Cypress, CA

Hello friends!! Another week in the mission field, in paradise!!! I'm in Cypress, California. I can't remember if I told you guys that:) and I love it sooo much. So, I decided that the mission is really fun because I really like people watching. The mission is people watching times 10 because you talk to all kinds of people, including the weird ones! It's sweet:) lol I'm starting to talk more when we go teach people and stuff so thats good! I'm getting better! were playing volleyball today and I'm soooo excited!! 

I don't know how to talk about my investigators without telling too much. But basically we are teaching this older guy and he is so awesome! He askes really good questions and he has been coming to church. The weirdest part about him is that we found out on Sunday that his brother got baptized but he didn't even know about it! Anyways, I love teaching him. We haven't taught the Word of Wisdom to him yet so it was a little awkward when he took a smoke break on Sunday... oops. :) ( The Word of Wisdom is a law of health revealed by the Lord for the physical and spiritual benefit of His children...The Lord revealed which foods are good for us to eat and which substances are not good for the human body. He also promised health, protection, knowledge, and wisdom to those who obey the Word of Wisdom.) It's ok though. Then we have been teaching some other less active members. They are my favorite to teach because they already know the basics and we just have to help them reconnect with the church. Most of them want to come to church but they work on Sundays or they are really busy or they have something that gets in the way. It's fun teaching them because we can have really deep conversations. 

Oh! So, I'm in a running mission and we run for 20 minutes per day. On Tuesday when we were running, I tripped and fell flat on my face. lol. classic!! I didn't get any cuts or anything! So that was good! The highlight of my week was when we were walking to go to this one person's house and there were a bunch of boys playing outside. They were highschool age, and they had this really cool football machine that throws the football at you really fast!!! It was so fun, they let me try it! We said that if we catch it then they have to hear our message. My companion couldn't catch it though... lol oh well. Another great thing about missionary work is watching people feel the Holy Ghost and figure out the truth for themselves because we are just here as guides. The church is true, so people are able to figure it out on their own. 

I love it here. And I thought the rules were going to be really hard to follow but they actually arent! Because being obedient brings miracles so you just obey without asking questions and it makes you happy since you don't feel any guilt!! So that was my week:)

shout out to....

Karli Fehr! I met this guy who said,"all this sort of stuff" :) It made me smile and think of you. How is being home in utah??

Ashlee Herrera and Carol!! I seriously wish you were  my companions! We could be a trio!!

Tanya Fratecceli!! I love you! I think about you a lot since I'm in Cali. Miss you tons!

Till next week!

Service day!!:)

My district in Cypress...

My companion and I!

My companion is so nice, she decorated our bathroom for me:)

I'm In Long Beach!!!

Hey friends!!! Im in Long Beach!!!! Its like paradise everyday, literally! My first day in the mission I woke up at 3:45 am, went to the travel office at 4:30 am, slept on the bus, caught a plane at 8:30 am, arrived in Long Beach at 9:30 am, because of the hour time difference it was actually a 2 hr flight. Then I went through some training, met my companion, went to dinner, taught four families and went to bed at 10:30 pm. It was the longest day ever!!!! I was so exhausted after the first day it was ridiculous. You know how much I love my sleep! Anyways, first impression of my new companion was like.. woah, she is way too happy! It bugged me at first because we would go teach someone and it would be awful. Their kids would be running around and there would be a lot distractions and when we were done she would be like,"I love them, their kids are so cute",and I'm like thinking..."Their kids were awfulllllllll!!!" lol but it has actually been a huge blessing that she is so positive. I have learned a lot from it and I think it's rubbing off on me:) So my first lesson, I didn't talk at all. We taught this really short philippino named Paul... haha and he reminds me of the girl from pitch perfect, the one that is super quiet!! I cant understand a word he says because he sounds just like her! So anyways, we go to teach him and he has two kids that were screaming and running and playing around us. I was thinking.. they didn't teach us how to handle this in the MTC!! So that was my first lesson:)

If I got a paper plate award for this week it would be,"Most likely to walk up to the wrong car and mess up the names of the people we are praying for", Mckayla, McKenna, Melissa, Marisa, whatever it's all the same! Heavenly Father knew what I meant!

We did service for this family this week and we were emptying a cabinet full of fabric and it was sooooo nasty because there were rat pellets and holes in the fabric from the rats. And! she wants to give it away....gross! 

I took lots of pictures this week but I forgot the cord to hook my camera up to the computer so I will send those next week for sure!!

On a more spiritual note, I have never felt closer to my Heavenly Father. I love talking to people and hearing about all of the things they they are going through in their life. I love feeling the Spirit in our lessons and my most favorite part of a lesson is hearing an investigator say a prayer. Mormon or not, it is a beautiful thing to hear someone pray to God when they haven't prayed to him before. Bringing people closer to Jesus Christ, to bring them happiness makes everything worth it. I am a work in progress though, I'm not a very good teacher yet. My companion does a lot of the work. I guess it just takes time!

I'm excited because my roommates are really into fitness and health, so we are doing a 40 day fast with no sugar for missionary work. I'm going through serious withdrawls!

I really want to tell you more about the people I have been working with but I am running out of time so I will definately make that a priority next week. I love you all!!!! have a good week:)

And if you have time, read and ponder 2 Peter 1:4-7 and Mormoni 10:32 in the Book of Mormon. These really touched me this morning when I was doing my personal study so I thought I would share! 

BYE!!!!

Best Decision I Have Ever Made!

Hey everyone!

     WOAH. First week at the MTC was so great!! We stay really busy and spend most of our time in the classroom learning. It isn't like school though, we don't memorize things (thank goodness). It is more critical thinking and feeling the Spirit of God to direct us. We wake up at 6:30am everyday and go to bed by 10:30pm with no naps! We sit in class all day and they still give us homework! Im like, when do you think I have time to do this? lol.. but I end up finding the time. And I seem to get in trouble alot. There are a lot of rules. They are like.. stay hydrated but dont bring a water bottle inside. LOL 

There are 4 elders and my companion that I sit in class with. 

-Sister Fredrickson (my companion): She is from Utah, she is so nice! It is funny because we stress out about different things. Like, she was soooo embarrassed because she spilled milk on her dress. And I got stressed out because they made us take this test and I felt like I didn't do good.. even though it was just a self evaluation. 

-Elder Daw: He is my favorite Elder. He was home schooled growing up and he is the most awkward person haha, it makes me laugh!

-Elder Brinkerhoff: He goes a little crazy being locked up in a room all day. He struggles the most with being here but he is really tall and really outgoing.

-Elder Gibson: I called him Elder Gibbins for the first couple days and my companion laughed at me. He is silly but he has the BEST smile. It is contagious.

-Elder Shumway: He is from Nebraska. He likes to shoot things and fight haha.

We are all going to the Long Beach Mission so you will probably hear those names again.

I taught my first lesson to a real investigator yesterday! It went really well. Her name is Jamie and we will be teaching her all week. I guess she is a hard one to teach but my companion and I didn't struggle. They teach us that if we plan, study independently, and then study as a companionship that we will be prepared to teach with the Spirit of God. 

Coming out here, I was a little scared to be pushy. I have learned that I am doing the work that Jesus Christ would do if He was here. I wear His name on my name tag. I represent Him. My teachers are sooo good. They have all been on missions and they make it look so easy to talk to people and give them lessons. I cant wait to be good at this!

Before my mission, I was scared to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with my friends because I didn't want to be pushy or weird. But listen up friends!!! CALL THE MISSIONARIES!!! (especially Jeremy Alley and his family, I have been thinking about you a lot since I have been here, oh and Taylor Tanner because I know you like deep conversation). I know that if you have any questions about life that they will be able to answer them. If nothing else, you will see what I am spending the next 18 months of my life doing:) I know this is the best decision I have ever made. I cannot wait to meet the people in Long Beach:)

Shout out to Carol: dude, you are going to be such a great missionary but it is going to be hard work on going up to a stranger and getting to know them. I know it'll be hard for you but it will help you when you get here. 

Love you all.

This was my zone at the MTC

And this was my district!

Sister Brockbank and I!! We carpooled to middle school together!