The Mish Questionnaire #2

What has living with companions taught you about yourself?

I'm not quite sure - it doesn't seem a lot different than having roommates. I have become more aware of my dislike of expressing what I don't like or what bothers me. I'm not the most open person. But I feel like I already knew that. I really have to trust somebody before I'll really talk to them.

What's the best thing about companions? Worst thing?

They are always there to help you - if it's teaching or while backing up the car (haha). Worst? You just get tired of each other. Sometimes you just want to talk to somebody else.

What did you admire most about Sister Hoyt? (her trainer) Or what do you miss most about her? (or not miss??)

She was always so good at noticing ways to serve, & she would just do them. She was always hopeful as well - never seemed to get down about the work. & she was really obedient, so that was great too. She was just kind of goofy, haha, we would find the craziest things to laugh about. I know she would agree, though, that we had trouble communicating, so I think we were both relieved to not have to try to communicate constantly. Haha.

What do you like/dislike about newest comp Sister Dyer?

Sister Dyer was awesome! She was always super happy - all the time. We laughed so much! And we just understood each other, which was so nice (so much easier when you naturally just know how to read somebody) She made me get up @ 6 though, haha, lame! I was always stinkin' tired!

What is the most important thing you have learned up to this point in your mission?

Most important thing learned? That's not a fair question. I'm not really sure how to answer this. I feel like I've learned a lot more of what the Spirit feels like for me, and how it speaks to me. I have learned so much about how to follow the Holy Ghost - and the incredible value it has on our lives. Nothing is worht doing if it takes away the Spirit.

Also, I think God is trying to teach me faith, patience, & humility. I'm still working on those things, though.

What is growing on you as you live in Arizona? What is bugging you most about AZ as time goes on?

The weird cacti aren't nearly so weird anymore - I hardly notice them anymore. I've gotten used to the brown as well - it's normal now. Hmm, you know, not a whole lot bugs me abt AZ. I miss seasons and rain though. I'll probably miss snow soon, too.

What is your usual breakfast/lunch?

Cereal is usual - so easy. Specifically, I really enjoy the Special K Granola. So good. But bagels is big too. Bagel french toast is an occasional thing. Never oatmeal - just too warm for mornings.

What are you favorite kinds of meals to be fed? What is the grossest thing you've been fed so far? Or something you get too much of?

Hmm, I really enjoy just real food & vegetables. We never get those it seems. We got roast with roasted potatoes & carrots & rolls last week. Oh my heck. It was good. Grossest? Subway's "chicken" breast sandwiches. Sick! Also Allibertos tacos are nast. All grease, no flavor. We get fed way too many subway sandwiches.

Where does the Mesa Temple rank among all the temples you've been in/seen? (As in prettiest, etc) And how often are you able to go do work inside the temple?

The outside is gorgeous, but no the prettiest. I really like the spires on temples. The inside is too dark for me - lots of darker stone & colors. I think Sac is still the prettiest inside (though inside Provo is nice.) We can go once a transfer (every six weeks).

What kind of goals do you often set for yourself?

We set "key indicator" goals daily, weekly & monthly. (How many lessons, referrals, new investigators, etc.) But more personal ones, I do, hmm....

As a missionary, what one item do you depend upon the very most every day?

Hmm, prayer. Though, technically that's not an item. After that my planner. W/O that I feel useless (where do we go? What's their address?) And if you need to leave a note. Planners are so important! Next is our phone. So hard to work w/o a cell phone. How Nath did it I'll never know.

When people ask where you are from do you say Texas, California, Colorado, or Utah?

Not California. Sorry, that's just where I'm flying "home" to. Not Texas (though A LOT of people ask where I'm from cause apparently I have an accent. I just tell them that I learned to talk in Texas. They usually accept that really easily. But I say Colorado. After that it would be Utah. I mean, that's kind of more true than CO. I always just felt like I was visiting when in CO.

What do they call your area of the mission?

"Las Sendas", though technically it's SU-23. The Superstition Zone or Salt River Stake really helps people get where we serve too.

Do you have a favorite scripture/spiritual thought/Gospel topic to share?

Not really - just try to find the one that will touch them the most & be what they need to hear. The 1st vision story is always nice though. The Spirit is always strong when you share that story.

On average, how many letters a week have you been getting in the mail? Are you feeling pretty up to date or out of the loop?

I've gotten quite a few, though each week varies a bit. Usually about 2, sometimes 3 a week. I feel a bit out of it, just cause I can't talk to people. I used to talk to people a lot more than now. Also, a lot of the letters don't really tell the full story, so I get confused. Like, "what!? what the heck?! What do you mean?"

A Baptism!

November 1, 2011

I am doing great. The weather here is perfect today, I am excited for a new transfer, aaand one of our investigators got baptized this week! :) Josh, who is 11, got baptized on Saturday, and it was wonderful. He is really the first person that I've taught/helped that has gotten baptized, so it was pretty special. Josh is doing great! He is so happy, and said that he felt "fantastic!" He is turning 12 in a couple days so will be getting the Aaronic Priesthood soon, and will be able to pass the Sacrament and get involved with the Duty to God program with Young Mens. It's pretty amazing to see him really going down the path that will lead him to the temple and on a mission. I love him a lot, it's been great to watch him make choices that will help him to grow closer to our Savior and will give him joy and peace. Sorry I don't have any pictures today, but I should have some next week when I email.

TRANSFER NEWS: I am training. And I am so excited! There were a lot of changes this transfer that were unexpected, but it is going to be really good. The sisters coming in from Mongolia and Pakistan haven't been able to come yet, because their visas aren't coming through yet. Hopefully they will soon, but I'm sure Heavenly Father will make everything work out as He wants. The other 3 sisters that came to AZ when I did that serve at the VC are all going full-field (or not serving in the VC) until Thanksgiving. It's going to be really weird not to see them all the time.

They are doing something new with training than they used to, just started it a transfer (or 6 weeks) after I got here. So here's the plan: I'll be with my trainee for 2 transfers doing the "training." We will have one hour of personal study, as usual, in the mornings, and then 2 hours of companion study. The companion study will be full of studying and practicing everything that we learned at the MTC, and figuring out how we can apply it in our area. I was looking through the new comp study program booklet (which has a plan for what to talk about and practice and teach) today, and I am really grateful to be getting this chance to train. The sisters that came out before me didn't get the new training at the MTC (that started there with us) and so honestly, it really wasn't applied to our area. This is going to be a great way to really get it going here, and do what we learned at the MTC. :) I feel like God is like, "Okay, here's my way of reminding you how things should be done.) It's going to be a wonderful transfer! So many goals and things to do! :)

We have a couple other investigators right now as well. Their names are Shin (said like Sean, and she's a woman) and Victor, and they were a referral from the neighbors, who are members of the Church. We had our first lesson with them both this last week. It was a bit of a crazy lesson, because Victor and Shin both kind of jump around with topics--they don't really stay too focused on one thing. The members were not helping at all! They would just talk and share stories and experiences that didn't have anything to do with the lesson. We were able to explain the story of Joseph Smith a bit, and when they heard his story Victor said that now his interest was piqued and that he would read it. "I won't promise anything else until I feel that it's true for myself, though," he said. Sounds good to me! That's all we ask, and it actually reminded me a lot of Dad's conversion story, how he didn't know but wanted to receive that answer from God. That is the only way to know truth, so I was happy with that at least. In general, though, it was a little nuts. We are going to try to have them watch The Restoration video at our next lesson with them (Thursday) to help them to understand it better and piece together all the random information that they were getting. I do wonder how much they really understood from that lesson, it was so scattered. Thank goodness for the Holy Ghost and the Book of Mormon, and the knowledge that Heavenly Father can fix our mistakes. Good thing that this is His work and He will help them to know what is true and good, even if us missionaries are not so skilled in teaching perfectly. He is the perfect teacher, so we don't have to be! We talked to the members and hopefully the next lesson will be more focused.

Our other investigators, Jonathan and Matthew (who are brothers that are 9 and 10 years old) have pretty much disappeared. Their parents were less-active for years and years, because they were offended by their old bishop. They suddenly came back really enthusiastically and gung-ho about church, and asked us to come and teach their sons so that they could get baptized. The parents kept putting off the baptismal date though, and it was always for something that was, frankly, quite unimportant. About 2 months ago, they said that they were putting it off until November 12. ....! There was absolutely no point to do that, and the boys just really want to be baptized, so it was frustrating and concerning to see the parents continually holding their kids back. Bah! Anyhow, the whole point of this paragraph is that we can't contact them and they won't contact us, and now the Bishop wants us to leave them alone till we hear from him. This is exactly what we were afraid of! I really hope their home teacher can help get them back to church and help us to get back in teaching the boys. They are a great family, and I don't want to see them fall off the face of the Earth again.

That's all of our investigators right now, but we sure have quite a few potentials coming up! There were a few times when our lessons and plans totally did not work out, and we ended up talking to somebody else that is letting us come in and teach them this week. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this upcoming week will go.

I love you all, thank you so much for all of the letters and emails y'all send me. :) Life is great out here, and it's just getting better. I'll send you all pictures next week, promise!

November 7, 2011

Wow, this has been kind of a crazy week, like it always is when there are transfers, but I will say it is a little crazier when your new companion is brand new. There are extra trips to the store, and just, man. It's was crazy, but it was a good, too. I will say, though, I'm glad today is our preparation day and I can get things a little more organized and normal, and take a nap. Which I probably won't do actually, but it's nice to know that I can if I want to. I think my companion is really looking forward to her nap today. I remember how tired I was my first week too! You eventually get to a point where you are just used to being tired,and it kind of stays at this constant level of tiredness. So, hopefully that happens for her sooner, rather than later.

So, her name is Sister Kranendonk. I know, it's kind of an unusual name....poor girl has pretty much everyone ask her to say it at least twice. Haha, I think she's pretty used to that after having it as her name her whole life, she just laughs about it. Having her come has reminded me so much of when I first got here! Except, she gets nice, cool, cardigan-wearing weather, when my first week was 118. She is pretty lucky about that, I just always felt so gross and sweaty those first couple months. After the first 6 weeks or so, you get pretty used to it. Anyhow, she is from Salt Lake City, and is 23. She has been telling me all of her boy stories (she has quite a few, haha), and we are starting to get to know each other better and laughing about crazy things. It seems each of my companions think I'm kinda crazy.....I'm gonna blame Mom's side for that I think. It definitely runs in the family, haha. It's been pretty weird being the one in charge, the one that has the teaching experience and confidence. I mean, I was confident before, no problem (apparently, I'm pretty intense when I'm talking to some people....) but it is different, when your companion learns everything from you. You've got to be confident and obedient with everything. It's been really good to feel that I have something to offer her.

One thing that is new in the missions, starting 2 transfers ago, is that when you're training (which you do for 3 months) you have 2 hours of comp study. The two hours of companion study is definitely inspired! I was a little nervous about it at first, I had never done that much study with my companion, and frankly I wasn't sure what we'd fill up the time doing. Comp study before had always been a little weird and seemed somewhat unproductive. They gave us a booklet though, kind of like a guide of what to do for study. The booklet is incredible, and it's helped me know how I can help her better. (That was a relief. At first I was like, "I have no idea how to help her, or what she evens needs!" Now I know.) We've practiced lots of different things, and it definitely gave me a better idea of what we need to practice on more. It's been a great reminder to get back to the stuff I learned at the MTC (which my last 2 companions didn't learn) and so it just made it different. It's good to get back to the stuff that we really should be doing and focusing on.

We definitely had some answers to our prayers this week...cause we got a new investigator! It was our first day in the area, and we were going over to visit a less-active member of Thunder Mountain Ward. Her mother is living there too, though, and we ended up teaching her a little about the Restoration and a lot about how the gospel blesses families. We gave her a Book of Mormon and committed her to read and pray about it; she said that she would. And then she invited us for dinner and a lesson this week, to have her husband and son-in-law meet us in a non-threatening way. I do know that she would like her daughter to get baptized, she's pretty much told us so, and so we will probably start teaching her this week as well. Hopefully we can teach the whole family and get them all to start coming to church again. :) It was Sister Kranendonk's first full-day with me, so that was a nice little blessing for her too. In some areas of teh mission, you get new investigators all the stinkin' time. In our area, they seem to be few and far between. Hopefully we can change that though, as we keep meeting with members and doing that kind of thing. When Sister Dyer came we really pushed the member lessons (where we taught the active members of teh wards the first 3 lessons) and saw a lot of miracles come when we did that. So, we're still doing those, and the cookie runs. The member lessons are great, because not only does it get the members to know us and trust us, but Sister Kranendonk and I need the practice time teaching lessons to real people.

They are starting Christmas Lights soon at the VC, and have been slowly putting them up. They'll start on Thanksgiving Day....can't wait! They bring in SO MANY PEOPLE. Apparently, there are times when you wonder if you can fit another person into the VC. It's going to be a lot of fun. Plus, we can listen to Christmas music! :) My poor companion is going to have to suffer through some German songs. It's just not Christmas without it. :)

I love you all, and hope you are doing well. I actually don't have the pictures of Josh's baptism today, but I do have one of my old district, that I will give you. :) We had fun together. This is our "black people lips" face. I know that's bad. But it was fun. :)

Ps. The pictures: one of my weird and incredibly awkward but working on that-district.


The other is of a couple of our roommates, Aubrey and Hali. Aubrey is the neice of teh members that we live with, and so they share teh basement with us. They are so much fun, and super sweet. they baked a cake for Sister Dyer before she left. :) Ignore my weird face, I had JUST taken off my makeup and was getting ready for bed when they busted it out for a picture. Not fair. :)

November 15, 2011

Hello Everyone!

Wow, what a week it has been....it feels like the beginning of last week was a long time ago. It's been busy, but it's been a really good one too. I feel like I say that every week....sorry about the same kind of thing each week.

One of the biggest things that happened this week were a couple days of long meetings that I went to, called "Leadership Training Meetings" or LTM's for short. They have them every transfer, and all of the missionaries with leadership positions in teh mission attend (assistants to the President, zone leaders, district leaders, and trainers.) I had heard a lot of people complain about them before, because they are pretty long (9-4) and you stay busy and focused the whole time. It was all a bunch of bunk though, cause the meetings were awesome! It was like a spiritual boost--I felt like I was constantly learning from the Spirit. It reminded me a lot of the MTC. We have a goal in our mission to get 222 baptisms from now until the end of the year--so each companionship needs to find about 2 people that would like to get baptized by the end of the year. We are teaching a few people that we are going to try to set a baptismal date with this week--woot woot! Pray for us.

Their names are Victor and Shin (Shin is a girl, and it's said like Sean.) We've only been able to meet with her once, and him twice. They weren't reading the Book of Mormon for a while (we stopped by to check on them, and they told us that they weren't.) But then we stopped by again about a week later, and Shin said that they have been reading it and praying about it. That makes all the difference! She was sooo much happier to see us and excited to set up an appointment with us. A definite change. The Book of Mormon is so powerful; it really changes lives and hearts.

We have these DVD's called "Preach My Gospel" that are basically videos of missionaries teaching lessons or planning. They are meant to help us learn how to be more effective planners and teachers. A lot of the principles that they do (they are real missionaries) are things I have never done here in Arizona at all, but I think would be awesome and super helpful! So, my dear sweet companion has been really nice and going with the flow of me changing up how we plan and set goals and do companionship study. It's going to be awesome, though, and we are going to get this place on fire with missionary work!

We've been doing "lightning visits." These are where we visit the members, for about 10, maybe 15 minutes, and we share a quick thought with them, and then ask them about people that they know that they can invite to learn more about the gospel. They're called "lightning visits" because they are fast but powerful. Haha They really are great though. Our problem mostly, though, is that the members like to chat with us for a loooong time. So, it's been a challenge getting in their home, and then getting out! The people here are wonderful though, and they really do so much for us.

The holidays are coming!!! It's pretty weird....I can't believe in less than a year now I'll be off my mission. Did y'all notice that????? I go home next November 13th. Weird. I had a dream the other day that they were sending me home, and I was like "What?! It's not time yet! I still have forever!" It goes so stinkin' fast though. Can y'all slow down time please? I'd appreciate it!

November 21, 2011

Hello everyone!

So I finally am able to send y'all some pictures of Josh's baptism! And some of other things too. I really don't have a ton of time to write a lot this morning, but on Thanksgiving we will get to write letters, so I'll do my best to update you all then.

I think I'll write some of the things that I'm grateful for today, since Thanksgiving is just a couple days away.

I'm grateful to be able to serve at the VC--there are thousands of lights up here at the temple, and it is GORGEOUS! It's definitely better than temple square. Also, we have an international nativity display which is really cool.

I can listen to Christmas music now, and nobody can complain! We already have trees and other decorations out here at the Visitor Center, and it's awesome.

I'm grateful for the scriptures--studying them each day is such a blessing--it seriously makes life so much easier.

I'm grateful for my district and zone--they are much more normal than they used to be (did I tell you how awkward they were?) and it's nice to be able to ask them for suggestions or ideas to help our area.

I'm grateful that our investigators Victor and Shin are reading the Book of Mormon! Whoooohooo!

I'm grateful for Jesus Christ. He really is the most important person in our lives here on Earth--He has given us everything. I hope y'all make Him central to all you do during the holidays!

I'm grateful for all of you! Thank you all for giving me so much support and love. :) I don't know what I would do without my awesome family! I love you all so much.

Well, I gotta go. I'll write you on Thursday, and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Love,

Mary (Sister Parker)

November 28, 2011

Hey everybody,

Hope all of you are doing well and that you had a great Thanksgiving! It was good over here, we ate at a member's home. I will admit, Mom, I miss your food. Also, I have never had so much store bought pie in my life! It's a little gross to me now. I don't think I can handle much more of it.

Anyhow, :) this week has been kind of a weird one for me out here. Not a whole lot to report, sadly, but hopefully more will happen with week that I can tell y'all about. We really don't have any investigators right now.....they are kind of in the middle of being our investigators and being dropped. We'll see what happens this week--pretty sure it'll determine that.

In other news, the Visitor Center has been so much fun! I think these lights are prettier because they are brighter, crazier colors. It reminds me of Splash Mountain at Disneyland...and I think tehre are more. It's not jsut on the trees here, like at Salt Lake, but on the ground, up the palm trees, extra lights all over. I'll send y'all a picture, they are pretty spectacular. Thousands of people have been coming in each night, so it's kept our nights really busy! I love it, there is definitely a special spirit at the VC during Christmas. It's been an awesome experience, I'm so glad to be a part of it.

October Emails (and photos!)

October 3, 2011

I hear it should be cooling off here and in Utah....I don't quite believe it, but it's supposed to be like high 80's here. Oh my heck, it'll be like a dream or something.

Other news of note. We say some javelinas last night. BAAAHAH! A whole heeeerrrrd of them (totally thinking of Tarzan here as she is telling her dad about all the monkeys. Most of you will have no idea what I'm talking about, but if one of my old roomies reads this, I hope you can picture it. "monkeys?" "monkeys!" but with javelinas. :) ) They really were sick, but it was incredibly exciting. Pretty sure Heavenly Father had a good laugh at our reaction....it was a bit ridiculous. But I've been hearing about them for months, and they've alluded me this whole time. But, we had some cross the road for us and it was grand indeed.

Conference was a huge highlight this weekend....we got to watch each session at the Visitor Center in the theater. Every talk was so good, I really enjoyed them. They talked so much about the importance of reading scriptures, specifically the Book of Mormon. I totally believe it, I've seen that on my mission already how much the Book of Mormon has helped me. That book is key to everything we teach people. If it's true, it's all true, and then your life can be changed. I love the Book of Mormon!

The media campaign coming up is going to be incredible. the Church will have commercials, billboards, and internet ads to help people refer to mormon.org for information about what we believe. With all the attention the Church has been getting recently, it will help people go to the actual source of truth--go to the Church itself for answers. mormon.org is a great resource for people to learn as much or as little about what we believe as they are interested in. I have a profile on there--you should all look me up! It's great. :)

Anyhow, gotta run. Love you all!

October 11, 2011

Hey everyone,

Thanks for all the emails and stuff--I'm all out of time to write you all! But this week was great, we got a new investigator.

Did you catch that?? A NEW person to teach! Her name is Nelda....her husband is a member but hasn't been active in the church for years and years. I'm not sure if she knows that we are planning on her getting baptized yet, but hopefully she'll find soon that she'd like to be.

We've seen quite a few miracles lately--just catching people home that we haven't ever been able to. We have been super busy with appointments--especially with members. We've been teaching them the lessons so that they will get excited about missionary work and come to like and trust us as well. And we could use the practice teaching together. It's a total win-win situation.

We are teaching a boy, named Josh. I know I've written about him before, but he has a date for his baptism now! It's for October 29th, so I'm pretty excited for him. :) He is real excited too, and has had a good time picking out the songs and who he wants to talk on baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. :) It's so good to watch.

Sister Dyer isn't new--in fact she's going home from her mission in 3 weeks! It's after that that I will most likely be training somebody new. Though, I suppose it's not guaranteed. Sorry that I wasn't clear and it's all confusing. That picture of all the sisters here was one that was taken before the new ones arrived.

October 17, 2011

It's been really good out here in Arizona. The weather has been nice, the people are great. :) We had a few miracles this week and were able to see a few people we have tried a lot but haven't ever been able to get a hold of. There is one couple. People have been trying to get in their home for a long time. They are really nice, and are letting us come back next week. They are both members of the church, but haven't gone in years. They haven't been coming to church because of feelings of guilt, so we are just going to go in and help them understand the love and joy that they can feel as they repent and do what they know they are supposed to be doing. :) I think a lot of people just try for a bit and then give up. They may take some time, but as we show them we care by being consistent--it's gonna be really good. They are a really sweet couple.

We have been doing a buttload of member lessons too. We did about 10 of them this last week, and we have about 15 scheduled for this upcoming week. ! (These lessons are just us going into the ward members homes, and teaching them the first 3 lessons we teach investigators: the message of the Restoration, the plan that God has for us, and how we can live to be successful in that plan.) I love these lessons, and it's been great practice for us. It's nice to get to know the members better as well, and gain their trust. As they better understand what we teach and how we teach it, they will trust us with their friends and neighbors more. :) Hopefully we will start getting some more people to teach soon.

We are going to the mall after this to get Sister Dyer's ears pierced! She's never done it cause she's scared, so this is a big step for her. :) I've totally been there myself too--so I feel like I can tell her she'll be fine. I still feel it was unjust to have to go through this when I was 12, but alas. What's done is done I suppose. :P It'll be a fun day though!

I love you all, and pray for you often.

Love,

Mary

Ps. What are your plans for Halloween? Sister Dyer and I may switch name tags or something. :)

October 24, 2011

Things have been going great here! One of the boys that we have been teaching since July is finally getting baptized on Saturday! :) Woohoo! He'll be the first person that I've taught and has gotten baptized, so that'll be really nice. He's a great kid and is really excited. It's been kinda a rocky road with him, but he's really come to know that it's all true and wants to be baptized! It'll be great. :)

We also found a new investigator this week. Those seem to be few and far between, so that was such a blessing! He wants to learn more about families and how to strengthen and bless them. Him and his girlfriend are real interested. We are teaching him again tomorrow--I'll let you all know how it goes next week! :) But I feel really good about it, I'm excited.

I'm about out of time...sorry! But I will try to write you all letters today. :) Thanks for all the mail and the emails! I love you all!

Love,

Mary

Ps. That house looks like a castle! Sweet, huh? Also, that's what my area looks like. Tons of rocks and cactuses and poky plants. Pretty cool though huh?

Pss. Okay, that hill is one of the biggest in my area, with a huge mansion on top. And then look at that dinky little (or normal) house on the bottom. Isn't it just kind of sad looking? Each time I see it it makes me kinda laugh a little. It's just funny.

Psss. People put in fake grass here to make them feel better.

pSSSS. My companion is going home next week! Found out that fewer English sisters are coming than we thought so maybe I won't be training (which would be a relief.) I'm not so sure about having to be the one that's definitely in charge. Either way, I'll most likely stay here longer, so that a missionary in this area knows what's going on.

Mary's Request

Mary asked me to add the "I'm A Mormon" button to the blog (see on right). Click on it, and you can see the profile that Mary has made for herself. She's very excited about the "I'm a Mormon" media campaign and has encouraged me to make a profile too (which I will do.... soon). I'm sure she would encourage everyone to!

September Brings a Change (Emails)

September 12, 2011

Hi Everyone,

...we see most people in our area is in the mornings when they are exercising. We are right by some mountains, so it's a really pretty place to go walking/jogging/hiking/biking. So many people are the super-intense bikers that wear the spandex and have the jugs of energy juice in pockets of their shirt. We actually had to go on bikes once the last couple weeks....up and down the same hills that they do for fun. I don't understand it. Basketball....soccer....swimming...dancing....these things are fun! But biking? Your butt gets so sore. Just not my cup of tea I suppose. This morning we actually went on this mini-hike up this trail behind our neighborhood. It's one that a lot of mountain-bikers use....I still think that's nuts! That was one of the scariest experiences of my life. Anyways, the hike was nice, and it was really pretty. Also, the weather has been GREAT the last few days, which I'm sure helped. Yesterday, I think the high was mid to upper 90's....it's still crazy to me that that is nice weather for me now! But really, you can feel the difference between that and 105 and definitely 115.

We got a new investigator this week! Her name is Hilary, and she just walked into church on Sunday. It was kind of weird actually....we still aren't quite sure how or why she came, but she did, so we are happy! She has really been prepared by the Lord, and is ready to make changes in her life. She is really excited about it all, and just knows that it is good and right. Before we even met with her after we saw her at church, she had watched the Joseph Smith movie and had picked up a Book of Mormon at the library to study. We have been able to have....4 lessons with her this week. We haven't gone over a ton of material so far--she's been a little overwhelmed. She is trying to find a job so she can move out of her boyfriend's house, and she wants to stop smoking. She decided this before we ever talked to her. But she's been involved with some really bad stuff in the past, so I am happy for her to feel the cleansing power of the Atonement when she is baptized. The date is for October 22nd! We won't actually be there for that, cause she is moving at the beginning of October into an apartment that she's signed for, but we will teach her as long as we can. It's been great!

Our other 3 investigators are doing fine themselves.....the real problem are their parents! Each one is totally good to go, but their parents keep putting off the baptismal date for some reason or another. I wish that they would just allow their kids to receive the blessings of being baptized and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost! Hopefully one will get baptized on Saturday....that has been his date the whole time. Hopefully they won't postpone it again....and then he can get baptized! It will be great, and hopefully we will be able to get in touch with them soon and smooth out the details. :)

Sister Hoyt is leaving next week! She will be going home, so it's weird to know that there definitely will be a change coming for me. I find out on Saturday the transfer news. I most likely will stay in my area, and be the one that's supposed to know everybody and their situation and where they live. Eeek! 4 wards is a lot of people. Ah well, it'll be fine. I'll let ya'll know the news next week. I suppose in the meantime, don't send mail to the VC. I could possibly go full-field. I've been trying to figure out who is going to be my new companion..... We have 3 new english sisters coming to the VC- from Mongolia, Kenya, and Pakistan. Yay for diversity! :) I am excited to meet them. I met some sisters from places like that in the MTC, and they were all incredible. They had sacrificed a lot for the gospel, and really had their priorities straight. I'm sure it'll be humbling to be near them, they are going to be awesome.

I have started reading the book "Jesus the Christ" this last week....never thought that book would suck me in like it has! I have trouble putting it down sometimes.....it is just really good! It helps me understand some of the events of the life of Jesus Christ, which has been wonderful. I've read a lot about the last few days of His life this week. It reminds me of my trip to Israel. It's been really good.

Anyhow, life is going well! Hope you are all doing good too!

Ps. Saw my Fourth scorpion a couple weeks ago. Sick.
the scorpion. After this picture we realized it was alive. They are tricky little things....act so still like they are dead. Beware of them! Sick.

the crazy curtain. This is the home I live in...now I'm in the basement, it's not SO extravagant. I just think it's a little much. Haha, reminds me of the curtains in Cinderella.

September 20, 2o11

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all doing great and that life is good. :) Amber said it's been cooling off a little in CA, and Oma said it rained a bit in Texas, that must be nice! All those in Seattle....well, I just hope that you've gotten some extra heat from the rest of us! It's been cooler here--high 90's has never felt so nice! It's comparable to a 75 degree day in Colorado--it's been great. :)

Well, I found out who my new companion is--her name is Sister Dyer. She's from Utah as well, and will be leaving at the end of this transfer to go home. It's pretty weird and sad to send home missionaries--this will be my second 3 transfers into the mission! We are still in the same area though, and now I'm the one that has to know everybody. Its' really weird, cause after this transfer I'll most likely be training. TRAINING! Everyone....that's just a little bit intimidating. Hopefully I'll improve a ton this transfer so I don't ruin the next sister. I know this because after this transfer, there will only be 6 of us VC sisters that speak English. One will already be training somebody that flew in this morning (she's from Africa! Sweet, huh?) and so that makes 5. And there are 5 new sisters coming in (From Mongolia, Pakistan, France, and I don't know about the other 2.) Anyhow, it's pretty much the only way, cause new sisters have to start at the VC, so they won't give them to a full-field sister. This is getting too detailed, so just trust me. It's weird.

It also means I'll be in my area at least 3 more transfers. Unless they send me somewhere else to train which would be CRAZY. So anyways, this transfer will be great. :) I'm excited to learn all I can from Sister Dyer--she is an awesome missionary.

All of our investigators are kinda weird right now....the one girl that came into church? I'm pretty sure we are going to stop teaching her....but I'll let you know more next week. There's just a lot of craziness going on with her. The other 3 are progressing....step by step. I think I'm here to learn patience. We all learn and change at different paces, you know? They are all great kids though, super cute.

I totally forgot! Elder Chai (spelling?) from the Quorum of the Seventy spoke to us last Thursday--it's called a "mission tour." Him and his wife spoke to us...it was fantastic. They are from Korea, and are just such neat people. He just made you want to be better without making you feel guilty at all. I think Jesus Christ would be a teacher like that--let's you know where you can improve with love, and just makes you want to be more obedient. Elder Chai talked about being over 100% obedient--like getting up at 6:15, instead of 6:30. That's the second time I've gotten that counsel from a general authority, the other one was in the MTC, Elder Kikuchi, so I guess that means God really wants me to get up early and show him my zeal for the work! :) That's one of my goals for this transfer--to be extra obedient in everything that I do.

I'm excited for this transfer--its' like New Years or something. New companion, new start. I've been thinking of goals I want to set for myself this transfer, and I'm really looking forward to it. :)

I've been reading Jesus the Christ, by Elder Talmage, like it's a novel or something. There is so much to learn about the Savior--I can hardly get enough! I love reading about His gospel in that book and in the scriptures. It's definitely true that the more you read, the more you want to read. :)

Love you all, thanks for all the letters.

Love,

Mary

September 27, 2011

Hi everyone,

My new companion is Sister Dyer! She is from Kaysville, UT (wherever that is) and is so much fun. She has a TON of energy. She is always excited about something, which is good cause it's getting people in our area excited too. It's nice to be with somebody that is always laughing and smiling and happy. She has some great new ideas too, so hopefully the work will pick up here as well.

This week we went on a hike one morning for exercise....it really is getting so pretty here to me, and the mornings aren't so hot! They're really nice! Our house is right up on some "mountains"...more like glorified hills, but it's nice to feel like you are out in the wilderness a little bit. Sister Dyer saw her first vulture out here last week, and she about peed her pants. Haha, I guess they are kinda big, and their crooked necks are sick. We've yet to see some havalinas (I haven't seen them either)....I'm a little doubtful that they exist. You know how some people really believe in jackalopes? I'm starting to think havalinas are amongst that group. :P Apparently they are gross, hairy, super ugly pigs, with really dark brown skin. We've actually prayed a couple times to see some...haha, but we figure God wants us to enjoy ourselves and see His creations, right? :) Hopefully we'll stumble across some soon.

So, I noticed that I really need to start taking more pictures, my camera is full of boring things. But here are a few for you. There's one of me in front of the VC sign....you have to take this one!


It is kind of boring though....soon after that we were looking at the sky (we were locked out of the VC for a few minutes cause we got there when everyone else was in some meeting.) and we found an oasis. I'm pretty sure I just stood there for a good 30 seconds staring at those palm trees.

Doesn't it look like you could be on a hammock and staring at the sky and trees above. I imagined I could hear the ocean and everything....ah, it was wonderful. :) I'm going to have to go back there sometime soon. Haha The other one is of everyone that works at the VC. Sister Hoyt was going home, and so we had a group photo.


They are all such great people! I feel really lucky to serve there because then I have a ton of friends with the other missionaries, versus just seeing them once a week at district meeting. The last one is creepy, I know. But a couple got engaged! Haha, that's what sister missionaries do on a slow morning--watch the couples and other random crazies outside. But it gets slow and we get bored, so that's what they should expect really.

We've dropped a few of our people this week, and are starting to teach "member-lessons." We want them to really understand what we do so that they invite their friends to meet with us. It's going to be great, I'm really excited about it. We did our first one last night...it was surprisingly, really good.

Love you all, and pray for you often. :)

~Mary

August Mission Updates (Emails)

August 2, 2011

It's been good out here--just doing the same old thing really. We're really trying to get more people to teach, so mostly that is what we are focusing on. However, we do get to meet with recent converts and less-active members really often. There is one lady--Sister Lofgreen. She has been less-active for years, but the sister missionaries have been going over for a while to visit and help her clean her house, etc. But recently she really wants us to teach her about the gospel and help answer some of her questions. It's been great, you can see in her how ready she is to do what's right. She's realizes now what she really needs in her life-- God. She's been going through some tough things the last couple weeks with her family, and realizing that there isn't anything she can do to fix it, but that she has to just trust that God will make sure things will turn out alright. We talked about the importance of prayer and the Savior, and how having that relationship with them will help her.

We have tried to see another family recently....they are older, and he is a member, but his wife Bobby isn't. They let us in about two weeks ago, and it went really nice. They instantly let us in to talk with them, and we shared a brief message and prayer with them. She's gotten super sick though, with double-pneumonia (what is that??) and he is really worried about her (they are quite old). So, we dropped off a card with the movie The Testaments, and hope they like it and think about it. It's such a great movie about having faith in Jesus Christ. It can be hard sometimes to believe He is real and cares, but He does! We'll call them tomorrow to see how she is....praying we can stop by and talk to them soon.

Oh, I had a pretty nice experience yesterday at the Visitor Center. A man walked in and came up to me. He told me that he is dating a member of the Church, and they are wanting to get married, and he knows that she wants to be married in the temple, so how can he do that? He wanted to do it, because she wanted to. Well, I told him that he had to be a member of the Church for a year to be married in the temple, and he was like, "Okay, so what do I do?" I was like, sweet! So, I got his address and we'll be sending missionaries to his house to teach him. He had some time, so I was able to show him some of the things in the VC and teach him some of the basic beliefs of the Church and how it was started--basically the lesson of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was nice to be able to really teach somebody at the VC. I told him that it was great he wanted to do this for his fiancee, but he needed to do it for himself, to find out if it was true for himself, and that this couldn't just be to get into the temple, but a change in how he lives his life. He told me that he knew that was true, and that he would do this for himself too--he knew that he needed to look into it more. He really had an open and soft heart to everything I taught him, I think it was because he knew his fiancee believed it and trusted her. So, he listened and really considered that was I was saying could be true. He said he would read and pray about the Book of Mormon (yes!) and expected an answer. He is a Christian too, it's nice when they already have that relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the whole point of the Church, so they are usually a bit more open to learning more.

So, my companion heard me talk in my sleep for the first time last night. Apparently, I was telling somebody to "just read and pray about the Book of Mormon. Just read it!" Most of my dreams lately definitely have to do with us teaching people, and planning for lessons, etc. But even in my sleep, I know the most important thing--just read the Book of Mormon! If that book is true, then everything else is too. As missionaries, we just invite people to consider that there is more, and to study it for themselves. Heavenly Father just wants us to know the truth--He will teach us what is right. Apparently there was somebody in my dream that really needed to make that step. :)

Oh my heck. So a few days ago, we tried to visit somebody we had spoken to recently. We rang the doorbell....the dog started barking, we could hear kids talking. But nobody came, so after a reasonable amount of time, we knocked. The reply? Shouted from the back of the house: "Just let me eat my turkey sandwich!" Haha, it was funny (esp cause she didn't know who we were--nobody came to the door. She just really wanted to eat that sandwich. We've been quoting that a bit lately. :)

No new scorpions this week....darn. I mean, it's nice, but it was kind of exciting too. Haha

August 8, 2011

This last week here has been a little warmer....or maybe it's just more humid. Either way, I've been stinkin' hot. There have been some people that have come into the Visitor Center, that are here on vacation. I was like, "You are here for fun? In August? In Arizona?" It boggles my mind.

We have seen some of the craziest things lately, and have been writing them down to remember them. The other day, there was this old man crossing a really busy street here in Mesa (the kind where it is 2-3 lanes wide for each direction of traffic.) He was in his electric wheelchair, and just crossed one half of the street and started cruising down the middle for a bit before he crossed the rest. Poor old man should have used the cross walk. It was bizarre. Then a mailman started to turn left, not realizing that there was a median in the middle of the road. That was so surprising! We were right behind him, and I was afraid he had fallen asleep or something. He soon figured out that the huge bump in the road was alarming and started driving straight again, to my relief. Thankfully, he kind of zoomed off after that....was it embarassment or the adrenaline rush of almost running into the palm tree, I'll never know. But, he was far from us, so I felt a bit better. Then this guy (like 25 or so) ran across the street (a busy one too, Main St.) and his pants started falling off! My companion was a bit more shocked and appalled than I was, I guess I haven't been separated from such things for as long as her, I just thought it was funny. And then, he tripped on his pants, and totally fell. Poor guy, I felt bad for him. It probably hurt, he totally fell hard, not just on his hands and knees....here's some words of wisdom: If thine pants are too big, hold them up with a belt. And that's not even all of them, there are some crazy people here. It must be the heat.

Still no scorpions...I'm afraid I've just gotten a bit paranoid. I'll think that I feel something on my feet when we are studying or planning and it'll make me jump a bit, or move my feet in a very quick and perhaps shocking manner. Sister Hoyt thinks that I'm a little nuts....but the way I see it, she's the one always wearing shoes, just in case there's something down there. So, which is of is the truly paranoid? It'll take a lot more than the chance of a scorpion to keep shoes on my feet while I'm at home.

I don't know if y'all remember that family I talked about last time...the older couple, and the wife Bobby was really sick. Well, we stopped by to see where they stand, what they expect when we come, and why we were visiting. Bart and Bobby both made it very clear that they were fine where they were, and didn't want anything else. Bart told us that he believes in the Book of Mormon, but flat-out refused to read it. Bobby told us that though she has known members of the Church her whole life, she has never wanted to learn more. It was disappointing, of course, but I actually left optimistic, I could really feel the comfort of the Holy Ghost. As a missionary for the Church, I am here to invite others to come unto Christ, and to learn more. Though they refused, it was good to be able to actually give somebody a true invitation to learn more. Finding people to talk to is a challenge in our area. People leave a lot during summers here.

I called somebody in Germany at the Visitor Center the other day! It was pretty cool--she wants to learn more about the Church, but her mother won't allow her to meet with missionaries right now. But, she's allowed to go to church, so I gave her directions to her ward and told her the bishop's name and phone number. She was excited about it! She lives in Hofheim, in Hessen. Nathan, did you ever serve there? I also have been able to call Nicaragua a few times. One of the sisters at the VC is from there, and she needed me to call for a phone number of her cousin, and wanted me to call one of her friends and invite her to meet with missionaries. She agreed to! That was great, it is so nice to find those that are truly wanting to learn more....if that's because they want to understand their friends or family better, or because they feel that they need more in their life, it's always great. :) I wish I knew Spanish, I would call all of her Nicaraguan friends....alas, very few of them speak English.

We were trained on meeting with ward council members (the leaders in the ward--like the Relief Society President, what Mom was doing this last year.) It was just what we've needed recently. So, we've been trying to find a time to meet with all of them, and inspiring them to inspire the group they are over to do missionary work. We've been planning activities with the youth and Relief Society, and doing "sharing time" in the primary (where the kids 3-11 years old go after the Sacrament Meeting.) I feel really excited--it's really going to get things rolling here.

Oh! I almost forgot, transfer news. Nothing's changed in our area. Still with the same companion, 4 wards, Visitor Center. That means I'll most likely be here for the next 3 months, because Sister Hoyt is going home after this transfer, and they usually keep one missionary in the same area, so that they know what's going on. Sister Hoyt said it'll be likely for me to stay here at least 2 more transfers. ....We'll see. That'll be over a third of my mission! Of course, there's no way to tell, but I just thought it was interesting. When you are in a place for so long, there is definitely a purpose for it, and it becomes less like God needed me in this mission, but God needed me in these wards. That's kind of cool to know that He wanted me to go on a mission to serve in this specific spot, to help these specific people. :)

Love you all so much, hope you are doing well! Write back!

August 15, 2011

Hi everyone,

They are closing early, so I've gotta go in like 2 minutes...eek! Sorry about that, we didn't realize.

This week has been a good one--went by really fast. We ended it wondering what we did--looking back just visited lots of ward council members, and our other people cancelled. Figure that's why it felt so crazy. But, hopefully it'll get the ward members fired up and get us some referrals!

How are you all doing? good I hope! Is it very hot where you are? the other day I was thinking of how nice it was outside....realized it was about 103 degrees. Haha, guess I've gotten pretty used to it.

Love you all so much! Pray for you all each day....

August 22, 2011

I called a girl in Germany the other day that said she wanted missionaries--totally realized how much I DON'T remember about that language. Even just understanding the street name and her address. Dang. So I emailed her the directions I found online and that kind of thing. Haha....but it was the best I could do!

We have been meeting with all of the ward council lately--including the HP Group Leader. I didn't realize how unusual it is for a man to be called as a high priest if he isn't getting a calling for it. .....Wonder why Dad was. He's an awesome man, though, and has always been faithful. Maybe it was so he could help Dorothy get to the temple and work closely with her and Mickee? Hmmm....but it's cool! And I'm proud. :)

The Jerusalem replica totally does remind me of our trip! It's kind of a weird thing to bring up, but I've started telling people about my trip there and what it was like. I just don't know what else to talk about with that diorama with them. It's a tricky room to utilize for me. We just got a new art exhibit--oh my heck. I love it! It is my favorite place to be assigned at the VC....the Spirit is extra strong in there. All of the artwork is centered on Jesus Christ (paintings, photography, and sculptures.) It is such an easy room to teach with, because so many people can relate to the artwork and how it makes them feel about Jesus Christ. Quite a few people that aren't members have been coming in to see it too, which is great! :)

We have still been trying to get member referrals--that's a big push in our mission. There are so many members here, we should and need to be able to use them. Also, most of my area are gated communities--so really the only way we can get work is if the members give us referrals for their friends and neighbors. We have been trying for part-member families too, though. We've received quite a few referrals this week and were able to contact 6 of them this last week! Woohoo! We have somebody with a baptismal date for September 17th, and will be starting to teach 2 new people this week that are wanting to learn more (one is a part member family that recently started coming back to church, and the other is a former investigator that contacted us! :) Yes! ) So we have people to teach and see and now we are super busy! :) Love it.

August 30, 2011

Hello everyone!

This has been a great week. We got a new investigator this week: Matthew, a boy from a part-member family. His family just started coming back to church all of a sudden, and wants us to come over and teach their 10-year old son. They are all really excited and happy for us to come each time, it's a little strange to feel SO welcomed. They are home-schooled, and when they didn't come to church, really just stuck to each other I think. So they are still a little awkward and overly-excited to have people over. Haha...But, they are a great family, and you can just see in the kids' eyes how much they just want to learn. He is going to be baptized on the 17th! Along with our other investigator, Josh. He is still doing well, though we are a little concerned about his family. They are struggling a little bit, so we are trying to focus on all of them. Josh doesn't have ANY support from his mom/stepdad, so he could really use the help from his dad/stepmom's family. But, he is always eager to learn too... Josh said he liked church so much because he likes learning. Not many eleven year old boys would say that's why they like to go to church. So, basically, they are both doing great. :)

We are still trying to find new people to teach all the time. We have a few potentials right now, it's just hard to actually get things going with that. People can be so fickle. Haha, just meaning that they don't keep appointments, or just don't answer their dang phones. Come on people! We have a message that will change their lives. It just isn't something worth putting off. We went tracting yesterday for the first time since I came (we've really just been focusing on getting member referrals as you all know). It was...hmmmm....quite hot. Haha, pretty sure I looked nasty the rest of the day. Sister Hoyt said my cheeks were nice and rosy. Pretty sure she was being extra nice. My cheeks are never nice when they are beet-red and hot. One man was busy but invited us back, named Jim Jones. He was really friendly, but I'm not sure how interested he is....a lot of people invite you back just to get rid of you. What they don't realize is that when they invite us back, we really do come. But, the way he was, I think he'll let us in to talk to him.

One of the people we have taught before is McKenna. She hasn't been baptized because her dad wants to do it, and he is not worthy or even actively trying to be. We have not even been able to meet with her since May (people are fickle, remember?) but have an appointment tomorrow. We are just going to commit her to be baptized on the 17th as well, and have her uncle do it. Her dad will hopefully agree, and allow McKenna to finally be baptized. She's been wanting it for a long time, and now that school has started we should be able to have regular appointments again. If not....I don't know. It feels wrong to drop a 13-year old girl that wants to be baptized just cause her dad is lame. But we've been trying for so long, people have to eventually just make their own decisions without us constantly reminding and prodding. Just do what you know is right. Bah!

A couple of people came in to the Visitor Center a few days ago, and I was able to give them a tour. Their names were Luiz and Chris, both just moved in for an addiction recovery program. They didn't know anything about the Church, and came in to see what the VC was. Wow, they were so prepared. After we listened to a narration as we looked at the Christus statue (just scriptures where Christ is speaking to us) I asked them how they felt as they listened. They both said that they just felt peaceful and safe. I then showed them around our art exhibit, which is GREAT. They are all local artists, and the pieces are wonderful. Anyhow, I was able to teach them pretty much the full first lesson (on how we are Heavenly Father's children, he loves us, he's called prophets, Jesus Christ is our Savior, and then about Joseph Smith and the Restoration). Chris told me that he felt really good inside, really peaceful. They asked how they could learn more, and I was all like, "I can help you with that!" Every VC missionary wants to hear those words. :) They were really open to everything I said, and will be meeting with missionaries as soon as the elders contact them. One of the men actually came in again yesterday because he wanted to learn more. That doesn't happen real often. I called the elders in their area to tell them to get on with it already and visit them...turned out they had barely gotten the referral that morning. So hopefully they will be able to contact them today or tomorrow and start teaching them. :) Ah, it just makes me so excited! They are at a really low point in their lives right now, as they are living in a halfway house, and have been addicted to something, etc. It's horrible that they are dealing with all of this, but because they are, they know that they need God in their lives, and are searching for Him. And God is reaching to them as well. :) It's been great to witness.

I love you all, and hope you are doing great!

Love,

Mary

July Email Snippets

July 4, 2011 -

I got into AZ last Tuesday, we met President Ellsworth and his wife right passed security, and also the AP's (assistants to the president.) ... I had no idea who anyone was or where we were, but it was good. I was just excited to get my real companion and area the next day!

My trainer's name is Sister Hoyt, from northern Utah, and she is awesome. :) She is kinda crazy like me, which is nice, cause then I don't feel like a weirdo. ... She helps me to see ways I can help people--she's really good at serving others and paying attention to what they are needing. I kinda space out sometimes, hanging out somewhere in all my thoughts, totally oblivious to things going on. I've been working on that.

Arizona is BROWN. Like, everything. The houses are the color of the dirt. The rocks are the color of the dirt. Thankfully, though, the sky is blue and some of the living plants have some greenish tints to them. :) ... The tall cacti, swigwaro (or something), are SO GOOFY LOOKING. Haha, but they are kinda cool too. They are just different than I expected, I think I've seen too many cartoons. Oh! I totally saw a road runner the other day, that was pretty exciting. In my area, there are actually living things. We see bunnies, and lizards, and desert rodents, and birds everywhere, which is great. :) I love it. The heat really isn't so bad, I mean it's hot, but definitely better than I expected. We have a car in my area too, which I think helps in that regard. AC every now and then makes a load of difference. As a VC sister, we're a bit spoiled I think, just because we have to be able to get the the VC, and our areas aren't necessarily by it.

People go other places here during summer just cause it's so stinkin' hot. We were at dinner with a family in one of our wards yesterday, and asked about their neighborhood...apparently, it's empty most of the year, because a bunch of Canadians bought homes here for the winter months. Ha! It's nuts.

Anyhow, we are over four wards, which is a little overwhelming. Poor Sister Hoyt, she's constantly reminding me who people are. It's hard though, because we only have half of our time to devote to the area, and four wards to cover. Some of the wards we have a lot of good work going on, but 2 of the wards are dwindling. We've been trying to figure out a good way to get members more involved.

They have roaches here. I abt panicked, but luckily Sister Hoyt doesn't mind killing them for me. Sick!

July 12, 2011 -

This weekend has been wonderful! After having essentially no time in our area this week, Saturday we actually caught people at home and were able to talk to them....it's been hard to get a hold of people, so that was wonderful. Then Sunday, one of our new investigators came to church! She is super busy with a new business she's starting, but she had her family cover for her at work so that she could meet with us and come to church. She really enjoyed it and is looking forward to coming with us again and learning more. Now all we have to do is get her family interested and involved as well. We've been praying a ton that they will and that she will be able to make the time to see us with her family--a miracle is needed here, but that's no problem. We had a few little miracles just yesterday.

We were looking through our area book (has the history of all teh people they've taught before, who we're teaching now, etc. so that if we're transferred out, the new missionaries in the area know what's going on.) and found a former investigator that was interested, but was bad timing with things in her family. That was a while back, so we stopped by to give it a try...she wasn't home. So we walked to another family, which ended up being much further away than expected. By the time we eventually made it back to the car, she was just getting home and stopped to talk to us. She wants to meet with us next week, and we've got an appointment. She seemed really happy and excited to see us. We've been praying to find more people to teach, and we did! The timing was incredible...MIRACLE. It was wonderful.

I guess you could say I'm getting used to the heat....only 105 ish today, and that really feels nice and cool. Haha, kind of crazy. The air is what's hot though, like an oven. You can fan yourself and it makes it worse, all this hot air blowing on you. But, it's nice. and the cacti are starting to look a little more normal. :)

July 18, 2011 -

I totally forgot to talk about the dust storm they had here....I actually didn't see much of it. I was in the call center (a little room with no windows) at the VC, calling referrals we had received, when another sister ran in and was like, "the monsoons have started! Come look!" We went outside....it was a little different than the monsoons. Haha, a bit too dusty and dry. Our car was caked with it afterwards though, and the water in the fountain at the temple was brown until they cleaned it a few days later. I haven't really seen any pictures of it, but I've heard they were pretty incredible! It was huge, and you can the dust storm on a picture from some satellite in space, which I think is pretty cool. But as I didn't actually see the column of dust coming towards me, I don't count it as experiencing one. One day, one day.

July 26, 2011 -

Grass does exist. I've almost forgotten about it. :P People don't realy seem to like grass here, or at least their water bill. I've never seen so many rocks in my life! And such green grass is a little shocking. :)

I had something called Bahama Bucks, which apparently is pretty famous down here. It was good! Blue Bell vanilla ice cream on the bottom, shaved ice on top, with a snow cone flavor mixed with cream pored on the top. Yummm....I got the "creme brule" flavor....they had a buttload to choose from! They even had Pickle Juice....sick. Though, who knows? Maybe that would be better than I think. It's nice, the owner is LDS, so gives missionaries half-off. :) There are some definite advantages to serving in a place that has lots of members...... ;)

Saw my third scorpion this last week.....that's pretty unusual to see so many so soon. It's been about one a week now, so I'm expecting one any day now. They're pretty nasty critters....totally evil looking things. I think they're worse than sharks. Sick, sick.

Yesterday we had a lesson with a recent convert family. They are doing pretty good, but it was a really good lesson/appointment too. It was one of the first times I've actually taught a lesson lesson (the first time was last Thursday.....oh yeah, he's our newest investigator! Going to be baptized August 13th, and is really excited to learn more. ... it was nice feeling like God is using me for his purposes. :)

The Mish Questionnaire #1

(7-12-11)

What thoughts were going through your mind during the flight to Arizona?

"This is crazy", "It'll be so hot", "Do I look good?" -(haha... I know, I know) "So many pools that I won't be going in, sweet!" ;) "Hope my trainer isn't psycho" I just wanted to be doing it. Sick of so many unknowns.

What was your first impression of your mission president? Be honest.

He's shorter than I expected! But he was really nice, I felt liked and not judged like I was scared of.

What is your first mission field companion like? Again, be honest...

She's crazy like me! And really good at serving people - I typically don't even notice them & she's serving them suddenly. We get along great.

What rule do you think will be hardest to keep in your mission?

Hmm... just small ones like lights out at 10:30, not 10:34. Being EXACTLY obedient to these things is harder than it sounds.

Does your mission have any weird traditions that you've discovered so far?

Not really weird. When the couple missionaries feed us we always sing to them afterwards. Every Christmas the whole mission does a session together. (Not that I've done that yet...)

Do you think you'll be able to handle the heat (of course, you don't really have a choice) Are there any tricks you've learned from the other missionaries to keep cool?

No tricks, & it's more bearable than I expected. I mean, it's hot, but it's okay. I'm already used to it. (105 feels nice now. Haha) I'm in a car now too, so I'm really lucky. Bikes are way worse.

If Arizona were infested with one thing (animal/bug) what would you say it is?

Lizards - the most. They are everywhere. Where I am, quails too. Oh! And bunnies. Quail babies are like the size of my thumb & so cute b/c of their smallness. Scorpions. 2 weeks on the mish, & I've already found 2 in my apt (That's a little unusual though. My companion has seen 6 her whole mission! She leaves in Sept.)

What is most striking about Arizona's landscape?

It's brown. Haha, the classic desert look is kinda cool. You would love it! The cacti look cool in the sunset. :)

What eating establishment doesn't exist in Arizona that makes you sad?

Ok, we haven't really gone out. They've got all the normal stuff here. We're going to "Bahama Bucks" soon, they do a combo ice cream/snow cone. It's apparently to die for. I'll let you know.
[Mary then drew an illustration with labels of what this ice cream/snow cone looks like]

Do you have to wear pantyhose after all?

NO! HAHAHA! WOOO! Nope, not at all. It's too hot. :)

Quickly sum up your daily schedule.

Up @ 6:30, jog, @ 7:00-8:00 shower, dressed. 8-9: Personal study, 9-10 comp study. 10-12: appts. 12-12:30 lunch, 12:30-2:15 proselyting, 2:15-9 VC, 9-9:30 plan for tomorrow. (Different tho is VC in the morning)

When can you write or email - and how much time is allowed for that? Are you allowed to view blogs or Facebook?

Only email page. only p-day. only one hour. & I gotta email mish pres. (varies Monday or Tuesday b/c of VC schedule)

Who are your most faithful writers? (Besides me of course)

AMBER! You are my number one. Then Mom (mostly with letters), Amanda next (with email).

Who surprised you most by sending you mail?

My old roommate, Liz.

Is there anything you need? Or would like to have now that you're out in the field?

nope - Walmart here. Wish I brought all my old skirts though. Luckily, there's a Kohl's in my area.

What was your first meal out in the field? or what was your first meal at a member's home?

In the field - senior missionaries made chickenpot pie, salad, homemade bread. SO GOOD! In member's home - sub sandwiches w/ fruit & chips on the side.

Your worst experience so far? Your best experience so far?

talking with a less-active, he seemed a bit anti - it was irritating, frustrating, & just sad. Best: Just talking abt the gospel w/ people that are interested. There's been a few of those and it's just awesome!

Greenie

Mary left the MTC today and is probably in Arizona about now! This is when the real work begins. I updated Mary's address to her mission address (see sidebar) so you can already send her letters!

Current temps in her area are around 110 degrees! Looks like she has the new climate to adjust to, in addition to the new companion, place to live, community, and the missionary life. I'm sure she'd love to hear from all of you.

And for fun, try sending her all green stuff - green envelope, use a green pen, or even better send her a green package! Anything green. In our church many new missionaries out in the field are nicknamed a "Greenie". How long this "Greenie" time lasts may be determined by the what mission you're in. Some people say it ends once you change companions for the first time, and others say it ends once you are transfered for the first time. We'll have to find out from Mary what the Mesa, AZ mission is like!

GOOD LUCK MARY!!!

First Photos