Christmas in Kirtland

Dear Family

I know you are all probably sick of hearing from me at this point, but hey, it's still p-day and we're still required to email home once a week, so you can just suck it up :)

 

Well I'm pleased to say that nothing has really changed since I talked to you 36 hours ago haha. Although, Sunday was kind of a rough start. Our alarm had been turned off while we were at Kirtland and so I woke up at 7:20 and freaked out! It's the first time in over 6 months that I woke up at 6:30. Then I realized that I had left my backpack--including scriptures, glasses, and study journal--in Kirtland. What a great start, eh?! But thankfully, the rest of the day was great. Dylan was confirmed in church  yesterday, and you'll be pleased to hear that it was FAR less dramatic/traumatic than the baptism haha. Nah, he's a cute kid. Promise. Just makes me want to pull my hair out from time to time ;)

 

Well, I can't say thanks enough for all the people who sent me gifts this Christmas. It was SO sweet, although at the same time, with all the scarves, chapstick and hand lotion I received, I have to say that my addiction has really been fed! haha. I love it so much. Hopefully they will all last me at least a month with the rate that I go through them all! (well, not the scarves. Those can be reused haha).

 

I have a good feeling about this week. I'm really excited to get back to hard core work. Plus I am really excited for the new year. New year, new start, new me. It's weird to think that 2011 was the year that I was supposed to graduate from college. Now 2011 will be the year I was on my mission. Well, all except the last 3 weeks of it.

 

Sadly, I don't have much else to say, so instead I'm going to send a copy of something Sis. Bennett sent me that I find to be kind of funny. But I may be a bit biased ;) I hope you all have a happy new year! love you!

 

Sister Maughan

 

THE WAY IT IS

 

THE MISSION PRESIDENT:

leaps tall buildings in a single bound,

is more powerful than a locomotive,

is faster than a speeding bullet,

walks on water,

associates with God.

 

THE ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT:

leaps short buildings in a single bound,

is more powerful than a switch engine,

is just as fast as a speeding bullet,

walks on water when the sea is calm,

talks with God.

 

THE ZONE LEADER:

leaps short buildings with a running start and favorable winds,

is almost as powerful as a switch engine,

is faster than a decelerating bullet,

walks on water in an indoor swimming pool,

talks with God if special request is approved.

 

THE DISTRICT LEADER:

barely clears a mud hut,

loses tug-of-war with locomotives,

can fire a speeding bullet,

swims well,

is occasionally addressed by God.

 

THE SENIOR COMPANION:

makes high marks on the wall when trying to leap tall buildings,

is run over by locomotives,

can sometimes handle a gun without inflicting self-injury,

dog paddles,

talks to animals.

 

THE JUNIOR COMPANION:

runs into buildings,

recognizes locomotives 2 out of 3 times,

is not issued ammunition,

can stay afloat

Merry Christmas!

'Ello family!

 

There are officially 5 days until Christmas now, which means you can count that number of days on one hand, and that gets me excited! I'm so excited to talk to you all this Saturday! Sister Bringhurst and I may or may not have a countdown going...I am really looking forward to Christmas itself though. On Christmas Eve we have a dinner up at Kirtland and then we spend the night there and have a brunch on Christmas morning before Sister Bringhurst and I rush home and attempt to make the one hour trip back to Ravenna in 10 minutes. Just kidding. We aren't allowed to go more than 5 over the speed limit. (Literally. We have a machine called Tiwi in our car that says "speeding violation" in a creepy voice and sends a notification to Salt Lake if we try to speed. Tiwi is not our friend.) But I digress. The point is I'm very excited for Christmas. It's definitely going to be very different (already has been) but it's Christmas nonetheless.

 

To celebrate Christmas as a mission we finally got to go to Kirtland for the mission conference at the Kirtland Temple last Tuesday. The snow was SO bad on Tuesday morning in Ravenna that we didn't think we would get to go. In fact, the members that we live with were SO upset that we went anyway, she even called President Sorensen and got us permission to not go, but we just couldn't miss out. So the six sisters serving in Youngstown Zone all drove together in the Zone Leaders' truck...it was pretty sweet haha. But we made it safely and it was definitely worth it. It was an awesome experience. We got to hear from our leaders, take the sacrament in the temple (had to get permission from the apostles to do that!), and then we broke off into our zones and bore testimonies. It was a tender, once-in-a-lifetime experience. Then we headed over to the stake center, had lunch, took a mission picture, and had a couple of more speakers. THEN they brought out the letters. Oh boy did they set us up for that one. Here we all are, feeling the spirit, missing home, thinking about Christmas, and then they give us letters from our families while they softly play Christmas music in the background. It was a very sweet experience. Although truth be told, I'm glad I'll only have one Christmas away from home. Two would be a bit much for me.

 

So Dylan was baptized on Saturday! That was exciting, to say the least. It was definitely one of the most bizarre baptisms of all time, I can guarantee that! It's too good of a story to tell through email, so I'll be sure to tell you all about it on Saturday when we talk. Just for a teaser, let's say that the actual baptism was by far the longest portion of the program. He almost drowned when he was younger and so he's scared of water. There was probably about 3 or 4 minutes between the time the prayer was said and when he was actually baptized hahaha. ohh boy. Definitely going to have to tell you that whole experience. 

 

I had my fortune told this week, so I thought I'd let you know. Last Sunday, Sister Bringhurst and I were walking into sacrament meeting when the man who hands out the programs (Brother Eiseman) looked at Sister Bringhurst and said "You have a boyfriend back home, don't you?" When she said that she didn't, he asked to see her palm, and said that he is "really awesome" at reading people's palms but that he usually doesn't because he doesn't want to show off. But he read Sister Bringhurst's palm and said that there was a boy back home who is madly in love with her. "No, seriously, I can see it in your eyes". haha. Then he asked to read my palm as well. "Sister Maughan, you are going to go back to school" (oohhh...never would have thought that one!) "and I can see that you are going to get married within two years from today. no no no no NOOO. It will be within one year from today!"  oh boy! get ready family! That was December 12, so that means that I will meet, fall in love, and get married all within 4 days of being home. And Bro. Eiseman said that I could take that fortune to the bank, so I'm feeling pretty confident about it all. :)

 

Anyway, I love you all so much! I'm bursting with excitement to talk to you on Saturday. Have a very Merry Christmas! love you!

Sister Maughan 

One of These Things is Not Like the Other....

First and foremost, holy cow!! Congratulations Eric on arriving in San Diego! I can't believe you biked across the country. Not true, I can believe that. What I can't believe is those tan lines, HOLY SMOKES! hahahahahaha Good luck getting rid of those ones! Hey, at least when you get back to BYU you'll be tan and buff, right? Man, it's been a long time since I made fun of you for that one. But really, congratulations. I'm so proud and I'm glad you made it safely. Were you surprised when you saw the family in California? Just for the record, I knew they were going out there :) It's good to be in the know even when on a mission. haha. 

Well I hope you as a family are enjoying the sunshine and beauty of San Diego California (I'm not bitter...) because we are getting hit with a huge blizzard here in Ravenna. Everyone has been talking about this storm since Wednesday of last week. And it's supposed to go for a long time. superrrr. The roads have been pretty bad the last couple days and more than once have I been very grateful to have four wheel drive.  But the snow is kind of nice. I'll try and not talk about the weather every email, but this one just seems fitting since you people are getting tans. 

Things are still going well here! It's been an interesting transfer so far because I haven't been to Kirtland or even thought about Kirtland in a long time. It's weird to practically be full pros. But it's definitely been a good growing experience. And will continue to be. Amanda is still doing pretty well, but one of her best friends just died of cancer and in response to the stress of that, she smoked a cigarette... :( So her baptism will be pushed back, but she still has a lot of faith and desire to get baptized. It's inspiring. This weekend however, Dylan should be getting baptized!  So that will be good. I'll feel better after he has had his interview, haha. Every day is quite an ordeal with him, haha. I love that kid a lot though. He really is sweet.

Yesterday Sister Bringhurst and I had the opportunity to attend another church with one of our investigators. We made a deal with him, and so we went to his church yesterday. It was definitely an interesting experience, to say the least. First of all, it was an all black church, and they were all wearing dark colors or black. So in walks two little white girls in white coats and heels...hahaha. We didn't stand out at all. I half expected someone to call me an obruni! :) It was a very lively church, and it's been a long time since I've been to a service like that. I think Nick was a little embarrassed, which was sad. We had a great time, for sure, but mom, if you stood up and starting crying and stomping your foot during church, I'd be a little embarrassed for you too! But we really did enjoy ourselves, even when at the end the pastor stood up and handed us the microphone for us to say something. haha. "Anyone want a pass-along card?" Just kidding :) we didn't say that. 

So look! I got to attach some pictures! It's a once in a lifetime thing, so don't get too comfy haha. And sorry the files are HUGE but there is no easy way for me to shrink them. sorry :) all I can say is beggars can't be choosers :)

Love you all! Good luck with finals, Scott! :)

Love, 
Sister Maughan

I Live in a Snow Globe

Hello family!

 

Chardon was the snow belt of Ohio, and Ravenna is the secondary snowbelt of Ohio and apparently that's true. It started to snow on December 1st (I can't tell you how happy I am that it at least waited until December!) and I don't think it has stopped snowing since! Well that's not true, it would stop occasionally but in the last 36 hours, I have not seen the snow stop falling even for a second...and it's coming down pretty hard! In fact, today we are supposed to get a foot of snow. ay carumba. Last night we went with the other sisters serving in our ward to the singles ward to watch the first presidency Christmas devotional and by the time we came out, there was 4 new inches of snow. we went to go pick up our car at the member's home where the other sisters live and by the time we got back, it was 10 pm and the roads were too bad for us to drive home so we stayed the night with them and had steamed milk and played missionary MASH. hahaha. It was really fun. We probably could have made it home safely if we really wanted to, but in the words of my beautiful companion: "yes! we finally have a legit fake excuse to sleep over!" hahaha love her. Anyway, we had a great time spending the night, and we had already planned to go thrift store shopping today in Akron and Sister Mars was going to take us anyway (the members they live with..) so it worked out great. Although I may or may not be wearing the same clothes that I wore yesterday and no makeup. Don't worry about it. haha. Anyway, it has still continued to snow a lot, so while we were in Akron shopping we got a voicemail from Elder Butterfield saying that we are not allowed to go out today except to email. Oopsies...we were already out. But we're in for the night after emailing, so it's a weird day. I wonder how often this happens during the winter. Ought to be interesting.

 

On the mission end, things have still gone great this week. It's so great being with Sister Bringhurst because we have just the right combination of hard work and fun, and it makes me really excited to do missionary work. We set another baptismal date this past week for January 30th, but there's a lot that needs to happen first, but we have faith. And this week we met with a girl named Amanda who Sis. B started teaching a few weeks before I got here. They committed her to keep the word of wisdom to prepare for her baptism this month, and her biggest issue was smoking,, which isn't that big of a surprise because I swear every single person in Ohio smokes...ew. But since they have committed her, she still has not smoked a cigarette, although she has had plenty of opportunity! So proud of her :) But it gets even better, when we talked to her on Friday, we noticed that we had been so focused on the cigarettes, that drinking coffee fell through the cracks! She had a completely full pot when we talked about it, and she walked over and poured the entire pot down the sink! THEN to top it all off, we asked if we could take her coffee beans and when we said we didn't know what we would do with them, she grabbed the coffee beans and asked us to follow her outside. We followed Amanda into the parking lot and watched her as she dumped it all down the sewer!! It was an awesome moment :)

 

So to answer your questions, Ravenna is right on the corner of three different zones: Kirtland, Akron and Youngstown. We are in the Youngstown Zone, but if you go just a little north you are in Kirtland, and just a few miles west and you are in Akron. And no, we haven't had our zone conference in the temple yet. It's the Christmas mission conference and we go one of two days. Youngstown, Kirtland, and Findlay zones are going on the 14th, so we have to wait another week...sad day. But I'm really looking forward to it! And your last question, I am living with members, Brother and Sister Carey. They are great! They have 4 kids who are all grown, but they have a daughter who is currently on a mission in Frankfurt, dad! So to make up for the 4 kids being gone, they have four cats at home. haha. They are awesome people.

 

Eric, I can't believe you are finishing your biking trip this week! How exciting. Time does fly! I'm excited to hear about your grand finale! I hope you get lots and lots of pictures taken and so I can see you (and what San Diego is like!). I want to hear all the nitty gritty details. Also, I was wondering, Scott, when do you start your mission papers? It's probably pretty soon, isn't it? It's weird to think that a year ago I was starting my papers too. wowza.

 

Well, I'm excited for Christmas, and I hope you all are too. Just don't forget the most important reason for Christmas! I love you all and I pray for you daily!

 

Love,

Sister Maughan

I Stick With Pretty Sounding Names!

Hello!!

 

Well first and foremost, I have been transferred to a city called Ravenna. Like I said, I stick with the pretty sounding names of towns: from Chardon to Ravenna! But other than the pretty names, the two areas are NOTHING alike! Let me illustrate: Chardon is a tiny branch and all the members were primarily older in age; Ravenna is located in a college town (Kent State) and so the (rather large) ward is filled with young people. Also, bye bye Amish country! Chardon was filled with lots of farm country and houses half a mile apart. While Ravenna definitely has places like that in the area, Ravenna itself is definitely more urban and there are so many streets I almost cried because there are actually people to talk to! Hahaha. I love it. It's beautiful. Plus, I LOVE my companion! I am with Sister Bringhurst...who was in my MTC district! (She's also the one that we met in Zupas right before entering the MTC...if only we knew we would be companions one day, haha) She's the blonde one in the pictures of my district, just in case you wanted to stalk haha. She is so fun and we have been working really hard. Since we got back to Ravenna the day after Thanksgiving, we have found four new investigators, committed all but one to be baptized, and have set a couple of dates. There should be two baptized in December. Someone pinch me.

 

With this transfer, I have really been amazed with how well the Lord knows me! During the anxiety of the few weeks before transfers when I was contemplating all my options, there was concerns I had about everywhere. ALL of those concerns have been met with my transfer to Ravenna! I'm still a Kirtland sister (although I am no longer in the Kirtland zone), and will go to Kirtland once a week--it's an hour away--but I won't have to deal with the deadness of sites/phones during the winter months after the nativities are done. BUT, I'm also going to grow a lot as a missionary, because I am basically a full proselyting sister now (in fact, we go to Kirtland tomorrow but because of Christmas mission conference we won't be back to Kirtland until Dec 21, so we'll be full pros for half this transfer). It will be hard, but I'm really excited for that growth. I think it will help me develop into the type of missionary that I want to become. And to add to this whole thing, if I am still here in this area at the beginning of April with the John Johnson Farm opens up to sister missionaries again, I'll be able to serve at the Johnson Farm. It's like all a dream come true. But it's so neat because I really didn't think that I would be coming to Ravenna. I really thought that I would be put with a missionary who had been out on their mission longer than me. But Sis. Bringhurst came out with me and so i didn't think I'd come here. Guesse the Lord knows better--yet again.

 

Anyway, things are going really well around here. We had a great Thanksgiving, one at Kirtland and then one here with the members that we live with. Yes, I do think that I ate my weight in stuffing and pies haha. Ohhh boy. But it was a great holiday. Now that everyone is getting ready for Christmas, I am SO excited. I love the Christmas season and I'm excited to see what it will be like as a missionary :)

 

Well, I hope everything is going well. I love you all so much! Be safe! (especially you Scott and Eric on all your travels!) Love you!

 

Sister Maughan

 

oh! I have a new address. I can still get mail at the Kirtland address, but I'll only get it once a week when I go to Kirtland. The new address is:

5677 Cross Timbers Circle

Ravenna, OH 44266

 

 

ALSO, I played with a wolf yesterday. Yes, a real live full size wolf. Man, Ravenna is sweet. haha.

Chardon Will Always Be Green To Me

It's really weird having transfers during Thanksgiving week. Thanksgiving will be our p-day (although not really because it is going to be such a busy day!) and so we just have two hours today to write emails and to pack if we are getting transferred. But it's also Sister Debenham's birthday so we went out to lunch to celebrate and that went over into our p-day time, so I now have 45 minutes until an appointment and I only had 15 minutes to pack. Oh boy.


Well there you go. I blew the surprise. I'm getting transferred. We got the call late Sunday night. I won't find out until tomorrow where I am going but I'm sure that I will love it. Sister Carter before she left yesterday (yes, I did cry) found out where I was going and said that I will really enjoy my new area and that it is "the best in the mission". Whatever that means. What constitutes the best in the mission? One way or another, I'm excited. Yet sad. I have very mixed feelings about the whole thing. Overall though, I'm just grateful for the change. Especially after this past week, I really needed change of some kind, and I would have to say that transferring areas would have to count, haha. But I am really sad to be leaving Chardon, especially right before the holidays. It'll be weird, starting new, but I am changing and so it's good to bring the new Sister Maughan to a new area. It's hard to say good bye to people though. It breaks my heart to see my investigators, less actives, and members cry when I tell them I am leaving. Not everyone does that, but just the people that I have really really gotten close to. It's sad... but now I really feel like a missionary. someone just passing through...


Looking back though, I am really grateful to have served in Chardon. I learned so much. I haven't had any baptisms (although we did set a date with our 10 year old investigator Liam this week! He was so excited he didn't even let me finish asking him before he screamed yes!) but that's okay. That's not what it is all about. As I have been sick this transfer, I got a blessing from a member in the branch that talked about the impact I would have on the less actives in this area. It may not be the glamorous or apparent aspect of missionary work, but it is just as crucial. I look back and see the people and families that have returned to activity, the families that are now reading the scriptures and praying together, the family who is coming back to church and are preparing themselves to be sealed in the temple next year, the woman who told me in a heartfelt letter about how I have changed her life...it makes me so happy. I know it really wasn't me, but I am so glad that I got to serve here in Chardon and let the Lord use me to touch these lives. This work is awesome :)


Look at me, all reminscent already and I still have 21 hours left in this area haha. Love you all so much! Have a FABULOUS Thanksgiving, be safe, eat lots of pie and know that I am thankful for all of you!!


Love love love,
Sister Maughan

Classy Phones for Classy Missionaries

I'm going to do my best to come up with a witty subject line, but in the meantime, life is good in Chardon, Ohio! We are entering the last week of the transfer so it's crunch time. Not true, it's always crunch time, but I still feel like I may possibly be transferred, so that means it's one last shot to make an impact in Chardon. Wish me luck.

It's been an interesting time at Kirtland this past week because when we were there on Friday, the phones died. Completely. We can't make calls out nor can we receive inbound calls. Now let me tell you, when you have to spend 10 hours in a call center when there are calls and no tours, it's a very long 10 hours! But it was pretty nice actually, lots of studying time, and it happened to be the best mail day I've had since the beginning of my mission (minus my birthday) so I had lots to keep me entertained. On that note, I suddenly find myself very behind in writing letters, but don't worry, I will catch up! But I digress. We have found a way to make phone calls out, but it requires everyone sitting at two computers/phones. Try and picture 8 sisters sitting around two computers/phones. It's a good thing I am not claustrophobic! It's made for some long days at sites.

BUT thankfully, Sister Debenham and I had a break from the chaos by giving a tour on Monday....to a Lutheran pastor visiting from Florida. Now if that's not intimidating... We were a tad nervous when we found out, but he was a really great guy. He was very knowledgeable about religions and history and knew a lot about our church, so he had a LOT of questions, although he wasn't combative in anyway, which was a relief. All of his questions made for a very long tour though... 4 hours and 45 minutes! And we didn't even go to the sawmill, ashery, or the johnson inn! and we only spent 20 minutes in the Whitney home because he realized he had to get home to dinner so he stopped asking some of his questions. It was quite possibly the longest tour of Kirtland ever, I swear though, it wasn't our fault! And you'll be glad to hear that it really is unusual to be that long (although many of the senior couples average 2 1/2 hours...yikes!). So don't be scared of Kirtland! It's a great place, promise :) To finish the story of our Lutheran pastor friend, apparently the 5 hour tour was worth it to him...he self-referred and asked for missionaries to come visit him! :) We got a standing ovation when we got back to the visitor center hahaha. Not that we did anything. The spirit in Kirtland is all you need. I think the ovation was just because we survived it, hehe.  

As for Chardon, the area is slowly looking up. Nothing too exciting to report, minus the fact that one of our investigators called us to clarify that we did not think he was a prophet....uhhh..? Sister Debenham and I got to go to a baptism in Kirtland on Friday, and it was beautiful. I pray for the day that one of our investigators will see how important it is and will be baptized. But for right now, especially in the Chardon branch, one of the most important aspects of our calling is working with less actives of the church, and that is going great, thankfully.

Oh, mom, I saw that little crack you made in the Christmas letter about a cell phone, haha. You'll be interested in hearing that we got new phones at zone conference last week. They are small, sleek, they slide and have a keyboard. Talk about snazzy! AND now the mission has enabled texting. HA!  :)

We find out about transfers on Sunday night, and then because of Thanksgiving next week, we will get to email for an hour on Tuesday and then take Thanksgiving as our p-day, so I'll let you know on Tuesday what's going on with transfers. Love you all so much! 

Sister Maughan