Hard Week

Hello Family! 

Happy Leap Day! A little over a year ago, I was looking at the calendar and I told Sister Lytle that we wouldn't get to celebrate our four month mark, but that we would get to celebrate our sixteen months (29 February). Back then it felt like that day was forever away! I can't believe it! March is almost here! Anyways, we had a lot happen this week. Let me tell you about it! 

Last P-day was fun. We ran our errands and had lunch before going to the church and playing card games with the other sisters in the zone (only the elders really felt like running around in the gym this time). After that, we had dinner with our Bishop and his family. It was a great chance for them to get to know Sister Doig. We then met with Betty. It was a good day. 

On Tuesday, we had District Meeting. We have a new district leader, and it was good to meet him and some of the other missionaries who are new (either to the zone or to the mission). We then had lunch and made cupcakes that we were going to take to Jason (because we hadn't heard from him in a while and we wanted to see if he was okay). Sister Doig and I did training, too. This week we started learning how to teach The Restoration. We then went to service at Sunrise. It was hard. The activities coordinator left, and they don't have a replacement yet, so things are a little disorganized. We then delivered the cupcakes to Jason. He liked it and we set up an appointment for the next day. We then visited Katherine and had a lesson with her and her daughter. We then had dinner and then met with our ward mission leader to talk about the work. It was a productive day.

On Wednesday, we saw Jerri. She is doing really well. We read scriptures with her and had lunch. We then did some training and tried to go contacting before going to see Jason. We had a good lesson with Jason. We started teaching him the commandments. We then went to dinner with a family in the ward that we really like. We then met with Tifanie and Xiomara. It was a good day. 

On Thursday, we tried to see Joann, but she wasn't home. So, we decided to see Elizabeth (she was an investigator with Sister Hall and me, but we ended up dropping her. I wanted to see how she was doing). She is going through a lot right now, and she was happy to see us. We shared a scripture with her and she thanked us for coming. We then had lunch and then got in the car to go to service at Ivy League. This time, we were pulling weeds. It was a little warm outside, and Sister Doing was saying how hot it was. She was shocked when we explained that it can get as high as 46 Celsius (115 Fahrenheit) in some places! After Ivy League, we went contacting and then had dinner. After dinner, we were going to meet with Mohammed, but he had to cancel. 

On Friday, we had service at the Food Bank. We then had a lunch appointment with the Relief Society president and went with her to help clean the house of a woman in the ward who had just had a baby. We then were going to go with her to see someone, but they weren't home. Sister Doig and I then went contacting. We even taught a street lesson to a woman who asked us what made us different from the other Christian churches. :) We then had dinner and weekly planned before going to see Mohammed. We taught him The Gospel of Jesus Christ. We then talked to him about how he was feeling about everything, and he decided that he is "good for now". So, we have dropped him. :( 

On Saturday, we took our car to the shop to get fixed. Meaning, we were on foot for a few hours. We walked to Joann's to try to see her, but she wasn't home again. So, we walked back home to have lunch. On our way into the apartment, Jason texted us and told us that he was going out of town and wouldn't be back until May. We were devestated! :( We then had lunch and went to help out at Sunrise (we got a ride from the hermanas). It was hard, again. The car place also called us while we were there and told us that our car was done. So, afterwards,the hermanas drove us to where our car was and we drove it to our dinner appointment. After dinner, we went contacting again. We were walking around talking to people and met an interesting man. We chatted with him for a long time and even shared part of The Restoration with him. The only way I can really describe him is that he reminds me of when I served in Santa Cruz. :) I liked him.

On Sunday, we had ward council and then church. Church was so good! (Phillip was there too. Eddie couldn't make it, though.) Sacrament Meeting was all about the importance of the sacrament (reminded me of that great article you sent me, Mom!). In Sunday School, we talked about having Faith in Jesus Christ. Then, in Relief Society, we studied Neill F Marriot's talk "Yielding Our Hearts Unto God". It was all really good. I feel like I needed a lot of what was discussed. After church, we visited Marta and shared with her what we learned in Church. We then had lunch and did more training. Sister Doig is doing so well with her teaching (I feel like a proud parent)! :D We then went contacting for a few hours. While we were out, we met a man. We didn't teach him anything, but while we were taking he told us to keep doing what we were doing and keep "walking for the Lord". It made us smile. Then, later, some guys (probably teenagers) walked past us and after we said hi to them they told us we were beautiful. So, we didn't teach much when we were contacting, but we got a little boost in the self-esteem (haha)! After that, we had dinner and then we were going to see Tifanie and Xiomara, but they had to cancel. 

We have had a good day so far. We are going to be running errands and then probably spending time with the zone. Hermana Bocanegra is supposed to be giving me back my cards, so maybe we will play some games with the sisters again. :) 

Love you so much. Have an awesome week! 

Love, 

Week of Changes

Hello family!

This week was definitely eventful. Not the best week for teaching people (with the holiday, people were out of town) but still an eventful week. Let me tell you about it. 

We were very busy running errands on P-day. We did, however, get to be with the Zone and say goodbye to those who were being transferred. That night, we had dinner with Tifanie and Xiomara and they got to say goodbye to Sister Hall, too. 

On Tuesday, we drove down to the mission office for transfers. They got rid of transfer meetings, so all we had to do was meet Sister Hall's new companion and move her stuff from our car to theirs. We got Hermana Peterson's stuff moved too, and then Hermana Bocanegra and I left to go back to our area (we were together until the new missionaries came in). We were both really sad to say goodbye to our companions. We then went and had lunch before going to the horse ranch, because they called us and asked us to help out. In the end, they ended up having more people than they needed, so we went to help at Sunrise instead. They usually have their wine and cheese social, but they had strawberry daqueries instead because it was so hot out. We got one too, without alcohol. :) We also read them trivia questions. It was fun. After that, we went and visited people that the Spanish sisters are meeting with. We then had dinner with a family and the Spanish elders. It was fun, and I was able to get the gist of what was going on (it was all in Spnish).

On Wednesday, we had district meeting (in English). We then had lunch and visited some people before going to help out at Sunrise again. We then went to the church to wait for the woman who was bringing us dinner (and dinner for the spanish elders). The four of us ate at the church before going to the Bible class that the Spanish missionaries teach (that members and their friends can come to). It was all in Spanish, but I was able to understand some of it. Plus, Hermana Bocanegra sat by me and translated the things that I didn't understand. It was all about the miracles of Jesus Christ and the priesthood. It was good.

On Thursday, we had to leave early because Hermana Bocanegra had an appointment in San Jose. Thankfully, we left with plenty of time because the office in San Jose was closed and we had to go to one in a nearby city. We got to the appointment and had plenty of time to get to the mission office to pick up the trainees. I am with a sister named Sister Doig. She is from Canada.  I already like her a lot. :) After I got Sister Doig, we went back to our area for a quick lunch and some training before going to service at Ivy League. It was a good chance for Sister Doig to meet most of the zone. We then had dinner and tried to see some people. 

On Friday, we had service at the food bank. It was really fun. We also went out to lunch with some of the other missionaries. After lunch, we went home and did our weekly planning. It took longer than usual because I had to explain to Sister Doig who everyone was, but that was fine. We then tried to see some people, but no one was home (we do try to have appointments, but sometimes we just drop in on people too). It was raining too, which made it hard to go talk to people on the street. We then had dinner and went to the ward game night at the church. Lots of members from the ward were there, and it was a great chance for them to meet Sister Diog. Tifanie and Xiomara were able to go too! 

On Saturday, we had studies and then did training. We then went to see Joann and had a lesson with her on Tithing and Fasting. Sister Doig did such a good job! :D We then had lunch and went contacting (because no one was available). After that, we went to Sunrise and played Jeopardy with them. We then had dinner with Claudia. We were planning on going to see Tifanie and Xiomara, too, but they had to cancel. So, we went home and did some finishing touches on our weekly planning. 

On Sunday, we had church. There were a lot of people to keep track of this time. Philip is back in town (hoping we can start lessons with him soon!). Eddie also came to church again (hopefully we can start things with him, too!). The lesson in Gospel Principles was great. It was about the Church of Jesus Christ today, and they mainly focused on the Restoration. It was good for Phillip and Eddie to hear it, and a good reminder for everyone else. The Spirit was definitely there! After church, we had lunch and did training before going to visit people. We met with one woman named Sandy. She is a member, and can't come to church right now because of her health. We met with her and had a great lesson. :) After that, we tried to see some potential investigators, but people weren't home. Drat. We then had dinner. After dinner, we tried to see some people. I wanted Sister Doig to meet Kathy, but she wasn't home. 

Today has been all right so far. We still have errands to run and then we will hopefully get to spend some time with the zone. There are three of us who are training new missionaries and a couple of missionaries who just transferred in here, and I want to get to know them all. 

Love you lots. Have an awesome week! 

Love, 

My week in Hell and Heaven

Hi Family!

How are you doing on this holiday weekend? I hope well. A lot is going on here! The transfer ended, we had Tifanie's baptism, and a slough of things that happened before that that made us scared that this baptism wasn't even going to happen! All I can say is that there is opposition that comes when someone chooses to be baptized!

On Monday, after our errands, we went and played games with the Zone. We were playing soccer, and one of the elders kicked the ball and it bounced off another elder's back (giving him a big welt) and smacked me right in the eye. The game stopped as Sister Hall and another Sister went and got me ice. It hurt soooo bad. Thankfully, I didn't have a black eye! We also went to see Tifanie that night to continue teaching her the commandments. 

On Tuesday, we didn't have district meeting, so Sister Hall and I worked on the baptismal program for Tifanie and Xiomara. Sister Hall then had language study before we grabbed lunch and met with our Relief Society president. She wanted to talk about some of the sisters in the ward, figure out visiting teaching for Tifanie, and have us come with her to visit some of the sisters who can't make it to church. It was good. Later that night, we went to see Tifanie and Xiomara and taught them. 

On Wednesday, we had ZTM (Zone Training Meeting). For it, we had to read "Beware of Pride" by Ezra Taft Benson. I have read it a few times, but I always get something new out of it. Sister Hall and I also taught. We taught about commitments and following up with people on their commitments. Everyone told us that we did a good job. :) After that, we had lunch and then went to Sunrise and helped out. We played Pictionary with them. It was fun. :) Later that night, we went to see Tifanie and she told us that she had been in the hospital. We asked her if she wanted a priesthood blessing and she said yes. We said that we would bring the elders with us the next day and that they would do it. We then finished the rest of the commandments with her and Xiomara.

On Thursday, our morning appointment cancelled, so we did visits. We then had lunch before going to service at Ivy League. We were pulling weeds by this creek. I enjoyed it. After that, we went to see Tifanie and Xiomara. The elders gave Tifanie a blessing and then left. For our lesson, we did a mock baptismal interview with them (before the real one on Friday). The interview with Tifanie didn't quite go as planned, and we left the house freaked out. We called the Zone Leaders and asked them what to do. They could tell we were freaked out and they were able to help us calm down. We then had dinner, which we were late to, because we were trying to figure out the whole thing with Tifanie. Our dinner was really understanding, though. We then went home and worked on some final plans for the baptism. Then, the Coordinating Sister Training Leaders called and told me that I would be training again! We also found out that Hermana Bocanegra is training, too! Lots of things happened that night! 

On Friday, Hermana Bocanegra and I went to the meeting for trainers in San Jose. It was a lot like the one I went to the first time I trained. President Mella and the Assistants talked to us about how important it is to train a new missionary, how we are going to have an impact on them, how we are going to be an example to them, and more. To be honest, I am nervous to train again, but I know that I can do it (I have done it once before). After the meeting, we went back to our companions and Sister Hall and I worked on the baptismal program for Tifanie and Xiomara. While we were there, Xiomara called us and told us that they had to take Tifanie to the Emergency Room! He said that he would. We then finished the program as fast as we could and rushed over to the hospital. Tifanie did NOT look good. When Sister Hall and I left the hospital, we got in the car and cried (Sister Hall doesn't cry much, so that is a big deal). We went and got ice cream (to eat our feelings) and then went to our dinner. After dinner, we came back home, exhausted. We did call Tifanie that night, to see if she could do her interview tomorrow instead, and she was home from the hospital. Thank heavens!

On Saturday, Tifanie and Xiomara had their baptismal interviews. It all went well! We were so excited! We then went home and did studies before going to the church to finalize the baptismal program. We then had lunch and helped out at Sunrise. They played Jeopardy. It was fun. :) We then had dinner and appointments. That night, we waited for transfer calls. Sister Hall is being transfered. :( But, she is going to the zone right next door, so I will see her at Zone Conferences! Yay! 

On Sunday, we had that Stake Conference broadcast. It was so good! I loved Elder Renlund's talk! :D After the meeting, we were finally able to catch our ward mission leader and make sure that he knew what was going on for the baptism. We then went home and had lunch. Sister Hall then packed and I weekly planned before we went to the baptism that the hermanas were having right before ours (to help out). It was great. It was someone who had been meeting with missionaries for a long time, so a lot of missionaries came to the baptism. 

Tifanie and Xiomara's baptism was beautiful! The people who gave their talks were great, and Tifanie started to cry (which made Sister Hall and me start to cry too!). Then, a woman in the ward did a musical number and then we had the baptism. As soon as Tifanie came out of the water, she hugged the man who baptized her and then came out of the font and hugged us. She was so happy! Xiomara was baptized next and she came and hugged us too! After that, they were confirmed by our ward mission leader (John Henry). He actually started to cry during Tifanie's! After that, Tifanie bore her testimony (Xiomara didn't want to) and the meeting closed. I wish you could have been there. I haven't been so happy in so long! It made this whole crazy stressful week worth it!

After the baptism, we had dinner and then went home so Sister Hall could keep packing. It was a good night. 

Today has been good so far. We still have errands to run and then the zone is getting together one last time before everyone gets transferred. 

Have a great week. I love you!

Love, 

Sara

An odd week

Hello family!

Hope you are doing well. Sorry I am emailing so late. We had an eventful morning, and we are a little behind schedule. More about that in a little bit. :) Let me tell you about the rest of the week, too.

On Monday night, we went to see Betty, but we had to reschedule. So, we went home and took care of some things. That night, we got a call from the Zone Leaders saying that they were on their way to our apartment. We asked them what they meant and they told us that the Sisters couldn't stay in their apartment and they needed to stay with us, and that they (the elders) were bringing their mattresses. The Sisters then called us and explained what was going on. So, the four of them showed up and we got everything settled.

On Tuesday, we had District Meeting. We then grabbed lunch and went to see someone before going to service at Sunrise. We watched a presentation by someone who was in the Peace Corps with them, and then set up a game of bowling. Some of the residents can bowl! They then had their wine and cheese social and we read trivia to them. We then had dinner and then saw Betty. It was a good day.

On Wednesday, we went to see Joann and had a lesson with her. We then went to lunch with Jerri. Her birthday was on Monday, and Sister Hall's was on Friday, so we decided to meet in he middle and go out to lunch. It was fun! After that, we went to the horse ranch to help out with lessons. We had to leave early, though, to meet with Jason. We taught him The Gospel of Jesus Christ. We then had dinner and Sister Hall did language study before we had one last appointment. The Sisters then called us that they were still having trouble with their apartment and that they had to come over again. So, they did (although, this time they brought foam pads instead of their mattresses).

On Thursday, we had an appointment with Chris. Funny how that worked out, looking back on it. So, Chris has a tendency to cancel on us right before the appointment. So, he called us about fifteen minutes before and we were like "No, he isn't doing this again". When Sister Hall answered the phone, he started to say that he couldn't make it and Sister Hall said, "But, Chris! We got you a treat!" He paused and then asked us how long the appointment would be! I couldn't believe it! So, we went to the store and got him some donuts. We then read the story about the seminary class where the kid did pushups for donuts and how that related to the atonement. He really liked it. We then had lunch with the hermanas before going to service at Ivy League. We had papusas. :) After Ivy League, we had dinner with the McKee's before running to another dinner with Tifanie and Xiomara. It was a good night.

On Friday, it was Sister Hall's birthday! :D In the morning, we went and did service at the food bank and then went out to lunch with some of the other missionaries in the Zone. We then had an appointment with Tifanie and Xiomara. We taught them The Gospel of Jesus Christ, too. After that, we went to a Crepe Shop with the hermanas and had crepes (yum). After that, we had a nice dinner. The family knew it was Sister Hall's birthday, and we had so much fun.

On Saturday, Sister Hall did language study and then we had lunch. After lunch, we went to Sunrise and helped them paint pictures. We then played Jeopardy with them. I was competing with one of the elders to see who could get the most points. It was fun. :) Then, two of the elders found out we didn't have a dinner and invited us to eat with them at the church. We then went home and started weekly planning, before having dinner at the church with the elders and the other sisters. We then went home and continued weekly planning. It was a good day.

On Sunday, we ran out of the house to get to the car so we could be on time to church, and Sister Hall left the keys in the apartment. And I locked the door. Again. So, we called the hermanas and asked them to give us a ride to church. Church was really good. Tifanie, Xiomara, and Eddie all came! Tifanie and Xiomara even went up and bore their testimonies! I went up as well, and bore it in English and then in French. I looked over at Eddie while I was doing the French part and he was smiling at me. :)

Then, in Sunday School I got roped into playing translator! (Ahhhhh!) John Henry, who usually translates for Eddie, was helping teach so I was to help answer any questions Eddie had. We even split into groups, and I had to explain the assignment to Eddie and ask him for his thoughts. Then, Eddie and I went up to share what we had talked about. I shared what we talked about in English and then asked Eddie for his thoughts. He said everything in French and I played translator in front of the class (scary!). In Relief Society, we had a lesson about revelation, and that was really good.

We were trying to figure out how we were going to get home (given we had no car) and a member offered to give us a ride. Yay! We then went to the hermanas apartment (they left us their key) and spent some time their because we were both not feeling well (from fasting). Later that evening, our dinner (who we had told about our situation) came and picked us up to take to her house! We had a good dinner with them and they drove us home. It was so nice. Unfortunately, my body doesn't respond well to fasting and then eating, and I was really sick that night. When the elders came over with pillows and blankets for us (like they did last time we got locked out) I asked them for a blessing. Shortly after that, I went to bed.

Today has been good. We didn't get back into our apartment until later in the morning, so we have been a little behind schedule. But, after this all we have left is grocery shopping and then hanging out with the zone. Should be a good day.

Have a great week. I love you lots!

Love,

Sara <3

Best of Times, Busiest of Times

Hello family!

How are you doing? :) I hope things are going well. Can you believe it is Frebruary?! I certainly can't. Anyways, we had a crazy week (in a good way!). Here's what happened! 

On Monday night, we met with Betty and read scriptures together. We are still in the Isaiah chapters, and I have to have the Institute manual open right alongside what we are reading. We have great discussions though.

On Tuesday, Sister Hall had a doctor's appointment and then we had District Meeting. It was really good. We then had lunch, and were going to see Jason, but he had to cancel. We did, however, get to go to Sunrise. We played games with them and then went to the wine and cheese social. They had their wine and cheese, and we read trivia to them. They enjoyed it. We then went to see Tifanie and her daughter, Xiomara (pronounced zee-oh-maw-ruh). Tifanie wasn't able to stay for the lesson, so we taught Xiomara the Restoration and invited her to be baptized. She said yes!!!!! So, she and her mom now have a baptismal date for 14 February!!!!! :D :D :D :D We had dinner that night with a family that just moved into the ward. They were so nice! We then had a meeting with our ward mission leader to talk about what is going on. It was a great day!

On Wednesday, we met with Jerri. She is doing so well. :) We then had lunch and went to service at the horse ranch. One of the riders was being difficult, but all in all it went well. I got to learn a lot about one of the other riders and her story. Some of these people are so incredible. It is great to see them and watch what the horseback riding does for them. :) We then had dinner and appointments. 

On Thursday, we had interviews with President Mella. Mine went so well! We talked about the fact that I am going home in a couple of months and what my plans are. It was really good. Then, while Sister Hall was talking to him, I was talking with Sister Mella. It was fun to just visit with her. We then had lunch before service at Ivy League. Mainly, we pulled weeds and picked up trash. I did, however, find a big winter coat that was buried in the mud by the riverbank. Trying to rip that thing free was an adventure! (Yuck!) After dinner that night, we went to see Katherine. We had a really good lesson with her about the Atonement. We shared that story I asked you to send me about a year ago, Mom. The one about pushups for donuts. :) It was great.  

On Friday, we had service at the food bank. We then had a lunch appointment. We ate with a member of the ward and one of her non-member friends. It was fun. We then tried to see a referral, but they weren't home. We tried to see some more people too, before going to dinner. After dinner, we weekly planned. Friday was also my fifteen month mark. I am officially as old as my trainer was when she trained me! 

On Saturday morning, I called Eddie to see if he still wanted a tour of the church that day and when he was available. He said (in French), "No, I want to see a meeting." He wanted to come to Sacrament Meeting!!!!! We then had to run to a zone meeting. After the meeting, we had lunch and then went to sunrise. We helped them paint pictures and then played jeopardy with them. It was fun. :) After sunrise, we had dinner, and then we then had another lesson with Tifanie and Xiomara. We taught The Restoration to Tifanie and Xiomara helped. :) It was a good day. 

On Sunday, we were soooo busy. Through the help of the Lord, we managed to find a ride for Tifanie and Xiomara and a ride for Eddie. Thankfully, Eddie's ride was John Henry (our ward mission who speaks 18 languages). So, while I was sitting with Tifanie and Xiomara, John Henry was in the back translating sacrament meeting for Eddie. We then had gospel principles, and that went really well. Then, for the third hour (because it was a fifth sunday) we all met in the chapel for a special presentation. Again, we sat with Tifanie and John Henry translated the whole thing for Eddie. After the meeting, Tifanie and Xiomara got a ride home and we went to talk with Eddie for a minute. I explained that we wouldn't be able to meet with him that night to work on English, and he said that that was fine. We set up an appointment with him for this weekend. 

We then went to our lesson with Jason. We taught about the Plan of Salvation. I feel like it went well. Afterwards, we had another chat with John Henry and he told us that Eddie wanted to come to church this upcoming Sunday too!!!! We are going to see if he would be interested in taking the lessons, too! I don't even know what to think! :D That night, we had dinner with the Makasinis. Their niece (who isn't a member), was visiting and she is from Tahiti. Being from Tahiti, she speaks French, English, and Tahitian! So, she and I chatted in French a little and in English. She is visiting here for a few weeks before she goes back to Tahiti. After the dinner, we had a lesson, and Sister Makasini asked me to pray in French. It was really special. That night, we went and saw Dawn and had a lesson with her. By the end of everything, we were exhausted! 

Today has been good so far. We are going to run our errands after this and probably spend time with the zone. Hope you all have an awesome week! 

Love you, 

What a week

Hello Family!

How are you doing? I hope you are doing well. We had a really busy week, as you already know. And for the first three days of the week being P-day and meetings, we did really well! :D Let me tell you about it. 

As you recall, Tuesday was P-day. We did our usual errands and then that night we had dinner with the spanish missionaries and one of the families in their ward (no one signed up to feed us that night). The father in the family is a chef, so we had really good food! It was fun to listen to everyone talk and try to figure out what was going on. :) All in all, it was a good day. 

On Wednesday, we had the worldwide missionary broadcast. It was soooo good. It was called "Teach Repentance and Baptize Converts". Neil L Anderson, David A Bednar, W Christopher Waddell, Bonnie L Oscarson, L Whitney Clayton, Brent H Nielson, and Dallin H Oaks all spoke and trained us. They said that it was the first broadcast they had had like that in about ten years! I took a lot of notes, and will have to send them to you. After the broadcast, we went to lunch with the hermanas and then went back home. We then had dinner with a family in the ward and then appointments. It was a good day! :) 

On Thursday, we met with Jerri. That was funny. It was funny because when we got to Jerri's house, her mom (who lives with her) was sitting in the livingroom with the Jehovah Witness missionaries! So, we ended up meeting with Jerri in a different room in the house. There were a few times Sister Hall and I could hear what they were saying, and that was fun. Anyways, after we met with Jerri, we went and got lunch with the hermanas because it was Hermana Bocanegra's birthday. We went and got tortas (it is like a mexican burger. It is yummy!). We then went to service at Ivy League. While we were there, we plotted with the Sister Training Leaders to bring Hermana Bocanegra a cake and sing Happy Birthday to her. It was so fun! :) After that, we were going to meet with Jason, but he had to reschedule. We then went to dinner and then met with Mohammed. We taught him The Plan of Salvation. He had a lot of questions. It was an interesting lesson. I felt like Sister Hall and I taught it well together, but it could have been better. We are seeing him again next week. 

On Friday, we had service at the food bank and then had to run home because the housing coordinator was bringing us new desks! Yay! I was sitting at a table and Sister Hall's desk had nails sticking out of it. But now we have new desks! :) After we got the desks, we went to see Tifanie. Wow. That was an amazing lesson. We asked her about her religious background, and she told us about some of the things she is going through right now. She said that she had prayed last week for help and then we showed up the next day! We talked to her about our purpose as missionaries, and she asked us how soon she can get baptized! (My jaw about hit the table at this point!) So, we taught her part of the first lesson (she didn't have a lot of time) and we have another appointment for this week! Wow! We then tried to go see another referral, but he moved and we will have to send his name to other missionaries. We then wanted to see Ellen, but she had to cancel. So did our appointment with Chris. 

We then had to stop at Target to use the restroom (and their wifi). When we were coming out of Target, a man walked up to us in the parking lot and handed us a piece of paper, saying that "two gentlemen" wanted him to give it to us. We opened it up and there were two names and a phone number. Sister Hall was so excited because she thought we had a referral. I told her that I thought someone was hitting on us. So, we went home to weekly plan, and we texted the number. The number texted us back, and... I was right. So, we ended up telling them that we were the missionaries, and they stopped. We laughed about it for a long time. Who flirts with the missionaries?! Later that night, we had dinner and then we saw Betty and read scriptures with her. She had a lot of questions. It was a good day. :)

On Saturday, we spent our morning weekly planning. We then had lunch and went to a zone service project. We were helping someone move. We helped move all of the stuff out of the house and into a u-haul trailer, and then drove to their storage unit and helped unload everything. By the time we were done, it was time to go to dinner! After dinner, we went and saw Eddie. Wow again. Sister Hall was teaching his kids the alphabet, and I was chatting with him in English and French (probably 80% French, 20% English), and he asked me what we do as missionaries. So, I explained to him in French what we do as missionaries. He then asked about church and I started explaining more about it. We must have switched to English at some point, because Sister Hall looked at him and invited him to church. He said that he would be interested in coming!!!! So, I gave him the address and we talked more about it. He said that he wants to come on Saturday and look at the building and then we will meet up on Sunday and work on English some more. I was floored! When we got in the car, I told Sister Hall everything and she was shocked, too! I am so happy that Heavenly Father made it so that Eddie and I could cross paths. I mean, there is no way that any of that just happened. I feel like this is one of the reasons I am here. Even if he doesn't get baptized or join the church. 

On Sunday, we had ward council and then church. It was good. Phillip came, but Jason and Jennifer couldn't come (He was sick, and she was trying the YSA ward). After church, we had lunch and then went to the Tongan ward sacrament meeting because one of the youth who hangs out with the missionaries was giving his farewell talk. It was so cool! I really enjoyed being there! :) We then decided to make cookies for Jason to take to him (because he was sick). Well, that turned into a bigger mess than we were anticipating. First, we didn't have all the ingredients, so we went to someone's house to make them. Then, they didn't have all the ingredients, so we tried to make it work. It failed horribly. We ended up not even giving them to Jason! We then had dinner and then went to the church to work on updating our records.

Today has been good so far. We have errands to run, and then we are going to spend some time with the zone. Tonight, we have dinner and then some appointments. 

Love you soooo much!

We are on fire!....Literally

Hey there! How are you? I hope things are going well for you. Things are going well here. We had a really busy week and our meeting with Elder Sitati. It has been raining a lot, too. Let me tell you all about it. :) 

On Monday (not yesterday), we had P-day and then went to Betty's. We read 2 Nephi 14 and answered her questions. Thank goodness for the Institute Manual! These Isaiah chapters are hard! 

On Tuesday, we went on a long walk and stopped at the houses of some of the people we visit (and contact people on the street). We stopped by Katherine's and she asked us to come back in an hour or so. We then walked to Elizabeth's and had a conversation with her on the porch. We then walked back to Katherine's for our lesson. In all, we were gone about three hours. It was good exercise, too! We then went to the shop where we were supposed to meet Jason, but he didn't come. So, we went to Sunrise and helped out. We then tried to go to dinner, but our GPS took us the wrong way. Again. So, we were late to dinner. After dinner, we met with our ward mission leader. We then went back home and got ready for exchanges. 

On Wednesday, we were on exchanges. I was in our area with Sister Sherwood. After studies, we went to the horse ranch because the elders texted us and said that they needed help. So, we went up there (so did Sister Hall and Sister Iloa). Turns out, they needed help with the horses and asked us to clean all the poop out of the stalls. And, to make things even better, NONE of the elders were there (Thaaaaaaaaaaanks). So, we cleaned out the stalls, and then went to get lunch. After lunch, we went to Sunrise again (we were going to go back to the ranch and help with the lessons, but they were cancelled because of the rain). We then had a lesson with Joann. We talked about prayer and scripture study. It went really well! We then had dinner before going contacting. We then exchanged back. It was a good day!

On Thursday, we were so busy. In the morning, we had ZTM. It was good (and not as long as usual). We then had lunch and then had service at Ivy League. It was great, except it started pouring rain and we had to end early. Ah well. We then had our lesson with Jason. It went so well! We taught the Restoration and he really liked it! We invited him to be baptized, and he was a little hesitant, but that was okay. :) We feel so good about him! We did invite him to come to church, and he said that he would. After that, we had dinner with the Bishop and his family. Their daughter had just gotten back from her mission on Tuesday, and we had so much fun with them! :) That night, we met with Mohammed. We taught him the Restoration, too. He had a lot of questions about it. By the end of it, Sister Hall and I felt so drained! We then went home. 

On Friday, our apartment manager (who is in the ward) called and asked if we could help her and her husband help two of their friends who were moving. So, we went and helped load things into their U-haul. They were so grateful! It really made us feel good. :) We then had service at the food bank and then had an appointment with the Relief Society president. We had lunch with her and then went and visited women in the ward who couldn't come to church. It was good. We then got a referral for a girl named Tifanie and went to visit her. She was super friendly and we have an appointment with her this week. Hopefully, we can start teaching her. :) We then went to dinner at this really fun crepe shop. :) It was a good day. 

On Saturday, we had breakfast with Kathy again. It was good. :) After that, we had our studies and then went to a zone service at someone's house. We were all out there pulling weeds. It was fun (we have an awesome zone). We then tried to see Eddie, but we couldn't find parking. Then, when we finally did find parking, the hermanas called us and told us that they were locked out of their apartment! We immediately went home to help them out (and I called Eddie and apologized that we couldn't come. He was so nice about it). They needed someone to wait at the apartment for the housing coordinator (from the mission office) to come with a key (the apartment manager was gone or something) and they had an appointment they couldn't miss. We had dinner, and couldn't stay, but we let them stay in our apartment until the elders came and let them use their car while they waited for the housing coordinator to come. What a mess. We then went to our dinner and then came home and cleaned our apartment. 

On Sunday, we were so stressed out. We had Jason coming, a potential that the Chinese elders gave us (named Jennifer), and Phillip! Trying to coordinate it all was a pain. When we got to church, Jennifer was there and we introduced ourselves and sat with her. We got to say hi to Phillip too. Jason and our ward mission leader (who was giving him a ride) were over HALF AN HOUR late. *headdesk* Sacrament Meeting was good, except sitting through the entire meeting waiting for Jason to walk in! We then had Gospel Principles and sat with them. The lesson was on the Priesthood, which was what we taught Jason about (as part of the Restoration). *phew!* We then went to Relief Society, but were late and had to sit in the back away from Jennifer. After church was over, we talked to Jennifer and asked if we could teach her. She was a little hesitant. She is the age to go to the young single adult ward, so she is going to try that out, too. We missed Phillip, but were able to talk to Jason. He asked if he could get a copy of one of the Gospel Principles books. We told him we could arrange that. :) 

We then went home and had lunch before going contacting. We were going to see Marta, but she came to church, too! :) The hermanas then called us and asked if we could help them do service for one of their potential investigators named Anne. So, we went. She is an interesting woman (reminds me of Santa Cruz). We then went to dinner before dropping by Jason's house to give him the book. We asked him about church. He said that he liked it! He had some questions, and we answered them. We are meeting with him again on Thursday. We then came home and finally doing our weekly planning. It was a busy Sunday! 

Yesterday was good. In the morning (and afternoon) we had the meeting with Elder Sitati. He, his wife, President Mella, and Sister Mella all spoke to us. It was a good meeting. Sister Sitati talked about companionships and how we should treat each other. Elder Sitati talked about having faith and our purpose as missionaries. We are really looking forward to the broadcast tomorrow! :) After that, we drove back home and got ready to go to dinner. 

After dinner, we went to a dinner that the spanish sisters invited us (and a few other companionships in the zone) to come to. This family loves to feed the missionaries and they do what they call "The Habanero Challenge". Every missionary has to eat at least one habanero. The record for sisters is one, and the record for elders is four. So, after dinner, they brought out the bag of habaneros and we all ate it at the same time. It was intense! I have had habanero before, but never a whole one! Sister Hall, who already has a hard time with spicy, ran out of the house to get fresh air (and felt sick) and I ran out after her. We stood in the road downing water bottles and eating ice. The rest of the zone came out to see if we were okay, and to suffer with us. A couple of the elders were crying! No one ate more than one that night. After that, we went with the hermanas to get ice cream (to soothe the burn) and then went home. It was a fun night. :) 

Well, that is about all for here. Have a great week. Love you lots!