Keep Moving Forward!

     Well, this week was really good! It's great to be able to get to know the area and the members better. We were also able to find three other investigators this week! Let me tell you about them.

 

     So we have this family in our ward. (They're so cool, they're Tongan!) And they've just started becoming more active again in the church. We went to go visit them to offer to teach their family, as one of their boys is preparing to serve a mission, and guess what! We met with Sister Hmm and she said that they have a non-member boy living with them that is her younger son's age. His name is David. So we began teaching him/the Hmm family! It's great! He's been receptive, but really wants to study out what he's learning. He doesn't want to commit to anything too quickly. Which is good. He's taking it seriously.

 

     We also were able to get a referral from a less-active in our ward this week! That was awesome! I didn't know him because hey, I've only been in the ward for two weeks, but we were going to visit another investigator and he called us over to go see him. We chatted with him, and asked if there was anyone we could go visit. He directed us to the neighboring apartment. She wasn't so interested, but her mom was! Her name is Robin. We've began to teach her, which has been good! She wasn't their for our second appointment though, so we're not sure how solid she is. We're excited though, and we're going to keep trying! :)  

 

    Our third investigator this week is named Heather! Ok, so do you guys remember those four investigators we found last week in the same appartment? Guess what! That's where we found Heather! Haha, I have no idea how many people live in that apartment, but it's great! :) She's the step sister of Bronco and Charlie! We were going over to meet with them, and they weren't home so we taught her instead! It was great, and she's interested in learning more! She's fifteen so she wanted to talk and pray about it with her mom. The sad thing is she doesn't live in that apartment, but she's there sometimes. So yes, we're going to try to refer her to the missionaries in her area.

 

    So yeah, this week has been kind of hard because as you can see not many of our investigators are solid. They're interested in learning more, but they have a really hard time keeping commitments and progressing. So Spencer's advice was just what I needed to hear, because we will most likely be dropping some people this week, and finding new people to teach. I've never legitimately dropped someone before, and I'm kind of scared to do it, but I know that in some situations is the right thing to do and that you can be blessed for it. So yup, more details on that next week!

 

    Things are going great with my companions! They are so awesome. Sister Morones has been pretty sick the last week. She may have to have her gallbladder taken out. :( But she's such an inspiration because she continues to work so hard even though she's in pain most of the time. Sister Winert is like that too! She has crazy migraines sometimes, but she just ignores the pain and keeps working hard! So bottom line is my companions are awesome. :) It's interesting being companions with a Sister Training Leader because she's gone to meetings some days, and two days of the week we are on exchanges! So we lose Sister Winert and a different Sister joins me and Sister Morones in Upland. It's great because I get to know a bunch of the other sisters who I wouldn't have gotten to know otherwise. Usually though we have the junior companion come with us to Upland, so it's a greenie-party most of the time in our area! Haha!

 

    I also got to meet President Hobbs and Sister Hobbs this week. They are both awesome! Wow, we are lucky to have to have them. They are from Rexburg Idaho, and President Hobbs worked at BYU-Idaho! Funny, huh? :) They are ready to come out and work. When we listened to them speak, I felt the spirit strongly tell me that they are supposed to be here. They are going to be great. :) And Mom, I think they're working on getting a new mission blog up.

 

     Things are going really well. I'm learning so much. Things happen each day that I learn from. My testimony is growing so much, and I'm working as hard as I can. There are times that are difficult, but I know that this is a great opportunity, and that I'm being stretched in ways that couldn't have happened any other way. I'm very grateful to be out here, and that the Lord trusts kids like us to be able to be a part of this amazing, amazing work. :) I've come to know for myself that "Whom the Lord calls, He qualifies." And I'm beginning to understand more and more how much God truly loves each of us. I don't understand everything, but I do know that He loves and cares about each of us so much. 

 

      I've truly seen that personal prayer and study makes ALL of the difference. When investigators don't study and pray, they don't progress, and receive answers. Heavenly Father asks us to study and pray because that is how He speaks to us. That's how He tells us He loves us, and knows us. In a way, all of us are still investigators. If we're not studying and praying personally and as a family, we are missing out on fully feeling the spirit, and Heavenly Father's love.

All is Well

   Well...this week was pretty intense. Definitely the craziest week of my mission so far. In a good way!

 

   Here's the big news...I'm officially in the...California, Anaheim Mission!! YAAAY!! Isn't that crazy? Transfers were insane! People were going everywhere!

 

   Just kidding...:) I'm actually in the Rancho Cucamonga Mission! Woot, woot!!! I'm super excited to be in this mission. I secretly hoped I would be in that one, and I got my wish! HOOOORAAAAAYYY! :) :) We also have our new Mission President! His name is President Hobbs! I haven't met him yet, but I get to tomorrow, so that will be great! I was sad that President and Sister Godwin left...and I kind of didn't get to say goodbye to them because we had to rush out, but I'm really excited to meet the new Mission President!

 

   So let's talk about transfers, because they really were insane. So Sister Ott got her training call last Sunday night, and that was kind of hard because I really wasn't sure what would happen. All we knew is that Sister Ott wouldn't be training me anymore. We got to transfer meeting and I was super nervous. Sisters kept getting called, and called, and my name wasn't called. Part of me thought that I might still be in Ontario because it's the last area called. There weren't many sisters left, and then they called the new Sister Training Leaders. The first ones of the mission! And then guess what happened, they assigned two half trained greenies to each of them! And I was one of them! So I'm in a trio, in a lovely area called Upland! My new companions names are Sister Winert (One of the two Sister Training Leaders) and Sister Morones (Another half-trained greenie, like me! ) Didn't see that one coming! MIND BLOWN.

 

   Sister Winert is from Rochester, New York. She has 25 kids in her family, and no, I'm not kidding. Her parents had eleven kids and then adopted fourteen! She's super awesome, and super experienced! I know I have a lot to learn from her. This is her last transfer too! So she'll be heading home after this!

   

   Sister Morones is from Mesa, Arizona! She's a convert of only a year and a few months! She's also a spanish-speaking Sister, which is super-duper handy when we run into people who "No hablo Ingleas." (<--probably butchered that :) ) She's a hard worker, and really energetic! We're going to work well together!

 

   So yes, I pretty much scored on companions. :)

 

   Upland is a beautiful, well-to-do area! And it's only about five minutes away from Ontario. Haha! So they're pretty similar. I'm so excited to be here!

 

   You're probably wondering about Ann's Baptism...IT WAS THE BEST EVER! Ah, Saturday was so awesome! I was kind of bummed that since I was transferred I didn't get to be with her for the week before her baptism, but it's okay! She was great! She asked me to bear my testimony, so that was a great opporutunity. I cried...a bit. :) But that's otay! Holy cow, I can't describe how happy I was. Remeber in a missionary's call letter it talks about how "More happiness awaits you then you can imagine." Well it's true. :) It was an experience I'll never forget. It was amazing. Everything went well too! And I was happy that I also got to see Sister Ott and some of the awesome ward members again. :) What a great, great day. The church is true. :)

 

    Yeah so my first week in Upland was pretty eventful too! Apparently work is pretty hard in this area, but we were able to have a miracle and find four new investigators and some great potential! Let me tell you the story. So we got a media referral my first full day here ( l love those things) and Sister Morones and Sister Winert hadn't had one the whole time they'd been in Upland! So it was a big deal! His name was Bronco, and we went to contact him, but he wasn't home...but his brother (Charles) and his Charles' girlfriend were! They let us right in to teach them a lesson! (That doesn't ever happen!) And guess what...the best part is at the end of the lesson, I asked them if they'd work towards baptism and they said YES!!! AHHH! :) But that's not all! The next day we didn't back to teach them again and they weren't there...but Bronco and his fiance were!! And guess what! They let us right in to teach a lesson, and THEN guess what! I asked them if they'd work towards getting baptized, and they said YES!!! AHHH! :) It was pretty awesome! :) So yes, I'm really excited to be up here in Upland. This is going to be an awesome transfer!

 

    I also got to speak in the new ward yesterday. I hope this speaking all of the time thing doesn't become normal. :) It went well though, and I feel like everytime I do it I'm getting better at this whole public speaking thing. :)

 

   Funny story of the week: we were visiting a less-active, and he had a dog. Said dog looks kind of funny because he has a serious underbite. :) I thought it was kind of cute, but then when the less active wasn't in the room the dog decided it needed to go potty. So it did. On the couch. Right in front of us. Oh dear. :)

 

   So the work continues! :) This past week was a little stressful, but there were so many wonderful things that happened! I'm so excited to be a part of this work! It really is a great privilege. I've felt my testimony grow each day, which is an amazing experience. I never want to lose that. There's so much that I need to learn, sometimes it can get overwhelming, and sometimes it can be discouraging. But I know I've grown so much in the past couple months! Can you believe it's been two, whole months today! What?! :)

   I know this is where I'm supposed to be! I'm learning and growing so much. Thank you so, so much for all of the prayers. I know that they help me, and the people we meet every day. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Have a great week!!! I love you all!

P.S. I've discovered that I'm probably going to be training next transfer. It kind of scares the crud out of me, but it's going to be great! :) haha!

P.P.S. here are some pics of the baptism!!