Hi!!! Well, the rain stopped!!!! Back to my beautiful San Diego weather. The Overlie family sealing this week was so amazing. Sister Overlie was sealed to her parents, then to her husband, and then to her 4 children. It was so great. Those 4 little hooligans have become really close to me and I love them. Seeing them all dressed in white kneeling at the alter with their parents was a sight I will never forget. I bawled like a baby- no big surprise! Ryan's baptism didn't happen because he isn't quite ready but I have faith in him. DeAndre is still my favorite buddy. That kid is amazing. Even though we had to turn him over to the Elders to teach (because he is under 30 so in singles branch) we still see him and eat lunch with him fairly often. He asks us great questions and accepts the answers so willingly. We talk as if he will be a member and just say things like "when you go on your mission" and "when you get married in the temple" and he doesn't disagree but just goes with it. The other day he asked how you pay for a mission and we told him. He then said that he better start saving his money!!! It is just a matter of time. Transfer meeting is today. I am staying in Scripps Ranch (Miramar) but Sister Fesolai is leaving. I am a little nervous about being the "experienced" one-aka the one who is supposed to know how to find addresses and where we need to go. I've never been so good with street names so we'll see what happens. I'll let you know about the new companion....Well, things here are going and I'm keeping up with it. Brother Kunz is still a favorite member. He is such a good man and really takes care of me here. I know I can call him if I ever need anything. I will try to send pictures soon of the Overlies and the temple. I hope all is well with you all. I love you lots. Oh and Ryon Bingham is in my ward and I'm eating there next month. He plays football for the Chargers- My claim to fame!!!!! I love you all!
Sister London
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
We're "serving" in the rain!
Holy moly....what a week! I don't know if you've all heard, but Southern California is getting poured on this week starting yesterday. It is expected that this week we'll get 20 inches of rain. I think we saw 6 inches of that yesterday, at least that is how much was gushing in the gutters. I'm not sure if I've ever been so wet unintentionally in my life. I don't think I like the feeling of wet nylons. Seriously, my rain coat goes below my waist about 6 inches so my stomach was dry but my skirt was soaked. Literally dripping water. It was pretty funny. My shoes squirt out water when I walk! We do have a car but we still walk quite a bit so we got soaked. It was fun the first day but I don't know if it will still be funny when I am soaking and freezing on Thursday! It was funny because we showed up to dinner and Sister Hill (a recent convert) was shocked by how wet we were. She lent us some clothing and we put ours in the dryer while we ate. I'm sure we were quite a sight but hey- memories were made.
So funny story- my companion Sister Fesolai has six brothers and is not a girly girl at all. She has never curled her hair or worn makeup but we have an investigator- Najiba- from Afghanistan who takes it upon herself to "doll up" Sister Fesolai. Last week she put makeup on her and it was the funniest thing I've ever seen. Sister Fesolai was so scared. She kept moving further and further away from Najiba. I literally had to hold her head while Najiba put lip gloss on her and I had to use my muscles to really hold her still. It honestly was so funny. She was completely freaked out at the end with the result!
The Overlie family is getting sealed on Saturday and I am so excited!!!!! I get to go to the San Diego temple and see them sealed! DeAndre, our 18 year old miracle, is still doing awesome. Sadly, he is 18 so we had to turn him over to the singles ward elders- I must say this is a rule I have a hard time with...we can't teach anyone under 30 even if we find them and they want us to teach them. It breaks my heart because we have a really strong connection with him. I know he will be baptized soon and I hope I am able to attend. We still check up on him and are friends with him because he needs us. He has never had a real mother figure and as cheesy as it sounds I think we are somewhat that to him though more like a sister. I think the hardest thing of my mission so far has been giving up DeAndre to the elders. I really had a hard time with it but I'll trust that he and I'll be blessed for my obedience to the mission rule.
Stake Conference this week was amazing. President Uchtdorf and Elder Holland spoke about forgiving ourselves and resolving to live with the spirit of love and forgiveness. An analogy of going to the dentist was given....You don't want to go to the dentist(forgive) but you have to get the decay out so you can let the healing start. I still don't think I like the dentist but I feel justified in that because neither does Elder Holland!!! Loreto, a Philipino man, we recently found through a referral did something cool yesterday. We were teaching him for the 2nd time. The first time we mostly helped him register on ldsjobs.com so we haven't even taught the Restoration yet. We were just talking about 3 Nephi 11 that we had him read and the importance of baptism came up. We asked him if he thought it was important and he said "yes when can I get baptized? " We were very shocked because that never happens. He was dead serious. So between our surprise and our laughter we said how about February 20th and he said ok, that will work. So I guess Loreto is getting baptized on February 20th! There is such a contrast between the people we teach. Some need months to convince themselves and others are sincerely ready in 2 minutes because they know it is true. I love it!
Basically, I'm staying busy. Transfers are next week and Sister Fesolai is convinced she will be leaving because she's been here 6 months already and only has 2 left. Me, I hope I stay here. I am really growing to love the members here-they are incredible missionaries. I hope you all are doing well. Write and tell me about everything. I like to hear what is going on because it helps me realize that you are all ok. Otherwise, I assume you are all on hold wallowing in your sadness of missing of me!
I love and miss you all. Thank you for your prayers. Don't forget Ground Hog's Day is coming up!!!!!
Love ya, Sister London
So funny story- my companion Sister Fesolai has six brothers and is not a girly girl at all. She has never curled her hair or worn makeup but we have an investigator- Najiba- from Afghanistan who takes it upon herself to "doll up" Sister Fesolai. Last week she put makeup on her and it was the funniest thing I've ever seen. Sister Fesolai was so scared. She kept moving further and further away from Najiba. I literally had to hold her head while Najiba put lip gloss on her and I had to use my muscles to really hold her still. It honestly was so funny. She was completely freaked out at the end with the result!
The Overlie family is getting sealed on Saturday and I am so excited!!!!! I get to go to the San Diego temple and see them sealed! DeAndre, our 18 year old miracle, is still doing awesome. Sadly, he is 18 so we had to turn him over to the singles ward elders- I must say this is a rule I have a hard time with...we can't teach anyone under 30 even if we find them and they want us to teach them. It breaks my heart because we have a really strong connection with him. I know he will be baptized soon and I hope I am able to attend. We still check up on him and are friends with him because he needs us. He has never had a real mother figure and as cheesy as it sounds I think we are somewhat that to him though more like a sister. I think the hardest thing of my mission so far has been giving up DeAndre to the elders. I really had a hard time with it but I'll trust that he and I'll be blessed for my obedience to the mission rule.
Stake Conference this week was amazing. President Uchtdorf and Elder Holland spoke about forgiving ourselves and resolving to live with the spirit of love and forgiveness. An analogy of going to the dentist was given....You don't want to go to the dentist(forgive) but you have to get the decay out so you can let the healing start. I still don't think I like the dentist but I feel justified in that because neither does Elder Holland!!! Loreto, a Philipino man, we recently found through a referral did something cool yesterday. We were teaching him for the 2nd time. The first time we mostly helped him register on ldsjobs.com so we haven't even taught the Restoration yet. We were just talking about 3 Nephi 11 that we had him read and the importance of baptism came up. We asked him if he thought it was important and he said "yes when can I get baptized? " We were very shocked because that never happens. He was dead serious. So between our surprise and our laughter we said how about February 20th and he said ok, that will work. So I guess Loreto is getting baptized on February 20th! There is such a contrast between the people we teach. Some need months to convince themselves and others are sincerely ready in 2 minutes because they know it is true. I love it!
Basically, I'm staying busy. Transfers are next week and Sister Fesolai is convinced she will be leaving because she's been here 6 months already and only has 2 left. Me, I hope I stay here. I am really growing to love the members here-they are incredible missionaries. I hope you all are doing well. Write and tell me about everything. I like to hear what is going on because it helps me realize that you are all ok. Otherwise, I assume you are all on hold wallowing in your sadness of missing of me!
I love and miss you all. Thank you for your prayers. Don't forget Ground Hog's Day is coming up!!!!!
Love ya, Sister London
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Quick "Hi"
Hi everyone. I just spent 40 minutes writing an email and then my computer shut out of the program so sorry- no news this week. Things are going well. We found DeAndre- he's 18 and so ready for the gospel!!!!! I love you lots!
[I also got some pictures from Lori that I posted, I apologize for the layout--I'm still new at this blogging. I don't know the explanation for the twin outfits, the middle picture is the 10 minutes of New Year's Eve fun they had with party hats and all, and the bottom picture is from their Christmas Eve emergency room visit.]
Sister London
[I also got some pictures from Lori that I posted, I apologize for the layout--I'm still new at this blogging. I don't know the explanation for the twin outfits, the middle picture is the 10 minutes of New Year's Eve fun they had with party hats and all, and the bottom picture is from their Christmas Eve emergency room visit.]
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Happy New Year!
Hi everyone! I hope you are all surviving the post holiday season and getting back into the swing of things. I'm still here and it is getting really warm, 75 degrees most days! Finally time has started going by quicker. For awhile there it was going really slowly. A lot has happened since the last time I wrote. It's a new year! I'm getting older because I distinctly remember what I was doing New Year's Eve 10 years ago. Heather [London] and I were sitting on the couch at our house with awesome "2000" glasses on and getting ready to pull a confetti popper when the ball dropped(and of course eating little smokies) Crazy how years fly by. New Year's eve we had to be in at 6pm and did weekly planning until bed time- pretty wild eh? Our Afgani investigator Najiba, who is such a sweetheart, made us dinner that we brought back to our place. It was rice and lamb with some kind of green gooey stuff- not too bad. Who knew I'd eat Afgani food while on a mission in California. Besides that fun, I made Sister Fesolai make New Years hats and wear them for a few minutes and our friend Anna (an rm who helps us out quite a bit) came over for some hat wearing fun! Sister Fesolai thought I was crazy for the hat thing- she hasn't seen nothing yet! We are getting along well and learning from each other. I still can't say I love being with someone 24/7 but we have fun. On Monday a drunk/crazy man rode up to us on his bike in a parking lot and asked us if we knew Jesus. We said yes and he pointed to the sky and told us to teach everyone to "chief luff bluff" So everyone.... "chief luff bluff" If any of you figure out what that means let me know! There are definately crazy people but it keeps things rolling. The work is slowing down. We had to ,what I call, "Lay Down the Law" this week with a few of our investigators because they just weren't getting anywhere.
Sadly we had to drop 3 of them. That is the hardest thing because you see glimpses of these people grasping concepts and feeling the spirit yet they aren't willing to change. We can't force them. One that just ripped my heart out was a man, his wife, and 3 year old daughter from the middle east. They are Hindu. They are so kind to us and love us to come visit. I've seen them understand and feel the spirit but they just won't change- it's too hard. It is so sad because we talked to them about eternal families and asked how they would feel if they could be with their family forever. The man replied that in essence it didn't make a difference because they believe that in the next lives you will be someone different with different family so in this life your family isn't extremely important because you won't see them again after this life. How sad to go though life with that belief, that all your time on this earth is for naught. It is very sad, especially when you look at their beautiful daughter. We've been able to do some work with reactivation which is going well. One of the less active families who live on the military base are the Jones. He is related to all the Jones, Creagors, and Pentz families in Morgan and Henefer so that was a fun connection. He grew up in Vernal but knew Morgan well. Small world. It's cool because that connection makes it easier for them to invite us in and trust us. We had 3 investigators who were supposed to come to church this week and none of them came- sad....:( That seems to happen a lot. Satan works just as hard as we do.)
One of the things that is the hardest is that we teach lots of single males and thus have to have another woman go with us to teach- a member. It is pretty difficult to find people willing to come with us at a few hours notice because that is all we have. I've been amazed by how much of missionary work involves the members. They are everything and we are very blessed to have such great member missionaries.
My first Zone Conference is coming up this week which is exciting. We were asked to memorize all 5 lesson sequences and a scripture for each which turns out to be about 50 scriptures and we're also supposed to be caught up in our Mission President's challenge to read the Book of Mormon in 75 days. Holy moly.....I have no time. We aren't supposed to do our reading during our study time in the morning so therefore the only time is the 2 minute break you get once a day and the 5 minutes before you go to bed. It's nuts!!!! I was very excited for a p-day today so I could catch up. The most exciting news is that Ryan is still doing really well. Because of stake conference, we had to move his baptism to the 23rd of January. The 23rd will be a busy day. The Overlie family is getting sealed in the San Diego temple (which I get to go to) and then we have to rush back for Ryan's baptism! His family are mostly Jehovah Witness and are not very supportive of his decision but he is a strong person. One thing I've seen, is that accepting and living the gospel is not an easy thing. I don't think it ever will be-for anyone. It just comes down to having to set all else aside to know that you are a child of God and that is all that really matters. When it comes down to it and you set aside your family and obligations you have to do what you have to do to return to live with God-that is everything. That is our purpose and his plan. I am growing to feel more strongly my Heavenly Father's love for me and for all of his children. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Christ's church established on the earth again through a living prophet. I hope you all have made a New Year's resolution to be better at sharing the gospel. It honestly doesn't have to be scary. Try it!!!! I'll do it if you do it!!! I love you all and miss you lots.
Sister London
Sadly we had to drop 3 of them. That is the hardest thing because you see glimpses of these people grasping concepts and feeling the spirit yet they aren't willing to change. We can't force them. One that just ripped my heart out was a man, his wife, and 3 year old daughter from the middle east. They are Hindu. They are so kind to us and love us to come visit. I've seen them understand and feel the spirit but they just won't change- it's too hard. It is so sad because we talked to them about eternal families and asked how they would feel if they could be with their family forever. The man replied that in essence it didn't make a difference because they believe that in the next lives you will be someone different with different family so in this life your family isn't extremely important because you won't see them again after this life. How sad to go though life with that belief, that all your time on this earth is for naught. It is very sad, especially when you look at their beautiful daughter. We've been able to do some work with reactivation which is going well. One of the less active families who live on the military base are the Jones. He is related to all the Jones, Creagors, and Pentz families in Morgan and Henefer so that was a fun connection. He grew up in Vernal but knew Morgan well. Small world. It's cool because that connection makes it easier for them to invite us in and trust us. We had 3 investigators who were supposed to come to church this week and none of them came- sad....:( That seems to happen a lot. Satan works just as hard as we do.)
One of the things that is the hardest is that we teach lots of single males and thus have to have another woman go with us to teach- a member. It is pretty difficult to find people willing to come with us at a few hours notice because that is all we have. I've been amazed by how much of missionary work involves the members. They are everything and we are very blessed to have such great member missionaries.
My first Zone Conference is coming up this week which is exciting. We were asked to memorize all 5 lesson sequences and a scripture for each which turns out to be about 50 scriptures and we're also supposed to be caught up in our Mission President's challenge to read the Book of Mormon in 75 days. Holy moly.....I have no time. We aren't supposed to do our reading during our study time in the morning so therefore the only time is the 2 minute break you get once a day and the 5 minutes before you go to bed. It's nuts!!!! I was very excited for a p-day today so I could catch up. The most exciting news is that Ryan is still doing really well. Because of stake conference, we had to move his baptism to the 23rd of January. The 23rd will be a busy day. The Overlie family is getting sealed in the San Diego temple (which I get to go to) and then we have to rush back for Ryan's baptism! His family are mostly Jehovah Witness and are not very supportive of his decision but he is a strong person. One thing I've seen, is that accepting and living the gospel is not an easy thing. I don't think it ever will be-for anyone. It just comes down to having to set all else aside to know that you are a child of God and that is all that really matters. When it comes down to it and you set aside your family and obligations you have to do what you have to do to return to live with God-that is everything. That is our purpose and his plan. I am growing to feel more strongly my Heavenly Father's love for me and for all of his children. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Christ's church established on the earth again through a living prophet. I hope you all have made a New Year's resolution to be better at sharing the gospel. It honestly doesn't have to be scary. Try it!!!! I'll do it if you do it!!! I love you all and miss you lots.
Sister London
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