Week 37- Christmas!!!🎄🎁

This Christmas was a memorable one!  We were super busy and honestly because of the focus on Christ and service it was one of the best ones yet!  

Christmas eve we had district council and then we had a lesson with our top progressing friend about the word of wisdom, and it turns out that HE'S ALREADY LIVING IT. Whaaaaaat? Turns out he has been prepared for almost 40 years to receive the gospel: he quit drinking in the 80's, quit smoking in 2005, and stopped drinking coffee in 2013. His only concern was whether or not he could still drink hot chocolate Haha.  Yay! Plus he said the words WHEN I am baptized instead of IF so we were really excited. We also took gifts to all our friends and had a couple lessons. 

Christmas day we had brunch with our recent convert from last week, and she invited all her family to meet us (that little mini missionary).  We couldn't stay very long, but apparently afterwards they were asking questions about us and expressed interest, so that's cool! I of course got to call home, and we went caroling at the nursing home, and the best part of the whole day? We took candy canes to people who were working on Christmas at gas stations and drug stores. They were so excited and said how much they appreciated the thought and we felt so good Haha. 

As far as the weather you would think being as far north as the United States goes we would have a white Christmas but NOPE. It's been like 40⁰ all week! But last night we got freezing rain and had to scrape over 1/4 inch of solid ice off our car which was exciting. This week I'm thankful for 4 wheel drive. 

This is  new version of "frosted window panes" I haven't experienced before--
freezing rain!  Usually these windows are clear. 

It took a long time to chip away at the ice before we could drive anywhere.
See the video below ;)  

We both gave talks in sacrament meeting Sunday about goals, and I gave mine on setting a goal this year that will help us become more like the Savior. Preach My Gospel lists 9 Christ-like attributes: faith, hope, charity and love, humility, diligence, patience, obedience, virtue, knowledge. I encourage each of you to pick one to work on this year! I know as we do that we can find peace and joy and come closer to Jesus Christ. Have a great week! 

Love, Sister Potts 

FUN FACTS: 

1. So last week I told you about the Whitmers!  Now, how in the world did they get acquainted with Joseph Smith? The answer to that is... Oliver Cowdery. 

2. A son of the Whitmers,  David, was on business in Palmyra and became friends with Oliver, who was living with the Smith family. 

3. They began talking about Joseph Smith, and David didn't think much of it, but Oliver felt there was more. They promised to keep in touch. 

4. After the school year was over, Oliver went to Harmony,  Pennsylvania, to meet Joseph and stopped to see David on the way. 

5. He promised to write David what he found out about Joseph Smith, and he would end up sending 2 letters....

CLIFFHANGER until next week! 

Week 36 - A Christmas Miracle Baptism!

Well folks it has been quite the week here in Massena! Rita, who has had many roadblocks keeping her from baptism for about 6 months now finally decided it's been long enough and wanted to be baptized ASAP.  Well, the only problem is that she worked in Utica until 10 Saturday night, and Elder Spear, who she wanted to baptize and confirm her, was being transferred on Monday.  Sooo.... 7 am Sunday morning it is!  After many phone calls and much anxiety and planning she was baptized and confirmed on Dec 22, 2019. Woohoo! Way worth getting up at 5 am for. And, I got to be a witness! That was an amazing opportunity too.  I might have teared up haha. In the dressing room afterwards she said, "I feel different!" It's amazing! And now she's told us she's ready for a calling to whip things into shape haha.

Sister Penrod & me with Rita at her baptism!

Definitely finding Joy in Massena--
especially with Rita's baptism!

The Spears are also leaving which is really sad, but we know that they are going to do so much good in Buffalo! We had a final dinner with them and are saying goodbye today :(. 

Goodbye dinner at VinoVidi Vici Restaurant with Bro & Sis Spear.

The other crazy thing of the week was the temperature! Wow it snowed a ton which was gorgeous then it decided to get COLD. One morning we went out to walk and the phone said feels like -23⁰! I can now say I've had my nostrils freeze haha. But then yesterday it got to 40⁰ and most of the snow melted! What in the world? And I thought Utah weather was crazy. 

With Christmas approaching we have been showing people the He is the Gift video. It's very good highly recommend! Also with the Spirit of Christmas video they talk about gifts we can give Christ this year, and we have been inviting people to do the same. Could we clean up the kitchen for our mom? Spend a day without road rage? Stop rolling your eyes and sighing? There's something we all can do that would make Him very happy:)  What gift are YOU going to give him this year?

Love, Sister Potts 

FUN FACTS: (I think I'm going to switch to the WHITMER FARM! possibly my favorite! )

1.  The Whitmers are of German descent from a group known as Pennsylvania Dutch.

2. They moved to the Fayette, NY area around 1807 with their 8 children.

3. They purchased a 100 acre farm (same as the Smiths), but theirs was a working farm so they didn't have to clear the land. 

4. The Whitmers were very involved in the community and highly respected. They were school trustees, constables, and members of the local militia.

5. The Whitmers were God-fearing people and worshiped in the local German reformed church. 

Bonus from Mom Potts:  Brother Spear sent this special video of Emily rehearsing a special violin/piano number with one of the young women in the branch for the Christmas program.  What a blessing that someone found a violin for her to play!  This makes my Christmas complete and my momma heart so happy! :)

https://youtu.be/ROukibodDqM

Week 35 - Fruitcake hot potato

December Zone Conference

Hello y'all! Tuesday we got to go to Utica, New York, for a zone conference which is a 3 1/2 hour drive each way! Elder Bennett was our visiting general authority and also our area president, and he talked a lot about keeping our attitudes positive in this winter season (with the cold and all)! He said if we don't we are shutting the doors of heaven from which blessings flow. Yikes! So we've tried to be better and honestly things have been more enjoyable!

Funny thing of the week, we were visiting a sick member and we got into the elevator and this man was there holding a box. He asks us where we're from and we said yeah and he said oh, well Merry Christmas! And handed us this box. We look down and it's this nasty looking boxed fruitcakes stuff. So we said thanks! And got out and laughed how random that was and didn't know what to do with it. When we get back in the elevator another man gets in and we say hello and then...... Merry Christmas! Hand him the fruitcake and run to our car. Haha.  I wonder how many times that had been passed around!

Good news of the week, we have Rita on date to be baptized New Year's eve! If you remember, she's the one who was scheduled to be baptized a while ago but fell through, so pray for her and that everything will work out smoothly. Our little branch could use her leadership (she's on the city council and a go-getter).  What better way to start 2020? 

Have a great Christmas!

Love,  Sister Potts 

My Mommy must love me!
 12 Days of Christmas has started!

Watching the large commercial cargo ships go through the Eisenhower Lock
on the St. Lawrence River is pretty cool!

FUN FACTS:  My favorite part of each site!

1. Smith Rarm - too hard to choose, but I do love the upstairs of the log home where angel Moroni appeared. 

2. Whitmer Farm - the 4 minute video at the end about the growth of the church since it was founded there!

3. Grandin Print Bldg - you can't beat the printing press, even if the original is in Salt Lake City!  Love the smell of books, too!

4. Hill Cumorah - the beautiful view from the top of the hill!

Sorry those aren't better-I ran out of time haha.

Note from Mom:  The Spears who have been the senior couple assigned to Massena for the past year are being transferred to Buffalo, New York, next Monday!  This is such sad news for this little branch since there most likely won't be another senior couple to take their place in Massena for a while.  The Spears have been the backbone of this little branch since there are only 3 Melchizedek Priesthood holders, and one actual family in the branch.  All the others are singles, and most don't even have a car to get places.  The Spears have so generously offered to transport people to church and activities and to go support them in whatever way is needed--from home fix-it projects to cheering at swim meets & choir concerts to giving piano lessons and taking care of those who are sick.  They will be missed so much.  Emily and her companion will now get to host the Christmas Dinner for all the singles in the branch who don't have a place to go for Christmas.  There is lots of change and transition coming up, and the Massena Branch needs lots of prayers to be strengthened, and that people will be able to step up to the roles they need filled.   There are some fun pictures & videos of Emily & her companion on the Spear's blog if you want some fun.  The week of Thanksgiving had an awesome whip cream challenge game that was video'd of them :)   https://spearmissionblog.com/

Week 34- Sick and Sunshine

Hello everyone! It's been an interesting week.  I got the stomach flu on Friday so I was out of commission for the day but I'm up and working again! 

We've had some funny interactions with people this week.  There was a door we knocked on and a girl named Sunshine answered and let us show a short Light the World video.  Then afterwards, without even acknowledging the video, she asked,  "do you two want an apple or something?" We were like...... sure?  So she came back with apples and a drink for us and said how she was in girl scouts and she knows how hard going door to door was.  Haha! Then she was like, bye! And shut the door. It was pretty funny. 

Some days it's hard to know whether we're coming or going!

We've been teaching LOTS of lessons, and probably 80% are Light the World! I've watched the Christ Child video so many times, and it's so good! It's helped me really appreciate and think about where we would be without that miraculous event of Christ's birth. We would be so lost! I encourage everyone to take a moment this season to reflect on that. 

I hope everyone has a great start to the season!

Love, Sister Potts 

FUN FACTS:  Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration (video): Fact or Fiction?

1.  If you notice, when Joseph is reading the scriptures, his mom is at the table painting. She was known for her oil cloth paintings! FACT

2.  After Alvin's death it shows him several times at the cemetery.  Yeahhhh it doesn't look like that and it's on a hill so you can't see people walking by. FICTION

3.  During the first vision it looks all beautiful and green. FICTION It doesn't turn green until June Haha. 

4.  Did you notice them doing some wood working? They were making barrels! They were very talented coopers. FACT

5.  My personal favorite scene when Joseph and Emma are courting? FICTION. Yeah..... they could only court in her parlor and at social events. But I'm still glad they included it. 

Week 33- Thanksgiving Service

Happy December everyone! It has been quite the week,  but the highlight was of course Thanksgiving! We had a couple of service opportunities which were fun. In the afternoon we helped a bit with a Thanksgiving dinner that was served at a housing community, then we went around a nursing home with a poster and talked to them and had them put something they were thankful for on our poster! There was one sweet lady who was having such a hard day because she didn't have any family to be with, and her husband had died a couple months ago and she cried. So sad! We sang her some primary songs/hymns and she loved it so much. 

We volunteer in a Nature Center each week
and get to make fun crafts!

...and hold weird cochroach looking things.

We have also been starting light the world visits! The new Christ Child video is so beautiful--I hope you all have watched it. We are so excited to get in the Christmas spirit more by serving as Christ would! I invite everyone to go and sign up for those daily service prompts:)

Eat soup to stay warm!

Have a great week everyone!

Love,  Sister Potts 

FUN FACTS ABOUT THE GRANDIN GALLERY:

1. Have you ever wondered where the original painting of Christ visiting the Americas is? Well now you know... PALMYRA! 

2. I mean technically there's another original in the conference center, but the original original is in the Grandin Building.

3. There is a painter named CCA Christensen who is Danish and joined the church in the mid 1800s. He was going to art school but ended up dropping out to serve a mission. That's why his portraits have a unique style, he learned landscapes but not people!

4. The Grandin Gallery also houses the original paintings of Mormon and Moroni. Notice that both the plates and a bracelet were handed down from father to son!

5. The crowning feature is an original 1830's Book of Mormon in immaculate condition, it even has its gold title still intact!! It was donated by a Palmyra resident whose only request was that it never leave Palmyra. 

Week 32- P² in Massena

Hello everyone!

We got transfer news yesterday (early due to the holiday week) and Sister Wiese left this morning, but Sister Penrod and I are staying here in Massena! We're going to have a party and a half figuring everything out--it'll be great.  

Things got warmer this week! We had rain and it melted the foot of snow we had.  We also got to drive down & back to Syracuse for MLC which is a 3-hour drive each way! 

MLC this week.  Disciple-like leadership--continuing to master the doctrine in the scriptures. (Sister Wiese who is sitting next to Emily was just transferred out of Massena, and Sister Penrod, who is sitting across from Emily got to stay with Emily for another transfer.

Our friend Jay is still doing great.  We finished teaching the Plan of Salvation to him, and he's still reading the Book of Mormon really well! It has been so cool seeing the change that has taken place in him in the last three weeks. When we first met him he was depressed, so stressed he couldn't sleep, and being evicted. Now he is happier, he just got a job offer, he was cleaning his apartment last time we went over, and he is sleeping better! He attributes it to the Book of Mormon, learning about Jesus Christ, and coming to church. We are really excited for him! I know that by following the plan that our heavenly father has set for us we can find the most joy and peace possible both in this life and the next. I also know that reading the Book of Mormon can change our lives as we feel the spirit,  learn of Christ, and get answers to our questions as we read.  READ IT EVERY DAY!!!

LOVE,  Sister Potts 

FUN FACTS:

1. The first step in embossing the title on the back of the Book of Mormon is painting a black substance called glare on the back in a rectangle.

2. Glare is a substance like shellac that is basically a mixture of ink and glue.

3. Next, they lay a piece of real gold leaf down on the glare.

4. And then take hot embossing dyes with an individual letter that has been heating up over coals and hand press each letter of the title BOOK OF MORMON into the spine.

5. Wipe off the extra gold leaf and voila! The book is ready for selling!

Week 31- Baby it's COLD Outside

Update from Mom:  sounds like Emily tried to send an email last week, but it glitched somehow and was lost.  She was able to send one today, though.  She's been sick for the last 2 weeks and finally got to the doctor today & got some meds, so she should be feeling better from her sinus infection soon:)  From Emily today:

Because no matter how cold it is or how sick you feel,
ice cream is always the answer.

Hello everyone! It's been cold this week! We have over a foot of snow and it has been consistently in the teens and around 0. But the work continues! We have an awesome new friend named Jay. He has a rough life. He's about 30 but is in a hard situation and he feels like it was divine inspiration that we contacted him. He has already read over 100 pages in the Book of Mormon and he came to church Sunday! He says his life has started turning up and he attributes that to reading the Book of Mormon and meeting with us!

I had my first exchange this week! I went to an area called Lake Placid which had the Olympics there in the 80s. It's definitely a tourist town and reminds me of Park City, but it was fun! We saw some miracles and were able to give away several copies of the Book of Mormon. It was awesome! Sister Penrod stayed in Massena with Sister Di Iulio from Italy!

My first exchange!

I also reached my 7 month mark this week. It's kind of crazy! I've had spring, summer, fall, and now winter weather on my mission so far. 

We've been teaching several people the Plan of Salvation lately and it has struck me how blessed we are to have answers to where we came from, why are we here, and where we are going. Those are things people are searching for all over the world and we know! We are so blessed to have that knowledge and the peace that comes with it.

Have a fantastic week and stay warm!

Love, Sister Potts 

FUN FACTS (from the Grandin Print Press continued):

1.  After the pages have been pressed overnight they are taken out and 4 cuts are made in the spine with a hand saw

2.  They are then transferred to a sewing frame, and the women would hand sew all 37 signatures together.

3. Then they would glue the spine for extra stability.

4. They would now cut the book open! A fancy contraption called a plane and plow would slice a small piece off the top of a few pages at a time to get rid of all the folds.

5. Last step is the title! We will go into that next week ;)

Week 30 - Snow! and a Talent Show

Sisters Potts, Wiese, & Penrod styling their winter hats

Well, everyone, not sure what happened this week, but Sister Potts either forgot to send her weekly email or had a technical glitch or something ??!!!  So, Momma Potts gets to post random stuff.  Hehehe!  Thankfully Emily was able to send a cute picture of their trio donning their winter caps now that the snow has set in.  They were expected to get 6-12 inches of white fluffy stuff yesterday, so in Emily's call home, we got to discuss sending extra winter apparel items :).  

Also, Emily is truly loving her companions, Sister Wiese and Sister Penrod.  They all get along fabulously and have a lot of fun and laughter together.  Emily is so happy! and she is loving the different change of pace that proselyting brings.  It is so rewarding (and inherently at times frustrating) to be able to follow people's journeys as they investigate the church.  They have been praying for miracles and working so hard to help a special lady in Massena who knows the church is true and wants to be baptized, but has to work out issues with other people currently in the branch.  There always seems to be drama in small branches with everybody knowing everybody's business in this small town and having a hard time putting past things behind them.  Anyways, pray for a miracle for Emily's special investigator so that people's hearts can mend and allow this baptism!

The other thing that happened this week if a fun talent show that the YW in the branch put on.  The missionaries weren't able to attend, but they evidently pre-recorded themselves doing special talents, which were then shown.  I found the video below on a blog that an awesome senior couple keeps who are serving in Massena.  Mark & Karen Spear are amazing second parents to Emily!  They have the sister missionaries over all the time as well as members and investigators, and that is where Emily goes to use the internet and call home from.  Sister Spear is Kevin Worthen's sister (the President of BYU), and she and her husband serve the members of the branch and community in countless ways, trying to help build them up and provide assistance.  Love them!

Mark & Karen Spear

Hopefully this shows up ok on the blog.  If not, you may have to copy & paste it in your browser.  It's Emily at her finest--can she do it?  She's going to attempt saying all 50 states in alphabetical order in just ONE breath.  This girl of mine is just filled with talents I didn't even know existed.  Haha!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhNO7djolF0#action=share

Week 29- A Witch, a drunk, and three Sister Missionaries

A man named Everette (in the branch) creates these fun masterpieces to welcome new people to the branch.  Sister Potts is officially welcomed into the branch! 

Well there's no dull moment here in Massena! Tuesday we had quite the experience at a lesson. When we came up to the apartment, the man was there but his girlfriend wasn't. Thankfully he had a lady friend helping him with some paperwork so we could go in. It was quite obvious from the very beginning that he was DRUNK. But we went in and he wanted to talk to us because "it makes him feel good." The woman asked if we're Mormon and we of course said we're missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and she says "cool, I'm pagan, a witch!" Wow, okay cool! So we get talking and he promises to come to church but then finds out it's earlier than he thinks he can get up, and the witch offers to put a hex on him so he'll wake up on time (which he thankfully declined). Then before we left he said, "Wait, what are you girls doing with the rest of my life?"  Awkward pause--what?!  The witch said, "Jimmy you can't marry all 3 of them!" Then her eyes get really big, and she looks at us and says "WAIT you're Mormon, yes you can!" To which we all shout in unison, "NOOOOOOO!"  Haha it was sooo funny we ran out of there hardly containing ourselves. 

We had Zone Conference this last week in Syracuse (3 hours away)--
we're multi-tasking eating our lunch and listening

Lining up for the Hurrah for  Israel shout at the end of Zone Conference.

On a more serious note we also had a really hard lesson with a guy who was supposed to be baptized a while ago who has gotten into some anti material and was asking us about all these outrageous things that he's watched on YouTube. It's so frustrating that he refuses so spend any time reading the actual Book of Mormon, but will spend hours on YouTube watching things that he can't even begin to comprehend. In a leadership conference a couple weeks ago our mission president told us that the iron rod is a three stranded cable consisting of the words of the living prophets, the standard works, and the spirit. If you rely on anything but that to answer your questions you will be led astray into strange paths. I know that if we spend our time on the word of god that we can find answers to all our questions, no matter if they are expressly answered or if the spirit leads us to the answer. The Book of Mormon is the answer! It is true!

Love, Sister Potts 

In our trusty truck :)

Planning!

FUN FACTS: 

1.  After the printing of the Book of Mormon was complete, binding could begin! It took place on the second floor of the Grandin Building!

2.  The pages would be lowered down using a pulley from the printing shop, and they would cut each page in half so there were 8 pages of the Book of Mormon on the front and 8 on the back.

3.  They would have to hand fold 185,000+ pieces of paper 3x into groupings called signatures.

4.  Each signature contained 16 pages of the Book of Mormon, and it would take 37 signatures to complete a copy of the Book of Mormon.

5.  The signatures would be put in a standing screw press overnight (pictures below) to flatten the signatures.