Interesting Week!

Hi Mom and Dad!

This week has been long. It was a good week, really long, but really good. It was interesting. At the beginning of the week I was still super sick. But then I started to get better, just in time to get word that one of the people we visit needed people to help her move, emergency.  So that’s what we spent the last few days doing. Just organizing and helping her pack her car and getting things all sorted into piles.  I think we have a lot of work in front of us yet.  But we love the service opportunities so it is all good!

But this morning we went hiking.  It was super hot and REALLY intense. We made it back alive :) Just barely. Then the stomach stuff came back.  I think its stress related.  I don’t know.  There are a lot of crazy things going on, I think it’s just the normal missionary stress that just adds up, with an occasional explosion of absolute crazy stress.  I think it’s just adding up but you know I’ll be alright.  Remain positive and remain happy.

Kylie is going on a mission?  Awesome! That is so exciting!

It sounds like Jess and Mom will have fun at the Beyond 5 concert and that Dad and Warren are going to have an amazing time at the soccer game. :)

The longer I spend on a mission the harder and harder it is for me to remember what is going on and what happened each week. I can’t believe that I’m 8 months in.... wow. 

We have been able to build the teaching pool back up a bit! It’s actually really exciting.  We are hoping to have a few new Baptisms soon!  We are so excited about some of our new investigators!  They are all new and we are so happy and hope they continue to progress :)

It is really interesting in missionary work. Occasionally you lose a bunch of people but within a few weeks it always seems to be that you find a bunch of new people :)

Tonight at bible study we are just doing some games :) Because this week is finals.  If Jess thinks her classes are hard.  They are nothing compared to what these poor kids go through.  Smartest place in the country, if not world, their classes are super intense.  A lot of the kids are really smart (genius parents) so they have to make the classes harder, and everyone else has to study for hours and hours a day to try and keep up. Physics is a required freshman class.  I never even took physics because the school wouldn’t let me because I wasn’t in calculus.  So we are thinking super simple and low-key tonight!  

Any fun summer plans for you guys?

Um, this week has been a bit rough, but we did have an interesting dinner with a member this week.  Did you know that to counteract the Fluoride in an entire thing of toothpaste you’re supposed to drink milk?  At least according to poison control.  Little kids make life interesting :)  Yeah, occasionally crazy things happen when we are at dinner, Like a 3 year old eating an entire jumbo thing of toothpaste.  It’s the same 3 year old that hit me in the face with a basketball.

Love you!
Em

Loved Talking To You!

Hi Mom and Dad!

I was really nice to be able to talk to you guys!
It seems odd that I’m that far into my mission that I only have one more phone call left.

The work is slow right now :( 
We lost a bunch of people, so we have to work on bring back up the teaching pool, which happens sometimes in missionary work.

Haha! That’s too funny about your dinner conversation with the Elders.
Sometimes i feel like that when my companions says something a little off.  :)
It’s a little terrifying sometimes when you realize you are now becoming one of the older missionaries....
Ahhh!

Haha! Seems odd doesn’t it.  :/  Although at the end of this transfer I’ll be half done with my mission..... Time is flying...

My comp is kind of panicking a little because she goes home in October. If summer is starting then than means it’s getting close.... 0.o 
I’m not sure I want to train yet. It sounds scary. 
I’m not a very good teacher though, and it would be probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.  :/

That’s funny that the Sisters went over to Mary's house? That’s awesome! Trust me, Missionaries LOVE it when members invite their friends over and introduce them to the missionaries :)

That’s awesome missionary work Jessica!  There is a boy here who we are teaching who is coming to church and wants to be baptized all because his friend gave him a Book of Mormon over a year ago.  He has been going to seminary for months now :)

You never know, just keep inviting and asking... I’ve heard tons of conversion stories from all sorts of different people. Almost all of them though, are very very religious in their own way :)

Yep :)  That’s all you can do.  I had to talk to a sister missionary about this recently.  Sometimes they just aren’t ready yet. But someday they will be. :)  It may not be for several years, it may not be until the next life but at some point in time they will get the chance to choose or reject the gospel. Until that time you have to continue to do the best you can. Always loving them and being a good friend and a good example. Never give up :)

Well, this week has been interesting.  Not doing anything super exciting for p-day.
We were going to hike, but since I am sick....
This week was the first time on my mission that I got sick. 
Not Fun.
It’s some sort of weird stomach thing that makes it impossible for me to keep anything in my stomach.
Everything I eat just goes straight through me. :( 
My comp made me stay home all Sunday while she went on splits.  First time having to stay home sick on a mission.  Let me tell you, really boring. On the upside, I think i've lost about 10 pounds.  

I was tired of sleeping all the time, so I insisted we go out.
Right now we are at the library.

I did get my hair cut.  If that counts as fun?  Just a little bit of hair got cut off. 
Still not sure how I feel about the new bangs. I am trying to grow it out longer. And I hadn’t had it cut at all on my mission until about an hour ago. :) 

Seminary sounds interesting for you Mom.  The end of the Book of Mormon is really super interesting. Really bloody and nasty. But interesting.

We are doing bible study tonight.  Again, nice to get outside after a couple days inside and in bed.  Not much to do in a small apartment.  Tonight we are just watching some of the Old Testament movies because its finals week. Finals week in Los Alamos is slightly ridiculous. The youth have been doing nothing but homework for weeks now, so hopefully it will be a nice break for them :) 

Yes we have a huge church building for only one ward, but it is the craziest busiest ward I have ever seen.  There are some sort of meetings or activities every single night.  Some Tuesdays we have to fight for our section of the gym.  All the activities makes life so much easier for missionaries if we have things that we can invite people to.  And sometimes people actually come. Imagine that....

Pig riding last week was funny. I’ll have to send some pics next week, because right now they're at home :(


Love you!
Em