Because He lives!

Hi guys!

What an amazing week!! What better way to spend Easter than listening to Christ's apostles and prophets testify of him?!

Our area is really progressing! I focused a lot of my studies on member-missionary work this past week and have been praying a lot with Sister Scoresby on how we can help our members get excited about this work. A lot of them have lived here for +50 years and feel that they have already tried sharing the gospel with every one they know. We're trying to build their confidence and help them recognize what a missionary experience is. We have made a plan to really focus on inactives and part-member families.. so many of our members tell us that there are so many inactives in this ward, but there is no record of it on the ward list in our area book. We went through our ward list this past week with our ward mission leader and he told us who was active. Almost half the names he was unsure of… so we've been going through and visiting. We've already seen miracles! We met sister Dixon.. she is inactive and hasn't had any sort of visits in years. She was open to having us come back and teach the discussions to her family...We're really looking forward to helping these people come back.. I have developed such a testimony of the importance of our purpose in inviting others to come unto Christ. Not just investigators, but members and inactive members... and helping them come back.

Another neat experience was meeting with Brother Van-fleet. He is less-active.. but has such a strong testimony and love for the gospel. He was offended some years ago, but still comes here and there. We had a lesson centered on the atonement and read in Alma 36 about Alma the younger experiencing the enabling power of the atonement.. the spirit was so strong. We all knelt and brother Vanfleet said the closing prayer. He was very emotional and before we could invite him to do anything.. he told us that he would be at church next week. It was powerful!

Dane is doing awesome! He's progressing really well and this has really been strengthening the Hannington's. He has genuine interest and such powerful questions and insights.

We do service for both Janice and Lys every week and we both felt impressed that we needed to invite them to take the lessons.. Janice said that she isn't quite ready at this time, but she is willing to come to church. Service has really helped soften her and she loves the spirit that we bring. Lys told us that she would pray about it.. they are both open to talking about the gospel while we serve them.

Conference was amazing.. I love our dear prophet, president Monson. He is a man of God. It was interesting how both before and after conference, we were meeting so many people who wanted to bash with us and tear down our beliefs. Heavenly Father gave me a lot of opportunities to defend truth and bear testimony.. I was really thinking about elder Bednar's talk about godly fear vs. Mortal fear. The overall message I received from this general conference was that we really have to decide now who's side we are on. The world is changing SO fast and we have to be anxiously engaged. Our testimonies will dwindle if we do not nourish them every single day! The adversary is attacking the family and the apostles and prophets really emphasized the importance of establishing a home of the spirit, of love, and building our foundation on Jesus Christ. All of my questions that I prepared for general conference were answered in some way or another, but one specific answer really hit home. One of my questions was: "How can I overcome my weaknesses through the atonement and know that I'm truly doing my best?" Elder Renlund's words combined with the spirit answered this question of mine so perfectly. He said, "Evaluate, repent, KEEP TRYING." And that we must be patient with others because they are trying too.. Heavenly Father is so patient with us and knows that we are trying! He cares about who we are becoming and our efforts. He loves us!

I am so excited to apply the things that I learned..  I'm so grateful that I have the opportunity as a missionary to share this message of hope with the world.I have never experienced happiness like this! I know that our savior broke the bands of death, both physical and spiritual. I'm learning more and more about him and his love every day. He is so good to us!

Have a good week :) 

Sister James
4-6-2015

 http://www.mormon.org/easter

 

 

Every week just gets better!

Family!

Every week just gets better! COOLEST MIRACLE: Last week when we were doing our p-day shopping in Ventura, I ran into Robert!! I taught him at the very beginning of my mission. He has always had a special spirit about him and was So prepared to hear the gospel, but he has such a different light about him now.. He is preparing to receive the Melchizedek priesthood and his patriarchal blessing. He has a calling and has never been happier! It was priceless.. I loved having that opportunity to see him so happy :)

We had a lesson with our investigator Woody and he brought his friend along, JC. When we walked up, I saw a stack of books and glanced and saw "Joseph Smith" I was thinking.. "OH no" thinking it was anti material, I felt unsettled about it right away.. We later found that his books were earlier writings of the church from Brigham Young and Joseph Smith. Although it was church doctrine, he was taking it completely out of context and trying to bash with us. We testified of what we knew.. Sister Scoresby was so great. She testified with love and boldness of the prophet Joseph Smith and the restoration and cultivated an environment where the spirit could soften his heart! (Or at least try)  I share this experience because we had the women's broadcast right after and it was centered on the important responsibility we have of defending the truth. I felt that the Lord was speaking directly to me, through our inspired leaders. We have found the truth.. we know what is right and we must boldly defend it. The gospel is being attacked.. the family is being attacked and we have the opportunity to stand up for what is right. I loved the women's broadcast.. it was amazing! I was truly reminded of my worth as a daughter of my Heavenly Father.

We met with a less-active family, The Hannington's. We planned on watching the restoration video with them. It was so perfect because their son's friend, Dane, sat in on the lesson. Dane lives with them at this time due to family issues and he has sincere questions about religion and our faith. He hasn't had much of it in his family or life, but has such a good heart.. He had so many questions and we sat back and let the Hannington's testify and teach. It was neat to see the light in their eyes and the strengthening that came to both them and Dane as they testified of the restoration and the Plan of Salvation. We're looking forward to meeting with them this week!

The Mitchell's are still doing great! Shirley really enjoyed the women's broadcast and all she is learning and experiencing. She is more than ready to be baptized! In His timing :)

 

President and Sister Felix came and spoke in the Ojai ward! They are so amazing and inspired.. The focused their talks on preparing for general conference and the importance of taking what we learn and applying it to our lives and remembering the messages. We also watched an Easter video the 3rd hour centered on the atonement.. It was so powerful and I couldn't help but feel the Love of my savior... I know that he died for ME. He knows our challenges, weaknesses, temptations and pains.. he knows how to succor us. His love never fails. I had so many opportunities to be spiritually fed this week and learned so many things.. This work is not easy.. but it was never, ever easy for him. I'm so grateful for the experience I have to Rely on the enabling power of the atonement because I would never be able to do this work on my own.. I'm truly coming to know my savior!

I love you all. Thank you for your prayers!

Sister James

3-30-2015

I love Ojai!

Hey every one!

I love Ojai.. I love being a missionary.. Life couldn't get any better! This place is so great and the work is hastening. Sister Scoresby and I have kept very busy this past week and we have a great week ahead of us.. We have exchanges, interviews AND the Women's broadcast. Then General Conference (Christmas for missionaries) and Easter Sunday.. I can't wait. So many wonderful things ahead! 

We did a lot of member visits this past week and are getting the hang of things here! This ward is great... Most of the members are elderly. They are so wise and sweet.. We had a lot of members come out to our lessons this past week, they have been so willing to serve and help out.

We met with our investigator Mary Alice, ( she goes by M.A.) She is a hoot.. she's the funniest little lady. She's in her 80's and has a color for each day. She wears yellow on Mondays, blue on Tuesdays, orange on Wednesdays.. etc. Gosh I love these people! M.A. came to our relief society birthday dinner and had a blast! She has been investigating for a while now, so she knows a lot of the ladies in the ward. She loves meeting with the missionaries… but won't come to church because it is too early for her. We'll work on that :)

We also met with Ted... he's phenomenal. Unfortunately, he's moving back to Oklahoma this week, but we got his info so that the missionaries can visit him there! Ted is very inspiring, he is a recovering drug addict, and is the perfect example of someone who understands what it means to Change. He's completely changed his life through Jesus Christ and LOVES the Lord. He has so much enthusiasm and he just lights up when he talks about the gospel and the atonement! The thing that is so neat is that he wants to continue to change… he's seeking truth. He's felt the enabling power of the atonement, but has felt that there is more. We taught him the restoration and he was just beaming.. The spirit was working in him and he had so many questions. We felt impressed to talk about baptism by authority and he knew right away that was the key in becoming completely cleansed. He called us the day after we gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and told us, "Sister's, I can't put this book down.. I know that it is true.".. Ah, it was so powerful. We're bummed that we won't continue to teach him, but I'm so thankful we had the opportunity to meet him and plant that seed.

 

I have so much love for the work of my Savior.. Heavenly Father is so good to me. I'm so grateful for all that he is teaching me and the people that he is placing in my path. I know that if we ask him every day... "Please lead me to someone I can serve and bless today", He will do it. Miracles haven't ceased and our savior lives. I'm so grateful for the opportunity we have to listen to our dear prophet and apostles coming up.. I've been pondering and coming up with questions of my own. I know that they will be answered by the spirit! I invite you all to do the same!
I love you all!

Sister James
3-23-2015

Tree hugger!

Ojai!

Family!

What a week it has been! I already love it here in Ojai. This area has incredible potential and the people that we have met are so great.. I already love them. They are pretty wacky. Ha, It's a hippie town.. a lot of "free sprits", but people are so friendly and kind! It's beautiful here.. so different from any where I've been. I will send pictures soon!

We've been spending this past week visiting the ward members, with an emphasis on ward council, since we are both new to the area! Thankfully the Hermana's left a lot of organized notes and really have this area progressing. Sister Scoresby and I really want to focus on strengthening this ward, especially the youth here. Both our ward mission leader and young women's president told us that the youth program is struggling. We are making an effort to help out with activities, offering to teach, and taking the young women out to our lessons. The bishop is great and has a wonderful vision for this ward. We're focusing on working with him in carrying out the ward mission plan and following up with the members frequently! We had the wonderful opportunity to speak in sacrament meeting yesterday. I felt impressed to speak about exercising faith in Jesus Christ and how that can help us experience conversion…This really helped us introduce ourselves to the ward quicker and build trust. We want to focus on leaving the area stronger than when we found it. Our theme is a triangle with 3 points: Heavenly Father at the top, us, and the members.. we really cannot do this work without the members!! There is a lot of less-active work and members have been giving us great service opportunities! We have been so busy and have a lot of appointments for this upcoming week.

Sister Scoresby is a wonderful missionary.. I'm so blessed to be serving with her! Despite the stress that comes with taking on a new area together, we've seen so many miracles already and I have learned so much from her! We are focusing on

being more unified in all that we do.. I have a sense of urgency when it comes to the work.. I get a little excited sometimes haha. I know that I need to find that balance and develop patience too! I really want to focus on being a charitable companion this transfer.. I know that this will be so important and determine our success! Sister Scoresby is from a little country town in Ohio.. She lived in an Amish community, you don't hear that every day?! We come from very different backgrounds. It's amazing how two people can be so different, but we both have that same purpose.

One miracle was meeting with our progressing investigator, Shirley! Shirley is married to brother Mitchell. Brother Mitchell was dis-fellowshipped, but has come back and is now just waiting to get an okay from church HQ to  receive the priesthood  again, so he can baptize his wife. They are such a sweet couple.. I love them already. We were a little nervous about our first lesson with them because Shirley is deaf. We weren't sure how to go about it and we wanted to keep it simple, so that she could understand. Sister Longstaff in our ward comes to each of the lessons and signs. The lesson was so powerful and completely by the spirit.. I loved this lesson. It just shows that the spirit works the same way and any one can feel it. Shirley is so special to us already. I guess I'll be learning some sign language this transfer :)

Heavenly Father knew I needed to stretch. I am learning and growing in so many ways.. I've especially learned in this past week, that I absolutely cannot do this work without him. I'm so grateful that he is so patient with me and loves me, regardless of my weaknesses. I read a vs. in Jacob 4:7 that brought me so much comfort.. "The Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things. " I know that as I turn to him and my savior quickly and trust in them, he will give us power and we will see miracles.

I also learned it's important to laugh things off when they don't go so smoothly.. There is so much joy to be found in this work!! I LOVE being a missionary!

Thanks for your prayers! I love you all!

Sister James
3-16-2015

My last week in Camarillo!

Hi guys!

Well, it's been a good run here in Camarillo. I have absolutely loved these past six months and have learned so much.. I'm sad to be leaving this ward and the people here. I have really grown to love so many people here and this area, but I also look forward to the experiences I will have in Ojai and the people I will met there! I'm white-washing in with my new companion sister Scoresby. They put hermana's in the area just for this past one transfer and they were doing English and Spanish work, but there is not a lot of Spanish work there, so they are putting us in! We both won't know the area, so it will be an adventure :) I'm pretty excited to go in blinded because we'll be able to come in with new ideas, especially with working with the members there.

My last week in Camarillo was GREAT!

Miracles from this week:

- Michael got the priesthood and his calling. He invited his mom, Janet to take the lessons  and the sister's will meet with her this week!! He's solid.

- Sister Felix let me know that Ben and Natalie (from SB) Were baptized! :) SO neat to hear.

- We received a referral for a part-member family. Kenny is the member and President Ezra Taft Benson is his great uncle.. Sally Benson is his grandmother! He's been less-active for awhile, but has the desire to come back. Kenny's girlfriend, Julie is not a member, but she is interested in the gospel.. the sister's will begin to teach them.

- Heather, Enrique, Eduardo, and Mike are all doing awesome and progressing so well!

There are plenty more and so many tender mercies to be grateful for, but I am out of time! I love this work and am so grateful for the experiences I have been blessed with and the people that have been placed in my life.. The Lord answers our prayers and speaks to us through others. I know that to be true! I know that this is the work of the Lord and it can only be done in his way.

1 Corinthians 2:4-5 "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words or man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

The spirit is the teacher and the converter.

Love you all!!

Also, Shout-out to my dear trainer who is engaged! So happy for you guys :)  And a Happy birthday to my old man. You don't look a day over 30 dad.

Sister James
3-9-2015






 

The Zurcher family

Sister Zurcher



making chiles rellenos

 

hang loose!

Saying goodbye to Sis Knight

The Steele family

 

Transfers









 

 

This is His work!

Hi guys!

I can't believe its March? Time is a crazy thing! I hope everyone is doing well! Camarillo is such an amazing area and we've had a great week this past week! A lot of miracles and learning experiences.

Update on our investigators: Eduardo is back from the Philippines! He doesn't quite understand the concept of setting up specific appointments with us and the importance of the lessons in preparing him for the baptism.. he comes to church every week and loves it. He wants to be baptized and we tried to set him with a date, but he wants to take care of some medical needs first. He put it this way.. " I have two surgeries.. then I will swim." haha! He has such a pure heart and desire, so we will continue to work with him and help him understand.

The Gomez family will be moving :( They are staying in Camarillo, but will be in a different ward! Brother Gomez is disappointed that sister's won't be teaching them because sister Gomez seems to connect with them better, as well as his 3 daughter's, the Lord has a plan for them and the message we share is the same wherever we go! We are still teaching them every week, but sister Gomez will not read and pray to know for herself.. she just does not have the desire at this time. We have faith that she'll be ready, just not at this time. I don't know if I have mentioned already, but the girls want to be baptized.. I have never met such a tight-knit family. They make every decision together and they don't want to "leave mom behind."

Heather is doing great! They were out of town this weekend, but we are in daily contact with her. Heather has skipped around and read different chapters in the Book of Mormon, so when we met this week, we decided to start from the beginning with a question/desire she had. Her desire was "Happiness and peace for her children." We read 1 Nephi 1 and 2 and showed how the Book of Mormon can relate and be applied to any question or situation before us.. It truly is a record saved for our day. Everyone should try this!

It's amazing to see someone allow the spirit to work in them like she does.. She just beams when she learns about the gospel and is so eager to learn what Heavenly Father would have her do to gain happiness in her life.

We also met with our new investigator, Mike! He's a former, who's investigated before and come to church on and off for a year or two. He rents a room from a member and is good friend's with a member of our stake presidency. He LOVES the church, especially the emphasis on family.. he had a lot of questions and opened up a lot about the concerns that he has. He said that he has a lot of doubt in his heart and that he feels like there is a block between him and God. In his words, he had a fairly easy life until about 5 years ago. He went through a divorce.. he is an only child and both his parents passed away and he lost his job. He told us that he's honestly felt angry with God and doesn't understand what he did to deserve all these challenges in his life. We really focused on prayer with him.. and talked about our mission theme of "putting both feet in". If he really wants to come to know truth, he will have to engage himself in scripture study and prayer and really open his heart.

After meeting with him, I read a talk given by president Eyring titled " Where is the pavilion?" He says, "many of us in moments of anguish feel that God is far from us, the pavilion that seems to intercept divine aid does not cover God, but occasionally covers us. God is never hidden, yet sometimes, we are covered by a pavilion of motivations that draw us away from God and make him inaccessible."

God is always reaching out his hand, whether our pavilion be doubt or anger, we remove it by aligning our will with his. It's interesting how everything connected this week.. We also did service for an active member. She's there every week, fulfills her calling, but opened up to us about the concerns she has.. (Missionary work isn't all about non-members), This member is very logical in her thinking.. she's a very deep thinker. We talked about the natural man being different for everyone.. it's not necessarily what we always make it out to be. For her and some, the natural man can be someone who has a hard time with faith and wants to understand and analyze everything. I've been thinking about this a lot this past week.. Heavenly Father didn't design his plan in a way that we can understand everything in this life. That's where faith comes in.  We are here on earth to grow, learn, and be tested because this is a time to prepare to meet God. It's not easy, but we have to nourish and exercise that particle of faith. God cares about or questions and the things we don't understand.. but hold on to the things you KNOW for sure and press forward with faith.. God isn't far from us. Take the moments in your life where you have received impressions and confirmations of truth and allow those to overpower your doubts.

I know this gospel is true.. I know that our father in heaven knows each one of us and loves us perfectly. This is his work!

Love,

Sister James

thugs!

Michael is baptized!

Hi family! :)

This past week was incredible.. I love this work!

Michael was baptized and confirmed! He had great support from the ward and there were many people at his baptism. He shared his feelings and testimony in gospel principles class yesterday. He said, "I wasn't baptized because everyone said that it would be a good thing and that I was ready, I was baptized because the Lord told me that it was right.. this is his true church." He's great.. His confirmation and blessing were very powerful and we're grateful that so many were in attendance to feel the spirit that was there. If it be God's will, we hope he decides to serve a full-time mission… he would bless many lives!

I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with sister Nicholas this past week.. she served here for six months before I came to this area, so it was great! We met with Enrique and we were able to talk with him about how far he's come.. that it has been a process and he made it to baptism!  Now he just needs to keep pressing forward, not back pedal. He knows he needs to come, he told us he has just been making excuses. By the end of our lesson, he told us to save up our money for a plane ticket because he's determined to go to the temple next November... we know that members will be key in helping him stay active, so we're making an effort to involve them.

 Heather is really struggling with some things, especially with her divorce.. A member of our ward, sister price has a lot in common with her and has experienced similar struggles. She came with us to our lesson this past week and they were able to connect fast..  The ward is so great about reaching out to our investigators! Heather received a priesthood blessing yesterday after church. Although she's struggling, she told us that the gospel is giving her hope and light and that it's keeping her stable. We're really focusing on the atonement with her and helping her understand how she can rely on the savior through these difficult times. Yesterday in church she leaned over to us and said, "I still can't believe I'm here... One year ago, I never would've stepped foot into church." ANY ONE can change... I know that is true. The atonement covers all.

 We had zone conference this past week, which was amazing. The whole time I was thinking about how I wish our investigators could have been there and felt the spirit as each of the missionaries testified of the Living Christ! It was so powerful. We focused on "The living Christ" and standing as a witness of him, at all times, in all things, and in all places. We received our new focus attribute: Faith in Jesus Christ. I have doubts and worries, and lack faith at times, so I look forward to putting an extra emphasis on developing this attribute and striving to draw strength from the savior, rather than myself.  I know that our savior lives... he submitted to the Father's will with perfect love. He knows our struggles.. because he has felt everything we felt, he knows how to succor us. There's a difference between knowledge and understanding.. before my mission, I knew the enabling power of the atonement was real, but I have come to understand just a glimpse of how it works. I don't think we will ever be able to comprehend or completely understand the miracle of the atonement, but we can come to understand it better as we rely on Christ in this life. He walks with me in his work and it is my calling to walk with our investigators and utilize to atonement to understand them and love them as he does. I'm so grateful for the love of my savior! I know that he lives.

 "He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come.. God be thanked for the matchless gift of his divine son."

I love you all!
Sister James

Michael's baptism