4-29-13

This was definitely my hardest week yet. So many challenges!!!

Monday: My district leader called me for the last time. I'm not sure what I've told you before, but he has been a lot of help to me. He's given me scriptures and told me things that I needed to hear at exactly that moment. He plays the piano and he told me that he had copied a bunch of sheet music that he would give to me on Wednesday. Anyways, he told me about how I'm an amazing missionary (I don't really believe) and all this stuff and I just started bawling. I felt way stupid. Then when we got off the phone Sis Clark and I talked for about 20 minutes, in which I cried the entire time. Then I cried while I was falling asleep. Monday was the first day where I got really scared to get transferred. When Elder Adams first told me that I was opening a new area, I thought I would be capable to handle it, but I quickly changed my mind.

Tuesday: I tried to focus as much as I could on my lessons. There were random times in the car when the tears would just begin. Luckily my companions were doing the same thing because they were both terrified about this next transfer as well. After doing daily planning that night Sis Donaldson asked us what we were both scared of the most. Sis Clark and I both started crying, again. Sis D then asked us if we would like blessings tomorrow. Sis C and I looked at each other and then both said yes. We had a conference call with our district to decide our monthly baptism goal for May. Then we texted Elder Adams and set up a time to meet up with them Wednesday morning.

Wednesday: Getting ready to go that morning was really sad. Sad to think that I wouldn't be returning and not knowing who my next companion was going to be or where I would be sleeping that night. I'm so grateful for the power of the priesthood. Sis D. wrote down notes while I was receiving the blessing. I think I've already read it over a hundred times. I felt a lot better after that, but certainly not completely happy. The ride up to Fishers was very sad. I wrote in my companion's transfer journals and thought about how difficult the next six weeks were going to be.

We had to arrive at the chapel early because both Sis C and Sis D were training. I decided to just sit in on the training instead of sitting out in the hall. Elder Adams told me I should sit in anyways because I would probably be training next transfer.....I hope he's wrong. Actually though the pattern is to have missionaries who have been out three months train. We got six new sisters this transfer and all but one are being trained by a sister who just finished being trained. During this meeting I was quickly able to narrow my companion down to two sisters because both of these were doing the second-half of training

Transfer meeting was good. It was weird to see all the new missionaries and to think that that was me just six weeks ago. My how I have changed! My new companion is Sis Fullmer. We actually went on exchanges my second week, so I had already met her. She is originally from Haiti but was adopted eight years ago. We were assigned to work in Seymour, IN. It's way south, like it was a two hour drive. Fun fact: my scripture case was made here! Anyways Sis F doesn't drive, so I'm the designated driver. I remembered that about half way through the meeting and I freaked out. I didn't have a GPS! I had no idea had to get anywhere. Then I asked SIs. F if she had one by chance, and she said she did.

We went and got out luggage loaded, it took awhile because the elders who had the car before us had left a ton of junk it it. The poor assistants had to come help us get rid of everything. I had to say goodbye to my companions. I started bawling as I hugged Sis C, luckily Sis D wasn't there so I didn't have to say goodbye to her too. This is Elder Adams last transfer so I knew I wouldn't see him again. Then we went and got some food and started the drive! Southern IN is beautiful, a lot of trees and even a few rolling hills. I was terrified the entire way down. I warned Sis F that I might start randomly crying, and I did. Poor thing, she probably thought I was an emotional wreck, which I was. In the car Sis F told me that she was excited to be my companion. When she went on exchanges with us she said that she was blown away with who I was at two weeks. I told her she was crazy. I didn't even talk during that exchange! Sis F is pretty quite and soft spoken. English is also her second language, so sometimes she has to repeat things.

Luckily we found our apartment without any problems. Seymour is a nice town, about 15,000-20,000 people. We ran to Wal-Mart real quick to grab some milk and cereal for in the morning. We attempted to do daily planning, but I had no idea what I was doing. We also called the North Vernon sisters and set up a time to meet with them on Thursday. There are now two sets of sisters in the ward and were just dividing the area geographically.

 I have never felt so alone in my life as I did Wednesday night. All I wanted to do was drive back up to Indy and be with Sis C and Sis D. As I lay in bed thinking I realized that I no longer felt like a trainee. Sis F is awesome!!!!!! She's been out 7.5 months, but it's been in the same area so this is also her second area. I feel a lot of pressure on my shoulders. When we were driving into Seymour I felt a feeling of stewardship, nothing that I felt while I was in the YSA. I feel a personal responsibility to help this area grow.

Thursday: I started crying over my cereal. Seriously I have started crying every.single.day. So obnoxious but I can't help it! Sis F and I spent a little time unpacking, getting more groceries, and trying to find a map of the area. Then the NV sisters came and met us. Sis Bonner has been in the area for a long time, and Sis Bunnell was my mtc companion. We talked for a few hours. We actually have investigators!!! I was shocked. We are teaching a family, the Magallon's. She wants to join the church and so do some of her kids. However, she can't get baptized because she's not married and she can't get married because she doesn't have a birth certificate. She was born in Texas and her parents gave her away to her neighbors and didn't have a certificate. She's going to TX next week and hopefully everything will get worked out. She's the only person we have met with so far that they were already teaching.

Anyways, as they were talking I was getting very overwhelmed. It was worse than my first day in the field. I knew that I needed to know all this stuff because I couldn't rely on my companion to know it. That night we cut up our maps and started plotting people. I was one big ball of stress.

Friday: We had district meeting. My district now is a lot different from my old one. There are four elders and four sisters. Most of the elders are pretty young, which is different from what I was used to. We also did weekly planning which was difficult. It definitely wasn't my most effective planning session yet, but we tried.

Saturday: My two month mark!!!! We had a lesson that day that we were trying to find a member for. We had called everyone that the NV sisters had suggested. We began calling random numbers from the ward list and most of them were disconnected. I was way stressed out! We were teaching a single male and I knew we would have to cancel the appointment if we didn't find someone. Then he called and cancelled on us because he had to go into work. Phew! Then we went a saw some potentials. One of them is Chelsie. We knocked on her trailer park door and she let us in. We actually taught the entire first lesson and we are meeting with her again tonight. It was such a great lesson! Except I talked too much, hard to believe. Sis F is very quiet and I know I'm going to have to learn patience. I'm used to teaching with Sis D which are these Spirit-packed lessons and she's teaching doctrine like nobody's business. Sis F speaks slower and quieter. Yeah it's going to take a lot of learning on my part. I feel like there have been many time so far that I have taken over the situation.

Then we spent about two hours tracting. Everyone here is Luthern. Out of all the doors we knocked on only two weren't. It was pretty frustrating. I'm glad that we have been told by our leaders that tracting is not the most effective way to do missionary work, it's through the members.

Sunday: I woke up feeling awful. At this point I hadn't slept through the night all week and my body was beginning to suffer. I had a major sore throat, runny nose, and possibly a mild fever. My chest has also been bothering me all week because of the stress. Anyways, we drove to church which is about a 20 minute drive. I met more people at church than I have ever met in my life and I can't remember any of their names.....great. The people are nice though, definitely country folk. After church we met with the NV sisters again and discussed the boundaries and how to work with the ward. About a year ago there was a sister here who burned every bridge with the ward members. They didn't like the sisters. So Sis Bonner has had to work very hard to gain the trust of the members again. We talked a lot about the circle chart and how it's not working.

Once again I got very overwhelmed. I don't understand how to work with the ward. I don't understand what we are supposed to be spending out time doing. They tell us to not spend too much time doing less active work, or tracting, but we need to build relationships with the ward members. It was too much!!!! There is no set guideline on how to use our time and it's making me way frustrated. I want to use my time as effectively as possible, but I don't know how to. My companion doesn't know either. So I thought a lot about it last night. My goal is to see a couple of less actives a week and try to get them teaching with us. Then we are helping strengthen less actives at the same time we are teaching investigators. Also I think I just need to talk more with the Bishop. When Elder Ballard came he told the stake presidents and bishops that missionaries need to be teaching 20 lessons a week. Whether that be investigators or members. So then there is that thrown into all of this.

Basically I've concluded that teaching lessons is probably the easy part. I felt like that was what I learned last transfer. Now I'm going to learn how to use my time most effectively and gain a better understanding of how to work with the ward. One thing that was promised to me in my blessings was comfort and strength as I entered my new area and that I would know what I need to be doing. Every time I start to get frustrated I think of that promise. For whatever reason, Heavenly Father needs me in this area, that was another promise made to me. I've never listened more from promptings from the Spirit then I have the last few days. In YSA I relied on Sis D because I knew that she received revelation for the area. Now it's my time to learn. I just keep telling myself that I'm not alone. I'm a servant of Jesus Christ and I have not been sent to this area to fail. I'm going to have to learn how to rely on Him more. Now that I've written this huge long e-mail of all these downer moments I've had this past week, I feel a little silly ending with that. Submitting my will to Heavenly Father's is difficult. I think of myself before I think of Him. I've been miserable this week because I've been thinking that I can't do this, which I can't. I know that my faith will be strengthened as I learn to rely on Heavenly Father. So much to learn! Sometimes I can't even handle it. But I'll make it through it. Thanks for your prayers and support, they are much needed right now, as you can tell.

Sister Mayberry

4-22-13

Dear Family, Friends, and Fans :)

 

Haha so I'm learning just how many people actually read these e-mail, so I'm going to try doing things just a bit different. I feel like in the past they have just been these random things happening. So we'll see how this goes.

 

Tuesday: We had specialized training up in Fishers. All the trainers and trainees got together and were there for about six hours. The first part we were with everyone and President Collins spoke. He emphasized the importance of having fun while we work. He doesn't want us to be miserable for 18 months/ two years. After lunch the trainees went separately and were trained by the assistants. First we talked about goal setting and daily planning. This has been something kind of difficult for me because I don't understand what reasonable goals are expect for member present lessons. Sis Donaldson has DRILLED in me the importance of member present lessons, we have only had two lessons so far without them because the member fell through last minute in both cases. Then we talked about personal study which was very beneficial. I've been struggling with how to use this precious hour of my day. Personal study is not for me; it's for my investigators. While I'm studying I should always be keeping them in mind. It was great to see all the missionaries that I spent time with in the MTC. A couple of times since being here I have had these surreal moments "like I'm really a missionary" but it doesn't feel real. It happened that day again as I was sitting with all these missionaries. It was such a great day and gave me a lot more confidence. Also we went to a member's house for dinner that night and we made cotton candy out of lifesavers? Pretty neat.Then we had a lesson with Dustin. Probably one of the most frustrating lessons yet. People talk here in Indiana and he is no expectation. He's a former investigator and was dropped because he wasn't progressing. He wants archeological proof or something that the Book of Mormon events actually occurred. He's willing to accept the Bible by faith, but can't seem to apply it to the Book of Mormon. Weird how people pick and choose like that. We have another lesson with him tomorrow, we'll see how it goes.

 

Wednesday: Side note, since Monday of last week they were predicting t-storms. Tuesday night I woke up to a storm! I laid in bed and watched the lightening flash; I've NEVER seen so much lightening. It was way cool and just what I had been waiting for. Wednesday we were actually on a tornado watch, nothing though. One of the things I have been struggling with is doing role plays. They are just awkward and I never no what to do but they are completely unavoidable. At the specialized training we talked about them. Wednesday during companionship study I decided I just needed to change my attitude. Sis D role played an investigators whose mom died and she was made at God for it. Sis Clark and I then had to discern a need. Then we had a lesson that day with a girl named Alex. She told us that she had stopped going to church because when she was in high school her friend and her family were killed and her pastor told them they were going to Hell because they were Muslim. It was so neat because we had role played a very similar situation that morning!

 

Thursday: A ton of our lessons fell through, again. It has happened so much in the last week or so. It was raining like crazy and we had tried to tract an apartment complex but it was locked. So IUPUI has a free shuttle service. We just got on the bus and rode around. We actually weren't on there for very long, but it was a unique way to contact when it was raining outside.

 

Friday: District meeting was fabulous, as usual. We got trained on the importance of having a study journal. Yeah it sounds like a weird thing to train on but it was super helpful. My notes have been so disorganized and there is no way I could go back and find what I want. I still don't know what I'm going to do to fix that yet, but I've been thinking about it. After eating lunch we went to Long's Bakery. We've passed by it a lot and have never been. Such good doughnuts! I had this applesauce one which was probably the best doughnut I have ever eaten. We had a lesson that day with a guy named Stefan. He isn't in our stewardship because he is over 30. His aunt joined the church around 10 years ago and actually moved to Utah. He said he's always been impressed that she would be willing to change her entire life for a religion. Sis D tracked into him about two weeks ago. He'll get baptized. He wants to know for himself if this is something he should do. He's way committed to reading and praying. It was a great lesson to teach! We've had some difficult lessons this last week so it was a nice breather. During companionship study we talked about the doctrine of Christ. I have to say that I never understood what the gospel of Jesus Christ is until now. Obviously I don't fully understand it, but I can at least define it. I don't want this so sound harsh at all, but why don't we teach it more clearly in the church????? I'm hoping the new youth program will fix it. And I'm not the only one, by companions also felt the same way.

 

Saturday: Regina got baptized!I!!!! I don't know if I've told you about her before, so here it goes again! Saturday was actually her 12th birthday and we've been teaching her because she is scared of elders. She has been talking the lessons for a loooooooong time and was having a difficult time being able to formulate her own answers so she would be able to pass the baptismal interview. It was such a sweet day. I enjoyed this baptism way more than Robert's last week ( I know that's a terrible thing to say). One difference was I could tell the Regina was very excited. Not very many people came unfortunately, but the Spirit was so strong. It made me more excited to see baptisms in the future.

 

We got a phone call from President Collins Saturday night. Sis Donaldson is being transferred, training, and opening a new area. Sis Clark is staying in YSA and training. I'M GETTING TRANSFERRED!!!!! Yeah so you can send the package to the mission home mom. Anyways so I knew I would be getting a new trainer. So we were all talking about it and then our district leader called to talk to Sis D. She had to hang out because then teh assistants called. Elder Adams called back and told me he needed to ask me something. I got on the phone and the conversation went something like this:

E Adams: I heard you're getting transferred.

Me: Yes

E Adams: Did you hear you're opening a new area?

Me: No, what?

E Adams: whoops maybe I wasn't supposed to tell you that.....

Me: We'll it's too late now!

E Adams: proceeded to ask me some question about a B flat major (he plays the piano) that I had no idea how to answer...

 

As we were falling asleep I asked Sis D how Elder Adams could have known I would be opening a new area. She said that he didn't know and that I shouldn't believe it. I think I got about four hours of sleep that night.

 

Sunday: We sang in the White River choir for their ward conference. Elder Adams came over and Sis D asked how he knew I would be going to a new area. He said that he called one of the assistants and he spilled it. Elder Woods is known for saying too much. So it's official.There are four new sister areas being opening up. It's not that there aren't missionaries already there, we are just putting in another set. All four of the places I could be going are north of here. I'm pretty excited. Transfers are on Wednesday so I won't known until then where I'm actually going. 

 

Then at 11 we were going to have missionary correlation meeting. We were about to walk into a classroom when four guys walk through the doors. I recognized the last one! His name is Mike and he was in my ward last fall. It was so weird! I knew we had our meeting so I could only talk to him for a minute. He is selling here in Indianapolis for the summer. When we got out of our meeting they were sitting there because they had gotten there two hours before church. He told me that he had texted Annaka (Josie and Gillian's cousin) and told her that he had seen me. She said hi. He then took a picture of me and sent it to my other roommate, Kaylene. She flipped out. I couldn't believe it. FYI I just pushed something on the key board so now it's typing in italics and I don't know how to fix it.  When I was waiting to talk to President Riggins for my interview to submit my papers he sat next to me and we talked then. So we talked about missions and BYU-I. I also met the three others guys. They all love knocking on doors which is way weird....especially the one. I never thought I would actually see someone I know out here.

 

Once again I've learned a lot this week. We were at a dinner appointment last night and we each listed three things we are grateful for. One of mine was the ability to learn. I know that this next transfer is going to be pretty difficult. Because we are opening a new area I'll probably spend the next two weeks tracting ALL DAY!!! Definitely different from what I have been doing now. However, I'm also very excited for the change. All of the areas are little hoosier towns which will be very different from downtown Indy. I'm excited to be able to learn different things from a different trainer. It's going to be hard. But I also know I have the ability to choose to still be happy. It's those moments where I'm not thinking about myself that I truly am the happiest. I cannot imagine being any place else right now. I'm sure I've said these things a million times, but they are still true.   

 

Love, Sister Mayberry 

 

4-15-13

Had my first baptism on Saturday. It was good, not the I really felt like I was apart of it. Robert is definitely an interesting person. He knows the church is true, he just holds himself to a very high standard. We did another exchange this last week where a set of sisters came into our area and worked for the day. We went on campus for a little while and ran into some people who were definitely against the church. We talked to this one guy for probably 20 minutes or so, definitely not opened to hear what we had to say. Luckily Sis Allen is more experienced and was able to handle the situation pretty well.

I think I told you about James last week and about how he was able to develop a testimony of modern day prophets. We met with him this week and I was able to commit him to pray about getting baptized on May 25th. It was a way sweet lesson, probably one of my favorite so far even though we stood up the entire time in this little kitchen (long story). We had a lot of lessons fall through again this week. We have a lot of potential investigators but none of them are getting back to us, which is really frustrating. So we have the potential to be teaching a lot more lessons.

 

Testimony during sacrament yesterday was fantastic. This branch has so many solid people in it. I may have said this before, so sorry, but I'm amazed at how willing the members are to come teaching with us. We have lessons with us at every lesson. I have a hard time asking people to come because we literally text 10+ people a day to see if they can teach with us. It's been really draining and I feel pretty obnoxious most the time. However, I've also seen how important it is to have members there every lesson. The investigators are able to feel much more involved when they already know members.

I went to my first Why I Believe last night. It's a fireside where investigators or recent converts get up and share their testimony. About 10 minutes before it started my companions and I were in the hall and running out to the car. We got a call from one of the assistants (who was in the chapel) asking if I could play the piano. I said yes. Then they told me the opening song was "All Creatures of Our God and King". Probably one of the top 10 most difficult songs to play and I think I had maybe played it twice. Basically I dropped like half the notes and was only playing the tenor part. Oh well. The elders were still nice enough to compliment me on my playing. Getting together with other missionaries is the highlight of my week. Yeah my companions are nice and everthing, but when I get in a group with other missionaries it is like a boost of energy. I feel so much more motivation to be a missionary.

 

Yesterday we had about an hour of extra time waiting for a lesson at the church. We decided to go walk along the river to talk to people. We took a member with us, Rochelle. Sis Donaldson and Sis Clark went together and I went with Rochelle. Rochelle speaks Spanish because she served a mission in Chile (the same one as Hannah). We came across this hispanic family and I told Rochelle it was all her. She quickly got into the role, suprisingly I was able to follow some of the conversation. It was cool to watch though.

 

4-1-2013

Easter was great yesterday. We sang in the white river ward (the family ward) for their sacrament and then went to our own branch. A family from the WR ward invited us over for dinner. Yeah it was nothing like I'm used to haha. But we certainly have had our share of candy the last few days, more than you ever bought for us! :) Thanks for not overloading us on candy as kids.

Seriously the members of the branch here are awesome. That family, the Hurleys have 10 kids and 4 of them are in the YSA branch. Their house was so loud and they certainly "argue" a lot. It was great to be in a "typical" mormon home. Mark, their son, said they have started taking pictures of the missionaries because someone did that while he was on his mission. I knew you would appreciate it. You may get another picture, we are having dinner with them next month again. I've been really impressed with the members. A lot of them go out of their way to help us. Every lesson we teach with an investigator we have a member present. There are actually quite a few female RMs who I look up to quite a bit. Even though they aren't married yet, they aren't sitting around wasting their lives away.

So this week we taught 13 member present lessons. Our goal for this week is 16! Last p-day we were at wal-mart and this guy, Randy, comes up and asks if we went to the same church as the elders. We told him yes. He said that he had ran into them last week and they had invited him to go to church but he hadn't been able to. We took down his info and asked where he lived so we could figure out what elders he had talked to. The elders said that they had tried to contact him, but couldn't get a hold of him. Oh and our car had gotten towed saturday night and we didn't get it back until later on monday.....so we wouldn't have been at wal-mart at that time if the car hadn't gotten towed :). Anyways we called him and set up an appointment to meet with him. We were teaching him about the Restoration, about half way through the lesson he stops us and is like "how do I become a member of your church"? We paused and explained how he would need to read the Book of Mormon and take lessons from us and to get an answer from God that this is what he was supposed to do. We continued on with the lesson and then committed him to baptism. He said yes of course! He came to church yesterday and absolutely loved it. He was introducing himself to everyone and is incredibly social. Oh yeah he's from Puerto Rico...sweet accent. Anyways, we then taught him a lesson after church. We asked him if he had been reading the Book of Mormon and he said he hadn't. He had been working a lot (he just started his job) and didn't know when he could find time. We explained that reading the scriptures is a commandment, and that if he set a time each day he would be able to have time everyday. He understood that it was important and agreed to wake up 1/2 an hour earlier each day. He also was a little frustrated because he wants to be able to attend all of the activities, but he doesn't know how it is going to work out with his schedule. We promised him that if he did his best, Heavenly Father would know that desires of his heart and that he would prepare a way (1 Nephi 3:7). That's my cool investigator story for the week.

I got to go to zone leadership training meeting last friday. It's a meeting with all the zone leaders at the mission home that lasts like 6 hours.  This was the first time sisters have ever gone. The reason is because my companion, Sis Donaldson is the coordinating sister. We went around and introduced ourselves and said how long we had been in the field. I definitely felt silly saying 2 1/2 weeks when most of the elders have been out for 20 months. I was able to learn a lot, and some of the principles taught were what I needed to hear. We talked a lot about the important of obedience. Yes it gets mentioned everytime there is a group of missionaries together, but it is so important! Missionaries have more potential to receive revelation from Heaven than at any other time during their life, but it's all conditional. Anyways I'm starting to learn that for myself. Luckily I've been blessed with a companion who is very obedient and it has certainly helped. I'm grateful that I was able to be in attendance, even though I'm not a zone leader (thank goodness!).

I'm really looking forward to conference this weekend. Something that my companions and I have talked a lot about it is how we can receive revelation for our investigators because we have stewardship over them. So not only have I been pondering questions for myself, but also how I can continue to help my investigators progress. I've got a long list of questions for conference :)

Lessons learned this week....I've been thinking too much about myself. At the beginning I was concerned with becoming the best missionary I can be. I've come to realize that instead of focusing on my "skills" I should focus on helping my investigators progress. If I'm able to discern and address their needs, then I'll become a missionary. This week my goal was to really listen during lessons and focus on what they were saying. We are given a promise in D&C that we will be given what we need to say, when we need to say it. I can only listen to promptings from the Spirit if I'm listening to my investigators. The times I was really able to apply that principle, I was able to speak with the Spirit and I knew that I was saying what I needed to say. It was really neat. I'm still not very good at asing questions. However, we were teaching a less active the plan of salvation this last week. I was focusing on really trying to listen, and not worry about what I was going to say next. At one point (I don't really remember) I asked an inspired question because I was listening. It was way neat and even my companions recognized it. It is possible to teach with the Holy Ghost, but it takes a lot of work. The Atonement is everything. I know that sounds cliche, but it's true. Everytime I study anything about the gospel, this lesson is retaught to me. There is so much I don't know or understand about it. How grateful I am that we could celebrate Easter yesterday. My testimony of the Savior was strengthened so much. I know I have felt the enabling power of the Atonement on my mission. I would not be here right now if it wasn't for Christ. I cannot do this on my own. I'm grateful that so far I have been taught to rely on Him in all things. I'm suprised at how much I have learned in such a short time, and wonder where I'll be 17 months from now. I'm just taking it one day at a time though. Since gaining that perspective the mission has become less overwhelming for me.

Not only is Christ involved with this work, but so is Satan. Not a day goes by where I don't feel Satan putting doubts into my mind. Several times I have doubted the confirmations I have received. This week we went and saw a recent convert who was baptized about two months ago. She is really struggling. Her parents don't know that she is baptized. She was diagnosed with MS last summer and is beginning to feel the symptoms of it. She feels like she can't move on and keep living the standards. She knows it's true, but Satan is working on her. As she sat there bawling in front of us, I wanted so badly to help her. Unfortunately I didn't really know what to do because I've only met her once. We testified to her that Satan is working so hard on her because he knows what she is capable to doing. It hurt me to see her in so much pain. Luckily, the power of prayer is strong. My prayers is something else that I've really focused on this week. I felt like I couldn't say a whole lot to her during the lesson, but she asked me to say the closing prayer. I don't think I've ever felt the Spirit more during a prayer. I don't even know what I said, but I knew that it was my desire to help her and strengthen her, and that's what the prayer did. I've had a couple of similar situations this week where my testimony of prayers was certainly strengthened.

I know that this is where I'm supposed to be. I feel very inadequate, often times I don't think I'm doing anything to help my investigators progress. But I'm progressing. I'm learning more about my Savior then I ever have before. I know that serving a mission is the only way I could gain the testimony and knowledge that I am developing. I'm grateful for the patience of my companions, I'm still pretty hesitant to talk to people, but I'm working on it. Thank you soooooooo much for your support and love. I can't quite say I love being a missionary, but I'm getting there. There are some part I love, and some parts not quite so much. But I'm improving everyday!!!! I love you all very much!!

Sister Mayberry