Transfers are Tuesday!

This week has been super great! We have had so many spiritual experiences this week, and have had a lot of fun!

Monday was p-day.  It was pretty normal. We haven't been doing big, extravagant things for p-day lately. 

I don't remember what has happened on each individual day, but we have found a lot of new investigators this week, and have had a lot of fun, and had an amazing baptism! 

About our investigators:

 We found 4 new investigators this week! Almost 6, actually. Kiki and TJ are brother and sister. They were a pass off from the Elders. They are really nice and are both looking for more in their lives. TJ always talks about how he wants to be closer to God, which is so cool! We stopped by a less-active's house, and he wasn't there, but his non-member friends were! We met with 2 of them, one of which is a former investigator, and hopefully we'll get to see them again soon! We also met a couple of potential investigators from our lists that answered their doors! Jason and Elijah. We left a note on Jason's door, which turned out to be his neighbor's door. He got the note form his neighbor and called us back! We went over to meet him and invite him to church, and he was really excited. We are so excited to have found so many people this week! 

We got transfer news, and unfortunately Sister Ena is getting transferred! I only got to be with her for one transfer :( We were super sad. She will be going to the Samoan Ward that covers the whole valley. My new companion will be Sister Robinson. She is from Wisconsin and has been out for just 3 transfers. She's coming up from her first area in Kingman. 

We've had a lot of success this week and have had some amazing lessons! We got to meet with Travis the morning of his baptism, and he was so prepared and so excited. His baptism was AMAZING. The Spirit was so strong there. I got to speak about the Holy Ghost. After he was baptized, he was glowing! He told us that he couldn't even describe how he felt, he felt clean, and so, so happy! The best part was after he was confirmed and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday - he sat back down next to us and said, "I feel so good right now! I'll have to tell you about it after church!" He told us that he literally felt the Spirit come to him, so strongly, and that he just knew that it was with him! It was so sweet - probably one of the coolest things I've had an investigator say. 

We've been meeting with Maddy too, in preparation for her baptism! She is getting baptized this coming Saturday! She is so excited. We met with her on Sunday morning, and she was talking about how she just knows that the church is true, and how she is so excited to be baptized! I love teaching people about the Gospel! It's amazing! 

We just had a Zone BBQ. It was really fun! We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs, and the Poly's made some super good drink with watermelon, pineapple, and coconut. 

We had a great week! I will miss my Soa Ena so much. I have loved getting to know and be a part of the Polynesian culture. She will be one of my best friends forever!

 

Have a great week!

 

Love, Sister Coltrin

 

Sister Ena and Sister Coltrin

Saying goodbye to Charlene, Lindsay and Callie

 

Another Exciting Week in Vegas!

We have had some exciting things happen this week! It's been awesome! This is the last week of the transfer, so this Saturday we will know what is going on. Can you believe I only have 4 transfers left? I can't.

Monday was p-day, as always. Pretty boring, nothing too exciting.  We went to have a lesson with a new investigator, but it fell through and he wasn't there. That night we met with Travis. We moved his baptism up to this coming weekend! He is so excited and he is sincerely ready to be baptized. He is amazing and his faith has grown so much. We love Travis!

Tuesday was District Meeting. After that we went to see Joe! We just laugh and laugh and laugh every time we meet with Joe, he is so funny. He is doing really well, he comes to church every week now! It's a miracle, he got Sundays off work! We had dinner with a family in Sister Ena's old area (which is a ward that is in our area). It was really fun to be with them. After dinner, their son pointed out that he had a Python. He proceeded to take it out, and I proceeded to run to the other end of the house. Hahaha. I hate snakes. Why does everyone in Vegas have a snake?!? After a while of them coaxing me to come closer, I finally touched the snake's tail.

We were super busy on Wednesday. We met with Joe, and then one of our recent converts came out with us. We had a lesson with a referral that we received but it fell through. We went to our backups with him, and went to knock on a door. There was super loud music, and a girl answered the door. We asked for the guy we were looking for and she said she didn't think he was home. She went to see (because we asked her to) and then a couple more people came to the door. They were all laughing and being rude, so we just left. Our recent convert was like, "Do you run into a lot of rude people like that?" I was like, oh my gosh, this wasn't even bad! After that, we had a lesson with our investigator Brian, but he also wasn't there. Then we met with Travis! We always meet at the park and it was sooo hot that day! We had dinner at Bishop's house that night and coordination meeting afterwards (which, guess what? ALSO fell through!)

Thursday morning we saw Joe. We got to see Alainya that afternoon! She is so sweet, I love being able to teach her. We went back to see Brian again, and he was there! We taught him the Restoration with one of our members, and it was amazing! The Spirit was really strong, and we could tell that he really understood and felt the Spirit. We did service after that, and helped a member put baseboards in their house. That night, we were parked in a parking lot, texting and calling people back. All of a sudden, like 5 police cars surround our car and turn their lights on. We freaked out, just a little. There were a few homeless people trespassing and causing problems in the field right next to where we were, so they weren't there for us... but it was still a little scary!

Friday was weekly planning, and seeing Joe in the morning. Sister Ena's back was not cooperating, and so she had to lay down for an hour. We contacted people that day, and tried some less actives that we've never met before. We got a couple of return appointments, so that was good! We felt like we should go and see one of our former investigators, Eddie. Before that I felt like we should go a write a sticky note and put it on one of our member's doors. When we walked to her door, we saw this guy going to get his mail. We went to talk to him and he was super nice! We got his info, and got a referral for the Zone Leaders, it was awesome! He seemed really interested, we were glad we went to write a note for our member. When we saw our former investigator, we could tell he was not doing well. He asked if we would meet with him again! It was amazing. That night we had dinner with one of our recent converts, Alan, and Morgan, who is a member in our ward. We had a new member lesson with Alan afterwards, and then we went on exchanges!

Saturday was an amazing day, full of miracles! Our Sister Training Leader's companion had to go home for medical reasons, so she is in a trio now with some other sisters. Sister Ena went with our STL to work in their area, and I got to stay in Foothills for the day with a member. I called Sister Gelabert, so that it would be easier than switching members all day. It was good to be with her! We got to see Joe in the morning, then we got a return appointment from a referral. We went to see Brian again, and invited him to church. We had lunch, and she made me pasta, just like she did when we were in Anthem. We contacted a lot of potentials and referrals! We had a lesson with Travis, and talked about his baptism too! We went out to Boulder City to contact some people, and then got stuck in traffic for 45 minutes on the way back, so Sister Gelabert asked me questions about missions to help her prepare for her mission (she leaves for Kansas in August). We had a quick dinner and then went to see Ken. We haven't seen him in forever! We knocked, and got to talk to him for just a little bit, and scheduled a lesson. He's doing well, and I'm hoping that he has recognized the difference since he hasn't been coming to church.  We contacted a few more people, and then it was time to exchange again.

Sunday morning we had a lesson with Maddy! We set her for baptism on the 28th and she is so excited for it! We had an amazing lesson with her. We are so excited for her. We had meetings, and coordination meeting, and then church. Church was great! Sacrament meeting was alllll about Father's, since it was Father's day. I got a little sad, and may or may not have, but definitely did cry a little bit because I missed my Dad. He is the best. Happy Belated Father's Day! We had a lesson with Travis after church to help him figure out his baptismal program for this week! We had dinner with Jillian, a few appointments, and then crashed after a long, tiring week!

This morning I got to play tennis, finally! It was so fun! P-day, yay. Okay, everyone, have a great week!

Love, Sister Coltrin

Playing tennis in our new mission t shirts

 

 

 

Sister Gelabert and Sister Coltrin reunited for a day

 

 

 

"I touched another snake and didn't even cry that much."

Talofa!

Talofa!

This week has been great! We have been finding new people and have been seeing a lot of miracles in our area! I absolutely love my companion, Sister Ena, we have so much fun together. This week has had ups and downs - with President and Sister Neider leaving in just a few weeks, we are pretty sad, they will be missed. 

Let’s see if I can remember what we did this week! I don't have my planner with me right now, so I have to just go off my memory... so this could be interesting. 

Well, first off, it is starting to get SO hot! You know you're in Vegas when you get in your car at 8:45pm and it's 100 degrees outside. Ugh. And this week we started hitting the 110s. It kind of stinks when you leave your backpack in the car for 20 minutes and all your favorite chapsticks and all the starbursts in your backpack melt... oops. Gross.

Last Monday our District went out to Nelson to the old mines! A member and his family own the mines out there, so we got to go for free. It was super fun! We started off with a tour of their house/museum, and then went through their yards with all this cute, old stuff... All I could think of was how much Sister Murphy would have LOVED it! And then we went through the mines, it was awesome! They are pretty much self air-conditioned, it felt so good. There was a part where the guys turned off all the lights and it was SO dark! I couldn't see my hand in front of my face - and yes, I did try! Our district took a bunch of pictures, including one where 4 of the Elders tried to fit into a small bathtub... yikes. 

Tuesday we had a few lessons. We are still trying to get a hold of Ken, we haven't seen him in a while. We are still meeting with Travis, Maddy, Brian, Joe, Nathan, and our recent converts! We invited Travis and Maddy to be baptized this week and they both accepted! They are so awesome! We met with Travis and taught him the second and third lessons this week, and with Maddy we did the 10 commandments and all that they entail. Joe is doing awesome, he is still coming to church, and he even texted us this week because we hadn't seen him in a few days and he wanted us to come over!

Wednesday we spent the day trying to contact some referrals, and we set up a few appointments for this coming week. In the middle of the day, the Zone Leaders called and asked Sister Ena if her and all the other Poly's in our zone would sing a musical number (for the next day...) so we called them all and we all met at the church and put a song together - it was AWESOME.

On Thursday we had Zone Conference - our last one with President and Sister Neider. It was a super sad day! The Poly's sang their song, a Samoan song and "God Be With You Til We Meet Again" in English and Samoan. We were all crying. I love the Neider's so much.

Friday was a normal day, we had some lessons and contacted people.

Saturday was probably the highlight of the week! We had Zone Training Meeting (and it actually ended on time...)! That night though, was the BEST! There is a member of our ward who had a sister getting married and her reception was that night. He signed up to feed us, and their family wanted us to come (we go to a LOT of Polynesian things, thanks to Sister Ena!). They're Tongan, so needless to say, we had to be there. It was Elder Latu's cousin, so he and Elder Rogers were there as well - sitting at the Bridal Party table. It was hilarious to see this long table of Tongans, and then this one little, white kid, hahaha! The whole thing was SO FUN! There was Tongan food, and we ate with our hands, and they all had their cultural dances, it was a blast! I was laughing the whole time!

Sunday, we had Travis, Maddy, and Brian all at church! We have such an awesome ward, they all fellowship our investigators so well! We love them! We had meetings from 10:30 until church started at 2:00, and then right after church we grabbed some food from our ward linger longer, and headed off to the last "Why I Believe" fireside! The fireside was SOOOO good, and President and Sister Neider spoke at the end to say goodbye. It was sad, again, but still good. I love the “Why I Believe” firesides, plus we get to see like, all the missionaries there! I love that. Tons of my favorite missionaries are leaving this transfer, so I got to say goodbye to them too.

Today is p-day, and we got our hair cut this morning at a member's salon. It was super nice of her! We have been in a water balloon war this afternoon as a zone, and I'm sitting here typing while I'm drenched. Got to get back to the war!

I love you! Ofa Atu!

 

Love, Sister Coltrin

 

 

 

The Mines and the surrounding area

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rattle Snakes!

 

 

 

Our District at Zone Conference

 

 

President and Sister Neider with Sister Ena and Sister Coltrin

 

 

"Sister C and the Polys"

 

 

There is a whole pig at the wedding reception!

 

 

"LOOK! I'm practically Tongan."

 

 

 

 

Another Great Week In Vegas

Another great week in Vegas! I love it here. Sorry for the short email, we had to stay in a few days due to sickness (I think President puts all the sick Sisters with me...).

Monday we had p-day, which was actually pretty boring. But we got to go to the Duck's house for a Memorial Day barbeque for dinner! It was fun! We had Family Home Evening after that.

Tuesday our District Meeting was cancelled, due to a sick District Leader. We had a couple of lessons, and then we had to head home to put meatballs in the oven to take to St. Timothy's to feed the homeless! Our ward goes and helps another church to feed the homeless once a month - it's actually really fun! We prepare the food, and then work an assembly line to put food on plates, and then we serve the food! We have a lot of fun there. It was especially cool this time because our investigator, Travis, came to help out! After that we went to the Evan's house for "Taco Night" where a bunch of people from the ward go and have dinner. We got to meet a lot of people in our ward. 

Wednesday we had a lesson with Joe and then lunch with one of our members. Sister Ena started to get really sick - her back was really hurting her (she couldn't walk) and she was coughing up blood. We went home so we could call the mission medical sister, and then Sister Ena took some medicine and napped. It was so sad! I wished I could have helped her. I wasn't feeling great either, with a fever of 102. We had to cancel our plans for the rest of the evening because she was sick. But we did have one lesson with Maddy that night and we taught her about the Word of Wisdom! We love teaching her, she is so receptive, and she is awesome!

Thursday was my ONE YEAR mark! What the heck!? Time flies. We started it off right by having a lesson at 9! We taught Travis a really powerful lesson about the Restoration at the park with Robin. It was incredible! We went to District Meeting after that and then District Lunch. We met with Alainya to do another new member lesson about the Word of Wisdom, and then met with Joe to read the Book of Mormon. He makes us laugh so much whenever we are over there. Sister Ena was feeling sick again after that, so we had to go in for an hour for her to rest. We had dinner at Adrian's that night, and then had a fire and I burned a dress and a skirt in honor of my one year mark! Don't worry, Mom - both the dress and skirt were already ruined and couldn't be worn.  It was such a fun night!

Friday morning we had lessons at 9, 10, 11, and noon! It was an awesome way to start off a Friday! We met with Alan to have his last lesson before his baptism! Then we had a pass off lesson with the Elders and got a new investigator named Brian. He is really receptive, but has some mental handicaps, so we aren't sure how well teaching him will go. We are excited though! We met with Joe and then went to have lunch with the Samoan family. Obviously, I impressed them with all of my Samoan words (the 5 that I know...) hahaha. I love having a poly companion!

Saturday was CRAZY! We were rushing around helping people with baptism things, we had another awesome lesson with Travis and committed him to baptism! We talked about the Plan of Salvation, one of my favorite lessons. It was amazing. We met with a few people and knocked on a few doors. Then we had a quick dinner with Adrian and then went to the baptism!!

Alan's baptism was so sweet. Adrian baptized him and then Alan bore his testimony - which was amazing. This has really changed his life and has helped him a lot. Sister Ena and I both spoke at the baptism. It was a great night!

Sunday was the normal ward council and church routine. We got to have dinner with our Relief Society President, Jillian. We love her! We had a lot of fun there and she is so sweet!

We have been getting a lot of referrals this week, we are being so blessed! Thanks for all the prayers! Our investigators are increasing and are all progressing!

I seriously love it here. I love the people, I love Vegas, I love teaching the Gospel, I love serving.

Have a great week! Ou te alofa ia te oe!

Love, Sister Coltrin

 

 

 

 

Sister Coltrin, Sister Ena and Adrien

 

 

 

The burning of a skirt - a one year mark tradition

 

 

 

Sister Coltrin, Alan, Sister Ena

 

 

 

Alan and Sister Coltrin