SO MUCH EXCITEMENT (12/7/15 email)

Wow what an eventful week!

Boy was this week AMAZING!! Wow. We had a wedding, a baptism, transfer

letters, cookies, and more. Stay tuned!

Soooo this week was R and S's wedding! We had the opportunity to help

them see the importance of marriage and they are just so cute and in

love and they are being SOOO blessed because of the decisions they're

making. They are the literal cutest <3

Also, R got baptized the very next day and was confirmed the very next

day after that! He is just so open and genuinely wants to do all he

can to follow God. He has such a strong testimony of the importance of

families and he said he's going to bear his testimony next month in

sacrament meeting.

Umm transfer letters?? So the letters always come on Saturdays, and if

we don't get a letter that means we're staying. This Saturday we

checked the mail and didn't get any transfer letters, so we immediately

called Penny and we were all rejoicing over the glorious news that

we'd all be together for Christmas. But then things

changed...apparently the letters were sent out late. I finally found

out today that I'm going to be a sister training leader (like a zone

leader but specifically for sisters) in Gresham, OR! Omg I am on a

roller coaster of emotions! I was so sad when I found out I was

leaving Vancouver, but now I am so happy to know I'm going to Gresham

to be an STL! I'm going to be serving in the Kelly Clark Ward in the

Gresham Stake with Sister Singleton, who was my very first sister

training leader when I got here! I'm excited...but also sad to say

a temporary goodbye to everyone here...but also excited!!

Also, I'm not sure if I ever told you about T, so I'll tell you about

him now just in case. In HS, he had some Mormon friends in choir and

such, and he came to church once last year to sing in sacrament

meeting. Anyways, he came to his friend's farewell a few weeks ago, and

his friend, Sarah, invited him to meet with us. Well we met with him

and now he's preparing for baptism on December 19. Thankfully I'll get to

come back for the baptism even though I'll be serving in Gresham at

that point! SO MUCH EXCITEMENT YAYAYA :)

We also made cookies with sweet Sister Ball this week. <3 She is so

wonderful. We baked a million cookies with her and then delivered them

to some investigators and less active members. It was such a great

experience because we prayed about who all we should bring them to,

and four of the families we brought them to said something like, "Oh

my gosh we were just talking about how we miss you two!" God doesn't

do random, people! He just doesn't!

Well I have about a gazillion pictures/videos I want to send to y'all,

but I'll narrow them down. 

Wedding Day! <3

I had to take some goodbye pictures with Penny, Sister Reeves, and of

course Penny's psycho cat.

 This cat tries to bite/scratch anyone who

touches her, but I just love her so much! I feel like we have this

bond, so sometimes I build up the courage to hold her. I sure am going to miss Psycho! 

Sister Reeves and I squeezed in a quick trip to the mall today. (It is so hard to find time to actually do things haha we were running from store to store.)

Oh also, I was watching the Christmas devotional on BYU-TV and I

loooooved this quote: "May all the lights this season remind you to

look to the ultimate source of all light because He is the way." Ok I

think I quoted that all wrong so idk why I put quotation marks around

it haha but the same message is there and that's what counts. Remember

our Savior this Christmas!! (Also everyone should visit

Christmas.mormon.org because it is amazing and has a bunch of cool

GIFs about Christ's birth and a short video and music and everything

good all in one website.)

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Hello again (11/30/15 email)

Wow it's been so long. I completely forgot to send a group email last
week haha my bad!

Well this week we finished planning R's wedding and baptism! His
fiancé wants to sing "Families Can Be Together Forever" with us at his
baptism <3. They just melt my heart! Their wedding is Friday, then his
baptism is on Saturday.

Also this guy, TR, has met with us twice and he's getting baptized on
December 19. He was so ready to meet us! He grew up Catholic but has
recently been wondering what the truth is, so he started looking into
different churches and has already received the answer that this is
God's church. It's amazing how quickly your prayers can be answered
when you have an open heart.

Awk story: Our district leader was on the phone with us the other day
and (oh background info - Sister Reeves can't have gluten) he randomly
said, "Oh I was gonna tell you this today, but I forgot! I just bought
some Nutella and it says it's gluten free!" We immediately started
freaking out and saying, "Oh my gosh yesssss! We love Nutella! Haven't
had it in so long! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Then he just said,
"Umm...I only bought one for me...I just was excited to tell you it's
gluten free." We were honestly so embarrassed after that - too
embarrassed to even laugh at ourselves in front of them, but then
right after we hung up we started cracking up. Ughh...why did we just
assume he bought us Nutella??

These cute girls in the ward gave us some of her Halloween candy and

made us cards - honestly the cutest!

Sister Reeves is always taking sunset pictures haha like constantly. Here's one with me & my cute helmet.

Oh my goodness this made my day. We looked up the house where we're staying on Google maps and found Penny mowing her lawn!

Well I am loving the opportunity I have to serve here. It's amazing the difference it can make when you're living without all the distractions of the real world (not gonna lie I really miss certain distractions like Snapchat and Netflix, but for the time being it's all worth it haha) because I'm able to completely focus on God and my purpose here and learn so much from the scriptures. It really is such a blessing! I love y'all and I hope everyone's enjoying their Cyber Monday.

Inspirational quotes week (11/16/15 email)

This week we had interviews with President Taylor, and he said he
usually doesn't keep trainers with their trainees after the 12 weeks
of training is over, but Sister Reeves and I work so well together
that he feels like we might both be able to stay here! Obviously
nobody knows for sure until the transfer letters are sent out, but
that would be a dream come true to stay here for Christmas! Ahhhh I'm
praying hard!

R and S are still making major progress every week! Ughhh I love them.
I can't tell you how excited I am for the wedding and baptism! They're
just both so genuine and humble and nice and everything good.

We had dinner at B's house and she's doing so well! When we talk about
certain things she tears up, but she knows she's well loved and cared
for. I'm so grateful she was able to come back to church right before
her husband passed away because it would not be the same experience
without the love and support she has from the ward members.

Sister Reeves and I went on exchanges with our sister training
leaders, and we got to have a sleepover with all four of us
together!

The second hardest part about being on bikes here is trying to jump onto the seat in a skirt.

The kids here just love sister missionaries and we feel like celebrities walking into church! This cute girl ran up to us this week and gave us each a drawing she made. She said this is a picture of the church haha idk why she said thank you though...

I have so many quotes I want to share with y'all this week but I guess I'll try to narrow it down. I was reading in Preach My Gospel and it said, "For your testimony to have convincing power, you must be sincere. Powerful testimony is not dependent on eloquence or the volume of your voice but on the conviction of your heart." So true!! So many times it's the meek and humble testimony that really affects you the most. Testify of what you know to be true, and the Spirit will be there. Don't try to make yourself sound wonderful because that will just drive the Spirit away.

Here's some more quotes I love. 

God loves us all soooooo much! He wants us to be happy and ultimately receive the joy that He has. That's why He gives us guidance and commandments through His prophets--so we can know how to be eternally happy. God is great!

6 week kitten (11/9/15 email)

Cool/creepy story: So I am so sure that we're constantly guided by the
Spirit on our missions. Sometimes with Sister Floyd or Sister Reeves
we'd walk up to a house and just look at each other and walk away
without having to say anything because we both just get a creepy
feeling. Well now that we're on bikes I get kind of paranoid at night
haha, so I get confused with what's my paranoid thoughts and what's
divine guidance. Well this one night we walked up to this house of
someone we'd visited before and knocked on the door. As I was walking
up I felt creeped out but didn't say anything because I thought I was
just being paranoid. Then after knocking I pictured something really
creepy happening and I just thought, "Wow, Cassie, you are so paranoid.
Stop thinking like that." But thennnnn Sister Reeves said, "Umm I feel
creeped out." So we left (we usually knock twice but we skipped the
second knock) and Sister Reeves told me what she pictured
happening...and it was the SAME THING I PICTURED! Weird. So we both felt
creeped out after that and we started singing hymns as we biked and
just felt soooo comforted as we sang. Then, the instance we walked in
our home at night, we immediately felt 100% safe. This home is
seriously like a safe haven. We may be paranoid when we're outside,
but once we step foot in here our thoughts are calm.

I'm sorry if that was a little too creepy haha. It was just cool to
know that we're always guided and comforted by the Spirit. Well, on a
happier note, we were officially invited to R and S's wedding, and we're
planning R's baptism now. Also, they just got this cuuuute kitten.

How I feel when Sister Reeves takes Zoey from me

 How I have to ride my bike to try to stay warm

When I realized I look more like a newspaper deliverer than anything

Doris took us to Red Robin!

REALLY NEAT QUOTE: "No matter where you live or what life circumstances you find yourself in, you can make the choice to succeed regardless of your challenges. Don't ever give up. Keep going. Don't quit. Remember it's what you do with what you have that makes you who you are." We all face different challenges whether they have to do with addictions, families, finances, or whatever it may be. It can be so easy to feel alone and inadequate, but we can accomplish anything through Christ. He knows us perfectly and will succor us, if we let Him.

First week on bikes! (11/2/15 email)

Let me just tell you, I forgot how much I loved riding bikes until now!
Honestly, having the car taken away was a complete blessing in
disguise. Don't get me wrong - the soggy clothes is still rough and
staying warm is a struggle. Overall, though, riding bikes has been
such a blast! We actually had our first fall last week in front of a
really busy street. It was pretty embarrassing as we crawled back
to our bikes, but we don't think anybody we know saw us, so we still
have some dignity.

R and S are planning their wedding for December 4 and then R's baptism
for December 5!!!! We really couldn't be more excited for them <3

B's husband unexpectedly passed away. We didn't want to visit her
right after, just in case she didn't want company so we left her a
note, but then she texted us saying she wanted us to come visit her
that night! Honestly I can't imagine what she's going through, but I am
so happy she didn't let this change her mind about meeting
with us or anything. It can be so easy to let trials pull you away
from God and His church, but that's when you need Him most.
"Distancing yourself from the kingdom of God during a trial of faith
is like leaving the safety of a secure storm cellar just as the
tornado comes into view."

We talked to this Chinese girl, D, and told her about the Book of
Mormon. She said she's heard of it but never read from it. When we
told her we could bring by a Mandarin Book of Mormon, she got so
excited! She clenched her fists and shook them as she said, "Ooh! For
me? You girls are so nice!" Haha we gave it to her a few days later and
she still had the same amount of excitement to read it and pray about
it.

This was included in my package from Shari hahaha my dream come true!

 Sister Reeves and me at the transfer meeting - still together for at least six weeks!!

 We got to go to lunch with Liz!! It was EXACTLY what we needed. Thank you, Liz :)

Sister Reeves and me enjoying our hot chocolate after our first freezing night, biking in the rain. 

Sister Reeves documented almost every step we took after giving up our car haha. Thankfully it's still been sunny most days.

Well, everyone, I just know that everything happens for a reason. Every little thing - whether we see it as a blessing or a trial - is part of God's plan for us. And He will help us reach our divine potential if we let Him. God is great and He knows and loves us all.

SUCH A GREAT WEEK (10/26/15 email)

We have the very greatest mission presidency there ever was anywhere.
And our Mission President's wife said she's not too busy this month so
we can invite her to come to some lessons with us. We brought her to a
couple of our lessons and it's just always so great to talk to her. (She said
she honestly loves every one of her missionaries as much as her
biological children - we are so well cared for here.)

Sister Reeves and I didn't get transfer letters!!!! We are so happy we
get to stay in Nehalem, buuuuuuut we got bad news too...we have to
give our car to another area. Haha right as it's starting to get
freezing cold! There are just so many new missionaries so they have a
lot more companionships than they do cars, and our area is the smallest
area that still has a car. Thankfully, all the members of the ward are
sooo sweet and are all offering to loan out their bikes or even drive
us when they're available. This will be an experience...everyone knows
how much the cold affects me haha, but it'll just build character,
right?

We had a "Sister Study" (a meeting where all the sisters in a zone get
together because most of the time we're outnumbered by Elders so we
need some girl meetings every once in a while) and someone said
EXACTLY what I needed to hear: "You have the opportunity to bear
Christ's name. You can only wear that tag for 18 months so do the most
you can while it lasts." (...or something like that haha--I might have
paraphrased it) But seriously I really needed to hear that. This is a
huge opportunity, so I better make the most of it while I'm here!

Cute story: We were driving over to stop by and see this one man, but I
accidentally stopped at another investigator's house without realizing
it. Haha Sister Reeves just looked at me and said, "Well everything
happens for a reason - maybe we're supposed to visit them (L and G)
right now," so we knocked on the door. (Background: L and G are a
couple - about 30ish - and they speak Russian better than English, but
they wanted an English Book of Mormon so they could practice their
English. We haven't ever had a real appointment with them because
every time they set up an appointment time they end up having to
reschedule for a few days later, but they say they have questions for
us. Also, we found out another investigator of ours, M, is G's brother
- God doesn't do random!) Anyways, we knocked on the door and G's
adorable and sweet dad answered the door. They were just having a
family dinner there. He spoke very little English, but he called out
his granddaughter to translate a little bit at the end. Apparently
he's read the Bible ten times! We told him about the Book of Mormon
and Sister Reeves went and got a Russian copy out of our car for him.
When we gave it to him, we had him read a few paragraphs in the
introduction and he almost cried! We gave him the copy, and he said,
"For me?? For free? Thank you! Thank you, girls!" and gave us a group
hug hahaha. Then the rest of the family gathering came on the porch and
gave us all hand shakes and hugs and waved/blew kisses as we drove
away. So now three different households of their family have copies of
the Book of Mormon - L and G, M, and now grandpa (we couldn't
understand his name). Such a big, sweet Russian fam! <3

This girl loves animals! She has a bunny, some cats, a lizard, some chickens and chicks, and a dog. She told us all of their names and said she'd test us to see if we remember them all next time haha I only remember Maggie Moo the cat...

Penny's cute granddaughter, AKA my mini-me! 

Right after we got the call from our AP - "We have good news and bad news - we have to take your car away, but we have a bunch of candy we can give you at the transfer meeting." This better be some nice, dark chocolate - not just the Almond Joys that nobody else wants.

This cute girl of a family were teaching wanted a picture with us just in case we got transfer letters, but we didn't!

WE'RE STAYING IN NEHALEM WARD!!!!!! :):):):):)

Well keep me in your prayers haha because idk how I'm going to survive the cold. I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week!