So I can't believe its Monday again...

Where is the time going?? I really cannot believe that is monday already. I was talking with my companion this morning and I was like "Mondays are just crazy, on one hand I feel like everything that happened this week happened so long ago and I should have already told you about it but on the other hand it feels like just yesterday was Monday so how could I have anything new to talk about? haha. She agreed.

So yesterday morning we drove straight to church from Bakersfield...but I guess I should start my email from last tuesday... Or..I dont really know where to start...ok

SO thanks for the sonic giftcard. I got it when I was in Newbury Park but there are no Sonic's in all of Ventura county so I was pretty bummed. BUT when we were in Bakersfield this weekend we got to use it a few times and I will be able to use it next time we are up there! YAY for ocean water. Such a treat. You are the best mom.

Wednesday was great, it was our only "full" day in our area because we were going to Bakersfield and we had zone conference and P-day ...and that full day ended at 6:30 because we had to drive to Bakersfield. We had lots of good appointments though. In the morning our first appointment fell through so we were walking around this trailer park checking up on a few investigators but not very many people were home at this time of day so we were walking to go check on someone that one of our investigadores told us might be interested and as we were walking we saw this teenage boy walking into his house and we stopped him and asked him if his parents were home and he said yes so we came right up and talked to her. She learned from missionaries in Oxnard but moved up here. She has brain cancer and is just really searching for answers. We were able to testify to her of the power of the Book of Mormon in bringing others to Christ. She was really open and invited us back. We had an appointment every hour for the rest of the day. Then we headed up to Bakersfield and stopped in Fillmore for some good ol Taco Bell and were able to declare the gospel to some men that were sitting next to us in Taco Bell. They just kept looking over at us and so we were able to strike up a conversation with them and testify as they were leaving. They know the missionaries in Bakersfield (where they are from) and have a Book of Mormon. YAY!

Then Thursday we were in South Bakersfield thursday and I went out with Hermana Randall (my companion when I was in Bakersfield but now she is in another part of Bakersfield). It was such a great day. We ran into a few people and the spirit was just so strong. Loved it. The day went by WAY too fast.

Then we headed over to east bakersfield english sisters. I was with sister Forbes (I included a picture of that exchange I was wearing a pink skirt). She just got emergency transfered there for some silly things and she was kind of stressed out and it was fun to be able to go out tracting with her and find a TON of new investigators. I think we found like 4 new investigators or more. Such a successful day. One thing I loved about that day is we went to go check on a "potential" and as we were walking there we see this man outside so we go to talk to him and he just wanted to fight with us from the get go. He was trying to bash us and I was just smiling and testifying of the Book of Mormon but it got to a point where he just wasnt listening at all so I just went up to him and gave him and hand shake and told him it was so nice to meet him and I invited him to read the Book of Mormon and ask God if it was true...and then he just went off and was like "I dont buy your fake niceness at all. I know its fake and bla bla bla...your church is from the devil...bla bla bla". So we left...and I was fine...because there was nothing more that we could have done but still...hearing that someone thinks you are fake is kind of a bummer. So we go to the potentials house and no one was home but as we walked to the car we noticed there was a lady working in her garden so we went over there to talk to her and at first she was a little stand offish but we started talking to her and she was telling us that she was looking for a church because hers got shut down and before she had seen our missionaries and always thought they looked really happy but never really wanted to talk to them and she told us that she could tell that we "had christ in our hearts" because of how happy we were. It was awesome...so at first she didnt want to make an appointment but finally we gave her this scripture to read and we asked her if we could come back and discuss it and she went and got her calender. It was so great to just see the spirit working on her. LOVE IT. Also when we were there we contacted this lady and had her pray at the end and she cried...it is SO rewarding to help people start their communication with God again.

Then we headed to do "tri pans" I went to east bakersfield hermanas (aka ARVIN!!!!! my old area) and Sister Dalton went to North Bakersfield. It was so great to be in Arvin again, it is such a heavenly place with so many spanish people. We had a random miracle there...we went to go check on someone I use to teach at like 8 oclock...she had moved so we went to check on someone they are teaching who I also taught (and he llives with a member)..so I asked the member if he knew where Antonia moved and he told us. So we went to go check it out but we were one house off and found this really cute family and taught them. SO COOL! I love the the Lord works.

Then on Sunday we were sitting in church on sunday and in walks this lady Chris Star ( I guess I should explain. Last pday we had a referral for her from church headquarters that she wanted a bible so we went to go contact her and taught her for a few minutes and gave her the bible and invited her to church but we werent able to see her again because we were going to Bakersfield). She walks in with her boys and it was just such a miracle! Her youngest boy had a hard time adjusting to primary so she sat in there the whole time but I think that wasgood because she got to see what it was all about. SO GREAT!

Oh the other picture is us missionaries with (formerly ELder) brother Finkle. He worked for the California Ventura Mission for 13 years and would take the missionaries who served in Ventura to Duke's (a hamburger place) So he took us newbies there. So fun. Then the other picture is me and Sister Dalton by the beach (Duke's is right close to the beach)


That 5k sounds so awesome. Tell them I said congrats and thanks for the story about the blessing. I have such a huge testimony of the priesthood!!! OK I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH AND TAKE CARE!!!! TALK TO YOU NEXT WEEK. (oh and also this week we will be going to Lompoc on friday and Santa Maria on Saturday)

crazy week

Hola. Sooo sorry I didn't write until today, I forgot to mention that this week our Pday got moved to tuesday because we had zone conference yesterday. It was great. We were all spiritually filled. We learned a lot how to be better teachers and one thing that I loved was that we talked briefly about how we can only change through the sanctifying of the Holy Ghost, which is so true. We can make goals all day but that is just on the surface, if we want to change our desires it comes through the Holy Ghost. I know my desires have changed through reading the Book of Mormon daily.

So yeah. It was so great. So today is Pday, then we have a full day tomorrow...well we have to leave Ventura at about 6 then we are headed to Bakersfield!! We will be gone thursday friday and saturday and will drive back Sunday morning and go right to church. When we are gone we just stay with the Hermanas (or Sisters) we are visiting. Its super exciting. I was able to go to Newbury Park on Saturday and Oxnard on wednesday. So fun to work with all the sisters.

One cool thing that happened this week was we knocked on a door and talked to a man a bit and he was like sure you can come by and my roommate has some questions for you. So we made the appointment and she opened the door and she was so EXCITED to see us. She was like sit down I have so many questions for you. So we sat down and she just started going off. First she mentioned that her family did not believe in God and Jesus going up but in taroh cards and stuff like that but shes had some weird encounters and decided that she needed to know more about Jesus so she was doing some prayer and was just asking for a sign of what she needed to do......AND WE KNOCKED ON THE DOOR!!!!!!!!!! She was too embarassed and shocked at the moment to come talk to us but she was waiting for us to come back. We taught her about prayer and a little about the Book of Mormon. She was really excited to read it. Only problem is she is from England and is only in the states for the 3 months and only in Ventura until the end of the week and we are leaving wednesday night. AH. But we are getting all her info so she can be passed on to where she is going. SO AMAZING.

Its been a really interesting transition having to teach in English, having to do these exchanges, and just everything. But I know that the Lord will qualify those he calls.

I got your cards from the family home evening activity. Thanks so much, they were super cute!!! Love them.

So about the camping trip. I am so sorry again, I feel so bad. I really want to go still but I think it might be kinda sad to just be able to go half the week but we can. Or you can just get rid of them. Whatever you all decide to do is good. My companion mentioned that you might want to try craigslist and see if anyone is willing to trade. Who knows. Whatever is good with me. Really. So whatever the family wants to do. Also Katie invited me to the wedding? That would be super fun.

I really love spanish, I dont know what phrases to teach you? haha what do you want to learn? We have been teaching in English a lot lately and I just miss spanish and spanish people a lot. We are really focused on english, atleast this week. But I am so grateful for the ability to speak spanish. Love it!


Anyway Im just loving it up and VENTURA IS SOOO BEAUTIFUL!

Ok love you have a great week and talk to you on Monday!

Venturaaaaaa............

So can I just say its AMAZING to just walk out of church and see the ocean??? Ventura is so beautiful. There are many times where we are driving around and we get really close to the ocean. ITS SO BEAUTIFUL...but ive been driving so its kind of hard to see. My companion promised me that when we drive up to Santa Maria she will drive so that I can get a great view of the coast...not that any of this matters haha.

SO you asked where I will be. Well this week on wednesday I will be going to Oxnard (yay) and on Saturday I will be going to Newbury Park! Then next weekend we will be heading up to Bakersfield for days but I will let you know next week when that will be. Im super excited about my new assignment but I wont lie it has been a CRAZY week. Ive had to get used to teaching in English and going to a English ward. Its so weird! We still teach in spanish quite a bit but its so different. We have also had to go to meetings and plan exchanges and wow. I have so much respect for the assistants to the president because they do what we do but 1000 times more. I dont know how they have time to teach. Its going to be so fun though and the people here are so great! We have some really solid investigators right now. In English and in Spanish and we are just really pumped to work hard this transfer. My companion Sister Dalton is so cool! She is from Portland, Oregon and we are getting a long really well. We live in an apartment (im telling you this mom because I know this is detail you want haha).

So I guess I can tell you about some of the things that have happened since Ive been here (everything is kind of blurred...so bare with me) ...

Steve! Such a cool investigator. I met him when I came here on exchanges with Sister Dalton and I was so excited to come back and teach him. He grew up in the RLDS church. He is so thoughtful and is dating a member of the church. He is really growing his testimony in the Book of Mormon.


Brother Bruce. He is an 84 year old man that wants to be baptized on his birthday in june but we are trying to help him understand that he can be ready before that. We have really been helping him to discover the book of mormon. Its been great.

Raquel Raymundo and Naomy. Great family, I have only taught the daughter so far but have talked to the mom and the dad and they are just so solid. They are getting a lot of opposition from their friends and family but I feel like we can help them hold strong.

There are lots of others....we had two miracles this week where we helped 2 people to pray who hadnt really ever prayed out loud in their lives and the spirit was just really strong.

I havent been able to meet a lot of them because it has been pretty crazy.

Oh another experience...we went to dinner with a member family and as we were walking in we started talking to this little homeless lady and as we were talking to her this drunk homeless man came up and just started screaming at us and telling us we were brainwashed, ext. It was crazy I had never had that happen to me in my mission (spanish people are a lot nicer). But it was just nice being able to smile and him be confident and tell him that God loves him.

OHHH...also....eek. SOOOO we might have a little issue. So you know how you asked me when I go home? well thats not normally something they just tell you, and not something that you think about a lot...BUT i counted so I could tell you when i would be home...well I counted to the six week of the transfer and we go home on the 1 week of the next transfer. I wasnt really thinking. So I actually will be coming home on the 25th of July. I dont know if that messes up plans and if it does Im really really sorry buit there isnt much that I can do right now. Im really really sorry I hope you can get everything figured out and I hope this doesnt cause you any stress....

anyway. So Mariah told me that Katie Johnston is engaged!!!! Tell her congrats for me.

Oh and Pats funeral sounded really nice. I really am going to miss her and I know she can be proud of the life she lived...I mean she raised Lisa! That right there is an amazing accomplishment, such a great lady. Give her a hug for me.

Anyway I have to go but I love you all a lot! Have a great day!!! THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!!!!

"It may not be on a battle front my lord will of need of me."

So a few random things....first off this week was the end of the month and we were really short on miles but we had an appointment in thousand oaks (which is far away) and we really felt like we needed to see her. So we started out on foot. It took forever!! But we madejust 10 minutes after our appoiontment...and she wasnt there. Ah. but we were like...ok we have to be here for a reason. So we went and talked to the people in front of her house and they werent super receptive. Well....we needed to get our spanish study in so we decided to treat ourselves and go to taco bell and study. As we were walking there a man turned the corner in these booty spandex shorts and he was about to start running but we stopped him and started talking to him. Turns out hes a screen writter in Los Angeles and also a painter and painted Princess Diana and Ronald Reagan. So we pretty much just walked with him for a while and taught him versions of the restoration and the plan of salvation. IT WAS SO COOL! He then was like well Ill take your contact information and be in contact with you. We both felt really good about it and decided if that was the only reason that went to thousand oaks that was ok. So then fast forward and later that night we were planning and we got a phone call. IT WAS ALEX...the man who was walking. He thanked us and tol us that he was having a really bad day and with all the glitz and glamor of Hollywood its easy to forget the important things. When then told him about the Holy Ghost and asked if missionaries could come by and he said he was in the process of moving right now but he would love for the missionaries to come by in LA!! SO COOL! Then he also mentioned he wanted to be our lifelong friends hahaha. But it was so amazing.

Mario...hes just crazy. I love the guy to death but hes really overcoming some things from his past but the best part about it is HES OVERCOMING THEM! I just see the atonement working in his life every day because he reads his scriptures and comes to church. His attitudes are changing about the world and himself (see bible dictionary under repentence). So cool thing that happened. Elder Alonso was in the mission this week (of the 70) and so they decided to have a little spanish fireside in ventura. We were allowed to go if we had investigators going. Well we had Mario and Rosendo come. I sat with Mario and told him to pray before to have his questions answered. When Elder Alonso got up to speak he basically said "If you are waiting to know everything about the church before you get baptized you will never know unless you have the gift of the Holy Ghost, so get baptized as soon as you can"...I looked over at Mario and he was crying. IT WAS SO INSPIRED!!!. it was all in spanish and just wonderful. I also got to shake Elder Alonso's hand before the meeting started.

One thing that Elder Alonso said that really touched me was that he was talking about the story of Nefi killing Laban and I was like....ummmm this is an interesting story but he went on to talk about how the spirit told him to KILL HIM NOW. There was no..if you want to. He then said Laban didnt want them to make itto the promise land with all that they needed...and that we all have a Laban inside of us that is keeping us from getting to the promised land, and we need to kill it now (or repent)! I thought that was so amazing. Such wonderful insight.

So yeah its been a good week. Oh mom you said a package with shirts? Well I got a package with the skirt you sent me and also the sweaters Robin and Renee sent me. Is that what you are talking about? Also could I have their address so I could thank them? You should definitley right that sister missionary. I am sure she will appreciate it...





OH YEAH.....you probably want to know whats happening with us for transfers....WELLLLLLL....Hna Hunter is staying here and getting a new companion. I will be going to Ventura and I will be with Sister Dalton(an english sister). We ill be covering a english ward and a spanish branch. (part of them). Its called a "traveling sister" pretty much we go around and do exchanges with the sisters in the mission. Crazy. It was such a shock, but I will go and do and the Lord will help me.

LOVE YOU ALL!

buenes diaz!

Have you noticed the subjects of my emails have gotten really boring? haha sorry about that. Creative juices gone haha. So we are here emailing...haha. I just bought some running shoes, FINALLY. Mine were so beat up. I hope I like these ones.


So this week.....oh it has been a week. A WONDERFUL WEEK...




SILVIA AND MELISSA GOT BAPTIZED AND CONFIRMED THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!!!! It was so beautiful and you could tell Hno Tomas (Silvia's husband) was just soooo happy. It was such a precious day. We also had 5 investigators that showed up to the baptism and at least 20 non members. Silvia got up afterwards and bore a beautiful testimony and told everyone "who were there who weren't baptized" that they needed to be baptized. YAY! She got a calling on sunday but we won't find out what it is until next week.
(and Silvia and Tomas asked if they could come visit us in Las Vegas one day, I told them of course)


We also had our very first family home evening this Friday. It went over pretty well. We didn't have a huge huge turn out but Mario (investigator) came and feels a lot more confidence with the other members. He feels really supported. It was good for the members too because a lot of them don't have families or they just don't know how to do a family home evening, so this will help them. Its also a good way for them to invite their friends to meet the missionaries. Success.


President came to interview Silvia on wednesday and then he decided "to just stay for district meeting". Eek. So we were about to do a EDPEP (its what we do to practice a principle we just learned, its like role playing) Anyway my companion was acting as an investigator so I had to teach with someone else...normally an Elder..but as I was slinking off I heard president say "Hna TIppetts, Ill teach with you". Stressful. Haha. No it was really great and we were talking about the gospel and committing people to be baptism. We taught one of the elders investigators and the scriptures we used they used this week with her and committed her to baptism!!!!!!!!!! District meetings are so inspired. Our district leader also taught us a new way to teach the gospel and we used it with Mario and committed him to be baptized as well!! He accepted for the 3rd of March!!!!! Yay!


Rosendo (the man me and Hna Clark found at the gas station) has now been to church twice and he came to the baptism. He says he knows this is true but I feel like he needs to strengthen his testimony in Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, but we are getting there.


Rosario is still just as precious and really liked the plan of salvation this week. Has doubts that she can get work off. This is such a hard thing with these people.


We have been teaching members how to be better missionaries and challenging them to do things to invite their friends to learn. We are waiting to see the results.


We finally were able to teach Lorena the Restoration and she was AMAZED. She commented to her friend how beautiful it all was. The spirit was so strong. It amazes me how strong I feel the spirit EVERY TIME we teach the restoration. Never gets old.


One thing I was thinking today as I studied about hope is that hope is the faith that helps have joy every day. When we have HOPE we have CONFIDENCE that God WILL fulfill his promises no matter how bad today looks. We show our Hope and our confidence in him when we use our free agency to press forward. When we receive that confidence, we have great joy every day.


I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am soooo grateful that we know exactly what the gospel of jesus christ is through the Book of Mormon and Bible. I will be eternally grateful to know that Christ lives and to know HOW to use his atonement.


Im glad everything is going well at home. Did dad give up the del sol??? He just got it. Hm. Your family home evenings sound great. I did get the BYU I info. I filled it out today, now president just has to do my endorsement. Yay! It wasn't too stressful I don't really allow myself to think about that stuff except on Pday.


I love you all so much and thanks for writing me!