Week 18 - September 28, 2020

 Hey yall!  What's up?  Everything good? That's good!

ALSO, I HIT 4 MONTHS THIS WEEK!  Time has FLOWN BY! 

This week was a blast!  We had so many fun and uplifting experiences! 

First off, my Swahili grandmother.  So, Tuesday, a lady came into the country from Zambia.  She is the newest refugee and is the sweetest old lady.  She grew up in war ridden Congo and is now the only member of her family still alive.  It's sad, but she has such good spirits.  We helped move her into her house, and then on Saturday we got to visit her!  In our first visit, she called us her family, and said yes to coming to church!  When she was there, we had to translate everything for her, but she liked it.  As we were leaving, she told us she wanted to pay "10 money."  We eventually figured out that she had been given 100 dollars when she got here, and wanted to pay 10% to the church!!!  So, full on first Sunday, she pays tithing.  This lady has nothing.  She has no belongings, and you'd think the small amount of money she has would be so very important to her.  It's SO important to her that she knew God would bless her if she paid tithing.  She's a blessing and an inspiration, and we are so pumped to get to know her. 

Another thing that was amazing this week was that we had mission conference with Brad Wilcox!!!  It was amazing! Brother Wilcox has made such an impact on my life, and I am so grateful to have seen him again.  He was my Book of Mormon professor my first semester at BYU and basically formed my testimony.  He talked about how we need to understand who we are as children of God.  It was amazing!!

I went on an exchange with sister Horton this week!  She was originally called to Germany, and she is super fun!  We had a fun day full of contacting!  We got rejected a bunch, but with rejections comes finding!  We found a family for her to teach, and it was awesome!  We got free dinner at this super cute cafe, and it was overall a great day! 

Finally, yesterday my parents flew in because I get to go to the temple tomorrow!  They came with me to a lesson and honestly had the time of their lives!  It was so fun, and honestly, they're pro-member missionaries. 

Sister Copeland's father explained the experience in this way:  Anne and I were lucky enough to spend a couple of days visiting Sydney on her mission.  We met an amazing family she's teaching, hiked Shoshone Falls, and got to attend the Twin Falls Temple with her.  Seeing her so happy and content made it a little easier when it came time to say goodbye.  4 months down. 14 to go.

Spiritual Thought:

I have thought a lot about the temple recently (duh).  I think it's amazing the power that comes from God's house.  We have such an amazing access to heaven right here on earth.  We have blessings from Heaven available to us!  Even though the temples are closed, we can still feel those blessings through our own work to keep the covenants we have made.  God is good! 

The Zone at Mission Conference

I love this gospel and I love my mission.  Talk to y'all next week! 

<3 Sister Copeland

Pictures:

Mini being crazy👀

Week 17 - September 21, 2020

 What's up, family and friends! ❤❤❤

This week was WILD. I got to do so many cool things!

The newest elder in the Twin Falls Zone🔥

The Zone at a member's farm for breakfast:)

This week I had one of the best days of my mission so far.  So, some backstory.  Sister Hyde's year mark was on the 18th.  The day before, we were at District Council and the Elders told us that on the year mark of one of the missionaries in our Zone, he taught 27 lessons in one day, setting a mission record.  Seeing that it was Sister Hyde's year mark, we decided we were gonna beat it.  We took the rest of that day to prayerfully plan who and what we were going to teach.  The next day we woke up early, hiked to a high rock, and prayed and started a fast for our day.  That day was INSANE.  We spent every second working on talking to people and teaching lessons. We taught a bunch of people through Facebook, we went to apartment complexes and taught random people, and we basically visited everyone we knew.  We even took two hours to help someone move in the middle of the day!  At the end of the day, we had.... drumroll please..... 32 LESSONS. We beat the record by four lessons!  We found 4 new people to teach, taught 14 in-person lessons, and 18 online lessons. It was amazing!  But honestly, we could not have done it without the Lord.  There were so many people he placed in our path and we couldn't be more grateful.  Fasting, prayer, and hard work are POWERFUL. so yeah, I'm now a mission record holder:)

Our area book (calendar) for the 18th. Each yellow box is a lesson:)

Another fun thing that happened this week was we got to set up two houses for refugees coming to America this week!  We got furniture, bedroom stuff, toys, kitchenware, etc., all set up for these people.  Some of it we had to buy from Walmart, but the other stuff was all donated to the refugee center.  You have no idea how needed and valued donations to a refugee center is.  If there's one near you, find out how you can help! These people have been through so much already and deserve a nice welcome to their new but foreign home. 

We also learned how to make MANDAZI, aka African donuts, this week!  A lady that we teach was making them when we went over and she taught us how to make them!  She said you're not allowed to touch the dough ever while making them because it changes the flavor.  It was a really fun process and they smelled so good.  I'll have to find out how to make them gluten free one day.  It was sooooo fun! 

WE ARE SO CLOSE TO HAVING A SWAHILI BRANCH!  T-minus 3 weeks.  We met with the bishop yesterday and laid out our plan for our new branch, and we are so pumped.  It will be in Swahili and French, as some refugees speak both and more members speak French so they can help out with it.  I'm gonna have to start writing talks in Swahili now, which is going to help me with the language SO MUCH.  I can't wait. 

Spiritual Thought:

Omni 1:26:

"And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption.  Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved." 

I read this verse this week and it really stood out to me.  My favorite line is "partake of his salvation."  I thought a lot about the word partake.  The definition I came up with was to take something and then USE it.  We partake of the sacrament on Sundays.  We take the sacrament and use it to become better people.  It's the same with this.  In order to have the Atonement apply to our pains and sins, we need to partake of it.  That means reach out and use it.  We need to pray for forgiveness and use the gift that is the Atonement. You won't ever receive a gift unless you open it and use it.  I invite you all to find a way you can use Christ's Atonement this week.  It's there waiting for us, but are we taking advantage of that blessing? 

Anyway, I love you all so much!  I love getting to read some of your messages and hear how your life is going.  It's weird to think that I'll hit four months this week, but I'm taking advantage of every second I have!  Don't let a day pass you by! 

NAKUPENDA na ninaomba kwa ninyi! Najua Yesu Kristo anakupenda kwa sababu ninahisi upendo yake kwa ninyi KILA SIKU!  

Na upendo,

Dada Copeland <3

Week 16 - September 14, 2020

 Hi, guys!  How's everyone doing?  I hope y'all are doing well.  I pray for all y'all:)

This week was great!  Some things changed, but it was good. 

Picture of the BEAUTIFUL place I get to live👀

First off, this week was transfers meaning we got a new Elder in our district!  His name is Elder Bohn.  He was originally assigned to Kenya, but English speaking, so he doesn't know any Swahili.  But, he's gonna be learning!  

The new district on a hike

(Also, sometimes I feel like a celebrity at the transfer site because me and my comp are the only Swahili speaking sisters, and for some reason that means everyone knows who we are?  I feel really cool but definitely undeserving.)

This week, on September 11, the national day of service, me and sister Hyde helped a 99-year-old lady can beets!  

RUBY THE 99 YEAR OLD QUEEN🔥

We went from pulling them out of her garden, to washing them, to boiling them, to peeling them, to chopping them, to making the brine, to cleaning the cans, to filling the cans, and finally to sealing the cans.  It was crazy fun, actually!  

Beets, beets, and more beets!

She just sat and told us how to do it while we did all the steps!  In between, the steps we would talk to her about her life.  Here's her advice: stay busy, because when you're idle, you get in trouble.  And, get along with everyone.  Even your enemies.  Get along with 'em!  She's the cutest lady, and we had a lot of fun with her!

The lessons we had this week were great!  We read 3 Nephi 11 with Fausta and Jeanvier and they said, "We have to get baptized with the power of God" almost like they've heard it a million times (haha)!  I'm so glad that they are understanding. We, also, got to help their mom read the Book of Mormon, too, which was so good.  We challenged them to read the Book of Mormon every night and we will buy them candy, and so every night they send us a video of them reading and it's actually hysterical!  I love them. 

One night, we were walking around an apartment complex after trying to visit someone who wasn't home, and found Sarah, the girl we were trying to visit!  She was crying and so we sat with her and talked with her.  She said she hates being home alone, but her mom goes to work everyday so it's hard. We sang some songs with her and read some scriptures for her and before we knew it, we had a large group of kids all around us sitting on the grass and singing hymns with us.  It was a really sweet moment. 

Here's my spiritual thought for the week! 

Each transfer, I am trying to read the Book of Mormon all the way through, marking something different each time.  Last transfer I marked all the references to Christ, and this transfer I'm marking what he asks us to do.  I noticed that there are not as many things to mark this go around, and the things I do mark are simple tasks like, "Keep the commandments" or "Repent" or "Look to God."  God knows that the small and simple things are what get us closest to him, so those are the things mentioned most often.  He isn't asking us to sacrifice our lives, just to live according to his will.  If we look at it as a small and SIMPLE thing, following God doesn't seem too terribly hard.  That doesn't mean life is easy, but it does mean that we have a clear pathway to reach Him.  I invite you to remember to try and do the simple things this week.  See what happens:)

I love you all so very much and would love to hear from you!!!

Nakupenda KABISA!!!! ❤

-Sister Copeland

Week 15 - September 7, 2020

 Sooooooo this week has been interesting, to say the least...

Remember last week when I said I was feeling sick?  Well, that sickness turned into a worse sickness, accompanied by me wanting to cough my lungs out, my head feeling like it was going to explode, and a high fever...

So to be safe, we decided I should get tested for Covid 19.  The night before was one of the hardest nights so far.  I was super hot and had chills because of my fever and I was not at my apartment because we were doing an exchange (which looking back probably wasn't the best idea).  But, the missionaries around me are amazing, and the two Swahili Elders drove over in the "middle of the night" (11 pm-ish) to give me a blessing.  It was so powerful and helpful and I can't thank them enough.  After the blessing, my fever subsided, and I felt complete peace.  The Spirit's pretty great huh? 

The next day I got tested, and because we didn't know, we officially were put into quarantine.  AND LET ME TELL YOU. Quarantine as a missionary is not that great.  I do not envy the missionaries who had been or still are in quarantine.  It was so boring.  I did get REALLY good study of the scriptures and Swahili in though, so that was really good. 

Finally, my test results came.  The nurse called me at around 10 am one morning and asked for some info, and then started to tell me my test results.  It felt like she was speaking sooooo slow, but finally she said, "You tested....... negative for Covid 19."  Me and my comp let out a sigh of relief haha.  We still had to quarantine until my symptoms went away, but we are back to normal now!  Except my companion is now showing symptoms, so who knows?

Here's the few highlights of the week from when we COULD leave the house:

1. The Scalping- Don't be afraid, it isn't what it sounds like haha.  We had a lesson with one of our favorite girls ever, and we started the lesson by making a tik tok with her (as one does).  We then focused on teaching out of the Book of Mormon.  We have already taught her everything else, so now we are helping strengthen her testimony so she feels ready for baptism!  We decided to have her just open up the Book of Mormon anywhere, and that's what we would study.  Of course, she opened up to Alma 44, the middle of the war chapters.  And, you guessed it, the chapter about the guy who gets scalped.  Yikes.  She loved it though.  She kept saying, "This book is so fun!"  hahah.

Church with Fausta

2. The squad is split up:(- This week, one of the Swahili Elders, Elder Lundgreen, got transferred:(.  He is going to Pocatello to be AP, and had to leave early.  My district of four people have become so so so close through these two transfers I've been here, and we are honestly best friends.  So, when we were getting split up it was a very sad day.  Tears were shed I'm not gonna lie.  But, the two Elders are going to BYU after their missions, so we are gonna party hardddd.

3. FAST SUNDAY- So, I've decided that Fast Sundays are the greatest days of the month.  You know why?  Miracles happen. Today is one of those days.  We had 13 PEOPLE come to church today from our Swahili district.  Fast and testimony meeting was in three languages to accommodate for all the visitors.  I bore my testimony in Swahili, Sister Hyde did too, and then a member spoke in French for the other refugees.  It was sooo powerful.

Spiritual thought for the week:

In the Book of Mormon, I am in 3rd Nephi.  I am reading the Book of Mormon all the way through every transfer, so I'm already at the end again haha.  I was reading about when Christ visited the Nephites.  He came and the first thing he did was allow each and every one of the Nephites to feel the scars in his hands, feet, and sides.  He didn't just let a few of them come, he let every single one, one by one.  I think that shows his deep care for the people.  He let them all have a personal witness of his divinity.  They each got to have a personal spiritual experience with the Savior.  It didn't matter how long it took, he made sure it happened.  He is ready and willing for us to have experiences with him, we just need to ask.  

Ask and ye shall receive! 

Anyway, thanks for tuning in, hope I didn't scare you too much:) 

I'm living the dream out here in Idaho!

-Sister Copeland <3

Week 14 - August 31, 2020

JAMBO FAMILIA WANGU NA MARAFIKI YANGU!

Hope y'all are well!

This week was honestly a blur! 

Sistas❤

And not tons happened this week that was crazy, just a normal missionary week!

Here's the most notable events:

1. I had to call a cable company for one of the ladies we are teaching to be a translator, and I felt so bad because I had to tell her that she owed some money because she didn't pay her bill.  She was so stressed, but we are gonna help her along the way with calling and getting her TV set back up. She's so sweet. 

2. I feel like I'm a tutor again because of how much I get to help people with their homework!  And honestly, it's ALWAYS math haha.  Duh!  But it's super fun to help them.  I love it!

3. I've been kinda sick these past two days.  On Thursday, the temperature dropped from like 100 degrees to 65 in a matter of 24 hours and it hasn't warmed up.  So, that left me with a terrible head cold: ( I'm 99.9% sure it's not corona.  But, if it gets worse I will do all I can to stay safe and help others stay safe as well! 

That's maybe the most noteworthy things from this week.  Not as crazy as normal! 

A little girl did my makeup:)🔥

 Batina played with my face haha

Spiritual Thought:

This week I read in Jesus the Christ again, and it talked about how Christ learned growing up.  He wasn't born with a perfect knowledge and grew up as a mortal in the same exact way we do.  But, he devoted his life to study and prayer and tried to stay in tune with the Spirit with every step he took, and eventually the "mysteries of God" were made known to him.  He learned line upon line just as God promises us we will learn.  

We don't need to know the answers to everything, but if we are continually growing and learning, it will be enough!

Nakupenda!!

~Sister Copeland

PS. SHOUTOUT TO KALLIE FOR GETTING HER MISSION CALL!  I LOVE YOU SO SO MUCH AND I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!