FAMILY!
Time roles on in the land of San Diego and most of the time I forget that time are also rolling on in the rest of the world! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!! I am sad that I missed the festivities but I'm glad that Mom got my package to enjoy. The CD still makes me cry about every time we listen to it as well. They are still plugging along to find out what exactly is going on with me but so far we are still plugging along. It is amazing how much I feel your prayers and love every single day. Keep them coming. I still need them. :) I was able to receive a blessing on Sunday from a senior couple that I hold very dear to my heart named Elder and Sister Barnes. I get the best of all worlds seriously. The Barnes is assigned to the Institute for the La Jolla Singles ward and I have worked very closely with them since my mission started. I am not kidding when I say that God is sending me all kinds of people to support and love me while I am away from all of you. A certain line stuck out in the blessing that I would like to share. The darkest times come before the dawn. The dawn is coming and there is a solution!!! God has sent me so many loving people at the Battalion but sadly none of them are from Cedar City. Wait I did see one of Jake's friends that just moved to San Diego not too long ago. I keep secretively hoping that you will all show up one day but so far no such luck. :) There really aren't any huge rules with what you can send to me and who can see me. They are very firm on not seeing parents though until the end of the mission. That about sums it up! As long as it doesn't distract from my every day missionary work, then it is fine. And trust me; my mission is unlike any mission you have ever heard about! We expect the unexpected at this point. Like last week at church! This woman named Deanna showed up to church after investigating for a while and for some reason stopped coming. It is simple things like not feeling comfortable at church or feeling like she didn't have any friends there. Easy stuff that can be easily fixed with the help of the members but sometimes cause people to not come back. That is what we are working on the most right now. Member missionaries. They are the most powerful and when the members are involved in the whole process, we see the most success. Not only by being a number in the crowd but a contributing convert. Deanna came back to church because of a combination of missionary and member missionary work. She had fallen back into old patterns and had started going back to her Catholic church. She was sitting there wondering why she was even there when she walked out of mass and saw that she had received a text from the Elders inviting her back to church. She called up her friend that had just come home from a mission and is now planning on getting baptized in the next coming weeks. It has been such a privilege to teach her. The biggest lesson I have learned this week: If I wasn't here, this work would still continue on without me. The calling is that important. But because I have lived my life worthy enough to be here, then I am blessed to be the one who brings them the message. How great is our calling!? I can't believe that I am a part of this work. The Sisters often discuss that this mission has changed us forever. We will never be content by sitting on the fence ever again but will always want to have an active role in bringing souls unto Jesus Christ. I am such a fan of Preach My Gospel. It takes everything we are saying and makes sure the missionaries actually believe what they are saying! That sounds pretty important to me. :) I thought you might all see some of the latest pictures. Hugh is the first one! He just received the priesthood on SUNDAY! So exciting!!! Hugh is the perfect case scenario. The ward was involved from the very beginning so the transition into the ward has been very smooth. Something we are now obsessed about is SUSHI! It is sooo cheap here and sooo good. So naturally we had to celebrate Hugh getting baptized by getting Sushi. :) The bonnet picture is with Sister Christensen. Sometimes we head down into Old Town to clean the court house that the Battalion helped build. In other words, there are TONS of pictures of me all over the world in this exact outfit with random people that talk to us down in Old Town. I love it! We also totally found a van decked out in Christmas decorations on Preparation day last week so we had to take a picture. The man was dressed up like a pirate and had a parrot. Naturally, I enjoyed every second of talking with him. It was so stinkin funny. Don't I live in the most beautiful place in the world!? Well that pretty much sums up my week! I haven't gotten any mail yet today but that is mostly because I haven't gone to the Battalion to get it yet. Sorry if I didn't answer everything or if this doesn't make sense. I just love you all and miss you all sooo much!
Love,
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