It Was The Best of Weeks... Its Was The Worst of Weeks

It was the best of weeks...it was the worst of weeks. I absolutely ADORED the pictures from when Ty and Jen came :) I hope Gabe had a great birthday. The pictures of Macie are absolutely gorgeous! I showed Hermana Dando and we were both just dying. Can't wait to hold her :)

So, we had the most amazing thing happen this week! We decided to go and see Myraim this week to see how she was doing. We rolled up to her house and she was actually there. I guess she quit her job because they were taking advantage of her and weren't paying her. She told us that she wanted to come to church with us on Sunday and that she really wanted to be baptized still. We told her that we would have to move her date and she picked next Sunday! Easter Sunday! It was so perfect! However, she had started smoking to help her get over previous addictions. We told her that she would have to stop smoking and she asked us when she should start. Her daughter looked at her and said, "Today." She agrees but asked us if she could just smoke one more cigarette. We said ok and she pulled out one more and gave the rest of her pack to her brother. We had her brother and her daughter sign little papers that said, "I will not let Myriam smoke." She was bound and determined to do it! We had to leave but not before we said a prayer. I helped her daughter say a prayer and we said Amen, got up and Myriam was crying. She said, "Here is my last cigarette," and handed Hermana Dando the remains of her crumpled up cigarette. We were all crying. Her little daughter gave her a hug and said, "Mommy, I don't want you to be like those people on tv that have to smoke through a hole and have no legs." It was SO powerful and the Spirit was definitely there! That was one of those miracles that you only hear people talk about when they come home.  :)

However, miracle was a little short-lived. We called Myriam on Sunday to make sure that she was going to be ready for her ride. She sent us a text saying that she wasn't going to be able to make it due to her father. Apparently, she was at a family party the night before and told her parents that she was going to be baptized and her father said he would disown her if she did it. Um, we were distraught! We booked it over to her house before church to try and see how we could help her. Basically, she knows that the church is true and she wants to be baptized but she loves her family and is scared...naturally. She was crying and we were crying. And then her brother, bless his heart, told her that if she were baptized then she would regret it for the rest of her life. Needless to say, she didn't come to church. Sister Potter came over to give her a ride and talked to her about it, and that helped a little. A ver que pasa con esto...I'm not sure if it was just the straw that broke the camel's back, or we were just so emotionally invested in the situation, but Hermana Dando and I just bawled...all the way to the church (which we were 20 minutes late for), all during sacrament, Sunday school, relief society, and most of the afternoon. On top of that, we were fasting so you can imagine how physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually drained we were. We crashed hard after church. So...that was basically what happened this week.

And now for the comic relief. It wouldn't be a true mission if you didn't do something stupid and ditzy once in a while. So, we bought a Mexican flag this week and I decided to hang it above our fireplace. We have no pictures in our new apartment and were in dire need of some wall decorum. Anywho, Hermana Dando and I were pinning it up and I was going to step off of the chair to make sure it was centered. Missionary Tip #93: when standing on chairs, make sure that they don't have wheels and spin in every direction. Yeah, I lost my balance and started to fall off of the chair. It tipped over, and I still managed to stay on my feet..but I was back-peddling to keep my balance. Conveniently enough, the exercise ball was right behind me. I bounced on top of that-folding myself in half-and rolled a couple of times to the side and finally came to a graceful halt on the wall. I'm not sure who was laughing harder...me or my comp. My only battle wounds included a nasty case of whiplash and some seriously injured pride. However, it proved to be the thing that kept us on our feet Sunday so it was well worth it. Oh the joys of a mission... :)

Love, Hermana Freestone

Fun Fact Week

15 Fun Facts From Week 52:

1. 2 mattress CAN fit in the back of a 2012 Toyota Corolla

2. 4 sisters moving an apartment is much more efficient than 4 elders

3. dying my milk green will make me sick to my stomach (and REALLY annoy my comp)

4. women do NOT need the Priesthood (thank you Elder Oaks)

5. No hay Santo como El Senor :)

6. The church is true

7. Hermana Freestone can learn to speak Spanish

8. Hispanics like to shove your face in cake when you celebrate your birthday

9. children need supportive parents in their lives

10. serving others brings more happiness than living life for yourself

11. drinking 64 oz. of a nasty health drink WILL throw off your bowel schedule...hardcore!

12. life really IS learning how to dance in the rain-even if the rain is hail and you and your companion are soaked to the bone

13. you never know how much you love someone until you have to leave them

14. eventually, you have to start thinking about going home (Hna Dando got her first set of trunky papers-which means mine come next transfer)

15. Seeing recent converts thriving in the church is the proudest moment you can have as a missionary

So, some of these will go without explanation, but it was a LONG week! We had exchanges and I was able to go back to Lodi with Hermana Thomas. She is an AMAZING missionary! We were able to see Alejandro and Susana and I just wanted to cry the whole time because I was so happy to see them! They are doing so well! I didn't want to leave. They asked who they had to call to get me sent back there. Sweethearts! :)

We moved. It was rough. We were depressed (as in couldn't get out of bed for a while, moped around the house, and cried all day) for a couple of days, but it's starting to wear off. We had a good second half of the week and we still visit because we are in the same complex.

We went to another Christian church on Saturday night. It was, as a lady in Lodi best explained it, Rock and Roll for Jesus. We lost a little bit of our hearing, but we're coming around. It was very interesting. I felt bad, because I didn't feel the spirit at all. Not that it was bad or anything, it just was very loud the entire time and I couldn't feel the peace that I feel when the Spirit is around. 

General Conference was UH-MAZING! I wish I could write about everything that I loved, but there's too little time. My two favorite talks were Elder Holland's and Sister Reeves'. I listened to the Sunday morning session in Spanish because the people that we went to church with came to that session of conference. I liked what I understood. You just don't get the full effect in another language. Also, it's a different voice-it takes away some of the magic for me.

Well, sorry I didn't get to write a lot. It's been a great week though and we are working with some amazing people! This church is true and I love it with all of my heart! 

Hope you all have a good week!

Love, Hermana Freestone

1. dancing in the rain

2. alex and susana

3. thomas, cardullo, yo, dando

4. us at church (blurry :(...)

5. coolest cake EVER!

6. "que muerda la torta!" (the elders really enjoyed this)

7. package from home!

8. sushi lunch

9. 22!~

I Don't Know About You, But I'm Feeling 22!

Can I just say that I stinking LOVE my companion! I am going to cry like a baby when transfers come...we try not to talk about it.

     So, this week has been so great! Last P-Day we went with the Potters all day to visit sites around Stockton. There is a Buddhist  temple here and it was the neatest thing ever! They are getting ready for the Cambodian New- Year and they are beefing it up with lots of color and decoration. We walked around and got to see a lot of neat statues and monuments. I wish we could have known what it all meant, but it was a very neat thing. We also went to see this really cool place where the very first Mormon pioneers landed in the port of Stockton on a ship called "The Comet." We saw the memorial and walked around in the little dock thing they have there. While we were in front of the memorial we sang the first verse of "Come, Come Ye Saints." It was pretty neat :)

     So, Myriam...we love her very much...bless her heart. She got a job last week and started last Monday. I'm just worried because she is working 12 hour days-at least- and she has kids at home. I am learning more and more on my mission about the importance of having at least one parent home with your kids. Before my mission I didn't really get that. Going into other people's homes I see the importance of a mother's influence and I can also see the effect that it has on children when they are alone. It's not pretty. So, back to Myriam-we are really hoping to be able to get ahold of her sometime soon. Pray for us!

     We also had our Spanish conference this past week. I was beside myself because I got to say hi to all of the Hermanas :) Hermana Crane and Kennard go home at the end of this transfer and I am super sad! I will miss them both-especially Hermana Crane. We learned a lot of good things about "embracing the culture" which we do a great job of because any Spanish event we've been to never starts on time. President Lewis usually has 1 or 2 heart attacks because we're not exactly on schedule :) Presidente Martinez spoke about things that we can to "find when we teach and teach when we find." It is actually a fun little activity that I am excited to do with the members.

     Quick update on the Spanish. Hermana Dando and I have taken SYL (speak your language) to a while new level. The other morning she asked me in Spanish if I was going to get in the shower. It was a little slow and patchy for her so I asked her about it when I got out of the shower...she was definitely asleep and had no recollection whatsoever of asking me that. I had to giggle. However, that same night, I did the same thing. She asked me the next morning what I was yelling about in Spanish the night before. I told her that I definitely slept through the whole night-which is unusual for both of us. She told me I was going on about something in Spanish. So there you go. I can sleep talk in two languages now :)

     Thursday was UH-MAZING! Yes, I am old. Yes, my eggs are dying. Yes, feel older. But no, I wouldn't trade the mission for anything! This was probably one of the my most favorite birthdays of all time. My amazingly wonderful companion made me breakfast and sang to me. Sister Abbott and Sister Repman sang to me too. I opened a wonderful package from home-along with about 10 other letters (thank you all for your love and birthday wishes). Also, my fantastic companion made a cake for district meeting and the elders all sang and I had to blow out 22 candles (I'm not sure what I'll do next year...it took all I had to get them all out). Then we went for sushi-please be jealous-which was so yummy. And, what made it so great was that Hermana Dando doesn't even really like sushi, but she went because she wanted to make my day special. I LOVE HER! We also ate diner with the bishop and his family, ate more cake, and they sang to me in Danish because his wife is from Denmark. President and Sister Lewis also called to sing at the end of the day. It was just a fabulous birthday.

     It has been raining a lot here, but that has made things interesting. It's hard to contact, but people are a lot more willing to let us into their homes-especially when genius Hermana Freestone leaves her umbrella in the car. We were looking pretty ratchet, but it was fun!

     The work is going here. We are doing everything that we can to find some more people. I LOVE my mission and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world-because an eternity for someone else is worth so much MORE than that! I hope you all have a fantastic week and I look forward to hearing about from you. 

Love always,

Hermana Freestone :) 

Just Trust The Spirit

    This week has been a roller coaster, but to all of you that served a mission you know that pretty much every week is like that. But, for the most part, it has been really great! We added a new lady on Monday named Myriam. She was an old investigator of Hermana Dando's. I don't remember if I told you about her or not...? Anywho, we had couple of really great lesson with her this week. We took Hermana Ausban over on Tuesday and taught the Restoration. Sister Ausban bore the swwetest testimony and started to cry and the spirit was so intense that we all had chills everywhere! Myriam said that she wanted to get baptized. I was thinking about the date April 12, but I hesitated for a second to make sure that it was on a Saturday. No worries y'all, my companion decided to just pick it up and run with it and asked her if she would prepare to be baptized on April 12th. So, lesson learned: don't worry about logistics, just trust the Spirit. There were a lot of little kids running around so it was really hard for her to concentrate so we decided to have our next lesson at the church. Sister Potter (who is FANTASTIC!) picked up Myriam and her 2 daughters-that was unexpected. We went to the church and took her on a mini church tour and ended up in the nursery so that her girls-7 and2- could play and we taught her a super powerful Plan of Salvation lesson! Like, I thought the doors were going to burst open because the Spirit couldn't fit in there status. We gave her a picture of her favorite temple (one in Idaho) and she was so excited and happy that she started to cry. She came to church on Sunday and it was fantastic. I was dying inside for 3 hours because her little 2 year-old was running all over the place-like we're talking I had to go up on the stand and retrieve her so that she would stop playing the piano with Hna Dando during the special musical number-but it all worked out. Her daughter that is 7 doesn't really speak Spanish and she didn't understand much but she LOVED primary and wants to come back next week. We were worried that she would have to go to an English ward, but she liked how well the people in our ward welcomed her and how she felt the Spirit. She also told the entire Relief Society that she was going to be baptized. I was so excited! I was happy when it was over. Sundays are so great, but so stressful!

     We had a fantastic training this week from our mission President. At first I was just like, "Eh, we're just going to get chastised for not baptizing again." HoweverI was crying by the end of it. We had some super spiritual moments and then President Lewis pulls out that clip from the movie Facing Giants. The one where the coach expects one of his players to do his very best in the "death crawl." I have seen it before but it took on an entirely new meaning for me as a missionary. You should all get on YouTube and watch it. It will make you want to give the Lord your very best. It also made me realize that the only people that set limitations for you is YOU! LOVED it!

     So, you could say that it has been a very uplifting week! Just a small request, could you all throw some prayers in the way of my amazing companion Hermana Dando and her family? It would be much appreciated. Also, keep up praying for Sister Abbott and her family-the Lord is blessing them in ways that I can't even describe to you. Isn't the power of prayer amazing!

Love always, 

Hermana Freestone

P.S. Also this: Hna Dando is a collector of magnificent talks. Here's the link to one I read this week by Elder Holland. It's EPIC!

1. us as pioneers

2. RS with the cake :)

3. my fantastic comp :)