Christmas Celebrations

December 18th

Transfers are tomorrow and we don't have to go!!! We get to stay together another transfer :] We didn't think it would happen but it seems like President is keeping people together for a lot longer. Thank goodness too. We have a lot of work to do here.

We had our ward Christmas party on Saturday and it was so much fun!!! There were so many people there and it was a good night. This one couple in the ward hasn't been to church in over 10 years for whatever reason and we meet with them every now and then. We went over to visit M a few days ago and invited her to the party and her and P came!!! It was so cool! They got to meet a lot of new people so hopefully they'll want to start coming back to church as well. I would imagine it would be pretty scary to start going back to church after you hadn't gone in a long time but they seem ready and excited.

Yesterday after district meeting we got together with the other sisters in the ward and K and we went caroling. It was awesome! We went to a few members homes and then we went to a rest home and sang to a bunch of the people there. Man, we sounded so good.. I'm trying to talk them into doing a musical number in sacrament. This Sunday is our Christmas program at church and we're all in choir so I guess that's like the same. I'm really excited for that! I just love singing and I love choir and I'm so glad that it's working out that I can be in choir.

Last week we were invited along with other missionaries to a Christmas party at the Lorenzo Snow home. The couple who owns it are not members but they love history and they restored the home. So they gave us a tour and we ate and got to mingle. It was really fun :] All of these things are adding to the Christmas spirit and making the holidays perfect :]

 And of course being in Kirtland for the holidays is amazing.. I had been praying for a miracle to happen at sites and when we were there last week we met a woman named D. She was so sweet and as we took her on tour she said, "I knew right when I walked inside that I was standing on holy ground!" Before she knew anything that had happened there!! We gave her a full tour and she just loved it! She had so much faith and just knew that the sacred events that happened there really did occur. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she gave us her number and said we could call whenever :]

I hope you had a great week! Love you,

Sister Maynard.

It's the most wonderful time of the year

December 3rd letter~
We have spent a lot of time in Kirtland this past week.. But I just love being at sites so much!!!! Not only in Kirtland but the Johnson Farm as well. We went there a few days ago because one of the senior couples is moving to Kirtland this week. We stopped by and had them bear their testimonies in the revelation room. It's so incredible to sit in those sacred rooms and just think about all of the things that took place there. I can't wait for the WHOLE WORLD to visit the historic sites in Ohio. On Friday we were in Kirtland and they had a local HS Choir come in and do a little concert. I miss choir so much :[ I'm never in the audience and it was wierd!!! But it was the Kirtland ward's night at sites so I got to see all of the people I love in that ward. It was awesome :] So many cool things have happened since I've been there. Lot's of people going on missions :D

We have been tracting a lot and doing a lot of follow ups with people we meet. Hopefully something amazing will come of that :] And it's been awesome because the weather has been perfect!!!!!! Oh my gosh I love Ohio weather because it's just gray and foggy and mid 50's.. Perfect!!!! We met this really cute couple yesterday tracting. The old man was sitting outside while his wife was loading up the car. We talked about Supernatural because their dog's name was Castiel. We talked to them about the Book of Mormon and they were way open to reading it. They said they didn't claim a religion but believe that Christ is our Savior. They also said they had been meeting with JW for a few years. They go over every week and read from the Bible. Sooooo.. haha we'll see. There are a lot of JW here and EVERYBODY thinks that's who we are. But we aren't.

Didn't you LOVE the Christmas Devotional?! We watched it with the S's and it was so good!!!! I have been thinking a lot about gifts recently and thinking about the gifts that Heavenly Father has given me. When Pres. Uctdorf was talking about not only being a good giver but a good receiver it kind of just tied together all of the thoughts I've been having lately. I mean, we give gifts because we love people. Heavenly Father loves us so He gives us gifts. We need to use those/bless others and not take them for granted. But I do sometimes. But there's this one gift that I have been given that I just can't seem to figure out how to develop it.. It's so strange! I really just have no idea. But I am really grateful for the gifts I have been given. Now on a more temporal level, people give us gifts all the time through like physical gifts and like compliments.. Just the two I've been focused on. And recently I have developed this habit of being all weird about it. But that's really ungrateful to be all wierd! I don't know. Just something that's been on my mind. Gifts are awesome and they are definitely a way of showing love--See The 5 Love Languages ;]

Sorry my thoughts are a little jumbled. I hope all is well. Ohio is great. I love it.

Sister Maynard. 

December 10th letter~

Hello Everybody.

This has been kind of a strange week. We have been meeting a lot of people and teaching lessons but then nothing happens and they don't progress. We met this one guy who was way solid. He let us teach him all about the Book of Mormon and asked if he could have a copy and said we could come back the next day. So we did and he wasn't home :[ But we're going to try again because he really seemed interested.

We have been praying/fasting a lot to find the elect. Are any of these people we're meeting the elect? I don't know.. I don't really know how to know without teaching them until the end. I really hope that they are. I'm ready to start seeing success. It's frustrating to not have any idea the impact I'm having here. But I know that Heavenly Father is going to do what He wants with my efforts here. We're working hard to find people and we will. Maybe we already have.. Again, I don't know. I just feel kind of lost as to what to do next.

We had a zone meeting a few days ago and it was a little over my head but amazing some of the things they were teaching us. Somebody from Salt Lake came out and trained all of our leaders on a new technique or something. Okay, it was a lot over my head and I don't really understand it. BUT I know it will work when I finally figure it out. They also introduced something that H has been doing in her mission where you ask to leave a blessing on people's homes. They didn't go over it too much but I'm excited to learn. We are going to see some really big results when we start using these things in our missionary work.

Christmas is coming :] Still no snow here so it's been awesome. It feels like Christmas at home but people here actually want a white Christmas and I don't get it. But it's supposed to be snowing here soon. Here is a link to a video that you may or may not have seen before. It's from last year but still amazing!

Love you,

Sister Maynard.

Alright.. This week. I'm not even really sure what happened. It been a crazy week. Probably more downs then ups BUT the ups always make up for the downs.. R is so over meeting with us which has been rough. We watched him change so much and the gospel was really helping him but I guess he's not totally ready and committed yet. So we are just focusing on J and finding new gators. We met this one girl tracting and it was awesome. Of course we have to tract the neighborhood with the street "Yorkshire" in it, right?! Well the first lady we knocked on was really not happy that we knocked on her door. Ohhhhh boy. Sometimes people are just not very nice. And it's always annoying when it's the first door. But a few houses later we met C!!! She talked to us for 15 minutes and seemed to have a lot of faith in Jesus Christ and she was interested in the Book of Mormon. We introduced it a little bit and prayed with her and went on our way. We have an appt with her in a few hours so hopefully that works out. She seems really solid. Then we tracted this little side road and met F! We'll see what the Book of Mormon can do for him. He also seemed really interested in reading it :]

It was snowing for a bit a few days ago and we definitely tracted in it. It was so cold and we just laughed the whole time at how ridiculous it was that we were outside walking in the snow for hours. But it was fun. I think that I will definitely be over snow by the time I get home.. And I'm currently the driver so pray for us that I can learn how to drive in the snow super fast. I have a few times so far but it hasn't been bad.

Thanksgiving was awesome. We loved every minute of it! We spent time with the S's and then went to the P's and had a great time there and then we headed off to Kirtland to spend time with the missionaries. We watched Emma and I just love that movie! It was so good! Emma was such an incredible woman. I love being able to learn about her so much at the sites. She went through a lot but she knew that Joseph was called of God to be the prophet and she fully supported him.

Our Nativity display at sites also started. It's so beautiful. I have never appreciated Nativies more in my life then I do now. So many people come in from around the area to see them and they just love it. It's the perfect opportunity to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Man, He really is the center of everything. NONE of this would be possible without Him. We wouldn't be able to change and become better people, we wouldn't be able to be with our families forever, or return to Heavenly Father.. It wouldn't be possible! But Heavenly Father loves us so He sent His Son for us.. Isn't that incredible?! It makes me think of when King Benjamin is talking to the people about how we aren't even as much as the dust of the earth (Mosiah2:25) and yet, Heavenly Father has a perfect love for us. The holiday season is amazing. I know that it's not even December yet but Christmas begins early in Kirtland haha. And we get to dress up in nativity costumes with the little kids that come in :] I'll see if I can get some pictures because it's AWESOME! 

 Oh, another cool story.. We have been going through our former gator pile to find people to teach and we called this lady a few weeks ago but didn't get in touch with her or something.. But we're tracting a few days ago and this man opened the door and says, "My wife isn't home right now.. She should be home in 20, but do you want to come in wait until she gets back?" We were like uhhh... We'll just stay out here :] so we talked to him for a bit and he told us his name and we realized this was the house of the woman we called a few weeks ago!!!! They were taught a few years ago and we're going to try to pick them back up.  

Kay, one last thing. Yesterday was just aboslutely amazing. We had zone conference with a few other zones. We started off in the Kirtland Temple and sang Christmas songs and some people in the mission leadership bore their testimonies. Then we sang more Christmas songs. Then we split up into zones and we all had the opportunity to bear witness of our Savoir in a place where he has shown His face more than 4 times that we know of. Probably a lot more.. So many incredible things happened in the Kirtlnad Temple and of course we got to sing The Spirit of God. But bearing my testimony is something I don't like doing when it's not teaching. I just get all nervous and stuff and don't know what to say so I just avoid it. But I had to yesterday. So I just prayed that my words would be guided by the spirit and I just went for it. It's not very often that I feel my words are guided by the spirit but I really felt that yesterday as I was sharing with others that I know that Christ is my Savoir and that He loves us so much. This is all true.. What an amazing work that we're doing. Not just full time missionaries but everybody who shares their testimonies of the Savoir with others. When it truly comes from the heart the spirit will always be there to bear witness of the truthfulness of your words. I. Love. It.  I love this gospel. I love Heavenly Father's perfect plan for us. HE LOVES US!!!!!!

Sister Maynard.

Ps. Check out Ness. mormon.org/vanessa I love her as well. And check out mormon.org/christmas. There's lots of fun things going on with church media!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

 

Hey!!!

Soooo this week.. Hm. Not the best but still okay. Our gators dropped us which is always hard so now we're just tracting which is even harder. But I'm doing my best to stay positive. P and I talked about it this morning and I just really feel like Heavenly Father has something in store for us. We have to go through the bad to get to the good, right? So if we just stay positive and keep working then something will come out of this, right?? I am really hoping Heavenly Father leads us to someone who is prepared. I don't know how long I can stay positive for :P But tracting is a lot better/easier when you're positive about it. I know that we'll find someone. Just have to be diligent..

And this week is Thanksgiving so that's like the best!!! We will be spending Thanksgiving with the S's :] K's mom is coming in from Utah so it will be a party. Then we have plans to make an appearance at some more members homes :] Then off to Kirtland! It will be an awesome day/week. Our sites schedule was changed so we're there Thurs & Fri. It's different but I love it. We get maybe 2 tours a day total so it's really slowing down. This past week Sister M asked if we wanted to go on a spanish tour with her. It was so cool!!!! I could only understand a few things but I loved it. I love hearing people's testimonies in other languages. I feel like it's more powerful because you can't get caught up in the words. You really have to rely on the spirit and you can feel it even when you don't understand what they're saying! It's so cool!!! And we have a lot of calls to make in the call center. We have been going through our online system and cleaning it out. We talk to a lot of voicemails so hopefully something comes from it!! Lots of tedious work but miracles will come. I just know it!

Have a great week and Thanksgiving! We really do have a lot to be grateful for :]

Love you!

Sister Maynard

One Year!

Hello!!!!!

The District

Oh! We have seen so many miracles these last few weeks. Especially with our gators.

Z and F had their little baby yesterday!!!! He's so cute! She called us an hour after she gave birth and asked us to come over haha. We had to wait until after church but he was such a cute little guy!!!! We're so happy for them :] 

In one of their lessons they had their friend, J, come too and we have been meeting with him ever since. He's 20 and way cool. He's very open to learning and finding out if the church is true for himself. Which he's doing. He came to church yesterday and loved it!!! He's going through a rough time right now and he said that he was so glad to go to church because he felt so much better afterwards. It's so neat because everything we teach him he just gets so excited!! The gospel is amazing! 

R came to church as well! He has made so much progress from when I first met him. My first lesson with him he was asking random questions about whether or not Mormon's can have guns.. Haha but now his questions are very focused on the lessons and his desire to find truth has grown a ton. Seriously. The gospel just makes people happier. You can see it in the people we meet with. They look lighter and want more and more. It really is a miracle. 

We also had an amazing lesson with the R and A. They're a part member family and I just love them so much!!!!! R has so much desire to find truth and in our lessons they have questions about whatever and we're able to answer them through the scriptures and every time they get so excited about reading! I have never loved the Book of Mormon so much in my life. Before my mission I knew absolutely nothing about the Book of Mormon and I'm learning everyday that it really does contain all the answers we're searching for. 

Every week we have a Book of Mormon club and we're focusing on chapters that testify of Christ. Last week I was having a really hard time because I felt like I needed to be perfect and know everything. Which I know isn't even possible but I was feeling really down because of it. In BoM Club we were reading 1 Nephi 11 about Nephi seeing the tree of life and one verse in there stuck out to me so much. Like a verse might not have stuck out to me so much ever... but it was verse 17 which says, "And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things." It just hit me that I don't need to know everything or be perfect! Which is such a relief. But all that matters is that Heavenly Father loves me and that I know that. He's the one who helps us through everything and gives us everything. All I have to do is just try my hardest and He'll make up the rest because He loves me :] I love the Book of Mormon and the wonderful things it teaches. I learn something new everyday from it!

Love you,

Sister Maynard.

Ps. I was trying to do this yoga pose that Palmer taught me and I might have fallen on my chin and my jaw seems a little messed up :/

Pps. I have been on my mission for a year now!!!! Can you even believe it?! Because I can't. Mind. Blown. 

Lock Down

Sooo because of Hurricane Sandy we were on lock down for a few days. It was just a constant light drizzle for ever. But we were stuck inside. So what do you do?? Build a fort :] Our fort was AWESOME! 

The Fort

Guess what's happening this week for transfers.. P and I are staying together!!!!!!!! Nobody thought it would happen. For some reason people think you can't have fun on top of that or something so they want to split us up. Look out Ravenna! P and M are here for 6 more weeks!!!!

Z and F brought their friend J to one of our lessons and he is so solid. He was so into the lesson and wants so much what the gospel has to offer. It was such a neat lesson. He accepted baptism and is excited to read the Book of Mormon :]

R is getting baptized on 14 Dec :] :] :] 

This week has been different because of the hurricane. We didn't go to sites which was extra strange. But we had a really good week nonetheless :]

I hope you have a great week! Love you!!
Sister Maynard.

Isn't it pretty

View From Apartment

Church Parking Lot

What do you mean Halloween isn't on Halloween???

Seriously, Ohio is so weird. We had Halloween on Sat and yesterday.. Now that there's a huge storm coming idk if we'll actually have Halloween on Halloween this year. Sooooo weird. Especially tracting  with all of the trick or treaters.. Everybody is all cheerful until they know why we're there. Gahhhh. and we don't even get candy out of it!!!!! Probably a good thing. 

We had a gator, R, at church on sun! It was sweet. He had a good time :]  we're meeting with Z and F and they are doing awesome!! They even had a friend come to one of our lessons and he said he would be baptized!!!!! We're looking forward to meeting with him.  We are in major finding mode so hopefully we get some new potentials/gators here soon :] 

The Johnson Farm has been amazing. Ahhhhh I love serving there so much. We took this family on tour and they had grandchildren from NP! The Cameron's. I don't know them but I think I've heard of them. It was a sweet tour. They were so prepared to feel the spirit and we all had tears in our eyes at the end as we were bearing our testimonies of the plan of salvation. I LOVE HISTORIC SITES!!!!!!!! 

And I totes love all of you.. 

Sister Maynard. 

BIRTHDAY!!!!

IT'S MY BIRTHDAYYYY!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited :] I don't really want to be older but I love birthdays so it's fine.

 

This past week has been awesome. Z and F came to church again and had a great experience! It seemed like everything that was talked about in church was totally applicable to them and they love it so much. They're really excited to be baptized. We taught them the plan of salvation last night at the S's and as we taught about the spirit world, F said that a huge burden had been lifted that she had been carrying for a few years now. She told us how her mom was in a coma and the preacher came and told her that her mom was saved but it didn't sit well with her. She didn't understand how someone who was unconscious could make that decision for themselves. When we told her that after we die and our spirits go to the spirit world and they have an opportunity to learn about Christ there and accept His gospel she felt so much peace and knew that her mom would have that opportunity. And it's so true!!!!! I love feeling the spirit in lessons because it not only confirms to them that these things are true but it confirms it to me as well. My testimony has been strengthened more than I thought possible out here. I am learning so much and meeting some of the most amazing people.

 

The Lord blesses us so much when we try our hardest. We have been praying and praying to find someone who's prepared to accept our message. We had an appointment with these two 17 year old boys, D and R, who we've been trying to meet with for a while now but we keep missing each other. So we go to meet them at the library and one of the guys was there but the other guy was new. I was a little nervous at first because I didn't know why he was there! Turns out he's D's uncle and new to the whole religion thing and just searching for truth.. He was so excited to read the Book of Mormon and we had an awesome lesson with them. D is a little hesitant about religion but we know Heavenly Father is going to bless him so much. I have never promised so many blessings before than to D and R. We ran into them last week at Subway and sat with them and read the intro with them and I just promised them over and over again that this will change their lives and make them so much happier. At first they weren't serious and had no interest but by the end they both took a copy and said they would read it. Missionary work is the best.

 

And so many people are preparing/going on missions right now!!!!!! I can't even believe how much the missionary world is booming. It's crazy! EVERYBODY needs to go on a mission. There are things you learn on a mission that you can't learn anywhere else. It's awesome :]

 

I love this gospel so much. It really does bring so much happiness and I can promise that!!!!! Heavenly Father loves us. I hope you have a great week!!!

Sister Maynard.

I love Tender Mercies

Johnson Farm was awesome. It was actually really hard. I've never looked at the guide book before and I had only been on 2 tours before so I didn't know a lot of the information. But we ended up taking like 10 tours that day!!!!!! So by the end I was kind of getting the hang of it. It's an amazing place.. So sacred. That's where Joseph was tarred and feathered and also where D&C 76 was received all about the after life. People didn't like that very much so that's why he was tarred and feathered. Hopefully I can get a guide book tomorrow so I don't have to stumble through anymore. 

I'm so excited that younger girls are taking this serious and deciding to go on missions. This is something you can't experience anywhere else and I'm learning so much from being out here. It's something that I wouldn't trade for anything.

We have these 2 gators, right?? Well, they were really excited to come to church yesterday and we found them a ride and everything was going perfect. But of course nothing can be perfect so the ride got lost and couldn't find them. So church has started and we get a call from the guy and he just said he was really looking forward to coming but the ride never showed up but they were sitting there waiting. To add to it, they don't have a phone so when we called the number back it was the neighbor and the guy had already left. I started crying because I'm dramatic like that and a member came up to us and asked us what was going on. We explained the situation and he asked where the gators lived and said he could go pick them up really quick. It felt like eternity sitting there waiting for them but they eventually made it!!! Sacrament was over but they got to hear all of the testimonies and by the end of church they just loved it so much!!! They're looking forward to coming next week and they have a date set for Dec 1 :] YAYYYYY! We're so excited. We have a lot of work to do before then but we know that Heavenly Father will make it happen. It's always in His hands.

 

We also had a really amazing lesson with these members last night. We taught them about the Restoration and the spirit was so strong! We just all bore our testimonies of how much Heavenly Father loves us and by the end we all had tears in our eyes. I don't have a lot of lessons like that but last night's lesson is something I'll never forget.

 

I love missionary work. I love feeling the spirit and helping others feel the spirit as well. There's nothing like having the spirit speak through you to others. It's the most amazing feeling in the world. I know that this gospel is true.. I learn that more and more everyday as I'm out here and it really does bring peace and happiness as promised in the Book of Mormon. I love it so much!!!!!

 

And I love you.

Sister Maynard.

Ravenna

HOW AMAZING WAS CONFERENCE?! Ohhhhhhhh my gosh. My mind is blown. Girls can go on missions at 19 and boys can go at 18 now?! WHAT THE HECK!!!!!!!!! It's so exciting! But no temple in NE Ohio yet.. I'm still working on that. Ravenna is an awesome area and I love my companion so much. Tracting is like actually fun... Hahaha  We're just trying to find people to teach but it's not really working yet. I don't understand why people don't want to hear our message of peace and happiness but they don't.. It's fine though. We'll find someone who's prepared eventually. I wish I had more to update on but I really don't. Oh, except only the coolest thing ever! So you know how I serve at the Kirtland sites?? Well, there's two sister's areas that serve at the Johnson Home in Hiram: Hiram and Ravenna. It's my dream to work at the Johnson home but they don't have sisters working there until May because it's so slow.. Which means I won't be able to serve there because I leave in April and I missed it by a transfer. So now that I'm here I can't even serve there.. Except! We're getting a new senior couple and some tour buses here soon so we get to go in next Saturday and give tours to help out!!!!!!!!! My dream is coming true! Man, it's the coolest thing ever. I love this gospel so much. It's so true.

Love you all!
Sister Maynard.

Youngstown

I am so excited. Want to know why?? Well, because I got put into the best area with the best companion. I'm in Ravenna and my comp is Sister P. She is so amazing and I love her so much. She's from Provo and she's so cool. You'll def meet her sometime, I'm sure.

 

This area is so ready to be harvested. Seriously! I just need to do my part and not get in the way haha. Then everybody will be baptized. But seriously. Coming in they had a few gators who had been super prepared. One of them is B. He's an older gentleman and he knows everything we teach him is true. He just hasn't made the connection that that means baptism now. We're working on it :] And everybody else is so amazing!

 

We are having such a great time and just be prepared to hear about the miracles. We're working so hard. And the funny thing is... Nobody here thought we would ever be companions. We kept telling people it would happen but they all just laughed at us (Because we wanted it so bad..) and in transfers when they called our names everybody was pretty shocked. I don't understand because this is the best thing ever. But whatever. We just have to work hard and it's going to be amazing. AND Sister L is in Kent which is the other area in our ward so we get to see them ALL THE TIME! Man, Rootstown Ward is going to explode.

 

Oh, so I am in Youngstown Zone now! We went to Youngstown for the RS General Broadcast and it was so cool! I mean, it was dark so I couldn't really take it in but it's so neat to think my ancestor's were here. You'll have to tell me more about them and get more specific places. I'm excited about this. I'm looking forward to conference and working as hard as I can here.

 

This week has been so crazy that I don't know what to say about it but it's been great. I love my mission so much. And I still get to go to sites. It's a dream come true.

 

Love you all!

Sister Maynard.

Kirtland will be built up again..

Sooooo. We got transfer calls on Sunday and guess what.... I'm getting outzoned :/ GAHHH! Now, I could just go to Youngstown Zone and still go to sites a few days a week or I could go full pros.. I don't know how to do that!!!!! I only know how to do the whole vc thing so I'm a little freaking out but know it's all going to work out. It always does..

This was a different week. Crazy as always. But we had like 15 hours total in our area all week. Being at sites is hard enough because that's 2 1/2 days gone that we can't be teaching. Last week it seemed like we were never in our area. But it was awesome because Elder Perkins from the 70 came and spoke to us! He was so cool. And he's speaking in Priesthood session of conference in a few weeks. I'm excited. He taught us so much. And I am very overwhelmed looking over my notes. I don't know where to start :/ But it's good. This whole mission thing is awesome and I love it so much.

Take yesterday for example. We were at sites and our first tour was a man who was baptized 20 years ago and 3 nonmember ladies. The man was just talking about his conversion and bearing his testimony and the ladies loved it! They were amazed! And oh my gosh! I got the best compliment ever! I was in the hired man's room talking about Orson Hyde and his conversion story and I just bore my testimony of the Book of Mormon and of Christ and how following Him is the only way to have true happiness and I learned that from reading the Book of Mormon and one of the ladies said, "I can tell you mean it.. Your eyes sparkle when you talk about him :]" YESSSS!!!! I have sparkly eyes :D I've always wanted those. Haha But it's always hard to tell how nonmembers will react to the word of wisdom and of course, they were shocked when they heard we don't drink coffee but the man told them his experience with the word of wisdom and the spirit was there and it was so cool!!!!! They just ate it up. They're still going to drink coffee though.. Maybe they'll think twice next time?

We've had a lot of nonmembers coming into sites lately.. It's been a really neat experience. People are just drawn to our little village. And last night we got another tour and it was 2 separate families. The one dad I could tell had an accent so when I got the chance I asked where he was from... Please just guess where they were from.... Denmark!!!!!!!!! I was so excited! I asked if they knew Maria and they totally did! I love this. We had such a fun time. I have to move there when I get back. Another cool experience from sites happened a few days ago. We got called down for a tour and they told us it was one lady and she wasn't a member. Honestly, taking nonmembers on tour scares me. I never know how much to share and if they just want the history or if I can add in some spiritual stuff.. It's just a difficult thing for me. So we go down and she's just sitting on the couch. Before we start the movie we do a brief intro to Kirtland and talk about Palmyra. I told her the first vision and she could totally feel the spirit but then as we kept talking I started to second guess myself and thought maybe I wasn't supposed to do that and got all worried that she was going to hate the movie. We started it for her and left because we usually have stuff to do during the movie. So we came back after and asked her what she thought and she totally loved it! She had so many questions about the church and what happened in Kirtland. She does a lot of geneology and said she had an ancestor who was a Rigdon and she was so excited to go check and see if she was related to Sydney Rigdon. It was just so cool!!!!!!!!!! I love the sites and the curiosity it sparks. Heavenly Father is working on something right now and using the sites a lot. It's been prophesied that Kirtland will be built up again and it's happening RIGHT NOW! I don't feel like I'm helping out too much but I'm here doing something and Heavenly Father is going to use that in whatever way he'd like. Kirtland is my home and I'm not leaving.

I don't really know what to say.. We just had an awesome week. I'm sad to be leaving Sister P but I know soooo many miracles are awaiting me wherever I go next. And she's going to do so much for this area with whomever her new companion is.

This is the work of the Lord and I love it so much :]

Love you,
Sister Maynard.

I love Visitor's!!!!



Aunt Sylvia and Uncle Reed



This weekend was so amazing. We had 3 gators at church which that alone was huge. We hardly ever have them at church..And we had 2 less actives who never come to church there..  but on top of that Uncle Reed and Aunt Sylvia were there!!!!! It was so much fun! As we were planning Sat night we got a call from a random Utah number and Sis Popp answered it and he asked for me.. Then he said it was Uncle Reed and that he was in Kirtland but I wasn't there so they gave him my number. I asked where he was going to church the next day and he said probably the stake center but they were staying in Solon and I FREAKED OUT!!! THAT'S MY WARD! So I gave them the address and they were there :] It was so awesome to see them. I hope they had a good time in Kirtland. It is the best place in the world...

So, I've been talking to H lately about what you have to do to be a successful missionary. One of the things she said was to invite everybody to be baptized. Sis P and I were thinking a lot about that and the next morning in studies the thought came to me to text this guy, S, who we met at the library but we've never taught him before and invite him to be baptized. I ran the idea past Sis Popp and we both got really excited and typed something up. Then we got nervous and deleted it.. Then I realized that we needed to just be courageous and text him. So we did. We knew Heavenly Father was going to bless us for our efforts. The text went something like "We've been thinking and praying a lot about this and we feel like we need to teach you about the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you come to know what we teach you is true will you be baptized by someone who holds the priesthood authority of God?" He didn't reply... Until a few hours later we got out of an appt and we had a text from him. It said,"I mean, I don't see why not.." SERIOUSLY! Who would have thought to just invite people to be baptized over text? I mean, it's definitely not the best way to do it but shoot.. it worked. Now, we're just trying to find a time to meet with him. Things are super busy with us and he's super busy all the time so we're trying!!!!!!!!!!! (Thank you H for the advice :] You're the best!)

Transfers are next week and I think there's a good chance I could be leaving Twinsburg. My guess is Ravenna or Mayfield next. We'll have to see!! Or maybe I'll go to Conneaut with Sister S:] That would be awesome. But probably won't happen.

I feel like a lot happened this past week but I forgot my journal so I don't remember. I don't even know. But it just shows how important a journal is! Seriously I can't remember anything without it. And so many incredible things happen here so I need to remember them!

This past week I've been reading the last few chapters of Alma. Honestly, I remember nothing from reading the scriptures before my mission and the more I read it now the more I fall in love with it! Those last few wars in Alma are incredible! Captain Moroni, Helaman and his army of 2,000, Teancum, Lehi.... ALL OF THEM! THEY'RE SO COOL! And their strategies are so awesome. I even drew out one of the wars in my journal. It was so cool! It was Alma 58. GO READ IT!!!!!! Those men had so much faith and relied on the Lord completely. And because of that not one of them died. They were such a small army compared to the Lamanite army and they totally won. The more I read the Book of Mormon the more I know it's the word of God. Why people don't listen to me when I tell them that.. I don't know. But the stronger my testimony is of the Book of Mormon the more the spirit can bear witness of that through me to others. The Book of Mormon being true changes everything. It makes me want to live my life so that I can one day return to Heavenly Father and be with my family forever. I am learning so much out here that I never thought was possible. And there's only more to learn from here!! Life is one huge learning process. We just need to continue to learn and grow in the gospel. Then we'll experience true happiness. I'm definitely happier then I ever have been in my life. Like I said, a testimony of this is what brings never ending happiness. Mosiah 2:41 is a scripture I read this morning and it's so true.. It says, "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it." Who doesn't want that?! This is the only way. 2 Nephi 31:21.. Amazing. This is it. We have to follow Christ. I love the Book of Mormon and all that it teaches. Oh my gosh. 1 more scripture. 2 Nephi 33:10-11. The Book of Mormon is so true.

I love you all so much! Pray for missionary opportunities and share the gospel with others :] It's amazing.

Sister Maynard

Ps. I'm sick.

Pps. Tomorrow Elder Perkins from the 70 is coming to our mission. He's going to talk to us about missionary work and it's going to be AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait. I'm going to learn so much and have so much to apply into missionary work. I'm stoked. And we get to go to Cleveland for it which is even more fun.

Elder L made us balloon animals. I have a pink elephant and the other one is a monkey in a palm tree except I didn't realize until after the picture that the monkey fell apart :/ So now it looks funny.



The K are leaving in two weeks :[



The seniors leaving this next transfer.



And sometimes people like to steal my camera and take pictures. Sister L, Sister R and Sister E.



Inspiration :]

Elder and Sister B right before they left :[ Try adding E B on fb. She looks like that.. She's from UT. Let me know what you find.  

But Sister B is the best and she just left for home yesterday :[ 

At our service project we were washing off the lawn mowers at the metro parks and Elder P accidently splashed my face with muddy water. I had mud, grass, water, and makeup all over my face.. Idk if you can really see in this picture but it was so gross. 

Sis P. and I after the service project. See all the trees behind us? The ground in there is all poison ivy and we had to walk through it to cut down some trees the people didn't want in there anymore. I'm pretty sure I didn't get any but I've been pretty itchy everywhere since then. 



Kay. So like I said last week we have really been trying to pray and receive inspiration as to where we need to be.. So a few weeks ago I was studying and I somehow came across D&C111:2. I think I might have said this already back then but it led me to think that this whole mission thing is like a treasure hunt.. It makes tracting so much fun! But when I read that I thought of this one city in our area called Reminderville. We had never really been there before but all of the streets have nautical names like Pirate Trail or Smuggler's Cove.. TREASURE!!! Kay so we went there to tract and we did Ensign Cove first. No success. Then we had 3 options: Nautical Trail, Beaver Cove, or something else.. :/ Anyways. I wanted to go to the something else street because it had more to do with treasure then Beaver.. but when Sis P was praying earlier to know what to look for she came up with animal so we went with Beaver. We tracted and ended up in this little group home community thing. I think someone called the cops on us or something because a cop came up to us and asked us what we were selling.. Thank goodness we aren't! So he left and we kept knocking. One of the guys we met was a little hesitant about listening to us but for some reason he did. It turns out he's had a lot of medical problems his whole life and was angry at God because of that so he just decided to become atheist. I don't believe he's actually atheist. I think that it just seems easier to him to not believe in God then to be angry at him all the time. So we gave him a Book of Mormon and promised him peace and happiness if he'd read it and pray about it. We met with him a few days after that and we sat next to the beach and looked at the lake and just talked about God and the blessings of following Christ. He wants to believe so bad! I just know it!!!!! But he won't let himself :[ He kept saying that we seemed so sure and wanted to know our secret.. I kept telling him if he'd just read the Book of Mormon he'd find out! It's so sad because he's so close! If he'd just read it I know that he's going to feel it and not be able to deny it. He just refuses to read! So we met with him again a few days ago and he invited his mom. He talks about her a lot and it sounded like she was very religious so we were a little scared to meet her but she was so sweet!!! The whole time we met she told us how shocked she was that we were so young and out here doing this and how much she loved it. She told us this was an answer to her and her husband's prayers. So we told her about how we found him in the first place and how we really felt Heavenly Father had led us to her son. She was so excited. Hahahaha oh my gosh I love her. Seriously though, Heavenly Father had a hand in all of this. He directed us right to him and it was an answer to our prayers and his parents prayers and the timing on both sides worked out just perfect.. This is the work of the Lord and we're going to see so many miracles here. We already are! Just so more to come :] But they're planing on coming to church this Sunday and I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They're both going to feel the spirit and want to be baptized on Sept 30. I just know it :D

Kay another really cool story.. This past Sat we were supposed to have dinner with one of the recent converts, A. She's 18 and was just baptized in April and she's so cool. But she never responded to us about dinner so we went to this Mexican restaurant next to our apt complex. So we're sitting there waiting for our food and this guy that worked there kept looking over at us.. Eventually he came over and asked if we were missionaries.. Nobody knows who we are here.. It's surprising if people know more about Mormons then Mitt Romney. So we said yes. He said he noticed our nametags and told us how he used to meet with missionaries when he lived in Georgia and they would play soccer every pday.. I mean, really. What are the chances?! AND we've been looking for a family to teach! So we told him if he wanted to learn more we would love to meet with him and he said that he lived out of our area :[ but he's trying to move back to Twinsburg! It was so random and awesome. Heavenly Father is placing people in our path who need to hear about the gospel. Now, not everybody accepts it but I know that even if it's to help people understand what we believe a little more then it's what needs to happen.

I have just loved all of the amazing things that are happening here. There have been so many tender mercies and Heavenly Father is helping us so much. Thank goodness too because I need all the help I can get. This missionary stuff is not easy.. But I love it :]

Oh! And I don't remember if I told you or not but in the call center we have an outline of the Kirtland Temple and every time we get a referral we get to put up a yellow smiley face and every time the referral accepts something we get to put up a color sticker. So a few months ago I got a referral for this guys chiropractor, D. (yellow sticker!!!!!!) Then I called D. and he didn't answer so I left him a voicemail. I was so scared! I rarely call nonmembers :/ Then sites was crazy and we didn't have time to make calls at all. So finally a few days ago I was able to call him again. HE ANSWERED!!!! I was freaking out and my words were so jumbled and probably didn't actually make sense. But he understood free dvd about Jesus Christ and said yes. Hahah so I asked if reps could bring it to him and again, said yes! (pink sticker!!!!!!) :] Soooooooo D. is getting a free copy of Finding Faith in Christ. Haha It was so cool. I'm slowly getting over my stupid fears of calling people. Miracles!

I hope all is well! I love you all so much. Keep studying from the scriptures and praying and striving to be like Christ. It's the only way to be the happiest. 

Sister Maynard. 

Weekly Planning.. We were a little comfy ;] 

Middle Part?? :/



Sister N. is amazing as well!!!! I love her. She's perfect.

ps. So we always have sleepovers with the Mayfield sisters Mon nights at the E. but their moving to sites this week so this Mon night was the last time!!! So we decided to REALLY have a sleep over and moved our mattresses into their room and might have had a little party :D It was so much fun. I love these Sisters here so much!
 

The Unreachable Star

So for some reason we have set our Sept vision as 7 baptisms and 10 baptismal dates by the end of Sept.. Hmm. We're lucky if we have ONE person with a date! But right now we have so many gators and some are actually pretty solid and we're trying our hardest to find a family (Which we'll do today..) We have one person set to be baptized on 22 Sept. Ahhhh I JUST WANT IT TO HAPPEN SO BAD! We're going to make Twinsburg History though here soon. So keep praying for us!!!! Our theme song for the week is called "The Unreachable Star" from Man of la Mancha sung by MoTab. It's so good and it's whats keeping us going. We have seen so many miracles though.

Kay so cool story. And please don't think I'm crazy because this is seriously what happened.. So I have been praying lately to know what to look for when we find our prepared family that we're searching for. D&C 111:2 has been my inspiration. So I really felt like we needed to find a certain family and I felt like they were in this one neighborhood. So I told Sister P and she started praying to know what we should look for. A song from The Secret Garden kept playing in her head so she came up with garden. So we planned a few hours to go tracting in this neighborhood to have a little treasure hunt. Oh my gosh it was so fun. We drove around til we found a house with a garden in the front and as we were walking up the neighbor said, "He's not home.. His truck isn't there." So we went over to S and talked to him for a bit. He was pretty solid in his beliefs but we told him we had been praying and felt like there was a certain family here. He looked at us like we were nuts but went along with it. He told us there was probably a few families in the neighborhood and then he remembered there was a lady across the way in a little courtyard apt thing. He said to go check there. So we went and she even had a few tomato plants out front! So we knocked and waited... nothing. GAHH. So we were walking down the sidewalk and saw at the far end of the thing there was an old man watering his GARDEN. So we went over and told him what a beautiful garden he had ;] haha he was so sweet and went inside and got this other guy that was living there. The other guy, J, was a little rude at first and was like, "What are you doing here...?" We told him and he didn't believe us or something. But we asked if we could share a message with him and he decided to hear us out. He told us about how much he loved Christ and how he needed to change his life around. We promised him our message would improve his life and taught him the first lesson. He asked if we could come back and we set up an appt for the next day. When we got there he said, "I've been thinking about you girls a lot.. In your religion are there a lot of do's and don't's?" We weren't really sure where he was going with this so he told us that he had some things he was doing that he knew were sins. So we taught him about the word of wisdom and committed him to quit whatever. He said he would try but that it would be very hard. So we've been keeping in touch with him about it and helping him quit. We invited them to be baptized but they didn't really give us a straight answer so we're just going to invite them again today :] And then he's going to do whatever it takes to be worthy to be baptized 30Sept. Pretty sure that's how it will go ;] It was just so cool to see how everything played out. If it weren't for the clue then we wouldn't have gone to the apts and if we weren't looking for a garden we wouldn't have met these guys. I still feel like there's a family that we need to find TODAY!!!!! We're running out of time and I don't know how much longer I'll be here!!

Monday we had what's called Zoned Out. 3 of the zones in the mission all met up at the Johnson Farm and we played lots of games and it was so much fun. We first played Jepordy and I won.. Not sure how but I did!!!!!!! :D Then we played this Preach My Gospel game where they gave us a few scriptures that we had to look up and then say what the subtitle is in Preach My Gospel. We won that too :D Then we had a tour of the Johnson Farm which is just so amazing. To see where Joseph was tarred and feathered and then was so loving and forgiving that he got up the next morning to go preach.. And to see where Joseph and Sidney Rigdon received D&C 76.. Ahhhhhh I love it so much! Then after that we played Mafia--Mormon version. So we had gadianton robbers and prophets and angels instead of whatever you have. It was awesome.. I died on the first round -_- Oh well. After that we had a huge relay thing against the other zones and we actually won but for some reason they gave it to a different zone. but we seriously won. And then after that we got a game of volleyball going!!! Oh man, it was awesome. There was another sister there who played volleyball so we were killing the other team. Man, I just love winning so much :D And then I met this elder who went to byui. Obvi we have a connection because everybody there does. So we were trying to figure it out and then he said he was from Santa Rosa, Ca.. I asked if he knew B D  and he said yes!! He said he was even at her wedding reception so we have totally seen each other before. It was so cool. His name is Elder K in case B ever reads this.. :] It was a really fun day though. This is just the best mission ever. Then that night we had a sleepover with Sister L :D We might have stayed up til after midnight talking :/ I'm still feeling it.

The girl I'm calling at sites, M, is meeting with missionaries TODAY!!!! I can't wait until I can call her Friday to see how it went :] Missionary work is the best. If anybody has anybody they'd like us to call please feel free to email/write me or call the VC to give us their info.

Big things are going to happen this month! I can't even wait..
Sister Maynard.

PS. That's awesome Paul's team is undefeated so far AGAIN this season!!!!!! Way to go, Paul :D

And PLEASE send me those Swedish Meatballs!!!!!!!!! I miss them so much. I speak Swedish a lot more then I thought I would out here. For some reason people know Swedish.. haha I just want to be fluent already and OH! Mads is having her baby this month. Please tell her I need updates PRONTO!!! :D

Helloooo

Leather apron in the Ashery.. It's a size or two too big..

Hey!

This has been an AWESOME week. Sister P. is so diligent and hard working and we're seeing so many miracles because of it! We met M. sometime last week and he came to church and I think he enjoyed it! We don't know how interested he is in finding out if it's true but he's definitely interested in learning about what we believe. It's frustrating for me though because I can see his potential and I want that so bad for him but I don't know how to help him get there.. I have so much to learn as a missionary.

Oh my!! Seriously this is not okay.. Last week we had Zone Conference and Sister Vellinga talked to us for a good 30 minutes about bedbugs and how it's become a huge problem in the mission and she had a slide show and everything with pictures and I'm so paranoid. I can't sleep.. And since then some other missionaries have found bedbugs so we had to check our apartments like crazy last night. Hahah we're so paranoid!!!!! They told us that bedbugs don't like alcohol so we've been rubbing hand sanitizer all over our beds. I don't know if that's really going to help but our mattresses are extremely clean now. 

Checking for bed bugs... Ewwwww!!!!!

So we've been working on doubling our diligence so we can reach our goal of 7 baptisms this transfer. I'm so bad at diligence but I'm trying so hard to actually work my hardest and not just do the minimum work. At sites we try to do 45 minutes in the call center and then 15 minutes for doing area stuff. So we brought our egg timer to sites so we could do everything exactly on time and it was so cool. I felt so good after that day. But then the next time we were at sites I could not focus for the life of me! This is so hard. But I know as long as I'm trying my absolute best that we'll be blessed and see success. Which we already have been. No baptisms yet but we've met so many potentials and have gotten so many new gators in the last few weeks. It's been amazing. We just need to figure out how to help these people accept the gospel.

For instance. Last transfer we met this girl named J. She's awesome. We gave her a Book of Mormon and got her number. We didn't contact her again until last week and we ended up having a lesson with her. She is so prepared. She just totally accepts the Book of Mormon is true but we had her pray about it anyways during the lesson and it was so cool. Just listening to her ask Heavenly Father if this was true and the feeling that was there was so powerful and it confirmed to me that it was true. We invited her to be baptized on Sept 22 and she said yes :] Yay! She's really busy with her music and stuff and we still have a lot to teach her but we're going to make it work.

Then last night after our dinner appt we had a little bit of time before our next appt so we decided to contact in this park. There was a group of teenagers sitting on these tables smoking and I was scared to go over there but Sister P. is fearless so we did anyways. The guys were punks and weren't very serious but there was a girl sitting kind of away from them and she started asking me things like "what makes your church different then other Christians?" So I explained that we were Christian and she was telling me that it doesn't make sense to her why people claim to be Christian but then aren't modest. I was a little shocked that out of everything she could bring up she brought up modesty. So we talked about it for a little. I talked to her about the restoration and the Book of Mormon and invited her to read it. She said she would and then her friend C came up and started talking to Sister P. They are both SO PREPARED!!!!! We're meeting with them on Saturday :D It's so exciting!!!!!

Sites has been really good too! We're getting lots of tours and I think I'm starting to get over my fear of calling nonmembers. It's a stupid fear to have as a missionary. I haven't called any others since M. but she's is giving me the confidence I need. I just love sites. I think that will be the hardest part of leaving. I'm dreading that already :[ I can't just leave the school of the prophets.. I won't do it. I've had wayyyyy too many amazing experiences in there to leave. Just giving you a heads up for when that time comes. I love my mission. I wouldn't have it any other way. So that's my life from here on out. But I love you all and you can come visit me in Ohio anytime you'd like, kay?? :D

Sister Maynard.