Adventures in the CLAM: Lots of Companions? (April 22, 2019-April 28, 2019)

Hello one and all!

LA LOVE:

Sister Roberts (Sister Merkley's companion) is finally here! She is a visitor center missionary doing her outbound transfer, and this is her second to last transfer.

EVENTS OF THE WEEK:

We had service at Operation Gratitude with Elder Evans and Elder Paas.

Since we were still with Sister Merkley for two days this week, we did service at Hope of the Valley in her area.

We went to temple baptisms with the youth of the stake. Why? Because it was Trinity's first temple baptism! It was a great experience. To make it even better, it was Sister Sanerive's first temple baptisms too! So it was really special to get to see my companion do that for the first time. We also went to In-N-Out after which was a first for Sister Sanerive too!

An awesome district council about the Christlike attributes.

Had an adventurous exchange with Sister Despain! She came to my area and it was definitely an interesting day. (Let's just say a flat tire was involved?)

My first stake conference as a missionary! It was an awesome conference with great messages about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

FRIENDS:
A short visit with the H. family, in which we shared a message from the Book of Mormon, Helaman 5:12.

Had some good discussions with Sukki about premortal life and the gospel of Jesus Christ. We love her.

Had a member training with a family about following the Holy Ghost! I hope you are all having a great week, and remember, as referenced in Helaman 5:12, that no matter what storms come your way you can do anything as you rely on Jesus!

Thanks and much love!

--Sister Day

Adventures in the CLAM: Trio Life (April 15, 2019-April 21, 2019)

Hey team!

Upon reviewing this letter I noticed that at the end I reference a scripture from the Book of Mormon without saying where in the book you can find it. It is Moroni 10:32, which can be found in the last chapter of the book.

And for anyone that cares, there are some small Les Misérables spoilers in here too.

Thanks for coming, I love you! Enjoy!

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Hello one and all!

LA LOVE:

I have seriously loved living in an apartment of many cultures. We'll so frequently just talk about how things differ in all of our countries and it's a blast.

In our apartment we name everything, like literally everything. Our TIWI (the machine in all mission cars) is Janet, Sister Sanerive's Google Maps is Trixie, Sister Merkley's bike is Spike, my bike is Patricia, the gate to the garage of our apartment is Brance, the elevator in our apartment is Sheldon, and Sister Merkley's Google Maps is Paula.

EVENTS OF THE WEEK:

We went out to get Thai food for our last p-day with Sister Thawornniwat.

Sister Sanerive and I have been in a trio with Sister Merkley this week covering Reseda and Van Nuys and it's been a party! We found out today that her new companion, Sister Roberts, will be coming on Wednesday. Because we've been covering two areas, this week we did a lot of stuff that we don't normally do.

We volunteered at Hope of the Valley to feed the homeless.

I officially have a TIWI card! (It allows me to drive mission vehicles.) I'm supposed to practice driving with Sister Merkley every now and then. Let's just say I'll be a pro at driving when I get home because the streets in California are NARROW.

First district council of the new transfer! We're sad to no longer have Elder Ormond and Elder Barton with us, but excited to welcome in TWO new companionships of five awesome sisters! And had a short training as a zone--I love being in the Granola zone.

We had an awesome sacrament meeting for Easter! The choir sang many songs and various youth in the ward described each day of the holy week. It was a wonderful time of learning more about the Savior's Atonement.

FRIENDS:

We et with Rafael from the Van Nuys area. He is super awesome and we had a great time walking with him and talking about temples, eternal families, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Manny is another friend from the Van Nuys area and I love him so much! We discussed a lot of scriptures with him this week.

We visited Sukki many times this week. We had many awesome discussions centering on Jesus this week especially about Easter. We also got to sing a song for her for Easter, "I Believe in Christ."

We went to the visitors center with the Boatman family from the Van Nuys ward and had a great tour with them, actually guided by Sister Roberts, Sister Merkley's new companion! We also got to visit them later in the week and share favorite scripture stories.

We met with our friends BJ and his brother AJ and their mom. We read a little bit of the Book of Mormon with him.

I hope you all had a great Easter! I am so glad we have a special day every year to remember the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because that happened to Him, it WILL happen to us all.

This week has allowed me opportunities to greater appreciate the suffering, death, and resurrection of the Savior, His miraculous and infinite Atonement. The other week I was contemplating "the world's most popular musical", Les Miserables, and I came to realize the deep symbolism of the bishop that Jean Valjean steals from, representing the Savior Jesus Christ. With that in mind, I now frequently sing the song "What Have I Done?" to myself in that context:

"How could I allow this Man

To touch my soul and teach me love?

He treated me like any other.
He gave me His trust.

He called me brother.

My life He claims for God above.
Can such things be,

For I had come to hate the world, 

The world that always hated me.

Take an eye for an eye,

Turn your heart into stone:

This is all I have lived for.

This is all I have known.

One word from Him and I'd be back,

Beneath the lash, upon the rack.
Instead He offers me my freedom.

I feel my shame inside me like a knife.

He told me that I have a soul?

How does He know?

What Spirit comes to move my life?

Is there another way to go?"

There is another way to go. "Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God."

Thanks and much love.

--Sister Day

Adventures in the CLAM: First Transfer Call.... (April 8, 2019-April 14, 2019)

Hey everyone!

I guess I forgot just how much I got asked about my two-transfer mission call when I was actually in my first two transfers. I do know I was a lot more accustomed to explaining it back then, because I pretty much had a whole speech prepared because people asked about it so much. I did notice towards the end of my mission whenever I found myself having to explain it that I had grown a little rusty and wasn't as good and quick with my answer. For those of you that are still curious as to exactly how my mission went down (because it is a little different from a typical missionary's experience), you can check out a post about it here.

Let's just assume from here on out that I edit out typos, spelling errors, and emojis because I don't hate myself or any of you. Thanks, I love you all. Enjoy!

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Hello one and all!

LA LOVE:

Okay so everyone go listen to "Noyana/Come, Come, Ye Saints" by Vocal Point because that's my mission song, like that is what the mission sounds like.

So I am constantly flexing being from Vegas, whether it's because I don't think it's hot outside or because I'm used to city life, and there's a 500% chance it drives Sister Merkley crazy HAHAHA.

The mission is reading the Book of Mormon together and we're going to finish it in July before President Haynie and Sister Haynie leave. We are marking every mention of repentance and I am loving it!

I had a friend ask this past week about how long I will be serving. I will be serving for eighteen months because I will be extending my mission and receiving a second mission call after this transfer, but my current mission call is only for three months, just as a trial run to see if I am able to handle the stresses of mission life. I'm going to extend fifteen months after that, but right now the only release date I have in my future is six weeks from now. When I get the second call I'll let you know!

EVENTS OF THE WEEK:

We went to the mall for p-day which was actually kind of weird being a missionary in a mall haha.

Someone in our ward has a family home evening once a month for anybody who wants to come and Sister Sanerive and I led the discussion this month! We talked about how the gospel has changed our lives and how it can change the lives of others as we follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost. It was a really great night.

Operation Gratitude with the district was a party, and a chaotic party at that because many other people including other missionaries from the zone were there this week!

Last English class of the transfer.

Last district council of the transfer! It was honestly super sad; I love being in my district and the Granola zone. We work with a lot of great missionaries and I love them so much.

We had a mission-wide apartment deep clean where we decluttered the apartments, in which I inherited a sweater that previously belonged to Sister Fukunaga (Sister Sanerive's trainer) and we found an MRE and WE HAVE BEEN EATING IT SLOWLY BUT SURELY HAHAHA.

This week was my first transfer call, where at the end of the transfer the zone leaders tell us whether we stay or move for the next six weeks. I will be staying in the Reseda ward, and so will Sister Sanerive! We are excited to serve another six weeks in this area together. Sister Merkley will be staying in the Van Nuys ward, but sadly Sister Thawornniwat will be moving on to a different area. We are sad to see her go. The crazy thing is, though, that Sister Merkley's new companion, Sister Roberts, will not be coming for more or less a week. So until that happens, Sister Merkley will be in a trio with us, and we will be double covering the Reseda and Van Nuys areas! It's going to be an adventure for sure.

FRIENDS:

Sukki gave me a pen this week which was so sweet because she knows I love writing. We tried reading a little bit from the Book of Mormon this week and discussion a bit more of the Restoration.

Visited Steve and did some Book of Mormon reading.

We had met with a lot of other families in the ward this week, some just for lunch or dinner and even more for member trainings! These member trainings are really starting to take off, and now our bishop knows about them and he is all for it!

I'd like to share a verse of scripture that I found while reading the Book of Mormon this week, a simple call to action delivered by Nephi in 1 Nephi 7:12:

"Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to him."

Let us be faithful to Him indeed! He is a God that never fails!

Thanks and much love!

--Sister Day

Adventures in the CLAM: We Were All Homesick (April 1, 2019-April 7, 2019)

Hey everyone, be patient with my commentary because I am feeling truly emo about the CLAM today and missing everything about it, so I guess I have a lot to say.

In the week this blog post is about occurred the FIRST BIG CRISIS OF THE MISSION. Y'all are finally allowed to know the full story of what happened.

Missionaries live a lot crazier lives than a lot of people probably know, so sometimes wild and sketchy things happen to us. We don't typically write home about these things because if we don't get hurt then we don't want people to worry about us and be scared for us. (I promise you, no one is more protected than the Lord's missionaries.) The reason we had to stay at someone else's apartment for the weekend was because a man came to our apartment and wouldn't let us leave. He wanted someone to stay with him because there were some guys outside trying to kill him, and he said if there were people with him they wouldn't hurt us or him. We helped him call the police and it turned out he was just on drugs. But I mean, it was a wild adventure for sure!

That's the short version of the story. Maybe I'll tell the full version another time.

I also talk about my love for the Disney Princess franchise. For those of you that are new or that like rereading your favorite blog, if you need evidence of that, here it is.

I mention having photos in this week's email, but those will be posted to my personal Facebook page. Feel free to follow along, but I don't accept friend requests for people I don't know personally. You're all still blog family and I love and adore each and every one of you!

Upon reviewing this post it fills me with joy to see my testimony of the Book of Mormon. It truly is a book that's changed my life. I highly recommend it to everyone who is trying to come closer to God or live a better life. I can't really say enough about it, everything in the gospel of Jesus Christ is so good!

Edited some emojis and typos out of this letter to make my life easier as well as your reading, probably.

Also, did it hurt me to read about how my two-transfer mission showed me how hard it would be to leave the CLAM? Maybe. I was already so obsessed with those people and I was only a month in. Oh girl, the love is going to get so much deeper from here. Missions are simply the best.

Enjoy!

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Hello one and all!

LA LOVE:

When I got my mission call to the California Los Angeles Mission, my dear friend Sister Shandalene Fletcher of the Texas Dallas Mission said that she felt like California was the perfect fit for me because I am "all beautiful and tan". Haha well let me tell you that with being out in the SoCal sun all day on a bike, I am in fact getting VERY BEAUTIFUL AND TAN, like I'm impressed tbh.

So as you all know my favorite writer and musician of all time is Alan Menken. I miss him frequently. Well at the apartment we have question sessions while we're eating and we just get to know each other. Sister Thawornniwat once asked everyone's favorite Disney Princess. You guys also all know that I am a huge fan of the franchise so that was a fun one for me. Sister Thawornniwat loves Belle, Sister Sanerive loves Pocahontas, Sister Merkley loves Rapunzel, and I love Princess Jasmine. Well you can imagine my joy. When I realized ALL OF OUR FAVORITE PRINCESSES ARE ALAN MENKEN PRINCESSES. There really isn't much better than that.

I have some miscellaneous photos from the transfer! Enjoy these shots from my first English class (which is right by the temple), apartment comp study at the park, all of us wearing pants (we planned it so like it was actually a big deal HAHA) at Operation Gratitude, lunch with the STLs and Sister Latouche after Trinity's baptism, and exchanges with Sister Rydalch!

EVENTS OF THE WEEK:

On p-day we went to the Japanese Gardens with the other sisters from the apartment as well as Sister Roth, Sister Rydalch, and Sister Latouche! And had a tiny birthday party for Sister Roth which was super fun! Photos attached of that.

Operation Gratitude with the district is always a party.

I finished the Book of Mormon for the third time! During this read I gained a much better understanding of the story of the sacred record, and as I marked the places where He was mentioned, I learned more than ever how the Book of Mormon truly is another testament of Jesus Christ.

It was my first zone conference! We learned so much and I'm definitely a better missionary for it. I also finally got to meet Elder Durham! As requested by both my fans and his, a photo of that is attached.

I hit my one month mark! It has been a long month but also (and mostly) incredibly short. Honestly being a two-transfer missionary has put the whole of my mission into a really cool perspective. I am nearly halfway done with my mission already and time has flown by. I have no time to waste! It also makes me realize how hard it will be to leave the CLAM. For two-transfer missionaries, as I understand it, we spend each transfer in a different area with a different companion. So when I think about leaving my companion, my apartment, my district, my zone, and my STLs so soon, I am so sad! It's definitely not going to be easy but I'm glad for the time I've had with everyone and for the time I have left in the CLAM.

We had an awesome district council about receiving revelation from the Holy Spirit, something we can all do if we live worthily and seek after it.

So we ended up having to stay at the STLs' apartment for two days this week. Sister Sanerive and I stayed with them while Sister Thawornniwat and Sister Merkley stayed with some other sisters in the STLs' zone. We literally missed the so much! We feel incomplete when we aren't with our other companionship. We met up with them at general conference (MORE ON THAT IN A BIT!!!) and we both couldn't get over how much we missed each other after being separated for like ten or so hours HAHA. We also all missed being at our apartment so much, we all kept talking about how homesick we were for the apartment HAHAHA. We are now back at our apartment which we are all so happy for. Attached are photos of that adventure, including Jamba Juice before we got to the STL apartment, Sister Thawornniwat walking down the stairs and feeling like a princess, and Sister Sanerive asking me to turn around and take a photo of her too haha!

General conference this weekend was the best! I loved all the counsel about being exact in our actions, exercising faith, and about the pure love of God and Jesus Christ. If you were watching, tell me your favorite part! If you weren't, it's not too late to check it out at churchofjesuschrist.org.

FRIENDS:

This week I am overjoyed to tell you all that we started sharing the message of the Roestoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ with Sukki. I know this is a message that can bless her life and everyone's.

We had a great time reading the Book of Mormon with Steve. We read from Alma 37:36-37 and 3 Nephi 13:25-30, about how God will take care of us if we look to Him in all things and do what's right.

I invite you all to read those verses and ponder on that as well. God loves YOU!

Thanks and much love!

--Sister Day

Adventures in the CLAM: First Baptism! (March 25, 2019-March 31, 2019)

Sorry for the late night posting, everyone. I think I finally understand how it feels to be a college student. I am drowning in reading. I am exhausted. But I am coming through for the post. Some edits made for typos' sake, but that would be all. Thanks for coming, I love you!

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Hello one and all!

LA LOVE:

Sister Thawornniwat couldn't believe it when I first said this because to her LA is so dry, but CALIFORNIA IS SO HUMID. NOTHING EVER DRIES. I WASH MY MAKEUP BRUSHES AND CAN BARELY USE THEM THE NEXT DAY YIKES. Problems that come with being from Vegas.

I want you all to know a favorite quotes list IS being made for the CLAM and will be posted in about seventeen months! We have some gems so far!

Also, I know you have all been anxiously waiting on photos. I will have some for you next week. I apologize for the wait.

I've nicknamed Sister Thawornniwat Zeke from High School Musical because she is literally obsessed with baking. She's constantly wanting to make cookies and loves presenting them to us. She once started cheering and jumping for joy because there was yeast in the freezer. She's obsessed with food in general. Whenever someone brings us treats she gets so excited and whenever anyone in the apartment is thinking about eating more food she will say (even if she's in another room) "Yes!!! Do it!!! Eat more!!!" ONe time I was pointing out the resemblance between her and Zeke by saying "she bakes, she loves to bake" and she responded with "Yes I do!!!" We love our apartment mom.

EVENTS OF THE WEEK:

P-day was spent cleaning in preparation for my first apartment inspection. Sister Sanerive really wanted to get a celestial apartment (a perfect score) WHICH WE DID.

District service at Operation Gratitude. I love our district. We live to roast each other and it's the best.

Sister Rydalch came to the Reseda rea with us to do a small twelve-hour exchange with both me and Sister Sanerive and it was so awesome to have her with us for the day!

We helped Sister Wall in the Chatsworth ward clean her house so that was awesome.

We had a great district council about introducing ourselves as misisonaries and using the Book of Mormon in our teaching, which was especially awesome because Sister Sanerive and I got to practice the skills we learned right after when a person we met started asking us about our religion!

TRINITY'S BAPTISM!!! More on that in a bit.

FRIENDS:

We stopped by and got to visit with the H. family (I'm not to give out full names) and we got to talk for awhile with the wife/mother of the family Carolyn, a member of our ward. It was awesome getting to meet her and her family.

We had an awesome experience with Sukki this week. We finally got to read some of the Book of Mormon with her! I think she really enjoyed the messages in the verses.

The Northridge YSA elders joined us for a lesson with Jose. Elder Cameron and Elder Kao are the sweetest missionaries you will ever meet! It was awesome getting to work with them as we read the Book of Mormon with Jose. He has some awesome missionaries teaching him now and I know he will have a great time in the Northridge YSA ward.

We had an awesome member training with Sister Fornelli! She is a strong woman of faith and we love her willingness to help us with everything and with sharing the gospel. (I also got to talk to her about her daughter's theatre program!!! They are doing Sister Act this year and Little Shop of Horrors next year! TWO ALAN MENKENS IN A ROW. I got a little too excited tbh.)

An awesome dinner and member training with the R. family! We met with Rosa and her three kids, Jacquie, Anthony, and Christian. (Another theatre side note, Anthony is in his school play too so we spent a ton of time talking about theatre too and wow I didn't realize how much I miss it until I got to talk about theatre the whole day.) They are a powerful family. They bore testimony to us about the power of sharing the gospel through love and being an example.

Trinity had one more review-type lesson with us this week and then her baptism was on Saturday! The Spirit of God was definitely present as she made her first covenants with Heavenly Father. The next day at church she received the gift of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. We are so happy for her.

We got to visit Leilani, Efren, and Sebastian and deliver some gifts to them! Efren told us he read about God in the Book of Mormon that week. Awesome!

We met a new friend, Lanee! She was referred to us by the sisters from the Hawaii visitor center and she is the best! WE gave her a Book of Mormon and got to talk with her a little bit about it and our religion. She is so sweet and so excited to learn!

This week something very special is coming up. We have general conference, an awesome opportunity twice a year to hear the words of God's representatives on the earth! I am so excited to hear the messages we will receive this week. In preparation for general conference, I want to invite you all to read a previous general conference talk by Tad R. Callister, "God's Compelling Witness: The Book of Mormon". It's about, to me, how Joseph Smith, the first prophet of this new and last dispensation, was just an ordinary man, but it was the power of God that made him a prophet and allowed him to translate the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith nor any other prophet would ever say it was their own knowledge or talent that allowed them to preach as they did/do. It is all a sacred power and calling from Heavenly Father.

With that said, I would also like to make a statement regarding President Russell M. Nelson, our current prophet. Since President Nelson was called to be the prophet just over a year ago, many changes have been made in Church policy that are beautiful and exciting. Many people refer to them as "President Nelson's changes". President Nelson is an absolutely wonderful man, and a very well-educated man at that. However, I testify to you all that they are in fact no President Nelson's changes. No mere mortal man could come up with anything that effective and powerful. They are God's changes, and President Nelson, as God's prophet upon the earth today, delivers them to us for Heavenly Father. I love and sustain President Nelson. I know he was perfectly called to be the one to deliver these changes and words to us and has the energy, personality, and experience Heavenly Father wanted his words to be delivered with. When President Nelson speaks as a prophet, he speaks on behalf of God. These changes were not his own idea, they were revealed to him from Heavenly Father and given to us at the time we were ready for them. And they are beautiful.

I know that God has not abandoned us and truly provides living prophets. He also provided the Book of Mormon, containing the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was translated by the first living prophet of the last dispensation, Joseph Smith. If the Book of Mormon is true, then the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. It is all or nothing.

President Ezra Taft Benson, another prophet of God, said, "...All objections, whether they be on abortion, plural marriage, seventh-day worship, etc., basically hinge on whether Joseph Smith and his successors were and are prophets of God receiving divine revelation....

"...The only problem the objector has to resolve for himself is whether the Book of Mormon is true. For if the Book of Mormon is true, then Jesus is the Christ, Joseph Smith was his prophet, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, and it is being led today by a prophet receiving revelation."

We should keep that in mind this weekend as we hear the messages of God. Preach My Gospel says on page 115, "For example, sincere people might object to what you have taught about the Word of Wisdom. Help them see that their real question is whether Joseph Smith was speaking as God's prophet when this commandment was renewed in this dispensation." If Joseph Smith had just been a man saying not to use tobacco and other substances, that would have been different. But he was actually a prophet of God telling us Heavenly Father's will. That's why it matters. And we can know he was a prophet by reading the Book of Mormon and praying to know of its truth.

Similarly, if the prophets and apostles of today say things that confuse or trouble us, the real question is whether or not these people are speaking as representatives receiving revelation from our Father in Heaven. If they are not representatives of God, then what they say doesn't matter. But I testify to you that they are. They speak for Heavenly Father and deliver His will to us. Because that is true, which we can know by praying about and acting on their words, then what they say matters and we must follow what they say.

Jesus is the Christ, God sends us living prophets today, and that is all true because the Book of Mormon is true. You can all come to know this by following the promise in Moroni 10:3-5:

"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.

And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."

Thanks and much love!

--Sister Day

Adventures in the CLAM: SALT (March 18, 2019-March 24, 2019)

Hello one and all:

LA LOVE:

So every night we text "home" to our zone when we are in our apartment and the reason for that is the district leaders (who most people text home to) text the zone leaders once everyone in the district is home. Then the zone leaders text the assistants to the president once everyone in the zone is home. And they message President Haynie that the mission is home, and once the whole mission is home, President Haynie goes to sleep! He says he has the biggest  mission in the world (for real, like 200 missionaries) in the second biggest city in the United States; he needs to make sure all his missionaries are home and safe before he can go to sleep!

Last week in our interviews with President Haynie he told us that it's pretty rare that two brand-new missionaries are living together, so he said we should try doing companion study as an apartment! We can't always do that because of our busy schedules but we try to and it's a great time!

EVENTS OF THE WEEK:

Last p-day we (the apartment) went to Burbank with another companionship and had lunch and went shopping with them. Also had ice cream at the church so that was a party.

New missionary orientation was awesome this week! We had a few trainings and y favorite was about training ward members on how to better share the gospel. More on that in a bit.

There was a day where we were out trying to visit someone and we could tell it would rain SOON so we had to hurry home. Well it rained a little bit and it was awesome. Then it started really raining. Then it stated POURING. Then it started HAILING and we were not even close to home! Sister Sanerive had never seen hail before so she thought it was snow! So just to set the scene imagine me biking down a crazy busy street, hands freezing cold gripping my bike, arms turning red from being pelted with tiny pieces of ice falling from the sky, barely able to see from all the rain in my eyes, dress LITERALLY DRENCHED trying to get home as quickly and safely as possible hahaha! Tbh it was a super fun adventure.

This week was supposed to be exchanges (Sister training leaders each come stay with one of us and spend a day with us). We got the call for exchanges and found out I WOULD BE STAYING IN RESEDA and Sister Sanerive would be going to the STL area. I WOULD BE LEADING THE AREA. Hahaha tbh I was so excited! So Sister Roth came that night and was my companion for the night. Well exchanges pretty much just ended up being a sleepover because Sister Rydalch, Sister Latouche, and Sister Sanerive in the STL area ended up at the emergency room all night. (No worries, everyone is okay.) So they had to rest like all day and we were up for a lot of the night with them too, so exchanges will be reschedules hahaha.

I learned a lot at ENGLISH CLASS this week because I am a total geek.
District counsel was great! I gave my first training of the mission on the power of prayer! Everyone was so nice, they were like "...that was a lot of knowledge" and Elder Evans said "now I know why I felt like Sister Day needed to give that training." I have the best district ever.

So there was a bit of a debate in the apartment this week.... The other sisters really wanted to make cookies. But we had no salt. WE FOUND OUT THAT SISTER THAWORNNIWAT IS EXTREMELY PASSIONATE ABOUT SALT. Sister Merkley wanted to see what would happen if we made cookies without it. She felt VERY STRONGLY that we did not need it but Sister Thawornniwat was not having it. Long story short we now have salt and a LOT of cookies.

We had a zone service at Operation Gratitude building teddy bears! All the sisters decided to twin and wear pants together so we were super cute.

FRIENDS:

Sukki is doing pretty well. She gave me a sardi so that's super nice. She said the last time we came "you are my children I have to feed you", she is so sweet! Trinity had two lessons this week and her baptismal interview! She spent a lot of time preparing for that and did great! It's go time!

We met with a new family in our area, Leilani, Efren, and Sebastian. We talked about the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Jesus Christ with them.

We read the Book of Mormon with Jose this week and he came to church yesterday and had a good time! He will be going to the YSA ward from now on but we will meet with him one more time to introduce him to the missionaries serving in that ward.

I met Patricia, she is in a family we visit and got to talk to her for a bit.

We met with the McCaleb family, a family in our ward and taught them how to share the gospel with their friends like we learned about at new missionary orientation! We will be meeting with them again later this week.

We got to visit with Steve and talk with him for a bit. Our week doesn't feel complete if we don't go visit Steve.

We had dinner with the Bambo family, another family in our ward, and got to talk with them some more about sharing the gospel with our friends too!

I love being a missionary. I get to help people learn about Jesus Christ all day. I get to help people realize He is the one source of lasting peace in life. Through Him, we can get through anything and become the person we want to be.

Thanks and much love!

--Sister Day

Adventures in the CLAM: A Full Week (March 11, 2019-March 17, 2019)

Hey everyone! Just as a short introduction to today's post, I think I may use a little terminology that is just used among missionaries in this post. Please let me know if I need to make any clarifications and I will post them in the comments.

(Also edited this one for emojis hahaha.)

I also just wanted to say that upon reflecting on these old letters it's been very nice to look back because I am really seeing how much I grew over the course of my mission. It is so interesting to see a young missionary's perspective as compared to mine now. I am loving this series and I hope you are too.

Thanks, I love you!

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Hi one and all!

LA LOVE:

Sometimes I'm still in slight denial that I am on a mission because it just feels way more like normal life than I thought it would.

In the Los Angeles area there are just a ton of movie billboards everywhere! I love it so much! They're at almost every bus stop and on a few large billboards as well. The ads for Us are soo awesome and spooky hahaha.

The California Los Angeles Mission has a lot of history behind it; for example we were the first mission to use the black name tags that are now standard for all missionaries!

EVENTS OF THE WEEK:

District p-day (preparation day). We went to the institute and played games with the elders in our district. I learned how to play pool and spike ball, kind of... as much as I ever learn how to play any game hahaha. I'm not very good at either HAHAHA

Interviews with President Haynie and Sister Haynie! We have interviews with them once a transfer and I loved getting to talk with them! We also had a training on testifying of the Book of Mormon.... More on that in a bit.

District counsel was awesome this week.

We had a ward activity that was a spaghetti dinner fundraiser for the Young Women! It was so sweet because we were told so many ward members volunteered to buy our tickets so we could come, but we got in for free! But it was so nice of so  many ward members to volunteer to help; we have the best ward.

We got to teach the youth (Beehives/Deacons) Sunday School class so that was the best! I love working with children!!!

FRIENDS:

Trinity, she is well on her way to baptism and when we were teaching her she was practically teaching the lesson for us! She is doing great. AH WE LOVE HER

Sukki, she gives us sooo much! She gives us food every time we come because she says we serve God all day the least they can do is feed us. She had me put coconut oil in my hair and had Sister Sanerive braid it and she said "you can write to your parents and tell them a crazy Indian woman made you put coconut oil in your hair" hahaha! We talk about the Bible with her and read it with her and pray with her and I love it soo much, and she does too. We love Sukki!!

Jose, we got to teach him a few lesson and even went to the visitor center with him! (Which means I got to be in the city and y'all know how I feel about that) He lovvved the visitor center and it really helped him understand more about the gospel.

We had lunch with the Wood family! They were sooo nice and they are very musical so they played some music for us! And they even had me sing for them so that was really awesome

My scripture for the week is another one of my favorites that kept coming up this week, Alma 37:6:

"Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small nad simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise."

Even though we are mere mortals that cannot do a lot, through God our small things can be GREAT things!

Thanks and much love!

--Sister Day