Pues...Como Fue Mi Semana?

 Ok, so last Monday night we were tracting and I saw these two case-looking things on top of a house (I'll send a picture) and I asked Hna Toro what they were. Without skipping a beat she turned to me and said, "Alien pods for when the aliens come." I think it took a couple of minutes for both of us to stop laughing! So we start tracting down this street and come to a house that has one of those little "no soliciting" signs. Well, we're not solicitors so we usually ignore the signs. We knocked on this door and a lady opens the door, looks at us, and before I can get anything out she just yells, "Uh! No! Don't even start! I don't want to hear it. Can't you read? Get off my porch!" And then proceeded to slam the door. Um...yeah, I was super bummed. We just had to laugh about it. However, my day was made when we met a lady like 5 doors down named Linda. She yelled at us from her yard, "My first sister missionaries!" (People treat us like we are such a rarity...they point to their kids ans whisper in church...I feel awkward) Anywho, it turns out that she has talked with missionaries before and she is a DIE-HARD David Archuleta fan. We're talking posters, autographs, CDs, DVDs, she follows him on Twitter, FB, and e-mails him back and forth (before his mission). It was pretty crazy. By the time we got out of her house we had a copy of his Christmas DVD with the Tab Choir and his new CD-deluxe edition. It kind of made my day!

     I also had the privilege of spending 3 consecutive days in Tracy this week. Wow...let me tell you. Areas and companions are definitely inspired. I love meeting the other sisters, but after 3 days I was SO ready to be back with Hna Toro. We did have some fun there, though. I ate at a Taqueria (my new favorite-don't be too jealous Daddy), I met some crazy members and one of the sweetest investigators ever that we taught about temples and eternal families, we talked about girls camp and all of those good times *cough* snipe hunting *cough.* I also got to go to district meeting with them. Well, their District Leader wanted to use a game of dodgeball as an object lesson. I don't remember exactly how it was supposed to tie together, but the first round we only used one ball. The idea was that one team wouldn't win because there was only one ball. Well, you know me, it doesn't really matter if I 'm in a skirt...dodgeball is dodgeball! After I got both of the elders out in the first minute (I made a sweet diving catch) their district leader soon realized that his object lesson wasn't going to work out :) My bad! But it really was a great lesson about goal-setting! We drove there with Hna Crane and Hna Naatjes...that was fun! I love those two!

     So, since the 24th was Pioneer Day, Hna Maroquin and I felt that we needed to celebrate. So, that night we pulled out some sparklers and Pop-Its (thank you grandma) and had ourselves a mini celebration by waving sparklers around and have Pop-Its wars :) Ok, funny story. This world really is so small. The Tracy West Sisters live with the Robinson Family. I met Brother Robinson the last night I was there (they were all at girls camp) and I told him I was from Morgan. He asked if my kindergarten teacher was Mrs. Stevens. I told him yes and asked how he know that. News flash! Sister Stevens is his AUNT (side note: Sister Stevens lives in my ward)! What the random!? So there you go. 

     By way of investigators, we added a lady this week named Marilu. I have met her a couple of times and Hna Toro was able to teach her this week with Hna Dando...or maybe it was Hna Arntsen...I can't remember. Anyway, I'm super excited to teach them! She is the nicest lady and her son seems pretty interested too. They were taught by sisters about 10 years ago and then they brought the elders in and they totally muffed it up so now we are having to do some serious damage control with the Dad. Our other investigator can hardly ever come to church because her husband doesn't really let her. It's super triste. We are going to have to find some more people to teach. I know that they are out there, we just have to find them!

     Well, I love you all so so much family! Bummer about Grandpa Jake...but, he's in a better place. I'm excited for Kris and Lori! Wish I could be there! I'll be there in spirit though :) Keep on being amazing! I love hearing from you and about all of your adventures! Work hard, have fun, git 'r done :)

Love always, Hermana Freestone

I will do what he wants me to do

     This week, to be totally honest, was really rough. We had 3 exchanges and all of our investigators just kept bailing on us and, for some reason, people think that they have better things to do on a summer afternoon than listen to the missionaries...the nerve of some people. Ha! However, the Lord knows us and knows what we can and can't handle. Tuesday was probably the hardest day, but I was working with Hna Crane. She is from Grantsville. Oh my goodness. She just kept me laughing the entire day! Seriously, I just love her so so much! I didn't get any pictures with her, but I think I am going to be with her and Hna Naatjes for the next three days so I'm sure we will have a few Kodak moments for you. On Wednesday a I was with Hna Pitcher again. We had a miracle that day! We were teaching Alejandro y Susana (our recent convert) about obedience. We had them watch the conference talk that President Monson gave (quick note: if you think your children misbehave, just remember that a prophet of God almost burnt down Provo canyon as a boy-that should lift your spirits a little). They thought is was super funny! As we were about to wrap up the lesson one of Susana's friends came over to chat. We found out that she has been praying for more guidance in her life, and then she found us. I have seen too many miracles to believe in coincidences any more. We got her contact information and we are, hopefully, going to see her this week. The Lord works in mysterious ways! Funny story, her name is Esperanza (hope). On Saturday I was with Hna Naatjes. We did a LOT of tracting! Thankfully, the weather is staying around the 90's and out of the 100's so we get a small break. How's the weather at home? I heard it rained last week...wouldn't that be nice? :)

     We have been having a hard time getting the members to give us people that we can visit. I am officially challenging you all to think of someone you know that could benefit from the gospel in their lives so that when the missionaries ask you who else they can visit, you know! You all have friends, family, or neighbors that could benefit from the gospel. Now ask the missionaries, they can help! Thank you Elder Nelson! Sorry, soap box moment. For reals though. Try to think of people. And maybe see if you can go out with the missionaries to appointments. The numbers of people baptized is ridiculously higher when members are willing to help out and go out on visits. Help bring souls unto Christ! That's part of your baptismal covenant, btw. 

     The most exciting thing that happened was during one of our lessons. We asked the Elders to come and give one of our investigators a blessing. They did a wonderful job and were getting ready to take off. Well, one of the Elders (they were on exchanges) isn't supposed to be on bikes because he has high blood pressure and it is super hot outside. We sat down to start our lesson and I looked back just in time to see this Elder pass out on the lawn. That was fun. We got him into the shade, gave him some water, put a cold washcloth on his neck, and all that jazz. I got to play CNA on my mission. Fun! It took about 20 minutes before he was able to stand up and a member came to pick him up. Oh the joys of a mission!

Love always, Hermana Freestone

Hello Plan Of Salvation!

  There hasn't been too much to write about this week. One thing that is really neat is one of the girls in our ward who is 19 turned in her papers this week! She has come out with us a few times and she is the sweetest girl ever! Hna Toro and I have placed our bets on where she is going. We decided on El Salvador since that is where her mother is from. We'll see I guess. She kept asking us about how long it takes to get a call and I got a little nostalgic about putting in my papers. That seems like forever ago. I feel bad for her now because she is just having to wait...ugh! It's the worst!

     We have found a few new investigators this week. One of them is the wife of one of our investigators. We finally met her last week and she had questions like "what is my purpose here" and "where are we going after we die?" Um...HELLO PLAN OF SALVATION!!! Yeah, we were pretty excited about it! It's my favorite lesson to teach. I am SO my father's daughter! We started to teach them on Thursday. We never finished (they LOVE to talk) and we found out that she doesn't believe that families can be together forever. Like, how sad is that? Why would a loving Heavenly Father send us to earth with out families if He intended to break them up after we die? Seriously? That is so sad! So we are working on that one. Another one of our investigators we found tracting in a trailer park. Yup...that was fun. But she has a lot of potential and she agreed to be baptized if she finds out our message is true! Good times in Zion! We also finally got another investigator to church this week. It's like pulling teeth! Dulce never came again, but she lost her phone so it was really hard to contact her. She also told us that every time we come over she gets really excited and starts to pray and read her scriptures and she decides to go to church...and then her family and friends make her second-guess herself. Like, her friends always tell her that the Mormons are evil and all that jazz. It doesn't make sense to me how a people who are so centered around Jesus Christ and families can be so bad, but hey, we all have our agency. It is sad how some people use it though...

     Hna Toro went on an exchange on Wednesday so I spent the day with Hna Fullerton (p.s. sis, her brother served in the Guatemala City Central Mission-know him?). Funny story. We got to their apartment before they did to do the exchange so we hid around the corner of their apartment and I may or may not have scared the living daylights out Hna Pitcher. LOL! It was Hna Toro's idea. I was a little worried about this one because last time we were together I practically had a meltdown, but we had a really good day actually. We contacted a new family on their doorstep. Thankfully, we had a member with us who is a convert from the Catholic church. Pretty much everyone and their dog here is Catholic so having a convert on the doorstep with us really helped. And, we are going to see them this week. YAY! We also went and talked to a less-active member that night. The Spirit was so strong and he has the desire to come back to church but i don't think his wife and his kids do. We tried to call him to invite him to church, but he didn't answer...sad day. Church does wonders for you. I wish everyone could see that. Oh! She also had a meeting last Tuesday for Sister Training Leaders so I stayed with the sisters in Galt. Both of them are crippled due to knee injuries so we just hung out while one of them was in a drug-induced coma (she fell and hurt herself pretty bad and the bruise on her knee was insane). Well, one of the girls in our branch came to pick me up so we could go and meet Hna Toro and the members' house we were at had a gate in the front. I didn't know how to open it so I had to hop over the fence in my skirt. Let's be honest...it was really funny! Brenda got a kick out of it :)

     Well, I love you all and hope you are having fun and enjoying the summer. I see yard sales everywhere and everyday and just think that Mom would be in heaven if she were here :) Lodi is so small town and I love it! Stay classy! The church is true...the book is blue :)

Love, Hermana Freestone

     

     

Spanish Missionary or Stalker??

    Since it was transfer week we still did a bit of proselyting, but at 6 we had a zone activity. Hna Toro doesn't like sports all that much so she kinda just hung out on the stage with another sister while I took the liberty of getting as many elders as possible out in scatterball. It's like dodgeball, but every man to himself. I was diving all over the place...and I have the raspberries and bruises on my knees to prove it! Ha! It was so much fun to just let loose like that again. We played chair soccer after. Let's be honest, me vs. a bunch of Hispanic elders....I didn't have a snowball's chance in the bad place of winning, but it was fun just the same!

     The weather is finally starting to cool down here. The other day it was only in the low 90's and yesterday it was in the 80's. Beautiful! It made tracting not near as bad. We've had to drop quite a few of our investigators and the work is kind of at a stand still, but we are praying and searching really hard to find the people that the Lord had prepared for us. We visited Dulce again yesterday and, as all 14 year-old girls, she talked our ears off! She's so great though. We even got her to say a prayer with us. I had to tell her my first name in exchange for it, but hey, whatever gets the job done. It felt super weird to say my name though. My name is Hermana! We are also teaching a lady who is pretty solid, but her husband is super lame and won't let her do anything with religion. I've noticed that it is a common problem here. Whatever happened to equal partnership in a marriage? Oh, well. We keep praying that the Lord will soften his heart and let her come!

     On Thursday we had our district meeting and Elder Gaskill had us take about 10 minutes and write down why we are serving. It was really nice to reflect on why I am out here. Basically, it all comes down to the fact that I love my Heavenly Father and I love this gospel! I want to share the joy that it has brought in my life to as many people that are willing to listen. True happiness is found with the Savior. I just wish that I could shout that to everyone here in Lodi, but I'm not that loud so tracting will have to do :)

     Hna Toro is still the Sister Training Leader and so are the two new sisters that moved in with us: Sister Oliphant and Sister Langi. Sister Oliphant came from Deaf work and Sister Langi is Tongan so it makes for a lot of fun! However, there is a trio in Tracy so now Hna Toro has to do 7 exchanges this transfer! Wow! On the positive side, I get to go down to Tracy 3 times because she can't send 2 people to our apartment here. I am definitely going to have to learn a lot more patience. Always patience...that was one of those things that when they were handing out gifts in heaven I didn't grab. The line must have been too long or something. But really, I am learning so much out here it's ridiculous. I used to think I knew some stuff about the gospel, I have since been corrected. However, I love learning and I love teaching! Seriously, a mission is the BEST!

     One funny thing we tried this week was an "English Fast" for like 3 hours. Oh my goodness! Hna Toro was really trying hard to say things that I understood and I was...well, I was trying. We were laughing so hard by the end of the night that I was crying! She even kept going when we got back to the apartment and I had to translate to the other sisters! We have too much fun! We are also getting good at stalking people. We are Spanish-speaking so we have to stalk the Spanish people. I am pretty sure that they forgot to put "stalker" in the job description. I am learning that there are lots of little "signs" to know if a house is Spanish or not. Hna Toro even resorted to memorizing a license plate number so we could find the car. My job is, if we see Spanish people while we are driving, to pay attention to which direction we go. I think I have might have a promising career in the FBI when all is said and done here! But, hey, it really works. We've found several people to teach this way :)

     Yeah, the food here is fantastic! We found a Hispanic food store just down the street from our apartment and it is the new joy of my life! I may actually learn how to cook now so that I can have this food whenever I feel like it. Who am I kidding? I eat tortillas every day for lunch.

Love, Hermana Freestone

sisters...EVERYWHERE!

! Things are pretty swell here in Lodi. I seriously LOVE this place! This week was transfer week so we got our calls last night. I get to stay here and finish my training with Hna Toro. I 'm SUPER stoked for that! The members are starting to get a little more excited about the work and we have found a couple of new investigators. It really hard to get appointments with them though because everyone is so busy in the summer! Seriously. If only they knew how important our message is! Well, that is why we keep on trying to talk to people. Last Tuesday we had a sisters meeting. It was fantastic! They have every sister in the mission come and we have little break-out sessions where the sister training leaders taught us. Hna Toro had to teach a section so we planned that for a few days. It turned out really well. I feel bad for President Lewis having that much estrogen floating around...he was pretty out of place LOL! We are getting even more sisters and no one in Spanish work is leaving. I love it! There are sisters everywhere!

     We saw Alejandro later on Tuesday and talked with him about the Priesthood and eternal marriage. He received the Priesthood on Sunday! I was sooo excited! Also, I hope they go through the temple in a year because if they do I can go with them! How awesome is that?! We have a few new investigators, but none that are super close to baptism. One lady, Selma, told Hna Toro and I that we were her angels that she asked God to send to help her. Um, many many tenders. She is such a sweetheart! We also have a lady named Lupe that we have been working with. She has a son that is 14 month-old son that is like the Energizer Bunny on steroids. Seriously, he bounces around the place so fast I get whiplash watching him! He likes to crawl all over us and try to rip our scriptures. He also is a distraction during lessons. Last Tuesday I had to pretty much babysit while Hna Toro taught. Problem: yes. Solution: bring the members :) Like I said, they are getting more excited to come with us so that is a big help! If you get the chance, totally go out with the missionaries. Having that 3rd testimony is so powerful! We even took out a girl with us who is leaving for her mission in Irvine, CA in a couple of weeks. It's a great experience for pre-mi's. Oh! And we took another girl with us who is turning in her papers! We've only been here 6 weeks and 3 of those Sundays have been farewells. Nifty, eh?

     We have been doing a lot of tracting. The other night it was really slow and we were exhausted and we saw a van with a BYU sticker on it. In Utah-no big deal. In California-GOLD! We met the Campbells and they gave us a referral. Praise the heavens! :) I told Hna Toro that, although I really can't stand BYU, I have never been so happy to see a BYU bumper sticker in my life! The other day we knocked on a door where no one was home, but they had a bird on their front steps. As we walked by, it whistled at us. I don't know why but I thought it was hilarious and started to cry because I was laughing so hard! Oh the joys of missions!

     Yesterday we went to teach a girl in the branch who is less-active. Her name is Dulce and she is 14. She was baptized 2 years ago but is just now coming back to church after 1.5 years of being inactive. She decided that she wants to be a sister missionary. She thinks it is just the coolest! Seriously, she called us superheros for God. I don't know if I would go that far. She is so sweet (go figure-her name is Dulce)! The only problem is that she is 14 and her life is one big novela so we have to listen to a bit of drama before we actually get to teach. Oh the joys of being 14...said no one. Ever. Ha! But she is beyond excited that there are finally sisters in Lodi :) I am looking forward to teaching her some more. Seriously, I love it here!

Love always, Hermana Freestone

Baptism!

     This past week=WOW! I seriously have never been this exhausted before. Let me just say that Satan works his hardest to make your life miserable right before something amazing is about to happen. ON Monday night we got a phone call from our district leader telling us the carpets in our church were going to be cleaned and we had to move the baptism-after we had announced it to everyone in church. We were in a mad dash to call everyone in the ward, reserve the other building, get permission from the branch President to move it...thankfully, we managed to pull off everything by Saturday. Last Tuesday I had an exchange with Hna Fullerton. She is from Arizona and she is also in her first transfer. Thankfully, she is very adept at Spanish and we were able to make it through the day. However, it was a super rough day day for me. Some of our plans fell through (like 2 hours worth) and I was just scrambling to find things to do. It was just rough. I don't think I have ever been so happy to see Hna Toro walk through the front door! On Thursday I had my last exchange with Hna Clonts. That one was crazy. She is in her second transfer in the field so when people talked to us I think they thought that we were a bit crazy due to the fact that we had to really strain to know what was going on and then when we spoke it was pretty ugly. There is a reason that 2 greenies shouldn't be companions! 

     Oh! And funny story about Thursday. Hna Clonts had to come with me to our correlation with the ward mission leader. Obviously, the whole thing is done in Spanish. Well, Hno Ku-the mission leader-really likes to tease me because I don't always understand him. He really had a go at poor Hna Clonts. I don't think she liked that :) We finished planning our baptismal program there and then Hno Ku asked us about our musical number. I told him our plans to sing with the elders. He then proceeded to change the song we had been practicing and made me sing a solo in front of everyone in correlation. Yup...I just said solo...thankfully, no windows were shattered and no eardrums started to bleed. Later, he made me make a phone call in front of everyone. You don't think that is a big deal, but I hadn't made any calls in Spanish up to that point. It is hard enough foe me to understand when they speak right in front of me, let alone over the phone. Let's just say that there are no such things are "personal boundaries" on a mission.

     On Friday we went to talk to Alejandro about what would be taking place. We asked him how he felt and he kept telling us that he didn't know how to describe it. It was a calm, peaceful feeling. I just wanted to scream, "THAT'S THE SPIRIT!!!" But I contained myself. He also talked about how, when missionaries would come over before, he would just walk into the backroom or he would never understand what they were saying. But, when we came over, he felt like he needed to stay in the room and that we brought something different with us. He said he could just feel that spirit that we brought. I seriously almost started crying in their living room. Then they both mentioned that they are so grateful that we are willing to learn their language and then teach them. They just went on about how much they appreciate the fact that we are trying so hard to talk to them. Once again, I almost started crying. But it also gave me a lot of confidence in myself to continue to learn the language. I really needed that.

     I'll get to the thing you all want to know about: the baptism. It was fantastic! Seriously, words really can't do it justice. If you've served a mission, you get it. If not, I'm sorry-I don't know how to put it into words! We had to turn off the lights in the font because they were too bright for his eyes, but other than that it was all fine. During the two talks about baptism and the Holy Ghost I started thinking about one year from now when, I hope, they are able to go through the temple and be sealed for eternity! Man! This gospel is so amazing! After the baptism I gave a little "missionary moment." It was basically a mini-talk in Spanish. I just bore my testimony on the restoration and it all worked out. It was really funny though because Hno Ku was conducting and he can't really pronounce my last name so he always calls me Hna "Piedra." And I don't really care because I think it's funny, but he actually announced me as Hna Piedra! Now he's got a bunch of the people in the ward calling me that :) After I spoke Elders Gaskill, Sempf, Hna Toro, and I sang acapella to "Conmigo Quedate Senor." Same one we did in the MTC. It was good...I think! We were able to talk to Alejandro after and he isn't much of a talker, but he was really happy and he was feeling the Spirit! By the end of the day Hna Toro and I were barely able to walk up the steps to our apartment. No joke, we were exhausted in every way, shape, and form. However, I was happy because I knew that we had just accomplished something truly amazing!

     Yesterday he was confirmed in Sacrament meeting. I had to reach over and give Hna Toro a hug! Honestly, we just talked to him. He is one of those people that God was preparing all of his life to hear the message. He is so humble and so willing to do what the Lord wants. He knows that the Lord will bless him. Everyone keeps congratulating us on the baptism but it doesn't really make sense to me because really, all we did was teach him. Everything else was him. I'm just grateful that the Lord allowed us to work with him. 

     So what did you think of the Work of Salvation? Pretty neat, huh? I about died when I saw all of the missionaries in the choir. The MTC is probably just bursting at the seams right now. Isn't it so amazing-missionary work? Over 70,200 missionaries are serving right now! I am so blessed and thankful that I can be a part of it!

, 

LOVE, HERMANA FREESTONE

It doesn't matter who is doing the work with you, the /lord will bless you

     Wow, this week was super busy! I'm pretty sure I mentioned that Hermana Toro is the sister training leader and has to go on exchanges a lot so I have had 3 other companions this week. On Tuesday I was with Hna Hanson, on Wednesday I was with Hna Naatjes, and on Saturday I was with Hna Pitcher. It's a little crazy because I basically have to plan everything that we are going to do the next day because they don't know anything about our area. Then, the next day I have to bring them up to speed on any investigators we have. Thankfully, they have all been great and have really risen to the occasion. Hna Hanson is pretty crazy, and she's a go-getter. We spent a lot of the day tracting, but she made it super fun for me! Hna Naatjes is a little shy at first. But, by the end of the day she had me laughing so hard I was crying. Ok so there is a sign on the road here for a palm reader that says, "Past, present, future: We can help." I told her that I already knew my past and present, I just wanted to know the future. She got all mysterious and turned to me and said, "That's not the way the palm works, dearie." I was laughing so hard! Hna Pitcher is from Park City and we got along like we'd been friends our entire life. I seriously love meeting all of these amazing missionaries! We found 6 new investigators this week (a new high for the area) and 5 of them were found during exchanges. It doesn't matter who is doing the work with you, the Lord will bless you. I love working with them all-however crazy it can be-but, at the end of the day, I am just really happy to be back with Hna Toro. She's seriously the best!

     So, our guy Alejandro is going to be baptized on Saturday!!! Who's got two thumbs and is super excited...? THIS GIRL! He is pretty much the living, breathing example of someone that the Lord has prepared. On Tuesday Hna Hanson and I taught the rest of the Plan of Salvation and the law of chastity. Then on Thursday Hna Toro and I taught him the entire 3rd lesson, law of tithing, word of wisdom, keeping the Sabbath day holy, and went over the baptismal interview questions with him. If you are not familiar with missionary work...that is a TON!!! Especially because he didn't really have much of a religious background. After his interview yesterday before church our zone leader (the one that conducted the interview) was telling us how it went. I guess Elder Gaskill (zone leader) asked Alejandro how he met us. He explained that we just knocked on their door and he didn't know why he decided to stay in the room. Usually when missionaries would come over to his house to talk with his wife he would leave. That time, however, he just had this feeling like he needed to stay in the room and listen to what we had to say. He said that he felt the spirit so strong. He also said that he know that the Lord led us to him. UH-MAZING!!! Hna Toro and I were almost in tears. So yeah, now we are planning a baptism! Funny- this is the first time either of us have planned one because Hna Toro has never taught someone and baptized them in one transfer. So we are both a littler nervous to see how it turns out.

     While I was on exchanges with Hna Pticher we decided to go and see a less active girl in our branch. We got into the apartment and started talking with them and I was so glad that we did. Daisy is 20 and lives with her boyfriend. They have a cute little boy. Also living with them is her boyfriend's daughter (who Daisy basically adopted), her boyfriend's sister, brother, and niece. Apparently, his parents were deported and so he is taking care of his younger siblings. He is 22. He works a ton to try and give his siblings the best chance that they can have and Daisy is basically the mom to all of them. I cannot even imagine having that kind of responsibility. If anyone needs the gospel in their lives, it is that little family. So, keep Daisy and her family in your prayers :)

     We have met a couple of other families in our area that we are really excited to teach. I will definitely keep you posted about what happens with them! Right now we are trying to find people as well as trying to keep members active. It's kind of a big problem here. But, we keep praying and working hard and we know that the Lord will bless us in our efforts! I seriously love it here and I LOVE the branch. They are all pretty much my family. That is one thing that I love about the culture here. Everyone is treated like a family member. I am so grateful for that!

Until next week! 

Love, Hermana Freestone