A week full of highs and one somewhat low

Hi Everyone!

    This week has been wonderful, full of highs and a somewhat low, but still great!  We had our second lesson with Ericka on Tuesday and we were teaching the Plan of Salvation.  We had seen her the night before at Family Home Evening and she was really excited for our lesson the next day.  When we walked in she was still excited to see us but informed us that she was moving home to Chicago that weekend!  We didn't know how to respond.  She got accepted into a nursing program there and that is why she moved back.  We showed our excitement for her and told her we were going to miss her!  We had our lesson with her and it went great!  We asked her about how her reading of the Book of Mormon has been going and she pulled our her book.  She is almost completely done with 1 Nephi.  Then she told us how she has been praying every day while she reads that Heavenly Father would let her know if this book is true or not.  Then she explained this burning sensation she gets in her heart when ever she reads and it makes her want to just keep on reading.  I seriously want to jump off the couch and exclaim "THAT'S THE SPIRIT!!!!!"  However, I knew that might terrify her and therefore contained my emotions and said it a more gentle fashion :)  We had her sign up on Mormon.org to meet with the missionaries in Chicago to continue with the lessons.  She still came to institute that night and she told us that the missionaries from Chicago had already contacted her and she had an appointment set up with them for the 25th of this month!  She also brought her mom to institute with her the next day and our lesson was on the importance of families in the church.  They were both completely engaged during the entire lesson and marking up their scriptures.  Who knows?... Maybe her and her mom will get baptized!! She has promised to keep me updated and hopefully she follows through!  It has been such a wonderful blessing to be a part of the beginning of her journey and as hard as it was to say goodbye I know that she will be in good hands with the sisters in Chicago (she informed us that they were sisters!).

    We had our third lesson with Lily this week and we talked more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  She is still progressing but she told us that she is struggling with understanding the priesthood.  She doesn't see why women can't hold the priesthood too and feels like women are looked down upon because of that.  We tried really hard to clear her misconceptions and to answer her questions.  We invited her to ask Heavenly Father in her prayers about baptism into the church and whether it was right.  She said the closing prayer and was very sincere in asking Heavenly Father to let her know if this church was right for her.  She has such a sincere desire to know the truth and I am not worried about her finding it through prayer.  She went and visited her family this weekend so she wasn't at church with us yesterday but we are excited to meet with her this weekend and see where she is at now!

    Biggest news of the week... Kenny got baptized!!!!  We held the baptism on Thursday and it was a wonderful ceremony!  It had five non-members come with him (his mom, his cousin, his girlfriend, his best friend, and his best friend's wife).  The spirit so strong and he was so happy all night!  His cousin even talked to him about coming to church with him on Sunday but for some reason she wasn't able to make it. Hopefully next week!  Funny story from the baptism- As Corey was getting ready to perform the baptism Kenny's girlfriend and his cousin both pulled out their phones to take pictures/videos.  We were sitting across from them and trying so hard to quietly get their attention and let them know they can't take pictures or videos of the ordiance.  Corey had no clue this was going on so he was continueing on with everything.  Luckily, just seconds before, we were able to get their attention and they quickly put their phones away.  We were really worried they might get offended but they were fine about it!  We must have looked pretty comical on the front row as we were waving our hands and doing whisper shouts :)

   It has really been amazing working on the LSU campus.  I'm scared I'm going to get transferred here in a couple of weeks and I'm not ready to leave this area!  It was hard at first, being a sister missionary in a YSA ward, but now I love it!  Our ward is wonderful and we always have sisters from the ward who are willing to come out on visits with us.  It makes a HUGE difference in the lesson when you have a member there with you.  Please do not ever hesitate to go out with the missionaries around there!  If I had known the difference it makes I would have gone out with them a lot more!  Our bishopric is extremely supportive as well and that helps a lot. Everyone keeps telling me that the LSU area is pretty special because of that and to not get too use to it.   Apparently it is really hard to work with the members in a lot of the other areas. 

   Thank you so much for all of your letters this week!  It was so fun to hear about all the crazy things going on.  I can't believe Abby is walking!!!!!!!   Kristen you definitely have to send me a video of that!  Our next goal for her is for her to say, "I love Aunt Emily!"  :)  And it sounds like a crazy household back home with Melynda and the girls there!  I'm sure ya'll are loving it!  And mom thank you for everything ya'll have done to take care of my car and get it sold.  Don't worry about the insurance there should be plenty in my account still!  And dad, thank you for the articles!  I was curious because I never saw them last week and I just figured you hadn't sent them yet.  I printed them out, though, and I am excited to read and study them!  Stay sane this week and have fun!! :)

Love,

   Sister Ogden

Two New Investigators!

Hi!!

   I can't believe it has already been a week since I last wrote you and I was thinking about it the other day but I am now, officially, at my one month mark!  Crazy!  There is so much that has happened during this past week too!  We now have two new investigators and our other investigator, Kenny, is getting baptized this Thursday! We had our first lesson with Lily on Wednesday and it went great!  I think she was overwhelmed at first because there were four sister missionaries and a member with us, so five members of the church and then her.  But the lesson went great.  We taught the Plan of Salvation and she received it well!  She even came to our bbq with Madison on Thursday night and then came to church yesterday!  She works nights so she can't come to FHE tonight or institute tomorrow but we are hoping to have another lesson with her on Wednesday and talk to her about her experience at church.  Lily is the first investigor that we started teaching this week, our second one is Erick- I love Erick!  She is seriously your dream investigator!  She is roommates with our RS president Chantae and is very Christian.  Chantae invited her to institute on Tuesday night and she came.  I went up to her afterwards and introduced myself.  She started asking me questions about what it is like to be a missionary and all the "rules" we have.  She couldn't believe how we only talk to our families two times a year.  I talked with her for a good 20 minutes before Sister Tuft and I had to leave to get back home.  Before we left I invited her to our ward BBQ on Thursday night and she was excited to come.  Fast forward to Thursday....  Ericka comes to the BBQ and is excited to tell me about her two tests she took the previous day (we had talked about them on Tuesday night) and so I sat down and started talking with her.  We talked about going to school and I answered more of her questions about the life of a missionary.  She then started asking what makes our church so different from other churches.  I pulled out a copy of the Book of Mormon and started talking to her.  She is very big into 'saved by grace' and it was hard to explain how we believe, as well, that you are saved by grace but it is only after you have done all you can do.  We talked about Joseph Smith and the restoration and then she asked me what it is we believe in regards to three heavens.  I showed her the Plan of Salvation pamphlet and then asked if Sister Tuft and I could come and teach her more the next day.  She got really excited and said yes!  I set up an appointment for Friday morning and invited her to read the introduction to the Book of Mormon.  After Sister Tuft and I left the BBQ she was there for another couple hours and apparently a few returned missionaries gave her a few more scriptures to read from the Book of Mormon.  On Friday morning when we had our lesson she was so excited, and Chantae sat in on it too.  We taught her the restoration and she just sat there and listened the entire time.  Then asked if she could pray right then and there about it.  With shocked looks on our faces we all responded with yes!  After her prayer we asked her if we could come back to teach her about the Plan of Salvation.  She said she had nothing going on right then and asked if we could teach her now.  We all laughed and invited her to ponder what she learned today and continue reading the Book of Mormon.  We also invited her to church on Sunday and she came.  It was a long three hours and she really struggled with that, but she is excited for our lesson on Tuesday and it sounds like she is coming to FHE tonight and institute again tomorrow.  It is so much fun seeing the excitement in people's eyes as they learn about the church and it makes the sacrifice of 18 months 100% worth it! 

   Those are really my two exciting things for the week.    Church yesterday was amazing!  We had all three of our investigators along with four less actives.  I also had to play the piano for sacrament meeting- I think I'm their new pianist.  So it was really stressful having to play prelude while focusing upon everyone coming into sacrament meeting.  The rest of my week wasn't anything extra special.  I went on exchanges with one of our sister training leaders on Wednesday.  This is her last transfer and she is kind of intense!  It made me all the more grateful to have Sister Tuft as my trainer!  She kept forgetting that I was still knew to not just the area but the whole missionary thing in general and didn't have a lot of patience!  I definitely got some good stories out of the experience though that Sister Tuft and I are still laughing about!

  The weather continues to be humid and stormy.  I keep hearing thunder outside as I type and every once in a while it will shake the library.  Last night we went to a child of record baptism and the thunder was crazy during it!  It ieven scared one of the speakers at one point!  I have learned to cary an umbrella with me at all times though because you can never tell when it is going to start raining!  I am continueing to love it here in Louisiana though and the people here are wonderful!  There are three wards here in Baton Rouge and then the singles ward.  The members are wonderful to work with and excited about the missionary work taking place in their areas!  I especially love being on the LSU campus and working with the young single adults!  We are really starting to get a lot more people active and I am excited for when the school year starts because that is when the work really picks up!  Thank you for all of your prayers and if you want to keep Kenny, Lily and Ericka in your prayers- I would love it!!  I love you all so much and I love your letters so please keep them coming!!!!

 

 

Love,

    Sister Ogden

Dear family!!

    I am so excited for Devin and Allie!! Who would have guessed... another girl!  I just feel bad for Melynda's little boy :)  I decided to start off my letters with a few things I have learned about Louisiana and specifically, Baton Rouge:

1. The most common word in the Louisiana language is ya'll

2. The least common word is diet.

3. Everyone believes in Jesus

4. Everyone's favorite colors are either purple and yellow or black and gold

5. Blonde blue eyed girls are rare

6. Everything is green

7. Instead of road kill raccoons we have road kill armadillos

8. Everyone is your friend

9. It rains almost everyday!!

10. The church is EXTREMELY small here!

     Those are just a few of the things I have learned so far and I promise to update you with more during the next year and a half!  I love being on the LSU campus and working with all the young single adults in this area.  I'm pretty sure they all thing I am 19 because they keep coming up to my trainer and saying "oh, that's so cute you get to train her!"  I don't think they realize I am a year older than her and older than most of them :)  Also, If I had a quarter for everytime someone asked me if I was from Ogden, Utah, I think my whole mission would be paid for by now! :)  

     So a couple fun stories from this past week!  On Wednesday Sister Tuft and I decided to ride our bikes to campus and visit the less actives who live around campus, that way we could conserve on our miles.  It was my first time riding a bike in a skirt and it is hard!  I love Kristen's bike though and it works great!!!  Anyhow, we rode to the institute and put our bikes inside and started walking.  We went to the apartment of a less active but she was out of town so we talked to her roommate.  Her roommate is from Russia and I got to use my one Russian phrase and she was very impressed!  We talked to her about her beliefs and she told us she is atheist.  We shared with her a Mormon message card and gave her our number.  She was extremely friendly and we told her to call us if she ever needs help or has questions and if she decides she wants to learn more she can go to the website on the card.  After we left her apartment it started to sprinkle and we were a good distance from our bikes and the closest bus stop.  After about a minute of walking it started to POUR!  We had to walk, with no cover, in the rain to the Louisiana State Uuniversity bus stop.  By the time we got to the bus we were completely soaked!  I don't think I have ever been so wet.  We hopped unto the bus and everyone just have us this weird look like "why are you so wet?"  All I could think was "How are ya'll not drenched!??!!  There is no covering out there?"  We had to stand up the whole drive back to our apartment because we didn't want to get any of the seats wet and then we drove back to the institute later to pick up our bikes.  Lesson learned: Always carry an umbrella.  It is crazy weather here because it is beautiful, clear, hot and humid in the mornings and then it pours almost every night, but it is still hot and humid.  I now understand why no one needs sprinklers around here and people can park on their grass and not have it die.

Second awesome story of the week!!!  We got a referral last week from the Missionary Training Center (MTC) for a girl named Lillian who requested a copy of the Book of Mormon.  We tried calling her and Sister Tuft left a message but she never called us back.  The other South Baton Rouge Sisters had been trying to get a hold of her too and they succeeded!  They scheduled an appointment and went over to teach her and learned her story:  So--  Madison is a convert of about three years and honestly my favorite girl in our ward!  She previously lived in this apartment complex and when sh moved to a new apartment the ward forgot to update her address on the roster.  Fast forward a couple months later- Sister Tuft was on exchanges with Sister Chausow and they decided to bring cookies to Madison and visit her.  When they got to her apartment no one answered so they took out a Mormon message card and left a note for her on it.  Well- Madison never got the note because she didn't live there anymore but this girl Lillian did.  Lillian came home from work that day and found this note on her door for someone named Madison.  She felt really bad that Madison didn't get this note and noticed there was a website (Mormon.org) on the card.  She decided to go on that website and maybe find out who this Madison is and give her her note.  She got on the website and started to explore and ended up talking to a temple square sister.  She requested a Book of Mormon and then we received the referral.  When the sisters met with her they were so excited because Sister Chausow (The one who left the note) was one visiting her.  They had an amazing lesson with her and taught her about the Restoration.  She was really excited and told them she wants to get baptized but also wants to make sure this is what Heavenly Father wants from her!  Perfect- right?!  Because she is a young single adult she gets passed onto us and we are going with the South sisters tomorrow to have a second lesson with her and meet her.  We also told Madison the story and she was so excited! She is coming with us to the lesson tomorrow as well.

        I am starting to get to know the members of our ward a lot better now and I think that will help a lot with our missionary efforts.  We have been putting together these activities the last Friday nights and our plan is for them to be fun activities that the members feel comfortable inviting their nonmember and less active friends to.  We have only had two so far and so we are still building repertoire for them.  This last one we had a great group of members come to though and we had a few less actives.  We played ultimate Frisbee and it was awesome because I totally gained the respect of all the brethren in our ward after the game!  I think I scored about half the points for our team. Everyone had a great time and they are all excited for this weeks activity.  I think these are going to be great tools in getting the less actives involved with ward activities again.  It is also these activities that make it so weird being in a young single adult (YSA) ward.  I am a missionary, yet I play ultimate Frisbee on Thursday or Friday nights.  Don't get me wrong- I love it!  It's just weird :)

    I love being here in Louisiana though and the weather is starting to grow on me a lot more.  My district is amazing and there are three of us who all came from the Missionary Training Center together so it is really nice to see them around.  We also had our zone training meeting on Saturday and it was really fun to meet everyone else in our zone and learn from our zone leaders.  I still haven't tried any real Louisiana food yet.  Because we are in the YSA ward we are in charge of feeding ourselves.  As soon as I get to try some though I will definitely let ya'll know how it tastes :)  I love you all and am so grateful for the encouragement you give me and for all of your prayers.  It is great to know that not only do I have the Lord on my side but I also have my entire family!  I love you all and enjoy your week!!!

Love,

  Sister Ogden

Louisiana Here I Am!

Emily with her MTC family (June 2013)

Dear Family,
Hello from Louisiana!  We officially arrived here in Baton Rouge Tuesday afternoon and our mission president along with his wife and assistants were waiting for us at the bottom of the escalator.  It is a small airport here in Baton Rouge and there were 20 of us missionaries so, needless to say, we kind of stuck out a little!  I love my mission president though!  We went to their house after picking up our luggage and they had food waiting for us!  A glorious array of fresh fruit!  It was delicious!  We were all completely exhausted from our trip so while he conducted his interviews, all those not being interviewed slept.  Because there were so many of us we had to set up two air mattresses in the girls bedroom and there were three elders who had to sleep int he living room on cots.  I think this was the largest group they have had yet!   We woke up around 7 pm from our naps and dinner was ready and it was delicious as well!  Fresh watermelon and pulled port sandwiches.  Our mouths were watering from the smell of it and we all devoured our food.  We got to have a testimony meeting with our group and then President Wall told us where we would be serving!  Are you ready to here where my area is?... The LSU campus!  I love it here! 

   I met my trainer the next day at transfer meeting and her name is Sister Tuft.  She is from Monroe, UT which, as dad probably knows, is right next to Richfield.  She is 22 years old and has been out for 13 months.  We get along great and have a lot in common.  She was excited when I told her I like to run because her old companion hated working out in the mornings, so that has been a blessing.  We are known as the LSU sisters and we serve in the LSU singles ward but our area covers all of the YSAs in Baton Rouge.  It is a lot different than I ever could have imagined!  Because we serve in the YSA ward we go to FHE on Monday nights, institute on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and we have game nights ever Thursday.  It is so weird!  We don't do any street contacting right now because it is summer and really slow.  Our assignment right now involves driving all around Baton Rouge and knocking on the doors of inactive YSA members and inviting them to the YSA conference they have planning for August.  We have knocked on A LOT of doors and so far 2 people have answered!  One of them was actually an active member too but for some reason was put on our list as inactive.

    Most of the lessons we teach are to less active members but we do have on progressing investigator and his name is Kenny.  He has a baptismal date set for July 13th!  We haven't had a lesson with him since I have been here but I did get to meet him last night at a game night and I am really excited to get to know him.  He is very friendly and while he is experiencing a lot of struggles with his family right now, I think he will make is date!

   Baton Rouge is beautiful!  I thought Chico was considered green, but it is nothing compared to Louisiana!  Everything is GREEN!! and every shade of it!  They don't have sprinkler systems here because it rains so much they don't need them!  I don't think I have seen an inch of dead grass since I have been here.  They also have crazy thunderstorms here.  We were awaken at 5:30am on Saturday because of a thunderstorm.  It was crazy how loud it was!  There was a car outside our apartments and its alarm kept going off because of the thunder and the lightning was like a strobe light because it was so constant.  And when it rains, it rains!  Huge drops!  After that storm on Saturday morning our parking lot looked like a pond.  My companion said that was the worst thunderstorm she has heard but they do have ones similar very frequently.  Whenever they happen our mission president has us go into lockdown until it's over.
      I also don't think I have ever seen so many black people.  My companion is blonde and blue eyed just like me so we stick out just a little bit wherever we go.  Our YSA ward is actually predominately ango-saxon but when ever we go out into the streets, there are a lot of black people.  They are all so friendly though.  Everyone here is friendly.  Because we are in the YSA ward we don't go to members' houses for dinner so I haven't had the opportunity to meet too many people from Louisiana or try any of their food, but those I have met I love!  We helped clean this lady's house for her on Saturday.  She is a hoarded and her house reaked of cat litter when we walked in.  We were helping her go through piles of papers and junk and organizing it all.  I asked her about a couple papers to see what she wanted me to do with them.  She kept telling me to pitch it and I had no clue what she was talking about.  When she left the room I quietly asked my companion what pitch it meant and she just laughed.  Apparently that means to throw it away!  I'm sure that is the first of many southern terms that I am sure to learn.  I haven't picked up on any specific southern drawl here because everyone seems to sound a little different.  We went to a YSA game night on Friday night though and I noticed after being around the YSAs for two hours I was speaking with a little more of a southern drawl.  Not real noticeable but it was there. 

   Whenever we go to teach a lesson to a less active member they always comment on some word I say wierd.  It is wierd that they think I have an accent and they think I sound wierd because I can hardly undrstand what they are saying most the time!  I love here in Louisiana though and I am excited about all that lies ahead of me here.  The church isn't very strong here.  They have one, very very small, temple in Baton Rouge and it serves all of Louisiana and most of Mississippi.  It is the smallest temple I have ever seen and it is only open during certain hours on certain days.  There is a lot of work to be done here in this beautiful area and I am grateful to be a part of it!

  Mom and dad know that I love you all so much and I love this gospel!  I am grateful to know that my Heavenly Father thought me worthy enough to be a representative of his son Jesus Christ and he has given me this opportunity to serve here in Louisiana!  Enjoy the rest of this week and I will look forward to your emails next week!!

Love,

   Sister Ogden