Transfer to Park City!

Christmas event with Sister Jara, my new companion

I got transferred to Park City! I am with a new companion, Sister Jara. She is going home after this transfer, just like Sister Stone! So sad! But I love Sister Jara (pronounced Hara, roll the R!) She is from Chile and she is honestly so fun. We work really well together. We picked up 4 new investigators and we've only been together since Wednesday! YAY!

Trax with kalei (before she was baptized)

The transfer was sad because I really loved my West Jordan district! I visited the 3 boys and Kalei, the recent convert, before I left the area.. I was so sad!! I wrote notes to the 3 boys and gave them photo collages of our trip to Temple Square. I also gave them the Testaments movie! I think that they were sad to see me go, too. 

Temple square with the boys 

 

Wednesday was the transfer. Sister Jara and I got lost on our way to Park City. We've gotten lost driving so many times since then. haha. She speaks English, but sometimes she mixes up "left" and "right." I love her so much though.

We are currently at the Family Tree Visitor Center. It's P-day so we're not working, but it's pretty cool here. You will have to come visit when I am done with my mission! I still don't know how to do FamilySearch that well, but I like giving tours. The center is really small so there's not much to show, but it's easy to bear my testimony. 

My first day here, we rode the bus and met a man. We talked to him a bit and told him about the BOM and asked him what he thought. He said, "I am thinking...Where can I get this book?!" haha. He came to church with us on Sunday and we gave him a copy of the BOM.

Thursday, one of our investigators said a prayer and said, "Thank you for bringing these cute ladies to me." hahah. 

Friday, we went to the mission office for some Christmas activities. There was a talent show and I got to see the missionaries from my old district in West Jordan. On  Friday night, a member, Hannah, brought in her member friend and a non-member friend. They were all really cool and nice! Hannah asked where she could find a CTR ring because she lost hers. She was so sad! So I gave her mine. The one that you had given me. I'm sorry! I have just been noticing that some of my favorite people are really generous and don't think about their possessions that much, so I am trying to be charitable with my things! I don't care that I don't have it, because I know that I can get another one :) 

I am forgetting all of my French! Can you see if you can find my French phrase book in my books and send it to me? I am so sad! 

I am so excited to Skype on Christmas! We are going to the family who owns a company called Skull Candy. It's a famous snowboarding company, I guess, but I just knew that they made headphones. Tell Shane or Matthew, they'll probably have heard of it. Anyway, I heard that they have a GIANT house. They let the missionaries come over and use all of their computers to Skype on Christmas, which is so so nice of them! I am excited to see you! I will call before and then let you know I will be on Skype.

I have been trying to do family genealogy, but it's so hard! Thankfully there are a bunch of names on my Family Tree on Familysearch. 

I love you! Can't wait to see you and talk to you on Christmas!

Many Miracles!

We didn't get to watch the Christmas broadcast last night..What a bummer!! :( We were teaching a lesson but had the tv on before the lesson. I got to hear Silent Night and that's about it. 

That's really cool that the new missionary knows Shaylee! 

Slippery Rock Young Women Project : Caps for Tots!

Congrats on all of the hats and the scarf. Good job, mama! Christmas seems so soon! It feels like I won't really have a Christmas though, so I'm not too worried about it. haha.

My head and knee are healed! I am doing fine :)

This past week, we experienced many miracles! We had a missed call and a voicemail from one of the Young Womens presidents. I listened to the message the first time by myself and then flipped out and ran to Sister Stone just saying, oh my gosh oh my gosh!  There is a girl that has been going to Young Womens activities and church for a year. The YW were planning on going to do baptisms for the dead and the girl asked what that was. They explained and then she said, "but I've never been baptized." They thought that she was a member this whole time! So we met up with her and taught her a lesson, then we took her to a baptism with us. She wants to be baptized THIS SATURDAY. She is such a sweet girl and has been prepared for this. We have already taught her two lessons, so we just need to teach two more and then have the baptismal interview and she can be baptized! Yay! The young women are so supportive. We have been having the lessons at one of the girl's houses and the YW have asked if they can come sit in. It is so nice to see so much love and support. I know it will really help her to be converted.

On Friday, we went to Temple Square with three of our investigators. They are three teenage boys who are so great; they are 16, 18, and 20. Two of them are brothers and the other is their bestfriend, and they all just pretend that they are brothers. The friend lives with them and even calls their mother "mom." I absolutely LOVE these boys. One of them, the youngest, is a punk! Literally. haha. Anyway, we took them to Temple Square and then did a tour. It was a little crazy at once because there are so many of them, but by the time we went to see the Christus statue, the Spirit was so strong! I stayed by the youngest one pretty much the whole time and he kept saying how happy he felt and that he knew what we were teaching was true. I invited all three of them to be baptized and they all said yes! It was such a wonderful day. After the tour, we walked around Temple Square and looked at all of the Christmas lights. Ahhh, I was SO happy! It was amazing and beautiful! On the way back home, the boys said that we were the most fun missionaries that they've met. haha.

On Saturday, we went to the baptism of two young boys that we've been teaching, they are 9 and 13. They are in the Elders area, but haven't been receptive to the elders, so we were teaching them. There were so many people at the baptism! It was a wonderful success and everyone felt the Spirit really strongly. They are such great boys. The older one volunteered for service and always raised his hand to answer questions in class even before he was baptized. They were both confirmed on Sunday. Their mom and both of them got up to bear their testimonies, too.

Even though we have had a very successful week, I have been struggling a little bit. Being on a mission can be very hard. But I know that I made a promise to Heavenly Father that I would do this, so I promise that I will try my hardest to make Him proud. Both you and Matthew have said that I am too close to see my influence on people's lives. I feel like that really is true. I have a lot of cool experiences that don't lead to baptism, so sometimes I don't understand the significance of them. Our weekly numbers that we report don't reflect the hard work that we are doing, which is what gets me down. We talk to so many people and try so hard, but then if people don't go to church, it looks like we aren't doing anything. Sometimes I feel like I am just the seed planter and never the gardener. I am planting these seeds in people, sharing the gospel with them, giving them a glimpse of the Spirit, but I don't get to see the end result of our labors. I know that's not necessarily what is important, but it can be tough sometimes. But even though it gets hard, I am constantly striving to stay positive and be confident. 

Hey, I finally received Adam's letter to the MTC! I also got the last letter that you and Russ sent to me in the MTC. It is dated September 15! Funny!

Peyton's birthday is coming up, yeah?? I will be sure to send her a card. I mostly just write letters to you and Ellie. I hardly have time on Pdays so Peyton's letter hasn't gotten a response yet, but it will.

I got Sister Seo's address from the mission office... It was written in Korean!! hah! So I just photocopied it and pasted it to the front of an envelope! I hope that she gets it! 

I am glad that people are responding well to my letters. It's funny that people actually read the blog. I wouldn't expect people to be interested, mostly because I feel like aside from this week, I haven't had many interesting experiences.

I will try to look for better bike bottoms after winter, maybe. Right now my pj pants keep my legs warm under my skirt. haha.

I love you so much! Thank you for everything that you do for me! I miss you lots!

  

3 month mark!

You asked how I am doing. I think that I am completely healed from my concussion aside from the giant bruise on my knee. It is healing slowly but surely. Sister Stone and I both picked up colds over the weekend though, so we are doing a lot of sleeping and blowing our noses. Other than that, I am doing well! Thank you so much for your winter package. It has really come in handy!

This past week hasn't been too eventful. We had a special training on Wednesday, Nov. 21, which I think has helped a lot. Right after the training, we went out to work and picked up a couple of new investigators. It was a miracle day.

Thanksgiving was good. It was the mark of my 3 months as a missionary! We went to breakfast with a family from Sister Stone's other area. Then we went to lunch with a family from here, the Ivories. Then we went to a dinner at a member's house with the rest of the missionaries in our district. It was pretty fun.

On Friday, Nov. 23, we came across two women who had just gotten done doing their visiting teaching. They offered us a ride to our dinner appointment and it was very cold so we accepted. The driver asked where we were from and when I told her that I was from Pittsburgh, she asked if that was anywhere near Slippery Rock! I explained that I am in the Pittsburgh Stake but that I am actually from Slippery Rock, and she asked if I know Maryclare! The sister's name was Sister Eldridge and she said that Maryclare is like her adopted daughter. Pretty cool, huh!

On Saturday, Nov. 24, we had dinner with the Klundt family. The mom takes classes at BYU and is an art major. She's really cool and super nice. She showed me some of the books that she has made for a bookmaking class. Ahhh. I was so jealous. I wish we had classes like that at Slippery Rock. Abbey Klundt, her daughter, was also cool. She is planning on going on a mission so we talked a lot about that.

Well, I hope that everything is going well. I love you! Miss you! Have a great week :)

So, don't freak out- a trip to the ER!

Doin' missionary work!

Happy Almost Thanksgiving!

Today we are going shopping!! I really need sweaters and warmer winter clothes! I am excited to shop.

This morning when I was brushing my hair, I thought of when you used to say, "What do Ariel and her hair have in common?" haha <3

I have been buying those fruit Silk drinks when I go grocery shopping. They are so good! and they are supposed to have a lot of protein.

On Monday, November 12, we visited one of the former investigators. She said a quote when I was talking to her and said, "Buddy Wakefield said that." ..Buddy Wakefield is a SLAM poet and I recognized it right away! She and I clicked so much. She even said that she felt like she wasn't supposed to be born in this generation, which is something I have always felt. I am so excited to teach her again. Don't know if anything will come of it, but she's really cool and we have a lot in common :)

So, don't freak out--but if you've looked at the pictures, you can see that I went to the hospital this week. On Tuesday night, November 13, I got in a bike accident! We were riding our bikes to a dinner appointment with the Allens. It was about 6 pm. I don't remember what happened because the doctor said I have amnesia, but Sister Stone was behind me and has told the story of what happened so many times now. So I was going up the curb, (the curbs to get onto driveways here are like 3 ridiculous inches tall), and my bike tire turned at the wrong angle and I just fell off of my bike. I hit my head on the concrete and even though I had a helmet on, I got knocked out. I layed there for a minute, not moving, and then I held my head and said "Ow..Ow..Ow." really quitely. Sis. Stone told me not to get up, so I lay there for a minute and then sat up. I remember being very confused and not understanding what happened. When I finally stood up, Sis. Stone was like, "Ahh! I don't know what to do! What should we do??!" and I just said that we should go to the dinner appointment, because we had a lesson with an investigator during that dinner and I didn't want to miss it. 

Waiting at the doctors

Sister Stone and I at the ER

On Wednesday, we went to the regular doctor and they didn't have the right machines to check my head so they told me to go to the ER. We went to the ER and were there for like 4 hours. I thought about those episodes of House when they go into the machines and something goes wrong. haha. A guy came in and told me he was going to take me to get the CT scan and I asked if I could walk. He said they he would wheel me on the bed and I was like, "That's a bit dramatic!" He said that I needed the entire ER experience. hahah. So the whole way that he is pushing me, Sister Stone is dying laughing and I just keep making comments about how it is so unnecessary to be pushed. haha. It turned out that I have a concussion, but nothing else is wrong with my brain. They told me to take it easy and try not to get another concussion because it can cause brain damage. I have had a continual headache all week and I needed to sleep for like 2 days straight, but I think I am getting better. I am working through the pain. Other damage from the accident: I had a bruise on my eye, a scratch on my cheek, a bruise on my chin, a very very badly bruised knee, a bad headache, and pain in my jaw. 

Know that I am okay! Heavenly Father protected me from too bad of damage. I was wearing a lot of layers because of the cold, so luckily, I didn't get too many scratches! 

Elder Spencer and Elder Bertch brought me cookies and balloons!

I love you so much! Have a happy thanksgiving! I miss all of you <3

Sis Wall's adventures!

Sis Wall and Sis Jones

Utah snow!

  ..            I am keeping up on my Book of Mormon reading. How is it going for you? I love how the last couple of chapters have been like a Shakespeare play. The king and queen and entire town fainting. So funny.

I don't have any ideas for your missionary fireside, but it sounds like fun! Definitely play "Called to Serve" at some point! Maybe have the Primary kids sing, "I hope they call me on a mission." Something like that. I always get emotional when I think about little kids growing up and serving missions! haha.

That's really great that Ruby said I am having success. There have been a lot of baptisms that fall through, which really stinks. I try to not let it discourage me, but sometimes it makes me really sad. Satan is working so hard to prevent people from being happy! He tells them that working towards baptism and repentance and making a change is too hard. He makes them feel like faith should be proven first. He lies! Ah! It makes me so frustrated. I just want to shake people and tell them that this life is so short and their decisions here will make such a difference for them in the life after! I love this gospel and the plan that Heavenly Father has for each of us! It seems easier to give up or not follow the commandments, but Heavenly Father's plan is worth it! He sees our potential so much more than we can ever see it. The hardest times to be a missionary are when we have to drop investigators because they aren't keeping their commitments or because they say that they don't want to be baptized yet.

We were supposed to be planning a wedding and baptism for a couple, but they decided that it is financially impossible. They don't have enough faith right now, and it is really sad. They are postponing their wedding and baptism until after they have their baby. Please pray that they might be able to have the faith to some day make those covenants.

On Nov. 3, we had a baptism for a boy. His brother went and also came to church with him the next day. We are meeting with them tomorrow and hope to start teaching his brother the lessons, too!

On Nov. 10, we had a baptism for an 11-yr-old girl. She is so sweet and funny. Her whole family is really goofy. I sent some pictures. That evening, we attended a baptism for the sister missionaries in another stake. Sister Stone, my companion, gave a talk. It was amazing to see two souls come unto Christ in one day! What an amazing blessing. I am sure that the angels are rejoicing in Heaven.

Missionaries at the SLC Visitor Center

On Thursday, November 8, the missionaries who have been here for 2 transfers were able to go to Salt Lake City, temple square. We got to do a session in the temple, go to the history museum, and eat lunch in the Joseph Smith memorial building. We all took the Trax, which is like a train system. I showed up, so excited to spend the day with Sister Seo, only to find that she went home. It made me so sad. Sister Abarca showed up with another companion and told me that Sister Seo went home to Korea because her shoulders and back were in too much pain. Their area had the car taken away, which probably means that they were walking in the cold and riding bikes. I love Sister Seo and am so sad that I didn't get to say goodbye to her :( The new companion, Sister Thiboult, that went with us to temple square, is from Canada. She is only in SLCS mission until her visa comes and she can go to her mission in Paris, France! I spent the say with Sister Thiboult and Sister Jones, another sister who came out at the same time as me. We had a lot of fun. On the way back from Trax, an elder came up to me and told me to talk to a woman sitting on the bench. I went over and started talking to the woman. It went really well. I asked her, "If I give you this Book of Mormon, will you really read it?" and she said Yes. I gave her the BOM and the phone number for Sister Stone and I and asked her to call us after she prayed to know that the book is true. She said that she would. I don't know if she will actually call or not, but it was pretty exciting to talk to her and have her accept the book. It was also pretty fun to be the only missionary to give away a Book of Mormon at the Trax!

Well, that's all for now. I love you very much. Miss you. Hope all is well!

 

 

The wedding planner!

Oh my goodness there are so many things to write about and I have about 4 seconds!! I am in West Jordan now with a new companion, Sister Stone. She is soo great and really goofy and wild and I love her.

Monday, Tuesday, and part of Wednesday I was with Sister Piton in her area. President Miller called and said that her companion was leaving and so she needed a sister to be with her. It was actually REALLY amazing. We went to Temple Square on Monday night with her investigator!! I am so lucky.

Tuesday, the entire district went to lunch at the Kummer's! She made grilled cheese for all 8 of us. It was so cute.

Right afterwards, I got my transfer call! Sister Piton and I jumped for joy.

I went back to the Lovell's and packed my things and said goodbye.

Wednesday night, our entire mission got to go through a temple session at the Jordan River temple. We also heard Elder Hinckley speak.

Sister Stone and I are having lots of adventures!! We do not have a vehicle, so we were walking for a few days but then we decided to go on bikes.. It has been wild!! We keep having unfortunate tire situations.. haha. It is a lot of fun though. Sister Stone is so bubbly and goofy. I love her.

We are working with 2 investigators. They were scheduled to get married and baptized later in the month but when I was in a lesson with them, they decided to move the date to this Thursday!! And they decided to do both on the same day!! A marriage and double baptism!! YAY! They are a really great couple and I am so excited. Sister Stone and I get to plan the wedding! Ahh!

I have so much to write about but absolutely no time! And I have no stamps to send you a letter! Ahh! I love love love you and hope you know that all is well! Mwah!

Blessings from Heaven!

Today, tomorrow, and Wednesday morning, I am in a new companionship! Transfers are on Wednesday and so things are kind of crazy right now. Sister Piton's companion is going to Park City so she needed a companion for a few days... That's me! So I am in another area until we go to the Temple on Wednesday for Halloween. Crazy! Sis. Piton is really great though and I think that we will get along well.. And surprise-- I get to go to temple square again!! They were planning on taking their investigator tonight, so I get to go! So exciting. I think that this is just temporary and I will be back in my trio on Wednesday.
Last Monday, Pday, Sister Abarca, Sister Seo and I went to the chiropractor because they were both having some back/shoulder pains. He is a member and offered to do it for free. I was just sitting and writing letters but the doctor asked if I needed aligned or anything. I said no, that I wasn't having any pain and he suggested that he align me so that it could prevent pain.. Reluctantly, I laid on the table and he did weird things to my back. Well all week long, I've been in pain! No more chiropractor for me!
Last Pday we went as a zone to a pumpkin patch and corn maze. Members own it and said that we could have any pumpkins that we wanted! We each took one- Sister Abarca got a big one to carve, Sister Seo and I got little baby ones because we thought that they were cute. I sent some pictures. It was a lot of fun. Sister Abarca did most of the carving and ended up throwing the pumpkin away because we didn't want to keep it in the car. Sister Seo and I carved a tiny face into our little pumpkin and took it home. It's on the kitchen window sill :) We also took a baby pumpkin home and left it outside. So festive!
On Tuesday morning, the district leader brought blueberry pancakes to our district meeting. We didn't have plates or utensils so we ate them with our hands. I put a bunch of nutella on mine.. Mmm! There was also an announcement that we can teach lessons to members now. We are encouraged to practice our teaching with them, that way we can build trust with the members and hopefully they will want to be better missionaries themselves!
We also went to the Oquirrh Mountain temple on Tuesday. It was great! I remembered going there with you and Matt when you all were here. We went with our district. We drove two other sisters to the temple with us and dropped them off in their area when we were done. As we were leaving their home, we noticed an old woman raking leaves in her yard with her grandson. We stopped and were helping them rake and shovel the leaves into garbage cans. I was talking with the little boy as we were raking and I was asking him questions like, "So are you in Primary?" He didn't know about primary but the old woman had said she was a member. I kept talking to him, asking if he ever went to church with his grandmother. He seemed confused but kept answering my questions. Finally, I found out that he was the old woman's neighbor, not her grandson! I had been asking him questions about his grandmother and if she lived with them and about their relationship for like twenty minutes! He was probably so confused!! haha!
On Tuesday evening, we went to have one of our first lessons with members. We went to Sister Abel's, Relief Society president. After the lesson, I was talking about how heavy my bag was because I have to carry around my giant set of scriptures. She went and got a quad of a little set of scriptures. They are so tiny and light!! I thought she was going to let me borrow them-- but she told me to keep them!! I started crying!! I am so so grateful!
It has been so so fun working with Sister Seo in our companionship!! English is her second language and so sometimes things get lost in translation. Here are some things that Sister Seo is learning:: We taught her the Potty Dance song from the diaper commercials ("Do the..CLAP CLAP..Potty Dance!"), she thought that I said, "Party Dance" at first, but now she loves it...We taught her what a scarecrow is, but she pronounces it "Scare Crock"... I love her to death.
On Wednesday, we found two new investigators! One man is married to a member and he said that this is the perfect time in his life for the missionary discussions! He said that he wasn't supposed to be home the night that we stopped by, but that it was meant to be. The other man works with a member and was helping unload the truck. Sister Abarca talked to him in Spanish and we found out that he has taken the missionary discussions before and is willing to take them again. So exciting!
Also on Wednesday, we went to Sister Prows' house just to say hi. We noticed tape on her walls and asked if we could help her with service and paint her walls. Surprisingly enough, she said yes!! Members never say yes!! She left to buy paint brushes and we left to put on Pday clothes. It was so fun!
On Friday evening, we baked a cake for Sis. Abel (the one who helped us decorate her neighbor's door and also gave me the scriptures). Her birthday was Oct. 27, the next day, so we went over to her condo and decorated her door and her garage like crazy! We put tons of balloons and streamers. And the neighbor came to help us!! He lives right next door to her so he saw us and came over to hang things up high! He said that doing things like that did more for people than we realize :) Also, he went to church on Sunday! He has been reading his scriptures and praying, too. He is progressing really well!
On Friday we went to a Trunk or Treat and got tons of candy! We didn't even have to dress up!
So since Sister Seo has been living with us, I have been sleeping on a foam thing on the floor. I sleep like a rock, so it hasn't been a problem at all. Well Sis. Abarca let everyone know that I was sleeping on the floor and Sis. Abel gave us a blowup air mattress. That made things better, but I slept completely fine either way.. But Sis. Abarca kept telling people that I didn't have a bed and someone volunteered to give me one! So on Saturday, a woman named Brittany and her brother brought me a NEW bed! She bought it for me! I feel so so blessed.
Oh my goodness. The CRAZIEST thing happened on Saturday night! We plan every single night for the next day, so Sister Byrd was on the schedule for Saturday night. When we stopped by, she said that she was sick and she looked really pale so we didn't plan on going inside. We just talked to her for a minute and as I was talking to her, she said, "What?" really confused and turned around to talk to her kids. She has 4 little boys and is a single mother, so I figured she was distracted. She turned back to me and I repeated what I said and then I noticed something was really wrong. She stumpled and completely passed out and fell face first into the wall. She hit her forehead really hard. Her little boys, bless their hearts, were SCREAMING their heads off. Sister Abarca went inside to help Sis. Byrd and I called 911. The fire department came and Sis. Byrd was taken to the hospital! She texted us the next day and said that she was doing fine, but we haven't found out what is wrong with her yet. Hopefully we can stop by soon and find out.

I love you so much and miss you! Mwah! <3
Love, Sister Wall

2 Month Mark!

TODAY IS MY 2 MONTH MARK!
We are allowed to take investigators to SLC temple square tour if they are on date to be baptized! That's why I've gotten to go twice now!! Plus in the MTC I got to go twice for visitor's center training.
Did you get the pictures of Sis Abarca & I eating donuts on a string?? We went to the HP4 chili cookoff and Halloween party on Saturday. It was pretty fun. There were a lot of little kids in costumes. Someone brought my companion and I salads from Olive Garden because they knew I don't eat meat! The members are SO nice here! Right before the chili cookoff we went to temple square with the Teeples. One of the sisters giving the tour was Sis Osorio (I think that's how you spell it)--a sister that I worked with at EFY! She was another counselor there! I also saw in passing a counselor named Fabiola. It was wild :) 

Tri-companionship with popcorn balls!! Sister Abarca, Sister Seo, and Sister Wall

Sister Seo was with us for 3 days this week because her companion went to Park City to train the sisters there. She came and slept over and worked with us for about 2 days. I don't know if you remember me telling you about her, but she is the Korean sister that came out of the MTC at the same time with me. I love her to death. Some really exciting news-- SISTER SEO IS IN OUR COMPANIONSHIP NOW! She came over at 9:30 last night. She and her companion had an emergency transfer and now she is in our companionship & living with us! We had interviews with President Miller on Friday and he told Sister Seo that she would probably be in a companionship with Sister Abarca and I for another transfer.. which means that I am staying in Riverton! I am pretty happy about that and I am so so glad that Sister Seo will be with us.
Sister Abarca was told by the mission president that she will be leaving before Christmas. She was originally going to extend her mission for January but now she will be leaving on time. It's likely that I will be her last companion! Crazy!
We gave another talk on Sunday but for a different ward--Harvest Park 1. Sister Lovell, our landlady/mom, is in that ward and sat in the very front row. I gave a similar talk to last weeks but was lead by the spirit. I talked about Adam and what a miracle it was that he remembers the Book of Mormon stories. I am so glad that he has the desire to be with his family forever. Has he still been going to church? I sent him the Family Proclamation in the mail. 

We had a Young Woman come and work with us on Wednesday. Her name is Cierra and she is 17 and wants to go on a mission so she came tracting with us!! We visited the houses of a lot of less-active members in a neighborhood. It went really well and she said she loved it and wants to come with us again!
We get to go to the temple tomorrow!! Oquirrh temple. (Spellling?) There is this one spot when we are driving that you can see all 3 of the temples.. I LOVE IT SO MUCH! I want to live near a temple some day and go inside at least once a week. It is such a blessing to see temples so often.

I love love love you! Thank you for everything. You are great. Mwah! Miss you <3

Last week we went to the aquarium for p-day. Our whole zone of elders and sisters went. It was so fun!

Our district.. Jumping! at the aquarium

Our district at the Aquarium

Sister Seo and I at the aquarium

Donut eating contest! Harvest Park Stake

Dear Sister Karl - We are loving Sister Wall and her service in our stake. This is her and Sister Abarca at our ward fall festival in our doughnut eating contest. She has such a sweet testimony and is very faithfully serving. Thanks for sharing her with us.

Brian Curtis, Harvest Park Stake

Salt Lake City Rocks!

The new missionaries and their trainers had a meeting at the mission office on Wednesday. We split up into trainees and trainers. I got to be with Sister Zeiner, my MTC companion, and Sister Seo, another missionary that I met on the way from the MTC to the field. She is the Korean sister that is in some of my pictures. I love love love her! I really loved spending time with them and seeing what we could do to boost our training.  

Salt Lake Temple

Wednesday evening, we went on a TEMPLE SQUARE TOUR with our investigator! We also went with his girlfriend, and her mother! It was soooo successful! We met up with 2 sisters there who walked with us and described different things. We looked at the BOM paintings and confirmed his baptismal date for October 20 (THIS WEEKEND!!!). We also looked at the model of the SLC temple and talked about the eternal ordinances that are performed inside. He loved it. I know that he felt the Spirit during the whole time that we were there! Then we left the temple square sisters and walked around the SLC temple. Ahhh! It was beautiful. I LOVE the temple. If I don't get married in the Paris temple, I want it to be SLC for sure! ;)

Sister Abarca and I hugging the SLC temple!

We are planning on taking another tour of temple square this Saturday with our other investigator and her family. I am so excited!! They went to church on Sunday and have been praying, which is major progress. The husband is preparing himself to baptize his wife and their daughter. It's wonderful.
Thursday was an AMAZING day! There was a little yorkie dog barking at us as we were tracting the condos. I was like, "It's a Holy Ghost dog! He will tell us where to go!" My companion was like ...Ahhh.. He barked and ran past a door and around the corner, out of sight. I said, "I think he wants us to go here..." So we went and knocked on the door and met a woman, who scheduled a return appointment appointment with us!! My companion said, "I can't believe that worked!" haha! As we left her door, we saw a pregnant woman carrying garbage and asked if we could help her carry her garbage cans in. She said no thank you, but we went over and helped her anyway ;) As we walked with her, we told her who we are and she let us stay and talk to her about the church!! She wants to continue to meet with us! Ahh, I love her!
On Sunday, my companion and I gave talks in the Harvest Park 2nd ward. 2 young women spoke before us about the new announcement for missionaries and I loved it! I was nervous to speak but my talk was about how exciting the gospel is and how wonderful it feels to share what we know, and I realized, Wow! I get to share my testimony with a giant congregation--I should be EXCITED, not scared!! So I got up and was really positive and talked about the different aspects of the Doctrine of Christ and how I love to share the things that make me happy.  After we finished sacrament, so many people told me how great my talk was :) A young man came up and was like, "I am SO glad to see that someone else is excited about the gospel-- I thought I was the only one!" I said, "Never lose that!!" He told us that he is planning on serving a mission and I told him to take that excitement with him! A lot of the young women came to us and told us how they loved our talks and were excited to serve missions! They invited us to class and to YW with them! It was really wonderful.
On Friday, we went to Sister Abel's house, the RS president, for dinner. We ate and watched Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration... I LOVE THAT MOVIE. We also baked a cake for her neighbor who I think I told you about. It was his birthday on Saturday and he was turning 28 (MY FAVORITE NUMBER!) We went and attacked his porch with tons of birthday decorations. It was raining but we had Sis. Abel stand and watch for his car. I had to pee really bad the whole time and was laughing so hard because Sis. Abel kept saying, "ARE YOU GUYS DONE YET? I'M GONNA GET PNEUMONIA!" hhaha. We left the cake and ran.
I love it here. Everything is going really well. 

We went to Subway for lunch and someone paid for our food! Free Subway and a peach milkshake! Mmm!

 

Conference and a new pink bike!

So many things to write about!

Did you all watch General Conference? SO GOOD! Missionaries who have been out for like 6 months can go to one session of the conference, so my companion had a ticket. But missionaries who have an investigator on date to be baptized can also go to conference with their investigator. So I got to go too! Saturday, 10 am session! We also got enough tickets for a couple of other people. Sister Abarca sat in the missionary section, but I sat with all of the people we got tickets for. We were in the front row of the balcony, very center. I sat with: a new convert, and the man who baptized him. Sister Kummer, a member, and a progressing investigator on date for October 20. And a less active member. It was really really cool to sit with all of my new friends and people who are at different stages of conversion. Sighh.

We watched the Saturday afternoon session with the Madsens and then went to the Kummer's for the 2 sessions on Sunday. We taught a lesson after each session. It was really really good. Oh! At the Kummer's, they made amaaazing oatmeal pancakes with homemade syrup. They served orange juice and milk, so I got a giant glass of milk. The pancakes were super sweet so I took a large drink of milk and it was sour and stung my throat and it was completely awful. I said out loud, "...What kind of milk is this?" They looked at the gallon on the counter and were like, "That's buttermilk! You drank that?!" It was really funny and also terrifying.

Our investigater is a GOLDEN investigator. He is so open to learning and he is really sweet. We are going on a tour of temple square with him on Wednesday! Yes! I committed him to baptism on the first lesson, he accepted. He went to the LIVE general conference and asked what the Spirit feels like. I told him and he said that is what he felt! He continued to watch conference the rest of the weekend and now we are going to temple square. He is awesome awesome awesome. Oh, also. He asked his girlfriend's mom, what he had to do to marry he rdaughter in the temple. He asked if he needs to serve a mission, which he can't because he has a little kid. But just that thought. Ahh. He's great.

So we found out that everyone in the mission needs a bike, even if they have a car. We asked a couple of people at church to look if they had extra bikes I could borrow. Elder Anderson and Elder Erikson got me TWO bikes, but they needed fixing up, they said. So I was counting on one of those bikes, when we got home from the Sat. morning conference session. We were heading to the basement and on the side of the house there was a brand new pink bicycle with a card on it! The signature just said, "SR," which is kind of anonymous! We think it is from Sister Rouge in one of the wards, but we're not sure. So so generous! The people here are very giving. We went to Chili's for lunch the other afternoon and as we asked for our check, the waiter told us that two women from another table paid for us! I can't get used to this.

Guess what? We get to go to the Jordan River for Halloween! We get to go through a session! I am so happy! We also get to attend a fireside talk with President Hinkley's son! So cool.

My companion keeps calling me "Molly Mormon," which I thought might bother me, but I kind of don't mind. I want to be as close to the iron rod as I can!

We met a sister the other day when she invited us to dinner. We are kindred spirits! Her name is Sister Sneiter! She is a drama teacher and was an English and Creative Writing teacher. She makes cards and sews on pieces of fabric. I loved her house and her decorations and her books. She is just so great!

We only receive letters and get to send letters on Mondays, our P-day. We wait all week long and get them all at once on Monday. It was pretty cool last week though, because I got 11 letters and an envelope from the president, too! It was worth the wait :)

That's amazing about Alesha Olsen! Find out which Ward she is in! I cover the Harvest Park stake. You can tell her that!

Ahhh! I love Molly! I have been thinking about Slam club a lot lately! Wahh! I don't miss TV or internet or music from home--all I miss is WORDS! I miss watching Slam, writing, reading, going to Poetry.. Ughh. Trying to push it to the back of my brain, but I just love words.

Um um um. That's all for now! I love you and you are so great!

Ps. How do you feel about President Monson's announcement about missionary ages? So cool that Shane can go when he graduates! I hope that he does!

An awesome week in Utah!

Sister Abarca rollerskating in a skirt on our first P-day! (sept 24)

Sister Lovell, our landlord, likes to give us organic remedies to our sickness. This is Sister Abarca and I right before we chugged glasses of barley water (YUCK!) We later learned that we were only supposed to take a sip every few hours.

 Thanks for the emails and letters. Thank you for the stamps! I will take em any time! haha. Thank you. They were much needed.

Also about the clothes, could you send tights? I didn't bring any and my legs are always cold!

My missionary bag doesn't hold all of my stuff but my companion lets me use one of her extra purses. My scriptures are just huge! haha.

My new black shoes are getting worn down from walking a lot already!! I keep switching between my 2 pairs of black shoes so they will probably get worn out at the same time.

We went to 6 hours of church yesturday! I bore my testimony in 2 sacrament meetings.

I have been eating so much out here! I literally gained 10 pounds in a month! haha. It's a good thing though. And I don't think you can tell.. haha. More than I've weighed in my life! We get dinners with members every night and they always have something for me, like they just have cheese lasagna for everyone or whatever. It's so nice! And people always send us home with desserts! They are soo so generous. We get cookies and leftovers a lot. I have been eating a lot of almonds and nuts and carrots and fruits so I hope I'm still healthy! Oh! And my companion and I made fried zucchini the other night! haha. And one house that we went to, they had 12 cartons of icecream to choose from! Crazy! I'll send a pic!

Did you watch the RS broadcast? It was so good! We got together all of the sisters in the zone to watch it. I saw my MTC companion!! I almost cried because I was so happy! I'll send some pics.

Yesterday was so so good! We had 2 different lessons with nonmembers. One woman grew up in a polygamist family but is married (just to one man!) now. He grew up as a member of the LDS church but has been inactive for a long time. We talked about the Word of Wisdom and I committed her to baptism on October 26!! Her husband said that he is willing to work to be worthy so that he can baptize his wife and his daughter on that date. Their daughter is 9 and wasn't there, but that would be 2 baptisms right there! So their whole family will be at the next lesson. It was really cool. I felt the Holy Ghost and I think that they did, too, and that they really have a desire to have that feeling in their home.

We also had a lesson with a guy, whose girlfriend is a member. they're in their 20s. We taught Plan of Salvation and I committed him to baptism, too!! He accepted! So wonderful! He is so ready. He was like YES! and he is going to General Conference with his girlfriends mom. So exciting. He also said he'd go on a tour of Salt Lake Temple Square with us! I am really happy.

Sister Abarca and I with the Christansen kids right before their baptism! (Sept. 29) The 5 of us sang "" before their confirmation.

We had 3 baptisms on Sunday for people that my companion and her last companion had started teaching. The Christiansens. 3 of the children. It was really cool; Sister Abarca (my companion) and I, got to stand on the side of the baptismal font as they were getting baptized!! The one little girl got baptized in Spanish because her uncle served his mission in a Spanish-speaking country. She is totally caucasian though. haha. It was still cool.

Riverton, Utah!

September 24, 2012
I didn't bring the connecter for my camera, so I can't send pictures today, but I will send some in the mail and send some digital copies next week. Sorry I haven't written-- I didn't get a P-day last week!! I have P-day every Monday and get this.. I can only RECEIVE AND SEND mail on Mondays!! Wild. I suppose it is meant to help me focus, but it distracts me sometimes! I want to know what is going on back home, especially with Ellie!! How is that going?

I have been on my mission for ONE MONTH and 2 days total! Weird, huh?

As you can tell, I am in the mission field! I left the MTC last Wednesday morning at 6 am. My MTC companion, Sister Zeiner, went to the Park City Visitor Center. They couldn't send us both there, so I am in Riverton, Utah. My new companion, Sister Abarca, guesses that we will only be together for 6 weeks and then they will send me to the Visitors Center. So right now, I am full proselyting. Let me tell you about my new companion!!! I LOVE SISTER ABARCA! She is my training sister and she is absolutely wonderful wonderful wonderful. I am convinced that I have the best trainer in the mission field. I am very grateful to have such a great example of Christ as my companion! She is seriously so bold and loving in her teaching. She talks to EVERYBODY. The first day that I was here, we were on our way to visit a member and a man & his wife were outside and she just went right up to him and started chatting with him about the gospel. They told us that they were Catholic and not interested but she was just like, We are here to tell you about the true and living gospel of Christ! She makes sure that everybody has the opportunity to learn about the Church. It is so great. I have so much to learn from her!

We are living in the basement of the Lovells. It is basically an apartment; we have a kitchen and bathroom and our own private living space.

My first few days here, we were supposed to be on bikes but since I didn't have one, we were walking. We would get rides from members so we could travel to different neighborhoods. But then day 2 that I was here, we got a car!! Hardly any of the missionaries here have cars, so it's really cool. I feel so blessed.

We have been reading the BOM, too! Tomorrow we will start reading 1 Nephi, Chapter 12. We are right on track.

So even though I have an hour to email, half of the time is spent emailing the president and I don't get that much time to write you! Oh no! But I will definitely write the rest in a letter. One cool experience...
On Friday, Sister Abarca and I visited a very less-active member. He was outside working on his porch when we walked by. We said hi and talked to him a little bit and then he told us why he hasn't been coming to church. This encounter has been on my mind every day since. He was very upset about the evilness of the world. He told us that he had been on a mission when he was younger and saw the double-lives that the missionaries lead. He talked about how he thought God made a mistake when he made humans because there are so many flaws in the world. Doctrine and Covenants 45:26 screamed in my head. I testified that men's hearts will fail them. I felt the Spirit so strongly and felt true charity for this man. I understand that he is scared and that the world is not perfect, but I explained to him that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ ARE PERFECT. The Godhead is absolutely perfect. I have been praying for this man, because I truly want him to understand that all that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement.

Pres and Sis Miller

President Miller is great. I haven't gotten to talk to him much except for an interview on my first day, but he let me know that he could be like my father while I was here on the mission. It was really comforting and great.

Sheri Dew

Oh! In the MTC, I got to hug Sheri Dew! She spoke at a Relief Society meeting and was completely brilliant. Afterwards, people could meet her and I got to hug her and tell her that she is a great example and she said to me, "No--YOU are a great example!" haha. Love her.   

I attended a baptism already! I wasn't technically the one who taught him, but Sister Abarca and her last companion taught him and so his baptism was still for our area. His name is Cirilo and his baptism was on Saturday. It was cool. We have another baptism next weekend for 3 children, the Christiansens. They are so sweet and I am really excited for them. They were also taught by Sister Abarca and her last companion.

We didn't go to "church" on Sunday, but we got to go to the chapel and watch the new Temple Dedication. It was amazing. We sang The Spirit of God at the end and I felt the Spirit a lot. I've never been to a temple dedication before and I really enjoyed it.

I love you so much and I miss you! I am having a wonderful time out here and I love every single second of my mission. MWAH!

Love, Sister Wall

MTC Final 2 Weeks

Sept 10

We had some really good lessons with "investigators" this week. A couple of them were our last lessons with those individuals, so it was pretty sad. At TRC, we had a real non-member. You're not supposed to know if they're church members acting or if they are real, but my companion and I both left and were like, MARY WAS A REAL NON-MEMBER. It wasn't just one thing that let us know, we could both just really feel it. She said that her neighbors had told her to come and speak with the missionaries at the MTC and so she had been before. We talked to her about so so many things.. basically everything! Joseph Smith, Restoration, Plan of Salvation, Baptism, Book of Mormon. She was so interested and asked a lot of questions and everything tied together perfectly. It went really really well. She had a Book of Mormon at home from her neighbors and said she was interested in reading it and I gave her a Mormon.org card with mine and my companion's names. It was such a good experience.

Sept 14
So my companion and I get a second P-day this week because we will not get one next week! I will just have to write you letters and you will have to type them out into a blog entry, I suppose.
So this will be hard to explain, but Sister Zeiner and I are for sure working at the Family History Center in Park City, Utah. We went to temple square with our new teacher, Sister Evans, the other day.

Visitor Center teacher, Sister Evans, Sister Zeiner, and I at Temple Square

She is completely perfect in every single way. We had a lot of fun and went on a tour with the sisters there. We will be going back on Saturday and doing companion splits. I will give a tour with an experienced sister there. Some of the things that we will be doing on our missions are: Proselyting, online chat (we practiced it on Mormon.org, it's SOOO weird to be online and chatting), referral center, and family history work. There are so many different areas that it has been overwhelming, but today I am feeling fine about it. We have talked a lot about the Spirit of Elijah and how we will be getting assistance from those who are on the other side of the veil. I think that's what I am most excited for. I LOVE to feel the Spirit; it is my favorite thing in the whole entire world. I cannot wait to form relationships and receive help from divine beings.

Week 2

September 3, 2012
So last Tuesday, my companion, Sister Zeiner, wanted to go to practice for the MTC choir and we ended up singing at the Devotional. We sang "Jesus Once of Humble Birth" and it was a really good experience. I didn't want to be that bummer companion, so even though I can't sing, I went anyway. But then I was punished! Because right after we sang, I started to lose my voice. And on Wednesday morning I woke up with a cold! I've been a raspy mess all week. It is just a cold, though, nothing too serious. I've taken Tylenol cold and had a million cough drops. The other night, my teacher, Brother Bunton, and two of the elders in our district, Elder Sommer and Elder Beech, gave me a priesthood blessing. I haven't completely healed but I am feeling better mentally, I think.

Elders Beech and Sommer with Sister Zeiner and I

 The new sisters arrived on Wednesday. Since I'm the Coordinating sister, I went to their orientation and a few of their district's other meetings to explain the rules and procedures of the MTC. I also visit the sisters in their residence hall each night and it sort of feels like I am an EFY counselor again! The first Sunday I had a bunch of meetings so I was nervous about the calling, but there are less meetings now and so I love it! It's nice to get to know them and be like a little mama bear and make sure that they are okay! 

District Photo with Bro. Lester

We had some really good meetings with "investigators" this week! Sister Zeiner and I have 5 different investigators right now that we prepare lessons for. Brother Lester isn't our teacher anymore, or else we might have 6 (His investigator was named David). The investigators we have right now are: Carson (our district teacher Brother Bunton), Katie (our district teacher Sister Bostwick), Sandy (less-active), Hely Meza (Progressing Investigator at TRC), Angie Perkins (Referral at TRC). I was having a super hard time with our investigator, Katie, this past week. She had a lot of experience with the church because of her member friend and had gone to all kind of church activities like girls camp and EFY. Sister Zeiner and I thought that it would be a fairly easy lesson, but our first time meeting her went terribly. She opened the door with, "Oh. I didn't know you would be sister missionaries." Immediately we thought that she hated us. She talked about a lot of politcal and random stuff that she didn't agree with the church about: Prop 8, men having more authority in the church than women, one church containing all of the truth, etc. We went into the meeting hoping to answer all of her questions but it was the complete wrong approach. Afterwards, my companion and I vented to each other and then felt completely terrible. Sister Zeiner and I are so similar. We feel the same about a lot of things and it makes complete sense that we are companions. The next time we went to teach Katie, I broke down and started crying like a half hour before hand. I was sick and also feeling inadequate. These are the thoughts that were running through my mind: 'What if I can't teach her? I can't teach her. I don't know how to talk to her. She hates us. If I can't teach her, the Lord will send someone else to teach her. If the Lord will send someone else to teach her then why am I here?' Ugh. It was completely terrible. My companion talked to me for a while and then we went into the lesson and explained the Book of Mormon and how it talks about Jesus Christ in the Americas and Katie was super responsive. She was really excited about that information because no one ever explained the book to her before; they just told her to read it and then kept asking her to be baptized. She said the closing prayer that night. Our third visit went really well too. She had been reading the Book of Mormon and felt good about it. She was willing to pray and sincerely ask if the Book was true. She felt the Spirit. She talked a lot and we got to know her thoughts and concerns. I felt a prompting and asked her if she got an answer to her prayer that the church was true, if she would be willing to be baptized. She said that she will be baptized if she gets an answer that the Church is true. We had a lot of other good meetings with investigators, too. I only have five minutes left of email though, and I don't know if I can tell you about them all!

In other news, I bore my testimony at our sacrament meeting with the zone. I bore my testimony of the Atonement and referenced the second verse of "I Stand All Amazed" where the lyrics say, "I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine, to rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine." I am so thankful that Christ left his perfect kingdom so that he could live and die for me. I am weak and inadequate and rebellious, but he is willing to justify my life and my actions. I love Him so much and cannot appreciate his sacrifice enough.

Also, I have memorized Joseph Smith- History 1:16-17, the First Vision and I recited it in my practice lesson the other day! 

Waiting to leave for our day at Temple Square

We are doing visitor's center training at Temple Square and I think we are going to Park City sometime in our missions but we don't know yet

I am still sick today, so feel free to send me cough drops or Tylenol or popsicles! Pk Pk!
I love you! Hopefully you get all of my letters soon! Can't wait to receive your mail!

Love and miss you!

Bye!

Love, Sister Wall!