August 4 - First message from the land of Kernersville

Hello family,

Ok so as you know from last week I have transferred to my new area in
Kernersville. It is country (thought not as country as Ernest in
Magnolia) and super different from Charlotte that is for sure. It
hasn't been an easy adjustment but I am trying my best to get to know
the members especially because when I am comfortable knowing the ward
then I just feel better about things overall - must be the whole
ward/church family concept.
I wasn't sure what to write about these first two weeks here so I'll
just kind of give you some random details.
Sister Mouritsen is the designated driver but I got to drive for a few
days last week since she lost her license. That was nice for me since
I prefer to drive. But we did a lot of biking, more than I have ever
done in my life, and Sister Mouritsen is so fast I have the challenge
of keeping up with her and it is a good heart workout. This weekend
was actually very rainy and temperature in the 60s (typically it is in
the 90s this month), so it felt cold ha! But the great part is our
apartment complex has free hot chocolate in the office. :) Our
apartment is really nice and clean, I feel blessed.
Well teaching-wise this area is very different from Charlotte. Here
there is hardly anyone on the streets to talk with and the population
out here is a lot of older generation. We do however have at least one
Indian couple in our complex, and then we knocked into an Indian
couple. Sister Mouritsen thinks I have the magic touch that draws them
out because she hasn't met any Indians her whole time on the mission.
I don't know but I do enjoy talking with them!
We are working on getting some solid people to teach and for know we
have a few. Meg is a college student that I just recently met and she
began investigating the church in D.C.. She is very kind and excited
about the church and loves to read and watch anything and everything
we can get to her and if she could get baptized she would! She has
some challenges to overcome before she can be baptized though so I
hope we can help her in the best way possible. I am glad though
because she had very very good experiences with the D.C. YSA ward she
was attending and has a witness of God's love for her.
We are also teaching a couple of girls who are foster daughters to
some members and hopefully they will be able to be baptized in a month
or two. I only met them once so far and they are pretty reserved but
looking forward to getting to know them better.
Other than that we are trying to work with a lot of inactive and
less-active members and knocking doors (not my favorite) so hopefully
my talking with people is getting better with all the practice we're
getting. It's been interesting though because more than ever, we get
people who are comfortable with their church and I am trying to come
up with creative ways to still share our message.
I do find myself praying lately for extra charity and just really
trying to talk with people as if Christ were there in the conversation
as well in the hope that even if my words don't sound eloquent and
maybe my approaches are on the awkward side a little, somehow maybe
Christ's pure love can shine through and reach beyond the conversation
to that soul-to-soul connection. I am grateful for prayer though and
that we can ask for help even in things that we aren't naturally adept
at like having charity or patience, etc.

Tell everyone hi and tell them I love them! Continue to let me know
how things are going at home, even if it is boring stuff. ;)
Love,
Sister Rust

July 28

Sorry everyone,

It will be a short email because I am out of time today! My companion
lost her wallet and we have been making tons of calls trying to work
that out but it is all good.
Well I am now in Kernersville which is country like Hickory. Whoot!
Whoot! But we still have a Walmart close at least :)
Well here is some quick information:
My new comp is Sister Mouritsen and my address is

213 Madison Place Circle
Kernersville, NC 27284

(So write me a letter, ok?) ;)

Ok many more details next week
Love you all!
Sister Rust

(Sorry if you got all excited about hearing from me but I didn't write
much this time)

July 21

Hello, hello!

I have a super fantastic, great, amazing news for y'all - Sheen and
Pradha were baptized this weekend!!!! There is so much good about it
and a feeling that is hard to put into words but I'll try my best :)
So Saturday was the baptism and we had a really great turnout from the
ward to show support. And it was so sweet to see Pradha and Sheen get
up and share their testimonies - Pradha got a little nervous but she
handled it just fine and Sheen talked beautifully about the blessing
it was for us to help them know about repenting and making covenants.
I just beamed and am so proud and happy for them. Brother Kelly and
his wife have been fellow shipping them so well so we asked him to do
the baptizing and they made Sister Kelly Pradha's new visiting
teacher. I know we are leaving Sheen and Pradha in good hands and that
they will be able to continue learning and growing. Pradha and Sheen
have shown so much humility it blows my mind, but they just have an
incredible desire to follow Christ and do what is right, so yesterday
in Sunday school Sheen was commenting/participating in the lesson and
Pradha was writing down notes and scriptures to look up later. The
lesson was on raising children/families in the gospel and by the way
they engagingly listened I can tell they desire a faithful, eternal
family and honestly observing them has built my own faith. Oh I wish
you could meet them in person yourselves! I have grown to love them SO
much that it hurt when I found out I am getting transferred this week.
We told them at church and they asked us to come over that night and
they would make us Indian food again. We stuffed ourselves and asked
Sheen all sorts of questions about where he is from and his culture
and we laughed and took pictures together. And then before we left,
they gave me a card and a journal as a gift and I just wanted to cry
because I don't know the next time I will see the in person if they go
back to India. Luckily, there is Facebook and Skype technologies. This
first baptism I have been a part of out here is so special to me.
Well, like I said, I am getting transferred and I am nervous! I really
love this area, but it wouldn't be too hard to get comfortable with a
new one probably. The hard part is leaving Sister Gunther! She is my
best companion so far and I have learned so much from being with her
and I have been able to enjoy my mission the most being together here.
Now I am a little scared to have a new companion whom I don't know....
I just like my comfort zone!  I am so grateful though because Sister
Gunther lives up the street in Orem (Chris Clegg's ward actually) and
she'll be home just a transfer after me and we will be friends
forever! But even though this whole week I have been trying to deny
it, I did have a feeling like I might be leaving and kind of saw it
coming and I have grown so much since Hickory that I know it will be
just as good of an experience as here in University City. But yeah, if
you end anything this week to me just have it go to the Hilliard
building address (mission office) until I know my new area.
I really am doing well out here in my mission and loving it, so Dad
you weren't lying to anyone if you said that. ;) Yeah there is still
at least one hard day a week but we make it past and it really is true
that give it just a little time and I hardly remember the bad moments
but I can remember the sweet little joys and tender mercies. And
Sister Gunther and I have been able to squeeze in some fun things like
glow sticks she got in the mail for 4th of July, and we just try to
find joy in the simple pleasures.
I hope everything continues to be well at home. It sounds like the
Reunion was good (looking forward to details on that) and Camille and
Melanie were excited for trek. Camille also told me she got the
volunteer job at the aquarium and that she is enjoying her last season
of marching band. That is great, and she does good with her volunteer
position that could help in future resume things like work experience
and if she likes it maybe next time a paying position there or
something. I am happy when she told me that, I know how she thought it
would be a fun opportunity and wants to do marine biology type things.

Love,
Sister Rust

July 14

Hello family!

I am shorter on time today so I will try to keep this email small, but
it was a wonderful week and we are prepping for Sheen and Pradha's
baptism this week! I know it will be wonderful, yet I know Satan is
going to make the week before and after real rough because they are
about to take a huge step in the right direction for their lives. I
know I am going to need to keep my faith, hope, humility, and love up
on the defense.
Well, we had a couple of neat things happen this week. We were able to
show Sheen and Pradha the baptismal font right after church with
Brother Kelly who will perform the baptisms and there is Spirit that
can be felt even just looking at the font beforehand. And Sheen bore
his new testimony to us how they weren't really looking for more but
once we came and taught them things they felt they were getting
something they didn't know was missing. It is sweet to hear the
sincere, simple while humble testimonies of investigators and recent
converts.

We also were able to find a less-active member who was not on the ward
council's radar and we invited her to church and her boyfriend. Sadly
we didn't see them there, so we'll find out when we follow up but I
hope we can begin working with them frequently. She mentioned that in
the past some missionaries had taught her boyfriend but then the
missionary was pretty disobedient and that of course kept the Holy
Ghost out of the picture and was a turn-off for the boyfriend at least
to some degree I'm sure. I hope we can go in and just love them and
help them bring the Spirit there.

On Wednesday, we had our Book of Mormon class and it ended up being
just all 6 missionaries and one investigator, Hossein. Elder Cook and
Carson found and teach Hossein and he is just a pleasant guy, and boy
he is smart with a PhD and everything. But it was neat to see him ask
these simple questions with a sincere desire to know, in fact he even
said that he was like a first grader when it came to the principles
and doctrine in the Book of Mormon so he had many good questions. But
it takes humility for someone with a PhD and very intellectual to be
ok with being on the first grader level again in something and that
was admirable. He was able to come to Sacrament as well (looking very
dapper) and hopefully next week the Sunday school classes as well. We
have had success with Sheen and Pradha coming to church the last month
and it was nice that the elders had some come too because it is hard
for a missionary to not have investigators show up to church when we
try so hard to bring them. So I am happy for the elder's successes. :)

Last thing, we had another lesson with Brooke and Bryson ( their mom
is a member but the rest of family isn't) on Alma's faith chapter with
the seed. We had a good time reading it with them and asking them what
it means for us. To end the lesson we gave them some sunflower seeds
of their own to grow. We told them that way they could take care of it
and it would be a daily reminder to grow their faith as well just like
we talked about. They were so cute and made us cupcakes afterward.

I hope you all have a good week. Enjoy trek or the family reunion,
whichever you go to. I look forward to hearing about both next week! I
sure love you all and be safe. Thank you for the prayers, I know
Ernest and I are blessed as we are out here. And I pray for all of you
too. :)

Love,
Sister Amelia Rust

July 7

Hello family!

There is so much I could say and tell you from this past week, because
it was such a growing experience for me. And some of it really
connects with the thought Dad shared in his email to me.
It started midweek with our zone conference. It was one of the better
meetings I have been to and we had the wonderful opportunity to hear
from President Craven and his wife and President Craven's parents who
flew in for the week (his father is Elder Craven, a previous mission
president himself and general authority). We talked about the culture
of our mission here in the NCCM (North Carolina Charlotte Mission) and
what it means for us and how it helps us in our missionary work and
how it will help carry us beyond our missions. In my mission we have
several one-liners used often because they teach us sermons and help
us become more Christ-like. An example and one of my favorites is
"When You Know Who You Are You Act Differently" - just let that one
marinate in your mind a while and find out what it means for you
personally. Elder Craven told us that if we follow the example of our
mission president and his wife, in being careful, building trust,
doing the right things, and obedient, then we can reach our
foreordained potential and we WILL be great.
So there is not even half of all the inspiring things given at zone
conference and the following day we go on exchanges with new sister
training leaders. I went to Kannapolis with Sister Velarde and Sister
Gunther stayed in University with Sister Buckley. I enjoyed this
exchange a lot, but not so much because it was fun - but because it
reinforced what I had just taken from zone conference and Sister
Velarde said so many things that helped me personally realize some
things that needed to change.
Here is what happened: towards the beginning of the exchange I let
Sister Velarde know that, despite the work in our area going very well
and being with an amazing companion, somehow in the last few weeks I
still had lost the drive for missionary work, I felt little
motivation. Let me tell you, that is a strange, unsettling moment to
be in, when things are actually going well and you have already come
so far on your mission but you still feel unmotivated.
I had determined I wanted to really get something out of this exchange
so I payed more attention to Sister Velarde and what she did in just
about every moment and we would talk in between as we drove to
appointments. She would ask me how we did things and as I told her
stories of what things went well, she told me it seemed like the
problem was I just wasn't remembering all the little miracles enough.
There is a reason why the Book of Mormon prophets are always reminding
the people to remember the great things God has done for their fathers
and for them. She also reminded me to serve others as often as
possible because there is no better cure for lack of motivation and it
helps us feel God's love in increase.
Finally, we talked about this month's focus in the mission: faith in
finding. Sister Velarde told me that not only do exercise our faith by
being specific in prayers but we also really must EXPECT those
specifics to happen, because if we are doing what we need to and
living right then we can call upon the powers of Heaven. I realized I
have been severely lacking faith! Sure I would pray for something,
maybe our investigator to read between our visits, but I doubt - I do
the opposite and expect to come back only to find they have not read.
I can't do that anymore!!!! I was so blind to my lack of faith, but
when I got back Sister Gunther and I were determined to have faith. So
it is now Friday the 4th of July and we have lots of finding time and
a new determination of faith. Guess what happened? We went to the
boardwalk - and we talked to tons of people, and we enjoyed finding!
We actually had a good time and nothing could stop us, and then we
carried it into the next day and taught Sheen and Pradha who now are
preparing to be baptized on the 19th! I saw and felt firsthand how
having faith and repenting (changing) literally brought the power of
Heaven and God's blessings. Doing so allowed us to teach Sheen and
Pradha with President and Sister Craven, to teach with the best unity
we have had, to be able to have Brother Kelly there friendshipping
Sheen and his wife reaching out to Pradha, and I could feel the
inspiration of the Holy Ghost more.

So to sum up, I really like what Dad said in his email about miracles
we need to recognize them each day but also show our love and
gratitude by doing more with those miracles. Just keep remembering God
in each and every hour, serve and love, and have faith, there's no
room for doubts. Doing these will help you be motivated and feel
purpose in life and that peace and joy found only in the restored
gospel of Jesus Christ.

Well this email turned into a testimony/gospel lesson more than an
update on the people I am working with, oh well it's fine. :) Really
we are just happy because our teaching pool is pretty solid, we have
faith (haha!), and Sheen and Pradha will be baptized in two weeks! It
was fun to teach with President Craven and observe and learn from him,
I wish he could be to a lot more of our lessons. It was a privilege to
have him at this one for sure though. If you could continue to pray
for them that would be fantastic, because they will be hit hard from
the Adversary as they take this huge step in the right direction. And
I just want so badly things to go smoothly but this will be my first
time actually setting things up with the ward and the investigators
and getting everything in line for a baptism. It is going to be great,
I just know it!

Love you all!
Sister Rust

P.S. I can't remember if I already mentioned this before but my best
friend Jeannie just got her mission call to the New York, New York
South Mission speaking the Korean language!

June 30

Hey y'all!

This week it has been hard to get a hold of people we are teaching.
They are all either getting sick or going on vacations! So we had to
do some knocking/tracting (possibly my least favorite thing). BUT I
have noticed that I am getting slightly more comfortable with it. In
meetings and studies we have role played it a lot with different
missionaries so I have had more practice and more ideas, and street
contacting not as scary for some reason as door knocking. People just
don't open to strangers like in generations past I think, And they are
so used to solicitors that when they open the first thing out of their
mouth is "can I help you?" in a very
what-is-your-business-and-why-are-you-on-my-porch kind of way. But we
figured out if you talk with people like they really are individual
people with their own personalities until they get comfortable then we
get a lot further with them as missionaries.
Anyway, I have got zone conference this week (I have a feeling it will
be intense counsel and I probably will be asked to give my 5 min talk
since I have flown under radar so far), and also exchanges with new
sister training leaders this week which should be fun. I hope I'll
learn a lot this week.

I love you all and hope you're well. Have a great 4th of July and be
safe! I feel strange not going to the parades and festivities for the
Fourth, but I am having Sister Gunther and I sing patriotic hymns for
our studies in the morning haha. Got to celebrate somehow. :) and it
is nice to remember how blessed we are with our freedoms and religious
rights that can easily be given up and lost if we are careless. I
think of the chapters in Helaman that I just recently read with
captain Moroni and others inspiring their people to defend their
families and country and religion and that is exactly the warning we
are getting from our prophet and apostles today.
We sure are blessed!

Love, Sister Rust

P.S. This car drives into our complex frequently at night and it
basically reminds me of the movie Cars. You know that part when Mack
falls asleep on the highway and these flashy neon light cars pull up?
Yep this car has lit up wheels :) That's another thing about
Charlotte, you see nice cars a lot and sometimes they are fun older
models and sometimes you see weird ghetto cars with homemade spray
paint jobs and ridiculously huge wheels.

 

 

Hazel

Me with a Hedgehog named Hazel :)

June 23

Hello y'all!

How was the week? Hm - it was slow and hard to get appointments. But
we had some good moments and they seem to outweigh the not-so-good
moments by the end of every week.
Saturday was our most eventful/productive day. We biked over for lunch
with Sheen and Pradha. They made us some delicious authentic Indian
food! It was very yummy and reminded me of eating with family at the
Bombay House in Provo. It is funny, their food is really spicy
normally and they just eat it all the time that when they sweat I've
been told you can smell the spices/curry and it just lingers in their
clothes and homes too. Pradha told us that because they grew up eating
spicy things all the time that American food is too bland and she
doesn't really like it. We had a good time eating and asking them
about India, just really taking the time to get to know them better.
We found out they are here on a work visa that expires after next
year. Maybe they'll be baptized and be able to build and bless the
Church of Jesus Christ in India. :)
After lunch we biked back home to wait for Sister Craven and Sister
Parker (Elder Parker, the area Seventy's wife). Elder Parker was here
training for bishops and stake presidencies so Sister Craven and
Sister Parker wanted to come out teaching with someone and it worked
out to be us. We were way excited but also very very very nervous -
nervous mostly just that our appointments would fall through. It all
worked out though and we got back to teach Sheen and Pradha. We
focused on baptism into the church and the Holy Ghost and by the end
of the lesson after Sister Craven's and Parker's testimonies, we set a
baptism date to work toward. July 12 is the date and they made it to
church again yesterday for the third time but this time they stayed
for all three hours. And we notice something different about Sheen, he
seems happier and more interested in the church. I think his desire is
growing! And after Saturday's lesson I noticed his closing prayer was
better and he was more confident about it, so I made sure to
compliment him about it on the way out the door and he lit up. :)
The only other thing I would mention is that a member just got a
little hedgehog and I got to play with it a little! Her name was Hazel
and she was so cute! I think Nat should get a hedgehog rather than
ferrets. They are cute and don't stink but Sister Gunther says ferrets
stink (she had one once). Just sayin. ;)

Love,
Sister Rust

June 16

Hello Family!

What an incredible weekend I have had! We had four of our
investigators come to church this week - Garrett and Jodi, Jeff and
Kim. The best part is the miracles that occurred to have these four
make it to church.
Ok let me start with Garrett and Jodi. So last week we had our
wonderful lesson with him on Priesthood and challenged him to pray
about being baptized so that he could have his answer by the time we
met again after church yesterday. Well, they haven't been to church in
a month because of having the baby and I knew it would take a while to
recover from a c-section but also some other surgery she had at the
same time. But yesterday morning Jodi woke up and just felt like they
should try to make it to church, but Garrett said she didn't look like
she had the energy for it, yet after a nap (we have 1:00 church block)
he said suddenly she looked better. Then get this, they show up to
church, we are happy, everyone is welcoming them again, and the talks
and lessons happen to be on what of all things? Priesthood! Haha,
Garrett was excited to tell us how it seemed to have been just for him
and since we went over it last week it wasn't all over his head the
whole time. I don't think Garrett realizes it yet but I know that was
part of his answer to his prayers! He still hasn't come to a decision
yet, but he knows he wants to be baptized and join The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints. And now he has a hard choice because it
is not one between bad and good, he is trying to choose between two
goods. Either way, moving forward now or waiting to be baptized with
Jodi, he is going to make the covenant of baptism but it is a matter
of choosing and timing. Do any of you have thoughts or advice?
Alright, now Jeff and Kim. I found them probably 3 months ago with
Sister Nielsen. We were knocking in a neighborhood and Kim happened to
be outside homeschooling her two boys. So we talked to her a bit and
introduced ourselves, we have gone back multiple times and met her
husband Jeff, but we just have not been able to get in and teach. I
just felt so strongly though to keep trying.... it's hard to explain
but I guess I just felt drawn to them.
Well we tried again Saturday afternoon with a member and caught them
at a good time and we taught them the Restoration finally! Great
lesson and we invited them to attend church with us. They agreed to
next Sunday because Jeff had a lot of mulch to move around his yard
that they needed to get done by Monday before the city got upset with
them. Without missing a beat, Sister Gunther asked them if we got some
hands over there that night to help with the mulch would they come
with us to church the next day and he agreed wondering if we would be
able to find anyone. I wish you could have seen the surprise on his
face when we show up an hour and a half later with four elders and
Brother Adams and his two eldest sons shovels in hand! :) Well you can
bet we finished off that pile of mulch and Jeff and Kim came to
church!!! It was nothing but a miracle and probably the best day of my
mission. Garrett later told us he sat by Jeff in Priesthood class and
when Jeff got up to introduce himself he told the whole story to
everyone. Garrett told us that Jeff had been SO impressed by our
service - that was what we were going for, Christ-like service that
leaves an impression they will never forget about the true church and
it's members.

Yes, that was the best part of the week. I have been witness once
again to the blessings of ministering with love and charity, serving
God by serving His children.
The rest of my week was same ole', same ole', getting used to the bugs
(so far I have found roaches, spiders, and centipedes in my apartment-
gross!), getting used to the heat.... Sort of...... we are hitting
90's this week. Oh and we have the best district ever with all four of
our ward elders and us! I will try and send some pictures to y'all.

Hope Melanie, Natalie, Camille enjoy girl's camp, Lake Powell is fun
stuff! Just remind them to always be reapplying sunscreen and please,
please, please wear some sunglasses.... Don't burn your retinas like I
did out there, you go sort of blind and it hurts BAD.
Ok well I sure love everyone and thanks for the emails that you send,
it's so great to hear from you.

Love,
Sister Rust

June 9

Hello!

I am going to tell you about my crazy, exciting, good week. (Hm, what
week isn't some sort of crazy? I don't think I have started any of my
emails with "yeah, it was just an average regular week". At least,
since my being a missionary, it seems like our regular is not what a
regular week used to be to me or most haha).
We had the car last week and it was so nice, but now this week will be
even harder to get back on the bikes because it has been getting
warmer and warmer - wait - I mean hotter and hotter. I have never been
terribly good at staying hydrated but I have to make sure now. Also,
we'll have to think of creative ways to be out of the heat as much as
possible like staying under the shade of trees along the Greenway
instead of on asphalt which reflects the heat twice as bad.
Ok, so on Saturday we finally had a solid service project to work on.
Brother Hansen's neighbors needed help with their bushes and creating
a garden area in the front of the house, and so Brother Hansen invited
us and the elders to help with that and to fellowship. So the four of
us with the help of two of the kids shoveled rocks for about four
hours and dug up the yard, clay and grass. Well, for Ostin, one of the
boys who is probably 6, we were just digging up dinosaur fossils of
course. It actually was a ton of fun - our elders are hilarious and
fun to be around, the kids said the funniest things, and (Camille and
my other siblings will like this) we tried singing the rap/song from
the movie Holes, haha! :) Ostin was trying to be all grown up and when
the Hansen's daughters, about the same ages, came over I just hear him
loudly say, "Ladies! This is a construction site, NOT a playground.
You need to go back for the playground" I laughed so hard and it just
made my day.

Gah, I am already tired of typing (pecking) because this teensy iPad
keyboard slows me down. :P Ok, I'll share just a couple more things
though, the highlights of my week.
I saw lightning bugs for the first time ever! They really exist, haha.
My whole life I have only seen them in animated things so it was
almost like they were myth. It is super neat, they really are
fluorescent.
We have a new couple we are teaching from Liberia, Africa. Louis and
Mirene, and our first lesson went well but then the second one was
crazy and somehow turned into us bearing testimony but Mirene was so
fired up about the Bible and wasn't open to the Book of Mormon that I
think everything we tried explaining or bearing testimony of went in
one ear out the other. I hope the next lesson goes over better, but we
do have a continuing appointment with them so that is good.
We had lunch with Sister Schilling this week, she is our stake and
ward Geneology person. And she was so wonderful to spend a couple
hours with us to show us the basics of family history and
familysearch.org. It was a good time and I found some fun stories that
someone put up of Hazelton and Maria Campbell.
And now my favorite part of the week: We got in with Garrett and Jodi
yesterday to teach! We explained for Garrett the what, why, how, and
who of the Priesthood. Our ward mission leader, Brother Arias was
there with us and contributed so wonderfully and shared how Priesthood
blesses his family and life. Then in the end we invited him to pray
about being baptized this month instead of waiting for Jodi so that he
can progress to being ordained to the Priesthood and baptize Jodi
himself and bless his little baby girl. He still is on the fence! But
said he would pray about it now that he knows about the Priesthood and
have an answer by the end of the week. If you would like to, please
pray that he can receive the answer that Heavenly Father desires of
him and that he will move forward.

That's all I got today. Enjoy summer break everyone, but don't have
too much fun! ;)
Love you all,
Sister Rust

I am in my 9 month!!! I can't believe it!!!
We have transfers tomorrow but Sister Gunther and I are staying, yes!!
:) We get so nervous as transfers approach because we love being with
each other and we work well together and we love University City ward.
We found out we are getting a second set of elders though so we'll be
back to three companionships again and then maybe we will all stay for
a while. I think the members are wondering why there have been like 6
different sets of missionaries come through in just 4 months, that's a
lot of switching around.

June 2

Hi everyone,

So..... I think I must be too hard on myself. Because this week was
not looking like a good one as we went from day to day and I just kept
feeling worse and worse about myself. Maybe I had some unrealistic
expectations, maybe the sun was just too hot on my head. But looking
back now at our week and taken altogether it was a great week in many
ways even though it was completely not what I thought and planned it
would be. But I am grateful for so many things (too bad I just wasn't
grateful sooner- could have saved myself from an emotional weekend).

In my letter today I just want to share with you what I am grateful
for this past week:

I am grateful for all the many kids in our ward who surprise us with
pictures they have drawn for us. This is the reason for my subject
line of the email. It seriously is a tender mercy from God to have
these kids give us a gift even when I can't tell if the drawing is a
house or a really fat pickle. ;) It helps give me hope too that I
might be a good role model for them, a little hero in their eyes who
is doing some sort of good.

I am also super grateful for a lesson we had with a less-active mother
and her two nonmember children. She hasn't been to church in a long
time and her kids never, although they read from a children's Bible
occasionally. We really were hoping that her nonmember husband would
join too but he vanished once our appointment rolled around, so she
let us teach the kids anyway. Bryson is 10 and Brooke is 7 (Brooke
might be my favorite because she reminds me of Cassie) and we taught
them the Restoration and about the Book of Mormon. They were so
focused in the lesson and engaged, soaking up everything we said. It
was really beautiful how the Spirit was there because they were so
teachable and humble...... this must be part of what Christ meant when
he told people to be as little children. I have never seen anyone so
hungry and eager to learn about God and His words as Bryson and
Brooke. As we left Brooke even came out to say "thanks for learning
about God with us!" And her mom told us the next day she tried taking
her Book of Mormon that we gave each of them to school and show it to
her friends.

I am grateful...
Garrett, Jodi, and baby are all out of the hospital now!

For the new investigator we found outside cleaning his car, who just
quietly listened as we answered his question about President Monson
being the prophet today and Joseph Smith restoring Christ's church
rather than founding just any church.

For a ward mission leader who loves and tells us we are doing good
even when all our investigators who promised they would be at church
didn't keep that word.

For the testimony of a recent convert who has slipped up but wants to
do better so he introduced his Baptist girlfriend to us because he
knows that the message of the gospel helps his life and he knows it
would make a difference in hers as well.

For the opportunity I had to partake of the Sacrament yesterday and to
remember my Savior. And how He always reminds us to be of good cheer
and to be of good courage - used synonymously and interchangeably. And
His ultimate sacrifice on behalf of me and on behalf of you, each of
you.

Ok well, I kinda really liked that saying what I was grateful for to
sum up my week. :) I might just have to try that with my journal too
each day. That is my weekly goal this week is to write in my journal
CONSISTENTLY, haha.

I sure do love you all! Thanks for all you do and your prayers.
Love,
Sister Rust

May 27

Hey family!

We are having our P-day on Tuesday because it was a holiday yesterday.
I forgot to give you the heads-up last week, but hopefully it didn't
catch you by surprise.
Well it was Memorial weekend and it is getting hotter and hotter. :P
Everyone hit the pools yesterday.
This last week was pretty fantastic. We got to meet with our
Seventh-Day Adventist friends again now that they are home from
Thailand. We shared more about the Book of Mormon and it's history,
how it came about, and the chapter we left with them about Christ
ministry to His "other sheep" the Nephites. The Holy Ghost was strong
and they said a powerful prayer at the end as well to ask God if it
was true. Ryan is still a little iffy because he would like more
physical/archeological evidences (I guess that have that for the Bible
now), but we tried to explain that the most important evidence that
must come before all else is a witness from the Holy Ghost because
that is the most powerful assurance. Pray that they will have the
faith to be able to receive and accept their confirmation by the Holy
Ghost.

At our complex they are adding on so our workout room is under
construction for a month which means our workouts (if we are diligent
about it) are crunches and jogging around the complex. Actually Sister
Gunther showed me this great ab technique that you just need another
person for but don't need equipment and it hurts so good.
But they are adding an Internet cafe to our complex so that will be
super nice (they must have gotten sick of us coming in the office to
use wifi every day even multiple times a day ;) ).
We are trying to get more familiar with Facebook lessons so we
practiced with our recent convert Jen. It turned out to be a great
lesson even though it wasn't face to face, we went over covenant
keeping as part of enduring to the end. We read the Sacrament prayer
in Moroni because it reminds of what exactly we promise in our
baptismal covenant and is always a good review for anyone.

We had a little performance by a primary girl at our dinner this week.
Haha, she wanted to show us how she had the songs from Frozen
memorized and it was cute. All the kids in our ward are obsessed with
that movie - to the point where every dinner conversation with kids
includes Frozen and them spoiling it for us ha. Is it like that in
Utah? :)

Oh we have some new investigators who are Indian! We were looking for
a less-active sister who lived at an apartment complex but instead
this Indian family answered instead. Surprisingly this family wasn't
Hindu like the others we have met but were Christian so we asked if we
could share more about Jesus Christ and they let us in. We have been
back over a few times since and they came to Sacrament even! They are
cute - Sheen the father, Pradha his wife, and Evangeline their little
preschooler. Each time we go over Evangeline gives us each a juice box
or a fruit and it is adorable, she is this little nurturer. I'll have
to ask Peter how to say some things in Tamil so I can use it with
them.

Yesterday Sister Gunther and I went to go see Jodi and Garrett at the
hospital!  They were expecting their baby right? Well, we have been
nervous all week because Jodi was having some other problems with
digestion or something so they went to the hospital Monday morning and
they decided to get her into surgery right away to try and see what
was wrong. Well, she ended up having two surgeries in one because they
just decided to take the baby out then too which caught both Jodi and
Garrett by surprise (they didn't have a car seat or anything yet). So
their darling Skyla came 4 weeks early but weighed 8 lbs 12 ounces!
The baby is well and healthy and has been released but Jodi kept
getting sick and having complications so she went for another surgery
Friday and then Saturday caught Pneumonia! So Even though the baby has
been released, she is with Garrett and they stayed with Jodi all week.
Since they didn't have a car seat yet and Skyla had to stay with
Garrett all the time, they convinced the maternity ward to send over a
little infant cart thing to the surgery ward, and Anytime Garrett goes
to the cafeteria he totes little Skyla with him. :) They are the
cutest thing! Oh it was SO hard not to be able to hold the baby though
as a missionary!!! We wanted to so so so badly. Actually anytime there
is a cute kid it is hard. But if things go well Jodi should be
released in a few days, we sure hope so.

We had a miracle story and it happened right before our interviews
with President Craven so we got to share it directly with him and
rejoice together. The Harrisburg sisters gave us a referral, her name
is Warnette. We finally got a hold of her and taught her the
Restoration. She told us she was just interested in learning about
Mormons at first but after a powerful lesson with her and introducing
the Book of Mormon she was just in awe! The look on her face as she
held the Book of Mormon in her hands you would think she was holding
the actual gold plates or something. She then basically bore her
testimony of how what we just shared she could tell was true and good
and then asked us if we could come back tomorrow as soon as possible
since she had to leave quickly. We thought we were going to cry we
were so happy to see someone receive and accept the witness of the
Holy Ghost so readily and fast!

I love you all! Until next Monday and have a great week.
Sister Rust

May 19

Hello family!

Wow this past week was challenging but wonderful!
So on Tuesday we had a mission conference with President and Sister
Craven and they talked a lot about how we (all of our areas) are
losing too many of our baptismal dates and so we need to think about
what kind of changes we can make to be more effective and help people
make it to the baptismal covenant. We are trying to get back to the
basics and do more and to work our tails off.
And so because Sister Gunther and I were trying to do better this week
of course we'd meet some opposition, so there were moments that just
felt like failures but truly by the end of the week we saw the little
miracles that had been happening all along and we met some of our
goals that we hadn't done before yet.
I would say much of our success came via working with members this
week. We had wonderful opportunities to go out with the sisters in the
ward and to have them join us in lessons which, believe it or not,
makes a significant difference in teaching people.
The tender mercies of the week were:
Garrett and Jodi are expecting their first baby this week!! :) so they
just met with the bishop and we will teach them about the priesthood
so that Garrett can be baptized in a few weeks, work towards the
priesthood, and then when Jodi is ready he can baptize her. It will be
such a blessing for them as they are just starting their family and
the new baby. :) I love them!!!
We also just found a new investigator through a member this week. Her
name is Charlotte and she grew up here in Charlotte, ha! She was very
sweet and the first day we went over to contact her, she opened up the
door and invited us in right away, I mean we hardly introduced
ourselves before she warmly invited us in. I so hope she continues
meeting with us.
The Hansens had us over for dinner and also invited their oldest son's
best friend who is a nonmember. He was a very sweet kid and we are
trying to get with the rest of his family as well. We talked about
prayer and Brother Hansen shared a time when he had a prayer answered
as a teenager and it really set the tone for the Spirit to be there.
Also, we had dinner with the Souza family yesterday. They are a
Brazilian couple who are so kind and they have one son who is getting
baptized in two weeks. They asked if we would teach the son to help
him prepare for baptism and of course we were delighted to. The Souzas
both served missions themselves so it was fun to compare the
differences between then and now.

Well, I am about out of time but I think I covered the whole week.

I hope y'all are doing well! :)
Love,
Sister Rust

May 12

Hello family,

Well this week has been one of those all over the place roller coaster
weeks where you have to look back to remember the little miracles and
good things that happened - they are there though. So let me tell you
about what went well this week. :)

We had a neat lesson with a man named Ishmal who we found at the house
of a less-active we were looking for. She wasn't there but he is her
nephew and was hanging outside with a buddy, so we introduced
ourselves and said we were from her church. He was actually interested
to hear what we go around telling people so we briefly went over the
Restoration, told him the gospel answers the questions of the soul
(where did we come from?, why are we here?, and where are we going
after this life?), and gave him a Book of Mormon. He actually wanted
to read from the Book of Mormon and asked where he could buy one! So
of course we gave him one for free with the invitation to read it's
message and pray to ask God about it.

We also taught another less-active couple who we hadn't seen in a
while and then yesterday they made it to church for Sacrament! I was
very happy to see them make it and see ward members talking with them
afterward.

Another family who hadn't been to church in a while, we taught about
CPR for the soul. It stands for church, pray, read the Book of Mormon
- and those are three essential things that we all need to be
spiritually nourished and for our investigators especially to receive
an answer from God what is the truth. We shared scripture passages for
each and bore our testimony of how much we need that in our lives and
their lives. It was definitely a lesson with the Holy Ghost present to
touch their hearts and I felt that they could feel that church and
daily scripture and prayer are important pieces missing in their
lives.
This how we can have the spirit of revelation in each of us to know
things. When members of the church share testimony of how they KNOW
certain things it comes by much praying as Alma says in Alma 5:45-46.
It is only by the Holy Ghost that we can know of spiritual truths and
we pray to receive that Holy Ghost.

I am excited for Garrett and Jodi, they are only a couple weeks away
from her due date so the baby could come any time now. We had a
spiritual lesson with them yesterday and taught about baptism and this
next week we will teach what the Priesthood is and hopefully with that
understanding, Garrett will desire to be baptized first and not wait
so he can receive the priesthood to later baptize Jodi. When we
suggested this Jodi started crying at the beautiful thought and said
she would love for it to work out that way. We think it would be great
too!

Well, the rest of my week was finding and trying to talk to people.
I was able to skype home yesterday for Mother's Day and it was so
great to see all of you! I am glad to see you are doing well. :)
Go forth with faith!

Love,
Sister Rust

A Pic!

This was at the fireside last night. One of my favorite church
buildings, the Hilliard building also known as our mission office,
with some favorite peeps. From left to right is: Sister Gunther, Jen,
Sherman, Venita, me

May 5

Hi family!

It is so sunny here in Charlotte, NC this week. I have heard some talk
about tornadoes but it must have been just hear-say because where I am
at least there were mildly dark clouds but not even rain and the
clouds were not greenish. We do have a mission emergency plan for
crazy bad weather but no drastic weather so far.
I actually really am excited for big thunderstorms but is asked
someone and they said that is more toward the end of summer during
hurricane season.

So transfers happened and both our elders and the sisters in our
apartment all ended up transferred. No one really knew what was going
on so this Sunday we had several members approach us worried that we
were gone too. It would be sad if we left already, I like these ward
members too much. :)
So just getting used to just me and my companion again and getting to
know our two new elders. Elder Cook (fantastic elder with great
optimism) and Elder Carson (brand new from MTC but is very
enthusiastic and happy).

Oh and the best part!? Sister Whitmer, my trainer, just transferred
into the zone!! I found out what has happened with some Hickory folks
and that Lisa was baptized there and she and Brother Barker are
working towards their temple marriage. Yay!

Last night we had a fireside of our investigators and members that
Elder Parker spoke at and Sister Gunther, I, Sister Whitmer and her
companion did a musical number. My allergies were messing up my voice
which made me nervous but when it came time miraculously I hit the
notes I needed to and then right after allergies messed it up again.
We were helped by Heavenly Father with that I know. Sherman and Venita
were able to make it and Sherman was for sure touched by the Spirit -
I fasted that he would be. :)
I loved Elder Parker's comments. He talked about  asking ourselves,
"Are you teachable?" Members and non members alike.
No matter what your church is, no matter what your age. Ask yourself
this throughout.
1.We can't learn if we are not willing to learn.
2. Are we willing to open our heats and minds to grasp what is taught?
3. Are we willing to apply what we learn?
Oh I could listen to him teach all the time, he is fun and exciting
(haha even a little loud, but that is the South ya know?). We get
asked a lot if we know Benny Hinn or Billy Graham (big name preachers
and healers) and they are surprised when we didn't, but I just think
Elder Parker from Atlanta or Elder Uchtdorf or President Monson are
celebrity names. :) haha

Ok, that was a lot to chicken peck out on an iPad but it was a busy
week, the way we like it!
Doubt your doubts and keep your faith
Love y'all,
Sister Rust

April 28

Hello family,

I hope you are doing well, I know this week was a blessing for me.
Sister Gunther are going to have to work extra hard on building trust
with our ward and specifically the leadership to repair damage done by
others but this week we learned a very valuable lesson from our ward
mission leader. He reminded us that missions are hard, but if they
were not hard it would not help carry us to salvation. And we need to
remember why we are out here and what we are doing whether or not we
have the support of the ward. Also, we must not forget that there are
a lot of people running on fumes spiritually right now - everyone can
do something we just need to help them figure out what they can
contribute.

This week I taught my first stop smoking lesson (Amber just wanted to
do it on her own- more power to her I guess). We went over it with
Sherman and Venita who had it before but wanted to go over it again,
and we walked out of that lesson feeling good and uplifted..... But
two hours after our lesson which they committed at they were cleaning
and found a pack of cigarettes under the bed and smoked it! :(
Disappointing. And they no showed to church twice now. We might have
to give them a good break for a while.... We love them but they are
tripping over their own shoelaces stunting their own progression.
Amber is still going strong on not smoking and suddenly has gotten
back to exercising (no coincidence there ;) ) and she wants to do one
of those color 5k runs and us to do it with her. We think that would
be way fun but we have to see if it is approved. Our RS ward run was
postponed a whole month!
Sorry, not much else new this week. Transfers is tomorrow and they are
taking out the sisters we live with and one set of elders out of our
ward. But Sister Gunther and I are not moving anywhere and I am very
happy about that. :) We will be alone in our apartment, which will be
very weird for me but I think it will be better for those other
sisters because their area was a hard one for them. We will have 2
missionaries in the room now but still 5 beds! Not sure how the car
situation will go now because we car shared with them but no one is
coming in.
We still are having little adventures all the time, like when I caught
a frog with my hands and we named him Pahoran and we took off our
shoes and cut across a creek because it would save us a mile or two on
the greenway home. Most of the time we aren't that crazy though -
probably just one out of seven days. ;)
Ok, I think I don't have anything else to write about. Have a good
week and enjoy your cool weather. I heard it is still snowing
occasionally back in Utah? Here it is mildly hot and humid just
getting ready for the big stuff. Our apartment is so humid though that
mold was growing on the outside of my shoes and they weren't stuffed
in a corner behind anything but out in the open!

Love,
Sister Rust

Pahoran the frog we caught at our complex

April 21

April 21

Hello!

This last P-Day after I emailed y'all, my zone all got together and we
went to the Charlotte Motor Speedway for a tour! It was fun, we all
piled into two vans and they took us around their multiple tracks
listing off facts and figures. Even though I know nothing about cars
or NASCAR I thought it was fun and interesting especially certain
points on the tour. Like when we went around the big main track on the
curves it actually slopes like 24 degrees so you almost feel like
you're going to fall over in the van. And on the drag strip we saw a
"funny car" (that's really what they are called) warm up and then
shoot down the track so fast. But even more impressive was the sound,
it went so fast that you need ear protection and you could see the air
waves move from the sound. And when they race four of their train cars
at a time it experts so much force that it almost equals a rocket! We
also got out to take pictures in the winner's circle. I will send some
in this email.

This week was pretty rainy and it was our bike/foot week. We were
going to go finding in neighborhoods along the greenway but found
parts of the paths flooded so we tried crossing them anyway. Sister
Gunther was up to her knees in water (it didn't seem that deep) and I
tried to climb over rocks and other things. An adventure for sure. :)

We finally met with Garrett and Jodi Friday and just got to know them
a little better. Garrett and Jodi want to get baptized together so
that may put things back for a little but hopefully not long and
hopefully I won't be transferred! Amber is doing well, we skyped her
Friday as well and she wants to quit smoking so she is trying cold
turkey his week. Pray that it will go well! We also have the 5k this
week so hopefully she still will do that with us. We also are having
wonderful lessons with Neal, but we want to start meeting with his
wife too. He has been meeting with missionaries forever and he likes
everything we share but I am afraid we have turned into just a
friendly Bible study. But they are all doing well so far.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and was able to reflect on
Christ. Sister Gunther and I memorized the Living Christ to challenge
ourselves  and it just happened that we finished the last paragraph on
Easter Sunday which was a nice little coincidence. We enjoyed dinner
with a family who shared some fun mission experiences and conversion
stories. It is nice to be able to enjoy Sunday evenings and holidays
with members since I can't be home with my own family right now.

Have a good week everyone and always thank you for the prayers and love.

Sister Rust

April 14

Hello,

 

This week we had our zone conference which was great. We refocused on using the scriptures more in our teaching and studying, especially the Book of Mormon. Sister Craven also gave us a lesson reminding us to be more healthy and take care of ourselves because "the spirit and the body are the soul of man" (D&C 88:15) and our bodies are a temple because they house our spirits and if we treat them right the Holy Spirit can dwell with us too. Then President Craven followed that with talking about resurrection.

 

Starting yesterday and going through Easter Sunday the church has put out this amazing video about Christ that they want us to share all over our social media and Facebook with as many people as we can members and nonmembers. You can find it and watch it at easter.mormon.org and it's just a few minutes and is about what is possible because of Jesus Christ. Also, if you are social media savvy, the church said you can hashtag the video with #BecauseofHim. Go check it out!

 

I don't have too much new stuff to tell about. We are trying to figure out how to introduce Amber to the sisters in the ward so we invited her to a RS 5k Fun Run (those 2 words do not go together haha) and said we would run it with her! Lot's of water and lots of stretching and warm-up for me.

Sherman just moved out of our area temporarily so we are trying to figure out how that works and get teaching them again - he is so close to baptism! Garrett is close too, but we couldn't meet with them this week because they weren't feeling well so we may have to give it a little more time.

Church yesterday was very nice. A less active sister we are trying to work with came to sacrament meeting! It was a little answer to my unspoken prayer. :) Jen, recent convert, was able to receive her patriarchal blessing yesterday as well and the ward I believe is starting up a temple prep class again that she'll be able to attend. It makes me happy to see converts developing their testimonies and getting ready for the temple. Also, Sister Gunther gave a wonderful talk which I can't remember what it was exactly about because it got me reflecting on the Savior and that's what I was pondering on all of the block.

We had a little dinner message with a family about Easter and Christ's Ressurection. It was so cute when we asked the kids what the meaning of Easter was and the youngest girl immediately shouts "chocolate!" - that's what I'm talking about. ;)

 

Take care and make good choices! I will write to y'all next week.

Love,

Sister Rust

 

P.S. This week the other sisters found botanical gardens on UNCC's campus so during lunch we went and wandered around in there for a bit. It was very lovely and forest-like (sometimes I still can't get over the trees here! Love them).

April 7

First Week of April

Morning everyone!

This week was a good one. We were able to get 6 member present lessons
which is the most I think I have seen so far! They were some good
lessons too, especially Amber's. Amber is only a couple years older
than I am and we received her from South Carolina sisters when she
moved up here. When she was with them she prayed about Joseph Smith
being a prophet and twice she received a yes answer from God, but she
doesn't like that she got yes for an answer and has a hard time with
Joseph Smith still. So Saturday we showed her the 20 min Restoration
DVD since she really only heard about the First Vision and the visit
from The angel Moroni. We hoped that by seeing more of his life Amber
would be able to relate to Joseph Smith and then his story wouldn't
seem so far fetched and out there to her, and sure enough, after the
video we asked her where she was at and she said that she had gone
from like 45% to 73% sure that all of it had truly happened. She says
it like much hasn't changed but we were so happy to hear that!
The thing is she likes to read the Book of Mormon and she thinks the
things in there really happened so we testified that if she would
continue reading and praying that her testimony of the Book of Mormon
would help her grow a testimony of Joseph Smith. I think of my own
testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith and how it took so long for me
it seems to have come. All through my youth, while I never really
doubted I never felt like I could say with assurance that he was God's
prophet, but I held on to what I did know and that was that whenever I
read the Book of Mormon I felt good and that it pointed me toward God.
So eventually over the years (and I mean YEARS) I arrived at the point
where the Book of Mormon was in fact the word of God because it was
just completely consistent with what God has taught before to his
people; and therefore Joseph Smith did not make it up himself, he had
to have the divine direction from our Heavenly Father. If it was not
in fact the true church of Christ, it would not have withstood the
tests it went through with the early Latter-Day Saints, Joseph and his
brother Hyrum I do not believe would have given their very lives
leaving behind precious loved ones for something fictitious, and the
church would not have made it through its vulnerable moments in the
1800's with so few members who were brand new to this foreign
denomination of Christianity. But the glad news is that IT IS TRUE
which gives us cause to rejoice!

Wow, sorry that just turned into a lengthy testimony but I think it is
good to have a chance to just write out our testimony from the heart.

Ok so also we just got a couple new investigators from Harrisburg
sisters, Garrett and Jodi. I love them! They are a married couple in
their late 30s and expecting their first child this summer and they
are really excited. Garrett comes from a baptist background I think
and Jodi actually used to be an LDS member and she wants to come back.
We had our first lesson with them yesterday over at Jodi's sister's
home and the support of the family (also members) there was amazing!
They were all such a happy people in the room and it was refreshing to
be in their presence. We talked about Garrett and Jodi's thoughts and
feelings on conference and they loved it and Garrett expressed that he
couldn't say right off that they were prophets and apostles but he did
no doubt feel that they were close to God. He agreed with us that most
likely it was just because the concept of a living prophet was so
foreign a concept that it would just take getting used to. But he is
so golden! More to come on the both of them once we have taught them
more. I am so excited! :)

Also, we had zone meeting on Friday which ended up with everyone
laughing (that is really unusual). I guess the last couple months the
whole mission just kind of got in a slump so the zone leaders and
sister training leaders wanted to get us excited and pumped again so
there were balloons and exciting speeches. Oh if you had been there,
you would think his was funny but one missionary even talked about how
we need to take the "sticks of salvation" and rub them together until
we talk to people and light the "Yellowstone wildfire of the gospel"
and then all of a sudden our missionary work is being referred to as a
Dragonball Z character who has fire power or something. We were all
just rolling on the floor laughing but it worked and pumped us.

Well, Summer won't be too long here and I am starting to hear all the
horror stories, haha (mostly from sisters). But already this past week
got so hot! It actually wasn't even above 80 but the humidity kills!!
You just don't even know until you experience it and you think people
exaggerate but nope. So Mom, if you send anymore clothes I am
requesting only short sleeves or very material. And everything is
pollinating and blossoming right now. We walked out to our car the
other morning and there was literally a layer of yellow all over the
car! And all over the little patio table at our office, and do you
know what it was? Pollen!! Blows my mind that there are that many
trees to so and we aren't even in the country areas.

General Conference was amazing! Some of my favorite talks included
Elder Bednar's about spiritual traction and loads, Sister Reeves' on
building personal filters and to help protect the family and the
importance of FHE, family scripture/prayer, and Elder Steven's on our
"4 min" of our race here in mortality. I also later watched Elder
Oakes in the priesthood session because the elders made it sound
really intriguing and it was really good. :)
On Wednesday we have zone conference so I get to prepare a 5 min talk
on my favorite conference talk in case they pick me to give a talk
(although I am hoping not, it is scarier talking in front of the
mission than a ward).
Oh! And Orem Institute sang for the Saturday session which was
absolutely fun to see. I saw at least 6 faces I knew from singles ward
and school including Heather, Klarissa, Alejandra, Karli Rasmussen,
Ryan and Ben. I missed home a lot more that day but it was great and
made me happy to see them.

I think that is everything I have for this email.... I am going to
have to start planning out what I want to write home about because
there is so much to tell but then when I sit down to do it I forget
it.
I hope everything is well with you all! I love you.

Sister Amelia Rust

Sister Gunther and I trying spaghetti tacos at a member's house and
they are delicious!

March 31

Hello family!

I LOVE being with Sister Gunther. The two of us have been able to have
so many laughs already and fun even though the work hasn't gotten any
easier. Being with her actually reminds me missionary work isn't work,
it is missionary fun!

So this weekend I did get to see the Women's Broadcast and it was
AMAZING!! To start it was just fun to be a part of something so big
and historic but then it just had some amazing spiritual messages and
music. I just loved the overall idea that as daughters of God we have
more in common than differences no matter what kind of differences
they may be. Also that we can and should strive to develop strong,
loyal bonds with the sisters of the church because God did not intend
for us to make it to heaven alone on our own. We can help each other
and as covenant sisters we have so much potential and power and
goodness that sometimes goes unused. I just love the idea that there
is no age barrier or geographical barrier when it comes to womanhood
except barriers that are self-imposed and I think combining all ages
for the broadcast was a fantastic idea.  Part of womanhood is to
uplift and to invite others to the covenant path whether it is our own
children or anyone we interact with. Yep, this broadcast was the
highlight of my week and I am excited for General conference next
weekend. :)

I think all my thoughts on patience are addressed in Elder Uchtdorf's
talk in a Priesthood session spring 2010, titled "Continue in
Patience". He says patience is not just enduring but enduring well.
And as Sister Gunther and I discussed it a little we decided that
patience is waiting with faith, charity, and other virtues because
otherwise without such it would be more of a miserable torture. Elder
Uchtdorf says"Often the deep valleys of our present will be understood
only by looking back on them from the mountains of our future
experience. Often we can't see the Lord's hand in our lives until long
after trials have passed." Also "There is an important concept here:
patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because
of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means
staying with something and doing all that we can--working, hoping, and
exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the
desires of our hearts are delayed."
Patience is what allows us to grow and win mastery over our souls so
that we can become perfected and saints.
It is important to remember that patience doesn't mean always that we
get our way either (I think it is an easy mistake to think this).
Sometimes having patience means we accept what cannot be and accept it
with grace, courage, and faith.
This week study humility :)

Well, nothing too new here in Charlotte. We got rid of the mouse only
to have an ant problem now, a sign of how much it really is warming
up. And our laundry dryer broke, but we temporarily fixed it. We just
had so many sister missionary problems this week.
I can't remember if I mentioned I am the driver now and it is crazy
driving here! Drivers can be so rude and they drive terribly but get
mad and honk at me. :P Whatever. I think I still enjoy driving.

I love you all,
Sister Amelia Rust

I forgot to mention a little about our teaching. This last week Sister
Gunther and I have seen small improvements in our area including
teaching members when we have dinner with them and seeking referrals.
We have a couple of people now on date for baptism-Sherman, and a new
couple, Garrett and Jody. We had an incredible lesson with Ryan and
Laura, our Seventh-Day Adventist investigators, and we brought a
member this time and her son. They were able to share testimony about
the Book of Mormon as we talked about how we know the truth as we read
and pray to ask God. Unfortunately, Laura is headed to Thailand for a
month and Ryan wasn't too keen on meeting with us until she gets back,
but when she does, we might attend their church service and they'll
attend ours. They are very nice people who I would love to have as
neighbors.

March 24

Morning everybody!

Well, I got a brand new companion this week - Sister Gunther from
Orem, Utah! Yep, we were practically neighbors and never knew each
other and we both went to Timpanogos High School! I am super excited
to get to serve with her and I think we shall have a great transfer
together and see some good things happen! Even though she has only
been out for 4 months she is SO confident as a missionary, she teaches
very well and simply, she has a good vision and goals. We have had
lots of fun and laughs already just this week and it is refreshing to
be companions with her and I think we'll really be able to strengthen
each other here.
This week was LONG - all we had to do was finding. The nearest
neighborhood is at least a 10 min drive so we ended up really trying
to work the boardwalk. We did get in with a couple, Ryan and Laura,
who are Seventh Day Adventists and we taught them the Restoration.
Ryan said he has been very impressed by the church's view and value
placed on families and had heard about FHE and he appreciated our
approach as missionaries. Turns out he and Laura met at a Seventh Day
Adventist college and they just last couple of years had served a
mission for their church in Thailand and they have three daughters.
Although they agreed to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it,
right after Ryan asked us if we would read Exodus 20 and pray about
that (says the Sabbath is on the seventh day or Saturday). We are
excited to go back and teach them more and hopefully they will have
actually kept their commitment. :)
This week I am starting Jesus The Christ, I have been wanting to read
it since I got out but haven't started it. Sister Kramer (recent
convert) is reading it right now though and keeps saying so many great
things about it that I finally opened the book so I can discuss it
better with her and to satisfy my own curiosity. She is a stellar
member though with a fire testimony! She has a lot of time on her
hands currently so she reads and reads and reads church materials. She
is reading Jesus The Christ, her 3rd time through the entire Book of
Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and now the Teachings of the President
manual because she just got called to be a Relief society instructor
(so fitting for her!). And yet she is always asking us to read with
her and teach her more because she wants to be just like us, but I
want to be like her!  She just has a spiritual hunger for knowledge
like very few and she is so different from her previous nonmember
self, it really is miraculous when the gospel truly becomes something
dear to someone's heart. That very real and literal change of heart
feels me with gladness and inspiration that I don't think I could
adequately describe other than it is feelings that go along with the
Holy Ghost and it is beautiful.
I am excited to watch the Women's Broadcast this Saturday - another
historical moment and we get to see it unfold! Also excited for
General Conference coming up shortly too, it is too bad people don't
understand how wonderful it is to hear from God's living prophet today
or they would be running to the church doors for Conference.
Well, I am doing well and loving life. God is good and the church is
true, I do know that. :)
I love you!
Sister Amelia Rust


Oh and I almost forgot to mention the mouse in our apartment this
weekend! We tried catching it with towels but that was ineffective so
we called management and they got us some traps. Eventually we got it
and I felt bad killing the mouse but it probably would have come back
if we just caught it and took it outside. I am not really scared of
mice but I freaked out when there was a black spider crawling up my
arm that same night! Good thing I didn't see it and freak out until
after we left the people we were teaching. :)

Charity and Love March 17

While I was in the MTC, we watched this amazing devotional from Elder
Bednar in which he spoke of the character of Christ. Charity, being
the pure love of Christ, involves what Elder Bednar describes as
turning outward like Christ where the natural man would have us
turning inward and self-centered. Charity could also be described as
true friendship. In the June 2006 Ensign, Elder Lynn A. Mickelsen
tells the Old Testament story of David, Jonathan, and King Saul.
It is interesting because David was going to receive the throne next
even though Jonathan was the son of King Saul and so you would think
that would place some sort of wedge between David and Jonathan but
instead they were very loyal friends. In fact, Saul actually began
getting jealous of David being the hero after Goliath was slain and
tried to have him killed. But Jonathan and David were so loyal and had
such a true friendship that Jonathan defended David and helped him get
away out of danger. This charity and true friendship is a selfless
love that we should strive to develop with Christ and others.
Also, Elder Uchtdorf talks about the pure love of Christ as being a
language that reaches every soul because we are all native speakers-
we learned this language in the presence of our Father in heaven and
we get to become fluent while here on Earth. I think he mentions this
in last year's YW broadcast or in the May 2013 Ensign.
Anyways lots of good things to read about and ponder.

Sister Rust

St. Patrick's Day

Good morning everyone and Happy St. Patty's Day!

I can't believe this but it is time for transfers again already. This
has been the fastest one and it just flew! I am staying in Charlotte
University City ward which I expected, but we were surprised to find
out Sister Nielsen is leaving! I will be getting a new companion
tomorrow and then comes the test to see how much I have really picked
up on getting around in this area in just a little over a month. I am
not worried though and this place has been a little easier to figure
out than Hickory.
This last week went better than the previous in the sense that it
wasn't grand but it wasn't awful and sometimes not having it be awful
is the best thing at the moment. Well, the highlight was the weekend
and my studies were nice as well. We had stake conference along with
the entire southeast and several general authorities joined in and
spoke via broadcast from Salt lake. We had three investigators come
which was nice because we weren't sure any would make it other than
Sherman. The talks were really nice and tied into hastening the work.
Although we are still trying to improve ourselves and our area and it
seems slow going, having interviews with President Craven helped me
feel better emotionally and spiritually. After I expressed my current
concerns he offered some simple counsel that assured me that my faith
is good and how it can grow. I am worthy to be a missionary and as
long as I am worthy of the Holy Ghost guiding me, I don't need to be
so worried about about what I am able to do with the faith that I
have. God keeps His promises when I obey Him - and I try to build my
faith off of that, even if those blessings are not fulfilled in any
near future.

On Saturday we had car fast so we discovered this bike/running trail
called the Greenway and it is great! It keeps us away from the crazy
city roads with crazy drivers trying to get points for hitting us
little bikers. Plus it takes us through forested areas along a little
river and you can hear birds and squirrels all along the way. It's
like countryside within the city and it was a pleasurable bike ride.
:) i am excited to find out how many places we can get to on the
Greenway. Also, it is amusing how many people gawk at someone riding
bikes in skirts, especially on a trail where most everyone is in some
type of athletic clothing.

Well here is what I studied on charity and love the other week......
On second thought, I left my journal in the apt. so I will try to send
my thoughts on charity later today.

I love you! Thank you for the prayers.
Sister Amelia Rust

March 3

Good afternoon!

So this morning Great Clips was having a sale and we live right next
to it so the four of us in the apartment all went and got our hair
trimmed. I hadn't cut my hair in I think at least 6 months so I was
due for some trimming to get rid of split ends and such, but I am
getting excited for hot weather so I cut my hair short again too. Now
it is nice and light for the spring and summer.

This week was a long crazy week! Sister Nielsen and I have two new
investigators who so far are considered progressing and hopefully
continue to be. It is kind of funny working with these AreaBook apps
because it has specific criteria and commitments extended to determine
what kind of investigator you have (progressing, former, potential,
etc). So where we might have an investigator who needs to take small
steps and work slowly such as just meeting us at the church for a
lesson, it won't show them as progressing because they didn't commit
and come to Sacrament yet. But if the person agreed to meet us at the
church and came for a lesson, I personally would count that as
progressing. I guess the tricky part is that what I would sometimes
consider progressing is subjective but when it comes to AreaBook
calculations it is objective? Anyway I am rambling on. One of our new
investigators is deaf! Yeah, crazy and she actually is just out of our
area but was referred to us because our ward has interpreters and word
got out that I know how to sign. Yikes! I haven't used my sign in over
half a year now and I never did learn any signs related to religion.
Her husband speaks Spanish and I don't know any of that, so this will
be an adventure!
Our other new guy is from New Jersey and Jamaica before that. He is
probably in his 50s and sounds involved I his church but has been very
welcoming and friendly about what we teach so far. His neighbor is one
of our members who referred him so they have been great to bring to
the lessons. The investigator has 25 different Bibles! And now a Book
of Mormon ;)

Oh my goodness and we went to an investigator's Bible study that she
and her husband did in their home. They are born again Christian and
this was the first Bible study I have been to out here but I
definitely like how much we learn and understand about the Bible from
our LDS institutes and seminaries. I didn't realize how much
Latter-day Saints know the Bible. So this was our first visit with
this lady and her husband (we met her at the boardwalk) but they were
very hospitable and even fed us dinner! They had a lot of concerns
about what we believe and are now praying that we'll find he truth.
And the husband was quoting out of the Bible but contradicting himself
and he has only read one random passage from the Book of Mormon. So
that was hard for me when he started talking bad about the Book of
Mormon when he hasn't even taken the time to try it out completely. He
said the Bible has withstood the test of time and made it through
things but the Book of Mormon will never stand on its own. He is wrong
on that point and dos not understand that it has already been around
since 600 BC and all the crazy persecution that it went through in the
1800s when the church was so fragile too. Then the wife asked us how
we know we aren't just reading a false book and being deceived. It was
an interesting night but don't worry neither party once raised voice
or got contentious so we were able to leave on an excellent note. In
fact the lady hugged us, invited us back, and said she felt like we
were friends. The next day we sent them an email to thank them for
having us over and sharing their faith in Christ and invited them to
continue researching our beliefs and the Book of Mormon. We did let
them know that there is a lot of misinformation out there though so to
come to us or check out the church websites. We invited them to start
with the talk "Ask The Missionaries!". And they totally read it! We'll
see how things go with them because they said it raised more questions
for them.

Phew! Oh my goodness this is a long email but it was a long week.
Ok last thing- this last week was studying hope. Hope stems from our
faith and they are very much interconnected. I read some interesting
things from an Ensign article on hope written by a psychologist. He
listed 6 things we can do to cultivate hope in our lives including:
associating with hopeful people/atmospheres, confidence, improving
self-control, rejoicing in life's small victories, and taking care of
ourself and being healthy.
I think the most interesting points were the confidence and improving
self-control. Confidence is a breeding ground for hope when we focus
on our effort and progress rather than on complete success and
realizing that failure does not determine our worth.
Also we can cultivate hope as we improve self-control by making
meaningful goals and plans to accomplish them. We might memorize a
quotation or scripture or establish a habit or control time, eating,
exercise or finances. Interesting concept, huh? This is kind of the
idea behind the 40 day fasts that we are doing in our mission.
This week study Charity and Love. If any of you are doing the
challenge too I would love to hear your thoughts on any of the
attributes of Christ!

I love you all and thank you for the prayers and support!
Love,
Sister Rust