Low down throw down 6/21/2021

This week has gone by so fast. What even? I am almost done with training (hallelujah) and next week is the last week of June. Say whaaaat? Here is the low down throw down (as Hallie Sue would say)...

We met 3 new people! The Los Alabros (Los Alamos elders) set up service for a lady named Cat. She was like my neighbor needs help, but she probably won't accept it unless I go over with you. Funny story: the lady that answered the door is the granddaughter of Betty. Betty is a lady we teach over the phone. We got to met the famous Ashley and Rodrick. That was awesome. We got to know them and we have a time to go over this week. Woot woot!

We teach this guy named Brother Stutz every week over the phone. He loves church history and drip irrigation. We went over in person this week so he could show us the system he set up plus all of his plants. He showed us 5 acres. 5 ACRES. In the hot New Mexico sun. I wish I could say I was joking, but it was 100° that day. Lol 

We meet with this guy named Josh and talk about Come Follow Me. He came to church yesterday and guess what? Home boy is ENGAGED!!! Ahhhhh I am so happy for him! He is planning on getting married in one of the Utah temples. He was so happy to tell us.

We had a lesson with Sister Taunia. It just so happens that her neighbor is Jennifer. The girl that we had been teaching that was progressing really well and then we lost contact with her. Well, we got word that we can knock on people's doors if they have had contact with the missionaries  before. You have best believe we went over and knocked on her door! She seemed surprised to see us, but turns out she has been super stressed. We talked to her a little bit, and set up another time to talk with her. It was so fun meeting with her again. She actually opened up to us a lot this last visit. Definitely the highlight of my week.

We had dinner with the Kimballs. They are this cute newlywed couple. They made us homemade mango curry with jasmine rice. Talk about delicious. Like wow. (Don't worry dad. I am going to get that recipe for you.)

We met with Vivian this week. She is progressing really well. She believes in everything, but she doesn't want to leave that comfort zone. Everyone pray really hard for her this week. It's funny because Sister Brown and I always say that Vivian would make great fellowship for a lot of the people we are teaching....if she was a member. She just really needs the prayers right now. 

This past week was part one of zone conference which means it is over zoom. We were just sitting there when all of a sudden I see something crawling on the floor. I said to myself, "Aw nah. Not today Satan." It was a nasty cockroach. It was so fast!!! I jumped up, grabbed my boot, and went to town trying to kill it. It went under our vent, so I grabbed a piece of paper and slid it underneath to push it back out. When it came back out, I smashed it with my boot. Real hard. No gracias, Satan. Hope y'all enjoyed that story lol.

Sister Hardman and Sister Andrews took us around the Santa Fe Plaza.

Santa Fe Cathedral 

Sister Brown's mom send a crap ton of food. It was a sunshine box :)

We went to the pond/park in Los Alamos.

                                                        Sister Brown and I laying sod. In 100° weather. 

God prepares His people. True story. 6/14/2021

This week was awesome! We got to talk with some new people, I got to drive for the first time in...forever, and we had interviews with President Weathersby.

Since Sister Brown and I are the social media trainers, we get to message people everyday on the Facebook page. We get to see the very beginning because we call them to refer them to missionaries in their area. We got to call this lady named Marie. She is awesome. She really has the desire to come unto Christ. We are calling her this week to refer her to the missionaries. Yay!!! 

The elders in Española referred this girl named Athena. She lives up there, but wants to be taught by sisters. She also wants in person lessons...but we don't got miles for that lol. She already has a baptismal date, so pray hard that that that continues!

Frenando is THE best. He is so prepared for the gospel. Sister Brown and I actually got to do a video chat with him this week. He wants to meet with the missionaries so he can have less of him and more of God in his life. Wow. Amen. Everyone needs a Frenando in their life. 

So we lost contact with a lady named Tommie. Guess what?? She called us this week!!! Ahhh miracles! We got to talk with her and share a scripture. I'm hoping we can keep getting in contact with her more this week. This is why you don't drop people!

We taught this lady named Dana... and now we can't teach her. I'm really bummed about it. I know people have their agency, but I don't like it when people use it to prevent others from learning. It's the woooorst :( I mean...agency is cool. Preventing others. Not so much.

We had exchanges this week! Guess who got to drive and take over White Rock for the day!?! This Sister missionary!!! Oh man. It was a party. White Rock is still standing, so that's a win. Sister Schafer came down, and she is an amazing missionary. I am so happy I got to teach with her. I definitely learned some things.

It was my first time driving with TWI. (She's the system in our car that tracks our speed, etc.) She's a pain sometimes, but oh well. What can you do about it. She tells you if you are going to fast or driving too aggressively. I only got 3 "check your speeds" over the span of 2 days!  And that's without using cruise control. I was really proud of myself.

We had a lesson with Debra yesterday!!! It was really good, too. She was super angry with us back in April and blocked us. I think she just needed the space. We reached out to her and she said she would love a lesson. Best. Day. Ever. She even prayed. God really does prepare people. 

Called Frenando and he didn't answer.

View in Española (why is everything green there?)

We all happened to wear green to district council.

Sister Schafer and I at the end of exchanges

Got a BTS meal from McDonald's!!!

Sister Brown and I were dying bc of the heat. We did our 

language study in front of our fans.

Miracles from fasting 6/7/2021

This past week was our ward's mission fast. That means everyone fasts for 2 days. Some time during the week and then on fast Sunday. Here are some of the miracles that have happened because of it!

Last week I mentioned a family referral. We went over with the ward missionaries who just happen to be their new neighbors. They were awesome. Perfect people for the calling. The guy's name is Aniceto. He's very smart when it comes to religion. Low key intimidating, but the Lord will help us! They gave us their number, and we will be setting up a lesson to meet with them again. 

We got a service referral from our zone leaders. The guy's name is Thomas, and he wanted men to come help him with the job. Thing is...everyone we asked wanted to be paid! Granted the job was digging trenches...so I get why. It took us forever, but we finally found 2 brothers that were willing to help us. That didn't mean we weren't going to help. You have best believe we went over and dug right along with them!! Am I feeling it? Oh yes. We started our fast Friday night because we didn't have any service for Saturday. However, Thomas called us and asked if we could come help again. It was crazy. Thought I was gonna puke. Or pass out. We did get to talk to Thomas and his wife more about their religious background.

We do service for this old couple named Doris and William. Fun fact: they haven't let people, especially missionaries, into their homes until now. Hearts are softening people!! Doris actually smiled when we came over this week! Ah it was a good day.

We lost contact with this lady named Debra about a month and a half ago. The Lord is working miracles down here because we got in contact with her!! Ahhhh do you know how amazing this is!!? BUT...it gets better!!

Lori has been struggling. We had her on date, and decided that she wasn't ready. We call he almost every night and it seemed like nothing. NOTHING! Was working. I asked my dad what I should do because I was getting frustrated. He said that I should ask her when she last felt peace. The next night, I asked her that question. I kid you not...angels were singing. I mean, not really, but they definitely should have been. It was THE best moment ever. She put a lot of thought into it. We went over later that week and she thanked me for asking that question. She is finally having peace! 

A boy in the ward got baptized yesterday and I got to be the witness. I was just there to make sure he was fully immersed because it was done in Swedish. That was a cool experience. 

We met this guy named Frenando a while ago because of a Facebook ad. He like a golden investigator. He is so prepared. Well...the elders we referred him to only contacted him once!! He actually called us this week and asked us questions. Looks like we will be rereferring him to the elders again. 

Suzette is another service referral we got, and we have been having off and on contact with her. Well, on our way to a different service, we went the wrong way. We flipped around. We were just talking about how we should text her. Turns out, the service we were going to was on the same street she lives on. And she just happened to be getting her mail right as we passed. MIRACLES I TELL YOU!! MIRACLES! We stopped and said hi. 

Digging trenches. Absolute death. 

Vacuuming the ceiling bc of all the spider webs.

We built a cabinet, and I messed up. This is me gluing a part back in the hole lol.

Waiting for a family to hope on the call.

 A night of gifts apparently. 

We got some makeup bags, pencil kit, corn, and journals.

We moved the door and there was a dead mouse. 

Like DEEEAD.

A view from a members window.

Sister B and I had a photo shoot bc the weather was beautiful!

#10: accurate representation of our relationship. 

Sister B: Cute.  Me: What is going on? 

Ben & Jerry are my best friends 5/31/2021

 Covid is finally lifting here! I don't have to wear a mask to church or to the store anymore. Blessings! Which also means people are starting to open up more, too! We had a backyard party with the Rushtons and 2 other families. We are having another backyard party tonight. Hamburgers and hot dogs and all the good stuff. I'm excited!!

This week has been a little slow, so we went heart attacking. That was fun. It's super easy because you can get anywhere in less than 5 minutes, so we can do a lot of homes.

We met with Suzette. She was a service referral from the Los Alamos elders. She is so nice and super open to messages. We got to know her and her daughter Katie really well. They actually invited us to her son's graduation party to thank us. We were going to go, but we spaced it. The life of a busy missionary. 

We did some painting and weeding this week. It sucks because everyone wants to do it in the late afternoon. My Idaho blood doesn't do well with the heat. Not. At. All. I sweat just sitting here.  

Sister Brown and I spoke in church yesterday and it went really well. The youth speaker had about 5 sentences total for his talk...hahaha that made it difficult for us. BUT Lori and Vivian watched over zoom. 

Then we pulled double duty and taught the teacher council class. Two 19 y.o. teaching a bunch of people over the age of 45. It went surprisingly well. It's easy teaching because everything was based off of preach my gospel. Everyone needs to read PMG. It will change your life. 

We met more people!! This is crazy you guys. We got a family referral, and we are meeting them tonight. Then, when Sister Brown and I went for our walk, we talked to this lady in our apartment complex. Her name is Kathy. She is the sweetest. When we can each from our walk. She was taking her groceries in. Fancy that. So we offered to help. We were able to offer her some help and comfort because she just lost her cat. She even gave us a hug. We gave her our number in case she needs someone to talk to or needs help.....Hopefully she calls us.

Every morning for personal study, I read either a conference talk or an article from one of the magazines. I have found quite a few that are really good. 

•"My journey to Forgiving" (Ensign, Feb. 1997) 

•"The Atonement: Our Greatest Hope" by Elder Faust (Ensign, Nov. 2001)

•"We Never Walk Alone" by President Monson (Ensign, Nov. 2013)

•"Are My Answers in There?" (New Era, May 2016)

•"The Gospel of Love" (Ensign, Dec. 1985)

Give some of them a read. They are so good! If you do, email me and let me know your thoughts!

I'm holding the moon!

Sister Brown and I took Ben & Jerry for a walk

Sunset in Los Alamos.

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!!