B'Ville here I come!!!!

For those of you who know the areas in my mission, B'ville is either Bartlesville, or Bentonville, I'll just leave you guessing as to which one until the end of the email >.<

This week, while awesome, was kind of slow. It was hard to see people with Christmas coming up. We were also changing our focus a little bit. But, this week, whenever we looked at the directory to try and decide who to go see, nothing stood out. We decided to just tract, after all, that is what the 1st Presidency wanted. So, that's what we did. We weren't able to share He is the Gift with a ton of people, but I felt a little bit better because I felt more like I was doing what the Lord wanted me to do.

On Tuesday we met this cool potential investigator in Okmulgee. I had written down her address on Friday as we were leaving Okmulgee. She had a cute Christmas yard blow-up things, and lots of lights. One of her blow ups was this T-Rex wearing a Santa hat with a present in his mouth and his head kind of shakes back and forth like he's trying to open it with his mouth. I had to knock on her door to tell her how much my brother would love it! She was really cool and said we could come back sometime! :D We also tracted into this man with a wooden leg named Smith, we forgot to ask about the name of his other leg. HAHAHAHAHA Just kidding... (See Christmas Eve for an explanation of the corny joke!)

Wednesday was Christmas Eve! We had a district outing in Broken Arrow, we watched Frozen and played games! It was a lot of fun! Frozen is so good! I was excited to be able to watch it again! When we got back Sister B--- and I went to ---'s for a couple of minutes because she said we could borrow some of her movies. We borrowed a ton, way more than we knew we could watch, we just wanted to make sure we had plenty of options. We ended up watching Mary Poppins on Christmas Eve because I didn't know if we would be able to finish a movie or not by the time we got back for the night, so, we picked one we wouldn't mind not finishing. Of course, I had no idea that Mary Poppins is basically the longest Disney movie ever! If we had picked a different one we probably would have been able to finish it, but that's ok, Mary Poppins is good!

Christmas was great! We got to call home, and that was awesome! Most of the day we hung out at our apartment and watched movies. We watched Cinderella 3, The Gnome Mobile, and Princess Diaries, then we went to ---'s again. She had her son for Christmas and she really wanted us to meet him, so we went by there for a little bit. Then we had dinner with Sister --- and her two adorable little girls. It was a lot of fun (: after dinner we watched Princess Diaries 2 and then we went to bed.

On Friday we weekly planned. It went well and we got it all done, yahoo! We also saw our investigator ---, her mom and grandma are members. She is really sweet.

On Saturday we went to Okemah, but not much happened there... we came back and did some Family History, that was fun. I like Family History a lot. Then it was Transfer Calls!!! *dun dun dun!!!!*
I am leaving. Sister B--- is staying here with Sister K---.

My new companion will be Sister P---- There are 3 Sister P--- in the mission, I know all 3 of them, but I'm pretty sure I know which one will be my companion (: I am going to be in... BARTLESVILLE!!! I am pretty stoked! Sister P--- is really sweet, and I think we'll have a lot of fun together.

Sunday was good. The High councilman over missionary work came to the ward, and we went out and visited a couple of people in Okmulgee with him and Sister --- after church. We had dinner with the ---. I love them a lot. They're super cool.

I hope you all had a very merry CHRISTmas.

I have loved this Christmas with He is the Gift. It has really reminded me what is truly important at the Holiday season. I am excited for this new year. I am excited to continue to progress and become a better person through the Atonement of my Savior. I know that he is my Savior, and your Savior and through him we can become better. I invite you all to set a resolution to become a little better this new year! Use the Atonement. Anytime we choose to become better, we are using the Atonement! How great is that?

Love,
Sister Fleck

Oklahoma Tulsa Mission, Tulsa zone. December 2014.

#ShareTheGift

This week was great! It started off by making ornaments with ---. She's one of our "less-actives." I use quotes because she's homebound, but would totally come if she could. We made little homemade play dough Gingerbread-Sister Missionary ornaments and painted them! They're super cute!

On Wednesday we had District Meeting, we saw ---, and got a new investigator, --. She is into all sorts of sports. Her Mom and Grandma are members, and her mom wanted her to make the choice to get baptized by herself  when she felt she was ready, and now she feels ready!

Thursday was weekly planning, but when we went to go teach people after dinner, we felt like we needed to talk to our neighbors and we shared He Is The Gift with him and his little girls. It was pretty cool! (:

On Friday we had exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders, I was in Henryetta with Sister C--- (typing "exchanges take me back to my Fair Oaks days with tons of exchanges (: ). WE got a ton done and shared He is the Gift with some pretty cool people!

On Saturday we had... --- BAPTISM!!!! It was cool for 1,000,000 reasons!
1. --- GOT BAPTIZED! And that in and of itself is cool!
2. Sister M--- and her companion Sister B--- came!
3. --- did the baptism!
4. It was basically ---'s anniversary of being a member!
5. PRESIDENT AND SISTER SHUMWAY CAME!!!!

I don't have time to list the other 999,995 reasons that it was cool, so I'll just stick with the top 5. I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost, and Sister M--- gave a talk on baptism.

Just a rewind on how we found ---, we OTMed (talked to) him in the parking lot outside of --- and ---'s apartment. We gave him a pass along card, and I might have slightly forgotten about it because people almost never call us back from the pass along cards. UNLESS THEY'RE BRYAN AND THEY TOTALLY DO CALL US BACK!!!! He called us back a week later, and it was awesome!

The rest of Saturday was just packed full of Tender Mercies! We were able to talk to this family, we've been wanting to talk to for a long time because they have lots of Christmas lights and Christmas inflatable thingies, so we know they love Christmas! We set up a return appointment! And right after that we knocked on another door, shared He is the Gift, and got a return appointment! WAHOO!

Sunday was good! We had 14 less-actives at church! WHAT??? It was great!

I was studying the Christmas story in the Bible the other day, and I noticed something that I've never noticed before.
Luke 2:15-17
15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
17 And when they had seen it,‍ they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

The shepherds instantly decided to go see the Christ Child, and then went to Bethlehem with haste. After they saw Him, they told everyone they could about what they had seen! I love this because it is so easy to apply to us. If we haven't received a witness of the truth for ourselves, we need to go with haste to "Bethlehem", wherever that may be for us. The scriptures, church, etc. If we've already seen the Christ Child, or, if we've received a witness of the truth for ourselves, we need to make known abroad what we've learned!

I love you all, and hope you have a magnificent week!
Love,
Sister Fleck♥

Does Oklahoma know it's December?

Apparently not, because we have a high of 60 today! It has been freakishly warm... or maybe just to me and my Utahan-ness. Anyway...

On Tuesday we met with --- and guess what, WE SET A BAPTISMAL DATE WITH HIM! I think I told you that we had set the 6th with him, but investigators have to come to church 3 times before getting baptized, and he went out of town for Thanksgiving, so he missed that Sunday, but now he's getting baptized on the 13th! :D Which is pretty cool because the 14th is ---'s baptism anniversary, and he's going to be doing the baptism!

On Wednesday evening we went to mutual because they were doing family history and anyone was invited, so we went to see if we could get/offer any help. It was a lot of fun and we were able to help some of the members, which was awesome!

Friday was Okmulgee day. We met a couple of people for the first time, that was cool.
Saturday was awesome! So much good stuff happened! --- had his baptismal interview, he did great! The Relief Society had their Christmas party with a white elephant gift exchange, I got a super cute chalk board, that we will defiantly be using! After that this family, the --- that signed up for the 40 Day Fast, they wanted to go on an exchange with us all day, so we did! We met some really awesome families, and it was sweet because they were willing to go to the people who live in the boondocks that we normally can't get to! Yay! Way to go on being super awesome ---!

On Sunday evening we watched the Christmas devotional, so we watched that at the church. It was super good, although, we did miss parts because the internet wasn't cooperating, so I'll have to print off the talks.

This week has just been so Christmas oriented. We've been sharing He is the Gift with basically everyone. I just love that video a lot. I love that it invites us to Share the Gift of Christ. What a perfect way to show Him our love for Him. 

This week Sister Barrett and I want to have the members take a picture with them holding a chalk board that says "I will share the gift by..." and then posting it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, whatever social media they prefer. I invite you to do the same. How will you Share the Gift this year? Decide how, and then share it with others! If you post it on social media feel free to use the #ShareTheGift hashtag so others can see how you want to share the gift. I know that as you share the gift you will find Christ becoming more and more a part of your Christmas. This is the easiest time of year to share the gospel!

Love,

Sister Fleck ♥

If you want to write Sister Fleck for Christmas please leave a comment and I will email you her address.

Thanksgiving and a Baptisim

This week was great!

On Monday we had dinner with one of the families in the ward, He is in the bishopric, she is in the Relief Society Presidency, but what's more important is that they just had a baby! Little ---. He is so tiny and adorable! :D I can't wait to be able to hold babies again!

On Tuesday we went to Okmulgee, one of the members came out with us for a little bit, that was awesome! We had a lesson with the fantabulous ---s! It was a pretty good day!
On Wednesday we had District Meeting and --- got her baptismal interview!!! We normally do them a week before, but... I almost forgot to schedule it soo... awkward... Anyway, it all worked out. It doesn't have to be a week before, that is just preferred.

Thursday was Thanksgiving! We hung out with the ---- all day! They are this sweet part-member family. Our original plans fell through on Tuesday and Sister --- invited us to spend the day with them and her husband's family. It was a lot of fun. I learned how to play some fun card games (:

Friday we ended up weekly planning. It took most of the day, as always. We were able to go up to Okmulgee and see a couple of people though.

Saturday was ---'s baptism! Hooray! It went really well, she had to be dunked 3 times! But it was good! All that matters is that it was eventually done correctly.

Sister B and I gave talks on Sunday. I talked about "Yes, Lord, I Will Follow Thee" from conference. Sister B talked about love (:

This week we have been focusing on getting into the groove with the He is the Gift 

Jesus Christ truly was the first gift of Christmas. Luke 2:10 it says "And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." The ancient form of the word gospel translates into "good news," or "good tidings" so the angel could have said "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you the gospel personified." (Elder Holland is really smart...)  The next part of this verse that I love is "which shall be to all people." Or, this is a gift for everyone. When I think of a gift for everyone I think of a big family gift that we all have to share, and the cool thing is, this isn't what the Savior is. It isn't even like a neighbor gift or something where everyone gets the same gift. Through the birth of one baby boy, our Heavenly Father gave each of us a unique, personalized gift. The perfect gift. The one thing we could never live without. He gave us a Savior. But, just like all gifts, it is up to us to use it. We can use this gift every single day to its fullest extent, or, we get put it up on the shelf, let it collect dust and go to waste.

This year, with the He is the Gift video, Heavenly Father, through his prophet Thomas S. Monson has invited us to Discover the Gift, Embrace the Gift, and Share the Gift. If you haven't discovered the gift yet, watch the video and talk to someone who has discovered the gift to learn how to embrace it. If you already have discovered it, find a way to more fully embrace it, I know we can all embrace the gift of the Savior in our lives more, and share it. This is super important. Share the gift with your loved ones who are still searching for the gift. I know that through sharing the gift you will appreciate it more and embrace it more fully.

Love,

Sister Fleck♥

Welcome to Henryetta!

This week was crazy! Most of Monday was spent with Sister M packing and me cleaning the apartment, getting ready for Sister B.

Tuesday was Okmulgee, Sister M was able to say goodbye to some people, but I don't think everyone that she wanted to. We set a baptismal date with ---!!! A couple of days later I realized that it wouldn't work because he said he wouldn't be able to come to church this Sunday, so... BUT STILL! He committed to a date! Yay ---!!!

Wednesday was Sister M's last day in Henryetta ): The bummer thing about transfers, and the last day in an area, is a lot of times you have to spend most of that day packing. Which stinks a lot because you would rather spend that day saying goodbye to people.

Thursday was transfer day *dun-dun-dun* Oh boy, that sounds horrible. It was a super long day.

Sister M left in the morning, and Sister B wasn't going to come in until the afternoon. I spend all day at the mission home, helping Sister Shumway with various projects :D It was fun. Sister B was my companion for a good chunk of the day. She was one of Sister M's previous companions, and is currently in... PAWHUSKA!! Guess what, the Sisters in Pawhuska found a family of 5, and they all got baptized! Whaat? It's great! I don't know the family at all, but I am so excited that Pawhuska got a baptism. Also, there are two young women aged girls (remember ---, Sister S? And, darn, I can't remember her name... she was a Young Woman, her mom was an investigator, her mom dropped us, but the Young Woman kept coming?) that both either have a date, or are getting SUPER close to getting baptized! YAHOO!!! CONGRATS PAWHUSKA!!! I am glad Sister B is there, she has a lot of faith in Pawhuska, and sees the potential it really has.

Transfer point was fun, it always is! I got to see Sister S, Sister S and Sister W before they went home. That was super nice. I love them a lot and I am going to miss them a ton!

Sister B came in around 4:30, and we were on the road by 5. Sister A (our awesome ride!) wanted to stop at Payless on Okmulgee on the way back, which we had no problem with (I love Payless a lot).

 We got back to the apartment by 6:30, ate dinner, and then weekly planned, WOOHOO! Exciting transfer night! :D

Friday morning we went to Okmulgee and Sister B got to meet people there we have been teaching! Yay! It was a great day!

Saturday we were able to see a lot of people. We helped at Recycled Blessings, this thrift store that a member owns that we volunteer at in town. It was a lot of fun!

Sunday was crazy, as they always are. Things are moving forward with ---'s baptism, which is awesome! She's a sweet girl!

Well, it's just about time for me to hop off. I love you all and hope you all have a splendiforus Thanksgiving!

Love,
Sister Fleck

Transfer calls... they just keep comin'

Yep. That's right, transfer calls were this weekend. Again! Didn't I JUST get to Henryetta? Did something happen to the Henryetta Sisters? You'll have to wait to find out, JUST LIKE WE DID! I will say this though, we weren't too anxious the whole week because we thought we were both staying.

This week was really good. On Monday we went to this cool place in Tulsa called Sky Zone. It is all trampolines! Ha-ha, it was a lot of fun. We went with the Elders from our old district and the zone leaders. It was just a lot of fun. We went to Wal-Mart in Tulsa, it was really nice to go to a REAL Wal-Mart, the one here in Henryetta doesn't have produce, it barely has a frozen section, they don't even sell eggs. After that we were headed to go back to Henryetta when we saw a Ross. We of course had to stop. It was pretty magical.

Tuesday was Okmulgee day. We saw ---, he's doing good. He opened up a lot and we were really able to understand where he is. It was a super great lesson. Next we saw ---. He's just awesome. We teach him at --- (he's a recent convert) and ---'s, and after the lesson ---'s friend that baptized him, he came over and helped ---- consecrated oil and give --- a blessing because she hurt her knee. --- was ordained an Elder the Sunday before, so this was his first ever blessing! --- was there for it too, which was super cool!!

It started getting pretty cold on Wednesday!

On Wednesday evening we went out with the Young Women and saw a couple of people. They want to go on exchanges with us once a month, which is sweet!!

On Thursday we spent the morning doing some family history stuff because we were asked to do some this week. Sister M--- learned how to index!

On Friday we had Zone Training Meeting and interviews in Muskogee. It was really good! Afterwards we had a really good lesson with ---. He prayed for the first time! He is so prepared! It is amazing!

On Saturday we did a lot of service. We have this thrift/consignment shop we do service at on Thursdays, but we just really felt like we needed to go by on Saturday. It is owned by a Less-active member, Sister ---. She is really awesome. We also helped at Bountiful Baskets which we do every other Saturday.

Saturday night was transfer calls. *dun dun dun*

Normally they don't call until 10:15ish, so, Sister M--- and I were just planning away, expecting a text saying that we were both staying at around 10:20, but then, we got a CALL at 9:05! What? WAY TO EARLY! THEN! The Zone Leaders (after teasing and dragging it out like they always do) told us that Sister M--- is going to Talehina with Sister B--- and that Sister B--- was going to be my companion here in Henryetta! AHHHHHHHHHHHH! I just got here! I really feel like I've been here two weeks! I am kind of nervous to take over an area, I've never done that before! I am also really going to miss Sister M---.

Sunday started our 40 Day fast and it was the first snow of the year!!!! The first person that signed up was the Elders Quorum President. So we shared a message with him. He seems pretty excited about our invitation! After that we tried to go see a couple of people, but stuff kept falling through. We went to go see the Primary President to ask her if there was anyone that had been on her mind, and we ended up seeing the less-actives that live next door to her. We invited them to sign up for the 40 day fast, then they asked if we had dinner, which we didn't, and so they invited us to have dinner with them. It was super nice!!

Something I've learned on my mission is a true love for the Book of Mormon. It's got it all! You've got Ammon, choppin' arms off, you've got the Stripling Warriors, who are epic fighters, and none of them die! They go up against bigger armies who have way more experience, and none of them die, why do none of them die? Their faith. And that is the biggest reason that I love the Book of Mormon. It teaches us how to build faith. It teaches of Christ, most importantly, it's true. I know that with all my heart. The Book of Mormon is designed to help us come to know Christ. I love that because of my mission I can now say with Nephi "my soul delighteth in the scriptures." Because it does. Through the scriptures we can find answers to any of our questions. We can come to know who our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ are. I hope you all take time daily to read the Book of Mormon. I know it will bless your lives.

Love,

Sister Fleck ♥

TEMPLE!!!

This week was great!

On Tuesday we saw our investigator ---. I don't think I've talked about him much yet. He's going to OSU at the Okmulgee extension and lives on campus there. To me, the OSU extension is a big extension campus. It's probably about as big as Snow (from what I've been able to see, we haven't had the chance to actually walk around), which I feel like is big for an extension campus... ANYWAY! We OTMed --- about 3 weeks ago, at Zone Conference we got a call from an unknown number, when we got back to the apartment we called the number back and --- said that we had met him and gave him a card and he wanted to learn more. WHAT? It was crazy sauce!! --- is just progressing really well. He is awesome!

On Wednesday we had District Training meeting. Did I mention last week that the Stakes got changed? Did I mention that as a result of the stakes changing our whole district got changed? Yes. So, we had district training with our brand new district. It went really well, they're all cool. All Elders of course. There is only one other set of Sisters in our Zone.

On Thursday we went to the temple with --- YAYA!!! He is an awesome recent convert! We helped him print off an ordinance record for his mom. That's right. Not only did he go to the temple for the first time on Thursday, Sister Moreno did his mom's baptism on Thursday. I had a pretty cool experience. I had printed off two family names, a female, that I did, and a male, that --- did for me. That morning I had been kind of questioning whether or not they would accept the work. Then, when we got to the temple, one of the members of the temple presidency was talking to us and he told us that when you have miracles in family history work it's because these people want their work done. Well, these names, are the first names I found on my own. It was a line that had been at a dead end for a long time, and I got to do some research and I found them super easy! I was so grateful that he said that because I realized that I found these names because they wanted their work done!

On Friday we went to Okmulgee. It was a weird day. I don't know why it was weird, it just was...
Saturday was kind of weird too. We went to Okemah, Weleetka, and Dustin. Weleetka was just... The whole time we were there it was just interesting. It is just this tiny little town. Sister M--- and I had never been to Dustin, all it has is a gas station, and a car shop. That's pretty much it. Dustin is a super tiny town. While we were in Weleetka we saw a sign that said "Indian Taco Sale." We followed our stomachs and found them. They were super good! They were doing a fundraiser. We were glad to have bellies full of Navajo Tacos and being able to help a couple of families out. Also, around dinner time, we were teaching a less active on her doorstep. Her younger sister came out and asked if we wanted fajitas. We took one, but we were just about done with the lesson, and we were actually just about to go home and eat dinner, so we told them we would take the fajitas to go! HAHAHAHA

Yesterday was good. We were able to contact this part member family and get a new investigator. His name is ---, he's ---. His parents have been wanting him to get baptized for a while, but they were in the process of adopting him and couldn't get permission from the state to get him baptized. Now, they've adopted him and he can get baptized! YAY!

I am so grateful for the opportunities I've had to go to the temple on my mission. The people in this area are awesome. They always talk about how they need to attend the temple more regularly. The sister that gave us a ride this week said "Oklahoma City is only an hour and a half away. There is no reason that I shouldn't be going every week." I was amazed when she said that. Back home I lived fifteen minutes away, and I rarely went more than once a month! We are so blessed to have temples close by. They are such a blessing. The temple is truly the house of the Lord. I invite you all to go more frequently! If you currently don't have a temple recommend, fix what you need to, get a temple recommend. And get to the temple!

This week was a lot of fun, it was full of interesting and spiritual experiences! :D Hope you all have a splendiforous week!

Love,
Sister Fleck

Happy Hallow...Thanks...Christmas?

I say this because there are already Christmas decorations up! What? Not that I don't love Christmas, because y'all know that I do! But, wow!

This week was great! On Tuesday we had Zone Conference and Elder Packer was there. It was really good and I learned a lot! I would share what I learned, but I left my notebook at the apartment... That's Sister Fleck for you. Always forgetting things (:

We had a really good lesson with one of our investigators ----. She's 11.. We taught her the Plan of Salvation, and she was just so happy and smiley when she left. We invited her to draw a picture of the sun to hang on her wall because that is where we are all trying to get. We told her we would draw suns too to hang on our walls. They're super cute! :D

Wednesday was an Okmulgee day as not-usual (we went on Wednesday since Tuesday was Zone Conference) and we got a new investigator! His name is ---, we met him a week or so ago and gave him a pass-along card with our number on it, and HE CALLED US BACK!! Whaaaa? People don't usually call back from pass-along cards! We took --- and --- (--- is a recent convert), and it was just great!

Friday was Halloween!! :D We went to Okmulgee again. When we first got to Okmulgee we went to Walgreens and go flu shots ): that was kind of sad to be honest. Shots are not fun! We found a couple of really awesome potentials that Heavenly Father totally handed to us on silver platters. We saw --- again. We taught him in --- and ---'s apartment this time, which was really good I think. --- also asked --- for his number so they could hang out sometime! YAY FRIENDS!!! :D After that we did service for one of the members, whose sister is our investigator ---, and she was there! YAY! We ate dinner with them and shared a little message about Esther. We had to be in at 7:00 unless we were with members, so we just went back to our apartment and hung out. It was kind of nice to spend some one-on-one time with Sister M.

Saturday was the adult session of stake conference, it was pretty good (: On Sunday at stake conference, they created a new stake and changed boundaries. Welcome to the OTM Bartlesville Stake/Zone! We're so excited to have you! Henryetta is still part of the Tulsa East Stake (full name is Tulsa Oklahoma East Stake aka T.O.E.S), but our district is in Tulsa Stake, so we're part of a new district, exciting to make new friends, but sad to leave the old ones.

I love when the Savior tells us to show our love to him by keeping his commandments. As we grow our love for Him, our desire to be obedient grows. As we strive to be more obedient, our love for Him grows. As our love for him grows, our love for others grows. Everything all comes down to love.

Well, I hope ya'll have a fantastically magnificent week!

Love,

Sister Fleck

Sister M and I in our Halloween costumes.  Can you tell what who we are supposed to be?

Happy Halloween!

Let's see if I can remember what happened this week. I forgot my planner and I usually rely on that to help me remember...

On Tuesday we decided to walk a little bit and we talked to two people. --- and ---. We talked to --- first, he was working on his truck, to be precise, he was putting a second air horn on it. That's right. He already had one, and he was adding on a second one. We told him who we were, and he said that he would be done in about and hour and that we could come back and talk to him. --- was standing on her porch and her little dog tried to eat us. We talked to her a little bit and she told us that she was going to be going to New Mexico for her son's wedding. We told her that we believe in eternal families and that families can go to the temples and be sealed for eternity. She seemed pretty interested and we'll be going back in a week for two after she gets back from New Mexico!

After we talked to her we headed back to talk to ---. He had run into some hiccups with his air horn, so he was still working on it. He told us about things he had faced in his life, and he's had a pretty crazy life. When we went back to see him a few days later his daughters were there, which was cool. He's a pretty cool guy!

On Saturday we went to this little town called Okmeah because we have an investigator that lives there and a few less-actives. We haven't been able to teach the investigator, --- since he lives kind of far. He comes to church almost every Sunday, but he gets a ride from members and they leave pretty soon after church is over. So we just decided to go out there! When we went he was sleeping (we woke him up... oops), so we didn't get a full lesson in, but he did tell us that he knows that Joseph Smith is a prophet! YAY!!!

We had 7 investigators at church this week! It was pretty crazy stuff!

Guess what? Zone Conference was this Tuesday, and Elder Allan Packer is coming. He wanted to interview 4 missionaries at each conference. President Shumway picked me as one of the four for our trizone! The interview was not as big of a deal as I thought haha! He mostly asked if I was still worthy to be a missionary, which I am very grateful that I was able to say yes to!
Anyway, this week was awesome!

One thing I've noticed on my mission is that I love the scriptures about light, such as 1 Nephi 17:13 or Mosiah 16:9, I think that it is because Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are light. As we become more like them, we gather more light!

Love,
Sister Fleck♥

Below are some pictures of Sister Fleck and her companion with their Halloween treats :) And one a sweet sister in their stake sent me of them at Stake Conference.

Henryetta

This week was my first full week in Henryetta! Woohoo! Before I know it, I'll know all the investigators and members, and I won't be constantly asking Sister M to remind me who everyone she's talking about is!

On Tuesday we went to Okmulgee, it's about 30 minutes away and we go twice a week (yikes, it's hard on miles), we're so busy whenever we go there! There are so many people to see! We have a couple of investigators up there. One of them, ---, grew up in Sister M's hometown! What? Teeny tiny Jerome, Idaho! --- is married to a member and has been meeting with missionaries for years, he said that God must be getting pretty serious to send a missionary from his home town!

Wednesday marked my 9 month mark, not my hump day though. It has been 9 months since I entered the field, but It's not 9 months until I go home until the 30th. So ha. Still, 9 months is a pretty big deal! Sister Shumway was in district meetings and she talked a lot about temples and how that needed to be the end goal for our investigators. Sister M and I have been trying to focus on that more.

Thursday was weekly planning, which took FOREVER! Our area book was crazy. There were less-actives that we see regularly who were in the middle of the Recent Converts and Less-Actives section, as were our recent converts, there were records of people who have moved, and people who have passed away! We needed to clean it out and organize it. We went through and put a sticky note on all of our recent converts and less active that we wanted to get to the temple, obviously we want all of them to get there, but for some of them we just really want to focus on getting them to church first! Fortunately, it had been bothering Sister M too, so we were able to fix it, we also got some really good planning done, which was great! The thing about weekly planning is, if it's done well then it reduces so much stress and nightly planning time through the rest of the week!

Friday was another Okmulgee day. We had dinner with a Recent Convert and his wife, the ---, they're newly married and pretty adorable. They are really cool, I like them a lot, they're just fun to be around.

On Saturday there was a ward activity. It was a pasta sauce cook off! It was a lot of fun! A lot of people showed up! Yay!

Sunday was kind of crazy. While we were teaching a family (on their porch), this kid pulled up to get a tire from them (I don't know, Oklahoma...), and he looked almost exactly like Tanner, that's right! I saw my brother's doppelganger!! I was kind of freaking out (not loud enough that he could hear...). When he left Sister M asked the family if they knew where he lived, but they didn't. I was a little bummed because I felt like we needed to teach him. Later, we were driving around, trying to find a member's house, and guess who we drove right by. TANNER 2.0!!! What? Crazy stuff right? So we went around the corner and pulled over so we could talk to him. They (he and some other people) were fixing the tire, so they were a little distracted, but we were able to give them a Book of Mormon, and you can bet we'll be going back. The craziest part of this story is that it's all true! I'm not making any of this up! What???

This has been a great week, it's been so temple focused! I am so grateful that we have temples! It is amazing to me to know that our Heavenly Father has provided a way for us to be sealed to our families for eternity!!! "In the Church we build buildings of many kinds. In them we worship, we teach, we find recreation, we organize. We can organize stakes and wards and missions and quorums and Relief Societies in these buildings or even in rented halls. But, when we organize families, according to the order that the Lord has revealed, we organize them in the temples. Temple marriage, that sealing ordinance, is a crowning blessing that you may claim in the holy temple." (Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple, (2002), 1)

I love you all so much and hope you have a splendiforus, magnificent week!
Love,
Sister Fleck ♥

Ace Week and Transfer Calls

It's that time again! Transfer Calls!! Eek!

This week was our 100% Member Present week! It went really well!! We had lots of exchanges and took different people out almost every time! We only had 1 or 2 repeats! We had a couple planned exchanges fall through, but we were able to figure something out to make it work each time!

On Saturday we watched conference at the church. We were the only ones there, so we moved a couch and a couple of comfy chairs from the foyer into the relief society room (where we were watching) so we could be more comfy. It was great! Conference was really good! --- (one of our investigators) came to both Sunday sessions, and didn't realize we would be coming to the Sunday afternoon session, so she was going to go by herself! And she said she would have come to Saturday, but she thought that both days were the same! :D

Transfer calls were Saturday night! I am going to Henryetta, Oklahoma with Sister M---, Sister W--- is staying in Nevada with Sister L---!

I am sad to leave Nevada, but excited for new adventures in Henryetta, as always.

Love,
Sister Fleck

Ace Week is Nigh at Hand

 This week is Ace week! AHH! Wish us luck/blessings! Ace week is our name for our 100% member present week that we have been planning.

Last week was really good. A less active that we never see came to stake conference on Sunday and then on Tuesday the members we were having dinner with invited her to dinner, that was really exciting! --- (our recent convert) came out with us Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. He is so excited about missionary work, it's great!

On Friday we had exchanges, I stayed in Nevada with Sister H---. It was a lot of fun. Sister H--- has a friend that is going to the all-girls college here in Nevada. We tried to find her for a little bit.

We switched back on Saturday, our ride back to Nevada wouldn't be able to leave Joplin until like 3, so we hung out in the family history center in Joplin and found out that ancestry.com is free for all members now! YAY! So we played on ancestry a little bit!

Then by the time we got back we had dinner, then went to the women's broadcast. It was really good. We had 2 investigators come! :D
This week has been really good. I feel like things are turning around in Nevada!
Love,
Sister Fleck

Just another week

This week was good (:
On Wednesday we did Young Mens and Young Womens, no Young Women showed up, so it was just Young Mens I guess. We played charades and a couple of other fun games. (:

On Friday we did some member service for the bishop. We just showed up at his house in pants and asked what we could do to help out. His wife had us help her clean their van. It was a lot of fun! :D

On Saturday we had the adult session of Stake conference, it was a stake/zone conference, so
President Shumway lead it and talked about missionary work! It was awesome.

Yesterday was the Sunday session, which was great. After church we saw a few people with ---, then in the evening ---, our awesome recent convert who spoke at stake conference on Saturday evening came with us to a couple of lessons. He rocks!!

Nevada is doing well. I love the people we work with here!

Love,
Sister Fleck

One Crazy Week

I don't know why it was crazy, but it was...

Monday was officially the start of the new transfer. After we were done emailing I did some family history, since we email from the family history library. I found 2 names! I have been pretty stoked about that all week, I also found some birth and death dates for people, so that's sweet!!

Tuesday was Sister V---'s funeral, we didn't get to go, obviously as it was in Utah, but President Shumway did ask us to read Alma 40-42 during companion study, and at 11:00 (when the funeral started) we all knelt down and said a prayer. That was really cool, it was nice to know that all the missionaries in the OTM were doing the same.

On Wednesday we had Zone training, during it, Sister W--- and I had a bit of a revelation. We're going to do a 100% member present week! We're calling it Ace Week. All of our lessons will have a member there! We're doing it from September 29th to October 5th.

Thursday was a pretty normal Thursday aka weekly planning. We laid out some pretty intense plans to make Ace Week happen.

Friday and Saturday were normal missionary days. We visited people, had lessons, it was fun (:

On Sunday --- came out with us. He's 16 and awesome. He follows us in his jeep since we can't give him a ride and he can't give us a ride. He's a pretty cool kid and will be a great missionary one day! :D

This week I want to tell you all how cool family history is! When I found those names I was so excited! I had found out the names of someone I am related to! Part of my family! They were lost, we didn't know who they were, and now we've found them! YAY! It's soo cool! Seriously, just do family history. It's amazing.

Love,
Sister Fleck

Goodbye Ozark, Hello Nevada

This week was really good. Most of the week in Ozark was spent saying goodbye to people, which was really sad...

Thursday was, of course transfer day. We woke up early, finished packing, and somehow, miraculously fit everything into Sister ---'s little car and drove to transfer point! We after the transfer loop got to us and everyone got off, Sister S--- met her new companion Sister E---, we met the new sisters who would be in Ozark and Sister S--- and I said goodbye. Right before she left, I looked around at who was still waiting at the transfer point (I was going to be on the 2nd transfer loop that would get to Mount Vernon at 1:30), I realized there were no sisters, and only elders... I asked Sister S--- if I was going to be the only sister.... we found a zone leader, and he checked and I was, in fact the only sister that would be waiting until 1:30. Fortunately, there were a member couple, the ---, who had given one of the Zone Leaders a ride and the wife could be my companion. If they hadn't of been there I could have stayed, I just would have had to have been with two elders at all times and it would have been extremely awkward. I was talking to the ---, anyway, I found out that they know the Snows!! WHAT? They served a couples mission and knew J--- from when they worked in the office together! *sings* It's a small world after all...


So, the other missionaries eventually got there and I found some Sisters to hang out with. Then, transfer loop began. I was able to get off at just the next stop, yay! And I met Sister W---! YAY!!! She is really cool! We have a lot in common and I think this is going to be a really fun transfer!!

I am excited to see what Heavenly Father has in store for me here in Nevada!

Love,
Sister Fleck

A lot happened this week. I'm sure many of you have heard about the tragedy my mission experienced Friday and Saturday. On the way to Tulsa for a Zone Conference four missionaries were involved in a car accident. Three of them were okay, minor injuries, but at 3 AM Sister V-- passed away. It has been very sad and even though I had never met Sister V-- I felt like I had lost a very dear friend. The missionaries in the Oklahoma Tulsa Mission are like family. However, we know where Sister V-- is and what she is doing there right now (http://www.mormon.org/beliefs/plan-of-salvation). We know that Sister V--'s missionary work is continuing, just in a different way. In an email to all the missionaries President Shumway said, "[Sister Shumway and I] are certain that Sister V-- is busy with her work on the other side…. But she was trained here… in the OTM. I like to think that she has just raised the standard for missionary work on the other side to a whole new level."

On Wednesday we had Zone Conference, it was an amazing Zone Conference! Sister P--- (my companion in the MTC) was there! YAY! I haven't seen her in seven months!! I learned so much and I am excited to start studying my notes and re-learning from them! President Shumway is so inspired. I always learn so much from him!

Saturday was transfer calls, and boy were Sister S--- and I surprised! She is going to St. Roberts 1st and will be with Sister E---, and I am going to Navada, MO (Nuh-vay-duh) with Sister W---. Yep. I'm shotgunning out again!

Didn't see that one coming!!

Well, that's all I can think to say in this email.

I know that Heavenly Father knows what he's doing. There aren't accidents, which can be hard to accept sometimes, but I know that he loves us, and he gives us the tools we need to overcome our struggles, we just have to be willing to recognize them.

I love you all. Please keep Sister V--'s family in your prayers.

Love,
Sister Fleck

A Temple Trip

This week was great! I guess since last week was a little weird you already know about Monday and Tuesday.

On Wednesday we went to the Farmer's Market and had a lesson with ---. He is so cool. A couple of times ago when we taught him we talked about the priesthood and the importance of being baptized got brought up. --- mentioned that he had already been baptized, so we told him that we believe that we are the only church that has God's authority to perform baptisms (aka the priesthood) and that we need to be baptized by the proper authority. So, this week we invited him to be baptized. I was really nervous that he would say that he was already baptized again, because I've had that happen before, and --- surprised me, as he always does, and said that he did want to be baptized! Summer is a busy time for him, it's Farmer's Market/Fair aka Kettle Corn Season, so he'd have to do it in the winter because he can't come to church and give his full attention to the lessons right now, but still, HE WANTS TO BE BAPTIZED! PETE, YOU ARE SO COOL!!!!

On Thursday we had exchanges and I went to Mountain Grove with Sister H---, it was a lot of fun. Sister H--- is one of the sisters that took mine and Sister S---'s places in Pawhuska, so I was able to ask her how Pawhuska was doing when she left. It was so much fun to hear how everyone was doing and talk and laugh about all the people there. Pawhuska is such a special place. (:

On Friday we did service at the Christian Foundation and we got this game there called Facts-A-Nation, it's a trivia game and all of the questions are about America. It is so much fun! Sister S--- and I LOVE it!!! Ha-ha! We had a lesson with --- that evening and brought along one of the young women. Her name is ---, she's ---'s daughter, and she is a hoot. She wants to serve a mission when she's 19 (she is currently 15), and she will be a fantabulous missionary!!! We talked with --- about temples and Family History

On Saturday, Saturday was wonderful. We got to go to the St. Louis Temple with --- !!!! Ozark is technically in the Kansas City temple district, but Kansas City was closed for cleaning so we got to go to St. Louis!!! --- was invited by the YSA ward, so we went with them, it was a lot of fun! She made friends and we're hoping that now she will want to go to some of the YSA activities. The Sister working in the baptistery asked if it was anyone first time at the temple, of course, Sister S--- and I quickly said "It's ---'s first time!!" The Sister pulled --- aside and told her "Welcome to the Lord's House." Then she explained how important the work we do in temples is. When we were watching her do the baptisms we were sitting right so we could see her face when she came up out of the water, and each time she came up she had the biggest smile! It was so neat to be able to be a part of that with her.
It was so wonderful to be in the temple. I feel like I haven't gone in such a long time and I am so grateful that --- wanted us to be apart of such a special day.


I hope you all have a great week. Remember how much Heavenly Father loves each one of you. We are beloved children of our Heavenly Father. He knows each of you personally and wants you to be truly, eternally happy.

Love,
Sister Fleck ♥
P.S. Heads up, Transfer calls are on Saturday, YIKES!!!

A Baptism, Skirts and Branson!

This week was great!

On Monday --- got surgery ): so we went to visit her on Tuesday. She was doing well, just a little groggy!

Later that day we helped a Less-Active Member with her garage sale, she has a lot of collectible type stuff she's trying to get rid of. She runs a nursing home from her house and whenever one of her patients passes away the family just leaves the clothes with Sister ----, so she has this trailer and the back half is full of clothes! She let us "go shopping", it was a lot of fun. I got a skirt, and a dress and there is another dress that I didn't get that I am going to have to go back for!

On Thursday we had interviews with President Shumway. They went really well. He invited me to start over on the Book of Mormon and finish it by the Zone Conference in December. I was in Helaman, and now I'm in 1st Nephi. I am reading 5 pages a day, but if I finish those 5 pages and have a few minutes to spare somewhere (which are few and far between), I'll read in Helaman.

Friday was a fun day! Brother --- was home, and we were having a lesson with ---, so we asked him to come with us since he's a ward missionary and rarely gets to do things with his calling. We also had ---'s Baptism! YAY!!! It was a great baptism! Since she's 18 the YSA Bishop, Missionaries and Ward Mission Leader came and guess what? The YSA ward is having a temple trip on Saturday (16th) and they invited ---! She got her recommend on Sunday and WE GET TO GO WITH HER!! YAYA!!

On Saturday we had dinner with the ---, they invited a new member and her family, and their neighbor that is a potential investigator, ---. It was really cool. We were able to teach the Plan of Salvation.

Yesterday was (weirdly enough) a normal day because we had a Zone outing today. We went to Branson and saw a show, The Brett Show. It was really good, the Bretts are a family that perform together. They are members, the show was really good! It was really weird to be there though! It was all music we normally wouldn't listen to on our missions!!

They shared a little bit of the gospel at the end, they sang Amazing Grace and How Great Thou Art and had pictures of Christ, showing the pictures were all from the LDS Gospel Library. I thought it was really cool that they were able to use their talents to share their testimonies and the gospel in such a big way!! Heavenly Father has given us all talents and we can use those talents to share the gospel!


I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Love,
Sister Fleck! ♥

Sweet Baptism! ♥

This week was great! On Monday we had dinner with a member, but they live way out in the boundaries, fortunately, they invited Brother --- and ---, so they gave us a ride.

On Tuesday we did a mini bread delivery with Sister --- *only* (I say only sarcastically) five loaves of bread.  We  did an extra one because last week Sister S--- and I had dinner with some members who had recently moved into the ward and we told them we would come by with Sister --- bread sometime. We really had every intention of doing so, but when we delivered bread that week we had a really awesome list, normally we have one or two loaves that we don't know who to take to. Anyway, they (jokingly) went up to Sister --- at church and said "We were promised bread and we didn't get any!" (Jokingly I promise! All in good fun!!) So, Sister --- made a mini batch so we could take some to them!

On Wednesday we were able to have a mini lesson with P--- the Popcorn Man. It sprinkled all day, which doesn't sound like too big of a deal, but the grass was really wet and by the time we went to our next appointment my shoes were soaked! They were wet for three days! Fortunately, I have other pairs that I wore.

Thursday was a super service day! We went to the women's shelter that we started volunteering at, and then helped a member start painting in her new house. After that and dinner we had a lesson with Maddie! We went over the baptismal interview questions! She is so ready!!!

On Friday we had exchanges, I stayed in Ozark with Sister S---, she is in Mountain Grove now, and on the way back from picking up Sister S--/dropping off Sister S--- we stopped to visit an old friend of Sister ---'s (that's right, not only does Sister --- make 10 loaves of bread for us to deliver every week, but she drives us two and a half hours (one way) for exchanges!!). We helped a member get ready for a massive garage sale that she's having. She has a lot of stuff, and just wants to get rid of a lot of it!

Saturday was a special day (I hope you're humming the primary song now), it was ---'S BAPTISM!!! She was so excited! When I saw her after she got changed into her jumpsuit I almost cried! Her mom (non-member) and neighbor (also not a member) came. --- (her mom) was completely focused, I don't know if she blinked, focused, on whoever was giving the talk, or whatever was happening. It was great! While --- was changing after the baptism we showed the I Am A Child of God, Mormon Message (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JOrcqqpHCt8), she came out at the very end.  Brother --- (the man who did the baptism) took a little bit longer, while we were waiting for him ---(girl that got baptized) got up and gave Sister Stockhoff and I a hug, then Sister ---, then Sister ---(husband baptized her) (The ---'s taught her grandma when they were on their mission and came all the way from Illinois (I think) to be at/perform the baptism!), her mom, grandma, and a few other people. It was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen. They did the confirmation that day so Brother --- could do it, since they had to leave Saturday evening. It was so good!! :D

After the baptism we met with the ---'s, that went really well. We talked about Lehi's Dream. They asked some really awesome questions that got me thinking about it in a way I never had before! i.e. one of the boys asked if you could eat more than one of the fruit, Sister --- said that she thinks you could eat as much as you wanted because you can never fill up on the Love of God. Whoa.

In Testimony meeting on Sunday both --- and --- bore their testimonies. They were both so sincere! It was great!

After church --- had her baptismal interview, she did great! We also got to meet with Bishop, which we have been needing to do for a while. It was a great meeting!

This week was splendiforous. I hope you all have a great week!
Love,
Sister Fleck