8/26/13

It has been a crazy week. But it sounds like you guys have had a pretty good one too! I'm so excited for Rex! That is so awesome! Please tell me you guys took some pics!!!!!!!!!!!!

So Wednesday was transfers. I got my new Trainee! She is great! Sis. Trussel is 19 from the Seattle area. She is super sweet. Such a hard worker. She couldn't wait to get out and start tracting and finding new investigators to teach. I love it! It's what I need right now. So they have taken my district and split it into 3, so it's been really different. Instead of having 7 companionships in my district there are now 3. SO WEIRD! but it's exciting! The ward is really excited to have elders!
Leilani's baptism was this weekend. it was insane! So Leilani picked out a few mormon messages to show while she was changing and everyone was just chilling in the chapel. We mistakenly told the zone leaders about this and they told us they didn't want us to, that we needed to share a message about the restoration. DUH! one of the mormon messages is on the restoration... I really get frustrated when elders think that because I am a sister I haven't thought things through, that I don't have a clue what I am talking about... So I was all stressed out about that, we ended up doing it anyway because that's what the spirit told me would be better. and it turned out that a nonmember wanted to know where we got them because she wanted to use them in her sunday school class at her church! ha! So that was the first thing. then we get there and start setting up and the bishop wanted to have the meeting in the relief society room instead of the chapel because he didn't think that there would be enough people to fill it. wrong. we had everyone squeezing into the relief society room and then had to move everyone down the hall to the chapel anyway because there were so many people there. then Bro. Hildebrand starts setting up the projector to show the videos and finds out that he didn't bring them from home. so we had to quicky (as the service was going on) download the videos and get them ready to show. Then one of the speakers didn't show up until right before and she needed some props and it was just crazy. She had pictures up in chapel that definitely should not have been shown in the chapel representing "the world". The actually ordinance went great! Leilani did so good! The spirit was definitely there. The videos went well. then it was her turn to get up and say a few words. which she actually surprised me. She bore her simple testimony and thanked everyone for coming. it was awesome! THen yesterday at the confirmation things got crazy again! Bro. Hildebrand didn't quite understand what he needed to do to confirm her. he messed up and had to do it again and the blessing he gave her was very strange. A lot of things mentioned about the devil.... But at the end of the day she had been baptized and confirmed!

BUt that's not all folks! I get home and carol, her mom, calls me screaming and crying saying Leilani doens't want to come back anymore and that people need to practice what they preach. Apparently kids in Sunday school were making fun of her about something and it was just terrible. I had no idea what to do. So i just explained that the church is perfect, the people in it aren't. I think that helped, and she seemed to calm down. I talked to Leilani and she was doing better. I talked to their home teacher who is the former bishop and is now on the high counsel about it. He talked to carol and I think things are a lot better now. WHY CAN'T WE ALL JUST BE NICE AND GET A LONG?!?!?!!?!?!?!? I think everything is fine now though.

I called our mission doctor, because I am still sick and running a fever. He thinks I have bronchitis. great.

So things here have been a hot mess.

but the church is still true! and I have really enjoyed getting to work! I have been taking a lot of naps, being sick is making me so exhausted. But I have loved getting to work with Sis. Trussel. There are 2 new sisters in our apartment. Sis. Gardner and Greenwood are great! They are so wonderful and hard working and I'm really excited to be working with them.

Love you guys! thanks for all the support! you're the best!

 

I'm sending a few pics. One is of the baptism. then there is a pic of Sis. O'D's and I's favorite elders - so fun! Then there is a pic of my MTC district minus one sister

8/5/13

WOW! craziness back home sounds like! I'm glad to hear you're all doing well though! I'm so happy for Katie! I hope you took some pictures or send me some from Facebook when they get put up!

This week has been a little ridiculous... Sis. Astle's migraines have been getting worse. She looked at her planner and did the math. In the last month she has been able to work a complete day 6 times. 6 days out of the  month we have gotten up at 6:30 and worked until 9:30. I didn't realize it was that few. I have been going on exchanges with sis. O'D while her companion has been sick too. So I have been working and didn't realize it had been that bad. We had interviews with President on Wednesday. I love him. He always makes me feel better. We talked about sis. Astle and how things have been going. I really love her. She is such a great companion. I feel so awful that she is suffering the way she is. President talked to me about the missionary schedule and how if she can't keep it she can't be a missionary. It made me so sad to hear that. She wants to be here, she is a great missionary! But her health isn't allowing it. So Thursday night she got a really bad migraine and we went to see the Chiropractor Friday morning - that did nothing. He is pulling at strings now trying not to lose a patient. He told her that he thinks it's a gluten intollerance. No. So we called her doctor, which the chiropractor advised us not to do (idiot), and they were able to get her in. They prescribed her some new meds and told her that if that doesn't work that they will send her to a nuerologist. So we got home and she went to bed and I called sis. Vellinga to let her know how everything went. (she is the health coordinator/nurse of the mission) She told me that if they do say she needs to go to a nuerologist they will send her home to do that. great....

Also on Friday - craziness with Sis. Benson. She has been sick for 3 weeks now tomorrow. The doctor thinks it that bug that has only hit a few states that hits the stomach really bad. So they prescribed her the only thing that they know of that will kill it. turns out she is allergic to that medicine... So Friday afternoon she took a trip to the ER. They put her on more medication and it was just making things worse. She just kept pressing on though! We tried to go to Sacrament meeting yesterday, but she had to leave right after it was passed because she was about to pass out. Then we found out that her dad has really bad reactions to the steroid they gave her and she started having the same thing and it got really bad last night. SO sis. Vellinga told us to take another trip to the ER. (I forgot to tell you about sis. O'D first - you need this info first. She has been put on medication for sleeping/anti-anxiety for her breathing problems - the doc thinks it is related to stress. So while all of this is happening last night we realize that she had already taken this medicine which knocks her out and leaves her pretty much drunk. so she couldn't take sis. Benson to the ER) So I got to go the ER last night around 12:00. I really did not like this doctor, and I'm pretty sure he knew it (thanks mom). He told her that she was worrying herself sick and was making her symptoms occur - false. She had just gotten a blessing right before and wasn't freaking out at all. AH! It was so frustrating. anyway... we got home around 2 and she was hungry so i popped in some cinnamon rolls and we hung out for a little bit while she kind of calmed down. 3 AM rolled around and I was finally in bed.
Sis. Astle also talked to her parents and president last night and they have decided that if at the end of this transfer she is not doing better they are going to send her home. I am so sad.

But other than that not much has been happening. Leilani is still on track for baptism though!!! so that's great!

Being a missionary was hard this week, but I still love this calling! I love seeing the Lord's tender mercies every day and getting to enjoy this gospel in this way.

love you all!!!
Hope you have a great week!
Rachel