13 Months Down. D Ridge Round 5.

This week was so much fun. We had FHA, Family home afternoon, which is where all of the elders and sisters in the zone get together and we eat and play games. It was super rad. 

The next day, Thursday, I went on exchanges with Sister Allison in Florence. It's been my dream my whole mission to get sent to Florence, and it looks like Thursday was my only chance. hahah but at least I can say I served a day in the FloZone. It's just super humbling, and what I thought I'd be serving in. But I love where I'm at! 

Sister Anderson is going home to Tennessee tomorrow, and I'm super bummed. But I know that my new companion is going to be amazing; I find out who my new companion is on Wednesday!

Last night there was a New Member fireside, which is where new members come and tell their conversion story. Super awesome surprise...I GOT TO SEE SISSY! One of my converts from when I was in Highland. I love her with all of my heart. She's the cutest thing in the world. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Here's one of my favorite quotes from our prophet, Thomas S. Monson:

"I have been thinking recently about choices. It has been said that the door of history turns on small hinges, and so do people’s lives. The choices we make determine our destiny.  May we ever choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong. As we contemplate the decisions we make in our lives each day—whether to make this choice or that choice—if we choose Christ, we will have made the correct choice." 

1. tracting signs. 

2,3. FHA

4,5,6. District !.

7. Elder Green's dying wish was for us to take this picture. 

8.MY BEAUTIFUL SISSY

9. National Corndog Day

 The elders got a hold of my camera.

                                                          Our zone leader's voicemail

There's a hole in my bucket, Dear Liza.

This week we went to the temple with our zone! It was so much fun. Here in the AZ GIL, we have a tradition where we go to Kneaders afterwards and get the all you can eat french toast. Each zone "competes" to see which zone can eat the most....we definitely didn't win. 

We had dinner with one of our bishops this week, and we played 4 square with his family! It was so much fun! 

My companion and I went to breakfast with Stephanie Moore and her Sister Shay. 

It was so fun to see someone that I know, and to catch up! 

Diane, our 80 year old investigator, is on date for APRIL 1ST!! 

We're so so excited. She told us that she knows without a doubt that this is what she wants to do. She came to church yesterday, and she was cracking me up the whole entire time. She was commentating on everything everyone was saying. She's a savage. We're teaching her the rest of the lessons this week. 

Her daughter got baptized when she was 16, but we can't find her church records, and if we can't find them by the time of Diane's baptism..her daughter said she wants to get baptized again. If we can't find them..that means she's not a member. So we'll see what happens! Either way..it's going to be an absolutely amazing day. 

It's been about 80-90 degrees each day this week, and we've been tracting, knocking door to door, about twice as much as we normally do..so I have some pretty rad tan lines! 

I hope that everyone has an amazing week, and remember that YOU are a child of our Heavenly Father. He loves each one of us unconditionally, and that we could never do anything to lessen that love for us. 

https://www.lds.org/blog/what-it-really-means-to-be-a-child-of-god?cid=HP_FR_3-3-2017_dOCS_fBLOG_xLIDyL2-1_

 

 

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Polly is dead

So this week we had a lesson with our Chinese investigator. He finally prayed outloud in front of us! Which is a huuuuuuge step. He didn't believe in God when we first met him, and now he is starting to. It's amazing to see someone's faith strengthen so much in such a short amount of time. 

We had a lesson with the Allison this week. Her husband is a member, and she has taken  the missionary discussions for at least 7 years, but she's never had sister missionaries before! I loved her lesson this week. We just talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is Faith, Repentance, Baptism, The gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the end. The spirit was so strong during the lesson. I loved it! She said that the information we were telling her..that she just didn't get it before, but that she does now. It's amazing how time can soften someone's heart. 

We helped with our investigator's garage sale. They're moving to Georgia. It's so sad that they're moving, but change is needed sometimes! 

We also had a lesson with a less active in our YSA, Young single adult, ward. He got baptized a year ago, and doesn't know much about the gospel, so we're re teaching him the lessons. It's so fun to teach people our own age! 

In Sunday school yesterday at church someone read the quote to us: "as someone has said, if we do not choose the kingdom of God first, it will make little difference in the long run what we have chosen instead of it." 

This world is crazy. It's super fast pace and focusing on how we look, how many material things we have, and how popular we are.  What matters is that we're happy, that we're following Heavenly Father and His teachings, and that we're immersed in the Gospel. 

I'd rather choose Heavenly Father than to choose the world. 

All pictures: we played at top Golf today as a zone, and we played football this morning. 

Cactus Picture: it has nice little fuzzies on it, so it doesn't look scary. BUT it actually is. I touched the little fuzzies, and they all stuck into my hand. Everything in AZ is meant to kill us. 

"You guys don't proselyte do you?"

If I got a dollar every time someone asked me this question..I'd be rich. 

Yes, we do proselyte. I think you're thinking of tracting, ya know, going door to door, we do that as well.

This week has been so much fun! 

We had zone conference, which is when a group of missionaries get together and we get to have training from our mission president. 

We talked about the Doctrine of Christ, which is faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. 

I love that Heavenly Father sent Jesus Christ to the earth to set up this Gospel. These few things are given to us so that as we do them, we can constantly become better and more close to our Father in Heaven. 

I'm so thankful that we have infinite number of chances to become better people. 

The next day we had interviews with our mission president. It's so much fun to be able to talk to our mission president and his wife one on one and get to know them better! 

We were at dinner the other night with this rad family, and I was sitting by their 7 year old son. He poked me on the head and lifted up his shirt sleeve, and said "hey..hey..so uuuuhh do you want to feel how big my muscles are?" I lost it and died laughing! The dad just told me that his son is prepping me for when I get home from my mission. 

Remember! Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love you beyond words, and they will NEVER leave you alone.

https://www.lds.org/liahona/2017/02/as-i-have-loved-you?lang=eng&_r=1&cid=HP_TU_14-2-2017_dPFD_fLHNA_xLIDyL2-1_

1-5. Here are pictures of me and my rad zone. We went ice staking last week. 

6. I missed my cactus picture last week..so here we go. 

This is a dead cactus. Dont worry..if you touch it..it will still poke you and make you cry. 

 

One Year Down.

So this week was pretty raaad (but when are my weeks not rad?) 1. because it was Arizona's birthday. 2. I celebrated my year mark! 

On Valentine's day we had a lesson with Mariah. It's awesome to see people progress even after they've joined the church! We got to go to the Rockin R Ranch with Brother and Sister Reed! It was so much fun. It's this cute little Western dinner theatre! We went to the soup kitchen as normal, and this week I was helping hand the food out instead of being in the back making boxes of food for people. It took everything inside of me not to bust out in tears. I think I, and a lot of other people, take for granted that we have a house, food, and water. That we don't have to worry about where our next meal comes from. These people don't have that, and it makes me feel like a horrid person because I take for granted everything that I have..even as a missionary. Let us all remember and be thankful for everything that we have! (Alma 26:11,12,&16)

We haven't heard from one of our less active members, Debbie, for a few weeks now, and the other day she asked us if we could come over and give her a lesson. We did, and her non member mom had moved in with her. Her mom, Diana, told us that she has been meeting with the Elders in Apache Junction, and that she wants to get baptized! So we're going to finish teaching Diana and baptize her! It's amazing how Heavenly Father works. 

Thinks are looking up! Well..besides Sister Anderson peacing out soon. 

We had a mission fireside last night..where recent converts came up and bore their testimonies of the gospel and shared their conversion stories of how they came to know that this church was true. I definitely needed it. Sometimes you need a kick in the hiney to remind you of how much you love what you know. I know that this is the true gospel on the earth today. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us so much, and that they would do anything for us to come to them. I know that none of us are really ever lost. We're always in the sight of our God, and He is always waiting for us to come back to Him. I know that there is an prophet on the earth today that helps guide us to where our Father in Heaven wants us to be. 

I hope everyone has an amazing week! 

https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/collection/childrens-bible-videos/the-atonement

1. package from Aunt Shonda :) 

2-4. My babe companion and myself

5. ONE YEAR PICTURE

6-8. Burning my skirt and shirt