Photos from the Brandon Zone Conference

 These photos were gleaned from the Tampa Florida mission facebook page

 ..... Isn't she beautiful?   Enjoy!!

A week full of enlightenment and miracles 1/27/2014

Just a few pictures of this week! I made rolls for the first time this week! 

They were surprisingly good!! And Sister L. and I had some blood oranges! :)

This week was full of wonderful, enlightening and spiritual meetings! On Friday we had zone conference, Saturday morning we had a mission wide training (two of the area seventies came) and then stake conference on both Saturday night and Sunday! (where those seventies spoke as well as Sister McConkie, general YW, and Elder Russell M. Nelson!!!) SO YEAH. I have been feasting this weekend!! :)

Here are some things i loved to learn on these meetings:

Zone Conference: President Cusick is such an awesome missionary! He taught us how to street contact with our lesson pamphlets and leaving prayers in peoples homes.  Then we did a bunch of role-plays so it was great! Lately he has really been focusing us on finding, which is where we are lacking, so its great!!!! :) He has encouraged us to get out of our cars and really go talk to people! He wants us to be walking or biking to appointments so we can talk to more people than if were just driving by, it is sooo good!

Mission Training:  First off a side note, Sister L's MTC comp is now companions with my MTC comp!!! :D So that's cool! and we got to see them both on Saturday. 

Okay, Elder Kopischke is a member of the seventy that came to speak at our stake conference, and President persuaded him to come early and meet with the whole mission! He is sooooo funny! And he taught with such a wonderful spirit! He began by asking us a scriptural question; "What desirest thou?" or "What would you have me do?" He gave us all a few moments to write down the list of things that we desire of hope for for our missions and let us continue to add to the list throughout the meeting. My list is a page long, so i wont send it all to you.. but the gist was this: 'to love and serve with all of my heart, might, mind and strength.' Make a list of the things that you desire for your life! It was eye opening to recognize the promise that if we ask the Lord, He is bound to give! We need to first understand what it is that we want, and then to simply ask for it!!

He taught us 4 things to make our mission dreams come true!

1- Be as obedient as possible.

2- Be as pure as possible.

3- Plan as good as possible.

4- Work as hard as possible.

in that order!

We discussed obedience a lot! But not just to mission rules, but to more celestial laws, like obeying the promptings we receive and not letting Satan slowly pull you further from the truth. it was basically amazing, I'm probably not explaining it right. 

He opened the floor to questions for the second half and we could ask what we wanted and either he, or President, or Elder Thompson (our Tampa area seventy) answered it!  Somebody asked a question about boldness and I learnt a lot from the answers given. There are so many ways to be bold! To be bold- be persistent. To be bold- do not deviate from your message. To be bold- be clear, don't confuse loudness with boldness, be plain and simple. To be bold- don't get arrogant or overbearing. To be bold- PRACTICE! To be bold- exercise your faith.

We gain our confidence through Jesus Christ. He is the author and finisher of my faith, He is the reason I can be confident in my message.

AND SOOOOO many other awesome things!

So- another side note, after this training we had a dinner appointment but nothing else set until after, so we decided to walk to our appointment! We were walking for about 30 minutes.. not in the proper walking shoes, and an extra heavy bag, and no one was on the sidewalks to talk to. No one.  We were getting pretty discouraged. We decided that the Lord was probably testing our faith to see if we would try walking again if it didn't work out the first couple times.... so we resolved to just practice how we would approach someone.  We had a pamphlet out and we were running through what we would say, when a car pulled up on the side of the road and a lady rolled down her window and yelled out at us asking if we were Jehovah Witnesses.  I told her we were Mormons and asked her if she had heard of us, she hadn't! Which is weird! hahaha, anyways- she ended up telling us that her 4 year old son just asked her the night before who Jesus was, and she asked us if we had anything that would help her teach him. We ended up giving her a pamphlet, a Book of Mormon and we have an appointment this week to teach them!!! It was such a miracle! She even told us that she drove by and felt like she should ask us, so she did a u-turn to come ask us!! MIRACLE! So, basically I love walking now and we are gonna do it everyday! It was amazing! :)

Now, my time is gone! But Saturday night was a wonderful session on hastening the work and then Sunday stake conference was a broadcast from Orlando with Elder Kopischke and the others I told you- it was broadcast to 48 stakes in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. It was soooooooo awesome too!

Elder Nelson taught the basic doctrines of Jesus Christs gospel in 9 facets:

1- The Godhead

2- The Plan of Salvation

3- The Atonement

4- Dispensations, Apostasy, Restorations

5- Prophets

6- Priesthood and Priesthood keys

7- Ordinances and Covenants

8- Marriage and family

9- Commandments

He left us all with his prayer that we will love the Lord and yoke ourselves to Him. And that we can be one of His true disciples. Learn by teaching and feasting on His words and live as He lives, love and He loves.

Let me tell you how happy and blessed I am right now to be serving my Lord and to see miracles everyday. He watches over each of us and whatever we desire will be given us, we need only ask!! I love this work and I love you all!!!

See you in a week,

Sister Ormsby

Another Transfer!!?? 1/20/2014

I just love her beaming smile!

                                                

So a quick explanation first from Mum:  Transfers were last weekend, and Sister Ormsby & her companion have been together this whole time, so they (and everyone in their ward & families) were certain they wouldn't survive another transfer!!  Also this week's photos are from the Florida Tampa Mission FB page... there was a Brandon Zone declutter & restock day!

I KNOW! Can you believe I get to keep my best friend and the best ward for another 6 weeks?!!! I am in shock still :D
How on earth can carter be growing up that quickly?!??!!!! I swear, he just learnt how to roll over! :(  Does tama even need a life vest?!! AHHHH!!!! :( :(

I CANT BELIEVE TAMA IS SIX! What the what?!?! Tell him I hope his birthday was wonderful and I love him!

I am super amazed at how the time is flying out here. I know we all said it, but freak! I only have a year left?!?! I think I just blinked and I'm already six months out! What?! The Lord has really been blessing me out here! For starters, I get to be with Sister L. for another six weeks!! (March 4 is the next transfer) We never thought that would happen!!! We are making a bit of history! :) Being a STL this week has really taken it's toll, we did 3 exchanges in what we thought would be our last week together! So, not a whole lot was able to happen in our area. That can be a little frustrating because our numbers have been dropping, but I just tell myself that it is for the greater good! :P

Anyway, we all know I'm great at stressing myself out, so on Sunday I made a massive list of names I feel like we are forgetting, people we need to follow up with, or contact and that is our focus this week! We have penciled that whole list into our planners for everyday this week and we are going to get back on top of it! It is hard to not lose the work in your area as we focus on the sisters in the zone. But my personal goal this transfer is to be on top of them both! (no pressure, right?! haha) I feel like we needed last transfer to understand what we were doing, and now where we are I can actually make a difference! So that is my plan, keep the prayers coming! :)

I thought it was pretty funny that your Sunday was so busy, but only because that is my everyday x235623952759082456832! :P even P-days are crazy because we have so much to get done!

I don't know how it is happening, but the Ormsbys worlds seem to be spinning just fine! Most of the time I don't think I'm really missing anything or like much is changing, and then I have a moment of realization..... it has been six months. AHH!! hahahahaha, it is surely bitter-sweet! and it is nice to hear that I am missed ;)

I am so excited for you to meet Martina! She is sooooo sweet! I really love her and am excited she will spend time with you guys! (only a little jelly) totally send her back with my stuff! :)

Okay, cant think of much else, gonna have to wrap up.. I cant wait for those letters and pics in the mail!! ;)

I love you all so much!!

See you in a week,

Sister Ormsby

                   

                      

Sending Love & the MLC 1/13/2014

Photo from the MLC

MUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you there?! I'm writing out a letter.. but i dont have any pics this week! (But I do!)

So cool that Corey (Elder Bogaert) is off! :) 

So funny that you commented in that,(I sent her the pic above... there is a FB page for the Florida Tampa missionaries that is run by the mission home.  They post photoes of different activities; this one being the Mission Leadership Counsel.  Anyway I commented on her beautiful smile and another person commented how they have the best companionship in the mission! So I told her, and asked how she knew her.) because Sister R. is our old STL. She finished her mission right before Christmas and she lives in Utah! We LOVE her! She is sooooo sweet! :)

Your New Beginnings night sounded like a hit! The cupcakes looked so delish and I wished I could've had one!

Snow sounds terrible and honestly if you can give me a little money to get a jacket that would be amazing. But i don't need much, probably a beanie or something for my head. (oh man, funny story- our heater went out the night of the cold front- we wore two pairs of sweatpants and 3 shirts and 2 pairs of socks to bed. We both only have one blanket each.. only problem was my head was frozen! haha)

We had a CRAZY WEEK! And by crazy I mean it absolutely disappeared! I don't even know how, but I am in my sixth month on my mission- I REALLY CANT BELIEVE IT! Where is the time goingggg????????? AHH!! I don't want it to enddd!!!! :/

Okay- minor freak out over.

This week really zoomed by though! We did exchanges on Thursday and MLC on Friday and exchanges on Saturday and Sunday. Today we will try and relax and then tonight more exchanges. Wednesday we are doing a training and another exchange until Thursday. Saturday we have transfer calls!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So yeah- REALLY busy!! But, in a good way!

Thanks so much for your letter this week! I have missed getting letters from you guys/anyone. haha- but I loved it and it was just what I needed! So thank you!

Wednesday we had District Meeting and afterwards we were able to have a really good talk with the ZL's. They are so awesome! They always help us feel more qualified and more like the STL's. Elders cant counsel us, but they were so great at explaining things and helping our confidence and execution of being STL's go up! I really just had to stop and realize how selfish I was being. There are sisters that are struggling and need my help and I was having a pity party for myself and wanting someone to come hug me and tell me I could do it- when really what I NEEDED was to stop dwelling on my insecurities and selfish desires and turn outward- and to think about the sisters and what I can do for them.

Rambling much? Sorry- ill sum up.

Jesus Christ turns outward. When He was betrayed and when He was struggling, or really whenever- He always, always, always looked to others. He saw how He could help them, serve them and love them. The natural man in all of us does just the opposite. We are prideful and selfish and we all innately 'want' without giving. The purpose of our life on earth is to become like our Heavenly Parents. The Lord always looks outward and we should all be striving to also.

So, these last few weeks I have been 'wanting' without giving. That was stupid. And I have repented. And I will try to be better from now on an turning outward. At serving and loving these sisters because it doesn't matter what degree of inadequacy I feel- the Lord wants me to do this. Therefore I can. :)

I am grateful for your love and support and for the example my Savior constantly is and for the opportunity to continue to learn and grow in this life. I really love you all and miss you dearly!

See you in a week,

Sister Ormsby

Happy New Year! 1/6/14

Pictures of the beach wedding; it was so pretty!!

                                         
                                       Sister Ormsby is super excited for them!!

 We bought some Martinelli's for new years but we barely had any of it, so we cracked it open for sister L's 9 month mark on Friday! she is half-way!!!! it is soooo crazy!!!! :) We are laughing to hard to take a good pic! haha 

                 

Also, we are super healthy, and this is our fridge stocked with veggies and fruit! :) We are trying to be better!!!

Okay- so this week!! We didnt have mlc, they put it off until this Friday, our guess is so we can get Ipads!!!!!!!!!! hahahaha, but we'll see! 

We had a training with the stls and zls on Tuesday about Facebook and online proselyting and it was really great to see all the great things we can be doing! I was feeling a little frustrated about fb and how to do work on it without getting distracted so much that i felt like not doing it at all!! But the training really helped me see how to be focused and successful while proselyting online. 

Also, i went to the doctor that day and got the all clear, im alive!! so, yay! 

Then the wedding!! So new years eve was a great day! :)

We did an exchange on Wednesday until Thursday with the new Tampa sisters, I stayed in Apollo beach and it was so great!!! We got to see a lot of people!! 

And on Thursday we got a call from some elders in Tampa 2 because a family that they started teaching just moved into our area! They sounded really excited, and so were we! Sooooo, long story short- this family are awesome!! They seem golden!!! We helped them move in yesterday (with the help of some priesthood from the ward and the Spanish elders). Monika (the mother) is Serbian and Croatian, but she was raised in Frankfurt, Germany. and Arthur is from the south, was raised southern baptist but is an IT contractor for the military- they met and have lived in Germany and they have two cute kids! A 12 yr old girl and a 5 yr old boy! They are so friendly and kept telling us how much they want to find a church and meet new people! We are so excited to start teaching them!! They definitely wanted us to come back to their house to teach them, but they are moving right now so everything is a little crazy. We are gonna try and see them this week though! :) PRAY FOR THEM :D

It got freezing this week!! Down to 46 one night!!! We couldn't handle it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really didn't pack for winter! This is supposed to be Florida! hahaha, a cold front is coming today, it is supposed to be down to 30 tonight! I know I probably won't get much sympathy from you Utahns! lol

I REALLY LOVE YOU!

see you in a week, 

Sister Ormsby xxx

Last email for 2013.... second baptism!

I have absolutely no idea where this year went!!! I for sure had no idea this is where i would be at the close of the year and the beginning of 2014! It truly is wonderful to see how much more the Lord sees than we do! I am grateful everyday for the opportunity to serve Him for this short time and feel the Spirit- daily I see His love change others lives.. this is seriously the best paying job! :)

This week particularly was filled with many blessings! Christmas was soo amazing! It was a fantastic day to focus on the Savior and feel His love in many peoples homes! My highlight was getting to Skype you and dad and Jai and Elly of course!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was really upset that I couldn't talk to my brother and other sister, but it felt so nice to chat with you guys again... even though the time disappeared and there were so many other things I wanted to tell you that I forgot! The biggest of those things being..... WE HAD A BAPTISM YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!!!!

On Thursday we taught Kiki all 4 lessons with her parents there. Emi is her less active mother, she is soooooooo sweet and she is from Hawaii!  And Russ is her dad, he is a great guy too, but not a member. It was an incredible night, filled with the Spirit!  Russ & Emi helped out so much explaining the principles to Kiki and she really understood them. She didn't have much prior knowledge but she is so smart that she picked it up quickly! The spirit taught way more than we did and it was a great experience for all of us.  After church, Kiki was baptized! and BOOM the spirit overwhelmed us all!!!!

So, fantastic news- Emi & Russ are getting married tomorrow!!!!!!!! We are so excited! (it will be on the beach, I will take pics for sure!) They are a truly awesome family, and we are pumped to start teaching Russ! :D

I added some pics with Emi's dad and step-mother and all of us in it! and then just Sister L and I with Kiki :)

It was such a fantastic Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!

Please add their family to your prayers :)

At this point, I told her I love the skirt she's wearing, her reply:

YAY! I know, it is Sister L's... one of her Christmas presents actually! haha

We love wearing each others clothes! cute scarf too, right?! Sister Kiser gave it to me for Christmas- she stocked us up with way toooooo many lovely presents! :)

Kiki is actually 8, so technically she is a child of record.. we missed counting her as a convert by just 10 days(that is when she turns 9) hahaha, but I don't care. We both feel like she is ours because we taught her, and her family feels the same :)

GREAT! 

PS... on Christmas eve we went to the Coates and I got to hold their lizard! :)

No real excitement for the New Year's celebrations other than the wedding tomorrow and we have a meeting in Tampa in the morning (it's a training to help us help the other missionaries with online proselyting) 

Friday is our very first MLC! (missionary leadership conference), they have them every first Friday of the month. AND it is always at the beach!!! so that is exciting!!! :)

oh, and I have my check up on Tuesday too, so that will be a packed day!

The MLC is when president trains the stl's the zl's and the ap's. So that we know what to train on in district meetings.. but from the sounds of it, it is more informal. I'm not really sure what it is like- I'll let you know! :) We get to go to the beach twice this week :)

I have to head off.  I love you heaps!

See you in a week,

Sister Ormsby