Rachel's Baptism

Hey Everyone!

Rachel got baptized on the 16th!!! It was so wonderful! She has such a wonderful spirit! She was truly ready, and I know she will learn more and progress. She is so inspiring you have no clue! When she came out of the water, so many emotions flooded my body. Such a powerful spirit. Gary and his son Hunter, who is planning on getting baptized March 2nd went. We went out for dinner afterwards. I think they felt the spirit at the baptism. I loveeee Gary's family. They are so wonderful. :) Rachel said that she feels like a whole new woman. She said that she has noticed a difference in her life since having the Gift of the Holy Ghost as a constant companion.

Too bad she's a cute tiny girl, so we look like ogres next to her.

The other pictures I sent with Sister Pare' was on Wednesday when we went on exchanges. I went to Rifle with the Spanish Sisters and Sister Encarnacion went to Meeker in my place. We switched for 24 hours. When we drove half way to Rifle, me and Sister Partridge stopped on the side of the road. It was dark, but we pulled up near a barn. Then while we were waiting, we noticed a woman in the distance, but because it was dark we could only see a silouette. Then I noticed that we could see her holding a gun! Whoa! So I immediately turned on the light, waved, and then rolled down the window and said with the sweetest voice, "Hey sorry we are just waiting for a friend" She immediately said, "Okay sorry, I live out here alone and I thought you were going after my turkeys." That was a close one huh! haha well anyways. I went to Spanish lessons which was really neat. I taught 3 women how to speak english. I was able to understand them almost the whole time. What a blessing! It was a neat experience. Sister Pare' reminds me of the girl from the movie, "Enchanted"...yep Overall though, it was a good experience. She liked my footie pajamas. haha

The next photo we went to Anne Marie's house. She is less-active. Super wonderful. We knocked three times and no answer. So I RAN to the baby lambs! They were so sweet. Then we heard the door open after we were taking pictures. Yep she saw us. But good thing we stayed because then we got to set up an appointment to clean out the sheep cages...Pants here we come!

The next picture is of my district. We will probably all be getting moved around to different areas next week. Transfers are the 26th. Sister Partridge goes home so I am getting a new companion. I will miss her. :/ I think I might be training and possible two at once. I will find out on Friday. In our district we have Elder: Campbell, Jenkins, Sejas, Rivera, Hill, Mickelson, Hale, Schwegler, and White.

The last photo is of Joanne's puppy! She had a litter of 7 :) They are chocolate labs! So adorable! They snuggled right up to you. They are a two weeks old. We saw her literally this morning. She told us she needs to pause with taking the lessons. She explained with her addictive personallity she want's to make the decision of baptism when she has a clear mind. I understand. She has a lot going on with her family. She is wonderful and we will continue to be friends with her. I know this isnt the end. She said she will continue to pray and read the Book of Mormon. Maybe every now and then we can stop by and read a chapter with her.

Rayola Rust, our primary president recently got a extensive surgery. She was internally bleeding. We thought she wasn't going to make it. The doctors lost her 2 times, but brought her back. She recently overcame cancer. She is a fighter, thats for sure. She is home, but has tubes coming out of her stomach, so she is just sitting in a chair and can't do much. We stop by to give her company. We are going over tomorrow to clean and do laundry for her. When we stopped by two other ladies from our ward were over visiting. Isn't it wonderful how the members help eachother out. She does so much better when she has visitors with her. Sister Nielson has been staying with her some nights so she's not lonely. Shes a sweet woman. Both are.

April Rust, Rayola's daughter in law, is getting baptized on the 24th! We are so excited! We kept telling Rayola that Heavenly Father wouldn't take her yet because he wanted her at the baptism! April is so excited. She is ready. She has alot to learn, but that will come afterwards. She knows everything she needs to know if she should be baptized. She made HUGE wonderful changes in her life for this. She sees the blessings pouring in already.

On Friday we saw Laura. We finally taught her about The Law of Chastity. It was so hard to bring it up because her and her boy friend are living together with a son. We didn't want to hurt her feelings at all. Well it went well. We had to bring up the fact that she can't get baptized until she is married. It's sad because she want's to be married. She really really does. She's wonderful. She came to church for the second time! We were so happy because she was able to express her worry of coming to church not being married. We told her that no one is perfect and that is why we go to church. She is making alot of friends at church. We always invite her to activities. She loved when we talked about the temple. I see her being sealed to Ed and Dillan one day. :) She is so wonderful.

We saw Ray another investigator. He has been reading the Book of Mormon. He told us to come back the last time in a month. We finally were able to come back. He is neat! What a Bible Studier! Well anyways, he likes the Book of Mormon, but was confused because he started in the book of Mormon and Moroni. Hahah so he wasn't able to understand it all. hahaha He still had alot of questions. We explained and answered them all. He is such a logical thinker, so we will need to really pray for the approaches we take when we teach him. He enjoys discussing with us. Very respectful and sincerely wants to learn more.

We, Sister Partridge and I, sang on sunday in Relief Society. We sang, "Our Saviors Love". It went really well. We are singing next sunday in sacrament meeting, "Lord I Would Follow Thee"

I'm now reading in Helaman in The Book of Mormon. Wow Alma was good. So many afflictions, but as they endured with faith in Christ, they were able to get through them. Always remember how the Atonement of Jesus Christ covers the pains, sicknesses, hurt, guilt, and sins. Sometimes we just think it is sins, but it's much more. My favorite verse this week is

 1 Corinthians 11:15 because an Elder from the MTC sent me a letter with that verse because he likes long hair. hahaha I was dying laughing!

but for reals, my favorite reading was 1 Nephi 21: 9-11. We read it with Chris (he can't go to church because of work so we read with him every week) I loved it because Sister Partridge came up with how it compares to Christ because he lets all the prisoners go forth and brings light to the darkness. It's comparing it to Christ. But I interpreted it as missionary work. Go tell everyone our message. It brings light to their darkness of not knowing the Restored gospel. Christ will take care of them from there.

I love you all so much! Here is my Mission office address just incase:

Colorado Denver South Mission

999 East Tufts Ave.

Cherry Hills Village, CO 80113

-Sister Gampe

P.S. can you believe I've been serving for 4 months?! What!?

First Baptism

Hey Everyone!

 

This week was very busy! We had our first Baptism! That was awesome! Eddie Drussell. He is eight years old. His parents are both nonmembers. He is staying with a family in our ward and thats how he was introduced to the missionaries. He loves the gospel. :) The Baptism went really well. The spirit was really strong. His older sister, Jossie, who was baptized when she was 13, spoke on the Holy Ghost. It was one of the best Holy Ghost talks I've ever heard. I was so proud of her. She performed baptism for her Mom in the Temple. Her mom died when she was a little girl. They are powerful kids. What an example they are for everyone because they know so much about the gospel because of how much they study.

 

James, the investigator who showed up to church. We had a lesson with him on Thursday. Bishop asked us to have it at the church instead of his house. We had Bishop and Brother Nielson come to it. He was late because he said he just got out of the hospital because he had a "heart attack". We think it was an anxiety attack. But he lifted up his shirt and he had the stickers all over his chest haha. Well the lesson was powerful. The spirit was truly there. We invited him to be baptized on the 1st of March. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he seemed really excited. At the end he made some weird comments about having a dream about this mysterious girl reading him out of a book. Sister Partridge thinks he was referring to me because I was reading him The Book of Mormon. He's an add character, but he's going through a really tough time. He's been abandoned by his family. He was dating a girl that he refers as his fiance, but she just got a restraining order against him. eek. He's 19 years old. We got a call from him the next day asking us to meet with him because things were really bad and hard, but we can't be the ones he goes to. Were just not suppose to have the relationship nor do we have the time. It wouldn't be appropriate. Bishop asked us to have him sit with a family at church, but he didn't show up. That really suprised me and made me sad. We meet with him on Tuesday at the church. We are going to try to get younger men to the lesson who will make a good impact on him.

 

Rachel had her Baptism interview and went to Eddie's baptism as well. She is so excited and we are so excited for her! She is such a wonderful girl. We love visiting her. She's the type of person how "looks" like a member of the church. By the way she talks and carrys herself. Shes so sweet.

 

Hunter, Gary's son is also on date for Saturday. He want's to get baptized here in Meeker. We are so excited! That will be such a wonderful day!

Today after district meeting we did our grocery shopping and ate in Craig, then we played Zombie Apocalypse with the Elders in our district and the Zone leaders. So we had nerf guns and nerf swords and axes! Whoa there were so many! We picked 2 zombies and they hid all the amo and weapons through out the huge church building. (except chapel) Then they went in the gym and counted for a minute while everyone else ran looking for the weapons and hid. Once you get tagged by a zombie, your a zombie. But if the zombie is hit, they stop for 10 seconds. Any amo shot is dead. So you have to worry about running out of amo. (but not really because the amo was everywhere!) . It was so much fun!

 

One comment Brother Neilson said to me that made my day was after we had our lesson with James, maybe even the next night, but we walked inside and were talking to them for a little and Brother Nielson said "I would love to visit your parents to see if they even exist, because you walk on water." The Neilsons are just so kind. I love them so much.

 

I loved Alma 42 this week. It's all about Mercy and Justice. How Heavenly Father is able to incorporate both of those in his plan because of our Mediator, Jesus Christ.

 

I love the gospel so much. I know it's true. I know that our families can be together forever as long as we follow Christs examples. I'm so grateful for the Atonement. I know that all of our sorrows, pains, and sins can be changed to peace, joy, and comfort as long as we ask in daily prayer for help or forgiveness. I love our Savior and Heavenly Father. I love you all so much! Take care!

 

Love,

-Sister Gampe

 

Service Week

Hey Everyone!

 

Oh I got a wonderful package in the mail from my mom. It was a Gorgeous quilt she made for me on my mission. I knew she was making it because I sorta helped arrange it, which is 2% of the actual work of making a quilt. I was amazed when I saw it! It is just gorgeous! It's a kaleidoscope quilt. She put Minkie material on the back because I love how soft it is, even though the material is super hard to work with because it is stretchy. But the coolest part about the quilt is, she quilted "Sister Kendra Gampe" "Denver" "Colorado South" "The Third Day" "Moses 2:13" "Love Mom 2013" It is so neat! She even used multi colored thread on the floral materials and black on the black materials. I ignored her request to not show anyone (she didn't like how the minky turned out on the back) because it was gorgeous!!! I couldn't help it. Everyone I showed loved it so much! I love how big it is :) I took lots of pictures. I hope the detail showed up. :/ If not i'll take more for sure.

 

  So Brother Hanberg (young mens president here in Meeker) had a best friend in Billings, Mt. Now that is Dane's best friend. I also figured out that Brother Hanberg Served the Boise, ID mission and found a picture of Jace in his Missionary Directory! I was dying! Its such a small world! I'll send that picture as well.

 

We went over to the Hanbergs during the super bowl. They have no cable, so we ate a ton of food so we could still enjoy the fun. I ate way too much and thought I was going to puke!

 

On Sunday 20 minutes before church this guy, James came in and Bishop talked to him right away. No one knew who he was. Then Bishop introduced us to him. He right away started pouring out all the problems he's had all his life. And said that he climbed up to the lit up cross on the mountain and looked down on Meeker and saw our church and it was the brights one. So he walked to the church and he said he just fell to his knees in front of the door. He said he felt he needed to come. So I'm sitting next to him giving him some comfort and explaining some things we believe and how Heavenly Father loves him and how he was the one who is giving him the comfort during that prayer. It was after the sacrament and one testimony, he turns to me and says, "I'm sorry, but this is reminding me too much of my ex fiance who broke up with me last night. It's too much right now." I asked for his number and if we could visit with him sometimes this week, he said yes. Then I asked if there was anything we could do for him. He said we've already done so much. Then as he got up to leave he starts walking up on the stand! I thought he was gonna bear his testimony! I was like...uhhh shoot! hahaha but then he walked over to Bishop and whispered to him a little bit and then got down and left. Weird occurrence, but I think he is really neat. He's looking for a desperate change in his life. I know he was led to the Church by our loving Heavenly Father. He's 19 years old and has been abandoned by everyone in his family. Poor thing. The gospel will give him happiness.

 

We have had a week full of service. We helped with this huge community dinner. It was themed "Meekeropoly" It was really really cute! They had that room decked out in Monopoly themed things. They even changed the cards to places in Meeker. They had a jail and two people were police and people paid to put friends in jail. You had to either roll doubles or pay to get out. All profit went to the Chamber of Commerce which is basically in charge of the community. They had a silent auction. (Me and Sister Partridge were in charge of watching that). Every time someone bid, bought a drink, went or sent someone to jail, they were given a dot sticker. Whoever had the most dots at the end won 100 dollars. Well they made so much money! They were selling packages of things like horseback riding trip, plane rides, fishing trips, spas for like 300-400 dollars! Bishop signed up for something, thinking that someone would bid over and no one didnt. He's adorable wife was so mad when they had to bring home a clock with a huge pheasant on it! haha He got tons of other things too, but it was an expensive purchase! They also had a comedian. Who thought he was much funnier than he was. But he was funny for all the drunk people. We ended up leaving early. But we put alot of work into it. Setting up and built sky scrappers. It was a lot of work, but they announced our names and how much we helped out and everyone started clapping for us. :) Cool huh!

 

We also helped our investigator Tom move into his new house. He recently married Bev who is a convert to the church. The house they moved into is a lot of work. We have been painting walls like crazy and cleaning. The landlord is not helping with the costs at all. The bathtub had huge holes all on it. Ridiculous. They should have taken pictures, but they didn't. There's still alot of work to do, but it looks ten times better than it did. Whoever painted before did terrible. platters of paint all over the windows and they painted the cabinets puke pink colored. It looked awful! I see a bright future for this little house. Tom was so grateful for all the work we put in. We put in about 6-7 hours. We will help more this week as well.

 

Everything is going well with our investigators with the baptism dates. Joanne is excited to start the Stop Smoking Program. She is getting a blessing and starting that tonight. Rachel went to church and loves it. Eddie's dad signed his baptism record so he is allowed to get baptized and April is still going strong with the desire.

 

Another neat thing is, Gary's son just took the mission lessons in Craig. (we asked for his number and if we could send the elders there) He has a baptism date on the 16th this month! We are so excited. I think that will be really wonderful! :)

 

We had to go to the dentist today for Sister Partridge. I thought she had a terrible cavity, but it turns out her filling chipped out. So she did need to replace that. We went to the dentist in Craig, who is a member. He didn't charge her. It was so sweet and almost made me cry. Sister Partridge doesn't have insurance. What a blessing for Sister Partridge. Blessings will pour on that church member.

 

My cut on my ankle is looking alot better. It still hurts, but I can tell it's healing. I change the wrappings everyday. I'll send a picture of that as well.

 

We had an emergency preparedness at the church. It was all about fire extinguishers. It was really neat. We had the fire company come. They built fires in the church parking lot and let us all extinguish them out. I couldn't get it to stop and screamed "how do I get it to stop" (It didn't because it was the end of the fire extinguisher). It reminded me of the time Mom let me pump the gas on our way to Altoona and I forgot to stop squeezing the handle and spilled gas all over me.

 

We visited this lady, Elsy. She will never progress in the church because she's kinda out of it. She's really old. We have been singing to her. It reminded me of how my Grandma Gampe would take us to the nursing home she worked at and we would sing in ever door. Elsy loved it. We sang, "Joseph Smiths First Prayer" and "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief". The spirit was strong. (so was the smell of mice) But it was a wonderful experience.

 

Well I think that is all for this week. We are working hard. It was a week full of service, so our number of lessons was lower this week, which is kinda a bummer, but I know that service is the way we show our love for the people here in Meeker. I truly do love them all.

 

Thanks for all your letters of encouragement. I love them all so much! It helps me out!

 

-Love Sister Gampe

 

 

 

Pool Party in the Baptismal Font

Hey Everyone!

 

I'm excited to say that we have 4 people set on date for baptism in Feb! I'm so excited! I really hope that Satan doesn't get to them! It's amazing how much success there is here in Meeker. They had 4 Baptisms last YEAR! haha We are working hard and the Lord is blessing us and everyone around us.

 

Eddie is 8 years old. His parents are not members. His sister is. He is living with a family in our ward, the Leathems, and they teach him all about the Gospel. It's amazing and adorable how much he knows. He knows more than adults know. He's really cute and really wants to get baptized. The Leathems are really making sure that he gets baptized for himself so he has his own testimony to rely on. He wants to so badly! He ran up to Bishop Isenhour and asked if he would baptise him! hahaha so cute! His baptism date is the 9th of Feb.

 

Rachel is also on date to be baptized. Her date is Feb 16th. She is working on getting over coffee and tanktops! ;) Shes really adorable. She's a gorgeous tiny blonde. She knows the church is true and is now ready to make the wonderful changes in her life. She loves the temple and wants to get married in it someday. She got a blessing to help her with coffee from Bishop on Friday. It was wonderful! The spirit was so strong. Rachel was so happy. I wrote out the blessing for her so she will always have it.

 

April is on date for Feb. 23rd. She is wonderful. She has a son Daven. Her husband is a member, but hasn't been to church in a while, but he is getting back into the church. She was introduced by her wonderful mother in law (who lives in Meeker) Sister Rust.

 

Joanne is also on date for Feb 23rd. She is inspiring. She is really working hard to get her life back on track. She is working on quiting smoking and coffee. We have been having a hard time connecting with her schedule. We need to see her. We missed her the past 2 weeks, but still have been communicating with her. I know she will see the blessings of baptism really soon.

 

We have been really getting involved with the ward. Yesterday we set up a fireside with bishop. It was for the youth to invite any nonmember friends and ask any questions. We had them write them down so it was more comfortable for them. We had a great turn out with the youth. But only one nonmember. One girl brought questions a friend asked but was too scared to come and ask herself. We answered those questions. We had alot of wonderful questions. The spirit was strong. I'm excited to see how the nonmember Lily liked it. She is a sweet her. Her family is Catholic. Wonderful people. Bishop let us have it at his house so it would be more comfortable. Our panel who answered the questions were Me and Sister Partridge, Bishop Isenhour, Brother Hanberg, and Brother Harman. It was really great.

 

We also meet with this inactive member of the church, Chris. He was baptized when he was young, but never came to church, so we started from scratch and taught him all the lessons. He loves it. We read the Book of Mormon every week with him. He reads a chapter on his own. When we first started, he couldn't read. It was hard for him to read even very simple words. We are now in 1Nephi 16 and He can read perfectly. We talked about it to him yesterday and he said he is dyslexic. He's been blessed tremendously. Very inspiring.

 

In ward council I was able to hear the lowest scoring basketball game! The Middle school girls basketball team WON! The score was 5-4! I was dying! hahaha what a great game! They say thats common haha

 

I had a wonderful package come in the mail from my sister, Alycia. I recieved a yoga mat, insanity work out videos, craisins, pistachios, and her famous carmel apples! It was such a wonderful surprise! I've been working out to the Insanity. Let me tell you that name is perfect. It is insane! It feels great afterwards thought, except for every muscle hurting in my body. Thats okay. haha

 

 I cut my ankle in the shower 2 nights ago. it was the worst I've ever done! It bled so much. I was scared I was going to pass out so I yelled for Sister Partridge. She first handed me a tissue! I was like uhh. I need way more than that! (she hates blood too) So she gave me a rag. I was able to make it out of the shower. She ran upstairs and asked sister Nielson for gauze and something to wrap it. Its about 3 inches long and a half inch wide. It hurts so bad to walk, but it will get better. We are taking care of it. Sister Nielson who is an animal lover only had dog wrap, so my (sports stretchy tape stuff) wrap is lime green with the words, "no chew" all over it. It also has a terrible scent so the dogs to chew it...I guess I'm better off not tempted to chew it. ;)

 

 It's been alot warmer here in Meeker. Sometimes we see 40! Sister Partridge and I haven't been wearing coats lately because we adapt so much to the cold -30s that 40 is now the 70s! hahah But it was snowing really badly today. We were on our way to Rifle. It was such a terrible blizzard. We couldn't see a difference from the road and the sky. scary. But we made it both ways safe. Heavenly Father was keeping an eye on us.

 

Gary's son, Hunter was at one of our lessons. Well he told Gary that he would come if I was always there. haha but it actually did get him thinking. It turns out he was really interested in the gospel a few years ago but got involved with a girl and started living with her. He has now accepted to take discussions from the Elders in Craig. (thats where he lives). We are excited because if he gets baptized that will really touch Gary's heart. Gary is so wonderful. We love that family so much. I know they will be my eternal friends.

 

We had a wonderful visit with the Denny's (the family who said they were offended and don't want anything to do with the church). Everything was straightened out. It was all a missunderstanding. Well we visited in their home. It went really well. The spirit was strong. We are reaching out to their son. He needs guidence for his future. He has only one more year left of high school. We mentioned preparing for a mission and a patriarchal blessing. I brought water in the lesson so I could clear my throat. (house is smokey) It helped but I still struggled a little. It didn't distract at all during the lesson. It was powerful. They are a wonderful family. We love them so much.

 

My scripture this week is Alma 13:24. there so so many people being prepared to hear the gospel! Go out and teach them! The gospel of Jesus Christ truly brings Happiness! I've realized that so much on my mission already! I see the blessings pouring out to the families who are keeping the commandments. Commandments keep us safe. They are blessings.

 

Well I think that is all for now. I love you all so so much! Thanks for all the letters of encouragement. They really make my day when I get them. I pray for you everyday!

 

Love,

-Sister Gampe

Burrrr...

Hey Everyone!!!

 

okay so today was FREEZING! -30 when we left to go to our district meeting at 7am. And once the sun was completely up, it was -20. It burns to breathe. I forgot the phone inside...there's a shocker. and when I opened the door to go inside, it felt like I touched my curling iron. It burned so bad because it was so cold!!

 

This week was wonderful! I have a BAPTISM DATE!!!!! Joanne. She is the one who we helped move. She has been prepared. The gospel is what she is looking for. She wants her family to be together forever. (shes the one that the teenager kids were taken away because the dad was abusive and the she was addicted to alcohol). She hasn't drank any alcohol since the kids were taken its been over 100 days. I'm so proud of her. She is working so hard to get her family back together. Her daughter Leah, who is 14 was baptized 4 months ago. We taught her the first two lessons with spiritual tears in our eyes and we asked her to be baptized Feb 23rd. We have to wait till then because she doesn't want to miss football. haha Were gonna have to work on that one. haha But it was wonderful! I'm so happy for her! she just needs to give up smoking and coffee.

 

Another investigator Rachel wants to be BAPTIZED the end of feb. She wasn't getting back to us for 2 weeks and me and Sister Partridge were really sad, and then she showed up at Brooke's baptism (8 years old) and told us she wants to be baptized the end of Feb! we are very excited for her. She just needs to give up coffee and tank tops haha. She is 23. Really cute girl.

 

We had 2 progressing investigators last week. This week we have 9!!!!!! isn't that wonderful! We are working so hard. I think I am getting the hang of using the phone. I call everyone all the time setting up appointments. The ward is really appreciating our great work. We had a missionary fireside on Sunday. I sang, "The Man With Many Names". I of course was nervous. I didn't do my best, but it wasn't horrible.The fireside was wonderful. This really amazing recent convert stood up and bore his testimony on missionary work. He was an investigator for 15 years. His wife and kids were members, but it wasn't until a special missionary taught him that he got baptized and talked about how blessed he is and how that was the best choice he's ever made. Gary (the investigator who's family is all members who has also been an investigator for 15 years) was there and I'm sure it touched him.

Sister Partridge and I sang, "I Stand All Amazed" in gospel doctrine for our teacher. It went really well. Alot of tears in the room. The spirit was there.

 

 

The Dennys. The family that I was sad that I didn't see a bright future for. I had a great idea to teach the kids separately because I wanted to meet their specific needs and help them know that they are individually special. (plus the house is so a mess, smoke filled, cluttered) It's hard to teach them when the parents are sitting there with no desire. So I talked to bishop and he also thought it was a great idea. So I talked to a member who is friends with that family, that the parents would trust the kids being taught at her house. She was fine with it. Sister Partridge called the mom and asked, and she seemed a little put off. So Sister Partridge said or we could have it at your house. She seemed so mad that we wanted to teach them somewhere else. She also asked what we were going to teach. Sister Partridge told her that for the son, God's love for us, and for the daughter the First Vision. She said she would get back to us. She calls us back flipping out that she is so offended. I had the phone this time. I told her that I was sorry and had no intentions to hurt her. I said we just thought it would be nice to teach the kids separately instead of together. I told her that we weren't trying to be secretive and thats why we told her exactly what we were teaching. She told us that the kids were never allowed to come back to church, and hung up.

 

Sister Partridge immediately started sobbing. It took a good while to get her able to go to our next appointment, which was luckily Bishops. She kept blaming herself. I was blessed to have the mindset that we didn't say anything offensive and that she has her agency. She was just looking for a reason to not let them come to church. It's sad because church is what those kids need. Bishop said that this isn't the first time and that she will be back. I keep praying for them.

 

Okay I have a huge favor for EVERYONE:

 

Toni Simmons who is a mother has cancer for the second time. She is going through chimo and is waiting for a bone marrow transplant. That is the only way she has a chance to live. She is determined and will fight to survive. She says that best thing for her is letters of encouragement. You can find her facebook "Toni's story  "10,000 reasons for my heart to shine" " I also have her address

 

Huntsman Cancer Hospital

Toni Simmons Room # 4502

1950 Circle of Hope

Salt Lake City, UT 84112

 

Please send her a card of encouragement. Everyone! Every Letter will help her. Her kids are staying in school here in Meeker, while she is being treated. Keep her in your prayers.

 

I came up with the idea that every single home needs an extra Book Of Mormon to have to hand out. Bishop ordered them and we are making a magnet for every home that says

-Pray and follow the Spirit.

-Give service.

-Develop friendships.

-Open mouths to share the restored gospel.

-Invite others to do things to increase their faith in Christ.

We have a goal for the families in our ward to have a friend eat dinner in their home with the Missionaries. They have 6 months.

Sister Partridge and I have talks next week on Missionary work. This ward is so wonderful to us.

We taught 22 lessons this week. The standard of excellence in our mission is 20! Sister Partridge says she hasn't hit 20 in a long time. :)

 

Oh we had a lunch with Tom and Bev. Tom is an investigator. They gave us each a steak the size of a dinner plate! It was huge!!!  We both ate it. I felt so sick, but I didn't want to not eat it! They both ate theirs too. It was delicious though.

 

My favorite scripture this week:

 

Ether 12:27. Weak things become strong.  I flipped to that when I was teaching a less-active family. The mom opened up to us that her husband and her were sealed together with the family. They expressed how wonderful it was and how they want to go back, but the husband is struggling with chewing tobacco. We are going to really reach out to that family.

 

Well I better get going! I love you all so much!

 

-Sister Gampe

 

Okay so there were a group of 5 huge deer all laying next to eachother! we saw 2 others in the same yard! wierd huh!

The picture of me Sister Partridge and AJ (little boy) was RIGHT after We set a baptism date with Joanne. I'm so excited!

The photos with the icicles. I had to walk in 2 feet of snow to get to those. they were so beautiful. The next picture was RIGHT after I crawled in that deep snow to get to them. It was sooo cold! While we quickly took pictures, snow was gushing in our faces.

 The next picture is a dog that likes to hang out on the roof. :)

Hair Cut

Before

Sister Moala

After

Hey Everyone!

 

I got my hair cut!!! I love it so much! I don't know what first really got me to have the desire. I've never had my hair short or dyed and so I thought that this would be a good time. Especially since I'm in No Dating mode. Don't worry mom, the dye is a total fade out, so It won't be there forever, and I won't have gross roots. I just dyed it darker with a mixed mocha. It's a really pretty color. My eye brows match really well as well. As for the length. It's so fun! my neck is so bare! I love how she cut the back so its shorter in the back than in the front. I can still do fun things to it. I like the change, but I'm sure I'll let it grow out back to long when I come home.

 

I wasn't able to e-mail yesterday because of Martin Luther King.

 

Today was transfers. I am still with Sister Partridge in Meeker. The only change is, I am now the driver. It will help me get to know Meeker better before she leaves. This transfer is only going to be 5 weeks. Sister Partridge has only 5 more weeks on her mission! Crazy!  We had 8 new Sister Missionaries come this week and 11 are coming next week. We have 180 missionaries in our Mission and it will jump up to 250! We think that they might split the mission in half. Who knows! Crazy things happening! The work is rapid!

 

I spoke on Sunday on Missionary Work. It was all about what the members can do. It turned out really great. I spoke for 15 minutes and was suppose to speak for 10. I tried so hard too. I need to work on that because it's rude. But except for that it really did go very well. Bishop restated and commented on things I said. Everyone complimented me. The ward seemed to be excited to hear from Sister Partridge and I that day. They enjoy having Sister Missionaries in Meeker.

 

We had a trio companionship from Saturday-Tuesday. We had Sister Moala. Her companion is finishing up her mission today! Sister Moala is hilarious! Her brother plays for the Colts and her cousin plays for the Ravens! I think I developed stronger abs with Sister Moala. She is just the funniest girl ever. She absolutely adores Tongans, so we visited the only Tongan family in Meeker and she was in love. The whole ward loved Sister Moala as soon as they met her. We are sad she is back in Glenwood Springs today. She actually goes home in 5 weeks with Sister Partridge. She asked me if I knew Elder Watts. I told her yes, that he served in our ward and my dad was his Bishop. She was sooooo excited and told me how that's one of her friends. She says he goes home that same week she does. I told her how wonderful of a missionary he was in our ward. She was so excited.

 

We had a busy schedule this past week. We are going to be more and more busy. Especially since we are going to visit every family in the ward and give them a Book of Mormon and Magnet that Sister Isenhour (Bishops wife) made for us. We will describe the importance of reaching out to people for friendships that could lead their friend to the gospel. It will be hard to see every family, but it will be worth it in the end. I know Meeker will be booming with missionary work.

 

 

Oh I forgot to announce to everyone that one of my best friends, KATRINA SCHAELLING is serving her mission in Urguay! So cool!

 

Sister Partridge loves eating out. Which is tough for me because I'm cheap. So she got money in the mail and she screamed, "its a sign! lets go out to eat." So we go and we saw basically the whole ward there and one family took our check and paid for it. It was so sweet. We have such a wonderful ward.

 

My favorite scripture this week was Alma 7:23-25. I love how it tells you what to do/be and the blessings that will come from it. Ahh I love The Book of Mormon! I am starting to read, Jesus the Christ. It's a tough read, but very interesting and I enjoy it. I am writing notes within the book so I get everything out of it. I am using the footnotes as well. I know it will draw me closer to Christ.

 

Well I love you all so much!

 

 

-Sister Gampe

 

PS The picture with the hair dresser is Sister Zellers. Her husband Gary is one of our investigators. We love that family so much. She wouldn't let me pay for the hair cut or dye because her sons didn't serve missions and she said this is how she funds missionaries. We had a blast while getting it done. Shes wonderful.

 

Jacob 3:7

So the work here is doing very well. I'm getting better at calling everyone to make set appointments rather than just hoping they are home. We have a very busy week. I'm excited.

This week we taught Laura again. She needs to get married to get baptized, but her boy friend Ed isn't proposing. She wants him to have the strong desire she does to get married. Poor thing. Mom if you could e-mail me your conversion story about how you decided to get baptized. I know your conversion is centered around family. Laura is 27 with a 1 year old and a boyfriend. She want's a family that we describe. I think your words would impact her tremendously. Whenever you have free time. I know that I will recieve it when It is most necessary.

Another investigator is Ray. He is extremely into the Bible and desires to be closer to Heavenly Father. He has been around Mormons and said he has never had any complaints. He is going to read The Book of Mormon. He wants another lesson with us in a month after he has read it. I know he will read it. He said he can't deny The Book of Mormon. I wish we could go see him earlier, but we need to respect him. Plus we know he will read and he needs that time to dive in the book. I think we will stop by every now and then and see if he has questions. He is very kind and respectful.

We are also teaching Gary. He is wonderful. His wife and kids are members. He is reading The Book of Mormon. I knows it's true in this head,  but he doesn't feel it yet. We highly respect him. He is a wonderful husband and father. He said that he knows he will get baptized someday....ahhh he just has some questions. But we know those are lifelong questions that the Holy Ghost can help him answer. We keep teaching him. It's never a burden to go over because he is so wonderful. He is truly easy to love. We just love him so much we want him to have the Gospel now. He goes to church every sunday but doesn't stay after sacrament meeting. We are going to try to think of a way to help him understand how much he would learn if he would stay.

We are also teaching the Hobbs family. The dad is also not a member, but he is very sweet to us. We love going over there. We taught the importance of family. We had them create a list of things they can do to strengthen there family even more. They do so many recreational activities so we have to put that as just one thing. We included family prayer, scripture reading, family home evening, family dinner, and Daddy Daughter Dates and Mommy and Son Dates. The dad thought that was the thing he wanted to work on the most. We circled it. Autumn the daughter just got baptized. She will hound him about joining the church. We are going to let her push him. haha She is so sweet.

We have a baptism this weekend. Brooke. She is eight. We are inviting everyone we know to go to that so they can see her face as she comes out of the water. It will be wonderful.

We also are teaching a little boy who is eight the lessons. He wants to get baptized, but the family that he is staying with wants to make sure he realizes that he's making the decision and not them. He needs his own testimony to rely on because his dad is not a member and his mom died when he was a baby. The dad doesn't take good care of him so this family in our ward took him and his sister. They are so wonderful to the kids. The daughter just went to the Temple for the first time and baptized her Mom. :) It was a powerful experience for her.

We are going through our area book alot. Its makes me so angry when previous missionaries don't write down detailed information. It makes it almost impossible to find the people.

We helped move out a family. The mom is moving into town. She currently doesn't have custody of the kids because the dad was abusive and she wasn't protecting them the way she should. She is having a hard time accepting that. The one daughter was recently baptized, but isn't as active because of this trial that she is going through. She finally came to church yesterday. The mom is doing everything she can to get the kids back. (they are teenagers) She has been sober for 90 days +. I'm so proud of her. She needed the help moving. At first me and Sister Partridge were the only ones there to help because her friends bailed. We called another family in our ward and they came to help. I wasn't feeling very good to begin with and then when I walked inside the house, it smelled like dead deer. I thought I was going to puke. She was so appreciative of the help we gave her. We are going to teach her very soon. We have to be careful because of the situation she is in. We realize that if her daughter goes to church, the mom cannot go. That is very tough, but she needs the gospel in her life, so we will teach her and pray that things work out.

I've gotten extremely close with the ward. We have their trust which is great because we need referrals. We do as much service as we can and also show that we are working hard. We set up a fireside that we are having the youth invite all their nonmember friends to come and write down questions about the church and we have a panel that will answer them. That will hopefully give us some interest. That will happen Jan. 27th

We also have a missionary fireside this Sunday. I am Singing at it. I don't remember the name of the song. I barely know the song. I will practice it this week...in the no spare time I have.

Oh I love the work. I love it so much. It is exhausting. It is hard. But It is wonderful and I know I am where I am suppose to be. I miss you all so much. I really do. Keep giving me updates on your lives. I love them.

My favorite scripture is Jacob 3:7 this week.  "Behold, their ^ahusbands ^blove their ^cwives, and their wives love their husbands; and their husbands and their wives love their children; and their ^dunbelief and their hatred towards you is because of the iniquity of their fathers; wherefore, how much better are you than they, in the sight of your great Creator?"

I am reading through The Book of Mormon. I'm currently in Mosiah 6 now. But when I read Jacob 3:7 I remember how Mom and Dad also told me to put your spouse before your kids. I always thought that was just their opinions, but if you look at the order in that verse, you know that it is true. You need to love your spouse before your kids and it will all fall into place. I shared that with a member in our ward the same day I read it. I think that was Tuesday. Isn't it wonderful. :) Thanks Mom and Dad

Well I will send you some pictures. I love you alll so much!

Sister Gampe