Mid January already? (two letters - sorry!)

(Jan. 18)

Hello my loverlies!

It is true, the mission office holds my mail. Which means Monday night, after I had gotten done writing you all, I got around 8 letters. So sometimes I go for a couple of weeks with out mail and then I get a whole bunch and then it's difficult for me to get caught up on my letter writing to all my faithful letter writers. Silly mission office.

So, this week was pretty fun. I am please to announce that I was able to ride my bike on Monday evening! Hermana Rodio is still not feeling well (she has blisters on her throat) and I was supposed to be on phones (ick) all night. So we did a fast comp swap with Elder Whites approval and I went with Hermana Nishiguchi into her area. I was wearing a long skirt so it was slightly hazardous but so much fun. We walked over to their apartment and got the bikes (I rode my bike btw, its seat isn't very comfortable:)just so you know) and made sure we had our helmets and blinkers (we called it getting rudolphed.) And we went into the area. We rode to the edge of the mission. I'm not sure which mission was on the other side of the street. And eventually (after many wrong doors, primary songs with kids and huge men with tattoos) we find Carmen's home. We talked a little about the Book of Mormon and invited her to read it. I laugh because we taught her in english and it was a Spanish area. Oh so fun. Sister Nishiguchi had only been in the area for 3 weeks (emergency transfer) so she didn't know her way around very well so we got lost. But I was having too much fun to care really. We were able to talk a lot on our little jaunt thru mesa. I learned that Elder White thinks that I'm a lot like Sister Nishiguchi, and therefore will probably have similar mission experience. Which isn't all together comforting seeing she has had some of the more difficult companions. But Nishiguch is amazing and keeps on smiling and working hard. Eventually we found our way back to the VC.

We play sports every morning as a zone. I love it best when we play soccer, because everyone is horrid at it. The Wednesdays was transfers, so we got a new elder and he is just driving me crazy. I'll attribute that to the fact that he is brand new and doesn't get the concept of teamwork and having fun as opposed to competition. But now I have dear Hermana Lopez in my zone. She was the one that I spent the night with my first night in Mesa. She probably comes up to my shoulder and is the sweetest thing you will ever meet. She has had a difficult mission, mainly because she is sweet and lets people walk all over her. She knows 5 languages, plays the violin and is going to med school when she gets home in February. It's really hard for me to to believe that she was in the Bolivian Army before her mission. But mostly our zone stayed the same. Some new sisters in the zone and only 1 new VC sister. Sister Waterous is now comps with Sister Hansen. She is a pageant kinda of person and very much the personality. We get along. She is a go-getter and will work hard. In the VC, Hernandez and I were the only companionship not changed. Which was odd. There are around 12 companionships at the VC. About 2 went full field so the fact that we didn't change was odd.

And just so you all know, I have now eaten a cow tongue (lengua) and its stomach (menudo). Hma Hernandez was kind enough to tell me after I had eaten it so I wouldn't have too much of a problem. And apparently the udder is pretty good so hopefully by the end of my mission I will have eaten every edible part of a cow. Of course, Hispanic food is spicy and every time I eat I turn really red and Hernandez becomes very concerned about me. Oh snap. I'll be able to eat whatever by the time I get home.

Because I am very ineffective at communicating in spanish I play with the kids most of the time. Mainly because we are trying to teach the parents and their 3 year old kids won't sit down for very long. It was pretty fun and I can tell the parents like me because of it. We went over to Cristina's and we are now teaching Ricardo too. She had her daughter for the weekend so I taught Amanda (daughter) a little before she went back over to her dad's. She is a good kid. And Cristina is improving. Hopefully she will get the lightest sentence for intense probation. That means only a year and a half and if that happens I will be going back for her baptism. Just so ya'll know.

At the VC, I have met some young men that are preparing for missions. Some of them are more mature and ready than others, but they have about a year if not more before they can go. But they will do good. I TB a girl from Australia who was a foreign exchange student. I also have a couple of confirmed member referrals. No one likes to do phones so Elder White is really trying to work hard to get us to get our work done. So I try. We had someone come in and after they found out that Hma Hernandez is from Chihuahua they asked if that was in South America. Silly Americans.

I have finally gotten permission to drive. And since I haven't driven since September I was tentative to drive someone else's car. The roads here are a 4 lane with a suicide lane in the middle so I get frightened easily. I hate driving.

 

So that's my life this week! I love you and hope you have a great week!

 

Love,

emily

(Jan. 25)


Hello my family! I hope all goes well.

Well, some changes have gone on this past week. I can say that this week has seem so long as compared to others. Normally my week flies by, but this week has taken forever. I can't believe that is almost the end of January. Oh snap! And I will try and keep the language understandable for all you non-missionaries. I just figured I should take on the role of Isaiah and keep you all guessing...

So I forgot to tell you all that I had a heck of a fun p-day last week with Hna Hernandez. We decided that we wanted to go window shopping down main street. There are so many cute stores! And I saw a lot of cute clothes but I was like, oh, I can't get them cause I'm a sister missionary and looking that cute would be breaking rules. So, I will have to return someday.

We had one full-field day this week and it was so amazing! Mainly because all of our appointments went though. We have made a lot of progress with our investigators and It was just crazy. We were teaching Anabel and it was going really good (for her being pentecostal) and so we were late for our dinner appointment. Luckily it was down the street so we just ran for it. And because we were late to dinner we were late to our next lesson so we hitched a ride on the trunk of the other sister's car (Sister Clark and Scott) down the street to our car. I could have run faster than she drove. But needless to say it was still a lot of fun. We taught Cristina and Ricardo and we taught them about the priesthood. I feel more comfortable speaking spanish around them (mainly because Cristina speaks more Spanish but not as well as me) and Hna Hernandez was shocked at the amount of spanish I was speaking. Surprise surprise. I can speak it if I need to. But don't tell anyone that. Later that night, Hna Hernandez had a bit of cramps and couldn't go anywhere. Just accept that as fact. So for the last hour we stayed home. She had a rice pad on her and I read my scriptures in spanish out loud to her so I could practice my accent. I read an Isaiah chapter to her and she asks me if I understood it. Ha! Funny. Isaiah and spanish put together. For the next two hours we just talked. It was a lot of fun. I feel that now we are working on having a better companionship now that I have her pretty much figured. We have fun. :)

In the mornings we still play sports. I have such a hard time cause I am so used to just running over people when I play defense. I can't do that anymore, elders are playing. So instead I just laugh half the time because no one can actually play soccer. I was talking to Sister Watrous about how I'm quite useless when I laugh and then the ball smacks me in the stomach. Which only made me laugh all the more. Ah, I love sports in the morning. 

We have been having more meetings with our branch mission leader dude. His name is Jorge Pimienta and he is that sweetest man you will ever meet. He has a little family, Seth, Zach and baby whatever her name is. All under the age of 4. So its kinda crazy. We had dinner with them, which was way nice of them, because he has been unemployed since September. But he is way excited about missionary work. He goes with us to lessons sometimes and loves to extent the invitation to be baptized. In two days. So we have had some talks with him. But his meetings are always fun. His sons had some Cars (like mater and lightning mcqueen) foam cutouts that you can put on your shoulders. So of course we had to try them on. 

 

As for our investigators and those we see quite frequently...

Cristina is still rock solid. She always says that she will choose the Church over a man any day. Ricardo is not as thrilled about learning. We found out he is 24 btw. She is 32. Anyway, I guess they had a fight about it and she said she was done with him and kicked him out (of her apartment with Alma, because they don't live together, good girl). Adrian has just progressed like no other, We have a date for him on the 5^th of Feb. The day after his 26^th B-day. Anyway, he came to church (after we taught him how to tie a tie. It was flipping hilarious!) And loved it. I guess in our moment of un-observation Cristina and Adrian talked (Ricardo didn't come to church because Adrian was coming) and she told him that she was thru with Ricardo. Following so far? Good. So, I guess Adrian went over to her place last night and saw Ricardo's car there or something and now he's ticked at Cristina and doesn't want to sit next to her at church but still wants to get baptized. We plan on talking to him today and finding out more drama...I love this...But Cristina has been cooking and feeding us. I'm not sure what she is cooking but I'm a good girl and I eat it. And I'm not dead yet...that's got to be a good sign.

Denise is now hiding from us. Anabel is trying to fight us. She asked us about if we believed in the gift of tongues. We said we did, to help people learn about the Gospel of Christ. You know, like the Apostles did in the Bible... Rosario no longer wants to meet with us, because the JW have talked to her. Dang It! But she did keep the Book of Mormon...Thank heavens for small things.

Oh, and I finished the Book of Mormon recently. I can't remember if it was this week or last week...

So, Hnas Hernandez, Lopez and sister Allen went to lunch with the previous VC directors because they are all leaving this transfer. So I went out with Hna Alvarez, Lopez's companion. She can't speak spanish to save her life. We had very interesting conversations together. She didn't want to come on a mission and it was a miracle (literally) that got her out on one. She refuses to go home because of pride (her sister can do it, so can she) and she doesn't know how to study. She is having a hard time because her trainer just left for him (alvarez has been her for 1 transfer more than me) and doesn't know how to work because her trainer slacked. But because she knows sister Lopez has had a hard mission she is trying really hard to be a good companion. So I offered what advice I could. And we went out in our area. Denise stood us up so we dropped off a Book of Mormon for Jose and went to her area. We finally met up with one of her Recent Converts (RC) and when we finally got to a lesson she looks at me and says, read any good scriptures recently? So I taught a lesson (in spanish btw, thank you very much) and she chipped in every once in a while. It was pretty good one about relying on prayer to find answers. I think. After that, we couldn't think of who else to go to so we stopped by Mercedez. And I still can't understand a thing she says. So I shared a scriptures with her and listened very intently but understood nothing. Oh well. The comps were finally done with lunch and we went our separate ways.

Well, the next day, we get a call from President Ellsworth telling us that Hna Lopez is Emergency Transferred with Hernandez and I. And Sister Juarez (the dear is a rag doll and just goes to wherever she is needed. But she has the personality for it) would go to Alverez. All I know is that Hna Lopez is broken. She has had a hard mission (companions aren't nice to her at all!) and she is having problems at home. And because this is her last transfer President wants it to be good so she is coming with us. We went home and got the bed set up and went to a lesson with Manuel Cereceres and 5 minutes into it get another call that Lopez isn't packing, but sitting on the floor in her apartment crying. So we leave poor Manuel and go to Lopez. Hernandez talked to her and I talk to Alvarez who feels like the worst person ever. So I just listened. It was what she needed. We got her all packed up and moved her over to our apartment. She is so fragile mentally. It's a surprise she has lasted until the end of her mission.

Yesterday we had ZDL. And I have no idea what that stands for. All I know is that we got our car inspected (we passed, those people in charge of cars are Nazis!) and had training. We had some good discussions going on about dignity, respect and moving forward the lords work. The Assistants did a pretty good job and we always willing to have comments. Luckily we are a talkative group. I was able to talk to Sister Ellsworth about my headaches (because i've had one ever day this week. And yes i've been taking care of myself, mom) and my nose problem. So i'm working on getting that taken care of. We also had interviews with President Ellsworth and I was slightly disappointed. Never expect an Hno Dela Cruz interview with someone who doesn't have the time. It was mainly a “hows the area? Hows the spanish?” and so on. It's pretty much the stuff I tell him in my weekly letters to him. So whatever. For the rest of the day I was irritable for some reason. We had weekly planning afterwards and that took forever. But my day got better after I talked to Hna McKenna and Nishiguchi. They have a good companionship going. They are awesome. I also gave a 13 year old Korean Foreign exchange student a BoM. He was way excited to read it. Way to go host family!

And this morning I was able to go to the temple. I consider it a darn good day so far.
I love you all so much and hope you have a wonderful week! (and the mission office is still holding my mail!)

Teaching Adrian to tie a tie.

Sisters Hernandez, Lopez and Beu

Transfers this week!

Hello my wonderful family!

I have decided that the mission office deliberately withholds mail from us to experiment to test our productivity. That and we just got transfer news so those that weren't excited about it would get a whole bunch of mail and at least be excited about something. It that or no one has written me, I really hope that isn't the case. As for the transfer news, I am not going anywhere, and I will kill my Mommy. (This means that Emily's "mommy" aka trainer is finishing her mission, also know as "dying." The missionary who stays is said to "kill" the missionary going home. I know, so spiritual) So hopefully Valencia (my branch) will survive as me being the only one to stay in the area until next transfer (the FF sisters are being moved out and dying). Unless President wants to white-wash the area. And that would just not be happy.

So I thought that now we don't have Christmas Lights I would explain a little bit more about my schedule. We now have half day shifts. Either from 9-3 or 3-9. If we have morning shift, we spend the afternoon in our area or if we have the evening shift we spend the morning actually studying and spend time in our area. You know, I think I have had about 5 hours of actual language study time since I've been here. Sigh. Anyway, during our shift, we are on the phones. A lot. Because we have over 2000 referrals to call. And I hate calling people. So whatever, I make the most of it and call as many people as I can and invite them to listen to the missionaries. I've had some interesting experiences with that. Sometimes I'll call someone and say that their friend so and so wants them to learn more about something that has helped them in their life and they say that they don't have a friend by that name. Oops. Or they aren't friends anymore. Or they just aren't interested. I have yet to confirm a referral. If we aren't on the phones, we are at the front or back greet. The christmas decorations came down this week so now it is so empty ish. But it is a lot of fun. Not as many people come in but I still love watching all the brides pass by. Sometimes I get up to 5 brides (if not more) a day. We were talking to a temple worker one day and he said they had 40 weddings scheduled one day. Ouch. Anyway, Lights are coming down outside the VC. The camels are finally gone and eventually the stage for the Easter pageant will be up. And because transfers haven't happened yet, there are so many sisters in the VC. But now that transfers are announced (and happen on Wednesday) the number of companionships will decrease. There are about 4 companionship going FF. I'm not. Yet. It will probably be in the middle of the summer.

At the VC, I have finally finish the official 'training' that we need. Most of it I just figured out on my own, or Hma Hernandez will tell me as we go along. Such things as i'm not allowed to have a ponytail or only one sister at the desk at a time. Yep. I got it now. Thanks.

Sister Hernandez is a trainer, so that means she gets transfer news first and won't tell me. That also means she, Sister Watrous and Sister White (VC director's wife) make out the transfer schedule. So I sat in the VC for 3 hours with pretty much nothing to do. I had already updated the area book and brought no food with me. So Sister McKenna, Rodio and I went to seagull bookstore. I ended up with a new CD, Jerico Road. Or something like that. :) it was a fun field trip.

I met someone very interesting. Then again, if anyone comes in with a plaid shirt, dark sunglasses, red curly hair and tan pants they are automatically marked as interesting. I actually thought about going to talk to him and then got distracted by another sister. Anyway, our paths met up again eventually and said he was interested in going back to church (got baptised around 13yrsold) but didn't want to meet with the missionaries. I asked if I could have his phone number to check to see if he got to church. He said he didn't want to give out personal information. So we continued on the conversation about how he doesn't believe in faith, only logic and loves studying psychology, occult, the bible, satanic stuff, and anything spiritual. Yep. Got it. So I just got him talking about the importance of prayer and finding the truth out for yourself yadda yadda. He said he had to go but liked talking to me and asked when I worked next. I said that I don't like giving out personal information. Haven't seen him yet...

Oh, and just so you all know, my name, in spanish is 'bay-oo'. Sarah, was it like that for you too? (Yes it was)

And dad, Sister Rodio (the one using my bike) wanted a nice lock for it so I gave her some money to buy a U lock. So she is all covered.

As a zone, because we are awesome, we play sports pretty much every morning. Because one of the sisters is going home, we have been playing vollyball a lot but soon that will branch out into soccer and basketball and other such joys. It's so much fun and we are pretty much the only zone that does that. One of the buildings we play in I saw the missionary plaque for Elder Pennington Carter! It totally made my day. (for all those who don't remember he was in my district in the MTC). This morning because some of us were leaving for home, snowflake or other zones, we went to IHOP for breakfast. I got a fruit crepe or whatever it's called. Pretty good. Except I wasn't feeling good and wasn't very social. Oops.

So, now that we don't have stakes bringing our food (b/c of lights) members feed us. And now I eat real hispanic food. Which generally consists of onions, bell pepper and spicy. And you all know how much I love all three. But I'm a big girl and eat it all. Sister Hernandez wonders how I have survived by being such a picky eater. Most of the food consists of soup and then a meat and tortilla dish. It's all pretty good actually and I love it. I just have to watch Sis. Hernandez eat first so I know what the heck I'm doing. You don't eat rice by itself, you mix it with the meat and put it on a piece of tortilla, just in case any of you were curious.

So, we now can devote time and attention to our investigators.

We have Cristina. It was her birthday on the 7^th. She turned 32. She is amazing. Her bf/fiancee (whatever) came to church with her on Sunday. He was surprised that he liked it. His name is Ricardo btw. Keep up with me on the names. He said that he found a place and she said that she refused to move in with anyone until she was married. I love her! She has 4 other kids btw, all with different men. She has been clean (from meth) for over a year. Her probation is going so well. She has a job now and is working on her community service. When she went to court in PHX the judge told her not to worry, that he could tell she was working hard to change her life around. So its going really well. Yesterday we had a lesson with those two and I was talking in spanish (so ricardo could understand, he doesn't speak english) and they both started laughing at me! I was done with spanish for the day.

Adrian, Cristina's ex, we are now teaching. We took Hermano (brother) Pimienta (an angel, seriously) and another member named Kelly (who is also learning spanish) and we invited him to be baptized on the 22. Hermano Pimienta gave him a blessing and you could tell he felt something. He has even read more of the BoM than we asked. Well, he didn't come to church this week so we got to push it back. Then we talked to Cristina and she said that he might be playing us to get back with her (because she misses him, he misses her, she doesn't love ricardo that way and so it goes.) So we will let you know how that goes.

We are teaching a very cute family, Nancy and Manuel and their 3 children, Fernando (11), Robert (3) and Brian (1.5). And they came to church! I love it when people do what we ask them too. Manuel makes me say the prayer all the time because I don't speak enough during the lesson and according to him I need to practice my spanish. Thanks. But we are planning on setting a date with them sometime this week.

We are working with a recent convert family (we as missionaries generally stick the the RC for a year or so) that is having problems. They were baptized in july or so. Mercedez (mom) is 100% all for the church. Refugio (hubby) has started drinking again (but came to church this sunday). Then there is Beatriz who has started having sex with her bf Santiago (who is catholic and not a nice guy and always comments (like most of the Hispanic population) on my handshake). Cynthia is an absolute doll and always works hard. Alba and Aleda stick together like a fly on honey. Nino (Refugio jr.) and jenny are the wildest kids you have ever seen. But Mercedez is trying hard. I never understand a word she says. She speaks soft and fast. Oh dear.

Let's see. We have picked up a family that was dropped about a few months ago. They seem a lot more interested and they are helping us out teach another family as well (ones they are close too). They have 2 little girls. The older one I think has learning disbilities and the younger one (about 1.5 years) is so cute. We went to teach their friend, Jose, and he was watching his daughter and their (gf and his) boy (about 9 months) and she was a little terror to the baby. So it was kinda a disjointed lesson where he wasn't really paying attention. We decided to come back another time after the baby threw up all over the kitchen floor.

We have a new person we are teaching, Rosario, and her 2 daughters. Her husband was kicked out of the apartments and the manager (a member) told us about her. She is illegal and has been kept from any contact for the past 12 years. So she has no job or anything. She is also a JW. But she is willing to learn. We just need to get her to church. And find her a job. She is really sweet tho.

And that's pretty much most of the people that we see. There are some more, but they we don't see regularly because they keep canceling on us. Silly people.

So yeah. That's my life! And I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Happy New Year!

Hello my wonderful family!

I am so glad you are all doing wonderfully as the new year begins.

So, lots of stories this week. It started with a few special people that came to the visitors center.

The first is Hawkeye, a Navajo man who was looking at the nativities we had on display. He started touching them and picking them up so I nudged Sister Arias and told her to go tell him to stop it. She said no, that she didn't want to offend him. I was like, So? And got up to go tell him. So as I started talking to the middle-aged gentleman, he said that he was of the religion of the samurai. Okay. I asked if he liked the nativity from Japan. He replied that he was a ninja and started making sword movements. Clearly this man is not all there. So I asked if he had seen the big statue of Christ, out of fear of the nativities. He said no so I lead him in that direction. Unfortunately, the curtains were closed (b/c of a presentation) and we ran into Sister Rosdall's sister who had gotten married and was having her pictures taken. He was so excited, grasped her hand and said, I wish I had something to give you. I have earrings, would you like earrings? She was like, no, and I was like, Oh look the curtains are open! So as I led him into the Christus, I gave an apologetic face to the happy couple. When he saw the christus, he was in such awe, he went and knelt before it. Okay. I went over to Elder White, and said, I think he's harmless, but not all there. He replied with a, we'll keep an eye on him. So we waited for a while and eventually, he jumped on up and started holding the hand of Christ and giving it a hug. Yep, time for securitty. So eventually they coaxed him down and as they were leading him away, he went over to give me a hug. Awkward.

The next man became Sister Everrett's stalker man. We found out later that he was schizophrenic. So the deal was that if he showed up any time during the night we were to call security and have them take him out. Well, he showed up and then disappeared. So Sister Cottrail and I went looking for him. Probably against the rules but it was too fun not to. We found out (look at us, little investigators) that he goes to Beth Tanner's (former roommate and fellow missionary in the mission) ward and so the security, who were patrolling, were able to find out a little bit more. Eventually our friend walked back in, Sister Mckenna distracted him while Sister Cottrail and I went for security. Success! He was trespassing and told that if he came back he would be arrested. And he came back the next day.

From this fun sleuthing experience, Sister Cottrail and I decided that she and I would start up our own PI business (her dad is one) and she would do the footwork while I did the forensics. Sounds like fun, eh?

As for my investigators, now that we have more time in the area, we are able to see them more.

Cristina is now under house arrest and has court in Phoenix tomorrow. Hopefully that goes well. She has also agreed to marry Ricardo, the man to somehow came up with $5000 for her bail. Amazing. I would feel indebted to him too. We are teaching her. And also her ex-boyfriend Adrian. She is cool with it and he is making progress.

We have set a goal for Nancy and Manuel to get baptized this month, as well as Adrian. So now that we have more time, we are working more intently for that. We have a lot of old ivestigators that we are working on meeting up with to get them progressing. We had to put them on hold for Christmas Lights. Bugger!

On the 31, we sang at the christmas lights concert, as a whole mission. Do you have any idea what it is like to get 190 missionaries on a stage, and to learn songs they haven't ever sung. Thank goodness for the Gift of Tongues, seeing as music is a language, otherwise, we would have butchered it. It was so flippin cold too!

As for New Years Day, it was a blast. We went to breakfast with the Zone at IHOP and then played volleyball for a few hours afterwords. I have bruises and skinned knees! I didn't think that was going to happen again for a while. It was so much fun. Later that afternoon we went bowling with the VC. Arias, who had never bowled before, got a 106. Beginners luck. Most of us didn't break 100 but it was so much fun. We had a dinner of pizza and back to the VC for work.

Now that lights are done, we have more time to make the calls for the referrals that we got during the lights. Lots of work, have I.

Oh, btw, it snowed for 2 minutes the other day. It was amazing! We ran outisde to take pictures but alas, nothing stuck to the ground. But it did snow...I was looking out the window and was like, Sister, I think it's raining. Hernandez was like, no its not. And I said, No, I really think it's doing something outside. And she figured out that it was snow. It was fun.

And another fun experience that I had:

Yesterday, Sister Hernandez (my comp) and Watrous (Dyers comp) had ZLC in Scottsdale. So Dyer and I were comps for a day. And I had to take the car (Chevy Malibu, 2010) into the dealership b/c there was a problem. I don't even know what the problem was, but I was told to take it to the dealership in Phoenix. Okay, So I called Elder Stewart (fleet coordinator dude) and he said, this is the address and just go on the 101N until you hit that road. So off Sister Dyer and I go. Forever! We drove for a half hour and didn't see it. So we called the VC and sister Brox gave us directions (off of LDS maps, b/c we aren't allowed google maps for goodness sake!) so we got on the 202W and then onto I17S to Phoenix. About an hour after we started, we found Camel back road, and accidentally went W instead of E. So after turning around and eventually finding the dealership, we pull in. Bah Humbug! And then we couldn't find the registration or anything! So whatever, called Elder Stewart a few times and got everything figured out. So Sister Dyer and I chilled in the little cafe in the dealership. And had bagels, muffins, and hot chocolate while we had a 3 hour long companionship study. We talked about the book of revelations, prophets, the new testament, boys, companions, the Book of mormon, Preach my Gospel, Politics and who knows what else. Eventually we were let out (something was wrong with a camshaft, whatever that is) and we were released. The guy working at the cafe was starting to teach me some more Spanish too. Lol. So it only took us 20 minutes to get back (guessing which way to go the whole time) and I can neither confirm nor deny that we may have accidentally left the mission... Anyway, we picked up lunch at subway, it was almost 2, we were supposed to be there at 1, and a kind member payed for our lunch. So it was quite the adventure. It was by far the most exciting thing i've done on my mission. Lesson learned: get a gps or always carry a map. I have no idea why we didn't have one in the car...

I have also had my first real spanish food. It was pretty darn good. I've discovered that to make anything hispanic, add tortillas...

And yes, VC sisters are considered as tour guides and not real missionaries. So we get a lot of bahumbug for that. But whatever. All the VC sisters that go full-field say that vc is that much harder. So i'm not worried about it. I just know that I was called to work hard and serve a mission, no matter where I am at.

I hope you all have a wonderful week and I better get better emails next week

Love, Emily

Happy New Year!

Hello my family (and friends)!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Note from Sarah: Of course we were all able to talk with Emily (Jed and I for 10 min) but it was wonderful to hear her voice and hear how happy and excited she was. We can tell that she is doing great and is having some amazing experiences. Just wanted to let you know.

First off, four of our dear sisters have left us. Some I was sad to see leave, the others, not so much. There is a time and a place and some of them you could tell were ready for a change.

Sister Fonbuena was one of the ones who left. She is from Alpine, Utah, and Sister Everett's companion. She was pretty cool. She was one of the trainers that had to count the cards at the end of the night. She was really kind and funny (and had a funny laugh to go with it. It always sounded like someone was squeezing her when she laughed...) She is headed to school here after the first of the year.

Sister Cochran, the other trainer and my companion was another one. She goes back home to Utah and will start school again too. She was the baby of 7 so I bet mom and dad feel accomplished.

Sister Bustillo went home to Honduras. She was the trunkiest of them all and was going to be a bridesmaid for her sister with in a day of getting home. She is hopeing to get into BYU this next semester.

And dear Sister Collier. She was my favorite. Probably because she acted the least trunky. She was always funny and made me laugh. She is headed back to school as well, but I don't know where. I know that she lives in Georgia...

They all left the 26^th and 27^th so their family could celebrate Christmas a day late or something.

Anyway, because Sister Fonbuena left, Sister Everett was without a companion. So Hermana Juarez was placed as her companions for the 2 weeks until transfers. Poor kid. Juarez got here the same time I did and is already transferred, and to English-speaking VC (she is a full field). So her comps that she left kinda made fun of her because they think that all VC sister are are tour guides. Not true! Bah! So we are teaching her the ropes and showing her that we are missionaries too.

Sister Brox is absolutely my favorite. She said I remind her a lot of her twin sister. But whenever we work together we always have fun. It's a pity she is English-speaking. We will never be companions. She is the type of person to go and do it so I enjoy working with her. Out of all of them, I feel that she is genuine when she asks me how I am doing.

As for the VC, we are still getting a lot of people. A lot of Spanish came in on christmas day and the day after. I have had to speak a lot more Spanish than I would normally. It was frightening but I'm getting better. I now speak a lot more Spanish with Hernandez. Anyway, I have had some cool experiences meeting people. Oh, and I had my first full conversation in Spanish last night, I'll have you know.

1. Larry and Rex. Larry is recently reactivated and Rex got his first lesson the other day. They came in and I was in the Savior of the World area and so we were just talking. In the middle of the conversation, Larry leans over to Rex and was like, “I was in the statue area and she was talking about it. And when you look at her, you would think she is a soft spoken little thing. But she isn't. She was cool, talking to the kids that were there and she gave her testimony boldly but with love. She is really cool.” So that made my day. I always question if I somehow manage to touch a life during my time at the VC. So that answered that question.

2. Mary Steven. She is amazing. She and her 12 year old son and his non member friend came in last night and I got to talking to her. She said that she used to be a member missionary and loved it. She was sad that she didn't take the chance to go on a mission, but instead moved to Arizona and married her husband a year later. She talked about how amazing missionaries are and then we talked about how everyone had a purpose. I know that everyone does, but a lot of people don't have obvious direction or miraculous experiences to let them know that they are here for a reason. Her son has had meningitis twice, once as a baby and then at 10 years old. He wasn't supposed to survive either time but he did. And the doctors don't understand it. So he knows he has a purpose but like everyone else, is looking to find out what it is. He is an amazing kid. When he goes out with his friends and goes to watch a movie, he will always call his mom to see if it is okay to watch. If it isn't, he leaves. And generally his friends (all non members) follow him. She is an amazing mother.

3. Cody – came in at the state of Christmas lights and was baptized on the 18^th of December. He grew up on the streets of California and is now headed into the army. He is so happy. I don't think I have ever met anyone with just direction and focus for something they wanted in my life. He has a goal and he is going for it. I kinda wish I could follow the life story of some of the people I meet. I want to see what experiences they had in this life and what they accomplish.

So yeah. That was my week.

I love you all and hope you have a great new years!

Love,

Emily

Merry Christmas!

Hello my dearest family and loved ones who have now declared themselves family!

This week has gotten better. I feel that today I am not as rushed as last week.

Last P-day we had a fun time at a members house doing a bbq for those that are leaving. We decorated gingerbread missionaries and had a somewhat relaxing hour. But it was so cool to see how much the members love the sister missionaries.

On Thursday I was finally able to go to the temple! It was amazing. We listened to Elder Leusuer again and Pres. and Sister Ellsworth. We as a mission are now only going to be keeping track of 4 of the key indicators now in order to focus more on getting people baptized. We don't count TTI (Teach Testify Invite – aka street contacts) anymore because that was becoming the focus instead of lessons taught and baptisms. I heard a couple stories of missionaries getting raked over the coals by the district leaders because they didn't do a lot of TTI even though they had a baptism and a great week with their investigators. So...

I also discovered that Beth Tanner, my old college roommate, is in my mission. She like spazzed out when she saw me. Of course, my hair has grown a lot so it took her a while to figure out that it was me. Lol. So we caught up on how the old roommates were doing, and the fact that Sarah had a baby. Shocking, I know. She has about 6 months left.

The temple was beautiful. Inside, I almost felt that it was a Zelda style castle. I probably will never go inside that temple again without having thoughts of Zelda in my head. In the Celestial room, Pres. and Sister Ellsworth greeted us. It was so cool to see half our mission in there. (We split it up into 2 days because of the number of missionaries we have) When we got outside, it was raining! First time since I've been here. It was so much fun.

So, as for my investigators.

There was no baptism for Cristina. Because she needed to get some legal things cleared up before she could get baptized, she ended up getting arrested. So we spent 3-4 days trying to find her. She is spotting and so we are concerned for her and the baby. Unless she gets her bail, she will probably be there for 3-4 months. Her baby is due at the end of February. So we are still working on that problem.

We haven't had time to meet with Leo because of lights. Dang it.

Mercedez's husband is a butt and doesn't let her or the kids go to church. (they are a Recent Convert family that still struggles but has come a long way)

Nancy and Pedro came to the VC lights but didn't come to church.

At the VC, we have started getting a lot of people. Like around the 6,000 people a night mark. It is so busy but it is so much fun. We get around 20 Top boxes a night and around 50 PMRs. So we have a lot of phone calls to make.

The other night I had the pleasure of listening to a man for about 30 minutes who has been excommunicated twice, is on his 8^th marriage, and is working on getting his wife and him baptized. He talked for quite a while about the"George Bush is to blame for 9/11," his thoughts on missionary work, how he and his wife met over the internet, reasons for excommunication, and some other stuff I kinda forgot about. The elder that was with him laughed (silently) while I made my, "I love listening to you and what you are saying is interesting" face. I worked hard not to give him the
"you are being an idiot, stop talking" face. I tried to get my comps attention to get me away from the situation but she never showed up.

I also got to meet with half siblings that just found each other in October. She lives here, he lives in Kansas. She is a member, he has a Christian background. So she was showing him around about things that she thought was important. So that was so cool. He was in awe of the Christus statue. It was so cool to see their relationship and how they had similar beliefs and respect for Christ.

So, I have received some requests to know more about my living situation. I don't have a lot of time to eat. So in the morning I get drink something called breakfast essentials, which gives me what I need but doesn't take a lot of time to do. Lunch is a hit and a miss. This week we had lunch with the zone at a Chinese place and so I had leftovers to eat. Otherwise, I have some veggies or yogurt that I eat. Dinner (during the Christmas season) is provided by stakes and so we are well fed. Just so you know, I never want to each bbq pork or a baked potato again.

Our residence is above one of the garages of a member family. We have a kitchen and a bedroom. There are 3 beds in it and my comps keep the temp at a lovely 80 degrees. And because I am becoming acclimated to the weather, I am now getting cold at night. But otherwise I am quite comfortable with the flannel blankets Mom has sent me.

I am at the VC every day. As a general rule, we are supposed to wear cardigans or sweaters every day in order to look more professional. Well phooie on that rule. I only have button up shirts and so that's what I wear. It is hard to do laundry because we don't have a lot of time for it. For example, I have no idea when we will be able to do that this week.

Have a merry Christmas!

Love, Emily

Second week in Mesa! (plus pictures!)

Hello my family and friends!

Just so you know I have a really short P-day. We end at 3 so if I sound rushed, I am.

So, week 2 in Mesa is proving to be just as busy and tiring as the week before. I still have the bed time at midnight and getting up at 7:30. Elder White (President of the VC) let us sleep in until 8:30 one day. Never thought that would happen on my mission, did you? I don't think that I have ever had a normal day while I've been on my mission. We rarely have study in the morning and pretty much only see our investigators once a week if that. Other than that I am always at the VC.

I attend the Valencia Branch in the Citrus Heights Stake. There is some comfort in the fact that Sundays, no matter what language or size of church you go to is always the same. RS is full of women chatting. In Sunday school no one answers. Sacrament is full of testimonies and talks of which I lose focus because I have a hard time understanding them. So church will always be the same. We had a 70 come and talk to us, Elder Leusueur and he spoke on the importance of identifying the hand of the Lord in our life. He compared it to a garden, about how we think that we have done all the work with the weeding and planting, when in reality, we sometimes don't see who provides the sunshine or rain. And after church there was a pot luck. I asked what the occasion was and one of the sister missionaries that came out with me, Sister Juarez, says that it was “we're Mexican and we like to eat” occasion. Okay, I can buy that.

I realize that in my last letter I really didn't explain to much what goes on in the VC. Let me better explain. There are 2 shifts that we cover during Christmas (it's different in the off season): Morning and evening. Morning shift is easy. We pretty much make phone calls to all the people who gave a PMR (potential member referral) and invite them to listen to the missionaries. Other wise we give tours to people, answer the phone and start movies like Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration. In the evening, we stand at our assigned post (Christus, theaters, Savior of the World etc...) for an hour and talk to people, invite them to listen to the missionaries (Top Box - TB) or ask them if they have friends or family that would like to meet with the missionaries (PMR). At the end when we close (10 pm) we count up what we got and enter in the TB into the computer to send texts to the missionaries where they live. And so the cycle goes on. Each night we are paired with a different sister so both languages are covered. I love having the opportunity to work with other sisters because I am able to learn new and different things.

I have had the privilege of meeting people from Japan, Israel, and other countries.

I have given a few tours in the VC. One was to a guy named Marshall who wanted to learn more about the church b/c his girlfriend is a member. The other was to a couple of snow birds (people who come to live here in the winter).

So, as for our investigators, we have one that I really know a lot about because we taught him last night. His name is Leo and he is just a great guy. He has a 11 year old daughter and is so willing to learn. It's amazing as to how humble he is. He said he would get baptized when he knew that it was true. I can go with that. He also agreed to pray and wanted to come to church. Yay for willing people!

The other is Cristina, who is about 6 months pregnant. She was able to move out of her boyfriend's apartment last night and is now able to be interviewed. We have set a date for the 18^th for her to be baptized. I wish we had more time to work with them and talk with them but the season doesn't allow us to spend more time away from them.

We had a farewell for the sisters leaving soon. It was fun to see them progress on their missions.

But I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Love you all!

love, Emily

 

Emily with her trainer Hermana Hernandez

The Christus

Some of the sisters she works with at the VC

All of the VC sisters

 

First week in Mesa!

Oh goodness, not a whole lot of time to write but I hope that I get everything written that I want to.

 

So, I left off in the MTC. On Saturday, we had the opportunity to go to Temple square and work with the sisters there. I was with an Albanian sister called, Sister Alma Osmeni. We had a good time around Temple Square and talked to a whole bunch of people. It wasn't what I expected but hey, I learned about what I don't want to do here in Mesa. I also ran into President and Sister Smith, Trason Lamb from Greenbrier (housing complex where she lived), and the sister of one of my missionaries roommates, Sister Plummer. So there were miracles there that night. It felt so strange to be leaving the MTC. but alas, it was fun. It was so cold that night, but silly me wore my knee length skirt and not my longer one. But I had fun and walked around a bit. Apparently only 5% of the sisters that go on missions get called to VC. Odd bit of trivia for you.

 

Elders Ilizaliturri and Kennedy left for Guadalajara on Monday. Triste! but they are doing good. I have heard from Kennedy at least. Actually, what really made my day one day in the VC, was running into Elder Ilizaliturri's and Elder Carter's families. At the same time. So I got a picture. But it was nice to talk to them for a while and see how life was at the MTC from Ilizaliturri's point of view. The poor kid was having a harder time with Elder Kennedy than we thought. I was so happy that I got to meet them. Sister McKenna was so mad that she wasn't there.

 

It snowed all day on Sunday, and when we left the MTC on Tuesday, it was 16 degrees. When we landed, it was 45. I like it. When I tell people I'm from SD they always say, "So this is summer for you huh?" Yep. That's the people from Mesa for you.

 

We arrived and were met by the the APs (assistants to the President) and President and Sister Ellsworth. Lots of fun. The address you should all use by the way for mailing me is the mission address. I live with a member so and mission office mail gets to the VC every day so I will get my mail. Anyway, We drove off to Scottsdale, dropped off our luggage and had a homemade lunch that was done by the senior couples around the area. We then separated with our companion for the day and I was with Sister Lopez from Bolivia. She is a sweetheart. she is about 3 inches shorter than me so it is a lot of fun. She is gentile and helps me out all the time. She calls the sisters at the VC harmanita. Cute stuff. So after a little bit of training we went with the sisters to the VC. And there, we jumped right into Christmas lights.

 

The next day we were back in Scottsdale for training and taking luggage home and actually meeting our comps. I am in a trio with Sisters Hernandez (of Mexico) and Cochran from Utah. Cochran leaves for home at the End of this month. Both are awesome and know their stuff. We live with a member and live above their garage. To picture the house, imagine the Mannings home and the Policky home put together. Yeah, i live in a mansion. So back to life at the VC.

 

Christmas lights are crazy. We have so many people go through a night. It actually amazing when I run into people that I actually know. Besides the elders parents, I have run into Hermano Escobar's companion from the MTC and some other people from South Dakota. but it is a lot of fun. Object of the game in the VC is to get Top Boxes (TB) and PMR (Potential Member Referrals) while helping everyone feel the spirit. So we introduce the movie Luke 2 (Christ's birth) and the Christus and help people around the nativities for all around the world. We also have a Book of Mormon  table and God's plan for his Family presentation. We have concerts every night and of course the lights. Sounds like fun, right? Well, yes, it is, but it comes at a cost. And the cost is sleep. As a general rule, We don't get home until Midnight and up at 7:30. Life is slightly crazy during lights.

 

Well, as normal (I'm sure) I was quite shy to begin with. As the week has gone on, I have become less shy and more confident in my abilities. I am still having a hard time asking people for referrals and I avoid Spanish when at all possible. :) But things are getting better. Each night, their pair and English speaking sister with a Spanish speaking sister so both are covered if need be. I have so much fun. there are a couple of sisters that I just love being with (Brox and Everette) and they are so willing to help me and offer advice.

 

We have morning shift or evening shift. Morning shift is dead to the world. no one comes in. Yesterday we had a drunk passed out on the lawn and had to call security on him to get him to go away. We also have a code phrase for if a sister is feeling harassed in a situation (I need my bible) and other such fun things. So, when we don't have afternoon shift, we get to spend time in our area.

 

We have a few investigators that I'll tell you more about once I learn more about them. But so far, they have been coming to church and occasionally I can understand what we are talking about in the lessons. But really, all I'm good for (and do) is say the prayer. I am a part of the Citrus Heights stake in a little branch called Valencia. We share it with the full field sisters.

 

So that's most of my life. For now.

It's hard to write because there is so much stuff that I want to tell you but I can't remember it all. And I even wrote a little note of things that I wanted to tell you all. I love you!

Love,

Emily