February 3 Texas Freeze

Hello all you lovely wonderful people! Hope your week has been good! There has been a cold front through Texas where this part of Houston actually got ice and sleet which is CRAZY! Everyone was freaking out! School was canceled 24 hours in advance and the entire town just shut down. There were a ton of car accidents that could have been avoided easily if cars would just slow down a little. Members everywhere were calling us and telling us that it would be a good idea if we could stay inside and just be out of the cold....

I know this sounds like a terrible thing, but it was fantastic!! Yes, it was a little colder than normal, but everyone was hanging out at home so we were able to talk to a ton of people. The roads were really not bad at all and everyone was very happy to help us. Plus we are hoping this means less mosquitos this coming summer! Last summer was ridiculous! 

(Keep in mind the coldest it got was 32 degrees during the day. The night was a bit colder.. but not much.) Haha.. It is just so funny to me thinking about being at school with ice and snow and not even having a 2 hour delay. 

So this was a productive week! We saw a lot of Less actives and are starting to get to know them better. One of them Sister Christensen is taking us out for dinner tonight! :)

Another cool story from this week.

We have a guy in the Young Single Branch preparing to go on a mission whose name is Steven. He goes with the elders all the time and absolutely loves it. A little while ago the elders gave him a challenge to find people for the missionaries to teach. He didn't have any idea how to do this and decided to pray and figure out what he could do to help. He decided to always have pass along cards with him and a book of mormon or two. 

He works a a movie theater and one day he was talking to one of the other workers and religion came up. He thought about the cards that he had and decided to give her one inviting her to look the website. She said that she might and they never really talked about it again.

So last week the other sisters in the Clear Lake 2nd ward got a media referral from the church website. They went and met the girl and asked how she came to the website to request missionaries to come over. And that is when they found out that Steven was the one that gave her a card. Now it has led to her and her aunt and uncle being taught about the gospel!!! 

Moral of the story? 

Any effort you make to share the gospel will work. God will bless your efforts and help you to see the blessings! Don't be afraid to tell people about our Heavenly Father. He loves us and wants us to show that love to others. Everyone needs to know about the great plan He has for us! 

The church is true. God lives. Jesus Christ is His real and living son who atoned for us so that we don't have to suffer if we just accept him and keep the commandments. He loves you. He knows you and He will help you.

Mosiah 7:33

"But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he with, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage."

I testify that this is true. I love all ya'll!

Have a great one!

-Sister Earl

(Good luck Elder Earl!! I look forward to seeing your email next week from your new myldsmail account!! The MTC is lucky to have you!) 

email me!

mckayla.earl@myldsmail.net

January 27 Round 3

So we got transfer calls this morning and it was not really what was expected, but I am very glad. Sister Wolfgramm and I are both staying in Clear Lake! The missionaries getting transferred are the sister missionaries that have been here for about a year and the elder that only got here last transfer... Everyone was completely shocked! No one thought the Sister Blume and Sister Jackson would ever leave and no one thought Elder Johnson would leave after only 6 weeks! Transfers are always filled with excitement.

 

This past week was an awesome week for feeling the spirit, but not so awesome when it comes to actual lessons taught. Sister Sheri Dew came to our mission and we got to hear her speak to us 3 times! We had a Sister Missionary conference with her, then we had a YSA conference with her, and the next day we had a womens conference with her. It was a lot of Sheri Dew and a lot of spiritual upliftment.

 

When she spoke to us she spoke about a couple things that really hit me so I want to share them with you.

 

1) Learn the language of Revelation

I don't know about you but sometimes I have a hard time knowing what the spirit is trying to tell me to do. I wonder if it is just my own thoughts or if it really is inspiration. So when I listened to Sister Dew speak about this I really learned A LOT.

 

She said something like:

Did you know that there is a specific way that the spirit talks to you? Everyone is different and God knows that and so He speaks to us differently so we can understand better. The trick is understanding what the spirit feels like and sounds like when we receive promptings. So what do we do? We ask our Father to teach us how He is speaking to us. Specifically ask Him in prayer to teach you how to realize when He is speaking to you.

 

I had never thought to ask for that before, but I am trying and I can feel Him teaching me.

 

As I was reading the scriptures this morning I came across a chapter in 3 Nephi that I realized related to this prayer that I had been asking.

 

3 Nephi 26:9-11 and 13-14

 

 9 And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them.
 10 And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation.
 11 Behold, I was about to write them, all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi, but the Lord ^aforbade it, saying: I will ^btry the faith of my people.
13 Therefore, I would that ye should behold that the Lord truly did teach the people, for the space of three days; and after that he did ^ashow himself unto them oft, and did break ^bbread oft, and bless it, and give it unto them.
 14 And it came to pass that he did teach and minister unto the ^achildren of the multitude of whom hath been spoken, and he did ^bloose their ^ctongues, and they did speak unto their fathers great and marvelous things, even greater than he had revealed unto the people; and he loosed their tongues that they could utter.


These scriptures were very interesting to me. First of all I learned that God gives us revelation slowly as we are ready. Also I learned that there is a certain pattern that qualifies us for revelation.
1) We need to know who our Saviors is. So we need to read about him in the scriptures and think about his sacrifice. We need to make it so he can "show himself unto them oft."
2) We need to go to church and partake of the sacrament. The sacrament is how we renew our covenants or promises that we made at the time we were baptized. Every time we partake of the sacrament worthily we receive the same effect we had when we were actually baptized. It allows us to be forgiven of the things we have done wrong so far so that we can continue to become better! It is such a blessing! When we are clean we can feel the promptings of the spirit easier; therefore making revelation easier.
3) We need to choose that we want to learn from the teachings of Christ. We will not be forced to learn or receive revelation. We have to want it. When we want to be taught a special spirit comes into our lives. We understand that we do not have all the answers and we need Gods help to become better.
I know there is still a ton to learn about revelation, but I feel like I am starting to sorta understand how He is trying to teach me. If you want to know more, then show more desire by your studies and your prayers.
He literally grants us according to our desires. DandC 11:8

8 Verily, verily, I say unto you, even as you desire of me so it shall be done unto you; and, if you desire, you shall be the means of doing much good in this generation.

The things that we desire we will get. If you desire to have a stronger relationship with your Father in Heaven then you will get it and He will make sure to help you. He loves you. Never forget it!

Have a great week!! Love ya'll!

-Sister Earl

Faith Jan 20

This week I decided that I needed to have more faith. So what did I do?

I studied it and prayed for it. Before my mission I never really prayed to attain certain attributes. I always thought I should pray for the food and pray to give thanks. I would pray for certain people to get better from illness or to be safe while traveling. Since I have been out here I realized that if I want to just talk to God I totally can. He loves to listen to my rambling and He always gives me something to make me smile. He also can help us to develop certain traits that we want to work on. 

So I prayed to have God teach me more about faith and how to attain it. And goodness He knows how to deliver! 

I don't have time to tell you all the wonderful ways God showed me He heard my prayers but I will share what happened Sunday. 

This week we were working really hard to get some investigators to church. We knew that that is what they needed and so we prayed for them and taught them with faith. We decided that we were going to believe that they were coming and that nothing was going to come in the way. Their names and Geneka and Jose. All week we talked with them and told them about the wonderful things that God has for us. We testified of our Savior and told them how much they were going to love coming to church. 

So Sunday comes around and I am running to my crazy meetings all morning. (We are at the church from 8 to 5 since we have the 2 wards) As I am rushing to my correlation meeting for the YSA branch I look over and see Geneka and Jose coming in! They were like 15 mins early!! :) I was excited to see them even though I already "knew" they were going to come. ;) They went in to listen to the prelude music and I went to my meeting. 

Halfway through sacrament meeting we get a text message from one of our other investigators. 

"Guess what I am doing right now?"

"Hmm, reading your scripture?!" 

"Nope, but close. I am here!"

:D YAY! 

Sister Bartosek was giving a talk that day and we invited her to invite people to come and watch her speak. We asked her to invite Gina because she knows her. So she called her up that morning and guess what? She came! :)

Just look at those miracles! Sometimes we have a bunch of faith and things go the way your sorta expected.. and sometimes He takes your faith and makes it go a lot farther than you expected. 

I testify that faith works. God is real! He really is there and really wants you to pray and ask for help. He will bless you with the things you need. That is the key though.. "the things you need." Not the things you need to be ok.. the things you need to have JOY and become more like Him. 

On another note I feel very blessed this week because my brother (soon to be Elder Earl) went to the temple. I am so excited for him because he is going to bless others, but I also know how important the temple is. He made it to the temple! He has the power from God to be a mighty missionary and a disciple of Christ. When he was going through the temple on Saturday I was at a YSA activity (ice blocking.. hah) and I took a minute to stop and thank God for blessing me with my wonderful family. I told him I was so grateful for my brothers decision and I knew that the mission, but more importantly the blessings of the temple would bless him and our family more that any of us really understand. 

That is what this gospel is about! Progression! We become the best of what we can be by following the commandments and praying with faith.

You can do it just trust God and ask Him to help you. Your prayers are a lot more meaningful than you realize. 

-Sister Earl

602 Eldridge Rd

Sugar Land TX, 77478

write me! (Kendall that means you. I need to know what is going on! I am excited for your mission call!! :)

Jan 15, 2014 I'll be what you want me to be

Sunday Night at 9 36 we got a call from President Ashton that I knew had to be coming soon. I knew why he was calling and I knew what he was going to tell me and I was excited.

"Sister Earl you have been permanently reassigned to this mission! We are excited to have you and hope you are excited as well."

"Yes President I am happy to be here!"

The crazy thing about that last statement is that I really meant it. As I said it outloud I could feel God supplying me with the feeling that I needed. I am excited. I am happy and I know that God loves me all the same. 

Sometimes we catch on soon, sometimes we are a little late and sometimes we just have to wait the for the punch line in the next life. :P But for whatever reason I want to be here. I really love being here and I love that God loves me enough to help me grow. 

The crazy thing is yesterday we received a referral from a member who told us that her friend wants to learn more about the church.. guess who she is? An exchange student from Brazil! :) I am being taken care of. 

That being said this week has been awesome!! Tegan was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. She also bore her testimony on Sunday in Relief Society. I was the sweetest thing I have ever heard. She is the perfect example of how God prepares us to hear the gospel.

Basically it started in high school when she had a really good friend that was a mormon. She said he was always super nice to her and talked about God with her sometimes. Then she said over the next couple years she moved a lot and met 5 other members of the church who answered questions and left an impression on her. Finally her friend Shylee invited her to church and then it just snowballed until she was baptized. It only took her 5 weeks to know for herself that this was true. She is excited and so happy. :)

Anyway, that is all I can think of right now, but it was a great one!!

Love ya'll! 

-Sister Earl