Another Transfer Gone

So Saturday night, our Zone Leaders called us with our fate for the next 6 weeks and .....*drum roll*  Sis Ward and I are staying YET ANOTHER transfer together in Eagle Canyon.  Apparently we are doing something right (or have something more to learn) because 3 transfers together with the same companion is rare and 4 transfers NEVER happens.  We are excited though and the Holidays are going to be fantastic!!

This week has been great.  We have been working with our several families to get ready for the baptisms coming up.  John got the priesthood yesterday so he can baptize his family on Saturday!  It was such a neat experience, he said afterward that he felt like he had just gotten out of a nice hot shower--clean and refreshed.  It's been quite a journey to get there and so worth it!  We are excited for the rest of his family to follow him this Saturday.  Wooo!  They are such a great family, I love them.  

We also made a trip up to the Res this week and talked to an old Indian lady.  It was very educational.  I can now tell you what leaves, barks and tree saps are best for getting high.  And don't worry!  It's all natural so it's OK ;)  She was so funny.  She also invited us to a Sweat which is the Native American form of church I guess.  We told her we would go if she would go to our church!  She said she had to think on it but would get back to us.  I hope so, that would be an experience for sure.  There was also snow up on the Reservation!  Just a little.  But enough to make a snow ball and throw it at my poor companion!  And she is stuck with me for another 6 weeks ;)  

Hmmm....what other exciting things happened this week. ...I feel like I have so many stories and then I get to the computer and they all go out of my head!  Oh well.  

Welp.  I hope everyone has an amazing Thanksgiving and eats lots of food!!
Love,
Sis. Rae
ONLY 30 MORE DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!

Busy Busy!

This week was a blur.  So much going on that I can't even remember what I had for breakfast most of the time!  I have never had so many set appointments and been so busy during a week.  I love it!!  Down time is probably the worst thing ever as a missionary.  But none of that this week!  

So, forgive me if I already mentioned this, but about a month ago we had a special fast to find a family of five that was ready and prepared to hear the Gospel.  Then we went to work.  Then we met Karen (who we just committed to baptism on the 21st of December!) who brought her whole family of, you guessed it, FIVE to church with her this Sunday and two of her girls even participated in the Primary Program!  We talked with her husband and he said he wanted to learn more because he has seen the change that the gospel has made with Karen so we are teaching the whole family!  We have a lesson tonight and hope to invite the rest of the family to join Karen on the 21st for baptism.  It is so amazing to see how the Lord answers our prayers and our desires.  May not come in our time-table or how we want it but it always comes.  But yeah, so we are super excited about it and all the miracles that are happening in our area.  

We also got to meet (well, see) the local legend here in Sparks!  There is this major highway that runs through all of Sparks called Pyramid and it is the cleanest highway you have ever seen.  How the story goes, a veteran came back from service in the Military but was injured and couldn't find a job.  So he decided that if he could keep Pyramid highway clean, his life would still be worth something.  Everyday, he goes out and walks up and down the highway picking up trash and the other day we saw him!!  He is so respected that we have heard stories of people pulling others who throw trash out the window off the road and give them a good talking too.  And on national holidays, he carries a flag with him.  So that was my excitement for the day :)

Well, hope you all have a fantastic week and do good!

Love,
Sis. Rae

Happy Day!

It has been a week of miracles.  Just fantastic!  So.  For the longest time, Sis Ward and I have been praying and fasting to find some families to teach since our teaching pool is pretty slim of investigators (mostly less actives).  We have been asking for this miracles for at least 3 months now and this week it finally happened and is even better than we imagined!  Sometimes you just have to work a little bit before you can get the reward.  

Well, this week we started teaching two new families (families!) and BOTH families came to church and have accepted to be baptized.  Keep in mind that we just met them.  It's every missionaries dream.  

The fist family (the Inwoods) had a daughter that was writing a friend on a mission who asked her if she wanted to start learning from the missionaries and she said yes.  So the YSA Elders went over there and have been teaching Shay and recently the rest of the family has been sitting in on the lessons and want to learn more.  We get a call from the Elders saying that there is this family that wants to come to church with us and start learning more.  Happy day!!  So we go over with the YSA Elders (who are also the APs, talk about pressure) and teach this family and talk about being baptized and they all wanted to be baptized as a family and have the dad, who is a less active, baptize them.  

The second family (the Hintz) was a referal from the Stake President.  The mom, Karen, was the Special Ed teacher for the boy who was responsible for the Middle School shooting here in Sparks a couple weeks ago, and was struggling a LOT with the whole situation.  But we didn't know that going over there so it was a bit of a shock to us when we heard why we were asked to go see her.  We had a great lesson though and she was so receptive of the whole thing.  When we presented the Plan of Salvation, her comment was that she had never heard so much truth in all her years of going to church as she had in that hour with us.  It was just a reaffirmation of how easy it is for people to recognize truth.  We have already heard it once, we just have to remember.  So we set a lesson in two days to talk more.  When we saw her again, she had almost finished 1 Nephi, which never happens!  Most people barely get through the Introduction.  And to top it all of, she asked US if she could come to church and bring her family.  Another happy day!!  We have another lesson tonight at the Stake Presidents house (again, no pressure) where we will be able to talk with her whole family.  

Miracles are happening all over the place, we just have to look for them!

In other news, we found a Christmas tree and spent all of yesterday decorating it.  We cut out pictures of the million Ensigns we have and made ornaments.  Yes, it is before Thanksgiving still but we are giving thanks for having something to do with our P-days ;)

Have a FABULOUS week everyone!

Love,
Sis. Rae

It's Official

Pretty great week!  I don't know if I already said this, but our stake, for the months of November and December are doing a missionary fast.  Anyone feeding the missionaries that night, fast for missionary opportunities and then break the fast with us.  It only started this week but already miracles are happening!!  We have had so many referrals this week and most of them turned into something.  Which rarely happens (in my experience anyway).  So it has been pretty great!  If this is what's happening at the beginning of this fast, I can't wait for when it really gets rolling!

On another note, this month our miles were cut because we added some extra cars to our zone so we have been out walking a lot!  Which has been pretty great because we meet and talk with more people.  Well.  One such of these people were a group of Jehovah Witnesses, like 5 of them.  I was super excited because you aren't really a missionary until you have had a run in with the JWs.  So we say hi and start talking to them.  They were pretty nice but you could tell that they thought they were talking to 'competition'.  Pretty funny because it was a group of older (and much taller!) men who thought that us two girls were threatening their work.  Maybe it's bad of me but I loved it.  We can't help it if the truth always wins out ;)  When we walked away, I said 'good luck' because they ARE trying to help people and bring them to God and I know how much fun it is to knock on doors all day; you should have seen their faces!  They were pretty surprised that we would wish them good luck.  Like I said, pretty awesome.  

Also, I am officially a missionary for another reason (like I said, pretty eventful week).  I wore a hole in my shoe!!  Means I am doing more then sitting on my tush all week! ;)  Anywho.  Hope everyone has a fantastic week!

Love from Nevada,
Sis Rae