Monday, October 27, 2014

October 26, 2014 - A. Baptism Was Awesome!

Hey everyone,
 This week was good, it went by super fast..
Monday we emailed and I slept for a bit, then we went to Wal-Mart. We had all three of our appointments cancel on us Monday night, so we went to the Y's we had some cake for dessert. Then we asked them some questions that one of our investigators had. 
Tuesday we had District meeting and that was really, really good. We talked about being bold. I love my district! They are wonderful missionaries.   After we went to the thrift store for a sorters meeting. That was helpful, but boring. lol We then went to see R. and E. E. sat throughout the whole lesson. She is coming along so well. She is reading and praying and coming to church. She also hasn't been drinking as much. She told us that she doesn't really have the desire to drink like she did, she said that she thinks its because I have been coming to church. She is so sweet! We then went to see Sister A. but she wasn't home. So we went home got ready for our next appointment and then went to dinner at Sister A's house. We then a little later we went to M. and V's house and had dinner there.. (yes we were so stuffed) lol it was really great though! M. asked for a Book of Mormon. He said he wants religion in his life. Need I tell you he told us that he didn't want to hear about the church but he said that he would listen as time goes on and he just didn't want it shoved on him, of course no one wants that.. So after dinner we went to the church to pick up some stuff and talk with the bishop about the baptism.
Wednesday we worked at the thrift store. Then we went and saw C. Still having some rough stuff going on.  After meeting with her we biked to the R's house and had a real awkward lesson with them.. We went to meet with the mom, but the dad and the mom just put us outside with the daughters who had been investigating the church and said you can meet out here.. the daughters and Sister Strickland and I just where like what is going on... lol. the mom came out for a second and was like, I got to get back to cooking... the  mom just thought we came to see the daughters.  Anyways, we then went and had our last lesson/dinner with A. before his baptism.  They bought us Zaxby's, yum! We had a good lesson with him. We then came home.
Thursday we went to the church and cleaned the font, it was gross! Then we had lunch that a member bought us, pizza and breadsticks and soda. Then we went and biked and "oymed" a ton! We talked to 40 people in about 3 hours ha ha.. and that was just us biking around. We street contacted this guy who was like "Oh my wife is actually a member, let me go get her." She comes out and is like "SISTERS!!" she was so happy to see us. She told us she has only lived in Florida for like 2 years but hasn't been to church in a year. She then said "It must be a sign if I run into you guys the day we are moving into our new house" Lol.. She then set up an appointment to feed us next week. Then we had correlation meeting, which was good. Then we went and saw the C's.
Friday we went to M. Y's for lunch and then we went to see  J. then E. and then C.  Then we went to dinner and then did weekly planning..
Saturday we went to see Miss K. she is amazing! Then we went to the thrift store and then to the church. A. was baptized! That was great! We also had lunch with the K's.  We had a great day!!!
Sunday was great as well!  We had the primary program and another baptism which was the Elders. Well, I would love to write more but my time us up on the computer here at the library. I love you all, have a great week.
Love, Sister Seegrist
 

Monday, October 20, 2014

October 20, 2014 - Nerf Wars and Pensacola

Hey everyone!!
 How was you all's week? I hope it was good! I had a great week! This week went by so fast! I guess I will just do the usual and start with Monday.
On Monday we had a Nerf War with our district, that was a lot of fun. Then we went and got our hair cut and then we did our shopping. Then we went and met with a recent convert named L. she is 17 and joined the church in June. She is really a great person! The Elders where the ones working with her but now we will be. 
On Tuesday we went to Pensacola for zone training. We were placed on a lock down because there were a lot of storms in the mission, including tornado's but the lock down only lasted about an hour.  The training was really good. The Zone leaders did a great job at teaching!  After training we went to lunch with some of the sisters in our zone, we went to Panda Express, then came home, then we went to see R and V.
Wednesday  we worked at the thrift store. Then we went and saw C. After visiting with her we went to V's house and helped her clean her house. She has breast cancer and just started chemo, we just dusted and swept and mopped. After that we went to our dinner and lesson with R and his wife E. We taught the plan of salvation. She said it was "interesting" and she would pray about it. After that lesson we biked to A's and had our appointment with him. On the way back we saw something big and black and at first we thought it was a bear because they are EVERYWHERE here. (I have yet to see one) But it was actually just a dog. It started chasing us. We were biking so fast, haha.. Then we got to our car and were like I guess we will have to see if the dog was nice, haha.. thank goodness it was. It was a chocolate lab and was just wagging it's tale. lol.
Thursday we tried to do our weekly plan but that never works out when we want it to. Then we went to the church to make some copies then we went to see A. and then the R. family then we visited with a few others.  We went to dinner at the S's. They are a great family! Then we went to correlation meeting.. After that we went to the K's. They are a great family as well!
Friday we biked all day! We biked to M.Y's house (need I mention her house is like 6 mile at least) We had lunch with her and watched more Conference. Then we biked to T.A's house and talked with her. We then went and tried a referral from the Elders, but she wasn't home. Then we went to see C.  then we biked to the M's house for dinner. We went with them to this Thai place. That was yummy! Then we biked all the way home which was about 10-15 miles. It was dark and cold and we had 45 minutes to get home to get our car and go to another appointment. We were biking so fast lol. We were about 10 minutes late. It was A's baptismal interview. That went very well. We talked with them after the interview. We love them so much. They are another great family. Then we went home and planned.
Saturday we went and saw Miss K. She is amazing! She was on Dr. P. last October and they where just so mean to her. She was reuniting with her daughter and Dr. P. just was trashing her and they wouldn't let her take her medicine before the show that ways she would freak out of TV, but she said to us that "I just sat there with the light of Christ and kept my mouth shut" She is an amazing women. After meeting with her we went to the thrift store and worked we then went to lunch at the waffle house.. mmm waffles. that was good. Then we went and got our flu shots. Our mission required us go get them lol.. Then we did some weekly planning in the library parking lot.. (the things we do to save miles..) Later we biked to the S's for dinner again. It was their daughters birthday, she is 7 years old. All of their kids are really cute! Then we were biking home and talked to this guy who actually wants to be baptized. He had taken the discussion and already knows its all true but he isn't ready yet. The Elder's that taught him just stopped seeing him after a certain Elder left. So we got his information and he said he would love to have them come over. We gave the information to the new Elders, because we know they will actually get it done. He bore his testimony on the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and he said he feels this is his Church home.  He told us he knows he will get baptized eventually. That was really awesome! Then we biked back to our car and finished weekly planning and did 12 week.
Sunday we went to church. We had 3 investigators come to church, that was really great! Then we went and oymed a lot and went to Sister L's for dinner. Then we watched some of conference with her. Then we biked home..
Today we are just emailing and doing the usually p-day stuff.. Well, I love y'all. I  know this church is true! I know that if you pray Heavenly Father will answer your prayers. I hope y'all have a great week!
Love, Sister Hannah Seegrist
 

Monday, October 13, 2014

October 13, 2014 - Gator and Turtle Soup!

Hey everyone!
 How has y'all's week been? Mine has been pretty good! Another week in Navarre.  I guess I will just start with Monday again.
Monday, we emailed and then just relaxed at 6 pm we went to dinner with Sister White and Sister William's she is actually from Santa Clara, her maiden name is Sister Cook. They are nice ladies we then went and visited with the W's. Then we did some planning.
Tuesday my companion was sick, we went to district meeting which was really good. We talked about "oyming" and finding those who are kept from the gospel because they don't know where to find it. Then we did some planning with the Gulf Breeze Elders for the family history booth. That was good. They are great Elders. After that we went home for lunch then we had to get stuff to fix my flat tire and stuff for our family history booth. Then we  went to see R, Sister A and then Sister F who was going to have us over for dinner, but she was in a lot of pain, so she bought us a gift card to this pizza place, so we went there for dinner.  Then we  did 12 week and fixed my tire. Well fixed my front tire...
Wednesday we went to Pensacola for interviews with our Mission President. That was really good. Then a member took us to CiCis Pizza. Then we went to see R and E. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she said she will read a chapter a week. She is so cute and funny. Then we went and had a lesson with A. We taught him about the priesthood. Then we biked home and did planning. Sister Strickland made me an awesome planner. It is pretty hashtagalishious and yes that is a word..
Thursday we visited some less actives and members and tried some potentials. Then we went to correlation meeting and then to this Relief Society activity. That was great! After we planned more for the family history booth. My back tire on my bike completely popped, so I had to get stuff to fix it, Sister S. and I fixed that. 
Friday we went to lunch, Sister Y then to Sister W's. Then we went to the thrift store and got everything else finalized for the family history booth.  Then we went to dinner with the M's and then we had a lesson with N. We also finished our weekly planning.
Saturday we went to our family history booth, it was a the "Picktober Fest" it was a breast cancer awareness fest. We were there from 10-5. The Gulf Breeze Elders helped us and that went really well, we talked to 411 people, and yes we did keep tract. Elder Young and I pretty much talked to half of those. Which was good because we are both still learning. After the booth we went to dinner with the E's. We went to the Thai Hut, that was pretty good. I got some really good pepper steak, lol. Then we went to our lesson with A, he is getting baptized on the 25th of this month. We are super excited for him!!!  :)
Sunday we went to church, it was really good. Two of our investigators came. After church we went with Sister M and helped her do some visiting teaching. Then we went to the K's for dinner and guess what they fed us.. GATOR and TURTLE Soup! It was really good. The gator tasted like chicken and the turtle tasted like beef. We really enjoyed it! Today we are doing another Nerf War with our District, that should be fun. Well, that is all I have for this week. We went to see this less active named D.W. and she totally called me by my first name, it was so funny. We were eating lunch and she was talking and said to me "What about you Hannah?" hahaha I then answered. (I cant remember what she asked) but I about started to bust up, ha ha...my companion looked at me and started laughing. It was pretty funny. Well, I hope I have some more eventful stories for next week. I love you all and hope you have a great week.
I know that this church is so true and that God loves us and he wants what is best for us. We are given trials to get stronger. He knows that we can and will get through whatever we are going through. Never forget that no matter what, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us so much! I know this to be true. I hope y'all can feel it as well. I know that if we pray and have faith in him, then we can and WILL conquer anything. Stay strong everyone and always stay Happy. One of our District rules is to" BE HAPPY." Don't ever forget that! I love Y'all and pray for Y'all. Thanks for the love and support.
Love, Sister Hannah Seegrist
P.S sorry this letter is kind of shorter than normal..
      

October 6, 2014 - Eventful Week


Monday, September 29, 2014

September 15, 2014 - I Saw a Turtle

Hey Y'all!
I will start with Monday of last week. We emailed and then went shopping. Then we wrote letters and some other fun stuff. Then we went to dinner at a members home, she made us these Louisiana pork sandwiches. They where pretty good!  After we went to D. and C.'s and visited with them. Then we  did our planning. The people here in Navarre are some of the nicest people I think I have ever met! The ward is great and I just love it!
 Tuesday we went and visited R. and Sister A. she is a less active. Then went to dinner at the H's. Afterwards we helped out with the young women's activity, which as family history stuff.
 Wednesday we worked at the thrift store. Then we came home and had lunch! I had a horrible headache and my comp was sick so we rested for the last little bit of lunch hour! Then we went to visit A. but she wasn't home so we just did 12 week.  That I will tell y'all is just so great! hahaha... anyway we went and saw a less active named V. who just has had a hard last couple of years. She was diagnosed with breast cancer about like a month or two ago and her family just pretty much disowns her, it is really sad.
We are going to be working with her! Then we went to see A. but she canceled on us, so then we tried another less active who didn't even live at the address on the ward roster, she never lived there, so it was weird.
 Then we saw a potential outside named G. so we talked to him and he came to church last week, but he went to the wrong time and wasn't dressed so he left. He was supposed to come this week but he didn't.  Then we talked to some other really nice people.  I am pretty sure they where drunk but we talked with them for a while, at first they tried to scare us off by telling us that they like to strangle little girls, we just laughed because we knew they where lying and then they took our card after we talked for about 20 minutes. They asked us a ton of questions so we will see if anything comes out of it.  Then we went to dinner at the stake presidents house. He is actually in Africa so it was just his wife home. Then we went and saw brother C. who is a less active and then C. and D. we set up an return appointment, because it was late!
Thursday we visited some members and then went and met with R. he had his baptism interview and he passed. We also talked to him about the Priesthood. While Elder B. was doing the interview Sister Strickland and I talked to Elder Y. who I was in the MTC with. The interview lasted about an hour! R. loves to talk and tell stories! We came home and had dinner then correlation meeting, then we went to a Relief Society activity.
Friday we biked to M.Y's and had lunch with her. We had some delish meatball sandwiches. We did some scripture study with her, we talked about virtue. Then we biked to some less actives and potentials not to many people were home or they were "busy". Then we biked and met with a less active who we are teaching the lessons to and that went really, really, well. Then we went and did a cookout with D. and C. We had a ton of food, it was great! I am getting a lot more comfortable talking to people, which makes me happy.
Saturday, we went to Sister W's for lunch then went to the thrift store and then went to lunch with sister C. she took us to a Italian place, it was good! Then we went to a baptism in Milton for a family Sister Strickland taught there.  The spirit was super strong and it was good! It was a dad and two of his sons.  Then Sister L. and Sister A. took us to "Texas Roadhouse" and we went with the Milton sisters also. That was a lot of fun! I'm telling you, the ward members here are the nicest people!
Sunday we went to church and 4 of our investigators couldn't come because the kids where sick but R. came and that was good. We then did weekly planning and then went to the S. families home for dinner and that was good! They have 5 kids under the age of 10 and the youngest is 5, they are a great family. We had a lot of fun with them, after we went and saw C. and D.  I love them! Then we had "companionship inventory" that was fun!  This week was great and it went by faster than a burning freight train. I just want everyone to know that I love this gospel and it its so true! Also, everyone should read the talk "walking in circles".  I love you all and hope you know that I pray for all of you! Thank you for the support and for the love! Oh,  I saw a turtle. I like turtles. Love you and hope y'all have a wonderful week!
Love you!
Love, Sister Seegrist

September 29, 2014 - Bike Crash

Hey y'all!
 I hope you have had a great week! This week was a week of "Hannah Struggles".
 Monday we went to the beach an y'all know me, I  am just an awkward human being sometimes.
 Tuesday was just really long....we had district meeting, which went well. Sister Strickland and I had to teach. We also did OYMed, we talked to 18 new people and got 5 potential investigators. Then we went to see our recent convert R. he is doing good. His wife is going to start taking the lessons and we are super excited about that. She is super sweet! After we went to dinner with the D. family.  Man, oh man their kids are HYPER! Their 3 year old talks faster than a preacher talking about the end of the world! haha... She is super cute!
 Wednesday we worked at the thrift store and then we went to this delish sandwich place called "All American Hero's." it was really good! Afterwards we went to see C.  We then did OYMed,  then we came home for dinner. I started getting sick! I felt so sore and my throat hurt, it was something else. We went to a lesson with N.  her boyfriend came in and was like hey "I'm going to the" Tom Thumb." do you sisters want  anything?" we just said back "if they have Reese Peanut Butter Cup or Oreo just let us know." He came back and said that they didn't have the ones we wanted so he got us birthday cake ones. They are really nice people. Lol. Then we went and taught the C.'s. That went good.  
 Thursday, I was super sick and I couldn't even move. Thank goodness we didn't have any appointments, because I really felt like I could just die. We did get to watch "Nora's Christmas Gift." great movie, btw. I  want y'all to know that prayer really works. I was praying all day that I would feel better so we could go to our dinner appointment at 5pm. The whole day I was like, nope that isn't happening. But at about 4:30, I felt so much better. It was a real tender mercy. The Lord does listen to our prayers and helps us.
We went to our dinner appointment so that was good. Then we went to our correlation meeting (another place that I really I needed to feel better for)  then we went to our appointment with the K's. which went good! I didn't feel sick at all. When we got home the medicine had worn off and I felt like my head was going to explode, but we got what we needed to done. 
Friday was a extreme "Hannah Struggles" Day. We biked to M. Y's house and on our way we saw one of our investigators who we haven't seen in like 2 weeks. He yelled out "Sisters!!" I look and started waving to him, when I looked forward my companion had stopped (and just so you know we were going really, really fast, because we where late)  she stopped and of course me being me, didn't see her.  I slammed on my brakes but I still hit the back of her bike, my back tire was about 3 feet off of the ground! No joke,  that was the first time I have ever gone over the handle bars.  It was all kind of in slow motion.  I was just sitting on the ground laughing.  When I stood up, I realized that I screwed up my knee pretty bad. Haha, it was gushing blood, but it was totally fine. When we  went over to our investigator's house he was laughing so hard. It didn't really hurt, but all I could think about was what my face looked like as this sister missionary in a skirt is flying through the air.  Our investigator was like "are you going to be alright?" I was like, "yeah I'm fine."  He then he said "you country girl, dust the dirt off your back." Haha it was a pretty epic accident! haha. Anyway we got to M's house and she is like "Oh my gosh, come inside" There were some ward members at her house, so it was actually pretty embarrassing. Lol
 After we  went to R's house and he just pointed out the fact that I am a "Big boned women with wide shoulders." So yeah... then we went and taught C. and D. the gospel of Jesus Christ. They pretty much just laughed at my bike crash.  D. was the one that saw it all happen.. anyway that was a eventful day. 
 Saturday we had a ward barbque at the beach, that was fun. Then we went and did service at the thrift store. Later we  went to the women's broadcast in Pensacola. C. and her Daughter B. came so that was good. I met Krissy's sister! She looks just like her. It was cool to see her. Then we came home and sister K. and C. and B. brought us Krispy Kreme's. I'm telling you the members here are great!
 Sunday was a good day. Sister Strickland and I were asked to bear our testimonies. R's wife came to church and so did A.  Then we came home and went to our dinner appointment.  After we went to A's house and taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We asked him to be baptized and he said yes. He doesn't want to pick a date yet because he wants to learn the rest of the lessons first, but he is a really great investigator. So this week was good and full of excitement. I don't have time to email y'all who emailed me this week. We only have an hour to email this week and I only have about 6 minutes left.   I love you all and want you to know that I read all of your letters. I hope you have a great week! Be the best you can be! God loves you! I love you! Jesus Christ loves you! You are loved.. #SHARETHELOVE #DONTCRASHYOURBIKE. I  love y'all,
Love, Sister Seegrist
 

Monday, September 22, 2014

September 22, 2014 - R's Baptism

Hey Y,all!
This week was great, as always!
Monday we just emailed and wrote letters. Tuesday we went to Pensacola for zone training, which was good. We talked about having faith and teaching by the spirit.  I saw one of my MTC companions.. On our way home from training we got caught in a really bad storm. A sister from Gulf Breeze Ward was driving us. We could hardly see out the front window. We  missed our exit and here in Florida there is about 13 miles between each exit.  So we completely ended up near Crestview which is out of our zone but it was all good and it was a great adventure. We  got back to Navarre and went to teach Andrew S. He is our investigator. His wife is a member and he just has had so many contacts with missionaries but never wanted to take the lessons. Something his daughter said to him made him change his mind. His wife really wants to get sealed by next November. But she doesn't want to push him. But after hearing what his daughter said he wanted to take the lessons.  So we taught him the restoration it went good. Then we went to the T's house for dinner.  We went with sister T. to see a sister that she visit teaches. They are less active, then we did 12 week. On Wed. we went and did service at the thrift store, which was good. Then we went and met with C.. we taught her the law of Chastity. That went pretty good.  After we went and taught a lesson with R.  Sister L. came along also, that went well.  She speaks Spanish so they just spoke Spanish a lot of the time.  We talked about temple marriage and missionary work and service, then we had dinner. After dinner we went and taught N. She is a less active who we are teaching the lessons to. We taught her The Plan of Salvation. Then we went to see the C.'s. They are less active as well,  they are the nicest people! So on Thursday we went to sisters R. house and helped make candles with her. She has her own business where she puts jewelry and money and stuff in her candles. So we helped her for 3 hours. We then went and saw C. again.  We  went to the Young's for dinner which was nice. After that we had our correlation meeting then after that we met with R.  On Friday we worked stuff out for R.'s baptism.  Then we went to Michelle Y.'s house for lunch. We talked with her about gratitude. and remembering to thank the lord for everything we have. For the many blessings we already have instead of just keep asking him for more, say thanks first..etc. later we went and met with R. again and told him everything for his baptism. We went and visited with Sister A. she gave us some cookies and we just talked with her. She is another less active. Then went over to Sister W. house.  She is super sweet but is kind of a  strange situation. She is leaving her husband but I won't go into details.  She is less active as well, we went to see her and eat some cake with her. We watched the "Reflections of Christ." if y'all haven't seen it, somehow find a way to watch them they are great!Then we went to the H.'s house for dinner. They are super nice, we  went to visit with sister C. Her husband is less active and he is currently in Germany working. We met with her. She has the cutest kids! (everyone's kids are cute here).  Saturday we worked at the thrift store then we had R.'s baptism. It was stressful at first but it all turned out good. His wife came which was really good.  We started filling up the font and we left and started setting up in the other room. We went to check the water and it was yellow, like a nasty, nasty yellow. Everyone was showing up and it takes about on hour to fill up the font, so we asked R. if he wanted to go to the beach or do it in the nasty water. He said as long as it was wet he didn't care, so we just did it in the font. It all turned out nice. The talks where  good, Sister L. and Brother R. spoke.  After  the baptism, we went to the M.s for dinner and that was good. The dad really likes hot sauce and I told him about dads hot sauce and he kept saying. " I really like your dad" It was funny! Afterwards we  tried to visit some less actives but no one answered or was home. Florida State was playing football and everyone is really big fans of them here.. wonder why.. anyways. Then we cleaned our apartment because it was super gross! On Sunday we went to church and R. got confirmed, his wife came as well. We are hoping to start teaching her soon. But the confirmation was good, Brother C.(same one who baptized him) confirmed him. Funny story, he was actually suppose to deploy like two weeks ago, but they kept delaying it and we think it was so he could baptize him. lol. After having a great time at church we went to the Smith's families home and they fed us lunch. We then had a GREAT lesson with A.! We taught the Plan of Salvation and then we talked about eternal families. After we finished teaching we sat there in silence and after a little bit we asked him if this was something he wanted. He quietly said yes. His wife started bawling. He was trying not to cry. My companion and I started tearing up. He just held her as she was crying. She has been trying to get him to investigate the church for the longest time, but she never pushed him. She always tells him that if he has questions save them for the missionaries. That was  just a really, really, sweet experience this week. These would be the reasons I Love being a missionary! So after that we went to the L.'s for dinner that was good. We visited the N. family. They are less actives as well. They are super nice! We talked with them and then we went home and did 12 week and daily planning. So today we went to this Mexican place to eat with the sisters from Milton Florida and the sisters from Brewton Alabama. Then we went to Navarre Beach! It is probably the prettiest beach, I think I have ever been too. The water is just so clear and so pretty. Well that is all that has happened this week.  I love you all so much! Oh, I want all of you to read the talk by President Thomas S Monson titled "Are we prepared" it is in the new September Ensign. It is really great! I know that this church is true. I can feel it every single day. I know that what our prophet says is true and that we need to follow his teachings. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that if you read it and pray about it, you will receive an answer for yourself. I know that God loves every single one of his children and he watches over all of us. I know that prayer is so powerful and that it is so important. I say that is the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
 I love y'all so much and miss you all like crazy!  I can feel the blessings already. Oh, and I have been in Navarre for 1 month now. Hehe! Well, I love you and hope y'all have a great week.
Love, Sister Seegrist