Week 52

It's been a great week!!! So much random stuff has happened!

According to Virginia we got, "snowed in"....and that classifies as about 2 inches. and we were allowed to drive anywhere. So! My companion and I visited a bunch of old people in our apartment complex and then a bunch of missionaries came in so we had a great jam session on the piano in the main room. It was great! We had so much fun! ha ha 

oh!  Happy year mark to me! Whaaaat!! Can't believe its here, time has been flying!! And for some reason it keeps getting faster and faster! 

So one of the awkwardest things that happens on a mission is when you knock on someones door and you hear them talking, but then they go silent. and then no one answers the door. Its really funny when it happens, but then I just feel like banging on the door and yelling, "I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE I CAN HEAR YOU!!!" ha ha but hey, that wouldn't be very nice;) 

I'm not sure what it is....but people out here now think that I'm older than I am. What! ha ha before my mission people usually thought about 15 or 16, and now everyone says 22. THAT'S a change. Apparently Cabe and I are twinsies and we didn't even know it! 

We made a fun birthday cake for someones birthday this week. They don't like sweets, so we made a fruit cake. with fruit dip underneath and then we made fruit in the shape of an american flag, we felt pretty cool, but yeah...

Well that's about it! ha ha there's always too much to share, and type out so i'll have to fill you in on all the stories at some future point! lol 

Oh man. We're going to have to train everyone back home to eat lots of ethnic food. I have some fun stuff out here. Lebanese, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Lous, you name it!! Its so fun!!! I've decided that there's places that I wont ever be able to eat at again, so might as well try something random, and if someone offers me a crazy dish...well...I'm going to try at least one!!! Its really fun to experiment!! Some things are better than I thought they would be!!

I'm pretty sure that when I get back from my mission, I'll pretty much just be spending all day looking at different religious books and reading them! ha ha most of them we can't read while we are on our mission, because of lack of time, and we need to be studying for our investigators. But I've gotten several titles of books that sounds awesome!! One of them is talking about the plan of salvation and it has a questions and answer section of things that are true and false that people have misconceptions about. It's really cool and it only takes things from what the prophets and apostles have said. It's really neat! 

Is unpasteurized milk legal in Washington??? ha ha because its SO good. I'll have to explain more about that some other time. But milk straight out of the cow is so much better for you and it tastes better, and the milk in the stores they actually put bleach in it, because normal milk is a yellowish tinged color! ha ha I've learned all sorts of random facts out here!!! and I put raw eggs in smoothies all the time (but you have to get a certain type of egg, because a lot of the normal store bought eggs are really old and could give you salmonella, but not when you do it right!!) :) ha ha well...there's a bunch of random info for you;) 

I stole a cat the other day and I started telling the member family about how fat with fur Kara & Quentin's cat Aries was!! lol

Have a good week!!

Love you!

Week 51

There isn't tons to update on this week! Its been really good! Sister Bost is still being awesome as usual. We've been having some great adventures this week.

We had a barbarian dinner, where we used no silverware or plates. then.....it ended up turning into a barbarian AND no hands dinner. ha ha it was pretyt great! and very messy!!

We also had the opportunity to bake a member of the ward a cake and drop it by her house. We did it very sneakily and we signed the note, "from the sneaky birthday elves"...we felt so cool;) ha ha

The final cool thing is that we had a mission conference with Elder Perkins and Elder Hallstrom of the Quorum of the 70. They came and talked a lot about how we need to walk the staircase of faith. Faith is an action. Is was great! The spirit was really strong.

I'll try to spend more time on the general email next week!! :) love everyone!

Oh my goodness pho is awesome!!! it tastes great. We've got several people from Lous/Cambodia and they make it so good! I've never had it from a restaurant though! It tastes awesome. I'll have to start calling it p. ho though!!! Maybe i'll convince my companion that that's how its said then whenever we're at a members house who makes it, we'll sound really classy ;)

Dude we made an awesome cake this week. It's one of the "better than sex' cakes, but sister bost likes to call it "better than whatever" hahaha its SO good though. It's got heath on the top, and condensed milk, and caramel and whip cream and stuff. Delicious.

I want to be able to cook a ton of food from a bunch of cultures someday. I think that'd be awesome!! Chinese, and Lous and, italian and Indian.. yum yum we tried an authentic dish from new mexico. its got pulled pork in it and the member family was telling us of the history behind how it was pulled pork...it used to be a dish that cannibals made...but then they eventually saw the light and decided that they should stop being cannibals...so they decided to put pulled pork in it because apparently it tastes the most like human flesh. ha ha gross to think about right?? And of course they told us this story as we were eating it,;) ha ha but it taste awesome! I'm going to get the recipe....lol anywho, have a wonderful week! love ya!

Received this photo and an email from a member in Kali's mission.

The Keller's Wrote:"They are wonderful! They helped us move 3 couches and a big Christmas tree. We Love them!!"

Week 50

Hey so I don't have much to say this week, but it's been going great so far!! 

Sister Bost is a BOSS. she's great. the first couple days were an adjustment, but now she's jumping right in there and is doing great!!! We're having a lot of fun. 

From what I've seen, whenever missionaries have trained they seem to get so caught up in trying to be the perfect missionary, the perfect companion, that they forget to have fun. They forget to be themselves, and they forget that they don't have to be perfect, because Christ already did that. So I'm showing sister Bost how to have fun while doing the missionary work, because when you think about it, it can be really fun, if you allow it to be. She's going to be (and already is) a great missionary. 

 

oh yeah and she's from Texas...I feel like I'm going to have an accent before I'm done with her hahahaha.

 

Our bishop has told us several hilarious things the other day. One of the funniest ones was that as we were talking about missionary work, he randomly pulled out a talk about steady dating versus hanging out, and he started telling us about how apostles had counseled us not to steady date in high school, but that once we were out of high school (or back from a mission) that they counseled us TO steady date. The funny part of this conversation was when he paused for a second then said, "so. I've sent this as well as a few other talks to a couple of my single, return missionary sons, because they need to repent and just get married!!!!" it was pretty funny. 

 

But anywho. not much to share this week! love you all!! have a good week! 

Week 49

Happy new year!! 

 

I cant believe that its already 2015!! Its amazing how fast time flies. Wow. Things can change so fast!!! 

I had a really great week!! 

New years eve was awesome. We ended up watching two Disney movies with our zone at the stake presidents house. It was a fun adventure and felt SO weird. 

There isn't really much to update on this week. Transfers are happening and I think this is the one transfer where I truly have no idea what is going to happen. Usually I have some sort of inkling, but this transfer seems...blank? Its really interesting, I'm curious as to what will happen. 

Something neat happened this week. Sister Williams and I were practicing for a lesson that we had that night and I was teaching her and she was pretending to be the person. As I was talking she was drawing on a poster. She was paying attention, her hands were just occupied. However, i felt like I needed to switch our lesson plan a little bit and started talking about Joseph smith and the restoration instead. As I was talking she continued to draw, however, as soon as I started to quote the first vision she unconsciously stopped what she was doing and looked up. 

There is truly power in Joseph smith's experience. There's been times in lessons where in members homes everything seems to become really still. Whereas in future members home...( ha ha) that's when the dog starts barking, the phone starts ringing, etc. there's definitely power in those words. And it was neat to see that happen even in a practice teach. anywho, have a good week!

Love you!! 

Week 48

Well, I just got back from DC and have about 20 minutes to write an email....so.....I apologize If I
don't respond to individual emails. 

The purpose of this email today is to share how much a mission changes you. Before leaving on a mission I did not want to change. I thought I was fine as I was, and in reality i WAS fine. But I've
come to realize that being just FINE, is not good enough. 

Oddly enough, I think the biggest thing I've learned to do is trust. Trust in gods timing, trust in the spirit, and have enough trust in myself to act on the things that the spirit puts into my mind. Toward the beginning of my mission, I didn't trust in any of it. Didn't trust in God, the spirit OR myself. But as time goes on I've found that the only thing I do now IS trust. 

There are so many things I've seen out here that cause me to have no reason to doubt that this is truly gods work. Little "coincidences" that seem to just pop out of nowhere, where in reality God has been planning for them for years. I saw a quote the other day that said "a coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous". I have no doubt that that is true. God hastens his work with or without us and the best decision I've made is to hop on Gods band wagon and hold on for dear life. 

A mission has taught me how the spirit speaks and how I can recognize it. It's also taught me to act on promptings that seem to have no purpose, but later I find out that there was definitely a purpose to them. The other day we left an appointment and we felt like we needed to drive and see a particular member. We pulled up outside the house and no one was home. Logic would say to hop back in the car and leave, but for some reason we felt like we should stay. So we did....for an hour....and still nothing happened. It felt really odd to be just driving aimlessly around the neighborhood, but for some reason we had to be there. To my eyes absolutely nothing happened. Around 8:40 we got a feeling like "okay, well you're good to go! You can drive home!" It made no sense, but we drove home early. And still nothing happened. 

Even though to an outsiders point of view, it probably would've looked like we were wasting an hour and a half, that's what my companion and I both felt like we needed to do at that moment. Usually I would feel bad about not using the time we've been given, but it felt right and I still feel like we were following a prompting. 

Another thing a mission has taught me is patience. Whether it's patiently waiting for a companion to get ready, patiently waiting for an investigator to start keeping commitments or being patient with myself as I make mistakes, it has all taught me valuable lessons. 

Missions really show you your own weaknesses. Heck, it doesn't just show you them, it puts them right up on a neon flashing board for all to see, but it's ok. Because, "if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them "(ether 12:27). And just like it says in 2 nephi "He shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain". So it's ok that I have weaknesses, because God gave them to me and from the, I will be humble, and then made strong. 

I've learned how important the commandments are, and why God asks us to keep them. However, more importantly I've discovered why I WANT to keep them and why I will CONTINUE to keep them. 

Now, if someone asks me to give a spur of the moment lesson or talk, I would feel comfortable doing so. This past week we were asked right before class started, to give a lesson to the 12 and 13 year olds in Sunday school. We went in there completely blind, and we were told to "choose whatever topic you feel like they need to hear". Great...hmm...where to start, well we went in there and the lesson was really powerful. The spirit was there and somehow was able to communicate to my companion and I what we needed to say in order to touch their hearts. I know it wasn't us directing the lesson, because it wouldn't have gone so well, but now I feel like I can truly rely on the spirit in order to teach. 

I've learned to just take things as they are, not stress about them and just live every moment cheerfully. There is not enough joy in the world. Too many people are focused on the negative.  Sure, if we looked for things there could be a lot to complain about, but complaining never got anything accomplished. I've found that being happy and being content makes me into a better person and it helps me to recognize the spirit easier. 

Toward the beginning of my mission I was always discontented, always looking for the things I'd done wrong, always looking for things to stress about and I would always beat myself up for the things that hadn't gone as I'd planned. But I've realized that that is not how God wants me to be. Instead of beating myself up and looking for the things that I've done wrong, I now try to look at the things I've done right and pick one thing that I can strive to improve. I'd consider this more as being "divinely discontented". Figuring out the things that God wants me to work in rather than picking and nitpicking on the things I want to do better. 

Goals that I had before my mission have now changed, my attitude toward life has changed, my attitude towards others has improved and my desire to do good has increased. 

In Doctrine and Covenants it says, 

"15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!

(D&C 18:15-16)" 

 In verse 15, the "one soul" that it talks about is yourself. As I'm crying repentance unto is people, I'm bringing at the very least, one soul unto christ. I'm bringing myself to him. 

These are just a few of the things that I've noticed as this past year. I love the change that comes as we are bringing our will in line with gods. It's amazing. 

Week 47

What a wonderful week this has been!! First off, next week my P day will be on Wednesday. We're going to D.C. with an investigator, and we aren't going to have much time to email at all, so just a heads up!! 

Anywho, this week has been great. We went to the visitors center with a Recent Convert and we were able to look at all of the temple lights and what not. It's very pretty and the whole time I was thinking that the temple here really truly looks like a big white castle and that pretty much every person should want to go inside. Who wouldn't want that?!?! 

but yes. Also. We were at the Caldwell families house for dinner and they did the whole "get to know you" shebang and when I told her I was from Washington, she gave me this incredulous look and said, "What? hm. For some reason I had several people in the ward telling me that the new sister missionary was from Australia. Seriously, several people told me..." HA. so. it appears that I've been raised in Australia my whole life, although I feel as if the accent is missing. but ehh. 

It's really cool how on a mission I feel as if I have grown so much closer to the spirit in so many different ways, and most of them I don't even recognize. Something interesting happened the other day that made me realize it. We were planning for our day and I told my companion that I didn't feel like we were actually going to be seeing one of our investigators that night even though we had a solid appointment. We texted them and asked if it was still good to go and it appeared that everything was going to work out. However, night came and we ended up not meeting with him because he didn't get back in time for work. Its really interesting to look at all of the little things that God helps us with and we don't even realize it. I'm extremely grateful for the little promptings that we receive each day. 

Oh hey so I wanted to tell you something cool that happened the other day. So last Monday you told me about Pa and the experience you had. Well I think it was inspired that you waited until that day to tell me. That night I could tell that my companion was thinking really hard about something and that there was something that was really bothering her. So I asked her about it. 

As I was sitting there listening to her, the spirit brought back to my remembrance the things that you had told me from that morning about Pa. So I was quite confused why she needed to know that, however, i followed the prompting anyway and I then was able to tell her about her ancestors and that when she left this area that she would be alright because she had many ancestors who had passed on who would be watching out for her and guiding her. It was a neat experience! I just thought I would let you know!!

Also, that was so cool what Cabe said in his email about Pa as well!! Its neat to see him changing.:) I'm excited for him to continue to learn and grow. 

I'm also grateful for the little things people do to go out of their way to serve those around them. 

AND I'M SO EXCITED FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!!:D 

have a great next few days and I'll see you soon!! :) 

Week 46

Its been a wonderful week!!! Seriously, its been awesome.

SO much has happened. I seriously had the best birthday ever. I didn't expect anything to happen, but several sisters left a cute snowman cutout on our door. Then my companion took me out to lunch. 

An old woman gave me some mismatched socks and a bunch of cookies. I also saw the most gorgeous sunset on my birthday. 

A member family took us out to dinner and there was a free cupcake that I got, but it was super awkward because the frosting wasnt on the cupcake and they said, "well...I guess your cupcake got a little warm" and then they walked off. 

Someone made me a cake. and basically it was such a wonderful day!!

then something else happened that was really interesting. We were in a lesson with an old woman and her phone buzzed so many times with probably 5 or 6 calls in the 20 minutes that we were there and she said, "my goodness, I've been waiting for these calls all day, and now theyre all coming in!" Definitely to me showed that we were in the right spot since Satan was trying to hard to distract us!! 

But anywho, its been a good week! 

Love you all!