Quadruple up!!!!

Apr 22, 2013

Mom, I have stolen your name. I have now been called Momma Mahrt on a number of occasions, and it is so weird to be called by your name! We had to drive a van to church because there were so many of us (our quadruple up and the two other Shaker Heights North sisters) so we have even moved to the mini van stage of motherhood! And I am the little momma drivin' the mini van. Our little family keeps growing! 

I thought a triple up was fun- just imagine the possibilities with THREE companions! We can go on splits (two and two), we can be a triple up and leave one of us with another set of sisters (two triple-ups), or we can walk down streets with all four of us like a Mormon gang. So many options! It gets a little confusing when we try to explain who is companions with who (Sister Ellsworth and I are the Sister Training Leaders together, I am training Hermana Mowry and Sister Ellsworth is training Hermana Stone) but we all get along so well and it has been so much fun. Hermana Mowry and Hermana Stone are on their way to Argentina (Buenos Aires and Restistencia (sp?) ) so we get language study now!!! So fun! Sister Ellsworth and I were hoping to be able to learn a little bit of Espanol, but it turns out that we aren't a whole lot of help when we participate... (how do you say, "I need to go to the bathroom again?" or "Get that caffeinated beverage out of my face!") so we call a play date with the other visa waiters (Hermana Alicea and Hermana Johanson) and let them learn together. Sister Ellsworth is an angel (except for when she pranks you), Hermana Stone is a fiesty one (just kidding, she is just super good at giving the stink eye) and Hermana Mowry is our navigating pro (someone had to do it- the rest of us were challenged in the navigation skills area). They are all such good missionaries- I keep forgetting that they are straight out of the MTC! We even went tracting for four hours straight in gale force winds, and they didn't even complain! Love them. I already feel like I have been with them for a lot longer than a week.

Last night we had the Kirtland fireside. Sister Ellsworth and I are in charge of putting those together. It was Sister Ellsworth's first time conducting, and it was a little (a lot!) crazy. We had to set up the room last minute, find prayers right before it started, and then one of the recent converts we asked to bear her testimony didn't show up on time. Whew! Good thing we were in the front of the room- we had to look calm and collected, so we didn't have license to run around like mad women. Thankfully, it all worked out :) It always seems to do that somehow. Now I owe Sister Ellsworth a marshmallow for every day for this next transfer for throwing her into that mess! But she did SO well! Good thing she is a natural when it comes to conducting meetings, because she had ZERO time to practice!

Sandy set a baptisimal date! We are so excited! She has been ready to be baptized, she just hasn't wanted to be pushed to a date. But guess what? She is getting baptized on MAY 31st!!!! ONE DAY after I leave OHIO! I COULD NOT believe it! Don't get me wrong, I am so happy for her and her eternal salvation... but really?! Of all the days! ...but really, I am happy for her.

Love you little munchkins! 

Sister Mahrt

Apr 15, 2013
Stone Cut Without Hands
SUCH A GOOD WEEK!

I remember being at the beginning of this week, looking at our to-do list, and thinking, "If we are able to pull this off, it will be a miracle"

Well folks, this must be God's work. It is amazing what can be done with His help!

This was one of those weeks where the exhaustion just hits you like a 4x4. Right between the eyes. We have been going full throttle, and I think this week it just caught up with us. It was actually pretty funny- we would muster up all our energy and act as normal and alive as possible during lessons, then once we got in the car we resumed our half dead state until we reached our next appoinment. We were so tired we couldn't evenpretend to be energetic! The fun thing is that we were still attempting to have fun and laugh even though we could barely speak properly and think straight. It feels so good to climb in your bed at the end of the night knowing you have given EVERYTHING! I am convinced that is one of the best feelings in the world.

Kenia and Ernest are BAPTIZED! I can't believe it! Have I told you about them? Kenia is a single mother (her husband left her) with 4 kids. The oldest (16 years old) is Ernest. Kenia had to be dunked 4 times because she is a fighter- she would go down and start kicking! We were really nervous that she would let that situation make her frustrated or annoyed, but she came out laughing, saying she probably had to be baptized four times to get rid of all the things she had done :) They are the most prepared people I have met so far on my mission! They bore their testimonies at their baptism on Saturday night, and they did SO well! They sound like they were born in the church. They have been going through so much opposition, more than anyone else I have ever taught, and it seems like they have miraculously channeled that opposition to help their faith sky rocket! It is neat to see that from an outsider's perspective- it really is all about perspective and attitude.

My companions are leaving me :( I am SO sad about it! Sister Crabtree came to us at a perfect time. We didn't know what President planned on doing when he left a visa waiter to be with her, but it all worked out so well, because we NEEDED her! There is no way we could have taught Kenia's family without her. Sister Hillman and Sister Crabtree are incredible, and I have learned so much from them! I don't know what President is thinking- you can't just get these amazing people to be my companions, and then decide to rip them away from you three weeks later! It isn't humane! Sister Crabtree will be going home, and Sister Hillman is being out-zone, so she will be far away. Not happy about it.

Ah, fam, I wish I could just pull you out here for ONE DAY so you could feel this! Missionary work is so exciting right now! I mean, it is always exciting, but it is so neat to see what is going on with the world right now. It feels like with all these new missionaries coming out, everything is gaining momentum. There are a bunch of changes happening! Guess what? Next transfer, I will be training a new training sister (obviously, since my companions are leaving me) but on top of that, we will each be training a new visa waiter! The trick with visa waiters is that they aren't called to sites, so they need to be full time in the area. So... my new companion and I will be the sisters in charge of sites, but we will never be able to be here together, because one of us will be a triple-up in the area, while the other joins a companionship at sites! (Does that make sense? Yeah, it doesn't make sense to me either, I am still trying to figure out how to do this!) It is going to be a fun challenge, and I am really excited about next transfer! Do you know what I realized the other day? You know how it took awhile for me to decide to go on a mission? I was trying to figure out what to do with my life, and it didn't seem like I was getting an answer either way, and it was frustrating. Well, what if I had gotten my answer sooner? I would have been out on a mission and back before all of this had taken place, and I would have missed this opportunity of a LIFETIME! I am loving it out here- missionary work is the best!

Love you family! I think of you and pray for you often! Keep being amazing!

Sister Mahrt

Dearest Sisters!

Here are the pictures from this transfer! May we always remember that we have been called to stand in holy places so that we can gather His elect and he can fulfill His work through our service. Thank you all for your testimonies and your example of what it means to be tools in His hands. We love you soooo much! 

Your Favorite TSADS!
Sisters Mahrt, Crabtree, and Hillman

Apr 8, 2013

Promised Blessings

Hey family!

General Conference was amazing, wasn't it? I felt like I had so many of my questions directly answered. It is neat how that happens.

The family we were teaching was able to come to the church for conference, and it was neat to see her reaction. After the session, we asked the mom what she thought, and she just kept saying, "Wow... this really is a worldwide church, isn't it? I just didn't realize it was so big... wow!" I never realized how amazing it is that this truly is Christ's church filling the Earth. I mean, the church is in almost all the countries of the WORLD! How incredible is that? It is neat re-learning things through the people we teach.

For the Sunday afternoon session, we were called out on tour. It was neat that I was chosen for the tour, because it just so happened that they were all couples from the YSA bishopric in Queen Creek (there aren't that many people from AZ that come to Kirtland) and also, one of them was my long lost great cousin once removed!!! OK, I am actually not sure of our relation to her, but she is related to Heber C. Kimball through Alice Ann Gheen!! As soon as we made the connection, she grabbed me up in a hug and we got a bunch of pictures together. Kind of like a Disneyland celebrity! It was pretty cool. We talked a lot to them, and they gave me the info to their YSA ward, and told me to call and come to church in Queen Creek sometime. It was so fun! I love how inspired tours are- and it is amazing how many connections you can have with people once you get talking to them.

Almost out of time, but I have a cool story to share! This week we were teaching Kenia the Word of Wisdom. Before we got into the lesson, she was telling us about how her week went, and how she had experienced a ton of blessings that week. I listened to it in amazement, and then flipped open the pamphlet to where it talks about the blessings of keeping the word of Wisdom. I had studied it that morning, and EVERY SINGLE blessing she had mentioned was specifically described in that section. I had her read it line by line, and she was freaking out because she was so amazed how well all the blessings lined up with her week. It turns out that she 'just so happened' to be living the Word of Wisdom all along! She had alcohol, coffee, drugs, etc, before, but she had just felt they they weren't right and she shouldn't have them. ISN'T THAT AMAZING?! The Lord is preparing people to receive the Gospel!! It helped me have more confidence in the commandments of God and the promised blessings that come with them. It gave me a whole new perspective in having faith, trust and relying on Him.

I love you family!!

Sister Mahrt

Apr 1, 2013

Triple-ups are the BEST!

 

SUCH a good week! Lets see if I can get the main points in...

• Last Monday we drove the sister who got her visa to go to Tawain to the mission home. Had dinner with President Vellinga and his family. He asked us to go on exchanges as much as possible while Sister Crabtree is still here (she leaves on April 16th). We got our new companion!
• We made a goal to go on exchanges with all the Kirtland sisters. All. 30. of. them.
• Tuesday- Sister Hillman on exchanges, so Sister Crabtree and I go to sites and try to do training sister stuff. It is a miracle sites didn't burn down :) Sites has been pretty crazy this week because of spring breaks. Half way through the day, we exchanged with a sick sister and her companion.
• Wednesday- Monster planning session. Right after district meeting. Planning for upcoming firesides, training meetings, mission council... oh yeah, and our area. We stumbled out of our house looking like zombies :) It wasn't a pretty sight
• Thursday- Sister Crabtree goes on exchanges and sites and Sister Hillman and I head out to our area. Eat lunch on the curb of a city. Not the best smelling place- I gagged down my sandwich and almost lost it a few times. Found some really nice people! When we were on one doorstep, the man thought we were policewoman and said, "Oh no, what did I do this time?!" Guess we should reconsider wearing our black coats on the same day. Crazy lesson in a library. Sister Hillman is super talented. She taught the Plan of Salvation while flipping the 2 year old over her head every 1.5 minutes (he kept climbing on her back and crawl over her head). Babysitting as a missionary = madness. My comp inventory goal = learning to master multi-tasking like The Hillman.
• Training Meeting at the Morley Farm. President interviews. Exchanges- Sister Crabtree and Sister Hillman exchanged at sites with different sisters, and I went into Chardon's area with SISTER PALMER! (Remember her? The missionary I trained! aka my baby) It was so much fun to be with her! It helped me remember what an amazing missionary she is. We saw a ton of miracles. One of my favorites that day was going to dinner at Quiznos. We found it in the GPS, but when we got to Middlefield (amish country! They were all over the place! It was so fun!) we couldn't find Quiznos anywhere! We finally gave up and went to a nearby Subway. It just so happened that the lady behind the counter was a woman Sister Palmer had tracted into three months ago, who they hadn't been able to get a hold of! They were both excited to see each other, and Subway friend said she wanted to meet with Sister Palmer. Heavenly Father knows exactly where we need to be and when, and He can make it happen. Even if it means taking a Quiznos out of Middlefield.
• Saturday- switched back to our companions in the morning. The first day all three of us were together! We were asked by the primary president to bring a movie to entertain the primary while the adults hid Easter eggs around the church building. Well, turns out missionaries have a pretty pathetic arsenal of children's movies, so we ended up practicing an Easter Egg presentation that focused on Christ, and brought Lamb of God as a back up. When we got there, the primary president said it would probably better to have a movie on to engage the kids, so we put in the Lamb of God, went to the back and prayed in the back of the gym that the kids wouldn't be scarred for life. That movie is brutal for kids! Then the hunt- mass chaos. Went to a park and taught Kenia and her family. Our new method- Divide and Conquer. Teaching them together is not an option, so we each end up taking a person and teaching them individually while one sister keeps the children at bay without getting too close to them (it feels like we are the monsters on Monsters Inc- when we are around them we do everything in our power to stay away from them) Every spare minute we used finding, and every time, we found people interested in learning more! Realized we hadn't packed lunch despite Sister Crabtree sending subtle hints all morning that we needed to pack more food, so we got kids meals at Wendy's. By the end of the day we were SO exhausted from running around and laughing that I almost feel asleep getting on the top bunk of the bunk bed!
• Sunday- asked to teach Gospel Principles last minute. All our investigators came to church! One in a bright blue leather suit. ...ok, we'll take it! The seniors at sites spoil us- we pretty much ate our weight in Easter desserts. All the Kirtland Sisters are going to get diabetes. No big deal. Had some amazingly prepared people come onto chat and on the phones (I think I have come desensitized to how many amazing people come to us through the internet and the phones- they are amazing tools!) Made an Easter Egg hunt for the Kirtland sisters at sites- that was SO much fun! Who knew how competitive full grown adult woman could be? I will see if I can get Sister Hillman's pictures from that :)

And now we are at today! Sorry, this is probably TMI, but since I have been skimping you recently, I figured I would give you a more detailed explanation of missionary life :)
I love you all! Thank you so much for your emails!! I love hearing from you and glad you are all doing well! Keep me updated
LOVE
Sister Mahrt

                            From the fireside, Megan's friend from EFY.  Small world!

Mar  25, 2013
Hi Familia!

Ray, congratulations again!!!! I am so excited! ...and so glad you didn't think May was a good time to have a wedding ;)

I have been exhausted after sacrament meetings these past couple weeks- kids have so much energy! It is tough to interact with kids without holding them on your lap or getting close to them. Missionary work feels weird in that way :) 

Guess what? We will be getting a new companion! Sister Crabtree! She leaves in 3 weeks from the mission. Her companion that she has been training just had her visa to Taiwan come through, so she will be leaving on Tuesday morning. This will be the first time there will be a triple-up (3 companions) as training sisters in the history of Kirtland! We talked to President Vellinga about it a few times- we think it will make it more efficient to go on exchanges to have three, so we are going to try it out. She is an awesome missionary, and I am so excited to be her companion! We are driving up to the mission home tonight to conference with President to see how we can make this situation most effective. 

We took a family on tour yesterday. Families are SO FUN. They are still my favorite to take on tour. I love watching them interact, and watching how they bring personality and neat insights to the tours. Being on a mission and being in families homes has really strengthened my testimony of how the gospel blesses families. Heavenly Father knew exactly what He was doing when He put us into families! Even though you all have to put up with my wacko personality sometimes, it was meant to be, so good luck with that ;) 

LOVE YOU all so much! Have a good week! Happy Easter!

SIster Mahrt

Mar 18, 2013
We are missionaries...
This has been a good week! We have a Jewish neighborhood in our area, so we went tracting there this week. That was... interesting :) We kept trying different approaches- "Hey, this a book about prophets!" Slam. "...families can be together forever!" "We know!!" Slam. "We are missionaries..." <---- That was actually a funny one- complete melt down at the door. The slam came after the tantrum. Needless to say, we didn't use that approach after that :)

Sorry, this is super lame. Gotta go. Love you family! The church is so true!

Sister Mahrt

Later...
Our stake is really pushing missionary work too! We just heard that in the Solon ward (my last ward) the Stake President got up at 4:15a Sunday morning, and knew that he had to redo his talk to focus specifically on missionary work. Then he called the ward members to repentance! Mind-blowing! That ward is so solid, and I am excited to see how things change once they focus on missionary work. There are going to be miracles in Twinsburg for sure! 

We had our Kirtland fireside last night. The training sisters are in charge of getting that all together by asking for recent converts from the stake/mission to come and bear their testimonies, then find keynote speakers, musical number, etc. We had everything set up, when two days before Sunday our recent converts let us know they weren't going to be able to make it. We scrambled through all the recent converts to find someone, and everything got thrown together last minute. I was conducting, and we were making a bunch of last minute changes. Freaked. Me. Out. But you know what was so cool? Everything came together so perfectly! The recent convert who spoke had prepared quite a lengthy testimony, which was perfect for the investigators who came, and Elder and Sister Sorensen (Kirtland site directors) shortened their talks to a perfect length- they were short and powerful. The spirit was so strong, and afterwards everyone lingered for hours (much to the senior couples dismay- they are the ones who had to stay and lock up for the night :) It is amazing how well He knows what needs to happen, and how little stressing about things really does other than give us ulcers. He is so in charge.

Mar 11, 2013
Shake N Bake
Hi Fam Fam!

I have p-day on Mondays now! 

So- Transfer Info. I am now serving in the Shaker Heights ward (Shake n' Bake ward). It has been so fun so far. It is a totally different ward from any other ward I have been in, and I love it already. I am now the training sister in Kirtland, which just means I am in charge of serving the Kirtland sisters and the site director. One of our responsibilities is to make the schedule for the sites. Wow. ...just wow. That is something else! We had two new areas open up, and we don't have enough cars, so we have been trying to make the schedule work around sharing cars and ward activities. I am SO glad Sister Hillman knows what she is doing! She is so awesome- an amazing leader and such a good people person. She actually reminds me a lot of you, Lexy. We have been taking care of things at sites, and on Saturday I was able to go to our area. It was the funniest day- our plans were completely messed up, changed around, and by the end of the day we accomplished everything we had planned on doing, it was just in a completely different order. We even took a church tour in a church without carpet! (The carpet was being ripped up and replaced) We even had a family we are teaching come to church on Sunday! Mom and Dad, I have NO idea how you were able to keep us preoccupied and focused during church! It was insanity :) But they are the cutest little family, and we are so excited to be teaching them.

Since I have been at sites so much more, I feel like I have already gained so much more of a testimony of Kirtland. Yesterday we took a tour, and the entire time we were struggling to find out if he was an active member or not- it was hard to tell with what he was saying and the questions he was asking. It was a neat tour, and I felt like we were really directed by the spirit to share certain stories and facts we do not normally share. At the end of the tour, we were walking him back to his car, and he asked how many of the people who come are members of the church. We told him it is about 80% members, 20% people of other faiths. He paused, then shared with us how much he had needed the tour today. He told us his life in a nutshell- how he had gone on a mission, but then fallen away. After years and years, he had been able to come back, and had made a lot of progress in the several months. You could tell by his sincerity how much the church meant to him now, and Kirtland had really touched him. When people who come help share their testimony with us, it reaffirms once again how true the gospel is and how much of a difference faith in Jesus Christ can have in our lives. Faith makes all the difference in the world.

I love you all so much! Be good. Go to heaven. Don't get translated.

Sister Mahrt

Mar 5, 2013

Whirlwind

This week has been the slowest whirlwind.  Time is so strange.

This transfer is going to be crazy. There are 29 new missionaries (I came in with about 13 missionaries and we were considered a big group. Back in those old days), 10 of them are new sisters. Six are Kirtland sisters. Which means there are a ton of areas training, being opened up, and it sounds like EVERY companionship will be affected this transfer. That is really saying something, because President Vellinga normally tries to make minimal changes. Next transfer is going to be a huge influx of missionaries again, and the one after that too. I don't know where he is going to find all the trainers he needs to train these missionaries! Good thing he is going by inspiration. He is going to need it!

We have been setting up Twinsburg for a new missionary. They are going to love Twinsburg, especially Sister Neslen and the ward. I am sad I am not staying here until the end of my mission, like I was thinking would happen, but it will be really good wherever I go, I am sure.

We have been doing service for an incredible lady we found. She just so happens to be a cook, and she made food for us the other day. Homemade lasagna. Woof. (Sister Neslen's exclamatory word) It was so good! Then we had angel food cake. It made me think of how we March birthdays would have angel food cake with strawberries for our birthday. Good memories :) She is so cool- she tried to invite her friend from work to meet with us because he is going through a hard time. That floored us! People are normally so scared to invite people over when we come over for dinner, but here, someone who is not even a member of the church, recognized that we could help and did all she could to get him there to help him. It made me see how much I need to improve when I get back home. Before my mission I would have never thought of having one of my friends come over for dinner so they could meet the missionaries! I think people go on missions so they can learn how to do missionary work :)

We have a bunch of stuff to go do to set up the apartment and area, so we don't have a whole lot of time to email today. Sorry! Just know that I love you all, and I could use your prayers right now.

LOVE YOU!
Sister Mahrt

                      Love this District!  I served over half of my mission in the Solon District.