Thursday, January 23, 2014

Miscommunications in Missouri



I figured while I am required to write so many papers for my classes, I should share them with the world. I am taking a communication class right now and was asked to write a paper on a time where I was involved miscommunication. I shared the following experience.

I served my mission in Independence Missouri. I spent my last seven and a half months serving in the Historic Liberty Jail. The missionaries serving there were involved in many misunderstandings. One of the most common was phone calls for the prison. Although Liberty Jail was in fact a jail in liberty, it is not the “Clay County Detention Center.” We took these as little opportunities to help others feel the Spirit for just a few moments before correcting their jargon and giving them the detention center’s phone number (which was kept right next to the phone).
One of the attractions of Liberty, Missouri is the Jesse James Bank Museum. As you might guess, this attraction brings quite a different crowd from the Mormon historical site vacationers. The museum is famous for the “first successful daylight peacetime bank robbery” which the gang leader, Jesse James, lead in 1866. Some of the Museum visitors don’t pay very much attention to the part of the story when “the gang was never caught” and head across the town square to visit the Historic Liberty Jail. I was taking one such group through one day.
The Liberty Jail tour begins in the “history room” where the missionary gives a brief overview of events leading up to Joseph Smith’s imprisonment. After the summary, questions are invited. I could tell this couple was a little shy, as only the woman looked at me during my presentation; her husband was looking at all the different diagrams in the room. After waiting for no questions to be asked, I took the couple down the hall to show them the re-creation of the jail.
The couple let me talk about the jail but wasn’t interested in the story of Joseph Smith- they just wanted the history. After twenty minutes of information, I invited questions again. Finally, the woman asked “So, Jesse James had nothing to do with this jail?” Her husband looked at me- finally interested in what I had to say, and when I answer ‘no’ their tour was over. They politely got up and left the jail. The wife apologized for taking up our time and kindly refused more information about the LDS church.
Despite the miscommunication, all of us serving at the jail had a good laugh. We learned that we need to get to know our audience better before jumping into church history.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

I'd rather be sitting in a boat thinking about God, than sitting in a church thinking about fishing

Summer flew by for the Pastors. here are a few of the exciting things from this past summer.

Mom and Dad came to visit us for Memorial day weekend. We took them to the cute little town of Manitou Springs (where I previously worked). We took the cog railway up to the top of pikes peak- it was our first real "touristy" thing that we've done here. The cog railway takes you all the way the 14,000 ft. summit of Pikes Peak. I'm so glad we went in May. It was about 30 degrees colder at the top of the mountain than when we got on the train. (Pikes Peak is famous for the song it inspired, you may have heard of it. It starts "Oh beautiful for spacious skies..." and the song does not do it justice.)

Another exciting/ life altering episode happened in July. I attempted to skateboard- which I have done before, but I guess I forgot how, since I fell off the board almost immediately. After some painful hobbling and almost 24 hours of denial, we decided to go to urgent care. I had actually broken my foot and was told I need to wear a boot for the next 6- 8 weeks. I would like to blame my broken foot for the fact that I stopped working out and put my "winter coat" on a few months early this year. I got to take the boot off the last week of August, which was perfect timing, because I had just started my new job.

 Fall Begins


 My job shouldn't really be called "work" it's more like "play". I nanny for a family with 3 kids. I pick them up from school and help them do their homework. It is perfect for me- I get to use my education knowledge and help each kid learn. I'm helping the first grader read and practice his cursive (he goes to a charter school and they are only allowed to write in cursive!). I helped the fifth grader, who struggles in school, to learn how to divide last week. It was amazing. She took almost a month to trust me to help her with her homework, but when she finally did, I helped her understand division in her own way. After staying a little late,she was able to walk through a division problem on her own. They  also a seventh grader, who is kept busy with all the quizzes and test his teachers give him- which gives me the opportunity to re-learn everything from seventh grade. Fridays are my favorite day of work/play. The first grader gets out of school at 1:30 and we have all afternoon to do whatever we want. We have done things like go to the zoo, a ton of different parks, made some Halloween foam houses, and this past Friday, we went out and collected leaves from all over his yard, and then taped them to the back of a sheet of paper and colored over them. We ended up with a beautiful collage of fall leaves. He was amazed at how it worked.



Andrew and I also celebrated our first anniversary on September 2. Andrew took me out to dinner at The Melting Pot. The night was wonderful! They had the best dessert, it was a berry peanut butter chocolate fondue, and you could taste every aspect of the dessert. I decided that I need to save up and get us a fondue pot. Funny enough, a few weeks later I was organizing the kitchen- one of my new favorite things- and I found out that we had already bought a fondue set with some of our wedding gift money from a year ago. It was such a pleasant surprise. I love when I think ahead without having to think ahead.

We went camping for the first time together, and got to bust out all the awesome camping gear we got. Andrew had so much fun setting up and taking down the tent. We went with a few families from church and adopted some of their kids to play with and keep under control in the wild. Breakfast in the morning was enough to feed an army, causing me to eat a ton- it was just so good. I love the appetite camping gives me. It was so great being away from the world for a while.


Most recently, I have gotten into crocheting again. I actually know how to read crochet patterns I've made a couple of baby hats, and adults hats. I can't put pictures of them up, because one is a gift :).We also took our first fishing trip. We went with some friends to a lake about an hour and a half away from the springs. We were fishing for trout and our limit was 16 fish for the day. We finished the day with 15 fish (and another 5 that got away) and some pretty bad sunburns. (Mine was worse than Andrews of course.) But it was well worth it. I don't know why people complain about fishing being boring, We had a great time and plan to go again sometime soon. I think the saying is true- that it is better to be sitting in a boat thinking about God, than sitting in church thinking about fishing.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

If wish you had been stalking us- here's your chance to catch up... creeper.

We've been married since September, and I've decided that everyone who reads my blog should know what our life is like her in Colorado

We took a road trip from California to Colorado for our honeymoon, stopping in Vegas just in time for Labor Day weekend. (It's a good thing we don't have anxiety issues when it comes to large groups of people, right?) My parents got us tickets to see the Cirque Du Soleil show LOVE, which was amazing (not to mention I got to sing along the whole time). We stayed in Vegas one night before we finsihed the drive the next day. If you want some advice about driving to Colorado from California- take more than 2 days to do it. It's a 17 hour drive total.
Does anyone else feel like writing blogs brings back the same feelings as writing an essay? Where the entire story needs to flow, and don't leave any loose ends or incorrect punctuation. So at this point I would like to thank my many English teachers- I would like you to know that I still use the skills I learned in school. But I digress...


We got to Colorado and started to work. Andrew immediately showed what an amazing husband he would be, by cleaning and putting all of our new things together. One of the many things that keeps him going is Mountain Dew- which is a wonderful thing to purchase at Costco. We lived in our little studio apartment for two months until our lease was up and then moved to a great 2 bedroom apartment in November 


 Andrew could be a model for Mountain Dew
Our dream couch- "L" shaped, corduroy, and lots of pillows Our new place is WONDERFUL! It has a washer and dryer in the unit, a fireplace, and tons of natural lighting (even though its a basement apartment.) There are windows in the front and back so we can have a nice cross breeze and a great view of Pikes Peak out of the 2 bedroom windows.
Christmas came and we finally had enough room to where I could decorate. I made a wreath for our front door, and Andrew and I had SO much fun shopping for Christmas decorations. We both agree that it is a MUST to have a fresh tree. Man, just writing about it now, makes me miss the Christmas season. We had the traditional Power family Christmas Eve Party where there was tons of food and of course; the dice game.

Andrew and some friends joined a bowling league that played on every Thursday night. it was a great way to meet people outside of church and get more acquainted with Colorado Springs.
Tuesday nights were taken up by Cub Scouts. Andrew was asked to be the Bear leader- which  really paid off for me, because  I learned the official way to play marbles, how to tie numerous knots, and was able to brush up on my chess skills (Andrew is pretty pro). Because I loved going to scouts with Andrew, the scout master asked me if I would come to the Pinewood Derby and make up special awards for each of the cars. It was great- and I got to use my "unique" creativity skills.
Since moving to Colorado, I've also had my first junk yard trip. Andrew found his cars' twin in one of the junk yards recently, and so one Saturday Andrew, Jorge, and I went out and took everything in good condition off that Volvo. Okay, so I really only helped the first hour with getting the front seats out, and then the next hour I sat and watched or played with other junk cars. There was one right behind the Volvo that we were working on, that had a couple of broken windows. I had always wondered how much it took to actually break a car window, so I "borrowed" a screwdriver from the boys and "ice picked" at it until it broke. Unfortunately, some of my hand met the broken window, and when Andrew heard about it, he told me I couldn't experiment anymore. But at least I got to break one window.
I was working at a T-shirt shop, until recently- when my mental health was in jeopardy (from the bosses treatment of employees), so i put my 2 weeks notice in just before Memorial Day, when the busy summer season would officially start. Since then, I have been working on several different projects. The biggest one is "The Ear Warmer Project". I found a video online that shows how to crochet ear warmers, and started making my own. I then learned how to crochet (very simple) flowers, and added those for an accent. Its really difficult to learn to crochet from a video when the person is right handed and you are left handed, in addition to not really knowing anything other than a simple crochet stitch- but each ear warmer is getting easier. I plan on selling them soon (let me know if you want one- they are way better than beanies because you can wear your hair up or down with them- sorry, I'm getting off my soap box) I'm sure all people can think about what a great idea having an ear warmer would be when its between 80 and 95 every day, but I'm thinking ahead.
We are planning on having a great summer and are looking froward to the GREATER things fall will bring us. I'll keep you posted.









Tuesday, May 15, 2012

MIM: You'll Be In My Heart


I’m not going to attempt to tell you even a tenth of the things that I experienced while I served my mission. This is more of a travel log- where I was, and who I was with, a few of my thoughts on the subject, but most of all- a tribute to all the amazing people I served with (whether I mention you by name or not- you are always in my heart).



In August 2009, I was called to serve in the Missouri Independence Mission. Immediately, when I read where I was to go, I felt it was right. Friends and family (and myself) tried to predict where I would go, but no one was able to guess that. The semester before, I had taken a church history class, and learned all about the LDS church’s past in the Missouri area- I absolutely loved the class, and now I couldn’t wait to serve in such a special place in our church’s history.
I reported to the MTC (missionary training center) in October 2009 (leaving behind someone very special). After only three weeks of training, they shipped me out to Missouri. I was assigned to my first area- the Independence Visitors’ Center and Independence 2nd ward. http://www.lds.org/church/places-to-visit/independence-visitors-center?lang=eng#d  Although I was not called to serve in the Visitor’s Center, the Lord knew was He was doing. I now, had the opportunity to teach all those who came in the history of the Saints in Missouri. I was blessed to serve in the Visitors’ Center for 4 ½ months, with 2 companions- Sister Michelle Moody (Campbell) and Sister Margo Scott.









In March 2010, I was transferred out to Kansas. I worked in the southern Wichita area of Haysville, Derby, and Rose Hill. Things were very different there, compared to what I had done at the Independence Visitors’ Center. Instead of having a car, we had bikes; instead of spending half of our time giving tours in the VC, we worked all day in our area; instead of living in a little apartment with just my companion and I, we lived with members- the Kinkeads, and their English Bull Mastiff- Nephi. I learned how to ride a bike in a skirt, talk and teach like sweat wasn't dripping down my face, and eat as many (or few) meals we were offered. I first served with Sister Cami Clark, who taught me more than she will ever know- the experiences we had together are too special to share in a blog.
 I was next asked to “become a mommy” and train Sister Mackenzie Love (yes, they put Sister Power and Sister Love together- we eventually just stopped introducing ourselves by name- as it was more of a distraction) But “the Power of Love” (as we came to call ourselves) conquered the Haysville, Derby and Rose Hill area. We shared a friendship and energy that got us through the most difficult times.
 My third companion was Sister Cathryn Powell (Morgan) -our names were just as confusing for people. Of all the amazing things I could say about Sister Powell, I will choose to brag about her amazing skill to not only ride a bike in a skirt, but to ride a bike in a skirt with NO HANDS! This is one of her many skills that I still envy. After 4 ½ months of southern Kansas, the Lord was ready to transfer me.
In August, I made my way to Manhattan Kansas- the “Little Apple” and home of K- State. I was asked to serve in the university branch, which I did with a new excitement. I had wanted to serve in a singles branch since I had been in Independence.  To be able to teach my peers and form friendships with them based on service and love was a dream come true for me. I served in Manhattan for only 3 months, with Sister Kimberly Frandsen. Her optimism and happiness was contagious, and I knew that it had to be the two of us there to accomplish the great work that we did. After 3 months, several thunder storms, and only 1 tornado warning, it was time to move on. I was transferred to Historic Liberty Jail

Even writing about it right now, I am still overjoyed to have served in such an amazing place. I was told on my mission that I should make every area- my BEST area, but Liberty Missouri truly was the most incredible place. http://www.lds.org/church/places-to-visit/liberty-jail-historic-site#d The Lord had plans to make sure I finished my mission strong- with only a few months left, he placed in my path people that I needed. My first was my companion in Liberty was Sister Roo Adamson (Wight). A long lost “bosom friend” from my Independence days, she related to me, encouraged me, laughed with me, adventured with me, and served with a happiness in her heart that I hope to have one day. After our transfer together, her 18 months was up, and I sent her home.

 My next companion was Sister Bethany Maddox, who could only be defined as a kindred spirit. In a matter of a few hours of being together, I knew I had found a best friend, another blessing of my service. The fact that the majority of our clothes matched each other showed how alike we were. She brought a unique spirit to Liberty Jail- as she was a descendant of Hyrum Smith, one of the prisoners kept in the jail with the prophet, Joseph Smith. Her time was short in Liberty and only served there for 6 weeks. Sister Heidi Juergens was assigned to be my next companion. 
Sister Juergens was trained by Sister Love, making her my “granddaughter” in mission terms. Our transfer was full of grandma-granddaughter bonding time, she taught me more than I taught her, and our companionship was bonded by “Love.” She prepared me to go home, as I only had about a month left.
 My final companion came from right across our bedroom (all 6 sisters serving in Liberty Jail live in the same house) Sister Whitney Holbrook. She and Sister Jeurgens just switched beds and closets. Sister Holbrook helped me go out with a BANG by finding opportunities to serve and help others and best of all- dancing in the rain. My last night in Liberty, a thunderstorm came in, and after our nightly planning, we went out and danced in the rain- a perfect way to end the evening (and a mission).
I returned home May 13, 2011 to my family, friends, and future husband, who were all as excited as I was.



Service as a missionary taught me that the Lord knows me personally. He knows what I need and what will help me best to grow. He loves me, and always will. I learned to put my trust in Him. Whatever “wilderness” I may be going through, He has never forgotten about me, but instead is right there, comforting me through His Spirit. He guides and directs my life and I will serve Him with all my heart forever.