Letter #47 02/18/14

Miracles! It is amazing to see how many miracles are happening after I've been in this area for so long. When I first got to Star, the Star 2nd ward was the one with all the teaching opportunities, but now that we are just focused on Beacon Light, it is just booming with blessings! We have 4 solid investigators right now and having teaching opportunities almost every day, whereas before it was lucky if we had 2 lessons a week. 

Tuesday, we had Zone Conference and I was asked to speak with two other Zone Leaders on Unity. This was my second time giving a talk on Unity, so maybe Heavenly Father's trying to tell me something? Haha. No, I feel I'm pretty good on unity, but it was still great to talk about. We had our stake president come and speak about how we can work better with the members. I swear he's going to be a General Authority one day ;) It was a great Zone Conference and really just reinforced what we had been trained on last week in Zone Meeting on planning more effectively which leads to teaching more effectively. After, we went on exchanges as there are some sisters I have stewardship over that are kind of struggling in their companionship. I admit I am not the best at advising people, but I'm grateful for this opportunity to learn and to rely on the spirit to help me know what to say. 

Wednesday, we participated in the Stake Humanitarian Service day at the stake center. This happens once a month and is truly a great opportunity to serve within the community and throughout the world as we tie quilts, write service letters, make activity pillows, and sew dresses for Ghana and Haiti. It's great just to meet with sisters in the community as well and have a chance to socialize and bond. One of our miracles began this day as well. One of the members that we've been working with, Alec, has been involving his younger step-brother in church more and he came to church for the first time last Sunday. He asked him about taking the missionary discussions and we told Devon to just think about it and get back to us. Well, Tuesday while on exchanges, Sister Maness followed up and he said he was interested. So we got to teach him the first lesson about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Devon doesn't really have much of a religious background or understanding, but his desire and attention was incredible. As we talked to him about Joseph Smith, we asked him, being just a year older than Joseph Smith at the time, how he would feel if he saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. His response was incredible. He told us that at first he'd be a little scared, but then he would do whatever They asked of him since it was God and Jesus Christ. Seriously?? It's amazing to see how Heavenly Father is preparing His children. He enjoyed the lesson and the Spirit was definitely teaching him too. 

Friday, of course, was Valentine's day. Sister Maness and I decided that we would make the day fun by making hearts with messages on them and then heart attacking different families that we've interacted with. Some were members of the church, others not, but we wanted them to know that someone loved them. The day was pouring rain, so that made it a little interesting, but we would put tape on the back of the hearts and then run quickly (quietly) to the door, put the hearts on and run back to the car while trying not to get everything too wet. It was so much fun and felt so good to do that quiet act. We got a couple texts later that night with people asking if it was us and thanking us. I didn't want the recognition, but I'm grateful it was successful in helping people feel loved. That evening, we were pampered by a family in the ward as they took us out to a nice dinner in Eagle (I had yummy Mahi Mahi - thought of you Teresa) with dessert...yes, Sister Maness and I are back on eating desserts, although we're more sparing about it. When we got back, they had a little gift bag for each of us with chocolates, lotion and a gift card to Charming Charlies. And when we got home, Brother Rowe (who we live with) handed each of us 3 pink roses. So we got chocolates, dinner AND roses! Probably the most special V-day I've ever had :)

This past weekend was our Stake Conference, where all the members in Star gather to hear from our stake leaders and other members of the church. Saturday night was all about missionary work and our mission president and his wife came and spoke. It was so wonderful to have them there and be a part of it :) There were some converts to the church that shared their stories and testimonies and they did a video on all the youth that were serving missions from the Star stake. Miary was supposed to bear her testimony, and in English, but she got confused on the time and so she was able to do it Sunday morning. What a wonderful experience that was. It was so good to see her again and to hear her wonderful testimony. It touched a lot of people. She began and finished in English and the rest was in Malagasy, which her son-in-law translated. I'm so proud of her and how she continues to grow in the gospel. Also, Sunday morning, the Primary children sand their medley of "Army of Helaman/Called to Serve". Let's just say, not a dry eye in the congregation - including mine. These children are so powerful and they don't even know it. President Firmage ended the session with a talk on prayer. It was great to feel his humility and to explain such a simple principle, but of it's importance. He talked about how our desired aren't always God's will and so as we pray for guidance, we should have an opened heart to know what He needs of us. Also, how we can recognize those answers by the Spirit and that if any answer is not followed by the presence of the Spirit, then it is not true. Truly a great meeting!

Yesterday, we had just a regular day because we are going to the temple tomorrow and the new rule in our mission is that our temple day become our preparation day. Being a holiday, we weren't sure how it would be filled, but luckily our pattern has continued that this area is booming with work to do. Last night, we go to teach Hudson about the Commandments and importance of Obedience. He is continuing to progress and we hope that his family helps him to commit to make it to church this Sunday. Afterwards, we met with Brenda as she had her baptismal interview. It is incredible to see these people grow and their true repentant heart as they desire to follow Christ and have a change of heart from the past. She is amazing and is preparing herself for so many wonderful blessings. We're shooting to have her baptism in a couple of weeks. Her daughter has just agreed to start taking the discussions as well and we're going to start teaching her tonight.

This coming Saturday we will be getting our transfer call and I am expecting to be transferred out of Star. I don't want to, especially with so many good things happening finally, but I haven't heard of any sisters staying in an area for longer than 6 months :( I know that wherever the Lord will send me is where I need to be. I have loved serving here and have had so many experiences that have allowed me to grow immensely. Every day, I receive another confirmation of why this Gospel is true. It makes sense. I feel my Heavenly Father's love daily leading me and guiding me. The principles that we learn and teach are so true and truly bring us that happiness that doesn't go away. Often the world thinks that it can bring us true happiness, but it fades so quickly and often as consequences that make life harder. If you want to enjoy all the blessings that God has for you, just turn to His Gospel. He won't lead you astray. What matters most is our Family being together forever and through Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, that is possible. Who wouldn't want that?

I love you all so much and thank you for your love! Have a great week.

Love,

Sister Wightman

Photos 02/10/14

The "Star Sisters"

Sister Maness and I at the bottom of Table Rock last p-day

At the top of Table Rock. Beautiful day!

My attempt in making a snow angle before shoveling the driveway

Letter #46 02/10/14

Hello everyone! This week has been kind of a roller coaster. Most of it was really great. We had an awesome lesson with Hudson Monday night, teaching him the Plan of Salvation. Having time to role play a lot, with appointments falling through, we were able to really simplify it for his level of understanding and so he was able to even explain it to us after. We invited him to be baptized and he accepted, but his dad said that he has to come to church 4 weeks in a row before he can. We know that if he does that, it will increase his commitment level . We also found out in the middle of the week that another investigator, Brenda, had talked to the bishop about setting a baptismal date because she wants us to be there. We were stoked! and so we tried setting up a time to go over the preparations with her. Thursday, I attended a special Leadership Council where we had in addition to the normal crowd: Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders, the District Leaders were invited and we had Brother Hemingway, Director of the Proselyting Services for the Church and Brother Woodruff, Director of Missionary Services for the Church. It was great to receive training from them and understand how to be more effective and successful. They shared some statistics with us. Since the missionary age has changed in October of 2012, there are now 405 missions, 84,533 missionaries serving, of which 55,396 are elders and 22,667 are sisters. Cool fact for sisters...before the age changed, there were only around 7,000 sisters serving! We've more than tripled!!! They had also done a survey asking people around the country (not of our faith), if they would consider joining the LDS church...9 million said that they WOULD! That is incredible. And Brother Hemingway said there's about 14,000 within our mission boundaries. So...Heavenly Father is definitely preparing people's hearts, and we have got to find them! We learned how to plan better and I can see how this will be effective in our work as well as after the mission. Saturday, we had a neat experience to attend a Family History fair at one of the Stake Centers to teach both adults and youth more about family history work. There were about 230 adults and around 350 youth! We watched a broadcast of John Bytheway and Neil L. Anderson (of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles). Pretty neat experience! Yesterday, at church was where it got a little disheartening. A positive, is that Sister Maness and I got to perform a musical number in Sacrament meeting. She sang "I Know That My Redeemer Lives"(efy version) as I accompanied her. I am so grateful I have a companion that I can share my talents with. She has an incredible voice and it really touched a lot of people in the congregation. We had a couple friends of some members come and so it was cool for them to see that too. However, Hudson did not come (which will push back his baptism) as well as Brenda. She was sick, but she hadn't been able to commit a time to meet to go over baptismal questions. Just when it seems like people are progressing really well, it seems like something always comes up. I understand that there are things not in my control, but it's hard when you have something that is so good and you're able to share it with people, they enjoy it, but they don't embrace it. I keep praying every day though for these individuals, and know that it will all work out eventually. The weather has been a bit extreme, full days of heavy snow fall. I've been able to work on my shoveling skills, but I'm starting to look forward to the summer again...haha. I love you all. I hope everyone will be with their loved ones this Friday (Valentine's day). I appreciate your love. I am so grateful to be out here serving and know that this is where I need to be. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is here on the Earth. Truth and purpose and hope is available to all who are ready to receive it.

Letter #45 02/03/14

There is sunshine in my soul today!!!!!!!! So we FINALLY saw the sun for the first time in a month! I've missed it so much. It's amazing how much the gray skies were starting to affect everyone, and how cheery everyone became once the sun showed up. Definitely lifted all our spirits :) Again, now that we are only covering this ward, we have continued to meet everyone in the ward. It has been awesome just to get to know everyone and how much more united we have become from that. The word has spread that Sister Maness and I sing our spiritual thoughts and so now people are requesting it! A little nerve-wracking sometimes, but still has been a blessing for me. I was a little sick this week, with a sinus cold. It was very attractive as I would just "cry" out of my left eye ;) I tried toughing through as much as possible because I hate telling people I'm sick, especially when they have little kids or older spouses. Finally, Friday night I asked for a priesthood blessing from one our elders. He and his companion willingly came over before curfew and gave me a simple but powerful blessing. Saturday morning I woke up free of congestion and headaches. Sometimes we just need to let the healing power of the priesthood help us to feel our Heavenly Father's love. I am so grateful for that priesthood power and that I've been blessed to always have it in my life. We are continuing to work with Mary Jo, Brenda, and Hudson. Hudson's lessons continued to fall through, but I think it was a tender mercy so that Sister Maness and I could really prepare and refine the lessons more for his needs and understanding. Teaching simply is so much harder! We were ready to extend a baptismal invitation to Mary Jo, but one of the first things she said to us in our visit was, "I'm not ready to be baptized girls". So frustrating! Haha. She keeps all our commitments and goes above and beyond. I know that Satan is just working on her and making her doubt what she has felt and learned, but we continue to feel prompted to challenge her with a date that she might be able to exercise her faith towards. Her daughter and family should be back from Ghana with their adopted kids and have opened up their orphanage there by the end of March and it would be wonderful for Mary Jo to be baptized with the new members of the Hofman family. Our Stake President (who is also in our ward) has even felt impressed and is helping us to make this happen :) I continue to see miracles every day. One of the greatest things I've felt impressed on this week is the knowledge that I am a child of God. To know that God is my Heavenly Father and I am of noble birthright is so powerful. It affects the decisions I make every day. It helps me to know where I came from and how important the choices I make to day to lead me to where I'm going. I hope you all know that you too are children of your Heavenly Father. He loves you and knows you. When we know that, it's easier to do what He asks of us. How little He does ask of us and how much He blesses us in return. Have a great next week (I continue to pray for rain!). Love, Sister Wightman

Self Worth Video

to watch more videos: http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages/topics/self-worth?v=2816242049001#.UuatSrlhmFI.email

Letter #44 01/27/14

Count Your Blessings. That is the song going through my head right now. As I continue to be surrounded by gray skies (we have not seen sun for almost a month now), cold air and stubborn snow still stuck on the ground, I realize that I am still blessed as I have been informed of the drought in California and the fires. My heart goes out to everyone there. I know that as long as we are doing what we are supposed to be doing and have faith that everything will work out. 

This week, we had a leadership training (all the senior companions) on working with the Stake and Ward Leaders. It was neat because we had a small panel of a bishop and Relief Society president and were able to get some feedback and ideas on how to work better with them so that we can be more united in our purpose of bringing others closer to Christ. We then went out and worked on applying the things we had learned. I had been able to set up appointments with our Relief Society President, Bishop and Elders Quorum president and brainstorm more ideas to be of help. Especially now that Sister Maness and I are only working with one ward, this is crucial because we cannot do any of our work without them! 

This week as we met with individuals it was neat to see how much our visits can mean to these people. Tuesday night we went to the Relief Society activity night where we learned how to make "knock off meals" (KFC's coleslaw, Wendy's chili, Red Lobster's cheese biscuits and Applebee's Blondie brownies). I have to say that coleslaw is the closest thing to KFC's and it's the only coleslaw I like ;) Later that week, we stopped by a sister's house who we've been visiting that is still mourning from her husband's sudden death the last year (Parkinson's). She was making the Blondie brownies for her sister's birthday and so we helped her to make it. Although it was a simple act, it was so fun to spend that time with her and probably more fun than if she had made them on her own. She is having knee surgery this next week and she asked if we can just continue to come visit with her because it helps her so much. We had another boy, Alec (who's been struggling with his activity in the church) also share with us that he feels a difference when we visit him and that because of our consistency with him, his desire to serve a mission a rekindled. That was like music to our ears. There are days when I wonder if I'm making a difference, but to hear those things reassure me that I am doing my part, no matter how small or big it may seem. 

It is so important to remember that we all play a part in this game of Life. We may seem like we have a lot of responsibility, and other times feel that we are inadequate, but I can promise you that no matter the size of what we do, it all makes a difference and God's Plan for happiness would not work if we all didn't do our part. Serving and loving those around us, attending all activities that we are encouraged to go to, sharing what we know is true, these are all important. We never know the impact that our choices can make on others, hopefully for the better. You matter. Many of your choices have impacted me and where I am today. I thank you for that. Whenever you doubt your importance, just send me an email and I'll remind you why you're important to me ;) 

Love you all and hope you have a GREAT week!

Sister Wightman

Letter #43 01/21/14

Inversion! This is a new concept to me. We have had inversion, or thick fog, for the past week, and boy does that get old. It gives everything a misty cool look, but as the driver, you sure have to drive careful. We keep hoping for some sunshine, but soon enough. I reflect back on the summer when it was 112 degrees and we were looking forward to snow. Not saying I'm ready for the heat again, but some sunshine would be nice ;) We've been singing the hymn, "There Is Sunshine In My Soul Today" a lot lately haha. 

Well this was Sister Maness and my first official week of just serving in the Beacon Light ward. It was definitely an adjustment. One day we're super excited, and then we're a little discouraged (having so much more time on our hands to fill), and then we're excited again as we see progress. We have made it a goal just to meet everyone. We're still working on that. Lately, I've been feeling myself a little less motivated than normal and so I turned to a booklet that we had been given about "Adjusting to Missionary Life". In it, it addresses different stresses that we experience on a mission and one of them is about feeling unmotivated. There was a great suggestion that really stood out to me which said to focus on a talent that you have and apply it into your missionary work. SO, since Sister Maness and I both like to sing, we decided that when we would share a spiritual thought, we would sing a hymn instead. It was incredible just that one little change made. As we sing (harmonizing), the Spirit is so much stronger. I know that hymns are a form of scripture and it has been so great to teach in a different way. Friday, we stopped by a family's house that the husband is not active in the church, but the wife is. We sat and visited (and defrosted) for a while and then sang the wife's favorite hymn, "I Stand All Amazed". She shared with us later that after we left, her husband turned to her and said how nice that was. She said she almost fell off her chair because he is not one to share his thoughts, especially on spiritual things. So that was really cool. Our dinner for Sunday night was a cool experience too. The family had forgotten that they had signed up to have us to dinner after inviting their neighbors (attend another church that tend to not support the LDS church). She was afraid of having them feel like this was a set up when it really wasn't, but when she explained the situation and asked if they still wanted to come, they cheerfully agreed that they had no problem with it. We had a great meal and visit with all of them. I got to talk to the husband about classic cars (thank you Dad for raising me on that!) and it was just so comfortable. At the end, Sister Maness and I got up to sing a hymn. We had actually felt prompted to sing "I Need Thee Every Hour" and afterwards, the wife (neighbor) expressed that she hadn't heard that song in a long time and it seemed to really touch her. Before leaving, they told us that we were welcome over to their house anytime if we were ever in the neighborhood and needed anything. Score! I love the ways that we get to meet so many people :)

Saturday we had our first ward open house. This is an opportunity for members of the Church to invite their friends to see our church and learn about how we worship and what we are about. Since throughout the week when there aren't any activities going on the building is locked up, many people who maybe want to know, don't have the opportunity to. Again, this was our first one and we didn't have any one that wasn't from our church come, but we had a pretty good turn out of members. So I think that was good so that now they know what happens there for when they do invite their friends. This is something that will happen every first Saturday of the month, so definitely plenty of more opportunities to invite :)

The work is slowly but surely progressing in this ward. We are still meeting with Mary Jo (actually just met with her this morning), Hudson, and Brenda. We taught Hudson a little bit about the Plan of Salvation last night and it was a good reminder that is different teaching children. Hopefully next time we will be able to relate it a little more to his level of understanding (good practice for when I'm a parent ;)). Brenda and Mary Jo came to church on Sunday and stayed all three hours. As we've visited with Brenda lately, she is actually the one bringing up about baptism. She has had all the lessons, but it's been since about last February since she took them so would definitely need a refresher. Although she has not fully committed, as she worries how this will affect her relationship with her parents, she has such a strong desire and still doing all she needs to do to prepare and be actively involved. I think she prepares for the lessons at church more than most members do! I love her and her family though and have a strong feeling that she will make that commitment this year. 

We are having a training tomorrow (all the senior companions) on working with the stake and ward leaders and focusing on how we can all work together more so we can be united in our purpose. I'm looking forward to that because I think that will really help. When we all have the same goal in mind and are able to support one another better, the results are so much better. 

This past week I have been studying more on the Christlike attribute of Faith in Jesus Christ. As I've read books and scriptures on this principle, I have seen how simple faith truly can be. Faith is an action word and as we study, are obedient and diligent in our work, we are showing our faith. I love how it talks about faith preceding miracles. The miracles are an effect of our faith, but we must do our part first. There is so much more satisfaction when we know we've put our all into and done our best first and then see the outcome of that. I am reminded that miracles do not have to be a big event, but even just those little tender mercies. Faith truly is the foundation of it all. With a couple of our investigators, they are simply needed to exercise that faith [in Jesus Christ] by taking that step forward to do what they know is right and true and having the faith that everything else will fall into place. Our Heavenly Father knows each of us and our individual situations. He wants ALL of His children to return to Him and so He will provide the way. Even when we wonder if we will always have that support from those around us, I know that Heavenly Father will allow everything to work out if we are doing good. 

I love you all and am grateful for the faith that you've had in me! I hope you all have a wonderful week :)

Love,

Sister Wightman

p.s. Just want to give a shout-out to my cousin, Erin, and a big congratulations on her new baby girl, Joelle!!!