January 31, 2012

Hellooo Family!

 

It was so good to hear from all of you! Thanks for all your emails. Sounds like you're all doing wonderfully. And things here are going well tooo! Ok, so...lots to report. Ok so we had transfers last Wednesday, where we all trek over to the mission office in Scottsdale. There we have a little meeting then all go in our new separate ways. Sister Vause and I found out that we were getting a car! In addition to the bikes. A sweet old Mazda 3, the only one left in the mission. So I was excited about that. So we headed back to the place, and my new apartment is great. So, its in a sort of duplex-thing attached to the house of a really sweet old couple. And let me tell you, the whole thing is straight out of Leave it to Beaver. I'll send pictures, but it's a bright turquoise house, and when I walked into the couple's house, the wife was knitting while watching TV Land. Our house has the like thick plushy carpet, and then in the kitchen we got the checkered table cloth, with this awesome mustard-yellow wallpaper that has like salt and pepper shakers on it. Then the bathroom has this shiny turquoise and silver floral wall  paper in it. I feel like I'm in an extreme version of Nana and Papa's house haha. Anyways, but I love it, it's nice to be back in an apartment with more space (versus having 4 sisters in one place), and no chinchas! I am chincha-free, folks, at last. Ok, and so Sister Vause is great too. So, she's in her last transfer, but she's not really trunky at all. She's very very humble and teachable and quick to love and compliment others. She's very different from my other companions...all my other comps have been super honest and bold, while she tends on the other side of things. Already I can see that our companionship will be way easy-going and "low maintenance", if that makes sense. It's interesting being in a normal companionship, in which I am neither training nor being trained...it's so much more at ease, I feel like. So, it'll be really good. We'll see what this transfer brings!

 

Ok, so, the area/the ward. Is great! I really like being in a ward, there are SO many more members to work with! And really solid members. The chapel was almost full on Sunday, which is a stark contrast from Mesa Grande. I'm really excited. And it's also great because the ward mission leader is excellent! In my first like 5 days I had seen him like 4 out of the 5 days. There's also a set of elders in the ward, so really I feel like I'm on a team here, rather than trying to do this all on our own. It helps SO much, when you and the ward are supporting one another. So...I'll tell you what we have planned. On my very first sunday, we presented the ward mission plan to the men and women of the ward in the 3rd hour. So...here's what we're doing to get people excited...on February 5th we're starting a 40 day fast for missionary work! So on that fast sunday, we're all going to fast for missionary opportunities. Then each day for the next 40 days, some individual or family in the ward is going to fast for more missionary opportunities. We're going to give them these kitchen magnets with simple ideas for how to be a missionary (send any ideas you have!), and we're just going to try to really push for 40 days. I'm so excited! So...of course it'll be a struggle, but I think if we really promote this, we can really get the ward excited. I'm so excited. There are so many solid members in the ward, and lots of solid investigators as well. Our most solid one is Cesar, who is 9 years old and getting baptized on February 18th. He is sweet...his mom is a member who got baptized in Mexico, but has been less-active since and works on Sundays. So we're working with him, and he's so fun. Already in Chapter 9 of his picture Book of Mormon! I think kids are some of my favorite people to teach on the mission...you can get so creative and they just get so excited about it. We taught him the 10 commandments using hand signals. Then last night, we taught some recent convert kids, and talked about the holy ghost, and then played my classic "Holy Ghost Game" hahhaa...where you blindfold them, and they have to listen to the "still small voice" guide them to the candy. We also have 2 other ladies with dates for February 18th, but I still have yet to meet one, and the other one we found out last night isn't married..so we're going to have to see what happens with that. It's weird being in a new area and feeling like a greenie again, almost. Trying to memorize everyone's names and know who needs phone calls and all of that. We have some great recent converts that are just so great. And we have SEVEN ward missionaries in the ward, several of which are married couples. So good. Anyways, so I'm excited. I really like this area already.

 

What else...VC continues to go well. It's so cool to see the Lord's hand in all things there. I had a really cool experience on phones a few days ago. A lady came in and gave me the referral for her neighbor "Herman", who she said her and her sons have helped out a bit, and who is about to move in a few days. I gave Herman a call, and I told him I was calling on behalf of Julie, and he goes "How is Miss Julie? Is everything okay? Is there anything I can do for her?" and I explained to him that I was calling because Julie wanted to share her beliefs with him. And he just like got choked up and started thanking me and thanking me. He just started telling me how much Julie has meant to him and his family, and how hard this move has been. He told me that once Julie brought over a basket of fried chicken to him and his wife. In his words he goes "And she brought us that fried chicken, but what Miss Julie doesn't know is that we didn't have any food left in the fridge to eat that night. And that fried chicken was a little too spicy for us, but me and my wife ate it all anyways". And he just got like super emotional on the phone, and I got his information, and told him missionaries would come help him move and share a message about the Savior with him. And he was just so grateful, and I just told him that this is the best way that Julie knows how to help him. And he was just like "I can't stop crying!". We said goodbye, and then I didn't get off the line...and it was so crazy, I could just hear him crying in the background, going "Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord." It was one of those moments that just stands frozen in your mind. It was such a testament to me, that the Lord will always place people in your path at exactly the right time. And sometimes he does it in dramatic ways...like in Herman's case, it was an answer to some of his most desperate prayers, it seemed like. Anyways, so. That  was really awesome.

 

Anywhos, I should be off now. Thanks for all of your support! I love you all lots and lots. I'm so grateful for your emails. Have a great week everyone! Love, Sister Fors