last week of the first transfer!!!

I can't believe we are coming to the end of my first transfer in South Carolina already! Time has flown by!

The work has been a little slow, but we had an amazing experience this past Thursday, and I have faith that as we follow the coucil given us, the work will abound. We were invited to a leadership training on Thursday with Pres. Holm and two former mission presidents working with the missionary department, Pres. Littlefield and Donaldson. That was truely the shortest longest day I've ever had. We got up at 4:30am to get ready and then meet another set of sisters in Spartenburg to carpool to Columbia. The training started at 8:30am and ended around 4:30pm with Lunch and a couple of breaks in the middle. Then we stopped for dinner and didn't arrive back in Gaffney until 8:45pm. It almost felt like we never left, but I'm so glad we got to go. The theme of the training was understanding and living our purpose. It was full of messages about the importance of understanding our purpose as missionaries and what we can do to fulfill it. They spoke of how our mission is poised to succeed and help the missions around us rise too. It is prepared to go to a new level and to be able to reach our goal of 250 baptisms (currently only averaging around 75 a month).

Here's a few of my favorite thoughts:

Those who understand their purpose have a better understanding of who they can become. When they are on fire with purpose, they can accomplish great things. The purpose of missionaries is to invite and help others receive the cleansing power of the Atonement, but that can only be done through the ordinances of the gospel like baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost. Covenants are the doorway to the Atonement. We were challenged to concentrate on the ordinances with everyone we visit and teach. When we talk of ordinances, the Spirit can witness of their importance. We were told to filter everything(study, teaching, planning, etc) through the gospel of Jesus Christ: faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the end (or becoming more perfected in Christ). They discussed how we can't teach casually. This is their salvation. When they don't keep committments, be devastated (Elder Holland said that one). Give committments with power that they will see the importance and actually do it. And follow up every time. We all have great potential. Failure is not reaching our potential. Heavenly Father can see that potential and He wants us to reach it....and soooo much more. I would write it all, but I don't have time.

We had a mission wide conference call on Saturday and President Holm told us the theme to this month is a "November to Remember". It will be this month when everything starts pushing forward as we work with members and help investigators keep their commitments. Miracles are coming to South Carolina!

I learned soooo much from this training and am excited to apply everything we learned. Understanding my purpose has given me a better sense of direction in the work and helped me see the purpose of it all and the potential I have to bless lives, to help them receive the full blessings of the Atonement in their lives. Without the ordinances, it's just not possible. Without the Spirit directing my paths, there is no way I can succeed in reaching my own potential or helping others reach theirs. I know I have to trust the Lord in everything and He will give me the strength to do things I never thought I could do. 

I love you all so much! Have an amazing week and count your blessings! Miracles are happening everywhere around us. We just have to look for them.

Love,

Sister Cottam

week 4 in Gaffney

Hey ya'll!

It's been a slow week. We've had a lot of trouble getting our investigators to keep appointments let alone committments...let's just say it gets frustrating. I want them to have the gospel, and they will do nothing to learn for themselves the message we have to teach. I loved your letter Dad! This gospel is so amazing. I didn't really realize how important it was until I came on a mission. I knew it was important of course, and that I was extremely blessed to have it, but as I see other lives and what they are missing, my heart yearns for them and wishes that they would just accept the fulness of the gospel. They would have greater joy and so many blessings they couldn't dream of. I count my blessings that I have learned that importance and am taking the opportunity to go out and share the gospel with those who are ready and willing to listen and to plant that seed in the hearts of those who aren't quite ready that it may wait for that future day when their heart is soft enough to let it grow.

We had an amazing opportunity to hear from Elder Gay of the 70 on Saturday in a special missionary mtg. He spoke all about missionary work and what he learned from serving as a missionary and a mission president (in Ghana). He told that we are not here by accident (which is a message I've heard since day one in the MTC). God prepared us from the foundations of the world to be where we are. Nothing is an accident. This work is one of great urgency. We've been called to double baptisms and reactivations in the Greater Southeast region. There are so many people here who already have strong faith in Jesus Christ. The Lord is preparing someone around each member to receive the gospel.

He gave a long list of blessings we receive from doing missionary work. There are over 40 listed in the D&C! I caught a few:

-Your sins will be forgiven; you'll be given power to speak and share the gospel; the gates of hell will not prevail againts you; God's strength will be with you; the Spirit will give you what to say; you'll have greater power to keep the commandments, etc, etc...

He said that this is not the work of man. This is real. Jesus Christ lives. God lives. This work is their work.

I loved his testimony.

We also had Stake Conference this weekend. Our mission president and his wife spoke all about missionary work and how full time missionaries are there to help the members do missionary work. The Stake president, Pres. Duquette, spoke of the importance of living the gospel. He said: True happiness can only be found through living the commandments. Anything else is like trying to catch a red dot that is ever changing and moving on the wall(in reference to a story about his grandson trying to catch a dot from a lazer on the wall that kept moving).

It was an awesome meeting.

We get to have another awesome experience on Thursday. There's a leadership training in Columia that we've been invited to. I can't wait.

Though this work isn't easy, I know the Lord has a purpose for us being here. Someone is waiting to hear the gospel. Someone needs our support and the truth we have to share. I know He is at the head of this work and we can only accomplish it through Him. He knows the needs of the people around us. He knows their pains and trials and joys. We are only His servants. It's humbling to think about it that way, but without Him, we can do nothing--and that's including everything in life.

I love this work and the opportunity I have to serve and teach. I know as we continue to be obedient and work hard, the Lord will prepare someone to receive our message. Well, that's it for this week. Thank you for all your emails! I love hearing from y'all. If you get a chance, send me a written letter...I love those because I can read them anytime I want to during the week, whereas I only have 30 minutes a week for email. Either way, keep writing! I love you all!

Check out this scripture: Alma 7: 11-13(14-16 are great too) . I've been memorizing it this week. I've gained a greater understanding of the Atonement by learning these words. Christ truely loves us and wants us to receive every blessing God has for us!

Have a great week! Pray and seek for opportunities to share the gospel. The Lord will help you be in the right place at the right time!

Love,

Sister Cottam

Week 3 in Gaffney

Hey y'all!

Mom, I loved your email. That is so awesome about the general authorities. That would be a crazy and powerful experience! I hope Dad wasn't too overwhelmed by their gracing of his ward ;).

And to Jesse...keep showing that map, because it is sooo awesome that I'm so close to Charlotte. I know several people in the Gaffney ward who commute every day to Charlotte to work. Often it feels weird to hear that it's so close and knowing I can't go there to see where my brother served. I get to see a lot of kudzu (the vines and vines of stuff). I'll be sure to send a couple pictures soon...once I get some taken.

The leaves have started changing colors and mornings have gotten cooler. The weather has been surprisingly clear during my stay here, but this last week we finally got a day of misty rain, which means I got to use my rain coat! Ah, the simple pleasures in life. In about a week it will be prime picture taking season with all the trees in full fall colors. I'm excited.

This last Wednesday my companion and I had two shoulder angles all day (i.e. the Zone Leaders followed us around and taught with us). It was a crazy and amazing day! I hope one day I can be as a good of missionaries as those two. They've got the whole routine down pat: talk to everyone, breaking down barriers, teaching by the Spirit, etc. With their help we got 7 new investigators...all of them on bapismal dates! The day started off amazingly with a lesson with Ashley, her mom Sandra, and Sandra's sister Debbie. They live in a trailer park near Brandy (the one we found last week). They were all freewill baptists (or something like that) and were baptized in the river, but they hadn't been in a while. We started off with just talking to Ashley (her mom was out somewhere) who has a 2 year old boy. We chatted for a few minutes and she completely opened up. It was amazing to see the Spirit work on her and help her feel comfortable and open with us. After 15 minutes, her mom and aunt came in and joined the discussion. We relayed how the proper authority to baptize was on earth again and how it got here: through Joseph Smith. They felt the Spirit so strong as I shared the first vision and all of them accepted to be baptized. I love the way Ashley described how she felt: "I feel like there's more to learn about Jesus Christ then I've ever dreamed of."  They committed to come to church, but Ashley's step-dad came into town this weekend....Satan is so good at throwing things into investigators' way to trip them up when they are so close. We have faith we'll be able to get in contact again and help them work towards baptism. They are so ready, especially Ashley.

I can't give all the details of that day, but I wanted to quickly tell of one other miracle: With the zone leaders' help, we got Bessie on date! She's the daughter of a recent convert Sister Pridmore. She was taking the lessons and almost got baptized, but she is sleeping with her boyfriend Ricardo who is very possessive. She is scared that she won't be able to stay away when she did leave him...he comes and finds her and begs her to come back...and of other things like slipping up after baptism. We're trying to see her every day to strengthen her faith and help her get that confidence to take a leap of faith. When she takes that step...it will be the most amazing thing in the whole world, but it's going to take a lot of smaller miracles to get there.

I know that even through our trials and tough days, there is light at the end of the tunnel as long as we have the hope and faith and humility to let the Lord handle the situation and to grab our hand when we take that leap. God's power is amazing! He loves His children sooo much. In His time and with His help, everything is possible!

Have a great week! May the Lord be with all y'all!

Love,

Sister Cottam

week 2 in Gaffney

Wow. What a week! More success and more frustrations, but also more love and more spreading of the gospel!

First off, since I never got to it last week, I loved General Conference. We got to watch every session at the church building (which is right across the street behind our basement apartment). So much of what was said pertained to missionary work. I loved it! One of my favorite talks was Elder Carl B. Cook's on Looking up. I love that story of Pres. Monson: "It's better to look up." That is so true. As I struggled last week to overcome the "culture shock" of being on a mission, I knew that if I kept pushing forward I would grow to love it. I had to put my trust in God and look up. As I did that this week, the Lord has blessed me. I have gained a deep love for this work and for the people in the Gaffney area. I can feel God's love for His children, and I want to share that with everyone. We get to go on mormon.org for an hour each week. After spending time reading and watching videos my heart was filled, and I wanted to help others have the joy in life that member of God's church have. I hope I can bring that light to at least one person while I'm out here. That will make it all worth it.

Thank you for the package! It's gotten chilly here already and I am very grateful for the extra warmth. Just so you know, the mission is repaying me for the $60 I spent on luggage. Don't worry, I'll use it wisely. I got a package from Great Uncle Tom that had two small binders and some quotes. I love it and am excited to use them throughout my mission!

Hey Jesse! We have kudzu, that vine stuff, all over here. I need to take some pictures and send it to you. Everytime I see it I think of you. It's also crazy because I'm only and hour away from Charlotte...wow.

So, miracles do happen when you are following up on your assignments...just sayin'.

The bishop here wants us to do a lot of work with less actives (because they consist of over half the ward), so we've been planning people to see and then knock around those areas. A little over half of the LA we try to see don't answer their doors, so we leave a little note and move on. We were in a trailer park looking for one of these LA on Monday evening (also shows the importance of going out to work even on P-Day). We knocking, a woman in her 20's answered and said the LA we were looking for didn't live there. True to the council to talk with everyone, we started to contact her. She allowed us to come in and teach her more. We taught about the restoration and after we shared Joseph Smith's experience, we asked her to pray to know if what we said is true. At first she was scared to pray b/c she was unsure what would happen. We assured her nothing bad would happen. Her prayer was very simple and we had to help through it, but when she finished, the Spirit filled the room and flooded her heart. Her smile was ear to ear and she told us that she felt so happy like the cares of yesterday didn't matter anymore. We extended the baptismal commitment, and she said she would love to be baptised. The Lord truely prepares His children to hear His word. Now we have to convince her boyfriend to marry her, but I know she will be able to take the steps to bring her closer to God when the time is right. Miracles do happen!

I love hearing from you all. Keep writing!

The church is true. This gospel is true! The Book of Mormon is the word of God. This work will go forth boldly and nobly until it is finished. I am so happy I get to be a part of it...even thought it can drag sometimes. The Lord truely blesses us for our efforts and our faith will reap miracles, great or small.

Love you all!

Sister Cottam

South Carolina!! Gaffney

Well, I made it to the South!

It's been a crazy week!

It all started with getting up at 3 am to fly out last Monday. There were 12 missionaries in all coming to SC: 4 sisters, 1 spanish elder, and the rest english elders. The first flight was fine except that for the last 40 minutes we had terrrible turbulance! It was like constant roller coaster. The elder sitting next to me ended up loosing his breakfast and never fully recovered until we were safely on the ground in the mission home. We ended up only having 30 minutes to run to the other side of the Detroit airport to get on our second flight to Columia. It was a smaller plane (though still bigger than the one we fly in Alaska). As soon as we left the plane the wave of humidity struck. Luckily it wasn't very hot, just sticky. It's definitely something I've never experienced before. It didn't help that it had just rained. We met the mission president, his wife, and the 3 elders serving as assistants just outside of security.  I love my mission president. He has a firm testimony of the gospel and a strong drive to get things done in the mission. His goal is to double the baptisms for the mission and retain them all. His wife is so wonderful and loving. I felt at home there. I was sad to leave.

We had dinner that first night and then had an orientation mtg. in the mission home. Tuesday morning we got up early and got out of the house by 7:30 am. They drove us around for 40 minutes and then stopped on the side of the road next to a patch of forest. We all got out and went several yards into the trees. Pres. Holm then explained that he wanted all of us to have our own Sacred Grove experience to start off our missions. He gave 10-15 minutes to pray and ponder in the trees, then told us to follow the little pink flags. I loved the peace of the woods as I prayed. I didn't get any grand experience, just a small peace. After the alloted time I followed the flags with the others. After several hundred yards a spire poked out of the trees with the angle Moroni a top it. My heart overflowed as I stepped into full view of the temple and shook Pres. Holm's hand as I stepped out of the trees. Tears streamed down my face. I was totally taken aback and surprised that he had led us to the temple. We went inside and sat in the waiting room and Pres. Holm explained that the temple is the goal for all of those we teach. It is the greatest blessing of this gospel and we want to find, teach, baptise, and retain so we can help others come to the temple. I had never made the connection so plainly before, but it is so true. The greatest blessing God gives us on earth is the temple and we need to help investigators get there at all costs.

We went back to the mission home, had breakfast, went to more training, met the trainers at lunch and did more training, tracted for 2 hours that evening with random trainers, and went back to the home for dinner, training, interviews, and testimonies. Wednesday morning we had driving training (1st half), and then went to transfers where we received our companions. My trainer is Sis. Jepsen. She's amazing and supportive. I'm exited to learn from her. We're stationed in a 23,000 pop town in the north called Gaffney.

It's been tough getting into the swing of things, but as I get used to the work my joy for it increases and as does my love for the people. I still have sooo much to learn, but I promised God I would be dedicated. As I am dedicated to the work, I know the Lord will help me as I teach and share His gospel with others. I love this work. I'm so glad I get to be out here in the work of the Lord spreading the truth of God.  

By the way, the address for the mission office changed. Send everything to this new address.

South Carolina Columbia Mission

110 Oak Park Dr.  Unit B

Irmo, SC 29063

Love you all! Have an amazing day. I hope you all loved conference as much as I did!

Love,

Sister Cottam