Hello Family! Thanks Mom and Dad for the emails and for the testimonies for Tommy. Those will really help him. You will find out later in the email what his problem is. I had a really good week! This week the transfer is only 5 weeks so it is coming to a close. There are 6 Visitors' Center sisters coming out which means 6 sisters will be training. Trainer calls were made yesterday and I won't be training (yay!). Kiley Neslen is training!! YAY for her. It's so exciting. She told me not to tell you all because she wants to tell her parents first so don't tell her family that I told you. OK? Sister Bell and I HAVE to stay together for one more transfer- so that we can both help Tommy make it to his baptismal date March 16th. I am up for transfer so hopefully President just leaves us how we are. We wont find out transfers for another week.
Feb. 18th:
After PEEE day we stopped by a few less actives in the ward. We have about 25 families that are in our area. That is a ton! Our ward basically wants the missionaries to stop by each family and get their story and offer them the options of: 1. Weekly visits from missionaries 2. Weekly visits from HT or VT 3. Leave me alone get off my porch or 4. To have their records removed. We stopped by 5 house. 4 of them weren't home and 1 of them hid in their living room and didn't answer the door. That's my favorite when you can see them hiding. HAHA!!! We were getting pretty bored doing stop bys so we called Tommy and we were like hey no one is home and people are hiding from us can we come hang out with you? He said that he just got off work and he was about to go eat. We met him and we got a drink while he ate. It is really important that we spent some time with Tommy not talking about church. It is important for us to be interested in his life and get to know him better. He has a lot of trust issues and we figured out that the more we just "hang out" with him the faster we gain his trust. We had a lot of fun talking with him and finding out more about his family. He told us that he saw on the news that there are speculations about the government putting a chip thing in people's hands so that they can keep track of people and so that no one can still your identity. It sounded ridiculous to me until he showed us a video from CNN of them talking about it. CNN is a pretty reliable source right? Can anyone fill me in on this chip thing? Sounds a bit fishy to me. Tommy expressed to us that he is really nervous about finding a "good girl" to marry. He always says "Look at me. I'm all tatted up. What girl would want to marry me?" It then hit me that he wasn't have "Tommy issues." He was having age appropriate issues. Everyone that is in their mid 20s starts to freak out a little about who they are going to marry and if they actually will get married. I told him that it's totally normal for him to feel this way (Hello pretty sure Sister Bell and I both feel that way). It calmed him down a bit and made him feel like he wasn't a loser for thinking that way. He really wants to move out to Utah. We encouraged him that it would be easier for him to find a Mormon girl to marry. The singles branch out here is about 40 minutes away and it only has maybe 20 members. Maybe Tommy will be our neighbor in a few years.
Feb. 19th:
We had to leave at about 7:30 AM and drive an hour and half to the Doctor for my prescription refill. It was really funny. I get into my appointment and he was like "What can I do for you?" I said "Well I have already been diagnosed, I already have a medicine and a dose that works for me, all I need for you to do is write me a prescription." It was really funny. He said "I went to years of school and studied like crazy and all you want me to do is write on a piece of paper for you?" I said "Ya basically" and he was like "Ok cool!" He called Probst to verify my dose and stuff and that was that. He had a medical student in the room and the student said "Well since I'm not going to learn anything about how to be a doctor from this appointment can I ask you some questions about your church?" Of course you can!!!! I told him all about what a missionary does and how the program works. It was cool. I gave him the number to the Elders that are in his area if he had anymore questions. I guess it was worth driving all that way. When we got back to the Visitors' Center we had a lesson scheduled with Tommy. We took him up to the School of Prophets (if you don't know what that is then stop reading this email and google it right now!) in the Newell K. Whitney store. We first stopped in Joseph Smith's office and told him the process Joseph went through to receive revelations for the Doctrine and Covenants. He totally understood. When we got in the School of the Prophets we taught him all about the Word of Wisdom. It was really powerful. He was like "Wow they quit smoking just like that?" Tommy doesn't smoke and rarely drinks so those wouldn't be an issue for him. We didn't really think that he would have a problem with the WOW but when we told him about coffee he flipped. I hate seeing Tommy flip. He is actually really scary sometimes. I was holding my breath that he wouldn't walk out of the room. He very calmly asked "Why no coffee?" I wanted him to teach himself so I said "Why do you think no coffee?" He sat for about 5 minutes and then said "Because Heavenly Father said so." YES!!!!!! Exactly Tommy!!! We asked him if he will commit to live the WOW and he said yes. He was totally calm about it. We asked him to bear his testimony. He bore the most pure testimony I have ever heard. I started to cry. I don't cry when I feel the spirit. That's just not what I do. I was so happy for him. I was so happy that he finally gets it. He knows with out a doubt that this is the true church. We asked him to say the closing prayer. We knelt down on the original floor boards in the School of Prophets and he said such a great prayer. I was bawling during the prayer. He is such an example of faith to me. After he prayed I had a thought that he should have a minute alone in the room. I told him that he would have a minute to say his own prayer and we would wait outside. He was in there for about 10 mins. When he came out he told us that he kept hearing "My son, My son!" YAY!!! Heavenly Father loves him!!! I love seeing happy Tommy!! He was literally skipping off to his car. For the rest of the day we spent chatting and calling people at sites.
Feb. 20th:
Because Sister Bell was sick last week and we had to leave Zone Conference early President made us make it up at another Zone's Conference. We had to drive 2 hours in a blizzard to Youngstown, Ohio. It was a really good conference. An elder that was in my ward was transferred to that Zone so it was fun to catch up with him and give him the details of the Perry ward. We are only allowed to drive about 1200 miles a month and so between my doctor appointment and Zone Conference we are about out of miles. Yikes! After Zone Conference we went to sites and had a few hours to chat with some folks.
Feb. 21st:
Tommy came to sites again and we taught him about tithing. We were really nervous to teach him this. This is a common lesson that people freak out on and then peace out. He freaked out a little but we did a really good job of keeping it together. By the end of the lesson he committed to paying a full tithe and fasting. Tommy is so great. After his lesson we went back home and prepared for our Book of Mormon class. I don't know if I had told you but the missionaries in our ward have been teaching a Book of Mormon class every Thursday. We switch off with the elders teaching it. We were teaching about the Iron Rod. Last week I randomly went through the contacts in our phone and I called a girl named Jaime and asked her if she wanted to meet with us. She said yes!! We had an appointment with her at 4:15. When we got there she wasn't home and her brother said that she was working and wouldn't be home until 8. It is so frustrating when people do this to us. All they have to do is tell us they aren't interested or that they have to reschedule. So weird. We called her and she didn't answer and wont call us back. Oh well. We are looking for people that want to learn. We aren't going to beg people to listen to us. We tracted a bit and then we had dinner at a members house. We rarely get dinners so it was fun to interact with this family. they are great. After dinner we taught an amazing lesson about 1 Nephi 8. It is so cool how the spirit just takes it away. We taught things that we didn't plan. By the end of the lesson we had charts all over the board of how we can make praying, scripture study and church attendance easier. It was awesome because a less active that we have been working with was there and I think it really helped her. After BOM class the elders hold a free spanish class. My spanish is getting really good. I have been able to ask people in spanish if we can pray with them, I can pray with them and then ask them how they felt when I was praying. I can also tell them that there are spanish missionaries that they can meet with. It's cool how Heavenly Father has helped me learn these simple phrases to help people learn about his gospel.
Feb. 22nd:
We had Visitors' Center training (we have it each Friday). It was really good. Kirtland has 2 sisters that are basically girl Zone Leaders. They are called Training Sisters. They put on each training. Our scripture for the transfer talks about light. Each training meeting they have been teaching us ways that we can literally light up Kirtland and more people will come visit it because they will recognize that their is something there that they need. Sister Bell was sick again with gluten so we stayed home all day. I was able to clean up and study a bit. I called a bunch of people but no one was interested in meeting with us. Bummer. The training sisters asked if we would go on exchanges with them. Scary!! I would be going with Sister Larson to Shaker Heights. I packed up all my gear and went over to Sister Larson's house to sleep their. Sister Hillman came and took my place.
Feb. 23rd:
I was a bit nervous to work with Sister Larson. She is an awesome missionary. We had a really good day together. Shaker is not like Painesville. It is really nice! Tons of cute Sugar House like houses. Darling. We met a lady named Rachelle. The first thing I said to her was "We are out here today telling people that there is a prophet on the earth today, a prophet like Moses and Abraham." She said "Oh I've actually been looking for a church that has a prophet like the ones from the Bible." I almost passed out. We got her info and the Shaker sisters will be calling her soon. I loved working with Sister Larsen. It was great to have a different view on how I can help Painesville. It was a very successful exchange! She is a super hard worker. We tracted 6 and 1/2 hours. I was dead by the time we got home!!!!!
Feb. 24th:
Tommy came to church today!!! When he got there I could smell coffee and I got a little nervous. yikes! In the middle of sacrament he took my scriptures, opened them and handed them back to me. He pointed to Ether 12:27 and said this is my favorite scripture. 27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their aweakness. I bgive unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my cgrace is sufficient for all men that dhumble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make eweak things become strong unto them. So cool!! We are going to put that on the front of his baptism program. After Sacrament we took Tommy out to the couches to have a lesson with him. We taught him the law of chastity. It went really well. He totally understood everything. I felt a little awkward talking to him about it but whatever. After the lesson I said "So... how is the whole no coffee thing going?" He said "Well I've still been drinking it but I have been trying to resist and I want to stop." I was taught from my trainer that they have to be living the WOW for 3 weeks before they are baptized. I started out by tell him that I understand how hard it is for him. I told him that if someone asked me to stop eating something like cereal or bread that I would probably have a hard time giving it up. I really wanted him to not feel like we were getting mad at him for slipping up. I felt like I handled it really well. I told him that in order for him to get baptized he needed to be living the WOW for 3 weeks and that since he has still been drinking we need to change his baptismal date. I was really nice in telling him all of this. I told him that it's no big deal to change it and because he slipped up that wont stop him from getting baptized. I didn't think he would flip oh but he did!! BIG TIME!! He said doesn't God know that I am trying? I feel like nothing I do is good enough. We tried everything to calm him down but nothing worked. Sister Bell said to me "Do you think President would make an exception to the 3 weeks if Tommy commits today to stop drinking?" I said "Probably." We snagged the Elders' Quorm President (who happens to be about 29 and is Tommy's friend) and asked him about the 3 week rule and if he had that rule on his mission. He told us that in the baptismal questions it doesn't ask "Have you been living the WOW for 3 weeks?" It just says "Are you committed to live the WOW?" That got us thinking... Where did the 3 week rule come from? Is it just a myth that has been passed down from trainer to trainer? We told Tommy that we would talk to our district leader and that everything would work out. We told him that we were so proud of him and he has come so far. Tommy was really, really mad. We sent him to Elders Quorm and hoped for the best. After church we couldn't find Tommy and turns out that he peaced because he was so mad. We talked to Elder Meza and he said that President doesn't go by the 3 week rule. That was the old President's rule. That's great news right? Tommy can get baptized on the date that he prayed about. On the way home from church we called Tommy 10 times and he didn't answer. Oh no! He can't go into hiding. Finally he answered and we had an hour long talk with us. He said that because the 3 week rule can just change he is now uncertain about everything else we have been teaching him. He is concerned that because we didn't know the 3 week rule that how can he be sure that we didn't understand anything else that we have been teaching him? YIKES!! I told him that he has been praying about it and that he has felt the Spirit testify to him that the things he has learned are true. He told us that we had broken his trust in us as missionaries. That broke my heart. I have done so much to build trust with Tommy. I started to cry and Sister Bell had to talk to him on the phone. He said that he doesn't want to learn from us anymore and he wants to learn from someone that he can trust. He said that he is going to start learning from Kevin (The EQP). I seriously felt like I was getting broken up with. My heart was broken. I would never want to do anything to someone that would take them further away from Heavenly Father. I felt so bad. After we hung up the phone Sister Bell and I just laid on the floor crying. We decided to say a prayer and ask Heavenly Father for advice. We called Kevin and he is going to have lunch with Tommy and explain to him that we have been called as missionaries by a prophet of God. We wouldn't be allowed to be missionaries if God knew we were going to go out and lie to people. He is going to tell Tommy that it is not his calling to teach Tommy the missionary lessons. Kevin is so great. This will work out. Heavenly Father will take care of Tommy.
That was my week! It was full of ups and downs. We are having a really hard time finding people to teach. No one wants to listen to us. We don't know what we are going to do after Tommy gets baptized. We will have a lot of free time. haha! Please pray for Tommy. Also will you pray that this week Sister Bell and I will find someone that is prepared to hear the gospel? I love all of you and thanks for everything that you do! I love being a missionary. It is so great! I love you all so much and I miss you.
Sister Frampton!
