UV Rays and Homemade Food 5/24/2021

White Rock is getting hotter every day. The UV rays were 11 yesterday. I got the sunburn to prove it. It is only on one side of my neck and my part. I thought I would be fine, but nope. Still sweating like crazy, but oh well. 

We met with Jenniffer this week and invited her to be baptized!! I was really nervous because I was extending the invitation. She seemed really hesitant, so we invited her to pray about it. We bore fat testimony about the blessings that come from reading and praying everyday. We told her that it will be a goal. We asked if she was coming to church again. She said yes, but sadly she didn't show. We did meet this lady Ellen and her daughter yesterday. They came to see the Schramm's departing testimonies. Maybe we will be meeting with them? Maybe not because they are from Española...

We had dinner with the Connor's last night. They are so fun. They have 5 boys ranging from 13-4 and they are precious. They crack me up because they are just like my brothers. Sister Connor is an amazing cook. It's really nice to get homemade meals. You can only eat cereal so many times.

We met with my other favorite family the Blackford's. They are the coolest. Sister Blackford let us film her testimony. I started crying. If you learn anything from my emails, members are the best. Let the missionaries film your testimony or offer to go on lessons with them. Members have the biggest influence!!

Sister Brown and I made bibimbap. Its a Korean dish and I think it's my favorite. See the pictures :)

We are going to Santa Fe today to hang out with the sisters down there. One of them leaves this week :( And the other 2 leave next transfer. This week was transfers. I'm staying here in White Rock. 

Took a picture of ourselves in the mirror because...why not?

Selfie w/ a deer that scared the living daylights out of us

The Connor's made us bread!

The SPIRIT! 5/21/2021

This has been the longest week ever. I got 10 days to recap on. 

Our Facebook ad budget just got doubled. That means more comments and more messages. We were getting about 40 messages every day. Most were not the best. However, we got the Taos elders as assistants. They respond to all the guys, and we take all the girls. It's so nice. Now we don't have to talk to any creepy guys!

We did meet this guy named Frenando. He was cool. Lives over in the Farmington mission though so we had to pass him off. He was really open to talking to us, so we gave him the restoration trailer. He seemed interested, so I hope he keeps meeting with the missionaries. 

We had district lunch last week, and we went to El Parasol. It's a little restaurant franchise that's like authentic Mexican food. The state question is what color? As in what chile do you like. I think I might like red more. I definitely prefer Christmas (red and green chile mixed). The most common food right now...tacos. Everyone gives us tacos. 

In case you didn't know, Sister Brown and I are the furthest sisters. And the only sisters in our district. District pdays and lunches...its just us and a crap ton of guys.  

Elder Alliaud and his wife came to speak to us. They focused a lot on the agency of the people we teach. It was really inspiring. They talked about manipulation vs invitation. We are teaching people not teaching lessons. We were allowed to take off our masks if we have been vaccinated so....BLESSINGS!!! We did have to wake up at 5:30 in order to get to Albuquerque on time. I got to Sister Fronk which was the best! I miss her. 

Please pray for Vivian. We met with her this week and the spirit was so strong in the lesson. We invited her to pray out loud. She gave the most humble prayer. I started crying. There is so much power in prayer. I feel like when you get down on your knees and really pour out your heart, God really does hear you. Anyways, we invited her to pray about baptism. I really do believe she will be baptized. She's going places. 

The more I'm in the field the more I am recognizing the spirit. I noticed it before, but the spirit really does prompt you to say and do things. Lori is on date for baptism, but we may be pushing that back. We are trying to get her to pray. Elder Alliaud mentioned that we can help them pray, but we can't be the mediator. They have to discover that themselves. As we were talking to her, I knew I had to read this quote that is glued into my scriptures. Lori was really touched by it and has asked us for more quotes like that. We might have to push her date back...but I think we are finally getting through to her. 

Jennifer came to church again!! I was so happy!! She is starting to warm up to us. I think she's looking for answers and finally finding them. I mean...the spirit in the lessons is strong. As long as she remembers that, I think she's gonna be baptized!

Sister Brown and I have decided...New Mexico is a whole bunch of old Utah people pretending to be New Mexicans.

Green chiles and skillz 5/3/2021

People here know how to cook! Let me tell you. We had dinner at the Rushton. They made us soup. It's kind of like beef stew but with green chiles and pork. Then we had dinner at the stake president Stoke's house. They made us French dip and funeral potatoes. The meal had potatoes so I was very happy. We made beef tostatdas and that was delicious. Sister Brown's mom sends us these food kits and they are so good! At the Lemke's house we had hamburgers and fries. I made myself some fry sauce and her husband made fun of it because it is "disgusting". Keep in mind, every meal here is made with green chiles. Most people have them in a dish so you can add it if you want, but some put it all in. Hopefully I build the tolerance for it. 

I am practically a handyman. People hear Idaho and immediately assume you can do all this stuff because you are a "farmer". I ain't no farmer. We laid sod for a lady and Sister Brown was asking me how to do this and all that jazz. I was just going based off of what I've seen others do. Then we helped a lady move and she asked if we knew how to take a TV off a wall. I said no but that we would try. Luckily I know how to work a drill because of La Beaus and my dad. I got up there and got it off the wall! I was low-key really happy about it. Then we had to get the frame off the wall. I had no clue what I was doing, but I just fiddled with it and found the screws. From there it was a breeze. I was super proud of myself for knowing how to do it. 

We got a referral! I repeat! We got a referral! People, this doesn't happen here. Her name is Jenniffer and we get to meet with her tonight! I am pumped. 

We helped a lady named Lori wash her walls. Sister Brown was taking a duster to the corners and she said that she saw a spider. I don't like spiders so I was like huh?! Where!?! Then I saw it. On her duster. Right in front of my face. Aw nah! Not today Satan! I freaked out and Sister Brown started laughing at me. Rude! She was dusting the window and started freaking out about the dead moths. Wait wait wait. Sister Brown doesn't mind spiders...but dead harmless moths freak her out...? How does that work? Oh well. As long as there are no spiders, we are good. 

We met this lady named Dana, and she is my favorite human being (but I say that about everyone). She's a cute little lady from Kentucky. She asked us to come build a fence for her. The elders did that part. Sister Brown and I were just there to talk to her. She knows the 10 commandments and follows those religiously. She also loves the Bible. When we told her about the Book of Mormon, she got really excited. We are meeting her this week to share a message with her. Hopefully it goes well. 

We've been doing a lot of service. Funny thing about New Mexico. Grass doesn't grow well here, so people think weeds are grass. We helped this lady pull weeds and she told us to put them on her actual grass. She told us that she will mow them, and the little seeds in the "grass" will help it grow. 

We had a lot of our lessons fall through this week :( We are hoping that that will change this week. People are so close to being baptized and then they drop off the face of the earth. It's really frustrating, but we are working on it. Just loving these people a lot. 

I don't know if I'm home sick, but everyone looks like someone from home. It's kind of freaking me out. I don't think I am homesick. I love it here (other than the heat). The people here really are amazing. And everyone is REALLY REALLY smart. They have the Los Alamos site out here. Kind of like the INL but with bombs and stuff. Randomly throughout the day you'll just hear explosions. Everyone refers to it as the site, and I keep thinking it's the INL.

After we cleaned out all the dead moths!

                                         Sister Brown and I posing next to " the missionary path" aka the sod.

Sister Brown and I are related!!