This has been yet another interesting week here in Anthem! I
have yet another new companion (maybe I'm such a terrible companion that
President doesn't keep me with people for longer than a week now? But
really, if everyone could keep Sister Reynolds in their prayers, that would be
great. She had to go back to Hurricane on Wednesday morning to make sure that
her stomach was doing okay, and they found out that her stomach has come back
up - so we aren't sure if that means surgery yet or not. Please just remember
her!
So on Monday we went to the church and played games and
Sister Cummings baked us all some of her famous chocolate chip cookies -
they're to die for. We all ran around
playing sports with cookies in each hand (and some of the Elders with them stuffed
in their mouths and pockets...). That night we went to the Smith's for dinner
and had Family Home Evening with them. It was really fun. Brother Smith was
talking about the basketball tournament down here in Vegas and was joking that
their family would just take me with them - hey, there's tons of non-members
there, right?
Tuesday we met with Denia in the morning, had a few other
lessons, and had dinner at the Payne's house. They are really into essential
oils, so we got to learn about them and try them a little bit - it was awesome!
We went to do ward council visits covered in about 9 different oils... hahaha.
We smelled a bit strong. We had visits with Sister Orme because Sister
Addington wasn't feeling well. We went through our ward list and asked her
about people that we didn't know. Then we all went to our appointment that we
had with a less active and part-member family. We visited with the less-active
mom and the 16 year old non member daughter. We talked to her and found out
that she is really struggling to fine peace in her life. As we talked about the
Gospel and about our Heavenly Father, she began to tear up. She told us that
she is looking for peace and comfort and that she wants to meet with us so that
we can help her to find that in her life. It was incredible and the Spirit was
strong.
That night we had to pack Sister Reynolds' things so that
she could leave in the morning to go with her family back to Hurricane. I am so
sad to be without her! She has such a great attitude and is such a dedicated
missionary. I love her.
Wednesday morning we went to the church for Missy's
baptismal interview! SHE IS GETTING BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY! We are so happy for
her and she is so excited! I love Missy so much and really admire and look up
to her. She is such an example of great faith and patience.
After the interview we went to the mission office to drop
off Sister Reynolds and get my new companion. My new "companion" is a
mini-missionary from the Paradise Stake here in our mission. Her name is Sister
Gelabert! She is preparing for a mission, and she’s turning her papers in this
week, so it's like I have a member with me all the time. She stays at my
apartment and is my companion for the next few weeks. Before she was with me,
she was in a trio with two of our visa-waiting sisters. We spent the morning
studying, getting to know each other, and making Sister Gelabert a name tag!
The Sisters before made her wear a "Hello, my name is..." sticker,
and made her write "Mini-Sister Gelabert". She told me she hated it,
so we went and made her one out of white-out and black plastic. Hahaha, people
comment on it all the time, but she absolutely loves it.
The rest of the day we did service with Sister Lee, went to
dinner with the Parker's at The Cheesecake Factory, and taught a few lessons.
Thursday was Zone Conference, which was really fun! We had a
couple of really great trainings, a good lunch, and heard some great
testimonies! When we go to Zone Conference we have to be prepared with a talk
in case we are randomly called upon. I was this time (knew I would be) and
talked about the Christlike Attributes section in Preach My Gospel (my favorite
chapter). We also had a demo on green smoothies from Sister Neider! We all got
green smoothies, so we were pretty pumped.
After Zone Conference we went and met with Missy to discuss
her baptism, then had dinner at the Bluth's house. We were going to teach a
lesson, but the kids were having an off day and it was pretty stressful for
them, so we just left a short message.
Friday we had weekly planning, which took a little bit
longer because I had to explain everything and everyone to Sister Gelabert, and
we also had to update our area book's ward directory. Sister Gelabert hates
weekly planning, we both got a little bored, but we pulled through, hahaha.
That night we had dinner at the Bickmore's, which is always super fun and
funny.
Oh and also from Friday - birthday shout out to my Dad! I don't even know how old you are now... but
it's old. Mom told me so.
Saturday was Sister Gelabert's 19th birthday! She is
officially eligible to go on a mission! Yay! We celebrated at morning sports,
came back to a decorated apartment (thanks Sister Cummings and Furstenau), and
had an awesome pancake breakfast. We also got to go to Red Robin for lunch with
the Sisters! It was a great day and we visited with a lot of people that
day too! We had dinner at the Lindsay's - Café Rio (wayyyy too much food for
one day).
Sunday was normal: studying,
ward council, church. People asking me if I'm ever going to have a companion
for more than 2 weeks. People asking Sister Gelabert about her name tag and
what a mini missionary is. The usual. Hahaha.
All in all, it was a great week.
Love, Sister Coltrin
Sister Gelabert's name tag - "they are practically identical"
Sister Coltrin and Sister Gelabert wearing her new name tag
Celebrating Sister Gelabert's birthday at Red Robin
"The sign was supposed to say burgers and the holy spirit but the sign maker messed up"
Green smoothies at Zone Conference
Sister Gelabert and Sister Coltrin
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