Sister Palmer vs. Iguana

Hello, 

How is everyone? I hope you are all doing well! Things are going well here. What a week we had! :D 

I have a lot I want to tell you, so here goes! 

On Monday, as I mentioned last week, we were at the beach. We were there with a recent convert who came down to see Elder Staker and the Livermore Zone. We had lunch and played on the beach. I got to hang out with Sister Lytle and Sister Pattison, and some people I served with in San Jose. It was awesome! :) After that we finished our errands. My sunburn is about gone too, after peeling (haha). I will be better about sunscreen. That night, we had dinner with the McArthurs and read scriptures with them. We didn't go to FHE, because it was in San Jose.

On Tuesday, we did service for some members in one of our wards. The community they live in is having a rummage sale, so we went and moved things out of people's homes into a truck and then from the truck to the place they were having the sale. I really enjoyed it. They also fed us lunch, which was nice. We were there with some of the elders in our district, too. After that, we had a lesson with Nicolette. We taught her the commandments. It went really well. We then had a lesson with Rhonda, Phillip, and Joseph. We taught them about the Spirit and listening to the Spirit when we make choices. After that, we did training. I am training Sister Kelly on how to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ (lesson three). She is doing really well! After that, we had dinner with a couple in Santa Cruz ward. It was fun. :) 

On Wednesday, we did more rummage sale service. This time, we were sorting things and helping price them. Some people are getting rid of cool stuff! After lunch, we had an appointment with a less-active named Rina. We then tried to see some people who the Relief Society asked us to see, but they weren't home. We also tried to do some finding. We then had dinner before going to see Krystal. During that appointment, I won a fight with her iguana. 8D Her iguana, Taylor, was bobbing its head at me and I wasn't about to take that. So, I walked up to the cage and we had a stare off. I then did my "suspicious face" and it fell over and ran to the other end of the cage. Victory was mine! For our lesson with Krystal, we talked about answers to prayers. She really wants to come back to Church. We are super excited. :D 

On Thursday, we did some training and practiced for our lesson with Michael. We were a little early to the appointment, but so was he! We sat down and had a chat with him, learning more about him and his religious background. Also, to wait for the member who we had asked to come to the lesson to show up. He came, and we started the lesson. It was super good. We taught the first half of the Restoration and he is super interested. We invited him to come to church, and he said he would get back to us (he works every day). When we left the appointment I was so excited! He was so awesome! He wants to know more! He is interested! :D We plan to teach him the rest of the Restoration this week and invite him to be baptized. Heavenly Father has a plan for his children. They are looking! Even in a crazy place like Santa Cruz! :D After that, we had District Meeting, which was super good. We then tried to visit more people.

On Friday, we had anything but an ordinary day. We had to get up early so I could get to my doctors appointment  at the sleep clinic and fill out paperwork. After a conversation with the doctor about everything that I am feeling, she said that it sounds like I have sleep apnea and she wants me to get a test as soon as possible. So, once the clinic and insurance get things ironed out, they will call me and I can have an appointment! I am so relieved to get a sleep test! I want to sleep again! We then had personal study and companionship study before running off to the soup kitchen. The soup kitchen was a little calmer this time. One of the homeless people told me that I have pretty eyes. ^_^ A couple also thanked me by name. It was nice. After that, we tried to visit some people before going finding. For this particular finding activity, we went to a FANCY art show. We met a woman on the beach about a month ago who was painting and she invited us to an art show she was displaying at. It was at a country club and there was all of this fancy art along with hors d'oeuvres and complimentary wine. Anyways, we found the woman and chatted with her about her art and about when we saw her on the beach. Don't know if anything will come out of it, but it was nice. (Side note: We are having an Indian summer here! It is starting to heat up into the 90s. Apparently, the Indian Summer is normal. The "high heat", not so much. Everyone is talking about El Nino, too. We will see what happens.)

On Saturday, we were in Watsonville on a day exchange. We did studies with the sisters and then went to work with them in Watsonville. Later in the afternoon, Sister Kelly and I were back together, and we went to SLV. We tried to see Alice, but she wasn't home, so we went to Sister Dallenbach. She was outside, sweeping off her front porch and driveway, so we helped her with that. I also took her little dog for a walk around the driveway. We then went inside and helped her some more with her puzzles. She has a lot on her mind right now, poor thing.

Here is something funny that happened. We are never sure what she is going to say or do. Today she scared the snot out of me! Here's how it went:

Me: *working on puzzle*

Sister Dallenbach: I'll kill you yet...

Me: *looks up in alarm* ?!!!!!

Sister Dallenbach: *walking away from the window* where's a fly swatter?

Me: *realizes she was talking to a fly*........Whew!!

After that, we had dinner in SLV. That was fun, too. We ate with a woman who works in the Oakland Temple, so we got to talk about temple things. :) 

On Sunday, we went to sacrament meeting in the Alma Branch. That was interesting! At the end of Sacrament, someone in the Branch Presidency got up and proceeded to tell the congregation that rain was linked to righteousness and that if we wanted to end the drought, we all needed to repent. (I avoided asking him why Heavenly Father flooded the earth, considering that wasn't because of people's righteousness!) You never know what you will get when you go to church in the mountains! After that, we went back to Santa Cruz for lunch and then sacrament meeting in Ocean Branch. After that, Sister Kelly and I went to the ER because she was having trouble breathing (it had started the night before). They told her that she had a respiratory infection and gave her some medicine. After that, we came home and Sister Kelly got some rest. 

Today has been good. We are running around getting our errands done, and then we will go home so Sister Kelly can rest. All we really have today is dinner and then FHE. We will see what happens. Should be good. :) 

Have a great week! Love you sooooo much! *hugs*

Love, 

Sara