Adventures from Ohio

May 19, 2014

Here are some of my adventures in the Great Ohio Columbus Mission:

 

So this past week, my investigator Krissy, was baptized. Now, for those of you who don't know, Krissy is deathly afraid of water. In fact the week leading up to her baptism, she freaked out!! Luckily, we have the power of our Savior to help her through her fear. The day of her baptism was different.... We sang Amazing Grace, and Brother Thompson, the Ward Mission Leader gave a talk. Okay that sounds pretty normal, but it was different for me. :) Krissy was so scared. But, she went into the water, and DID IT!!! It was as if she hadn't been scared at all. It was incredible. She's going to be confirmed this Sunday.

 

This past Sunday was Stake Conference. Stake Conference as a Missionary is wonderful. President and Sister Nilsen ( haha i've been spelling there name wrong... poor things. :)) were there and bore there testimonies on the Book of Mormon, and Missionary Work. One of the talks was focused on the Family. I didn't think it was a coincidence. Within the past couple of weeks we have been tracting into a lot of Gay or Lesbian people. Anyway, the talk was awesome and gave me some insight as to how to approach these wonderful children of God.

 

I ended up staying in Mansfield!! 6 more weeks!! Haha it's crazy how quickly time flies!! By the way, Mansfield is the size of Boise (population wise) and its one of the "small" towns in Ohio! Ha Ha isn't that just crazy?

 

It is an understatement to say that I have made life long friends here.  Sister Vance is the best trainer any trainee could have.  We make up for each others weaknesses.  She is from Idaho Falls and is from a family of 12!  We get along GREAT.  We tell a lot of jokes and share our testimonies with each other.  What has made us closer in our companionship is being exactly obedient.  That principal brings forth so much power.

 

I have to tell you this cool experience that happened yesterday.  It was after Stake Conference, and Sister Vance and I had planned to go to an Appointment at 3:00pm.  To our surprise that appointment had rescheduled an hour before the appointment.  We had an impression to go to that street and tract.  The first few houses were pretty rude.  But nothing we're not use to.  The next house we went to was AMAZING!  This young woman answered the door.  She said her name Tribony.  We talked about the Book of Mormon and told her not to take our word for it.  She agreed and made a return appointment with us.  We said a prayer and thanked her for her kindness.  As we were about to leave, she told us that she had been talking to her mom just moments before about going back to church.  I couldn't believe my ears.  As we were walking towards the next house I kept thing about Tribony.  The confirming feeling of the Holy Ghost told me that our loving Heavenly Father knows Tribony and that I am his servant.  I love this Gospel.  I love how it changes lives and brings about true and eternal happiness. 

 

Anyway, those are some of the high lights that have been happenin' in the Great Ohio Columbus Mission!!

 

I love all of you soooo much!!

 

Sister Zoe Preston

Jesus Christ did this all alone in order to help me NOT go through this alone.

April 28, 2014

You wouldn't believe how bi-polar the weather is here!!  Its 10 times worse here than at home.  It makes tracting very interesting. In fact I asked President Neilsen about rainy days and he challenged me to pray for them.  Crazy guy.  But, Ohio read my mind and the rain has been falling regardless of my prayers.  I think the tornadoes happen more towards Kentucky and what not.  I actually don't really know.

So far, I love the mission field.  It's been so much fun working with the people! The work in Mansfield has been progressing Krissy is going to be baptized on May 16th.  She is So So EXCITED.  It's amazing to see how much she has changed these past couple weeks.  I can't even express how much I love and adore her. 

I explained a little bit about the training I had the other day.  Let me elaborate on that.  At the training we discussed change, and goal setting.  We listened to a TON of talks from Apostles and did a few workshops.  A few things in particular stood out to me in this meeting: 

#1 A disciple of Jesus Christ is constantly striving to be better.  A particular quote from Elder Holland is ingrained into my heart, "Be prepared to walk something of the path that Jesus Christ Walked." I like this quote because Jesus Christ did this all alone in order to help me NOT go through this alone. (excerpt from Elder Holland's actual talk "None were with Him" April 2009 "Brothers and sisters, one of the great consolations of this Easter season is that because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so. His solitary journey brought great company for our little version of that path—the merciful care of our Father in Heaven, the unfailing companionship of this Beloved Son, the consummate gift of the Holy Ghost, angels in heaven, family members on both sides of the veil, prophets and apostles, teachers, leaders, friends. All of these and more have been given as companions for our mortal journey because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His gospel. Trumpeted from the summit of Calvary is the truth that we will never be left alone nor unaided, even if sometimes we may feel that we are. Truly the Redeemer of us all said: “I will not leave you comfortless: [My Father and] I will come to you [and abide with you].”) ²⁰ 

#2 Self evaluation and setting goals and plans are worth it.  We talked a lot about this because a few of our goals weren't quite up to par.  The ultimate goal is to help others receive eternal life, through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end.  Each day of planning is so crucial now; lives are at stake.

#3 Always remember that I am not in this alone.  I still don't quite grasp the concept of this, but I know that I am not alone.

I love talking about faith.  Since I've been out, one of my FAVORITE scriptures has been Alma 32:21.  (And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.)  Each time I study it, I see something new.  Faith really isn't having a perfect knowledge of things, but if you have ever a twig of faith and do that which is good the Lord will bless you.  I combined like 3 Scriptures with that.  Sorry.

It's incredible how quickly the weeks have been going by.  It was such a blessing being able to find 10 new investigators.  My companion and I are planning to take the young women out with us.  We want them to see how easy sharing the gospel is.  Each day I see miracles.  Whether it be someone wanting us to come back and teach them or an answer to a prayer, the miracles happen daily.

By the way, have you watched all of the Mormon Messages that the church has?  (Link to Mormon Messages) They are so amazing.  A lot of them are tear jerkers. 

I love this gospel and I love the people I serve.

Sister Zoe Preston

For We Walk by Faith

April 21, 2014

Ohio is beautiful.  Besides the snow the other day,  I am loving it.  There is this cool farm near by that has awesome fudge.  My area is a pretty good mix of suburbs and rural.  But mostly city.  I do have a car, but we have to watch our miles, so we walk a lot.  Its nice because there are more and more people out now.  I haven't been in any risky areas, yet.  But there are a few streets that we are cautioned to stay away from.  On one of the streets an Elder was shot!  We stay totally away from that one.

How is your scripture study going?  Lately I've been obsessed with old conference talks.  I don't know what it is about them.  I just LOVE them!  I read one of Elder Holland's talks from 1994 titled "Miracles of the Restoration."  (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1994/10/miracles-of-the-restoration?lang=eng) 

It's funny how the Spirit works.  I found a quote the other day, wrote it on a sticky note and put it into my scriptures.  I later ended up giving it to one of our investigators who needed it.  The quote gave me more depth into Alma 32:21. "Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things, therefore if ye have faith, ye hope for things which are not seen which are true."  I have clung to this scripture for sometime and have found another one in the New Testament to go along with it.  "For we walk by faith, not by sight" 2 Cor. 5:7.  How many of us walk by faith each day, grasping onto the Gospel.  How many of us have faith in those we come into contact with?  I've really had to exercise faith in my investigators.  A lot of it.  One truth that I have come to know, is that God will always guide us to what we need.  Discerning between what we want and what we need had been really hard for me.  It still is sometimes, but the fruits of the Faith that has been growing are so much sweeter. 

I love you!

Sister Zoe Preston