week 19: perks of being a missionary

Monday, March 7th, 2016

HI GUYS.

so everything is fantastic. it's so good hearing from you all! I love pictures!! send lots of pictures please! I'm really loving every day more and more the more I am out here.

Tuesday we did some service for some people that the elders are teaching. We picked some citrus fruit for them. That is always fun. Elder Grimes got his bag peed on by their dog lol. And then we went home with a billion oranges and grapefruit. We saw Mike Gonzales, Holdimans and the DeBenckendorffs that day. Honestly I learn so much when I teach people. I'm really trying hard to teach people and not lessons and understand what they need! Which can be hard but so worth it when you know you have helped someone.

Wednesday we found a less-active! Her name is Shirin, she just had a baby. I don't know if she really wants to go back to church but we are at least going to start visiting her when we can. We went to see the Ross family. We went to see Constance and she wasn't feeling well so we gave her cookies and made an appointment with her for this week. She really wants to meet with us. It's just so amazing to watch her grow. We went to see Sue and then the Ellis family.

Thursday was a long but busy day. Missionary work is so exhausting. I have never been so tired in my life. But when you come home at the end of the day when you know you tried your hardest, there isn't a better feeling. We saw Margaret Merlino! She actually answered her door! So that was a miracle! McDowell is interesting cause there are so many gated communities...but it was a miracle because we got in ALL the communities by someone letting us in! So that was a miracle. We had a lesson with Jenn, she was the one that wanted to meet with us so that was good! It was the best lesson I have ever had with her. I had never seen her SO happy. It was truly amazing. She says whatever was blocking her from progressing was gone and she was excited to read the Book of Mormon! She said she is hungry for it now. She has been seeing the missionaries for two years now. She expressed that she wouldn't have been able to feel like this without us. It's the best feeling knowing you have helped someone. We are just sososo happy for Jenn. We then had a lesson with Tayllor and Amos! We had it in the Carr home and it went really well! We taught her the plan of salvation and she said it just all makes sense to her. She LOVES the idea of temple marriage, she wants to get married in the provo city temple. They stayed after to hang out with the Carrs, I love members!! We went to see Tamera but she was busy so we had a lesson with her daughter Elyssa, she has not been baptized but went to church a lot when she was 12. She said she almost finished personal progress. We gave her a Book of Mormon and told her to read the introduction. She is such an awesome girl.

Friday was filled with little miracles. We had a meeting with our ward mission leader in McDowell, he is starting to help us more and it's really good. We got a text earlier in the week from a YW telling us there is an YM that wants to get baptized! His name is Zach and he is living with the Daughtees and is friends with their son Nate. The lesson went really well! He is super solid and we are so excited to teach him! He was an answer to our prayers! We saw Brother Stressing and brought him brownies, he is a very nice guy who just moved into the ward and is having a hard time. Simple acts go a long way. 

Saturday we knocked on a lot of doors. lots and lots of doors. People don't answer their door cause they are scared of us, but mainly cause they are scared of God. One guy was very rude and was yelling at us. yup perks of being a missionary. I mean Sister Gulley and I are pretty scary people I must say. But then we meet people who are just the nicest people. We met a less-active and his wife sitting on their front porch. The Kearns are so nice. They are from Kentucky so are very country. He got baptized in the 80s, they are probably about 70 years old. Very nice people. We are probably going to go to the Easter Pageant with them. Brother Kearns like to talk A LOT. We saw Linda Pavlick and it was the fastest visit I have ever had with her. We shared a message with her and then she was so tired she went to go sleep. Dinner canceled so of course we got chipotle and coldstone. Imma be honest, it's pretty nice when dinner cancels. We went to see Lavanne, a potential. She grew up in the church but was never baptized. She said she was never baptized because it just never came up. So we are going to start teaching her and getting members to come with us. She is around 60 and is very nice. She asked us for a Book of Mormon and said she used to read it every night! She says she loves it! We went to see Brother Filimuau in the ward, his wife isn't a member but she wasn't home. We then had a lesson with the Lara's finally!! Sister Sparks came with us. Lindsey just isn't very interested and sincere about asking God if she should get baptized. We will probably drop her soon :(

Sunday Tayllor came to church! That was awesome! I was asked to teach gospel principles literally the night before. And you know being a missionary I literally had no time to prepare but it was fine cause it was on signs of the times and I used dad's packet that he gave me on the Second Coming before I left. Thanks dad! I actually read it! The lesson went well I guess, I just really don't like teaching lessons in church I decided haha. Like everyone just staring at me for an hour, yeah no thanks. I met a less-active at church! He just showed up! So we got his number! He was hesitant so I hope he answers. His records aren't in the ward. I couldn't find him. We had an FHE lesson at the Ransils and they invited Sister Daughtee and Zach came as well. It went really well! I love the members in the wards!

A quote I really like is "We must know Christ better than we Know Him and remember Him more often than we remember Him". To become like Christ we have to KNOW him. Do we believe in Christ or do we BELIEVE Christ? Do we know that He is walking with us and can carry our burdens if he lets us? Christ is my light and my salvation! I know that I can find true peace from Him because he is the source of people and truth.

Have a blessed week!

xoxo

sis fish

Picking citrus

Matching with Sister Israelson!

Chipotle

Coldstone

The Cordons

OLD TOWN

week 18: 4 months down, 14 to go...but who's counting

Monday, February 29th, 2016

It's weird cause it feels like I have been here forever but I still have 14 months left! Which is good because the more I learn, the more I learn I really don't know anything. I mean we are here on this earth to learn. The mission really has been the best decision. There are things I have learned here that I don't think I would have learned anywhere else. 

Anyways I hope y'all had a good week! Mine was SO good!!

Monday we had fhe in families homes. I love going into members homes and seeing how they raise their children. It really is teaching me how I want to be a wife and mother.

Tuesday Sister Gulley had to drive because my tiwi card got swallowed up by the sun visor (yeah don't ask how that happened). But it's all good I got a new one on Thursday. Tuesday we went to a less-actives and helped trained her two puppies! YES you heard that right. best service ever. They weren't babies, they were 4 months old (just like me) but she had jut got them and they weren't trained. One was crazy and the other one was SO shy. She wouldn't walk or anything. But she slowly warmed up to us. She didn't even want to eat hot dogs but we taught her to like them. So the Less-active Karen has a petting zoo so she has so many animals, lemers, turtles, sheep, alpacas and some animals I had never even seen before. We saw the Holdimans and they just crack me up. Sister Holdiman doesn't like people "I think people are just stupid" haha but we are her favorite. 

Wednesday was such a good day! Because we got to go to the visitor's center with Sue! She took us out to eat as well. Sue is planning on going back to the temple in May. The visitor's center is so nice, it was really my first time exploring. We gave a lesson on the grounds. It was just so wonderful. I love the temple. We then were knocking on less-actives doors trying to see them (as usual). We knock on a door and a man answers, he is not a member but his wife and step daughter are. His step daughter gabbi then shows up with the dog. She is 23 and is so nice. She hadn't been to church for a while. She really doesn't know much about the gospel. She has a mormon friend in the ward and really wants to go to ysa. Her mom also wants to go and she came to church on Sunday! So that was really good! We can't visit them at their apt because of her husband but she said we can meet other places. I am really excited to get to know her. We stopped by the Lumans and Jeremy's mom was there taking care of the kids from Portland. She is a member and was really funny. We then saw another less-active named Omar, he is from Peru. We had a lesson with Isaac at the Miller's. We dropped him, he just doesn't have the desire or real intent. We told him he is always welcomed at church. We then had exchanges so Sister Welch came with me to my area. We then saw the Ellis family and it was Lindsey's birthday! 

Thursday I was with Sister Welch all day. I love being with other sisters because you just learn so much. She is so sweet. We had district meeting and both Sister Welch and I were giving trainings. I gave my training on gossiping (again). I don't know why but my district leader told me to. It went really well and I was able to teach it in a different way. It's amazing how much help the Holy Ghost gives me when I teach. We went to see Constance Garcia! We walk in and she asks what the address of the church is. She wants to come to church!! MIRACLE. she comes from wanting to take her records removed to wanting to come to church. It's amazing that we met her on the street. You never know when you are going to find people who have been prepared. She didn't come to church on Sunday but she says she is planning on it. Our lesson with her went really well. We saw the Ross's. They came to church on Sunday! That was really good. I just love them. We had a lesson with Tayllor and we brought Amelia (a less-active) with us for our member present and it went really well. It got Amelia really excited. She is almost 19 and I know she was thinking about a mission. I hope she goes. With Tayllor we did a really simple lesson on families and temples. We wanted to make sure we were all on the same page that she needs to get married before she is baptized. We just wanted to get it clear but also make marriage a happy thing. She knows she wants to live with Amos forever and it is so cute whenever she talks about him. She said Amos told her that they need to be married before she is baptized. They plan on getting married on August 22 in the Virgin Islands. I know so far away. We are hoping she wants to get baptized sooner the more she learns and gains a testimony but we will see.

Friday WEEKLY PLANNING. yay. We saw a few old actives from Larkspur ward. That was good. It's always fun visiting people in assisted living. I love hearing about their lives. We ate at Flo's that night with Brother Carlomagno. We then had a lesson with Pete! We love Pete! He is so solid. He is giving a talk at Stake Conference! I am just so impressed with him. We then met with Our ward mission leader in Mcdowell ward. We told him we want to make a list of less-actives and then have different auxiliaries help us with that. McDowell ward is struggling more with missionary work. We then saw the Luongs. It was so cute because we showed them the pictures of the gold plates and they were just so in AW. I love teaching them because they are so excited about it and they don't take it for granted. They hadn't been at church the last 2 weeks so we talked about the sacrament. They were at church yesterday! :)

Saturday we had a lot of TTI's. We went to a ward party, the Polynesians in the ward roasted a pig in the ground!! It was SO good! Some nonmembers were there so it was good to talk to them! The elders asked if we could help a lady they are teaching pack, so we did that, that afternoon. We then went to the Newbold's for dinner. He is our ward mission leader. He was having a work party and we made pizzas in his brick oven. It was so good. I can't even handle. I need one of those in my future home. Also had peach cobbler in a dutch oven. reminded me of trek. We just tried to see people the rest of the night. We did meet one really nice couple, they moved into a house of someone we were trying to see. They were Christian and thought it was just so amazing that we were out here on a Saturday night sharing the gospel with others. They said they might come to church sometime! We are going to go back again soon! We then went to see Brother Terry, we had a good lesson with him. He says someday he will come to church.

Sunday was good. Church is always good. Ward Council is going really well in Larkspur ward. People are really helping us fellowship. We went to the Rossi's and had a lesson with Vince and Jenn. It went SO well. Sister Gulley really can connect with them. She is so in tune with the Spirit. Vince told us why he is feeling guilty and Jenn really opened up as well. It's hard because all we really can do is fast and pray for them. But I know good things are coming for them. I really love them and I want them to be happy. They are just so awesome.

Another MIRACLE this week is that Amelia told me that her older sister Megan is meeting with the missionaries in New Jersey! And is thinking about baptism! She wants her kids to grow up in the church. It's just so amazing to me because she did not want to even listen to our message and now is thinking about baptism. It's amazing to watch people's heart being softened. I know I have shared this scripture before but I love it so much "For behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his glory." (Alma 13:24) I know ANGELS are preparing the hearts of the people. We have been trying really hard to find those people. 

"Jesus Christ has cleared the way for us to ascend to heights incomprehensible to mortal minds"

                                                                             -President Uchtdorf

Thanks for being awesome! I love hearing from you all!

xoxo

Sista Fisha

PUPPIES

Temple with Sue!

The Luman family

The missionary choir

Teaching the Luongs️

Sunday fun day

week 17: "and it came to pass"

Monday, February 22nd, 2016

Hello world.

what's up. this week has been good!! We dropped a lot of investigators that were not progressing! We are working on a lot of finding! We have a new solid investigator named Tayllor!! We're super stoked.

Monday we had a lesson with Isaac at a members home. He is just so vague, we ask direct questions but he just is confusing. We asked him to pray about baptism again. He came to church on Sunday which was good. We went to see the Wansgards. They go to gospel principles because she just got baptized. They miss church sometimes because they own Kneaders and work tons. It was great getting to know them. They want to come to lessons with us with Tayllor and her boyfriend!

Tuesday we saw the Holdimans! They weren't at church again this week. I'm guessing because Brother Holdiman was working. Sister Holdiman is so funny. She was telling us all about Grey's Anatomy. We bonded over that. We saw another less-active, Linda Pavlick. She likes to talk A LOT. But she is super nice and wants to come back to church (some day). We then saw Gena Walker, she is a less-active. It was the first time I met her. She is a bit strange. She believes everyone is one and that we are all Christ. We didn't feel good about it so we probably won't go back again. We then saw Constance Garcia. The Bishop came with us! It was super good. She opened up even more with Bishop Wynn there. She has had a lot of trials and hard things happen to her. I know that it will start getting better for her soon. She is a member still, she asked Bishop to have her name removed but he told her to take some time to think about it. She agreed. Also we went to dinner at the Bussinos. The dad asked their kids who their favorite Prophet is, and their 3 year old son said "And it came to pass" lolol. 

Wednesday we had a lot of miracles with trying to see less-actives. We met a few potentials so that's exciting! We saw the DeBenckendorffs, they are so awesome! Sister DeBenckendorff came to church for three hours this week! That was a miracle! We then saw the Lumans. Jeremy wasn't there but she shared a message with his non-member family. It went well! I love them!

Thursday we had Zone conference! It was super good! We talked a lot about the role of the Holy Ghost in conversion. The Holy Ghost really is the teacher. "teaching is not talking, teaching is listening and observing". It's so true. When I really listen and pray for the Spirit, things come to me and I really don't need to worry about what I am going to say next. We are the conduit, we need to be obedient and worthy of the Spirit though. Then President asked me to drive his car to get some things from the mission home for him. So that was exciting. haha. We saw Lillian Morrow, she is a member in the ward. She is actually from Maple Valley and knows the Pagets. She is super cute and her husband is not a member. We shared a message with them. He is a baseball player and is starting spring training. His name is Brandon, he used to play for the Mariners but not for the A's. So that's pretty cool. We then had a lesson with Laine, Sister Carr went with us. It went really well but she just told us she will never be a mormon. sad. We dropped her.

Friday we had Stake Correlation. And it was Sister Oldham's birthday! I made her a cake! and then we went to kneaders for french toast! yum. the whole district came and it was so fun. We also got a discount and they gave us bread! They are so great. We had a lot of miracles with getting into gated apts this night. It was really cool. Even though the people didn't answer, we still got to leave a nice note. We then had our first lesson with Tayllor! It went SO well! Amos, her boyfriend was there and he is coming back to church now. Tayllor is so solid and said yes to baptism. They are living together so they need to get married first. She is shy but super cute. She is just so excited. She came to all of church and loved it! Everyone was so kind to her, it was amazing. She is so solid. 

Saturday we saw Mike Gonzales, he showed us all of his cards haha. We then saw Jennifer Tortice, she was standoffish at first but then I shared a quote to her and she really liked it. She also really wants to come to the Easter Pageant in Mesa. We were in Tayllor's complex trying to see people so we decided to drop by and remind her about church. Her niece was there Jasmine. She is 13 and we showed them the Because of Him video. Jasmine said "I think Jesus is still alive but is just not with us right now on this earth" we told her she was right and then she said "really?" she was so cute! It's amazing to me that she knew this. She said she watches bible videos on Netflix. We taught the Luongs but Jason wasn't there. The luongs have not been at church for two weeks because of work which is not good.

Sunday was good. We made referral cards for people to give back to us. And we also passed out a sheet on who could meet with us on what days and times. I'm excited to use it! We taught YW's in McDowell. It was a lot of fun. I love YW's. I then sang in the choir at the musical fireside in Mesa! It went so well and everyone did so good. We had Baptists sing and that was the highlight of my night WELL besides seeing SISTER FAIRHOLM. love that sista. 

Today we got up EARLY and hiked camelback! It was just so fun and so many of us missionaries went. We watched the sunrise. Ah i love hiking. I finally got my permanent car today. It's a rad corolla. haha it's cute.

I was reading in John 15, and verse 5 says" I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." I love this scripture and I know that when we abide in Christ we can do all things. We can't do it without Him. We need Him so that we can grow and change. I know that Christ is our FRIEND. He loves us so deeply that he died for us so that we can have HOPE.

I love my Savior and being a missionary!

I LOVE YOU ALL

-Sister Fisher

Sister Palepoi got us free shakes at chic fil a

Celebrating Sister Oldham's birthday at Kneaders! The owners are in our ward.

Brother Gonzales and his ride

MTC flashback!

Haha Elder Schatt

I LOVE SISTER MARTINEZ

Hiking the camelback

I love my sisters!

We're fit yo

JAMBA JUICE