Week 15: Sister Gish Begins Training!

Hello! I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving!

Last Tuesday We had district p-day! We went bowling and watched Elder Percival attempt the bellyache challenge. You have to eat 10 scoops of ice cream and then you get a t-shirt. We watched him eat 8 scoops and then throw up in the trashcan! It was pretty fun!

On Wednesday we went to the senior center and this old guy asked if catholic sisters could get married. We were like "We don't think so." Then he asked what religion we were. When we said LDS he was like "Oh! Then I can hit on you!" I threw up in my mouth a little bit. 

Thursday was Thanksgiving! It was honestly the most special Thanksgiving I have ever had! The Wright family fed us and Sister Wright made it so special! Then we drove to Casper. I was pretty sad Sister Warren was going home. When we were leaving Dubois, I put on my glasses so she wouldn't see me crying. I was pretty excited to be with Sister Packard! She is the best twelfth week trainer I could've ever asked for! She is my adoptive mother!

Friday was pretty slow. We were doing a power hour, and we were tracting a super long street! We tracted for two hours and not a single person would talk to us. We knew that there had to be a miracle on that street, so we went back the next evening and we had only knocked a couple doors when a mother and daughter answered! They invited us in. There names are Mary and Deena. We shared the Light the World video. When we invited them to read the introduction of the book, Deena started reading it right then!  So we invited them to read more and set up a return appointment! It was so awesome! We found two new investigators!

Our transfer information was delayed, so we didn't get transfer info til yesterday. I have the opportunity to train this transfer! I am so excited! I hope I can be a good example to this sweet sister! I am extremely honored that the Lord trusts me to train one of his servants! I would appreciate prayers to help me this transfer! I know that even more important than what we do, is who we are. So I hope that I can help my greenie understand that obedience to God's commandments, shows our love for Him, and helps us grow into the people he wants us to be! 

Sorry this weekly was so so long, but I love you all!

Love,

Sister Gish

Sister Gish and Sister Walker

Sister Packard and Sister Gish

Sister Packard and Sister Gish

Elder Percival and the belly ache challenge

Sister Gish's Thanksgiving

Sister Gish and her District

Sister Gish, Sister Packard, Sister Francom, and Sister Walker

Quick version of Elder Percival trying and failing the belly-ache challenge

Week 14: Happy Thanksgiving from Wyoming

Hey Pals!

I hope everyone had an amazing week!

On Wednesday, we went to do our craft, but 1/2 of our attendees died, so it got cancelled! 

I hit my 3 month mark on Thursday! It is so crazy! I feel like I just left yesterday! To celebrate I got some elk and deer steak at dinner time, because that's the Wyoming way! We also read the scriptures with Sister Holden this week. When we got there, she told us that her brother died, so she was having a bad day. We knew that we were in Alma 27 this week, but she said we were in chapter 28. Normally Alma 28 is a chapter that I wouldn't dwell on, but for her it was perfect. It takes place after a battle and everyone is mourning those who died. It explains that although that is a valid reason to be sad, we also have so much reason to rejoice! We explained to her that family ties continue beyond the grave, so we can rejoice in the Plan of Salvation! It was such an amazing experience! It was such a testament to me that no matter what we are going through, the scriptures can touch our hearts!

On Friday we taught Mark the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We invited him to be baptized and asked him to pray about December 23. He said "I will definitely pray about it. Something tells me that It would be hard, but it would be worth it!" It has been amazing to watch him grow closer to our Savior!

Here is the best thing that happened all week! This past weekend, many Sisters from Dubois went to Time Out for Women in Salt Lake! Cousin pat went too! I just knew that she would love it! When she walked into church on Sunday we hugged her and asked how she enjoyed it. I will remember her response for the rest of my life. She said "It was good, I decided to be baptized!" I am so excited for her. I cannot wait for her to be baptized! She is such a miracle!

I just want to leave you with a Thanksgiving thought! I read a talk by President Uchtdorf this week called "Grateful in Any Circumstances" from the April 2014 General Conference. He says "Could I suggest that we see gratitude as a disposition, a way of life that stands independent of our current situation? In other words, I'm suggesting that instead of being thankful for things, we focus on being thankful in our circumstances- whatever they may be... When we are grateful to God in our circumstances, we can experience gentle peace in the midst of tribulation. In grief, we can still lift up our hearts in praise. In pain, we can glory in Christ's Atonement. In the cold of bitter sorrow, we can experience the closeness and warmth of heaven's embrace."

I am so thankful for my circumstances! Being on a mission is an opportunity of a lifetime. I am thankful for Sister Warren. She has been an amazing trainer and I will miss her dearly! I am thankful for the miracles I get to witness everyday. I am especially thankful for my Savior and My Father in Heaven! They are ever so watchful over me! 

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful thanksgiving!

Gobble, Gobble

~Sister Gish

PS- I drank fresh goat milk this week. It was so good! Then Sister Stuekler gave me tons of soap and lotion made from goat's milk! baaaaaah

Sister Gish kissing Sister Holder's deer

Sister Gish with her buddy Beans, the guinea pig

Depiction of Wyoming wind

Sister Gish hit her 3 month mark!

Sister Gish and Sister Warren in snowy Wyoming!

Week 13

Hey friends! 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week! 

Last Tuesday we had dinner with the Jensen family. During our dinner message, we asked their kids how we can be like Jesus, and one of their daughters said the funniest thing. She said "Don't listen to Gangam Style and share funny animal videos with your friends instead of watching them by yourself!" It was so cute! 

On Wednesday we taught a craft at the retirement home and served lunch at the senior center. It is so funny because the old men always stare at me and Sister Warren and one lady yelled at them "You can look, but you can't touch!" Then we drove to Casper so that we could go on exchanges the next day!

On Thursday I had the pleasure of going on exchanges with Hermana Zimmerman! She goes home with Sister Warren in a couple weeks! She is so cute and fun! While we did some training, I told her how I sometimes worried that my mission wouldn't change me. Missions are wonderful, but they are hard. Sometimes I feel like the Spirit speaks to all other missionaries, but me. She showed me a series of videos called "Patterns of Light" Elder Bednar discusses how we can feel the spirit! It brought me so much comfort and understanding on how the Spirit guides! I would encourage all of you to watch them!

On Friday, We had zone conference! It was brilliant! First of all, we had a game about conference trivia. Not to toot my own horn, but I won. So I got to take home a box of Reese's Puffs! Back to the good stuff. Zone conference was all about being unified as a mission. Our mission motto is "One eye, one faith, one baptism." I love it because at the end of the day, we are all on the same team and numbers are not what define us. When one companionship baptizes, the whole mission does too. 

On Saturday we taught Mark the Plan of Salvation. He ate it up! He was saying how he would like to start coming to church! It is amazing how much he has changed since our first visit with him. That is the best part of a mission. Seeing people change their hearts brings incomparable joy into my life!

Yesterday, I was sick, but was feeling well enough by the afternoon to go out and work. We had 10 minutes before our dinner appointment, so we did some tracting. Two people told us that we could come back and share a message! It was such a miracle! After Dinner we taught a lesson to a man named Sergio. He is a recent convert of about 10 months. He and his wife want to be sealed in the temple, so we are teaching him temple prep as well as his new member lessons. We taught him the Plan of Salvation. We were teaching him about the Spirit world. We told them that people would have the same personality after death and that many people would still reject Jesus Christ and His teachings. Sergio proposed a simple, but beautiful question. "How could anyone ever deny this?" 

I love Jesus Christ, and I love His gospel. It brings me so much peace and comfort in this life. It answers questions of the soul. It tells me where I came from, why I am here on earth, and where I am going after I die. I know that because of Christ's atoning sacrifice that death has no sting, the grave has no victory, and that I will be with my family forever. Through His atonement I can be cleansed from sin, He will plead MY cause before the Father so that I may live with Them again! How could anyone ever deny that He is our Savior? It breaks my heart. But on the other hand, there is nothing that brings me more joy and satisfaction than seeing those who are prepared accept this exquisite message! 

I love you all! I hope we will all strive to be a little better this week. 

Hugs and Kisses,

Sister Gish

Sister Gish and Hermana Zimmerman on exchanges in Mills

Crafts at the senior center

Casper Zone Sisters

Just a fun picture of Sister Gish

Sister Gish and her prize

Sister Gish and Sister Coder

This was meant to go on last week's blog post, but this is a drawing of Sister Gish sent to her from her friend Bridgette Bulleigh! 

Week 12

Hey Everybody!! 

I hope everyone has had a wonderful week! I sure did!

On Halloween we had to be in by 6:00 and since it was also our p-day, we didn't do any tract-or-treating. So we played games and got to watch 17 miracles! 

On Wednesday, we taught a craft at the senior center! We made little cookies out of Reese's and cookies! SO CUTE! Then we had a facetime lesson with Cousin Pat. We read the talk "Whatsoever He Saith Unto You, Do It" by Elder Clayton. It is about how Mary didn't know completely how she would be the mother of Jesus, but she went forward with faith knowing God would provide a way! It was beautiful! I would encourage all of you to read it! We were having a lesson with Brother Strickland that night and we were trying to find a copy of "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" and literally could not find it anywhere. We decided we would just have to do something different. Then we went to his house and he was like "I've watched this video 6 times this week. It's called Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration." It was so funny! I guess he had the only copy in Lander. It is so amazing how God helps his missionaries fulfill their purpose!

On Thursday, we went to Dubois. I didn't take my snow boots because the snow wasn't very deep in Lander. That was my mistake, because when we got to the top of the Meyer's hill, there was at least 6 inches of snow so I was hoppin' through it like a little snow bunny! 

On Saturday we had our car fast. So we walked everywhere! It was snowy, windy,  and muddy! Everything that makes Wyoming winters so special! We walked to visit a member, but she wasn't home. We were about to walk to the church, but Sister Warren felt like we should go visit Sister Leseberg, the RS president in Dubois. I love Sister Leseberg, so I was like "heck yes!" We started the long walk to her house. I was saying a prayer in my heart that a member would drive by and tell us to get in. Shortly after, a nice woman offered us a ride. I was like "I know I shouldn't get in a car with a stranger, because they could kill me... but the chances of me dying in the cold are more likely. So I opted to die warm!" haha! Anyway we asked her if she would like to learn more about our church. She respectfully declined and said that she was content with being Lutheran. That really touched my heart, because It doesn't matter what religion we are. We should all strive to serve others, because that is the epitome of being a follower of Jesus Christ. We got to Sister Leseberg's house and she fed us some lunch and fresh baked cookies, because she is an angel! We were able to spend a lot of the day with her, which was so wonderful! We went to help serve food at a funeral, where I met a lady who used to live in Tulsa. She was like "I went to Edison." and I was like "Me too!" then she was like "I went to OSU and I hate the Sooners!" I was like "Go Pokes!" Then she gave me a BIG hug! Isn't it amazing how small the world is? 

Sunday was wonderful! I was really touched by the spirit that I could feel in fast and testimony meeting. Sister Leseberg bore her testimony and told us that yesterday was the first time she had ever had the missionaries in her home! I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude. Gratitude that Heavenly Father gave Sister Warren a prompting, which we quickly decided to act upon. Heavenly Father is so aware of His children and their needs. I am grateful that though I am an unworthy vessel, that he can work through me to bless the lives of others. 

Sorry this letter was all over the place, but that is kind of what the life of a missionary is like sometimes! Thanks for all of the love and support you all fiercely offer me! I love you all more than you will ever know! 

Love always,

Sister Gish  

Sister Gish in her pilgrim hat

Sister Gish and Sister Warren during her car fast

Sister Gish and a deer butt

Missionary Halloween Party!

Sister Gish with puppies at Pet Connection

Sister Warren and Sister Gish making Pilgrim hats

Sister Warren and Sister Gish getting ready to serve lunch at the senior center