Santa Fe, NM Transfer 8 Week 2

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, another week has come and gone here in Santa Fe. This transfer is going fairly well. We've pretty much figured out what is going on here, as best we can with an un-updated area book after a double transfer. We're starting to learn our way around better and using the map less. And we're getting things figured out and our area book updated. When we got here, we knew WHO was being taught, just not where they lived or phone numbers or what they'd been taught. We spent lots of time on the phone with Elder Cuello (Elder Neck) to find out where people lived. And we're just starting the lessons over for EVERYONE. It's frustrating for them, and it's frustrating for us, but we didn't know what else to do. Especially since most people are telling us that the Elders were just visiting them and sharing a scripture right before they left. Our investigators are all doing great.

Good luck with Lance's Eagle Program tonight! I wish I could be there to see it. How many flags did he end up getting?

Monday: Our first p-day here in Santa Fe was spent cleaning the apartment. I have one word to describe that experience: GROSS! We're still not quite done cleaning the kitchen cupboards, but we got the pantry and dishes clean, and the bathroom.

Tuesday: We went and did some more service for Karina, one of our investigators who is moving into her new house today. The house they're moving into has been abandoned for a couple years, and several mice decided to make it their home. Needless to say, thanks to the branch and missionaries, this family (the people, not the mice) are going to have a nice clean home to move into. We had several appointments, and had dinner with some of our investigators. That evening, I got a call from the APs, who asked if I'd be able to play a song that Sister Miller just handed them in Zone Conference the next morning. What was I supposed to do, say no? Of course not, so whether or not I had confidence in my abilities, I said that I would do it.

Wednesday: The primary birthday song that says "One year older and wiser too" came to my head, and it is so true. (In case you were wondering, yes, it was my birthday). I don't know if I have ever learned so much in one year as I have in the past year since becoming a missionary. We woke up really early because we had to leave around 6:30 to make it to Zone Conference in Albuquerque. The first thing I did was open the gifts my family sent me for my birthday. In our family, we have a tradition to have the gifts sitting out all day long on our birthdays for us to look at and be curious. Well, I got the package a WEEK before and was being tempted for a whole week, so I figured I was justified to open them at 5:15 in the morning, no? And besides, I assumed there were clothes and that I'd have something new to wear to Zone Conference. I was right! The morning was spent in Zone Conference to meet President and Sister Miller. And you know what, I even did okay on the song... though we got to the church WAY early so I could practice. Zone Conference was good. President and Sister Miller are great people. I'm excited to get to know them better over the 6 months that I have left in the mission. The afternoon was spent knocking doors, because all our our appointments fell through. Well, all except for one. And we got to that one just as they were sitting down to dinner, so they invited us to eat with them. It made for a yummy birthday dinner--since we didn't have one and were planning on eating macaroni and cheese when we got home that night.

Thursday: I hit my one year mark. Crazy how fast time flies--it hardly seems that way! Like I said, I have learned SO much this past year. And it was another day of New Mexico Rain.

Friday: We had planning, then went out tracting. It was another rainy afternoon. At least I've gotten to where I can tell when a storm is coming in.

Saturday: We went to help the Elders with a lesson they had with a single sister. Let's just say that it was a good thing we didn't have another appointment set for 2 hours, because we wouldn't have made it to our next appointment. We got a referral from the office for a family who are recent converts and just moved here. And it turns out that they were taught and baptized by a sister Sister Cabello knew in the MTC. That was crazy.

Sunday: It was fast Sunday. During Sacrament Meeting, I was reflecting on how I used to assess my progress each fast Sunday by how much I was able to share in my testimony, and how I haven't done that for a while, probably because I haven't struggled with sharing anything for a while and haven't thought about it. A year ago, I never would have imagined that I'd be where I am today. We had to be in early because of the 4th, and went to bed listening to the fireworks. I tried, but couldn't see any from our first floor apartment.

So yeah. That's my week. I hope you all have a great week. Lately I have started more diligently studying Preach My Gospel every day. I am learning so much, and wish that I'd done so early in my mission, instead of now that I'm well over halfway done. Most recently, I have been studying the lessons in chapter 3 again, and have found a lot of interesting insights as I have been studying the scriptures involved with each of the points in the lessons.

Love you all!

Hermana Good