The Book of Mormon is True!

So my new companions name is Sister Stoker and I love her so much! So thankfully I am not training a greenie (a brand new missionary) I am co-training with Sister Stoker who came out with me! So we are the same age in mission years and are training each other. It has been an amazing experience so far. Neither of us really know what we are doing half the time so I have learned to rely on my Heavenly Father even more than I ever have before. I can say that I know this is His work and that He loves His missionaries. I know that He is guiding us to where He needs us to be and I am so grateful for that. We are going to see so many miracles!

On Tuesday I finished packing up everything I own and taking it to Richmond to the transfer meeting. We started with a trainers meeting for all of the trainers and then they let the greenies in and paired them up with their trainers. I was now sitting alone because I am not training a new missionary. I had to wait until transfer meeting to get my new companion. It was weird not having a companion for a couple of hours. But we had lunch and I talked with three other missionaries who I had come out with, who are also training. I really wanted to know what was going to happen, who my new companion was, and where I was going. Finally we have transfer meeting and they announce that I am going to the Chancellor ward in Fredricksburg and I am companions with Sister Stoker! 

Things about my new area that differ from Tappahannok: 

There are neighborhoods with houses right next to each other!

The ward feeds us every night

There are lots of stores

Most people know about Mormons

The church actually has benches 

It reminds me more of home

There is a man named Ray that we taught. He started to read the Book of Mormon and he prayed about it and wanted to know more, so he turned to Google... :( He typed in Joseph Smith and now he thinks that Joseph Smith is this terrible person. He is so caught up on everything that he has read online that he won't read the Book of Mormon! He says that he wants to believe the Book, but he just can't because he doesn't have any evidence. He kept asking us how we know it is true. We bore our testimonies over and over again but he just wouldn't accept it because it wasn't tangible proof. We told him that the Book of Mormon is tangible proof! and that if he read it the whole way through that he would know. I really hope he just gives it a chance. 

Thanksgiving was so much fun! We went to the Helzers, and the Grovers and sister Boggs and her son Jarom were there too. It was good to be there, it felt like one big happy family. And I got to try Sister Grovers famous apple pie, which I must say was deeeelicious. :) We talked about everything that we were grateful for which is always nice to reflect. Later that night we went to another members house and had some pie and shared a video about Jesus Christ and shared how thankful we are for Him. I cannot imagine a life without Jesus Christ, I am so thankful for everything that he has done for me and still does for me. 

On Friday we visited this less active named Sister Rees. She was having a really rough time. She just didn't want to go to church, her life has been really hard lately and she felt like she just didn't belong there. Sister Stoker and I taught a really powerful lesson on the Atonement and showed her my favorite mormon message of all time, Mountains to Climb. She cried a lot and said that it is exactly what she needed to hear. We asked her if she needed help with anything and she said that she really needed her leaves raked and her kids wouldn't do it. So we went back on Saturday to rake the leaves and oh my gosh it was so fun! I have never had so much fun raking leaves before. Just the feeling of helping someone who really needed it was so so good. Then as we were raking one of her sons comes running out to help us. He was a really funny kid. We made a super big leave pile and filled up 9 bags of leaves! It was a lot of work! 

As we were tracting on Friday, we were on this street and I just didn't feel good about it. My companion also was not sure what to do so we said a prayer and both decided to go to another street somewhere else. We got in the car and decided on Basil Ct. It felt so good to be there I was practically skipping from house to house. It was weird, I have never been so happy to tract before. We talked to a couple people, no special conversations or lessons or anything. Then our time for tracting was almost up, but I had seen someone in the blue house go to get the mail, and so I knew they were home. We went and knocked on the door and a man came outside and sat on his porch and let us teach him! He was a super nice guy and is interested in coming to our church! His name is Mike and we started to teach him the Restoration but he interrupted like half way through, but we are definitely going back there! 

Funny moment told from companions point of view: 

"So, we got gas today, and had to go into the store
to get our receipt, but as we were walking back to the car, this car
pops up OUT OF NOWHERE. So, being the scaredy cat that I am, I yelp
(it wasn't a full-on scream) and jump a little bit. Well, Sister
Ruffner, no joke, flies off of the ground! Literally, it was like 2
feet! It was hilarious! We laughed for like 20 minutes!!  Anyways,
that's all."

We wen't to see this man named Doug. His whole family are members, but he just doesn't beleive in organized religion. So I am so excited to work with him. He even came to church on Sunday! He only stayed for sacrament but, yay! He thinks that our church is the closest one to what Christ would have wanted, so we are so close! He even had two kids go on missions. 

Sunday was a really rough day. Church was amazing and the lessons were amazing and everything. I said the opening prayer for sacrament, they also made me stand up in front of everyone so they could all see the new missionary for the ward. Sister Stoker and I got to teach Gospel Principles which was fun, I knew how to do that haha ;) But we wen't tracting and got caught in this couples house and were bombarded with how our religion isn't true for like an hour. He would not let us leave! They thought that we don't have prophets today because after Christ came, everything was done. They don't even believe in miracles! How sad is that?! People take the Bible so literally. Then we kept tracting and getting shut down. Finally we were driving down this street and we see someone on their porch and we almost run to them because God puts prepared people on our path! He had never heard of Mormons before! What a relief! It was so cool to teach him. We felt a lot better after that and kept tracting. We made 3 return appointments that night! How amazing! I truly know that Heavenly Father loves His missionaries, and is watching out for us. 

"The Atonement will carry the missionaries perhaps even more importantly it ill carry the investigators. When you struggle, when you are rejected, when you are spit upon and cast out and made a hiss and a byword, you are standing with the best life this world has ever known, the only pure and perfect life ever lived. You have reason to stand tall and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living God knows all about your sorrow and afflictions. The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane and on to Calvary. The only way to eternity is through Him-- the Way, the Truth and the Life." - Elder Holland

I have never had my testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon more tested in my entire life. Wow there are so many people out here who just do not like the Book of Mormon and who really do not like Joseph Smith. I have done so much study on the Book of Mormon this week. I know without a doubt that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that he saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and translated the Book of Mormon. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and no matter how hard people try to convince me other wise, it just isn't going to work. If you want an idea of what people are like out here, read 2 Nephi 29. After the crazy week that I have had, and the people that I have met, this chapter gave me a lot of comfort. Heavenly Father knew that this would happen, and He knew that people were going to act this way. I also know that there are people out there who are prepared and I am determined to find them. I love my Savior and I love this work! Check out the new Christmas video on mormon.org and Light the World! 

All my love, 

Sister Ruffner

New address: 

11816 Forbidden Forest Cir. Apt. 303 Fredericksburg VA 22407

(yes I live in the forbidden forest)