Things are going well here. we are still working hard finding people to teach. Things are picking up. By the time I leave, things will be solid. I am still learning a lot. Zone Conference was great. We talked a lot about crying repentance and baptizing converts, that is the new theme for missionary work across the world. We are focusing on part-member families and prospective elders. The only problem is that the part-member families in our ward are mostly part-member because there are either divorces involved or the poepl are not interested at all. Most of the part-member families are less-active as well. We will figure out what to do with them. For now, we are still tracting a bit and we are contacting people at Lincoln and trying our hardest to get the members to help us find people to teach. Be a member missionary! The missionaries will love you! I know that you already are because you are awesome. I didn't get an email from him this week so I can't really fill you in on anything. We are getting more used to talking to everyone and that is going pretty well. We did an experiment the other day. On Saturday, we went to do service at a food drive for the food pantry and there was a group of sorority girls there. There were about 10 of them. We started talking to them and got to know them a bit, then I came up with a great idea. I told Sister VO to find out how many people knew the song Where is the Love? and to ask 20 people. Everyone was like, girl, everyone knows that song. I, of course, already know the song, but I told Sister VO to tell them that I didn't. So, all the sorority girls were so excited because they were going to play on youtube where is the love and they were all convinced that after I heard it I would know it, which of course I did and I started singing to it, and they were all like "See we told you you would recognize the song." So, we all sang to where is the love at the service project and now we are best friends with a group of sorority girls and we gave them all pass along cards for the new Easter initiative #hallelujah. I know what you are thinking, Sister, you are ingenius. Yeah, it was great. That was the highlight of the week. We are still making friends and working hard here in Jeff.

Things are going well here in St.Louis. I went to a baptism for our District leader and his companion for a woman named Shakirra. She is super awesome. They found her like 2 weeks ago. Super fast! She is so solid. We went because I was asked to sing I Feel My Savior's Love. It was such a spiritual experience to be there. There was a very strong spirit and it was amazing! Marta is getting baptized, hopefully on the 23rd or something close to that. There is a memorial service that was scheduled for the same day as Marta's baptism, so we decided not to do her baptism at the Frontenac building. But her family lives a few hours away. So, we are trying to figure out how we can get her baptized and allow her to go to the Family thing they are having that they booked a place for so it is at a particular time. THings are just crazy. It is just Satan trying to throw us a curve ball. Everything will work out though. This is the last week of the transfer. WE have been working crazy hard. My companion hasn't been feeling very well this week. I saw Sister Rapp on Sunday. She poked her head in the little window of our Sunday school room right as class was starting and David, the recent convert we meet with and I just bolted out of the room. I was so excited to see her. She was there for a confirmation in the Singles Branch. It was so great to see her. Life is crazy as ever. Less actives are still difficult to get in contact with, investigators are still difficult to find, but I am convinced that we will see blessings in other ways for our diligence in tracting and reaching out to others.

The scripture I ponderized this week was Hebrews 11:6 But without Faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

(I actually memorized this!- I know crazy- i am still working on the HTBT points- I still have most of The Best Two Years memorized though, in case you were wondering). Well this transfer has just gone way too fast! I am done with 12 week! We are excited to continue to work hard and reach our goal for our Vision to Baptize challenge. Have you ever read Vision to Baptize? It is great, I would highly recommend it. I am so incredibly thrilled for Colin and Keira to get baptized! send me lots and lots of pictures.

Something that was really cool about being at Shakirra's baptism was that I saw the baptism from the missionaries point of view. We were in the bathroom with her before she got baptized and she looking down with her elbows on the countertop and she just told us that she knew this is what God wanted her to do.

My favorite conference talk was the talk by Elder James B. Martino. I have been thinking a lot about my personal prayers to my Father in Heaven. This talked answered some of the questions that I had written down for this conference. Elder Andersen's talk from Priesthood session is super great. After Priesthood Session our district leader called us and told us all about it and how great it was so I listened to it today and his testimony and faith in Jesus Christ and the prophet Joseph Smith was great. I am pretty sure that everyone in the chapel was super worried about President Monson and we were all just praying that he would make it through the conference. Things are going well. I am learning a lot and am so grateful to be a missionary. It is cooling down quite a bit here. I will. The family is actually a family from Sister Shontell's first area. Her first area is right next to our area and so we met them for lunch one day and they are super nice. I will definitely thank them. I am happy! Things are going well. A new IKEA opened near here so we might go there, but I am not sure. We will be finding lots of people to teach this week and we will teach Irene, but not Marta because she is out of town. It is almost her baptism and we are so excited. We went to the President's house for Pancakes and Prophets on Sunday (Yeah, how cute is that name, Sister Morgan is the cutest person ever!) and he is so excited for the Frontenac Ward to get a new member! It's gonna be great!

September 28, 2015

So we met with Marta this week and committed her to be baptized!!! Yeah! But she is leaving again this week and she will be back the week of her baptism, so it will be a funky schedule but we will be able to teach her all that she needs to know. She is super spiritual and has shared with us about her deep desire to go to the temple because she went to an open house once and felt the spirit very strongly. This week has been great. We had exchanges with the STL's so I went to Fenton for a couple of days. We visited a lot of less actives and invited them to the Women's Broadcast and a few of them came! I am so excited for general conference! So, we helped David, one of our recent converts dig up his mother in laws ashes on Saturday. and he made me carry them across the street because we reburied them in another relatives yard because the lady's husband got remarried and they wanted to move the ashes. So, David had us did them up and then dig a whole for the ashes to be put in.

This recent convert has taught me a lot. He is really close to the spirit but he is kinda crazy. He wants to rule the world, basically and he has plans to do it, too. He gives all of his missionaries nicknames. I am jynx. Well, he really wants to get his patriarchal blessing, so we were talking to him about them the other day and he looks at me and he is like God is telling me something, (because he gets promptings really easily it is the coolest thing) You are very special, I haven't figured out why yet but I was supposed to help you learn about being a leader. So her was asking me about my blessing and I was thinking about it and I realized that I don't have it. I will need to have a copy sent to me because I have been thinking about it a lot since then and I can't recall anything monumental. I have been thinking about my calling as a missionary with regards to my blessing though. It talks about me having confidence in preaching the gospel. 

 

My blessing has come up for a while now, so I am going to order a copy to be sent to me. Anyway, it was kinda an unusual experience. I know though that I need to develop more faith. It has been an interesting week. I have been thinking about being a consecrated missionary.

 

So, now I can say that I have dug up a dead person... kinda.

September 21, 2015

This week has been great. We are doing well here in Frontenac. We met with our investigator Irene a couple of times and Marta comes back this week so things are looking good. Elder C. Scott Grow was the visiting authority and it was a pretty intense experience. He talked a lot about obedience. Apparently, this mission has a history of not being very obedient. Anyway, he talked a lot about using Preach My Gospel and about how to study in order to prepare for teaching opportunities. It was cool, but everyone was pretty humbled, I think. It kinda bothered me at first, but now I see where he was coming from and what we can do to be more productive. I truly believe that my companion and I are working hard. This week, I am studying about being a consecrated missionary. I have been thinking a lot about that these last couple of days. I am excited to become better. I am developing a better relationship with a lot of the less actives. It really has been a great week. We have visited a lot of people and got some tracting in. I am excited for this week. Our investigator Marta, who is really close to baptism, who went to Poland for about two months.... yeah, well she comes back this week and we are sooooooo excited! I got to see my momma, too, which is always great. I love it! She sang a beautiful solo. She is amazing. 

I hope Athena does well on the Stanford meet. Thanks for the pictures. So, I brought my camera this time, but I didn't bring a cord to connect to the computer. I will send you some pictures soon. Plus, we don't really have any good pictures because the only thing I have really done that is exciting on P-days is go to the zoo and it rained. On a brighter note, we found the food pantry on Saturday and were able to do some service! It has been a wonderful week. I love you all and pray for you! Thank you for your example to me, dad! I am excited to be a consecrated missionary!

September 14, 2015

So, this week was pretty crazy. My new companion is Sister Shontelle and she has been out for about a year. The transfer went well, after many tears, all from my dear momma Sister Rapp, because of course, we all know that Sister Favero doesn't cry (thanks mom). But, I missed her for the first couple of days because I didn't really know at all what I was doing or where I was going. Sister Rapp went to Fenton, Missouri, so she is actually pretty close, but she is in a different zone I think. Luckily, we had a district meeting, so I could kinda pull myself together. That is so exciting that you got another foster baby, how cute! Isaac is a sweet name. I will send you some pictures soon, I promise. I just need to remember to bring my camera to the library. The other day, we were trying to find the food pantry and we didn't have a GPS, so we kinda got lost and ended up at this gas station that was pretty sketchy, but it's ok. We got out alive and we almost saw the arch too. Sister Shontelle told our district leader that she has the funniest companion, so basically only Sister Rapp, Elder Jimenez, and Sister Shontelle know how funny it is to be companions with Sister Favero. Hopefully, I will get my name tag soon. It has been kinda difficult, but I know that I can do hard things. I am giving a training tomorrow on recognizing and relying on the spirit, it is going to be great! This week is going to be wonderful! We have mission conference this week and I am soooooooo excited!
Things are going well in the area. We are teaching a lady from China, Irene, who was a referral from a ward member who comes to the lessons with us. We are teaching Neil and his family. Neil is Indian, his girlfriend is Christian, one daughter who is 15 professes to be an atheist, and one daughter is ten. I have taught one lesson with them this week. We are meeting with a lot of less active and part member families and recent converts. Our relief society president always gives us a big list of people to see each week from Relief Society, so that is what we spend most of the time doing. We actually got to talk to a lady who is less active who said she wanted to start going back to church but hasn't yet. We talked with her last night about going back to the temple for about an hour. She really appreciated us coming by. And of course, we still see Jennifer each week to help her with her house. She is wonderful. She got her cabinets put in so that is exciting. One step closer, she still needs appliances, maybe she will be done with her house before I leave. She has been remodeling for almost 9 months now and each set of missionaries in the Frontenac ward have gone to help her, but now of them have gotten to see the finished product, but I think that Sister Shontelle and I will be the lucky missionaries who see it to the end. That is exciting, she has become a wonderful friend. I love meeting with the ward members and I am learning so much about how I want my home to be after I get married here on my mission. It is such a cool experience. This week has been great! I hope you all are doing well! We can do hard things!

Well, something pretty insane happened this week. This week, my companion and I have been doing well, we have been meeting with to recently baptized members and both of them are progressing so much. One of them just recently got the Aaronic Priesthood. Also, one family we have dinner with consistently told us this past week that they really want to be sealed in the temple and was asking us how to do that. The mom is soooo amazing. She was telling us how she was shopping the other day and she didn't buy a tank top because she knew she wouldn't be able to wear it when she was endowed. Now they are super excited to go to the temple soon. We are going to talk to the bishop about it this week. So the insane thing that happened

 

On Saturday night, we got transfer calls. Both Sister Rapp and I were sure that nothing was going to happen to us because she was training me and like she said, "President doesn't mess with training", well he did. We get a call that night and I pick up the phone and see that it is from President Morgan so I hand the phone to Sister Rapp. She answers it and puts it on speaker. He says, "Now Sister Rapp, why would the President call to give you transfer doctrine?" She had no idea, I had no idea. Then he was like, "Sister Rapp, I am calling you to be a Sister Training Leader with or without your permission." We both just looked at each other for a long time. She accepted and then the President was like, what do you think about this Sister Favero, can I take your mom from you? (ok that may not have been exactly what he said) and I was like uh, ok President. It was super strange.

Anyway, so since then we have been trying to figure out our lives because she leaves tomorrow. She has been super worried and I don't know what to think. she was supposed to be with me for another 6 weeks. Sister Rapp said that President Morgan must trust me to be able to take care of Frontenac and trust me enough to take my trainer away from me. It will be super crazy and interesting. I still am not sure what to think, but I know it will be ok. Sister Rapp has been freaking out about it much more than I have. I have thought a lot about it though. I know that it is part of God's plan for Sister Rapp and for me and that everything will work out. It is just way unexpected and crazy. So, this transfer will be super exciting and new and different and probably quite challenging, but it will be good. Sister Rapp would always tell me that she didn't feel like she was training me, but I know that I needed her so much to prepare me for this. These past 6 weeks have been amazing and I have learned so much from Sister Rapp. I just hope I will do as well as she has done in the area when she is gone. It is going to be a new experience, that is for sure!

 

I hope you have a wonderful week. You all are in my prayers! I hope you have a wonderful week. Sorry I didn't tell you the library was closed on Monday! I love you all sooooo much!

 

Sister Favero