Another Week...

Hello there!!

 

How is my family doing? I hope all is well for you today! Mondays used to be pretty rough in the real world with school and such, but now Mondays are great! I forgot what it is like to dread Mondays, but I hope today is treating you well.

Thank you for your emails and letters. I say this all the time but I really do have the best support and family out there so thank you!! That goes for my friends too :)

 

Well, I completed another transfer yesterday...woo hoo!! It has been a very good, but very long week. For some reason it seems like I have already been in Arkansas for a month but it has been a week and a half. Weird mission time.

 

The reason this week was good is because of all the lessons we taught and the people we get to work with. This may be boring to read to some, but I am a missionary and this is what my week consists of so here ya go...

 

We are still teaching Rex. I think I mentioned him last week? Yeah I did. Okay so we had two more lessons with him. He is just so prepared, it's amazing to see. We set a baptismal date with him for October 27th. Very exciting!! He is coming to church, all the activities, and even both sessions of Stake Conf that we had this past weekend. So all is good with Rex.

 

We started teaching this guy named Jesse. He is another prepared one. After the first lesson, he was just like, "yep it's right." We are like really? no questions? haha but he is ready and prepared too. We are meeting with him again this week and will hopefully set another baptismal date.

 

Our families are still progressing and doing well. They know it is true, it is just the hesitancy of changing a lifestyle they have known for so long, which makes sense. That is a legitimate concern! But, we just keep reading the Book of Mormon with them and try to point out that they are feeling the Holy Ghost, they just aren't aware of how he speaks to them. I know they will get there, it is just taking some time.

 

Random, but I have tried some interesting things this week at dinner. And by interesting I don't mean possum or squirrel. One of the desserts I had was butterbeer like from Harry Potter. It was amazing. And made me want to go to Harry Potter World even more. One of the families lived in Germany for a while and they were celebrating October Fest. So we had a complete German meal. It was great, but I felt like I was going to die after I ate it cause the food was so heavy. Good thing I am not serving over there. Then, I got to try some Korean food called kimchi. Kinda gross, but still fun. Who knew Arkansas was so diverse right?

 

I am glad you got the picture message from Sister Von Bose!! We were just eating dessert and she was like, "Smile!!" Haha I was like ugh okay but then she asked for your number and I thought that was awesome. I kept saying, "My family is going to be your new best friend." She is so sweet and they have such a fun family! I can't believe that her nephew is serving in Spring Creek. What a small world? She told me on Sunday that you had made that connection. So crazy!

 

We had Stake Conference this past weekend and it was amazing!! Elder Shayne Bowen of the Seventy came and spoke. The adult session on Saturday was my favorite. So he talked for about 10 or 15 minutes on Saturday night and then he just opened it up to a question and answer session for an hour. I was thinking, "He obviously knows a lot to just stand there and be able to answer our questions!" He did give some guidelines though so that people wouldn't ask personal questions or questions about Kolob, etc. One of the questions asked was about missionary work and he got really excited. He used to be a mission president in Spain and so he loves it! He asked all of the full time missionaries to stand up. So me and my district and the senior couple stood up. He asks us some questions (I will get to that in a minute) but then has us sit down. He then asks everyone in the stake to raise their hands if they have lived here for 2 years or more (which mostly everyone did). He then had them stand up. He said, "This is the full time missionary force." He then called us the part time missionaries. He was not downgrading missionary work in any way or what we do, but it was a very powerful point. He was teaching a great lesson on member missionary work and how it should just be a way of life.

 

Now to the funny story about this...so as we were standing up, he handed the mic to one of the elders in my district. He asks him what he is going to go home and do after his mission. He says, "Keep being a missionary." Elder Bowen is like, no what are you really going to do...So the elder says ugh go home and get married. Then Elder Bowen said, "More than that, you will go home, find a righteous young woman, get sealed in the temple to prepare for exaltation, etc. etc." Then he said pass the mic to that sister behind you. Yep that's me. I was freaking out. He says, "So, sister what are you going to do when you get home?" I just repeated everything he said word for word haha. The whole thing about sealings and exaltation. The entire stake was just laughing. It was funny but also really embarrassing. Members of the ward kept coming up to me and saying, "We really liked your talk at Stake Conference." After I said that Elder Bowen said, "That's why we need sisters in the field." Sister Knutson just got to stand there and laugh too...good times.

He also talked a lot about the importance of temples and how this stake was a choice stake. These people really are amazing and I am grateful to serve in such a strong unit of the church.

 

Well, that's about it for this week. It was a great week and this week is looking good too. We have a baptism set for this Friday for a part member couple. It will be wonderful!

 

Thank you for everything. I sure love you all!! Have a great week yourselves. Know that I love you!

 

Love, Sister Magness

 

Pictures: I attached one of the bite thingy. Ciara wanted another one to show Brother Schmutz. I also have a couple in front of the Sperry's home. Enjoy!