It Was A Twenty One Lessons Sort Of Week

Yeah, yeah! 21 lessons! We worked so hard these past weeks to reach the mission goal of 20 lessons and finally the had work paid off! There is a scripture in Mosiah 2:24 and it reads, "24 And secondly, he doth arequire that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bblessyou; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?" As we have been working had he blessed us immediately even though it was small but this week the blessing was large! :D This is the first time ever that I have been able to hit 20 lessons and I wouldn't necessarily say that I am  proud of myself but I am sure pretty happy! :D We also had Judy, Sister Pierce and the Fullerton family show up for church this week! Its been really great ESPECIALLY with Judy. She had us over for breakfast on Thursday, which was divine, and then had us all over last night for dinner. The food was so excelent! Her husband Ray joined us for and he even said, "Maybe you'll see me at church one of these days" He is just as amazing as she is! This week would be the third week she has come to church. It makes me extremely exciting!

This week has been pretty exciting! Last p-day we carved pumpkins at Sister Simcox, a member in our ward. She is from Brazil and made us some really good cheese bread. It was a blast! This p-day we are going to learn how to decorate cakes! So excited!

On Thursday you would not believe what we did! We had district meeting outside... in the cold! There was a funeral (a HUGE funeral) at the church so we had district meeting in the backyard of the Zone Leader's place. I have pictures but didn't bring my hookup so I'll have to send them next week. It was crazy and so cold! Even though it was slightly not very enjoyable, I will never ever experience that again. You do some crazy things on a mission!

On Friday we taught Mary, one of our new investigators. We brought Patti with us, which was a great idea, she totally rocked that lesson! I did ask her to be baptized which the outcome was pretty humorous! She is a very out spoken old lady. She pretty much told me that asking that was the wrong thing to do. However, she did say that she still wants us to visit her. just some of the things she says make me chuckle. She says all the time, "I love my Jesus." And when Patti closed the prayer by saying, "In Jesus name, Amen." Mary said, "See she loves Jesus too!" She really is a sweet lady, however Patti will always be my number one! I love that lady like she is my grandmother!

Then on Saturday we had the ward Trunk or Treat! It was huge! So many people were there, a lot of people I didn't even know. Jonathan, a punky 17 year old just in case I haven't mentioned before, came! He turned to me and said, "I'm going outside." I asked him why and he just repeated himself. The spirit immediately told me he was going outside for a smoke. I grabbed my companions and I knew we had to stop him. It hurts to know that you can't change people. What really changes them is THEIR choice to change and the Atonement of our Savior. I think Jonathan lacks the will to change. He is so young, has so much potential, but knowing he doesn't really want to reach that potential is heartbreaking to me. I only can try my best to show him how important the Gospel is and maybe that desire will grow. However, despite that, the Trunk or Treat was great! The elders were the judges for the chili and us sisters were the judges for the trunks. It was really fun! I am also excited for Halloween. We have to stop proselyting around 6 because President Toombs doesn't want us out on Halloween night. Its like a mini vacation! Ticket To Ride All Night Long! haha

We had a weird experience on Sunday. We, the five missionaries, teach Gospel Principles, but since there was no one really to attend our class we just canceled and attended Gospel Doctrine. Everyone waited a good 5 minutes then the Sunday School President comes to the front of the class and says, "Well we don't have a teacher and I have to much respect for this class to make something up on the spot so you guys get a break. Have a good day." and leaves. Everyone was shocked. Then someone says, "We have 5 missionaries. They can teach!" And so we taught Gospel Doctrine. We taught about forgiveness. And I shared how my mommy is the perfect example of forgiveness. She truly is! I hope to be like her and forgive like my mom does.(:

Okay I probably should go(: I hope all of you are having a great Monday! Love you guys so much!

Stay Sweet, and Don't Do Drugs!(:

Hermana Durfee

A Ticket To Ride

Gosh, guys this week has been really great! We definetly had some bumps in the road, but I am just truly grateful for this transfer and for Sister Giron who helps make it fun and laughs with me. Laughter has always been the best medicine for me. Not only am I having fun but the work has been really progressing! Plus I have the best parents in the world who support me and love me and well... spoil me. This week I got a package from my mommy who sent me the winter clothes that I needed. (Really nice boots, really nice coat, three maxi skirts, wonderful gloves, and a new camera {My camera was stolen about 2 transfers ago}) There are some perks about being in the states so close to home.

The work is going really great! We got three new investigators last week. One through tracting. Her name is Mary she about Patti's age. She wasn't going to let us in, using the excuse that she just had her teeth pulled and that she didn't want to talk much. She was about to shut the door when I asked if it would be okay if we just share a blessing on her home. She let us in and then ended up talking for the whole hour we were there! haha The second investigator is a less actives' son. His name is Manuel. He is about 23 and pretty good looking if I do say so myself. He has some self esteem issues. He works out a ton and well... wants to be a stripper. -.- So that lesson we taught a little bit about the Word of Wisdom and a little bit about the Law of Chasity. I don't want him to think that we are there to lecture him. We truly just want to help him be his best self. Well his less-active mom and him came to church! Which was awesome because it was also the primary program. The third new investigator was a referral from a member. Her name is Rachel Jojola. Her husband is a less-active and they are living in his parent's home who are currently serving a mission in Tahiti. She is awesome and when we asked her if she would like to take the lessons she was totally on board. I am kind of weary about the husband. He probably wont stop her but from what we can tell wont support her. 

On Friday Sister Mortensen got really sick. (I don't think she has a very good immune system). That day I was truly grateful to have another companion. We had to stay home all day but because I had Giron I wasn't lonely. We played Phase 10 (which I lost), Monopoly (which I also lost) and two games of A Ticket To Ride (Won the first one, lost the second). We had a blast! Now, don't go thinking we weren't being obedient. Sister Mortensen slept all day and all night. However, Giron and I are now addicted to A Ticket To Ride and we play it whenever we might have a little bit of free time. If you haven't ever played it before do it! I love it! 

Sunday we had Judy Schrader show up (Twice in a row(:) to church! And like I mentioned before we also had Manuel and Maria come! I was so happy! And of course Patti was there! She is so awesome! She gave me a pin about 3 weeks ago. A horse pin. I always have it on my jacket and last week I lost that jacket. I wasn't really worried about the jacket I was only worried about the pin that was on the jacket. Don't worry I found it(: She is going to feed all 5 of us on Wednesday! So excited! 

We then went to dinner on to the Bell's Sunday night. We had a wonderful soup that Brother Bell made for us. And a friend that is staying with them for a little bit made us fried oreos!! Oh my gosh! They were so good! The bad news about this dinner is that Sister Mortensen (who seriously should live in a bubble) had an allergic reaction to something in the soup. The left side of her face totally swelled up. So we had to go home again. What I find really awesome is that we were only able to work about 5 1/2 days and we got 16 lessons! If we had all 7 days to work we probably could have done 20! 

I am really having a great time!(: Sister Giron and I really have hit it off! I don't know how many times I say to her, "Don't leave me okay?" (Transfers will be upon us faster then you know). 

But hey, I want you guys to know that I am always thinking about you! If you need any prayers let me know, its all I can do really. 

Stay Sweet and Don't Do Drugs. 

Hermana Durfee

 

PSS. PICTURES (finally right?) 

Picture 1: Is of our living space down in the basement of a members home. 

Picture 2: Giron did my hair and makeup which equals pretty me. haha

Picture 3: This is last transfer during mission tour. That is my zone(: The BEST ZONE EVA!

 

10 Things You Never Knew About Sea Anemones

I really have had a good week this week. It had a rough start but I am really having fun. Actually I think this is the first week I have actually enjoyed myself! I've been praying for a week like this for a long time now.

I finally can say that I have a companion that I really like. Hermana Giron is awesome! (Granted she still struggles with some obedient issues) She's so fun and loving and just all together really nice to have around. The Lord is truly wonderful! Always sending me the things I need when I need them. I really need to get a camera so that I can send you some pictures! The work keeps going and you know, we still don't really have a solid investigator but we do have some solid less-actives that we are working with. The members here are working with us as well and even though there are a lot of mouths to feed they are still willing to feed us(: (That is kind of my challenge for you, feed the missionaries! We really really appreciate it!) 

There are only a few difficult situations that we have/had to work with. One is working with Elders... that are on bikes. They are great and hard working but like mentioned before, are on bikes! Our ward is huge boundaries wise! (Bigger then the ward at home) And we, as the sisters, don't have enough miles to work just the north part. It might seem simple to split it North and South but when you have miles to look out for it makes it more complicated. The other is moving! We moved out of our home and lived at the Smiths home for a week and then on Saturday we moved into our official home of the Smalls. We were really spoiled at the Smiths (there were two bath rooms and plenty of arm space). In the Smalls we live in a more humble home. We live in the basement with green tarps as our walls. (again I need to take pictures!) And we share a bathroom with the two teenage girls. However, I am grateful to have a bed and a warm place to live. So really I can't complain. 

It was Sister Mortensen's birthday this week. And I must say we made sure it was a good one!  That morning we did a scavenger hunt where she found little presents and cards that Sister Giron gave her. The day before I had called our dinner and told Sister Redd that it will be her birthday and asked if we could have cake. When we went to dinner two other families were there as well. So we had ourselves a mini party! :D They even go her a gift and a card! When we got home (we were still at the smiths) Sister Smith had a cake for us as well! Man I was really full after that day! Today I plan on getting her a sketch book(: I think it went really well! 

AAH! Out of time! But hey, remind me to tell you about the lessons we have had with Brother Reed and his family (the family that was going through a divorce). And about General Conference! :D 

Keep being amazing! Don't Do Drugs and Stay Sweet! 

Love Hermana Durfee

Careful What You Wish For

How true that statement is. And again I want to apologize for the short e-mail. For those of you who don't know, my Grandma Durfee died on Saturday. I've cried a lot this past hour or so, so I am not in the mood to write a lot. There are a few things that are hard while on a mission. One being that life and... death still happens. I want to be there at the funeral on Friday, however, I know the Lord needs me here serving the people of Colorado and that this experience is supposed to strengthen me some how.(:

Transfers happened! I prayed and prayed to stay and low and behold! I stayed!... Sister Mortensen and I also got another companion! Yeah... another trio! My favorite! XD Her name is Hermana Giron (its spanish so its pronounced Hi-ron). I really like her so far! The only thing that really bothers me is :/ she is not really obedient and I can't say much because I am the junior companion and she's been out a year and a month. I am not sure what to do about that difficult situation. We also have to split the area again. The other set of sisters (together) have been moved to a ward called Buckley in Aurora. Now we have two brand new elders. The poor souls. Hopefully we can help them in anyway we can. It makes things a little complicated especially with members feeding us. Thats 5 mouths to feed and two of them are boys. I hope everything works out!

I am so sorry for this e-mail. I will try next week to write a better one. This is really short. 

I love you all so much!

Stay Sweet and Don't Do Drugs

Hermana Durfee