Week 22. Baptizing Nations...almost

 Well, so this week felt pretty long but was pretty good, and ended great. One thing I did not like was that I started a new journal. And if y'all remember, a few weeks ago, I accidentally skipped two pages. So I could've finished January and started February in a new one but nope. Anyways, here are the highlights:

Last p day - the last p day before transfers we went to Fort Casey and had tons of fun playing tag and signs. It was fun and sad to say bye to everyone.

Tuesday - we taught Misty the Plan of Salvation and then as we left she gave us both a ukulele. Then we gave Seth a priesthood blessing, and had dinner at the Hoch's. It was pretty funny because after the lesson Glenn called his son and he had just left a basketball game that Fremont had won. Let's go!!!

Service - helping people move stuff or move out. It's happening a lot and my comp is so done with it, it's kinda funny. 

Paperwork - this week we did a lot of contacting member records and it was... interesting. 90% no longer lived there for 3-6 years. 7% are no longer interested. 2% don't have homes, just PO boxes, and 1% died. And we aren't even halfway through the list

Taira - we had two lessons with her. 

1) bro Biehler couldn't come again and so he asked bro. Baesler and he was just as excited, for a good reason too. We asked how her reading went in 3 Nephi 11 and she pulls out the triple combination that I gave her and it had a whole bunch of bookmarks in it and she asked us about the Atonement. We had a great lesson and that night she prayed and felt the Spirit. It was awesome. 

2) We had a lesson with her on Sunday and asked the Hymas' if she could come over for dinner. They are awesome, and so loving. Dinner was awesome and Taira was able to feel more comfortable around people she had never met before and then afterwards we had a lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We involved the Kids and had the parents share their testimony. And so I asked her to follow Jesus Christ and be baptized. She said yes!!!! So awesome!! Granted I didn't want her to feel pressured and so I was scared to ask for a baptismal date, but Elder Moake isn't. He swoops in and asks her if she was thinking about a day already. And she said the 19th!! I love that Elder. He makes up for my lack of confidence. It was super scary asking for the first time if someone would be baptized but super awesome. I LOVE THIS GOSPEL!!!

This week I was invited to choose something, something small, to commit to God the next day. One way I could improve myself every day. I did it and it made my week way better. And so I wanted to encourage you all to do it too. It doesn't have to be hard or even gospel related. But as you pray and commit it to God and ask for His help. He will help you. Today I committed to smile more. And it made the whole day better. 

I love you all and I wish the best for you. Have a great week!!

Pictures 

I really have to start taking more 

Week 21. So many miracles 🥳

 If there is one word I could use to describe me before this week, it's jaded. (Another missionary called me that, and so I looked it up) but then this week happened and although I may never get back the sleep I squandered as a kid, I can trust in the Lord to give me strength as I do his work (Isaiah 40:31). 

Oh btw Transfers are this next week and I'm staying in South Whidbey!! I will be the oldest one on the island, or in other words: the King of the Island. Its going to be an exciting Transfer. Anywho, here are the weekly highlights:

P day - so last week we roller skated and if y'all didn't know, I'm not graceful and my legs weren't made for it. So for the first hour I had a bad attitude and wasn't having much fun. Then I remembered my Dad saying that attitude changes everything. So for the second hour I tried to be positive and have fun. Instead I got a blood blister. So Dad, attitude doesn't change everything. It reminded me of Sadness in the movie Inside Out: I'm positive that I wasn't having fun  jk it was pretty awesome getting to hang out with everyone anyways. 

Chinese food - I've had lots of new food on the mission. This Wednesday during exchanges a member took us to China City. It was pretty good, but afterwards my stomach felt quesy but I didn't throw up so that's good.

Collin - we also helped Collin on exchanges so that was very funny because he definitely likes Elder Moake more. But while we helped he asked about the second coming so that was pretty cool being able to teach him about that. 

Lila (miracle #1)- after having another member tell us they weren't interested anymore, Sister Hymas called and asked if we were available for lunch at Payless. So we headed over there and sat down to eat and were just talking. When one of the workers (S. Hymas knows them all from how often she goes) came over and talked with us and asked if we were her children.  she's shorter than my mom . But the worker wanted to learn more about God so we gave her our number. Super exciting

Taira (miracle #2) - We had our first lesson with her about the Restoration with her and invited her to read the Book of Mormon. It was so funny because we had a member there with us and he was so excited. She mentioned that she might want to be baptized if she finds out that it's true and he was ready to set a baptismal date for her.  But she ended up reading it and had a really unique experience so I think she'll be baptized and that will be so awesome!

Misty (miracle #3) - She was previously taught by missionaries a while back and all the notes we had for her were to invite her to be baptized so we wanted to see if that was still a possibility. So since I've been here we've tried to get in contact with her and this last Saturday she texted us and asked us for some service and a prayer. I was so excited. But it took us like 20 minutes to find her house because of Google and because you had to drive through the woods past a bunch of trespassing signs. (Also reminds me of a movie, although it was a swamp, can you name it?) So we help her and then start talking and she just went through a hard divorce, but then she says, "But I think I'm ready to be baptized. Can we do that?" 

I was stunned, but Elder Moake just jumped in and helped her set her date. We are meeting with her tomorrow to plan everything and it's going to be so awesome!!!

So for the spiritual moment I wanted to share a bit about District Council this week and relate it to the week. 

So this week we were doing our best and we had some really great plans but sometimes it feels like your work doesn't produce any fruit. Sometimes that's hard. We had a door slammed in our face, then we met Lila. And that was a tender mercy from the Lord and a pick-me up I really needed. Then the next day for District Council, as the last DC for this group, we had a testimony meeting on what we learned that transfer. I honestly had no clue what to say but when it became my turn I said that "sometimes we can work hard and we might not see the fruit of our efforts but that we are getting blessed and that as we keep trying that the Lord will trust us with His work and we can see miracles." 

After district council I thought back and I realized that my testimony was really more for myself than the others. And no joke we had those miracles and it was so cool. I know that God cares for us and looks out for us and loves us so much. I hope you all can see miracles the next week no matter how big or small they may be. Because everyone was made specifically for you. 

I love you all, have a good week

Pictures 

A very cool sunset

Chinese food 

The dog really wanted my cookies

And a few more

Pretty Sure it's Week 20

 What's up!!!! So I wasn't counting the MTC weeks but since they go towards my 2 years I might as well. This last week was fun, and we did a good amount of service too. Here are the highlights.

Tiana - We had another lesson with her and Elder Moake shared his testimony on Christ's Atonement and she really needed that. I don't know if we changed her heart or if she really wants to change now, but we were able to help her so that was a great feel good moment.

Shower - When I got here I thought that was just how the shower worked and that our water heater was just bad. Turns out our water heater was bad and a shower isn;t supposed to be leaking water from the handle. So after weeks from the time it was looked at they finally fixed it and now I feel truly blessed for being called stateside. Sorry everyone else, I'm sure you still love your mission 

Shirley - Backstory: John, (mentioned before) we met him once and all the sudden we got a text from a random lady asking us for help to move someone and John had referred us. So I thought that this must be definitely be God pulling strings. It was out of our area but we thought we could help the Sisters as we were driving back from district council. So we get there and find out that this old lady, who needs to be moved out that day, had not even prepared anything. So we were there for 5 hours helping her pack and move her boxes into a truck. It was so crazy because she wanted things done in a certain way but she didn't have the time for it. So I ended up distracting her while everyone else packed stuff, and it was mentally exhausting. But we were able to give her a blessing and help her and our appointments that night cancelled anyways, so I do think that was where we were needed that day.

Gillogly - He is an old member that is super covid shy and hasn't been to church in over a year because of it. He's been mostly stuck inside and I think he's been watching too much of the news because he has some very interesting political viewpoints that I probably shouldn't share. It made for an interesting lesson, but we are going to give him a Come Follow Me manual so hopefully he will fill his time with that instead.

Cookies - I got this 100 cookie recipe book from a family and I tried making cookies and I wouldn't call it an epic mistake but I definitely did something wrong, and it wasn't until afterwards that I realized what. I first realized when the recipe said makes 20 and I somehow came out with 40 cookies. I don't know how that happened because I only doubled the butter, by accident. I did 12 oz instead of 12 tbsp, but they still tasted great and I probably ate 30 of them.

Taira/Taiva - So it turns out Taiva's real name is Taira(tyra), And she has come to church twice now and this week we are going to teach her the first lesson!! It has been so cool: her referring herself, coming to church and activities, and now her asking about Joseph Smith. I can't wait to tell you guys how it goes!!

Spiritual thought -  I'll keep this short because it's pretty simple: Love others. It's one of those things that are easy to say but hard to do. It was pretty hard for me with Shirley, but as I started to remind myself of her situation and remembered that God cared for as much as I knows he cares for me it became a bit easier. It was also cool that yesterday my companion and the other speaker both spoke on loving others and not judging them. I know that there are people out there that need to feel that love and that sometimes it's hard for us, but I have been able to see the difference it makes in me and others and I hope that you all can try and do that this week so you can see it too. I love you all and I know that God does too and that we can love Him back as we share our love with others. It sounds weird but I promise it works :)  

Until next week, here are the pictures (sorry Mom, I have to take more)

Pride still High: I look good

the recipe book

More of Fort Casey

Week 16? Haven't been out that long and I'm already losing my marbles

 I'm going to be completely honest, with our p days getting switched around I have no clue if it's actually the sixteenth week or not. A lot has happened so here are some of my highlights:

Sick - not me. Some of the other Elders got real sick, not fun for them, but I decided to make soup so we met with the Elders of our district (social distance of course) and I made soup for the first time. Shout out to my mom and Sister Hymas for helping me. And it was pretty okay. Definitely room for improvement. But we gave them blessings and their health is on the rise. 

Shupes -  Going through the ward list visiting people we haven't met and got referred to the Shupes from an inactive member. The Shupes are also "inactive" members. They watch zoom online every week, so it's a little confusing if that's inactive or not at the time. But Sister Shupe wants to read the Book of Mormon but she says the English is kinda hard, and that's understandable. so hopefully we can help her with that. 

Eating Contest - Elder Fuluvaka is gone but one of the Sisters got mad at me for saying she didn't have a big stomach and just proved it when she lost the eating contest she started. 

Tiwi - she decided to ghost us. For all of you who don't know, Tiwi is the tracker in our car. And it stopped working so now we do anything we want and nobody will know  just kidding, come onnnn you know I'm responsible 

Rodriguez - A member family that just moved in. The father doesn't have the melchizedek priesthood yet so I was asked to dedicate the house. It was a cool experience. And they are fun

P day today - we went to fort Casey (pics below) and played zombie tag or infection (too soon?) And that was really fun

New Missionary Training - my goal was to have Elder Moake think it was pointless and it looks like I did a great job, because he said I had already taught him everything they talked about. The real fun part was this jeopardy game we played and me obviously being me argued about the answers and I was definitely right in all instances. I know my mom is rolling her eyes right now, but we won so...

So now for the spiritual thought. It's not about being humble, but I could definitely work on that. It's about the Atonement and how we can use it to change. This week is about Adam and Eve and I like what Come Follow Me says about it not being a bad thing. It was necessary for our own growth and for theirs. Lots of others believe it to be a bad part in history but it wasn't. It was part of God's perfect plan and while some call the Fall a punishment, it's really not. Immediately God promises them the Savior and the power of His Atonement and that if we follow His plan we can go even higher than what Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden. It's so amazing and I hope we can all think and ponder on that more as we study and pray this week. 

I love you all and I want you to know that no matter what you are all in life, Jesus can help you, and He will always be there for you. Just turn to Him. I forget that sometimes and so I hope this reminder helps you too. Our Heavenly Father loves you, each and every one of you. He made this world for you, and He sacrificed His Son for you. 

I love you too, have a great week 

Pictures:

Elder Moake met a new friend, tried catching it but failed

I am biscuit certified (there was a typo last email) it took me 40 minutes, but definitely worth it. 

Found a dead dear

And Fort Casey

Week 15. Snowed In and listen to the talk

 Thank you for reading my emails, but if you are one of the people that just looks at the pictures then please also read the spiritual thought at the bottom. It's about one of the best talks ever and has helped me realize how to recognize revelation. Please look at, listen to it because it is awesome. Here are the highlights for this week:

Snow - The snow here makes everything look awesome, but that is the only benefit. Some of you are wishing you had snow but don't. I have literally been stuck inside for like 5 days. It's terrible. I've had to do online work, granted I got better at it, but we still had to cancel the majority of our lessons and I was going stir crazy. 

District Council - this was on the fourth day of being snowed in and I wasn't going to stay in the house any longer. Our district leader asked if we should do zoom and I literally said that they could all take the bus, and it doesn't even take that long, and it's free. But after our hour long bus ride to Oak Harbor we got another text that said we'd do it online and everyone else said they'd already be at the church so we made it happen. It was a really good instruction and it's where I got the talk. Please read it. Then to get home one bus was 4 minutes late so we had to wait outside for 30 minutes for the next one. It was cold. 

Biscuits and judgment - Tuesday, the Hymas came and got us so we I could learn how to make biscuits. While mine did turn out looking a little weird, I am not biscuit certified. The mission just got a whole lot better.  Then Bryson, one of the children makes fun of me for my cooking skills, so our lesson that night was Matthew 7:1-5 about not judging and that you still have some of your own problems to fix so don't judge others for theirs. It was pretty fun. 

Deprettos - because we've been stuck inside we've had a lot of time to go through the ward list and make calls. The Depretto family was recently baptized but we hadn't been able to get in contact with them. Then Thursday night we called the father and he answered! He lives in Lynnwood now (still I'm our mission) and he would like to talk with the missionaries more and continue going to church. Super awesome!!

Skipped two pages in my journal -  now there are just two empty pages between the 29th and 30th. It's not a big deal just annoying. 

Okay, the talk is called: You are Receiving Revelation... Now act on it! By Loren Dalton. I think it's a byu devotional. And it talks about how we receive revelation, how the devil tries to trick us, and gives amazing stories about it. Please listen to this. It will literally change you and what better time than right now to make a goal for the new year. I know that this talk can help each and everyone of you. Because it's an audio it might appear at the bottom but where ever it is click it and listen to it, or look it up. Which over one. It's amazing. (I lied it won't let me add it to this email so I'll have my mother forward it or something. Thanks mom!)

Okay I'll stop repeating myself. But I hope y'all this year can feel a bit closer to our Savior and find ways to serve Him. Cause I know it can make everything better. I wish you all a happy New Year and just want to say I love you!!!!!!

Pics 

Cool snow pics. Some stolen off Facebook because I wasn't able to drive and take any. Snow is not fun when you are a missionary. Oh yeah, and a pic from when I got my whole district to take the bus