Thanksgiving week (11/28/16 email)

Hello, friends and fam! This week was pretty amazing. We spent Thanksgiving with seven different families. Thankfully none of them made us feast while we were there! We just kind of snacked all day. But it was so fun because we got to hang out and play games with everyone. Every home we hung out in had some nonmembers or less-active members, so it was helpful to build better relationships with them! And I won at both Monopoly Millionaire and Phase 10 btw...not that it's a big deal or anything. I'm just unstoppable.

We're having a cool Festival of Nativities in Longview put on by the Church, but all churches in the community participate and have live Nativities and musical performances. It's an open house kind of thing, and I am pumped to go! There's this super friendly deaf man that works in Wal-Mart that we talk to every Monday and he's excited to go! He always gets so excited to see me every Monday haha It's so cute. But I bet I'm more excited to see him! Deaf people are just my favorite. He said he went to a deaf camp at BYU for a week when he was a kid and liked it there. He's so cute and sweet!

Well I really have no time, but here's a picture of our cute Bishop and his wife! I love them soooooooooo much! They're some of the most giving and selfless people I've ever met.

Bye, friends! Love you!

Transfer week (11/21/16 email)

This week we got Sister Porter! She has officially joined us in the Woodland 1st companionship. She's awesome!!

We went to a super cool fireside called "Uncovering the Book of Mormon in Central America." This couple that's all about archeology and anthropology shared a slideshow about artifacts in Central America and folktales they have that all align with the Book of Mormon. They really emphasized that prayer is how we gain a testimony, but it was so interesting hearing about some physical evidence of the Book of Mormon. And scientists estimate that they've uncovered less than 2% of what they believe is down there, so we'll just keep learning more and more as time goes on. Now I want to go to the National Museum in Mexico City so badly!!

We had a fun role play lesson with our recent convert, J, and his friend, P, in the ward. We talked about temple work, and P shared his testimony of his first time in the temple. He's only 14 and has the
strongest testimony! J is excited to be able to bring some family names to the temple now!

Here are some pictures of a hike we went on today. We went to Mt. St. Helens but couldn't see much because of the fog. But it was still really pretty!

Also our WML had us over for dinner and his wife gave us each bibs...lol I think she's hinting at something.

Half birth week :) (11/14/16 email)

I got to see Sister Davis! She is honestly my kindred spirit! I only got to train her for a few weeks, but we were instant BFFs, and we got to be reunited at zone conference. I LOVE HER! And Hermana Mangum was there so we had three of the four ginger sisters in the mission captured in one picture.

And I got reunited with Sister Reeves! I got to see both my babies on the same day. I have seriously been blessed with the greatest companions.

Well we have a surprise emergency transfer. Sister Dearden and Sister Porter will be my new companions, and Sister Mandin is going to Rainier, OR! I got Sister Dearden today, and Sister Porter will come take Sister Mandin's spot at transfers on Wednesday morning. I get to be in another trio! Trios are so much more fun than a regular companionship. And you get to go on member splits so easily and get twice as much work done in your area. I'm pumped!

I ate some Grapples for the first time in years this week. Memories!! <3 But I realized they're just grape flavored apples, not a scientific mix between an apple and a grape. Lame!

We carpooled with the Sheens to MLC, and I got to sit in back with the boys! I love their fam so much! #goals

We had a half birthday dinner party and it was so fun! Sister Mortensen (in the Woodland 2nd ward) has the same birthday as me, so one of our members had all four of us over for a half birthday dinner!
We had mashed potatoes (half purple/half red potatoes), halved Brussels sprouts, half Cornish game hen, and for dessert we had a cake/pie. It was so fun and cute! I'm officially 20.5 years old.

I got to be reunited with the Selees on Saturday!!!!! They're seriously my parents away from home. I LOVE and miss them so much, and I got to spend almost all day with them! They took me to Uncle Steve's memorial service, which was so great, and I got to see some of my cousins, so that was happy. Also they took me on a pizza date in downtown Portland afterwards, which was so cute. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!

I'm sick again, so for p day we're hanging out at a member's house, 

and she set up the couch like this for me. <3 so cute!

I have seriously met some of the best people here. This has become my new home, and it will be so hard to say goodbye. But I'm so excited to see my family and friends from home again. I AM SO BLESSED!

This week (11/7/16 email)

For Halloween, Sister Mandin and I last minute dressed up as sheep. So that was fun! 

But they were hot costumes so we really only wore them for a few seconds 

and then changed into comfy clothes to play sports. 

But it was fun!

This one girl, B, got baptized in May and her husband, M, is supportive and everything but used to preface every conversation emphasizing the fact that he will never be interested in the church. Haha we were always like, "Okay, M, that's fine. We can still be your friend!" But he's slowly made changes every time we see him, and it's amazing! None of us have been pushing anything, but he decided to come to church, and now he said he wants to stop chewing tobacco and smoking weed and drinking alcohol. At church, he would always announce that he's not interested and he was only going to support his wife, but in the lesson B was like, "M, you know that's not the real reason you go to church. You love it there!" Lolol. He then admitted that he loves church and wants to be baptized. So he's on date for January 28! He picked that date, but honestly at this rate I bet he'll push it forward. He still has a lot of change ahead of him before he can get baptized, but he's been improving by his own free will every week, so I believe in him!

Also we had our first lesson with this super nice man, T, and he's on date for baptism on December 10! He has family members that are active in the church, and he said he's always been intrigued but never asked them any questions. Then we ran into him as he was working outside and taught him a bit and he asked us to come back. So that was so meant to be! We've only taught him the first lesson, but he's definitely on the right track.

Our last district meeting of the transfer we all tried to wear black and white. 

Here's another role reversal picture of the elders and sisters in the zone. 

And we tried taking a panorama but I look so awkward bc I started to laugh when it was on me...

but it still looks good from afar so here you go!

Here's a cool scripture for the week: Alma 14! I was studying Ether 12, which references a bunch of stories where people went through a trial of their faith before they were able to experience a miracle. One of the references was to the story of Alma and Amulek in Alma 14 and I think everyone needs to take a look at that chapter. Alma and Amulek went through some crazy hard and gruesome things even though they were good, righteous people. But God pretty much teaches them that no eternally bad things happen to good people. It's cool! Love you all!

Halloween 👻 🎃 (10/31/16 email)

J got baptized this weekend! He is such a wise and mature little 13-year-old! We went to his Sunday School class, and most of the kids were messing around or on their phones, but J was just sitting quietly listening to the teacher. He is so amazing! Honestly, I was having a hard time paying attention in that class - the teacher was just reading for most of it - but J was doing great! He also invited some of his friends to his baptism, and we were so proud of him! Then we found out he was hanging out with a couple friends on Saturday, and it went kind of like this: "Hey, guys, I have to go soon. I'm getting baptized." "Oh cool. Well my mom can't pick me up, so can I go to your baptism?" "Yeah sure. Do you want to come too?" "Yeah sure." Lol. But either way, they came! And one said he wants to come to J's next lesson to learn more!

Also it was rainy a lot this week so we look like wet dogs.

We had a ward Halloween party, and it was such a good turn out! Every year, this ward has a chili cook-off and then a trunk-or-treat right after dinner. It was AMAZING! First of all, we were the judges so we got to try a bite of every chili! Thankfully none of them were too spicy. My favorite was a white chili with chicken in it - SO GOOD! But second of all, I swear everyone in the town of Woodland and their friends from neighboring towns came! It was so fun and cute...and also overwhelming, because I felt like I had to introduce myself to everyone and casually ask if we could set up a time to come over and teach them. We got a couple appointments set though!

We've been doing service for this cute and feisty woman, L. She is so sassy it's crazy. But one day, as we were washing her car, she asked what our first names are and how we spell them. Then, as we were leaving, she surprised us with these cute homemade pumpkin cookies and some amazing walnut brownies and Halloween goody bags. She's so cute and sweet! I just love her.

Last picture! We've been teaching this couple, B & T, and they have two sons, B & B...lol this might be confusing. But anyway, the younger son is so cute and he always runs up to me with a new book and jumps into my lap. Normally that would be a dream come true and I would just be in heaven, but we're not supposed to have kids on our laps on the mission, so it tears my heart up every time I pull him off my lap. So, yeah, here's a picture with him. He's so cute! And both him and his brother say the cutest, most sincere prayers!

Tonight we're having a zone party for Halloween. At first, our Mission President was going to have us stay inside on Halloween and weekly plan (like we did last year, which worked well). But then he decided that's too boring, so he told us to plan zone parties. I hope this doesn't get too casual and out of hand...we're just kids!

Well I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful Halloween. Stay safe and try to limit your candy intake!

Stake Conference (10/24/16 email)

This week as we were out driving, we saw a fire truck that said, "ON FIRE FOR JESUS," 

and decided we needed to meet the people that live there. 

We pulled in as the mom was feeding her alpacas and chickens, and she was so friendly! 

She let us feed her alpacas.

And when we asked if we could get a picture with their truck, 

she said, "Yeah we have a parrot too! Do you want me to go get him so he could be in your picture?" Lol that just made my day! This is probably the most random picture from my mission so far.

Yesterday was Stake Conference, and I had a major "God doesn't do random" moment. I was pumped because I expected the ASL sisters to be there to interpret for this one hard of hearing woman here in Longview. I haven't seen them in so long, and now they're training a new ASL sister, so I was just so full of excitement to see them! But then they never showed up, and the hard of hearing member didn't either. I was so bummed and confused because there were two rows reserved for deaf members in the front but no one showed up. But then as the meeting was starting, I saw this deaf man come in and sit in the front row! I was so excited that I snuck up there and asked him if he needed an interpreter. He was so happy and immediately said yes! He said he had moved up here from Medford, OR in August and hadn't been to church or told anyone from church that he's living up here. But this morning he felt like he should go to church so he got dressed and came down not knowing that it was Stake Conference. It was just so meant to be because the ASL Sisters didn't come because they didn't know any deaf people were going to be there, but I happened to be there because it was Stake Conference! It was just such a dream come true to be able to interpret again! And then I got his contact info so the ASL sisters can come meet with his family.

I feel like I haven't told you much about what it's like here in Woodland, so here it is: It's a tiny little town and a loooooooot of boonies with hills. So we see a lot more animals than humans in the average day. We try to schedule appointments for the evening times because it's scary to be out in the boonies in the dark, but there's not much for people to do in town, so they're usually home. Sometimes Sister Mandin and I just pause and think, "How did we get here?" But we looooove this ward! Seriously, I hope I spend the rest of my mission here.

As we were driving into town one night (because it was getting too dark to stay out in the boonies), we felt like we should stop by and visit our friends, B and T. We eventually made it up their treacherous driveway and saw B on his porch. He told us that he had just found out that his best friend/cousin died, and so he was really happy to see us. He said we always seem to stop by when he needs us the most! Then his wife, T, came out and we talked for a while. They're just amazed that we somehow always know when to stop by, so we told them it's definitely the Spirit and they said they want to come to church now! God has a perfect plan for everyone, and we just get to be a part of it sometimes!

I looooooooove my mission so much! The mission life has just become who I am, so it'll be so weird going back into the real world. I just love everyone over here! But I'm excited to be able to see the sun again...it's so dark here always.

Love you all!

Invitation Sunday (10/17/16 email)

For dayyyyssss we've been hearing crazy warnings of some super strong storm that's going to hit Vancouver and Longview and everything up here in the NW. We all stayed in on Saturday morning when it was supposed to hit and nothing happened lol. Apparently it hit further north than expected. But I've never seen this place so quiet and dead before! There was nobody on the streets or anything because everyone locked themselves in their houses preparing for this giant storm. Everyone we talked to thought we were crazy for being outside, but nothing ended up happening here. So we're safe and we survived the storm! But we were supposed to have Elder Anderson and a member of the Seventy and a member of the Presiding Bishopric come to our mission, and the entire mission was going to meet in the mission office on Saturday morning, but that had to be put off until January because of the weather. And I won't be here in January! 💔  But everything happens for a reason, and we were able to contact some people we wouldn't have been able to contact otherwise on Saturday morning! So God knows what He's doing. Also we have another member of the Seventy coming for a mission conference in November!

Yesterday we had an "invitation Sunday" where we had a guest speaker come and the ward had previously made invitations to invite their friends. It was so great! The guest speaker was Jeff Chatman, who apparently played basketball for BYU and ended up getting baptized and married to a member while he was there. He was such an amazing speaker! The podium almost couldn't go up high enough for how tall he is, though. But J came to church and it was great! We've been teaching J for a few weeks. His half sister, who is a member, took him shopping for church clothes on Saturday so he'd feel more comfortable at church. He looked so sharp! It was such a good day! And also, when we were washing our car at our ward mission leader's house last week, his neighbor walked over and said hi to them so I walked up and joined the conversation and we invited him to invitation Sunday and he came! Apparently he's actually a member but hasn't been for about 20-30 years. He said, "I liked that. I think I want to do this again sometime!" So that's all exciting news.

Now for the pictures. Sister Mandin and I made another music video and got really into it. 

The music video is long and boring for the most part, but here are some screenshots. 

Here's our zone at a zone breakfast we had at our stake president's house. 

I definitely wasn't ready for the funny pic. 

On exchanges Hermana Alvarez saw a random bunny rolling around in the mud and picked him up. Haha she was so excited to see a bunny that she chased him down and got a picture with him.

Our mission president shared D&C 64:33 with us this week and I just love that verse! It says: "Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great." As long as we're working with diligence and making the most of every moment, we're making a difference. Whether we can see the fruits of our labors or not, we can be assured that we're making a difference as we're trying our best.