One month out! 17 more to go... Who's counting??

Whoa! I've been out on a mission for one month now! Is that crazy or what!? I feel like it hasn't been that long, but then again, it feels like I left my family and friends forever ago. I miss you all, but I know that this is where I'm supposed to be :) West Virginia is like my home now! I love it here! It rains almost every day, but it's also super warm, so I'm loving it.

So April, a member in my ward, recently returned from her mission and she told us a story in Gospel principles last Sunday. Her mission president's wife recently went back into remission from cancer after they finished their call as mission president and wife. While she was in the hospital she had a special visitor come see her. It was President Thomas S. Monson. COOL! She had this white board full of quotes in her room, and one of those quotes was "I can do hard things." He asked her if he could change one word in that quote. She said yes. He went over and erased "Can" so the quote now stated, "We do hard things" ISN"T THAT SO TRUE! We do hard things. And the Lord helps us through it.

Okay, so last week I had to write a short letter, so I'm starting with the group email this week and I'll get to the individual ones last. So a quick recap on last week:

I got to meet my new Mission president and his wife! They're amazing! I actually spent 5 hours with them last Wednesday while we were doing interviews. President likes to talk haha. Some hard things happened after that, and I finally cried for the first time on my mission, but it was all okay. We had to have a little funeral for a kitten and I sobbed, but it's okay now. Heavenly Father just needed me to feel sad for a little bit so I could experience more joy.

Last week I met one of the sweetest girls ever! She's a 20 year old in college here and she's interested in taking the lessons, but we have to work around her schooling and her two jobs, so that's interesting. But she's amazing. I want to be as nice as her someday.

I found out that I get to help out at Youth Conference here! It's this weekend and I'm stoked! It'll be like being at my own ward again! Ah, I miss my ward. But the people here are great and super nice :)

I have a new Investigator! Her name is Michaela, and she's 18 and awesome. Her mom has Congestive heart failure and they just found that out, so she's struggling with that, but we have been teaching her and she's accepting everything! We're going to invite her to be baptized at our next appointment! Yay! And we have another investigator who was a former, but he's engaged to a less-active member of our ward and their lives are pretty tough. He is out of work for some bulging discs in his back (sound familiar?) and they're struggling to get by, which is why they aren't married yet, but we told him that if he wants to be baptized, he had to be married, so they're setting a date within the next two months! Yay! 

Funny story, so we were checking up on two former investigators who lived together (a grandma and a granddaughter) and it's all the way up the "mountains" with dirt roads and creepy places haha. So, we got there and the grandma answers the door and practically shuts it in our faces because she recognized us as missionaries, so we quickly asked her if her granddaughter was home so we could talk to her. She wasn't home and we asked for a phone number, but she lied and said she didn't have it; so the grandson (the granddaughter's brother) told her not to be mean and she basically just left him to deal with us. So there's this 20 year old boy getting our numbers to give to his sister after he gave us her number. I honestly think he just pittied us, but it was funny. Sister Lawrence and I both walked away laughing. Some peoples' children.

So, I'm going to go off on a little rant about some stuff that happened this week. Some of the members in our ward feel like my companion and I are wasting time meeting with some of the people we're meeting with because they've been taught before and they just don't want to deal with them. First off, that frustrated me. So here's my rant:

Jesus Christ didn't die for nothing. He sunk down lower than we can even comprehend, so He could lift us up and help us change. The Atonement can help us and others change. Just have faith in Jesus Christ and those who are trying to change. Help them. Love them. People need someone to believe in them and their ability to change. Someone who can show them the hope and faith Jesus Christ can give them. If the Atonement isn't changing your life, if it isn't changing you, then it needs to be used more often. Jesus Christ didn't die for nothing. 

That's my spiritual thought/rant for the day. I wish more people understood that.

So, on another sad note, we had to help out at a funeral for a lady in our ward, so that was sad. Just a heads up (even though I don't plan on passing away anytime soon) no one is allowed to wear black at my funeral. NO ONE. People should throw glitter in celebration of my life. Okay? And people should only be allowed to cry if they're smiling :) That'll be in my will one day haha. 

Okay, last thing. I was meeting with a recent convert who's been going through a bunch of drama and tough times (who isn't nowadays?) and I got to meet her little 17 month old named Joss... guess who he's named after! Alexis? Do you know it? Joss Whedon (or however you spell his last name)! That made my day! For those of you who don't know who that is, look up firefly. Dad, that made me think of you :) She's awesome. 

I got to go shopping today, so that's cool. And last week we went Laser Tagging :) That's also fun.

Shout out to my adorable niece for being baptized on the Fourth of July!! And my little Nephew for his baby blessing on the same day! You're both awesome. I love you!

If any of you want to write me I'll post my address at the end of the email. I'd love to hear from you!

Well, that's all I have for this week. I love you all!  

Love, 

Sister Humphrey

69 Monte Carlo Way,

Charles Town, West Virginia

25414 (I think that's the zip code, but I'm not positive anymore)

Mom’s addition: Yes that is the correct zip code. Also, for those of you that read her email directly, and are wondering if you were day dreaming when you read it, and think there is something different to this, you weren’t daydreaming. She asked me to add to this before I blogged it.

We love our missionary!!

Week 3!

Here is Terilyn's most recent email that came in today. She also wanted me to add her address in case someone wanted to write her a letter via snail mail, so here it is:

Sister Terilyn Humphrey

69 Monte Carlo Way

Charles Town, WV 25414

Sorry, no pictures this week.

Thanks for all your prayers and support!

Julie (Mom)

Okay, I only have 5 minutes to write this, so it'll have to be fast! How was everyone's fourth of July!? Great? I hope so!

This week has been like my own little rollercoaster ride. I got to meet my new mission president and his wife; they're amazing! Can't wait to get to know them more. My companion and I faced a lot of rejection and yelling this week. Apparently some people really don't like missionaries, but that's okay! Now we know who doesn't want to learn more, even though that's sad, too. It truly does feel like you're handing out a million dollars for free and people are just stomping on it. It's your salvation, people! But that's okay. The more rejection we face, the greater the joy we'll have when we meet people ready to learn more! And we got to! We met the sweetest girl last Thursday or Friday who is 20 years old and going to college as well as working two part-time jobs. She's just a sweet girl and she wants to learn more! I'll have to let you know how that goes next week. And we picked up a new investigator! Her name is Michaela, and she's 18. Her mom is a devote Methodist and her dad is Lutheran, but she's still undecided because she doesn't know which church holds the most truth. SO, we got to teach her about the restoration, and although she's skeptical, she's willing to pray about it and read the Book of Mormon. And I know the Spirit will be able to testify to her that these things are true if she's ready to listen to Him. I got to watch FIREWORKS! That was fun! We had a little party at a member's home and she let us eat all her chocolate haha. The view from their deck is absolutely perfect for fireworks, and we got to stay out until 10:30, so that was cool. Today I got to play some Laser tag as a zone activity! Way fun! it's way different here than it is in Utah, which is weird because it's the same game, but it's true! It takes more skill here... which means I sucked haha, but not too bad! I'm a better shot that I thought I'd be! Anyway, that's totally not mission related. Well, I wish I could write more, but I really am all out of time. Just know that The Church is true! The book is (sometimes) blue, and GOD LOVES YOU! I really wish I could share more because so much more happened, but I can't. Hopefully I'll be able to play catch-up in my next email home because lots happened! Okay, this is goodbye. I love you all! You're great people who continue to inspire me. Keep it up :)

Love, 

Sister Humphrey

First email from the mission field. She's in W. Virginia!!

Hello friends and family! How's life? Great? I hope so!

So, I flew into Maryland last Tuesday! That was one busy day! When we landed in the airport, many missionaries, along with President and Sister Richards, were there to great us! We got slammed with 99 degree weather and lots of humidity! That was definitely a change! I felt like I was swimming! But, other than that day, it's actually been pretty nice here! Not too hot or humid :) There was a giant thunderstorm the night we flew in. I've never heard thunder that loud! I was in awe :) Love it here! 

So, I met my trainer, Sister Lawrence, last week and she's pretty awesome. She bow hunts like Katniss Everdeen and totally gets teased about it all the time haha. We both love yoga, cats, and ice cream, which is basically all I ask for, so we get along pretty well haha. I've been sent to serve in the Harper's Ferry, West Virginia part of this mission, so that's amazing! It's everything I could've hoped for! Lots of country, wide open spaces, and it's SO GREEN! I've never before seen so many trees! I'll send some pictures :)

My companion mentioned to me the other day something pretty cool to think about. There are a bunch of Sisters out on missions and a bunch in my mission, but we are the ONLY TWO SISTERS to be called to the Harper's Ferry area at this time! How lucky are we?!

On transfers day, it was pretty awesome; I was driving through Maryland, then we went through Virginia, and made it to West Virginia twice in one day and the drive was less than 2 hours. Super cool. I've almost been in all the states in my mission! I'm just missing Pennsylvania and I haven't even been here a full week yet! For those of you who don't know now, my Preparation Day will be on Monday for the rest of my weekend. Just so you know. 

Oh, and HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! Almost! This Saturday! That'll be fun! Sis. Lawrence and I get to go to a cookout with one of the recent converts in this area. She's pretty awesome :) We were weeding in her yard a couple days ago and, I kid you not, a giant spider that looked more like a creature, was right above our heads staring at us! I swear, it's legs were the size of my pinky! And a new Tongan sister, Sister F., just poked it with a stick and it totally moved all the plants and weeds while it was running away. Terrifying. The bugs here are big.

Speaking of bugs, FIREFLIES!! I've never in my life seen fireflies and they're everywhere here! God totally knew I'd need that because, as you all know I love glitter, and these little bugs are like bursts of glitter everywhere here and it's perfect after a long hard day. Just amazing :) Utah needs fireflies. Bad. 

So, the townhouse I'm living in is more like a mansion! I've been so spoiled here! Just my comp and I live in it and we have 3 floors, our own bathrooms, and a full-size kitchen! I'll probably never be this spoiled in my entire life. Love it! And we get to drive by the Potomac river almost every day. So beautiful. I'm extremely blessed. 

So, we have one investigator family that is absolutely golden! All the children know their bible and what we are teaching them just makes sense to them, which is awesome! The mom, Amy, really wants to come to church, but her husband refuses to let her. He thinks Mormons are those polygamists and they marry children; she knows he's wrong, but his heart won't soften. We're praying for her... 

So, we have awesome members here who are super involved in the missionary efforts. I love it. They feed us well and I've never seen so much ward/missionary interaction. DO MISSIONARY WORK! The missionaries will appreciate the referrals and you and your family will be blessed! It's hard being rejected so much here because the people are comfortable in their lifestyle and they don't want to put in the work to learn more, so they just don't, but it really is like handing out $100 and having people just stomp on them. Sometimes people can be mean and will offer my companion and I beer just because they know we don't drink and they'll tease us about it, but that's okay. It is frustrating, but it's okay. I really do love these people and so many people love God here, so that's always great! I just have to keep remembering that The Lord is preparing people for me to teach if I just stay obedient. 

So, you know how Hazing is totally and completely bad? Well, my companion totally hazed me into this mission! Haha, so we had an appointment with this family who had tattoos everywhere and were offering us alcohol and all this stuff, and it got super uncomfortable really fast because they were asking me these deep doctrine questions and my companion wasn't answering anything! I was all along while teaching them, then they all busted up laughing because it was all fake! RUDE! They have this cute little 7 year old who thought her family was super mean for doing this for me, but I thought it was funny. Sister Lawrence is lucky I have a good sense of humor. It was good. They're a great family. We're going to start teaching their little girl the missionary lessons to prepare her for baptism. They're a less-active family and we're working a lot with the less-actives so hopefully that'll help. We are going to have a yoga party soon :) 

Well, I think this is all for now. Our district hiked Maryland Heights this morning. We were hiking for about 4 1/2 hours, but I have lots of pictures! I'm so exhausted by now haha, and we haven't had anything to eat, so grocery shopping is the next thing on the list!
I love you all and I know you're all amazing! I know this Church is True! I wouldn't be here if I didn't. Many people get comfortable with where they're at in life; DON'T! Push yourself to work harder, be better, and love more. Learn new things! I know that if I hadn't had that desire to learn for myself if this Gospel was true, I would be completely lost. This world is a tough place to live. Life isn't fair. I've met some people here who have lost children and just terrible things, but this gospel and God's love gives them hope. I know this Gospel can give you hope too. It won't take away your challenges, but it will make life easier. Remember that. I love you all! Have a great week!

Love, 

Sister Humphrey

Hello all! This week has been so busy and so crazy! The days drag on (we're in class for 16 hours), but they all blend together, so the week goes by fast. I'll make sure to attach the pictures in this email. I get to go to the temple again later today, so that's excited! This week, my companion and I started TRC (which is where we teach "investigators" who are really just converts). That was a love/hate experience; haha. We've had many lessons that were completely inspired by the Spirit. If the spirit isn't there, nothing is being taught. We had a couple lessons that were just horrible because we ignored the spirit. Those were hard wake-up calls, but we've gotten better. We love our "investigators" so much and I have no idea how I'm supposed to leave them on Tuesday. I'll be heading to Maryland at 4:30 in the morning on Tuesday! Bright and early! But, anyway, these people that Sister Hart and I were able to teach are just amazing people. We had an experience with Barbara, one of the "investigators", where the Spirit was so strong! She taught us so much! She was going through things that she just couldn't do alone and she finally tried "the pray thing" we taught her about and at first she didn't think it would amount to anything, but she started reading "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" pamphlet that we had felt inspired to give her, and it completely answered her prayer. She was able to feel the comfort that she needed and she was so excited to tell us all about it! We were able to invite her to baptism and she accepted! She even said the closing prayer and it was probably the most spiritual prayer I have ever had the opportunity to hear.

So, the first presidency is coming to the MTC!!! .... The week after I leave. Great timing right? We'll be missing the Tuesday devotional that they'll be likely speaking at, so that sucks, but Maryland will be good. 

So, I encourage all of you to say one prayer every day that just focuses on other people. Give thanks and pray for others ONLY. See how your life will change. Because I can promise you it will, and the lives of those you pray for will change as well. I don't think I've said a prayer for just myself this whole time, except for when praying for food. it's an amazing experience. I love it. When we focus our attention on others rather than inside ourselves, great things happen. The spirit is continually with me unless I put myself in a situation where it can't reside (which doesn't really happen at the mtc). Such an amazing blessing. 

Here's some quotes from this week:

"One of the greatest secrets of missionary work is work."

"The labor starts when you get up at 6:30 am and doesn't stop until 10:30pm when you go to bed. And the blessings of your labor are the harvests."

"The difference between a mission and a great mission is work. Hard work."

"Just get up and do the work, then you will become a champion!"

"To get the miracle, we must step forward in confidence."

READ ETHER 12!!! All of it! It's amazing :) Just read it. Please. 

Well, my time is up. I love these people so much. I'm going to miss the MTC and all who are in it. I'm going to miss my investigators because they really are amazing people. I love them so much! Thank you all for your love and support. You're amazing! I have lots of pictures for ya! Hope you enjoy them!

Love, 

Sister Humphrey

 

First Mission Pictures!!

Her first email as a missionary!! Enjoy!

Just got this email from Terilyn today. She also sent pictures. I will attempt to add those too. 

Dear family, you suck at writing me. Dear friends, I'd love to hear from you! Haha, okay, rant over. Just so you all know, my P-days are on Saturday while I'm at the MTC! I'll be having one more Pday before I leave to Maryland. We just got our travel info yesterday, so it's coming fast! Only 10 more days at the MTC!! Crazy!

So, missionary time is really strange. The days seem to drag on, but the week goes by so fast! All of the days seem to blend together, so it's hard to remember what day I did certain things. We are in a classroom most of the day and have little to no time to do anything for ourselves, including shower. My companion and I have been waking up early to exercise, which is great, because we don't have much gym time. Even on Pdays. I did have gym time yesterday and that was a blast! We got to play Volleyball and I just found out that there are high records for certain conditioning exercises including pull-ups. For those of you who know me, I can pop out 20 pull ups in no time and the record for the girls is only 11, so, Whitney, when you come to the MTC, look for my name on the record board!!

Okay, so the first day of the MTC was a bunch of running around and talking. I met my companion, who, by the way, is the coolest person ever. You know how you can give really good friends "The Look" after hearing something and it's just awesome because you both know what the other person is thinking? (Alexis and Leah, if you don't know what this is, then I've been giving you crazy looks our entire friendship)  Anyway, within three hours of meeting Sister Hart, she and I shared "The Look" and we've been best friends ever since. I seriously feel like I have separation anxiety whenever we're apart! We've been told that we are "eternal friends" by our branch president and we definitely feel that way. I love her so much! And, I have so much that I can learn from her. She's just awesome.

Our entire district is going to Maryland, so that's something new. Most districts have people serving in different areas, but not us! During our orientation on our first night, we were told that we were part of more than 600 missionaries entering the MTC on June 10th and that it was the biggest group of missionaries our presidency has ever had (but not a record at the MTC). So that's cool.

Another cool thing! So, my companion and I have been called as Sister Training Leaders! When I first entered the MTC, I had no desire to be a missionary leader. None. But when we were in our Branch meeting, I just had the biggest desire to serve these Sisters! Luckily our Branch Presidency felt that and asked us to this calling. I love it! I get to love these sisters and serve them more than ever. My companion is great at it, too! We get to welcome the new missionaries next week and give them a tour of the MTC (which will be my companions job because I'm directionally challenged in that area). I'm so excited! My comp and I are like big sisters to all these sisters and it's just awesome!

The food is yummy and it's hard to eat very healthy here, but my appetite is still small like usual, so I guess that's good. I get to go to the temple today, which is great! it's going to be so nice to get out of the MTC for a while. And tomorrow my companion and I are going to start MTC choir! We'll only be in it for two Sundays because we leave on June 23rd, but that's okay. 

Something that I learned while at the MTC, for those of you who know physiology and how the human body works, you'll know what a positive feedback system is. THE GOSPEL IS A POSITIVE FEEDBACK SYSTEM! If you don't know what that is, then you'll have no idea what I'm talking about, but if you do, IT MAKES SENSE! The more we put into the gospel and learning and trying, the more blessings we receive and the happier we feel. When we feel happier, we are more likely to serve and share our happiness with others, which is how we learn and try and serve; therefore, we receive even more blessings for the additional work we do. Isn't that awesome! It totally makes sense :) Oh, and Whitney! When you come to the MTC, pay attention to one of the videos during your first three days about Fundamentals. It shows Gymnastics! A certain gymnast whom I LOVE that hurt her ankle during the Olympics and competed on the vault anyway (and landed on one foot) (I hope you know who I mean! If not, I'll tell you next week) is shown in this video and it made my day! 

I have so much to learn here! It's crazy! We've been teaching some "investigators" and one of them is really hard to connect with. She's very disinterested in everything and Sis Hart and I have struggled finding ways to teach her and help her feel of Heavenly Father's love for us. Yesterday was our first time teaching her and it definitely wasn't easy. My companion and I struggled for the longest time to feel the spirit directing us. We had no idea where to go with her after our lesson. Yesterday was definitely a learning experience. We were taught more about prayer and how we can teach and invite others to come unto Christ by helping them feel His love for us. We have done SO many role plays to learn how to teach better and be directed by the Spirit. After our lesson, our teacher asked us (as companions) to go into empty rooms with just our companion and do some individual prayer. We were able to kneel down and just pray, pour our hearts out to God, and listen to what He had to say to us. I think I prayed for about 20 minutes and when my companion and I looked up, we were both bawling. It was a hard day and we needed to feel of our Father's love and we needed to know that He's proud of us for what we are trying to do. I can testify to you that as long as you try, even though you will fail, your Father in Heaven is proud of you. He loves you and He wants you to be happy. That is the greatest message I can tell you right now. The Atonement is real and our Father loves us SO MUCH that He provided a way back to Him despite our imperfections. I just can't stress this enough. OUR HEAVENLY FATHER LOVES US! We should be jumping for joy! Ah, just such an amazing feeling. 

Although I still have so much to learn, I know the Spirit will be able to teach through me and my investigators will be able to feel the Hope and Happiness that comes with growing in the Gospel. Seeing this change in people is exactly why I left. 

Well, I will end with a quote I heard while in the MTC because quotes are what I'm all about! 

"Everything in this conversion process must happen to you before it can happen to them." - Elder Holland. If you can become truly converted, then you can teach. Before that conversion happens, your investigators won't be able to feel the spirit. Pressure! But it's good. Okay, I love you all! I hope you have an amazing week and I hope I get to hear from you next week! Seriously! I'm desperate ;) OH! And if you know anything about DearElder.com (or not) please use it! Mess around with it, because I can get your letter the very next day at the MTC and it'd be nice to have something handed to me while the rest of my district gets their letters. Thanks guys! I love you all!

Love, 

Sister Humphrey

Message from Mom

Wow!!! It's here! We leave to go to the Stake Center in an hour and 10 minutes to have my little girl set apart as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Then I'm stuck to her like glue because until she's dropped off, I'll be her companion.
It has been an exciting journey as she has thought about going, decided to go, getting called, and then preparing to go. I must say that she is an example to me; her testimony is strong, and she knows who she is. The Baltimore, Maryland mission is getting one very special girl.

I love you Terilyn!! I am so grateful to have you in my life!

Just so you all know, I'm not a computer whiz, and I may mess stuff up, so if there are mistakes, please forgive me. I'm going to attempt to post her weekly group emails, and an occasional picture she may send.

Here goes the next exciting journey in our lives!!!