April 16, 2013

Oh my gosh time flies! We are already on the 6th week of this transfer! I cannot believe it has been so fast! My companions and I are really getting along and I don't want to have to say goodbye to either one of them! (I just asked President if we could all stay here... I doubt it though!) Let me think of some highlights to let you all know about...

We have been teaching Sister Stickles since my first day in Indy! She was a former that we went to visit and we have been teaching her every week since I got here. On Friday she accepted a baptismal date of June 1st! WHAT?! I'm so excited for her. She is going to be amazing, and I can't wait to keep working with her to help her make it! Oh and Sister Hodge is doing amazing at preparing for her date a week from Saturday! We are nervous she will make it because she quit smoking very close to her cut off date. We are just praying and fasting that she won't smoke anymore! Quitting smoking is hard, but she knows the church is true and her desire to be baptized out weighs her addiction, at least that my impression. She is so amazing and I love her so much! Her husband cracks us up because he just makes the funniest comments during our lessons! He always says that he knew that Sister Missionaries were what she needed, and after her meeting with Elders of and on for a year, and us coming in and he accepting a date pretty soon after, I wonder if he is right! Some times sisters can help people that Elders can't, and vice versa of course! This is just one of those times where I am so grateful to be a Sister Missionary in this area at this time so I can continue to help Sister Hodge prepare!!! 

We tract into a TON of people from the country of Berma. They always let us right in to teach them, but because of the language barrier it has been really hard. They are the most prepared people though. The country of Berma is communist and does not allow people to be Christian, so if they are they seek religious refuge in America, and there is a church here for them, hence the reason there are so many around. One family let us in this week and when we taught them about prophets the son translated to the parents and their face just lit up. They said if they spoke our language they would come to our church! Oh how I wish the church would get Book of Mormons in their language (Chin). They are ready for the gospel, and we just have no way to help them right now! 

We had a zone meeting this past week that was really good! Its fun to see all the missionaries around and have bomb training like the one we had! We have another training tomorrow for trainers and trainees, and I'm excited for that because those have always been amazing! And I get to see Sister Guy tomorrow and hear about how all my friends in Lafayette are doing! 

I gave a talk this week in church. I felt impressed to speak on the Restoration, so I basically just taught the first lesson, and then the High Counselmen who spoke with me ALSO talked about the Restoration. I don't know if the congregation will ever realize just how led by the Spirit that Sacrament meeting was, because both of us were asked to talk about whatever we wanted to! The bishop came up to me later to tell me what a great job I did and how he really appreciated it! I guess my public speaking minor and my love for the gospel is shown when I'm asked to speak! I just loved it so much! I love the Gospel so much! I LOVE that Heavenly Father loves us so much that He has brought back the fullness of the Gospel for us to have in these days, and being a person to share that message with Indy is just about the greatest thing in the world! 

Hope everyone has an amazing week! Shout out to Kyle who's birthday is this week and to Skylar who is going to be born this week! Welcome to the world niece number 6! I love you all so much,

Sister Cordner

April 8, 2013

This week has just been so bomb! Every week as a missionary is, but this week just was even more! Tuesday we had 5 appointments just back to back to back! Only 1 of them fell through... and that makes for kinda a weird story about how we were in her house when her daughter came home and said, "Are you the mormons who have been coming over and talking to my mom?" And then she goes outside to talk to her mom and yell at her and run inside crying... and we left after that before the lesson started... so yea... missionary work is so fun, and funny too!!! So Tuesday was great and then Wednesday was super fun! We went downtown and met up with the YSA sisters and did a huge mass exchange. I went out with Sister Donaldson who is the only other sister training 2 missionaries right now and she gave me great advice. Then I went on campus with her new missionary and the two of us just tore IUPUI up! We talked with so many people and got so many phone numbers! YSA is so different but it is so fun! Then that night I got pulled over because my tail light was out, that was exciting, and so all day Thursday we were running around trying to get that fixed up! I don't even remember what happened on Friday, something good I'm sure.... oh yeah we had dinner with an investigator and it was so good! She will be baptized soon for sure, she is amazing. OH MAN! 

Then for the best part of the week, GENERAL CONFERENCE! We watched it at the church building and just had the best time being fed spiritually by our leaders! What a feast!!! I obviously loved all the talks about missionary work, Elder Anderson's in particular! I have been wondering how I can be a better missionary and how I can be a better leader, and he said that nothing will stop the Lord's work from progessing! Thats when it hit me that I'm just an instrument in God's work, so as long as I rely on Him, and constantly ask Him what I should be doing, I won't feel like I'm failing. I can find joy in inviting people, and even if they don't accept the invitation (because most of the time they won't) I still can have joy in the fact that I am doing what God wants me to be doing! I don't know if thats what Elder Andserson said, but that is what the Spirit told me during his talk! Also, of course, I loved President Monson's! We had an investigator who was having a hard time with Joseph Smith calling himself a prophet... she thought that was prideful and boastful. We told her what prophets were and invited her to look up President Monson speak and watch him. She doesn't think he is a pride or boastful person at all, she loves him!!!! We had another investigator we called last night to ask about conference just go off about how much she loves him! If Sister Cordner can't convince these people, than the Prophet can! (Well the Spirit is what is doing the convincing, but you understand my point!) I just cannot wait to go talk to all of our investigators this week about conference. One of them texted us during conference to tell us that two of the talks were addressed to her and how amazing it was! 

To quote the amazing Sister Farr, "This church is just so true, I  cannot handle how true it is!" haha, she said that during her personal study today and it made me laugh! Later today we are going to play racketball with a member! The ward here is fantastic and the work is moving along! Sister Hodge has a baptism date for April 27th, so we are busy helping her get everything ready for baptism! What a great time it is to be a missionary! I love this work and I love the Gospel! 

Sister Cordner!

April1, 2013

There is nothing better than a holiday about our Savior Jesus Christ while being a representative of Him. I can't even begin to tell you what a wonderful week it has been! I'm just going to jump to Easter because it was so wonderful.

Because we have General Conference next week (WHICH I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT) we had fast Sunday this week, and Fast Sunday on Easter was bomb. So many good testimonies on Him. We were a little sad that some of our gators didn't come out, but we did have one there! She is married to a member so we can always count on them being there. Then we taught Gospel Principles class and it was on the Atonement (we didn't even plan it, that was just the week we were on!) Such a good lesson! Then Relief Society was amazing! We got TONS of candy from ward members, five different families came to church with baskets or bags for all three of us! The ward just loves us so much. Walking down the building everyone is so excited to say hi to us and you will hear things they say to their friends like, "Oh it is just so good to see Sisters here!" Its been a LONG time since Sisters were in the Indy 1st ward! So we were nervous going into Easter Sunday because we really didn't want to knock on peoples doors while they were with their families doing church things and try to talk to them about a different church, and we didn't have any solid appointments going into Sunday. But we had texted that part member family I told you about earlier and at church they asked us if we still wanted to come over. So we went and watched Finding Faith in Christ with them. Afterwards Sister Farr bore POWERFUL testimony on the Atonement, and Sister Hodge asked how she knew she was cleansed from sin. So Sister Farr explains how she felt, we asked Brother Hodge how he felt after he got baptized, and I asked Sister Hodge if she desired that. She was crying and said yes. The spirit was so strong and I invited her to follow the example of her Savior and be baptized, and she said yes!!! Oh man, it was one of the best experiences I have had out here. I have invited others before and others have said yes, but her's was just so amazing because she truly understood what was going to come of this. Her husband of course was so excited and started telling her how exciting this was because they could go to the temple together... This is what missionary work is for! These small moments make up for all of the hard moments we go through!!!

We also visited a less active and watched Finding Faith in Christ with her. So powerful! I just love Him so much and I feel closer to Him now than I ever have. People told me all the time that you can have a closer relationship with your Savior, and I never fully understood what that meant until I came out on my mission and learned to rely on Him for so much! He is my everything and I wish every day was Easter! 

Other exciting news... we are going on an exchange with the YSA sisters this week. I am spending a whole day on the IUPUI campus finding YSA people! I can't wait! I want to serve YSA so bad its not even funny! The one time we blitzed Purdue campus was one of my favorite days, so I'm excited to spend another day on a campus! 

This week is FULL of appointments, I almost feel bad when someone wants to see us and we have to schedule it for 5 days in advance, but its just fun to be busy! We are helping a less active paint after conference on Saturday night, I'm pretty excited for that service project! And we play bingo at a retirement house and last week I called out the numbers and all the old people loved me! They were talking to us forever after Bingo, they thought we were so cool! I love being a missionary!!!

This is such a good area, and I love my companions so much! My homesickness for Lafayette is not as bad as it was, even though I still long to know how my investigators are doing there, I have been able to fall in love with Indy, and I'm so glad to be here! I love everything about this work! I love the church! I love being a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ!!!! 

Love, 

Sister Cordner

March 25, 2013

So the library we usually go to is closed, not sure why, but some people said because of the weather. Its not even that bad... but whatever, anyway the other library only lets us on for 30 minutes and I've already used 15 just reading emails, so this may be a quick one but here I go...

This week has been so good, but hard at the same time. Training 2 is kinda tricky, and we are still getting used to teaching together. They are both more on the shy side, and they are amazed at the fact that I can talk to people. I don't know how to teach someone to talk because it just comes to naturally to me, so I'm not sure how to help them both yet, but I'm trying! The area is just amazing! I miss Lafayette still, but Indy is really growing on me! I really like the ward, and they are really excited to have Sisters here and they are beginning to use us a lot! We taught a lot of lessons this last week to Less Actives which is good but I would rather teach investigators, but we were able to find 3 new investigators though. When I got here a few weeks ago they had about 2, kinda 3 people they were teaching in the area, and now we have 7, I have found 6 in 2 weeks! Kinda neat! I have a really cool expereince with finding this week too! 

Like I said, we were teaching a lot of LAs, and on our way to a less actives house, I saw a lady just sitting on her porch. We were kinda late to our appointment, but I just had the impression to stop and talk with her, but we were driving and I just drove to the less actives. My companions were on the phone and writing something down, and I just told them we had to go talk to that lady, so we walked to her house and she was no longer outside. So I decided we needed to knock on her door, and she answered and started talking with us. She just moved here and feels very lost in life. She has smoked for 30 years and really wants to quit. She kinda goes to church with her brother but isn't so sure of it. We had a really good conversation about how God can help her get through anything, even smoking, and how we have a very special message about Jesus Christ that we would love to share with her. She invited us in but we still had to go to our other appointment, so we scheduled a time to go back. She said she was REALLY excited for us to come back. We prayed with her on the doorstep and she almost started to cry. It was one of those moments where I knew that the Spirit had guided us to her in that very moment. We were late to our Less Actives house, but it didn't matter. Heavenly Father uses his missionaries to help those who He prepares. I love being a representative of Jesus Christ and I love being a tool in this huge amazing work that is going on! I love being a missionary! 

We have interviews with President this week and I can't wait! We also have 5 lessons scheduled for tomorrow, the area is really blowing up! I love it!!! We had weather in the 60s last Saturday, and now there is about 5 inches of snow on the ground and it will probably keep snowing for a couple more days. I thought it was supposed to be Spring but I guess Indiana has its own idea of when the seasons will change. I love it here so much and I love being a missionary! thanks for everyones love and care!!!

Sister Cordner

March 18, 2013

Guess what?!?!?! I'm in Indianapolis!!! I am serving in the Indy 1st ward, and so far its been really great. There was a little surprise for me at transfer meeting though. I told you I would be training, because that is what I was told... President didn't tell me how many I would be training though... I'm in a trio with one sister who has been out for about 6 weeks (sister Farr) and another new sister who got here this week (Sister Knight.) Remember last October when President Monson said sisters could come out at 19, and my first thought was, oh gosh I don't want to have teenagers as companions.... well now I have 2! I think Heavenly Father has a little bit of a sense of humor. My first reaction was... what the heck? I haven't even been out too long, how am I supposed to train 2 new sisters? And its hard too because they are both at different stages of training. So going tracting I don't know how to teach the new one how to do it and help the not as new one do it... but then they just sort of both jumped into it. I am relying on God a lot to help me know what to do, because I really just don't know half the time. The best thing about the trio though is that Sister Farr has already been in the area for the last month and a half, so I wasn't double transferred into a new area. She knew the ward members and the area a little bit, and that made it easier for me.

This area is different because it was closed before Sister Farr got here and there isn't a lot of investigators. Coming from Lafayette where I was teaching at least 2 investigators a day to here where we are lucky to teach 2 a week has been a hard transition. We have found 3 new investigators though since I got here last Wednesday, so we are planning on meeting with them again later this week and I am excitied for them. I do desperately miss all the people I was teaching though. The only thing I could focus on at church this week was all the people in my last ward and wondering who came to church this week, if Sister Guy was having success with her greenie (who is a convert of about a year and a half btw... she is so cool!) The best thing though was a little tender mercy that Heavenly Father gave me in Relief Society. There was a sister there who is in my old ward, she is engaged to a member in the Indy 1st ward so she comes down every other weekend, so when I saw here sitting in my new ward I was just overcome with joy. I think it was a tender mercy because I was so homesick for Lafayette. 

My companions are like, really like, cool! Like they are super cute, and like, fun to work with... and like we have a good time together... like....

(hahaha, the joy of working with a 19 year old!) But really, they are both just amazing! Sister Knight is already talking to people at doors, which Sister Stanford will tell you took me at least a few weeks! She doesn't talk that much in lessons yet, but thats to be expected. We have had some really good studies together and I think the three of us will get into a good teaching routine here soon. Its just hard to mix 3 different personalities to teach 1 lesson, and especially when they are both so new... But they are great and I love these girls to pieces! We really get along great! 

The ward has been great! The bishop had us over my 2nd night here, and the Ward Mission Leader took us out to dinner on our first night here. They seem to really enjoy the fact that there are sisters serving here, and are just really excited to help us in the work! We had one part member family come to church, and we have an appointment set up with the non member wife later this week, so I'm excited to jump into that! I really am excited for all of the future, but a piece of me just can't let go of Lafayette... and I don't think it ever will. 

My new address here is

8515 Red Oak Ct. Apt G

Indianapolis, Indiana 46227.

I don't know how long I will be here, its a possibility I will be here to finish training Sister Knight, but with the way things change with all the new missionaries, I might be out of here soon... so who knows! But I really like it here, and being in this trio has been a lot of fun so far! 

Thanks for all the letters and prayers, I love you all so much,

Sister Cordner