Nine Months

Well this week has been a whirlwind of crazy! Transfers came and went and now my companion and I are gonna KILL it in Beaver; and it won't even know what hit it. I am so stoked for the next 12 weeks. It's a frightening thought that this Friday is literally my 9 month mark. 0.o HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!? At the end of this companionship, I will be at a year. Please stop time if you would!!

Tuesday was transfer day and so in the morning, Sister Larsen finished packing and we took a nap. It was going to be a stressful day and we needed as much rest as we could get! We drove down to Pittsburgh so we could switch it all up. It was nice to see people I haven't spoken with in a while but I didn't know that many. Transfers time came and I am now serving with Sister Hanseen from Provo and she was in the MTC with me. She was in a different zone than I was, but we came out at the same time. She is 20 and we are basically going to be unstoppable as we trust in the Lord. It will be epic. I am really excited. We got back to Beaver, visited Sister Smego and then went to correlation which was really dramatic. It didn't need to be but a difference of opinions made it a little contentious unfortunately.

Wednesday, we had zone training so we saw everyone again that we had just saw the day before. It was pretty good but hard on the newbies. We went to lunch with our district plus the Beaver Elders and just relaxed. It was a lot of fun. Afterwards, we went with Sister L. Neeley to visit Rasheda and talked about the organization of the church and the importance of Visiting and Home Teaching. Then we went to our dinner appointment at the Rambo's and Brother Rambo actually ate with us which is unheard of. Sister Rambo said that it was because we weren't the Elders (; haha!

Thursday we had a lot to do!! We went to Char's and had a pretty good lesson. She is spectacular! Then we went Carol's son's house because that is where she is staying while she recovers from her surgery. Then we went to Lorraine's and her friend, Doby, was there and we picked him up as a new investigator! He is Pentecostal and believes in the gift of tongues and stuff so that might be interesting...but we'll deal with it hahaha! We went to dinner at the Wright's house and just chilled for a bit then headed out to Wendy's. She is doing good but still not coming to church ): I hope we can help her come back!!

Friday was a long weekly planning session trying to get Sister Hanseen all caught up on the area. It was rough for us because all of our plans fell through. We had dinner at the Nelson's but they were so quiet, we just kinda talked to each other (the missionaries). It was super strange. We stopped by the Green's so that they could meet Sister Hanseen and they teased us about scouting out the Elders....uhhh not happening haha!

Saturday we did Mormon.org time and then made some cookies to smooth over the awkward correlation situation. We saw Alice and she still isn't doing very well as far as having faith in God is concerned which is a little disheartening. After we tried some other people we saw Vicki and Micheal. The kids were bouncing off the walls so while I was talking to Vicki, Sister Hanseen talked about Jesus Christ to the kids. Vicki actually smiled as she listened to Sister Hanseen teach. It was really sweet. Then we went to the Watt's to check in on them and it was a blast. They tell some interesting stories every time we stop by. I really hope we will able to start teaching them sometime!

Sunday was crazy. We had 2 investigators at church and 8 less actives!! Eli and Ashley came, the Stapletons, the Harns, Char and Trent, Lorraine and Doby!!! It was SO cool!!! During Relief Society we found out that Rasheda has a crush on Trent. 0.o oh dear haha! She is so funny! I don't know how well that will work but we'll see. We definitely are not meddling in that one haha! We went to Sister Smego's afterward and it was hilarious. Bishop and Brother Petrosky showed up to give her a blessing and the Elders and Nate showed up to give her the sacrament. Maybe they should have coordinated that haha! Anyway, Bishop suggested Nate bless the sacrament because he is a priest and so Nate pulls out his phone. Bishop said no and hands him the Book of Mormon and sarcastically (in true Bishop Weeks fashion) says "Nate this a book! With pages and words." Nate wasn't about to let it go and says "Yeah yeah we don't want to hear again how you helped Joseph Smith translate the Book of Mormon." It was SO funny haha! This ward.
Then we went to the Goettman's for dinner and the Biernessers' picked us up for a fireside. Elder Keith Giddens from the 6th quorum of the 70 came and spoke about teaching and the new youth curriculum but it was super helpful for us missionaries as well! It was so good!!

So that was our week! I am so stoked for the next half of my mission and getting to see all the marvelous changes! In Relief Society we were talking about Christ and His roles and names in our lives. One was Father. I've known that for a while and that we are reborn and stuff but that always kinda was hard for me to grasp. As I was thinking about it, it was said that we become spiritually born when we are obedient to His ordinances and keep our covenants. The 3rd step in the gospel of Jesus Christ is baptism. When we are baptized, we are reborn and clean and start a new. So, we are born into the gospel and the Father of the that gospel is Christ. Every week we take His name upon us, as a last name to our last name. We are His children as well! Although most of you have already though of this, I am so grateful for these little times of clarity that I began to comprehend a little more of the fundamental doctrines. I am so glad to be on a mission and to learn what my Savior and His Father wants me to learn at this time!!

Have a marvelous week! Stay Strong and Carry On!!! <3

Love,

Sister Kaitlyn Crockett