January 12, 2009

its bitter cold yet .. [12.16.08]

sorry no email yesterday !


we were in Sturgeon Bay & Algoma for most of our day doing some work up there .. then we spent about 2 hours at the Laundry mat b.c. we didn't do our laundry for like 3weeks ! it was fun had by all ! oh and btw its -5 degrees today. the snow piles are continuing to build here in Green Bay .. its pretty amazing ! monday 12.08 we had a storm that lasted until tuesday afternoon 12.09 .. GB got 10inches of snow ! school was cancelled for all of the GB schools .. SNOW DAY !


BUT .. we as missionaries dont get snow days ! our Mormon MythBusters @ the EC was CANCELLED due to weather .. no one could drive b.c. of the plows and amount of snow. we were very sad to have it cancelled .. it will still go on .. just now it will be NEXT semester .. the progress that is being made on UWGB is still pretty amazing .. i love it ! on tuesday 12.09 [we still drove & i was driving like 5-10mph & SO many cars were passing me .. it was kinda frustrating but the Lord protected us.]


we had a return appt with ROBERT GAY, he ordered the dvd Lamb of God & we were going to see how he enjoyed it. as he let us into his house his phone ran and you could hear the person on the other end say, " this is so&so with the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints, how was the lamb of god ?" s.black & i just exchanged looks of amazement and laughter. we heard Robert say, "well the missionaries are here right now actually !" he got off the phone with the referral center @ the MTC and i said to Robert .. "well if thats not a sign from God i dont know what is !" he laughed and we talked a bit about the movie and we will see where things go with him !

b.c. of the amount of snow on tuesday 12.09 we found ourselves in the BEST SNOWBALL fight ever ! we had lunch at Carmens [spanish branch member] house with the spanish elders and the ZL's and after lunch we just all went outside and in minutes were covered in snow .. s.black and i held our own even in our skirts ! the funniest part of our snowball fight was when i got a huge snowball to throw @ e.jolley and he had a huge one to throw @ me .. as i was running towards him i slipped and fell straight back and my snowball and his snowball both fell on my face ! all in all it was very cold and very fun !


we had interviews with our one & only President Barrett on wednesday. we went to volleyball with the ladies before that & it was really cool for them to see more missionaries and even our mission president ! papa barr gave me great counsel & just is so sweet & makes me want to work harder & harder !


we spent that evening with our sweetest YW in the GB1st .. we had so much fun playing games and exchanging ornaments.. CORRY loves being a part of the YW program and i am obsessed with the YW's program so i love being there .. we played a couple games and one of them involved the YW singing the barney "i love you" song to the sister missionaries ! we also played a game to see how many marshmallows you could fit into your mouth .. i took 3rd place with a count of 10 marshmallows ! i know i have a BIG mouth ! my papa would agree with the amount of talking i do !

we had our Christmas Zone Conference on 12.11 and it was amazing .. such good training by papa barr, the assistants, our ZL's and other missionaries ! the theme of this transfer is "Endure to the End" and we did our zone presentation with a couple elders playing guitar in the background and each missionary shared a scripture/story/testimony on enduring. i shared ..

Doctrine & Covenants 121:7-8
"My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes."
this is my favorite scripture and gets me through all the trials i've ever & continue to go through. all the missionaries went caroling that night with members of the GB wards and it was SO fun. we are planning a lot of caroling this holiday season and i am so excited. something we were counseled about in ZC was to commit ourselves to the commitments we leave with investigators.


s.black & i had the opportunity to to put that counsel into action the next night. we taught a joint lesson with our corry and the ZL's Hedei. we committed hedei & also corry again to pray about the BofM and to LISTEN to the spirit and not anyone around them. s.black & i told them we would do the same. that night as we said our companionship prayer we prayed to know the the truthfulness of the BofM & also in our individual prayers as well. the next morning i was pondering on my prayer and realized i hadnt really felt an answer.


we had a lesson with DIANE the next hour and we watched the dvd The Restoration with her. as the movie showed the reenactment of the first vision my heart began to burn with joy and my soul was filled with perfect understanding. my prayer about the BofM had been answered. i KNOW joseph smith saw God & Jesus Christ.


i KNOW that through the power of God, joseph smith translated the ancient record of the people on the American continent. i KNOW that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ, Our Savior. i was able to bear this testimony with faith and through tears to Diane. we challenged her to ask for herself the truthfulness of the BofM b.c. we KNOW she will receive an answer if she asks in faith. Diane had an answer to her prayers that morning as well. she told us after our lesson she forgot that we were coming over .. she said she was praying that morning to get closer to His word and find more truth. shortly after that we knocked on her door. she looked at us and said maybe God is telling me something and s.black & i both nodded and said all of our prayers have been answered together this morning.


later on in the saturday we did service for a christmas party @ Howe Elementary School. i met this yound 16yr Katie who had a 3month daughter named Kendra in her arms. i talked with Katie about families and her being a mother. katie also came to the event with 3 other 16yr olds that had 3month babies. my heart went out to these young mothers and while i looked & talked to katie & kendra my mind went to my sweet sister Heather. she is an amazing example to me of selflessness and following the Lords will even when its the hardest choice ever. Evelyn is the most precious little girl ever. Heather has given her the gift of a mother & father & eternal family. i am so grateful for her strength, faith, charity and love.


also on saturday we heard some really bad news. the andrus girls and my jenni ribbens [jrib] were in a really awful car accident in North Dakota .. they were driving home for the holidays from BYUi and hit black ice and rolled their car. Katie [the oldest andrus girl] and jrib were the most injured. the biggest blessing is that they are alive. they are both coming home to wisconsin today.


we spent last night with the ribbens kids that are here in GB [jilenna 18, jeannie 14, joey 12] we made dinner with them and played games with them .. it was so fun and good to help them keep there minds focused. they are so excited to have jenni and there parents home today !


we spent our sunday 12.14 in Sturgeon Bay. we love that little branch SO much. we had a full day of contacting former investigators and getting the work to move forward there. we also met this amazing family who is less active .. STRUCKS .. they family owns the Culvers [butter burgers & custard shop .. so good] in SB .. we had a fun evening decorating cookies with them and their 2yr old Logan ! we talked about the gospel and are helping them to see the importance of it in their lives .. such a good and fun family !


on sunday 12.14 the tempertures went up to 40degrees in GB & SB .. it rained and melted a lot of the snow BUT sunday night the temperture DROPPED to -3 degrees so in turn changed all the water to ice. yesterday the temperture was 3 degrees BUT with the WINDCHILL it was -19 mostly ALL DAY .. i have NEVER felt COLD like i have felt WISCONSIN COLD. s.black & i are really in for an adventure.


i am blessed to see so many miracles and feel the love of our Savior so close. its amazing. this opprotunity i have been given is truly a blessing . s


ome of my favorite people are celebrating special days of birth this week !
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ! amber keife [my bestest roommate 2006 ! her special day is 12.17]

SYDNEY MEMMOTT [the oldest of my younger sisters .. my baby thats not a baby anymore .. she is going to be a 10yr old AMAZING girl on 12.18]

holly timmermann [best friend to watch Lost with, also gave me some of the best mission advice and also the best mission clothes :) my baby girl black reminds me of you in SO many ways ! have fun on 12.18]

i love you all. i am SO grateful for all you love and support. i cant say that enough.

love,
sister warner

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