Jan 27: Que dia!

Oi, family and friends!

It was another incredible week in the mission field!

Here in Austin, one day it is 75 degrees and Sister S (from the Midwest) is saying "I can't believe this! It's January!" and then two days later it is snowing and Sister Greenall (from CA) is saying "I can't believe this! It is too cold!" The weather is always a surprise, so that is fun!

It's true that a mission is like a roller-coaster! The time goes by so fast and you go from low to high to low to high several times in a day!

We meet many people that are struggling and something I have learned is that as people, we are ALL struggling!  Elder Bednar taught that the character of Christ is turning outward even in times of personal struggle (times that we naturally turn inward).  I hope to remember the things I have seen and learned here on my mission, and to be a person who will turn outward regardless of personal peace or struggle.  It definitely is not an easy thing to do. But being a missionary has offered new perspective in my life. We get to visit so many people!  And people trust us. They see us not as ourselves, but as the missionaries, and so they tell us things they might not tell us otherwise.  We have received calls for help with family issues and calls for help with needing food.  And the truth is that we are called as teachers!  We are here to teach Christ's restored gospel, and so there isn't a lot we can do for a lot of people to meet physical or other needs, except to refer them elsewhere, to pray with them, and share a message.  But my testimony of the need for visiting and home teachers has been solidified.  Everybody truly does need something! After my mission, I want to do all I can to reach out to others, to be a friend, and to bring comfort.

Dad, I remember you asked me during our Christmas phone call what has surprised me most about the mission, or what is different than I expected.  I've thought about that a lot ever since, and have realized that what surprises me most is how people see us as missionaries!  Have I already said that? I probably have.  But I have experiences over and over again that humble me and remind me that I am not representing Erica Greenall at this time of my life.

Yesterday Sister S and I were striving to decide what would be the best thing to do with our time.  We had worked hard all week, and had made plans for Sunday which had turned out not to be the best for that day.  As we got in the car and went forward with faith, the miracles started happening!  We received a call from a ward member, saying that their husband, had been running late for church that morning, when he saw a man riding to a different church on his bicycle.  Her husband, Brother K, offered him a ride, and drove him to the church where he was going.  In the car, the man had asked about their church. Brother K had told him he was always welcome and gave the man his phone number.  Later the man called Brother K and said he wanted to learn more. He has a family of 6. Miracle!

Then we decide we should visit a member we had been trying to meet for quite a long time. We stopped by, they let us in, and we got to know them. The mother, kids, and grandparents were there, but not the husband.  We soon found out they were going through a divorce. We were able to share a message (Mormon message: "The will of God" about the current bush)  that was able to meet their spiritual needs in a small way.  It became a visit full of tears and testimonies.  The most humbling part, that reminded me that I do not represent myself, was the grandfather's prayer before we left.  He humbly addressed his Heavenly Father, then began to pray, and sincerely thanked Him for sending the missionaries to their family.  As he said this, he paused and began to cry. His prayer was so filled with sincere gratitude. The Spirit testified to me of the power and authority of a missionary's calling.  I know that as missionaries we have been called by a prophet of God, and that we have been given the authority and power (conditional upon obedience) to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

After that visit, we had another hour of working time. Sister S and I had gotten in the car and were both thinking "what can we do now...” when we got a phone call. Kind of like this...

 

"Hello this is Sister Greenall and Sister S!"

"Hello! This is Br! And you don't know me yet! I am new in the area and I want to meet you.  I was baptized about 6 years ago, and my mom a few weeks after. We just moved here, and well, honestly we haven't been going to church for a while, but we want to come back! And so we want to meet you so when we come we can know somebody there!"
"Ok, can we come now?"
"Yeah, come on over!"

So we went to meet Br, her brother Ch and their mother Lo.  They have to be some of the warmest people I've ever met! They, along with others we have met here, are my definition of southern hospitality.  They had the funniest and most incredible conversion story! They were raised in a strict Christian religion where the number one rule was to never let a Mormon in your door, or else you would surely go to hell.  Well, they ended up with 20 or so members in their house, helping them move and they had no idea they were all Mormons! ...when they found out that they were Mormons...poor Lo, the mother, was scared to death!  Well, I guess that didn’t last too long because she is a member of the church now.  Anyways, great people! We love them so much already!

We saw Brother M while teaching Fr in their house. Brother M came down the stairs, with a sore leg, and let us know he needed to go to the doctor because of a complication with his leg.  Fr offered him a ride, and we tried to stop him too, but that stubborn guy got in his truck and drove himself!  We found out his health problems are very serious.  We wrote him a letter with another conference talk to listen to with our testimony and left that and a pamphlet with Fr to give to him.

I love these people! I love the people here in Austin and Pflugerville, I love being a missionary, and most of all I love the Lord!

Have a great week!

    -Sister Greenall

The awesome Ma family fed us African food - YUM!

 

 

Funny story:  This letter is from a Baptist church to a Sister Jeanie so and so.  The sender did not put an apartment number, they only used the address of the apartment complex. So because the mailman always puts all the letters to "Sister so and so" in our box, he put this letter in our box.  So we brought it to the office and told them it wasn't for us.  The next day we got it back!.  We tried again and got it back again!  Finally the other sister missionaries brought it back to the office and asked them to return to sender and told them it wasn't for us....later that afternoon when we checked the mail, we had gotten it again!  Haha!

 

 

Mentally preparing for the weekly car vacuum challenge

Weekly: Entire car. rinse. scrub. rinse. spot free. tires. 5 min Flat!

 

 

Jan 20: Hello!

Hi Family and Friends!

This week has been wonderful!

Thanks for your emails and letters! I love hearing from you!!

We had lots of lessons last week, with members present!  One of the one that stands out in my mind is the lesson with Mi and her children, Ch and Little Ja in the D Family's home. We taught the restoration again, emphasizing priesthood. Mi and Little Ja had been going through a rough time. Ch and Little Ja go to their dad's a few weekends in the month, Mi worries about their dad's influence on them. Anyways, it had been a really rough day for them.  During the lesson, the Spirit was so powerful, my companion, Sister S asked Mi if she would like a priesthood blessing and asked Brother D if he would be willing to give a priesthood blessing. So right there in the lesson, Brother D gave Mi and then Little Ja also a priesthood blessing. The spirit was incredible!!  I know that it is true that the place most sacred after the temple, is the gospel centered home!  We really see that as missionaries.  We go into all different situations and see people struggling, but when we enter a gospel centered home, we can feel the Spirit there, and the peace is so comforting.  I know that the power of the Holy Ghost is real, and that the Holy Ghost is one of the two Comforters, along with our Savior Himself!

We've had some good lessons with Mi, she is super open and progressing, the hard part is just hearing what she has been through.  Wow, she has had a lot of challenges in her life and sometimes it is even weighs on us hearing about them. But Sister S and I have found strength through the Spirit and I've learned that those burdens - even the ones that are not our own -  can be lifted through the Atonement.

We have met some incredible people this week!  One is Ni!  She was on our records and had met missionaries briefly a year ago.  When we knocked on her door and met her, she was so happy we came! She was STILL looking for a church! (Because she hadn't found the true church until now! Hooray!!) We taught the first lesson, and she could feel the truth! After sharing the first vision, she said something like "Wow, that is amazing."  She could feel the significance of Joseph Smith, this young boy, seeing God the Father and Christ, His Son!

Another miracle: on that day, we had three member present lessons. And at the end of the day, it occurred to me how perfectly the members and investigators were matched up for the lessons- and it wasn't Sister S and I! We had no idea!

Here is what we realized as we taught each lesson...

1st lesson:

Both investigator and member have dealt with depression and feelings of loneliness

2nd lesson:

Both investigator and member had dealt with bad marriage, had gone through a Women's shelter, and are now single parents

3rd lesson:

Both investigator and member were going through a struggle with their sister and were not on speaking terms with their sister

It hit me how well Heavenly Father knows His children and who needs to meet who, and who can succor who!

I know that Christ is directing this work. It becomes clear over and over again, on a daily basis, how involved He is in every aspect of His missionary work.

Thanks for your support and prayers!  This church is Christ's true church on the earth, and I know that Joseph Smith DID see our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as a 14 year old boy!

Tudo bem!

Love,
Sister Greenall

 

 

Oi Familia!

Wow, what an incredible week!

On Wednesday Sister S, Sister Lu, Sister Har and I drove up to San Antonio, where we dropped off Sister Har (she went to the Border zone) and where Sister Lu went to a training meeting to become a trainer. Thursday Sister S and I drove up with Sister Lu to the Austin stake center for transfer meeting, where Sister Lu received her new companion, Sister Ro! On Friday we drove back to San Antonio where we met with the whole mission to hear from Elder Bednar, an Apostle of the Lord!

It was really an incredible experience!  We all gathered in the chapel (everyone at least half hour early), where we sang hymns as we prepared to hear from Elder Bednar.  When President Slaughter, Sister Slaughter, Elder and Sister Bednar, and Elder Southward came in, we stopped singing (they surprised us by coming in a bit early) and all stood.  As it was silent and as they entered the room, the Spirit became even stronger. I know that Elder Bednar truly is a living apostle of the Lord!

Elder Bednar had asked the mission to study three of his talks before he came. "Seek Learning by Faith",  "Ask in Faith", and "Converted Unto the Lord”. For weeks we each individually, as companions, and districts, studied and pondered these talks.  It turned out to be a very powerful learning experience. Elder Bednar taught us these principles through doing them and inviting us to do them!

He began by asking us a question:  What did we learn from the talks? One by one he would point to a missionary with their hand raised, they would state what they learned, and often he would inquire "May I ask you a question?" and would ask more about what they learned and how it applies to them.  After time he would stop the question asking and ask a new question: "What have you observed about the pattern we are using right now to learn?" he would again listen to missionaries express what they were learning one by one. Half way through he said we were going to change and that now it was our turn to ask him questions.  It was truly an incredible experience as there in the little chapel, elders and sisters stood and asked inspired questions to an apostle of the Lord. (By the way, he told us to scrap any questions we had written out before hand and to listen to the Spirit! Elder Bednar is really funny!!)  I asked this question: "I know that we teach about eternal happiness, and that to be exalted is to be like Heavenly Father. But I also know that Heavenly Father feels and understands all of our pain and sorrow. What do you think it means to Heavenly Father to be happy?  Or what is happiness to Him?" Something like that.  I was humbled as Elder Bednar turned to his wife and asked her if she would like to answer, and then as she stood at the pulpit, looked directly at me, and spoke to me!  She answered and spoke about a parents love for a child. I asked her if there was a way to find joy in times while one's children are going through hard struggles and pain. Elder Bednar stood up again and joined her at the pulpit.  And together they shared a personal and sacred experience of theirs about one of their children and her husband who has a child who is really struggling with health. They bore testimony of the joy found in seeing their children exercising faith and growing closer together and to the Lord. It was an incredible experience for me to see them both standing there, Elder Bednar's arm around Sister Bednar, both looking directly at me and speaking to me.

I know that our Savior knows us individually and cares for us. If He were in front of us, He would have time to look at each of us directly and speak with us, regardless of how many people were around.

By the end of the three short hours we had with Elder and Sister Bednar, Elder Bednar asked how many people had a question that they didn't ask, and almost everyone, if not everyone, raised their hands (including me).  He then asked how many had received an answer to that question. The hands stayed up. He asked one Elder if he got the answer to his question through what we were speaking about.  He said no.  Elder Bednar asked how many people had received an answer to a question which had not been spoken about by us.  And the hands went up again. In the beginning Elder Bednar had testified that we still have miracles today, but often do not have the eyes to see them.  As we raised our hands, he said "Was the parting of the Red Sea a greater miracle than this?" He testified that being taught by the Spirit is a miracle. The Spirit was so powerful throughout that visit. I know that the fact that we can be taught individually by a member of the Godhead IS a miracle!  Maybe even a greater miracle than the waters parting for the children of Israel because the miracle of the Holy Ghost deals with people!  -- Individuals and their hearts and deepest questions, hopes, and concerns.

It's such an incredible blessing to have these true servants of the Lord on the earth today, who hold the keys of the priesthood necessary to lead Christ's church.  I know that Elder Bednar is one of those apostles and holds those keys. Something I noticed was how he distinguished between he himself- David Bednar- and the mantel of the apostleship which has been placed upon him.  He knows he is a servant of the Lord, but he knows all of that comes from the Lord and is not his own efforts or strengths.

M's family (C and little Ja) are progressing wonderfully!  We have had two lessons with them in members home this past weekend and one included dinner at the F Family's house. I love the people here!!

Some people are really struggling. I'm going to tell you about them and ask for special prayers for them.

E and S are still firm in their testimonies and love for the gospel, but have gone through some really hard trials...financially and also E just found out she may have a serious health condition.

We just found out Brother M has cancer. He always appreciates our texts, he told us he wouldn't be able to meet last week because of a medical condition, and just recently when we texted him to see how he was doing, he informed us he was trying to decide which cancer surgery to undergo.

Sister H had leg surgery a long time ago for a torn acl and since then it has become infected and gotten increasingly worse to the point that she has a very rare condition where she experiences severe pain.  We met with their family last night. Her husband seemed really humbled this last appointment. The one before that he was very casual and smoking an electronic cigarette.  But this time you could tell they were in a humbler position and appreciated our visit even more.

If you would like to pray for some specific people we are teaching, these are some people who could use those prayers!

I love you all! Thanks for all you do and for your love and support!!

-Sister Greenall

 

I guess when you've lived in Hawaii for 2 years, Texas is COLD!

 

It's 2014!

Hello family and friends,

Thanks for your lovely emails this week! It was so great to hear from you each! The different ways you write and different perspectives on events always make me chuckle and feel happy.

We got our transfer call last night while we were in our car between appointments! We get calls from the assistants to the Mission President and they tell us whether we are staying or going. Sister S and I are teaching a bunch of new incredible people as of the last week and we really wanted to stay here and help them progress towards baptism.

Assistants on phone:
"Hi Sisters, we just wanted to call and check up on you. How are you doing? Oh, also, we were really concerned about the temperature of your refrigerator."

Sister Greenall: "Oh thanks for checking. You know, it does the job. The food is chilled."

Sister S: "Elders!!"

Assistants: "Not too cold and not too warm? That's good. It's very important. Oh, while we are on the phone I suppose we could pass on some transfer information...
Sister S... You are staying. (serious cheering coming from Sister S in the driver’s seat)
And Sister Greenall...
….
….

You are also staying."

We are staying!!!!!!!! I love this area! These people need the gospel and we are going to do everything we can to help them!

New family!!: M (Mom), Ch (12 year old daughter), and Ja (10 year old son. I call him Little Ja, not to be confused with West African Ja)

This family is wonderful! We got a referral from a sister in Oregon. She gave us the information for her friend here, M. She left her husband with her two kids five years ago due to a bad situation. Her friend told her we were coming, so when we came that night, she wasn't surprised (only by the fact that we came so soon). We told her that while the church does provide many great things (a church family, service, etc) the greatest thing we could offer was the message of the restored gospel.
We have had two lessons with them so far after that meeting, and they came to church yesterday! A sister picked them up and drove them there, and Brother S (our ward mission leader- he's incredible!!!) and his family drove them home! And they connected really well! The ward really helped them to feel welcome! I could see they really enjoyed church! It was so wonderful!!

Also, N came to church! She was also a referral. Her roommate was a member of our ward, but was less active. We visited him a few times and met her once, and also realized she had been taught in the past by elders. One day we received a referral from church headquarters saying that N has referred herself at the Mesa Arizona temple and said she had learned before but now was ready to change more. We were thinking "wow, how neat!"...and then later we thought about it more...and the pieces started connecting and we said "N!!! Ph's roommate!" We visited her and it turns out she was in Arizona with Ph and his family for 12 or so days helping him move back. He needed to be around his family and friends to help him get back on the straight and narrow, so that's really good I think. But while she was there she attended church with them twice, went to the temple visitor’s center, and did everything with his family. She said in the past she felt pressured to be baptized and doesn't want to feel that way, but that she is open to learning.

We went to visit her and were planning on bringing two members, Brother L, and Ja. Ja doesn't have a car, so we planned on having Brother L pick up Ja. That day, we met Brother L at Ja's house, but when we knocked, his mom answered and said she didn't know where Ja was! Oh no! So we said ok, and started the drive towards N's apartment. ..she happens to live in the same complex as Brother M (another ward missionary and Ja's awesome fellowship. Brother M has really connected with their family. Both from Africa. But Brother M also can really connect with just about anybody! hahaha! He's so nice! and we love Pa his wife and Pr their daughter! They were married and baptized in the summer of last year I believe). While driving into the complex, someone honked at us! I looked over and saw a man with a bright orange cap on. "Hey, that's Brother M!!" Sister S glanced over as well and we both said "...he has Ja!!" haha! So Brother M turned around and added onto our car train (now 3 cars) and followed us back into the complex. We stole Ja and Brother M and Pr tagged along too so we had 4 people with us when we knocked on N's door! ...Probably not the best plan in most situations. It would be a bit overwhelming! But I think in this situation it was what needed to happen. It was perfect! We had texted her and asked if we could bring a few friends over and she had been fine with that, but had warned us she doesn't have any furninture, which we said was no problem. So we all sat down picnic style in her little apartment living room and had a really wonderful lesson. I think it was just what she needed and now she knows and is comfortable with these three incredible members in her area! Brother M offered her a ride to church right there and she accepted. And Brother M’s family usually drives Ja, so Brother L said "I can take Ja!" It was perfect! One of my favorite things is seeing new members and new investigators being so integrated into the ward and finding their ward family!

We had exchanges this last week. I worked with Sister K. She lived in Folsom and moved out right before we moved in! She is this little peppy blonde powerful missionary who is probably almost a foot shorter than me. It was so fun to spend the day together sharing the gospel! I really learned a lot about faith that day! We saw miracles. She taught me about goal setting through her experiences and testimony. "Why do we limit the Lord? Yeah, 3 baptisms would be great. But why not 30? There are thousands of people in our areas and don't you think the Lord wants 30 of them at least to be baptized?" Haha, that's not exactly what she said, but that concept stuck with me. We don't have to be afraid to set high goals because the missionary work is not limited to our own abilities. It's been a faith building experience for me to try and switch from setting my own goals to setting the Lord's goals!

This Friday we will be visited by Elder Bednar. I know it's going to be a life changing experience if I prepare the best I can!

It was an incredible week! We truly truly see miracles every day!

I love you!
-Erica/Sister Greenall

(Sister S is beginning to convince me that hearing/saying my first name is in no way profane!)

Dec 30: Otra semana cheio de milagres!

Tudo bem, familia e amigos?

It was another week full of miracles! On Christmas day alone we were introduced to two new people who are interested in learning about the gospel!

The week before last it sometime seemed like we were fishing and fishing, searching and searching, with very few results, but this week I feel like Christ has told us "try casting the net on the other side of the boat" and our nets have come up full! I am amazed at how many people we have met and who have shown interest! It is wonderful to be able to teach more people about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Back on the 16th December, towards the end of our day (it was already around 8 o clock or so), Sister S thought we should try to go visit a less active member of our ward (she sometimes suddenly turns onto streets -"someone lives here!" or "we are going to visit this person!"- to both of our surprise!) As we walked up to the house it was very dark, but we noticed a truck parked in the driveway with the driver's side door opened, and a man sitting inside smoking. We decided to talk to him! He came out of the car and threw his cigarette over his shoulder. And we got to talking with him. He had a long white pony tail and matching mustache and beard, and looked a little rough. He let us borrow his phone so we could pull up a mormonchannel.org message (the reason behind the season). The video never loaded properly and was having problems, but we talked with him about God and Jesus Christ and his beliefs. He had been in the navy for 30 or so years, and traveled to countries all around the world, and had seen a lot of terrible things that made him question God. He considered himself an atheist. He asked us several questions that seemed to question all the things we tried to testify to him of. I felt a strong desire to talk with him and to listen to what he had to say. By the end of the lesson, we got his phone number and asked if we could set up an appointment to meet. I could tell Sister S was trying to end the conversation and leave, but I felt like we really needed to make a return appointment and maintain contact.

In the car and later that night in the apartment, we found out that the two of us had had very different feelings about the situation. She had felt uncomfortable and felt that he was only interested to keep arguing and make us question ourselves. She didn't feel good at all about meeting with him again. On the other hand, I had felt that we had been guided to meet him and I had felt the Spirit as I spoke to him. I felt like I already cared about this man a lot and knew he needed the gospel. I wanted to meet with him again. So it was kind of an emotional/difficult night because we both respected the other's perspective and were trying to find out what to do. We prayed about it together and decided to talk about it more later.

The next morning as I began my studies with prayer, I realized that the most important thing was for me to be unified with my companion and that I should support her. As I did my personal study for the next hour, I kept thinking of the man we met and felt it would be good to teach him. After personal study, we began companion study. Sister S and I always share what we learned during our personal study with each other. I was so surprised and overwhelmed as Sister S began by saying "I think we should teach M." I had concluded that I would tell her that I supported her decision and that if she didn't feel comfortable we didn't need to go teach him. She had studied a conference talk from priesthood session called "Bind up their wounds" (I later studied it and I really recommend it!). I admire her humility so much! As she explained to me what she learned and felt, she expressed that she wanted to learn to have more charity, and she expressed gratitude for the way I had seen M in charity. Wow!! That is humbling to hear that from my companion! She is incredible! And she is so diligent and always doing whatever she possibly can to be a pleasing servant to Jesus Christ. But I learned so much from her example of humility and her willingness to be corrected. I hope I can be more like that!

We then contacted M through text message and rescheduled the appointment to a better time during the day. We were so surprised by his following texts! He had watched several of the videos from the mormonchannel.org website that we had opened on his phone. He also said he was looking forward to our appointment and enjoyed the conversation we had had the other night.

Last Friday we had our return appointment with M! We met at a park by his house and a member of our ward, Brother J came. M was in his black leather jacket with a silver dangling earing in one ear. As Sister Salisbury and I had prepared for our lesson with him, we had felt impressed to focus on the Book of Mormon and how it can answer the questions of our souls, and to read 2 Nephi 2.

As we sat on the park picnic table, we started with a song and a prayer, and as he asked questions, we were able to lead into 2 Nephi 2 which happened (thank goodness for the Spirit!) to contained the answers to those questions!

M asked several big questions throughout the lesson, and it was difficult to tell what he thought about the message we presented. When we shared Moroni 10:3-5 he would ask questions to clarify and make sure we were serious about the promise we were making. "So you are saying that if I do this, this, and this, then this will happen?" And we were able to boldly testify "yes!" And Brother J was a huge help! Also, M had already read the 13 Articles of Faith and several other church resources and had questions about those! "Why is it that it states young people should not date until they are 16?"
By the end of the lesson, after the closing prayer, M opened up to us a bit more. He said "I have to tell you, normally I never would of given you a second chance. But there is something about you two and the way you present your message that intrigues me. I have talked with a lot of people. And I can tell that when you truly sincerely believe what you say. Most people cannot say they believe in something with that sincerity. So I really appreciate that."

What an amazing man! We have a return appointment with him! And we are meeting in the church building (he actually agreed to that after telling us he hadn't stepped foot in a church building for 20 years! -Intentionally!). And he agreed to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. And he is serious about it!

I know that Jesus Christ loves us!! He loves every one of these people we meet so much. M reminds me of the man from Peru that I met on the bus in Hawaii who gave me that rock with the rough edges on the outside and the pure bronze color on the inside. Jesus Christ truly sees people differently than we do. He doesn’t see the rough edges on the outside, He sees the inside and the potential there for greatness and purity!

I know that the greatest happiness and peace in our lives will come from obeying the covenants we make with the Lord, through both baptism and the temple.

I love you all!
Have a Happy new year!!!
-Sister Greenall

Scarves and blankets made for us by E, our newly baptized member

Christmas Eve at the K Family

Grinch Fruit Kabobs!

 

Putting the baby Jesus on the tree Christmas morning