Week 14

So it's been quite the week. We found out that Evan is going to a blind rehabilitation thing for 6 weeks in Chicago. He leaves this week and then he's not really sure what will happen after that. So that COMPLETELY broke my heart. So here's the story.. his dad is his official caregiver right now. But... he's not really doing his job. He gets drunk A LOT and then just yells at Evan and kind of takes things out on him. So Evan wants to get out of here, but just doesn't really know where to go after he gets back form Chicago. But he LOVES the gospel! Everything is just making sense to him. We taught him the Plan of Salvation this last week and he was really into it! Then he agreed to listening to the whole Book of Mormon during the time he's gone. And Sister Goaslind is going to keep in touch with him during that time as well. So that's great! I'm grateful for the opportunity that I had to teach Evan. I know that he'll get baptized sometime soon. And I just hope and pray that it's somewhere in our mission so that I'll be able to attend :) But please continue to pray for him!! He's got a lot of things in his life that just aren't working out for him. 

Well... my life is officially over. I'm getting transferred. :'( Transfer calls came on Sunday night and our zone leaders told me that I was being transferred out of the area. I just sat there and stared at the phone and then handed it back to Sister Goaslind. Then I just walked out of the room. Haha I didn't even say a word to the zone leaders.. so they probably thought that I was super upset or something. Which I kind of was! But only because I really love Enumclaw. SO many things are happening and now I have to leave!! Dahhhh... it's my worst day. Ha. But it'll all work out :) I'm being transferred to Federal Way! And I'm going to be in a tri-partnership with Sisterr Muir and Kirschner. So this is going to be completely different! So please pray for me... Hopefully I survive. ;)

I hope everyone else had a great week! Ha I love you all so much :) Everyone that told me they know people in Federal Way, let me know again! And I'll go track them down. :) I'll talk to you guys next week! (If I survive until then.. ;)

This is Evan. He's THE BEST!!!! 

Sister Legas.. Haha she's like the funniest lady ever :) She's the first lesson I had when I got here! She was less active and now she has a calling in the ward

Love,

Sister Maurcine Flamm

Week 13

Hey! How is everyone? :)  

A few weeks ago while I was on exchanges, we ran into a former investigator named Ed. Ed is 70 years old, has a hoop earring in his left ear, and looks big and bad. ;) Haha. But he's actually a really nice man! So we introduced ourselves to him and he told us how he wanted to make God apart of his life. We told him that we'd love to set up another time to meet with him and teach him more about what we believe and he agreed to it! So last Tuesday we met with Ed and taught him about the Restoration. He loved it and told us that he knows that this is what he needs to do. So at the end of the lesson.. I asked him to be baptized. And guess what?! He said YES!! It. Was. AWESOME! I always thought that committing someone to be baptized on the first lesson was absolutely crazy. But when the Spirit prompts you to do it, it's the right time. Everything just falls into place when people are ready for the gospel! So now we have Evan on date for July 12th and Ed on date for July 19th! So please pray for them!! 

We had another lesson with Ed the other day and introduced the Book of Mormon to him. But guess what? He had already been reading and was on chapter 10! He told us that he reads every morning and every night. And whenever he has a question, he goes over to his neighbor's house and asks them! His neighbors are the Burdette's who live in our ward. They are a young family and have been amazing fellowship for Ed! They've been friends to him throughout the years that they've lived there and have been a great example. They sat in on our first lesson with him and then brought him to church with them yesterday!! So things are looking great :) We're really excited! 

We also had a church tour with Evan and it went great as well. His dad, who's not a member, also came! So we showed them around the church and talked about what we do in each part of the building. Evan wasn't able to come to church on Sunday though. Apparently his family bought him tickets to go to a Mariner's game for his birthday. But... he's blind. So I bet that was fun for him! Ha pretty sure his family just really wanted to go to the game. But he had a good laugh about it. He has a great attitude about things :) 

So things are really starting to pick up around here! We have a new Ward Mission Leader and he is awesome!! He's so excited and just wants to go, go, go! He told us that we're going to be here for a while. Apparently he contacted one of the counselors in the mission presidency and told them that he needs us here. So hopefully I'll get to stay here for at least another transfer! But we'll see :) 

Well I hope you guys have a great week! Please keep Evan and Ed in your prayers. :) I love you all so much!! :) 

P.S. P-day is on Tuesday next week because of transfers. :) 

-Sister Maurcine Flamm 

Week 12

Why Hello! 

So we taught Evan about the Book of Mormon this last week and it was great! Remember how I told you that we left him a CD of the Book of Mormon on the lesson before? Yeah. So he went out and bought a CD player so that he could listen to it! So that right there shows that he's interested and actually wants to learn more! Cool, huh. :) We were pretty dang excited. He's just eating it up! We're giving him a church tour tomorrow and we're really excited. We're going to take him around and help him feel his way around the building and then talk to him about what we do in each area of the church. I've never given a church tour before, so it's going to be a cool experience to give it to a blind guy! Cause we're going to have to really help him understand and feel the Spirit. So pray that all goes well and that we'll be able to help him to feel the Spirit strongly! :) 

We had exchanges this week and I stayed here in Enumclaw and Sister Goaslind went to Kent. So since I stayed here I got to drive! It was kind of weird because I haven't driven in like 3 months... but don't you worry! I didn't even crash or get pulled over. :) I miss being able to drive my truck though! (Yes, I'm still claiming it as mine. ;) Ha 

Well I love you all SO much. Thank you for all of the love and support. I couldn't do this without all of you! I'm just going to leave you with this quote from Elder Richard G. Scott. He says,

 “Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more. He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding and compassion, which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain” 

I know that sometimes things don't always work out like we want them to. I've found that a lot on mission so far! But I know that God is mindful of us. He wants us to grow and become. I know that we're all sturggling with one thing or another, but only as we rely on the Atonement of Jesus Christ can we be comforted. 

I love you guys and you'll always be in my prayers! 

Love, 

Sister Maurcine Flamm 

Week 11

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am right now. So I told you a little bit about Evan in my letter home last week, but I'll give you the run down again. Evan is the injured war veteran who is blind. He's in his 20's and is SUPER cool. We were actually trying to meet his grandma (who was a former investigator) and then ended up meeting him instead! He lives with his dad and his grandma. And a week or 2 ago we tried talking to his grandma and dad, but they weren't interested. So as we were going to leave, Evan pretty much just walked right up to us and started a conversation. (And yes, he's completely blind!) We got to know him a little bit and he told us that he was in Afghanistan and got blown up. So anyways, we sat there and talked to him for a good hour! And then he told us that he didn't know how people could go to church every week and just read and re-read from the Bible. So we told him about continued revelation and scripture that we have. And he was super interested! So we told him that we'd get him a copy of The Book of Mormon on CD so that he could listen to it. And then we were able to set up an appointment to teach him! 

So on Saturday we taught Evan the Restoration. It was the most amazing lesson that I've ever taught. Everything about it was perfect! We taught him about Joseph Smith and then he said, "Wow. That's amazing! I've never heard that before." So we bore our testimony to him and then told him if he wanted to know if what we told him was true, he needed to ask God. So we invited him to pray and he did!! And he gave one of the most sincere prayers I've ever heard. He asked God whether or not our message was true and then thanked Him for sending us to him. After the prayer we sat in silence for a minute and then asked Evan how he was feeling. And he just smiled and said, "I feel good." The Spirit was SO strong!! Then we did it... we asked him to baptized and HE SAID YES!!!! EVAN COMMITTED TO BE BAPTIZED ON THE FIRST LESSON!!!! Oh my goodness. I'm still just dying!!! I KNOW that God truly does prepare His children to hear the gospel. And Evan is definitely prepared!! :) But if you could still keep him in your prayers, that would be fantastic. :) He's on date for July 12th! :) 

Man, so much happened this week.. but Evan was definitely the highlight. :) There was a horrible thing that happened though.. want to hear about it? Good, cause I'm going to tell you. ;) Haha. So on Friday we tried to contact a referral of a less active that was given to us by President Eaton. So we go by the house and the guy that we were looking for wasn't home, but his dad was. We started talking to this guy, Chad, for a few minutes and tried talking to him about the gospel. But he just wasn't very interested.. So we were like, " Ok. Well good to meet you Chad! See you later!" And then he opened up his arms and pulled Sister Goaslind and I in for a big ole HUG! I was like oh my gosh! I'm not supposed to hug guys!! But that wasn't even the worst part... he then KISSED SISTER GOASLIND AND I ON THE HEAD!!!!! I was completely freaked out.We ran out of there as fast as we could... It was HORRIBLE!! And this wasn't some cute old man.. this was a creepy middle aged buff guy. I thought I was going to throw up. SO GROSS! I'm not supposed to be kissed on my mission.. but it just happened.. Haha it was my worst day. 

But anyways! Besides creeper Chad, my week was fantastic. :) The weather has been good and things are going great with our investigators!  I know that as we open our mouths, great things will happen. People truly are just waiting to hear the gospel! We just have to have the faith to find those people. :) 

I hope you all have a great week! Oh, and Happy Birthday (On the 4th) Chantell!! You're SO old!! ;) Haha. And happy 10 year anniversary to me! Wasn't it ten years ago on the 4th that I got hit by a car? I'm pretty sure it was. I'm glad that I got to share that day with such a cool sister like you, Chantell. ;) Haha. I love you all! Talk to you next week! :) 

Check out our cute rides! Yep. I rode a bike in a skirt. And guess what? It decided to dump buckets of rain on us that day! Haha it was insane.. and very difficult. I was sure sore the next day! ;) 

After being drenched by the rain.. haha my makeup was going everywhere. It was the best. ;)