Elkins, West Virginia: Week of Tuesdays and Fridays, Teach Me To Sing, and Hope as an Anchor

Hello family and friends!

This week has been a rather long week, but it was a good week as always. Every day either felt like a Tuesday or Friday because those always seem to be the longest days of the week. People either canceled lessons last minute or just weren't home, but we were still able to see quite a few inidividuals to serve and teach.

Last week our Relief Society president asked the elders if we all could sing on Sunday. The elders didn't end up telling us until halfway through the week. We struggled for a little while to figure out what song would help all of our voices not sound too horrendous together. We ended up choosing "Teach Me to Walk in the Light". It ended up going a lot better than I thought it would be, though I'm pretty sure that my face was beet red the entire time.

Last week I chose to "ponderize" Ether 12:4. The end result of my "ponderizing" is: "...whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope...maketh an anchor to the souls of men..." I never really thought of hope being something other than a wish for something, but hope involves more than wishing. Hope involves action (just like faith does). When we hope for something we choose to do what we can to make it a better world and live on the right hand of God.

This week's "ponderizing" scripture is 2 Nephi 25:26. "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."

I hope that you all have a wonderful week! You are absolutely wonderful, and I am so grateful for the influence you have played in my life. Keep it classy.

Love,

Sister Thyme Nash

Elkins, West Virginia: Believe in God, First Frost, and Why Sister Nash has Obsessively Been Reading the Book of Mormon

Hello family and friends!

This week was a pretty standard week. We did not have anything too out of the ordinary occur, except for the weather. We had the first frost of the season on Saturday, and I discovered that humid cold is a lot different from dry cold. Luckily, I was prepared with my winter coat when we were out and about and a blanket to bundle up in for when we were home.

A large portion of my study time this week has been focused on reading The Book of Mormon. I have never been this dedicated to reading scripture throughout my life, but I have seen the influence that it has played throughout this week. At times when I normally would be fumbling in my mind for an answer to a question, I was given the answer through scriptures that I had read previously that morning or week. We are promised that "...it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say" (D&C 100:6), but part of that promise is that we need to do everything in our power to have the resources for the answers to come from. Reading scriptures daily is essential to live in the world today. With so much around us, the scriptures bring solid direction and instruction where everything else brings chaos and confusion.

As I "ponderized" last week the only lasting statement I came with was: "Believe in God". It's a simple statement, but it is "...by small and simple things [that] great things [are] brought to pass" (Alma 37:6).

"Ponderize" Scripture of the Week: Ether 12:4

"Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God."

I hope that you all have an amazing week! Never forget that through belief and faith comes hope which is an anchor to our souls. I love you all and am always thinking about and praying for you.

Love,

Sister Thyme Nash

Elkins, West Virginia: Trusting in the Lord, Who Among Us, and Cat in a Ditch

Hello Family and Friends!

This week has been quite the week in Elkins. It seemed that with every day my faith and patience were tested further and further. It showed to me that the scripture I had chosen to "ponderize" was especially needed for the week. The end result of my "ponderizing" turned into: "...the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord. And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage." This scripture was especially important at helping me press forward throughout the week. With each day a new challenge was placed upon those we are teaching and upon ourselves. We visited the hospital more times than I'd like to think about, and we visited one of our friends who had broken her femur in three places in a car accident.

The trials of these individuals really pressed on both my and Sister Roberts' hearts. As appointments fell through and people were hurting, I did become rather frustrated. For a moment "our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back... [but] the Lord comforted  us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren... and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success" (Alma 26:27). Instead of crying out in anger I decided to say a prayer and ask our Heavenly Father what we needed to do in order to stay effective in hastening the work. After a moment of silence I decided we needed to go tracting. I'm not sure how many fruits will come from our labors that day, but I do know that by continuing on in patience and faith we were able to forget the stress we had been experiencing and go on with a new brightness of hope.

Moral of the story: "Ponderizing" works and patience is actually pretty important.

Another great outlet I found was returning to writing. For any who do not know, I absolutely love writing. It was one of my favorite hobbies before I came out on the mission, but I haven't felt inclined to write for the past few months until earlier this week. I wrote a poem entitled "Who Among Us" and related it to Christ's atonement and the redeeming power we can find through it. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring the notebook I wrote it in, so I might share it next week instead.

One fun little story this week involves one of the wonderful older ladies we've been teaching out here. She's eccentric and sometimes says the oddest things. The quote from her for the week is: "When I die I want them to put me in a cat costume and bury me in a ditch. They bury the cats for free."

I hope you all have an absolutely amazing week! Lift up your head, and have faith through your trials. You will be strengthened and carried through them, even if you don't realize it until 50 years down the road.

"Ponderize" Scripture for the Week: Mosiah 4:9

"Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend."

Have a great week everyone! I love you all and continue to keep you in my prayers. Believe in God!

Love,

Sister Thyme Nash

Elkins, West Virginia: Forest Festival, General Conference, and Enjoying the Rain

Hello family and friends!

This was definitely a rather eventful week here in Elkins, West Virginia. The Forest Festival was in full blast this past week, so traffic was extremely bad throughout the week. We avoided the festivities due to our booked schedules; thus, street contacting was not a large part of our week. However, we still had an absolutely amazing week.

On Tuesday we had the opportunity to help someone move. The work went well because she already had all of her stuff packed up in boxes, but the only problem was that it was pouring outside. We decided to do our best with tarps for the boxes and hoodies for ourselves to keep everything dry. The boxes did end up getting a little wet, but it was probably the easiest moving experience I've had thus far on the mission. We got entirely drenched through, but the rain wasn't cold and we still enjoyed ourselves with serving.

The highlight of the week would have to be General Conference. It was an absolutely amazing conference with countless inspired insights. A large theme that I noticed throughout was the emphasis of aligning our will with God's will. I know that life becomes a lot easier when we decided to let our Creator take care of things. Obedience to His commandments is key to this principle.

Another thought that stood out to me was the idea of "ponderizing" a scripture each week. For any who were unable to view conference, 1. You ought to because it was absolutely amazing! and 2. "Ponderizing" was defined as a combination of pondering and memorizing a passage of scripture each week. I have decided to take this challenge and would love to hear insight on any scriptures you have decided to "ponderize". This week I will be focusing on Mosiah 24:15-16:

15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.
16 And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage.

As I previously stated, I would really love to challenge all of you to "ponderize" a scripture a week and share your insights with others. I know that by filling our mind with uplifting thoughts and messages we will be able to fight against temptation and be strengthened through our trials.

I love you all, and I hope that you have an absolutely fantastic week!

Love,

Sister Thyme Nash

Elkins, West Virginia: Sister Roberts, Women's Conference, and "Saturday is a special day. It's the day you help everyone move!"

Hello my dearest family and friends!

I hope that you all have had an absolutely fantastic week. I have had an amazing week; though, it has also been a rather crazy week. This past Thursday was transfer day, and I bade my goodbyes to Sister Moea'i and Elder Anderson. I also had the opportunity to greet Sister Roberts and Elder Hansen, our newest missionaries to the Elkins area. Elder Hansen has been out for a year already; however, Sister Roberts is fresh out of the MTC. She is from Alberta, Canada and has such an amazing and sweet spirit. These past few days have been great working with her. I sincerely look forward to the remainder of our companionship together.

The majority of the week has been spent with me trying to really get used to this new responsibility. It can be odd at times to realize that Sister Roberts hasn't met the people that we teach and doesn't know her way around Elkins yet. I am very grateful though that she seems to be adapting to the mission well. She already has a love for those I've introduced her to. I can tell she's going to be an absolutely amazing missionary.

Saturday was definitely a busy day for us. We ended up spending the majority of the day doing service. We helped three different people move. It was a good experience, but I was definitely ready for some rest at the end of the night. It was nice to have some relaxing time at the end of the meeting to watch the General Women's Broadcast to General Conference. It was an absolutely amazing session, and the speakers were divinely inspired. If any of you have not watched i, I would strongly encourage that you do so.

I hope this next week is grand for each of you. You are all amazing, and I pray for you all the time! Thank you for the wonderful influence you've played on my life. Keep it up!

Love,

Sister Thyme Nash

Elkins, West Virginia: Transfers, Trainer-in-Training, and Leaving with a Song

Hello family and friends,

This week has been a good week, though we are coming upon some changes here in Elkins. Sister Moea'i will be transferred tomorrow to Lexington, Virginia. I will be training a brand new sister missionary... so that should be exciting! In all honesty, I am nervous to be training; however, I look forward to the experience and calling that Heavenly Father has granted me. Out of the current Elders in Elkins, Elder Buttars and Elder Anderson, Elder Anderson will be going home (his 2 years are up), and Elder Buttars will be sticking around.

I have come to realize throughout this transfer that nothing has blessed me more than keeping my hymnbook on hand. There is nothing more uplifting in times of trial than a song from the heart. We have visited those in nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, and those just going through rough times, and we always ask if we can leave them with a song. They are always really sweet and talk about how we sound like angels. 2 Nephi 32:2-3 talks about speaking with the tongue of angels:

"2 Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the tongue of angels? And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost?
3 Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do."

The power of song is often something that is overlooked. I have never felt Heavenly Father's Spirit more strongly than when I am listening to music. There is something special about it that brings the Spirit when it is uplifting and testifies the words of Christ.

I hope that you have an absolutely amazing week! Never forget that God loves you and that you are his spirit child. Keep your head held high and shine as a light on the hill. I love you all!

Love,

Sister Thyme Nash

Elkins, West Virginia: A Wave from Jesus, Sister Missionaries Sang as they Walked and Walked and Walked and Walked, and a Certified Driver without a Vehicle

Hello family and friends!

I apologize if ya'll were bewildered on not receiving my weekly update on Monday. We were planning on coming to email on that day; however, our vehicle was in the shop so we were unable to email until today.

About a month or so ago Sister Moea'i accidentally decided to hug a mailbox with the front of our truck, and because of this incident we needed to take our truck into the shop last week. The only thing they needed to do was paint over a couple of small scratches; however, it ended up taking them five days to get our truck back to us. So... we walked.

I was rather apprehensive to walk everywhere for a few days, especially since we had a few meetings about 35 minutes away and an hour (driving-wise) and we needed our truck on the 15th for vehicle inspections and specialized training in Charleston. Although I was apprehensive, it ended up being a marvelous experience.

We were able to receive rides to our meetings in Buckhannon and Clarksburg by wonderful members throughout the week. After our first meeting in Buckhannon we were dropped off at one end of Elkins and were walking to meet someone else who was going to have a lesson with us and then drive us home. As we were walking along the road we waved at every vehicle that passed us. Quite a few waved back, but one car turned around and called us over. A woman sat in the driver's seat and asked why we had waved at her. Before we could come up with a good reason she asked if Jesus had told us to wave at her. Not wanting to miss an opportunity, we both quickly said yes. It turned out that her sister had been a member before she had died of cancer, and since then this woman has wanted to connect with the church again since they were so supportive of her family after her sister's passing. It was definitely a testament to me that people are watching what we do, and we need to forever be lights on the hill as Christ invites us to be.

It also rained quite a bit this week, so we enjoyed the wonders of walking through the rain. Luckily, the rain was never too cold or coming down too hard until we were inside somewhere. On one of our rainy day travels we ran into a man named Richard (though Sister Moea'i calls him Safari man Richard due to the clothes he was wearing). He showed us the best route to walk along the road in order to avoid poison ivy and dangerous turns where drivers wouldn't be able to see us. We also discovered that he worked at an alpaca farm that we pass quite a bit. He told us we could come over any time and he'd introduce us to the 53 alpacas on the farm. Lots of fun comes from walking in the rain and meeting Safari men.

In other news, I have been certified as a mission driver, so I can now drive mission vehicles. I became certified while we were still walking, so I was still unable to drive. We received our truck back late on Monday night, so my first stretch of driving was driving to specialized training in Charleston at 4 a.m. While in Charleston, they installed a monitor into our truck (this is being done throughout the mission). It monitors our speed, whether the driver is wearing a seat belt or not, and aggressive driving. It is meant to decrease the amount of accidents in the mission and increase safety. Sister Moea'i and I are looking forward to continuing our amazing driving practices with "Tiwi" in the car with us.

I hope that you all are having amazing weeks! Don't expect another email from me until Wednesday of next week because it will be transfer week. I love you all! Keep it classy.

Love,

Sister Thyme Nash :)