May 18, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

     I think reality is trying to set in! Sister Lamb and I had a GREAT past week. GREAT because I got to share my testimony of the Restoration every day, serve some of my favorite sisters by going on exchanges, partake of the sacrament, see an insane Missouri thunderstorm, and teach more people about the ordinances and covenants by which we can receive eternal life. 

    I live in the home of the 2nd counselor in the Bishopric in New Mark. Brother Jackson came up to me on Wednesday and asked if I would give a departing talk. I said of course even if I still get nervous to speak in church... you'd think I'd get used to that! I was grateful I was given the opportunity! Also, we gave the Young Women lesson for the Laurels class. I love those girls. Being a Young Women leader = the dream. 

    There is nothing that I could say that would sum up the past 18 months f my life. My testimony of the Gospel has increased exponentially, I have a greater love for the commandments, and my heart has been changed through repentance and a lot humility! I have loved my mission and the people I have served with here in Zion. I know the Lord has a great plan for each of us. As we continue to endure to the end, we will be led to the 'tree of life'. It's a life-long pursuit. I'm ready for the journey. I will be excited to keep up with all of your lives and see where life takes you! Love you so much!

Love always,

Sister Penman

May 11, 2015

Dear Friends and Family,    

 

     I can't believe sometimes at how special our Heavenly Father makes us feel! Sister Lamb and I had a pretty crazy week filled with unexpected lessons, new investigators, exchanges, and meetings of course! I had my last Mission Leadership Council on Wednesday, last Zone Training on Friday, and my first and last Sister Training Leader specialized meeting. I learned so much from President Vest, Sister Vest and the assistants at this month's MLC meeting. I was able to gain a greater understanding of Charity. I know I can continually pray for that unconditional love so that I can put it more into action! I was able to give a training on the attribute of Diligence, which I've been working on my whole mission! It's so cool to see how some things were a struggle at the beginning of my mission, but they have now become a strength. When Ether promises that in Ether 12:27, he is not kidding. For the STL meeting on Saturday, President Vest asked if I would give a training on 'How to Minister to Sisters that Live Far Away'. So in front of al the sister training leaders in the mission, President and Sister Vest, and the Assistants, I gave a training. I was definitely nervous, but if there is anything I have learned from my calling as a Sister Training Leader, I have learned to love the sisters I serve with. Each of us are so different, but each of us need to know that we are not alone and that our first source of strength is our Father in Heaven. He really does have all the answers.

      One of the best things that happened all week; however, was the chance I had to finally find Amanda. Bishop Jacobus (a friend of Amanda's from work) had Sister Lamb and I try to 'tract' her home for the last two transfers. After trying plenty of different times, at different points in the day, we finally met her, her husband Rusty, and daughter April outside their home! We talked briefly about the Restoration and as we shared our testimonies and invited them to learn more, the husband, Rusty (not even Amanda!) said that we could come back on Tuesday at 4pm. What in the world! We are so excited to teach them. Also, the Kunce family (President Hardy's personal trainer, from the KC Temple) invited us to dinner and we shared the message of the Restoration with his family as well. On my last day in the field, he said he was going to cook us BBQ ribs. He said it's an all day affair.

      I know the Lord is preparing the elect. Sometimes members of the ward find them, and sometimes the missionaries find them, but whatever the situation it may be, we are all in the Work of Salvation. It is our blessing and duty to reach out to those in need. I love my calling as a representative of Jesus Christ. It has strengthened me as a daughter of God, both spiritually and physically. I know it's by His grace we are saved after all we can do. I love you guys so much. I hope you have a great week filled with the Light of Christ and I pray you will be led to those that are in darkness. Just in case, make sure to hold your 'candlestick' up high (Matthew 5:14-16)

 

Love Always,

Sister Penman

 

STL Training

May 4, 2015

Dear Family and Friends, 

 

     I had a really great week this week!!! On Monday we had a lesson with Logan Morley's mom, and Logan's best friend Ian. We taught them about the Plan of Salvation and as Sister Lamb and I did our best to ask inspired questions, her mom was answering them and sharing her experiences! Before Logan got baptized, when the elders were teaching her, her mom (Paula) was supportive, but not interested. On Monday during our lesson, we invited her to learn for herself and she said.... "Yeah. I'd really like to know what this is all about." Woo hoo!! Later on in the week, she wasn't available, but she said before her surgery, she read some of the Book of Mormon and the pamphlet we gave her and when she prayed for comfort before her surgery, she felt peace. Wow. I will never get tired of hearing about experiences like that. Now that she understands how the Spirit work for her, she can know when the Holy Ghost testifies to her that the church has been restored! The trick: accepting the revelation and acting upon it. Please keep Paula, Logan, and Ian in your prayers!
     This week we also had exchanges with the sisters in Platte City. It was fun to be with Sister Lee again. We were MTC companions! On Sunday, Abbey Poe got confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and received the Holy Ghost. Her blessing was beautiful. Not to mention, I got to see so many people I love in the North Kansas City ward! It was like a dream come true. This week I'll have my last Mission Leadership Council and last time I'll train in zone training. Pretty crazy! Today, the zone is having a bbq for our our last joint-zone pday of the transfer! It's going to be a great week :)

 

If possible, I would love it if you could mail me one of your favorite talks! It would really help me! my address is 517 w walnut st. independence mo 64050

 

Love always,

Sister Penman

April 28, 2015


Hey Everyone!

     Hope you guys have a had a good week! We've had alot of great things happen this past week. I'm so grateful to be out here in Clinton and to teach so many of our Heavenly Father's children! We had our Warrensburg Stake Conference this Saturday and Sunday. They focused alot on Family History, Temples, and some Missionary Work. The whole stake made a goal to find 10,000 'cousins' and do their work in the temple. Have you seen that video? I think it was made by Family Search. It's a little cheesy, but it has a great message. They have encouraged the youth to go onto Puzzilla.org and use that to find, if not our direct decendents, our 'cousins'. I think it was awesome!I've never felt so pumped to do Family History! It was one of the Young Woman that gave a talk on that. It reminded me about when I was asked to bear my testimony along with Zac in our Stake Conference a couple years ago. I thought I was going to pee my pants. The youth are so amazing these days! Also, our stake building couldn't hold enough people so we had the conference in Hendrick's Hall at the UCM campus. That was sweet! You guys would love it here right now. It's SO beautiful. Within a week, their is grass and flowers everywhere and the trees have leaves! I've only been here so long as a winter and I've never seen it so beautiful! I'm really excited about that. Also yesterday we had a tornado watch which is pretty sweet. In Missouri we don't have spring showers, we have spring rainstorms and floods, but the soil just soaks it all up! I'm not used to that.. anyway, the weather is awesome haha. 

      We were able to do quite a bit this week! On Tuesday we went to the Liberty Jail and Independence Visitors' Center with Sister Stock and Mia (the Elders recent convert). It was so great to see Mia enjoy the history of the early saints. She has some dissabilites, but she's a total sweetie. We are really trying to help her get enveloped by the ward. It's just so hard because she lives in Warsaw and she will NOT move. Her trailer is not nice, and she lives in a scary area, but she is determined. Well, so are we! haha She needs to move to Clinton so we can help her, but we won't give up and we will continue to help her the best that we can.

      Wanna know something awesome? We met with the Battaglia's this week and they are doing great. Sister Battaglia read a little bit out of the Book of Mormon last week, but we were able to discuss the importance of that, praying, and coming to church that we were able to commit them to doing that as a couple every day and coming to church next Sunday! Ah I'm so excited! Also, we taught her Chastity and the Word of Wisdom and she commited to living both laws. However, Brother Battaglia has a hard time with the Word of Wisdom, but I felt prompted to be a little bold and let him know, after talking to Sister Battaglia, that she is doing great, but she needs his leadership and encouargement because she wants him to baptize her. I think it really sparked something in him. He knows of his priesthood responsiblities, but it has just been awhile since he realized the importance of it. We're following up today and I can't wait!

     We also were able to teach Chuck this past week. He has been out of town in Oklahoma alot because he has a farm there and he has been working really hard on it. We taught him about Temples and Family History and invited him to set a new baptism date. We had mentioned May 3rd. However, after a second he said, "That seems like a while away, is there any way we could do it sooner?" haha. He's so prepared! We were going to do it sooner, specifically on April 25th, but he wanted to do it at 10am that Friday. And the Priesthood and members were all going to be at work! So we called him later and reset it for May 2nd at 5pm. So that is going to be great! He's going to make such a strength to the ward in Clinton. I'm just a little nervous at this point. Transfers are this week and I have no idea what is going to happen! If I leave, I would miss his baptism by a day and that would be pretty lame.. but, I have been here for 6 months. A third of my mission. Sooo people keep telling me I'm out of here. But, I know whatever happens, it is the Lord's will and I trust him. It'll be interesting to do something new :)

     Something crazy. One day last week we went to teach Amy. We were sitting on the couch with her and her adopted grandson Ashton talking about the scriptures and we were starting our lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and had asked Ashton to read a verse out of the Book of Mormon when Amy's mom who is sitting on the couch, starts saying. "Don't you do this Amy!" and something else along those lines. Amy spoke quietly and told us her Mom had talked to her yesterday about meeting with us and about the Book of Mormon and how she doesn't want it in the house.. They went along talking about us.. right in front of us.. however, it was the most incredible experience. Amy went on saying such humbling things that she had been feeling and how she has needed something and she doesn't know what it is. Defending us left and right. 9 year old Ashton even pipped in and said, "Grandma! We believe it ok?!" After a minute or two we decided it would be best to reschedule for another day. We walked outside with Amy and she told us about how she was having a rough day and had been crying alot and then she went to go on her phone and the video 'Because of Him' we had shown her a couple days ago had popped up and she said that never happens. She began to weep. I am so grateful for the Spirit in leading Sister Call and I to her 4 months ago. While I was on exchanges in Warrensburg, the large print Book of Mormon I ordered her came in the mail and Sister Laycock and Christensen were able to drop it off and follow up. She told them that she told her mom that she is going to continue on having us over and that she can just leave the room if she wants to haha. She was excited to finally start reading. I'm so excited for her!

     There was alot more that had happened this week. We met with Anne and Hailey again for the first time in a while because of the holiday and such. Judy (her step-mom) told me that Anne said she NEEDS to have weekly appointments with us or she'll go crazy haha. Anne is currently praying about a baptism date in May :) They are definitely one of my favorite families! I love them so much. Also, MATT GOT BAPTIZED yesterday! He has been going to church basically every sunday for the past year and he finally did it! (I think it helped to let him know that we didn't know what was going to happen at transfers so he needed to get baptized soon) haha. It was a great service. Now he just needs to go on a mission!

      Anyway, it has been a great week. Not an average week for sure, but nonetheless awesome! Alot of missionaries have been asking me recently if I've ever felt like I wanted to go home or if I've ever had a really hard time... I think it's because I smile alot or something... but, honestly I have never been so happy in my life. Even those this is the hardest thing I have ever done, I am so grateful for this service I can render for a solid 18 months. I cannot imagine my life without this experience. I love sharing the message of the Restoration and how everything refers back to that. I'm so grateful for my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for constantly reaching out and loving me and chastening me to be the missionary and woman he knows I can become. Only one year left. I love you guys and I'm so grateful for your example! Have a great week! This week is up in the air. Here goes nothing!

Love,

Sister Penman 

Pictures aren't loading this week. I'll have more next week! Love you!

April 20, 2015

Dear Everyone,  

   

     Some amazing things happened this week. After doing to the finishing touches to the basement, we stayed our first night there on Saturday. We were expecting to see the sheet-rocked walls, but when we walked in, there was paint on the walls and carpet rugs on the floor! It looks amazing! Not to mention, the New Mark relief Society printed off pictures of all the church history sites in the Missouri area and we hung them all up! It feels so good to be grounded. We are excited to be close to our area again and get tons more work done!

     On Wednesday, we had an exchange with the Albany sisters! I was with Sister Davis for the day and night in Albany. That morning we did service at the Bethany Care Center and painted some of the hallway walls, but just as we were going to change into our proselyting clothes I realized I forgot my clothes at the apartment (30 minutes away in Albany). We were stuck and didn't know what to do! Sister Davis felt prompted last night during planning that we should see Mariah and Bryan (some of their investigators) that day. However, if we went back to get my clothes, we wouldn't be able to see them. We sat in the car for a couple of minutes trying to decide what to do, when a car pulled up at the member's home we were parked at. It was Amber: a recently returned sister missionary! I went up to her and asked if she would let me borrow some missionary clothes.... She said of course! Immediately after changing, we went to visit Mariah and Bryan. They were home! We discussed how they were feeling about their baptism date and Mariah finally opened about how she felt and committed to coming to church with them this Sunday. I guess the sisters hadn't been able to get in touch with Mariah and Bryan for the last couple of weeks and it was miracle we caught them at home that day! I know we were meant to see them. All I know is that the Lord's plan is so detailed and the work will move forward even if Sister Penman forgets her clothes!

      Logan is doing great! She went to mutual this week and Mormon prom on Saturday. Yup, I said Mormon prom! I feel like I was just there last year.... Ian, her friend, went also! AND he came to church on Sunday! We invited him to come to our new member lesson for Logan tonight and he said yes. Please keep Logan and Ian in your prayers.

      Last week we went to the Historic Liberty Jail with Abbey and the Litsters to watch the Joseph Smith movie. After the movie we taught her about how Joseph received his answer. He prayed, read the scriptures, and went to church! As Abbey talked about how she has been feeling about investigating the church, she started crying as she said that as her and Tom Litster (her boyfriend) were talking about her baptism in his house, she felt this overwhelming peace come over her and she knew the things that she had been learning about were true. The Spirit was so strong in that room Sister Lamb and I started to cry.

      I know that the Work of Salvation is moving forward even as steadily as before. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is our light in a dimming world! Our hearts can change. My heart has changed. I love the process of repentance and the peace that comes when we follow it. I use it daily. We have a prophet that is lead by our Savior Jesus Christ. He knows us perfectly. He will succor us if we come to Him. I love you guys so much! Have a great week!

 

Love,

Sister Penman

    

Abbey and the Litsters :)