Flag Football, Exchanges, and Musical Notes

Hey!

So this week we were gone a lot.  Another one of those crazy weeks =)

Monday we went to Baker and played flag football with the zone.  It was so fun!  I loved it.  Made two touch downs ;) 

 Then we had dinner and a preach my gospel family night lesson with our ward mission leader and his family, the Glabes.  It was great!

Tuesday had lunch with Cleo and she invited Amity.  Such a sweet lady.  Loves her missionaries.  And now she loves Amity too.  Then we went to the blood drive.  Thought it would be quick thing... so much for that.  Sister Bailey couldn't donate because she had a ct scan that morning and her blood was died.  They took forever in the booth because my one finger didn't have enough iron in it, so they pricked the other.  Finally got me in the chair and I almost passed out.  Guess I didn't eat enough meat that day.  Whoops.  haha =)  So that didn't really go as planned.  We then went to dinner, then in splits with our new ward missionary, Rande.

Wednesday was Elgin as always.  We did weekly planning because we thought we would be on exchanges on Thursday

.  Then we went and visited some people, had dinner, then met with the ward mission leader.  Not very eventful.

Thursday we had exchanges planned... but it had snowed and there was a sheet of ice everywhere.  4 accidents on the free way.  So we canceled those and helped Sister Meyer at her thrift store, "Barkin' Basement".  Then we drove to Weiser because it got warmer and the roads cleared.  We didn't want to drive in the ice the next morning at 5 am to get to zone conference.  Practiced our songs in Weiser and had a sleep over with the sisters.

Friday was zone conference.  It was so great!  Loved it!  I was going to share some of my notes with you but I left them in our apartment :P  Next week!  Sorry.  It was really good though.  We read the whole Book of Mormon in 40 minutes!  Beat that.  haha.  They cut up a paperback book and gave each missionary about 10 pages for them to read individually.  So as a group we read the whole thing in 40 minutes.  That was pretty trikcy =)  Had a yummy thanksgiving feast.  And it was just fun to see other missionaries!  Then we decided to do exchanges after the meeting.  I came back to La Grande with Sister Keyser (who served here last year so she was super excited to come back).

 

 It decided to snow really hard while we were in the last canyon.  That was pretty scary.  But we made it back safe.  (Thanks family for living in a place that has snow on the roads all winter.  It's really helped on my mission.  haha  It's crazy how many people come from places that don't have snow.)

Saturday we had another awesome scripture study with Katie and Kaydon.  Kaydon, again, was really annoyed at having to come down and read.  But without fail, he got into it and was much happier when we finished.  The scriptures really change attitude.  It's pretty cool!  We visited a couple other people.  Then exchanged back and went to the Chili feed.... We were the entertainment.  haha =)  Sister Bailey sang a version of Savior Redeemer of my Soul and I made up and arranged.  Then I played waterfall (still know it!), then they asked for us to sing the one we sang last Sunday.  It was pretty cool =)  I discovered a new talent!  I found out I can take a hymn and arrange it.  I'm still mastering writing it down.  But I'm working on it.

Sunday we spoke and did the musical number in Elgin.  Great fun.  Then we went to choir practice, then more church, then dinner.  Best dinner ever!  Individual made pizzas =)  It was fun.  Then we went and saw a less active, Karen.  We watched her make some candy and talked about moving on.  Sister Bailey has been worried she won't adjust well.  But Karen was a great comfort to her last night with her great encouragement and advice.  It was really good for all three of us to have that chat I think.

So that was my crazy week.  Super fun.  I can't believe Sister Bailey is going home in 2 weeks! I'm going to miss her :P

So I have a talk suggestion that everyone should read =)

"Believing Christ: A Practical Approach to the Atonement" by Stephen E. Robinson

It is a fantastic talk. =)

How is everyone's book of mormon reading coming?  I'm in Alma and quickly reading;)

Love you all!

~Sister Radmall 

Letter from November 17th

Hey y'all!  

So, we got tons of snow this week.  Monday through Wednesday was so super cold and miserable.  Like in the teens.  Then Thursday it started snowing around 10 am and didn't stop until Friday evening.  Got about a foot of snow.  It's a lot better to be cold with snow, than without.  It's just miserable without snow.

Anywho... So this week we decided to teach the auxiliary heads The Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is really hard to go out and meet new people in the dark and the cold.  So we are trying to fill our nights with appointments.  Teaching the members has been a really cool experience.  To figure out what to teach them we prayed and fasted the week before and felt good about the lesson we chose.  The members we have taught have shared awesome conversion stories, missionary stories, and just amazing experiences.  It's been great.

On Tuesday we had an awesome time with our new investigator, Becckie.  At first we thought we were there for her fiance, but quickly discovered he isn't interested much.  She is so ready for the gospel.  She is having a lot of struggles in every aspect of life.  Said she has hit rock bottom and is willing to try anything.  She was going to come to church yesterday but didn't =(  Anyway, we are super excited to teach her about Christ and the atonement.  I know it will help her so much.  It won't change her circumstances, but it can help her outlook and strength so much.

We have seen a little bit of progress in a couple of our investigators that we didn't think would be interested for a while.  Cleo we have been meeting with for ever it seems.  She loves the missionaries and loves the church but just can't get past Joseph Smith.  But when we answered some questions she had and she started reading the Book of Mormon she mentioned to us that Nephi could only have prophesied of America being a free country if he was a prophet.  So that was pretty cool =)

Saturday we had another awesome scripture study with Katie and Kaydon.  Kaite had a really good question and was so excited to find the answer in the next couple chapters following.  Kaydon was excited to read again.  It's so cool to see how exciting scripture studies can be.  I think we don't take full advantage of how easily we can have the scriptures.  And we don't use them as much as we could.  The scriptures, though they may be hard to understand, are so fun to read.  There are awesome if you really get into them.  

Hope that made sense... I'm a little distracted today.  haha.

Yesterday we did our musical number.  It was really good.  Sister Bailey's first solo, and my first time arranging music and playing it without music.  It was fun =)

Today we are playing flag football with the zone in Baker..... in the snow. I'm going to freeze!!!!

Last week dad asked if I needed anything for winter.. and I realized I don't have many warm socks.  Some fuzzy socks and super warm socks would be really nice.  And I may need gloves, depending on if there are any at walmart here or not.

Have a fantastic week!  Remember that the scriptures are written for us, and it is so easy to read them.  The more we read them the more will understand them and appreciate them. =)  If you have a bad day just open the scriptures and read... it always helps!

 LOve you!

~Sister Radmall  

Sister Training Week

Well, it was another one of those busy Sister Training Leader weeks.... I packed my bag on Monday planning to be gone for 5 days!  Like another mini vacation.  We left Monday night.  Got to the mission home around 9.  Had a great time, as always, talking to Sister Cannon.  Got to relax a bit and play the piano.  Then crashed in their awesome comfy beds!  

Tuesday morning we got up, got ready and went to MLC (Mission Leadership Training).  It was fantastic!  Talked about how the Book of Mormon is just not the same without the Bible, and visa versa.  Having just the Bible is like having just one dot on a piece of paper.  How many straight lines can you draw through that dot? Tons!  But if you have two dots, the Bible and the Book of Mormon, how many straight lines can you draw through them?  One!  President Cannon assigned Sister Bailey and I to choose a favorite talk from conference and apply it to us and missionaries.  I chose President Uchtdorf's talk, Finding truth and light I think it's called.  It's pretty awesome.  You should read it =)  After MLC we went on splits with Sister Bowler and Sister Dijkwel again.  I got to go with Sister Dijkwel again.  She is great!  She came out with me, and we were both blown away that we have been out for over a year.  We went to a less actives house and chatted for a bit, figured out he is from Cove and related to pretty much all of the Allens there.  So that was pretty cool.  haha =)

Wednesday we took our time to get ready and study because we planned to exchange with the McCall sister's in Weiser, but they couldn't until 6:30.  So we had a while.  We went to lunch at Panda express... hadn't eaten there since January.  It was so good!  We then went to Weiser and did some paperwork in our area book.  Finding things to do that are useful when you're not in your area is really hard!  But we did it.  Oh ya!  We had to stop and get gas in Payette... which is in Idaho... which means you have to pump it yourself.... so on Wednesday I pumped gas for the first time in 9 months!  haha =)  Almost forgot how ;)  Oregon is pretty great.  I love not having to get out in the cold to pump my gas.  Wednesday night we had dinner with the Weiser missionaries then exchanged with the McCall sisters.  I went all the way up to McCall.  Long 1.5 hour drive.  I was so tired.  But I didn't sleep very good that night.  Probably because I was in a different place.

Thursday we visited people all over McCall.  Met some pretty crazy people.  But it was a lot of fun =)  Learned about the book of Enoch.  Which I had no idea existed until now.  So that was fun.  We went to the Pancake House and got their famous giant cinnamon roll.  It's as big as my head.  It was so good!  After that we had a really good experience.  We went to visit this less active, Courtney.  Knocked on the door.. she wasn't home.  So we walked around and started back to the truck.  I noticed a Swiss flag flying in front of a log cabin.  I said out loud, "Hey look! They are Swiss, I'm Swiss... lets go see if we are related."  Not sure why that came out of my mouth, but we went and knocked on the door.  No one answered. (so I don't know if we are related haha)  We headed back to the truck again and I saw someone get off the bus.  She walked around to wear Courtney lives so I figured, hey that's probably her!  So I told Sister Colby and we decided to wait in the truck for 5 minutes so we weren't total creepers.  We made a phone call then hopped back out and went and knocked on her door again.... no one answered!  Lame.  But then a couple Spanish ladies came out of the apartment behind us.  We started talking to them and asked if they had met missionaries before.  They had met the elders.  We asked if they were interested in learning, they were a little hesitant at that.  But we figured out they were moving and so we offered our help and they accepted!  It's amazing how the Lord works.  He timed that whole thing perfectly.  Because they were all leaving.  We probably wouldn't have knocked on their door, so if they didn't come out we wouldn't have met them.  And now the sisters up there have a service project and possibly an investigator!  It was awesome.  I really saw the hand of the Lord in that little meeting =)  I saw it again later.  I really wanted to take a picture of the lake.  So before it got dark we went and took a couple pictures then as we were walking back to the truck Sister Colby asked me if I wanted to go talk to this guy who was walking his dog.  I said sure, so we went and talked to him.  He turned out to be a less active member.  His wife is active, he is not.  So the sisters are going to go visit them.  And hopefully he will start coming back to church!  That was pretty cool too =)  It was just a great day.  Then we went home for dinner and had pizza.  I was exhausted!  Didn't sleep well that night either.

Exchange in McCall with Sister Colby

Friday we got up at 5:30, which is actually 4:30 La Grande time, and because of the time change and all the traveling I don't think my body knew what time it was.  haha.  I was so tired!  We drove an hour (longest hour of my life) down to Council to get a ride with the Masters (Senior missionaries) to Baker for zone meeting.  Needless to say, I slept almost the whole way.  Zone meeting was great.  Talked about the Bible and Book of Mormon supporting each other again.  Went to lunch, got my awesome companion back and finally went home!  It was so nice to go home.  We went home and dropped off my stuff and took a potty break.  I crashed on the bed while Sister Bailey was in the bathroom and she didn't wake me up.  So... nap time!  I had a good nap.  I obviously couldn't stay awake.  We made a couple visits that night, but I was so tired I can't remember them.  haha

Don't fall asleep reading this... I'm almost done! Sorry, it's pretty long.  Crazy week. =)  Saturday  we helped someone move their storage unit.  It was kinda fun.  The Elders helped.  She was moving her unit from upstairs to downstairs.  Luckily the place had an elevator.  Then we had a fantastic scripture study with Katie and Kaydon.  Katie has a hard time understanding the scriptures (who doesn't).  So we brought a member along with us, Sister Isaacson, and had a really good study.  Even Kaydon was interested.  He was in time out, then Katie had him come down and read with us.  So he was grumpy at first, but he was the one that suggested we read another chapter.  Reading scriptures really does change attitudes.  Next time we will invite Katie's husband John who isn't a member to read with us.  Hopefully he will join!  After that we went to the walk in clinic for Sister Bailey.  She has been having stomach problems for three weeks and she finally gave in and went to the doctor.  Not sure what it is yet, but we are figuring it out.  We spent most of the rest of the day there.  Then went to Sarah's for dinner.  She was the one this time that suggested the prayer!  That was exciting because she never does that, and never even participates in the prayer.  One step in the right direction!  then we went to stake conference.  They talked about missionary work of course, which I assume was talked about everywhere.  The cutest returned missionary spoke.  She loves sharing the gospel.  She just got home from Japan.  I want to be like that when I get home!  Just happy, and excited, and cute!  She is a great example for me.  After conference I saw a bunch of people from Enterprise!! I was so excited! =)  They all bombarded me with hugs.  It was great.  I even saw the Lowes!  Me and Sister Lowe both screamed and hugged and hugged and hugged.  haha I miss them! =)  So great to see them!

Sunday was cool.  Interesting... and someone is going to have to tell me if stake conference has changed for everyone or just Oregon... I assume everyone.  So we went to stake conference.  We were in the choir.  President Chadwick announced that there will be 3 stake conferences from now on instead of just 2.  2 of those will be the regular, and one will be a broadcast.  Yesterday's was a broadcast.  So we started out with a prayer and a song with our stake. Then for the next 20 minutes President Chadwick spoke to us and the choir sang a song.  Then we went and sat down and all the stakes in Oregon watched the broadcast of President Monson, Neil L. Andersen, and a couple others.  It was pretty cool =)  Elder Andersen talked about FATIH in Jesus Christ, DILIGENCE in keeping the commandments of God, and PATIENCE in our trials and afflictions.  I loved it.  Later we visited a couple people.  Had a good scripture study with Jessee.  She wants to study the Pearl of Great Price with us.  Then we went and saw Becckie.  She was having a really hard time and we were able to comfort her.  She now wants to take the discussions for herself, not for her family.  She has a really hard life and a lot of health problems and we know our message can help her, so we are really excited to help her find Christ!  Then we went and saw Cleo.  Had a really good discussion with her!  She hasn't been interested in us teaching her because she says she loves everything about the Mormons, but can't believe the Joseph Smith story.  So we invited her to continue to read the Book of Mormon.  Turns out, when she started reading the Book of Mormon she thought Joseph Smith had wrote it and that it talked about Christ coming over the seas to talk to him.... so we cleared that one up fast!  Now she seems a lot more interested =)  We will be having Book of Mormon studies with her now.  We are super excited!! 

It was really a fantastic week!  Even though I wasn't home for 5 days I had a good time.  We felt the spirit.  We were led by the spirit.  We had great discussions and scripture studies.  And it was just all around one of the best weeks on the mission!  Sister Bailey is determined to finish her mission strong.  So even though she is excited to go home and talks about what she will be doing at home she does her best to use every minute of the rest of her 4 weeks to do the Lord's work.  I love her!  She is one of the best companions ever.  We have so much fun.  We laugh a lot, and tease each other, and work together well.  We just have a great time.  I'm sad she has to go home!  Wish she didn't have to.

Wow... talk about long winded today! Sorry if I bored you.  Didn't know I had so much to say.  Guess I was making up from last week's short email.  

Hope you all have a great week.  Remember that the Lord loves you.  He is aware of you and what you are going through.  He is sending someone your way to help you through any and all of your trials.  You just have to be patient, because he has to find someone who is trustworthy and is willing to follow the spirit.  have FAITH in him and in Christ, be DILIGENT in keeping his commandments, and be PATIENT, he will help you.  Just let him! =D  

Love you all!! 

~Sister Radmall

Jake, the dog, who snuck onto my lap.

The Andersons

November 3rd --week 1 of 10th transfer

Monday we had a good lesson at the Bedards.  They invited their non-member friends and while we were there asked if they would like the discussions.  It was fantastic.  That is what we want every member to do!  Invite us over with their friends, introduce them to us, then ask them out of love if they want the discussions. =)  If you do that... missionaries will instantly become your best friend.  But remember, not everyone will say yes.  These people didn't.  But it's okay.  Now the Lord will trust them more with his children.

Tuesday Sister Bailey wasn't feeling well again, so we stayed in for the afternoon then went out and visited people later.

Wednesday we went to Elgin.  Had a missionary meeting with the ward mission leader and ward missionaries.  They are awesome.  We made a plan to teach the auxiliary heads the chapter in preach my gospel, "Finding People"  So that was pretty cool.  The ward missionaries are the Perrens.  She is sisters with sister Packer that we lived with in Weiser.  And He is brothers with someone Sister Bailey lived with in Caldwell.  Small world.  Pretty cool.  haha

Thursday we met a recently returned missionary.  She served in Japan.  We have been working with her family who isn't really active.  Hadn't been able to get them to church, but she did.  It showed me that missions not only help the people in mission boundaries, but also when a missionary goes home they help their families just as much.  And it's exactly what the family needs.  In this returned missionaries case it was helping her family be more active.

Happy Halloween!  We met a bunch of new people.  Then everyone went down town to trick or treat so no one was home and it was super duper crowded by our house since we live down town.  Everyone and their dogs were there ;)  We had dinner at a member's that has a tradition of taco soup and scones for the whole neighborhood every year.  It was kind of like going to the Griffins for spud-nuts. =) Then we went home and I carved a pumpkin.  Fun stuff.  Last holiday season on the mission.  Gotta live it up! =)

Saturday most of our appointments canceled... I was kinda gloomy.. like the weather. haha.  We went to our ward mission leader's, the Meyers.  We finished our meeting early and I didn't really want to go out in the wet cold again that night to talk to strangers who didn't want me on their door step.  But Sister Meyer just kept talking and telling stories, and she was funny, and we were stuck there until we had to go home.  It was just a little answer to prayers not having to go back out. 

Sunday was church.  It was fantastic.  I missed the sacrament last week.  Then our appointment canceled and so we visited a couple people.  Met a super nice less active lady who we thought would just tell us she wasn't interested.  But she said that we could stop in anytime and talk.  So that was pretty cool.

We got tons of referrals this week.  That is seriously an awesome compliment from the members.  Because they trust us!! Yay =)  So that was pretty great.

The weather was cold and rainy all week, and will be again.  Yipee for winter.  haha.  Snow is in the mountains.  It's pretty, but like I said, it's cold =P

How's everyone's Book of Mormon reading coming?  I'm catching up a little bit.  I'm in Mosiah now.  I read a lot while my companion was sick.  And we read the allegory of the olive tree out loud together.  I understood it!  It was pretty amazing.  Tons of blessings in it =)  Love it!

Love you all!  Keep smiling

~Sister Radmall