How Great Shall Be your Joy!‏

D&C 18:15

15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

Our investigator Daniel was baptized yesterday and my joy was great! l

It's an experience I will never forget. So many members showed up to support him and his family came. We took pictures and Bishop Woolley was the one to baptize him. The opening song was I Stand All Amazed and I lost it (crying) right there. I imagined Daniel going through the temple, serving a mission, and seeing him one day in the Celestial Kingdom. He will be an amazing member and he was so prepared by the Lord. His aunt stood up after the service and told the story of how she was introduced to the church and baptized. She talked about how Daniel's mom died before being baptized and she swore that she would take care of all her boys. It was so powerful and I am excited to see the energy boost to missionary work it gives to the members who were there. We are planning on helping Daniel do the work for his mom in the temple.

We got transfer calls this week and it looks like Sister Bennett is off to who knows where. I am taking over the area and I am so excited!! I'm getting a new companion and she is super awesome. I already know it. Sister Bennett and I havn't talked about being seperated yet but I know a lot of tears will be involved. I think I cried more yesterday than I ever have my entire mission. Her saying goodbye to all the members and them crying and yeah. Plus Daniel's baptism.

I can't say that I am not nervous to take over the area because I am. It's a big responsibility- this is people's salvation we are talking about! I treasure this one scripture that sums up exactly how I feel. Alma 26:12 -12 "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land (Stroudsburg North), for which we will praise his name forever." I know that God can do all things. I need to make sure that I am worthy of the Spirit and follow it's promptings. All I need to do is follow the Spirit, rules, and love the people. I am excited to continue putting everything I have into the mission. I feel more capable of doing so now that I am done being. Missionary work is nothing more than loving people so much that you desire their salvation.
 

Much love,

Sister Zeller

2062- Wahoo for Daniel!

1995- we found this random kids shirt in our laundry one day. It fits right?

 2007- The one person in Pennsylvania who knows what Oregon is

 2045- 3 months already? What!?

 

Missionary work is WORK!‏

What an amazing week this was. Do you want to know why? Because we worked our booties off! This is the year of no fear! So much to do and so much to learn.

 

Next Sunday two of our investigators are getting baptized! The first is named Daniel and he is amazing! He has truly been prepared by the Lord. I don't even feel like I am doing anything when we teach him. It's like he just knows this stuff already somehow. Just wait, it gets better. He is 19 and said he is planning on serving a mission as soon as possible! It's even more exciting because there isn't a temple in this mission yet and if he leaves in a year Sister Bennett and I get to go through the temple with him. Wahoo for the Washington D.C. temple. See you in a year! 

 

The second's name is Jennie and she is quite the trooper. She has rough family life but it's amazing what one person with the gospel can do. Her example is helping the rest of the family rise up and change their ways. I love her so much. 

 

Our Sister Training Leaders did an exchange with us this week that didn't actually happen. It was more of a sleepover than anything. Lots of fun and learning just the same. 

 

We also had interviews with President and they were so much fun! President Anderson trusts his missionaries and that's what caught my attention from the beginning. When someone trusts me I never want to let them down! President, you sly dog. 

 

This week was one of those weeks that everything goes right and you see blessings everywhere. Gotta love those weeks! We made all of our goals for the week including 13 members present! Highest yet! We are shooting for 16 for our last week before transfers. I love what Sister Anderson said in her letter about your mission being like your life. I want to live every transfer like it's my last. 

Transfer calls come this week. I have a strong feeling that I am staying and Sister Bennett is on to a different place. We keep joking and saying that the other is getting transferred because we both want to stay really bad! Our ward and investigators are amazing. I can't even think about leaving them even though it's bound to happen at some point. There will be a lot of changes in the ward and the missionaries next week so stay tuned. This next email will be packed full!

 

Have an awesome week and keep on going with those New Year resolutions!

 

Love,

 

Sister Zeller

1961- Sister Training Leaders!

1974- One of my favorite little girls on the planet KYLIE :D

1977- Us and Tiffany who just moved to Salt Lake City! You go girl!

The Year of NO FEAR!

That is our motto for this year and it couldn't be more fitting. It's based off the scripture from D&C 36:6 - Look unto me in every thought: doubt not, fear not. Sister Bennett and I are pumped for the year of no fear! Let us be faithful. Pull a Nephi and just do it! No random thoughts! So inspirational.

Anyways, this week was crazy like all the other ones. First of all, and unfortunately, I learned how terrible I am at driving in the snow on Tuesday. Took a corner too fast in a snow storm and slid right into a big pile of snow. We were fine but I am pretty paranoid now. No more driving for me!

One of the families we are teaching came to church on Sunday. We had a lesson previously that involved us being pretty bold but loving. We asked them straight up if they wanted to continue with the lessons and come to church. They said yes (miracle in itself) and at church they stayed for two hours. On top of that, the ward swarmed them and made them feel so welcome. I wish I could have seen my face because I could not stop beaming!

 

We see so many miracles everyday and President Anderson replied to my letter last week and referred to us as the "miracle zone." Love that guy! 

 

I learned so much about being humble this week. Let's just say I would way rather be humble than be compelled to be humble. Pride is the worst!

 

Miracle time:

We had a full day and our zone focus this week was new investigators. We still needed 1 more and we had no idea where to go. We decided to stop by Malcolm's (an appointment that fell through a few days prior). We knocked on the door and no one answered. We heard some noise upstairs and decided to get back in the car because he wasn't home. I have really been striving to recognize random thoughts and acting on them. I had the thought while knocking to go to the apartment above and knock. I quickly shrugged it off for some reason and right before we got in the car I said "Wait, I just had a random thought!" It took me a second to realize that I had had a random thought. We ran up and knocked on the door. This guy answered while he was on the phone and he had the strangest look on his face. We kind of laughed and told him who we were. He said "Oh, okay. Mom! Come get the door!" Then he said to us "she goes to church and stuff." She gladly let us in and we got a new investigator! I love random thoughts! The more you listen and act, the more you get.

 

New Years Resolution: I will be selfless this year.

 

I can't wait for the year of no fear. I can't wait to become more like my Savior by developing His attributes. The more I become like Him the more I love Him. Have an awesome week everyone! Congrats to Emma Tippery on submitting her papers! Best decision of your life! You won't regret it! Tyler Owens! There is a girl in my ward who is friends with Stephen Keith (your mission buddy, right?)

 

I love you all!

 

until next week (if I'm not frozen -20 degrees tomorrow),

 

Sister Zeller

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

I've been out for over 2 months!

I am so happy! Christmas is the best and I am having a blast! I think I have gotten more presents on my mission than any other year at home. The ward has definitely shown us some love. We got two huge boxes from the ward--from toilet paper to fuzzy socks. (Wahoo fuzzy socks!) Thank you to everyone who sent me Christmas cards and letters :) Shout out to the Hicks family for the package!

There was a storm on Tuesday and the roads were terrible. We kept sliding around and we saw like three accidents. We had to chill at a members house for a few hours until it was safe for us to go out again. Good thing I was driving. (Just kidding, I have barely any experience driving in snow.)

We had our Christmas conference on Thursday and it was so much fun! President let us watch the new movie Ephraim's Rescue and it was really great. Except for the part when they kissed......that was super awkward. Can you tell I'm a missionary? Ha ha. There was a talent show after the movie and I love these missionaries more than sugar cookies--and I loooove sugar cookies. Sister Bennett and I got up and shared our "tire shop" story from last week's letter and taught everyone Silent Night in Sign language.

Side story: Every Wednesday we have a conference call with the president and all the missionaries. This particular Wednesday we didn't get on the call because we lost service. President calls on different missionaries to say prayers or answer questions. We never get called on but the one time we aren't on he calls on us. He wanted us to share our cool tire shop story with the whole mission. Whoops!

We met and taught a lot of cool people this week for a total of 31 lessons. It was a great week and now it's almost Christmas. It just keeps getting better. I love celebrating Christ's birthday the way He would want me to--sharing his gospel to our brothers and sisters to help them feel His love. Best job ever!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and remember the reason for the season.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,

Sister Martha Zeller

Picture 1 - I can't believe it's already been 2 months. 

Picture 2 - The Christmas talent show. This was one of the best. The 12 days of Christmas missionary style."On the first day of Christmas my mission gave to me - a really strong testimony!"

Picture 3 - Merry Christmas from Walmart! ha ha

A Week to Remember‏

Hello, all yous jawns!

It's snowing here yet!

This week was the ward Christmas party and it was a blast! Both us and the Elders had a part in the primary skit. We sang 'I believe in Christ' and I totally had a solo for the first verse. It was crazy! They did the Christmas story from the Book of Mormon point of view. Pretty cool. 

 

I am officially finished with my first transfer! That went by so fast. Nobody in my district is leaving, so we are all set for Christmas. Rachael has been out for 9 months?! What? I swear she just left.

 

Sister Bennett and I were driving in the car one day when the phone rang. I picked it up since I wasn't driving and flipped out when I saw that it was the one, the only, President Anderson. So I answered in a super cheery voice and he said he wanted to hear the miracle story about Jeff (Digger--the guy from my last email). So we told him about what happened and he said that he was planning on sharing it in a meeting with some general authorities. Pretty intense, right? Look out for the story next General Conference! haha jk. But maybe!

 

On Saturday we set up a game of volleyball for investigators and recent converts. The AP's happened to be doubling in our area that day as well. When that happens we plan a day for us and then give them a list of people to see. When we met up for volleyball they told us they found one new investigator, one with a baptismal date, and committed a less active member to come to church the next day for us. They fasted and prayed that they could find people for us to teach and they did! Faith can truly move mountains.

 

There are so many gated communities up here it's ridiculous! There was one that had a broken gate so we could always get in (we had the code but we never needed it). The one day we didn't have a code the gate was fixed. We were with a member named Zoila (Lenny Kravitz's daughter look alike), in her car. We got to the gate and called our investigator Ron for the code number. He has a super thick New York accent so we could barely understand the number. Finally we got it right and as we were driving under the gate bar it closed on the roof of the car all of the sudden! Haha it was crazy! So we had to back up and type in the number. This time we were determined to get through it as fast as we could before it closed on us. Right when it went up Sister Bennett and I screamed to "Go, go, go!" and instead of moving forward we rushed backwards. She had left it in reverse. Haha. We could not stop laughing. We eventually got through and the lesson with Ron went really well! The power of the Atonement is so real! It's definitely something else to see it change someone's life. 

 

Nothing can replace serving a mission. There are experiences I have had and lessons I have learned that I could learn no where else. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve. If anyone is not sure whether they should serve or not, read D&C 4. Then you will know. 

 

The snow here really isn't that crazy. Everything was covered in ice, including our car, this morning. I think everyone is paranoid about the weather when really it isn't that bad. The main thing I'm concerned about is hitting a deer or something. They are everywhere!

 

The Christmas Devotional was so good! There is no better way to celebrate Christ's birth than sharing His gospel. This will be the best Christmas ever!

Have a great week everyone! The Lord is on your side

 

2 weeks until Christmas :D

 

Love,

 

Sister Martha Zeller

Turkey day... CHRISTMAS!‏

Happy December! I am so excited for Christmas!!!

There are so many things that happened this week I don't even know where to begin. I think I say that every week though. But this week I really mean it! ha ha. I think I have had Turkey every day since Thanksgiving. Try deep frying turkey in butter. Best turkey I have ever had.

We had a lot of appointments on Tuesday, which never happens. We went to visit some of my favorite people on earth. The mom's name is Evelyn (best name ever!) and boy, is she entertaining. She kept talking about her gospel raps and finally she performed them to us. They were legit! Haha. I didn't realize how legit they were until she showed us this rap video that her and her friends made in the 80's. It's called "Can You Feel It" and it was so funny. Very talented lady that's for sure ;)  

On Wednesday we visited a less active family's house for dinner. They live in a gated community called Penn Estates so we had to get a special badge to get in. We had a referral from church headquarters in Penn Estates that we tried to contact afterwords. We found his house and knocked a few times. We thought we heard him inside but sometimes people just don't answer the door. We headed back to the car and started going over our plans when we saw a security gaurd pull into his drive way. Apparently you're only allowed to knock on someones door if that person is expecting you otherwise it's illegal. So we sped away and were laughing so hard. 

Thanksgiving was something else!  No turkey bowl this year :/ Our first stop was our favorite less active, Lorraine's house. She invited us over weeks before. She is so awesome! We ate at about 2 and the food was scrumptious (but not as good as my mothers!) She made 12 pies for the 4 of us. I only had 6 pieces of pie because they were all different and Sister Bennett and I wanted to try all of them. SO good! We had to pace ourselves because we had two more dinner appointments.

Next we headed to the Beebe's house. Another one of my favorite families. We were so stuffed we only had a piece of pie; good thing it was banana cream cause it's my favorite (still not as good as my mom's)! We had such a good time hanging out and hearing stories. Sister Bennett and I sang our mission hymn and they were all recording us with their phones. It was pretty funny. 

Lastly we went to the Viallalta house. Somehow we fit more into our stomachs. We sat down at our plate and looked at each other. It was a great moment but we both did pretty good. The whole ride home I was in a food coma.

We visited a guy named Alaine and every time we say a prayer he always chimes in at the end and says "P.S." and then says what he wants to pray for. It's hilarious.

The highlight of my week was a guy named Digger. Has anyone ever heard of the show "Sons of Anarchy"? Yeah he was in a gang like that. He grew up in an Amish village and somehow became a "Hell's Angel". He's a big guy, covered in tattoos, and pretty intimidating. He also claimed that his son saw him on the show "Gang Land". Crazy stuff. He also told us a bunch of stories that are a little too graphic to repeat. Before I got to Stroudsburg, Sister Bennett and Sister Taylor came in contact with him. He told them about his past and they said they would stop by soon. Sister Gottredson and I went back there and got a return appointment with his wife. In essence he told us his kids had seen too much and he had turned a new leaf. We recently went to visit with him and he has done a complete 360. He quit the gang and has become completely focused on family. He wants to lead a class about gang prevention and everything. We are teaching his family this week and we are so excited to help him understand the gospel. I already love him so much! The Lord is truly preparing people for us to teach and we just need to trust him.

One of my favorite scriptures is Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all thy heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths". We are blessed and highly favored of the Lord.

Thank you everyone for all of your love and support. I can feel your prayers every day. Remember to observe then serve this Christmas season. The Lord has given us so much and it's our obligation to give back. But in reality we receive so much more when we serve!

Much love,

Sister Martha Zeller

I wish there were a cool breeze!

This week was awesome beyond belief!

It is unbelievably freezing. I've never experienced this before.. ever! Haha. Nevertheless! The work must go on. 

Now that that's out of the way. We can talk about my favorite guy Mike! He dropped us a week ago but he agreed to let us teach him one more lesson- The Restoration. So we did and the Spirit was so strong! I am not a very good teacher but I've learned that when I follow the Spirit, that doesn't matter. He agreed to come to church and he actually came! I cannot describe the happiness I felt when I saw him in the chapel. I know that he knows there is a God (he is atheist... for now). Not only does he know there is a God but that he has a Father in heaven who loves him more than he could ever imagine. So that was great.

This week I went to my first zone conference! That's where the mission president, his wife, the APs and a bunch of zones have a big meeting. President Anderson and his wife spoke and then the APs taught us to use the pamphlets when we teach. They are so inspired. It was really nice seeing a bunch of my MTC friends again. My companion from the MTC, Sister Reed, was there and it was so nice seeing her and catching up. I swear I'm asked to say a prayer at everything no matter what. Every dinner appointment they ask me to say the prayer (probably because I am new). Even at Zone conference I was asked to give the closing prayer. What's the big idea? Ha ha just kidding. Praying is the best.

We went over to a couple in our ward's house who happen to be Philipino. I have never had so many different kinds of meat in one meal. They had loads of food and then loads of dessert. It was great. Got some awesome recipes ;)

We decided to visit a bunch of potential investigators in these yellow condos. It was a lot of separate buildings with about 4 apartments each, spread out in a semi circle. We decided to go knock and see if they were interested. We had like 13 people we wanted to contact, so we got to work. We went into the first building and knocked. No one answered, so we knocked again and waited a little bit. As we started to head to the doorway that lead to outside we saw...WHITE. This crazy snow storm was raging outside and Sister Bennett didn't even have tights on. In the two minutes we were inside the ground was covered with an inch of snow and the wind was so strong. What!? Haha it was so funny. Especially because we had just started. Sister B. said "It is so warm outside! I wish there was at least a cool breeze!" as we were being blown away by the ice cold wind and snow. Ha ha. We were icicles by the time we got inside the car. Good thing we had hot cocoa at home!

The Sister Training Leaders did splits with us this week. It was so much fun! I went out with Sister Gottfredson and Sister Bennett went with Sister Arguela. I squeezed every bit of information I could out of Sister G. She goes home next transfer, so she knows a lot. She taught me a lot about being humble and learning things from each companion. It was really cool to hear her stories. I told her about how I struggled with teaching and she told me about how she did too at first. She said she is still a terrible teacher but through the Lord and following the Spirit she was able to teach. I am so grateful for my weaknesses and how they humble me. Being a bad teacher allows me to rely on the Lord for the words. Weaknesses are awesome! So are trials. 

I feel like a mission is the MTC for life. I have learned so much that will help me later in life. Stuff I could have never learned anywhere else. Missions are the bomb. 

I love these people out here.

Thanks for the package Katie!! I loved the pictures from the Halloween party the recipes and most of all the letter! Thanks for all the letters! I didn't get them until zone conference because you sent them to the mission home. Letters are the best thing ever! Seriously!

Have a great Thanksgiving! I will thoroughly miss the turkey bowl this year! Except they are having one here and playing soccer the whole time. What what! Love you all and thank God for His love and blessings.

I am grateful for my brother Jesus Christ and his sacrifice so that I can be with my family forever. I love you all!

Until next week,

Sister Zeller (4)