Memorial Day Miracles! - Week 44

Hello Everyone!

Well, we had another really great week this week!  Sister Brandley, Sister Golightly, and I were able to teach so many lessons this week!  In fact, we taught more lessons this week than I have ever taught in one week in my whole mission!  It was crazy!  Speaking of missions, on Sunday I reached my 10 month mark!  Time has flown by so quickly but I am so grateful for every minute.  Also, this is the last week of the transfer, so next week we'll know who goes and who stays.  AH!

Highlights of the week:

- We made a brand new friend this week!  Her name is Pauline and she actually referred herself though comeuntochrist.org.  She wants to be closer to God and to have someone to pray with (good thing we are able to help with both!).  She agreed to let us drop off a Book of Mormon at her house and she requested to have one in Fijian!  Super cool!  We also were able to teach her how to pray and she was so excited that she said we could call back again whenever we wanted!  

- We had a great Sunday Service with Ted this week!  We invited one of our favorite member families and they helped give talks and say prayers.  Ted even volunteered to share one of his favorite scriptures!  We are so excited to keep working with Ted.  Due to some unforeseen circumstances, we are going to have to move his baptismal date back a couple of weeks but things are still looking really bright for Ted!  Please keep him in your prayers!

- We had a really awesome member lesson the other day!  There is a sister in our ward who is actually from the Philippines so we were able to introduce Sister Golightly to her!  They both speak Tagalog and were able to talk with each other!  It was pretty awesome, even if I didn't understand a single word of what was being said.  But hey! Sister Golightly is teaching me some hymns in Tagalog, so maybe one day I'll be fluent!  (haha, probably not)

- Okay, the coolest P-day miracle!  I have a great aunt who lived in the Sacramento area and who passed away about ten years before I was born.  She is buried in the Fair Oaks Cemetery.  Well, turns out, the Fair Oaks Cemetery is actually in my mission boundaries and is about 25 minutes from where I live (it just is in a different zone).  So, I ended up calling the mission president and getting permission to leave the zone today and go to Fair Oaks to put flowers on my aunt's grave in honor of Memorial Day!  It was one of the most touching moments of my entire mission.  But not only was I able to see her headstone, I was able to FaceTime my family so that they could see it too.  And (because God is definitely in charge of everything) the exact moment I video called home, my grandma and great-grandma were video chatting with my family too.  So I was able to decorate my great-aunt's grave and have my grandma (her sister) and my great-grandmother (her mother) be a part of it too.  And yes, I cried. It was great.

There have been so many wonderful tender mercies this week!  I am just so grateful for the Lord's hand and for His timing!  I absolutely love being here in Sacramento and I can't wait for even more miracles!  I love you all so much and I hope you have a fabulous Memorial Day!

Lots of Love,

Sister Ferrin

Our fancy address:

8725 La Riviera Dr. Apt 93

Sacramento CA 95826

United States

Isa pang magandang linggo - Week 43

Hello Everyone!

Oh man... this past week was CRAZY!  Buckle up!

Highlights!

- I have a brand new companion! BUT... I'm still companions with Sister Brandley.  What could this possibly mean?  TRIO LIFE!  So on Wednesday Sister Brandley and I got a call from the mission office informing us that they were bringing us an extra bed, drawer, and desk for our apartment.  Then that night, our zone leaders called us to let us know that we were getting a new companion!  On Friday, we drove to the mission office to pick Sister Golightly up!  She is from Salt Lake City and had been serving in the Philippines for about nine months when she was sent home, quarantined, and reassigned to the Cal Sac mission!  We are so pumped to have her with us and to have her teach us a little Tagalog! 

-  We had a lesson with Ted this Saturday but before the lesson, Sister Brandley felt prompted to invite a specific sister in our ward to join us in the video chat.  The sister agreed and joined us which was good because IT WAS THE MOST AMAZING LESSON WITH TED EVER!  The sister from the ward shared her conversion story and how she received an answer to know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God's church on the earth today.  Her story and testimony was exactly what Ted needed to hear and the Spirit was SO strong!  We boldly testified that this is God's church and everything finally clicked for him.  So we recommited him to be baptized on May 30th and he said YES!  In fact he said that he had been praying about it and every time that he read the Book of Mormon he felt peace so he wants to be baptized and become a member of God's church!  We were literally almost all in tears!  It was such an incredible experience and we are so excited for Ted to be able to enter on to the covenant path! So PLEASE keep him in your prayers these next few weeks!  He needs all the spiritual encouragement and strength that he can get!

- A little bit of sad news now.  We received a text from Devin this week asking to hold off on lessons for the time being.  He said that he wants some time to really think about things for himself and to connect more with God before moving forward.  We are sad to release him for the time being but we have much faith that he will be able to get an answer to his prayers and will want to continue meeting with missionaries in the future!  So prayers for Devin too!

- Our zone leaders convinced us to try this one restaurant called Kiki's Chicken Place in Sacramento.  It was super good and now the entire zone is obsessed with it.  So if you are ever in the Sacramento area, I highly recommend going to Kiki's and trying their fries!

It was such a crazy but exciting week!  We got to teach so many wonderful lessons to our friends, members, and friends back at home!  The Lord has been so good to me and it is very clear that this is His work!  I absolutely love being here in Sacramento, even if we have to be in an apartment all day, there isn't anywhere else that I'd rather be!  

I love you all so much and I hope and pray that you all have a fantastic week!  

Lots of Love,

Sister Ferrin

Our fancy address:

8725 La Riviera Dr. Apt 93

Sacramento CA 95826

United States

Pics of the week!

1-4.) TRIO LIFE! (And Kiki's)

Thanks Mom for Teaching Me How to Not Starve! - Week 42

Hello Everyone!

First things first, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the amazing women in my life!  Thank you for all of your love and support!  You are all amazing!

This week was pretty great!  We had a lot of awesome lessons with our friends, members, and people at home!  We also made a brand new friend and were able to drop off a Book of Mormon at her house on Saturday!  So exciting!

Quick update on our buddies/friends!

Devin is doing super awesome!  He has been reading the Book of Mormon everyday this week and really enjoys it!  He kept mentioning that the more he reads it, the more he sees how it goes with the Bible!  He also just seems so much happier the more we've been teaching him!  It is amazing how the gospel can bring such peace and happiness into our lives!

Ted is doing well too!  We had a couple of good lessons with him this week.  He did have some concerns during one of the lessons though and we are working on addressing them with him.  Despite that, we had a really spiritual Sunday Service with him and some ward members over video chat yesterday and we are looking forward to having more lessons with him later this week.  He also has been reading the Book of Mormon everyday this past week too and it has been neat to see the change in him as he reads it!  The Book of Mormon is honestly the most amazing book in the universe and it has been such a blessing to be able to see it change the lives of our friends and our members!

We were also able to have another lesson with Wayne over the phone this week!  We testified of the Book of Mormon and how it has personally brought us peace in our lives and he committed to reading it every day this week too!  

If you want to see more of what Sister Brandley and I are doing as missionaries in month 2 of quarantine, I highly recommend checking out our zone facebook page. It is called Come Unto Christ in Rancho Cordova and on there you can find videos and posts describing what we do and how you can be a part of it!  It's pretty great if I do say so myself. (Also, if you want to learn more about the email title, go on facebook and watch our mother's day video)

Other highlights of the week: 

- Sister Sheri Dew spoke to our whole mission over zoom!  She talked about how we can draw the power of God into our lives and learn the language of revelation.  It was AWESOME!

- Sister Brandley and I got to doorbell ditch some of the sweet single ladies in our ward for Mother's day and leave flowers and cute notes on their front porch.

- Also for Mother's day, we called a TON of the sisters in our ward and sang to them Love at Home over the phone.  That was so much fun!

- We had a lesson over video chat with Hermana Lewis (who is home now)!

- We got to call and talk to our families on Mother's day!  

- Sister Brandley and I took a fancy car ride to the nearest Chick-fil-a this week for lunch.  That was a much needed "vacation".  *insert tears of joy*

I love you all so much and I hope you are doing well!  You are all in my thoughts and my prayers!  Have an amazing day and an even better week!

Lots of Love,

Sister Ferrin

 

Our fancy address:

8725 La Riviera Dr. Apt 93

Sacramento CA 95826

United States

Pics of the week!

1. We can still get Chick-fil-a. Conclusion: the world hasn't ended yet.

2. Three generation picture!

3. Here's an animation Sister Brandley and I made for our zone of one of our daily happy thoughts 

HAPPY THOUGHT! - Week 41

Hello Everyone!

First of all, if you haven't seen the Come Unto Jesus music video that the church put out, stop what you are doing, click on the link below, and watch it.  IT IS SO GOOD!

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/inspiration/latter-day-saints-channel/watch/series/mormon-messages/come-unto-jesus?lang=eng 

Alrighty!  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!  Now back to the email!  

This week was GREAT!  It was honestly one of the happiest weeks of my mission.  I'm not entirely sure what made it so happy but Sister Brandley and I were literally bouncing off the walls almost the entire time!  One reason why it was so great was the fact that we were blessed to have so many amazing lessons this week!  Not only did we have multiple lessons with our friends Ted, Devin, and Wayne (YES!  Wayne is back!)  but we also had some wonderful lessons with our ward members as well as lessons with friends and family back at home!  

Also, this Sunday we had three fantastic Sunday Services with our friends!  It is so neat to have these special services each week with those we are teaching and our members!  They are the highlight of our Sundays! Sister Brandley and I also got to give a mini devotional through Facebook Live this Sunday! (Don't worry, you can go back on my facebook and watch it if you want) We discussed different ways we can reach out to others through Christ-like service!

Another highlight of the week:  My seminary teacher from High School, Brother Bonner, gave a zoom devotional to my entire mission!  It was so exciting to hear him speak about some of his experiences as a missionary!  He also shared some videos of him and his family singing!  It was SO AWESOME!

We had interviews with President and Sister Hymas on Wednesday!  We got to drive to Sacramento Temple and walk around on the grounds with them again!  It honestly just felt so good to be on the temple grounds!  If you are looking to feel some peace and comfort, take a drive to the nearest temple and just walk around it a couple of times!  It is amazing to feel the Spirit that comes from just being next to the House of the Lord!

So yes, this week was fantastic and we are so blessed!  God has been so good to us!  I am so grateful for all the inspiration and counsel we have received as a mission!  This is truly the Lord's work and I am grateful that I get to be a part of it in Sacramento California!  Also, the offer still stands, if you are interested in having a lesson over video chat with missionaries *cough cough* please let me know!  I can definitely get that arranged for you! 

Have an amazing day and a great week!

Lots of Love,

Sister Ferrin

Our fancy address:

8725 La Riviera Dr. Apt 93

Sacramento CA 95826

United States

Pics of the week!

- Awesome lessons with awesome friends!

- This cute pic we took to put on Facebook

- Our daily walk!

- Our Zone Leaders sent us this video after watching our Sunday Devotional. We think they should audition for the Tabernacle Choir.