Oh it is Wonderful...

Hello everyone!

So as I've talked about since I've gotten here to the Dalles area, I've been having some struggles with my companion. Everything is going back to normal, but we also have transfers this Wednesday. I will be staying in White Salmon and I will be receiving Hermana Knight, who was one of my greenie's MTC companion. What a coincidence! Hermana Buss will be transfered to Othello. This is something  new, and I'm pretty torn between how I feel about Hermana Buss leaving. We've grown so much together, and we've seen miracles. But having Hermana Buss as a companion was probably one of the most growing times for me on my mission. We've both learned so much together and I am excited to see where her mission will take her next. 

I realized this whole past transfer, I was letting myself be pretty selfish in the midst of helping my companion. I never realized how much she was struggling until she finally opened up to me last week about how she wasn't looking forward to leaving her first area on her mission. I felt sorry, but a bit rough at the same time, thinking to myself, "Well, you've got a ton of time to spend on your mission, and I've got zip-zero time. So enjoy it." There were times I had to be blunt with her, and take the lead in our companionship, and in a way, take the lead in everything we did. I felt no motivation, and turned very inward to myself when I was trying to get her motivated and help her out with her problems. Finally, I found my way through serving her. I found ways to relax, and to not become so anxious and stressed about every little thing. I especially learned through prayer, that Heavenly Father truly, completely, and utterly knows EXACTLY who I am. Though I struggle with finding a balance in my stress, and despite all the noise and struggles happening around me, I turned so inward this past transfer, and I didn't see it until we had a special tender moment this past week.  

When she confided in me about leaving her first area, I first had that thought that I mentioned earlier, but I decided I was done with being this way. I told her stories about when I left my first area, and how nervous I was, but how I became so excited to go somewhere new. I even told her the struggles I had as a missionary, and how the struggles I've had with my self confidence, and trusting in the Lord, every SINGLE trial has made me who I am, along with Jesus Christ and his confidence in me. I LOVE being a missionary, but the ways I've personally struggled have held me back in my potential, and I finally dropped the gloves to the mat, and I loved her with every part of my small, ignorant heart. We both struggled a lot this past transfer, but I became more hard on myself until I truly turned my heart to him.  

What happened next was a complete surprise. I don't know where the words came from, but they just simply spilled out of my mouth. It went something like this...

"Hermana, I know you're missing home, and family, but Heavenly Father wants you to know how much He loves you. You're doing great, keep being productive in every way possible" 

Later, I told her about every single member of her family and why she needs to be a missionary right now. Everything I said, was completely, and utterly from our Heavenly Father. On her end, she cried until I was done. On my end, I teared up while I told her about how proud her Dad is of her.  THINGS HAPPEN FOR A REASON!

Christ is my Savior, He truly felt everything that I feel and that we each feel every day, and He is key to our salvation.

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me.

Confused at the grace that so fully, He proffers me. 

I tremble to know that for me He was cruficied.

That for me a sinner, He suffered, He bled and died.

Oh it is wonderful, that He should care for me, enough to die for me.

Oh it is wonderful, wonderful to me. 

I know this past transfer was so needed for both she and I. I will never forget the experiences we had together. I love her.  She will always be one of my favorite companions.

So, Wednesday morning, I will have a new companion!  I will keep ya'll updated on our hard work next week. Love you all, I feel the power of your prayers!! 

Our zone conference was this past week, I was asked to give a training on working with members, and it went awesome!

General Conference, Lesson learned...

Hi everyone! 

Wow, I haven't had a week like this in a long time... probably not since Toppenish.  So, this week, in a gist, I've learned so much about companionship responsibility.  A LOT.  I've really enjoyed helping Hermana Buss with the things she's working on, and it should be getting better... anytime soon, but I have really learned that I truly can't carry on the work by myself.  And when things happen, you roll and go with the flow.  That's all you can do folks, just get down on your knees, and say an out loud personal prayer and He will listen to you. He IS There, and I know without a doubt that He is listening, and that He knows me!

I have LOVED listening to conference, we watched one session completely in Spanish.  I couldn't understand a lot of it, but I hope to understand it more soon!  I loved it all, especially the announcement of the new temples. We will have 175 temples once all the temples in the world are built. WOW!  What progress!

I invite you all to ponder the things you've learned in conference, and to apply it TODAY! 

They all talked about good habits we MUST build right now, so find one and work on it. 

Love you all!

I can do ALL things through Christ!

Fun News, I'm a grandma!  Hermana Perry, who I half trained in Toppenish, is now training in Sunnyside, so we have this cute three generation picture to show. 

So this past week was amazing, frustrating, and a whole roller coaster at the same time, for one of the many times so far. 

We had some sweet lessons with Trevor, who has officially chosen a date to work towards. April 23rd, everyone! We are so excited, he still feels nervous, but he knows it's what he's wanted for awhile, and it's what is going to help him step into eternity with his Heavenly Father.  We also had an awesome lesson with Satika, who is the best friend of another one of the youth in the ward. She lives in Hood River, so the Elders across the river will start teaching her. The Elders have another young girl who wants to get baptized who technically lives in our area, and we are so excited to teach her!  Adriana has had it rough.  She lives with her Mom most of the week and goes to church with her Dad in the Elders' ward, so we are basically having a swap of investigators with the Elders.  It should be exciting this week!  We have plans to teach Trevor in some members' homes and we can't wait.  We are patiently preparing for those lessons. 

I've had my moments this week, but every time I've gotten down on my knees, I've entered my own world for a while. I testify to each of you that the Atonement is real, and that Jesus Christ truly did die for each of us, and I know, and testify, that even though none of us were on earth to witness his sacrifice and death, that we each watched him suffer from our kingdom up above before we were sent to earth with our glorious gifts - our bodies. 

I am so thankful for Him and his sacrifice, and for the Zone Conference we had this past week in Yakima.  It was so good to see everyone, and to spend our time talking about Jesus Christ and the last week of his life. 

Another piece of Joy for Ya'll!

 

We had to drive our own car to Yakima this past week, 2 1/2 hour drive, but it was decent, as you can tell by this picture... It was a blast.  Loved having the road trip and being able to clunk out after we got home... 

I KNOW I CAN.

Hi Everyone! 

This past week it rained, like a lot, but it was also sunny a bit as well.

I went on exchanges with Hermana Juarez, who has been out in the field for just over two months. Our Sister Leader came to my area with Hermana Buss, and then I went to the other sisters' area. It was awesome! We taught an amazing lesson where I really learned to discover one of my spiritual gifts as a missionary... Being BOLD!  

Now, being bold as a missionary, is sometimes difficult, because it shows that you love the people, members, and investigators, but it's also a bit scary to see what people's reactions are.. so I learned how truly bold I've been, and I didn't realize until she had pointed it out, and asked if I would do a "DTR" with their investigator while we were on exchanges. (Determine The Relationship)  Maria is very sweet, and very nice, but she has some things to straighten out before she gets baptized. She is struggling to want to read in the BOM, and throughout the whole lesson we were able to find a balance and a level with her. She wants to be baptized, but can't until she starts reading.  I'm glad I had Hermana Juarez right there with me, because It's sometimes hard being bold all alone... She's awesome, and it was awesome. That lesson went AWESOME!

Over all, this past week didn't go as what we planned. 

I'm learning even though we both struggle with different things, we CAN work well together.  It IS possible to work effectively together. I KNOW it will happen. In the mean time, It's just still a bit hard. It WILL get better. I can't wait to start again this week. 

On a happy note, I was asked at the last minute to give a talk in Sacrament meeting and it was a total uplift this week. I was asked to talk about home teaching and visiting teaching, there's so much I want to share, but so little time... next time! :) 

Love you all, have a great week!

Stepping into my Mom's Shoes

Hi everyone! 

This past week was a blast! We had a lot happen, a lot of good stuff happen.  We had a lesson with Debby at the Family History Center here in Hood River, across the river and border of WA. (This is also where we email every week) She LOVED the family history center, she loved the fact she found her grandparents, and she's currently working on finding more names and birth dates and birthplaces. She is GLOWING!  I love being around her, she's so full of energy and always looking for something more to do on family history work. She said she's going to try to come to church next week! 

Trevor is doing AWESOME! He's fully recovered, found a new truck, and is currently also swamped with homework and scholarships up to his neck.. He is doing well, and he's still reading in the Book of Mormon.  We are not currently talking about a date with him, but we will in the near future.  His first priority right now is school, so he can finish strong.  Which is understandable... kind of.  We had plans to meet his parents on Saturday night before a meeting we had in Hood River.  He lives about 45 minutes away from our house, and we canceled our plans with him, until he called us from his house phone.. "Can you guys still come? My parents want to meet you still."  He got a speeding ticket a while ago, and he hasn't been on the same page as his parents, but he said it would still be okay!  We got ready in 5 minutes and left... This felt so weird, because Trevor is like a little brother to us, and we were running around crazy trying to look nice as if we were meeting our new parents... Haha, it was an adventure, but it also was raining...  As we met Trevor's parents, I fell into my Mom's shoes... My Mom is a convert, as most of you know from my high talk of my sweet amazing Mom. Meeting Trevor's parents made me remember of the stories my Mom has of taking the missionary discussions. Trevor's parents LOVE him, they are very set in their religious ways, and aren't interested in changing their own perspectives of the Gospel, but they are very happy to see him make this decision.  His baptism probably won't be until after his high school graduation, but he WILL be baptized!

We went up to Klicitat, which is about 45 minutes away from our house, and we did some visits to a lot of less actives and in-actives who live there, and they are all amazing. They are super sweet, and strong in the gospel, but aren't willing to drive the 45 minutes to an hour to go to church every week.  They all look forward to our visits this week again!  We're going to have a lot more opportunities to do service, and share the gospel with a part member family who need some help around their Bed & Breakfast. We are super excited. I don't have super exciting pictures, except for one...

I played with a tame wolf a few weeks ago and never sent this picture home, it's pretty sweet. Loki is a pure bread wolf, just extremely tame, he's pretty cute. :)

Hola todos dondequiera!

Hi everyone!

So this past week was to say the least... interesting. So I haven't quite explained what exactly the work is I'm doing here, so I might as well tell you now, a week after arriving!  I am serving in the White Salmon ward, and we are the only missionaries to our ward. (which also feels very weird coming from our Spanish branch in Yakima, which had 5 sets of missionaries to cover all of Yakima. Here in White Salmon, we cover the English work for our ward, but we also cover the Spanish work of the area of 2 wards. So we have our hands full! We cover a very large area, not including the other ward. Some of our investigators live 45 minutes to an hour away. Our usual weekly and monthly missionary meetings are typically from 30 minutes to an hour and 15 minutes away. Because our area has a lot of terrain, we have been assigned to drive a Jeep Compass, which I must say.. is a fun car to drive as a missionary. We are very blessed to be serving in a great area with Juanito our Jeepo. This is my 4th area, and we cover an area that is about 1 hour and 15 minutes top to bottom and about 2 and a half hours from West to East. We don't have much work in the boundaries of the other ward, so we mainly work in our ward and the Spanish work within our area. 

So this past week was decent!  We didn't get to meet with Trevor this week because he didn't have a car due to his accident, and his recovery from his accident. We WERE however able to have him at church yesterday! He loved it! He wasn't super lost with the whole 3 hours.  He said he usually spends 3 hours playing video games on Sundays, so that was a great substitute!

We did service this week at a thrift store where we were sorting baby clothes and boxes of kids clothes, it was a lot of good work, it kept us super busy!  Although we had 2 appointments fall through later that same day.

We visited our recent convert Shelley, who is working on reading the whole Book of Mormon. She has a hard time understanding some things, especially the Isaiah chapters in Second Nephi, but she has managed to push through them! She is now in Jacob, and she loves it!

We had a lesson with Zon Sprinkle, who is 99... Yes, you read that right, 99. He is hard of hearing, and he is incredibly healthy for his age.. No joke!  We taught him the Restoration with Sister Lemmon, who is a member of the ward and is from Venezuela originally. She is super awesome!  We had a good lesson, but he is quite firm in his beliefs. We asked to come back and read in the Bible and Book of Mormon to him since he can't read too well, and he agreed! 

We had a super sweet lesson with Debby, who is an amazing investigator!  She is carefully studying the biblical history along with the history in the Book of Mormon. She wants to start doing family history!  We have an appointment with her to check out the Family History Center tomorrow and to start her family tree!

We had a Zone Meeting this week as well, which was amazing!  We woke up early, picked up the other sisters across the river in Oregon, and drove to a members house 30 minutes away, who drove us to The Dalles where our meeting was held. It was a loooong day!  Our members who drove us there, took us through a drive thru Zoo early on Saturday morning, it was so cool!  We saw Zebra, Giraffes, Yes mom. Giraffes in WA!

Sunday was... interesting, like I said. 

Hermana Buss was searching for a glass early on Sunday morning, which I was very confused about. This past Sunday was Fast Sunday, So I almost thought she was skipping her fast... (of course she wasn't).  We caught a very gross looking bug in our bathroom with a jar in our cupboard... don't ask me about it.. Haha!

BTW here's a photo of Hermana Buss and I finally!  She and I are doing good, could be better, but it's a work in progress. 

 

Love you all, Have a wonderful week!

White Salmon, here we go!

Hi everyone! 

Wow, this past week was a roller coaster. FOR SURE!

Hermana Aldrich and I sadly said goodbye to the members, Presidente Moreno and his cute little family, and the Ochoa Parades family. It was a hard separation, but we will go back to their baptism soon.  They are prepared, VERY prepared, they just need a little help with some things right now. 

Wednesday morning, Transfer day comes around, I jumped out of the shower with wet hair and decided to keep packing my second suitcase.  I was no where NEAR ready to leave that morning.  Then we got a call from our Assistants to the President, and they asked me If I knew I had to be at the transfer sight right then and there at 8:00... WHAT?  My zone leaders forgot to tell me about this when I was leaving, or SOMETHING.  Either way, I was in no way shape or form ready to leave.  Frantically, I packed the rest of my things within 15 minutes, along with the other sister's help packing my stuff and taking my things out to the van, which the AP's drove to our apartment (5 minutes away from the transfer site) and picked me up. I was not ready to leave Yakima... Ha, I was about in tears saying goodbye to Hermana Aldrich and the other sisters, but I know my area will be in good hands. 

The drive to The Dalles is so beautiful, like, SOOOOO beautiful!  My area borders the state of Oregon, and of course we have the Columbia River splitting the two states. We cover a LARGE, spread out ward. We only have about 30% attendance because everyone else is less active. We also are covering English and Spanish work, and this will be my second time doing both! It's really exciting!

As soon as we got home, I unpacked a bit, we ate lunch, and then we had an appointment with our investigator, Trevor.  He's a senior in high school, and he was a referral from a member, who is super good friends with him. He is really progressing, and he loves coming to mutual!  Unfortunately, we heard a couple days later, that after Mutual, Trevor was in a car accident on his way home.  He is doing well, but his truck is totaled.  We have a date set with him, but we may set it back a week or so, so that we can have enough time with him to teach him everything.  He's doing well though, we should be seeing him this week with our bishop and one of his counselors to give him a blessing.

I can't remember everything off the top of my head I wanted to share, but here's some sweet pictures from our hike this morning. This hike is right on the border of our mission, it's so beautiful!  We also went to a local fish hatchery where they have tons and TONS of fish! First P-day in White Salmon, totally successful!