Trust God and Trust in Good Things to Come

My week has been filled with roses and thorns, lets take a look.

My first day in Long Beach was on Tuesday. I left my beautiful area of Huntington Beach where I had complete paradise to Long  Beach where I didn't know anything. I got a new car, a phone with no contacts, a new companion straight off the plane and a completely empty apartment with not even toilet paper, and no air conditioning. haha. We got completely lost on the way home. We went way past curfew. I found out Sister Beaudette and I have the same weaknesses. Directions and our memory. Oh man... it was a crazy day! We went and worked in the evening and we were able to teach 2 lessons to less actives in our ward. So that was good:) When we got home, we were both exhausted. We carry all our luggage up to our apartment and we planned for the next day sitting on the ground because we didnt have desks or chairs yet. So that was our first day. It was awful to be honest haha but the blessing was that a member gave us toilet paper and cookie butter. I dont think I could have survived without that cookie butter!

Then the next day we woke up super tired because it was SO HOT. Way too hot to sleep without a fan. So you can already guess how I was feeling that day. CRANKY. The "rose" was we got to buy all new stuff for our nice new apartment :) The "thorn" was that we only did missionary work for like an hour total because it took so long to get everything situated. We thought we could go out and work but then our manager gave us the wrong key and the list goes on and on. We just had errands done that day. 

Day 3 in Long Beach, our alarm doesnt go off. (Worst trainer ever!!) Because we have a new phone and I accidently didn't put the alarm on "daily." But the best part about the day was that the manager to our apartment complex is an inactive member that grew up in the church. She took it as a sign that we moved in and she wants to come back to church!! So we had a really powerful lesson with her. That was pretty great:)

Day 4 was uneventful, we just got rejected a ton. I have never had so many people NOT take a picture of Jesus Christ before. But this was the day we got air conditioning! So that made me SUPER happy. 

Day 5 we go to our first appointment at 11 o clock, so after studies. We get there and the lady seemed totally normal the night before. but we knock on the door and she is completely frantic and she says "an earthquake is happening I have to go!!!!" ..........but there was no earthquake........... so we were like "uhhhhhhh ok..." Ive never had anyone reject me with that one before! 

Then the next guy we talk to was an existential atheist. I dont even know what that means but in the middle of our conversation he says "Thank God we live in a free country." hahaha.... I was like... didn't you just say you were atheist?? Long Beach people are crazy.

Then we got completely yelled at by this guy because he wanted to talk to us but we wouldn't go inside his house. He was the only one home so we arent allowed to. He was super offended but oh well. He should know its not good for 2 young ladies to be in his house when no one else is there anyways!

Day 6 was a beautiful day:) people were nice to us and wanted to talk to us. We didn't find any new investigators but we did get to teach a really great lesson to a girl named Kaitlyn. She was baptized when she was 12. She was telling us that she wants to focus on figuring out who she is instead of going to church. We told her that she will find out who she is when she starts coming to church. We told her its where she belongs because she is a daughter of God. It was really really cool. :) I know Heavenly Father answered my prayer because right before that I just begged Him that we would be able to teach and help someone, then Kaitlyn let us talk to her. I know when we have the faith to ask, Heavenly Father will grant us blessings.

I know that when we have hard weeks, and we get through them it qualifies us to help others when they have hard times. It strengthens our faith when we see our prayers be answered and i am now very grateful when someone accepts a picture of Christ when before,I must have been taking that for granted. 

My companion is one of the most positive people I know. She is my saving grace. She doesn't get discouraged.she just keeps working hard. One night I was just "done." and she was like "maybe we should sing hymns?" haha and I was like "no." but she keeps trying anyways. 

Did you guys see the eclipse yesterday? It was pretty cool. It didn't turn red though from what we could see. 

Oh and we are the first Sisters to live in the "bro zone." That means we live outside of our boundries and we live where only Elders can serve (cuz its ghetto). We feel pretty cool. First Sisters to make it there! Don't worry mom and dad, its safe! 

"Trust God and Trust in good things to come." 

I hope you all have a great week:) 

My Last 12 Weeks

Hey everyone!! I dont have much to say. The transfer has come to an end! I am moving tomorrow to Long Beach! I will be in the Woodruff Ward and I am whitewash trunky training! That means that I will be training a new missionary in a new area for my last 12 weeks. 

I am forever grateful for my companion Sister Miller. She taught me how to be more organized and how to LOVE working hard. My whole life Ii had the attitude "I cant wait until everything is complete so I can just chill and not stress." But now I have the attitude "I dont want to run out of things to do or I will for sure be bored!" haha. So I am grateful for her. She is one of the hardest working people, and she is one of the happiest people. We spend most of our days laughing together. Its pretty great! Im going to miss her a lot. 

We set 2 more baptismal dates this week! So there are 4 total. It was really cool, we taught the lesson at a member's house and they taught a lot of the lesson. I learned so much! For one, we believe in the great apostasy which occurred right when the Bible stopped being written. Why did Revelation stop? Because we didn't have the Priesthood authority. Makes sense. Probably some of you dont know what that means.. just ask a Mormon. haha

I am sure I will have more to report next week:) I love you guys!! Here's some pictures:)

First pic, Sister Mathey, an elderly lady we visit every week. She always says "want me to push you in the pool" in her Indonesian accent:) so cute

My recent convert Melissa and I, she took us out for one of my last dinners in Huntington Beach!

Mine and Sister Miller's matching shirts!

All the senior STL's and new STL's that got called. 

Me with Tina, she is so so fun, she comes to lessons with us all the time. We just laugh and laugh, she is awesome.

The Miller Trio. Sara Miller got called to the Idaho Falls Mission. She would always come to lessons with us too. I let her wear my nametag for the pic:)

Its the Day to Day Little Miracles

So much happened this week! We were able to meet the Standard of Excellence which is really cool. We were super blessed. 

The first experience I wanted to share happened on Friday. We went to visit a former investigator, we talked to him about a month ago. We ran into him right as he was heading off to work and he also has a rather sporadic schedule. He knew it wasn't a coincidence, se are going to see him tomorrow morning. He loves the church, his only concern is why we don't use wine when we take the sacrament. One would think that would be easy to get over, but not for him.

We taught a less active family this week that was very offended by their bishop at church and some other members. They completely opened up about everything. I understood their concern and without wanting to offend them, I tried to tell them coming to church is not a matter of the people around you but your relationship with God.  You don't want to stand in front of God at the last day and tell Him the reason you never went to church to partake of the Sacrament, which is the most important thing we do each week, because you were offended by someone. But I know it is hard. I have also been offended before, but people just aren't perfect!

Our mission president came to a lesson with our investigator Chuck, he asks tons of questions!! So it was interesting, I learned SO much during that lesson. He said there are 3 Christian churches in the world. 1. Catholic Church 2. Protestant Church and 3. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I thought that was an interesting way to look at it!

Lastly, I wanted to share our 15 miracle day (yesterday):

1. Sara Miller (our Miller trio) she leaves on her mission in October so she came out with us!

2. Our investigator Lindsey was home and we invited her mom to be baptized, she accepted!

3. Ramses (a potential investigator) invited us into his home for a lesson for the first time. He is Greek Orthodox. We also invited him to be baptized, he said when he knows it is true, he will be.

4. The Molens in our ward left lunch in the fridge for us to eat at the church.

5. Argie (our investigator) came to church!

6. Argie accepted a day to be baptized! October 10th!!

7. Sister French (less active) came to church!

8. Argie got a beautiful Priesthood blessing of healing after church.

9. We left dinner a bit early to pick up Tina (recent convert) who came to a lessons with us. 

10. Tina bore powerful testimony in our lesson with Carry. Carry's daughter is dating a Mormon boy about to leave on his mission. We invited her to be baptized. She is coming to the Relief Society Activity tomorrow night and we will teach her more!

11. We randomly met this guy named Saul who the elders referred to us. We walked past him on the street, I said, "Hey are you Saul?" and he was like "Ya.." haha it was funny. But then we were able to sing to him and teach him. He accepted to be baptized November 7th.

12. We taught Tina before we dropped her off at home.

13. Taught Kim (recent convert).

14. I forgot to mention that the copy machine hasn't been working forever and it was working again!

15. We met all our goals for the day and met the Standard of Excellence for the week!

There was a guy last week that talks to us sometimes, he lives with Tina. He said "What do you guys do all day? chill?" hahahahaha I showed him our planner. We always have people to see, places to go, people who want to learn. Its the best:)

I stinkin love Sister Miller, we made matching shirts today with our names on the back! We are such a good team!

Thats my week, love you all!

The Spirit Helps Us Feel God's Love

So this week I taught the coolest lesson of my whole mission!! Ahhhhh it's such a cool story I wish I could just tell you all in person instead of writing it all out! Ok so it started on Tuesday, I was on exchanges with Sister Glenn. We had a lesson and we were bringing a member with us. Well, the member got lost on the way there so we were waiting for her to show up. While we were waiting, we talked to everyone we could see. Then this young man walks past us and so we weren't sure how old he was (we couldn't tell what age he was!) Well we stopped and talked to him and we gave him a card with Jesus Christ on it. He told us that he doesn't believe in Jesus Christ or God! So we asked him why, he said that he doesn't believe in miracles and doesn't understand why there is so much evil in the world. We were getting ready to show him the video "Hope of God's Light" when our phone started ringing because our member showed up. SO I asked him if he would watch the video and we set up another time to see him. Then a few days later we went to his house, his parents answered the door and we ask for Calvin, they said he wasn't home (lies!). Then Calvin came from the back of the house and told his parents, "Don't worry about it." So we ended up teaching him in his garage, in the shade because it was really hot outside. He said that he watched the video and that it opened his mind a little bit. (Score!) haha SO THEN we started talking about his concerns and why he doesn't believe in God. We testified to him that God is real and loves him very much. We explained to him that the reason there is wickedness in the world is because God gave us the ability to choose (also called, agency). We wouldn't be able to choose if there wasn't a good and bad to choose from. While we were talking we mentioned that God has a higher purpose for him. He was curious and asked us what that higher purpose was. So then we sang to him with Sister Millers ukulele about the plan that God has for us. He said he felt the same way he used to feel when he was 16 and went to church and they would sing! Obviously it was the Spirit testifying to him that what we were sharing was true!!! It was the coolest thing ever!!!!! By the end of the lesson he was ready to come to church, and he believed in God. I am so grateful for this experience. It truly is the Spirit that helps us feel God's love. I love the Gospel, I know it is true. :)

Second miracle, was that we fasted on Sunday for all of our investigators because they are nit-picking everything and ignoring that they already know that its true. So we fasted and prayed for them. Then, just yesterday, one of our investigators had a really neat spiritual experience and she is totally ready to get baptized!!!!!!!! WOOOOOO!!!!

I am so grateful for my mission and seeing peoples lives change. I love this area, we have found TONS of people to teach. We taught 28 lessons last week. Its doubled in the past 4 weeks! Sister Miller and I work really well together and I am just so happy! Its almost too good to be true.
I love you all!!!

Oh my gosh, funny story. Sister Miller (not me) wanted to go the pool in our apartment complex because we didn't have a dinner. hahaha we looked so funny. We had oreos for dinner (probably why I  am gaining weight but whatever) haha it was fun:) 

Pictures, at the temple with Sister Miller (That was today btw) and then a picture of the biggest moth ever!!!!!!!

"Thank You."

This week was exhausting!! But so so good! We found 5 new investigators and we had 2 exchanges! We also had a lot of meetings!

I just really want to tell you about our investigators but I dont want to be creepy and put their personal info online haha. But oh my gosh, Heavenly Father is really blessing me with the ability to LOVE these people. I am so grateful. I love our investigators (we have like 15!) and I love this ward! I also love my companion, Sister Miller, so I am very grateful for this time On my mission for sure! We have this one investigator that asks us TONS of questions! We would get so off topic, I had to start making a list while we teach him. 

I never knew before my mission that I can be good friends with so many people! No matter their physical appearance, wealth, education, religion, or ethnicity, just so many people that I get along with and am able to love! Its exciting!! 

My most spiritual moment this week was at MLC (Mission Leadership Training) toward the end of our training President Tew quoted a scripture. We believe that whether it is the voice of God or of His servants, it is the same. So he told us to imagine Heavenly Father saying this to us.

"Thank you."

To picture my Heavenly Father saying that to me for all the work that I do in His name was overwhelming. Then we sang the song "How Great Thou Art". It was so powerful. That is truly how I feel about Jesus Christ. I couldn't hold in my tears, the Spirit was just so strong! 

Ok well we went to the mall today and we spent too much time looking! So I don't have much time. But I hope you all have a lovely week!

Twins!

Jesus Christ is the Best Teacher

Its been a really crazy week!! Like really crazy!!! But I dont want to get into all the details!

I got my first set of trunky papers:( That means they need to buy my plane ticket for home. I cried a little but then my companion made me laugh. 

One of our investigators is so so nice, she wants to feed us everytime we go over there! But we go over at 6 pm and our dinner is from 5 to 6, where we have already been fed. So we have had double dinners 4 times this week. We need to tell her!! Im gaining weight!

We have had a goal this week to invite someone to be baptized everyday. It has brought a lot of miracles! We invited one of our investigators to be baptized the first lesson and now he has a date set for September 26th! Then we saw him again Sunday morning and we were able to teach his roommate who then came to church!! It was so cool:) He basically taught US the whole Plan of Salvation just from studying the Bible. He considers himself  "A ollower of Jesus Christ" but he has all of our same beliefs. We were like "your already Mormon!!" 

Funny story, we were done planning and we heard someone knock on the door. It was after 10 at night so we were a little scared, but we answered it..... and it was the pizza guy! haha. It was the wrong house. 

We have this other investigator that is so awesome, he has a radio show called "Deep Thoughts" so he asks really deep questions!! His mind thinks in a different way and it is so fun to teach him. 

I just love our investigators right now!

On a more spiritual note.. this week I have been studying the scripture Matt. 11:28-30

28 ¶^aCome unto me, all ye that ^blabour and are heavy laden, and I will give you ^crest.

 29 Take my ^ayoke upon you, and ^blearn of me; for I am^cmeek and ^dlowly in ^eheart: and ye shall find ^frest unto your souls.

 30 For my yoke is ^aeasy, and my burden is light

this may seem random but think for a moment what it would be like to be invited to the white house to speak with the president of the united states. or you had a friend of taylor swift come over and tell you that you are personally invited to go to her house to hang out with her in a small gorup. ok maybe neither of these appeal to you but the point is that when you are "invited" to go somewhere with someone you think is important, it feels good. in this scripture Jesus Christ is inviting us to "come."

Jesus Christ is inviting us to drop what we are doing and follow Him. Then He promises us that it will be easier and happier. He is the best teacher. I try to emulate His example as I teach and talk to people.

This made me really happy, we had our first exchange of the transfer this week and Sister A told me that I was her favorite STL:) That was so so nice. She told me that Im really spiritual and she always looks forward to our exchanges. I dont think that I am really spiritual but I want to be! So that made me really happy.

I will also share a few secrets of the universe I learned from President Tew this week. 1. We need to see opportunity when there is not opportunity, try to find the best in every situation. 2. When we do something more, we get better at it, dont give up. 3. Nothing succeeds like success, when you are successful, it brings more success.

I feel like I am coming home really soon. December 15th in case anyone forgot. yikes! Ok I love you all, have a good week!

This is Sister Miller, we went to get shaved ice at Bahama Bucks and they had a photo booth!!