Week 59

Well Hello There!

This week was a great week! We have started teaching a guy named Antonio! But the cool  thing about him is that we are also teaching him english and he is teaching us random spanish words. It's pretty cool how the spirit works though! I know that there is literally no way I could be teaching him english and from the gospel if I didn't have the spirit with me. He called us Chucho colochos and then showed us what he meant... he showed us a picture of a curly haired dog..and could not stop laughing. so now that is what we call each other! Shoutout to Antonio! 

Also how cool was General Conference this weekend!! We were lucky to be able to watch it with some fun members. And we also watched it at the church! It was a great conference! I honestly cannot even tell you what my favorite talk was because I loved all of them! Every single one stood out to me in a different way or answered a question I had. So I just loved all of them! I highly suggest watching, rewatching, reading, studying, and pondering all of the talks. And also Read and STUDY the Book of Mormon. I have learned that there really is a difference in reading and studying. And studying is way better! 

I hope you all have a stellar week! Make good choices. Write me a letter (thats a really good choice)

XoXo-

Sister DeCamp

Also Sister Abril came back to the mission and I got to see her!

And I just love the Williams family! 

Week 14

Hey y'all! Hope this week has been great for all of you, it has been a great one for me!

I think I should first explain the title of this email. So as most of you know we are having transfers this week. We also have Bill and Kathy's baptism next week. And nobody knew what was going to happen and we were awaiting a call from the ZLs. Well last night President Olson called us and talked to each of us. Sister Abril is being transferred which we are really bummed about. But the humbling part is that he has asked me to TRAIN a new missionary. It is so rare that this happens and I am looking forward to this growing experience. I know that the Savior has so much faith in me and has a lot planned for me! I am so looking forward to this!

Also this week we decided to fast for more investigators so we could grow our teaching pool. As we both fasted on different days our prayers were answered. We now have a really busy week ahead of us with new lessons and people that look really promising. I know that the Lord was mindful of our prayers and as he saw our diligence he answered them.

With elections coming up tomorrow I would like to share a quick thought from President Olson, No matter who rules or what happens, remember that "all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God." D&C 101:16. Let us be positive, cheerful and obedient, and He will provide for us all that He sees is best for us.

I love being a missionary! It is the best decision I could have ever made. I am so happy to be where I am and who I am. The gospel is true! And our Heavenly Father is so mindful of each of us and our needs and concerns. 

Have a blessed week!

-Sister DeCamp

Week 13

Hey y'all! 

This week was quite entertaining! On Monday our STLs came out for PDay and hung out with us! They are some really funny people! And then the missionaries went over to Bishops for a meeting about a new ward mission planand dinner, I LOVE me some southern cooking! Well at least all the cooking I've had thus far. So yummy! And the meeting was really good too!

On Tuesday- it was a strange strange day.. We helped our investigator Pam set up for Christmas! Yeah.. way before Thanksgiving and even before Christmas. But it was fun and quite a day to remember! Then we met with Bill and Kathy! They are awesome! We talked a lot about temples and Kathy said that she wanted to be a temple worker when she grew up! It was so cool!!

On Wednesday we found a new investigator and have actually met with her a few ties this week! She is great! Her name is Sharicia and just a super happy, busy mom! She is a really great person to teach and we see a lot of potential with her! 

On Thursday we had every single one of our appointments keep their appointments! That hardly ever happens so we were busy busy all day! It was so great! And such a blessing from God with how well everyone was progressing! We went to see a less-active member and her daughters( who are not members) and her daughter asked us if we would teach her! She was an answer to our prayers! 

Saturday was our ward Fall Fest! It was a good time and lucky me- I got to be the dessert taste tester to give out prizes. It was a good job to have. There were still some very interesting desserts but not as interesting as some of the chilis that they had... lucked out on my part I guess (;  

It was a good week and I can see the Lord's hand in all things! I definitely felt blessed this week!

I know this church is true and I know that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us so much! And I love them!  I was reading Russell M. Nelson's talk this week and there was a quote I really liked about missionary work- that we are out here not to baptize but to bring joy to others! I know that true joy comes from the gospel!

Have a blessed week!!

-Sister DeCamp

Week 12

So I lied about the title of this email. There isn't much of a cool story. We had a good week though! We met about 4 new potential investigators and we have return appointments for all of them so that is really exciting! 

We also had the primary program this week and Bill and Kathy were there! They said they could feel the spirit there and it was really a neat experience to see. Little kids are great and have an awesome spirit about them! It made me so grateful to be able to know that my nieces and nephews also have that spirit about them! Families are so great!

Bill and Kathy are also still on date for this next week so hopefully that goes through! 

Say your prayers and remember "TRUST JESUS" - Jeffrey R. Holland

Love ya whisker biscuits 

-Sister DeCamp

Week 11

Hey y'all! So this week was a really strange week. A lot happened but at the same time not a lot happened. On Tuesday we met with Bill and Kathy and they asked Brother Smith to baptize them! But they also are wanting to move their baptism forward they just haven't decided on their date yet. So that was super exciting! 

On Wednesday we had ZTM in Monroe and so on the way down we stopped in West Monroe and we got to see where Willie (from duck dynasty) lives and next time we go down we get to stop at their shop! pretty pumped about that! We also stopped across the street from Willies house at a store called the Rebel store. Oh my goodness it is such a funny shop. I definitely live in the south! A good time for sure! After ZTM I went on exchanges with Sister Marble. She's super cool so I got to stay in Louisiana for 2 days! It's a lot bigger of a city than where I am! While I was there I got to paint one of their investigators house purple- like 6 different shades of purple. She was thrilled with it, I would never let a room in my house look like that but hey I don't live there! (: 

Saturday we had a Fish Fry for the ward and that was fun! They fry everything down here.. but I don't mind. It still tastes good! 

We also did a lot of tracting this week. One cool thing that happened is we were in the store doing some good ol AI work and we got chased down and this lady wanted us to teach her and her family so we have been teaching her and her family- we go over twice a week. ( I might have mentioned that last week) Well we decided to do it again because that was pretty cool to have something like that happen and we ended up teaching 4 people in the middle of Walmart! It was so cool! 

Well that was my week... Keep being good!

-Sister DeCamp

Week 10

Hey y'all!

 I hope everyone was able to watch General Conference this past weekend! If not go watch it. It was so good! I had to opportunity to watch it at Brother and Sister Smith's home with Bill and Kathy and a few other members of the ward. It was a good weekend. We also were out just doing some finding in Walmart and ended up getting chased down by a lady (named Sara)asking if we were the new sisters and if we would come and teach her and her family. Come to find out this lady is a member but doesn't attend and her husband has never really been interested until we came along. So that has been a blessing! We already love her and her family. 

This week it was pretty cold. It got down to like 78* and we were wearing cardigans. 

Bill and Kathy are still progressing amazingly. Oh we got a new DL. He reminds me so much of Tyler Payne! Like looks and personality. It's pretty funny. 

Also we lost our key to the computers so we had to break in to email. It's a pretty cramped space.

Well I hope y'all have a blessed week. 

-Sister DeCamp

Week 9

Hey y'all! This week was so good! And so busy! We were able to set up a booth at the county fair this week to see if it would help us teach more lessons and get our name out there. AND IT WORKED!! We were able to teach over 22 lessons this week! It was stellar! We had so much fun, taught a lot, laughed a lot more, and also got 3 pages of people to contact! It was such a cool experience! Since we were there so much we got to talk to a lot of the other people that were having booths, although a lot of them weren't really interested in our church they were interested in us and why we chose to serve missions and so even those conversations were good testifying opportunities and we got a LOT of free things out of it lol. Sister Abril and I both got 4 t-shirts 3 bracelets, a lot of candy, free meals, and had people offer to give us rides if we ever needed it. The blessings of being a missionary (; But the cool thing too was that we made some really good friends who we probably will call for rides because those are good teaching opportunities! (: 

Bill and Kathy (our gators who are getting baptized) asked if there was a baptism close that they could go and see what happens and see what they would wear. Y'all they are the coolest people! I love them so much! 

Funny story! So apparently over in Utah and Wyoming it's a little bit chilly with wind and snow and rain and stuff. Well here it was still in the 90s- like this week was insane! ANYWAY so on Saturday night at the Women's Broadcast (SOOO GOOD!!) it was ridiculously hot and we turned on the A/C and it never got any cooler and so we were dying of heat right? Well on Sunday we got picked up for church and they said that the A/C was broken so church was only got to be 45 minutes. It was so weird! But it was one of the best meetings I've had in a while. It was fast and testimony meeting and the spirit was really strong! So good! 

Welllll that was my week in a nutshell. Oh we have transfers tomorrow and have no fear because Sister Abril and I are staying together in the promised land!!

-Sister DeCamp

Week 8

Hey y'all! Sounds like everyone is doing awesome and that it is starting to turn fallish at home! Well here in Arkansas it's still beautifully green and hot! The end of next week things should start cooling down to the mid-low 80s! I'm super looking forward to not be dripping with sweat when we knock on doors! But then again it is a great way to get inside people's houses and get free water! Hopefully things will still stay progressing in the fall and winter time here! But the way things are going my guess is that they will!

So this week was a great week!! We had Zone Conference on Tuesday and so that took up our entire day because it's a 2 hour drive to Monroe and then our conference was from 9-5 and then 2 hour drive back and then dinner, so we only got to tract for 1 hour or so. But it was a real good conference! AND I made more friends! Haha I don't know if I mentioned this earlier but our district is a double-date district so it's really small. Only the 4 of us! So it was nice to be able to meet more people (:

On Thursday we went over to a members house to teach a couple that is investigating. Their names are Bill and Kathy and they have been working with missionaries since before my time here. Well they are progressing so so so good! We have been talking to them a lot about baptism and why it is important and they have tried to set them with baptism dates for such a long time and they haven't been able to. Well on Thursday it changed! They have been set with November 5, 2016!! I definitely feel like it had a lot to do with us having the lesson in a members home! It was such a great lesson and the members are so great! We even think that there is a small possibility that it could happen before then! But it was a great night! 

Other than that we have had a slower week but it has been good! It was so cray to plan for this week because it's week 6 and we have transfers next week! I''m really hoping that Sister Abril stays here for another transfer! She is so funny! And it would be weird if she left because our DL is going home and so 2 of the 4 of us would be leaving and that would just be sad. 

Well y'all have a blessed week! 

-Sister DeCamp

Week 7

Hey y'all! This week was sure a good and busy one! We did about 7 hours of tracting this week! I actually really enjoy tracting because you get to meet the weirdest people! (: 

So along with that we went to Monroe to have a specialized training with President Olson. Monroe is about 2 hours away in Louisiana, so that was a good time and took up most of our day. But we were able to learn a lot and laugh so much on the way home! We have a really small district, I don't know if I told y'all that, but there are only 4 of us. 2 Elders and 2 Sisters, so the ride home was a fun time because we get to know each other and just have a swell time. 

On Saturday we went to an outdoor expo! It was really sweet! And it was a great place to be able to AI and tract! We met a lot of awesome people and were able to get some name and numbers but the only struggle was that all but 1 were not in our area, so we get to pass them down to the other missionaries in our zone. Those lucky fruitcakes! But it was still fun and a good time! We also got to eat some real good BBQ. I love southern cooking!  Oh I also got a cool pen for free! We were watching these guys hand make pens and just talking with them while they made it and I got to choose things with the pen and then they gave it to me for watching the whole time and just talking with them! And helping them clean up! So that was sweet! 

Also while we were at the expo there was this insane storm! Like flash flooding and the storm almost broke one of the doors on the building. It was so intense that Sister Noyes's shed in her back yard flew over her house and landed in the middle of the street! and cars and windows were bent and broken from things flying! So insane! And So cool! We met a lot more people being trapped inside watching the storm haha! 

On Sunday we had stake conference and they were able to webcast it over to us so we wouldn't have to drive to Monroe so many times this month which is a real blessing! But it was really good! They talked a lot about keeping the Sabbath Holy and also about becoming like a child- They even had 5 primary kids bear their testimonies! It was a very cool and spiritual conference. They last thing they really talked a lot about was Temples and how the blessings of a temple can be a shield. They will protect you. And that was just so cool to hear! The temples are such a blessing in our lives! 

I love you all! I hope you have a blessed week!

-Sister DeCamp

Week 6

This week was a busy one for us! We went out tracting a lot and it paid off! We were able to teach over 8 lessons this week! (That is a ton for El Dorado) And we were able to get 2 less actives to Young Womens And one of them to church. We also were able to get another one of them to commit to come back to church! YES!!! The work is going good here and El Dorado is the promised land! 

Yesterday we went on exchanges. I was FREAKING OUT! But it went so good! I went with Sister Marble and Sister Abril went with Sister Mitchell. Together we tracted for 5 hours! And Sister Marble and I were able to find a new investigator! She is really kind! She has met with Elders before and so she knew a little bit about our church. And she invited us to come back this week!! SCORE! We also had a ward breakfast and some of our less-active families went to that and made some friends so we are hoping that since they made friends they will start coming more often to activities and church!!

Oh on Sunday we were able to go tracting in an area we hadnt ever really been to and we got to teach a girl named machelle and the spirit was so strong there! I extended my first baptism invitation and the she said YES! I was so excited for her! We are going to start meeting with her every Sunday now and then hopefully twice a week as she progresses more. 

Miracles happen when you are obedient and show the Lord your diligence by tracting! 

One last cool story! So we went to this place in our area call Junction City- population 752 people. There was nothing there... but we had a referral there.. she wasn't answering our calls so we prayed and both felt like we should still go.. so we go and there is one gas station in town so we stop there to get lunch and we are talking to the girl at the register and ask if she knows who we are looking for. She does and she tells us that she isn't living here right now. So we then decided that we would go and see one of our less actives.... well his address exists but his house does not. So we went to the one right next to it thinking maybe that could be his house. Well we ended up meeting his sister and when she saw we were missionaries she gave us a big hug and told us that we find her everywhere she goes. I laughed and joked that maybe it was a sign. She said that she was on her way out but we could come back another time- she was walking to the store. We said alright and started to leave. When  we got to the corner I felt like we should go walk with her and so we did. We started talking to her about what she knew about us because people usually don't just hug missionaries in the south- that NEVER happens. Come to find out she has read the Book of Mormon and her dad was a member. But she wasn't and it was her brother that we were looking for- he passed away about 2 years ago... but we were able to teach her about the restoration and answer a lot of her questions! We also gave her the challenge to go home and read from the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it was true and when she got her answer to call us. She called us the other night to let us know that she hadn't done it yet but was planning on doing it that night.! So we are looking forward to her call now ! And funny story since we went walking with her, I was able to walk back and forth between Arkansas and Louisiana! Pretty cool!    

-Sister DeCamp

Week 5

Well the rain stopped and the heat came back. It has been HOT here the past week! And to make it hotter we don't have our car, so we are walking or biking everywhere. Man I am sore from that! El Dorado is all hills! And since it's so hot nobody is every really outside on the streets. But it makes things entertaining that's for sure! 

This week since we were on our bikes or on foot we ended up doing a lot of service! It's really amazing to see what a small act from you can do for someone else. Even just making cookies for ward members has made a difference or asking if there is anything we can do for someone. Service is a great tool!

Well this week since we were on bike and foot we didn't get a ton of tracting done because our area is a ways a way from our apartment. But we were able to see a few miracles! 

1. Bill and Kathy- so Bill and Kathy are investigators that the missionaries were teaching before I got here. Well they love their tea and coffee. So when i met them we were teaching about the Word of Wisdom and we were really nervous about this. Well we told them and she looks at us and her glass of tea that she just finished and says well i guess that was my last glass of tea. WOW! We were so excited and shocked! And this week we are talking about tithing and setting them with a baptism date! So hopefully they will feel like they are ready because just from that experience i would say they are!

2. Sissy and Tommy- Well Tommy isn't super interested in hearing our message but he likes us being around because we "lit a spark in him" the first time we met with them. So we continue to come back. This week was awesome because when we went Tommy wasn't there and Sissy was having a really rough week. So we were able to share our testimonies with her about how we can be happy. And she said she could feel that she was happier just being around us. So we continued to talk to her about her bad week and she set us up perfectly to talk about the Plan of Salvation. So we asked her if she would want to go get ice cream with us today and we could talk a little bit and she said YES! So after emailing we are going out with her and going to try and teach her a little bit! Im so excited!

3. Like I said we didn't get a lot of tracting done this week because we are so far away from our area.  But on Saturday (kind of a rough day) we were able to go tracting. And we also go turned away from almost everyone we met. But! The last door we knocked on a lady opened the door, and asked what we were doing. We told her we were out sharing a message about Christ that could help build families and help us be happier and closer to Christ and we were wondering if she wanted to hear it. She let us in and we started talking to her just a little bit. We shared the restoration and told her that the Book of Mormon could help bring her happiness and answers to lifes questions. She asked if she could have a copy of it and asked when we would be coming back! So cool and it was just that little boost that we both needed. 

Things are going to happen in this area! And we couldn't be more stoked to be the ones to help make a change! Hope y'all have a happy week and keep the south in your prayers! Because even though it's not raining there are still a lot of people in Louisiana that lost everything that they have! 

Love you!

-Sister DeCamp

Week 4

So contrary to the title of this email I am not in a super flooding area. I'm in El Dorado Arkansas...But it does rain every day here and my stake is in the flood zone. The only flooding going on here is just the grass and a little bit on the roads. Now my stake is a different story. Most of my stake is in Louisiana and a lot of people have lost their homes. But the further south you go the worse it is getting. Next week people from up here are going to head down and see what they can do to help but I don't think we will get to go because that's like a 6 hour drive for us and a lot of miles on the car. So my area is really small. The town is smaller than Vernal and the ward has maybe 40 people when everyone goes. It is a whole different life down here. Because my area is so small we are on a car share so every other week we get a car and the other week we are either walking or riding our bikes. so today after emails I get to go pick out a bike. Pretty exciting stuff. 

On Monday we flew into Jackson Mississippi and had dinner with President Olsen and his wife and then we slept at the mission home. On Tuesday we had to wake up early, eat , email, and head to T-point. Since our mission covers so much area you only go to whatever T-point they tell you and there you figure out where you are getting transferred too. I found out I was going all the way to Arkansas. The only city in the state that our mission actually has open too. So I loaded in a Van and headed to Louisiana which was 2 hours away. Once we got there at the T-point there, I met my companion Sister Abril. (Its pronounced sister uhh-bril.)  She is really nice. She's been out for a year next week actually. we get along super swell! She's really positive and she's really funny so that makes tracting a lot more fun.  - Well from T-point we loaded in the car and drove 2 more hours to El Dorado... It's a very interesting place with lots of churches and people you have to listen really hard to understand. 

My first day here we went shopping, unpacked, and then we went out tracting. I was so nervous! And I have never got so many doors slammed in my face before. Well that's okay because it was still actually pretty funny. We now go out tracting every day and that's been pretty nice. You meet some WEIRD people. But we have actually had a lot more progress being made in this area according to sister Abril. We taught about 7 lessons in 2 days and sometimes they wouldn't even get that many in a week? Well we taught this lady names Pam. Now Pam is one of the sweetest ladies I have met. She welcomed us in and was making brownies and she claimed they were the best brownies in the world. So obviously we had to try them. Well they were pretty good but I've been spoiled with good bakers in the family so they weren't the best that I had ever had. Well she used to be a Methodist Preacher for like 20 years. Then one day she got really sick and decided to retire. And she started thinking that there was more out there and that God had something else that he had planned for her- then she met us! And so far the lessons have been going awesome! And she has been keeping her commitments!    Then on Saturday we were out tracting and we saw this house that had these really cool chairs in front of it so we went there. Out came a man named Tommy who looked really scary. We told him who we were and why we were there, turns out he was going to be a preacher (like everyone else here) but something fell through and that never happened so he started to try and bible bash with us. I just sat there and agreed with most of his beliefs which kind of took him for a loop. Then His wife Sissy came out. She was so nice. She LOVES us. Well as Tommy is talking to us not really with us she starts talking to me and asking questions. She was super interested. But Tommy wasn't going to have any of that. Then I said something, don't even remember what, and it shut him up for a minute and Sissy laughed so hard. Well as we started having a conversation about God an families we found out that they had just lost their baby 3 days before we had met them. They were so heart broken and lost. But weren't ready for out message so we just told them that God was mindful of them and that they were loved and that's why we have families- so when hard things happened to us we had our support system to fall back on. Then we asked if we could leave them with a prayer. And they actually let us! God softened Tommy's heart just enough. When we prayed with them the spirit was so strong. And I know that as we continue to visit them and pray for them their hearts will be softened enough to hear our message! 

That's pretty much all the cool things that has happened. But we are making progress slowly but surely! 

PS. My new address is 301 Moorewood Rd. #404  El Dorado, AR 71730 

i would super love some letters!!

-Sister DeCamp