2 Weeks

 

THIS WEEK WAS AWESOME. Well, it was just like any other week, but every week is awesome. I have 2 weeks left... which doesn't feel real, so I'm just being normal like I'm never going home. I don't understand what all this "trunky" stuff is - all you have to do is pretend like it's not real, hahaha.

Anyways, let's start with Monday. On Monday we went to Sister Snyder's house and made Oreo balls for lots of our investigators and some other families in the ward! It was a lot of fun and it was nice to be able to give treats to people. That night we met with a part member family and started teaching the 9 year old son! Gabe loves church and he even promised us that instead of playing "Call of Duty" all weekend, he was going to just read The Book of Mormon... much to our surprise, he actually did!  They are a sweet family, the older sister, Talitha, comes to church on her own with her Grandma. Gabe is excited to get baptized! We also stopped to see Kawika and his family. They have had a lot going on lately, so we went over just to visit with them. 

Tuesday I went to the Doctor for my hives. I can't remember if I wrote about hives in my last email or not? Basically I've been breaking out in hives for a long time now, so they made me go to the dermatologist. When we were there, we met a really old lady and she was a Holocaust survivor! She was really sweet and cool. We also got to visit with the Babcock's again that day - they are so sweet and their kids are a lot of fun. Our dinner appointment cancelled, and she told us to stop over to get some money to go out to eat - $20 each! It was nuts! We treated ourselves to In N Out, naturally. We got to meet with Orion and Trinity, who was actually having a good day, so we got to talk about the Plan of Salvation. It's still so neat to watch Orion help his sister understand the Gospel. We went over to see Kaycee, and we talked about baptism and confirmation. It was a cool lesson! We talked to her mom, and she agreed that Kaycee was doing a lot better, and now Kaycee and Gabe are having a combined baptism on December 6th! We all are so excited! It was a great Tuesday! 

Wednesday we had exchanges, and I got to be with Sister Hope in her area. It was a lot of fun! Unfortunately I broke out in hives all over my back, but there is a lady in their ward that loves essential oils and energy work, so we went over there and she helped me out. That morning we taught a guy named Armin that came to church in my ward. We taught him about the Restoration, and he loved it! He was really receptive and could see the blessing that would come from the Gospel. We had district meeting, as well, and met with lots of people who's names I don’t remember because I only met them once.  I love Sister Hope, though - she's so sweet. 

Thursday was hilarious and awesome! In the morning we met with a guy named Juan that showed up at church - he clearly only came for the financial help. We met with him and it got crazy. We were talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how Christ has done so much for us. He basically told us that he doesn't believe in God or Jesus Christ. He only believes in a higher power and he believes in the Virgin Mary... So he believes in the mother of the Son of God, but not in the Son of God, or in God... so there was really just no logic there. He also told us that he is bipolar and has some brain injuries... So while he was screaming at us about all of that, all I could think of was back when I was in Henderson and the Elders had to come get us out of our bipolar investigator's house... hahahha. But, after that, Sister Chevalier and I got to go to the temple! It was so peaceful and awesome. I saw tons of people there from Anthem! I saw Sister Rumsey and the Rickey's, and also a lady I knew back in Sunrise! It was so fun! We got to see Karla and Monzie with our Bishop's wife as well! We talked about the Plan of Salvation. They both told us that they feel really peaceful about the things we have taught them, and that they would like to get baptized! They are so awesome! We just hope we get to meet with them more, since they have crazy schedules! For dinner we went to the Stapleton's and had a "southern Thanksgiving meal" - it was sweet. I don't really know what it was, but it was some sort of dumplings and cornbread and Thanksgiving-y type things. That night we saw Sherry again and read the Book of Mormon with her, we saw Gabe again, and we helped Sister Plett vacuum her home and make her bed!

Friday was weekly planning. During lunch, for some reason, Sister Chevalier were talking about crazy people and getting attacked, so we practice getting out of choke holds... you know, just in case someone comes and chokes us... It was so funny. The funnier part was later that night when we were waiting for our investigator to answer the door and Sister Chevalier turned around in the dark on the porch and put my in a choke hold - hahahahahaha. I was so shocked that I didn't even move. But that day we got to see Sister Joseph, who told us her husband who we were teaching is going back to prison for 4 more years. My goodness. We had dinner, and got to see the Green's. Brother Green is really awesome, and his wife is a non-member, but she has come with him every Sunday for the past 10 years! We got to know them and just talked to them. We saw Gabe again, and we also got to see Priscilla again! We met with her and talked to her about church. She is going through a really hard time, as well, so keep her in your prayers! 

Saturday we had coordination meeting in the morning, and then got to see Sister Rock! She got a new car and passed her driver's license test! We were really excited for her! We then went to meet a less active/ part member family, the Witz Family. You guys. I cannot explain to you how cool this family is. Actually, I can. I kid you not, Brother Witz was Chuck Norris' body guard! FOR REAL. He is the owner of some huge martial arts foundation and teaches all over the world! They almost didn't let us in, but then they did... and they LOVED us. They talked to us for over an hour, and told us to come back the next week! He offered to teach a self defense class at the church! It was a miracle! So cool. We saw CJ and Amanda, and then had dinner at the Brandt's. Brother Brandt is one of our ward missionaries. They are so sweet and so cool! They made us a cake, and we were eating it, and Sister Brandt said it was a special cake that her mom used to make during the war. She said it was so hard to get eggs and oil for a cake, that instead, they would use MAYO. So the cake, which was delicious, was made out of MAYO. I almost died. I couldn't even imagine how something so good could contain something that I hate so much. It was funny. After that, we felt prompted to stop by the Loveall's house. Apparently, their car just got totaled, and Justin's shoulder was out of place, and one of the boys has been sick with an ear infection for 2 weeks, and everything was crazy, and they all felt tension. We called up their home teachers and they came over (literally they were there 5 minutes later) and gave Justin and Jayden blessings, and then they blessed the home. The difference was incredible! I am so thankful for the Priesthood. 

Sunday was church. We had 7 investigators come! Church was great. Afterwards we had dinner at the Ebaugh's. We stopped by Karla and Monzie's house, and we talked with Karla and Isaac for a little bit. Violet was running around and chatting away as usual, but she said something that hit us pretty hard! Among all her shouting, she told us that she had been praying while we were gone! This sweet little 4 year old girl has been praying! Violet loves to pray, so we prayed with them at the door step, and Violet said it. She is the cutest. To end the night, we stopped by Fidel's house. We finally got to talk to him! He has been working like crazy! We were "talking" to his family too - they only speak Spanish, so for 20 minutes we all tried to speak to each other, it was so funny. My high school Spanish is so bad. It's hilarious. 

This week was so good, I am so blessed and I love being a missionary. Have a Happy and safe Thanksgiving! 

I am so grateful for my family and friends, and for this chance I have to serve my Father in Heaven in helping others to come unto Christ. I am grateful for the Savior, Jesus Christ, and his sacrifice for us so that we can live again with God. I am happy to have the restored Gospel in my life. I'm happy to be here in Las Vegas!

 

Have a good week! I love you all!

 

 

 

Love, Sister Coltrin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three Weeks

Only 3 weeks to go – how can that be possible?!? 

Last Monday we played laser tag with our district. I wasn't the worst this time! I actually did pretty well! After p-day we had dinner with the Clarke's and then met with Jordan and read scriptures with her and tried to help her out with her impossible situation. 

Tuesday, almost all of our lessons cancelled! But we did get to see some miracles! We got to meet with a less active family. The husband is out of town all the time for work, so it's really hard for the wife to find the motivation to get all her kids ready and bring them to church by herself. While we were there visiting, she was really warming up to us! Then, all of a sudden, we heard screaming in the backyard, and her 2 year old son had fallen in the pool, and was sinking on the tarp that was covering it (thank goodness for the tarp!). We all booked it out there to save him. It was really scary, but he was fine, and we helped her, and left. We texted her the next day, and she asked us if we could find a ride for her kids to go to church! She couldn't make it because she had to pick her husband up from the airport, but it's a huge first step! We were so excited! We also got to see Fidel! He was sick, but still wanted to meet with us. He is so excited to be baptized! We taught him about a living Prophet, and about the Word of Wisdom, and he was happy to give up those things. Fidel is so awesome! We also got to go and visit with Kaycee that night. She told us that she was giving a talk in primary on Sunday about repentance, so we helped her to write it! She told me what she wanted to say, and I wrote it down for her! We are so happy that the primary is getting her so involved! 

Wednesday we saw Fidel again, and also Amanda and CJ in the afternoon. We also got to go see Kawika and the Brown's to talk about the promises we make at baptism! We had dinner at the Whipple's house, and Sister Whipple is so cool! She told us basically her whole life story, and it was so fun to hear! She even grew up with Elder Roger's family, which was funny to hear about, hahaha. We met with Sister Rock that night, too! We love her. We saw Jordan again, and talked to her more about repentance and changing. 

Thursday literally everyone cancelled on us: Fidel, Monzie and Karla, the Brown's, Orion, everyone! BUT we did stop in to see Sister Daniels, and caught her non-member daughter in law at home. We talked to her for a little while, and she told us that she wanted us to come and teach her more about the Gospel! It was amazing, she is so sweet, and we love her already! We had an awkward dinner at a member's home, and then went to help Sister Plett clean her house! We ended the day at Brother Judd's home and read the scriptures with him. 

Friday we got to teach Monzie about the Plan of Salvation! It was a really awesome lesson, until her mom called and asked her where she had left her credit card... then the whole house erupted in searching for the card before she got home. Yikes. We will probably have to re-teach that one... We had weekly planning, dinner, and then Sister Chevalier went to a baptism in her last area, while I stayed with Hayley Hightower and we went to teach some lessons! It was so much fun! We saw the Loveall's and showed them mormonmessages.org and watched some videos with them. We also saw Kaycee and talked about the Book of Mormon. Everyone that we talked to made a return appointment with us, so that was really awesome too! I love Hayley! 

Saturday was my last Zone Training Meeting. I was fine, until about halfway through when it really hit me that I'm going home in 3 weeks. I cried like a baby. And the Zone Leader's made me bear my testimony at the end. It was a sad day, but it was good. We had coordination meeting that afternoon and dinner, and then went to see Sister Daniel's daughter in law, Priscilla! We watched Finding Faith in Christ with her! We kind of expected her to forget about the appointment, but she was ready for us, and even had snacks! She was excited! We love her. 

Sunday was church, and I spoke in Sacrament meeting about the Restoration. We had dinner at Sister Law's house, and then went to the Why I Believe Fireside, which was amazing. 

This week will be awesome! We are excited.

Have a great week!

Love, Sister Coltrin

 

PS. Sorry for the lame email, too much going on and not enough time to write.



 

We were in the MTC together and will all be going home in 3 weeks

One Month To Go!

I LOVE NORTH!  We had a great week. Our investigators are so awesome!  

Monday we played sports and then went to the Holly's house for dinner and Family Home Evening. They had the Loveall's over, along with Justin's sister in law who is not a member. It was awesome! We taught the Restoration to everyone, all the little kids participated and loved it! Afterwards, Esmeralda (Justin's sister in law) talked to us about what we had taught. She kept asking us question for an hour! It was incredible! She was so excited to learn and was so happy that her questions were finally being answered. We talked to her for a long time, and she asked us to come the next day to share more with her! She is so sweet. She is 20 and lives with the Loveall's with her boyfriend. 

Tuesday we had a short district meeting and made district goals - or a "vision" as our mission just loves to call it (isn't that right, Sister Smith?). After that we met with CJ and Amanda to talk about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We got to go back to the Loveall's to see Esmeralda. We went over the Restoration and talked about the Plan of Salvation. She absolutely loved it, and told us over and over again that she has already learned so much more than ever before. It is so sweet how excited she is, and how receptive to the Gospel she is! She had a miscarriage, and thinks about her baby boy all the time - she loved knowing that she could see him again, and that he was safe. I love being able to teach people, and to help them to have hope. We gave her a Book of Mormon, and she started reading as soon as we left! We got to go see Frankie and talk to her more about the Book of Mormon. We went to dinner at the Davis' and they told us about their miracle of the week! Their son is not a member, and is against the church. He was really sick this week, and was lying in bed. Sister Davis went in to check on him, and he was so sick that he called her back and asked her if she would call someone from the church to come and give him a blessing! He is warming up to the Gospel! We are going to help her paint this week, as well. The Davis' recently got sealed, and they are so sweet - we love them! We went over and taught Kaycee about tithing and fasting, and made a goal for her to be baptized on Nov 29. She is working really hard to show her mom that she wants to be baptized. She is so sincere and sweet. She bore her testimony to her mom - powerful 11 year old! 

Wednesday was our mission tour! Elder Foster of the Seventy, and his wife, came to tour our mission. We got to meet over in east Las Vegas (got lost on the way, of course) and be with him for half the day. It was amazing! Afterwards, we met with Orion's sister, Trinity. She was having a bad day, so we tried to work on some personal progress with her. Her mom came down to talk to us, and told us all about their family background and how they are a polygamist family... Dot, dot, dot sums that up pretty well. We were so confused, hahaha. They aren't members of the church. It was just an interesting experience, learning about their family. Hahaha. We went to the William's house for dinner, and it was their son's birthday! Then we went to see Monzie and Carla with Sister Law, and talked about the Book of Mormon. They love it! We went to see Esmeralda to finish up the night. She is so giddy about the Book of Mormon - she glows and talks all about it!  She says that she feels so good when she reads it! Her whole countenance has changed! 

Thursday we saw Sister Joseph and started reading with her, too! We got to watch the Restoration DVD with Carla and Monzie, and it was so powerful. They were asking questions, and afterward, Monzie said, "Wow, it feels like that really happened!" I love teaching people the Restoration. It changes lives. They are amazing! We read that afternoon with Esmeralda! We went to the Taber's for dinner and had absolutely massive pieces of pumpkin pie cake. It was sooo good, but we both thought we were going to explode afterwards! We ended the night seeing Sherry - which went really well, she opened up to us a lot about where she is and what she believes.  Then we saw Sister Rock, and then Brother Judd. 

Friday was weekly planning. We got to meet a new family in the ward, and see CJ and Amanda, and had dinner at the Barton's, who are the sweetest and most accomplished couple I have ever known! We helped Sister Plett with her vacuuming afterwards. 

Saturday was crazy! We had coordination meetings at 8am, and 9am; had a lesson at 10am, and 11am. We met with Jordan (who had previously been missing) that morning. Her home situation is so bad! We brought her food and clothes during our lunch hour. She is so sweet though. We love Jordan. She has made mistakes in the past, but just wants to be baptized, and to have peace in her life. We got to see Fidel again with Brother Brandt - we taught him about the Plan of Salvation! He still wants to be baptized on the 29th! That night we went to the Loveall's home and watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration with them and Esmeralda. The spirit was so, so, so strong, and it was very powerful! She loved it and so did the family. They asked lots of questions and made really good comments. Even 9 year old Anthony had tons to say! 

Sunday was awesome, too! We had 7 investigators at church. Monzie and Jordan and Kaycee sat with us, along with Sister Joseph and the Askin's! Brother Judd sat a few rows in front of us - we were full of investigators and recent converts! In the next ward, I sat in the back, and saw Fidel come in! He made it! We were so excited - and he loved it! So many people introduced themselves to him. That night Jordan got a blessing from the Elders. We took them home, and when they were taking their bikes off the rack, one of them realized that he had strapped his helmet to his handle bars, and that it fell off while we were driving, haha. Oops. 

I love it here!

Have a good week!

 

Love, Sister Coltrin

 

 

 

The North Zone with Elder and Sister Foster and President and Sister Snow

 

 

 

Sister Coltrin and Sister Chevalier

 

 

 

 

 

First Week Of My Last Transfer

This is going to be SUPER short because I don't have much time, sorry! 

This was the first week of my last transfer as a full time missionary. Currently I am going back and forth between freaking out and being totally and completely fine. Hahaha. 

Sister Chevalier is my new companion. She is from Montana and Utah. She is 25 and has been out for a year. She loves natural medicine and sleeping and essential oils. 

This week was great! We found 7 new investigators, and I will try to quickly tell you about all of them! 

Ella, Monzy, Carla, and Isaac were found while we were walking back to our car at night. Ella and Monzy were outside trying to put oil into their car. We stopped to talk to them and to help them! They had just moved into the neighborhood and area 2 months ago and don't know anyone yet - they are missing having a group of friends. We told them about what we do, and about church and they invited us to come back! Ella is the mother of Monzy (19), Carla (17), Isaac (12), and Violet (4). They are super sweet! We went back to see them and taught them the Restoration. It was great, and they are all really excited to be able to come to church when they can. Pray that they will be able to, because they have insane work schedules! 

Frankie, Jocelyn, and Latonya were found while, once again, we were walking back to our car. Frankie is a sweet, 82 year-old lady, and Joscelyn is her 14 year-old granddaughter. We talked to them and they absolute love Christ, and try to center their lives around Him. They told us we could come back, so we did, and taught them and 2 others in the family about the Restoration. It was powerful and sweet. 

We also started meeting with a part member family, the Joseph's. Michelle Joseph is a double amputee, and has a hard time coming to church due to health reasons. We are teaching her husband, Demetrius, and he is very excited about the Gospel! He is excited to get back into a church, and told us he couldn't wait to be baptized. He loved the idea of a modern day Prophet, and decided to be baptized on November 29th. He is awesome! They live around the corner from CJ and Amanda, so they are going to come with us to teach him! 

We are teaching Orion's sister, Trinity, as well! She loves Young Women's. We taught her the Restoration and it was so sweet to watch Orion try to help his sister understand. 

This week was great! Transfers went well, we are working hard! We also got to go to the mission office on Halloween night. All the missionaries go there from 6-9:30pm, it was tons of fun!

Thanks for all the love and prayers!

 

Love, Sister Coltrin

 

You Don't Even Know How Much I Love This Place!

You don't even know how much I love this place! I literally love being a missionary in Las Vegas. I LOVE it. This week was the last week of the transfer and we worked so hard! It was Sister Smith's last week as a missionary and it ended pretty well! We had a blast this week and ended with two amazing baptisms. 

Monday was p-day! Sister Smith had a doctor's appointment, we emailed, and then we went grocery shopping. We were on the hunt for the best Vegas souvenirs to take home - and we definitely found them. We got the coolest Vegas shirts! I will try to send a pic next week! We had dinner at the Nelson's and then brought cupcakes over to the Smith's for Trinity's birthday (Orion's little sister). It was sweet to see her and serve her on her birthday! She is a sweet girl! We stopped by the Franken's house, and Brother Franken dared me and Sister Smith to challenge each other at Foosball. We did, and I won - Foosball champ! ;) 

Tuesday was District Meeting. After that we had a lesson with a less active that wants to start coming back, and wants her non-member husband to meet with us! She was so sweet! Her nephew plays for the Lakers - so she showed us tons of pictures and jerseys, it was funny. We also met with CJ and Amanda and talked about CPR - church, pray, read. It was a really great lesson! We saw Orion and taught the same thing - we sat outside the church because we were locked out, haha. It was awesome though - teaching Orion is really great because he is so thoughtful about the Gospel, and he has a really sincere heart. We love Orion! We had dinner with our investigator's, Kaycee and her family. It was so good! Then we had a lesson with them about CPR (again, haha!). We stopped by Sister Rock's house and heart attacked her door for her birthday, and then stopped at the Snyder's for coordination meeting. 

Wednesday morning I had a doctor's appointment for my back again and got new prescriptions. We got to go to the doctor's in the west mission, so I can finally say that I've been to Summerlin! Later that day we taught Orion and went over the baptismal interview questions with him and talked about the importance of baptism and of the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was awesome. We also met with CJ and Amanda to do the same thing. We had dinner at the Huston's with their tons and tons of hilarious children, and the ran over to Sherry's house to read from the Book of Mormon with her. 

Thursday we contacted a few referrals in the morning, and then we had baptismal interviews for a while. We had to pick up the Elders and bring them to Amanda's house to have the DL interview her. She passed with flying colors, and was so excited to get baptized. While the rest of us waited, Sister Smith had us all try her Canadian candy that she got in a package - CJ was very skeptical of it.  After the interview, we took them over to the church and met Orion and Brother Smith there for Orion's interview. It was great! As Orion was coming out of the room from being interview, Sister Smith was standing by the door, and she scared him - and he fell on the ground, hahaha. We were all laughing. Orion was so excited to be baptized! After that, I started having this weird allergic reaction! We went to see Kawika, and had dinner, and afterwards, my face was covered in itchy welts and my throat was tight. We went home for a little bit, and I took some Benadryl and then we went to sit at the church and listen to the stake choir practice. It was so weird. 

Friday was weekly planning, as usual. We also got to see Amanda, and a new investigator named Antoine. We met with Orion as well. We had dinner, and then after dinner, we walked out and saw this guy, so we went to talk to him. Turns out his wife is in the Spanish Branch here, and hasn't been able to go to church because of her work schedule. He is not a member, but he prefers English to learn in. His name is Fidel, and he told us to come back and see him the next day! We helped vacuum Sister Plett's house, and then saw a few more people. 

Saturday was CRAZY.  We had to meet the Samoan Sisters at the church building at 7am for them to let us into a different church building and to start the font. We got there and they were already inside. We walked in and there was a really loud alarm going off through the entire building. We asked them what is was and how long it had been on for. They said about 20 minutes, that they didn't know what it was or how to turn it off, and then they left us. Sister Smith and I called people like mad for 20 minutes trying to figure out how to turn this dumb alarm off! It was crazy. We finally got the alarm off, and then went to get ready for the day, since we hadn't had the chance to yet. We searched for a bathroom, and started to get ready. About halfway through, I remembered that the font was still filling up, and I bolted back to the microscopic font room just in time to turn the font off before it over flowed over the stairs.  It was an interesting day. Later, after we set up for the baptism, people started to show up - except for the people conducting Orion's baptism! We started without him and the baptismal programs. It was stressful, but ended up being really great. Orion had a great time, and it was so good to see him surrounded with friends that love and care for him. 

We had a lesson with Thea and then a quick dinner and went to set up for Amanda's baptism at the stake center! There was a baptism before ours and right after ours, and there was a ward Halloween party going on throughout the building - it was absolute chaos. To add to the stress of the day, the font filler forgot to come and fill the font, so all the baptisms had to be pushed back a half hour. But again, through the crazy, the small and simple baptismal service for Amanda was sweet and powerful. It was a great day! 

Sunday was pretty normal.  At church both Aanda and Orion were confirmed. It was great! Later, after church, we went to meet with Fidel! He was so excited to get back into a church, and we taught him the Restoration. H was so excited to be baptized, and he is set to be baptized on the 29th of November! That night we went around for Sister Smith to say goodbye to people in the ward! 

Monday was stressful again! We got stuck at the mission office from 12-5pm for Sister Smith's departing interview. But it was fine, we had fun, and got some of our favorite chicken from Raising Cane's :) 

So sad to see Sister Smith leave, I LOVE her and can't wait to live with her in Utah!

Have a great week!

 

Love, Sister Coltrin

 

 

 

 

Our District

 Back: Swerdfegger, Davis, Smith, Coltrin, Naeata, Mederios, Claridge, Herron, Keogan
Sitting: Wareham, Tongi

 

CJ, Amanda, Sister Coltrin, Sister Smith

 

 

Sister Coltrin, Orion, Sister Smith