5/25/15

Well guys! How did handing out your Book of Mormon go this week???? I want you to know that I've done it EVERYDAY! I have some really interesting stories that go along with how and who I handed them out with which are in my journal haha but I'll share some miracle stories with you from this week. :) So! I already told Kent about this...in fact I just copied and pasted part of his email on here haha I'm too tired of typing buy yes passing out the Book of Mormon has been great! I've given out a Book of Mormon with my testimony in it to someone new every day. One of the most hilarious ones was to a lady I started talking to at a garage sale. She calls herself "Alabama Gamma" :) Haha she was hilarious! She's very religious as most people are around here and she was talking about how she knows God works through her to help others and I started agreeing with her and telling her of Helaman 5 and how Nephi and Lehi were just everyday people who gave up everything to serve the Lord and she accepted the Book of Mormon and was so grateful! She also said she wanted to look up our church when she gets home! Then! Another one that I gave out was to a father and a son. So, I don't know how much you remember me talking about our 3rd ward Bishop, Bishop Hansen, but his 13 year old son was just killed in a 4wheeling accident just over a month ago...it's been hard on the family but it's also given them SO many missionary opportunities. It's been amazing to see the influence this little boy is having on the whole town. He had a study journal and one of the last things he wrote in it was that he was going to try every day to be like Nephi and he was going to serve. Well, we ended up being given his best friend as a referral. We went over there to meet him and his dad this week and boy, let me tell you. I was crying. The dad has just gone through a divorce and Cody (his son) has been having a really hard time losing his best friend, but Cody just responded to us while his dad cried. We told them of the things Burk (the boy who died) believed and we read with them his favorite scripture and Cody, only 13 himself told us that he wants to be like Burk and that if The Book of Mormon was something important to him, than it must be pretty important. He took it and promised to read of Nephi's story. It's just so powerful to give away the Book of Mormon. There's a special spirit that comes with it that's unlike anything else. I know that as you pray for those opportunities and take them to pass out the Book of Mormon, your testimony of its power will be strengthened and you will see it shape and bless others’ lives. ALSO! Another miracle story! We have been working super hard this week to try to get new investigators! Our mission's goal this week was to get 3 new investigators so all week long we've been contacting all the referrals we've been given and we just barely missed the cut! We got 2 new investigators because we were short one prayer with like 7 different people. HOWEVER! It's not about numbers :) One day this week we had been working super hard all day and jut had 30 minutes left before 9pm so we were trying to figure out what we could do. While were driving by Walmart I just got this feeling to go look at sunglasses and at first I was like "Oh sister Moreno, come on now, you can stay focused" but then it just came back like "Go look at sunglasses!" So haha I told sister Petersen at the very last second just as we were about to pass the entrance "Turn here sister! Let's go look at sunglasses!" and sure enough not 3 seconds after we got to the jewelry section a lady comes up to us and starts asking us about who we are and telling us of all the Mormons she works with at Philips. In fact she even said herself that she's sure God sent us to her. Long story short! She gave us her name and phone number and we have a return appointment with her to teach her! :) The Lord works in mysterious ways. I know he's SO mindful of each of us and he uses our personalities to bless others’ lives. Be aware of those around you. Heavenly Father is so proud of every effort you make to do his will. I love you all! Have a great week! And give out your Book of Mormon! :)

 

Love

Sister Moreno

 

PS. The Vendels came up to spend the day with us and to say goodbye. They drove 3 hours and spent the night in a hotel just for us! :') They're the BEST...all I could do was sob my eyes out when they got in the car to leave. :'( I ran after them just to say goodbye again. I'm keeping them forever. It's so crazy. Heavenly Father knew I would need them for my whole mission and really for my whole life! If for nothing else! I would come on my mission and do it all over again just to have the Vendels as my other parents. I LOVE THEM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!

 

5/18/15

THIS WEEK HAS BEEN INCREDIBLE!!! I can't believe just how many miracles are happening here. It makes me want to bawl my eyes out in gratitude. SO! At MLC(the 2 day leadership meeting we had Monday and Tuesday) we received some BIG news. As of July 1st, the Oklahoma Tulsa Mission will cease to exist. Yes this is AFTER I leave so I'll always be an OTMer which makes me VERY happy :) BUT the mission is none the less changing. At first we were all super sad and shocked! We did NOT see this one coming but apparently President Shumway has been trying to change it since he got here because our mission is HUGE and Bentonville is way more central than Tulsa SO! Although it was hard to hear at first, now we're super excited and glad this is happening. Our boundaries will be staying the same. We'll just be moving our mission home and changing the mission name. Something that Sister Shumway pointed out to Sister Petersen and I was that this is truly a test of loyalty to the Lord. Some of our sisters were having a hard time dealing with this new change and we've had to point out to them that we're not Oklahoma Tulsa missionaries, we're the LORD'S missionaries. A name is a name is a name but when it comes down to it, we are the LORD'S and this is HIS mission and this is HIS work. :) SO! We're pressing forward and when the Lord says jump, we'll jump! And when he says stop we'll stop. As the final signature of The Shumways,mine, and The Oklahoma Tulsa Mission's last few weeks in service we are raising the bar. We're breaking records and we're going out with a bang! We've set goals to make us stretch and we're hitting them! As a mission, our goal this past week was to have 1 active member lesson a day and to receive 2 referrals a day...by the end of the day yesterday, Sister Petersen and I had had 8 active member lessons AND..........WE RECEIVED TWENTY EIGHT REFERRALS!!!! TWENTY-EIGHT! :D It was INCREDIBLE!! Each from a member! We were blown away. In fact, yesterday at church we had a line of Members waiting with referrals to give us after sacrament meeting. A LINE....Who are these people?! :D It has been the best week ever and I know that the Lord has been blessing us because of our efforts both Member and Missionary to find and bring people into the gospel. And this week our mission's goal is to get 3 new investigators, well, Sister Petersen and I have a goal for 6 new investigators this week. :) The thing is, I  KNOW that the Lord can and WILL bless us in our righteous desires.  Never underestimate the power of goal setting and prayer. Heavenly Father is SO aware of each one of us and he will bless us if we do ALL we can to do his will. I love love LOVE this work and I'm so grateful for the power of the Atonement in my life. Have a great week! Let's go make some miracles happen! :)

Love

Sister Moreno

P.S. Family, today marks my 17th month, which means I have ONE month left in the field. SO! Something I've set as a goal and something I want us to do as a family is...Everyday, starting today, I'm writing my testimony in a Book of Mormon and giving it to someone with an invitation to learn more. Each one of you guys individually can either do it everyday with me or I was thinking one of you a day gives one away or each one of you give one away a week...so! You decide, but will you please join in with me on this? You can use me as an excuse to give it away if you want! Go for it! It'll open the door to more questions! But I was thinking option number three would be best, each one of you give out one Book of Mormon a week with your testimony in it and an invitation to read it or learn more. I KNOW that Heavenly Father will bless each one of us individually in addition to us as a whole family and most importantly, we'll be able to be apart of helping people come unto Christ. PLUS! What a great example to our ward my dear missionary parents! You can let them in on it to or use it to motivate them! What do you think? FHE tonight can be the kick off to placing at least one or you could get all three done in one shot :) I really feel like this was inspiration and that God has something in store for us as we do this so PLEASE accept the invitation and pray for the Lord's direction as you go out each day with a Book of Mormon. I LOVE YOU!!!! Also my new address is :

426 Shawnee

Bartlesville, OK 74003

all my companions that were at zone conference

the bretts

Gabe Jones who is in the YSA that served in JEROME 7TH WARD ON HIS MISSION!!! WHAT?? YA, like 3 years ago :)

me adn Kristina Hughes

me and sister booms as she meets her trainee

me and chris

5/4/15

I've heard it said that there's no growth in the comfort zone....but I'd sure like to find that out for myself......DAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. MY VERY LAST TRANSFER CALL CAME THIS PAST SATURDAY AND BROUGHT ME THE WORST NEWS OF MY LIFE!!!!! Just kidding. I'm grateful that President Shumway receives revelation and that I know that he is sending me where God needs me. HOWEVER! I LOVE BRANSON SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!! I seriously have come to love this place faster than any other area and that's probably a large reason of why I'm being transferred because it would be ridiculously hard to come home from here. I'm going to miss the YSA SOOOOOOOOOOO much! :( They're really all like my best friends and I want to move down here. I know I've said that about almost all of my areas but this one is for real. I already have job and schooling options. BUT! I did promise you a year at BYU mom so that's still gonna happen but I honestly think I might come back here for the summer next year and love life!:) I'm so excited to take you all on a tour of my mission so you can see what I'm talking about! It's the best! I LOVE BRANSON!!! Anyway, I'm going to be transferred this Thursday morning to Bartlesville 1st and 3rd wards. I will be staying in a two area assignment..yay! I like being busy! That'll help me work extra hard my last transfer...PLUS I was also called to be a Sister Training Leader...which they've (my past sister training leaders) have told me is like being a girl zone leader. A.k.a someone to provide emotional support haha. Oh goodness. Anyway, my companion is going to be SIster Peterson. I'm really nervous. SO ya... I just am really scared but also very grateful because I've always known that my last month on the mission is going to be one of the most defining and rewarding times of my life. I wish that would come easily but I'm sure it won't. :) HOWEVER! I'm trying my best to be positive and to CHOOSE to be happy. Ok love you all!!

Sister Moreno

Yes, the car is in the ditch....it was a hard night!

FHE with the YSA group

Today with me and sis crier at the top is at our zone outing