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.