Mom! Oh Mom
I miss you so much and dad and everyone. I have so much to say I hope I can get
it all out in the time that I have. First of all I LOVE my coat and hat and
gloves and my comforter is so comfortable. My mattress here Is really nice and
I have slept better in TN then I ever did in the MTC, I am working harder too so
I bet that has something to do with it. I loved the fun picture you sent it
made me smile and I put it right by my bed. The Assistant to the President came
up to me the first day I arrived and said, Sister Oldham you have received more
packages today then I have my whole mission, you must be loved. I am loved and
I feel it. Thank you mom. Oh also as for sending letters just send them to the
mission home, they like you to do that and then they forward the letters and
packages to me, if you can send all packages through US mail and not like ups
or fedex or something they say that works best so they can just forward things
immediatly. But I dont need anything right now so dont worry about sending any
packages.
My first
area is called Clarksville 3. Clarksville is really big and there are 5 sets of
missionaries serving in this one town! There are 4 wards and one spanish
branch. My companion and I are the only sisters in our district and it is
wonderful. The Elders treat us with so much respect and love. Oh did I tell you
we are WHITEWASHING THE AREA! Do you know what that means! That means she is new
to this area, just as new as I am. Sister Vandenberg is her name. She is from
Roy, UT and has been out 6 months. This is her fourth area already. She is
short and really outgoing and spunky. She listens to all my questions and lets
me talk about my feelings. She is a Tomboy and gives like these huge hugs I
just love her. She is really patient with me and lets me ask questions all the
time. She is super obedient in everything she does and I love that because I
know that I can trust her.
Missionary
work is so different than I imagined. You dont go tracting all day long! I
thought I would be teaching like a lesson a day and then be knocking doors all
day, nope! Not here atleast. We spent most the first week getting to know
members and less actives. The last sisters that were here set us up perfectly.
We began teaching their investigators they were teaching so we got a few
lessons in their. This ward is amazing and we get fed every single night. The
families are so much and crazy and let me tell you Tennessee sure has
character! Half of the ward and Clarksville are here for Military, we are right
by a base, and then the other half of Clarksville is so southern. Some
pretty poor areas but these people are great. We will be teaching a lesson or
saying a prayer and when they hear something they love or agree with, just in
the middle of your prayer they will say, "Amen, Thank you Jesus."
They Love Jesus Christ and really know Him.
My favorite
southern thing I have heard so far is from an investigator named Greg. He has
been investigating the church for a year now. I am not sure what we are going
to do with him because he likes to make jokes a lot, which is great but I want
to bring him closer to Christ, I need to, that's my job! He cant get past Joseph
Smith so we are going to really work on that with him this week when we see
him. But anyway, we are outside on his front lawn and he got off about his dogs
and then he said, "Everybody needs a cat to kick. Ya'll have any cats to
kick?" True story.
The first
day I got here I was SOOOO overwhelmed. My companion is amazing so she
would really try to help me. We ate dinner at a members and they have 3 kids,
they both served missions and are from Arizona and are here for military.
Their kids were hilarious and crazy and so it made me feel right at
home. But we had a couple investigator lessons and they all were falling
through. It was my first day and we hadn't taught any investigators. I
then felt inspired to knock on a certain door around an investigator who
didn't answers house, so we did and guess what! They didn't even open the door,
they just talked through us through the door and said they were busy! I walked
a way really happy, which was weird, I was sad they didn't want my message
but I realized that even though I was going to have to do hard things
I knew the Lord was going to help me and I knew He wanted me to knock on
the door just to see if I would follow His spirit!
Another day
we were sitting in a baptist parking lot trying to locate where a less
active member lived and this jolly skinny man walks by our car, my
companion turns to me and says, "We need to give him a Book of Mormon." She
then busted up laughing because she said I all the sudden looked like I
was going to barf. So we tried to find our Book of Mormon but were so
frazzled that he was already half way down the street. We didn't think
chasing him down would be appropriate so we got back in the car. Then I see him
come back so I tell her, she jumps out of the car and says, "Hey can
we give you a gift?" She is so enthusiastic its great. We then give
him Book of Mormon and our number and explained it a little. We try to get
his name but he tells us that too many women already have his name. Oh he
also had GOLD TEETH with letters imprinted on them. Probably his initials,
idk. Seriously these people are just so cool it's unreal.
Our
ward has a lot of inactives and so we are going to be focusing a lot of
our efforts on building the kingdom. Our ward mission leader and his
wife are amazing, both RMs and really young and have so much
enthusiasm. It's going to take a lot of effort, but together we are going to
really try and boost activity in the ward and get a family mission plan
for each of the families. I also feel a great stress to involve the youth. I am
really excited when I talk about it!
Mom this
work is hard, it really is. But the best part is the Lord is with me.
Whenever I get discouraged, or afraid, or I lack charity, I close my
eyes and picture my Savior. He was the PERFECT teacher and people still
rejected him. Are they going to reject me, absolutely. But that is okay because I
am about His work and He has promised to help me. I picture
what He would do if He were ministering and helping the people I am
working with, every time I do I am immediately lifted! He loves me so much and I
am coming to know Him so quickly and in ways I had not imagined. He is so
close to me and I need Him, I physically, emotionally and
spiritually CANNOT do this work without Him. But with Him I can
witness miracles, with Him I have witnessed miracles. I have felt love for
His children through me. I cannot believe He has chosen me to help Him in
His work! My Heavenly Father will use me as a tool.
AHHHH so
little time, okay this is the story that will top off
the cake! And it isn't just a story, it is real!!!!! My
companion and I went to the assisted living home to visit a Brother on our
agenda. We assumed it was a member because we couldn't find any information on
him. When we got there we found out he isn't a member and the other sisters had
given him a Book of Mormon last week. So we discussed it with him and he said
he felt so much peace. His name is Castudaryl, he is 54
and lost his legs in Vietnam. He is African American and the sweetest guy. We
taught him about Joseph Smith and bore testiomony of the Book of Mormon, then I
invited him to be baptized and he said yes!!!!!! It was a soft commitment but
still! He was moving to Texas today so we didnt have much time with him so
sadly we wont see him out till the end but this is the amazing part. We got him
to come to Sacrament yesterday and we visited him last night. He said that he
told his friends about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and we were able to
share a Book of Mormon with a friend of his. He got our addresses and told us
first thing he will do when he gets to texas is find the church and then write
us each a letter. He said we touched his heart forever and told us to always
remain true. He called this morning and left a message and said he is going to
be baptized in 3 weeks because we said he had to go to church a few times
before he gets baptized. I will love than man forever! He also said that he
knew he would see us again and that we were his sisters in the gospel! It was
amazing! The miracle I knew would happen.
Oh my
heavens I cant believe that story is mine but it is! I am so excited to see
what the Lord has in store this week! I Love Him so much. I invite everyone to
pray and ask for a stronger testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon. It is
our bridge to our Savior and tells how we can get home to our Heavenly Father!
Oh Mom I
love you so much! I love Mitch and Holly and Keltzie and Gen and Blake and
Madison and Dad too!
Love Sister
Oldham
