CDSM Transfer 12

Week 1

Well, I made it out alive from that stressful few days of transfer madness and I am now happily settled back in to Highlands Ranch. And when I say happy, I mean I can't wipe the grin off my face. I have no idea what came over me. We have basically no one that we're working with right now. We just have a few, "sure try back on this certain day" kind of people that seem like they might have some potential. We're also doing a bit of walking because we don't have enough miles allotted to us to drive all day every day. So, I'm just skipping down the street all the time. Maybe it's all the fresh air, sun and exercise that's getting to me. I'm counting the walking as a blessing because if I'm going to be hiking all summer, I need to really start getting in shape. The Lord provides.

I've also been having quite a few small world experiences lately. Events from a year ago when I was here before are resurfacing with people I know even tho I'm not in the same wards. Less active members that I saw on the roles in one ward a year ago are now in one of my wards now. You know, stuff like that. Puzzle pieces are coming together. I've fallen asleep a couple of times thinking about someone and wondering if they're the same person that I knew before. Haha it's so bizarre. 

As happy as I am here, I miss Cornerstone Park dearly. Some of the people from there have shown up in my dreams so you know it's serious. It was sad to say goodbye unexpectedly like that.

In other news, I've become the zone seamstress apparently. I've already sewn buttons back onto one elders suit jacket and fixed another elders favorite tie. They should seriously teach a basic sewing class in the MTC because both jobs took less than 10 minutes and were super easy. But hey, I got a picture in the snazzy tie.

Soooo...yeah not much to report yet other than I'M LOVIN' IT! The gospel is true no matter how many people are willing to listen. And that's OK. They'll be ready one day.

Week 2

Last week after I sent my email, my brother pointed out to me that I haven't really said anything about my companion. Not even her name. Awkward. Her name is sister Anderson, she is from Sacramento, CA, this is her 3rd transfer, she was trained by my follow up trainer sister Cho so we're mission half-sisters, and she is a hoot. She has humor similar to mine but a little more subtle. Sometimes she reads her emails and letters out loud to me and they are hilarious. Last night, we spent at least 5 minutes coming up with beat boxing sounds right before we turned off the lights to go to sleep. I could hardly breath I was laughing so hard. You know, stuff like that all the time. Just wait until you see the pictures of us in our animal masks (provided by the KC 1st young women when they sent me a care package a few months ago).

Oh oh oh you wanna know something exciting? After over a year and half of no contact with any snake, I finally got to hold a snake this week! Yeah. If you didn't know, I love snakes. They're seriously my therapy animal. Dogs and cats are ok and sometimes drive me crazy. But snakes? YES! We were at a members house and they were telling us about their pets and before they even mentioned it, I asked if they happened to have a snake too. They said yes, my eyes grew big and I asked if I could hold it. We taught a lesson while I played with the snake. Life is good.

This week in the work we've done a lot of service. Like helping to put together a ping-pong table and helping to make a quilt to donate. We're still trying to locate community service projects but there really aren't a whole lot around here so we take what we're offered. Have you ever tired to put together a ping-pong table? It's more complicated than it needs to be. But I got to use a power drill so it was fun.

Stake conference was this weekend. Stake conference is seriously my favorite thing ever. It's always sooo good. But I was especially looking forward to it this time because I knew I'd be able to see people from the wards I served in a year ago. And I did see a lot of them! It was wonderful to say hi to many people who I know and love. And know that they still remember me. Haha that's one of my biggest fears: that people I have met through my mission will forget me and it'll be awkward when I'm excited to see them and they don't recognize me. Thankfully that didn't happen. It was frustrating when I saw someone that I know and blanked on their name. But I always ended up remembering them so it's all good. 

As for teaching, we haven't taught anyone yet but we did see a lot of miracles yesterday that will lead to teaching! All week we've been trying people on lists (potential and former investigators, less-actives, etc) to no avail. No one was ever home! We're trying these people different times of day and different days of the week and I swear they don't even live in their houses because they're never there. That or people just don't like to answer the door after dark. Anyway, it was getting pretty frustrating. Because of stake conference so we only had 2 hours of church rather than the normal 5 (because we cover two wards we're in church for 5+ hours). That gave us more time to work with than normal. But the blessings came. More than half the people we tried opened their doors and talked to us. Whether for 30 seconds or 5 minutes we didn't care, they opened the door! We didn't teach any lessons but we got a lot of return appointments. One of the people we tried was a less active man and, although he wasn't home, we ended up meeting his non-member girlfriend who was super friendly and invited us back to help her with some service. WAHOO! Service! 

Another sweet and tender mercy was when we tried another less-active man. We had no information about him. Not even if he was married or anything like that. When we knocked, a little girl looked through the window, smiled, ran away and came back. Her dad answered the door, greeted us warmly and said, "You know, this was perfect timing. I was just talking to my 9 year old daughter and she says she wanted to learn from the missionaries." We did the typical fumble-for-the-planner-as-fast-as-you-can-but-still-act-cool thing and we now have an appointment set for tomorrow. I mean seriously, I don't believe in coincidence at all. It's a miracle, that's what!

We also had fun one night with these face masks. I got them in a care package from my Young Womens group at home. They were put to good use.

So that was my fannnntastic week! 

Week 3

Twas an even better week than the last. I got to hold another snake and people talked to us and we had zone conference and we went on exchanges. That equals a great week!

Our little friend Madison (the 9 year old girl) is doing fantastic. She is super smart and asks deep questions. Like, 9 year olds don't just think about these things but she does. The day before our meeting, her dad called and left a message. At first we thought he was cancelling on us but then he asked if we'd like to stay for dinner after the meeting. Who are these people? I love them! We met with the whole family on valentines day. We had a lesson and then they fed us dinner. Complete with chocolate covered strawberries. We started the lesson by asking what questions she had. She asked things like, "how do I know what church is true?" and, "why do you call each other brother and sister at church?" Seriously, this girl just turned 9 and as far as we can tell no one has prompted her to ask these questions. We taught her (and her family) about the basics and back ground of the church and she took it really well. A few days later we took the family on a tour of the church and she is excited to come both to church and the week-day activities for girls her age! She had been reading the Book of Mormon and had more deep questions for us. The family insists on being together for all of this which is so ideal. Everyone can stay on the same page. Seriously, what a miracle! I can't believe this is real life.

Zone conference was wonderful (as usual). We did a fun activity spun off of speed dating...except it was speed OYM (open your mouth). About a dozen people, both leadership and members, were acting out different situations (putting groceries in the car, shoveling the driveway, waiting for a haircut, etc.) and we had to go talk to them and introduce the gospel within 2 1/2 minutes of approaching them. It was awkward and hard to do it so fast but it got easier and more fun as we went along.

Exchanges were fun as always. I spent the day with sister Walker again. We talked to all the mailmen we saw (she especially loves talking to them for some reason), we talked to some people who have potential (they weren't there when we went back but we'll keep trying), we helped at Project Linus (blanket making for children going through something hard), and we went on a picnic at a park for lunch. A seemingly normal day but sister Walker always makes it an adventure.

This week the Daniels Park ward had ward conference so most of the stake leadership was there. At one point, one of the leaders visiting mentioned that she had volunteered to mentor a refugee family...from Eritrea. From Eritrea?! No way! That's where Mebrahtu is from! And she had worked with a translator recently. I was all over that and asked her to contact sister Gifford to let her know that she has connections. Coincidences aren't a thing, I'm telling you. God puts you exactly where you need to be as long as you're paying attention.

Speaking of which, we had something else that proved that. Yesterday, we were trying someone that we wanted to contact. We knocked and no answer. As I looked across the street, there was a house that caught my eye. It didn't look like anyone was home but I felt like we needed to knock anyway. We did, no answer. Surprise. So we go back in our car and as we did, who drives up? The people we were originally trying to contact. Sometimes God just stalls you like that. I think is pretty funny.

And now I'd like to introduce you to my companions writing style that just cracks me up. This is her take on the week:

 How are you doing in these Latter Days? I am afraid to say that times here are hard the world keeps spinning and time will not stop. I don't know what I should do the plan of Happiness just isnt reaching through closed doors. I hold in my hands the keys to everlasting and eternal life the road to heaven may be a long and arduous journey but the saints will press forward with everlasting faith. Endure to the end my friends for this life is but a butterfly in the wind. 

honestly life is good we have a new 9yr old investigator who asks amazing questions like why is baptism important and how do I know which is the true church. I know that those questions never crossed my mind when I was 9!! I guess I better step it up before 9 year olds start running the world. I went on exchanges the other day and met a lady who believes in aliens and youtube. She was very concerned for our well being (when we asked to step into her home) telling us we should carry pepper spray. In church yesterday a member brought his friends and said they would love to come back next week. I just hope they would love to join the church as well. Lately I have been thinking about the story of Noah's ark and wondering if I would be on that boat in this day and age if our prophet built one and said there would be a flood. Also how different would that story be with all the technology that we have now. Some of the members here have pretty extensive food storage I hope they have hand powered can openers as well. Anyways I suppose I should say something missionary like and spiritual. Here is a quote that I heard at church: "If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it." (anonymous)  I assume that this was written by a human but you never know aliens could be on the internet now.

Isn't she a hoot? Hope you enjoyed this two-perspective email.

Week 4

Madison and her family came to church yesterday! The whole ward welcomed them and it was just great. As for other investigators, I've been told that we have some new ones. They were all found while I was gone on exchanges so I haven't met them yet. 

For exchanges this time I went to Bowles Grove (as usual...that's where I've always gone while on the Metro side of the mission) with our new STL, sister Smart. She's only on her 4th transfer so it's weird to have a leader that's been out for so short a time. But you really can't tell that she's that young as a missionary. She's a missionary who knows what's up. She was trained by my "adopted baby" sister Uhri (who I adore) and spent some time with sister Messinger (who I also adore) so that explains it. We got to see their ward mission leader, brother Lathen. Because I've been going on exchanges in the BG ward from the majority of my mission, he's basically adopted me as one of his own missionaries. It's always good to see him.

One day we were trying someone and they didn't answer. So, as usual, I looked up and down the street wondering if there was a door that we needed to knock on. One house caught my eye so we started to walk that direction. As we approached the house, I had a random thought: "this is a members home." There was no reason for me to know that because I'd never been there or anything and it wasn't like there was any indication either. I asked sister Anderson if she knew if it was a members house and she didn't know either. Turns out they were, in fact, members. We talked to them for a few minutes, shared a spiritual thought and left. I don't know why I got such a strong, almost audible voice-like, prompting just to tell me that but hey, I'm sure there was a reason.

It finally snowed this week. It's been an unusually mild winter so it was about time. It snowed all day, into the night and for a few hours the next morning. So we decided to go shovel peoples driveways in the morning. Much to our surprise, most of the driveways were already melted. It's been so warm that the snow just couldn't stay. Anyway, the day it started snowing, it didn't start sticking for a few hours. We pulled into a cul-de-sac and looked at some records for a couple minutes. When we looked up, the snow had started to stick and quickly began picking up speed. It was almost blizzard level. We got out and knocked on the doors of the people that we were planning on trying all while sister Anderson was walking around with her umbrella (it was a pretty funny sight to see her huddled under an umbrella in a blizzard). Only one person opened their door (he is a less-active and we set up an appointment so it was great). The last door we tried was a members and they didn't answer so we went back to our car. As we were unfogging our window and looking at where we were going next, a car drove around the cul-de-sac and stopped next to us. I rolled down the window to find that it was the member we had just tried. She had got home from picking her kids up from school and noticed footprints from her front door headed across the street and wondered if a neighbor had needed them. So, she followed the foot prints and realized that there were two sets and wondered if it was the missionaries. At that point she had pulled up to our car to confirm her assumption and invited us in to her house to warm up. I love members.

Saturday morning at 3am I woke up to sister Anderson being really sick. She threw up almost every hour that day. It wasn't pretty and I felt bad for her. Thankfully most of the people we had plans with cancelled on us which was nice so we didn't have to cancel on them. I feel like a horrible person to say this because I wouldn't wish sickness on my companions but an occasional sick day is nice so I can catch up on things that I never seem to be able to get to like organizing and deep cleaning the house. Yeah, they say that's what Mondays are for but, let's be real, there still isn't enough time in the day to add that to everything else we have to do most of the time. The day was well spent and I feel like I'm pretty caught up for now. Sister Anderson is doing much better and has finally started eating again.

For my whole mission we've been doing lessons with active members to strengthen their testimonies and encourage them to share their testimonies with others. It's been a good way to get to know these people and practice teaching. Lately, there has been even more of a focus on these lessons and really preparing for them so it's tailored to the families needs and have a commitment to leave with them that will strengthen the family and individuals. As we've focus more on this, we've had some really cool experiences and seen the faith of the members be strengthened. This week was especially interesting. We met with one family and talked about family history. We felt like it was the topic we needed to talk about with them even tho we don't know much about it or how to help people do family history research. As we discussed the topic with this family we started to really question if we had followed the spirit in planning on this because the conversation became a little contentious. One family member argued that they had tried to do family history and just couldn't do it. That it was boring and hard. Another one argued back that it was important and that they had to keep trying. We sat there trying to salvage the lesson but it didn't seem like that was going to happen. We were supposed to be bringing the spirit into the home, not contention! When we left, we plopped into the car and looked at each other with a look of, "...whoops..." The next day we got a text from one of the family members saying, "Just wanted to let you know *name of person who had been against the whole thing* has been working on their family tree all day long! You two were inspired for sure!" Then at church, this same person came up to us and proudly showed us what they had worked on all day the day before. So basically the take away is: even if you think you failed, you might not have. If you follow the spirit, he absolutely won't lead you astray. 

Not really any pictures so here is us in the computer lab at our apartment.

Week 5

It's been a less exciting week than the last few weeks but at the same time, it was still great. Basically because Madison and her family are amaaaazing! Stephanie (the mom) showed up to a the relief society activity by herself and enjoyed it. I've never seen anyone show up to an activity that they were invited to once without a bunch of persuasion to get them there. We were shocked and excited. A few days later we had a lesson with the family about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the holy ghost, end endure to the end) and it went really well. Stephanie expressed how proud she was of Madison for exploring the spiritual side of life and helping their family to look into it too. It was so touching. On Sunday, only Kevin (the dad) and Ava (the 6 year old) showed up to church because Madison was sick. But they showed up when they easily could have stayed home! Again, a huge accomplishment. Getting people to come to church is harder than pulling teeth most of the time. To put a cherry on top, Stephanie texted us today and said that, "Ava taught us a lesson on faith last night. Thanks for being an inspiration to us all!" These are all small things but they are what bring the most joy to me. 

Another person who showed up to church this week was a former investigator who almost got baptized but then moved. He's back in town for about a month and wants to be baptized. Unfortunately he is YSA age (young single adult) and there are missionaries especially for that category AND he lives just barely outside of the mission. So we're just waiting to find out who gets to teach him due to his particular circumstances (all the people he knows are in our ward but he's YSA but he doesn't even live in our mission but he's only here for a month...). *shrugs* We'll see. 

In other news, "My Plan" has showed up on my online missionary portal. It's a program for your last transfer to help you adjust back into real life. Um, excuse me! I still have another week until my last transfer. Thank you. Very. Much. So yeah, that's weird. It still doesn't feel real that I'm that close. Anywaaaayyyyy. We'll just ignore that for now.

Ummm yep it's been a pretty uneventful week other than the fact that I got a haircut and we went on a quick hike today. Pictures included.

Stay tuned for next week to find out my transfer news update.

Week 6

"You should play the Grinch in a play or something." -Sister Anderson

Apparently my mannerisms have become Jim Carry Grinch-esque. Between quoting and acting out quotes from that movie, I've got the Grinchs moves down.

Other excitement from the week included our toilet nearly overflowing. That was a little scary. I saved it by pinching the tube in the tank until it stopped running and then tried to plunge it but to no avail. The plumber had to be called. No toilet water ended up on the floor. All is well.

Madison and her wonderful family are doing well. Not much to report on them. They continue to be our rays of sunshine and we continue to see progression and miracles with them. We haven't heard anything about Jaden yet other than the fact that we ARE allowed to teach him. He didn't come to church this week so our ward mission leader will call him today and see where he's at.

Our little miracle of the week happened at 8:15-ish at night. We try to avoid knocking on most doors that late because it bugs people (we get a lot of, "why are you out so late???") but at this time, we had nothing else to do. We had someone we planned on trying at that time anyway. Sister Anderson had met this woman briefly before and had been told to try her after 7pm. We followed the GPS and it took us to the wrong house. We drove around for a second and finally found it. Then, as we pulled up, sister Anderson dropped something under her seat and fumbled around for it for a second. At that point she said, "Are we really supposed to be here? It seems like things are trying to stop us. I really don't think we're supposed to be here." She had a point. So, I prayed and asked if this is where we were supposed to be. We sat there quietly for a minute. I felt very peaceful about it so I turned to her and asked what she thought. She felt quite the opposite. I then got sassy, looked up to the heavens and said, "Um, excuse me! We can't just get conflicting promptings. It's not like we can split up or anything." So we sat there for another few minutes deliberating over what to do. Finally, sister Anderson said, "You know what? Let's just go." So we knocked. And knocked again. Nothing. We turned and started to walk away when lo and behold, a car drives up and out hops the woman we were looking for. She was super friendly and invited us in for cookies. And that, folks, is why God sometimes gives you conflicting promptings: to stall you.

In other news, I will officially begin my last 6 weeks tomorrow. Sister Anderson will be leaving me. I'll miss her and all her shenanigans. And guess what? I'll be staying here...in a trio. I'll have TWO companions. I'm still don't know how I feel about that. There are perks and downfalls of both. All I can say is, how in the world are you supposed to get three women through one bathroom in an hour in the morning?! Heellllppppp. Ha yep it'll be an adventure. The Lord continues to keep me humble and focused.

 A birthday cake and nice sunset for our last day together.