...greetings from...OLYMPIA! granola, hippies, and summer sunshine!
we're in the capital of washington..so the city is quite a bit bigger than sequim. sister willardson is my new companion and we got doubled into olympia so everything is new to both of us. it has been an elders' area for a while. we just got here yesterday evening and besides knowing how to get to target and the church building, we'll have some great times getting lost and trying to learn the area and the two wards that we're over. we have veronica..our GPS..to help us find our way around and our district leader is a great help too. the elders before us left tons of notes to look at and we have a few appointments set up but for the most part we still have a lot to figure out. sister willardson has been doubled into an area before so this isn't her first time doing it. her and i are so much alike..it's crazy. yesterday we got to our apartment..which used to be lived in by the elders..and besides finding old socks and cases of mountain dew and needing to clean up a bit it's a super nice apartment. we have heard excellent things about the wards here and that the work in olympia really has great potential to explode!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Date: May 10, 2010
Area: Sequim, Washington
Companion: Sister Lawrence
Another P-day after another great weekend -- we had two baptisms yesterday and other than it being another crazy Sunday for us, it went perfectly. Sister Lawrence and I are over two wards so we are at the church from 7:30 in the morning until 4:30 (we have meetings before and in between) so Sundays are the busiest days for us but at the same time it's a nice relief cause we get to be on the other side of the lesson where WE are being taught haha
As a mission, we get to go the Seattle Temple once a year and last Thursday was the day! There are around 180 missionaries in the WATAC mission so half of us went Weds and then other half on Thursday. I'm really glad that I got to go to the temple so many times before I left because once a year is not enough! If there are people that I teach/reactivate and they go to the temple, then I am able to go with them (: ..so there's a chance I will go again before next year.
And if you haven't already heard, last Saturday was the annual Irrigation Festival for the great northwest! haha it's okay I'm still not really sure what it was celebrating..I think just the lavendar blooming and the plants and ....things. There were activities like tractor races and logging and the carnival came into town. Since the
main street was closed off and a lot of people were at the parade or either left town, it was difficult to get around so we spent some time with the DePrati's and with Lisa, who will be baptized this Sunday. Saturday was definitely the sunniest day I have seen in Sequim!
We met Lisa when we were knocking doors a few weeks ago. She is a single mother and has two little girls, 5 and 2. She was taught by missionaries about two years ago but moved and lost contact. Since we
found her, we've been able to teach her all the lessons and she is progressing and excited for her baptism on the 16th! She is so faithful and really recognizes this as a way to bring direction, peace, and support into her life.
And now let me tell you about the miracle of Seth! It's been about four weeks since Sister Gainer and I met him so I am sorry i have been keeping this story from you! ha One day, Sister Gainer and I were driving and trying to choose a place to tract that we hadn't been to yet. We saw this little mobile home park that we'd driven past like a million times but never really noticed before..so we decided to go tracting in there that day. we weren't having much luck until we came to Seth's door. When he opened the door, we said that we were from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and we introduced ourselves and then he did what
most people don't usually do -- he kept the door open! AND he put his hand out to shake ours! haha We then learned just a few things about him and set up a time to meet with him the next day. here's what he
told us:
he was living in California with his dad but then went to live in Utah with some friends.. he was still in high school and since it's UT, he was given the option to either take seminary in school or another elective. he thought that seminary looked interesting so he signed up for it and ended up attending seminary for a few months until he came to Washington to live with his grandma. no one in his family is Mormon and he was never raised in a church or anything and really knew very little about it even when Sister Gainer and I knocked on his door. But the week before we met him, he decided that he wanted to learn more about the things he learned in seminary so he went online to mormon.org where he was able to chat with a missionary (elder Saben) in the MTC about the gospel. The day before Sister Gainer and I met Seth, Elder Saben had emailed Seth one of thelessons and challenged him to pray to know if this was true and if he should be baptized. So that night, Seth prayed about what elder Saben had taught him and the very next day sister gainer and i met him and invited him to come to the church so he could learn more. He took that as an answer to his prayers and he decided to be baptized. Yesterday, Seth was baptized! A month ago, he knew something was missing in his life and he was truly searching for what it was -- for what he now knows is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Seth has such great faith -- it really shows that there is no substitute for the true happiness that comes from living the gospel.
..And there is no substitute for talking to family! Yesterday we were allowed to call home since it was Mother's Day. I wish I could have called all of you!
Area: Sequim, Washington
Companion: Sister Lawrence
Another P-day after another great weekend -- we had two baptisms yesterday and other than it being another crazy Sunday for us, it went perfectly. Sister Lawrence and I are over two wards so we are at the church from 7:30 in the morning until 4:30 (we have meetings before and in between) so Sundays are the busiest days for us but at the same time it's a nice relief cause we get to be on the other side of the lesson where WE are being taught haha
As a mission, we get to go the Seattle Temple once a year and last Thursday was the day! There are around 180 missionaries in the WATAC mission so half of us went Weds and then other half on Thursday. I'm really glad that I got to go to the temple so many times before I left because once a year is not enough! If there are people that I teach/reactivate and they go to the temple, then I am able to go with them (: ..so there's a chance I will go again before next year.
And if you haven't already heard, last Saturday was the annual Irrigation Festival for the great northwest! haha it's okay I'm still not really sure what it was celebrating..I think just the lavendar blooming and the plants and ....things. There were activities like tractor races and logging and the carnival came into town. Since the
main street was closed off and a lot of people were at the parade or either left town, it was difficult to get around so we spent some time with the DePrati's and with Lisa, who will be baptized this Sunday. Saturday was definitely the sunniest day I have seen in Sequim!
We met Lisa when we were knocking doors a few weeks ago. She is a single mother and has two little girls, 5 and 2. She was taught by missionaries about two years ago but moved and lost contact. Since we
found her, we've been able to teach her all the lessons and she is progressing and excited for her baptism on the 16th! She is so faithful and really recognizes this as a way to bring direction, peace, and support into her life.
And now let me tell you about the miracle of Seth! It's been about four weeks since Sister Gainer and I met him so I am sorry i have been keeping this story from you! ha One day, Sister Gainer and I were driving and trying to choose a place to tract that we hadn't been to yet. We saw this little mobile home park that we'd driven past like a million times but never really noticed before..so we decided to go tracting in there that day. we weren't having much luck until we came to Seth's door. When he opened the door, we said that we were from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and we introduced ourselves and then he did what
most people don't usually do -- he kept the door open! AND he put his hand out to shake ours! haha We then learned just a few things about him and set up a time to meet with him the next day. here's what he
told us:
he was living in California with his dad but then went to live in Utah with some friends.. he was still in high school and since it's UT, he was given the option to either take seminary in school or another elective. he thought that seminary looked interesting so he signed up for it and ended up attending seminary for a few months until he came to Washington to live with his grandma. no one in his family is Mormon and he was never raised in a church or anything and really knew very little about it even when Sister Gainer and I knocked on his door. But the week before we met him, he decided that he wanted to learn more about the things he learned in seminary so he went online to mormon.org where he was able to chat with a missionary (elder Saben) in the MTC about the gospel. The day before Sister Gainer and I met Seth, Elder Saben had emailed Seth one of thelessons and challenged him to pray to know if this was true and if he should be baptized. So that night, Seth prayed about what elder Saben had taught him and the very next day sister gainer and i met him and invited him to come to the church so he could learn more. He took that as an answer to his prayers and he decided to be baptized. Yesterday, Seth was baptized! A month ago, he knew something was missing in his life and he was truly searching for what it was -- for what he now knows is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Seth has such great faith -- it really shows that there is no substitute for the true happiness that comes from living the gospel.
..And there is no substitute for talking to family! Yesterday we were allowed to call home since it was Mother's Day. I wish I could have called all of you!
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