February 18th 2009

It was a pretty good week. We had a Zone Conference which is always nice. I love hearing from our Mission President. It made me realize how much I need to work on though. LOL. My companion and I were able to role play with him, which was fantastic! He gave us a lot of good feed back. I really enjoyed it. Angie is still set for baptism on the 28th! She's getting really excited. She wants her husband to join as well. He's warming up little by little. He said he's going to attend her baptism though so that's a good start :)Our teaching pool is getting pretty high and it's all off of tracting. It sure is hard to get referrals from members. Sister Zwang and I were asked to speak in Sacrament in the first ward again on missionary work so hopefully that might help the members some... We're trying to work really close to them and teach them the lessons as well and have them evaluate us. IT's been fun. The members are still feeding us like crazy! Luckily I'm still not gaining any weight LOL :)We're going to go attend a Penicostal church tonight so that should be interesting. LOL. I've never been to one and neither has my comp... Other then that, that's about all that's going on. I'm still loving the heck out of my mission! Time is flying. I started my one year count down. Holy Cow!! Thank you all for the letters! It's so good to hear from all of you! I love you all

-Sister Spark Plug

February 11th 2009

What a fantastic week! Things are really looking up here in Harrisonburg. We had a Zone Meeting and got some good counsel from our new Zone leaders. We also had the wonderful opportunity to have a Sister's Meeting on Monday. ALL 29 of the sisters who are serving here in VA got together and the mission president was there and we discussed all kinds of matters. Questions, concerns, etc... But the best part was, is we had it in my old area YORKTOWN!!! Man it was SO good to be back there. It was a 5 hour drive to get there but it was TOTALLY worth it! I wasn't able to see anyone but just being there was amazing! I got to see a lot of sisters that I've served with though, so that was a lot of fun!
Ok on to so AWESOME news! WE set Angie Harris for baptism yesterday! It was amazing! Her date is for Feb 28, 2009! EXCITING!!! We also had another lesson with Cindy which went really well. She's getting on the right track. We almost set here too :) There was a relief Society enrichment that night as well and we got both Angie and Cindy to come! They bonded really well and really hit things off. They seemed to really enjoy being with all the sisters in the ward. We have teaching appointments with both of them this Friday. Cindy's is at 11 and Angie's is at 2. But Angie wanted to come to Cindy's lesson then have hers still later! Awesome stuff! We also got a phone call last week and there's a 21 year old girl who just moved here from Fredicksburg who has already received all the lessons and wants to be baptized. Now that she's moved here though her friends are really working on her and telling her she's crazy for wanting to be a Mormon. So we're meeting with her today and get her back on track. And if she thinks about not wanting to be baptized anymore we'll just rebuke her and share the scripture in 2 Nephi 31:14 hehehe She knows it's all true. We just gotta get her out of Satan's grasp.
We also have our Zone Conference tomorrow which should be a lot of fun. My new companion is great. She's really nice. But quiet. We're working on breaking her out of her shell. We have a lot of people we're teaching and around 13 we're wanting to set for baptism. The work is going great! I'm loving every second. Thank you so much for all your love and support!
I love you all
Sister Orawiec
P.S. I inherited ANOTHER nick name from a member. Sister Tiger lol I love it!

February 4th 2009

What a week! Things are going great as usual! We had transfers on the Jan 29. It made for a long day but I was able to be Sister Abbott's last companion before she went home, so that was really sweet! I was able to see some of the Elders I came out with as well. One of my good friends from the MTC, Elder Rodgerson, will be serving in my district now which is awesome! He's great! He got shot-gunned into Staunton with a greenie! I can't believe he's training already! IT's great! I'm excited for the new zone and district. My DL's are the same but the ZL's are Elder Gubler (he's the same) and Elder Rigby. When we were coming home from transfers we went the wrong way and ended up way out of our mission boundaries!! ABout 50 miles from Washington DC. So we didn't get home till about 1130pm. My new companion is Sister Zwang. She's been out for 13 months now. I was suprised that I was called to be the Senior companion considering she has been out a lot longer then I have. But I'm more then happy to be! We're learning the area together since neither of us are familiar with it. I've only been here a month and covering 3 wards is no piece of cake. LOL BUt its a learning and growing experience. While I was with Sister Abbott on transfer days, waiting for my companion to get there at 5, we went tracting all afternoon and found 3 families and one YSA for the Elders to teach. Miracles happen when Sister Abbott is around. It was amazing! One lady even let us in and we shared about the Book of Mormon and shared a spiritual thought. It was great!
Another cool experience... Sunday Feb 1st we were driving home for the night and we passed a street called 3rd St... I randomly thought to myself "we should go tract that street tomorrow" then the thought just kinda fled from my mind. Then the next moring I remembered my thought from the night before and we ended up tracting on that street and found a SOLID couple to teach. They just bought the house they were living in and they're a newly married couple as well. As well as opened minded, not set on a religion, and is searching. That's what I call ELECT! It was sweet! Then yesterday I get a call from the mission office with a refferal... The girl is 21 and wants to be baptized! It's not everyday you get a phone call from someone who happens to just want to be baptized. She's had all the lessons from the missionaries in Fredricksburg and is going to school here at JMU. SO she'll be coming to church on Sunday and we're meeting with her next Wednesday. AND THEN... A lady we tracted into a few weeks ago, Angie, came to church on Sunday. We had a lesson with her Saturday evening and talked about being baptized. She said she wanted to fast about it. So I asked her if I could fast with her! IT was awesome. SO we fasted together for an answer for being baptized and I'm calling her today to see if she's received an answer. So lots of things going on and lots more to come I hope. Thank you all for your love and support. It really helps!
The Church Is True!
-Sister Spark Plug

January 28th 2009

First things first... We got transfer calls last night and I'll be staying in Harrisonburg and getting a new companion, Sister Zwang. It's been really cold here. Last week we tracted in 7 degree weather and yesterday it was snowing and raining "ice" all day. That's wasn't very fun to be in all day. But that's ok! The missionary work is great no matter what! We got in a car wreck on Saturday which was a bummer. The weather was fine and all but we were pulling into an apartment complex and a guy backed into the front of our car and messed up the front of our car. We drive a 2008 Malibu so it was a bummer. No one was hurt though so no big deal. The week has been a little slow. We had a lot of people cancel our appointments but that gave us the opportunity to go tracting and try to find more people to teach. We're hoping to set a few people for baptism in the next week or two. We had 7 investigators come to church which was great. I've also been teaching the gospel principle class the last few weeks as well. I love to teach! It's so much fun!
We've been tracting into so pretty... interesting lets say... People. It makes for great stories. We've found one new person to teach, Angie, but other then that, we have yet to find the elect. But I know we will soon. I can feel it :) Not too much more has gone on this week. The work is great as always! I LOVE MY MISSION! It's going by fast! Thank you all for all your love and support. It's great to get letters from all of you. Keep it up :) The church is true, the book is blue, and Jesus is a Mormon :)
-Sister Spark Plug

January 21st 2009

What a great week! We finally are starting to have some great success. On Thursday we got to attend the institue class and they're studying the 2nd half of the New Testament! Good stuff! We are still working with Monica and Jairo and they attended all 3 blocks of church on Sunday and really enjoyed it. They are such a great family! Monica said the nicest thing to me the other day. She said that she absolutely LOVES hearing me talk because I have that voice that just draws people in. OK, it may not sound like that great of a thing, but it meant a lot to me because I really admire that about other people.
We found another family tracting and will be teaching them at 4 this afternoon. They have 2 kids and are looking for a church to attend. I gave him a pass along card earlier that day then ended up tracting into his wife later on. The Lord is amazing!
We are also teaching the new member lessons to Josh McConchie who was baptized during the school break. He's solid! He knows everything and has GREAT friends that support him. They all get together every night and have a study session! How great is that? I dont' even know why we're teaching him :) His friends got it covered! They were all their when we were teaching him on Saturday. It was a really fun lesson. We taught him about Eternal Marriage, Temples, and Family History! I love teaching!
The Demastus family is still tuggin along. Bro Demastus got a bad infection in his left long and had to go to the hospital. It was pretty scary. He's diabetic so he had a REALLY bad reaction. We had a lesson with them last night and he seems to be doing a little better. I care so much for them and it makes me so sad to see how inactive they are. I'm doing all that I can to help. I think us just showing them we love them and listen to what's bothering them really helps them out. We're working on strengthening their testimony's and forgivness. They are really great though! I love them!
Transfers are coming up next week! Tuesday night we'll be getting the call. I'm almost POSITIVE I'll be staying here in Harrisonburg. I actually think I'll be here a good chunk of my mission. People tend to stay here a long time. Sister Hopoate will get transfered I'm sure. She's been here for 6 months and is way too comfortable. Our mission President doesn't like his missinonaries to be comfortable. One of our Zone Leaders are going home so I think someone from New Port News will come up here with Elder Gubler or Gubler will be training another missionary to be a Zone Leader. Yorktown will stay the same and I think my district leader will stay here with his Greenie Elder McEntire. We'll see though. I'm usually wrong :)
Well, as far as studying goes, I absolutely love is still! I'm in Alma 10 and moving right a long through the BOM. I have a lot of goals I want to accomplish before I leave and I only have a year! I wanted to read all the standard works, do ALL the activities in PMG, read all of the Bible, memorize 3 scriptures for each of the principles in PMG, read all of the missionary library, baptize monthly, and always be myself. I hear that a lot of missionaries tend to forget who they really are. God has prepared us for the past 19-21 years for our missions. We need to rely on the person he made us to begin with and just improve. We had a district meeting yesterday and that was talked about a lot. The Lord called us to where we're are serving for a reason because our personalities are what the people need out here. I LOVE MY MISSION! It's going by so fast and I'm loving every second of it. The "hard times" just help us grow and develope into the people God wants and needs us to be. They Church IS TRUE! I love you all so much! Keep on helping to spread the gospel to everyone you come in contact with. They need it just as much as we do!
-Sister Fluffy
or
Sister Spark Plug
or
Sister Orawiec
Whatever you prefer! I love this work!
p.s. Let me know if there's anything I can do for anyone!

January 14th 2009

So I was almost done writing the bulk e-mail and I erased it!!! BLAH so I'll try to hurry and re-write it.
We got a call Thursday night and were asked to speak on Sunday. We were pretty worried about it because we had NO time to prepare for it. But we of course accepted it. I wrote my talk that morning and I was suprised at how well it turned out. I was asked to speak on testimony, how I gained mine, and why I am on a mission. So I spent 15 minutes talking about that. The spirit was very strong! Good thing the Lord can guide our words.
Monday we had a great lesson with the family that Sister Abbott and I tracted into. Monica and Jairo. They had some great questions. They had a lot of concerns about the Book of Mormon (of course) because they had a bad experience with some Elders that had taught them in the past. But we resolved their concerns and they are so excited to learn more! They are so amazing and I have high hopes for them!
Funny story... Later on Monday night we went home for dinner before our next appointment with a less active family, The Boyers. Sister H was boiling her some eggs. We left to our appointment and began teaching them. About 20 minutes into the lesson Sister H looks over at me with a look like someone just died and she said "THE EGGS!" I was like "What...?" She said "I left the eggs cooking on the stove, on high!" So these eggs had been cooking all through dinner time and the 25 minute we had been gone. My thoughts were that it'll be ok because there wasn't anything around them to catch them on fire. So we stayed another 15 minute and rushed home. As we walked up to our apartment the fire alarm was going crazy! We opened the door and a hug gush of wind blew out and we could barely see in our apartment. It smelt SO INCREDIBLY BAD! We still can't get our place to smell nice. So that's the story of Sister H almost burning our apartment down.
We had a district meeting yesterday which was great! I was in charge of the game :) We played a little game I like to call "Crush My Concern." Where I ask a question that an investigator might ask and you have to answer with a scripture. It was a lot of fun. There was great training given to us by the district and zone leaders about why it's important to talk to EVERYONE! It was some good modivation.
Well my time is about up. I hope all is well! I love you all and miss you like crazy! Keep up your missionary work and help build God's kingdom!
Until next week
-Sister Orawiec

The Church is True!