Sumo Stress Relief

2-23-15

Aspen Zone

Dearest family.
     Well this life was just as crazy as last week, but I think I am learning to handle it better haha :) We are just working working working! Last Monday we played a ton of soccer and had a bunch of fun! Tuesday was a busy day because we had another zone training meeting we were teaching with our other zone. It was really good and the missionaries I serve with are just fantastic at what they do! We talked about the prodigal son a lot and had a great discussion on the
atonement and how we need it as missionaries just as much as the people we teach. The theme this month in mission is PMG (Preach My Gospel) ch 4 about learning to recognize and follow the spirit. We watched the "patterns of light" Mormon messages by Elder Bednar and had some cool discussions on them and following the spirit. President McCune gave us four principles for receiving personal revelation. 1) If you received it, trust it. 2) Ask specific questions and study them out. 3) Imagine it in your minds and test it out and 4) Is it rational? It was a good meeting. Afterwards we had lunch with one of our Senior Couples,, the Looslies before we went on exchanges with the Aspen Spanish sisters. I went with Sis Roman to her Spanish area while Sis Bonilla went to our area. I had fun walking all over Orem with Sis Roman (no car and it was like 60 degrees and perfect outside) we had some amazing Peruvian food that was delicious! We didn't do an overnight one, but just a day one, and it was after that that Sis Robertson and I went home and finished our nightly planning early...so we decided to sumo wrestle....nothing helps get rid of stress like body slamming someone and laughing your guts out! Haha we tied the couch cushions to us with scarves and had a grand old time. You must see the pictures or even the video I sent? At one point I smacked my head into the apple box in our apartment and we died laughing! It was super fun and we laughed even harder watching the videos afterwards.
     Wednesday was our second zone conference and it was epic and super inspiring! We talked all about how you don't need to balance obedience and love, they are the same. If you love the lord, you are obedient and vice’ versa. We also heard more about the mission split coming in June, which I am kind of glad that I'm not going to be here for. Too sad. Also the Pacen temple open house starts April 24th, which I might not be there for which I am bummed about...but I will be there in spirit... Especially as all the sister missionaries watch me in the training video. Hahah! We also talked about the new iPad rules. As of March 3rd everyone is required to buy a new iPad from their own finances....except for those going home within the next six months or so! Yah! I don't have to pay! Haha. But we will all be turning our iPads in for updated ones and won't be on face book for a few months. Pres. McCune went to a meeting with a bunch of other mission presidents and Elder Bednar and Elder Nelson all about technology and he said it was a new age for missionary work and super important. He asked us why we think we had iPads as missionaries. We all answered "to hasten the work?" And he said "no. To teach you all how to use technology righteously for the rest of your life. This generation is going to see huge changes in technology for the rest of your lives and you need to be prepared." He told us that elder Bednar told all the mission presidents that "this is the most important season in the history of the church in this dispensation." The whole zone conference was silent after that statement and everyone had chills. It was epic!
    

Visit from Old companion at missionary couples home.

Study time!

We have a mission wide conference with Elder Clark March 3. Wednesday night we switched again for exchanges with Sis Echeverria! It was super fun and we got to do some serious door knocking, trying to find Hispanic people, which is always an awkward experience (because I only speak English) but super funny and a good way to bond with your companion. I still feel like I am not much of a trainer, but more like I'm going on sleepovers haha. But I do have some training I have to get done, and I have to check all of the sister’s iPads when I go on exchanges with them to make sure they aren't doing anything inappropriate or messaging people during the week. Friday was kind of crazy with lessons and all our weekly planning we needed to get done! One of our investigators named Crystal decided she finally wanted to get baptized!!! And when I mean suddenly, I mean she wants to do it tomorrow! She has been keeping all her commitments and everything for a while, but she finally committed...and sis Robertson volunteered me to sing without even asking! Haha so I am doing a solo tomorrow to Come unto Christ. Crystal is a young married sister from the Philippines and she is so cute and sweet and prepared! I'm so stoked for her! A is still working towards her wedding but has been having so many trials, so if you could pray for her and her family that would help so much!

     Friday night was super annoying because our landlord was out of town and his college age son threw a party and we couldn't sleep because there was banging and screaming and yelling above our heads until 1am. I was so frustrated and tired that I knocked on the sealing and texted the landlord because I was tired and we had a big day the next day.
Saturday was a lot of teaching and finding. We taught D again who is progressing to baptism next month and is going to be baptized by his older brother who will get home from his mission the day before! It’s going to be amazing!  We saw so many miracles Saturday while out funding and contacting. We prayed for the spirit a ton, and the randomest circumstances happened and people came out of the wood work at the gas station and at apartment complexes. Sunday was mega busy as always! I wish I could describe everyone to you because they are all so amazing but I never have enough time! Ah! We had a crazy p day today hiking and playing sports and hopefully I can send pics next Monday! I love you all and miss you lots! Hope all is good and you are all in my prayers!
     Love,
Sister Lenise Diane Volmer

Meetings, lots of Meetings

2-16-15

Trying to stay awake and pineapple is helping.

Heart Attack from a 9 year old investigator.

Dear family,
     With the little amount of time I have I have so much to tell you and I'm on my iPad and my short fat thumbs aren't very fast... So no judging my typos and stuff.  Where do I even begin...I have said that I have had crazy weeks before but this week...this week was downright exhausting. So so much. So much went down.
     I have been busier than ever as an STL. Tuesday we had an all-day meeting for all the leadership in the whole mission. This meeting is then broken down and taught by the STLs and zone leaders in zone training meetings. We cover two zones, so that means double the zone training meetings, and I also discovered double the zone conferences we need to attend. Yep. Sooooooo many meetings. So many. I think my brain is fried...they are all really good! But they have a tendency to exhaust you and make you feel like you could be doing so much better than you are currently doing. Humbling week to the max.  As an STL we go on splits with other Sisters, help sisters who might be struggling, teach leadership lessons, and generally help wherever we are needed.
          Thursday we had a miscommunication with our dinner. We were eating with a Hispanic lady and we had to go to the temple for one of Sis Robertson’s recent converts getting doing baptisms, and so we needed to leave dinner early. Well she didn't have dinner prepared when we got there so she was running everywhere trying to get food ready. I don't think I have eaten that fast in my life! And when we were done we were getting p to go and she pulled out a huge thing of ice cream and cake and flan (Mexican cake stuff) and insisted we have some and then take some home with us! I thought I was going to die! Haha! It was on our way to the temple late that we got the call from Pres McCune that he was transferring Sis B to our area and he wanted us to organize the transfer, including housing and helping sisters move and get situated in new areas....did I mention that we teach 34 lessons a week? And we had to juggle all of this In-between lessons and teaching and a bunch of other things. It was crazy stressful! 

Aspen Grove Zone

       Saturday was our first zone training meeting and it went really well! The focus was all on following the spirit and knowing our purpose as missionaries because we know our relationship with Christ. Remember when I wrote you about the question "what does Christ think of you?" And you told me that Uncle Lance used it for a youth conferences? Well I took his idea with the signs of "horrible" "meh" "okay" and "awesome" and we did the whole activity asking them how good they were at different aspects of missionary work, and then finishing with the question "What do you think Christ thinks of you?" It was a really cool experience! And a super spiritual zone training meeting! But I'm pretty sure Sis Robertson and I looked horrible because that morning we were supposed to go to the temple at 6:30, so we set our alarm for 6, but it didn't go off! So we woke up to the sound of our ride pounding on our door! I seriously threw a skirt on and brushed my teeth and we were out the door. My hair looked like it had been through a blender and I had zero makeup on. We were going with one of our recent converts named Megan and we got there in time to be able to watch her do baptisms. It was great! But I was so tired and looked like death!
      After the zone meeting one of our other sisters was sad because her grandmother is going into surgery this week for cancer and we are all fasting for her today. She also found out her uncle has cancer too, so life is just unloading on her. We had to make sure that she got a blessing. 

     Later Saturday afternoon we had another sister who was struggling so we went to council with her. Her companion, Sister T who was in the MTC with me told me something I really needed to hear, and I didn't realize how overwhelmed I was with everything and trying to be perfect and how much stress was building until these words came out of her mouth:
     "Expecting to be perfect is denying the need for a Savior." It was like all the sudden all the sudden a bunch of air had rushed out of me and I realized I wasn't letting the Savior and his atonement ease my burden. I was insisting on carrying it all alone. I was so tired that my eyes ached and I couldn't even think for myself because I was so worried about so many of the sisters and I was so overwhelmed with everything I needed to get done and be doing that I didn't let myself tap into my access of the atonement and let it cover. Sometimes we limit ourselves to how much the atonement covers us...and we really shouldn't. It doesn't ever stop. It's always there. But we are the ones to decide how much and how often we let it lift us. Just like with a little boy named K we taught this week and his older sisters. We taught about our identity as children of God and invited them to pray and ask God what he thinks of them. Nine year old K got down on his knees in the closing prayer and Sadie most sincere prayer I have ever hear. At the end he said "God, what do you think of all of us?" And he paused. It was like we all felt drenched in the spirit and a wall of love just smacked me in the face. It was so overwhelming and so real and powerful. I'm so thankful for K’s faith and the love I felt from my Savior even though I had been trying to help them feel His love.
     I feel like I haven't even grazed the surface of everything that went on this week. But I have a billion more meetings and exchanges this next week, so be prepared for more. I have never wanted to sleep so badly in my life, and my district is dragging me to go play soccer. Pray for me. Pretty please. Haha love you all and miss you! The Savior's is so GOOD and so is his gospel!
     Love,
Sister Lenise Diane Volmer

Busy and Tired in the Service

2-9-15

Dear Family...
     Let's start off with the fact I don't think I've been this tired on my mission. Ever. I keep dozing off during nightly planning, and I haven't had much time to think with everywhere we have been running and everything we've been doing. 
      Being a Sister Training Leader just for the past 5 days has been one of the most humbling experiences ever! I feel like I'm being trained as a brand new missionary all over again! It's insane! This new area in Orem is nothing like the last two times I was in Orem when the work was really slow and we did contacting all day. As a Sister Training Leader we get a car, which we need, because they are SO busy here! They have an average of 35 lessons in this area and I cover 2 stakes, and 19 wards. I've gone on more splits this last week than I have in the last 6 months on my mission, which is really pushing my teaching skills and making me rely on the spirit because teaching alone to people you've never met before can be really intimidating and scary, but overall it's been ok. Each night at bed time, I am OUT! So so so tired. As a Sister Training Leader, we are over 2 zones, so I cover 6 sets of sister missionaries (12 Sisters) 4 sets of which are Spanish Sisters. I already love them so much. When I found out I would be an STL, I started praying really hard to just love the sisters that I would be training, and it has helped a lot. I worry about them constantly and I've only known most of them for 5 days. But I don't know a lick of Spanish....Pretty much the only thing I know how to say in Spanish is Yo tengo los gatos verdes en mis pantalones.... (I have green cats in my pants...and that's just not going to help anyone....)

      We have two sets of senior couples and they spoil us so bad! One of them are Elder and Sister Cornish and they claim us all as adopted daughters and keep telling us how much they love us and if there is anything we need or anything they will do it all! They are the sweetest ever! If you ask Elder Cornish his favorite part of the mission, he says the young Sister Missionareis! haha! The Looslie's are the same way! They are the best! 

     This week I've met so many new people who are just so prepared and amazing! This place is booming with investigators and people to teach and to love. My mind is dizzy trying to remember them all though! 


Jeff's Baptism

     Saturday I had the chance to go back to Mapleton to see Jeff's baptism! It was so strange, I had only been gone 3 days and just driving through Springville was making me homesick for it and missing Sister Gulbranson so much. His baptism was amazing and had a great turn out and it was cool to visit with all the missionaries who had taught him in the past! HE is such a tall big guy, and his uncle who baptized him was smaller, and so they had to baptize him twice because he couldn't get him down under the water all the way and pull him back up!  And I loved catching up with Sis Gulbranson.
       Sis Robertson and I have a lot of fun as companions! We are so busy, but we laugh a lot and reminisce the good old days in the MTC together. Last night our land lords had a bunch of teenagers over playing games and they were so loud! It took us a while but we eventually figured out that they were playing charades, which inspired us to want to play a round. So we laughed really hard because we were so loopy and tired and acting out Samuel the Lamanite, and evil king Noah, and being an octopus, and a fireplace. We are weirdos. It's going to be a jolly good time together! :) I'm learning so much from her! She is such an amazing missionary and really knows her stuff!
      I've met some amazing people this week that we teach, and I'm so excited to get to know them more.
       One of them is named AJ. She is in her 40's and has awesome long HOT PINK hair! It's so cool! She wants to get baptized SO bad! She just needs to stop smoking and she'll be good...but she is also living with a boyfriend and their 6 year old daughter. We taught her the law of chastity this week, and told her that she can't get baptized unless her and her Boyfriend of 7 years named N get married. We talked about the blessings and the importance of the commandment to God, and she said she understood, but didn't have money for a wedding. We told her the bishop could marry them, the chapel was free, the ward would come together to decorate and make food, and we knew a cake decorator. She has SO much faith it was crazy! She started crying she was so grateful for everyone's help! Her and her boyfriend set a date for March 10th to get married! It was so amazing! I'm so proud of her and she is such an amazing woman. So we are wedding planners now.

Lenise loves books!

      There is another 17 year old boy named D who wants to be baptized and his brother gets off his mission next month, and is going to come home and baptize him! It will be super neat! We had a lot of district meetings to go to this week and we have been so busy setting up our exchange schedule for this transfer! I have to go on 6 exchanges...6...holy cow. This will be a new adventure for sure. We have MLC (Missionary leadership Council meeting) this week which is just like a zone conference with all the leadership. Then later this next week we have two zone training meetings to plan, conduct, and teach. So this week is going to be a crazy week of meetings and such. Not a whole lot of time to teach, which means we will be going on more splits in the evenings to get all our lessons in. 
      Also on Wed and Thurs nights we do chapel tours. It's something the stake presidents have set up where people can invite nonmember/less active friends and family to come tour the church and get comfortable, and us as missionaries lead the tours and talk about the sacrament and the baptismal font and all sorts of other things. So that keeps us busy. 
      Well, I know that this church is true. I have to wrap things up because we just found out some sisters need help. 
      But I want to bare my testimony that I know that the Savior lives, that through relying on Him we can overcome our struggles, the hard times, the new things, and the hard things. I've been chanting my mantra this week "I can do hard things. I can do hard things." The Lord's will is my will and I'm ready to do what He asks. I love you all and miss you! Thanks for everything and the support. Love you to the moon and back!
    Love,
Sister Lenise Diane Volmer
   p.s. 
       I will not be sending you my current address because they have asked that all mail be sent to the mission office to be forwarded. I need to be obedient and be a good example to these sisters...which means getting letters a week later than they would usually get to me. Any mail should be sent to 85 North 600 East, Provo UT 84606.  Tell me when Leisha has her baby! :)

Narnia Ringtone

2-2-15

Dear Family,

Candace

     Let me please just start off by saying that I really need your prayers. Like really really need them. Badly. This is going to be a big adjustment for me and a lot of hard work. 
      So for starters, Sis Gulbranson and I thought it would be funny to put a ringtone on President McCune's calls similar to the horn-blowing music from the Chronicles of Narnia whenever Aslan appears. Well, when it's a transfer morning, you dread hearing such a ringtone, and just hope you don't hear it at all... Because if you get a call from President McCune on transfer morning, it means one of you in the companionship is receiving a leadership position. Sis Gulbranson and I were convinced we would be staying together again. Just convinced! But this morning during studying time...the dreaded blowing of the Narnia ringtone sounded. We just looked at each other wide-eyed before both of us at the same time shouted "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!" My hands were shaking SO bad!!!!!! I could already feel tears coming to my eyes, because just the fact that he was calling meant we wouldn't be companions anymore. I put the phone on speaker and I tried to use my most cheerful voice to answer the phone, but the whole time I was doing it, Sis Gulbranson was in the background with her hands over her eyes chanting "No no no no no no no." The first thing President said was "Well Sis Volmer, Sis Gulbranson, I have an adventure for both of you!" We just stared at each other all confused and scared. He started with "Sister Volmer, are you there?" and I was like "Yes...?" He then said "Sister Volmer, I would like to call you to be a Sister Training Leader, do you think you can accept that calling?" My mind went blank for a moment and then the first things that popped out of my mouth were "Are you sure?!?!" because quite honestly I'll be the first to admit that I am forgetful and scatterbrained and unqualified to be training and going on exchanges with other sister missionaries!!!!!!!!!!! He said "Yes, I am very sure. Will you?" so of course I said yes, who can say no to President anyway! And Sis Gulbranson thought she was getting out of it easy, and then President McCune said "And Sis Gulbranson, you will be training a brand new missionary." I think her jaw hit the floor. President said goodbye. I started crying and Sis G just kept saying "Oh my gosh! I can't handle this! I can't train!!!!" For those who don't know what a Sister Training Leader (STL) is it's pretty much the equivalent of a Zone Leader for Sisters. I've gone on exchanges with so many STL's and each time I ask them what it's like and get all the details...and I'm not going to lie...it sounds like it can be a little stressful. So please pray for me. Please please please.
     The upside to being a STL is I don't have to wait until Wed to find out where I'm going or who my companion is going to be. My companion is going to be Sis Robertson, who was actually was in my district and roomed with me in the MTC! She is hilarious and so cute! And a health nut, so she will get me out running in the mornings! Which will be good. I'll be serving in the Orem Aspen area -it's still a different area than Orem Orchard, so it will be new people and new experiences. 
     I'm a little overwhelmed right now, so sorry if the rest of this email is really scattered. My mind is going a million miles a minute with all the things I need to get done and prepare for. 
     CONGRATS TO THE BEANS!!!! Yay for new baby Thomas!!!!  It suits him He is such a cutie pie with his little round cheeks and tufts of hair and Elsy's nose. I can't wait to meet him soon and snuggle and play with him! YAY! 

Some companions you really connect with - and
then have to say goodbye.

 
     This week has been nuts. We've been running everywhere. Our last week in January, we had some great lessons with everyone. We got canceled on a few times, but over all we were pretty busy.
          We had Candace's baptism on Saturday and that was great! It was a little scattered because our new ward mission leader totally spaced the fact that he needed a pianist and a chorister and programs....so....thank heavens somebody who attended played the piano, and I lead the music, and he pulled  chalk board in and wrote the program on it for everyone to follow. It was actually kind of funny, but I felt bad for Sis Gulbranson because she was embarrassed...but we didn't remind the ward mission leader so it's kind of my fault...But overall it went pretty smoothly. 
     Yesterday was a crazy day. We were both so tired from such a busy week and we were going going going from sun up to sun down. It's going to be hard saying goodbye to everyone here, but I trust Sis Gulbranson with them, after all she took care of them before I got here. Thanks to Leisha and Mom for writing her this week! It made her so happy :)
     I'm really going to miss her! We had so much fun singing in the car together, and quoting the Grinch and Mulan, and listening to Pride and Prejudice while I told her the story line. I'm going to miss telling her stories, or laughing together over inside jokes. I'm going to miss calling her out whenever she would say "Aye?" and taking crazy pictures and just EVERYTHING! I'm going to miss teaching with her because she was so good at it! It's going to be really hard to say goodbye! I felt like I could really just relax and be myself around her, and it was super nice. I will definitely have to go visit her in Canada! 
     Well.... I can't think of anything else to say because I'm so scattered. Hopefully next week I'll be able to update you more.
     I love and miss you all lots! I pray for you! Hope all is well with Baby Thomas and Leisha better tell me when the next baby gets here!!!
     Love you to the moon and back!
   Love,
Sister Lenise Diane Volmer

Sprint to the Finish

1-26 -15 

   It is a great day to be a missionary! In fact every day is a great day to be a missionary! 
   This week has been all kinds of hard and amazingly dandy. 

Getting your Sprint Papers

    Monday was kind of crazy. We went bowling as a district at BYU for p-day but only ended up staying there for like 45 min which was pretty sad, and we had to be split up at different lanes because it was so busy there for MLK day. I then went to the BYU creamery for the first time....which is just a little ice cream shop that everyone raves about...  We then played soccer and I scored like 3 goals! It was great! That evening we had a lesson with one of our recent converts named Jake NoHorse. He is part Native American and super quiet, but when he does talk, he is hilarious! We had an amazing lesson on the atonement with him, and we watched For God So Loved the World, which is one of the new bible videos that I highly recommend you watch. We then went to an FHE where I probably had the worst bashing of "On my mission" by sister RMs that I've experienced so far. Haha! When you serve in Utah, everyone thinks they had it harder than you on their mission and they like to go on and on about how much harder they worked and the crazy things they encountered. Especially when they find out we have ipads and an iphone. It's not like I picked Utah for myself or I'm lesser because I'm serving here. But I wouldn't choose anywhere else to serve. :) It doesn't make me a worse missionary or mean that I have a weak testimony because I'm serving here, so I'm good where I am :)
     Tuesday we got canceled on a lot, but had a very busy evening. We met with Candace again, who is getting baptized this upcoming Saturday afternoon. We had a bit of a struggle meeting with the bishop and stake president and then her older sister to make sure that she was being baptized in the right ward and that she wanted to stay in YSA. But overall it all worked out and she is doing well.
     Wednesday was a little crazy. We had to get up early so that we could get to our district meeting on time because we had interviews with President McCune. They went super well. President McCune is so inspired and in tune with the spirit. We all talk about how he is going to be a general authority one day, but he always says he just wants to be called to work in the nursery after he is released haha :) He is an amazing man, and I don't think I've met a single person who hasn't talked to him and really liked him. I'm so grateful to be serving under his direction. He is exactly the mission president I needed, and I'm glad that I've been able to have him my whole mission.

Sprint to the finish - does she look happy to have 3 months left?

     After interviews, we went home for lunch and in the mail box I received a big white envelope. I instantly wanted to throw it away! I knew exactly what it was even before I opened. Three months before a missionary goes home, they receive what are called "Sprint Papers"...but most of the missionaries in our mission call them "Trunky papers" ...but I like to refer to them as sprint papers. It's a letter from the mission president thanking you for your service so far, and then there is a "Pledge to Sprint" Certificate that you sign and hang up on your wall so you can look at it. If you sign it, it means you pledge to sprint to the end of your mission. To work hard and dedicate your all to the fullest to these last months. It's actually pretty neat. It explains how the Olympic games in Ancient Greece included a 26 mile marathon across the most mountainous part of the Balkan Peninsula, and how the runners would set speedy paces...but the real winner was the one who reached inside himself during the last mile and sprinted to the end. The certificate says "Therefore, having run on my mission at my specific pace, I now pledge to sprint to the end. I promise to reach deep within myself and find an amazing inner strength to perform such as I have never performed before; to never neglect any opportunity to share the precious gem of the gospel, to cry repentance with urgency, to serve God and my fellow men with all I have, lest the adversary overtake me. I want to obtain the laurels of eternal life for myself and others. I have carefully considered the strong implications of this promise--for I do not make promises lightly-- and I am willing to stand by my word. I witness it to all this day." and then it says at the bottom "This is the most important race I have yet run. "And then gives the scriptures 1 Corinthians 9:24. It really motivated me to make these last few months count. It really is such an amazing experience, and I want so many to attain for themselves the blessings of Heaven through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But it takes obedience, dedication, and hard work on my part. I've learned that the simplest things can make up the biggest changes. 
     Later that night we met with B, who is a returning member we have been teaching. She works at a psych hospital with a lot of crazies and she has a lot of really funny stories to tell us all the time. Watching her change and strengthen her testimony has been an amazing experience. She fed us dinner this week and made us breakfast for dinner. 

Bruised knuckles.....

....from knocking doors....or makeup artist?

     Thursday we got canceled on a lot too. One of the guys we teach is named J and slept through his alarm and was an hour late to the lesson. He said that there were so many things getting in his way of coming to the lesson. He slept through his alarm, he started getting sick, and then he got a random bloody nose, and then traffic was horrible getting to the lesson...but he said he knew that Satan was just trying to make it so he wouldn't get to the lesson...So he felt like he must really need it if Satan was working so hard. We had some great discussions on Faith Hope and Charity and we were able to help him with some questions he had. It went really well. We also saw J that day. She is just out of high school. She is hilarious  and has gone to beauty school and all other sorts of things, and so she was showing us all of her different makeup and stuff and showed us how she knows how to do fake wounds and what not. So I asked if she could show me, so she put makeup on my hand to make it look like I had bruised knuckles. It was actually pretty cool and I wasn't able to wash it off for a few lessons, so some people kept asking me what had happened to my hand and were able to have a good laugh. 
       Sunday was crazy busy and last night we had a huge fireside with the whole YSA stake. The stake presidency was putting it on with their wives and it was all about eternal marriage and fear in forming eternal families. They all spoke and sat on a panel while they had Q&A from the audience about marriage, dating, and all sorts of other things. It was actually really interesting and hilarious. One of the wives got up and talked about how she always thought her love life would be like Pride and Prejudice where Mr. Darcy is walking through the field towards her and it would be a magical moment. She then talked about how she saw her husband her sophomore year of high school and she said it was her field moment. He said he had no idea that had even happened...and that he hated Pride and Prejudice and thought all love stories should be like the one from Rocky, between Rocky and Adrian, which had all the guys laughing. It was really funny and really spiritual...if not a little awkward for the two sister missionaries sitting a few rows back ;) haha. I did run into a girl from EFY while I was there though! Her name is Savanah and it was good to see her! :) 
      Transfers is next week, so start praying that Sis Gulbranson and I will stay together! We really are! We want to so bad! It will be my first companion I'd have for three transfers! Let’s see if I can break my cycle of 2,1,2,1,2,1,2 transfers with a companion. 
     Overall it was super fun week and a lot of growing happened for me. I'm so thankful for the hand of the Lord in my life and also in the lives of those I teach. This is truly His work, and He knows what He is doing. I'm grateful he trusts me enough to let me teach his children and help bring them unto Christ. I love being a missionary. I love you all and hope you all have a great week! Keep in touch!!! Miss you!
     Love,
Sister Lenise Diane Volmer
p.s.  Happy Birthday to Sharee!! And I shall keep the pregnant sisters in my prayers! Keep me in the loop when those little boys get here!

Missionary for 15 months!

1-19-15

Lenise hasn't sent pics the last few weeks so I'm finding some of my own.

Dearest Family,
     So this last Friday I had my 15 month mark in the mission. It was kind of crazy and a little surreal. I've gotten to the point where I don't really like telling people how long I've been on my mission because when I do it's usually followed by "Wow! You are going home soon!" Which I'm pretty sure no missionary likes to hear… But it's crazy to think that I've been a missionary that long when sometimes it feels so short. But I've also realized that I have changed a lot in the past 15 months and being a missionary has become all I know. I can't imagine the day when I won't be constantly running around all over town visiting people and knocking on doors with cold chapped knuckles, and sitting on lumpy college student couches teaching the good word of God will holding my tattered Scriptures. It's been an amazing 15 months, and it seems like they just get better. So… I decided I'd share some things that you learn once you've been a missionary for 15 months… Well not exactly learn but what become facts in your mind. For example, sleeping in is a fairytale. It's a myth. It's something that other people talk about to taunt you as a missionary. The concept of sleeping in sounds too good to be true and it something that you haven't done for over a year. Another one is you only back your car up if there somebody guiding you from the outside. It sounds stupid and I've been frustrated at that rule a lot… But it's become such a part of our routine but I feel like I can't throw the car into reverse without needing somebody to stand behind me and motion to me. I'm pretty sure I'll get over that one when I get home pretty fast. Another thing that seems like it can never change is studying for two hours every day in the Scriptures and in preach my gospel. Everybody says that missionaries try really hard to keep up their study routine after the Mission, but they say it never lasts long. They say they go straight back to only studying the Scriptures for 15 minutes… Which I almost can't understand because I feel like I don't get anything out of it after only 15 minutes. My day feels incomplete without two hours of immersing myself in gospel study...but I know that probably won't last when I need to be studying different things for college classes. It’s crazy how overtime different aspects of being a missionary become so routine and ingrained into me, and yet I know that once my time is up they will be gone and it will feel so so strange. Other little things, like reading my text messages out loud to my companion before I send them off, is going to be hard adjusting to just reading them on my own haha. And things like taking my name tag off at night, looking at my name next to the Savior's and reporting to him mentally on how well I represented him that day. I love the little things. Being a missionary has brought so much perspective, that I hope to keep. This week went really well! We've been having a lot of work and this next week should be even busier!
      On Tuesday we went on exchanges with the STL’s (Sister Training Leaders). My companion for the day was Sis Naef, who is actually from the Tri-Cities as well. We flew out on the same flight together and have been out for the exact same amount of time. It was a really busy day and we got a lot of contacting and work done. It was funny because Sis. Gulbranson went with Sis M, and Sis M had to go get an ingrown toenail removed. She said it was quite the adventure! This last week we received two referrals for nonmembers who wanted to meet with us. We started teaching both of them and they are both really interested in the gospel! The first one is named P. He was raised most of his life atheist and even participated in some games and other rough things in his life. He is super quiet and really willing to listen to us. He said he was atheist until one day he was driving around in his truck and stopped by a nearby field. He said he felt the need to pray, and really felt like somebody was listening to him. There was a family that took him to church with them for a couple of years but when they moved away he stopped because of anxiety. He wound up at church one day with his mom at an RM's homecoming talk. The RM just happened to be a new ward missionary in one of our wards and lives just down the street from him. We were able to meet him and he was super interested and willing to set up a time to meet with us. We invited him to be baptized at his lesson this last week but he said it was a really big step and that he didn't want to take it lightly which is understandable.
     Our other new investigator is named J. He has actually gone through all of the missionary discussions before, and even pass his baptismal interview, but then dropped the missionaries because he didn't want to make a promise that he knew he couldn't keep. He had addiction to cigarettes for a really long time, but over this last summer he totally quit, and contacted the missionaries again.  We met with him twice this last week and he is on date for February 6 to be baptized! He's progressing really fast and we are just reviewing the lessons with him because he knows most of it and has a strong testimony!
     The work is really beginning to pick up and we are super excited! Sis Gulbranson and I just really hope that we get to stay together longer, because transfers are coming up in a few weeks. We have interviews with President McCune this upcoming week which is pretty exciting.
      This last week J (a different J) has been avoiding us. We saw him last Monday at an FHE activity, it was the first one that he had been to in a while. He seemed like he was having a lot of fun and we had pretty high hopes that he was getting back on track. But then He canceled on us twice and Sister Gulbranson and I are starting to get really frustrated. We've been trying really hard but if he doesn't want it there's nothing we can really do. If you could keep him in your prayers I would really appreciate it.
      Today for district activity we are going to BYU campus to go bowling and to pick up a new journal for Sister Gulbranson. We hope it ends up working out because a lot of the missionaries in our district have been feeling sick. There is a really nasty flu or virus going around here that knocks people out for a week or two. I was worried I was getting it because last night I had some pretty severe stomach pain during our coordination meeting with our ward mission leaders. I had to lay down and rest a little bit. This morning I still wasn't feeling too great and I didn't really feel like eating, but now I'm feeling lots better.
      That is super neat that Uncle Mitch got called as the bishop! He will do a fantastic job!
     I love you all and have been praying for all of you. Miss you and hope all is well! Keep in touch!
Love ya lots,
Sister Lenise Diane Volmer

It's Not about Happy endings, but endless Happiness

1-12-15

Dear Family,

     Hey. So this week was pretty random. There wasn't anything crazy or like super exciting that happened, like our heater breaking or general authorities visiting or stuff like that...but it was still a really really good week. You don't need crazy awesome or weird things happening like that to have an amazing mission. I think this week, I just really enjoyed the simple, small, spiritual moments that happen on a regular basis. I mean, I know there are some stellar awesome miracle moments in this work...but to be honest, most of the time they are the tiny imperceptible moments that can pass you by if you aren't looking close enough. I think this week I really tried to focus on keeping my eyes open for them. 
     This week, the work finally picked back up after the holidays. Not as many people canceled, and we were actually able to get ahold of people again! Thank Heavens! We did a lot of making cookies to help us get in doors, and also to help share how much we appreciated our ward mission leaders. Our ward mission leaders in the YSA stake are phenomenal! Most of them are fresh RMs who are so excited about the work and so focused. I've had great WMLs before, but this group of guys that we have are hard core and focused. They are so organized. We've received three new ward mission leaders within the past week, so we've had to train and update them pretty closely as they come in. Our High Councilman is really good, and trains them each meeting on what they can do better. I have to accredit a lot of our success in this area to the devotion and focus of our ward mission leaders. 
     So this week we taught this guy named A, who was a convert back when he was in high school, but fell away when all of his friends left to go on missions. He lived like a hippy for a while in Seattle for a summer, and looked a lot into Buddhism and nature...haha. He is a super chill guy and really nice. We've been going through the lessons with him, because he virtually knows nothing. This week when we met with him he had a friend with him named D who is Less active, and sat in on the lesson. We were teaching about the Plan of Salvation, and his friend D asked a really good question, that I've never thought about before. He said "Why did God create us as imperfect beings? If He is all powerful, and He is the one who made us, why didn't he just make us perfect to begin without, so He wouldn't have to go through all this trouble." That one stumped me for a second. But you'd be surprised what the spirit lets come out of your mouth when you have no idea what to say. I began explaining to him, that we were created perfectly, the way God wanted us to be. But he gave us our own minds, our own agency, so that we could grow and develop as our own beings. We developed personalities on our own. We probably were growing and making mistakes even before this life. We are eternal beings. We can't wrap our minds around it now, but we are probably imperfect now, because of the freedom of will that God has given all his creations. It was interesting to think about.
     This week, because of the new semester in all the surrounding colleges here, they had an institute opening social. Except it wasn't just any social, the stake presidency had been letting the students submit questions, and that night they went through a bunch of the doctrinal questions and answered them. They also took questions from the audience, and it was really interesting. We got into a lot of discussion about the difference between God being pleased with you vs. God being satisfied with you. We also talked about how God is the perfect parent. He loves us with no strings attached. He loves us perfectly and constantly. If you obey the commandments he doesn't love you more than someone who doesn't. He doesn't love you less because someone seems more successful than you. Sure he has goals he wants for you to achieve, but that doesn't change the way he feels about you at all. Love, with no strings attached
     So random fact....this week I was fed sword fish...Yup...it was strange. It tasted like concentrated ocean water...in meat form. It was really weird. I don't know how to describe it...and I'm still trying to decide whether I liked it or not...
     Friday was a really good day. We had Zone Training Meeting and we had some really good discussions. Zone meetings can sometimes humble you a ton and make you feel like you need to do so much better in your area and sometimes Zone meetings make you feel like a rock star missionary! This zone meeting was pretty evenly balanced between the two... which is good if they can do that. Sis Reed always called it the "Puff, puff, break, puff" method. Pretty much Encourage, encourage, chastise, encourage. Haha. But it was really cool, because we read from the New Testament the parable of the lost sheep. I've read it a billion times, just like every missionary has, but we discussed it differently. We talked about the Wilderness. Christ says in the parable that the shepherd searches in the wilderness for his lost sheep. And it made me think. Wildernesses are hard...and not very fun. I've told you before that being a missionary is no cake walk. It's hard. You struggle a lot. But that's the way it's supposed to be. This land is my wilderness in which I search for God's sheep. It's difficult and trying, but boy am I so so grateful for it. Because this wilderness, though hard, has become a sacred place for me.  God isn't all about happy endings, but endless happiness. 
     Saturday we also had a bajillion people show up for our volleyball finding activity! It was great! I hope we get the same turn out next week!
     Well I hope you all have an amazing week! I know mine will be! We have lots planned! I miss you all and love you lots!!! Stay positive! :) 
Love,
Sister Lenise Diane Volmer