March 10, 2013

Oh My goodness familia!!!

I cannot believe Chantz is married! Sister Angela called dad on Friday night and left a message for y’all.  I don’t know if you got it but you all looked so beautiful in the pictures and yes I am so sad that I wasn’t there!  Personally I thought it was going to be a really hard day out here in the mission but luckily I just felt such peace! Please know that I wanted to be there so badly and I thought about it all day but luckily it was such a busy day out here that I was reminded so strongly of why I am here!! I am so excited for Chantz and Kenzi! Sealed for eternity! Wow what an amazing blessing we have each been given!! I am so excited to go to the temple! We have our trip next month! I feel like it has been so long! But anyways--Wow what a crazy weekend! You all deserve to get a whole day worth of sleep! I am sure the wedding was perfect!  I am so grateful that we have always been so blessed!  !! It just seems so different from what happens out here! The kids have never been out of Robison County and they usually don't even know what the beach is like. I feel like I am in a foreign country sometimes just because their way of life is so different from ours. I really am just so grateful to have been sent to our family! This week was great!! We have really been working on just finding finding finding! We try to talk to every person we see and Sister Cowley and I personally compete with each other when it comes to talking with everyone. We always race to get to people first because then we make sure that no one walks past us without getting the opportunity to hear the restored gospel! It is funny because you can usually predict what they are going to say to each question. We have gotten really good at our role-plays!  As for the funny experiences--let me see where to start... well on Saturday we were with Sister Angela all day... She said she had the whole day to spend with us so she went to all our appointments and drove us where we needed to go. We were in Rowland aka as far south as our mission goes and Sister Ang knew that the gas was cheaper in South Carolina so she dropped us off at a hotel right before the border and we started to make a few phone calls while we waited. Well-- this man started walking up to us and Sister Cowley and I both thought to ourselves do we talk to him?  We didn’t have to move he came right up to us and said are y’all the Mormons and we were like yeah! We are missionaries for the church! Well what we thought was going to be a great experience turned out to be an FLDS  member who told us he wanted us to come to his hotel room to meet his 3 wives and son. He also said he wrote the Book of Mormon and that his name was James because he wrote James as well. We just started praying that Sister Ang would come back soon and when she did we left him with the Elders number so that if he wanted lessons they could come by. He ended up calling them right then and they said it was probably the weirdest phone call they had ever gotten. Anyways other than that, everything was perfect this week! We have still been meeting with Adriana and she is the best! We had interviews with President this week and they are great but also a little scary... as Sister leaders we have to account for all the other sisters in the area, but it is always a good experience and I have really had to learn a lot! This week the weather has been crazy some days it is freezing some days it is so hot but today it is perfect and let me tell you it is so amazing to see the sun! There are so many things that I miss about the West that I just don’t think I could ever move to the East! It is funny because a lot of the members out here are from the reservations in Arizona so that is something that we all have in common is that we all love AZ!! We also had ward conferences this week they were really inspiring! In Doctrine and Covenants it talks about how the Lord will hasten His work in His own time and I know that it is right now! The work is hastening and it is the greatest time to be a missionary! Elder Perry says that anything that is not focused on missionary work that is done in the church should be done away with! Everything is centered on missionary work and it is so exciting! I am also so excited for the younger missionaries like Clay and Carlee because now that you already teach in your classes you will already have that down by the time you get out here. You will have more time to focus on what the Lord needs you to do and you will have more experience with asking inspired questions when you teach! We always talk about how questions are a higher way to teach and it is so true because when you asked questions from the Spirit you are able to help people see that they already know the answers. Our teachings become easier to believe because they thought of the answer for themselves instead of us telling them! It is always said that the hastening has been prophesied about since the beginning and now it is here! It is the most important event since Joseph Smith restored the Church and we get to be a part of it!! I love being a missionary it is the greatest calling! I know that there are so many blessings that can come from missionary work. I love you all so much you are the best family!! I hope you all have the best spring break!!

 Love always and forever

Sister Oliver

ps transfers are in 2 weeks

pps my bike is great, I can’t think of anything that I need right now I am just so grateful for all that you do for me! 

ppps I CANT BELIEVE CLAY IS CUTTING HIS HAIR!!!!!! Pictures please!