Broken Pipes...

Hey Mom,

 

It was great to hear from you. Lewisville is about an hour away from Fort Worth. Thankyou for letting the ward know. I was bummed about the Temple, but like you said the lord knew why I needed to attend the temple as much as possible before I left and I'm grateful for that. I will let you know if i need anything. Thanks.  I am glad to hear that the wedding plans are going great. I know that the wedding will be great. I am glad to hear that Pilchers wedding went well and the colors were awesome. Good pick in colors I must say. I love those colors. That would be so much fun if you are able to take the kids to Wild Waves. I know that they would love it. I miss them so much and tell them that I love them. I cant wait to get the letter from dad and read his talk. I heard that it went really well from Brother Bingham; they loved it. I heard from Tiffany and started crying. I love her so much and am proud of her in all that she does and that she is going to be a wonderful wife. She is a wonderful daughter of God.

 

I wanted to tell you about something that happened this week. On monday we came home from doing things and saw everyone standing outside in our appartment complex and wondered what happened. So come to find out one of the water pipes in the attic broke and set off the fire sprinklers and alarms and affected 6 apartments. We were one of them. Flooded our kitchen, bathroom, and part of livingroom. So they moved us to another apartment for the week while they fix things. on Tuesday we went to go grab things and saw that part of our ceiling fell because it was too wet and so they have been working on our apartment since then and still working on it today. Crazy. We felt blessed because it could have been alot worse, but the Lord was watching over us. Like you said if we stand by our Heavenly Father we are blessed and i truely saw that this week during all of this. Besides this happening our week has been good in finding more people to teach and working towards baptism with a couple of investigators. I love this gospel with all my heart and my testimony increases everyday and i continue to study and learn more of the teachings. I love you guys so much and know that i pray and think about you guys all the time. I can feel that the gospel has blessed our family so much and love you lots!!! Hope to hear from you soon.

 

Love,

Sister Bickley

New Address

Hey Mom,

I wanted to update you on somethings and then tell you how my experience in Texas is going so far. I am in Lewisville Texas and we live in an apartment. Our address is: 1400 West Valley Ridge Blvd. #4-302. This is where you will want to send things to. Could you let the ward know as well. Other thing is that our PDay is on mondays just so you know. I am bummed that we don't get to attend the Temple at all while on our mission :( . Something else is when we got here our mission president said that for women bikes are optional, but i did get my bike and its good and we are going to ride them because we want to. I just thought i would let you know. Things are going great. I love my companion so such. She is from Wyoming and she has been out for 14 months. She is wonderful in helping me out, giving me advice, and just learning lots from each other. The weather is crazy hot! I am starting to get color (lol) and drinking tons of water. The people in Texas are really nice and are accepting when we stop by. We have set up a few appointments this week and followed-up with alot of our other investigators. I also got to pass out a personalized Book of Mormon with my testimony in it to someone and then set up an appointment with that person. Seemed very interested in what we had to say. We are also teaching a few people english which has been a good experience. My companion knows a little spanish and so she is helping me out. As we have personal study and companion study in the morning it is awesome because we are able to learn what we can teach our investigators to progress, but also strengthen our testimony and relationship with our Heavenly Father. I have felt more confident in teaching the lessons and learned that if i allow the Holy Ghost to be with me the spirit is strong when i teach and we touch many lives because we are teaching from our Hearts. My companion has helped me to realize that we are not perfect and that the Lord is pleased with what we are doing and just need to share our testimony through teaching the doctrines. I feel that i have learned so much. We have a couple of baptisms lined up for august which i am really excited for. Crystal one of our investigators is so close she believes in everything and has a testimony she is just afraid of water and hasnt been coming to church. We are trying though and hope that she will get baptized this next month. We also have another investigator that we are working with and her name is Cheyanne and we feel that she is progressing and has that desire to want to learn more about our Heavenly Fathers plan for her. This first week in Texas has been amazing and i know that the Lord has blessed me and that doing this work i will touch many lives but also strengthen my relationship with him. I love this gospel with all my heart and know that Joseph Smith restored this gospel on this earth today. I know that if we sincerely read and search the scriptures our questions will be answered and we will receive marvelous revelation. I am grateful for missionary work and the blessing it is in our life to beable to share our testimony with others and have the opportunity to spread forth the marvelous truth of this gospel with others. I know with all my heart that my savior died for me so that i can repent of my sins and become a better disciple of christ. I know that because of my faith in him I am able to teach our investigators things from my heart and what the savior would have me teach at that moment in time. I know that the Lord works in mysterious ways and sometimes we may question things, but in the end we see tremendous miracles happen and i have seen that so far on my mission. Not only in the investigators lives but also in my life as i have learned about who i am. Well, here is a little for now but i will write you guys a letter. Love ya so much and talk to you soon.

Love,

Sister Bickley

Spiritual Experience

July 15, 2011  

 It was a lot of fun hosting the new missionaries and helping them feel welcomed here.  It reminded me of the link leader program that I did back in high school and the support that they received.  It was a great experience.  Thank you for the skirts. It would be easier to send it to my Texas address because I leave on Tuesday.  Thank you so much; they will be helpful in the field. [Symbol] I can’t wait to be in the field and help others come unto Christ.  I have learned so much about how to teach and about myself and I feel prepared to enter the field.  I did have a very spiritual experience the other day with my investigator.  (See prior letter) The investigator felt the spirit so strong and felt the love for him and felt that it was best to get baptized early.  I knew that he would be blessed and that his family and Savior love him so much.  It was just amazing and I wrote it in my journal right after the visit.  Did you send the family photo through email? Because if so, I haven’t seen it yet and haven’t received in the mail.  Thank you for sending me one though.  I bet you have been busy with the wedding plans.  How is that going?  I can’t wait to see pictures of my beautiful sister on her wedding day.

Everything is going good with my companions.  We are having a good experience and learning lots from each other. That is so cool that Ariana is coming along with her swimming and loving it.  I can’t believe that she can do the breast-stroke, back stroke, and the butterfly.  That is amazing and tell her that I am proud of her and I wish her the best during her meet.  Garrett—that busy boy!  Glad to hear that he has so many friends to play with and keep him active.  Glad to hear Loren is enjoying being 18 and away from home and having a job.  I’m not surprised that Loren has been out late (LOL), but at least it good stuff.  I am so glad to hear that Jacob is excited to go to the temple with the ward and likes doing the work.  I am so happy for him and can’t wait to hear from him.  I think about him every day.  Well, I love you all very much and glad to hear things are going good. Love and talk you soon!

Love Sister Bickley

Calling Home

July 14, 2011   

Thank you so much for sending me a list of addresses and the card with stamps.  I love the card and you mean the world to me.  I love you so much.  Hope things are going well.  That is cool that you guys got to go the Kids R Best; bet the kids had a lot of fun.  Shopping is also blast LOL.  That is great that the kids are moved into the other rooms and getting things organized again.  Thanks for sharing that you got to see Sister Smithee and that Felicia was there!  I miss her lots! I am so happy that she will be serving a mission.  She will do great!!  Has Tanisha received her call yet?

It is crazy how time flies.  We enter the mission field on Tuesday the 19th.  I am so excited and can’t wait!! When we are at the airport we get to call home. YAY!! Our flight leaves at 8:30 in the morning and we have to be at the travel office by 5:00 am. Yuck! LOL  I can’t wait to talk to you guys.  I miss you so much. Well anyway, hope to hear from you soon and can’t wait to call you.  I have been blessed being out here and I have learned some more things about myself.  I am so grateful for this opportunity.  Give everyone hugs and kisses for me and I will send you some pictures soon.  Love you lots. XOXOXO

Love,

Sister Bickley

Smile

Hello Dad,

 

It has been great hearing from you guys. Thankyou for the box, I loved Ariana and Garrett's cards. They made me cry and smile with joy. I love them so much and miss them. Yesterday I had an amazing experience where my testimony of the Holy Ghost grew. We told one of our investigators Mark for the last time and we had committed him to be baptized and he said yes and then we set a date. He said that he wanted to get baptized in three months because he wanted his family to be there and at that moment i blanked out and so i said a prayer to help guide me in what to say. During the prayer I got emotional because the Holy Ghost touched me in a way that i couldn't explain. At that moment I began to speak from my heart and tell Mark how i felt in that waiting for 3 months was not a good idea because satan will try to tempt him and it will be easier to fall away. I also told him that his family would be pleased with him in making this decision and that his Heavenly Father will be with him and support him even though his family couldn't be there. I testified to him that being baptized now he would be blessed. It was an amazing experience that testified to me that if we allow the Holy Ghost to help us we will be blessed and miracles will happen. Overall this has been a great week and we leave the MTC on the 19th and i get to call you guys when im at the airport early in the morning. Mom asked if she could put some of my letters on the blog and that is totally ok with me and thankyou for getting a list of address together for me. Can you guys do me a favor? when Tiffany gets home tell her that I love her so much and that i will write her a letter in a couple of weeks. Tell her Congradulations and that she will be a beautiful bride, amazing wife and mother. I am glad to hear that everything is going great back home and i cant wait to call you guys. Love you and miss you guys lots. I have grown so much in the last 3 weeks. Hope to hear from you soon. LoL if you respond use dearelder LOL!!!

 

Love,

Sister Bickley

President Sagers Welcome

Dear Family,

Sister Sagers and I want you to know that your missionary has arrived safely here in Texas. We look forward to serving together in accomplishing the Lord's work. We hope you enjoy the attached picture of your missionary, as well as knowing that the missionaries are in good hands here as they are in the Lord's service.

Sincerely,

President and Sister Sagers

July 8, 2011

Dear Mom,

I love it when I hear from you guys.  It makes my day and you guys are always in my thoughts and prayers.  My District is wonderful and our teachers are wonderful.  I have learned a lot from them and that are always willing to help.  Thank you, mom, for everything.  I appreciate your encouraging thoughts and your support.  I love you so much!  It was crazy to get chosen as a senior companion, but it has been a good experience and our companionship has grown so much.  We have gotten much closer.  I know that the Lord has blessed me and that I am never alone.  I know that when I turn to him, He is always willing to help.  I love my Savior so much and feel his presence every day.

Our district got chosen to be host on July 13th, I am so excited.  It will be great fun to meet the new missionaries.  We also got our travel information today and we leave the MTC on July 19th. YAY!!!  Can’t wait to be out in the mission field. 

I am so happy to hear that things at home are going well.  I am so excited for Bethany and hope to see some pictures.  Speaking of pictures, would you be able to send me family photos if you have time.  I forgot to bring some and my investigators have been asking about my family [Symbol] .  Glad to hear the kids have been having fun painting and cleaning all the rooms.  They are a good help. I am so happy for Loren in that he got a job at Big 5.  He will love it there!! I am glad that Jacob is doing well and is having fun working at Target.  I can’t wait for him to go on a mission as well.  He will do a good job and I’m glad that he is really happy.  That makes me smile.  I am glad that dad and the kids and the Chomiak kids had a blast on the boat and that they had a chance to do that.  They are a great family and fun to be around.  Dad is amazing and I love him so much.  I am so blessed to have a father like him in my life.  Could never ask for a better father.  Well, again, I am so glad to hear that everything is going well.  Miss you guys so much and love. XOXOXOXOXO Hope to hear from you soon.

Love Sister Bickley

PS.  My companions and I workout everyday.  Once of my companions is a Marine so we do bootcamp workouts and biggest loser workouts.  So much fun and I have lost some!! [Symbol]

July 5, 2011 (Letter)

Hello Mom and Dad

How are you guys doing?  Dearelder.com will be the best way to send letters because I will get it that day that you sent it.  With emails it is hard because it’s only on Tuesdays and only for 30 minutes.  I was so happy to get a dearelder letter today [Symbol].  I miss everyone back home so much.  That is so to hear that Bethany had the opportunity to go through the temple.  I am so excited that she is getting married.  I know that she will be great wife and a mom.  Tell her congratulations from me!  That is also cool that you got to see a picture of Suzanna at the temple with her family.  I am so happy for them and I know they will be blessed.

It makes me so happy to hear that your lesson on the Path to Happiness went well and that you had a good feeling come from it.  I would love to hear more about your lesson and read it and enjoy the feelings that you have felt.  I love you so much and love that you are sending me lessons you teach.  I know that they can touch me and help me while doing the Lord’s work.  You are such a great example to me.  I am so glad that things are going well and I hope to send you some pictures soon.  When I got here we found out that we wouldn’t be able to do a session in the Provo Temple because it’s closed until the 29th.  I was so bummed.  We are able to be on temple grounds on Sundays.  MTC is amazing and I love it here.

I love you guys so much and want you to know that I love this gospel.  I love my Savior and thank Him every day for what he has done for me.  I have a testimony of prayer and how powerful it is in our life and how it impacts us when we communicate with our Heavenly Father.  It blesses me so much and I know that our Heavenly Father will help us if we ask.  I have seen that a lot especially in the last 5 days.  I am so grateful for my family and that no matter where we are, we are blessed and protected.  I am so grateful to serve a mission and to share my testimony with others. 

Love Sister Bickley

July 5, 2011 (Email)

Hey Mom and Dad,

It is so great to hear from you.  That was a great story [The Prison and the Dandelion].  Attitude does make a big difference and it has in my life as a missionary while at the MTC.  I had a spiritual experience that strengthen my testimony this week and how I could be a better missionary and a better companion.  Elder Cecil O Samuleson said, “Just as we should not lower the standards that the Lord has established for the conduct of his servants, we are also not authorized to raise them…be sure that you do not have higher standards for yourself and others than the Lord has established.”  I was struggling and wasn’t sure what to do and so I asked my District Leader Elder Densley and his companion for a blessing of comfort and strength and this quote was definitely true in the blessing.  I felt the Lords presence with me and knew that everything would be okay if I just have faith.  My testimony has grown so much in the few days and I have found ways to be a successful missionary.  I feel so blessed right now to do the Lord’s work and share my testimony with others. 

I can’t wait to see what the kids have drawn and I’m so glad that things are going well.  We only have 30 minutes to email but I wanted to send you a letter.  Tell everyone that I say hi and that I am thinking of them and I miss them all.  I love you guys so much and want to thank you for all the support you have given me.  Hope to hear from you again soon.  Thanks and talk to you soon.

Love Sister Bickley

Training & Learning

July 2, 2011

Hello Family,

How are you guys doing?  Hope all is going well.  I know that I just wrote you guys but I wanted to tell you more.  I was chosen to be one of the senior companions in my district which was cool and today I saw a sister missionary that I went to Kindergarten with.  It was so cool because I recognized her from somewhere and she recognized me so we started talking and realized that’s where we knew each other.  It was funny, but exciting at the same time. HAHA.  I grow each day and the spirit is much stronger as we become better missionaries.  Role play is hard for me, but right now it has been great and helpful.  I have learned things that will help me to teach the people rather than teaching a lesson more.  President Harold B. Lee said, “The most important of the Lords work you will ever do will be within the walls of your own homes.”  I feel that to be true here at the MTC.  Working with your companions and your district and learning from one another helps us become better missionaries and have more confidence in ourselves.  The classes maybe long, but what we are learning here at the MTC is going to benefit us when we are officially in the field.  Without the training that we receive here we would definitely struggle and our experiences probably wouldn’t be as wonderful as we hoped.  We are so blessed with great people that care about us and want to teach us the best way possible.  I love it here so much and I’m glad that I chose to serve a mission.  I want you to know that I love you guys so much and that I know that this gospel is true with all my heart.  I know that Joseph Smith restored this gospel to its fullest.  I know that Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet today who leads and guides us.  I have a testimony of the atonement and how great of a blessing it is in our lives that we have the opportunity to repent and be forgiven of our sins.  I know that the scriptures are true and that if we take the time to ponder and study them we will blessed and receive revelation.  They have helped me a lot while being here at the MTC.  I have a strong testimony of missionary work and know that this is where I need to be right now.  I hope that I can bring others unto Christ and allow them to receive the blessings.  I love my Savior so much and I love you guys lots.  I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Love Sister Bickley

Walking on Clouds...

June 30, 2011

Hello Mom,

Just wanted to let you know how things are going so far.  The first day at the MTC was overwhelming, but amazing at the same time.  The spirit is so strong here and the other Sisters and Elders are really nice.  The activities we did were a big eye opener to me and gave me some tips on how I could be a better missionary and how to approach certain situations.  Being here is like “walking on clouds.”  The spirit is so powerful and I’m learning so much.  I get the chills just being here and knowing that I am doing the Lord’s work and that he loves me.  Inviting others to come unto Christ is not easy at times, but I know that my Savior is by me every step of the way and I can feel his presence in everything I do.  I have 2 other companions and I love them.  They are great people.  Sister Mairgoa is from Salt Lake and Sister Loonsbury is from California.  We are having a great time and they are great examples to me.  The MTC is the best place that anyone could be in.  I am so blessed to have this opportunity to do the Lord’s work.  I hope all is going well back home.  Love you guys and miss ya lots.  Tell everyone that I say hi and that I love them.

Love,

Sister Bickley