Tuesday, October 15, 2013

The New Transfer Starts Tomorrow


What a great week! We didn't end up getting 20 member present lessons, but at least we had 22 scheduled... not that that counts for anything... but whatever! I have so many different emotions right now about this week, so this is going to be a great email. Or not.  

Well, Monday. We played Assassin around the church, which was pretty fun. Our dinner appointment cancelled, so we went to eat with some of the other missionaries. There is a family in our stake that feeds the missionaries every Monday night if they don't have other dinners. They are Samoan, they make a ton of food, and it's awesome. The only weird thing is that we all have to hold hands to pray there... so it's awkward for Elders and Sisters... yeah. After that, we got to go to our Family Home Evening, which is always fun. 

Oh, an awkward story. I got a letter on Monday from some random Elder in the California Long Beach Mission. I have no idea who he is. He said that he found me on mormon.org and wanted to thank me for my testimony that I have on there. Let's be real, my mormon.org stinks, but whatever. He sent me a picture of himself too. All the Elder's in my district we're like, "let us write him a strongly worded letter back for you!"  It was really funny and super weird. 

On Tuesday we had Zone Training, which was really good. We had some lessons planned, but most of them fell through. We went and did ward council visits with our ward. I went with our Relief Society President, Lauren. All the people we visited had a wrong address. One of the places was a Budget Suites place, so it's like an apartment that you rent on a daily or monthly basis. It was super sketchy. 

After that we went to the far away Viking Chapel to do exchanges.  Okay so this is what happened... Our Sister Training Leader called us halfway through the transfer to schedule exchanges. We called her three days before to find out which one of us needed to pack to go to their area. They didn't call us back. We called the next day. They still didn't call us back. We called three times and left three messages that morning and didn't get a call back until 4pm. It was her companion who didn't know what was going on. She said that her companion (our STL) was on exchanges and she would try to get a hold of her. She also asked if we could change the day. We couldn't because we had stuff Friday and Saturday. She got a hold of her companion and called us at 6pm. They said they would be late and asked if we could meet at 9:30 p.m. Remember that we are supposed to be home at 9 p.m., 9:30 p.m. at the latest. So we decided, whatever, we'll meet them there. The chapel is about a half an hour away. So we were sitting in the chapel parking lot, waiting and waiting. We called them at 9:50.  They weren't even on their way yet, they hadn't been home to pack clothes, nothing. I started to drive home and Sister Fields told them we would just forget about doing exchanges. We were so, so mad.  It was late, we had wasted miles, and we were just frustrated. But for the good news, we called Sister Neider and she told us to sleep in a little longer in the morning because we had to be out so late. Also, that sister is no longer a STL. And Sister Fields is this transfer! Woo hoo! 

On Wednesday, we had Elder Roger's and my "Last Supper" at the Petersen's house. We figured both of us were getting transferred, so they asked us what we wanted. Obviously I wanted mashed potatoes, so we had really good mashed potatoes. Earlier that morning we took their daughter, Amanda, to a lesson with Huey. We went to his apartment across The Strip. It was so sketchy, but the lesson was awesome. He even had one of his friends there! 

Thursday was pretty great. We had our Sister's Luncheon. So we had lunch, which was pretty much the best soup I've ever had, and a lot of training. I was in the choir and Sister Fields was in a little quartet. Yay. We had 9 member present lesson's planned that day! But most fell through. We got to talk with Chase Amos, who had come to the lessons with us. We talked about his mission and after his mission and other super fun stuff. We had dinner with one of our singles and her family. It was really, really awesome. While we were there, they got news that one of their little niece's was headed to the hospital, so we stopped right there and prayed with them. It was a neat experience. Also, we got a call from one of the girl's that we take out with us a lot who was waiting for a mission call... and she got her call! She called us and told us to be at her house at 6:30! She said we were the first people she called... even before her Grandma! Yes! So we got to be there while she opened her call and she is going to Chile! 

On Friday we had zone breakfast and apartment inspections! Guess who got a 10 again! Us. So expect a letter from the inspections sister! Yes. We had weekly planning as well. That evening we got to go to the temple to do baptisms with our Recent Converts! It was super, super cool! We had Recent Converts and ward members there! And Sister Fields and I got to do baptisms too! We had a great time. Abraham, Chase Amos, Eric Taylor, and Jared Brummett were there to help.  We ate in the cafeteria with some of our members afterwards. Guess who I saw there. RACHEL MILES. YES! It was so good to see her and her husband! I was excited to see a familiar face! After the temple we went to see Cristal and her mom. They talked to us for a long time about their lives and especially about Cristal's car accident (which gave her the brain injury that she has). It was a really good time with them. They really trust and love us. Cristal told us she loves us this week! She rarely says "I love you" to anyone, and it was so awesome! I love her so much! 

Saturday morning was Kevin's baptism!! It went so well and there were quite a few people there! He bore his testimony after he was baptized and he said he couldn't even describe how he feels! Best day. It was so good. Adam Whitmore baptized him. After that, Sister Conger and her daughter Staci took us out to lunch at Red Robin. They have a son serving in Michigan right now. We took Staci to teach some lessons with us and it was really great. She is awesome. We have been reading 3 Nephi 11 with a lot of investigators and recent converts. The Spirit is always so strong! I love 3 Nephi 11, that's where I am in my scripture reading right now. Best chapter. We went to dinner at a family's house that night from the Chapel Heights ward. They have really funny little kids. Their 7th grade son put on a cello performance for us! It was sweet. 

We got transfer calls that night. So it's official. I'm leaving Sunrise and my lovely YSA ward. I will miss it so much here! I will be going to the Anthem Stake, to the Paseo Verde Family Ward. Fun fact, Anthem is the highest tithing paying stake in the world. 

Sunday was great too. We had ward council. Bishop thanked me for serving here and being a great help to the ward. He teared up. I will miss him a lot. We have a great ward here. President and Sister Neider were speaking in the ward right before us, so we got to go see them. I walked up to them and President asked me if I was mad at him for transferring me. Haha. We had church and Sister Fields and I said the opening and closing prayers (just like normal, right mom and dad...). Bishop had me bear my testimony since it was the last Sunday. Kevin got confirmed! In his blessing it said that he would be able to be married in the temple!!! Sister Fields and I basically punched each other through the whole thing because we were so excited! Church was good. Lots of people took pictures with me because it was my last Sunday. 

We went to Karina and Miss McDade's house for dinner. They had presents for us and we got to have breakfast for dinner! Yum. Saying goodbye stinks. It's like leaving your family all over again. We went to say goodbye to a few other people as well. We went to the Scholl's house because Sister Scholl wanted to take a picture of us in the princess dresses. She gave me a gift before I left; a cute turquoise scarf. She cried saying goodbye too. Let’s just say that I still have a headache from crying yesterday.  The Olsen's invited us over because it was their youngest son's birthday. He had cookie dough for his birthday "cake".  It was funny. Sister Olsen gave Sister Fields and I Las Vegas Temple Plaques that are really, really cool. They are black and have a metal cut-out of our temple on it! Love it. 

Well, that's about it for the week. It was a really good week. I am so sad to leave here. So, so sad. But I am excited to see what Anthem has in store for me. I hope I will be able to make a difference there as well. 

I love being a missionary. I love it. I love seeing how the Gospel can change people's lives. I love seeing them come closer to Christ. I love coming closer myself. 

Have a great week!
 

Love, Sister Coltrin
 
 
 
Sister Fields, the future Sister Vega, and Sister Coltrin
 

Sister Coltrin, Adam Whitmore, Kevin, and Sister Fields
 

The Princess Missionaries
 

 

No comments:

Post a Comment