And Straight on 'Till Morning

Feliz Navidad!!!   This week was crazy, and I didn't get a lot written in my journal (and we all know how terrible my memory is). I will include pictures from the temple trip, and from the two exchanges we did this week. (In separate emails though.) The first one is Hna Barnes (my companion) and me. The second is Elder Linford and Elder Bowman and me together again at the temple after 6 months. Sadly all of our trainers are missing...they've all gone home. The third one is my current district.   That is part of the reason that this week was so crazy. We had to fit in two exchanges around the temple trip, district meeting, ward Christmas parties, and weekly planning so they ended up being back to back. That means we started one exchange at noon on Wednesday, finished it at noon on Thursday , and started another one at 1:00 on Thursday to finish it at 1:00 on Friday . It was a little bit hectic, especially since we got a little lost o...

So I knew I was forgetting something this morning as we left the apartment, and it was my journal... My memory has completely disappeared as a missionary, so this email might be somewhat scattered/short. (Please be Christlike and forgive me.) I think it's the time warp thing that does it. I know it's only been a week since I last emailed, but it feels like it's been more like a month! I will, however, attach a couple of pictures. One is from Zone conference. (Yay for Burbank zone!) The other is Hna Clifton and me on our exchange. We got to be together again on our 10 month mark as missionaries. It was fun to be able to celebrate the 10 month anniversary of the first day we met by being companions again for one more day.   This week was definitely packed with things to do. Monday was crazy with shopping, and having the Hnas in our zone over to chat and make cookies. Then on Tuesday morning we started our first exchange of the transfer. I got to go to ...

Buenos Dias!   Esta semana ha sido bien ocupada despues de las traslados! Como Hermana Training Leaders tenemos mucho mas que hacer que antes. Pienso que vamos a tener que usar nuestro tiempo lo mas eficazmente  para que podamos hacer todo el trabajo en nuestra area.   Ok... enough with the Spanish. :) I'm not willing to actually translate the whole thing, and it's still faster for me to write in English usually.   Monday was good, but it already feels like it was so far away. Hna Anderson and I ran around like crazy people getting everything done. I managed to get everything packed into my suitcases, it's amazing how much stuff you can accumulate in two transfers! I was proud of myself however, because I also fit my pillow and my emergency bag (basically a first aid kit and 24 hours worth of food and water) inside my suitcases as well. That evening we were able to see H and A so that I could say goodbye to them. We took a picture so I'll ...

Buenas, So ... I'm getting transferred AGAIN!!! This time to car... I'm pretty sad about it... I'm going to take my bike with me though, and maybe I can convince my new companion to ride bikes with me at least part of the time. President Hall also asked me to be an Hermana Training Leader. It's a little scary for me since I really only know how to be in training or train new missionaries... I'm not sure what I'm going to do with a companion who isn't brand new in the mission. I am very grateful that the Lord qualifies those that he calls. The mission has definitely been a good experience for me to be able to learn to trust in the Lord more than in myself. This week has been interesting, with the holidays coming up and this being Thanksgiving week (last week) we didn't get as much done because there just aren't as many people who have time to talk with us... It's also transfers tomorrow and I have to pack so I just don't h...

Buenos Dias,     On Monday we had a great district activity. We all got together at the church and played speed (also called bump) and mafia. It was so much fun! Hna Anderson almost won, but not quite. Elder Wood eventually shut us all out. :) We also got Pupusas for dinner, and they were SO good!   Tuesday we had interviews with President. I LOVE interviews with President. He always makes you feel so good, and at the same time I always leave inspired to be the best missionary I can be. The zone leaders did some training while we were all waiting, and talked about how we need to talk with more people every day. We were so inspired, and at first it was great to put it into practice, but then it got cold, and suddenly there wasn't anybody on the street anymore. It's a little warmer today so maybe we'll get lucky and have a warm streak where we can talk to lots of people.   Wednesday we had district meeting, but the Zo...

Buenas Tardes, This has been a good week.  Monday we got haircuts. It was funny because we left with wet hair and just had to put our helmets on so they dried in the wind, under our helmets on the way home. Oh, the joys of being a sister missionary on bike. You get an automatic hair dryer whenever you want it. :) Tuesday we didn't have district meeting since we had Zone Training Meeting on Friday so we had a little bit more proselyting time. We had a lesson with one of our investigators named E, and it was exciting because he's reading in the Book of Mormon, but we're not sure if he really understands our purpose as missionaries. We're going to try to make that more clear the next time we go. On Wednesday we were able to go help teach the English class at the capital which was fun. It was nice to be the one who speaks the language fluently for once. I was inspired by how hard the students were working, and how dedicated they are to re...

2010 11 04m Buenos Dias, This week we've had some really good experiences with members in our area. We had a couple of good 15 minute dinner lessons, and on Thursday we saw one of our members out trick or treating with her kids and she told us that she had a family that they wanted to invite over for a Noche de Hogar! We also had the opportunity to help with a Primary activity and had a wonderful lesson with B and S (investigators) that Hna Escobar came to with us. It was such a good lesson, and Hna Escobar is just so cute! One exciting story from this week was when we met two of our investigators named N and E. We were contacting around the house of one referral who wasn't actually interested and we knocked on their door. At first they just set up a kind of shaky return appointment for the next Tuesday, but as we walked down the sidewalk to knock on the next door N came out and invited us back to teach them right then because they really weren...

2013 10 28m Cada Dia Buenos Dias, My subject is a tribute to the fact that I have now successfully written in my journal every day for an entire transfer! Actually it's almost a week into my second transfer of writing every day, but I wanted to celebrate the first transfer of writing every day. That was one of my goals last transfer so now I can be happy and extend it this transfer as well. Speaking of transfers, we didn't have too many changes in our district this transfer, but the biggest one is that we now have Hna Training Leaders in our zone (well they're in our district, but they cover the whole zone). Hna Hall (from my MTC district) came to be with Hna Pulver and they are now our Hna Training Leaders. It's great for two reasons. One, I love having Hna Training Leaders in our district because we get extra love and extra training. Two, they got a car. This is kind of funny because their area is half as big as ours and we're still...

I'm not getting transferred!!! I am so glad that I get to stay here in El Camino for one more transfer, and that I get to stay with Hna Anderson! Somehow I ran out of time today... (that's what happens when I don't write this email first) but I'll write what I can. First, one funny story from this week. The first person we found this week seemed very open and interested when we first talked with him. He came right out of his house, and let us teach the first lesson just standing there in his driveway. He also committed to read Moroni 10 and pray about it. We were excited for our lesson that Friday so that we could invite him to church and meet his wife, but the next day he texted us and said he read and prayed and felt peaceful, but that he's catholic and not interested in changing. He said we could still come to our appointment, but he just wanted to give back our book. We assured him he could keep it, but I don't know if he believed...

Buenos Dias, This last week was definitely a little strange, as you probably already know since we didn't take our preparation day until Friday. Now, two days later we have preparation day again. Luckily for all of you I didn't write about Monday through Friday on Friday so you get an entire week's worth of email today instead of just two days worth. :) Monday was a good day, but very long as we didn't get to take Preparation day. We did a lot of contacting, and then went to a Noche de Hogar with the the R family. They are so wonderful! On Monday they made us vegetables for dinner, and Hna R made a peanut butter sandwich especially for me. I just love her. She always hugs me SO tight, and it makes me feel so loved. Tuesday we had cena with the R family (they fed me amazing cheese tortillas!). When we got there Hna R was feeling sick, but she insisted that we stay and eat with them anyway. Her granddaughter was playing doctor and giving he...

Buenas Tardes! Wheew, I'm not sure if Mama posted on the blog that I couldn't email last Monday, but I couldn't... :) Instead we took preparation day today so that we could go to the temple!!! It was SO good! I would love to write more about that, and all the other great things that happened this week, but I have to have something to say on Monday, so I'll just write about last week instead. Preparation day was great last week. One of our members Hna R took us grocery shopping which was a huge blessing because it meant that we didn't have to walk. Tuesday we had a kind of weird day because I was a little sick early in the afternoon, but then I got over it so we were able to go out. We had a Noche de Hogar with the R family, and were able to drop off some cookies we'd made for a few members and investigators. Wednesday was a really weird day but for very different reasons. Weird thing one was when we tried by one of our investi...

2013 09 30m Last Monday was a pretty good day. We were able to write lots of letters and then after preparation day we went to do a couple of Noches de Hogar with some families in our ward. Unfortunately it turns out that an invitation to a Noche de Hogar also means an invitation to dinner (which we didn't know). We took the food home from the second one since we were running a little bit late, but the first one we had to eat (even though we'd already had dinner). Luckily they had plain rice, which was good for me. :) Tuesday we had a crazy day, and ended with a meeting with all the ward leaders and our ward mission leader. We're going to start helping them come up with organization mission plans and each companionship has been assigned an organization to work with. Hna Anderson and I are going to work with the relief society. Wednesday was a long day of contacting, and I was unusually tired. However we had two miracles! First, we found a servi...

Buenas Tardes! So this week was good, but not super eventful. By the end of the week the weather had cooled down enough that we need jackets after dinner. We've also done a lot of contacting our members and getting to know them and how we can work with them. On Monday we really just relaxed, and wrote letters for most of the day. It was nice to be able to stay in the appartment out of the heat after several long days in the scorching sun. Then that night we had a miracle lesson with Patricia and her family. The lesson was good and the Spirit was there. It was also especially good because Jorge joined us, and was willing and able to share his testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. We're looking forward to working more with them so that they can get on the same page as a family with the whole church thing.  Tusday we had district meeting which was good, and then after studies we took cookies to our friend Elliot at the bike shop as a thank you...

2013 09 16 m Hola Todos! So I got transferred down to El Camino Real district, and my area actually is mostly in the city of Reseda. We're opening a brand new area in this district, which is a great sign of the increase in missionary work here in the valley. There are now 6 companionships of missionaries in at least half of the Spanish wards in the valley! In our ward there are 3 companionships of Elders and 3 companionships of Hermanas. Opening a new area is always a different experience, and this one is no different. When we came in we had no current investigators when we came in so we get to spend basically all day every day contacting. It's a good thing my favorite activity is knocking doors! Some of you will know my former roommate Sandra. She is a return missionary and she would always want us to go with her to knock on random apartment doors to get to know people. I thought it was a little weird and very uncomfortable so I was never willing to d...

Hola! Transfers are tomorrow! I am being transferred again, but this time I don't know where I'm going. I do know I'll be on bike, training, and in the valley but I don't know where. I am so excited, but I'm nervous at the same time. I am also so grateful that we found out about transfers before church on our last Sunday. It was nice to be able to say goodbye to the members of this wonderful ward. This has truly become my second home, and I will miss these people so much! Luckily I also had the opportunity to take pictures with some of them. I'll include them and try to make it clear who's whom so that mom can put them in the right order. Hna Navarrete is absolutely AMAZING! She doesn't live in our area, so we haven't seen as much of her this last transfer, but she is always willing to come to cita's with us, and everytime I ate at her house she made me a grilled cheese sandwich. She also re-taught me how to knit, wh...