I'm a Poly!

Malo! <-- Hello in Tongan

How are you? I hope you're doing well. This has been a crazy week, so I better start now. :D 

On Monday, the Nelsons took us out to dinner. We had jamaican food! I was so excited to have jerk chicken again! I thought of you Dad! <3 I hope to go there again! :) For FHE, we played a game called Murder. Sister Chu Shing was the murder for one of the rounds and she killed almost everyone! She even got everyone to convict me and kill me off. Sleeping with one eye open this transfer... (haha)

Sister Palmer, Sister Chu Shing, Sister Tuitupou

On Tuesday, we picked up our new companion. Her name is Sister Tuitupou (two-ee-two-poh), from Tonga. So, I serve now with a Samoan and a Tongan! I am a polynesian! :D (Albeit, I am a very short polynesian!!!!) We went straight to work with her. When we were contacting, we met some interesting people on campus. There were two guys sitting on a bench smoking weed and Sister Chu Shing decided to talk to them. That was interesting. 

Sister Chu Shing: So...do you like to smoke?

Them: Yeah

Sister Chu Shing: You know what's better than smoking?

Them: What? (interested)

Sister Chu Shing: Jesus Christ

Them: ............

Then, while I was on the phone with our dinner appointment, Sister Chu Shing and Sister Tuitupou were talking to this guy. I finished the phone call and walked over to them. 

Me: Hi there

Him: Excuse me, but, how old are you?

Me: 21

Him: What? You look 16!

Me: Umm...thank you?

I've gotten that I look younger than I am before, but come on! 16?! Ah well. :) After that, we had dinner with Shane. It was fun. I love dinner with him. 

On Wednesday we had another adventure. Right after Personal Study, I was headed to the back (half) bathroom when all of the sudden I hear a "help! help!" from the front (full) beathroom. Immediately, I knew that our toilet had overflowed. Again. So, I opened the door, and poor Sister Lytle was standing on the scale in a small lake of water! So, all five of us stopped the toilet and cleaned the mess. Not how I thought I would spend companionship study! We sang a hymn while we were doing our cleaning. We sang I am a Child of God and Sister Tuitupou was singing in Tongan. Then Sister Sakamoto started singing in Japanese. So I decided to sing in French. So Sister Chu Shing decided to sing in Samoan. It was so cool! :D We sang it again at the end of District Meeting and made one of the Zone Leaders (a spanish speaking elder) sing with us! One of the other elders recorded it, so I need to see if I can get a copy from him! 

On Thursday, we got our temple date for this week (we get to go to the temple around General Conference)! We are going on Thursday, 2 April. I am so excited! We have to decide which session we want to go to and find a member to take us, but we are going! I am so excited I could cry!!!! :D

On Friday, we were on an exchange. I was in my area with Sister Tuitupou and Hermana Leavitt (Hermana Gilvarry's new companion). It was stressful for me! I was the one who knew the area and the people! We survived though and that is what matters. :D 

On Saturday, we went to the General Women's meeting. It was so good! I loved what they talked about. They talked about The Proclamation to the World and the importance of the family. It made me think of how important all of you are. I love you guys. *big hugs* 

On Sunday, Michelle came to Church! She is back from Israel! Hurrah! We had fast and testimony meeting, so I went up and bore my testimony in French again. It really touched her and she said that she understood everything I said (yes!). Sister Tuitupou also shared things in Tongan and Sister Chu Shing shared things in Samoan. It was cool. 

Let me update you on our investigators, even though we didn't really get to see them this week. 

Michelle: Just got back from Israel. We had a lesson with her today. She is opening up more and more to the idea of baptism. We plan on taking her to one so she can see what it is like. Hopefully, that will help her make a decision. 

Daniel: We wanted to take him to the temple last weekend, but he cancelled. He didn't come to Church either. We told him that he has to come to Church if he wants to get baptized! So, hopefully, he will come. He still has a baptismal date for 25 April. 

Nathan: He is opening up. Not sure what will happen with him. 

Ivan: He has been out of town. :(

Milene: We haven't quite been able to get our schedule just right to meet with her. We really want to though! :( 

Have you heard about the Easter initiative the Church is doing? They are doing an Easter video, like what they did for He Is The Gift at Christmas time. It is called Because He Lives. If you haven't seen it yet, please do! It is awesome! Please share it too, and let me know about your efforts. :) We have been given cards to pass out (and have already given some of them out) and plan on showing the video to everyone we can! #BecauseHeLives ! 

Quick funny story:

*We went to see one of Sister Chu Shing's friends today and we were sitting with him; Sister Chu Shing was on one side of me and Sister Tuitupou was on the other. All of the sudden, he looks at us and says "You're an oreo!" (Because you had me, white, in the middle of two polynesians, brown). I laughed really hard at that! XD

I have a quick minute, so let me tell you something. I love being on my mission. It is hard at times, but I am loving it. I hit five months on Sunday (29 March) and I can't believe everything that has happened in those five months. I have learned so much so fast and I am learning more every day. I am supposed to be here, even if I don't know entirely why. Heavenly Father is preparing me for something. I will have to wait and see what it is! :)

Well, that's all for here. I gotta run. We are having an awesome night tonight. We have dinner with a couple of members of the Branch and then we are playing pukana for FHE! I love pukana, so I am excited!!!! :D 

Have a great week! Have a great Easter! Enjoy Conference! Go to the temple! Make good choices! 

Love, 

Sara

Starting off the Transfer with a Bang 2.0

Hello!

The first week of the transfer is done, and what a week it has been. On Tuesday morning, Sister Chu Shing and I went to transfer meeting. It was weird to be at transfer meeting and not have to worry about what was going to happen to me. On a side note, Sister Lytle is now with Sister Sakamoto (a Japanese sister who came to California the same time we did. She was in the MTC longer though, because she was learning English). After Transfer Meeting, we had Institute lunch. At lunch, we met a girl named Susana. We had seen her around, but never really talked with her. She had been talking to Sam (a recent convert) and had heard that you could schedule appointments to meet with missionaries, so she asked us when she could meet with us! We were so excited.....until we found out that she got married. On Sunday. So, we will have to give her to another set of missionaries (darn it!). We didn't do much for Saint Patrick's Day, but I made sure to wear a lot of green. :D

We had an interesting Wednesday. This was the day that the new missionaries were coming in, but because there were so few of them, we weren't taking them contacting on campus. While we were studying, the APs called and asked us to watch one of the sisters for a couple of hours! She was the only one coming from the Provo MTC and they didn't want to make her wait at the airport for the Mexico missionaries. So, Sister Mella dropped her off and she hung out with us. Her name was Sister Iloa (from Tonga). We took her to District Meeting and then to lunch. She then came with us to meet with Sam (from Bible Study). She had asked us a while back after Bible Study if we could meet up and talk about the Bible. We met with her and I feel like we walked a fine line between discussion and Bible Bash. She said that she wanted to see how we were different and what we believed, but her actions were completely different. We are probably not going to meet with her again. She is very strong in her Church. After that, we helped the Nelsons prepare for Institute and Sister Mella came with the new Hermanas to pick up Sister Iloa. One of the Hermanas and I had an interesting conversation...

Me: Hi

Hermana: Sister Palmer...do you know Bre Palmer from Byu-Idaho?

Me: That's my twin sister! How do you know her? How is she?

Hermana: I used to go to the dance workshops. I haven't been in a while...I think she is okay...

Me: You made my day Hermana! Give me another hug! :D

I think it was a Hermana Patterson? Ring a bell, Bre? 

Institute was great. We actually got to go to one of the classes. It was Elder Nelson's class on the New Testament. It was really good. 

Thursday was interesting. We were at service when President Mella called us. He talked to Sister Chu Shing and asked if we would be able to take in a third sister this transfer. So, I will be in a trio this transfer. It will be interesting. After service, we went to Brother Nelson's class so we could teach Milene. Unfortunately, we didn't have time because we had to run to lunch appointment. After lunch, we went to Bible Study. It was good. After Bible Study, on our way home, we got a potential investigator! Her name is Alejandra. She is in one of the Institute classes and recognized us from that. We talked to her and she said she would be interested in learning more! So, we have an appointment to see her this week. :D That night, we didn't have a dinner so the Nelsons, the elders, and we bought dinner and ate at the Institute. Two other companionships in our Zone came to the Institute to eat as well, so it was almost a Zone dinner! Haha!

Friday was good. We had a lot of service. First we went to Guadalupe and helped pull weeds. And by pulling weeds, I mean pulling out giant tree-like things that you had to hack with a shovel. I felt like I won an epic battle! We then had service at Roosevelt. It was fun, except one of the guys there asked Sister Chu Shing to dance and would not take no for an answer. He said that he would teach her, grabbed her wrist, and off they went! So, she had to dance with him. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time in the kitchen after that. After that, we had weekly planning and some other appointments. It was a good day. 

Saturday was busy. For morning sports, we played soccer. This was a big deal, because President Mella banned soccer last transfer, thanks to missionaries getting injured, and had just allowed us to play again. It was fun! Except when I fell over backwards running after someone. Thankfully, I wasn't hurt. We then helped out at a big Activity Days conference. We sat in one of the classes and helped the girls pay attention.  It was good. We then had a lunch appointment with a woman in another ward (her granddaughter is YSA age) and then we were off to see Daniel (an investigator). We taught him and set a new baptismal date with him!!!! We are also planning on taking him up to the temple this weekend. I am so excited! We then went contacting, met with the elders, had dinner, and finished our weekly planning. 

Sunday was good. For Sunday school, we had a lesson on family history. I thought of you, Mom. We then went and tried to visit less-actives. We ended up finding new investigators for other missionaries! After a few hours of that, we had a quick dinner and then went contacting with the elders. It was a very productive day. I like those days. 

Well, that is about all for here. All we have left today is cleaning our apartment, the Zone Activity, dinner (with the Nelsons!), meeting with Linda, and FHE. 

Give yourselves big hugs from me! 

Love, 

Sara

End of Transfer 3

Hi!

This has been a good week. It was also the last week of the transfer. I now have three transfers under my belt! Sister Chu Shing and I are staying here for another transfer too. To answer your question about transfers, Mom, you typically stay in one area for four transfers (six months). So, at the end of this transfer I might leave. Sister Chu Shing goes home the transfer after this one (in June) so I don't know if they will have me just stay with her or if they will send someone in and have her teach them the area. We will see. Our Zone was affected by transfers too, so we will be getting some new missionaries in our Zone this week. 

On Monday, as you know, we went to Santa Cruz. It was so much fun. There were three other Zones of missionaries that decided to go to Santa Cruz that day too, so we got to hang out with so many missionaries! :D We ate on the pier and played on the beach. I got sunburned, but not as bad as some of the elders! Mental note: In California, you can get sunburned in March. Seriously though, lots of fun! After that,came back to San Jose and went to FHE. We taught the FHE lesson on Missionary Work. We then played a memory game called "What is Missing?". I had fun. :D

On Tuesday, we didn't go to service because Sister Chu Shing had a doctor's appointment. We were early, so we decided to go get breakfast and found this French bakery called Cocola. I was so excited! I went in and bought a millefeuille (pronounced me-foy). The best part? I pronounced it like a French person and the guy knew exactly what I wanted! It was really yummy too. <3 I would love to go again, but it is out of the way, and kind of hard on the wallet. ^^' After Sister Chu Shing's appointment, we went to lunch at the Institute. We then taught Ivan. After teaching Ivan, we taught Michelle. We talked to her about the Spiritnd asked her what her end goals are. She is praying about baptism, and really wants guidance. We invited her to receive a priesthood blessing and she accepted. Our Zone Leaders were at the Institute for something and they were able to give her a blessing then. She is in Israel right now and won't be back until the 24th. Hopefully, she will feel the Spirit and find what she is looking for (and hopefully that involves us!). 

On Wednesday, we had district meeting and helped the Nelsons prepare for Institute dinner. We had so much fun helping them. After that, Sister Chu Shing and I did some visits (visiting less-actives) and then came back to teach Carmina. She is doing all right. She is just really busy with everything going on in her life. After that, we had dinner. It was so much fun. Also, a French guy goes to the Institute dinner! I just found this out! Sister Chu Shing introduced me to him! His name is Douglas. Sadly, I didn't have time to talk to him, but I will try again this week! We stayed at the Institute the rest of the night, meeting with people. It was good, but it was also a long night (Institute night usually is). 

On Thursday, we had lunch with Brother Sydall (Sister Chu Shing's friend). He took us to a seafood buffet and I about made myself sick! It was really good though. After that, we went to Elder Nelson's class because he had a new investigator for us! One of his students, Melini (Meh-lay-knee). We met with her after class and talked with her. She seems interested in what we have to say. We plan on teaching her The Restoration this week. Which should be interested, considering she looked us in the eye and told us that she is a prophet... After meeting with Melini, we were talking to a YSA member when a homeless guy walked in and started handing out flyers. We went and got the elders, because we can't have homeless people in the building. We then went looking for Brother Bohn (the institute director) but he wasn't there. So Sister Fitzpatrick, the support specialist, had to kick him out (she had the elders back her up). It would have been interesting to hear what he had to say, but he had no teeth and we couldn't understand him. Sister Fitzpatrick also showed us what to do next time this happens, because it will happen again. Poor homeless guy... After that, we had Bible Study. It was good. We are hoping to meet with one of the girls in that group this week. We also saw Nathan. His heart is softening! 

On Friday, we met with Chris. He is thinking about a mission, and we taught him about home teaching and how that will help him prepare for a mission. There is a quote in Preach My Gospel by Harold B Lee (I think) that says that missionary work is home teaching for non-members and home teaching is missionary work for members (see the end of chapter one). We also went out with Manny and Christina, two less-actives in the Branch. We then had dinner with one of Sister Chu Shing's friends, Asi.

On Saturday, I was on an exchange. I was in my area with Sister Gilvarry and Sister Chu Shing was in the Spanish program with Sister Reyes. We had a great day! We went and did service at Veggilution and I met a girl from Canada who speaks English and French. We talked to her about missionaries and I got to speak with her in French (I understood her!). I hope we get to see her again. After that, we went and picked up trash with the Zone. That was fun too, but man there is a lot of trash! After that, Sister Gilvarry and I met with Jessica (a recent convert in the branch) and then went to dinner. We ate with the Langevins (they are in another ward). Sister Langevin had invited Sister Chu Shing and I for dinner a few weeks back. We had Samoan food (I am sad Sister Chu Shing missed it). It was yummy! After dinner, we did some visits and then exchanged back. It was great!  

On Sunday, we had Church. It was good. I am so excited for Conference in a couple of weeks! After Church, we went contacting at an Aztec festival in town. This week was Aztec new year, and they were celebrating. It was really cool and I got some pictures of the people who were really dressed up for it. After that, we weekly planned and then went to the outgoing fireside. It was good to see missionaries who I  don't normally see, and say goodbye to the ones who are leaving. Sister Lytle's trainer and her current companion are going home. I hope she has another great companion! 

Well, I gotta run. Sorry, no pics this time. I left my camera cord at home on accident. Love you lots! 

Hello, 

We all went to Santa Cruz on Monday, so I get to do my emailing today instead. Here we go!

Monday (not yesterday) was FHE. For the activity, Sister Chu Shing and I taught the Branch how to play Pukana. I love that game! I got really into it and when I got up in the morning I realized that maybe I had gotten a little too into it (heh). Oh well. It was super fun. 

Sara and Sister Chu Shing with their Pukana faces

On Tuesday, we met with one of our recent converts/less-actives named Chris. He has been hard to get in touch with, but we finally got to him! We met with him and he told us that he is thinking about serving a mission!!!! We also met with a new Investigator! His name is Ivan. He would come to Institute lunch and we never thought much about teaching him until we saw his name on a list of potential investigators! So, we called him and asked him if he wanted to meet with us. He is a student at SJSU and he is open to learning more. He is a really good guy. We actually met with him again today and talked with him more. He believes in God and wants to know how he can improve his relationship with God.

Wednesday was sad. On Wednesday night, we said goodbye to the Laytons. Their mission is over and they went back home to Huntsville, UT. They stayed for the beginning of Institute and then they left. Before they left, Sister Chu Shing told me that she wanted to do something for them. She decided that she was going to do a haka. (Note: Yes, the haka has a history among the maori people of being a war dance. Now, New it is also used as a way of greeting or saying goodbye. When Sister Chu Shing and her brother went on their missions, their family and friends did the haka in the airport). She only told me and then asked the Laytons if she could do something for them. She then did it. She scared so many people! Sister Chu Shing is normally soft spoken, but she can be loud when she wants to! I recorded it on my camera too. The Laytons loved it and, at the end, everyone was applauding. We then walked the Laytons to their car (ALL of us) and sent them off. It was a great night. 

Let me take a minute to tell you about the couple that replaced the Laytons: the Nelsons. The Nelsons are from Mapleton, UT. Elder Nelson served his mission in New Zealand, so he and Sister Chu Shing are already best friends! He spoke to her in Maori the first time they met and she almost cried. They are both so kind and ask a lot of questions about what they need to do, since their training with the Laytons was only a week. I love them both already. :D

Thursday was Sister Lytle's birthday. She turned 20! In the morning, we got up and she opened presents. We then decorated the apartment and I baked the cake her mom sent in her birthday box. She loved it. She also loved the birthday card you sent her! That night, I went on an exchange with Hermana Reyes so that Sister Chu Shing and Hermana Gilvarry could prepare their STL presentation for ZTM. I had a great time visiting with Hermana Reyes. 

On Friday, we had ZTM. It was really good. We talked about building a strong companionship, companionship unity, communication, following our leaders, and more. It was really good. We then went to lunch as a Zone and ate at the Institute building. After ZTM, we met with the elders and talked to them about what they are doing in the Branch and if we can help them. They gave us some great suggestions for some of the people we are teaching. We then had an early dinner with Linda at the mall. There is a place in the mall like 3 Flames Mongolian and we ate there! I loved it. Plus, Linda brought Anthony (her boyfriend, who the elders were teaching) so we got to visit with both of them. I am so happy with the progress Linda is making. She is fully active and has multiple callings in the ward and stake. She is doing so well!! :D

On Saturday, Sister Hansen was really sick. When we got up to go to morning sports, she told us that she had been throwing up most of the night. D: Sister Lytle stayed to take care of her and Sister Chu Shing and I went to morning sports, promising to bring back a couple of elders to give her a blessing. For morning sports, we played volleyball. Our zone is so much fun. After sports, our Zone Leaders came back with us to give Sister Hansen a blessing. They also went to the store and bought her saltines and sprite. They are awesome! Sister Chu Shing then went with Sister Lytle to service while I stayed with Sister Hansen. They then came back and we switched and I was with Sister Lytle. Sister Lytle and I went to a barbecue that one of their investigators was having to celebrate her baptism that night and to thank everyone who helped her. I felt a little out of place. The barbecue was fun though and we went straight from the barbecue to the church to prepare for the baptism. 

The original plan was to have Sister Chu Shing bring Sister Hansen to the baptism and then Sister Chu Shing and I would go about our day, but Sister Connor (mission nurse) banned Sister Hansen from leaving the apartment! Sister Hansen was devestated to miss the baptism and Sister Lytle was so sad! Before the baptismal service, I got to talk to a deaf member of the ward. His name is Charles. He speaks a little and I think he can read lips, so I was able to communicate with him, using what little sign language I know. I never thought I would have the opportunity to use it on my mission! :D The baptism itself was great. After that, Sister Lytle and I went home and then Sister Chu Shing and I ran out of the apartment to get to the adult session of Stake conference. It was soooooo cool sitting in the back and watching the Vietmanese elders interpret the conference into Vietmanese on one side of the room, and some spanish members interpret the conference into Spanish on the other side (speaking into headsets).

On Sunday, we had more Stake Conference! Yay! Before the actual conference, they had a meeting for recent converts and we went to that. Only two of the recent converts from our Branch came, but that was okay. Daylight savings threw some of them off. That was awesome too because I got to see LIVE interpretations! A vietmanese YSA interpreted the story of a vietmanese recent convert and a Spanish bishop did one for a spanish speaking recent converts. The spanish missionaries were also doing interpretations. Soooooooo cool. :D Stake Conference was great too. Elder Mark Basset of the Seventy came to speak to us. He is awesome. One of my favorite parts was a sister from the Stake who shared her testimony about the temple. I want to go to the temple! I am excited to go next month! After Conference, we went home and did some visits before having dinner with the Jepsons. We then received a phone call from our roommates who told us that now Sister Lytle was sick! Turns out, it wasn't food poisoning. So, we went home early to help them both out. They were both finally able to get out of the apartment today. Sister Chu Shing and I are praying we don't catch it. We have also been sleeping in the livingroom so we don't bother them (we all sleep in one room). 

 

Well, I was going to tell you about Santa Cruz yesterday, but I am pressed for time. I will have to do it in next week's email. 

Love you guys. I hope you are having a great week! <3

Is it March already?

Hello everyone! 

Oh my goodness, how is it March? How is this transfer almost over? How have I been out over four months? I think something happened and I missed some time. I have heard missionaries say that the days feel like weeks, but the weeks only feel like days. It is feeling like that...

This week has been a good week. Let me start with Monday night...

For FHE, we played minesweeper. It was really fun. John (a member of the Branch) laid a bunch of rags all over the floor of the cultural hall and we divided up into pairs (I was with Sister Chu Shing). One person in the pair was blindfolded and the other person guided them verbally (no touching allowed) around to collect the rags. The pair with the most rags at the end won. Sister Chu Shing and I did really well! :D It was fun. 

On Tuesday, we had service at Veggilution. We were weeding. Makes me think of home. We then had lunch at the Institute. We actually have an appointment tomorrow with one of the guys who comes to lunch! We are excited. We also helped Sister Fitzpatrick clean up before going to do visits in Alum Rock (to convince people to come to the Branch). We also ended up finding an older, samoan woman who is in the Alum Rock ward. And, once again, as with every samoan we find, she is somehow related to Sister Chu Shing! :D Anyways, we had a fun visit with her. She also invited us for dinner later this month! :D We also had a lesson with Cindy (a member of the Branch) before having dinner with Shane and the elders. We went to Johnny Rocket's. I love that place. 

On Wednesday, we had district meeting before we went to lunch with Ismael. He took us to this neat Indian buffet place called Punjab cafe. It was yummy. I got to try curried goat! I wasn't a fan of the curry, but the goat meat was cool. We then did service for the Laytons and helped them get dinner ready. Dinner was great. We also had a lesson with a couple of members of the Branch before getting home. It was awesome. 

On Thursday, we went to service at Guadalupe and while we were there. While we were there, someone called us. It turned out to be someone from last Monday when we played pukana on campus! We gave him our number and he called us. He called us to invite us to a Bible Study he and some friends do on campus! We asked him to text us the information and he said that he was going to call the elders too. We then had lunch at the apartment before going to see Colin. We are still reading Preach My Gospel with him and we finished chapter 6. We then met up with the elders to go to Bible Study. There was a big group of them (about twenty). When we arrived, they were all so welcoming! We all sat in a circle and one of the guys in the group taught a short lesson. We then had some discussion about it. We didn't get bible bashed! It was great! We plan on going again next week. We also invited some of them to come to Institute. :D We see some potential in them! After that, we had dinner with Spencer before going off to see Manny and teach him. It was a great day!

On Friday, I was on an exchange. Sister Chu Shing and Hermana Gilvarry had a leadership meeting so Hermana Reyes and I were running around doing things in her area (Las Colinas) and in mine (Washington Square). We had language study too and I learned more about how to pray in Spanish. We saw Lorena, the one who fed us tomales last time I was in Las Colinas, and shared a message with her (I listened). Hermana Reyes had me pray in French and Lorena was so impressed! She told Hermana Reyes that I needed to teach her French and she (Hermana Reyes) needed to teach me Spanish. It was funny and made me smile. We then went to lunch before meeting with Jessalyna (another woman in Los Colinas). She had just had a baby and we got to see her baby too. We then went to the Institute and taught Michelle. We taught Michelle about baptism and confirmation. She is praying about being baptized! I hope she gets her answer soon. She will also be going to Israel this month and we told her to really think about it as she walks where Jesus walked. I also had Michelle help me translate my testimony into French. Thank heavens she loves all the nitty gritty grammar stuff! We then had MCM before Hermana Gilvarry and Sister Chu Shing came back. Sister Chu Shing and I started our weekly planning before having dinner with Johnny and some of his friends in the Branch. It was fun. 

On Saturday, we had morning sports. We played kickball. I am so bad! XD We also finished our weekly planning and went out to frozen yogurt with Christina. Unfortunately, Daniel (our baptismal date) cancelled on us, so we couldn't see him. We hope to see him this week on Wednesday. Anyways, we got caught in a downpour on our way to Froyo and were soaking wet by the time we got there! After that, we had a phone call from Jessica (a recent convert who we have started meeting with just to get to know. She is the elders' recent convert, technically). Apparently she thought that we were meeting! So, we rushed back to the Institute to meet her. Man, what a lesson. She wanted to know why women don't have the priesthood and what the role of women is in the Church. Thank heavens her boyfriend was there. He was so helpful in answering questions and giving his opinion! We later called the elders about it. Apparently, she had asked them the same thing and they had tried to answer before telling her to talk to us! Thaaaaaaaaanks elders... Anywho, after that, we had dinner with Viliami. He is a new member of the Branch. He is Tongan and from Hawaii. He is awesome. He has offered to feed us whenever we want and has signed up for every weekend on our calendar! He is a returned missionary and he knows how hard it can be to get dinner!

Sunday was the day of me coming out of my comfort zone. In Fast and Testimony meeting, I got up and bore my testimony in French. My plan was to do it when Michelle was there, but she was in Sacramento. So, I will try again next time. Afterwards, I had a lot of people tell me that they really enjoyed my testimony! It isn't very often that I get to use my French and I was glad to use it (even if no one understood me). In Sunday School, I was teaching. Sachin asked us to teach and Sister Chu Shing let me take the lead. It was so scary, but I did it! I survived! I taught Sunday School! After Church, Sister Chu Shing had another meeting and I was with Hermana Reyes again. We taught Linda (she is doing so so so so well!!!!) and then went to Break the Fast. Yay! We then did some visits in Milpitas. We ran into some weird people. O.o We then went to see Colin and we went over Chapter 7 in Preach my Gospel. That chapter is so awesome and so under-rated (it is the chapter on learning your mission language). It was fun.

Today has been good. We got all of our errands done and now it is about time for the Zone Activity. We also plan on going to Cream with our roomies for ice cream sandwiches! :D It has been a great day and it will be a great week!

I Can Make Tamales!

Hello Family!

This has been a great week. Awesome things are happening in our area. Here we go!

FHE on Monday night was awesome. We played a really fun game and had the lesson by Linda! I was so happy watching Linda teach. I felt like a proud parent....until she called on me. Seriously though, I was so proud of her! I really like how our FHE coordinator (Michael) is asking a lot of our recent converts to teach. It really helps them! I also met a really awesome person! His name is John and he speaks almost twenty languages! He works for Google and he is helping them make Google Translate better. He and I spoke French for a while. He isn't a member of the Branch (he is a member of the Church), but he sometimes comes to Institute. He offered to help us out if we need any translation help. We may ask him to come to Michelle's lesson so they can both geek out about languages. I mean, I can only geek with her on French. He can geek out with her on EVERYTHING else. Seriously though, it made my night. I don't have much of a chance to use my French here. 

On Tuesday, we had service at Veggilution and then Institute lunch. Institute lunch is when the support specialist (Sister Fitzpatrick, or Sister Fitz for short) makes lunch and anyone who wants to come can eat. We met a guy there named Nate who is looking into taking an Institute class. He also seems interested in meeting with us! Keep your fingers crossed! :) We then helped Sister Fitz clean up. We also met with Christina (a less active) and had a lesson with her. She has a lot of questions and we took one of her questions and made a lesson out of it. It was a really great lesson. That night, we had dinner with the Merkleys. They live up on the top of a mountain. Every time we drive up there I get car sick! It was a really fun dinner. They are members of another ward, but Brother Merkley is the High Councilman over the Branch so he likes to feed us and the elders to talk about the Branch. It was great. We also taught Hana (a less active). 

Wednesday was not a good day for Sister Chu Shing. First off, she woke up not feeling well, then her companion (*cough cough*)accidentally fed her peanuts (she is allergic to peanuts) so she was really sick, then (at Institute dinner) she bit open a sore in her mouth and was bleeding for a couple of hours! Poor thing! Wednesday morning was also district meeting and then we helped the Laytons prepare for the big dinner. We had some extra time before dinner, so we went on visits. Meaning, we went through the list of people in the Branch and went looking for those who haven't been coming. When we were in the Berryessa area we found an investigator! He lives next door to the people were looking for! We gave him to the Berryessa elders to teach. :D For Institute dinner, we were celebrating Chinese New Year and decorated the room with Chinese lanterns and fans. We also had really yummy Chinese food. Chinese New Year is a big deal here in San Jose! Institute dinner was great, other than Sister Chu Shing getting hurt. Mercifully, none of our people we wanted to teach showed up so we were able to go home and she could go to bed. 

Thursday was a good day. We had lunch with Brother Sydall again (this is going to be a weekly thing). He took us to a nice restaurant (along with a female coworker) and we had a fun time. He was really happy that I finished all my food (he is Samoan and that is a big deal) and he picked on Sister Chu Shing for not finishing hers. We were so full! I have made a note in my planner to not eat breakfast when we eat with him!!!! We then went and visited Manny (a less active) and taught him. He and Christina promised to come to Church on Sunday. Later that night, we met with Nathan and had a good lesson with him. We think we are beginning to understand what it is that he really needs. We also had dinner with the Chandlers. They love feeding the missionaries and we had so much fun. We then had a lesson with Colin. We have been doing Preach My Gospel with him and we are on Chapter Six: Christlike Attributes. It was great. 

Fridays are pretty slow here. That is when we do a lot of planning and service. We did, however, get to go to a Branch Activity. The Rogers (President Rogers and his wife) had a farewell dinner for the Laytons (they leave next week, 4 March) and they invited the whole branch to come (without telling the Laytons that everyone was coming). It was so much fun! There was a waffle bar and we all just ate and talked. They also have a giant chess set and I went against Guy (a member of the branch). He creamed me. It was fun though. We then met up with the Spanish sisters because we were going to do an exchange. So, I was with Hermana Reyes and spent the night at their apartment. 

Saturday was an interesting day. I spent all of it in the Spanish program and a decent part of it on a bike. :D First, after studies, we went to Zone Service. We then went to lunch before going to serve a woman named Lorena. She was feeding us that night and needed help making the tomales. So, I learned how to put tomales together! We did that for a while and then went and got our bikes so that we could go visit some other people. We saw Leonardo and Aristeo and taught them about the Plan of Salvation (I listened. The only english speaker we had planned that day cancelled!). We also tried to go see a recent convert named Bety, but she wasn't home, so we saw Hermano Sanchez and his wife. We then went and saw Hermana Blancarte and taught her the Plan of Salvation too. Before the lesson with Hermana Blancarte, Hermana Reyes needed to use the restroom, and left me alone with Hermana Blancarte and her husband. Thankfully, they both knew that I speak very little spanish! I tried to start a conversation and they were really nice about it. But, man, that was stressful!!!! I felt so useless. I speak very little Spanish T^T We then went to dinner with Lorena, which was fun. But...man, Spanish dinners. You have to eat everything on your plate and take multiple servings so that you don't offend them. So many tomales... It was really good though! After that, we exchanged back. It was a lot of fun, even if I don't speak Spanish and I was sore the next day from the bike! :D 

Later that night, I found out that while I was gone, Sister Chu Shing and Hermana Dominguez set a baptismal date! Another set of sisters gave us one of their investigators because he is YSA age and they set a baptismal date with him! His name is Daniel and he will be baptized on March 21st! I am so excited to meet him this week and teach him! :D

Sunday was great. The Laytons spoke in Sacrament meeting to say goodbye to the Branch. It was so nice. President Hoggan (stake president) was there too. Brother Smalls (Alisa's grandpa) was there too because he is in the Stake Young Mens presidency. He is so awesome! After Church, we met with Linda and talked about temples. The Branch had a temple trip the previous day and she went (proud parent moment again)! We also met with Hana again. I worry about her. We then had dinner with Christina. It was so fun. We then saw Colin and continued teaching him about Christlike Attributes. It has been fun teaching him about that. It makes me take a look and see what I want to work on. 

New Pamphlet and Book of Mormon in French!!

I'd send a funny story, but I think all of Saturday was funny. I mean, poor little me sitting there trying to figure out what everyone is saying! Thank goodness for French, or I would have missed a lot more than I did! XD

Today has been a good day so far. We did our laundry and grocery shopping. Now we just have some letters to write and then the Zone Activity. We are going to go play pukana on campus and see if we can attract any potential investigators! Pukana is a game from Sister Chu Shing's home. Basically, it is like the game signs mixed with the haka. The point is to try to intimidate the person going after you. So fun!!!! I hope it works :D

Love you so much!

-Sara

The Search For Investigators

We had a great week this week, full of adventures and excitement. Okay, maybe I raised your expectations too high. Anyways! We had a great week :D (Gotta keep this short too, I have a lot of pics to send!)

On Monday, we met with Linda and taught her. She is doing so well! For FHE, we made valentines and I made valentines for my roommates. It was so much fun. Sister Chu Shing made me a valentine too! 

On Tuesday, I went out with Hermana Reyes while her companion (the other STL) and Sister Chu Shing had a meeting with the Zone Leaders. We went to visit someone, but they weren't home, so we went and got ice cream. It was fun. Sister Chu Shing and I also taught some other members of the branch. Later that night, Sister Chu Shing and I saw Hana and her friend Alexandra. We read "His Grace is Sufficient" by Brad Wilcox with them. It was really good. Thank you for sending me that talk (we read from the copy you sent me). Hana is also teaching Sister Chu Shing how to play the ukulele. It is really fun to watch and listen to Sister Chu Shing practicing. When we were walking home that night (just around the corner, it was okay) Sister Chu Shing was practicing and a guy stopped us and asked if he could play. We talked with him for a bit before going our separate ways. We are both considering taking the ukulele with us contacting!!!!

On Wednesday, I finished reading The Book of Mormon in French!!!! All I can say is wow. The Church is true, no matter what language it is in! I am trying to decide for when I read it through again this time if I want to do it in English or French. Sister Chu Shing and I also went trash tacting downtown. You meet interesting people downtown! I can't repeat what was said...not appropriate. Anyways! Institute dinner was really fun too. We had pizza! I also went on an exchange and ventured into the Spanish program! Hermana Reyes and I went and visited a family that she and her companion teach with the elders. They were having a birthday party so they fed us cake and then we had a lesson with them. I mainly sat and watched. I caught a little of what was going on, but not much. After that, we went back to Hermana Reyes's apartment to get ready for bed. It was really fun. 

On Thursday, we exchanged back and had lunch with one of Sister Chu Shing's friends (the same guy from last week). His name is Brother Sydall. We had lunch with him and then went to have our interviews with President Mella. I love President Mella! My interview with him was just what I needed. We talked a lot about some of the things that I have been struggling with since Sister Bliss left. It was so nice. We also picked up a new investigator named Serena. We met her contacting on campus. Unfortunately, she texted us this morning saying that she didn't have time right now to meet with us. :( We were really excited to have her as an investigator though! I also got your valentines box that day. Thank you so much!

On Friday, we had ZTM (Zone Training Meeting). It was all about finding people to teach, because we are all trying to find people. That, and President Mella has set a high goal for us to find six new investigators a week! We can totally do it! :D

On Saturday, during weekly planning, we decided to call a bunch of former investigators and called a guy named Harry. He asked if we could meet right then and we said yes! We met him at the library at SJSU and talked with him. He is from Nigeria. He has a strong belief in God and really knows his Bible. He doesn't like t he idea of The Book of Mormon though. We will see what happens. :) Right now, he is an investigator. 

Sunday was great! Both of our speakers (I think they are from the Stake or the High Council...) spoke about the sacrament. I feel like I understand the sacrament so much more since coming on my mission. In Gospel Principles, Elder Layton taught us. He is such an awesome teacher! I wish I could go to his Institute classes, but we usually teach people then. In Relief Society, we talked about finding happiness in troubled times. I needed that! It was all great. After that, we finished weekly planning and then went to visit members of the branch who aren't coming. We had a cool experience! We were looking for a girl and the address she had listed was her grandpa's house. It turns out, the grandfather is Samoan! So, he and Sister Chu Shing got along really well.  It was so much fun to talk to him, his wife, and one of his daughters. He and Sister Chu Shing might be related too! They invited us to come over some time for Samoan food too. They are members of the church and love missionaries. 

Today has been great. We did laundry, got groceries, had lunch, and later today we are going to go play lazer tag with the zone. Then, we have dinner with a member of the branch and possibly her non-member roommate and FHE.

I forgot to tell you last week, after Transfer Meeting the Polynesian Elders did the Haka in the parking lot. It is really INTENSE when they do it! I loved it. It was so cool!

Have a great one!

Oh, and here is a picture in Santa Cruz with the sisters I lived with before Sister Bliss left.