February 15, 2016

WOW WOW WOW! The week of transfers is always ridiculous.

The news has come in and I’m STAYING!!  Hallelujah!  Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about Sister Larsen. She’s getting transferred to Ridgecrest, my first zone!! In the middle of nowhere, ha ha, she'll have a blast. And I’m getting Sister Kelly Bryan as my new companion, who was my sister training leader for 2 transfers when I was in Bishop!! It's madness.  ALSO, since work in the shire is going so well, they’re bringing in a THIRD SET of missionaries!

This week was interesting to say the least. The most out of the ordinary was the fact that we got news that a few sisters were in the ER so we went there to keep them company and help calm them down (turns out to be a crazy case of kidney stones). So we left the hospital around 1:30 am, but as we know, missionary work does not end! So we got up at 6:15 as usual, and the Lord blessed us with energy because I didn't feel like I was going to die :D  Those sisters are the bomb, though; they were laughing and having a good time despite the fact that they spend 20+ hours in the hospital that week... Turns out Bakersfield has the, wait for it, NUMBER ONE HIGHEST MEDICAL BILL FOR ALL US AND CANADA MISSIONS!! And its number 3 in the world!! A true accomplishment!

 

Teaching a 13 year old, walking down the street
Bakersfield, CA, February 2016

We had a lesson with a man named V, one of the sweetest human beings on the planet. He and his wife just love missionaries even though they’re not LDS. They baked bread and waited at the door and asked us to help with their garden. And we brought our ward mission leader along with us, who used to belong to their faith until he was 26, and he just went all preacher on us. He literally talked for 30 minutes straight about the bible and restoration and Book of Mormon and I thought my brain was melting by the end it was so intense. But they seemed to like it! So not all lessons go by the book, ha ha.        

The B family is doing well!! We had a few lessons with them this week and they kept complaining because they want to be baptized today and not in March. They’re the sweetest, and they baked us cupcakes! They have a really good understanding of the gospel, it’s been so fun teaching them and watching them just take it all in. Seeing their Mom and extended family get more involved is just as incredible. This gospel really does bless families so we can be together forever!!

We had some fun experiences knocking this week. At one point a Mexican woman danced and told us how her grandson has Jesus in his heart but doesn’t go to church. She spun around a lot. She’s like 70 and was in a night gown. Also we had a 4 year old slam the door in our face, it'd be sad if it wasn't so funny!!

This next transfer is now 7 weeks (instead of the normal six) so we're PUMPED to get out there and get to work! I love it here and all the cool experiences I’m getting, I love you all and hope this week brings miracles!!