Hola Everyone!!
This past week has been crazy, but absolutely amazing!!
Leaving the MTC was bitter sweet. I'm definitely going to miss my
district and teachers and such, but it's good to know that they're all going
out to preach the word too!!
Two Friday's ago, we had In-Field Orientation. At
first I thought it was going to be kind of boring and not worth my time, but it
was actually quite enjoyable. The instructors had a lot of good insight
on how we should always have a vision of what we want in the future and how to
work well with members. The whole day was pretty spiritually uplifting.
That night, my district had a little fiesta with a pinata that Hermana
Higgs' mom sent. It was a blast until a security guard came by and told
us that we couldn't use the bat anymore. Oh well, we didn't know!
Last Sunday was really sweet! We were able to sing our
song in Sacrament Meeting. It went really well and I was so proud of our
elders. Especially Elder Tanner because he was having issues singing his
part, but he nailed it on Sunday. After Sacrament Meeting we went on our
last Temple walk as a district. It was really peaceful because we got to
go when hardly anyone was there. That night, I asked our elders for a
blessing because I was stressing a lot about going to California the next day.
It was really neat to have all four elders around me using the
priesthood. The blessing helped a lot and I didn't feel as nervous or
inadequate.
Monday, HERMANA HIGGS AND I FLEW TO CALIFORNIA!! On
the way to Denver (our layover) I sat next to a Bishop from Salt Lake and on
the way to Santa Barbara I sat next to this cute little old man on his way to
see his grandkids. I got to share a little bit about the church with him!
It was a little nerve wracking, but I did it!! Once we got to Cali,
we met President Castro, his wife, and his kids, all of whom are wonderful and
sweet people. We did some orientation at the Ventura Stake Center, had an
interview with President Castro, and then stayed at members homes that night.
In my interview with Pres. Castro, he told me that when he was a bishop
in New York, one of his counselors was Bro. Houghton from 4th ward!
Crazy, right? It's such a small world in the church. In the
interview, he told me that when I walked in, he could tell that I was going to
be a very successful missionary and bring many souls unto Christ. I was
really touched by this. He also told me, after I said the closing prayer
in Spanish, that I speak Spanish wonderfully and asked me if I spoke Spanish
before the mission! Ha to all of you that thought I sounded white! He
said I pronounced things perfectly and had excellent grammar.
The next morning, I met my new companion!! Her name is
Hermana Romero and I absolutely love her!! I got really lucky because
she's a native speaker! Hopefully she'll help me speak spanish a lot
better. We're assigned to the Paso Robles 1st Ward and the Paso Robles
Spanish 3rd Branch (NOT BAKERSFIELD!!). I get to work in English AND
Spanish AND we're white washing (taking the place of the elders that used to be
in the area...we're the first sister missionaries in the ward for 20 years!)!
It's get even better though. Hermana Higgs and her companion are
also assigned to the 3rd Branch!! What are the chances?! I get to
see her almost everyday still!! After the transfer meeting, I found out
that I get to be the designated driver for our car! Hopefully I don't crash
it!! ;) One more crazy thing from that day...Nathaniel James (one of my
FHE brothers from first semester) is serving in Ventura right now while he's
waiting for his visa to Mexico!! Weird!! I got to talk to him a little
bit before we had to head to Paso. When we got to Paso, we went straight
to a dinner appointment with a recent convert Noel Foltz and her non-member
family. They're so sweet! We then went to the Laughmiller's (a
member family) ...we're living in their basement and their awesome.
On Thursday, we taught a few people, but one of the
highlights was teaching a homeless progressing investigator in Spanish.
At the end of the lesson, I got to invite him to be baptized and he said
yes!! We had dinner with a family from 1st ward and found out that Sister
Adams is the writer of this really popular food blog called Artsy McGoo (sp?).
The food that she fed us was amazing!!
On Friday, we also taught a few people, but the highlight
was going to see another progressing investigator, Edgar, but instead teaching
his daughter, Ruth. I got to recite the first vision in Spanish and
testify. It wasn't perfect, but the spirit was really strong. We
surprised Noel with another visit and she was really happy to see us.
Every time we visit Noel and her family, we have to drive on dirt roads
to go to the middle of no where. Almost all of our investigators live in
the hills and it's gorgeous. The roads are so bad that we're trying to
get the truck back that the elders before us had. My dream!! The
area here is SO beautiful too! Noel's daughter, Jane, is 8 years old and
wants to be baptized, but she can't because her dad won't let her. We're
praying for her everyday and hopefully her dad's heart will be soften so that
she can soon!
On Saturday, we taught a lot more people. One of the
recent converts that we visited, Denise, is super sweet and her grandson,
Elijah, is too. Before we left, we gave Hermana Romero and I little notes
and pictures and wanted to take a picture with us before we left. When we
took a dinner break at Subway, we passed the Mid-State Fair Grounds. We found
out that Tim McGraw, Kip Moore, Rascal Flatts, and The Band Perry are coming
next month, but we can't go!! Some of my favorite groups/people are
coming!! Oh well!! I'm doing something a lot more important.
Church yesterday was awesome! We had to keep going
back and forth between the wards so it was kind of hectic, but we met all sorts
of wonderful people. There's only like three or four families that attend
the Spanish Branch, so numbers are kind of scarce. I had to play the
piano in Relief Society, conduct the music in Sacrament Meeting and say the
closing prayer in Sacrament Meeting. I was grateful that my musical
abilities were able to come in handy! We were able to watch the Training
Broadcast yesterday and found out that we're going to be able to use Facebook
to do missionary work as well as all sorts of other websites and technology.
I loved how they mentioned a lot about member missionary work and how
members need to do more searching so the missionaries don't have to. The
members here seemed really excited to get to work and hope back home people
feel the same way. I also got to see Natalie and a bunch of the Hermanas
and Elders from the MTC that were in my zone!
Here in the mission, we're able to go to the temple during
the month of our birthday. Although my birthday isn't until October,
Hermana Romero's is actually tomorrow, so we get to got to LA tomorrow!! YAY!!
I didn't think I'd be able to go this soon, but I'm so grateful I get the
opportunity to!
I know that there's not too much detail in this email, but
there was just so much to fit in! Hopefully next week I'll be able to give more
info about more of our investigators.
Love you all and wish you all the best!! You're all in
my prayers and I hope you're all touched by what I've had to say.
Con amor,
Hermana Halliday
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