Sisters

Sisters

Thursday, July 21, 2016

July 18, 2016 – BEcome Individual, Yet All Encompassing

HI FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!

I love you and I miss you and I LOVE hearing about your lives. Thanks for the prayers and thoughts for me and the people I serve and serve with.

Soo…saying goodbye to Sister Lee was one of the hardest things I had to do. She is an incredible missionary and she became one of my closest friends. I learned much from her. One of my favorite things about her were her prayers. She prayed with so much faith and detail. When I got to the new area, something Sister Tippets told me that she liked was my prayers! Hallelujah! Sister Lee rubbed off(: She is now training a new Sister in Morgantown! I didn't get to have a picture with her because she was in a meeting before I could grab her. BUT here is one of Sister Huntington. (: She is doing great and just got put with Sister Ward (a Sister from Idaho Falls that was in our District at the MTC) love them.

Speaking of transfers and Morgantown, I MISS THAT PLACE. I’ve wondered how it ever felt foreign. I know that the more we experience something, the more we come to love it. I can't believe how fast my time there went! I learned from this experience to never take a second for granted!! I am so grateful for my time there. And I am so grateful to be in Teays Valley! It is night and day compared to Morgantown. Just a few little quiet towns with not too much commotion, but enough to keep us busy! Sister Tippetts is from Salt Lake and she is great! Sorry I don't have a picture yet! This is her first area and she has been out 3 transfers (4 1/2 moths). Her trainer stayed with her the whole time and just left for home. Everyone loved her to pieces and I have some big shoes to fill! 

My town is fairly close to some of the flooded areas. On Saturday our ward had a project that we went to help with. A lady had just rented the house for 2 DAYS! And then it was flooded. It was horrible to watch her cry, yet be so thankful. She watched everything she had worked for be destroyed. It just reminded me how fragile our lives and material items are. What matters most comes from inside (:

I have only been here for a few days, but I can see all of the growth, the happiness, and the challenge that lies ahead! No matter how hard, I am grateful for growth! I hope we can all do our best to have an attitude of optimism ALWAYS!

So prayer is real: We went to try someone the other night and I went to leave a note in the door. Well, there was a wasp (A MASSIVE wasp) flying around. I accidentally shut it in the screen door with the note. I then realized that when the lady was going to come to her door, a very aggravated wasp was going to be there to greet her. I did not want to deal with it. I didn't know what to do. I realized that I needed to have a little more faith that God would help me if I asked. I said a prayer and asked to not be stung when it flew out as I opened the door. I opened my eyes, walked up to the porch and went to let the angry thing out. Well, there was no wasp!!! I seriously have no idea how that happened, but I know that somehow God answered my prayer. PRAYER WORKS!

I love the ward here. Probably one of my favorite parts about the area, but that is what I said last time too (: So I have made it a goal to be individual, yet all encompassing. This is a quality and trait that Christ has. He loves us and pays attention to us individually, yet he never leaves anyone out. Sometimes I get comfortable with the relationships I have and I forget to strengthen others, or worse yet make others! I about knew every member in Morgantown and could tell you about them. I decided I wanted to do the same here, but to speed up the process. So I am going to sit by a different member every time I go to church. I was thinking about my challenge for this week, and I thought I could challenge everyone: missionary, member, or not to do the same! Maybe it isn't at church, maybe it is a meeting, or on the bus or who knows, but just try it (: yeah? (: My friends: let's BEcome individual, yet all-encompassing together. Let's make a small step by sitting by someone new and then reaching out to get to know them!

Well folks, I love you! I know that Christ is our Savior and that with his help, we can be more obedient to the laws and ordinances of HIS gospel, which in turn brings us more joy and happiness than we now enjoy. The greater the obedience, the greater the blessings!
--
Sister Justina Campbell
West Virginia Charleston Mission


With Sister Huntington, my companion in the MTC.


With Krissy and her daughter and grandkids. They are the family that is related to me. I met them the weekend before I left Morgantown. Definitely a Miracle!




July 13, 2016 - BEcome Filled with Charity! HEADED SOUTH for another adventure….Not so far away from family after all!!!!

Alright! So the news is out. I am headed to Teays Valley. It is west of Charleston! My new companion will be Sister Tippets. No one has heard of her so we are thinking she is fairly new. We will see!

I am excited for a new adventure! I am also really sad for this one to come to a close. Morgantown has been my home for the past 6 months. I was telling Sister Lee this morning that I remember at one point how new everything was. I have come to learn that TO LOVE MEANS TO EXPERIENCE. We can’t love something or someone or somewhere until we have experiences to love and know them by.

Well, the past ten days have been some of the best! But I say that every week (:
This week I went on exchanges with Sister Skanchy. I love being able to learn from everyone around me. Missionary, member, or not. She said that one time she thought she remembered President telling her that she should desire unnatural love for people. I thought it was a funny comment and wasn’t entirely sure of its context. The next day we went out with a member named Sister McInelly. She has had many trails in her life. She was telling us about how she would just pray and rely on the love from God that she received for those around her. She taught us that praying for Charity means praying for love beyond what you alone could have for someone—it is like praying to have the Love Christ does for someone. A lightbulb clicked for me! I finally understood the concept of Charity more. These last few days I have been trying to focus on desiring this unnatural love for others! God grants us the righteous desires we have because my heart has grown so much and I have been able to do things this week I have never thought possible. My challenge to you this week is to BEcome filled with Charity!

So a while back Sister Lee and I were walking in an apartment complex and we came across a 9-year-old boy and his mom walking. We stopped to talk to them. The boy was interested in learning and his mom said we could go back. As we started talking to his mom she told us that her relatives lived in Blackfoot. She couldn’t remember names and there was slim chance of us being any sort of related. Meanwhile as we were coming by she told her mom that the missionaries teaching her were from Blackfoot. Well, last Sunday (like the Sunday I was leaving need I remind you) we were sitting on the couch and her mom walked in. She talked to us and asked us where we were from. As soon as we said Blackfoot her face LIT up. She asked right away if I knew a Bobby Jo Jenkins. My thought process, “Ah man! So clo..oh wait, THAT IS MY MOM!!!” She freaked out and said do you know a Vanessa? Me: “THAT IS MY GRANDMA!”. She then proceeded to tell me that my grandma is her dad, Larry’s, sister and that my mom is his niece. Her name is Krissy Dawn Brown (: WHAT? So.. needless to say, God had been preparing this moment for a long time. Apparently her Sister, Patty, had told her that Bobby’s daughter was in Morgantown serving a mission. So she had been on the hunt for me, but didn’t know my name. Out of 5 SETS of missionaries, I happened to be the one in this area and I happened to be sitting in her daughter’s living room.
WE ended up being able to go to dinner with her and JD. I LOVED IT! WE got to talk about families. Apparently, she has been wanting to find her dad’s family history for a while but just hasn’t known how. I told her that my mom and grandma would be happy to help! Sis Lee got her information and they are going to help her from over here too!!!!!! WOW. I wrote my testimony in a book of Mormon for her and we got to teach her about families and what we can do to be together for eternity! I just find it funny that my mom and I have been putting together a plan for Family History and we have been wondering where to start. I think this is God’s way of telling us that we need to start with my mom’s mom!

As we were walking out of Applebees, Sister Lee mentioned that there was a reason I came to Morgantown, that I served here, and that I did so for a THIRD of my mission. I know that God is in every detail of our lives. I know that he knows us by name and that he prepares us to meet and share the gospel with certain individuals. God truly is a one by one God!

I love you fam! I can’t wait to hear from you! Some other fun news! Sister Lee is training! WOOHOO(: She is a STELLAR missionary. We love her! She will be forever a part of our lives. I will miss my sticker loving, story-telling, giggling, book of Mormon loving companion(:
Keep her and Morgantown in your prayers always please!!

Well folks, we are on to another adventure! The SOUTH HERE WE COMMEEEEEE!

A very excited, not so fresh, Sister Campbell (:https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/cleardot.gif


-- 
Sister Justina Campbell
West Virginia Charleston Mission


Exchanges with sister Skanchy.


Sister Morgan 


Sister Padgett- She is like our second grandma on the mission.


Sister Bruce- Her husband is in Med school she served in the Philippines.


A WVU building!


District picture from Transfer 4 of Morgantown!


ALL I wanted to do was to ride the PRT (look it up) before I left Morgantown, but it was closed! So sad! That is okay. I will be back (:


How I have loved serving with Sister Lee! She is an amazing missionary and I have learned so much from her. I am sure going to miss her!





July 5, 2016 - BEcome a Seeker of Good - I love the 4th of July - Sickness strikes again

HELLO FAMILY ANND FRIENDS  (:

HAPPY late 4th of July (: It rained the whole day here and looked pretty much like this! Haha, I was so excited to be in WV on the fourth and have a hot festive filled day outside, but plans changed obviously! I love just making the most of our circumstances and finding the positive where I can. I really didn't used to like rain or snow, but the longer I am here the more I realize that the only thing I can change about the situation is my attitude. President says that his ancestors used to say, "There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing". Haha I have found so much joy in this line and I remind myself of it often. Too often we find faults in everything around us rather than just trying to change our point of view!

I have been pondering the line of scripture: "seek and ye shall find" along with the idea of opposition. I have always thought about it in just the positive way: seek good find good! But I think that God is often trying to teach us that if we seek the bad, we will surely find it. just think about it(: and then decide what you can do to BEcome a seeker of good. The Lord promises us the latter part of that will be finding it! 

This week has been an interesting one to say the least! Sis Lee has been so sick all week. She is usually super tough, so I know it is worse than she leads us on to believe. There were many times where I had to plan alone or study alone or that we couldn't follow the schedule to exactness. I gained a testimony of our mission guidelines and how much they help to keep us focused on the work and successful in the work. I also learned that having the WE attitude is crucial to a companionship or team of any sort really. I would think to myself at times: this sickness is really effecting my ability to work or find or whatever it would be, but then I would stop and the spirit would teach me about us. How this sickness is effecting our ability to work or find or whatever it would be. Rather than making the people on our team our enemies in difficult times, it makes much more sense to remember they are part of us.

John ended up coming to dinner with Bishop Hoskin and his family. WOW are friends in the gospel important! I am convinced that because of the love and support he has received he has been able to stand strong. He expressed how overwhelming all of this was for him and that he just needed to slow down. What great news! He went to the student ward this week and the elders updated us by giving us the news that he got up and bore his testimony! Have I told you I love this gospel? Only God knew that the man we talked to about the restored gospel for only a short 5 min would be the one to be standing in sacrament meeting sharing is pure love for that restored truth he was taught. TEACH WHEN YOU FIND and you will find when you teach(:

A few weeks back a member introduced us to a man he had met fishing. We went back to teach him, but he was just so hard to get in contact with. As we went back to reach him, we met his roommate. I know that God never sends us to an area without a purpose for us being there. His roommate has proved to be one of the most sincere and heartfelt people I have met on my mission. His life has been hard to say the least. As we taught him about the restored gospel and the plan of salvation he just could not grasp the fact that Christ wanted to forgive and heal and make whole someone "like him". WELLL we did not give up hope in letting this man know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real and readily accessible to all who will receive it. AS we taught and testified his mind slowly opened up to this idea. We directly invited him to ask for forgiveness and we were just notified over the phone a few days ago that he asked!! His experience is one of my favorites. The next day we went for a lesson and I loved to see this man bear his testimony to us that he knew he had experienced the forgiving power of Christ. A GROWN MAN HAD TEARS IN HIS EYES as he explained to us that he felt someone removing what felt like chains that bound him down. It may be an unseen world to us right now, but I KNOW I KNOW that it is real. I know that the power of the devil is real, but that the power of Christ is also real and that it can remove from us our fear, our doubt and our sin!

For brief moments I wonder again why I left everything I knew to come to a strange land where not one face was familiar. Or why I can't call home to my family when they are in the hospital (this seems to be a reoccurring hard spot for me lately), or why I wake up every day with the biggest smile on my face even though I am flat tired, but then I remember THE PEOPLE. The precious souls (and they ARE here and they ARE worth much in God’s sight) that need to hear this restored truth that WILL bless their families and homes. I think of this man, who tells us that a month ago he wondered if he had any direction or purpose in his life. I wonder what he would have done if he never would have met missionaries. I remember that God is in charge, that he knows us personally, and that he is ALWAYS extending an arm of help, love, and comfort. All we have to do is simply do our part and ask. Friends and family: DO WE ASK? Do we understand the reality of the message we have been given? Do we use it? Do we let it make us better? Do we change because of it?

I have been thinking a lot about how a missionary’s purpose is to teach repentance. So really, to teach change. Teach a better way of life! I wish I could express to you how much I love the calling I have and how much I respect this calling. Although what I do is not perfect, I am grateful for grace and the difference my knowledge of it makes in my service. And I am grateful for my desire to be more exactly obedient to God's commands. Doing so blesses me with more faith!!

Just one more quick story! I know my email is long this week. One night as I was kneeling down to pray I just felt darkness overcome me. I think it may have been the night my daddy was in the hospital. It has been a hard week with many ups and downs and I just was scared and comfortless that night. I felt empty and I felt the power of Satan. I wanted to crawl into bed and lay there, but I continued my prayer. In training with president he shared the first vision with us. Not just the part about Joseph Smith seeing God our Father and Jesus Christ, but the part right before that where he tells us that he was just about to sink into destruction before he saw them and that he called out to God to deliver him from the power of Satan. I FELT THE SPIRIT. He encouraged each of us to memorize the full thing. I had been working to do that and it was in my head. The only thing I felt like doing during that prayer was just thinking and saying those words, hoping and praying I would experience the darkness I felt to be removed from me. As I finished saying the words from Joseph Smith History 16 and 17 ( https://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/js-h/1?lang=eng) I FELT SO LIGHT. I felt free from the darkness that not even 5 minutes ago was over me. I know that praying and asking God to comfort us works, just like Joseph Smith did. WOW! I know that the scriptures are true and that we are no different from the men and women we read about in them. If we want to see the same miracles they experienced, all we have to do is ask. (: 

Updates on transfers! They are usually every 6 weeks, but this one is only 5 so they are next week! We find out on Saturday who is staying and going, then on Tuesday we find out where we will be going if we are going. So you will find out Wednesday if we are in for another 6 weeks in amazing Morgantown. Fun fact of the day, the founder of Morgatown was Morgan Morgan. Ha(:

There is much speculation that I am out of here, but you never know(: Wherever I go, I am happy to be here and ready TO SERVE.https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/cleardot.gif



-- 
Sister Justina Campbell
West Virginia Charleston Mission


HAPPY late 4th of July (: 


So, our ward is very transitional because of Med school and really just everyone deciding to get new jobs. These are some more of the families that are leaving us :(





June 27, 2016 - BEcome Comfortable with Asking for Help (: The storm update!

So, it has been a really interesting week! But preface to this letter home: I love my mission. Thomas told me last week that he was telling my mom that my mission gets better and better every week! SO TRUE (: The longer I am here, the better it gets!

You may have heard about the crazy storms that we had in this neck of the woods. Our area was not hit with severity. Like at all. Here are some pics of the small damage that was done during the worst part of it last week. 44 of the 55 counties in WV were/are in a state of emergency. There are places that have just been devastated. I mean houses floating down rivers. We have had So much rain here. It is the weirdest rain too because it is just hot. The ground steams below you as the rain hits the pavement. In other news, I sweat more than I ever thought possible this week. It is just sick. Seriously. I wasn’t even doing anything and I would just be sweating. And it hasn’t even really gotten hot yet! Hahaha are we in for an adventure.

Thank you for all of the prayers for the people here! I know that they are helping. Sister Lee and I had a good week(: We finally got our car back on Friday (we were scheduled to get it 3 days before that) and we are so thankful! It has been quite the experience getting around.

We had specialized training this week and we got to learn about becoming master teachers of the restoration. It amazes me that no matter how many times I hear or share the message of Joseph Smiths first vision I get chills! I KNOW that that young boy, in all of his courage to fight opposition saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. It reminded me of a story about the Flanagans. (I sent a pic home a few weeks ago). They have two young kids so we were teaching the Restoration just by holding up pictures and teaching them what they meant. We shared pictures before and after the picture of Joseph Smith’s vision, but when we shared this picture…..the kids could NOT stop asking questions. I kid you not, even after we tried to go on they kept flipping back to this picture and asking about it. It was familiar to them! Why? Because they knew and learned about it before they came to earth and they are so pure and close to God that they have an easier time accepting it (: I love truth and I love the way it feels as it resonates in us. TRUTH IS HAPINESS. The more we can get, the better off we are. And we gain more by living what we already know to be true.

In other news of opposition: Sister Gibson cancelled her baptism date. But keep your heads high! Because there is still hope for her(: She came to church and got a ride all by herself this week. I know that as we continue to help her see the fruits of the gospel she will desire more.
We went on a rollercoaster of emotions with John this week. We had a great lesson with him Wednesday. My favorite part of the lesson was after we taught about keeping the Sabbath day holy he said, “Wow! I want to go to church tomorrow!” That is when you know someone understands the blessings that come from living the gospel(: Then, the next day, we got a text from him telling us that he no longer wants to pursue this course. It was a very, very hard thing to hear. I was so excited for him! I think it was a point where I really questioned if agency was a good thing, but I quickly was reminded that the happiest moments and feelings of joy came from when I chose to do the right thing on my own! It was a good lesson to be learned. He is coming to dinner at the Bishop’s home this week with us, so we will still get to have some contact with him! It was so weird to not see him at church after almost two straight months. He really was a part of the ward.

Friends! I love that there is always hope and happiness ahead and that success as a missionary comes from obedience to the Lord and diligence in growing closer to him. I hope that we can always remember that Service is just Christ like opportunity (: The reason we should serve shouldn’t be for recognition, but it should be a part of our schooling as disciples!
One more thing: Aside from everything a mission has taught me: it has taught me to ASK. This past week if we wanted to get anywhere in our giant area without taking all day we had to ask for a ride. For some reason, it wasn’t that uncomfortable for me. I thought about this and I was shocked. I am so stubbornly independent, but I have had to trash that attitude on a mission because nothing gets done the Lord’s way when we try on our own here. Even just last night, we got done planning tonight and it was a great night! I looked at it and I was really excited. I thought about how many calls and texts we had to make to set it all up and I was in shock! I ask so many people for things on a daily basis, but they are good things! I ask a lot of the members here, but they always step up to the task.

I was thinking about Christ and how if he sees that something needs done, he has no problem in asking for our help. Have you ever gotten a feeling you needed to do something, then didn’t, then watched your neighbor do it and realized why you felt like you needed to do it? Haha, well it just shows that when God wants something done, he doesn’t take no for an answer. Many of the righteous desires we have can’t be done on our own. Too many times I think we stop at person 0 or 1 or 2. If they can’t help, we just give up. But I know that shouldn’t be the case. God tells us: ASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVE. So, my challenge to you: if it is righteous, and you desire to get it done, don’t stop asking or trying different things until you find the one who can help. I have had to call 10 members before I found one that could come out. And turns out, the 10th one was the exact one God needed in that lesson at that time. God has a plan, let’s do what we can and work until we get on board with that plan! So, BEcome comfortable with asking for help.

I love you! Have a good time celebrating one of my favorite holidays! Light off lots of fireworks (: And eat watermelon too. (:


-- 
Sister Justina Campbell
West Virginia Charleston Mission


This is a cicada. They are almost gone! FINALLY(:


When we got stuck in the storm and the power went off in a member’s home! 


That is a piece of siding! Pretty strong winds! 






Saturday, July 16, 2016

June 20, 2016 - BEcome Faithful Enough to See Miracles

This week has been hands down the most eventful week of my mission!!! I would like to thank Joycee for the opposition as she was in the hospital and it was really hard to not wish to be home(: I know that with great things come the hard things. I chose to have a good attitude and just focus on the work! I know that the Lord protected her and as I had faith that he would, I had the energy to focus on the work here. BLESSINGS COME FROM HAVING FAITH people. It is an enduring truth.  

Speaking of—
HAVING THE FAITH TO SEE MIRACLES: President, Preach my Gospel, you name it, just hammers on this topic. Not just having faith, but having the faith to see actual real life miracles. So Shirley (if you don’t know who Shirley is..you must have just started reading my emails, so thanks! ) the same Shirley we have been teaching since February FINALLY after all this time experienced the Holy Ghost’s role in conversion (: AND IT WAS AWESOME. Here is the scoop: We had a lesson with her Saturday. Sister Lee was on exchanges and that morning all of our rides from members started cancelling. This was a problem you see because we can’t walk there. So I worked out a ride with a member and a ride to our next place. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it to see Shirley. We got there and guess what: no answer! We called her and she had totally spaced the appointment. No big deal, we will see her at church! We asked if she was coming but we knew without a doubt she would be, she comes every week! She loves church! She answered, “Nawh, I ain’t comin. I just ain’t feelin it and I might got compny comin ovr” (her accent is the Cutest and I talk like her all the time, hehe so cute!). WHAT? Shirley never cancels. We were so sad. She told us to call Monday. Well. Sister Powell (Jenni’s twin and my aunt on my mission) texted us Sunday and told us to guess who was coming to church. SHIRLEY was! She had called early that morning asking her for a ride. We went with Sister Powell to go pick her up! As she came out of the house she was beaming. I had never seen her talk or move or smile the way she was. It was like she was a whole new person. We asked her what changed and she said,” I just woke up and God tol me I needed to go to church!” It was soo cool! We just thought that it meant that she thought she needed to come, so she did. Awesome!  So after Sacrament meeting we were running around trying to find books to teach from and we were late getting into class. Our other investigators both had to leave early so it was just her and an older couple. When we got in there the older couple just couldn’t contain their excitement and asked Shirley to share her experience again. Long story short:  They did some digging and found out that Shirley actually heard a VOICE tell her that she needed to come! She felt and heard the Holy Ghost that strong and listened to his prompting! No wonder she was glowing! We had planned to teach Holy Ghost on Saturday and it was the topic that day in Sunday School. So as we taught, we helped her to see that she could feel this way ALL THE TIME! She wanted to be baptized so bad! We asked her to pray about JULY 2! That is so soon! It was great to just see it click for her! Friends! The Morgantown ward is going to be having a brand new CONVERTED member of their ward very soon(:  As we were evaluating, we realized that Sister Lee and I had prayed and planned so much to just figure out how to help her feel the Holy Ghost. We had faith if we could help her feel it, then she would understand. Well, it happened. We had the faith and we knew a miracle would unfold! My challenge to you: Be faithful enough to see miracles in your life!

Other good news: Brother Spears told us HE WANTS TO MOVE HIS DATE UP! The gospel is just too good to people(:

WE have been fine without a car! Just makes life more interesting, but who doesn’t love a good challenge. Haha can’t wait to tell you all of the good stories when I get home.

WE had a tornado warning this week and were teaching a lesson during it at a Less Actives home! HAHAH it was great! I don’t think there was one, but there were some STRONNNG winds! West Virginia is tornado land. Who knew?

BUTTER KNIVES DON’T ALWAYS SAVE LIVES: Here is the deal: I love Sister Cutler. Last week she sent this experience home in her email!  

Butter Knives save lives! On Saturday, I decided that I didn't need to make sure I had the keys in my bag and I locked the door and left. So we were stuck without car keys or house keys on a Saturday when our landlord isn't in his office and no, we don't have his cell. So we call Elder Ravert in the mission office and his only thing he had for us was that we couldn't get on a ladder and that we could call some members or pay for a locksmith. He suggested we just start trying to break in and maybe someone would take pity on us and help us. Hahahhaa what in the world!! Anyways, we live on the top floor, and he said "You have one hour to figure this out. Let's see how resourceful you are." Guess they're trying to help us be self-reliant :/

soooooo we said a prayer and started thinking. We knocked on the neighbor’s door and woke them up accidentally, asking to borrow a butter knife because we locked ourselves out of our house. They asked no questions and silently handed us a butter knife and we were just like.....what? I leaned over the balcony while Sister McHan held onto me (in case our sketch balcony let go on me) and I pried open the window with a butter knife, then climbed over the balcony and shot for the window as Sister McHan held onto my legs and pushed me inside. In 20 minutes.
 ALL IN A SKIRT.
 "I won't ask you what you did, but good job." - Elder Ravert

So I had been thinking about and laughing about it all week. Well Saturday, we had exchanges so Sis Skanchy came here and Sis Lee went to Fairmont. At 10:25 Sis Skanchy used the bathroom. She kept trying to get out, but it sounded like she was having issues. I went over to help her, but we couldn’t figure it out! The door was stuck! And bed time was in 5 min. First of all: this poor Sister is here for one night and it just so happens to be the night the people came and re did the tub so there are fumes galore in there. I didn’t panic, I just tried to be self-reliant. Thomas told me to not be that annoying missionary who calls their district leader for dumb stuff so I presumed to figure it out myself. I thought of Sis Cutler’s experience and I look up to her so I was like! Oh! Duh, I’ll just do what she did and use a butter knife. Well it didn’t turn out as nicely as her experience. A few calls later and with the help of more hands than mine Sister Skanchy successfully made it out of the bathroom without passing out a little before midnight. The whole time I pondered why my experience wasn’t just like Sis Cutler’s even though I had faith a butter knife could fix it. One lesson I learned was that God gives us our own experiences and we can learn from others, but we can’t try to compare others experiences to our own! God blessed us! She got out safe and all was okay, but the way we got there was MUCH different. My friends, butters knives won’t always save lives!!

Well I love you all!https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/cleardot.gif


-- 
Sister Justina Campbell

West Virginia


Sister Campbell and Sister Skanchy on exchanges in Morgantown.

June 13, 2016 - BEcome Humble on Your Own

So Shirley has the worst problem with her hips. I kid you not, every time we go to her home she tells us for at least five minutes. Sometimes I just got so annoyed rather than having compassion and caring for her.  I knew I needed to fix my attitude, but I just never worked hard enough at it.  WELL this week…Out of the blue my hip just started hurting SO BAD. I kept thinking about how much it affected everything I did and how big of a deal it was. Questions like "now do you see why she always talks about her hips?" or "could you imagine feeling like this ALL the time?" kept running through my head. I just laughed. God has a sense of humor. If we don't want to have compassion on our own, the next choice is to be compelled to be humble enough to have it. That is one way to put ourselves in someone else's shoes! My challenge to you: find something you know you need to change and make a plan to change it on your own! I can bet it will be a lot more fun with a lot less consequence. (:

John! So John has been a miracle from day one. Last week at church he told us he wanted to cancel his date. NO! I was so sad for him. This week Sister Lee and I just turned up the heat. WE were determined to help John see that he knows enough to become a member of this church. We called him every night and guess what! Members didn't stop either! He ended up getting invited to institute and going. So all week we prepped him to go to church with a question in mind. Yesterday after church he texts us and tells us he brought the question of "How can I be more one with God?" (could there be a better question?) and told us he got an answer from God! Ah! How cool that we get to help others see the power in personal guidance. So we call him just praying his answer will be the answer we want. Surprise: Wasn't even close! hahaha, but guess what! We worked with it! As we read scriptures with him we were able to help him see that he could accomplish his goal best by baptism! HE PICKED A DATE.
I couldn't stop smiling! How incredible for him(: But also, how cool that even though John didn't get the answer we wanted him to get, he got the answer that would lead him to what we were going to teach!

One more thing! I love you all.

Wish us luck on our new adventure hahaha (: We take our car into the body shop for at least a week! Say hello to Morgantown-walking area (;https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/cleardot.gif


-- 
Sister Justina Campbell
West Virginia Charleston Mission


We started to teach a 12 year old girl! We brainstormed who to take and decided it would be fun to take the Davison girl! This is a picture of all of us and Alyssa (we have adopted her as a ward missionary. She isn’t one technically, but she comes out with us A LOT). Haleigh knew the restoration so well and taught it to Teana plainly. It was fun to see how truly simple the gospel is!


Speaking of Ward missionaries! Brother Smock is our only one currently! Sister Morgan is becoming one next week(:  He is the nicest man and took us out to lunch to other day. He has an instant love for anyone we introduce him to. And when we leave he just starts brainstorming all of these great fellowshipping ideas.


Shirley is teaching me about progression in the gospel. She progresses, but it is so unique how small each step is. But progression is progression!


Outside the Institute building. 


A terrible pic of me and this little worm thing we found. It is really tiny so I don’t know if you will be able to see it. I named him slick. I really want to find out what he was!


Friday, July 15, 2016

June 8, 2016 - BEcome More Faithful in Christ --Through the Book of Mormon

Family and Friends:

I love you. I am grateful for your support. Also, thank you for reading my emails. I know that you have a lot to do every day and it means a lot to know that you care enough about me  (and maybe even miss me(: ) to look at them!

So this week:
I have learned that I am not a fan of cicadas. They are 1 inch long and as thick as a quarter. SICK. I kid you not, I just start crying every time one lands on me. Pathetic, but they are gross and love my hair. My companion gets them off. They stick to you. They don't bite or anything, they are just annoying. So, I am sure there is a lesson I am going to learn about these because the Lord is testing me.
I got a letter in the mail from Grandma Marva and in it she said: "Joyce is recovering well from surgery" And I FLIPPED. I was like what? What surgery? NO BODY TELLS ME ANYTHING. But come to find out, my mom told me(: Patience is a principle I am still conquering. I laughed so hard when Joycee emailed me and said this:
"Well mine wasn't and I was looking forward to eating something good. They gave me a pork-chop for breakfast and in my opinion that shouldn't ever happen." For the record. I have no idea where she heard hospital food is good. Can someone please back me up on this?? 

Transfer News:
Drummroolll: I am staying in MORGANTOWN!! This will make it a third of my mission. I am STOKED about it too (: This place is the best! And Sister Lee is here again as well! So no changes and we are excited to see some miracles in this next transfer.

The good stuff:
Learning to love the scriptures: In our handbook it says over and over again to strive to help those we teach learn to love the Book of Mormon and other scriptures. The past transfer this has just jumped off the page for me. I think part of it is because someone has taught that to me! Sister Lee has taught me to love the Book of Mormon. She studies it every day and I always get so excited to hear her insights. She taught me, just by leading from example, the importance of incorporating scripture into everything I do.
Anyways, Mo, a recent convert has been struggling to stay active and come to church because of a work schedule. I have been working with her for over 4 months now. I thought I had tried everything! Well, as I made it a goal to use the scriptures more and we made it a goal to help those we teach love the scriptures, we saw a miracle! We put together a daily reading schedule for Mo and asked her to take notes. We went back a week later: SHE HAD DONE IT. And she had really learned and applied the scriptures. The crazy thing was, none of them directly related to church. Right before we were leaving Mo mentioned getting a blessing from her home teachers in order to help her be able to come to church. WHAT? I picked my jaw up off the floor. We went from little to no faith or hope in Christ helping her to get Sundays off to her bringing it up on her own. ---friends. THE BOOK OF MORMON is true. And it BUILDS OUR FAITH in Christ. How it does it so quickly I can't even fathom, but it does and I am a witness that it strengthens Faith in Christ. My challenge to you: BEcome more Faithful in Christ--Through the Book of Mormon (: Do what it takes to make studying an important and crucial part of your life.
Be in the moment from last week: I touched on this last week, but I wanted to follow up with an INCREDIBLE experience. Sister Lee and I were heading out after going to a friends for a lesson that they had bailed on. As we were walking away we stopped for a second. It was a prompting to stop, but I didn't know what for. I just kept thinking about how important being in the moment was. Shortly after we noticed a family down the hill. We introduced ourselves. She told us they had a different faith and that they see missionaries all the time, but that after she tells them they have a religion they always just walk on through. I could see that she was interested so we just started teaching the restoration. We had somewhere we could have been, but we chose to just pay attention to what was right in front of us! Her name is Kisha and she is SOLID. This was last Monday and we have met with her 4 times now. WE LOVE HER.

Well! I love you all (:

-- 
Sister Justina Campbell
West Virginia Charleston Mission


Our District!


The Flanagan Family (: He is a member and we ran into them a while ago. They are sooo awesome! WE LOVE THIS FAMILY (: 




May 31, 2016 - BEcome in the Moment and Morgantown--the land of MIRACLES

I wish there was a way to import all of the things I learn and record in my journal onto the computer so that you could read them all, but I can't. I think of how in the scriptures it always tells us that there was so much more that happened but just isn't in there. That is how I feel about my email.

I feel like the most blessed person on earth because I am becoming everything I wanted to be.and then more on my mission. I set goals before I came and I reviewed them this morning. God has been incredible at giving me experiences that would help me reach those goals. I still have a long way to go though (: How long has it been since you set a goal of a trait or maybe just something you wanted to accomplish and then made a plan and asked God to help? I promise - it helps us improve quicker than we can on our own.

Well, summer time is coming around! I hope you all have a good summer and remember to take lots of pictures and send them to me so that I can still feel semi a part of all of your fun (:

JESSIE WENT TO CHURCH! I think I told you this, but she ended up moving out of our area for a short while so we called the elders there and gave them her information. WELL..this Sunday we got a text and it was her saying she WENT TO CHURCH. I almost cried I was so happy for her. I know that this gospel blesses lives and that going to church is good because you don't just get that excited about something for no reason.

We had many things happen this week and the principle I continued to learn about through them all was how important being in the moment is. When we are making the most of every second we have and not worrying about the past or the present, we can rely on the spirit and focus on whatever is right in front of us. Sure, we have to prepare and reflect, but life was created for living! And for putting our all into every moment and circumstance God gives us. I have a really great story that goes along with this but I am out of time! I will get it to you next week and I will have an update on what is happening to the family!

Please pray for Shirley and Tiara (: Love you all!https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/cleardot.gif


-- 
Sister Justina Campbell
West Virginia Charleston Mission



On Memorial Day (yesterday) we went on a hike with the McInelly family to Ravens Rock.


The girl in the picture is Alyssa. She is a member here. She gets her call soon. She is like our third buddy. She comes out with us ALL the time. It is way fun. We are hoping she gets called to the Pocatello ID mission (:


I love having two knees and a working chest (: