Boring email. Sorry. Weekly email #45

Hey family! This week wasn't super exciting. Last Wednesday I went to transfer meeting and a new elder that is the great-nephew of someone that I helped bring back to church when I was in Chula Vista came in. That was super fun. I didn't get to meet him before he went into the trainer trainee meeting, but I saw him when we went on exchanges to the Imperial Valley. (which is an hour and a half away). His name is Elder Egnew. He's pretty young, but I love his aunt so we can be friends. =P 

We went on exchanges in the valley, as I said. It was a good day out there. It's below sea level and it stinks super bad at night. From cow manure or something. But it's a fun place. I hope I get to serve there one day. My dream is to whitewash train into the valley. The people that served there always talk like it's some kind of club. I want to be in the club! Haha. 

On Friday morning we had interviews with President Clayton. I told him how I'm struggling feeling charity. I pray for it and such, but I still feel inadequate and loving people is difficult. He gave me a good quote and let me know the way to do it is to choose to have charitable feelings towards that person or people. Any suggestions? It really is bugging me. I also told him that I really want to train. So if he gets revelation that I should train, I would be more than fine with it. I would definitely learn charity if I was training. 

Other than that.......not much has happened this week. It was a slow week for numbers because we had meetings and we were out of our area for almost two whole days. We're trying to find people to teach. Hey! Someone look up YSA in Poway/Ramona/Julian on FB! Then tell us their names and addresses or phone numbers. We'll baptize them. =P 

The most exciting thing is that today is Sister Palmer's birthday. She is now 20 years old! I love birthdays. =D =D =D Thank you, Mom, for instilling that love for birthdays in me. 

Sorry this email was so boring. I guess weeks like this happen. Love you all! -Sister Bishop

Transfer #8 Weekly letter #44

Hey family! I'm at the beginning of my 8th transfer. We got transfer calls this morning and Sister Palmer and I are staying together! We are excited about it. That's #4 together. Almost 6 months with the same companion! It's a good thing I like her. And her birthday is next week, so I'll get to celebrate it with her. That will be exciting. She'll be 20 years old! haha. She's so young! But anyway, I'm on my 4th transfer in my 2nd area. I guess I'm good at being in places for a long time since I was in Chula Vista for 4 transfers. Anyway.....

 

This week was really great. On Thursday we had mission leadership council and guess who just came strolling in like it was no big deal? Elder Ballard! Sister Ballard came, too. Sister Clayton looks just like her. Kind of like how I look like you, mom! I hugged Sister Ballard. =] Elder Casey hugged Elder Ballard when we all got in line to shake his hand. Stinker. haha But it was a really good meeting. He told us to go teach missionaries on exchanges how to teach and to be good leaders. He actually asked for God's blessing for us to be good leaders. That was really cool. I always hope I'm being a good leader. I'm trying. It was a big blessing to have Elder Ballard at another mission leadership council. =]

 

Hey! Yesterday was my 10 month mark! I'm getting up there!

 

I went on an exchange with Sister Memmott this week. I don't know if you remember, but Sister Memmott was my MTC companion. It was so much fun! Sister Memmott likes to work hard and she's usually always in a good mood. We saw a miracle and added an investigator in their area. They hadn't added one all transfer! But this is how it went down: Sister Memmott and her companion had visited this lady, Socorro, a few times and had talked to her but they'd never gotten into her house. We were determined to get her as an investigator, so off we went to her house. She wasn't home. =[ We started driving away and then we saw her driving back to her house! So we turned around and when we got out of the car we saw that she and her two boys were taking down the Christmas lights. Obviously we offered to help and I even got on a ladder to do so. By the end our hands were dirty, so I asked if we could wash them off inside. (I felt like Ammon how he caught Lamoni with guile! Or was it Aaron with his father? Either way, I felt like a real missionary!) She let us come in and we washed our hands. She offered us a seat, and after a little bit we taught and got a return appointment! It was really fun. Socorro had the really cute cat you'll see in a picture. Super cute!

 

That night Sister Memmott and I helped out at a wedding reception. It was fun to see the cute beach theme and to help serve the food which was chicken fajitas. (it was super good. And they had frozen yogurt catered. The machinew as there! YUM!) But I would never ever ask for the missionaries to help out at a wedding because of the MUSIC AND THE LOVE AND ROMANCE! Luckily mission leadership council was the day before and I was still super excited to be a missionary. But they played 3 Michael Buble songs, one of which was Save The Last Dance For Me. Thanks goodness they didn't play my favorite: Everything. And the father-daughter dance? Forget it. My heart was melting. We got out of there as fast as we could. Julianne, don't ask for missionaries help at weddings, k? It's bad. 

 

Hey! Eddie and Brindie, tell Kaylor happy birthday for me. I know it's coming up on the 10th. I'm really proud of the choice he made to be baptized. Tell him  I send love and congrats and happy birthday wishes from his missionary aunt.

 

Another update on Boone: he blessed the sacrament this week! Everytime he uses his priesthood in sacrament, Sister Palmer and I are so excited. He is so solid! What a great disciple he is. =] It was the first time he's blessed the sacrament, so it was special. ALSO! In two weeks we're having stake conference, and we, as missionaries, get to go to the Saturday night session, which is new. And it's all about missionary work. AND Boone is speaking!!!!!!!!!!! WHOO-HOO!!!!!!! That's all. =]

 

Oh, and Heather got baptized on Saturday! There were stake baptisms before for primary children, and we knew we wouldn't have time to fill the font so we asked someone to leave it filled for us. They did, and we blasted hot water in there, but it didn't work. I was still really cold. XD I feel bad. But it's okay! Heather was still baptized by the priesthood authority and she is happy! A friend of hers sang When I Am Baptized right before she got baptized and Heather was just crying. She is so excited about the forgiveness we're promised when we repent. And her testimony was boss. She's also really excited that Sister Palmer and I are staying another transfer together. Heck, our whole ward is elated. For good reason! We love this ward and we're doing our best to work hard.

 

There is a man in our apartment complex who we see all the time walking his dog. Her name is Brooke. She's a rescue dog, and as many rescue dogs are, she is defensive and mean when she doesn't like someone. But she loves us! Oh boy, does she love us. She found out which apartment is ours and everytime she's being walked, eithe by Dave or a member of his family, Brooke will come up to our door and hope we come out. If we are home and we hear Dave say her name, we'll run outside and pet her. She LOVES it. On Sunday night right as we were finishing nightly planning we heard Dave say Brooke's name, so we started going outside. I beat Sister Palmer outside and Brooke ran inside our apartment! Thankfully Sister Palmer was still inside to stop her. Brooke was so excited that she peed.XD Thankfully it was on the tiny square of hard wood floor that we have. But anyway, because Brooke loves us so much we have a friendship with Dave. Whenever we see him we talk about the baptism we just had or that we just finished studying from the  Book or Mormon. You know, mormon and missionary words that will make him ask questions.His wife jokes that Brooke is a mormon. Anyway, we're trying to get him to meet with the Lake Poway elders. He's opening up a little bit. We're hoping for the best!

 

One last thing to end the email with a laugh. Remember how Ashley was the one who had baptismal dates previously and she would literally run away from the missionaries? Well yesterday while we were teaching her she told us something. When she was at the top of the steps she knew that she was trapped with Jon waiting in the water for her and Kadi super close and us watching that she literally said out loud "damn". Haha! She said she had to say it one more time before she couldn't say it anymore.

 

Anyway, that's my good long email for this week! I'm still in a singles ward! Whoo-hoo! I love the gospel and this work! Love you all! -Sister Bishop

 

 

 

 

pic 1 - This is me on New Years Eve having traditional Root Beer float. If you zoom in on the ice cream, you can see that it is blue bell.

 

pic 2 - After district meeting this last week Elder Casey (one of my zone leaders) had us all take mustache pictures with mustaches he provided.

 

pic 3 - Picture of Sister Memmott and I on some wedding reception decorations on our way out.

 

pic 4 - On my exchange with Sister Memmott I saw this ADORABLE CAT! Let me tell you, it's a big deal I let it on my lap. I hate animal fur on my nice clothes. But Henry was a mini-cat, so he'll always be like a kitten. He was so sweet, I had to take a picture with him.

 

pic 5 - Heather got baptized!

 

pic 6 - us with the Van Alfen's last night at FHE. Love them!

Happy New Year! 2014! Weekly email #43

Today is the last day of 2013. Whoa. I spent a good majority of it on my mission. It's been a good year. Also fitting, it's the last week of the transfer. Week 6! Next week I'll start my 8th transfer. Getting up there. I hope I'm changing as fast as I should be with all the time I've spent on my mission. Anyway...

It was great talking to you guys last week! I was super blessed and it didn't make me trunky. We just went right back to work. I was way blessed with gifts. I got a lot of love. =]

This week we taught Heather the law of chastity and included the prophets counsel about tattoos and piercings. Heather has some good sized tattoos, not that it's a problem, and some piercings on her face. She said that they're part of her since she's had them for so long and said she'd pray about it. The next time we saw her they were out! She said she was talking to someone about how they were such a part of who she was, and then it was pointed out to her that she wasn't that person anymore. She's okay having taken them out. Plus, way back when on our very first visit with her and she accepted a baptismal date, we told her extremely briefly about the word of wisdom because she has to live in 7 days before her baptismal date. We just barely found out that she was a coffee-adict and she stopped the very day we just mentioned not drinking coffee. Heather is so solid! She can't wait to be baptized and receive forgiveness of her sins. She is so ready for this Pray that Satan doesn't attack her too hard this week. Also, she brought her mom and her cousin to Ashley's baptism. Her cousins' name is Nikka, and we're teaching her a little bit now, too. Whoo-hoo! We read Moroni 7 together and I was really touched by this verse: 

Moroni 7:41 And what is it that ye shall ^ahope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have ^bhope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life ^ceternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.

I loved focusing more on Jesus Christ this Christmas than I ever have before. Christ is so great! And He has such love for us. I'm grateful I got to celebrate His birth as a missionary. =] 

Another really great person we've been teaching is Nella. She's returning to church. We had a lesson with her yesterday and we read the talk "The Power, Joy, and Love of Covenant Keeping" from the last relief society broadcast. (last one EVER now that they're general women's meetings) She really loved it. She's been trying to repent and come back to church for a long time and she keeps slipping and doing the same sins she repented of. Before she had the attitude that she knows she should change, but now she's saying she's never doing it again because she wants Heavenly Father to be proud of her. And she's doing things differently now. She's reading her scriptures every night and praying night and morning on her knees. She is really getting it. She said she was reading 2 Nephi 2 and she understood that because of the fall we need Jesus Christ to redeem us from it. It was really a tender meeting. I love the gospel! 

Ashley's baptism was awesome. The spirit was there. She was confirmed on Sunday and now she has a temple recommend and she's going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead on Thursday. She's really excited.

Well, I love you all! I hope 2014 is as great for you as it is for me. (and I'll be on my mission for the majority, so it's going to be awesome!) 

The gospel is true! Read your scriptures, say your prayers, and go to church! It's spiritual armor. 

LOVE, 

-Sister Bishop 

p.s. You better believe I'm going to have root beer floats tonight. Too bad I don't have Blue Bells homemade vanilla, though. 

pic 1 - Another church sign on the street I live on. We thought this sign was so silly until other missionaries took a picture by it. Coo, huh? 

pic 2 - my district on the day after Christmas, which was also Elder Casey's birthday. 

left to right: Sister Palmer, Elder Arntsen, Elder Hill, Elder Bittner, Elder Casey, and myself

pic 3 - Ashley's baptism!!!! Sister Palmer, Ashley, Kadi (amazing fellowshipper!) and myself. 

pic 4 - a bunch of ward members after Ashley's baptism 

starting from the back going left to right: Tori, Kristi, Tom, Melissa, Chris, I don't know, Brandon, Jake, Boone, Stan

front: Heather, myself, Sister Palmer, Krista, ASHLEY, Kadi, and Emily 

pic 5 - Ashley with her FIRST EVER TEMPLE RECOMMEND! She is so excited.