Dear Rachel (Last Letter until I get Home)
Rachel,
I think I do remember what our house looks like. It sounds like y’all put some new rock on the front though, so it will be different than I remember!
I will try to keep our room clean. Did Mom ask you to tell me that? Haha
I am SO excited to see everyone on Thursday!! I can’t believe it’s happening already! If you’ve grown so much maybe you should wear a name tag so I can recognize you (;
LOVE YOU!!! See ya Thursday!
Sister Rindlisbacher
Airplane Letter from Mom
Dear Sister Rindlisbacher,
You have now completed your service as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “Well done thou good and faithful servant”. You have been the means of helping others to find the Savior. You have taught them the Plan of Happiness. This will bring joy and comfort to those who have heard and embraced this knowledge. You have been a representative of Jesus Christ, an ambassador for His church. You have been His hands by helping to lift up those in need, comfort the weary, and to strengthen the weak.
Your mission has been a time of discipline, sacrifice, hard work, and service. There have surely been joyous moments, but also times of tears or discouragement. From all your studying, teaching, service, and love to others, you have grown personally. You’ve learned much about yourself from living and serving with different companions. Your mission president has taught you much about organization, effective teaching and relying on the Spirit. Your life, as well as the lives of those you have taught and served, has been changed forever. You are more knowledgeable in the gospel, you have more empathy and compassion for others. Your testimony is strong and you are confident in yourself. What a wonderful transformation this mission has created in you and those you have served.
Now, comes the challenge. This spiritual “high” that you are on is a result of much effort on your part. Your daily prayers, scripture studies, seeking, teaching, and service have brought you to where you are. Moving forward, your daily routines, and goals will change. School, job, housing, media, relationships, money, etc. will consume much of your time and focus. The challenge you face is how to keep that testimony burning brightly in your heart. My husband’s mission president taught him about a “milking stool”. A milking stool has three legs. Do you know why? It is because with three legs the stool will not tip over even when it is set on uneven ground. It will always stand. Curtis’s mission president said that our lives are similar. If we keep our lives anchored on three things –prayer, gospel study, and service to others—we will stand strong throughout all the ups and downs of life. Study, prayer, service (and obedience) are the keys to keeping your life balanced and on the path to eternal life.
Nicole, I am so happy for you and your decision to serve a mission. I am sure that you have served valiantly. I hope that you will remember those three keys that will keep balance and joy in your life. Continue to rely on God. Serve in your callings cheerfully. Invite friends and acquaintances to learn about the gospel and to make and keep sacred covenants. Be an example of goodness and joy. Heavenly Father wants to bless you your whole life through. Continue to be worthy of those blessings.
I look forward to seeing you again soon. Love, Mom
Teaching Equals Understanding
Marriagetism!! I have always wanted to say that (: I guess they still have yet to be baptized, but Abe and Melinda are married as of Valentine’s Day!! They went to Georgia to have Melinda’s uncle perform the ceremony. Their baptism will be this Saturday at 3:30, immediately followed by a branch activity playing Cornhole, haha. Weather permitting, they will also attend the D. Todd. Christofferson conference this Tuesday evening for couples.
Yeah, the weather turned from beautiful last week to sooo ugly. I will see Elder Christofferson speak if I have to walk there! Our zone conference was this past Saturday. Elder Glazier and Elder Donaldson from the mission department visited the mission 2 weeks ago and introduced a new way to teach the Restoration with the pamphlet in 10-12 minutes. President Griffin demonstrated and it was powerful! Teaching simply is one of the ways we show how well we understand the gospel. I forget sometimes.
I am always out of time! This gospel is sooo true! We are so blessed, never forget that!!
Love, Sister Rindlisbacher
Why would I Need to Know how to Pack My Bags???
Happy Birthday Grandma Tuft!! Mr. Groundhog must have said winter was not over yet… it’s snowing in La Follette today.
What a week! Right as we finished e-mailing last week, President Griffin texted to schedule a departing interview. That happened Wednesday. We talked a lot about the habits I will want to keep after the mission; top 3 being– daily prayer with real intent, scripture study, and seeking and following promptings from the Spirit. If I do those the other habits fall into place. One, he reminded me, was going on a date. Gol. Haha. I am really going to miss the Griffins a lot. Yesterday, I also received some papers telling me how to pack my bags… still can’t figure out why they would send me something like that.
Melinda told us Kayley decided this week she wants to be baptized with her parents!! Kayley is awesome. She is a pretty spunky 12-yr-old, loves playing basketball, and mismatching her socks. She makes friends quickly. She is very bright and has done well remembering what we teach her family, so we were excited to her she has that desire and her dad gave his permission. Melinda came down with pneumonia on top of her asthma Saturday so she and Abe didn’t make it to church. We moved their date back to the 21st. That will give Abe time to come to church and quit tobacco. There is an LDS Stop Smoking Program that includes using cinnamon mouthwash and grapefruit juice we taught Friday. He said it did help but he broke down and bought some more dip Saturday night. We had a good conversation on the phone with them yesterday and his heart is still in the right place. I know church and continuing to read will give him the strength he needs! They have an appointment with President Smith this week to receive counseling so they can be married. Melinda told us since she has been reading the Book of Mormon she has felt more at peace, her nerves have calmed down. There is real power in the scriptures!
I went to Oak Ridge on my last exchange this week. Apparently, while I was gone, Sister Orton asked Judge to drive us to transfers because Sister Golewski and I will be leaving and Sister Hale will be there too. Exciting! Sister Collier and I are preparing the musical number. Originally we were going to sing when D. Todd Christofferson came, then we realized she will be in Johnson City and I will be in Farragut for the half mission conference. I think Sister Collier is pretty relieved we don’t have to sing for an apostle so it worked out (:
We helped Anna pack a little bit, and taught her the Plan of Salvation in full; Or should I say she taught us. She has seriously retained everything we have ever said. Her kids were fighting her Sunday so they didn’t come. In the lesson, Anna would say, “When I am baptized by the right authority” haha. She has permission to take discussions and come to church so we asked her to discuss baptism with her husband.
We met a lot of people with good potential this week: Danielle, Jeannie, Tim and Michael. Lincoln White has taken us to meet 3 of his friends now. And this guy in the library just asked us if we were with the LDS Church and we visited for like 45 minutes. Apparently, he dated a member in our branch for a couple of months, and was very impressed by the focus on families. He hadn’t read too much from the Book of Mormon yet and gladly accepted a copy. We have his number and are going to follow up in another week. Wow!
Did you know Sister Orton’s sister is getting married this Sunday? They have a cardboard cut out they have already been putting to good use to scare people.
D&C 59:23. Love y’all!!
Sister R
Progress All Around
Guess what?? Anna Moritz said we could come share a talk with her last Monday. We had a long conversation AND SHE TOLD US SHE KNOWS THE CHURCH IS TRUE. “My husband had talked me out of it before, had me in tears, but I was laying in bed and a peace came over me, I saw the Bible and Book of Mormon by the window and I just knew.” Apparently, she was impressed every time she had a concern we would come back with an answer and other churches had ignored her questions. “You always show me where it is in the Bible and the Book of Mormon too. The apostasy is in the Bible but no one else talks about it.” She said she thinks of the Mormon church whenever she’d take her kids to their church. She said she was just unsure of how to approach her husband. We had her on district prayer role this week. She called us today to tell us her husband is okay with us having Bible studies and she can come to church again!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are helping them move February 14th (they’re staying in Campbell County). My heart is so happy right now (:
We only got to see Abe and Melinda once this week, but they are still on track for the 14th. Thursday they were gone picking out a home. We taught Kayley, Melinda’s 12 year old daughter, the Restoration lesson she had missed the first time. Even she has been reading the Book of Mormon on her own. Sister Coleman said Abe had suggested they be married THE VERY NEXT DAY, but Melinda asked they have some marriage counseling first. This is so exciting for them! Thank you for your prayers! Melinda and Kayley were at church yesterday, Abe was sick. He’ll have to come for sure the next two weeks to be ready for baptism on their date.
Both of Judge’s kids were in town and all four grandkids too. We shared a scripture and Judge asked that we sing a hymn too– And another when the first was done. All of his kids commented on how much they have appreciated the missionaries being their through their loss and that we continue to check up on him weekly. Sister Anipen who came with us is convinced Judge will visit church one day. I think he will too. Now I need to follow inspiration to do what I can about that!
Sister Orton had some sort of bug the last two days. Saturday she was dizzy and nauseous. Yesterday wasn’t much better. We came home from church early, I made some soup and she lay down. We were lucky to find a member’s home for Sister Orton to nap at while Sister Flowers took me to two appointments. One was with Adam. He’s the cashier at the gas station we used this week. He was very friendly, and open to learning. He is originally from Pennsylvania, and a very free thinker. He says he’s not Christian, but believes in God. Our follow up appointment was last night. His roommate and roommate’s parents all sat in. They all listened intently, and I’d say the roommate’s dad the most. He met Catholic missionaries as a kid and is active in that faith. He had good questions about the trinity and did make some interesting comments at the end of our lesson though. “My best friend is Mormon. Ya know Mormons seem to have good marriages, they have family nights weekly, they don’t use tobacco or alcohol or anything bad for your body, and you don’t see as much crime in Utah.” Ha ha. “When will y’all be here next, I’d like to bring my daughter.”
Sister Orton’s feeling much better today. We had Zone Training meeting this week, about vision, goals, and plans. President Griffin also announced D. Todd Christofferson will be visiting Feb 17th and 18th!!! ‘So excited!
Love y’all– The Church is true!
Sister Rindlisbacher
Mormon Cigarettes
Short letter this week– We started emailing this afternoon (we helped in the food pantry this morning) and 30 minutes into our e-mail time we were informed all the libraries in the county would be closing for a board meeting. Ahhhhhhh. But we got special permission from President Griffin to e-mail in a member’s home for today.
We feel like we are on cloud nine every time we have a discussion with Abe and Melinda. They had to cancel Thursday because Abe’s daughter was visiting for the weekend and his ex wife requested the missionaries not be around while she was, but we had committed them to live the Word of Wisdom this week. The only concern they have is Abe uses chewing tobacco (I think it’s the same as dip right?), but he committed to use only one can this entire week. I’ve heard of missionaries making “Mormon cigarettes”, scripture rolled up to look like them and put in a box covered with Jesus pictures to use in place of smoking. So we made Abe a can of Mormon Chew, filled with scriptures folded up, ha ha. We’ll bring it to them tonight. We called yesterday to follow up with commitments we’ve left with them and Abe expressed to us how he’s met missionaries in the past, but this time it feels right. Yay!
It’s been hard setting return appointments with a lot of people lately, especially Aaron and Sasha. Aaron did return a call– just said he’s been busy. Junebug’s been busy too. We saw him one time at McDonald’s though. We started sharing just one verse and it turned into a kind of scripture study. We showed him The Restoration pamphlet with Peter James and John and it seemed like things are starting to click. He shared Jeremiah 23 with us and said he doesn’t believe anything a preacher says, even in his own church, unless he’s read it, “in here” he said pointing to the Bible, “or here” he pointed to the Book of Mormon. Ahhhhhhhhh! I think he’s gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon!
Well I think my goal for the balance of my mission is to approach finding with all the enthusiasm I can muster. I do love it. It’s just kind of like running, it’s hard to start. But then it feels so good! This work is true! I feel everyday the love Heavenly Father has for each of us in incredible ways. Never lose sight of that!
Sister Rindlisbacher
Last Transfer Messing with my Mind
‘Ello friends!
We had a lot of people tell us they were coming to church yesterday and didn’t, most of them called us, sick …Sister Flowers was there though (: Sister Flowers has been coming on team ups with us pretty much weekly now. I LOVE being around her. She’s starting to come to church more frequently (:
Other highlights of the week…
-President Griffin came to district meeting in Whitley City. Elder Bradshaw had asked me to give a training on study ideas (kind of a hard topic). I was a little nervous–less than I thought I would be at least. It just feels uplifting to be around President Griffin. He is quick to point out strengths and encourage us to be better. It was really good for Sister Orton to be around him. Also, he showed us pictures of when he had hair…I mean, when he was a missionary.
-We had our first snow of the year! It was coming down pretty well Wednesday, but didn’t stick for very long at all. It was cold though! 14 degrees during the day.
-Aaron works night shifts 6 days/week but actually made time to read on his own this week. He is understanding what we teach slowly. We talked about the Plan of Salvation and asked him if he ever considered where we are going (meaning after this life). His reply, “I was actually thinking about that at work and I’m feeling like I’ll probably stay with y’all [at the church].” He hasn’t prayed to know specifically yet about the Restoration so that was the commitment we left with him last time.
-President Smith came with us to teach June Bug and Una. He helped teach the principle of agency. One of his strengths is using parables like those in the New Testament to teach in a manner that can’t be misunderstood. He shared his parents’ conversion story. June Bug is coming along a little at a time. He is willing to read, and said he’d come to church as soon as he can find a sub for his Sunday School class. He really like President Smith too.
-Brother and Sister Coleman, an elderly couple, planned to pay for our dinner one night. When we called, they said they actually had a roast in the oven, why don’t we just come on over. We met their grand kids who live there with them, Abraham and Melinda. I was pretty sure they were not members. We enjoyed friendly conversation over our meal, then I asked Sister Coleman if we could share a spiritual message. “Well, that would be great. These two would like to learn about the church.” :O Best response ever. Abraham IV really looks up to his grandfather who has been telling them some about the church. They will have to be married and Abe will need to quit dipping tobacco, so pray for them! They are willing and excited, and they picked the weekend of the 14th in February to work towards.
-Judge took us out to lunch after helping at the food pantry. After a little, he started asking questions: “Is your purpose to convert people to Mormonism?” (yes [to Christ that is], but not for bigger Mormon churches, for happier God’s children); “Do you have quotas?” “Do y’all believe in confession? Purgatory?” He’s curious… he’s just the one who has to bring it up, I guess.
-We had Branch Conference yesterday, the stake presidency came and spoke. Pres Cruze spoke. He feels very inspired to submit for La Follette to become a ward by June of this year. Not for the label of a ward, but because the members here deserve the blessings of a ward. I don’t know about others, but I left there pumped.
‘Kay, not going to lie, after transfer calls this weekend, I had dreams about coming home… This whole “one more transfer” business is messing with my brain. Don’t worry though, in my dream someone advised me to enjoy the time on my mission while I can because there’s nothing like it. ‘Aint that the truth, there is nothing like being here. Aaron and Sasha and Abe and Melinda are totally prepared and will make it as long as they stay on track! Pray for them!
Love y’all!!
Sister Rindlisbacher
Comfortable Doctrines
Gooood week.
Sister Parkinson came to La Follette Friday and Saturday for exchanges… She has just one more full week in the mission field.. INSANE. I remember exactly one year ago, January 1st we became companions, but it feels like yesterday. I’ve noticed it always picks up where I’ve left off with companions and converts, probably because of how closely we’ve worked together. I still learn loads from her. We taught Alex (LMU student) the Plan of Salvation. She understands much better the role of agency, and is reading consistently. We asked her if she’s been praying “I am nervous about disappointing y’all if I come to a different conclusion.” We obviously explained sincerity is what we appreciate most. The hope is that she will seek not comfortable doctrines that ‘fit’ her, but truth for which we are willing to change if necessary. Tracting was also fun. We were invited into the first home. We taught boldly, they were very kind and uninterested. I think Donna was just afraid for our safety. We left with two loaves of homemade sourdough though, ha ha.
Brother Muggridge takes us every Saturday to lunch. We frequent Kyotos, a japanese place and have the same bubbly waitress all the time. Sasha gave us her address and said she’d be happy to meet with us. We missed each other last week. Instead, we met her brother Aaron (he had to pull our car out of the mud after our lesson, oops (:). At one point a church told Aaron he was no longer welcome which made him uncomfortable for a long time. “I want a place where to go where people won’t stare at me.” Well he came with us Sunday, and SO enjoyed himself. Probably, half the branch introduced themselves. He told us it was different, but he liked it. We finally met up with Sasha yesterday and she and Aaron accepted a commitment for February 14th! They were so excited and started discussing who all they were going to invite to church with them next week.
Angela hadn’t been responding to our texts or calls, and both of us felt something was up. Apparently, her husband and mother both reminded her she grew up Baptist so why should she change. “I liked answering some of the questions I had, but I am going to stick with Baptist.” “It’s just easier.” Well ain’t that the truth. Funny, there are trucks that ship out Lays across from her. We were walking away one day this week and a driver called out, “Are y’all Jehovah’s Witnesses? I think you need to talk to my friend Ed down there.” Well we couldn’t see Ed so we talked to him instead. “Ed, Ed!” Haha. He was happy to preach to us but didn’t want to have too much of a discussion. Made us laugh though.
Well, I am kind of glad the holidays are over. Sister Orton had the 24 hour flu Tuesday and everything together was hard for her, she was feeling homesick. She is feeling much better now, and yesterday was fun with Aaron and Sasha.
Happy New Year!! Talk to y’all next week!
Sister Rindlisbacher
June Bug and Una
This season is so special, I feel people are more open to feel and share the spirit of Christ, peace and good will to all men. I love the Christmas idea of what we can give to Christ this year…I will do the same…I’ll need to write it down somewhere I can remember it often!
June Bug reads more than his wife Una who stays busy taking care of kids and grand kids. He even reads his pocket new testament every time he goes deer hunting haha. We felt like we needed to review the apostasy and restoration with them this week… most people confuse prophet and pastor because everyone can receive revelation, so we have to be very direct with them. By the end June Bug started to get it and said he was going to pray real hard this week to know if God has called a prophet again. I think June Bug has the real intent that he will receive an answer, it might take him a little longer than others to understand completely our message.
Christmas was amazing!! So good to see everyone again. I have enjoyed Skyping more and more every time. We had pizza with the Elams before we left. A family in the branch gave us two loads of food and copies of the bible videos to hand out. We had promised June Bug and Una we would stop by which worked out well because they knew a family who could use the food. I think June Bug kinda wanted to keep the videos for himself so we found him a copy to bring to him Tuesday. The Williams fed us a beautiful dinner and I bet 30 people were there. They also surprised us with a gift basket from the branch full of cookies and soaps and scarves. We too are so blessed.
Bro Muggridge helped us finish going through the branch roster so we know at least one thing about every family. He works so hard and cares so much about these people. (Did you know he’s a nuclear engineer??)
Out of time, I’m glad it’s almost a new month so we have more miles to see people again. We were kind of behind.
Happy New Year!
P.S. didn’t know about this until this week… Check it out!
Merry Christmas!
Exciting experiences this week.Tuesday was our Christmas Zone Conference. President Griffin is always so inspiring. He spoke on how even when things don’t pan out like we plan, our efforts to plan and work each day make a difference in ways we are not ware of as well. He confirmed a lady this week the missionaries have been working with for 6 years. We got TKM sweatshirts as Christmas from the Griffins, each district performed a skit, ate lunch, dodgeball, and I watched a movie for the first time in 16 months, “Frozen”. It was really good! (Olaf is my favorite).
We caroled to Judge Tuesday and visited for a little on his porch (we didn’t have another lady with us so we couldn’t go inside. “My neighbors are going to think I’m crazy sitting outside in this cold.” He is a goof. He raised his voice as we were leaving, “I’m not crazy, neighbors. Just putting up decorations.” Haha. He finished the book about Abraham Lincoln and Joseph Smith and gave it back to us so we could return it to the Elams.
We decided to knock some doors in his neighborhood. The first lady we met was Angela. She really seemed to enjoy talking and we set a time to come back Thursday, when we taught her the Restoration. She agreed to be baptized and prayed out loud for the first time for years. She was unsure at first, but we showed her how and took turns. I feel soooo good about her, she has the real intent. We read with her and her 8 year old daughter, Zoe, Saturday. As we discussed 3 Nephi 11 her question was, “So how do you know if you’re ready for baptism? Are there certain things you need to do,”? I could have died. She committed to be baptized January 17. She brought her mom and Zoe to church yesterday too! We really need members involved now so she has support when questions or concerns start to come up.
Brother Muggridge started going through the branch roster with us to help because he knows a lot of the people. There is SO much less active work… we’re looking for ways to help the branch get excited about home and visiting teaching. Suggestions?
The Williams are feeding us Christmas dinner and they are seriously like gourmet chefs. I’ll probably skype at the Elams (they’re feeding us too) so we are well taken care of. I don’t have time to type this quote, but there is one about charity by Thomas S. Monson I feel encompasses the spirit of Christmas. I hope we all can ponder ways to partake of that spirit and share it this upcoming year. That’s is what Christmas is to me. Merry Christmas!!
Sister Rindlisbacher
Southern Sister 