caroling

we ahd so much fun yesterday. we went caroling with the whole zone. it was an incredible experience. i love the christmas season. it is so full of fun activities and opportunities to share the gospel. here are some pictures of the night. the little antlers we are wearing were giving to me from sherri in a christmas box. we got tons of compliments on them. hey look my hair is getting longer. everyone can rejoice with me:)
the other picture is the cake that was made for me on my birthday. you may think i missed out on the family halloween party but you all missed out on the cake of the century:0 it was made to look like me. i think they did a good job:)
i am happier then i have ever been. i love my mission with all my heart. i love this gospel. i love watching the way it changes lives. it really does. it is amazing. a woman called me today from another ward and ask if i would teach her daughter who is in our ward. she said she hopes the message will bless her daughter the way it has blessed her. i just loved that. it is a small phrase but it is so true.
i love you all and hope all is going well. i will talk to you all on christmas.
love your missionary in Florida:)

i met one of Joseph smiths descendents

hello family, im sorry i dont get the chance to write on this blog very much but i wanted to tell you an incredible experience i had this week. because my bishop is going to Australia, where alot of Joseph Smiths descendents are, we were able to meet Joseph Smiths great great grandaughter and here son. her son looks alot like you would imagine Joseph Smith to look like. it was amazing. we went and ate dinner with them at my Bishops house and then they did a fireside at our church that night. Her son is the first of his descendents to get his endowments in the Navoo Temple. neat huh? any way the spirit was so strong. they are the most incredible people. they have only been members for about ten years but have already done so much in helping the progression of reuniting his family. it is such an honor to be in this area where i get to see and hear about all the amazing miracle stories that have been going on. she told us stories and visions that i cant wrote on a sight that just any one can read but they have changed my perspective and testimony of Joseph Smith and this church. the work for this church is so much greater than we realize or can even fathom. there are so many behind the scene things that are happening. it is neat to learn about them all. i love being apart of this. i only wish i could do more.
i love my mission so much. i really feel like there is a reason i am here that goes beyond what i can see with my eyes. i love you all so much. take care.
love sister conover

aug 18, 2008

hey family. i didnt know if you have been watching the weather but i thought i would ease your mind just in case you were. yes there is a possibility of a hurricane but most likely it will just be a tropical storm and either way we are very prepared and all is well.
on to better things...
eddie weldon was baptized:)
he is a wonderful man who's wife is a member and has been praying for the missionaries for along time. then about 7 months ago the missionaries came. eddie shooed them away with a gun. (he is a cop so he can do that i guess). then his wife ask who it was, when he told her she told him to go and get them. so he humble went down the street in his cop car looking for them. he appologized and ask them to come back. he began a long lengthy study of the gospel. when we came he was getting closer but still wouldnt set a date. but because between him and the Lord he decided it was time. so last wed he was baptized. it was the most incredible baptism.
many great things are happening. the Lord is working miracles every day. i love you all. thank you for your prayers.
love sister conover

yeah a new adventure

yeah!!!!!! im so excited, i am going on a new adventure. i am finally leaving my first area. i am being sent to open a whole new area in Bradington. it is a whole new ward. the bishop was just called last week so i wont have any auxilaries to help me for the first little while. but everything is done in a fast orderly fashion so im not too worried in fact im not worried at all. i wont have an apartment, car or phone at first but that will all be worked out quickly. i am sooooo excited. it is said to be the ghetto of florida but i would rather work with the humble and confused then the rich and proud any day. it will be an adventure for sure but i know i am in the hand of the Lord and he will take care of me. my new companion is from Japan and doesnt speak very good english but she is wonderful. i love her. i love you all and will keep you updated.
love sister conover

pictures, yeah:)

a couple of these pictures are some beautiful areas out here. my comp, sister kinyon helps remind me to stop and enjoy the beauty around me. she stops all the time to take beautiful pictures of the world around us. it is a nice reminder. it really is beautful over here. i love it so much. my new comp, sister kinyon is the one im hugging under the banjan(cant spell the word) trees. she is fun and we are having a great time working hard together. i love you all and will talk to you later. things are busy out here and i have to get going but thank you so much for replying to my blog. i really appreciate it. love ya. love sister conover

fun stories

ok so here is a fun mission story.
one day my comp and i prayed about an area to go find in. we found one and headed out but some how got lost. so we pulled over and said a prayer that he would help us find someone ready to hear the message in this new area we were in. we opened our eyes and immidiatly the spirt began to lead us. it was amazing. we would get to the end of the street, pause and then we would both express where we felt we should go, which we both continually felt the same promptings. finally we came to the end of one street and decided to tract it. that day we found a man who was not only ready but had been waiting for something. in the first week of teaching him he has set a date to be baptized on june21 and is wanting to buy as many church books as he can. of course we give him all the main ones for free but it is incredible to see someone so ready. he sais his only regret is he didnt find us sooner. he is telling all his friends about us and invited one friend to church on sunday which is also a good story because we had seen that friend (his name is tye) at the store the week before and had invited him. he said he would think about it but then after stephan (the man we are teaching) called him he accepted. it is neat to see the way the Lord works in our lives and the lives of others. i Know we were meant to find Stephan that day and i know we were meant to find Tye at the store and now we can teach both these wonderful men. i love this work with all my heart.
one more quick story. we are also teaching a women named holly kelly who at the last lesson felt the spirit so strongly that she cried and couldnt keep the goose bumps away. she is wonderful and we are excited to see her progress. thanks for reading my fun stories. i alwayse have more but those are my current favorites.
love sister conover

pictures

here are some pictures. i have some incredible stories i cant wait to share but due to time i cant share today. i love you all and will write again. oh ya the piture with me and another sister in suits is my new comp. i love her. she is wonderful and we get along great.
until next time. love sister conover

i love you all

oh family, that was so fun to talk to you all yesterday. i cant believe that it happened. it felt like a dream, a wonderful dream. i love you all so much. if today wasnt such a crazy day with transfers and everything i would write more but i just talked to you all so i think you know how im doing. i will write more next time. i love you guys. i truly have the greatest family ever.
love sister conover

pictures

hey family, here is a picture of my and my trainee, sister strewart. i wish i had more but sadly i dont.
transfers are coming up so i dont know how much longer we will be together. the other picture is of my zone and i out by the water at a beautiful park that we go to on p-days. we have fun together.
so funny story-- my compannion and i were invited to a mothers day dinner at the church. it was set up so that couples could go and feel like they were on a romantic date. the lights were dim, there was balloons and streamers and candles and sparkling cider and everything. we even got seated by one of the young men who were all wearing nice suits. each person had a table with their name on it and a special menu all printed out with the things you had ordered from the night before. it was beautiful and it was romantic. sadly we had no men:) sister stewart and i were placed at a table in the back and the other couples didnt show so it was just us. "table for two corner booth please" hahahah we felt so funny. it was awesome. people kept laughing at us cause here we were at this romantic dinner at a table with ourselves lights dim and nice music in the back ground. :) we decided to have a mock byu date so we ask eachother all the typical awkward questions. it was awesome. we called it a "rotic" date, which is romantic without the "man". pretty clever i know. we have lots of fun together. its fun having a best friend always around. we just do everything together and we love it. well i love you all and will tell you what happens with transfers next week. love ya lots. love ME!

april 14th entry

ok, so here is a story that gave me a fright:)(fright is such a fun word, i should use it more often) i got my card from salt lake that tells me when my mission is completed and i can go home. P.S. it was signed by President Thomas S. Monson. --for some reason they had me set to go home next april. i was so confused because im not supposed to go home till next may or july. so basically they were counting my mtc time and my home time as part of my mission. i was like NOOOOOOO! i dont want my home time to count for my mission time. that would mean i would be coming home in exactly a year. no offence but im not even close to ready for that. so i talked to my mission president and he called salt lake and we got it all worked out. when i showed him the card he said, "that wont do, we want to keep you as long as we can". so he worked it out and now im not due to come home till either may 26 or july 7th. my official release date is june 4th but it lies in the middle of two transfers so i could go home the transfer before or after. im not thinking right now which one i would choose i just thought i would share my funny little story with you all.
if any one wonders how you can help with missionary work and you dont have friends off the top of your head to refer then here is a little advice. President Hinckley was big on "retain, retain,retain" so here is some ideas. find out if there are any inactives or part member families that you could invite over or take a plate of cookies or some how befriend. the idea is... there is so many who are falling in the cracks who are already members and live right in our areas. we need to do more as members to find them and help them.this is what we are pushing for in our ward. the inactive list in our ward is almost double our active list. that is sad. we need to do more for them. we as missionaries can only do so much. the friendship needs to come from the ward. so that is my idea for how you all can help with missionary work in your own wards. i love you all so much. i will keep in touch. love sister conover the 7th

april 7,2008 entry

Wow! conference was amazing. I seriously loved it so much. we left the sunday morning session and went tracting. We were full of the spirit and found someone right away. it was great:) It is true that people can see and feel the spirit radiate through people who are worthy to have it.
It's hard to believe im a missionary. IN conference they mentioned missionaries several times and it would take me a minute to remember that they were talking about me:) being out here is a dream come true and its hard to believe that i'm already here living it. well i love you all and i will talk to you next week.
love sister conover the sixth (mommy, julie, sherri, shauna, kim, cindy,me)

pictures

here are a few new pictures. im not sure which ones i have already sent so im sorry if there are duplicates. the one with me laying down is a picture of us playing FAT DOG. its where you eat alot and then lay around:) i might have sent that already, i cant remember:)
the weather is beautiful but it is beginning to get hot. we are having an early summer which can cause hurricans, at least that is what we are told. We actually dont mind hurricans because it would give us alot of service opportunities. i am so excited about conference. conference for missionaries is like christmas for others:)

pictures

hey family here is some pictures.
having a live lizard on your ear is called a florida earing.
the other pictures come from p-day. i take most of my pitures on p-day so you probably think i never work but i do:)

march 17

thank you so much craig and shauna for your advice. It seriously helped. somethimes advice seems simple and like something that the person already knows but for me those were both thoughts that i really needed to hear and had not thought of the situation that way. i was thinking of how i might be failing and not about the Lords time table and how things work out. i am planting seeds and thats important. this week had an unexpected happy thing happen. it is amazing how after the trial of our faith we begin to see the miracles. we had an investigator bring a friend and now we are teaching them both. ok so here is the story. dont get bored, it really is a good story. John is a boy we are teaching and all of his friends and family basically have turned on him and making life hard for him. one friend, who is 15, noticed that john was getting treated really bad so he began to stick up for him. he ask if he could come learn about what he was learning so that he would know how to stick up for him. he did not want to be converted or anything. so yesterday we taught him and the lesson was 3 hours. he wanted it that long, he had tons of question. He said" man i came to help john and now im leaving as an investigtor with a book of mormon in my hand" he laughed so hard it was funny. we are excited. the Lord works in mysterious ways.
i love you all.
love me

march 10th entry (hard week)

im not going to lie im having a hard time wanting to write this letter because it was a hard week and the last thing i want to do is vent to my family. but sometimes it is good to know that someone out there cares and is praying for me. thank you for your prayers. even though this week was hard i know things will pick up eventually.
ok here is a really quick summary of why im having a hard week. we had two people with baptism dates and we put all our hearts and prayers into these people and this last week one of them bassically dropped us and the other one wants more time so she canceled the date. so this will be my fourth baptism date that has been canceled in three months. oh well, after the trial of our faith, then comes the miracle:) i really believe that.
thank you a million times over for your letters. even though i love it out here i still struggle through things and i believe it is a miracle in and of its self that when ever i need a pick me up i have a letter in the mail box with my name on it. and inside are always loving words from a wonderful, loving, suppportive family. thank you for that. well i love you all and i will write next week.
sorry i did not write last week but i ran out of time because one of my investigators (the one that dropped us yesterday) had called me. i really loved that man. it's easy to love people when you serve them with all your heart. i have confidence that he will come around but it will be on the Lords time and not mine:)
love me

feb 25,2008 entry (training is a blast)

wow!! my trainee is amazing. i dont remember if i told you all about her yet or not but i will tell you again just in case. her name is Sister Stewart and she has come to the mission field ready to work. she has a great attitude, a wonderful memory and the desire to work hard and build Gods Kingdom here on earth. what more could i ask for. she is so much fun and i just love her. she has a wonderful smile and a way of using it to make others feel so comfortable and happy. we get along great. the funnest part is we learn alot from eachother. i have never taught some of the commandment in lesson 4 because we have not gotten that far in our lessons and i was in the hospital when they taught it in the mtc. so last night we were supposed to teach tithing to john myers and i told her i had never taught it before. so both her and sister butterfield busted out their mtc notes and we sat down and all learned together. it was fun. being the trainer does not put me above anyone. it just means that i get to set the example and serve them more. but in reality we all learn from eachother and grow together. we are taught in the scriptures that the master is also the servant and that is the way it is:) and what an awsome responsiblility and honor it is.
We are teaching two of the most amazing people. John Myers and Bill Chaney. i believe i already told you all about them. we taught them both this week and they are just moving right along. john's mom let him back in the house and said he can research the church as long as he is completly honest with her about what he is doing. People think we are a brain washing cult. It's sad but as soon as her heart softens and she realizes that this is actually helping her son and making him a better person, i believe she will consent to have him baptized. Bill on the other hand understands everything and believes that he is finding the true answers to his life time questions. now all he needs is to over come his addictions and his chastity issues.
I know it might be hard to believe but i am actually enjoying the work now more then before. i owe this to the responsibility of being the example of complete obedience. i am the one who has to account for the work now so i had to step up my act and i am loving it so much. i cant imagine being a missionary that doesnt work hard because working hard is what makes it worth it.
The area still needs to grow. i keep praying for more of a finding pool. i know there is still people to be found and i want to find them. we are going to focus alot on part member families and see if we cant reactivate and activate some of those people.
please sent me some of your emails so i can write some of you personally. for example i am still waiting for tim and julie's email address. tim said he would write me if i gave him my email so who ever reads this please tell everyone that my email address is conoverd1030@myldsmail.net. i would love to email some of you personally. i sent shauna, sherri and cindy letters but i dont know if the addresses were right and i dont know julies new address or todd and tina's address. i know dons and kims and i know craig and kevins email so im ok there but there rest of you i want to write so please let me know your info so i can personalize a letter to you.
i love you all so much and will continue to keep you updated.
love sister Conover

feb 16, 2008 entry ,im trainig:)

well family, the craziest and most exciting thing just happened to me. yup thats right, im training. i found out this morning and we will go down and pick her up on tuesday. it wont be as hard as i thought though because we will be in a threesome. so i will have another sister that has been here three months longer than me working with me. why she was not chosen to train, i dont know and never will. but i know that all companionships are chosen by the Lord. i have no doubt that he had his hand in this one. i told sister butterfield (the other one in the threesome) that i will need alot of her help, especially since she knows more than me. she said she will help out where she can but ultimatly it is my responsiblity to teach and train this sister how to work hard and be completly obedient. i am excited. i find it an honor to train another servant of the Lord.
ok i have an amazing story. yesterday we taught a man named bill chaney. we have been working with him for about three weeks now. last week we gave him the word of wisdom lesson and this week we gave him the chastity lesson. he is so amazing. he has some major word of wisdom problems and a live in girl friend but he wants this so bad that he set a baptisimal date and said he will quit his his addictions and have his girlfriend out by the date he set. wow, now that is dedication:)
another story.. we are teaching a 17 year old named john myers. our last lesson was unbelievable. the spirt was so strong you could cut it. when he went home his mom basically kicked him out. she said that he had to live with his grandma if he wanted to continue learning. and guess what, he moved out. wow, again, that is dedication. the sad thing is we cant continue to teach him without his parents consent because he is under 18. so im not sure what will happen there, but it was neat to see what people are willing to give up when they know this church is true. well i love you family and i will send you some pictures.
love sister conover

feb 11, 2008 entry

hey family, i have officially been here for almost two transfers. crazy to think that it is going so fast. i feel like i just got here yesterday. the next transfer will be on tuesday. we find out this saturday who is leaving and who is staying. we have had a blast as a three some. sister creger and sister butterfield are wonderful. we really enjoy eachother and we work well together so it has been great. we are all a little apprehensive about what is going to happen this next transfer. im pretty sure they wont keep me with my trainer. its weird to think of moving on with out her. she has done a wonderful job of training me. i only hope that i have learned every thing i need to be able to move on. im sure the lord will help me with all my weaknesses and make me stronger. i still love the work. it is wonderful to be a missionary. GREATEST CALLING IN THE WORLD,(that im aware of thus far:) well i love you all and i will continue to write and keep you all updated even though i highly doubt anyone is going to read these:)
sister conover

feb 4, 2008 entry

hey family:) this is fun to be able to write on my blog and you can all read it. i wish i had more to say. im so excited to write you all that i cant think of anything going on over here:0 hhahahah i crack myself up.
if there is one thing that i want you to know it is that prayers really work. our Heavenly Father really hears them. He is so excited to hear from us and waits to help us. all we need to do is have faith and ask. yes it may not be the answer we want but he will answer none the less. prayer is a big deal out here because we for sure cant do anything alone. we are only instruments in the hands of the lord, but the work will not go forward without His help. so i have come to learn that full reliance on Him is key.
i love you all. i know this is not long but prayer is on my mind alot lately so i thought i would pass along some of my thoughts on it. i am praying for you all and i ask and plead that you wont forget me in your prayers. not for me myself but that i might help the work go forward in this area. i am asking for prayers that i might be able to find and teach and baptize people who have been prepared by the Lord and are just waiting to be found. i only have 16 more months to do everything in my power to build His kingdom here in Florida. that is not alot of time and that means i need help and prayers:) i love you all so much. i couldnt have ask for a better family.
love sister conover

jan 28th update

hello hello family. this is coming from your missionary way over here in Florida. i wish i could send more pictures but i have to wait a few weeks before i can go back to that library to send them. it is a confusing situation:) well the weather is beautiful up here and the Lord is blessing our efforts. i cant ask for more. we started out with basically no "finding pool" and we now have a good sized one. i feel so blessed and honored to be teaching the people that we have.
we attended two baptist churches on sunday, due to investigators asking us to, and the experience was very worth it. it was neat to see how they believe and to see the differences. i can tell you one thing.. the contrast in the way we felt the spirt at their church and then our church was unbelievable. i loved their services the music was great and the speakers were wonderful but then we got to our church. we had general stake conference so we got to hear truely amazing testimonies from our beloved president Monson and Elder Oaks. there is nothing like the testimonies of apostles of Jesus Christ.the spirit was so strong you could cut it. it was an incredible difference. the baptist churches were fun and uplifting but the testimonies of our apostles ran deep into our hearts and brought tears to our eyes. i love this gosple there is just nothing like it.
we have a new convert that was baptised right before i got out here and she ask us to re teach her everything but this time from the bible. her family does not believe her so she wants to be able to back up what she teaches them with scriptures from the bible. it has been the most rewarding exercise. i have loved researching in the Bible because it is all in there. all the basic doctrine we teach is right there in the bilbe. this church really is jesus christ's church and we truly are set up just the way He set it up when He was here. i Just love it! well i love you all and i will continue to keep you all updated.
love sister conover
Ps please pray for: Bill cheney, alice and Renos, Kevin Miller, Megan Reagale, Dawn Rosh,and simon. all these wonderful prople need a testimony in Joseph smith and the Book of Mormon. and Rodger andrews needs to stop smoking so he can be baptised on the 9 of feb like we have planned.

here are some pictures