Oh Boy... Good Times At the Ranch!

A happy missionary!
Taking pics to send to Sis Hokafonu's sister as a thank you for sending them matching shirts.

There's a crazy funny lady, Sis. T, in our ward. She's from Panama (I mentioned her last week) and is just amazing and has been helping us out so much this week. On Sunday she brought her neighbor to church which was awesome! We were able to meet with him this Saturday and give him a lesson with Sister T on Heavenly Father, families, and a little bit on the Book of Mormon. We invited him to read and pray about 1 Nephi 11, which is all about the Savior. We really wanted to establish that everything we do in our church is centered on Jesus Christ and how we can come closer to him. He's Catholic and has a strong relationship with God, which is really cool! We are going to see him again next week which is super exciting! Sister T also told us she wanted us to meet this lady and her 5 kids that she gave a ride to the other day. Sister T is very open about her beliefs to everyone she talks to and always invites #goldenmember, she talked to the lady who said she was looking for a church! We went over and she wasn't there, but we did get in contact with two of her kids and her boyfriend who was very nice. Hopefully we'll set up a time to meet them next week! 

The ranch was... a hoot! Boy let me tell ya, them horses know how to poop! Basically we cleaned out the horse stalls, which consisted of a lot of poop scooping! Then we stacked hay down in the lower half of the ranch. Let me try and explain this situation to you... So there is an upper level of the barn that has all of the hay stacked up like 30-40 ft high, then below that is where the horses are all in their stalls. But there is a little hatch that they put the hay down so they don't have to walk up and around the barn to bring it to the horses. So D (a christian missionary we work with) was up at the top of the hay stack and was throwing those 50lb suckers of hay down this little hatch door. They would come zooming down and Sister Hokafonu and I would have to run so we didn't get nailed by one. It was pretty funny though we would take turns each time D said, "In coming" and then it came crashing to the floor and we would run and stack it then run away! It was quite the party and I got hay in places I didn't know hay could go! Oh boy... good times at the ranch!

This Sunday was awesome. After church we went to have lunch with the less-active family we always eat with on Sundays! We had the Elders quorum president come with us which went really well. He was really bold with them, but in a loving way and basically just said, you guys need to be at church. The dad has a hard time with church because he hears voices and it intensifies when he's at church. But we were each able to testify of the power of the sacrament and how important that is. The spirit was so strong and I hope we'll start seeing some progress with that amazing family:)

We went to a Why I Believe fireside down in Pittsburgh on Sunday night! Seriously I have the most AMAZING Mission President. We first heard from his wife, Sister Johnson, who I just adore. My goal in life is to be as happy and humble as that woman one day! She bore the strongest testimony of the gospel I think I'd ever  heard, there is no way you could deny the spirit I felt as I listened to her. President Johnson also bore witness of the truthfulness of the gospel and how important it is to know why we believe something. We heard amazing songs by very talented missionaries and watched a few mormon messages. Along with my favorite one, Because of Him. It always brings tears to my eyes to watch that video. All the missionaries sang the opening and closing songs, and we closed with the Sisters in Zion and Armies of Helamen medley. There is power in music. I feel the spirit touch my heart every time we sing that together as missionaries! 

I Love you all an hope you're doing well! I'm always praying for you:)

Love - Sister Douglas❤

Driving into Pittsburgh for the Sunday night Fireside. Check out the famous bridges!

Look who she found in Pittsburgh!! MTC Companions--Forever Friends. 

Ready for church.

Week 5--Half Way Through Training

Week 5 :)

So basically this week was amazing! It went by so fast!!! I can't

believe I'm on my half way mark for training:) We had our last

district meeting with Elder H and during the meeting my mission president

called us out one at a time for our interviews! It was so good to

see President Johnson and his wife this week, they can always

brighten your day! I love President Johnson and he always knows just

what to say. He works so hard to help us missionaries and truly loves

the Lord.

We also had Zone training and a zone activity this Wednesday which was

really good! We talked about The Book of Mormon and how important it

is in conversion. The Book of Mormon is what truly helps us come

closer to Christ and endure to the end. I have a new found love for the

 Book of Mormon and I get so excited to read from it each morning! 

I know that there is true peace and joy that can only come through the 

Book of Mormon.

We contacted our referral from Church Headquarters, the one that we

brought a Book of Mormon to. We were pretty nervous about what he would say,

but when we called he was super nice and said that he read the whole

first chapter of the Book of Nephi!! Oh man I was so happy to hear

that he had actually started reading! He said he wanted to read the

rest of it before he met with us to discuss it, but that is totally fine

by me, if he's actually reading. I mean the scriptures can teach him a

hundred times better than I can:)  I just hope and pray he'll keep

reading!

We were able to finally have a lesson with one of our less-active ward members

that we've been trying to get in contact with for week s and it went

so well. The spirit was so strong and I really grew to have a true

love for this woman. I know Heavenly Father is aware of each one of us

and the things that we are going through. He sure is aware of Sister

B:) She said she wants to come to church, but she is worried that

people will judge her for smelling so strongly of smoke. I told her

that church is like a hospital and that if someone is sick at the

hospital and coughs, we don't ask why they coughed, because you're at

a hospital where people need help. It's the same thing with the church.

We are all spiritually sick and seeking help. I know there will always

be people who judge, but maybe that is the "sickness" they are working

on. We talked a little about the talk, Latter-day Saints Keep on

Trying by Elder Dale Renlund. It's such a great talk and if you

haven't read it, you totes should :)

The stake has put together an addiction recovery program and they have

two service missionaries who run it, but they also wanted all of the

missionaries in the area to attend as well. It was such an incredible

experience to see how the Atonement can truly heal each of us. I loved

hearing the experiences of the people there and how they had such a

strong desire to change. It reminded me of that talk, Latter-day

Saints Keep on Trying and where he quotes President Thomas S. Monson

by saying, “One of God’s greatest gifts to us is the joy of trying

again, for no failure ever need be final.” It's so true and as we

really turn to our Savior I know he can help us overcome anything!

Service at the ranch was brutal... once again! Sister Hokafonu said

they didn't used to do such labor intensive work until the new elders

and I got there. The lady that runs the ranch probably took one

look at me and thought, "Oh man, this girl needs some work" haha!

Elder R was really sick so the elders couldn't come with us...they

only missed sweating out in the sun while shoveling rocks into this

huge crack by the barn wall! Let's just say I was really tired when we were

done with that project ;)

We had a pretty busy Sunday and had a few appointments with some of

the less-active members we've been working a lot with. Sister R

is turning 86 tomorrow, which she's not too happy about... She's a

funny lady, yesterday was the first time we were able to stay on topic

for about half the visit, and I think she's actually considering on

coming to church after not having gone for like 35 years! It's a

serious goal of mine to get this lady back to church! I know it will

bless her life so much and she won't feel so lonely all the time if

she knew more of the ward members. The hard thing is that we think she

might have early dismissal because she's having a really hard time

remembering anything. But she will go... One of these days :)

Well I hope yins have a great week! Thank you for all of the prayers,

I truly can feel strength from your prayers and support!

Lots of love- Sister Douglas;)

We made Elder Hunsaker a cake out of Tastykakes doughnuts that he loves. Haha
good times! It's going to be so weird without him here! 

Scripture Power :)

Great Companions Think Alike

We woke up and got dressed and went out of the house basically dressed
the same...great companions think alike:)

On Tuesday this week I made banana bread and we brought it to some of the less-active members of the ward. Only one of them answered the door, but we left the rest on their door steps. The next day one sister called us and said she was grateful for the bread and that she was going to come to church this Sunday, and she totally did! That was really cool, because we've been trying to get in contact with her FOREVER, and I was finally able to meet her at church which was great. 

We also got a sweet referral from a member in the ward who's house we were at for dinner. She said she knows this really neat lady who is pretty interested in the gospel and they have talked about the church a lot. We invited her to get in contact with her friend to set up a time when we could meet with her and her friend for the missionary discussions. I really hope and pray she actually does. I know it can be scary, but it's so true, our only success really does come through the members.

More of the matching day photo shoot.

Friday night we got really sad news though. The amazing assistant ward mission leader passed away suddenly. We were so shocked that we had to listen to the message twice. He was such an incredible man and was probably only in his early 70's if that. In fact we had just talked to him the other day about helping re-activate his son who just moved into the ward. I feel so privileged to have gotten to know that great great man, Brother R, for a few weeks. I know it was inspired that I was able to come here and be with him for a short time. In ward counsel we talked about some really incredible things about him. The previous ward mission leader told us that he had come to him with a few things he felt needed to be worked on, and said "if I'm not at ward counsel next week share it"... He wanted us to know that we needed to find a way to integrate missionary work and family history work together, to help a Spanish man in the ward be able to have the same privileges of learning the gospel and not let language ever be a barrier. And to work on bringing the other ministers in the area together and having the LDS church be part of their group. The guy that told us all of this stuff also said that Brother R saw Lehi's vision only about a week ago and this man was privileged to hear of that experience before his passing. This same man also was interviewing people about the history of Cranberry and was able to interview Brother R a week before he died and was then able to share that interview with his testimony in it to his family. It's crazy though, because it's like he knew his time was coming and that he had certain things he was working  so hard on before he passed away. It's incredible to think that he is now with his wife who passed away about two years ago. 

The funeral is going to be big though, because of all the lives he was able to touch. I will be forever grateful that I was able to get to know him for such a short time and feel of his sweet grandpa spirit:)

Saturday we went to the ranch like usual and it was really hard work. There is this huge indoor arena for the horses and they wanted to put sand on the floor to cushion the horses joints as they walk/run around. So I thought ya this will be fun and easy.... boy was I wrong. The arena is about the size of a small soccer/lax field and we were spreading the sand over one half of it and had to make it four inches deep. Dan, one of the missionaries from another church, drove a huge thing of sand in with a tractor and we spread it out in that area. It took five hours and after that I could have just laid down forever. I was tired and really sore. But it was good because I have like no muscle so by the time I'm done working on the ranch I'll be super buff:) haha 

We went to a ward member's house for lunch on Sunday and they taught us
how to make sushi!! It was really fun, and really gooood :)

Sunday was such a great day! President Johnson and his wife came and they always make my day better! The talks were also really good and really stuck out to me. Sister M spoke about obedience and how when Jesus Christ was suffering on the cross He prayed and said, "if it be thy will let this cup pass from me" and Heavenly Father, being the Loving father He is, let him exercise his agency, but he didn't leave him comfortless. He sent an angel to comfort him. I really do know the Lord sends me angels daily to help me and comfort me.  Sister M's son, who just got back from his mission, talked about patience and said a quote from Preach My Gospel that I love, it says,  "Patience is the capacity to endure delay, trouble, opposition, or suffering without becoming angry, frustrated, or anxious. It is the ability to do God's will and accept His timing. When you are patient, you hold up under pressure and are able to face adversity calmly and hopefully. Patience is related to hope and faith- you must wait for the Lord's promised blessings to be fulfilled." That really stuck out to me. I know I need to have more patience in the Lord's will and instead of asking him to take hard things away from me, ask Him to strengthen me as I exercise faith in Him.

Well I love you all and I hope you are happy and well!

I pray for you always❤

Love Sister Douglas aka Raquel

More of sushi making Sunday! Hoping she remembers how to make it when she gets home. 

One Month Down!

This week I met a 100 year old lady, Sister D, who was the cutest lady ever. She has dementia and lives in a nursing home. She just smiled the whole time we talked to her and she thought our iPads were the coolest thing ever. We showed her the message of the restoration video and she would just keep saying, "Oh that's nice!" It was really cool to think of how much this cute little lady had done in her life and I feel so privileged to get to visit her.

This Thursday at the Senior Center it got pretty crazy. All of the old people were really mad at the food we were handing out and asked us for different food, but we didn't have anything else to give them. Haha they got all worked up about the unripe cantaloupe! I felt really bad though because this lady was going around asking people how they liked their food and trying to get them to sign a paper to get the menu changed for the future but she tripped on a bag and fell pretty hard. We had to call an ambulance to come and get her. It was really bad and hopefully she's ok. The lady that was standing by her was mad though because she almost knocked her over when she fell... dude it was crazy! 

Friday we helped the elders move a new family into the neighborhood then we all went and visited some families in the ward. It was such a good experience to be able to get to know them better and share a spiritual thought. Each thought we gave we would just go by the spirit and it ended up being exactly what each family needed to hear. The bishop has asked that we really get to know the members, because as we build good relationships with them, they'll be able to trust us more and be more willing to work with us on finding new people  to teach.

We met with this amazing woman, Sister E, who is a convert to the church and has been through some really crazy things in her life. But she has one of the strongest testimonies I've ever heard. She is planning on going on a cross country trip to all the temples in Utah (and some on the way) to do temple work for her ancestors. She has about 40 names she's going to try and do all the work for. She's probably in her 60's though and has some medical issues with her eyes; she's worried about traveling that far by herself and seeing at night. So she asked the elders if they could give her a blessing. She has incredible faith and really strengthened my testimony. She asked both of the elders how their faith was and then determined that she wanted Elder H to give the blessing. It was such a beautiful blessing and the spirit was so strong as we sat out on her deck on the beautiful Pennsylvania night. During the blessing my companion and I were just crying because we felt the spirit so strong. It was such a testimony builder to me to see the power of the priesthood and how incredibly amazing it is that the Lord trusts these 18-20 year old young men with that incredible power of God.

After this experience I was able to read this amazing talk by Elder Dallin H. Oaks called The Keys and Authority of the Priesthood. It really explains how important and essential the priesthood is to everything in our lives. Without the priesthood we would have nothing. The world was created by the power of the priesthood and everything that is on it, ahhh isn't that the coolest thing ever! We are so lucky to have access to the priesthood in our church and it honestly is such a blessing!

Workin' the ranch!

Saturday was a pretty crazy day!!! We went to the  youth ranch and basically there was hay everywhere!!! We had to stack three huge trailer loads of hay into the barn for the winter... Oh man it took five hours and we were sweaty and had hay er where! We found a dead mouse and this huge black dead snake. Man it was NASTY!!! I seriously was speechless and thought I was going to die. It felt really good to work so hard and then see so much progress. Missionary work takes a lot of hard work and results come really slow, so it was a really nice change! 

I love you all and think about you all the time!

Sending prayers your way:)

Love Sister Douglas

With the elders and her companion at the ranch. We spent hours and hours and hours looking for dresses and skirts for this girl's mission. Who knew we could have shopped at CalRanch??

Bean Boot!!

I Love It Here!

This week went by way faster than last week, which was nice! I was going to do all of these things but then I realized it's already p-day again. I got the okay to drive now so that's been really nice! I haven't had to worry about dying all the time when my companion would drive crazy!

But honestly this week was a crazy roller coaster of highs and lows!

On Monday we learned about how to teach and do family history. The guy who was teaching us is amazing. He knows so much and got us really excited to share it with other people. I hope we will be able to talk to more people using family history! This ward does a ton with it and even has a family history center in the church that is free. 

(After a very difficult experience where an investigator (Kerri) yelled in her face...she shared the following:)

Oh man, then the worst moment ever happened. I started to cry and I was so embarrassed! I went to the bathroom and just started praying out loud!

It was incredible, the Lord truly does help us in our hour of need and is always there. I prayed for peace and strength to be able to get through this church tour with Kerri. I had the scripture D&C 121: 7-8 come to mind and I knew I would be able to get through it! 

D&C 121 7-8 

My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes. 

I walked back into the room and apologized for being unprofessional. I think Kerri now has zero respect for me and looks at me as a foolish little Mormon girl with little life experience. But I know who I am. I know I am a daughter of God and that I have great worth. I know I was set apart as a disciple of Christ and that he has given me power and authority to be a minister to the people I teach. I know he loves me and he loves Kerri so much! I learned that Heavenly Father loves all of his children very much and that when we are frustrated or mad at someone all we have to do is pray for them and ask for his love and he will give it to you.

I learned that in moments where you feel disrespected and upset you can always turn to him for peace. 

I learned that Jesus Christ had it so much worse and he knows exactly how I feel and his Atonement is truly healing. 

I learned to brush off bad feelings and move on to do his great work:)

Love,

Sis. Douglas

I love it here, all of the members backyards look like little sacred
groves!!! Seriously how did I get so lucky 😄

First Area: Cranberry Township #blessed

(Excerpts from her email this week.)

I'm now in my first area. It's called Cranberry Township😄 My

trainer is from California and her name is Sister Hokafonu. She has been here for three months. It's soooo beautiful here, there are fireflies at night that I love!!! 

The beautiful cornfields in Cranberry

So a lot of the work out here is doing service and working with less active members. I'm really excited to work with the less actives though, because I think they are just as important as a new investigator. Our purpose as missionaries is to help people to get baptized, but it is also to help people endure to the end. When people leave the church we need to try our hardest to get them back on the path and help them endure, or we aren't doing our purpose as missionaries. 

Some of the service that we do here is really cool though. On Thursday we went to the senior center which is right by the library and we went and helped dish up their lunch and hand it out. We do this every Thursday. The old people there are really funny though. There is this old man who always tries to get us to give him more food and he always flirts with the older ladies, it's really funny! Then they give us some of the food so we can eat with them, but the food is NASTY!!! It's food that is super watered down and has NO taste 😷! After, we do the dishes and leave.

With her new companion Sis. Hokafonu!

On Saturday we went to this really cool ranch. It's still a work in progress but it's going to be a youth ranch where kids can come who are going through hard things. Like if their parents have a terminal illness or they are bullied etc. It's really cool and the lady who is one of the owners is amazing. She's a super Christian lady and has soooo much faith. She is the hardest working woman I've ever met. She loves helping people and invested her whole life in making this ranch work. They have all of these really amazing horses there, and they are beautiful!! She showed us each of the horses and told us a little about each one of them and how they got them. Heavenly Father has really blessed them in so many ways to make this whole thing work! It's so cool how she recognizes that and she is so grateful. 

That day, after meeting all of the horses we went and scooped some poop while the two other elders that were with us hooked up a picture printer... dinguses! haha jk, Elder Hunsaker, my district leader actually broke his scapula (wing bone in the back) when he was in the MTC. But he didn't know it until almost two years later... when he was serving in Pittsburgh in the ghettos there was this crazy high guy that assaulted them and punched him in his broken scapula. So now they are serving in our area because it's super safe here. Anyway, after scooping poop we went and pulled all off these wooden panels that were from a fence and we put them in a pile and it took forever. they were so heavy and I was so scared there was going to be a snake or something. Plus, there were termites all over the wood and it was so gross. There are soo many bugs here, it's nasty!!!  We were sweating so bad and there were bugs all over us😲😲😲 But once we got them all in a pile we got a blow torch and lit them on fire! It was a huge fire and it was sooooo hot already that it made it like 300 degrees hotter. Then the fire started going up the grass so we had to run and get water to get all of the dead grasses wet so it wouldn't burn everything. It was kinda scary at first but we got it totally under control. But it was funny because they just told us four missionaries to go do all that while everyone else was working in the barn with the horses and the stalls. That is what I call trust!!! 

It was pretty fun though and it's really nice to be busy because then I don't get sad about being away from you guys. 

At the fireside in Plum.

Then on Sunday we went to church and like I said, my ward is amazing. Every time they pray they pray for us four missionaries who are serving in the ward. It's incredible to think of how many people are praying for us out here and it truly does make a difference😁! We also had a unique opportunity to go to a fireside that was all they way in Plum which is about an hour away from where we live. It so happened to be in the area where sister Schofield is serving!!!! #blessed!!! It was such an amazing fireside and there was about 40 missionaries there and we sang at the beginning Did You Think to Pray and then they showed some really powerful Mormon messages throughout it. One that I loved was, Because of Him. The whole topic was Why I Believe and it was perfect. Some of the missionaries brought investigators and there were some members there too. The bishop of the ward was Bishop Hoke and he spoke as well. He was a football player for the Steelers so that was really cool. Our Mission president and his wife also spoke a little and like I said they are just so amazing. Throughout it they had musical numbers by some of the missionaries and let me tell ya, Pittsburgh missionaries got talent! It was amazing to be able to listen to their testimonies through song. I LOVED IT!! I can't tell you how much I needed that! It was a rough week and it was so nice to be able to feel the spirit so strong! At the end, all of the missionaries sang the As Sisters in Zion and Armies of Helamen EFY medley. The spirit was so strong and I had to try my hardest not to just start crying. When we sang the part that says, "and we will be the Lords missionaries, to bring the the world the truth" It was so amazing to actually be part of that army that is fighting against Satan's army to  help people come unto Christ! WOW honestly mom, I love being a missionary! It doesn't really feel like I even am, but it is such a blessing to be here right now and I am one lucky girl!!! 

Love you XOXOXOXOX

Love Raquel aka: Sister Douglas!

Look who she found in Plum!!! Sis. Schofield! First comp-Forever Friends!

 

July 3, 2015

MOM!!! I'm so happy I get to write to you today. Fridays are my P-days and I only have an hour to write, so hopefully I can let you know as much as I can. I probably wont have time to write something for the blog but maybe next week:) But anyway, I'm doing absolutely great. I love the MTC and I've decided that it is all about your attitude and if you have a good attitude you'll have a good time:)  

When I left you guys it was really hard, but the Lord blessed me to be ok after that and I went into the MTC got on my name badge and a few other things like a key for my room. A sister host came and got me and  another sister and we went to our residence, dropped off our luggage, and went straight to my classroom. I met my teaches Brother Turner and Kendal and Sister Merriman. They are all super inspired teachers who love the Lord and missionary work! Then I met the elders in my district who are all going to Canada. There are three elder companionship's and two sister companionship's in my district. They are all super great and all of the sisters are going to Pittsburgh with me:) Super sweet girls. 

My companion is Sister Schofield and she is from Cedar Hills and went to A.F.H.S. She is absolutely amazing and I have felt of Heavenly Father’s love for her sooo much. I know we are companions for a reason. 

Day 1 in the MTC with her companion Sister Schofield.

The first day was sooooo long and I thought I might die of tiredness but I made it to my bed thankfully:) That night I didn't sleep much even though I was so tired. I couldn't really get comfortable because I'm on the top bunk and it is really loud every time I move. But I guess my companion and the other sisters in our room will just have to deal with some squeaks every once in a while. 

We have been learning a lot about our purpose as missionaries and it's really cool to think about. It's not just random, but it really is what helps us convert others to Jesus Christ and recognize his atonement in our lives. 

The second day was so much better than the first. We woke up at 6:30 and got ready and went and grabbed a quick breakfast. Then we went to class for three or four hours with our district and then went to an amazing workshop that we talked all about our purpose as missionaries and how we need to recognize how amazing and precious God's children are. I loved it:) Then we went to lunch (the food is pretty good here, I've eaten a lot of meat lately...) then me and my companion went to the gym and walked a mile which was so nice after sitting forever. That's one of the hardest parts about the MTC, you have to sit soo much! 

Well I hope you are all doing well:) Oh and I think your card is in my brown purse in my closet. Probably in one of the pockets. If it's not, let me know! I love you soo much and I'll see you soon. 

Love, Sister Douglas

Missionaries in Raquel's district.

All of the Sister missionaries headed to Pittsburgh with Raquel.

Her name badge!!


A couple of excerpts from today's letter. July 10, 2015
So this week has been really good. Way better than the first few days. After Sunday it got so much better. We are actually teaching people. They have this thing called TRC where you go and teach investigators who are either real or could be members, but obviously we treat them like real investigators. Sis Schofield and I were assigned to teach Carolina and Chrissy. They are such sweethearts and I have learned soooo much from teaching them. The first night was really stressful and we were just getting used to how to teach and we taught more of a lesson than to their needs. So our goal for the next lesson was to teach them by the spirit, because that is what converts, not lessons. So then we went and taught Carolina, who I think is a real investigator, and the spirit totally guided us all the way through. It was the most incredible feeling ever and we sang her a song and taught her about the atonement. Then at the end we asked her to pray and she said the sweetest prayer and we all looked up after and she had these big tears in her eyes. I LOVE TEACHING BY THE SPIRIT!!! After, Sis Schofield and I walked out and just started crying because it was so amazing! Then last night when we were teaching Chrissy it was really good. She wouldn't ever follow through with the invitations we were giving her and I had to be kinda stern with her and told her that we have done everything we can so it is now her turn to act with faith and pray to God and ask if he is really there. I think it really helped and I hope and pray that she did and that we will have a good lesson with her tonight! 

I love you so much and I hope you are doing well. I pray for you every night mom!!! I can feel your prayers for me, because I haven't been really sad or homesick, which may seem bad, but it is such a blessing. There is so muchI'm trying to do and change about myself that if I was sad all the time I wouldn't be able to focus as much. Thank you so much for all of your love and support, I can really feel it pushing me along and making me want to be better.

I LOVE YOU TONS!!! and ill write again soon:)