A Great Week and a New Companion

This week has been so great I don't even know where to begin. Let's start with seeing an apostle. Elder Nelson is so funny and happy. Seeing him you could see the Light of Christ exuding from him. He talked to us about being obedient. He said that when we stop making mistakes we will be dead. That we will always make mistakes, but when we repent He will forgive us, so just move on keep working and everything will work out in the end. Then he said, "I know that I shouldn’t talk about marriage because you all are missionaries and shouldn't be thinking about that, but we are going to talk about marriage." He spent 30 minutes telling us about how we need that companionship and that we shouldn't postpone getting married. But that we shouldn't rush into it either. We have to make sure that the person we marry has a good relationship with Heavenly Father, and that he will put Heavenly Father before us. 

Not only did we get to see an apostle, we got two baptismal dates one with Candace and the other with Ashley. Candace is so prepared and ready. Ashley was a lot more tentative about the baptismal date. The other good news is that Anna set up an appointment with us for this Friday. This week really was filled with appointments and we were so busy. It was great. 

Sister Broderick is now almost home from her mission. Which is CRAZY! I miss her so much. It was weird saying goodbye to her last night and knowing that I wasn't going to see her again until I get home. I was put in a trio with two other sisters whose companions also went home. They were both Spanish speaking so I was the odd ball in the bunch who only can understand a limited amount of Spanish in the first place. Luckily that was only for a night. This morning I got my new companion. Her name is Sister Fa'alolo. She is so great I am so excited about being companions with her. I know that it is going to be a great transfer. 

We went up and helped with Mt. Baldy on Tuesday, and you would not believe the difference it was to see it from the very beginning til now. It looked so great. There is still so much to do, but it is getting there. We helped scrub the walls of the house that I worked on that had mud all on the inside. Because all the mud was out. I got to know Cari and Collin really well. They are so nice, they love rock climbing and skiing just like I do, and they are really good people. Apparently when the mudslide hit Collin was out back, and Cari didn't even know if he was dead or not. She didn't care about the house or anything she just wanted to know if he was okay, because she realized that he was the only thing that mattered. We helped Gloria as well. She still had mud behind her washer and dryer, and under all of her shelves. So we had to move everything else. We also had to kill a brown recluse. That wasn’t too fun. 

There was a huge rain storm with actual thunder and lightning. There was some hail too. It was SOOO good. It made me miss home a little though. I wish it would rain more like that. It only rained for around 40 minutes, but it was a good downpour. 

Other than that it was a normal week. Everyone was excited that I was staying in the ward. Now they said they are starting to pray that I stay next transfer... That isn’t for another 6 weeks! I guess it is a good thing that they love me so much. Well I hope that everyone is having a great week and I would love to hear from all of you soon.

Love,

Sister Bell

 

This is my new companion and me. Her name is Sister Fa'alolo. She is from New Zealand.

Broken Finger, Harry Potter, and an Upcoming Baptism

This week has been kind of strange.

Monday we had a great day. We played ultimate football. Before we even started to play the game I started throwing the football around with a few of the Elders in the zone. Well I broke my pinkie while catching the football. I didn’t want to tell anyone, so I played for another two hours until we were done playing then I told Sister Broderick. By that time it was bruised swollen, and I couldn’t even bend it. It looked just like it did when I broke it at the MTC. We then went to dinner at a member’s house, and their three year old daughter gave me a picture that she was drawing while we were there. I asked her what it was, and she told me it was me when I wanted to be a unicorn. I had to laugh because I had no idea what she was talking about.

Tuesday we had district meeting, and then we went to the doctor to get an x-ray of my finger. We sat in the waiting room for an hour and a half, then when we got called back the doctor hit on us. He was in his late 60s early 70s. Finally we got an x-ray, and all the x-rays were not of my pinkie. So they couldn’t even tell if it was really broken or not. But I have to wear a brace for 6 weeks. So yet again I have to shake another apostle’s hand with my left hand (Elder Nelson is coming this Saturday, and 6 months ago Elder Andersen came). Then we had a lesson with a family of 3 crazy children. It didn’t really work out, but then they fed us homemade pizza and no bake peanut butter cookies.

Wednesday we had zone conference, where we had people give us lessons on how to find people to teach, and how to contact better. We also really talked about the story in Luke with the rich young man. We talked about how we need to have a desire to know what we need to do to be able to get eternal life. "What lack I yet?" was the question that President Hobbs kept asking. So I am asking all of you, what do you lack? What can you work on to help you get into the Celestial Kingdom? I know that there is a lot that I need to work on. I think there is a lot that we need to give up so that we can do what the Lord wants us to do. We don’t want to be like the rich young man, and give up the blessings that Heavenly Father can give to us, just because we like our riches a little too much.

I have been reading the New Testament a lot this week, and that is what most of the parables are about - us doing something to be able to receive the blessings that Heavenly Father is willing to give to us. Wednesday we also helped one of the sisters in our ward who is about to leave on her mission teach her family the Plan of Salvation. It was great. She completely memorized a lesson and it was funny to think that was how I was before I left as well. It makes me realize how important it is to be able to listen to the Spirit. To ask questions. Also to not have a rote presentation, because everyone needs to know about a different point of each lesson and people don’t learn the same way.

Thursday we tried a whole bunch of people, and no one was really home. Our dinner was with the family that loves Harry Potter, and that we had the Harry Potter lesson with a few weeks ago. Well they told us during the week that they had some big surprise for us. Well, it was an entire Harry Potter themed dinner! They had candles hanging from the ceiling and posters of Harry Potter everywhere. The theme song for Harry Potter was playing, and they had butter beer and the flavored jelly beans. They had a sorting hat for Sister Broderick and I and we got sorted into the different houses. It was great! I am part of Ravenclaw apparently. Then we had a lesson with a sister who has gone out with us all the time, whose husband just got back from Afghanistan this week. He has so many great stories, and she is so happy to be able to see her husband after 3 years of being gone. 

We did a lot of service it seemed like, but in reality we really didn't. We helped with an eagle project on Saturday. We painted lamp posts on a bike trail in Rancho Cucamonga. Then we helped the recent convert in our ward clean out her mother’s garage. Her mother is a hoarder, and we didn't even make that much of a dent in it, but it was good to help. We helped her on Friday as well. Then we went and met a woman in our ward who has been in China for two months. She speaks very little English, but we had a pretty good lesson with him.

Sunday was great! We had a lot of great lessons at church about the Holy Ghost, and about community service. I love being able to partake of the sacrament. I know that when I partake of the sacrament that I have truly repented of my sins, and that I am cleansed again. So I just got some great news! Sister Hopkins, my last companion, told me that one of the investigators that we had up in the desert is getting baptized on Saturday! I am so excited and proud of her! She has progressed so much. If you remember Areeana, she is the 9 year old that we worked with whose parents are completely less active. I hope that I can go and see this great thing happen!

Well I hope all of you have a great week! I love you all. This is the last week before transfers! So next week you all will find out if I am staying in Rancho or moving somewhere new. I will have a new companion no matter what, since Sister Broderick is going home! I am going to miss her!

Love,

Sister Bell

Service and Scriptures

Wow. Service really does bring happiness. I can’t even describe the amount of joy I felt when going to shovel mud out of a house. I wanted to go back every single day, but they wouldn’t let us. I didn’t care about the soreness of my muscles, the dirt all over my everything, and the blisters on my hands. I just wanted to see the smile and knowing that I was really helping someone. I wanted to keep doing that.

I know that it was just manual labor, but I really enjoy it. That is Charity! That is a way of showing love. We had a great sacrament meeting from a mission farewell about charity. It really made me think. Everything drops when there are those natural disasters, and everyone wants to help during those times. Who is willing to help when it is just something small like cleaning a kitchen, or pulling some weeds.  No one thinks if the little things, but that is almost more important than the natural disasters. I thought of something yesterday as well. We are told that we need to bear one another’s burdens. We need to be willing to do anything to help one another. It might be as simple as a smile or as hard as shoveling mud out of a basement. No matter what we are following God’s commandments and helping His Children. It is what makes us the happiest, being able to really help, using your talents and strengths for someone else.

Other than the service we haven’t done a lot to report on this week. I have been seeing members and just developing a relationship with them. We are trying to help them to start missionary work on their own and just getting to know them. People are amazing and each of us has a story. I love hearing those stories and seeing how the Lord has blessed not only my life, but the lives of all those that I get to meet. I love getting to meet new people! I also am almost done reading the Book of Mormon. I am in Moroni now. And this week I got back to reading in the New Testament. I am learning so much! I love searching and studying the scriptures. Understanding really does come the more that you read and study.

Well I hope that you are all having a great week, and can’t wait to hear from you soon!

Love,

Sister Bell   

P.S. Here are some pictures of how dirty I got doing service this past week.

Understanding Christ-like Attributes More

Yesterday I had the amazing opportunity to serve. I know that it doesn’t sound like much because I am a missionary and we serve all the time, but it was an emergency service project.

It rained here, and although that doesn’t sound like a bad thing especially since we are in a drought, but because it rained so severely and it hadn’t in such a long time there were flash floods. The creeks near the homes in Mt. Baldy got severe mudslide damage. That happened Sunday night, so Monday we got a call and were asked if we would be willing to give up our Preparation Day to go and help them. Of course we accepted, so from 10 am to 3 pm we were up helping.

Sister Broderick and I were able to help some cars that got buried and carried away with the mud, and also a garage that had at least 3 feet of mud and debris that had gotten inside. We have the opportunity to go back tomorrow as well.

When we were there we were able to meet some of the residents and others who volunteered their time and service to help those in need. It was an amazing experience to be able to see the charity of others and to see how humble those people whose homes were damaged, or who were in it. We got to meet some amazing people. The man whose garage we were helping clean out for the majority of the time bought us pizza to thank us for the service that we were doing. All of us were working as hard as we could. We only took a break to eat the pizza. Today, I am so sore, but I don’t care because I saw all the damage and I saw all the help that they needed and I just want to go back and help some more. You could see how much they needed the help.

It reminded me a lot of how Heavenly Father is with us. He sees the trials and the mental disasters that we might be going through and He wants to help us clean those up. He wants us to be humble enough to ask for help, and to be willing to get down and dirty to work to change our lives and the way that we are living. I can tell you right now that I definitely got down and dirty! I had mud from head to toe. I sunk down into a pile of mud in the garage half way up my calf. That was fun. :) I know that we can make a difference in our lives and we will feel accomplished and willing to continue to keep our lives clean of mistakes because that is how I felt after finishing the garage. I felt happy and not thinking of myself the entire time we were there. Not dwelling on the fact that my muscles were sore or that I was getting blisters all over my hands from the shovel. I was helping others. 

Not only this week was I able to see how helping people can really make a difference, but I was able to see how being on a mission has really given me patience. And how important it is to develop the quality of patience. Before my mission I had the mentality that I wanted everything now. Why do I have to wait for it? I didn’t understand why it was necessary to have to wait for things. Think of all the blessings Heavenly Father gives to us if we wait though? If we take the time to think of the little things in life. To appreciate all that God has given us.

This transfer really has been about patience. We lost all of our investigators, well there has to be a reason for it. The members haven’t been giving us referrals, and so many other little things that I have had to wait for. Well this week we were able to talk to two of our investigators, and we are going to be able to see them this week. Then I was able to receive an answer to my prayers that I have been waiting for, for almost two transfers. Good thing Heavenly Father doesn’t have instant messaging or else I wouldn’t have been strengthened because of the trial of waiting for my answers to come. Everything happens for a reason, and I am so glad that we don’t always have to get a reason or an answer now. Especially when it comes from a patriarchal blessing, just think when you have that blessing you get to know of all the blessing you are going to receive if you just stay diligent and faithful to the commandments God has given us. That definitely takes patience to wait for all of those, but you know that they will come when you need them the most. 

Nothing major really happened this week though. We were able to meet with a lot of less actives that are really progressing. I went on exchanges with Sister Price! She came down from the desert this transfer and is my STL again. We went and had 6 lessons and got a potential investigator from the Philippines named Rodrigo. He is pretty cool. We were able to Help Maddi Estrada with her personal progress, and learn a little more about faith and the Atonement. All in all this week went by really quickly, and was a really good week. I hope that everyone else had a great week as well. I love all of you, and you all are in my prayers. 

Love, 
Sister Bell