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 Chapel
Heights
We got transfer calls that night. So it's official. I'm
leaving Sunrise
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
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