New transfer

 

This has been kind of a crazy week. We got to be together in our area the entire week, which is something that rarely happens.  We were really blessed to find new investigators through a lot of different sources, and it felt good to be totally focused on the area together.  We're making another big push with the members to help them be more involved in missionary work, and it's awesome to see them get excited to share the gospel.  It's been such a good week!  I did get a little bit sick on Saturday and had a temperature all yesterday, but I feel a lot better today and this week is going to be great as well.

 

We were blessed to be able to go to the temple on Tuesday.  Every time I go to the temple, I'm amazed at how close I feel to my Heavenly Father as I'm there.  The connection seems so much closer because of the beautiful environment of the temple.  There are no distractions from the outside world.  I was thinking this week that being on a mission is kind of like being in the temple for 18 to 24 months.  It's a very sacred experience, and we're so blessed to be able to eliminate many of the distractions that sometimes keep us from feeling the Spirit.

 

We had a good Thanksgiving.  Originally we were a little bit worried because our schedule was almost totally empty.  We were not allowed to tract on Thanksgiving, and many of the members, active and less-active, were out of town (most of them in Utah) for the holiday.  Some wards have a lot of members that can be visited, but we have a very small ward and very few members that live in our area, so we were nervous about not having a very productive day.  We'd been looking for service projects but hadn't had any luck.  We finally decided to just put on our jeans and work gloves and seek out some service.  We ended up at the house of a sister who hasn't been coming to church lately.  We'd been trying to contact her for weeks with no success.  We went and started pulling weeds in her flower beds.  After being there for about 20 minutes, she noticed us and came outside.  She wasn't very warm toward us, but didn't tell us to go away, so we kept working in her yard alone.  We were there for about 2 hours, until we had to leave to go to another appointment.  She came back out as we were leaving and again was not very nice to us, but told us a little about what's going on in her life.  It ended up being a very valuable opportunity to at least have contact with her and help the bishop and relief society president know a little more about how they could help this sister.  It was kind of an odd experience, but taught me that we should serve as the Savior did whether or not that service is appreciated.  I walked away feeling that I had been an instrument in the Lord's hands in a small way, and that is all that I want to feel.

 

We were finally able to meet with Livorio last night after a whole week of canceled appointments.  The poor man is going crazy with work and some pretty serious issues with his ex-wife and custody over his 10-year-old son.  We talked to him about his baptism and I was touched at the thoughts he shared.  He said that baptism is a serious commitment to God, and that he wants to be ready to keep it for the rest of his life.  He said it was a promise to always keep the commandments, including going to church every single week.  He talked about how he felt at church last week when he came and how he wants to keep going back.  Livorio probably won't be baptized when originally planned, but I know that he understands the covenant and wants to make it.  We'll keep working with him to be able to rely on the Lord to help him through the issues in his personal life and to keep moving towards baptism.  He's so sensitive to the Spirit and it's great to see that he's gaining a personal conviction of the gospel.

 

Today is my last full day with Sister Osborn. :(  She gets on the transfer van tomorrow morning, and then it will be "hasta luego."  I'm really sad to see her go.  She's been an incredible example to me my whole mission.  She's the only senior companion I've ever had, and I feel so grateful for everything she's taught me.  We've become so close and have been so blessed to be companions for so long.  She's my hermana for life, for sure.  The only bad thing about being so close is that it's really hard to say goodbye.  We've been crying off and on for a couple days now, haha.  I hope you can make it to her homecoming talk!  We've decided our families should be friends. :)

 

Transfer news came on Saturday night.  I'll be staying in San Mateo as sister trainer, and my new companion will be Hermana Jensen, from Cottonwood Heights!  She went to Brighton and the University of Utah, but I'm sure we'll still be great friends. :)  I've had the chance to go on exchanges once with her, and she's an outstanding missionary, and definitely prepared to be a sister trainer.  I'm excited to be her companion.  We have an exciting transfer ahead of us with lots of new sisters we'll be going on exchanges with.  Arriba y adelante!