This week has been one of the most insane weeks of my life - July 20, 2015

Ok seriously, i had the most crazy week of my life. I'll send a letter home more about it because i cannot type and like 100000 things have to happen today. ok.

So! i've had SO MUCH FUN THIS WEEK. Seriously, even though so many crazy things happened, it was so much fun. We basically saw the spanish sisters every day. They even slept over at our house last night. Good grief, it's been crazy.

ok I promise i'll send a real letter in the mail with more details! i love you!

And here is her letter I received in the mail yesterday - It is last week's news, but it is a little more detailed!!

Hi Mom!

Oh, this is so much easier than typing.  I got my cast on today.  it only goes a little bit past my wrist, so it isn't too in the way.  It's blue and I already have had some people sign it.  

This week, one evening, I told Sister Sam, "I feel like I'm holding people's salvation in my tiny hands!"  She replied (in her cute accent), "Well...your one hand is broken, so just one hand and a half."  I really enjoy serving with her.  We laughed pretty hard at that. 

We were able to go up to the Temple Visitor's Center this week with one of our investigators.  She is so awesome.  Her parents are really Catholic, and they're not the biggest supporters of her learning about our church.  But she really wants to learn more.  We went to the VC, and she really felt the Spirit strongly.  It was an awesome experience.  She was at church this Sunday and she really liked the feeling there.  

One of our Ward Mission Leaders has chickens, so we got to see them the other day.  They had names like Gertrude, Beatrice, and Marge.  I feel like those are really good names for chickens.  They were so cute.  We even got some eggs, and they've been so good in the morning.  I make one with avocado and tomato, and it is delish.

We had interviews with our new mission president this week!  He said something really cool, "No matter what you have going on right now, you need to keep going."  I liked that a lot.  It's so true, though.  If you keep going and keep pushing forward, even if you don't want to, that's when you really grow and see all the blessings.  Heavenly Father knows He asks us to do things we sometimes don't want to do (like talk to the big, scary guy working on his chainsaw about the gospel...that was not my favorite street contact).  But, when we set aside ourselves, our fears, and try to push past our human limitations and weaknesses, that's when we grow.  That's when we become someone we never thought we could become.  

I am so completely happy.  I LOVE Pocatello with all of my heart.  I love my area so much.  I never want to leave Tyhee.  I love being a missionary.  Not going to lie, it's hard, and I am always out of my comfort zone.  But I love it.  I've never been happier.  I love the Gospel.  I love everything about it.  

Hi!! - July 13, 2015

Readership was way up this week with Morgan breaking her hand.  Luckily, she broke her left hand.  While typing is difficult, she can still write without interference from her cast.  She wrote this letter to me last week:  

Hey Mom!

It is much easier to write than to type, so here is a more detailed weekly letter.  Feel free to put it on the blog.

This week was AWESOME!  We worked so hard and we saw a ton of results.  It was way cool.  After emails last Monday, we went out and worked.  We talked to a ton of people.  It was also 104 degrees outside, but a member gave us popsicles, so that was cool.  

The 4th of July was so so so fun.  We had an all day p-day, so I slept in till about 7:30 or so.  After that, a bunch of us from our zone went on a hike up by Mink Creek (South Pocatello).  That hike was intense.  Sister Samanez got really dizzy so we went back early and ended up throwing rocks off the cliff by where the cars were.  When were driving back to Pocatello, the sisters driving us missed the exit, so we went all the way to Fort Hall and took a small field trip there in order to get back to Pocatello.  Then, we watched movies!  We caught the last 20 minutes of Big Hero 6 and then we watched Despicable Me 2.  

It was there that the hand incident happened.  Here is a more detailed explanation.  Just a forewarning, I am the clumsiest person alive.  So, in between movies, I was laying on the couch so that no one would steal it while some other sisters went and got snacks from the kitchen.  I had my dried fruit, so I needed no snackage.  I saw an elder drinking a Yoohoo, and those are my favorite.  I think the last time I had one was at Girl's Camp.  The elder said they were in the kitchen.  So I jumped up, I slipped on the gym floor, fell, and smashed my hand onto a metal chair nearby.  Oops.  It hurt the rest of the night and on Sunday.  I had the mission nurse check it out.  She sent me to the Urgent Care Monday morning.  I got it x-rayed, and sure enough, it was broken.  It's in a splint now, and I'll go in to get it cast next Monday.

So back to the 4th, at night, we went to this big park and talked, hung out, and watched fireworks.  It was so much fun.  I absolutely loved being able to spend time with the people I love.

Yesterday we went out proselyting in the evening and we were going to go contact this one address, and we saw this guy sitting outside his trailer.  We talked to him, and at first, he just looked dejected, uninterested, and sad.  But we started talking about the Gospel, the Book of Mormon, and families, and his eyes just lit up.  His whole countenance changed.  He looked so happy, it was amazing.  That's the power the gospel and the spirit has.  It's so cool to be able to witness it first hand.  He asked us to come back on Tuesday afternoon, so we definitely will.  I love it when cool stuff like that happens.  

So my companion, Sister Samanez, is from Aerequipa, Peru.  She's shorter than me, and has been a member of the church for a year and a half.  She is such a hard worker and isn't afraid to talk to anyone.  The rest of her family is Catholic, but it's cool that she's still out here, even though her family isn't Mormon.  We have a lot of fun together.

Anyway, I'd better go.  Love you lots!!

And now her email from today:

this week was AWESOME!!!! seriously, it was a really great week. a lot of cool things happened.

so i told you last monday about juan, right? well. we saw him three times this week. he is so solid. we took him on a church tour on saturday, and he told us that on the day we met him, he had been praying two hours earlier that he would be able to find someone or something to help change his life. and then we showed up. he even drove himself to church this week...fifteen minutes early. stuff like that keeps happening and it's SO COOL.

i got my cast on this morning! it's blue and it's even harder to type, haha. oh well. i'll have it on for five more weeks. so, just for the rest of the transfer.

seriously it yakes forever to type so i'm just going to send another handwritten letter this week. love you guys!

Tyhee District with the new Mission President and his wife (on Morgan's left)

Showering - looks a little creepy.

I America'd Too Hard - July 6, 2015

So. I broke my hand on the 4th. Tahts the big news of the week. Its incredibly painful to type...but i manage :) haha.

So what had happened was....I slipped on the gym floor in a church building (I was running in just socks) and i fell and slammed my hand into a metal chair. Everyone kept sayiing it was just sprained or the tendons were injured...but when i still couldn't move my ring finger, i went and got it checked on. And sure enough...broken! haha. it's kind of a funny story. 

But the fourth was awesome!!!! we had an all day p-day and we just had fun all day. we went on a hike, watched a movie, and spent time with other missionaries. it was soooooooooooo much fun.

here's a cool experience. yesterday we talked to this guy named juan. he was sitting outside his house. we started talking to him about the gospel, and you could see his eyes just light up. it was amazing. he wants us to come back, so thats cool.

ok so i can't really type at all, so i'm going to go. love you!!!!!!

Out with the "hermanas"

4th of July fun - Morgan loves to stand out and be a little obnoxious!!

In the Zone

She titled this photo - AMERICA 

The truth 

She still can't be serious - With Sister "Sam" Samanez