Investigators, Horses, French, and Exchanges

November 23rd

Hello! 

How is everyone? Man, we had such an awesome week this week! What a way to end the transfer! Let me tell you all about it! :D 

On Monday night, we went to see Kathy. She had just surgery for carpal tunnel, so we went to go cheer her up.

On Tuesday, we had District Meeting. For the lesson, we played jeopardy. It was fun. :) Later that day, we went to go see Joann, but she wasn't home. So, we were considering just going to our dinner and contacting in the neighborhood, but we decided to try a woman named Elizabeth (who we had been trying to see for weeks). We knocked on the door and she answered!!!!!! She was like "You're here! Thank God!" and we chatted with her on the doorstep for about 45 minutes. We taught her a quick lesson and set up an appointment to see her later that week. Do you remember what this means? We have a new investigator!!!! :D We were panicking, however, when we left her doorstep, because we thought we were going to be super late to dinner, but then she texted asking if we could bump it back half an hour! Miracles!!!!! :D All in all, it was a great day!

On Wednesday, we went to see Jerri. She was really stressed out because her dog ran away. Thankfully, not too long after we came, he came running back home. Jerri was so mad! Anyways, we have decided to start reading scriptures with her, so we read 1 Nephi 1. :) After that, we had lunch, and  then went to sunrise and played pictionary with hem. It was fun. That night, we went to see Betty and read scriptures with her too. Oh, also, a woman from our ward called us and asked us if we could teach English lessons to a woman that she knew. We said yes, and then she told us that the woman was from Africa and speaks FRENCH! I was like "Sister [name], I speak French!" I hope that she can get that set up! That would be so great!!!!! :D

On Thursday, we hopped on our bikes and rode to Joann's house to see her. Unfortunately, she wasn't available (she usually is)! So, we rode back home and had lunch. We then went to this really awesome service. It is a horse ranch where they give riding lessons to children with special needs. They taught us how to help the kids ride the horses safely and how to take care of the horses! It was so much fun!!!! I learned how to groom a horse!!!! We are really excited to go back. Also, there is a French woman there who teaches some of the classes. Her name is Françoise. I got the courage to ask her about French and she was thrilled to have someone to help her with her English!!! :D I have a French buddy again!!!! That night, we saw Sione. We had a lesson with him about the Word of Wisdom. The lesson seemed to go well. He told us that he would be going to his church on Sunday, and that he was still trying to decide between that church and our church. 

On Friday, Sister Hall and Sister Sherwood went on exchanges, so I got to be with Sister Pule! :D We had a really good day. In the morning, we went to see Joann. We had a good lesson with her about being an example and sharing the gospel. We then had lunch before trying to see a woman named Kim. She wasn't home, so we left her a note. We then went to the church so Sister Pule could practice a musical number for a baptism they were having the next day. We then were going to see some people, but the traffic was so bad that we decided to go straight to dinner. We had some time before dinner, and we went contacting around the block. We invited a woman to come to the Christmas Crèche. (Mom: thank you so much for teaching me how to deal with dogs. This woman had dogs and one came running at us! I made myself as big and angry as I could and yelled at it. It got startled and calmed down. Thanks!) We then had dinner before going to visit Lesieli. We ended up teaching her and her fiancé about Jesus Christ. They loved it and told us to come back more often! Lesieli said that she had been upset  before we came, and now she felt better. :) It was a great day!

On Saturday, Sister Hall and Sister Sherwood had a meeting in San Jose, so Sister Pule and I just stayed together. We tried to see someone in her area, but he wasn't available, so we went to the church to fill the font for their baptism that afternoon. By lunchtime, the sisters came back and Sister Hall and I went home to weekly plan. It was a less-hectic day. 

On Sunday, we were busy! We had ward council, and then we were speaking in sacrament meeting. They asked us to come up, introduce ourselves, and share an experience from our missions. I actually wasn't stressed about it (and you know I hate speaking in front of people)! Also, right before sacrament, Sione came!!!!! It was because his mother-in-law was speaking, but he came!!!!! :D We then went to gospel principles, before leaving early to teach sharing time in primary. You read that right. We taught sharing time. We taught them about service and asked them to write down something non-tangible they could give this Christmas. They all really liked it :) We then caught the end of Relief Society. It was great. That afternoon, we went and saw Bonnie and shared a message with her. We then went and did service for Kathy. Since her surgery, she can't wash her hair, so we did it. :) That night, we had dinner and then went to see Dawn. It was  a good day. 

Well, that is about all for here. It was a great week, and we are excited for more! Tonight, we have dinner, and then a meeting with Elizabeth! Hoping it goes well! 

Have a great Thanksgiving! I am so grateful for all of you!