Lots of Service 04/26/2021

 Hey everyone!!!! This week was great! We had lots of service activities! On Thursday we had the opportunity to help a lady with yard work. We were reached out to on our Facebook page about needing help. We got in contact and she explained how a tree fell down on her house during a storm and her yard was a mess. (Luckily no one was hurt) Hermana Anderson and I got our whole district to come help fix up her yard, we were there for 3 hours. We got half of her yard mowed, branches picked up and weeds pulled. She was so happy to see us and was outside talking with us as we worked the whole time. We are planning on going back this week so I am super excited!!

Friday I got to go to Covington GA for a day! We had exchanges with the STLs (Sister Training Leaders). I went to Covington with Sister Tracy and Sister Anderson stayed in Centerville with Sister Smith. It was actually super fun and busy with Sister Tracy! We had a lesson with a lady she was teaching and we also got to help at the food bank for most of the day!!! I was super excited when I was told we are doing service there. As cars pulled up Sister Tracy would check them in at the computer and I would talk to them and hand out flyers. At the end, some of the people that regularly volunteer there said how they don't know how I could talk to every person for so long! It was a lot of fun! At the end of the day we drove back to Centerville and switched. 

This week we had a few of our Spanish lessons cancel which was kinda sad but we rescheduled. We received a referral from facebook this week from a guy named Adam who wanted to learn about the gospel! We called him and he was so excited to hear from us. He had some hard things go on in his life and said how he really wants to make God a part of his life. We invited him to church and he came! He sat with some members that we thought he would get along with and after sacrament he came up to us in tears how he really felt the spirit and would like to keep coming. He asked for a Book of Mormon and we gave him one as well.This week we have a lesson with Adam and we are super excited to get to know him more! We also had another friend come to church! She had to leave half way through but she said she really enjoyed it!

One thing that I have loved about serving so far is that my love for others has grown so much! I feel super blessed to be able to be surrounded by so many people that love God! I know that as we try to see others as Christ does our love for them will grow stronger!! I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!!:)

-Hermana Worley 

Pic: Sister Tracy and I at the food bank!

Cockroaches are Gross 04/19/2021

 Hola!! This week lot of things happened! On Wednesday we had a really cool experience with someone we are teaching. Hermana Anderson and I had some spare time during the day so we decided to drop off a Book of Mormon to our friend we are teaching because she requested one. She lives with a lady that we have taught in the past, so we thought to take two just in case we saw her. When we were walking up to the house we saw the lady that we use to teach sitting on her porch reading a book. She was a little shocked to see us and asked why we are here. We explained how her friend wanted us to bring her a Book of Mormon and that we brought one for her as well. We ended up sitting and talking with her outside for a while and it went really well! She said how she would love if we could start to have lessons with her again.    

This past week we also received two media referrals!!! We set up a time to meet with one over zoom! This lady asked to have a bible study and it went really great! She had never really used or read the bible before but she had one from a friend. We got to know her and ended up sharing a scripture that we thought she would need at this time. She is super awesome and truly desires to have God in her life. At the end of talking we asked if she would like to meet with us again and she was so excited. She asked if we would meet 2 more times this week! The second person that we just recently met is an older man that is from Mexico. He has a friend that is a member that he talked to and was interested in learning more. He invited us to come over and share a message with him and his 3 grandchildren that live with him. We talked about how we can receive peace on this Earth and its through Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ(John 14:27 ;)) after the discussion he asked if there was a church close by that they could go to on Sunday!

    

Hermana Anderson and I also got to go do some service for a member in the English ward! She invited us to garden with her, but when we got there she had us first move some cut branches to the back of her house. (In Georgia peoples back yards are like mini forests) so she told us about a type of snake that is poisonous that has been spotted before! The whole time while there that is all I could think about and my comp kept messing with me by throwing stuff at me feet. I seriously almost started to cry!! Good thing God was looking out tho, am I right or what:) 

     

I have been doing great so far in the mission. Yes my Spanish is far from perfect but I have been seeing improvement which is really good. I love you all and hope you are doing good. I know that life can be hard but through Christ we can receive guidance.

     

Side note: Cockroaches are real! This morning was my turn to clean the bathroom and I saw one! I literally almost threw up. Luckily one of the sisters we live with said she would kill it, so I'm super blessed for that haha!

Pics: 

1. Hermana Anderson and I as we hiked "Stone Mountain" today

2. The view:)

Georgia Peach :) 04/12/2021

 I AM IN GEORGIA!!! A lot of things have happened this past week!! Tuesday afternoon I arrived in Georgia!!! There was 4 other sisters that arrived as well. We were picked up by some missionaries at the airport and stayed the night at President and Sister Needs home(the mission president and wife) My mission president is super nice, talkative and loving.The next day after training I met my companion. Her name is Hermana Anderson and she is really cool. She is from Virginia, loves to craft and keeps it way real. Hermana Anderson was baptized when she was 16 and is the only member in her family as well. She has been out on the mission since the beginning of December so this her 4th transfer. (A transfer is every 6 weeks, then you either move to a new area or receive a new companion.)

I am currently serving in Centerville Georgia! It is at the top of my mission. This zone goes into the other mission (Atlanta Georgia North Mission)so we work with some of the North missionaries at church. This area is super busy with people to teach. We will find people through referrals or through our Facebook pages. Hermana Anderson and I are the only Spanish speaking sisters in our area. We are also in an English ward, so every other week we switch between the two wards! We are currently teaching around 19 different people! So every day we have around 4 lessons. It is one of the busiest Spanish areas in the mission!

On Friday we made cookies to take to some less active members but they ended up being super gross haha. So we made rice crispy treats instead cuz can't go that wrong with 3 ingredients😂😅  When we stopped by to one of the houses the mom swung open the door before we could knock and invited us in! She was super excited to see us and called her two daughters out to talk. They are from the Bronx of New York and moved to Georgia about 9 years ago. They are a super humble family and also wayyy sassy hahaha! At the end of talking the mom said "now you better come back again to talk to us and share a message too!" So we are planning on going back this next week which we are super excited for. 

There are a few things that I have learned about Georgia. 1 is that it is real humid and moist here haha. 2 is that EVERYONE is so open and loving. When we walk through the store or even to our car people are always asking how we are doing and starting a conversation! 

Sorry that this email is long but I truly hope everyone is doing good. If anyone ever needs anything let me know:)

Some pics:

1. Arriving to Georgia

2. My mission presidents

3. My desk decorated by the other sisters we live with

4. Hermana Anderson and I

Sister Worley has arrived in Georgia!!

 Brother and Sister Worley,

We are so happy to have Sister Worley join us in the Georgia Atlanta mission. As we’ve had a moment to visit with her, we have been impressed with the level of her commitment and her desire to continue serving the Lord at this time. 

 

This is an exciting time to serve our Savior, and we appreciate your sacrifice in sharing your missionary with us. Please know that we will love her and follow the guidance of the spirit in helping her fulfill the missionary purpose and to become a life-long disciple of Jesus Christ. 

 

With gratitude, 

President and Sister Needs

 

 

 

I Survived the Home MTC!! 04/03/2021

   Hey everyone! On Tuesday morning I fly out to Georgia! I am super excited to get there. These past 6 weeks in the online MTC have gone by wayyyy fast. I have loved being a missionary and have grown so much already. I am excited to get to know the people in Georgia and invite them to come closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. 

     This week my companion and I had two lessons set up in English but sadly the lady ended up being sick and we never actually got to teach her. This week we also had our second 30 minute lesson in Spanish. My companion and I taught the Plan of Salvation and it went really well. My Spanish is far from perfect but I love being able to practice and learn the language! 

     One of my favorite scriptures is John chapter 15 verse 12-13.

12 This is my commandment, That ye ^alove one another, as I have ^bloved you.

13 Greater ^alove hath no man than this, that a man lay down his ^blife for his ^cfriends.

     I know that Christ loves us all so much that he laid down his life so that we can return to Heavenly Father. I know that he broke the bands of death. I know that Christ has many names and one is our friend. I know that when we make Christ the center of our lives we can receive all that we need. I know that through Christ we can do all things. I hope that you all celebrate Easter with love and gratitude in your hearts for all that Christ has done for us! Have a great week and I will email you next week in Georgia!

-Hermana Worley

Only 1 More Week! 03/27/2021

 This week seriously flew by! It is crazy to think that in just 10 days I will be in Atlanta Georgia!!!! This week I will be hitting single digits!!! WHOOP WHOOP! I have actually enjoyed the MTC so it is weird this week is my last week of classes. 

    This past week my companion and I taught our first 30 minute lesson in Spanish and it went well! She was an older lady and was super sweet! She even would act some stuff out to make sure we understood. I know most lessons will NOT be like this but it was super fun talking to her. We taught her that through modern day prophets we can receive guidance in our lives and have peace on this earth. At the end of the lesson we explained to her how we have the unique opportunity to hear the words of the prophet and we invited her to watch a session of General Conference on April 3rd or 4th! We teach her one more time this coming week and we are also teaching two 30 minute lessons in English so it will be a super fun week!

      On Friday night my district and I had a testimony meeting at the end of our class and the spirit was so strong. We all bore testimony in Spanish! Although there were mistakes made in the language, it amazes me how strong the spirit was through these mistakes and a screen.

     This week during my personal study I was reading in the Book of Mormon in Alma and I wanted to share a scripture I read! It is Alma chapter 32 verse 21 and 27. 

21 And now as I said concerning faith—^afaith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye ^bhope for things which are ^cnot seen, which are true.

27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than ^adesire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.

 

I love these verses so much!! Having faith does not mean you know everything, in fact it is the exact opposite. Faith is having a hope for things that you can not see. I know that it is super important to have faith! Even if you exercise just a single particle. I know that as you do this God will help guide and give you comfort in the things you don't know. I know that Heavenly Father and Christ are cheering us on as we have faith! I love you all and I hope you have a good week!!

-Hermana Worley

Here is a picture from today at my sisters babyshower! (Can't wait to see my cute nephew in a short 17 months ;))

MTC WEEK 4! 03/20/2021

  Hola!! I have learned a lot of new things this week in Spanish! I learned how to give directions, describe objects, count, share a scripture, talk about food, share my testimony and ask questions! In the MTC it is nonstop learning! 

   This week my companion Hermana Warren and I taught our second lesson in Spanish! It was with the same guy we taught last week. Not going to lie, the first lesson with him was good but we had some rough spots for sure. This week was a lot better! My companion and I knew almost everything he was saying and it was cool to talk more with him! This coming week we are teaching someone else and it will be 30 minutes long.

   Something really cool happened this week....I GOT MY TRAVEL ITINERARY!! I don't fly out until April 6, but that is not far away! I fly from Boise to Dallas Texas, then to Atlanta Georgia! Only two weeks away! It won't be fun saying adiós to my family but I am super excited to get to Georgia. 

   On Wednesday my District was reading together in Doctrine and Covenants  chapter 121 and verse 7-8 caught my attention.

 "7 My son, ^apeace be unto thy soul; thine ^badversity and thine afflictions shall be but a ^csmall moment;

8 And then, if thou ^aendure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy ^bfoes."

I know that as we go through trials in this life that we are never alone and it will not be forever. Heavenly Father has promised us that if we turn to him our trials  will be but a small moment. I know that Christ loves us all so much that he gave his life that we may have eternal life! I know that as we turn to Christ and Heavenly Father we may have peace in our lives no matter what is happening!

I love you all and have a great week!!

-Hermana Worley

Half Way There! 03/13/2021

  Hey everyone! This week was great!  A few things have changed for me! One is that one of my teachers left. He was switching to a different job into the field he is studying in college. Which means that we got a new one! (and a new time) My afternoon class is still the same teacher, Hermano Millett and the same time 2pm-5pm. My new teacher is Hermano Hanson and he is super nice. His class time is 5:45pm-8:45pm. Which means only having a 45 minute break from staring at my computer and no more going to bed early, sadly!

     On Wednesday my district switched to ALL Spanish and no English in classes. It was hard the first day not really understanding what was being said but it definitely has gotten better for me since then! I can understand almost everything being said besides a few things! Before the transition they said if we didn't know what they meant then we have to use Spanish Dictionary and let me tell ya, it has been my best friend since!! 

     My companion and I also had our first TRC (a lesson with someone set up by the MTC) in Spanish! The person who we taught was kind to us and it didn't go too bad! We taught that God is our loving Heavenly Father and that through prayer we can talk to him. It was only 15 minutes long which FLEW by! We are teaching him this next week as well! I hope you all have a great week and are staying healthy! Love you all!

-Hermana Worley

Semana Dos 03/06/2021

 Heyyyyy!! This past week went by crazy fast for me! You know the saying time flies when you are having fun? Haha well it has been fun for sure. I have been learning a lot. This week everyone in my district made goals to progress in Spanish! The goals I set were to be able to pray in Spanish and to memorize half of the first vision in Spanish by today! I accomplished both! I learned how to pray in Spanish and my district all takes turns to pray in class to help. I also can now say half of the First Vision in Spanish! Before the mission I had it down in English so that helped a ton rather than just memorizing words! 

   This week my companion Hermana Warren and I taught our first two lessons! They both went really well! The first one we taught was the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the second was on eternal families! The first two we teach are in English and the following, once a week we teach in Spanish. This means that I will be needing lots of prayers these next weeks lol. Just kidding it will be okay! 

   I wanted to share a little experience of service! Today I was in the store with my mom when an older man came up to me with flowers and said I just bought these for you and at first I was really confused and he said how he saw that I was a missionary and wanted to buy me some!! I don't know who this man was but it was so kind! I want to invite you all this week to do at least one act of service for someone you may or may not know!!! Kindness goes a long way!!! You never know what someone could be going through and it could be a blessing to them!!! 

P.S. Sorry for the lack of photos last week. Here are some pics I did snag of my district and my companion!

I MADE IT TO THE MTC ;) 02/27/2021

    Hola!!! I hope all of you are doing great! As some of you may know, I was set apart as a missionary this past Tuesday night! So far the home MTC(missionary training center) has been really good. I am in the MTC for 6 weeks because I will be speaking Spanish. The first 2 weeks we are learning how to be missionaries and the remaining 4 weeks we will focus on Spanish! Before I started the MTC almost everyone I talked to said that the mtc was like "drinking from a firehose".... and that statement couldn't be more true! There is so much information that is thrown at you in classes! Sometimes it is hard to keep up. My classes are typically from 9-12 and 2-5. With free time I make sure I am always doing something to learn. I will either review previous lessons, scripture read, study Spanish or sign up for "workshops" that the MTC will put on.

    I am still getting to know my district but so far everyone is really nice and outgoing! My district consists of 7 missionaries, a pair of elders, a trio of sister missionaries and then my companion and I! My companion is Hermana Warren and she is called to serve in the Arizona, Mesa mission! Which is a major coincidence because my brother served there and we just went back to visit last month. So we have been talking a bunch about Arizona as she asks! She is super funny and keeps it real which makes talking to her a relief!

    I have had one Spanish class so far and it was great! I definitely am not good at speaking yet but I am super excited to learn! I hope you all know that Heavenly Father loves you and that he hears your prayers!! I can testify of prayer. I have been praying for the ability to retain the information taught and I can see a difference as I do! So keep on saying your prayers because he hears them and wants to help!! I love you all and keep being awesome people!

-Hermana Worley