Miracles!

Hey family!

First things first: I am alive! It has been amazing reading everyone's emails and seeing how your faith has grown because mine definitely has. It was incredible being able to be the recipient of prayers and fasting. Not only was I blessed to return back to good health, but all of you were blessed because of your faith. So, thank you family and friends for your faith on my behalf. Honestly, I felt like I was just being a baby over these last few weeks, but comparing myself to how I feel now and how I felt then, I was really sick. On Tuesday I started to feel a lot better.  (Sister Fry endured a myriad of xrays, labs, medications, tests, and doctors, culminating in a CT scan to confirm the need for a procedure, or possible surgery, since doctors were concerned about an intestinal blockage or gall stones.  The CT scan was completed about 24 hours after most closed their fasts on Brady’s behalf.  The scan results were normal and after an over the counter prescription of miralax was prescribed, all of Sister Fry’s symptoms of chest pain, muscle spasms, and intestinal difficulties subsided.  Miracles are real!  Thank you all so much for your faith, love, fasting, and prayers!)

I honestly wish I could express in words how much I have grown this week. This last week was one of the longest weeks of my mission and also the most spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally draining as well as the most rewarding. Let's see, where to start. Wednesday and Thursday were hard. We were stressed and unsure of where to begin. I was feeling better, but we were so out of the habit of doing work that we were struggling to push ourselves to get going. I truly felt like I wouldn't be able to pull through, but I now can promise you though that the Lord is aware of his children. 

On Thursday I was really struggling getting back into the groove of missionary work.  As soon as I had that thought, President called to see how I was doing. The timing could not have been more perfect. I know that the Lord was so aware of me that he prompted President McDonough to call me. 

Thursday still continued to be hard, but we had a ward Relief Society activity that night and I couldn't help but hear Mom saying in the back of my head, "Find a mom in Mississippi." Going to the activity really helped because I was surrounded by all the sisters in the ward who I look up to. I love them all so much. That night, one of the activities we did was a puzzle (I am sending it home so you can see it). Sister Morrill talked about overcoming trials in our lives - exactly what I needed to hear. It was incredible how the Lord blessed me with being able to go to that activity because it completely changed me. 

Friday was a FANTASTIC day!! It was the first day we woke up on time, did our studies, and did weekly planning. It felt so great! I was a little stressed because the STLs (Sister Training Leaders) were coming that day for exchanges and we were nervous about having to pull ourselves together. But I can tell you that these exchanges changed my life. As I keep reading back over my email it seems like I am being SUPER dramatic....sorry about that. :) I guess it was a dramatic week! Anyway, I know that the Spirit is real! Our STLs are Sis. White and Sis. Dagupan. Sis. White was in our district last transfer and I just love her so much! But apparently the plan was for me to go out with Sis. D so I was nervous about that. When they got here they said on Friday I would go out with Sis. White and then Saturday I would go out with Sis. D. Sis. White (STL) and I left and she started asking me how I was doing. I completely broke down. We pulled into a parking lot and talked for a while. There were many things I was struggling with that I needed guidance on. Sis. White told me that originally I was supposed to go with Sis. D, but Sis. D really felt like I needed to go to Sis. White. I am so grateful for the Spirit! It turned out that Sis. White was really able to help me through some things. The Lord blessed us during the rest of the day. We were able to finally meet with one of our investigators, Harold. We recommitted him to a new baptismal date, introduced the Book of Mormon, and briefly explained the importance of not smoking. He said he would come to church and we were able to find a ride for him. Sis. White and I were able to get tracting done, find several new investigators, and meet with a less active family. It felt so good to get back out and do work! 

On Saturday I went out with Sis. Dagupan and it was also awesome! Guess what? Sis. D went to BYU Hawaii for two years and she knows where we lived! (We lived in Hawaii when Brady was in elementary school.) We talked about what has changed since I have been there and things that we loved about Laie. She also went to college bunch of people who went to Lone Peak (Brady’s high school). Such a small world! Sis. D and I also had a lot of success with handing out Books of Mormon, finding investigators, and teaching lessons. But, we had the most heart breaking lesson. So, Sis. White (my actual comp) and I have been meeting with a mother, Emma, and her daughter, Veronica. I absolutely love these two! They have so much faith and I have truly enjoyed going to their home! But, on Saturday, Sis. D and I decided to bring up the Restoration (Emma is very faithful to her church and has been baptized in her church). I have never been so bold in my life. We talked about the Spirit, prophets, the apostasy, Joseph Smith, and the Book of Mormon. The Spirit was SO strong and very boldly I invited them to be baptized. Emma was not pleased. Even though I know she felt the Spirit, she refused to read the Book of Mormon and know for herself if what we were telling her was true. She made it clear she had already been baptized. We tried every angle we could to explain to her that it is only in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that you can find the priesthood authority of God. I truly know that and it broke my heart to see Emma fight it so hard. In the end, I told her that if she decided to read the Book of Mormon or watch a movie that we had given her that we would be more than happy to come back. We would visit them every once in a while, but if they weren't willing to find out for themselves and give it a chance then we would need to move on to other people. Completely broke my heart. As we left, Sis. D reassured me though and said that I literally did everything I could in that lesson. That made me feel good. :)

Alright, on Sunday Dennell got baptized! He is the Elder's investigator, but Sis. White and I have gotten tight with him over these last several weeks. He works at St. Vincent's and he also goes to the Turley's each Sunday with us. I found out that his favorite cookie was oatmeal chocolate chip and I told him that I had an AWESOME recipe! He asked me if I would make cookies for his baptism! That was at the beginning of the week and on Saturday the Elders texted us to make sure I was still going to do that because Dennell had asked them if I would still do it. Made me feel so good! They also asked me to play a musical number and be the pianist. I played an arrangement of Joseph Smith's First Prayer. And the cookies turned out amazing! Just like my Mama's! I put some on the side to give Dennell later and I also gave him one of the temple cards. He is amazing and it has been so cool to see his testimony and his understanding grow over the last few weeks. 

Anywho, this week was great. I love the people. I love the work. I was so exhausted last night because we literally went from not doing much to three incredibly full days. But, it felt good. A scripture that I discovered this week from Sis. Dagupan is 3 Nephi 18:21, "Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed." I love this scripture. Oftentimes we don't understand the importance of praying together as a family and studying the gospel as a family. I am so grateful to you Mom and Dad for always making sure we have family prayer and family scripture study together. I know for a fact that because we did that it has helped our family stay close to each other and to the gospel. On Friday we went to see a less active/part-member family. They are so amazing! We met with Korninthia, the mom, and her daughter, Ariana. We talked about how important it is for us to have family prayer and scripture study each night. We read 3 Nephi 14:24-27 and sang the wise man and foolish man song with Ari and talked about how we need to build our foundation on Christ. We asked Ari (who is 6) to be in charge of gathering her family together each night for prayer and scriptures. It was a great lesson. I know that by doing these things families can be strengthened. 

I love each of you so much! Thank you for your prayers and support! I know this church is true! Have a great week!

Love, Sister Fry :)

 

From Sister Fry's Parents

Dearest Family and Friends of Sister Fry,

This week's letter from Sister Fry was very short and personal.  Doctors in her area have been trying to figure out why she is suffering from a variety of symptoms, causing her some severe health problems and consequently impeding her missionary work.  A variety of tests results conclude that her stomach is twice the size of what it should be when empty.  The distention of her stomach is contributing to chest pain (as her cute figure doesn't have extra room for extra stomach to go :) and she has also been blasted with muscle spasms in her back that are painful and limit her activities.  However, all tests run that may explain why her body is, at present, malfunctioning have returned normal.  While this is good news, it does not alleviate her present difficulties.

Needless to say, Sister Fry is struggling.  We humbly ask that, friends and family, please keep Sister Fry in your prayers this week and collectively join us in a fast on her behalf this Sunday, January 18, 2015.  We are so thankful to our Heavenly Father for her sweet spirit and her desire to serve a mission -- we know that our faith, together with yours, will strengthen her and buoy her up.

Much love always,

Brent and Heather

1st Transfer Slide Show

Rain, rain, go away...

Hello family!

It sounds like y'all had an awesome week! I am glad you had such a great turn out for New Year's Eve and that there were kids there! I bet it was a blast! On Christmas I didn't think too much about what y'all were doing, but on New Year's Eve I kept thinking that you were all having the party and wondering how it was going. On New Year's Eve we went to the church and did the fireworks with the Turleys. It was fun, but absolutely freezing! Then Sis. White and I were so determined to get our tracting done that we went tracting at 7pm and actually had a lot of success. We placed two Books of Mormon and got two new investigators which was our goal. I definitely have a strong testimony of night tracting!

On New Year's Day it poured. It's funny, but I kept forgetting it was New Year's Day so I kept trying to figure out why all the stores were closed as we were driving around. We got to tract in the glorious rain and the while tracting we found a lot of former investigators. We met this lady who was really old and had a lot of health problems, but she has so much faith and had one of our Book of Mormon cards on her fridge (a picture when Christ comes to the Americas). She even had once had a Book of Mormon, but she moved and lost it so we gave her another one. She was the sweetest lady. You never know the people you are going to find.

Friday was a rough day, but we ended up going tracting in the evening and found a lady who had a Book of Mormon and remembered when the missionaries would come to her house when she was a kid. She also was the first person in Mississippi, that we’ve come across, who actually has a piano! She said she is trying to learn to play. We taught her a lesson and said we would come back and play piano, but yesterday when we went back she didn't answer. We think she was sleeping because she works during the night. So exciting though! Hopefully I will get to play the piano for her some time.

Saturday was such a weird day. On Friday we noticed that our brakes were whistling, not squeaking, but whistling. So we called fleet and they said to take our car to the nearest Firestone. So on Saturday morning we drove to Cleveland (about an hour away) where they had a Firestone. We got there and they said it would be about 2-3 hours before they could get our car in. So, Sis. White and I went walking around Cleveland and did some tracting. It was POURING down rain. I have never been more soaked in my life. But while tracting we found a family that was really interested so that was exciting! We ended up tracting more and then had lunch with one of the young women at Papa John's. Then, Sis. White and I walked back to Firestone where we sat at a little kid's table and tried to do some studying. They did a full check of the car and when they were finished they said nothing was wrong with the car!!!!!! Honestly, we drove an hour for there to be nothing wrong with the car. But we knew there was a reason we were supposed to be in Cleveland. On Wednesday, my throat started to hurt really bad again and by the time I realized I needed to go to a doctor, it was on Friday night and nothing was open in Greenville on Saturday. But while in Cleveland, we asked Brooklyne (the young woman) to look up some clinics. It turns out there was an urgent care open in Ruleville just about 20 minutes away. We decided to go there and sat at the doctor for about 3 hours. Not only was my throat hurting, but my back was in a lot of pain and so was just chest (I think it was from stress). So they did a flu test, a blood test, and did an x-ray. Nothing was wrong with me, except that I had a huge gas bubble in my side. I don't understand! He said my throat is probably infected from drainage so he gave me a prescription for some medication. Hopefully it will get better because it has been pretty bad lately. Being at the doctor was great though because the nurse practitioner was hilarious and so were the nurses. We made a lot of friends while we were there since we are just so goofy. :) Basically we are hoping that the family we found is golden because clearly there was a reason we needed to be in Cleveland that day.

Yesterday was wonderful. I have definitely gained a love for Fast Sundays. I have been doing a lot better with fasting and have been trying to go for as long as I can. These last two Fast Sundays I have been more in tune with the Spirit and I have been getting a lot more out of church. I absolutely love our ward. I just felt so happy! And guess what???? We got over 7 hours of tracting!!!!! We are required to get 7 hours and this is the first week we did it! Woohoo!!! We also found two new investigators. One is a 19 year old girl who goes to Delta State (which is in Cleveland), but is home for the holidays. She is so interested and even when she goes back to school we will still get to teach her! Her little sister who is 7 also sat in on the lesson. So wonderful! I am definitely falling more in love with my mission. Each and every day I just love the people and the work more and more. I used to not like tracting at all, but now I love it! I love this church so much. The more I share the gospel the stronger my testimony gets and I realize that this gospel just makes sense. It is so true.

Kyah and her mom didn't come to church, but guess what? On Sunday nights we have what's called a cottage meeting at the Turley's. They feed us and the Elders and then we can have investigators come over to have a gospel lesson/discussion and we have dessert. And we texted Kyah right before to see if she could come and she came! And it turns out that she went to high school with the Turley's son. I love Kyah to pieces! It was the perfect night to have her there. We taught about the Plan of Salvation and then talked a little bit about temples and she just kept saying, "I need to go to a temple." I just have this feeling that she will get there. We have come into her life at a perfect time because she keeps telling us that her marriage is going through a rough spot. I just know that if she continues to study this gospel and come closer to Christ that everything will work out. She is such an amazing woman, mother, and wife. I am so excited for her to one day go to the temple!

It really was an awesome week. Sis. White and I just laugh all the time. It is amazing all the funny things you see! I saw a lady walking her cat (it was on a leash). There was a lady in the car next to us one time that had INSANELY long nails! While tracting we saw this little kid being chased by his little puppy in the front yard. So cute! Mississippi is just the craziest place. I have truly come to enjoy the little things in life. I am so glad y'all are doing well. I got a lot of Christmas cards and gifts (from Aunt Libby, Aunt Carolyn, and cards from people in the ward). I haven't written them so please thank them for me because I appreciate it so much! I love you all to pieces!

Love, Sister Fry

Happy New Year!

Kissing a crawdad!

Six weeks ago I was exhausted, dazed, excited, nervous, and ready to start on my crazy 18 month journey. I have made through one whole transfer! Woohoo! Seriously though, it does go by fast. It seems like I just got to Mississippi and now I am a true Greenville-ian!

Sis. White and I had a great weekly planning session on Saturday and since Sunday we have been getting up on time every day! We also went tracting for an hour today even though it was our P-day. Not trying to brag, but we were pretty proud of ourselves. ;) We are determined to get our 7 hours of tracting this week! Yesterday we had a fantastic day! It was Pre-Transfer Day of Service so we had the wonderful opportunity of deep cleaning our apartment and our car. It felt so good! Everything is clean and we also were able to update the area book. We are on a roll! We also taught some incredible lessons last night! So last night Bro. Johns, our ward mission leader, came out with us. We first went to go see a potential that we had a return appointment with, but when we got there he wasn't feeling well so we ended up teaching the guy who answered the door. His name is Harold and he is a very nice and quiet man. We taught him part of the Plan of Salvation and committed him to baptism! It was so perfect having Bro. Johns there. Don't ever forget the impact you can have as members.

Then we went and taught Toni and her husband. I don't think I have mentioned them. We met Toni while tracting.....she was coming out of her garage and we accidentally scared her, but she still let us come in and share a Christmas message with her! We met with her and her husband two Mondays ago and taught the whole Restoration. Her husband, Alvester, is very religious and very faithful, but to our surprise he listens to our lessons. They are so golden! Last night we reviewed the Restoration and they both said they would study the Book of Mormon. I just pray that they will know it is true. They are such a strong family. We need them in our ward and in our church. We meet with them next Monday so we will see what happens!

We finished off the evening with going to see Kyah. Oh my goodness! I just love Kyah and her mom to pieces! None of our investigators have been coming to church....that is the hardest thing here. But the first thing Kyah and Rose told us when we got there was that they are going to make it to church. They have been busy with the holidays. I just can't get over the Spirit that is in their home. Kyah and Rose both always light up when we see them. I know that when they come to church the ward will just eat them up. :)

On Sunday I was the ward pianist! Bro. Johns called right before church and asked if I could play the organ in sacrament meeting. To be honest, even though I have kind of been taught to play the organ, I had no idea what I was doing. It was rough, but I survived! I am actually going to practice the organ when I am done emailing. I also got to play the piano in primary! It made my day getting to be with the little kids.

Oh guess what? So on Sunday before we went tracting we said a prayer and Sis. White prayed that we would find a couple who will one day prepare to make temple covenants. Well, we knocked on a door and an older man answered and we asked if we could share a message with him. He hesitated but eventually let us in. We started to talk to him and his wife and (because of the Spirit) our message took an unexpected turn towards temples. We started telling them about how we have temples on earth today and that through the power of God we can be sealed with our families for eternity. We barely got through anything then the wife needed to go. We made a return appointment at a time they could both be there.  Perfect! So we left and a while later as we were walking down the street the wife pulled over in her car and asked us a question about temples and said she would see us on Wednesday. Holy cow! We totally made her think and then left a cliff hanger! Our prayer was completely answered! We are going to have Amy Turley, a member of the ward who was recently married in the temple, go with us.  So pumped! I hope all goes well.

Keep working hard, keep studying the scriptures, and keep laughing! Oh and guess what again? Today we went to the Jim Henson Museum! He is the guy who created the Muppets! SO COOL!! It was so much fun. I will send pictures. :) I love y'all SO MUCH!!!!

 

Love, Sister Fry

 

Sister Fry at the Jim Henson Museum