I'm a mommy!

Okay, so don't let the subject line freak you out too much. On missions, you have a "family." If you're a sister, your trainer is your mom. And since I'm a trainer... I have a daughter! Haha.

Transfer meeting was on Tuesday, but since pretty much all the sisters are training,  most of us went on Wednesday to pick up our goldens (new missionaries). Unfortunately, Sister Libby Jensen (from Springville) was there on Tuesday, so I did not get to see her YET AGAIN.

But anyway, as we were driving down to Broomall on Wednesday, we were stuck behind a huge semi spitting out rocks. We couldn't speed up because there was a truck in front of us, so as I started slowing down, we heard a loud THUMP! and lo and behold, a rock chip appeared. I said to Sister Munson, "Oh that's not hard to fix." A couple minutes later, we heard a faint creaking/zipping(?) noise and saw a big old crack appear in the windshield. We're getting our windshield replaced tomorrow.

Back to the main part of the story: Wednesday was so fun. Because almost all the sisters were there, we just had a blast catching up with one another. I even got to see Sister Meeks and my "sisters" (Sister Meeks is training two sisters). After we ate, we lined up and they announced who the goldens were going with. I was so nervous! They had me step forward and say who I was and where I was at, and then they announced: Sister Hall! She's from Pleasant Grove, plays the violin (she actually brought hers, so I shall just stare at it in jealousy), and her least favorite color is orange. She also hates running. And we're going to have so much fun!

I'm actually super lucky that I'm not opening up an area again, because most of the sisters are. But guess what??! There's now TWO areas in Philly for sisters. TWO! OH MY GOODNESS!!! Have I ever mentioned how bad I want to serve in Philly??? (I'm sure mom isn't quite as thrilled.) One's in Center City Philly and the other is ... somewhere else. So crazy!

Although I feel terribly inadequate to train, I know that who the Lord calls, He qualifies. He trusts that I am able to train, so I will have to trust that He trusts me. If that makes any sense. But I am still so new to this missionary thing, and it's crazy to think that I am now a trainer and have the responsibility of teaching someone how to do missionary work. But I know that miracles do happen, because I've seen so many, and as long as we are diligent and have faith, we will see so many miracles in Whitehall.

One cool moment this week was that we stopped by Mona! Mona is a super awesome Greek woman who we found sitting on her back porch a couple weeks ago. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she said she would read it. When we stopped by, she hadn't read any because English was her second language and she had a harder time with it. When we were in Broomall, I picked up a Greek copy of the Book of Mormon, and Sister Hall and I dropped by to give it to her. When she saw it, she was shocked that we had a copy in Greek. She immediately opened it and read the description of the Book. She asked about what we thought about after death, so we had her read Alma 40 right then. It was so cool!

I know that the Book of Mormon is true, and I love that book so much! It's amazing how much it's shaped my life and provided a solid foundation on which to build my testimony. I testify that it is inspired of God, and I know that it was written for our day. So everybody, if you aren't reading your Book of Mormon daily: do it. If you haven't read it: do it.

I love you guys!

Sister Singleton

 Frisbee golf last week.

SISTERS! The Pennsylvania Philadelphia mission just got a whole lot cooler.

A generational photo. My "momma," Sister Meeks; my "daughter," Sister Hall; and my "sisters," Sister Adam and... I don't know the other one's name.

Sister Munson and I.

My district last week, which has since changed.

Left to right: Elder Pond, Elder Tolbert, Elder Hidalgo (he's from Chile!), Elder Bloomfield, Sister Muson, and I.

Sister Munson and I and our creepy light art...

Mother's Day!

Well, I'm not quite sure how to write this letter, considering I Skyped some of you yesterday, so just deal with it if it's repetetive, haha.

So, big news to those of you who don't already know, but I am staying in Whitehall and training. EEP!?!! There are 13 new sisters coming in this week, and all of the "experienced" sisters are training. (They're calling me "experienced," can you believe it?) I'm excited to train, but nervous at the same time. I feel like I barely know anything, but I know that if I rely on the Lord it will all be okay. The other day I was reading my scriptures and came across this:

"...and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he" (Proverbs 16:20)

I'm pretty sure that's going to be my motto this transfer. Along with one of my favorites:

"Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever." (Alma 26:12)

I'm really excited to stay in the Whitehall ward for at least three more months. The members are so excited about missionaries and missionary work, and it's been such a help to have them and another set of missionaries in the ward. Not to mention, the members are super cool. For example, there's a couple who are both from Brazil but one lived in PA and the other in Florida and they met on LDSsingles. We were able to stop by their home the other day, and I saw Sting (Frodo's sword from Lord of the Rings) hanging up on the wall so I commented on it. Turns out, it was one of the actual swords from the movie because they have a friend who works at New Line Cinema. Then he told us he has Aragorn's sword, too. Needless to say, I was super thrilled. But I promise I really do love the ward.

On Saturday we went to the wedding of Val and Jeff. They are both in wheelchairs, and the wedding was beautiful! When they rolled her in, she started crying because she was so happy. And when Bishop Smith was talking about the need to "not be just good lovers, but best friends," Jeff said, "Val-- you are my best friend in the whole wide world." Of course everyone melted when he said it. (Yes, this is Sister Singleton telling this story and not someone else. Weird, right?)

Yesterday (as we all know) was Mother's Day! We were at the church from 1:00-7:00 because of a mother's day dinner put on by the priesthood in the ward and a baptism after that. The baptism was of a family: Colin, Carla, and Don Michael, who Elder Pond and Elder Tolbert have been teaching. They are super amazing, and the Spirit was so strong when each one of them were baptized. The best part about being a missionary is being able to see people change and grow closert to Christ. The love that we feel to those whom we serve is just a portion of what Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ feel, and even that portion is overwhelming.

So just imagine how much they truly love each of us. It's impossible to fully comprehend!

Last, and defnitely not least, but I got to talk to ma familia yesterday. Still crazy as ever. But I love you all so much, and I'm glad to have seen you! Thanks for all of your support and prayers, and I LOVE YOU SO MUCH.

Keep on keepin' on (I had to say it), and remember to expect miracles in your life. Thanks for your letters and emails, and just remember:

Everybody can email me.

*cough cough*

Love,

Sister Singleton

us at our Zone Unity softball game last week. Whoo!

Okay, I just had to send this picture to show you what kind of Zone Leaders I have. Haha.

Val and Jeff!

We like to goof around sometimes...

and finally... the best magnet ever!

Good morning, west coast!

Good morning, west coast!
(I can say that because I'm on the east coast.)

 

So first things first-- Saturday was totally Star Wars day, so I've attached a picture that fulfills my purpose as a missionary...

 

Now back to missionary work. Remember how last week I mentioned the lady who softened after we offered to help her with yard work? Well, this week we went back to help her, and it was quite an adventure. It took about two hours to mow the lawn, and since we only had one mower (which, I feel like I must point out, is quite normal), we took turns until the woman came back with the weed whacker parts. So I spent a great deal of time attempting to tackle the dandelions, which proved fun and challenging. Sister Munson kept mowing and I just weed whacked away. It was exciting. But the more exciting part is that  she had looked up a great deal of things on Mormon.org and was asking us a lot of questions. We were able to work and chat with her about the church and about what we believe, and it was a perfect opportunity to serve and teach. She is such a wonderful woman, and we keep praying that she will want to learn more about the gospel.

We also had interviews with President this week, which basically just means we talk with him about any concerns or problems we might have. And if you don't have any, then you're superhuman. But one thing that he did tell all the sisters is that over the next 12 weeks, 30 new sisters are coming in and that even if he had every "experienced" sister training, he'd still be three short. WHOA. (The phrase "experienced" is pretty loose, because technically I'm considered that and... yeah.) So in other words, it's going to get all sorts of crazy in the mission field. By July, over half of the missionaries in the field will have been out less than six months. What, what!

 

This week's lesson learned was diligence. In Preach My Gospel, it says,"Diligence is steady, consistent, earnest, and energetic effort in doing the Lord’s work. The Lord expects you to work diligently—persistently and with great effort and care. A diligent missionary works effectively and efficiently. Diligence in missionary work is an expression of your love for the Lord and His work." This week I was a little sad and less-than-enthusiastic about being a missionary, so the last line really stuck out to me. I realized I wasn't putting in my whole effort into the work, and therefore I wasn't showing my love for the Lord and His work. And since I really do love the Lord, I decided to go and put in my best effort. And guess what? It worked, of course! So this week's challenge is to evaluate yourself and ask: "Am I doing everything I can for the Lord? Are my efforts focused on His work?"

 

Until next week, Love,

Sister Singleton

 

The picture of me and the ice cream is because I've had a few people mention it to me via email/letters. So yes, I've tried the Liz Lemon ice cream. And yes, it's delicious!

Ladders, Weeds, Branches, Love.

SO MUCH STUFF THIS WEEK.

 

Hello there.

 

On Wednesday, we ended up having time that we didn't know what to do with. For some reason we were both more tired than usual, and we had an hour before dinner. So we decided to knock an area. Almost nobody was home, and if there were people home, they wouldn't answer the door or just shook their head at us through the window. We got back in the car and were sitting at an intersection, trying to figure out what on earth we could do. I looked out the window, and what did I see? (Popcorn popping on the apricot tr-- wait...) A man falling off a ladder.  

In surprise, I said, "Sister Munson! A man just fell off a ladder!" We pulled over, hopped out of the car and ran over to him. His wife was standing over him and he wasn't moving, but when we called out to see if he was okay, she said, "Oh yeah, he's fine." He had been pulling dead branches out of the tree and reached for one to pull himself up with. Turns out it was just a hollow stick, and he tumbled down. Don't worry, he was okay.

We ended up talking to them for about 20 minutes, and they were both super nice and funny. Although we weren't able to set up an appointment with them, it was a miracle to actually have a good conversation with someone nice after a day full of rejection.

 

Thursday night we were planning for Friday and we had no idea what to do. None! We had hardly anyone to stop by, and we didn't want to go knocking in the morning, so we took a leap of faith and decided to wear our service clothes (aka normal people clothes) and find people to help with yard work. We knew that Heavenly Father would help us find people to help or talk to, and he did! On Friday morning, we picked a random street and drove there. As soon as we got out of the car we saw a woman and were able to talk to her about the Restoration of the Gospel. Down the road a little we were able to talk to an extremely nice family whose lives had been turned around by following Christ. Then we saw a woman weeding her garden, and we were able to help weed and plant flowers. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father blessed us with the opportunity to talk with nice people and to testify to them! 

 

On Saturday we were able to participate in the Mormon Helping Hands project in Lake Nockamixon State Park. Whoo! Not only did we get to wear the yellow vests, but a good 45+ people from the ward came and over 650 members across the state showed up at various sites to help clean up the parks. Our job was to pick up branches, and it was a lot of fun. At one point I saw Jackie, an awesome ward member, and in an attempt to run to her I accidentally ran into a bunch of thorns. It was so much fun, even if I do have a lot of scratches...

 

Later on Saturday night the Assistants to the President came and worked in our area for a coupld of hours. They were able to find two new investigators for us to teach, and they really helped us out so much! While Sister Munson and I were out, a man told us that his neighbor might need some yard work. We knocked on her door, and she threw it open and said, "Yeah? What?" (Yay, east coast!) I just responded with, "Your neighbor said you might need some yard work, so we'd like to help." She immediately softened and told us all about herself. We talked for about 20 minutes, and to put it mildly, this woman is very generous and I already love her so much.

 

What I learned this week is that charity really is the pure love of Christ, and everyone wants to feel that love. People who had no intentions of talking with us were softened by us just wanting to help. I can't even comprehend how much love the Savior has for each one of us, but I know that He love us so much and He only wants to help us.

 

I love all of you, and I can testify that our Heavenly Father loves us more than we can comprehend, and so does his Son, Jesus Christ. How grateful I am to know that!

 

Love,

Sister Singleton

Me trying to get a stubborn branch out of a tree. No, I never did get it down...

Jackie and us.

No arms! (Like in Monty Python)

Lake Nockamixon.

Mormon Helping Hands.

"Cleansed by Fire"

Hey hey!

 

So, I've got some stories.

 

Preface: On my mission, my tastes have changed (I bet you're all shocked). I actually really like cucumbers now (yes, you'll be happy, Jenna), I have tried fish and shrimp (still don't like it), I like spicy food, and I eat other things I previously didn't like.

 

"Cleansed by Fire"

 

Sister Munson and I were making fajitas on Thursday night for dinner. I went upstairs to grab some letters I hadn't yet read, and when I came back down, Sister Munson was eating her fajitas that she had turned into tostadas and had smothered hot sauce all over the top of them. I saw a bottle of hot sauce by her place and my thought process went like this, "Oh, hot sauce! That sounds pretty good. And if Sister Munson can eat it, I'll eat it too." So I proceeded to pour a little bit of sauce on my fajitas and thought nothing of it. So I took a bite. And suddenly I was breathing fire. I drank my whole glass of water and ate a few pieces of tortilla. I continued to eat my fajitas, each bite only adding to the now molten heat in my mouth. After I couldn't take it anymore, I booked it to the fridge and gulped down some milk in between eating a few corn tortillas to stave off the unquenchable fire. I sat down and said, "Sister Munson! THIS IS SO HOT HOW ARE YOU EATING THIS??!?!" She just looked and me and said, "Confession..." and held up a Taco Bell hot sauce packet. I looked at the bottle of hot sauce and this is what I saw:

"To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the founding of the company, I hav taken all I have lerned about creating natural pepper sauces and crated a blistering hot sauce without the use of pepper extracts. The top 4 hottest chilies in the world come together and create a true Chiliehead elixir worthy of the highest rating, 10 on a scale of 1 - 10. Enjoy!" (Psshaw, enjoy?! I thought the '10' was for calories or something...)

I looked at the ingredients and sure enough, red habanero was the second ingredient. So...  yeah. Turns out Sister Munson had taken out the hot sauce, but after being scared by the intense smell, she set it down and got a Taco Bell sauce packet. I then came downstairs and was deceived by the bottle. Deceived!

 

 

Another highlight was we went on exchanges this week. Sister Grover came from Stroudsberg to Whitehall with me, and I learned so much! It was faith-boosting fun missionary time. I learned that worry, doubt, and of course, fear are all the lack of faith. I had fallen into a trap where I was worried about the work in the Whitehall area and was scared to do some of the work. Sister Grover helped me realize that I wasn't showing faith, and she helped me realize how I could do that. First of all, faith is truly an action word. If I'm trying to ask an inspired question (a Spirit-prompted question that provokes deep thought), then I need to just start asking questions. By doing so, I'm showing Heavenly Father that I am trying my hardest and I believe that he will help me. And He will, but I have to put forth the action first. Secondly, stop worrying about how it's possible. Sister Grover said, "I just need to trust Heavenly Father's plan. Because face it-- my plan sucks and it will never work. But His will always work." So stop trying to figure things out how things are going to work, but assume they will. Because they will. 

 

Think about when the Lord commanded Nephi, Laman, and Lemuel to get the brass plates. Both Laman and Lemuel tried to get the plates, but failed. They tried to rebel against Nephi and go back, but an angel appeared unto them and commanded them to get the plates. They murmered and said, "How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands? Behold, he is a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; then why not us?" (1 Nephi 3:31). They knew they needed to get the plates, but they couldn't look past the fact that Laban would try to kill them. Nephi, knowing that God can do anything, went back to get the plates, "And [he] was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which [he] should do." (1 Nephi 4:6) So just do and trust, because it will always, always work out.

 

On Friday there was a tornado warning (what?!) and it wasn't bad earlier in the evening. It got a little rainy, but around 8:00 we were driving and torrential downpours came out of nowhere. We on a dark, windy road and decided that if we could barely see at 10 mph, we should go in. We got SOAKED in the two seconds from the car to the front door. It was pretty exciting.

 

To finish off the week, we met the sisters at Ritas and exchanged back. We couldn't find our phone, and we realized that Sister Grover had accidentally taken our phone with her. So we totally sat and called people from the Ritas phone; it was pretty exciting. We're so lucky we're living with a member who has a phone, because it made it a lot less stressful.We had to meet back up in Nazareth again on Sunday to get the phone back, and earier Sunday morning we realized we had amost no gas in our car. You see, Nazareth is about 25 minutes away, so Sister LaRose drove us to Nazareth. It was an exciting week.

 

I love you all! Keep on studying your scriptures, and remember:

• Pray for miracles
• Expect miracles
• Give thanks
• Write them down

Love,

Sister Sarah Singleton

The Ingredients.