"We had a bunch of Storms come over the Valley. So Fun Splashing in it!"

July 19, 2012

I love you all! Daddy thank you so much for the email.  It was wonderful to hear from you because I have been thinking about you so much and how you are holding up. Thank you for all the sacrifices that you make on behalf of our family. I love you so much and I will never be able to repay you for all that you have done, because you have done it in righteousness. Thank you will never be enough. I hope that I can make you proud with my mission and help you feel like your money is well spent.

 I have had a lot of moments this week that just made all the hardships worth it. First we finished all the lessons with Jessica this week! Obviously we are still going by all the time because we want to help her to continue to progress. She is seriously amazing. I will never forget the days that me and my companions street contacted Carey and Jessica. They are such special people to me. BTW I got a letter from Carey saying that he was asked by an investigator to baptize him because Carey has been coming to his lessons a lot. What a cool thing. I just want to squish him because I am so proud of him!!!! :] Last night we took Jessica to the WHY I BELIEVE fireside and it was amazing. The spirit was so strong and we got to introduce her to President and Sister Neider. So amazing. Sister Neider told her that she promises that Jessica is doing the right thing and that she has babies up in heaven that are cheering her on. What a powerful statement. Jessica started to tear up and that was a special experience. On the way home from the fireside, she told us with tears in her eyes that she knows the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only true church on the earth and that she cannot wait to be a part of it. I dont care where I am in the world, I will walk if I have to....to get to her baptism. She is so special. Our last lesson with her was on baptism and confirmation and we watched the awesome bible video on LDS.org about Jesus' baptism. That brought the spirit so strongly. We hope to go to the temple with her and her fiance Tom this week. It will be amazing. 

The other amazing experience we had was with this family. It is a family of 5 and 3 are over the age of 8. The 2 parents and a 10 year old kid. Every time I go over there this kid Cody reminds me of Britton SOOOOOOOOO MUCH! We taught a lesson to them this week by watching the finding faith in Christ video and teaching how they can show their faith. All of a sudden we look over and cody has his shirt over his face and he is sobbing. We paused and the spirit came in like crazy. We asked him "if you could ask of anything from God right at this very moment what would it be." He said, sobbing...."I just want to have a clsoer relationship with my Heavenly Father." I about fell over and we all started crying in the room. We taught him about how he can gain that relationship with him. Then the spirit told me...."Set him for baptism." So we did and after we asked him he shook his head yes with tears in his eyes and said "I want to be baptized so much." Then we asked the mother and she said she wants to as well. The father was not there at the time but when we see him next we will ask him too. It was a wonderful experience. Cody ran up to us and gave us the biggest hug in the world. Man I love that kid. So sensitive to the spirit and so in tune. What an amazing little guy. He reminds me of my two amazing brothers and what good boys they are and the great desire they have to do what is right! I am loving it! 

She Loves and Misses the Rain!

We had a lot of other good experiences but we had a fun one where we had a bunch of storms come over the valley. We had 2 urgent messages sent to our phone saying that there was going to be a flash flood. We were on our way to pick up a member for Jessica's lesson and it started to pour. We saw lightning all around us and it was sooooooooo fun! Good thing I am experienced with driving in the rain because each street was a river! SO FUN splashing in it! :] Flash flooding happens in the summer here because of the tropical stroms that come through and the rain doesn't absorb in the ground so it just stays on top and floods people's lives. It was pretty fun though! :] So Sister Cheatham and I got word that we are staying together in the area for another transfer. 6 months in this area!!! Wowee! Im sure that after this transfer I will have one more area and then be done with my mission. How crazy is that?!?! Anyways....love you and I miss you all a ton. I hope that all is well with the stores starting up as Trailer Boss!  Working hard and doing the best that I can here.   XOXO 

 TIl next week!

Sister Fine

It has been Hot there!!

"It's like God had a steering wheel on us and directed us right to her."

July 9, 2012

This week was amazing..... tons of things.

I will start with yesterday and go backwards....

We spoke in the Acacia ward yesterday and it turned out pretty good. We spoke all about the ward mission plan and called the members to COME JOIN THE RANKS, COME JOIN THE RANKS. When we looked into the congregation I saw an inactive couple that we had been visiting and trying to help come back to church. THEY WERE THERE!!!!! We were so happy! Over the pulpit they announced that we had 89 innactive families.... After sac mtg ended we went up to them to say hello! TO our suprise they said to us ..."sister you counted wrong....there are actually 88 less active members in the ward." :] at first I didnt get it..........mom I am super blonde hahahaha but that was their creative way of showing that they are going to be active from now on. You couldnt wipe the smiles off our faces. It was a great day! We also had someone we met this week come to church with her 2 kids! Okay story time! On the 4th of July it was a wonderful day! It was the coolest day we had had in a LONG TIME! It was heaven! I think it got down to 78 degrees (compared to the 121 I saw in the car yesterday...yea..........melt me....) and it rained in the afternnoon. I felt at home! We walked in it all day, trying just to soak it all in. We had a great time. Then at night we went to the mission hills park fireworks and this is where the city of hendersen lit them off. There were 10's of thousands of people there. We knew that we were to go there to talk to some people. We found our girl in 30 seconds. Its like God had a steering wheel on us and directed us right to her. We started talking to her and even sat by her during the fireworks. Lots of fun. She is amazing and she was asking us all these questions. She was having a hard time in her life and was able to talk to us a little bit about that. We invited her to church and SHE CAME!!!!! :] Her name is DanNiqua and she is so sweet. She brought her 2 kids and they loved it. She is not in our area so we have to give her to the other elders but I though that was really cool that she came! Plus the fireworks were amazing. We were sitting so close that we felt debri falling all over us. It was awesome. The fireworks were right above our heads.

 WE LOVED IT! Now we are working with 11 investigators and we havent been able to set them or see any baptisms since May 11. That is too long but I know that the Lord will help us. Things are picking up.  Wanted to tell you something cool. There is this former investigator named Bruce and his wife Misuk was never investigatong the church. Our bishop has a close relationship with them and asked us to go by because they requested us about 2 months ago. One thing is since he investigated the church he has had a stroke and a major head injury that caused the doctors to say he would never walk, talk or remember anything. THe bishop went to visit him and he gave him a blessing. Before the blessing Bishop told his wife..."with your faith and ours, we can have a miracle according to God's will." THen Bishop gave him a blessing and immediately BRUCE BEGAN TO TALK! Now he is walking, talking and remembering more and more memories each day. What an amazing thing! Now Misuk is receptive to the gospel and we just taught her and Bruce the plan of salvation with Bishop in attendance. It was incredible.

                                            With their investigator and friend Jessica

 Jessica is continuing to blow our minds by the faith that she has. Incredible person. Tom (her fiance) is starting to show some interest and we only have 1 lesson left with Jessica so we made a plan. We are going to finish with Jessica and then take them both to the temple. We will then ask Tom if he will like to progress with his fiance to learn about the gospel. We are excited! THe members have been really great with them!!!!! No matter when she gets baptized, I dont care where I am...Im going to her baptism!!!!!!!!!! I hope it is soon. Things are great! I am starting to see that the book of Mormon is really talking about our day in this land. Especially with all this Mitt Romney....NObama garbage. Our freedoms and constitution is at stake but I know that the Lord will take care of us.

It has been soooo hot!  She was grateful to stand near the "splash pad" to cool off!

 Im so thankful for our family and I pray for you all the time. I hope that everything is getting better and better for our family each day. I love you. I cannot tell you that enough. I miss you too Caden. Don't be sad little one. Some time soon we will have the tradition of all sleeping in the same room, waiting for santa to come. And when I come down the escalator I will see you guys and run and hug everyone. I love you and I am so happy on my mission. I am turning into a better person but most importantly there is a great work that is going on out here. I love this work and it will never stop until the Savior says "the work is done." I got on newfamilysearch today and it was incredible! We have so much work done on both sides and I want to help make it complete!!!!! I saw my own fan chart and it was incredible. I started feeling the spirit of Elijah and it was amazing! :] ALL for now my loves. Things are going well.  I am so proud of all of you at home and how you are dealing with this trial we are facing. Dad if you would hire me I will come and work for the family business. Even for just my stay at home if you need help financially. I love you! I am impressed by the mindset of everyone in this. Pretty amazing. I have been putting Jim and Debbie and Mom and Dad in the prayer roll too. It will work :]. MWAH! XOXO

Sister Fine

"My Mission has Changed my Life Forever."

July 2, 2012

Do you know what amazes me? No matter what happens, our family grows closer together. I feel the spirit so strongly right now in reading your emails because no matter what this family faces we punch satan in the face by sticking to the truths of the gospel. SIster Cheatham and I were talking about something this morning. When times get hard, it doesnt mean the commandments change. They need to be put in full force more than ever before. We have been studying a lot for our investigators and Less actives and recent converts and it seems like the theme of that study and lessons has been about the temple. The knowledge that we have...that families can be together forever is so amazing. And the fact that the authority is on the earth to bind families together beyond the grave is so special. None of that "til death do you part" stuff. We are a family forever.

 I have noticed in the last little while that I have applied my hardships more than I ever have before. From Hannah getting really sick I learned so many things that have changed my life. I have gained a friendship in my life with my sisters and brothers that cannot ever be broken. And I learned really how strong and amazing my sister hannah is. From dad falling off the roof I learned about how grateful I am for the priesthood in my life. Bishop and Jared beat us to the hospital and were able to give dad a blessing. Also the blessings that have been given to me in my life from my daddy and from others have given me the strength and personal revelation to continue on. Dad WALKED out of that hospital room that night with a lacerated hand and a compressed disc.  From this whole thing with the business, I have learned and felt a greater and greater love for my family and the trust that we have in our parents. I trust my amazing parents wholeheartedly I COULD CRY! I felt peace come to my heart and I knew that daddy and mommy made the correct decision. Though it would be hard to face, what are the blessings that come from that? Our family continues to come together.

 Also, all of the trials that I have had on my mission have all been for my good. I love our Lord and Savior. He lives. He suffered for us so that we could feel the understanding and support during the trials that we face. Im so thankful for the ability to change and become more like our Savior so that we can be made clean to be in his presence someday. Are the little bumps in life really going to matter in the life after this? No, they aren't. Unless you look at it in the way that it has built us to get to that point. I want you all to know that I know that this church is the only true church on the face of the earth. I know that Joseph Smith was called to be the next Prophet to bring in the last dispensation. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that "it has the answers to everything!" That quote is what Jessica said in one of our lessons recently. I know that Thomas S. Monson is the true Prophet on the earth today. I know that the apostles and prophets are not just warning anymore for us to change our lives. They are giving us directives because the "time is soon at hand." I love my mission. I cannot imagine the thought of me ignoring that prompting to go. My mission has changed my life forever. I cannot believe that 6 months exactly I will be home with all of you. I want to say how grateful I am to be a member of this family and to have the amazing friends that we have. I miss you, I love you and I know that the storm we are going through as a family will pass! But dont forget to dance in the rain! :]

So things look somewhat back to normal again. Sister Tahi got a new companion early last week so it is just sister Cheatham and I again. And we are now only covering our original 3 wards.  Enduring is crazy hard sometimes but what we become after the enduring is ultimately our goal in life. No matter how painful it is! I am growing to love the wards more more more! They are amazing! We just need some investigators! We talked to one of our bishops last night and there hasnt been a baptism there in YEARS. So we brought up the idea of having a 40 day fast. Now let me explain hahaha....we will have a signup go around in the ward so that each family that wants to participate can take one of the days out of the 40 to fast for the rescue and for new people to teach. This area is the smallest geographical area in the stake and possibly in the entire mission. Atleast every other house is a member home and the ward just struggles to find new people. But I know that this 40 day fast will work! I will let you know how it goes. Could our family specifically pray for the Laurel Hills ward and the McCullough Hills ward? (it is pronounced mcCola).

 Anyways, things are going great. It is hot but I feel the Lord giving me strength to get out there and walk/drive. So now the new missions are in effect! Crazy crazy! I havent seen that much of a difference in our mission yet but probably will at transfers. Man this is already week 5! I cant believe it! This transfer went by so fast. I cant believe I will be home 6 months from today. Because I think that I fly home Jan 2. I think that sister Cheatham and I will stay for another transfer. That will be 6 months in an area. But honestly I wouldnt mind that because I love this area. I love the people and I want to see the things that will happen! Thank you for the little package and envelope from the fam! I havent opened them yet but seriously getting a letter from the family meant so much to me you have no idea. I started to cry! :] I love handwritten stuff. So tell carly happy birthday for me and I havent seen any pictures of her belly! Isnt she having her baby really soon???? Anyways, fill me in and tell my friends I am still alive and existing. I love you all! Mwah!

Sister Fine

"My Birthday this week was great!"

June 25,2012

Lots of stuff this week. Jessica continues to be amazing and her lessons are just perfect. We had 3 lessons with her this week and cannot get enough of her!  It means a lot to her that she will get baptized as soon as she can. She says that she cant wait to come to church when she doesnt have work and that she is always so giddy on the days that we come over. What a sweetie pie! We love her and seriously if she doesnt get baptized in 20 years, we have made a best friend for the eternities no matter what happens.

 We had an awesome activity that we put on last night. Here's the story. One day we felt prompted to knock on a member's door. We went in and asked her if there was a time that we could come talk to the youth. Earlier she had been praying about what to do for the next youth fireside and she couldnt get an answer for any ideas. We came up with a fun idea and it was an answer to prayer for her. We picked 6 missionary stories from the BOM and we divided them into groups so that they could make skits! We gave them about 20 min and a pile of props to work with and it was so fun! They presented the skits and we were laughing hard! It was a lot of fun. At the end we talked about how vital the youth are to missionary work and that the youth are the ones that get baptized the most in our mission. Then we shared a youtube video with them called "by small and simple things." If you look it up then it will be a couple videos down on the list and it is a black and white video with a guys head in the bottom righthand corner ith his hands behind his head. It is an awesome clip! You should watch it! After that clip we challenged them to write in a BOM and give it to their non member friends. We had youth taking 2-3 books at a time! I was sooooooooooooooo excited! :]

 My birthday this week was great! It was a lot like any other day on the mission but with lots of love from home! I was so thankful! Thank you for the time and the energy it took for you to get all those things to me! I love you all and I miss you tons!

 Training 2 people and covering 5 wards in 2 areas is a huge challenge. THis is a very humbling experience for me. When you first come out on your mission I notice that we are pretty impatient with other's weaknesses. My trainee has been very good about pointing them out to me. But as she shared these things with me I noticed that for #1 it doesn't hurt my feelings at all and #2 I am not as easily bothered anymore by the nit picky things that I used to be. Things still bug me sometimes but that is just human. Man I feel very humbled. This is a really hard assignmen but I feel supported. And it is bringing out my weaknesses that I want to work on. Sometimes I get really overwhelmed with those things but, I just have to keep telling myself a little bit at a time....just line upon line precept upon precept! LIKE A SUMMER SHOWER GIVING US EACH HOUR HIS WISDOM! Saturday's warrior! :] But I just need your prayers so that I can become better through this trial. I desire that so much. I DO NOT want to be the same person I was a year ago. That cannot happen. And even when I get home I will have the journey ahead to continue on. But all I can say is THE CHURCH IS TRUE. CHRIST LIVES! He loves us. He knows us!

We had grace's baptism and it was amazing! Now seeing the family come together in the gospel makes everything worth it! :] I think that this is pretty much it for now! I love you I miss you and I am working on a tape for you guys. I will send it in a couple weeks :]

Loves and Kisses from your 1 year out missionary...

Sister Fine                                                 ( Our Beautiful Birthday Girl!)

"We are covering 5 wards in 2 areas!"

June 18, 2012

Wow it seems as though I have learned lots more about my family being on a mission. It is insane. I realized that we never talked about dad's mission, our family history and your childhood days. (Well, I think we did but I guess she wasn't listening!)  Mommy and Daddy you both seem pretty quiet about those things! I WANT TO HEAR EVERYTHING!!!!! :] I love it! I seriously am going to go on a family history rampage when I get home. Cassie did you ever do family history stuff? I thought you did at one point but I don't really remember. Wasn't that your calling? Anyways. HAPPY FATHER's DAY DADDY! AND WOW I REALIZED I NEVER REALLY SAID HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO MOM. I was so overwhelmed with the fact that I was going to be talking to you guys on skype that I became a DINGBAT. hahaha. Daddy and Mommy I was thinking a lot about you yesterday and how thankful I am for the things that you have done for me.............how you raised me and how you continue to raise me. BECAUSE I AM A CHILD STILL! I dont know if I will ever grow up hahaha. INE JUST A SILLY BILLY! I hear from cassie and she is so grown up! I think she has passed me up in life hahaha. I think that it is an amazing inspiration, all the things that she tells me. I love it! Cassie.

 I think I had one of the most rough weeks on my mission. So at transfers, sister Tahi got moved to Green Valley. 4 days later, her companion got shipped to New Zealand because she was a visa waiter that was serving in our mission for the time being. Since it was the beginning of the transfer and there were no sisters coming in for a while....president moved her back with us. Now we are covering 5 wards and 2 areas! BLACK MOUNTIAN AND GREEN VALLEY until sister tahi gets a new companion.  I had a meeting with the president. I loved my talk with him and it really helped a lot. He gave me a blessing and I literally felt that President Neider and I were not the only ones in the room. I felt the presence of angels and our ancesters that have gone before us...crossed the plains....etc etc. It was an amazing experience.  I am very humbled by this experience and it is definatley bringing up the weakneeses in me. But Ether 12:27 explains why. This week was insane. I was asked to attend the 2-day leadership training for our mission. It was really great. It was for President and sister neider, the AP's, Zone Leaders, District Leaders and Trainers.  Then we have just been trying to go between 2 areas! I got to see a few people I love in Green valley!I got to see Bob and just to refresh your memory, he was the guy that we got really close to and he was baptized the saturday before I came into the field. I get to go see him go through the temple after the temple opens again! :] Then I saw Carey and he was totally surprised! I love that man! He is my favorite Carey human in the world. :] He just got 2 jobs and that is something that we have been praying for a long time! SO HAPPY FOR HIM! I also got to see the Baggett family and their NEW BABY ETHAN!!!! :] I love this little baby. I swear I was never tempted so much to hold a baby until the day I saw that little guy. Order of things to do when I get home. #1 Love on my family and friends! #2 Hold a baby and #3 Take a nap for 12 years.

 Wow I cant beleive that I am turning 23 this week. I feel like Im 5. hahaha. Today is the only day I can get mail and I got a box from the Dohrman family, a envelope from grandma and gpa hales, and a letter from brittney larsen. So maybe I wil ask the office if I can come and check the mail on wed. We will see. Thanks for thinking of me for my birthday this week! It made my day yesterday when a member asked me what cake I want for my early birthday dinner haahahaha I of course said yellow with chocolate frosting! :]

 So we had a fun activity this week! We had a BBQ for the acacia ward at the park and it was so fun. It was a little toasty outside but it was awesome because Jessica came with her member friend and her fiance.It ended up being a really great time! Jessica is really wanting to get baptized, we are SOOOOOOOOOOO excited! I love her so much! She is such a ray of sunshine! Oh this sunday was good. In the middle of sac mtg we were asked to teach gospel principles so sister cheatham and I (since sister tahi was on splits in green valley) prepared the best that we could and the lesson went really well. Sister cheatham is amazing! She is the one training meeeeeeeeee..........hahaha just kidding. But training teaches you a lot. I feel very humbled to have this assignment for these 12 weeks at least. Well this week has been insane and it has been good. Very big growing week. But we need those. I love you all and I miss you tons. I want to see pictures! PICTURES PICTURES! :] Um I dont think there is anything else for this week! But I love you! Thanks for the birthday wishes.




Sister Fine