October 13th, 2014

This week has been full of so many miracles! 

We were able to find a new investigator this week, a cute 45 year old lady named Sheilea who is completely prepared to hear the gospel. She was in awe as we taught her the Restoration and explained that there is a prophet on the earth today, just like Moses or Abraham or Noah. She has been to many churches in the past, but she never felt like they were truly focused on God. She had felt that each church she attended was becoming more and more centered on the "money" aspect, and less determined to help people have faith. We knew that coming to church with us would be crucial, because she would be able to see right away that the ward is full of righteous families and individuals who have the sole purpose of deepening their relationship with God and helping others do the same! Guess what? SHE CAME! It was especially special, because our ward mission leader told me that there hasn't been a single investigator from the sister's area at church for this entire calendar year... Not from lack of trying, just simply because people were not truly interested or satan worked his way in and prevented it from happening. Sheilea was so wonderful and she seemed to glow as she heard the different talks and lessons, fully based on our Savior Jesus Christ and how we can grow closer to Him. Woot woot! Yay for church! 

We also had a fun experience contacting a Church Headquarter referral. We had called the guy to ask when would be a good time to drop by his home and leave him the Book of Mormon, and he sounded very young! So, we were excited! We arrive on the scheduled day and out walks this 15 year old kid (named Jake) in a white t-shirt with the print on the front looking like a black necktie and black name tag! As he got closer we were able to see the words on the name tag, "God's Favorite Musical"! haha He had gone to see the Book of Mormon musical a few weeks before with his parents and because of it, was anxious to read the Book of Mormon and see what it is really about! He was excited to meet us and told us that he has been "church hunting" a lot lately but none of them have clicked for him. He was thrilled to set up a time to learn more from us about the church and at the end of the conversation he looked at me intently and asked, "so if I joined your church, would I go on a mission?" haha..... what?! :D We giggled and told him, if he had a desire to go then yes of course he COULD serve a mission.

OH! This last Tuesday we got together with 2 neighboring zones, had a mini zone training, and then got to watch MEET THE MORMONS! Holy cow, it was amazing!! I don't think there was a dry eye in the room, especially during the "missionary mom" section of the movie - it was so real for all of us and it may have caused a little longing for home in the hearts of a few of the missionaries. But truly, what an uplifting, inspiring video! It is so interesting to see how the world's view of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is slowly beginning to shift to a more accurate perception. With the miracle of modern technology we have the opportunity to share what we believe with so many people in our lives, on a regular basis. I hope everyone gets the chance to see the movie soon! Invite your friends to see it! :)

I love you all so much! The gospel is the greatest blessing, and I hope we can strive to live it a little more fully each day and show the Lord how grateful we are for this blessing. I know the Savior loves us! Our Heavenly Father wants us to be happy and He has given us so many tools to find true happiness. Read, pray, serve, love! Have a wonderful week!!

Love,

Sister Walborn

October 6th, 2014

This week has been full of craziness and pure JOY! To start - last preparation day (a week ago today) missionaries serving all around Pittsburgh came together at the Point State Park to play ultimate Frisbee!  It probably doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but if you look at almost any well known picture of Pittsburgh or even the fun Pitt t-shirts, so many display the Park with it's massive fountain. It was neat, and it made it very real that I am truly in Pittsburgh! Woohoo!

From Tuesday night into Wednesday, I got to go on an exchange with my Sister Training Leader and good friend who was in the MTC at the same time I was! We had quite the time together! We had a surprise service activity where we spent 4 hours frantically packing up a house. A random lady, who is coming out of an abusive relationship, was leaving to another state with 4 young children and hadn't packed up a single thing in her home. When we walked into her house, I just wanted to burst into tears! Immediately after walking into the house, the living room off to the left had the four children sprawled out over a flat cardboard box that had nothing but a soiled flat sheet over top of it and all around them were the remains of the previous night's McDonald's dinner. The youngest child, just a small baby was screaming at the top of her little lungs and the mother, between giving us directions on where to start, would yell at the baby to cut it out. So, we went to work! There were mounds of clothes, toys, food, garbage- you name it -that we gutted and packed up for her. We had to call in the assistants and another set of elders to come and help, because we knew there was no chance we would be able to accomplish it all on our own. The assistants had helped her the night before as well, and when they arrived and saw the progress we had done, they were amazed by how much better it looked from the night before when they had first arrived! Which was pitiful because we hadn't felt like we had accomplished hardly anything! (in case you can't tell - it was BAD)

After listening to that poor little baby scream for the next little while, one of the assistants looked at me and told me that one of us sisters needed to hold her and that we had permission to give her some love because it was very apparent that what the mother was doing was not working. So, we continued working as fast as we could, taking turns holding the kids and trying to keep them calm. The whole time as we were trying to help, I found myself getting discouraged that these poor little children were in such terrible circumstances and that nothing we were doing would help them to really get out of the problems they were dealing with. Heavenly Father seemed to sooth my worries, and when we were nearing the end, we gave the mother a Book of Mormon. She said thank you over and over, telling us that we were angels for helping her! I don't know if that lady will choose to read the Book of Mormon, but I do know that because of our service and prayers on their behalf, that family will be blessed in some way. If nothing else, it helped me realize how lending a helping hand and being willing to help in a time of need can be an answer to someone else's prayer. It didn't seem like much what we were able to accomplish for her that day, but as Elder Holland helped me remember in conference, "What we do is only a drop in the ocean, but if we do not do it, the ocean will be one drop less.."

Which leads me to the pure joy of this week - CONFERENCE! Holy cow - this conference was truly the greatest I have ever experienced. I was able to see so clearly how the Lord really does hear my prayers and is anxious to help me find answers to them. I was especially touched by Elder Jorg Klebingat's talk about the importance of having confidence before God. His 6 tips to help accomplish this confidence were so inspired and I am excited to readily apply and do better with each of them. Towards the end of his talk, I felt that he was speaking directly to me when he said, "acknowledge and face your weaknesses, but don't become immobilized by them!" The Lord wants each of us to be happy and to provide us with strength to overcome our weaknesses, not to be held down and hindered by them. The Savior's Atonement is REAL. I know that as we turn to the Lord for help, He will send what we need to achieve our righteous desires and goals. 

I love this gospel! And I love all of you!! I hope that we can all review over and over the inspiration that we received this weekend. We are so incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to receive personal revelation, and to hear the word of God directly from His prophet! Let's take advantage of the blessings available to us :)

LOVE,

Sister Walborn

September 29th, 2014

Familyy!!

I have been transferred to Moon! It is about 15 minutes outside of Pittsburgh! Woohoo! This last week was really interesting and fun getting to try and learn the area and LOTS of names. We had dinner appointment every night this last week, which my companion said is extremely rare for this ward, and it was such a tender mercy because these members extended so much love to me - and coming into church on Sunday, I felt like I already knew a good amount of them! This ward is really young. So many young families with a lot of cutie pie kids, and many more on the way(it seems like half the ward is pregnant and they are all glowing with joy!)! Needless to say.. I am very happy here :)

My companion's name is Sister Pugmire! She has been out for 14 months, so it is definitely a cool experience to serve with someone who is "seasoned" and has had a lot of wonderful experiences to share. We are ready to tear up this area and find/teach/rescue until we drop! 

I don't have a lot of time, next week I will write more! But I wanted to share really fast something that I loved from the General Women's Meeting. Wasn't it wonderful?! I was so inspired by President Uchtdorf's talk, and specifically when he shared with the women about the importance of remembering that we are all children of God! The knowledge that I am a child of God will carry me through the hardest trials and can motivate me to accomplish so much IF I choose to remember it... Being a daughter of God isn't a title I have earned nor will I ever LOSE. How comforting! I know that we are all children of God and that our Father in heaven loves us so dearly. I hope we can all choose to remember that no matter what is going on in our lives, trying to distract us from that precious truth!

I love you all so much and I hope that General Conference receives your full, undivided attention this weekend! We are so blessed to be able to hear these inspired men of God speak directly to us on the most important topics right now. LOVE YOU!!!

Love,

Sister Walborn

p.s. New address:

310 Lee Dr. #59

Moon, PA 15108

September 15th, 2014

WOOHOO!!! We had an adventure packed, stress-filled but incredible week! Where to start?!

Okay, so I need to skip the beginning of the week and get right to Thursday. We had zone conference here in State College, so missionaries came in from the 2 surrounding zones and we had a lot of wonderful training. We reviewed the lessons that we learned from Elder Wilford W. Andersen when he came to visit not too long ago, including the importance of our calling to instruct, edify and act! As people, we cannot learn to rely upon God simply by acquiring the "head knowledge" that could teach us in essence, how to do it. We must also have our hearts acted upon by the Holy Ghost and receive a witness, or "heart knowledge" about WHY it would even be important in the first place. Once the people we teach clearly understand the Gospel in their mind, and then have the Spirit touch their hearts as to why it is necessary in their life, then we act by inviting them to act! It was an incredible reflection of the Gospel as it applies to each of us. From day one of my mission I was told that everything I learned would be important for me to remember, whether or not I was wearing a name tag. How true! This specific training was neat because each day as I am trying to learn more of the teachings of the Savior, it won't do me much good if I am not allowing those teachings into my heart as well as my head, then putting it into action to set that example for others!

After our zone conference, we walked up to a member's home that we had never been to before because they were part of the State College 2nd ward, but had invited us over for dinner. They had 2 adorable children, an almost 8 year old boy and a cutie pie 2 year old little girl. We played with them as dinner was being finished up and just as we sat down for dinner, there came a knock at the door. The member went to see who was there and in walked our mission president!! :D The member (Rachel) that had invited us for dinner, is President and Sister Johnson's niece! It was SO much fun to have dinner with our mission president and his wife, and to be able to see him in a more normal setting where he was talking about his family, telling us stories about the heroes in his life, and he even rebuked my companion for saying the local ice cream is better than Aggie Ice cream! (Sister Bradshaw attended Utah State before her mission where President and Sister Johnson were attending when they met) It was a really neat, surprise experience! Afterwards, they drove us to our new church building where we got to give them a mini tour and express our excitement and gratitude to be here in State College for this special time!

Which leads me to the Open House and dedication which happened on Saturday! That was really, really cool. I feel SO blessed to have been here for this time in the Branch's history. This building has been prayed and fasted for, for over 21 years. A member of the current branch presidency was part of the "Nittany Branch" when it was first organized, and he was asked to speak as part of the dedication. It was an emotional talk, and Brother Owen told the congregation stories of the students who were there right from the beginning and how they clung to each other and the gospel, building the true family-like connections and feelings in the branch that still exist today! I am so grateful to have learned so much from these wonderful people. :)

The gospel is true!! I know that there are so many blessings available to us and the people around us, and as we are diligent in keeping the commandments and doing what we know to be right in ALL things - the Lord is there to guide, direct, and use us as instruments to carry on His work. I love you all so much! Have a wonderful week!

Love,
Sister Walborn

p.s. pictures: 1) The four of us university sisters with our Branch president - we are all attempting the very attractive double chin look! haha 2) Sister Bradshaw and I wearing our BML's t-shirts as we made 2 HUGE batches of cookies in preparation for the open house! Woohoo! LOVE YOU!

September 2nd, 2014

What a wonderful week! Sorry, this email is going to be kind of short, but I wanted to let you know that all went smoothly with Kat's baptism!

Codey has family in Georgia and New Jersey and they all came in for the baptism, which made it an even more special experience. Kat's family isn't super supportive of her decision to join the church, so we think it meant a lot to her to have so much support from Codey's family! A cool part about the service, is that Kat wasn't the only one getting baptized! The other University sisters had a baptism as well, which was so cool for our branch!! The program went according to plan and the actual baptism itself was fun, to see Kat's face beaming with joy as she came out of the water and as soon as she could, she turned to her husband and gave him a big kiss! Sister Bradshaw and I giggled because it is something we totally could've seen coming. They are so cute. :) I think that has been the neatest difference in teaching Kat, that they truly have had the temple in mind throughout the whole process. They have an ultimate goal of being sealed in the temple, which made teaching her the lessons seem to take on a greater importance in a way. We, as missionaries, are always striving to see people for their potential, picturing them dressed in white, making covenants with Heavenly Father in the temple. But to have our investigator already have that vision for herself without us having to try and help her establish it, was really, really cool. I love her!

Oh and yesterday our branch did a cookout for labor day, and afterwards Kat and Codey took us to go hike Mt. Nittany! It was so fun! And of course, in the middle of the hike the rain started to pour on us. You can always count on rain in PA :) Love you all! Have a wonderful week!!

Love,
Sister Walborn

P.s. pictures: 1) baptism! 2) us on the hike! Love you!

August 25th, 2014

"We don't serve because of our callings, we serve because of our covenants." -Elder Wilford W. Andersen

This week was wonderful! On Tuesday, we were visited by general authority Wilford W. Andersen and his lovely wife Kathleen. It was an incredibly uplifting, motivating, powerful experience that the missionaries of our mission were blessed to have! He taught us the importance of teaching by the Spirit. He focused on teaching us how to help those that we teach understand the gospel clearly, feel the Spirit - which will help instill within them a desire to choose the right, then commit them to act on the desire they feel and exercise faith! At one point of the meeting, he opened it up for questions. A senior missionary raised his hand and said, "Elder Andersen, when Elder Holland and Elder Hallstrom came to visit our mission, we were told how long they had been traveling and how much they had to accomplish in such a short amount of time. I was wondering if you could explain what the life of a general authority entails and why your schedules are so rigorous?" Elder Andersen was excited at this new question and went on to describe how they had been area authorities over the Caribbean for the past 5 years and some of the adventures that went along with that. Then Elder Andersen got really quiet as he talked about how amazed he has been in working with members of the quorum of the twelve, and the first presidency. With emotion in his voice and tears in his eyes he simply said, "I revere them.... These are men of God." The Spirit sent chills up my spine and tears sprang into my eyes as well, because I knew that his words were true. The leaders of our church are wearing out their lives in the work of the Lord, because they truly understand it's importance. We are SO blessed to have a prophet on the earth today!

Darien is doing really, really well! :) We love him so much! We had a lesson this last week with him that seemed very different from the other lessons we have had. He had downloaded the gospel library and has watched a lot of videos and read a lot of good material about Joseph Smith and his experiences. We were so happy he was seeking good information and putting time into searching. We recognized though, that for him to truly know if Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, he needs to read the Book of Mormon and gain a testimony of it. So we read with him, starting right at the beginning - 1 Nephi 1. As we discussed Heavenly Father wanting to help His children and commanding them to leave Jerusalem, the member that was with us felt prompted to share a personal story where Heavenly Father turned a sad, frustrating situation that he and his wife and previously dealt with, and turned it into an incredible blessing! He shared the scripture 2 Nephi 2:1-2 where Lehi is speaking to his son Jacob and tells him that even though he has suffered a lot in his childhood, that God will "consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain." We each testified of how that scripture had applied in our lives, and as Darien listened, he allowed the spirit to teach him as well!! He said, "yeah.... I really like that, because I need to remember that even though things seem bad a lot of the time, there are a billion people out there who have it a billion times worse than I do! So I should be focusing on the positive a lot more." :D Yay! It was wonderful to see the light in his face as he felt the Spirit, and made that discovery for himself. The scriptures can help us find what we need and teach us how to bring our lives in closer harmony with the teachings of the Savior. :)

Kat is also doing so good! Holy cow, I really feel so grateful Heavenly Father allowed me to meet her! She is so prepared, we haven't felt like we are doing much. She had her baptismal interview two days ago, and she excitedly announced to all the women in relief society yesterday that her baptism is coming up fast! So... I can't wait to tell you about it next week!

I know the gospel is true! This past week, I got the chance to read Elder Russell M. Nelson's BYU commencement speech and it was very powerful. My favorite part reads, "Your religion is not just about showing up for church on Sunday. It is about showing up as a true disciple from Sunday morning through Saturday night - 24/7. There is no such thing as a part-time disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ."

I have gained a testimony of this from the lives of so many members of the University Park Branch here in State College, PA. They are anxiously seeking ways to share their faith with the people they study with, work with, teach, etc.. Their lives are testaments of Jesus Christ. At the end of Elder Andersen's time with us, he admonished us to remember that, "we do what we do, because we love Jesus Christ." What has the love of the Savior inspired you to do? I hope it inspires you to be an example of Him, at all times, and in all things, and in places. :) I love you so much! I hope everyone has a wonderful week!!

Love,
Sister Walborn

p.s. Pictures: 1) After the Elder Andersen visit, we went on campus for Forums and the sky decided to dump a lot of rain on us! We were soaked!! Fun adventures. 2) Kat and Codey have a cat named Simba that likes to perch on Codey's shoulders. Codey wanted to see if Simba would perch on other people too... and I was the one standing closest to him. haha we did it! LOVE YOU!

August 18th, 2014

This last week we got to visit Amish country and meet some Amish families! A week ago today, a family named the Synders gave us a "tour" which included going into the homes of several Amish families that they have become close friends with over their years living in the area! It was such a neat experience!! There is so much that we can learn from the Amish. They live very simple lifestyles, they are extremely hard workers, they love and cherish their family, and they are genuinely kind people. The only part that stinks is that they don't believe in taking pictures of themselves... so I couldn't get any pictures with them. But I was able to get lots of pictures of the whole experience! The Snyders are wonderful people, and part of what I took away from the experience that I wanted to share with you is the importance of the commandment to, "love thy neighbor." The Snyder family have not been afraid of sharing our values and beliefs with the Amish people they have come in contact with, and simply by being friendly and loving, they have fostered real friendships with these wonderful people. The mutual understanding and open minded attitudes have allowed them to learn from one another and really love each other! Heavenly Father has asked us to love all people, and I found out this week that it is easy to love these wonderful Amish people who live here in Pennyslvania!

This week as we met with Darien several times, I felt Heavenly Father helping us tremendously. Darien is having a hard time finding faith, and holding on to it. Because of that, we asked him to read Alma 32 in hopes that he would understand that our loving Father in heaven does not expect us to have unshakable faith right away, but if we have a little faith and are willing to put forth the effort, He will help it to grow! Well.. it ended up going a different direction, which I know is because it is what Darien needed. He focused in on Alma 32:16-17, and was confused that God would ask people to believe and be baptized "without stubbornness of heart." He felt that if he isn't stubborn, but simply accepts everything then it wouldn't stick! He also didn't like that in verse 17, asking for a sign from heaven is NOT good. He looked at us and asked, "is that fair?" He made the point that we live in a world that moves forward based upon the results or evidence that we find, so why would God tell us to go against our nature and NOT look for a sign. Because of this, Sister Bradshaw and I had to really listen to the Spirit in helping Darien with his concern! We answered his question with two reasons:

1) Because God sent us here to progress and become more like Him! In order to do that, we must put off the natural man and instead, do what He has asked us to do. Which in this case, is to have faith and not need to see to believe!

2) Because receiving a sign or experiencing a singular miraculous event does NOT help us to develop faith. Sister Bradshaw and I were able to share with Darien 2 experiences from the Book of Mormon. The first, is the story of Nephi and his brothers when they return to Jerusalem in order to retrieve the plates and because things go wrong initially, Laman and Lemuel become angry with Nephi. An angel appears and and rebukes them, but also tells them that the Lord will deliver Laban into their hands so they must go back once more! The very next verse after the visitation from the angel says, "...Laman and Lemuel began to murmur, saying: How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands?"

The second story, was that of Alma the younger. We explained his experience of persecuting the church and living in wickedness and after receiving a visitation from the angel himself, he turned his life around and tried to do everything in his power to choose the right! It seems at first that this paradigm shift was caused because of the miraculous event he experienced, but we were able to share with Darien that Alma did not have a testimony of the truths of the gospel because of an angel. Alma 5: 45-46 says, "...Behold I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are true. And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety? Behold, I say unto you they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit..."

The Lord wants each of us to know for ourselves that this is His restored gospel on the earth, and that the teachings in it are necessary for us to find happiness. I know that if Darien applies himself to a sincere study of the Book of Mormon, and praying to our Heavenly Father to know if it is true, he will get an answer! I also know that promise applies to all of us! :) "But if ye will nourish the word..by your faith with great diligence... by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet.."

Are you ready for a crazy miracle that happened 2 days ago?? One of our investigators named Kat told us that she wants to get baptized on August 30th!! :D We have been teaching her for a few weeks, and last week we committed her and her husband (he is a RM - they were just married this year after he got home from his mission) to pray about September 6th for her to get baptized, and when we came back this week she decided it needed to be even sooner than that! :) They are so cool! She seems more like a member already than an investigator, so it feels really special that we get to help her officially make this covenant with God that will change the course of her life and open the door to so many blessings for them! She is SO wonderful!! She and her husband are wonderful cooks, and for the past few weeks when they have had us over, they have taught us how to make some really good food! She told us that next week she doesn't have a lot of work because of an issue with their building, so she wants to have us over to help bake and then whatever we make we can bring to people along with a Book of Mormon! :) We, of course, loved the idea!

Miracles happen every single day! I am so grateful for the opportunity to be here. Thank you so much for all of the incredible support, I wish you could know how much it means to me! I know this gospel is true, and as we live it day in and day out, we are showing our Heavenly Father that we are grateful to have it! I hope you have a wonderful week! LOVE YOU!

Love,
Sister Walborn

p.s. Pictures: 1) Sister Bradshaw and I visiting the Amish! We got to go into their Dry Goods store and try on some of their everyday apparel... haha  2) Me with the literal pizza pie that we made with Kat and Codey - so good! LOVE YOU!!