Monday, December 9, 2013
Christmas in Norwalk!
Hello everyone!! Thank you for all of the emails this week. I love getting emails. So fun! It was fun to see all the pictures from Mccall all the way in Norway! This week was really great. On Tuesday we went to Kirtland for the Christmas Mission Conference. Yay I was soo glad to be going to Kirtland again. We live about 2 hours away from Kirtland so we had to get up and leave at 7am. Yikes. We got to the temple 20 mins early and the whole mission was out in front socializing. It was a great sight to see. Everyone was so happy and excited. I loved being able to see all my friends and past missionaries that I had served with. Not to mention it was great to see all my Kirtland Sisters again and all of the Kirtland Senior Missionaries. We spent about 2 hours inside the Kirtland Temple. All of the Stake Presidents from the whole mission were there and they bore their testimonies to us. Also Elder Seldon (the area authority) spoke to us as well as Karl Anderson. It was so great. We sang lots of Christmas hymns and the Spirit of God. It was really powerful to have the whole entire mission inside of the Kirtland temple together. President Vellinga spoke to us. For those of you who know President Vellinga you know how awesome he is. He is so hilarious and powerful and spiritual. It was a great meeting. After we spent some time in the temple we went down to the stake center for lunch. The Kirtland stake was so great to feed all 250 missionaries. We pulled up to the stake center and Connee and Chuck were there! It was soo great to see them and get to talk with them. They are so great. They are really solid in the church. I am proud of them. I feel so blessed that all of my converts are so solid in the church. It makes me really sad to see converts get baptized and then leave the church. That just means that I need to be super in tune with the Spirit and make sure that they are fully converted before they are baptized. About a month ago the APs asked every misssionary to submit a picture of them with their companion and a picture of them at a baptism and then write a short miracle that we have seen on our missions. During lunch they had a slide show of all of the pictures and they showed it to us. It was so much fun. They complied all of the miracles into a book and gave that to us as a Christmas present. It was so cool!!! After lunch we went to the Visitors' Center to take a mini tour. They want everyone to bring more investigators to take a tour so they made sure that the missionaries knew what happened on tours. They also gave us some time to look at all the the nativities that were set up. After that we went back to the stake center and President Vellinga spoke to us. I just love him and his wife. It was really powerful to have the whole mission together.
Remember our investigator Chris? Well he confessed his love for me and pretty much said that he isn't interested in the church but forming a relationship with him. Shoooottt! We tried to salvage it by saying that he feels happy when he is with us because it is the Spirit and not love but he wasn't buying it. Hopefully one day he comes to know that this is the true church.
We have been working with a less active and a 12 year old girl that lives with here. It has been going really great. On Monday her dad came home and he said that he is really, really thankful that we have been meeting with his daughter, Honor. He said that he really wants her to make good choices and it is really great that she has role models like us. We asked him if he would want to meet with us and we sent up an appointment for a few days later. Wow it went so great. His name is Jason. He has a really strong faith in Christ. He has made some mistakes in his past and he recognizes that it is his job as a father to make sure that Honor doesn't make the same mistakes as him. We gave him a For The Strength of Youth and he loved that he had a guide to what he needs to be teaching Honor. They both accepted Baptism for Jan 11!!!!!
Saturday was our ward Christmas Party. It was a lot of fun and super easy. It was pot luck and tons of food showed up!!!!!! Jason and Honor came and they loved it. This super cute family talked with them the whole night and they set up a possiblity to do FHE at their house sometime. I love love members that are doing missionary with without us pestering them. Jason and Honor couldn't come to church yesterday because Jason had to work but they are planning on coming this Sunday. I am really proud of Jason for stepping it up as a father and recognizing that he can help his daughter turn out to be a great person.
I think that is everything that has been going on this week. Oh yeah.... Chris Mikucki got the Priesthood and has been blessing the Sacrament. He is also going to the temple in 5 days to do baptisms!!! I am seriously so proud of him. His whole family is against him joining the church and he has continued to do what he knows is right. YAY Chris!!!!!!!
Well I love being a missionary so much. Next week is transfers so we will see if I end up back in Kirtland again. I love you all and I am so grateful that I have so much support!!!!! Thank you for everything that you do for me.
PS It is fffrrreeeezzzzzziiinnnggg here in Norwalk. haha! Good think I have tons of warm clothes.
PPS This autistic girl sitting next to me just yelled at me for trying to help her with her computer. hahaha!!!! Good thing I can put up with that because of all my practice with Austin!!
Sister Frampton
PPPS Don't forget that my birthday is December 23 :)
It's December
Hello everyone that I love. Thank you for all the emails this week. It looks and sounds like everyone had a really great Thanksgiving. I had a really awesome one myself. We were invited over by a member and all of the missionaries in the ward went (there are 6). The meal was so yummy and it was complete with pumpkin pie. It was really fun. 1/2 of us dressed up as indians and the other 1/2 dressed up as pilgrims.
We have still been meeting with Chris. We had some good lessons with him. We taught him about the Book of Mormon and it went really good. We got a call Wednesday night saying that we got permission to go to KIRTLAND!!!!!!!!!! I was so excited to go back to the place that I love and see all the sisters that are there. Our plan was to take Chris and have our less active Tara drive us. I spent Thursday and Friday morning teaching Sister Warden about the Whitney Store so she could give the tour with me. She is really smart and she remembered the facts really well. When Friday came I couldn't focus all morning because I was so excited to go to Kirtland. We left at 2:00. Kirtland is a 2 hour drive. We had a lot of fun in the car. It was really great to be back in Kirtland. I really wanted Chris Mikucki to take the tour with us. I thought that he could be a good help for our investigator Chris. (Sorry Connee, I know you hate the word investigator) I called Chris and he was able to come take the tour with us. The Spirit was really strong in the store. WOW!!! Chris Mikucki gave a really great testimony of the church. He has come so far and we were very impressed with him. He's amazing. After the tour Kirtland was having it's annual Light up Kirtland celebration. We didn't know that was going on but we were so glad that we were there. We had wrapped all of the trees with Christmas lights back in October so it was fun to see them all lit up. A lot of people from the Shaker Heights ward were there and that was great! Chris and Tara said that they really liked it and they had a great time. We had a lesson with Chris on Saturday and it was really, really weird. He said that he doesn't need God's help with anything. He thinks it is selfish to ask God for help. We also found out that he doesn't believe in Jesus or the Bible. He thinks that there is truth in the world for each person and that there isn't just one universal truth. We don't really know how to help him. It was a weird lesson. Chris said that he would come to church on Sunday but he didn't. That can be frustrating sometimes. After church we called Chris's friend Keaton and scheduled a lesson with him. Keaton is so awesome. He told us how he came to find God and we really felt the Spirit as he talked. He told us that he prays a lot and really tries to follow the Spirit and do what God wants him to do. We started teaching the Restoration and he agreed with everything- up until we started talking about the Book of Mormon. (Oh ya I forgot to remind you that Keaton is the guy we met last week. Keaton had met with missionaries in the past so he knows a lot about the church. ) Keaton does not understand the need for the Book of Mormon. We bore testimony of it and showed him scriptures but nothing worked. It started to get a little heated and he said that he would never ever read the Book of Mormon. Any advice?? Connee? He is a born again so I need your advice. He said that he would like to meet with us again so that is good.
This week has been really good. We are working hard and trying to help people progress. I love Norwalk and all of the people here. Tomorrow the whole mission is meeting in the Kirtland Temple for mission conference. So fun!!! I'm excited to be back in Kirtland again!!! Twice in 1 week. I love you all and miss you. I cannot wait to see your faces over the computer on Christmas. Tara (a member here) said that we could use her computers and internet. I know that Google Hang Out allows more then one person to video chat. That way me and Mickle can both be there. Can you check that out dad?
LOVE YOU!!!!!!
Sister Frampton
Write me letters
246 West Main St. #D
Norwalk, OH 44857
Sunday, December 1, 2013
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
This week we found the most prepared person. On Thursday for some reason I was really. really tired. I hadn't been this tired in a really long time. It was weird. We were in a lesson with a lady in a warm, cozy trailer and I was trying so hard not to fall asleep. After I thought about stopping at a gas station and getting some caffeine but I decided to just push through. After I made the choice that I wasn't going to stop, the gas light went off and we were on empty. I guess that Heavenly Father really wanted us to go to this gas station. We filled up with gas and we went inside to get Diet Coke. As we were paying Sister Warden blurted out "Have you heard of our church?" He was like "Uh what church?" We told him a little about our church and gave him a card to order a free Book of Mormon. His name is Christ and he is 23. We went out to the car to leave but felt like we should go back in and give him a Book of Mormon and get his number. We gave it to him and he said that he would read it and he gave us his number. Cool. The next day was Friday. The Elders in our ward were having a baptism that night and we felt like we should invite him to come to it with us. We invited him and he said that he had plans with his friends that night. Shooot!! Right before the baptism started he texted us and told us that he decided to come to the baptism. AAAWWWW!!!!! Miracle. He came to the baptism and brought his Book of Mormon. He told us that he was already in Nephi 3. He really enjoyed the baptism. After the baptism we asked him if we could give him a tour of the church building. Our best friend and amazing ward missionary, Tara, came with us. We had a really good spiritual conversation with him and we learned some really great things about what he believes. He said that he could meet the next day for a lesson. We brought a ward missionary named Shawn with us. She is really interesting. We started out the lesson really great. Then from out of no where Shawn jumped in and took over and through the Spirit out the window. It was so intense. It was like she was interragating him. I kept poking Sister Warden's leg and she would mouth to me "HELP." It was so uncomfortable. After the lesson we walked Shawn outside and waited until she left and then ran back to the door to tell Chris that we were so sorry for Shawn. He was really nice but agreed that she was intense. We were really nervous that he was going to drop us because of how scary that lesson was. That night we had an hour where an appointment fell through. We thought that we should make it up to Chris so we invited him to go get a treat with us. He ended up bringing 2 friends. This in it's self is a miracle because his friend Keaton has met with missionaries in the past and he is really knowledgeable about the church. We spent the whole time talking with Keaton and he was really interested in meeting with us again! Miracle. Chris texted us late Saturday night and told us that he was drunk and he felt really guilt for it. We figured that he probable wouldn't show up for church because he had a really late night but we still had a lot of hope and faith. Well to add to the list of miracles Chris showed up for church. He really enjoyed Priesthood. There was a munch and mingle after church and he stayed for that. A lot of people introduced themselves to him. YAY!!!!!! Tara suggested that we all go to Kirtland and take a tour and look at the Nativities. AHH KIRTLAND!!!! I was so excited. She said that she could drive. Chris said that he would like that and he would check his work schedule. It is really weird that I have to get permission to go to Kirtland. I def miss being surrounded by Kirtland. He said that he wanted to have a lesson after church with us! What??? Amazing! A few hours later we met with him and it went so great. He said the opening prayer and in it he said "Thank you for showing me this new direction that I need to following." We taught him the restoration and it went so great. The Spirit was really, really strong! We have seen so much change in him in such a short time. Later that night we got the best text from him. He said that he has felt inspired to quit smoking!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We haven't even mentioned the word of wisdom to him. The Spirit is preparing him for baptism. He is reading the Book of Mormon and praying and meeting regularly with us. I won't be surprised if he is baptized in a month.
I am so grateful for the many miracles I have seen this week. Being a missionary is the best. This week an older couple has invited all 6 missionaries over for Thanksgiving. We are really excited. Thanks so much for all of your support. I love you all very much. Give Austin a hug from me!
Sister Frampton
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Sandusky East
Hello everyone!! So much has happened this week! It has been crazy! Thanks for all of the emails this week. I really needed them. First things first. Here is my new address. Please mail me letters. I love getting mail.
246 W. Main Street #D
Norwalk, OH 44857
Last week I was transferred to Sandusky East. It's about 2 hours from Kirtland. The town that I live in/get to work in is called Norwalk. It is really small. The town mostly consists of trailer parks. There are a few houses and they are historic homes built in the 1800s. It is know for herion use so a lot of people here need the gospel. I was really nervous about leaving Kirtland. I cried on transfer day but it was ok. I hated packing. Because my new area is so far from Kirtland my new companion wasn't at transfer meeting so I had to ride with missionaries that I didn't know out to the area. I met Sister Warden and she is great. She is a visa waiter going to Brazil. We get to do language study so that is fun. She is really good at teaching and always brings the Spirit. I really like being full pros. It was a lot of stress trying to balance work in Kirtland and work in the area. I like only having to focus on the area. It is also really nice that we live in our area. We can come home for meals or be at an appointment in 2 mins.
We have a lot of investigators so our goal is to not find anymore and instead get the ones that we have to progress. We stopped by these potentials named Susanne and Fran. They are so prepared. They live in a beautiful huge home. They let us in and we were able to talk with him. Susanne is really spiritual and really likes what the church has to offer. We were able to set up a return appointment with her. They will be a really great addition to the ward- they have jobs, a car, are willing to help others.
There is a lady here named Dana that the Sisters met last week. Dana's husband is abusive to her and the kids. Dana wants to move out and leave him but she has no where to go and no money because he doesn't allow her to work and he doesn't allow her to have a driver's license. She has gone to the police about it but since they don't have any real evidence they aren't going to do anything. It is SSSOOOOO sad!!! We stopped by her house and she ran outside and told us that her husband would be home any minute and that she would get in trouble if we were there. She said that he will be sleeping at his girlfriend's house the next night so we could come back. We went back and we had a really good talk with her. We told her that she is a daughter of God and she needs to get out. Her kids (she has 3) were crying and asking their mom for dinner and she kept crying saying that they weren't going to eat that night. We got in the car and went to Burger King and brought back a feast for them. I wish there was more that we could do. We had a family night with them. They loved it. We taught them how to pray. The 10 year old prayed and then Dana prayed. The Spirit was really strong! When we were leaving she asked us if we could take all of the Burger King trash with us so that she wouldn't get in trouble. She had to pour the kids' drinks into another cup. It was so sad. She set up a return appointment with us. I know that if she will let us help strengthen her spiritually that she will start to find peace in her life.
When I was unpacking my things and moving in I found a drawer full of Ensign and New Era magazines. We had this idea to drop one off to all our investigator and less actives. The people that we saw LOVED it! It was such a good, inspired idea. We were able to get some good return appointments. We found this less active named Mike. He is 23. He grew up in Sugar House, Utah. Over the years he has fallen away from the church. We had a really good conversation with him and he said that he would like to work with us and maybe come back to church. We actually have his return appointment tonight.
Sister Warden told me that the ward really struggles with missionary work. How perfect that I just came from a ward that is amazing when it comes to missionary work and has amazing ward mission leaders. I told Sister Warden what my last ward did and we decided to pitch it to the ward mission leader. He loved it and we were able to have a lot of members come out to teach with us this week. I am really grateful for the ward mission leaders in the Shaker ward that have shown me how to work well with members. This ward is going to love doing missionary work.
I got 2 really great emails today. One from Chuck and one from Connee. Connee spoke last night at the mission president's fireside. It was in Shaker so I couldn't go but I bet she did amazing!! Chuck is also doing really well. This is a part of the email he sent me:
i have been listening to the book of mormon before i go to sleep and I let it play all night and i restart it from where i last remember it and i even have down loaded the conferences from april and october so when im on the flights to Vegas i can watch the conferences again and or listen to the book of mormon. i am planning on at least listening to the book of mormon and learning more about it. i am in alma right now i was in jacob 7 earlier this evening. i hope to be able to have listened to the entire thing by the the time i leave for vegas and possibly a grand total of two times by the time i get home. There is soo much to learn and know.
Isn't he awesome?
I cannot believe that my mission is coming to an end (kinda). I have 3 more transfers left. 2 in Sandusky and then my last one will be in Kirtland. I am doing really good. I am really happy that I am full pros. Heavenly Father really does know what he is doing. I cannot believe that I would even doubt him. Haha!
Well I love everyone and I hope everything is doing great! Let me know if there is anything that I can do for you!!
Don't worry about me I am doing great!!
Sister Frampton
FULL PROS
Hey everyone. Once again thanks for all of the emails this week. I really needed them! I am freaking out today! President came to the Visitors' Center on Sunday and asked if he could talk with me. President never does this so I was really worried. I was worried I did something wrong. He said that there are a lot of new missionaries here in the mission. He said that he needs a missionary that is experienced and knows what they are doing to go out and help these new missionaries. He said that he knows that I can be that missionary. He asked me if I would be willing to leave the Visitors' Center for 2 transfers (3 months) and serve on the other side of the mission. WHATTT??? This has happened to Sisters in the past but this is a rare thing. I am really nervous. I love Christmas at the Visitors' Center- remember from last year all of the nativities they set up and how well they take care of us at Christmas? I told President that I was really nervous but that I would do it. FYI: This means that my mailing address will change. I don't know what it will be yet so as of now send all my things to the missions office 2070 West 11th Street Lakewood, OH 44111.
In my letter last week I totally forgot to mention 2 of the most important things. On the 2nd Connee and Chuck went to the Columbus temple and did baptisms for the dead. I was able to get on familysearch.org and find a few ancestors that needed baptisms. I gave those to them and they were baptized for them. So cool! They loved it! Then the next Sunday Chuck passed the Sacrament. He did a really great job.Also a few days ago Chuck signed up to come teaching with us. We had planned to rake random people's yards for service. We knocked on one of Chuck's neighbor's door and he said that we could rake it. He was really cool. He came out and as we raked he asked us all about the church. He was really receptive. He said that he is Catholic and has been looking for another religion. He brought out cookies for us and told us to help ourselves. So nice! He accepted a Book of Mormon and asked for a schedule of all of the things that go on at our church. He said we could come back next Saturday. I hope that Sister Ahrendsen remembers to follow up with him. He is golden. He has 5 kids and all of them are above the golden age of 8!! :)
Sister Frampton:
So,First I wanna thank you for being my rock.Ive known you for a longer than almost anyone in the church.Ive learned so much from you.If it wasnt for you I dont know if id be a member of the church.You made it click for me.So thank you so much!
Im sorry you have to leave,but God needs you somewhere else right now.God knows best,we both know that.You are an amazing missionary so im confident that wherever they put you,you'll come out on top.Thats your nature.Im really proud of you for your service.I have a lot of respect for you.
So because I cant email over the phone too well ill cut this short.
We'll keep in touch.Im here when ya need me.
Oh,and I promise to keep in touch with Chuck and Connie.
Ill see you in a few months,and as always I have a email address so use it
Best wishes
Chris
Isn't he so great? He is going to be a really strong member of the church. He was able to get the Priesthood on Sunday. I am so proud of how far he has come. He is really struggling with his family right now. They are super anti. He is only a 19 year old kid so at times he feels like he is all alone. Keep him in your prayers.
I think that is really all for this week. I love you all! I will let you know what my new mailing address is. I am so excited that Mickle is now in Norway!!!!!!!! Congrats girl!!!!!!! I love you all!!
Sister Frampton
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