Hi family,
Thank you for the wonderful e-mails and updates. I love you all. And Happy Birthday, Mom!! Hope it's a fun day. I love you lots. Hna Pechin and I cracked up about the b-day card. :D
So sad about the snow globe - the gift from the Arango's. I don't know if I want to tell them about it or not......... It survived the trip from Oceanside to Mission Viejo just fine - strange. SUPER exciting news: I received a letter from Mari/Mary on Wed at District meeting. They were BAPTIZED!! 13th of April. She sent a program as evidence. I was so excited. Hna Pechin got a great picture of my excited face :) And Hna Talbot was able to go. :) for her :(for me. But we have already told her we will do all we have to in order to be with her when she goes to the temple in a year or so. I'm so excited for that!! So, although it wasn't "my" baptism and I wasn't there, I feel I had a good hand in it.
That is the exciting news for the week. Things are still going well. 2 individuals with baptismal dates: Hno Jorge Octamendez and Hna Ana Magana (the missionary handbook says to call them bro. and sis. with their last names so that has been our goal in this week. It's really hard!)
Hna Magana sells food out of her home so is a HUGE part of the neighborhood (good food too). And we are really excited for her to convert. :) Then she'll bring half her customers to church. ha ha. So we have a lot of work to do but we have so much hope and faith. And yesterday we taught her nephew who lives there who read part of the Book of Mormon even before we started teaching him. We realized last night we first got to know him the night we went to Hna Magana's for dinner. I couldn't explain it but felt like we should. And so we did and it was delicious, but didn't seem to make sense. We weren't even able to teach her. Lord works in curious, little ways!! (Hna Magana's niece Diana is a recent convert, less active member and we're teaching her mom and sister who live close by. And they let us help prep cactus for cooking then we went over later and ate it for dinner. So fun!)
We had a good lesson with Hno Octamendez with two members last week. He's doing pretty well. Didn't come to church because he slept in :( We had an FHE set up last night but he didn't come. Yikes. We will keep working hard. Could you please pray for him as a family? That would help so much. {Maybe even in your daily family prayers?}
Actually, the leaders of the church have said if we return home having been converted ourselves, then it was a successful mission. Pretty interesting.
So the funny story that goes with the subject line: One day we found a 10-dollar bill in the street. Hna Pechin picked it up and was ready to walk on. I wasn't comfortable with that and had to express how I felt, but told her it was her decision. She ended up not taking it. But she felt like it was there for her (she's been promised she'll always have enough and she didn't have money that week. Also, she has had other cool experiences of having just enough). Then the next day I found a nickel on the ground and got really excited. She laughed and just could not understand that. Can you understand my reasoning? Don't really have time to explain it all. Ah well. So that's another funny story from my life.
Things are going well. I am a little bit sick again and went through a whole little box of tissues this past week :( Never fully got over the sickness from a month ago. This Friday is our Zone Conference which is super exciting! Yeah for training.
I am excited that you will have a visitor from Germany. (Thank you for explaining who she is. I remember Johannes well.) You're right - don't preach but show her the blessings of the gospel. And share your testimony in little ways. It will plant and nurture the seed that might not sprout for a little longer.
SHANTAYE - way to go on your first Sacrament meeting talk!! I'm impressed. I remember I gave my first one just a few weeks after joining the YW program. I was really nervous, too. I love you!!
CHEZ - I miss laughing with you. It's great to hear you are busy doing good things, like soccer. Keep at it! The endurance you develop now will help you on your mission :) And good luck in driver's ed. That's fun! I have had to do so much parallel parking lately --- get good at it b/c you never know. Luckily, Hna Pechin is a pro and helps me lots.
DAD - Hna Pechin really is excited to meet you and Mom and be your friends. She thought the picture was awesome. Thanks for sending it. (We still haven't seen any postcards from you.)
I love you all so much and my time is nearly up. This gospel is true and it is really amazing! Please keep doing the little things so your knowledge is stronger and firmer. And remember to look for and appreciate all the little blessings that come from the Lord.
Love,
Hna Green
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
20 April 2010 - Hubcaps and Transfer News
Hello Family!
I hope all is still wonderful. Thank you for the great updates. You are fabulous and I'm very grateful to you. First of all, neither Hna Pechin nor I are being transferred today. More time to make this area "rockin'!" It's pretty great. We continue working with many of the same investigators. We haven't taught as much as we like, but we'll keep working. We did find and teach a promising investigator on Friday. Idali. We will teach her again tomorrow so we shall see. We've also run into more sincere people in the last few days which is so great! Love it when they truly listen and seem interested. This is the best thing they'll ever encounter.
We actually ran into a Vietnamese man two days in a row in the area we work a lot in. It made my heart glad to hear such an accent. *sigh* Then we were mimicking the accent of Asians speaking English and Hna Pechin says I'm pretty good. Maybe because I spent a year around them! He he. But something really wonderful when we meet Asian speakers is that we can tell them to call to receive the Book of Mormon for free AND it is in their language. We love how their faces light up when we share that last little bit. It's so amazing!
As for the "hubcaps" bit in the subject line..... I confess: we currently analyze and examine hubcaps. Frequently. It's funny how when you have to take care of things you get particular about them! The senior missionary in charge of cars (first one and current one) were really big on keeping the hubcaps looking nice. So each time we wash the car we get to scrub the hubcaps. And I know I want hubcaps that look nice but are easy to clean - nothing fancy with a ton of spokes! HA HA. I thought you would get a kick out of that little detail.
So. The missionary activity went well. There were only about 20 members there which was too bad. We'll have to do better advertising and inviting the next time around. I really do love the ward here. Hna Arroyo brought us a big tray of turkey with chili sauce and mashed potatoes on Sunday. I was SO excited about the potatoes. Haven't had them the entire time of my mission! And we just have plenty of food. An awesome thing about their culture: they send you out the door with water and a piece of fruit. Yum! Hna Pechin and I are both thinking about adopting that practice when we have homes of our own.
What else, what else. We had another good lesson with Jorge. Today we will hopefully talk specifically about the Word of Wisdom and help him see the incredible blessings. And we had another lesson with Lucia and her mom. They are still talking about the wedding in May (Yes Mum, it is a HUGE problem in this culture. They either don't marry or do it through the Catholic church which isn't according to the law either) Us sneaky little missionaries mentioned it to Hna Arroyo who is related to Lucia so now she is on board to help them plan and all that. Bwa ha ha. We're geniuses. Hna Arroyo is a "get it done" kind of woman.
I still don't know about the Arango family and if they are baptized. I asked them and Hna Davis in my latest letters. We shall see! I can't do anything else to find out :(
I'll have to get back to you on Shantaye's talk. Not so sure what advice I have. We just need to have a love for learning and keep that all our lives - prophets have spoken of that.
DAD - that nail story is intense. My feet had sympathy pain for you. I hope you arrive home safely soon. And can rest and recover. Take care of yourself!
The go bag is something we can grab and take with us when there is a large natural disaster. It is basically a 72-hour kit.
THANK YOU for the fabulous package family. I did receive it this week. And it made me very happy. The first-aid kit is a crack up. I feel they have smaller ones in the bandaid aisle. I'll take a look today. Everything else is super fabulous. I'm excited to share some with Hna Pechin.
And I'll be sending a few things home today - part of my effort to simplify my life :) Also, I'll send home the wonderful gift from the Arangos. It is great but I don't want to carry it all around with me.
We had fun at the "thrift store". We are definitely in Orange County! It was the most upscale thrift store we have ever seen. And it is actually called a "discovery shop". Ha ha. We walked out happy - each of us holding a mug in our hand. Yeah for Abuelita hot chocolate! It is delicious. And with pan dulce (translation = sweet bread).
Well yeah. I hope everyone is well. I am great. It is so amazing to be a servant of the Lord and learn to love His children as He does. And help them learn about Him and be happier. Another amazing thing - reading in the Book of Mormon a little bit each day really does impvrove our lives in every way. That's what we keep telling people; because it is true.
I love you all and am grateful for your support! Keep praying and watching for little missionary opportunities.
Love,
Hna Green
I hope all is still wonderful. Thank you for the great updates. You are fabulous and I'm very grateful to you. First of all, neither Hna Pechin nor I are being transferred today. More time to make this area "rockin'!" It's pretty great. We continue working with many of the same investigators. We haven't taught as much as we like, but we'll keep working. We did find and teach a promising investigator on Friday. Idali. We will teach her again tomorrow so we shall see. We've also run into more sincere people in the last few days which is so great! Love it when they truly listen and seem interested. This is the best thing they'll ever encounter.
We actually ran into a Vietnamese man two days in a row in the area we work a lot in. It made my heart glad to hear such an accent. *sigh* Then we were mimicking the accent of Asians speaking English and Hna Pechin says I'm pretty good. Maybe because I spent a year around them! He he. But something really wonderful when we meet Asian speakers is that we can tell them to call to receive the Book of Mormon for free AND it is in their language. We love how their faces light up when we share that last little bit. It's so amazing!
As for the "hubcaps" bit in the subject line..... I confess: we currently analyze and examine hubcaps. Frequently. It's funny how when you have to take care of things you get particular about them! The senior missionary in charge of cars (first one and current one) were really big on keeping the hubcaps looking nice. So each time we wash the car we get to scrub the hubcaps. And I know I want hubcaps that look nice but are easy to clean - nothing fancy with a ton of spokes! HA HA. I thought you would get a kick out of that little detail.
So. The missionary activity went well. There were only about 20 members there which was too bad. We'll have to do better advertising and inviting the next time around. I really do love the ward here. Hna Arroyo brought us a big tray of turkey with chili sauce and mashed potatoes on Sunday. I was SO excited about the potatoes. Haven't had them the entire time of my mission! And we just have plenty of food. An awesome thing about their culture: they send you out the door with water and a piece of fruit. Yum! Hna Pechin and I are both thinking about adopting that practice when we have homes of our own.
What else, what else. We had another good lesson with Jorge. Today we will hopefully talk specifically about the Word of Wisdom and help him see the incredible blessings. And we had another lesson with Lucia and her mom. They are still talking about the wedding in May (Yes Mum, it is a HUGE problem in this culture. They either don't marry or do it through the Catholic church which isn't according to the law either) Us sneaky little missionaries mentioned it to Hna Arroyo who is related to Lucia so now she is on board to help them plan and all that. Bwa ha ha. We're geniuses. Hna Arroyo is a "get it done" kind of woman.
I still don't know about the Arango family and if they are baptized. I asked them and Hna Davis in my latest letters. We shall see! I can't do anything else to find out :(
I'll have to get back to you on Shantaye's talk. Not so sure what advice I have. We just need to have a love for learning and keep that all our lives - prophets have spoken of that.
DAD - that nail story is intense. My feet had sympathy pain for you. I hope you arrive home safely soon. And can rest and recover. Take care of yourself!
The go bag is something we can grab and take with us when there is a large natural disaster. It is basically a 72-hour kit.
THANK YOU for the fabulous package family. I did receive it this week. And it made me very happy. The first-aid kit is a crack up. I feel they have smaller ones in the bandaid aisle. I'll take a look today. Everything else is super fabulous. I'm excited to share some with Hna Pechin.
And I'll be sending a few things home today - part of my effort to simplify my life :) Also, I'll send home the wonderful gift from the Arangos. It is great but I don't want to carry it all around with me.
We had fun at the "thrift store". We are definitely in Orange County! It was the most upscale thrift store we have ever seen. And it is actually called a "discovery shop". Ha ha. We walked out happy - each of us holding a mug in our hand. Yeah for Abuelita hot chocolate! It is delicious. And with pan dulce (translation = sweet bread).
Well yeah. I hope everyone is well. I am great. It is so amazing to be a servant of the Lord and learn to love His children as He does. And help them learn about Him and be happier. Another amazing thing - reading in the Book of Mormon a little bit each day really does impvrove our lives in every way. That's what we keep telling people; because it is true.
I love you all and am grateful for your support! Keep praying and watching for little missionary opportunities.
Love,
Hna Green
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
13 April 2010 - Fabulous Family
Hola!
You are fabulous....did you know that? Thanks so much for the support and love. And thanks for remembering me, even though your lives are busy :) Especially you, Mom. You've done a super fabulous job on the packages and talks. And I did love reading the setting-apart blessing. Thanks so much for sending off the go bag package. I'm looking forward to it. And I'll just have to share with Hna Pechin, I guess. I do love to spread the calories around - she's very kind in helping me with that :) And thanks, Dad, for the great scarf. It looks great with her clothes. It's fun :) I don't need any more right now....but it would be a good idea to pick up 3 or 4 more. I might request one for my next companion - it's a pretty fun idea.
So we have not had any more earthquakes :( Hna Pechin keeps thinking about it and will randomly say: I don't want to be in this spot when an earthquake comes (because there are trees or big poles around us). It is pretty funny.
Church was wonderful. And our dinner calendar is nearly full for the next 2 weeks - oh si! (Hna Pechin says that a lot and it cracks me up). Our members are pretty fabulous. I'm excited to return and learn how to cook their delicious food [I have such a strong desire to learn how to cook now, it's kinda funny.] We had dinner with Hermana Hobbs this past week and she let us cook some Peruvian food with her. It was fun and we took some pictures.
We are having a ward missionary activity this Friday to get them excited about sharing with their friends. The end goal of us missionaries is that they invite someone(s) to meet with us, preferrably in their home. Have you thought of offering your help in this way family? It's SO great when the members are closely involved and 'fellowship' the investigators. Everything progresses better. And they're so much more likely to remain active and firm in the faith.
We had a FHE last night with the Familia Aviles and our investigator Jorge who has a baptismal date (set in this week). It was good. SUCH a better atmosphere than where he lives. He understands well and seems to really want to change. But he is a little skeptical about being able to repent - it's such a blessing to have the gospel and KNOW the Savior can heal and help us!! He also drinks so we will continue working with that.
I set a goal to read The New Testament again to better understand the life of the Savior - but that was a big goal so I changed it to reading The Gospels. I'm going to accomplish this goal soon - yes! It has been interesting to highlight all the words of the Savior. He talks a LOT in this section. And he has so many lessons on top of each other. I'm excited to go back and really study things closely. It has been wonderful to think of little things throughout the day that He taught the people. And what a blessing that we have more of His words and teachings in the Book of Mormon. I know it is the word of God and I'm grateful to testify of it often and help others have more happiness by reading it. That will probably be my next study - the Book of Mormon (again :)
We had a good lesson with Jose Luis and Lucia about the Law of Chastity. It was silly of us to wait so long, but they understood well. We were blessed to be able to convey that it is a very serious sin but we can always repent and the blessings of living the law are incredible. Lucia's mom was actually there too. She's pretty much on our side :) They have been "together" for about 25 years now, just never got married. Jose Luis practically proposed in the lesson - it was sweet. And they're planning to marry in May when his family is here for a visit. Yeah!! So that is a big hurdle to jump over before they can be baptized. But it is exciting to see things move forward. As Dad said, we just testify and let the Spirit do the rest.
We are also teaching the mom and sister of a young woman who was baptized a year ago. She hasn't come to church since we've been in the area. And our last lesson was good. She sincerely and worriedly asked how we can really know when the Lord is speaking to us and know the truth of these teachings. We are excited to visit with them this evening and see how their prayers went. Her name is Diana. She is well involved in young woman's it seems. Hurray!
I think that is about all from this past week. I love you all and thanks for the updates on your lives. Tell Grandma I think it's so exciting that she is in the YW organization! I'll work to respond to her letter today. And tell Aub and Aunt Kim "Happy Birthday" for me.....and anyone else I've forgotten. (PS Mom, the birthday lists are fabulous!) I love you all. Keep doing the things you know you should. And have Family Home Evening more often - we can always use more strength and lift in our lives and families.
Love you!!!
Hermana Green
You are fabulous....did you know that? Thanks so much for the support and love. And thanks for remembering me, even though your lives are busy :) Especially you, Mom. You've done a super fabulous job on the packages and talks. And I did love reading the setting-apart blessing. Thanks so much for sending off the go bag package. I'm looking forward to it. And I'll just have to share with Hna Pechin, I guess. I do love to spread the calories around - she's very kind in helping me with that :) And thanks, Dad, for the great scarf. It looks great with her clothes. It's fun :) I don't need any more right now....but it would be a good idea to pick up 3 or 4 more. I might request one for my next companion - it's a pretty fun idea.
So we have not had any more earthquakes :( Hna Pechin keeps thinking about it and will randomly say: I don't want to be in this spot when an earthquake comes (because there are trees or big poles around us). It is pretty funny.
Church was wonderful. And our dinner calendar is nearly full for the next 2 weeks - oh si! (Hna Pechin says that a lot and it cracks me up). Our members are pretty fabulous. I'm excited to return and learn how to cook their delicious food [I have such a strong desire to learn how to cook now, it's kinda funny.] We had dinner with Hermana Hobbs this past week and she let us cook some Peruvian food with her. It was fun and we took some pictures.
We are having a ward missionary activity this Friday to get them excited about sharing with their friends. The end goal of us missionaries is that they invite someone(s) to meet with us, preferrably in their home. Have you thought of offering your help in this way family? It's SO great when the members are closely involved and 'fellowship' the investigators. Everything progresses better. And they're so much more likely to remain active and firm in the faith.
We had a FHE last night with the Familia Aviles and our investigator Jorge who has a baptismal date (set in this week). It was good. SUCH a better atmosphere than where he lives. He understands well and seems to really want to change. But he is a little skeptical about being able to repent - it's such a blessing to have the gospel and KNOW the Savior can heal and help us!! He also drinks so we will continue working with that.
I set a goal to read The New Testament again to better understand the life of the Savior - but that was a big goal so I changed it to reading The Gospels. I'm going to accomplish this goal soon - yes! It has been interesting to highlight all the words of the Savior. He talks a LOT in this section. And he has so many lessons on top of each other. I'm excited to go back and really study things closely. It has been wonderful to think of little things throughout the day that He taught the people. And what a blessing that we have more of His words and teachings in the Book of Mormon. I know it is the word of God and I'm grateful to testify of it often and help others have more happiness by reading it. That will probably be my next study - the Book of Mormon (again :)
We had a good lesson with Jose Luis and Lucia about the Law of Chastity. It was silly of us to wait so long, but they understood well. We were blessed to be able to convey that it is a very serious sin but we can always repent and the blessings of living the law are incredible. Lucia's mom was actually there too. She's pretty much on our side :) They have been "together" for about 25 years now, just never got married. Jose Luis practically proposed in the lesson - it was sweet. And they're planning to marry in May when his family is here for a visit. Yeah!! So that is a big hurdle to jump over before they can be baptized. But it is exciting to see things move forward. As Dad said, we just testify and let the Spirit do the rest.
We are also teaching the mom and sister of a young woman who was baptized a year ago. She hasn't come to church since we've been in the area. And our last lesson was good. She sincerely and worriedly asked how we can really know when the Lord is speaking to us and know the truth of these teachings. We are excited to visit with them this evening and see how their prayers went. Her name is Diana. She is well involved in young woman's it seems. Hurray!
I think that is about all from this past week. I love you all and thanks for the updates on your lives. Tell Grandma I think it's so exciting that she is in the YW organization! I'll work to respond to her letter today. And tell Aub and Aunt Kim "Happy Birthday" for me.....and anyone else I've forgotten. (PS Mom, the birthday lists are fabulous!) I love you all. Keep doing the things you know you should. And have Family Home Evening more often - we can always use more strength and lift in our lives and families.
Love you!!!
Hermana Green
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
6 April 2010 - Easter Quake
Hola Familia!
Yeah, that's right. We had an earthquake! Pretty sweet, actually. Here's how it went down:
Stopped at the stoplight on our way to an investigator's home after conference. Suddenly I feel the car shaking and I'm pretty confused. I ignore it, but it continues. Looking around and in my mirror trying to find a source - nothing. I ask Hna Pechin and her best guess: it feels like someone is shaking our car. I look in the rearview mirror again, but all seems normal and there is a car behind me. It continues getting stronger and we both finally get it = an earthquake! It was so cool. We were pretty stoked. Then I looked and saw that the streetlight was bouncing away. And the light turned green. I was hesitant but everyone else was going on as if nothing. We pulled over into a parking lot, because Hna Pechin was a little nervous there would be a bigger quake after. I was just really excited. We called our district leader to ask if he felt it and left a message. At the end we remembered to tell him that we were fine :) (He's the only person we can call, ya know). And our analysis later totally cracked us up. When we decided an outside force was shaking our car, both our thoughts jumped to super hero villains fighting and climbing on cars. So we experienced an earthquake and before we thought of the true source of the commotion our minds jumped to fairy tales. Ha ha!
Anyway. Conference was so wonderful!! I loved how relaxed Pres. Monson was during his opening remarks. And it was so neat to hear the statistics and be part of the great missionary force for the church. Yes! Sadly, we did not have any investigators join us. One watched it on his television at home. Our ward took care of us in a wonderful way on Sunday - they brought a bunch of food and we had a huge meal between sessions. It was delicious and we totally stuffed ourselves (perfect because we had no money and very little food at the end of this month. Today will be fun now we have money again). Oh yum. We took a picture of the group too :)
The cold is nearly gone. Still blowing my nose a little. It changed up our schedule a fair amount on Wed. - I went back to bed after trying to push through like normal for a few hours. Then we went out for two hours and I came back exhausted so went back to bed. Took a nap the next two days then we were good. Not fun! Hna Pechin worked on her pictures for the plan of salvation which made her really happy :) Today we'll clean and disinfect.
We had interviews with Pres. Brady on Thurs. which was great. He thanked me for my efforts and for being a solution to problems instead of a challenge - with how things worked out I'm essentially training. It was surprising to me and nice to hear. I asked and received a blessing from him which was good.
Our investigators are doing well. We still have much work to do. We've been working lately to better convey the Apostasy and the importance of the authority - so many people have already been baptized and aren't catching why they need to be baptized again. Actually, today we really talked about it and we'll see how it goes. We had a sad moment when a young girl who really wanted to learn and had already connected with us told us her mother didn't want her learning with us. She was nearly crying as we walkeda away. She said she'll keep reading in the Book of Mormon. And she has a friend on a mission in Chile so she has someone to answer her questions. She did ask us a good one before we parted: "How can you know for sure?" What a moment to testify. And we explained prayer so she can know for herself.
We got things figured out with the areas. There has been some confusion in the boundaries in this area of Mission Viejo lately. The sisters were definitely from our mission, I can't imagine if they were from a different mission. It's bad enough to go outside of your area, but outside of your mission. Ah! What a thought. The part is still in our area - the other sisters are covering different areas, I guess. Not really sure.
Sounds like the family has lots going on like normal and some fun travel plans. I would love to join you for all of them - but that will wait. Enjoy yourselves and take some good pictures so you can share the stories with me later! How am I at less than a year left? I missed that. But I also haven't been keeping track closely.
Oh, I received my Easter package Friday and we had a wonderful little celebration Sunday morning. Thank you so much, Mom and family! It was perfect. Little and just great. And I'm SO glad you sent something for my companion - always essential. Feel free to send even more for her. (I actually struck on the genius idea of giving her one of my scarves. She loves it and is wearing it today :) We also hid a few chocolate eggs and found them. Ba ha ha. Love it.
I love you all very much! Thank you for all the love and support. I've received quite a few letters and cards lately and it has been fabulous.
Dad - could you send a postcard to Hna Pechin? I think she'd like it lots.
Mom - could you work on that grab bag quickly? :) Now that we've felt an earthquake it seems even more important! Thanks SO much. And I would LOVE another conference edition Ensign as soon as they are available. That was genius last fall.
Love you, take care, read your sciptures, say your prayers, and share your testimonies!
Love,
Hermana Green
PS Yesterday we took a little trip to Laguna Beach - it's in our area!! It was intense.
Yeah, that's right. We had an earthquake! Pretty sweet, actually. Here's how it went down:
Stopped at the stoplight on our way to an investigator's home after conference. Suddenly I feel the car shaking and I'm pretty confused. I ignore it, but it continues. Looking around and in my mirror trying to find a source - nothing. I ask Hna Pechin and her best guess: it feels like someone is shaking our car. I look in the rearview mirror again, but all seems normal and there is a car behind me. It continues getting stronger and we both finally get it = an earthquake! It was so cool. We were pretty stoked. Then I looked and saw that the streetlight was bouncing away. And the light turned green. I was hesitant but everyone else was going on as if nothing. We pulled over into a parking lot, because Hna Pechin was a little nervous there would be a bigger quake after. I was just really excited. We called our district leader to ask if he felt it and left a message. At the end we remembered to tell him that we were fine :) (He's the only person we can call, ya know). And our analysis later totally cracked us up. When we decided an outside force was shaking our car, both our thoughts jumped to super hero villains fighting and climbing on cars. So we experienced an earthquake and before we thought of the true source of the commotion our minds jumped to fairy tales. Ha ha!
Anyway. Conference was so wonderful!! I loved how relaxed Pres. Monson was during his opening remarks. And it was so neat to hear the statistics and be part of the great missionary force for the church. Yes! Sadly, we did not have any investigators join us. One watched it on his television at home. Our ward took care of us in a wonderful way on Sunday - they brought a bunch of food and we had a huge meal between sessions. It was delicious and we totally stuffed ourselves (perfect because we had no money and very little food at the end of this month. Today will be fun now we have money again). Oh yum. We took a picture of the group too :)
The cold is nearly gone. Still blowing my nose a little. It changed up our schedule a fair amount on Wed. - I went back to bed after trying to push through like normal for a few hours. Then we went out for two hours and I came back exhausted so went back to bed. Took a nap the next two days then we were good. Not fun! Hna Pechin worked on her pictures for the plan of salvation which made her really happy :) Today we'll clean and disinfect.
We had interviews with Pres. Brady on Thurs. which was great. He thanked me for my efforts and for being a solution to problems instead of a challenge - with how things worked out I'm essentially training. It was surprising to me and nice to hear. I asked and received a blessing from him which was good.
Our investigators are doing well. We still have much work to do. We've been working lately to better convey the Apostasy and the importance of the authority - so many people have already been baptized and aren't catching why they need to be baptized again. Actually, today we really talked about it and we'll see how it goes. We had a sad moment when a young girl who really wanted to learn and had already connected with us told us her mother didn't want her learning with us. She was nearly crying as we walkeda away. She said she'll keep reading in the Book of Mormon. And she has a friend on a mission in Chile so she has someone to answer her questions. She did ask us a good one before we parted: "How can you know for sure?" What a moment to testify. And we explained prayer so she can know for herself.
We got things figured out with the areas. There has been some confusion in the boundaries in this area of Mission Viejo lately. The sisters were definitely from our mission, I can't imagine if they were from a different mission. It's bad enough to go outside of your area, but outside of your mission. Ah! What a thought. The part is still in our area - the other sisters are covering different areas, I guess. Not really sure.
Sounds like the family has lots going on like normal and some fun travel plans. I would love to join you for all of them - but that will wait. Enjoy yourselves and take some good pictures so you can share the stories with me later! How am I at less than a year left? I missed that. But I also haven't been keeping track closely.
Oh, I received my Easter package Friday and we had a wonderful little celebration Sunday morning. Thank you so much, Mom and family! It was perfect. Little and just great. And I'm SO glad you sent something for my companion - always essential. Feel free to send even more for her. (I actually struck on the genius idea of giving her one of my scarves. She loves it and is wearing it today :) We also hid a few chocolate eggs and found them. Ba ha ha. Love it.
I love you all very much! Thank you for all the love and support. I've received quite a few letters and cards lately and it has been fabulous.
Dad - could you send a postcard to Hna Pechin? I think she'd like it lots.
Mom - could you work on that grab bag quickly? :) Now that we've felt an earthquake it seems even more important! Thanks SO much. And I would LOVE another conference edition Ensign as soon as they are available. That was genius last fall.
Love you, take care, read your sciptures, say your prayers, and share your testimonies!
Love,
Hermana Green
PS Yesterday we took a little trip to Laguna Beach - it's in our area!! It was intense.
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