Just sent some random photos- realized most of them were of me by myself haha, I promise I have friends, I suppose I am just super vain and dont like to share the spotlight! haha. Life here is locaaaa, everything is going good. Claudia Cardona paid her tithing this week, she got a check she wasnt expecting and we had just taught tithing and she thought it would be a good way to show her gratitude to God for the unexpected surprise- she is very very cool. Their family are our only progressing investigators right now and it is such a task to get through a lesson with them. Juanita is flaking, superrr not cool, she has canceled multiple appointments so we dont know whats going on with her despite our efforts to see her and get her back on track. We gave a tour to this old guy this week, we thought he was golden because he went to check out the temple but was so mad when they didnt let him go in so he wanted to meet with missionaries to find out how he could enter... found out he is a photographer and wanted to see inside to take pics.. not that he was actually interested in the religion. This week we were able to have a really fun FHE with Karla and her kids and her brother's kids and it was super fun, its so awesome that Karla is being so strong wanting to come back to church and she is setting a good example for her brother who, although he hasnt come to church yet, is slowly coming around.
I am playing soccer in the mornings, haha ok not really playing soccer since really its just me running up and down the parking lot with a soccer ball but I have changed my eating habits and exercising hardcore, you should see the fridge- everything is green! Im on a serious health obsession right now and I am really liking it- hopefully it sticks! I will weigh 115 by the time I come home, thats the goal. This morning was especially awesome cuz 2 Mexican guys came and juggled the ball with me and it made me feel super legit and Latina for those 5 minutes haha. My Spanish is coming along I suppose, my vocab has expanded significantly so its really cool. The members always say to the missionaries if they want to speak Spanish better they need to eat more spicy food... haha just so you know Sam- that is a myth!!!! I am so excited for you as you go to the temple this week. Pray before you go. How are you feeling as your mission date slowly gets closer? Youll be awesome, I have no doubts.
Everything here is good, I am feeling a lot more positive this week, there will always be moments of frustration in life but its how you deal with it that counts- I guess venting to you guys about my companion issues is not really the best way to live according to that little nugget of wisdom, but hey, we are only human haha. Sister Clawson and I had a good week, I gave myself an attitude check and all is now is ship shape. President wrote me an email today that was really nice, telling me to help my companion finish strong etc. It was cool, he knows what all his missionaries are like I have noticed.
This morning a member took us to a really awesome bakery called Portos Bakery... oh my goodness, it was the bomb, it was in Glendale and I am stuffffffed and it was delicious, Ill take you guys one day.
p.s. next week p-day is Wednesday because that day we are going to the temple- hoooooray! So dont expect an email on Monday! hugs and kisses
4.11.2011
4.04.2011
Week 45
This week was fabulous. We moved, that was a big event so we lost a lot of time but it is sooooo nice to be in our new apartment, I am still getting used to it. I loveeee it, they did everything new and its so nice not to live with a member. Did I mention that we are Cesar and Elia's neighbors (former investigators), even though we are no longer teaching them- they are my very favorite people and last night they called us at 9 and said to stop by their door before ending the day because they had bought us burgers and fries haha, they love us and we love them. Elia took us to swap meet today, which was fun but I controlled myself and didnt buy anything- yay! So the new apartment is awesome, I was gunna email pix but I forgot to charge my camera and it is dead- next week!
Another highlight of this week- GENERAL CONFERENCE! Oh my goodness I just loved it!!!! So many awesome talks, I loved them talking about the importance of women and wives haha of course, I also loved the emphasis on the fact that our trials are for our good and the importance of the Atonement. I loved the tree analogy where the gardener chops the tree because I feel like that accurately summarizes my mission- I am the tree and Heavenly Father is just chopping me down haha- but its for my good so Im happy about it. We had 5 investigators come to conference- lower than our goal but they all lovedddd it.
Juanitas boss didnt give her Sundays off but said that every second or third Sunday she could leave early so not really sure what we are going to do about that since she is super ready to get baptized and just has that standing in her way. The Cardonas are progressing slowly but surely. We need new investigators!!!
Let me quickly express my love and gratitude for my wonderful family, I know that these things are not coincidence and that Heavenly Father put us 6 together for a reason (sometimes that reason may seem harder to see than others haha). I have been so blessed for being a part of the Christian family, I would not trade it for anything. I love this gospel, I am so happy to know that we can be together forever, the church is so true, the spirit witnesses that to me on a daily basis, it is just one of the reasons I am so glad that I decided to serve a mission. Dont forget the basics- daily prayer and scripture study are so emphasized because they are that important- what a difference it makes- I would know.
Another highlight of this week- GENERAL CONFERENCE! Oh my goodness I just loved it!!!! So many awesome talks, I loved them talking about the importance of women and wives haha of course, I also loved the emphasis on the fact that our trials are for our good and the importance of the Atonement. I loved the tree analogy where the gardener chops the tree because I feel like that accurately summarizes my mission- I am the tree and Heavenly Father is just chopping me down haha- but its for my good so Im happy about it. We had 5 investigators come to conference- lower than our goal but they all lovedddd it.
Juanitas boss didnt give her Sundays off but said that every second or third Sunday she could leave early so not really sure what we are going to do about that since she is super ready to get baptized and just has that standing in her way. The Cardonas are progressing slowly but surely. We need new investigators!!!
Let me quickly express my love and gratitude for my wonderful family, I know that these things are not coincidence and that Heavenly Father put us 6 together for a reason (sometimes that reason may seem harder to see than others haha). I have been so blessed for being a part of the Christian family, I would not trade it for anything. I love this gospel, I am so happy to know that we can be together forever, the church is so true, the spirit witnesses that to me on a daily basis, it is just one of the reasons I am so glad that I decided to serve a mission. Dont forget the basics- daily prayer and scripture study are so emphasized because they are that important- what a difference it makes- I would know.
3.28.2011
Week 44
Hey hey hey!!!
Mom thanks for forwarding Ethan and Lukes emails- they look like they are doing really well which is so awesome. The mission helps you grow up soooo Im happy for anyone that makes the right decision to get their butt on a mission. Its changed me so much, that is for sure, Im still cool tho, I think haha.
Eveything here is going good, today I have a doctors appointment, I am going to be asking for stronger medicine- the Plaquinil (sp?) is good and has helped but I am still pretty sore a lot of the time so I hope that it will all work out well. This past week we were able to teach some really awesome lessons, Hermano Luevano and I had a serious heart to heart last night and I was just asking him the most direct inspired questions and at the end I was like, "Hermano you need to come back to church" and he was like, "I know" and he just sat there thinking, it was cool, he has been through the temple and everything but the church burnt him out with callings etc.. I just dont know how you can receive so much spiritual truth and turn away from it, all the less actives I see know that their lives would be better with the gospel but the obstacles (and dont get me wrong- a lot of them have very big obstacles) keep them from making the changes that would make their quality of life so much better. It is frustrating to know what is best for someone and them not do it... freaking agency! haha.
Juanita was supposed to come to get baptized this coming Sunday but she didnt come to church.. so tragic. Yesterday we had Marcos Castillo's baptism which was a great success! He is Andrea's son (she was my first baptism back last year). The work is coming along, the Cardona family are progressing well but slowly because they talk soo stinkin much. We will be talking abut faith then Alfredo pulls up a random funny youtube video in his ipod touch...haha its funny but annoying, but they are awesome and will get baptized pronto.
Sorry I dont have more time, we need to head to Glendale to the doctors then we are going to that cool mall 'Americana' and meeting up with Hermana Herrera and Hermana Ence there... Should be fun, love you guys!!!! XOXOXOXO. Laura.
Mom thanks for forwarding Ethan and Lukes emails- they look like they are doing really well which is so awesome. The mission helps you grow up soooo Im happy for anyone that makes the right decision to get their butt on a mission. Its changed me so much, that is for sure, Im still cool tho, I think haha.
Eveything here is going good, today I have a doctors appointment, I am going to be asking for stronger medicine- the Plaquinil (sp?) is good and has helped but I am still pretty sore a lot of the time so I hope that it will all work out well. This past week we were able to teach some really awesome lessons, Hermano Luevano and I had a serious heart to heart last night and I was just asking him the most direct inspired questions and at the end I was like, "Hermano you need to come back to church" and he was like, "I know" and he just sat there thinking, it was cool, he has been through the temple and everything but the church burnt him out with callings etc.. I just dont know how you can receive so much spiritual truth and turn away from it, all the less actives I see know that their lives would be better with the gospel but the obstacles (and dont get me wrong- a lot of them have very big obstacles) keep them from making the changes that would make their quality of life so much better. It is frustrating to know what is best for someone and them not do it... freaking agency! haha.
Juanita was supposed to come to get baptized this coming Sunday but she didnt come to church.. so tragic. Yesterday we had Marcos Castillo's baptism which was a great success! He is Andrea's son (she was my first baptism back last year). The work is coming along, the Cardona family are progressing well but slowly because they talk soo stinkin much. We will be talking abut faith then Alfredo pulls up a random funny youtube video in his ipod touch...haha its funny but annoying, but they are awesome and will get baptized pronto.
Sorry I dont have more time, we need to head to Glendale to the doctors then we are going to that cool mall 'Americana' and meeting up with Hermana Herrera and Hermana Ence there... Should be fun, love you guys!!!! XOXOXOXO. Laura.
3.21.2011
Week 43
Life here is good, same ol same ol in Covina haha. So this is transfer #8 here and President told me I would be here next transfer to train so that is pretty loco. We are moving apartments next week because the lady we share the apartment with needs to downsize so we took matters into our own hands and are moving into a cute little studio in the hub of where we spend most of our time in our area so we are super stoked. It was a dumpppp but they are renovating it and we will be moving in sometime between the 25th and the 30th- so thats prettttty exciting! My first move! The work is coming along great, Juanita was supposed to get baptized this upcoming Sunday but she didnt get to come to church yesterday because of work so we will need to push it back (they need to come at least 3 times before they can be baptized- and obviously be taught all the lessons) so we are busy with her, she is solid and will deff be getting baptized here real quick. The Cardona family are still solid but not progressing quickly with the lessons as they are TALKERS and sooo hard to control... one minute we are talking about faith and the next he is showing us random ghost videos of of youtube on his ipod touch haha, deff need to figure out how to control the lessons a little more. We are working a lot with Karla, the less active and she is sooo awesome and her brother is a less active who served a mission and everything (he has a super crazy story) and he wants to come back to church and I just LOVE them so much. It is amazing to have been left here so long, these people are such a part of my life, I feel like a piece of my heart will always be here in Covina. I am veryyyyyy excited to train, Im gunna work her into the ground haha.
We got some insider info from up the chain that Elder Tom Perry will be visiting here in the end of April and that we will be joining the West LA mission to have a huge conference- that is gunna be sooooo legit. And conference coming up- wow its like Christmas! Minus the sweet phone call home haha. Mothers Day will be here before you know it though so its all good. Then Ill be home- weird how time passes. Some days are slowww and others go by so quickly but now looking back so far- its gone by fast.
Anyways, it is gross and rainy here. We have a zone activity that we are about to head off to- volleyball yay! Should be a good week.
We got some insider info from up the chain that Elder Tom Perry will be visiting here in the end of April and that we will be joining the West LA mission to have a huge conference- that is gunna be sooooo legit. And conference coming up- wow its like Christmas! Minus the sweet phone call home haha. Mothers Day will be here before you know it though so its all good. Then Ill be home- weird how time passes. Some days are slowww and others go by so quickly but now looking back so far- its gone by fast.
Anyways, it is gross and rainy here. We have a zone activity that we are about to head off to- volleyball yay! Should be a good week.
3.14.2011
Week 42
On Monday we had a really good time at the Huntington library with the Luenanos - it was full of history and the gardens were really pretty. There was a famous painting in there called "The Blue Boy" and I remembered having read about it in school so I felt so smart to actually recognize a painting haha. the weird things that bring me joy! Monday night we had a fun family home evening. Anyway the the week was busy but not super progressive but it was good. Friday night we had a ward movie night where we watched the Joseph Smith DVD and it turned out pretty good - you know I love popcorn so I was happy to sit and eat and watch a movie - deff a luxury. Saturday was transfer calls and we were with the elders eating pizza awaiting the calls - and sister clawson and I are together again for another transfer here in covina haha and I was informed by the president that next transfer I will be left in the area to train - sooo basically my mission will be Covina. So that will be 9 transfers here - wow! I love it. We are going to be moving into a cool new apartment next week so that will be my first move in the mission! haha crazy! Sunday 2 really cool investigators came to church for the 1st time. Juanita is our most golden investigator right now - she is sooo cool and she loved church. Bishop was shocked to find out that I didnt get transferred haha.
Sorry the letter is short - rather uneventful week but Im feeling good and am happy to stay in Covina.
Sorry the letter is short - rather uneventful week but Im feeling good and am happy to stay in Covina.
3.07.2011
Week 41
Tuesday we did a surprise goodbye party for our ex ward mission leader Hermano Palasuelos where we ended up eating lots of yummy food and playing an intense game of Signs – we are addicted. Thursday we had a tour with a lady named Juanita and she asked if she could be baptized before we even invited her – she is super golden – she is the mom of one of the youth who is a member, she said his good example has really touched her – a good example goes a long way! Friday we had an awesome lesson with recent convert Alexi, she amazes me – just so solid, this Sunday her formerly less active husband bore his testimony and got a calling so my heart was just filled with happiness to see such progress in both of them. Wow. Later that night we had a movie night with Blanca and the girls. We brought so much junk food – ice cream, cookies, brownies and popcorn and we watched the new Joseph Smith movie with them – they didn't know we were so persecuted back then and the girls kept saying "What the heck, what was their problem, just let them be Mormons" and "oh my gosh, now why are they taking Joseph Smith to Jail!!??" haha I love it.
On Friday we also got our key stuck in the car and after a 10 minute battle we called the elders to come help and Elder Weenig on his first try got it out and they went on to tell us "its because we're men" (While flexing their muscles of course) haha - pretty classic, I feel like we brought dishonor upon our gender! Haha . Saturday night we had a big dinner at the Remirezs house and Elder Kidd came with his family! It was weird to see him not in missionary clothes – I told him his facial hair looked stupid! Haha he and I were good friends so that was fun to see him. Sunday I taught the class in Relief Society, it was on the Restoration and the spirit was really strong and I really liked teaching it. I stood up and said " since I've been here so long they've assigned me to teach RS" haha.. I love this ward/area – transfers are quickly approaching, transfer calls are Saturday night – if I stay next transfer that means I'll be here for 2 more transfers cause Clawson goes home at the end of next transfers – so it’s a mystery. I'll be happy with literally whatever happens. I'm realizing President doesn’t have a lot of options due to drivers, seniors– so maybe he'll leave all of us. Regardless we need to move, Gloria, the lady we live with, needs to move so we are going to get relocated so we are on the hunt for a new place to live – kind of exciting, I'll keep you posted. The Cardona family were our only investigators to church – they missed sacrament though so I was all depressed that no one came. The work is coming along great, I'm working hard and can see the blessings and the happiness it is bringing to my life. Today we are going with the Luevanos to a place called "Huntington Library" (maybe google it) which is supposed to be really cool – big old mansion with a bunch of history and really cool gardens. It opens at 12 – so we are planning on passing all of pday there. We get to go to the temple next transfers so I am excited for that. Overall life is great and I am loving being a missionary.
On Friday we also got our key stuck in the car and after a 10 minute battle we called the elders to come help and Elder Weenig on his first try got it out and they went on to tell us "its because we're men" (While flexing their muscles of course) haha - pretty classic, I feel like we brought dishonor upon our gender! Haha . Saturday night we had a big dinner at the Remirezs house and Elder Kidd came with his family! It was weird to see him not in missionary clothes – I told him his facial hair looked stupid! Haha he and I were good friends so that was fun to see him. Sunday I taught the class in Relief Society, it was on the Restoration and the spirit was really strong and I really liked teaching it. I stood up and said " since I've been here so long they've assigned me to teach RS" haha.. I love this ward/area – transfers are quickly approaching, transfer calls are Saturday night – if I stay next transfer that means I'll be here for 2 more transfers cause Clawson goes home at the end of next transfers – so it’s a mystery. I'll be happy with literally whatever happens. I'm realizing President doesn’t have a lot of options due to drivers, seniors– so maybe he'll leave all of us. Regardless we need to move, Gloria, the lady we live with, needs to move so we are going to get relocated so we are on the hunt for a new place to live – kind of exciting, I'll keep you posted. The Cardona family were our only investigators to church – they missed sacrament though so I was all depressed that no one came. The work is coming along great, I'm working hard and can see the blessings and the happiness it is bringing to my life. Today we are going with the Luevanos to a place called "Huntington Library" (maybe google it) which is supposed to be really cool – big old mansion with a bunch of history and really cool gardens. It opens at 12 – so we are planning on passing all of pday there. We get to go to the temple next transfers so I am excited for that. Overall life is great and I am loving being a missionary.
2.28.2011
Week 40
Pday came very quickly this week, it was packed and very successful so it was awesomeee! On Monday we had a fun P-day with the zone activity where we played ultimate dodge ball again – I was a little bit more aggressive this time around so it was more fun because I actually was able to get 2 people out! Haha, that night we had a FHE with all the missionaries in our district with RS Presidents family which was so much fun because we played signs and they all loved it, I need to teach you guys to play when we all re-united, I learnt it at school.
This week we started teaching a new wonderful family, the Cardonas – they are Golden! We need to fix a few small thing like drinking beer and the big maria statue in the entrance of their hallway, but other than that we are really excited to be teaching them. This week we were able to give 3 investigators tours and have 6 new investigators, Heavenly Father is answering some very earnest prayers and blessing us with new people and success. Its been amazing we had 7 investigators to church on Sunday – its been great.
Friday I felt terrible and pretty much slept the whole day, I have had a super nasty sore throat and my voice has been very masculine this week because of it. Friday night though of course I had enough strength to go to the ward sports activity, which was a really fun activity expect the ward canceled it without telling the missionaries so it was just us and a bunch of investigators and no members... haha still fun but that wasn’t really the point, but oh well. Saturday we had a mini missionary with us and she was really cool, hermana lopex (18 years old) and she is actually going to BYU-I in the winter. On Sunday I taught the lesson in gospel principles class and it was a great success apparently. I was pretty nervous because I was so sick and while I was giving the lesson I felt really hot and dizzy, after the class we actually went straight home because I needed to lie down. I am feeling a lot better today – I slept pretty much all afternoon also but today I am feeling like the worst is deff over – just the flu apparently a lot of missionaries are suffering from right now. Also our ward mission leader got released because he is moving, funny to say that I will have been in this area long enough to be on my 4th ward mission leader haha. Maybe I am scaring them away!!?? haha.
Today so far has been a really fun pday, we went and met up with the elders for panda express for lunch and we were all really depressed because they didn't renew our money on our blue cards (they either do it the last or first day of the month. We all have a good time together, I am sad that Elder Escoto is going home, he is from El Salvador but he speaks perfect English even though he has never lived in the states - its really impressive. After panda we went to swap meet with Alejandra where I brought a shirt for $5 that had a Nordstorms tag on it for $36....love a good bargain! Then tonight is the goodbye party for Elder Escoto (good bye party/FHE) at the Ramirez's house so that will be cool.
This week we started teaching a new wonderful family, the Cardonas – they are Golden! We need to fix a few small thing like drinking beer and the big maria statue in the entrance of their hallway, but other than that we are really excited to be teaching them. This week we were able to give 3 investigators tours and have 6 new investigators, Heavenly Father is answering some very earnest prayers and blessing us with new people and success. Its been amazing we had 7 investigators to church on Sunday – its been great.
Friday I felt terrible and pretty much slept the whole day, I have had a super nasty sore throat and my voice has been very masculine this week because of it. Friday night though of course I had enough strength to go to the ward sports activity, which was a really fun activity expect the ward canceled it without telling the missionaries so it was just us and a bunch of investigators and no members... haha still fun but that wasn’t really the point, but oh well. Saturday we had a mini missionary with us and she was really cool, hermana lopex (18 years old) and she is actually going to BYU-I in the winter. On Sunday I taught the lesson in gospel principles class and it was a great success apparently. I was pretty nervous because I was so sick and while I was giving the lesson I felt really hot and dizzy, after the class we actually went straight home because I needed to lie down. I am feeling a lot better today – I slept pretty much all afternoon also but today I am feeling like the worst is deff over – just the flu apparently a lot of missionaries are suffering from right now. Also our ward mission leader got released because he is moving, funny to say that I will have been in this area long enough to be on my 4th ward mission leader haha. Maybe I am scaring them away!!?? haha.
Today so far has been a really fun pday, we went and met up with the elders for panda express for lunch and we were all really depressed because they didn't renew our money on our blue cards (they either do it the last or first day of the month. We all have a good time together, I am sad that Elder Escoto is going home, he is from El Salvador but he speaks perfect English even though he has never lived in the states - its really impressive. After panda we went to swap meet with Alejandra where I brought a shirt for $5 that had a Nordstorms tag on it for $36....love a good bargain! Then tonight is the goodbye party for Elder Escoto (good bye party/FHE) at the Ramirez's house so that will be cool.
2.21.2011
Week 39
This week has literally flown by! Monday we went to swap meet where my companion was really excited about how cheap everything was and bought a bunch of clothes. When I have money Im gunna come back and go on a serious shopping spree! After that we met up with the elders in our district (whom I love to death - we all get along so well and its been so much fun to be able to have a fun district for like the first time ever!) We went and ate and it was fun to get to know them better. After that we went to Alejandra’s house where she did acrylic nails on me - she randomly decided she wanted to learn so I was victim #2, haha. They turned out ok but I ended up ripping them off later in the week because I hate having nails - they get in the way of everything. On Tuesday my companion did the most ridiculous thing I have ever witnessed in my life. I was filling up the car with gas as she was checking the air pressure in the tires and she was checking the back left tire as the gas was filling and for some reason she decided she wanted to go under the gas pump while the car was being filled....needless to say - she did not fit and pulled the gas pump out as she went and it poured gas all over her. Hahahahaha. I was just watching this whole thing thinking, "what a ridiculous idea". So I was laughing about this pretty much the whole day.
Thursday was district meeting then afterwards we stayed at the church to decorate for our plan of salvation activity we had that night. It took us 3 hours and we got it looking pretty good and it turned out to be a great success. Last time we did the activity only 4 people came so they decided to re-do it and we put a lot more effort into it and 42 people came and we got 22 referrals. It was a great success and lots of fun so we were really happy with that. Saturday we had a tour with this lady named Guillerma who seemed normal when we contacted her but we soon found out that she indeed had a few screws missing. She talked the whole time abut the most random stuff then at the end of the terrible lesson she offered the prayer and said one relatively normal thing and then we all stood up but she stayed on her knees and started praying to Maria (the virgin Mary) and we were just looking at her like, "Oh dear: haha, maybe you had to be there it was pretty classic. Everyone has an obsession with the virgin Mary and guadalupe...its hard because it is very engrained in them from their Mexican culture. That night we had a lesson with Alexi and Oscar and they are so solid, even if I had no other success on my mission I would be happy to know that I played a role in them being brought to the gospel. That night I was saying how I am going to be here when they get sealed, they are just so awesome and I don’t know if I already told you but she bore her testimony in sacrament and it was so cool and I was just bauling, thats my new cool habit - cry - all the time - but happy tears so don’t worry!! Sister Clawson and I are getting on really well. I am happy and things are coming along, we are struggling to find new investigators but we just need to work harder I guess :)
Today should be a fun day, we have a zone activity at 2 and we will be playing ultimate dodgeball again - I happen to be super terrible at it but it should still be fun. Alright well I better go, the p-day adventures must begin (don’t be fooled, nothing too cool is happening today, haha
Thursday was district meeting then afterwards we stayed at the church to decorate for our plan of salvation activity we had that night. It took us 3 hours and we got it looking pretty good and it turned out to be a great success. Last time we did the activity only 4 people came so they decided to re-do it and we put a lot more effort into it and 42 people came and we got 22 referrals. It was a great success and lots of fun so we were really happy with that. Saturday we had a tour with this lady named Guillerma who seemed normal when we contacted her but we soon found out that she indeed had a few screws missing. She talked the whole time abut the most random stuff then at the end of the terrible lesson she offered the prayer and said one relatively normal thing and then we all stood up but she stayed on her knees and started praying to Maria (the virgin Mary) and we were just looking at her like, "Oh dear: haha, maybe you had to be there it was pretty classic. Everyone has an obsession with the virgin Mary and guadalupe...its hard because it is very engrained in them from their Mexican culture. That night we had a lesson with Alexi and Oscar and they are so solid, even if I had no other success on my mission I would be happy to know that I played a role in them being brought to the gospel. That night I was saying how I am going to be here when they get sealed, they are just so awesome and I don’t know if I already told you but she bore her testimony in sacrament and it was so cool and I was just bauling, thats my new cool habit - cry - all the time - but happy tears so don’t worry!! Sister Clawson and I are getting on really well. I am happy and things are coming along, we are struggling to find new investigators but we just need to work harder I guess :)
Today should be a fun day, we have a zone activity at 2 and we will be playing ultimate dodgeball again - I happen to be super terrible at it but it should still be fun. Alright well I better go, the p-day adventures must begin (don’t be fooled, nothing too cool is happening today, haha
2.14.2011
Week 38
I am so happy to report that things are going so much better – which I am very pleased about. Sister Clawson and I get along really well – she has a good heart and a nice person. The work is going well, my assignment from president was to "rebuild the area".... our poor ward has had so much missionary drama these past few transfers. Elder Franisco got sent home this past week, he only had 2 months left. He was one of my best friends. So there are two sets of elders on our district and both are white-washing, so I am the only person that was in this area before this transfer. Its cool because I kind of feel like I know everything so probably I will get transferred next transfer to humble me, haha. Sister Clawsons prediction is that we will stay together another transfer then I will train here in Covina here in April (that’s when 3 Spanish sisters arrive – I am still the last Spanish sister to enter the mission – crazy). Time will tell.
Zone conference way good by the way, I wore a cardigan from Sister Clawson's closet haha, it was a success. That is cool that Luke is already in Africa, I mean, Elder Fagg! I am sure it really is so hot there, Im happy for the moderate climate here in cali! Sam will appreciate it too!
This weekend we had the valentine's day ward activity which was fun, Edgar and Edgar came (haha junior and senior!) who are still our only investigators but we are working hard to find more people to teach. This week we did quite a bit of knocking and we found some promising potentials and multiple less active families and made return appointments . Karla is the coolest less active that we are teaching, she is 23 with 2 kids and she has such a desire to fix her life and have her kids grow up in the gospel. Every time we teach her it is such a spiritual boost because she just soaks it all up. I really love this gospel, I am grateful for the experiences I have had thus far in my mission but if nothing else – I am so grateful that I am learning so much about the gospel and myself and that my testimony has had the change to grow so much in such a short period of time. Everyone should serve a mission, it’s the worst and best of times haha., but in the end its all character building. I love the people we meet. Im so glad to here in Covina still – this area is the best, I love it. I am excited for the next chapter in my mission as I feel like it has become a lot more enjoyable and I can now lose myself in the work a lot more, whereas before I was more in a state of survival.... hah, not cool.
So we have some fun events lined up for today – we are going to a swap meet (the open air ghetto Latino mall haha) because my companion has never been so Hermana Seanee is taking us, then we are eating with our district at king taco.
Zone conference way good by the way, I wore a cardigan from Sister Clawson's closet haha, it was a success. That is cool that Luke is already in Africa, I mean, Elder Fagg! I am sure it really is so hot there, Im happy for the moderate climate here in cali! Sam will appreciate it too!
This weekend we had the valentine's day ward activity which was fun, Edgar and Edgar came (haha junior and senior!) who are still our only investigators but we are working hard to find more people to teach. This week we did quite a bit of knocking and we found some promising potentials and multiple less active families and made return appointments . Karla is the coolest less active that we are teaching, she is 23 with 2 kids and she has such a desire to fix her life and have her kids grow up in the gospel. Every time we teach her it is such a spiritual boost because she just soaks it all up. I really love this gospel, I am grateful for the experiences I have had thus far in my mission but if nothing else – I am so grateful that I am learning so much about the gospel and myself and that my testimony has had the change to grow so much in such a short period of time. Everyone should serve a mission, it’s the worst and best of times haha., but in the end its all character building. I love the people we meet. Im so glad to here in Covina still – this area is the best, I love it. I am excited for the next chapter in my mission as I feel like it has become a lot more enjoyable and I can now lose myself in the work a lot more, whereas before I was more in a state of survival.... hah, not cool.
So we have some fun events lined up for today – we are going to a swap meet (the open air ghetto Latino mall haha) because my companion has never been so Hermana Seanee is taking us, then we are eating with our district at king taco.
2.07.2011
Week 37
Here it is t-shirt weather, its perfect missionary weather in California because it is so moderate.
As far as life here, all is AWESOWE! My life got so much easier over night. Sister Clawson is a breath of fresh air. I am so happy to be with her and here in Covina for my 7th transfer! They are all so used to me here in the ward, sometimes I feel like I have like permanently moved here! Haha. I figured out that news travels fast in the mission, everyone knew about our emergency transfer like the next day – really weird how the gossip gets around! I don’t care I just think its funny. We are teaching Edgar and his son again, they are former investigators from way back when I first got here. Last night I pretty much had a revelation that we need to drop everyone (except Edgar) and start from the ground up. I am over our non progressing investigators and I feel confident that if we make more room for finding the Lord will put new people in our path. Overall I really love finding people because people really open to you and tell you their life story and its so interesting to me how we are all so different yet all here together in this world. So cool. I have been reflecting a lot on how glad I am to be here in this mission – I really know that this is where I am supposed to be. After everything I just feel grateful for the lessons learned and the testimony building experiences that I've had since arriving at the MTC. That’s why I am so happy that Sam will be joining the missionary work soon! Also this week was Stephanie and Ryans wedding which we had helped out with – it was a great success and everything turned out sooo pretty. Not sure who ended up winning the super bowl yesterday – knocking was no fun though because everyone was like, "we are watching the game don’t bother us!" haha. Yesterday we also knocked a house that had cauldron outside, like a ligeit caldron, we see all sorts of weird stuff, I love it. This week we have zone conference on Thursday so I am excited about that. Hmm. What to wear!? Haha. I have sooo many clothes that various people have handed down to me my wardrobe is staying pretty fresh! Overall everything is going really well here. Today we have a zone activity where we are playing dodge ball. Oh and mom pot luck to missionaries turned out to be pizza and spaghetti haha, nothing too fancy that’s for sure! We are gunna get pizza again today. Oh funny story – this week I put pizza in the microwave still in the delivery box and it lit on fire and basically now none of our district trust me in the kitchen hahaha. Ive also had multiple laundry accidents. So even though I am trying to be more domestic – I am struggling. Maybe I am more cut out for the workforce haha, nahhh
As far as life here, all is AWESOWE! My life got so much easier over night. Sister Clawson is a breath of fresh air. I am so happy to be with her and here in Covina for my 7th transfer! They are all so used to me here in the ward, sometimes I feel like I have like permanently moved here! Haha. I figured out that news travels fast in the mission, everyone knew about our emergency transfer like the next day – really weird how the gossip gets around! I don’t care I just think its funny. We are teaching Edgar and his son again, they are former investigators from way back when I first got here. Last night I pretty much had a revelation that we need to drop everyone (except Edgar) and start from the ground up. I am over our non progressing investigators and I feel confident that if we make more room for finding the Lord will put new people in our path. Overall I really love finding people because people really open to you and tell you their life story and its so interesting to me how we are all so different yet all here together in this world. So cool. I have been reflecting a lot on how glad I am to be here in this mission – I really know that this is where I am supposed to be. After everything I just feel grateful for the lessons learned and the testimony building experiences that I've had since arriving at the MTC. That’s why I am so happy that Sam will be joining the missionary work soon! Also this week was Stephanie and Ryans wedding which we had helped out with – it was a great success and everything turned out sooo pretty. Not sure who ended up winning the super bowl yesterday – knocking was no fun though because everyone was like, "we are watching the game don’t bother us!" haha. Yesterday we also knocked a house that had cauldron outside, like a ligeit caldron, we see all sorts of weird stuff, I love it. This week we have zone conference on Thursday so I am excited about that. Hmm. What to wear!? Haha. I have sooo many clothes that various people have handed down to me my wardrobe is staying pretty fresh! Overall everything is going really well here. Today we have a zone activity where we are playing dodge ball. Oh and mom pot luck to missionaries turned out to be pizza and spaghetti haha, nothing too fancy that’s for sure! We are gunna get pizza again today. Oh funny story – this week I put pizza in the microwave still in the delivery box and it lit on fire and basically now none of our district trust me in the kitchen hahaha. Ive also had multiple laundry accidents. So even though I am trying to be more domestic – I am struggling. Maybe I am more cut out for the workforce haha, nahhh
1.31.2011
Week 36
OK so heres the good stuff.... I am still in Covina! Transfer #7 here! My new companion is named Sister Clawson from Utah. She is a breath of fresh air after the past few months. Today she took me out for my birthday.
So I had my doctors appointment this week and he confirmed that I do indeed have rheumatoid arthritis so that was kind of tragic news. He also said that he thinks we need to keep an eye out for symptoms of lupus as it showed up in my blood but said not to worry because as of yet I am lacking a lot of the symptoms –so yeah. So I am taking a drug that is helping and everything is good so no need to worry.
We were fortunate enough to find a literally goldennnnn investigator and his son, Fernando and Danny and they are super cool. Danny came to church in a suit and everything (only down side is that he smelled like weed.... oh silly Californians), but they are awesome. Fernando got baptized this Sunday so it was really awesome that he finalllly got baptized! I gave a talk and it turned out to be a great success..... funny cuz the font was soooo little so we were worried that he was going to hit his head! But luckily he went down just fine – no collision! Sunday night Sister Clawson and I had an awesome lesson with Karla, a less active who is coming back to church and the spirit was so strong that we totally lost track of time and when we got in the car we realized it was 9.45 and that our district leader had called us like a zillion times for numbers (cuz we report them Sunday nights). Karla is so awesome though and it was an emotional lesson for me because I've been so stressed and then to feel the spirit so strong – I was crying like a little girl. I love missionary work and I am going to work super hard and be the best missionary ever for the time I have left - which weirdly enough is only 8 months, wow. I am so happy because our new district is the bomb. The new Elders are legit so we are gunna have a great transfer, we were all at email this morning and we were talking about how excited we were.
So I had my doctors appointment this week and he confirmed that I do indeed have rheumatoid arthritis so that was kind of tragic news. He also said that he thinks we need to keep an eye out for symptoms of lupus as it showed up in my blood but said not to worry because as of yet I am lacking a lot of the symptoms –so yeah. So I am taking a drug that is helping and everything is good so no need to worry.
We were fortunate enough to find a literally goldennnnn investigator and his son, Fernando and Danny and they are super cool. Danny came to church in a suit and everything (only down side is that he smelled like weed.... oh silly Californians), but they are awesome. Fernando got baptized this Sunday so it was really awesome that he finalllly got baptized! I gave a talk and it turned out to be a great success..... funny cuz the font was soooo little so we were worried that he was going to hit his head! But luckily he went down just fine – no collision! Sunday night Sister Clawson and I had an awesome lesson with Karla, a less active who is coming back to church and the spirit was so strong that we totally lost track of time and when we got in the car we realized it was 9.45 and that our district leader had called us like a zillion times for numbers (cuz we report them Sunday nights). Karla is so awesome though and it was an emotional lesson for me because I've been so stressed and then to feel the spirit so strong – I was crying like a little girl. I love missionary work and I am going to work super hard and be the best missionary ever for the time I have left - which weirdly enough is only 8 months, wow. I am so happy because our new district is the bomb. The new Elders are legit so we are gunna have a great transfer, we were all at email this morning and we were talking about how excited we were.
1.25.2011
Week 35
So in the year 2010 our mission had 557 baptisms! woot wooooot- I got to be a part of 12 of those so I feel pretty cool. This week I had exchanges with Sister Kimball- she was soooo cool and we had such a great time together. I am keeping my fingers crossed that somehow transfers leave me here in Covina with her- but of course because I say that- its not gunna happen. On Friday we had interviews with President which were good- he and Sister Pike came to our apartments to do it so it was kind of different.
We had a really cool tour with this guy name Fernando and he committed to baptism- super cool and the spirit was really strong. Edgar is a guy that I was teaching when I first got her with Hermana Kang and he randomly called this week and came to church on Sunday so we are hoping that we can pick him up again. On Sunday we had a meeting with the bishop where we went over the ward missionary plan- he is a really cool guy and that they were all making fun of me because this is the longest a missionary has ever stayed in this ward so they made me say the closing prayer since they said it was my last chance haha.
Today we have a zone activity where we are doing like a pot luck thing- we are doing it as a good bye party for one of the elders (our zone leader Elder Waller) who goes home next week.
I turn the big 22 this week- holllllla! I am super old huh!? We have transfer calls on my birthday so I am stoked about the whole day. We have also been invited to celebrate with like a zillion different people so I'm sure it'll be awesome. Sergios said hes gunna buy me an ice cream cake- hopefully he delivers haha.
Well everything is good here... I best be off to p-day adventures
We had a really cool tour with this guy name Fernando and he committed to baptism- super cool and the spirit was really strong. Edgar is a guy that I was teaching when I first got her with Hermana Kang and he randomly called this week and came to church on Sunday so we are hoping that we can pick him up again. On Sunday we had a meeting with the bishop where we went over the ward missionary plan- he is a really cool guy and that they were all making fun of me because this is the longest a missionary has ever stayed in this ward so they made me say the closing prayer since they said it was my last chance haha.
Today we have a zone activity where we are doing like a pot luck thing- we are doing it as a good bye party for one of the elders (our zone leader Elder Waller) who goes home next week.
I turn the big 22 this week- holllllla! I am super old huh!? We have transfer calls on my birthday so I am stoked about the whole day. We have also been invited to celebrate with like a zillion different people so I'm sure it'll be awesome. Sergios said hes gunna buy me an ice cream cake- hopefully he delivers haha.
Well everything is good here... I best be off to p-day adventures
1.17.2011
Week 34
Hey guys, so I had some awesome reading to do while I was waiting for my companion at the doctors. Actually I didnt really get to read them all there because I started talking to this elderly who are originally from Scotland and we got talking about the Isle of Mann as the lady spent all of her summers there growing up- so it was cool, we discussed Douglas beach, the laxey wheel and the fairy bridge, a those are all the landmarks that came to my mind on the spot haha, small world.
I heard that the Ravens lost to the Steelers- funny story actually, I was picking up pizza and there was a guy with a Steelers jersey and I said, "did the Steelers or the Ravens win?"... turns out he was deaf so I pointed at his jersey and did a thumbs up then a thumbs down then shrugged my shoulders so he knew it was a question.. he responded by pointing at his jersey and doing a victory dance haha... tragic for the Ravens.
Whats been going on this week? First, I tried to make banana bread for the first time- turns out that splenda and sugar are not the same thing! haha who knew!? So that was an ultimate fail haha, better luck next time. The other night I got a call from one of my favorite people, Elder Quintero singing me happy birthday- he was embarrassed to find out that he was off by about 2 weeks haha. He was in my district a few transfers ago and now serving elsewhere so it made me feel special regardless. Yesterday we had Stake conference so that was fun, Covina is the stake building so it was cool to see so many people there. There was a baptism after and as always I am the designated music conductor haha, it makes me laugh that they still haven’t noticed that I do it totally wrong haha. Our mission is all involved with the new mormon.org campaign- the church has a goal for getting 100,000 profiles made by the end of this year so you guys should go on there and do that. We get to go in the mornings to spend time to play around and familiarize ourselves with the website so thats fun, We have cool new pass along cards too- are they doing that in Baltimore? I found out that the next Spanish sisters coming in will be when we have transfers in April (I am still the last to come)- there are 3 Spanish sisters coming then so that will be cool. I am not sure what President is gunna do with me when we have transfers since I am senior yet the youngest- maybe Ill go back to junior haha, that would be funny/tragic but I really don’t mind whatever happens. We have interviews in our apartments this week with President and Sister pike- in my presidents letter I wrote and said that I was excited for interviews but that it will be the first time this transfer Ill be making my bed haha, I am always putting stupid stuff in my emails just to keep him on edge haha. Not sure if he loves it- he is very serious haha, but it makes me laugh so its worth it. Yep thats about everything going on with me I guess. I love and miss you guys, hope you have a great week!!! hugs and kisses. Laura.
I heard that the Ravens lost to the Steelers- funny story actually, I was picking up pizza and there was a guy with a Steelers jersey and I said, "did the Steelers or the Ravens win?"... turns out he was deaf so I pointed at his jersey and did a thumbs up then a thumbs down then shrugged my shoulders so he knew it was a question.. he responded by pointing at his jersey and doing a victory dance haha... tragic for the Ravens.
Whats been going on this week? First, I tried to make banana bread for the first time- turns out that splenda and sugar are not the same thing! haha who knew!? So that was an ultimate fail haha, better luck next time. The other night I got a call from one of my favorite people, Elder Quintero singing me happy birthday- he was embarrassed to find out that he was off by about 2 weeks haha. He was in my district a few transfers ago and now serving elsewhere so it made me feel special regardless. Yesterday we had Stake conference so that was fun, Covina is the stake building so it was cool to see so many people there. There was a baptism after and as always I am the designated music conductor haha, it makes me laugh that they still haven’t noticed that I do it totally wrong haha. Our mission is all involved with the new mormon.org campaign- the church has a goal for getting 100,000 profiles made by the end of this year so you guys should go on there and do that. We get to go in the mornings to spend time to play around and familiarize ourselves with the website so thats fun, We have cool new pass along cards too- are they doing that in Baltimore? I found out that the next Spanish sisters coming in will be when we have transfers in April (I am still the last to come)- there are 3 Spanish sisters coming then so that will be cool. I am not sure what President is gunna do with me when we have transfers since I am senior yet the youngest- maybe Ill go back to junior haha, that would be funny/tragic but I really don’t mind whatever happens. We have interviews in our apartments this week with President and Sister pike- in my presidents letter I wrote and said that I was excited for interviews but that it will be the first time this transfer Ill be making my bed haha, I am always putting stupid stuff in my emails just to keep him on edge haha. Not sure if he loves it- he is very serious haha, but it makes me laugh so its worth it. Yep thats about everything going on with me I guess. I love and miss you guys, hope you have a great week!!! hugs and kisses. Laura.
1.10.2011
Week 33
Something I was thinking about this Sunday was how cool it is that I've been able to stay in his area for so long and see the converts I was able to teach progress. Lorenzo is in charge of all the attendance sheets for Sunday school and he is such a simple humble guy so its cute to see him organizing the sheets for each class and putting them on the clip boards- he takes his responsibility so seriously, he literally melts my heart. Ernesto is 2nd councilor in the young mens. Those 2 are getting the Melchizedek priesthood this coming Sunday as we are going to be having stake conference! Blanca and her girls are awesome and Alexi and Oscar are set on getting married in the temple and I promised them I will be there for that- road trip after the mission! Its been a real blessing for me to get to know these people and see them better themselves by accepting the gospel. I love it.
Oh scary story. Manuela Silva is a lady I love very much, shes got a few screws lose but shes so nice. She recently kicked her crazy abusive boyfriend out of her apartment, he threatened to kill her etc. Yesterday we were at her house and he came and was pounding on the door, we told her not to answer but he kept knocking so she finally opened the door and went and talked to him outside while we were looking at the window all worried. Everything worked out ok, she came back in the house after a yelling match then locked the door, it took a while but he finally left. It made me grateful for always having such a stable home life. The more she tells us about her life the more grateful I am that I was born into a loving home and given so many opportunities and blessings. A lot of people dont have that- its sad to hear some of the things these people go through but its deff a good learning experience.
Overall the mission is super duper tough haha, for me personally I feel like it has deff pushed me to my limits and some days I very seriously just want to steal the car, drive to the airport and fly home haha, but its great- it feels good to be where you know you are supposed to be.
Oh scary story. Manuela Silva is a lady I love very much, shes got a few screws lose but shes so nice. She recently kicked her crazy abusive boyfriend out of her apartment, he threatened to kill her etc. Yesterday we were at her house and he came and was pounding on the door, we told her not to answer but he kept knocking so she finally opened the door and went and talked to him outside while we were looking at the window all worried. Everything worked out ok, she came back in the house after a yelling match then locked the door, it took a while but he finally left. It made me grateful for always having such a stable home life. The more she tells us about her life the more grateful I am that I was born into a loving home and given so many opportunities and blessings. A lot of people dont have that- its sad to hear some of the things these people go through but its deff a good learning experience.
Overall the mission is super duper tough haha, for me personally I feel like it has deff pushed me to my limits and some days I very seriously just want to steal the car, drive to the airport and fly home haha, but its great- it feels good to be where you know you are supposed to be.
1.03.2011
Week 32
2011 IS HERE!
Updates: Monday we had a zone activity, we are the only hermanas in our zone and the poor elders had to play volleyball instead of basketball to include us haha- it ended up getting pretty intense so it was fun. Afterwards I had arranged a white elephant gift exchange and that was a hit.. That night we went to Blanca's surprise birthday party and made the ugliest cake ever- we didnt want to wait for the cake to cool so the icing was super crazy then we tried to cover up the cracks with fruit loops... haha ultimate failure. We discovered a crazy huge catholic cemetery and it has a big museum with all these Jesus images on it. I always saw it from the distance so one day we took the adventure- I later consulted the map and realized I was wrong and it is not in our area (cuz its like a big hillside). haha whoops.
This week I have been super creative- on Monday I accidentally got bleach on my grey hurley sweater so I went crazy and flicked bleach all over it haha- my comp said its ugly but I think its fun. My lovely friend Rachel sent me an awesome christmas package and sent me a gingerbread house kit so I spent a good hour working on that. A family found out that I know how to sew so I did service for them going crazy on the sewing machine making curtains for their kitchen, they turned out good. Last night I cut my hair because I was feeling restless and took off a few inches- I regretted it in the morning- like always hahah, but its healthier so thats good. And last but not least- I played piano at the baptismal service this Sunday, yeah I know right- what were they thinking asking me!? hahah, just kidding, I didn't mess up- ultimate success. I also found out this week that my beloved ex-companion Sister Kang is dating Elder Montelongo- a missionary that left the same transfer as her from this mission- superrrrr crazy, I didnt believe it till a member showed me pix. Missionary hook up... haha, no comment.
Updates: Monday we had a zone activity, we are the only hermanas in our zone and the poor elders had to play volleyball instead of basketball to include us haha- it ended up getting pretty intense so it was fun. Afterwards I had arranged a white elephant gift exchange and that was a hit.. That night we went to Blanca's surprise birthday party and made the ugliest cake ever- we didnt want to wait for the cake to cool so the icing was super crazy then we tried to cover up the cracks with fruit loops... haha ultimate failure. We discovered a crazy huge catholic cemetery and it has a big museum with all these Jesus images on it. I always saw it from the distance so one day we took the adventure- I later consulted the map and realized I was wrong and it is not in our area (cuz its like a big hillside). haha whoops.
This week I have been super creative- on Monday I accidentally got bleach on my grey hurley sweater so I went crazy and flicked bleach all over it haha- my comp said its ugly but I think its fun. My lovely friend Rachel sent me an awesome christmas package and sent me a gingerbread house kit so I spent a good hour working on that. A family found out that I know how to sew so I did service for them going crazy on the sewing machine making curtains for their kitchen, they turned out good. Last night I cut my hair because I was feeling restless and took off a few inches- I regretted it in the morning- like always hahah, but its healthier so thats good. And last but not least- I played piano at the baptismal service this Sunday, yeah I know right- what were they thinking asking me!? hahah, just kidding, I didn't mess up- ultimate success. I also found out this week that my beloved ex-companion Sister Kang is dating Elder Montelongo- a missionary that left the same transfer as her from this mission- superrrrr crazy, I didnt believe it till a member showed me pix. Missionary hook up... haha, no comment.
12.27.2010
Week 31
So can I please emphasis how happy I was to be able to talk to my lovely family this Saturday!? It was so nice to chat and hear your voices and have an actual conversation, even if there was a time limit of 40 mins. My companion was like, "what did you guys talk about!?" and I was like, "nothing really, just enjoyed the chat!" and I mentioned that mother dear had a hard time keeping it together haha. Its nice to know that I am missed though, but also nice to know that you had a great Christmas even though 2 of the gang were missing (well I guess 3 if we count Don… still not really sure if he is included hahaha).
So for Christmas nothing too awesome happened, after the phone call it went to just being a normal day as the Latinos celebrate it the 24th so the 24th I was busy telling them that Christmas isn’t till the following day then the 25th I was mourning because I was too focused on it being on the 25th that I missed the festivities the previous day haha. But such is lifeeee. It was good though, I am officially pro at making tamales so prepare yourselves for when I get home! We literally went from house to house helping the moms make the tamales- that’s my kind of service! I feel like I don’t have much to report as I just talked to you 2 days ago but everything is going good here. On Sunday when we were knocking we met some really awesome promising future investigators, it seemed like every door we knocked was so nice- the Christmas spirit hit them I guess. These one people we said that we were missionaries and they invited us in, offered us food then left with a Christmas present haha, that’s my kind of tracting. So yeah, life is good, need new investigators but this is almost 100% deff my last transfer here in Covina so I wanna make the most of it. Today we have zone activity, people never really go to them cuz they aren’t fun haha, but we are gunna go today and see if anyone comes. Not sure why our mission is so boring buttttt I guess its helping me to make my own fun, which trust me I am doing! Well this is short but I love you guys, miss you tons, looking forward to mothers day and hope that you have a very happy new year- yay for 2011, it’s gunna be a great year! Love Laura.
So for Christmas nothing too awesome happened, after the phone call it went to just being a normal day as the Latinos celebrate it the 24th so the 24th I was busy telling them that Christmas isn’t till the following day then the 25th I was mourning because I was too focused on it being on the 25th that I missed the festivities the previous day haha. But such is lifeeee. It was good though, I am officially pro at making tamales so prepare yourselves for when I get home! We literally went from house to house helping the moms make the tamales- that’s my kind of service! I feel like I don’t have much to report as I just talked to you 2 days ago but everything is going good here. On Sunday when we were knocking we met some really awesome promising future investigators, it seemed like every door we knocked was so nice- the Christmas spirit hit them I guess. These one people we said that we were missionaries and they invited us in, offered us food then left with a Christmas present haha, that’s my kind of tracting. So yeah, life is good, need new investigators but this is almost 100% deff my last transfer here in Covina so I wanna make the most of it. Today we have zone activity, people never really go to them cuz they aren’t fun haha, but we are gunna go today and see if anyone comes. Not sure why our mission is so boring buttttt I guess its helping me to make my own fun, which trust me I am doing! Well this is short but I love you guys, miss you tons, looking forward to mothers day and hope that you have a very happy new year- yay for 2011, it’s gunna be a great year! Love Laura.
12.20.2010
Week 30
So this week on pday we went to this nice mall called la Americana cuz it was next to my doctors appointment. My comp spent $628 haha, I spent $8.34 hahah. We had a good time walking around etc so that was nice. Today for p-day its gunna be an errand day cuz we need to go to the office then get our wheels replaced and aligned soo thats fun!?
This week it has rained non-stop.. and it is still raining- ew. Funny thing happened we got a call from one of Glorias friends (the old lady we live with) telling us that she was worried about her cuz she hadn't answered her calls and didn't show up to a meeting etc so she told us to go home and check on her so we did and we were all worried that she was dead. We went in the room and yelled her name and she was just lying there all dead looking then the lady on the phone said we had to shake her, I was laughing cuz it was so ridiculous and we were scared she was dead, luckily- she was alive but we scared her half to death from shaking her hahaha. This week we also got to attend a wedding on Saturday night- it was fun to be able to go and we helped with decorations for the majority of the day too so of course I was in my element. Sunday was the highlight of the week as we had the baptism of Alexi and also Kevin finally got baptized. It was a spiritual boost for sure cuz it was really just a special service and they are such special people. Alexi didn't get submerged till round 6 haha butttt... she got in there finally so it was legit, her and I hugged when she got out of the water and we were both crying- loved it. I later got even more wet as the plug would not come out so I had to get in the font and bent down to unplug it haha, not really sure why I didn't make one of the elders do it but hey!
As far as transfers go we are all here to stay. Our whole District stayed the same so hermana herrera and I are about to embark upon another 6 week adventure together here in Covina- Im happy about it and feeling good about this new transfer. On the down side- we neeeed new investigators so we have alot of finding ahead of us which the rain makes tough. I wanna send pix so I'm gunna end here. Meerrrrry Christmassss! Love Laura
12.13.2010
Week 29
I have little time today because our pday has been pretty hectic!
This week has been good! Monday night we had FHE with Blanca and the girls and we watched the testaments and we were all crying and of course I bought pop corn- always looking to have a quality movie night. Thursday our district had a drama blow at district meeting, well basically my comp yelled at everybody- it was pretty umm.. Interesting, I really do know why elders say sisters are a hassle. Luckily I have been branded as 'not a hassle' haha, or so I have been told, so thats good. Friday was our ward activity and it turned out really cute, they picked our ward mission leader to be Santa which was a bad choice, hahaha he was so ridiculous, he was walking like a gangster and his arms up like a crazy person in all the pictures and his 'ho ho ho' sounded like an evil laugh, it was pretty funny. Saturday my comp took the ACT while I sat in a random teachers lounge and talked to this Vietnam vet for about 2 and a half hours. Great conversation, smart cool guy, I love conversations where you come away feeling like you see things a little differently. Kevins baptism fell through as his mom randomly decided to take him to Disneyland... tragic, but theres always next week!
My doctors appointment this morning was interesting, soooo heres the deal. I didn't have any factors show up in my blood but apparently there is a type of rheumatoid arthritis that doesn't show up in blood results and the doctors remain convinced that RA is indeed my problem. That being said my blood tests did some back with some indicators of lupus which is.. bad haha. But he said that I am lacking a lot of the symptoms (like losing hair and rashes etc) but that they could show up with time but overall he is pretty sure it is RA but he said that those lupus indicators caught his attention... so thats that! Maybe I am more sick than I realize huh!? Crazy. So I have more pills... 2 a day of 2 different things, the names escape me right now. So I have another appointment with him in 6 weeks Jan.24th.
Transfers are next Monday- I dunno whats gunna happen but Ill obviously let you know when the time comes.
This week has been good! Monday night we had FHE with Blanca and the girls and we watched the testaments and we were all crying and of course I bought pop corn- always looking to have a quality movie night. Thursday our district had a drama blow at district meeting, well basically my comp yelled at everybody- it was pretty umm.. Interesting, I really do know why elders say sisters are a hassle. Luckily I have been branded as 'not a hassle' haha, or so I have been told, so thats good. Friday was our ward activity and it turned out really cute, they picked our ward mission leader to be Santa which was a bad choice, hahaha he was so ridiculous, he was walking like a gangster and his arms up like a crazy person in all the pictures and his 'ho ho ho' sounded like an evil laugh, it was pretty funny. Saturday my comp took the ACT while I sat in a random teachers lounge and talked to this Vietnam vet for about 2 and a half hours. Great conversation, smart cool guy, I love conversations where you come away feeling like you see things a little differently. Kevins baptism fell through as his mom randomly decided to take him to Disneyland... tragic, but theres always next week!
My doctors appointment this morning was interesting, soooo heres the deal. I didn't have any factors show up in my blood but apparently there is a type of rheumatoid arthritis that doesn't show up in blood results and the doctors remain convinced that RA is indeed my problem. That being said my blood tests did some back with some indicators of lupus which is.. bad haha. But he said that I am lacking a lot of the symptoms (like losing hair and rashes etc) but that they could show up with time but overall he is pretty sure it is RA but he said that those lupus indicators caught his attention... so thats that! Maybe I am more sick than I realize huh!? Crazy. So I have more pills... 2 a day of 2 different things, the names escape me right now. So I have another appointment with him in 6 weeks Jan.24th.
Transfers are next Monday- I dunno whats gunna happen but Ill obviously let you know when the time comes.
12.07.2010
Week 28
Everything is good here. So on Monday the doctor prescribed me a steroid called Prednisone so that has been helping quite a bit. The thing is the pain is the worst in the morning and that's when I take the pill so it doesn't actually help till a little later in the day but I will take what I can get and this is just a temporary treatment till my next appointment next Monday when he will have the definite diagnosis. I am fine though, don't worry! I will keep you informed on whatever the doctor tells me! This Friday Hermana Herrera took the TOEFL test and I was in a super cold basement so bored so I decided to give myself permission to wait for her outside on the lawn where I fell asleep for the 4 hours she took the test haha. Nice little breather to be outside and alone- sooo nice. Friday was also Hermana Herrera's 24th birthday so I felt bad for her that she had to take that test on her birthday but afterwards we went and spent it with the Ramirez's and ate cake and all that fun stuff.
Saturday night we, and 40 other missionaries, worked as volunteers at the Covina Christmas parade so that was super fun to be able to just chill and watch the parade, we just had to hand out flyers and tell people to stay behind the blue line haha, It was cute.
Overall I am pretty excited about transfers coming up. We have transfers the 20th sooo we will see what happens.
This week we have the ward Christmas party Friday night then Saturday Herrera is taking the ACT in arcadia so I will hopefully we able to take another nap haha.
12.01.2010
week 27
Thank you for the package!!! We were laughing because I was like, "uhh I think my jacket shrunk" and my comp was like, "umm.. I think you got bigger" haha, I haven't though no worries. I am actually maintaining my weight pretty well considering we don't exercise- I am surprised. So we just got back from a very long visit to the doctors and he is pretty sure I have rheumatoid arthritis- wa hoooo. haha, yeah so that's not good but its not sure yet because they had to take more blood and test me for it to confirm it so I have another appointment with him in 2 weeks but he said he was pretty sure and got me some druggggssss yayyyy. I was kind of scared because on the sheet of paper I took for lab work he ticked some other boxes to test my blood for and one of them was lupus and other scary stuff so thats... interesting. So yeah, arthritis, he said it wasn't good but that medicine has come a long way and that there are treatments so I'm not gunna freak out- yet. haha. I'm excited to start taking these drugs as this week has been especially rough for me.
This week has been really good, the time is speeding up for sure. The transfer is half way over so thats crazy to think, our next transfers are the 20th so its literally right before Christmas so I realllllllly dont want to get transferred. This is my 5th transfer here in Covina so I know everything there is to know about this place haha.
So yesterday we had Blanca and the girl's baptisms!!! yayyyy. The girls are Jackie (15) Steph (14) Deanna (12) and Daniella (10) and they are soooo cool and the baptism went really well and it was so cool to be apart of it. Sister Pike and the Goolds came (cool senior couple that work in the mission office) so that was a pleasant surprise. They were very complimentary and very excited to see a family get baptized so that was legit.
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