Kingsbridge #5

Hello family!

I am headed to the city today to see the Empire State Building so I
don't have too much time to email. I am going to write as I travel on
the subways.

So we had a good week this week. So on Friday I went to Olmstead to do
a split with sister Hazelton. It was a really fun split. I think my
favorite thing about being a sister training leader is getting to know
so many of the sisters I otherwise wouldn't have been able to meet. I
also really enjoy the meetings we get to have with president Morgan. I
love hearing him speak so much because he always motivates and
inspires me so much! So I love having the chance to hear from him in
meetings. Well on Saturday morning I woke up feeling really sick. My
stomach was really aching and in pain. I think it might have been
because I had eaten SOO much food on Thursday and Friday. Here is what
I ate:

Thurs lunch: corn dog, spaghetti, mango, ice cream bar
Thurs dinner 1: curry chicken, rice, salad, corn beef, cabbage, fruit salad
Thurs dinner 2: burrito, root beer float
Friday breakfast: cereal
Total weigh gain at this point: 6 pounds
Friday lunch: rice and beans, pork, corn on the cob, flan for dessert

I had eaten so much on Thursday that I actually had a headache. But I
didn't think too much more about it until Saturday when I was really
hurting. My stomach has been hurting since Saturday morning. I gained
6 pounds and then lost 9 pounds in 3 days. I am feeling a little
better but not all the way so I think we are going to call sister
Morgan today.

Well we are still in the city. I am eating at steak and shake looking
out the window at a line full of people going in to see the Late Night
show with David Letterman. In the city it makes me feel like I am
really in NY. We went to the lobby of the Empire State Building but
our connection to get in for free ended up not working out. We also
went to high line walk way. It is an old railroad track that was
turned into a walkway. It was really cool. We did a ton of walking
today and I am tired! I'm ready to head back.

Well I can't think of too much more that happened this week. Sorry
this is short one! But I hope all the pictures made up for it :)

Love you lots!

Kingsbridge #3

Hola mi familia! Como estas?

So this has been a busy and eventful week! 

First off Miriam was baptized!! We were so happy for her! But it was quite an adventure leading up to the baptism. 

The baptism was at 4:00 but we thought we'd go and look at the font to get an idea of when we should start filling it. We turned on the water to find out that it is freezing, FREEZING, ice cold! The knob for "hot" was cold and the knob for "cold"  was so cold that it was numbing. If anyone was baptized in that I'm pretty sure they would go into shock haha. So we had to make some calls to Bishop and such. Our options were 1. To reschedule or 2. to see if they are okay with being baptized in freezing cold water. We did not want to reschedule and neither did Mariam. We filled the font with about 6 inches of freezing cold water while we went down to the basement to see if we could find a hot water heater. We found a locked door to a small room that we thought the hot water heater was in. We busted the door open with the card and sure enough there was the hot water heater. We switch some buttons and hoped for the best. We ran upstairs to feel if the water was any hotter.... It was a few degrees more than lukewarm haha. Now it's about 2:15. The font takes about three hours to fill and the baptism is in one hour and 45 minutes! The 6 inches of water in the font already is freezing and the water coming in is barely warm. And with the rate that it is filling, the baptism will start one hour and 15 minutes late. Now at the church it is me, sister Crawford, 3 elders, the senior missionaries and two members from the Spanish ward. We all start filling buckets and anything we can find with warmish water to fill the font. In the kitchen we had five massive pots being boiled. We would empty it into this huge tub thing and wheel it over with a cart to the font. Then we would dump the boiling hot water in. We would fill the pots, boil more and repeat! The Elders were filling a big sports water jug. They were filling it up from the janitors closet. And others were in the bathroom with pitchers and buckets to fill them up over the sink. Sister Crawford and I had left the bucket filling in the sink and forgot about it, so we totally flooded the bathroom. We got a mop and mopped it up. And due to our absent-brained minds and our lack of ability to learn from our mistakes, we had the pleasure of mopping up the bathroom two more times after that hahaha. We felt pretty silly, but I don't think that bathroom floor has ever been so clean! ;) it was quite the scene to watch, but it all worked out! :)

So we are kept really busy with our calling! We split a lot and don't have the full amount of time to work in our area but it has been really awesome! Being an STL makes me want to be a better missionary all the time. The sisters we work with are awesome :) We went on a split this week with a companionship from Olmstead, that was fun :) we will be going on another split tomorrow with the Spanish sisters here in Kingsbridge. And on Friday I went to my first missionary leadership meeting. That is when all the sister training leaders and zone leaders meet together with President and the AP's. We talked about the mission and how we are doing, we talked about online proselyting and things we can do to help our mission to use it more effectively. He always starts off with sharing some awesome gospel insight. I love President Morgan and his wife. I feel so so blessed to serve with such amazing people. They inspire me daily to be better. 

Speaking of being inspired to do better, We also had zone conference yesterday, hence why our pday is today and I am emailing you. It was AWESOME. Remember how as a mission we committed to be consecrated individually and collectively in September? Well since we've received our iPad, as a mission our focus has shifted as we have tried to adjust to the iPads, Facebook, new apps, ect. But now we have had sufficient time to adjust and we as a mission were committed again to be consecrated. I felt the spirit so strongly. In my heart I committed again to my Heavenly Father that I will give it my all. Every thought. Every effort. Every minute will be His. I will strive to cast away all my fears, pride and negativity. I will strive to be more consecrated. I received very specific things by the spirit on how I can improve. I was so thankful for all the speakers and to have been so spiritually charged. Man, I love missionary work. I love it. Hannah always says to me it's the best job, with the best boss, with the best pay. And I agree. 

I just want to share my testimony that I know the gospel changes lives. I have seen it so many times on my mission. I have watched as people are transformed! Their hearts are changed! They become new creatures. The darkness in their life is replaced with light! They are filled with joy!  This change comes through living the gospel. But most importantly, I have seen this change in me. I have seen my own heart change. I can feel myself becoming a new person. And I love it. I love this gospel. I know that Christ lives. I know that he has shown us the way to live our lives, to transform our lives, and to become like him. 

I love you all so much! I hope that you have a wonderful week! Keep supporting the missionaries there in Oregon, it makes a world of difference to them!