Hi Family!

This is my last email to you as a missionary. I don't know how I feel about that. Let me talk to you about last week. I know how to do that! :D

Monday was a crazy P-day because Sister Harvey had her dentist appointment, so I don't really have much to say. We got everything done though, and that is what is important! 

On Tuesday, we went to a thrift store to do service (we signed up to come the week before, so this was our first time). We stayed in the back and reviewed the things that had been donated to see if the store could really sell them. It was great! We then went to a lesson with Linda. She had also requested that the elders come and do yard work for her, so we asked the elders to come, too. In the end, all three sets of elders in the zone came to work in her yard! It was pretty funny. The lesson was great. We answered her questions about her Book of Mormon reading and taught her about Faith in Christ. It was a great lesson. After that, we had lunch and then went to visit a family in the ward. We had a good lesson with them. After that, we went to San Jose for my exit interview with President Mella. That went really well! We grabbed dinner on our way out of San Jose and didn't get home until pretty late because the traffic was so bad. We then met with the Zone Leaders to plan ZTM. It was a good day. 

On Wednesday, we had service at the kitchen that we usually go to. Sister Harvey and I were cutting onions and the elders were teasing us about crying (haha). We then had lunch and tried to see some people. We also picked up a new investigator! We visited a less active and his ex-fiancée who was a potential. We taught them The Restoration and she agreed to meet with us again! Woohoo! Her name is Gail. She is awesome! We then visited a woman who recently moved into the ward and set up an appointment with her for this week. We then met with our ward mission leader in the YSA ward before going to dinner with Piyush. We had so much fun! After dinner, we dropped by another family and visited them. It was a good day. 

On Thursday, we went to Livermore for their ZTM. It was great. After that, we went to lunch with the Livermore sisters. We then went back home and weekly planned. After weekly planning, we went to see another one of the seven year olds that we are teaching. We then had dinner and splits. Only one of the ward missionaries came, so Sister Harvey and I were in a trio with her. We tried to see some people, but they weren't there. We then went to see someone else and managed to find her home and set up an appointment for later that week. It was great. 

On Friday, we had our Zone's ZTM. It went really well (long, but well). The Zone had me get up and give my final testimony, too. Thankfully, I didn't cry. It was really hard to do it. Especially because a couple of those missionaries I have known since the beginning of my mission. We then tried to see some people and then went to the church to give a tour to a hindi group that is doing a show this weekend. They were late, though, and we had to go to dinner. Someone else was able to give them a tour though. :) We then had dinner and then had a lesson with the Vagos (our three baptismal dates). We were going to teach The Plan of Salvation, but we ended up reading scriptures with them. We read Ether 3. It was so good! :) We were then going to meet with a family, but they had to cancel. It was a good day. 

On Saturday, we had coorelation with one of our ward mission leaders. We then had lunch and tried to see the girl who we set up an appointment with on splits. She wasn't home though. We then went to Fremont for their ZTM. It was a really good ZTM. We then tried to see some people before dinner. We ended up having dinner with a family in the ward and the elders, because the mother forgot she had signed up to feed the elders before she had invited us to come because she saw that we didn't have a dinner that night. It was a fun dinner. We then dropped by a potential investigator who we had been trying to see for weeks. She was home! We met with her and her husband and taught them a lesson. So, we got two more investigators! :) That night, we had transfer calls. The Zone Leaders told me that I am going home (big surprise) and they told Sister Harvey who her new companion is going to be. It will be my daughter, Sister Kelly. We asked who else was leaving and we found out that every companionship is changing. So, we are all going to transfer meeting on Tuesday! 

On Sunday, it was ward conference, so we didn't have our ward councils. Ward conference was great. The Bishop and the Stake President spoke. :) We then had lunch and went to church with our YSA. That was good, too. We then met with Amity and had a lesson with her. After that, we tried to visit someone the Relief Society asked us to see, but she wasn't home. We then stopped by some people so I could say goodbye. We then went to dinner and then I said goodbye to more people. It was an emotional day. 

Today has been good. We did our errands and now we're here. We are going to hang out with the zone today too. Tonight, we have dinner and there are a couple more people I want to say goodbye to. We also have a meeting with one of the high councilmen. Should be a good day. 

Well, have a good one. I will see you on Wednesday!

Love, 

Right place, right time

Hello!

How are you guys? It was sure good to see you on Skype yesterday!
Anyways, I am a little pressed for time, so let me jump into our week.
Some great stuff happened this week!

As you know, on Monday, we were in Santa Cruz. That was so much fun.
Except, we were stuck in traffic for hours! We had just enough time to
go to dinner and then go home!

On Tuesday, we had a rough morning, and we were feeling a little
discouraged. But, we decided to keep on going (ice cream helped too).
That afternoon, we had a lesson with a seven year old who is going to
get baptized soon. We taught The Gospel of Jesus Christ. He liked it.
We then stopped by a family (the Vagos) that we have been trying to
meet with for a while, but they are never home or "too busy". This
time we knocked on the door, and they answered. Not only that, they
said to come back! So, we said we would be back that night! We then
met with the Havards and helped them with their Family Mission Plan. I
was glad to be there, because she wanted help finding things on Gospel
Library, and her Gospel Library was all in French. :) We then had
dinner and went to see the Vagos. We not only got in, but we taught
the three kids The Restoration, and set baptismal dates with them for
mid-June! Pray for the Vagos please!!!! I am so glad we kept the faith
and didn't give up even though we had a rough morning!

On Wednesday, Sister Harvey wasn't feeling well so we didn't go to
service. We did go to District Meeting. That went well. We then tried
to see some people. We didn't have a dinner that night, so we went out
and decided to eat at a park. Then, in our way to the car, we saw two
girls playing basketball. Sister Harvey went over and asked if she
could shoot the ball. They let her, and we started talking to the
girls. We ended up telling them what we do as missionaries and invited
them to the Hindi singing event that was that weekend. :) Later that
night, we did some visits. It was a good day.

On Thursday, we met with some of the other missionaries in the zone
and practiced a musical number for the Hindi singing event. The member
who helps set up these Hindi events volunteered us to sing at it, so
we got together to figure out a plan. We decided to sing "Come Thou
Fount of Every Blessing". With one of the elders on the guitar and
another on the piano. It sounded awesome! We then came home, had
lunch, and did weekly planning. We then had a lesson with the
Brownlows. We taught them The Gospel of Jesus Christ. After that, we
had dinner. Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication between us and
our dinner and we ended up waiting for eachother in different places!
We ironed it all out, but dinner took about twice as long because of
it. It was a good day.

On Friday, we were at MLC in San Jose. It was really good. We talked
about enduring to the end and why we need a church to do so. When
President Mella talked about enduring to the end of your mission,
Sister Lytle and I just started crying!! After that, we came back
home, had dinner, and then went to badminton. No one came for
badminton, but a member was giving her friend a church tour and we
were able to answer some of her questions. We then met up with the
elders for another song practice. It was a good day.

In Saturday, we figured out some new places to serve and had lunch
before the sisters from the zone next door came for exchanges. I got
to be with my daughter, Sister Kelly. We went to visit people, but no
one was home, so we went contacting at the park. It was fun to see hoe
much she has grown in the last six months. I think she enjoyed seeing
me again, too. :) We then met up with everyone for another song
practice (this time as a whole zone) and then went to the event.
Sadly, Sister Kelly and I had to leave early to go to a dinner, so we
didn't get to sing with everyone. I am going to get as many pictures
as I can though! Dinner was awesome. The family feeding us was from
the same place as Sister Kelly, and the dad went to France in his
mission! I felt like we were supposed to be at that dinner! We then
went back to the event and found the rest of the zone giving church
tours. So, we joined in and gave out materials to those who were
interested. They loved it! The exchange however, ended late, and we
didn't want to make the sisters drive back that late, so they crashed
at our place.

On Sunday, we went to church. It was really good. We did the regular
three hours in our first ward, and in our second we did the first two
as usual and then went to young women's instead of relief society. It
was fun. We then stopped by our dinner's house to pick up dinner and
ate before skyping. It was so good to skype you!!!!!! After that, we
visited some women in the ward who may have been lonely on Mother's
Day and wished them a happy Mother's Day. We then drove to the mission
home in San Jose because Sister Harvey had a doctor's appointment the
next morning, and Sister Mella offered to give us a ride the rest of
the way there (we have mileage limits). It was so fun to spend the
night there. I almost felt like I was home. :)

Today was Sister Harvey's appointment. Sister Mella and I aired in the
waiting room and studied and talked. She then took us back to the
mission home and we took a nap. We then had lunch at the mission home
before heading to the mission office and then back to Pleasanton. I
then worked on packing and we went shopping. It has been a busy day,
but good. Tonight, we have dinner and then we are going to the YSA
FHE. Should me fun.

Have a great week! I LOVE YOU!

Love,

Sara

Sent from my iPad

How is it May?!

Hi Family!

How are you? I hope you are doing well! We had a great week, and we went to Santa Cruz today. We caught the bus in San Jose, so I got to visit two of my old areas today! It was awesome! Oh, before I forget,
thank you for all the kind birthday wishes! I loved it! Anyways, let
me tell you about our week. It was a good one!

Last Monday, for Pday, one of the zones near us invited us to go
bowling with them. By he time Sister Harvey and I got there, they were
all done. So, we went to a park and played frisbee. It was windy, so
we ran around and laughed at ourselves trying to catch the frisbee (my
height doesn't help either!). After that, we had dinner and then FHE
at the Stake President's house. They invited Piyush and we invited
Abisheck. Piyush couldn't make it, but Abisheck did. It was great. We
have an awesome Stake President here. That night, we went to fill up
our car with gas and we had a great conversation with a guy named Jo.
We invited him to church, too (I don't remember seeing him yesterday
though).

On Tuesday, we did service at the kitchen again. We then had lunch and
went to an appointment with some kids. We taught them about Family
History. Sister Harvey found some famous people she is related to on
relativefinder.org and so we were able to keep the kids entertained.
:) Later that afternoon, we went to see a less active woman named
Sister Carter. She is awesome! She plays piano and she was an opera
singer. She knows lots of import ant people in the music world! We
asked her to play for us and she did. When she sat at the bench, she
said, "Do either of you like Bring Him Home from Les Mis?" I told her
that I did and she played it for us! I was having a rough time during
that day, and as she played it was like Heavenly Father was saying
that it would all be okay. I totally cried. After that, we visited he
Havards (French family I met my first day here) and helped them start
a family mission plan. Sister Harvey had me explain it in French (even
through their English is fine). I feel like I did okay. I need to hit
the French books hard when I get home! After that, we had dinner and
dropped by other families to help them with a family mission plan too.
Hopefully we can find some more people to teach!

On Wednesday, we had service at the kitchen again. It was fun. :) We
then had lunch and district meeting. In district meeting, we talked
about making sure our investigators understand the importance of the
Book of Mormon. We then hart attacked a less active who we visit. We
then checked on another less active who is moving. We then had dinner
and met with Brittany and had a great lesson with her. We then met
with a family. After that, we tried to visit some more people. It was
a good day.

On Thursday, we had an appointment with Dominique. We had a great
lesson about The Gospel of Jesus Christ. We then had lunch and did our
weekly planning. After that, we had dinner ad then a lesson with the a
family. We taught the Allan of Salvation. After that, we had a lesson
a part member family. We taught them about tithing and fasting. That
night, we had splits, but only one ward missionary could come so we
were a trio. We went to a family's home and did FHE. It was fun. :)

On Friday, I hit 18 months. Holy cow! In the morning, we finished
weekly planning and then went to visit someone. We then he lunch and
tried to visit people. We visited a woman who loves her family history
and that was super fun. We also visited another family and helped them
start a family mission plan. We also dropped by the Wendletons. We are
going to push back the baptismal date for a few weeks from now. We
then went and helped set up for the ward Cinco de Mayo party. We also
thought there would be badminton that night, so we went for part the
party and part of badminton. It was fun. We also got sent home with a
ton of taco leftovers! Yum!

On Saturday, we helped out with the special olympics at a nearby high
school. It was so much fun! Sister Harvey and I helped with the
awards. We loved it. We then met up with the sisters in the zone next
door and did exchanges. They were in a trio, and I was with two while
Sister Harvey was with the other one. The five of us had lunch and
then we split up. The sisters with me went to see Amity, but she
wasn't home. We then went to a really awesome dinner appointment.
Later that night, we met at the church and exchanged back. It was fun.
All in all, a great day.

On Sunday, Sister Harvey surprised me with a birthday present. I loved
it! We then had church, and Sister Harvey and I taught Sharing Time.
We taught the kids and got them excited to do their family history! We
also taught Gospel Principles in our other ward. It was about the
Priesthood. After that, we went to our YSA for Break the Fast. We then
went to our dinner and then to help out at the Crystal Apple Awards.
Basically, they are these awards that some students do to honor their
teachers. I thought it was so cool! Afterwards, we went around and
congratulated the teachers. We then went home. It was a good day.

Today has been good. Like I said, we were in Santa Cruz. It was so
much fun! We went to the wharf, had lunch, and played on the beach.
Now, we are headed back home. Tonight we have dinner and then we have
something with our YSA. Should be fun. :) Have a great week. Love you,
and can't wait to see you on Mother's Day!

Love,

Bollywood

Hi Family!

How are you? I hope you are doing well. Can you believe April is almost over? It sure flew by! So did this week. Sister Harvey and I were looking over everything we did this week and we were surprised at how much we accomplished!

Monday was P-day. After we got all of our errands done, we played games at the church with most of the zone. Some of the elders begged me to play slaughterball with them. It was fun. It reminded me of a game we played in my last area. I mainly wrote letters, though. That night, we had dinner and then had FHE with a family in the ward. We taught them about The Book of Mormon and invited them to read together as a family. It was fun. They told us to go visit one of their friends (named Telissa) too! We had a little bit of time after that, so we dropped by someone in the ward who hasn't been able to come. It was a good day. 

On Tuesday, we didn't go to service because I was feeling sick. But, after that, we went out and saw people. We visited a family in the ward and another family whose niece is one of our investigators. After that, we went contacting at the park. We didn't get to talk to too many people, but we did have an interesting conversation with some young guys who were probably trying to flirt with us (haha). We then had an early dinner with a member in the ward. We then had a lesson with another seven year old, and encouraged him to invite friends to his baptism. We then met with a couple in the ward that just got called to be a Mission President and wife. They asked us questions about President Mella and the way things work in the mission. We then taught them one of the lessons to show them how we teach. They loved it! We then went with the wife to someone's house to do service (we didn't really have a set appintment). We then went to a family's house for FHE. We played Uno and shared a message. They loved it! 

On Wednesday, we went to service at the kitchen. It was fun! We then went home and had lunch before going to District Meeting. We had a super fun object lesson in District Meeting! Our District Leader brought "exaltation" (ice cream) and put it in the fridge in the kitchen. Then, he told us that we all had to be perfect to obtain exaltation and asked us to do what "perfect mormons/missionaries" do and recite D&C 4, articles of faith, scriptures, etc. The elder with him (they were on exchanges) and Sister Harvey didn't make it very far, but I was able to recite D&C 4, and the first six articles of faith before he made me start reciting random scripture masteries. He was like "Dang it, Sister Palmer! I need you to mess up for this to work!" I finally stopped and then he talked about what we need to do to be perfect. We talked about repentance and baptism and we all agreed to be better. He then went and got the "exaltation" for us to eat. It was so much fun! After District Meeting, we visited some people and then had dinner. After dinner, we had a lesson with a recent convert named Brittney. She is so awesome! We then tried to see some people, but one wouldn't answer the door (we knew they were there!) and one actually wasn't home. It was a good day. 

On Thursday, we went to service at the kitchen again. It was fun. We then had lunch before going to visit a family. We had a good conversation with the wife. We then tried to visit a family, but they lived on a military base and they wouldn't let us get passes because of something with our car. Didn't know I would be going to a military base on my mission! We then did some contacting before having a lesson with some more seven year olds. We taught about The Gospel of Jesus Christ. They loved it! We then had dinner at a party for a ward member who was opening her mission call. Unfortunately, we didn't get to stick around long enough for the call opening (we had an appointment). She texted us that night though that she is going to Brazil. :)  That night, we had splits. Sister Harvey and I went out with ward missionaries to try to see people. The sister I was with was awesome! We went to see someone in the ward and we had an awesome time. The woman we saw cried and told us that she had needed someone to come see her. The spirit was so strong! It was an awesome night!

On Friday, we weekly planned and tried to see some people. Weekly planning took a looooong time.We then tried to see our referral, Telissa. We caught them about to have dinner, and they asked us to come by next week. So we will see what happens with her. We then tried to see some other people before going to dinner. We then went to the badmitton night at the church. One of our investigators came and we had a lot of fun. Mainly, Sister Harvey and I just tried to keep a rally going (haha). It was super fun. 

On Saturday, we were busy! A Hindi group was having a dance/Bollywood show at the stake center that night, and we were there helping for most of the day. We did take a break in the afternoon and tried to see people, but then we were back helping. About 180 Hindi people came to see it and Sister Harvey and I tried to talk to all of them. We even stayed for the show! It was so fun! Two other companionships from our zone were there, too. We had a great time. Sister Harvey and I even met a woman and her daughter who were originally from France! So, I got to speak French with her! We also helped clean up and got some yummy Indian food to take home. 

On Sunday, Sister Harvey wasn't feeling well, so we ended up not going to church. Later that afternoon, though, we went out to see people. It was a good day. 

Today has been good. We got our errands done, and we are going to see what the rest of the Zone is up to. We heard a rumor about going bowling with another zone. :) Have an awesome week! I love you!

Love, 

Warning: Baptisms Ahead ;-)

Hello family! 

How is everyone? I hope you are doing well! *hugs* Can you believe we are halfway through April? I know I can't! It is scaring me how fast time is going now! Anyways, let me tell you about our incredibly fast and busy week. It was a great one! 

On Monday, we met up with the zone at one of the church buildings and played games. It was fun. Then, Sister Harvey and I went to dinner before going to an appointment. It was a good day. 

On Tuesday, we had interviews with President Mella (and Sister Mella). It was good. We were then going to go to the Livermore Zone ZTM, but President Mella was behind schedule on interviews so we couldn't make it. So, we had lunch before going to visit people. Later that afternoon, we had an appointment with a couple of kids who are getting baptized soon. We taught them chastity (we kept it super vague). We then dropped by another family before going to dinner. That night, we had a lesson with Piyush. We taught him about Family History. He was so excited! 

On Wednesday, we were going to go to service but this week was national volunteer week and they had more people than they could handle. So, we visited people instead. Later that afternoon, we met with the Livermore sisters to give them some materials they had asked for. We then went to the church to finish planning ZTM with the Zone Leaders. We then had an appointment with a family before going to dinner. Our dinner was with a non-member Hindi family. Basically, there is an agreement that the Hindis can use our church building for some of their events if they feed the missionaries. It was really fun! I learned a lot about their culture. Plus, one of their daughters was taking French, so I got to talk to her. :)

On Thursday, we did our weekly planning. We then had some appointments and visited people. We taught a couple of kids The Plan of Salvation and drew it on the iPad. That was fun. :) We also met with this family that hasn't been coming to church and they invited us to come back this week for dinner. After that, we then had dinner before going to the visiting teaching conference that our relief society was having (so I could get to know the members). While there, I met a woman from the Tri-Cities! Her parents are in the Richland Stake! :) We stayed for the whole conference and met some non-member friends that the women had brought. 

On Friday, we had ZTM (Zone Training Meeting). It was my first one as a STL. During it, Sister Harvey and I taught the zone about The Holy Ghost. It went well. Unfortunately, we had to leave early, but it was because we had an appointment with an investigator. Her name is Linda. We went to her home and reviewed The Restoration and then taught The Plan of Salvation. She really likes her church, but she is open. We will see where it goes. She is one amazing lady. :) We then had lunch before going out and inviting as many people as we could to Piyush's baptism the next day. That night, we went to see the Wendletons (they are the kids we taught last week when the Mom fell asleep). This time, the mom was awake and we reviewed the lessons with the kids. We also covered the ones we weren't able to teach the time before. Then, WE SET A BAPTISMAL DATE WITH THE KIDS! May 8th! Pray for the Wendletons!!!! :D

On Saturday, we had Piyush's baptism! So many people came, and it was awesome. He is so great. I will send pictures from it when I get them! After the baptism, we had lunch and then tried to visit some people. We then gave a church tour to a bunch of Hindi people who wanted to use the building for one of their events. We took them through and they looked around. We then used the pictures on the wall (of Joseph Smith, the First Vision, etc.) to teach them The Restoration! It was so cool! :D We then went to part of an activity/fundraiser the ward was having before rushing off to dinner. We then heart-attacked a couple of people in the ward. It was a great day! 

On Sunday, we were super busy. We had our two ward councils and then in the first sacrament meeting, Piyush was confirmed. It was great. :) We then went to Sunday School and then left before Relief Society to see if we could catch the Wendletons (because they weren't at church). They weren't home, so we went to our YSA ward. We stayed for sacrament and sunday school again and had to leave early to go to a meeting with the ward mission leader in another ward. We then went to an appointment and then dinner. After dinner, we had FHE with the bishop in one of our wards. It was really fun. We then heart-attacked some more people before going home. It was a busy day! 

Today has been good so far. We ran our errands and soon we will be off to spend time with the zone. Tonight, we have dinner and fhe with someone in the ward. Love you!

Love, 

Hello from Pleasanton!

Hi family!

How are you doing? :) I hope things are going well. Did you have a good Spring Break? It was Spring Break here, too. Made it tricky to meet with people (I am so glad I am not in Santa Cruz! That is where all the Spring Break people go! There and Monterey!). It was still hectic though with transfers and everything. Let me tell you all about it!

On Monday, Sister Doig and I mainly packed for transfers the next day. We then went to the church to be with the zone one last time. While we were there, our dinner called and said that they were out of town and couldn't feed us, but they asked for our address and ordered us pizza. It was so nice of them! After dinner, we went to see Betty and read scriptures with her. It was fun. :) That night, the hermanas came over to say goodbye and we finished packing.

On Tuesday, Sister Doig and I loaded everything into the car and drove to San Jose. I then found my new companion, Sister Harvey, and we left. We went home and had lunch and I unpacked. We then went to an appointment with a family. One of the things that the missionaries have been doing here is teaching the seven year olds who are about to be baptized and then inviting them to invite friends to their baptisms. My jaw dropped when Sister Harvey told me that the family we were headed to see is French! I got to speak French with them! We taught their daughter The Restoration. It was really fun. :) After that, we stopped by a part member family and asked if we could practice the lessons on their kids. We have an appointment for this week. The rest of the day was mainly going around so I could meet the members of the ward councils (I am in two family wards and a YSA). That night, we had a correlation with the ward mission leader in the YSA. It was a good, busy day. 

On Wednesday, we went to service at a community center and helped in the kitchen. It was fun. I got soaked doing dishes! We left early because we had an appointment. Unfortunately, our appointment wasn't home, so we tried to visit someone else. After that, we had lunch and then went to District Meeting. I really like our district! Afterwards, we tried to see some people and visited a family who has a son about to be baptized. His name is Chance. We asked if we could teach him the lessons before his baptism and we taught him a couple of them that day. Later that night, we had dinner and then taught an investigator who is getting baptized this weekend. His name is Piyush. He is actually meeting with the Elders and us, so we work together with them. He is so awesome! We taught him Tithing and Fasting. It was a good day. 

On Thursday, Sister Harvey had a doctor's appointment, so we were there most of the morning. Then, on our way back home, we decided to have lunch with one of the companionships of Sisters that we work with. One of them was my former child/companion, Sister Kelly. We had a fun lunch with them. We then went back home and started our weekly planning. We then went to see Chance and do more of the lessons with him. It was fun. We then did some more visits and had dinner before going to see the Stake President (so I could meet him). I really like him! It was a good day. 

On Friday, we went to a big leadership meeting in San Jose (MLC; it was my first time). It was good. After that, we were stuck in traffic and it took a while for us to get home. We then had dinner and then had a lesson with Piyush. We taught him about the priesthood. It was great! We then stayed and played volleyball (here, the YSA gets together and plays games and they are supposed to invite friends). It ended up being us, the elders, the zone leaders, and Piyush. We had fun. :) 

On Saturday, we finished our weekly planning and had lunch before seeing a recent convert named Amity. She is super nice! We then did some more visits, and stopped by to see a part member family. Missionaries have been trying to teach the kids for ages (only one is baptized), but it is hard to get in and to sit down and have a lesson. So, we weren't expecting much when we knocked on the door. To our surprise, the mom let us in. She wasn't feeling good from a medical procedure and quickly fell asleep after we came in. We decided that this was probably divine intervention, and asked the daughter if we could teach her the lessons. She said yes, and we started. Then her brothers came out and we started teaching the one who isn't baptized, too. We made it through all of the lessons except chastity! And the mom stayed asleep the whole time! It was a miracle! We invited the kids to be baptized, and they said yes. We told them to read The Book of Mormon and pray that their parents would let them get baptized. It was one of the craziest teaching moments I have ever had! :D We then zipped down to the church for Chance's baptism. After that, we had dinner and then tried to see people. 

On Sunday, we had church. I am back to having long Sundays. At 8h00 we had ward council and then the other ward council at 9h00. (Ward council was funny. One of the members of the bishopric was like "Don't fall in love with [the new sister missionary]! She is leaving in a month!". Haha!) We then had the whole three-hour block with one ward and then we went through it again with our other ward. Sister Harvey and I also taught Young Womens. The lesson was about The Restoration (specifically The First Vision). It was great! After church, dropped by the part member family we were teaching on Saturday and gave them copies of The Book of Mormon. We then tried to visit some people before going to dinner (my favorite part of Fast Sunday!). We then did some more visits. We had one that was really powerful. We then met with the zone leaders to plan ZTM (where we share the things we learned in MLC). It was really good.

Today has been good so far. We have some errands to run and then we may hang out with the zone (I haven't met everyone yet). Or... I may take a nap. I haven't been sleeping very well. Anyways, have an awesome week! I love you so much!

Love, 

Lot's of Curve Balls - New Sister Training Leader - Moving to Pleasanton

Hello family!

How are you doing? I hope things are going great for you. Did you enjoy Conference? We did. I really liked the talks by Elder Duncan, Elder Stevenson, Elder Bednar, President Monson, President Uchtdorf, and more! :D It was all just really good! Plus, the women's session talks are on Gospel Library now, so I got to read them this week before General Conference. Anyways, let me tell you about this week. A lot happened! 

On Monday, we had P-day. We had a lot of fun hanging out with the Zone. We then had dinner with the Leprêtres. It was so much fun. Brother Leprêtre asked me to pray again, and I got to do it in French (this time we did speak more English!). I love spending time with them. Brother Leprêtre always encourages me with my French. :) That night, we got to see Betty and read scriptures with her. We read 2 Nephi 25, which was awesome. 

On Tuesday, we had District Meeting. It was good. We then had lunch and did training. This week, we went over Preach My Gospel chapter 5 (The Book of Mormon) and The Gospel of Jesus Christ (lesson 3). She is doing so well with it all! We then went to service at Sunrise and helped out with their social. We then dropped by Tifanie, because we hadn't heard from her very much. We were able to catch her and have a lesson. She is going through a lot right now, poor thing. We taught her The Restoration again (you have to review all the lessons after baptism). We also gave her the information about General Conference. Later that night, we went to dinner with the Spanish missionaries (because no one signed up to feed us). We went to the family that feeds them every Tuesday (I have been there a few times). It was so fun! It was a little bittersweet though because one of the Spanish Elders was pretty sure he was getting transferred so he said goodbye to them. It was a good day. 

On Wednesday, we tried to see Joann, but she wasn't home. So we tried some other people. We then had lunch and did training before going contacting. We didn't go to the horse ranch because we had a lesson with Crystal. She is having a hard time adjusting to having sister missionaries, so we did a combined lesson with her and the elders. It was all right. We all taught The Plan of Salvation. After that, we had dinner. We then went to the church and met with the Bishop and the Relief Society President to go over the ward list and see who we could go visit. It was great. 

On Thursday, we got to see Joann. She is doing better (she was sick last time). We had a lesson with her about missionary work. We then did some visits before going to lunch with the hermanas. We went and got tortas (they are super yummy!). We then went to service at Ivy League. After that, we did some contacting before having dinner with the Makasinis and doing more visits. It was a good night. That night, I called the Nelsons (senior couple from my first area) because I found out that they were going home. I talked to them for a little bit and then when I got off the phone, I realized that we had missed a call from the Coordinating Sister Training Leaders. So, I called them back and they told me that I would be serving as a Sister Training Leader this transfer! I was shocked, but said yes. 

On Friday, I had to go to the leadership meeting in San Jose (for the third time). I went with Sister Iloa, because she got called to be finishing someone's training, and she had to go to the meeting too. It was all right. Like I said, I have been there a few times so the only thing new was the instructions for Sister Training Leaders. We then went back to our areas and our companions. Sister Doig and I then weekly planned and had dinner. We then tried to visit a referral, but she wasn't home, so we did some more visits before calling it a night. It was a busy day. 

On Saturday, we had General Conference. It was super good! We went to watch it at the Stake Center and almost all of the missionaries were there (haha)! We then grabbed lunch and all ate in the gym at the Stake Center before watching the next session. The talks were awesome! We then tried to visit people and went contacting. After that, we had dinner and did training. We were then waiting by the phone to hear from other missionaries who was getting transferred, where they would be, and who they would be with. The Spanish sisters came over and waited with us and we talked. We were having fun listening to other missionaries call and give us the news, when I looked down and saw that the Zone Leaders were calling us! I answered the phone, thinking maybe it was about something other than transfers, when they told me that I was being transferred! I was shocked! They also told Sister Doig that she was going to be with the Palo Alto Sisters (Sister Iloa will be finishing her training)! I didn't sleep well that night, either.

On Sunday, we were back at the Stake Center for Conference. Again, we loved it. After Conference, we had lunch and packed. I also called some of the members of the ward and told them that I was leaving. Some of them wanted to see me before I left, so we visited them the rest of the night. It was soooo sad! I feel like my heart is going to break.

Today has been eventful. President  Mella had a conference call with all the new leaders, so I was on that this morning. We also did our laundry and packed some more. Once we are done here, we are going to do errands, pack more, and be with the zone one last time before people get transferred (there are four of us leaving). We then have dinner and an appointment. 

Love you lots. Have an awesome week. Next time I write you, I will be in my new area!

Love, 

Temple Week

Hello family! 

How are you? Did you have a good Easter? I hope things are going well for you. We had an eventful week...good and bad. Let me tell you about it.

On Monday, we had an exciting P-day. The Spanish missionaries decided that they wanted to do their own habanero challenge, so we all met at the church with a big bag of habaneros. None of the elders would do it, and I said no because we had an appointment with Sam that night. In the end, Sister Doig and two other sisters did it. They beat the record for the Elders! D: That night, we had our lesson with Sam and his wife. We taught The Restoration. The members that we brought with us to help/fellowship them were great! They are both returned missionaries and were so helpful in the lesson! It was a good day. 

On Tuesday, Sister Doig wasn't sick after her habaneros! Yay! That morning, we had District Meeting. It went well. We then had lunch and did training. This week in training, I taught Sister Doing how to teach The Gospel of Jesus Christ (lesson three). We then went to Sunrise. We had fun playing games with everyone. We then had dinner with the McKees. That was nice. After that, we had MCM (missionary coordination meeting) with John Henry. It was a good day.

On Wednesday, we tried to see Joann, but she wasn't home. So, we tried to talk to people before lunch. We then did lunch and training before going to the horse ranch. We helped out with lessons again. I worked with one of the students that I usually work with and it was fun. It is really tiring though! We then went to dinner. After dinner, we had an appointment with Crystal, but she forgot and we rescheduled for the next day. So, we went home and did some planning. 

On Thursday, we saw Joann, but she was sick so we kept it short. We then went home and made some phone calls before having lunch. We were then going to see Crystal, but she called and cancelled. So we did training. We then went to Ivy League. This time, for Ivy League, we were pulling weeds. It was fun to see everyone in the zone there. We then had dinner. We then tried to see Tifanie and Xiomara, but they weren't home. 

On Friday, we  had service at the food bank. It was good. We then went out to lunch again, and this guy was kind of rude to us. He walked up to where we were all eating and asked us what we were doing. He then said that it may be just an ordinary Friday to us, but for everyone else it was "good" (basically, him saying that we aren't Christian and believe in "Good Friday"). Only Sister Doig, me, and one of the Spanish Elders got it. Ouch! We then went home and weekly planned. After weekly planning, we went contacting and met a really interesting guy. He wasn't interested, but he told us a story about when he met missionaries when he was in Europe. So, he at least had a good opinion of the church and missionaries. :) We then had dinner and then went to see Betty because we didn't see her on Monday. We read scriptures with her. 

On Saturday, we went to the temple. It was soo good! The elders also came with us because they couldn't get a ride. We woke up really early because we went to a very early session. After the session, our ride took us out to breakfast. While we were out, John Henry took Phillip to a baptism that was going on and he even met President Mella. :) After we got back, we made up our studies (because we were at the temple) and then went to a baptism with Crystal. After that, we went to our dinner. That was fun. We then came home and were going to do training when the elders called us. Apparently, they had lost their gas card and asked us to meet them at a gas station so they could use our card! So, we went and they used our card. Afterwards, we talked to them for a little bit about some things going on and then went back home to do a little bit of training. It was an eventful day!

On Sunday, it was Easter! Yay! The ward had a great Easter program for sacrament meeting and a "linger longer" / "munch and mingle" after all the meetings. Sacrament Meeting was all about Jesus Christ and one woman shared how she came to have a testimony of Him (I liked it a lot). Relief Society was all about Easter, too. :) After that, we talked to people and then left. On our way out of Church, we got a text from Sam. He dropped us. He is happy with his church. We were so sad! We then went home for lunch and training. We then had dinner with the Bishop in Menlo Park ward, his family, and some friends they had over. A couple of them were from Switzerland and spoke French, so I had fun with that! After that, we tried to see Tifanie and Xiomara again, but they weren't home. So, we saw Kathy. We had a great time with her.

Today has been a good day so far. We have some errands to run and then we will probably meet up with the zone at the church. Hope you have a great week! 

Love, 

Exchanges, Investigators, and More

Hi Family! 

How are you? I hope things are going well. I can't believe it is almost Easter time! And General Conference is coming too! The Zone Leaders texted us earlier this week and told us that our Zone gets to go to the temple this weekend (like we do every time it is General Conference). Anyways, let me tell you about this week! 

Monday was P-day and Pi-day. We did our errands and spent time with the zone, before going to have dinner with a family in the ward. They have a family tradition of having pie for dinner on Pi-day, so we got to eat pie with them. It was so fun! We then went and read scriptures with Betty. It was a good day. 

On Tuesday, we were on exchanges. They have a really odd way of doing exchanges now. Instead of us splitting with the Sister Training Leaders and one companionship is in their area while the other is in our area, we split and both worked in their area. I don't really get it. Anyways, I was with Sister Iloa. We had so much fun! We visited some people, had lunch, and then went to service at the horse ranch. We took the horses out to graze again. This time, I didn't fall over (haha). The elders were there too, and I made them take one of the really big horses (I am too short for them). We left early and decided to head back to the apartment to change and then see if they needed any help at Sunrise. They didn't need us at Sunrise, so we decided to go back to the apartment because I had a headache. When we got there, Sister Iloa realized that she lost the key. We retraced our steps, but didn't find it. So, we called the other sisters and asked them to look for it for us while we went to dinner. On our way to dinner, they called us and said that they found it. Dinner was in our area, because the family feeding us had never fed us before and the husband is Tifanie's home teacher. On the way to dinner, though, something really funny happened: 

Just so you know, we have pepper spray in our car. Just in case. So, we were going along and all of the sudden Sister Iloa starts coughing. I look over at her and she shows me pepper spray on her hand. I asked her what happened and she told me that she saw the can of pepper spray an ddin't know what it was. She thought it was perfume! She was going to spray herself with it, but the Spirit said "just spray it on your hand". Thank goodness! So, she was a little uncomfortable driving to our dinner, but at least she could see and breathe!

Our dinner was great. They are such an awesome family. They were really excited to meet Sister Iloa too. After that, we went back home and exchanged back. Sister Doig had a great time on exchanges, too.

On Wednesday, we had ZTM. It was really good. Something that stuck out to me was a game that we played. The whole zone did a scripture chase game and talked about ways to find people to teach. We then did a relay race against each other. Afterwards, the Sister Training Leaders asked us how we felt and how badly we wanted to win the games. We told them that we really wanted to win. They then asked us if we wanted to find people as badly as we wanted to win. That sure got us fired up! :D After that, we had lunch and went to the horse ranch again. This time we got to help with lessons. I loved it. It is one of those services where you can really see how your service helps people. We then had dinner with a fun family in the ward. That night, we did training. 

On Thursday, we saw Joann and talked to her about the temple. She loved it. I haven't had a lesson with her where she asked so many questions! :) We then had lunch and did training before having a lesson with Phillip. It was awesome! We met at John Henry's house and taught him The Restoration. He said that he enjoys coming to church, and when we invited him to be baptized he said YES!!!!! He wouldn't set a date yet, but we will work on that! Pray for Phillip! :D After that, we had dinner with our Relief Society president and her family. It was great. We then dropped by to see Eddie and see if he got the French materials that we left for him the previous week. He was actually home! So, we talked to him. He saw the stuff and looked at it. He told us that he wouldn't be able to come to church on Sunday but that he would try on Easter. We then asked him if we could show him an Easter video. I had downloaded the #Hallelujah video in French right before we came, and showed it to them. Eddie, his wife, and one of their kids watched it. They all really liked it! 

On Friday, we had service at the food bank. We then went out to lunch with the other missionaries who were there. While I was standing in line to order my food, I saw Eddie's wife behind the counter! I was so excited! I'll bet the elders were so confused. One minute I am in line, and the next I am spazzing out in French! She and I chatted for a minute and then I ordered my food. Sister Doig and I waved at her every time we saw her, too. :) We will have to go back there soon! We then did a few hours of weekly planning (we had a lot to do!). We then went over to Tifanie's because it was Ron's birthday. Ron is always trying to offer us wine or alcohol (in a joking way), so we bought him a six pack of root beer and gave it to him for his birthday. He loved it! He was like "Hey, you guys are all right!" :D We then had dinner at someone else's house. It was so fun! 

On Saturday, we helped at the primary Easter party. We got there early to help hide eggs and stayed for the party. They had a little breakfast and then did some games and the Easter bunny came. During the games, Sister Doig and I ran the "tattoo station". You read that right. The sister missionaries were giving tattoos! (haha) We left after the kids all ran outside to hunt for eggs. We then finished our studies and then had lunch and training. We then went to sunrise and helped with art and jeopardy. It was fun. After that, we had dinner with a member in the ward and then went and saw Kathy. It had been a few weeks.

On Sunday, we had church. It was really good. In Gospel Principles, we talked about baptism. How convenient, given our lesson with Phillip! :) After church, we had lunch and then did training. We also had dinner with some people in the ward. It was fun. We then went over the ward list that the Bishop gave us and tried to figure out who we could go see. All in all, it was a good day. 

Well, that is about all for here. Tonight, we have an appointment with Sam and his wife. We are hoping it goes well! Also looking forward to going to the temple on Saturday. The member taking us asked if we could go to an early morning session, so we have to get up really early to get there on time! We will see how it goes! :) 

Love you lots. Have an awesome week. Have a great Easter. #Hallelujah

Love,