Oh, what joy!!

"This week has been exhausting!  So good, but exhausting!  So many things happened this week which made it all worth it.  As far as the missionary work goes, we tracted all day, every day.  We knocked and knocked and knocked and talked to SO many people!  Broke a record for us as we talked to just about 80 people this past week!  This next week we are shooting for 100 people!  Woot woot!!  Elder Ballard said that if we talk to 10 people every day, our baptisms will double.  So we are leaning and banking on that promise and praying to see miracles happen as we keep opening our mouths.  I really do love tracting.. kind of an awkward amount of a lot.  Sis. Rix is pretty much a pro at it so that's a blessing!  And we sit around and chat all day long.  I couldn't think of a better situation!!  She's amazing.  I kind of do love her a lot!  We didn't find any new investigators this week though :S  We had some really solid potentials and like 3 different guys invited us in but since there are only two of us, we couldn't go in and they weren't too keen on making a return appointment.  So we'll just have to take matters into our own hands and go back! :D  Ah, the joys of missionary work!  This week's going to be about the same, tracting all day, every day! :D  But we have great faith that this week will be different in that we're going to find someone to teach for sure!!

We had a situation come up this week with our sisters though.  One of the sisters has been really sick for a long time.  And this week she had to go home.  So at the last minute President calls us into his office to talk about who needed to go where and what we needed to do with this sister that now had no companion.  It was amazing.  We started with a prayer and invited the spirit in.  We sat there looking at the transfer board and pondered on who should go where and how this situation needed to be worked out.  And it was like the heavens opened and the whole thing was revealed unto us right before our eyes.  Within 20 minutes we had the whole situation worked out and it worked *perfectly*.  It was amazing how simple it seemed and how revelation just flowed and it all worked out.  I will never question transfers again :)  We spent the entire next day in Portland helping the sister pack and clean her apartment for the other sisters to move in.  It honestly took the entire day to do.  We got home around dinner time and my goodness, I've never been so tired.  I wanted to pass out and die! haha!  But we made it to the end of the evening and I cannot tell you how good I slept! :D  Anyway, it was amazing how quickly everything worked out and how well things seemed to fall into place :)  Revelation flows through councils (thank-you President Taylor!)

[They were finally able to baptize a lady which Erin had taught in Portland.]  The baptism was AWESOME!!!  It was so good to see everyone again and to be around everyone!  There was so much joy in that room that day!  She was beaming from ear to ear as she sat there and waited for her baptism.  When she came out of the water, it was like she was full of light.  She hugged Brother Lesean (the man that baptized her) and had the biggest, warmest smile on her face!  She couldn't have been more happy!  She was clean and she was pure and you could tell.  The spirit was so strong in the room!  It was amazing.  She wanted to bear her testimony after the whole thing.  She went up and said, 'Before the sisters came knocking at my door I felt this darkness in my heart that I couldn't shake.  I would go to different churches but none of them seemed right.  Then the sisters came knocking at my door and they were so full of light.  They told me that I would be able to feel the Holy Ghost and I did.  It fills me now and I feel full of light.  I'm addicted to the Book of Mormon.  I can't stop reading it.  I've never been so happy!'  Ah, it was the best!!!  To play such a small part in such a big thing is such a huge blessing.  In the grand scheme of things, her kids now have the option to be baptized.  Her husband will come into the gospel (I have full faith in that) and they can go to the temple and be an eternal family.  Oh what joy!! :D  It was a moment long awaited for!!

Here's a miracle of the week for you!  That evening after the baptism we went to our gators that we found last week for a lesson.  We had planned one thing for them and it turned out completely different.  We sat and answered their questions for two hours.  They were very attentive and very much wanting to know.  The one was soaking it up like a sponge.  When we got there, their brother was kind of hovering around, so we invited him to sit down, too.  He sat through the lesson and he too asked questions.  Boy, the spirit was there so thick and strong you could almost see it.  I was like.. wow, this is amazing.  After our amazing lesson we invited them to church again and said that anyone is invited and welcome to come.  When we were walking into church, they pulled up and their car was full!!  There weren't just the two of them in there, rather there were five.  We walked into wait for them and then came through the door our 2 investigators and their 2 brothers and his girlfriend.  All 5 of them came to church!!!  Holy smokes, what a sight!!!  We filled a whole bench!!!! :D :D :D  It was incredible!! :D  What a great feeling to have all of them there like that!! :D  Only the girls stayed 2 hours and the boys left to sleep in the car after sacrament (they were 18 and 19, never been to church so you can't blame them too much.. but they still came!!!!!)  and then we taught Sunday School about how God is our loving Heavenly Father and it went SO well!!! ...it was the best!!!!  They are so prepared and eating it all up! I love them.  What a golden find!  That was the highlight of my week!  Now the only sad part is that all of them are between 18-20 which means that they all would go to the singles ward, which also means we would hand them off to the singles ward missionaries, which is great because they will flourish in that ward...but at the same time, it's hard to give up your gators.  So we'll see what happens with them!! :D  But that was so cool!!!!!

Well, that's about it for this week!  We'll be getting our ipads on Thursday this week and then missionary life changes all over again!  Woot woot!  More stuff to further the work.  Here we go again! :D  All in all, I've discovered that the church is still true, the Lord still loves His children and that He will do whatever He can to further the work of salvation, even among those in Vancouver, Washington!...

Yours forever,
Sister Maxfield"

excerpts from Erin's email 02/24/2014

No more snow, but TONS of rain!! It's back :D

"It's refreshing, I won't lie ;)  It's nice to be here in Washington.  I pretty much love it!  Plus all the frogs are back so that's good!!...

This week has been really, really good.  First of all, I LOVE Sis. Rix!  We get along like two peas in a pod.  We are laughing and talking all the time and it just seems like we've always been serving around each other.  Mission work is so much fun when you serve with someone you're so close with!!!  What a blessing!!! :D :D

We had the most amazing miracle that happened this week.  So remember how I said that our teaching pool was awfully small here in Vancouver!  I've been praying and looking for people to teach, that we would be able to figure this whole thing out and find someone, anyone who might be interested.  Trying to exercise my faith before it enveloped my doubt.  Saturday we were out contacting a referral we had received a few days earlier.  We knocked on the door and the lady that answered told us that we had the wrong address, but that they lived two doors down.  As we walked to their door, we walked past the house in between and I thought, 'We should knock on that door, our new investigator is probably inside' but it was just a passing thought.  Then Sister Rix was like, 'You know, we should go knock on that door.'  I smiled and we headed to the door.  We knocked and a lady answered.  She was very open and happy to see us.  We asked if she was a very religious person and if she went to church.  She said the she had just moved here from Montana and hadn't found a church that she wanted to go to.  We asked her if she would be interested in coming to ours.  She said that she would love to!  By this time, her roommate had joined in on the conversation.  She said that she hasn't been to church since she was 6 and was also interested in coming.  We told them where the church was and looked forward to seeing them tomorrow.  Oh the thrill!!!!!  Sunday rolls around, Sis. Rix and I are on the way to church and we get a text from these two ladies asking us where we were.  They got there before we did!!!  Not only that, but they stayed the WHOLE 3 hours!!!  And the talks were *great* for someone's first time (sometimes..okay,often..okay, most the time the first time investigators come to church it's super nerve racking!)  Sunday school was..interesting, but it turned out and in Relief Society we talked all about family.  The one expressed how much love she felt from the other sisters in Relief Society and loved how it was all about family :D :D :D :D  We have an appointment to go back this Saturday and teach them!!!

That's probably my favorite part about being a missionary.  We are away from the world.  The junk of everything isn't penetrating us all the time.  So being able to recognize when prayers are being answered is easy.  I love being able to notice when the Lord's answered my prayers.  Being able to see Him answer them is so comforting and well.. thrilling.  It's because of this I have no doubt in my mind that God does live.  That he hears and answers every single one of our prayers.  I've learned, however, that sometimes he tells us no.  The answer won't always be, 'Yes, sure, go ahead.'  He tells us no, just like all good parents should tell their children every once in a while :) but whatever the answer is or has been, he answers, and I feel so loved.


[Erin was speaking of serving back in Vancouver]...we are exactly where we need to be, we have a purpose in our area, we have a reason.  I have the talent and love of tracting, so I'll use it!  Simply lift where you stand, be happy in your work no matter what that work is, trust and love....I feel so blessed to be serving with an amazing companion, in a sweet sweet area, to build up the work...this is what the Lord has called me to do and it makes me happy.

I love you...
You're the best!! :D  Life is good!

God doesn't do random.

Sister Maxfield"

excerpts from Erin's email 02/18/2014

Snowed in!!!!

"So it's been an interesting week!  This is the first time in about 5 days we've been able to drive.  WE GOT A FOOT OF SNOW THIS WEEK!!!!!  Vancouver has never seen this much snow in years!!  They don't know how to drive in it, everyone is freaking out, none of the roads are plowed so no one can drive in it.  It's a mess out there!  In fact, the snow started on Thursday while we were in a meeting at the mission office (about 7 miles from our home).  They ended the meeting early so we could get home but some of the sisters were stuck because their rides were trapped on the freeway or they didn't have a ride home.  So we stuck around to make sure everyone got a ride home and then we took off.  Now remember, we live 7 miles away.  We braved the snow in our little Toyota corolla.  It was a slick ride!!  The roads were so bad and everyone was moving so slow it took us an hour and a half to go about 4 miles.  We drove almost to our home; all we had left was to go up the hill and there was our house.  We got to the bottom of the hill and all the cars were turning around and coming back down.  Not just the little cars like ours but trucks, 4 wheel drives, etc. all were backing up and going a different way.  There was no way on earth we were even going to attempt it.  So we turned around and tried to find another way, only to discover that the only other ways home were up hills, all steeper than the one were turned around from.  We were stuck.  So we called Sister Taylor and told her that we were stuck and what does she do?: 'Oh dear Sisters, just come back to the mission home.  We will house you for the evening.' :)  Ah, Sister Taylor, you're the best!  So we drove back to the mission home.  When we got there there were 4 other sisters who also couldn't get home.  (They were heading out to Seaside and Woodland and there was no way they were braving the freeways to make that trip.  So they too were stuck at the mission home.)  So we practiced talking to people and made a fun game out of it to take some time.  Then we helped Sister Taylor make dinner for everyone.  President and Sister Taylor invited the AP's and our zone leaders over.  They showed up, we all had a great dinner and we then spent the next 3 hours in President's living room, gathered around the fireplace, asking President all sorts of questions, talking about the gospel, stretching our brains, thinking about deep doctrine.  Pretty much getting our minds blown as the snow continued to fall all evening long :)  We had a pretty intense snowball fight before the elders all left! (still the snow was falling) and we got ready for bed.  Thankfully the Taylors had extra stuff for us to use (toothbrushes and t-shirts and what not) and we climbed into bed.  The next day the sisters left a little earlier but we were going to wait just a little longer to make sure that nothing else happened.  We eventually left the Taylor's around 11.  As we got home, the snow started falling again and the cars were grounded (Friday).  So we planned, unpacked and went out to shovel.  Saturday, we woke up to freezing rain (rain that falls then turns into ice, making everything slick and frozen).  The snow was all still there now with a sheet of ice on top.  Needless to say, our cars were grounded again.  Lucky for us though we knew no one and there are many members that live in our same neighborhood.  So we planned our day to go visit all the members that live within walking distance, which proved to be a very full day!  All was fine and dandy and we were excited to meet the ward..until we got a text from our ward mission leaders saying that they CANCELLED CHURCH!!!  What!?!?!?!  Canceled church!?!  Never in my life do I ever remember them ever canceling church!!  What are we supposed to do now?!  You can always bank on them having church.  But the roads were bad and they didn't want us out in it.  So..no church and the cars were still grounded.  Great, now what?  It was back to shoveling for a bit and meeting members.  There were still a few we hadn't met yet.  So we were able to do that and luckily some of them were big talkers (haha!) so that played to our favor.  All in all, it's been a struggle finding things to do in this weather.  We've knocked on doors, talked to anyone outside, and slipped and slid in the road.  It's been quite the adventure.  The roads still aren't cleaned and it's all turning into deep slush with the threat of freezing.  But they say the weather is suppose to be up in the 50's this week.  So hopefully we'll be able to be up and fully running again :)  We haven't even met the bishop yet!!  It's been a crazy adventure.

Our car was dead this morning and so it took us a while to get that up and running again and the roads still are..well, quite questionable.  But we've got things to do.  So with a few extra prayers for safety we go out!

...There's work to be done here, it just needs to be found.  Maybe it just starts with shoveling snow :) hahaha!  :)
The church is true.  Every single day it's true! :D

So much love and fun in the snow!
Sister Maxfield"

excerpts from Erin's email 02/10/2014

Heartbrokenness and two funny stories :)

"Good morning!!!
So we got transfer info and it wasn't what I was expecting at all.  The dream team is getting split up and I'm the one leaving.  It came as a total surprise.  I wasn't expecting to go, honestly, and so to read that, I wasn't sure how to feel.  In all honesty though, I'm heartbroken.  I want to stay here so bad.  I LOVE the people here, I love the work and the ward and the place, the whole nine yards I LOVE and so to leave and with such short timing.. it's been hard, to say the least.  But change must come, that's inevitable.  So I'll go.  I'm heading back to Vancouver to whitewash/double into the Salmon Creek ward...(which, funny enough, is the ward that I thought I was going to when I went to Lacamas Creek.  They called me to Salmon Creek when in reality I was going to Lacamas Creek.  I guess the people needed a little longer before they got a piece of me! haha)  The ward meets in the same building at the mission office so I'm right close to home there.  I served there one time on exchanges so I know the area already.  AND I know my companion and I LOVE her!!!  I feel like I'm going from the best companions to the other.  She's amazing.  We've done several exchanges together (it's Sister Rix) and really, she's amazing.  So I have no worries at all for this transfer companion wise and I know where I'll be, so whatever the turnout, it'll be okay, despite my heartbrokenness.  But I'll go, because that's what the Lord has called me to do.


I have two funny stories for you this week :)

We were at dinner with the Green's the other night and had some amazing spaghetti.  They also had a really nice salad.  They were passing around this dressing and Sister Blanch put this creamy balsamic vinegar on her salad.  When she tasted it though she thought to herself, 'Wow, this is *really* sweet!' like..really nastyingly sweet.  But she didn't want to be rude and say anything so she very quickly ate it.  Brother Green took the same dressing and put it on his salad.  So Sister Blanch watched closely as he took a bite.  The same nasty face showed up on his face.  He picked up the bottle and asked, 'Did anyone put this on their salad?'  Sister Blanch was like..'I did!' and he was like..'This isn't dressing..This is carmal sauce!'  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!  She accidently put caramel sauce on her salad and ate it, no wonder it was so gross!!! hahahahaha!!  Oh my gosh, we died laughing it was so funny!!! :D

At the same dinner, Sister Blanch was talking about another dinner we had a few days earlier.  Sister Blanch was like, 'So they had one of those..flem? desserts.'  It was funny because she was trying to say flan but she couldn't remember what it was so she said flem [phlegm]! and boy did we take that one running!  Brother Green and I busted up laughing but Sister Ivins didn't get it.  So we had to explain it to her and then we laughed all over again.  Then! their foreign exchange student didn't get it, so we had to explain it AGAIN which made us laugh all over again.  Yeah, it was good!! :D :D  Good dinner, that's for sure!! hahah!

Our gators are doing really good!  We have one getting baptized on Saturday that I'll be coming back for.  She's truly 100% converted to the church, not the missionaries, which is such a blessing!  She can't wait to be baptized.  She's incredibly solid :)  She's going to be a GREAT member for the church.  She was like, 'You should give me a spot to read to in the Book of Mormon and I'll get there before you come back' (in 2 days)  I gave her 10 chapters to read.  She read all of them in the time we got back and explained the whole thing to us.  Amazing.  She's so solid.

The one we found gardening - we went back for our appointment and she got called into work so she wasn't there.  We went back about a week later and found her home but she was in the middle of something and asked us to come back.  We went back and they weren't home again.  I really think we keep missing each other.  Sometimes you know when people are trying to avoid you .  That's not the situation.  We just keep missing each other.  We'll get a hold of her.

[Another man they have been teaching] has been amazing!!!  There have been missionaries over at his house for years but whenever they try to teach a lesson he would always get up in the middle of it and leave, always.  Before we went over the other day he asked his wife if he had to stay during the lesson, she told him no.  When we came, he was happily sitting there and stayed during the entire lesson.  That was the second time he's stayed all the way through, on his own terms.  Needless to say, his wife is STOKED.  She wants him to join the gospel so bad.  She's been so patient and let's him come on his own terms.  She's amazing.  I can't wait to hear that he's finally baptized.  That'll be such a good day!! :D

So there are many many miracles that have happened around here.  I love Mount Scott more that I ever thought I would or could.  I love the people here and I love the work that's happening.  I was thinking about it the other day, about how blessed I've been in this area and on my mission thus far and I cannot express fully how I feel and how deep my gratitude runs.  Although I love it here in Mount Scott, the Lord has called me to other places.  And although I may be heartbroken, I'll go.  I've only been able to tell you the fraction of the miracles that we've been able to see here.  One day I'll tell you in full extent of them all.  But for now, know that the Lord has been so kind and loving.  I can't wait to see what adventure lies ahead...

I LOVE YOU!!!!  Have a great week!!

Sister Maxfield


p.s.  I didn't even tell you the good news!! Both Sister Ivins and Blanch are training and getting new missionaries.  So there will be two sets of sisters in Mount Scott!!!!!  That's huge!!! :D :D :D  They are so excited!! :D

excerpts from Erin's email 02/03/2014