New Pictures!!

Brittany with Ana and Sis. Holladay at Ana's Baptism - her first baptism in the mish!

Hiking Camelback with her zone

With Sis. Holladay on the Camelback hike

With Sis. Holladay after Ana's Baptism at the Carne Asada fiesta

With Sis. Holladay at the temple lights

With the Whites (temple visitor center director and wife) at the temple lights

Letter from Dec. 12

Hi Familia!

 

Thanks for the emails, the letters, the packages, the whole shebang. You are all wonderfullll! Well things are going well and exciting here in Mesita. A rollercoaster, but what else is new? Christmas lights are really fun. Sorry last week's email was so short. But hey, good news...I get to skype with you on Christmas day! For 40 minutes. Woohoooo! I'm excited that you'll all be there together on Christmas (as far as I know), so I'm excited to see what the little kiddo's look like. So I will have breakfast that morning, then church for 1 hour at 11 am, and then after that I can skype. When's best for you? Let me know. Also, as far as Christmas list goes...a few more things would be TOPS...I'm always looking for more tops. Even if they're modest when they're layered with a shade shirt, that's totally fine. Maybe some tights could also be nice? Or leggings to wear under skirts? I don't know. My mind is drawing a blank otherwise. Oh...maybe like pens, pencils, sharpies, those are always nice. Stationery? Be creative!

 

Anyways, other than that. So...this week also had it's fair dose of "distractions" if you will...this transfer has proved interesting in that aspect. We moved back into our apartment on Wednesday, and Thursday morning I woke up and my neck was covered with a crazy rash/bites. We didn't know if it was bed bugs or what, so we had to go to the doctor. Then sister holladay had a fever, and so we had to stay home and rest. The whole Christmas lights schedule has made us exhausted, and all very prone to getting sick. Anyways, so she rested and Sister Ellsworth said I could rest too because I didn't sleep that well the night before. Then Friday Sister HOlladay woke up covered in a rash/bites, and we went to the VC and we were just exhausted. We ended up getting sent home from the VC to sleep for 2 hours, and we slept really well. I felt a lot better after that, but then this morning I woke up with a cold. Anyways, with the schedule it's really interesting...because we're supposed to sleep 11:30-7:30, but then sometimes we have to wake up earlier, or we can go to bed earlier, etc etc, and so it's made it really weird to know how to be "exactly obedient" with that. VC sisters have more flexibility, especially at Christmas lights. Anyways, so it's been a weird past few days...I've been like napping more and all that stuff, which throws me off haha. I had an interview with Elder White on Saturday, and he told me that I looked way exhausted and needed to not work myself so hard I get sick. So yes, it's been interesting...I'm not sure what the lesson is in all of this. I'm trying to be obedient, but then with Christmas lights and getting sick and all of that, there's a lot of exceptions/different rules/learning how to balance. It's funny to see how thrown off I get by having just the slightest dose of autonomy...hahaha makes me think that I'll probably be pretty awkward after the mission haha.

 

Anyways, so that's been funny. But it's all good, it keeps things exciting. It's funny how missions always throw curveballs! Anyways, so...what to report. Good things! We've had tons of prospects for baptisms, way more baptismal dates set than we did before in this area. But church continues to be an issue! So, we're teachign this one older lady, Teresa. Who's awesome! And she totally has desires to learn and all that. She's older, probably in her 70s. Anyways, but we always thought it was curious because she like would never remember the things we taught her in the previous lesson, and she wouldn't show up for lessons and she'd disappear on the weekends instead of going to church. We talked to her daughters about it, and basically it sounds like she probably has some mild form of Alzheimer's or something...not really but kind of. Basically, she just flat out forgets about all of our lessons/church/etc...hence why she doesn't show up! Anyways, so it's missionaries versus Alzheimers, and we are determined to win.

 

On Saturday, after a long day of sleeping and resting and feeling sick and scratchy, we had a great lesson with Javier...the dad of a less active guy. The Medina family came with us, and the lesson was great...probably the strongest spirit Sister Holladay and I have had in any of our lessons. We set a date for December 31st! Brother Medina is the 2nd counseler in the branch presidency, and he is awesome...he just teaches like half the lesson for us. We are SO grateful, because our Spanish is limited, and I think the members realize that and take pity on us haha. So, unfortunately Javier didn't show up for church the next day, but we still have high hopes. He already recognizes teh spirit...he told us how he feels it when he goes to church with his son. So, good stuff!

 

As for Christmas lights, they're great! Really fun...lots of people coming in, and there's just a good spirit here in the VC. It's way more referral-based now than during the slower times of the VC. We're suppsoed to try to keep our interactions under 5 minutes long. It's really fun...every night we're with a different companion, and set goals for that night..how many PMRs and Top Boxes we want to get. It's fun to work with different sisters and learn from them each night. And goal setting is so much fun in the VC.. it's just awesome to see how the Lord provides. Elder White told us on Friday at a prep meeting that he felt like if we all prayed for more top boxes, that the Lord would be willing to bring those people to the VC. So that night, our top boxes totally spiked up...they went from like 10-15 a night to like 30-40 a night, and they've stayed that way. That's been really cool. It's cool to see the people that are just prepared to learn more. Yesterday I took a group of like 15 teenagers through Gods Plan, and all were members except for 1. I gave them time to fill out cards after, and I walked out the room and they stayed in there for like 5 minutes. Then they all walked out 1 by 1, and each of the members had referred a different friend, and at the very end the nonmember walked out and topboxed...saying he wanted to learn more! It was awesome. Also met a lady who was super into family history, and said she didn't know what it was that compelled her to be interested in it, and she accepted to meet with missionaries. Just lots of people from all different walks of life. Met some people from like 12 miles away from St Josephs! That was fun. Anyways, so it's good stuff, and it'll get even more exciting once school gets out and tons of people start coming in.

 

Ahh so what spiritual thought do I have for you all. I've been thinking a lot about faith. I think for me it's been easier to have faith in the VC than in the area, and that's something I want to change. I completely see how faith works. When you set a goal with faith, the Lord provides the way. Faith is just the way that you can tune into part of the Lord's power and use it for his purposes, according to His will. Anyways, so we all need more faith...it really can move mountains. As missionaries, I feel like we use the word "miracle" a lot, but it's because we see them all the time, and when you expect miracles, they come. Faith is almost like addictive...once you exercise your faith, you just want to exercise it more and more. Anyways...so, if you ever wonder why we always make such a big deal of faith, it's because it WORKS! Okay, well I lvoe you all. Good luck with finals, work, christmas preparation, all that. I'm excited to skype with you in a few short weeks! Have a great week, love you lots! Love Sister Fors

 

Letter from Nov. 28

Helloooo family!

AHHHH I loved reading all of your emails this week. I love hearing about all of the wonderful things that are happening. I LOVE JACOB WILLIAM! He looks so precious in the pictures. I love hearing about all of your missionary experiences. I am just tearing up right now because I'm so happy for all of the blessings in your lives right now. The night we started Christmas lights, Elder White gave us/the visitors center all a special blessing. He blessed us that this Christmas would be a special one that we wouldn't forget, and he also said that our families would experience special and unusual blessings because of our service. So...keep your eyes out for those blessings, because you know where they're comin from, eh? :) hahahaha. But really, I love you all so much and I'm so grateful for your examples.

Okayo so this week! Well, lotss to report. First off, our area is taking off all the sudden! Well, maybe I'm speaking too soon. But we have FIVE baptismal dates! You can read the details in my letter to the president, but these past few days we've been blessed to meet some really prepared people. I've been thinking a lot about how our job is merely to harvest those that are already prepared. I think we spend too much time with people that we love, but just aren't at the right time of their lives yet. We got a referral from some elders for an old lady Teresa, who we're gonna teach because "le da verguenza" to talk to the elders. So she's awesome, and her daughters are members. She doesn't know anything..we had to start from scratch, but she's willing to learn and already wants to get baptized. Sister holladay is improving in her spanish and taking more initiative.

We also set baptismal dates with these two guys who i LOVE! We got a referral from the sisters out on the reservation for a spanish speaker out there. We went out there, and he's a migrant worker that lives in this trailer with his 2 best buds, and they all work 80+ hours a week and just chill in this trailer in the middle of nowhere. It's the worst living conditions I've seen yet on my mission, but they are so happy. Hector, the moment he walked outside of his trailer, I could just see how open his heart was. It was weird, I could just imagine him in a shirt and tie, just as a strong leader of the church. So I want to see that vision come true! They're all older guys...probably in their 50's. Anywho, so we set a baptismal date for the 24th. As of now, Christmas eve is gonna be an incredible day! Christmas lights are gonna be tough...I don't know how we're gonna manage this all, with only 1-2 nights in the area a week.

All things are good to go for ANA this Saturday! She is so solid. As we say, she isn't getting baptized because of us, she's getting baptized in spite of us hahahhaa. Just kidding, but really..she's so solid. She cooked us dinner this past week before her baptismal interview, and it was really fun to just talk with her about everything. She did caretaking for a long time, adn we talked all about how she thinks its so sad that we don't care for our older generation here in the US...made me proud of you, mom :) So yes, this saturday at 3 pm, she will be baptized! ANNNDDD JORGE! Will be baptized this saturday at 11 am. I'm so excited!! It's crazy that after like 4 months, when baptisms seemed so far away and hard to achieve, now they're almost here. So this Saturday will be a great day.

Oh, the title of this email is because I ate MENUDO for the first time! Ack. I've been lucky to not really have any disgusting food on my mission, until it came to that night. We ate menudo at a member's home, and it was her birthday so like half the branch was there also, all watching us eat cow intestines and ankle meat. It was groooooossss....because my throats so small I was scared to swallow it whole, so I just had to chew it bite by bite, and then I had to hold a napkin to my mouth to prevent me from gagging it. Hahhahaa. I'm such a wimp. It's funny, because it seems like 1/2 of our members don't even like menudo themselves, but they love to feed it to missionaries...it's like the big national inside joke of Mexico.

Oh...thanksgiving! It was good. We ate thanksgiving dinner with a few of the VC sisters and teh Whites and some senior missionaries in a clubhouse of the temple apartments. It was yummy, and then that night was Christmas lights! There weren't tons of people there thanksgiving night, but it was good. Since then, I had 2 day shifts, so only one other night, which was last night. It's different, a lot more just referrals and top boxes, and not as much time for long conversations. But there is such a special spirit there. You can just feel the difference in the Visitor's Center, and I think others can too. I was happy to hear that you went to the LA vc! I thought about how a year ago exactly we all went there as a family...and look where I am now. And I'm glad you got to see Dave Blasucci play, because he wasn't able to make it out here :) Anywho, I'm excited for Christmas lights...it keeps you on your toes and it really is very spiritual.

Training continues to be super challenging, but there are small rewarding moments. Sister Holladay has taught me a lot, and I love it because she has a lot of the same ideas that I did when I was a greenie, and now because we're both newbies with no experience under our belt, we just go ahead and try them out...and they work! Sometimes! Haha. It's been hard though, for several reasons. In the meantime, we are seeing lots of miracles...and really those are what make it all worth it, for reals. Anyways, I must be off. I love you all so much! Woops, forgot to include my christmas list...maybe i'll write a snailmail about it. Love you all so much! Have a great week! Love, Sister Fors

Letter from Nov. 21

Hellooo family!

I can't wait to get the big newwssssssssss! It's so crazy to think that Al is probably in the delivery room right now...I feel so dettached from it, but I am hoping and praying that all will go well...I am so excitedddd!!! Anywhozle, hello family! Thanks for everything. Mom, I got the package last week and it was GREAT and turned out to be a lifesaver (which I will explain later)..but thank you so much. Hope you're all getting excited for Turkey Day! We have just a half pday today (we had zone conference this morning), and then we'll have pday on Thursday. So Thursday the members we live with (Bro and Sis White...different from Elder and Sister White) invited us to dinner, but we won't be able to make it in time to the VC, so we'll be eating dinner w/ Elder and SIs White and other VC missionaries. Then we have to be all ready to go at 3 pm for the big show to start!

Anyways, I will tell you about my week. It was a weird one haha. We had some good teaching moments and some good progress in the area and with members, but there were some distractions that had to momentarily take us away from the work...namely: Chinchas. Aka...BEDBUGSSS!!!!!!! Woohooooo! I think I mentioned to mom a while ago that I was getting bug bites, way back in August, and they would just come and go away. Then Sis Tejada got them, so we talked to the housing guy at transfer meetings. He came and sprayed and told us we'd have to wash our clothes, but the lady we lived with talked us out of it and said it wasn't a big deal. Then Sister Holladay started getting bites! And we talked to the housing guy again (because he needs to do 2 treatments) and he wasn't too happy with us, and told us they'd have to start treatment again and we'd have to wash all our clothes. So this was Friday night, after a super long day in which Sister Holladay had had a break down about Spanish, and we just found out that we would have to spend our entire next day cleaning out our apartment and washing out all our clothes and drying them for several hours and everything. We were pretty bummed hahahahaa, and might have been slightly overwhelmed. Then Saturday morning we had to wake up bright and early for a GREENIE BREAKFAST! Which the branch put on. They were going to give me one when I came to the branch, but never got to it, so this past Saturday they gave me and Sister Holladay one. I had been looking forward to it forever, and it was just funny when it came on the morning that we were both super overwhelmed and exhausted. But either way, the Greenie Breakfast was awesome. It consisted of green orange juice, milk, sausage, eggs, potatoes, tortillas, cereal, pancakes, and syrup...all dyed green! There was a green decorated table we sat at, and then a few families from the branch came and they all ate normally-colored food at a separate table and laughed at us as we ate. It was really fun, and they put a lot of effort into it. So that was way fun. Then we headed back to our apartment, and sat on the couch as we tried to devise a plan for the bed bugs extermination. One sister from the VC, Sister Nishiguchi, had bed bugs before and called to offer to help. We told her we'd call her back, but then her and another sister just showed up at our door ready to work! They were saints, and we were so exhausted and they just took charge. So Saturday we spent the day clearing out all of our clothes, going to the laundromat and spending several hours there, and also going to the dry cleaners and spending $150 on clothes that would get ruined in the dryers. Anyways, so then for the past few days we've been staying at the apartment of 2 other sisters that live right by the VC. That's been really fun and they have a really nice place,and we might just stay there for 2 weeks so we don't have to repeat the entire process of washing all our clothes again.

Anyways, so yeah! And I also have this sore throat that I got yesterday, that I might go to the doctor for, because it is against all the rules for me to be sick for Christmas lights...so I might have to rest up to get better for that. Long story short, there is SO much to do, and SO little time! It's been interesting these past few days, as I've realized there are a billion and a half things to do, and I can only accomplish a small portion of them, how I've just had to give it all over to the Lord. I can't possibly do it all, and these past few days I realized that, and so I've kind of gotten to this point where I just have to let go. I'm not quite sure where to find the balance. I haven't had any time to write in my journal the last few days, so maybe that's why this letter is even more introspective than the usual :) hahaha. But it's so interesting, because just being with Sister Holladay is such a different culture than with Sister Tejada. It's so much more laidback, and we're way more prone to talk about things at home, which makes it hard to focus on the work and feel the spirit. Sister Tejada was work-work-work obedience-obedience-obedience, and now I'm realizing that I have to play that role. So it's been an interesting transition, because I have a hard time finding the balance between being a giant ball of stress 24/7 and being a slacker, and then trying to make wherever I fall into that spectrum compatible with my companion. Does that make sense? ANYWAYS...things have been really good, this past week there have just been a fair dose of distractions...what with bed bugs, having to switch cars, exchanges, etc. Today in Zone Conference a quote was said that I liked..."A distraction doesn't have to be evil for it to be effective." That made me think, because I think sometimes I struggle because I'm like "But the things we're talking about aren't bad!" which is true...but that doesn't mean they're the best thing we could be doing at the moment! Anyways, so...family, if you have any insights on distractions, stress, any of this..feeeel free!

Anyways, so despite all of this, I have seen some miracles this week...especially in the Visitors Center. I have felt really blessed in the VC this past month. As I've been focusing on training and helping our area and all of that, the Lord has really blessed me to just have teaching opportunities fall into my hands in the VC. I've gotten a lot of PMR's that just fall into my hands this past month, and this past week I was lucky to confirm a few great calls and also get some top boxes! So I have been so grateful for that, to see that if you do your best, the Lord does provide. This past week I was able to top box my first family! That was so awesome. I walked up to a family that was standing outside of God's plan, and they told me they were nonmembers that came to see the lights, and they've never had the chance to come into the VC before. So I showed them God's Plan, and they were super receptive and just agreeing with everything I was teaching. It was a mom, dad, and their 2 11-yr old twin boys. Then I showed them the temple panels and taught them about it and again, super receptive. And they basically were totally down with having missionaries, and it was great. Woohoo! Pray for them! Also, this past week I had a 15 yr old member girl come in with her friend that's investigating. I showed them Gods Plan as well, and then found out the 15 yr old member was a convert to the church as well. They were giving me referrals and the member girl referred me her dad who lives in San Diego whos not a member and she's never talked with him much about the church. So I gave him a call, had a great conversation with him and he accepted missionaries, and was liek "I want my daughter to be here with me." He only sees her once a year, but she's coming out for thanksgiving so he wants the missionaries to come over then so they can all listen together! So that was cool, I was able to call up the girl after and tell her about it and she was sooo happy. Anyways, so I am so grateful for the visitor's center, and for my area. This past week we had 2 lessons in a member home, which is the first time that's ever happened in the area that I know of! Woohoo! They were both really good, and it's so nice because the members can help us out with teaching because both of us still struggle with Spanish. Ana is still on board for December 3rd, which is great. I think we're seeing progress with members, and we have some great ideas. However, with Christmas lights we will hardly have any nights in the area, but we'll try to make things work. This past week we taught Griselda again, who told us she still wants to come to church and is always ready to go, just doesn't want to go alone. What! So of course we're like "We can change that!" Anyways...so yes. I love you all so much! I must be off, but thank you for everything. I am so so grateful for all of you. I'm grateful for your examples of righteousness and dedication to the Gospel and to serving others. Hope you have a great thanksgiving with the new little one! Thank you for all that you do, I love you lots! Love, Hermana Fors

Pics from Nov. 15 - Sis Holladay!

Brittany with her new companion, Sister Holladay, by the Indian Reservation sign.

Sister Holladay, Brittany and Sister Tejada inside Brother White's home. Brittany lives in the White's basement apartment.

Email from Nov. 15

Hello familia!

Thank you for all your letters and emails and everything. Mom, I got the package...thanks so much! Funny, Sis Holladay and I are actually heading to H&M in Scottsdale today...what kind of missionaries are we? But we need to get some new clothes, and she needs some nice shoes, for Christmas lights. So I will just tell you about Christmas lights...it's gonna be intense! Had our first training this past Friday. So we're gonna be in the VC almost every night, which means our areas will be basically in hibernation during this time. They go from Thanksgiving to New Years, with concerts outside from Dec 1 to 25th. And Dave Blasucci is playing indoors a few days after Thanksgiving. Us sisters all need to be looking real put together...our hair has to be down and styled, we have to wear blazers or sweaters, have to look really professional, have to wear makeup, the whole pizazz. So every night we will be rotating through posts for 1 hour at each post. We'll rotate through the nativity display (hundred+ nativities from all over the world), the Luke II movie, the Christus, Savior of the World, God's Plan, and the outside steps to welcome people in. We'll be working indoors the whole time, with a few missionaries working outside collecting referrals. We get 40% of our annual visitors at Christmas time, crazy no? I'm really excited. So basically at each post we have to give super short presentations, like 30 seconds each. I'll be paired w/ a diff English sister each night, and I'll talk in Spanish, while she talks in English. So it'll be really good! That's about the extent of the Christmas festivities we have, there are lots and lots of lights!

Okayo soooo this week was a good one! It's always unbelievable to me to see just how much happens in one week, so much to tell you about. Anywhozle, so 2 days this past week were Leadership Training Meetings that I went to in Scottsdale. All teh trainers, zone leaders, district leaders, assistants get together for 2 days and just learn lots and do lots of roleplaying. And I LOVED it. It was such a spiritually charged event. It was crazy how much revelation I could get from it, and just how much the spirit could play such a big role in the role playing. We would all take turns being our own investigators and see how other missionaries would handle their situations, and so we got lots of good ideas. That also meant SIs Holladay was with other sisters or in the VC for two days, so we didn't get much done in our area then. Anyways, so I loved LTM...I felt such a stronger desire to just go out and do the work afterwards, it was great.

What else...on Wednesday morning I think it was, Sis Holladay and I were jogging and she tripped on the sidewalk and totally fell and scraped up her face and knees! I felt so bad. She just had one bad scrape under her eye. Anyways, moral of the story...I feel like it TOTALLY turned into a blessing in disguise! Because we had a Thanksgiving dinner w/ the branch on Friday, and them being the latinos they are, they were all like "what happened to your face? did sister fors hit you again?" and then it became this total ice breaker. Haha it was funny, but it was really cool because Sis Holladay was able to just joke around with them right off the bat, and she was just able to feel a lot more comfortable and just friendly with them because of it. So, yes...blessing in disguise haha.

Que mas...things with Ana are going well! She has been like our one shining hope. She is so prepared, SIster Holladay and I joke about how we feel like we're cheating or something with her lessons, just because she's so ready. It's like Sis Holladay and I teach a principle for 5 minutes, and Ana then bears her testimony of it for 30. Haha. It really has been a blessing, just because it gives Sis Holladay hope that investigators can and indeed do progress, and it gives me hope that this area hasn't completely fallen to shambles under our control. So we're all set for December 3rd. ALSO...if you remember Jorge, the awesome investigator who we had to hand over to the English elders...he is set for a baptism December 3rd also! SO EXCITED! I was so happy, I hope I can make it to both baptisms. It feel really good to finally see some baptisms close in sight.

Speaking of baptisms, we set a date with Jose again! If you remember, he had told us to come to his apartment one day before church, and if he wasn't there, he told us we could stop coming. So we came, he wasn't there, so we dropped him. Sis Holladay and I stopped by last night, and he was like "I was at the car wash across the street! I could see you knocking on my door when you came! I was just kidding!" hahaha...then he told us he's missed us, his daughter has been asking about us. All of that. So, we went ahead and set a date with him again..>Dec 24th! This time around, we're gonna work really hard to make sure he is 100% focused on this change. SO that was good news too!

Rodrigo and Edgar are also doing well...they're the 13 yr old and 11 yr old brothers that have come to church for forever. They have all their hoodlum friends that come to church with them and wreak havoc. We see them almost every day because we're always in their neighborhood, and they always like to do things like pretend to drive our car, or throw smoke bombs at us. Hahaha...we very much have a love-hate relationship with that entire neighborhood I feel like haha. But I love those boys SO much...and I really want them to get baptized. We have the parents permission now and we're trying to figure out the best timing.

Sad news...David and Guadalupe have to wait til January to get married now :( NOt entirely sure how we can help them in the meantime.

Also...I wrote this in the pres letter, but I had this crazy dream last week that came true...it was a total miracle. Had a dream about Jonathan Baez, whos fam we used to teach, and that we gave him a ride and told us all that had been holding his family back. Was w/ sis holladay in the car, saw him walk by and I was like "get out of the car!" we talked with him and because of that convo, we found his family again! It was a miracle that I hope leads to something really big.

Yesterday we had a really weird experience. Drove up for a lesson, and as we were parking we saw this guy riding away on this bike, with this lady trying to pull him off. He started hitting her and all this stuff, and he drove off and she was furious. Everyone in the neighborhood was just sitting there staring as he like assaulted her. We got out and were like "hey!" (hahaha I'm such a tough little sister missionary) and he was gone. The lady was screaming and cussing and going crazy and called the cops, and her little 4 yr old daughter was just sitting there crying. We gave her daughter a sticker and they lady yelled at us to go away, and it just broke my heart...the little girl just had tears down her cheeks. I was really shooken up, and moral of the story...sometimes I forget just how much this world needs our message. People put their trials under wraps around us, but there is so much hurt and hate that only the gospel can fix! gottago, love sister fors

Email from Nov. 7

Well this letter will be short, because I just spent forever and a half writing to the President, and then it all got deleted :) Hahahhaa nooooooo! But hi family! I am alive and well and trying not to stress out :) Thanks for all of your love and support! Really though, every time you write back insights and all of that, I assure you they're just what I need.

Ok so as for this week...introducing you to SISTER HOLLADAY! Woooooooo! Well she's from Lindon, UT, studying art at UVU, and we have lots of similarities. She's pretty chill and laidback and has a funny, sarcastic sense of humor. It's hard to not just chat away in English. I can tell we'll work really well together. I just get nervous that just the stress of both of us being so inexperienced doesn't stress us out against eachother, you know? But she definitely totally has the greenie spirit, and I feel like I still kinda got that greenie spirit so our greenie spirits combined will just be unstoppable. Hahahhaa kidding, but really...she's very effective, a really good planner, wants to be diligent, and really knows the scriptures. So now it's just a matter of teaching obedience and Spanish! Haha. She definitely is humble and has a desire to be obedient, which makes it easy for me. Eric, I really liked what you said about being a content communicator, and how we need to be honest, but not disclose everythign...so true. It's hard to know the balance between teaching by example while still correcting things, you know? That's hard for me, so I hope she is patient with me as I am still figuring things out 100%. It can be challenging when I realize how inexperienced I am, and how much I fall short...but Sister White reminded me that in this work, we can work 24/7 and will always fall short...so we just need to learn how to use the Atonement!

So yes, this week was definitely a transition week...transfers, then weekly planning, all of that. No investigators at church :( But a family of less actives was there for the first time in a long time! And a lady who accompanied us to a lesson last week bore her testimony about it this week!! It made me so happy! She did a great job and talked about what a great experience it was for her, so hopefully that'll get the members excited. I'm trying to figure out the best way to teach her Spanish. It's funny, because of course now in just the last week MY spanish has improved like 100%, but I need to give her the opportunity to take initiative now.

So...Rocio is a less active that now really seems ready to come back to church. She asked us for a book of mormon and wants to come to the thanksgiving dinner this friday, as well as the primary program on sunday. We handed out the invites for the primary program, the kids got really excited so we will see how it goes! I'm excited. Found one new investigator this week..Magali who's really sweet and has a great family. Berenice and Jose we thought were off the list, then they randomly showed up at the VC this week...a mini miracle! So we'll see, they still seem like they have desires to learn.

One thing...it's getting COLD here in AZ! So Mom, if I have any jackets or long sleeved sweaters, maybe would you want to send them soon? Also, Dad, a "confirmed appointment" is when I called them up, and they accepted to have missionaries come to their home and teach them.

Ok, I'm sorry I don't have more to write. I'll send pics next week. This transfer will be a challenge, but also a big blessing. I love you all! Love, Sister Fors

Email from Nov. 1

Helloooo family,

Thanks for all the emails! Sounds like you're doing good. CRAZY that Dave Blasucci will be doing one of the concerts...I'm pretty sure I'll be there that night. I saw the schedule of concerts, and didn't even realize he was one of them. That'll be fun!

Anyways...so this week. Alright, well I think it was last Tuesday, it was a really memorable day. So I'm in the VC and within 3 minutes of us opening the doors that morning, this lady walks in and I take her to the exhibit. She had said someone had told her a picture in there looked like her daughter. I felt like I should start the music in there while she was walking around, so I went and started it. Then she came to me with tears in her eyes and said taht it was her daughter playing the cello in the song on the CD...she had been contracted out for the CD we were using. Anyways, and then she starts talking about some of the issues her daughter is going through right now, and then she tells me that her own husband died 2 months ago. I don't know what it was, but she started crying and I just flat out started crying with her! And then she had to go...and we had this awesome moment in the exhibit, and 2 minutes later she was gone. So, then...about 40 minutes later i'm at the front greet, and this lady walks in and I just immediately walk up to her, and I go "how's your day going?" and she just flat out breaks down in tears! And so I sit with her, and we end up talking for a while too, and she tells me how she's going through an ugly ugly divorce, and she had just come from the courtroom, where they told her she wouldn't have custody over her 3 year old daughter. Anyways, so I talk with her for a long time. Then about an hour later, I go up to this guy and he begins to tell me about how he's going thruogh the process of a divorce and also getting rebaptized, after 20 years of inactivity. So I talk with him for a  long time and he cries to me also. And then later that day I went up to a girl about my age in the exhibit, and I could tell she was having a hard time. (She was just staring at this one picture of Christ with a kid in jeans on the beach. Chances are, I've found, if someone is looking at that picture for a long time, they're going through a really hard time...haha) Anyways, started talking with her and she starts crying to me about how she's lost her temple recommend for some things and all of that. Anyways, so basically, it was like my 6 hour shift was completely filled with people going thruogh incredibly hard things. And I feel like I just realized that day that I felt like that was a big part of my individual purpose as a missionary...helping those that are mourning. I've found that it's with those visitors that I feel the Spirit guiding my words the most. I've also found that often the people with whom I have the most memorable visits with are those I'm immediately drawn to...like the lady that walked in the front greet, sister tejada later told me that it just looked like me and that lady were drawn to eachother like magnets. Craziness. Don't know if any of taht makes sense to any of you, but it was definitely a day in which I realized that each of us has a very specific purpose, and our happiness will come from when we magnify that individual purpose.

Alright, so...other miracle of the week. So Sister Tejada and I on Saturday stopped by to visit Jorge. He's the 17 yr old guy who we tracted out then saw at Walmart. So we get there, and he was just driving up! He's in the ROTC and just came back from like 8 hours of intense training. BUt he told us he had been waiting for us, so we sat down on the front porch and started talking. We started talking about the BOok of Mormon. And he told us how he really wants to learn more about the church just because he sees how all of the LDS people he knows live better lives overall, he feels like. And he says he has a lot more respect for his LDS friends. Anyways, so he's liek "I want to learn but I just get so confused...there's so much information and I don't understandit all." So we read the intro to the BOM with him and start talking to him about how he can find out if it's true. Then he asks Sister Tejada how she made the change in her life, because she was his same age. Then she bore this awesome testimony about how she fuond out that the Book of Mormon was true. And so we told him he could only find out through study and prayer. And he was liek "well how do I pray?" so we showed him how, the little instructions in a pamphlet. And then we invited him to pray, and he just started right then and there...99% of investigators are really hesitant to do so. So he starts giving this INCREDIBLE prayer! seriuosly, it was so beautiful...asking God for guidance and everything. Afterwards, we were just silent. And he goes "Woah, I just got the chills." And then he starts crying, and he was still in his ROTC uniform and he was like "i don't know why I'm doing this, I'm not supposed to be crying in uniform." And we just sat there for a while, letting him feel that Spirit. And he was just like "I'm taking this as a hint taht I definitely need to go to church next Sunday." hahahhaa. And then he was liek "That was so weird, it was like I wasn't even the one saying those words...something was guiding me right off the bat to say those things." CRAZINESS! It was incredible how quickly the Spirit hit him, and I know it's because he has such an open, open heart. Anyways, it was definitely one of the best lessons I've had. But...heartbreaker: we have to give him to the English elders :( For some reason, all of our awesome investigators are outside of our area or like English! Ahhh! Anyways, so yes, he prefers English, so they get to have him. Anyways, so yes...Jorge is awesome, so great. And I will be praying for him, even if I won't be the one teaching him.

Ok sooooo after that incredible lesson with Jorge, we headed over to the Moran's home for a bday party/dinner for their daughter. We were there talking to their nonmember family members when I looked down and saw we had a missed call from the mission office. I showed SIster Tejada and she goes "You're training." Soooo...there you have it folks. I called back and President Ellsworth answered and proceeded to tell me that I will be training a new sister this transfer. !!! Bah! So, since then, I have been all over the place thinking about how in the world these next 2 transfers will go. I'll probably meet her tonight. She's from Utah, and doesn't know much Spanish I don't think. So Sis Tejada's getting transferred out and is gonna be Sister Lamb's comp now! Anyways, so yeah. I think President Ellsworth wants to try out to see if a missionary can train after 12 weeks liek the program intends...hence why I am here, training after so so so little time. I still feel really really new, and what's funny is sister tejada and I hardly even used the training program...because of time, we probably only did like a third of it. So now I have to teach it to this girl, and also teach her spanish, and also try to do all these things myself! Hahaha. Basically, I don't know what to expect. I'm excited, because I know that sometimes I work best under pressure, but I know this is gonna be really hard to know how to do all these things at once. So...this is a plea for you to pray for me haha. I really am excited, but I also am so nervous. We will see...starts tomorrow!

What else....mmm halloween! So yesterday was halloween. Sis Tejada and I got pizza for lunch, then the VC was totally dead when we were there in the afternoon. There I said goodbye to some of the awesome sisters that are leaving. Then at 5:30 we had a halloween social! because street contacting is highly discouraged on halloween, for obvious reasons haha. So all the VC sisters got together at the white's house and had dinner, carved pumpkins, and watched the Emma Smith movie. It was really fun! And I did dress up for Halloween :) Sister Tejada and I dressed up as twins haha...we had similar skirt, shirt, sweater going on. I'll send pics of all the festivities later. So that was fun! I felt like a normal person, which always throws me off.

So yes...there are the highlights. I had some really really great experiences this past week, which I'm so grateful for. Sister Tejada and I ended really strong I felt like, which I'm also grateful for. I'm excited for the challenges ahead. The thing that comforts me the most is knowing that this assignment comes from the Lord...perhaps President Ellsworth doesn't know me and all my weaknesses perfectly, but the Lord does...and He's the one that extended the call, so that's comforting to me. I love you all so much! I love being a missionary so much...I love that I get to be in this area for 3 more months and that christmas lights and all that are coming up soon in the VC. Lots of fun things to look forward to! Love, Sister Fors 

New pictures from Oct. 24, 2011!

Brittany with all the other Spanish-speaking female missionaries

Brittany's new house pet

Introducing her companion to frozen yogurt at Yodippity

At the Temple Visitor's Center

The cute "heart attack" Brittany did for her investigator Griselda

Brittany at the church's Trunk or Treat Halloween Party

Letter from Oct. 24, 2011

Hellohellohelloooo,

Hi familia! Thank you for all of your emails and love. And THANK YOU FOR THE PACKAGE!!!!!!! I loved it! Wore the skirt on Sunday. I was amazed at how excited I could get over two new items of clothing. So thank you! And also thanks for your insights and spiritual thoughts and all of that...both Dad and Allison mentioned taking advantage of the primary program, and I think we should definitely implement that.

Allison asked me how the language is coming along. It's definitely improving...it's hard for me to know how much though. But I find myself using a lot of vocabulary I didn't use to know, so I take that as a good sign. I think that having a native comp prevents me from taking as much initiative as I would otherwise, which is something I'm constantly trying to work on. So yeah, it's getting there! I think teaching isn't so much an issue, so much as just normal back-and-forth conversation at a fast pace, ya know? But it's getting better!

Mom asked me about the food I eat. Well we eat lunch at home...and that's normally quesadillas, turkey sandwiches, or leftovers. I allow myself to buy one treat at Walmart a week. I eat lots of granola bars, bananas, peaches...basically the exact same stuff I ate up at school. So I'm lucky about that. When we eat with members, that is just what you would expect...rice, beans, tortillas, chicken. Good mexican food!

Companionship is going well. It's interesting to see how each companionship finds their own little "niche", and it's hard for me to know how I'm doing. With transfers coming up in a week, I'm getting nervous thinking about what will become of me. There is a slight chance that either Sister Lamb or I would be asked to train, because we've used teh new program (even though Sister Tejada and I really haven't haha)...and that scares me half to death. So yeah, I don't know what's going to happen, BAH! But everything happens for a reason.

 
Alrighty...highlights. Trunk or treat was this past week! Haha that was entertaining. Branch president had asked us to do something missionary-esque, so we created this game where they did different missionary activities we had pulled out of the Liahona. Then with their candy we also gave them little missionary tags they could put their names on. BUt we also had investigators there, so we had to abandon our booth at times, and would come back to find it ambushed by the children hahaha. But yes, Dianna and her sisters came to the Halloween party! We walked up and she was sitting there at the table, so that was good. And one of the members invited her to church and was really nice. Then Estefania came! She is the girl that used to be super mean to the missionaries, and then totally changed on us. (I might've called her Roxana in the last letter.) Anywho, so she came to the party, the branch pres gave her some pamphlets and stuff about YW, and then she came to church on Sunday w/ her little brother! That was really good. You could tell she felt really out of her comfort zone, but then in the classes w/ the youth she did really well, was answering questions and all of that. So we're teaching her this Wednesday which I'm excited about. She has a tough exterior, but you can tell that something has switched in her and she is ready to change.

This past week we also had a GREAT lesson with Ana. She told us she wants to be baptized in December, and we're hoping to move that up. It showed me what a difference it makes when there aren't screaming kids in lessons...it's much easier to concentrate. And she just knew all the answers so well, she is so prepared. So that was really good.

We had Sister Romano come for a day with us this past week, as well as Sister Mckee the next day. So that was cool to see how they work and to get ideas from those exchanges. One idea that Sister Romano gave us was to heart attack our investigators! So this Saturday we heart attacked Griselda, because we hadn't seen her in like 2 weeks. So we covered her door w/ hearts and whatnots that had little scripture references and things like that. Then the next day we called and she said she really liked it and we have an appointment for this week! So that was really fun.

This past week we also had a good "following the Spirit" moment...we were planning on visiting Dianna, but then sister tejada felt we should visit Dina, a new investigator. We went by there, and she was sitting outside with an older man. Turns out it was the father of her husband that had passed away, and he had just arrived from new jersey right then. We started talking with him and he told us about how he's been praying for something, looking for something, started to cry, all of that...basicalyl said he's ready to start searching for God. So they are coming to the visitor's center this Tuesday!

This past Saturday in the VC I was able to teach a guy from Pusan, Korea! He was awesome! Came here with his old ESL teacher who's a member. He's been here since April and we talked a lot about faith and how he can have more of it. He was so sweet...I asked him what things he needs right now that he feels the Savior could give him, and he talked about how he felt like he needed more love for other people...that sometimes when people are rude, it's hard for him to love them, even though he knows he should. It was so great, so the missionaries were lined up to visit him! Woohoo!

Anywhozle, I love you all so much. I've been thinking a lot about how we can understand our Savior's love for us and our Heavenly Father's love for us, and I've been struggling with it recently...knowing when to feel loved, approved, all of that. Then this morning, I realized that the best way I can measure how much my Heavenly Father loves me is thinking about how much my own parents and family love me. So thank you for all of your love and support, because it helps me to realize and understand the love and support I get from my Heavenly Father and Older Brother. So thank you! Have a great week, I love you all. Love, Hermana Fors

Letter from Oct. 18

Hello hello,

So things are goin good in Mesaaa. Before I forget, from now on...if you want you can send snail mail to me at "525 E. Main  St., Mesa, AZ, 85203"...that's the Visitor's Center. That will make it so I can avoid the delay. The only time you wouldn't send it there is if I go fullfield, which would be in January at the earliest probably.

Anywho...thanks for all your emails! Sounds like you're having a good time, and I just love to hear all your words of wisdom and everything. So let's see the highlights.

Well this past week we fasted for new investigators, and they have come! We met one at the first house we were knocking at while we fasted, and it's this 23 year old lady, with 3 kids, whose husband just died of cancer..so sad. So she's Dina and her mom is Rosa. So she is really nice and really wants to learn a lot, so she's new. Then we also have Berenice who was a referral from the Oakland VC, who's 10 year old daughter used to come to church a lot. So she's also new! It's interesting as we're getting more potentials and more new investigators to have to try to discern who is really "prepared" for this unique message that we share. For instance, one 16 year old kid named Miguel told us he wants to learn "historias"...he has lots of great questions, but he mostly just wants information. Then other people want to learn more about God, and so it's a matter of teaching them more about God, but teaching them that this is a unique, fully restored, fullness of his Gospel. Obviously people constantly get us confused with Jehovah's Witnesses and stuff, and it seems like to many it's just that all missionaries do the same job, no matter what religion they affiliate with. So I don't know why I'm telling you that...it's just been interesting to see how to raise their expectations with our expectations.

Oh...we do have one potential that's pretty awesome. I might have told you about him...his name's Jorge, he's 17 years old. He lives next door to a referral, and we got the feeling like we should knock on his door, and we did, and he's read some of the Book of Mormon and all that, and he's awesome. THEN last pday, after emailing we went to walmart. And as we were there pondering over cereals in aisle 12, we hear a "Hey!" and it's JORGE! And he came up and talked to us and was like "I don't know why I keep seeing you guys all over the place, I tell you it's a sign!" and we're like "Yeah....must be!" hahaha. Anyways, so he's awesome, hopefully we can begin teaching him soon.

What else...Jose is having a rough time right now. His baptismal date is long gone, and we're hoping to set another one soon. This past week we had a lesson w/ him and Hmo Garcia, our branch mission leader, and it went really well. Then on Saturday we had a baptism of an 8 year old girl in our ward. Sis Tejada and I sang at it and also had the chance to bear our testimonies, it was a really good event. So Jose came to that with his daughter! But then on Sunday he couldn't come to church. Yesterday we found out that he lost his job, is getting evicted in a few days, all of this...no bueno. So we're trying to figure out how we can help him out. Employment, like in the Tujunga ward, is a big issue here too...not so much w/ members, but w/ a lot of investigators asking if we can help them find work. OH..also, funny thing, Jose texted us on Sunday and goes "hermanas you always ask me if there's anything  you can do for me, and finally there is. Can you loan me $300?" Hahahhaa, oh man. Sticky situation. BUt it worked out. So that's definitely something we have to deal with here too. ANyways, so on Sunday David and Guadalupe came to church! And the ward has definitely just really accepted them, they really get along well. David supposedly loved priesthood and was participating tons, and Guadalupe's going to a RS activity tonight. So that's really good, it makes such a difference with the members involved. And this week one family is gonna go over and invite them to have an FHE at their house with us, which will be great. So that is good news! Also, Ana, who was the one who came last week, went to church w/ her friend at her ward, which was good.

Hmm...what else. VC is going well. It's interesting that I was so unsure about the VC when I got my call, and now I can't imagine anything else...I LOVE working in the visitor's center, meant to be. A few days ago I confirmed a call for a guy who's at Camp Pendleton Marine Base, who's getting deployed in a few months to Afghanistan. That was a cool experience.

I had one crazy experience this past week. Last last friday we had prep meeting, and there one of teh sister's, Sister Hansen, who works in the VC but has been fullfield for 3 transfers (so I barely know her), bore her testimony. There were a lot of things in there that struck me about it...particularly, she talked about how she's come to have "conversations with God" when she prays, and that was somehting that really influenced me. Then,this past week, she was here and she pulls me aside and goes "I want to ask if my testimony meant anything to you?" and I said yes, and she told me that that night she had prayed to know who her testimony was for, and my face came to her mind. And we don't even know eachother that well! And then I started thinking about it, and I realized that the entire week I had been thinking TONS about a lot of things she had said...about forgiveness, praying, opening your heart, everything. What's more, I asked my comp about it, adn she told me that to her and some other sisters Sister Hansen's testimony didn't make any sense at all...while to me it was just what I needed. Crazy, no? God definitely works through people.

Anyways, I must be off. I love you all so so so much, thanks for all your support. Keep praying and reading...I've realized that miracles are awesome, they're exciting and motivating, but that's not what has converted me...it's the amount of time I devote to studying and praying each day. So there you have it! I love you all!

Love, Hermana Fors

Letter from Oct. 10

Hellohellohello familyy!

Glad to hear you're all doing well and going to all sorts of different places. I loved hearing about the sealing that mom and dad went to! As a missionary, you just gotta keep your sights set on that goal, and realize that even if it's 1 in a million, it makes all the work worth it. I also loved all your ideas for activities, getting people to church, etc. You guys are just great!

Okayo anyways!  Soooo this week was a good one! I kinda feel like I'm finally getting into the swing of things. But, I did read a scripture the other day that said "Wo unto him that is at ease in Zion"...so, I definitely can't be at ease. A big theme at the VC is being "zealous", so I'm trying to have lots of zeal both in the VC and the area.

Well, I guess I'll begin with Wednesday...which is when we had zone development meeting/interviews. It was a really good day, I learned lots and lots. I was lucky enough that I was the first one interviewed by the president out of the whole mission! So I got him when his mind was fresh haha :) But that was a really good interview, he gave me a few scriptures that I really needed...I'll tell you them, and you can look them up for yourselves :) Words of Mormon 1:7, 1 Nephi 18:3, D&C 123:17, Ether 12, Mosiah 26:29, and Proverbs 3:5-6. He just like spouted off scriptures, he's definitely inspired. So that was good, since the interview I'm trying to focus more on going up unto the mount to pray unto the Lord, and to cheerfully do all things which lie in my power.

Wellll...one crazy thing that's happened this past week is PHONECALLING in the VC. So, if you'll remember, how I didn't confirm any phonecalls (meaning noone that I talked to accepted to have missionaries visit them) for the first like 6 weeks of my mission. Well, since October 1st, I've confirmed TEN! So, it's been pretty awesome. But it's really cool, Elder White was just like "it's that irrevocable law", that if you work hard and work diligently, the Lord makes it happen. So, I've had some really good conversations over the phone. ONe was with a lady that was recently diagnosed with cancer, and she sounded really weak over the phone. So she accepted to have missionaries come over, and I just tried to be as comforting and hopeful as possible. Then, when I called the member to let them know, I found out that the lady I had just called had recently found out that her 6 month old baby has cancer as well. Oh my goodness...so man, I just realized how much she is in desperate need of comfort right now. I also spoke with several ladies who were recently divorced and/or separated. Also, I was able to confirm a phonecall of this random cab driver! A less active man came into the VC, and he was like "well...i could refer the guy who was driving the cab I was just in" So random! But he did, and I got a hold of Gary the Cab Driver, and Gary accepted missionaries. Crazy. Hahaha. So yeah, that's been really awesome...I'm very grateful to just see the Lord's hand. He always provides the people who are ready! We just have to do our part.

Well, in other VC news, I had a pretty incredible experience with this one visitor last week, one that I will not soon forget. So I'm in the exhibit, and this guy is looking at this picture of Christ, and he just looks really beat up. And so I start trying to have a conversation with him. He's about like 35, a member, totally normal/sharp guy. I start talking with him, and he proceeds to tell me that on September 18th, his birthday, he found out his wife had been cheating on him with a guy she met on Facebook. since then, they've split up, she took their 4 kids with her, and now he is completely, completely alone. The guy had at one point before been Elders Quorum President, but leading up to the split he had been going kind of inactive, and he was just completely blaming himself for the entire situation. So anyways, I'm talking to this guy who is just in the lowest of all lows, and I'm like...how in the world could I possibly do anything to help him. He described his feelings like this: "I feel like I'm in a pitch black field. For a long time, I was walking through the field, seeing a little bit because I was holding a flashlight that the devil had given me. Now, the flashlight is gone, and I'm standing, all alone, waiting for the sun to rise." So basically, we had this incredible conversation, that was just completely spirit driven. All of these metaphors and thoughts popped into my head that I had never before thought of, and we just talked all about the Atonement. So yeah, it was one of those just awe-inspiring conversations. We talked for probably 45 minutes, then he had to go, but he said he'd come back. Then...on Saturday, he came back! And I saw him and I was like "HOW ARE YOU?" and he was just like "So much better." and he just talked about how he felt very literally like a burden had been lifted off his shoulders, that chains had been broken, that he had been filled, like all the muck in his mind was taken away. It was incredible. It's just crazy...this man was completely HEALED. And I feel like I've been able to witness several instances of that before, of just the Atonement completely healing someone, and you can't mistake it for anything else. It's like comparing band-aids to surgery, you can recognize the difference between true healing and just a quick fix. So, it was pretty incredible. Just like "what just happened?" And people always talk about how you feel "humbled" when you see that you've taken part in something so incredible, but it's true. He told me how grateful he was for me, and all I could feel was humbled...I had really become a small tool in the Lord's hands to help bring a small part of that miracle to pass. So yeah...awesome experience of the week!

So...to sum up everything else! Haha the area is going well, we had 4 investigators at church! 3 of them were like under the age of 13, but that's okay hahaha. One was a lady named ana. Sister Tejada had the feeling that we should visit her...she's an old investigator that they could never find. So we went to her house, and she was sitting out on the porch. She proceeded to tell us that she had gone up to UTAH for conference with her LDS friend, and that she had loved it! And wanted to come to church on Sunday! So...she came! And testimony meeting (my 1st one in the mission field...hahaha it was funny) was really good! Her firend bore her testimony, and a recent convert, 22 yr old Lupe, bore her testimony of missionary work, because she had gone up to conference too. Those two testimonies were perfect. So, I have high hopes for Ana. She already knows several people in the ward, and a lot of people greeted her there. We also were able to serve the members more and work with them more in church yesterday. We covered primary so a lady could go to the mormon.org training, and we covered the library for the 3rd hour so the president's wife could go to sunday school with him. So that was good. So yes, things are goin welllllllllll! I had planned to send you pictures, but I'm running out of time. I'll send some next week...they're not too exciting. Mostly they're just like pictures of gross insects we've found in our apartment or doing something that mildly resembles normal life on a pday hahaha. But I love you all! Thanks for all of your support, have a great week!

Love,

Hermana Fors