Week Two of Transfer Four

Dear Family,

This week has been really hard.  It is a combination of the holidays, my depression, and the fact that I am just really struggling in the area that I am in. It is all going to progress though. I hope. I keep telling myself that sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better. I kinda remember going through something similar to what I am going through at the beginning of my mission. Change is hard. I am taking much comfort in reading past ensigns, and reading the scriptures. They help a lot. There is something about reading the words of others who have gone through hard times, and who have struggled with those around them, that can bring comfort. There is a scripture in Jeremiah that I found today. It is Jeremiah 33:3. It talks about prayer, and how the Lord will answer our prayers. I like it a lot :)

Okay. So. This week has been full of us doing service, and giving our ward some TLC. Tender Love and Care. There are a few people in the ward who are amazing :) One of them is Sister Cisneros. She is a convert to the church, and reminds me a lot of mommy :) She is very sweet. She loves ice cream, and we get along great. :)

I am also in love with our home-shares! They are the Padgetts. I probably talked about them last week, but they are even better now :) They have a little girl named Lauren. She is 9 and reminds me so much of Abby! She is full of energy, and has an old soul is what her mom called it :P She is 10 years younger than her brothers. She is like having a little sister, and we are her big sisters to her. She loves us, and does whatever she can to help. Before I came, the sisters would go over to her house and play games with her, but since I came, we haven't been doing that. She kept asking us why, and finally last night I told her why. I told her what our purpose as a missionary was, and that we need to fulfill that purpose to help those that are around us. I told her that if she wanted us to play games, then we would need to teach one of her friends. She said okay. It was way cute :) Sister Padgett is great :) Last night we were at the church for a baptism  (I will talk more about that) and it showed on my face that I was having a hard time. I was doing pretty good at hiding it until that moment, and she was like, are you okay? I told her that I was fine, and then she gave me that mommy look. The one that means 'don't you dare lie to me, I know something is up'. I then told her that I had depression and was having a hard time. She got really concerned, and mentioned the holidays, and I said that it was partly that, and that I was struggling with other things. She then took me in a hug, and told me that she loved me. This sister, who has only known me for not even two weeks cared for me, and told me something I needed to hear. I have felt like I was just an outcast in this ward, and that not a lot of people could even begin to care for me. I needed to hear that. What was even cuter, is that Lauren was standing there and after her mom was done with her hug, Lauren wrapped her arms around me. She squeezed me tight, just like Abby does. It was really great :) They then both sat next to me at the baptism for the first part. It was really sweet of them. We are going to be spending Christmas with them. I can't wait :) They also can't wait to meet my family :) It is going to be very nice :)

Okay. Last night we had a baptism! Well, Sister Ferry and Sister Dowd had a baptism. I had only met the man who was being baptized like 3 times. He is Brother Padgetts Uncle. His name is John. He is really sweet. He had been waiting to be baptized for over 40 years. It is crazy. He has had a hard life, but is now doing great! His wife is a non member, but she was there totally supporting her husband. It was really touching.

Things are progressing. Life is getting harder, but will eventually get better. Sorry this is so short! I can tell you more about everything on Wednesday!

I love you all so much! Have a great week!!

Week One of Transfer Four

Dear...Well... Everyone I guess...

Hahaha. I know that this email is going to be posted to my blog, so I thought I would address it to everyone :) I hope that those who read my blog, and my emails are taking comfort from them. It is hard to be a missionary and be away from your loved ones, but I have also been on the other end. I know that it is hard to be at home, when you have loved ones on a mission. Things do get better. One of the most rewarding moments is to see them in the airport when they get home. :) No matter what you Christmas seasons bring, whether you have loved ones away, or you are away from them. Know that they do love you. The Lord is blessing those who turn to Him. Please, turn to Him. I know that He brings comfort. I have felt it in my own life, especially this week.

This is transfer 4. How crazy is that?? I am amazed at how the Lord has blessed me.

Well, this week was interesting. The first part of the week was spent saying goodbye to people, and the last part was saying hello to people. It was weird. and very different. The ward I am in now is fun :) They are a young ward. Which means, lots and lots of little kids! The ward is so noisy!! It is good though :) I have missed seeing a bunch of little kids, so it is nice to see them all again. The kids all love missionaries too. One little girl yesterday came up to me, tugged on my skirt to get my attention, and then started asking me questions. It was so cute!! I love kids :) They are all going to be the best missionaries too. So fun :)

My companion is great. Her name is Sister Ferry. She has been out for 15 1/2 months. She has this transfer and one after until she leaves. She goes home in March. We think that she will be ending her mission in Yucapia. Se has already been here for 7 1/2 months. It is so crazy!! She is great though :) She is from Sandy, Utah. She has 7 older brothers, and is the youngest. She is also a twin. Which is way neat :) We are both directionally challenged, which means that I am getting really good are making U-turns. Oh, I am the driver. Which is amazing!! I have missed driving a car :) It is nice to be behind the wheel.

We kinda sorta live with members. It is called a home-share, but it is nothing what I thought it would be.  They have a huge property, and on the property are 3 houses. We live in one of those houses. It is way neat/weird. The house we are living in has had missionaries in it for the past 8 years. It is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, one kitchen, and a living room house. 2 of the bedrooms are full of paper work, so we don't really go in them. The neat thing, is that I have my own bathroom :) It is so nice to be able to go in my bathroom in the morning, and just get ready without having to worry about getting out as fast as I can so my companion can have the bathroom. I am able to get ready in 40 mins because of that :) I like it :)

Umm... Not sure what else to say. Christmas is next week!! That is going to be great! I will get to skype with my family :) it is going to be fun to see you all again.

Things are going good. Emotionally I am having a hard time, but I knew that was going to happen. It isn't as bad as I thought it would be. Which is way nice :)

Oh, really neat thing. I was able to go back to Highland last night!! Last night, Sister Diamond got baptized! I was able to receive permission to go to that. It was so neat!! She is the sister that we have been working with to get her ready to be baptized. She is amazing!! The Skoy's picked me up, and Graham was also there!! He is the amazing investigator that we were teaching. He is Brother Skoy's best friend. He is amazing! He said that he loved the baptism, which was great!! The Spirit was so strong! It was also amazing to see everyone again! I really miss Highland. But, after being there last night, I really felt at peace. I know that the work I did there is done now. I know that I am supposed to be here in Yucapia. There is so much work that I have to do here.

Oh, cute story. When we were at the baptism we had to wait for Sister Diamonds family to show up. I was sitting in the front row, right in front of the Bishopric. Brother Young, one of the members of the bishopric, looked at me and smiled. I had been smiling, because it was so nice to be back. He looked at me and said "I miss seeing your's and Sister Young's smiles. They always made me so happy. I am glad to see you smiling today. Never stop smiling." He really liked my smile. It made him happy to see me happy. I didn't realize how powerful a smile can be. I knew that it is part of missionary work, and I teach that, but I never knew just how powerful it could be. It made me really feel good :)

Well, I hope everyone's week goes well!! I love you all so much! You are all in my prayers!!!

Stay safe, turn to the Lord, and don't look back on the past.

I love you!!

Week Eighteen End of Transfer Three

To my loved ones,

hahaha that kinda sounds like I am writing a goodbye letter. I promise that it is not! Just thought that I could change things up a bit :)

Well, this week is a total blur. I know that we saw Graham (Mission leaders son's best friend) and we also picked up Robin again this week. Other than finding out about transfers, I can't remember a single thing. All well. I can elaborate on the lessons that I do remember :)

So, we taught Graham twice this week. It was amazing! When we teach him, he asks questions, and really wants to learn more. We taught the Plan of Salvation with a visual (getting that is a story in and of itself). It was amazing!! We taught him the lesson, and he was so interested. He said that it all made sense! He loved learning about it! It was amazing!! :) He taught us the Plan of Salvation, and when we saw him, again, we told us that he taught it to his mom!! How amazing is that! Graham is just the perfect investigator!! We love teaching him! He is 19, and just loves to learn. It is amazing to watch him go from not believing in any God, to be turning to our Heavenly Father for strength and comfort. It is fantastic! Monday we taught the Plan of Salvation, and we asked him when the best time would be to see him again and he said everyday! It was funny :) We ended up seeing him on Wednesday. When we saw him, we taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We were planning on an hour lesson, and it ended up being 2 hours! it was so great though! Graham totally understands! The entire time we were teaching him, we were waiting for him to tell us that he wants to be baptized. He didn't say it, but we think that he is going to tell us that he wants to be today!! It is amazing! Graham is just perfect!! :)

We also were able to pick up Robin again. Robin is the sister that we met at the beginning of my mission. We taught her all the lessons, and she was having a problem with smoking. Well, she dropped us about a month ago, and then Sister Young and Sister Mucke went and saw her to deliver a letter on Thursday. She told us to come back on Friday, so we did. We aren't sure what to do with her though. We are going to try and figure out what it is she really needs. It will be good though. Things are going to be great :)

Okay. So, funny story with the visual. We had lost my Plan of Salvation Visual, and I was planning on making me a visual on P-day. Well, we didn't have a lot of time for that. We were going to copy Sister Mucke's visual, and just use that for the lesson, well... we forgot to get that from her... Which meant that we went to our dinner appointment, then rushed to our lesson. Well, we had to run home, and attempt to create a visual. We had called the sisters and they were in Redlands, with the visual that we were going to copy. It was a mess. We rushed home, and started drawing and cutting out the visual. it was a mess! I was in the car with scissors while Sister Young was drawing cutting out these tiny visuals. It was crazy. Well, we were almost there, and the sisters called us. They said that the thing they were doing was done in Redlands, and that they were headed back to Highland and would meet us at the Skoy's. That was such a relief. The sisters ended up making it from Redlands to Highland in 5 mins. We then taught an amazing lesson. Afterwards, we found my plan of salvation visual. Guess where it was?? Your guessed it, in the trunk of our car. It was crazy.

So, I just thought of another funny story. On Thursday, Sister Young and Sister Mucke had a training. It meant that me and Sister Anderson were together for the day :) Which was awesome :) I love her :) anyways, We had a day full of appointments, and we did our studies and our training's, and we headed out the door at 10:45 for our 11:00 appointment. Well, we had an issue. We couldn't find the keys to the car... The other sisters had used the keys to go and get something from the car that they needed, and then they were going to bring them back to us. Well, we couldn't remember if they had brought them to us or not. We ended up trying to call them, and they were in their meeting, so, no answer. We called the mission office, to have someone in the office go and ask the sisters if they had the keys. Well, they did. I guess when Elder Houser (senior missionary in office who just left) went to ask the sisters, they reached down into their purse, and the keys were there. They ended up just getting up in the middle of the training, and booking it down he hallways and to the car. They then sped to our apartment, where we were waiting on the road to get the keys. It was a little stressful. But is was good :) Added some excitement to our day :) haha

Those were some great experiences though. I had a blast :) It was perfect :)

Best thing that I ate this week... hmm.. Well, we were going to have dinner at a members home, but the Sister in the home called us, and told us that she wasn't going to be there. Which meant that we weren't going to have dinner. Well, at least that was the case until she told us to go by her house, and pick up lettuce wraps from her husband. It was great! They tasted like P.F. Chang's lettuce wraps, but homemade! We loved them :)

Well, I am not sure what else to tell you. I am being transferred to Yuciapa, and I will be living in a members home. I guess that they are pretty well off, and that they have a lot of animals on a farm, and that we will be taking care of them. My companion is Sister Ferry. I don't know a lot about her. It is all going to be great though :) It is time for me to have new experiences :) Sister Young is going to be staying in the same ward. :)


I love you all so much! Have a great week! You are all in my prayers!!

Week Seventeen

Dear Family,

This week has been full of ups and downs. Things are going well though :) It was just crazy. If you were to look at our numbers for the lessons that we have taught, you would see that it was really crappy. But it was still good. We knew that things were going to be tough this week because of the holiday. No one seems to want to open the door when there are strangers standing there, and they have family. All well :) We were also on exchanges for two days this week. It was just crazy. Also, I some how caught a cold. I was doing fine yesterday morning, and we went to church, talked with President, and then we went home for our studies, and bam! I got a hit with a cold. My whole apartment is sneezing, sniffling, coughing. it is just crazy! We will all get better though :) We are going to get some medicine today, and I am praying that it is not the flu!

Anyways. This week was different. We had our planners full of people that we could go and see. We would parallel park, say a prayer, get out of the car, knock on the door, ring the door bell, leave a note, and go to the next house. It was crazy! The Lord is preparing people though. We just need to do other things to find them. It will be great.

Well, this past Sunday I had an interview with President Van Cott. I needed some extra help, and just being able to talk with him was great. it is like talking to a parent. They really care for you, and are there to help you with whatever! It was so nice! He is full of the spirit, and is really funny too. It was nice to hear from someone that I am doing well. He isn't worried about my depression, and has asked me to do a few things. One of them was to find the desire of my heart. He asked me what I would need to make everything better. I looked at him, and thought for a moment, and realized that I didn't know. I have decided that I am going to find out. I also ask all of you, what is one thing that you could have, that would make everything okay? What do you truly desire? Take a minute and think about it. It is crazy to think about.

On this past Tuesday, Sister Young and I were able to make dinner for a less active member of our ward. She is 88, and has a bunch of health issues. We try and visit her about once a week, and this past Tuesday, we made her dinner :) it was a lot of fun. We made her favorite. Baked potatoes, salad, and then at Walmart there are mini pies, and got her favorites. Pumpkin, apple, and peach. It was so much fun! She was so thankful! We loved it as well. It was nice to be able to serve her, and to help cheer her up. She was in the hospital for a couple of weeks, and her kids hadn't come to visit her. She lives alone, and was really down, so we helped cheer her up :) It was just great!

That night we also had dinner at a members home. They have lived in the same house since 1993, but she was less active and didn't come to church. Now she is a temple worker, and is serving in the Relief Society. She is great. Well, her husband is a non member, and he loves corvettes. So, we went to his garage, and took a couple of pictures! it was great!! We had tons of fun!

It has just been crazy. Not a lot of progress in the work, but we are working on it. I have a really cool story about one of our investigators though :) It is about Graham. He is the one we went to dinner with at our ward mission leaders home, and said that we were really different, and wanted to learn more. I wrote this to President, and it is great, so you get a copy of it too :)

Tonight we have a lesson with one of our investigators. We found him through our ward mission leader. He is great! We saw him about two weeks ago, and taught the Message of the Restoration to him. The lesson went great! He even prayed at the end of the lesson which was awesome. Our investigators in the past have told us to say the prayer, so it was great that he agreed to it. Well, we then weren't able to see him because of the holiday, and he is in college, and had finals this past week. But, we were told a really great story from our ward mission leader’s son, who is our investigators best friend. We were told that while our investigator was at Thanksgiving, his sister stopped breathing. He immediately thought of the lesson that we taught, got on his knees, and prayed. He said that as soon as he did that, a fire truck come to his home. No one had called the fire department, but they still showed up. Our investigator was an atheist, but now he believes in God. We were also told, that he has read part 1 Nephi in the Book of Mormon, and that he is really studying the Restoration pamphlet that we gave him! Isn't that so exciting? We are really excited about it. Our investigator also told his friend, that he wants to put a ring on a girl's finger, and raise his kids in the church. It is just amazing! The Lord gives us blessings when we need them the most!!

Isn't that awesome!! We are so excited!! I can't wait to hear what he says!! We think that if it feels right, we are going to ask him to be baptized this week! Haw awesome!! It is gonna be great!!! :) :)

Other than that, nothing big has really happened. We are just going about working, and trying to see people. I cant really think of anything funny, or really anything this week. Well, besides Thanksgiving.

Our Thanksgiving started Wednesday night. We went to a member's home for dinner, the Frosts. When we go there, we found out that we were going to be having Thanksgiving dinner with their whole family! They had also invited another family over, and we were all going to get to eat and just be with each other that night. It was so great!  It was nice to be a part of a family :) It was going to be hard not being home, but I really felt loved. It is amazing the difference there is when you feel loved in a ward. I have really grown close to this ward, which probably means that I will get transferred. We are hoping not though! Well, on Thursday we were going to have lunch with the Skoy's and then have dinner with the Christensen's. Lunch with the Skoy's was great! We have sandwiches, and were able to just chill with everyone. We even played apples to apples which reminded me of when we were at the Brown's for Thanksgiving, and going to play that game :) It was really neat. We had all the missionaries in our district there, plus the Spanish elders. They live with the elders, and they tend to tag along a lot :)

That night we had dinner with Elder and Sister Christensen. They are one of the senior missionary couples that work in the office. They also live right underneath us. They are great! They call us their girls, and they are our mom and pop :) It is fun :) So, we went and had dinner there. It was great. We had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner :) It was so much fun!! All the missionaries were there, and we got to get to know each other a little better. We played Sudoku, and just chilled for a little while. :) It was a lot of fun. That day we also did weekly planning, and tried really hard to keep it a normal day. It was hard.

Well, our thanksgiving didn't end on Thursday, of Friday we went over to the Whitaker's for dinner, and we had leftovers for dinner =) it was great. We enjoyed it :) i know that was what would have been eaten when I was home, and probably what you all ate :) It was great :)

I love you so much! Have a great week, and know that you are in my prayers!! Love you love you love you!! <3 <3 <3 <3

--
Sister Randall

Week Sixteen - "Hope you know, I had a hard time"

Dearset Family, 

The Mormon Message that I quoted in the subject is amazing!!! It really means a lot to me, espically after the week that we have had. 

Sadly, this week we had two of our three investigators drop us. One of them was Sharon. She is the elderly sister that lives behind us in our apartment complex. We went to her apartment to see her, and she opened her door and said "You know girls, I dont want to pray anymore. And I hate to be rude, and tell you that I dont want you to come over, but I dont want you to come over. Have a nice day." We told her that she has our number and to call us whenever she needs anything. She then shut the door. :( It was sad. But, the Lord has someone else He wants us to teach. We were just hoping it was Sharon. All is well.

The other investigator that dropped us, was Robin. She was the single sister who was struggling with smoking. We went to her house to give her a get well card. We knocked on the door, and she asked who it was, and we told her the missionaries, and then all was silent. She didnt say a word. We then said that we had a card for her, and she still said nothing. It was really hard. I wasn't there. We were on exchanges, and Sister Young was with another sister. It was really hard. But that is okay. We havent seen her in a couple of weeks. I kinda knew that it was coming. Some other missionaries will teach her :) I just know it :)

Other than that, this week was hard. Every appointment we had it fell through, it was raining and windy all week. It was just tough. We did have some little miracles though :) 

We went to go and see a former investigator, which is someone that other missionaries were teaching, and then the missionaries dropped them, or they dropped the missionaries. So, we went to see one of them. We went to the door, and they answered, and the lady said that she was going to go to Africa for about 2 months, but that we need to come back every week and teach her 20 yr old daughter and 17 year old son. We said okay, and are going to be calling them for a time we can some see them :) It was great :) 

Another thing happened, we had a mini missionary! It was really neat. A lot of the stakes here send out their priests and laurels who sign up on mini missions. They go on a Saturday, and spend the day with missionaries. They get to experience it, and then really decide whether they are going go to on a mission for real, or not. It was way cool, so we had a mini missionary. She was really neat :) We loved having her with us, and we wished that she would have been able to stay longer. But she had school, and church, so that didnt happen. It was great though :) She said she learned a lot, and that she cant wait to go on a mission! It was so much fun! I kinda wish they did that when I was a laurel. It would have been nice to have at least some sort of idea to what I was coming out to. Oh well :)

We did have exchanges this week, as is usual now. I was in the City creek ward, which is the old highland 2 ward. (where our family use to live) It was way neat to go and be there. Sadly, we didn't have success in that ward either... Oh well. We did help set up a reception for a temple wedding though :) Sister Blaustein's son David got married this past weekend. It was so much fun to set up for it! I loved it! She told me to tell you hello :) It was great to help her with that :) We also had dinner with the Racardio's. They were so excited to have dinner with me! :) It made me smile. It was amazing to me how much their house felt like home to me. It was really weird. It was nice though :) 

We do have a new investigator. His name is Denis. We met him through another former investigator. He is living in the investigators house with his family. We went over to schedule a time to see him, and he said that he had time then, so we taught him a lesson. It was crazy!! It was way good though :) We enjoyed teaching him :)

Well, I have a funny story this week!! Or more like, two or three. So, first one. When we were at the Racadio's we were teaching them the restoration in 5 mins. I had the great apostasy, and was really focused on what I was going to say. I was thinking of the great apostasy, and went to say it, when the words the great depression came out of my mouth. We all made funny faces, and then I quickly recovered. It was funny :) 

Next story. We were teaching Denis the Restoration, and we were going over when Christ was killed, and so were the 12 apostles, and we thought we were doing really well. Well, Denis's mom was with us, and when we took a breath, she was like, "So you believe that the 12 apostles killed Jesus?" We like freaked out! It was so funny! hahaha We couldn't even believe that she thought that was what we believed. It was way funny. We did clarify what we believed. It was good :) 

The last funny story I have happened in our apartment. Me and sister young were thinking about the transfer, and everything, and we realized that we only have like 12 days left with each other. It was way sad. We were laying on the floor, when all of a sudden she reached over and with one finger starts petting my stomach and saying shhhh. I gave her the weirdest look. She started laughing and was like "Did you know that to make a lizard go to sleep, you pet its stomach?" Oh man. It was one of the funniest things ever!! We couldnt stop laughing! It was great :) 

I love you all so much! You are in my prayers!! Have a great week!! <3<3<3<3

Love Always,
Sister Randall

You can email Sister Randall at: chaylee.randall@myldsmail.net

Week Fifteen

Dearest Family,

First off, thank you. I have felt your prayers this past week. I am very grateful for everything that you have done for me. I love you all so much! The Lord is blessing me, and I know that he is blessing you. Thank you.

This past week has been hard, but a blessing. I have come to realize, that I am a daughter of God, and that everything He has given me, is a blessing. Even when it seems like it is a curse. We are all very blessed to be here, and have chosen the right path. There are some hard times that we as humans go through, but it is to help us, and to help someone else. Everything is a blessing.

We have been able to go around our area, and experience new things! :) One of them is a new car!!! The car we had was a 2013 Chevy Malibu Cruze. It was blue, and her name was CiCi. We loved her very dearly. Well, when we were at our mission wide conference, we were told that we had to get a new car. We were devastated. We loved CiCi, and were told that she was going to stay with us for a while. It was heartbreaking. Well, we have come to find out, that we love this car so much better! I am going to attach a picture, but I will still tell you about it. The car is a 2014 Chevy Malibu Cruze. Yes, they are letting me drive a brand new car. It only has like 2600 miles on it. It is so pretty! I have come to accept the brand new car. It is very nice, and I cant wait till I can drive it!!! :D :D Me and Sister Young are very excited :)

This week we have also been able to find, teach, preach, and baptize!!! :) It was a very good week :) This past two weeks, President Van Cott, challenged us to find 8 new investigators. I am going to be honest, we were not able to meet that goal. We may get to meet that goal this week though :) We just needed a little more time :) On Thursday, we were on exchanges, which meant that Sister Anderson and I were together. We are both still very young, and were having a really hard day. We had taught 2 lessons in the morning, but coming out of them, we were not feeling to good. It was really weird. Well, everything else that day had fallen through. Things were just really tough. We were both feeling like failures, and every time we went to someone's house, we would walk to the door, or right before we were going to get out of the car, we were getting terrible feelings. Like we should not be there, and to leave as soon as we could. The hard part, was that we were going to less active members homes. It was so crazy! We knew that we should see them, but we felt so sick to our stomachs about being there. Well, we had gone through our whole planner, and seen or tried to see everyone on it. We pulled over, knowing that we had 30 mins until dinner to do something, and not knowing where to go. We decided to pray. As I was saying the prayer I was told a name to go and see. This name was Laura Neely. Well, there is a crazy thing about this name. Laura Neely lives in East Highland. My area covers West Highland. This sister wasn't even in my area!!! I knew almost nothing about her. Sister Anderson knew a little more, but not much. Sister Anderson covers East Highland. Well, me being me, I decided to push the name aside. I kept telling myself, she is not in your area. YOU CANNOT GO THERE!!! Well, after the prayer, her name kept coming to my mind. It was like someone was yelling at me. It was crazy. I had looked at sister Anderson, and was like, "well, this is really weird. I am receiving revelation for your area." I told her that we should go and see Laura. She started crying! She felt the same way too!! Only, she had heard her sons name, Robert. So, we left my area, and went to go and see Laura. Well, Sister Anderson was freaking out a little. The day before, She and Sister Mucke had gone to go and see them. The husband was there, and had told the Sisters that his family was not going to convert. He wanted nothing to do with the church. (Laura and Robert are investigators, just so you know.) Sister Anderson got very scared. Well, that was the people we were going to go and see. Another thing, I had been to that house only once, and I was the one driving to the home. I had almost no idea where I was going. So, we went. When we got there, we had a prayer, and a little pep talk to try and get the courage to go and knock on this door. We did eventually get to the door. When we knocked, the dad was the one who opened it. We asked how he was doing, and said hello, and then didn't know what to say. We hadn't planned it that far... So, Sister Anderson was like, "Is everything okay? Are you okay?" The guy just looked at us and was like, "I am fine. We are all fine." He also had a really weird expression on his face. It was funny. I looked at this man and told him the truth. I told him, "Look, we have no idea why we are here. We were trying to see other people, but everything fell through. We prayed, and.." then he cut me off. He was like "And you felt inspired to come to my home. That makes me feel really safe." We were both shocked. Well, I hadn't introduced myself yet, so I did. And we talked. Turns out, that this man works for the homicide department. (They are actually real! I just thought that they were on TV... Silly me...) That day, they had found 4 graves of people. He looked a little worried. They now have that huge case that they are working on. It is crazy. Well, We had both felt like we should let him know that you can pray, and that your Heavenly Father loves you, and hears your prayers. He said that he felt comforted. We then left. As we were walking away, Sister Anderson was like, "We were there, to let Robert (the son) know that his Father in Heaven loves him. We were there to show him that God has not forgotten about him." It was an amazing experience. Just crazy.Then we headed to dinner.

We were having dinner with the Skoy's, who both served missions, and Brother Skoy is our ward mission leader. When we got there, they had one of their son's non member friends over for dinner. Sister Skoy put the missionaries and the two boys at the table, and then Brother and Sister Skoy sat at the island bar. It was so great. All four missionaries were there, so the Sisters and the Elders. It was great to just be able to talk and to get to know people better we had fun. After dinner we shared the Mormon message, Men's Hearts Shall Fail Them. It is an amazing message, you should all go and watch it. We talked about how the Book of Mormon can help each and everyone of us. It was really powerful. We had said the prayer, and were getting up to leave when Graham (the non member friend) was like, "You are all so different. I do not understand what is so different about you. You focus on life, and I really like that. I just don't understand." It was at that point that Sister Skoy was like, "Graham, do you want to know more? The Missionaries can teach you." We (the missionaries) were all in shock. Here we are, sitting in our Ward Mission Leaders home, and we are getting a new investigator. It was amazing!!! We were so excited!!! When we got back home, Sister Anderson talked, and for the first time, I realized that I could do this. I can be a missionary. I do not need my trainer. I will be able to serve my God, and help those that need my help. It was amazing. One of the first Ah-ha moments I have had. It was great!! :)

Well, the next day we went and taught Graham. He has accepted a Book of Mormon, and is going to be reading it. He is so excited to learn, and just soaks up the information. After we taught the restoration, Sister Skoy asked him to teach it to us, and he summed everything up. It was amazing!! We get to see him again on the 2 of December. He has finals the next couple of weeks, so we will teach him then. We are so excited!!

The day before we had exchanges, we looked through our records, and found a former investigator that we should go and see. So we did. We went to this house, and asked for the former's, and they had moved. So we introduced our selves, and are going to go and see the family when we are done with our email! :) We are so excited!! Today we are also going to go and see another former that lives in the same area. We are going to get 5 new investigators today :) That will be more than we have gotten in the past 3 1/2 months. It is so exciting!! :D

We also had a mission wide conference this past Saturday. It was amazing! There are 220 something missionaries out in the mission right now! President wants everyone to be baptizing 2 investigators per companionship per month. He wants that to start happening in February. That means that there will be 2 wards being baptized every month!! We are all so excited!! :) He also wants us to all find 4 new investigators every week. These are long time goals. 70% of all the missionaries out are in the 12 week training program. Which means that the mission is very new. By February, we shouldn't have a ton of missionaries coming out. It will be great!! I cant wait to see how the mission is going to grow!! :)

Saturday night was also Linda's baptism. It was so good! She was so excited to be baptized, and to take that step to her Father in Heaven. It went really well, surprisingly. The baptism was spiritual and uplifting, it was focused on her, and the blessings she received, it was great. There wasn't a lot of people there, but more than our ward mission leader though. It was perfect, until we had refreshments. We had made a couple of the refreshments, and bought drink mixes for it, and it was gonna be great. Well, what we didn't realize, was that we bought kool-aid mix packets for 2-quarts of water. Did you know that the pitchers at the church are 4-quart pitchers?? Do you also know what happens when you put too much water for the mix, not good. It was so funny!! The drinks were sour, and not good at all. We felt soooo bad!! But everyone was having a good time, so that was nice. All in all, it was a great night and something that I will remember for a long time :)

It is kinda fun to be a trainer :) I am not a complete trainer, but I get to still practice. :) Sister Anderson is great though. She knows that we are both new at it, and is patient with me :) Things are going well though. I am still nervous when I make phone calls, and when we go to doors that we haven't been to before, but it is all still well :) I am learning just as much as Sister Anderson is learning. I have been able to learn how to rely on the spirit so much more! It is amazing to feel the spirit testify something to you. I am going to miss having it be so prevalent when I get off the mission. It will all be well :)

Sister Anderson is great! She is from Monterrey Utah, and is the sweetest thing ever!! She was going into theater, but has decided that it is not for her. She is great :) We have planned to do a road trip when we get off our missions! :) It is going to be great! she is 19, and when to UVU. I love her! We connect a lot, and really get along with each other :) I enjoy her :)

Sister Young is doing well. it is amazing how comfortable we are with each other. She is like a sister to me, and I really appreciate that. We are able to joke around with each other, and we love it. I am so blessed to have her!! :)

Have a great week!! You are all in my prayers!!

Week Fourteen

Dearest Family :)

I am just gonna say, I cant believe that it is the middle of November all ready!! Just saying.

Guess what! I found out some really cool facts from President Van Cott. He sent them in our letter. Here they are:
 - This is going to be an historic week in the California Redlands Mission. Since we arrived in July we have gone from 156 missionaries to 212. We have also had four more senior missionaries arrive with another four coming in the next couple months. That will put us at 222 missionaries! As of right now that is where our missionary complement is set which means we may go a little above that number or a little below.
Why is that exciting? We have one more good sized transfer on December 10th requiring us to open a few more areas and then we will be more stable. It means that now we can focus on our areas and the work that we have been called to do. It means in three to four months we will all be trained and ready to be effective missionaries. We will be ready to receive blessings for our diligent preparations!


How neat is that!! Our mission is going to hit maximum capacity this coming transfer! Over half the mission is in the 12 week training program. That is the program they now do, because we only get 12 days in the MTC. It is so crazy!! The training program includes the missionaries being trained, and the trainers. It is neat :)

OKAY. Now about my week.

This has been a good week. Everything seems to be a blur though, so bear with me. It is crazy that it is already monday. Time is flying by.

Great news!! Linda, the sister we are teaching, is getting baptized on Saturday!! We are all so excited!! She is getting baptized, then confirmed, then is moving to Colorado :( it is sad, but we know that this is what she is supposed to do. She is going to Colorado for a job, so it will be good :)

We also are going to be meeting with Ray and Delilah this coming week. They are the couple that I felt inspired to go to there house, and then Sister Straatman and I taught them a little of the first lesson. It was really cool. They are reading their Book of Mormon, so hopefully everything is going great! :)

We aren't teaching Robin any more :( we kept calling her, and stopping by, and she hasn't been picking up, and has been telling us to leave :( It is really sad. We have decided to give her sometime. She will come back when she is ready :)

The ward is kinda getting excited about missionary work. It has taken us a while to get things done, and to really push the missionary work. The stake president is really trying to push missionary work. In his stake 5 new areas just got opened. He has over 20 missionaries to work with. Some of the wards are doing really well with missionary work. A lot of the missionaries have their daily planners full everyday. A lot of the wards are amazing with their missionary work. Our ward has some really good ideas. The ward is getting there :) It will be good :)

We had exchanges this week, which means that Sister Anderson and I were together for the first time. The exchanges lasted two day this week instead of just one. The other sisters had a training with president and the other zone leaders, and the other sister training leaders. When they had that, me and Sister Anderson had to go and take the other her car to the dealership. There has been a very funky noise in the car. It is kinda like a thunking, and it happens randomly, at random times. Well, we took it to the dealership, spent 5 hours there, and they blamed the noise on a water bottle. It was so upsetting. We put that water bottle there that morning, so that we could have something to drink during the day. The sad part was, we had appointments for that entire day. We had to call and cancel almost all of them. It was really really upsetting.
Cool story though :) When we were in Redlands,we were by Citrus Plaza. It is like a big shopping area. It has Kholes, a book store, Target, Cafe Rio, Coldstone, Jamba Juice, and some other places. Well, we were hungry. So we took the courtesy shuttle from the dealership to Cafe Rio.  When we got into Cafe Rio we were standing in line, and this lady started talking to us. She is a member of the church and was wondering where we were serving and that kind of a thing. She was really sweet too :) Well, the line was moving along, and we thought nothing of it. When we caught up to her again, she turned around and gave me and Sister Anderson both 10 dollars. This sister, who did not know who we were except for knowing that we were missionaries, decided to buy our lunch for us. She wasn't in either of our wards. It was so nice! It made me realize, that the Lord is aware of us, and the things we need. He places simple acts of kindness in our paths, to show us His love. It was great. :)

Th day after that really cool experience, we were on exchanges again. We got to go and see some people, and then went down the ward list, and realized that there were a lot of people that we hadn't seen, and knew nothing about. We went to some of there houses and were having a really tough day. Sister Anderson and I were both really struggling and were just having a hard time. None of the people we had seen wanted to really talk to us, and it was just hard. Well, we stopped at this one lady's house, and there was a man outside. We started talking, and found out that the sister that lives there, got remarried to this man. We were like okay, no big deal. He told us that they weren't interested in the church anymore, and that they didn't want to do the Mormon thing anymore. It was a little sad :( But, we complemented him on his garden. When we did that, he then took us all around his garden. He has so many fruit trees, and plants! His entire backyard was full of different fruit trees, and everything. I have tasted guavas now! It is great :) He told us to come back whenever we would like more guavas :) We might just take him up on that offer.

We also met a new family in the ward. Their names are the Imig's. They are a young couple with a 4 year old girl, and a baby on the way! They just moved here from Utah I think, and are fantastic! We are going to see them this week, and get to know them better :)

Other than that, nothing much has really happened. We went to the Ward Mission Leader meeting for the stake. It was amazing, and there was so much to learn.

This work is amazing! I love being a missionary, and I am amazed at how fast the time is flying by!

I can't really think of anything funny. I know that there must have been something that happened, but I can't remember. I am sure that once I get off my email and we are shopping, I will think of something funny. Isn't that how is always happens? :P

My companion and roommates are great :) We all get along, and then there are sometimes when a little bit of drama happens. I am trying really hard to stay out of it. I am doing pretty good at that. I tend to just sit back a not say much. It is working so far. I am becoming a really good listener :) I guess that is what happens when you have to listen to the spirit, and the person you are teaching at once :) It is working out really well :)

Sister Anderson is great! I love her so much! We have decided that if at all possible, we want to go on a road trip when we both get back from our missions. She is from Utah, so it will work great! Sister Young has also said that she wants to come :) I am excited!!

President and Sister Van Cott are amazing! They are incredible people! They are both young, and have a daughter out on a mission right now. They have 5 kids. 2 daughters and 3 sons. Their oldest is the daughter and she is 19, and then their youngest is a boy, and he is 7. They are all so cute! Sister Van Cott is really good at taking care of us, and helping us when we are sick. President Van Cott is an amazing man. When he speaks it is amazing! You can hear the spirit come through his words, and it just hits you like a wave. It is crazy. They are also really funny. Just like a normal person would be. :) I enjoy them, a lot :)

The best teaching experience I have had... hmm... Idk. They all have been great. I think the one I really liked this week, is when we taught Linda about tithing and fast offerings. It was so neat to be able to tie in eternal life, and the temple into that lesson. She is so excited to get baptized, and then to go to the temple and be baptized for her family. She is already working on her family history work :) It is great :)

Well, I should be going.

I love you all so very much!! Have a great week! You are all in my prayers!

Love always,
Sister Randall