truth doesn’t need to be defended

                Happy Tuesday! Yep the library was closed yesterday so we are E-mailing today J this week has been another good one and a lot of things have been going on. We were able to find two new investigators they are a mother and a daughter. They were found when I was in So Bo (South Boston) on exchanges and Elder Butts went to go find a less active  member and didn’t know which apartment it was and so he just started knocking on the doors and the older Sister Gaddy was there and invited them right in (there was a man there fixing her air conditioning so they could go in) and they set a time for the next day. When I came we talked a lot about the Book of Mormon and the church and they were just so happy and had a lot of good questions.  The younger sister Gaddy is 19 with a baby girl that is 7 month old, and they both just soaked it all up and are now going to read and pray to know the truth.

              I think it’s so great that we don’t have to convince someone of the truth of the church but that they can know it for themselves if they just read and pray. Heavenly Father promises to tell them the truth! Man I just love it!

                So another story on Saturday we were planning on biking to the flea market and contacting people there and as we left the apartment Elder Butts decides that his tires are a little flat so he starts filling them up and then BBBOOOOMMM his back inner tube pops but, he has a spare and throws it on and we go on our way. Then as we get onto main street all the sudden I hear a pooffffffffffffffffffff as my back tire starts to go flat………. So we decide that we are not meant to go to the flea market. After a few more tender mercies we are able to have a lesson with a less active that has just been reactivated and we were able to find out about a few more concerns and we were able to help with that and it was great!

When I get home I'm going to be a pro at fixing my bike. I still get compliments on my bike all the time haha.

                So last Monday we went golfing well we were thinking we were going to go to the county club and play 9 holes but instead the member took us to the driving range to see if we can even play golf. He was very surprised in me haha and all I could say was me and my dad had a good time playing back home like 3 times…. And it was a lot of fun! And then this week we were going to go but there was a tournament  and we are not that good haha so we ran to the tennis court and played tennis for a little….. I miss basketball a little and a great part of basketball is that you get to play inside haha but it was a lot of fun and I'm just glad we were able to go out and do something.

                And there is a lot more stuff that happened but that is the big stuff I just want you to know that I truly know that what I'm doing is true because if it wasn’t I don’t think any of this kinda of stuff would happen and the statement of “truth doesn’t need to be defended “ is so true. I love the gospel!

                All right take care and be safe!

ELDER MAUGHAN                     

BIG SURGERY DAY!

hey family!

well IM ALIVEEEEE!!!

I gues I should just get to the point or the foot for that matter....I went to the Doctor last thursday and he did in fact tell me that I had 2 bone spurs on my toe...fun huh? WELL to get rid of them they cut open your toe and shave/file off the bone. fun right? Meh. Seriously I have had more needles and blood drawn since ive put in my mission papers than I have like my whole life. Seriously thats been the worst part. SO thursday I had to go to the hospital and they did all this pretesting on me, you know teaching me how to use crutches, taking samples of my urine, signing my life away in consent forms and oh ya DRAWING MY BLOOD. Its supposed to stay inside the body. not in little tubes taken out by pointy death objects that suck it out. Oh ya so I also had to get xrays done on my toe and oh boy was that interesting! how many doctors does it take to xray one little foot? well when theyre young guys apparently all that they have working that day...3. did I mention that Im still in proselyting clothes? AKA a skirt.

Then Friday=BIG SURGERY DAY! I will admit I  was pretty nervous. The last time I went in for surgery was for my nariz...and you know what I hate? the smell. but it was all good. Surprisingly all my doctors and nurses where of the male gender and i had to give everyone of them the low down on how old I was, when my birthday is, whats my name and when my last menstral cycle was. Anyways long story short they stuck me with another needle for the iv, drugged me up, cut me open and sent me home. Hermana Hoer Im sure has a different story of how I was when I got out of surgery. Apparently there was no filter. I was talking about the doctors, the chicken juice they gave me to eat and the pain killers...not to mention that I had a song in my head the whole time.... I wonder what was goin on the surgical room.  So everything went well, Im wearing a very fashionable boot on my left foot that everyone is gonna catch on to. just you watch. its just like the flowers in the hair....except now boots on the feet. And I have doctors instructions to stay off my foot for a week.

That may not seem like that long. but I cannot believe how hard it is. Its like every missionary at some point in their mission kind of wishes for a couple days where they can just stay inside and chillax for a bit. But let me tell ya....I just wanna get out there and work man. Im really missing the bike and hate sitting on my butt. but Ive gotten to do some really good studying and had some very funny moments with my companion...hahahaha we laugh so much. weve even resorted to writing dear john letters and weve got a pretty hilarious one that im sure chris would love :)

This morning for instance we decided to make german puff pancakes. well they were in the oven we both were sitting down writing letters. all of the sudden it starts smelling funny but ladeedada still writing letters and then hermana Hoer looks up and says..."uh....the smoke alarm is probly gonna go off." I look up and everything is like foggy...GAHHHHH smoky kitchen. man we were laughing so hard. plus we found out that our smoke alarm doesnt work. :) German Pankcakes were yummmy. not too crispy.

On a spiritual note--As for studies Ive been really trying to finish the Bom in spanish and its interesting how much more attention it takes--well not interesting. factual. so anyways it takes more focus to read and with that more focus there is more attention placed on the words and the word order/ sentance structure and spanish is a beautiful language and they just dont waste time. its blunt and forward. and right now im reading in 3 nephi the first couple chapters and its all about the signs of christ birth and death and it really hit me that how only 9 years after they saw the sign of christs birth the people went wicked again and hardend their hearts. and you know im really trying to apply the scriptures to me and to my investigators and its really interesting how these same things happen in our life. we may not see crazy signs but we recieve answers and little miracles that show us that God is there and that we are loved greatly by our heavenly father and yet how long is it before we forget and move on with life and feel like were alone in whatever were going through? sometimes shorter than 9 years. more like 9 minutes or hours. and because of this weakness we have along with others-many many for me-we all fall short of the glory of god. and for this we all need repentance. and the only way that we can return to live with god is because of the sacrifice that christ made for us. what a wonderful and awe-some gift he gave us. the gift to repent and try to continually be better and better each day. Sitting on the couch for this week has made me realize somethings that have been signs of Gods love for me and I have looked over them or quickly forgotten them...I am eagerly looking forward to being able to walk and ride and work again with my whole heart mind might and strength. This gospel never ceases to amaze me, how everything just fits and makes sense and how when we live the principles of the gospel we truley are blessed.

Thats the update for this week. we have a car for now so instead of biking adventures, there are adventures of parallel parking and even finding parking spots in the city :) and hobblin me just fancy bootin it along. :) I love you all so much! thanks for all the love and support!

hope all is well! since i cant walk on my foot why not go eat some more chicken feet right?! no thanks! :)

Love you!

paz y amor,

Hermana Maughan

Truly amazing how simple our message is...

Ok what is up with Timothie having foot surgery?  Im the only one that is allowed to get hurt! That’s my role as the oldest Brother…  Well I will be praying for her.

                But the week was good another one that just drained me physically and spiritually. We were asked to sit on the stand at church so everyone could see us and one of the speakers is a professor at North Carolina University and I was trying so hard to stay awake but i will have to say I fell asleep twice but I did a good cover by holding my scriptures and looking like I was reading something (with my eyes closed) and Elder Butts didn’t even see... so I'm just that good but I felt really bad because it was really good and I don’t like missing stuff in church…. That’s what happens when you’re working 24 hours a day and your head hits the pillow and then all of the sudden the alarm is going off… I LOVE IT!!! I really do it feels so good!  

                So I have a story about how revelation comes through the book of Mormon. Just this past Wednesday when we went to a referral's home, it just started good as soon as we pulled up to the house. He was outside and then as we walked up he was like “you want to come in?”. His name is Ryan and he is about 19-20 and has been around Latter Day Saints most of his life and just had a few questions. He wanted to know what we believed and we started talking about how Heavenly Father is truly our father and loves us and then about prophets and how God has all ways worked through a prophet. We talked about Jesus Christ and what he did for us and then the great apostasy and the restoration. The spirit was so strong through the entire lesson and it wasn’t even Elder Butts or I teaching we were just saying words and the spirit was teaching.  After we talked about Joseph Smith we asked if he had any questions and he said something but it didn’t make sense and he started thinking about if he had a question and what it was, so we sat there in complete silence for about a minute and a half as he was thinking (and I was praying… a lot) but then he asked why was it Joseph and not someone different? Then we asked him a question.  If he wanted to know if it was true and he said that he really did so we started talking about the Book of Mormon and how if we read and pray about it we will find that it is true and that means that Jesus is the Christ , Joseph was his prophet, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Christ's church once again on the earth. (how great is that?) and then everything after that came to the fact that he needed to read and pray.

It was truly amazing how simple our message is and someone that truly wants to know only has to read and pray… I just love it!

                Well there is my story for the week I really enjoyed it. Oh we also gave blood (second time on my mission) and I just love doing it, one thing is that it's service I can give while laying down and another you get free stuff after haha. Each time I give I feel perfectly fine after J

               Oh ya! The other day I saw my first lighting bug! It was really cool! And for being in NC  and this the first time ever seeing one elder butts was laughing about how fascinated I was about it so he caught it and as soon as he showed me he let it go…… It reminded me of the first and only fish I was able to catch: I'm still into it and amazed and then someone else goes and throws it away… hahaha   
                So that’s my week I hope you all doing good and and a lot of good things happen as well!! 

LOVE ELDER MAUGHAN             

Mexican burri-TOE

Howdie do yall day?

Well first off this week has been crazy! it is just funny to me how we plan to have certain things done and you know what? they just dont seem to happen! Life isnt it? well

Last Monday we went looking for an apt, and this monday we moved into a new apt. crazy fast right? but good news is that the floor isnt slanted and it doesnt smell of doggy poo poo...its a really nice apt and we love it. and we just found yesterday that our neighbors below us are avid smokers---and not of the regular lung cancer giving tabacco....but of the happy headed plant that grows in the form of many leaves...oh and its illegal....weeeeeeeed....we also learned if you close the bathroom door and then go inside it you can probably leave the bathroom pretttty happy. Needless to say looks like our neighbors need some good ol Church of Jesus Christ in their Lives to help solve some problems :)

Oh and other big news this week---well Ive been having some pain on my 4th toe and feeling some pretty hard bumps on there, I talked to sister doll and she told me I should go check to see if I have any bone spurs on that toe...so off me and Hermana Hoer go to visit the poditrist. After going to a poditrist and having her tell me that I did not have a bone spur but that it was just had a hardend blister, giving me a badage that makes my toe look like a Mexican burri-TOE and sending me on my way...Decided it was probably best to go for a second opinion...

Second opinion: Comes in, looks at my toe, tells me I have two bone spurs. weeeeeeeeee. what does that mean? Surgery! YIPEEEE! you know how I just love needles! So Friday I go in for some bone shavin on my toe. Im goin to the hospital, theyre putting me under and then knumbing my toe up, cutting it open and filing off the lovely bone lumps that have been growing on my toe. Then I wake up with a cool new shoe on. Its gonna be the hip happenin thing here in chicago, just you wait, surgical boots are gonna be in! everyones gonna be wanting to wear one :)

Oh and that means I have to be off my foot for at least 1 week...off my foot for one week in an area where I ride a bike everywhere????thank goodness for zone meeting tomorrow and the fact that they have an extra car for us to use this next week.

p.s. you know whats nice about cars? They have air conditioning.

P.s. you know whats nice about air conditioning? You can actually cool off a bit and not feel like your constantly sweating with the humidity.

So the bone spur adventures will continue next week when im done my surgery! :)

Another thing that happened this week....was that well we moved on monday and some elders came to help us..including our zone leaders....and while they were finishing putting some last little things in our apt we were putting our bikes in the bike room...we came out the same time they did and we left to go drop off alllllll the old sister missionary clothes that have been in our apt for who knows how long..on the way back from dropping the stuff off the zone leaders start talking and say "its really weird that you hermanas have a handicap bathtub" needless to say an interesting discussion was then insued..on whethere our bathtub was really a handicap one..."we live on the third floor in a building with no elevator. how is a handicap person gonna get up those flights of stairs to even use the so called handicap bathtub" we got to our apt and they told us to just go check...ya ya whatever. we get up to our apt and by this time have already let the whole issue pass through our brains to point that weve even forgotten about it. I need to wash my hands so I go into the bathroom and see something funny sitting behind the shower curtain. what ? I pull away the shower curtain and sure enough you know whats sitting in our bathtub?

a wheelchair.

what to do with it now? we have no idea. Yet.

The work here presses on and we are ready to see more miracles this week...The awesome new investigator we found this week, Ramon, well it turns out hes outside of our area :( but there was definately a plan of god invloved in all of this because prettys ure that had we not gone to look at the apt we would not have found him and neither would the other elders serving in his area...God is Great.

Mike-You graduate!!! WEEEEEE congrats! :)

  

but thats all Ive got this week! Till next! sure love you all so much!

paz y amor

Hermana Maughan

It was a good week and full of tender mercies!

Another week and another transfer over, and im staying in Roxboro for at least another 6 weeks and then it will be my year mark…. CRAZY!!!  It all has gone by so fast but im glad me and elder butts can stick together for at least another 6 weeks and its me birthday! I will not be a teenager any more, and that will be weird….. its going by fast.

This week has been a little slow a lot of our investigators have disappeared and we have been working really hard to find new ones and it really funny you know how everyone thinks missionary work is knocking  on doors  well I have only knocked on like 6 doors since iv been in Roxboro , there just hasn’t been time to knock haha (it’s a really good feeling) and I think everyone in Roxboro knows who we are now with it being such a small town and we bike and walk everywhere so that’s interesting  and lots of fun! And I really think a lot of good is going to be coming.

Yesterday in church a less active (well not anymoreJ) that I have been working with the entire time here in Roxboro just got a calling as a teacher! That was really cool and it felt really good and just as good as a baptism because her and her husband(he wants and it working on stop chewing and drinking coffee) are such great people and I been with them since he didn’t know if the church to be true to doing all he can to share the gospel to all he meets! There a family ill never be able to forget!

Sis woods is doing ok but still hasn’t been able to come to church because she all ways really sick, but will be praying really hard about her. And the work is going to just keep on moving forward! And now I don’t have my planner with me of last transfer so I can’t remember all the things that happened last week but I know that it was a good week and full of tender mercies!

Well I got to go I hope you all have a great week! and take care!

LOVE ELDER MAUGHAN

This week has been AMAZING!

Wow…this week has been crazy! With all the service and then the temple, then having elder

Scott come and talk to our mission... the week has just been crazy with the spirit! To the point that after we got home form meeting with elder Scott and it was a 4 hour drive.. we got home and I collapsed on the floor and past out. And it was really funny because I was talking to my comp telling him who to call and I couldn’t remember any of it. I was just out. We laughed a lot about that. Me and elder butts both have felt dead every night this week from just working  and just ready to collapse but still working hard, it was amazing and it has been wonderful! I can’t wait to tell you all about it on Sunday on and this time I get 40 mins and if I can make my call at 3pm my time that would be great!  I really look for forward to it and im not allowed to use the internet to talk to you L but im really looking forward to it!!:)

                I don’t even know what more to say other then this week has been AMAZING! And now that we have some time to go out and find the people that want to know the truth I know we will be able to show them the truth and help them to feel that joy! And that’s so cool that elder packer came to speak to you! You know that he was here a few months ago and talked to our mission.. did he say anything about it? He really is a great guy and he really has the spirit with him!

                I love you all so much and its so great to read your letters and next week ill tell all about everything just today is major writers block haha I love all so much and take care! I love you!

                ELDER MAUGHAN

Doing the work of the lord. :)

hey hey the bam awesome fam! :)

so a bit weird that youre hearing from me again on a thursday instead of a wednesday huh?? well all the libraries in chicago were closed yesterday for some training thing so we got the permiso to write emails today. so big cool thing is that i get to talk to you all on sunday!!!!!! YAAAAYYYY!!! :) and we can do a skype thing or a face time thing because the peoples house we are going over to have both :) so elder beck (the senior couple missionaries) said that the face time is better quality than the skuype. so which ever you wanna do! :) 

But this week has been good. me and hrma heor have done a lot of bike riding this past week and i didnt think my legs could possible be sorer than they were the first week i was here but they are. so now i look like a soaking, homeless girl who stole a bike and walks like shes been horse back riding for 5 days straight. pleasent sight right? yesterday we did like 20miles on the bike. and today its gonna be right up there too...

this week has been hard. we are both trying to learn the area and find new investigators. marcelino has dropped off the face of the earth and we cant contact him. he wont answer or return our phone calls and never answers the door. and he didnt come to church on sunday. i sure hope hes ok. and then the same with some of the other families that we were teaching here. they are just not progressing. so we are now on the hunt for some newbies who have been waiting. Hermana Hoer is awesome though, we have set our vision of what we want to see happen and what we see ourselves becoming (the good energy and attracting what we think thing)  and we are really very excited for the work we are preparing for.  the directions and riding the bike is actually going pretty well. we have only got lost a couple of times :) and its all a part of it thought right?

but my spanish--man i really do feel the lord helping me so much to be able to understand and speak as much i do now., I mean I have to be the one to call and confirm appts and we have english classes starting up today and the elders who made the ads were so nice to put our phone number on the ads so to say in the most simplest terms our phone is blowing up with spanish phone calls! and let me tell you something talking in spanish is hard enough and then talking spanish over the phone is even harder but im makin it through. and i know its all the lord. only through him am i being helped. :) thank good ness for miracles!

This monday I got invited to go to mission counsel which happens the first monday of every month and all the zone leaders meet with president and the assistants to discuss about how the zone is going and also about what is going to be focused on in the zone meetings for that month. so it was really cool to be able to be a part of that this month. only like 4-6 sisters get asked to come. we had a really awesome discussion on the doctrine of chirst which is 2 nephi 31. and its just amazing how kids our age can be talking like this about spiritual things and just doing the work of the lord. :) 

we dont have very many members feeding us here because we dont have very many members that live in our area so some recipes would be greatly appreciated :) I just have no idea what to cook... i know i dont want rice or beans.

oh and everywhere i seem to go seems to be at the time where our lease expires so guess what we get to look for again? yep a new apt! hahaha in the city man its hard to do it with a budget :) but this gives us a chance not to have slanted floors and dog poop ordors in our apt right? :)

I hope that everything is going good over there I miss you all tons and hope you have a great week! Talk to you on sunday family!!

Paz y amor,

Hermana Maughan