October 21, 2013 - from Hermana Gillett

Oct 21, 2013 (from Hermana Jaelyn Gillett)

Hey family!

It was so fun to get so many great emails from you all this week! I need to figure out a way to be more organized in replying to all so I can get it done in a more timely manner, but oh well. I enjoy hearing from you all SO much! Thanks for all the updates! :)

Dad, Jack and JoLee, I wrote you in your own emails.

Jenson: I LOVE YOU! What have you been up to? I miss hearing from you. You be good and have fun, alright? P.S. How tall are you now? I keep meeting all these kids that are your age here and they are HUGE!  Stop growing so fast!!! :)

Jacie: Yeah, I heard Hermana Vargas is engaged to Elder Vasher. I don't even know his first name, but it's been the talk of the mission. So funny! So excited for them. How fun to be so close to Disneyland! It makes me laugh to hear your stories, because I am in the same situations, but yet so different all at the same time. It brings back good memories of starting out on the mission and I hope you continue to have wonderful experiences! I hope you say Hi to Austin for me! :) I miss that kid! I just got a letter from Brendan too! Hm... I should probably find that and respond, huh? lol I stink at that, there just isn't enough time in the day! Right now my companion and I are working on making some AWESOME leather scripture cases before the end of the transfer-next Tuesday. There is SO much to do, but we are so excited to make them! We have a list a mile long of things to do, but for some reason our "missionary"  priorities always come first... ;) hehe I hope you are using those member dinners to your advantage and getting them out to work! :) We don't have member dinners anymore unless there is a PMF, LA, or investigator there. So, Hermana Duong and I have become GREAT cooks! I make some GOOOOOD rice and beans! And we are perfecting the Arrepas and collecting more fun Hispanic recipes :) We have lots of Chinese food too. She is a great cook! WE have too much fun cooking together.  However, our members have been AWESOME and in order to "claim their blessings" that they think come from feeding the missionaries (we don't need their food, we need their FRIENDS!) they have been inviting friends and neighbors and investigators over. It has been successful so far and we average about 2 meals a week which is great! It's so neat to see the members testimonies grow as they share the gospel. We actually have 2 dinner appointments tonight with our investigators: Jose who is getting baptized on Sunday!!! and Noemi and Julio and their family all at investigator's homes. We are going to be SO full, and rushed for time (we always wish there was more time in the day!) but we can hardly wait! The most important thing we have seen here is that we as missionaries need to help the members see and understand how powerful they are in their examples in everyday life. We are also striving to "get out among them" so when the members say they are too busy with this sports game or that, we say "Will you let us come along and introduce us to your friends?" People notice something different about them, and about us. We shouldn't be afraid to o pen our mouths about what's different about us. We don't have to shove doctrine down their throats, but as we build that friendship as members, it comes naturally because they want that happiness that we have. Remember, missionary work is and should be FUN! That Ensign you are looking for we have at our apt too! I think it is from Oct. a year or two ago. It is SUCH a good one! I want to have a copy of that for each of my investigators!!! :) Good luck and keep up the good work! I LOVE YOU!!! P.S. I 'm still hoping you get switched over to Spanish speaking, esp being right by Disneyland. Here in our mission we have a lot of people that work for Disney World-mainly hispanics as seasonal work :) Is it the same there?

Here is another tip (although you get fed well) of how important it is to eat healthy and keep yourself prepared physically too. On exchanges we have had some interesting findings. .Maybe this will be something you can use/share one day. Love you!
 One of the things that Hermana Duong and I have recognized on exchanges (after some interesting meals) that our sisters are not eating very well, which is resulting in unnecessary tiredness, moodiness,sickness, etc.  This is affecting their missionary work in many aspects, so we decided to take some action and get to the root of the problem and better it. We asked the sisters (throughout the zone) the following questions, and these were their responses seemed to be the same across the board: 

1.How member dinners were going? Not the best, but we get 1-2 a week.
2. Do you have enough money to buy the food you need? Yes (Money was not an issue for any of them)
3. Do you eat meals together? No (Hermana Duong and I have saved a lot of money making meals together, but even more than      that, it is a lot of fun to cook together and learn from each other and builds a lot of companionship unity. We also feel more successful and accomplished as we enjoy a nice meal that we cooked ourselves, giving us confidence in ourselves which rolls over to confidence in the work.)
4. Do you feel like you have enough time for meals? No. I like to just eat something quick so I can have time to get other things done (It is very important to take time to relax, accomplish the tasks you need, and prepare yourself for the day-but not at the expense of your overall health.)
5. Do you plan ahead for the week what you need to buy to make meals? No, we usually just go up and down the isles until we find something that sounds good. (Planning meals saves us a lot of money and time at the store and we can prepare our meals as we get ready for the and have them in the oven in the morning during studies to be ready to eat at lunch. Then we can still have that much needed "personal time" to relax and prepare to go out for the day.

We recognized after doing this that all of these concerns were addressed in the "Adjusting to Missionary Life" handbook that we all received. We are working on compiling some simple, easy, non-expensive recipes to give the sisters.(If you have any suggestions PLEASE send them our way :) ) In our upcoming exchanges we are going to focus on the importance of taking care of ourselves physically so we can take care of ourselves and others spiritually. We truly believe that as we implement these things into our lives better that we will be happier and as a result, we will see greater blessings in our missionary work. Hermana Duong and I already have and we want to share that success with others!

Mom: I can't believe it's time for those new cards already! I swear I just got it! haha I was thinking that when we got an email from our President saying we should get a flu shot again. I swear I just did that in Manti, but wow! That was a year ago! CRAZY! This time thing is really freaking me out! This last week went by SO fast! Hermana Duong and I could hardly keep up! There is so much good going on and we are having such a fun time doing it! I am really getting nervous that I will be leaving this transfer. We find out on Saturday... There really isn't a logical reason that I should stay, but I'm still hoping anyway. There is a possibility that I could open the south of this area again. I am keeping my fingers crossed! This is my HOME away from HOME and I don't want to leave... But hey "Come what may and LOVE it" Right? :)

Hermana Birch and I put in our request to serve together President Cusick when we saw him at the last MLC a few weeks ago. We asked him to put us together for Christmas, just to see what he would say. He looked at us, smiled, laughed, and walked away laughing. :) HE LOVES US! :)

Here is a neat miracle for the week. One of MANY!

 This week we had a wonderful Zone meeting. Elders Murry and Willard had a wonderful training set up where we were trained on the importance of our attitudes, companionship unity, how we can see miracles each day, and how we can plan more effectively to receive those blessings and experience miracles. One of the things they encouraged us to do was to send out the miracle that we saw that day via text to the rest of the zone. The Zone has been seeing some wonderful miracles and their attitudes and really improving as a result. I have seen some wonderful miracles in our work this past week and they have given me a lot of strength and energy to go on in the work of the Lord because it is so great! We lost contact with an investigator who we taught at her sister's house when her sister moved unexpectedly. We had her address, but no apartment number. We realized that as we pulled in and wondered what to do. Hermana Duong said "well, i guess we will just pull in anyway." As we did, there she was! Standing outside on her porch. Before we could even jump out of the car she had gone back inside her house. Had we been there just a split second later we would have missed her. But because we were out doing the Lord's work, he guided us to exactly where we needed to be, exactly when we needed to be there. She was so glad to be reconnected with us and has since given us 2 referrals, and we had a wonderful spirit-filled first lesson. Miracle! I have seen so many more this week and they are recorded in my special Miracle Journal. It is such a blessing to have those special experiences recorded (separate from my daily journalings), and brings even greater blessings as we show the Lord we are ready to see the blessings as we do his work.  He truly does pour out his blessings! I LOVE YOU ALL and pray for you always! Have a great week! :)

Hermana Gillett