Corbin's Libraries do not close on President's Day, FYI...

This morning, I got up and started my scripture study. Luckily, I had put my phone on the desk. About 8:30, I heard my email notification sound and looked at it. It was  from ASHLYN!! I was soo very surprised since I thought we might not hear from her until Tuesday or Wednesday this week and it was President's Day and the libraries were closed...or supposed to be. I hadn't written her a normal weekly email and had just planned on doing it this afternoon. So her email said, "MOMMA!!! NO EMAIL???!!!" I felt soo, soo bad, so I hurried and jumped on the computer and started typing away.

As we emailed back & forth through the course of an hour, the things we were able to tell her and learn were exactly what she needed for today. I am so grateful that this situation happened because it ended up so perfectly for all of us. I feel like she was uplifted and we were as well.

So for this week, I am just enclosing a few snippets of her email since she didn't really write a regular email to us.

Me: Are you staying in Corbin? We are fine here. Everyone is still asleep this morning. I was doing my am scripture study & then I was going to go running. So glad I was inspired to read 1st! We went to the temple and saw the new version of the newest movie. It was good, but I missed so many things. I guess I just need time to process what I learned. HAPPY SIX MONTHS on FRIDAY!!! Wow, I can't believe it. Some days just drag, but then suddenly, I realize another month has passed. CRAZY!!

Ashlyn: Yes!!! I did not get transferred. I am soo happy to get another transfer here. :)  And Sister Short is here still too. :) This week has been a little rough... story of my life. :/ But emailing makes me happy. So, C dropped us. He told us to loose his number. We immediately drove over there and knocked, but he wouldn't answer. We sang a few songs because we knew he was in there, but he wouldn't open his door :( That was a really rough night. It's frustrating because our leaders tell us to "baptize!" and be clear about our purpose, but even when investigators WANT to change, like C, they walk away. Blah. Sometimes I get tired of "planting seeds." I keep trying to be patient, humble, diligent and obedient. I read Mosiah 4 this morning. It was a good one. I like the "believe in God" scripture. And I re-read that talk you sent me. (President Kim B. Clark: http://www2.byui.edu/Presentations/Transcripts/Devotionals/2014_01_07_Clark.htm "Hold on Thy Way and God will Be with Thee Forever and Ever.") Yesterday was an incredibly rough day. I don't know if I can describe it. It makes me feel bad talking about it, even.

Me: Sorry to hear about C. Remember that you don't know what future holds for you. So hold onto HOPE and FAITH. Heavenly Father wanted you in Kentucky!!! He wanted you in Corbin for this TIME. DON'T get discourage because you are doing GREAT!!!!!

Ashlyn:

Thanks mom. I want to go to the temple sooo badly! That would be the best. Maybe next transfer I'll get moved to Crestwood Zone so I can go to the L'ville temple!!? :p After Corbin, a city would be suuuuper boring. ha ha!! I'm afraid I've become a little jaded. Sister S and I joke about it all the time:

"We offended 2 ward members today?" No Big Deal.

P's in jail? Cool, what's our backup plan for tomorrow then?

Eat Bambi? Sounds great.

You don't have an address? That's OK, we'll just find your house somehow anyway. {FYI, That is her sarcasm/sense of humor on those last few lines!}

One thing that I've learned is that most things don't matter as much as we think they do. Another thing that Sister E always said was that we're not going to mess things up. I can't imagine Heavenly Father saying "Oh darn. They didn't do what they should've, this completely ruins my plans..." I love that he's already made up for our mistakes. It's like how he prepared another record because he knew Joseph would listen to Martin Harris and loose the translation. How much more he must make up for our mistakes, big and small, especially as missionaries.

Thanks Dad for the quick email. :) I love you so much, and I miss you a lot. I have to go pretty quick here, but I"ll talk to you soon. Have a wonderful, wonderful week!

Jeremy ended it with this email: We all love you as well and miss you. Hailey and Paige say HI. Take care, stay warm and put on your armor! Don't let that nasty, mean guy (he who shall not be named) get to you.

So that is the news from Corbin. All day I have wondered if Corbin realizes it's a federal holiday!!! :) And just for the record, I KNOW we aren't supposed to email back and forth, but I honestly felt like today she needed to be able to do that to lift her spirit and encourage her. So I will repent of that. :) Today, I have prayed about and for her and have felt like "Corbin is her preparation" for the kind of missionary the Lord needs her to be for the last 12 months of her mission.

TEnDeR MeRcIEs

This week has definitely held many blessings! We have some investigators who are doing really well.

This week we taught Ch, who we met contacting. He has been reading The Book of Mormon and loves it! We taught him a full restoration lesson with some members. It was probably the most spiritual lesson I've experienced thus far! We invited him to be baptized and he said yes. Then chose the date himself before we even suggested one. Then, Sister S and I taught him the Word of Wisdom and he agreed immediately to live it, and even gave us his 2 packs of cigarettes and lighter :) It was a very powerful experience and a huge blessing from Heavenly Father. The member with us gave him a blessing as well. The next time we taught him, however, he had slipped up on smoking and felt so guilty about it that he didn't want to investigate anymore. We talked to him and promised him that Heavenly Father still loves us even when we aren't perfect. We recommitted him to attending church. He came and loved it! He recognized the Spirit there and the members were really supportive and friendly towards him.

I have been studying Jacob 5 and I have learned so much from it. I have also been studying Alma 7 and the pattern Alma uses to teach. It's very interesting. I love the Book of Mormon.

We also sung at a funeral this week. It was the first one I'd ever been to and was very spiritual, but also terrible. I've decided funerals aren't my thing :/

Also, on a lighter note, I got out to back the car (in the middle of a neighborhood) and looked down and there was a pygmy goat chewing on my skirt!! Then, it started headbutting me! The man who owned it said that it was just trying to play.... which is probably why people prefer dogs! Oh, it was hilarious. I assumed it was a dog, then, all of a sudden, it was eating my skirt! Bad day to wear a floral print, I guess. haha!! And the guy kept telling us to "play with it." I kept thinking, "What do I do?! How are you supposed to play with a GOAT?" It just kept ramming into us! Then he tried to give it to us. Haha.

A Pygmy Goat

We also taught C, who is still doing really well, and also E. And guess what? E paid his tithing on Sunday!!

This week has been very productive, and very exhausting. I definitely have seen many tender mercies in my life and in the lives of investigators. Thank you for praying for me this week. I feel like someone MUST be because there have been so many blessings including a stronger measure of the Spirit, investigators keeping commitments, a member randomly bringing us food (Sister H <3) and also taking us to Cracker Barrel and the spirit prompting me to get the meatloaf. (I was having a tough time deciding as you can imagine.) It was really yummy and you know meat loaf isn't my #1 choice. Yay, Holy Ghost!!

Sister Galloway, Sister S & another missionary at Zone Conference

We had a district P-day today in McKee. It was fun and also the reason why I am so late emailing today. We just barely got back into Corbin. We played ping pong, cards, had a snowball fight and ate. :)

I had to write my weekly email to President W. I tried to list all the reasons why Sister S and I should stay together in Corbin for another transfer in my email. haha! I hope I can stay.

Oh, and I have a challenge for the family. Make mormon.org profiles! Good missionary tool+easy+I can look up your testimonies when we have mormon.org time throughout the week. Yeah?! I

Tell the fam I love them! And that they should write me a letter :)

 Love,

-Sister G-way.

PS: You know you're in Corbin when:

-two guys your age are carrying 2 'coon tails in the middle of town.

-the 10 commandments are posted everywhere

-graffiti is ok, as long as it's religious.

-you pass "The Lord's Gym of Jackson County" on your way to district meeting.

Pickled Beets and Elder Perry

Hey Everyone!!

This week has flown by, much like every other week! So, this week has been cray-cray. Honestly, the last 2+ weeks have. Also, I got your package!! And, you should know, that  when it was delivered, it interrupted our tears during our weekly planning session. And then I got it and your letter and cried more. And so did Sister S. ha ha! We are so pathetic sometimes. It's funny; I think I hardly cried at all my first two transfers, but there are several days that Sister S. and I make it our goal not to cry that day! And, I love the CD! Especially the Arizona song. I asked Sis S if we could listen to it and she said "yes, as long as you don't cry." I didn't, but i was laughing so hard I almost did. I also love the song where they're talking about how they want to go back to Utah. bahaha!! {I sent Ashlyn a copy of the Gilbert Temple Youth Cultural Celebration music in her package. There are a couple of songs that are just comical! But most of them are very uplifting and motivating.}

Monday, we went to our Ward Mission Leader's house and had fun shooting slingshots, throwing knives, splitting wood and seeing his animals!

Tuesday, was kind of a rough day. We got dropped by some investigators we were really excited about and who had felt and recognized the spirit during our last lesson :(  They were the awesome Catholic couple we taught last week.  And they hung up on us. All of our other lessons also fell through, and it seemed like no one would talk to us. (Minus the drunk guy who wanted to marry us, but that's another story).

Me and Sister S

Wednesday we taught C, who is homeless and has a TON of great questions! He kind of fits into the category of the people in Alma 32. He has trouble believing in God, but wants to because he sees how much happiness and purpose it gives to people's lives. We talked a lot about the Atonement because that's a big thing he doesn't comprehend. We also taught him a few days later with a member and it also went really well! He's been attending this Pentecostal Church where they "speak in tongues," jump up and down, fall over and otherwise "feel the Holy Ghost". But it was really exciting because C came to church yesterday! He really liked church and I think was a little surprised that it was normal and quiet. And so did one of our other investigators, E. It was the first time E had been since 1994!
 

Saturday morning, we watched a broadcast of Elder L. Tom Perry in Knoxville, Tennessee on "Hastening the Work." Elder Ronald A. Rasband was also there. It was super uplifting and I got a lot out of it. He was so upbeat and positive. He talked about how members need to use the missionaries and missionaries need to be sure to spend time working with less-actives. He stressed the importance of having specific names and numbers. He also told us that the Holy Ghost likes lists!

We also ate some interesting food that day... fried pickles, glazed & pickled beets, and hominy (which is what grits are made of. Basically, boiled popcorn!).

Sunday, we did some tracting after church and we met Korihor. Our conversation with him basically followed Alma 30 pretty closely, except that we didn't strike anyone dumb. He was "polite," but there  was just a subtle mockery in everything he said. He was a Sociology major, which he attributed his atheism to. I'm glad that I have parents who can be sociology majors (my mom) or grow up Baptist (my dad) and still find and hold to the truth. It was crazy though. Most people here are Christians and if not, then agnostic. He straight up rejected the idea of any prophets, Christ or God. It was one of the times that I felt a little spiritually hurt because it was so blatantly untrue and just wrong. I feel like we magically tract into Baptist preachers, Atheists, or J-dubs an inordinate amount. 

 

Frog Legs & Catfish!

 The world really is getting soooo very wicked. I've seen it so much on my mission so far. Satan, unfortuantely, is very real. He is working harder than ever and is actively attacking. But, the Lord is hastening his work! Yeah! :)

This week, the Elders and us are singing "Abide With Me" at a member's funeral on Wednesday. And the Elders are pall-bearers. They made it abundantly clear that carrying a dead body was far preferable to singing in front of a group of people. Ha! But I disagree!

I hope you all have a great week!!!
Love,

A very cultural week...in so many ways!

This week we taught some awesome lessons! We taught a Catholic couple the Restoration and the spirit was really strong! We've been trying to begin each lesson by talking about the Spirit and explaining what it is to our investigators. It has proved to be really successful. At the end of the lesson, the man talked about how he felt "warmth" in his body as we were talking, but then it left after he went out to smoke a cigarette.

 

We also taught a 19 year old who had a lot of really sincere questions about why there are so many churches. We also discussed what Christ's church would look like if He were on the earth today.

 

It was also interesting, because we were able to teach some different people from what we usually do. We tracted into a man who was from Japan and wasn't even Christian, which makes a total of 3 people that I've met that aren't Christian. It was his first time praying and I felt very privileged to be able to pray with him, even if he wasn't interested. We also talked to a guy from Italy and an Israeli. It was a very cultural week -at least compared to usually!

 

But anyway, today should be a good day. We're going to go to Brother J's house. (ward mission leader). I've never been there, but the Elders say it's a lot of fun, which I think will be a nice break.

 

We've had some good moments this week, though. We taught some new investigators. Speaking of which, update on a few: J- got suuuuuper wayyy too into the Apocrypha and we had to drop him for now at least. He'd be a great potential in a few months or later on. He has conflicting "testimonies" of both books).

 

On a funny note, we decided to go knocking on a few houses before an appointment. At the first door, the lady opened it and was really grumpy. She told us that she had seen us at her friend's house night before and that we had ruined her daughter's birthday party! Then the next door a lady with a ton of dogs and a mustache was really angry and offended at us. She very forcefully slammed her door after yelling at us. I think It would have stung, but there was something kind of comical about it. Maybe it was the fact that she had a mustache!

 

One nice thing about serving here is that people don't normally tell you those type of things. I've definitely met some who vehemently disagree, but they at least respect the fact that 1.) you are another human being and 2.) you love God. (A good thing to love in The Bible Belt!)

 

-Sister Galloway

Lots of knocking!!

Hello!

Today’s my 5 month “birthday” which is crazy because it seems like it’s only been a month! I feel like I’m just barely figuring everything out, but I guess it’s good that I’ve been able to have so many opportunities to learn and grow. 

This week we spent a lot of time finding, which is always an adventure! We did a lot of tracting and contacting. We met some wonderful people. One of the things I love about being a missionary is that you get to meet so many different people and hear about their lives and challenges. I love that the Gospel is so universal, that even though I haven’t been through half of what many people have, I can offer them something so precious.

Some other things happening in my missionary life:

-I bought boiled peanuts to eat...YUM!! Jealous??!!

-We have Zone conference tomorrow, so we got our oil changed today.

-It is really snowy today!

Yesterday, we went on a blitz with the Sister Training Leaders and it was really fun to work with them. We talked to a man who had had a heart attack recently and it completely changed his perspective on life. He was so downtrodden and discouraged. He wondered why there was so much evil and suffering in the world. It was a really spiritual experience and we read parts of Alma 32 to him and bore testimony to him.

Have a wonderful week!!

Sister Galloway

Quote of the week:

Us: “Hello ma’am! May we offer a prayer with you today?”

Lady: “We’re Christians. We don’t want to do that.”

Cats, Cigarettes and Contacts

This past week has definitely had it's ups and downs! First off, I love my new companion, Sister S. We are alike--it's kind of scary! It definitely makes for a lot of laughs, which is always good. Especially in Corbin because life as a missionary is never boring -for better or worse. 

 I actually really liked the squirrel I ate last week. Yesterday, we were at the G's house and they were talking about feeding us dinner one night. The son's friend was there. Sister S. said she wanted squirrel, so they asked him if he could get some and he said, "sure, right now?" ha ha!!

Ashlyn Galloway eating squirrel or "squawk."

 

 This week we taught one of our investigators, T, the Word of Wisdom. We were a little nervous because she smokes a lot... as in, she sits there and smokes about 2+ cigarettes during our lessons with her. We gave her a W of W pamphlet ahead of time. We told her to read it and to pray about it. The next time we taught her, she said that after reading it, she was very much against it, but then she prayed just like we'd asked. She felt like she could do it. It's such a testimony to me that her simply praying about the principal was more powerful than what doctors, science, and others have been trying to get her to do for years.

Unfortunately, K wasn't able to keep the Word of Wisdom, so her date got dropped :( We will continue to work with her and help her to prepare for when she is ready. We also have been working at trying to contact more people each day. We were blessed to find several new investigators this week!

 On Sunday, I gave a talk in church on the Law of Obedience, which was interrupted by Elder W (serving in the London area, but in the same ward) having to catch and carry out a stray cat that had somehow sneaked into the chapel. There are a lot of strays in Corbin! I wore my favorite sweater for you, Aunt J, and Aunt J. (Note: Ashlyn, me and 3 of my sister all have a sweater that is exactly the same because we all love the style of it. Ash loves her aunts!) 

We also received some bad news Sunday night.... P is in Jail. It was heartbreaking to find out, especially since things have been going so very well with her. We just had a great lesson on the temple with her. I guess there are just some things in her past that need to be cleared up, so we will continue to help her and teach her as best we can. 

Last night I was thinking and worrying a lot about my investigators, and the trials, challenges, temptations and consequences that they have to endure. It makes me realize how much Heavenly Father must think and worry about each one of us in our individual lives. I know that everything he does is centered around us and around making us the happiest.

Love,

Sister Galloway

January 8th Letter

This week has been pretty eventful... Last week I ate (fresh) road kill pig and squirrel (also called "squawk"). I think it was the funniest dinner conversation I've ever heard. 

Here are a few examples:

 -"Remind me to thank Robbie for hitting that pig"

-"Johnny! There's fur on this. I'm going to kill you!"

-"My dad would've killed me if I hit a deer and didn't bring it home."

A few days ago, the temperature dropped into the negatives and we got a few inches of snow. Because of that a bunch of places were closed, including the library. President said that we could email today instead. We also got an unexpected phone call on Saturday and found out that Sister E was going to get transfered. So, my new companion's name is Sister S. We're really similar, and I'm excited for this next transfer! We should finally be seeing a few baptisms :) 

My new companion

Speaking of which, P is doing suuuper well. She could've been baptized this week actually, but when we talked about moving her date up, she said that she wants to keep it the same since she's been inviting her family to it. It was really exciting because she has a son in law who was being a little antagoinistic, but we ran into him at one of her lessons. We were able to teach him about the Book of Mormon and P bore her testimony to him! 

K also has been doing well, although we haven't gotten to see her as much as we would like to. She lives so far away. She's been living the W of W though and has been doing really well with reading! My testimony of The Book of Mormon has grown so very much. I love that book. I know that it is true. There is such a special spirit that accompanies it. It can give us healing, comfort, and spiritual power. It it truly from God and I am so grateful that I have it in my life!!

I hope y'all have a wonderful week!

-Sister Galloway