Bake Cookies, Preach the Word, and Dance in the Rain

Crazy that Christmas has already come and gone so fast! And even crazier that the whole year has come and gone! 2015 is on it's way!

I hope ya'll had just a wonderful Christmas! Christmas southern style is quite the party. Sister Robison and I baked up a bunch of ginger bread cookies to give to our investigators. While we were baking we heard it start pouring rain outside. Knowing me, ya'll should guess that I ran out the door, dragging my companion behind me, and we danced in the rain. It was awesome! 

We spent our Christmas in Tupelo. We went over to a members house for Christmas Eve, they gave us matching Christmas jammies with our names on them! We spent the night with the Tupelo sisters, and then we went back to the same members house and spent the rest of Christmas there. I got to skype my family! That was wonderful, and really hard. After ya'll hung up I just sat there and cried for a few minutes. But, it's going to be okay! I'll see ya'll sooner than we think! After that we had a ton of fun eating fried french toast, playing board games, and southern sledding. Since it doesn't snow here, you just sit on a long board and ride down your drive way. It was a little sketchy. Sister Robison and I sat on a long board together and when we hit the bump where the gutter is Sis. Robison flew off and I kept riding down the street crashing into a gutter. It was awesome, caught it on video too. And, Sister Robison taught me how to play the guitar! After she taught me all the chords I sat in the living room with the children's hymn book and played for an hour. I love it! My fingers hurt, but I love it! I also wanted to say congrats to Lindsay Evans for receiving her mission call to Arkansas!! We'll be neighbours and I am so absolutely proud, happy, and excited that she decided to serve the Lord and His children!! 

Well, aside from all the good fun, Sister Robison and I have seen some miracles happen this past week. Although everyone's been crazy busy with the holidays, we have found those diamonds in the rough that have let us into their homes. We were headed over to Will and Erin's, the couple that lives in the apartment complex, but they weren't free. So, we knocked on the door next to theirs and a guy named Gus let us in. He is amazing. He attends the Victory Temple church and actually has had lessons with some missionaries before that didn't go very well. But, he talked to us for an hour basically baring his testimony of his Savior and how much he loves Him and the blessings he's had. He is so solid and I can't wait to teach him about the gospel! 

We got to see an investigator get baptized this past . Her name's Addine, the Tupelo sisters have been teaching her. The Spirit was really strong and it gave me more hope that I might get to see someone that I find and teach get baptized someday. 

   All of it rained. It was cold and I was feeling really worn out and down. We kept having plans fall through and as we were tracting either no one would be home or they weren't interested. As we were headed home we felt like we should keep tracting the streets we were walking down. The very last house we were walking up to the door and before we could even knock a lady answered. As we explained who we were and if she would like to hear a message she said yes and let us in. Her name's Rita, she's a baptist but I don't know why she's not already a Mormon! She sat us right down, gave us hot chocolate and we talked to her for an hour, getting to know her and telling her about what we do as missionaries. She is a cake decorator (Mom :) ) And has her own shop in Nettelton. She's had a lot of struggles in her life including the death of her father, husband, and she's in the process of getting a divorce. As she explained these struggles she kept talking about how prayer has helped her through them all. She was really interested in our Family History Research. So we told her that she could come to the center we have at our church and we'd have people there to help her find her ancestors, and it'd be a great opportunity to give her a tour of our church :) (sneakily converting people to the restored gospel) It was such a blessing that we decided to go to her house and that we didn't even have to knock. She was ready. 

It reminds me of the picture we've all seen of the Savior knocking on someones door without a door handle. We have to let Him in. I feel that Rita is readily letting the Savior more fully into her life by letting us into her home. I am so excited to keep teaching her. So remember, even when it's cold and you're wet and tired and a long way from home and you may feel like things aren't working out at all. Remember 3 Nephi 22: 7. 

And, I personally encourage you all to get up and bare your testimonies this Fast Sunday. Baring your testimony strengthens your testimony. I know that to be true.

I love you all! Have a very Happy New Year, don't get too crazy ya'll -ya hear?!

Much Love, Sister Michaela Nicole Mason 

Christmas Is Coming And We Are Getting Fat

Merry Christmas ya'll!!!

I can't believe it's already Christmas!! whoowee! So crazy! 

The Mission Christmas Party was a blast! We all got to hear from our beloved mission president. I performed in the talent show. But, instead of singing celtic style, my companion accompanied me with an instrument called the canjo. I think it went pretty well. And, as a gift to all of his missionaries, Pres. Hanks let us all watch 'Frozen'.

Many birthday wishes to you on Friday Dr. Daddy Mason! Wish I could be there to give you a big kiss and hug, but, that'll have to wait til 2k16 padre. Go see the Hobbit part 3 for me, kay? 

We got to go caroling as a district to investigators, that was a really cool experience. AND! We received news from our Branch President that they've made a small branch in Smithville, which is only 5 minutes away from Amory, instead of going to church an hour away in Tupelo!! This is a huge blessing! Now when investigators ask about where to go to attend church instead of saying, "Drive an hour to our church in Tupelo and make it on time at 9:00 a.m." Now we can say, "It's in Smithville!! Come!!" So excited!! 

So, this week had its ups and downs. We met an amazing family just down the street from us. Connie is a member of the Pentecostal church and her husband, Shannon, is non denominational Christian. They both are really interested in what other churches believe in and have been so kind to us, feeding us every time we walk through the front door. They always have lots of questions for Sister Robison and I and it's been really fun to do our best to answer them. We've taught Connie and her two sons the Restoration. Hopefully we'll be able to continue to teach them. 

We also visited a lady named Donna who's met with the missionaries before. We ended up inviting her to be baptized. She said she'd think about it, but that she did want to visit our church. 

We also met with Ken again and invited him to be baptized. We'd been talking about the Holy Ghost and how important it is to understand the HG's role in conversion. After asking him if he'd follow the example of the Savior and be baptized under the same priesthood authority He was baptized with he said "Well yeah!! Who wouldn't want that?" We ended with a prayer, but, before, we asked him if he'd pay attention to how he felt as we prayed. Afterwards he just sat in silence and then said "Yeah...I don't feel like there's anything telling me that there's something wrong with ya'lls church. I reckon I ought to read more of your Book of Mormon and pray about this baptism." Those were his exact words!!! How could I forget them cuz I almost started crying after he said it! He really loves his Savior and has been looking for the truth. Now, we've just got to get him baptized!!

We also decided we ought to go tracting some apartment complexes just down the road from where we live. Only black people live there. We met some really nice folks, but we had some others that weren't so nice. Right after having a man tell us to leave him alone and go away, we decided to knock on one more door. The one we knocked on was answered by a woman yelling for us to come in. Her name's Erin, she lives with her boyfriend William and they have a little boy named Jaxson. We felt prompted to show them the 'He is the Gift' video. Will looked it up on his laptop and watched it. Erin had been busy making Jaxson breakfast so we asked if he'd play it again so she could see. After watching it the second time through, he looked up at us and I could see the tears in his eyes. I bore my testimony to them and as I spoke I didn't even know what was coming out of my mouth. The Spirit took over and filled the room. They told us we could come back anytime. 

I am so grateful for the miracles that we've seen this week. Even if people aren't always so nice or I miss my family, especially around this time of year, I know that what I am doing is so good. I need to stop being so selfish and be more concerned about the people around me. All of these people are children of God. And even if one of them slams a door in my face or tells me that I'm going to hell for being a Mormon, I can't help but love them. I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints. I know that the gospel has been restored on the earth and the Savior is coming. He's going to come sooner than we think and I am going to do my best to prepare the souls of Amory, Mississippi to meet Him again. 

Know that I love you all, this is the Lords work that I am doing and I will do it with fervent enthusiasm! I wish you all a very Merry Christmas! God be with you. 

Love, Sister Michaela Mason 

Alabama, Mississippi, I do love Amory City

Well my friends, I am now out in the mission field! 

   A lot has happened this past week. I took a lovely flight across the U.S to Sweet Home Alabama! I got to meet my mission president, President Hanks. He is awesome! Sister Layton and I stayed in a hotel in Birmingham that night, and then we parted ways at transfers. That was especially hard to say goodbye, BUT, guess who the first person was that I saw at transfers Mom!! Sister Jane Wittwer!!!! It was so good to see her! And, Elder Connor Hamblin, from Chamber choir/Musical/Bountiful High in general- is not only serving the same mission, but is in my district!! What are the odds of that! 

   My training leader, Sister Robison, is AMAZING!! She's from Mesquite, Nevada, gorgeous, darling, so sweet, pretty much the older sister I never had. And, surprise, surprise, I'm not even serving in Bama. I've been sent to a sweet little town called Amory in good ol' Mississippi! Sister Robison and I have a house all to ourselves that is infested, luckily, with lady bugs (thank heavens it's not cockroaches or I'd be sleeping outside). We have bikes, but the roads here are so narrow it's hard enough to walk without almost getting hit, so...no to the bikes for now. We do have a car, we're limited on our mileage, but we'll still drive out to Walmart to talk to people. But, we mostly walk everywhere, which is awesome! They don't have any sidewalks here, instead they've been replaced with ditches. So, Sister Robison and I do a lot of ditch jumping to get to someones house while we're out tracting. 

   That's what this past week has been full of really. Tracting. But, everyone here in MS is so friendly, talkative, and genuinely nice! People will let you right into their home and talk to you for an hour about their life story. Not everyone is so inviting, we have had a couple of doors shut on us, but they always turn us down with their "southern charm" ex. "Oh goodness honey, I do appreciate you for droppin' by but, I am not interested. Ya'll are beautiful girls, but I just don't have time." Stubborn southerners!! Listen to us!! We've got a message that will change your life! 

   Despite the turn downs, we've had a lot of success. We've been teaching a guy named Ken. He is really involved in his church, but he agrees and likes a lot of what we've been teaching him. He's read most of the Book of Mormon and says he hasn't found anything wrong with it and generally likes talking to us about Jesus. He's a great guy, we've just gotta get him to our church! 

  We've also been visiting a less active girl named Jennifer. She's got a lot of really hard family problems. But she is so full of faith in her Savior. She promised she'd go to church this past and didn't show. So, Sister Robison and I stopped by to see what's up and ended up meeting a friend of hers named Sarah. Sarah said she just moved in two weeks ago from Arkansas. She said she doesn't know why she moved but God told her she needed to go to Amory, MS and that she's still trying to figure out why she's here. We asked her if she wanted us to visit with her at Jennifer's house and have us teach her what we believe in and she said yes!! Wonder of Wonder- Miracles of Miracles!! 

   We met a lady and her kids while we were at Walmart. Her name's Dana. She saw our name tags and started talking to us about our church and what we do as missionaries. She invited us to eat Christmas dinner with her and her family! Sweetest lady ever and best opportunity for us to teach the gospel to her and her family!! So, Mom, we'll be spending Christmas Eve and morning with the sister that sent you all the pictures of our house and that's where I'll skype home!! And then the evening will be spent at Dana's!

   We also met a lady on main street, she owns this really cool art shop. Her name is Missihippie Belle (pretty legit) We call her Miss Belle. She'd heard of missionaries before and really admired that we are willing to leave our families and teach people about Jesus. 

   We met a lot of people this past week while tracting that want us to come back. I am so excited to start teaching them. 

  We stayed with the Tupelo sisters last night cuz we're all going out to Decatur for our missions Christmas party, I'll be singing 'O Come All Ye Faithful' celtic style. The Tupelo sisters have Celtic Woman's Christmas album!!! I just about died when they turned it on! I miss listening to my Celtic Ladies! 

Well, this truly is the best thing I've ever decided to do EVER!!  I've never been so happy in my life, and to be serving the children of our Heavenly Father here in Amory and at Christmas time  is such a blessing. Know that you all mean the world to me and I am so happy to have this gospel and that I get to share it with others. I love you all!!

Love, Sister Michaela Mason

She arrived in Alabama!

 Sister Mason with President & Sister Hanks

Sister Mason & her trainer Sister Robison