Two Months 11.16.15

It's me again..it's only been a few days since I last emailed but so much happens. I'll try to keep this email shorter since it's only been 4 days since I last wrote. I can't express how much I love being a missionary. Today I hit 2 months since I hit the Provo MTC and wow, has it flown by. I have learned so much and grown so much...I can't imagine what I'll be like in the next 16 months. I'm so grateful for the experiences I have had and I know without a shadow of doubt that this is exactly where I need to be.

We taught J and B this week. #lovethem. J totally had a missionary experience the other day where he told someone about the Book of Mormon and how much he loved it. He was super excited to come to church on Sunday. Well, we got out of ward council and had a voicemail from him saying his ride wasn't going to take him to church.

Unfortunately, J’s phone is broken so he borrowed his neighbors phone and we couldn't get a hold of him so Sister Wolf and I chased Brother Mazey, our ward mission leader, down and sped off to his house. We showed up on his doorstep and he was super happy that we got his voicemail. J came to church yesterday for all 3 hrs and LOVED it. During gospel principles, he was answering questions and participating. He seriously is so incredible. His girlfriend, B also has a baptismal date but she isn't as interested as him but we will continue to work with her because we love her and know it could bless their lives.

We taught D again and it was incredible. She is reading the Book of Mormon between every single visit. She explained to us that there is a reason that we ran into her and that we are teaching her.

She was able to come to church yesterday with her 2 yr old and stay all three hrs! After the sacrament had been passed, she turned to me and said "wow, my son did that like a champ." I couldn't stop laughing. She is seriously the sweetest lady.

We had lots of lessons with new people and found a lot of new investigators/ potentials. One lady, named S is a lesson that really touched my heart. We were teaching her the restoration yesterday and sister wolf transitioned from God is our loving Heavenly Father to the gospel blesses families...usually I pick up from there but instead I uttered the words "S, what is your relationship with God right now?" She immediately broke into tears. She said, "you know..that's the problem. I've gone through so much that I don't even know if God is really there for me." We discussed how much our Heavenly Father loves us and that we go through trials so that we can become stronger. We really focused on god is our loving Heavenly Father as we taught the restoration. I extended baptism and she accepted! I know that we met her for a reason and that the gospel can bless her life!

So horror of all horrors happened this week. With having iPads, our area book, lesson plans, calendar, everything is on our iPad. Well, Friday the 13th decided to play a joke on us and cause our areabook app to crash...not just us but other missionaries in our mission. Without thinking, i deleted the app and lost the information we hadn't synced...meaning 3 hrs of weekly planning info, 7 lessons, new lessons scheduled, and information of all the people we met that day. It was the worst experience and I'm pretty sure that I haven't cried that hard in a long time. We had to call our president to get our schedule for the next day and we blindly worked Saturday. Luckily,

24 hrs later, our app started to work again. We were able to catch up on everything and I am so very thankful!

I was called out of the congregation yesterday to speak/bear my testimony since one of the speakers didn't make it to church. I guess that's what you get when you're a missionary lol but thankfully, I don't have a problem speaking in front of people..most people know that about me haha (:

Today Sister Sabino and Brother Sabino surprised us with Frosty’s from Wendy's, the also took us to Wendy's on Saturday. They are some of the sweetest people and I seriously love them and their little boy a lot. They were the members who picked me up from my first transfer meeting and they have been a HUGE blessing in my life from day 1. I am so grateful to be a missionary serving in Fairborn, Ohio. If you asked me a year ago, if I would be serving a mission today, I would have said no. I am so deeply grateful for all of those who helped me to make the decision to serve a mission. This has been the most challenging, incredible blessing I have ever received. This week I've done a lot of deep studying of the Atonement. I have gained a deeper understanding and appreciation for my Saviors infinite Atonement. I am so thankful to have a loving Savior who is there for me. I'm not who I was and its all because someone suffered and died for me. I know we have a loving Savior who is waiting for us with open arms. He knows how to succor us and we mean the world to Him. Never deny yourself of the mercy of our Saviors Atonement. I know my Father in Heaven is there for me and loves me. I know that we have someone who is there for us no matter what. I am so humbled to be able to spread the gospel and help others to come into Christ. I love my Savior and I love His lost sheep who I get to bring to the fold.

Until next week...XOXOXOX,

Sister Detamore

Give it All to Him 11.11.15

Well...another week (and a half) down...We have P-Day today because transfers are tomorrow. I can't believe it's already transfers; I'm not quite sure where the time went but it's been incredible. I will be staying in Fairborn with Sister Wolf..yeah! I love being a missionary!!! ❤️ Its been quite a week...lots of lessons, lessons cancelled, challenges, falling down our stairs in our apartment (yes, it was painful but absolutely hilarious), stepping in dog poop two different days, and more. I have so many things that I wanna write about but that would take forever so here is a few snippets of my week:

As we have done some contacting this week, we've had a lot of people challenge our beliefs and our testimonies. I honestly never have had those experiences until my mission and it has opened my eyes. I have experienced things, heard things, and seen things in the past two months that I've never have before. My eyes have been open BUT it has only made my testimony a lot stronger; it makes me realize how true this gospel is.

We were going to find a potential on Wednesday and we ran into some people who were doing a fire in their front yard. We met D and she is such a shy, sweet lady. She accepted our invitation for baptism and we can't wait for her. Every time we teach her, I can feel the spirit so strongly. We had a lesson with her yesterday on the plan of salvation and the spirit was so strong. It made me realize how grateful I am to have the knowledge to know that I can be with my family forever because of Gods plan for us.

We had a lesson with J and B on Thursday but they weren't there. We tried getting in contact with them and we've been to their house multiple times but we couldn't find them. It became extremely frustrating and heart aching because they had felt the spirit so strongly in their first lesson and were excited to be baptized. It came to a point where I felt that they were avoiding us and not wanting to meet with us. Monday night Sister Wolf and I were trying to decide what we should do since our lesson fell through and we both had a feeling to go to J and B just one more time. We got to their house and it looked completely dark but we decided to knock on the door anyways. J opened the door and he was so happy to see us there. He explained to us that they had been staying at his moms home for a couple days and that's why they weren't home. He said that he had talked to his mom about the Book of Mormon and she was completely against it...he said that he was so frustrated with her because he loved the book and really enjoyed it. He said they came back to their house that day because they were sick of getting in fights with his mom about the Book of Mormon. I asked him how far he was in and he said that he was already to 1 Nephi 16; my heart swelled with joy. I had almost lost hope and felt defeated because I felt like they were avoiding us BUT that was not the case at all. They love reading the Book of Mormon and even stood up for it when Justin's mom was bashing on it. I know that this gospel can bless their lives and I'm so grateful we have the opportunity to help them receive the restored gospel.

We went to our lesson with A who has a baptismal date and it was the most awkward lesson. Immediately he explained to us that he hadn't read the Book of Mormon and he didn't know if the church was the right fit for his family and that his girlfriend was uncomfortable with us coming over to teach him. We explained to him that first thing he needed to do was read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it was true. We explained that the gospel can bless his life as well as his families lives. We began to teach him the plan of salvation and I had shared a scripture..he cut me off and said " I don't mean to argue scripture but I don't think that's what that scripture says." This frustrated me because I was literally reading it out of the scriptures. As we were teaching him, his girlfriend showed up and she was frustrated that we were on her porch again. We awkwardly said a closing pray and left his house. I felt like the lesson was a complete train wreck but I know that all I can do is bear my testimony and invite him to know for himself whether we teach is true or not.

We contacted a potential named S this week and he is the cutest/funniest old man; I seriously consider him a grandpa. We had a lesson with him on Monday and as we were sitting there his grandson (S) pulled up so we invited him to join us. We taught them the plan of salvation using the Book of Mormon. S said that he didn't really understand the kingdoms of glory so I explained that God loves us so much that he is going to give a place where we feel comfortable.

He said that he really liked that and that it made sense to him. As we were teaching, we talked a lot about the atonement. I expressed how grateful I was for the atonement because the mistakes I have made are forgiven through the atonement of Christ. We discussed that we have someone who knows exactly what we are going through and that we never feel alone. S turned his grandson and said that he didn't need to feel alone because he had God and Jesus Christ there for him always. I knew there was a reason that S showed up at his grandpas house that day and that he hear something that day that he needed to hear.

We have a lesson with them tonight and I'm so excited to help them feel the spirit more and make steps towards Christ.

On Friday I had a experience that really touched my heart. We have weekly planning and I really have a hard time focusing because I find it soooooo boring. I had no energy that day, I didn't want to do anything, and I just wanted to sleep all day. As sister wolf was in the bathroom, I prayed to my Heavenly Father that I was tired and I didn't know what to do to make it go away. Clear as day I heard the words "Get to Work." Never in my entire life have I had an experience like that before. My heart swelled and my eyes filled with tears. I knew that my Heavenly Father had heard my prayer and immediately he answered it. I am so grateful to know I have a loving Heavenly Father who is always there for me. I want you to know that we DO have a Heavenly Father and he DOES answer our prayers. He may not answer them when we want Him to and how we want Him to BUT I know that He will answer.

NO, missions are not easy BUT they are worth it. I can't begin to explain what I have learned and the experiences I have had. I know that every day my Heavenly Father is molding me into the woman he wants and desires to me. My testimony has grow deeper than it ever has before. I know that this is the Lords Kingdom on the earth once more and that it was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that we can receive personal revelation from it every single day. Because of the Plan of Salvation I can be with my family forever as long as I follow Christ and become like him. If you feel alone, discouraged, lost, turn to our Heavenly Father and Savior...allow them into your life. They love you. They know you. I am so thankful to serve in Ohio and to be a servant of the Lord. I love you all and I am so grateful for all the support I have.

I'd like to end with a part of song that I've grown to love to listen to, it's called Give It All To Him (mom, and anyone else PLEASE LOOK UP THIS SONG AND LISTEN TO IT):

With a pounding heart inside my chest

New shoes on my feet

I tell her goodbye one last time

A tears rolls down her cheek

She says I love you son [daughter]

And just like that I'm gone

With nineteen years behind me

I've got a whole life full of dreams

I spent countless nights asking God

Down there on my knees

Pretty soon I knew

What I had to do

So with a smile on my face

And a prayer in my heart

With my whole world behind me

My life's about to start

I can't count all the blessings that are waiting in the end So I forget myself and give it all to him

Until Monday...XOXO,

Sister Detamore

 

Bonus Pictures! 10.7.15

Hey there, Jen here, Sister Detamore is super blessed to have a wonderful Mission President and wife who are dedicated to taking and posting pictures of the missionaries. This gives us another view of Sister Detamore serving in Ohio. Enjoy!

The Lord’s Work 11.2.15

What an incredible week with incredible miracles. This week I truly realized that this is the Lords work and how much he truly is a part of it. We've had many opportunities the past month getting potential investigators but Sister Wolf and I have struggled to find new investigators where we are actually teaching...we barely could hit our goal of one new investigator each week. This week we had the opportunity to not only find potential investigators but we were able to find 10 new investigators. We also were able to extend baptism to 7 new people so we have 10 people with dates working towards baptism.

The zone leaders called us last night to talk about our successes this week and they asked us to do training at the zone meeting Wednesday...so I'm pretty nervous to train on Wednesday since I'm so new but I am super excited and ready to take on the challenge. There have been so many miracles this week and so many things I can ramble on for days about but I want to share with you all some of the highlights of this week.

To keep my family and everyone updated on my health..Tuesday we had interviews with the mission president and his wife (President and Sister Daines) which was incredible but as we were there Sister Daines knew I was sick and she asked me to go to the doctors. So Tuesday night I had the wonderful (not really wonderful) opportunity to go to the doctors. I had the symptoms of the flu, strep throat, and a cold all together plus random bloody noses....The doctor never told me what I had but he prescribed me with an antibiotic and some liquid for the throat/cough. So pretty much I was dying all week and Friday was the first day I had enough energy to seem like I was peppy. Super crappy but we continued and worked every day. I am now about 85% healthy again and so very grateful to feel more like myself!

So on Thursday we went to take a couple pictures cause Fairborn is CRAZY about Halloween and we decided to contact while we were there.

We ran into J, B, and G. (Band J are dating and have a little boy and G is J's cousin). We talked about the gospel and got to talking about the Book of Mormon. J said he has never read it but has always wanted to. That morning I had prayed to Heavenly Father that I could place a Book of Mormon that day and I had the opportunity to give J one. we set up an appointment with all three of them. Saturday morning we text J to confirm the lesson and he said that he had read the Book of Mormon and had questions...we were super excited because many times people don't read before our visits. J really liked the Book of Mormon so far and how faithful Nephi was to the Lord. We taught the restoration at the lesson and the spirit was incredible. All 3 of them were so focused in the lesson...especially J. We explained that Christ's church was established back on the earth and that we had a prophet leading and guiding us today. Jsaid he knew there had to be a prophet but that he hadn't heard anything about him. The entire lesson I was preparing to extend the soft invitation to baptism (there is a soft and hard invitation..if you don't know what I'm talking about look it up in Preach My Gospel) and before I knew it I was extending baptism for Dec. 5th to them. They said they wanted to baptized by the proper authority of God. It be honest, it wasn't me talking as I extended baptized...i learned that day that if we open our months, they will be filled. I was being lead by the spirit and it was incredible. I knew it was divine placement and we were meant to meet these 3. God truly puts people in your path, you just have to be willing to open your mouth and share the gospel. I literally was on cloud 9 spiritually.

#spiritualcloud9

We've been teaching M W and sorta her daughters but the kids never have received the lessons. So we taught the restoration to the 4 little girls and we were able to extend baptism to the 3 that were at or over the age of accountability. We set up an appointment to teach the girls the Plan of Salvation but when we got to their house the 2 boys decided to sit in the lesson. That is a miracle in of its self...

They always say "the church girls are here!" but once we start the lessons, they immediately leave. We were teaching the Plan of Salvation with coloring pages that I made and the kids were soaking up the information. At the end of the lesson, I decided to extend baptism to the 2 boys...L accepted. Ca was a little hesitant....L whispered "say yes" and sweet K did a thumbs up and said "C, it's a good thing". It was the cutest thing I've ever seen. All of 7 of these kids are 11 and younger but they have all accepted to be baptized. We are now teaching the entire family...we haven't been able to teach any of the lesson to the dad yet... He had a baptismal date but he hasn't been to church so we had to move the date. We are hoping to work on him this week so that we can teach them as a family. They all (besides the dad) have the baptismal date of Nov. 28th and I know that this gospel can bless their family. I have seen the blessing within my own family and I know that this gospel unites families on earth and through the eternities.

Friday we had new missionary follow-up training and it was incredible.

All of us new missionaries and our trainers had the opportunity to go with the President and Sister Daines to the Columbus Temple to do an endowment session. This was probably one of the most spiritual experiences I've ever had. I am so grateful for the temple and the blessings we receive from attend it. Whether you can do an endowment session, baptisms, or simple just sit on the temple grounds...please make it a point to go to the temple at least every month...or if possible, each week. The temple is a piece on earth and I testify that the spirit can be felt strongly there. I love the temple and I know that our Heavenly Father gave us temples to feel of his love and to come closer to Him.

This week was filled with so many miracles to the point where I can't write about all of them. I know that this is the Lords work and I am simply an instrument in His hands. This week my testimony of the gospel grew farther and deeper than it ever has before. This is Christ's church restored on the earth. We have the tools necessary to make it back to our Heavenly Father and Savior...all we have to do now is use the tools. Because of the Atonement, we can make it back to them. Just as the Book of Mormon is the keystone to our religion, the Atonement is the keystone to The Plan of Salvation. The way we show our love and devotion to God is by following His son, Jesus Christ.

Everyday strive to become more like Christ. I am so incredibly grateful for the gospel in my life. I am deeply grateful for the Atonement of my Savior. This work is hard but I know that Salvation is not cheap. Even through the hard struggles, I am so thankful for the opportunity to be a missionary and to find the lost sheep. Thank you for all the support and love! I love you all!!

Until Next Week...

XOXO,

Sister Detamore

Hightlights:

Temple session

1st Halloween in Ohio

What a Week 10.26.15

I feel as if this week wasn't the most amazing week but that's okay. I know that we did plant a lot of seeds in people's hearts and that one day those seeds will grow.

I guess I can start out by saying how awful today and yesterday was.

Saturday I woke up with a sore throat and it bothered me all day..I didn't think much about it until all night I was awake due to really bad pain. I was super sick all Sunday and it was more than just a sore throat; it was to the point where I was in tears. We had Sister Uptegraft, Brother Uptegraft, and Brother Dean come over and I ended up getting a priesthood blessing. I cant begin to explain how thankful I am for worthy priesthood holders. After the brethren gave me a priesthood blessing, Sister Uptegraft stayed to make me herbal tea and pulled out her essential oils....(She also proceeded to do our dishes).

Sister Wolf and I stayed home until our dinner appointment at the Rossi's. while were at our dinner appointment, Sister Uptegraft text us and told us she had made us homemade chicken noodle soup. (That woman is just incredible). Brother Rossi is a nurse and so he checked my throat. He told me I should think about going to the doctors because it may be possible that I have strep throat. I woke up this morning super sick still and we are sorta unsure what I have but I'm just taking it easy. I haven't gone to the doctors because I don't want to get there and be told that I'm just sick and that I need to rest and take it easy. BUT I am so incredibly grateful for my ward who is so loving and willing to do anything to help me feel better. It's so nice to have people who feel like family while I'm away from home.

We started a "fitness" challenge on Monday with our district. We get points if we don't eat passed 9:30 pm, get to bed by 10:30, get up by 6:30, exercise for 30 mins, get to personal study by 8 am, and get to companion study by 9. We also get extra points of we exercise extra mins before 8 am or after 9:30 pm. It's helped me a lot with being more obedient to our schedule and "exact obedience bring miracles while select obedience brings select blessings". Also Monday, we had elders call us serving in Alaska and one of the Elders is from Dayton, Ohio. He called us to refer us over to his mom and step dad who live in Yellow Springs. His mom had been inactive for years and his step dad was a nonmember. He asked us if we would go over the their house on Tuesday and share with them what he was sharing in Alaska. I knew that this was a small tender mercy for his mom the moment she opened the door and we said that we had been called by his son in Alaska.

Unfortunately, yellow springs is in the Elders area but helpfully they will work with them.

Adam said that his daughter was too young to be baptized so we asked him to pray to know that the age of accountability was 8. When we went over to their house Tuesday, we asked if he had prayed to know and he said "you know, if being baptized is what she wants to do then she can be baptized!" We are so excited for C. We are going to extend a baptismal date to her tonight and I'm so happy that she can choose this decision for herself.

So Wednesday, we went to teach B who has a baptismal date and before I could get out the car she gave me the plan of salvation pamphlet and Book of Mormon back. She said we were moving to fast for her (which I don't understand because she tried to move up her baptismal date last week) and asking her to make changes in her life that she wasn't ready for. It was really sad but I bore my testimony to her about the importance of baptism and the blessings that come from it. We weren't expecting her to drop us but maybe one day she'll come to realize the truthfulness of our message.

I had the opportunity to go on exchanges this week with the sister training leaders. I went with Sister Crandell to her area, Urbana. She is from Springfield, Utah and has been out for 16 months! We mostly did contacting the whole Day. One older man we went to was D. He had told Sister Crandell about two weeks ago not to come back until she had an answer about a certain question. She found scriptures that answered his question but he still wasn't happy. His wife recently passed and he wasn't happy with God. This guy sorta scared me but I continued to talk to him and bear my testimony to him. All of the sudden, his heart began to soft...maybe not on the subject of the gospel but he went from bashing certain beliefs to sitting with us and talking about his family and life. At first he scared me but throughout our conversation I began to love the man and I knew that at some point in life he would accept the gospel. He reminded me a lot of Mr. Fredtrickson (or however you spell it) from the movie Up. An old man super bitter about his wife dying, a boy (or two sister missionaries) comes along to serve him, and by the end of the movie his heart had soften. I literally watched his heart completely soften..it was incredible. He even gave me tomatoes and everyone knows how much I LOVE TOMATOES. He is even letting Sister Crandell and her companion come back to do service for him. I know that this man is going to continually soften up and will begin to see the light of Christ in missionaries. It's so incredibly how the spirit works on people and how people can truly see the Light of Christ in our eyes.

Friday we had our ward Halloween Trunk-or-Treat.... It was so much fun and I love the ward I am serving in so much. Sister and Brother Ward brought nonmembers to it and we talked a little to them. As we were talking to them, I had a strong impression to talk about the Plan of Salvation. We were talking about God and his hand in our daily lives...and it led me right into the Plan of Salvation. I know that the spirit was guiding me as I was talking to them. The spirit is so important when it comes to missionary work and it should always guide us. I like to compare it this way: missionaries speak to the body/mind and the spirit speaks to the soul. Without the Holy Ghost, missionary work would be impossible.

We had 3 investigators come to church yesterday and I was so incredibly happy. Even though I was super sick, I had the opportunity to go to church and sit by 1 of our investigators. We are going to continue teaching all of our investigators the importance of attending church, why it's important personally, and how it will bless their lives.

There will never be a general apostasy again but we are in danger of falling into a personal apostasy. We need to continually strengthen our testimony and deepen our conversion. Here are safeguards to help

you:

1. Keep covenants

2. Obey the commandments

3. Follow church leaders

4. Partake of the sacrament each week

5. Daily scripture study

6. Daily prayer

7. Service

I can testify to you all that this gospel is true and the fully restored gospel on the earth today. We have a loving Heavenly Father and Savior who know us individually and love us deeply. I promise you that if you follow the 7 steps above, that you will become closer to our Heavenly Father and Savior and you will come to know how true this gospel is. I am so grateful for the gospel in my life. I know that I can be with my family forever and that I've been blessed with such an amazing family. There are so many ups and downs as a missionary but everyday I'm reminded that this is exactly where I should be. I love you all and I'm so grateful for all the support. Look to Christ, build a foundation on Christ, and press forward with faith in Christ.

XOXO,

Sister Detamore

 

A Complete Blur 10.19.15

This week is a complete blur..no like really, I swear I blinked and it was Monday again haha. I'm not even sure what to talk about because we had so much happen. OH GUESS WHAT? I hit the MTC one month ago 3 days ago and let me tell you I have no idea where that month went. I've had my ups and downs but being a missionary is incredible. Happy 1 Month to me ☺️
I guess I'll start with the depressing news because then it'll force you all to read the whole email to get to the GOOD stuff. And plus, I've realized that I haven't really wrote about stuff that does go wrong. Let me tell you, there are going to be ups and downs as a missionary. What I have realized is you can either focus on the negative or focus more on the positive. I've unconsciously decided to focus on the positive so I want to apologize for not writing a lot about the negative stuff. There are downs almost every single day but the good weighs out the bad.
So three of our investigators (A, R, and M) are not going to be ready to be baptized on October 31st..and it makes me so sad. Two of them were progressing pretty well but this week we sort of hit a stump in the path. all three of them have begun to struggle and I know that Satan is trying to work really hard on them because they are moving to such an incredible spiritual experience. I pray for them every single day and hope that we can help them feel the spirit strongly once again.
Another struggle that I've seen while being out is getting investigators to come to church. We have so many of them we contact/visit Saturday night that say they are going to come but when church comes around, they aren't there. I am going to really try hard this week to help people understand the importance of church attendance and that they can receive personal revelation through church attendance
Oh man, we taught this lady the other day and she was craaaazy. She said how we all had a third eye in our brain and the government was polluting our tap water so that it would dull our third eye. #WHAT Then she went off about this secret organization taking over the government...yeah, I wasn't sure what to say the entire time. Haha But she is going through a hard time right now and I know the gospel can bless her life so we will see where that goes.
We had an amazing lesson with our investigator T on Saturday.
She is probably our strongest investigator BUT she won't set a baptismal date yet. She likes to work in baby steps so we are making steps towards setting a date. Our lesson Saturday was on Faith and it was absolutely amazing. We listened to the talk "Lord, I Believe" by Jeffery R. Holland. EVERYONE PLEASE GO READ IT.
The other day Sister Wolf and I read the talk "The Miracle of a Mission" by Jeffery R. Holland. Let me tell you...that talk brought tears to my eyes. I love Holland so much and that talk pierced my soul. No lie. Please read that talk as well.
We had the opportunity to help an elderly woman garden and it made me think of my dad. He cares so much our yard and always plants the prettiest flowers. #lovemydad
My favorite day of the week had to be Saturday. We had a pumpkin carving activity that was put on by our ward mission leader. Man, did I have the time of my LIFE. It was so much fun. I'll definitely send pictures from that activity. We talked to a 12 year old there and wow, she had such strong faith. She isn't a member so we talked about the plan of salvation with her and she was extremely interested to know more about Gods plan for her. We told her we could teach her more but we wanted it to be okayed through her parents..out of respect you know? Well I don't think her parents were too interested but I hope someday Grace can have the chance to her more about the gospel.
Yesterday we went to check on investigators that haven't been visited in awhile. They weren't home so we decided to knock on the door next to them. We met S and she had thee cutest little 2 yr old boy. The moment he saw us, he looked up and said, "I wanna hold you." (Meaning he wanted to be held). It made my heart ache and made me miss my nieces and nephews so so much. We got to talking to her and before I knew it we were in her house teaching her the restoration. After I recited the first vision to her she said, "that's amazing that God and Jesus Christ appeared to him." Yes, S, it is! We have another appointment with her Wednesday and I can't wait to teach her again.
My favorite lesson of the entire week was probably at dinner last night. We had an awesome dinner at a part-member families home. We shared the Mormon message "The Hope of Gods Light" and then Sister Wolf and I shared our personal "conversion" (not really converts but gaining our own testimonies) stories. It was so powerful and the spirit was so strong. There wasn't a dry eye in the room and I KNEW walking out that we had strengthened their testimonies and helped them come closer to Christ. It wasn't because of me but because of the spirit in the room. I told them that if they had a question, had a desire to receive an answer, went humbly before the Lord in pray, with real intent, that they would receive an answer. I told them that I was called of God and set apart as a representative of Jesus Christ and I had the authority to promise them this. I can honestly say that this has been the most powerful moment as a missionary. God is there for us and He knows us individually. I challenge you all to watch "The Hope of Gods Light" and then pray to our a Heavenly Father having a desire to know the answer to a question you want to ask Him. I PROMISE YOU that you WILL receive an answer if you are humble enough to receive it.
Since my sister is so amazing, she sent me a thing that allows me to transfer pictures from my camera to my iPad. I got it Saturday so I didn't take too many photos on my camera but from now on I will have better quality photos then the lame iPad ones. Lol thanks Jen!
Being a missionary is incredible. As I have said before, there are ups and downs. I have times when I wonder what in the world am I doing out here but I have moments where I know exactly what I'm doing out here!
I am so grateful I have the opportunity to be a sister missionary. I have grown so much in the past month and I know I'll continue to grow the next 17. I love this gospel so much. I've never loved it so much until now. I KNOW I have a loving Savior who is there for us. I KNOW we have a prophet on the earth to lead and guide us. I KNOW that I have a loving Heavenly Father who cares so deeply about each one of us. It's incredibly amazing how much we as indicates can grow in the gospel if we allow ourselves to grow. I love you all so much and I am so grateful for the support!
With lots of love..XOXO,
Sister Detamore
Highlights:
1 Month
First haircut on her mission
Pumpkin carving activity
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So much to say, so little time 10.12.15

 It's so hard trying to think about what I'm going to write because so much happens in a week. Hopefully I write about everything that I want to write about and my emails will probably be long all the time cause there is so much to write about. (ps; I'm writing this sentence after I finished my email...be prepared for a long email...it's so good though)
So last Monday in my email I talked about a 9 yr old we were going to teach that night who had less active parents. We taught their family the restoration to them and we all drew out of each point of the restoration. I'll send the picture of mine. holy goodness, They know so much... They are the Campbell's and they have 4 kids. It's like they taught the kids the gospel but just never go to church. When we were talking about Joseph Smith, “E” (the 9 yr old) goes, "oh, God and Jesus came to him and told him to not join any of the churches cause they were all wrong." I was like YES! Haha so long story we got to the end of the lesson and I extended baptism to “E” with the date of Nov. 14. Her mom starts talking (and I was like oh no...) and she proceeds to say that “C” turns 8 on the 18th so they'd like them to be baptized the same day..so I asked if November 21st would work.
Sister Wolf and I had talked about asking if their dad, “R” would prepare himself to baptize the kids and before I could ask.... “C” (the 7 yr old) goes "And daddy can baptize us!" It was the greatest thing EVER. So we have another baptism coming up!
So another cool story. We had a lesson set up with “M” who has a baptismal date but when we got there she wasn't there. We decided to talk to “K”:, her mother-in-law who is a less active that we've been teaching. “K” has been going through stuff tough stuff and so we taught her about trials and relying on God. At the end of the lesson, we asked her if she wanted to receive a priesthood blessing. The next day we got a member and his wife (which happened to be “K’s” visiting teacher) to go over to “K's” to give her a blessing. We were unable to go because we had a lesson during that time. The next day after she got the blessing we went over to teach the family and “K” was totally different. She literally was glowing. #BEAMING we asked her how it was and she said "as soon as he put his hands on my head, I could feel it.
I could feel the power of the priesthood. I felt so comforted and peaceful afterwards. People kept asking me after what I was on or what I drank but I kept telling them I didn't take anything. I've been like this ever since I got the blessing. I can't stop smiling." PEOPLE THE POWER OF THE PRIESTHOOD IS INCREDIBLE. MEN BE WORTH TO USE YOUR PRIESTHOOD. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW IMPORTANT IT IS.
Okay, funny story to this story. We started our lesson and while I'm pouring out my testimony about keeping the Sabbath day holy and such...I look in the kitchen and I see a mouse run across the kitchen floor. #WHAT. hah I tried so hard not to freak out and to not laugh...but I go through my testimony and they still to this day have no idea I saw that haha.
Okay ANOTHER COOL STORY. We were tracting this road and as we are walking down it I stopped at a corner and in my heart I said a prayer to Heavenly Father that I could find someone that we could teach and find a new investigator. My companion said "are we turning the corner and going down this street instead?" I said "oh..I don't care." But really I was thinking to myself "we have to turn down this street. I just said a prayer that I would find someone down this street." Sister Wolf said "look there is a guy getting groceries out of his car. Let's go talk to him." We started to talk to him, “T”, and he told us he had a really good friend who was an "Elder" who taught him a little about Mormons. He said it was weird to see us cause he has only seen men in white shirts, riding bikes. He said that he loves how Mormons are always so happy no matter what. He asked if we had a church near by and of course, we said yes! He said it was weird because he was thinking about what he should do this weekend and we randomly walked up to him...he asked for the address to our church. So..we left him our number and address to the church. So Sunday came and he wasn't at church but Sister Wolf and I planned to go talk to him if he didn't come to church. Last night we went over to his house and he said he knew he had something to do that day and totally spaced that he was going to go to church. We got talking to Tim and man, what he said...we KNEW God has prepared him. He said that he has had some hard times and one time he went to a field and started to talk out loud..sorta pray out load..and that he felt peaceful and calm. He said he KNEW there is a God out there. We talked to him a little about the Holy Ghost and explained to him that the Holy Ghost comforts us and yeah. He then goes on to explain that he believes there is a reason that we met him. He said that everything was placed the way it was so that we could be walking past his house as he got out of his car to go inside. He said that usually he drives fast but that day he drove slower...he didn't know why he did that but he now realized it was because he needed to be getting out of his car when we were walking down the road. WHAT THE HECK PEOPLE!?! “T” said there is a reason why we met him...we didn't even have to say it. Gosh, it was so cool. So we talked about the Book of Mormon and he said that he had been giving one by his friend years back but he didn't know where it was. I proceeded to tell him that we had one in our bags for him. He then went on and said "you know, Tyler gave me a Book of Mormon and I lost it...I guess this is me getting it back years later." After an hour of being there, we bore a small testimony and set up an appointment to meet with him on Saturday. We also invited him to come to a pumpkin carving social that we have Saturday afternoon. As we were nightly planning, “T” texted us thanking us for the book and giving us his number if we ever needed to contact him. YOU GUYS “T” IS BOMB and God has prepared him. I can't wait to teach him. It's so cool to see that Heavenly Father really prepares people.
Haha okay...so when we were tracting, we were talking to this guy and I asked him what his relationship with God was like and he goes "That of a banana.". He goes on to say that he knows God exists but doesn't want a relationship with him because bad things happen when God is involved. #WHAT?? he also started to ask if we knew how to hack a computer..so we left. Lol, that of a banana? I don't even get what he meant by that?
I have SO much to write about but I'll do one more story. “J” is a less active convert who has a little girl and is going through her second divorce. We planned to teach her the restoration. So Saturday we started to talk about our loving Heavenly Father and as she is talking about God wanting her to reach he full potential she randomly went on to talk about going through the temple and if she wanted to get married to man in the temple what would happen to her little girl because they couldn't be sealed. We explained to her that her little girl could be sealed to her no matter who the man was. We went to explain how important the temple was and the blessing from the temple.
It made me realize how important the temple REALLY is and how important it SHOULD be in all of our lives. We need to make the temple a priority in our lives. It is a piece of heaven on earth giving to us. We committed “J” to start talking the temple prep class and prepare herself to go through the temple. The next day she came to church and her little girl kept bugging her to go up to the microphone. She helped her little girl bare her testimony then she bore her own. She explained that her daughter had no idea what fast and testimony meeting but she knew that it was God way of telling her she needed to be at church with her daughter and this is the right place for her.
I have so so so so much to write but who wants to read 20 pages from me? Lol. But really the gospel is so cool. Being a missionary comes with struggles. I get tired and sometimes feel to tired to do anything but being a missionary comes with rewards so I'll take it. I love helping people feel the spirit and to gain a testimony of their own.
Our Heavenly Father loves us so much. He knows all individually. He wants to be a part of our lives and help us day by day but as a good friend once said to me "God can't guide our feet until we move." I cant begin to tell you how true that is. Our Heavenly Father cares so much about us. He wants a close relationship with us but we have to be the ones to continually strengthen it. This gospel is amazing. I want you all to realize how amazing it is for yourself.
XOXO, Sister Detamore