Transfer Nine Week Two

Dear Family,

This week was a pretty good one. We had lots of different experiences that were lots of fun :)

Monday - P-day!! Woot woot!! We did the normal, then had a really fun dinner with members :) It was good to talk about missionary work, and about what they can do to just be better friends to those around them. It was really good :) I did get a lot of letters written, and Sister Morgan and Sister Hetrick both got a 3 hour nap. it was good :)

Tuesday - It was a crazy day! We had district meeting, and we talked a lot about the missionary purpose. It was a really good district meeting. I learned that I need to recommit myself to all of this. It will be good though. I am excited for what is to come!! It will be good :) We also had dinner with a recent convert :) She made us amazing homemade pizza!! It was way good! We had pepperoni, and we had a chicken pesto pizza. They were amazing!! :) It was great!!

Wednesday - We did service for a non-member. We are helping her go through all of her old papers and sorting them. It was good :) We also picked up a new investigator!!! It was amazing!! We went over to teach Kristy and Jay, and when we got there Kristy had another friend, Nicole, there :) Nicole also wants to learn more about the gospel, so we are going to teach her!! It was so exciting!!! :) We also had a birthday dinner!! Sister Hetrick celebrated her 18th birthday with us, and we let the family that we were eating with know :) It was fun to have that with her :)

Thursday - We did weekly planning, and 4 hours of service!! :) After weekly planning we went to Redland's family services. It is a place where they get clothes and food, and then distribute them to those who need them and who don't have enough. Think DI and Bishop store house combined :) It was really good to help out. We organized clothes, hangers, and just cleaned up the place for when they opened :) It was really good. We are going there on a weekly basis to help them out :)

Friday - We spent time preparing for the baptism on Saturday!! It was a birthday of one of our members, so we went and took him a cupcake. He is an older man who has dementia. He is really sweet though :) It was good to be with him. He enjoyed the cupcake, then shared one of his birthday treats with us :) He had gotten an edible arrangement and wanted to share with us. It was really sweet :) We also taught a recent convert and a returning less active. It was fun :) We were able to help them all with the gospel and strengthen them spiritually :) It was nice :)

Saturday -  It was our pioneer day celebration!!! We went to the park and had breakfast with the Stake, then just spent time there. We were able to see our recent converts and I was able to see those that I hadn't seen in a long time!! It was so good!!! I got to see Kellie and Tyler again. It was amazing!! I missed them so much, so it was way good to see them :) We then went and got ready for our baptism!!! It was fun to do that. It was stressful, so I was glad when it was over, but it was also really, really nice. :) Something that was spiritual and we had a good time :) We also had waffles for dinner :) Breakfast for dinner really is the best thing ever!! It was wonderful :)

Sunday - It was church!! We also wrote cards and delivered them. Then we had a really interesting dinner... I have never eaten anything like it before.... Now, let's think. What is a land animal that has a had shell. It curls into a ball when it is scared... have you guessed it yet?? If not, let me tell you... Armadillo!! Yup, I had armadillo for dinner :) It was actually pretty good. Sweeter that pulled pork, which we also had. And it was saltier. It was really good :) I actually really enjoyed it :) We also had a recent convert lesson. All of our lessons in church were about pioneers. So, we decided to help our convert with that. She didn't quite understand what a pioneer was, so we watched the Restoration movie with her. It was amazing!!! I love the new one that we have. It was amazing!! She really understood why we have pioneers and learned more about Joseph Smith. It was really good :)

The pictures are of our armadillo :) 

This week was good :) Stressful with the baptism, but really rewarding :)

I love you all so much!! I hope you have a wonderful week!!

Transfer Nine Week One

Dear Family,

This week was actually a really good one :)

Monday - It was P-day!! We found out we were getting transferred, so that day was spent doing lots and lots of other things than the normal ones. We emailed, washed the car, shopped and packed. It was fun. I was able to get all of my stuff mostly done, which was nice. It was hard to pack, but I have done it a lot so it wasn't too bad :) We then started to say goodbye to the ward members. It meant lots of driving and a lot of coordinating for us. It was good though. We were able to have dinner with the Cotton's, so that was fun :) It was just a great day! We really got to see the ones that we have come to love. It was good :)

Tuesday - We had Zone Meeting and went over what President wants us to know. It was good. Got to know what to do at transfers and just went over missionary stuff. It was good :) We also said goodbye to more people. It was a pretty crazy day for us, but a really good one :) We have been blessed to be able to see the people that we do love. It was nice :)

Wednesday - We woke up early, finished packing, getting ready for the day and then dropping off the last minute things before we left. It was a little crazy, but a good day :) We then went to the office for transfers. Took us about 1 hour to get there, then we had to find the people we needed and head to our new areas. It was a little crazy though. The car that I was supposed to take to get Sister Morgan was supposed to go somewhere else. It was crazy!!! Long story short, I ended up not getting to my area or my companion until about 11. Then, we didn't have a car and Sister Morgan has a broken toe... It was a little crazy. Also, we are in a trio!! They do something really neat here. They do mini-missions. So, we have a two week missionary. :) It is fun :) She is just about to turn 18 and is a sweetheart. It is enjoyable :) Kinda different. It is amazing what just 2 years does between people. I feel so grown up. It is funny :) We had dinner with the Hall's that night, who are awesome. They are one of the families that I knew before. It is weird to be back in an area that I have already served in. Just kinda different. :) That night we were at the church, so I got to see some of the people that I served with in the Singles Ward. It was fun. I am just seeing people that I used to see all the time now :) It is fun :)

Thursday - TODAY WAS AMAZING!!!! I honestly had a happy day, which was great!! :D We had weekly planning, which actually went well. We then went and did service. The mission is now doing a service thing, where we have to do 10 hours of service a day. It is fun :) So, we did that. We went and marked scripture mastery in Book of Mormons. We were just doing it and then were told where they are going. One of the prisons here in the area have requested Mormon Bibles. It is fun :) I knew that missionary work happened in prisons, but it was fun to see how much the work of the Lord is progressing. It was exciting to hear. Well, then we had a killer lesson!! It was amazing!! We are teaching two investigators. Kristy and Jay. They live together, but aren't together. More like roommates. It is a different situation. But it works :) Well, we had members there and it was truly amazing!!! It was so good to teach!! The Spirit was so strong and it was just amazing!!! I came out of there basically on a Spiritual High :) It was awesome!! I haven't been able to feel that good in a long time, it was great!!! We then had a very rushed dinner with the Papworth's, who are fun :) There are some amazing people here :) Very kind :) We then had splits with the members. I was able to go and get to know a couple of the members. It was awesome!!! There really are some great people here!!! That night, President called. I wasn't expecting a call, but he just wanted to see how I was doing. It was really sweet :)  He was calling to just check up on me and make sure that all was going well. :) It was cool :)

Friday - We were able to go and write cards for members!! That is another thing that we do now. We go and write cards to the members to invite them to things and to just say thank you :) It is pretty awesome :) Then we did service for this Indian lady. She was so sweet!! She needed help organizing things and so we were there to help her :) It was fun :) Then we went and taught Callie. She is an investigator who is getting baptized the 19th of July!! It is pretty awesome!!! We have to finish teaching her the lessons and then we are just going to keep going and see how it all goes :) It is pretty cool :)

Saturday - We went and made cards at a park and got more organized. It was a good thing to do. Then we went and made baptismal invites. It was good, and exciting to go :) I enjoyed it a lot :) We also taught Kristy and Jay again. It was a good lesson, not quite as bomb as the first one, but still a good lesson :) It was another good day :)

Sunday -  It was church!! We had a good Sunday :) We had church, and Kristy and Jay both came. We also went and had dinner with a great family :) Everything is just going really really well :) it was good :)

This week was good :) I am excited to be here :)

Sister Morgan is my companion, and she has 5 weeks left of her mission. She is a sweetheart, and just wonderful :) She has been in the Prospect Park Ward for 1 year. Which is a really really long time, but it is fun for her :) It is just exciting :) I am happy to be here and to work with her again :) Something that I have enjoyed :)

I love you all so much!! I hope you have a great week!!!!

Transfer Eight Week Six

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was good. We have done a lot of less active work, and have seen lots of families that we care about!! :)

Monday - We did our normal p-day routine. Just did the things we needed to do for the rest of the week, which was good :) We had dinner with the Matthews, which are a great family!! They have 3 girls and one baby boy :) it is fun to have dinner with them :) We then went and met with the Bagley's at Wendy's, and spent a little time talking with them before they left for a trip :) That was fun :) Then we went to the Ricketson's, and spent some time there strengthening them and helping them to have the Spirit :) It was good :)

Tuesday - We had district meeting and learned more about how to get investigators to church. It is still a big struggle but if we can start convincing them correctly they should come :) It is all about following the Spirit on that one :) Then we saw the Ricketson's and taught their daughter and son the Restoration. It was fun :) We are working on teaching more simply :) It should be good :)

Wednesday - We met with Michelle and helped strengthen her. She was going through a hard time, so we helped her with that :) She is really sweet, so it was good :) We also tried to see some others but that didn't happen. It was good though :) We had dinner with the Rees family and they are amazing!! They have done so much for me and it has been great working with them :) It is good :) Then we met with the Verduzco family and taught them the Restoration. Or rather their son taught and we asked questions :) It was good :) Then we went and saw the Gonzalez family. They are a family that has all girls in the house :) Kinda reminds me of home :) It was fun to talk with them and to help them :) Had a good time :)

Thursday - It was a normal working day instead of weekly planning. We did service for a member, by helping her organize her craft room. She had a ton of stuff, so it was fun :) She does stampin up, so she had that stuff too. It was fun to see what she had, that mommy has or did have. It was exciting :) We also taught the Ricketson's the Plan of Salvation. It was good. We had a hard time teaching it simply, but it was good :) Then we had dinner at a less active home. We are the first missionaries to be invited to their home for dinner, so that was good!! We had shrimp that was wrapped in bacon and cheese, then we had steak (which was amazing) green beans, mushrooms and eggplant. It was a good meal. I tried things that I hadn't really had before, so that was good :) Turns out I like mushrooms and eggplant, if it is cooked correctly :) It was good :)

Friday - It was the Fourth of July!! Yay!! We spent the morning doing service, then the rest of the day until dinner either in the apartment, or at urgent care. I had a cold all week and started to get a lot of sinus pressure, so we were doing things to help with that, then I started wheezing, and that wasn't going away, so we went to urgent care. I am okay, now I have antibiotics and an inhaler in case I need it. Then we had dinner at the Ricketson's and then where in by 6 and did weekly Planning. It was a good day :) Had some hard things, but still good :)

Saturday - We tried seeing people and taking care of the things we had to do because of the ward split. We saw the Rees family and spent some time with them :) It was fun. Exciting to be with her and talk with her :) She is amazing!! Then we had dinner with the Verduzco's and had ribs, and baked potatoes :) It was good :) Then we went to the Ricketson's and taught another lesson to the kids. We also found out that night about transfers. Which was good, because then we could tell people on Sunday. Fun stuff :)

Sunday - We had to go to all 3 wards. But luckily they were each only 1 hour :) it was good. Found out who the new bishopric was and how things get to start rolling. We spent the time in between talking and letting people know that we were getting transferred. It was good. Hard to say that we were leaving to some families and it will be hard to go, but this is God's plan :) Then we had dinner with the Schneider's, and let them know that we were leaving. We also saw the Sterling's. They are an amazing family!! She is a strong sister and has helped us a lot on our missions. She gives great advice and is a sweetheart :) It was good to be with her :)

If you haven't guessed, I am being transferred. I am going to Redlands, to serve in the Prospect Park ward with Sister Morgan. It will be fun, and I am excited!! It is hard to leave those I have been with, but it will be good.

The desert is my second longest area, so that will be hard. I will forever remember it here. it was a great place to serve, and wonderful people to serve with. :)

I hope you all have a great week!! I love you all so much!!! <3