Transfer 2 begins!

Just for the record...in her letter she says she will include pictures but she didn't.


Guess what…my first mission planner is done! Meaning, it is now transfer #2.

I can’t believe how fast that first transfer went by. It’s weird how time passes when you’re on a mission…. the days feel like weeks but the weeks really feel like days. They go by like nothing. It’s odd. Honestly, I can’t believe it’s already September! What the heck is up with that?

Anyway, now I’ll tell you about my week:

Last Monday night for FHE, we talked about patience & it was a really, really good discussion.

Last Tuesday…well, we had our training meeting for sites in the revelation room in the Whitney store, which was pretty much awesome. Elder Butterfield has focused a lot on the Priesthood in the last couple trainings we’ve had…I wish I had more time to study while I’m out here because that’s a topic I want to go deeper into. Anyway, that night we went to Young Womens and they were learning how to do cake decorating. When I come home, I’m going to learn how exactly to do that. It was really neat! The Gervasi’s gave us some of theirs to take home and Sister Park totally SHOVED ONE IN MY FACE when I was writing in my journal! Little sneak/jerk. Ha. It was pretty funny. I’ll attach some pictures so you can get a visual.

Wednesday was transfer day! It was kind of crazy. I had to say bye to Elder Robison, my district leader, because he got transferred to be a zone leader in the Findlay zone. Boo. I haven’t met the new district leader, Elder McClellan, yet because district meeting got moved to tomorrow morning. Every transfer day, the Butterfields feed all the sisters lunch. They are so sweet! It was Elder Butterfield’s birthday last Wednesday so we all wrote nice things on Post-it notes and then after we sang happy birthday to him at lunch, we ran up and attacked him with them. I’ll attach the picture of that too.  We only had 1 sister come in this transfer. Sister Lyman! She added me on facebook this summer and said someone had told her we were going to the same mission. Then, when I was visiting Utah in May, I ran into her at BYU. She is really sweet…really quiet but a good missionary!

Oh, also, my schedule at sites changed!

Friday and Saturdays are switched…so I now have Tuesday morning, Wednesday, and Friday at sites, and Tuesday afternoon, Thursday, and Saturday in my area. And we’re still in Kirtland every other Sunday afternoon. (Mom, make sure Lindsey Maas sees this because she was going to try & come visit in a couple Saturdays but I won’t be there anymore!)

On Thursday, we did weekly planning and that’s it. Sister Park was feeling really bad again so we stayed in.

Friday…my miracle of the day was that I got 2 letters! Let me just say how much I love Merick Yamada! She is my most faithful writer so far, definitely. I also got a note from Brother & Sister Brown in D4. It was really sweet and it’s just nice to know that people haven’t forgotten you completely! But actually the real miracle of the day was the letter that Sister McAlister shared with me. It’s from her friend Brady and it basically talked about something that had been on my mind for a while.

So I’ve been really frustrated with myself for the past few weeks because I know I need to be better at talking to everyone. There are a few pages in PMG that talk about that exact topic and I haven’t been very good at it. It’s scary! And I don’t know how to transition from like “Oh hey…” to like “let me tell about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ!” Ah. Sister Park doesn’t really do contacting much…so I don’t really know exactly how to go about it. But I know that it’s something that I need to be doing. So anyway, this is what Sister McAlister’s friend said:

“When I got to the field the hardest thing for me was talking to everyone. I HATED it. I was so afraid, and to do it in Spanish was even worse. For a while the fear overpowered me, but I finally decided that I needed to show my love to Christ more, and I made myself talk to everyone. It didn’t matter who or when, if we had time between appointments. I knew I needed to be talking to everyone. At first it was hard but by the end of my mission it was one of my favorite things to do, and one of my strengths. I was very blessed as well. Not many people baptize a lot of people they find knocking doors or street contacting. I was blessed with so many different cases of people who were prepared and ready. The coolest thing was hearing that someone you found and passed off to another comp got baptized! I know it wasn’t me, but I honestly feel that the Lord knew He could trust me enough talking to everyone so he put prepared souls in my way.

It has really helped me. I guess the moral of the last story was if you do what scares you the most no matter what the Lord will turn it into your strength (Ether 12:27.)”

That story absolutely RESONATED with my SOUL. It expresses the thoughts of my heart, especially the part that said “for a while the fear overpowered me”. IT’S SO SCARY! But….I know that I love Jesus Christ and I know that He lives and that is why I’m on a mission. So, I know that He’ll help me. I’ve just got to open my mouth.

So, the quote that I chose for the week from Natalie’s quote box that she left me is by Leo Tolstoy. It goes along with this exact topic. It says: “It is within my power to serve God or not to serve Him. Serving Him, I add to my own good and the good of the whole world. Not serving Him, I forfeit my own good and deprive the world of that good, which was in my power to create.” I love it. I will not forfeit that good and deprive the world of good that I could’ve created! No way!

I’m really grateful for a new transfer though. It’s like a fresh start. I’m going to be even better, love even bigger, and work even harder this transfer. I set goals that I prayed over so I’m accountable to Heavenly Father. So…with that story, this transfer (Sept. 2- Oct. 13), I’m going to:

-give out 2 pass along cards every day that I’m in my area

- finish my trainer’s packet (things I have to role play with Sis. Park) by October

- get 2 referrals every day that I’m at sites

- read from the Book of Mormon every day (I know it sounds ironic to have that as a goal as a missionary but you’re always studying for other people! I just want to have a few minutes to read it for myself each day.)

-eat only the food that I bring to sites unless it’s a fruit or veggie (this way I’ll avoid snacking on all the junk food that they provide for us)

-tone for 10 minutes every night before bed

-not eat anything after 8:30 pm.

-drink 3 glasses of water a day ( I know that this isn’t a lot but it’s like 2 glasses more than I’ve been drinking soo it’s a start.)

I’m really going to push myself and it’s going to be good. Hard, but good. I’m excited. Bring on the sanctification please.

Well back to my week…

Saturday we were able to see Sister Jankowski for a little while. She’s crazy. But then, we were able to go stop by Joyce Ely, this woman that Sisters Park & Barker tracted into. She is basically Mormon, but not. SHE IS SO STINKING CUTE! So she just opened a quilt shop with her daughter Sarah, who is 21 and special needs. She’s been out to Utah because quilting is a crafty thing that lots of Mormons do so she got a lot of ideas from people out there. She also has a blog and she follows lots of LDS people’s blogs. She was telling us that she loves Stephanie Nielson (NieNie), the lady from Provo who got burned really severely in that plane crash and it’s amazing that she lived? That one! Go look at the Mormon Message about her.

Anyway, Stephanie is using her blog as a missionary tool and it’s working in Lyndhurst, Ohio!!! Joyce requested a Book of Mormon and Stephanie sent her one with her testimony in it. Joyce said they leave it on the coffee table in the family room so that the whole family can read from it whenever it’s convenient for them. Oh, and she told us that she’ll never have her quilt shop open on Sunday because it’s her personal belief that Sunday is a day of rest. Be Mormon, please? I love her so much already and I only talked to her for like 45 minutes. She needs to be baptized so bad! After that we came home and had dinner, and Sister Park wasn’t feeling well so we stayed in for the rest of the day after that. (She felt bad all day…she didn’t even put makeup on which for her speaks VOLUMES. VOLUMES.)

Sunday was a good day. We were able to stay out all day without Sister Park feeling like she was going to die. That was a miracle in and of itself but we also saw a couple others…the first was that Sister Ellison called us and told us that Alicia, the nonmember who comes to FHE, told her that she wants to be baptized! Yesssssss. The only minor detail is that all of her friends at work tell her that we’re a cult and she’s trying not to listen to them and figure out for herself if we are or are not. Seriously, would I be a part of a cult? NO. That is the answer.

Anyway, we were really excited about that news. But the other awesome thing was that we were able to stop by and see Becky and Bobbi, these less-active sisters (biological ones) in the ward. They let us in and we got to meet Becky’s daughter, LouRay, who is apparently moving in with them and who is not a member. Right after we got there, their home teacher, Brother Russell, showed up. We were all able to talk and have a nice little discussion and afterwards, LouRay hugged us and told us she wanted to learn more! I certainly hope that’s the case. With Sister Park being sick the last little while, the area has been moving so slowly so I hope that it picks back up!

So yesterday was Labor Day. I only got to take 3 hours of p-day yesterday because of sites. There always has to be sisters at the VC so we went in from 2-6. Then, the Butterfields and the senior couples held a barbecue that we were invited to at 7:00! It was delicious!!!!

Guess what happened today though. Sister Park and I started the Special K diet. Ha, for reals. So what is it? Well, for breakfast & lunch, you eat one serving of any Special K cereal (with 2/3 cup milk) + any fruits that you want. For dinner, you eat whatever dinner you would like. You’re allowed 2 snacks every day –either a Special K granola bar, or Special K fruit crisps, whatever + any fruits and vegetables that you want. You do the diet for 2 weeks.

According to Sister Hansen, it actually works…so we’re doing it! I’m hoping that by doing it at the beginning of my mission…it will help me to not gain weight because like I’ve mentioned before, everyone says that you’re gonna gain weight, you’re gonna gain weight and I don’t want to! It hasn’t been bad so far…. although I’ve only eaten 2 meals with it! We’ll see how it’s going next week.

I’m not feeling very well today. I woke up with a sore throat. Booooooooooo. Say a prayer for me please? I don’t want to be sick! When I’m sick, I tend to get selfish and I don’t want to! Also, the work is not nearly as enjoyable when you don’t feel well.

Just a thought to end:

2 Nephi 5:27 says, “And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness.” It’s so simple but I love it. Happiness is a choice! It’s up to us whether or not we are going to choose to be happy. But, we also know that “men are that they might have joy.” So go ahead, be happy!

Love you all so much!

Leash aka Sister Webb