Dear People!

Dear People,

So, I'm not sure quite what to say. This week was pretty uneventful, except for the fact that Sister Munson and I had to give talks in church. It was nice to finally meet the ward, even if they are going to make us play the piano at some point...

Two things that really stuck out to me this week were these:

First, after sacrament meeting we stopped and talked to a woman and an engaged couple, both who are in wheelchairs. After talking with them for a little bit, the man turned to me and said, slowly," I know that Heavenly Father and the Lord have miracles waiting for you." It really struck me and made me smile, because getting the work started in this area has been slow. I have been praying and hoping for miracles, but when this man spoke, what he said was a calming affirmation to my prayers.

Secondly, I flipped open my scriptures in gospel principles and immediately read in 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." It was reassuring to read because this past week I felt like I had more fear than faith in approaching people. But what I learned from this scripture is that God has given me the spirit of power, love, and of a sound mind to go out and preach his gospel.

So that's pretty much my week. The area up here is gorgeous; there's a lot of Pennsylvania Dutch farms, rolling hills, and old barns. And of course, we have Rita's water ice.

I love all of you, and I hope you have a great week! Keep me updated, okay?

Love,

Sister Singleton

Welcome to Whitehall, PA!

Welcome to Whitehall, PA! (Just north of Allentown, aka A-Town)

 

This past week's been a huge change. I showed up to transfer meeting on Tuesday wondering where I was going to go. The way transfer meetings go down is that those staying in their areas stand on one side of the gym and the ones leaving stand on the other side. We all split up and watched the slideshow and the pictures and names pop up with their new companions. Soon I was the last one standing there, trying to rack my brain of all the sisters' areas that had an opening. To my surprise, I found out that my new companion was Sister Munson (who wasn't at the meeting yet (traffic gets you every time)) and we were doubling in to Whitehall North. Say what?! To those of you who don't know what doubling in is, it basically means that two missionaries get put into an area at the same time. But in our case, we were put in charge of opening a brand new area that had been split from the Elders. We got our car, phone, and an empty Area Book. I kept asking the Assistants about the apartment and what it had ("Is there toilet paper? Are there pots and pans? Are there beds?!") and they told me they didn't know. I was probably bothering them so much, because I had no idea what was happening, really. They handed us a check and and address and told us to go pay the landlord and find out what the apartment needed.

 

So we left for Whitehall with a vision of living in a cement bunker. We pulled up in front of a house. Confused, we called the landlord and the front door flew open. Turns out we were living with a member! Her name is Sister LaRose, and she is awesome. She's a left-handed writer who graduated in Art History, who loves clocks and nautical things. Yep, she's awesome. She also has a piano in her house that we've been able to play in our free time.

 

Here we were in Whitehall with probably six phone numbers and the address to the church. We called the Whitehall South Elders (the ones whose area we split from) and met them at the church. We divided up the area and got a few more phone numbers and were left to work. So, to make a long week short, we started from basically nothing. But we've spent this past week mostly working on the map and trying to meet the members. We're still going to be spending a lot of time on the map, but it's been an interesting experience preparing an area to be worked on. I'm so excited for the miracles and people that the Lord has prepared here; the ward's been praying for Sisters for quite some time, and it's been very humbling to be responsible for starting up the work in an area.

 

SO... GENERAL CONFERENCE. Whoo! I loved it so much. I can't wait to reread and rewatch the talks. One thing I realized from Conference is that the gospel truly is very simple. The Prophet and Apostles don't go into really obscure corners of doctrine, but they teach simply the truths of the gospel, as Jesus did. One overlying theme I noticed was obedience. Because it is the first law of heaven, all blessings are predicated upon whether we are obedient or not. It's as simple as that.

 

I'm so very grateful for the opportunity to listen to the words of the Lord. General Conference, the Prophet, and the Apostles are all a show of God's love for us. Heavenly Father loves us so much that he's called his servants to teach His word.

 

Until next week,

Sister Singleton

Easter! Transfers!

Happy Easter, everyone!

 

So, the big news of the week is that I'm being transferred! I've been attempting to pack up the ridiculous amount of stuff I somehow accumulated, but luckily one of the past sisters left a suitcase behind. And guess what color it is? Light blue. Figures. (In case you're unaware, all of my current luggage is light blue.) Anyway, back to transfers: both Sister Meeks and I thought that she would be leaving and I would stay and take over the area, but we were both shocked that I was leaving. I love the Moorestown area so much, but I am really excited to find out where I'm going next! I've even been writing down all the cool left-handed people I meet. I'm going to miss all the awesome people here, because I just love them so much.

 

Easter was really great. We were driving to church and were at a stoplight when we saw one of our investigators driving toward the church. Sister Meeks and I both squealed with delight because we've been inviting him to church since I first got out, and he finally came! Wahoo! We had a really great sacrament meeting and combined fifth Sunday class and spent the rest of the day stopping by families and saying goodbye to some of our investigators. Grandma Van Sciver made a fabulous Easter dinner of turkey, lamb, sweet potatotes, and the works; and she even gave us missionaries a box of her famous homemade chocolates. There were like 20 people at dinner (lunch?), so it felt right at home. Later on, we had dinner with Sister Guymon, who we love SO MUCH. She's helped us like crazy over the past 11 weeks, and we've been fortunate to spend a lot of time with her.

 

We had some wonderfully miraculous lessons this past week. That investigator who we saw at the stoplight? Well, we took him on a church tour on Friday and ended up sitting in the chapel and talking about some of his concerns. Sister Cleveland, who is probably the sassiest Jersey Girl you'll meet, boldly bore her testimony to him. I could feel the Spirit so strong, and I even learned some things I never really thought of. Now that's how you know the Spirit is testifying of truth! Oh my goodness, it was amazing.

 

And last, but definitely not least... General Conference is this week! So, General Conference is pretty much the Superbowl, Oscars, and World Cup of a missionary's life. Except we totally get it every six months. Oh my goodness. OH MY GOODNESS I'M SO EXCITED. It's so amazing that we have the opportunity to listen to the Prophet and his Apostles and to know that the Lord still talks to his children today. I am so very grateful for a living Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and I really hope everyone watches General Conference. My challenge to you this time is to start writing down specific questions and/or concerns in preparation for General Conference. Then while you're watching it, write down your impressions and thoughts, and after that: act.

 

I love all of you, and I hope you had a happy Easter! If I haven't written you back, it's because it's been kind of crazy around here and I may have to wait longer to get my mail (since I'm not going to be here anymore and all...).

 

Love,

Sister Singleton

Wayne and Etta, who are hilarious.

An investigators kids who love me.

Meagan, who was baptized last week.

Shawn, who was baptized in February, and KP who was baptized in January.

Grandma Van Sciver and Sister Rebilas, her daughter/ Relief Society President.

The Vargas. Shelby is a Jersey Girl through and through. They are also related to the Van Scivers.

me and Lillian, one of our investigators.

SISTER GUYMON WHO I LOVE SO MUCH

The Places! Tyler, Leah, Ava, and Gabe.