Transfer 11 Week 4

Hello!
Wasn't Conference awesome!!! In the emails from my family they made
mention of the fact that sometimes life gets harder right before
really good things and such was the case before this general
conference. Also this week we had Zone Training Meeting. Also this
week our mission President took the mission Leadership to the Temple
as part of our meeting that we had this week. It was amazing. I feel
like that session was one of the most uplifting and enlightening
experience that I've had. It was amazing to feel of the reverence and
the spirit as we all came prepared. Before we went in our mission
President challenged us to think about the concept of how our thoughts
lead to actions, our actions lead to habits and how our habits create
our character. I can't really put it into words how amazing this
experience was. Truly awesome. Some quotes from the discussion
afterward are "Proclaiming the gospel is not something we do
temporarily or periodically," "It is impossible to have impure
thoughts in a pure environment," "A live lived in purity overcomes
adversity", "Sow your thoughts, reap your character", "What we make of
ourselves is a gift to our Heavenly Father", "We don't need more
Mormons, we need more Disciples", "If we focus on a mission of
significance rather than a mission of accomplishments then our
accomplishments will become significant." Those are some I liked and
hope you like as well. It was also interesting to watch this week how
Christ and God are over all and are working in our lives. Conference
was awesome! I loved it so much! My companion and I felt like the
Saturday sessions were so bold, strait forward and strong. They were
amazing! I loved them! I especially enjoyed Elder Nelson's talk about
being tied to something. Are we tied to Christ or are we tied to a
ball? God's law must be our standard and don't divide ourselves with
ideas such as "my private life" or "my best behavior." Proclaim our
faith and let it show! Face our fears with faith! Elder Zwick gave an
amazing talk about controlling and avoiding anger. Avoiding corrupt
communications. Thinking of the other persons perspective. I will
admit that the Sunday morning session was my favorite. But the Sunday
afternoon seemed tailor-made for investigators! It was awesome! The
first session of Sunday started amazing with President Uctchdorf. I
loved his talk of choosing to have a disposition of gratitude IN all
things. I loved his description of bottle of bitterness vs a goblet of
gratitude. I also loved how he pointed out that we don't wait for the
rainbow to be grateful for the rain. Also the fact that he said that
there is something in us that resists endings because there is
something in us that is eternal. Endings are not endings but merely
interruptions or pauses. Something I have really been reflecting on
lately. Also Elder Ballard's talk on follow up. By the way, Elder
Ballard is totally my Grandpa. Seriously. He is. He was my mission
President's Mission President, therefore, he is my Mission Grandpa.
Yeah. It's pretty cool. Sis. Stevens gave an awesome talk. I loved
that she pointed out that the gospel is not a check list, it's a way
of life that should live in our heart. The gospel is not weight, its
wings. We can choose to reach for God's hand. Elder Stevens of the
Bishopric tied in the olympics to the idea that our life is 4 minutes.
Awesome! I loved Elder Bender's talk about the load. And President
Monson's about Love.  It was awesome!!! It was a tender hug from The
Lord. I love you all! I hope you all enjoyed conference and look
forward to reading and reviewing these precious words of advice,
comfort and wisdom. I love you all!

Transfer 11 Week 3

Hey everyone!

This week was good! It felt very busy and very quick though. We went
on exchanges on Tuesday and again on Saturday. It is such a great
learning experience to work with other sisters. I am constantly
impressed with these younger missionaries coming out. They are super
fantastic! They have such devotion to following the call of god. So
many of their stories include the phrase, I knew it is what I needed
to do at the time. More often than not they were in the middle of
something, either dating or school or some other opportunity that by
the worlds standards is a do not miss that opportunity. But they set
it all aside to serve The Lord in this way for a year and a half. They
are amazing. I have learned much about following the spirit and
teaching by the spirit. Listening is key in all aspects of life. We
need to listen to the spirit so we can listen to god, we need to
listen to those around us so that we may be aware of what is going on
in their life's and we need to listen to our church leaders that we
may listen to those things we should do be and to be prepared.
The women's broadcast was phenomenal! I loved it! My companion made
the remark that it was pretty much a musical that we had the pleasure
of attending! I thought it was awesome! Thoughts and lines that stood
out to me are: "speak serene peace", what are my hands doing? Are they
an example of what Christ would do?, help wanted, sacrifice is a gift,
becoming more complete and laying aside the things of the world. Those
were things that really stuck out to me and hit home with my heart. I
loved the emphasis on keeping covenants. It was a beautiful day. I
love you!

Transfer 11 Week 2

Dear Yall,

Apparently I say 'yall' a lot. My companion informed me that this was
the case. But, it's all good. I don't have that much time to write but
things of note to share:
1. Little children have the power to brighten the gloomiest mood!
2. The spirit whispered an awesome analogy to my mind the other day.
It goes something like this: We are all driving to go to a
destination. We may need to take specific roads to get there, for
example someone in life may need to be christian or agnostic to help
them. As we are driving towards our final destination the roads we
take should lead us closer to God. Nobodies road maps will look the
same because we are all starting from different points. Anyway...it is
really good in my head and really good for the specific person it was
made up for. Sorry I can't explain to good. But it's cool.
3. Holland is a very innovative country. There was a RS activity this
week that all us sister missionaries helped serve food at. It was
advertised as an activity to come to Italy and spend a day in Italy
but it ended up being Holland. There was an essay written by this
woman who uses an analogy to explain her life. She was excited for a
trip to 'Italy" and we plan and prepare for it and get really excited
for it and then our plane lands in Holland. And we may have to stay
their for a while. In this woman's life she explains how her Holland
was receiving a beautiful Down syndrome little boy. She wasn't
expecting it but it is what happened. It was a really good idea and a
very good message. The take away I got was that we are all in Holland
even though we may think everyone else is in Italy. We all deal with
things that are unexpected, but like my wise mother taught me, it's
because We need to always be willing to follow God, not just when
things are going good.
4. I love being a missionary!

Love you all!
Sis. Adair

Transfer 11 Week 1

Hello everyone!!!!

This week was crazy. Lots of stuff happened. One of the highlights of
my week was the opportunity that I had to go on an exchange in Etna
California. That happens to be the lowest point in our mission. I
drove down with another sister who also gets to do exchanges and we
drove the hour and 45 minutes. When we crossed the state line we both
kinda had a spaz moment because we were leaving Oregon and that was a
weird concept. Anyhow, we drove down and it was incredible because we
talked about the Atonement pretty much the entire time. It was amazing
to think of the instances, the experiences and the gradual moments in
our lives when we gained our testimonies of the Atonement. I have got
to be honest, I had no idea what it was, how it felt and what it meant
to use the Atonement in my life. I am so grateful for my mission in
large part because I have come to understand a tiny bit more about the
Atonement. One of my favorite things of a mission is seeing how others
can completely change. While we were in Etna I had the privilege of
meeting their 2 recent converts. This is an area that has not seen a
baptism in years and years. These two men were so incredible as I
listened to their stories I was overcome with the spirit as they
testified of how they had come so far because of the savior. It is
indescribable how one of them looked as he explained how he was going
to receive the priesthood the following day. It was amazing to say the
least. I didn't even really know these two men but it was amazing
being able to talk with them! Loved it. And on the drive home, my
companion, Sis. Taualii who had stayed behind in our area, called and
told us that one of our investigators had agreed to be baptized in
April on the 26! It's awesome! That woman is so prepared it is nuts!
Michelle is a single mom and listening to her story there is no doubt
that God has been leading her path to this moment. She is amazing! I
love missionary work! I love it so much because it's not about how
many doors we knock, or about how many book of mormons we hand out.
It's not even about how many lessons or baptisms we get. It's about
the prayers that are answered, the hearts that are changed and the
lives that are touched by the Savior. Missionary work should be
renamed. In all reality its about being Christlike. It's letting the
light of Christ shine through, whether it be through example or
through our words, it's about doing what Christ would have us to and
when he would have us to. It's not being afraid to share a testimony,
it's following the prompting to call a friend, it's smiling at someone
in the parking lot. All of these things make a difference especially
as we follow the spirit. They will come at the right moment in time
when that smile in the parking lot is needed and the one who receives
it wants to come back to church. Or when the words we speak are from
the spirit and are able to speak directly to someones heart. Or our
actions are an answer to someones silent prayer. I have seen these
things happen. It fills my heart. I love being a missionary. I love
belonging to this church. I love learning more of the Atonement. I'd
like to challenge each of you to learn about the Atonement in between
this time and Easter. Really focus on the how we can come to know
Christ more. As we seek to learn more of the Atonement and Christ we
will be blessed to see with spiritual eyes and a greater love for our
Savior who has done everything for us. I know that he did suffer out
of love. That he is our ultimate example. He lives. I say this in his
name, Amen.

Transfer 10 Week 6

Ok. We had a good decent week this week. It's been a little wet but what do you expect if an Oregon spring? It's been good. Also I wanted to tell you all some fun facts about Oregon. People paint rocks all the time for fun. More so than normal. Small trash cans are the norm for putting it out on the curb. Everyone recycles. When they pray, they all say 'indeed grateful'. You are either a transplant or a native. Big foot is a big deal. Weed is a major food group.

It has been really cool to see the work go forth here in Oregon. Things are moving and growing and it's awesome! The spirit of the Lord truly is being poured out and this is one of the greatest things of my life! I am sorry I don't have a lot to write this week. I love you all!

Sis. Adair

Transfer 10 Week 5

Hello!

I am super happy about this last week! It was so full of little things taht were huge miracles. Such as being able to teach in unity and by the spirit. Having someone who always has a concern, come back or comment to be rendered speachless by the power of the spirit. Seeing the light of the gospel in the eyes of those we teach. As we teach, literally seeing who we are teaching dressed in white. Learning precisely what we need to when we need to. Being able to reflect and realize that God has blessed me tremendously on my mission with placing specific people in my life. Learning golden nuggets about the gospel. Scriptural insights. It was super amazing. Also we got ipads and I have a headache from learning how to use them. It's nuts. It is eventually going to really be helpful. They are so far but also a little stressful to get used to. Maybe its just because paper planners have been so engrained. I am excited to use them. They are super neat. And really they are also a part of teh string of little things that are huge miracles. This week just has been super good.

Funny story for you: We have to sync our i-pads to each other every day so that we can make sure we have updated information. So we were doing that and I had started syncing. I looked over just as she pushed the ok button to sync hers. *Note to the audiance....don't sync at the same time or death and destruction will happen! So...what do I do in this crucial moment? I Panic! Literally. I said "Noooooooooooo!!" she is confused. I show her my ipad and she sees that it is downloading. Her eyes bug and we both spaz out just a little. Then I say "Ah! Panic!" and she says "I know what to do, I know what to do!" and then she kills the page. I was dying so hard because it was so funny! Moral of the story....don't panic. Stay calm. Kill the page.

Awesome story for ya: When we were on exchanges I had a super awesome sister with me. We were walking down this street and we see this guy in his yard with a wheelbarrow and we stop to talk to him. He comes right over and shakes our hands and then invites us into the backyard to see what he has done on his yard. Let me tell you something about oregon. People don't invite you in. Unless they are Jehovah's Witnesses and they are going to give you lots of pamphlets to read. So we went and saw his backyard. His wife was there too. Aparently he had been married to an LDS woman. He does not really have religious beliefs but his current wife does and they have been progressing forward in faith together. And we talked about forever families and they seemed interested. So we are going back this week! Excited!

Neat small thing that is a huge miracle: We have been meeting with this couple for a long time. She used to be a member but is now 7th day which is what he is. They have so many questions and deep doctrine concerns, its crazy. It has been such a blessing because it pushes us to really study and dig deep. We are working on the basics and it has been so interesting to me how much time we can spend on the basics and how in depth our conversations can be speaking of the basics. It's been really great. And also the other day we had an incredible lesson with them in which we felt the spirit so strongly with them the whole time and we were able to use the bible and very convincingly present our doctrine and testimonies. I can't really explain. It's a 'you had to have been there' and you 'have to know the people' sorta deal. But just know that it was incredible!

Tender mercy of the week: We went to go visit a member and she has a geode rock and the inside crystals are in the shape of a butterfly. It was awesome.

I love you all! Go be awesome missionaries!

Transfer 10 Week 4

Dear Errbody

So. I know its kinda lame that I have to cut this email short also but I will tell you the really awesome highlights of life this week!

Highlight 1: There is a woman that we talked to a couple of months ago on the street and about a week ago some Elders in our Zone gave us a referral for this woman. When we got there, we were all "We know this house, we talked to her before." And we knocked on her door and she was all "I know you! You talked to me before!" And she was excited to have us come back. Our first lesson with her was yesterday. She is epic!!!! Like seriously amazing! Lets talk about being prepared. As we listened to her story I could feel my jaw drop as I recognized the Lords hand in her life in bringing her to this point. It was incredible. She is awesome. Her name is Michelle. More on her to come. 

Highlight 2: We knocked on this guys door. He said "What are you selling?" My companion said "Happiness!" He shook his head and said "uh, No." and slammed the door. We laughed.

Highlight 3: We were looking for this person that had been taught by missionaries before. We knocked on a door. This woman answered it. My companion starts talking and the woman says "Uh I don't have time today" and shuts the door. Ok. We walk away. As we are walking away we hear her door open and we turn around. She comes out and says "Let me tell you what I meant to say." And we were thinking "Oh shoot, here it comes" and she says "God bless" and goes back inside. We smiled.

Highlight 4: Little girl at a dinner appointment told a joke. It goes like this. What do you call scriptures without reading? Answer: fish. Yeah I didn't get it either but I laughed until I was blue in the face.

I love you all. Missionary work is the greatest. Go out and do some. You'll love it. Promise. And if you don't love it know pray and ask God to help you and he most definitely will. 

I will leave you with a scripture. 2 Timothy 1:7 God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of power and love and of a sound mind. 

Have glorious day! 

I love you all!