BOOM BOOM BOOM

MI FAMILIA!!!!!
!Buenos Dias! Just kidding, I'm not a Hermana! ;)
Man oh man, how time flies.
I hit my 10 month mark on Sunday, weird, I know. What's even weirder is that my companion, my trainer, is going home next week!!!!!! :( :( :( :( :( Super sad.
I can't believe the next transfer is almost happening! CRAZY!
I hope you all have had a marvelous week that has been filled with the spirit! Here is what mine was like:
Tuesday night was a marvelous night filled with the spirit! Jeffrey R. Holland is the MAN! So good! And our Senior Missionary couple over the YSA, the Monks, made us milkshakes! The Monks' Milkshakes are the BEST!!! They even have a cool machine to make them.:)

I love them a lot!
On Wednesday we had a fun filled day! First it started with service, and that is the best way to do it! The food bank in Santee. I love it when we go there because they are always like, "THE SISTERS ARE HERE!!" And then they hand us their cleaning supplies and let us clean out the moldy fridges haha. But seriously I love hat place and I love the people I have come to known! I'm glad Sis Stew got to experience it! Then it was BOOM BOOM BOOM! APPOINTMENTS!
Those are the best!
We first met with Jake, what a funny guy. He cracks me up without even meaning to. Then Eddie, one of the strongest converts I have seen. We also met with him on Sunday to introduce to him Power Hour. We had a little spiritual thought and invited him to come out with us. He was SO excited! And then we asked him if he wouldn't mind praying to see where we should go. So he said the most sweetest sincere prayer and then afterwards we explained it would be good to sit in silence so we can listen to what Heavenly Father is trying to tell us. So we did, I peeked open my eyes after the prayer and saw Eddie with his eyes still closed, head bowed on his knees, really trying to receive revelation. AND HE DID!!! So we are going to Lake Murray on Thursday with him! GET PUMPED!!! :) :) :)
He's cool.
And also in the YSA we have about three sisters that come to Relief Society; and they are the presidency. So we've been on a mission to recruit more sisters.
We went to a YSA's house who's been going to her family ward and we snagged her! She actually ended up being our companion on Sunday when we split between the different wards. Leticia. What a sweetheart! :)
We then had power hour and we've been planning them around members' homes so before we start we can go over and ask to say a prayer with them so we can see miracles. And then we report back to them either by text or email. And when we went to the Millers we found Gru's house! (From Despicable Me.) It was pretty cool.

Gru's house

On a more important note we gave a Book of Mormon to someone! That's the best gift I can ever give anyone and I make sure the person who is receiving it knows it. It's awesome.
Power hour sometimes has a lot to do with spiritual training. It's cool to hear the spirit yell at you to turn around. Cool thing.
Then we had dinner with the Leavitts and Vanessa! I LOVE VANESSA SOOOOO MUCH!! She's the sweetest, she brought a cute bundt cake and we talked about goals we have and goals Heavenly Father has for us. Vanessa has a goal to HAVE AN ETERNAL FAMILY!!!
This week we are having a lesson with her at the Temple, I'm so excited!!! :) :)
We also taught Saturday and she fed us breakfast!
She's so cute! And she's working on her Family History! Oh she's awesome! She wants to involve her Mom too! And then when she came to church on Sunday she found me several times and gave me some hugs. It was the best. :)
Then in Relief Society she was surrounded by members and she got the missionary dinner calendar and we saw her ask what it was and someone explained and then she signed up! Oh she's the best! Then that night we were trying to find less actives, they ended up being sick. But we found some cool potentials and to one of the people we were talking to we asked "Who do you know who has recently moved into the area?" Trying to look for service opportunities. And he pointed us to this apartment, we went to go knock on the door. We knocked, they opened and then they were like, "Oh Elders! Come in! Wait just kidding, you're Sisters! Come in! I'm sure our faces looked so confused because we truly were!
They sat us down and by the way they were talking about wards and such we determined they were members. And then during their conversation they were like, "Man you're good! That was quick!" And then we told them what truly happened! It was the spirit! :)
And we had a really cool lesson where we realized that the Dad was really struggling, he opened up a lot to us. Trust was definitely built and I'm excited to go back and help that family.
Thursday again started with service!
The Spanish sisters have been setting up a time for our district to go sing at a nursing home. So we did! It was so fun! Just for 30 minutes we sang to our cute elderly friends. They were dancing and smiling, don't worry, it was all hymns and one primary song. Of course we had to do Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree! Hand actions and everything. I really am turning into Mom. ;) It was fun to shake all of their hands afterwards as well. I'm looking forward to doing it again! :)
Then we weekly planned and had dinner with the cute Whitlock family! The ones (they're wearing matching purple shirts) that are in the Mormon message, "Expressions of Love."
Don't worry, we got a picture with them. :)

The Whitlocks

Then we met with a YSA less active who lived in Lakeside. It was good, but she really couldn't tell us anything about Jesus Christ. So it was good to go back to the basics and remind myself how grateful I am for the knowledge and testimony I do have of my Savior. Thanks familia!
Friday was departures for the departing missionaries, so Sister Stewart got to go to the temple with President and Sister Schmitt and do a session. So that meant I got to go to Hillsdale and Jamul with those Sisters! Never companion-less! So we just turned it into an exchange!
I loved being in my first area(s). One of the highlights, we were walking on Taylor's old street and I ran into Chris! Chris is a former investigator, a friend of Taylor's brother Aaron and we taught him for like three lessons. I asked him if he was still reading the Book of Mormon. He wasn't but he said when he was, he got through half of it! So cool! We left him with our phone number! TENDER MERCIES!! We also went up into Jamul and did some service. It was nice to see the hills of Jamul. :)
I also got to see some of the less actives in Hillsdale. It's sad to see them still in their situations but I was happy one of them set a goal to bring their mother's name to the temple!!
WOOOHOOO!!!
And also it was cool how I got to share the gospel from the car and invite her to be baptized!
Don't worry, the spirit was there and she walked away with the Book of Mormon. A referral for the Elders in Tecate, Mexico!!!! :)
And in our area Sister Stewart was with Sister Stewart!! Weird, I know.
But they were able to see Gail, our 77 year old investigator. And in The Book of Mormon she was in JAROM!!! In JAROM!! How crazy is that! CRAZY. She says she listens to it in the morning and in the evening. It relaxes her, I love that sweet lady. So the sisters were able to commit her to baptism for April 9th! Just have to get her to church! :) I love her.
Saturday was the BEST!!!
BECAUSE JULIE WENT TO THE TEMPLE WITH A FAMILY NAME!!!!!! So we got to go. :)
The family name was Miss Wire.
I know Miss Wire must be so happy and grateful to Julie! :)
I know I am! :)
Julie is just so happy! I learn a lot from her. I'm so grateful for her! And guess what, her dad Doug, HE CAME TO CHURCH!!!! WOOOHOOO!!! I was sooo happy when they both walked through the door! :)
Ah. So many tender feelings. We also had luck with a member, a member missionary lesson with a YSA, and then a cool power hour in Lakeside. So we were trying to go pray with our Elders Quorum president but when we were driving there we realized it was probably like the worst place to have a power hour. We were trying to find his house in these curvy, narrow, dirt roads and Sis Stew was backing me up and she saw some people and she started to talk to them. THEY WERE MEMBERS!!! And they hadn't been in like 20 years, she was about in her 60s and she had a YSA son who was there and he was actually baptized four years ago! Surprise members!! And they both said no one knew they were there so it definitely was for a reason! :)
God is good.
Then on Sunday we had two investigators there! Vanessa and Stephanie! We also were able to present the Easter initiative. #HALLELUJAH!!! I love how it means "Praise YE Jehovah."
How are you praising Christ? How are you showing your gratitude for him?
I'm serving him with all my might, mind, and strength and I hope to do that for the rest of my life! I'VE NEVER BEEN HAPPIER!! You all should try it someday. :)
AND ALSO ANTHONY, our recent convert, IS ENGAGED TO DULCE!!! His girlfriend who introduced him to the church.

the happy couple (and the ring!)

THEY ARE GOING TO GET MARRIED IN THE HAWAII TEMPLE IN FEBRUARY!!!
AHHHHHHHH. Maybe somehow I'll be with Sister Pilkington in Hawaii in February. ;)
On Monday we went on another exchange, the last exchange of the transfer!! And I stayed in our area with my sister! Sister Hendrix! She was trained by Sister Stewart! We have the same trainer! :) It was cool to be with her, she's from Georgia, a hard background but has a strong testimony of the gospel.
Sadly, all of our appointments cancelled except for one, Ben Raab, the 10 year old recent convert. She was really good with him and we had a great lesson! :) For our power hour we were trying to find a YSAs house to pray with him, couldn't find it. But we were talking to people along the way and along the way someone referred us to his neighbor. So we showed her the Easter Video. We talked about the restoration and offered her a Book of Mormon. Someone had given her one two weeks ago! How more prepared could you get? We invited her to be baptized and she accepted! A great referral for the Elders in the family ward! Someday they will be our investigators! :) When you send referrals you get referrals. :)
It was a good Monday of talking to everyone and sharing the Easter video. Something I've loved doing with members is having them pull out a pen and paper and for 90 seconds have them write down every non member they know, doesn't matter how well and it doesn't matter if they are interested in the gospel. And then after that we invite them as we share the message to pay attention to what the spirit tells them and what name stands out to them and how they can help them increase their faith! It's worked really well! :)
YOU ALL ARE THE BEST!! I'm so blessed to have you all in my life.
You're all in my prayers and I hope this Easter season you all take a moment everyday for the REST of your life and remember what he did for YOU. I love you all, I'm cheering for all of you! :)
Love,
Sister Whitcomb

a hike in the Hills of Ramona