Week 4- The one with the dead Raccoon...and Caterpillar.

Hi Friends!!!!

I am in OREGON!!

Yes it rains all the time and yes I have given up with staying dry ;) but we do use umbrellas even though people here don't. I wear rain boots 24/7 and the rain comes down side ways, but I LOVE IT!

BEGINNING OF THE WEEK:

TUESDAY, was a sad sad day leaving the MTC. My experience there was something I will always hold dear! But something very special happened that day too. For Tuesday devotional we got to hear from Elder Quentin L. Cook. He was amazing. He talked about the importance of missionary work. His wife also spoke and said something I loved. "strive to obtain the Christ like attributes and you won't fall into temptation." We all want to be like him. Well then do it. Work on those attributes.

During this devotional we as missionaries got to witness something very special. Elder Cook brought along the original manuscript of Alma 34 from the Book of Mormon. Yes I said it, the ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT!! The one that Joseph Smith transcribed with his own hand! It was such a special moment for me. It truly testified that this is the work, the Book of Mormon is real and its very important today and also that Joseph Smith did this work. It's real and I got to see it for my self. We also got to see the printers manuscript for Alma 34 and 3 Nephi 16. I was touched beyond belief. It was so cool to see them.

Later, we had our devotional review and in the room there were only 4 sisters and 2 elders left of my district...but the Spirit was so strong and it just told me we are ready! And we are in front of Gods army ready to go find those who are needing the gospel. The elders walked us sisters to our dorms. And we firmly shook each others hand and said "Good night, see ya later!" It was so sad. We probably delayed going into our dorms every 10 minutes because we didn't want to say goodbye.

WEDNESDAY, was travel day. The plane ride was the best. Only 1 1/2 flight! Oregon greeted us with rain and everything green, the fall colors are amazing. No joke everything is green and every building has some type of plant on it or in it. Nothing says welcome to Oregon to this girl like a man playing "Fiddler on the Roof" on the piano in the airport. I was trying so hard not to run over and sing along ;).

Our President and his wife greeted us with a cute sign, big smiles and big hugs! To say I was excited is an understatement. We then went to the Portland Temple which is gorgeous and took some pics there.

Then the best thing happened....I saw one of my bestest friends in the who is serving in the temple visitors center mission. I asked if she was in the building...and SHE WAS!!! Gosh it was so good to see Sister Brockbank's face. She comes home in 7 weeks and I was hoping to see her before she came home. One of the best ways to start off my mission.

That night we had interviews and devotional with President and Sister Wilde at the mission home in Newberg. Wow! I love them! Then we were sent to a hotel to sleep.

THURSDAY, I got my new companion and she is the cutest. Her name is Sister Burton from SLC, UT. She is 6 months in and such a good trainer. Right when we got to my area we put my suitcases in the bedroom and went out knocking on doors. We gave 2 pamphlets away and talked to a Jehovah's Witness. Ya that was interesting. She was a sweet lady but when we knocked on her door, I think she thought we were one of her missionaries. She was very happy to see us but when she found out we weren't, the spirit of the discussion totally changed.

We shared whatever we could with her. We actually had to tell her we didn't believe in the trinity and do actually use the Bible too. We said this is the restored Gospel. But she didn't believe and said "its a little bit more harder then that dear." We said thank you for letting us drop by and talk and then we hurried out of there. It made me sad. She said she cant wait until the doctrine is back on the earth and all I wanted to do is jump up and down and say, "IT IS PLEASE LISTEN AND READ THE BOOK OF MORMON!" Instead, I just smiled and showed God's love for her in the best way I could.

That night showed me again that this is the true church and Christ church is on the earth today and I am doing the right thing by sharing it.

FRIDAY, was kind of hard. We knocked on a door to a home with a family of atheists, which also made my heart hurt. We basically walked around the rest of the day having Sister Burton introduce me to members and those we are serving. By the end of the night I was really sad. My comp gave me this talk about patience which I needed because I was running low on it. The next morning I listened to it and it totally changed my perspective. I also studied patience in my personal study. And let's just say this helped a ton. I learned that faith and hope are the back bone of patience. And when we have to wait for something, keep going, keep looking forward and working hard. God will give you what you need in his time. And he did!! I GOT MY FRIST INTERESTED PERSON!! His name is Kevin. We met him while he was packing up for a trip. We got talking about church and relationships with Christ and he said that his relationship is distant. We asked if he wanted to strengthen it and learn more and he said YES oh my heavens I was so happy. When we walked away I just hugged my companion and thanked God for that moment. Be patient have faith and keep looking forward and God will bless you. Oh yeah while walking we saw a dead raccoon on the side of the sidewalk :( ....it scared the crap out of me. Hence the title ;) The whole rest of Saturday was so fun!

Sunday was awesome. Ward council which was cool and we received a referral who are teaching him this coming Friday. I can't wait!! Church was good. We did some proselytizing. While we were walking we saw this fuzzy caterpillar and 2 minutes after talking a picture of it, it got ran over by a car. It was very tragic. We finished out the day with a lot of member lessons, which was good.

Its definitely been an adjustment. Not seeing the sun can be a little hard. But in the last 4 days God has shown me the importance of "it's all in the small and simple things." Because we walk and knock on doors most of the time we get a lot of people saying "Not Interested" or "I already believe in Jesus".

A lot will be happening this coming week and I am super excited and ready to hit the ground running.

Love you all

Have the best week!