix told us it was a beautiful note and thanked us.  She also said, this morning, that it meant a lot to her since she wasn't able to get her mother one, as the doctor still doesn't want her out of bed.  I am glad I followed the spirit and did that for them.

We also brought three other people Mother's Day cards.  Tammy, who is a mother, but isn't in contact with any of her children.  She is a grandmother to us.  Sister Sebastian, who has a son in heaven and one in the military, but also is a mother to us.  Sartan, who is in a nursing home, that we visit every week; she also a few children.  I don't know how often they visit her though. It is kinda sad that those three women couldn't see their children yesterday, but I am glad we could brighten up their lives.



Tammy on Mother's Day

Mom, you would be so proud of me.  I cooked curry your way.  Your way is to read the ingredients off a package then make your own thing.  I did that.  I didn't measure anything, and it tasted awesome.  Thanks for teaching me how to cook.

The picture with the boxes is for Iridal.  She is blind, and she is moving to Maryland.  They needed help shipping her Braille scriptures.  Because she is blind, the post office ships it for free.  It was quite an adventure getting them shipped.  We did what Iridal said to do, but the post office wouldn't take them.

We later found out that we needed a stamp to prove it was for blind people.  We went and got Iridal's stamp; thank goodness she had it.  At the post office, after talking with them to make sure we had it right, we went to go get the nine boxes from the car.

Iridal's Braille Scriptures

There was someone who was whistling at people.  Whatever, we were just going to ignore him, but he came up to us.  He was offering to help carry the packages inside.  We were getting creepy vibes from him, so we told him we could handle it on our own.  He said it was an insult to his culture from Puerto Rico.  We kept telling him no.  When we talked inside, I made sure to lock the car.
He stayed by our car.  We then talked to someone who works at the post office to help us.  He went and talked to him, asking him to leave.  He walked away from our car, but he wouldn't leave the parking lot.  Anyway, I saw the employee call the police.  If the police came, we weren't there.  Good news is that the boxes
with the scriptures in them shipped, and I have a crazy mission story to tell. :)

Mirth, in one of the pictures mom sent me, I saw your blanket.  I approve.  I love Hiccup and Toothless.  Sister Fricke named her bike, Charlotte, so I decided to name mine Toothless.  I should send you a picture.  I don't think I have ever sent a picture of my bike yet.  I know mom asked for one, so I probably should.

Miracle: After Elder Clarke, Sister Fricke and I decided to change some things, so we could be better Preach-My-Gospel missionaries.  We wanted to work harder and be more obedient.  Not that we were very disobedient, but making sure we got
to studies at 8 am instead of a few minutes late.  Making sure we ask to leave our area, even if it is to see a less-active in the ward.  Anyway, we worked harder, but didn't see too much success.  However, God blessed us for improving.

On Sunday, Trian just showed up to church.  She isn't a member, and she lives in our area, so we are going to start teaching her.  She is super awesome, and I am excited to get to know her more.  All this shows me is that missionary work really isn't in our hands.  There is nothing we can do, but God will let us teach the people who are ready if we show him that he can trust them to us.  I
think this week we showed God that we were willing to work hard and so he saw that we would take care of Trian.

~Sister Aurora Pack

Tammy and the Red Noses

P.S. We took Tammy to Essix's lesson.  Tammy bought red noses for each of us.  Essix said she liked it.  The other picture is of Tammy and I on Mother's Day.  We brought over a Mother's Day card for her.  We told her that she is like our mission grandma.