Dear family-
Well HELLO! J It’s Monday morning again, can you believe it?! I got all of your snail mail this week and it basically was the BEST thing ever!! I loved the stories from the blogs- Becky wasn’t kidding when she said Bishop’s middle finger was not the longest finger anymore! Ha ha! (Not really funny, but what a story! My goodness!) Tell Bishop to be careful around those power tools! And I have to agree with Matthew, I think that trying to be in Bishop’s Owie Finger Club was a dumb reason for Dad to hurt his hand! J I guess I’m just thankful that nobody was hurt too seriously and that you are all doing pretty good. Di said something about Tim’s ear drum bursting- OUCH! Poor kid- just know that I’m thinking about ya and praying for all of you! This week was like a jackpot in the mail room! I think that I got like 7 letters! It was so awesome, thanks guys- YOU ARE THE GREATEST!!! I loved the pictures and Kite pen from Goosie, Prom sounds like a load of fun for Ben and Hannah, (When is Prom? Will Mark be old enough to go this year?) And of course I loved the letters from Mom and Di.
So, this week started out a little rough. We have what we call the “Standard of Excellence” which is a set of goals that we try to reach every week. There are different categories of course, but it is there to help us see what we can accomplish. The standard of excellence for total lessons is 20. This week by Thursday we only had like 7 lessons! I’m not sure why we were struggling so much, but I don’t think our total has EVER been that low. Anyways, this week our whole zone has been trying to achieve a “Zone of Excellence” so to do our part we really wanted to get all the standards. Well, Friday morning started out with interviews with President Holmes- can I just tell you, I LOVE PRESIDENT HOLMES! He is so tender hearted and close to the spirit. We had a great talk, and I was able to set some goals. One of those was something that I have been trying to do, but has been really hard. I was reading in 1 Nephi chapter 5 or 6 the other day and it talks about putting your “Whole heart into the work.” I feel like I am catching on to the missionary stuff, and that I really do try to follow the spirit, but I’m not as focused on the work as I could be. Sometimes I find my thoughts wandering and as I read that I realized that if I could have my WHOLE heart in the work, then I could see many more miracles. I told that to Pres. Holmes and he just smiled and said, “Sister Bishop that is a WONDEFUL goal! I know you can do it. All you have to do is DO! Just throw yourself into it and don’t look back.” So, with that in mind I am going forward in faith! My new motto is, “Faith not fear!” I think that I repeat it over and over every day as I’m knocking doors, making phone calls, and teaching with the spirit. When we have faith, there is no room for fear! That day we saw many miracles and we ended the week with 22 lessons!!! J It’s amazing what can happen when you turn yourself over to the lord! I am only scratching the surface- but from now on for the next 18 months I am ALL Sister BISHOP! I am a missionary who is called of God, has the spirit, LOVES the work and does her best every single day. I love the gospel so much! I love what it has done for our family, the blessings that come from keeping the commandments and the peace, joy and comfort that come as you come to know your savior better. THAT is why I’m here- there are so many people who need what I have and I can’t wait to find them and help them realize it!
We are teaching a 17 year old girl named Jessie Hall. She is the one that went to girl’s camp and really loved it. Since then, missionaries have been teaching her. The last few weeks we have had dinner with her at member’s homes which was great, but we could never seem to share everything that we wanted to. We were too short on time, or she had to go. . . one thing after another. Well finally yesterday we were able to really visit with her. We had dinner with the Edward’s family and then we had a really good lesson. We talked about how she expected to receive an answer. Brother and Sister Edwards were perfect! They were able to share powerful testimonies and experiences and at the end we invited Jessie to be baptized in February. She was quiet for a few minutes, and then said, “But, I can’t! I’m not 18 yet.” Her parents just want her to be really careful and not jump into anything. She is going to try to talk to them again, but if they say no we will have to wait until her birthday in March. We are fasting with her this weekend too and hope that she will be able to recognize her answer as she reads the Book of Mormon, prays and fasts. She is such an amazing girl, I really think that she will be baptized here in the next little while! J
Another neat story was with Jessica Hall. (Two different investigators! Yup- we have a Jessie Hall and a Jessica Hall.) So Jessica is in her late 20’s early 30’s and is married to a less active. Her in-law’s are so great though! We had dinner with them a few weeks ago and had a great time! So, we teach Jessica at a member’s home on her lunch break. She has a lot of questions, which is GREAT!! It’s interesting teaching her because she doesn’t have any religious background. She hasn’t been to church very much and doesn’t really know who God is. The members are really great, but He likes to talk a lot. It makes it really hard to give the lesson that we prepared when he goes off on the organization from the 1st presidency down to the deacon’s quorum! ) HA HA, for real! J So I had been thinking a lot this week about how we can get her in-law’s more involved. I felt like I should talk to them, so after church yesterday I found Sister Hall and asked her if she would like to be a part of our lessons. She looked at me, got a little teary eyed and said, “I was just complaining to my husband that this is MY daughter-in-law and that I wanted to be a part of teaching her the gospel! YES- What can we do to be more involved?” It was amazing!! I just love it when I follow through and act on promptings! J We decided that we would plan on seeing Jessica once a week, every other week we would do it with the members and on the off week we would do it with the in-laws. They were SO excited, I feel like they will have a HUGE impact on Jessica. I am so excited to help her learn more. She is wonderful, last time she prayed out loud with us for the first time ever! What a sweet feeling!! I just love her, I love the work- this is the greatest! J
So- funny story of the week! We were tracting in an apartment complex and knocked on this lady’s door. We introduced ourselves and she told us, “I’m way too busy right now and I’m NOT interested. Besides, soliciting is not allowed here so you have to leave!” Sister Burnham tried one more approach, “I like your sign!” (She had a silly sign on her door.) She looked at us and was like, “LEAVE NOW!! Or I’m calling the cops! NOW GO!!!” Then she slammed the door! Ha ha, needless to say we did leave. I got my first calling the cop’s threat! Ha ha, now I feel like a real missionary! LOL
Well Family, this week has been another good one! I have seen lots of miracles and the lord has really blessed us! This week we find out what happens with transfers, I’m excited and only a little nervous! But I know that no matter what happens- the lord is in charge! He qualifies those that he calls! I KNOW that I can do anything with his help!
I love you all SUPER-MUCHO!! J Have a wonderful week! J
Love,
Sister Bishop
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