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.

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

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

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