Not in San Jose Anymore

Hello!

I made it through transfers! But, before I get there, let me go back and tell you about my last night in my first area... 

As I mentioned in my last email, I was asked to teach FHE. I taught about going through trials and talked about the enabling power of the Atonement. I have never taught like that before. We talked about the Atonement helping us get through trials, and then I just poured out my heart and talked about a time in my life when I had been enabled by the Atonement. I was practically crying by the end of it. Everyone said that it was a really good lesson. I hope they got something out of it. It really helped me. We then played a game and then I had to say goodbye to everyone. That broke my heart. Some of those people are so special to me, and I didn't want to leave! 

I was then up for an outrageous amount of time packing. Let's just say that it was Tuesday morning when I finally went to bed.

On Tuesday morning, after loading all of my things into the car and saying goodbye, we drove to transfer meeting. I'll tell you, transfer meeting is so scary when you are the one being transferred! Thankfully, President Mella has a great sense of humor and he makes us all laugh, so we aren't as scared. I was scared the whole time as Zone after Zone went by! Finally, my name was called. I am serving in Santa Cruz with Sister Wolfe! I was so excited! After Transfer Meeting, we went to lunch and then back to Santa Cruz to get to work. I also got to go to an awesome ice cream shop called Marianne's. We went there with a less-active named Courtney. 

Let me take a quick break to tell you about my new companion and my new area. 

My new area is bigger than I am used to. We cover almost every ward in the Santa Cruz stake! We are over three wards and two branches. A lot different than the one little branch I was over in San Jose! Santa Cruz is also more relaxed than downtown San Jose. There are still a lot of the things I saw in San Jose (ie. homeless people) but it is different. A lot of the people here are elderly. It is a really beautiful area too. There are so many trees here, and it reminds me a lot of western Washington, but with less rain. :) 

Sister Wolfe and Sister Palmer

Sister Wolfe is awesome. To start, I met her when she first came in. Sister Chu Shing took her contacting on her first day in San Jose. She has been out for a total of three months, and just said goodbye to her trainer, Sister Qaqa. She is doing awesome! I remember being in her shoes three months ago! She is from Syracuse, UT and has an older brother who is married. She is 19 but has already done three years of college (she did college during high school). She is an English major. She loves old books and old movies and have spent a lot of time talking about that. She is the first missionary in her family, too. I love her a lot! :D 

On Wednesday, we met with an investigator named Sheena and taught her about the Word of Wisdom, the Law of Chastity, and Tithing. She agreed to all of it and we asked her how she is feeling about baptism. She has some family problems right now, and she needs to straighten those out before she gets baptized, but she wants to. She is awesome. Sister Wolfe then had a doctor's appointment and we were in San Jose for a while. We then went back to Santa Cruz to teach a less-active named Jen. She is great too. Later that evening, we had dinner with Lilian, a member. She is neat. After that, we tried to go contacting, but it wasn't very successful. :| Although, on our way back we saw a car stop in the middle of the road, and multiple people jumped out of that car and other cars to help push it. There are still good people in this world!!!!

On Thursday, we went to Cabrillo college to find people. Every week, the missionaries set up a table with proselyting materials, a sign with a question, and food. People usually come up for the food and we talk to them about the Church. One of the journalists for the campus newspaper even interviewed us. One of the girls who came up to the table is a girl who the missionaries have been trying to talk to. Her name is Chelsea. I found out that she is from Africa, and that her native language is French! Sister Wolfe and I think that if I can start a conversation with her in French, maybe she would be more interested in hearing from the missionaries!!!!! I am so excited!!!!!!! After Cabrillo, we had lunch and visited people before dinner with a family. We then had splits. I had been in the area three days, and I was going on splits. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! The splits went well, I took the member(s) with me to see a couple of members in Capitola. We made it back to Santa Cruz just fine. :) We are doing it again this week too. 

On Friday, we did service at a Catholic soup kitchen. They feed the homeless people every week and we help out. It was fun. After that, we went to Starbucks for a treat. It was really funny walking into Starbucks as a missionary! After that, we did visits in Scotts Valley before going over to Courtney's for dinner. We get to help make dinner, so I learned how to make Italian Wedding Soup. It reminds me of Zuppa Toscana. It is so yummy! After dinner, we went and had frozen yogurt with the YSA in the one YSA branch that we cover. It was fun. 

On Saturday, we did some visits in San Lorenzo Valley. That is an interesting place! No one signed up to feed us, so we went out to dinner together. It was really fun. We then went to the adult session of stake conference. It was really good. They talked a lot about unity and practically called the whole stake to repentance! It was intense! 

On Sunday, we had Stake Conference. President and Sister Mella even came and spoke too! Afterwards, we got to talk to the Mellas. I love them so much! After Stake Conference, we did some visits and worked on our weekly planning. We then had dinner with the Youngs. That was interesting. We told them that we wanted to share a spiritual thought with them, only to realize that we hadn't planned one. So, I told Sister Wolfe to share her favorite scripture and we would improvise. The spirit was there and Sister Young said that we shared exactly what she needed! The Spirit knows so much more than we do! That totally wasn't us! :D Afterwards, we continued with visits and finished weekly planning. We then stayed up until 10h30 talking about Harry Potter (hahaha). 

Today has been good so far. In my studies, I read Alma 5 and dissected it. I also read more in Jesus the Christ. I am almost to the last week of the Savior's life. (Side note: Sister Wolfe loves Jesus the Christ too, and we have been talking about it because we are almost both at the same part!) As for the rest of the day, we have errands, laundry, the Zone Activity (maybe), dinner, and FHE with our YSA Branch. It should be a great day! 

Have an awesome week! Love you lots!

-Sara