Monday, March 28, 2016

Happy Easter


What a week! This week was long, but so good. It was full of many miracles! 

On Wednesday we were on exchanges with the STL's. The Avon Sisters both came to Glastonbury to Blitz our Area. It went really well. I was with Sister Allen in the morning. It was fun to be back with my previous companion! And then we swapped at lunch and I was with Sister Lybbert. She is from Moses Lake and it turns out we actually know some of the same people! Small world! We were able to contact and visit a lot of Less Actives. It was really fun! I learned a lot from Sister Lybbert. She is a great missionary! You can tell how much she loves being a missionary by how she treats others around her. She is so Christlike! 

On Thursday we left at 9:30 to go do service for a couple here in Glastonbury. We got out to the car and Sister Ross called out to me, "Sister! Did you put all this stuff here?" I was so confused, so I walked up to the car and all our stuff from the console and glove compartment was all over our seats! Someone broke into our car! They only took our gas card, which was good. My GPS was still there- it is a blessing that they left that because we have no idea how to get anywhere! So we got everything sorted out with the mission and the gas card and such. Then we went to service. We were helping out with yard work and then we told Bill and Joyce what happened and they called the police for us. Then the police came and we had to talk to them. It turns out that we were one of 20 cars that got broken into that night. So after that fiasco we went to the Stake Center to have interviews with President Miller. During the time we were there we had training by the Zone Leaders and STL's. Interviews went really long and then we got stuck in Hartford traffic on the way home. We witnessed a pretty bad car crash. Wow, what a day! 

On Friday we had our District Meeting. I gave the training on recognizing the spirit. It went really well. I have been reflecting a lot on how close I feel to the spirit. As a missionary, I am able to be in this environment that allows me to feel the spirit. It is awesome! After District Meeting we helped Sister Steiner in our ward decorate for her annual Easter Party. 

On Saturday we were so busy! So many great things happened! We had a member lesson in the morning and then we went to Sister Steiner's Easter party. That was a lot of fun! There were a lot of nonmembers so we were able to talk with them. Then we went to stop by our Media Referral, April. She ordered a Book of Mormon! So we went and delivered that. She invited us in and we were able to teach her more about it. April is from Ghana. She is SO excited to learn more! It was amazing to feel the spirit in her home as we testified of the truthfulness of our message. She is searching for the truth and wants our help to find it. So April is one of our new investigators! That night we went to the General Women's Broadcast. That was awesome! I loved the focus on service. Sister Ross and I were just talking about how we need to work on being more service oriented. So it was perfect! 

Sunday was great! We had a wonderful Easter! Earlier this week we tried getting in contact with some former investigators. Juli lost contact with the church and when we called her, she invited herself to church! Miracle! So she brought her and her daughter to church! Church went really well and we think that Juli really liked it. Sister Ross and I taught Gospel Principles. The lesson was on obedience. It went really well! I just love church! We have a great ward here! 

It was a wonderful Easter. I am so grateful for this holiday! That we get to celebrate and remember the resurrection of our Savior. The Atonement and Resurrection of our Savior is an amazing thing. We could not do anything without it. I am grateful that He knows what I am going through. He has felt it all. It is an amazing thing. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! 

I am looking forward to General Conference this week! It feels like I was just watching conference! So exciting! 

Thank you for all the love and support! 

Love, Sister Egan

A lot of car pics
Happy Easter

Hartford Traffic
Transfers with Sister Lybbert (from Moses Lake, WA)
Yard Work
Fortress at Bill and Joyce's 

Monday, March 21, 2016

Where to Start

Hello Everyone! 

Trying to explain this week is like trying to explain Jacob chapter 5. 

So many things happened and I don't really know where to start. We had a lot of appointments set up this week that were awesome! It has been so fun getting to know people in the ward. On Tuesday- we had a great lesson with our Recent Convert Alexis. She is amazing! She is 19 and loves the church. We taught about love and forgiveness because that is something she has been struggling with lately. We had some other good lessons with some Less Actives later that day. For dinner we had Corned Beef and Cabbage to get into the St. Paddy's day mood! It was delicious! One of my favorite meals haha. 

On Wednesday we were so busy! We had an appointment with a Less Active woman (Sister Paine). Sister Ross and I were both nervous for it. She had banned missionaries from her house 9 months ago because of an experience she had. But we were somehow able to set up the appointment... she tried to cancel but she said I sounded too nice on the phone. We went over and it actually went better than we expected. She fed us lunch and we were able to share a message with her. Then she "adopted" us as her daughters. And she gave us nicknames... I am Sister Giggles and Sister Ross is Sister Dingbattess. And we are going over for dinner this week. Later that day we had a couple really good lessons. And we were able to go street contacting in East Hartford. Wow. We meet the craziest people there. We met this man named, Rossi. Man, he has very colorful language. But we were able to give him a Book of Mormon, and a card with our number on it. He called us 20 minutes later and said he would be at church on Sunday. Then he called again, and told us once more that he would be there. During that conversation I told him that if he was going to come to church, he had to watch his language. He said he would. 

We had a great St. Patrick's day! We were able to do service in the morning for a couple that lives here in Glastonbury. They are awesome! They aren't members, but they love missionaries and provide a lot of service for us to do. That night we had more corned beef and cabbage. Yumm! 

The rest of the week was a little crazy. We had a lot of appointments and stayed really busy. Right now we are working really hard at finding people to teach. It has been a lot of fun here in Glastonbury and I am excited to be here! 

One scripture that we have been using a lot is 3 Nephi 11: 11. 

And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.

This is the time of year that we are able to celebrate and reflect on everything that our Savior has done for us. He has taken upon him our sins and our sadness, that we might be able to be more like Him. The Atonement is such a personal and enabling thing. He suffered for us individually. It's incredible. 

In verse 15 it says, "And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come."

Jesus allowed each of them to feel His the nail prints in His hands and feet. This just shows how personal His sacrifice was. I love my savior. I am grateful for this time of year to celebrate His Resurrection. 

Thank you all for the love and support! I love this gospel and I love being a missionary! I hope you all have a good week! Love ya!

Love, Sister Egan

Got 2 inches of Snow today!

Monday, March 14, 2016

Glastonbury, CT

Hello everyone! 

I can't believe another week has come and gone! It has been a very busy week! On Monday and Tuesday I was working on getting everything together and packed to come to Glastonbury. On Tuesday Sister O'keeffe and I said goodbye to Kristen- who was one of our physical investigators when we were in Framingham. This woman is absolutely incredible. I love her so much! She taught me a lot! She is going to be baptized in a couple months! She is so faithful and loves the gospel so much. It was so great to see her love for learning more about the Book of Mormon and other principles of the gospel. 

On Wednesday Sister Holt and I managed to pack all our stuff in our little car to go down to Norwich to transfer. Without transfer meetings, it has been interesting figuring out how we are to get to our new areas. We finally figured everything out, and long story short- Sister Holt and I ended up road tripping to Connecticut. We had way too much fun in the car. We discussed everything we learned that transfer. Wow. We both learned so much. I think I have grown as a person in the last 6 weeks. And I am really grateful for the trials and the hard times that have made me stronger. We made it to CT and then Sister Ross and I made the trip back to Glastonbury. I love it here! It is awesome! The people are great! On Wednesday night we went to the weekly Book of Mormon class that we do. It was really fun!

On Thursday we did a lot of planning and organizing. But that evening we had dinner with an awesome family and then went to a lesson with our Recent Convert. Gene was baptized 2 weeks ago. He is awesome! On Friday we went to our District Meeting. We have an awesome district. Everyone thinks it's so funny that I'm back in the same zone. Honestly, it's good to be back! I love Hartford! After District Meeting, we had a couple member lessons. I honestly feel so blessed to be here. We had a lesson with our other Recent Covert that also got baptized a couple weeks ago. Rayshun is super cool! We talked about the new Easter Initiative that the church has put out. 

On Saturday we had an 8 year old baptism so we filled up the font for that. The baptism was really good! After we went tracting for a bit before our dinner appointment. I learned that it is best to follow the spirit when you do this. I was getting a little nervous for some reason. And then I went to give this person a pass along card and said, "Here is a video with a link to a Christmas Video..." Obviously I meant to say, "Here is a card with a link to an Easter Video..." It was hilarious. He took the card, probably because he felt bad for me and my loss of words. But you never know! So note to self: always rely on the spirit. Don't get nervous, and just go with it. Most importantly- embrace the awkward. On Saturday and Sunday we were able to go to Stake Conference. Elder Dunnigan from the Seventy was there. It was a really neat experience! And it was fun to see all my friends from Avon. I missed them! They were all confused to see me there! I think I am the only missionary that went to the Fall session and Spring session of Stake Conference in the Hartford Stake. I love Hartford!

Thank you all for the love and support. I feel so blessed! I hope you all have a wonderful week! 

Love, Sister Egan
 Our stuff outside the car

 Is it going to fit?.... dont' worry, it all fit!
Road Trip!
New Companion - Sister Ross!
                                                                                 Sistah Lunch


                                                                         View from our Apartment

 Happy Pi Day! 

Monday, March 7, 2016

MA to CT

What a week! This week went by so fast and a lot of crazy things happened! 

So I will start with the title of this email... I am getting transferred! I am going to Glastonbury, CT, which is right outside of Hartford. I am really excited to go back to the Hartford Zone! Hartford is the best! My new companion is awesome! Her name is Sister Ross- and I was lucky enough to go on exchanges with her when I was in Avon. I am excited and a little nervous for this next adventure.

So on Monday we went to Boston with Sister Holt and Sister Vollmer. Wow, I love this city. We had so much fun! We weren't able to stay that long, but we had fun looking around and taking pictures together. 

On Tuesday we had our weekly Webex. The training was really good- they talked about referrals and how we need to be really proactive with them, especially since the new Easter initiative for the church is coming out soon. I was able to watch the video this week and it is so good! It is similar to the Christmas "A Savior is Born". It is about Finding a new life through Christ. It will be available to the public on March 13th! After Webex, President Miller pulled Sister O'keeffe and I aside to have a meeting with him and the AP's. The meeting didn't last very long, but he informed us that the digital mission would be shut down at the end of this transfer. It has officially been passed off to Salt Lake, so Sister O'keeffe and I were the last digital missionaries here in the MBM. Initially we thought that we would stay here and serve in the Framingham ward with the elders, but President then said that we should expect to get moved... in other words he told us we were leaving. So on Tuesday we found out that we would both be leaving, so that was a little odd throughout the week to know that this would be the end, but not know where we were going. We got direction to pass off all our digital investigators to the local missionaries and the clear out our computers so they can be used for other purposes.

On Friday we had our Zone meeting. We talked about being Bold when it comes to teaching Repentance. Repentance is so important and we will always have to repent, so it's important to be bold and loving when teaching about it.We also talked about becoming a Preach My Gospel Missionary, and how important it is to follow the guidelines in that book and rely on the spirit. It was a great Zone Meeting! After Zone Meeting finished we got Transfer Texts. But Sister O'keeffe and my names never showed up... they forgot about us. After a few moments of panick, the text with our names came through. So like I said, I'm going to Glastonbury. And Sister O'keeffe is going to Worcester for her last transfer.

Saturday we had the special opportunity to go serve at the temple. We got to help with the Laundry for a few hours. Wow, these washing machines were incredible. They were huge! It was great to be in the temple and feel the spirit that is there. We ate lunch in the Cafeteria and I was able to see a lot of missionaries that were bringing their recent converts to to baptisms for the dead. It was a really neat experience. 

It was sad to say goodbye to everyone at church yesterday. This was is amazing and really supportive. Who knows, I might end up back here in Framingham! 

I am excited for this new experience and change. Everything happens for a reason! I am excited to go back "home" to Hartford!

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

Love, Sister Egan



Sister Holt and I bought the same shirt... our where's Waldo shirt

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

FORTIFY

Hello Everyone! 

This week was really good! We stayed busy pretty busy which was nice! 

Wednesday was kind of a big day. We had a mission regarding the digital mission with President and Sister Miller, and the Cambridge Stake President and Bro. Orgill who is the master mind behind the digital mission and Brother Hemingway who is the Director of Proselyting for the Church, and Brother Donaldson- who is also from Salt Lake (He is on the District). The meeting was really good! We discussed the digital mission and what has been successful, and maybe what we can change. President Miller ultimately has the authority over the digital mission, and what will happen with it. So we will see- we will find out this week with transfers! Right before the meeting we were going to correlate to discuss what we were going to share in the meeting. The elders told us we were going to meet in Belmont.... so we drove up to Belmont in the pouring rain, just to find out we were going to meet in Weston. And then we hit the wonderful Boston traffic on the way to the meeting and were almost late. It was stressful, but we made it! Thanks to the break down lane! For those of you that aren't familiar with this... in Boston, it is allowed to drive in the shoulder during certain hours of the day. This was a new and interesting thing to me! But the bright side about our little trip up to Belmont- we got to see the beautiful Boston Temple!

On Thursday we had our district meeting and it was really good. After our District Meeting we scooted off to our dinner appointment. It was so much fun! We had dinner with the Trolio's. They have 2 little girls that are just adorable. They are 6 and 4. They remind me a lot of Kolby and Kory! We had a delicious dinner and then we had a fun little message with them. We call it "FORTIFY". We read the first 4 verses of Alma 50. With each verse it talks about different ways the Nephites built up their cities to protect against the Lamanites. First comes the mounds of dirt, then the timbers, then the pickets, then the towers. I have different cut outs that the kids lay down. At the end we talk about the different ways to FORTIFY our homes and protect our homes from the adversary, whether it is FHE, scripture study, going to church, tithing, praying etc. I have a testimony of family scripture study. I am so grateful for parents that really took this seriously. I will always remember sitting in our family room, taking turns reading and then discussing what we learned. It really did strengthen our home. Thanks Mom and Dad!!

I hope you have a wonderful week! Keep working hard! This week we will hear about transfers! I love you all!

Love, Sister Egan





Teaching at the Trolio's

Our Office/Closet
My Desk






Eating Lunch.  Sister Zickella's Coconut Rice and Broccoli
T25 Station
Zion
Living Room
Kitchen
Our Bedroom.  My Bed is the top right.