Rusty Fences, Baptism x4, & the Priesthood

Well, well, well...

Hello there, all yous!

 

 

Do a couple awesome highlights from the week sound good? Methinks yes.

 

So the Nortons moved this week back to Utah, so we helped them pack up, but Bishop Smith threw a goodbye party on Saturday night. Even from the start a lot of people were there, and more and more kept showing up. It was a great opportunity to talk to the members and ask how their missionary work is going or to help them out. But what I loved about it was how many people came because they loved the Nortons and wanted to say goodbye. It was a testimony to me that the Church really does bring people together and that we truly do care about one another.

 

So throughout the week we were looking for ways in which to find new investigators. We decided early on that we wanted to shift our efforts to service or volunteering. We kept asking around for places to volunteer, but didn't have much luck. On Thursday we called Bishop Smith and asked if he knew of anyone who needed help, and it just so "happens" that he did. There was an older lady who lives right by the church who wasn't too happy that the church's trees were hanging over into her yard. Some members from the Bethlehem ward and Bishop Smith went over and helped her out on Wednesday. Before they left, Bishop asked if she wanted more help, because he "knew some Elders and Sisters who would love to help." She was surprised that people would be so willing to help and accepted the offer. Well, fast forward to Thursday when we called Bishop and lo and behold, there was this older lady who wanted our help.

 

 

On Friday we went over to her house and pretty much sanded rust off her fence for two hours. Sister Maybury and I had a great time and enjoyed helping this woman out. She would come out every now and again and ask questions about the Church, and we were able to talk to her about a lot of things, including family history. I am so grateful we had an opportunity to serve and to continue to help her out. I know that she was an answer to our prayers for an opportunity to serve.

 

Sunday was pretty awesome. Want to know why? Because there were FOUR BAPTISMS IN THE WHITEHALL WARD. Three convert baptisms and one eight-year-old were baptized! And before you ask, none of them were ours, but it was still awesome! The Spirit was so strong during the baptism, and I was so happy to see more people brought into the fold of God. YAY!!!!

 

Another reason Sunday was awesome is because Angel received the priesthood! I am so proud of him for progressing and being worthy to receive the priesthood! (If any of you are just tuning in, we taught Angel and he was baptized about a month ago.) And the cherry on top was when we were in a lesson with the Martinez family (who were formerly less active) and Brother Martinez said that he had received a calling! I LOVE seeing people progress in the gospel! It truly does change lives for the better, and I love being a part of this "marvelous work" (2 Nephi 27:16).

 

Well, I love yous all!

 

Sister Singleton

Eight Months

Guess what, yous guys? I have been out for exactly eight months. Crazy, right? It feels like time just went all FWWUUUMMPP and crumpled itself all weird. It feels like so long ago I got on my mission, but that it's gone by so fast.

I think one highlight from this week was when we took our (only) investigator on a church tour. She's been really wanting to go, but isn't able to at this point. She said that as she walked in the door, she felt "extremely happy" and didn't know why. She loved seeing the building, and when we showed her the baptismal font, she was super excited and said she really wanted to see a baptism! The whole experience was just very uplifting for all of us, and it was a testimony to me that the church really is a special place where you can feel the Spirit.

This week we spent a LOT of time trying to find new investigators, but to no avail. It was a challenging week, and mostly a mental battle to keep going and trying to find those that the Lord has prepared. Luckily Sister Maybury and I have a lot of fun together, so it definitely helped. Yesterday Bishop Smith made a comment about how summertime is always difficult for missionaries because people are very transient because of vacations and what not. His comment was definitely a relief to me, because it made me realize that I wasn't like, cursing the area or something, haha.

The best miracle this week was when we had a less active member come to church for the first time in years! We've been seeing her a lot the past two transfers (12 weeks) and she was finally able to come to church. Earlier in the week I had been pondering and praying how in the world we could help her out, and when we met with her on Friday it was definitely an answer to my prayers. The Spirit softened her heart and she opened up and we were able to help address some concerns. But we invited her to church and she said she would come. And she did! It was definitely a miracle!

Also, we taught youth Sunday school yesterday, and it just reminded me how hard it is to teach a group of 13-18 year olds. Haha, they all kind of just stared at us or folded their papers into paper airplanes. But it was still fun to teach them, I just hope they got something out of it...

I love you guys! Thanks for your emails, especially the ones with all the miracles you've seen!

Love,

Sister Sarah Singleton

PS There's a mouse in our Relief Society room. All the better reason to get a church cat.

Picture: A door we knocked on.

Three Companions in one week

I'm pretty sure this week was like three weeks compacted into one. Mainly because I technically had three companions throughout the week.

Since Sister Hall was leaving on Tuesday, we had a last-week scramble to play duets for as many people as possible, so that was kind of crazy. But she left Tuesday morning to go down to Broomall, and it was hard to see her go. Sister Argueta and Sister Lewis came down from Scranton, and since Sister Lewis and Sister Hall weren't training, they went down to Broomall together. Which meant Sister Argueta and I were companions for a day and a half!

And that day and a half was SUPER fun. Sister Argueta and I came out with each other, and we went on exchanges when we both served in New Jersey. I would love to be her companion! But it was fun to work with her. We even had enough time at night to play a game of Battleship, in which I didn't fully explain the rules to her so it was just hilarious at the end.
Me: "Where are your ships?!? Wait... how many ships do you have on the board?"
Sister Argueta: "Two. Why?"

Me: "Oh... that explains it. You're supposed to have five."

So we drove down to Broomall to pick up our goldens, and I was suprised to see my momma-- Sister Meeks-- in the parking lot. I pretty much just jumped out of a rolling vehicle (just kidding, I was totally driving and had to stop) to run and give her a hug. I miss her so much! But it was good to see her and talk with her, because it's been a while!

My new companion is Sister Maybury, from Syracuse, Utah. She's actually 25, so I got the opposite of a newbie 19-yr-old. It feels kind of weird training her, considering I am three years younger, but I'm really excited. She likes talking and is really good at relating to people, so it will be fun.

One awesome miracle is that Sister Cressman came to church again! And what's awesome is that she really wanted to come and didn't have a problem talking to people. She even brought her son, who met some new friends in primary. It was so neat to see her come out of her shell, especially since we love her so much and have seen so much growth in her! Amazing!

Last night we were out knocking for almost two hours. The first person we talked to told us that he was the president of the Home Owners' Association and that we weren't allowed to solicit. I kindly responded that it's only soliciting if you're selling something. He was taken aback but still told us to go away. So we just went over to the other side of the complex, haha. It took over an hour to talk to anyone who actually wanted to listen, but then it was awesome! We talked to a woman for almost half an hour, and she was amazing. She even invited us back without us even asking. Miracle! 

Sometimes it takes a while for something good to start happening. But if we're diligent and showing Heavenly Father that we're trying,then He'll give us miracles and blessings.

"I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." (Ether 12:6)

Love all of you!

Sister Sarah Singleton

 Sister Hall and I at bowling last week.

Sister Argueta and I at Rita's.

Sister Meeks and I.

Sister Maybury, Me, Sister Meeks, and my two of my "sisters"

It rained again.

Staying in Whitehall!

A new transfer, you say??

 

So the best news first: I am staying in Whitehall! Yay! Sister Hall is leaving, which is sad, but I'm excited for her and her new area. And I am indeed training again. My legacy shall continue...

 

The craziest thing about transfers though is that half of our district is leaving. Everyone thought I was going to be the only one leaving, but I proved them wrong, haha. It was shocking because Elder Taylor and Elder Pintor are only halfway done with training, but they're both leaving. Crazy!

 

The highlight of this past week was definitely Zone Training. We talked a lot about reverence. Being reverent doesn't mean being quiet and solemn, it means respect. We can have fun, laugh, and be cheery, but we need to still be reverent by keeping in mind the sacredness of the gospel and our calling (especially missionaries). We have fun, but we don't take light of the gospel or of the cherished truths we have.

 

I was reading in 1 Nephi this morning, and as I was reading I kept noticing the word "command/commandments." In chapter 3 it says it 12 times, in chapter 4 it says it nine times, and six times in chapter 5. That's 27 times in just three chapters. And then it occurred to me why Nephi is so blessed throughout his life-- because he was obedient and willing to follow the commandments of God. It's simple: obedience brings blessings.

 

"... Surely the Lord hath commanded us to do this thing; and shall we not be diligent in keeping the commandments of the Lord?" (1 Nephi 4:34)

 

So that's my lesson for the week. Be obedient, be diligent, and you'll see blessings in your life.

"Obedience brings blessings; exact obedience brings miracles.” (Not sure the source, but missionaries say this a lot.)

 

I can't think of any crazy stories from this week. Uhh... we went to a Single Adults' BBQ yesterday, and Sister LaRose had made some... interesting... vegan brownies in an attempt to get rid of some barley flour. So everyone who would reach for a brownie I would just stare at and say, "Go ahead... try the brownies...."  The best reaction was Shera's in which he just glared back and refused to eat them.

 

Anyway, until next week!

Love you!

 

Expect miracles,

 

Sister Singleton

22 & Yard Sailing

Dear Friends,

 

Thank you so much for all the happy birthday wishes! Now I can really be considered an old person in the mission field. Hoorah!

 

So if you're wondering what I did for my birthday, I didn't really do anything special. Although in District Meeting on Thursday they threw me a party. It was really fun, and there was even a "Feliz Cumpleanos" banner with old-school clowns on it. I brought a cake (thanks for the mix, mom) and Elders Taylor and Shore also made me a cake that said "Bday?" with a cat on it and no-bake cookies. We even broke out the leftover ice cream from our ward ice cream social. Needless to say, it was fun. And I even got a cat-shaped sandwich box and a drawing (I'm sorry, I forgot it) from Elder Flake of three cats holding a birthday cake... with Dobby in the background.

 

On Friday we actually went to the park and played again, and it was quite fun. We talked to a man who said that he was having a rough day because it was his mom's birthday and he had to put her in a home. I mentioned that it was my birthday, too, and he didn't believe me. But after a while I was able to talk with him about the gospel, and when he left he said that he felt much better. How awesome!

 

One of the coolest things that happened this week was on Saturday. We went and stopped by a referral, but they were too busy to talk. I saw that the area we were in had a bunch of yard sales, so I thought it would be a good way to talk to people. Now, if any of you are unaware, yard sailing on the east coast is... intense. People love yard sales out here. I had the thought to grab a Book of Mormon before we set off, so I did. We walked around and talked to quite a few people. I felt impressed to turn down a side street, so we did. I saw a table full of games and started perusing when I found a stuffed cat that meowed! I was playing around with it when a woman said, "It sounds like a real cat, right?"

"Oh yeah!"
"I didn't know there were girl ones of you." It took me a second to realize what she was saying.

"What, missionaries?"
"Yeah, I've only seen the guys."

"Oh yeah, there are Sisters. So you know a little bit about us then?"

"Yeah, I know quite a bit about the Church."
"What do you know?" We talked for a few minutes about the Church and I asked if she wanted to learn more when she said, "I'm actually a member of your Church."

"Wait-- what?"

"Yeah, I got baptized and everything." I was surprised. Sister Hall asked her why she stopped going to Church and she said that she joined the Church up in Nazareth and had to get rides to church up there. The she moved into Allentown and lost contact with the Church. We pretty much asked her if we could see her and get her going to church again, and she said that was fine, and that she even wanted to bring her friend. MIRACLE!

 

And that's not even the best part. After we got her info, she stopped and asked, "Do you have a Book of Mormon. I lost mine a while ago." And sure enough in my bag was the copy of the Book of Mormon that I had been prompted to grab.

 

It was a very humbling experience. The Lord knew that Sister Hall and I would wander around the yard sales and that I would pick up the stuffed cat. He also knew that the woman, who doesn't even live near there, would be at that yard sale at that time. What a wonderful miracle! Heavenly Father knows and loves each of His children, and He wants all of us to come to Him. I am so humbled to know that I can be an instrument in His hands in bringing his work to pass.

 

I testify that the God is there and that He loves us all immensely. I also know that our Savior Jesus Christ shares that love, and that He atoned for us because of that love. I also that the Spirit testifies to us the reality of their love, and that we can all feel that Spirit through obedience to the Gospel.

 

I love you guys, and once again thank you for the birthday wishes!

 

Love,

Sister Singleton

The cake they made me

A terrible picture of Sister Hall and I

Hello.

Hello.

 

I was debating whether or not to mention the weather (I'm sure you're all sick of hearing about it), but I decided that since we went through a heat wave this week, I'd mention it. So like I said, we went through a really, really rough heat wave. I heard that the "real feel" one day was 114 degrees. Because of the nasty heat, we tried our darned hardest to stay inside, which meant visiting a lot of the less active members in the ward.

 

On Tuesday we had a lesson with two brothers that we've been teaching. It's been really neat to see their progression, because it started as a "yeah, I'll learn about your church" to a yearning to experience the gospel. We hadn't invited them to baptism yet, so on Tuesday we knew we needed to try. Sister Hall had the best invitation that I've ever heard (background info: usually when we commit these two to something we use the starter "Can we ask you a question...")

 

(On the subject of baptism) "Can we ask you a question?"

*Pause* (They looked kind of worried)

"As you come to know these things, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized?"
*Shocked faces*

 

But! It was really neat. We sat in silence for quite some time until one of the brothers said, "Wow. I think I'm going to have to go to church first before I can be baptized." The other one was very honest and said he couldn't answer us, but genuinely said, "Now I'm going to have to think about this." The miracle is that because we already established a relationship with them, and because they knew we were just pushing them to grow, they didn't respond negatively. I know the way I described it was super lame, but it was truly a neat moment! I knew that if we would've invited them to be baptized the first lesson, they wouldn't have cared and might not have let us come back. But since we followed the promptings of the Spirit, we were able to establish trust and then give them a clear choice.

 

Sunday. Sunday, Sunday... it was probably the most unusual Sunday ever. Our ward was going to have an ice cream social right after sacrament meeting, and since missionaries love church, we decided to go to the Bethlehem ward to get our full church. The Bethlehem Elders (Elders Anderson and Miller) had been asked to sing in primary, but to the primary chorister's surprise, six missionaries came and sang "Called to Serve." And if you're wondering, yes, I willingly sung.

 

Later on we went to our ward. We had the sacrament (bread and water) portion of the meeting, Bishop Smith spoke, then... ice cream. I've never had anything like it. But the purpose was to get to know people better in the Whitehall ward and the Allentown Spanish branch. But as nice as eating ice cream was, the best part of the day was this: Sister Cressman came to church!!! Miracle! We've been working with her since I first got here, and it went from not wanting to hear anything about the church, to hear wanting to come, to her actually coming! What an amazing thing! I know that going to church is so important because that's where we renew our baptismal covenants and promise to Heavenly Father that we'll keep trying to be like Christ.

 

Take an different look at the sacrament prayer (on the bread):

 

"O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father,

that they are willing to:

 - - take upon them the name of thy Son,

 - - and always remember him

 - - and keep his commandments which he has given them;

that they may:

 - - always have his Spirit to be with them.

Amen."

 

"O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this water to the souls of all those who drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them; that they may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father,

that they do:

 - - always remember him,

that they may:

- -             have his Spirit to be with them. Amen."

 

Just look at the difference between the two. Which is the greater sacrifice? What can we learn? I'll let you ponder on that.

 

Love you!

Sister Sarah Singleton

Look! The Monopoly man (Brother Stofko) with a bolo tie.

 Elder Hardy photobombing us.

Angel & Xavier's baptism!

So guess what?

Angel and Xavier got baptized! It was super awesome, and I am just so happy!

So we've been teaching Angel and Xavier since Sister Hall first came to Whitehall, and they (and they're whole family) are so humble and loving. It's been really neat to see them grow closer together by living the gospel together.

 

One fun thing about the baptism is we had the Elders in our ward (Elders Pintor and Smith) and the  Milford Elders involved as well (Elders Taylor and Shore). I gave a talk on baptism, Elder Pintor conducted the service and taught the Restoration, Sister Hall and Elder Shore played "Come Follow Me" as a duet, Elder Smith played all the other songs, and Elder Taylor said the closing prayer. It neat to have the opportunity to work with so many missionaries since we're all pretty close in proximity. It's nice having all the extra support.

 

Anyway, back to the baptism... YAY! If I had to sum it up into one word, it would probably be "humbling." I just look at Angel and Xavier and see future worthy priesthood holders, future missionaries, and even future fathers. This work is truly a "marvelous work and a wonder" (Isaiah 29:14), and I am so humbled to be a part of it in this time, and especially in this place. All the while during their baptismal service I kept thinking of a scripture in 3 Nephi 11:38:

 

"And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God."

How wonderful it is that I could be part of the Martinez family's growth! I am so excited for them to progress and to one day be sealed in the temple for eternity!

 

As for the rest of the week, it was pretty darn awesome. We were on exchanges with the Sisters from Stroudsberg and Sister Earl came to Whitehall with me. It was so crazy-- we had appointment after appointment lined up and THEY ALL STUCK (that rarely happens). We even had dinner with Sister Britto and taught like 10 of her grandkids (that's only a portion) about the themes in the Hill Cumorah pageant because they were going to that this weekend.

 

Then at the end of the night, we had what missionaries dub the "awkward time," which is when you still have time to work but not much. That was a lousy explanation. Sister Earl asked if there were any less actives nearby, and as a matter of fact, there was one. Now, we've been trying to see this member since I first got here with no luck. But when we pulled up, her son was outside and he said that she was home. So we just kind of stood in their back yard and the member came out. MIRACLE! She didn't want to stand in the heat so she invited us in. As we talked, we were able to testify of the Atonement and invite her back to church. She said she'd been thinking about it a lot lately and was hoping to find time to do that. It was such a powerful meeting, and it truly was a MIRACLE!

 

Well, I love yous guys!

Sister Sarah Singleton

Angel & Xavier's baptism!

Here's a useless picture of me playing kickball.