Chat-a-lat

Well this week has been interesting. We had VERY little time in our area. Sister Schwanke and I were called to be the trainers for Chat, so we've had to go in several times in the last week to train companionships. Right now, some missionaries are a little stressed about this "new" form of missionary work, but really, it's just exciting! I LOVE doing it! I must admit, it is pretty complicated to try and sort things out, scheduling and such, but we are just trying to explain to the new sisters that this is just exciting, and the same thing that we are always doing, only typing instead! Hopefully over time, it will become second nature. Yesterday I actually chatted with someone from Salem Virginia!! Crazy, right?! We can--and do--chat with people all around the world and yet I talk with someone from my second home. Coincidence? I think not. :)

Because of change in schedule last week, we have extra time in our area this week, which is really nice! We're in our area for 3 1/2 days straight! So we are having a lot of finding this week!

I have to admit, that this past week I have been able to do some of the most fun things of my mission...We work hard, but we play hard too!! Here's some snippets :)

1. Last p-day, we went with the South Euclid Sisters (Sisters Bringhurst and Manwaring--we are the quadruple up!) into Cleveland to walk around Little Italy, enjoy some AMAZING Italian food, and then over to the house that was used in the movie The Christmas Story! Complete with leg lamp and all. haha. I personally am not crazy about the movie, but I remember watching it with the Brooksbys, so I've already written Jared about it. :) Plus it was the fulfillment of Sister Bringhurst's dreams so she was a happy camper! Man, you should have heard her squeal! haha

2. We had another Zoned Out on Monday! That is the big mission wide p-day that they have every year. It was SO fun! We go to the John Johnson home, take a quick tour, and then just play games and other fun activities with the mission. I ended up playing football for 2 1/2 hours...and not being able to walk all the next day. haha. Dad, I miss the days of playing in the front yard where you draw on on your hand where you want me to run, haha. Good times, yet again. Although we were both strangely sentimental as we left. It's weird to repeat significant days of your mission. I remember last Zoned Out like it was yesterday.

There's some fun things for the letter today! I've attached some pictures of each of these events. Hope you all have a good week! Pray for us to find!

Love you all,
Sister Maughan

The Christmas Story house

Me and the Johnsons. Sister Johnson used to babysit my mom when she lived in England!

Ask Jeeves--> Ask Missionaries! :)

Hello family!

Hope you are enjoying the beautiful fall weather! I'm serious,  I'm pretty sure that autumn came just overnight! Literally. But I have to admit, it is absolutely beautiful! It's pretty funny to go to sites though and see all the sisters wearing coats. Sister Schwanke and I are in denial, though, and have decided that we are not wearing coats until at least the first day of October...and we wonder why we get sick? haha.

We have had a really amazing opportunity come up at Kirtland that we are really excited about! We got a call from the Training Sisters this past week asking us to come in early and be trained in a new program called Chat. It has been in a trial run for the last 2 1/2 years, but now they are starting it up in a few visitor centers around the world: London, Kirtland, and one other place, but I can't remember. It's something similar to what Eric and I would do when we would volunteer at the MTC before my mission, but it's even better. Sister Schwanke and I are heading up the program here in Kirtland, so it's still pretty new and we're learning, but we as companions talk to people who chat on mormon.org. We are able to answer their questions, refer them to different videos and different links to help them understand the gospel better, and it truly is amazing. We are reaching a whole new level of people! So far in the test program, they average 1-2 baptisms a week with a 95% activity rate! It's incredible! 


The end goal when we talk to these people is not for them to have the missionaries come to them, but to move at their own pace. But make no mistake, we aren't ask jeeves or anything. This is the incredible part: we are literally teaching them! We teach them principles from Preach My Gospel, we extend commitments, follow up with them, and even have return appointments with them! We literally have investigators! And for those who have served missions, we even have an online area book where we keep track of what we teach them, and what we should do to help them next. 


We have only done it one day, but it is incredible to see the miracles. The spirit is so strong as we chat with these people, and we meet sincere seekers who want to know more. We have 2 investigators already, with return appointments and a desire to read the book of mormon and pray. Sister Schwanke and I were able to talk to 2 people in Brazil, 2 in the UK, and many all around the USA. We talked to a 14 year member who was struggling with her testimony of Joseph Smith; a man with no faith in Christ who is a recovering alcoholic looking for happiness in his life; a recently married woman who has lots of LDS friends but was to afraid to ask them how they made their marriage eternal and why they are so happy; a less active woman in Ohio (!!) who hadn't been to church in 11 years, had requested to not be contacted by the church, but now wanted more than anything to come back but was scared...These are just a few of the people we chatted with one just one day! It is incredible.

It seems like every day someone (or something) is reminding me that I go home next transfer, and as a result I've been able to think about what has already happened in my mission thus far. Especially with the addition of Chat this week, I have been filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the chance that I have to serve in literally the best mission in the world!!! How many people get to say that on their mission they get to:

• proselyte 5 days a week teaching and tracting and baptizing
• give tours of a spiritual and significant church history site, teaching church history, testify of the restoration, our Savior, and a true and living church on the earth and strengthen the faith of others
• call others around the world and invite them to learn more about Christ and how a faith in Him and the Book of Mormon can help us find eternal happiness
• chat online with people with all different backgrounds and allow them a safe place to open up and have their concerns met as they have questions answered about the church
• PLUS, get to serve right near their hometown and therefore get to see family and friends from time to time!?!?

Can you see why I am overwhelmed with gratitude? I love this. I love my mission, and I love all the experiences that I have already had, continue to have and WILL continue to have :)

I love you all sooo much! Thanks for all your love and support! Have a fantastic week!

Sister Maughan

"So, my darling, you shall have a home and a cow"

Dear Family,

This has been a crazy week. After so much sickness last weekend when we both had to stay in, we left the house for the first time to go to Mentor (right next to Kirtland) and tour the only thing Mentor itself is famous for: The home of James A. Garfield! Anyone know who is he? anyone? anyone? 20th President of the United States, but only served 200 days in office before he was martyred. Yup yup. Very exciting. No worries,  I had no idea who he was either until I came here. It was an interesting tour. It was mostly exciting because we were the tour takers not the tour givers! The subject line was written on the wall, something he had told to his wife. I plan on telling my husband that I, too, need that. At least written on my wall.

So we were able to get out and about for a little bit on Tuesday and then we went to sites on Wednesday. As soon as we got to Kirtland, I looked at Sister S and she was sweating and looked so flushed. I felt her forehead and she had a very high fever! Complete with fever rash and all! Finally, after 2 months of being sick consistently, Sister So told Sister S that she needs to stay inside and rest for at least 3 days...the ultimate torture for a missionary. But she was obedient, and was in until Sunday, when we went to church just for sacrament meeting, then to our dinner (with Emily! That's awesome you got to talk to her!) and then rest. Sister S is definitely feeling better, but still is being careful about resting, because her body is still fighting.

With Sister S staying in, I've had different companions each day to go out into the area with me to work. So I have had 3 different companions this week. There was a pretty big possibility that one of us would get transferred, so I thought that I would have 4 companions in one week, but it turns out S and I are staying together for a third transfer! This will be 7 1/2 months (at least) in Mayfield! Whew! Should be good though :)

One of my temporary companions and I had an awesome experience on Friday night. We got to take one of our recent converts over to the Cleveland Stake Center and hear from Cheryl Esplin of the Primary General Presidency and Barbara Thompson of the the Relief Society General Presidency! It was FANTASTIC! They were so nice and absolutely hilarious! Most of all, the Spirit was so strong. They are incredible women who are so inspired. It was a perfect meeting for our recent convert with us. Everything that they said, especially Sister Thompson, was just perfect for her. She talked about family, and the temple, and how to become holy women. It was phenomenal and to hear Chris talking on the way home, she was incredibly moved by the things that were said and that she felt. It was a huge tender mercy for us to be able to go. At the end, when we got to meet them, Chris gave them both a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek :)

Well, I love you all lots and lots, and I hope that you have a great week.

Much love,
Sister Mayfield

I mean, Sister Maughan

Transfer of sickness continued....

Hello Family!

 

Well, I feel like I just very very recently talked to you, so there's not a whole lot to give an update on. I appreciate all of the updates on Sister Bentley. It breaks my heart. She, her family, and Sister Love and her family have been the focus of many many prayers here in the Ohio Cleveland Mission. Thanks for keeping me updated. Truly.

So our transfer of sickness has definitely continued. In fact, today is the first day that we will be doing missionary work since Friday. We were stuck inside ALL weekend! All in all, I think we are on the mend for the most part now. Which is good, because I can't handle this for the last 3 months as a missionary.

 

I've learned an important lesson this week that I want to share. We had an interesting week with one of our investigators. She was found just before I got here, and so I have been teaching her regularly for 6 months now. I love her. I feel very close to her. She LOVES the gospel, she loves coming to church, she loves the Book of Mormon, and she has such a testimony. Before we had even taught her the Word of Wisdom, she heard about it at church, and gave up coffee before we had even asked. But she's not baptized, and is now no longer progressing. She refuses to live the law of chastity. That's it. She is willing to live every commandment, keep every commitment, except one. Granted, it's a big one, but the principle is still the same. This week, we had to drop her, because she flat out refuses to live the commandment. We can't progress if we aren't willing to completely follow Christ's example, in everything. It breaks my heart and has been difficult for me to think about not teaching her anymore. But I keep thinking how happy we are if we just are obedient to the commandments...ALL of them! It's not to restrict us, but it really is what brings us true happiness. When we teach someone who knows that they are living wrong, they are miserable. The guilt that she felt would make our lessons start out a bit awkward, because she knew she was wrong and she wasn't happy. It makes me think of Mosiah 2:41. Just consider the blessed and happy state of those who live the commandments, and then choose to be obedient to them all! So many blessings await when we do.

 

Anyway, I hope that everyone has a better week than they had this last week, I love you all.

 

Sister Maughan

Baptisms with Gladys Knight, pianos, and IVs

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!

1 missionary nurse + 1 missionary nurse = 2 much medical advice!

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

If I fall, you're going down with me!

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