Two posts for the price of one!

Feb. 17, 2014

We had a solid 12 inches of snow and were very snowed in. I was sick though so it worked out well. I had a fever...we didn't have to much food, so it was kind of funny to find what to eat, but we ended up eating eggs and old pancake mix. Thank goodness we didn't lose power because I am not sure if I could deal with that.

I have a new companion! Her name is Sister Rushton and she is from....guess....it's not to hard.....Utah! Haha, almost all of my companions have been from Utah...but it's great! I might end up moving there sometime because now all of my new friends are there. I was kind of relieved she was from Utah with all this snow because I haven't really driven a lot in the snow.  However, she doesn't have a drivers license, sooooo I have been sliding around and all that fun stuff.  Haha, she is 21 and the cutest thing ever. She is just so NICE!!! I was kind of scared to take over this area because I don't know it as well as my last area. A member in our ward loaned us their GPS,  that is so nice of them. We are doing it together! She is so great, we just talk and talk and sometimes forget what time it is....Oopsie. Sister Gale was transferred up closer to DC (big change for her).  Sister Rushton has been out 6 months. I got to see Sister Bunnell at transfers and now she is training. My child is training! I am one proud mom! It was so fun to see her and be around her. Both of my trainers are now Sister Training Leaders. It is so great!

This has been kind of a crazy week. we were supposed to have transfer meeting on Thursday, but ended up having it on Saturday because of the snow. We set 3 baptism dates this week.  That is so exciting for us. Please pray for our investigators.

I am so excited that my new companion loves tracking. I have a goal to not hate tracking. Maybe she can help me gain a love of tacking. She is so positive, so I am sure it will happen.

I love being a missionary. I love helping people feel Heavenly Fathers love because I know that love can change someones life. I know that because I have felt it. My testimony of this gospel has grown in ways I didn't even expect it to. I am so grateful for that, my life will be different because of my mission.

I love you all,
Sister Siepert

Sister Rushton and Sister Siepert

Snow, Snow, Snow is everywhere!

Feb. 24, 2014

My FBI Clearance came?!?! I have to admit that when I read that I wanted to cry...the thought of leaving here first, makes me sad because I have so many great friends here and have had so many experiences that I won't ever forget and second, it makes me a bit scared. I am just going to forget about it since it now has to go to the Brazil Consulate and could take awhile. I just have to trust that Heavenly Father has it all in his hands and to be patient with his timing. Also aligning  his will with my own will is pretty hard, but it has taught me a lot. So you better send my Birthday stuff soon:) Hah, what has happend to me? I am going to turn 20 in a month.....WHY AM I SO OLD?! 

This week was great!!! I forgot to tell you that we had a sisters meeting this week on Wed. Can you believe that it has been 6 months since the last one? But it was great! I saw everyone and it was so happy. It made me realize how many fiends I have made here in Virginia and how I not only love the people in Virginia, but I also love the missionaries of Virginia!!! They are so fun! There were a lot of good speakers and a lot of good food.:) So that was the highlight of that day, but then Sister Rushton came home feeling a bit sick,  so she went straight to bed. So Thursday was great we saw several of our investigators. They were all great!!! We had a great time with them like we always do but, came home early because Sister Rushton wasn't feeling well. The next day she felt really sick and spent the day in bed. I had to find something to do. It was actually a funny experience because I always dreamed of the day my companion would be sick and we could take a day off. I was so bored, which led me to be homesick. I wrote you a letter that day by the way. It was so funny how that all happened. I read out of the Book of Mormon and ended up finishing it again and then there was nothing to do. I learned a lesson, I don't want another day like that! 

So on Saturday we had a baptism. Her name is Mary and we all call her Momma Mary. She is the sweetest lady who has been wanting to be baptized for a long time., but because of health reasons could not be. When the Elders picked her up out of her wheel chair and carried her into the water to be baptized I just was so overcome by the spirit. She came out of the water with tears in her eyes. I just felt so much love for her and knew that Heavenly Father was so proud of her because that was not an easy thing to do. After she came back into the room she couldn't stop crying! She was just nonstop with tears running down her face. It was such an awesome experience. She has been taught by 14 missionaries and she calls them all of her sons and now she has 3 daughters. she remembers all of their names. she loves the missionaries and they love her. I could really just sit and talk to her for hours. Someday I would love to come back here and visit her. She is sooo great!!:):) 

On Sunday we taught the Young Women again. We taught them the first lesson that we teach investigators because before I was a missionary I didn't know the lessons. So we taught it and talked about sharing the gospel. It was a lot of fun and it was fun getting to know them. Also it is cool because I was basically in Young Womens not to long ago....So you can see it was a good week!

 It is weird to think I am just a few weeks short of nine months. I can't believe it!!! I remember the first night in the MTC I was so concerned how I was going to do this for a year and a half. Haha, but now I have almost made it halfway, so I think I can make it now! Haha, well I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love you,

Sister Siepert

Momma Mary on her Baptism day!

Sister Siepert, Sister Bunnell and her new Trainee!

Grandma, mom and child:) Haha

EIGHT MONTHS:)

EIGHT MONTHS!

The transfer call came last night and the verdict is......I am staying:) Sister Gale is leaving...we won't know where she is going until transfer meeting on Thursday. I will take over this area A little scary but a little exciting too! I used to hate change, but now I think I like it a little bit more than I used too.

We had a great week!!!! We also had a few funny moments.... We had an investigator answer the door naked. Yes, that really happened. Yep, it was really funny! She has this window on her door and she poked through it and was like, honey, we can't have our lesson right now. I am about to get in the shower and I am naked right now and cold. So let's do it another day. Hahahahaha, we laughed so hard. These are some of the moments I will remember the most, sooooo funny! 

We have a new investigator named R and we met him last Pday at the grocery store. He is the cutest older black man. We called him to meet with him and invited him to church and he said, "ma'am I can't go to church. I got a problem." We were like oh no "what's the problem?" He was like "diareha is my problem ma'am" This caught us off guard. It was hard to keep a straight face and not laugh, but we held it together because we are real mature now.....JUST KIDDING!

I am not that mature....but we did have a really good week! We taught some lessons, which is a HUGE miracle. Everyone here is just very set with what they have and don't want to try anything different. Which is fine because I mean I understand. It is what they have grown up with and how they have lived their whole lives. On the other hand it is really hard for us. I just love to become friends with everyone. You know me, I hate contention, so if it is headed that way I steer clear of that. We feel so blessed to have found a new investigator named M. We met her while we were volunteering at the retirement home. She is young and so fun! She is a Baptist, but loves to learn, so we are teaching her and she is wide open. I love people like that. They are so soft and willing to hear us out. I think people get so freaked out about missionaries and seem to think that we are just here to convert the whole world to be Mormon. Haha, sure that would be great:) I feel like a lot of my purpose of being a missionary is to love people. Just to make sure people feel the love that Heavenly Father has for them. We are here to show people who Jesus Christ is, by acting like him. 

Like I said we had a great week!! Out investigator L has set a baptism date!!!! The date right now is March 30th. We are praying and hoping she can make it by that date. She is so crazy busy all the time. We are hoping we can help her get there. She feels the spirit so strong and is soooo awesome! We love her a  whole lot and actually have special permission to teach her because she is technically not in out area. She requested Sisters. So we feel so lucky to be able to teach her:) We are super excited for her because she has made so many steps forward. I love when we get to watch people change and to grow closer to Christ. It feels so good to know that we have helped her through all of this. 

The Elders in our ward are teaching someone named M. We all call her Momma M and she is getting baptized the 22nd. She has been through 12 sets of Elders and call them all of her adopted sons. Now she finally has 2 adopted sisters too!:) She is sooo sweet and has so many medical problems and is in a wheel chair, but is so excited to be baptized. She has invited so many people in our ward to her baptism. She is so great, I love her!:) There are so many great people here. I feel so blessed to be serving in an area where we have grown a trusting relationship with them. It feels good to see all the progress we have made with so many people. Missionary work sure is hard, but it feels good! It is all worth it!:)

The coat situation is fixed! Sister Jepson is so nice and said to keep it here because she doesn't have room in her bags to take it home. She told me to pass it on to another missionary when I leave. She is so nice. What a blessing:)

We had something really sad happen in our ward this week. A young mother in our ward had her 4 month old baby pass away. She suddenly had trouble breathing and passed. It was her first child. It made our whole ward sad. However, it was so cool that yesterday that all the lessons were on the plan of Salvation. Everything is inspired! Heavenly Father loves us that way:)

Well, I Love You all so much and i am finally figuring this whole mission thing out, now that I have been out for EIGHT MONTHS!:) at least I think so! I Love You All!!!! :) Have a great week!!

-Sister Siepert

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

BEAUTIFUL DAY!!

A week of miracles + a visit with the Mission President + exchanges with a former companion and friend = a really good week:)

Herroww,

I am still here in good ol' Virginia and thank goodness it didn't snow this week! (At least that I can remember?) Haha, sorry the weeks go by so fast, but they are so packed that I can't even remember what we did last week...Haha, we are finally figuring out how to be busy! This week has actually been a really good week! We have been working hard and actually this has been a life changing week. We had interviews with President Wilson and can I tell you that he is so inspired.  He is such a great Mission President. I cried to him all about what was going on and about my Visa and it was like he already knew. He told me to just keep loving and to love with all my heart and not be afraid because I am leaving. He told me that he wanted me to be completely devastated when I got my visa and that we would cry together. When we got home I told Sister Gale that I thought that I had just talked to the Prophet. Haha, he is sooo inspired and so uplifting! Then we had exchanges this week and I got to be with Sister Romney!!! It was the best!! She was one of my companions in the very beginning and it was so cool to see how we have both changed and grown!It is so cool she really understands me:) It is hard to believe there is only one more week left in this transfer....I can't believe it....it blows my mind.

We had an awesome miracle this week with a former investigator. She was just not ready the last time we met with her, but felt a prompting to go and see her again. So we did and she was home and let us in. She said that she had been thinking about us earlier that day She has been through a lot with her family and her husband is in prison (he is a member). She is so lonely in her little trailer home, but we finally had a lesson with her and she felt the spirit so strongly and even cried. She is ready for change and we are ready to help her get there! She almost came to church yesterday, but was not feeling all that great so she didn't go. :( But I did give her one of my skirts because she said that she would not have anything to wear.)  I just love her sooo much! She is so precious and I just almost cried when she didn't come to church because I knew that she would feel God's love for her there. It was so cool. We also had another miracle where we were looking through the potentials in our area book and randomly picked one to go see. We went and she was home and we had a bomb lesson with her! We even got a return appointment with her! It is sooo sweet! We are being extremely blessed out here in Goochland. I cannot believe this last week and all the things I learned! Man...I wish I could just write it all down in words what I learned.

We just found out that WE CAN NOW GO TO THE TEMPLE.But there are restrictions..haha, we can only go with our converts who are going for the first time and we can go at the end of our missions with President Wilson. Cool, huh? We were all so excited about the change and I hope that I get the opportunity to go!

I heard that someone in my old YSA ward mentioned me yesterday in testimony meeting and that they had received a letter from me. A while ago I just felt like I needed to write her a little note and so I did. I love the spirit and when it directs us to do stuff and then when we do it, it is for a purpose! I think that is my favorite thing about being a missionary. I don't think I have ever let the spirit guide so much in my life. I also think that I have felt so many promptings in my life. You get them all the time and about lots of different things. I think I am finally learning to discern the spirit now. It is just so cool how much you spiritually grow as a missionary. I am also working on finishing the Book of Mormon for the second time now on my mission. My companion and I were talking this morning about how we wish we had more time to study in the morning. Mom, have I ever said that in my whole life? no, I have never really enjoyed studying:) Missions are cool! Haha, I am glad I came on one even though it is definitely really hard. We put these black name tags on and it is like immediately we are targets. Immediately people try to tell you all these things that they think are wrong with what we believe (most of those are not really what we believe by the way...) and satan tries sooo hard to get us. He gets in our heads, but is is also cool how I feel like doubts as a missionary don't stay long. Just because we feel the spirit so strongly and we see how this gospel can effect peoples lives. We see the change it makes and how much joy it can bring. Satan sure is a dumb smart guy.  Haha

OH MY GOODNESS I FORGOT MY FAVORITE PART OF THIS WEEK! This sweet older lady made a cat sweatshirt for me. A CAT SWEATSHIRT! It is the best ever! I will take a picture and send it to you:)

Good news also I haven't gained a single pound out here on my mission. That makes me sooo happy!

Well, I love you all sooooooooo much! Have a great week! I miss you, but will see you in a short 10 months:)

-Sister Siepert :)

Everyone has dogs here!!! I love it!! Some have Labs but mostly they are pitbulls. I am finding out they are the sweetest dogs. I really love Pitbull puppies:) The dog in this picture reminds me of my dog Duke at home:) I really love him and really loved him as a puppy:)