Miracles in Martinsburg Part 2

Another Miraculous week! 

On Tuesday we got to teach our investigator Tammy again. I ate deer meat at her house for the first time ever. So that's cool. Tammy flat out told us she knows the church is true... she just doesn't want to leave her church, so we're still working with her on that. I got to set up more Christmas trees this last week than I think I ever have in my entire life! I'm not complaining :) All that glitter makes me happy! And Sister Brown and I just bought our very own Christmas tree. Pictures will come next week ;) I got a handmade beaded Owl necklace (it's Hedwig from Harry Potter) from a famous lady in our ward :) I love her :) 

I got to meet three pet pigs on Wednesday. #OnlyInWestVirginia. A pile of kittens were huddled on the doorstep of a less-active member's home. The less-active member ran away from us, but I got to hold her kitties, so I wasn't upset at all :)

We had a New Missionary meeting for Sister Brown and I got to see Sister Bench again! That meeting was amazing :) 

So many miracles happened last Friday. Let me just start listing them for you:

Miracle #1 - We didn't have a dinner appointment, but we had an appointment with a Less-active we hadn't been able to meet with yet. Sister Gilbert felt inspired to ask her to feed us, even though she didn't know we already had an appointment set up. She said yes and dinner was AMAZING! 

Miracle #2 - I got to eat at Taco Bell with the Gilberts and Sister Bench and her companion! (I saw her twice this week! Crazy!)

Miracle #3 - We chose to eat at Wendy's one of the nights we didn't have a dinner appointment and a sweet member of our ward surprised us while we were standing in line! We got to sit down and eat dinner with her family!

Miracle #4 - We were visiting a sketchy area where a member lived, and I can't go into details, but the Lord answered our prayers! We got to see the member and we were asked to teach her nephew by her completely inactive brother, and the nephew agreed to meeting with us!

Miracle #5 - We actually taught the nephew, Chris, and he's now a new investigator!!! AND his inactive father totally helped us teach him! #NewInvestigator!

The cool thing about that whole situation was that I had a feeling during studies that day to put away what I was studying and study the Restoration. God told me we would be teaching it to someone that day, so I did. And it was true! The Spirit TOTALLY directs our planning! 

Yesterday we got to watch the Christmas Devotional! Perfect way to start off this Christmas season :)

And that's why this week is titled "Miracles in Martinsburg Part 2" because miracles just keep happening! 

Shout-out to my adoptive sister Leah! Happy 17th Birthday, you crazy girl!

God is good all the time, and all the time God is good! Never forget it :) I love you all and I can't wait to hear all of your miracles! 

Scripture of the week: Alma 7:7 (It's totally a Christmas scripture I read last week and didn't even realize it was a Christmas scripture the first few times I read it! So cool! )

Quote of the Week: "The things that matter most can endure both in time and eternity." - No idea.

P.S. We totally saw a guy mowing his perfectly green lawn yesterday... and it's December. I feel bad for all of you back in Utah with snow! Ha-ha. (Don't worry, that statement will catch up to me later in February when Maryland and West Virginia get hit with all the ice). 

P.S.S. Sister Brown and I bought matching skirts. Be jealous. 

Love, 

Sister Humphrey

Miracles in Martinsburg

So, technically my big miracle this week was in Harpers Ferry, not Martinsburg, but Miracles in Martinsburg sounds so much better than Miracles in the Ferry. But I'll get to that later :) 

This week I got to go on exchanges in Hagerstown again. It's been my third time there! Just wait, I'm going to serve there one day. I got to be with Sister Blanchard, who was in my District in Harpers Ferry and she's AWESOME! I love her :) And Sister Brown stayed in Martinsburg! She worked so hard and, seriously, as soon as I came back, she had so much strength and determination to be brave! She was trying new things without me telling her to and she was taking the initiative to do things. Oh, it's so good :) She's really progressing, and I love it! I love her! And I got to eat at Krumpy's Do-nuts in Hagerstown, which is the most famous donut place ever, so that was cool. 

A cute non-member family invited us in this week just to talk. Such a cute family. The little four year old girl kept grabbing my hand and asking me to play with her while I was talking with her parents, ha-ha. She was adorable :) And she had a little kitten, which made their home that much better. Hopefully one day I'll get to teach them :) 

Another one of those "I can feel God's love for you" moments happened again this week as we met with a less-active sister. She is trying SO HARD to come back to church and she really opened up about how each time she tries, she gets shot down by so many different things. BUT she just keeps trying. And she was really hurt in the past, but she's now turning to her scriptures and finding comfort there. Oh my goodness, I could feel God's love for her SO STRONGLY! I testified to her that He loves her. I simply knew He did. And that was all she needed to hear. And she came to church on Sunday :) And she stayed all three hours. And she loved it :) That's what the Spirit can do. When you feel God's love and know he's there, no matter what you've done or where you've been, nothing can stop you from following Him. When you have Him on your side, you CANNOT lose.  One of my favorite quotes, "You were not put on this earth to fail, but to succeed gloriously." (Name that general authority!) It’s so true! God is here with us and He does not want us to fail! He will not let us fail as long as we turn to Him. As long as we try. I have a testimony of trying. Of working hard and never giving up. I know God will be there for us if we just TRY. That's all we have to do. And He will do the rest :) I love this Gospel :) SO MUCH! And I love this Holiday season! 

For Thanksgiving this last week, we were blessed with two Thanksgiving meals, and these amazing members made me my very own desserts without cinnamon :) My own cinnamon-free pumpkin pie and candied yams. Because they wanted me to enjoy it just as much as they did :) They're awesome. And in the Spirit of Thanksgiving, I found that I have SO much to be Thankful for. For my life, and my family. For my experience and many other things. The list could go on. But this year, right now, I'm thankful for a Prophet on the earth. God loves us SO much so He gave us a prophet to guide us in this trying and troubled world. It's tough sometimes, all the time, actually, but because we have a prophet, we can know that God will never leave us. We know what we need to do, and I'm so grateful for that. For the Restoration of the Gospel and all that came with it. I love my God. I love my Savior. And I know my God is your God and my Savior is your Savior. I know it with all my heart, and that is my testimony to you. 

On a fun note, I got to play Turkey Bowl with some members and missionaries! I sent a picture of that earlier :) I even scored a touch-down, of which I'm pretty proud of ha-ha. It was awesome :) I also got to meet a cute green parrot that loved me, but squawked like crazy with Sister Brown ha-ha. I must be the animal whisperer. But he was cute. And Brother Chazell, a member in our ward, spoke on Keeping the Sabbath day holy in church on Sunday, which was a blast, because we had a huge discussion on it the day before during dinner. We talked and talked and he totally called me out in the middle of his talk. He said from the pulpit that I was going to come up and bear my testimony (no, I wasn't), but we ran out of time ha-ha. Good thing, too! He's a funny guy! #GoUtes! 

So, lastly, my miracle :) JEN GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!! I got to go to Harpers Ferry yesterday and witness my previous investigator and dear friend, Jen enter into the covenant of baptism :) I saw Sister Bench and a few others from Harpers Ferry that I've missed dearly. It was such an amazing day and I was so blessed to be there. I got to speak on the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and my talk didn't go anything like it was planned, but I still think it was good :) And..... DAVE baptized her! So, if you don't remember Dave, he was my first (unofficial) baptism while I was serving in Harpers Ferry. He's only been a member for about a month, but he received the priesthood and got to baptize Jen :) I'm so proud of him! It was such an amazing week. Seriously. We are still trying to find more people to teach, but I'm so blessed to be a part of this work. I'm so happy right now and my heart is full. Thank you all so much for all you do for me. I can feel your prayers and your strength. I love you all so much, and I KNOW THIS CHURCH IS TRUE! And I encourage you all to build on that testimony you already have. Stay strong. Follow the Prophet. And have a great week :) So long November! Next step: December :)

I love you all :) 

P.S. in the pictures attached, you'll see that we got a whole bunch of clothes... some of them are now my new favorites ha-ha. Feel free to laugh ;) And we put up Christmas lights :)

Quote of the Week: “Faith and Fear cannot coexist in our hearts at the same time." - Neil L. Anderson

Scripture of the Week: Alma 13:29 

Turkey Bowl 2015 with some of the Martinsburg Stake! I scored a touchdown!!! Woot Woot! 

Love, 

Sister Humphrey

"Dare To Be A Mormon"

Oh goodness! This week was CRAZY! I feel like all the mission weeks are crazy, but each week they seem to get even crazier ha-ha. I don't know what that's all about, but let me tell y'all about this week! First, I want to give my little niece Elise a shout out! Happy 3rd Birthday! And I'd say Happy Birthday to my little sister, but I'm in denial about the fact that she's 18.... so I'm ignoring it. But I still love her ;) 

I get to use my Sign Language knowledge here! We have a deaf sister in the ward, and she's AMAZING! We get to go over every Monday and I get to practice my signing! She says I'm better than her husband, ha-ha, so that's great! She's awesome. We had a lot of changes this last week as we had Zone Conference! Many rules have changed; we now have to be inside planning by 9pm. Many of the things we used to report will not be reported anymore. And a whole bunch of other stuff. The load of stress I didn't even know was there has been lifted! Now we get to truly focus on our purpose as missionaries! Bringing people to Christ! Rather than on numbers. We know what we need to do, and how we need to do it, so now our job is just to get it done! And our Mission President has promised us that if we do all we can and follow his inspired counsel, we will be baptizing once every other month! That will DOUBLE the baptisms in this mission! And as a little bit of evidence of that, and the Lord's amazing preparation, my friend Jen is getting baptized on Sunday!!! My heart is so full of joy right now, I can't even express it! 

And just an hour after our Zone Conference, Sister Brown and I had 4 return appointments, and we FOUND A NEW INVESTIGATOR! Many things are looking up here in Martinsburg. Many things. Jesus is a God of miracles. 

I also got to eat my favorite meal (pizza and ice cream drumsticks, for those of you who don't know), so that basically made my night. We did a lot of service this week helping people move, too. Shout out to my Dad for teaching me how to take apart and put up a trampoline all those years... I was able to help a family do that this week! Oh, and I thought my family might laugh at this: you know how I always seem to rip my jeans because of my gymnast thighs? Missions don't change that fact at all. Yeah, awkward. 

Just some random things this week: A creepy guy decided to ask me out to dinner in Downtown Martinsburg... then he said he'd be looking for me at church. That happened. Luckily he wasn't there (is it bad I was hoping someone WOULDN'T come to church? Probably). It's getting drier here, so my nose hasn't been happy and I've had to use a lot of spray-n-wash. I got to flip around a little bit while doing service :) And Bishop's wife got a video ha-ha. Members are bringing friends to church and we're seeing MIRACLES! That has basically been my week this week. Thanksgiving is this Thursday, so I'd like to challenge you all to stop and think. Think about what you have. Think about what you've been given. Rather than thinking about all you need and all you need to do, think about all that's been accomplished. All that you've been able to do, because of our Savior, Jesus Christ. You have knowledge! You have opportunity! Many of you have the fullness of the Gospel in your lives. How amazing is that? You know there is a Prophet on the Earth today. God guides His children through His prophet. We have all we need RIGHT NOW to live with God again. Everything. We might not have the fanciest car, or the biggest house. We might not have straight A's in school or a bunch of money to buy Christmas presents, but we have knowledge. And we have family. And that's all we need. So while you're stuffing your faces this Thanksgiving (because I know I'll be doing that, too), remember why you have what you have. Remember God and Jesus Christ. They love you. They LOVE you. Remember it, reflect on it, and never, please, never forget it.

Quote of the Week: "Dare to be a Mormon. Dare to stand alone. Dare to have a purpose firm, and dare to make it known." 

Scripture of the Week: Alma 13:28

Love, 

Sister Humphrey

Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful

Another week here in the "Dirty-burg"! I've written so much in my short 5 months that I've already filled an entire journal... I might have to cut down on my writing time; ha-ha. But, there's good news! We got our car back this week! Hallelujah! I never knew how hard missionary work would be without transportation. Now I feel like I can actually focus on finding people to teach! Unfortunately we still don't have anyone to teach, but we are keeping the faith and praying for those opportunities! We just have to remember "The adversaries arms are too short to box with God." (from a man @ church bearing his testimony). 

I won a "no filters" game in District Meeting this Tuesday, so that was cool. I don't use filter words such as, "Like" "uhh" or "umm..." when teaching! What an accomplishment ;) And I introduced Sister Brown to Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate at Sheetz... her life is now forever changed ;) And they're coming out with a new Caramel Hot Chocolate... Gas stations do it right here in the East Coast! 

I got to meet some AWESOME members this week. A family who loves the Utes (Go Utes!), sweet young women, and the most sarcastic family I've met on my mission thus far. Ha-ha, it's been great! And there's a woman in the ward who used to be on magic shows and she's just, like, super famous. And she gave me a copy of a book her father wrote while he was serving with President Benson in Europe after WWII. So that's cool. 

We met a few really interesting people in Downtown Martinsburg this week! One lady told us to get out of that area because "people get shot here" and she didn't want us to get hurt because she knows we represent Christ. So that was cool. (Don't worry, Mom. I'm safe. It was broad daylight, too). And we met this guy named Keith who actually stopped us to talk to us and he was just awesome :) He's going to try to come to church this week so he can hear more "messages from the Lord." We got to teach the Restoration on the streets to someone after we prayed that morning for an opportunity to teach. He's not interested, but it just goes to show that God will answer our prayers each and every time. Lastly, we met this guy who's actually looking for a church and he said he's always been "Fascinated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints"... maybe because it's actually true ;) So he told us he'd check out Mormon.org and we could call him next week and hopefully set up a time to teach him and his wife :) Miracles do happen! 

So, Sister Brown claims to be an amazing cook.... and she burnt a whole bag of popcorn in our apartment this week. Needless to say, I haven't been craving popcorn for a while, ha-ha. I'll forgive her ;) 

Funny story: we were trying to find this less-active family with a member, Becky, this week and it was pretty dark at night and long story short, we totally went off-roading in Becky's car. And we stopped at this trailer that we thought might've been them... ha-ha, nope! Not them! I was trying to talk to this old man inside the trailer, but he just kept yelling "WHAT!?" So I'd yell back and then all the sudden this old man just pokes one eye out the window. He scared us SO bad! Ha-ha, we went running to the next house. Talk about awkward and terrifying. On a side-note, that same day, Becky and I totally taught this unplanned lesson to another Less-active member and it was perfectly unified, so she fist-bumped me at the end and said, "That's how it's done." ha-ha. Talk about the Spirit directing a lesson! 

We had a Stake Women's Conference this week and the theme was "Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful" we got to hear the testimonies and lessons of many in the stake and it was awesome :) I got to do Zumba, ha-ha.... let's just say Zumba is not my talent. But, on a more serious note, this conference really opened up my eyes to some of the troubles that are going on in the world right now. Now is the time to know that you are loved by a God of Miracles. You are cared for by your Father in Heaven. He knows what's best for you and He knows what's best for the world. This Gospel is surrounded by His love. We have Prophets, because God loves us and wants us to be safe. We have the Priesthood, so we can access Christ's Atonement. We have families, so we can be lifted up and supported in our times of trial. All because God loves us. I know there are several political things going on in the Church right now, but remember, this Church is not here to make the world happy. It's here to guide and direct God's children and help us reach perfection one day in the next life. It's not about the politics. It's not about making people happy with us. It's about "Learning Heaven" as Brad Wilcox puts it. It's okay to have questions. It's okay to have doubts and concerns. It's all okay. But I want to encourage you all to ASK! Ask your Father in Heaven for help. Ask Him for anything that you need. Love. Encouragement. Reassurance. HE WILL ANSWER YOU! That is my testimony. God loves all His children. And, ultimately, that's all that matters. So please, reach out to those who are struggling. Reach out to your leaders for help. And NEVER forget the Love God has for YOU. Because you are special. You are amazing. You are precious. He hears your prayers. He sees you as the person He knows you can become with the help of our Savior. You are not alone. Never forget that. I want to leave you that testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Scripture of the week: Mosiah 7:33

Quote of the week: "YES! I have been saved by Grace. But the real question is, have you been CHANGED by Grace?" - Brad Wilcox 

Love, 

Sister Humphrey

Welcome to the "Dirty-burg"

So, for those of you who don't know, TRANSFERS were this week! And I got transferred to Martinsburg, AKA "The Dirty-burg". It's very ghetto on one side of the area and very West Virginia hick on the other side... So there's that. We currently have zero investigators, which is tough coming from an area with 8 investigators that I love SO much, but it's been good. We're going out and we're going to FIND PEOPLE TO TEACH! 

So, my journey to Martinsburg has been quite an adventure; let me tell you about it. The day of transfers, my new sweet companion, Sister Brown, was sick with a sinus infection, so we had to take her to the doctors immediately after transfers. That took a long time. Then we had to go get an oil change.... which took over two HOURS in Frederick. We didn't end up in Martinsburg until 6pm and we had the car PACKED full of our stuff. We made it there though, so that was a blessing. Then we quickly got our stuff out of the car and we were in by 9:30pm. So, to tell you a bit about Sister Brown, she just graduated High School in May, just turned 19 in October, she's from Cedar City, and she's awesome. So there's that. Day 2 in Martinsburg is where things really get interesting, though. So, we live in an apartment that's pretty nice, but Elders used to live there so it's a bit trashed. And it's outside of the ward boundaries and our area, so we can't really walk anywhere. And it's far enough outside the area, and it's surrounded by sketchy areas, that walking/biking from our apartment to anywhere, is basically no bueno. Not safe. So we don't, but we went shopping during our lunch time for some quick groceries because we didn't get to the first day and long story short, we had to get our car towed because the people who changed our oil didn't do it right and it leaked everywhere and we were running on 0 oil.... So we were stuck on the side of the road for hours. And we have been without a car since Thursday. AND we probably won't be getting our car back until the end of this week, which makes missionary work pretty interesting. Now, y'all might just be thinking that we're lazy and we should just bike and such, but, trust me, Martinsburg is sketchy and we've been forbidden from doing that, ha-ha. So, we have been getting rides from AMAZING members. Despite all the craziness of these last few days, we're getting to know the area and the members and we're seeing miracles. My new companion is feeling better and she's AWESOME! Sister Brown is working so hard and she's trying so hard to be the best missionary she can be and that's all I could ever ask for. It's been challenging this week with everything going on, but training her as a new missionary has been the least of my worries. Heavenly Father is working miracles and the work is going to pick up because we have the faith and we are doing the work. I couldn't even imagine a better place to be than Martinsburg with everything going on. This ward is amazing and they are just FULL of love. So,that's been my week.

I just wanted to have a HUGE shout out to Kennede Clarke for getting her Mission call to California!!!! YAY!!! And another HUGE shout out to my own sister Karli for getting her mission call as a (young church) service missionary at the Layton DI!!! I'm so proud of you both, and especially my sister for pushing hard and serving the Lord. Always remember that this work is never a sacrifice, only a blessing. 

Also, happy 23rd Birthday Karli :)! 

Also, another cool thing... I'm serving with Stephanie Meyers' son... so that's cool. 

And there's a family in this ward who plays "And It Came to Pass"... they just might be my new friends :)

Quote of the Week: "Happiness does not depend on what happens outside of you but on what happens inside of you; it is measured by the spirit with which you meet the problems in life." - Harold B. Lee

Scripture of the Week: Alma 37:47

Have a great week and keep looking for miracles! I promise you that they're there and God is watching out for you! I love you all! 

I'd love to hear from you all soon! My new address is 

1213 Grebe Ct.

Martinsburg, West Virginia 25401

Love, 

Sister Humphrey

Pictures: families from Harpers Ferry that I'm going to miss SO much! Keep in touch, because I love you all! Also, the picture of the brownish kitty... notice it only has 3 legs. And she's walking around like every other cat, so that's cool.