"That's how do ya say... good...?"‏

Once again no pics :( so  found a cute pic of her :) Happy Thanksgiving Everyone :)!!

Hello everyone! :)

Well, this week was very good! We saw so many miracles and it really is fun! :)

Firstly, I love being in a "courtship." It is so fun living with 3 other sisters and living in the same house and serving in the same area. We all get along really, really well and we have a fun time! We are staying busy right now but I am afraid that we will run out of work pretty soon on our side of the ward. Our ward works really close with the two neighboring wards to we might start working all together. Most likely it will be our ward and another with 3 sets of missionaries (2 sets of sisters and 1 set of Elders) covering the area. That would be amazing! :) That way single people will be able to have visits from missionaries of their same gender without having to worry if another member can come. Hopefully that makes sense :) haha

I honestly don't have any great stories this week because we are contacting everyone on the ward list, active or not, to see if they are interested in having us come back. We only have about 5-10 names left and we had some great experiences where people who haven't been active for decades said we can come back regularly so that's great! :) One really funny story that happened this week is at our "Spuds-and-Suds"  (a scout dinner where they serve potatoes and rootbeer floats and have an auction)  and in the auction Sister Cluff (another sister who is HILARIOUS!) Asked us how much cash we had because she wanted a bucket full of "dirt"  (you know, the pudding, oreos, gummy worms, etc.) so we gave her all we had and she was bidding for it. Well, a member of the ward bid $13 for it and then gave it to her :) And it happened again with another bucket of dirt and another member bought us a huge dinner. So, the ward really has a lot of love and trust for us so we cannot let them down! :) This week between the 4 missionaries we set a goal to talk with 200 people about the gospel so we can get more lessons and have more people join us in enjoying the goodness of the gospel :) 

The story behind this title is as follows: We did an exchange where I went with Sister Cluff and Sister Thorson and Sister Fitt went tracting. When they went tracting they ran into this hilarious guy! And apparently anytime he said a small word like "good, bad, happy" etc he would start it out by saying "that's how do ya say..." and then the word. We say it all the time now :) St. Helen's is definitely a small town, middle of nowhere country place. I thought I could always live in the country when I grew up and I would love living in the middle of nowhere. It is... pretty good... :) haha! It really is great! :) 

A talk I really enjoyed this week is Linda K. Burton's talk from this past conference titled "The Power, Joy and Love of Covenant Keeping." It is worded so well of how when we keep our covenants the blessings we can receive and how we are blessed from it. 

This is a really short email... I will try to write more next week ;) haha!

I love you all!! :)

Sister Sierra Birch :)

http://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/print/general-relief-society-meeting/2013/09/the-power-joy-and-love-of-covenant-keeping?lang=eng&clang=eng

St. Helens A.K.A. Twilight County‏

Hello everyone! :)

This week has been very interesting haha :) Our zone is huge!! To get to the stake center, that is in the middle of the stake, it takes us 45 minutes to get there so its a really big area! And, we just barely opened a new zone so that is pretty exciting :) Anywho my "daughter" is doing awesome! She doesn't seem stressed or worried at all. I know she is because I was in her shoes only 12 weeks ago (crazy...) Her name is Sister Fitt and she is a doll :) She worked at the M.T.C bookstore before her mission and she was my cashier one day and we talked for a minute. Ironic right? :) She is working right now with getting used to the super structured schedule as well and that is a huge change the first couple of weeks. I don't feel like I have gotten used to it but looking back I see that I have a lot, it is interesting. Training her is going really, really well. It is an honor to train this early into my mission and I don't want to let down the Lord and President Taylor in this assignment. She is making it really easy on me though :) 

It is really interesting as well because we have 4 missionaries in this ward right now and we all live in the same home which is the mission 2nd councilors home and his house is gorgeous!! It is a treat :) and we have a car! It is funny, I thought the minute I got a car I wouldn't hardly walk any more. False! We park the car and walk everywhere. We are in the middle of nowhere so the houses are really far apart. We split the ward in half so the other sisters have the half where all of the investigators live because one of the sisters was here last transfer so she knows them already. Her companion is my "sister" and is follow up training her because she came out at the same time as me. We took the other half where there are very few homes and they have all been knocked on probably at least once every 3 months or so ;) So it will be interesting to see how the work moves forward there :) With the Thanksgiving decorations I was able to decorate the apartment before I moved but now because we are living with members I don't have to decorate ;) haha! But next year for sure :)

Your 5K sounds fun! How did you convince him to do that with you? :) The family dinner seemed way fun!! You all look way happy and it looks like you had a great time :) Hopefully Catching Fire is good. Let's be honest, it is going to be great! And you are not too old! But in a few weeks maybe ;) hahaha! Just kiddin :) I think I answered all of your questions hopefully :)

I decided something this week. I am going to ask everyone who reads my emails to read a conference talk every week :) I am on a real conference kick right now and I am loving it! The guidance that comes from them are amazing! Obviously, if anyone feels prompted to read more that is great :) But I would like to share the one that particularly helped me out during this week. With our new ward they are really trying to help people come back to church. In Elder Ballards talk from this past conference (the one I mentioned in one of my previous emails) he words it perfectly of how members and full time missionaries can help and support one another to continue hastening the work. It is a wonderful talk :) (I copied the link to the talk at the bottom of this email). My friends and family who wonder "how could I help Sister Birch with her mission?" One way that I would love is if you work along side the full time missionaries in your area :) Go on exchanges with them, feed them dinner, offer to give them rides, anything at all really does help! Even if we don't take our members up on the offers because we may not need them at that moment, we know they love us :) As always, I would love to hear experiences about how you have helped the missionaries!
I have also been studying the spirit world with Sister Fitt. She wants to know how to best teach that as well. If anyone is trying to find something new to study, that is a great place :)
I hope everyone is doing wonderful! I love you all so much and I hope you are staying warm and safe :) Love forever!
Sister (Seester) Sierra Birch :)

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/print/2013/10/put-your-trust-in-the-lord?lang=eng&clang=eng

First Transfer... well, ready or not here I come!‏

Hello Hello Hello!!!

This week is full of crazy surprises. I got the news on Friday that I am getting transferred tomorrow. Not only that, I am going to be training!! So, from what other missionaries have told me, it sounds like they are opening this area new for sisters. In mission life there is genealogy. For example: Sister Furnell is my mama and her trainer is my grandmama and I have 3 sisters. Therefore, I am getting a daughter tomorrow!! :) It is really exciting and really nerve racking as well. I will be praying a lot, but I know that with the Lords help he will guide me through this new assignment :) Especially because he is the one who called me to do it haha :)
Besides that we had a really good week again! (Funny how a good week tends to happen if you want it to right? ("Everyday is a good day if you want it to be" -Matthew Oral Birch)) Jeff is still solid about getting baptized. We are just waiting for the living situation to sort itself out. We had so many less active people come to church it was fantastic! :) In church on Sunday word got around that I was getting transferred. So many kind people said really nice things to me! I love the Columbia Ward! I really can't wait to come back here and visit and have you 3 meet all these amazing people :) Oh, it will be so weird to be in a new ward... it is slowly starting to become reality for me... One really, really good section of scripture to read is D&C 122 whenever we feel like our trials are too big for us to handle. Actually, I invite you 3 to read that section as well as D&C121 and let me know how you felt about it. Maybe have a little F.H.E. tonight eh? That sounds like a great plan ;) 

It's funny a mission, our week is jam packed, but I really don't have much to tell you about...? It's interesting haha :)

Something I have been thinking about lately is how vital home and visiting teaching is. I have been shocked how many people are not visited by their home and visiting teachers. Every single one of our less actives have at least 1 or the other that haven't ever visited them, only on occasion, or the classic make a treat and leave it on the doorstep. It would make our work as full time missionaries so much better if we knew we could rely on those members to help us. There is one family in particular where the family feels fellow shipped only by their home teacher and he is the only person besides the missionaries that they feel comfortable to ask questions to. How great is that?! He doesn't do anything grand or elaborate. He simply stops by at least once a month and every time he does he takes the time to sit in their living room and share a gospel message. Not only that, he also calls them every so often to ask if they need anything. Little small acts like this truly make a huge difference. Granted, we are the missionaries and we are expected to live a higher standard; and members of the church are asked to do many things. However, we have all been asked to do missionary work. There were so many talks in the past conference of how members can and need to do missionary work to their full potential according to their means and life circumstance. Home and visiting teaching is one of those great ways! :) According to President Harold B. Lee:

“Missionary work is but home teaching to those who are not now members of the Church,and home teaching is nothing more or less than missionary work to Church members." 

I testify that this is true. I have seen it work in the field. Even if someone who is on your route doesn't want to talk to you because you are there to share a gospel message that is ok! Be their friend :) Ask them if you can come back and visit and just be friends with them. Even if you don't share a gospel message the first few times befriending someone genuinely, to be there to offer service and love to them will do more than never visiting again. I would love to hear some great stories about how home or visiting teaching has blessed people! :) So if anyone would like to they are more than welcome to email or write me to tell me how it has benefited them :) 

I love you all!! And keep enduring to the end :)

Love forever, Sister Sierra Birch :)

P.S. I am copying Elder Jordan Neilson; but anyone who hasn't read "Beware of Pride" by Ezra Taft Benson needs to read it. It. Is. Phenomenal. 

JEFF IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!! FOR REALS!!! :)

 ahhh!!! This week was full of great things!! :)
First off, thank you SO much Mama for the amazing packages!! I absolutely love every piece of clothing you sent me! I have already worn everything at least once and I have been getting compliments for everything, thank you!!!! :) It was so sweet of you to send me so much food as well! There is a chiropractic school close by so we have 5 families that the husbands are going to school there. They are all young couples with young kids and I guess every Thanksgiving they get together (because their families live out of state) and have Thanksgiving together and they invited us to come as well. We will be able to help contribute to the meal a little. (We will keep most of it of course ;). 

Please tell Chris and Julie congratulations!!!!! I wrote them a letter today so hopefully it gets to them soon. Is there a name for Baby Boy Birch? :) That is a huge baby!! I hope Julie is feeling well :)

Oh! And please tell Michelle Lynch thank you for me!! My goodness, I got her card today and I was freaking out! :) She looks absolutely stunning in her wedding picture!!!!! :D And her card was so funny! I love that girl so much, I am so grateful we are still great friends :)

Here is something amazing, Jeff is getting baptized!! We haven't set a date yet, but this is what happened. We were walking to an appointment when we got a call from the couple who is friends with him. He called them that morning and said, "We need to find me a place to move to. I'm getting baptized." We had to cancel the baptism before because he was still living with his girlfriend and he didn't want to kick her out even though they weren't dating anymore. So he has been attending another church for the past few weeks. He explained when he attended the churches he felt good. He felt comfortable and there wasn't anything bad. However, he said when he attends church at an LDS church, he feels the spirit so strongly it's undeniable. He told his girlfriend she has until the first week of December to find a place to live. Otherwise he will be the one to move. Also, he came to church yesterday with his daughter and he bore his testimony. It was short and sweet and he explained just that, but he started out his testimony by saying, "I would like to start out by saying to all of you, I know this church is true. I know this is Christ's church." It was amazing :) The congregation was crying because they all know Jeff. They have all contributed to his conversion one way or another. He has brought this ward very close. We are all very excited, but not nearly as excited as he is to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints :)

Also, we have another investigator named Eugene. He is the guy who we taught the first lesson to and he felt the spirit really strong. We taught him again this week and he asked quite a few questions revolving the church (polygamy, the Godhead, etc.) and we were able to answer them for him. He also came to church!! :) He said this is the only church that he has investigated (and he has investigated a lot of churches) where the members allow non-members to ask questions. He said that he got yelled at a few times or they couldn't answer it, it wasn't a good doctrinal question. We promised him that if we didn't know the answer, we will search, ponder and pray and find the answer for him. I love being asked questions!! :) It really stretches me to figure out what exactly do I believe, and is this church in line with what I believe. I have honestly had some questions already in my mission that I have had to ask myself if I really believe some of the doctrines, or I realize I believe in something that I haven't been taught before. I promise if we have these questions we should seek to find the answers; but finding the answers through the scriptures and prayer is the #1 way of course :)

We have been teaching Scott still. He is doing great! He taught me something this week that I really took to heart. He is really studying faith and he told us, "If we have faith in the Father, we have faith in ourselves." Wow, isn't that true? Just like that 1 Nephi 3:7 says "I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men save He shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." The Lord knows our potential. And He will only give us as much as we can handle. We will be stretched though. This life is a school. We are sent here to learn and grow; to be tested and challenged. There are some subjects we really do well in and others we struggle. The Lord wants to see us progress and He knows exactly how we can individually. But, he gives us a syllabus of exactly what he expects from us. It is outlined clearly and the materials we need are also listed. However, he doesn't list when the tests are or what exactly they will be on. So, we need to "study" always. We need to be prepared for those tests. But how are we supposed to know what we need to do? How much can we handle? What is a passing grade? The Lord knows all of that. If we have faith in Him; with his teachings, doctrine, prophets, etc. we will have faith in ourselves to make it through any of the tests with flying colors :) That is going to be one of my new mottos, that is for certain :)

Things are still great! My hair is super fluffy all the time haha! I have tried so many different things to keep it tamed but I am slowly giving up lol :) The rain is Misty (<---haha :) so it is a wonderful rain to walk in. It has been chilly, but that's an easy fix. Just wear Batman pajamas under your normal clothes ;) haha! Really though, they keep me way warm walking around :) Transfers are next Wednesday, we find out on Friday or Saturday if any of us are getting transferred. Most likely at least 1 of us is because we are in a trio. But it would also make the most sense to keep us 3 here because Sister Furnell is going home next transfer and Sister Taylor can get her visa at anytime. 

That girls day looks way fun!! I am a little jelly :) How crazy! 3 months! Weird... 

I think I answered all of the questions.... I love you all!!!!! :D

Love forever, Sister (Seester) Sierra Birch :)