Hello family!
Happy Halloween! Although I must admit I keep forgetting that it is Halloween. To me, it just seems like another day, I am not festive at all. In fact, I'm wearing a red skirt and a white shirt with a black cardigan, so that doesn't make anyone think of Halloween, haha. It's never been my favorite holiday anyway.
Our p-day has been switched back to Monday! I have to admit, I am going to miss having Wednesday p-days, those were so nice in the middle of the week, but I have no doubt my companion is grateful that there was only 5 days before her first pday, as opposed to 8, haha. My greenie's name is Sister D and she is from West Jordan, Utah. She's sweet, and I really like her. It's a big adjustment coming into the mission field, and it's especially big when you know that you have only 6 weeks before you have to take over the area, but I'm trying to help her adjust as easily as possible. It just takes some time, but it will just get easier and easier. That's the plan anyway.
We did lots of tracting this past week, and trying to introduce Sister D to members of the ward. We just jump right into missionary work in Mayfield! haha. And to make things even more fun, we both gave 15 minute talks in church yesterday and she had to give a 15 minute workshop this morning in District Meeting! haha. Oh boy. But this is a fantastic mission--truly the best ;) -- and so from what I can tell, she is loving it.
Hm... I'm trying really hard to remember what else happened this week that I can report on...Oh! Before I forget, my schedule at Kirtland changed: Now we are there Tuesday mornings, and all day Thursday and Saturday. So nothing too different, just a switch from Monday to Thursday. Also, thanks for the treats from Fo' Castle Farms!! It was so nice to get some nice treats from home! They were yummy! From what the Messegee's told me last night at dinner, it sounds like they had a WONDERFUL time with the family. Not that I am surprise at all. I have to admit I was a bit jealous that I could not be there with my family and my second family! It's okay though. That reunion will happen again sometime soon. It was crazy to see pictures that they took in the house. This was my thought process: "oh look at cute little Elaine!!....playing with the doll I got in Ghana.......in my bedroom....on my bed....?" Weirddddd. I'm glad that you all had a wonderful time too!
Well, I can't really think of much else to tell you, and I'm sorry to say that I forgot my camera today, so no pictures this week. Which may not be a bad thing considering my new hair cut. NEVER get a hair cut from someone who does not speak English, thinks that they are supposed to give you a facial, cuts off 4-6 inches when you wanted 2, and gives you an IDENTICAL haircut to their own crazy style. And absolutely don't let that happen 6 weeks before you go home from your mission. Not that I am speaking from experience.... haha. (I must admit, I don't know whether to laugh hysterically or cry hahaha)
Love you all!
Buckets of Love,
Sister Maughan
Monday, October 31, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
It Should Be An Extensive Surgery
Well, here we go!....
....Tomorrow is transfers! Unbelievable. I can't believe it's my last one. I'm excited though. It's going to be quite the change. I feel like Sister Schwanke and I have been companions for my entire mission! And I feel like we are conjoined twins that will have to go under extensive, painful surgery to separate us haha. But really, we have practically the same mind and thoughts at this point! It's very bizarre. But I guess that is what happens when you are with someone for 24 hours a day without spending even a second apart. But it's exciting to have a new missionary. Mom, you asked if she's been in the area for a bit, but whoever my companion is, she is coming straight from the MTC!! In fact, as we speak she is flying somewhere between here and Cleveland and will arrive this afternoon. Whoever she is, both my options are from Utah, so it looks like I'll be finishing with a Utah companion! Not that that means anything, haha. It's just kind of interesting, since everyone always guesses we are from Utah, and the answer is never 'yes'.
Well, I'm trying to see what exciting things to tell you...Schwanke and I both got some sort of 24 hour bug last week, but unfortunately that went from Thursday morning til Friday afternoon, which is more than 24 hours I realize (thank you very much, my math skills haven't deteriorated THAT much!) but still short lived, although it cut a chunk out of our proselyting time! Sigh. But on Saturday we got to make up for it a little bit. We went on exchanges, but it was funky exchanges. President asked Sister Schwanke and I to BOTH go into another area and work with one of the sisters who serves there. Weird, right? A triple up in another random area! It was really fun though, and brought me back to my time with Sister Everson and Wattles in South Euclid! :) We did lots of tracting, taught some less actives they had never met, and found some new investigators. It was fun to be serving in another area, especially since I'm in my last area. But it still made me so grateful that I am staying in Mayfield :)
It's hard to believe that the Messegees will be with you all this week! Everyone laughs when I say that my Ward Mission Leader and his family are staying in my home with my family! Heck, sweet little baby Elaine will probably even be playing with my old toys in my room!! haha. I'm gonna say that has hardly happened in any mission ever, haha. One of the many joys of serving close to home!
Well, time for more class registration. I just signed up for beginners badminton! hahaha. SWEET! Then I can take everyone down! ;) Sorry this is so short, but not much to report on. I love you all, hope you have a wonderful week!
Much love,
Sister Maughan
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Becoming a 'Mommy'
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| The wonderful Kirtland Sisters |
I didn't really have a fear of becoming trunky as I get ready to begin my last transfer here in Ohio, but now I REALLY have no option but to not get trunky! President Sorensen called Saturday afternoon to let me know that I will be training a new missionary for my last transfer. Whoa! Training at the very end of my mission. Should be interesting/cool/stressful/
There are great things happening in Mayfield, and we have seen lots and lots of miracles this week! We found a couple new investigators, who are all searching for truth! It's incredible. They both came to church on Sunday and both just loved church! The greatest thing is that they were both found from different members. That is a miracle in and of itself! To see the members of the church doing missionary work is fantastic. Truly, this is the Lord's way of doing missionary work! Yes, we can--and do--go door to door, but the members are really the ones who share the gospel. But we did a neat experience tracting this week.........
We were supposed to have dinner with our neighbors, but at the last minute she got called into work so we got to do our backup...tracting! woot woot. So we were tracting one street just as it was getting dark and no one was even close to interested in talking to us. Some were rude, some not, but either way we weren't finding much success. Then we knocked on one man's door. He was nice and talked to us for a while, and you could tell he was interested, but when we asked if we could come back sometime and bring him a Book of Mormon, he hesitated then said no.
Just as we were getting ready to leave, Sister Schwanke asked if we could sing him a song! So we sang him "I am a Child of God". Singing while proselyting has been something President has been pushing for a month or two, and we really are finding success with it. By the time we finished the song, Bill was bawling. Then he opened up to us. He said that his mom had died 2 months ago and the next day was supposed to be her 90th birthday. All day he had been feeling lonely and sad, and when we sang "...has given me and earthly home with parents kind and dear" it really touched him. We talked with him about God's plan for the family, and about life after this and his eyes lit up. By the time we finished, he wasn't letting us leave! He wanted us to keep telling him more! He accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon right there and said we could come back. That really showed me how amazingly aware the Lord is. We never would have gone to his house right at the time that he needed us if our neighbors had taken us to dinner. But Heavenly Father knows His children, and helped us to be sure we were at the right place at the right time :)
Well, I'm going to attach some pictures for ya before I go. But I love you all lots and lots! Surprised?! haha. Have a fantastic week, and Scott/Elder Maughan, I would love to send you a snowball for Christmas :)
Much love,
Sister Maughan
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Schbaptize Maughanthly!
Hello Hello!
This has been a great week! Although, time is flying. Transfer decisions are next week! I can't believe how fast time is going. I think it's a discussion that Sister Schwanke and I have daily, and it never ceases to amaze. I know today is October 12, but tomorrow it will shock me that it is October 13. haha. We're just putting our heads down to work. And combining our names to set a goal for ourselves haha.
So we have had a lot of pretty amazing realizations this week, mostly about the need to be more creative in our missionary work and break out of traditions. When you are transferred into a new area, the trend seems to be that the remaining missionary just teaches the transferred missionary the things that have been going on in an area and the ways things are done, and that continues from missionary to missionary. Foolish traditions, right? Well, if we get caught in that rut, we're doing the same things over and over again! So this week, we finally realized that that has been going on here in Mayfield for quite some time. But we found a scripture this week that is now our motto, basically:
"For there are many promises which are extended to the Mayfield Sisters; for it is because of the traditions of their mothers that caused them to remain in their state of ignorance; therefore the Lord will be merciful unto them and prolong their companionship in the land." (Alma 9:16...with some alterations ;)
We know that there is SO much potential in this area, and we can feel it. So many promises...So we're gonna take it and run! We wrote out many of the traditions of our "mothers" and we are going to abolish them. It's things like stopping the weekly service that missionaries have done for years that really isn't bringing forth much fruit... now we have a new service opportunity that Sister Schwanke and I are REALLY excited about.... EMERGENCY ROOM! It makes sense we'd be excited to be back in the hospitals again :) I'm REALLY excited! We start tomorrow! The main volunteer position is comfort care for the patients and their families, but the coordinator said that with our nursing background, she's quite sure we'll get to do some nursing things. We're really excited, for the nursing, yes, but also because it is a GREAT opportunity! We get to help out in the community and have great exposure and especially get to help people when they are really in need. Christ helped the sick and the needy, so shouldn't His servants?!
Also, little update on our neighbor! We've had some good conversation with her back and forward through texting, and we got to talk with her yesterday. We're going to have dinner together later this week; she said that she has a lot of questions for us. That's what a missionary likes to hear! She is so nice and we are all really looking forward to dinner.
Well family, I love you all. I'm so happy, and I'm so happy that you are all doing so well. Talk to you in another week! which will feel like a day haha.
Sister Maughan
This has been a great week! Although, time is flying. Transfer decisions are next week! I can't believe how fast time is going. I think it's a discussion that Sister Schwanke and I have daily, and it never ceases to amaze. I know today is October 12, but tomorrow it will shock me that it is October 13. haha. We're just putting our heads down to work. And combining our names to set a goal for ourselves haha.
So we have had a lot of pretty amazing realizations this week, mostly about the need to be more creative in our missionary work and break out of traditions. When you are transferred into a new area, the trend seems to be that the remaining missionary just teaches the transferred missionary the things that have been going on in an area and the ways things are done, and that continues from missionary to missionary. Foolish traditions, right? Well, if we get caught in that rut, we're doing the same things over and over again! So this week, we finally realized that that has been going on here in Mayfield for quite some time. But we found a scripture this week that is now our motto, basically:
"For there are many promises which are extended to the Mayfield Sisters; for it is because of the traditions of their mothers that caused them to remain in their state of ignorance; therefore the Lord will be merciful unto them and prolong their companionship in the land." (Alma 9:16...with some alterations ;)
We know that there is SO much potential in this area, and we can feel it. So many promises...So we're gonna take it and run! We wrote out many of the traditions of our "mothers" and we are going to abolish them. It's things like stopping the weekly service that missionaries have done for years that really isn't bringing forth much fruit... now we have a new service opportunity that Sister Schwanke and I are REALLY excited about.... EMERGENCY ROOM! It makes sense we'd be excited to be back in the hospitals again :) I'm REALLY excited! We start tomorrow! The main volunteer position is comfort care for the patients and their families, but the coordinator said that with our nursing background, she's quite sure we'll get to do some nursing things. We're really excited, for the nursing, yes, but also because it is a GREAT opportunity! We get to help out in the community and have great exposure and especially get to help people when they are really in need. Christ helped the sick and the needy, so shouldn't His servants?!
Also, little update on our neighbor! We've had some good conversation with her back and forward through texting, and we got to talk with her yesterday. We're going to have dinner together later this week; she said that she has a lot of questions for us. That's what a missionary likes to hear! She is so nice and we are all really looking forward to dinner.
Well family, I love you all. I'm so happy, and I'm so happy that you are all doing so well. Talk to you in another week! which will feel like a day haha.
Sister Maughan
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
One of those stories that you think will never happen to you...
Hello Family!!
This has been such a great week, although it was really long week though too! Sister Schwanke and I both agree that a pday has NEVER looked so appealing before. It's probably a result of 10 days since our last pday, plus our old tiring bodies needing rest, plus all the hard work this week! whew! But we were able to see lots of good things this week. We found some new investigators, we were finally able to meet with other investigators who had fallen off the face of the earth for a time, we had some awesome experiences chatting, and we were able to find some less active members that we haven't been able to get in contact with! Yesterday, we even had an awesome experience. Sister Schwanke and I were invited to the mission office to attend mission council. This is an all day meeting with President Sorensen, the assistants, and all the zone leaders...and us. haha. There are all kinds of workshops and lessons and role-plays that we do, and then there is a council in the afternoon where we discuss the needs of the mission and work together to figure out how to improve it. It was a really neat experience to see how the leadership of the mission works. It became very clear to me that we are not the ones in charge of this mission. The Lord really inspired all of us so that we were able to receive revelation that was very specific to the needs of the Ohio Cleveland Mission. It was incredible, really. I was really glad that I was able to go to that meeting and see how the Spirit works.
So we had a real miracle this week. Last Sunday night, we woke up around 11:30 pm to a tapping noise. After quite some time, we figured out that the tapping noise was actually someone at our door! I went to the door and it was our neighbor across the hall. She's pretty young, and a nurse, and I think she used to think we were weird--not totally uncommon haha--until we talked to her one time by our cars and made the nursing connection and told her what we were doing in Cleveland. Anyway, she had been knocking on our door for a LONG time, letting us know that our car light was on. This was extra weird because the light that was on, was the light in the back seat, that we never turn on for any reason. But we were really appreciative, especially because we had 'zoned out' the next day and had to leave extra early that morning. We thanked her profusely, then went back to bed. The next day we wrote her a thank you note, slipped in a mormon.org card for her to check out the website, and slipped it under her door, and that was that.
Fast forward to this past Sunday night. We were getting ready for bed, when we saw that there was a card addressed to us under the door. We opened it, and it was a thank you card from our neighbor! Then we opened it and found a miracle inside -- a wonderful note that shared her faith in God and His hand in her life, and how much she enjoyed the stories and experiences on mormon.org.
It really is such a miracle. Preach My Gospel says that we need to develop faith to find those who are prepared, and that they will find us. This was a huge testimony builder for me. If we live worthy of the Spirit, the Lord will inspire us and well trust us with His children. Now we have this goal to remain as humble as possible and receptive to promptings so that we go forward the way that the Lord wants us to. I have no idea what the future holds for our neighbor, but I know whose Hand was involved in two nursing students/missionaries living right across the hall from a nurse who is searching for truth in her life...
All I really have to say is that missions are the best! I'm so glad that I get to serve and see miracles and tender mercies on a daily basis. The lessons that I have been learning and will continue to learn are more valuable to me than anything I could ever imagine. I love you all so much! Have a great week!
Much love,
Sister Maughan
This has been such a great week, although it was really long week though too! Sister Schwanke and I both agree that a pday has NEVER looked so appealing before. It's probably a result of 10 days since our last pday, plus our old tiring bodies needing rest, plus all the hard work this week! whew! But we were able to see lots of good things this week. We found some new investigators, we were finally able to meet with other investigators who had fallen off the face of the earth for a time, we had some awesome experiences chatting, and we were able to find some less active members that we haven't been able to get in contact with! Yesterday, we even had an awesome experience. Sister Schwanke and I were invited to the mission office to attend mission council. This is an all day meeting with President Sorensen, the assistants, and all the zone leaders...and us. haha. There are all kinds of workshops and lessons and role-plays that we do, and then there is a council in the afternoon where we discuss the needs of the mission and work together to figure out how to improve it. It was a really neat experience to see how the leadership of the mission works. It became very clear to me that we are not the ones in charge of this mission. The Lord really inspired all of us so that we were able to receive revelation that was very specific to the needs of the Ohio Cleveland Mission. It was incredible, really. I was really glad that I was able to go to that meeting and see how the Spirit works.
So we had a real miracle this week. Last Sunday night, we woke up around 11:30 pm to a tapping noise. After quite some time, we figured out that the tapping noise was actually someone at our door! I went to the door and it was our neighbor across the hall. She's pretty young, and a nurse, and I think she used to think we were weird--not totally uncommon haha--until we talked to her one time by our cars and made the nursing connection and told her what we were doing in Cleveland. Anyway, she had been knocking on our door for a LONG time, letting us know that our car light was on. This was extra weird because the light that was on, was the light in the back seat, that we never turn on for any reason. But we were really appreciative, especially because we had 'zoned out' the next day and had to leave extra early that morning. We thanked her profusely, then went back to bed. The next day we wrote her a thank you note, slipped in a mormon.org card for her to check out the website, and slipped it under her door, and that was that.
Fast forward to this past Sunday night. We were getting ready for bed, when we saw that there was a card addressed to us under the door. We opened it, and it was a thank you card from our neighbor! Then we opened it and found a miracle inside -- a wonderful note that shared her faith in God and His hand in her life, and how much she enjoyed the stories and experiences on mormon.org.
It really is such a miracle. Preach My Gospel says that we need to develop faith to find those who are prepared, and that they will find us. This was a huge testimony builder for me. If we live worthy of the Spirit, the Lord will inspire us and well trust us with His children. Now we have this goal to remain as humble as possible and receptive to promptings so that we go forward the way that the Lord wants us to. I have no idea what the future holds for our neighbor, but I know whose Hand was involved in two nursing students/missionaries living right across the hall from a nurse who is searching for truth in her life...
All I really have to say is that missions are the best! I'm so glad that I get to serve and see miracles and tender mercies on a daily basis. The lessons that I have been learning and will continue to learn are more valuable to me than anything I could ever imagine. I love you all so much! Have a great week!
Much love,
Sister Maughan
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