Transfer Nine Week Four

Dear Family,

This week was a really good one :)

Monday -  It was a normal day :) Had good things happen. Saw some less actives, and delivered cards. It was good :)

Tuesday - We had zone meeting!! Learned some pretty awesome things that we are gonna start doing with the members in out ward, and get them to do missionary work!! It is also something that I can start doing when I am home!! It is amazing to see how things are going!! We found out that our mission is doing really well with baptizing. It is pretty awesome to watch our mission grow :)

Wednesday - We did service!! Went to the family services place and helped them take inventory on all their school supplies. It was really fun. We also got our car back!!! YAY!!!! We had a rental for 5 days and then got our car. It is really nice to have ours back :) We also went on ward visits today, and I was able to meet some people that I didn't know, which was nice :)

Thursday - We had weekly planning and did more service!! It is always really awesome to work for others and help them do what they need. It was really nice :) We taught Kristy! Well, kinda. We went over there and we talked a lot about needing to stop smoking. She totally committed to it and it went really well. It was fun to meet with her :)

Friday - Met with some members and then we went on a field trip! Had to go to Anaheim for a doctors appointment, and it was a lot of fun!! President Van Cott drove us and it was really good to get to know him better. He used to buy the property for Wonder Bread, so he drove around there. It kinda felt like riding in the car with dad or grandpa having them tell us about what they did in areas and showing us them. It was really neat.

Saturday - We went to a ward members home and made cookies!! It was really good service. We had a fun time getting to know them. We made the cookies to take to those that we know are having a hard time and those that just need some encouragement. We are also taking them to people that we don't really know :) It is cool :) We also taught Kristy!! She is progressing awesome!! She is still struggling with overcoming smoking, but is doing great!! We had a member there and they clicked!! Everything that Kristy had been feeling, our member had too!! The member is a convert and it was amazing!! Such a great lesson!!!

Sunday - Fast Sunday!! It was good. We met with a recent convert family today and we also had dinner at a members home, who invited some other recent converts to dinner. It was really good to help them build relationships with those around them. :)

That was our week!! It rained!!! It was fun to have the storms. It did mean having a  spider the size of a quarter in our home though... that wasn't fun... luckily there are some awesome members who come and save the day when we need them too :)

It was awesome!! I hope you all have a great week too!! Love you!!!

Transfer Nine Week Three

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been a good one, with lots of happy experiences :)

Monday - It was P-day, and my Birthday!! :D It was a fun day. I was able to talk to the family and then we went shopping, got Coldstone, it was really yummy, and then did the normal house things. We did laundry and I wrote letters and stuff :) That night was tons of fun! We had dinner with the Pratt Family. They are an amazing family!! They also made my birthday extra special :) When we got there they had decorated the table and chairs with birthday decorations and they also made a cake!!! :) It was so pretty!! It was just the girls, so we had a wonderful evening :) They are an older family and their daughter makes wedding cakes, so it was really really pretty :) I am going to post pictures :) That night we also went to a retirement facility, and had a family home evening with the older people there :) It was really special and sweet. I enjoyed it a lot :)

Tuesday - We had district meeting, and did our normal things. It was a really good day. That night, our dinner had forgotten about us so she didn't have any food. It was okay though, the Pratt's had given me a Subway gift card, so we got subway to eat for dinner :) It was good. We also taught the Price family. We read 3 Nephi 17. It was amazing!! They loved how Christ prayed for the people and how He wept. It is amazing to feel the love in this chapter. He cares for all of us and weeps for all of us. It is really special.

Wednesday - We lost our car!! We were going to go drop Sister Hetrick (two week missionary) off at the mission office and when we went to start the car it wouldn't start... So, after some juggling with ways to get to the mission office we finally showed up, just almost 1 hour late, but we were there! Our car had to get towed to the dealership to get fixed, and so we walked the rest of the day. It was a little crazy. We also were able to go to the temple and preform a little service project. There was a sister missionary serving in the Rancho mission who got to have a really wonderful experience. Her dad was baptized about a year ago and they are from Florida. Well, they had gotten special permission to come all the way to California and be sealed as a family together. It was really neat. We were asked to sit with the non-member Grandmother and just be there if she had any questions. It was really nice to just sit in the temple and feel the love of the Savior and be there for that family. It was very special. After wards we went to Kristy's home and taught her and Jay the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My testimony grows every time I teach that lesson. It was really wonderful :)

Gift from Mom and Dad sent through ward members

Thursday - We had weekly planning and then did exchanges. I went to Beaumont and spent from 2:00 on Thursday to 2:00 on Friday there. It was good. It made me realize that I am exactly where I needed to be. I am where I will feel the most comfortable. It was really nice. It was fun to be there. We didn't teach a lot but it was good to just see how other missionaries do things :)

Friday - After we exchanged back we still didn't have a car. We did find out though that if we didn't have our car fixed that Toyota would pay for a rental car for us. It was very sweet of them :) We did a lot of situation everything and just reviewing what we learned from the exchange.

Saturday - We got a rental car!! YAY!! It is a very beautiful 2014 Toyota Corolla. It is amazing!! I have decided that I will never ever drive as nice of a car as I have on my mission. I am preparing myself for when I get back home :P We are also helping Kristy stop smoking, so we went and dropped off candy and cinnamon gum to help her with that. It  was really good. We were able to talk with her and see how she is doing. We had written sticky notes with scriptures on them and we posted them all over her home. Well, she decided that she was going to read them (that was the point of them) and that she was going to write on the back of them what she learned from them. It is amazing!! She is an amazing investigator!!

Sunday - We had church and did the normal things. It was good :) We also had an amazing lesson with one of our recent converts!! It was wonderful!!

This week was a good one. I am so grateful for what Heavenly Father has given me and for the opportunity I have to be a missionary, and to learn so much. It is amazing!!

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

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 

Transfer Eight Week Five

Dear Family,

This week was a pretty good one. We were trying new things, and are working on applying lessons that we have learned.

Monday - We had P-day. We went to a less actives home, and did our laundry there, and just relaxed at her home :) It was nice not to have to stress so much. We had dinner with her too, so that was good :) That night we met with the Bagley's who just got home from a trip to Nauvoo. It was amazing to hear what they learned. :)

Tuesday - We had District meeting, and that went well. We talked a lot about how to plan. I have been struggling with that, and so it was good to ask questions on it :) I learned a lot and finally know how to really plan :) We also had interviews with President Van Cott, and we talked a lot. He is going to be helping me with a few things. We talked about trying harder to not spend so much time with members. We have set the goal to only spend 15-30 mins at members homes. It will be challenging, but it will be good :) We had dinner with a great sister named Sister Bailey and she is awesome!! Love her!!!

Wednesday - We taught a lesson in the morning. It was with the Acosta family who it less active, but we decided to work with them. We found out that their 13 year old daughter isn't a member, so guess who picked up a new investigator :) That's right, we did!! It was great!! We also taught our other investigator that day, and is was amazing! It was nice to get some work in :)

Thursday - we had weekly planning, and then worked on getting area maps. We are trying to split our area into smaller area's so that we could walk a  little bit more and not waste miles. It was good. we had dinner with a great family. They made burgers, potato salad, and watermelon with smoothies. Then for dessert we had ice cream sundae's :) It was good :) We also had a lesson with a less active in our ward. She also gave us a bunch of stuff :) They had coupons and tons of housekeeping stuff and gave us a bunch. It was good :)

Friday - We saw a less active Sister and are going to be trying to visit with her weekly. We also decided to write cards to all of the auxiliaries in our wards. Just thank you's for all that they have done it was good :) We then had a lesson with Sister Bailey and watched the Joseph Smith - Prophet of the Restoration movie with her. We had to leave a little early, but it was still good :)

Saturday - We were on exchanges. That was rough but good. I had the other Sister take the lead in a lot of things. So that was fun :) It was a long day though. We also found out today that our wards are splitting. They are breaking the Bermuda Dunes ward and the Santa Rosa ward in half, both of them, and creating an entirely new ward. It is crazy!! So right at this moment, I am covering 3 wards. The Bermuda Dunes Ward, the Santa Rosa Ward, and the Shadow Hills Ward. It was/is crazy!!!

Sunday - We had Stake conference again. It was good. they talked a lot about adversity and how to overcome it. It was good. They shared an essay written by a boy. It was really good, and titled "The Room". You should all get online and read it. It is amazing!!! We have decided though that we are going to have to do a lot of repair work. The wards are both really sad because of the split. This week we are going to be working on getting them excited for the change and what this means. We are hoping that it gets better. It is exciting for us :)

Next week is transfers! I hope everyone has a great week!!! I love you all so much! You are in my prayers!!

Oh this is cool :)

(\    /)
 (=+=)       <== It is a bunny!!!

Transfer Eight Week Four

Dear Family,

This week was pretty good. I don't really remember all that truly happened, so bear with me :)

Monday - We had our normal P-day routine, and tried to get everything done. We also had an appointment with Michelle, who is a recent convert, and talked to her about scripture study, and how important it is to study your scriptures daily. It was really neat :)

Tuesday - Had district meeting, and learned all the things that we need to do as missionaries. Sometimes I like it, and sometimes I don't. It is all good though :) We also went and walked around a park with less actives that we are meeting with. It was a lot of fun :)

Wednesday - Made lots of phone calls, and were really trying hard to get things done. We were able to meet with Carlos again, and strengthen him more. It was good :) We also had a meeting with the Correnti's. It was just a good day.

Thursday - We had weekly planning, and worked on getting that done quickly. It was good. Once that was done, we went and helped with the wedding of our Bishop's oldest daughter. We helped with setting up lights, and then went to help cook treats at a non-members home. We also had a Relief Society activity that night on temples, and made temple bracelets. They are just beaded bracelets that have a clip on them so that when you go through an endowment session you can clip the name you have to your wrist and not have to worry about losing it. I am excited to use it :) We then worked more on the wedding prep.

Friday - We were on exchanges today. We also saw lots and lots of people!! It is amazing the miracles that happen on exchanges. We were able to teach 6 lessons today, which hasn't happened in months. It was great! We also got a new investigator!! It was amazing! Her name is Sister Bales and she wants the peace that the gospel can bring. :) It is exciting!!

Saturday - We did service today!! We helped a recent convert family clean windows and prepare their house just in case they were going to move. It was fun to help them. We also had dinner with the Correnti's at IHOP, which was fun :) It was a good day.

Sunday - It was the Sabbath!! We were able to go to church. It was good. Sister Kelly gave a talk in the Santa Rosa ward, so I was in Bermuda Dunes today. It was great though, Sister Ricketson came to church!! She hasn't been in months and it was so good to have her there!! She said that she is going to be coming more often!! It is awesome!! We met with her that night, she wants to go back to the temple and is going to get there. She said that she wants the happiness again. She also said that she was reading her scriptures daily, even with out us asking her to. It is great!!

That was my week. Nothing extremely exciting, but doing what the Lord has asked, and getting things done as he would have them done :) It was fun.

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