Irma's Baptism!

March 23, 2015

So this week was great! Because we had a baptism! The baptism of Irma.
She is just great!! We love her! The setting up and getting everything
ready for the baptism was a disaster and our president showed up so
that just made it more stressful, and man, there was so much confusion
and everyone was upset with me for one reason or another. Ay ay ay. I
had the biggest headache. But it worked out in the end because she got
baptized and the spirit was there and that's all that matters? Right?
Right.

Sister Howard and I made potato casserole this week. It was delicious.
We are practically home makers. And we made enough to last us the
month. Perfect. I thought you'd be proud mom.

We went out to ice cream with our sister training leaders this week so
that was just great.  They had some red velvet ice cream so that was a
win.

Today we has a special activity with David Artchuleta. . . I don't
know how to spell his name. It was really good. He shared some good
stories and sang really amazingly. We were edified. We got pictures
too, which I don't have but I do have faith one day I will get it. And
I shook his hand. So I'm basically a celebrity now too. Nbd.

We got a baptismal date this week. She is super hard to find though,
so we will see how that goes. But other than that we are just finding.
Pray that we will find someone to teach that needs the gospel. Thank
you. :)

I can't think of what else happened this week. I'm sure stuff did. But
I don't remember.

I remember. We also celebrated saint Patrick's day with green jello,
pistachio pudding and a shamrock shake. Be jealous.
Pictures of our potato casserole.

Have a super duper week.
Love hermana may

Irma's Baptism

I'm a Homemaker!!

Our potato casserole

New Companion

March 16, 2015

So this week was good. Transfer meeting on Monday left me companion
less, so I hung out with sister Russell who was also training. We stayed
at her apartment which is in my old ward and on Tuesday we went and
visited Patricia! Remember her? She is my favorite. Still going
strong, so that's good. I love her.

And later on Tuesday we went and I picked up my new trainee. Sister
Howard. She is super cute and sweet and probably one of the nicest
people I've met. She's a good missionary and her Spanish is pretty
great too. So that's good. We get along real well. We both love names
and want to be Nancy Drew so it's going just swimmingly. And we are
going to learn how to cook together. Which reminds me, we need a
recipe for lasagna...because we don't know how to do that. So will you
send me that mamma?

This has been pretty abnormal because we've had so many meetings for
the new missionaries, but luckily they're all settled now and we don't
have another abnormal meeting for another month. I hope.

We went to a baptism on Sunday. One of our investigators showed up!
Hopefully that will help him progress. We made some big headway this
week too with one of our other investigators. Hopefully that will go
somewhere. Finding lately has been really hard. Knocking has proven to
not be so effective as it used to be. So we are turning our efforts to
getting referrals. Which is soooo hard. No one gives us referrals.
Which we don't know why, they always work out so much better. You
should give referrals. Don't have anyone? Pray for experiences and
mean it and someone will be placed in your path, okay? Don't make me
chastise you. In a tender loving way, of course.
But we are working a lot with members. I like it fine though, so
that's alright.

We are super excited for saint Patrick's day. Don't know what we will
do, but we like any reason to celebrate. So maybe we will dye our food
green or something. Who knows.

I think that's all the excitement for this week folks. I love you all!
Have a stupendous day.
Love hermana may. (I'm a poet and I didn't even know it)

Patricia

My New Companion, Sister Howard

New iPads

March 9, 2015

So transfers today. Yeah so Thursday night we got leadership calls.
I got called as a trainer. Again. It was the last thing I was
expecting.  I'm staying in garden grove. I think I'm going to
finish out my mission here, because after training I'll only have one
transfer left, so why would I be transferred my last transfer. That's
just silly. Anywhoo. That's the news here.

I'm not really sure what else happened this week. I feel like it's all
been blurry. Oh. Actually we got new iPads this week. We had some big
training on Tuesday and they told us how we should be using our iPads
and gave us some books and whatnot. So that was a good meeting. Then
later we actually got the new iPads. They're nice. 32 gig and all that
jazz. I didn't pay for mine since I'm going home in the next few
months so that was good. I don't get to keep it, but whateva.

Today sister Russell and I are hanging out since we don't have
companions. She is in my old area, so that should be fun.

Not too much else to say. Not too much has happened since we've had
four meetings this week. What can ya do?

Well I love yall. Have a good week!   Hermana May

So these pictures are of my old district and wars mission leader, one
of our cute members we re activated, my "mission dad" and our
dinosaur.

Aloha

March 2, 2015

This week was just swell. It rained, so that was fancy. 

I was still sick the whole dang week. I got a stupid head cold and I couldn't breathe out of my nose for five days. Ay. I just can't catch a break this transfer, can I? Hopefully I don't get sick this week too. 

Last week of the the transfer by the way. So if next week there's only a short sad email, it's because transfers are crazy. 

So not too much happened this week apparently because I just can't think of anything to write. Sister Johnson had a few funny moments though haha. I had an LSU shirt on and she made a comment about it so I said "maybe I'm an LSU fan." And then she goes "but I thought you were a Dodgers fan." Haha I just laughed for a minute. Maybe it's not that funny, but when you're a missionary, almost anything will crack ya up. Oh and the other funny thing she did this week was while we were at a lesson we had everyone write down two things they want to do in their lifetime and she wrote down "retire" guess that's her dream. 

We did a lot of service this week. We spent a half a day working on a yard of some house they're building completely by volunteers. So that was fun. And we volunteered at the Red Cross again which was kind of boring because you just sit there for a few hours and give people cookies and juice. We also went to the old folks home and we're talking to this little old lady who started telling us about her life, apparently she was a drug runner back in the day. Haha I love old people. 

Everything with Irma is going super well. She is still solid and we are so excited for her to be baptized. We started teaching about keeping the sabbath day holy and she was all "yeah I heard about that so last Sunday was the first Sunday I've ever gone without going out and buying something. It was a nice relaxing day." Haha, she pretty much taught herself keeping the sabbath day holy, we just read a scripture. So then for the commitment we just had to go "um...will you continue keeping the sabbath day holy?" Man, I just love her. 

So this week I re-realized how awesome prayer is. For real. Whenever I pray with real intent and make it sincere and all, God always answers my prayers. I've seen it time and time again for my entire mission. If I pray really hard that we can reach a goal and then actively do something about it, we always reach our goals. Just makes me wonder why I don't pray more about everything!

Anyways. That was my life as a missionary this week. Can you believe it's already March? Time is just flying by. Crazy crazy. It's almost Easter! I love Easter. I like every holiday. I'm especially excited for Memorial Day. 

I love you!

Love hermana May

English Class

February 23, 2015

So this week was pretty good. Except for both sister Johnson and I got sick! What's up with that. I haven't had a voice since Friday. I sound like a Banshee - which I'm sure how they sound, but if my imagination is spot on (which it usually is) than I sound like a banshee. Or like a deep voice on helium.   But it's makes it all the more fun and interesting.  A little harder to teach since you can't talk, but fun and interesting nonetheless. 

We are still teaching Irma- our golden investigator. We had to move her date though because she is getting surgery right before the first date we set, but she is super excited. She is getting baptized on the 22nd of March. She even announced it in good news minute in relief society. I'm so excited for her. And her daughter's mission president gave her permission to Skype when her mom gets baptized. 

So we helped with the Red Cross this week. We ran the snack table.  So that was super easy. Most of the people that showed up were Mormon because it was at a church. But this one kid came and we were talking to him and we asked him why he wanted to donate blood, and he said because it made him feel high. Haha. We just changed the subject after that. 

Also went on exchanges this week. It went well. I went to YSA again with sister Smith. I really like YSA. I wouldn't mind missionary-ing there. It was fun. Met a lot of cool people. 

So we are starting an English class for all them folk that wanna learn how we speak over her in Murkah (America...that's how you say it now days) so we were trying to find a program to use and there are a bunch of Korean Elders that teach English a few times a week in our church and so we asked them what they use. Wanna know? They wrote their own dang textbook. Yep. Over a hundred pages with cultural facts, grammar instructions and practices. Oh and one of them does digital designing so he just drew all pictures. Our old mission president had a publishing program so they used that and sell their textbooks to their students. o_O 

What? Sure it took them forever but they wrote their own legit textbook! Why are Asians so smart? Better question, why aren't I Asian. I feel like that would solve a lot of problems. 

We biked a trail in La Habra last Pday. Man. I'm out of shape. It was soooo hard for me. Every hill we came across tried to murder me. Two of the elders stayed behind me just in case I should die. Actually probably so they wouldn't lose track of me, but those poor guys. I was going so slow. They kept telling me how good I was doing. Which I guess was nice except for the fact that I obviously wasn't doing that great. Psh. Whateva.  They're going to do it again every week. Show up if you can. We don't have time this week but next week is already breathing down my neck. Maybe it'll be easier next time... Guess I'll have to let you know.

Anywhoo. That was my life this week. Super duper interesting. I hope yours is just as eventful and fun if not more. I love you! 

Love hermana May 

Solid Gold

February 16, 2015

So my week was grand. 

You know that one investigator that your just day dream of all the time? Ya know, the ones who just accept everything you say and already love reading in the Book of Mormon and praying and going to church every week? Yeah. We found her. 

Her name is Irma. I think I talked about her a week or two ago. She's the one who just drove past the Catholic Church she used to go to every week and came to our church and decided that was what she wanted. She's the one with a daughter who is on a mission right now. She is the coolest most prepared person ever. Solid gold. Fíjense family- she got a gospel principles book and she is already half way through it. We asked her to read the first chapter of Nephi and when we came back three days later she gave us a detailed description of what happens in the first ten chapters. She accepted baptism for the 8th of March and it just makes perfect sense to her why she should be baptized again, even Christ was baptized as an adult. She is awesome! We love her to death already. I'm so grateful I got to be part of her experience in accepting the gospel, because she is ready and would have accepted it anywhere by anyone, but I'm glad it got to be me and sister Johnson. 

Um so it was my YEAR mark this week! Woot woot. I didn't really do anything to celebrate . . . Well I took a selfie so I guess that's celebration enough, right? The next day sister Johnson had her six month mark so it's been a pretty monumental week in our books. 

And it was Valentine's Day. What did we do? Well I ate the chocolates you sent me, mom. Thank you! And we had the adult session of stake conference that we went to so that was fun. Shook up the routine a bit. Elder Packer of the seventy was there. He was nice. 

Oh and guess what? Nothing huge and incredible, but it made me feel good about myself. So last Monday we went to the swap meet and then we went to this yummy Italian ice shack place, so we were sitting outside eating and whatnot and there was like cute little 3 or 4 yr old girl that points to me and says "look mommy! It's Ana from Frozen!" And then she stared and smiled at me for the next twenty minutes. I felt famous. 

So there ha have it. My week. How exciting, right? Today we are biking with our zone so we just have an adventurous day ahead of us. We cool. Oh and pray that I won't get sick, because I think it's trying to come on. 

Okay, well I love you guys! Hope February is fantastic still and all that good stuff. 

Love Hermana May 

Spring Fever

February 9, 2015

Any whoo this week was just swell. Kidney stones gone. Thank heavens. 

This week the weather has been wonderful. I feel like I have spring fever ... Which I'm not sure how that works since technically it's already spring here. Sun shining, seventies, light breeze, flowers in bloom. It's quite lovely. 

This week it was an elder in our districts birthday. I decided if I had a little brother he would probably be like this elder. We all went out to Cafe Rio and then to a Red Cross meeting so we can volunteer! Woot woot. Happy birthday to him. 

At one of our dinner appointments this week the member told us she was going to bring out dessert. She said she was going to feed us jam. We were confused, but not too worried. I was expecting her to just slab some jelly on my plate or something but then she brought out some sort of vegetable. I was so confused and then Sister Johnson goes "oooohhhh it's yams!" They pronounce their y's like j's here so that was confusing. We spent the next ten minutes trying to teach her how to say jam and yam. Good times. 

We had an appointment with Irma. She is golden. She reads the gospel principle book just for the heck of it and she already knows sooo much. And yes! She wants to be baptized but she wants to wait til her daughter comes home from her mission...in November. ay. We told her to talk to her daughter about it, so hopefully her daughter will tell her not to wait. Guess we will find out tomorrow. 

There was a baptism yesterday that I got to play the piano for because they couldn't find anyone else. It was good though. The lady who fed us for Christmas was there. She ran up to me and gave a me a burrito with lobster in it. It was actually just beans and cheese but ya just play along. Then she goes all excited. "Voy a casarme! Voy a casarme!" (Im getting married) (she was the one 63 yr old lady that was Dating the 27 yr old guy and kept calling him her precioso) so I was like "really when?" And she's like "oh. I don't know" and walks away. Haha she is kinda crazy but hey, at least she's getting married so she can get baptized. 

 This next week should be fun. Why? I'll tell you why! Tomorrow is zone conference and Thursday is my year mark and Friday we are going on exchanges and Saturday and Sunday are Stake Conference. I like it when weeks are busy.  It's a lot more fun. Not that it's boring other wise l . . . Well sometimes but that's the game of missionary work I suppose. Anyways. I'm looking forward to the next week. Oh! And it's Valentine's Day. Woot woot. Ps I got your package mom. The pink box made me happy. You da best. 

Okay well not much else to report. But I love you all! Thanks for helping me get through my first year as a missionary! Have a supercalifragalisticexpialadocious week. I probably spelled that right. 

Love hermana may