Happy News Years Eve - My wonderful week of Christmas!

Sis Wall and Sis Jara

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE!!

Awhh, I love all of the pictures that you sent me. Thank you. That seems like a really fun time going sledding. We want to go as a zone next week. I am nervous though because I have NO warm clothes! Wahh! In the picture of them taking down the birdhouses, the boots that the girl is wearing are the kind that I want! My feet have been so freezing! Sister Jara gave me one of her coats. It is purple and bright and warm, but it is wool! I have been wearing it though, despite the itchyness. 

I am so sad that I will miss your chinese New Year's Eve food! We might go to a family's house tomorrow and eat Japanese food, though, so maybe it will be kind of the same. haha.

I am glad that you are joining the ARC again. You seem like you always enjoy it. I feel like my face is getting fatter, but the rest of my body is staying the same! haha. What can I do about this?

Today is the last day of 2012 and then I get to start my "One Line a Day Journal" over again.. I am actually really excited about this!! I will make sure to remind you of fun things that we did on the same day last year. haha. 

I know the morning was pretty hectic, but I am so glad that I got to talk with you on Christmas evening! I probably already told you some of the things, but I will just recount my week to you!

Sunday, Sister Jara and I went to the Park City ward for church. They had 11 instruments total, including 2 harps, which were my favorite!! By the way, can I have a harp when I get home? They are only about 8,000 dollars. So.. yes? ...It was a really good sacrament though. Elizabeth Smart played a couple of songs on the harp. 

On Monday, Christmas Eve, we could go anywhere in the mission that we wanted. The Spanish speaking sisters, Sister Jara, and I went down to the valley to visit some families that we know. I got to see the boys that I taught, which was awesome! The oldest moved to California, but the brothers were still living there and taking the discussions with the elders, which made me so excited. In the evening, we went to a mission conference, where we saw Elder Oaks and his wife speak. I had the opportunity to say the closing prayer in front of the entire mission and an apostle! 

Tuesday, as you know, was Christmas! We had a meeting at the Family Tree in the morning. A family from the ward came and gave us stockings with all kinds of presents... It was so sweet! Then the missionaries in our zone went to the Alden family home (they own Skull candy) and their house was a castle! I am sending a few pictures so you can see. They lived IN the mountains and we could literally see people skiing in their backyard. They were a really really nice family!! We had a buffet-style dinner with chef-prepared food! Brother Alden wore onesie pajamas, and I think that was my favorite part about the entire morning. We worked at the Family Tree in the middle of the day and then in the evening, we had dinner with the Portwood family, (you met Sister Portwood on Skype). My favorite part of the day was talking with you and the rest of the family!! I loved seeing and talking to all of you! I am sad that I didn't get to talk to Michael but please let him know that I love him!

Wednesday, we had a really wonderful experience. We visited a home where we expected there to be 4 unbaptized children. (We found their names on a list). When we got there, there were 2 boys about 10-years-old and their mom. We talked to them a little bit and finally I told them the reason we were there. The mom seemed kind of surprised and said that all of her 4 boys were baptized. As we talked a bit more, I figured that we would just share a scripture and leave. I kept getting the feeling that I needed to share a scripture about the Atonement, but kind of ignored it because it didn't seem relevant to the conversation. Then the woman told us about how she was a convert and although she is very active in the church, she has never had a testimony of the Atonement. She said that she understood it, but didn't think it could be applied to her. I felt the Spirit so strongly because when she said that, I knew that we were there for a reason. I read her the story, "The Room," which talks about how Jesus Christ signs his name for the mistakes that we've made. When I finished reading, I looked up and she was crying. We briefly shared our testimonies of the Atonement, but I know that the Holy Ghost can teach more effectively than I can, so we said a closing prayer and got ready to leave. As we were leaving, the woman said, "If you think that your efforts in the snow were wasted...Trust me, they were not." It is one of my favorite moments of my mission so far!!

On Friday, we worked at the Family Tree and I had some great experiences. I am really starting to love it here. The people come in and see us, rather than us having to go out and find them! We are so lucky. I gave out 2 copies of the Book of Mormon that night and wrote a little note to each of the women. Also, Jana (pronounced Hannah), (the member that I gave my CTR ring to), came in to talk to us for a bit. While we were talking, she was saying the nicest things to me!!! She was saying that I am different from every other missionary that she's met before; that I am very natural and easy to talk to; and that I am very good at "convincing." haha. I felt so happy and it was nice to hear all of those compliments! 

Sis Jara, Casey and Sis Wall

On Saturday, Casey was baptized!!!!! I was excited for it the entire day. We ate dinner with him and Courtney, (his friend)'s family beforehand. When we showed up for the baptismal service, Casey was smiling SO much. And when he was baptized, everyone was kind of laughing because he was like a giddy child (he is 22). He came up from the water, grinning, and gave everyone the thumbs up. Then he raised his arms in the air like Rocky. haha. It was the most excited I've ever seen anyone for a baptism! On Sunday, he received the Holy Ghost and was just as excited :)

It has been a wonderful week! I love Park City and feel so lucky to be here. I haven't gotten a hold of Russ' friend, although I've called her about 3 times on each number. I will keep trying.

Tonight we have a New Year's Eve conference, where we will be hearing Elder Christofferson speak. I am really excited! Hopefully I don't have to say any of the prayers, though!

I love you so much! Have a wonderful New Year!!

Our small apartment!!

Our apartment in PC is so small! We walk into a closet like space & have to walk up a ladder to get to our beds & a tiny closet! I had to take my clothes out of my suitcase & carry them up the ladder. haha

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!