Today's the last p-day of the transfer, and I won't find out until monday what's going on. I feel pretty calm because I'm not going outbound for sure, but at the same time I want to know what's going on for my second to last transfer, even though that feels really really really weird. There are some things that I miss, but at the same time I'm really glad I'm a missionary right now :)
There are so many miracles, I may not get to many of them especially since I'm so out of it currently. :)
On sunday I talked to a man on the phone and he said something that I found profound- "There are too many members and not enough disciples." He was talking about christian just in general. I think it's true in a lot of ways. Amazing how things are like that.
Also on sunday we took two guys around and they both referred. It was pretty neat that they wanted to learn more.
I was at welfare square a lot this week and met someone named Brittani Nicholas from the Hollister 1st ward. She doesn't live there now, but she recognized my name and mentioned other people that I knew from hollister. Kind of crazy. Does any one remember much about her? She's about the same age as David.
We lost a couple of our japanese sisters. Some of them came here instead of Hawaii, because there was too many in Hawaii, but then they wanted two of them back. It was sad... one of them was a sister that I had helped take around Welfare square the second time.
Today we had an ASL tour with a guy who was still learning sign language. He lost his hearing over time, so he's deaf but didn't start learning ASL until recently.
Now we're taking a Tagalog tour since no one else is responding :)
LOVE
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Saturday, May 1, 2010
My ability to speak English is fading
At least that's what it seems. You would think on an english mission, it wouldn't suffer, but no... I have-apparently- a knack of picking up accents and ways of phrasing things... even if it's incorrect. Like this morning, I couldn't see my district leader and a meeting was about to start, "Where she is?" said I. Then realized what I said. Perhaps I'll need help to speak properly when I go back home ;)
So last sunday we were able to go to Music and the Spoken word for the first time since I've been back because sister Talines and I weren't announcing in Tagalog or ASL. It was pretty neat because the orchistra was playing, and President Monson was there (I could kind of see him through the fake cherry tree.) and -to my companion's delight- David Archuleta. She was excited that he was there, I was more excited that the prophet was there, so we each got something that we liked.
That same day I ran into someone who gave me a quote from his mission. His mission president told him, "We're sending you to a new area- the world. Your assignment is to give at least one referral to the missionaries per month." I thought that was a neat way to look at it, so I wrote it down so I could remember it.
I also met someone who was a missionary in the San Jose mission! He was the first person I met from that mission, so it was pretty fun. He remembered a lot of t he people that I grew up with like the Greens and Grahams and Woodruffs. He just got off his mission a year or two ago so it was neat to hear that they were still in Greenfield.
This week I took my second tour at Welfare square... well my second time taking a sister who spoke Japanese, and never had given a tour at Welfare square to welfare square. It was kind of funny. The zone leaders paged me and asked me to take her there again, like I had the other. The poor sister was nervous, but I think she did well, because she gave her best, and that's all God asks her to do. I tried to encourage her after, and hopefully it helped.
I also learned a Russian phrase- Ya tibya lublue. Which means- I love you. Lots of things we learn daily.
Wednesday we planned more specifically and saw many miracles. It was neat to be able to see God's hand in things. We also got to go to Welfare Square again, but this time it was my companion's first time giving a tour. We had a huge group of young men and women from Orem and actually had a few of them give us some people we could call. It was really nice.
And now to answer a few questions... I honestly do not know when I'll be calling. I have no clue, because we now plan our entire schedule ourselves. We don't have a little slip of paper telling us when to take lunch and dinner, we just have... well our planners, and a request that we don't do the same time every day, etc. It's crazy, but good how far this mission has come. If you let me know when you all are available, I'll ask my companion if we can plan to have lunch or dinner during the time that would work best for every one :)
We found out about us being able to do our own schedule (completely, including when we go to the call center -- we just sign up at the begining of the week so we know when it's going to be full.)on Tuesday Evening. It was crazy. Our district leader paged us and we went and talked with her for a moment, and that's when she informed us. It was fast and a little crazy, but in a nice way. This mission has changed completely from the way it was when I first arrived. I love it! I'm glad the change has been gradual, but every change has been good. It still amazes me though. It went from a mission where you couldn't move from one spot for an hour, or more, until your replacements came, to us being able to move wherever we want, within our area, and go according to the spirit. Thank goodness.
Oh, Laila from david's ward in CA says Hi. I met her and her family randomly on the square, so I thought I might pass it on :)
Today was pretty neat, we met a couple of guys who were originally from India and took them around. They reminded me of my old investigator- Rajen. They were quiet, and seemed like they weren't interested, but in the end both wanted to learn more. It was amazing :).
Any way, I love ya all!! Be happy and stuff!! :D
Love sister of a sarah of a durtschi sort.
So last sunday we were able to go to Music and the Spoken word for the first time since I've been back because sister Talines and I weren't announcing in Tagalog or ASL. It was pretty neat because the orchistra was playing, and President Monson was there (I could kind of see him through the fake cherry tree.) and -to my companion's delight- David Archuleta. She was excited that he was there, I was more excited that the prophet was there, so we each got something that we liked.
That same day I ran into someone who gave me a quote from his mission. His mission president told him, "We're sending you to a new area- the world. Your assignment is to give at least one referral to the missionaries per month." I thought that was a neat way to look at it, so I wrote it down so I could remember it.
I also met someone who was a missionary in the San Jose mission! He was the first person I met from that mission, so it was pretty fun. He remembered a lot of t he people that I grew up with like the Greens and Grahams and Woodruffs. He just got off his mission a year or two ago so it was neat to hear that they were still in Greenfield.
This week I took my second tour at Welfare square... well my second time taking a sister who spoke Japanese, and never had given a tour at Welfare square to welfare square. It was kind of funny. The zone leaders paged me and asked me to take her there again, like I had the other. The poor sister was nervous, but I think she did well, because she gave her best, and that's all God asks her to do. I tried to encourage her after, and hopefully it helped.
I also learned a Russian phrase- Ya tibya lublue. Which means- I love you. Lots of things we learn daily.
Wednesday we planned more specifically and saw many miracles. It was neat to be able to see God's hand in things. We also got to go to Welfare Square again, but this time it was my companion's first time giving a tour. We had a huge group of young men and women from Orem and actually had a few of them give us some people we could call. It was really nice.
And now to answer a few questions... I honestly do not know when I'll be calling. I have no clue, because we now plan our entire schedule ourselves. We don't have a little slip of paper telling us when to take lunch and dinner, we just have... well our planners, and a request that we don't do the same time every day, etc. It's crazy, but good how far this mission has come. If you let me know when you all are available, I'll ask my companion if we can plan to have lunch or dinner during the time that would work best for every one :)
We found out about us being able to do our own schedule (completely, including when we go to the call center -- we just sign up at the begining of the week so we know when it's going to be full.)on Tuesday Evening. It was crazy. Our district leader paged us and we went and talked with her for a moment, and that's when she informed us. It was fast and a little crazy, but in a nice way. This mission has changed completely from the way it was when I first arrived. I love it! I'm glad the change has been gradual, but every change has been good. It still amazes me though. It went from a mission where you couldn't move from one spot for an hour, or more, until your replacements came, to us being able to move wherever we want, within our area, and go according to the spirit. Thank goodness.
Oh, Laila from david's ward in CA says Hi. I met her and her family randomly on the square, so I thought I might pass it on :)
Today was pretty neat, we met a couple of guys who were originally from India and took them around. They reminded me of my old investigator- Rajen. They were quiet, and seemed like they weren't interested, but in the end both wanted to learn more. It was amazing :).
Any way, I love ya all!! Be happy and stuff!! :D
Love sister of a sarah of a durtschi sort.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Tulips, Daisies, butter...?
Okay... umm... I left my book of Mormon with my Planner... at home... so I'm kind of lost and don't know what to say.
The weather! That's a great place to start! It's been GORGEOUS!!! If it would stay like this the rest of my mission, I'd be in heaven. My companion, sister Talines, and I have just finished taking about 200 pictures... each. Okay, maybe I exaggerate.... Any way, I took more than I have in a LONG time.
So, today was pretty neat. We finally got to Weekly planning (we had Zone Conference this week as well as a ton of other meetings, so we haven't had a companion study to do it in. That's something that's different from outbound... Weekly planning is a LOT longer, and you HAVE to do it before the next week starts. It's now Saturday and the week started on Wednesday, and we just did Weekly planning this morning. Kind of weird, but we don't have any investigators to plan for, so why take more time than is needed?
Any way, so we got onto the Square and almost as soon as we got there, we ran into a man from North Carolina. It was fun. We took him around, then walked and talked with people, namely the parents of the organist who was performing today. His mother's from the Philippines, so sister Talines and she had a fun conversation. We were near the tabernacle when they started handing out programs for the performance that day. Sister Rafi' (shortened because most people can't say Rafidairimanda.. and I probably spelled it wrong.) and Holmes asked us to stay in the Tab' during the performance to let people out when they need to go, etc, in a way that it won't be loud. It was wonderful to be able to hear the music, especially 'Come Come Ye Saints' I got goose bumps and one of the ladies who was listening wanted to leave because she was tearing up. It's neat how heavenly father gives little treats now and again to make life sweet. Kind of like eating a raisin bagel, mostly bland with a bite of sweetness every once and a while, that makes the whole thing sweet. :) But if the whole thing were sweet, we'd get tired of it. Bored you might say.
After the Organ Recital, a man came in from England. He was there on business and was interested in different things. We got to know him, and were able to answer questions. Sister Talines mentioned that she used to be Catholic, and he had said previously that he was Catholic, so he asked if they were different. I explained the greatest difference was that we believe the authority was lost and is now back on the earth with prophets and apostles, and he seemed to accept that well. He asked a few more questions, but didn't want missionaries because he's always traveling. We encouraged him to stop and talk to the missionaries in his area whenever he saw them. We hope the best for him. I think we have to have a lot of faith on this mission and know that those who are ready will receive the gospel one way or another...
Earlier in the week, Thursday I think(which is when we had our Zone Conference) we met a couple from Pittsburgh. They were truck drivers, and had a bit of an accent. At first I thought they were from Brazil, because it sounded similar, but when I asked if they "spoke another language" (my polite way of saying, "I can hear a bit of an accent... what's it from?") When they replied, they said, "Arabic." I was a little surprised, it was my first time in a long time that I ran into people who originally spoke that language. We'd already been having a great discussion about Christ, so I just kept on going, explaining about the Temple, and so on. They were both open and could feel the spirit, and it felt good to them.
After we finished, one of the sisters who can kind of speak Arabic walked by myself and sister Talines, and we pointed her in the right direction to distract them while we got them an Arabic book of Mormon. They were very thankful for the book, and said they would read it. They're already reading the bible in Arabic, so it would be good for them to have both. :D So... again with the faith thing. Hopefully they'll meet with missionaries too...
I'm very thankful for sunscreen.
Sunday was nice. Sister Talines announced in Tagalog, and we kind of got a tour. Some other sisters found them for us, and they were members and had a very limited amount of time, but it was nice for them all to talk for a while.
I used the crock pot for the second time on my mission... the first time was in my first transfer. It worked out well. I tried to do something like what dad does for sundays (potroast, with potatoes, etc), and... well, I didn't have most of the ingredients that he uses, so for what I had it turned out well :).
I don't remember much. Sorry... that's what happens when I don't have my planner... my goldfish-sized memory kicks in .
I can't believe it's Week three... and the middle of it to boot! I've noticed a lot of things, and have been trying to improve. It's kind of funny because I remembered some things from before outbound and some of them are starting to come back. Some of those things I'm glad about, but others I'm not. We (Sister Talines and I) made a goal today to try and learn something new every day that we can use every day, so we're not just saying, doing, etc, the same things over and over again and getting bored. So hopefully that will help.
I've been able to run into a lot of members recently. I've really encouraged the young members to go on missions, especially mission-aged young men (girls too ;) ) I've been able to improve my ways of talking with them, and others... I hope.
Any way. Many many miracles. I love it. :D
Love you all! Be good! And Happy!
LOVE!
~Sister of the Durtschi of the Sarah Sort.
Ps... No butters were involved in the making of this email... aside from the small amount that was in dinner last night (in case you were wondering about the subject.)
The weather! That's a great place to start! It's been GORGEOUS!!! If it would stay like this the rest of my mission, I'd be in heaven. My companion, sister Talines, and I have just finished taking about 200 pictures... each. Okay, maybe I exaggerate.... Any way, I took more than I have in a LONG time.
So, today was pretty neat. We finally got to Weekly planning (we had Zone Conference this week as well as a ton of other meetings, so we haven't had a companion study to do it in. That's something that's different from outbound... Weekly planning is a LOT longer, and you HAVE to do it before the next week starts. It's now Saturday and the week started on Wednesday, and we just did Weekly planning this morning. Kind of weird, but we don't have any investigators to plan for, so why take more time than is needed?
Any way, so we got onto the Square and almost as soon as we got there, we ran into a man from North Carolina. It was fun. We took him around, then walked and talked with people, namely the parents of the organist who was performing today. His mother's from the Philippines, so sister Talines and she had a fun conversation. We were near the tabernacle when they started handing out programs for the performance that day. Sister Rafi' (shortened because most people can't say Rafidairimanda.. and I probably spelled it wrong.) and Holmes asked us to stay in the Tab' during the performance to let people out when they need to go, etc, in a way that it won't be loud. It was wonderful to be able to hear the music, especially 'Come Come Ye Saints' I got goose bumps and one of the ladies who was listening wanted to leave because she was tearing up. It's neat how heavenly father gives little treats now and again to make life sweet. Kind of like eating a raisin bagel, mostly bland with a bite of sweetness every once and a while, that makes the whole thing sweet. :) But if the whole thing were sweet, we'd get tired of it. Bored you might say.
After the Organ Recital, a man came in from England. He was there on business and was interested in different things. We got to know him, and were able to answer questions. Sister Talines mentioned that she used to be Catholic, and he had said previously that he was Catholic, so he asked if they were different. I explained the greatest difference was that we believe the authority was lost and is now back on the earth with prophets and apostles, and he seemed to accept that well. He asked a few more questions, but didn't want missionaries because he's always traveling. We encouraged him to stop and talk to the missionaries in his area whenever he saw them. We hope the best for him. I think we have to have a lot of faith on this mission and know that those who are ready will receive the gospel one way or another...
Earlier in the week, Thursday I think(which is when we had our Zone Conference) we met a couple from Pittsburgh. They were truck drivers, and had a bit of an accent. At first I thought they were from Brazil, because it sounded similar, but when I asked if they "spoke another language" (my polite way of saying, "I can hear a bit of an accent... what's it from?") When they replied, they said, "Arabic." I was a little surprised, it was my first time in a long time that I ran into people who originally spoke that language. We'd already been having a great discussion about Christ, so I just kept on going, explaining about the Temple, and so on. They were both open and could feel the spirit, and it felt good to them.
After we finished, one of the sisters who can kind of speak Arabic walked by myself and sister Talines, and we pointed her in the right direction to distract them while we got them an Arabic book of Mormon. They were very thankful for the book, and said they would read it. They're already reading the bible in Arabic, so it would be good for them to have both. :D So... again with the faith thing. Hopefully they'll meet with missionaries too...
I'm very thankful for sunscreen.
Sunday was nice. Sister Talines announced in Tagalog, and we kind of got a tour. Some other sisters found them for us, and they were members and had a very limited amount of time, but it was nice for them all to talk for a while.
I used the crock pot for the second time on my mission... the first time was in my first transfer. It worked out well. I tried to do something like what dad does for sundays (potroast, with potatoes, etc), and... well, I didn't have most of the ingredients that he uses, so for what I had it turned out well :).
I don't remember much. Sorry... that's what happens when I don't have my planner... my goldfish-sized memory kicks in .
I can't believe it's Week three... and the middle of it to boot! I've noticed a lot of things, and have been trying to improve. It's kind of funny because I remembered some things from before outbound and some of them are starting to come back. Some of those things I'm glad about, but others I'm not. We (Sister Talines and I) made a goal today to try and learn something new every day that we can use every day, so we're not just saying, doing, etc, the same things over and over again and getting bored. So hopefully that will help.
I've been able to run into a lot of members recently. I've really encouraged the young members to go on missions, especially mission-aged young men (girls too ;) ) I've been able to improve my ways of talking with them, and others... I hope.
Any way. Many many miracles. I love it. :D
Love you all! Be good! And Happy!
LOVE!
~Sister of the Durtschi of the Sarah Sort.
Ps... No butters were involved in the making of this email... aside from the small amount that was in dinner last night (in case you were wondering about the subject.)
Saturday, April 17, 2010
More Pictures
1. Sample from today's pictures
5. Conference Sunday night when we got together to see what the totals were and so on.
2/3/4. Just after the session of conference that we got to see
Monday, April 12, 2010
Hi... again :)
So, it's not been that long ago that I wrote. But that's okay, right? You like hearing from me, yes? :)
This week is pretty neat, even though you just heard from me on Wednesday :)
We were able to take two wonderful ladies around on Thursday. They're deaf and wanted to learn more by the end of it. My poor companion almost fell asleep because we chatted so much. At first I thought they're members, but as we chatted we got to know each other better. they asked some really great questions about the church and what we believed, and some normal questions about temple square and us as missionaries, especially since the next day we were able to take the same ladies around the Beehive house. They asked us there if all of us had to wear skirts (common question...) and we let them know that we want to look professional, so as missionaries we wear nice clothes, etc.
Something that's interesting about temple square is we have a chance to answer a lot of people's questions. Some of them make me think a lot. Even though I know the answers for myself, it forces me to think about it from their perspectives... which means that I have to find a different way to answer the same question with the same answer. I love it. Even if I don't love it at the time I'm having to think on my toes and answer it.
We met a lady today who's coming back to church. We were able to share some uplifting scriptures with her and help her feel welcome. I think those who come back are brave, because it usually means they're admitting they have been wrong and they're willing to make the changes that they need to. Change is scary a lot.
There have been a lot of things that have changed here, namely sisters and so on, but it's taking me a while to adjust to absolutely everything. Thankfully the gospel always stays the same :D
Something I'm also thankful for is the district that I had in the MTC is still going strong. None of us, asside from the one who went home in the MTC, have gone home yet. All the girls are still here, and according to them, all the boys are still in Hawaii. The reason I bring that up is because one of the elders from our zone in the MTC who left to go to his mission when we left to come here is home now. I ran into him yesterday. It was kind of sad, but things work out in their own way.
Any ways, love yas lots!
Be happy n all that!!
Love
Sis. of the Durtschi of the Sarah Sort.
This week is pretty neat, even though you just heard from me on Wednesday :)
We were able to take two wonderful ladies around on Thursday. They're deaf and wanted to learn more by the end of it. My poor companion almost fell asleep because we chatted so much. At first I thought they're members, but as we chatted we got to know each other better. they asked some really great questions about the church and what we believed, and some normal questions about temple square and us as missionaries, especially since the next day we were able to take the same ladies around the Beehive house. They asked us there if all of us had to wear skirts (common question...) and we let them know that we want to look professional, so as missionaries we wear nice clothes, etc.
Something that's interesting about temple square is we have a chance to answer a lot of people's questions. Some of them make me think a lot. Even though I know the answers for myself, it forces me to think about it from their perspectives... which means that I have to find a different way to answer the same question with the same answer. I love it. Even if I don't love it at the time I'm having to think on my toes and answer it.
We met a lady today who's coming back to church. We were able to share some uplifting scriptures with her and help her feel welcome. I think those who come back are brave, because it usually means they're admitting they have been wrong and they're willing to make the changes that they need to. Change is scary a lot.
There have been a lot of things that have changed here, namely sisters and so on, but it's taking me a while to adjust to absolutely everything. Thankfully the gospel always stays the same :D
Something I'm also thankful for is the district that I had in the MTC is still going strong. None of us, asside from the one who went home in the MTC, have gone home yet. All the girls are still here, and according to them, all the boys are still in Hawaii. The reason I bring that up is because one of the elders from our zone in the MTC who left to go to his mission when we left to come here is home now. I ran into him yesterday. It was kind of sad, but things work out in their own way.
Any ways, love yas lots!
Be happy n all that!!
Love
Sis. of the Durtschi of the Sarah Sort.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Temple Square, take two
SO, yes, I'm back. And it's weird. but good.... and weird.
We have lovely shiny new computers in the Family Search center, and a shiny new gmail-ish email thing that makes it so it doesn't munch my emails, so I can safely type in the email thing, YAY! And if you didn't understand that sentence... I'm sorry. Thus is my ability to speak currently ;)
any ways. It's weird to type a letter, rather than write it. my fingers are getting ahead of each other and trying to give ya'll a bunch of typoes to play with... but I'm cleaning them up so no worries.
Any way, so as you probably know I got back to Temple sqare the wednesday before general conference. Heavenly father didn't want to give me any time to complain about my feet hurting before I was on them alllll t he time, I think.
So my last day in Washington was kind of crazy, Tuesday we went to zone conference in a different zone because President Showalter wanted me to go to one last zone conference so I could bear my testimony, which was nice. We gained a new companion that day, sister Christianson, and took her over to meet one of the families we were working on re-activating, because we had meant to see them earlier that day, but since zone conference went over (plus the exit interview with pres. Showalter) we didn't get back until an hour or two after we had wanted to go. So we attempted to take pictures. Edith was less than cooperative. At 96 she didn't really want people taking pictures of her, but we accomplished it. :D
We moved that day into a different member's home, because another sister from Temple Square, C.Martinez, took over my area. She also knows some sign language, and will help the Deaf branch out a lot! I'm excited for her. I hope all goes well there.
Wednesday I went to the airport (After repacking my bags so everything could fit.) And waited. For a long time. Sister Bailey(who flew with me to washington) came and joined me and we chattered about outbound and how fast it went and exchanged pictures and stories, but since we sat on different places on the plane, we didn't meet up again until after the flight. During the flight I sat next to a woman who lived in, basically, my area back in washington. It was fun. We talked the entire flight and enjoyed each other's company, and at the end of the flight, I asked if we could keep in contact, we exchanged info (I just gave my email since that's all I really knew... ) and then I asked if she wouldn't mind having missionaries like myself go and visit with her. She agreed. I was so excited.
Thursday we had an outbound testimony meeting at President and sister Holmes' house. It was really great to see all the sisters who came back and how they've grown.
I've noticed that I'm a lot more comfortable with people asking me challenging questions. We've had a lot of those since conference, and I've been able to answer them well, even though I still don't like them.
At the meeting, President asked us to not talk about outbound now that we're here, so that we can focus on the work here. it's kind of weird since it was part of us for months, but I've been able to use what I learned there, here. I'm more straight forward with people, and don't hide behind facts as much as I used to, I give them the facts, because that's what they want, but I also don't shy away from explaining the gospel, especially when they ask questions about it.
Friday we had a lot of miracles. At around 10:30 I got paged for us to go to the Beehive house (so something that's changed here is that our schedules are basically blank except for when we have lunch and dinner, so not all the sisters go at the same time. Especially in Extended zone, where I am. We can go wherever we want, within reason.) Because they were swamped. We stayed until lunch, took a quick lunch, then came back until dinner. I lost count of how many tours we took, but I was VERY thankful that my knees didn't give me any problems the whole day. We saw so many miracles. A deaf woman and her significant other came in and informed us that they were deaf, so I got to take the two of them on a tour, rather than a group of 20. It was nice, they wanted to learn more, so I'm excited for them.
Saturday and Sunday were crazy, but that's how conference normally is. We had a goal of 3,000 referalls from members... and we totally blew that goal out of the water with 4780. It was pretty much amazing. It doesn't feel like it was my last conference as a missionary, but I'd say we did it with a boom :D
Mon and tues, we got to sleep in... which was nice. but weird too. I'm not used to sleeping in any more... Oh and monday I found out that my friend Samantha's getting married on Friday, CRAZY! amazing the things that happen while you're on a mission!
Today we had a wonderful tour, a motorcoach of 40 english students. They all were taking english as a second language, and my companion (Sister Talines from the Philipines) and I had to speak very slowly and clearly so that everyone could understand what on earth we were talking about. Their teacher wanted them to ask questions, so we had a lot of questions. Several times it was, "How do you spell..." because they were taking notes. Other times it was, "Could you repeat..." They were very polite, and enjoyable to have. At the end they all had questions, and we enjoyed answering them, but they had to rush to their next class.
Any ways, love you all looootss and lots and lots!
Be happy n all that!
*hugs!*
Byeees for now! I'll email again on Saturday!
~sis Sarah
We have lovely shiny new computers in the Family Search center, and a shiny new gmail-ish email thing that makes it so it doesn't munch my emails, so I can safely type in the email thing, YAY! And if you didn't understand that sentence... I'm sorry. Thus is my ability to speak currently ;)
any ways. It's weird to type a letter, rather than write it. my fingers are getting ahead of each other and trying to give ya'll a bunch of typoes to play with... but I'm cleaning them up so no worries.
Any way, so as you probably know I got back to Temple sqare the wednesday before general conference. Heavenly father didn't want to give me any time to complain about my feet hurting before I was on them alllll t he time, I think.
So my last day in Washington was kind of crazy, Tuesday we went to zone conference in a different zone because President Showalter wanted me to go to one last zone conference so I could bear my testimony, which was nice. We gained a new companion that day, sister Christianson, and took her over to meet one of the families we were working on re-activating, because we had meant to see them earlier that day, but since zone conference went over (plus the exit interview with pres. Showalter) we didn't get back until an hour or two after we had wanted to go. So we attempted to take pictures. Edith was less than cooperative. At 96 she didn't really want people taking pictures of her, but we accomplished it. :D
We moved that day into a different member's home, because another sister from Temple Square, C.Martinez, took over my area. She also knows some sign language, and will help the Deaf branch out a lot! I'm excited for her. I hope all goes well there.
Wednesday I went to the airport (After repacking my bags so everything could fit.) And waited. For a long time. Sister Bailey(who flew with me to washington) came and joined me and we chattered about outbound and how fast it went and exchanged pictures and stories, but since we sat on different places on the plane, we didn't meet up again until after the flight. During the flight I sat next to a woman who lived in, basically, my area back in washington. It was fun. We talked the entire flight and enjoyed each other's company, and at the end of the flight, I asked if we could keep in contact, we exchanged info (I just gave my email since that's all I really knew... ) and then I asked if she wouldn't mind having missionaries like myself go and visit with her. She agreed. I was so excited.
Thursday we had an outbound testimony meeting at President and sister Holmes' house. It was really great to see all the sisters who came back and how they've grown.
I've noticed that I'm a lot more comfortable with people asking me challenging questions. We've had a lot of those since conference, and I've been able to answer them well, even though I still don't like them.
At the meeting, President asked us to not talk about outbound now that we're here, so that we can focus on the work here. it's kind of weird since it was part of us for months, but I've been able to use what I learned there, here. I'm more straight forward with people, and don't hide behind facts as much as I used to, I give them the facts, because that's what they want, but I also don't shy away from explaining the gospel, especially when they ask questions about it.
Friday we had a lot of miracles. At around 10:30 I got paged for us to go to the Beehive house (so something that's changed here is that our schedules are basically blank except for when we have lunch and dinner, so not all the sisters go at the same time. Especially in Extended zone, where I am. We can go wherever we want, within reason.) Because they were swamped. We stayed until lunch, took a quick lunch, then came back until dinner. I lost count of how many tours we took, but I was VERY thankful that my knees didn't give me any problems the whole day. We saw so many miracles. A deaf woman and her significant other came in and informed us that they were deaf, so I got to take the two of them on a tour, rather than a group of 20. It was nice, they wanted to learn more, so I'm excited for them.
Saturday and Sunday were crazy, but that's how conference normally is. We had a goal of 3,000 referalls from members... and we totally blew that goal out of the water with 4780. It was pretty much amazing. It doesn't feel like it was my last conference as a missionary, but I'd say we did it with a boom :D
Mon and tues, we got to sleep in... which was nice. but weird too. I'm not used to sleeping in any more... Oh and monday I found out that my friend Samantha's getting married on Friday, CRAZY! amazing the things that happen while you're on a mission!
Today we had a wonderful tour, a motorcoach of 40 english students. They all were taking english as a second language, and my companion (Sister Talines from the Philipines) and I had to speak very slowly and clearly so that everyone could understand what on earth we were talking about. Their teacher wanted them to ask questions, so we had a lot of questions. Several times it was, "How do you spell..." because they were taking notes. Other times it was, "Could you repeat..." They were very polite, and enjoyable to have. At the end they all had questions, and we enjoyed answering them, but they had to rush to their next class.
Any ways, love you all looootss and lots and lots!
Be happy n all that!
*hugs!*
Byeees for now! I'll email again on Saturday!
~sis Sarah
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