Oh Brother!

So this week has really been awesome!  A whole lot better  than last week that's for sure!  My new little friend is Sister Carlson and she's from Provo, 19, and very sweet!  This week we've been tracking like no other, but it's great because we've found more people to teach!  On Saturday we went to see a part member/less active family.  The wife was raised in the church, but hasn't gone in 21 years.  So we went over to have a lesson and this guy was well to sugar code it- a jerk.  He wouldn't let us talk and when we tried he would just talk over us, so that was not fun!  He also bashed the church and all I wanted to do was throw a Book of Mormon at him, but I thought Jesus wouldn't throw a B of M at him so I shouldn't either.  We tried to bear our testimonies and in the middle he would start talking and kept saying you can't know something is true without seeing proof that it's true.  I just kept thinking to myself, "oh ye of little faith."  He said he didn't think that God would answer him but he would pray anyways so I thought God works according to your faith you dummy.  Well I kept those thoughts to myself even though I wanted to slap him.  That was the only bad part of the week and everything else has been great!  We are teaching a whole lot and trying to bring everyone closer to our Heavenly Father.
Last thoughts for the day-  2 interesting things I thought about this week:
1.  We can better  teach the  Godhead by remembering God the first is the creator, God the second is the Redeemer and God the third is the witness.  Cool way to look at it.
2.  So you know how in the Book of Mormon all the rad people are totally ripped?  Well the reason they are that way is because the muscles are the strength of the spirit.  If you think of evil King Noah and his fatness then it totally makes sense!
Love you all!

What Was He Thinking?

June 10, 2013
This week I found out that the next transfer I will be training someone...like brand new fresh from the MTC!  What is he thinking?  I still don't know half the things that I need to know but if Heavenly Father wants me to train I guess I have no other options!
This week has been a lot harder then most weeks getting Sister Brown ready to go home, but I guess that is to be expected.  The grill out was really fun.  People eat cheeseburgers weird here...They let them soak in Pepsi.  Guys it tastes weird!  It tastes like meat and pop and other weird juices, but I ate it and said thank you.
Our Ward mission leader got a gift for me and Sister Brown.  He got us rebel flags- you know the confederate flags from the Civil War.  Sister Brown really wanted one so he grabbed one for her and for me.  We thought it was funny because he gave them to us and told us quite the story of how he got them.  In Bessemer there is this flag store that has every flag known to man.  You have to go to the back to find them and everything is done in a whisper.  You gotta love the south!  Now don't think I support what it stood for, but it definitely is more colorful and I like the way it looks- I'm not flying it anywhere-so don't yell at me!
I'm hoping this week goes well with the sister I am training and hope you guys have a great week!

UFO Bugs

June 3, 2013
So this week has had many ups and downs, but that is to be expected- but it happens!  First, I got bit by UFO bugs and I do mean unidentified flying object bugs.  On one knows what they are called but they are massive.  And when they bite you it itches and burns!  Other than that things are good.  So the other day I had a mini breakdown and I prayed that I would feel comfort.  The next day we were at the apartment and someone knocked at our door.  Now no one knocks at our door so we were a little freaked out, but we went to check and I looked out the peep hole and saw a man.  I thought to myself, "Wow that man looks like Greg!"  I opened the door and it was Greg!  It was so amazing it just made me realize that Heavenly Father is so aware of us and knows how to answer our prayers!  I know that Heavenly Father had Greg came over to see me to bring comfort into my life and to say, everything is going to be ok so just keep pushing  forward one step at a time.  You'll make it and remember, I love you!
Tonight we're doing a grill out.  I was informed it's not a BBQ unless  there is sauce so it's a grill out. We are having investigators and less active members so it should be super fun!  We are doing it with the elders and their investigators and we invited Cheryl and her grandkids.  We are super excited to be teaching with the elders tonight- which reminds me...we have to figure out what we all want to teach together.  It's gonna be fun!  Anyways I love you all :)

All That And An Elephant Bracelet

May 28, 20014
Hello!  So things this week have been good!  Crazy but good!  So on Sunday our investigator Cheryl came to church and it was great!  She loved it and kept saying how blessed she was to be there and that this was the first of many times that she would be coming.  She said she felt at home there and like she'd been there before.  She's working on smoking right now and said that she didn't even feel like leaving once to smoke- she didn't feel like she needed to!  So that was super cool!  Also there is a RS activity tonight and she's going to come with us so that will be fun!  She's not sure if she want to be baptized yet so we have to figure out how to best help her.
I got my first birthday present yesterday.  Mrs. Faye (have I told you about her yet? If not she just turned 82 yesterday.  She has a bad memory but she always remembers my companion and I)...  Anyway she gave me this gold elephant bracelet right after we dropped off a birthday card and sang happy birthday to her.  She's such a sweet lady!  I love the bracelet.  So that's all folks in the life of Sister Denning!

Hey Y'all

May 20, 2013
First of all, my face didn't turn colors- thankfully!  Second, my lesson with the president went pretty well, there ended up being 4 other pairs of missionaries there so we all group taught.  We were teaching a new member and it was funny because she helped teach the lesson as well.  Then we had these popsicles that were awesome!  They were made with fresh fruit.  I had a watermelon one and it even had seeds in it.
On Monday our investigator Cheryl's mom passed away and we haven't been able to get a hold of her but we pray for her.  I think at this point all we can do is pray for her.  Right now she's not calling us back or picking up.
Fun story of the week...Since we haven't been able to find investigators we have been working with less actives and one of our less actives owns a second hand store.  There are awesome 80s dresses there so while we were visiting we played dress up with her.  We even got an elder to dress up with us.

Yesterday we went tracking and door after door people kept saying "We found Jesus,  I've already been saved".  So we knocked on a door and asked if we could leave a prayer on their house (it's called the harvesting tool so we pray with them and leave the Lord's  peace and blessings on their home.)  They pulled us in and knelt down with us and prayed with us.  They are married and have a little 3 year old girl.  The 3 year old was os cute- she even knelt down and prayed.  Then we asked if we could come back and teach them a lesson.  They said yes and gave us their number.  So this week we will be meeting with them again!  Yay!!

Ball To The Face Kind Of Day

May 13, 2013
So today we had an area thingy where we all got together and polished our cars, then we had pizza and played volleyball so while playing a girl hit the ball and it hit me right in the face and it's already turning red, puffy, and swollen- Awesome right!?  Then 10 minutes later I got a ball to the gut, but all the elders were shocked that I bounced right back up and played again.  They think I'm pretty rad.  I'm hoping that my eye doesn't start turning magical colors, and if it does please be tomorrow.  Tonight we have a lesson at the president's house and I really don't want to show up with a black eye...no thank you.  I'm a little nervous about teaching tonight because president is a super Bible and Book of Mormon man and knows everything and guess whose teaching- me!  Hopefully the spirit will be there and will help me teach what I need to teach!

Mercy Me Y'all

May 6, 2013
Hey y'all!  So I've been in the south for about a week.  My comps name is Sister Brown and we're working out that get to know you part of life.  The first few days here I was crying all the time.  I prayed that I would feel better and that I would lose myself in the work.
On Saturday we had an exchange with some sisters and I got placed with Sister Mendoza.  We went to a place called Little Mexico.  As y'all know I'm super duper awesome with Spanish so I thought this was going to be great!  So while we were walking back and forth we met this guy named Angel.  He was having a hard time trying to find something that would make him happy.  He thought that if he had money, a car, and a big house he would be happy.  He asked me what makes me happy.  I told him that the gospel makes me happy.  I got a prompting to give him a Book of Mormon but I've never done that before so I brushed it off.  I know you should never ignore those promptings but Heavenly Father gave me another chance.  We saw him later and were able to write our testimonies in a copy of the Book of Mormon and gave it to him.  This was the first time that I was able to place a Book of Mormon- Yay!  It was the first time that I felt like an actual missionary.  I think sometimes I don't realize all the blessings that Heavenly Father gives me.  So this next week I am going to try super hard to focus on the positive and not the bad or what I would rather have happen.
This week we have a lot of lessons planned for members and dinners at their houses.  So that will be exciting.   Sister Brown and I are teaching a women named Cheryl and she said she would be baptized so we're hoping this week we are able to get her to commit to a baptism date.
Also it's crazy, there are soooo many trees out here and all I want to do is climb them, but I'm in a skirt all day so that's not going to happen.  Oh well!  Another day and another time!
Love you all!!  Have a great week!!