Hard Work, Dedication, & Jesus!!

This week was sweet!! Christmas as a missionary is different but still good!

I facetimed my family and it was really fun to see and hear them(:

I've met people here on my mission that it feels like I've known them forever! One of them is the Place family. She just had her baby and I drank some of her breast milk that she kept in the freezer.......hahaha I made it into chocolate milk(; I was not disappointed!! #SorryNotSorry

We met this SWEET inspiring lady the other day. Her name is Stephanie. She raised all 3 of her kids on welfare. One day while talking to a welfare worker, she was told she would never make it, and that she would be on welfare for the rest of her life. She left that office building with a burning desire and hope to prove her wrong. She went back to school and soon got her Associates Degree. Went back and told the same lady "Look. I got my associates degree." Soon she got her Bachelor's Degree and went back and showed the same lady. May 2013 she just got her Master's Degree and is now working on getting her Doctorate!!! Talk about dedication and perseverance...like holy cow right???

Jeez she's incredible. She's working on starting a program to help people who just got out of prison/jail to help them get back on their feet, go back to school and get back up! She said and I quote: "All you need in life is hard work, dedication and Jesus!!!!!" hahahah so true.

ahh i love all these people here in new jersey(: gotta love em!

So last night was super sad.....probably the most I've ever cried on my mission so far. Our investigator's Chuck and Ella's son died Saturday and we went and saw them last night. The scripture Mosiah 18:9 was all I could think about...."willing to mourn with those that mourn and comfort those that stand in need of comfort" We all listened to her cry and tell us what happened. I felt prompted to talk about Brenna and how it was really hard when she died, but my testimony of Jesus Christ and being a member of this church was strengthened from it. I just bore my testimony that I knew they would see their son again. He was born with down syndrome and another rare disease and only lived for 11 days after he was born. So everyone who reads this keep their family in your prayers!

I'm doing good don't worry about me! We're going to Philly today so that will be fun(: have a good week!

oh and anyone who reads this who knows AVEN JONES message her a nasty strongly worded message on facebook to tell her to send me an email because i haven't talked to her for 4 months....hahah so i really need to talk to her(:

thanks!!

love sister manson

fun times being a sister missionary(:

fun times being a sister missionary(:

sister stubbendorff!

she took me running on christmas(: haha she's the best

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

it's Christmas in 2 days!!!!!! I'm so happy:)

Sister Stubbendorf (a member in our ward) is taking me running in the park! while my companions just chill there (because they hate running.....) Literally that's all I want for Christmas is to just run off all my stress and crap I've been eating! Ahhh I'm going to be in heaven(:

We went over to a less active member's house this week
.....here's what went down:

I walk in..and she is sitting shirtless on her couch..luckily i didn't see anything because she was quickly putting her shirt on....After that we had our lesson, got to know her, talked to her about the importance of the Book of Mormon and how she could use it more in her life. After we leave I comment to my companions that it smelt awful in their like cigarets. My companion Sister Handy says "That was NOT cigaret smell....that was MARIJUANA!" Pretty sure we all walked out of their freaking HIGH!!!!!! I mean...I felt great.......hahaha but my companions felt really sick and then I started to feel really sick when we got back to our apartment for the night...hahaha good times being a missionary...

It's POURING so hard right now!!!!!!!!!!!! haha i love the rain I just want to go run around in it..ahh I'm in heaven :)

Before I get anymore crap about not giving a certain someone a shoutout, I will do so now...let's call her L. Olsen...no no...Laura O.hahaha she's the best(: and i love her and she takes good care of us! so thanks CHANCELLOR.

On Friday we had our Christmas Devotional!! And got to watch Ephraim's rescue!! It was so good I cried my little eyes out like the whole time hahaha...I could just feel the Spirit so strong telling me that all the stuff they went through and all the miracles actually happened. If you havent seen it, go watch it! It was so good!

We went over to Bradley's house and met his kids last night! They are so cute(: One of my favorite things to do with kids is have them guess how old I am.
hahaha they said I was 16!!! hahaha and my companion sister maughan...30!!
hahahaha yeah i about peed my skirt when they said that....good times being a missionary(: hey at least i look YOUNG! (:

Never before has Jesus Christ felt more REAL to me in my life than right now. I know for a surety that HE LIVES. I love being a missionary and spending my Christmas as a missionary! Our whole purpose as missionaries is to invite others to come unto Christ and I think Christmas is an excellent excuse/reason for me to help remind everyone :) hahaha because Christmas is ALL about Christ.

have a good Christmas! see and talk to you guys on WEDNESDAY!!!

ohh and CONGRATS TO my helen keller aka KALIE HARPER for her mission call to
ARGEN-freaking-TINA!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are going to do awesome kalie :) i love you!!!!!

love sister manson

Uuuuuuuuuuuuutah

Okay so this week was crazy!! In a good and bad way..

Said goodbye to favorite companion..Sister Menlove..and got another companion!! Still not a duo. Hahah still a trio. Her name is Sister Handy, from Uuuuuuuuuuutah.

I asked her what the most important thing she's learned on her mission so far and she said that she actually has self worth. I look back at her and she has tears in her eyes...Definitely made me want to help her and take her under my wing and help her see how important she is!!

4 out of my 5 companions so far have gone to Utah State...I'm taking that as a sign I need to go there....hahaha.

John 6:66-69
Some of Jesus Christ's disciples "went back and walked no more with him" Christ then turns to the 12 and asks "Will ye also go away?"
And this is why I love Peter because he replies:
"Lord to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God."
What a powerful example and testimony we have from Peter. I hope we never turn away from our Savior, but turn to Him.

Saaad news..we don't get our iPads until January now... :( haha lame..oh well.

Gooood news..I got a missionary Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/sisterchristy.manson

Feel free to follow me! I can't add any of my friends/family as friends..but everything I do is public so you can see it, so feel free to look at it and see how I'm doing (:

My district leader, Elder Hellyer shared 2 things with me that are really cool that he read in a book, that the Savior laughed and smiled alot! Isn't that cool? I've never thought about that before..

and the other thing is that whenever he would have a bad day and want to come home, he would think about Jesus Christ. What would have happened to all of us if the Savior just packed up and left because things got too hard? Pretty powerful!!!!

So Bradley (one of our investigators) came to church yesterday!! He's literally the best. He's so humble and I love helping him learn more about the gospel and about Jesus Christ and help him to feel the love and forgiveness from Him.

Etta (our recent convert) and her son Wayne want to adopt all of us because they are sick of the missionaries getting transferred all the time. haha and Wayne said he got a PERM one time that made him look like George Washington!! hahhaah i about died right then and there.

So have you ever thought about why we even have the Book of Mormon? what's it's purpose? Read Jacob 4 and Mormon 8!

Those 2 chapters are SOLID at answering that question.

I can't believe it's almost CHRISTMAS!! And then it'll be 2014! So crazy...

love sister manson (:

fun lunch with some of the people we teach! (:

my new companion! Sister Handy, Sister Maughan and meee

I love the Book of Mormon (:

Peter the Great

Sister Menlove is getting transferred :( I'm going to miss her!

Sister Maughan and I are staying here in Moorestown, NJ. So that means I'll be here for Christmas and the New Years! Now we'll be M&M :) haha...

We watched the John Tanner story this week with our recent convert Etta. I've never seen it before and it was amazing! Just learning about how much he did and gave up for this church just blows my mind! It really impressed me and it made me think about how much time and energy am I willing to give to the Lord?

Read these quotes and think about them.

"The Greatest of All, was a Servant to All"

and I decorated my planner with the phase "Service Above Self"

...

We got a referral a couple weeks ago for this man named Bradley. We contacted him and set up an appointment. He is literally the sweetest, most humble man I have ever met. He shared to us of how he felt like something was missing from his life and how he needs to turn his life around. He grew up in the church but stopped going when he was 7. He barely knows anything about The Book of Mormon, and Joseph Smith, not even the Bible really. So it's going to be really neat to teach him all about that and see him come closer to Christ. As he was talking, I kept feeling the Spirit so STRONG. Pretty sure that was the strongest I've ever felt the Spirit on my mission so far. It was so clear and obvious what I needed to do. I felt strongly prompted to invite him to be baptized.That was the first time I ever met him, and I could feel how much Jesus Christ loved him. So I asked him, and his response was pretty funny, he said...."I should!"

so we left him with the commitment to pray and ask for a date in which he would be ready. Ahh it was amazing.

I can't really put into words the feelings i felt and my companions felt....
all i can really say is that.....THE CHURCH IS TRUE.

I've been studying Peter a lot lately and I'm like so in love with him! haha not really, but I just think he's so cool! The type of man/apostle he was. How through Jesus Christ he became more than he ever thought. He was a lowly fisherman. But through following the example of Jesus Christ, he became the great Peter who healed, performed miracles, and taught people about Christ.

I think the book of Acts in the bible is my favorite book. It says that people would bring their sick to the streets just hoping that even Peter's SHADOW would touch them. They were consistently thrown into prison for preaching the gospel and about Jesus Christ, but the second they were released they continued and never ceased to preaching the gospel to everyone. They kept going!

I made it a goal to be DEEPLY COMMITTED to the gospel of Jesus Christ by March 6th 2014. We had stake conference this past week and one of the speakers who talked used this phrase and it really stuck out to me.

It snowed a crap ton yesterday! hahah and I hate it. Well it was exciting at first but now I just want it to go away haha.

have a good week!
love sister manson

our fav pizza place!! 

I love me some Justin Beiber
<3

I love me some Justin Beiber
<3

cute sister pat! she's the best <3

we decorated her little house for xmas :)

i love xmas!!

fun family holiday card hahaha we're freaks.

SNOW!!!

my fav companion (: sister menloveeeee

SNOW!!!

All-You-Can-Eat Buffet

This week started out SUPER rough..but it ended great(:

We went to this SKETCHY chinese place...#yolo and we tried all the gross looking food hahah in preparation for our thanksgiving feast..

Thanksgiving was so fun. We had a cute little get together at the church with some of the members and stuffed our faces and then went to the Sikahema's and ate even more food! I ate so much... #RegretOneHourLater.

But I have decided that I'm going to marry into the Sikahema family because they are so fun!! They would be the perfect in-laws hahaha. They only have one son left...so my chances are pretty slimmmmm hahahaha....

By the end of this week we find out who gets transferred! So I may or may not have a new address...I'll keep you all informed(:

I have been studying mercy a lot this week and what that means. I looked it up the old skool way in our 30 pound oxford dictionary...

Mercy:

"Compassion by one person to another who is in power and who has no claim to receive kindness"

That last part struck me hard..Heavenly Father loves everyone even the people we think don't deserve it..

We found 4 new investigators this week! One we found while in the bathroom....hahah

here's what went down:

We were trying to go to a library on Saturday but the one we usually go to was closed because they close early on Saturdays..so we went to a different one that was pretty out of our way but we decided to go anyways. we plugged the address into our GPS and it took us a really weird/long way through neighborhoods. So by the time we got the library we only had like a half an hour until it closed. So we get on the computer and I was looking up things on LDS.org and watched a really awesome Mormon Message called Daily Bread. It was so good, and then I read President Uchtdorfs new motto about "Service Above Self"

That's about all I was able to get done when the computer shut me off because the library was closing. So after that we went to go use the restrooms. I noticed this lady come into the bathroom right after us. So I purposefully started talking..loudly to my comps about what I had just learned/watched. I was talking and hoping that the lady could hear me, and she did! Because when she came out of the stall she smiled at me and started asking me questions about what I had just been talking about. hahaha #ItWorked

So I shared that stuff and talked to her about our Church and she wanted us to come over and talk to her more about it! We were like..OF COURSE. So we gave her a card with our names and phone# on it and set up an appointment to meet with her this Wednesday! We were so happy and excited. Strengthen my testimony that we need to bear testimony EVERYWHERE. Even in the bathroom haha. And it was cool too because everything was perfectly timed so we would be at the same place and at the same time. We probably wouldn't have found her if our GPS took us a faster way, or if the normal library we go to was opened, or if we decided to go the bathroom before using the computers instead of afterwards...

There are no coincidences! :)

Also learned its good to talk about the church and bear testimony in places where people have no choice but to listen to you. Hahaha...like the bathroom, or on an airplane, or on public transportation like buses/trains.

Back to the Daily Bread message I watched on lds.org

It was so good! Go and watch it! :)
...

Would you go 2 days without eating physical substances..aka food? haha of course not. Then why do we sometimes go weeks even months without eating any spiritual substances?

The Israelites live on manna for 40 years! God literally provided their daily substance. The manna would just appear on the ground and they would eat it and that's how they survived. They couldn't store it though, they had to keep gathering it everyday. He did it so they would not forget the source of their blessings and to always remember Him.

It's not a accident that we have to have daily physical substances. It's the same with spiritual substances! I've felt like my mission has been an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet of spiritual food! Imagine not eating any food for a super long time and then going to an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet and stuffing your face! hahaha yeah well that pretty much sums up my spiritual experience/feasting so far serving a mission.

Alma 32:28

"it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me"

Sums up my feelings perfectly.

We went over to a members house Sunday and ate dinner with her and her family. Literally the saddest thing ever... We sat and listened to her cry and vent about how awful her divorce has been, and a bunch of other stuff..like by the end I was crying and so were my companions..

I just care so much about the people here and it hurts me to see them like that. And it makes me sad that I can't really do anything to help them..All i can do it help them to rely on their Savior.

It felt like I got a tiny microscopic glimpse of what it must have felt like for the Savior, who felt not only her's but EVERYONE'S sadness and pains. And I haven't even known her for that long and was able to feel for her, but the Savior knows and loves her COMPLETELY, so I can't even imagine how that must have felt for Him when he did it not only for just her, but me and you and everyone..Think about the selfless he had...I know Jesus is the CHRIST. Our perfect, loving, merciful, kind Savior.

My testimony of Him and the Atonement increases each day, as I see and meet people here who need Him.

i hope everyone's thanksgiving was fun!

love sister manson

Ponder on this quote and tell me what you think it means, pretty deeeeeep:"

Irritation is an invitation to godliness"

My boys <3 

my companion tied me up....haha

and these are two cute future missionaries! (:

we had a super cute thanksgiving dinner at the church with some of the members of our ward!

Be Still

This week was the best week! I have so much to talk about...

First off we taught 34 lessons this week! out of our goal of 40. We were close haha.

We started last week counting Jeeps, we're up to 158. Gotta keep ourselves entertained in the car...haha.

My companions and I always eat random berries we find on bushes as we walk around different neighborhoods..we haven't died/got poisoned yet so that's good! (;

I'm freezing my butt off over here!! Yesterday it decided to jump down to the 20's! haha not cool New Jersey...not cool. I'm wearing so many layers. It's going against my Arizona nature/way of living. I'm sure it's like still 70 degrees in AZ! </3 #SendMeSomeWarmth

We're having Thanksgiving over at the Sikahema's house this week. I'm so stoked because they make so much good food!!

Last week we had Zone Conference ( a big meeting with a bunch of missionaries) Elder White was talking about being still. and we all took 10-15 seconds to be completely still/quiet. I don't think I've ever felt the spirit so strongly before. Ever since then I try to make it apart of my day to just be still for 10 seconds and try to feel the Spirit. As missionaries we pretty much have the Spirit with us constantly. But when you have something all the time, you tend to get used to it and not recognize it as much. So sometimes I don't really realize that I'm feeling the Spirit. So it's important to pause and to recognize and feel the Spirit.

"Think of the good that comes from broken things: soil is broken to plant wheat. Wheat is broken to make bread. Bread is broken to become the emblems of the sacrament. When on who is repentant partakes of the sacrament with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, he or she becomes whole"

Sweet quote^

It just SHOCKS me how underdeveloped I was in the gospel/everything that's important before my mission..I cared less about the BOM and didn't even realize how important the role Jesus Christ is in everything. Literally IDK how I went through the last 19 years of my life....but i know it now. I feel like such a different person..

Before my mission I couldn't understand the BOM but now, the BOM makes PERFECT sense to me. I love reading/studying it, and I can actually understand and pull things out from it that I've never been able to see before. I've been studying the Atonement a lot recently, and that topic just blows my mind because it's so deep on so many different levels.

It makes me so sad to see most of these people out here....it seems like everyone we meet with is going through something really hard in their lives right now...marriage problems, going through a divorce, a difficult pregnancy/miscarriages, financial problems, unhappiness, drug issues...etc. It hurts me so bad to hear about all of it, and I just want to take it all away from them and to help all these people out but I can't do anything for them. All I can do is help them feel the comforting feelings from the holy ghost and help them come unto Jesus Christ, because only He can help them.

Literally I'm so grateful to be here...can't even really describe it or put it into words..

Love,
Girl sibling+Grownup Boy+Brightest thing in the sky....(Sister Manson) hahaha ahh I crack myself up...

Next Sunday is DECEMBER??? whaaaat? yay. #2014 (;

have a good thanksgiving!! (:

ugh was hunger games good?? :(

me and sister menlove having fun in the car...haha

haha we wore all black Friday because one of the members
 in our ward was turning 50 and didn't want to
 celebrate his bday. so we mourned for him haha (; 

Surrounded by treeeeeees

All I've been thinking about this week has been all the people and missionaries in the Philippines!! So sad, so many people died..keep them all in your prayers!

This week seemed like it flew by..

This week we're going for 40 lessons! (Usually we teach like 20 a week, so that's doubling it!) We're going to be busy busy busy..but we can do it(:

I gave a talk yesterday on Elder Dube's General Conference talk called "Look Ahead and Believe"

I shared scriptures in Matt 4 and Luke 9. Both showing what people did when Christ asked them to follow Him. Some people told him to wait, others dropped everything they had to put him first. Which made me think about the things I've done in my life and the times where I have either gave up everything or decided to put something else first instead of Christ...but it's important to not beat yourself up about things like that and to not live in the past and to look ahead!

I was sitting on the stand before I gave my talk and just looking around at all the people. They all felt so familiar to me. Everyone here feels familiar and that I've known them forever, even though it's only been like 2 months. Especially all our investigators and less active members we meet with every week. It's crazy how much love that's developed for all the ward members, my companions, our investigators, random people we meet... I'm going to be so sad to leave this area! I finally feel like I know where everything is in my area. We cover like 11 towns and I was so lost my first 6 weeks, haha but I know how to get to places now.

I'm so weird..I make dumb missionary and scripture jokes all the time now, hahaha I think they're hilarious...

Go watch Hunger Games for me!!

And I miss seeing the mountains! We're surrounded by 80 ft tall trees! I can barely see farther than like half a mile in any direction..someone email me a picture of my AZ mountains! I miss them..so many trees here..

#AwkwardElderStory....

An Elder in our District complimented me on my boots I was wearing and told me how attractive they are...and then went on to say how in the missionary handbook that the sister's shoes need to be attractive and that mine were, and told me good job for following the white handbook! I just sat there and was like "....uh thank you?"

hahahaha oh Elders...they kill me. So awkward and weird! It's pretty sad and embarrassing.. #PoorElders

Good times being a sister missionary..

love sister manson

parrot hat haha

read Songs of Solomon 2:12 (;

TURTLE!

tree!

having too much fun with my companions... (;

Haagen Daz yummy icecream 

Ice cream...#2 weakness

my #1 weakness is PIZZA

#1 weakness..

we found this sweet pizza place! #PastaPizza <3

my favorite superhero! 

A Wise Man Builds His House Upon a Rock

I'm really beginning to understand why missionaries say they don't want to go home when their missions are ending! I've only been out like for 2 months but it's so fun and I love it! haha I really don't want to go back home to the world...I like not knowing what's going on in the world and just focusing on preaching the gospel and serving the Lord..

My companion Sister Menlove said something really inspiring to me the other day. She's going to write herself a letter to open up after she gets home from her mission! She's a genius and I'm so happy we're companions (: I decided to do that too! Except write one to open up every 6 months so I can keep reminding myself of the missionary I want to be and what I expect of myself:

6 month mark.

1 year mark.

Last day of my mission.

And a month after I get home.

I raked leaves for the first time in my LIFE last week....we don't have trees in Arizona....but it was fun, I like doing service and helping out everyone I can. Mosiah 2:17

I've been thinking a lot lately about what I'm doing right now in my life. I'm serving a mission...I'm a missionary! If I didn't make the choice to serve a mission, I wouldn't have met all these people that I love and care for so much! I've only been on my mission for 2 months...I can't even imagine getting to the end of my mission and seeing all the people I've met and loved. It's such an overwhelming feeling of happiness that I can't even contain!

We went to Philly yesterday. Ran up the Rocky steps....with a SKIRT on!! #GoSisterMissionaries

Saw the "love" statue and saw the Philadelphia Temple site!! It's being built (: It'll be finished around the middle/end of 2016.

We went and talked to the guy in the visitor trailer that's right next to the temple site and he shared something pretty powerful that I would like to share. He gave us each a piece of granite and then shared this story:

The Philadelphia temple's parking is all underground, so they had to dig 30 feet down to allow for that. About half way down they ran into solid layers of granite. So they had to chip the granite it out for the rest of their way down. So literally the new Philadelphia temple is being built on a rock!! He says the granite goes down for hundreds of more feet, and that the granite only is in the spot of where the soon to be Temple is being built. How amazing is that? He then related the little piece of granite he gave each of us to remind us to build our lives on the rock of Christ. Matthew 7:24-27

It's important to remember to be constantly checking who and what our foundation is because if it's not our rock, our Savior Jesus Christ, then we will fall.

We had a miracle happen to us Saturday!

Okay so we had an appointment at the library but it was in like 30 minutes and we were trying to figure out what we could do before then. We were stopping by some less-actives in that area and we had one more that we were going to do but it was out of the way so we weren't going to go. But we were like we're here we might as well go. So we did. We get to the house and a girl walks out and we're like "Oh hey!" haha we started talking and it turns out she was looking for Mormon missionaries so she told us how happy she was to see us! Her co-worker tells her all the time about Mormons and so she wanted to learn more! Haha well we can help you with that! So we went inside and taught her MOR (first lesson, the message of the restoration of the gospel) And she started to cry! We gave her a Book of Mormon to read and we asked her what her thoughts were, and she's like "Well the first thing I'm doing when you guys leave is going out and getting me this book" we all laughed!! haha and told her to keep the one we handed her. So first off we weren't even going to go over there but we decided to just go do it. Second off...she doesn't even live there!! She is house-sitting for the family we were going to stop by and was only going to be there for 2 more days!! Like seriously? We were totally meant to find her that day. We usually don't go in that part of our area because it's far away and we have limited miles on our car, but we went Saturday And we have a long list of names to go stop by and literally NO ONE answered the door or was home...we were in that area just for her. I know it.

Keep all the people and the missionaries who are serving in Philippines in your prayers!

love sister manson

moosey moose

my companion is ironing me!! hahaha

body of christ.

Merry Christmas!!!

what happened this week..haha

We had a lovely surprise when we arrived to transfer meeting last Tuesday..a new sister!!! haha so we're still a trio(: her name is Sister Maughan (pronounced like a Jamaican saying man..maun!) Now we're:
M&M&M
M cubed
Triple M threat.

3M's

We watched the broadcast "100 years of Scouting"

it was really good! I was so pumped afterwards..I want to be a boy scout now! hahaha it was inspiring and made me want to work harder. So the scouts have a Scout law, but I decided to make it applicable to missionaries.

A Missionary is:

Trustworthy-John 17:4

Helpful-John 5:8

Loyal-Luke 4:8

Friendly-John 15:14

Courteous-Matt 7:12

Kind-Mark-10:14,16

Obedient-John 6:38

Cheerful-John 16:33

Thrifty-Luke 18:22

Brave-Matt 26:29

Clean-D&C 38:42

Reverent-Matt 6:9

Our bishop wants up to earn the Thomas S. Monson Award, and with that we have to read some talks and complete stuff for genealogy and family life merit badges. In one of the talks, it lists the scout law and gave all the scriptures with them! I really liked that so I decided to make it apply to my life and what I'm doing right now. They're all good qualities to have and to work towards having!

I was reading 2 Nephi 2 and couldn't believe how plainly it explains the Plan of Salvation! I've read 1st and 2nd Nephi a billion times in my life and never knew it talked about the Plan of Salvation. Scriptures seem to mean a lot more to me now that I'm serving a mission. I understand them so much better and actually enjoy reading from them and studying them everyday! I see the importance of reading scriptures and how they can really bless our lives!

Okay...confession time...I got a C in my Book of Mormon class last semester......not the proudest moment of life..haha I got a better grade in CHEMISTRY than my BOM class...so yeah I'm stupid or anything I just never really understood/enjoyed the BOM that well until being a missionary and learning from it.

I've always wondered why Heavenly Father would have the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden and then tell Adam and Eve to not eat the fruit. It never made sense to me. But we were reading this chapter with one of our investigators and we got to verse 16:

"The Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself(agency) Wherefore man could not act for himself save it should that he was enticed
by one or the other"

The word enticed struck me really hard. If the tree of good and evil wasn't there, then Adam and Eve wouldn't have even been able to choose for themselves whether or not to partake of it. Duh..agency! Our ability to choose for ourselves. Agency is so important in Heavenly Father's plan for all of us. He wants us to be happy and return to live with Him again. But he's not going to force us. So we see that the tree needed to be there so Adam and Eve could use their agency. That may sound like a dumb realization to most people..but I never understood that, and now I do! But it just shows me how we can get our prayers/questions answered from and by reading out of the scriptures!

We had District Meeting Thursday and afterwards Sister Singleton's new companion Sister Wright (freshly out of the MTC) came up to me and said:

Sister Wright: "I don't want to be a creep but....do you have a blog?"

Me: "haha no that's no creepy, and yes i have one!"

Sister Wright: "I was reading it before I left on my mission!"

haha I thought that was so cool! she took the time to read it haha i have no idea how she found it because I don't even know her...but yeah go missionary blogs! lolz

On Halloween we had to be in by 6! So we just ate candy allllll night and planned for the week and listened to church music. haha #GoMissionLife

Most everyone thinks we're J-DUBZ!! (Jehovah's Witnesses) the j-dubz church building is actually like 2 houses away from our church building! After we tell the people we're not j-dubz they're always more friendly and open towards us haha.

Sooo Heavenly Father knows how much I've been missing my iPhone, he made it possible for me to get one! #MerryChristmasSisterManson

Our Mission President announced that in December the mission is getting each companionship an iPhone(: and every missionary an iPad!!!
Hallelu! Heavenly Father loves me!! That'll be so nice! During lessons we can just whip out our iPads and show a sweet Mormon Message!

Speaking of Christmas...we already started listening to Christmas music(:

So Sunday we got an extra hour of sleep because of the Daylight Savings Time thing. I was so excited to sleep for a whole extra hour(: haha it was so nice. But that day started off bad..we got a really mean text from an old lady about how disappointed she is in us, and that she never wants us to come over again...made me feel REAL good...then everyone we were scheduled to meet with fell threw! They were all not home and wouldn't answer our calls! That was frustrating. But the day got better towards the end so that was nice. It was fast Sunday yesterday. Literally all i ate yesterday after I broke my fast was:

a piece of cornbread

2 muffins

3 cookies

and some candy...

i felt so sick! I really wanted to make myself throw up...but that's a eating disorder sooooo I just sucked up the crappy feeling and just didn't eat anything else that day. So that was fun.. and it was freezing yesterday!! 40 degrees!!!! Layering time!

one of our members of our ward gave us each a dolphin! haha not sure what we'll do with these....but it was really sweet and nice of her(:  

a crazy decorated halloween house!

pumpkin! :)

haha standing on a pumpkin

pretty leaves

creepy scary baby....

Be like the Moon

Good ole P-days......I am already getting sick of them and it's only like my 7th one hahaha..

We just washed our car, and I wish all of you could see us! hahahah it's the most funniest thing ever. Okay picture this..

3 blondes washing a car..in skirts! We only have like 4 minutes to do it because that's how much we pay for, so we're like running around scrubbing it with soap then hurrying to rinse it off...it's pretty hilarious. And we don't pay to for air because we're cheap so we just drive really fast to dry it off. hahaha good times..maybe I'll take a video next time and send it haha...

So all this week my companions FORCED me to be in charge of the phone because I have a legit fear of talking on the phone and I always sound really dumb and awkward talking on the phone...so I was the only one allowed to answer the phone when someone called and to call people...I'm pretty good at talking on the phone now haha.

We had PIZZA at member's houses like 3 times this week. It's my weakness so I was in heavennnnnn.

Last week we got a phone call from a woman who felt the prompting to start going back to church!! It made me so happy! She actually came to church yesterday and we scheduled to meet her this Wednesday to get to know her better! It's really something special to see and help people start coming back to church and getting a more Christ centered life. I love it! One of my favorite reasons about being a missionary.

We listen to this song called Starry Night. The lyrics are:

"I'm giving my life to the only one who makes the moon reflect the sun. Every starry night that was His design"

Which got me thinking about the moon. How it shines because the sun does..

I want to be like the moon!! haha but reflecting a different sun...the SON. Jesus Christ! I want my life to be a reflection of Him and strive everyday to be more like Him.

#BeLikeTheMoon

I drove for the first time last week...hahaha let's just say it's been awhile since the last time I drove a car (like 2 months)

It felt like I was driving for the first time again! haha here's what went down that day:

Jerky stopping and going

Hard stops

I hit a curb..

I drove like 10 miles under the speed limit

Almost backed up into a car

I couldn't even get the car into drive!! haha my comp had to do that for me... my car I just had to pull it down from P to D. This one you have to go sideways and then down..haha too complicated for me.

It's a nice car though...you know just a BRAND NEW 2014 Toyota Corolla(;

The pluses of being a sister missionary...we're way more spoiled than the Elders. The Elders didn't even get mattresses until like a week and a half after they got here....#PoorElders....haha I'm just grateful I'm a sister!

We visit this super old lady and she's going blind. I put my face really close to hers so she can see me better and I tell her my name "I'm Sister Manson!" haha so I introduce myself to her, and she grabs my face! and starts stroking it and saying how pretty I am hahahaha it was so funny and awkward and a little sad because she's going blind and can't see! She's pretty funny though...she flipped us off like 3 times(jokingly) and said a bunch of bad words......
hahah go old people..

I officially completed my first transfer!! (a transfer is 6 weeks) 1 out of 13 (: haha

My trainer sister howard is getting transferred.. which stinks because I love our power trio! We go to the mission office tomorrow in Pennsylvania to find out where she's going. Haha she taught me so much, and I'm so grateful for her for being that leader and example for me to follow. "Fake it till you make it!" is something she'd always say hahaha

Yesterday one of our investigators who we've been working with came to church with his family! It was really out of the blue and he wants to stop smoking so he got a Priesthood blessing to help him. We were all so happy and I can't explain it but it's just a really special feeling seeing someone start that path towards Christ. I love having that privilege to help all these people and to share the gospel with them.

A really powerful quote I read in PMG:

"Honor Christ's name by your actions"

Hope Dad had a good birthday! (:

love and miss everybody

sister manson

cute lil tree

cute lil tree

one of our investigators! 

Birthday Brownies

I've been getting pretty frustrated with myself lately...I want to be a good missionary so bad, but I'm such a bad teacher! haha no like seriously....It's really hard. But I'm getting better at teaching and helping people understand more about our Savior Jesus Christ. It'll come with time! And really when it comes down to it..I'm not even the real teacher here..the SPIRIT is!! So that takes a lot of pressure off of me.

Like 2 weeks ago my companions and I decided to celebrate all of our birthdays because transfers were coming soon (a transfer is at the end of every 6 weeks, we get a phone call telling us who stays in the area and who is going somewhere else. this is my first area so I probably won't get transferred yet, but you never know!) So yeah we wanted to celebrate all our birthdays before one of us left. Mine was last Saturday! And the Elders in our District legit thought it was my birthday and so they made me brownies!!!! hahahaha I felt so bad, but I quickly pushed that feeling away and accepted the brownies......they were really good hahahahhaha. #DontJudge

Soooo...hahaha we were walking out of an old person home because we visited one of our members room because she was sick, and this cute little old man was sitting on a chair. He saw us and quickly jumped out of his chair and hobbled on over to us. He shook Sister Howard's hand, smiled and kissed it. Then he looks at me and sticks out his hand, so I shake it expecting him to kiss my hand.....hahaha NO. I thought wrong. He shakes my hand and starts LEANING IN towards my face!!!!! I'm like Ahhhh! What do I do?? I tried to change it into a hug, but he still ended up kissing me on my cheek. hahaha goood times in the old person home....

Ew...Delaney is 15! Stop getting older little sister it's killing me!

The other day we went into Walmart, and it was my first time in a Walmart since leaving on my mission. hahaha I had a freaking PANIC ATTACK. I'm not joking. I literally had a panic attack. #SoManyWorldlyThings!!!

My girl Miley Cyrus's new CD was out...new movies on DVD...crazy celeb gossip magazines...duck dynasty merchandise...ugh. So hard. I miss all of that stuff!! But it's okay...whatevz..I'm over it!

But seriously never going back into a Walmart again until I get home from my mission.....

haha oh jeez I'm so weird..

One of our investigators got baptized yesterday!!! She's so cute!

1st of all she's a 70 year old lady!

2nd of all she's deathly afraid of swimming/water

It took her at least a good 12 minutes of her trying to lean backwards, and trusting in the person baptizing her that she wouldn't fall. we kept encouraging her saying it'd be okay, and that she could do it. She was really scared...but she did it! We were all so proud and happy for her!

We spent a good 7 hours in the church building that day...hahaha good time.s.

We went over to a less active member's home to watch a movie about Joseph Smith. We're about 12 minutes into it when she all of a sudden pops up out of her chair and runs into the kitchen and says to us she wants hot chocolate, and asks if we want any. haha we're like sure! uhh should we pause the movie? I'm pretty confident she has A.D.D. because she does random stuff like that all the time haha she's awesome though. It's entertaining (;

A member in the church talked about ALL 3 things that should NEVER be spoken over the pulpit during sacrament meeting...

1. Women holding the Priesthood

2. Blacks and the Priesthood

3. Polygamy

hahaha I just sat there cringing and trying hard to not freak out in front of everyone...

Then a couple days ago another member of the church was telling our investigator how some people who weren't righteous enough will get to clean up dog poop in heaven.....I'm like are you joking??? hahahaha where did that even come from? IDK. beats me.

Oh how I miss my West Coast Utah/AZ/Idahoe Mormons...

our sweet cute old Etta got baptized yesterday! (:

a GIGANTIC baptism suit!

our sweet cute old Etta got baptized yesterday! (:

my BIRTHDAY BROWNIES!! hahahahaha

some sweet Indian corn!

haha a gross dead frog!

me and Sister Ricks. She's awesome. She knows matt and christy