"Thank You So Much For The Prayers That You Have Offered For Me"

December 24, 2012

We have been caroling every day for a week and it has been amazing! We have gotten into so many homes to give blessings on the home. What we did was all of us made a huge list of people we wanted to carol to (non members, potentials, and part member families) and our ward mission leader hooked up  the biggest flatbed trailer I have ever seen to the back of his truck, threw some bails of hay on the back and got a huge group together! Going on the hay wagon has been super fun but SUPER COLD! BTW I am going to freeze to death when I get home if I am freezing in 50 degree weather. Then we would stop and go up to a house and sing a few songs. As we sang, many people from our group would go up to the door and hand the people oranges, candy canes, a box of my favorite cherry chocolates, and at the end one of us missionaries would go up to the door and give them a Joy to the World dvd. Then we would proceed to ask them if they would allow my companion and I to come in their home and have a prayer with them right then. Then we did the blessing contact I told you about before. REALLY EFFECTIVE! We have gotten 4 appointments from it so far and that is such a miracle!

 We had one of the appointments with this lady a couple of days ago that the elders found in our area from 
caroling. She is really nice, her name is Teri. She is an older disabled lady and she is know for her "senior smart house, the house that cares for you!" She showed us around, it was really awesome! Then we were able to share the Christmas story with her and she invited us back on Christmas!!!! WOWEE! Usually no one wants to see our face on holidays hahaha but she is alone and she wants us to celebrate with her. Really cool! Last night we were really successful. We found 2 families that are ready to receive the restored gospel! One of the families set an appointment for the 3rd at 11 :( that was a dagger to the heart.) The other family we are meeting with to teach the plan of salvation to the day after Christmas! SOOOOOOOOOOOO excited! These two families lived right next to the Dutsons and the Taylors. Obviously really really active members in missionary work all the time. The Lord puts people in the path of those that are willing and ready to share the gospel! WHAT A MIRACLE!!!! :]

 Soooooo...........the end of the world didnt happen. SO GLAD! There are so many more things that need to happen before Christ comes again. I swear everyone was going crazy down here hahaha. I hope no one in the world did anything too stupid. There are some crazies in the world, let me tell you hahaha. 

So I have kinda bummed that my last baptism was in October and I dont get to see one before I go home...welll....I take that back........miracles happen so I dont know yet............but anyways, the SPirit has taught me this week why we are not getting baptisms right now and he has also taught me why I am in the position I am in now. Let me explain.  I have learned the power of 2 testifying about the message more than ever. When there is only one, it is not as powerful. I have had some talks with my companion (with love) about what I expect from her as my companion. She takes all of my suggestions with great humility, which has been a powerful example to me.  One day, after a lesson I just shut down. I was soooooooo discouraged  because the goal of teaching in unity felt so out of reach. Since we didnt have the spirit I pulled the car over and prayed. The Spirit chastised me for being so frustrated and I learned why this was happening. The Spirit spoke to me and said, "Sister Fine, cheer up your heart, you are in this companionship because though you wont have another baptism before the end of your mission, your companion will have people placed in her path in the last year of her mission. You are needed to train her and to help her with the skills that you have gained over your 18 months of service to help her become an effective advocate of the truth. Your legacy will live on through her as she serves the rest of her mission. Take hold of the opportunity at hand and move forward with faith." Mom and dad and babies, I literally felt the power of the Atonement overcome me and fill me with love and compassion for my companion. I have a clear understanding of what the Lord expects of me in the last few days of my mission. I am so thankful for the light that the Lord sheds into my heart by the Spirit. I am so thankful for the strength that he has always given me to act on the promptings of the Spirit and I am so thankful for all the confirmation I have received letting me know that what I have done is right. I love the Lord. I feel his love. I want others to feel of his grace as well. I pray that all of us will look into ourselves and what the Spirit is telling us right now. May we act upon it so the Lord can continually bless us. I love you all so much and I have prayed for you every night. 

Thank you so much for the prayers that you have offered for me. I literally feel them over me and blessing me. I feel more at peace about leaving the mission. The Lord has been telling me through my mind and through President that it is my time to go home and that he will take care of me.  I have to tell you though, the wards I am in are not being subtle with the hints on wanting me to marry their returned missionary sons..............oh boy. Needless to say, ward counsel yesterday was all of the auxiliary leaders setting me up with all of them. I was so embarrassed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They were so naughty! I tried to change the subject but it didn't work! I am just taking it as a compliment and shrugging it off, but you'd think that they would be more respectful of my calling as a missionary. They know how much I love the mission and how much I don't want to leave.....little stinkers....

 Anyways....besides that, the members are spoiling us with gifts! I cant even believe it!!!!! We get little gifts on our doorstep every day! SO SWEET! Anyways...I am sending some packages home for me trying to make room in my suitcases so I am sorry if it is a lot. I will try to ship them as cheap as possible. I am getting rid of a lot of stuff by leaving it here for other missionaries so that will help. Love you all and I will see you TOMORROW AT 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wooooooooohooooooooo!

Sister Fine

"I have a 3 hour layover in Salt Lake City!"

December 17, 2012

Hey Family! I love you! Did you see the temple when you flew home? Mom I have a 3 hour layover in SLC! I AM GOING TO HAVE A HEART ATTACK! Who can come visit me from SLC during that time? Hmmmmmmmm..........I guess I will just have to hand out the Book of Mormon like candy at the airport! Yea I was wondering what you were going to do for the 25th. Are all the kids okay with doing all of Christmas on Jan 4th or something? When were we going to do it? The same day I get home? Or after so we can all sleep in the same room again over night when santa comes or what is the plan? Are the kids going to be able to wait? Yes I did give in on the skype thing. We are going to skype at sister dutsons house and sister dutson should be calling you today with us there about Christmas day so we can plan it all out. Reporting to the High Counsel? Like a talk? Or what is that? hahaha. Never heard of that hahaha. Maybe Im just deaf hahaha. I want you to know that I am soooooooooo happy and excited to come home and kiss all of your faces! You are amazing and I miss you so much! Im excited to skype with you all! I would LOVE to help out with the Activity day thing. It will be so bomb! The whole tradgety this week...wow.....I didnt even hear until yesterday at church. It just shows how sheltered we are as missionaries. Had a good week this week. Better than last week for sure!

 

Had more lessons this week. And we got a new investigator! Jessie's sister Erica! :] When Jessie and Jeremy joined the church, Jessie's family was really against the whole thing. But they ended up coming to her baptism and seeing her confirmed on sunday in sac meeting. A few months go by and Jessie has been talking to her sister about the gospel. Erica agreed to have a lesson with us for Jessie, so that she can understand what Jessie is doing. THat is where it all starts! Erica is way more receptive than Jessie thinks she is! I know there is a little fear with sharing with your family because you dont want them to reject the gospel. You know? But Erica had great questions! It felt so good to teach again because we have just been trying to find find find. We have been doing everything we can to find people to teach. And look! We got Erica! AMazing daughter of God. After the lesson she said, "Sister Fine, when do you go home? I like you! I want to have more lessons before you leave!" That made me feel really good. SInce sister De Greef and I started the transfer, we have been really working on teaching together. It has been a little rough....but we are getting there. When we were doing something at sister dutsons house the other day, sister dutson said "sister fine, you are doing great work with sister de greef, she did a lot better this time!"  I know that every area or companion has helped me a ton whether it was really difficult or not. We had a zone meeting this week and we had the Christmas party and talent show.  It was nice to sit and enjoy. I was going to dance, but music selection and choreography is really hard on the mission hahaha. Also I havent danced in 18 months so.......who knows what that looks like hahaha.

 

We also did something cool in our area this week! We gathered up the district (5 companionships total) and divided our area up to everyone and made assignments so our area could be blitzed! 10 missionaries in one area was the BOMB! Everyone made great contacts and we are excited to followup on everything that the Elders helped us do. Awesome Possum!

Yesterday in Beverly Glen ward we had just finished hearing all the talks and then the bishop got up to close the meeting. To my suprise, this is what he said...."As all of you know, we have had Sister Fine serving in our ward for a few months now and she is going home in about three weeks. Sister Fine will you please come up and give a 5 minute talk on your mission?" So I got up there and I about had a heart attack! After I was done I didnt remember what I said but I got lots of love from the members. I love these people so much!  I got really emotional at the pulpit because it seemed as though all of my mission hit me in that one moment. As I sat down next to my recent convert Jessie, I was bawling. She linked her arm with mine and said that she loved me. I was so thankful for that moment because I just love Jessie and I love all of the people that I have come into contact with. EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER!!!!!! AHHHHH! But it has changed my life. I know that all of these things that I teach are true. I feel the Savior in my life every day. I feel angels surrounding me and bearing me up!

 

We had interviews with president this week and he said many things that really touched me. He said that he trusts me completely and that he loves me so much and is so thankful for the leadership I am in the mission and for helping others to grow around me. I thought that was really sweet. Also Sister Neider told me that she loved me so much. She looked deep into my eyes and I could really feel their love for me.

 

One more experience before I have to go do my laundry. Saturday night we came home at 9 to plan for the next day....and as soon as I shut the door when I came inside, I got a ton of pain in my bad knee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAdnt had that in a long time! BUt I had it for the rest of the night and it was really hard to sleep. But as soon as I got out of bed at 630 I felt nothing. It just showed me that the Lord provides for us so that we can have strength as we do his work. Amazing amazing! Love you all! and I will talk to you next monday!

 

Sister Fine

"We have a new Pet in our Home"

December 10, 2012

We are Working really hard. Staying really focused. Using all of our resources. Biking all the time. Talking to everyone we see. Following up with all of our members that have potential investigator friends. Going through the purification challenge. ETC ETC. But we know in missionary work that the work ebs and flows. In sept-october we had amazing miracles and now we are down in the dumps of missionary work but that doesnt mean my effort is down in the dumps. I am working harder and harder all the time and I know that miracles will come!

 

This week we got the opportunity to finally go to the temple with kelsie to do baptisms! It was awesome! Out of the 6 baptisms we have had in this area we have helped 5 do their family history and go to the temple to do baptisms. The only one left is pam and she has been doing a lot of family history research! Very exciting! This week we helped set up for the Chrirstmas parties. It was a great idea! Down here in Vegas, they treat every activity like a wedding!!!!!!! THEY GO ALL OUT! And the 2 wards in our building just all set up and helped decorate and they just left all the decorations up for 2 nights so both wards could enjoy. Half the work and more AMAZING! I was also a part of the beverly glen play. I was the angel and I sang hark the herald angels sing acapella!  The Frenchman Hills Party was really small but the Beverly Glen party was HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe 450 people in the cultural hall. Maybe a 1/3 of them non members! That ward is really good at getting people out to their parties!

 

I have been doing this purification challenge that I will show you when I get home. It is amazing and sister Monson and I did it together for 2 transfers. I just saw her at the computer lab by the way! I just love sister monson! Anyways, sister de greef didnt really want to do it with me so I have been doing it by myself. Then one morning we were going over to morning sports with the sisters and they were bearing their testimony to us about how the purification challenge is helping them and they are seeing miracles in their area. SO that day sister degreef decided to give it a shot. This was saturday, and that day that she decided, we saw so many more things happen in that day than in the whole week combined! There is POWER in the companionship unity! I pray that I can help sister De Greef as best as I can.  She is very quiet and doesnt talk when we are around people, but then when we are by ourselves she is a little chatterbox hahaha. So cute! I love her, she is awesome and so loving and willing to work hard and be obedient, but it is hard to do all the talking by myself. I have lots of things to say hahahahaha but the power of both testimonies is where the power lies.

 

This weekend we had the missionary breakfast with the Stake President. After we ate, President Jarvis put me on the spot and asked me to bear my testimony since it was my last breakfast. I had about 10 min to wait to bear my testimony and tears just filled my eyes. Las Vegas is a home for me. A sacred ground that will always have a large piece of my heart for the rest of my life. I bore my testimony and the Spirit was with me. The influence of my mission hit me all at once and it was a powerful experience. I know that the Lord is pleased with me and my service. This is a huge changing ground for me! I will never be the same person that I once was. This has changed me. I love my mission and I am so thankful to say that I have time left to serve full time and then I can serve as a member missionary when I get home. We are going to see miracles in this next week I just know it! Love you all and miss you tons. Please invite people who are close to this area for my departing testimony on jan 2nd 3:30 pm at 9270 S Maryland Pwky Las Vegas Nv, 89123. By the way I have decided to Skype on Christmas! I will get back to you on that! Love you!!!! MISS YOU!!!!

 

Sister Fine

 

ps-We have a pet in our home. His name is Gigantor the cockroach. We have had several interactions that involved highpitch screams and him crawling into a hole in the cupboard. NOT OKAY!!!!! I assure you that this will end like the story about el diablo the mouse.

"Biking in a Skirt is an Art"

December 3, 2012

This week was a little rough but everything will be fine!

Pday was good. We keep cutting our pday short because we want to have lessons with Jessie and Jeremy. Before that we played frisbee golf with the elders. I love playing sports with everyone! Usually we play sports in the morning with the elders and I have gotten quite good, if I do say so myself! :] my sisters and brothers will be very proud of me hahah!

 

We had district meeting! Got a lot of work done today! We had an investigator flake out on us which is really sad, that has been happening a lot lately....it seems. we have been biking alot lately! We ended up biking the entire day and man my skirt took a beating! I got my skirt caught in my bike SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many times! I even pinned my skirt and it still didnt work! Im telling you, biking in a skirt is an art!

 

We went to see Kevin in the hospital again. They found blood clots all over in his body this time. One even close to his heart. If it dislodges, Kevin will..... :(. I just feel so bad! I hope and pray that he will be okay. He is a recent convert of almost a year and he wants to serve a mission so badly. I pray that he will serve where the Lord wants him to serve.

 

 We started to teach Jasmine. This is Bill's niece. She is so sweet and we love her so much! She will be baptized on dec 15th! So very excited for her! She has such a sweet spirit. Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo story time. On friday night I threw up and it was soooooo bad. The whole night I felt sick. Then the next day we went out for a while and came home for lunch and I was just soooooo sick! I have never stayed in for more than an hour or 2 for being sick, but this time I stayed in for most of saturday and all sunday pretty much. That is the worst feeling as a missionary to have to stay in!!!!! I never want to ever ever ever have to do that again! I FELT SO WORTHLESS!!!!!!!!!!! I got up at 630 and showered and started getting ready and then I just felt like garbage! I called sister Neider and she said "Sister Fine, you need to rest, The President and I love you and trust you to make the best decision, you are a sharp missionary and we are thankful for you!" Man That made my day that they would say that about me. :] So I said that I would go back to sleep for a little bit and then go to our second sacrament meeting and see how I felt. So I did. I fell asleep and then got up and finished getting ready at 1015ish. Then we got there and I felt like I was in a daze. I couldnt even think straight. I realized that it was my last testimony meeting in the mission field so I wanted to get up there but I couldnt. I was too sick. Then I looked at our planner and I started to cry because we had appointments every hour after church. I couldnt even sit quietly without feeling so sick, let alone run around and do everything so I started to cry during the closing prayer. At the end of the prayer, all of my beverly glen mom's came around me and gave me hugs and words of encouragement. One sister said very powerfully "sister Fine, you are a servant of the Lord, at any time you can call down the power to Heal you right now so that you can continue your work at this time. you have the faith, let him heal you." So at that moment I said in my heart, "Father, in the name of Jesus Christ and as his representative I pray that I will be healed from this sickness so that I can get back to work, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." After that, sister De Greef and I went home and I slept forever. Then sister Taylor brought us food and we ate it. Then sister Whitehead came and got me and sister taylor took sister Degreef. I went to sister Whitehead's house for the Christmas devotional and stayed there while sister degreef and sister taylor went to all our lessons for that night. I was sooooooo thankful. I know that my prayer worked because I slept through the whole night and I woke up completely fine. Now I am here emailing and I am doing good. A little nervous for the next month to come but I know that it will be a joyous day and a step into the next exciting chapter of my life! Love you all and I miss you tons! I will see you all a month from today at about 3 pm. Mwah!

Sister Fine

"I Turned 17 Months on Thanksgiving"

November 26, 2012

Hello my family! HAPPY Thanksgiving late! I love you so much and I really hope and pray that it was a really good time with the sister Missionaries. Here was my week.

Monday: Had a good pday. Sister Monson packed up all her stuff and I took a long nap. I was soooooo exhausted and I didnt know why! Little did I know I was about to get real reall sick. Im glad I had a nap or else it probably would have been worse this week. That night we went and had a lesson with Jill at the Dutson's house. Jill is going through a lot of the normal struggles that investigators have, and she doesnt want to come to church...sooooo...thats an issue but we are working on it. All we need to do is to teach her and promise her blessings that come from keeping the commandments and she will be just fine. She will progress along. We have a meeting with her tomorrow. After the lesson, Sister Monson and I presented an FHE lesson for one of the empty nesters groups out here and that was good. We had a lot of good food and we played a game. Oh my goodness I cannot wait to teach you this game when I come home.  We all will die of laughing so hard. hahaha. Then the Dutsons said goodbye to sister monson and I was bawling like a baby. I love Sister Monson so much! 

Tues: Transfers! In the Morning we said goodbye to everyone that sister Monson wanted to see and then we headed over to transfers. It was a really great meeting. It was REALLY REALLY weird to see some of the sisters go home that were in the MTC with me and flew out here with me on the plane. My time is coming wayyyyyy too soon. The members and everyone is reminding me how I only have about 5 weeks left. But sister De Greef and I got together and had a great first evening! Sister Cheatham finally got transferred out of Black mountain since I started training her!  She is now serving in the same area sister Hanny and I opened about a year ago. WOw it has been that long since I have been there. wow. Also, sister Lio went home. Sad day. Do you know if Carly and Mike are coming to my departing testimony? Do the Bensons want to come? Will you invite anyone that is close to here to come and see me?  Uncle Danny?  I think he is only about an hour or 2 away from here. Anyways.....

Wed: We had district meeting. And we had a lesson with Suzanne. It was good.  She is also really closed off so I have no idea how to find out her concern. Its really hard, but we are still working at it. Showing her that the Lord loves her and her family so much!

Thurs: We have been biking a ton this week! Lots of fun! Talking to lots of people! Then we went to the Dutsons for thanksgiving! We helped set everything up and it was really good to meet more of their family! Their youngest daughter just got her mission call to Santiago Chile! Cool cool! I love the Dutsons so much! SOOOOO SOOOOO Much! Then that night because no one wanted to talk to us hahahaha we handed out tons and tons of thank you cards to some of our members and investigators and such! :] fun stuff! Also I turned 17 months on thanksgiving! Pretty crazy huh! 

Friday: Friday was really slow. We had weekly planning though and that was good. We have a lot of potentials coming out of the woodwork! Very excited!

Sat: Sat was a good day. We had a new member lesson with Jessie and Jeremy! I love them soooooooooooo much! Then we visited a member and all of a sudden she is working on 3 different people! We were like "so when were you planning on telling us that you are baptizing the world right now hahahaha." Then at night we went with our ward mission leader and his wife to deliver haloween pictures. The wards down here are GENIUS when it comes to missionary work in the activities. That is what they plan the entire event around! So for the Haloween party we had at the church, Bro Affleck painted an amazing backdrop so that people could get their pictures taken. Then we had it set up that the people would give their addresses so that we could deliver the pictures when they were done! That way we can make some contact to the non members who came and invite them to our Christmas party and see if there is any other way that we can help them! So we did that this week and I have never been so welcomed by nonmembers in my life! hahahahaha! I swear all the non members look at us here like we are going around killing innocent dogs or something. hahaha. wow. But it was really amazing!!!!!!

Sunday: CHURCHNESS! We had some really hard stuff happen about an investigator we have, but the Spanish missionaries and us were really unified in all of it and just did our best. We cant control everything, just what we do! I am really excited because we have a new sweet sweet investigator named Jasmine. We love her so much! She is BIll's niece. Very excited. And it worked out to where both the spansih elders and us are teaching her at the same time. That is what she wanted I guess so that is how we are going to do it! Jasmine is getting baptized either dec 15 or dec 22. Very excited! OH MY GOODNESS! We also got a Christmas tree!!!!! The members brought it over and helped us set it up! Made me so happy! ALso this morning to decorate it I made a long strand of popcorn. I poked myself alot but it was worth it! Very cute popcorn tree :]

Well Love you so much! That was my week!  My new compy is amazing! I love her so much! When I wanted my mommy to take care of me being sick this week, sister De Greef just took over and made me soup and she was just so sweet! I was sooooo thankful! She is very humble, very sweet and caring. She is a great companion to end with! I love her so much! 

Sister Fine

"I Spoke in Stake Conference"

November 19, 2012

So STORYTIME!!!! This week, the Elders were street contacting in an apt complex and they saw this lady praying. So they walked up to her and waited for her to be done. When she opened her eyes she was like "ELDERS HI!!!" Then before they could even say anything, she wrote out all her information and gave it to them and said I want to be taught by sisters. hahaha. So then we contacted her and she is amazing. Maybe I already told you this but, her name is Stefani and she is sooooooooooooooooooooo sweet. She has had some really big trials in her life and she is super humble. She said that she is thinking about joining the church. So we gave her the first lesson and then asked her to get baptized and her response was "ABSOLUTELY!!!" hahahaha wow I havent quite gotten that response before hahaha. It was amazing. She said that she needs to get her answer before she sets a date but we are soooooooooooooooooooo excited for her! 

This week was stake conference and she came! She loved it! Afterwards she was like, "Its over already?" hahahaha I dont think that she will have a hard time with church being 3 hours long hahaha. Speaking of Stake conference, I was asked  by the stake president to speak in stake conference. I spoke for 5-7 minutes on missionary work, go figure, hahaah. After I spoke I sat down and I said a little prayer in my heart, "Heavenly Father, please help me to know if I said what I was supposed to say. And please let me know if I was guided by the spirit." After Stake conference, I was swarmed by people who said over and over again that I had the spirit radiating from me. I knew it was an answer to my prayer. The end of stake conference was very powerful because the Stake President had all of us fulltime missionaries march from the back of the gym to the front through the isles singing Called to Serve! People were crying! It was pretty cool. Im excited because the theme for next year in the central stake is missionary work! In the foyers afterwards we handed out so many items so that members can give them out to their friends. It was great! 

 We had a fireside on tuesday night that was soooooooooo amazing! Stanley G. Ellis spoke to all of us and our investigators and recent converts. We took Pam Pew with us. I love her so much! Since a month before her baptism til now, she has given out 50 marked BOMs! Can you beleive that? And when she went to new mexico after her baptism she gathered all of these ranch families and held cottage meetings in her home and showed church movies and taught them about the church. Unfortunatley there are no missionaries in sight for about an hour and a half!!! :( But she is a great missionary. 

We are contacting people like crazy out here. I got into this slump of not contacting people as well because there werent a lot of people to talk to on the street. But even though I get nervous sometimes I just go up to everyone I see and talk to them and words just fall out of my mouth. Its amazing. The Lord really helps us as we rely solely on him. 

The weather has been getting pretty cold. I broke out the sweats and sweatshirts when it hit the 60's. 60 is FREEZING down here. I think it is because now I have las vegas blood. hahaha. Its about 50 or 60 every day. And Im just thinking about how cold Im going to be wihen I get home. I think I will die of cold when I get home. 

The missionary force is getting huge! SOOOOOOOOOOOO excited! Everyone and their dog and their goldfish is getting mission calls to all over the world! Did you know that a mission opened in China finally? THey are just being hush hush about it because they want to keep their relationship with China a good one that keeps building. :] Awesome. The second coming of the Messiah is coming soon I feel! :] We must prepare! 

HEY I GOT BANGS! My Fall tradition. :] I love them! Im trying to send a picture, we will see if it works!

Last thing for this week. We went on splits and did a mini mission with some laurels. It was awesome! It is amazing how miracles happen when you take the youth out with you! COntacts right and left and potential investigators right and left! Amazing! Now they are so excited to go on their missions. I love the fire behind all the youth right now! It is amazing to see! Well I love you all so much and I miss you and I want to kiss your cheeks and I just love you and love you and love youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Sister Fine

"I Sang for Elvis Presley's Manager!"

November 13, 2012

Sorry about yesterday! We had zone conference with a general authority! It was my day to go with 4 of the zones! Sorry to scare you that I wasn't on yesterday. Hopefully you were notified so that you didnt think that I died or something hahahaha. It was an amazing zone conference, I took like 10 pages of notes in my journal. Also to prepare for the zone conference with Stanley G. Ellis of the Seventy we were given a talk about being a consecrated missionary. We were assigned to all read the talk and all of us were asked to prepare a 5 minute talk and Elder Ellis would call on 2 people to give talks on the spot. GUESS WHO WAS PICKED!!!! Hahahaha. So I gave a talk on being a consecratesd missionary in front of a GENERAL AUTHORITY!!! Very nerve racking but the words just flowed out of my mouth and surprisingly I was not nervous at all. It worked out really well. Im soo grateful that I can prepared!!! :]

 It hit me this week that I only have a few weeks left on the mission. I am one of the "about to die" missionaries hahaha. But I am not going to focus on that, I am focusing on RIGHT NOW! As Uchtdorf says "You are always in the middle of your mission, it is not the end until it ends." And even when it ends, it really doesnt end. I want to hold cottage meetings at our house and have lessons in our home every week!!! hahaha. Im excited to be a better member missionary because now I know what our responsibility of member missionaries is!!!! I think us as members dont understand how important we are in the work! In EVERY baptismI have had, it was always when a member was actively involved in the whole process. Not just 1 or 2 members but the ward working together!!!!!! :] I learned so much from my mission so far I dont even know where to begin. 

So with that girl, she is not doing well. We had a very sacred experience with her this week and it made me see another reason why I am here. I have gone through experiences of seeing one that I love go through partially the same thing and so I am here to help. The key is.....she doesnt want to be helped. We found a lady who went through ALL of the same things that anna did and we set up a time to meet with all of us together and after we left I guess it went sour. She just wants to die. She is miserable in her life and she doesnt have a eating disorder in her mind....she just knows that if she starves herself she will die. And she wants to die because of all of the horrible things that have happened to her in her life. I just want the best for her but she has to want the best for her too. 

Sister Dutson told me that you said that hannah is doing good. I always worry because I know that you probably dont tell me everything and my whole mission I have just hoped that she is always getting better! It sounds like she is my hannah again! She was before I left but its been so long! When sister Dutson told me that hannah was doing good and that she was using this trial to help others I put my face in my hands and just bawled happy tears! HANNAH IS SUCH A STRONG ONE! I love her so much! I am proud of all of my little babies! They are getting so big and I cant wait to see them! I cant believe I will be able to hug you and kiss all of your cheeks. 

This week was great and we went to do baptisms for the dead with Jessie, Jeremy and Summer. They all did family names and it was such a sacred experience. I got cold chills as I saw all of them go into the water. Jeremy did baptisms for his own father, his grandpa and some of Jessie's ancestors. Jessie did some of her great aunts and great grandparents. Summer did a baptism for her own mother. Amazing. We all cried together! It was beautiful. We are even helping others be baptized who are on the other side of the veil. Amazing. 

Kevin was in the hospital again! This was the worst time. He is 18 years old, a recent convert, wants to go on a mission so bad, and he is suffering so much! In the hospital room when we visited him I just wanted to take all of his pain away. He has a blood clot from his foot to his hip. He is still in the hospital but he has so much support from the ward. He is an amazing guy and I know that the Lord will have him serve where he is needed the most!

Saturday we went and I practiced the song that I sang on the recording. It was actually saturday that we recorded it because we wanted to take it to Kevin so he wouldnt miss it. We thought it would cheer him up too!!!! It was sister Brunner's idea to record it! Im thankful for that.  I sang that song the next day in church and I really felt like my voice was guided. :]

This sunday we spoke at a baptism for a 8 year old and it turned out great! I just thought about caden and planned a talk on the holy ghost for caden because I really didnt know the kid at all. But it ended up great! Plus caden is almost 10 so hes not my little baptism boy anymore! My babies are getting so big!!!!!! 

Yesterday was amazing with the zone conference with the general authority! We get to go to a fireside with him tonight and we are bringing Jill, one of our investigators. Yesterday we had a lesson with Jessie and Jeremy and they talked about how much they loved the temple and that they felt a really strong spirit there. It made me soooooooooooo happy! Then we stayed and the Dutsons invited their neighbors over for dinner who had been taught the lessons before. Sister Dutson wanted us to try again on them because the last sister missionaries that taught them were not bold at all. It is so nice to feel the trust of the members! Now that they trust us, they trust us with their closest friends and family! THeir neighbors just happen to be Bobby and Joan. Bobby was Elvis Presley's manager for a long time. And the dutsons had me sing to them last night.  I felt soooooooooooo honored! We talked with them and asked if they will try the lessons again and they said yes! They are really busy right now but we are going to start lessons with them after thanksgiving. 

Speaking of thanksgiving, it looks like we are going to be on our own...... :( I was spoiled last thanksgiving, members made sure that we were feeling at home. This thanksgiving...im not sure what it going to happen :( but itll be fine. Some missionaries are washing their clothes in rivers and sleeping on dirt floors so I think that I will be fine hahahaha.

 Anyways.....tell my sisters that I am sorry about the soccer game! They are amazing little players! Also tell britton that his deer is SICK! Amazing job! Um I am trying to think if what else.....um....I LOVE YOU AND I WILL SEE YOU IN 8 WEEKS! MWAH!!!!!

Sister Fine

"We Dressed Up As Eachother!"

November 5, 2012

Things are going good. Here are the events.

We had a lesson with Jill this week and soft set her for baptism. She said that she hopes it is true and she wants to be baptized but she is going to wait for her son to get home. IN 2 YEARS! NO WAY! That is wayyyyyyyyyyyyy tooooooooooooooooooo long to wait for her to get all the blessings that come with it. But the Dutsons told us, dont worry, as she learns about this more and more, she will want it sooner and Ricardo will just be able to go with her in the temple for the first time. I think that sounds amazing. So we are working on that! 

Halloween was awesome! It is a churchwide thing that says that we need to be in one of 3 places on halloween night. 1. At a ward party 2. At a mission party or 3. At home. Since the ward party was going to be filled with non-members we decided to go to the ward party for finding opportunities. So what we did is we had a trunk at the Trunk or treat chilli cookoff party and set it up awesomely!!!! With help from the members of course. :] Also we got bunches of candy and attached pass-along cards (with our phone # on it) to half the candy. Also we handed out some "Finding faith in Christ" DVDs and talked to a bunch of people!!!! It was awesome! We couldnt dress up obviously so we did all we could and dressed up as eachother! hahahahahahaha it was really fun! We had a fun time with it. I wore a cute button up shirt and a black skirt because that is what sister monson likes to wear and also I made my hair wavy and wore some of her old glasses and we popped the lenses out of them! hahaha. Then for sister monson I straightened her hair and put it in a pony and then she wore some of my stuff. Plus we found a super cute colorful skirt that fits her in the apartment so she wore that :]. And of course we switched nametags hahaha. It was fun!

This week we took Kelsie to the Family history center at the temple and she LOVES family history! We hope to be able to go with her this week to do baptisms for the dead!

This week we taught summer's dad. We planned a family home evening with summer, her less active stepmom, and her non member brother and father but they all forgot we were coming. So we sat and talked to Summer and Janelle for a while and then Summer's dad came in. We talked about the blessings of the gospel that have come into their lives The spirit was there. But he said that he didnt feel like it was his time yet. His faith in Jesus Christ has led him to this point in his life. We could tell because he opened up to us and told us all these amazing wonderful things. I know that he will join the church someday but it has to be on his own time. We have high hopes for Summer and her family...Agency is the key. 

The other night we had a appointment with a recent convert family. We went at the appointed time and knocked on the door. It took a solid few minutes for someone to come to the door. When we walked in, I knew something had happened. When we sat down they told us that some of their family members on the east coast were murdered that day. OH MAN HOW TERRIBLE. We were silent because it was still fresh but we solemnly bore our testimony about the plan of salvation and how all of us can be together again. She said, thank you for coming, we needed that. Now I know the exact reason why we made the appointment for today. Then they asked for blessings and were were able to get some of the priesthood over to do that. WONDERFUL BLESSINGS were bestowed upon them.

This week we had a health fair in the stake. We were asked if we wanted to set up a booth and we said OF COURSE! So we set up a "spiritual health" booth among all the other booths. :] It was awesome! We had some really good contacts from it! Gave away lots of materials. It was cool with this one lady though, Sister Dutson was at her booth and the lady was talking to her about how her brothers had died. Sister Dutson took us over to her and we talked to her for a second and gave her stuff about Christ and the Plan of Salvation. She came out of her booth and gave us both huge hugs! It was amazing! 

ALSO ATTENTION DADDY! We were walking one day and we ran into this guy on a big tractor. His name is Robert Foremaster. He served in your mission at the exact same time as you! He gave his info because he would LOVE to talk to you! He was a really nice guy! Give him a call! Talked to him for about 30 min on the street a couple days ago!

It was a good week! Struggling with the teaching pool but considering that we just had 6 baptisms in a row I think we do need a little hardship to help us grow more. I love you and I am so glad that everyone had a great time at halloween! Love you all and I miss you so much! See you in a few weeks! By few I mean like 9 :]

Sister Fine

"I think I have Las Vegas summer blood now"

October 29, 2012

Ok here is my week! We have this new investigator named Jill who was provided by the Dutsons (as always) I love them so much! Mommy!!! SIster Dutson just got the same exact calling as you so I get to see a lot of what you do! Anyways....The Dutsons invited us over to have dinner with Jill and also the Dutsons invited Jessie and Jeremy as well. It was so great. Jill's son Ricardo just went on a mission to Paraguay and she was asking us tons of questions about missions and what we do. It was really great! Then at the end the Dutsons said "hey sisters do you want to do a lesson?" And we said of course! So we were talking for a little while with her and then the conversation just went automatically to the Plan of Salvation! She loved the lesson and she said that she would like to learn more! SO EXCITING! Now we are teaching Jill and this lady named Suzanne. Suzanne has been taking the lessons for a while now and we go over to their house once a week. I think suzanne is getting closer. She resists if we push so we are just trying to bring the spirit in her home so that she feels the difference. Her husband is a member and her son is also a member. They are a great family! 

For about a week and a half, one of the recent converts in our ward (Kevin) was in the hospital. He had a large blood clot over his right lung. He is 18 years old and he wants to serve a mission so bad! Then to our surprise, he was at church yesterday! He was finally released from the hospital! It was awesome! We visited him a couple of times in the hospital last week to try and get his spirits up! I know that the Lord has a plan for him. 

HEY! SO thank you for my ballot! Did you get it back from me yet?  How are all of you feeling about all this election stuff?!?! I'm excited to hear what kind of condition our country is in! I hope it is in the positive.t  

This last few weeks since all of our recent converts got baptized we have been doing TONS of family history!!!! That is one of the things that I am going to explode on when I get home! But we have been helping our recent converts research their ancestors and get names printed up so that their work can be done, Very amazing to see their faces and how excited they are to help their deceased loved ones. Jessie is taking a great interest in it and it is very exciting! Jeremy also has his father's name printed up. We are going to do the baptisms this week! So excited for that. This last week on friday we went with Bill and did baptisms for the dead with him. It was the first time I have done baptisms for the dead in years! It was a great great thing. Mommy and Daddy....do you think it is possible for me to just live at the temple so that I can always be doing work? hahahaha....I wish!!!!!! Hey daddy! What is grandma's full name! I want to add her in to my fan chart! And she was born on aug 16th of WHAT YEAR? What is all her info so I can add it? We have a lot to work to do on our lines! So EXCITED!

 SO lately I have been diving more into the new testament and I LOVE IT SO MUCH! Reading about the Lord's life and ministry is amazing! I'm so thankful for all the records and plain and precious things that were kept over the years. SOOOOO thankful! This week I was asked to give a talk on my favorite conference talk as well as talking about my mission and me before my mission. I prayed really hard to know what to say and all of a sudden I started just writing and writing!!!!! I filled pages up and I was prompted to say many things but I was worried that it was going to take too long. The exec. secretary asked me to speak for 20ish min so I was hoping that it would work out! I kid you not..........I did all that I could to prepare and when I got up there with 20 min remaining in the meeting, words flowed out of my mouth so freely and totally by the spirit. It was one of those times that I knew that the Lord was giving me every word to speak. It was the smoothest talk I have ever given in my life. I felt comfortable up there and the spirit filled my heart. I spoke about Jeffrey R. Holland's talk "The First and Great Commandment" and it was wonderful. I also finished 5 after the hour! Perfect! I am so thankful for the Lord's support when I do everything I can, aside from my weaknesses. VERY THANKFUL! 

So the weather has been super nice this past week and miles are running low at the end of the month so we decided to walk a lot. One of the days I was freezing cold I had to put thick tights on and a long sleeve shirt. I could have sworn it was 30 degrees but...............it was 60 hahaha. Wow, I think I have las vegas summer blood now! When we were walking the other day I saw a huge roadrunner. They are funny to watch! I was trying to get a picture like I did with the turkey but it didn't work :( sad to say hahahaha. We see lots of crazy things running around all the time! hahaha.

 Hey family! Make sure that the missionaries are taken care of for the holidays.  I decided that I am going to have the missionaries over for everything. So they feel more at home. Holidays are interesting on the mission but I will live. hahaha. Love all of your guts so much and I pray that all was well this week! MWAH MWAH MWAH!!!!!!!!

Sister Fine

ps-this picture is of us emailing right now hahaha. Dont I look precious. Miss you!

"I am just looking at it as that I am in the middle of my mission always!"

October 22, 2012

Well this week...........It was sister monson's birthday.SO I will go through her birthday! It was a fun day.

In the morning she fell really bad on the field when we were playing and her leg was bleeding really bad so we went home and took care of it. It was like 715 and it was my turn to shower first so I go in the shower and jumped out and threw some clothes on. Then I didnt get ready and I made a green smoothie, ham and eggs, cut up an apple and made toast. Then it was completed by the time she got out of the shower! IM SOOOOOOO STEALTHY! hahaha Then the Lord blessed me so much because I still had time enough to get ready!!!!!!!!!! Then I was naughty and I texted everyone that she loves in the area and everyone responded with things like "ohmy gosh I am going to make her a cake or oh my gosh lets throw a party or oh my gosh what does she want for her birthday!?!?!?" Everyone loves her so much!  So pretty much the whole day was an explosion of sister monson birthday! We got enough cake to feed the continent of africa and she got tons of gifts! She felt really special and she really is special! I love her a ton! We got to go out to dinner with Jessie and Jeremy at the olive garden and I tried calamari for the first time! (OCTUPUS! YUCKY!!!!) But it actually was really good! We had a great time with them! Then we went to the dutsons and they did a spa treatment for her and made an amazing cake! Those are just a few of the events that took place that day! ANd those are pretty much the only pictures I have this week! 

 This week we had a great experience with summer. We went to the family history center with her and got her mom's name printed so that she can do her mom's baptism and confirmation. AMAZING! The smile on her face was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also yesterday I sang for the Why I believe fireside with sister vanderdoes again. We sang "I Go To Serve My Lord." Here are the Lyrics they are beautiful!

His Words cannot be written, great and sacred was the day

Hearts and minds were opened, as the Savior knelt and prayed

He bowed before his father, no thought of worldly fame

His humble prayer was offered, hallowed be thy name

I will sing the song of redeeming love with all my heart might mind and strength

That every knee shall bow and tongue confess, that Jesus is the Christ

and faith hope charity love, with feet planted firmly on gospel sod

I go to serve my Lord with an eye single to the glory of God

His hands and feet bore tokens, one who paid the price for sin

His image now engraven, I ll testify of him

with power I will serve him, commissioned by his hand

to preach the gospel message, blessed be my stand

I will sing the song of redeeming love with all my heart might mind and strength

That every knee shall bow and tongue confess, that Jesus is the Christ

and faith hope charity love, with feet planted firmly on gospel sod

I go to serve my Lord with an eye single to the glory of God

THE GLORY OF MY GOD!!!!!! 

That song was composed by sister vanderdoes' dad! Cool huh! This last Saturday we did service called SMASH the TRASH and we gathered together as a ward and picked up all the trash in the ward! It was fun! Then we went and peeled apples for a lady why was canning and drying and what not. Everyone is so crazy thrifty and prepared and stuff it is pretty. Cool! We also helped this lady with making decorations for the Christmas party in the way future hahaha it was fun. 

Can you believe that I am 16 months out today? Crazy! Also we biked this week and it was awesome! Also we went to this members house and we asked for referrals and she gave us like 10 referrals! They were for outside of our area but that is okay! It doesn't matter because they just need the gospel no matter who they get it from!!! :] Other than that.....that was kinda our week! We had a good week! Here is the quote of the week from sister monson. I about died..... "We are more likely to get new converts by selling snake oil than from street contacting...." HAHA she is hilarious! Anyways I love you all and I am so thankful for my mission.  I love the mission and  I am just looking at it as that I am in the middle of my mission always and when I come home it will just be a call to serve for the rest of my life in sharing the gospel and helping others. I love you and miss you tons! Tell ashley clements that I love her and I am excited to meet my niece. :] XOXOXO

Sister Fine

"I Was Running After the Turkey with a Book of Mormon"

October 15, 2012

 Wow this week has been a crazy one!!!!!!! We had 3 baptisms! I got a few pictures :] The baptisms went amazing. Jessie, Jeremy, and Kelsie were GLOWING after they were baptized and confirmed. Jessie and Jeremy's baptism was very amazing. At the end, they bore their testimonies and their eyes were both filled with tears. Jessie prayed and asked if this was true and if she should be baptized and then she just opened her scriptures to 2 nephi 31 hahahaha that was her answer. Amazing! Also it was a really great thing because her parents were there and they are not very supportive of her decision but they were there and they were crying! They didnt even know what they were feeling! THE SPIRIT! WOOOHOOOOO! Jeremy's testimony was amazing and made me cry. The moment that he knew this was true was when we were teaching him the plan of salvation and we taught about how people that had not received the gospel before they passed away still have a chance to hear the gospel and accept it. I remember that lesson. He teared up, his heart started pounding and he was shaking a little bit. At that point he knew that the plan of salvation was real and he was so happy that his dad can have the same opportunity he has. We will be doing jeremy's dad's work as soon as we get it all set up :] 

Kelsie's was really great! Very short and simple and sweet. She is an amazing girl! I love her so much. Kelsie was tearing up after it was all over and you could see the glow she had! It was an amazing weekend. Now that leaves us with a pretty much empty teaching pool but sister monson and I have some potentials from the members. Very excited about that.

 Awwww Im so proud of my little babies.  Hannah was Homecoming Queen!  I'm so proud of baby cade! and wow Britton looks like a beast in that football picture. He looks so big and tall! I cant believe it! Shar is amazing! When I see my little babies in pictures I just want to cry! Everyone looks soooooo good! I miss them :] 

Sooooooooooooo this week I got a little hurt.....there was a REALLY REALLY big storm over here and they thought we were going to have a tornado. That DIDNT happen but it was a bad storm. We were walking outside and watching the lightning from afar. All of a sudden it started to sprinkle and we started to run to the car. One of the members saw us running and pulled over to give us a ride to the church so we could get our car and go home. What a blessing because as soon as we got in the car the storm hit HARD right over us. HAIL, RAINDROPS THE SIZE OF GOLF BALLS and thunder and lightning hitting all around us. I WAS REALLY SCARED. Usually I relly like those storms but I was convinced that I was going to be hit by lightning or something hahaha. Sister Monson was calming me down before we ran inside. Said a prayer and got out and I began to run! We were soaked instantly and as I was running the ground was all flooded so I couldn't see where I was stepping and my foot got caught in this gap and I sprained my bad ankle again. It was dramatic....hahaha dragging myself up the steps soaking wet and crying because my ankle hurt so bad! Im good now though hahaha....just have it wrapped up and it feels better. 

Sooooo you know how I am trying to preach the gospel to "every creature?" hahahaha well the other day, we were walking up to a member's house and there was a TURKEY on their truck! I was running after it with a book of mormon and sister monson tried to get a picture for me but the turkey was too fast hahahaha. So hilarious! I love you all and I miss you tons! It is crazy that my time is coming to a close but I am loving loving loving my mission and things are slowing down a little bit but they will pick back up. Our goal for this transfer is 5 baptisms and we have had 3 and so we need to find the other lucky 2 souls!

 I love these people so much! I am so glad that my grandparents are going to be there when I get home :] It will be very good :] MWAH MWAH MWAH! I think that is all for this week! Oh wait! I forgot! We had a zone meeting and the Zone leaders wanted 3 trainings to take place and so they asked the district leaders and I to train. I trained the zone on some of the Christlike attributes. I think that it went pretty well! There are always so many things that I have to learn! Love you all and I will talk to you later! 

Sister Fine

"Let Go and Let God"

October 8, 2012

Oh my goodness that was an amazing email thank you sooooo much! So I found out that sister monson and I are staying together for another transfer. Can you believe that I only have 12 weeks left.....?!?!?! Wow I cannot believe it. If sister monson and I are together for only one more transfer I will only have one more companion! WOW things are going into perspective for me.......wow.

 Conference was amazing! I loved every second of it! I also loved knowing that if you were watching conference at that moment I knew where you were and what you were listening to :] I loved elder holland's talk....talk about a spiritual smack upside the head! I always love that. I also loved elder nelson, uchtdorf and elder andersons talk. NOT TO MENTION I WAS ABSOLUTELY ECSTATIC WHEN THE PROPHET LOWERED THE AGE. MY JAW WAS ON THE FLOOR FOR ABOUT A HALF AN HOUR. THE OTHER MISSIONARIES WERE THE SAME WAY. I AM SO EXCITED FOR THE MISSIONARY FORCE AS IT INCREASES A TON!  I was really hoping that the prophet would have extended the time for sister missionaries! I would have signed up for that immediately! :] But they are not going to change that within my time.... :( its okay...there is a time and a place. I am the oldest sister in the world haha. So today starts a new transfer. :]

 Wow lots happened at home. Im sorry that injuries happened this week with my little babies. Shar is such a beast I love her. hahaha. Oh man....and picturing britton and caden being all crazy in conference was hilarious. I remember the time where I would come out in blankets and just shade my face so that you and dad would think I was listening....and I might have been half sleeping half listening. Now I couldnt sleep through conference if I tried. Knowing that we have a true prophet of God that speaks to the world today it a HUGE deal! This time around I just really payed attention to the promptings I received from the Lord. It seems as though the main themes of the conference were missionary work, being converted, follow the savior, faith in Jesus Christ, love him, etc. 

Seriously! I love pictures I get of you! I just got the packages from g'ma and g'pa with some amazing goodies! Tell them thank you mucho! :]  Mom seriously you will be great at your new calling. The Lord doesn't expect us to be completely qualified for the callings he gives us. If we were qualified then we couldnt grow ever....and that is our whole purpose of life. The Lord knows all and you will be so great I know it! :] mwah!!!! Man I wish that I could get the girls ready for dances again. I have learned new tricks on my mission :] So fun!

 Nothing really super exciting this week...3 baptisms coming up this saturday and that is nearly the end of our teaching pool. Filling it slowly. :] Jesse and Jeremy went to conference with the dutsons and we still havent caught up with them since they came back last night, I bet it was amazing. I love that conference is so close that members can take investigators up there. I love that! What a great missionary tool.

 This week I learned that I always need to place my faith and trust in the Lord because the plans that I make for myself are not usually what the Lord has planned. I dont know what is going to happen in my future but I must LET GO AND LET GOD. I love the mission and I wish that I could be here forever. 

Tell erika that I love her and I miss her and congrats on her baby boy and blakerrrrrssssss is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute! Tell her to give him loves for me :] I hope all is well at home and I am sorry this email is so totally random. Love you and miss you! Didnt take any pictures this week :( sorry

Sister Fine

"Cottage Cheese and Turtles"

October 1, 2012

 I love you all mucho and I miss you. This week was a good week. Trying to refill our teaching pool because we are baptizing them all hahaha. We had summer and pam's baptism this last saturday and they were awesome! :] Summer is so stinking cute and pam is just hilarious! I love them both! 

Finished the lessons with kelsie this week and we just love her to death. I seriously feel like I knew her before this life because we just click so well! In one of our lessons she turned to us and said that she said that she would love to serve a mission. That I think is the first person out of my investigators that wants to serve a mission. I WAS SOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED! I love kelsie so much!

 I also love sister Monson, she is amazing! She keeps me laughing sooooooooo hard....one quote she said the other day is "I tan about as well as cottage cheese," and the other day, "that is ridiculous that is just like a person saying, I dont want to be a human anymore I have decided to become a turtle." OMGOSH LAUGHING FOR DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also we finished the lessons with Jesse and Jeremy and it is going well. It was really cool because Jeremy expressed concern to us over something he was thinking about and, as a missionary it always feels good when people come to you with concerns because then it shows that they trust us. I talked to him on the phone for about 15 minutes discussing his concern and he said that it really helped. I hope that things continue to get better for him. Jesse and Jeremy are getting baptized on october 13th and they are going up to conference with the dutsons! How amazing is that?!?!

 There is this amazing family in the beverly glen ward and they are the DUTSONS! I want to be like them because they always have people in their home being taught! We dont even have to ask for referrals, they just ask us to come over and teach them. It is amazing! They have helped so many people join the church and get well on their way! It is amazing. I want to be as amazing as the Dutsons when I grow up! :] THey are just so bold and have a clear understanding that THE GOSPEL is the ONLY thing that can bring people to live with Heavenly Father again. It definatley shows that they have that in the forefront of our minds (where it should always be!) :] They are amazing and I look up to them like crazy! Im so excited for you to meet them someday! :]

 We went to the temple this week with the district and it was amazing. I hadnt been since I went through with bob badery. Oh man I love that man! It was a good experience to be there again even though I do live about a slow 5 min walk away! I run past it every morning! :] I went to the doctors this week and he told me that I need to get more out of my exercise because it is making me really anxious during my studies where I literally cannot sit still.  I have been getting good workouts even though my knees strongly dislike me. It is amazing and it really helps with my studies.


 Saturday was obviously a really amazing and exhausting day! 2 baptisms and then we went to the relief society general broadcast with Kelsie. It was amazing! It was a bawl fest hahaha and the dinner that was set up beforehand looked like a wedding reception hahaha. The relief society goes ALL OUT down here. After the broadcast we met up with mikey and kesie (they are dating) at the temple and had a lesson there. The temple was closed but mikey has the hookups and got us into the grounds and we were pretty much the only ones there. It was a very spiritual lesson. We were crying and the spirit was so strong. Yesterday, church was really great!  I love you and I miss you and I hope that all is well!  Love you all! MUAH! 

Sister Fine

"I Will Not Be Still"

September 24, 2012

This week was good :] We are hoping that it is starting to cool down....but it still is over 100 most days. In the morning when we run/walk it is really nice out...about 80 degrees or so. When it rains it cools the whole valley down by 20-30 degrees! I love when that happens but not the flood part... THe floods here are really bad.  It is amazing the power that water has and then in a day it is all evaporated or in the washes. It is insane. 

The baptisms that we had set for the 22nd fell through. Jesse and Jeremy just need a little more time! We felt that was the right thing as well. We did get a new investigator this week though! Her name is diane and she is really sweet. She really wants to know what happens after this life because she is the only one in her ENTIRE family left. SO we taught her the plan of salvation and she felt so much peace. She cried through most of the lesson....very sweet. 

 I was pretty sick this week but I refused to stay in. I only stayed in an extra hour for lunch one of the days because I was going to get sicker if I didn't. I got blessings and then the next day I was fine! It is pretty miserable being sick during the exhausting hard work of a missionary but I got through! :] Sister Monson and I were asked to give the training for the last district meeting on the importance of members. 

 Can you believe that I have been out 15 months? I cant believe that. It has gone by really fast! It keeps on going faster and faster. Also we are starting week 5 of the transfer and I felt like I just got here to central! It is pretty crazy. I think that this will be my last area. This next weekend we have 2 baptisms. One for summer and one for pam! We are soooooooooo excited! They are awesome :] Then after their baptisms we are going to be watching the Relief Society General Conference session! I am sooooooooo EXCITED FOR THAT! General conference is the SUPERBOWL for missionaries! SO EXCITED I can hardly breathe! This week I sang in church in the Frenchman Hills ward and it went really well. It was the song that Kenneth Cope has on one of his cd's "I will not be still" it is a missionary song and it is amazing. 

I wanted to write you the lyrics....they are amazing

Ive never been the kind to testify, I dont have the words his truth deserves

But its a simple thing he asks, A worthy heart and willing hands

He says if Ill make the choice, he'll help me find my voice

He calls me to serve and I cannot fail him, The one who has given me all that I have

I place my trust in him alone, he knows the yearnings of my soul

Because he believes in me, I will go willingly

How can I keep this gift to myself, when I can lift somebody else

I am a witness of his miracles and his mercy

I put my future in his hands, knowing hes made me all I am 

When I put my faith in him, the truth begins to speak

His power is real it moves me until I cannot be still

Lifting the hands that hang down in sorrow, Strengthening knees that bend in despair

Reaching the hopeless hearts who do not know his love

Seeing their lives begin to change, I know I'll never be the same

How can I keep this gift to myself, when I can lift somebody else

I am a witness of his miracles and his mercy

I put my future in his hands, knowing hes made me all I am 

When I put my faith in him, the truth begins to speak

His power is real it moves me until I cannot be still

His power is real Ill trust in his will I will not be still

Then during sac meeting I was asked to sing in relief society for the lesson. It ended up really well, I sang "More holliness give me". It was a really special lesson because our ward mission leader's wife is getting major major major surgery today and before that the lady who gave the lesson called her and had her bear her testimony to the Relief society and there was not a dry eye in the room. Saturday night we heart attacked their house so that they could feel better :] We were SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Stealthy :] hahaha. Always lots of work to do! The ward is definatley keeping us busy! I love this area to pieces and I love sister monson she is amazing. 

Sister Fine