Life on the Res - 30 Sept 2015

Sweet mother of pearl, has it already been a whole transfer out in the
mission field?!?! I am no longer the baby missionary any more, yay!
Sorry for not mentioning that last week for all of you who await to
hear all the interesting things that happen here on the Pima Maricopa
Indian reservation..... This week was Native American day so a lot of
people were not at home cause they have huge celebrations with all
kinds of vendors and dances and lots of super cool stuff like that! We
are trying to stay as busy as we can and visit a lot of people. We got
two new investigators! Erica is 18 and her family used to come to the
church but she was never baptized and is really interested now and
loves coming to church with us! She asks so many good questions in our
lessons and I can tell she is really wanting to change and learn more.
Our other new investigator is Charles, he is an older gentleman who
has been coming to church since February but told the missionaries
then that he wasn't interested in getting baptized. But a week or so
ago he came up to us before church and said he wants to be baptized
and asked what he had to do to be ready! So we are reaching him now as
well and he already knows quite a bit just from church attendance. We
put him on date for the 24th of this coming month!
We get to do a ton of service out here on the reservation, almost
everyday. I love it! It is such a good way for me to get to know the
members of our ward a little better, plus they usually make us
breakfast which is a plus!
 Sometimes, it is hard here though. When I came out my brother told me
that the hardest part about missionary work is other people's agency
and when they don't use it to do the things they know they should. I
see that with a lot of our less actives and sometimes even our
investigators, but I still love them and want to help them in any way
that I can. I so wish that I could shake some of the people we are
working with! They know the things they should be doing but are
holding themselves back from blessings of church attendance and going
to the temple because of stupid pride or fear or weaknesses they think
they have and cannot get over. JUST DO IT, I want to say to them. Just
let it go. Give it to Christ. That is what he is there for. That is
why he suffered for so long and so hard in the garden of Gethsemane.
Because he loves us and wants to take away our pains. But the can only
do that if we give it to him! He will not make us clean against our
will. We all have problems, that is why we come to church. It is like
a hospital where everyone has a different sickness but we are all
there to get healed. Maybe one day I can help them see that. Maybe one
day they will able to understand to a fullness the blessing that
Christ's sacrifice is. And maybe I will be here to see it. Agency is
the hardest part of missionary work. I have come to love these people
so much! I think that when I was set apart as a missionary I was then
able to love as God and Christ love, because that is the only way to
explain how my love for these people came so fast and so full. But
because of that love I want them to have what I have and to find
happiness in Christ and his gospel like I have. That is why agency is
the hardest part of missionary work.
Sister Havea is amazing. I am so thankful everyday that she is my
trainer! We get along so well and when we teach it just kinda flows. I
am learning a lot and making a lifelong friend at the same time. We
have been working extra hard this week especially to have member
presents at all of our lessons, and I think it has been going pretty
well. We had a 24 hour missionary one day this week and she did a
really amazing job. The members out here are great and really love
helping out in any way that they can.
One of the elders we had here on the reservation got transferred out
this week and his companion is finishing his mission in a couple weeks
so we got two new missionaries! Now there are seven of us and we eat
dinner together every night so that makes it so fun and busy! This is
my last full transfer with Sister Havea cause she goes home around
thanksgiving so we are doing to make the best of it :)
I love love love getting all your emails and letters and packages! It
makes it so fun everyday! Thank you all so much for all the love and
support. Love you all!

Life on the Rez - Week 7

     Well folks, I was extremely lame and did not send a big email out last week... sorry about that, but that just means this one has to extra good right? So last week we did a TON of service, like every day. Ranging from plowing gardens to cleaning abandoned houses. Needless to say we saw some gross stuff... haha! Other than that it was pretty much a week like any other. We taught some lessons and helped out in our ward. And then a pretty cool thing happened on Sunday. One of the less actives that we have been visiting walked right up to me and said,"Sister Welch, I want to go to the temple. What do I have to do to get there?" I was a little taken aback at first. My initial thought was, where is Sister Havea?! But I was able to explain that she would have to take the discussions again and be interviewed by the bishop to get a recommend to go to the temple. She said "okay I can meet Monday, Wednesday, and  Friday, do all those days work for you?" So we visited her everyday this week except for Tuesday! She is so on fire! She really has such a desire to obtain the blessings that the temple has to offer. She is so cute and sits at all out lessons with a little notepad and pen taking notes and asking tons of questions! Her name is Nicole and we are pretty much falling in love with her sweet spirit and honest desires. Another cool thing about that Sunday, as we were walking in to Sacrament meeting and older man of the ward called to us and we waited for him to catch up. This gentleman is not a member of the Church but has been meeting with the Papago congregation for some years now. He told us he is ready to be baptized and wants to do it as soon as it is allowed. We set up an appointment with him for the next day and we were so excited to have someone new to teach! But even though we are working our hardest, it seems as though Satan is worker as hard if not harder. The next morning before we were supposed to visit Charles (the older man) he had a heart attack and was admitted into the hospital. He called us so upset that he had to put off our lesson but we reassured him that he needs to be healthy so we are taking things really slow with him.

           So that was last week. This week was an adventure as well! We worked extra hard all week so that when Friday came we could go on a special activity with the youth. WE GOT TO GO CAMPING!!! We asked special permission from the President Sweeney because we had some of our less actives that we are teaching going. We went up in the mountains, near Payson, to a place called Clear Creek, where it was absolutely beautiful. Not only was the day not too hot, but I was actually cold at night! You know how long it has been since that happened? Like Forever! Sister Havea and I slept in the bed of one of the leader's trucks under the stars. I don't know if I have ever seen that many starts all at once in real life before! And no airplanes to trip you up thinking you see a shooting star! The next morning we hiked down to the bottom of the valley which was almost half a mile and practically straight up and down. But oh the views were so worth it! The hike back up was a little bit of a struggle for all of us but it really helped me to think about a few things. It was so hard to climb that mountain, and that is just like how the journey back to Heavenly Father, it is hard but it is possible. At one part of the trail I went up a different way than the others and Sister Havea said "sister you are going the wrong way!" and that made me think that we all have agency. We all make different choices in our lives that can either help or hinder our progression, and those choices set us on our own paths. Even though the main path may work for some of us, sometimes there are things we must learn and we can only learn when we make our own decisions. Later on on the trail two of the young men went up a way that was far off the trail and disregarded the warnings of those around them. At first they did fine but then they came to a point in their path where they could not do it on their own. Elder Shortland and Elder Finlayson had to go back and lift them up, just like Christ does for us when we make poor decisions and can no longer journey on our own. And the last thing I was thinking about while struggling up this mountain was that we look to those ahead of us for the safest way to travel, watching their footing to make sure we can make it to the top, just as we look to those older or more experienced than us in life to give us direction and to learn from their mistakes. But just as we are looking forward we must be heedful that someone is looking to us as well. That we are forever examples to those that come after us. And then we experienced the joy and relief and exhaustion of reaching the top. The struggle was worth the journey just as our reward in heaven will be worth our trials here on earth. 

         To end I will leave with you all something that I learned in studies this week. 1 Nephi 17:45 when Nephi is chastising Laman and Lemuel for their unbelief and lack of faith in their father and Christ, he says something profound about the Holy Ghost. He says "Ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words". This part of the verse really jumped out at me because  I have often found myself expecting to hear and actual voice telling me what I should do, but more often the Spirit speaks through our feelings and not through words. That is something that I have really tried to pay attention to this week, the feelings from the Holy Ghost instead of expecting a voice. 

         I love you all and pray for you guys everyday!

Love 

Sister Welch

(If any of you reading Rebecca's letters don't have access to a copy of the Book of Mormon, it is available online at:  www.lds.org/scriptures.  At this site, you can look up any scripture in its entirety, so you can see for yourself the whole picture of the scripture she is talking about.  If you want a printed copy for yourself, let us know.  We would be glad to share one with you.)

A few new details about Sister Welch

I got a chance to ask Rebecca a few more questions last night, so here are a few more details about where she is.  She actually lives in Mesa, AZ, and travels to the Reservation every day.  Also, I assumed that she was teaching the Navaho.  Last night she told me that she is working with the Pima and Maricopa tribes.  Pima translates to "River People", while Maricopa means "People who live towards the water."

Life on the Rez - Week 5

Sorry about the lack of detail in my emails, the whole lack of a keyboard thing made a difference... haha but the baptism was amazing! His name is Victor YellowHawk Loring.

He is a nine year old of a less active family we have been teaching since I got here. The family is so cute! The grandparents have custody of most of their grandkids so there is always anywhere from three to nine kids at their house at a time! They are the sweetest kids though! His grandpa was able to perform the baptism, which was a big thing for them. We are trying to get them ready for the temple to all be sealed together! We have three other people on date for baptism. A couple, Victor and Rosaline, who have a young son and have struggled with things like the word of wisdom in the past, but they are doing awesome now! They have personal and family scripture study every night now. Victor said the last time we were over there that he is noticing the difference that prayer and reading the scriptures makes in their daily lives. They are really cool too :) Our last investigator on date is Judy. Holy cow I love her. She already has a really strong testimony of the gospel and is so willing to keep learning. SHE ACTUALLY DOES HER READINGS AND ASKS QUESTIONS!!!! That's new... haha Other than that we teach mostly less active families which is awesome.   We are  preparing quite a few to go through the temple! 

This week it actually rained here. Like three times! Sister Havea and I were so happy, we spent the night singing and dancing in the rain! Also the sunsets here in Arizona are beautiful. Every night. It's ridiculous. But awesome at the same time! Our ward mission leader is really awesome too. He is from Tonga just like Sister Havea! We spend P-Day mostly at their house, emailing and what not. Plus they feed us, which is nice :) We found the BEST thrift shop today. It was great! I hope you all are doing as great as great as I am! I am learning so much every single day. And being humbled every day as well.

 

The people here are so cool! I love  you all!

Quote of the week: "Salvation cannot be purchased with the currency of obedience, it is bought with the blood of the Son of God."

All my love and prayers,

Sister Welch

Life on the Res - Week 4

The work here is awesome. I absolutely LOVE Sister Havea! We have such
good times together and we really balance each other out in the
lessons. We have quite a few progressing investigators. We actually
are having a baptism this Saturday! A 9 yr old boy whose family was
less active but we have been teaching them and they are so great! We
also have four other people on date for baptism at the end of the
month! We also got FREE GIRL SCOUT COOKIES. It like made my life. And
fried bread. It's like the best thing ever. I have to say my favorite
part about the mission so far is every night at dinner time. All of
the missionaries that are serving on the reservation have dinner
together with the members every night and at the end we always leave
with a spiritual thought or scripture. We also have gotten into
singing a hymn every time. It is so amazing, the Spirit gets so strong
and has actually brought people to tears. I absolutely love this
gospel. I know it is the true gospel of Jesus Christ restored to the
earth today. I have prayed about it and received my own witness. I
hope this letter finds you all well. I love hearing from you all! Your
letters through out the week definitely lift my spirits and I love
them! I was asked by a Spanish speaking elder in my zone last night
how many times I have packed my bags to go home. And I looked at him
confused and said...none? He told me he has packed his bags to go home
at least ten times this week, and that made me realize that I am
really sure his is where I am supposed to be. I mean I love and miss
you all but I'm not coming home any time soon :) I love it too much.
Love and prayers,
Sister Welch

Pretty much my comp and I have way too much fun together....

 

Arizona News - Week 3

Holy cow this week has been a crazy one! Even crazier than last week! Last Friday night we added up going to the emergency room because my companion, Sister Johnson, was having severe back pain. But after being there for like five and a half hours and a bajillion X-rays later they still couldn't find a reason for all of the pain. They ended up just giving her pain meds and some stretching exercises. I have to say though, it was nice to get out of the MTC for a while. It was so weird that there was actual normal life in the outside world! Saturday was just go go go all day like normal and then Sunday. Holy cow it was fantastic. That was when we got to sing with the Nashville Tribute Band. I loved it so much. The spirit was so strong! If you have heard of that band! LOOK THEM UP THEY ARE SO GOOD. And thenMonday was the day! We flew out at 6:30 which was late compared to all the other missionaries who left at 3:30!!! Two initial words about Arizona. It's hot. We just about died after getting off the plane. And we went to the mission home where we met with president and sister Sweeney and practiced street contacting. And then they sent us into the real world. To talk to real people. Not the fake ones they make us teach in the MTC. AAAAHHHHH. IT WAS SO SCARY! We ended up contacting in old town Scottsdale which is so cute by the way! We didn't see too much success but we did get a lady's address and she said we could stop by for some water some time. And we were like yeah! Sure we will stop by for some water (aka in missionary language: stop by and teach all of the lessons :)). By the time we got back to the apartment we were sleeping at that night, we were all dead tired and went right to sleep. I have never sweat so much in my life. Like even in places I couldn't sweat. And then it was Tuesday. We went over to the church where we have transfers and did some training for driving and iPads. And then around one we got to meet our trainers. I know the church is true and that Jesus loves me you know why? Because not only do I get the best trainer ever. She is from Tonga. But wait. There's more! WE ARE SERVING ON THE INDIAN RESERVATION!!!! The two things I wanted from my mission and I get them right off the bat! I can't decide if that is a good omen and the rest of my mission is going to rock, or if my luck all came at the beginning and its gonna be a rough 18 months.... Haha we taught two lessons this morning because here we do p day so that we work in the morning and relax in the evening because it gets too hot. Jsyk I can read emails as soon as I get them but I can't reply until p day, which is usually Monday but was different this week because of transfers. Also president Sweeney is super cool about music so we can listen to lots of things and mostly leaves it for our own discretion. Which makes me so happy!! I can listen to music again! Yay! I'm loving serving in the res. it's so fan freaking tastic. I miss you guys and love hearing from all of you!  I'm gonna attach a pic of me and Sister Havea (my trainer). I don't have my camera so I'll send the rest if the pictures Monday :)

Quote of the week: "Pray like it all depends on God. Work like it all depends on you."

All my love! 

Sister Welch

News from Sr. Welch.

Holy cow this week has been crazy! It is so true when people say that the days go by so fast after Sunday! All of the sisters in my district are leaving Monday morning for the real live actual mission field... it's crazy! The MTC experience is a crazy one in itself, but I am so glad to have the companion and the district that I do because they make it a ton easier. It's insane how we have only known each other for a little over a week and we are all so close, it's like having another family here. Unfortunately we are not all going to the same mission but we are going to stay in touch for sure! Our district decided to sing in the MTC choir while we are here and you will never guess who we are singing with...... THE NASHVILLE TRIBUTE BAND!!!!! They are coming on Sunday for a special performance and asked the MTC choir to sing to chorus parts to some of their songs! How awesome is that?!?! So here at the MTC we have investigators just like real missionaries (well I guess we are real missionaries too....) and we teach them after class every night. Sister Johnson and I are teaching two college age girls, Elizabeth and Carolina. Elizabeth is from China and grew up Buddhist so we have to take it really slow with her. We have mostly been teaching about faith and the atonement and how it relates to her personally. Carolina on the other hand is just eating it up! (feasting on the word.. haha) our lessons with her are just getting better and better and last night she said that after she learns a little bit more she wants to be baptized!!!! That is a spiritual high like no other. I love Carolina so much, she has an amazing spirit and her testimony is growing everyday. After our lesson we get evaluated to see what we need to improve on and what areas we do well in. Our teacher, Brother McClain, told Sister Johnson and I that if we knew how good we are that we would stop trying. That definitely helped boost my mood! Sometimes here it is really hard and I am being humbled every day. I am learning so much about how to effectively teach and love those that I am serving around. Love you all bunches! Keep me updated  on the real world!

Love, 

Sister Welch

Scripture of the week: Matthew 28:19