Richton, MS- Week #60

How ya derrin y'all?! 

We is doing good and just enjoying life as missionaries! As many of you know this is the final week of this transfer, it is crazy how fast the time goes! This week has been a goodn'! Sorry if any of y'all were expecting an email from me last week, we literally didn't have any time on the computer! So, y'all will be getting TWO emails from me today with pictures, so hopefully that will make it up! We just finished week 5 of the transfer! Holy smokes!! It was a good week though (: 

This week we had exchanges! Sister Nash came with me to Sandhill! We had a blast!! I was just a little bit nervous to take over the area for the day, but it went well! I have not done that in a really long time! We were busy bees! We had dinner with Sister B again and Sister Nash was super excited!! She has heard a lot about her from the other sisters who have served in this area, and her dream came true! She is definitely one of the sweetest ladies, she is always doing missionary work where ever she goes! We also saw a couple of potentials we haven't seen in a while and it went really well! We had return appointments to see them later in the week but unfortunately they weren't home. But that is okay! We managed to find use of our time because we are super cool! 

We also got to go to the nursing home this week! Surprisingly we didn't sing at all to them! We just sat and talked with all of them which was really nice! I love everyone there! They are just the sweetest! We also got to see one of our investigators Sam! We haven't seen her in a while because he grandson was having surgery, but we were SO happy to see her! Hopefully we will see her at church on Sunday! 

On Saturday morning we saw Miss Gracie! Unfortunately her shower faucet was leaking and she just needed somebody to come help her! We tried to send Charles but it didn't really go well. He told her 3 different times when he would go over but HE NEVER DID! Oh well, we love him anyways! She was so funny that day! We planned to read the Book Of Mormon with her, and the poor thing was soo tired! She was up for a lot of the night and didn't get any sleep! We had a good conversation but man, right as we were starting to read the scriptures she was out! It was crazy because I didn't notice! I was about to read the next verse and Sister Saunders was trying to get my attention and she was like "Look! Ms Gracie is asleep!" We didn't really know what to do because neither of us has experienced this before and so we sat there for like 5 minutes...and then she woke up and was like "Sorry I didn't mean to sleep on y'all!" And we were like it is okay! And then we started reading again..AND THEN SHE DID IT AGAIN! hahah it was sooo funny! I love the people here in the south! 

Anyways those are the main highlights for the week! I hope y'all had a great week! Here are another few things I learned this week that were pretty funny. 

1) True southerns say "Aggrivating" and I also learned that I am now a true southern because I say it now. 

2) Learned how to make crack 

3) "Trees are broken" - Sister Saunders 

4) If you want to quit smoking, you start with "dipping" first and eat so much of it you throw up and then you will lose your taste for smoking!

Love y'all have a great week! (: 

Sweet Sister Eaton sending me some pics. Adored these two together!

Richton, MS- Week #59

McKennah had sent me a short 2 sentence email this week because she had to prepare a musical number for their zone conference. So sweet Sister Saunders mother sent me a copy of her companions email instead!

McKennah and Dede Gara sweetest sister!

McKennah and Sister Saunders at conference

Hey y'all! 

This week was super amazing and full of blessings! We really don't have a ton of time on the computer today and so I am going to make this email as short and detailed as I can...so bear with me! 

1) BAPTISM! 

We were sooo blessed to have witnessed the baptism of Marlene and Bristle Rogers! It was a beautiful service and they looked so happy! (: It was amazing to think about the first time we started teaching them, and how much they have grown in such little time! At first they were a little apprehensive about starting the lessons, but then they started reading the Book Of Mormon, and praying, and not just praying, but praying together! They were sincere, and truly exercising faith. Honestly one of the most amazing experiences on the mission and most rewarding by far!  Sister Saunders and I gave talks, I talked about the Holy Ghost and she talked on baptism and it went really well! We also sang a musical number " If the savior stood beside me" and I always think of my own baptism when I hear that song and so it was special for me! They are both stellar in the gospel and are just eating up everything that we teach! Now the goal is to get them to the temple and be sealed for time and all eternity! Marelene is super excited for the temple, in fact! That was one of the reasons that she got baptized. She lost her father pretty recently,  and it literally tore her apart. She looovved her dad soo much! She has always hoped that she would see him again but really didn't know how. Charles (One of the recent converts here) met her about a year ago trying to convince her to come to our church! She put it off until about a month ago, until she decided to try it and bring her family to the church! They came consistently since then and it was really amazing to see them progress! They have NOT missed a single Sunday since they came the first time! Eventually, Charles mentioned family history to Marelene and she loved the idea of doing ordinances and sealing her family together. In her own words she said,"Even if there is a possibility all of this is true, that is a chance I am willing to take if it means we will be together forever".  That is probably one of the sweetest phrases I have ever heard!! Y'all, this lady is full of so much faith! She was willing to take a chance even though she didn't understand completely the message we were teaching! Bristle also told us " The first time I walked into y'alls church I felt peace. I have been to a lot of churches over the course of my life, but none of them bring the peace and the feelings I have felt since I came here". The Lord is 100% in this work. The spirit taught them everything! We didn't do a single thing! I wish y'all could meet them, they are awesome. Maybe one day! 

Week 4: So, Because there is not a lot of time left, I will just point out all the cool experiences we had this week! 

1) Shoes. They are a struggle. Especially after a mud adventure. Thankfully Sister Saunders is THEE best companion ever and let me borrow her shoes for the week! She is a lifesaver! 

2) We went tracting and met Brandy & Brandon! Apparently Brandon is famous! He is on the Discover channel for Racing cars! They were both cool and enjoyed the resto, hopefully we will catch a time to see him again! 

3) Tracted into a guy named Marty! We didn't have a time to share a message with him, but we set a RA! When he went back he told us why he invited us over, and he said he admired our diligence to teach people especially in the rainstorm! He said he knew that our message had to be good especially since we were out in the rain! #worthit #hardtodosometimes

4) MIRACLE! We were talking with one of our investigators Jonathan, and in comes..drumroll...JAKE! We lost contact with him, and after many prayers of faith he showed up! It was amazing! And then he came to the Roger's Baptism! No coincidences, it was all a part of his plan! 

5) We went to the nursing home and it was really fun! The workers love us, and the sweet old people love us too. We really do enjoy going over there! I will be sad to leave them! (: 

Yup. That was our week. Sorry my thoughts are all scattered, but it was a great week! Miracles were in the midst! So grateful for them!

Funny moment for the week: We decided that companions are like Santa Clause. "He sees you when your sleeping..He knows when your awake..He knows when you have been bad or good". hahah so true! 

Anyways, hope y'all enjoy your week! Y'all are amazing! Keep the faith! 

Fixin' to have a baptism

Us and Mandy Rogers

Us and Bristle Rogers

Bristle and Mandy Rogers

Richton, MS- Week #58

Howdy Y'all! 

Hope y'all are doing well!  

This week has been amazing. I just LOVE being a missionary and my days keep getting fewer and fewer on me! It is simply just not fair! I love the gospel with all of my heart. I love sharing this message. I know that it really does bring so much JOY and HAPPINESS to others. This message that we share really will save this world from its own self-destruction. I KNOW that to be true! I also know that God loves his children. It is amazing how quickly we come to love somebody as we see them as HE (Our Heavenly Father) sees them. I love being a missionary! 

Highlights for the week: This week has been focused on the Rogers Family! Y'all, they have been coming to church CONSISTENTLY over a month now! They have not missed a SINGLE Sunday since they have first walked into the chapel doors! Isn't that amazing?! They are lined up to be baptized this Saturday! YAY!! We are sooo excited! They have had almost all of the lessons! I just am so grateful that God hears our prayers. The prayers of two sister missionaries in the Sandhill Branch. Before I got here, there truly was not a lot going on, in fact president almost closed the area! He was willing to give it one more shot. I am soo grateful he did! So many miracles came this transfer because of his decision to keep it open.We got to work with so many amazing people! It is a testimony to me that there really ARE people who are prepared for us. They are being prepared all around us. We just have to have faith that he will provide a way! It is just amazing that our Father in heaven hears ALL of our prayers. I know that he knows us and loves us individually and personally. He cares what we think and how we feel. He really is the head of this church. He is our master and I know as we follow him we will be blessed! 

We had ZTM (Zone Training Meeting) this week! It was really good! President and Sister Olson came to the meeting because they went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders and STL's! It was a lesson all about the spirit, and how we can be worthy to have the Spirit as a constant companion. We also talked about how important it is to introduce the Spirit in all of our lessons. The STL's taught us about music, and how music is a powerful teaching tool! Which is PERFECT for me! I love, love, love music! (: I am always using the primary hymns or regular hymns to invite the Spirit. I know from experience that they work! I know that they really are another way of bearing testimony of simple truths. I am just so grateful for that! 

I also got to see the Fitzgerald family from the Hattiesburg Ward again! It was soo awesome! We just went tracting, and we happened to tract by Bishop's Fitzgerald's parents house! It was so fun to see them again! I love Hattiesburg! (:

And the Fitzgeralds were just as happy to see her...Sister Fitzgerald sent me THIS pic right away!

funny moment for the week: Sister B- "Do y'all want some pumpkin pie?" Me- "Porcupine"?!?! 

Kenzie- "Caden look it is Sister Scott! She is back again!" Caden smiles super big and is bashful. He drives away on his "big boy tractor". 

Well, those are my thoughts for the week! It has been a great week and I am so grateful for the many blessings that Heavenly Father has given me. He is always here for us. Thanks for all y'alls support! I love hearing from you weekly and all of the fun things y'all do, it means a lot! Have a fantastic week! 

Love, 

    Sister Scott

The beautiful Sister Saunders!

I love that they seem so happy together!!!

Richton, MS- Week #57

Heeelllooo!! 

I hope y'all had a great week! It has been kinda crazy week for us! (as usual!) 

I would normally be able to give y'all the run down of everything, but alas, I forgot my planner and I am having a terrible time remembering everything we did on what days, so..here goes nothin! 

WARNING: This story I am about to share is about the stupidity of two young sister missionaries who clearly don't know what they are doing. This story includes vivid imagery and may cause you to have a minor heart-attack if you don't read the WHOLE STORY. So sit back and buckle up because it was pretty insane! 

This story happened on Saturday. Sister Saunders and I had to finish some weekly planning that morning and after we finished we had planned to go look for some less actives in Green County which is pretty far away from where we live! We felt like we should go try James and Joyce McClain because we had never met them and that is where we thought the spirit directed us to go. (Keep in mind that Richton is already in the middle of nowhere, and that we have limited service in some places in this area) Well, lucky for us we ended up being in the "no service area"! We weren't too worried about it because that is what happens sometimes in this area and we had a GPS guiding us where to go! Well, the GPS was taking us through the woods on dirt roads, and we didn't think anything of it because we see that all over Richton! Well the roads became muddy pretty quickly and there were a lot of mud holes in the road, so I was driving like a crazy person trying to avoid those holes. Anyways, well the GPS guided us to a dead end! We were sooo confused but we just laughed about it and tried to enter the address in the GPS again. 

This time it took us in a different direction and we were on our way! We figured it was taking us the right way! The type of car we drive is a Toyota Corolla 2013, and it doesn't have 4 wheel drive...so.. I am sure y'all know where I am going with this. We barely made it through one street of mud holes, and we still needed to drive down that street for the next 5 miles until we got to our destination. We sat in the car for a minute, and prayed about the whole situation. and we decided that since we made it through the last street, we could make it through these next 5 miles! THAT WAS A BIG MISTAKE because we were not even a quarter mile down this street and what happens next? WE GOT STUCK! We both kinda freaked out for a second and we decided we would try putting the car into different gears to see if it would help us get out and it didn't make a single difference! 

 I told Sister Saunders I would put the car in Neutral and get out of the car to help her push to see if it would help. After her trying to convince me not to get out of the car, me being just a little bit stubborn came out anyways! I wanted to help her! When I got out of the car, I looked down at my feet and realized that the mud was above my ankles! I just thought to myself " I am not sure if we will get out of here, but I trust that the Lord will take care of us". Of course as we both pushed the car it didn't move a single bit. We decided that we would look at the tires to see what was going on and Sister Saunders realized that when I was changing the gears on the car it was only creating a BIGGER hole and we realized our tires were only spinning not going anywhere. It was about 3:30 in the middle of the day when we first got stuck and after all of this was happening it was about 4:30. We realized that it was going to get dark soon, so we figured we would go walk around and see if we could go find help. We were pretty far from the highway that took us to where we were so we decided to walk towards the McClain's house! 

After walking for a mile or two we would check our phone to see if  we would have even 1 bar of service and we didn't have any!  I looked over to the left and found a biking trail! This made Sister Saunders and I sad because we knew that meant there wouldn't be any houses for a while. We kept walking for the next hour and a half and we still couldn't find anyone. At this point it was about 6:00 or so, and we decided we would walk back to the car and decide what to do next! When we got to the car, we figured we only had a couple options left 1- Try to call 911 (which didn't work) 2) We could walk to the church because it was 6 miles away and we could try to flag people down on the highway or 3) We just spend the night in the car, and then walk to church in the morning. We took option 3 because that was honestly the safest thing we could think of! We had church at 9:00 the next morning, so we figured if we go to sleep now, we would wake up at 4:00 in the morning and start walking to church! Honestly, I wasn't really tired so I decided I would read the Book Of Mormon until I fell asleep. That book brought soo much peace in my heart. I felt that God heard all of our prayers that we prayed for that day and that he would take care of us.

 At about 12:00 at night, I was about to doze off and Sister Saunders and I were talking on and off and I looked around outside because I thought I heard a car coming, but I didn't see one. Right as I was about to fall back asleep I looked through the rear view mirror and I saw car lights coming towards us! Sister Saunders woke up and I started to honk the horn and turn on the lights. THE CAR STOPPED! The man that was driving was in a huge white truck and he asked if we needed help and we said yes! We told him what happened, but he laughed at us of course! He got out of his car and hooked up his chains from our car to his and he pulled us out! It was kinda scary because he asked me to put on the breaks so then I wont hit his car, but he was going pretty fast! I managed though. He pulled us out partially, and then he followed us back to the highway. Along the way Clooney (named our car) was struggling to get out of the mud, at some points it stopped completely but some how the Lord provided us a way to get out. I really do believe he sent angels to help give Clooney a push every now and again. We eventually got on the highway! We were SO HAPPY! But then our car wouldn't drive faster than 40 Mph, and the car was making funny noises. We felt like it was a good idea to stop at the church and see what was wrong with the car. We couldn't figure it out and we were still 20 miles away from our home and that would be the next time we had service again. Anyways, so we ended up spending the rest of the night at the church and our Branch Mission leader saved the day in the morning with newton figs and V8 drinks and drove us home to get ready for church. 

I know this story sounds pretty fake, but it really DID HAPPEN. It was pretty scary situation but we made it through! The moral of this story is 1) The Book Of Mormon brings peace when our hearts our depressed,scared, nervous or anxious. I KNOW that it is true! I know that it is the word of God. I know that it truly does testify of Christ and that a man (or women) can get nearer to God by reading it. 2) While we walked for those couple miles we came to a lot of forks in the road. We had to make important decisions because lack of sunlight and time. Likewise, each one of us will at one point or another, come to a fork in the road. Thankfully, we have the guidance of the Holy Ghost to help us know where to go. Just like President Monson said in his last talk " If we choose Christ we choose the right way." SO TRUE! 3) Power of Prayer is real and God will listen and answer them. 4) Don't drive on roads that require a 4 wheel veichle with a 2 wheel car. I hope y'all were able to make through this email, I know it is a long one but I thought the details made it all worth it! I hope y'all have a great week! Thanks for all you do! I will attach pictures of everything! on the other email, love y'all! (: 

Richton, MS- Week #56

(Posting a week late, email didn't come through originally...had McKennah resend it this week!)

Hey Y'all!

 This week has been really crazy! I hope y'all have had an amazing week! This week we have been on the go! Every single night this week we have been going to bed at about 11:00! It has been a while since I have done that, we love being busy! 

Monday: We had P-day and dinner with Sister B! We love her to death she is super sweet to feed us every week! 

Tuesday: We were went to the nursing home again! We haven't been able to go the week before and so everybody was happy to see us again! We love getting to know them and to sing them songs. This time Sister Saunder's "Boyfriend or should I say Wanna be Boyfriend" didn't hit on her this time! Phew, we were safe this time! I got to talk to a sweet lady who is kinda new to the Nursing Home, I unfortunately cannot remember her name for the life of me! She doesn't have any family that come to visit her and so, she was just telling me about how much she wished that her siblings just loved her enough to visit her. It was SO sad, please pray for her! Even though I can't remember her name! 

Wednesday: We went to Hattiesburg for a doctors appointment, and I had been experiencing pain in my right ear earlier that week and we got it checked out to see what was going on, and come to find out I had a ear infection! It is all good though because the Lord blessed me with having that ear infection on my right ear instead of my left ear! If the infection was on my left ear I would have been completely deaf and so God's hand was definitely involved! However, a little part of me wishes that did happen because it would have been SO hilarious to see Sister Saunder's attempt to communicate through charades for that whole week, just sayin'! Later that night all of our plans fell through and so we decided to go tracting instead! There were a few houses on Cedar Ave that Sister Saunders hasn't been to yet and so we figured we would give it a shot! The first house we knocked on there was a lady named Gina. She was pretty open, and her friend Aj was there and he listened to the message too, and they both took BOM's and committed to read and pray about it! THEN, a couple houses later we met Billy Kelly. Okay you have to know what this guy looks like to get the full picture of this experience! He is a tall 6'4 white guy with tatooes all over his body and he was bald and pretty macho looking! He also had a friend with him, his name is Mule. He was like 5'8 White guy full beard, with a headband on his head with a knife in his left side pocket. Yeah you could say it was pretty sketchy! We asked if they would like to hear a message from us, and they both said yes! We started to teach them the Restoration and as we are teaching, I look over at Billy kelly and he was leaning against the wall holding a KNIFE in his hand listening to us teach! I looked over at Sister Saunders and she didn't seem weirded out about the situation at all! The lesson turned out to be good. We found out that Billy was part of a motorcycle gang, and had been diagnoised with brain cancer, and he just prayed to God that he would take away the cancer, and the Lord did. He decided to turn his life around and wanted to change and had a great desire to serve the Lord. Now Billy is spending his life helping troubled teenagers and young adults who have drug addiction problems, pornagraphy, lying, stealing cheating ect, and help them to be useful assests to the world. He decided to start a band and help give those guys something to do instead of making the same choices they had been making their whole lives. It was pretty cool to hear this story! Of course he eventually found out that Sister Saunders and I were musically inclined and he invited us to be a part of the band! Well, we actually had to turn down that offer, but it was still pretty cool! We were able to set a return appointment to teach them again!

Thursday: We taught the Roger's family again! They have been coming to church consistently over a month now, and are still taking missionary discussions. Mandy and Bristol still want to be baptized on June 18th and so we are hoping that everything is still good to go for that date! Charles has been such a huge help to the Rogers. He really has been an example to them! We found out that Charles really really REALLY likes Mandy! He told us that he wants it to be "hush,hush" but everybody already knows about it! They seem to be happy, we just hope it wont interfere with the missionary lessons. We also had another lesson with April and Pleze and they seemed pretty open. Hopefully we will be able to see them progress! 

Friday: We weekly planned as usual, and then we had a lesson with our Investigator Shyra! She has kinda been going through a lot. She thinks that her husband has been cheating on her for a while now, but he still hasn't admitted to her that it is true. Apparently from what she tells us he never tells her he loves her unless he is leaving, and then he would be gone for long period of time, and tell her that he is somewhere when really he has been somewhere else. She has been really stressed about it and so it has been hard to teach her recently! We are thinking about dropping her because she hasn't really been progressing or keeping any commitments :( Please pray for her! We also had another lesson with Mule and Billy, kinda. They invited us to their band meeting to hear some of their music and then teach them at the end. Well! That didn't really go as planned, but we heard Billy play us the Guitar! It was cool. We had stewardship calls with Elder Molmstrom. Those are always entertaining! He is so freaking funny. 

Saturday: We had a meal appointment planned with the Price's and they invited the Roger's family to come over! They had a blast!! Mandy and Bristol were pretty nervous to come over, but they made it and loved it so much! We had planned to play the Restoration video with them that night and they loved it! After the movie was over we all just sat in silence for a good couple minutes. The spirit was SO strong! Everyone then bore their testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith and of the divinity of the BOM. It was probably one of the most powerful lessons I have ever had on my mission. Mandy and Bristol said at the very end that they felt Joseph Smith was a true prophet and that they understand him a lot better. It was amazing! Bristol made a comment about church, and how every single time she comes to our church she feels peace. She said that she has been to a lot of churches before, but none compared to the Mormon church. Not a single church she has been to had as much peace than this church. It was so cool! The spirit was definitely there, and they said again they wanted to be baptized. It was amazing! After this blessed experience we had an appointment planned with Jake who is Billy kelly's son! He wanted to meet with us too.His friends Jonathan and Owen came too. We taught them the Restoration and it went pretty well! After the lesson Jake told us that he wanted to come to church on Sunday! It was so cool because our branch mission leader came with us to the lesson and said that he would be more than happy to give him a ride! He agreed to go with him! After we said the closing prayer we all got up and shook hands and Jake shook my hand and said "Ya know, Ever since y'all have talked with my dad he has been acting differently. He seems happier and nicer to me than usual. I figured it was because of y'all and wanted to know what made him different because I want to be different". It was soo cool! I just told him we would be more than happy to show him! It was super amazing experience. 

Sunday: Jake came to church! We had our linger longer and he got to know the whole branch! It was awesome! He said he would love to come again next Sunday it was awesome! He said he felt really good about it! 

Sorry this is so long y'all. As you can see it has been a crazy week! Despite how crazy it has been, it was full of tender mercies. I am so grateful for the power of prayer. I am grateful that God hears our cries when we need help. He is aware of each one of us. I know that to be true! The Lord's hand is definitely here in Sandhill. Well that is all I have for this week! I hope y'all have a great week! I love y'all! (: