June 20-27th

Tuesday was CRAZY! Everyone was exhausted because they didn't get to bed until 11 or 11:30 because they were finishing packing and then we were all up by 2 or 3 so we could catch the bus to the airport at 4:30. About 144 missionaries flew out that morning, 29 of them were all going to riverside with me, 1 of them were Spanish speaking. I got to call mom and dad when I finally got to my gate at 6:30 but my plane didn't leave until 8:45. I talked to mom for about an hour and half and by the time I finished gathering my stuff and my companion, there was no time for a nap. I sat next to a girl from my zone on the plane so I got a little power nap in, but the flight was only an hour and half long. One thing that we've all been expectiong is that Riverside Mission would get split into three different missions. So when we finally got to California we were rushed to training and we had to wait until 1pm to find out who our new companions were going to be and where we were going to go. Everyone in my district was hoping we'd stay together, but as our mission President began to call us to our new companions some of us ended up in areas that would be in the Riverside mission and some in the soon to be Redlands Mission. I got called to a companion in the Murrieta area.  I'll be in the Carlsbad Mission. We were the only sister companionship called to this mission. All of the sisters I was hoping to see again, I'll only see once before they split the mission up. That's the only sad part. The rest of it is great! I love my new companion, Sister Grover. She's working with me a lot to make sure I know what I'm doing and she usually asks me if I'd like to do something I haven't tried before. Sometimes I think I get on her nerves, but usually were pretty good with each other. Every day we're supposed to do this thing called OYM's, It's "Open Your Mouth" where we go and talk to people. We're supposed to get 20 a day, ten each. So everyday we're trying to talk to twenty new people before 9pm and that's with working around all of the other things we have planned for the day. It was to the point we'd just go to a parking lot that last hour of the day and cram them all in there. Then we went on exchanges with some sisters and things changed. Sister Grover and I both learned that tracting through out the day is the best way to get them. Who knew?! Right?! The exchange was on a Tuesday, on Wednesday when Sister Grover and I were back together, we took what we learned and our day turned out amazing. We got to know our district better and then when we went looking for a less active we went to the wrong address  but ended up meeting a nice buddist family and we're going to meet with them again. Later we went to another member's house but they had moved out and only the painter was there so we talked with him. He's so happy and he loves God. We left a blessing with him and he said we can come by any time this week and talk to him some more. We took one of our investigators on a church tour. We took him and his son through each of the main rooms of the building, focusing on the pictures and explaining them. Then we ended in the chapel and point out that there are no pictures in there and the main focus is on the sacrament, then we leave them with a song.  The song is important because it helps the spirit fill the chapel. After the song we asked him if he would pray about the church and the book of Mormon to know if they are true and if he felt they were true if he would be baptized by someone holding the priesthood. There was a great calmness about him and I could feel the spirit around us as he says he would. He's on date to be baptized on July 20th, and his little 6 year old boy wants to come to church EVERY sunday. It's so great to hear that sort of thing. I love just sharing my testimony about the gospel and my stories so that other people can feel that truth through my belief and love for the savior.