by K Fletcher

Pig Pickin'

This past week we had a whole mission conference in Chesapeake. We learned about the Atonement, the Gospel, and Ordinances, and how to teach those in every single lesson. We also started a mission wide read of the Book of Mormon with an emphasis on those topics. So my previous read through the Book of Mormon underlining every reference to the Atonement has really prepared me for this!

After that we gathered together for a real, Southern pig-pickin'. I don't know if you have heard about it, but a pig pickin' is where you cook a WHOLE PIG and then you get a couple hundred people and you eat it. Let me just tell you... it was delicious.

And I had the opportunity to gather with all the Hermanas again!

And all the Hermanas from my transfer in:

And do you recognize this lovely Hermana?

I didn't until I heard her name. Hermana Coombs. My long lost MTC companion! She made it! I was so excited to see her. The gang is all here.

It has been quite (as President Baker always says) a "revelatory experience" reading the Book of Mormon with these 6 points in mind. It helps me see how Faith, Repentance, Baptism and covenants, The gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end all relate to each other and to the Atonement.

Because that really is what it is all about. The Atonement makes salvation possible, and living the Gospel allows us to access the Atonement. How simple! How genius!

A mission is interesting, because overall you don't learn all that much new information. The church doesn't basically change because you are serving. But you change, and you learn these basic things over and over and over and over again and every single time it is miraculous. You realize the miracle of this gospel. Every time I see that I just want to go out and help everyone else see just how integral this is. It kind of goes back to, "Is it still wonderful to you?" [Gérald Caussé]

Make the gospel wonderful again.

Con Amor,

Hermana Fletcher

I also received a wonderful healthy package from my parents. Thank you so so much!

And here I am with one of the exactly 100 horse statues in Nags Head, North Carolina. Gotta catch 'em all.

8.09.2015

by K Fletcher

Teaching with Power and the Spirit

We had two huge miracles this week:
1) It was a day when our only appointment fell through and so we knew we'd just be walking and knocking on doors for 4 hours. On those days, the first IO is the hardest. Well, we walked to a house where we knew spanish speaking people lived and there was awkwardly a man sitting in his car outside of the house. We didn't know if we should knock on the house or on the car! We almost, ALMOST kept walking, but then we decided to just go for it. Turns out he has a wife and child, his grandmother in Honduras is Mormon and he'd love to meet with us! We got his number and gave him ours and not 30 seconds later, he texted us to learn our names! And then this morning he called us and said he wants to come to church! I wonder how long his grandma has been praying for us to go to that house!

2) This one has to do a lot more with me and how I teach. I just realized it, but basically my entire mission I wanted people to listen to ME. I wanted to teach the gospel instead of allowing the Spirit to do his job. Finally I realized that no one wants to listen to me. I'm only 21 and basically know nothing. But I know the scriptures are true. All of the commandments and promises of God are contained within. And so, we taught keeping the Sabbath Day Holy to an investigator, Lupe. I decided to fear no man. This wasn't my commitment, it was God's commandment. So we read Exodus 20:8-11.

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy

Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it."

I look her straight in the eye and told her that the Lord has commanded us not to work on Sunday. We read the blessings in D&C and the Sacrament prayers and she committed to come to church this upcoming Sunday. It was the most powerful lesson I've been in on on my mission.

I finally feel like a missionary. And that is really wonderful.

We've had a lot of success in contacting people. Hermana Limb and I have been trying so hard to rely on the spirit on where we need to go, which houses to knock on, who to visit, and what to say. Sometimes we get incredibly prepared investigators and sometimes it's just a bottle of water when you really need it.

We also had a really fun activity for a visiting returned missionary, Sister Garvin, and 2 investigators came, and brought 2 friends! It was really fun. Southern people really do know how to cook.

We also had the chance to go to the beach. I finally finally understand why everyone falls in love with the Outer Banks. It is lovely here. the people are prepared, the work is well, and there are so many miracles coming our way.

Con Amor,

Hermana Fletcher

PS- No change in transfers! I'm here another 6 weeks with Hermana Limb!

8.03.2015

by K Fletcher

Pictures, pictures and more pictures

This week is going to be picture heavy and word light, but first a story and a shout-out to the power of member example!

We were tracting an area and following up on potential investigators when we run into two boys. Of course, we go and talk to them and one of them, after hearing the name of our church asks if we know a certain girl. Well, she's the daughter of the Bishop. Yes, we know her. He mentions how she just moved to Hawaii for college and how he really misses her (At this point I can tell he likes her). We talk a little more and we find out that he has even come to church once! and then he comes out and tells us he really does like her, but he thought the reason they didn't date was because he wasn't Mormon. He told us that he didn't want to join a church just because he liked a girl. But then we find out he is open and would love to learn more about Joseph Smith!

That entire conversation never would have taken place if not for this lovely girl's righteous influence in the life of her friend. Quote, "Preach the Gospel at all times and if needed, us words". You are the example. Each one of you.

And now a photo essay in the life of Hermana Kelene Amethyst Fletcher:

One day were were out in the blisteringly humid heat of day for about 4 hours, just walking and tracting and trying to find people. The heat does some things to your brain.

Here I am trying to get one more person to read the Book of Mormon (I didn't think he wood branch out, but he stumped me!):

and then were may have tracted into an active member that we didn't know lived there, and she pointed out a GIANT weed in her yard to her husband while we were talking. We told her we would pull it out and she told us not to worry about it. We worried about it. and we triumphed:

We visited the lovely Buchanan Family and taught them about the Book of Mormon and how we can better apply it in our lives. They then proceeded to feed us dessert #Thisisthesouth:

This is a lovely gift from my parents. I think it fits well:

Also, every week we teach English Class at the business of our Ward Mission Leader. This is what he builds for a living. Yep. Yachts.

And of course we have our super exciting District meeting every week! We have Elders Sittoway, Richins, Alplanalp, Wardell, and Sisters Evans, Barker, Limb, and Fletcher.

This is one of the biggest struggles of the Outer Banks in the Summer: TRAFFIC. Apparently there are about 1.5 million visitors to the outer banks every week. And so a distance that normally takes 45 minutes took us 2.5 hours. Good times.

One of the biggest struggles we have in this Branch is that we can't always find a third woman to accomany us to lessons with male hispanics. So sometimes we have to cancel appointments with people that we shouldn't have to. But then we just make gift baskets for them, with ties and bubbles and church videos and pictures of the temple and Jesus Christ!:

Also, I'm almost a senior missionary! Only one more month and I hit my hump day! My companion was nice and put together this sweet little display to celebrate my 'birthday'.

speaking of gifts, the 27th was a Sister's P-day in President and sister Baker's home and we were told to bring a white elephant gift. This was my STUPENDOUS wrapping job. Top that, Curtis. (hint: it's an ancient car seat we had in our basement for some reason).

And that is my life. Transfers are in 2 weeks and the entire mission is coming together for it because apparently there are close to 50 missionaries coming in and it is going to be a mission-wide training and then transfer. Who knows what will happen!

This is the work of the Lord. And I hope you all appreciate the great blessings we have every single day because of this knowledge. Live it. Share it. Love it.

Con Amor,

Hermana Fletcher

7.21.2015

by K Fletcher

God has a work for us to do

I'm not sure if I should apologize or not for not speaking as much about my personal missionary work or not. Sometimes it is hard to speak about people you aren't sure are going to be progressing the next week or not, and then all of a sudden I'm mentioning a baptism on my blog about someone you've never really heard of. But the longer I've been on my mission the more I'm realizing that the mission does more than allow me to be an instrument in sharing the gospel so that the spirit can convert them; it helps to convert me. So even when the work isn't all there, or when I feel like I'm not making much of a difference, I can remember that God has a work for me to do, and it isn't limited to 18 months.

Now, I want to echo the words of Gordon B Hinckley:
"President Monson has spoken on retaining the convert. I endorse what he has said and wish to speak somewhat further on this same subject. I feel very strongly about it. With the ever-increasing number of converts, we must make an increasingly substantial effort to assist them as they find their way. Every one of them needs three things: a friend, a responsibility, and nurturing with “the good word of God”. It is our duty and opportunity to provide these things."

After this he gives a heart wrenching story of a convert of his on the mission who, through an unfortunate series of mis-happenings and casual neglect, left the church. Please read the whole story at https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1997/04/converts-and-young-men?lang=eng

I don't know if you personally have ever known someone who has changed their whole life for this gospel. I know there are people in your ward that need someone to reach out to them. You might think the Bishop has it in hand, or the missionaries are taking care of it, but the responsibility is yours! The way I have come to see it is like a parent. Now, I've never been a parent, and I probably won't be one for a long while yet, but I imagine having a recent convert is a lot like that. You help them find God, you help them recognize their potential, then after a time you have to let them go. You have to trust that someone will watch over them and someone will help them and that they will use their agency to choose the right. You have to trust that they will stay close to the gospel without you there. And you pray. You pray that good people will enter their lives and that God will watch over them.

In the words of Jeffrey R Holland:
"If thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.” I can hardly read those words without weeping. The plural pronoun us is obviously used intentionally. He is saying, in effect, “Our whole family is pleading. Our struggle never ceases. We are exhausted. Our son falls into the water. He falls into the fire. He is continually in danger, and we are continually afraid. We don’t know where else to turn. Can you help us? We will be grateful for anything—a partial blessing, a glimmer of hope, some small lifting of the burden carried by this boy’s mother every day of her life.”
“If thou canst do any thing,” spoken by the father, comes back to him “If thou canst believe,” spoken by the Master."

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/lord-i-believe?lang=eng

You know what? I believe in this church. The gospel is true. Of course the gospel is true, but this church is true. I have seen people reach out, sacrifice, give, mourn, and offer their lives for those in need. This church changes people. It calls them to a higher standard of living, a higher standard of being a neighbor. Of being a friend.

Find someone that needs you. Pray for the opportunities to lift the weary hands that hang down. And then do it.

And I know it is hard to balance. To quote my friend Sister Taylor Harman (serving in Manchester NH),
"Missionary work is like trying to lick a melty ice cream cone. You lick one side, and then you have to hurry and lick the back side because it's dripping again. You figure out how to teach, then you have to figure out how to work with the ward or the ward mission leader better. Then you need to make some personal improvements. Then if you figure that out it's probably time to find new people to teach again. But I like ice cream and I love being a missionary, so it's all good even though I still don't have everything figured out yet."

We are the miracle workers.

We are children of God, brothers and sisters in the kingdom.

Let's act like it.

Con Amor,

Hermana Fletcher

Sister Bradley and I showing off our height difference

Brother Kelly fully clothed in his pool. The lengths he will go to in order to get on my blog

That one time we taught a lesson to a Spanish speaking gentleman and he fed us each half a cantaloupe and then gave us Salvadorian cookies and a cake:

What happens when we try and draw a map of Utah from memory

The great comparison of the mission tan (I'm at the bottom)

Happy Birthday Krystal and Nanny

More pictures

7.14.2015

by K Fletcher

Finding Faith

Well, once again the poor library is refusing to read my camera and so I have no pictures for this week (however there are a few old ones), but I just wanted to give a short report on some miracles and some things that I have learned about faith.

Some of the beautiful things I see

First Miracle: We've been going through former investigators and a woman named Racquel stood out to us. She lived quite a ways away but had an impressive record. We stopped by without notice and when she opened the doors her eyes lit up and she invited us in. she had us sit down, teach her and her son and then requested a Book of Mormon, in Spanish for her and English for her son. She is so ready for the gospel and is absolutely adorable. She works on Sundays, but I know that with faith she can move forward.

Second miracle: This is just a testimony to planning. We had a few spare minutes and we wanted to try and see a less-active. It was spur of the moment so we didn't know what to teach. I was throwing ideas around, whatever came to mind and then Hermana Limb said, "Why don't we pray about it?" Presently humbled, I prayed for us and thought, "We should talk about teaching and learning in the church." She agreed, and while we weren't able to get in contact in that moment, later that night I was perusing my weekly planning and we had planned to talk about (you guessed it) teaching and learning in the church. Revelation is revelation, and don't deny it just because you feel like second guessing yourself.

And those both kind of tie in to my topic today. I had been speaking to my Mission President about faith and he said something profound. "Faith is when you see no evidence of God presently in your life, but you move forward like He is there. It is not expecting to walk on water, it is walking into the water and trusting that it will all work out."

Long story short, Faith is hard. It's scary. And sometimes it feels impossible. But faith gives you the strength to go on. It gives you the power to go past your normal boundaries and to trust that God will get you there. "You just pray your little heart out and trust that miracles will happen."

Because miracles do happen! and don't forget it!

I love you all and I hope that you are remembering every day to see the hand of God in your life. Find that evidence. Have faith. And move forward with the hope and the knowledge that God will provide.

Con Amor,

Hermana Fletcher

Which billy goat gruff might this be?