"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

"Setting People for Baptism and Having Lessons Left and Right!"

September 17, 2012

:] I absolutely know that sister Monson and I are supposed to be together. We baptized Bill Harper on saturday (who was an investigator I taught before that moved to Central stake when I was in Elko) Pretty cool story! It was an awesome baptism, the spirit was strong and I was excited to see him baptized after all this time. I was asked to give the baptism talk and I felt like the words were flowing out of my mouth from the spirit it was amazing. I always love when that happens. THen afterwards I totally forgot about what I said! hahaha. We are hoping that his wife Rosa joins the church someday. Also this week we set another girl named kelsie for baptism so that makes 5 people set before october 13th! Amazing! The Lord is blessing us like crazy! Sometimes satan tries to get to me to tell me that Im not making a difference to anyone on my mission and my mission has been a failure. But I know that is absolutely crazy talk! Satan is very yucky and he tries so hard but HE WONT WIN WITH ME! :] We know that in the end the Lord will win, it just depends what side we choose to be on. The winning side or the losing side? I choose winning! :] And I hope to share that with people here, that they can find strength in the Lord because he has overcome all. :] I love this work! 

 Floods were crazy! We walked in for lunch and the storm came in and we watched it during our lunch and then the hour ended and we had to find a way to get out and do work in this crazy storm. We walked down the stairs and we saw 6 inches of water on our walkway. That is the one picture with us in it. Crazy huh?!?! The water was everywhere! Rivers on all the streets. Crazy crazy. On friday I told you about a man that they couldn't find...they found him down stream :( So sad. But we are safe and we didnt get too wet! Its okay, maxwell (our toyota corolla :]) did really well in the storm. 

Our week was AMAZING! Setting people for baptism and having lessons left and right. Last night we sent in our numbers and our district leader texted us and said that we had more numbers than the district combined. Crazy huh? I guess we had the highest numbers in the zone. We have been working hard and doing the purification process. Man do I have a long ways to go! Always changing always progressing toward being better. 

Summer: 16 and she wants to be baptized because she loves to feel the spirit and she knows that the church is true

Pam: Has been investigating for 18 years and she got her answer by being pushed into her pool by an invisible force after she prayed about going into the waters of baptism! hahahahahaha amazing!

Kelsie: Is one of the member's girlfriends and she already knows the Book of Mormon is true and set a baptism date on the 1st lesson. She is pretty much already a member. She is so amazing!

Jeremy: He is Jesse's boyfriend and jesse had a prompting that she should invite her boyfriend to take the lessons and he is soooooooooo elect. He want s to be baptized!

Jesse: She has been taking the lessons for a few months and she is getting baptized on saturday! :] she is awesome!

I dont know what else to say besides I love you and I miss you so much! I need my absentee ballot for the election.  THank you for helping me out! Love you!

Sister Fine

"I Need to Become More Like a Potato!"

September 10, 2012

I LOVE SISTER MONSON! She is amazing and I am having a fabulous time! :] Laughing so hard and the Lord is on overtime with us because we have set 4 people for baptism this week! AMAZING AMAZING! The first of the month we had a mission wide fast to have 2 baptisms per month per companionship til the end of the year. We all (as a mission) felt so much power as we fasted. This week really showed God's power working through us. Here are the things in a nutshell that happened. In the white handbook it says that as missionaries we are not representatives of our wards or stakes, but I really think the ward would be proud of us if they were a fly on the wall and saw God's power working through us to bring to pass this goal the mission has. At this point last week the mission was at 470 baptisms. I'm sure that it has been more since then obviously but our goal by the end of the year is 1200. Last year we baptized 1033 people in the mission. So we have quite the ways to go. Even if we get 2 baptisms per month per companionship for the rest of the year it will leave us around 840-850. Obviously we need  divine intervention. The mission has been changing so much when the general authorites came in and re-vamped our mission. At the beginning they said that we would have a really hard, slow time for a while but then it will increase like crazy. They said that our faith will heal the mission as we take their counsel. Also we have recieved 78 new missionaries this transfer and we have lost missionaries to other missions, so our mission is almost starting over. If an older missionary is not training right now, they are still with a green companion. Sister Monson is not green at all it seems! She is a great example to me! She is amazing and I love her so much! So wise and so hilarious! We get eachother's sense of humor! :] So anyways here are the miracles this week....

We set Jeremy for baptism and without hesitation he said yes....

Bill and Rosa, who I taught in green valley with sister garner moved to the central stake while I was in Elko or sunrise....bill has been waiting for permission to be baptized ever since I was in green valley and on wed night president called us and said that bill has received permission from the first presidency to be baptized! So he is getting baptized after waiting a year on sept 15th at 11 am! :] yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had a lesson scheduled with Summer and this was going to be a make or break lesson this week. As we were praying outside in the car before going into the house the word TEMPLE came into my head about a thousand times. After we said amen I looked at sister Monson I and said the word temple and that is it. So we changed our plans and met them at the temple. We gave a temple tour and then we set Summer for baptism on sept 29th! She came to church yesterday even though she was sick, she helped with yw and the yw leaders gave her a quad with her name engraved on it. Also she came with us to the fireside last night where a famous female lds singer Cali Reed came and provided a fireside for us. I WANT HER CD! SHE IS AMAZING! Please can I have her cd? She is recording with deseret book. She is incredible. We love Summer!

Yesterday after church a lady who is un named for now....its a secret that we cant tell yet....she has been investigating for 18 years and she came up to us and said "sisters....it is time." Im so dumb and I was like "time for what?" She said "to get baptized!" I about fell over. 

Also we have potentials coming out of the woodwork. It is insane how excited members are about doing missionary work. They all are in the attitude and mindset that inviting your non member friends over to have a lesson with the missionaries. Also the members are handing out BOMs like candy. I am in heaven right now. Some days have been hard but wow the Lord is working! All we have to do is live worthy and purify ourselves and God will bless us with people he is preparing. Since I have started this 40 day purification process satan has attacked me on all sides which has made me very weak at times, but through the help of the Lord he makes us strong!

Here is an analogy I heard last night from Cali Reed. Think about a potato and an egg and the reactions they both have in boiling water. the egg hardens and the potato softens. What is the reaction that we have in trials. Do we harden and become more bitter or do we soften, become more humble and come closer to God? That is a great question that we need to ask all the time.

This week I was honored because I was invited to be one of the 3 sisters that would attend Zone Leader Counsel. I was there with Sister Medina and Sister Vanderdoes...I like to call her Vanderdoodle :] It was a really good meeting and really set the tone for the rest of my mission. 

So I am soooooooo OVER members asking me when I am going home. I always say that I never want to go home and this week was the first time I have cried about it. The mission is the best thing that you can ever do in your entire life and I never want it to end. I STRONGLY DISLIKE WHEN PEOPLE TALK ABOUT WHEN I AM GOING HOME!!!!! SO hint hint...I am really trying not to talk about it or ever think about it so unless you need to ask me a question about my return home or my plans please avoid the subject! The family does a really good job anyways, just a reminder. I love you and I miss you and I hope that I can help all of these people come to Christ through the waters of baptism and help the mission bring 1200 souls to Christ. 

It is amazing how much the Romney/Obama thing is really helping the missionary work move forward. There has NEVER been a better time to share the gospel with someone. It is so easy to bring up in the world today because of that. What an amazing blessing the Lord has given us! This will be a time that will be talked about for years and years to come! 

Love you and miss you all!  I need to become more like a potato. I have no idea what to say for my talk! I feel like my mission has been an explosion of EVERYTHING! hahahaaha. I trust you in whatever you want to say :]

Sister Fine

"I Want to Help People and Make a Difference"

Companions from the same home ward!

September 3, 2012

 Things are going great here and I love sister Monson! She is amazing and I just love her to death. She has me laughing all day long. We are really working on the transfer purification process and I am really seeing changes in me. I wrote down all the things in my life that pokes at the spirit and I am trying to eliminate them completely. It has been a crazy experience. I am loving the change that is taking place within me. 

Goodbye Sister Cheatham

Wow 4 months from today I will be home. Insane. I think that this will be my last area. That is the trend in the mission. Everyone who is about to go home gets moved to central. SO a little about the area. It is TINY and everyone is a member. The members are PUMPED about missionary work more than I have ever seen in an area. We even had a relief society lesson that we helped with yesterday and it was on the book of mormon challenge.....usually people are like....wow not another challenge...but I do not think there was a dry eye in the room! OVER A BOM CHALLENGE! AMAZING WARDS! The wards did the usual surprise of calling you up and giving a short talk totally impromptu but its awesome and I got a really great welcome into the ward. I feel very happy here already even though we dont have a ton of people to teach. I have had some really good experiences! The other night I was bawling my eyes out because I feel as though I am not having the same success that I had in the first half of my mission and I just want to feel like I am fulfilling my purpose! I am working hard....being obedient and the baptisms are slowing down soooooo much. Havent had one since May and it is Sept...pretty sad...but its not because I haven't been working hard. I felt that I am not helping people as much as I am trying to do.....but I got an answer to my prayers yesterday when a member announced in a class that something I said in sac meeting really helped him with the stuff he was going through in his life. It was a small thing but I instantly started bawling because God was trying to tell me that I AM helping people and I AM making a difference. It was awesome. 

Also yesterday after church I really felt like I was going to pass out right before dinner. I ate and then a member gave me a blessing and I know that the priesthood of God works because the foggy head I had and the passing out feelings I had left me. It was amazing. I was sad because I didnt get to see all the people to say goodbye in Black Mountain but I know that I will see them again one day. Well I love all of you and I am so glad that you are enjoying labor day! Mommy sorry about your eye! I hope that you feel better! MWAH! THanks! Love you!  Oh yeah! Transfers were amazing and sister Vanderdoes and I sang at it! It was awesome and I loved it. Trying to think if there was anything I 

forgot....Sister Monson will write and maybe I will think of more things! MWAH!

Sister Fine!

                          Saying Goodbye to friends in Black Mountain Area

"I am going to be a Grandma!

August 27, 2012

hello family! SO the big news is that I am leaving black mountian and I am going to central as senior companion. I am going to be with sister monson. I feel a peace that that is where I am supposed to be.   ALSO I am going to be a GRANDMA! Sister Cheatham is training! I have posterity already! :]  (I guess they say that when their trainees become trainers!)

 It is awesome. Wow the girls are going at it arent they! At it again! So proud of my little babies. Caden and Britton look SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO different in all the pictures that I got from you this week. Caden is filling out a lot more and Britton is a giant human. Caden looks exactly like shar and Britton.............I dont know what he looks like...........hahahaha just kidding britton. I love my little baby boys. :]  I only have 18 weeks left. 3 Transfers and I will probably die in Central. Kay Im glad that santa has already gotten the memo about christmas! That will be awesome! 

Thank you for the pictures at the cabin! Im always open to getting pictures! Soooooo what happened this week?????????????????????  We had a BIG storm in the valley. Record amount of rain. More than we usually get in a year in one day. The bad thing about the rain here is that the land is so dry that it doesnt absorb the water and it just runs off.....causing flash floods and major damage.  Some people died in this last flood. Sister Cheatham and I had fun with our umbrellas in the rain and wow it felt so good! But we saw a lot of damage happen it was really bad. I will attach some pictures on another email and explanations.

Water Damage from the Floods

Tender Mercy after the Storm

The Lebrunes (one of the families she has come to love) 

 Okay and we set 2 people for baptism this week!!!! WOOOO HOOOOOOOO the 40 day fast is kicking in!!! :] Bruce and misyk. I dont know if I have told you their story. I will try to keep i short because since I am getting transferred I have 8 BILLION things to do today and it is not going to feel like a pday hahaha. But Bruce took the lessons before....misyk was never interested. Bruce fell and hit his head and was told by the doctors that he will never walk, speak or remember anything ever again. The bishop (their neighbor) came and gave him a blessing. As soon as he took his hands off his head he began to talk. Now he is walking, talking and has 50% of his memory back. He is in a gray area as far as accountability goes in getting baptized but now misyk is interested and knows that the priesthood of God is real. We set them and they came to church yesterday! IT was AWESOME! Also I reached my goal in the area just in time to leave. I sang in the last ward that I havent sung in in this area. Sister Cheatham played for me it was awesome. Sister Cheatham is really good at piano. Piano is something I really wish I could learn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So useful! We had a BOMB.COM lesson with Jessica last night! I love Jessica! And we found out that after the beginning of september she will get sundays off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I love Jessica so much and I love all the people in this area so much I will miss them a ton when I leave but I will definatley come back! When are we going to come back to my mission? I want to plan it so that we will actually do it. Instead of saying that we will someday. I am hopefully coming back to do the work with Sis Garner to do the baptism for Blue on june 5th or close to. I know I am planning to come back around then obviously scheduled around family events....like hannah gradismation and such. But anyways I love you all and I pray for you always. MWAH! XOXO

Sister Fine

"I was Laughing at how Hard a Time We are Having!"

August 20, 2012

Hello family I was praying for you to have an amazing vacation and and safe trip there and back! Prayers answered! Im sorry it was so smokey up there. I am so glad that you had a great time though! This week has been harder than heck. I got to the point where I was laughing at how hard of time we are having. Every appointment pretty much cancelled and if it werent for our dear Jessica I would have jumped off a cliff by now. Im just kidding. I am way blessed but this is the hardest time I have ever had. I know pretty much all the members and their life stories.....I know about everyone in the area book and AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! But I am just seeing that the Lord is trying me and I am becoming stronger. Im not going to lie I am going a little crazy right now....but it is good for me. I am sleeping well at night and Im doing my best. But I am so weak and there are so many things that I want to change about myself. But it is a progression and it will take our whole lives on earth and even after this life to become perfected. Something that I have been learning more so this week is that we will all be rewarded according to the DEGREE in which we decide to obey God's commandments and have faith in Jesus Christ no matter what we go through. We had a lesson on "Mountains to climb" by President Eyring and every time I learn about that talk I want to show my faith by praying for challenges. Scary thought! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!...but I know that through Christ I can do all things. 

Last night we went to the Why I believe fireside with Jessica and it was amazing as always. I cant beleive I turn 14 months this week. Insane.  Had a BBQ with the acacia ward this weekend and it was super fun! I love that ward. I love all of our wards! Oh and I forgot to say last week that sister Cheatham and I spoke in McCullough hills ward and it was great! After that members seem to be asking a ton how they can help and do missionary work. Sister Northrup is amazing and she made us feel so good last night by saying that she hasnt seen missionaries really inspire the members to help out as much as we have! That was really nice. I think that I needed to hear that. .....I got grandmas package and it was as amazing as always! I am sending dadyy's birthday package in the mail today! I finished the tape and I will be sending that too. Its not a very interesting tape because we are struggling so much but its something. I hope that you like it! Um what else do I want to say? no investigators at church yesterday.....no set for baptism....working so hard..........a little crazy........but I am doing my best and trying to just laugh and be strong. Love you all and I miss you tons. You are telling santa to wait a couple days for christmas right? :] Love you and I hope all is well. No interesting pictures this week except for this quote I saw in a members bathroom that I really needed to see.......

 

Sister Fine

 

Ps-I am so proud of my little babies! Give them all a hug and kiss for me. XOXO