February 18, 2014

Dear family,

 

There is so much to update you on! I'll start with the bad news first. That Ethiopian family we started teaching? We will no longer be teaching them. Sad, but it wasn't going to go anywhere. We had a lesson with them this past week, and we brought a member who knows the Bible very well, knowing that he would be able to answer any doctrinal questions they might have. Well, the lesson didn't go quite as we envisioned it. The best way I could describe it is that I felt like I was at a tennis match, and my companion and I were just spectators. Miraf would bring up some objection and over and over the member would totally confound her. Then, she would bring up some other random doctrine. Back and forth, back and forth it went. In the moment it was a little intimidating...my poor companion was scared to death. BUT, now looking back at it, it was pretty funny. In the end, Miraf said if we wanted to come back and talk about the Bible that would be fine, but she would not read the Book of Mormon. I told her that we wouldn't be coming unless she was open to it because it is central to our beliefs, but if she ever changed her mind she could give us a call. And that was that. You have to have lessons like that every once in a while...it's all part of the mission experience :)

 

In other news, we have seen some awesome progress with less-actives. We had a lesson with Zenas and Rensi (he's a member and she's not), and it went really well. We brought a young married couple from our ward with us, and they really hit it off with them. I tell you, one of the greatest things to witness is seeing less-actives and investigators develop friendships with ward members. For Zenas especially, having member friends will be a huge factor in him coming back to church.

 

Now, for the coolest experience of the week. First I'll give you some background. We have been teaching Goldie and her seventeen-year-old granddaughter Megan (they are both less-actives) ever since I got here. Goldie is a wonderful woman, and she LOVES the gospel. However, due to some experiences from the past, she has had a lot of guilt and feels she is not worthy to be at church. We have taught her every week and have tried to help her overcome these feelings. At the end of our lessons she always says we will be at church, but then she never comes. About a month ago she told us that they would be moving from their apartment because they couldn't afford to live there anymore. She agreed to be out by the beginning of February, but she had no idea where they were going to go. This past month has been stressful to say the least for them. With the task of getting the apartment packed up and finding a place to live, the ward has really stepped in and helped them. During this difficult time, they have reached out and shown their love for Goldie and Megan. Luckily they were able to find a nice apartment still in our ward boundaries, and they are now all settled in. It was truly a miracle! This past week we had been discussing whether or not we should continue teaching them because they are not coming to church, but we did wonder if this experience would give her some motivation to come. On Sunday Goldie, Megan, and two of Megan's friends walked in the chapel just as Sacrament meeting started. I was in total shock, and it brought tears to my eyes. Not only were they there, but they absolutely loved being there. Later that night we talked to Goldie and she expressed with much emotion what a monumental day it was for her. She is finally overcoming those feelings of unworthiness. I have no doubt that the love shown to her by ward members helped her to feel God's love for her, and helped her to more easily love and forgive herself. The first and most important step in helping someone change is loving them.  I know that as we have charity and serve those around us, we can see miracles happen!

 

I love you guys! Thanks for everything.

 

Love,

 

Sister Denney

February 10, 2014

Dear family,

 

It's been a jam-packed week with our Sister's training, exchanges, and Mission Leadership Council. But, even with us being gone so much, we have managed to have a pretty successful week in our area!

 

 We picked up three new investigators on Saturday. Kassahun and his family are originally from Ethiopia and they are devout Seventh day Adventist. We tracted into Kassahun about a week and a half ago and he invited us back for this last Saturday. We think his intent may have been to teach us about their beliefs, but whatever the intent, it got us a return appointment! So, we showed up on Saturday and a younger lady opened the door and immediately welcomed us in, even though she had no idea who we were. It was crazy! We walked into their living room to find literally fifteen people sitting around staring at us. I have never felt so out of place! Haha, I think because it was their Sabbath day, all the family was spending the day together. Whatever the reason, it was slightly intimidating. It was a crazy environment with so many people and kids running around, but we managed to teach them the Restoration. During the lesson, some of them lost interest and left the room, but three of them were very interested in what we had to say. Kassahun's daughter, Miraf, was especially intrigued. She knows her Bible very well and wanted to make sure the things we taught matched up with the Bible perfectly. It was an intense lesson and they expressed many concerns...their biggest concern being the fact that Peter, James, and John appeared to Joseph Smith and gave him the Priesthood. (They say God doesn't work through dead people). BUT, they want us to come back next Saturday on their Sabbath! After our lesson with them we talked to an elder I used to serve around that used to be Seventh day Adventist. He said the biggest factor in his conversion was the testimony he gained of the Book of Mormon. So, next time we hope to really focus on the Book of Mormon...hopefully they will give it a chance! :)

 

 I forgot to tell you guys about a cool experience we had last week! We have been teaching a lot of less-active members, but not many of them had been coming to church. Because of that, our weekly goal was to do everything we could to get less-active members to church. We tried to involve visiting teachers and other members in helping these less-active members feel comfortable coming, and we focused our lessons towards the commitment of coming to church. Not everything went totally as planned...but we did all we could. We got to church on Sunday, and watched as six of our less-active members walked in the chapel. It was one of the most rewarding experiences on my mission so far. It's so cool how Heavenly Father blesses us for our faith. Even though some of our plans fell through, He recognized our faith as we set that goal and did all we could to achieve it. I am so grateful for the experiences when I can really see the hand of the Lord in this work. I know that he always blesses us for our efforts. Not always in ways we see or understand, but he always blesses us.

 

I hope you know how much I love and appreciate you guys. I am so blessed to have such supportive and loving family and friends. Your support truly has given me so much strength. Have a Happy Valentine's day and know that Sister Denney in Pennsylvania loves you!!!

 

Love,

 

Sister Denney

February 5, 2014

Hey family!

 

Sorry I am a couple days late....the library has been closed because of weather. I swear, they close EVERYTHING here when it snows, and the schools have snow days and two hour delays all the time. So, if I were in school I might be happy about it, but when you're a missionary the work continues on, at least as much as the weather will allow :) We were pretty much stuck in our apartment all day Monday. It was good though, gave us time to watch three movies and write letters!

 

So much has happened....I guess I'll start with the bad news first. Ruth dropped us. SO SAD. We were going to have a lesson with her last week and the day of she texted us and said she wouldn't be getting baptized and she wouldn't be meeting with us anymore. She said she had been praying and just didn't feel like she got the answer that this was the right path for her. We asked if we could meet with her one more time to get a little more understanding, but she refused. We don't know exactly what happened, but we do know there is more to the story than she is letting on. Oh well, what can you do. At least we were able to plant the seed! It's definitely hard to see people you've come to care about miss the truth that's right in front of them, but all we can do is give them the opportunity to accept it. That's what it means to be successful.

 

In happier news, we had our Sister's Training yesterday, and it was awesome!!! The sisters really seemed to get a lot out of it. We were able to talk about things that are stressing them out and talk about ways to combat them. The Gettysburg sisters did a training on how we can be more unified with our companions, and Sister Thatcher and I gave a training on hope. We focused on the idea that having hope is having the assurance that all things will work together for our good. We all experience challenges as missionaries, but when we can recognize what we gain/learn through those challenges, we can push forward with a more positive attitude. In the end we related it back to the Savior and how He had hope. Because He recognized the purpose of his suffering, He was able to endure all and accomplish what He was sent to earth to do. Similarly, as we recognize the purpose in our suffering, we will find spiritual and emotional strength to endure the challenges we face. The Spirit was strong, and we had a great discussion with the sisters. Even though it was a little stressful putting the training all together, I am so glad we did it!

 

Another success was our Book of Mormon class this past week! Sister Thatcher and I taught it for the first time, and it went great! We had a couple less-active members there, and they seemed to really enjoy it. Man, I knew I would be teaching as a missionary, but I don't think I realized how much I'd be teaching in larger settings. It's good though :) I know this is all great preparation for other callings in the future! My mission has made me stretch in a lot of ways, and for that I am so grateful. Heavenly Father requires that we do things out of our comfort zones, only because He sees our true potential. I am grateful He sees so much more than I do.

 

We had another great lesson with the Willey family, and we will be going back again on Sunday! This past week we realized that their daughter, who is nine, hasn't been baptized. There is so much potential with that family! I think that's all for now. I love you guys! Thanks for everything!

 

Love,

 

Sister Denney

January 27, 2014

 Family,

For some reason this past week seemed to last forever, but we had a lot of good things happen! We have quite a few people from our area moving, so we've had some good opportunities to do service which is always fun for us. People tend to ask the elders when they need service (dumb), so we are grateful for the opportunities we get! We had some crazy weather on Tuesday, which meant staying in the apartment for a lot of the day. Still, it was time well spent deep cleaning our apartment. Felt so good :)

 

We had multiple lessons set up this past week with investigators, and they all fell through. It's been really hard for us to get in contact with Ruth, but she just texted us today which is a good sign! She hasn't completely dropped off the face of the earth like many people tend to do. Yesterday we didn't have any scheduled lessons, so we decided to just try a bunch of different people. We decided to try Paul since it's been hard to reach him, but I'll be honest, I had very little faith that we would actually be successful. On our way over to his apartment we discussed what we would do if he was actually home, since he is a single male. (For those who don't know, there is a mission rule that we can't be in a home with a male without another adult female.) Sister Thatcher mentioned that maybe his female cousin would just HAPPEN to be there so we could go in and visit with him. I chuckled and said sarcastically, "Yeah, that would totally happen since things ALWAYS play out that perfectly." Anyway, we pulled up to his complex and saw that all his lights appeared to be off. Well, we figured we try him anyway, walked up to his door, knocked and waited. To our surprise he opened the door and invited us in. Then we asked, is there another woman here? He said, "Yeah my sister is here!" A little dumbfounded, we went in and had a nice visit with him. I think even Heavenly Father enjoys saying, "I told you so" sometimes :) Haha, it was a funny experience, and from it we were able to set up another lesson with Paul! Hopefully that follows through.

 

Last night, after we had tried all the people on our list, we had the thought to try a less-active family, the father not being a member. We have been a little hesitant to try them since he has had negative experiences with missionaries in the past, but we did it anyway. To our surprise, he opened the door and immediately welcomed us in. We had a nice lesson with them and their three little girls. The Dad participated in the lesson, and they all agreed to let us come back next week. It was awesome! So, we have Bro Willey as a new investigator, and we will hopefully begin seeing their family consistently. We also have FHE with a less-active part-member family tonight that we are very excited about! We are seeing miracles here as we are getting into more homes, especially homes of part-member families. Now that we are getting in more homes, we will be focusing all our efforts on helping these people progress. We have a goal to do everything we can to get less-actives at church this week. That means getting home and visiting teachers involved, coordinating rides, and giving multiple reminders if need be. I have faith that we will see increased numbers at church as we really get the ward members involved in inviting and helping our less-active members get to church.

 

We had an exchange on Friday with Sisters in a walk area. Friday night I was with Hermana Lopez, and both the lessons they had scheduled fell through. That meant walking in the frigid cold for close to two hours. Man, as much as I loved being in a walk area, I'm so grateful to have gotten a car before the cold spell really hit. I am so blessed to be here!

 

Love you guys! Hope all is well! :)

 

Love,

 

Sister Denney

January 20, 2014

Hey!

 

It's been an awesome week! We have been teaching a ton, which for those of you who have served missions know that is not always the case. New less-active members are coming out of the wood work, and they are willing to meet with us. We taught a less-active, part-member family that we have been trying to catch for a long time. The husband isn't a member, and the wife says that her reason for not coming to church is that she's just lazy. Haha, at least she can admit it! They are a great family, and we ended up having a good discussion with them about trusting in God by doing the things He has asked us to do. Connie, the wife, expressed her desires to come to church and get to the temple, and we told her that we want to help them in any way that we can. I hope that we can start meeting with them more consistently and work towards the goal of getting Connie to the temple again! We also found a new investigator named Joy, who is the wife of another less-active member. It will be a slow process with her, but they have committed to let us come and read the Book of Mormon with them every couple weeks. She is curious about the purpose of the Book of Mormon, so we are excited teach her.

 

Sister Thatcher and I taught our first lesson this week in zone training! President has told zone leaders that they are welcome to involve sister-training leaders in teaching so they are starting to involve us more. I was hesitant since the thought of training thirty missionaries intimidated me, but it ended up being a great success. President has given us the goal to get one baptism per district per month. Since that goal may sound a little daunting, we decided to train on how we can reach that goal through exact obedience and submitting our will to the Lord. We related it to the Anti-Nephi-Lehies and how they submitted their will by burying their weapons of war and completely leaving behind who they were before making their covenant. They even gave up their lives, and because of their example, they saw over a thousand Lamanites converted. We had a great discussion with the missionaries, and we left them with the commitment to give up something that is preventing them from completely aligning their will with God's. I am grateful for the lessons I learned preparing that training! I am recommitting myself to be exactly obedient. I know it is through exact obedience and giving our whole hearts to the Lord that we will see miracles happen.

 

Us and the Gettysburg sisters (Sister Strate) have joined forces to plan a training for the sisters we are over! We have seen a lot of problems that go on among sisters (depression, not getting along with companions, etc.), and we have decided that a training just for the sisters to focus on some of these issues will be beneficial to them. President thinks it's a great idea, so we will move forward with our plans to have it February 4th. I am excited to report how it goes!

 

And lastly, we had a GREAT lesson with Ruth this past week. She has been living the Word of Wisdom since we taught it, which was at least a couple weeks ago. She said it has been hard to give up her green tea, but she is staying strong. Our only set back at this point is that she is not coming to church. Every week she says she'll be there, but something always comes up. We plan to teach about the Sabbath day our next lesson, so hopefully we can help her understand the importance and address any concerns she may have. She has a baptism date for February 22nd, so hopefully we can make that happen!

 

I think that's all for this week! I love you guys! Thanks for all you do for me :)

 

Love,

 

Sister Denney

January 13, 2014

Hey family!

 

It's been a wonderful week with many reunions! We had mission leadership council on Friday, which means we got to go to Pittsburgh. And who did we stay the night with? Sister Hansen! In Bellevue! It was so fun catching up with her and spending the night in my old area :) A few people from my old ward stopped by, including Barb! She looked so good. When she got out of the car, one of the first things she said to me was, "There's something about the missionaries who baptize you...you feel like my mom!" Haha, so turns out I'm a mom to a 69 year-old-woman. Barb now has a family history related calling which she is excited about (It was some long title I can't remember) Anyhow, it was a fun night. After MLC, a group of us met at a church building in the area so we could all walk somewhere for dinner. When we got there, one of the elders I served with when I first came out happened to be there for their Book of Mormon class. So fun seeing him as well! I am so grateful for the friendships you make as a missionary. They make for many joyful experiences!

 

Because we were in Pittsburgh, we didn't teach as many lessons as we usually do. We did have a good lesson, however, with a guy named Paul. He is from Africa, and he moved here a few years ago. He knows his Bible very well, and he has a sincere desire to know if the things we teach are true.--Specifically, if the things we teach match up with the Bible. I have taught people like Paul before, and I have learned in these types of instances how important it is to focus on the Book of Mormon. Once someone has a testimony of the Book of Mormon, all concerns related to doctrine can be resolved. Once Paul gains a testimony of the Book of Mormon, he can then accept Joseph Smith as a prophet and modern revelation. We have another lesson with him set up for Sunday, and a member in our ward who was recently a mission president in South Africa will be coming with us. I know having him there will be a huge help to us! Unfortunately we have not been able to see Ruth for quite a while. Because of a family emergency she has been out of town, but we do worry that she has some concerns that need to be resolved. We're planning to stop by today, so hopefully we can see her again soon!

 

That's pretty much what's going on right now! Good things are happening. During our five hour drive home from Pittsburgh, we decided to listen to Elder Holland's talk, "Remember Lot's Wife." In it he talks a lot about having faith in the future, even when it seems uncertain. We do not need to dwell on how things "were" or how they "could have been" because Heavenly Father knows what we need better than we do. As I listened to it, I was brought back to when I first read this talk a couple years ago. I remember feeling unhappy with changes that were occurring in my life, and I remember feeling scared not knowing how things would work out. Then, sitting in the car, I thought about the past two years since that experience. I thought about the many joyful and growing experiences I had at school, and the part they played in me serving a mission. Ultimately, I was able to look back and see that Heavenly Father knew what he was doing the whole time. If there is one thing I've learned as a missionary, it's that all we need to do is trust God by giving our will to Him. Sometimes He asks us to do things that are hard, but as we are obedient, we will be able to look back and see the plan He had from the very beginning. I'm grateful for this new year and the many joyful experiences that lie ahead! The future is bright!

 

I love you all! Keep writing!

 

Love,

 

Sister Denney

January 6, 2014

Hey family!

 

It's been a great week! To answer your question Mom, yes I am freezing :) We're supposed to have negative temperatures the next couple days. Luckily President has told us that we don't have to be outside proselyting when the weather is that severe, so I think I will survive! Happy New Year everyone! Crazy to think that this year I will be going home...now I'll put that thought right out of my mind.

 

Unfortunately we weren't able to meet with any of our investigators this week, but we saw some great progress with less-actives. We have started teaching a less-active guy named Zenas, and we will hopefully begin teaching his wife who is not a member. They are a younger couple with a two-year-old, he's from Taiwan and she's from China. Zenas works as a chemist for a company called Never Wet. Maybe you've heard of it? I guess their videos on you tube have gone viral. His wife has met with missionaries before, but it seems that we'll need to start with the basics with her since she does not have a Christian background. Similar to my experience teaching Alexis. I think solidifying her belief in God will be our main focus. I will keep you updated on their progress! They are the cutest family.

 

We also had a great lesson with a sister who has been less-active for many years. Her and her children were baptized a long time ago, but they have all since gone inactive. Sister Ryan has a desire to come to church, but she worries that her activity in church will push her family away. Her relationships with her children are already struggling, and they seem to resent her for living high moral standards. We spent a lot of our lesson testifying that Heavenly Father always keeps His promises. When we are obedient, we receive blessings, it's as simple as that. We don't need to worry about what those blessings will be or when they will be received, because Heavenly Father will always give us what we need, when we need it. Of course, we will always have our agency, and sometimes people we love will make choices that hurt us; however, in the end what matters is the integrity we show to the truth that we have. Sister Ryan knows that she needs to come to church, now she just needs to take that leap of faith and trust that in the end, her obedience will be to the benefit of her and her family. That was the message we tried to get across, and I do think we were successful. I really do feel for this woman. She has experienced some hard things. I pray that we will continue to see progress with her as I know the gospel will provide the healing that she needs!

 

I am grateful to be a missionary. I can't say it enough! Love you guys!

 

Love,

 

Sister Denney