July 19th Email

Okay, so logistical things first.... I now have a profile on Mormon.org! WOO! Check me out! It's under "lianna"... We're not allowed to give out missionary info, just that we're serving missions... so that's why it's my first name. Anyway, look it up, and then make one! =)

It's been a miraculous week! We started teaching this man, Todd. He's a referral from his neighbors, the Mccashs. They called us a few weeks ago and told us that they had these neighbors that would like to learn more about the church. We dropped by and set up an appt with them. Their names are Helen and Todd Kmiecik. They are amazing. Helen is actually already a member, but a lost sheep. She Stopped going when she was really young, and doesn't remember her baptism, but her mom is active and said she's been baptized. Anyway, they have this amazing desire to do something different in their lives, so they are coming back to church. Todd says he's been feeling so much better about life. He's seen changes that have come because of his faith. He said it's not just because he's going to church, but because he has more faith now. He really feels the spirit. It's amazing. He's been reading and going to church, even before actually meeting with us, and has committed himself to do all of these things! We all hit it off right away. I feel like I've known them for forever, and it's like I'm watching my long time friend turn his life around. It's so neat how that happens. Anyway, We invited him to be baptized, and he will be baptized on the 30th! The other day we taught him about the Word of Wisdom, cause we were pretty sure he smoked, and he said that he and Helen recently decided to quit drinking coffee. He said that he was reading one of the pamphlets a few days before, and after reading it he knew that he needed to give up smoking. It wasn't the W.o.W pamphlet, it was a different one, but he recognized the need to change his habits. He wrote down on the pamphlet, "monday and 6:00"... meaning, that on monday at 6 he was going to quit smoking. AMAZING. I promised that I would quit eating unnessecary sugar, while he was quitting, so that he would know that I was giving something up to. Haha. He probably doesn't really need me to do that... but I really need to be better about that, so I'm having him hold me accountable! haha. I'm only eating desserts at dinner appts. It's helpful, every time I want to eat a piece of candy, I just remember that Todd is not smoking a cigarette. It's nice =) Anyway, it's been so neat to see the blessings that he is experiencing right now. And for Helen, too... she is so excited to see the changes in her life as well. They are amazing =)

Right now there's an annual pageant going on at the Kanesville Tabernacle in Council Bluffs, IA. They put on a pioneer play called "come home to kanesville." This year, President approved a "missionary session," that we were all allowed to attend. It was a lot of fun! Kind of weird, being at a play... but really cool. I hadn't been to the Tabernacle since the beginning of my mission, so there were lots of flashbacks going on, and it made me a little queezy. haha. I enjoyed it though, and since I'm obsessed with the pioneers, it was the best! =)

President has a conference call with all of the departing missionaries in their last transfer... so mine was up... We all got on the line, and had a little meeting. He gave us a pep-talk and some advice for staying focused. It was a neat meeting, not overwhelming at all... However, it did make everything a little more real, and it resulted in me getting off the phone at the end, and having a little cry-fest. Don't worry, it didn't last long! I've promised myself that I will NOT go into a fullfledged breakdown over going home. It's just not nessecary. haha.

well, I love you all a lot! Keep writing me!

July 12th Email

Last week was crazy! I had to say goodbye to Sister Stanger, Hale, and Itri. I was uberly depressed. I miss stanger so MUCH. Also a lot of my favorite other missionaries went home, too. It's really weird being the "oldest" now. I don't like it! They had a departing testimony meeting and I was working the TC that night, so I got to run down and say bye to them. I gave stanger the BIGGEST HUG EVER. When I was chatting with her, someone tapped on my shoulder, and I looked behind me and it was my friend Kelsey, who I worked with a lot in Winter Quarters. I had been thinking about her a lot, and I was SO happy to see her. She's an amazing person.

My adventures as a Trail Center Trainer are a bit stressful. Thankfully I'm the newbie, so it's probably not as stressful for me as it is for Sister Larsen. We planned an orientation for all the new sisters, which is a new program, so that took a big chunk of time AND energy. It was fun to do though. We also had my first Trail Center Training on Saturday, which was really fun. We trained on using the Doctrine of Christ in the trail center on tour. The spirit was really strong. Heavenly Father really helped me to not be nervous and just train. I was really thankful for that. It's interesting. Past TC trainers have said before that when they became TC trainer, they suddenly had this deep love for all the sisters. I always kind of assumed that was a lie. haha. I loved them anyway, before, but really, it's true. I feel such love for them, and I have this desire to help them in anyway that I can. I wonder if that's how Zone Leaders feel, too.

I've had some awesome tours. Just yesterday, I took a returning missionary with his family on tour. They were still in town before heading home, so they came back to do a tour. I was really nervous for the tour. I didn't really know Elder Haslam that well, and they were kind of quiet, so when they were in the theater I prayed really hard that I would love them, and that we would all be comfortable and feel the spirit really strong. When we were in the Memorial Room, I was bearing my testimony about some things, and before we went on, Elder Haslam interjected and said that he wanted to say something. He said something along the lines of, "Missions are really really hard, emotionally, physically, spiritually, mentally. One of the biggest motivators for me was knowing about the pioneers...." He said a few things on that, and then said,"I'm so grateful that I got to be here, with all the blood sweat and tears, where they did the same." That's not a word for word quote, but that's basically most of it. It was so powerful. I feel the exact same way. It really hit me hard. It's neat to me to know that Those pioneer angels surround me each time I'm at the Trail Center.

We're teaching this awesome family. Jeremy and Jessica. We GQd them and they told us to come on back, and set up an appt. We went back for the appt and they had cookies and Lemonade all set up for us! cool huh?! Anyway, I ate the cookie, even though i was allergic. Jessica was worried that they looked weird, and I didn't wanna seem snobbish so I just ate it so I wouldn't hurt her feelings. It was good, no matter the consequence! haha. Anyway, they're awesome. They are already super religious, and Jeremy is hesitant about the Book of Mormon, but I know he will get his answer if he really seeks it out =)... Also... they have awesome taste in music... just throwing that out there =)

My calling as TC trainer doesn't allow time for me to be trunky, even if I wanted to be trunky... so don't worry! haha. I love you all.... keep writing me =)

Sister B

July 6th Email

WELL.... it's officially my last transfer as a missionary. It hasn't quite hit me a hundred percent yet... I'm possibly in denial. YIKES. Also, Transfer calls this morning were a little shocking an overwhelming. Sister Myers and I are staying together, which is no surprise, BUT I have been called as the new Trail Center Trainer! AHHH! That basically means that I give trainings every saturday morning to the sisters and senior couples at the trail center. There are 3 of us that do that. Sister Larsen, my MTC comp, and Sister Minert are the other 2. We also handle things like the TC schedule and plan out exchanges, and we get to go to the Zone Leader Council and receive really cool trainings from President Kunz. SO... this is pretty awesome. Daunting... but awesome. I'm actually a bit stressed about it... I don't like more responsibility than nessecary. haha.

Aside from that, The week went pretty well! 4th of July was nice. We had a nice dinner at the Hall's house.They made awesome kabobs for us! They had our investigator Heidi over after, and we had an amazng lesson with her. That family has such a powerful spirit about them. Of course, just like last year, everyone and their mom lit fireworks all week, ALL DAY, ALL NIGHT. So it was a bit exhausting. I secretly enjoyed walking past people's driveways and having fireworks almost blow my hair off.

I took some neat tours. On Sunday, a guy came in, who was really into Mormon history. He said right off the bat that he grew up with missionaries coming over to their house, and so he was somewhat familiar with us. He was SUPER nice and so I was excited to be all missionary-like with him. After I pulled him out of the pioneer film, we started on tour and got talking about Christ, and he actually turned out to be athieist. I was not expecting that. He was the nicest atheist I'd ever met. Anyway, We went around the gallery, and he was super open and asked lots of great questions. At the end, we went down to look at our amazing statues of Christ, and I bore my testimony to him. I said something along the lines of "I know that you don't believe in God, but I know he's there, and that he loves you. I know that missionaries have stopped by your mom's house because God was leading them there. I've been one of those missionaries. I know you don' t believe, but I would like to invite you to learn more about why we do." He wrote down his name and info, and missionaries are being sent there. I don't know why he decided to let them come. My guess is he's not completely satisfied with his life right now... but He's on his way to finding something great.

Other cool experience. So there's this guy Clay. He's a photographer. He went to Florence Days with us and took all of these cool pictures of us solely because of curiosity. He's sort of become our little trail center friend. He comes in often to meet with Elder Watson and chat with him about the gospel, and he finally agreed to be taught. Sister Myers is the one who originally took him on tour, so we've been assigned to teach him for some reason, instead of whoever is in his area. We taught him yesterday at the trail center. The spirit was SO strong. We talked about the Plan of Salvation. I felt like we weren't really teaching, more just talking with a friend about something he needs. It was neat. I hope he felt the difference as strongly as I did.

I've had grand experiences. I've loved it. I'm grateful to have the gospel in my life, and that I get to share it.

June 28th Email

Hola Familia!

It's been a pretty good week! Saturday We got to go into Council Bluffs, IA and search for people from their ward list in the areas where the flood hasn't hit yet. They were all lost sheep that no one knew anything about. It was neat to go and do that. We were responsible for finding out if they had any place to evacuate to, if they needed help moving things out of their houses, and some other things to keep everyone safe. I've learned a lot about how much wards actually do to take care of the people in the areas. It's neat to see it behind the scenes.

We have had some CRAZY storm action happening here. Sunday night we were getting ready to head home, and out of nowhere the sky turned completely black! Usually at that time, it's still light. It doesn't get dark until like 10. Anyway, then sheets of rain started pouring down, and it was impossible to see. We had to get off of the interstate in Ralston and then we drove to President's house, so we could plan for the next day. Then OUT OF NOWHERE the sky turned like a yellow color. It was sooooo weird. Then we finally were able to drive home, and the thunder and lightning was insane. The lightening was lighting up the whole sky. It was like watching computer animated lightning. It was so cool. Nebraska is super intense.

I've had some awesome Trail Center moments. Last week I took a Catholic Priest and Deacon on tour. Father Mike and Deacon Jim. They were awesome! They asked all sorts of neat questions, and I got to know a lot about them, too. It was all very respectful. They were in town from Missouri working on Habitat for Humanity. I also have been able to really focus on helping people feel the spirit while they're here. I've had some really great moments with people. Yesterday 2 men came in. One had been a member for 40 years, and the other, his brother, had been a member for about 11 months. We got to talk a lot about how the gospel has moved us and I learned how the 11 monther ended up being baptized. Ther other man's son, who is a missionary at the Referral Center in Provo, contacted him, and taught him throught Mormon.org, and then 3 weeks later, he quit smoking and drinking coffee and stuff, and got baptized. It was so awesome! They were really neat, and then they referred their sister. I'm excited to call her and invite her to be taught by the missionaries.

We're teaching a woman named Jen Chambers. She is amazing. She's still trying to decide what to do, but her daughters are really involved in Achievement days and Young Women, and she is very involved in Relief society. Her older daughter, Madi, is working on her personal progress! AWESOME! I'm excited to see them grow.

I nearly hyperventilated the other day. I looked at our schedule and realized we only have about a week left in the transfer, and then after that I will only have 6 weeks. SO CRAZY. I'm not a fan of the lack of time... I know I'll be happy and excited to come home, and I am excited... but it's weird to think about. I've loved my mission so much.

I love you all. Keep me posted. You might want to start compiling movies and things so that I won't be totally out of the loop when I get home! haha. I love you

Sister Bonelli

June 20th Email

Hey Fam!

So this week was pretty awesome. I've officially strengthened my testimony of Member missionary work! IT'S SO IMPORTANT! Our ward's super awesome plan has been so amazing! Just having members with us all the time has helped us to have more people to teach. I know that that is a result of us working together, and Heavenly Father recognizing that and helping us do what he's asked! It's been really great. People don't realize that the missionaries can only do so much. We are responsible for teaching, and having the spirit with us, and working extra hard... but our prime responsibility is to help members with THEIR missionary work. We're only so effective without that mind-set.

Some funny experiences to jot down:

*my pinky finger was almost detatched from my hand after being slammed by a 2 year old carrying a pink baton.

*I learned how to properly use a round-about this week. about time.

*Mimi sent me Twilight Candy.... I was beside myself.

We teach this cute little hispanic family. Their Daughter, Salma, is an 11 year old Recent convert, and the rest of the family is investigators. It's kind of a complicated situation, because the parents are not married, so that's why they're not baptized yet. Anyway, Maria, the mom is the sweetest ever. She is way better at english than she thinks she is, and is always learning different little things from us. She has a 2 year old named Esai (pink baton boy)... He calls us Mormonas (mor-mone-ahs). Yesterday we were over there, and Maria always gives us some kind of fruit to take home with us, and Esai has been picking up on this and handed each of us a banana to take home! It was way cute. Also, after he wacked me with the baton, he ran out of the room, and 2 minutes later, he came back with 3 blankets, and put them on me to make me feel better, and to apologize.... He was totally forgiven!

We're teaching a man named Lloyd now. He is a really old veteran from the Korean War. He's awesome! He read his assignment we gave him, and called us and told us he really related to the First Vision. He said he had had some experiences before with people that had passed away. He said that when we went over there next time, he wanted us to explain why he'd had those experiences. WHOA.

This past week has been really fantastic. I love being a missionary. For a few weeks, I started to realize how tired I am, and it was starting to get to me, but I'm good now. I think the end of my mission will be the best part =)

Sister Bonelli

June 13th Email

Hey family!

Not too much to report this week! I got to see Chad! I was so excited. I had been hearing all about him from other sisters, and it was starting to annoy me! He came into the TC and I got to chat with him for a few minutes. I felt bad, because I was having an off day, and I think he may have felt awkward... but I was really happy to see him!

The Trail Center is SO busy. I've been taking a lot of big 40 person tours lately. Big groups come in a lot during the summer months. I got to take a big youth tour the other day. They were from Utah. It was a 90 person tour, but we split them in half. They were all kids who just graduated from high school in the same stake. It was awesome! I got to relate a lot of things to their situation and the spirit was really strong.

It turns out the Elder they had me take on tour is probably going to go home... Sad. I tried really hard to help.

Our ward is starting up a new plan to get the members more involved in the work! We start tomorrow. It's such an awesome plan. I'm excited. Our Ward Mission Leader spoke in Sacrament yesterday, and he gave the most amazing talk! He began the talk by just talking all about the most recent converts in the ward and telling their stories. as he told each one, you could tell how much he cared about them and how much he loved being a part of the missionary work in the ward. It was awesome. Anyway, the ward seems to be responding well and we're excited =)

Not much else is happening. I can see fantastic things in the future for Millard! So excited.

Love you all

Sister Bonelli!

June 6th Email

Hey Family!

It's been a crazy week! We are now attempting to teach a man from Afghanistan. His name is Zmarai! He's awesome. He is very difficult to understand... well, actually, I can understand him, but it's hard to teach simply enough for him to understand me. I've taught a lot of people from other countries, but this is by far the toughest language barrier! haha. It's fun though. He's reading the BOM in Persian.

We were starting to teach this awesome guy named Travis. He was great. The first time we taught him the Spirit was SUPER strong. Nothing in particular happened, it was just strong that time. Anyway, last week, he gave us a printout of a website with a bunch of Anti material. It was super sad. As a missionary, you eventually learn that arguing those sorts of things is really pointless. I wish people would just pray before they start jumping to conclusions. He had so much potential, and he really needed this... Something I love about the gospel is that you don't have to take anyone's word for it. A lot of people are raised in the church, and still eventually have to figure it out for themselves, to know if it's right... people always seem to miss that part of the discussion when we teach. We make a pretty bold claim... that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and that it's the only true church... How could we expect anyone to believe that without asking God? And how can you deny it without consulting him first?

We've been teaching a less-active girl for a while. She's always been really sour towards us. She recently had a still-born, and has had a lot of issues with God. She believes him, knows he's there. Knows he loves her. But she is really mad at him. She would always let us in but whenever we tried to teach a Gospel topic she had a tendency to shut down and become argumentative. Last week we were visiting her and she actually ended up in tears. It was so sad. She told us lots of things about her life that were so devistating. She's been through a lot, and aside from her religious issues, has done pretty well in her life. We realized that to get through to her, we need to just be there for now. She needs to know that there is someone out there who isn't out to get something from her, and that she's not just a number. So... we are seeing her tonight, and trying our best.

We have an investigator that we've had for a while. Her name is Heidi. She's been around for a while, and she's been praying and studying and hasn't quite gotten her answer. We thik we may have figured out why... So we're working with her to see how we can get beneath the surface of the iceberg.

The Trail Center is a crazy house! Everyone and their mom is on vacation, so it's been pretty busy. I decided I like it that way. My tours are a lot more effective when I'm acting on impulse! haha. Yesterday I took LOTS of tours, and each one seemed to be really spiritual. I think with the lack of time to relax, there's no option but to be receptive to the spirit and make sure everyone's tour counts. Kind of cool. Yesterday, I ended up taking one with 3 summer sales reps... It was a fantastic tour, but It suddenly made coming home more real, and I realized that in 3 months I'm going to have to talk to boys again. EEEEK.

Well, i love you all! that's about all to report this week. Next week I'm sure there will be more exciting things =)

Love you!

Sister Bonelli