I survived my first transfer!

Hello family~

Transfer calls came on Saturday, and, as expected, Sister Lamborn and I are staying in Pleasant Hill South! The North Sisters are staying, too, so we're all here for Christmas and New Years! :)

I got the iPod and the Shutterfly package! Thanks so much! I'm enjoying the music. The Shutterfly one is under our tree. I'm excited to get whatever else you've sent. :)

And I'm glad you like Light the World so much! I think it's awesome. We're sharing it with everyone. Everyone has time for a 30 second video a day. :P

I'm so glad Amanda liked her card! And that all the other kiddos are doing well.

This last week was SO MUCH BETTER than last week! Attitude really makes such a huge difference. I decided to have a better week, and I did. I had to consciously change what I was feeling once or twice, but it helped a ton. Nobody likes a mopey missionary. :P

Last Monday I had french fries for the first time in a month. That's not significant. I just really wanted fries.

We had District meeting on Tuesday last week instead of Thursday. We had a end-of-transfer party and our Zone Leaders wanted to be there. Hence the switch. All of the thoughts were on joy and Christmas. This District has been wonderful to be a part of. One of our Hermanas goes home tomorrow, and two of our Elders are being transferred.

We taught S_ _ (our miracle investigator) the Restoration, and she had some fantastic questions. She said she has never in her life wanted to step foot in a church, nor has she really felt God's love... until she met us. Her father is a less-active member, so she's seen missionaries in the past, but has never been interested, never had it click.

We built a bookshelf for her, which was so fun. They were super grateful, and I was just glad to have a project to do. I wish I could build one of those little models, but there would really be no time for that.

They bought us dinner, too! She's so incredibly grateful for everything, and just wants to give back whatever she can. Her dad is this cool old super deaf Canadian with great childhood stories.

Then we visited B_ _ and A_ _ and their daughter. They're recent converts and their daughter just barely turned 8. They're going to have another little girl in January. :) Other missionaries have had a hard time or haven't bothered trying involving the dad in lessons, and he made it a challenge. She and Sister Lamborn both like Pokémon, so she likes her because of that and it makes it easier for us both to engage her. We had her draw the Plan of Salvation (I'll send a pic). She is an amazing little artist! It's such a fun idea to get kids involved in the lesson and help them remember it too.

We were suuuuper late for service on Wednesday, but it was SO GREAT. I LOVE Give Kids the World. We worked in the castle for the first time!!! It's so amazing. They have a star on the ceiling for every child that's been there (well, nearly. They didn't start that right when the organization started). Over 145,000 stars. It's stunning. We had two main jobs in there.

First, to help the kids write their names on/decorate their stars. We then take the star and give it to Stellar the Star Fairy. She puts it up overnight, and they can come back the next day to see where their star is.

The other main job is the Pillow Tree. Every kid that visits GKTW, along with every child in their group, gets a pillow. It's this cute little tree with an owl that talks to them. The tree grows the pillows with love. The kids make them grow by touching the tree and thinking of who they love. Then the pillows...magically appear in a little stump next to the tree. It's just all so cool. (And actually, people around the world make the pillows and send them to GKTW to be stuffed! It's awesome!)

There weren't many people that day, but we explored the castle and colored and just enjoyed the atmosphere. GKTW is the best.

Thursday was a busy day, we taught so much! One woman we delivered a Bible to was interesting. She invited us in and talked to us a ton, but when we started teaching the Restoration, she cut us off. She said she wanted to read the pamphlet and some of the Book of Mormon so she had some background in what we were teaching, and THEN she'd have us over. Kinda weird.
But then we had a lady who we taught the whole Restoration to... and she loved it. She accepted what we were saying and told us that she loved having us there.

Met the most interesting lady that day too. She waved at us as we were driving away and looked SO HAPPY, so we pulled over and walked with her for a bit. She was super sweet and a little crazy, haha.

Fridays are slow because most of what we do all day is planning. So we're stuck in the house all the day and we go a little crazy. We were joking and laughing so much towards the end, haha. Also contacted a ton of referrals. We have a bunch, and they're often hard to get a hold of.

Saturday was super interesting. We left about 7:15, and drove an hour and a half to a town called Christmas. We spent the day at Fort Christmas historical park? They have a festival/showcase/something once a year. Lots of little booths selling little things. The mission hosted a booth focused on Family Search, so we basically just sat there with Elder and Sister Kearl, wandered a bit, tried to talk to people... So many people said things like, "I already know too much about my family history." Haha. We also had a handcart, and Elders James and Zollinger pulled kids around in it. It was a fantastic conversation starter. (There are pictures of me in the handcart, but I'd have to get them from Elder James.) I really want to go there another year. There were so many cool things to see.

After that, we went to the tail end of Angie's baby shower. We get invited to all the parties, it's pretty great.

We were at church so long on Sunday. We had coordination with our ward mission leader at 12, then ward council. We didn't go to Relief Society, and instead talked to the less-active daughter of Sister Burton (they're fantastic and they like to give us food and other things). She wants to be more active and introduce her boyfriend to the church, and was asking us for how to approach the topic, where to find scriptures, etc.

After church they had Young Women in Excellence and dinner. Some of the YW in this ward are so amazingly talented. One girl loves theater, loves Hamilton, sang a song from Waitress... Her family is so cool.

And then it was the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. The Spanish branch was watching it, and technically we shouldn't have been there, because we're supposed to be home by 8 on Sundays... But our District leader is serving in the Spanish branch, so he was there and he gave us permission. :)

That was the week, and I'm not sure what else to write! I hope these letters aren't too long and boring. :P

Basically what I've learned from this week is that prayer and positivity are so important. Choosing to have a good week affected my entire week for the better. I got along with Sister Lamborn better, I taught better, I had more of a desire to teach... Attitude is important.


Last thought: people here take Christmas seriously. The moment Halloween was over, and especially after Thanksgiving was over, lights were EVERYWHERE. Not just a few lights. Lights ALL OVER. It's amazing. Christmas is the best. I hope you're all enjoying the holiday season. I love you all.

Love,

Christine

District "birthday" party.

 Our District, and then our Zone leaders too.

The Plan of Salvation as drawn by Alex. Left to right, but bottom to

top. Premortal existence, creation, Adam and Eve, Alex and her ability

to choose good or evil, Jesus, the spirit world, and the kingdoms of

glory.)

Give Kids the World Castle!!!

The thrones.

The wishing well.

The

Pillow Tree!

 The star tower

Those are all stars. STARS.

A little hollow in the castle.

Ibises.

The sky Saturday morning!

The handcart

Picture sent by a member. 

We built gingerbread houses today! Me, Sister Lamborn, Sister Angelo,

and Sister Parish with our houses. Sister Parish's broke, hah.

Gotta run, love you, bye!

MORE pictures arrived. 

Mom and dad,

Hope your week has been wonderful. Mine has been busy.
Thanks for the speaker! Can't wait to get the iPod. 

Please thank Lluvia for me!

Mom, I think it's so cool that you're volunteering in the mission
office back home! They're never going to let you go, haha. Like I
said, we need all the help we can get. :) I hope you enjoy Zone
Conference! Ours was awesome, but I'll talk about that later. It's
weird that the missionaries there have to use miles for Zone
Conference. We get miles reimbursed for things like that, so they
don't count towards the monthly allotment. If we didn't, though, we
wouldn't be able to drive for proselyting at ALL. There's so much back
and forth just to meetings and service that EATS miles.

On to this week!

Mondays are great. We just hang out with the Pleasant Hill North
Sisters (they're fantastic, we're all basically just a unit) for
shopping, etc. and then meet up with others in our Zone to talk, play,
write emails, whatever.

Our District this week has been focusing on less-active people.
Apparently all of our numbers have been boosted because of it. Sister
Lamborn and I have been focusing on them anyway, since we're still
sort of figuring out this area. There are so many cool people. Lots of
them just need fellowshipping, need to feel loved, and they're right
back at church.

Tuesday was Sister Lamborn's birthday!!! We celebrated by having
cheesecake for breakfast. With root beer, because she's 21. :P We had
to drive up to the mission office for them to take the Tiwi out of our
car (the little box that yells at us if we're going too fast, brake
too hard, etc.) because it's broken and we're going to get a new car
next transfer! Hopefully two, since car share is awful and we have 0
miles to do anything. (Car share is great because we get to spend time
with the North Sisters, but it just makes things very difficult.)
Sister Kober met us up there and gave Sister Lamborn a big gift: air
fresheners for our smoky house (hahaha. They've actually helped a
ton), and lunch for both of us!

We try to tract a little in most areas we go to, partly because miles
are precious and even if appointments fall through, we know there's a
reason for us being in those areas. Most people when we tract are
super nice, or at least courteous. (MOST.) But we had one on Tuesday
who was super interested, and we basically taught the Restoration on
her doorstep. It was so cool.

The Bishop and his family had us over for dinner. Their family is so
stinking cute. Their 4 year old daughter is the most outgoing kid; she
kept dancing for us and talking to us the whole night. She found
candles and had to be the one to put them on the cake. One single
candle and one 7.

Wednesday, service day! We got to Give Kids the World super early, and
so we got to walk around a little bit and had our pick of what to do
for the day. That place feels like a Disney park. There's that magic
in the air. :) We worked with the carousel that day! It's this cute
little carousel with assorted creatures. A snail and a turtle are
benches. There are chickens and reindeer and zebras... It's awesome.
And the kids get to ride as many times as they want; we just run it
over and over for them.

We finally met a less-active family we'd been trying to meet for a
couple weeks, and they came to church on Sunday! Their younger kids
love the missionaries. When they knew we were coming over, they
grabbed their copies of the Book of Mormon and waited on the couch.

Thursday was Zone Conference! We had a General Authority, Elder
Schwitzer and his wife. Usually they just put two Zones together, but
because he was visiting, they split the mission in half. Four Zones at
the conference. It was crazy. Car checks and flu shots (not for me,
but Sister Neff still gave me a sticker. :P) and lunch.

The Sisters heard from Sister Schwitzer first. She talked about gifts
of the Spirit and that we need to recognize and build on ours, and
prayerfully seek to develop more. That they'll help us not only on our
missions, but in the future as wives and mothers. She told us that
part of being in a companionship (on a mission or in a marriage) is
being worried about the other person, and using that to help and
strengthen the other person. Later she spoke to all of us. She talked
about her father; he was a Mountie and always very proud. He taught
his daughters to keep their heads up and shoulders back, and to get
going. It took him quite a while to join the church. She said that
there was one Sunday that she, as a teenager, decided that she wasn't
going to church. He told her, "You're either a member of the church,
or you're not." And then told her that she could either go to church,
or they could call and have her name removed from the records of the
church. She told us we all have a history of what we bring to the
mission. We need to remember our history and what has influenced us,
and still be ourselves in our teaching.

Elder Schwitzer talked to us for ages. I was feeling off the entire
day, and couldn't pinpoint why. But while he was speaking, I was able
to focus and feel normal. Went back to feeling gross that evening. But
that couple hours of clarity was needed.

He told us that we need to help investigators overcome their fears
with friends. They need support, they need love! I took from that that
to overcome fears of talking to people, I need to see people as
friends. He gave us great advice about inviting people to be baptized.
He also told us that repentance gives us greater confidence and
courage, which will help us in testifying.

I don't remember what happened on Friday, other than planning. Lots of
planning. We didn't really leave the house until evening, because we
also had companion inventory early in the day. We talked for around an
hour, I think. Just addressed some things and tried to boost each
other. It was necessary.

Then we started exchanges super late. The STLs (Sister Training
Leaders) underestimated just how far out of the way Poinciana is.
Sister Lamborn stayed in our area with Sister Christensen, and I went
up to the Lake Nona area with Sister O'Hara. We got to their apartment
about 10:45, haha.

So Saturday was a huge adventure! I saw an armadillo in the morning
(the past few weeks I've also seen a deer, wild hogs, ospreys... I
love it here). Sister O'Hara is the most happy, enthusiastic person.
We did a bunch of service for a couple less-active members. Taught a
lesson to two girls, around 12 and 8 years old. Their mother is
less-active, but their grandma takes them to church. The 12 year old
taught her Sunday School class this Sunday. She was printing out talks
and making goodie bags... She'll be a fantastic Young Women's leader
someday.

That day we had THREE DIFFERENT MEMBER MEALS. So much food. So much.
Sister O'Hara also made a super cool scriptural connection. Helaman
5:12 and 3 Nephi 18:12. That we have to build our foundation on
Christ, and then Christ said that the Sacrament is how we build upon
that rock.

I learned a ton, about myself and my role in my companionship. I'm
working on those things that I recognized. Sister O'Hara also told me
that I need to give myself credit for the things that I do well in the
day; like obedience. And that I need to account to Heavenly Father for
the good that I do, and recognize the authority and power in my
calling as a missionary.

Meanwhile in Pleasant Hill South, miracles were happening. There's a
sister who pulled up next to us in her car a while back, and told us
she was a member and to visit her. She and her around 8 year old are
recent converts, and her husband has been investigating for a while
(they also have an adorable 1 year old). He knows the Book of Mormon
is true but had some hesitations about being baptized. Earlier in the
week we picked and prayed about a date to commit him to. While I was
gone, he agreed to be baptized on the 17th of December! He's got some
stuff to work on, but we're helping him. :)

They also met with some awesome investigators we found earlier in the
week, and they're SUPER interested in learning more. Plus they found
more potentials. :) :)

Sunday was interesting. We tried to find some people in the morning.
We had an interesting experience with an old Spanish-speaking woman
who waved us over. She knew we didn't speak Spanish, but she kept
talking to us for several minutes. Bits and pieces that I picked up
were "alone in the house", "no money", but also "God gives me
strength, fortitude, love". We gave her a pass-along card with Jesus
and she kissed it. I felt the Spirit super strongly while we were with
her. We need to get the Spanish-speaking Elders to visit her.
I was trying hard this Sunday to be a good example in church, and to
take meetings more seriously. But then we had one member talk FOREVER
about the most scattered things. Some that were perhaps not correct
doctrine. And so many people were walking in and out of Sacrament
meeting, so much was happening. And then the Gospel Principles lesson
was the law of chastity. So.

Oh, also the Relief Society (and the Bishop's wife) now knows that I
play piano. No going back.

We had two more dinners with Philippino families this week. They LOVE
feeding missionaries. But they never eat with us. They either eat off
to the side or just watch us. And then they pack up leftovers every
time.

Today has been crazy. I'm sorry if this email is a bit scattered and
incoherent. I've just been writing bits and pieces when I can. Plus my
heart decided to start acting up this afternoon and I really don't
feel great.

We had a District P-day this morning, and went to a local flea market.
We mostly just walked around and laughed about the stuff and talked.
They do have super discounted Disney pins, though! I restrained myself
from buying all of them. :P I'll have to bring you guys there if we
visit after my mission.

And we went to Waffle House all together for lunch! I was so excited
when I saw that they have those here, haha. Checked off my mission
bucket list for the moment.

Went to the mission office again, we've gone shopping... We got
Christmas lights (we're so excited for Christmas! Sister O'Hara was
too. CHRISTMAS)! And stuff to hang dry clothes, because our dryer here
did the same thing as at home; it runs but doesn't heat up.

I may not have time/internet to send pics this week. I really didn't
take that many, unfortunately. I need to start taking more pictures.

I love you all, I hope you have a great week and that it's not so crazy busy.

Love,

Christine

Christine's companion. Her mother posted a picture to honor her daughter's birthday. Happy birthday.

The pictures Christine sent on her P-day, Monday the 21st, didn't arrive in my email until Thanksgiving morning, Thursday the 24th. But I still wanted to post them in this letter.

Breakfast on Tuesday. Healthy.

Birthday girl! Wooooooo

Lunch from Sister Kober. :)

Potato moon

 This super sketchy motel that I just find funny every time we pass it.

District P-day at Waffle House! (Plus our Zone leaders)

Elder James, our District leader.

Kissimme--Hellos and Goodbyes Week 5

31 October 2013

Hi Mom and Dad!

I hope your week has been fantastic. I love seeing your emails
throughout the week. (Yes, I can read emails any day, so any time I
can connect to Internet, it comes through. It's just a matter of
finding Internet.) Thanks so much for the packages! I love the sheets,
definitely needed the shampoo, and my companion and I have been
surviving off of the candy, haha. I shared it with my District, too.

And thanks for the water bottle! I left mine on a train in
Utah. We're mostly using bottled water because Florida water is
slightly swampy... But it'll come in handy as soon as the m&ms are
gone.

I can also listen to just about any music, as long as it doesn't
distract from the missionary purpose. So I would love love love if you
sent music to me. (If you could find that arrangement of "Precious
Savior, Dear Redeemer, that's not to the common tune... I would love
it. Can't remember what the tune is called or how it goes. :P)

Let me rewind time to over a week ago, back in the MTC. My last day in
the referral center, two people hung up on me, and the last call I had
said she didn't want a "Mormon Bible". I think I really needed the
experience with calling people, though. I'm much less stressed about
phone calls now. (We also have TONS of Bible referrals that haven't
been contacted, and it makes me so upset that they've been waiting for
months.)

Saturday was our last class day. We had our final classes with our
teachers and took pictures with them. Our last "investigator" visits.
Our final visit, the investigator prayed for Sister Sorensen and me,
that people would be nice to us in Florida and that we'd be able to
help others like we helped her. It was so sweet.

I played hymns for Sacrament meeting. I didn't get the chance to
practice AT ALL, so I was a little stressed. Sister Williams, the
Branch President's wife, made sure I got to run through them once, and
played one of them for me, which I was very grateful for. My District
did the special number, since we were all leaving. :( Sister Sorensen
gave her talk, and my goodness, I miss talking with her. She's just
really great at personalizing and relating things.

We had a little Sisters' Conference, and heard from Ann M. Dibb, which
was super cool. "I know when you heard that I was coming, many of you
prayed that my father would be here as well. Sorry, that's not
happening." She did talk about him, though. Her talk was "My Father,
the Prophet". She talked about attributes that President Monson has
that we all can and should strive for. He observes and remembers, is a
loyal friend, encourages others, is happy, loves his family, prays, is
a missionary, has great faith, and is a disciple of Jesus Christ.
I got a sketchbook in the bookstore and drew animals for my District
(minus two, so I'll have to find them out here and ask what they
want).

Nobody told us when to pack, so we were scrambling to get it done on
Sunday. My bag was like 7 pounds under, it was great. And I made sure
to say goodbye to the Sisters I was with that first day. They're still
stuck in the MTC for six weeks, going to Japan.

So we woke up at 4 am Monday morning, finished packing up, and Sisters
Page and Christiansen were nice enough to get up with us and help us
get our bags down to the travel office. They're in CA Ventura, so they
didn't need to leave until like 9 am. So sad leaving them. I didn't
expect a month ago that I'd grow so close to people so quickly.
We took a bus to a train to Trax to the airport, turning a 45 minute
drive into a 1 1/2 hour ordeal. I was so excited that there was a
Jamba Juice in the airport, and as I went to pay, some lady pushed
past me with her credit card. She has a daughter on a mission in
Brazil. She then insisted on buying something for Sister Sorensen and
Hermana Mull (the only other Sister going to Orlando, but there were 6
Elders with us and 1 that came from the Mexico MTC). Then none of the
airport phones would work with debit cards or coins, only with phone
cards. Which is why I called from a random person's phone. She noticed
Sister Sorensen and me asking if we could buy phone cards, and offered
her phone. Then she bought us waters, donuts... She was lovely.
I spent an absurd amount for plane snacks, haha. Mostly caught up on
my journal, a little bit of sleep, and talked to Sister Sorensen. I
wrote her a letter, too. I want to make a habit of handwriting a
letter to my companions. We had the smoothest landing I've ever
experienced on a flight.

President and Sister Clark fed us (homemade. pumpkin. roll.) he
interviewed us, we had a little devotional and tried not to fall
asleep... And the Sisters stayed with the Woods, who are in the
mission presidency.

Next day, we had a little orientation and met our trainers! I have
Sister Lamborn. She's great! We have pretty similar personalities and
humor. She's also an incredibly positive person. With everything crazy
that's happened this week, she's able to laugh it off and move on. She
gave me a little plush sloth ("To remind you not to be slothful.")
We're also whitewashing an area, which is interesting for a first
area, to say the least. The ward has two other Sisters (Angelo and
Parish), but they live further north where the active members are.
We're south, and there are maybe three active families. It takes 30
minutes at least to get to church from here, and some of the people
are fairly poor and don't have a way to get there. Honestly, our area
reminds me a little of home. There's Elders down here too, but because
we're here now, they've entirely shifted their focus to the Spanish
branch.

Sister Kober (who posted the picture of us :) ) drove us around
Tuesday and helped us get necessary items. (This is also why I didn't
have my bike at first; there wasn't enough room in her car.) Because
it's the end of the month, Sister Lamborn had very little money, and I
had about $36 on my mission card. So we had enough for a little food,
and Sister Kober was kind enough to buy us some cleaning supplies and
lunch. We're also the first in this house (it's a duplex) it smells
like cigarette smoke a bit, and it's filthy. It's been very
interesting. Certainly a process to get everything in working order.

Because of the smell, we were opening up windows to air out the house.
Wednesday, we did that once the sun was up. Left the room, heard a
REALLY LOUD CRASH. The window had swung down and shattered, haha. Like
I said though, Sister Lamborn is so positive. We just laughed, cleaned
it up, called the mission office, and went about our day.

Wednesdays are also our service days! So we left the wide open hole in
our house and left to the organization that we work with in this area,
Give Kids the World. It's an amazing place. They work with Make a Wish
to give sick kids and their families a place to stay, presumably while
they're going to Disney? Basically though, it's a mini park in itself.
Colorful and bright and fun. Everyone's happy and kind. It's a great
place to be.

I'll be honest, the first couple days I WASN'T upbeat. I was okay
during the day, because we're busy. But at night it was super hard,
because I've felt slightly useless and powerless. I cried a lot the
first couple of nights. I haven't been super homesick, but I was a
little MTC-sick. But my attitude and trust in the Lord has greatly
improved.

So since the chapel is 30 minutes away, getting to meetings is
interesting. We're starting to car share with the North Sisters, but
it's still going to be a bit of a struggle working around mileage
limitations. I think they're working on giving us more miles, and
potentially our own car next transfer. But we worked out getting to
District meeting this week... Though I forgot to put on shoes. Nobody
noticed, but it had me stressed out. Without someone like Sister
Lamborn to just brush it off, I probably would have been much more
upset. I didn't focus as much as I should have, but one thing that
stuck out from the meeting is that we need to apply the Atonement in
our everyday lives. Christ did what he did, for us, so that we can
turn to Him and constantly repent. Repentance is a great teacher.

I GOT MY BIKE AFTER DISTRICT MEETING. It's so pretty. It's kinda big
and getting on and off is awkward in a skirt, but I love it so much.
The roads are so flat, I can pedal like 3 times and then just coast
forever. I love it. There's so much wildlife to see, too! I wish I
could look up what all the birds are. There are sandhill cranes,
ibises, vultures, herons... Eagles and falcons, maybe? Tons of huge
black birds everywhere, but I can never see them clearly enough to
figure out what they are.

Because we're whitewashing, we didn't really have any investigators,
and very few potentials. The Spanish Elders transferred some of theirs
this weekend, so we have a few more now... But this week has basically
been trying to figure out the area and meet some members. There's
honestly only a handful of active families down here and people don't
always answer their doors. So we haven't had any actual, sit down lessons
yet. I'm trying to be better at streetcontacting... Lots of things have culminated
in me understanding how important it is, and the fact that it doesn't matter
how stupid Ifeel, because these souls are important and they deserve to hear 
the gospel. Literally everyone down here already believes in Jesus, so
there's that at least.

The mosquitoes are murder. I have bites all over my legs, and I've
been desperately try not to scratch. I also managed to drag my
kickstand over my foot, so I've got a huge gash on my foot now. But
the itching is definitely worse.

Church was great! It was the Primary program this week. The ward is
tiny. Very very diverse, but small. Apparently it's also a struggle to
get help with missionary work. The car share is a blessing in that
regard, because it's forcing the members to at least think about
helping. There are some fabulous members though, and our Ward Mission
a Leader is wonderful. We got a less active member to come to church.
She just needed a ride. She wants to go to the temple, and had so many
more insights than I would have given her credit for at first glance.
We told the ward of our plight, and one family invited us over to take
whatever and have dinner. They gave us some essentials and fed us.
Sister Lamborn and I were just beyond excited for real food. It was so
so good. Then another member today gave us some supplies and a $50
gift card for Publix, the main grocery store down here. The last 24
hours have honestly been the miracle after the storm of the past week.
We also had our money come through a day early so we're able to buy
supplies for the house and real food. We had one "real" dinner at home
last week. Pastaroni, broccoli, and chicken. After that, we were kinda
living off of apples and cereal, and the occasional gross pb&j. We've
got so many more options this week. :)

I just want to share with you the thought we left with the members
yesterday. 3 Nephi 13:25 says, "And now it came to pass that when
Jesus had spoken these words he looked upon the twelve whom he had
chosen, and said unto them: Remember the words which I have spoken.
For behold, ye are they whom I have chosen to minister unto this
people. Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what
ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye
shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than
raiment?"

We've kind of had to live by this this week. Trying to stay positive
with everything thrown at us, trying to get places, trying to live off
of very little, and trying to get to know an area and people that
we're not remotely familiar with. And those people that have given us
rides, listened to our messages, fed us... They've been such
blessings. Things sometimes seem awful and strange and confusing...
And sometimes we just have to wait it out. As one of the people I used
to follow on Facebook would say, "Don't give up five minutes before
the miracle."

Have a fantastic week. I'll try to send pictures if I can find an
adapter today. I love you all.

Love,
Christine

Here's a pic of my MTC District and one of our teachers



Another one of MTC District with teachers. 



Goodbye and hello.

Sisters Lamborn and Stevenson

President and Sister Clark with Sister Stevenson
(Last two pictures sent by Sister Rasmussen)

President and Sister Clark, along with me and my super tired/pathetic smile.

Sister Lamborn and me!

Picture sent by Sister Kober.