Fall in New England

9-26-16


There's been SO many good things happening this week, but I'll only be sharing a few since I don't have much time.  This week we had zone conference which was awesome! We had a member
from The Seventy come and speak to us. It was simply incredible. It just makes
me that much more excited for General Conference this week!  How about that Women's Conference? Four words...."4th Floor, Last Door".   President Uchtdorf  recounted a story. 


"These two missionaries had faith, and they were committed. They had the attitude that if no one listened to their message, it would not be because they had not given their best effort. One day they had the feeling to approach the residents of a well-kept four-story apartment building. They started on the first floor and knocked on each door, presenting their saving message of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His Church.
No one on the first floor would listen to them.

How easy it would have been to say, “We tried. Let’s stop right here. Let’s go and try another building.”

But these two missionaries had faith and they were willing to work, and so they knocked on every door on the second floor. Again, no one would listen.

The third floor was the same. And so was the fourth—that is, until they knocked on the last door of the fourth floor.

When that door opened, a young girl smiled at them and asked them to wait while she spoke with her mother.

 To see the rest of the talk, Click here.   Such a great reminder to "Just Keep Knocking"!!

Funny story: We went to President Anderson's house for dinner, and it was great! But their dog  was the best part! Those of you who know my dog, Chewy, know he has this weird thing where he licks everyone. President Anderson's dog beats Chewy by a mile.  As we left, Sister Hallam asked, "Could you hear anything during the prayer?"  Apparently, during the prayer, the dog started licking her skirt, so she tried to pull her skirt away and then the dog started playing tug-of-war with her skirt. I couldn't help but laugh.  And I laughed HARD.

Which leads me to my lesson of the week... what do you do in situations that  are awkward or down right frustrating?  FIND HUMOR IN IT.  Just like the elder, who was walking down the street as someone threw a half eaten jelly-filled doughnut at his face.  The other elder looked at the donut smeared on his companion's face and said, " well are ya gonna eat it?"    Sometimes, you just gotta laugh.

 Another weird experience this week was when a crazy person wearing just a robe chased us  down the street.  Sister Hallam and I  hoped and prayed the robe stayed on, not just for our sake, but for EVERYONE else on MAIN STREET.

This week for our service project we painted a fence, and I'm still picking paint out of my hair--4 day later !!

We picked apples on Pday and made Caramel Apples

New Englandisms:

• In  New England you don't knock on the front door, you knock on the side doors.
• When someone says "park your car in the door yard" it means "park your car in the driveway."

 I LOVE YOU ALL!  I hope you all have a good week!


 Sister Scherzinger

9-19-2016

I MADE IT TO NEW HAMPSHIRE!!
Funny story about my flight here! I scared a man from sitting next to me. Like seriously, he was sitting by me, and asked why I had a name tag.  I told him and then he got up from the seat, took his luggage and sat somewhere else. I guess I can be pretty scary.

My new companion is Sister Hallam. She's from California, and I absolutely LOVE her. She reminds me a bit of Aunt Katie. Tiny little thing, but full happiness and excitement. We get along super well, and she makes everything fun!  Every single time someone is rude, or a door is slammed in our face we both look at each other and say " Well at least we're still drop dead gorgeous." It's the best!!!


My first area is....drumroll,  Concord, New Hampshire!!  We are actually shot gunning this area, and are having a lot of success! Shot gunning is when you open an area that has previously been closed. We have 7 new investigators! Here, many of our investigators struggle with addiction, so we spend most of our lessons on Heavenly Father's love for us and how through Jesus Christ we can come closer to Him.

We have a car. We don't like using it too much because it makes it hard to street contact. The other day we walked somewhere around 10 miles while street contacting!

The weather isn't too bad. Its been rainy for the past few days, but besides that its super warm! I expected it to be full of older houses, but it's nothing like this! A lot of people live in houses from the 1820's and have just redone the inside.

(Speaking of which, I met someone here that knows uncle Narv!) He is our Stake President, and as soon as he saw my name he asked if I was related to a Narvel. Apparently he was Aunt Julie's and Narv's Sunday school teacher a long time ago... Brother Anderson)


In our whole mission we have 40  Sisters, and 110 Elders. 

I LOVE president Blair and his Wife. They are THE FUNNIEST people EVER! 


We spend a lot of time helping with less active members, and getting to know the members.  I can honestly say that they are the most hospitable people ever!

The work is good here! Lots of good things are happening.  I absolutely LOVE it. 

Love you all!!!

Sister Scherzinger

(From a letter received 9-10-2016)

We strive for EXACT OBEDIENCE.  We believe that obedience brings blessings, but EXACT OBEDIENCE brings miracles!  And we all know I could use a few of those when I'm in the classroom for 6 hours straight!

My district consists of Elder Branch (District Leader), Elder Peterson, Elder Glen, Elder Thorp, Elder Daniels, Elder Thatcher, Elder Jones, Elder Morgan, Sister's Snell & Goodmansen & my companion, Sister Wilson.  I love all of them!  They hold a special place in my heart.  In the past couple of wees we have become our own make-shift family.

Other than the classroom and teaching, we were able to watch a talk by Elder Ballard called, "The Character of Christ".  It was simply amazing!  He talks about how Christ always turns out towards the people and their needs.... unlike us.  He referred to "us" as the "cookie monster". Our attitude tends to be  ",I want a cookie now!"  Where Christ was always addressing others' needs. It helped me realize that I need to be aware of other people's needs.   It was a very inspiring talk!

Anyway, I love you all!  I look forward to hearing from you!

Love,

Sister Scherzinger

xoxoXOxo
(Nacho Libre quote)

9-8-2016

Hello Everyone!!

I'm sorry that last week's email was so short, but it just means that this week's email is that much longer!

The MTC is AMAZING! These dedicated grounds are full of guardian angels watching over every single one of us. It is simply amazing to be able to SO close to the Lord.

Last week my companion and I ( sister Wilson ) taught a girl by the name of Linda. Shes a super cute girl! It is truly amazing to be able to watch her find herself through the Lord. We have only been teaching here the past few days, but her growth is simply amazing! 

Sister Wilson and I are sad to be leaving the MTC this coming Monday, But we are BEYOND excited to be getting out into the field. I cant wait to be in New Hampshire! I love Utah, but change is good. :) I am the STL for our zone, and have grown to love each and every single one of the sisters here. They all have something special to offer! It is truly amazing what you can learn from other people when you actually sit down and listen to what it is they have to say. I'm grateful for ALL of them. They will bring SO many people to Christ! 

This week, we had to move because our rooms were infested with Bats... I was hoping that something like Spiderman would happen to me, so I could become like Batwoman!  But sadly, the bats were scaring other girls so we had to move.  Now we have a nice little walk to class in the mornings. :) 

Our teachers are simply amazing! 'Nuff said there. :)

Something that I have learned while being here is there are times when you feel like you are on top of the world, and that can change in a matter of seconds. But it is in those times when you hit rock bottom that are the best. Because that rock is our Savior. I truly love it here, and miss you all dearly.

Love,

Sister Scherzinger

9-1-2016

Hello there family!!

It is so good to hear from you all! I miss you dearly, but all is well here! I love the MTC! The spirit is SO strong! It is truly amazing what happens here.

On Thursday of last week my companion ( Sister Wilson) and I were given the calling of STL. Which is Sister Training Leaders. SO we are in charge of all of the sister missionaries in our zone. It's been crazy to see how much you come to love someone that you serve.  It's amazing what you can learn from others. I have a lot to learn, and am trying to soak it all up!

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE MY DISTRICT. My elders are AMAZING! I don't think that there is any way to bring the spirit quicker than a priesthood blessing. I am so grateful for them. I am the only sister in the MTC going to New Hampshire in this next coming transfer! Kinda cool!!! 

Last night was kind of crazy, we got green missionaries and one had a fever of 102. We called the Zone Leaders and she received a blessing, but get this. At the same time the sisters came to get us, there was a bat loose on our floor!! 

Then when we came back after her priesthood blessing a sister in my room was throwing up... ON MY BED!  SCORE FOR SISTER SCHERZINGER!!!!!

I have an investigator that just moved from Arizona. We have covered the Restoration, and the Plan of Salvation, and as of yesterday she accepted a soft invitation to be baptized! The first few lessons she was rather closed off to the idea of prayer and faith, but as we went on we talked to her about Joseph Smith and his story. "If any of ye lack wisdom, let him ask of God." SO, she did. Right then and there we asked her to kneel in prayer with us. It was an amazing experience. 

I truly know that my Savior loves me. Just as the savior walked and was spit upon, or rejected, I know that if that happens to me,   that I am walking with the best man beside me. I have no doubt in my mind that this is where I am supposed to be. I love my Savior and all that He has done for me. I know that when I am down in my luck that there is someone there that is listening to me and knows what I am feeling. 

I love you all!!

 

--

Sister Scherzinger