Halloween!!

Well a lot has happened this past week. This weekend is Halloween! It just happens to be Sister Clark's and my favorite holiday!!! Unfortunately we have to be in early.

We saw a lot of miracles happen this week. One night we had two near-death experiences- well I did. We were driving to our dinner appointment and it was near dusk. A car coming in the opposite directions flashed their lights at us. I checked my brights and they weren't on and then I see two deer alongside the road just as we drive by them. What a close call. Then at dinner we sit down and we have a casserole that looks like lasagna. They are a very health conscious family so I knew that there would be no meat or dairy in it. I figured I wouldn't ask any questions, I'll just eat it. We all get dished up a piece of lasagna and my companion asks what's in it. It is eggplant instead of pasta. My companion says good because we are trying to eat  healthy and the family goes, "that's great because there isn't a lot of fat in here, it has a handful of cashews." That stopped me "dead" in my tracks, just in time. I remind the family that I am allergic to cashews, so I got to try clam chowder instead. It was actually really good!

Sister Clark's package got broken into at the post office. Her parents sent her winter boots and clothes and a cook book and half of it was stolen! We picked the package up and noticed that it was kind of light for winter stuff and opened it and then went about our day. A few hours later, Sister Clark noticed a letter from her mom that happened to mention all of the stuff that was in there, only most of it wasn't in there. We spent a good hour on the phone the next day with the post office.

I have most of the Proclamation to the World memorized by now. It is amazing how often lines from the proclamation are called to remembrance now.

Love you guys!

Halloween week was so much fun! We got to go and visit some of the members in the branch that we don't see very often because we knew that they love Halloween. We had a branch trunk-or-treat and almost all of the kids from primary came. Our friend, Heather, and her two young kids came. We were able to show them around the church. Heather is going to be baptized on November 21st! We are really excited!

Sisters does a Halloween parade the day before Halloween for all of the elementary kids to trick or treat in a safer environment and with their parents. We got to help one of our less active members pass out candy. It was pretty great! Sister Clark and I both love Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Just kidding! I actually dressed like a pioneer!

We're speaking this coming Sunday. Our topic is Jesus Christ and we're going to talk about missionary work of course. Wish me luck!

9 months!!!!

Has it been 9 months already. Time has flown by! I still feel like a greenie!

We had a return missionary and his dad (a high council member) and his mom speak in our ward yesterday. Each one gave a great talk, but the one I remember was from the mom. She ran her second marathon last week. She practiced and prepared for her marathon. She found a pacer, which is someone who has experience at marathons and they get a certain time so if you stick with them, you can achieve that time too. Well, on the day of her big race, she skimped on breakfast, nerves and all. Well, by mile 10, she was doing great. Her pacer was encouraging everyone and motivating them to keep it up. Then they started up a 5 mile hill and after 2 miles, she could feel that her energy was burnt out, she slowed down and eventually lost sight of her pacer.  Then doubts started to creep in, thoughts of "Why am I doing this?" "I hate running" "I need new shoes" "I am never going to run again" and just when she thought she was going to give up, she came to an aide station, where the volunteers were encouraging her and cheering her on! At mile 25, she saw her family and they encouraged her!! She made it to the finish line and felt accompanied, yet disappointed in herself, because she knew she could have done better. Yet because of one simple mistake, skimping on breakfast, she got a slower time.

Well she related running a marathon to life. We each chose to come to earth. We prepared for this, we learned and we were excited when it was our turn. Heavenly Father gave us a pacer, someone to show us the way and encourage and motivate us along the way: Jesus Christ. We knew that if we followed our pacer, we would be happy. At times it gets rough and we start to doubt ourselves and our pacer and our coach. We want to give up. Then we get to an aide station and we are given the nourishment and encouragement we need. The thing is, we all cross the finish line. Will we be excited and glad and proud of our accomplishment, or will we be disappointed because we knew we could have done better. I hope we are glad and we celebrate with our families.

I love you all! Love, Sister Kelly Martin

P.S. I met a new missionary and she said that she actually read my blog!!! Thanks Stacy! Keep up the good work!!!

Cute sheep cupcakes! "Feed my sheep"

Portland Temple

Sisters Branch Dutch Oven Dinner :)

I will be starting to put Sister Martin's address at the bottom of each blog for easy access.

Sister Kelly Martin

Oregon Salem Mission

700 Deborah Rd Suite 260

Newberg, Oregon 97132

kelly.martin@myldsmail.net

Last week before another transfer!

I've been out for 8 months now!! Almost halfway! This next transfer marks the halfway point!

On Wednesday, Sister Miller got to go to the temple. Sister Hanna was my companion in Sisters since her companion was also going to the temple. (Missionaries in our mission get to go to the temple with the mission president and his wife the week before the end of their mission.) Sister Hanna and I went to activity days. We got to talk about the articles of faith. 

On Thursday, during our weekly planning, Sister Miller hot a sharp pain in her abdomen and we went to the fire station first and they recommended we go to the hospital and check it out. So after talking with Sister Samuelian, we went to the hospital and spent 4 hours there. They couldn't figure out what it was, but they said it wasn't life threatening, so they released her.

On Friday, we had a district meeting in Redmond and then we had to wait around for another meeting. The sister training leaders were supposed to come an hour early, but they overslept. We spent an hour worrying about them, their companions had the phones. 

Then on Saturday, at 12:30, the phone beeps and she looks at it and says, presidents calling. And I say no he's not, and she says I'm not kidding and she answers it and my heart started pounding so fast!! President extended a calling to me from Heavenly Father to train. This next week is going to be a whirlwind. Sister Miller and I have now memorized a fourth of the Family: A Proclamation to the World. It is an amazing document. The women's broadcast on Saturday was amazing. Lots of amazing revelation from Heavenly Father, The proclamation about families was given at a relief society conference 20 years ago.

At the relief society broadcast, there was a lot of really delicious food! We might have stacked our plates high with food!!!

Glad they're being fed well! :)

I will be training a brand new missionary in Sisters!!!! I'm really excited!! What advice do you guys have for me??
         Tell her to write down everything you say!! ;) 
(The Best Two Years)
     Elder Rogers: Yeah, I guess that's okay. But check with me before you write anything down I've said.
     Elder Calhoun: Should I write that down?
     Elder Rogers: Yeah.
     Elder Calhoun: Okay.

Short Update

We went to an indoor sports field in Bend for Zone P-Day. I'm glad we get to hang out with the Sisters!

Sister Williams, Sister Miller, and I didn't play. I got to catch up with my journal writing instead.

Well since its almost October and Sister Martin is in Oregon and we loved those movies!

We as a mission are going to memorize The Family: A Proclamation to the World in 40 days!

And another week!

This week was a great week. We had a zone training meeting on Friday and then we went and had a lesson with one of our investigators and she told us that we were misinformed about our own religion and the Bible as well as the Book of Mormon. Her heart was hardened and it was really sad because she was closed off to the truth.

We made chocolate covered pretzels for some people in the branch who had birthdays recently and we went to the lava tubes for our sisters p-day.

The message I got from zone training was all about faith. Trusting in our Heavenly Father and our savior to get us through anything and everything. It was amazing! I was reminded of the scripture that says "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13).

Another week!

We went on exchanges this week. Sister Miller went to Bend with Sister Griffin and I stayed in Sisters with the other Sister Williams. We got fleece blankets from our branch mission leader and his family because it had been really cold. I tried Salmon on Monday of last week and found out that I actually like it. We went to a Relief Society picnic. We went to Redmond and Bend several times this week. We went there on Thursday for an accountability meeting and then District meeting on Friday and then we drove to Bend to switch companions for exchanges and then I drove back to Sisters and then on Saturday we drove back to Bend and then we drove to Bend today to go shopping.

We've been sharing the Family: A Proclamation to the World. My favorite part is "Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ." When we put Heavenly Father and His Son first, everything else in our lives falls into place. I love my savior, I know He lives, and I know that they want the best for us.

I've seen wild turkeys, deer, horses, rock-chucks and much more here in Oregon!

I will be starting to put Sister Martin's address at the bottom of each blog for easy access.

Sister Kelly Martin

Oregon Salem Mission
700 Deborah Rd Ste 260
Newberg, Oregon 97132

kelly.martin@myldsmail.net

They're in Sisters! Literally!

I love being here in Sisters, Oregon! It is a cute little tourist town with lots of camp grounds nearby, much like Idyllwild. My companion is Sister Miller from Las Vegas, Nevada. We have a lot in common and are having our own adventure! We have been using our maps to get around town and it's been fun. We got to take the car from Redmond with us, although we would rather have a jeep and lots of members keep telling us we will need a better car when the snow comes. We also need a better car after visiting a few members who live on dirt roads. Actually 2/3 of the members of the branch live on dirt roads. Sister Miller and I were both companions with Sister Williams. This is Sister Miller's last transfer. She was just in her last area: Brownsville for 9 months of her mission. That was how long Sister Williams was in Brownsville.

We are having a zone conference on Thursday and President Samuelian is inviting members to attend the evening session with the missionaries. It will be an all day meeting for us. Both Bend and Redmond stakes are invited. We get to go to Redmond every week for district meetings. Sister Miller and I are so excited to help the members of the sisters branch with the missionary work. We have spent the last few days trying to get to know the members.

We read about the plan of salvation today in 2Nephi chapter 2. Verse 26 stood out to me "And the Messiah cometh in the fullness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given."

SO we are free to act or be acted upon. The choice is ours.

Transfer 6

I got an early birthday present Saturday night!!! 

Sister Spencer and I found out that we are both leaving Redmond! Her with her 6 months and me with my 6 weeks! And this area is getting Elders! And the Elders will be on bikes because I am taking the car with me to my new area: Sisters, Oregon! And the Elders will be training! I will be re-opening the Sisters branch, there hasn't been any missionaries there for the last 3 months.

I found out that the ward mission leader is related to a young couple in Newberg. So that is super exciting! I get to live in a country mansion with President Liddell and his wife. He is in the stake presidency. I will still be in the Redmond stake. I meet my new companion tomorrow afternoon. My district leader will now be one of my zone leaders and I will still be in the same district!

The beginning of this week was a little rough. We were chastened, some people pointed out lots of areas of improvement. Tuesday night was intense, Wednesday morning was really challenging as well. We haven't had a new investigator in months and several of our investigators said they wanted a break from meeting with us. We kind of went through the motions of studies. We recognized that something needed to change. We needed to see God's hand helping us. We felt like we were working on our own and we needed to turn to him.

Miracle number one happened! We were at a recent convert's house and their cousin asked, "How does one join your church? Do you show up or is there a process?" So we told him that we could answer that question and gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and told him about it. He asked us for our favorite scripture in it and asked us if we could share one scripture with him to give him hope, what would it be? We are meeting with him tonight!

Miracle number 2: While doing SERVICE on Friday at the house of a neighbor of another recent convert, as we were leaving, this neighbor whom we SERVED asked what my (scripture) bag was. Well I opened it up and said it contained my scriptures. I showed her the bible and the Book of Mormon and I asked if she has heard of the Book of Mormon and she said no. So we explained it and shared our favorite scripture (we learned that from the last miracle) and then we gave her a copy and invited her to read. The recent convert asked is she would like to come over and join us on Tuesday for the next lesson that we teach her and the neighbor agreed!

Miracle number 3: We had an appointment with some investigators and we went there with our ward missionary and they cancelled. So we decided to visit one of our other investigators and we had a wonderful lesson with her and when we left, the investigator's son was outside with two of his friends, one of them we had been trying to meet with for weeks, and we stopped and talked to them. We told them about the Book of Mormon and our ward missionary shared how the gospel had changed her life when she heard about it. We gave them copies of the scriptures and scheduled a time to teach them more about it!

Within a few days we had many new investigators!!! We had been trying to build up the courage for weeks to open our mouths to people on the street and go tracting, but we learned an important lesson. Heavenly Father did not expect us to go out there and do that, He expected us to open our mouths to those around us, those that we serve with.

The scripture that we shared with all of these people is found at the end of the first chapter of the Book of Mormon. "...I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of  deliverance." (1Nephi 1:20)

Our District and Zone:

Elders pose the same! Haha!

When we get together........

Missionaries do crazy things

We have FUN!!!!

         And we laugh!!!!

                 ALOT!!!

My birthday package! I waited all week to open it!!! Thank you!!!

          There's no place I'd rather be 

Transfer called... they want their missionary back...

This coming Saturday is transfer calls. We have no idea what will happen, we could both stay or leave.

We went on exchanges this week so I got to go to Bend! It's a pretty cool place. Sister Griffin and I went tracting. We got out of the car and I put my really heavy pink water bottle in my bag and she said "Sister Martin, do you need your water bottle?" and I said, "yes, I might get thirsty." 20 minutes later, we knocked on this door and a guy answered. He was very nice and said he grew up a Jehovah's witness and they went door to door and he then offered us water. We had an amazing conversation with him about the gospel and we set up a return appointment. It was great!

I promised Sister Griffin that I would go back to Redmond and open my mouth. That is something that Sister Spencer and I are still working on.

I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting based on Matthew 4:18-23. It was very intimidating because for once, I did not write my talk out. I took my scriptures and spoke by the Spirit. I need to practice trusting in the Holy Ghost more. [D&C 84:85] [D&C 38:30]

We got to attend relief society in the other ward and it was about dutch oven cooking! It was awesome! I can't wait to go home and practice!

This is me with Rudy. He is a little poodle and he LOVES to be held!
:)

Matthew 4:18-23

18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
20 And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.
21 And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.
22 And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.
23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of  sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

Zone P-day

Today, we had zone p-day! We were going to explore some lave tubes outside of Bend. So we went to the stake center in Bend and we waited for everyone to show up and then we headed out. It was hard to find parking for some of us, so we waited for all of the other missionaries to find parking spots. Two cars pulled up and rolled down their windows and said "Look at all the Mormon missionaries!" They were people from Newberg!!!!!! It was go great to see them! Their priests and teachers came to spend a week in  Bend and everything worked out perfectly.

The caves are pitch black and we probably would have walked by without noticing each other. There is a mission prep class for the stake that happens once a month and they were all invited to go out on splits with us! So next week they get to practice what they were taught!

Photobombed!! [Just kidding! I think those are just some elders]

Welcome to Redmond!

There are tons of Volcanoes around here. I don't know if there are any active ones, but since there are volcanoes there are lava caves!! I haven't been in a lava cave since we went to Snow's Canyon years ago.... Anyway, we had a sisters' p-day with all of the sisters in the Redmond Zone (we're the only sisters in our zone) and the Bend Zone (there are 3 companions in Bend, well, one in La Pine and 2 in Bend). So there were 10 of us in total. It was really fun!! We got to do some crawling and lots of squats. I went the furthest, it was awesome!! [Knowing Kelly, it doesn't surprise our family that she went the furthest! I'm jealous I wasn't there, we'd go as far as we could possibly go.] Naturally, we all got super dirty and then ate Little Caesars Pizza.

We had an investigator come to church! Sister Spencer and I are going to open our mouths more and introduce ourselves to random people.

Our P-day has been super busy. We have been in Bend since 8 in the morning. We had to get an oil change on our car, we found out that 2 of our tires have nails in them so we have to go to Les Schwab soon to get new tires.

We sang hymns in the caves today. It was really spiritual. Some of the sisters got each of us a little flashlight and they wrote the scripture 1Nephi 17:13. "And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led." It was really cute! And it is a great message.

[No lava cave photos]

 

I'm thankful for this tag that I wear everyday!!

We are SO blessed!

Hello!! -The Majestic Rockchuck

These are the little animals that live really close to the church.
They are called yellow-bellied marmots or rock-chucks.

[I thought they were just squirrels or really fat gophers or really small beavers!]

Sister Porter took pictures. Sister Porter and I were in the MTC together.

[Remember how long ago Sister Martin was in the MTC?] 

Redmond: "The Celestial Side of the Mountain"

On Saturday last week, I felt like I was going to be transferred. I feel like that everytime we get transfer calls though, so I was surprised to find out that I was actually being transferred. On Tuesday, I packed 5 packages to send home and then I filled my 2 suitcases, my carry-on, 3 boxes, 2 bags, and 2 and a half purses plus my hulahoop and I was ready for the transfer meeting. We got there and I was talking to Sister Abra,s and she told me not to worry, there's one Spanish sister, one STL and only regular sister going over the mountain, and that I will probably stay locally. I looked at allof the other sisters and I though, one of them is my new companion. They announced all of the trainers, there are 23 new missionaries this transfer, then they announced the Redmond Zone and I was the first sister called to leave. Redmond is 2 and a half hours away from Newberg and the rest of the mission. It is in central Oregon. Since it is so far away, for transfer meetings, only the missionaries who are leaving go. So my companion was not at the meeting. I got to ride with the 2 other sisters going to Bend and the stake patriarch and his wife.

We got a phone call on Thursday from our Zone Leader and he said, "Sister Martin, we were talking to President and he said you are being emergency transferred.... just kidding." I didn't think it was very funny... but it did get me thinking about how much time I do have left. Time is something we have no control over. It makes me strive to do my best every day. To give the Lord my all. D&C 4:2 "See that ye serve Him with all your heart, might, mind, and strength."

Sister Spencer and I are very excited to be companions! :)

Leaving Newberg

Transfer calls came this Saturday. We had gone over to Abrams for dinner and all of them were talking about how the Lord isn't going to take me away from Newberg too. Sister Williams is leaving so they will leave me and then the next sister missionary will take over the area after I leave. President won't send 3 missionaries in to take over the area. Well, I've experienced white-washing (2 missionaries come in and take over an area) twice now (Hemet and Newberg). Elder Adams gave me a blessing and I was able to be calm for the rest of the evening. We had to be in by 7pm and we did our weekly panning and then by 9pm rolls by, we get a phone call from our district leader. He tells us that half of our district is leaving. Then he says "Sister Martin is getting a new companion" and then I relax because I think that  mean I'm staying. He then says, "Sister... Martin is leaving too..." I felt like it was going to happen, but I hoped that I would get one more transfer here. Now I have to pack all of my stuff and prepare the go to the transfer meeting tomorrow and I will get assigned a new area and a new companion.

This morning was our last time at Vista Balloon adventures. Pierre, the owner gave us 4 certificates to give away and he told us when we come back to visit, to give him a call and he'll let us and probably a friend go up for free! He rocks! And definitely one of the best bosses ever, no nice and generous. Everyone there was always positive and encouraging, even when they were correcting our mistakes. I never felt scolded or lectured. Everything that was spoken was to lift others up and encourage them and not tear them down. It was such a great place to volunteer. We made so many friendships!

The only constant thing in this world is change, I felt change in the air and now it is here. Time for new adventures and new relationships. Alma 37:37 and Proverbs 3:5-6 are all about change and trusting in Him. The Will of God is one of my favorite videos. He is the gardener and He knows what He wants us to be. I want to say to Him: "Thank you Mr. Gardener for loving me enough to cut me down."

We gave her our first hot air balloon flight certificates! She was so happy!

We did a lemonade stand on Wednesday with the primary president in Newberg 2nd

At the Temple's Visitors Center

We made strawberry jam with cerrano peppers with a member. It was really good but really hot!

Transfer 4. Week 4.

We had a mission tour this week!! Elder Daniel Johnson, a general authority came and spoke to us missionaries! It was basically an all day meeting. The overall message that I got was obedience brings miracles.

I got to see Sister McFarland!! She is in my stake back home and she has been out for a little over a year now! We got sent to the same mission! She told me that her little sister is preparing to go on a mission soon, so they might have 4 missionaries out at once!!!!!

We have been helping with the hot air balloons every Friday, Saturday, and Monday morning! It's so much fun! The process of setting up and taking down a balloon is so exciting every time!

Our fire alarm went off 1:30 in the morning on Friday. I got up and tried turning on the light in the living room/dining room and it didn't turn on. So I thought the light bulbs burnt out. So I pushed the couch to the fridge and got on top of the fridge so I could turn the fire alarm off. It never occurred to Sister Williams and I that there might actually be a fire and we are supposed to evacuate. We were talking to the Cluffs after we all woke up and Papa Cluff went out and checked everything. The power was out and the alarms were just letting us know that. Everything was fine except for the 2 hours of sleep that were lost that night. All in a great week! Until next week!

Transfer 4. Week 3.

We have a mission tour this coming week! A general authority comes and teaches the missionaries!! Unfortunately we don't get to all gather together, we meet in smaller groups. So there will be 3 different conferences! I'm excited!

I am going to the doctor tomorrow to see if Kaiser will let me do a little more physical therapy. I need to learn some new exercises to strengthen my left leg. I instinctively use my right leg more than my left, especially when standing. The problem with that is my right hip now it feels like it wants to pop, kind of like when you want to pop your knuckle but it won't pop. I spoke to a member in the ward who is in grad school studying physical therapy and she said the problem is probably stemming from the knee and if we were to fix or strengthen the knee, then I would be able to fix the hip problem and prevent other future problems, So hopefully, Kaiser will let me see a physical therapist, of course I have to get a referral for one.

This week was good. We were able to do a lot of service which is fun! I mowed a lawn for the first time. I wasn't able to use the riding lawn mower, but it looked like a blast! I got a sunburn on my arms and I have a cool watch tan now!

We had a lesson with a family who was baptized a year ago and their son's friend was there. I've met her before and she has kind of taken lessons before but her mom made her stop. Anyway, the nonmember was telling us that she wanted to be baptized and that she can now because she doesn't live with her mom and then he asked her if he could baptize her! She is going to be baptized at the end of this month! How awesome! So exciting! I love the gospel and I know that Heavenly Father is looking out for each of us! :)

This is me and Sister Williams and Carrie! We were a crew of 3 setting up and taking down a balloon!!!!! It was fun! We got training on everything!!! 

This was on sister Harry's desk in forest grove. I have also found
out that surprisingly enough, I am not the oldest sister missionary
out here, there are a lot of young sisters, but there are a lot of
older ones like me.

Sister Williams and I went on exchanges with our sister training
leaders: Sister Hardy and Sister Mower. I went to forest grove with
Sister Mower and Sister Hardy stayed with Sister Williams.

Transfer 4. Week 2.

We are official balloon chasers now! Pretty cool! We got to help twice this last weekend and we are going to help this next weekend on Friday, Saturday, and Monday!

Sister Williams and I focused a lot on service this week. We got to do a lot of fun things like help with the hot air balloon chasing and cheering on participants in a triathlon. We helped take care of the mail in the office and we pinked up trash on the side of the road and we helped someone move. Then it was really cool because the topic for church yesterday was service! 

One of our investigators came to church with his daughter. They might come again in the future, but it was their second time and kind of thought it was boring, again. It was a slower week, but that's okay. 

I learned how to can things last Monday. That was fun! It is a lot of hard work though, but it can definitely save money.

I studied the talk: "Latter-Day Saints Keep On Trying" by Elder Renlund. He says, "God cares a lot more about who we are and who we are becoming than about who we once were. He cares that we keep on trying." I know this to be true. God wants us to be the best that we can be. He wants to help us and that is why He provided a savior for us. When we make mistakes, we are able to fix them through the Atonement! God created the perfect plan for all of us to return to Him. His plan takes effort from us, we have to keep trying. "If we don't try, we're just Latter-Day Sinners, if we don't persevere, we're Latter-Day Quitters; and if we don't allow others to try, we're just Latter-Day Hypocrites."

Have a great week! :)

They have Redwoods here!

Picking up trash for our own service project!

It is rumored that this is the type of tree that they used to make the
crown that went on Christ's head. It has really long and sharp thorns
and they are already red, the color of blood.

Hawthorn Tree

Transfer 4. Week 1. Day 1.

Sister Williams and I get to stay for one more transfer together! It is Sister Williams last transfer and there is no better place to spend it than here in Newberg with me! :)

We are very excited to stay! We thought we might be in a trio. Sister Williams thinks that I will train next transfer so that I will be here for at least 6 transfers. Time will tell. So we found out early on Saturday. The AP's called us and said they have some things they want to tell us. "The first thing is that you both are leaving." Sister Williams said he is joking, then he said, "you both are leaving" and my mind started racing a mile a minute, thinking of all of the things we need to do to prepare our area for new missionaries! Then Sister Williams said he is totally kidding and then he said, "yeah, I'm messing with you." I wanted to hang up on him so bad, I'm surprised I didn't.

Anyway, they are giving us 2 sister missionaries from the Mexico MTC for a day on Tuesday. We are going to take them to visit our investigator. Speaking of whom, we stopped by his place yesterday to invite him to a ward bbq and softball game.  We were talking to him and we said, "Oh, by the way, they caled us and told us that we were both leaving Newberg." He was pretty upset, he said, "they can't take you out of Newberg yet. We got him so good! We told him we would be here for the next 6 weeks and he was surprised at how short a time that is.

We had a lesson with another guy! He got baptized a few weeks ago. We let him and his older sister be the missionaries and we got to pretend to be them. We did such a good representation of them! We were getting in each other's space and irritating each other just like they do in a normal lesson. So Norris has this ball called a Bubble Wubble Ball. Sister Peter, Sister Williams, and I were playing with it as we were pretending to be Norris and Maddie. Well, we accidentally popped it and Norris seemed to be pretty upset about it, his mom was able to calm him down. Thankfully his Bubble Wubble Ball has a lifetime guarantee. They just have to send it in and they will send him a new one. The thing that was so funny to us was that if we were the missionaries and they were themselves, the ball still would have popped.

We went to see one of our investigators and he was showing us his birthday present for his 10 year old son. It was roller skates, but you put your show in them and there are 2 wheels in the back and one in front. We got to try them out for him. They are really heavy and then he tried them out too. It was pretty hilarious! 

We had a bbq and a softball game with a few families in the ward. We had a blast! Sister Williams was going to play softball in college before her mission. She would still like to. Anyway, I like playing with baseballs better than softballs. I feel like they are easier to hit and throw and they go farther! So we were playing of course. I've never really played before, so I was third baseman and was terrible at it. We mostly let the little kids bat and the parents were catching. Anyway, the parents would occasionally bat, on one such occasion, one of them members who likes to joke around was running to third base and I totally got him out. Well, he knocked the ball out of my hands and then continued running/ Well, I picked the ball up and tossed it at him and it was kind of a lob so it went up in the air a little bit and it hit him right in the back of his head. We were all laughing, himself included! (So I think its okay, lol.) Don't worry, it was an accident, I threw it, but did not expect it to hit him. It was a perfect throw too!

Well this week was fantastic! Hopefully we'll have more stories next week!

Skylar's Baptism!

This week was pretty crazy!! We had a baptism for Skylar! She is 13 and she had a lot of family come for her baptism! Her grandparents came from their mission in Missouri! They were told before they left that if they would leave and take care of other people's children that someone would take care of their children! Well their prayers were certainly answered! It was very humbling to be part of an answer to their prayers! 

We were going to be crowd control this last Saturday at the annual UFO parade in McMinnville. We got permission from our zone leaders and then when we called them the night before asking when and where to meet, they told us that they did not need our help anymore. We were obviously pretty upset about that because we had been looking forward to it all week! I don't think those Elders knew how much it upset us...   

Saturday morning, we saw 6 hot air balloons in the sky and they said villa balloons in Newberg, Oregon. They were starting to land after our exercises so we decided to follow one of them. We got to the landing area (it looked like it was going to land in trees) and we stopped and just sat in our car looking at it and a lady approached us and could tell that we were obviously impressed and she asked us if we wanted to help take it down. We said yes and we got to help deflate it (they are huge) and then we got to help them stuff it in the bag!! It was a blast! They told us that if we volunteer 7 times we would get a certificate for a free ride!! Which of course, as missionaries we can't, but we want to give our certificates to Jada and her grandma!!! This week, they bought us both hula-hoops that we use to exercise with! We are hoping that we will stay together for this next transfer so we can volunteer enough times to get the certificates! The air balloons go up every Friday-Saturday-Sunday-Monday! So it will only take us 3 weeks to get the certificates! I think it was fun to help take it down! We are just awaiting an email telling us when and where! 

We might have misplaced or lost our dinner calendar and the month is almost half over.  So we thought that a family was going to feed us this last Friday and we called them and they said it was next Thursday, they gave us some of their leftovers for dinner since they realized that we didn't have a dinner for that night and they gave us potatoes and spaghetti sauce and noodles and mac and cheese and some more groceries including toilet paper! it was perfect! What a huge blessing we have received this week! 

We went to McMinnville on Thursday to try on baptism clothes with Skylar and we got ice cream at a place called Alf's! it was homemade ice cream (i think Dairy Queen and of course Iceberg's are way better though) but the cool thing about this place is they have a pet monkey like the pet monkey, Jack, in Pirates of the Caribbean! But the poor monkey didn't look like he liked being in his room. I actually felt really bad for him! We also got to look at the world's largest wooden plane. 

This week was awesome! Transfer calls are this next Saturday!! Can't wait to see what's gonna happen. We're also getting 50 new missionaries between now and September! I love you all!!!