The Work Continues - And an Engagement!

Hi Friends and Family!

So to start off.... Ruth and James are engaged!!!  My recent convert is engaged to the Relief Society President!  He popped the question the night before Valentines Day.  They are getting married in the temple but have to wait until his year mark so they will be engaged for nine months until they can get sealed in the temple in December!!  That's the most rewarding part of missionary work.  Ah!!!!  :)

This week has been good, but my health hasn't been too great. Hopefully seeing the doctor this week will help out with things so I can get back to full strength! 

I hope you all had a great Valentines Day!

As part of my studies, I'm redoing Personal Progress and Mom and Dad, I really want to make both of you a part of it.  :)   Personal Progress has really come to mean a lot to me!  So Mom could you send me a letter this week about what qualities a woman needs in order to teach children to have faith and base their decision on gospel truths?  And then Dad can you write me a handwritten paragraph (that I can stick in my Personal Progress journal) about an experience that has strengthened your faith?

I'm so sorry to hear about Sadie Wells.... my heart breaks for her family and for the other missionaries involved in the crash.  They will be in my prayers!  Sadie was the most lovable person in the world, she was so kind to everyone and every single person in high school loved her.  I'm so grateful for the plan of salvation and that families can be together forever!  There is no doubt in my mind that she is continuing her mission right now for those people who didn't have a chance to hear the gospel in this life.  I'm sure she is having so much success helping people come unto Christ! 

I love you all!

Love,

Sister Worthen  :) 

The sisters in our zone before transfers.  And
Elder Crates photobombing in the background.

The Spokane Best (West) Zone before transfers

One of the YSA ward members surprised us with
some Valentines Day groceries.  I think we cried
for about 20 minutes!

Sister Johnson being crazy.  She's
the best!

Thank you to the Mia Maids in my home
ward for the Valentines Day package!

With Sister Lott before she was transferred

Staying Here in This Area For Another Transfer!

 Since Valentine’s Day is on Sunday... Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone!  :)

 I hope you all have a great holiday!  Valentine’s Day is hilarious serving in a YSA ward... they are all scrambling for dates for the FHE activity.  :)   Sister Johnson is my date and we are bringing cookies haha.  :)  We got transfer calls last night and... I'm staying in the Cheney YSA ward and the Silver Lake Ward for another transfer!  That will mean by the time this next transfer is over I'll have served 1/3 of my mission! I love it here and I'm so excited to stay. 

Mom and Dad, thank you for the Valentine’s Day package!!!  The pretzels are always my favorite.  :)  Holy cow the Jesus the Christ book you sent is SO addicting!  I can't put it down; it has so much cool doctrine in there!  Thank you thank you thank you for sending me that.  :)  We made the cupcakes today to take to P day and give them to the zone.  :)  They turned out super cute.

I FINALLY finished my study project!  I looked up and read every single scripture in Preach My Gospel, chose one from the Book of Mormon and one from the Bible for every teaching point, and marked it for teaching and wrote a sticky note.  Final project complete!  It only took three transfers!   Oh and the commandments lesson has tons of stickies..... apparently there are a lot of commandments.  :)

We've really been working on the faith to find new investigators this week.  We've been on campus a ton and the weather finally is warming up so people are more willing to stand on campus and talk to us.  I went on exchanges with Sister Lott.  She is an awesome missionary.  She came out a transfer before me and we’ve served around each other almost the whole time.  We did a lot of street contacting.  When we go on exchanges, I love taking the other sisters on campus to street contact for the first time, because it’s like the most intense version of street contacting there is.  The students are walking from class to class super fast, and sometimes its cold out, so they don’t have much time to stand and chat.  So you have about 45 seconds to get to know them, testify of the restoration, set up an appointment, and say a prayer with them right on campus.  It’s the best!  Probably one of my favorite things about being a YSA missionary.

We are having a face to face question and answer session with Elder Holland this transfer too!  It will be on campus and I'm super excited for that.  We've seen so many small miracles this week!  Our investigator Jess got up and bore her testimony on the spirit this week.  She talked about how in one of our lessons she got the revelation she needed on how to approach her mom on allowing her to be baptized. Since she is over eighteen she doesn't technically need her mom's permission, but she doesn't want to go against her mom's will and be baptized so we are working with her on how to soften her mom's heart and resolve some of her concerns.  Jess also brought a less active guy back to church with her who hasn't been active in a long time!  They had been on a few dates last week and he wanted to come to church with her. Again, I think it's an effect of YSA valentines, but hey we'll take it! We are teaching a new family of investigators tonight, but then we will have to pass them off to the elders because they aren't YSA. Still exciting though!

I've seen so many miracles happen in this area. The biggest thing I've seen and learned is how to really honor the Sabbath day more fully.  The YSA ward has been focusing on this and has been challenged to turn their phones off on Saturday night and not turn them back on until Monday morning.  The whole vibe of our ward has changed and the spirit is so much stronger on Sundays!  The ward unity has grown and the work has increased!  So I would challenge all of you to try doing that for one Sunday and put it to the test.  :)   I promise you will see miracles happen in your observance of the Sabbath day as you put Heavenly Father first!  :)

I love you all so much!  :) 

Love,

Sister Worthen

In the big red wagon in Spokane.  There
are a ton of random "art" objects here,
including this wagon, complete with
a handle slide that we managed
to find a way down in our skirts!

Sister Johnson in the big red wagon

My study project - Finally complete!

Filipino Lunch and a Hipster Thrift Shop

Hi everyone!

This week has been an awesome one!  For starters we got to go to the temple this week and that was such a great opportunity!  I love going to the Spokane temple, even though it's tiny compared to the ones in Utah. Thank you all for your packages and for the love! 

Covering two wards has been crazy, but I love it!  We have met some amazing ward members.  This week we had a great referral come to us that we will be teaching.  Her name in Silvia and she's looking for a church right now which is perfect!

I got a tiny taste of Brittin’s world today!  There are two investigators in the Silver Lake ward from the Philippines.  Their names are Femme and Kora.  They invited us over for a Filipino lunch.  Femme’s house was so cool; she had tons of interesting things from the Philippines.  The food was really good, and we had a lesson with them.

We went on exchanges this week, and I went with Sister Schmidt.  She’s so awesome!  She is from California and is hilarious.  We worked in the Silver Lake ward and it was the funniest morning ever!  :)  We volunteered at this little hipster thrift shop in Medical Lake called the Care and Share.  The lady who owns it is named Annie, and she is the best.  She has the funniest sense of humor in the world.  We are going to volunteer there on Saturday mornings when we can.

Transfers are on the ninth, we find out on the seventh if we are to be transferred or not.  :)  I guessing I will either be transferred this transfer or next, so we'll see!  I'm thinking it will be next transfer, but everyone else thinks it will be this transfer.  I've been here the longest in the zone now; all of the original missionaries here have been transferred out.  :)  I'm ok with either.  I love this zone and the ward, Cheney YSA will forever be my “baby” ward.

Love you all!!

Love,

Sister Worthen  :)

At the temple with Sister Johnson

Dinner with the Jongewards

They gave us each a towel with our
names embroidered on it!

YSA missionary planning meeting

The lakes are starting to thaw a bit

The Work Continues in the YSA and Silver Lake Wards

Hi family and friends!  :)

This last week we had to say goodbye to Sister Stokes, who needed to go home for medical reasons.  I'm going to miss her so much, and pray for the best for her, and hope to see her back out again soon!

This week we went with our new investigator Jess to the temple grounds and had a lesson there!  It was such an amazing opportunity, and she is so elect and prepared!  We are preparing her for her baptism right now, but she will be baptized back in her home town though of tri-cities. The downfall of teaching in a YSA ward on campus is that we teach the investigators and prepare them for baptisms, but then they are baptized back home where their family and friends are.  It can be hard not getting a baptism after all of your hard work, but it makes me happy to know I helped prepare them.  :) 

This week, we watched the church Educational System broadcast with all the missionaries in the zone and that was really great!  After that Sister Johnson went on exchanges with the sisters down in Ritzville, so I stayed with the sisters in the Cheney 1st Ward for the night.  That's Sister Lott and Sister Paget.  We had dinner with the Browns and taught another new member discussion with James.

We had an amazing zone conference too this past week, and I had to sing "Be Still My Soul" acapella with my companion and another set of elders.... it actually sounded a lot better than I thought it would!  I mean I didn't sound completely like a dying whale, so I would consider that a success!  Sister Johnson has been teaching me how to train my voice, and actually it isn't half bad.  :)

Right now we are covering two different areas and it's been so busy and crazy!  I've never been more tired or exhausted in my life, but I love my mission and being exhausted is the best feeling.  We found a new family of investigators this week for the Silver Lake ward!  They have five dogs, a German shepherd, three pit bulls, and a tiny Maltese puppy named Snuggles.  Basically Snuggles and I are best friends now.  :)   But the family committed to come to stake conference this coming week! Hopefully we will be able to find a lot of new investigators this week and get some good street contacting time in on campus!

Thank you all for your love and support!  I know how much this gospel blesses families, and I've seen it change lives out here.  It all starts with the first commitments, to read the Book of Mormon, pray to know if it's true, and attend church.  Miracles stem from those three small things that show our faith.  :)

I love you all!

Love,

Sister Worthen  :)   (4 months down.... time is going by so quickly!!!!!) 

On the temple grounds with Jess

A Moose, Some Turkeys, and a Few Short Comments

Hi Friends and Family,

This is actually Taya’s Dad and Mom filling in a bit for Taya this week.  Because of the holiday this last Monday, P-day for their mission was moved to Tuesday.  Taya wasn’t able to send a “friends and family” email home because they didn’t have much time, and were really busy taking care of some things.  She was able to send home a few photos along with a few comments to us, so we decided to go ahead and piece those together here.  We’re a bit late doing that this week though.  Here are a few things from her:

“This week has been one of the hardest weeks of my mission, but as hard as this week has been, I don’t think I’ve ever felt more close to the spirit.”

“We did have two amazing lessons the other day!  J  We have been praying and fasting so much to be able to find people to share the gospel with.  Our first lesson was with Morgan, a girl that we street contacted on exchanges before Christmas.  We read the Book of Mormon and set a baptismal date with her for February 6^th!  She offered such a sincere prayer and she said it was a feeling that she never felt before.  The spirit was so strong!  I love when the spirit testifies to those who honestly are seeking to know if this is the true church.  It builds my testimony every time they get an answer!  I know that Morgan will be baptized, she is so definitely prepared and elect!  J ”

“We also taught Jess the other day as well.  She is so ready and prepared for baptism, but she wants her mom’s full support for it.  We are fasting and praying for her as well.  I know that prayer and fasting work so strongly!  J ”

“I love Sister Johnson and Sister Stokes so much, and so want what is best for them.”

“We haven’t had too many more crazy storms, and yes Dad, the Garmin still works great!”

“I am happy on my mission and I love it and wouldn’t give it up for the world!  J  ”

“We totally saw a moose the other day, and ran down the railroad tracks to take a picture!  That’s the closest  I’ve ever been to a moose!”   Note from Dad:  That’s when I wrote her back and told her that people are not supposed to run TOWARDS a moose!

“We also saw a huge flock of wild turkeys!  I ran towards them down a hill to get a picture and was all excited, but then they ran away from me.  L  But hey...... wild turkeys!  J  ”  Note from Dad:  I'm a bit worried that she's always running TOWARDS wildlife.  I'm really hoping they don't come across a bear!

“Yup, I’m keeping warm.”

“I miss you guys, my family and friends like crazy!  Thank you for always loving me and supporting me and helping me through!  J  ”

Bonfire activity with the YSA ward and Jess

This is Jess (in the hat) who we have been teaching

At a ward activity with the YSA ward, and Jess

Basically Smores are good for any occasion!

Text from one of our investigators

The Cheney Trio

Wild turkeys!

If you look close, there is a moose down the tracks!

The Cheney Trio and Training

Hey Friends and Family!

So this week is officially the craziest week I've ever had on my mission!  To start off.... I got called as a trainer.  We were put in a trio for this transfer so I'm with Sister Johnson (who got called as the full time Sister Training Leader over our zone, so she's gone with other sisters a lot), and then Sister Stokes was added this week.  I'll be training Sister Stokes!  Ah!!  It's so crazy because I just finished my own training last transfer, but I'm so glad to have the opportunity with training her!  And just to add to all of the excitement, we just found out yesterday that we'll be covering two areas now, the Cheney YSA Ward and now the Silver Lake Ward as well!  So that's six hours of church every Sunday.  ;)  I'm looking forward to the growth that will come with all of these changes, even though it's a bit overwhelming. 

This week Heavenly Father helped us find nine new investigators!  Nine!  That was the best week we've had so far finding investigators.  The Cheney YSA Ward is doing so great and I love it so much.  :)  The biggest miracles happened this week when we found a girl named Jess.  She wants to be baptized so badly but her mom is against it, so we are praying for her mom to have her heart softened.  She'll be baptized eventually, I know she will be.  :)

Unfortunately, we had three investigators that either had to cancel their appointments this week, or didn't show up, and that was really hard.  Some days you've got to just push through the hard days and appreciate the good ones!

We taught a new investigator that we met on campus named Morgan, and she is so awesome!  She is a sophomore and is studying biology to become an orthodontist.  She was so receptive to the restoration lesson too and the spirit was so strong there.  I love repeating the first vision because those words of Joseph Smith bring the spirit in stronger than our words could.  We have two appointments set with her for next week!  

I love you all and I'm so thankful for the love and support!

Love,

Sister Worthen

The Cheney and Silver Lake Trio!  Sister Johnson,
Sister Worthen, and Sister Stokes

Sister Stokes joined us this last week

Eastern Washington University

EWU Students Are Back. Looking Forward to the Work Picking Up

Hey everyone! 

Happy New Years!!  This week has been a fresh new start with a new companion for this transfer!  My new companions name is Sister Jessica Johnson from Riverton Utah, and she is awesome!  She actually was my first Sister Training Leader when I was down in Moscow!  She is such a hard worker and upbeat and positive and obedient. We get along great and i'm so blessed to have her as my companion! 

We had an awesome week!  We've been struggling to find new investigators to baptize because all of our progressing investigators got baptized last transfer, which is a great thing but we are back to square one with finding new investigators.  We found five new investigators this week!  Totally a miracle with every single one of them.  I'm super excited that the students are back on campus now after the break is over, the past few weeks have been a little bit slow.  We should see the work picking up now!

We also had the opportunity to teach James a new member lesson this week.  He is preparing to get his patriarchal blessing.  We taught a lesson with him on that topic and it went well.  He even has his interview and appointment set up!

This week, we got a few referrals from mormon.org.  We haven't gotten referrals from that before, so that is awesome!  It turns out that one of them is for a guy that is in the prison here!  We have to get special permission to teach the guy.  I'm not even sure if that's possible.  :)

One amazing thing we had happen this week was our new investigator Mackenzie prayed out loud in front of us for the first time!  It was such a miracle and the sweetest most sincere prayer I have ever heard in my entire life.  We were all in tears after it!  I know this gospel changes people from the inside out.  I've seen it change lives and change the fabric of people's very being!  :)  I love being a missionary and I love Cheney Washington.  It's funny how you can come to love a little town that three months ago you didn't even know existed!  I never realized how much I love Cheney and Eastern Washington University until I gave Sister Johnson a tour of the campus.

I love you all!  Thanks for your love and your support.  :)

Love,

Sister Worthen  :)

The sisters in my zone before
this last transfer

This is Sister Blauer who was in my zone
before this last transfer.  I actually went to
elementary school with her!

Sister Huang before she went home.  These
are our Christmas PJs that my parents
sent as part of our Christmas gifts