Week 8 - Lessons, baptisms, and transfers

so transfers were this weeks and im STAYINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG. okay so the week.

Monday we played fun games in the gym in Emmett with the Emmett missionaries. then we had dinner as a district.at mcdonalds which was gross. I told them how ness has to go by sister jane and no one believed me.  oh well. then we had FHE with the coles again. YAY for board games. we played dix it and survive. I crushed everyone in survive. #bradwouldbeproud

Tuesday we did service and made pizzas for the good pizza place in town Garbonzos then we taught Dakota briefly and then we stopped by this ladies house who we have tried to comtact 10+ times and FINALLY met her and got it. she chatted for like 30 minutes and then we had to go. then we went on splits and sister fisher and I saw and investigator who had lots of questions. hard questions like about gays and excommunication. also I would've been so lost if it weren't for sister fisher because she knew just wahat to say bc she is a mom and more seasoned haha. then we went with the ZL's to check out how Caldwell does their open houses and then to the meeting with the stake presidency and all the bishops and ward mission leaders to discuss if we as the middleton stake should do open houses. we all think its a good idea and it was neat to be invited to a meeting like that nad have them actually want our input.

Wednesday we had a great district meeting especially bc it was elder manns last one. and elder sulca was 100% getting transferred bc he ahd been here so long. then we ate lunch with a family after wards and got to play some games with the elders. I ALMOST beat them in pool but alas my skills were a little shaky so ill need to brush up on them so I can hustle them next time. then we went on splits and McKenzie  and taught a GREAT lesson to Xavier our LA we are working with. I

Thursday I was pretty sick with a bad bad cold so we took it slow we did district service and pulled weeds for 2.5 hours for this family with our district and then we made elder manns birthday cake. then we did our weekly planning quickly went to our dinner appointment and then went on splits. I taught zion out new investigator at the fishers house with 2 YSA people. but by the end of the lesson there were 15 people there. kinda crazy! then we had all the elders over and had a little birthday party for elder mann and sang to him and ate cake! the lesson btw was really good because it was more a gospel discussion where he could learn our beliefs with out feeling like he was a student and I the teacher. #teachpeoplenotlessons

Friday my cold was way worse but I pushed through we did splits again and then we met up with the RSP and WML from 8th ward to talk about where to go next and then we met with YSA leaders to talk about what we could do. then we had a really awkward dinner where the family barely talked and just pushed their food around. so awkward. and then we did a FHE with a family the harwoods that are super awesome!

Saturday were transfer calls so we had breakfast as a district at the harwoods and listened to the call. elder sulca is the only one who got transferred and elder mann is going home. but we are getting more sisters idk how I feel about that. ehhhh. could be hit or miss. the elders told us if the rest of the sisters were like us there would be no reason to be a sister hater so im changing peoples views slowly but surely. #notatypicalsistermissionary
then we got ready for seths baptism! IT WAS AWESOME we had over 100 people there to support him. I got to bare my testimony and tell him of the change I have seen it is crazy the difference. then we came home and made cookies for the elders that were leaving bc we were going to miss them. so we dropped them off and said goodbye

sunday we had a great ward conference for 8th ward we had 2 investigators with us in the YSA. Zion stayed all three hours and said he wouldn't but he did and REALLY enjoyed gospel principles. we taught the lesson in relief society because the ysa forgot to ask someone haha YSA YSA well i immediately said yes while sister d was a little hesitant I told her don't worry I got this. i am my mothers daughter for sure haha she taught me well. it was an amazing lesson and everyone came up to us and was like WOAH that as good and you had an hour to prepare?? WHat the WHAT? it was on being an example. and Christ being our ultimate example. great great lesson. I later realized I have never taught a lesson to adults in church before haha so that was cool. we had a cool dinner "home grown steak" and my 3rd time having potatoes in 6 weeks. not bad. then we had an amazing lesson with our other YSA investigator aubree she told us she knows now she needs to be baptized and knows it will be hard and her family wont accept it but she knows its right so she is getting baptized the 19th of JULY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!
okay well I think that's all! I loveee you all! and you should write me more real letter too! okay byeeee
love
sister abby wasden

Week 7 - BBQs, Baptisms, and Bad Cookie Dough

well first off happy birthday and fathers day to caity and dad. well I realized that this was the 1st fathers day in my whole life I have not been with my dad. so sad. oh well.
Monday was pretty horrible until family home evening because we played board games with a family and our investigator seth. we played Ratis the one about the plague I bet brad knows about it. the dad we played with actually reads brads blog haha so that is neat.
Tuesday we went back to pats... idk how we always end up there but she had MORE tomatoes. MORE. ahaha oh well its always an adventure. I feel kind of bad but not really sister d and I make up all sorts of stuff... mostly me. like I told pat sister d has this tall boyfriend on a mission in japan and he hasn't written her in 2 weeks so she should move on and write one of my friends. pat just thrives off of our "drama" and she LOVES to give us "pats words of wisdom and advice" we then went to the library to make the programs for the baptism coming up. when we were at the library there was this lady who was have seizures it was soo scary. she was twitching and stuff super scary. anywho we stopped by one of our YSA investigators whose mom is also investigating but she is with elders olson and sulca because she lives in 5th ward. we get her son bc ysa covers the whole stake haha but that was fun the mom is a riot. she told me to find her a nice Mormon man between 48-65. why would I know any single men 48-65 I wouldn't but I told her I would try haha. then we went to dinner and I got to hold baby chicks it was cute ill send the pictures.
Wednesday was crazyyyyyyyy.we had district meeting and lunch like usual but then sister d and i didnt really know what to do because one of our lessons fell through. sooooo we called Xavier ( a less active YSA) to teach him the next lesson. and he was like yeah come over ! so we planned for like 20 minutes and then went over. we taught the plan of salvation. and half way through the lesson his cousin bikes up. and we are like JOIN US and he goes ok I might as well I have nothing better to do. soooo then we keep teaching and we find out that his cousin is a less active in the 9th ward that we have been trying to contact! well he told us he doesn't go to church because his parents never give him a ride so he has no way to get to church. but he had great input and questions and answers to the questions we asked. so sister d asked what their goals were in life and they were like be successful and go to college. and then I asked so knowing that you made the decision to come to earth in the pre-existence what goals do you think you made before you came to earth to have on earth... their answers changed haha they were like be a good person be the best I can and follow Christs example. I love that question. it made me think about my life and what goals I probably made. who knows maybe a mission was a goal I had in the pre existence because heaven knows it wasn't one I had here on earth, and to go to the temple well I got there and the next one is to get married in the temple and have a family so I think im on the right path. then we found out that our investigator is dating xaviers sister so we got them all to come to church on sunday it was AWESOME! then we did more service for donna and we met her son and he was so appreciative. and her husband got it the next day after his blessing for a CATscan which I think Is a result of the blessing because he had been waiting for weeks and weeks. pretty cool.
Thursday I had PT for my shoulder and my PT is sooo funny she is hilarious she said to hook her up with a 30 year old she is a member and 29 super cute but not married so I have my eyes open for her too. we met up with elder boswell and sulca to plan the open house we are planning. then we visited an older couple and taught about the priesthood and its importance bc the husband doesn't have the priesthood and is like 70-something. then we had dinner with the budges they are AWESOME they have a scrapbook business and gave us a ton of stuff to use while we are here which is super cool. then we had a lesson with aubree our other new investigator in the YSA we had an AMAZING lesson. like sooo good. she had 3 of her friends there 2 RMS and one of her girl friends. I felt strongly to commit her to baptism so I did and she said... YES it was great. and tons of great input and she said she feels like this is what she has been searching for.
Friday we met with one of our new Ward missionaries nad then we taught Dakota. we have had better lessons but its okay. I made her a cute card and she started crying. then we met up with boswell and mann and discussed the open house more. so that should be getting in the works soon. then we went to the doctor and he kind of froze my wart off . then we ate at wendys and went to this potential investigators house for service but we sat outside their house and prayed to know if we should go and we both felt really bad about going and decided it wasn't the right time. then we prayed to know who to see and guess whose name popped into our heads. PAT  so we went over there and she needed us to help her make cookies before they went bad.. they expired 4 years ago....4!!! ahh and then there we ants crawling ALL over the cookie sheet she was using. it was sp gross. so we told her we had to leave for another appointment before they came out of the oven haha I felt kinda bad but like mom says god cant protect when you do stupid stuff. and eating those cookies would've been stupid haha. but we told pat some more "stories" we found out sisters d's bf wants to be a vet haha and she tells us everytime our parents need to move to the boise valley because everywhere else is damned hahaha its so funny.
Saturday we went to a baptism and bbq which was fun and elder boswell and mann sang and played guitar it was soooo good. and then seth had his interview and is sooo excited to be baptized!!
sunday was fathers day and  I made a cool realization yesterday during sacrament meeting. a lot of times I feel like the mission wasn't really my choice. like I knew that's what god had in store for me but if it were up to me I would probably be at school looking for a husband. but I realized I need to put more faith in my decision to follow what god has in store for me because god knows me a lot better than I know myself and he knew a mission is what I needed even though I don't understand sometimes. the more I realize if I am following what god wants for me I must be doing whats right even though it doesn't make any sense sometimes. we had a meeting with the stake president and elders boswell and mann about the open house and we are meeting with him next week to follow up and make more plans.
today Monday we are going to Emmett to play games with the missionaries there. so that's cools. and we are playing more board games with that family again! we are going to play dix it!!! idk what else to say except that transfers are next week. im pretty sure im staying and that im so excited for our baptism this weekend! the gospel really changes people!  and ive almost been gone 2 months! sooo weird!
Love you all!
Sister Abby Wasden

Week 6 - Scientology, Rotten Tomatoes and Boiled Bananas

this week was harder than others but ill survive.
Monday was sister dijkwels 8 month mark so we went to get pedicures and winco. omigoodness. winco is the best thing ever. its sooooo cheap. and we went to ross and I got the cutest maxi dress and a maxi skirt. it was really cheap too #justification. we had a pot luck dinner with the YSA so that was weird. I am not used to hanging around kids my age and being a missionary because I feel like there is some divide idk its weird.
Tuesday we visited a widow and shared a sweet message. then we  finished calling the entire directory for the black canyon ysa. then we went tracting on our street and met some nice people and some less actives but we got horrid blisters and starting bleeding #embarrassing #wewereonlyoutforlikeanhour but its all good. then we had dinner with the branch president of the ysa branch  after that we had a lesson with seth our one real investigator and taught him some more. afterwards we decided to contact a referral. bad idea. this lady was such a grouch. holy Hannah. we knock on the door and dogs start barking like crazy. then she comes out and is like why are you here leave you are a disruption catch my dog its going to run awawy and never come back! so she gets the dogs inside and then yells WAIT why are you here again? im not Mormon im not on some list of people to contact. we said we are just the sister missionaries and are contacting the neighborhood we live around the corner and are new. and she was like and you just PICKED my house? well yeah? well im not interested so leave. we left and I said it was nice to meet you and she just looked at me and then slammed the door. in the words of pride and prejudice and I have never been thus treated in my entire life! I can home and cried because I didn't know how anyone could be that rude to a stranger. I feel like no matter any ones situation you could just say im not interested instead of you are a disruption leave. but I got over it.
Wednesday we tried to contact more people but summer is an awkward time to  be a missionary because people are never home or are just super busy trying to get places to "stay busy" we visited a widow melody and she had CRAZY stories. she is a smoker but will deny it until the day she dies. her house reaks of smoke but she says the neighbor comes over to smoke bc he doesn't want the other neighbors talking about him which is why there is an ash tray.... sureeee and she accidently went to a polygamist LDS church for like a month and couldn't tell the difference until she saw the husbands changing pews 3 or 4 times during sacrament meetings to sit with all the wives. and she was baptized twice because she "needed it?" so many stories haha  we taught the fivecoats a recent convert family a new member lesson and that was nice. then we had dinner with the YSA RS president, we had spaghetti finally! I was just waiting for that. twas good. then we were invited to a stake presidency meeting. they wanted to know about our wards and get to meet us and so we were a little hesitant at first but then I was like ok there is no point in beating around the bush and I was just completely honest and they loved it they were laughing and were like YES this is the sister we need you just tell it like it is and we love that (my thought was the wards aren't going to tell the stake president whats not working so where else are they going to get their information THE MISSIONARIES) so we DONT WORRY I was very polite. we just said that our wards are a bit slow to start and we are trying to help the members feel the urgency for the hastening of the work and how we are trying our hardest but the members are helping. and they were like no sister don't you worry we can tell you are working your hardest we hear it from lots of different people but its our job to get the members going so we need to do better with that, don't feel bad or down on yourself because its slow because that's something you cant control. so that made me feel better. then after that we had a meeting with the bishop of 8th ward and we told him we need more focus because we don't know where you want us to focus and we had a good meeting.
Thursday We had our 3 week follow up and I got to see my MTC district again! so that was fun .president talked on the doctrine of Christ and why baptism is so crucial  we had apricot chicken and it reminded me of caity. sister Pritchard and I got to role play and teach someone and the scary AP sat in and critiqued us but he was like wow you teach great together I really don't have any complaints so we felt pretty good about that haha we love teaching together  then we had dinner with the mosers and talked more YSA.
Friday was zone meeting we had a fun skill check and good training. after training we got snow cones then we went back to pats. oh boy let me tell you (that's hers phrase) that day we dumped 86 jars of rotten tomatoes.  she ended up telling the whole RS about us helping her and how much of a blessing we were to help her with that haha its too funny. she called us again this morning to come back AGAIN tomorrow because there are 5 whole cases that had gotten lost in her room that need to be dumped. so alas we will be going back tomorrow haha. then we had some pretty gross food for our dinner the people were sooo nice but I do not like tongan food. no way... BOILED BANANAS why they heck would you do that. but when we left sister d was like wow you really like that then and I was like um are you kidding me?? no it was nasty and she was like you are the best actress around then bc you even had me fooled. man I felt sooooooo sick after wards I literally thought I was going to barf. we stopped by a referral from the mean set of elders and luckily no one was home becauseeeeeeeeeeeeee well you will just find out then we went to the hardwoods (aka the coolest family ever and essential oils lady) they were feeding the elders and invited us over too. we told the elders about going to visit that lady and were like that house is questionable for elders. the lady that lives there is married to her step son who is a murderer. so they were pretty mad that they sent us there because we could've been in real danger. good thing no one came to the door. but we had a good time with the harwoods we weren't going to eat bc we felkt so sick from the tongan food so we just did sister harwoods dishes because she was soooooooooo stressed with camp stuff. I love their family! they are like a little older versions of caity and brad so I feel right at home with them. I got a work out dvd from her and then we went home
Saturday we did service and helped this old man move into a house. but the house looked like it was half gutted. and the outside was a disaster cans and cans of beer EVERYWHERE a night gown thrown over the bushes and half of the floors were gone like just subfloors its just bad. I cant believe that  anyone would live in that. also apparently they had 3 TONS of liquor that had already been taken off the property bc there was a couple that lived there before and were crazy drunks. that would explain it wouldn't it. then we had dinner with a fun family and they had a black lab named Zeus and he was soooo much like spot but bigger it was nice to play with a puppy. then we taught seth the second to last lesson before his baptism next weekend so that's crazy! we also stopped by Donnas and kwens to give them a book of Mormon marked and tabbed with my favorite scriptures and my testimony and a get well card bc kwen is sick and in pain. the elder gave me a blessing because my neck pain is back and it has helped ease it a little but I need to get that under control.
sunday was long but great we had branch council and the branch blitz to find the less actives information with the ward. but after that (we did splitz) I was just glad sister d was my comp bc the girl that wanted to go with me just kept correcting me or trying to prove that she was right or something it was weird idk I just smiled and nodded. haha but I was glad when it was over. so glad. we got stake directories! yay so now we know all the informations in the whole worlds well just the stake. then we had dinner with the Fishers they are the best! she is like a blonde version of mom and brother fisher is like dad. even his outfits haha. and hairline. brother fisher caught a big salmon on Saturday so he smoked it for us and it was SOOOO good oh my heck. then we met with the WML of 9th ward  and his wife gave us a RS invitation for donna. well we dropped it by and chatted and then I felt prompted to ask her if kwen wanted a blessing. she said no he wouldn't but she would ask him. she asked and he said... YES he was like actually send over the elders. so elders mann and boswell came over and gave him a nice blessing and donna was crying and kwen was grateful (think of grandpa b but a little taller and slower) that's kwen the dirty mouth and everything its so funny. but he still smokes cigarettes instead of cigars. gross. but that was A HUGE deal bc his aunt was married to the guy who invented scientology so kwen is SUPEr skeptical about organized religion well who can blame him with a religion past like that. I don't but it was a BIG deal that he let the elders give hime a blessing. so that was cool  well then we went to fill the air in our tires bc the light came on and this nice man helped us out bc we were so lost. and we made it home. welllllllllll when we woke up our tire was flat again. a different tire though. so we called the ZLs and they came and well. there was an allen wrench stuck in the back right tire and when they took it out you just heard a PSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTT and alas we were putting the spare back on and were going to the tire place to get a new tire which is why I was late to emailing you and that has brought me to  here. well I love you all sooooo much!! you are the best around.
love
sister wasden

Week 5 - Middleton, ID

This week went by really quick. so last Monday after I emailed we went to Caldwell to hang out with the other missionaries there. we had a water balloon fight played volleyball and ultimate Frisbee, it was really fun. Then we went home and got ready. we did a FHE with a recent convert and her kids. her husband is a less active, like really less active so he didn't join us. it was fun the kids got really into it and were giggling and laughing the whole time. on Tuesday we went around seeing the widows. we ran into one of them who was getting rid of her rotten tomatoes she had jarred. she literally had over a hundred liter jars of tomataotes she had jarred and grown herself from 2006. but they were  all bad. so we walked in on her in her kitchen with giant trash cans just dumping rotten tomatoes, it was really gross. so we just started helping the sounds were so gross like poop. then we had to drag the trash can out to the back yard to a ditch that you could bury an animal in and dump the trash can of tomatoes in the ditch. it was about 2 feet deep. we stopped for a second and thought what are we doing with our lives. they lady was freaking out about getting all the tomatoes done and we were thinking okay this is your biggest concern? you don't have very may problems. after that day i finally understood napoleon dynamite. i am literally living his life. most of these houses are stuck in the past and people do things that seem completely pointless like dumping trash cans of rotten tomatoes in a ditch in the back yard. that night we had a book of Mormon class with the elders to teach people about the BOM but no one came so we just had fun. i still haven't been sleeping its going on 2 weeks now. so the ZLs introduced me to this young family in their ward who the mom is super cool and like caity kind of and super into essential oils. she gave me some to help me sleep but they are only kind of working. instead of waking up every hour  i only wake up 3 times in the night. progress i guess. Wednesday we taught Dakota and she actually understood when we were talking about prophets so that was cool! (she is slow has some metal handicap if i didn't already tell you that) we went to this humanitarian things for the older ladies that morning and quilted it was super fun and we got to know the old ladies. they were very patient with us. we are going to try to invite less actives and investigators to it so they can meet more ladies. we taught seth and he accepted baptism! so that's cool. then that night we went to Donnas to help out, the priests in the 9th ward helped with their fallen down barn and we worked with sister stuki on the garden. Thursday we had District meeting. the fire department came because a lady said hse smelled gas. they checked it and there wasn't anything. so it just ruined our game of chubby bunny. but its all good. we went out with jill weber she is super cool, just got back from usu and is leaving for her mission in a week. we taught donna the first lesson. she really felt the spirit but didn't realize that we were teaching her so that was kind of funny. then we did splits with the 9th ward and saw a bunch of people. Friday we planned and went out to lunch bc it was my 1 month. we went to this Mexican restaurant and someone paid for us! so that was cool. we made calls and then had dinner at the harwoods(the cool lady we met with the essential oils) with a non member family(their neighbors) and i felt inspired to talk about family history and how we believe we are together as familes for eternity. they are Lutheran and don't believe that but i know i got the mom to think a little. then when we walked outside there was an lds family history pamphlet on our car we have no idea who put that there but we gave it to them and encourage them to fill it out! it was neat. Saturday we went to Nampa because elder goduy from brazil of the 70 was here and invitied all the new missionaries and their trainers to come. it was neat he is the funniest guy! he said he had planned to talk about obedience but then the last minutes scrapped all of his notes and just taught from the spirit and talked about how the lord know us better thatn we know us and he knows what we need even though we might not understand and he talked about being the missionaries we want are kids to think we will be so we should just be our best and the lord with take car of the rest., its was amazing. we were laughing the whole time! then sister dijkwel orr Pritchard and i went to costa vida, and some one paid for us again! it was great. we went to sister gummersalls house afterwards a recent widow sooooo sweet and always has the best stories, and made banana bread. it was so sweet. she said she didn't know how she made it through the week and she knows its only because she had something to look forward to, us coming over. its sad she gets so lonely. then we taught seth again and president cole the 1st counselor in our mission presidency was there because it was his sons foster kid we are teaching! it was soo scary because that is direct word to president cannon on how we teach. i was a little scared haha. but we asked him to be baptized on june 21st and he said yes!! so we are getting ready for a baptism is a few weeks! isn't that crazy! my 1st baptism in my 1st transfer. but we only have 2.5 investigators the half bc donna doesn't know she is haha but more of our work is reactivation. on sunday we had meetings from 7am to 3 pm. 3 wards is a lot of work. i cant wait until i only have to attend the minimum 3 hours of church one day, because 6 is a lot. buttttt in the YSa branch this less active we have been work with came to church finally! he only stayed the 1st hour but he ran into some people he knew which was great and said he will clear his schedule so he can come next week! he says he wants to maybe serve a mission so that would be cool to get him there!!! Dakotas mom bore her testimony about me and sister d and just said how thankful she was for us and teaching Dakota and being patient and we mean so much to her and her family and Dakota cant stop talking about us during the week. it was really sweet.we had elk meat last night. its kinda gamey/tangy and i have only had meat and potatoes twice so far. they give us a lot of Mexican which is nice, today we are going shopping and getting our nails done for sister ds 8 month. oh we did the face masks! they were fun and felt good! sister d  had a hard time yesterday. all her other companions were a little more difficult then me she said and god knew she needed a break so he sent her me. that was sweet. I just have to lift her up as much as I can. she was in her last area for 7 months in a town 1/5 the size of where we are so everyone knew her and missionary work came easy. its not easy here and we don't have a ton of success but we are working our hardest and I have to remind her that this isn't parma. its middleton. no one knows us we haven't gained the trust of the wards just quite yet and we have only been here 3 weeks so we are just fine. I mean we already have a baptism set for the  21st I think that's great! well that's all for this week! i love you all soo much.

love

sister wasden

 

rotten tomatoes in a giant trash can

made her an eye patch after hitting her in the face with a hair tie

chillin after costa vida