Adventures in the CLAM: "[SISTER DAY] AT THE GALA NIGHT" (December 2, 2019-December 8, 2019)

Hey everyone!
This was the week of the visitors' center Christmas gala, and I will never stop being grateful I had the experience to sing there. I love singing, and that's something I don't give myself enough credit for. Performing is something I enjoy doing, but not as a full-time gig. But since it's something I love to do, and I come from a family of performers (my siblings are on TikTok @jacobslitstuff and @emily.dimond and they are AMAZING actors/singers/creators), a lot of the time people assume that is something I  love to do full-time. And it's something I surely love to do--I love to create and singing and performing is an awesome way of storytelling--but I'm not great at it, and I don't intend to do it for the rest of my life. A lot of the time people assume I'm better than I am or that I'm more into music and acting than I am. So I spend a lot of time saying I'm not a performer just to get people off my back. I spend so much time trying to convince people that singing is not what I do. And honestly, I'm at a point in my life where I finally fully realize that it's hurt me a lot. Because it it is what I do! And now I struggle to get people to see value in my performances because I spend so much time convincing them that they shouldn't. I don't blame myself for this, because I really have had a lot of negative experience with people assuming that I am going into the full-time performing business like my sister and brother. But here's the truth of the matter:  I don't have to be a professional singer or actress. Not my job. But I'm allowed to like it, and I'm allowed to be an amateur at it. That is allowed. So I'm a singer! I'm an actress! I'm a performer! And I love doing those things.
Needless to say, more than even that I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to be in the mission octet for the wonderful experiences it gave me in some of the most beautiful places in Los Angeles, and that I got to get so much closer to my dear missionary friends. I love them with all my heart.
Enjoy! 
 

Hello one and all!
LA LOVE:
We had a final dinner with the Di Niros before they go out of town for about two months. Ir was actually pretty bittersweet because the transfer is coming up so we don't know what is going to happen. We ate with them and the elders in the kitchen of our church at like 6:30 when no one else was there and it was pretty dang cute. Wow we love them and we will miss them.
EVENTS OF THE WEEK:
On p-day we had our final practice for the gala! We had a super magical moment where we got to practice in the Christus room of the visitors' center, singing at the Savior's feet. A favorite song of mine that we sing is "The First Noel". "Noel is a word referring to a song sang at the birth of royalty. This first noel was sung to shepherds by angels, breaking "a cold winter's night that was so deep"--the winter of sin. The world was finally free of that. And thus the first noel was sung. Preparing for the gala was super amazing and gave me an opportunity to see many familiar Christmas songs in a different way, more worshipfully.
District council was super fun seeing as it was the day of the gala and every companionship in our district was participating in the gala in some way. We learned about how to make our daily planning effective, particularly by planning a day ahead and making our areas balanced.
The night of the gala finally came! We did some warm-ups and performed for the people and missionaries in the family history library before we had a dinner break and got to talk together about what we've learned and felt and observed as we prepared for this event. Finally we got to go out to the front of the visitors' center to sing for all the guests! They loved it. We had many fans, cameras were on us and everything. We even had someone stop and start singing with us--only to find out it was Pat Boone! Gentri was doing a concert at the event and we sang for the guests ten minutes before the concert started--so yes I opened for a Gentri concert. We sang as the guests left the gala as well, and then we sang for Gentri while they were greeting their fans as well. It was an awesome night and we all had a great time singing together.
We had a sweet training by our dear zone leaders and sister training leaders on how we can use goals, plans, and accountability to help us with Light the World this Christmas season, and with all of our missionary work!
The gala octet also got invited to sing at the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce. It was an event at the Beverly Hills Hotel and let me tell ya it was amazing. We got to walk around the hotel (let me tell you this hotel is famous and beautiful), sing and talk together, and perform for the people as they socialized around the cocktail bar, and as they walked intot he ballroom for the event. Everyone loved it again, and we also got to do some missionary work by talking to some less active members! It was a great time with my dear friends of the octet, and our last adventure with Elder Bishop and Sister Bishop before they go home. We will miss them dearly but are grateful for this great opportunity to work with them!
We had our zone interviews this week. There isn't really anything cooler than first hearing your mission president pray for you and your specific needs and second counseling with him about the work that can be done in your area. I love President Cordon and I am so grateful to have him and Sister Cordon as my mission leaders.
Our ward had a super adorable Christmas party called "Let's Taco Bout Christmas!" Tacos and the Christ Child video, all with the amazing members of the Wilshire ward? It doesn't really get better than that.
FRIENDS:
We had an incredible experience with Destiny this week. We walked into the lesson planning to teach about baptism and confirmation, and define a tentative time that Destiny thought she would be able to be baptized. Well, in the middle of the lesson, as we talked about it, the Spirit impressed very clearly on the minds of both me and Sister Birch that we needed to set a solid baptismal date with this woman NOW. I pulled out my calendar and upon looking at it, I knew that day needed to be February first. Destiny committed to prepare herself to be baptized on that date, and we are so happy for her.
Rhona learned about the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ this week. It all made perfect sense to her. She says when she reads the Book of Mormon, she knows it is true because it is a confirmation of the Bible to her. Her testimony is growing rapidly. We are so happy for her too.
Abulla is amazing! We taught him about temples and family history and how he will soon be able to help his ancestors be baptized and feel the happiness he feels, as well as bless him and his family on earth. This made him very happy because he said he knows his family will accept the gospel because they were very good people, they just never got that chance. He also helped pass the sacrament for the first time this Sunday! We love him and are so happy about the joy he has found in the gospel.
We had a lesson with Alex, someone we met on the street on the way out of a lesson. Honestly we didn't know much about him except that he was interested in learning more about the gospel. He told us he is going through a hard time in his life and is looking for a purpose and a way to happiness--that is exactly what we teach about! On one of his saddest days, that was the day we contacted him to set up a lesson. What a miracle. He is awesome and we are so excited for him to learn more about the gospel.
We shared "The Christ Child" with Brittany and Kyle, a part-member family in our ward! It gave them a great opportunity to feel the Spirit and learn more about the gospel. We had never met them before, but they were so nice! Gave us dinner and everything. We look forward to seeing them again.
To close, I want to share with you something that means a lot to me, something I shared with my dad after he talked about wanting the youth to know the joy they can receive from serving a mission. I was talking to an elder who is a dear friend of mine about why we served missions, and for him he said honestly because he was supposed to, but it was starting to be for the right reason (this elder is new), becoming a closer disciple of Jesus Christ. I hope the youth know this is true for many missionaries. And that they should not think the situation for elders and sisters is more different than it is. Many sisters and elders alike knew they needed to serve a mission before they wanted to, but like the elder in this story, and myself, and many of my other friends on the mission, they took a leap of faith, doing what they knew Heavenly Father needed them to do, and shortly after their desire followed. I hope elders and sisters alike also know that they can ALL receive personal revelation regarding their decision to serve a mission. That is not a sisters-exclusive thing. Every young missionary can receive that answer. Even with every worthy young priesthood bearer needing to serve a mission, they can also plead with the Lord to help them feel and understand the need to fulfill THEIR personal mission, to help them see why they need to go as they proceed in faith. This is an experience they will find joy in, and it really can be theirs.
Heavenly Father has a way for everyone to serve Him--counsel with Him and find out His way for you!
Thanks and much love!
--Sister Day

Adventures in the CLAM: The Tender Mercies of the Lord (November 25, 2019-December 1, 2019)

Hi everyone!
The theme of our letter today is the tender mercies of the Lord. Whenever I say this wonderful phrase, I am referencing a scripture that means a lot to me, 1 Nephi 1:20. It is beautiful and comes with a beautiful story, so I wanted to invite you all to read 1 Nephi 1 and think about what that phrase means to you. I'd love to hear what you all think in the comments.
Last night I found out that one of my angel friends from the Wilshire ward died this week. She's one of the most faithful women you'll ever meet and now she has returned home to that God who gave her life. (Alma 40:11) I miss all of my mission friends like crazy, so much that this week it has hurt. But I am grateful that missions are the things of eternity. I will see all of them again in this life or the next. Until then, Sister Elizete. I love you so much.
Enjoy!

 Hello one and all!
LA LOVE:
The lights are on at the Los Angeles California temple! It is a beautiful sight to see! Come visit our temple and visitors' center if you want a special way to feel the Christmas spirit.
EVENTS OF THE WEEK:
On p-day we had another great week of gala practice. I love the missionaries I am singing with and the joy of Christmas that we get to share through music.
We had a great district council where we learned about finding people to teach and what it's all about--faith. If we don't have faith that the Lord is preparing people for us to teach, we will never find them. It was a great council because that is something Sister Birch and I have been working really hard on. We want to find people to teach, and we want to have the faith to be able to do it!
We had a Thanksgiving finding activity with the other companionships in our ward! We set up a poster ona busy street corner asking people what they were grateful for. People wrote on stickies and added them to our poster! We were able to invite them to our visitors' center and get some contacts as well. It was a great opportunity to remind people about the goodness of God in all of the blessings we have.
We had a great Thanksgiving! We spent much of the day delivering treats to our friends. We had dinner that night with our dear friends the Di Niros and the elders. The Di Niros do not even celebrate Thanksgiving, but they wanted us missionaries to have a dinner for Thanksgiving! We love them so much and it was great to spend the evening with them.
We went to a beautiful concert at the visitors' center with Abulla and Brother Duncan! It was a great night of classical and Christmas music. Abulla is seriously so famous; anytime we go anywhere with him everyone wants to talk to him.
FRIENDS:
This week with Abulla we learned about how God is our loving Heavenly Father, and I really mean WE learned, because the whole lesson was pretty much just Abulla bearing super powerful testimony of all the ways God blesses us and manifests His love for us, including guidance from scriptures, missionaries, and a living prophet. And in the closing prayer, he prayed to Heavenly Father to bless Sister Birch and I so much. Wow. We love him. He bore testimony on Sunday (I sadly missed it, being in the Olympic ward) and came to the temple with us to see the lights and the concert. We talked about him going to the temple soon while we were there, so stay tuned!
Rhona had read Alma 32 this weekend, and loved how Alma was quick to point out to the people that we can worship God anywhere we are. We talked about how much God loves us and how He blessed us with the gospel and our failies, and answered a lot of her questions about what we do as missionaries. At the end of that lesson we said we wanted to talk with her about prophets next time. To our surpirse and joy she said she had been wanting to talk about prophets too! We discussed how prophets work through priesthood authority, and how that authority must be given directly and physically from Jesus Christ, or from someone else who holds that authority and thus got it directly from Him. the priesthood is the power by which all miracles are wrought. She had a lot of questions about the prophets of the Book of Mormon too. It was our opportunity to testify that the prophets in that book were called the same way the prophets of the Bible were, and that the Book of Mormon is a totally separate and complimentary companion scripture to the Bible, another gloriously true testament of Jesus Christ.
We read Ether 12 with Destiny this week and discussed the role of faith in performing miracles. We also did a super fun activity where we all made a written plan of what we wanted to do to improve ourselves--Destiny's was a goal to be baptized, Sister Birch's to be a better missionary, and mine to have a happier life! We loved setting goals together and especially so we can support each other and keep each other accountable. Being called to repentance feels so good!
We had a great lesson with Brother Yoon! It was our first time meeting with him. Brother Yoon speaks Korean, but thanks to the translation of our Relief Society president Sister Lee we were able to teach him! He loves God and has a desire to be baptized. Despite language barriers, the Spirit was present in that lesson. God always find a way for His children to receive the gospel.
As you can see, Sister Birch and I have been working hard to achieve in our area, and it is beginning to pay off! Our faith is growing and thus our eyes are being opened to the tender mercies of the Lord.
I was contemplating the blessing of being a missionary and I would just like to take time to glory in my calling. It is so amazing to be able to serve God and His children and focus all my energy on the Lord's eternal purposes for eighteen months. There is no other foreseeable time in my life where I will get to have this level of romantic consecration. It is a beautiful thing and i need to do it while it's mine.
Thanks and much love!
--Sister Day

Adventures in the CLAM: "Repeat the Sounding Joy!" (November 18, 2019-November 24, 2019)

 Hello one and all!
LA LOVE:
This year to celebrate the Christmas season, us missionaries are inviting members of our church to take part in Light the World! We're inviting members to host a home evening with their friends featuring the new short film The Christ Child, and to invite their friends to our special Christmas church service! This Christmas is going to be full of great opportunities to teach people about the Savior Jesus Christ and I invite you all to take part in Light the World! Check out comeuntochrist.org to learn more about all of it.
Every year the visitors' center is decorated for Christmas with a new theme, and this year the theme is "Repeat the Sounding Joy!" There are tons of Christmas trees all around the visitors' center, each decorated to represent something that brings us joy--God's creations, ancestry, music, home, cultural traditions, the Plan of Salvation, and more. It is so beautiful and I can't wait for the Christmas season to begin here in the California Los Angeles Mission.
In Los Angeles, parking is super hard to find, right? So here it's just acceptable to turn on your hazards and leave your car in the middle of the street if you can't find a parking spot. If you turn on your hazards, you're good. It's actually my favorite thing ever haha.
EVENTS OF THE WEEK:
On p-day we had our first practice for the gala! I am singing with a lot of great missionaries and friends of mine--Sister Flinders, Sister Pond, Sister Hendershot, Elder Glade, Elder Rodenberg, Elder Jones, and Elder Isaak. Elder Bishop is directing us and he is amazing. It felt really good to sing in a choral setting again with other awesome singers. We hda a great time and things are already starting to come together! We also went to a Korean barbecue place with Sister Wall and Sister Weenig after weeks of living in Koreatown! We love having our roommates.
We got to go on exchanges! I was with Sister Slater in the Westwood 2nd area. Let me tell you that sister is the sweetest woman on the planet. I love her. A lot of interesting things happened on exchanges, but what I will mention here (more in a bit) is that I got to talk to a screenwriter in the park about how she got a job in the television industry, and I also got to help give a visitors' center tour!
We had a sisters' conference and brunch and it was seriously the greatest thing ever. There is nothing better than women of God gathering together. I love women, and I really love the women of the California Los Angeles Mission. They are all amazing. We learned about how we are daughters of God and what that knowledge can do for us, about how to better take care of our mental health, and from scriptural examples of righteous women. President came at the end and told us how much he loves us, and said there was something he needed us to do. He said this mission needs an increase in faith. And us sisters need to lead it, because women almost always lead increases in faith. When Jesus was resurrected, He visited the women first, because they were the ones that were going to believe. So I have been praying to be an even more faithful missionary so that even more miracles can occur in the CLAM. The miracles are already pouring in. I love being a missionary and I love being a sister.
FRIENDS:
Rhona is incredible. We learned about the gospel of Jesus Christ this week. Rhona has extremely strong faith in the blessings of the gospel. She also prayed for us this week and it's always beautiful to hear your friends pray.
We visited Elizete and Jay, a part-member family in our ward! They are so sweet. We talked faith and they both have a lot of faith in the Lord.
We had a transition lesson with William this week. He is in Wilshire 3's area now so we are really sad to let him go, but his faith is strong so we are sure will continue to make great progress in the gospel with the elders.
We had a lesson with Monique and her daughter Karina at Sister Anne's house. We taught about faith and repentance, and Sister Anne told great stories from her own experience that really strengthened our faith. Monique loved being reminded of how she can do all things through Christ (Philippians 4:13).
While I was in the Westwood 2nd area we had an absolute miracle. We were walking around after a Light the World lesson with some ward members but no one was on the street, so we decided to knock on a door covered in Christmas lights. A little boy named George answered the door and went and got his mother, Jodea. We told her about what we do and she said she didn't really believe in Jesus Christ. George came back up to the door and said, "I believe in Jesus Christ." Jodea said obviously her kids have different beliefs so if we'd like we could talk to them. She gathered George and and his older brother Orson and we talked to them about their belief and knowledge about Jesus Christ. Orson and George are so smart and faithful! We told them about Jesus, and about how the Book of Mormon testifies of Him alongside the Bible. orson said he had heard of our church before. We invited them to read 3 Nephi 11. They invited us to come back, and Jodea asked if we would even teach them how to pray before we left! They were so sweet. It was amazing. I won't get to teach them, but I am super excited for that family.
We met with Victoria and her friend Jocelyn this week. They are so sweet! We love them. They have incredible faith. We found out some of Victoria's concerns and desires about coming closeer to God and we are so excited to help her with them. There is nothing better than having a relationship with you loving Heavenly Father.
We read Moroni 7 with Destiny today! She is amazing. We talked about the power we have over the adversary and how even though he tempts us, we always have a way to overcome him. She is so sweet.
I am forever grateful for the miracle of being a missionary. Still sometimes can't believe I made it. What a blessing and privilege!
Thanks and much love!
--Sister Day

Adventures in the CLAM: I'm a Famous Singer (November 11, 2019-November 17, 2019)

 

Hello one and all! Or as we say in Korean, annyeonghaseyo!
LA LOVE:
I went to the Olympic ward this week (they meet in another chapel in the back of our church building and they are seriously SO sweet. We weren't able to speak to each other very well--I know six words of Korean as of right now--but they were so loving and welcoming to me. We met with Bishop Kim after church and we really talked about coordinating the missionary efforts in the ward. We are so excited to be covering  both of these wards.
EVENTS OF THE WEEK:
We took Sister Birch's first trip to El Pollo Loco and then went to Ulta. It had free parking and was on an open second floor--there is not much I love more than rooftops. It was a super big Ulta too and it had SO MANY COLOURPOP THINGS. To top it all off, I got a free bag of makeup! Turns out I still got it when it comes to getting free and discounted makeup. Definitely one of the best p-days of my mission topped only by opening my mission call.
We had a crazy transfer day teaching lessons and getting everything organized in our new area! OUr roommates are LA 6th 2, Sister Wall and Sister Weenig! They are amazing and already great friends of ours. We also had a meeting that night with our new elders in Wilshire 3 to help them get settled in the area and tell them about the boundaries and their friends. We have Elder Sands and Elder Isaak, as well as (to our surprise) Elder Farr, who is waiting on a visa for Australia! They are so awesome and we are so happy to be working with them. We have seven awesome young proselyting missionaries in the Wilshire ward.
We had a great zone conference this week, with a special guest, Elder Klebingat of the Seventy! We learned a lot from him about how to have an even more consecrated and obedient service. A big takeaway for me was how much God loves me, and that He is my Father, and He sent me to earth specifically to gather His other children--to serve a mission was a decision I made long before I was even born. Now I have to follow through on that promise the best I can.
I got to teach an English class we host in the Olympic ward. I LOVED it. You all know there's not much I love more than language, so it was amazing to just get to teach about the way letters sound.
We had a great first district council of the transfer! We are in a new district this transfer but I already love them all. They are great friends of mine and we had the opportunity to teach each other and talk about Preach My Gospel.
We had a wonderful Friendsgiving activity in the Wilshire ward! We had a lot of friends there and our friends, the ward, and all the missionaries had a great time together.
I had the privilege of singing a musical number in the Olympic ward, "Be Still, My Soul". The ward was so sweet to me about it and I think it was a great way for them to get to know me a little better.
And we had another song practice for the musical number at the sisters' brunch--which we will talk about more when it actually happens, I promise.
FRIENDS:
We taught Isaac about prophets and Jesus Christ's earthly ministry. He is really receptive to the message of the gospel, and understands how we know about that message--through prophets!
We delivered a Bible to someone we met through our Bible finding activity, Joshua! He said he's always looking for ways to receive the word of God, because God got him through a lot in his life.
We met with Gustavo and Rossanna, and broke the news to them that the elders would be teaching them. We asked them what the gospel meant to each of them, and encouraged them to share their testimonies with others and to stay strong in the gospel. I love them so much and will miss teaching them, but I'm glad to still be in their ward.
We taught Rhona about the importance of prayer and scripture study. She loves the scriptures and how they bring her peace and comfort, and teach her more about how followers of Jesus Christ lived when He was on the earth.
We taught Abulla (with the help of the amazing Brother Hutchins) about the priesthood. He feels very confident about bearing it now. Since he's been baptized, he feels like a new person. I am excited for him to bear the preisthood.
We taught Ayanna about the gospel of Jesus Christ. She is so smart! She has a great faith and understanding of what the gospel's all about. The elders got to come at the end of her lesson (yeah... that was crazy) and meet her, because they will be her missionaries now. I love her so much and will miss her.
Destiny learned about the Word of Wisdom this week. I had the wonderful opportunity to share my testimony about the importance of taking care of our bodies due to the health issues I've had in the past--and especially about how it's never too late to change and turn to a better way.
More than ever I am realizing that Jesus Christ, His atoning power and sacrifice, and repentance are the greatest gifts of all. I am filled with gratitude, my friends.
Thanks and much love!
--Sister Day

Adventures in the CLAM: Korean (November 4, 2019-November 10, 2019)

Hey everyone!
Today's post was a good one for me to reflect on. Here I discuss the miracle of being a missionary and how there was a long time in my life where it felt like it would never be a reality--and then it was. An overall theme in this entire letter, actually, is incredible things coming even when it is hard to have any hope at all. I know my mission couldn't have been any sooner or any later. It was literally the PERFECT mission for me. Every last detail. That's something that I've been thinking about a lot lately with a lot of different things in my life. When we follow God, our plans all come together.
So I guess this is just your friendly reminder that your dreams can come true even if they are not yet realized. Just because the answer is no today, it doesn't mean it has to be no forever. Stay strong and stay hopeful and keep striving for the right thing! Whatever it is, it will come in its day. If I can serve a mission, I promise you, anything in God's will is possible. My stake president said it himself: I am a miracle. The fact that I was able to serve a mission at all is incredible. And it was the most amazing thing.
Not all is lost, my friends. Keep it up.
Enjoy!

 

Hello one and all!
LA LOVE:
So you know how the standard when you hear sirens coming is to pull over to the side of the road and wait for the trucks to pass? In LA that's not a thing. Everyone just stands still and lets the trucks maneuver around them because honestly that's way easier and less chaotic than us all trying to pull over; we would just be more in the way if we did that.
EVENTS OF THE WEEK:
I hit eight months in the mission! When I told Destiny how long I had been out and how long I had left, she said, "That's gonna go fast." It sure is! This week I've been reflecting a lot on the miracle of being a missionary. For a long time in my life the mission seemed a lot like a distant dream that would never actually happen, but now it's finally here! And I've been doing it for a good amount of time now, and it's better than even I could've imagined it would be. This is the best thing I could be doing with my life right now, and I'm doing it at the exact right time. I am so happy to be a missionary for the Lord.
On p-day I got together with Sister Pond and Sister Hendershot to practice the musical number we were assigned to do at zone conference. Went to McDonald's for lunch and had an interview with President! I am constantly amazed by how much he loves us. President is really happy with the work we've been doing in Wilshire 2 and sees the work we have ahead of us. We've been working on a lot of the things we learned about at zone conference and have seen a lot of success, so he is happy about that!
At district council this week we talked about a bunch of different finding methods and how our areas are doing. it was the last district council of the transfer so that was pretty sad, but we've all loved our time together and had a great last council.
Right after our last district council we had another free Bible finding activity! Our last one had a lot of success for other areas, but it turns out none of the people that signed up to receive free Bibles lived in our district! This time our district had better personal success and it was super fun yet again. I cannot tell you how much I love my district. At the beginning of the transfer we pretty much didn't know any of them, and now they are my best friends.
I also had a song practice for a musical number I got assigned to do with some other pals (Sister Broderick, Sister Flinders, Sister Pond, Sister Zegarra, Sister Child, Sister Hendershot, and Sister Horlacher, what a bunch of pals) for a sisters' brunch that's coming up so that's cool too!
We went to a musical event at the visitors' center that was beautiful. It was a mother and daughter, both classically trained singers, singing testimonies of Jesus Christ. Rhona and her fiancé Phil came and they loved it! They got to have a tour of the visitors' center before so they loved that. We told them they have events like that all the time so they are excited to come back.
Last night was our transfer call. Sister Birch and I were pretty sure we were both staying in Wilshire, and we were right! There were, however, a few spicy surprises involved in this coming transfer. The first one is that we are getting roommates! We are still not sure who they are, so we'll see when the transfer actually happens. The second is that we are not just covering Wilshire 2, but we are also now covering the Olympic ward--that's the Korean ward! As you are surely aware, I don't speak Korean, and neither does Sister Birch. But we are going to start learning, because we want to be able to serve in the area the best we can. The third surprise was that our Wilshire area is going to be split--there will now be a Wilshire 3! Three companionships in the Wilshire ward! We were definitely not expecting any of that. I am so excited for the upcoming transfer. This transfer I learned a lot about the law of the harvest--if you sow, you WILL reap. It doesn't matter what or how or when. At the beginning of this transfer we started with pretty much nothing. Our friends are now being integrated into the ward and making a ton of friends, sharing what's in their hearts and coming unto Christ. I am so happy about the progress that has been made here. I have learned that with hard work comes joyous rewards.
FRIENDS:
We met with Isaac, a friend we met on the street! He has a really strong faith in God and has seen his belief bless his life.
We had lunch with Rossanna and Gustavo and talked about the Ten Commandments. Gustavo said that the Ten Commandments are guidelines to happy life and just common sense. That's exactly right Gustavo!
We met with Rhona and taught her about the rest of the Plan of Salvation. We talked about how being with God forever is our ultimate goal, how Jesus is the one that makes it all possible, and we introduced the Book of Mormon. At first Rhona was a little hesitant about the Book of Mormon, but we read it with her the next time we visited and she saw how it works to support the Bible and felt much more at peace with it.
Destiny said her week went so much better after she went to church and prayed every day. We also talked about repentance and how Heavenly Father never stops loving us, and He never wants us to turn away from Him.
We met with Joy, who has been going through a lot of struggles in her life. However, she knows she needs God so she decided to come back to church. She loved it there and was so happy and made a lot of friends.
We talked with Abulla to follow up on how he's been doing since his baptism. He said he feels like a totally new person. He has been working hard to implement what he is learning from the scriptures. He hopes his family follows his example. He is pretty much the coolest person we know.
We did another Bible study with Ayanna. She has such a strong faith in the gospel. We invited her to be taught and she said yes!
Monique is such a faithful woman. She has been experiencing many trials but has not given up on her faith. She is trusting the Lord through it all.
We met with Elvira and Johnny and had a great Bible study with them! They are all about relying on Jesus Christ. We invited them to be taught as well and they agreed too!
We met with Victoria and T! T is a member of the ward who is coming back to church, and Victoria is his wife who is not a member but knows the Church will make her family stronger and is interested in learning more! Victoria is actually the one who influenced T to come back to church! They are seriously so cool and have very strong faith.
This transfer I also learned a lot about the Atonement of Jesus Christ from the amazing example of the people I serve. Rossanna once asked what people meant when they referred to "the Atonement" because no one had ever really explained that to her. We told her how it was Jesus suffering in the garden, dying on the cross, and being resurrected, the prices He paid so He could buy us from sin and death. Once she understood that, she was amazed by how casually people threw around that word. She said, "Doesn't that deserve a moment of silence?" It really does. At the beginning of every prayer he says, Brother Caphart says, "We thank Thee for the Atonement of Jesus Christ." I think that's awesome. We should all be sure to thank Heavenly Father for the gift of His magnificent Son, who saved us from hell and gave us the hope of a glorious future. As they say in "The Living Christ", "God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son."
Thanks and much love!
--Sister Day

Adventures in the CLAM: LET'S GET SPOOKY ft. Chanco Choir's First Concert (October 28, 2019-November 3, 2019)

 

Hello one and all!
LA LOVE:
A favorite thing Sister Birch and I like to do is watch Book of Mormon videos (Have y'all seen those yet?!?!?! I'm literally obsessed with them they're so good, go check them out if you haven't) and eat ice cream after 9:00. So if you were ever wondering how missionaries party, that is how.
The drivers in LA are actually pretty patient and kind for the most part because everyone here has accepted that they live in LA and are definitely not going to get where they're going quickly. It's pretty nice.
EVENTS OF THE WEEK:
We had a zone p-day where we all hung out and carved jack-o-lanterns, which was super fun because the majority of us are not American so we got to help them make their first jack-o-lanterns. I love the Los Angeles zone so much. I'm so lucky to be best pals with some awesome missionaries.
We went to our ward's family home evening that they hold once a month. We invited a few friends and were really hoping someone would come. Well, our friend Monique did! It was our first time meeting her. It was a miracle that she came. That night we learned about the Holy Ghost, and Monique said she had been avoiding us for over a month now because she was feeling alone and unworthy. Us and all the ward members told her that that wasn't true and everyone welcomed her back into the group. We loved meeting her, and she said she will be ready to be baptized at the beginning of the coming year.
We went to lunch at El Coyote again thanks to the generosity of dear Brother Christofferson. We were there with Sister Child and Sister Zegarra, as well as Brother Caphart and our dear friend Kim! It made Kim feel really special and happy, and since Brother Caphart invited her to church she agreed to come!
We did a finding activity as a district! We stood on the corner of Wilshire and Western with some posters and Bibles, and had a sign-up list where people could write down their contact information so we could deliver a free Bible to them! It was absolutely amazing; we had a lot of success. It helped us feel more comfortable in our callings as well, and we definitely got closer as a district. I love them and it was a great way to find people to teach.
At district council this week we practiced delivering Bibles since we will all obviously be delivering a lot of Bibles very soon! Sister Birch and I have a few favorite things we love to do when we deliver Bibles so it was nice to get to practice that on Elder Kiyabu, one of the senior missionaries over the Los Angeles zone.
ABULLA WAS BAPTIZED!
More on that in a bit.
We went to LA Heart, an interfaith community activity celebrating and promoting religious freedom. It was absolutely amazing. We sang in a small choir with a bunch of other missionaries (named by our zone leaders, Elder Franco and Elder Chew, the Chanco Choir) and let me tell you it was wonderful. Not only did I love getting to sing on a stage again, but I loved getting to sing for others about how we are children of a loving Heavenly Father, the most important thing we could ever know. It was cool as well because we sang in all different languages: English, Spanish, American Sign Language, and Farsi. People of all religions were smiling, cheering, and crying. I know we all felt the Spirit there that day.
We went to an event at the visitors' center where an amazing blogger (yes, it definitely made me miss blogging) Corinne Stokoe talked about finding hope and healing during addiction recovery, specifically about the Addiction Recovery Program. We went with our friends Monique and Destiny, plus a bunch of our ward members that are in charge of the Addiction Recovery Program in the Los Angeles California stake. We all had a great time together and felt a lot of peace and hope as we remembered the healing power of repentance. Something Sister Stokoe said was that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real--it's not a fairy tale, it's not something we say at church because it sounds nice. It's real, and it works.
FRIENDS:
Wow, Sister Birch and I are hardly teaching William a thing but he still knows the entirety of the gospel. Hey, that's what happens when you read the Book of Mormon, pray, and desire to know the truth!
We had breakfast with Rossanna this week and it was wonderful. There are a lot of blessings she wants that she is closer to than she thinks! We love her and are so happy for how hard she is working.
We, first of all, got to have lunch with Abulla and some other pals, food from his native country so that was super awesome. We taught him the final things he needed to know before his baptismal interview. Then finally he was baptized and received the Holy Ghost. I respect Abulla so much for how seriously he takes the gospel. I am so excited for him as he continues to walk down righteous paths, because I know even greater miracles are happening. We also taught him how to use the Gospel Library app in his native language so his family can learn more about the gospel. We are so happy for them.
We met Rhona, who has a really strong faith and love for God. He is the center of her life. We started teaching her about the Plan of Salvation and she understands it all really well.
We taught John about the importance of praying, reading the scriptures, and especially the Sabbath day. He seemed to really see the seriousness of all of those things.
We introduced Kim to Come, Follow Me and she loved the resource to help us be more responsible for our own learning!
We could tell Destiny hasn't been doing well for awhile. We finally asked what was wrong and she opened up about a lot of terrible things she's gone through in life. We told her that God doesn't want her to hold her burdens on her own, that she always as Him--and her missionaries. Since she has opened up to us we have been able to help her more and I can see she has already felt happier.
We did another Bible study with Ayanna--she truly sees how God is the reason she can do everything despite her trials. We love her and she is awesome.
Alvaro is a new friend that requested a visit from missionaries because he wants to learn more about God. His faith is very strong and he asks very good questions!
We read the Book of Mormon with Monique. We were glad to reassure her that God sees all of the effort she is putting in to be baptized. She is amazing.
We saw an insane amount of miracles this week. Our work is really praying off and we are so happy for that. What a joy to be participating in the work of salvation!
Thanks and much love!
--Sister Day

Adventures in the CLAM: A Referral from President?! (October 21, 2019-October 27, 2019)

Hey everyone!
I am feeling a lot of gratitude today. As way of a life update I suppose, today is my first day at a new job at SUU event tech. I am so grateful for this opportunity and it seems like the absolute perfect job for me.
Being away from missionary life, Los Angeles, and all of my friends there hurts every single day. Not always in a bad way, but sometimes. My mom has been praying for me to find a connection like I had on my mission. That's something that can seem unfathomable to me.
But from what I've already learned about my job, our team is a tight-knit crew that is very close to each other. The way my boss talked about how we can come in the office anytime to eat lunch or do homework made me want to cry. The way they talk about the team is crazy. Nothing will ever compare to my mission and I don't want anything to, because that is sacred. But I really believe I have found my next sacred team. Anything God-given is sacred, to be sure. It is hard for me to get close to people so please keep praying for me to be able to fit the mold sooner rather than later. But I am happy that I have found somewhere good.
Enjoy! 

Hello one and all!
LA LOVE:

Here in LA everyone follows the "don't be the first one through a green light" rule because people are always running red lights; we just expect it. It's actually kind of weird when people don't run red lights.
WE PASSED BY A FILM/TV SHOW BEING MADE. There was this gas station with a bunch of police cars and firetrucks and we were like "WHAT THE." But then the police cars said Seattle and we were like "uhh we live nowhere near Seattle." It became clear very quickly that A FILM WAS BEING MADE. So that was super exciting for me. At lunch with the Di Niros ther was also a notice on the front of their apartment complex about filming for a TV show that was taking place there and the details of what the scenes would entail. So cool!!! I love being a missionary here.
One day Sister Birch and I got a text telling us about a referral we had received. Before I could read the whole thing, I just saw President Cordon's email in the text. What? Then the note under the referral? "this is from a mission president just FYI". Uh yeah we know, it's from OUR mission president! So that was super wild and also kind of nerve-racking, but we talked with President a little more about the referral and we will be visiting that person this week! Definitely a cool and interesting experience.
EVENTS OF THE WEEK:
On p-day I auditioned to sing in an octet at a gala that the visitors' center hosts every December. They sing Christmas carols outside of the visitors' center as the guests leave. It's a super big deal and I'm dying for an opportunity to perform, so I was really excited for this. I'm happy to say that later this week we found out that I made the octet! I am so excited to sing at the gala! This has been a really big blessing for me and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to sing for the event.
We had our second new missionary orientation this week. It was amazing and we learned a lot about doing better work. It really made me feel strong and excited about doing missionary work. We got awesome trainings from Hermana Cordon, the assistants, and President Cordon. I wish I could tell you everything they said because it was just awesome, but I'll just tell one story from President. He was telling us about how back in the day at parties and dances you would ask a girl to dance with you, but he would never do that, because he was not a good dancer. But when he met Hermana Cordon, he said, "I was never in my seat. I was always up and dancing. And everyone was staring at me, not because I was dancing very good, but because I was dancing very funny! And I felt really awkward, I felt scared, I felt uncomfortable. But I always danced. Because I love her, and I know she loves dancing, so I was always dancing." His point was that when we are doing missionary work, we may feel really awkward and scared and uncomfortable. We may not be very good at it even. But if we love the Lord Jesus Christ, we will still do it!
So we went to this place called the Farmers' Market and let us tell ya it was CUTE. We went there for lunch with our ward member, Arlene, because she works there. It was super sweet, so go check out Patsy D'amore Pizzeria if you're ever in LA and say hi to our ward member!

District council this week was so awesome. It was really fun because Sister Birch and I are at the point when we are starting to feel really comfortable in the area, so now our district is just our best pals. We were all sitting on the couches of the church eating muffins and talking together about our work. This week we discussed ways to find solid friends to teach. We actually made a super cool plan for a finding activity to do together, which you'll be hearing about next week.
We had the ward trunk-or-treat, which was a great time! Rossanna and her kids came and they loved it. Sister Birch and I got to help Elder Malcom and Sister Malcom pass out candy at their car. It was a good time to spend getting to know ward members too.
FRIENDS:
We taught William W. about faith this week. We are amazed by how much he is learning on his own from the Book of Mormon. He is pretty much reading it at every spare moment. He said that and the Bible are the two most important books in his life right now. He also more or less taught us the concept of repentance on his own, so that was super cool.
John is doing great! We read Moroni 10 with him and talked with him about the Holy Ghost, faith, and Jesus Christ. He has a really strong desire to learn more about the gospel and live it. We are so happy for him.
We met Kwazy on the street and had a lesson with him. He believes in God and loves talking to us to get a spiritual boost. We did a lesson to transfer him over to Sister Child and Sister Zegarra and started talking with him about the Restoration. He is so awesome and he really understands a lot about God's love for us and why we have commandments.
We had a lesson with William N. a little bit about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We sadly will not be able to teach him anymore but we are excited for him to continue studying the gospel on his own.
We talked about prayer and scripture study with Kimberly this week. Both of those things have been a great comfort and strength in her life. WE also ready Alma 32 with her, and had great discussions about faith, how we apply it, and the blessings we receive from doing so!
Abulla is so great. A lot of the times when we teach him lessons, he is actually the one teaching us! Such was the case when we taught him about the Sabbath. He is all on board with tithing and fasting. And when we talked about the priesthood, he said he wants to make sure he knwos everything and is fully following the commandments before he receives it. How amazing is he!
We talked about the Sabbath with Destiny and why it makes us so happy. She is amazing. We also read part of the Restoration pamphlet with her so we can talk about it more next time.
We talked about the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end with Rossanna and Gustavo. I am so happy about how much work they are putting in to live righteously. I can see how much it is blessing their lives. Rossanna was able to come to church on Sunday and we could tell she had a wonderful time.
We had a Bible study with Ayanna! It was incredible. Her love for the Lord really manifested and the Spirit of the Lord was there. We are so excited to do another study with her.
To close, this week in district council Elder Chew gave a testimony about our purpose as missionaries. At one point he started speaking specifically to us sisters. Usually when people talk about the service of sister missionaries they, though it be with good intentions, tend to glorify us rather than the Lord, saying that it is simply incredible because we are here of our own free will, that we chose to be here. Instead, my dear friend Elder Chew turned incredibly sincere and heartfelt as he spoke of our service, saying that he was sure we got personal revelation about being here. And that's exactly it. Any sister will tell you that we in fact did not choose to serve; it is the Lord that chose us. And not just any sister, but any missionary. I will never be able to deny the power of the Holy Ghost that I felt when the Lord clearly impressed on my mind that I needed to serve as a missionary. It was amazing to hear someone recognize that glorious truth out loud. How blessed I feel to be one called to serve the Lord in this way.
Thanks and much love!
--Sister Day

Adventures in the CLAM: "There's Nothing Like [Autumn] in the City" (October 14, 2019-October 20, 2019)

 

Hello one and all!
LA LOVE:
Okay. Here's what ya gotta know about our area. The Halloween decorations here are INSANE. So huge and over-the-top and spooky. I absolutely love it. It's spooky time, folks.
This was my first week that I have been sick on the mission! Wow I can't say I loved that. But I recovered more quickly than I think I ever have from being sick, or at least ore quickly than I have in a long time, so that was definitely a blessing from the Lord.
We're in the Los Angeles zone, which is one of the two zones in the mission that the visitors' center sisters work in. Sister Birch and I are the only companionship of sisters in the zone that don't work at the visitors' center. District councils are, in the rest of the mission, always on Wednesday at 10:30. Because of the visitors' center sisters' crazy schedule, though, we never know when district council is going to be until that week. This transfer I have yet to have a district council on Wednesday at 10:30.
One fine Los Angeles evening Sister Birch and I had the privilege of listening to President Cordon's general conference talk ("The Language of the Gospel", go check it out) while driving on the freeway through the city and it was actually super relaxing. We love him so much. It was super weird because usually when we listen to general conference takls, the voices of the speakers sound unfamiliar, like someone you've heard but don't know, but when we listen to President's talk the voice sounds so familiar, not only like someone we know but like someone who is a very good friend. That's so crazy! It was wild because a lot of the things he said in the talk he had been saying to us in person just a week before. I can't wait for President's next conference talk, but I'm also happy to have him with me in person for the next eleven months!
A member in our ward, Julie, invited us to have an impromptu lunch with her in the kitchen after church (it was actually so cute and fun) because she had  a lot of leftover food from her daughter-in-law's baby shower--who was actually a member of the Reseda ward that I love so much! She was asking us where we were from. When I said Las Vegas, she said jokingly, "Oh, so your parents drove you here." And I said, "No really, I didn't go to the MTC, my parents actually drove me here." Haha, just another day in the life of a two-transfer missionary!
EVENTS OF THE WEEK:
On p-day Sister Birch and I were both feeling pretty unwell, but luckily we live across the street from a Domino's so we just got pizza (thanks for the lunch money Grandma Lori!) and chilled out. I also have obtained some face masks on the mission so I did indeed have a spa day with myself and it was an absolute party.
Before district council we had a meeting as a zone where we discussed how we can help more people attend sacrament meeting. As a zone, we were going to send in a text every time we invited someone to sacrament meeting, because the more people we invite, the more people will come! We set a goal to invite 104 people, and we ended up inviting 110! It was great because it made us really conscious of inviting ALL of our friends to sacrament meeting, which really showed them that we cared that they came. At district council I made my world-famous brownies which were of course a big hit among the district. We also talked about the power behind learning and studying the lessons, and good examples we could use to teach the Restoration lesson.
We had exchanges! Sister Birch went to Westwood 2nd with Sister Slater and I stayed in Wilshire 2 with Sister Pearson! Sister Pearson and I not only came into the mission together, but we also were in the same ward in college! So it was super fun for us to be together and talk about all the things we are going to do together when we go back to Cedar City. For Sister Pearson, it was like a vacation because she has only ever stayed in the temple patron apartments! Let me tell ya Sister Pearson knows how to work. She taught me a lot, especially about finding. She's also one of the most caring people I've ever met and I am so happy to call her a friend.
FRIENDS:
Joh is so awesome! He says he notices a big difference in his life when he prays and he's always been interested in getting close to God and going to church. We taught him about the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of the gospel. He understood both super well!
We taught Destiny about the ten commandments and the Restoration. She has such a strong desire to do good, and she made some goals to help her get stronger in the gospel. What a great thing to do! She remembered a lot about the Restoration from when she had met with missionaries before.
We talked about baptism with Gustavo and Rossanna. Gustavo said he wants to be baptized, so we started talking about what we need to do in order to get to that point. They are seeking after righteousness and it is great!
We talked about prayer and scripture study with Abulla. Brother Hutchins came and was so helpful! He explained a lot of things to Abulla. Abulla studies the scriptures super hard and was wanting to learn how to pray better, which is great, but he is already praying super sincerely which is really all that matters! Thanks to a bold invitation from Brother Hutchins, Abulla came with his whole family to church this week! We were all so happy to see them.
We had a lesson with Elvira and Johnny, a couple that had requested a Bible and were interested in coming back to church. They wanted the Bible because they wanted one that was untainted by the opinions of men. Sweet, we're all about that too! We're excited to study with them again.
We had a lesson with William W. Let me tell ya that guy has studied the Book of Mormon a ton! It is amazing how much he understands about it already.
We met with the Lewis family, both of whom work closely with the youth of the ward, so we could talk more about what we can do to help with the youth. They are so awesome, and I'm so excited to work more with the youth!
Sister Child and Sister Zegarra went with us to lunch with the Di Niro family. Wow let me tell ya we love them. In the middle of lunch they said they would like to have us over for lunch every Sunday. Wow that is so sweet! Brother Di Niro said when he was on his mission so many members would be so kind to them and always feed them, and they always asked what they could do to repay such kindness. The members replied, when you're able, just pay it forward. Help the missionaries as we have helped you. So now he is able, so they're helping us! So he of course said when it is our turn we have to pay it forward as well. Let me tell ya, I fully plan on doing that!
I have seen an insane amount of miracles here. What a blessing to be performing the work of angels in the City of Angels.
Thanks and much love!
--Sister Day

Adventures in the CLAM: We're Famous Now (October 7, 2019-October 13, 2019)

 

Hello one and all!
LA LOVE:
The CLAM newsletter recently got reorganized so that it's written and edited by a committee of young missionaries. A friend of mine, Elder Mathewson, is in charge of the finding ideas in the newsletter. One time when Sister White and I were telling him about our finding ideas, he asked us to write a paragraph about it so he could put it in the newsletter! It got printed last week! My first big publication. Here's to many more. :,)
I had my first door-knocking experience this week. The plans we had set up fell through so it was the best thing we could do. Sister Birch actually knocked on the first door because my whole mission I had been told "we don't do tracting" so I was TERRIFIED. I am so impressed by her! So once she did it I felt more brave haha. Weactually had some people that would be interested in us coming back so that was awesome!
EVENTS OF THE WEEK:
On p-day we went to this super fancy ice cream place called The Dolly Llama. It was super fun and aesthetic and romantic and good and just a fun way for us to spend some time as a new companionship. It was so cute.
Zone conference was this week! It was my first time at a zone conference not in the San Fernando valley so that was interesting. All of my companions except for Sister White were there though so it was fun to be with Sister Sanerive and Sister Along too! We learned a lot about how to work with members in our ward, whether it be with part-member families or helping ward members strengthen and fellowship the friends we teach. President also taught us a lot about making lesson plans for our friends, how to be a good missionary and disciple of Jesus Christ, and about observing the Sabbath day. Because he is a general authority, he said over the years he's had a few opportunities to sit in on meetings with the apostles. He said for years the apostles have been worried about our Sabbath day observance as a main issue in the Church. I really learned a lot and am excited to better acknowledge the Lord's day when I get home. I encourage you all to consider how to better consecrate your Sundays to God. As you do and act on the thoughts that come to your mind, you will be strengthened in your day-to-day life and feel the peace that comes to those that observe the Sabbath!
District council this week. I am happy to be in a district of such great missionaries that are already wonderful friends to me. Sister Birch and I led a discussion in thsi council about how the first chapter of Preach My Gospel (My Purpose) can help us involve our ward members in missionary work. It was awesome!
There was a baptism in the other area of the ward! Emily is happily baptized and confirmed into the Wilshire ward. Abulla got to come and see what it was like before he is baptized in a few weeks!
Okay, this one is definitely worth writing about as an event. Our ward mission leader, Brother Caphart, took us plus Sister Child and Sister Zegarra to dinner at the restaurant Brother Christofferson owns (one of our ward missionaries). The ward missionaries kept hyping it up as the best Mexican restaurant in LA. Let me tell you, they weren't just saying that. The restaurant is called El Coyote, there's a ton of history behind it, and it was recently featured in a movie that came out a few months ago. The place was hopping people pulling up in fancy clothes, and the food was seriously so good. The whole night I felt so famous. I had my first experience with valet parking (I know, like, am I rich or something?). Brother Chriistofferson led us personally to the most famous booth in the restaurant. He kept ordering us so many appetizers and desserts and the best of everything the restaurant had. We had a good night with him and Sister Christofferson and Brother Caphart. They really made us feel super loved. It was a highlight of the week.
FRIENDS:
I went on exchanges with Sister Zegarra so she could introduce me to our friend John! We talked about prayer with him and he said he can see things more clearly when making decisions when he prays.
We met the Hutchins family, a family in our ward! Brother Hutchins is the recently-called elders quorum president and Sister Hutchins is a counselor for the young women. They are super cool. Sister Hutchins was actually a CLAM missionary herself, and Wilshire was her last area! That was super crazy to me but then I remembered I am planning on moving to SoCal later in life so that could very well happen to me too HAHA.
We met with Destiny and taught her about prophets, which was super cool because she loves general conference talks. We also taught her about the gospel of Jesus Christ. She really wants to get baptized, so we are making plans to help her get there. She is so sweet and we love her. She has admirable faith.
We met William W., who requested a copy of the Book of Mormon! he has a lot of questions and si looking for answers there. He thinks hte Book of Mormon is really underrated in Christianity, and that when you put the two books together (the Bible and the Book of Mormon) you get the whole story. William W., I agree! He already believes those books were sent from God, so we're excited to teach him the rest!
I went on exchanges with Sister Zegarra in her area (Sister Birch and Sister Child were in our area) to meet their friend Adelson! We went over the baptismal interview questions because he is getting baptized in the coming week. We had great discussions and he is so ready to be baptized!
We had a great lesson with Abulla. He is taking a Book of Mormon class so he is super intelligent and really understands the scriptures. When we talked about 3 Nephi 11, he perfectly described how we are baptized, and said it had to be by authority, not just anyone! We taught him about the Word of Wisdom. Abulla voiced some concerns he had, but said he would give it a try. We told him of all the blessings that come from keeping this law, and that we knew he could do it even though it would be hard. When we said that, he said, "It won't be so hard." I am inspired by his courage and faith. We told him to study Doctrine and Covenants 89 to better understand, and when we saw him at church he said he saw that by keeping this law we receive wisdom from God. I hope to be as faithful as Abulla in keeping the commandments of God.
We met William N., who has a deep interest in history and scripture. He loves studying with missionaries, so we're happy to help!
We met Sister Kimberly! She is seriously so sweet and we love her! She has something big coming up in her life, something Sister Birch has gone through before, so we shared Sister Birch's favorite Book of Mormon verse with her, Ether 12:27. Sister Kimberly was really comforted knowing that God will make her strong in her trials.
We met with Brother Case and Sister Case! They are so sweet and told us a lot about what we can do to help in the ward. For weeks I've been worrying about the youth and wanting to help them and teach them. The Case family gave us many names and assignments of how to help the youth in the ward, that being their top priority right now. I'd call that a miracle.
I am so grateful to be serving here at this time. It has been an adventure for sure, but I have felt so much love and joy here already, and as they sat in Dear Evan Hansen, "We're getting better every day."
Thanks and much love!
--Sister Day

Adventures in the CLAM: "Down on Skid Row" (September 30, 2019-October 6, 2019)

Hey everyone!
For starters, in this letter I talk about how much President Cordon hyped me up at the new missionary orientation. At this time in my mission my self-esteem was pretty much absolute garbage and President knew it. He hyped me up publicly and frequently pretty much from that point on. People close to him would too, such as the assistants to the president. That lasted my whole mission. I am so grateful that I got to have such a wonderful team on my mission.
Reviewing this letter has been really interesting. This was my first big transition in the mission. I was seven months old and had finally outgrown my first area. I was training a new companion and opening an area, right in the middle of Koreatown/Downtown LA, and trying to figure out how the new culture worked. As my friend Steve in Reseda had told me the night before I moved, the valley and the city were entirely different games. Looking back is crazy because the things that had me in culture shock in this first week became parts of normal life that I absolutely adored just a few weeks later. This girl, my angel companion that I had never met, became my best friend. She and I would drive around Mid-City/Koreatown pointing out people who definitely weren't from California because they would do so many things that went against LA culture, as if we hadn't been living there for just a few weeks. The city will have my heart forever. It was an adventurous first week and totally crazy. I cried literally every night on my first week in Wilshire. But I knew it was a tender mercy from the very beginning. I loved it there so much and I am so grateful for what I had there. LA really can be described as the promised land.

Enjoy! 

Hello one and all!
LA LOVE:
So, people always say that driving in LA is crazy. To be so honest, that's sometimes true but not that much. It's the parking, ladies and gentlemen. It's the parking in LA that's crazy.
This week at new trainer meeting (more on that in a bit!) President Cordon pointed out that our Preach My Gospel study calendar was not called a reading calendar, but rather an implementation calendar. It was not for us to just read, but for us to study and apply to our areas what we were learning. That is so cool! Wow I love that guy.
EVENTS OF THE WEEK:
For my last p-day in Reseda, we spent the day together as an apartment as we always do. We went shopping for a Lego set and got Chick-fil-a. We also had a zone p-day, which Sister White and I showed up to super late so we got to say hi to the Tarzana and West Hills elders for a little bit but we pretty much just sat and talked with Elder Kreger and Elder Terry for a few minutes with their friend Bailey. Definitely got super emo because let me tell you, I love the Canoga Park zone. What a wonderful group of missionaries. I am so grateful to have been a zone founder there.
This transfer day is the craziest one I've ever had. Sister White and I carpooled to new trainer meeting with Sister Kwok and Sister Brower. Let me tell ya saying goodbye to Sister Pace and Sister Pond is one of the saddest things I've ever done. But we got trained on how to be trainers and oh my gosh sitting there next to my first trainee was the coolest thing ever! We then got paired with our trainees which was sad because it meant Sister White and I would be separated, but exciting because we got to meet our new companions. I got paired with Sister Birch! She is so cool and really down to work, and legit such a great teacher. I'm amazed by her and I love her. Immediately after being paired together President Cordon called Sister Birch out. He said that after three months a missionary should be ready to train a new missionary, so she should be preparing herself, why? Because the last missionary her trainer had trained was now a trainer as well! And even when Sister White answered a question for him he said, "Wow. You must have had a great trainer." Sounds like some pretty high expectations for me! But I feel honored that President and the Lord trust me with this area. We live in Los Angeles, California and cover half of the Wilshire ward. Our area includes places such as Koreatown, Downtown, and Skid Row! There is a lot of work to be done here and there are so many people progressing in the gospel here! We ad a crazy day trying to move in--I was told pretty much nothing about our new area. But all is worked out now and we love living in the city!
We had our first district council in the new district. Being in the Los Angeles zone is crazy--I had just come from one of the smallest zones in the mission, and now I am in the very biggest zone. All the other sisters in the zone serve at the visitors' center. But we got to meet our district and some of the zone and they are awesome! We are preparing for a great transfer. Something wonderful is going to happen--I can feel it.
I hit my seven month mark! Being here seven months isn't the really crazy thing--what really blows me away is that I'm already in my sixth transfer. How did that happen? Your seven month mark is great as a sister though, because it is your 7-Eleven day--seven months done, eleven months left! We were out street contacting that day and by an absolute miracle, guess what we passed? A 7-ELEVEN. I definitely stopped to get a Slurpee to celebrate the event.
This was one of the best general conferences I had ever seen! I could tell that God is very pleased with the progress HIs saints have made and how we have responded to calls to repentance. I also contemplated a lot of things I can do to be even better now. I loved it! One of my favorite talks was at the women's conference (we all know how much I love women's conference) by President Nelson. I have been greatly troubled for a long time by the fact that every time someone mentions priesthood, they also have to mention a man. I knew it wasn't like that; the priesthood belongs to God, not man, so as God's children He allows all who live worthy of it access to it. I wondered what could be done to help other women realize this. It appears Heavenly Father answered the prayer of my heart, the one I didn't even realize I was offering up.
FRIENDS:
We visited Steve on my last night in Reseda to celebrate one year of baptism for him! And we got to say goodbye so that was good, although sad.
Also said goodbye to Tony that night. Let me tell you that guy is my best pal. So that was sad too but hey, the work must go on.
I went on exchanges with Sister Zegarra (one of the other missionaries in our ward) to meet Destiny. She is so sweet! We taught her the end of the Plan of Salvation. It made her so happy. She is really dedicated to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We met Ayanna! She requested a Bible from us because she really wants to spread the light of Christ around the hotel she works at. We shared some favorite verses with her and she said we could come back again, and she would even be interested in us holding a Bible study at the hotel!
We had a lesson with Courtney and he is so cool! We talked about the Book of Mormon with him and he is really interested in learning more. He has been studying from the Book of Mormon a little bit but doesn't know much about the origin of it, so we invited him to read the introduction and testimonies of the book!
We met with Rossanna and Gustavo, a part-member family in the ward. They are so sweet. We invited them to pray together as a family, and to help them get started we've called them every night to pray with them. We can already see their family growing happier--it's beautiful.
We met with Abulla, who is preparing to be baptized in a month! He loves how the Book of Mormon makes the Bible even clearer. He has a strong testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and knows that obedience to God's commandments brings us many blessings. We love him!
I won't lie, this has been a very difficult and sometimes lonely transition. Los Angeles is very different from Reseda. I left a zone and an apartment where I had a lot of very close friends, not to mention ward members and friends we teach. But through it all, I have been able to feel what a miracle it is that i'm here right now. Everyone keeps telling us how much they've been praying to have another companionship of missionaries in the ward. Our sister training leaders called us and said that we were assigned to this area because they need good teachers here. I have already been blessed with a wonderful companion, ward, and zone plus awesome new friends to teach. I have made it my goal to be like the Jaredites upon their arrival in the promised land, as recorded in Ether 6:12:
"And they did land upon the shore of the promised land. And when they and when they had set their feet upon the shores of the promised land they bowed themselves down upon the face of the land, and did humble themselves before the Lord, and did shed tears of joy before the Lord, because of the multitude of his tender mercies over them."
I have seen nothing but miracles and tender mercies thus far in the California Los Angeles Mission and in the Wilshire ward. Thanks be to God, and may we all continue to see His hand in our lives. I am so grateful and happy.
Thanks and much love!
--Sister Day

Adventures in the CLAM: "The Start of Something New" (September 23, 2019-September 30 2019)

 

Hello one and all!
LA LOVE:
Okay, so yesterday we watched the video about the new program for children and youth in the Church and let me tell you I loved it! I was highkey getting very emotional because I am so excited to teach children. I love and admire the youth of the world; they are a very strong force for good.
EVENTS OF THE WEEK:
On p-day we went to Michoacana (a classic, best ice cream, 10/10 would recommend) as we do in this apartment.
We had our last district council of the transfer. We got a training about some teaching skills in Preach My Gospel and then had a party since Elder Howell is going home. I made brownies and we had a little party as the first ever Canoga Park zone. (Just so everyone is aware, Elder Peterson did not bring anything to the baking competition.) It has been such a pleasure to serve in this zone with such great missionaries.
Guido came with us to a baptism for Gustavo in the El Camino Real ward! The Spirit of God was very present in the room and we were all so happy for him. guido congratulated him after and loved seeing how special the baptismal service was.
We had our transfer call last night. It was the best transfer call I've ever had. Sister White is staying in Reseda, and she is training. My little trainee is all grown up with a trainee of her own! I will be leaving Reseda, my first time being transferred, and going to the Wilshire area in the Los Angeles zone. I am opening the area, and I have the privilege of training again. Sister Pace and Sister Pond are both staying in El Camino Real, so I am the only one moving out of the apartment. I am really excited for the new opportunities ahead of me, a new environment, a new companion, a new ward to serve in. Let's go get it!
FRIENDS:
We got back in contact with David this week and we talked about baptism. That is something he is interested in, so he is going to pray to know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ and the church he needs to be baptized in.
Johnny is doing well and loving being taught by us and the Northridge sisters! We learned about receiving the priesthood and about the temple, and he is super excited to take part in both. He attended activites and church with the Northridge ward this weeek and he is loving it. It has been a good transition for him.
We taught Guido about baptism, how it's made important because of priesthood authority. It can't just be done by anyone, and that's what was missing from his baptism before. He really enjoyed witnessing Gustavo's baptism. Guido will be going out of town for a little bit, but he said he would love to keep being taught over the phone!
We have been reading the Book of Mormon with Jose this week. He is loving it! He really relates to Lehi wanting to raise his children in righteousness.
We visited Steve and read "Abound With Blessings" by Elder Renlund with him. He really understood the small acts he will have to complete in order to receive big blessings, and he is eager to reap those rewards.
What a blessing it has been to serve in this area! I will surely miss it, but I'm excited for the coming transfer.
Before I close, general conference is this weekend! I am so excited to hear the word of God from living prophets and apostles. You can check it out at churchofjesuschrist.org.
I also wanted to share a favorite scripture of mine from the Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 18:24-25:
"Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up--that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed.
And ye see that I have commanded that none of you should go away, but rather have commanded that ye should come unto me, that ye might feel and see; even so shall ye do unto the world; and whosoever breaketh this commandment suffereth himself to be led into temptation."
May we all come unto Christ this week, and hold His light up to the world!
Thanks and much love!
--Sister Day

Adventures in the CLAM: The CLAM Fam (September 16, 2019-September 22, 2019)

Hello one and all!
LA LOVE:
Sister White and I slept in for the first time on our missions. There is nothing more terrifying as a missionary than waking up well-rested and looking out the window to a suspiciously bright sky only to find out it is 7:30.
EVENTS OF THE WEEK:
On p-day we went as an apartment to Daglas (the place Michelle told us about with the awesome fries, 10/10) and had lunch as a family. We then went somewhere we've been waiting to go for weeks! Teh apartment where The Karate Kid was filmed is in our area! So we definitely stopped by there. We waited outside for awhile to see if anyone would let us in but no one came, so we just had a great time outside instead.
This district council we learned a lot about how to begin teaching, which was good because it had never been taught to me in that way before. I think learning those skills will really help the friends we teach. Plus Elder Peterson challenged me to a bake-off, which he will regret very much this coming week. (I found out later that his family apparently owns a bakery that he worked at for quite awhile. What the. It's okay, I still got this.)
We had the privilege of having zone interviews with President Cordon this week. I love President and Hermana, and I'm constantly aghast by how much they love us. I got to go with Hermana Cordon to pick up lunch and we had a really good talk. While we ate a bunch of just sat and talked with President about what it's like to be a general authority and he gave us a lot of advice. We had a really good interview together and he has really helped me a lot. I am so grateful for their service.
We had the best ward activity ever! It was a two truths and a lie potluck, so while everyone had dinner there was a microphone at the front of the room and everyone would say two truths and one lie about themselves, and we had to guess which was the lie. (Having been in the ward for six and a half months, almost everyone could easily guess what my lie was.) Guido, Steve, and Johnny all came and everyone had a great time! Plus the Woodland Hills elders and Northridge sisters were in the building at some point during the activity and our ward was trying to feed them so much too.
We went to a beautiful event at the visitors' center where a man played a concert of gorgeous hymns on the piano. Before each hymn he talked about the significance of the piece and told us what number it was in the hymnbook so we could read the poem while he played. I loved feeling the Spirit testify of Jesus Christ's restored gospel through music. Guido came with us and brought his friend Beatriz. He felt a lot of peace there. We had a pretty remarkable experience with him while we were there, but we'll get to that in a bit.
FRIENDS:
We visited with Steve and had a really good talk with him. Wow we love that guy. He really wants to come back to church, so he did. We were happy to see him there as was everyone in the Reseda family.
We taught Carmen about postmortal life. She was interested in how something like that is obtained. Is believing in God not enough? Why do we need to be baptized? So we started explaining about the gospel of Jesus Christ and are really looking forward to sharing about the covenants of baptism with her. She wasn't able to stay for church, but she did stop by with her twin sister Teresa! We love her; she is a strong woman of faith.
This week with Guido we read from Exodus 20 and John 14 to talk about the commandments. He really enjoyed our lesson, and then the ward activity too. Later when we were at the visitors' center we were talking to him and he told us about when he was baptized before. He said that he didn't feel he amazing way he wanted to feel after his baptism. We told him that we knew why that was: we told Guido that he was not baptized by someone holding the authority of God, so even though his heart was willing, his baptism didn't have that powerful effect. We testified boldly of the importance of the restored gospel as we know it in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and how we know he was placed in our path to learn about it, because our purpose is to help people get baptized. He is hesitant still to read something other than the Bible, but he is willing to learn more about baptism.
We met with Johnny and did a lesson with the Northridge sisters, Sister Brammer and Sister Merkley. He seems to love having two home wards. We talked about his baptism and the importance of those covenants, and all the exciting things that lie ahead like receiving the priesthood. Oh my gosh when I say we love that guy.
We met with tony and read with him a devotional that someone in our ward had given him, "The Essential Role of Revelation" by Elder Vinson. He said that he was sure teh ward member that gave it to him assumed that his questions were small, but rather they were very foundational. That was true, so we discussed his concerns with him. Let me tell you, Tony is really desiring for the truth. Sister White and I have been seeking after revelation for how to help him find his answers, and the Lord has provided. we are excited to help him progress. We love him so much.
This week I wanted to share something that I have been thinking of in the Book of Mormon, Moroni 10:3:
"Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts."
What a blessing the mercy of God is. I am so grateful to be here and to be everywhere that I've been.
Thanks and much love!
--Sister Day

Adventures in the CLAM: "We're Gonna Zoom" (September 9, 2019-September 15, 2019)

 

Hello one and all!
LA LOVE:
We are reading Preach My Gospel as a mission for the next two transfers! Let me tell ya I love how much President Cordon loves Preach My Gospel because you all already know how much I LOVE Preach My Gospel. Our goal is specifically to become more persuasive teachers and more spiritually mature missionaries and Sister White and I can already see ourselves improving.
Every time Sister White and I are about to go super fast on the bike, we say, "We're gonna zoom," and then we start speeding like Lightning McQueen through the streets of Reseda and it's my favorite thing ever.
We have been doing a lot of Come, Follow Me lessons with our ward members and they are causing miracles. The messages we share with them are always needed by our ward and they can almost always think of someone they want to share the gospel with.
EVENTS OF THE WEEK:
We got pizza last p-day so that was a party!
In district council this week we practiced a lot of roleplays about extending commitments, promising blessings, and using the Bible in our teaching and contacting. I love being able to meet with other missionaries each week and talk about how we can help our areas better. Plus I made no-bake cookies for the district and zone leaders and let me tell ya they were a big hit.
Us missionaries were invited to watch the Face to Face broadcast with Elder Soares and Elder Christensen! The even was in English, Portuguese, and Spanish. They also started the meeting by greeting us in all manner of languages. It was wonderful getting to see so many of God's children be spoken to in their native language. It was an amazing event and we learned a lot. It is great to learn from apostles and authorities that love God so much. A common theme was that if Jesus Christ is in our lives, we always have hope. What a true statement.
FRIENDS:
We finally met with Lui again! We taught him about the Restoration, and let me tell you, the Spirit of God was present in that lesson. he is going to read from the Book of Mormon so he can make his own judgment of it and learn for himself that it is true.
This week we showed Sukki a favorite Bible video of ours, "Wherefore Didst Thou Doubt?", about Jesus walking on the sea. She loved it so much; before anything even happened in the video she said, "Ohhhh my gosh!"
We taught Guido about the Restoration and invited him to read Enos in the Book of Mormon. Sadly, he told us a few days later that he doesn't want to read the Book of Mormon and he renounced all religions but his own. He would still like to study the Bible with us, and we told him we will, but we also told him the Book of Mormon would help him understand the Bible better. We hope he is ready to accept the message soon.
We taught Carmen about the beginning of the Plan of Salvation. She has a lot of questions about why bad things happen in the world, but she has faith that someday God will show her why. She is so awesome and we love her!
We taught our new friend Jose who we met at the bus stop. He was very interested to learn what the Book of Mormon is all about, so we taught him more about how it came to be! He loves God and is eager to learn more.
We taught the Lee family, a less active family in our ward! Their faith in God is so strong. We love talking to them and feeling the Spirit in their home.
I love being a missionary! It is such a miracle to watch people get happier day after day by following the gospel of Jesus Christ, and seeing myself happy as I do the same!
Thanks and much love!
--Sister Day