Great Week!

Hey family! 

I hope you are all doing well. We had an eventful week this week. Lots of things going on right now in our area. Let me tell you about it! :) 

On Monday, we had P-day. The zone got together and played games while I worked on letters and school stuff. That night, we had dinner and then went to see Elizabeth. We had a good conversation with her, answering some of her questions about things she had heard about the Church. 

On Tuesday, we had District Meeting. It was really good. About half of our district (including our district leader) is new to the area, so we mainly introduced ourselves and talked about what we want to accomplish as a companionship and district this transfer. After District Meeting we had lunch and then went to the horse ranch because they needed volunteers. Apparently, because of the rain (it rained all week) lots of volunteers couldn't make it. So, we went and helped out. It was fun. After that we had dinner before having a meeting with our ward mission leader. It was a productive day. 

On Wednesday, we stopped by a member's house to pick up English learning materials for Eddy (we didn't get to see him this week, but we have stuff for him!). We then tried to see some people, but they weren't home. We then had lunch and Sister Hall had language study. We then went to sunrise to help out. We played Pictionary with them, like we usually do. We then had an appointment with a member named Chris. That was an interesting lesson. We started by answering some of his questions and then listened to a talk given in conference called "Choose to Believe". It was an interesting lesson because he fell asleep during the talk!!!! He started to snore and Sister Hall and I were like "What do we do?!" He woke up pretty quickly though and we acted like nothing happened. :) We then had dinner with an older couple in the ward. It was fun. :) We then went and saw Betty and read scriptures with her. 

On Thursday, we tried to see people, but no one was home. Not even the people we had as back-up plans! So, after trying lots of people, we went back and had lunch and Sister Hall did language study. We then went to service at Ivy League. We went to this park and helped plant things. We then went down this hill and pulled weeds. I enjoyed being with most of the zone (we have such an awesome zone!). After Ivy League we tried to see people and went to our dinner and then visited people. It was a good day. :) 

On Friday, we went to service at the food bank. We then had lunch before Sister Hall and I went to Santa Cruz (Apria called and said that my new CPAP was in and I needed to take the old one back to CCSD in Santa Cruz). It was a good trip, but we couldn't stay long. By the time we got back to Redwood City and got everything straightened out, it was time to go to dinner, so we went. Except our dinner forgot that they were feeding us. We showed up at the door and they were so confused! They thought they were feeding us this week! They were nice enough to heat us up some leftovers, though. :) It was an interesting day. 

On Saturday, we had breakfast with Kathy. We then had to go back to the apartment and do our personal study and companionship study. After that, we had lunch and did weekly planning. We then had service at Sunrise again. This time, we played Jeopardy with them. It was fun. We then went home and worked on our weekly planning. We didn't have a dinner that night, so we got dinner and we also took something to an elder in the zone who was sick. We then came back and finished planning before going to bed.

On Sunday, we had ward council and then church. Phillip came again, too! :) In sacrament meeting, a sister was giving her farewell talk. She will be leaving on Wednesday to serve her mission in Thailand. :) In Sunday School, we had a lesson about the Atonement. Then, in Relief Society we read in the Teachings of Howard W Hunter about how Jesus Christ is the Way. How he is the only way to happiness. It was a good day to be at church! We then tried to see Marta, but the place where she lives wouldn't let anyone in because so many of the residents are sick. So, we will try again next week. We then went contacting for a few hours because no one was home. We ended up teaching multiple street lessons and picked up a new investigator! His name is Mohammed. We will be meeting with him later this week. Then, a referral the elders gave us, who we tried to see, called us back and we are seeing him this week too! It was a miracle day! We then had dinner and tried to see some more people before going home. :) 

Today has been good so far. We have some errands to run and then we will be getting together with the zone. Like I said, we have such an awesome zone this transfer! 

Well, gotta run. Love you!

Love,

Sara <3

Two Thousand and WHAT?!

Hi Family!

How are you? I hope you had a good holiday week. Our week was busy. We had a lot of crazy things happen (good and bad). Let me tell you about it! :) 

On Monday, the zone got together to say goodbye to those who were being transferred. It was fun. We then had dinner and had a lesson with Betty. It was a good night. 

On Tuesday, we went to Transfer Meeting (Sister Hall was still technically an STL and we wanted to see where everyone ended up). We got some great elders and a sister transferred in! This zone is going to be so much fun. :) We then went to Sunrise. That was interesting. Most of the zone was there (hard to find service during the holiday week) and we played pictionary with them. One of the residents went off on one of the elders for something pretty insignificant. It was so bad that Sister Hall got up and told the resident that if she couldn't be nice she could leave (the volunteer coordinator wasn't there, or else Sister Hall wouldn't have done that). The resident stayed, but we were all pretty shaken by it. That night, we had dinner with the McKees. It was good.

On Wednesday, we met with our new investigator, Bradley! :) We taught him the Restoration, which he has heard before, and invited him to be baptized. He said that he wants to think about it. The lesson went super well though. When we told him to pray to know if it was true, he bowed his head right there, in the middle of the lesson, and prayed! We have really high hopes for him! We also went to Sunrise again and had a New Years party with them. We gave them all party hats and read New Years trivia. It was fun. Later that night, we went to see Dawn. We had a good time talking with her and shared a message with her about the New Year. She enjoyed it. 

On Thursday, we tried to find more places to do service, but nothing was available. It was also a really hard day to try to see people. Everyone was gone for the holidays or they were too busy to meet with us. So, we tried, but didn't have too much success. We did have dinner with the Makasinis (a huge Tongan family in the ward; I mean, they take up the entire right side of the chapel!). I ate so much and was SO full! We then went to the church to play games with the zone, because we weren't supposed to be out New Years Eve night. I mainly watched as everyone ran around. :) That night, we had a sleepover with the sisters. We stayed up pretty late (to welcome in the New Year!) and then got up at 6h30. 

On Friday, we were soooo tired. In the morning, we went and saw Bonnie. She called us and asked us to come over because she was getting rid of some old sweaters and wanted to give them to us if we wanted them! :) Later that afternoon, we weekly planned. Then, because neither us or the hermanas had a dinner appointment, the four of us went out to dinner. It was really fun. :) 

We then came back, said goodbye to the hermanas, and went to our car to go do some visits. It was then that Sister Hall realized that she didn't have the keys to the car or the apartment. We quickly told the hermanas and went to their apartment to search Sister Hall's bag more thoroughly; still no keys. We then realized that they were probably in the apartment; which I had locked behind us. So, we went to our apartment manager and asked her to let us in. She couldn't, because it was after office hours! So, we either had to find a place to sleep or call a locksmith. We decided to sleep at the hermanas. Buuuuut, the hermanas didn't have any blankets/pillows for us, so we called the elders and asked them if they had extras, which they did. We also called the Zone Leaders and told them that we were staying the night with the hermanas. So, we went to the elders' apartment and picked up the pillows/blankets before going back. So, Sister Hall and I were homeless New Years night. We are very thankful to the hermanas for taking us in! (This also means that I was sleeping on the couch without a CPAP. Needless to say, I woke up very tired and felt like crap.) What a day. 

On Saturday, we spent our morning studies at the hermanas apartment and waited until our apartment manager could let us into the apartment. We got back into our apartment and found the keys... on the couch. >< We then got ready and treated ourselves to going out for lunch. We then went and did service for Jerri. Most of the zone was there and they all wanted to know if we got back into our apartment. *sigh* We then went to an appointment we had with a man named Eddie. For service, we are teaching him English, because his native language is FRENCH! I had talked with him on the phone earlier in the week to set up the appointment and we met him for the first time at the appointment. He and his family moved here a while back and he is struggling to learn English. I chatted with him in French for a while (poor Sister Hall just sat there) and then we had a conversation in English, but we would switch to French when he needed it. It was a mental workout. But, I had prayed beforehand for help. I told the Lord that I just wanted to use my French to help people and to use me for that purpose. He did. I know that I had help with that. I walked out of there mentally tired and thanking Heavenly Father for such an opportunity. We are going to see Eddie and his family again this week. :)

On Sunday, we had Church. This year, we only moved up half an hour (from 9h30 sacrament meeting to 9h00) so it wasn't too bad. Phillip came again, too! And this time he stayed for all three hours! We had a little incident in Sacrament Meeting. Someone forgot to bring the bread, so we just sang sacrament hymns until the bread came. Then, during the testimonies, the sister who was playing the organ got up and talked about how the sacrament is the only thing that we wait for. If the bishop is late, we start without him. If the organist is late, we get another. But, as we wait for the sacrament, we wait for the Savior. And He is worth waiting for. I really liked that! :) After church, we saw Marta and had a lesson with her. We then tried to see a referral the elders gave us named Jason, but he wasn't home. So, we visited with a less-active named Catherine (who the elders also gave us). She is so cute! We had fun talking to her, and she plans on coming to church on Sunday! :) Later that night, we had dinner and then went contacting. I wasn't feeling well (headache from fasting) and Sister Hall asked if I wanted to go in early, but I chose to stay out until curfew. Which was a good idea, because as we contacted we found a new investigator! His name is Edward. We invited him to come to Church on Sunday. We hope he does! :D 

Today has been good so far. We ran errands and now we are here. We have some more errands and then the zone will probably be getting together. Should be a good day. Have a great week. 

Love you lots,