Letter from 9-16-13

Waddup from the great state of Maine. Happy moment of the week: standing at a busy intersection in downtown Sanford, ME in a torrential downpour and thunderstorm, smiling and laughing while all of the traffic passes by and gives us the weirdest look for being so happy about being so drenched.

One thing I've noticed since I've been out is that from the outside, our religion seems like it just has a bunch of rules that we have to follow. But from my "inside" perspective, and it is so clear why we have been given the commandments we've been given. God loves us so much, and he wants to help us return to live with Him, and the commandments he's given us help us be happier in this life and make the choices that will point us towards eternal life. Every commandment comes with amazing blessings that we can't even comprehend.

Paying tithing is such a little thing, but we are promised so many blessings that we won't have room enough to receive them. The Word of Wisdom (Doctrine and Covenants Section 89) simply asks us to avoid some substances like alcohol that can harm our bodies, but promises that we will receive health in our navel, wisdom and knowledge, and that we will run and not be weary and walk and not faint. I think I can avoid alcohol if it means I'll be able to run and not be weary! But really, the more we study the gospel of Jesus Christ and WHY God has commanded us to do the things we do, we realize that it is out of love for us and His desire to see us progress, not a way to tie us down or hold us back from having fun or living like the rest of the world.

If we can return to our loving Heavenly Father's arms and hear him say the words, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant", ANY cost is worth it. ANY sacrifice is insignificant compared to the eternal blessings He is just waiting to grant us. When Joseph Smith was in Liberty Jail, probably the darkest and lowest time of his life, God said to him, "My son, peace be unto they soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions will be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes." Say what? My afflictions are but a small moment? If I endure it well then I'll be exalted? Done. The peace that comes from the Savior is far greater than any peace we can gain from this world. John 14:27.

Let's not just endure our trials but endure them well.

-Sister Welling 

Letter from 9-9-13

Helloooo friends and fam! This week I:

Hung out with a tarantula. Her name is Molly... she is cute and cuddly :) 

I just found out I'm getting booted off my library computer :( Go Buckeyes! Hope everyone is having a good week. Sorry this is short :( Love you all and I love hearing from you.

-Sister Welling

LATER :)

Okay long story short I got some laptop time. Hope you enjoy the pictures from the other email! Happy 23rd* birthday to my momma on Thursday, hope it's an awesome one! You make 23* look pretty young. Everyone be nice to her.

This week I started Donut Olympics with my companions, where we make brackets and face off donuts from different donut shops up against each other for taste. It's the most delicious idea we've had. Takes me back to high school days when I'd do that with Ben Ross and Job :)

This week our neighbor (the Bishop) and his family needed help loading a couch and a bed into their truck because their son/daughter in law are moving. I had the awesome privilege of getting to tie the knots on the ropes that were holding the stuff into the bed of the truck. I tied a mean follow-through figure 8 and a solid safety knot to make sure that stuff was gonna get to Boston without budging. All that knowledge I gained at Camp Firewalker is paying off :) Thanks Nanc' :) Tying eagle-scout-worthy knots makes me feel like a studly missionary.

This week my companions and I visited a field of purple flowers called Northern Blazing Stars, that ONLY grow in the that ONE field in Maine, and then in Australia. Those are the only two places in the world! Weird, huh? 

This week I saw a guy wearing an Ohio State shirt at the beach, first one I have seen since being here! I was pretty pumped to give him an "O-H!" and get an "I-O!" in response. Happy day. Go Buckeyes :) 

Ok I promise I'm doing missionary work as well. This week we had an awesome lesson with Patrick about the Plan of Salvation, we had been preparing for it all week because we feel like it's really important for him. I am grateful that God presented a plan that allowed us to have free agency in this life- being able to choose things for ourselves presents a lot of sadness and trials, but it's also the only way we can be truly happy. 

We had a lesson with the Hastings family, whose daughter is preparing to go on a mission right now. She bore an awesome testimony about how the gospel has blessed her life and how much it would mean to her to have her family baptized. They definitely need to do it for themselves and not for their daughter, though. They come to all of the ward activities and call themselves Brother and Sister Hastings, but they haven't quite committed to baptism yet, which is fine. I really admire that they want to know it's really true and do it for themselves, not Haley. They are such a cool family, I admire them alot for how close and happy they are. Their 14 year old son Tyler is a cross country runner, so we get to talk running alot :) 

"In the beauty of the lilies, Christ was born across the sea, with a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me. As He died to make men Holy, let us live to make men free, while God is marching on!" I'm not sure why that made me cry on Sunday when we sang it, but it's pretty powerful. 

Let us live to make men free.

-Sister Welling

Letter from 9-2-13

Hey everyone!

This week, my companions and I helped my fourth grade teacher Mrs. Femia de-moss and de-root her backyard. We pulled up roots so long that we were able to jump rope with it. Pretty fun. Later in the week she took us to her neighborhood party at these peoples' awesome beach house that overlooks the ocean. It was beautifulllll. 

This week we have a lesson with our investigator Patrick. He wants so badly to have faith in Christ but it's hard for him to believe because his life has been hard. His younger brother Carl sat in on the lesson and was listening intently. Their older sister took the lessons 10 years ago and Carl had sat in on them, but he couldn't have been more than 10 years old at the time. But he remember the visual aid my companions used... what! Patrick says he is really smart but hides it. Carl willingly said the closing prayer and it was amazing. I love visiting them and I can't want to go back and teach them about the Plan of Salvation this week. 

This week we also had a lesson with this family (The Hastings) whose daughter is a member and is awaiting her mission call. We watched the Joseph Smith movie and I was pretty much crying the whole time. Embarrassing. The spirit was so thick after the movie was over but I somehow managed to get out my testimony about Joseph Smith. Powerful stuff. I have no doubt that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. 

An amazing talk to read when you have a spare moment: "The First and Great Commandment" By Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. When you read what he says about when Christ was talking to Peter, insert your name instead of Peter's. Whoa.

The work is moving forth slowly but surely. The work is hard, the road is long, the people are sometimes really really really stubborn, but Joseph Smith surely sacrificed EVERYTHING that he held dear to him for a higher cause and so why should we not sacrifice just a little tiny bit? Joseph Smith laid the foundation for the greatest work ever. "Should we not go on in so great a cause?" (something like that)

Onwards and upwards, 

Sister Welling 

Letter from 8-26-13

Hey Everybody!

The picture I attached is a little embarrassing, mostly because of the situation and not the content. I was at Zone Conference and the mission president's wife was about to take a picture of my friend Sister Aeshbacher, so I ran up and photo bombed it. Well, it turns out that Sister Wilkey only took 4 pictures at zone conference, so she put that picture with only three others on the mission blog... which EVERY missionary in the WHOLE mission gets onto EVERY week. So I am the photo bomb sister missionary. Awesome. 

This week my companions and I had the opportunity to watch the Joseph Smith Movie (not the official title?) and man, I forgot how good it is. I feel the spirit whenever I read or learn about Joseph Smith, but watching that movie is just so powerful. I know he is a prophet just by the way I feel when I hear his story. I admire him more than anyone. He sacrificed so much and was such am amazing missionary, despite all of the opposition and hatred that he faced. In the movie they tar and feather him, and Emma stays up all night to help him clean it off and the next day, he is still out preaching the gospel to the people in the town despite all of his scabs and the pain he was probably in. RELENTLESS. I can't even fathom the amount of faith and courage he had to do all the things he did for the gospel.

Our ward is starting a 40 Day Fast for missionary work/opportunities this coming Sunday. I am soo excited, it's going to produce amazing miracles and opportunities for the members. What it is is each day for 40 days in a row, a family or a person (maybe multiple) sign up to fast that day for missionary opportunities, and the stories from everyones' experiences just get passed around and everyone gets excited about sharing the gospel. At the end, we will have a dinner thing where people can invite their friends that they've been sharing the gospel with. I've heard that 40 Day Fasts produce crazy miracles for the work, so I'm excited for the members to catch on fire with it.

This week I gave a Book of Mormon to a man installing sprinklers. It was a super hot, humid day and my companions and I had been walking a lot and I asked him if I could run through them haha. He said yes and turned it on and it was lovely. Then we just started talking to him and he asked us what the difference was between what we believed and Catholicism. He was really nice and receptive.

Weird thing of my week: One of my companions clogged the toilet (okay maybe it wasn't either of them...) so we had to make an emergency run to get a plunger. We decided there was no better way to break in a brand new plunger than by eating ice cream out of it. There's a first time for everything I guess. Nothing has ever tasted so good coming from a plunger.

On that note, have a wonderful week and the gospel is certainly true.

Love, Sister Welling

Hello Everyone!

Last week I typed out a big long email and it wouldn't even send before I ran out of time soo here's the good stuff from last week:

-My companions and I volunteer at a cat shelter once a week... yeah, it smells as bad as it sounds. Some of the cats are ferrel (ferril?) so that's extra exciting. Scooping 20 litter boxes is not. 

-I have been visiting my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Femia who lives in my area! We help her around her house and share messages with her. It is so much fun! She showed us around Perkin's Cove, Maine and took us to the beach. I was always close with her after fourth grade but never got to visit her until now!

-I want all of you to look up "The Room" story from the 14 Day Walk With Christ. It will change you perspective on repentance. It is powerful.

At Zone Conference this week (basically just a bunch of missionaries from surrounding areas all gather for a meeting and instruction) we received a new Mission Vision for the next 12 months. I am SO PUMPED about it. Are you ready? "In the next 12 months, we will help EVERY member was significant missionary experiences." WOOOO FOR MEMBER MISSIONARY WORK. Our area is kind of in a slump and I think this is the key to raising our success. As part of this goal, we don't just want "every member a missionary", but "every missionary a member." We are going to try to be more involved in the members lives and getting to know them and helping them out in their callings, so that we can building better relationships with them and get them pumped about doing missionary work!

I gave a talk in church yesterday... it was supposed to be about prayer, but I kind of took missionary liberties and just talked about our new Mission Vision. But I committed everyone to praying daily for missionary opportunities so I kind of talked about prayer ;) I told them that they have all been called to the earth at this time and this place to be missionaries (D&C 100:4-8) and that just because you don't wear a nametag, doesn't mean you don't represent Jesus Christ. I told them the story of a boy who was throwing starfish into the ocean and an old man came up and said, "What are you doing?" The boy explained that the starfish would die if they didn't make it back into the water, so he was throwing them back in. The old man laughed and said, "Do you know there are miles and miles of beach covered in starfish? You can't possibly make a different." The boy picked up a starfish, threw it into the surf and smiled. He said, "I made a different for that one." I told them that they don't have to be converting the masses to make a difference... just share the gospel with a friend! We can all make a difference. I also talked about how we don't have to be afraid to do missionary work. D&C (Doctrine and Covenants) 84:85,88 says we will know what to say in the very hour we need it and Christ will be on our left and right and his angels will bare us up. D&C 1:19-23 says the weak and simple things of the earth (us) will proclaim the gospel to the world, including kings and rulers. This is the work of Jesus Christ, it will move forward whether or not we chose to be apart of it. We are not alone when we share the gospel and we don't have to be afraid. I told the story of the woman at the well (John 4), and how as soon as she had tasted of the living water of Jesus Christ, she "left her pot" and ran to the city to tell everyone about Christ and she testified of him saying, "Is this not the Christ?" She left behind what was once important to run and tell her friends what she had experienced. Many were converted to Christ just by hearing her testimony of him. Let us all be a little more like the woman at the well!

Sorry about that rant. Be a missionary this week! Whatever religion you are, share your testimony and what you believe with one of your friends or a neighbor, random person, etc. Then tell me about it :)

Miss and love all of you, hope everyone has a fantastical week. Onwards and Upwards.

-Sister Welling 

First week in Maine!

Hey friends and family,

Sister Aeschbacher!

I am in Wells, Maine. It is near the New Hampshire border, and it's on the coast- I can see the ocean from my apartment. We live in a pretty touristy area. Fun fact: my fourth grade teacher Mrs. Femia lives in my area, so I am gonna try and go see her one of these days! I also got to see my BYU roommate, Jena (Sister Aeshbacher), the first night I arrived at the mission home. 

Everyone, please update the address on the business cards I gave you. My address is the mission home address, stuff will get to me just as fast. For packages use Priority Mail. My address is:

Sister Johanna Welling

New Hampshire Manchester Mission

2 Bedford Farms Suite 208

Bedford, NH 03110-6525

Some interesting facts about Maine:

-Everyone in Maine has cemetaries in their yard. Like... everyone used to just bury their dead family members in the backyard. So you're driving down the street 

 and there will be 4 random tombstones just chillin. It's the weirdest thing. Talk about yard decorations. 

-The three states in my mission (VT, ME, NH) are the three least religious states in the WORLD, and Maine is the least religious out of the three/the entire country. 70% of Mainers claim no religion. They like to sit on their front porches on Sundays.

-While all other religions in Maine are declining, Mormonism has doubled in the past decade there. Interesting. 

-When we try to talk to people or knock on their doors, they say "I'm all set." (Means they're Catholic).

Her companions, Sister Westling and Sister Hall

I am in a threesome companionship, my trainers are Sister Westling and Sister Hall. We're all pretty different but we get along great so that's a relief. Sister Westling was in High School Musical 1 AND 2. In #2, she's the one that runs up to Sharpay to get her to sign her yearbook as they are leaving school for the summer (opening song of the movie). So I guess you could say my companion is famous.

This week has definitely been full of ups and downs, missionary work is not a walk in the park, especially with some of the rules I'm trying to get used to. For Fast Sunday yesterday, I fasted for increased faith because I was feeling down about how slow the work is here. I thought that right when I got out here, I'd be teaching lessons left and right but that is not the case. In Relief Society yesterday (the class at church for all the women), the lady who gave the lesson talked about a CES Fireside given by Elder Bednar in March I believe (I remember watching it with my roommates). I learned that faith is not dependent on getting outcomes we want, but rather it needs to be dependent on our willingness to submit to God's will. Having faith isn't a one way thing... we can't only have it if we get what we want out of it (aka teaching lessons left and right). True faith is being willing to take whatever hand God deals you, whether it's happy or sad. She said that "Having faith in God's will frees us from worry." It is so true. If we have faith in God's plan, no matter what it is, then we can be at peace knowing with whatever happens to us. Easier said than done, but it's something we can strive towards. It's the same talk where Elder Bednar asks the 23 year old newly wed guy if he has the faith to NOT be healed. A lot of people have enough faith to be healed, but do we have enough faith to NOT be healed? Do we have enough faith for things to NOT go our way? Or to NOT have any progressing investigators?

Yes, the work here is slow. But we have to remember that God's timing is different than ours. The work IS progressing, just not quite as quickly as I might have hoped. BUT, the church is still true. My testimony is still strong. The Atonement is still very true and I know that God has prepared someone out here in the beautiful New England for me to bring the gospel to.

Miss you all and have a great week,

Sister Welling 

Sister Welling in the MTC!

Well hello family and friends,

 

I've been hit by a truck. A large, spiritual, stressful, overwhelming, oddly satisfying truck.

Stats:

-I entered the MTC with 800 other missionaries the day I went in

-54% of the missionaries in the MTC are SISTERS. booyah.

-by the end of the month, there will be 75,000 missionaries world wide

-the new west campus MTC (to accomodate the wave of missionaries) currently has 350 missionaries... by August (less than two weeks) it will have 2100 missionaries... OH MY GOSH

 

People I have seen/met:

-a Sister Hart from Bountiful, Utah who is Abbey Wilson's roommate at college. If any of the Wilson clan see this, she says hi to Abbey and her email is samantha.hart @myldsmail.net

-Elder Tyler Welch from the Columbus area

-Sister Jenny Miller from Colorado, Laura Keeler's  friend that I met at their wedding in Houston.

-MOST IMPORTANTLY... AUSTIN ALPETER!!!! His stay has been extended because his Visa hasn't come... it was a happy encounter :) (see picture) He's going to South Carolina to wait for his visa.

 

Well, this week has been crazy and stressful and every emotion in the ENTIRE book of life. My district (the group of missionaries I have classes with, etc) is AWESOME. Love them. All of their testimonies are unique and powerful and each one of them have had trials and hard times in their lives but that's why they are here- the share the hopeful message that the gospel gives. Every night we kneel in prayer as a district and it ends with each one of us in tears. We have 6 amazing elders and 6 almost as amazing sisters :P I've known them for less than a week but they already feel like family.

 

Sister Welling's companion

My companion is Sister Beus and she is from Highland, Utah. We are way different but get along great and are trying to work hard to have the spirit while we teach and know what the needs are of our "investigators".

 

On Sunday Night we listened to a devotional by Elder Bednar called "The Character of Christ". AMAZING. It was all about how when each of us would turn inwards and focus on ourselves, Christ turned outwards and served others even when he had just suffered in Gethsemane and while he was suffering on the cross. On my notes I have "GET OVER YOURSELF" written in big letters across the page- this work is not about me. It's the Lord's work.

 

SO SORRY i literally have 20 seconds left to send this. MISS YOU AND LOVE YOU ALL!

 

Sister Welling

 

Her district!

The cream soda tree!

Trying to escape, and getting caught. :)