Hello family!
This day is so weird, for so many reasons:
1. It's Wednesday. That's always weird. I feel like I am breaking rules.
2. We got permission from our mission president to get on our old emails and BYU websites to figure out nursing/school/registration. Now I REALLY feel like I am breaking rules!
3. Thinking about registering for classes in January is causing great anxiety!
4. Right after emailing, Sister S and I are going over to a member's home (who is a nurse) and practicing IVs on each other! haha.
Whew. Anxiety. But we're back now!
In missionary news--which is totally the point of this emailing weekly thing--it was a great week! H's baptism and confirmation was Sunday night and it was an EXTRAORDINARY success! It was perfect. There was a great turnout from the ward, including all the YW, which was the reason for the rescheduling. But it's amazing to see how much the Lord's hand was in the timing of the baptism. If we had done the baptism when it was originally scheduled, we would not have been able to have some very important potential investigators come. Anyway, her entire family was able to come and they loved it. Her mom was even crying and she didn't even know why, she just felt so "happy". H sang her own version of I am a Child of God, which was awesome. Gladys Knight style... oh Cleveland :) it was great though, and it definitely brought the Spirit. She is so happy and I'm excited to see all that she will do for her family.
We also had mission conference yesterday. It was so great! Elder Nash of the Seventy is a remarkable speaker and leader. He taught us so much and I really got a lot of inspiration for Mayfield and for the rest of my mission. I love knowing that we can always improve, always get better, and that all comes through the Atonement. I really learned even more about the importance of the Atonement and how to more fully access the blessings available through it. It was truly an amazing experience yesterday. In the words of Oliver Cowdery, "these were days never to be forgotten."
The only bad thing about the day was a really sore back! I was asked to play the piano for the conference, which included an hour and a half of prelude with everyone just sitting there listening to me and feeling the Spirit, and then an additional hour throughout the day. Sitting on a bench that long is intense! But I'm really glad I got to do that, as well as sing with Sister M. We sang a version of "Jesus, Once of Humble Birth" that was really powerful. It was a beautiful arrangement that really emphasized the words of the hymn.
Anyway, it's time to go eat lunch then do IVs! No worries, I'll be sure to photograph this monumental event :) Speaking of which, I'll attach some photos from H's baptism. Love you all and have a great (half of a) week!
Much love,
Sister Maughan
p.s. the last picture, of me in the font, is actually a funny story. We had to walk back through the font after we turned on the water, because the other door was stuck and wouldn't open! whoops!
Hey heyy!
I hope things are going well at home! Is it cooling off there, too? Because it is like low 70s today and only mid 70s tomorrow...It's windy and breezy today and feels like mid-late September. Weird.
H ended up not getting baptized on Friday, but for no other reason than scheduling concerns. There are very few youth in this ward (like 10...and 2 are our investigators), and of that only 5 are baptized young women. Last Monday night we found out that FOUR of the young women were not going to be available Friday night for the baptism! Probably not a good idea to baptize a 12 year old girl without her member fellowshippers. haha. But that's okay. We just rescheduled for this coming Sunday night, which will work a lot better for many reasons. It gives H more time to feel prepared, and we can make sure that we can get everything done that needs to get done!
It ended up probably being a tender mercy that H's baptism was rescheduled, because my companion continues to be sick :( We only went out for 3 hours on Thursday and 4 on Friday. She even slept 15 hours one night! We're not sure what's wrong, but right after this we are headed to the hospital to get some blood work done. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to be stuck inside as a missionary, especially when you are sick, and Sister S is feeling that. People keep joking that it's a good thing that we've been getting sick while we are both companions since we are the two here in this mission who have medical knowledge, and we just have to laugh because it's probably NOT a good thing! We are very aware of what we should and should not be doing! haha. Sister S is probably getting sick of me telling her that she needs to rest or drink water or go to sleep early or stay in bed. haha. Don't worry though, it goes both ways. Hopefully we can figure out what is going on and both of us can get back to feeling 100% again!
Here's the funniest story for this week: Thursday morning, she felt really awful, so she called our mission president's wife, Sister Sorensen. I went to the bathroom and when I came out, she told me that Sis. Sorensen had told her that she should rest in the morning, so Sis. S argued that we should go out and keep our appointments with the L family, H, and correlation meeting in the afternoon. I challenged that, and thought she should stay in and rest, but she won. So we went out and taught, and then at correlation meeting, she mentioned to one of the ward missionaries that Sister Sorensen had actually told her that she should rest ALL DAY!! haha! The little stinker! I gave her a hard time about that, especially because we were supposed to teach gospel principles yesterday at church, and what was the topic? Honesty :) hahaha.
We had a really powerful investigator fireside last night at Kirtland. It was a music fireside and it was absolutely amazing. There are very few more powerful ways to feel the Spirit than through music, but I am probably totally biased. It was OVERFLOWING, so much so that people were standing in the gathering room outside the theater just trying to listen, and others couldn't even do that, so they just had to walk around sites. Thankfully, we had reserved seats because they had asked me to speak (which, let's be honest, draws away from the spirit of music!) but I was really glad to participate in that. It was a very powerful evening:)
By the way, speaking of music, we are having two session of mission conference next week because we have Elder Nash of the Seventy coming to visit our mission. They've asked me and another sister to sing a duet at the Monday session, so we won't be having pday until Wednesday. Just a heads up! Well, I hope things are going well for everyone! Love you all!! Have a great week :)
Sister Maughan
Hello family!
Well, sickness has hit our companionship this week, which is always a real shame as a missionary, especially when it is both in a companionship! Although there are benefits of us both being sick...it is Heavenly Father's little nudge that we really do both need to rest and take care of our bodies! We had different symptoms, but for both of us it was just one of those illnesses that leaves you totally wiped out, yet still feeling like you can and should do things! Which is more frustrating than I can express. Luckily, we found a good balance and had a great week.
Good news! H had her baptismal interview this past week and did fantastic! So her baptism is all systems go for Friday night! We're really excited and the ward is very supportive and excited too. This will be the first baptism in quite some time, so we're hoping for a good turnout. H is really excited and is inviting all of her friends and family--perfect!
We also had a miracle this week. We've been really looking for a family to teach, and that really has been what our efforts are focused on. This week, I think we found one :) It's a family that had been taught years ago, but they just were not all on board. Then Sister M and I started teaching the dad--C--but again, there just seem to be some discord and disconnect. So we taught for 2 months or so then let that go. But just a few weeks ago, the wife, who was really not on board when the elders were teaching them years ago, was suddenly very excited when we stopped by one night and wanted to meet with them. We met with her and their daughter J a few times before our lesson this week. It is amazing to see the family's excitement! The entire family of 5 was all there and actually interacting and reading the Book of Mormon together! They even said a family prayer, and that was something that they have never done before. C told us that never before has he seen his daughter and his son interact with missionaries, but they were really excited that we were there! They have a desire to participate in Scouts, and the mom is VERY excited about Family History work, and we just get a good feeling about this! In the 5 months that I have been serving in Mayfield, I have never seen any of them so excited, and especially not ALL of them! There are still a lot of things that need to happen, lots of changes, but we're really excited and have a good feeling about this family :)
Hm... I'm not quite sure what else to tell you about this week. It has been a good one! Overall, just loving life and my mission and all that that entails :) It's exciting to get some pictures of Scott at the MTC in Brazil! I'm glad he made it safely. He looks so great as an elder :)
Well, sorry this letter is short. But I love you all lots! Have a fantastic week!
Love,
Sister Maughan
Hello family!
Sister Schwanke and I have been having some real crazy dreams the last few weeks, so it is always entertaining to wake up in the morning and tell the stories. One morning, she told me about a dream she had where she was taking an exam and one of the questions was to draw a picture of what your brother would look like if you weren't born, hahaha. I thought about that for a bit, and I had no idea how I personally would draw that picture. I still have no idea what I would draw, but considering I got to see, talk to, and hug my brother this week, I have a much more fresh image! Oh my goodness! I cannot explain how happy I was when I saw Scott!! Although, maybe I don't need to explain it, considering it was caught on video. It's probably a good thing that I threw down my backpack because I probably could have taken someone out with the intensity that I ran to hug him haha. I don't know why I get to be so spoiled on my mission. I think in this case, Heavenly Father knew it's already hard enough to not be with your entire family for almost 4 years. But it's even harder to not see your your younger brother for over 3 years! I'm so glad that he was able to come just days before he leaves for Brazil. Everyone was telling me later that he is going to be an amazing missionary, which I already knew. There was an incredible power and spirit when all the sisters (and Olivia and Scott) knelt down in the call center to start our day and Scott said our prayer. It was so powerful. It made me proud to be a Maughan :)
Well I must say that was without a doubt the highlight of my week, and one the greatest highlights of my personal life, probably haha. But this week was still really good in addition to that! We had some sickness in our apartment (...Schwanke...) and so we were a little limited in our area time, but we saw amazing success this week! It was exciting. One of the highlights is working out the details of Heaven's baptism. It is scheduled for August 19, next Friday. She was so nervous and had no idea what to expect, but after church yesterday we were able to show her the baptismal font and then do a dry run to show her how she would be baptized next week. She is not so anxious anymore, yay! It's always a bit stressful the week or two before a baptism, but we're praying that everything will run smoothly as we get closer. I'll keep you updated!
Well, other than those things, I feel like there is not a whole lot to tell! So I'll send some pictures and let them do some talking! :) I hope that you have a great week, especially as Scott is entering the MTC. Scott, have a safe flight to Brazil, give away some pass along cards on the way, and keep being amazing. You will be a fantastic missionary, and I am so excited to hear all of the amazing things that you are going to do down there :)
Love you all so much!
Sister Maughan
Well, I am excited to say that I am experiencing a new "first" as a missionary...The first time I am spending more than three transfers in one area! Sister Schwanke and I were excited to learn that we will be staying together for another transfer! That will be at least six months in Mayfield for me. Actually, this is a funny transfer, because only one sister in all of Kirtland is getting transferred, and that is only because her companion is training. It's weird that everything is going to stay exactly the same for 12 weeks in a row. That's also untread waters! I'm so glad though, my heart was hurting just thinking about leaving Mayfield. I love it so much. There are so many good things happening here and I am excited that I get to stay and keep throwing everything I have into this area. I know this area is just going to keep building and building! I can feel it in the air :)
Thanks for sending me those pictures of the tour from Naperville! I loved the pictures, and I loved the tour! It was so much fun to take them, and it was especially fun as they talked about Grandma and Grandpa, and even Mom and Scott! How fun that you got to be in Chicago right before the ward came to take a tour. It was a fantastic tour. I'm glad that they enjoyed it as much as we did. There were some really powerful moments, and lots of fun times too. For instance, you know how nowadays people are always telling "your momma" jokes? Well, we were in the School of the Prophets, and I had asked them what things they learned in school and it was dead silent except for one boy who said history. So I made some joke about how I wished I had gone to their school, and suddenly, real quiet in the back, one of the YM said "Your mom went our high school". hahahaha. Maybe it was one of those "had to be there" moments, but I hope that you can appreciate the humor that we had. I'm really glad you forwarded that email to me from Bro. Boswell. It's especially interesting to hear about Moroni 10:32 becoming their theme for their trip. I have never used that scripture before in any part of any tour, but it's amazing how the Lord inspires us to do certain things. When we were in the School of the Prophets, I felt very strongly that I needed to use that verse. We don't often get to hear the other side of the story, so I'm really glad that those boys appreciated that scripture. I hope that they do always remember their experience here in Kirtland. With the spirit so strong here, it really can be a huge source of strength for them.
As for the non-member special guest on the tour, that wasn't Georgie or Heaven...it was actually Corrina! She has a very interesting story, but it has been one of the best experiences on my mission. Back at the beginning of June, the elders who are serving in Parma came to Kirtland with a family that was getting baptized at the end of July. Corrina was the daughter of the family. Sister Mayer and I got to take them out. Throughout the tour, Corrina gave the impression that she was just a stubborn, somewhat rebellious teenager: they way she dressed (or didn't dress...), her attitude, etc. She kept saying that she didn't even believe in God and she wasn't going to get baptized with her family. We had a fantastic tour, and it seemed the whole time that we needed to focus on her. At the end of the tour, she gave me a comment card that said "Sister Maughan, thank you for answering all of my questions. Now I know that God is there, and He loves me and I'm His daughter". WOW. Now I know it wasn't me at all, and it was completely the spirit but I was so glad I got to witness that. THEN she came back with her family again the week before their baptism, and they brought some more family members who are not members. This time, Sister Schwanke and I got to take their family on tour. She just looked so different! Her countenance had COMPLETELY changed, she was dressed so different, and she was happy! We again had one of the most powerful tours I've been on, especially in the school of the prophets. I wish I could describe how much Corrina and her whole family got out of it, we could all just feel it. Unfortunately, Corrina opted not to get baptized. BUT, she loves Kirtland, and it is here that she has been gaining her testimony, so the elders asked President Sorensen if she could get permission to shadow us as a missionary for a day. She came with us last Saturday for several hours and helped on two tours. She bore testimony, acted on the spirit, and gave all kinds of knowledge about Kirtland! It was an incredible experience. At the end of the day, she said that she was reconsidering, and now she is planning on being baptized. I don't know when-- I only wrote her a letter yesterday--but it has been such a powerful experience to see Corrina change so much. I love that girl to pieces!
Anyway, sorry I am rambling so much today. But I'm just sooooo happy! Life is good :)
Love you all! Happy August!
Sister Maughan
