Howdy de Texas (pronounced Te-hass)

My dear family and friends,

What a crazy week it has been. Holy cow have we had some adventures.

Monday: Our first p-day in Texas. It was spent cleaning the apartment and we STILL didn't finish! As Sister Jardine and I were talking that night, we made some totally random connections--we have SEVERAL friends in common. So if you read this and your name is on this list you should give us a shout out. Jamie Ann Moon Frizzle. Madalyn Dustin. Jessica Southwick. Derek Salisbury. Brandon Fowler. Sam Brown. Aaron Kinghorn. And those are all I can remember--there's a bunch more. And we figured out that we'd met before, fall of 2007. Her roommate/cousin was really good friends with my roommate and she totally came over to my apartment. Crazy, no?

Tuesday: We kept thinking of more people we know in common. We went tracting, and it was 109. HOT! And we FINALLY unpacked! I know, we'd been here for a week, but there were other things that were taking our priorities.

Wednesday: We went tracting in 119 degree temps. We got sunburned. And then it started to rain and dropped 50 degrees in 10 minutes. When we got home that night we found more cockroaches all over the dishes we'd washed that morning. We got really frustrated, went upstairs to our clean bedroom, sat on the floor and cried as we ate chocolate cupcakes. Pathetic picture, I know.

Thursday: We had district meeting, and can I just say that it was AMAZING! Elder Pearson started out by asking each one of us how we were. (He'd called Wednesday night when we were sitting on the floor in tears). And it was all just so uplifting. We were way excited and ready to get out and work. We made the Elders Spider cupcakes to make up for killing the tarantula and took them to district meeting. After district meeting, we called Sister Clifford in the office again, and she told us to have the Elders come and help us de-junk and haul things to the dump. So we called the Elders and asked them if they'd have time on Saturday or today, but they said "Don't wait that long! We'll be there tomorrow at 11." Okay. Sweet! We were feeling much better about things. Oh--while I was on the phone with Sister Clifford she asked where I wanted to have President send me next so I could clean up. I would SO much rather stay here for a while. And with only 3 transfers left after this one I really won't be surprised if I "die" here. Yes, I really did just say three. Crazy, no? Time sure flies when you're havin' fun! That night as we were out tracting, we saw a pitbull looking at us over a rock fence and were like "creepy" and then behind the same fence, a German Shepherd started brinking the whole length of the fence following us. Not barking, just jumping and leaping in the air. We were laughing so hard we could hardly walk straight. And we finished cleaning the upstairs, with the exception of the bathroom floor.

Friday: The Elders came and helped us get rid of the stinky infested couches, the washer-dryer combo that doesn't work, the disgusting hospital chair, and all the junk from the zebra and Harry Potter closets. In there we found papers dating back to 1973. No joke. Don't ask. And the exterminator came to exterminate the cockroaches. It didn't work because we've still been finding some, but EVERYTHING is clean now, so that should help lots. Things looked SO much better in our apartment.

Saturday: We went to two baptisms, one in the Spanish ward for the elders we work with, and one for the elders serving in Fabens. That was a good way to spend a Saturday morning. Then we went to the bakery of the member the Fabens Elders live with for lunch, and took district pictures because one of the Elders is being transferred to the West Side to train a new elder coming in tonight while he's waiting for his visa (and the other 2 companionships in our district are also getting a couple). All I can say is que triste. We're losing an amazing Elder who really knows how to work hard and who let us borrow his GPS (thanks to not having that we got lost again this morning). And we're getting 2 new greenies. My greenie is excited to not be the greenie in the district anymore... except she is. She's just less green than the others. So we took a district photo, even though that's a last district meeting of the transfer kind of deal. And I got a letter from Grandma and Grandpa and we discovered that we're related. And I'm looking forward to next week's letters to find out how. So all you with more access to technology and knowledge about genealogy, have fun!

Sunday: We went to Church. I had a sister from the Spanish ward ask me if I'm from Brazil. Okay... my accent isn't THAT good. But whatever. And we got to sub sunbeams in the English ward. I was totally in heaven! I miss kids! They're SO funny! And Sister Jardine tried her first Serrano pepper, which is hotter than a jalapeno, and it about killed her. And did absolutely nothing to me. She says that I have a mouth of steel.

So yeah. It's been a good week. We FINALLY finished cleaning the apartment this morning. And hopefully have annihilated the cockroaches. We have a can of Raid on hand to use if one finds its way in. And the carpet cleaner came. So now our apartment is clean AND it doesn't stink any more! Yea! We were able to get out and do some tracting and meet a lot more members. We have more energy to get out and work because our minds aren't focused on the mess at home. We're still trying to organize the area book, but it hadn't been touched in so long that there isn't much useful information. We're in the process of trying to contact all former investigators. I'm excited for the training this week and to apply what we learn as we turn this area upside down. The members are way excited that there's sisters back in the area and are way willing to help us out.

Hope you all have a great week! Love you!

Hermana Good

Horizon, TX, Transfer 9, Week 1

Side note from Kira's mom: Young men--DO NOT EVER leave a missionary apartment dirty for the next set of missionaries to come in. It is very rude and totally unacceptable! I've already told my boys that if they EVER do, I will personally come and hunt them down and make them pay for their behavior. Can you tell what is coming in Kira's letter???

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, it has been quite the week. I hope you've got a bit of time, because I can guarantee that it will be a novel by the time I finish this--and I thought that last week's letter was long! So sit back, relax, and maybe grab a bowl of popcorn to munch while you read my story for this week.

Monday: I said the last of my goodbyes. I saved Karina, Dayana, and Evelyn for last. They had us over for lunch, and then we shared a lesson, and were there for like 3 hours. I just didn't want to say goodbye. I grew to love them so much, and was very NOT excited to leave them. Karina gave me a pretty pair of earrings as a going away gift. Lots of tears were shed. The rest of the day was spent packing, and I had a hard time squishing everything in, but it was successful. And I even made it to bed at a decent time--like before 11:00 which is amazing for the night before transfers.

Tuesday: We were up way early--like 4:30 early because we had to be on the road by 5:45 to be to the office by 7:00 for the trainer's meeting. I bid Santa Fe and Rio Rancho goodbye as I drove past, because I really feel that I won't be going back up north except for temple day and when I fly home in January--and then I won't go as far north as Rio Rancho or Santa Fe. I met Sister Jardine--a very excited new missionary from Logan Utah, who graduated from BYU-Idaho with a degree in Emergency Medicine. Yep--my companion is a paramedic. Which means if I ever almost die again from dehydration I'll be safe. We have several friends in common--if anyone knows Lindsay Jardine you should give us a shout out--we'd love to hear from you! Then I said goodbye to Sister Michel who is now back in Mexico. She gave us pictures of the baptisms they've had in the branch over the past several months--and I was totally shocked to see that one of our eternigators was baptized. I wish I had a picture of my face. They say she's really strong and doesn't miss a week. That was sweet! Then I loaded into the AP's van with one of the APs and 5 greenies--my trainee and 4 brand-spanking new Elders on their way to Las Cruces to meet their trainers. That was the most spiritual, uplifting car ride I've ever had. They were... well, Sister Jardine was while the elders all slept, asking Elder Ellsworth and I all sorts of questions about the mission--no talk about girls left at home or what we'd heard about sports teams, etc. like the transfer van. When we got to Las Cruces, we went into the bathroom where we met two new Sisters, Sister Knight heading to Santa Fe and Sister Cope heading to Rio Rancho. That was pretty sweet! We have more sisters in the mission! Woo-hoo! Sister Knight has I think 8 months in the mission and Sister Cope went into the MTC 2 weeks after me, so we'll probably go home at the same time. And there in Las Cruces I collected the keys to our TRUCK!!! Oh Yeah. I have a truck again--a 2010 Chevy Colorado. And it was filthy. We've washed it twice in less than a week, and it's STILL dirty. We're going to make round 3 today. Then we got on the road to Texas and REALLY felt like I was breaking all sorts of rules. I saw Mexico. That was weird. We met 2 other sisters in El Paso, and headed even further south. Then we got to our apartment. Remember how I constantly complained about the apartment in Santa Fe and how "nasty" it was? That was nothing compared to this apartment. There were two notes left from the Elders who were here "2 Tarantulas in house: 1 alive, 1 dead." and "washer broken, wash clothes in tub." The tub was covered in black mold. There were cockroaches EVERYWHERE. The apartment smells like something died in there--which it probably has. There was a science experiment going on in the refrigerator. We went to Wal-mart and bought lots of disinfectant cleaning supplies and gloves and headed home to tackle the mess. We cleaned the shower and fridge. Little by little we've been working at cleaning things up. We're going to attack today.

Wednesday: We did more cleaning and tried to figure out our area book. but it hasn't been touched in months--it was covered in dust when we got there. We filled the bed of our truck full of garbage for round 2. We went and met both of our Bishops in the English and Spanish wards and the Mission Leader for the English ward. They are way excited to have us here and so willing to help us work.

Thursday: We had district meeting in Spanish, pues, Spanglish. We have some amazing Elders in our district. It was the best district meeting that I've been to in a long time. Elder Moore loaned us his GPS which has been a lifesaver and helped us get oriented to the area. I'm going to miss that when we give it back. Then we went to lunch as a district after district meeting. Like I said--the Elders are awesome. We also visited members and got 4 member referrals, and were able to contact 2 of them. That night we discovered that we can see Ciudad Juarez from our bedroom window. That was crazy.

Friday: People have discovered that I play the piano. They called and asked if I'd play the piano for a funeral. We went and bought a microwave and sanitary dishes. We were going to wait for zone conference, but when we called the office they told us NOT to wait. (side note--mom, I put $66.83 on my discover card for those. I'll get reimbursed, but I need more money in my checking account). We had our missionary coordination meeting for the English ward. That night we cleaned more in the apartment, and discovered that the drip pans on our stove were totally rusted through. And our stove is old enough that we can't buy replacements for it. We've got them covered in tin foil to work for now.

Saturday: We did weekly planning because we were at the funeral all day on Friday. We tried to contact some people on our list. Then we went home and conquered the stove top.

Sunday: We had church, a meeting, more church, dinner, and back to the church for a fireside where they asked me to play the piano. I got mostly unpacked. That just hasn't been a priority--but I felt guilty cleaning on Sunday so I unpacked. I was quite depressed at our numbers--the lowest numbers that I've had in a day let alone a whole week on my mission.

So yeah. Crazy week, no? I bet I won't have another week like this my whole mission. What an adventure this has been. I'll send pictures after we get things cleaned up so my mom doesn't freak out completely, because what I've described in this letter doesn't compare to the pictures. Use your imagination. But don't call the office. They know about the war-zone we've entered and are very sick of hearing from us.

Have a great week.

Love you all.

Hermana Good

A Wedding, A Baptisn, and Transfer News

Here is Kira's e-mail from last week--August 2--we were on vacation!

Well, my family and friends,

Another transfer has come and gone. ?Tan Rapido? I can't believe it. I have completed transfer number 8, and only have 4 more left--unless they switch to 8 week transfers before I go home, then I'll only have like 3. CRAZY! And what an eventful weekend we had!

Monday: It was p-day. We went up to Los Alamos to see the science museum Sister Cabello has been begging me to see all transfer--the one where they have the replicas of the atomic bomb. It was okay, but not exactly my idea of fun. On the way home we stopped and took pictures with Camel Rock. One of the sisters in the branch gave us each a gift card to Olive Garden, so we ate dinner there since we didn't have a dinner appointment.

Tuesday: We weren't sure how we’re were going to be mile-wise at the end of the week because we used a few more miles on Monday than planned, and had to drive the 5 miles to the church and back to pick up the baptismal clothing, so we walked for most of the day--like 6 or 7 miles. We had a pretty successful day, and both slept great that night!

Wednesday: We walked some more, but not as much as we did on Tuesday. And we had another successful day. I also did the piano lessons for the kids that I've been doing the past couple of weeks. It was kinda rainy--but only when we were inside teaching. Yes, that was an answer to prayer.

Thursday: We had the last district meeting of the transfer. And we helped clean the church that night because we needed more service time and no one else signed up.

Friday: We did weekly planning. And we went and sat with Karina's aunt who has a mental disability while she and her soon-to-be-husband, and her other aunt and the kids were all off doing preparations for the wedding. Before we left, Ivan sat down and visited with us--something he has never done with the missionaries before, us or the elders. That is definite progress. That night, Karina and Ivan were married. They were both glowing, as were their daughters. The girls have been praying for weeks that their mommy and poppy would get married so they could be baptized. He kept finding excuses to not go get the marriage license, but this week it happened! It was fun to be there. Boy do the members of the branch know how to party! One of our investigators, well, eternigators, is a DJ, so he did the music for the dance. And if you all know me, or remember the e-mail I sent a few weeks ago about hearing the music and having a desire to dance, that was SUCH a big temptation to dance. I wanted to dance SO bad! I had to keep telling myself "5 more months. Only 5 more months." And I admit, my feet were moving as I sat in my chair, and I danced with 1 1/2 year old Angie, the sister of 2 of our investigators in a less-active family. Shame on me. Kesha, when you get up to Rexburg, you BETTER go dancing for me. Even if you don't like it you better go dancing for me.

Saturday: The morning started out normal. We got up and got ready for the baptism that evening, and sat down to study. My stomach is always in knots the morning of transfer news, and it got knottier and knottier the longer I studied. About 9:45, the phone rang. It was the mission home. Do you know what that means? It was President Miller. He asked how I'm doing and how things are going in the area. Then he told me that we'll get transfer news that night, but that he wanted to inform the trainers that they're training that morning. I'm going to be getting a new sister tomorrow. Then he told me that I'm going to be OPENING the Socorro Mission Trail Area. Whether that means that we're opening opening or whitewashing opening I don't know. I'll be in the El Paso Zone. He said that I'm going from the furthest north sister area to the furthest south. That's fun. He told me that it's kind of a double whammy, but that he has complete confidence in my abilities. I was kind of in shock by this point, but had enough mind about me to ask if my companion is learning English or Spanish, and yes, she is learning Spanish. So I am training, teaching a new missionary Spanish when I'm not super confident with my own abilities all the time, and opening a new area. I'm pretty sure my face was white when I got off the phone. My hands were shaking way bad. If I thought my stomach was in knots while I was studying, that so didn't compare to how it felt when I hung up the phone. I couldn't eat anything if I wanted to. I couldn't focus. All sorts of doubts and "what ifs" started running through my mind. It was great. Even worse-- all day long people were asking if we'd heard anything yet, and we had to say no because we can't say anything until official transfer news Saturday night. That night Karina, Dayana, and Evelyn were baptized. It was a beautiful baptism, but very bitter-sweet knowing that I won't be able to see them progress. As I stood to the side of the font with their towels I sobbed, knowing that I'd probably only see them 2 more times--Sunday at church and today to say goodbye (that's where we're headed when we leave here) :'( As we watched the video while they were changing, tears were running down my face. One of the few sisters I've gotten close to asked me "que tiene?" which translates to "What's wrong?" I responded with a simple "nada" when all I really wanted to do was put my head on her shoulder and cry. But really, it was a beautiful baptism. I am so grateful that I was able to be here to see them baptized. All three have very strong testimonies of the Gospel. That night we got transfer news, and Sister Cabello is staying here with Sister Knight--who is coming up from down south.

Sunday: Happy 13 months in the mission to me. Already? I know. It really doesn't seem like it. We had church, and I cried lots. Mostly when I had to tell Karina and her girls that I'm leaving, and during their confirmations, and my testimony, and their testimonies, and some of the testimonies of other primary kids. Okay, so basically all through sacrament meeting. During the confirmations, I sat up at the piano and sobbed. Quietly, but I sobbed. I don't think I've cried that hard for goodbyes my whole mission! Their confirmations were beautiful blessings. All three were promised that through their example, their husband/father would be brought to a knowledge of the Gospel. After church we went so I could say goodbye to people and take pictures. As we were telling several different people goodbye, they told me that they felt that it was me that would be leaving. Okay, this transfer really must be inspired--but we both thought it would be Sister Cabello leaving. Whatever.

I am excited for the transfer. It will be an exciting new adventure. But I am so nervous. I feel at peace that this is what the Lord wants. This morning in my personal study, I was studying in PMG where I left off in lesson 3, and read several scriptures over faith. They brought me a lot of comfort. I love how Heavenly Father always brings comfort and peace to me through the scriptures. That is something I have a very strong testimony of. I fasted yesterday, and am continually praying that I will have the capabilities to help this new sister learn Spanish and the wonderful people learn about the Gospel and take upon themselves the covenants of baptism. So yeah. That's my week. Eventful huh? Tomorrow I head to the mission office at 5:45 to be there for the trainer meeting at 7, then it's off to Texas. Yee-haw!

Oh, by the way—Have fun in Disneyland. Say hi to Mickey and Pooh Bear for me! I wish I could be there with you, but I’ve got my own exciting adventures that I’m dealing with this week. Pray for me! Have a great week ya'll!

Hermana Good

Santa Fe, NM Transfer 8 Week 5

Dear Family and Friends,

Another week has flown by here in Santa Fe. It's hard to believe that we're already in the last week of the transfer and will find out transfer news again on Saturday. Crazy times. As for our area book, I think we’ve finally contacted everyone and have at least a bit of info on them. And while we can’t go back in time to update it, we make sure we do it every night. One does phone calls and the other area book and switch. Out of curiosity – which mission did Addison Rice end up in – Mesa or Farmington?

Monday: P-day. The Elders from here, Espanols, and Los Alamos and us all got together and played Ultimate Frisbee. I about died between the heat and the altitude. But it was SO fun. I got to thinking, and I really think that the last time I played Ultimate was my VERY first weekend in Rexburg--like the weekend I moved up there for the first time in 2006 almost 4 years ago. I had SO much fun! I may consider being on one of the teams when I get back up there. One of the elders got the frisbee stuck in a tree, so another elder threw his shoe up there to try to get it out, and succeeded, but in the process got his shoe stuck. So he threw the other shoe up to try to get it out, and yep. You guessed it--got that one stuck too. Then the elders tried to throw rocks up, and were unsuccessful with that too, until one of the elders played monkey and climbed the tree to be closer and had the other elders throw rocks up to him and threw them at the shoes until both were safely back on the ground. It made for some good laughs. That much time in the sun caused me to get a sunburn on my head where my hair was parted.

Tuesday: The rain washed our car. (That means it rained a lot. )

Wednesday: We did service for one of the sisters in the branch. She's actually the new Primary President. There are two pianists in the branch, the Relief Society President and Me. And I'm only temporary. At most I have 5 1/2 months here. Her children know the basics of piano, but don't really know how to read music, and definitely not the hymns or primary songs, so for as long as I'm here I'm going to help them once a week learn how to play some hymns and primary songs. And I got word that my little brother has started driving AND that he's taller than me. Only by 1/4 inch, but in 6 months, that 1/4 inch is going to multiply by who knows how much. That sure sent my head for a spin. We finished cleaning what we've been putting off for the past 5 weeks (such as the oven) because of apartment inspections.

Thursday: We had district meeting, and then apartment inspections. The elder and sister told us that we should be the official apartment cleaners for the mission--meaning that it was clean. Really, it doesn't even look like the same place we moved into 5 weeks ago. That night our neighbors knocked on our door to introduce themselves. They said they'd heard that the elders had left and sisters were here now. Apparently the elders helped them move into their apartment about 6 months ago.

Friday: We had weekly planning. That night we had a pretty good rainstorm. As we were driving across town in the rain, our "flat tire" light came on. No bueno. I pulled over at a gas station where I could check the tires out of the rain. A couple were a little low on air, but nothing that couldn't wait until the rain had subsided, thankfully. We had an appointment with some new investigators, and they had lots of good questions about Adam and Eve and stuff. Good thing I'd just been studying that in my personal study. Even still, I didn't understand all of the questions.

Saturday: We were finishing up our studies, when Sister Cabello looked out the window and saw the Jehovah Witnesses walking up to our apartment complex. They knocked on our door, and we answered. They left us very confused with their doctrines, and their scriptures. We had actually found JW bibles in our apartment (does that mean that some elders in the past actually invited them in to teach them?) so after they left compared the scriptures they shared with us and that we shared with them between their bible and our bible. And nothing made sense! How grateful I am to have the truth! As we were driving to our first appointment, a relentless downpour started, and as we walked from our car to the house with raincoats and umbrellas, our skirts were drenched! They don't come out of the washing machine that wet! It was pouring rain that day, but did let up enough for us to go put air in our tire. But that wasn't exactly an easy process either because we couldn't figure out how the air compressor at the gas station works. We went in to ask for help, but they were kinda rude about telling us that they couldn't help us. Well we COULDN'T go anywhere else at this point because we'd let so much air OUT of the tire trying to figure out how to get the compressor to work, so we prayed. And you know what? We figured it out! (A little tip for those of you preparing to serve a mission where you'll have a car and are as car-illiterate as I was a year ago-- learn how to check all the fluids under the hood, change a tire, and put air into a tire. You never know when that kind of information will come in handy. Trust me.) Oh, and happy Pioneer Day!

Sunday: We got word that one of our investigators is definitely going to get married this week so she can get married {I think she means baptized} this weekend! Yea! We've been waiting for this for a long time--since we got here. As for the other two investigators, they are the children, ages 11 and 9, in a part-member, less active family. These children are reading and praying and keeping commitments, except going to church. They want to, but their parents won't take them to church. We always set appointments with them and try to keep a schedule, but the parents frequently leave and take their children with them so they aren't there when we get there for the appointments. At times the parents aren't even in the room present for the lessons. We feel that they aren't being very supportive of their children and their desire to be baptized. We had a baptismal date set for them for this coming Saturday, but as a result of them missing several lessons and not going to church, we went this week and explained to them that we will have to change the date. The mother seemed offended that we have to move it, and the little girl was upset. But we had talked to them about the importance of being at church. When we set the baptismal date, we explained that we needed the three appointments a week to be able to teach the children what they needed to know in several, short lessons. We have never taught more than one or two principles at a time, and would have had plenty of time to teach everything before the baptism. They have only been to church once since we have been here, though have said every week that they would be there. Sister Cabello and I don't know what to do to help them. We want the children to be baptized, but we don't want them to go inactive because of their parents. We’ll keep trying. It was once again a rainy day. And it was cold--only in the 60s. We turned our heater on in our car (yes, we're pansies, and proud of it.)

So yeah. That's my week. Probably the most eventful I've had in a while. I hope you all have a great week!

Hermana Good

Santa Fe, NM Transfer 8 Week 4

Dear Family and friends,

Yet another week has come and gone, and I am officially down to a short six months until I go home. That seems like so little time! But there is so much work still to be done, and I pray that I can continue to be an effective missionary and bless the lives of the people here in New Mexico (and possibly Texas, depending on if there are Sisters in Texas and where I get transferred to--if I get transferred again.) I have 4 short transfers left. It's crazy how time flies! It’s crazy that Lara Bishop will be home like next week. That means that Heidi Josephsen isn’t far behind—if you see when her homecoming is you should go to that. That also means that Whitney and I are the next ones, with Jennie Olsen, Jori Nef, and Shanna Tavenner following close behind.

We’re starting to learn our way around and use our map less each week. I am getting used to the little car, but I still miss the truck. The branch is small with lots of less active members. We teach all in Spanish. There’s Elders for the English ward. There are now 16-18 Sisters in the mission, with 8 being Spanish.

We have five people we are preparing for baptism. Three of them had their interviews this week, and are ready to go except for getting married. The Sister's husband is supportive of the church and the decision she and their two daughters have made to be baptized, but he is taking his time going with her to get their marriage license. We think that will happen this week, and they'll be baptized within the next two weeks. The other two are children in a less-active family. They are on track to be baptized on the 31st, providing they're at church this coming Sunday. They have been several times, but it's been a long time and I don't feel comfortable baptizing them if their parents aren't willing to get them to church. So we're praying for them and that all will go well. Keep them in your prayers also.

Monday: It was p-day, and we did some more deep cleaning in our apartment in the corners and such that we didn't attack when we got here. We do still have to clean the oven--which we're not looking forward to because it's SO caked with food and other grime. But that's about all we've got left to do.

Tuesday: We spent a good portion of the day tracting, and it was very hot--close to 100 degrees. We go nowhere without a bottle of water--or several.

Wednesday: I had a horrible headache all day long. Actually, when one of our appointments was a no-show we went home so I could try to sleep it off with the help of some IB Profin, but even that didn't work. We did have a successful day with lots of lessons. Our last lesson of the day was outside with a single man, and I think I must have been standing on an ant hill, because I came away with 2 bites on one ankle and 1 on the other--and a mosquito bite on my head that I didn't find until I was washing my hair the next morning. By that time it was too late to prevent it from swelling up and had a bump the size of a 50 cent piece on my head.

Thursday: HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEVIN AND BRETT! I hope you had a great day! We had district meeting. Our district leader asked us to do a presentation on finding people (we later found out that it's because we have higher numbers than the other 4 companionships in the district combined). After that, our appointments fell through, and we went finding. Or at least tried to. A German Shepherd and Pitbull decided to follow us, so we spent the better part of an hour trying to lose them because people didn't want to talk to us with these two ginormous dogs following us. We finally did lose them, only to have them find us again in less than half an hour. At that point we just gave up.

Friday: We did planning, and had our afternoon plans fall through.

Saturday: EVERYTHING fell through, even our backup plans and dinner appointment, except for our first appointment and our baptismal interview that afternoon. We found a Papa Murphy Pizza, and I was able to fix a pizza craving that I've had for MONTHS! I haven't had PM Pizza in over a year, and boy was I in heaven, and we've still got 2 or 3 meals left of that pizza. Yummy!

Sunday: We had Church, then once again our appointments fell through. We can't figure out what is happening. We're praying that that will change soon or it's going to be a really long week. We did have dinner with our new Relief Society President, who is SO willing to help us out with everything. What a blessing to have her!

Lance, I thought it was funny that Bear ate your cookie. He probably just thought that since you were enjoying it so much that he wanted to try it too. That’s pretty cool that you were on the news. And again with puppy in the pool, he was just hot and wanted to cool off. Kesha, I’m glad you’re enjoying your job. I think I will like Toy Story 3—and I’ll be able to understand Buzz without the help of subtitles—ha ha! I’m sorry your 4th of July was cold. Ours was nice and toasty. I really did enjoy the article Theresa Crawford sent into the New Era.

I hope you all have a great week, and have some great adventures!

Hermana Good

Santa Fe, NM Transfer 8 Week 3

Dear Family and Friends,

Time is flying by. I can't believe that another week has passed and that this transfer is half over already. We did have a pretty good week.

Monday: The Spanish Missionaries from Rio Rancho (aka Sis. Michel and Sis. Field and the elders) came up for p-day. They're in our zone, so that's allowed with permission from the Zone Leaders. The Marquez and Yeomans families, as well as Fernanda Luna came up. It was SO good to see them again! They were all pretty impressed by my Spanish and how it's improved in the 4 months since I left Rio Rancho. We were also told that Becky and Judy Marquez (and possibly Leo) would be baptized on Saturday!!! Oh how happy that made me! We went to the plaza and had a picnic in a park and walked around the plaza a bit.

Tuesday: All of our appointments fell through, as did our back-up plans. So we resorted to tracting. Toward the end of the evening, we were walking up to a house when we heard dogs barking. The inside door was open, with just the outside glass door closed. The dogs came running to the door and we got a little nervous when we saw them: 2 adult pitbulls and one baby. Then we discovered that one of them knows how to open that door and they all came running at us. Needless to say we were terrified! The lady who owns them came out and called them back and told us that they were harmless, but with the way they came running out the door, I don't know.

Wednesday: We went tracting more, and in the rain no less. We have learned that our umbrellas are to never leave the car because these rainstorms are pretty common. And we always know when it's going to rain.

Thursday: We had district meeting, and interviews with President. Because we had zone conference last week and thus no district meeting, I made my birthday cake that mom sent me to take to district meeting and share with the elders, because Sister Cabello and I feel fat enough without eating a whole chocolate cake by ourselves. I put the candles on for a picture, and then took them off and fixed the frosting because we can't have fire in the church. When I got there, one of the elders had written on the board "Happy Birthday Elder Paulsen!" on the board. So I wasn't going to say anything about the cake really being for my birthday. In fact, I wasn't going to mention anything about my birthday. But when I was talking to Sister Miller because she wanted to visit with each of us to get to know us better, she told me how thoughtful it was that I brought a cake for him for his birthday. I admitted that I had no clue it was his birthday, and that I'd actually brought it because mom had sent it to me for mine with an apology that I had to make my own cake. So she announced to the Elders that I'd had a birthday too, and that no one had known. She felt bad that they hadn't known because they didn't have a birthday list from the office yet on the day of my birthday/ zone conference. She felt even worse when she found out that they'd seen me on my birthday. I got a letter from home that week, and mom printed off the birthday wishes from facebook and sent them too me.

Friday: We had our weekly planning session, and a couple appointments. Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Dad and Aunt Heather! I hope you got your cards on time, but if not, sorry.

Saturday: It was a normal, hot day. We had some appointments, and did some tracting.

Sunday: We had church, and had a great lesson with a new investigator! As Sister Cabello was giving the Joseph Smith story, I was watching this sister's face, and it was obvious that she felt the spirit. She told us after that she'd never let anyone religious into her home to talk, but that she felt something different with us the first time we knocked on her door. At first she told us that she was busy, so we went back a few days later and she invited us in. We feel something very special for this sister. She is searching for something more in her life, and the Gospel will bring her what she needs. The Spirit was so strong, and she was touched. We're praying that she'll be able to get Sundays off work like she wants so she can come to church. As we were walking back to our car after contacting some people we'd talked to during the week, we walked past a man sitting in his car with some Latin music playing. I can't even describe how strong of a desire I had to dance at that moment. Holy Cow I wanted to dance. But 1) missionaries can't dance, and 2) it would have been even more inappropriate to break out dancing in the middle of the street. So I contained myself, but it wasn't easy. I had to keep telling myself "6 more months. Just 6 more months."


It was a pretty good week, and we have a pretty good week lined up for this week too. Hope all is going well for everyone!

Hermana Good

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