No Unhallowed Hand Can Stop The Work...Or Sister Mohler

Hyrum Smith Home

Since the baptism things of been really slow in our area. We do a lot of finding activities: tracking, snow shoveling, service, family history, member lessons, you name it! But we don't have any investigators. We know that as we work hard and dedicate all our time to the Lord He will lead us to those who are prepared to accept the Gospel. : ) We are learning to be really creative! 

One of my favorite parables in Mark is the parable of "the seed growing secretly." (Mark 4:26 – 29) James E Talmage said, "the sower in this story is the authorized preacher of the word of God; he implants the seat of the Gospel in the hearts of men, knowing not what the issue shall be. Passing on to some similar ministry elsewhere, attending to his appointed duties in other fields, he, with faith and hope, leaves with God the result of his planting and harvest of souls converted through his labor, he is enriched and made to rejoice." We rejoice in knowing that our area of the Lord's Vineyard is bursting with seeds and we are excited for the day when they will be cultivated. We never know who will accept the gospel, but we have faith and hope that as we attend to our appointed duties elsewhere, God will bring forth a result of our planting. 

Speaking of elsewhere, I am being transferred! :((  I absolutely adore Euclid ward and I am so sad to say goodbye. They are my family and I will miss them all. I've learned so much in this area and I'm thankful for all that the Lord has blessed me to experience here. I'm looking forward to new challenges. I'm anxious to get down to business in my new area! Sister Clark I had a great run and we will be friends for eternity. (Sister Mohler moved into a different house and serves a different area and ward, but still works at the Visitor's Center two days a week.)

Our ward mission leader told us that his neighbor tried giving him $20 to give to the "people in his church" that always shovel her driveway. I was like, we don't want your money, we want to TEACH you woman! Hey, at least she noticed… 

Everybody's Shovelin' (well, at least Sister Clark is)

Something else cool that came from shoveling was a phone call received at the visitor center. A guy called looking for two missionaries who always shovel for him. He had always hated Mormons and they were racist, but after seeing these missionaries in such Christlike service he wanted to hear what he had to say. He called the number on the pass-along card which led him to us and we sent the missionaries in his area right over! It was such a miracle to hear about! Every small, seemingly insignificant thing we do as members and missionaries impacts the lives of those around us. : )) 

The sites are excruciatingly slow right now ha ha. I can't even remember the last time I took a tour. The good news is that chat and the phones are always busy. I even have a few investigators I'm working with through chat. Daniel is in India. I've been able to teach him through chat and he's prepared to be baptized! I'm so thrilled to see him make that step. Another one of my investigators lives in Sweden and I love teaching him and answering questions through chat. He's even meeting with the missionaries in his area now! This week there were tons of chats coming in from Romania and we couldn't figure out why. One of the sisters asked and found out. Apparently there is a Facebook page for "Satana" a.k.a. Satan and he has a ton of followers. He posted the link to Mormon.org to bash it and so all these people were coming on chat. As sisters were talking to the people many of them had sincere questions and accepted missionary visits! It is amazing how something intended to destroy the church can be turned around to lead people to the truth! I know that Mormon.org is an inspired tool to help people coming to Christ. I feel so lucky to be able to teach people to chat, on the phones, at sites, and dinner area. There's no corner of the world that cannot be reached. 

Beautiful Ohio

In the words of Joseph Smith, "no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, 'til it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, 'till the purposes of God should be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done. " I know this to be true and I know the work is not done. : )

There's so much to do I can't possibly come home early! I am just overwhelmed with gratitude for the love and prayers from home I know I'm not alone and I no I can do hard things. I feel awful for causing you to worry, but your support and fasting has made an immense difference. I feel at peace knowing that Heavenly Father trusts me to make good decisions. I know that he needs me in Ohio and I have faith that he will give me strength after all I can do. Everything is working out and I'm feeling a lot better! When we report our numbers up at the end of the week one of the elders who is not in our ward will sing and play the ukulele over the phone if I'm feeling sick. So that's a nice gesture, ha ha. 

One night we were doing stop-bys we happened upon a sleepover of a bunch of 10-year-old or so girls. They invited us right in and were hugging us and telling us to join in We hadn't even introduced ourselves yet- ha ha. We talked to the dad and he didn't seem opposed meeting with us but he did belong to another church. One of the girls chimed in, "yeah, actually we just church hop!" So much energy and excitement in that house- ha ha. The girls were not shy to tell us how beautiful we were and invited us back. When we left we heard them all squealing, "they are adorable!" And giggling. I think that family will become new investigators. They brightened our day. 

I feel like I haven't seen the sun in ages! I miss it. If it's not snowing, it's raining, if it's not raining, it's about to. We have had a lot of missionary snow days! The roads get so bad and dangerous in some parts of Ohio you can actually get a ticket if you're driving when the roads have been declared unsafe! All the moisture makes for a beautiful landscape though! It's really not all that bad. The roads we take to get to our area are very picturesque. The scenes look like they belong on a Hallmark card. I accidentally lost one of the nice gloves you sent me, but my boots are still awesome! My coat isn't super warm but it does the job! I love my mission, I love my savior, and I love you! 

This is Sister Nance from Texas. 

She is ALWAYS happy and is a huge ball of sunshine!

We are great friends (:

(and yes, they get asked if they are sisters all the time!)

Five Guys with the Elders