Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Horizon City, Texas, Transfer 12, Week 3

Dear Family and Friends,

I hope that you all had a great Christmas, and that you have a Happy New Year! I had a good Christmas full of lots and lots of turkey (my Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners were mixed up this year, but I definitely got my turkey fix taken care of).

Monday: It was p-day. We went over to the stake center to practice songs for Zone Conference, and I was able to bug the Elders for more talents for the talent show. 12 Days of Christmas: D&C 89:16, fruit granola bars

Tuesday: We made lots of good visits. I did the prep work for the zone conference talent show program, making lots of phone calls to make sure everyone was still going to do what they said they would. 12 Days of Christmas: 2 Nephi 2:25, almond joy

Wednesday: We had a great day of Zone Conference! It was my last one... it really hit me that this is the end (though I'm counting my blessings that President Miller doesn't have missionaries do their departing testimonies in zone conference anymore because that really would have made me cry). I played the organ for a piano/organ duet... and almost had a disaster. We got there to practice and the organ was locked. By the time we figured out where the key was to unlock it, it was time to start, so we didn't get to practice at all before we played it. And we got up there to play the song, and the organ wasn't turning on. The other sister was already starting the prelude and I was frantically trying to get her to stop, and finally turned to the other side to the zone leaders and told them to tell her to stop. They started scrambling and found that the organ wasn't plugged in... they fixed it about 2 seconds before I needed to come in. WHEW! The talent show was a hit! It was so much fun! Everything came together perfectly. It was a really good conference. We talked about how to become a consecrated missionary. My thoughts were "Oh sure. NOW they tell me... just in time to kick me out." But no, it really was good, and will benefit me for the 3 weeks I have left, and as I make the transition from being a missionary to being a normal person again. 12 Days: (I don't remember the scripture), Chapstick.

Thursday: We went and did some service. We had a lunch appointment with a less active sister. The family we ate dinner with gave us some Christmas gifts, including a pair of pj pants and gloves. So I did get Christmas jammies this year! All the missionaries in our wards went caroling... I was only in a light sweater and didn't even freeze! haha to all of you who have lots and lots of snow up north! 12 Days: 1 Samuel 2:9, socks

Friday: It was Christmas eve. We did weekly planning. Then we went to dinner #1 and ate turkey! It was really yummy! I'd been craving turkey since Thanksgiving. From there we went to dinner #2, a Christmas party that one of the families in the stake had for all of the missionaries. That was fun! 12 Days: D&C 103: 9, lifesavers. I also got the wedding announcement for my trainer, Sister Trunnell. She gets married tomorrow, and her open house in Utah is 4 days before I get home. Oh well. Such is life.

Saturday: We got up and opened our presents, though I didn't have much for me here (I'd told mom not to send me anything because I didn't want to have to haul it home, so she sent me a watch and some makeup). We got to call home. My family sure was excited to hear from me! And we ate 2 turkey dinners. Yup... my turkey fix has definitely been taken care of. It was a good Christmas. There is nothing better than having your whole focus on the Savior at the time of His birth.

Sunday: We spent all day at church, as usual. We had a great lesson with Lucy, one of our investigators. We met in the chapel, and the Spirit was so strong. She has told us before that she doesn't want to accept a baptismal date before she knows that this really is what she wants to do because she is the kind of person that when they say they're going to do something they do it. And her husband is a Jehovah Witness, which is also a big hold up for her. They're struggling in their marriage right now and she doesn't want to do anything that could hurt it. But at least Sister Newbold and I felt very strongly to be bold with her and we were. We brought up baptism and how she can know for herself of the truth of the Gospel. I don't think I've ever been that bold with an investigator, but went about it in a very loving manner. We didn't get her committed to a date yet, but she is willing to keep learning and knows that someday she will join. She wants to learn more first and make sure it really is the right thing for her to do.

I hope you all have a great week, and a happy, safe end of 2010 and start of 2011!

See you soon!

Hermana Good

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Horizon City, Texas, Transfer 12, Week 2

Dear Family and Friends,

Another week has gone by. I can't believe how fast time is passing, and how little I really do have left. But we don't think about that.

On to my week!

Monday: It was a great p-day. I really love having other sisters around! Sorry if you write me and don't get a response... I have a couple excuses... 1) There's other sisters around. When I was up in Colorado with the same situation, I didn't get any letters written all transfer. 2) I'm almost out of stamps, and once I’m out, I'm out (Don't worry mom, I've already got stamps on the envelopes for you.) 3) Not gonna lie... I'm tired of writing letters. I'll e-mail ya'll when I get home and back on a computer. I finished the Bible that morning! It took me a little less than a year to read the Bible from cover to cover, but now I can't say that I haven't read the Bible. We had some good visits that night too. I still wasn't having much luck with the talent show that I need to put together for Zone Conference... still am not. But that's okay. I have until Wednesday. Okay, so that's really not much time, but I’ll survive. We had the first of the 12 days of Christmas: 1 Nephi 19:16, 4 Quarters. I also took a picture of our shoes. If I remember to attach pictures today I'll send that one and mom can see how beat up my shoes are compared to the picture I took last year. And my name tag too. Yuck.

Tuesday: It was a good, successful day. We were able to make lots of visits. 12 Days: D&C 89:20, nylons.

Wednesday: Another day just like Tuesday. 12 Days: Psalms 23:4, Candy Canes.

Thursday: We did weekly planning. 12 Days: 3 Nephi 17:21, Kleenex.

Friday: We had district meeting. Afterward, Sister O'Brien and I practiced Silent Night that we're playing for Zone Conference. It took us a while to get it down, but we got it. We went out after and did some visits, then finished weekly planning (the whole bit of having weekly planning on Thursdays is REALLY throwing me off. We went to the Spanish ward Christmas party. We had some good food and good company. 12 Days: Genesis 6:19, Animal Crackers.

Saturday: We went and had correlation with our new Ward Mission Leader for the English ward. He's going to do a great job. We're excited to have him. We also taught an English Class to a sister who is wanting to learn English. Thanks to Marc and Monique for the Christmas goodies that I got in the mail! They were yummy! 12 Days: D&C 84:88, Lotion.

Sunday: We went to Church. We had a couple investigators show up, one in each ward. And a couple less active families. The English Ward had their Christmas Program. I really enjoyed that. And the Spanish ward gave every sister in the ward, including Las Hermanas corsages that one of the sisters had made with silk poinsettias. It was a great idea. 12 Days: 3 Nephi 28, 3 Musketeers.

Okay... so I thought it was a more eventful week than it looks like it was. Anyway... yeah. I'll talk to my family on Saturday and see the rest of ya'll in a few weeks.

Hermana Good

Monday, December 13, 2010

Horizon City, Texas, Transfer 12, Week 1

Dear Family and Friends,

It was a pretty good week. We did have some disappointing times with our investigators, pero asi es la vida de una misionera. I hope you all had a good week.

Monday: It was p-day. We said goodbye to the Elders who were going home or being transferred, 4 of the 6 in our district. The 3 going home were trunky and couldn't have cared less. But they were all looking kind of down... much like I imagine myself looking 6 weeks from now... well not even that. But I don't want to think about that. We had dinner with the McDermed/ Longoria family. I really enjoy spending time with them.

Tuesday: We had a great lesson with one of our new investigators, Lucy, and the Relief Society President, Sister Doyon. Then we headed over to the transfer site because Sisters Newbold and Jarman were bored sitting in their car because, let's face it, the Elders don't like to associate with the Sisters. While there, Elder Moore who used to be in our district came over and visited for a while. He was in disbelief that this is my dying transfer. And quite frankly, so am I. I also saw Sister Stolp (an English sister), and Sister Cabello who was transferred down to Anthony. We have TONS of sisters in our district. FIVE!!! It's great fun. We get along a little too well. The Elders feel like they've been overrun... which they kind of have. It's going to be a great transfer!

Wednesday: We started helping Sister Newbold get to know the area. I'm sitting in the backseat all transfer because they need to learn the area and I can still navigate from the back if I have to, which I have had to do. We had dinner with the Browns and other Sisters. We also helped Sister Brown put up the rest of her Christmas decorations. We'll put it this way... it's a good thing the 5 of us don't live in the same apartment because we get along a little TOO well. I started getting phone calls for people for the talent show for Zone Conference, and constant reminders that I'm dying by anyone who knows me.

Thursday: One of my companions was sick, so we got lots of good studying done. We were able to do weekly planning which was weird. President switched weekly planning and district meeting days, so I've been all sorts of confused. We got a phone call that Elder Gust got his visa to go to Mexico. He left this morning... meaning that now the sisters in the district outnumber the Elders. Perfect! For us anyway. The Elders don't think it's so great. But for us sisters it's great fun!

Friday: We had district meeting. We started out with a get to know you activity, because of the 10 missionaries in our district, 6 were new. We had to say how long we've been out, so I said that I've been out for a while. Then lovely Elder Evans, who was in my MTC district and sat by me on the plane down, piped up and said that he'd been out for 17 months and 10 days, the same as Sister Good. We said goodbye to Elder Gust who is going to rock it down in Veracruz! We went to lunch with the other sisters. I LOVE having other sisters around. It's quite the way to die. We also had dinner with them at the Gonzales' house. I've missed them SO much. But while we were driving over there, it really hit me that this is my last transfer. I was sitting in the back seat trying to stay happy. Sister Knight told me later that she could tell that something was up, and that she assumed it was something to do with my leaving. I love the mission so much, and now that I'm here at the end I don't want it to end. It is so hard to believe that more than 17 months have passed by oh so quickly. I also got a letter from Hermana Windous in Chile. That made me smile. She was talking about how much she's learned in her first month in the field and that she can't imagine how much she'll have learned by the end of the mission. I can't wait to write her back. Even if I do get her written back today and sent this week, she won't get my letter until after I'm home. That's weird to think.

Saturday: We spent the morning tracting. Then we went and helped Sister Greaves decorate cookies for the ward Christmas party. It was so much fun! The Christmas party was good too. It was good food. I had the turkey and stuffing I’ve been craving (and had a turkey sandwich for breakfast today with the leftovers they loaded us up with--I'm out of cereal until we go to the store later), and a bit of honey-glazed ham. And someone made homemade oreos. I was in heaven!

Sunday: We spent the day in church, then went to dinner at Bishop Zuniga's with all the missionaries. We had a good time. We get along good together... which is a good thing, because we thought for sure that we'd drive the Elders nuts, and we probably do but that's okay.

I love our companionship. It is great to be able to work with Sister Newbold and Sister Batchkoff. This is the 5th transfer that I have spent in a trio on the mission, but I think this is the best one I've had. We get along well. It is hard to figure out how to teach together, but we're getting there. Sister Newbold has some really great ideas to bring to the table that will bless and benefit Sister Batchkoff for the rest of the mission.

I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to serve through another Christmas. Last Christmas in the mission was a wonderful experience for me, so focused on the Savior. I've never experienced anything like it, and after this year I probably never will again. I am greatly looking forward to Zone Conference next week to be able to celebrate the spirit of the season with the other missionaries.

I have also decided personally to do the 40 day fast again this transfer. I noticed a huge difference in the Spirit last transfer, and there are still things that I have that I want to improve before I return home. It really stuck in my head what Elder Jensen said at Zone Conference on 30 June "You'll never be better than your best self as a missionary." I have noticed a huge difference in myself over the past 17 months, and still have another 5 weeks to continue to improve.

I hope you all have a good week and enjoy the holiday Spirit!

Love you all!

Hermana Good

Horizon City, Texas, Transfer 12, Week 1

Dear Family and Friends,

It was a pretty good week. We did have some disappointing times with our investigators, pero asi es la vida de una misionera. I hope you all had a good week.

Monday: It was p-day. We said goodbye to the Elders who were going home or being transferred, 4 of the 6 in our district. The 3 going home were trunky and couldn't have cared less. But they were all looking kind of down... much like I imagine myself looking 6 weeks from now... well not even that. But I don't want to think about that. We had dinner with the McDermed/ Longoria family. I really enjoy spending time with them.

Tuesday: We had a great lesson with one of our new investigators, Lucy, and the Relief Society President, Sister Doyon. Then we headed over to the transfer site because Sisters Newbold and Jarman were bored sitting in their car because, let's face it, the Elders don't like to associate with the Sisters. While there, Elder Moore who used to be in our district came over and visited for a while. He was in disbelief that this is my dying transfer. And quite frankly, so am I. I also saw Sister Stolp (an English sister), and Sister Cabello who was transferred down to Anthony. We have TONS of sisters in our district. FIVE!!! It's great fun. We get along a little too well. The Elders feel like they've been overrun... which they kind of have. It's going to be a great transfer!

Wednesday: We started helping Sister Newbold get to know the area. I'm sitting in the backseat all transfer because they need to learn the area and I can still navigate from the back if I have to, which I have had to do. We had dinner with the Browns and other Sisters. We also helped Sister Brown put up the rest of her Christmas decorations. We'll put it this way... it's a good thing the 5 of us don't live in the same apartment because we get along a little TOO well. I started getting phone calls for people for the talent show for Zone Conference, and constant reminders that I'm dying by anyone who knows me.

Thursday: One of my companions was sick, so we got lots of good studying done. We were able to do weekly planning which was weird. President switched weekly planning and district meeting days, so I've been all sorts of confused. We got a phone call that Elder Gust got his visa to go to Mexico. He left this morning... meaning that now the sisters in the district outnumber the Elders. Perfect! For us anyway. The Elders don't think it's so great. But for us sisters it's great fun!

Friday: We had district meeting. We started out with a get to know you activity, because of the 10 missionaries in our district, 6 were new. We had to say how long we've been out, so I said that I've been out for a while. Then lovely Elder Evans, who was in my MTC district and sat by me on the plane down, piped up and said that he'd been out for 17 months and 10 days, the same as Sister Good. We said goodbye to Elder Gust who is going to rock it down in Veracruz! We went to lunch with the other sisters. I LOVE having other sisters around. It's quite the way to die. We also had dinner with them at the Gonzales' house. I've missed them SO much. But while we were driving over there, it really hit me that this is my last transfer. I was sitting in the back seat trying to stay happy. Sister Knight told me later that she could tell that something was up, and that she assumed it was something to do with my leaving. I love the mission so much, and now that I'm here at the end I don't want it to end. It is so hard to believe that more than 17 months have passed by oh so quickly. I also got a letter from Hermana Windous in Chile. That made me smile. She was talking about how much she's learned in her first month in the field and that she can't imagine how much she'll have learned by the end of the mission. I can't wait to write her back. Even if I do get her written back today and sent this week, she won't get my letter until after I'm home. That's weird to think.

Saturday: We spent the morning tracting. Then we went and helped Sister Greaves decorate cookies for the ward Christmas party. It was so much fun! The Christmas party was good too. It was good food. I had the turkey and stuffing I’ve been craving (and had a turkey sandwich for breakfast today with the leftovers they loaded us up with--I'm out of cereal until we go to the store later), and a bit of honey-glazed ham. And someone made homemade oreos. I was in heaven!

Sunday: We spent the day in church, then went to dinner at Bishop Zuniga's with all the missionaries. We had a good time. We get along good together... which is a good thing, because we thought for sure that we'd drive the Elders nuts, and we probably do but that's okay.

I love our companionship. It is great to be able to work with Sister Newbold and Sister Batchkoff. This is the 5th transfer that I have spent in a trio on the mission, but I think this is the best one I've had. We get along well. It is hard to figure out how to teach together, but we're getting there. Sister Newbold has some really great ideas to bring to the table that will bless and benefit Sister Batchkoff for the rest of the mission.

I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to serve through another Christmas. Last Christmas in the mission was a wonderful experience for me, so focused on the Savior. I've never experienced anything like it, and after this year I probably never will again. I am greatly looking forward to Zone Conference next week to be able to celebrate the spirit of the season with the other missionaries.

I have also decided personally to do the 40 day fast again this transfer. I noticed a huge difference in the Spirit last transfer, and there are still things that I have that I want to improve before I return home. It really stuck in my head what Elder Jensen said at Zone Conference on 30 June "You'll never be better than your best self as a missionary." I have noticed a huge difference in myself over the past 17 months, and still have another 5 weeks to continue to improve.

I hope you all have a good week and enjoy the holiday Spirit!

Love you all!

Hermana Good

Monday, December 6, 2010

Transfer & Baptism News

Well, my family and friends, Another transfer has absolutely flown by. 6 VERY short weeks from today, I will be writing ya'll about my last week in the mission field. I can't believe how fast the time I have spent as a missionary has flown by.

Monday: It was p-day. We played volleyball... I probably shouldn't have because I really didn't feel good... but we'd been pestering the Elders all transfer to play with us so I did anyway. And my team dominated all 3 games that we played. I did go home and take a nap afterward. And Delia Lincoln took us to dinner. I actually ate, which was a nice thing because I hadn't really eaten anything since breakfast on Saturday.

Tuesday: We had a great lesson with Lucy. We did lots of walking to save miles... not that we needed to, but we knew the Elders would run out of miles and would need more. Celali had her baptismal interview that night.

Wednesday: We contacted former investigators and went tracting. While we were out, we got a phone call from the Martinez'--who had been the housing inspectors in the old NMAM. They finished their mission and I thought I'd never see them again. So that made me happy. I'd gotten a book of missionary stories from mom, and as it was December 1st, we read the first story. It made me cry like a baby. And last but not least, WELCOME HOME WHITNEY! Although... I'm not exactly home to welcome you yet. But I hope you're enjoying your time with your family.

Thursday: We had district meeting, and took district pictures as 3 elders are dying. We also had the Zone Leaders at District Meeting, so they were in the picture too. We did service for the Browns again, and put up their Christmas tree. That night, I walked upstairs to hear the phone signaling that we had a message. I listened to it, and it was from President Miller for me, asking me to call him back. That way made me freak out! But it wasn't anything big... he just asked me to take charge of the talent show for the Christmas Zone Conference along with the other dying sister, which will be December 22.

Friday: We had apartment inspections. It was so fun to see the Martinez' again! Our inspection was at 8:00, and they called at 7:40 saying they were outside. I'd just gotten out of the shower... so I really scrambled to get ready. I disfrute (sorry... can't think of that word in English) of her knowledge of cleaning tricks. We did weekly planning... for week 1 of transfer 12. (As a Spanish Sister, I only have 12. That was weird.) We had a marathon lesson with Celali to finish teaching everything that she needed before baptism. And I played the piano for a baptism that the Elders had. What are they going to do without me?

Saturday: We spent the day tracting--it was 70 degrees! I finally got the letter from my family--it included a letter from Bear (my puppy for those who don't know). It made me smile. And we got transfer calls. The Zone Leaders called us directly instead of having the District Leader call us, because they wanted to tell us that I'm going to be a grandma. Some of you probably think that sounds really weird and awkward... but it just means that Sister Jardine is training. Sister Batchkoff and I are both staying here, and are getting Sister Newbold. And two of the other elders in our wards are being replaced by sisters as well, so we'll have 5 sisters in our wards/district. 2 elders in the ward--one of whom is Elder Evans who was in my MTC district (all the elders say that I’m going to make him SUPER trunky) and 5 elders in the district because there will be a trio in Fabens. The Elders aren't looking forward to being in a "Relief Society" district. But they'll get over it.

Sunday:
Celali was baptized! It was such an AMAZING baptism! The Spirit was so strong, and there was such a good turn out from the ward. which was good, because no one in her family ended up coming. What a great blessing it was to see her enter the waters of baptism. The bishop also wanted to confirm her right after the baptism so she didn't have to wait a whole week. Her blessing was incredible. She was promised so many wonderful blessings. She is going to be such a strong influence to her family and friends. She also told us yesterday that she is thinking about applying to BYU--which I think would be an amazing way for her to strengthen her testimony even more. It was weird to listen to Elders Pearson and Hatch give their departing testimonies in the wards. And I realized that it will be ME next month. I only have one more fast Sunday as a missionary. I can't believe that.

Overall, it was a good week. It was a good transfer. I can't believe how fast the time has flown by. But what a blessing it has been. I am excited to finish my mission here in Horizon. This has been a wonderful area, and I am excited to be with Sisters Newbold and Batchkoff. It will be a great transfer!

And yes, mom, I have felt completely fine since Tuesday. I still can't open my mouth 100% like I could before, but it's fine. It hurts if I try to open it more than it wants to, or if I try to bite something tough. It doesn't pop and it hasn't locked up again. It would be best to at least wait until I get home with our regular dentist if you want to have it checked out. I did get the journal--Thanks! I decided it's a good thing you sent it, because I've been a woman of many words the past few nights.

I hope you all enjoy your Christmas season!

I love you all!

Hermana Good

Monday, November 29, 2010

Horizon City, Texas, Transfer 11, Week 5

Dear Family and Friends,

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, and that you didn't overdose on Turkey. I had a great day.

Monday: It was p-day. The Elders had told us that we'd play volleyball, but changed their minds, so we went and looked around World Market instead. We had a great FHE with the McDermed/Longoria family and one of their non-member friends that evening.

Tuesday: I woke up with my jaw locked mostly shut (I could barely fit one finger in). I don't know what brought that on, but it's fine now. I woke up in the middle of the night and it was fine, and when the alarm went off 3 hours later it was locked. I couldn't open my mouth very wide, and it did hurt to chew, so eating was a slow process for a couple of days. I called Sister Miller about it that morning. She said it's probably because of stress or clenching my teeth at night, and to call her if it continued to give me problems. She told me to put a heat bag on it and massage it. I got a blessing for it the next day and it started getting better. We did lots of walking to contact former investigators. It was a beautiful day--I didn't need to wear a coat during the day and was fine with just a light sweater after dark.

Wednesday: We had district meeting. We also went and did service for the Browns again. I love them! We had dinner with all the Elders that night at Delia Lincoln's house. She is one of the most amazing converts I've ever met. While we were on our way to our appointment after that one, we got a nasty phone call from the wife of one of our investigators telling us that we should have stayed away from her husband and that because of us they were splitting up and she was cussing up a storm (at least I assume that's what was going on, because they were words I don't know and cuss words are not in my Spanish vocabulary). We'd seen her husband twice in a one month period. But needless to say, we'll stay away--which is sad because he was so interested in the Gospel and was one of our few progressing investigators. We had a second dinner at our next appointment that night. It kind of reminded me of Rio Rancho where the people would prepare us a dinner just because they knew we were coming whether we wanted it or not.

Thursday: I hope you all had a happy Turkey day, and ate lots of Turkey because I didn't eat even one little bite of turkey. At our first dinner, we had tamales and ham and played Bingo. Then we visited another family for pie. Then we went to our second dinner and had ham and corn and beans and biscuits. It was all real good food, but I'd been looking forward to a good piece of turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes with gravy. Oh well. I guess there's always next year. We also got our Christmas tree put up (it took us all of 10 minutes--6 ft, pre-lit tree.) So our house is looking Christmasey. I also filled up journal #2. So now I'm using a little notebook, because I don't have enough time left to fill up another journal on the mission.

Friday: We did planning. Then we went to Sister Gladden's and did service. And once again, all of our Friday night visits and back-up plans failed.

Saturday: I learned my lesson the hard way. Mom's been nagging me to go get a flu shot, and I didn't listen because I'm broke. Well, I was in bed all day long oober sick with the flu. One of the counselors in the Spanish ward Bishopric was going to give us dinner that night, so he brought us dinner, along with Bishop and they gave me a blessing. I did start feeling better after that, but I'm still not 100%.

Sunday: I still felt pretty sick in the morning, so I slept in a little longer, and we didn't go to the Spanish ward. But I got up and was feeling okay-ish to go to the English ward. So we went to church, and did a couple of visits after church.

It was a good week, aside from getting sick. But everything will be all good. I'll be back to my normal, chipper self in a day or two. Transfer calls are this weekend. I'll find out where I'm spending my last transfer, whether here in Horizon or in some other area (Rio Rancho, Santa Fe, Anthony, or opening a new area) Any predictions of where I'm "dying?" We know that we're getting 2 new sisters this coming transfer. But I really don't know if I'll be training again or not. I kinda feel like I'm staying with Sister B. But who knows.

We should be having a baptism this weekend. Celali, the 18 year old girl we've been teaching just has a couple more lessons to be ready, and she has such a strong testimony. We're planning on having her interview tomorrow evening, and the baptism on Sunday after Church so the young women she has come to know can all be there. She is so excited. What a blessing this will be for her. When we saw her last Tuesday, she said that her grandma was still unsure if she should be baptized, but we talked to her on Wednesday and she told us that her grandma said that she was so happy after she got home that evening and that if she wanted to be baptized she would be supportive. What a blessing this will be for this sweet daughter of God! I am so grateful to be a part of helping her progress in the Gospel. This morning I looked back at the Survey for the Fundamentals of PMG that I did back in August, and re-did it. I was amazed at how I have improved. As I've been studying these 8 lessons, I've found myself subconsciously doing things from the trainings, and I have seen the blessings that come from it. I am so grateful that I've been able to be here in the mission at a time when we have this new training and for the way it has blessed my teachings.

Hope you all have a good one, and enjoy the snow up north!

Hermana Good

Monday, November 22, 2010

Feliz Dia de Gracias!

I don't know about all of you, but I can't believe that Thanksgiving is here already! The past year has absolutely flown by! I still remember Thanksgiving last year! I was only in my 3rd transfer and felt like I'd never finish the mission. And now I'm sitting here, once again at Thanksgiving, only 8 short weeks away from going home. Where has the time gone?

Monday: It was a nice relaxing p-day. We pretty much just relaxed and wrote letters and got a jeopardy game ready for an FHE we had scheduled that night (they ended up canceling so we're doing it tonight). It was really windy which was horrible for my allergies.

Tuesday: We went out to exercise as normal that morning. About halfway through our time, I felt my pocket where I always put the keys and they weren't there. I realized that I'd forgotten to grab them before we went out. But I didn't remember locking the door either so I thought we'd be safe. But no. The door was locked. And we're not talented enough to pick the lock, especially when all we've got are a couple of flimsy bobby pins. We walked over toward the manager's apartment praying that she'd be outside. She was! She was taking her son to practice. When she got back, she told us that a) she normally charges $50 when people lock themselves out of their apartments because she's had a lot of problems with people knocking on her door really late or really early but would let it slide this time because we're new and didn't know that rule and b) her son normally goes to practice even earlier and she goes back to bed when she gets home from taking him so she wouldn't have even been awake. Boy was Heavenly Father watching out for us. We spent the day out tracting.

Wednesday: We had a great day! We did a lot of tracting again, in a wealthy neighborhood. Can I say that I miss my trailer parks that I've knocked my whole mission? But we did find an amazing woman who immediately invited us in, and we have a return appointment with her this week (mom, can you put her name, L. M. on the prayer roll, and R. S. too). We went and saw R. that night and after the lesson helped her and her kids clean up the kids' rooms. She works full time, leaving her house before 6:00 am and not getting home until after 6:00 pm and has two little kids and doesn't have a lot of time and is so tired when she gets home. It took us 1/2 hour to do what would have taken her a couple of evenings to get done. We also lost our cell phone... but found it by using R's phone to call it and searching for the ringing under the seat. At least we hadn't put it on silent before we left the house and left it in the truck!

Thursday: We had district meeting, and started our weekly planning because we had a full day of service planned on Friday. We had a couple of good lessons that night, one with a part-member family and the other with a family who has started coming back to church since I've been here.

Friday: The day started out with a nice hot breakfast at the Gonzales' (our old WML). Then we helped them pull out all their Christmas decorations from storage, put up the tree so the kids could decorate it after school. And the Elders climbed on the roof to put up the lights while we laid lights around the front yard (we could never get away with that up in Idaho.) Brother G blew out his knee and can't do much, and Sister G just had a new baby so they really appreciated the help. Then we went and made more banana bread for Sister Brown who is still in bed with a broken tail bone, though doing much better. Then we went to YW in Excellence for the Spanish ward so I could play the piano. On the way, we were behind a VW Bug that was decorated for the holidays with Christmas lights--yes, they were on! It was hilarious! From there we rushed as fast as was legal to J's, a 19 year old boy we are working with who was less active. Sister Jardine and I helped him stop smoking and he has been cigarette free for almost 2 months now. His aunt sent us a text telling us that he was having a REALLY rough day. But as we taught and testified about the power of the Atonement and the help that the Savior could give him, his heart was softened. He was feeling much better when we left. It was my 2 months until I go home mark as well.

Saturday: We had brunch at the McDermed's. Mayra made us a yummy quiche. Then we went finding for a while. And we had what felt like a double dinner, but was really just one. The sister prepared us both 2 GINORMOUS tortas. They were like 6 inches wide by 9 inches long and stuffed with beef and avocado. Oh so good, but boy did we feel sick afterward. And to top it off, she gave us a huge dish of Coldstone Pistachio ice cream for dessert. J came to a lesson with us and was doing so much better.

Sunday: The only pianist for the Spanish ward wasn't there, so I played for Sacrament Meeting and Primary. That was fun. They're all praying that they'll get another piano-playing missionary in when I leave. We went finding for a while after church. And we had a lesson with J that completely made my day! He told us that he was able to take the sacrament for the first time in a few years and that he felt so clean. And he told us that he's going to be getting a calling in the ward. I was so happy to hear that! It really made my day. That kid is amazing!

The 40-day fast is still going well. One of the things I wanted to work on was to pray for people specifically by name. As I start my day thinking about the people we are working with and praying for them and their needs, I feel that I am staying more focused on them and how I can help them throughout the day. I think about them during my personal study--especially while I am studying the Fundamentals of PMG and how I can best help them, and we talk about the people we are teaching throughout the day during companion study and how we can help them as a companionship. When we are out finding, teaching, and rescuing, I am able to listen better to the promptings of the Spirit so I can meet the needs of these people because the Spirit knows exactly what each person needs. As we are out finding, I am testifying more of how the Restored Gospel can change the lives of these people--even if they aren't interested I add a simple testimony. As we visit with members, we constantly ask for referrals of people they know who we can teach so we can help these people receive the blessings of the Gospel. We are striving to uplift and edify the members in the wards where we serve. In our nightly planning, we talk about how things went during the day, and make the plans for the people we are going to see the next day and the lessons we'll teach them. We also plan what we will study together as a companionship so we can best strengthen each of the people we teach. I am trying to be more accountable in my nightly prayers, and praying for people by name and specific needs. These last few transfers I feel that I really have become more focused on my purpose and really do know why I'm here. I wish this was something that I'd figured out early on in my mission, but I am applying it with all of my strength now.

We don't have very many investigators and aren't finding a lot of new people who are interested to learn about the Gospel. It's always hard during the holidays because people are busy and are caught up in the worldly aspects of the Christmas season.

Yeah, if there's a good deal on computers for Black Friday go ahead and get a new one for me. That computer was giving me problems anyway (missing a key, not staying charged, etc.) and I was planning on getting myself a new one sometime in the near-ish future anyway. Dad knows more about computers than I do and will be able to select one better than I could. It sounds like I'm really going to have to hit the pavement looking for a job so I have money to do anything at all. But if the house isn't done, I'll at least be there to help paint. I've become a semi-expert on my mission, as I've helped lots of people paint their houses.

And yes, send me the info to do the petition for BYU-I. If it's for school, President Miller lets us do it on Mondays (2 elders in my district have been registering for classes and looking for other stuff about school). I have 2 dinner appointments on Thanksgiving, 4 if you count the 2 who told us to pop in sometime for pie. But 3 of the 4 visits are with families in the English ward who won't be offended if we are too full to eat, and the one in the Spanish ward is our first one.

I hope you all enjoy those nice cold temperatures... I've started taking a sweater with me, but my freshly dry-cleaned coat is still hanging in the closet and will be for a while. But good luck on the house! Yeah, it was a great week! I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving, and I'll see you soon!

Love, Hermana Good

Monday, November 15, 2010

Horizon City, Texas, Transfer 11, Week 3

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, I have to rub this in... you're all getting snow and our temperatures are still in the mid 60s to 70s. But that just means that when I get home here in 2 months y'all will be just fine and I'll be freezing my little backside off. So I guess I shouldn't rub it in too much, because you'll be rubbing it back in my face very soon. And good news for all of you who got bored with last week's long letter: This week wasn't near as exciting, so this will be much shorter.

Monday: It was p-day. It was spent walking around target while the oil in our truck was being changed at the Pep Boys across the street. I also got a bunch of stuff boxed up to send home because I found someone heading north. There was a lot of stuff I figured I could live without for 10 weeks. Better to live without than pay overweight charges on my luggage.

Tuesday: There was a boxer dog hanging around the golf course while we were doing our exercise who wanted to play with us. We didn't want to play with him. It was really windy, so my allergies were really bad (and it's the same way today). We had our first coordination meeting with our new ward mission leader in the Spanish ward. He's going to do a great job!

Wednesday: I made a call to the mission office with a question for Sister Clifford, who told me that she was working on January travel arrangements this week and cried when she saw my name on the list of missionaries leaving. And it made me cry too, because that made me realize how little time I really do have left. And then that night, I got a letter from dad with the topic for my homecoming talk. I kind of just sat there in shock when I got that... I realized that I really am almost done. But it's all good. I've got several good ideas running around in my head (but could I ask for my first journal to be sent back to me so I can get my stories straight? Just whenever is convenient in a bubble-mailer. Thanks!) We did some service that afternoon for a sister who broke her tail-bone. We went to clean her house, but she told us that she had a ton of bananas that needed to be made into bread, so we made a quadruple batch of banana bread. And we spent the evening following the Ysleta Elders around because they had an appointment with the family we ate dinner with right before our dinner, and we stopped by to see the YW President and they had an appointment there too and got there right after we got there. Oops. Maybe we should stay on our own turf? Nah.

Thursday: We had district meeting. And we did service for another sister in our ward helping her clean her house. We had time to go tracting in the afternoon, and made a few good contacts. And we had a Roster Review for the Socorro Ward.

Friday: We did weekly planning. Then all of our appointments fell through.

Saturday: It was another day of "everyone's avoiding the sisters." Yup. All of our appointments fell through again. Pero asi es la vida de una misionera. I played the piano for a baptism in the Spanish ward. Everyone's going to miss me when I go home. The sister we ate dinner with made pumpkin pie for dessert, and sent one home with us. It was yummy!

Sunday: The day was spent in church. We had a couple good appointments in the evening.

Yeah... boring week. The most exciting day was Wednesday, and that was just depressing, realizing how fast the mission has flown by. But I have caught myself, though on very rare occasions, letting a trunky comment slip out. So I guess I will be glad to get home and see all of you again. Okay, no. I will be glad to see you all again. The time is passing quickly, then I'll be back in Idaho. And we'll be able to do all sorts of fun stuff. All I can say is that my sister and Rexburg friends better be ready to put on their dancing shoes, because I'm tired of hearing Latin and country music and not being able to dance!

Love ya!

Hermana Good

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Horizon City, Texas, Transfer 11, Week 2

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, like I've said many a time before, el tiempo se pasa burlando! (The time is flying by). I can't believe that I'm down to 10 short weeks left. For those of you who have gotten bored reading my e-mails that's good news, but for those who enjoy them, I'm sorry. But the good news is that you'll actually be able to see my face soon, so that's good, right?

Monday: It was our p-day. And it was spent in the police station. No, I didn't get in trouble for anything. I had to go get my fingerprints taken for my student teaching and it's just a little bitty police station here in Horizon and there weren't any cops there. And we spent time running around trying to find out where to get the VIN # on our truck certified so we can get it re-registered to New Mexico from AZ. And we had some great lessons that night.

Tuesday: We had a good day. We did service... but I don't remember what we did.

Wednesday: We had an amazing day! We went and had lunch at the Gonzales' house one last time. He is the most amazing Ward Mission Leader I've had my whole mission... and they changed the ward boundaries and kicked him out of the ward. We made some really great contacts knocking doors that night. And had an amazing lesson with a family who we're helping come back to activity. And then they were all at church yesterday! It was amazing! And I got lots of letters from people I haven't heard from in a long time--some of them my whole mission. It was pretty sweet!

Thursday: I got to go to the leadership training meeting, but this time my greenie didn't get to go with me because there's two other sisters down here with greenies. So the greenies got to hang out together and knock doors while the 3 trainers went to the training. Our greenies came back super excited. We found out that there are 2 new Spanish sisters coming in next transfer. And with only 8 Spanish sisters right now--6 of which are either greenies or trainers (and 2 of us are going home after next transfer) my guess is that the 2 sisters up in Santa Fe will be training. One of the Elders who was at the training just got transferred down here from Rio Rancho, and he said that the Marquez family said to tell me hi and that they miss me. I miss them too! And that night we had a really good lesson.

Friday: We were up oober early to be able to make it to Las Cruces on time for the training. And we should have been on time, but we left my GPS with the greenies so they wouldn't get lost, because I thought I knew where we were going... but I didn't. We got super lost! My bad. The training was amazing again. At the end, they had the two elders who go home this transfer who were there share their departing testimonies. One of them was in my zone my first few transfers, and I got to know him pretty good, and the other is my current district leader. It's gonna be sad to see them leave, but then again I'm not much behind them. When we got back out to the car after the training, the car battery was dead. Thanks to our zone leaders who had jumper cables in their truck we were quickly on our way. When we got to Anthony to pick up the greenies, they were sitting on the back of the truck with their legs dangling. The 3 of us commented that it was like we were picking them up from school. We were exhausted that night, and went to a lesson with a new investigator who asked us a ton of good questions. It was good though.

Saturday: We did our weekly planning since we weren't home on Friday. And taught a few lessons. And I played the piano at the child of record baptism for the Spanish ward.

Sunday: We got an extra hour of sleep because of daylight savings! Amazing! Then we went to church. I taught Gospel Principles in the English ward... and it was super awkward. The class was on the Law of Chastity, and it was me and Sister B the 4 Elders, a 19 year old we're helping quit smoking and come back to activity, a brother who was baptized last year, and another brother who comes to the class every once in a while. Yep, that was fun. I finished Acts in my Bible reading (I started with Genesis 1 last December and it's my goal to finish it before I go home). We finished our weekly planning after church because we didn't have time on Saturday.

Rosa is still really struggling. We haven't seen her since last Tuesday, and are really worried. But we're not giving up on her. We'll keep working and helping her progress to baptism. I keep her in my prayers. We're working hard here, and things are starting to pick up here in Horizon. I love it here!

So yeah. That's my week. Hope y'all had a great one.

Love you, and see you soon!

Hermana Good

Monday, November 1, 2010

"The Time is Far Spent"

Well, my family and friends, once again another week has absolutely flown by. I'm sure that anyone who has served a mission knows exactly what I'm talking about when I say that each week seems to go by even faster. (My greenie thinks that this was one of the longest weeks of her life, and it was about one of the shortest of mine). For those who don't know, Spanish speaking sisters only have 12 transfers, of 6 weeks each. You do the math. I know that my family has a countdown of exactly how many days there are until I get home and remind me in every e-mail and letter that I get of how little time really does remain. It reminds me of a hymn, "The Time is Far Spent."

The time is far spent; there is little remaining
To publish glad tidings by sea and by land.
Than hasten, ye heralds; go forward proclaiming:
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven's at hand.

Shrink not from your duty, however unpleasant,
But follow the Savior, your pattern and friend,
Our little afflictions, tho painful at present,
Ere long, with the righteous, in glory will end.

What, tho, if the favor of Ahman possessing,
This world's bitter hate you are called to endure?
The angels are waiting to crown you with blessings!
Go forward, be faithful, the promise is sure.

Be fixed in your purpose, for Satan will try you;
The weight of your calling he perfectly knows.
Your path may be thorny, but Jesus is nigh you;
His arm is sufficient, tho demons oppose.

(Hymns 266)

If any of you could see what goes through my mind as I lie down each night, you'd know exactly why that came to my mind. I'm trying really hard not to get trunky on my greenie and talk about home too much... we're going to flip-flop this weekend, meaning that she'll have been out for more time than I've got left, and she just barely started!

Anyway, on to my week! (If you're getting tired of reading these weekly "this is what I did this week" letters, there aren't very many more to go and then we'll be on to other adventures of Sister Good's first days as an RM. That could be exciting)

Monday: It was p-day, but we didn't do very much normal p-day stuff. I packed Sister Jardine's suitcases (I felt bad, because I got her sick and she was really not feeling well) and cleaned the apartment so my new greenie wouldn't come into a messy house. And we went around so Sister Jardine could say goodbye to the people she's come to love.

Tuesday: We went and helped a sister in the English ward with a project we'd told her weeks ago we'd help her with. We were going to do it last week, then were sick in bed. And Sister Jardine knew more about what to do to help her, so she had to go. Then we headed up to Las Cruces where we were went to switch companions. We were there a good hour before the transfer van, so spent the time talking to the few elders who aren't afraid to talk to sisters. We were very outnumbered. Then the transfer van pulled up. As well as a couple of cars, and a truck with FIVE sisters, including my new greenie, Sister Batchkoff. She's from Moreno Valley, CA and is super excited to be here in the mission. She's super bubbly and loves life. And was told by other sisters at the mission office that she's just like me... I can't figure out why, because up until I met her I wasn't near as animated as I am now. And I guess it's a good thing to break my bubble before I go home so I don't have to worry about that. We went grocery shopping that night, and she made a contact while we were standing in line for the tortillas (if you could taste these tortillas, you'd understand why we waited in line instead of buying the regular mission tortillas). Except the lady she tried to contact didn't speak any English, so I took over and led the conversation. At one point, I looked over at Sister B and her mouth was dropped wide open and her eyes couldn't have been any bigger. Good thing she was able to rebuild her confidence that night at the church when I was talking to one member and another started to talk to her.

Wednesday: We went around so Sister B could meet people, and did planning so she could get the hang of things in the area.

Thursday: We had district meeting. We practiced teaching, and I was amazed at Sister B's Spanish--and so were all the Elders. Yup... my greenie definitely showed me up. I wasn't willingly contributing to lessons by just jumping in during my first week--even if it was just a practice! We did service for a sister in the English ward that afternoon, and taught some great lessons.

Friday: We did weekly planning, then taught a few lessons. We were also able to see the Soto family again, but something has changed. The light was gone from Sister Soto's eyes. We have an appointment with them again tomorrow, so we're praying that we'll be able to bring the Spirit back into their home again.

Saturday: We went tracting. It was like 85 degrees and beautiful. We went to the trunk or treat for the English ward that night. I like those. When we got home, our door was open. We kinda freaked out a little. I remembered locking the door. We called Jimmy, a 19 year old less active that we're working with. We just helped him stop smoking. He came over and searched the apartment and gave us the all-clear that it was safe to go in. The door just hadn't gotten shut tight and one of the neighborhood cats must have pushed it open.

Sunday: We had an AMAZING meeting in the Spanish ward! It was all about missionary work. During the combined 3rd hour, they had put together a slideshow with pictures from all the members who have served missions, along with pictures of missionaries who have and are currently serving in the ward. It made me cry, realizing that very soon my mission will be a bunch of memories and pictures. But I'm going to keep working strong! We had dinner at Bishop Zuniga's house. While there, he and Jonathan, a friend who lives with them, pulled out the SWAT vests that they dressed up in for the Halloween dance the ward had. So of course all of us missionaries had to try them on. And Sister B and I became the SWAT sisters: Sisters With A Testimony! Boo-Ya!

So when are they going to be starting work on the house? You really should have seen my face when I read your letters, because just the week before it was really sounding like the addition wasn't going to happen. It really would have been funny to not tell me though and just see my face when I walked into the house here in a few weeks. And they're really expecting to be done with it, or almost done, by the time I get home? That's not very much time!

Things are going great with Sister Batchkoff! We're really working well together. More details in my weekly letter. I am feeling totally confident in my abilities, and I am pretty much over the illness I had last week. Every once in a while I've still got a cough that sneaks up on me, but other than that I'm good. Well, and my back has been bothering me again, but that's nothing new for me. I take IB Profin and I'm fine for the most part. It's starting to feel better too.

I got the packet of stuff to do my fingerprinting, and plan to go get that taken care of right after I leave here today.

The work is going good. We're finding new investigators. We have no baptisms coming up in the near future. R. is really struggling, and I'm really worried. Please put her name in the temple. She was so ready for baptism but was struggling with quitting smoking. She really was doing very good, but she kept getting discouraged and has started ignoring our calls. It breaks my heart, as her baptismal date was for this coming Saturday. We won't give up on her. We had a great companion study this morning for her and ways we can help her. It's just really frustrating. But we're going to do all that we can to help her. Also C. She's the one who turns 18 and was supposed to be baptized on Friday, but she's having lots of problems with her mom and we haven't seen her for 2 weeks. We finally got a hold of her on the phone last night and she said that she's probably moving to San Antonio with her dad after Christmas.

So yeah. That's my week. Guess this e-mail is a little more exciting... and quite a bit longer than some that I've sent. Hope ya'll have a fantastic week!

Love ya!

Hermana Good

Monday, October 25, 2010

It's No Fun Being Sick and Transfer News

Dear Family and Friends

Well, another week has, well, dragged on here in Horizon City. That happens when you can't leave your apartment and have nothing to do.

Monday: It was our p-day. We spent most of it doing laundry at our ward mission leader's house and helping him and his wife out with stuff they needed to have done. My allergies were still bothering me pretty good... or bad I guess I should say.

Tuesday: I woke up with a sinus infection. Sister Miller told us to stay in. I slept most of the day. We got a phone call from Elders Zeitner and Mendenhall saying that they got their visas so we did leave long enough to say goodbye to them because they flew out early Wednesday morning to head back to the MTC for their visas and then on to Mexico.

Wednesday: I was still sick and pretty miserable and stayed in bed for most of the day. We left for one appointment with Rosa and the Gonzales family.

Thursday: I woke up with a really croupy cough, so Sister Miller told me to go to the Doctor. She told me that I had a throat infection and severe congestion, so I've been on a decongestant and antibiotic. We skipped district meeting because a) I was at the doctor, and b) I didn't want to get all of the Elders sick. I was feeling a little better that evening after sleeping all day long, so I spent a little time organizing and de-junking on the off-chance that I'd be transferred so I could send some stuff home.

Friday: I was still sick and had a really hard time staying awake, so I slept most of the day. And Sister Jardine was sick too. My bad. We tried to do our weekly planning, but we alternated between me and her having lots of energy, and instantly powering down like you see in the cartoons.

Saturday: We were still in sick. I was feeling better, but Sister Jardine was feeling worse and running a fever. I'd had a feeling that I was going to be getting a call to train, but when President hadn't called by 12:30 I gave up on that idea. We were eating dinner around 5:30 and talking about things we're going to do differently/ better next transfer when the phone rang. It was the mission home. It was President Miller. It was for me. And guess what... I am training. And Sister Jardine is headed up to Santa Fe. Sisters Cope and Cabello in Rio Rancho called us to see what was going on with us... and Sister Cabello's English is SO good! She'll be in an English only area this transfer, and I'm so excited for her!

Sunday: We did go to church, although Sister Jardine really didn't feel like it. She had lots of goodbyes to say. We also went to a baptism after church. Elder Pearson found the Miranda family when he was here a year and a half ago. Their 18 year old daughter wanted to be baptized so bad, but had health problems that prevented it. After Elder Pearson was transferred, they wouldn't let any other missionaries in. Their daughter passed away in June, and Elder Pearson came back in August. Brother Miranda, who had been less active, received the Priesthood yesterday and baptized his wife after church. They are on their way to having an eternal family. It was an amazing baptism.

Yesterday, one of our Bishops told us that he has had several members in the ward come up to him and express to him their gratitude for the hard work that we are doing here. He said that they have been very impressed by our dedication to the work and how well we are working with them and our investigators. When we got here to Horizon 12 weeks ago, I knew instantly that we would have to work to rebuild member trust, and I made it a goal to do so because I know how important it is to have the trust of the members so they will be willing to help us with lessons. It appears that we have done that. It was a very satisfying feeling to know that the members do trust us.

Today we'll be saying more goodbyes for Sister Jardine, and tomorrow I'll meet my new companion in Las Cruces. I am very excited to help my trainee start her mission off on the right foot.
I'm pretty excited!

Love you all. Have a great week.

Love, Hermana Good

PS~ If you're wondering, yes I am feeling better. I still have a nasty cough, but I can breathe.

PPS~ Yes, my time is quickly winding down, and I'm starting to realize it--but I'm not letting myself get trunky. I'm going to work hard to the end. But totally random--last night I had a dream that I was in the computer room at home checking my hotmail and facebook... except I couldn't remember the passwords. It was weird.

Monday, October 18, 2010


Dear Family and Friends,

Well, here we are in the last week of transfer #10. I can't believe how fast the time is flying. We'll get transfer calls again this weekend... for my second to last transfer. Holy Cow. There are so many exciting things going on in the area.

Tuesday: It was p-day. We were finally able to convince the Elders to play volleyball with us. I've lost the skills I obtained by playing every day in the MTC, but I'm not afraid of the ball! That night the youth in the Spanish ward were playing volleyball and I got nailed in the face, and thought for sure that I was going to get a black eye. It hurt REALLY bad!

Wednesday: I didn't have a black eye, but my face hurt pretty good. We went and helped the elders paint a sister’s house. That was a lot of fun, then we had several appointments.

Thursday: We went with the elders and did a service project for Rosa, who will be baptized in a couple of weeks, to clean up all the weeds she had in her yard. We did a TON of work! Rosa was super surprised and grateful. Now her kids can go outside and play without getting stickers in their feet.

Friday: My allergies were super bad. I couldn't see or breathe. I got some good allergy medicine though that's working pretty good. We had a really good member present lesson with one of our investigators and a sister who just moved into our ward. That night we had coordination, and helped the Gonsales' clean their house and whatnot as payback for always feeding us when we're there for coordination.

Saturday: We did our weekly planning because we had investigators who could only meet on Friday morning. For dinner, I broke my goal of not eating menudo on my mission. I've made it 15 1/2 months successfully... but failed miserably with a short 3 months left. For those who don't know, menudo is cow stomach soup. Sister Jardine and I describe the taste as stinky barnyard, one of the elders calls it soggy carpet. Take it what you will. And bring on the cow tongue--I'd SO much rather eat that!

Sunday: We had a great day at church! We had a couple investigators in the English ward. One of our Spanish investigators went to the English ward which I think is so much a better match for her. The members were all so welcoming to her, and are all so willing to fellowship her. She knew a lot of people in the Spanish ward who knew a lot about her past and were judgmental and didn't have faith that she'd be able to quit smoking. In the English ward there are just a lot of people who love and support her already. She'll be baptized either the last week of October or first of November, depending on if she can fully quit smoking this week. And we had breakfast for dinner--I haven't had that in a long time! It was tasty!

We have an appointment with a part member family tomorrow, so hopefully we'll be able to start teaching her. I hope you all have a great week. I'll let you know next Monday where I'll be hanging out for the next 6 weeks!

Love you all!

Hermana Good

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Horizon City, Texas, Transfer 10, Week 4

Well, my family and friends,

Another week has come and gone. For all of you the air is probably getting crisp and leaves are probably changing colors and falling from the trees. For me it still feels like we're in August, unless we go outside before 10:00 am. Then it's in like the 60s and a little chilly.

Monday: We had p-day. One of the recent converts in the English ward invited us over and helped us get started on a Temple cross-stitch. I'm doing the Albuquerque temple as a reminder of my mission. We went souvenir shopping for Sister Jardine's birthday. We went on Splits that night, because we have too much work to keep up with because so many of our investigators need night-time appointments. But it was good.

Tuesday: It was Sister Jardine's birthday. When we were up in Albuquerque for the temple and went to Deseret Book, I bought her a CD and surprised her with that in the morning. We had 3 birthday dinners that night and were totally stuffed by the time we got home.

Wednesday: We had lunch with a less-active family and one of their non-member friends and have an appointment set up with that friend so we can teach her as well. We had a few other appointments after that as well.

Thursday: We went to district meeting and did service for one of our ward members. We taught several lessons that night.

Friday: We did weekly planning, and spent a good chunk of time planning an amazing activity for one of our investigator families so they'd be able to get to know a bunch of families in the ward. And then the appointment canceled. We were way bummed, but such is the life of a missionary.

Saturday: We went out and did some visits to some less active people in the ward.and a bit of service for one of the widows in the ward.

Sunday: We had an amazing Sunday at church! We had new members move into both wards, both in our area, and one of them is a part member family where the wife wants to be baptized! We're excited to be able to work with her and help her progress toward baptism. She and her husband just had a baby who they blessed on Sunday.

The Sotos don't want to be baptized. And Rosa will be baptized on the 23rd or 30th. She slipped up with the word of wisdom, and we think she might have again because she's acting funny when we call her and avoiding us. But she is doing good. The other baptismal date is Celali for November 5th. She'll be 18 that day, but is really going through a hard time right now. Her mom didn't want her dad to have custody, but her mom doesn't want her either, so she's kind of just house hopping. Pobrecita. She is going through so much but is so strong, and has such a desire to learn and is accepting everything so easily. Keep her in your prayers.

Yesterday we had zone conference, hence no e-mail. It was an amazing Conference with Elder Claudio M. Zivic of the 70. I honestly haven't been to a better conference my whole mission--and I've only got one more left, so I'm pretty sure that this one will take the cake. It definitely helped me take things into perspective and be able to see what I can do to be a strong missionary the last couple months that I have. Sister Jardine and I were the only Sisters at the conference (yeah, that was weird and we felt WAY outnumbered) and got to visit with Sister Zivic before the conference started while Elder Zivic was interviewing some of the missionaries. She is such a sweet sister, and we both felt that she was able to see exactly what our problems that we're facing are because she said something that was directed to each of us, and looked right at the one of us who is having that problem when she said it. What a spiritually uplifting day!

So... I just realized that my e-mails are getting way shorter. It's not because we don't do anything... it's just that we really didn't have anything super out of the ordinary happen this week. Hopefully next week will be more exciting.

I love you all!

Hermana Good

Monday, October 4, 2010

Horizon City, Texas, Transfer 10, Week 3

Dear Family and Friends,

Another great week has passed here on the border. Time is quickly flying by, and before we all know it I'll be back to the land of ice and snow. (Random story, but I looked out the window at like 6:30 this morning and could have sworn that there was a dusting of snow in the parking lot and on the cars at our apartment complex. But no, it was just the way the light was reflecting. You know you're getting old when you start hallucinating)

Monday: It was p-day. We were going to play volleyball, but the elders didn't think to get the key to get the ball and net out, so we ended up just going home. It was a chilly 69 when we left our apartment that morning. Brr! We had an FHE with one of our investigator families that night.

Tuesday: We went and did service for one of the sisters in our ward for a while. That was fun. I also played for the primary to practice for the program that they're doing this Sunday because the pianist couldn't be there, and I'm the only other one in the ward who can play.

Wednesday: We had some really good lessons, and were able to set another baptismal date with a 17 year old girl. She'll be baptized next month on her 18th birthday, and is so excited. She may be the most ready of anyone I've taught over the past 15 months. We got home and found a package for Sister Jardine--and when she opened it, it was full of Idaho Potatoes. It made us laugh.

Thursday: We did some more service... but I don't remember for who. And we taught some good lessons.

Friday: We spent the morning doing service. Sister Jardine and I cleaned the house for our Ward Mission Leader. His wife is 8 months pregnant, and has 5 other kids under the age of 8 running around, so we helped them out while the elders all went with Brother G and did yard work for another family in the ward. It was fun. We had some great lessons that night. And on the way home, we were talking, and Sister Jardine busted out a Spanish word and couldn't remember the English word to save her life. It was hilarious for me who's been there, done that and horrifying for her realizing that she's losing all ability to speak English now too. We got a good laugh out of that. It was my 15 month mark in the mission--I really can't believe how fast the time is flying by. I love the mission and while I miss you all a ton, I don't want this time to end.

Saturday: We watched General Conference. I watched one session in Spanish and the other in English. It was a good conference--but I had to watch my favorite apostle, Elder Scott, in Spanish, so I didn't get the full message of his talk. Bummer, because from what Sister Jardine (who watched it in English) tells me, it was a great one. I can't wait to get my Ensign next month to read it (don't forget mom!). We had a couple lessons with investigators we're preparing for baptism. And the sister who fed us dinner fixed one of my favorites: Stuffed Shells! Yum!

Sunday: We again watched conference, both sessions in English. We watched one at the church, and the other with one of our investigators who is living with a member family, but the Sister who was going to give her a ride got sick, so we stayed with them to watch it. It was a great weekend!

So yeah, that's my week. I'll be e-mailing on Tuesday next week because we have Zone Conference on Monday. And Mom, you said that you'd send me an Ensign article you found a couple weeks ago and it wasn't with the letter this last week. Just a happy reminder :) Love you all!

Hermana Good

Monday, September 27, 2010

Time is Flying

Dear Family and Friends,

Time is really flying by. And I really realized how little time I have left as I did a survey this morning for the zone conference we're going to have in a couple of weeks with Elder Zivic and had to move a little slider-bar thingy for how many months I've been out and moved it to 15 (because that's where I'll be by the end of the week). It felt like it just kept going and going.

Anyway, on to my week!

Tuesday: It was p-day because of the temple trip, but we did have a couple of appointments. We were able to clean our apartment. We had an appointment that evening with the Soto family, who accepted a baptismal date, so that was exciting! I think I talked about how we found them last week, if not, ask me for more details and I'll fill ya'll in. We went to the church that evening for our missionary coordination meeting with the Spanish ward, and the Primary all sang to us "I Hope they Call Me On a Mission"--but in Spanish. It was pretty cool. Then they gave us a bunch of food--cereal, bread, peanut butter, lunch meat, ramen, cookies, juice--just because. It was so sweet! All 3 companionships got a ton of food!

Wednesday: It was kinda rainy. We went and did service for the McDermed family to help them get ready for the funeral of Sister McDermed.

Thursday: We had district meeting. We needed to leave early, because Sister McDermed's funeral was that afternoon, and they had asked Sister Jardine and I to sing for the funeral. It was a beautiful service celebrating her life. She is definitely in a better place now, and free of pain and suffering.

Friday: We had weekly planning, then coordination like we do every Friday. But this week, when I went to put on my shoes, I felt something rather LARGE wiggling around by my toes. I screamed my Spider Scream (which doesn't come out very often because normally I just kill them and it's done) and kicked my shoe off. A GIANT Brown Recluse came running out of my shoe. Seriously--the body was over an inch long, and then with the legs... Yikes. We're being haunted because we baked Bob the Tarantula. Then I chased it down and killed it, after I slowed it down by spraying it with cockroach Raid. At coordination, we planned a service project to do for the English ward--we're all pretty excited.

Saturday: We went down to Fabens because they asked me to play the piano at the baptism they had. Then we went to the Relief Society Broadcast. It was so good! There were lots of good points that stood out to me. I also had a flashback to last year--3 weeks in the field. I was super homesick, and couldn't understand Spanish, but we had to watch it in Spanish. I sat there and sobbed clear through the whole thing. This year we were able to watch it in English because we didn't have any Spanish investigators there, but even if we had to, I would have been able to understand.

Sunday: We went to Church. We were able to set another baptismal date with another new investigator, Rosa. Also--another sad point that made me realize that my time is drawing short-- Sister Jardine and I flip-flopped. She now has more time in the mission than I have left. Que Triste!

So yeah, that's my week. Nothing super exciting happened. Okay, other than setting 6 baptismal dates. The bishop was super shocked when we told him. We're actually getting somewhere now! It's going to be a great month!

Love you all!

Hermana Good

Time is Flying

Dear Family and Friends,

Time is really flying by. And I really realized how little time I have left as I did a survey this morning for the zone conference we're going to have in a couple of weeks with Elder Zivic and had to move a little slider-bar thingy for how many months I've been out and moved it to 15 (because that's where I'll be by the end of the week). It felt like it just kept going and going.

Anyway, on to my week!

Tuesday: It was p-day because of the temple trip, but we did have a couple of appointments. We were able to clean our apartment. We had an appointment that evening with the Soto family, who accepted a baptismal date, so that was exciting! I think I talked about how we found them last week, if not, ask me for more details and I'll fill ya'll in. We went to the church that evening for our missionary coordination meeting with the Spanish ward, and the Primary all sang to us "I Hope they Call Me On a Mission"--but in Spanish. It was pretty cool. Then they gave us a bunch of food--cereal, bread, peanut butter, lunch meat, ramen, cookies, juice--just because. It was so sweet! All 3 companionships got a ton of food!

Wednesday: It was kinda rainy. We went and did service for the McDermed family to help them get ready for the funeral of Sister McDermed.

Thursday: We had district meeting. We needed to leave early, because Sister McDermed's funeral was that afternoon, and they had asked Sister Jardine and I to sing for the funeral. It was a beautiful service celebrating her life. She is definitely in a better place now, and free of pain and suffering.

Friday: We had weekly planning, then coordination like we do every Friday. But this week, when I went to put on my shoes, I felt something rather LARGE wiggling around by my toes. I screamed my Spider Scream (which doesn't come out very often because normally I just kill them and it's done) and kicked my shoe off. A GIANT Brown Recluse came running out of my shoe. Seriously--the body was over an inch long, and then with the legs... Yikes. We're being haunted because we baked Bob the Tarantula. Then I chased it down and killed it, after I slowed it down by spraying it with cockroach Raid. At coordination, we planned a service project to do for the English ward--we're all pretty excited.

Saturday: We went down to Fabens because they asked me to play the piano at the baptism they had. Then we went to the Relief Society Broadcast. It was so good! There were lots of good points that stood out to me. I also had a flashback to last year--3 weeks in the field. I was super homesick, and couldn't understand Spanish, but we had to watch it in Spanish. I sat there and sobbed clear through the whole thing. This year we were able to watch it in English because we didn't have any Spanish investigators there, but even if we had to, I would have been able to understand.

Sunday: We went to Church. We were able to set another baptismal date with another new investigator, Rosa. Also--another sad point that made me realize that my time is drawing short-- Sister Jardine and I flip-flopped. She now has more time in the mission than I have left. Que Triste!

So yeah, that's my week. Nothing super exciting happened. Okay, other than setting 6 baptismal dates. The bishop was super shocked when we told him. We're actually getting somewhere now! It's going to be a great month!

Love you all!

Hermana Good

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Horizon City, Texas, Transfer 10, Week 1

Dear Family and Friends,

No, I can't believe that I'm already in transfer #10. Time is flying by so quickly. This week, Sister Jardine and I will flip-flop--I'll have less time left than she's got out--she's been out for 3 1/2 months.

Monday: It was our p-day. We didn't do anything out of the ordinary.

Tuesday: We have been here in Horizon for 6 weeks. We had a FANTASTIC day! We were able to make lots of contacts, because we listened to the Spirit as to where we needed to be and who we needed to visit. One of those visits was to a widow in the ward who has some health problems and needed help cleaning her house. We were able to do in about 1/2 hour what would have taken her all day long with as often as she needs to sit down and rest. It was great.

Wednesday: We had another great day, and had lots of prayers answered--including the maintenance man showing up about 5 minutes after we prayed because we locked our keys in the house and the manager wasn't there (he's got a key to all the apartments too). It was close to 100 degrees. We were roasting. This is very abnormal for us this time of year. I keep forgetting it's almost October, because it feels like July.

Thursday: We had district meeting, and met the 2 new Elders in our district. We've now got 6 missionaries in the wards we cover. After that, we went to an appointment we had with a sister we'd contacted last week when we were early for an appointment and only had time to knock one door, so we prayed about where Heavenly Father wanted us to go and were led to her door. It was an amazing lesson! We also were looking at the map to find a street to knock doors on. We chose an area and were looking in that area, and I happened to look over one square and found a street that we've been looking for since we got here, but had been spelled wrong on the referral paper so we couldn't find it. We went to try to contact her, and she wasn't home. But we had a terrifying experience. It was cloudy and windy and looked like it was going to rain, and just as we got under her porch, lighting struck on the same street that we'd just walked across to get there. Yikes! Yes, if I'd been 2 seconds later I very well could have gotten struck by lightening this week. Heavenly Father is protecting His servants.

Friday: We had weekly planning and coordination meeting with the English ward. Then we went to the Mexican Independence Day activity with the Spanish ward. It was fun to be there, but I so wanted to dance with the music. 4 more months...

Saturday: It was hot. We taught a few lessons.

Sunday: We went to church. That night, I finished reading the Old Testament! That was pretty exciting. I started around Christmas time last year with the goal to read the Bible from cover to cover by the end of this year. That goal seemed a little far-fetched, especially as I was reading the first part that is all names and places and doesn't make sense. But the past few weeks, I've really gotten into it and flew through the last few books. And now I've re-modified my goal to read all of the standard works by the time I get home. I'm currently reading the BOM in Spanish, so that takes care of that one. I've finished the Old Testament, so that's done. And I've only got to read like 6 pages a day to finish the Pearl of Great Price, D&C, and New Testament before I go home. Doable? I think so!

Well, I hope you all have a great week. I know I will after having gone to the temple yesterday. (Speaking of, what do you get when you fill a 15-passenger van with 5 companionships of missionaries and a ward mission leader? A very entertaining ride.) And as sisters, we were glad we were in the front of the back so we could mostly ignore them and talk to Brother G. We left our apartment about 5:45 am and got home about 10:15 pm. It was a long day, but oh so worth it. I feel very rejuvenated today to go out and conquer the world! (or at least this little corner of it.)

I love you all!

Hermana Good

Monday, September 13, 2010

Horizon, TX, Transfer 9, Week 6


Holy cow, has another transfer really come and gone already? I'm really not liking how these numbers are going. And every time I get discouraged thinking about how much I still want to improve on and how little time I have left to do it, my companion gets after me. In just a couple weeks I'll have less time left that she has out. And she's only been out for 3 months. But anyway... It was a good week and I really do enjoy the time I've had here in Horizon. I can feel great things coming!

Monday: It was p-day. One of the families in the Spanish ward invited us and the Elders for breakfast. They fixed pancakes and eggs and it was SO good! They also had menudo (cow intestine soup) that they offered to us, but we all turned it down. We had dinner with the same family that night too. Then we went and did our laundry and wrote a few letters. That evening, we taught a lesson with the Elders because we found (or got the referral for this brother from one of Sister Jardine's friends in Utah who was unloading his semi up there in Logan and talked to him about the Gospel and discovered that he lives down here, but in the Elders' area). After the lesson, we were standing outside for about 5 minutes, and I got attacked by 33 mosquitoes. If any of you remember how allergic I am, you can imagine that I was pretty miserable when my ankles swelled up to be the size of softballs.

Tuesday: I got 2 more mosquito bites. I have since learned my lesson and put on repellent before we leave the house. We also found a couple new investigators.

Wednesday: My companion was sick again. When we called Sister Miller, she told us to find someone to go with me and someone to stay with her, so I went on exchanges that night. That was weird. REALLY weird. It was the first time my whole mission that I haven't been with my companion. I mean, I was still with someone, but I don't know WHAT I'm going to do when I get home in a few months and can do what I want when I want and don't need anyone with me to do it. Mom and Kesha, you better be ready to spend some time with me because I don't know if I'll be able to handle being alone.

Thursday: We had district meeting--the last of the transfer. Weird. It doesn't seem like a whole transfer has gone by already. Probably because it's been so out-of-the-ordinary. I also got a letter from Emily Mower, and want to say CONGRATULATIONS on the mission call! The people of Honduras will be greatly blessed!

Friday: We did a little weekly planning, then went to a lunch appointment at the McDermed's house. We have been spending a lot of time with them, as Sister McDermed has cancer and doesn't have much time left. They also had a non-member friend there, and we were able to share a spiritual message with all of them. It was so great! And before we left, we sang a few hymns to Sister McDermed. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. And that night we had several really powerful lessons. What a great day!

Saturday: We had one heck of a companion study talking about Revelations chapters 6-11. We were really wishing we had the institute manual, but for now the scriptures had to do (not that they're bad, just the institute manual could have helped us understand things a little more clearly). I can't wait to get home and have SO many more resources at my fingertips! We went on an adventure to the absolute middle of nowhere trying to find a referral from some of the English Elders. The street showed up on my GPS, so we headed off to find it. An hour of driving and many dirt paths later, we got to where the house should have been and found nothing but broken beer bottles and sagebrush. But it sure was an adventure. We also had double dinners that night, and were SO full we didn't want to think of food ever again. We helped a recent convert who is a geometry teacher grade her students' latest tests for service time. That worked my brain--in a good way. I guess that's something I've got to get used to. As we were driving home from her house around 9:25 or so, I realized that we were getting transfer news that night. Holy Cow! I'm ALWAYS freaking out all day on transfer news day, and it hadn't even crossed my mind. As we were pulling in our driveway, the phone rang and it was Elder Pearson. He asked us if we like our apartment (which now we do) because we're both staying! Yay! I'm so excited for another 6 weeks of work here in Horizon! And so happy that I only have to go through another 2 transfer news days. (With that said, where do y'all think I'm gonna "die"--Horizon City, Rio Rancho, or Santa Fe--the other sister area was closed because we now only have 7 Spanish sisters since one is going home this week--also leaving me the oldest sister in the mission. how weird is that?)

Sunday: We had stake conference. It was only the second one I've been to my whole mission, because I was transferred just a week or two before stake conference in Cortez and Santa Fe. It was a way good conference. And it was nice not being in church all day long so we could make some good visits. I'd forgotten what it was like to only have one meeting to go to on Sundays after 5 weeks of 2 wards. Also, in talking to the Zone Leaders, we are now the only sisters in the 3 zones south of Albuquerque. That means there are like 7 companionships of sisters up north, and us. I feel VERY outnumbered. If we have zone conference combined with the other zones (which we very well could with a member of the 70 coming in October and Christmas coming up) we are going to be so extremely outnumbered it's not even going to be funny. And it's gonna be weird for me to go home and start hanging out with girls again, but I don't think I'll be able to hang out with guys either after 18 months of missionary friendships. Whatever. I promise, sooner or later, I'll get over the awkward RM stage.

Love you all! Have a great week!

Hermana Good