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!