Bikes, Exchanges, Miracles, and more

November 9th

Hello  

How is everyone? :) November is just ticking along and I am not sure how I feel about it! This week will be a year since I landed in San Jose. Sister Hall hits her 9 month mark this week, too! We had a good week this week. We are trying really hard to find people to teach. 

Monday was good. We got our errand done pretty quickly and then went to the church to play games with the Zone. It was really fun. We then had dinner with a member who has a daughter on a mission. Finally, we had FHE with a member and read scriptures with her. It was a good day. 

On Tuesday, we had meetings. First, we had District Meeting. They were cleaning the carpets in the church, so we tried to meet in the family history center, but ended up in another building behind the church. I taught the lesson on obedience. I was told that I did well. :) After District Meeting, we had lunch, and then we came back to the church for interviews with President Mella. It was sooooo good. After interviews, we went and visited people. We then got really really lost trying to find our dinner appointment (our GPS has serious problems) and were so late! We were really sorry, and we could tell that the family was annoyed with us. It was awkward. We will have to do something nice for them... After dinner, we visited more people. It was a good day. 

On Wednesday, we went to some other sisters' apartment and they gave us their bikes to borrow. We wanted to try biking because it will be good exercise and a great way to talk to people. After we dropped them off, we met with Wilma. We taught her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Later, we went and did service at Sunrise (senior center). We played pictionary with them again. :) After that, we went home and grabbed the bikes, and hit the road. It has been some time since I have really ridden a bike! We went contacting and then rode our bikes to our dinner appointment. After that, we had a meeting with the ward mission leader, so we rode the bikes home and took the car to the meeting. We ended up having another dinner and teaching a man there named Paul. He seemed interested in what we have to say. Hopefully we can teach him again! :) 

On Thursday, we took the bikes out again and went contacting. This time, I almost hit someone. >< It wasn't really my fault though! She and her friend were walking really slowly and then the space they made for us to go between them was super narrow. *sigh* After that, we went contacting. We met some really great people and they were a little nicer this time. We also had service at Ivy League and helped them spread mulch. Later that night, we had dinner and then went to a service project. We helped at a graduation dinner at a homeless shelter. Apparently, the homeless people can take classes to learn important skills and they had a dinner for the ones who graduated. It was in a pretty scary part of town, but we were okay. I really enjoyed talking to the homeless people. Reminded me of the soup kitchen in Santa Cruz. :) 

On Friday, Sister Hall and Sister Sherwood had a leadership meeting, so I was with Sister Pule. :) We went to some appointments in her area and then to service at Sunrise. We had a cool experience there. While we were sitting on some chairs, waiting for the Volunteer Coordinator to come tell us what to do, a guy walked up to us (he wasn't one of the residents. He was visiting someone). He told us that he was from out of state, and had been investigating the Church for a few months. He also said that he was getting baptized later this month! He then told us about how he and a friend had planned this trip before he had started meeting with the missionaries and they were going to all these wineries and wine tastings! We encouraged him to be strong. I think we were supposed to meet him that day and encourage him. :) I love it when the Lord does stuff like that! After service, we met with the sisters at the church so that Sister Hall and I could go to our dinner appointment together. After dinner, we switched back because Sister Hall and Sister Sherwood needed to talk to the Zone Leaders about the meeting and plan ZTM. We then went home. It was a crazy day :) 

On Saturday, we went and helped out with a service. There is this musical being performed this weekend called "Sons of Ammon". It is about the people of Ammon/Stripling Warriors in the Book of Mormon. The guy who wrote it, and is putting it on, is in our ward. Apparently, they are filming it too! We helped paint set pieces. We really want to go see it! :D We then went home and weekly planned. After that, we went to Sunrise and helped them paint and played pictionary. It was really fun! We had a small crowd that day  because there was a football game on. The elders were really interested in that (haha)! :) We then tried to see people before dinner. After dinner, we finished weekly planning. It was a busy day!

On Sunday, I finally went to church in the ward I am supposed to! :D (We had been going to church with Jerri in the ward she needs to go to, which we used to be over). It was great! Sacrament Meeting was all about justice and mercy. Then, in Gospel Principles, we learned about agency. Also, while we were in Gospel Principles, a woman walked in with two other women and said that the other two had just come in, looking for a church! Their names are Nancy and Polly. After class, we talked to them, and invited them to Relief Society, but they had to go. They are coming back next week for the Primary Program. Sister Hall and I hope to be able to meet with them! :D What a miracle! Most of the day we were visiting people. Then, that night, I helped Sister Hall with language study. She would read what she thought a verse in the Book of Mormon in Samoan was saying and then I would read it to her in English. I think we both enjoyed it. I remember doing that with Bre with French. :) 

Today has been good so far. We did have a big thunder/lightning storm (it felt big to this girl who hasn't seen a thunderstorm in months) during studies. Later today we will probably get together with the zone. Have an awesome week. I love you lots!!!! 

Love,