Week 61 - July 26, 2021

Hello, friends and family!

It was kinda just a normal week! Nothing crazy! 

But... Here are some updates!

Johnny and Charlotte- Charlotte was out of town all week, but we were able to meet with Johnny and talk about preparing for the temple.  He doesn’t remember much of what he was taught by the previous missionaries when he was baptized, but we are going to go over all the lessons again, and help him rediscover his testimony!  They all really love the church and the missionaries, and the things we teach.  We hope to get Charlotte on-date for baptism soon!!

Patricia- They are the sweetest.  Every time we walk into their house, the children run up to me and give me the biggest hug! The kids love us so much and it's so fun to see their excitement when we come.  We couldn't meet with the dad again, because he was working, but when we do, hopefully he will let the whole family be baptized!  We are excited for them!

 
Musa, Faith, Muhindo- We have been trying to catch Musa the last week and finally were able to. He started his job at the dairy so he can't come to church every week, but he really wants to!  But with the rest of his family, we are currently going over all the lessons again to help them understand a bit more, and become even more converted, so when their family from Africa gets here they are ready to be baptized!  Update on his family in Africa, they are currently in the process of getting and finishing their passports which is a great step in getting them here!!!!!  Please pray for them!

Ramlah, Shamilah- Ramlah has started listening to us again and we are so excited!  She is also consistently coming to church now and loves it!  We were also able to see Shamilah this week and invite her to church and talked about the blessings and she came!  We are super excited to see where their family goes from now!

Mwaibola- Mwaibola really enjoys coming to church, especially when she can say the prayers haha!!  She is really awesome. Sofia is starting to open her heart again, and she is excited to continue to grow her faith.  They are still planning on being baptized, but are continuing to wait for the rest of their family.  I got to see Baraka this week (my baby), and got to hold him like the African mothers do!  Y'all best believe that I'm gonna hold my children like that.  It's so cute.

Etienne- We were able to meet with Etienne again this week, and we talked about the power of the priesthood and why we need it.  We also talked about how our goal for him is to enter the temple one day!  He seemed really excited about the things we are teaching.  He is currently praying about and working towards being baptized! 

So that's a little update on the area!

Also, my family is the sweetest and left me a little gift!  They were driving through Twin Falls!  I didn't stop and say hello to them because I knew it would be way too hard to say goodbye again!  And it will make the hello when I get home that much better!  I'm so thankful for my family and everything they've done for me.  I can't wait to hug them in 100 days!!

Speaking of how much time I have left, I am officially in the double digits for how long I have left!!!!  Crazy how the mission goes so fast.  If you are a missionary, cherish the time you've got left cause it goes QUICK.

 

We, also. got to go to the temple this week with our Zone!  It's so good to be in the temple.  It's an awesome thing to live so close, too!

We did a blitz in another Sister's area!  We got 4 companionships to go finding for an hour and a half!  Me and Sister John tried so many houses, and either got rejected when they answered, or they never even answered in the first place.  It really shows you how to deal with rejection!  It is hard, but I've learned a lot about how God's plan will be the best plan, if you just trust him!

Here is a spiritual thought for you all:

I heard a lot about trusting God this week.  Do we trust God enough to use the Atonement he has given us through his son Jesus Christ?  The Atonement is right there, ready for us to use!  But, do we trust God enough to give all of our weaknesses to him?  Do we trust him enough to be vulnerable?  Ether 12:27 says, that if we come unto Christ, he can turn our weaknesses into strengths.  Will you let Him? 

Anyways, it was a good week!  Hope you all are having a good week wherever you may be.  I love you all!

P.S. Congrats to my cousin Jenna for getting engaged, and my cousin Ethan for starting his mission!  Love you both! 

Love you so much!

-Sister Copeland 🖤

Pics of the Week: 

Elder Niupalau's bday!

Week 60 - July 19, 2021

Hello! 

How is everyone doing!  I have had a great week filled with tons of crazy things!  Because I've been in this area my entire mission, I am starting to see things that are popping up in my "One year ago" google photos album. It's crazy to see how far I've come and how far the people I'm teaching have come!  I would not trade my time in Twin Falls, Idaho, for the world, and I'm so excited to spend the 3-ish months I have left on my mission here.  I love the people, I love our branch, and I love being a missionary.

So, speaking of one year ago, about this time last year, when I was still being trained as a little baby missionary, one of the people we were teaching had a baby boy!  I have been with this kid since Day 1, and we are still teaching his family.  I have watched him grow up, and he is probably the cutest kid I've ever seen.  I call him my son, because truly, we have been able to be a part of his family this past year.  Well, because it's been a year, his 1st birthday was this past week!  We helped his mom prepare for his birthday party, and we got to see him in his cute little birthday African clothes!  He was so cute, and it was crazy to see how old he has gotten!  I can't wait to watch this kid grow up throughout his life!  What a fun party it was.

We, also, had the opportunity to go to the temple as a district this week!  I was able to go and do a session for the first time since my own endowment back in September!  It was so awesome, and I really loved getting to be there.  It was a renewing experience, and it was good to finally be back in the house of the Lord.  If you haven't been to the temple recently, go!

We also went to the birthday party of someone else we are teaching, Beatrice!  She told us at her birthday party that she will be baptized "one day"!  She's really had a change of heart, and I think it's because she could really feel the love from the members, not just the missionaries. It was a fun party, and the first time I've had African food in a long time, so I was happy!

A family came into the country this week, and we were able to help them get settled into their house!  They were very sweet and had some really cute kids.  Originally, they were supposed to come in at 11:30 pm on the 14th, but they missed the flight.  So, we had to go back to the airport the next morning to get them, but it ended up working out!  The man that works at the refugee center told them that they should always let us in, and if they want help or love, or they want to get close to God, they should call us!  So fun.

For the biggest news of the week:  WE GOT A NEW ELDER!  Because Elder Pitcher goes home at the end of this transfer, we received a new Elder!  He had been CALLED TO THIS MISSION, SWAHILI SPEAKING.  The first person to ever get called to speak the language here, and to learn Swahili in the MTC!  So, he had been able to get a good base of the language before he got here.  He is one of the coolest people I know, and is perfect for the Swahili district!  He, also, has one of the best singing voices I've ever heard!  His name is Elder Niupalau and he is from Euless, TX!  We are so excited to welcome him into the district!

Here are some more cool moments from the week!

1. We taught Charlotte, and said goodbye before she went on vacation.  We said a prayer with her, and after the prayer, she started crying and explained she really felt the Spirit!  So awesome.  It was a very tender moment.

2. I wanted a blessing this week because I needed some help getting my "fire" back.  I was feeling a little burnt out... the same area for almost 14 months will do that to ya.  But, I got one of the sweetest blessings I've ever gotten from Elder Pitcher.  It's amazing how God can speak through the power of his priesthood, and we can be blessed straight from heaven!  I'm grateful for the worthy priesthood holders that I have around me, and the blessing we have to have the priesthood restored to the earth!

3.We had a really awesome lesson about the priesthood with Benjamin and Patricia and their kids.  It is really cool to see how dedicated the family is to learning, even if all of them aren't on the same page yet.

4. We had a super awesome lesson with a man named Etienne!  He takes notes in his Kitabu cha Mormoni, and asks some really awesome questions!  I love how engaged he is in our lessons.

5. Church was awesome!  We had 12 people come!  I got asked to teach Sunday School again, and I shared about how God can change our hearts, using Alma 36.  It was super fun!  We also translated for church, and as always, it was a party!  Branch life is the best life.

Here is a spiritual thought for the week: 

I will never pass up an opportunity to talk about Alma 36.  I just want to share my personal testimony about the way that God can change us.  I have seen more change in my spirit, mind, and life the past 2 years than I ever thought possible.  I know that when we "seek first the kingdom of God," that blessings and change of heart WILL come. When you focus on the Lord, you allow him to change you.  Alma the younger was "harrowed up... and racked by eternal torment," but the very second that he turned his thoughts upon Christ, praying for mercy, all of his pain was replaced by joy, "as exceeding as was [his] pain."

There is so much joy that can come from just dropping all our other worries and focusing on the Lord.  So, do it! Turn to him.  You will never regret having a little more God in your life.  I definitely haven't. 

Nakupenda kabisa! Najua kwamba tunapojaribu kumfuata Kristo, utakuwa na maisha njema! MUNGU ANAKUPENDA!

Love you all,

Sister Copeland 

Week 59 - July 12, 2021

Record breaking. again:)

 vipi homies?  I hope poa sana.

This week was awesome!  We were able to have a lot of lessons with the people we teach and saw lots of progress! 

So, let's start with the greatest miracle of the week! 

Church.  So, as a missionary, Sundays are often the craziest day!  We get up, get ourselves ready for the day, and then spend all morning waking people up, knocking on their door to make sure they are still coming to church, and coordinating rides with members so that everyone arrives at the right place at the right time.  So, we had a lot of people to visit on Sunday morning.  We were able to visit a couple families, and luckily, everyone was up and getting ready to go!  That was so exciting.  We then got to church and got a text from the Elders saying they were going to be late, so we needed to teach Sunday school.  In Swahili.  Without any prep.  So, we did.  We ended up having a really great discussion about personal revelation, and prayer, and ways that we can show our faith to God.  As we taught, person after person kept coming into class!  We ended up having probably about 20 adults in our Sunday school class.  IT WAS AMAZING. 

 

(At one point, our branch president was sitting there laughing.  I was so confused.  lol But after class, he walked up to me, and he asked if I saw him laughing.  I said yes.  He then proceeded to explain that he was just examining how amazing the situation was that we were in.  Some white girl from Texas was teaching over 20 African refugees about personal revelation, all while speaking perfect Swahili.  A language this white girl taught herself.  He just said that he was so proud of the work I'm doing and just felt blessed to be a part of this whole thing.  I agreed.)  

Anyway, after class, we went into a sacrament meeting.  We then were able to report who came to church.  By the end of our reporting, we looked at our numbers.  WE HAD 16 NON-MEMBERS IN CHURCH.  16.  

I was so excited to see them all sitting as families.  It was an amazing sight.  But, I can testify that that was all God's doing.  We were able to invite people, members were able to invite people, but the most important thing was God made it so those people could feel the Spirit and make the decision to come.  Amazing.

Here are some updates on the people we are teaching!

1. Y'all know I gotta talk about my homie Musa.  Not much has changed, other than that he is still a literal icon.  He prayed that his family would be able to come to America so that he can go to the temple.  He also commented in Sunday School, and he is just a pro at this church thing already.  We are still teaching his wife over the phone, and she is super awesome as well.  I can't wait to see this family in the temple one day!

2. Charlotte is progressing well!  She actually came to church this week!  We were able to visit her with a member, and we helped her remember the Spirit she has felt while we have been there with her.  She says she will be baptized one day, and we are so excited to help her get there.  She is reading the Book of Mormon and also helping Johnny be ready to get back to church as well!

3. Etienne is someone new we are working with!  We were able to teach him the restoration last week, but this week we came back and talked with him about the Book of Mormon and the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He had his Book of Mormon out the whole time and was taking notes in it, and really loving everything that we said!  He came to church with us this week and seemed to make friends while he was there!  We are excited to see what happens with him moving forward!

4. Patricia was in the hospital this week for stomach problems, but her boyfriend and her children all came to church!  He seemed to really love it, and his kids really loved their primary classes as well.  They have such a great family and are so firm and strong in their faith.  The kids really want to be baptized, we are just waiting for Benjamin to jump on board as well!

5. We were able to bring a member with us to teach this lady named Ramlah, who we haven't taught in a while.  But, we talked with her about Relief Society and the things that she would be able to participate in, and after that she asked if she could come to church with us!  We didn't even have to invite her!  She ended up coming, and it was awesome.

We were able to give a training this week to our zone about conversion.  We talked about why we were on a mission, and what we wanted to become while we were out here. Something I loved was from a talk given by Elder Bednar.  He said that conversion is how we show gratitude for the testimony that we have.  We show our gratitude by acting on that testimony, and being obedient.  It was a cool thought to share with our zone!

Something else I really loved was from my personal study this week.  I was studying about spiritual gifts, and how we receive them.  While reading a talk, I was reminded of the different ways that the Holy Ghost can be manifested to us as we progress in the gospel.  This is how I understood it. 

(bolded words= steps of the gospel of Jesus Christ, underlined words= how the Holy Ghost fits into those steps)

1. We all are born with the Spirit of Christ in us.  It leads us and helps us know when we hear the truth. 

2. That Spirit of Christ then leads us to have faith, which is the first step in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We show God that we believe even when we can't see him.

3. That faith allows us to have manifestations of the Spirit in our lives.  We can feel the Spirit as we learn more, and because of the faith we have, we can feel that a little bit stronger.

4. When we have those manifestations of the Spirit in our life, it leads us to desire to change.  We are led to examine our lives, and repent, as we change a little bit everyday to come closer to Christ.

5. As we repent, we eventually are led to the desire to be baptized, and open the gate that lets us enter the straight and narrow path.

Alma baptizing in the Waters of Mormon

6. We then have the opportunity to receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  This gift allows the Spirit to be with us even stronger, and we are able to have it with us always, as we continue to develop our faith in Christ.

7. After we have been given the Gift of the Holy Ghost, we have the special chance to ask for and develop spiritual gifts. These gifts are anything that we can develop to get us closer to God.  Those gifts include the abilities to ponder and study, the gift to have faith, the gift to know to turn to God, etc. 

8. As we develop these gifts, that is how we endure to the end.  We work on improving ourselves and using the Spirit daily to continually walk towards heaven.

This process is awesome. We can use the Spirit in so many different stages of our progression.  I also really loved how this helped me to see how connected the Godhead is.  God the Father created a plan.  That plan was a way for us to learn and grow spiritually so that we may one day return to live with him as people who have become better.  The way he made this possible was through his son Jesus Christ, who taught us his gospel, or the steps we need to take to achieve God's plan. Those steps are faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.  As I discussed above, the way that we progress through those steps is with the help of the Holy Ghost.  Their purpose really is the same. All three members of the Godhead, God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, work together so we may one day return to live with our Father in Heaven again as people who have worked hard to become more like him.  How can you not believe in God when the plan is so intricately connected?

Well, that was a lot.  Sorry to flood your mind with so much information, I just really had a good week!  I hope everyone is doing well, and know that I pray for you all the time! 

I love you all so much.

Love,

Sister Copeland

Pics of the Week:

1. The cutest little word search someone turned in at English class.  We don't think he totally understood, but he was so proud of himself. 

2. I made a handout for Relief Society:)

Week 58 - July 5th, 2021

 HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend.  As for missionaries, the grind doesn't stop for fireworks!  So, here are the highlights of my week!

I'm gonna start with my favorite thing!  This Sunday, was the meeting where we all fast, and then anyone can get up and bear their testimony of Jesus Christ.  So, I was translating, and all of a sudden, Musa, my favorite person I've ever taught, got up to share his testimony.  He got up there and started to talk about his family who lives in Africa.  He has been saying that he wants to be baptized with his family, so he can't get baptized yet.  But, in his testimony, he said that he prays every single day so his family can come here, because he wants so badly to be baptized and to receive the priesthood, and go to the temple together.  HIS TESTIMONY IS SO STRONG.  I know that I am here for him and his family.  They are amazing.

We found a new guy this week!  He came into the country about three weeks ago, and we saw him one day and we finally got to visit him this week!  We talked about the restoration of the gospel and about the Book of Mormon, and he was so excited to get a Book of Mormon for himself!  We are excited to see what happens with him! 

This week is the first week we had President Herrod as our mission president!  Sister John and I went down to MLC, which is a conference for the mission leadership, and we got to meet President Herrod and his wife!  They are from San Diego and talked about how they were able to work with tons of refugees from California!  They are so so so excited to work with our branch and said he is ready to do whatever he can to help us succeed!  He was super nervous at our conference, but he is going to get the hang of it and be an awesome president!

Mwaibola went to the hospital this week.  We have no idea why, but apparently, it had to do with her heart.  Anyways, the Elders were able to go and give her a priesthood blessing in the hospital, and it was really good for her.  She missed her children a lot, but I was able to call and calm her down.  When she came home, we went to visit her, and we were able to find out that she wants to be baptized!  She said that she is going to wait for her husband and two other kids to get to America, and then they are going to do it all together.  I'm glad that she is progressing, and I am just trusting in the Lord's time.

For the 4th of July, the Elders pranked us.  Classic.  They put little pop-its all around our house.  The first one I noticed was while I was in the shower.  Because the room got warm from the shower steam, one of the pop-its exploded.  They originally put it under the toilet seat, but we never sat down for it to pop on us.  But, I will say the popping sound startled me haha. Then later, we turned on our fan, and all of a sudden the popping sound happened again.  They put tons of the pop-its on our ceiling fan, and they flew around the room hahaha.  It was a fun way to celebrate the 4th hahaha.  Until all of Twin Falls did fireworks until 12:30 am... but other than that, it was a fun day.

For my spiritual thought, I would like to share something I read in Doctrine and Covenants this week.  The Lord was comforting Joseph Smith as he was sitting in Liberty Jail.  He says,

"5 If thou art called to pass through tribulation; if thou art in perils among false brethren...

 7 if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

 8 The Son of Man hath descended below them all.  Art thou greater than he?"

I really love this scripture.  There are many other things in between verses 5 and 7 that the Lord lists as possible trials, but he still says, no matter what, Christ has descended below them all.  He also says that the trials we face will be for our good.  We could be the most faithful and obedient people to live on Earth, but we would still experience trials.  It's just the nature of our mortal lives.  We need to experience trials so that we may grow and become the people God wants us to become.  So, don't think that you are being punished because oftentimes, our hardships are for our good. 

Well, that's about it for me this week!

I hope y'all are having a fantastic week, and if you need anything, hmu!

-Sister Copeland :)

Pics of the Week

1.  The coolest thing Sister John's parents got for me!

2.  I hit my 400th day as a missionary this week. Wack. I only have like 120 to go!