HELLLLOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Hi family! I miss you sooo much! But I'm having the time of my life with Sister Chan!!! YSA is weird and awesome all at the same time! This past week has been pretttyyyy gooodddd. Now being in YSA, I can't say I have as many good stories as El Cajon, this area is kind of struggling. We dropped two of our investigators but that's okay because the Lord will prepare them even more for future missionaries! We added someone though; his name is Caleb; he actually met with missionaries in the past but they just stopped meeting with him. I don't know why, but I think he has a lot of potential and education. He has been coming to YSA activities faithfully for three years! Isn't that incredible!? More than any of our other members! He's the coolest and we had a lesson with him and he remembered A LOT! I have high hopes for him.
We stopped by a less active's home and met a sweet old lady. She's amazing! She's raising six of her grandchildren, can barely walk, drives them to all of their activities and gets up at 4:00 am to read scriptures. Devotion!! Reminds me of some people I know. :) When we left Sister Chan and I had a heart to heart. We got in the car and Sister Chan said "Why does life have to be so hard?" (In regards to the older lady) We talked about the parable of the unprofitable servant. Among other things, I love Sister Chan because she's so thoughtful and sweet.

Every week YSA has FHE and a sports night, and sports nights are not well attended. We just stop by to see if there are any non members or any of our investigators. Generally every time there is someone, even there are like only six people in all. Haha. Three on three dodge ball game anyone? I'm out! Haha it was fun though.
Also, since Sister Chan is so boss and speaks Mandarin, Cantonese and English, she was asked to come to a class that's teaching older Chinese folks to learn English. Sweetest group of people! Wrinkly old Asian people are so cute! They don't stop smiling!! Haha and it's fun to hear them learn English. They're all non members, so the Elders share a spiritual message at the beginning of the class. It's really nice. Just a great atmosphere! And I'm so lucky to be able to help every week!!!
We also did some service this past Friday, raking up leaves at a nice park. It's called Penasquitos Canyon, or PQ Canyon. Super fun BECAUSE we get to wear these legit Farmers Hats!!!!! I LOVE IT!!! It's fantastic!!! It was really hot so we got all sweaty and dirty and gross!! So before zone meeting during our lunch hour we went home to clean up. Sister Chan was in the shower. I was waiting to clean my feet off after she was done. But it was just too hot and I wanted to be ableto get back into my dress so I would be cooler. (Our apartment is SO hot--two fans don't always suffice when you have no AC but it's good for me.) Anyways, I decided to stretch my feet up into the sink and wash them with the sponge. I haven't told Sister Chan yet. Maybe this week. Haha
The Zone meeting was SUPER good. It was all about faith. I have learned I have a long ways to go when it comes to faith. But we did this really FUN activity in the hallway (F.A.I.T.H.) We split into two teams and we had four pieces of cardboard. The goal was to go a certain distance and beat the other team. We had to always be touching the cardboard squares or we'd lose. Some squares could only go backwards and some could only go forwards. It was interesting--especially being a Sister and not wanting to get anywhere near the Elders, never mind a tiny cardboard square. So that was interesting. No, no rules were broken, just a lot of laughs to be had. The rest of the meeting was fantastic. We went over the Faith to Reap talk by Elder Bednar. You all should read it! It's fantastic! Also the Mandarin Sisters came in and trained us on how to street contact Chinese people on the street. We got materials and everything! I'm pumped and ready to go! Nihao! (Sister Chan just laughs at me) :) Just one thing I learned is that faith can never be complete without Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Never.
PQ has been struggling just to find people to teach and talk to on the streets. But we tied it all back to faith: if we have faith in Christ that we will talk to ten people each day, we will. And right after that meeting, we talked to 13 people!! Then the next day we talked to 20!!!! But most days usually are like what the next day was like. We talked to zero people. But that's okay! Not everyday will we see a miracle. Being a missionary and staying positive is a miracle to me and I feel like I've been able to do that. Being happy is so much easier and better than talking myself into discouragement. I prefer it so much more.
Also, while I was having personal study I came across this scripture in The Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 8:8. It says
"And after I had traveled for the space of many hours in darkness, I began to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on me, according to the multitude of his tender mercies."
So Lehi, a prophet, had a dream about a glorious tree that produced the most beautiful fruit, but before he got to the prize, he was in the dark for MANY hours. That was something I had never noticed before and was very comforting to me. Even a prophet has traveled in darkness! We all do! That's what faith is: a step in the dark. So that's what I'm striving to do in this area--to step in the dark. I have faith in Christ that if I do that I will see a light eventually.
Also, what I think is really cool, is every fast Sunday, which was last Sunday due to conference, our branch has a search and rescue. People from the branch meet together and we go to try and find people who we haven't seen in a while from the branch. It was awesome! Search and rescue for the win! One car came back FULL with non members and less actives! Legit!
It being fast Sunday, and my first time in the branch, I bore my testimony. I'm surprised at how much easier I've found it to bear my most personal thoughts and feelings, but I want to. I want people to know that I know that I have a Savior who loves me and I love him. And nothing will ever change that.
So life is pretty grand and today I auditioned to be in the next Mission President's Fireside in El Cajon with my MTC companion Sister Carlson!!!! Two things I love so dearly!!!! Hopefully we got in. We will know by tonight or tomorrow morning. I'm pumped.
Know that I love you all. I love being a missionary. I love PQ and I love Sister Chan!
Love,
Sister Whitcomb