Six Months have Flown By!

Hey everyone!

So this week has been really good.  It started out with me freaking out about transfers.  I wasn't sure if I was going to stay here in Grove Park or not, but I am, and I'm so happy about it!

After we found out about transfers we went up to the Smokie Mountains, and went up to Cade's Cove with the Chillhowee sisters and one of the members in their ward, Sister Cupp.  It was so much fun.  On our way back we got boiled peanuts.  Add that to the list of southern food.  I approve of them.  They're different, but good.

On Tuesday we had a lesson with our investigator, Harley, and it was just so cool because he said that he wanted to get the priesthood so that he could help bring others to Christ with it. It was so cool!  Nobody ever says that!

Later on that night we went over to Twiters to celebrate Trunky Twister Taylor Swift Tuesday!  It's the tradition of this area to go there the last Tuesday of the transfer to say goodbye to everyone
leaving.  RIP Elder Hoyt, Cook and Michaelis.

On Wednesday we went and had lunch with Amber, who is a cute recent convert!  I love hanging out with her.  We got Asian food which is a little hard to find good Asian food in the south, but that's okay. It just makes it even better when we do get it!  Later that night we went over to our lovely Son Light Baptist Church and helped them with AWANA.  It's a thing they do very Wednesday night for the kids. We got to help them with their games.  At one point we did tug o' war, and they got me and Sister Murri to go against each other.  They made their bets as to who would win, and wait for it...... Yes that's right, folks! I won!.... That is until all the kids ganged up against me and helped Sister Murri out.

Saturday was a pretty fun day!  We had stake conference, and it was really good.  Sister Griffin spoke about Satans D's, which are doubt, distraction, discouragement, disobedience, and depression.  I really thought it was a great list of ways he can get to us. At the end of it, it was just really fun to see all of the missionaries in our stake. It always brightens my day to see other missionaries! :)

The next day we had the rest of stake conference.  We were so lucky, and our ward choir got asked to sing in it!  I always love singing with the choir, but it wouldn't be possible without our awesome choir director, Sister Turvaville!  I just love her!

I hope y'ns have a great week! Keep keepin' on!

Sincerely,
Sister Shelton

The excitement that happens when you find out you're gonna be with Sister Murri one more transfer!

 

The excitement of Cade's Cove! Dis one's pretty!



Spring is in the air! Guys these tulip trees are all over the south! It's becoming so beautiful!

Here's us celebrating our six month mark!



Me burning some tights for our six months!

Music is the Thing that Brings Souls Together

Hey everyone!



So this week has been pretty good.  We have just been working with a lot of our investigators, which I guess is a good thing seeing as I'm a missionary.

We started off by going over to an old folks' home and singing hymns to them for an hour!  It was so fun.  They're all Baptists (or other Protestant religions), but it was really fun singing them songs from our hymn book.  And we'd ask them if they wanted us to sing any of their songs, and luckily they only said one song that we didn't know, but it was just so fun!  I love that music really does bring people together.  Instead of people pushing us away because we're crazy Mormons, we were embraced in hugs by almost all of the old ladies there!

Later on we saw our investigator Jen who is the coolest lady ever!  She's always so fun to teach.  She really seems to want to come to church and learn more.  This time that we came to see her we got to meet her husband!  He's a really cool guy!  We had a really entertaining conversation with him.  He doesn't seem to like the church much, but hey, who out here does?  So, it was fun getting to meet him.  It's so funny, too!  She's gotten a call from him a couple of times in the middle of our lessons with her, and she'll stop for a minute to take the call, and at some point in the call you'll hear her say, "I'm just here visiting with my Mormon girls......  My Mormon missionaries." Haha!  It's great!

Later on we got to go see our new investigator, Harley!  He is so cool!  He got in a really bad car accident about a month ago, so he's just stuck in bed with pins in his leg.  It's crazy, every time we go over to his house it's packed full of people, so we are always teaching with people moving things around and people constantly walking in and out of Harley's room. And then we'll have to pause for a few minutes while someone comes in to help him change his bandage, but even with all of the chaos, the spirit is still so strong.  Harley is a spiritual giant, and he's not going to let anyone get in the way of his following God.  We were even able to soft commit him to baptism! We can't get a solid date with him for a long time because he won't be able to be baptized with his leg so messed up, but he's willing, and the best part is that not only is he willing, but you can tell that he just gets it!  He understands the priesthood and the great apostasy, which nobody in the south ever seems to get!  But get this, at the end of the lesson, Harley's friend, Cameron, came in and told us that the next time we come over, he really wants to be there for the lesson!  Oh yeah, and then we jammed out to their improv guitar music, but that's just life as a missionary. NBD....

I think the best part about teaching both Jen and Harley is that you can tell that they're interested, and they have sincere questions. That's the best thing!  I challenge all of y'ns to do that in your own life, whether it's a spiritual question, or a calculus question. You're not going to learn and progress if you don't find those answers.  Keep going strong and don't get discouraged!

Sincerely,
Sister Shelton

We made a quilt together. 

These spoons are "cooler" than your spoons! They turn blue in the cold!



Our district! Minus Elder Hiener and Elder Michles because they were at a meeting, and were too cool for the rest of us...

The lighting in this picture is terrible, but I just had to send it anyway because this is the blanket blanket! It says blanket in binary!

 

Do you have the faith necessary for one of these bad boys?

Me and my mission buds! We also decided we'd get some sparkling cider since Sister Murri just turned 21.

Those times you realize you've always secretly been Madonna. Sister Murri may or may not be getting me into make-up.

Party all day er' day!

Hey er'body!



So, this week was full of all sorts of events!  So, we didn't do very much "typical" missionary work.  But even on top of the not so normal week we had, we still got another investigator because we're awesome. But really it's the spirit that's awesome. His name is Harley, and he's pretty much a party.

On Saturday in the morning we went over to a member's house to help set up for a baby shower for a lady in our ward who is having a baby girl soon!  Then we got to just hang out there with all of the ladies in our ward.  Also, I'm not saying our present was the best present, but it was the best present.  We got a little onesie, and we made a little missionary name tag for the little girl coming into the world, so she can pretend to be a missionary her whole life.  Or you know, instead of just pretending, she can just go and be one and share the gospel with all of her friends even without the name tag.

Then that night we went over to the church for a spaghetti dinner/auction that the young women were doing to raise money for their girls' camp this year.  It was crazy!  Some people spent $40 on a plate of cookies, but that's the kind of thing we do for a good cause.  The sisters from the Pleasant Ridge ward ended up getting some tres leches (I donated a whole 2 dollars to it!) that we took back to our apartment and scarfed down cause it was really really good!

After they came and partied with us for a little bit, we went on a team-up with Sister Long to go see Beverly!  It's just so much fun seeing Beverly, and everyone she's met from the ward is in love  with her, but hey, she's just adorable like that.  Oh, and if she was reading this email right now, she'd definitely say, "I'm just me!" And yeah, she is just her, but just her is adorable.  I'll have to get a picture of her for ya'll.

The best part of this week was that time when Sister Murri turned 21! Now she can drink and things! ;) I definitely did my best to advertise her birthday to everyone in the ward.  I think I did a good job, too. She got two birthday presents from members of the ward, on top of many people in the halls saying happy birthday to her randomly.  We even got the whole Relief Society to sing to her.  Oh yeah, and then we got 3 dinners, but hey, that's just life as a missionary, NBD. It was definitely a fun week.  I hope y'ns had a good one as well!  Remember that God loves you and wants to hear from you! Oh, and so do I, but pray to Him before you write me!

Sincerely,
Sister Shelton

Life is too Short to not have Fun

Hey everyone!

So, this week has been awesome!  On Friday we had exchanges!  I always love going on exchanges so that I can meet new people and learn from them, too!  I left Sister Murri in Grove Park with Sister McNeil and went over to Poplar Creek with Sister Kivett.  She's super cute!  We had quite the adventure.  We saw this crazy lady, but it was okay because she was a crazy lady who loved God.  We talked to her for a good hour or so, and it was mostly just filled with her saying, "I think it was by the grace of our wonderfully, spectacularly, majestically, perfectly perfect God that we met this day, girls, and we should praise our Lord, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, for this beautifully perfect day. And it is by our God, our beautiful God, our perfectly beautiful God that we had this chance to meet, all in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Hallelujah. Amen."

The next day we exchanged back at zone conference.  And we were spiritually uplifted and we became better people, and we celebrated birthdays, and it was really great!  I love my zone so much!  It's a big old party.

Later on that night we had our ward talent show, and if you think Sister Murri and I didn't prepare anything, you're so wrong. We def totes did, and it was awesome!

I hope y'ns have an awesome week.  And remember that God doesn't want you to go through this life unhappy!  Find the joy in the journey!

Sincerely,
Sister Shelton

 Ah yeah! Super cool! In front of the October Sky display because you guessed it! October Sky was totally filmed right here in Oak Ridge!

Sister Kivett and I found some Walnuts on the ground next to a walnut tree, so we had a walnut party and broke them open with a big brick, but they were old and rotten so we couldn't eat them...
 

Trust in the Lord

Hey y'ns!

Sorry for not writing yesterday.  We had a zone conference yesterday.... Or we were supposed to have one (it got postponed until Saturday because some areas in our zone were stuck in the snow.) So, P-day got moved to today.  

So this week has been awesome!  We got four new investigators.  It was the best!  

So, one of those investigators, Jen, we sat down and had the first lesson with, and usually there is some sort of objection to what we have to say, but she just thought all of it made so much sense, which it does, obviously, because it's the truth!  And she's excited to have us back.  Those lessons are always the best!  When Sister Murri and I got in the car after the lesson, we just freaked out because the lesson was so good!  

The very next day we went over to see Karen and Marie.  They're sisters, and they're the people who we "spiritually harvested" into a few weeks back, and we had the first lesson with them, too! Then at the very end of the lesson, James, Marie's ex husband, walked in and said how his daughter had just been baptized into the church three months ago, and then he went into his room and came out with her baptismal program!  It was so cool!  Then, yesterday we came back and saw them, and we read from 3 Nephi 11 with them about Jesus coming to the Americas.  As we were reading with them, we asked them if they'd all follow Christ's example and be baptized by someone holding the priesthood of God, and one by one, they all said that they would!  It was amazing!  There is no other work as satisfying as missionary work.  So there you go! They're set for March 19th!  

It was really just amazing though.  I remember at the end of the first lesson with Marie and Karen, we asked Marie how she felt, and her response was so simple, but straight from the heart.  She said, "Better." And it's true.  Things will be better for her now.  Things will be better for anyone who takes any step to come closer to Christ.  It may seem hard, or scary, but we just need to "Trust in the Lord with all [our] heart and lean not unto [our] own understanding.  In all [our] ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct [our] paths." (Psalms 3:5-6)  God knows what's best for us. Whether or not we want to admit it, we know exactly what it is we should be doing in our life; we just have to take that leap of faith and do it. Just like in the story of Nephi. Go and do the thing which the Lord has commanded, for he gives us no commandment save he prepares a way to accomplish it. So, go and do whatever it is you need to do right now because you have no excuses, and I promise you, it will make your life better.

Sincerely,

Sister Shelton

"You cannot have the art without the artist, you cannot have the artist without the art."



Sewing quilt squares at Quilts of Valor! Best Wednesday service project ever!

Scriptures, Prayer, and Them Baptists!

Hey everyone!

This week has been pretty great!  A lot of seed planting which is just as important as harvesting the fruit.  Can't get fruit if you don't plant first, right?  We haven't been able to get back with a lot of the people we tried earlier, but we should be getting into a few lessons this coming week.

One really cool experience I had this week was we went over to see a less active member, and it didn't seem like she was understanding why she needs to read the Book of Mormon.  Well, earlier that day I prayed before my studies that whatever I studied that day I'd be able to apply later on in a lesson that day.  So, suddenly without any planning, I pulled out my scriptures and turned to Lehi's dream that I'd just read earlier that day.  I explained to her that the iron rod, or the Book of Mormon, would lead her to the Tree of Life, or God's pure love. I was kind of scared as I was explaining this to her that she wouldn't understand what I was saying because I wasn't sure how familiar she was with Lehi's Dream, and since I wasn't sure about that I got scared and kinda became oblivious to her reaction. After the lesson I asked Sister Murri if she thought she understood what I'd said, and she said that something definitely clicked at that moment.

But wait, there's more.  I've been studying in the New Testament for the past couple of weeks, since I just finished the Book of Mormon, and I don't know what it was, but I feel like my studies have been lacking a little ever since I finished the Book of Mormon, but that morning I decided that after I read a chapter in Mark, I'd go and read in my likening Book of Mormon (that I just mark up likening it to myself now as a missionary). And as I read it, there was such an amazing spirit!  It was incredible, and just like I'd read in Lehi's Dream, the scriptures, (specifically the Book of Mormon) leads us all to God's pure love. Well, as we were in that lesson, this less active lady said that there was so much tension in her house, but that whenever we came she felt so much peace.  I could have simply testified to her that as she reads the Book of Mormon, she will feel that same spirit, but because of the experience I had earlier that day in my studies, I was able to testify to her of that with so much passion and truth, and she felt something!  It was amazing, and it was all because of that one simple prayer.

Okay. Take in the spirit from that story for a little bit, because I'm about to kill it with a really funny story from the week....  Did you take it all in?  Good.  Here we go.

So, Sister Murri and I have been trying to find more service opportunities lately, and a good place to find those is with other churches, so we called a few of them to see if we could come help
them out, and one of them (The Sunlight Baptist Church) said we could help them, but we'd have to meet with the pastor to "see if we are all on the same page about how we worship Jesus."  Hehehe.... But we were having a hard time setting up a time to talk with him, and we suddenly lost his number, so we decided that we'd just stop by and see if he might be there.  We walked into the building, and we didn't realize it until we were in there, but they were just starting their service, and then the pastor saw us and welcomed us in, so we decided to stay for some of the service, but we'd have to leave a little early because we had a dinner appointment.  They were singing their fantastic Baptist music, and everything was awesome, and then the pastor got up and gave us a shout out!  Then, we realized we'd have to stay the whole time, so we had to text our dinner appointment and tell them we'd be late, but it was so fun going to a different church's service.  It was my first time ever, and everyone was really welcoming to us, which was great. I loved it. It's not quite the same as our church, though. But Sister Murri and I are planning on finding other churches to go to, just for fun!  It's gonna be exciting!

I hope ya'll had an awesome week. Always remember I love you, and Jesus does, too!  Don't ever forget the power of prayer and The Book of Mormon.  Those two together will get you far!

Sincerely,
Sister Shelton

Area 5

Oh my goodness, guys!  This week has been crazy awesome.  It all started on Tuesday when we had our transfer call.  I found out that Sister Johnson would be leaving me to fend for myself, and my new companion would be Sister Murri!  Oh, my goodness, I freaked out when I found that out.  I came in with Sister Murri, and I kind of knew her before (we met on Facebook).



So yeah, transfers happened and everything amazing happened!  The first night after she came here we went to see Beverly.  The awesome thing that happened right off the bat is that Beverly finally let us bring a member from the ward! Yay!  We had an amazing lesson, and she connected with her right off the bat.



Guys, I feel like my love for Beverly just doubled.  I seriously love just watching her grow and come closer to Christ!  It's almost like she's my baby girl.  That sounds weird, but it's true! I don't care
that she is 3 times my age, she's just wonderful.  And she said the most heart-warming thing.  Sister Murri asked how she started meeting with the missionaries, and she said that we just came to the door, and there was something about us that she just loved, so she just snatched us right up!  But the way she said it made me know that it had to be me and Sister Johnson.  We are her missionaries.  For the first time since being here in Grove Park, I really had a moment of, "Yes. This is why I'm here."  Beverly is going to be an eternal friend.



Then, the next day we went up to an area that I've only been able to go up to once because we never have enough miles.  Here were a couple of potential investigators up in this little neighborhood, so we knocked on their doors and then tracked a few doors around them.  It was crazy, guys!  Almost every single door that we knocked on said that we could come back! How often does that ever happen!?



We continued on our way and went up to the place that had the goats (I think I wrote about that...) and we went up to their house and asked for the lady who requested the Book of Mormon.  Turns out she didn't live there.... But hey! We got pictures with their goat!



So we continued on our way, and we tried to find this lady, Rhonda, who is a less active member.  We found her house and drove up this HUGE hill. We got up there and knocked on her door, and she so kindly let us in.  We shared a message with her like we always do, and as we were leaving, she told us about how she was pretty lost with what to do with life right now, and she prayed to have some sort of guidance, and then we knocked on her door.  She said that normally when she answers the door, she has her shotgun ready to go, because there had been people poaching on her property, but when we knocked, she felt so much peace! It was such an amazing experience.  She is such a cool lady!  I can't wait to go back and see her.



This week has been amazing, and I can't wait to see what the rest of this transfer will bring.  It's sure gonna be a good one!



Sincerely,
Sister Shelton

 The wonderfully nice goat that scared Sister Johnson away. ;)

 I know you all wish this was your quad.

Look who I finally found after a good 8 or 9 years!

Elder Colllins.