Member Missionaries

Hello Family,

Sorry that I didn't get an email to you last week, our P-day was a little chaotic. We actually split it up between Monday and Wednesday because we had things to do Wednesday, anyways we just didn't make it to the library.
Transfers were this week, and I am staying in Christiansburg with Sister Hill, YAY!!! We really wanted to stay because things are really picking up around here, we have gotten several new investigators in the last few weeks. And we have some investigators that we really want to stay here for. Plus I really, really want to stay with Sister Hill, we have way too much fun together. Well except for in the mornings. You think that I'm not a morning person, you should see Sister Hill. Usually she is always smiling and happy but in the mornings she has a really blank expression. One morning though she looked particularly annoyed about working out at 6:30 AM and she kept glaring at things, it was hilarious, at the time I was too tired to appreciate the hilarity of it until later. Pretty much we don't say a word to each other until companion study, so for 3 hours there is silence. If we do have to speak it is with as little words as possible and mostly grunts. Another funny thing about Sister Hill is that she cannot remember boy's names. We were looking up a former investigator named Jason, but instead we meet Robert (Jason had moved) and so we set up an appointment to come back and see Robert, but Sister Hill kept calling him Jason! (I don't think he noticed, he might have been stoned) And whenever I would say anything about Robert she had no idea who I was talking about until I said "aka Jason." That is just one example, another one is that we just got Elders back in the area, Elder Cloyd and Elder Richards. She keeps calling Elder Richards, Elder Richens or Rich. Elder Richards has only been out for one more transfer than me, he is from Ogden, Utah (he looks like a Utah boy, no offense Kurt, you know Peter Priesthoody). He has glasses and kinda reminds us of Peter Parker or Clark Kent, so sometimes when she can't remember his name she calls him Peter. He is actually a way awesome Elder and is always smiling and cheerful. And he makes a lot of jokes, but ones that require brains to understand.
Oh and guess what I get to drive now!! YAY!! I have actually been driving for almost 2 weeks now, we switch off each day. But it was so weird driving after not driving for about 7 weeks. Also people still have issues with my name. Last Saturday I played the piano for a member baptism and on the program it said, "Special thanks to Sister Palantino for playing the piano." We are not sure where they got that name from. Sister Hill has found a way to explain the pronunciation, she tells everyone its like a "Plate, a 'Puh-late-is.'" There is a member family that feeds us twice a month and their daughter Ashley started laughing and said it's like a "Plate of Lettuce." So now that family calls me Sister "Polate of Lettuce" and the Elders even made me a name tag that says that. Funny stuff.
So everyone around here is really talking about food storage and canning. And then mom wrote me that she felt she really needed to can a lot of stuff. And then with all the hurricanes and gas stuff, a lot of people have asked us about the Second Coming and all the signs that will come before it. Weird how it's such a big topic now, maybe we should get our food storage.
So one of our new investigators is actually a member referral. The Evans gave us the name of their neighbor, Tonia, who was really impresses by them and was looking for a church to go to and asked them what church they went to. We have taught her twice and all the concerns she has and the things she is looking for in a church we were able to answer. It was great! And it is also really awesome having a member to help us out in inviting them to church, sitting by them in church, answering questions when we aren't around. I love it! I never realized how important members really are to missionary work until I came out on a mission. Missionaries can only do so much especially when they don't stay in one area for very long. We really need the members to help out. Another thing that makes me really mad is that about a year ago a girl named Ashley was baptized, and missionaries are supposed to continue to teach recent converts for a year, but the next set of missionaries that came in didn't like her so they stopped teaching her. And because she didn't really know any members or have any friends at church she stopped going. Its hard making that transition to becoming a member, it's hard to change your lifestyle and when you have no support from missionaries or members the easiest thing is to go back to how you used to be. So it's so important to have make friends with recent converts and less actives. Another thing we are struggling with is that we have investigators come to church and we usually sit by them in Sacrament Meeting or Sunday School but we try not to sit by them all the time or in Relief Society so that other people will sit by them so they can get to know the members. But then the members don't sit by them! And they are sitting by themselves. So please, please if you see someone new or someone sitting by themselves in church, go sit by them. You've heard the theme, "Every member a missionary," start with befriending the people at church and helping them stay active.
Since I have been on my mission I have also come to appreciate what an amazing resource Preach My Gospel is. I always felt so overwhelmed with that book before, because I didn't know how to use it. But there is so much great stuff in there even for members. Become familiar with it and you will learn to love it too! The 5 lessons in Chapter 3 are awesome, the stuff in there is the basics of what we believe. And it lays it out in such a simple order that I don't think I have understood before. There is also great stuff in there about how to share the Gospel, how to help the full-time missionaries, and how to be a member missionary. Great stuff for Family Home Evening, hint hint! Don't be scared about sharing the Gospel with your friends and neighbors, if you need help or ideas go to Preach My Gospel (the index helps).
I LOVE you all! Take care. Good luck with Harvest, School, Football, Soccer and X-Country!!!

Oh and if I had fleas I think they are gone now. YAY!

Love, Sister Nicole Polatis

PS So the other night I ate at a members house and afterwards they told us that the chicken salad actually had pureed cauliflower as the sauce instead of mayonnaise and the banana pie had squash and cantaloupe in it! And I never would have guessed it tasted great. They have this cookbook called "how to get your kids to eat vegetables with knowing it."
And also I saw this really neat magazine call LDS Living and it has some really neat articles and a section about new books and movies that are clean. Way cool stuff!

Fleas, Maggots, and other tales

Hello Polatis Family,

So house cleaning first, I did get the voice recording from you all, THANK YOU, it was great! And I can't believe Beau died that is so SAD. And Alanna, I have not yet received the package, and the MTC can't forward anything from UPS, only things sent through the US mail can be forwarded. I'm really sad I didn't get that package. But if you could find out that would be awesome. Mom, I got the letters you sent, THANK YOU. I have been wondering why I haven't gotten more mail from you. Just so everyone knows, I can only check sisterpolatis@myldsmail.net so send everything there. Oh and just so you know I check my email every Wednesday around 11:00 usually, which would be 9:00 am your time. And I only get an hour to read it and then write back so its best if you send most letters by snail mail so I have time to read what you wrote. But I do like getting short emails and if you have questions then I can immediately reply through email. Next week my P-day will probably be on Monday though, because on Wednesday we are going to an interfaith Health Group just to check it out and next month they will probably let us teach the Word of Wisdom! I will let you know how it goes.
Ok so this week has been super busy but great. Sister Hill and I might have fleas. We were at a less actives house and we were petting their dog and after we had been petting it for several minutes they tell us they have had a hard time keeping it rid of fleas! And then this last week we have been noticing little bits all over. So we are washing all our bedding and spraying our mattresses, couches, and carpets down with some kind of stuff.
Also about 2 weeks ago we went over to an investigators house and she hadn't been able to do much housecleaning because her little boy had been sick and fussy for a few days. (She isn't very good at keeping up on the housecleaning anyways which we soon found out). So we did her dishes for her because they were piled in the sink. Luckily she gave us gloves, because it was nasty and it smelled HORRIBLE. And when we got to the bottom of the sink we found a pan with stuffed dried on it and MAGGOTS, yes maggots. And Sister Hill says she thinks that pan was from when the girl had made dinner for them a MONTH ago! Anyways the point of the story is that I can still smell that smell. Whenever I smell anything bad, or pretty much anything kind of bad I smell the smell of the dirty, maggoty, diaper water (there weren't any diapers in it, but it smelled like there were.) Is there anyway to get rid of smell memory?
On Sunday we went to a Lutheran Church with one of our investigators. It was very ritualistic, they sing a lot of hymns and recite a lot of prayers (they have a whole book of prayers and they pick one to say and they have several different prayers throughout the service.) The sermon is actually only about 10 minutes long. The have a scripture reading (they have a different version of the Bible and it really changes the meaning of the scriptures) and then the pastor gives a sermon on that scripture. Then before they take the communion (the sacrament) they go around shaking people's hands saying "Peace be unto you." And instead of water, they have real wine. It was really interesting and neat to go to another church, but it really strengthened my testimony about the need for prophets to lead and direct the church. In Matthew 15:9 it talks about how their worshipping is in vain because the doctrine they follow are just commandments of men. Each church worships a different way and where do they come up with their different ideas? It's the ideas of men and many people worship God based on how other men say they should. It's so important that we have prophets today so that our worshipping is not in vain and we aren't just performing rituals that don't draw us closer to God. Every church has truth, especially if they preach of Christ, but God wanted us to have the fullness of truth which is why he has restored His church on the earth today. We need this fullness of truth so we can become closer to Him in our worship and so we could receive the blessing of the Holy Ghost and the priesthood. The Holy Ghost is so important, in 2 Nephi 32:5 it says by the power of the Holy Ghost you may know the truth of ALL things. We have been really struggling to get our investigators to have the desire and motivation to follow the commandments of God. And we can't force them to progress or come to church it has to be their own desire. And that desire comes from feeling the Holy Ghost and knowing that its what God wants them to do. When King Benjamin taught the people about the Gospel he invited the Spirit which caused the people to desire to change and to do evil no more. That is what we need is that change of heart. And it comes as we learn about the Gospel and Christ, it draws us closer to Him, and invites the Spirit. It really is such a blessing to be able to go to church, to pray, to read the scriptures, to listen to the prophets, because it blesses our lives. God doesn't want us to obey His commandments so He can tell us what to do, He wants us to obey so He can bless us.

I love you all. Good luck with harvest, school, work, church callings, etc. You all sound really busy. Don't forget to pray and read your scriptures though, it will change you life!

Love, Sister Nicole Polatis

PS Congratulations on all the wins. Nathan how is football going, I hear you have a game in Shelley on Saturday, let me know how it goes. Britty, congrats on the wins, keep it up!!! But I want more details. Darci, that is way awesome you are doing Cross Country, run hard!

I LOVE You

To my Absolutely Wonderful FAMILY,

I LOVE you. Being on a mission has really opened my eyes! The more I am here the more I am grateful for you guys!!! I am so grateful for the wonderful, stable, strong, amazing family I have! There are so many people I have met that do not have that strong family support. Their families have been ruined by divorce, abuse, alcohol, drugs, pornography, and just plain selfishness. I am so grateful for the Gospel in my life that I can be blessed and my family can be blessed. And that we can be together FOREVER. Thank you for being so WONDERFUL! Let me just say I talked to a girl this week and she had no one in the world to turn and I wanted to cry for her. She has been searching for that support and love and keeps turning to jerky guys. And I wanted to cry because I have that support and love. Don't get me wrong there a lot of great families here, even ones outside of the Church and seeing them and how they help each other increases my testimony of how important families are.
Another thing, I have never realized how really BAD pornography is until recently. It's a disease! Stay away from it. It will ruin your life and your family's lives. It makes you selfish and cruel and unfeeling. It deadens your senses and emotions. And the biggest problem I have seen is that it is so addictive and people won't admit they have a problem, but it is a problem and they need help. If anyone has a problem with porn they can get help from the Bishop or professional counseling.
So it probably sounds like I have had a tough week. Well it actually wasn't that bad. Last week was sooo slow! It was terrible, everyone was going out of town for the holiday weekend or they had family coming in, so we couldn't get any appointments. And we got stood up several times. It was super hard and not very much fun. But then the past couple of days have been so busy and I have loved it! We have taught several people who have been progressing. Yesterday we got a media referral which is when someone calls the number for a free Book of Mormon, DVD, Bible, etc, they talk to the missionaries at the MTC to order it, and the missionaries invite them to have the missionaries drop it off. So we got a referral for a lady who wanted a Lamb of God DVD. So we went to drop it off and the lady welcomed us with a hug! It was great to be welcomed with open arms! Anyways she has just barely started attending church again in the last year (she grew up in a church, but didn't keep going when she was 18) and as she put it "She is hungry to learn more." So she had a bunch of questions and wanted to know what is different about our church. So we taught her the first lesson about prophets and authority and the Restoration. We then gave her a Book of Mormon and she said she would love to read it. We didn't get a return appointment, but it is very likely she will call us with more questions. It was just so great to talk to someone so excited about church, the Bible, and learning. It was hard to tell how much she accepted or if she was just being nice.
So story: We drive around quite a bit going to different appointments and at least 2 or more times a day we see a pizza delivery guy in a green bug. So it's like a game with us to see him, his name is the "Pizza Inn Guy" (he works for Pizza Inn). It's a good thing our car is silver and kind of generic looking or he probably would think we are stalking him. Also Sister Hill and I really aren't morning people and so our work outs at 6:30 in the morning have been really sad. But we have decided to do better, and in the MTC they gave us a Health Guide Book and gives ideas for how to workout inside. So we have some pretty intense jogging in place sessions while rocking out to EFY music. If nothing else the hilariousness of how we look wakes us up for study time.
I think I told you about how on Friday's we volunteer at an assisted living home called Wheatland. And last Friday they had a dance party. (Yes I know, crazy idea to have a dance party with old people but they do it once a month) The theme was "Exclusively Elvis" and pretty much they come to listen to music and watch us dance. After the dance all the elderly people came up and told us what wonderful dancers we were and how much they appreciated it. Which is funny because Sister Hill and I have no skill whatsoever and what we did I wouldn't call dancing, I would call it moving in time to the music. But it was still really fun and we did get a few of the residents to get up and "dance" with us. And they really seemed to enjoy it. Next week they are having an end of summer dance with "shag" music. What is "shag" music?
Our mission president is having us do a new tracting method. What we do is ask a "question of the soul" like "Where do we come from?" "What does Christ expect of us?" How do we get happier families?" Pretty much any question that people have about life. And then we share scripture from the Book of Mormon. The idea is to share the Spirit of the Book of Mormon and to interest people by showing that the Book of Mormon can answer any of our questions. But I need your help, I have a hard time thinking of questions that are important to people and would spark their interest. And I need other people's perspectives. Plus it is a great way to study the Book of Mormon when you think of questions it answers. So could you all think of "Questions of the Soul" and send them to me with a scripture that answers it. (Great Family Home Evening Idea, wink wink) You have a year and half. Ha ha
This week I read the conference talk that President Eyring gave in the General Young Women session. It is called "Walk in the Light" and its about making decisions. In it President Eyring says how he wishes he would have understood better how to make decisions when we was younger. And I started thinking that I wish the same thing. I wish I had a better idea of the consequences that would happen too. I also wish that I had studied the scriptures more. There is so many questions that can be answered in the scriptures, so much peace, and happiness. And I think back to Seminary and what a great opportunity that was to study the scriptures and to have someone there to help answer questions and I WASTED it. So my younger siblings learn from my mistakes. Study your scriptures. Don't read them. Never does it say we are commanded to read our scriptures, we are commanded to "feast" and to "treasure up." And on my mission as I have "treasured" up the scriptures I have gained a better understanding of who I am, how to make better decisions, what I want to become, and how to be a better person. And when I start with a pray I have the Spirit there to help me understand what I am reading (because sometimes it is hard to figure out what they are saying). I know that the Spirit can give inspiration just for us. That two people can read the same scripture and learn different lessons from it because that is what they need to hear.
I LOVE you all!!!

Love, Sister Nicole Polatis