Christmas people I know and love!

Christmas people I know and love!

Here are some fun stories from this week:

We had Multi-zones this week. Where 3 zones get together and learn stuff. This time was how to not suck at missionary work. (haha, kidding. It was how to use members in our missionary work, and teaching us how to teach our wards to get involved. Namely, praying for our investigators and finding people for us to teach. )

Leaving Multi-zones was an adventure. We almost got hit by a drunk driver. We were driving and heard the collision of this car against a support beam in an underpass. Smoke was billowing from the engine compartment and right as we were driving to go pass, the driver gunned it in Reverse. Right at us. By the time I had yelled "Oh my gosh, GO!" and Sister Gowans had seen the car coming in her peripheral, we were already shooting forward. We think our guardian angels sat on her foot on the accelerator. Saved us. It was pretty cool. Kinda scary. 

Let's see. We went to the Samoan wards' Christmas party. Holy Cow, Samoan's know how to party! It was amazing! Great decorations. Santa. Amazing food! (Except Chopped Suey. I just couldn't do it. I tried. I ate about half of what they gave me) 

Oh! We stopped by American Tire to get air in our tires (we apparently can't be trusted to do it ourselves) and I was backing my companion out so we could leave and I overheard "Joey, look at her! Go offer her a job!"

"What? WHY?!" 

"She's more useful than you, she knows how to back people!"

So, I was offered a job at a tire place. Haha. Good times. Thank you, AMR. I am a good backer... right?

Anyway, that's about it for time. 

I love you, people!

Merry Christmas! 

Don't forget what Christmas is all about: http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=2874125972001&cide=HPFR122013285

All my love and stuff!

Sister Dibe Hall!

Title of a post

This week was an adventure! We started this week with a creeper in our neighborhood. This creeper decided he likes Sister Missionaries. These Sister Missionaries decided that they don't like Creepers. So we barricaded our front door. And when I realized we can't barricade worth a darn, we stayed ready to exterminate him when he stopped by next. (See picture one) 

We then decided to let our leaders know, in case, you know, he murdered us and stuffed us in jars. So Our Zone leaders came over, he wouldn't come out and see them, hung up on them. Then things got funny. He hoped we'd stop by. We didn't. 

So he stopped by when we were there. We didn't answer the door. 

He called multiple times. We didn't answer. 

Finally he started listening for our car alarm when we locked and unlocked the car. We got wise and started locking it by hand instead of the key Faab. 

When we foiled his plan, he just left his front door open and windows open to hear the car start. So he came to talk to us, walked to my side of the car where I promptly broke up with him. (His name is Romeo, and I wanted to quote Romeo and Juliet to him. He's not smart though and wouldn't have gotten it) So I just told him we were through. And to leave us alone. 

I then plan to tell our Scott about him, Scott is a Navy man. He's also very protective of "his girls" (Us!) so if we tell him, he will probably enlist some men and set up a watch for us. Anyone who comes unannounced will leave with a broken face. That's okay, right??

For real, we're safe now. One look at that picture and all would-be robbers or creepers run for cover! 

Also, one of the recent converts we teach, she has a sword. It's heavy. I may not be able to build a barricade, but I could throw the sword at someone and confuse them enough to run away! I look pretty stroke-y there. Not sure why. My left eye gets tired I guess. Or is camera-shy. Who knows. Be it known to the world, contrary to that picture with me and the sword. I have NOT had a stroke. Thank you. 

We also had a moment where we were babysitting the Elder's bikes while they took the car to a meeting in Riverside. That's me next to the bike. I'm not ducking. The seat really does go past my belly button. I had to climb onto the table to get on the bike. I wouldn't be able to stop on it, unless I laid the bike down. While riding it. Nothing could possibly go wrong with that! Nothing... Right? (wrong!)

Lets see. I got sick this week. Puked a lot. Laid in bed. Was miserable. 

We taught lots of people picked up 10 new investigators this week! Broke up with 2. 

Ward Christmas party. Loved that. There was food and things. Who doesn't love that. 

Scott is gainfully employed so we don't get to teach him much anymore. Which we can live with, because we love Scott. But it's also sad. Because we love Scott. So we are hoping to go over on Sundays to help him make dinner for the guys on base. We're thinking we can pick up a few of the guys as investigators too. They've been chatty about the church so we're going to try.

We realized Christmas is next week. Nuts. 

We went and saw this lady in our ward. Sister Maughn. She is 900 years young. (Not true, she's 80 something, but with the wisdom of... someone really really wise...) She is unable to come to church a lot, so we go visit her every week. She has a really cute love story that she recorded on Sister Gowan's recording device. She told me that I was spiky. And that when I meet non members, she can see me grabbing ahold and not letting go, dragging them to the Gospel. People are not allowed agency around me. If I meet you, you will be happy. No choices. 

haha, sad. 

Honorable Mentions:

Sister Pack!

Sister Pyper!

THE SCHNEIDERS!!!! <3 o:p="">

My time is out. Love you peeps. 

Love, 

The Short One

Hi! 

Honorable mentions this week:

MOM! Mumsie! Mommy! The Mother unit! The lady who gave birth to me! She wrote me a letter! 

Good times were had by all!

This week has been... adventurous. 

Monday was Pday. We moved. That was good. Our Home share, we learned she was talking crap about us to other people. Namely the Bishop. So we had to iron out some things there (apparently we flushed some Pumpkin pie down the toilet and stopped it up.... I eat my pumpkin pie! And the toilet was never not running while we were there. Just saying.. )

But we moved and that was good

Tuesday. oh Tuesday... It was a rough day. We crashed the car (dinged it, really with a scratch.) The Uhaul we hit had no damage. None. Tender mercies! But it caused a lot of issues later of broken pride and unwilling to make any mistakes later. So it was a rough week in our companionship. Sis Gowans was convinced her driving privileges would be revoked for the rest of her mission, which meant I would have to drive. I still drive 3" in from the steering wheel, so if we ever crashed, the airbag would knock my head into her lap. So in her mind, her little scratch ended with my death. You can see the drama that was involved. I wasn't dead yet.... 

Although we did go to see someone that day, an inactive member. We knocked on the door and asked if she lived there. They said no. Then the little girl, maybe 18 months old came running, and hugged my legs! The funny part, the Mom was in the background yelling something in Spanish. Our best guess is that she was yelling "NOOOOOOO!! NOT THE WHITE MIDGET!!!!!!" 

We laughed. 

Wednesday we went and tried to have lessons. None were had. 

Thursday we had to go to Riverside to report our car. Sister Gowans was really stressed. I tried to explain that Elder King was a former Sergeant over a fleet of company squad cars. That a scratch wasn't going to even phase him. Sure enough, when we got there, he was sorely disappointed, he thought that we had totaled the car and would be coming in looked mostly dead. He spit shined it and called it good. Good times. 

Sister Gowans went to see a Recent Convert and found out that the only reason she got baptized was for the girls. That was way hard to hear. She's been struggling all week from that. I know sorta what it must be like. When Renay only got baptized and backed out of the confirmation. That sucked a lot.  

Friday we did things... Tried to teach. 

Saturday was SCOTTS BAPTISM! BEHOLD: 

I was really excited, and I'm so photogenic. That's Scott! He's like our other Dad. We get the Dad voice a lot. And Brother Stout is one of our favorite members of the ward!

Bro Johnson too! And I'm Really excited about this one!

Alright, just a normal picture

Scott this week was Baptized, Confirmed, Ordained a Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood AND received a calling! He is a Family History Consultant in the ward!! It makes us happy. He's so happy! And he loves us! We're "his girls" on the base. haha. He wore the tie with our faces on Sunday. Everyone loved it. As they should! He's moving to Ohio in January, and he's saying he's going to call President and have him transfer us to Ohio. Yep. He likes us. I told him I wouldn't go there, I'd freeze to death. Hobbits don't do well in cold climates. 

Haha. All in all, a good ish week. This one will be so much better!! 

Any prayers in our behalf would be welcomed! We need them!

Love and Peace and things!

Love, 

Sista Dibe Hall!! <3 nbsp="" o:p="">

Can you believe I've been in the field for 18 weeks?! Brilliant! I'm loving this! 

Honorable mentions:

BECCA! Got your card, loved it. 

Sister Larsen. I always love cards and pictures from you!

Sista Pyper! I just love you. 

And BROTHER UNIT! Best day ever!

This week has been a little nuts with Thanksgiving and all. We ate with a lovely family who fed us a lot of good things. Like Green bean casserole. (with ham. that was different) and pies. And Turkey and things. It was delightful. I was full for two days.

On Monday last week, we went and threw knives and things! Yeah,  Action shot!

Oh! Eammonn! I had a dream with you in it the other day!

I was sitting in a restaurant here in Moreno Valley and someone had a seizure so 911 was called. They typical PD, EMS and FD arrive, and then here comes Eammonn, flying a helicopter to the call! You got here, and then your partner (no idea who he was) passed out because of a heroin overdose. I took off my name tag and started kicking him for putting his partner in danger by being a junkie. See. Even out in CA on a mission, I've got your back! It was an exciting dream. But, if you ever decide to fly choppers, learn well.. In my dream... not so good. but you were having the time of your life not flying well. :-)

And, Ry (Paulus) I owe you an apology. Someone tricked me into having a taco with ketchup. It actually isn't disgusting. It's pretty stinking good. Therefore, I must repent for my unkind judging of what I thought was a disgusting meal. Well played, partner friend. It was pretty good!

 This is us on Thanksgiving, at the mall. We were looking into the movie theatre watching the people and the giant screen of previews they had. We look so awesome. That was a funny, funny adventure. 

Also, we got our investigator a neck tie with our faces on it. Yep. It's epic. We'll get a picture of it at his baptism, which is this Saturday.  We're pretty excited! We went and saw him on Friday, he put us to work (read as, we begged for something to do) and we made salad for 60 veterans. No fingers were lost in the making of the salad. No kitchens were burnt down. They invited us back. We're a big deal! haha, everyone there calls us "Scott's girls." We're famous. Or Infamous. I'm not really sure. But they're nice to us. 

This is our District. L to R. Sister Dibe, Sister Young, Sister Stoliker, Sister Dirks, Sister Boyd, Sister Gatrell, Sister Mathews, sister Gowans. Elder Bangerter, Elder McConkie. This is our bottom-toothed smiles! We're so attractive. It's a wonder we're not converting nations. This was our last District meeting before transfers.

In other news, we're moving today. We are just going down the street so I get to learn to budget again. That will be good times. We're excited. We can eat cereal for dinner if we want. And have bagels for breakfast. Good times.

If anyone has any extra watches, ones that can go with any outfit. or is just.. you know.. watch like? That they don't want. I would gladly take it off your hands. (HAHa, get it?!) because my watch finally died. To be fair, it lived a long life. 5 years. It survived shifts on the ambulance. It survived the first quarter of my mission. But now it's in the great clock tower in the sky... *Moment of silence*

Well. I suppose that's all this week!

Don't forget, this is my birthday month. And I request one hand written letter. It doesn't even have to be to me, YOU don't even have to write it. YOU just have to send it to me! hah ha! I'm funny. 

Love and Peace and things!

Sista Hall

The littlest missionary who could!

Why hello, dearest friends and people!!

Fancy meeting you here, on Monday.. the day of the Great Missionary Emails!

Honorable Mentions this week:

KARLIE! Thanks for you SWEET home made card. All who have seen it are envious of my talented crafting friends! (Only my comp has seen it, but she's totally jealous! :))

Anyway, this week was grand!

We learned things, taught people.

Last Monday we met a Persian Christian named Zia. Zia's family could have killed him because he was Muslim. Apparently Muslims can be murdered by their families if they convert. So he's been Christian for a few years and doesn't regret any second of it. That's dedication to faith. He was nice, we talked to him for about an hour outside of our favorite smoothie place (Juice it up... in case you're wondering... they sell gift cards ... Just saying)

Tuesday: I have a note about a salt lick... I don't remember what it was about a salt lick that I wanted to tell you about. So... For the next week, ponder them. Our dinner Tuesday yelled at us. She's kinda uptight, so we're killing her with kindness (which means I stay clear, because I have no tact. That's fine, Sister Gowans is sweet.) Then I had a migraine, the kind that makes you wish you could send your head back for a replacement. Yeah, that was lovely. So I was stuck in bed for a few. Miserable.

Wednesday, behold, the picture:

 (the one of me old) I got really old. Really fast!

You see, we are only allowed short showers, so some days I dry shampoo my hair. And when that happens, I get REALLY old! REALLY fast. I am about 97 in that picture. Be not jealous! And de-aged shortly thereafter and am back to the ripe young age of 24, with a height of 11.

Thursday, we met Scott. Who is still fantastic. And doesn't hate us yet. We also had to break up with an investigator. And that made my heart awfully sad. She wasn't progressing. Technically, she broke up with us... Sad.

Friday: I read something REALLY important in Matthew 3:4. John the Baptist. Was. A. Hippy!!! Yes!!!! Best day ever. John the Baptist is my new favorite person (aside from Jesus) in the Scriptures!!

We rode bikes 3+ miles. It was grand.

We met Moses from Egypt. It was great. He's nice.

Saturday: A member called us in the morning and said he was having a stroke and asked us to come over. We told him to call and ambulance. He wouldn't. We showed up. He was not having a stroke. That we could tell. Hopefully he'll go to the doctor. I got to critically think. That was good times. We taught 8 lessons after that. Good day

Sunday: I got married yesterday, behold the other photo. His name is Pete-ay. He is from Canada. We had to call it off until the end of the mission. Because I cannot be married whilst being a missionary.

And here we are. What a swell week!

Tune in next week same time, same bat channel! 

Hear ye, hear ye!!!

First and foremost, honorary mentions for letters this week!

Church HeadQuarters! Thanks for my P. Blessing!

Mike Gore! I am honored to be yours and Sarah's FHE activity!

Sister Morgan! You've been home long enough, come back!

Sister Pyper! I got to see you AND get a letter. Great times!

Sister Pack! I got to crash your baptism AND get a letter. I'm lucky!

So. Here's the run down of this week. In Haiku form!

This week has been great

Sacrament is where Scott came

He is getting dunked!

This week is awesome

Gowans and I are superb

We hope you are good!

Okay. So, those Haiku's are what I sent to my mission president as my weekly update. Have you ever done something and then wondered "hmmm. will he think this is funny... or am I getting rebuked?" We'll see how this goes. haha. 

But really. This week was great. We didn't get through almost any door. So we talked to everyone on the street. Laughed a lot. Smiled some more. Danced occasionally. Someone keyed our car. So we called the new car senior missionaries, the Kings. They are HILARIOUS. They are from Florida originally but most recently from Georgia. He was a Sergeant in the sheriff's department in Florida (I think in Florida) He learned about the EMT thing and asked me a lot of questions. Sister Gowans' favorite portion of the conversation went like this: 

"No way! What is the most grotesque thing you've seen working as an EMT"

"Well, we ran a roll over once were the gal had a BAC of .67. Her head was impaled by a 2X4" (that was a Christmas when I first started with RMF)

"SHUT UP! A .7?!" (say that with a heavy Georgian accent)

He yelled that at lunch. We laughed. 

The car was okay, just scratched. They rubbed some tire shine on it and you can hardly see it anymore. 

Other happenings of the week:

We were OYMing an old guy in a parking lot. Some hoodlum came and stole two of the pillows he was selling. Thus ensued a yelling match where a gun was pulled. We high tailed in out of there. No missionaries were injured in the retelling or telling or occurring of the story. Good times... YIKES

The Morgans left on Monday. If you don't know who the Morgans are, that is a sad sad day for you. The Morgans are just the greatest senior missionary couple EVER. And their 6 months of missionary service was over. So they went home to their grandkids. Even though they liked us and our gang the best. They treated us to Panda Express where Sister Morgan and I cried. Goodbyes are lame. Even if it's just "goodbye for now." 

Later that week I ate Turkey tail REAL turkey tail! We went to a Samoan family's for dinner. and we had tilapia, and eggrolls, and turkey tail, and chicken and salad and rice and a lot of other things. And my favorite was the turkey tail! It was so good! I also ate so much but I needed to be rolled from dinner. yum. You know, they say that it is required of missionaries to be polite and eat all their food. I was just performing service, by eating so much. Really! I'm service oriented... (Humble too. Don't worry, I'll repent)

We had a Sister's Gathering. It was a good meeting. There was a lot of talk about being discouraged and looking at ourselves and each other through the lens of "daughter of God." As in, If I am a daughter of God, and acting like it, how would I treat this person.  or, I see through the lens of a daughter of God, how should I see this situation or that person. 

We were told not to be proud and to be humble (thus, the repenting) 

And to work. Working brings more satisfaction and joy than anything else. So Work. Go Forth and Do!

We went to the temple. I love the Temple! It's a small one, like my Denver temple. So I love it. And because it's, you know, the House of the Lord. 

I got to go to Mayra's baptism in Hemet! It was so great! I kind of snuck out of the ward, so it was nice to see people again and hug them. And of course, to see Sister Pack and the Gang! The only people who were missing were the Morgans. (hint, hint! Come back!) 

Mayra is wonderful, and she's baptized now!!

Finally, the biggest and exciting news this week is that we met Scott. 

Scott was a referral from HeadQuarters (Mormon.org or something like that). And what that is, is that if someone goes to Mormon.org, puts in their info for a Book of Mormon or a visit from missionaries, they send the info to the missionaries in that area, and we, like ninjas, track them down and find them. And then hit them with the Spirit and they get baptized. (It almost never happens that way, but that's okay) 

Well, Scott's address from HQ said he lived in a field, and we tried calling and the number was no good. We thought it was a wild goose chase. NOPE! Scott is real! And he REALLY wanted to meet with us!

He's elect. The first thing he asked us was "Please tell me you have a Book of mormon for me!" So, of course, we gave him one. Because... We're missionaries and that's what we do. And he came to church on Sunday, and he's getting dunked on 7 December! Woohoo!!! He's the best. He's a Navy vet and puts up with our senses of humor. We laugh a lot in our lessons. And we're going to make him a tie (because he HATES neck ties) with our faces on it. Anyone know how to do that? I would sure love some help in that endeavor!

The work here is great, it just makes sense. 

I hit a major milestone this week. on 8 November, I hit 100 days as a missionary. It's okay that nobody remembered that. My heart will heal in time. Alright... Truth be told, I didn't know either, my companion told me. I repented of that as well. 

Well, I love you people. Here are some entertainment for your week. 

 Sometimes, I eat sour things. And make really attractive faces. It's a good thing I'm a missionary, I'd have to beat the men away with sticks.... (wolf whistle)

I went to the Temple.

 At Mayra's Baptism. With Bro Leighton. Bro Leighton is the Ward Mission Leader. He's awesome!

 Sis Gowans and I at the Temple. We're companions. And we're at the temple. 

Dear people who I know, like and love!

This week has been nuts! For real. 

We had a confirmation this week. Jamie, who was baptized last week, got confirmed this week. So Now she's got the Holy Ghost power. :) YAY!

We taught a few lessons. Blessed many (Harvest blessings, man. They are brilliant!) Prayed a ton. We've been involved with drama and scandal. It's been good. 

At the Baptism last week there was an emergency. You see... We had a baptism at 6ish. Then there was one after ours. Unfortunately, Bishop forgot. And he pulled the plug to the baptismal font. And the water started draining. Rapidly. Very rapidly. The Elders tried to close it with luck, prayers and a broom handle, without any success. It was tragic. 

"Whatever shall we do?!" The masses thought. "Christmas is ruined!!!" exclaimed others. 

"Never fear, my friends in white! All will be well!" Said my companion! As she shoved me into the baptismal font to save the day!! Okay, what REALLY happened was that they were trying to figure out what to do. Who will get in? Should they change into a marshmellow (jump) suit? Who would take the plunge? Finally, I just walked in, skirt and all and plugged the tub back up. I went swimming on my mission! Nuts! 

Then one day, we were OYMing (Open your mouth) where we talk to 10 people a day that aren't counted as tracting or those that we teach. Just EVERYONE that we come in contact with, in the rain. It was cold. We were wet. And we talked to a family who gave us free tamales! REAL tamales! I was frozen on the outside, but the jalapenos put my mouth ablaze. I was warm within. haha. Yes. 

That night drama occurred. We were part of the "Minding my own business" club, doing missionary things. Talking to people. Praying. Teaching. Crying repentance when we got a bone-chilling phone call: 

"Girls.. I need to talk to you... Come home now" Our home share...

You see, our home share has dogs. 3 of them. That are trained to kill. They are well trained, so they haven't yet... you know... killed. But I know my luck. YOU know my luck. So I pray a lot. Finally, when I was so stressed out and living in fear, I talked to Sister and President Smart about what to do. They did their thing, which meant talked to the housing coordinator who told her we are moving. 

We got home, she very calmly told us that we were moving and then proceeded to tell me that having PTSD would ruin my life and that it's a weakness. And then spend 3 days completely ignoring me. (I think she blames me...)

Now... Now they told her we may not be moving. So we're in the awkward limbo where she will talk and love Sister Gowans, and she won't talk to me. Unless she has to. But I don't get dirty looks anymore. Progress. 

The next day, we found a dying rat sitting outside our homeshare. Sewage rats. They're real. This rat was became named Tony. He had been injured by something bad. or big. I'm not sure, I wasn't there when this occurred. So we sang him to death. I don't know what killed him. Our songs or his injuries... Poor Tony. We rescued him from the killer dog. The rat better be grateful! 

At some point this week, my companion and I were rejoicing over Halloween candy and junk food and trading for the good kinds. (We bartered. Candy was shared. It was grand.) Apparently I offered an outlandish trade because I was Whoppered in the face! In the Center thereof! It hurt. We laughed. I told her she broke my nose. She worries. I laughed. Then repented for lying to her. No noses were broken this week! 

Finally, I found in our trunk a treasure! A Book of Mormon in Arabic!!! I will be fluent in the reading thereof by the time I go home! (Not true, I just think it's really cool!) 

I think that's it for now. I still don't know if I'm homeless right now. Loving life out here. Being a missionary is the best!

We're starting a 30 day fast for missionary work. How it works is everyday, a different family will fast in the ward for our missionary efforts in the Moreno Valley Ward. That night, we go to the family's house and break their fast with them. This has led to lots of success in other areas, so we're going to see how it works here. Bishop and the Ward Council were so excited, that they are the first 2 weeks of fasting families. We are lucky to have such a ward behind us. Pres. Monson, Elder Ballard and all others were right, we can't do this work without the ward. We can't do this without members. We need them. The work of Salvation is so important. 

Anyway, peace and love and things!

Love, 

Sister Dibe Hall

My Missionary Commission:

My authority is above that of the kings of the earth. By revelation I have been selected as a personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is my Master and he has chosen me to represent him. To stand in his place, to say and do what he himself would say and do if he personally were ministering to the very people to whom he has sent me. My voice is his voice, and my acts are his acts; my words are his words and my doctrine is his doctrine. My commission is to do what he wants done. To say what he wants said. To be a living modern witness in word and deed of the divinity of his great and marvelous latter-day work. 

Elder Bruce R. McConkie

Transfer Week

Hi folks!

I don't have much time, transfer week and all.

I am being transferred to Moreno Valley with Sister Gowans. Sister Pack made STL (Sister Training Leader) which is essentially, Sister AP.

Well. Life is good. I'm happy. I don't want to leave to Moreno Valley. I was told I'm going to the Ghetto and not to get stabbed. So... Pray for my safety. okay? Thanks.

Best story of my mission. ENO VISITED ME!!! <3 and="" best="" cried="" gave="" happy="" i="" it="" nbsp="" p="" permission="" president="" sat="" smart="" so="" the="" there="" was="" way="" we="" were="">
Life is good!

I was going to send an entire email with nothing but shenanigans. But expect a shenanigan letter later! :)

Send me letters, okay? it sounds like I may need them!

Loving you folks!

Love,
The Short One

So. This week... It was a week!

So. This week... It was a week!

Here's the basic rundown of our week.

Monday: Pday. I really don't care for Pday much. Other than e-mail. I like to email. Otherwise, it's a waste of time and there has been way too much flirting in our zone and that just makes me mad. We are missionaries, people. We are not here to get married. Just saying...

We went and played softball, which means they played because I wasn't good enough to play. My comp ended up hurting her shoulder. So she's been in a sling all week.

Tuesday: Multi-zone training. Teaching us how to deal with stress. It's the same thing we've heard over and over. So I drew pictures of the people around me. All were entertained.
Tuesday, we also went on surprise exchanges. I LOVE surprise exchanges (Note: I do not love surprise exchanges. Tuesday was the day I was most excited for in our week.) 

President was told about the zones inability to Lock their Hearts (great talk, go read it!) and wanted Sis Pack and I to try to clean up the mess. To no avail.
Actually, exchanges ended up not being too bad. We picked up some people in the other girls' area for them and we met a bunch of fun people. There was a little girl who told me I was getting married to Kevin. This same little girl a few weeks ago said that Kevin was Satan. So... I'm marrying Satan. That's good, right?... yikes.

Wednesday: DDM - District Development meeting. That was alright. SUPER Rainy. I got to wear my rain boots! Everyone was jealous.
I love my boots. I've been wanting to wear my rain boots my whole mission!!
We had an awkward dinner where our YSA invited us over. His Grandma, who he lives with, invited her missionaries. Well, we're not supposed to eat dinner with other missionaries. So... That was grand. Awkward. It was funny though.

On a side note: People keep getting injured and they don't want to call the nurse (please refer to previous emails to know why...) So instead they keep calling me to know what to do. This week we had: 

1 radial head fx

2 rotator cuff injuries

1 possible ACL / meniscus

1 possible patella fx.

Wednesday I received a letter saying 2 friends died this week. So that sucked.

Thursday:

I was really upset about the letter on Wednesday when our miracle story of Renay called us. She called us and told us to stop by. We stopped by and she told us that she's not going through with the Confirmation. 

We texted our district leader who didn't care and didn't help. We texted the Elders' in our ward and they gave some good advice and offered to go and give her a blessing.

Our District leader doesn't care. That's real nice. well. He would care if we were the other sisters.

Our dinner forgot us that night. But it was our favorite family so we decided it was okay. Despite that terrible day we'd had. Too bad I couldn't wear my rain boots. 

Friday:

Friday... We... Did mission stuff? Knocked on doors. tried to convert nations. Then that didn't work. So we prayed a lot. Repented some. Met people, talked to people. Nothing terribly crazy happened.

Saturday:

We had the best dinner ever! She was HILARIOUS! I love her! She washed our grapes with Bleach. mmmm sanitary...

So funny!! I love my life as a missionary. She played dress up. And played fetch with her cat. A cat that plays fetch. Does that make it a fetching cat? HAHAHA. ha ha ha. funny.

Also, my bike brakes shattered. And I nearly got ran over by a truck. But it didn't happen. So Almost Calamities don't count... 

Sunday:

Church. Church. And more church. And when we weren't in church. We were doing church things. And Mission things.

We go see our senior couple a lot. Because they keep me from going nuts.

Hmmm. I don't know what else to say. This week stunk. But I didn't get bit by any dogs this week. Just failed at someone's Salvation... That's going to be hard to explain at the Judgement.
Part of it was her Agency (Sometimes I feel like taking people's agency away... Then Pack reminds me not to be Satan) Part was because we allowed there to be a month between her baptism and confirmation...  So... That blows.

It's okay. I repent a lot. Still.

Last week of this transfer. That's crazy!

Anyway, 

Here's to a week of fun and adventure. And nations being converted

Love, 

Dibe

What, what?! Another week is done!

Greetings from sunny Hemet, CA

How goes?!

Life around here is pretty alright. The work is progressing!

In fact last Monday after my email, we got a surprise phone call from a new investigator that said she wanted to be baptized as soon as possible. So we put together a baptism for this last Saturday, after the second session of conference. It was really great. Satan did everything in his limited power to destroy our investigator. But we prayed and fasted and prayed again. And then we prayed some more. And she was baptized. She even asked us to perform a musical number. We did. It was..... a musical number. :-P Not great. We had a bunch of Elders jump in to help, thank goodness.

We are working hard, repenting often and trying hard to be obedient. We have 4 people on date for baptism on 20 Oct. And 2 of those will probably actually happen! We find out in 2 weeks about transfers and I'm pretty anxious. I am loving Hemet and the wards I'm in. So I really don't want to leave. But, I'm also needing some change. So... We'll see.

My comp tolerates me most days. Some days, not so much. But it is what it is. We teach well together and people keep thinking we've known each other for ever. So that's what really matters, right?

The rest of this week has been pretty eventful. Franken-bike died once again. The back wheel stopped spinning. No wonder I was getting such a workout. Whew! But we're loving the bikes, and missing them when they're out of commission.

Our Bishop's wife has decided to call me "Calamity Jane." Every other day we call for some calamity (I got attacked by a dog. My brakes failed going down hill. I got run off the road by a truck. Etc) But the Bishop's in both wards have been great about rescuing us and helping us when needed.

We're working really hard to finish the transfer strong.

The dog bite update: I'm still taking the anti-biotics. but my face is already healed and it just looks like really bad acne (is that something to be grateful for?... I am) My jaw doesn't hurt anymore, and people seem to have forgotten it, now that I don't have a bandage over half my face! I still have some residual nerves because of it. A poodle jumped up at me and I burst into tears. My comp ushered me out the door and we went to the senior couples' home. I needed a Grandma hug, and she's got the best grandma hugs known to Hemet, CA.

No other real calamities this week. Success!!

Today we're actually being included in the zone activity, they're doing a nerf war and then softball.

Hypothetically speaking, for absolutely no reason at all..... Please send your best missionary-approved pranks. We have 2 weeks left in our zone. So. Act quick!

Alright. Conference.

Did you know that we are super blessed? We have a modern day Moses telling us what we are to do to draw closer to our Savior! President Thomas S. Monson leads the church as a Prophet. Jesus Christ is the head.

Some of my favorite quotes:

"It is time for members and missionaries to come together to work together in the vineyard." We need the help of our members. We can't do this work without you!

This is YOUR work, this is MY work. But most of all, it is HIS work, and we are to do it together. So help your local missionaries!

"Doubt your doubts, before you doubt your faith."

Powerful and loving advice.

"Look up" and "Don't look back, just keep moving forward."

and "Hope is never lost. He loves you, even when you don't deserve it. His love is always there."

The Lord has given us the path back.

After the tsunami in 2006, I was told of a story. One of the small islands was one of the hardest hit. Utterly destroyed. But There was not one life lost. Why? Because The Elders of the island had been taught from the previous elders to beware of the signs. They had been taught that when the waters recede, to run to higher ground. And those elders taught the people. And the people listened. They listened to the old fashioned advice from old men who aren't in touch with "today." And they were saved.

We have that blessing too. We have a Prophet and Apostles and the Spirit who warn us of dangers. They give us signs that seem impossible. Who would think that the sea would disappear? Who would imagine that a wall of water would be coming to destroy you? Who would believe the words of men who "probably don't know."

We know. We're blessed.

Shout out to the letters/packages this week:

*Angelena!

*Sister Broderick!

*BECCA!!! Tell your sister I named the bear Clyde! Best package! I've been showing off the pictures of home. hahaha. I LOVED the wax seal. I almost started crying, I was so excited! Best day ever!

Loving you!

Keep praying. Keep reading.

Obedience is the price,
Faith is the power,
Love is the motive,
The Spirit is the key,
Christ is the reason.

Wet and Soggy People of Colorado

Hello! Wet and soggy people of Colorado! (And dry folk elsewhere!)

How goes?

Funny story, 4 different people made comments this week about "Hey, you're from CO.... Is your family one of the 4 who died in the mass calamity out there?" .... uh....

People kept making Noah's ark jokes. haha, but no really. - If Noah stops by, GET IN THE BOAT!!

It ended up being a tender mercy for me. I was given permission to call home, I got to talk to the Mom unit for a few minutes. WONDERFUL!

So... Things are dry here. And by that, I mean I'm not swimming in things. Like rain. Or Creeks. Or The Great Boulder flood of 2013. So... Send me pictures, yeah? Yeah!

Hey! I need someone to send a thank you note to One of the Rocky Mountain Fire C shifters. Dave, Griff, Holmy and Joel. Thanks to their tutelage, I was able to uphold a conversation about football! I threw in words like "Fumble!!" And "Tight End." (To which I was not referring to those pants. Nope, that's a person!) Not ONCE did I call it a basket or anything. Woah. Thanks Rocky Mountain Fire, for making me a real person!

You know how in Boulder, when someone puts tin foil on their windows, it's because they're a little touched in the head and worried about Aliens? Not here in Hemet! You're touched if you DONT have tin foil? Sister Pack couldn't understand why I kept cackling at random houses. I finally explained that these people were nuts. Nope. Just me!

Let's see... I'm still short, and I finally got a bike! I still need to buy safety equipment, like a helmet, lights and a bike lock. No worries. The bike is bright pink. And my companion is a bright red redhead.

Someone asked if Satan's first name is Kevin.

We're pretty awesomely exciting....

We had a huge miracle moment that was followed by more miracles. We went to teach the gal that I think I mentioned before, who is afraid of water. She finally committed to baptism! She's known all along that she needs to. She then told us that she knew because she's dreamed about us. That she's known us "from before."

.... WHAT?! ... So yeah, she knows us. And she's getting baptized! We had a scary moment when she said she wasn't going to follow through because she has to meet with our Mission president to resolve some things. But this morning she said that nothing would get in her way of baptism. YES!!! Prayer changes things!!!

Hmmm. So. What's going on in your life?

Oh!!!! I got 4 letters on the same day! I am the most loved missionary EVER!!! Shout out to
Mom! Thanks for the stamps!

Bradbury family! Yep, I will ALWAYS be the favorite little person!

Jenna, Shelbs and Karlie!

Sabrina!

It was an epic day in the mission life!

Well, ya know. Life is good. I'm loving this work. I haven't eaten things that make me want to die. So that too, is good. The elders are talking about shaving their legs right now. Awkward....

Loving you all, loving life.

Keep in touch.

The short one

Howdy world!

Installment number... what. 8? Something like that.

How're you all doing?

Life out here is grand. Warm. and Muggy. It's great.... (read as "Life our here is miserably hot and humid to the point I resemble a drowned cat.)

Other then that, we're working hard. We have 4 new investigators that we're working really hard to teach and invite the Spirit into their lives. It's been an amazing blessing to watch people change. To see people feel the Spirit, and recognize it and then act on it, is so inspiring.

One of our investigators has been going to church on her own for 2 months, but she is afraid to be baptized because her mom tried to kill her by drowning her when she was a kid. So we have permission to jump in the font with her if we need to, to help coach her through all that. But she's pretty fun.

We had to drop a less active family this week. I didn't realize how weird it would be to break up with a family on the mission. It's weird. I'm going to be so good at breaking up with people when I come home! ... yeah... No but really, it was awkward.

Reading the Scriptures has been a new experience out here. Things make sense out here. Scriptures that I never understood before are suddenly crystal clear. That's never happened before! I love it!

Some funny stories from this week, My ear swelled shut this week. Yeah. my EAR. Did you know that ears swelled shut? Neither did I. So I cracked open a benadryl and made a paste and rubbed it on my ear. It took 3 days, but it's finally back to normal. I took a picture. I'll send it out when I get a disk of pictures to send home. Seriously. Weird.

We met this guy who was probably Schizophrenic and not on meds. He was responding to internal stimuli while we were talking to him. He was a former investigator and we were trying to find out more about him and if we could teach him again. CRAZY! EVERYONE we met that day was a few fries short of a happy meal. it was NUTS! (ha. get it?!)

We are finishing up our first transfer and THAT is nuts! 1 transfer done! I'm loving the work. It's hard, though. But it so great. Our ward loves us - Sisters that is. The often tease the Elders that we have gotten more done in the 5 weeks we've been here then the year that they have. It's not true, our Elders are solid. The zone is finally getting used to us being here, and they're finally calming down about it all.

Oh man! So we went to dinner at this one families house, they have a fancy gate to the driveway. So we get buzzed in and drive up the driveway and get met with a HUGE aggressive dog. HUGE. I mean, I was nose - to - nose with the dog (okay, maybe not THAT huge) and it was growling and angry. The homeowner comes out and it is NOT our dinner. She was NOT happy with us! Our dinner was next door! Well, the homeowner wouldn't call the dog off and it tried to attack the car! What the shenanigans!

We got to our real dinner appointment and the homeowners were great. They made Stroganoff. With Filet Mignon. For real! and they put french onion soup powder in. It was tasty. but Every bite I was like "This is a $10 bite...."

Nuts. They made a statement like "You must be disappointed after seeing the neighbors estate. Our estate is tiny, compared to there estate!" Uhm.... If you're referring to your house as an estate, I'm pretty sure you have nothing to worry about.

Anyway. How goes, world? Yall happy?

Did you know that Hostess is back?! Of course, you probably know that, you're not under a rock right now. Sister Pack, my companion, her family sent her some twinkies and hostess cupcakes. Blew our minds. Hostess has returned! GREAT!!!

Hope life is good. Pray for missionary experiences! The field is ready to harvest!

Love,

Sista Dibe Hall!

Welp, another week has come and gone. Here are some pictures of our adventures. Excuse the ones where I look intoxicated or just plain dumb. I blame those on sleep deprivation.

The family I told you about, Michael and Jennifer? They were baptized on Saturday 17 August. YEAH! That was a really cool experience, we had 6 people baptized on Saturday for our ward alone. (4 of those were the Elders in our ward who are basically Alma and Amulek.) They asked me to speak on Baptism. I didn't throw up on anyone, so I call it a success! Their daughter Tess was in the way back jumping up and down and waving frantically "HI SISTER HALL!!!" Until I said Hi. Our District leaders were there as well as several other sets of missionaries. Over 100 people came to support all the new members! There were 2 others baptized on Saturday from 2 other wards in our zone. It was a successful week!

Unfortunately now that puts us without investigators. Which means we need to hit the pavement and find more! Not my favorite part, but I'll dig it for now! We have a lot of people who know the Gospel is true, they know of the peace that is found in the Savior's love. It's just a matter of getting in the door and letting them realize it for themselves! And everyone we seem to find, the other missionaries typically get, because they live in their area. Bah!

Not much has happened this week aside from that! We teach a lot. There is enough work in our two wards for 4 or 5 sets of missionaries. So we are loving that. We had this one solid girl who is 22. She LOVED everything we taught her and wanted to be baptized the next day!!! And we haven't heard from her since. There are pit bulls in her yard that won't let us up to the door to knock. I can tell you one thing, they probably don't have many solicitors!

We witnessed a high speed chase! In Hemet! (Where the top speed in 35 mph... Cool...) They must have had their entire police force following him, there were 13 going hot, and another 6 following behind non emergent. It was entertaining to watch.

Hmmm. I think that's it. This week hasn't been too exciting! I'm loving the work and ready for more!

Oh, I had an allergic reaction to walnuts again. I now am a proud owner of an epi-pen (will be when it gets here in the mail) I'm under strict order by the doctor to take 50mg of benadryl a day. I sleep a lot.

Anyway, I love you all!

Still no letters. I think our mission office lost them. That's the reason, right?

I read all your emails. I love them all! Thank you for remembering me!! 


(Brother Edit: Sorry for the delay folks, lost Dibe's info. Here's last weeks email! Her Prep days are Mondays, so, there should be a new update tomorrow or Tuesday)

Another Update!

Another Dibe Update! Yay!

Holy cow, I'm in California!!!

This world is crazy!!! There is so much to say, but they put me on an iPad to email. So, sorry this email is lame.

The Mtc was a crazy experience, but I'm glad to be in the field. Here are some things that have happened.

* we had an investigator in the Mtc (they aren't usually real investigators, just fakers) who, I kid you not, fell asleep during our lesson. He was so funny. He'd answer our questions but got back to snoozing. So funny. He committed to baptism. We are rockstars. 

* There were men picketing at the Provo temple when we'd wander about who were preaching all the same things that we preach. He smelled like pot! I really wanted to ask if i could just stand by him so I could feel closer to home. My companion said no though... So I didn't. 

* The food at the Mtc is pretty... You know... Good... I am extremely grateful for my iron stomach! 

* funny story, I walked into one of my first classes and the instructor was pretty exuberant and I almost walked into him. "Hi Sister Hall!!" He said. 

"Do you know me?" I asked suspiciously

*he points to my name tag*

.... "Oh right...." We've been declared BFF since then.

(There is so much I want to say. Emailing on an iPad is dumb)

There are like 3000 different types of palm trees. Some are dibe-sized and others look homeless with lots of dead looking hair... Some look like paradise. It's great.

The lady we live with warned us that they have scorpions and tarantulas and snakes.... I told my district leaders that if I see one, I can't promise not to burn down the house... I haven't seen one yet.... Our home share doesn't like to kill them. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I would have to be the biggest man to step on a tarantula... Seriously. Put a saddle on one of those and we wouldn't need a car!

My companion is sister pack. She is from Idaho falls and she's great. We are opening up this area (Hemet) to sisters. We have a family ward and a YSA ward and it is exhausting on Sundays. Seriously. Church/meetings from 0700-1630 then all the missionary stuff we have to do. It is crazy! But the work is great. I challenged someone to baptism in my second ever lesson. Which according tithe training process, doesn't happen for a long time. So that was cool. They said no, but we continue to see them. They're so close!

Becca: are you related to a Ryan Eggett? He conducted the Mtc choir. I will send you a snail mail letter in response to yours. We only have a little bit of time to email. So stand by!

Eno: I got both packages! Seriously, made my day! Those socks and mints saved my life. Also, I have been emailing the wrong chelsey bramwell... Haha. Maybe she will be baptized now!

Mom: sorry I couldn't call. It was $20 a minute At the airport. Forget that... So sister smart offered to call to let you know I didn't die. I didn't die

Mike: do you know a brother Lyons? He's from centennial and said he knows a Wes gore.

Alex: do not play with tornados! Miss you! Write me a real letter. Kay?

Tess: I won't judge. I ran about 30 feet. AT SEA LEVEL, and threw up. I'm cool....

Mom: I got your letter and I love the stamps. Don't worry about getting me more. I don't go out to eat with the other missionaries so I get to buy my own stamps.

I think that's it. Love you all. Miss you all. 

Alex, don't forget to toss this on the blog. I'll write a real email next week when I have a keyboard and a mouse...

Best,

Di

The littlest missionary with a white girl for

Ps. No pictures yet. I haven't figured that out yet.

Hey folks of Dibe's that read her blog, while she's on her mission, she's asked me to update her blog with her updates. - The Brother Unit

-------

Hey everyone! I've decided to write one leter to update everyone. I only get an hour to email. And since nobody has emailed me, nobody needs individual responses. It's okay that nobody has emailed me. I mean, you still love me an all, right? Right?

Right

That said, if you want an original, individual response, hit me up.

 

Okay. So let me tell you what the MTC is like. ;jkhiluguygihu. <~~~ Just like that. This place is CRAZY! And I'm loving it.

We study. A lot. (8 hours total yesterday) We sleep. a little (8 hours total last night) We also pray a lot. Like 526,872 times a day. Which is good. I have to repent about that many times a day too.

 

Getting here was a pain in the neck. I was a threat to national security with my bum knees. Apparently joking that I was smuggling a big bag of tampons in my checked luggage wasn't amusing. I got pulled to the back room. Greeaaaat. If you see me on CNN in Guantanamo...  Please bail me out. Or bake me a cake with a nail file inside. It worked out eventually. They finally believed me that my knee screws were not secretly made up of heroin.

 

I temple hopped in UT on Tuesday, That was brilliant! We hit Jordan River, Mt Timp and Draper. They are all GIGANTIC!!! That's nuts. We had dinner with Eno and Jonathan that night. That was epic. Jonathan - you didn't kill us! I feel fine!

 

Becca and I went to the Reintjes' from breakfast. I love them! They are the cutest. And Will kissed me! yeah... I got kissed as a set apart missionary. It's okay. He's 14 months old. I didn't hold him. So I didn't break too many misison rules.

 

 

So Wednesday. I got dropped off at 12:30 with miss Shannon Green and right away we were whisked to go get name tagged and drop our stuff off. My key didn't work in the door so we had to carry everything back to get a new key. That one worked. If you are ever having a bad day, wear a name tag around the MTC with a red sticker on it. EVERYONE stops to say hello and welcome you to the MTC. If you don't like people talking to you, don't come to UT. Seriously. People here are friendly.

 

Hmmm. What else. I may have broken my finger today. Yeah, yeah. shush. It's fine. It's "buddy splinted" to the other finger and only hurts if I think about it. Or move it. I was trying to make my bed and it just started hurting, and swelling. I really wanted to have a well made bed, I guess. Maybe I need more calcium in my diet. I don't know. Also, Dr. Nielson gave me an inhaler for free. That was great of him.

 

My district (my group of missionaries) is fun. I'm the oldest and one of the quietest. Weird. Remember when I said 18 yo boys stress me out? That hasn't changed. But they're good kids. Funny. I attached a picture. It should be the one of the girls in my district. My companion is Sister Anderson. We're rocking the Riverside mission. She's got the short hair cut. She's the 6th of 10 kids! 

Sister Larson has dark hair, she was in Jerusalem last semester at the BYU there. I'm jealous.

Sister Bradshaw (I just asked. I'm a jerk...) managed to fit a steamer in her luggage. She's got game. I did not manage that. At all.

The other sister (Hodges....? That's not rights...)  reminds me of Merida from Brave. She's got a CPAP. We bonded. It was grand.

The fellas are 18. yeeeah. They're good kids though. Excited. They made comments yesterday like: "We could be home right now, playing video games or whatever. Instead we're here. Learning the Scriptures. And you know what? This is pretty awesome." Amen Elder. Let me see if I cna remember any of them.

Elder Weinert. He is our new District leader. He's from Philly. (Jonathan, he knows your brother. But is from a different area in Philly. He says hi!)

Elder Roberts. He is Southern. Very Southern. And loves math. I think it was Math. Anyway, nice enough guy.

Elder Childs is from.... UT? I think... He's got a lot of energy and excitement. He's going to Riverside too. We high five a lot. But someone told us that it wasn't allowed because he's an elder and I'm a sister. We do it anyway. It's okay. I repent everytime.

Elder... Miller. is 18. Funny, most of the time. He says things sometimes that impress everyone. But mostly he goofs. He's going to make a brilliant missionary when he settles down.

Elder... uhm... the one that sits behind me is often nervous, but he's a good kid. Lots of heart and a strong testimony. He's going places.

The one that sits in front of me is nice too. We bounce ideas off each other a lot.

 

I'm learning a lot. Mostly how to trust God and let Him make the decisions. That's not easy. My companion is really patient with me in that. Mostly we just wing it and hope something sticks. We get to teach our pretend investigator on Saturday. We decided that she needs to hear about the Plan of Salvation, so we're studying that together. And today we get to nap!!! I miss naps.

 

My teachers are cool. Mostly because Brother Heath reminds me of Brad, the medic from Longmont. I'm not sure why yet, but it makes me laugh. He's a great teacher and gives great feedback. Sister Smith is really encouraging and likes to make things fun and exciting. Which isn't easy when you're on hour 906 in the classroom for the day. That's tiring. But she does it.

 

I don't know. What do you guys want to know? I'm doing well. I'm loving this. I'm jumping in both feet. Participating and being a part of the group.

 

I think that's it. I love you guys! My P-days whilst at the MTC is Friday. So, you'll have to wait until then to hear from me. Can someone pass this along to Uncle Johnny. I forgot to give him my contact info before I left. I'm a jerk.

If you want to email me. Dearelder.com. Mom got one letter there. Just follow the directions.

Or dianne.hall@myldsmail.net

 

My snail mail... mom has. I don't have that on me. If you want to write me snail mail while I'm here, she can get that for you. Email her at Trainlady@aol.com

I think my snail mail here is

Sister DiAnne Louise Hall

JUL 30 CA RIV

2005 N 900 E

Provo, UT zip code... (no idea what the zip is)

 

I think you guys are great. I haven't had time to get home sick. Which I hope will remain the case until I come home.

 

Love you!

 

Best.

The Dibester. The Short One.

Sister Hall

 

I'll try to be better and take more pictures!

Lord, I believe

Things I wish I had known three months ago.

· Stop. Look around. Enjoy the ride.

• It's okay to be a prospective missionary, terrified and unsure

• It's okay to be disappointed and confused

• Satan is a jerk.

• Don't expect things to get better. They don't get easier. Satan does NOT want me to be a missionary. He will try to break me. He will not play fair or play nice.

• It's normal to wish Satan had a body so you can punch him in the throat. But hey. You have a throat. He doesn't.

• Budget your time in the beginning and you'll be fine.

• You may think Goodbyes will be easy. They won't be. Buy tissue. Cry. It's fine.

• Go to the Temple. A lot. You will find so much extra peace. Seriously. Go.

• Go again to the Temple.

• There is no such thing as praying too much. Accept that challenge. Pray a lot.

• You will feel like a huge failure. Missionaries sin too. Get back up and keep going.

• Satan knows your weaknesses. He will use them mercilessly against you.

• Don't give up. Don't quit trying. You keep walking. You keep moving ... there are blessings and help ahead.  (Pssst. At the Temple!)

• lead with your faith. Trusting is hard. But it pays off. Trust Him. He's loves you.

• Spend time with family.

• Love the ride. It's a tough one, but it can be okay!

I am down to 3 days before I enter the MTC, 2 days before I fly out to Utah and one day before I get set apart. I am both terrified and so excited!
Terrified because I've never been a natural teacher. Excited because I get to learn.
Terrified because I have no idea what I'm doing.
Excited to serve the Lord.
Terrified to screw up.
Excited to get to succeed.
Terrified of things being harder than my ability to keep up.
Excited to get stronger.
Terrified of being the companion that everyone is afraid of.
Excited to have that companion that everyone loves.
Terrified to leave behind everything I know.
Excited to meet new challenges.
Terrified of not being good enough
Excited to get stronger.

I am ready to love the people of California.

I have been abundantly blessed - the Lord has placed people in my path who have eased my fears and concerns.

I am ready. Scared or not.

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Celebrate!!! Fathers Day!

Today is the day that we celebrate fathers.
We celebrate all that they do for us. Fathers are unsung heroes. They don't always get the praise and love they deserve.

My father wasn't there. And for a long time, that really bummed me out. It took a while for me to realize that the Lord knew that I didn't have an earthly Father figure who was biologically connected to me.

So He put so many men in my life to teach me that which I needed and wanted.
My Mom, who was both mom and dad. She taught me so much about making your own future and not getting stuck in self pity or worry. To trudge forward and do what needs to be done.

Uncle Johnny. Mom's youngest brother. He and I have always been close. Our relationship has always been special to me. He is the man that I never want to disappoint. That I always want to impress and who will always be there when I need a leg up in the world. He is one of my favorite people in the entire world.

There have been many surrogate father figures. Friends' fathers. People who have genuinely cared. For them I am grateful.

But the blessing of Fathers has reached beyond that. I work in a male-dominate career where I am both smaller than all my coworkers but not as strong. And each partner I've had, has shown me a little more about men.

Most recently, my last two partners have shown me not just how loving fathers should be, but how loving men should treat others. And how husbands should talk about their wives, when the wife isn't around.

It is a true testament to me about the love of men when I see how kind and loving men are to those around them.

So. Thank you men. Thank you for stepping up without even realizing it. Thank you for being so amazing and being such examples as to what a good man is and what a good man does.

This fathers day, I honor the fathers in my life. And I honor the men who aren't yet fathers.

Finally, for the Father in Heaven who has loved me, when I wasn't lovable. Who answered my prayers, when I had no idea what to ask for. Who never gave up on me, even when I had given up long before. For my Heavenly Father, who offered His Son, who in turn walked with me through hell, and saw me safely through to the other side (and then healed the traumas, the broken soul and the terror.) For my Heavenly Father whose only desire is to see me succeed and see me again, and offers me the path to do so. Who forgives me when I don't deserve it. And who "wastes" time on someone like me. It's hard to believe that God, the most impressive and powerful and incredible being ever, would spend even a second on someone that doesn't matter. With that logic, I must matter to Him.

I wish "thanks" were enough. Today, when I'm sorely tempted to feel sad that my father wasn't there, or that now he's dead. When I'm tempted to feel hurt that my grandfather is gone, I can't help but feel so loved by the Father who never left. Who never hurt.

I am blessed.

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Unexpected blessings

I once again am astounded by the blessings that I am continually given, even when I don't deserve them, I haven't earned them and I'm not worthy of them. This last month of work I had a new partner. (Which really isn't that accurate, he isn't new to the company, nor was he new to me. Just new to full time with me. It was quite a month. Transfers, dead people, ghosts (I'd say ask my partner, but he really doesn't like to talk about it.), lithium over doses. Broken kids. Wheelchair calls. Drunks. Psych patients. Seriously, I was spoiled. I think I lifted the pram maybe twice. I had weekly Rockstars. And the partner put up with my quarks and shenanigans. It's weird for me. There are days where I talk a lot. Mostly to fill up the silence. There are times that I only talk when I have something to say. But instead of pushing me to open up, instead of pressing me to say what I feel, he simply let me ramble on or sit quietly. If I mumbled or talked to myself, I was often told 'speak up! I listen. I hear you.' After a long line of partners who would get tired of my incessant rambling or excessive silence, to be listened to was a change. What a blessing it was to me to have that experience. This last month, I learned to trust others, to trust myself and to trust God. The last month was tough. Saying goodbye to my friends and coworkers was hard. Saying see ya later to my career was harder. I cried when I threw away my bucket of shame. I cried when my boots followed. But you know what, it's worth giving up. It is worth giving up one of the best things in my life to enhance THE BEST thing in my life. That is, my faith. It's not easy. It really makes my heart sad. But it is so worth it. Even though it makes me sad. Elder Holland said it best in General Conference. Lead with your belief. Do not leave with your unbelief. I have been working hard to trust. Trust that I would make it out onto the mission. Trust that somehow all would work out. But I was terrified. I was afraid that I would somehow mess it all up. That despite years of work to develop skill as an EMT, and years of working hard to get through some deep rooted personal drama would all be for naught. The closer to my mission date, the more panicked I felt. The more like a failure I had become. I had quit a job with no proof that I could make it on the mission. I couldn't sell my car. I couldn't manage anything. Boy oh boy. I was a disaster. But you know what? It worked out. I was blessed in a way that I never thought I would be able to be blessed. It is such a huge testament to me of His love for me, for the people He put in my life. How did I get to be so lucky? Lord, I believe.

It's bad when Satan believes in you more than you do...

Life has been an interesting adventure as of late.

Things are tough. As the days drag closer to the mission, I anticipate it getting more difficult. Honestly, that surprises me. Satan attacks those he knows will do well. Those who will greatly thwart his plan in destroying Father's plan. I am not a teacher, by any means. I am argumentative, not often sensitive to the needs of others. I have read the Standard Works, but can I quote them or even locate scriptures when I need to? Nope. I can't speak in public without sounding exceptionally awkward (unless you want to hear about Grandma getting tased or getting pulled over.) In short, I am not a missionary.

So why is Satan wasting time on me? I don't really anticipate being able to put a crazy dent in his plan to lead the Children of Men astray. I just think it's funny that Satan, the one whose goal is to destroy everyone and to make us all miserable like himself, believes in my ability to be a missionary then I do. That's just funny. And sad. Haha, and awkward.

Satan is doing a good job of stressing me out. Finances. Selling my car. Packing things up. Making sure I have everything I need. Then on top of that, he's doing his best to make me doubt myself. Not that I'm supposed to go on a mission - I know that I am. It's one of the few things in life that I actually do know. But in me. Errant thoughts of things like "Yikes, a good mormon probably wouldn't have had 4 Dr. Pepper's this afternoon." or "That would have been a perfect missionary opportunity." but not noticing until after the person has walked away. Oops. Or "well, that person must never have wanted to hang out with me in the first place. What must be wrong with me?"

These aren't thoughts I normally have! My former (like 4 formers, but that's splitting hairs) had their entire bathroom decorated in Dr. Pepper motif!
You know what, I'm not a missionary yet. The point is to learn to recognize those moments (in time) and then learn to act on them. It's okay not to be there today.
If that person doesn't want to hang out with me, that's okay.

When I was younger, I had a huge chip on my shoulder. Partly because of my past, and partly from teenage angst but I really felt like I related to that song by Mark Willis, "Don't laugh at me" At one point the song says, "You don't have to be my friend, if it's too much to ask." Yeah. That was me. I had a few friends. And while I yearned to be a part of a group, any group. I wasn't. I didn't know how to reach out. I didn't know how to be a friend. Some people are content being alone. I was not one of those. I wasn't just alone, I was intensely lonely. But I learned to let go a little. Realized that I couldn't control everything. Learned to trust the people around me, even if just a little. I started having friends.

Then life got complicated again. My world shattered, hard and fast a bunch of times in a short period of time. Friends were dying, dropping like flies around me; killed in tragic accidents, suicide, alcohol poisoning. I was attacked. My best friends' Grandpa died (who was so much more my grandfather then anyone else had been at that point.) My Grams died. Later, that same best friends' dad (who again, was more father then I'd ever had) died, followed a few short weeks later by my own dad. Then I was attacked again. And twice, the legal system failed me. Both times, I was left to deal with injustice alone. And I clamped inward again. (I like to think that before this life, I must have gotten into a line saying that I was going to get all of my bad days out of the way really early.) Starting from square one. Eventually, I pushed through. I pulled myself out of.. myself. I learned that I'm not like most people my age. This is where Satan gets me. I look at people around me who are always hanging out on the weekends, and I see my ward doing so well with bonding. And I sometimes feel an intense longing. Satan whispers that I don't belong. That I don't fit in. They don't understand me, that they think I'm boring.
I have to remind myself that it's okay. It's okay to be different. I'm a lot more serious by nature. I'm not that person that will ask what's going on this weekend, in hopes to be invited to the party. I won't ask you to sit by me in church. I won't ask for a ride (unless it's 2 am, and walking home would be dumb and unsafe.) I'm not that girl that will invite herself into a conversation. In all honesty, I don't really enjoy parties. I like small groups. Movie nights, game nights. I'm all in for those (and will shamelessly invite myself over for those!)

And again, I'm surprised by how much Satan must believe in me, because really? I'm not that awesome. I can time a joke (sometimes) and am a formidable foe when it comes to prank wars. I feel like I don't give extremely lame hugs. (Need a hug? I've got those!) and once I'm really comfortable around you, you'll probably see shenanigans and silliness.

 In all honesty, I worry about the future. If Satan is trying this hard now to break me, what will the future hold? My mission is either going to make me, or break me. Yikes!

I've learned some pretty great things though,
Up until recently, I didn't see any kind of dating or marriage in my future. Partially because the drama of it all is way beyond me. I don't dig drama. But the other part because I really suck at trusting people.  No really, like all people. It wasn't until January of this year that I really entertained the idea of trusting God. And if you can't trust Him, there literally is nobody you can trust. Then I went to the Temple and got to help with sealing families together for time and all eternity. (That caused a talk-of-shame with the Big guy that went something like this.
Me: "Okay, okay. I get it. This is part of the plan. I have to be obedient. I guess I COULD get married... eventually.."
*zap, zap, zap, zap, zap* (I felt like I was being tased. My heart was pounding so hard.)
 Me: Okay! I got it! I take it all back. I'll get married (mumble, mumble, after the mission) It's possible!)

It's funny, I really don't have these insecurities anymore. They were a huge part of my past, but now? I'm okay with who I am. And the aspects that I don't like, I'm constantly working on changing. I am okay with being a more serious and introspective person. I am okay with not being a partier. So why am I being hit with pangs of sadness when I find out that I've been stood up for plans, or that I was not invited to a party? Because Satan believes in me more then I do.

In other news, the best conversation I've had in a while:
"Whatever, Jesus would've had a kindle if he couldve. Prolly an Iphone too."
"As a perfect texter, would He use proper grammar?"
"And if it's good enough for jesus, why wouldn't it be good enough for you?? You should really talk to someone about this!"
 "Hahaha, that would settle the great Android vs Iphone debate. 'Iphone, the brand Jesus would use!'"

Anyhow, wizarding world of the world wide web. Happy Memorial Day weekend. Don't forget to remember our Vets and service people; they give up a lot, to fight for us and our freedoms. (PS. Don't spend an hour youtube-ing surprise military reunions, unless you want to cry. If you want to cry and you just can't force the tears out. Go watch.)

Thank you Veterans. Thank you active service people. Thank you for giving up YOUR time, your families and your lives, so that I can enjoy mine. Your deeds are not forgotten.