Letter 14: The one where Tessa says goodbye

Amazing week!!! Even though my life has kinda been turned upside down...buuuut we'll get to that in a minute (:

STORIES

--We found the nicest guy street contacting, his name is Adam and he said we were an answer to his prayers! I like that. (: So he's an investigator now, he's the best!!

--We knocked on a man named Herbert's door last week, I think I mentioned him last week. Well we taught him the first lesson, and he is SO PREPARED. He said he's read parts of the Book of Mormon and knows it's from God. I invited him to be baptized and he said he would! Ahh! Very first lesson, he's incredible. Buuut....he speaks Spanish, so we transferred him to the Spanish elders. Still way exciting, I feel so blessed to be part of that miracle.

--So remember Esparanza, the family we found? Well, turns out there's 14 people in their house...FOURTEEN! They are amazing, and just feel like my second family. Love them to death! They haven't been able to come to church yet which is a bummer, but other than that, things are going great with them.

--Went on a walk with Glenn and his dog Callie, it was really nice. (: We all talked about what a miracle it is we found him, and how happy he is that we did. Made me happy.

For those of you who don't know, I was all set to work at Disney World this past summer. I was hired, had my plane tickets, my roommates--everything all set to go! And then...I just felt sick about going. I couldn't do it. So after much prayer, I decided to go on a mission sooner instead of waiting until after Disney. Well, I left for the MTC only 3 weeks sooner than I could have left if I went to Disney World. I always wondered why I had to go just 3 short weeks sooner. Well...my second week here, we found Glenn. I think he was exactly the reason why I was supposed to come when I came. Way cool to think about! God knows what He's doing (:

--We've been trying over and over to visit with this lady named Roxanna who was on our Potential Investigator's list. She was never available! We decided to try once more, and she finally let us in (: We taught her the Restoration, and she started crying. The spirit was so strong. It was the coolest lesson!! Another new investigator!

--A similar story, we've been trying over and over to visit with another lady named Maria. We finally got in and taught her the Restoration, and she, too, started crying and the spirit was incredible. She wants God more in her life and wants to follow whatever He tells her to do! Miracle, another new investigator (:

--Well it's just been a really good week...4 new investigators, just seeing miracles left and right! This area is seeing huge changes, it's completely different than it was 3 months ago and I love it with my whole heart! But then....transfer calls came.

And guess what?

I'M LEAVING. Ahh so sad. I was so surprised. I thought for sure I would be staying here and training, and Sister Rhoades would leave! But nope. I'm leaving. So we found that out, and then an hour later President Hall called me...

And guess what?

I got called to be SISTER TRAINING LEADER. Ahhh. I was floored. Seriously. I've been out 3 months...and now I'm one of 4 Sister Training Leaders in the mission. What the heck? Well I have felt every emotion under the sun about it, all these changes have thrown me for a loop. But I've received a lot of support, and in the end--I know God will never leave my side. If He wants me to lead...well, His will be done and He will make me equal to this calling I've been given. My God is my support and that's the comfort I've received in all of this. The 20 investigators here (yes 20!!!) will be in good hands, and I will be in good hands as well. Even though my heart is a little broken having to say goodbye to all these people....it will be ok.

Deeeep Breathes.

Alright, moving forward!

FUNNIES

--During a lesson with Adam, we were outside at some tables and a guy walks up to us... "Here, I got you guys some suckers! I got ex-communicated, but here you go. Have a nice day!" Haha uhh...ok! So we took the suckers and continued our lesson. (:

--Elder Davidson: "What do you guys do with your empty milk jugs?"

Me: "Uh...we recycle them..."

Elder Davidson: "I fill them with water, throw them in the air, and cut them in half with a knife!"

hahaha what in the world.

--While out knocking, I see this guy way high up in a tree cutting branches. So I yell up to him "Don't fall!!"
Then literally 3 seconds later we hear: "Ahh!" *crash*

Yes, he fell out of the tree. Luckily he was tied to the tree so he only fell a couple feet down haha so funny though.

LESSONS LEARNED

--I learned a lot this week about how important it is to just do our best, and leave the harvest to the Lord! That's really all we can do. This work is not about numbers at all, so we can't attach our happiness to them. Our sacrifice and hard work is more important to the Lord than our increase...AKA our numbers! Though we have been blessed to see amazing things happening here, it's all thanks to God.

--Heavenly Father always teaches with love...I've realized a major thing I need to work on is being submissive. When something comes up I don't want to do, I'm trying to rewire my brain from thinking of all the reasons why we shouldn't do it, to now thinking of all the reasons why we should. Definitely important to learn, and I'm working on it (:

  

Well...that's about it for this week. Transfers are tomorrow, please keep me in your prayers with this adjustment. I love you all! <3

Going to miss this trainer of mine!

Elder Smith and Sister Kemp...only the best ever.

Elder Smith and Sister Kemp...only the best ever.

The whole zone! Love them.

The Sisters

Sisters and Zone Leaders

My three amazing sisters! Sister Redner and Hermana Rodriguez, my pre-mission facebook friends (:

Me and Sister Rhoades on our last "date," getting frozen yogurt. Love her!

LETTER 13: The one where Tessa meets a fire dancer

Ok, this week was too good. Loving it, doing work, seeing miracle after miracle!

STORIES

--Alright so Monday night, we had visited everyone and had nothing else to do, but still had 30 minutes left of the day! So I'm just driving along and Sister Rhoades says, "Soo...where are we going?"

Me: "Where God wants us to go of course!"
Sister Rhoades: "And where is that?"
Me: "Ask Him, not me!" haha

So I just pull into a parking lot, we get out and walk straight to this guy we see... long story short, he has an LDS friend and wants to learn more, wants to come to church, etc. Holy miracle!!! Did that just happen? God's timing is incredible!! I can't get over it. Best thing ever. His name is Ignacio, or Nacho for short. Still in the process of meeting up with him (:

--We had an appointment fall through, but the Marlows were already planning on coming with us. So instead, since they are amazing, they came out knocking with us! We headed up their street knocking, and are walking up the driveway to one house and Brother Marlow just says, "This is it." Uhh wow...ok! 

Haha so we knock on the door, and start talking through the window to a guy in bed. He invites us in, and we go to his bedroom and find him. His name is Paul! Paul has multiple sclerosis, but also has the most incredible faith. We shared the Restoration with him, and have gone back again since to talk more about the Book of Mormon with him! Yayy miracle!!

--Another time driving, wondering where to go street contacting, we see a girl dressed in blue medical scrubs. Sister Rhoades just says, "Let's go get her!" haha so we creep on her, pull up in a parking spot by her and jump out super quick and start talking to her! Her name is Mary, and she just moved here from Syria. She is the sweetest girl ever, she's 21 and has a love for Jesus Christ that truly inspires me. We met the next day and taught her the Restoration. She lovesit. Taught her again, the Plan of Salvation! Again, she loved it. She feels it's true already and says she will pray about it and do whatever God tells her to do. Ahh! Well, we had to hand her over to the Singles Ward Sisters, but they are doing great with her. Miracle!!! Love it!

--We had Zone Conference on Thursday, and for weeks they have been stressing how important it is to be on time. Well, if you know me at all, you know I am always very diligent about being on time, it's important to me! Haha so we go to leave with a large buffer time so we would for sure get there on time. And....we had a flat tire!! Seriously?? The ONE time it really matters. I was a stressed mess haha. We had ran over a nail! So the Elders came to the rescue, and we made them late too. But it worked out, and Sister Hall even used us getting a nail in our tire as an analogy during the conference! It worked out, but was very bad timing. (:

--Speaking of Zone Conference, it was the best thing ever! A member of the 70 came, Elder Kopishke. He is inspiring. I felt the spirit so strong, and he truly changed my life. I was on a spiritual high for the rest of the week, and still am! I love it! How blessed are we to have an apostle of God come minister to us. Also, at lunch, he and President Hall came to sit, eat, and chat with us. We chose the right table! (: I had the opportunity of saying a prayer after lunch in front of everyone, and I don't think I've ever been so nervous for a prayer haha

--We went to visit a potential investigator that missionaries had found a couple years ago. We've tried many times before, and she was always busy. But we were persistent! Haha so we finally got to go in and talk with her, and we had a member with us, Sister Pena! Her husband is 40 years older than her...pretty crazy. He's 93 and going strong. Their name's are Regina and Glenn! (Glenn's are good luck (: ). So as she's talking, she starts asking what happens after we die, because she doesn't know how much longer her husband has. We taught her a powerful Plan of Salvation lesson, and she totally felt the spirit, committed to read the Book of Mormon, and wants to learn more. WOW! Sadly we had to hand her over as well, this time to the Spanish missionaries! They'll do well with her (: Miracle!!

--At Pep-boys while getting our tire fixed, we started talking to this lady named Kim. She's a fire dancer! Haha she was so awesome though, after talking for a bit she's like, "Can I take a picture with you guys?? Hold up the Book too! I want to show my friends!" So I held the Book of Mormon proudly and we got a picture with her (: She wants to meet up and bring a friend to talk with us more! Can't wait! It's in the works (:

--We went to visit a lady who lives next door to Rosie, and Ursula, and Josh! 3 of our investigators live right on the same street! We call it our golden street haha. So we visit Esperanza, and I invited ourselves in (it's worked 3 times now this week--three for three!) so she let us in and gathered all her kids and her nieces and nephews who live there. We taught the whole family the Restoration and they committed to read the Book of Mormon and pray as a family. They loved it and we have a return appointment next Friday! I can't even describe how happy I was. Biggest miracle! Lots of new investigators! 

FUNNIES

--Well...I don't have anything specific to share. Sorry! But the Elders here crack me up, every week. I can't handle it. They're too great! Love it. So that will count as the "funny" for this week. (:

LESSONS LEARNED

--Elder Kopishke taught me SOO much! Some highlights:

·  Setting goals is an act of faith. We need to take our dreams and kneel down. Take them seriously! Get your dreams and then get behind them. Make them happen.

·  We see what's in our minds--if we're envisioning finding our dream family or dream person, we will see them everywhere! We can't just envision the 100 people we want to baptize, but picture the ONE then find them. (:

·  Before we leave, we should baptize our replacement. (LOVE THIS. I will bring a girl to the church, and she will be a missionary one day, too. (: )

·  This is ALL about love. Jesus Christ didn't 'overcome the world' through being a tyrant, a ruler, etc. He overcame the world because he LOVED it so much that He was willing to die for it.

 Honestly, I could go on and on with the things I learned. But that will do for now (:

I can't even get over how blessed I am to be seeing all these miracles. This week was beyond amazing. SO MANY MIRACLES. I'm loving the work, loving the people here, just loving everything! Thank you for the support and love, keep it coming (: 

My cluttered but amazing desk, along with my collage of pictures and quotes (: Makes me happy!

We got RAIN! For the first time! Sister Rhoades was beyond happy, it was nice to have a break from the heat. Things have cooled down and I finally have gotten to break out my jacket!

Just a little glimpse of Glenn's dog, Callie! We love her. Parts of her look like a leopard (:

A blurry picture we took at Glenn's. (:

Our ward made the CUTEST stockings for the missionaries in our stake!! The elders have little ties, and the sisters have buttons and bows. All have little nametags. I love it! We got to help stuff them with goodies. (:

Our dear Elders fixing our tire! 

Elder Amadi and I, I was trying not to smile...you can see how well that went. Haha

Everyone here keeps giving us fruit from off their trees! Exotic ones, at least for Utah standards haha. I've got some japanese fruit, guavas, and pomegranates.

Sister Kemp and Elder Larman wearing their colorful clothes. Apparently today everyone was trying to dress ugly haha I didn't catch the memo!

My zone...love them. Today we played "werewolf." They're goofs and crack me up.

Letter 12: The one where Tessa gets good news at general conference

So I don't know about you, but this week was the best. I'm on a spiritual high from conference! I mean, how could you not be? SO GREAT.

STORIES

--My family sent me a box of Books of Mormon!! Happy day! I don't even know what to do with myself if I don't have a Book of Mormon in hand. On top of supplying me with more books, they put a family picture inside each book along with their testimonies! It's the best thing ever to be able to go talk with people and show them my family and how the Book of Mormon has impacted them. Big thanks to my amazing mom!!

--We met with cute grandma Magda this week--or as Sister Rhoades says, "Magma"-- and we have a BAPTISM DATE set!! November 9th!!! Mark it in your calendars (: So happy for her. After over a year of investigating the church...she's finally entering in the gate to return to God! Can hardly wait (:

--Had a lesson with Jamie and Jason, we love them dearly...but unfortunately...they are getting dropped. Breaks my heart ): There's only so much you can do when people refuse to read the Book of Mormon or pray about it. We've tried many approaches with lessons, but it always turns into Bible bashing, and the thing with Bible bashing is--no one wins! So we have one more appointment with them to tell them byeee

--We got a referral from Mormon.org this week, so we go to visit her and no one answers. We knock two of her neighbors, and the first neighbor is totally awesome and wants us to come back! The second house, a guy answered and told us he was just house-sitting for the day and didn't live there.

Soo we go back to the referral the next day, and they aren't interested ): We go back to the "house-sitter" house, and the same guyanswers the door...haha before we even say anything he just blurts out, "Ok! You caught me, I lied, this is my house. I didn't think you would come back!" Haha caught him in the act! He was way funny about it though, and we ended up getting a return appointment! So we taught Pablo yesterday, and now we have a NEW INVESTIGATOR! Yayy! He's the best! The lesson went super well, and he is so ready and prepared.

Even though that referral didn't necessarily work out, it brought us to their neighbors, and they are ready for the gospel! CODE RED-SEA

--Someone chased after US on the street....the tables have turned! Haha he wanted a Book of Mormon...who does that?! It was awesome! But he wants it in another language, so we have to wait a week or so to get it. Way cool though!

--A while ago, I wrote an article for sistermissionaryfashion.com...it should be published on their site soon so go check it out if you so desire (: It's about how I prepared for my mission from a wardrobe perspective. It's an awesome store and has the cutest clothes! I'm honored they chose me to write an article for them. 

--Friday, we went on exchanges!! Sister Kemp came with me to work in good ol' Granada Hills. She is the best ever!!! We had a blast, it was so fun and we worked super hard. Learned tons from her. 

As a district, we went to do a blitz to help out the Granada Hills Elders, so we all went to the food trucks Friday night and went crazy handing out pass along cards and talking about Jesus! Missionaries everywhere! Loved it.

--General Conference....exclamation point! (If you watched conference, you'll get that reference. (: ) So basically, just amazing. I LOVE hearing from our prophet and apostles! They are truly inspired. My love and testimony of the gospel was strengthened and deepened. I just want everyone in the whole world to have this gospel in their lives! 

--Saturday we went to visit a former investigator, Clara. She wasn't home, but her daughter Ursula was! So we basically invited ourselves in to share a message...we shared the Restoration with her, and now we have another NEW INVESTIGATOR! She is amazing and searching for truth. We have a return appointment next Sunday and she committed to read the Book of Mormon (: CODE RED-SEA

--Knocked on a door, and a man named Herbert answered. We talked for quite a while about Jesus Christ, and he has the most incredible faith and humility. With tears in his eyes, he told us he wants to be like us one day! I mean, how can you NOT love him?? He is so sweet and we have an appointment set with him.

--Went to visit Edward and FINALLY caught him at home! Just shared a brief message with him, and then his mom pulled up and he had to leave, so we went in and talked with Nancy. I love her to death! We talked about the Book of Mormon and she committed to read it, andwith her cute son Estabon who is going to start coming to scouts! This family is incredible and I so desperately want them to have this gospel in their lives. Love them!!!

FUNNIES

--We walked up to someone on the street...

Me: "Hi, I'm Sister Rhoades!"
Sis Rhoades: "And I'm Sister Bishop!"

...then we just look at each other...

Me: "Wait a second.....switch that..."

hahah so funny. Good way to break the ice! They started laughing too. 

--When we go to teach Pablo for the first time, he's like "Oh yeah, I was just barely watching this 'Mormon's Gone Wild' show where they leave the church or something!" 

Me: "Uh....you mean the Amish show?"
Pablo: "Oh you guys aren't Amish?"

haha nope. Glad we got that cleared up!

--At conference, the Zone leaders brought tons of Dove chocolates...lets just say, too much was consumed. Mostly to read the little fortunes on the inside of the wrapper haha. But then we listen to Russell M. Nelson talk about "self-control"...we just look at each other...dang it!!! Shut that down hahah no more chocolate for us. We're just happy that the talk was given at the end of conference so we got our fair share of chocolate in...(: We all signed a contract now going of sweets for a month. haha Prophet speaks and we follow!

LESSONS

--My motto for this week was: "Find things to enjoy. Rediscover humor, savor the beauty in the world, notice the kindness of others, and delight in the spirit's presence." This was taken from the 'Adjusting to Missionary Life' handbook. Isn't it amazing? Having this perspective and always looking for the good really does change things. Loved it. It takes conscious and concerted effort, but it's worth it.

--Ok, so prayer truly is amazing. We are talking with our creator, our Father in Heaven, God! He is the most all-powerful, all-knowing, amazing person, yet He cares and He listens to each little prayer. He is always there!! How amazing is that? I've been focused this week on having more meaningful heartfelt prayers. I've never prayed so much in my life, and before I knew it I found that I was slipping into repetitious prayers...not ok! So that's been changed, and I really put a lot of thought into what I say. Makes a huge difference. 

--Conference...learned so much. Can't even begin to explain all the things that touched my heart and the things that the spirit taught me! Mainly, I just left conference with the strongest desire to share this with everyone. Good news--I'm a missionary and my whole life is sharing it! Wish granted. haha I love missionary work.

Alrighty, that's about it. About ten times as long as last week...back to normal (;

Love you all...SO MUCH!!!! 

-Sister Bishop

I loved these trees!

A less-active we visited showed us this car he's restoring...it's from 1915! So cool!

The amazing Books of Mormon!

Some gum sent to us from Sister Langford in New York!

Got Beignet's at the Food Trucks on Friday. We finally got permission to eat there! First beignet ever. Mmmm (:

Sister Kemp...love her. Recognize her dress? haha a dog peed on her so we shared clothes (:

Just a few of the chocolate wrappers haha

Me and Sister Rhoades were twinners! Green cardigans and polka dot skirts.

I got a new set of scriptures, the 2013 edition!! I'm so happy, I love them (: it's fun to start over marking up everything. And I have a whole system for color coordinating and you can see all the tabs sticking out the top haha. Love it