Easter and a New Assignment

What a wonderful Easter it was!!! If you want to know what is new with me the answer is: Everything!! My current area is in Dover, Delaware. The capitol of the first state and they won't let you forget it. Haha. It's a lovely place and all the buildings are beautiful historic brick buildings. It is just adorable. As for my brand new companion her name is Sister Jolley from St. George, Utah. She is quite the little personality and I am excited for her "golden fire". We are in the Dover ward which was just barely made last week. We had stake conference this week so we still haven't met our actual ward yet which is a little strange. We live in a little town house now with two other Sisters. It is so much fun!! I love Dover so much and the road names are the best. Stay tuned for those pictures next week!

Stake conference was amazing because Rafael Pino of the seventy came to speak to us. He was so hilarious and such a great speaker. He talked about hastening the work of salvation and it inspired me to be even better! Something that I loved was he said it's all one work now. Before temple work and missionary work were separate but now they are one and the same. Instead of mission presidents just talking about the ordinance of baptism they are now talking about family history. Heavenly Father is truly hastening His work and I can feel it every day. 

We can all be missionaries whether we have a name tag or not! Invite your friends and never be scared to tell them what you believe. God will always help you do His work.

Today for our grocery shopping we went to this little Amish grocery store and it was amazing! The people with their bonnets and buggies. I love being a missionary :)

My condolences for the DeRoest family. I love you and am so grateful for the plan of Salvation. My prayers are with you. 

Love and pray for you all,

 

Sister Zeller

Blown Away!‏

General Conference blew me away!!!

 

I can't believe how fast it went by. Wow. It was so amazing! ALL of the speakers had such amazing things to say. The one that truly touched my heart was by D. Todd Christofferson. He talked all about Christ and it left me overflowing with the Spirit. We had a long car ride to our dinner appointment in which Sister Reyes and I were silent. I reflected on my service as a missionary  and my plans to change in the next six months. I also loved the "4 minute" one and speaking with grace for the hearers. They were all so well done and enlightening. It sounded like they were preparing us for prosecution and the crazy stuff in the world that is coming up. 

 

God truly knows what he is doing. I also reflected on the missionary age change and all the other changes to the church through media and the youth programs. My theory is that God lowered the missionary age to allow more Elders and Sisters to go on missions because we are going to need stronger families in these last days. Two faithful returned missionaries are sure to create a home based upon the teachings of Jesus Christ. I know that many things I have learned on my mission will bless my future family immensely!

 

I love this work! We made some really good progress with one person who hasn't regularly gone to church in twenty years. She opened up to us and dug deep to find why she was so hesitant to go to church. That "digging" is such a huge step in and of itself. She found an answer and is willing to work on it. We invited her to watch General Conference and we are going to follow up soon. Hey! 

Our solid investigator Juan is getting baptized this next Sunday!!! He is progressing so well and has been very prepared. He watched the Sunday sessions of conference. Our other investigator Mary (who was introduced by a member) will be baptized in May. She came to a members home and we watched conference there. She loved it!! The member and her got along really well. During the talks she kept saying "Mmmmmmm-hm!" and "AMEN!" It was awesome.

Zone training was also great. Elder Kitsell, Elder Hunsaker, and I sang Go Forth with Faith to the tune of Abide with Me 'Tis Eventide. It was scary but brought the spirit and we all loved the arrangement :) We learned about doing family history research and it sparked something in me. One of the elders got us all pretty pumped. I have a lot to learn but with the little family history I've done, I've already experienced a connection and love for my ancestors.

 

I can't believe it is already the last week of the transfer! I love you all and invite you to read through the Christlike attributes section of Preach My Gospel. It is a great resource for being happier ;)

 

Have a good one,

 

 

Sister Zeller

 

 

 

One of the members has a pet skunk!

All ma girls :)

 

 

The Super Sampler!‏

Well this week was quite the week of running around.

We had a ward activity (the Super Sampler), which we along with the Ward mission leader planned. Members and investigators brought food from different countries: both desserts and normal food. Although we didn't get the amount of new investigators that we planned for, a bunch of our current investigators came and it was amazing! They had such a great time. Each of the auxillaries set up a booth about different things like family home evening, provident living, prayer, faith, and the Atonement. It was really cool. Sister Reyes and I made little temple sugar cookies. We barely had enough of the ingredients and did a lot of substituting (sugar and brown sugar are like the same thing, right?) They actually turned out to be a hit! Sister Reyes got some crazy blisters from mixing the frosting. Haha. 

 

One of our investigators is progressing so well. His name is Juan and he is ready for the gospel. He has never had so much fun at church and he fits right in with the YSA. The Super Sampler was so perfect because it allowed him to meet and mingle with all the members. 

The temple President for the Philadelphia temple came and had an awesome booth as well. President and Sister Anderson also got to stay a while. It was so cool to have them there.

 

I have a feeling that I won't be in Stroudsburg much longer. We had interviews with President in which he basically makes sure we are doing okay. I love him and Sister Anderson! Brian Emmett, did you get the picture? They are so loving and he basically said this was my last transfer. So sad. The Stroudsburg ward has a special place in my heart.

Yesterday, everyone we had planned to see was in New Jersey for some reason. That night made everything worth it though. First off, one of the members made me one of my favorite dishes (because somehow the word got out that I was going to be transferred soon). Mashed potatoes, asparagus, and steak! He even gave us the leftovers. 

 

Secondly, one of the YSA girls, named Melissa, gave us a ride all the way out to a member's house. We planned to stop by one of the investigator families that we hadn't been able to see in a while. They let us in and she was the perfect person to have with us. They loved her! It was a miracle to have her there because she is always so busy with school and work. God knows what he's doing and we just have to  be willing and worthy to follow Him.

 

Thanks for the love! 

 

Have a great week,

 

Sister Zeller

P.S. Mission rules allow us to be friends with immediate family members (only) on facebook. We can't reply or anything. It allows our family to see our progress.