I'm pretty awesome at chess... I guess.

"Doing the Lord's will, not mine" is something that I learn over and over again while on my mission. The Lord has a perfect plan and mine is definitely not perfect. All I can do is be the best tool for him to use when he needs me. I mentioned Gloria in the last e-mail. Well, we had one appointment with her the following week (which I also mentioned) and we also had a member coming with us. I give her a call before and she wasn't home. Of course. But we were able to set up another appointment the following day. Again, she wasn't home. So we set up another appointment on Saturday.

The third try we went to her apartment to contact her. As we were walking to her building I saw another lady walking and felt a strong impression to talk to her. However, I really wanted to try Gloria one time to see if she was there and if she wasn't I wanted to talk to that lady. Well, Gloria wasn't home. Surprise! I was determined. We went outside and I saw her sitting among some chairs by herself. We went and talked to her. She mentioned she was waiting for someone but we could talk to her for a bit. As I was sharing to her about eternal families another lady walks out. Her name was Rose. She pointed to her building and said, "If you ever want to talk I live in A1." and when I asked her if there was a specific time we could come by she said, "No, I'm home pretty much all the time... Except Sundays... usually I try to go to church but I am not sure where yet." I was so happy! They didn't have time today but we are going to stop by this next Tuesday to visit with her. So our plan was to visit with Gloria but Heavenly Father's plan was for us to meet Rose.

And just a funny thing I've noticed is that we are really attracted to the older generation of investigators. I use to not really enjoy them (of course except for my grandparents) but I have a huge love for them now. Probably because of that wonderful women named Patti Nell!(:

Now on to the most exciting event. THANKSGIVING! Everybody say Yeah! We had a packed Thanksgiving so I'll just start in the best place. Breakfast! We were invited to have cinnamon rolls with the Strum family. It seriously was the best way to start out a Thanksgiving. We then had District meeting. Right after we headed to Patti to give her some company while she waited for her daughter. We then went from there to the Thomas's for that wonderful thing we call Thanksgiving Dinner. It was really fun and we had a great time with them playing some awesome games and stuff. You know the drill. We then cruised over to Sister Schrader to enjoy that big family Thanksgiving. Of course she fed us pie and I was stuffed already. But I was so grateful for her. It made me miss my big crazy family Thanksgiving.

The last stop was to the Shirley's where we made gingerbread houses. I made a barn WITH a horse! Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera hook up so pictures will have to wait till next week. It was there where Brother Shirley started to ask a lot of questions about our missionary work. I really didn't think twice about it. That was our journey on Thankgiving. But it really didn't stop there. The Friday night after Thanksgiving we were invited to the Busho family to help decorate their tree. We also had hot chocolate, fudge, and pie there as well. It made celebrating my 6 month mark pretty awesome.

You know what was even more awesome? The fact that my wonderful nephew Joshua had his first birthday on my 6 Month mark! So just thought I would give a shout out to him! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSHUA! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Okay a few more things. We had a lot of changes happen in the Fort Lupton ward yesterday. Bishop Gagon's counselors were released and we got some new ones. Brother Shirley became our new Ward Mission Leader. And everything clicked. I now understand why he was asking all those question Thursday night. He is going to be an awesome Ward Mission Leader which we really needed. I've been here awhile I can tell. I felt sad when some of those men were released. But I know great men were called to fill in those positions.

And now for an explanation of my title. I like chess I just thought I was bad at it, till I played Elder Gallegos and totally creamed him. But then I thought it was just beginners luck. Till I played him again at his instance. Creamed him twice. He now asks for another try. I'm not sure if I want to risk it. Haha. I guess we'll see how it goes.

Okay Sorry for the rush! I love you guys so much! Hope everyone is well and that you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving. I know I did.

Stay Sweet, and you know, Don't Do Drugs.

Hermana Durfee

Birthday One Day the Flu the Next

Hey wonderful people! Thanks for all of the birthday wishes and for all of your support! Its been a pretty awesome week!

First off, transfers happened yet again!!! Guess who is staying in Fort Lupton for her fourth transfer! Yep this girl! :D I feel really lucky. However, Giron one of my companions, my favorite so far was transferred to the Monte Vista ward. Not sure if you remember but that's the ward I was in during my first tri-companionship. She isn't very far, in fact she wasn't moved our of our zone so I am not to devastated. I was really happy that I was staying but I also was dragging my feet a little because that would mean I was with Sister Mortensen by myself again. Then I read a scripture in Alma 8. This was during the time Alma, the prophet, was trying to preach to the people in Ammonihah. He was rejected and cast out. As he was traveling to a different city an angel appeared to him and told him to return to the city of Ammonihah. Then in verse 18 it says, "Now it came to pass that after Alma had received his message from the angel of the Lord he returned speedily to the land of Ammonihah. And he entered the city by another way, yea, by the way which is on the south of the city Ammonihah." Alma had just been cast out but what does he do when the Lord tells him to go back? He goes back speedily! That scripture said to me that I also need to do what the Lord asks speedily. Never hesitating or dragging my feet. So I'm going to take this next transfer with a boost! Nothing can bring me down(:

This week was also Stake Conference. (A larger meeting where a bunch of congregations/wards meet together.) Elder Teh from the 70's came and spoke to us. The adult meeting was all about member missionary work. It was so good! And I can't wait to be in the member's shoes again. Its pretty easy for a missionary to do missionary work. Then the Sunday meeting our stake was split. We are now apart of the Brighton Stake. President Johnson's, who was the stake president for the Denver North Stake and who is now the stake president for the Brighton Stake, wife bore her testimony and something that she said was, "Dont be sad that the stake is splitting and you won't see your friends. Be happy that the work is progressing enough that we had to split the stake." Such a true statement! 

That day, Sunday the 10th, was also my birthday! Yes, I am now 21 and am now legal! XD Actually I don't feel 21 I think I was just beginning to feel 20. The Friday before the elders in our ward, Elder Gallegos and Bryan, used shaving cream and wrote Happy B-Day on our car. Then Saturday Sister Earl and Southern, my sister training leaders, took me out to lunch. Then the big day happened! :D I was in the hall and I see my Zone Leaders and my District Leader heading my way. It looked like they were apart of an army charging for the enemy! Not kidding! They gave me a huge bag of candy (not sure what I am going to do with it) and then sang Happy Birthday to me. Then we had dinner with the Larsens. It was so awesome! They made homemade Chinese food, got me a birthday hat and present, and of course cake and ice cream! I felt pretty special! And though I was away from the family I felt like I was apart of theirs for that moment. 

Monday was p-day but also transfer day. I was unloading the trunk of our car when I notice a car stop and I hear a HEY! I turned to look and see my wonderful cousin Lindsay (who is really a sister to me)! I about cried when she hopped out of the car and gave me a hug! She gave me wonderful homemade brownies and wanted to take me out to lunch and spoil me. Of course that's exactly what she did! We dropped off Sister Giron but because I was so happy that my cousin was there it was easier then it would have been. After Lindsay took Sister Mortensen and I out to lunch, to Kohl's where she bought me clothes, and then to Target where she bought our groceries. See spoiled! We then sang Happy Birthday at home and ate brownies before she left. I was so blessed!

However, not 10 minutes after she left I began to feel sick, really sick. I was talking to Sister Small, the member we live with, telling her I hadn't puked since I was like 11. Well totally jinxed myself because not even 20 minutes later I threw up. Well, there goes our plans for that night. Then those wonderful elders came over and gave me a blessing while I laid on the couch with a fever and chills. It was nice to have them over I seemed to forget that I was even sick. I then was extremely grateful that I wasn't transferred. What if I was puking the first day with a new companion in a new area! But because I was still in that area Bishop Gagon and his wife brought me ginger ale and crackers. Even though it was a pretty awful night I was grateful for the people I had around me. Let me tell you people, puking is the worst thing on this planet! (okay totally an exaggeration) but pretty darn close to that! However, I was able to get a little bit of sleep and have enough energy to email. Though, even now, I can feel my body draining and am excited to go home and sleep some more. The worst part is I really want to go out and work but know I can't frustrates me! But I'll keep in mind that the Lord knows me best and I was supposed to get the flu last night. 

So I'll rest a little bit more today and maybe later tonight we can get a lesson in or two. 

I love you guys so much! Say an extra prayer for me okay? 

Stay Sweet and Don't Do Drugs!

Hermana Durfee

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

Rain, Rain, Rain, Nothing but rain.

So Monday... Around the afternoon, I got sick, like stomach sick. I didn't actually throw up but it got pretty close to that point. I really wanted to go out and work but Sister Mortensen insisted that we go home so that I could sleep some and feel better. I finally gave in, but as we started planning for the next day and all we could put in were zeros to our numbers I felt even worse. But I got some extra sleep that night and the following day I felt completly better. We were also able to teach 5 lessons and make up for lost time on Monday. I knew that coming home was the right decision because the Lord blessed me and us the next day.

Monday is when the rain started but it was just a short down pour and we didn't think much of it. Then Tuesday in the evening the rain came again, a lot of rain, like a LOT of rain. We were driving to visit the Reed family, a part member/less-active family. There is this one street on the side of their house that turns into a river when it pours like it was. We might have been having to much fun. As we were slowly driving in this river we passed a red car and a man about late 20's early 30's was driving. As we passed he looks at me with this huge grin on his face. He too was having to much fun. I clearly was having a blast and well... missed the house so we had to go back. As we got back into the river I saw the same red car and was given the same crazy grin. I still laugh when I think about his face/smile. 

Wednesday was what we call a Mission Tour. Its when a member of the seventy comes and gives the missionaries a training. I believe his name was Elder Corbridge. It was a real eye opener. And I played the piano for a special musical number. I was just glad that I was the pianist for the singers. But now I can say that I've played for a member of the seventy!(: (I also should mention that it was still raining)

Come Thursday the rain still hadn't stopped. In fact we were supposed to have zone meeting but two sets of sisters couldn't get out of their house because of the flooding so it was canceled! We were really blessed to be warm and dry. You should look at some pictures of the flooding its pretty crazy. Some less-actives turned on the news and we were able to catch a few peaks of what was happening. 

Now for the best part of the week. The sisters in my district, The Riverdale sisters, and Fort Lupton 1 and 2 were able to attend the Sound of Music play that the Brighton community was putting on. The first counselor in the Fort Lupton ward (my ward in case you forgot) lead the orchestra and there were a few other members not just from my ward but the Brighton ward and Riverdale ward who were either actors or managers. We were also able to have Pati attend! She loved it soo much! It was fantastic! And President Toombs really spoiled us by giving us permission to attend. I leaned over to Sister Hanshaw (who seriously is my best friend here on my mission) and said, "If you want to be successful and make a lot of money in a play/performance have a few Mormons in the production. Because you are going to have a ton of other Mormons come support them." There were a lot of member support!(: Its so awesome! And I was so lucky! 

So for my spiritual though/last note of this e-mail, I just want to testify to you how important following the Spirit is! Saturday night after dinner we of course went to work. As we drove by a less-actives home to visit I saw all the lights out and didn't feel quite right about knocking so we went to one of the backups. I still couldn't shake off the feeling that something was off but we went and knocked on another less-actives door anyways. I wasn't surprised when no one answered. As we got back into the car, I shared my concern with Sister Mortensen. I told her I felt like we should go home that we weren't safe this night. She said she felt the same thing. So reluctantly we went home. It wasn't until we had entered our home did the feeling of uneasiness leave me. Now, I'll never know what would have happened if we had stayed, in fact I don't know if I ever want to know. However, I do know this, I am so grateful for the guidance of the Spirit. Listen for it and then when you hear it HEED it! 

I love you all so so much! Keep working hard, stay sweet, and keep of the drugs!(:

Hermana Durfee