Pizza- a verb.

I'll discuss later why I named this blog entry after pizza (:
K.
I slacked on writing in my journal this past week.....
Whoopps.
So many good things have happened.
I think I can honestly say this is my favorite transfer! I love the
ward here so much. I love my companion, and I love how hard we're
working and all the blessings and miracles we're seeing together.
Last Monday we went to New Hope, PA. The cutest town with a bunch of
cute little shops...I was on heaven. Went to the best ice cream place
I've ever been to..called: NINA'S. <3 I need to go backkkkkk.
Spent a whole day with sister menlove(: ohhhhhhhh happy day!
It was so nice to see her again. Little does she know...she helped me
so much in the beginning of my mission because I was struggling really
hard! But man I'm so happy to be here on my mission. Things are going
gooood. And even on the rough days I am still happy knowing I'm doing
the Lord's work.

Me and sister menlove woke up at 6am to go running. It was heavenly.
and me and sister wright have been waking up at 6am everyday since to
go running(: we figured we're already tired so waking up an extra half
hour won't kill us. Hahah #sacrifice. And actually..I feel like I have
a lot more energy throughout the day...and then crash at night time
but that's okay(: #whatevz #yolo

Sister menlove had previous served here in morrisville, so that was
extremely helpful having her here, because I still don't know a lot of
things about the area, so she was able to help me a ton.

We met a member who was baptized in a lake! #whatthe? Jealousss.

We have a Book of Mormon class every Sunday night for all the recent
converts and it's like my favorite thing ever. We all get to get her
and read a couple chapters from the Book of Mormon. It's so powerful
and the spirit is always so strong. It's really neat to see in the
moment someone's testimony get stronger and being able to see and help
them feel the Holy Ghost. Last night we were reading 2 Nephi 1&2 best
chapters ever. Talking about the plan of salvation! 2nephi 2:8 stood
out to me so hard. "How great the importance to make these things
known unto the inhabitants of the earth..." YEAH. since being on my
mission I've always had the feeling of needing and wanting to share
the gospel. But ever since coming to this area...I feel almost a sense
of urgency and anxiousness to share the gospel to literally everyone I
see! Idk if it's the area I'm in...or if missionary work finally
clicked in my brain haha but I've never felt this type of
desperateness to do it before! (#desperatedesperateimreallydesperate(;
#formandiandhaley)

I sometimes forget that we're going to be late to our next appointment
because I start talking to the people I see!
Me and sister wright have seen a lot of success by working with former
investigators.
We met with a former investigator for the first time Friday, and she
now has a baptism date for October! It was really a cool situation. We
walk into her home and we see her and instantaneously I just felt this
automatic love for her. Missions are the best. I just love and care
about so many people I've met so far.

Me and sister wright have been asking people we see 2 questions.
1) If you could ask for help with anything, what would it be?
And 2) If you could ask God for help with anything, what would it be?
It's pretty neat hearing peoples responses to that question. And it
makes it easier to bring up the gospel to them(:

Here's the sweetest tender mercy ever: we get a phone call from the
bishops wife telling us about someone she knows who called her and
shared that she's met with missionaries before, and didn't join the
church then..but now she is ready and wants to join the church!! Like
uhh what???! I feel like this particular missionary who wrote to his
mission president saying:
"President we put in the contacting hours. We didn't get the contacts
from tracting, but they came to us from completely unexpected sources.
It's almost as though they fell from the trees or sky. Surely they
came from The Lord. Look to The Lord for your blessings. He alone is
the giver or every good and perfect gift"
Hurrrrrah for Israel. We have an appointment with her Tuesday :)

I saw this really pretty yellow car in the parking lot. I told the
owner that I liked it and she's like oh thanks. I asked what the name
of the color and she said
"Good question..I would say the color of bird s**t"
Hahahahah I about died. Wasn't expecting that
And uhhh yo I thought bird poop was white and black??

Lemme explain my title now...
Pizza makes me happy.
{Probably as happy as I am when I'm climbing things or running...and
sharing the gospel}
I could seriously eat pizza everyday..all day. IM NOT JOKING.
So you can imagine just exactly HOW happy pizza makes me right? -If
I'm willing and have a desire to eat it all the time. I thought it
would be a good title because it describes perfectly me these past
couple weeks.
Here's a new dictionary definition for ya:

Pizza: verb. (Pēstā) //used to describe ones happiness. Used as a
synonym for joy or pure delight. Example: "sister manson is feeling so
much pizza these past couple weeks" or "sister manson can't contain
her pizza!"

I'm sister manson. I love pizza. I love being a sister missionary. I
know this church is true.
And I say that in the name of Jesus Christ amen!

Btw...we have raccoons in the church building haha like no
joke..seriously in the walls!
I'm waiting for the day they fall from the ceiling during sacrament meeting.
We have raccoons in our apartment walls too haha we hear them scurry
occasionally throughout the day/nights. Gooooood times...lol.

Love,

{sister.manson}

My heart is BRIM with joy

So many good things are happening here in little morrisville!

First of all...I love it here so much! Me and sister wright are killing it together.

Second of all...we are finding and talking to so many neat and unique individuals. It's amazing.

I've only been here for 13 days and I've seen so many miracles! It's insane...

This is probably by far my favorite transfer.

On Wednesday we had planned to stop by our investigators for like a quick 10 minutes, just to say hi and see how they're doing. Ended up spending an hour there! Showed 2 short Mormon messages about the Spirit with them and they loved it! Talked about its role and then somehow the convo got turned into talking about what happens after we die.the spirit was there...so strong! One of them started to cry..because his dad had passed away. They found a lot of comfort in what we had to say and our testimonies about the plan of salvation.

One of our investigators is in Germany for the summer, so we've been communicating with her via email and skype! The missionaries there are in contact with her so that's pretty cool too.

Thursday was a h.o.r.r.i.b.l.e day.

District meeting...then planned for like 5 hours and then had an appointment with another of our investigators and the spirit was so not there. And instantly knew while we were talking that she wasn't really listening and didn't care. We both got really tongue-tied and that experience helped me realize that I cannot teach without the spirit!! But our night ended good because sister menlove randomly called us (she's our sister training leader--we're assigned 2 sisters who are over us and check up on us) and hearing her voice made me so happy because I love her so much! Me and her get to be companions again for a whole day on Wednesday this week :) SO HAPPY. She's one of my fav people(:

**guarantee so many good things will come from that**

That next morning I read the most amazing-est talk I've ever read.

"The Quest for Joy" by Barbara Workman

I would like to ask all y'all to read this!!!!!!! Here's the linkkk :)

http://www.lds.org/ensign/2005/07/the-quest-for-joy?lang=eng

It's amazing and helped me so much especially since having a lame day the day before. Probs gonna read that at least once every week or 2 to remind myself to choose joy.

Here's one of the many quotes I loved:

"These four terms often describe a mission: sufferings, sorrows, afflictions, and incomprehensible joy."

Hahahaha....oh man. So TRUE. Serving a mission is so hard. Like honestly probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my little 20 years of life. But it's been the most rewarding experiences of my life. I can't really describe how full my heart is when somebody accepts the message we're teaching and knows it's true..

in other words alma 26:11 "...my joy is full, yea, my heart is BRIM with joy" :)

We extended 3 baptism invites and they all excepted! September 21!!

The work is so ready and just waiting for us! #readytoharvest

Saturday....met the sweetest man ever. His name is zach. He's had a rough history the past couple months..and as I was looking at him I found myself starting to tear up! Haha I'm so weird..I know. But just as I was looking at him he looked a lot like my brother Frank (just an older scruffier version of him) and oh it just broke my heart! To basically see my brother like that, which reminded me that zach is my brother--spiritually speaking--ALL these people are. It hit me really hard talking to him. And totally changes my perspective and helps remind me that I would do e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. In my power to help if one of my family members were struggling like that and didn't know about the gospel!

Had a lesson with a less active member who is recovering from breast cancer. Her sister(not a member) was there and had SO MANY questions. Literally everything she was saying was exactly what we believed. And all of her questions we could answer :)

Infant baptism?-----> #Moroni8

Why so many churches?----->#JosephSmith #TheGreatApostacy

What happens after we die?--->#PlanOfSalvation

Why do I feel good right now?--->#TheHolyGhost!!!

What is the Book of Mormon?----->#AnotherTestamentOfJesusChrist

We invited her to be baptized(: and she's coming to church next week!

Afterwards me and sister wright RUN to the car, jumping around for JOY. hahaha so much happiness.

"Men are that they might have joy(2nephi2:25)...missionaries are that they might SHARE joy"

(Also taken from the quest for joy talk)

Sunday was a pretty rough day...but that's okay! We were driving around and accidentally missed a turn and ended up right by the Delaware River. And it was so pretty because you could see the city Trenton, New Jersey from where we were. I was like uhhh sister wright I'm pulling over! So I pulled over and we hopped out of the car and walked by the river and sat down on a bench for a good 15 minutes. Being outside in nature automatically makes me feel better! As we sat down on the bench a man walked past us and we said hello and asked where he lives and he said Trenton and kept walking. About 5 mins later he walked back and said "I'm still here" hahahah we leagues and he asked what we were doing...

uhhh we're having a crappy day so we are here :) haha

He had so many questions! About the church and Joseph smith and what he needed to do to join the church. He's from Ethiopia and a super humble man. We got his info and are going to let the missionaries in Trenton know and help them meet with him (since he actually lives outside our mission boundary) basicallyyyyyyyy he's going to be baptized. We gave him a Book of Mormon and taught him the restoration by the river. Greatest lesson ever. And he went on his merry little way. LITERALLY FELT LIKE CRYING AT THAT MOMENT.

#tendermercy

It's so h.u.m.b.l.i.n.g to know that Heavenly Father worked through us to find him. And to top it off I was pretty content and happy just being outside looking at the river and started to feel better..then Heavenly Father provided that experience to happen!! Totally helped me to know and feel that Heavenly Father was proud of me and knows me so well. Testimony builder..I am so grateful to be here serving the people here!

Put those bad days behind ya and seek and choose joy :)

Have a good week

I love you!

Sister Manson

Fishy

Happiest

I'M THE HAPPIEST LITTLE SISTER MISSIONARY on the planet.
My new area is in Morrisville, PA!
My new companion is sister wright
(She reminds me so much of sister steadman! Who's pretty much my other half so we're going to be killing it this transfer!!!)
Yeah. I'm very happy :)

We woke up Wednesday morning and we had no power! Haha greattt. Made some calls and the people said it wouldn't be back on for 2 days! But they must have lied to us because it came on a couple hours later haha #thankyouheavenlyfather

Sister Wrights gps decided to not turn on while we were super far away from home...we tried everything to turn it back on for like 5 minutes. We prayed and then like a minute later it turned back on! #powerofprayer

Okay so I'm in love with Liberians. There are so many here and they all take the gospel so seriously!!! They all melt my little heart.

K this is my new address

171 s. main st. #2

Yardley, PA 19067

I plan on spending a long time in this area haha

Me and sister wright have been working so hard together, and so many good things have already been happening!

We found 8 new investigators this week. We literally have been talking to every single person we see. It's hard and sometimes awkward, but it gets easier the more we do it haha. I made it a goal at the beginning of my mission to do things that make me uncomfortable. Like talking on the phone and to people I don't know...haha and I struggled with it! But I've been able to not only do them but to do them well the more I do it and with heavenly fathers help too. Makes me think of that scripture in ether where it talks about how Heavenly Father will make our weaknesses our strengths.

Had a cool experience this week.

Visited a less active family who just moved here so it was our first time meeting with them. We stopped by and got to know them alittle bit. Things were going good but we could tell something was up...and alittle bit off by the way they'd answered our questions.

I felt prompted to show the because of him video, so I was pulling it up and started talking about it. Immediately one of them says: "go ahead, but it just want to you let you know you are wasting your time with us. You really are"

On the inside I was like ahhh!! Crap.

But on the outside I remained calm haha.

They further went on to share some past experiences they've had with the church and are no longer wanting any part of it anymore.

At that point I was so discouraged and didn't know what to do or say.

I said a quick and quiet prayer in my heart asking for help of what we could do that would help them. We listened alittle bit more and then we showed the video. And I can't even begin to describe to you guys just HOW STRONG the spirit was in that room. I know everyone who was there felt it. At the end we bore our testimony and I said "I know this church is true. And that I can feel the spirit right now, the spirit is here."

So I pointed out that the spirit was here and I know they both felt it, but instantly she jumps up and asks us of we want pie. We accepted haha because we love pie but she totally felt uncomfortable by the spirit! Which made us sad :/ but we're so determined to help them :) I love the gospel. And I love helping other people come closer to Christ through his restored and true church. This is why I'm on my mission.

The gospel makes bad men good, and good men better!!

I love you, have a goodweek!

Love sistermanson

good times :) so happy to be here!!!!

good times :) so happy to be here!!!!

good times :) so happy to be here!!!!

Good Mourning

clever title eh?

like "good morning" because it's a new start and mourning because I'm sadddd..

my time is up in pottstown. :( </3

I'm leaving!!!!!!!! I've been here for 6 months... a third of my mission!!

oh how time flies.. :( :(

I will let you guys all know where I am at next week.

haha i went up during sacrament and bore my testimony. I started off

"hi I'm sister Manson........and I'm wearing black today because I'm in mourning"

hahahah i thought it was funny.

This week was really good. Monday we went to philly with kelly and sis gasser. That was fun. The philly temple is going up fast! I am definitely coming back when it's open in another year or so.

Went on exchanges with sister bailey. she taught me how to parallel park. It took me a good 7 minutes......but I DID IT. haha

We had a really powerful meeting Thursday. All focused on the Spirit and how we can better recognize it and how our investigators can better recognize it. Then at the end, they showed us a slideshow of all of us. A picture of us BEFORE our missions and a picture of us during our missions. At the end he said

"The people who we WERE is not enough for what we are doing now"

and that's why I've been striving so hard to try to become and to change.

I love thinking about my pre-mish life. i talked alittle about this in my testimony too, of how church was just something I did and went to growing up. But since coming out here on my mission, I have really changed and it's becoming a part of WHO I am. not just something I do on sundays.

Missions change you(:

I'm so excited for my brother to come out and start his mission!

Don't get me wrong though...missions are so incredibly hard, and very trying, buttttt you get to help people come to find the truth, all the while strengthening your own testimony.

It's a win-win.

jessie one of our investigators came to church for the first time sunday! She had been coming to mutual like every week and has gotten really close to the young women. I really like working with the youth, especially the young women and helping them do missionary work, and being able to see them do it is really rewarding and special. Miracles happen when you start to involve the members.

my favorite thing in the world is during lessons when the people you're working with teach ME something. That's so powerful and very amazing. The spirit is awesome.

have a good week!

i love youuu

sistermanson

The gospel makes us happy  — with Rebecca Smith.

Goodbye Pottstown! Just a few of the great people I've met since serving here

To BE

We moved into our new apartment!!
200 maple wood dr
Pottstown, PA 19464

Butttttttt...transfer calls are Friday haha so I may or may not be
there next week.
So if I were you I'd just keep sending stuff to the mission home (:
721 Paxon hollow rd Suite B
Broomall, PA 19008

Moving took all day Saturday. We were exhausted, so many people came
and helped us though, so that was really nice. Our investigator Andrew
came with his truck and saved the day! Our couch wouldn't fit...we
tried so many different ways to get it inside
Front door...
Back door through the kitchen..
Taking the door off..
Rotating it..

Nope.

We've been couch-less for 4 days. #lifeisrough

Sister Cox's fav scripture is 1 Nephi 3:7
"I will go and do the things which The Lord hath commanded.."

Such a good scripture right? Ehh..kinda.
Although it's good to go and do..it's better to BE!

So I've been really focusing on making a "to be" list.
I can't tell you how many times I've made "to do" lists

Buy cereal
Go running
Eat at the taco bus
Black Friday shopping
Read my scriptures
Do my laundry
Go canoeing
Study for my chem test the night before
Blah.. blaah.. blah

But I've never made a "to BE" list before
Who do I want to be? Or I guess a better question who does Heavenly
Father want me to be?
I've read my patriarchal blessing multiple times on my mission, but
never with that filter of focusing on what Heavenly Father wants me to
BE.

So many things stood out to me that have never before!!!! So that was
way cool. You guys should do it too with yours, and I can promise you
that you will know what Heavenly Father expects and wants of you. Our
whole purpose on this earth is to strive BECOME more like Him. I said
this a couple weeks ago, but I just have a strong testimony of that
the gospel of Jesus Christ, is not just something we do...it's who we
ARE. It's a part of us, and helps us to BECOME Christlike.

Don't have a lot of time today, because we went to philly (:

Next week's email will be way better.

Love you and have a good week

Sister Manson