I'll go where you want me to go....

Well, I am leaving Casa Grande. I am really sad about it. I was really excited to hopefully spend Christmas here and I love my companion to death so I was hoping for one more. Plus, I say this every time, but I hate packing. Anyway it will be interesting to see where I go. Maybe I'll go back to a biking area so I can lose some weight. Although I never lost weight when I was in a biking area before either. Guess we will find out on Thursday!

So this week has been alright. We've had quite a few things fall through so that was a bummer deal. But we also had a super awesome day where we found quite a few potential investigators! That was a testimony to me that God always knows what he is doing. Our newly wed convert had to cancel her appointment with us, so we had nothing to do that day. I had a terrible headache the night before, which caused me to feel sick. So I had left Sister R to plan by herself. So we had a lot of random people put in besides the ones we had put in during weekly planning. So we had put a bunch of people in the boonies in to visit since that is where our appointment lived. We decided to go out there anyway even though she cancelled so we could see a bunch of the other people! Well, we ended up being in places that I have never been before and we had a lot of success! We found this neighborhood way out there that we had never been to before. However, the people we were looking for weren't home so we called another guy that was supposed to live out that way too, and he was actually on his way to the Mesa Temple to see the lights! So that was cool :) He told us to call him at the beginning of next year to see him. Then we drove to another part of the boonies to find some part member families and share the "He is the Gift" video with them. We knocked on one of the doors thinking it was this one family...well it was actually a different lady. Apparently the family we were looking for lived across the street. However, this family turned out to be a part member family too! We shared the video with this lady and she said she has studied with Baptists, Jehovah Witness, and Catholics and had been searching for the truth but didn't feel like her husband knew all the answers. So we asked her if she would like to take the lessons so she would know for herself what we believed. She said yes and that she would prefer to come into town to do the lessons! So we get to have our lessons at a church building :) So that was exciting in and of itself but then she went on to tell us that she had been in a car wreck earlier that week and it had made her start thinking about what is really important in life, "and then you showed up." She then said that the only reason we were even able to catch her at that time was because of the car wreck. Her car had been totaled. So she normally would never have been home at that time. Miracles! I love being able to see God guide us. But usually we don't get to hear of those things and we think we are just running through the motions or making it up :) But God knows what he is doing! So that was awesome. After that we only had a few more minutes before we started to head back, but we wanted to try one more. So Sister R just picked a "random" house and we knocked. There was a guy who recently moved down here and he didn't really want to listen, but I softened him up ;) haha but it turns out that he is YSA age! So that was so awesome because it is terribly hard to find new YSA investigators here! He was super nice and seemed interested by the end so it was just a really awesome day :) We also had a few other random lessons that people said we can start coming by regularly in the New Year. One of them was a cute lady that had a full table of food set for us when we got there. She had tea (herbal) and tons of snacks and she wanted to hear about what we believe in while we ate. She is a historian and we ended up giving her a Book of Mormon. It was really good! She was so nice!

We had another good lesson this week too! He is awesome. We talked about the Book of Mormon with him as well and were able to go over some of the questions he had and address some of his concerns. He seems really solid though. He talked about how he might have to redo his work schedule and how it will really be stinky hours and such but he might be able to do that so he can come to church. :) If he takes all of the things we ask him to do, into his life and really ponders it, I know that he will be baptized someday :)

Also, our mother investigator bought us a Christmas tree! She loves Christmas and was so sad when she heard we didn't have a Christmas tree. She said she was trying to figure out how to make it a surprise, but couldn't, so she just told us and we went to pick it out at a Christmas tree lot together. She had ornaments and lights for us too. It's so cute! I felt so bad because it was a real tree! Expensive! But she was so excited :) I love her so much. I have grown really close to her. I'm really sad that I am leaving because she is getting baptized this weekend. Hopefully I can come back for it though. Who knows.

This week we also sang in the YSA. They put together a Christmas program and we were one of the lucky ducks who got asked to sing. So Sister R and I sang "Angels We Have Heard On High." I always get so nervous. I'm tired of singing haha. Which is funny because we were told that if any of us wanted to do a musical number for the Christmas conference that we needed to get it together and tell Sister T. I suggested we do something as a zone. So the zone leaders jokingly delegated that responsibility to me. Well jokes on them because I did it. We asked ladies in our ward for music and one of the ladies actually had a piece that her mom put together! It is "What Child Is This (lullaby)." So it has a girl part that is different from the regular song, then the boys sing the regular song, and then we sing our separate parts at the same time. Then there is chorus that we all sing together. It is super cool, so i am really excited! We are just going to sing as our zone now so that will be kind of awkward at the conference when I walk up and I'm not in the zone anymore but oh well :) So we are going to practice it today. The whole zone agreed to do it so we will see how it sounds today! It will be our first out of two practices sooooo wish us luck ;) haha I'm excited though. Hopefully it works out. It's really cool because no one will have heard this version before :)

Anyway I'm out of time for the day, but I just wanted to share a little thought. I have been reading the Book of Mormon and today I read about Alma and Amulek preaching in the city of Amonihah. This is the time when Zeezrom tries to discount what they say and make them cross their own words and in the end Alma and Amulek are thrown in prison. However, because of their faith they are able to break the bonds and the prison ends up falling and killing all those who had opposed them. Then after that, they travel to Sidom and those people who had listened to their words in Amonihah had fled there and so they were willing to listen to Alma and Amulek. Well Zeezrom was also there and he had become super sick because he felt so guilty about all that he had done. Long story short, he ends up calling for Alma and Amulek to come heal him. They didn't even hesitate, but immediately went to him! Although he had done some wicked things and had caused Alma and Amulek much grief and persecution, they instantly forgave him. Then through Zeezrom's faith, he was healed and immediately baptized after. It then says that he preached the gospel. I think there are so many things we can learn from that story! Faith, Repentance, Forgiveness. That just really stood out to me this morning as I was reading that when we have faith, it doesn't matter what happens in our lives, that we can get through it because God knows best. So even though I am sad, I am ready and willing to go wherever God has me go. If I trust in him, then it will all work out :) Anyway love you all! Thanks for all your support and help that you give me.

P.S. I'm so behind on letters right now, so if you have written me, I will write back I promise, but it might be around Christmas. I have to pack and have a lot to do today! So sorry!

Lead me, Guide me.....

This week has been pretty good. Last P day was really fun because we were able to go to the Stake President's house and play games. They have a huge house and a volleyball net in their yard ,as well as basketball and tennis courts. So we played a fun new card game that Sister Walton taught us called Cover Your Assets. You should look into it, it's really fun. Then we played some fun volleyball! It's always fun to get together as a zone and get to know each other and take a little time to relax and just have fun. There are always so many things that you have to do on P day and never enough time, so it's nice to take that break and work out some stress.

We got to teach one of the member's grandson tonight for FHE. He is living with them for the school year and is not baptized. He is 10 and is not currently interested, but they are reading scriptures with him and having FHE and he comes to church, so we are teaching him little lessons so that he can learn more. It went really well last week and he had some good questions. We also got to help decorate their Christmas tree so that was fun :)

We finally saw  one of our investigator's again and still, it is amazing to see the progress that has been made on her. She didn't get to read the Book of Mormon on her trip and she is leaving on another trip this week so we told her to bring her Book of Mormon and she said she would this time and she would put it in her purse right then. It is amazing that she was smiling and lighthearted about it because in the beginning, it definitely wouldn't have been that way. She loved the Christmas video (He Is The Gift) though and really opened up about things after that. That Christmas video is so awesome and is such an easy way to do missionary work so make sure you are using it!

Our single adult investigator was doing really well this week too. We backed up and started over so that he can take things slower and not get so overwhelmed. So we taught the Restoration over a couple different days. I also told him I read the Book of Mormon in 12 days before my mission so he wanted to read it in 11.5. haha he has been reading a lot and he has grown so much in the past week just from reading! It has been super cool to see him grow and he said he knows the part that he has read is true. So he was doing awesome and we also taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he said he needs to start preparing for baptism. Then he came to church on Sunday and he was fine in Sunday school, but apparently he left church after priesthood and told one of the members that he was never coming back. What? So we called him and he said he just can't be something he is not and can't be surrounded by such good people. He said we have other people who are worth saving. It broke our hearts and he asked us not to come anymore but promised he would keep praying and finish the Book of Mormon. Of course we aren't going to not go by, he needs a little boost and needs to know that God loves him and that we all are trying to become better. It's not about fitting into the church and changing WHO you are, but it's about changing to become WHO God wants YOU to be. He wants you to be the best YOU that you can and that is what matters. So we are hoping some members of the branch will stop by tomorrow and we will stop by the next day. We wanted to give him a little space from us and have members stop by and show he is cared about. 

We had exchanges this week and Hermana D came with me to our area. It was fun because it was her first exchange ever! We had quite a few lessons that day too so it was a good day for exchanges. We even contacted a former and shared the Christmas video with her and set up a return appointment. We caught up with another investigator as well. It is really hard to teach her because she basically knows the doctrine. It now just comes down to her acting in faith and taking the steps she needs to, to grow in her testimony, such as coming to church. So it's hard to know how to help her because she is the type of person that if you are too bold with, she will probably turn away. As well as her husband. So we are trying to be careful and really seek for inspiration and revelation to know how to help her.

We got a new investigator in the YSA! Yay!!!! He came to institute (we met him at a dinner last week in our family ward. He is the father's oldest son and has only known his dad for a few years). He showed up and the lesson was on the first vision. Boo ya! But they didn't actually tell the story, it was more like what can we learn from the story and apply it to our lives. So we set up an appointment to teach him the "story". The lesson went really good and you can tell he is a thinker. However he has had bad experiences with churches in the past so he isn't ready to jump into it, but the members with us were super bold and told him he can just take this as information or his life can be changed by it and it can resolve the concerns he has. So he seems promising :) He even said a prayer without just trying to push him at all. It was awesome! So we also taught at ton of recent converts this week as usual. That is something we really need help with from the ward because it is so hard for us to keep track of all of them and all of our investigators on our own. So we are hoping to making progress there soon. We don't want to be a burden on the bishop, but the ward has really got to step it up to help these people who are making HUGE changes in their lives. However, I am super grateful for all they do for us. I know they have their own lives and families they need to worry about as well, so I am very grateful for all the help they offer us.

My thought this week is from one of the testimonies I heard on Sunday in the YSA. I have been fasting and praying a lot to know what I should do after my mission and yesterday one of the men said "If it makes you want to be a better person, then that's where you need to be." So it doesn't matter whether it is applied to dating, schooling, your job, or whatever it is, that is where you should be. I really liked that and it really made me think about where I should be in order to keep learning and growing the MOST. So keep that in mind as you are making decisions in your life. God has a plan for us, but he wants us to put forth the effort and make our own decisions too. Which is extremely stressful I'll tell ya! But I know that as we put our faith in him and do our best to serve Him, that everything will fall into place. I hope you all have a wonderful week! Try to Share the Gift with someone! :)

Thanksgiving round 2!

So, it is the holidays again...good gracious the month of November just

flew by! Before we know it, it is going to be Christmas! Anyway I hope you

all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. This week was pretty good! We didn't get

to talk to many new people this week, however, we had a ton of recent

convert and less active lessons.

We did a referral from headquarters! A sixteen year old boy sent it

in with a request for a Bible. So we got to meet them. They have their own

church that they go to and they had a hard time fully understanding the

importance of the message we had to share. It was a Mexican family and the

kids like English but the Mom didn't speak English as well. I'm not sure

how much of it she understood. However, she knew that we had "a" temple in

Utah and she has seen that before. We taught a mini-restoration lesson and

left a few Book of Mormons. One of the daughters was probably 11 or 12 and

she was just soaking everything in that we said. She asked how she could go

on a mission and such and we told her she had to be a member of the church

she said, "oh, that's gonna be hard." haha so they don't understand everything 

exactly and said they had to go to their own church on Sunday. So we have 

another appointment set up with them and we will be on exchanges

that day, so it will work out because then the Spanish sisters can get a

feel of how the mom feels about all of it.

We taught one of converts again this week. She had kind of fallen off the face of the

planet for a while but she is now meeting with us regularly and has been

coming to church! She looks great and is even bringing another family to

church with her. She really seems to be turning things around and changing.

She loves church and understands the importance of keeping the

commandments. It has been awesome to see the change in her. She has gone

through a pretty rough time lately and has gotten a divorce. I think that

hard time actually helped her come closer to God though and helped her

recommit.

We also have been having our newly weds teach us the lessons. It has been

going really well. The wife is awesome and does all the extra studies in the

back of the pamphlets and she understands things really well! They are SO

excited about getting sealed in the temple too. They keep asking where they

can buy white clothes and we keep telling them that when it gets close that

people will help them shop for the things they need and that they will take

temple classes to help them be prepared. They are awesome :) We are trying

to get everything lined up for our recent converts to go to the temple to

do baptisms for the dead. It's been a little hard with the change in the

bishopric and stuff to get everyone on the same page so hopefully we will

get that figured out soon!

We had an AWESOME lesson with another investigator this week! So this guys

house is really chaotic and hard to have a lesson in so we finally got

things set up to have a lesson at the church with him. We got another

recent convert to come too so we would have a third female and we had another

guy in the ward go pick him up. Well a few hours prior he said he couldn't

come anymore. I was pretty upset because he has been so flaky lately and we

went to a lot of work to make this lesson at the church work out. So I got a

little frustrated and was really bold and stern with him about him needing

to come (he hasn't been to church in at least 3 months.) Well long story short,

it turns out he was just joking with us! So he came and we taught the gospel of

Jesus Christ and used the footsteps. However, at the beginning we had him stand

at one end and had the picture of Christ at the other and I decided to get him

back for messing with us. So I told him he had to sing "I Am a Child of

God" while skipping to the picture. He kept saying he was shy and he

couldn't do it but I insisted. He said he couldn't skip and he would just

jog and he said he also didn't know the song. So we sang him the first line

and he kept saying he was too shy to do it. At this point I was about to

tell him I was joking and he didn't really have to do it, when all the

sudden he started doing this weird skip/jog/prance thingy singing, "I am a

child of god...I am a child of god." I died I was laughing SO hard. You

should have seen it, this big Mexican who works security, covered in

tattoos and such...and singing while running toward a picture of

Christ. I wish I would have gotten it on camera. Luckily he takes things

well and was a good sport about it. Anyway, after our funny experience we

had a really good lesson and he did not want to leave the church. He said

he felt so good and was so happy to be there. He could feel the spirit so

strong and he basically taught himself and said he knew he needed to come

to church and he wasn't keeping the commandments. Even though he isn't

doing bad things he isn't coming to church so he knows that he could do

better. So it went SO well! However....he didn't come to church on

Sunday...we called him and called him to wake him up (he tells us to) and

he texted us and said he was awake and then when the ride went to get him,

the mom said he was asleep...then we called and called and he wouldn't

answer. AHHH! So frustrating.

Our Thanksgiving was really good too! We had a low key dinner at our ward

mission leader's home. It was fun! We also stopped at a non members house. It was

the home of a lady that wants to feed us so we stopped in there and ate there

as well. This was all like 20 minutes apart too so needless to say, I was

STUFFED! We also had time to just relax as well. We also decorated our

little foam Christmas tree so that was fun! :) We then had an activity with

all the missionaries. We took popcorn and the ZL's took hot chocolate. We

played games like signs and then broke up into little groups and played

board games. It was really fun and nice to just relax and hang out has a

zone family.

We had another lesson this week that went really well!This lady wants to

take things really slow however. She knows a lot already so it is

a little different teaching her. Also her husband was there for the lesson

and he seemed to be a lot more open than in the past and was actually

making comments and such. It was really good! We also had a member there

and they actually live really close to each other. Also the member is a

convert so it was really good for this lady to be able to ask her a lot of

questions about how she changed and how it has helped her family and such.

It was awesome :)

Also our mother/daughter investigators came to church! It was so good! The mom

is on fire and is ready to make that commitment and be baptized, but her daughter

is thinking about it again. She isn't sure. She says that she feels that she just

hasn't gotten that huge affirmation yet. Her mom thinks it has something to

do with some of her friends. So we are trying to help her through her

concerns. It really helped for her to be able to come to church and she is

going to go to mutual this week too so that will be super good! I'm really

excited for them. We are going to go see the Christmas lights with them too

next week. :) It will be fun! Then the week after that, it is transfers....

I kind of hope I get to stay here one more transfer. Then after that, I

will only have 2 transfers left...so I will most likely only have one more

area. That is seriously so crazy. I don't like it. But I really love my companion

and it would be a bummer to get transferred right before Christmas. Plus I really

want to be here for this mom's baptism. I love her and her family so much! :)

So I'm running out of time so I'm going to give my quick thought. I'm sure

you have all heard of the "He is the Gift" initiative so if you haven't...then

I'll attach the link. It is seriously the best thing ever! I love it so

much. The church is putting so much work and money into this so we need to

embrace it and help share it with others! I love that it is all about how

God loves us SO much that he sent his son as the real gift of Christmas. We

need to discover the gift of Christ and the peace that it brings to us.

Once we discover it, then we need to embrace it and make it be a part of

who we are. After that, we should WANT to share it with everyone we can! We

are all sons and daughters of God and he wants us to help others along the

path once we are on it. This is such an easy way to do missionary work so

embrace this and help #SharetheGift! If you don't know much about it, then

talk with the missionaries! They will know :) I love you all and I hope we

all remember the true meaning of the holiday season and help spread the

true joy that comes from knowing that Christ is the real Gift of Christmas.

:) I feel so lucky to be able to be a missionary for 2 Christmas seasons!

What a blessing!