First week in Lancaster!!

So on Monday I said my see-ya-laters to Roman and Hannah and everyone else that I've grown to love in little ole Tehachapi and let me tell ya, it was super hard!  But I will be back to see them before I know it!

Transfers.... well it was hard to say goodbye to Sister Anderson and Sister Lazzarotto and I have missed them terribly this week, but I am so glad to be a full-fledged missionary now! YAYYYYY!!!!!! I'm no longer a trainee!!! :D :D :D

So Lancaster is boiling hot.  I'm going to crack an egg on the sidewalk this week and see if it cooks.  I'll tell you guys more about it in a bit though.

So this has been a fantastic week.  We have 4 investigators and one of them is getting baptized this Saturday!!! His name is Travis Pree.  I don't know all of his story yet, but he's been through lots of crazy stuff in his life and he's only 24.  He lived in Vegas for a while with his cousin and had a crazy lifestyle.  Then eventually he moved back home to Lancaster because he had no way to support himself.  So he's been searching for answers and for a job and what not and then one day he prayed to God to know if he was real.  Then a couple days later, Sister Athay and Sister Winnie (her last companion) tracted into him.  He almost didn't open the door because he thought they were selling solar panels, but something just kept telling him to open the door.  So he did and as soon as he saw the Sisters, he felt something incredible start to stir within his heart.  They gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to read and pray about it.  Well he did and he couldn't put it down and he said he's never felt so happy in his life before.  So he's been taking the lessons for about 1 1/2 months now.  And he keeps his commitments to the very T.  We've taught him three times this last week and he just soaks it up like a sponge and he just loves it.  He always has questions to ask and he's so spiritual.  Sister Athay says that he's changed ten-fold in the last little while and that he's an entirely new person.  And I am so excited to be a part of it! So on Friday night he called us late in the evening and asked us if he could bump up his baptismal date from the 27th to the 20th.   So this weekend he's getting baptized and he's so excited!!! and so are we!!!

I really haven't gotten to know our other three investigators yet.  I've met them and they're super nice, they've just been hard to pin down for appointments.  So that's upcoming :)

We do a lot of tracting in this area and I actually enjoy it, except for the overwhelming 107 degree heat. PLEH! Pasty Idaho girls and 107 degree heat is not a good combo! But I have pretty much bathed in sunscreen this week, so I'm just starting to tan instead! WOOO HOOO! I'll be tan-er than all y'all when I get home haha!

But this week we did get hit by a sudden crazy rain storm and flash floods. It was nuts.

We had a ward BBQ on the East side of Lancaster (super ghetto part) and it was fun.  I got to meet more of the members.  

So for the interesting things this week, yesterday we made cookies and then found out the hard way that the AC was broken.  It's been working all week!!!!! STUPID THING!!! So it was 107 outside and 95 inside. KILL ME NOW!!! And then later that night we made dinner and ate it on the porch because it was so hot and opened all the windows and then slept with cold washcloths on ourselves and had a spray bottle by the beds and didn't sleep with any covers on.  SOOOO HOTTTTT!!!!!!!!

Also, I saw the Delorian... you know the one from Back to the Future? Yeah it was parked in someone's driveway and I flipped out and paparazzi'd it.  And then Also this week, a flipping bird pooped on my arm as we walked under a tree. STUPID BIRD! It was nasty.

I got letters from Mom and Dad and Calli Jo.  AND I ALSO GOT YOUR YOUTH SYMPHONY THING!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! So many squeals and craziness when I opened it!

So for the spiritual part, Travis told about his favorite scripture and he told us that it changed his life forever.  It's Mosiah 5:2.  He said that when he read that verse and the following verses that he felt a burning in his heart and exceedingly great joy and he knew at that moment that he found what he'd been looking for and that he wanted with all his heart to be a part ot if.  He also expressed his love for the scriptures and how from the first moment he started reading them, they just pulled him in and he loves reading them and he can't put them down.  

Anyways, that was my week. It was incredible. And I love Sister Athay to death.  I feel so privileged to be her companion again and we're having a blast with the missionary work here.  I love her so much <3 <3 <3

Anyways, love you all!

Enjoy your Idaho weather ;)

Love,

Sister Weaver

Transfers!!!!!

Okay.... so for my big news this week: I'm getting transferred to Lancaster 1st Ward!!! SO EXCITEDD!!! However it is going to be super hot there so wish me luck ;)  Sister Anderson and Sister Lazzarotto both served there together for 6 months and as soon as they found out where I was being transferred to they went nuts.  So I'm excited.  What makes me even more excited is that my companion is Sister Athay!!!!!!!!! We were MTC companions here 3 months ago!! SO I AM SO EXCITED TO FINALLY BE HER COMPANION FOR MORE THAN 4 DAYS!! HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!

For other big news, Hannah Grimes was baptized and confirmed a member of the church!! I was so excited because she was so excited and she glowed as soon as she came out of that water.  It was a super nice baptism.  Hannah and her 8-year-old cousin Cordelia were baptized together and it was so cool!  I sang at the baptism and that went really well :)

Roman and Laura came to the baptism too and they enjoyed it.  And they also both went and got their patriarchal blessings on Sunday!!! WOOOO! I'm excited to hear how they felt.  I'm going to say goodbye to them tonight and it's really hard because I love Roman and Laura so much and Hannah too.  I didn't think I'd love the people I taught this much.  I knew I'd love them, but my whole being lights up with the most unconditional love i have ever felt in my life.  I'm going to miss them so much.  Not even joking.

Oh and last Monday, we went to a Christian store to look around and I found the most beautiful ring! it's a heart and it has inscribed on it "Trust in the Lord with all your Heart... Proverbs 3:5" and I love that so much.  That I think is what I want my mission motto to be.  I'm learning how to completely trust the Lord in everything that I'm doing out here.  I've had marvelous results.  Y'all should try it ;)

So for the week I got the package from the Lewisville YW :D THANK YOU!! and I got Cora and Cassidy's letter, and Cassandra's letter, and Grandma Floyd's letter <3

Thank you so much for all of the support <3 I really appreciate the letters and i'm sorry I'm not that fantastic at writing back all the time, I'm so busy.  But as soon as I am settled in Lancaster for the transfer, I will be sending letters back <3

Oh we saw a snake on the road and we asked a member about what kind it was and apparently it was a Gopher Snake.  Still.... it was terrifying. And I took a picture.  As soon as it started moving towards the car, we sped away.  AHHHHH!

We also saw a lizard climbing on the Mullay's house.  I took a picture of that one too.  SO MANY REPTILES.

And when we were in Bakersfield today for Zone Activity, it was 110 degrees Fahrenheit.  Too hot for this Idaho girl.  Although, I'm gonna have to get used to it ;)

Anyhow, gotta answer other emails <3 Love you all!

Love, Sister Weaver

    

Last week before Transfers! AND A BAPTISM!!!!!!‏

So on Monday we got to go to the Indian Point Ostrich Ranch!!! It was so much fun!! Ostriches are so weird.  And we got to feed them!  We also had cleaning checks and we were one of the cleanest apartments in the East Bakersfield Zone :D :D YAY!!! 

On Tuesday I got a letter from Dad (it was the letter for Roman, so this week you should be probably getting a letter back from him :D ) and then we went and gave the letter to Roman who was incredibly appreciative and then we did scripture study with them for an hour or so just to help him understand the scriptures a little bit.  :D

We taught Hannah Grimes the last of the lessons this week too and she got her baptismal interview.  SHE IS SO EXCITED FOR HER BAPTISM ON SATURDAY!!!! And so are we! I found out that she's three days younger than Calli Jo. So no wonder i connected to her so well. I love her!  When we asked her about how she felt about the things we taught her she told us that she prayed about the church and the Book of Mormon and everything else and she said she knows for a fact that everything we have taught her is true.  She said she felt super peaceful about it and that she knew that it was right.

Also this week, we knocked on someone's door and it turns out that he was a preacher and he raked us over the coals for 30 minutes. We didn't get to put 2 words in.  Oh well.  His loss.  We just wanted to meet him and show him that we had a very special message for him.  But he wouldn't listen.  We tend to bump into people like that a lot. Oh well.

Oh fun story; so we made chocolate cake on Tuesday and then left it on the counter underneath a bowl to keep it fresh.  The next day when we went to get a piece we lifted up the bowl and there were HUNDREDS OF STUPID ANTS EATING MY CAKE!!!!!!! We've never had too bad of ant problems.  But we've asked our neighbors if they're having issues with it and apparently they are too. So our apartment complex is probably built on a gigantic ant farm.  Stupid.  So we spent an evening dealing with it.  STUPID CREATURES!

So my spiritual epiphany this week... I was doing the dishes and feeling a little homesick this week and as I thought about the blessings my mission is to me this thought popped into my head: "The Lord knows exactly how we are feeling.  He knows that when we are afraid, we run for cover.  He knows we want to feel safe and secure.  He knows that things become seemingly impossible for us when we look at things from a certain perspective.  That's why He runs to our rescue in our darkest hour when we call out for help or for it to stop.  He lifts us up and out of it if we let Him.  Let the Lord take your hand and lead you when you're scared."

I wrote this thought down super fast and then studied it.  Then as I read the Book of Mormon, it just made things easier to comprehend.  In Jacob 4:7 it says, "Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have the power to do these things."  By reading this scripture I gained the strength I needed to get through my day.  I love my Savior and for the opportunity I have to serve Him.

I love you all, 

Love Sister Weaver