#itsoctoberanditsalreadysnowed

Well here is the lovely weather report from Liverpool New York; Saturday and Sunday it snowed randomly through out the day and has been freaking colder then a house make out of Ice!!!! Like it has only been about 20 degrees everyday and we have already needed to break out the winter clothes! This is not normal for New York its usually still pretty warm around this time. So I am just a icicle that is praying i will service this winter.

On a much happier not!!! we picked up 3 new investigators that have a lot of potential. There names are Joanne, Gregg, and Travis. Joanne was a potential for years and is a little crazy  but you can totally tell she has such a strong desire to know the truthfulness of the Gospel. Gregg is Joanne's son and he sat in on a lesson with Joanne and just feel in love with the plan of salvation and has such a strong desire to learn more. He ask so many questions and is searching for so many different answers and i am so happy that i as a representative of Jesus Christ get to help him find these answers as i listen to the promptings of the spirit. Then there is Travis, Wow he is freaking bomb!!!! He has been looking into the church for years but hasnt been able to join quite yet because he is on prole for the next 2 years. He just moved into Liverpool. Sister Hallsted was teaching him in Oswego and already has met us and is just freaking awesome!!!!  So we are helping him mostly just get permission to come to church and helping him right a letter to the prophet baring his testimony about the gospel and how he knows this church is true. We are pray that is will help make it possible for him to come to church and possibly be baptized sooner.

I just want to share with you that I know that is church is true and I am so grateful for this opportunity to severe our Savior Jesus Christ getting to teach his gospel to all of Gods children. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now but here in New York finding the people that the Lord has prepared. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. I know the He did die for all of us and he did in fact make it possible for all of us to be forgiven for our sins. I know the Plan of Salvation is Gods Perfect plan for all of us and we are all possible to return to our Heavenly Father. I know that because God has this prefect plan the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ was able to happen and now we are able to have this wonderful gospel in our lives today. I know that Joseph Smith was called by God to be a prophet seer and revelation and I know that he did restore the fullness of the the everlasting gospel on this earth once again and we are able to have it in our lives now. I know that the Priesthood is the authority to work in Gods name and to preform many sacred ordnance of the Gospel. I know the Book of Mormon is true and is another testament of our savior Jesus Christ and testifies of all the teachings that he taught while he was on the earth. I know all theses things to be true and so much more! In the name of our beloved Savior Jesus Christ Amen.

Such a great week !!!!!!!!!!

Well this week was super fun and amazing!!! This area is finally coming alive and I absolutely love it!!! We picked up 7 new investigators and 5 of those 7 were from this awesome family! The Ashbys they have such great potential! You know the spirit was there when they are begging you to come back. All I could do was just laugh because there are miracles happening everywhere in our mission. 

So Friday was a pretty crazy day, like i felt like my head was going to explode form how strong the spirit was and with how much I learned. We had a huge mission conference where we had a General Authority speak with us on how we can improve on doing the Lords work. Elder Bennett was truly in aspiring. I learned so much and i am so grateful for all he said to us, because if it wasn't for him I don't thing we would have been able to do all the work we did with in the last few days.  He talked about how we need to be absolutely obedient to everything the White Hand book says. Our mission really struggles with that a lot. He also said that if we truly love the Lord and truly want to be here doing is work that we should literally work holes in our shoes almost every day..... haha I was laughing so hard because I have done that a time or to. Then he talked about Member missionary work and how to work with members properly and how we can leave them on a spiritual high when we have dinner with them. It was just a amazing mission conference!!!! 

So on another note President Rogers is making a lot of changes and the are all wonderful changes. I am so grateful for them because I am now able to stay fulling focused on the Lords work and nothing else.

As most of you may have seen on my Facebook (In my mission we are able to use Facebook) I posted a picture the says " Always remember you matter something to him" I truly love this quote form President Uchtdorf. It is so true everyday I see people that have no idea how much our savior loves them and they are always in denial that he could love them. I promise you all as you kneel in prayer every morning and every night that you will feel of that love and that you will know with a surety that you truly do mean something to our Savior Jesus Christ. 

I love you all and I am so grateful for all your love and support. I am especially grateful for all your prayers for all the missionaries around the world. You are all amazing!!!!

          

-- (second row from the bottom on the left 3 in)

Love the Lord with all your Heart <3

-Sister Maraiha Loveland (Potato-Head)

#tri-panionship

So Tuesday i got a phone call from my mission president, He called to let me know i was getting 2 sisters instead of 1. So now instead of just Sister Hess (MTC comp) I also have Sister Hallsted. 

It is so wonderful to working with 2 other sisters. Its like one giant sleep over!!! Sister Hallsted was suppose to be training but her trainy went home early (she didn't make it to New York) so we now have one of the most powerful missionaries i have ever met (except for my trainer). So right now we are covering 2 areas which means lots of road trips! we are covering Liverpool and Oswego! It is so much fun!

All I can say is Heavenly Father really knew what he was doing when he put together our companion ship!!!! I really needed both sister Hess and Sister Hallsted! Like this is probably going to be the highlight of my mission!!!!!!  I really do enjoy it!!! there is nothing better then having to people to talk to and to help you out day to day!

So there are miracles happening everywhere already!!! the work was slow before but it is picking up!!! We have started doing this crazy fun thing were we are going though our area book person by person seeing if they still exist and if they have any desire to start learning about the gospel again. Its going to be so much fun!!!!!! 

So as hopefully you all know this past weekend was General Conference!!! Wow i loved General Conference before but now i love it even more as a missionary!!!! One of my favorite talks was by Elder Richard J. Maynes about being centered with Christ. Sometimes its amazing how much Heavenly Father really does know what we need to hear. As you all know I love the Atonement it is such amazing gift to have in our lives and i really felt this quote not only talked about having Christ centered on out life but also talks about our though the Atonement we can become at one with our Savior. "If our lives are centered in Jesus Christ he can successfully mold us into who we need to be come" I really love that quote because it workings amazingly with a lot of the principle of the gospel. So over all remember as you focus on our Savior Jesus Christ and have him be the center of you life you will be able to receive more blessings then you can physically receive. I know it is through him we can be blessed and i know that we should not be like the practical son and expect all the blessings all at once the Lord prepares us for each individual blessing so we can appreciate it so much more then if we received it when we wanted it.

Week 7 in Liverpool,Highlights about Transfers

So big highlight about transfers is one i get my MTC companion again (sister hess) and 2 i am the driver and i get my Tiwi!!!!! (that is the little card that allows me to drive a mission car!!! So that is awesome because i love driving!!!!

The work is picking up and i am so happy!! we have a new investigator and she is awesome she is about 65 years old and is raising her grandchildren. She really has a lot going on and she is already seeing how the gospel can bless her and her husbands life and help her grandchildren. It was awesome!!!!

This week has been interesting because I really didn't see the week at all. (like usual) We celebrated Elder Bakers birthday and that was fun i make him Banana bread and a chocolate raspberry cupcake. Then sister Hale and i attacked the elders apartment door with all this fun birthday stuff so he could have a good birthday way from home. He loved it!!!!! I am so grateful i was able to do that form him, he explained how he never had anyone make that much of a big deal out of him Birthday until now and he really appreciated everything. (he comes from a big family)

I really love the scriptures! It may be hard for me to read but I have come to love them all so much! I recently found a scripture that has brought a lot of comfort to me its; Mosiah 7:33 " But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this , he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of boundage." This has helped me so much these last few days, as a missionary you always get mixed feeling about transfers and you never know how you should feel about them. Well this transfer has been rough and i don't feel i am the best missionary but as this scripture states if we go to our savior he will help us. I challenge you all to put it all in the Lords hand and see what miracles will happen. I know he will help you because i have seen him help me so much when i have been on a mission and i know he will help you as well because he loves all of us so very much.

(AT WOMAN'S CONFERENCE)

--

Love the Lord with all your Heart <3

-Sister Maraiha Loveland (Potato-Head)

Hey yall from upstate New York

Well things are going good! I decided I have short term memory lost because once again, Sister Loveland cant remember her week lol. we were feed alot!!!!!!! like we had lunch and dinner appt almost everyday this week!!!! so in other terms ( we have lots of left overs) but it has been a good week.

Transfers are coming up just around the corner, we get transfer calls Saturday the 26th and the 30th is transfer day. So that should be lots of fun!!! I am just praying for the best to happen for our area.

 Sister Hale and I taught a awesome lesson with some less actives this week and surprisingly enough it was about the Atonement as well. We were reading out of 3 Nephi 11 and while we were reading i fell in love with verses 11-17 it reads, "And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words the whole multitude fell to the earth; for they remembered that it had been prophesied among them that Christ should show himself unto them after his ascension into heaven.And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto them saying:Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.And when they had all gone forth and had witnessed for themselves, they did cry out with one accord, saying:Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him." It got me thinking how would we feel if we were there and were able to feel of Christ wound? Now its your turn to think and reflect upon that moment in 3 Nephi 11? How would you feel if you were able to be apart of the multitude? 

We also were able to meet with alot of potential investigators and we feel soon will pick one of them up as a investigator soon. Frank and Fransica have so much potential and really are in need of the Gospel. We see them again Wednesday this week. I am so excited!!!!

I talked in church this week, I was a emergency back up because the youth speaker wasn't able to make it. I learned truly learned how powerful pray is, i was praying to know what to talk about because it was my choice sense it was such short notice. I really wanted to speak on what the lord wanted me to and not what i wanted to. so Saturday night i knelt in prayer right before i prepared my talk and I felt i needed to talk about sacrament and the atonement. So I was relying on the spirit to help me prepare. It is amazing how much the spirit can help us day to day. Everything came perfectly and i was able to have a talk that help so many people in the ward remember what the sacrament and why we have the atonement.

It is kinda funny because earlier this week I taught my companion Sister Hale about how important the atonement is and why we have been asked to repent continuously. I really just love sharing with people the importance of the atonement and we we have it in our lives. It has changed my life so much and with out it i would be on a mission today. I know the atonement is really and it is here to bless our lives. Christ love us all so much we was willing to die for us. Shouldn't we use the gift that he gave us? Because it truly is a gift to know that we can be forgiven for everything, and that we can find peace and comfort when we are in need of it. He wants us to use the atonement he really does .... you can never ask to much for our savior.

by the way this was my district this transfer. starting form the top left going down is Sister Searle, Sister Holden, Sister Hale, then me. Bottom starting form the left Elder Connole, Elder Smith, Elder Marvis, then Elder Baker. They are all wonderful people!!!!

--

Love the Lord with all your Heart <3

-Sister Maraiha Loveland (Potato-Head)

Pretty Falls In Upstate NY

Well nothing much to say, this week has been a blur. in the mission alot of people say once you hit the 10th every day is a blur and you cant tell the days apart well that was me all week. 

Today we had District Activity and we went hiking near some pretty water falls, I got to get the know the distinct more and here peoples life stories. It was lots of fun!!! Before that we played basketball with basically the whole zone and got the Elders to dress up in skirts. ( there was a bunch of old lady clothes on the stage) that was pretty funny as well. But other  that is has been a normal Pday.

This last District meeting though was amazing it was about being a full purpose missionary, it helped me so much. I really needed that at that time. It helped me see things in a different view and how i can become a better servant of the Lord. One of the many things that was share was the story about the tree of life. We as missionaries are the still small voice encouraging everyone to grab hold to the iron rod and the and we help them grab hold as the ward continues to encourage them to keep hold of the rod. Then the tree of life is that ultimate goal of eternal life were we are able to have that pure happiness always. It is pretty amazing to think of the tree of life in that way. Please read and 1 Nephi 8. Then think to yourself as you ponder those scriptures are you holding tightly to the Iron rod? We are all promised eternal life and the only way we can receive this promised blessing is by being obedient to all the Lords commandments and holding tightly to the iron rod.

Thank you all for all your prays, I so truly appreciate them!

Week 3 in Liverpool

Well not alot has happened.... It has been a pretty slow week, I wish it went by faster!!!! like no joke it felt like this week was going the past of a turtle. haha anyways the big highlight of the week is we have a potential investigator the hopefully soon with be a investigator. His name is Josh he is a super sweet kid he is only 14 and just needs to be loved. He was a Head Quarter referral he wanted to meet with the missionaries and receive a Book of Mormon. I was awesome because when we came and met with him he already knew so much because he was telling us how he just sat on the computer one day and read a bunch of articles from LDS.ORG and that is awesome he basically taught us the restoration. He wanted to read the Book of Mormon first and then he will call us when he is done and he really wants to learn more. That was such a tender mercy from the Lord because we have been struggling hard core to find new people to teach. 

Other then that not much has happened, there is a family that is right now a focus family that i have come to love! They are amazing the fed us 3 times this week and Sister Biancos calls us everyday to make ensure we have a dinner appointment and if not she says well we will see you at 6:30. It is great!! I love them her little girl Alinna is so sweet she is 2 and always takes me name tag off of me when i am eating dinner haha it is funny!!! She walks around the house with my name tag and my bag , wearing my shoes acting like me it is the best!!! I love it!!!! We watched Johnny Lingo and Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration. It was awesome!!!! The Biancos are the best the also gave us someone to teach even though we cant teach them till the end of September and that Sister Biancos oldest son his is move form California to New York and wants to learn the Gospel. So yeah pretty awesome stuff!!!!

I am so grateful for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ there really is nothing better, it truly does bring pure happiness to our lives. I know that Jesus Christ is our savior and redeemer and he live today and is always here by our sides helping us. I know that Joseph Smith is the prophet of the restoration and he did in fact see our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as he knelt in pray in the sacred grove. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and it is another testament of our Savior Jesus Christ and it is the key stone to our religion. I know that the priesthood is real and it is the authority of god to work in his name. I am so grateful to be a missionary today and being able to help others come unto Christ. Thank you all for your love and support! 

Love the Lord with all your Heart <3

-Sister Maraiha Loveland (Potato-Head)