September 27, 2010

Hello from beautiful Oregon!
Today was a BLAST!! We went to the Coast!! We went to Florence. Jordan Bair took us and her little 13 month old girl Brooklyn. She is a doll. We had so much fun. The Coast is breathtaking! I just sat on the beach and soaked up all the beauty :)!! We got to see TONS of sea lions. President told us that we could put our feet in the water. We were walking down the beach and a huge wave came in. My back was turned and just as I looked the waves were coming right for me and little Brooklyn. I didn't know what to do, so I quickly scooped her up in my hands and ran away. It was really weird to hold a baby again. I miss holding cute Avery. I was so glad that I was near her and was able to get her away from the waves. The coast rocks!!
Stephanie had her interview on Sunday night. She was so terrified, but she did great and is set to be baptized on Friday. This week we are going over to watch the Testaments with her. I am so excited for her. She is beaming and so happy. We also got to go to the Gen Relief Society meeting with her... she loved hearing the women and the prophet speak. Ditto.
Brad and Jackie are doing okay. Jackie didn't get the job that she applied for, so now she really can't come to church. We are still praying for her. This week we are going to ask them if they want to move the baptism date back cause they are not ready, or we might have to stop going over if they don't progress. They love having us over, but they don't keep commitments. Pray that they will have a desire to learn and grow. They need this soooo bad!!
This week Sister Losee and I got to go on exchanges!! As we were talking at night I said "haha this is kinda funny, we are having a sleepover in Oregon together!!" She is so much fun! I loved spending the day with her! We had a really neat experience. We were tracting some apt and we met Melissa. We asked if we could come back the next day and share more, she wanted us to. So we gave her a BOM and left our number with her and left. A couple hours later, we were on the opposite side of town. We saw a lady outside,she wasn't interested. We saw some boys smoking in their car, they weren't interested, but they told us to go talk to the two girls on the opposite side of the street. We went over and met Danika and Jodie. Danika was really interested and asked us to come back, but she wanted us to go to her apt. Well as she told us the number, I was in awe because she told us the same number that Melissa lived in. We talked to the roommates at separated times and complete opposite sides of the town. It was amazing!! Kind of a bummer that we haven't been able to teach them yet, but we have an appointment this week.
I had a really neat experience and my testimony was strengthened by the power of the priesthood. We met Heather. She is addicted to pills and wants to quit and make some changes in her life so she can be happy. We had our ward mission leader and another brother from the Junction City ward give her a blessing. It was great to be in the home and feel the darkness turn to light as they promised her blessings according to her faithfulness. It was really neat. Heather has lost her job, house, car and her 6 year old daughter. She had to be out of her house on Sunday night, so we can't see her anymore, but I was grateful to have had so many wonderful experiences as we taught and listened to her. Pray that we will get a hold of her again and find out where she moved.
We found out that Vince AND his cousin are being taught by the elders! We called him up to make sure that he was doing alright and he sounded so happy. He doesn't have a baptismal date, but we are hoping it will be soon :) (we couldn't teach him anymore cause he is single and the elders that are over the singles ward are teaching him now .)
This week was good. I am so excited for this week to start!! So many wonderful things are underway! Lots of people to find and teach.
I am grateful for the Prophet President Monson. It was confirmed to me again that he is the Prophet on the earth. He hold all the keys and knows how to help all of us. I am looking forward to conference weekend... especially to see Stephanie get baptized!! Good day, Good week. :) I love you all!!

September 20th

This week was a little bit slow. We are making plans for Stephanie's baptism. Gosh she is so prepared and listens to everything that she is taught and takes it and runs with it. I wish everyone was like that! We talked about the Word of Wisdom last week and she used to drink coffee smoothies, but she is has changed to drinking steamers. Wow she is great!! We had a little mix up because she lives in the 2nd ward, attends the 1st ward, but when she is baptized she will go to Omar's ward which is the 6th ward. Gosh I was going nuts trying to figure out who would conduct the baptism. Basically, one of the bishops finally said, I don't care where or who, just get her baptized. haha he doesn't mess around. I am glad that everything is starting to work itself out. Stephanie and Omar had us over for dinner this week. They are dating still, so it was kinda awkward to be around them all cuddly and stuff.... ehhh. Anyways they are great. Brad and Jackie are alright. They won't keep any of their commitments. Reading from the Book of Mormon and praying together is like pulling teeth for them. They come up with all these excuses.... but we still pray for them and know they will start to progress. Jackie had her interview and she won't find out until Tuesday if she gets the job or not. We are going to have the lesson at the church building on Tuesday, so I hope they will be able to feel the spirit and get a move on finding and learning for themselves. So we had a great lesson with Khaleel on Tuesday. He felt the spirit and we showed him the church building. He really enjoyed it and even cried as we were talking. He has come from a rough situation and just wants more peace in his life. Well we set up another time to meet with him on Thursday. On Thursday morning I had a feeling that we should call him and just double check that he wouldn't be going back to Saudi Arabia-- we can't teach Muslims if they plan on going back because they could be killed-- He told us that he plans on visiting for a couple months every few years, but never living there. I called my district leader and we are not allowed to teach him. I was crushed, I didn't want to call him back and tell him, but I did. I told him that we couldn't and he just started to thank us for helping him and start him on the right path. He was sad, but told us that he had the Book of Mormon and that we would continue to read it. Man.... that was a bummer. Oh yeah it was also a bummer that we didn't get in contact with Miguel or Kim this week.... I think they are hiding from us. Sad! Laura Anderson had us over this week too. She was just wanted to fight with us the whole time. I felt like I had to be on the defense and was angry while we were there. I was not feeling the spirit and I didn't like it at all!! ahh. I finally just bore my testimony and told her that she needs to read and pray and then we can come back. whaaaa! We haven't found any new investigators, but have found so many potential people, they just don't know that they are ready. I feel so blessed to be in the area. It is rich with people that need this gospel. It also has more people that slam doors, but I just laugh at those things. This week it has been raining, drizzling and misting all day. We were out on Wednesday and didn't think it was going to rain, so we didn't have our jackets with us, well it started to poor. My clothes were soaked, my once straight hair, was ridiculously curly and frizzy. Yuck! I carry my rain jacket in the car wherever we go!
Today we were supposed to go to the coast, but we couldn't find anyone that would take us. BUT we decided to go explore. We found Spencer's Butte. Wow it was GORGEOUS!! It was a little rainy, but because of the thick shrubs and trees, we didn't get wet. It was about a mile hike and wasn't hard at all! I love the green here! I took tons of pics, but I don't have my cord with me, bug, but I will send some next week. The rain doesn't do so well with my hair, it just gets way frizzy. Ponytails are good :)
S. Stoehr and I have so much fun here! Last night we had laugh fest 2010. I couldn't stop laughing and my stomach hurt so bad.... we like to have fun together! We haven't found anymore spiders in our apt for the last couple days, but they are all outside--
This week we had combined district meeting. We started a program on Sunday. I am very excited to work so hard over the next 2 weeks. We are using our phone like crazy and contacting the less active members in the ward. We went to the Thompson's last night. The lady, Gwen opened the door and let us right in. Her husband is less active and she isn't a member. She said that everyone has been trying to convert her, but she believes everything.... hmmmm. I shared a scripture with her and she was so impressed with the verse. I asked her if she had ever read the Book of Mormon or taken the discussions... she hadn't read, but she had missionaries teach her. I asked if she would read 3 Ne 11. She accepted and we will check up with her.
These last few months I have learned so much. We are constantly learning and studying and applying the things that we know. I have found good and bad, but most of all I have been happy. When I work hard, I feel so much better. I am so grateful to be in Santa Clara and Junction City. The wards are starting to improve and starting to help us. Yesterday at church we spoke to all the priesthood and told them that they basically needed to help us. We had a few people come and give us some names.... we are still working with them.
Well I hope you all have a fantastic week. I received many letters from you all and that made me super happy!! Nothing better than getting letters in the mail! I hope you all have opportunities to share the gospel. It is so important, don't let those moments pass you by. Share it!!! Like Elder Glasgow said... the church is perfect. I see that more and more and I know it is true. It is perfectly organized, because we have the perfect person at the center of it all. Believe in him and act!! I love you all!!!!

Love Sister Glasgow XOXOXO

September 13, 2010

Wow! How is everyone doing in Mesa! Eugene is cloudy and cold today, but I like it!! This week has been one of the most rewarding weeks in my mission so far!! Here is what has been going down.
Stephanie- We taught her the Plan of Salvation, but before the lesson we asked her about baptism and why she didn't want to be baptized this weekend. She told us that Omar's (her boyfriend) kids would be down the first weekend in October and she wanted them to be there for her baptism-- now that wasn't too hard to say!! I was floored and had a huge smile on my face the whole lesson. She is getting baptized on October 1st by Omar's 17 year old son. (Omar and his boys are all members) What a perfect way to kick off the Conference Weekend!!
Brad and Jackie- We had 2 lessons this week. Both went great! We invited them to be baptized on the 9th of October. They are not super solid yet, but they are praying and I know they will receive an answer. Here is a miracle- Jackie works on Sundays, so she wouldn't be able to attend church and that means she can't get baptized, well Sister Stoehr and I have been praying for a miracle. On Saturday night Jackie informed us that she was interviewing for a new job this week and she was pretty positive and knows the head of the company. Her schedule would change to a regular mon to fri work schedule... Miracle?? Yes. We fasted for her yesterday and I know that everything will work out! There little daughter, Gracie, went to church with some of the kids in the Primary... the fellowshipper family invited her to come and she was so excited! I am so excited for their family! They invited us over for dinner on Wednesday. Yippee. Funny story-- Gracie was sitting on the couch next to Brad and was sipping some coke and licking the cup. Well Brad didn't think that was too polite but he didn't realize that she had soda in her cup. He tapped the bottom of the cup to get her to stop, and some of the coke went right in her face. Gracie is pretty dramatic, so she started crying and throwing a fit. My comp and I were praying and trying not to laugh at the same time. All the sudden, Gracie looks at her dad and throws the rest of the pop all over his shirt, pants and shoes. I couldn't help but laugh. I felt bad cause it just encouraged her. Brad is a great dad and just kinda laughed it off. Haha they are awesome!
Eric- he dropped us, he doesn't want to meet with us anymore and actually moved to Sweet Home. Sad.
Laura Anderson- She was the lady that showed up to church last week. We ended up going to her house and cleaned her bathroom and floors for her. We talked about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. She is kinda hung up on a few things, so we are still working with her. She loves coming to church and all the family values, but not sure about the book of mormon and Joseph Smith.....
So all of these things were great this week... but it gets even better. In the mission we have what is called, Windows of Heaven. We plan on Thursdays and pray and point out specific streets to go knock on doors or talk to people outside in the neighborhoods. Well we planned a few of them this week and we had some great conversations, but no promising people, until we met Kim Larson. We were on Pear Loop and we were almost done with the area and hadn't found too many people, I was kinda bummed. Well out of the corner of my eye I see a woman outside smoking on her patio. We went over and spoke with her. She was so nice and is looking for truth in her life. She has 4 boys... what a great conversation piece :), and she grew up Lutheran. Well we left her a restoration pamphlet, set up a time and got her number. I called her today and she has read the pamphlet and is looking forward to seeing us tonight. Miracle? Yes!!
Next we have Miguel. Miguel was a potential investegator. Some previous sisters tracted into him, but never went back to him. Reason, I don't know! We went and knocked on his door, no one answered so we went to the side of his house and saw a man in the garage. It was Miguel. He was so happy to see us and a bit suprised. He explained that he wanted the sisters to come back and that he was bummed that they didn't go back. We have an appointment with him this week. We gave him a pamphlet and he is really excited to learn.
Alright here is another miracle.... last night, Sister Stoehr and I parked at the church and were on our way to a recent converts home. While we were about to cross the street, a man walked by us. I started to tell him who we are and introduced my comp and I. He told us that he was Muslim and that he knows their is a God. He believes in Jesus Christ and that he died for us. Great! We spoke for about 5 minutes, gave him a pamphlet, and I felt like I should give him a book of mormon with our number. We went on our way. As we were walking to our appointment, I said to my comp, "I wonder what will ever happen to him". We speak to so many people and I always wonder if they ever come in contact with the church again. We had our appointment with the recent convert and then we were walking to our car. As I was listening to our voice mails, the Muslim man called us!!! He said that he read some of the "book of the mormon" and he had some questions. I was thrilled, my comp and I were jumping up and down. This never happens!!! I called him up and he was glad that we called him back. He was reading in Alma 39 and some of the verses meant a lot to him. He expresed that he was thinking about God and was going through a really rough time in his life and then we talked to him. He was so appreciative. We are going to be meeting with him, Khaleel, tomorrow. So cool.
Good things are happening.... oh and I haven't even told anything about one of my favorite things that have happened so far.... ELDER BEDNAR CAME!!!! Holy smokes it was awesome!! It was neat to be amongst 180 other missionaries and sing hymns, sing our oregon eugene song and pray together and gather to hear an apostle. I was happy to see many faces that I hadn't seen since the MTC... Sister Jolley!! I also got to see my old comp and trainer, Sister Longhurst and Sister Abbott. I love being a missionary. President told all the sisters to sit on teh front two rows. I was on the front row, smack in the middle. Elder Bednar came with Elder Maung (spelling) and Elder Ringwood from the Seventy. We were instructed for 4 hours with them. He asked many questions and we were able to ask him questions. One of the most special things he spoke of is how when we attend any meeting we should look at it as a "revelatory experience". He also spoke about the importance of having our investigators seek faith by learning. We need to teach them to find answers, and not to rely on us so much. When we have them pray about the book of mormon, pray like Joseph Smith. Act on the answers we receive. I could go on and on about all the things he spoke of, but my time is short. Elder Bednar is an apostle of the Lord. He was there as a witness and I know his is an apostle. He shared one of the most remarkable testimonies, I will never forget the spirit I felt or the things that I learned. The holy ghost was the teacher. Wow. It was truly amazing to be in that meeting amongst my elders and sisters. This was an experience that I won't ever have again and I am glad that I prepared myself and was fed. :)
Anyways, this week was fantastic. I love being a missionary. We are having such a great time and I am learning so much. My testimony of Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father increases each day. I love the work. I love the Lord. I know this church is true. Be happy. Have fun and I will talk to you all next week. Please pray for the investigators that they will gain a testimony and they will want to follow Jesus Christ. They need it so bad!!! Thank you for all that you guys do. I am being so blessed and I feel the love and support!!!!

Love Sister Glasgow XOXOXO

pic 1- sister stoehr(my comp), sister jolley (was in the mtc with her) and me
pic 2- sister stoehr and I in the rain :)
pic 3- sister losee and I-- LOVE HER!!! I get to go on exchanges with her this week... so fun!!

What a week!!

Hello everybody!!
Well this week was a whirlpool of finding, cancelling appointments, combined district meeting, a bad day and lots of other things.
We had a lesson with Stephanie again on Tuesday night. We taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She really likes all that we talk about, but is soooo shy. We barely get a peep out of her. At the end of the lesson she broke down and told us that she wasn't going to be baptized on the 18Th. I felt like I was in a dream when she told us. My jaw was probably on the floor.... wow. That was rough to hear. I was completely devastated :(. She had to leave right when she told us that, so we still haven't been able to find out the concerns. She did say that she would be baptized, but not that soon. I still pray for her and know that everything will work out.... she is GOLDEN I tell ya!!
Eric is a whole other story... where do I even begin with him. He had a job interview this week, so on Wednesday we decided to go and see how it went. He was outside smoking and talking to us about how he found God and that he had faith. We were so happy for him, but there was something that was a little off about the things that he was telling us. I didn't feel the spirit while he was talking. Well to make a LONG story short, he basically told us that he was able to find God, while he smoked pot with his friend Robbie the whole night. Gosh. Really Eric? That was so crazy to hear. He said that he knew that God allowed him to use Pot to get him to find his friend Robbie so they could find God together. WHAT?? Oh man, it was really hard to talk with him after that. He went off on the Word of Wisdom..... anyways. He told us that he still would like to meet with us, but he is going to look at other religions too. A pastor and his wife went and visited with him last night. We were pretty bummed when he told us. That is one of the things that really threw off our day on Wednesday. It was such a bum day. We tracted, OYM'd, and had appointments that day. No one was home, we were soaked because it rained on us for a good 3 hours(mom and dad-- we don't use umbrellas here, none of the missionaries use them). It was a day that I hope doesn't happen again.
So on Saturday morning to mid afternoon I went on exchanges with Sister Nichols. I went into the heart of Eugene. Sister Nichols covers the University. It was cool to see all the college kids and craziness of Eugene. The bus stop was my favorite,,, all kinds of kooks :) I loved it. We had such an amazing experience. We went to some apartments and we only ahd about 20 minutes. I decided to go to Letter G Apts. The first couple doors we knocked on no one was home, but then we came to Justins house. He opened the door and looked so surprised to see us. We found out that the Elders in the ward had been teaching him. The elders told him to pray to receive answers about some of the things happening in his life. i guess that strange and bad things were happening, nothing was going right. Justin told us that he started to blame God and was angry. We were able to bear our testimonies and encouraged him to continue praying, Satan knows that it is good and he doesn't want us to pray. It was a blessing to be in that area at that time to help him. I love being a missionary.
Had a 2 great lessons with Vince this week. We took Catherine, a girl from the singles ward with us to the apt. She served a mission a few years ago and was awesome!! She invited him to church and they went yesterday. We are sad that we have to pass him over to the elders in the singles ward... bummer. He is truly learning and taking everything in. I know he will be baptized soon.
Yesterday at church was great!! I spoke on the phone to a former investigator a few days prior to Sunday and invited her to church..... she came!! It was awesome. She is so solid. She has read the BOM, Doctrine and covenants and is reading the Pearl of Great Price right now. She is hung up on the Word of Wisdom... coffee and tea. We have an appointment with her this week. It was an answer to my prayers to have her at church. The testimonies borne were all about how we can be strengthened and how we can know for ourselves. Sweet..... side note. The lady that taught the relief society lesson started out her lesson by singing to us. Then all throughout her talk she sang I am a Child of God. It was weird and I felt so uncomfortable. I felt like I was in high school musical church style... random.
BRAD AND JACKIE are sooooo cool!!! Oh man they are awesome!! We had 2 lessons with them this week. On Sunday night we took Brother Gambee, a ward missionary, to our lesson. He was spot on with everything that they needed to hear. They both have a 6 year old, a dog and Bro Gambee used to live in the same apt complex as Brad and Jackie. It was a blessing to have him there and have him bear his testimony about prayer and scripture study. He also opened there eyes to the Pre-mortal Life. I was so grateful to him being there. It was sick!! Brad and Jackie love what we teach, we haven't set a date for baptism yet.... Jackie works every Sunday. Please pray that she can come to church. They are so good to us and I love being over at there house!! We invited them to pray with there daughter Gracie every night. They are scared to do it, but they accepted and we are excited to find out how it went... we have a couple apt with them this week :)
Alright, so this week had it's ups and downs. But I love it.
My apartment is gross. So many yucky spiders, I can't stand it!!! They are huge and they are everywhere!! Today, Sister Stoehr and I got rid of some of them. We cleaned really good and got rid of clutter from the missionaries that leave there crap behind.
We cover the Santa Clara 1st Ward and Junction City Ward. They both meet at 9am so we switch between the wards every other week. Every other day we are in Santa Clara or Junction City/ Harrisburg/ Monroe. The area is big!! The member struggle with helping the missionaries. We get fed by the members often. This area is so much different than Central Point and Goldhill. The temp is less, the trees are more green and a lot more of them, there is moss everywhere. The sun is still shining. It has only rained a few times since being here. It isn't cloudy, you can still see the blue sky.
This week was time for me to realize how important planning is. If we don't plan, we don't have success, appointments fall through, and we just have bad days. Although it isn't one of my favorite things to do, it is necessary and that is how we get the work done!! Ceds- hopefully you have learned this by now, cause I got smacked in the face with it.
Well family and friends, I love you all so much! i am learning more than I ever could imagine. I know the Savior atoned for each of us. He was perfect, yet he was willing to suffer all the pain, sickness, hurt and guilt. We don't get a free ride. We need to work at being better each day. We need to repent daily. We need Jesus Christ, it is the only way to happiness. I love being a missionary. The work is awesome!! My comp is fantastic and we are working and finding and teaching. So cool!!
Happy Labor Day to everyone!!
Miss and Love you all!!

Love Sister Glasgow