week 26: #hastenthework

Monday, April 25th, 2016

Hello again! The work is going so good! Our zone is on fire! We had a goal for 6 baptisms this month and we are having 10!! So it's pretty awesome. I'm sad to be leaving pinnacle zone. Weeks are going by so fast here. Like I feel like I just emailed! Well here we go again...

Monday (shout out to my 15 yr old sis Rachel, u da best even though you don't email me) we had FHE in an active members home and it went well. We then saw the Luongs and then read the Book of Mormon with Charlie after the lesson. Brother Shino came with us.

Tuesday we went to see Sister Clinton. She is not feeling welcomed in the ward. It's really sad when that happens. We told the ward and they are taking action. We had Amelia come with us to some lessons that night! One of them didn't answer but we got to see Tawni! It went really well. We read the Book of Mormon with them. We showed them the childrens book of mormon and their 8 year old son got really excited. He asked us if we could come over every week. So cute! He is definitely getting baptized.

Wednesday was district meeting. Sister Gulley and I gave a training on using time wisely. it went really well. We then went to see Constance. Sister Shaw came with us. Constance amazes me. It's amazing that we met her walking on the street and then wanted to get her records removed and now she is coming back to church!! She is awesome. And is truly a miracle. We then saw Sister Terry, Sister Chase came with us. She is reading her Book of Mormon and seems to really like it!

Thursday we met some new less-actives, which is awesome. We saw the Holdimans and they finally told us why they stopped going to church. It's because they don't feel welcomed. I mean there is obviously more reasons but it is just really sad. They are used to small town wards so mcdowell is pretty different for them. We then had Alyssa come out with us that night. We saw the Lumans and Alicia prayed! We read the Book of Mormon with her and it was awesome. We then started to knock some doors with Alyssa and the first house we knocked on was SO nice. They totally let us in. They are jewish but don't really seem to practice. They were so friendly and gave us water and food. And before we even asked for referrals she told us to go see her friend who lived down the street! Miracles happen when members come out with us! We then had a lesson with the Rossi family! The Chase's came with us. It was good. Vince is on date for June 18!! We are super excited about it! The whole lesson we were focusing on Jenn pretty much talking about how we need to act to figure out if this is the right path. Faith is an action word. She doesn't want to make a baptismal date because she feels that it will stress her out more because she works really hard when there is a deadline. But all we said was that it was really good for Vince, we just asked him at the end to get baptized on that date so that his son Charlie would be there to get baptized too. 

Friday we help Susan stark with her family history! We had the family history consultant, Sister Houston come with us. It was fun to see her so excited about it! Hopefully it will open some doors for her! We saw Sue and they made a mistake and her tumor isn't cancerous! MIRACLE. Sue taught us a lesson about joy and it was just what I needed. She is so inspiring. We then went to see Merry (the referral the lady gave us) and she was SO nice. She is Christian and her mother passed away. We taught her the plan of salvation right there on her door step. It was amazing to see. She was so open and nice. I'm excited to see where it goes! We then saw Mike Gonzales. He is good, he won't read his Book of Mormon which is really sad.

Saturday we helped Laura Holgate pack, she is moving into our ward so we can then teach her! We stopped by the Ashton's, an active family and it's really inspired on who we go see. It's definitely very important to help build up active members as well as less-actives. Everyone has struggles and every family needs saving, just as President Uchtdorf said at conference. Something that I have learned on my mission is how important families really are. Working with families is an opportunity to unite families for ETERNITY. We read the Book of Mormon with Charlie at the Woolstons and he is starting to apply it to his life!! Charlie is just such a good guy and told us he is looking for something else in his life. We were in a complex and saw Vernon sitting on the curb looking depressed smoking a cig. I guess he has to go to court next week. We talked to his friend Destiny for a while. She is a senior in high school but looks much older. She was so nice and talkative. We shared the "Because He Lives" video with her. She liked it and said she loved talking to us and wants to talk to us more. So we are going to meet with her! She has a hard time with substances but has a lot of faith in Christ and it's really cool to see.

Sunday was church, don't worry mom I didn't skip church. Zach texted us after church and said "I'm ready to get baptized! I know it." Cutest thing ever! We went to the Palepois for dinner, oh man Samoans like to feed you A LOT. We taught their daughter the first lesson cause she is getting baptized next month. She is so cute. We went over the Neilson's and had a FHE lesson with them. We met with Zach at the stake center before his baptismal interview with the district leader and he is so ready! He is so sincere and is so happy. He said that he knew it was Sunday but needed to get gas, he went to the gas station and all of the pumps were out of order. He knew it was a sign and went home and made it without running out of gas! That's when he said he texted us he is ready for baptism. It was really cute. 

Okay so I am trying to memorize the scripture mastery's on my mission cause well I was a failer as a seminary student. This week I memorized 2 Nephi 2:27 "Wherefore men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself." Agency is a gift to us and God trusts us that we can make good decisions. It's hard sometimes to see investigators and less-actives make bad decisions but it is all part of the learning process and there is opposition in ALL things. I'm grateful to be a missionary and to be serving Him :)

xoxo

sista fisha

Sister Terry!

THE ROSSI'S

Palepois

Just keep swinging

week 25: "satan is the worst!"

Monday, April 18th, 2016

hello my friends!

This week was good. same old same old. We have about a week and a half left of the transfer!! wowzassss. I'm going to get transferred...noooo but I am probs going to the mountains!! hallelujah!

Monday we saw Sister Terry, she is such a sweet lady. Sometimes it's crazy to think about all these amazing people who left the church. The adversary is real but Christ has overcome the earth so there really is no need to fear. Sister Terry did her reading assignment and she was so happy about it. We then had a lesson with the Rossi family. Sister Ransil came with us. Jenn is having a hard time again, it goes up and then down all the time, in this cycle. We got some good advice from President and are excited to meet with them on Thursday.

Tuesday was good. We had a yw come with us to see a potential that we met in his complex. His name is Vernon. so we knock on his door and his dad answers who's name is also vernon (yeah confusing). His son wasn't home so I pretty much am bold and ask him if we can come and share the message with him and his wife that we were going to share with their son. They said okay. They were really nice people. We shared a message with them and we are going to go back to teach them more! We saw Sister Holdiman and she made us muffins :) Brother Bentley called us and said he had a referral for us so we went over there. There was a woman visiting in January who was visiting her non-member sister. She came to Sacrament and Brother Bentley was speaking and she really liked his talk and found him some how and asked him for his talk. She then gave him her sister's information to give to us. We haven't seen her yet, she is never home. But it is still really cool cause you never know who you impact! I actually did meet the woman when she went to church to visit, she was very nice. We had a lesson with the Luongs and Charlie was there and he really liked it! We got a sad text from Tayllor this week. We hadn't seen her in about almost a month because she was sick and busy. And she texted us she needed to take a break from the lessons. It really was like getting broken up by with a boyfriend. Sister Gulley then yelled "satan is the worst!" idk it was funny but we are easily entertained here on the mission. We went by to give her a journal we bought for her before conference and some cookies. She wasn't home so we left it on her doorstep.

Wednesday we had a lesson with Fred. We taught him the restoration and it went well. It's hard to tell whether he understands everything, cause he agrees with a lot of things and gives vague answers back. We went to the Ross home, they are having a hard time with Adam's dad but are in good spirits. We had a good lesson with Joy Christensen that night, we were really bold with her. They are having a hard time. We then saw Vicki Baab and she gave us a referral! She is going to set up the appointment though. We had a lesson with Zach at the Henrie's. It went really well! I love teaching him! He is back on date for April 30! I sadly won't be there though, its the day AFTER transfers. But I am so excited for him!! 

Thursday we had interviews and district meeting!! I love President! Him and his wife are the most sweetest people ever. And so easy going, which is just what I need. We are getting ready for a new president so it's going to be crazy! We saw the Luman's and it was good. I taught them about prayer and they said they are going to say their nightly prayers this week! We had another lesson with Zach in the Tunneys home. We watched the restoration. Even though I have seen it so many times I love it more and more each time I watch it. I am so grateful we have the restored gospel here on earth. We then saw George and his grandson Nick, so it happens to be that Nick is not a member. We are going by tomorrow to teach them. I pretty much was really bold with them and asked when they could meet. I love being bold with people.

Friday we went to the Seminary class and it was like teaching zombies, I think karma came around. oops. We got a lot of referrals from them! We had a miracle and a less-active called us to set up an appointment so we saw him that morning. It's so interesting getting to know different people and stories. We saw Constance but made it short cause she had a migraine. I asked her if she wanted a priesthood blessing and she said yes! Which is a miracle! Yesterday we went over with some priesthood holders in the ward to give her a blessing. It was wonderful, I have come to love the priesthood power on my mission. I know it is real and that it is the same authority Christ had while on earth. We got a sad call from a less-active, Emily, that night so we were trying to help her out. It was pretty crazy. We then saw the DeBenckendorffs and they are doing well. Sister DeBenckendorff came to church on Sunday!!

Saturday was a longgg day. We woke up at 4:30 to go do volunteer at a bike race for MS. It was really fun! We got to cheer for them and hand out food and such. Worldy music was blasting and it's the funniest thing to watch missionaries listen to music for 4 hours straight. We are were trying not to dance. We then met Emily at a park and brought Sister Bentley. She was perfect for Emily and could really relate and give her counsel. It's hard as missionaries cause we can't be their counselor or just a friend. Members help soooo much. Especially the RIGHT member. We then met at a park with Charlie Luong with Brother Vallejo. We read the Book of Mormon with Him and it went very well. The Spirit was there testifying to him that this book is the word of God. The Holy Ghost really is the best teacher, we are the conduit.

Sunday was good. We taught Young Women's about the Restoration. We had a lesson that night about the Atonement with Zach in the Palmer's home. It went really well. Zach is so ready for baptism. 

Today we got to go hike tom's thumb! It was a really fun hike, no sisters wanted to go so we went with elders. it was the most beautiful weather, we went early though of course. It really hasn't been too hot yet though. 

This work is so important, in fact it's the most important thing I will ever do. This is His work. I have never worked so hard in my life. One quote that I have loved on my mission and has kind of kept me going is this by Elder Holland "I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy." It's not easy but I can do it and we CAN and WILL do it because we have him on our right and on our left to bear us up and angels are helping us with the work. We are not alone. I am so happy to be a part of this amazing work!

hurray for israel!

xoxo

sista fisha

Love Sister Gulley

Adam

Adam and Donna Ross

Joy Christensen

Me

MS RACE

I put my sunglasses on the baby // so cute

TOMS THUMB

week 24: feeding lemurs

Monday, April 11th, 2016

Another week another email. Let's see here. It was a good one. Here's the recap:

Monday we got to see Weston! He is a less-active that is coming back to church! We had a good lesson with him. He came to church and stayed for 2 hours:)

Tuesday we went to see Constance. She is doing so well. We brought Sister Wynn with us. She hadn't read the Book of Mormon so we read with her. Sister Wynn is the best member present and told her she would pick her up for sacrament meeting. Constance was like I'll go all three hours! And she went to an empty nesters FHE and seemed to really enjoy it. Constance always makes us food when we go over, she is so sweet. We saw Stephanie who is active but lives in an assisted living home so she doesn't come to church. She really needed our visit so it was cool that we were inspired to see her. We then saw Sue and taught her a lesson. We saw Mike again, he told us he is gay and atheist. We tried to share with him a mormon message but he didn't really watch it. He really opened up to us though. It sounds like he has had a rough life. And then he was talking about how much he loves marijuana. And then I think Saturday he calls us telling us how much he appreciates us coming by. He said even though you don't always convert people you might change their life. It was so cute and he was saying how much happier he is. He says he is being healed. He is using the Atonement even though he doesn't realize it! But it's amazing to impact people's lives even though you don't really think you are. We then saw the Luongs that night. They are so good, Linh bore her sweeet testimony in sacrament meeting. I mean my heart literally melted.

Wednesday we had ZTM, which was good. They pretty much told us all the things that we are doing wrong, but it is motivating us to be better. Sue called us during the meeting and told us she found a tumor on her thyroid, that is why he voice has been gone for over a month, it's pressing on her vocal chord. She was really upset about it and asked us to come over. We read a talk with her. They told her she won't get her voice back :( pray for her! We then saw the DeBenckendorffs and Sister Pruel came with us! It was really good. Their resident that lives in one of their rooms, his name is Carlos, came and sat in on a lesson! It was really cool. We planned on teaching the Word of Wisdom and I was a little hesitant because Word of Wisdom isn't normally the first lesson we teach people! But Carlos had some cool comments. As well as Amelia. She bore her testimony about it and has some personal stories about the Word of Wisdom. Oh and their daughter MEGAN got BAPTIZED in new jersey on Saturday :))) oh my heart. 

Thursday we volunteered at Amber Creek Inn, my fav. We then saw Sister Holdiman and she was so happy. Sister Chase came with us. Brother Holdiman found out this week that he has skin cancer on the back of his head so he was bummed about that. And then we got a referral for a guy named Fred and he has cancer too. So it has been a week full of cancer, no fun. But Fred is really amazing. He has been going to church for a while and moved from Biltmore. There is a member there that was a really good fellowshipper. We went over on Saturday and brought the Elders and they gave him a blessing. He was told he only has 6 months to live, I can't even imagine. He is from Germany so he has a real cool accent.

Friday we had a lesson with Zach! Finally! We had it at the Lesueur home and it was really good! Kaytie Kerr came with us. He didn't read his Book of Mormon...so we read with him. It was really good and we got to talk about revelation. He said he wants to get baptized May 7, but we will probably move it to the Saturday before to April 30. Some members took us out to red robin, yum so good. and then we had a miracle! We knocked on a less-active door, her name is Tawni Price and she answered and was so nice and totally let us in! (which pretty much never happens). Her husband is not a member and she has an almost 8 year old son. We got to share a message with her and leave her a Book of Mormon. We are excited to get to know her more! 

Saturday we had a lot of lessons in active members home which was so good! You could tell they all needed a visit. We didn't get any referrals but we got some names of some less-actives they told us to see! I love the members here because they are so willing to help. We saw the Pavlicks and it was probably the best lesson with them we have ever had. We talked about temples and invited them back to the temple. She says she doesn't go to church because after sitting for the one hour she is down for 2 days later...lol she is very dramatic. but we love her anyway. Brother Pavlick said the closing prayer which was good because he never talks. We then went to see Karen Cummings (the one with ALL the animals). Like I can't even describe to you how many animals she has. Like she used to own camels and BISON. She has all these licenses to own all these animals. She has a pet skunk and he is so cute. I got to hold a skunk. What. And all these exotic animals I had never heard before. And its spring so she has all of these babiesssss. The puppies and baby goats were to die for. She let us feed the lemurs haha. Her grandkids were there so they gave us a whole tour. 

Sunday was good. We taught relief society in Larkspur ward. It went really well for not really preparing anything. haha I have definitely learn to wing things on my mission...We then went Brother Newman's. He doesn't go to church because he has severe depression so it is pretty sad. We had a good lesson with him. Then there was a missionary fireside. Grace and Nate brought Zach and he fell asleep in the middle of it! baha. So they all left during it...haha awkward. I guess he worked until 2 last night. And the fireside was music and the spoken word so it was all singing.

A quote that I really like is "perhaps at no other time do we feel the divine love of the Savior as abundantly as we do when we repent." All repentance is is change and love. The Savior not only cleanses us when we sin but he strengthens us! He gives us strength to overcome temptation to stay on the straight and narrow. Remember no sin is ever too big that the Atonement cannot overcome. Jesus Christ loves you and is cheering for you!

until next time

xoxo

sista fisha

Bike week in Scottsdale

Blue chick

4 day old puppies

Skunk

I don't even know what that is called

Bunnies everywhere

Feeding the exotic animal

Lizards everywhere grossss

Feeding lemurs

Free froyo cause a member works there

Hiked pinnacle peak!

High school musical 3 part 2