"17 Miracles on the Other Side of Heaven"

Halloween, Missionary Style

We're in the last week of the transfer. It's gone by really fast, and with Halloween, it's gonna be a great week. 

On Halloween, we have to be in our apartment by 6 pm, and we have permission to watch "17 miracles" and the "Other Side of Heaven" it'll be great. I'm gathering some baking stuff today at the store and enjoy some treats, watch some movies, and maybe write some letters. it'll be a great night.

 

I have great pictures that sum up the week pretty well.

Any ideas on how to back up my pictures and videos? They're too big to send in an email, but I want to make sure they'll be around if something happens.

 

Love you all!

Happy Halloween!

Trunk or Treat "Mixed up Missionaries"!

The Trunk or Treat! 

Our companionship three-some switched name tags and confused all the little kids. 

After we ate chilli, we put on our mustaches that Sister Bair's mom sent to us. 

4 year old Benjamin came up to me and said "I know it's just you!" He was adorable. Apparently we can't fool anyone with our facial hair.

 

In this picture is me (Sister Cornelsen), Phoenix and Desiree (investigators), Sister Tuia, and Sister Bair

An Experience He Could Not Deny

This is Garrett, on his baptism day. 
I taught him for a short time before I was transferred. we went to his baptism.
it was very powerful. the spirit was very strong. 

Garrett didn't believe in any sort of religion or even that God existed.  But through a family friend, he started going to church, reading the book of Mormon, and praying, he had an experience that he could not deny. 

Garrett is a very cool guy with an amazing testimony. In the picture with him are the the sister missionaries serving in meadows 5th now.  Sister Ridley, Garrett Chase, and Sister Baird.

Wonderful Week!

Hey Hey!

 

Can I just say how wonderful this week has been?!

 

Courtney set a date, today actually, to be baptized on January 14th!. We're super pumped for her. We had suggested Dec 14 but she prayed about it and feels more comfortable with January. It sounds like her family is being a bit more open to the idea of her joining as well. We'll be meeting with her twin sister sometime this week. oh. and on sunday we gave the young women a book of mormon challenge. we asked for a voluteer to take a book of mormon and give it to someone, prayerfully. who was the first to raise their hand after fear crossed the rest of the girls faces? That's right, Courtney the investigator. She's not even baptized. She has even made the promise to share the gospel, and she's doing it already. bam. pow. look out world, here she comes. :D

 

Morgan, the 8 year old, is incredible. this is the second time he's come to church all by himself. he walks in with the confidence of a 28 year old.

 

Our 2 other investigators are progressiing as well. Desiree is starting to believe that Christ can forgive sin - and that she's forgiven! it's pretty cool.

 

the ward loves sister missionaries. it's so good to hear the bishop say "now is the time for missionary work because we have good missionaries right now". this area is gonna keep growing. we just goota find some more investigators so we keep having stuff to do when these ones get baptized. haha.

 

I learned a powerful thing this week. you know how people say to memorize a scripture to recite when you're being tempted? it's never really worked for me. because i'm a visual person. I'm starting to imagine this particular scene from a bible video. it's at about 3:33. the image that's in my mind. http://www.mormonchannel.org/bible-videos?v=1537265083001 It's so clear in my mind and it gives me motivation and power to push out temptation and stay focused.

 

i never realized how big a deal homecoming is til this week... so much drama... so many activities... it's crazy. good thing that's over with

 

We had a missionary fireside on Saturday. It was pretty good. we decorated the cultural hall to be like an airplane. so people boarded the plane and then, through lights and sound effects, the plan crashed. an angel came and told them not to be afraid and showed us into the chapel for the fireside. President and Sister Stuart spoke. They are so good. I want to have a knowledge of the scriptures and modern day prophets like He does. There was one of our investigators there. Hopefully the next time we do a fireside, people will bring non members. I've been thinking about something President Stuart said. Ether 12:27. Elder Cook says the weakness is our body. i've learned so much about teh Atonement by pondering on that. Chew on that one for a while and what it means about temptation about Alma 7:11-13. HOly Schmocks we have a lot of help.

 

oh. funny thing. Our Ward Mission Leader, Brother Jennings, says that if we get a baptism we get a pedicure. i would have worked hard without the pedicure... but since it's being offerred, i'll take it. ;)

 

I love you all so much. I think of you daily and I feel your prayers. I don't know how I'm still doing this but by the grace of God. It truly is His grace that keeps me going. I love Him so much and I know that this is His gospel and through it we will be like Him. He's God. How much happiness does he have? well of course I want that! It's worth everything.

 

have a FANTASTIC week! love you all

Sister Cornelsen

 

ps. i've officially been out in teh field 9 months today. i'll be taking a pregnant picture and sending it shortly. :)

 

pps. the second picture was in front of an elementary school. hahaha

Cheyenne Ridge Explosion!

October 14, 2013

Missionary work has exploded in Cheyenne Ridge Ward! 3 new investigators this week!

 

Morgan is an 8 year old boy. His family is less active. but he wants to be baptized! lessons are kinda hit and miss with the quality. but he came to church. his mom dropped him off and he walked in with a ton of confidence for an 8 year old. 

 

We learned Jessica was raised as a missionary Baptist but never got a confirmation from the Holy Spirit that Jesus is the Son of God. She said she wanted to read the Book of Mormon. It'll be interesting to see how things progress with her.

 

Desiree also doesn't know that Christ is the Savior. It's been interesting to see how most concerns or things that hold people back, is their faith in Christ. It just needs to be strengthened. That's why the book of Mormon is another witness of HIM. Because he's that important to everything. 

We're also starting to teach Desiree's daughter. We asked what questions she has. She's 9 and has been going to church for a long time. She asked about baptism. I explained that it's a promise you make with God. "Do you want to be baptized?" "yes" "you do?!?!" (it's been such a long process for her mom it took me by surprise) "why?" "because I want to make a promise with God". Sweetest thing this week. :)

 

Courtney is still reading the book of Mormon. there seems to be an interesting relationship with the person that introduced her to the gospel. i'm a bit confused at this point actually. hopefully it all gets cleared up and she keeps progressing. She said she wants to get baptized in June. which is really far away.

 

We went on splits with some of the Sisters in the ward. it was a good experience. We were able to do more and be more effective. I love efficiency.

 

We hiked Lone Mountain at night with some of the other sister missionaries in the area. it was fun! and way too hard!  and last Monday I played rugby! it was really fun. I was so stinkin sore. but it was worth it.

 

til next week!

love

Sister Cornelsen

Halfway Home... Carrying On

October 7, 2013

hello!

 

Courtney's family is not supportive of her new found belief in the gospel. but she's determined. in just one week she read the first 21 chapters of the book of Mormon. :D she says she's understanding so much more than she has before. I truly feel as though she was the person the Spirit told me about -t hat one person who was very prepared for the fullness of the gospel. She became interested in the gospel because she kept hearing anti stuff from her family and she didn't understand it. It's so interesting how opposition and adversity can bring us to the truth, to exactly where we need to be. Heavenly Father has power over anything the Adversary does. We truly can trust God. All things will be for our good if we rely on God.

 

oh! here's another amazing thing! on Tuesday we were walking on the street to drop in on a potential investigator, Jessica. Well, someone stopped us. Her name is Wendy. Her daughter got baptized 2 years ago and is now considering a mission. She came up to us and said "Why did you guys want to serve?" gave her our answers. we started talking and she invited us in. kept talking. she invited us for dinner. We went to go see her neighbor, Jessica and had a great lesson with her. We went back for dinner and got to know their family better. Basically, they know the church is true. they listen to conference. they have a picture of their family in front of the temple framed and hanging on their wall. two of them actually. they have their concerns that we'll be patient with and help them through. they've already invited us for thanksgiving. :) Way cool family. 

Jessica's husband passed away a month ago. she's grieving and lonely I think. she says she's happy with her beliefs but she'd love to read scriptures with us. she's the sweetest lady from Arkansas. I told her Erik and Kristen live there and then when we left I remembered  y'all moved. haha.

 

we've had miracles this week for sure!

 

Did you know you can train a dog to sing with you?! funniest thing I've seen in a long time.

 

I've become very bold when we're in lessons. when it comes to talking to people on the street, I say hello but las vegas people aren't very friendly so a conversation never seems to strike up. i'm working on it.

 

I love you all! I miss you so much!  9 months and 8 days. don't worry. i'm not trunkee at all. haha. i'll still do everything I need to so that I can stand before God confident in my service.

 

Love,

Sister Cornelsen

Triple Companionship

September 30, 2013

well hello everyone!

 

we've got a challenge ahead of us but we've got an awesome companionship to accept the challenge. I seriously love these sisters. Sister Tuia is laughing at everything. and  sister bair has an eye and a vision for the area. the ward has room for a lot of growth. past missionaries had this ward and another to cover and they focused more on the other. The Lord has been preparing people in the ward for a long time and we get to find them!

 

one of them is Courtney. Actually, we attended the baptism of someone in Palmhurst ward and I had a very distinct prompting that there was someone who was prepared in Cheyenne Ridge. Well, it was Courtney. She's 17. She's good friends with a member. And she's been told a lot of things that aren't true about the church. she wanted to know what was true. so we told her! taught her the restoration and she said it made a lot more sense to her. and that she's learned more in just one hour than she has in years of attending her Christian church. the Spirit was very strong and helping her to understand what we taught. she accepted the baptismal invitiation but asked if it had to be soon. ahah. we told her it didn't. but we know that if she continues to progress, it'll be something that she wants to do.

 

even with such an awesome person to find, I still have an inkling that there are more. it's not as strong as before... but I still have that impression.

 

Bishop announced in the 3rd hour (where the adults were combined) that we were sharp, confident, and excited. that if they had friends that are ready to hear the gospel, they should introduce them to us. This ward has had a lot of missionaries come and go. not a lot of trust built up. but we met with Bishop Albright before Sunday. and it's good to hear that he already has that respect for us. I sure hope wonderful things happen.

 

and I hope sister bair never gets her visa so she can stay here. haha

 

i'm doing really good. in case you were wondering. I have no idea if they're ever going to do a memorial for sister marquardt... but it's okay. i'm surrounded by good people with a promising project.

 

when we taught Courtney, that was the first time Sister Tuia and Sister Bair taught the Restoration in the field. (sis tuia has been out for 2 transfers. she just finished training but she says she trained herself) it feels good to give them these opportunities. it's like i'm training again without the title and the extra hour of studies. it's a good feeling. i'm glad I could help them have that opportunity

 

our ward mission leader, Brother Jennings, is arranging for us to go on splits in the future. I've never taught without my usual companions but it'll be good I think.

 

i'm very grateful to be here. the ward is a bit stressful but it's ok. i'm seeing that they want to change. good things to come. :)

 

love you all!

 

Sister Cornelsen