Hello!

Hey y'all,

This week we sisters of the T-Stat 2 area have been battling sickness.  Well, not me.  Just mainly Sister K.  But we have been working together to overcome this rather inconvenient opposition and while it's still a work in progress, she is feeling much better!

This week we were able to meet with Jeff again!  We went with a member, Sister Purdon, and discussed what questions he had about the Book of Mormon.  Mainly, we taught him about how to receive an answer from God that the Book of Mormon is true.  The lesson went very well and Sister Purdon was super excited about how well the lesson turned out and was glad she was able to go with us. Sometimes I forget that lessons with a member present are not just for the investigator's benefit...the lessons also bless the members that come with us!  The Spirit was there and we are looking forward to seeing him again.  He is not quite ready to involve his family in the lessons yet but he's working his way there!

That's the main thing that happened this week.  

We were also able to see Isabella and we brought a beehive with us.  That lesson went very well too.  Isabella is so excited to be baptized but she still has not made it to church so that is the main thing we are going to focus on in upcoming visits.

Small world discoveries: we had dinner with the Chambers, who are members in the ward and it turns out that Sister Chambers' father's mother is the oldest sister of my Grandma Edna.  So basically, we are second cousins!

I hope all y'all are doing well!

Shout out to Mrs. Kylie Smith, congratulations! :)

Sister Ririe

Abundant doormat window shopping is one of the hidden benefits of being a missionary.

Spilled Coke, Tadpoles, and Teaching, oh my!

To start off our week splendidly, we discovered a wonderful surprise in the backseat of our new car, Monday evening.  To preface, we dropped by to see a less-active family last week, and the kid, Jeff, answered and said they weren't available but he offered us a drink of water so we gratefully accepted.  He comes back out with two cans of coke and apologizes that they are actually out of bottled water and we felt guilty for refusing the coke so we told the cans of soda and left hem in the back of the car.  I eventually took mine inside our apartment but Sister Kronmiller left her's in the car.  Come Monday, I look back from the driver's seat, trying to retrieve my bag, and I realize that the Coke's top lid is almost completely ripped off and all of the soda has spilled or splattered all over the car.  How delightful.  Exploding coke.  RIP Sisters Ririe and Kronmiller.  

We spent that evening buying carpet shampoo, scrubbing out the coke, and vacuuming it up.  All throughout the week however, we keep discovering more previously unseen coke splatters so...the adventure has been on going!  But we think most of it is out so that's a relief.

Hello everyone, how goes life!?

We were finally able to see Jeff on Tuesday!  We talked about the Restoration and discussed the priesthood, General Conference and opposition.  It's been 3 weeks since we've been able to successfully meet with him, even though we keep in touch by sending him texts of suggestions to read from the Book of Mormon.  We talked about the adversary and how Satan does not want him to come closer to Christ so he will experience opposition as he continues to investigate and learn more about the gospel.  One example of opposition is our not being able to meet for those three weeks because different things kept coming up.  Jeff said that he'd thought about that before we came to see him and mentioned that it was actually sort of "validating" to see that this gospel is good because there is opposition in seeking and living it.  That is such a great example of how we can either let our trials and opposition we face deter and frustrate us or challenge and strengthen us.  The Spirit was present and Jeff is so interested in learning more.  We invited him to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized and asked him to pray this week about whether he should be baptized.  He said he would and we're planning to see him again tomorrow!

District meeting on Wednesday was awesome.  Everyone is new to the area except us and Elder Berryhill, who is the ZL.  There are 5 greenies in our district!  Crazy.  

On Thursday, we contacted a referral from a recent convert named Amanda.  We weren't able to teach her a lesson but we asked her if she'd like to learn more about our church and take the discussions and she said yes!  She is so sweet.  We set an appointment for later this coming week and we're so excited to begin teaching her.

Also on Thursday, we tried to see a potential investigator naked Patrick but he wasn't available and his Dad answered instead.  His dad is so nice and he told us more about their children.  Guess what!  They adopted four kids from Asian countries!  Two from Korea, one from the Phillipeans, and one from China.  Soooo cool!

Come Friday, we had dinner at Allison and Mike's and followed up on our invitation to them to read the Bible with a question.  They both had such good experiences with doing that challenge.  Mike had a question about how to know where to read, when he's got a question.  There are several different answers that I could have given and more that I could have added, upon reflection, but I testified that while I don't know where to find those answers, God does.  I've seen while on my mission, a steady routine of reading from the scriptures and talks every day has helped me find answers to my questions.  Sometimes I find answers to questions I've wondered for years, sometimes I find answers to questions that I haven't even fully formed yet, and sometimes I find that the answer is scattered across the scriptures and its discovery must be found in patience and line upon line.  That reminds me of a quote from Elder Holland: "Some blessings come soon.  Some come late.  And some don't come till heaven.  But for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come."  As another commitment, we invited them to begin reading the Bible diligently every day, even if it were for only five minutes.  They happily agreed.  

We actually went back to their home the next day to help them relocate some tadpoles which were living in a kiddy pool in their backyard.  There were so many baby tadpoles!  But they didn't want to kill them, so we offered to do some service and help them move the tadpoles to a nearby stream.  Operation: Tadpole Relo 2016 was a success!

Much love,

Sister Ririe

Slow but Fun Times

Oh, the lovely random things one will see when driving past people's front lawns...(picture1)

We received transfer calls this weekend and Sister Kronmiller and I are staying in this area-yay!  But crazy things are happening in other areas.  Nobody in our district is staying, all of them are being whitewashed out.  Many, many changes are coming about, with President Stone as our new leader!

We had trainer/trainee meeting on Tuesday and I got to see Sister Burton again:). There were great trainings given and afterward, Sister Kronmiller and I came back to our area, feeling completely spent, but it was only 2 o'clock!  Fun times, fun times!

The week was rather slow.  So many appointments fell through and had to be rescheduled for this week instead.  My companion and I are determined to find many people next transfer (this week) and build our teaching pool!!

We met with Allison again!  Well actually, she met with us.  She took us out to lunch again, at Cracker Barrel, and we had a fantastic time!  She and her husband, Mike, are so eager to have us over again, so we set up a tentative time to go to their home and teach them again, later this week.  

To end this transfer off on a good note, I finished reading through the Old Testament in my personal studies, today.  There are a myriad of stories and prophecies that I'd seen quoted or referenced but it was a fun treasure to finally understand and read the sources of those references on my own.  Additionally, I finished 2 Nephi 33, which is my favorite chapter of the Book of Mormon!  The departing testimony of Nephi is so powerful.  "And if he shall believe in Christ he will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they should teach all men that they should do good.  And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye-for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words..." (2 Nephi 33:10-11)

I know that the Bible and he Book of Mormon are the Word of God and that the Lord has blessed us immensely by giving us these volumes of scripture.  And I know that God loves each of us so much that He wants us to pray and ask Him in faith, sincere desire, and real intent, if these scriptures are true so that He can give each individual a unique and personal answer.

I hope all y'all are doing well!

Love,

Sister Ririe

Ya Ain't Born 'Til You's Tried Goulash

It was a very odd week.  As I reflect back on what we did, it feels like we didn't do much but in reality, we did a LOT of different things.

We tried all weekend and Monday to find a member to come with us to Jeff's teaching appointment and after many, many calls, we found a Sister who could potentially come with us.  Come Tuesday morning, right before our appointment, we call to confirm that she is coming but her plans changed and she could not make it.  So we had to reschedule our appointment for Friday.  

Later that afternoon, we had an appointment to teach a 9-year old girl named Isabella, but we did not have any plans of things to do before her lesson, so we knocked on some doors while we tried to kill 40 minutes.  It was a very interesting tracting experience.  We accidentally knocked on the door of some active members, whom we didn't recognize immediately...#awkwardmissionarymoments (in our defense, they had not been to church in a very long time because of summer vacation).  We also passed by this one house who had a drummer practicing in the garage and the music was very loud, even though the garage door was closed.  They didn't hear us knocking so they didn't answer, which I was kind of disappointed about because that drummer was very talented.  

The coolest part of that tracting time was meeting the Robinson's.  Toward the end of the hour, we knock on a door and a mom answers and introduces herself as Amber.  We talk to her for a minute and she says she has a belief in Christ but her husband is much more knowledgable about religious stuff and would be better suited to talk with us so she went inside and got her husband, Jeffery, to step outside and converse instead.  Jeffery is such a cool guy.  He's researched and read many religious texts on his own, including the Book of Mormon.  Haha, he said he'd rate it as a 6 on a scale of 1-10.  He doesn't go to church right now because he has been doing chemo treatment on Sunday's.  We testified that the gospel blesses us and brings joy to people in this life, and not just the life to come, and he was interested in that.  We asked him if he'd like to hear the messages we share and he said yes, and gave us his number!  I'm very interested to see how this turns out.  #WhyareallthecoolpeoplenamedJeffery?  

Right after that, we booked it to Isabella's lesson and set a baptismal date with her for September 3:). She is such a sweet girl!  The most difficult obstacle will be her coming to church.  Her mom is not a member and her Dad and older sister travel on the weekends, all the time for softball games.  Softball is very important to them.  The Elders told us that her sister is like, the number one pitcher in the nation for her age.  Softball season has slowed down during August though, so hopefully, we'll be able to see her more often and help her family gain a testimony of the importance of attending church.

Apparently Tuesday was a very eventful day because we met with a former investigator named Connie that evening.  She is so fun.  Her sister is an active member, in one of the Franklin wards. She was telling us about a great new recipe she found for Goulash.  When she heard that neither one of us had heard of or tried goulash, she was absolutely floored and told Sister Kronmiller, "Child!  You ain't born yet til you's tried goulash!  What about Gumbo?"  Haha, she was dismayed that we hadn't eaten true gumbo either...we only have heard of it from the Princess and the Frog movie.  She promised she'd make some for us to eat later.

On Wednesday, we had our district meeting at the Franklin stake center, which is right next to the Nashville temple!  We also tracted into a really nice lady named Mandy.  We gave her a Book of Mormon and she said she'd read it that night!  She was really interested in the messages we teach as missionaries, partly because she has a co-worker friend who is an active member of our ward too.

Remember that drummer I mentioned earlier?  On Thursday, we were driving around, trying to contact less-active members and it turns out that, that home belongs to the Green family, in our ward.  And they are all very talented musicians in a band together.  They invited us in and played some songs for us, which was awesome!  The music was very loud and both Sister Kronmiller and I had the epiphany that the Green's were practicing when we'd knocked, earlier that week.  We're kind of glad they didn't hear us knocking and answer because that would have made two awkward accidental tracting into members, experiences in one day.

Friday...we were so excited to meet with Jeff!  But then we didn't.  We finally found a member to come with us but he didn't show up and didn't answer any of our calls or texts.  We went back home, very confused and worried that something had happened.  Thankfully, he texted us later in the day apologizing for missing the appointment because he'd slept past it.  He'd been up all night at the hospital for a family emergency but thankfully all is well and we rescheduled to see him tomorrow afternoon.  He has still been reading the Book of Mormon and found Alma 26:22 to be a fascinating verse.  We are so excited to keep teaching him.

Yesterday, we had dinner with the Ward family and they made donuts for dessert.  Did you know that canned biscuits, deep fried and coated with glaze and sprinkles, makes a super delicious donut?  They were so good!  Sister Kronmiller and I regret eating so much of their good food because Connie asked us to come over that evening and try the goulash she made.  Two things: one, that goulash was simply amazing! Two, I was ready to die from so much food.  Anyhow, Sister Kronmiller talked with Connie about her previous experiences with missionaries and it turns out that the Elders actually hadn't taught her a whole lot.  We boldly but kindly asked her if taking the discussions to see if the gospel had something to offer her, was something she'd be interested in, and she said yes!

What a great week.  I'm thankful to be in this area, serving with a fantastic companion and meeting so many good and fun people.

Sister Ririe

Be Bold!

Hello, my family and friends!

This week in the Thompson Station/Spring Hill area, we were able to have dinner with Allison (remember the crazy self-referral we had our first week?  Yeah, that's her!) and her husband and teach them a lesson.  I was worried that since they knew "all about our church and beliefs" and loved missionaries but hadn't been converted yet, that they would become eternigators (investigators who take the lessons forever with no real change happening), but I don't think that's the case with them.  Allison's husband, Mike, was really nice as well and they both would keep on speaking about their admiration for us missionaries and how much they love church members.  Allison said something which really intrigued me though, she said she's done Moroni's challenge, and that she did not feel anything or any pull towards the Book of Mormon, like she does with the Bible.  We invited them to read the Book of Mormon with a specific question in mind.  They said they weren't ready to do that but they would like to do that with the

 Bible instead.  I had the impression while we changed the commitment, that the reason why Allison would rather read the Bible was because she did not have faith that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God and did not want to be disappointed if nothing came of the challenge.  We will be seeing them again and I am eager to work with both Allison and Mike to help build their testimonies of this gospel.

We were not able to meet Jeff but we will be seeing him tomorrow:). We were able to text him reading suggestions and recommend that he read Alma 26 in the Book of Mormon.

We went on exchanges this week too!  I stayed in the area and worked with Sister Ro.  She is my Meridian, Idaho buddy!!  She is really fun and I learned a lot from her.  I've been working on being a better missionary so that I can have the Spirit with me more often, especially as I teach, and Sister Ro gave me a lot of insight as to how I can improve, even though she didn't address my concern directly.  One major thing I learned from her, is I have an increase in my boldness as a missionary.  So many times, I let teaching opportunities pass me by and I know that there are several instances when I can turn the situation into a moment to preach, teach, and testify of a gospel truth, but do not seize the opportunity to do it, right then and there.  It takes a lot of courage and boldness, and I am creating a goal for myself to be more bold as a missionary.  I know that the Lord will bless me and this area for my efforts.

I hope all is going well at home.  4-H sounds like it was crazy and fun!   I love all y'all.

Keep it casual.
Sister Ririe

 Allison taking them to lunch.

Allison visited Nauvoo and brought them souvenirs.

Faith is like a seed. You gotta plant it first!

Hi peoples!

On Tuesday, we saw Jeff again.  We met in his office and we had a member with us.  We mainly answered his questions about the Book of Mormon.  He's read...probably around 20-30 chapters or so.  It's really cool to just listen to him relay his experience.  He told us that he'd read a half chapter or chapter, then put the book down and work on other stuff.  And then 10-15 minutes later, he'd find himself drawn back to the book and reading it again.  He said that when he reads the Book of Mormon, he finds nothing that conflicts with his beliefs so far.  And even more interesting of an observation is, he feels good and at peace when he reads it...the same feeling he has when he reads the Bible.  He said that it's kind of scary.  And when I think about it, yeah.  It would be kind of jarring and scary.  He's a grown man.  He has a wife and family.  He's comfortable and established in his life.  And then two random young girls show up on his door and give him a small blue book that turns out to be the Word of God.  Like...yeah, if I were in a position like that, it'd rock my world too!

Jeff is wanting to learn more.  We told him we have a series of discussions that break down the fundamentals of our beliefs and he'd like to take those!  Also, we texted him later in the week and suggested he read Alma 32, which is a great sermon about faith, and let us know what his thoughts were.  He replied back that verse 27 impressed him, which says, "But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words."  He said, "Wow.  To me that means just try it and see if the feeling comes and grows.  Then you'll know it's real."  Jeff is so right.  This gospel is not to be read about, it is to be lived and enjoyed.  Faith is an act.

It was the 5th or so time that we tried dropping by, but we were finally able to meet a less active member, Sister Rees.  Her story is incredible and we absolutely love her.

Zone conference was on Wednesday .  We had great trainings by President and Sister Andersen, and the APs.  The Spirit was present and and I learned many things.  We had to switch out our truck for another car, but I'm not complaining.  It's a brand new, little red 2016 Toyota Corolla.  I've always wanted a small red car!  It's name is Cherith and it is awesome.

Today, we went downtown to Nashville with the Gopinath's and enjoyed brunch at Pancake Pantry.  I don't like pancakes but these were heavenly.

Overall, all is great here in Spring Hill/Thompson Station.  I have a great companion and I'm so great full to be a part of this marvelous work.

I love y'all and hope all is going well.  Congrats Skyler!  I still think it's kind of weird I could be a great aunt in a year or so.

Love all y'all!

Sister Ririe

TS Adventures

Hey, everyone!  It has been a fantastic week!

On Monday evening, we were able to go tracting on a street called Liverpool Dr.  We talked to a few interesting people but none showed much interest.  As we finished the right side, I looked at my watch and realized that our tracting power hour was over but we didn't have any plans for the rest of the evening so we decided to start tracting the other side and just continue on.  A few houses down, we meet two teenage girls who are cousins.  And Sister Kronmiller, being the happy, bubbly, lovable girl that she is, immediately befriended them like she's known them for ages:) and we were invited inside to talk with them more.  We only had one Book of Mormon to give them but they were interested in reading it and wanted us to come back.

And then, we get home for the evening and we received a text that we had a referral from Church Headquarters.  It said the investigator's name was Jeff, and that he'd gone onto Mormon.org chat and that he wanted a copy of the Book of Mormon and that he'd met sister missionaries before and wanted to meet them again.  I looked at his address and it said Liverpool Dr!  Like...whoa!  I showed the text to Sister Kronmiller and we both thought it was so surreal but cool to realize that the "sister missionaries" he'd spoken to, were us, just a few hours earlier!  We mentally thought through all of the different people with whom we'd spoken and left a pass-a-long card but couldn't quite remember who this "Jeff" guy was.

We contacted him in the morning and arranged a time to meet him at his work.  Turns out, Jeff wasn't the guy who Sister Kronmiller and I had guessed he was.  Jeff was actually the guy who told us he was Baptist and not interested.  Our visit with him lasted for about 2 or 3 minutes at most.  When we asked him why he wanted to meet with us again, he said that after we left and he went back inside his home, he just had the impression that something about us and our exchange with him "felt right," and he couldn't quite place why he was feeling that way.

Anyhow, he got onto the website and was impressed by the advanced system of being able to "chat" with a missionary and ask them to call the exact same sisters whom he'd spoken with, back, even though he didn't remember our names.  That whole story just strengthens my testimony of the importance of leaving something behind.  I don't even want to think about what would have happened if I hadn't last minute asked him if we could leave our card with him and pointed out the website at the bottom!  

We gave him the Book of Mormon and explained some of its history and left him with 3 Nephi 11 to read.  Later that same day, he texted us again and reported some of his thoughts on the chapters he was reading.   He said it was simple and easy to understand and it was interesting to him that Christ "shared himself with people other than the Isrealites."  We are so excited to meet with him again, this week!

In addition to that, we had lunch with Allison, that afternoon!  She is such a fun and wonderful lady.  She told us more about her fascination with LDS history and the Mormon religion.  She knows so much about us and even actively uses the Gospel Library app:). She actually has been gone this past week because she is on her 4th trip to go see Nauvoo!  The most interesting thing she told us though, is that she and her husband have not ever heard the formal missionary discussions.  I think that's the most crazy part about all this!  And she would love to have us over to her home when she gets back, to teach them a lesson!

On Thursday, we went over with a member to help a mom named Danielle, finish unpacking in her new apartment.  She'd come across the country from Oregon to Tennessee, with her three kids, for a fresh start in life and her brother, who is a recent convert, felt inspired to call the Thompson Station 1st Ward and ask them to help her move in.  Danielle knew that missionaries were coming over to help out and so we worked on her daughter's room while Danielle and Sister Bria, the member, worked together in the kitchen.  We waited until Danielle and Sister Bria started talking about the gospel and questions Danielle had, before joining the conversation.  Sister Kronmiller and I didn't actually end up saying much though because Sister Bria did most of the talking and she did a fantastic job of sharing her testimony of the gospel with Danielle.  In the end, we asked Danielle if she wanted to take the missionary discussions and she said yes!  Even though she is in the 1st Ward's boundaries, the decision has been made that we sisters are better suited to teach Danielle.  

It's very unusual for missionaries to be teaching people out of their area, let alone as many as we are.  We'll be teaching Allison, Danielle, and another girl named Alli.  All of these people were referred to us and technically, we aren't supposed to teach them, but each investigator was given specifically to us because we are Sisters.  That kind of makes me nervous because I feel like a lot of people are now relying on us to make things work out!  Haha I'm so relieved that nobody's salvation is reliant upon me and that I can just turn it all to the Lord.

I'm thankful for this gospel and the light it brings to my life.  I'm thankful for my Savior and His infinite sacrifice.  I know that Christ lives and the work we are doing is true.  I y'all are enjoying the summer.  I have a full-time truck now so I'm doing less walking in the sun.

Until next week!

Sister Ririe