The Holy Ghost is the best!

My week was great! I felt like we did so much. We went over to our investigator's house who had had a really bad time at church her first Sunday.  Every crazy thing that could have happened did.  Someone was confirmed, the opening prayer was in Portuguese (so she thought we got up there and spoke in crazy tongues), the Sunday school class she is in wasn't good, and she didn't understand the lesson in Young Woman's.  She went home after that and said she would never go again and then she got a feeling that she should give it another try.  So she did, yesterday went great and she wants to be baptized! :D The Holy Ghost is the best!

Tuesday night to Wednesday night we were in Scituate, Connecticut.  It was our first time doing sister training stuff.  It was so much fun!  They live in the woods which is really cool.  They are staying at a member's home. :) We were able to help the sisters find productive things to do.  They were pretty stressed because they felt like there was no work to be done.  I got to see Sister Bailey! :)  That was really cool.  I am so blessed in this area. We always have things to do and I have not been stressed about wasting time.

We have been working with a less active for the last 7 weeks and when we went to visit her she read 18 chapters of the Book of Mormon by herself!! SO EXCITING. :)

There is another woman in the ward that we have been working on for the last 7 weeks as well.. Everyone, including the bishop, told us to let it go.  We couldn't do that.  One of the lessons we had with her was on serving each other in Zion.  We asked her how her and her husband served each other (her husband isn't a member) and she said that she rolls his cigarettes to save them money.  Oh dear.  She also has a cat that looks like it survived an atomic bomb explosion.  SHE CAME TO CHURCH and she STAYED ALL THREE HOURS.  This may not seem like big news, but it is. :D

We super cleaned a nasty kitchen. A member of our ward just moved into a new place and it needed some help. We even broke out the steel wool! :) I learned that from you momma.

We are fed so many beans. They are yucky, but I try to eat them anyways. Saturday was crazy! It was an alright day though.

I also hit my 5 month mark! What!?

It is funny that it is nice when it's 80 degrees out. :)

My week was fantastic! :D

They rocked our zone with transfers.  More than half of us left.  It was crazy!

I was called as a sister training leader so I am basically a female zone leader except I cover lots of zones. :) I go around and train the sisters on how to be better proselyters and I also help them with any emotional problems.  Sister Hurst will come to all the meetings with me, she is like a sister trainer but without the calling.  I think I will be in this area for a long time.  Do you remember Makelle Bailey from Murray? She was called to this mission and arrived in the last transfer, she is one of the sisters I get to train! Cool huh? :)

The baptisms yesterday were so wonderful. :) They were hectic because there were two of them and another one right after from another ward so we had to get things going.  One of the girls was baptized by her crush, took a lot of courage on her part. :)  She's awesome.  I lover her so much!  It was his first baptism. :) and no it wasn't an elder, just a priest in the ward. 

The weather went from 104 to 80 with humidity.  So hot.  It is funny that it is nice when it's 80 degrees out. :)

haha I love telling people my first name because they think it's so cool.  Thanks for that one mom. :)

One of the elders that moved to a new area left all of his clothes here in Central Falls.  How he forgot?  Who knows.  We had to meet up with his zone leaders so that we could give it to them and it just so happened that they were my old district and zone leader!  It made me happy to get to see them. :)

It is going well with the french speaking investigator.  We are teaching a new investigator from him as well. He speaks english, thankfully. :)  He said he wants to be baptized in a few months, I guess Hatians have no sense of urgency.  We had an investigator accept a baptismal date and then she came to church yesterday and didn't have such a great experience.  She said that there were some rude kids sitting behind her in Sunday school that wouldn't stop talking and that the lesson in YW's was just them passing around the scriptures and reading from them so she had no idea what was going on.  We are hoping we can fix it tomorrow.  We are not sure how yet, hopefully just address her concerns and then let her know it won't always be like that.  I'm not worried though. :)

Somebody donated the bikes to the mission. How sweet huh?

Mosiah chapter 7 is my favorite. :)  It has a lot of good things in it.  I had never thought of the Sacrament as a time to receive revelation either.  I like that. :) I need some more of it.  The Sacrament is such a blessing, when taken worthily it is like being baptized every week.  How cool is that!?  I really like Mo-tab now too. They have such cool voices.

I forgot that the 24th is Pioneer day.  I will have to have a mini celebration with myself. :) We are going duckbowling today with some of our members.  It will be fun!

Sister Shea and Sister Arsenault.  I love them :)  It was Sister Shea's one year since she was diagnosed with cancer and she is now cancer free, so we had FHE with her and Sister Arsenault

We stuffed Elder Henry into a garbage can...

This is Elder Meservy, Lopes, and Santos

We are getting bikes tomorrow :D

My week was fantastic. :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ZACH! 

 

I got so many cute post cards in the mail from the grand tetons! That was so sweet of you guys. :) I love them. I got a super sweet letter filled with testimonies that girls wrote at girl's camp! :) I am excited to pass them out. I also got letters from two girls in Primary. :) It was the sweetest thing in the world! They are so cute. :) 

 

We taught the Restoration to 3 Pentecostal teenagers.. It was fun. :) 

 

So I have a few stories to describe the area that I am in serving here. It is nuts. :) So we were looking for less-actives and three of them lived on the same street so we got to walk. Which was nice.  We saw a fish head, a dead bird, and dried frog legs one after the other.  There was a smell. haha 

 

We have a single lady in the ward who is letting a homeless drug addict live in her home. She kicked him out on Sunday because he wouldn't come to church with her. 

 

There was also a lady who lost her job last Wednesday and instead of being sad she said, "It's like a relationship with a guy that you don't really like, yet he blindsided you by dumping you.  It's just a really inconvenient break-up. Who am I going to hang out with tomorrow?  More importantly who is going to pay for dinner? :) haha 

 

Also, we had a little Spanish lady come out with us to an appointment. The person we were supposed to see was not home when we got there. The little Spanish lady looked me right in the eye and said, "I'm going to find her tonight and I'm going to kill her." Uhh not a good idea. I am hoping she wasn't serious, but we talked her out of that idea.

 

We got one of our investigators to accept baptism when before she just wanted to learn about many different religions. :) The Spirit is an incredible converter. My testimony of the Book of Mormon grew this week. It is so powerful. :) 

 

I am going to be here for another transfer, which I am super happy about. I hope I am here for a while, this area is my baby.  My companion is doing well.. She is a really great teacher and testifier. We don't have anything too exciting planned for the week except for our baptisms. :D We have so much to do. I am doing really good. Don't worry about me. :) Oh and by the way. I was called to be a Sister Training Leader.

I spent three hours on Saturday having no idea what was going on. I was in a lesson where they only spoke french and then went to a dinner where they only spoke Portuguese.  I was almost fed chicken gizzard, dodged that bullet. Two of our investigators had their baptismal interviews yesterday. One is so ready, we are kinda worried about her older sister. She'll be ready by Sunday though. :) I ate two dinners yesterday.

We are getting bikes tomorrow! :D 

 

I think it's funny that he (Brian sent pics of Jani, him, and his kids last Thursday) sent you those pictures. :) I took a string and made an obstacle course throughout their house, it was the iron rod.. The person on the iron rod had to be blind folded and the people on the outside had to help guide them. It was fun! :) It is going well with them, I am going to talk to them on Saturday to figure out where they are and if I can help them..

He has the same mission president (Sister Porter's relative was called to the same mission, Portuguese speaking). President Packard covers all the missionaries called to the MBM. :) The elders in our ward are Portuguese speaking. We translate our meetings at church because there are so many people who speak only Portuguese. It's awesome. :)

 

I bet your lesson about the temple went so well. Our family knows very well the blessings that come from the temple. :) I love the temple. You have some really good kids in your class. That's so cool. :) Ten kids is a lot, I think the primary here has a total of 10-15 kids. Teaching primary is the best, but being in your class is better. :)

 

Our miracle happened :)

This week was good. :) So on Monday we went to a members house for a FHE.  It was a lot of fun and I tried a veggie burger! It was weird because it was kinda gray-ish looking.. Not too bad though. :) The popsicles you sent me are so tasty! I ate one yesterday to break my fast. :) I ate an entire honeydew by myself this week.. :) haha
 
The mission had 51 one baptisms in June which is pretty exciting for our mission!  We had zone meeting and I just love zone meeting. I like being around other missionaries and I always learn so much. The training is so good. :)  We had to pick up the elders for zone meeting and there is four of them. We only have three seats. Elder Bloomfield sacrificed himself and rode in the trunk so we wouldn't get pulled over.. :) haha it was interesting, I felt bad for him.

We have a new potential investigator we are meeting on Wednesday and we are teaching three potential investigators tonight. :) Wahoo. Our district leader gave us a challenge to pray all week long for a specific miracle to happen by the end of the week. Our miracle happened. :) We were teaching a girl who
is only 13, her mom decided that she couldn't learn anymore because we aren't Christian. We prayed all week that her mom's heart would be softened and that we could get in contact with her. We found her on the street and her mom said she can take the lessons again! :D "Ask and ye shall receive." So fantastic.

On Saturday we had a less active give us 5 pounds of meat.  We gave it to the elders. :) haha it was so much!

Have you ever noticed that on fast Sunday peoples breath smells worse than normal?  I had to teach sunbeams yesterday, it was crazy. :) They had so much energy and were so over church by that point.. So we colored and they ate pretzels. :) It was also so much fun because out of nowhere it start down pouring. We had to go out into it because there was somebody we needed to see. We were soaking. :) It was a nice break from the heat.

The two girls that were supposed to be baptized this weekend are now being baptized the 21st instead. The elders set a date for their investigator for the same day and we want it to be a special day for them so we moved it. :) They are 13 and 15 years old and they are sisters. They are so adorable and the 13 year old is so excited about everything. We taught a lesson on the law of chastity and she thought it was the coolest thing ever. They are so solid and so good. I'm thinking future RS presidents. :)

The 4th of July was really fun! We went to Indian park in Providence with the elders in our district. It was so hot that from the time we left the car to the time we made it to the park, my sandwich had gone bad.. Luckily, I also brought celery and peanut-butter so all was not lost. It was kinda funny. :) It was SO hot
that day, 90 degrees by 8am plus humidity.. Best part of the night was getting to watch massive fireworks over the ocean. :) It was beautiful and a lot of fun.

The Ocean on the 4th of July - WOO :D

Our gas finally got turned back on! We now have hot water.

Volunteering at the blood drive was a lot of fun. We got to pass out snacks to people after they had their blood taken. We got into a conversation with a lady about the gospel (huge surprise, I know. :) and she was very accepting of the Joseph Smith story. Which was weird. Anyways, we invited her to church and she told us it was against her religion. People here are so funny like that. They believe our words and love the gospel, but they refuse to die anything but a Catholic.

I haven't gotten the girls testimonies yet. That's the cutest thing I have ever heard! They have no idea the impact they will make on people by doing that. I am so excited for that letter. :D

I do remember when we had such a hard time picturing Zach leaving on a mission. Time is flying by. :) We are definitely stronger than we think.

I love that you read the Power of Everyday Missionaries! Isn't it so good? It has so many ideas in it and it is so inspiring. It makes being a member missionary a very attainable goal for anyone. You should try that out with your friend. :) Even if she says no, we succeed when we invite.  People won't have a chance to accept or reject the gospel unless we offer. :) You can do it!

Helaman 5:12 is such a good scripture. I think that's fantastic. I wish the people here got as much out of church as you do. What's your secret? :)

The mission is on fire. :) There are so many Catholics. Most of them don't go to church, they barely know what they believe, and they don't follow what they believe.  Yet, they can't change religions. :) haha

We have our own email and ward website now.. Our mission hasn't been given FB authorization yet though.. We haven't used it a ton yet.

We are going to their (Brian and Kelly's) house for a lesson on Thursday. :)

Sister Kendall roasting marshmellows :)

Sister Kendall got a new journal, her favorite candies and her special bear - joy!!

Tell everyone I love them...

I am doing great. Mission life is good. :) My sunburn is still there. I was outside all day last Monday so it got re-burned. It looks funny. :) 

 

My companion is doing well, I think. She seems to be doing a lot better than before. I am proud of her. We have been pretty busy.  I finished the journal you gave me for Christmas. Woo Woo. :) 

 

I also got a 4th of July package! YOU ARE THE BEST. :D How did you keep that a secret? I am impressed. :) 

 

My Fourth of July package!!!!

My duck face to go with my new patriotic duck

 

 

We taught our 13-15 year old investigators about garments because they had so many questions about them. They are all so excited to get to wear them! They asked where they can get some so they can start practicing for the temple. :) How fantastic are they? 

 

Did I tell you that we have no hot water? We are taking showers in the pool house. :) haha it's funny.. 

 

We got to do some service at a members house. It was fun to get to be outside and dig in the dirt. On Saturday we got to help the YW make dinners for their camp. It was a lot of fun and we got some free food out of it. :)

 

Have you ever had cheese made out of rice? I have. It tastes like cheese.  :) haha I also almost had to eat codfish. Dodged that bullet. :) The codfish was from a lady who used to live in Angola. :)  Rhode Island has been acting like Washington State the last few days. It is foggy and there is a constant misty rain. I LOVE it. :) 

 

I was told by an elder on Friday that I have done more manly things in my life than he has. Compliment? I am not sure how to take that. The same day we saw a sumo wrestler.  It was... Interesting. :) 

 

Our ward mission leader gave a talk on missionary work at church on Sunday. He gave out a challenge to the men and women that whoever went on the most splits with the missionaries got to have a pancake breakfast made by the losers. We are going to win. :) I'm not even worried.  There has been a lot of responsibility put on the members. It's up to you guys to find people for us to teach. :) You should read The Power of Everyday Missionaries. It will change your life, I've read it three times. :)  Now is definitely the time. :)

 

Our investigator was baptized on Sunday! It was so great. She is so great. I am so proud of her. Her mom and sister came to support her and are planning on attending all three hours of church tomorrow! :D 

 

Carmen was baptized!!

 

We have two more on the 14th of July. :D Same day as Zach's birthday.  It's all the Lord, He is preparing these people and then dropping them into our laps.. I will try to leave some work. :)

 

Oh and on Saturday we went to visit a less active that nobody in our ward knows. The lady who answered the door didn't have any pants on. So we left. :) haha

 

I have decided that my favorite thing to teach about is prayer. I love prayer so much. The more I study it, the more excited I get about it. 

 

Brian and Kelly are good. We had dinner with them a few nights ago and I taught a lesson about the Holy Ghost. It went pretty well. :) Aunt Kelly made really yummy spaghetti..

 

I wish we had fun plans for the fourth. I am not sure about what we are allowed to do. I hope I am in Boston for the fireworks, they are supposed to be life changing. We just got permission to stay out past curfew and watch some fireworks in our area. :D Cha-ching!

 

I am SO glad that you guys watched that broadcast. It was so good! So good. It was really good to see President Monson. :) Elder Anderson has a really soothing voice. President Packer is really old, I had this sad feeling that that might be the last time we hear from him. I sure hope not. I am glad that "couples church" wasn't too bad. :) I bet your lesson was fantastic! It is good to hear that church was so good yesterday. :) I bet Justin's talk was really good. I like that guy a lot.. Where is he going on his mission? I like the football reference. I have heard that before. We know the end score of the game, so why are others still rooting for the losing team? I really like President Allred. I am glad he remembers me. :) He is sweet. :D That makes me happy. 

 

Tell everyone I love them

 

Those are my cool new nerd socks! Weren't they the greatest find EVER!?

Found them (like a true science nerd) at a comic book store

 

 

.