Best Week EVER!

We seriously had the best week ever.  It was so spiritual it was exhausting.  Haven't been that spiritually exhausted since the MTC.

Tuesday we went on exchanges.  I was with Sister Nugiera.  She is super nice.  We helped the Jacksons with their yard.  Raked up old leaves that were plastered to the dirt.  haha.  Later we had an awesome lesson with Scott.  He is so in tune with the spirit.  So trusting in God.  We talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Had some really awesome discussion.  

Wednesday we were booked.  We went to Kay's house because she is an expert sewer, and Sister Clegg's bag was all torn apart.  So they fixed her bag, and I got to sit and look through some books that had gorgeous landscape pictures.  Then we had lunch with them and had a great discussion about church, and dogs and cats.  haha =)  We went over to Mike and Jerry's to go over the details of their baptism.  Jerry was so super excited.  Mike was still a little nervous. But willing.  They are awesome.

Thursday we went over to Sherri's and helped her clean out her car port.  It looks so awesome now.  We went over details for the baptism with her too.  She was more excited than Jerry.  She couldn't wait!  haha.  We had our open house Thursday night.  It went well. They played a short video about who mormons are then had someone talk for a couple minutes, then we had cookies.  It was mostly members there, but there were a couple less actives which was awesome!

Friday was zone conference.  My last one..... I gave my TRUNK-A-MONY!!!  which means that I gave my last testimony in front of missionaries.  It was really weird.  Never though that would happen to me.  It was really good though.  I sang a solo.  'His Hands'  It went really well I thought.  I felt the spirit testify of Christ through me.  It felt really good.  It's amazing how much the spirit can speak through music.  One of the reasons why I love music so much.  It was a fantastic zone conference.  All of my questions I went there with got answered.

Saturday was a rough start.  I wasn't feeling very good.  So so tired.  I was having a really hard time staying awake while we were driving and seeing people.  Just shows me that the trials and hard times come before the awesome times.  Because later was seriously the best day of my life.  In the morning we did some service for Sherri again.  We cleaned our her basement a little bit.  Then we felt like we should go to the Astles but we ended up stopping at the Tophams.  They were going to host a party for all the baptism guests after the baptism that day.  We asked if we could help but she declined and offered some lunch.  So we ate lunch then just started helping her.  She really did need some help.  And she was very grateful for it.  WE helped her dust and cook and make her house look good.  She couldn't have done it by herself and was very grateful for the help.  We were led there by the spirit.  God knew she needed help, and we were available. 

The baptisms!  We got to the stake center and of course started running around to get everything put together and ready.  It all went pretty smoothly.  They all showed up on time, and it was just perfect.  Jerry was first.  He was beaming!  I've never seen so much light coming from someone.  He was grinning from ear to ear the whole time it seemed.  Mike was next.  Still nervous, but more confident.  He was also beaming.  And he seemed to walk faster than normal.  I think God was taking away some of his pain so that he could be baptized.  Sherri was practically bouncing out of her seat.  It was great.  She couldn't stop smiling either.  The spirit was so strong there.  It made me realize that baptism is truly so so important to our eternal progression.  The spirit was there testified to everyone that what these three people were doing was right, and that they would have tons of help in getting through life because of it.  We played some mormon messages while they were getting dressed.  That really set the mood even more.  There were really good messages.  I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost.  I really don't remember anything I said.  It was all the Spirit guiding my words. The only thing I remember is the feeling I had while I was talking, and the fact that I felt like I should read my holes poem.  I am having a really hard time finding words to describe the whole thing.  It was just awesome.  Incredible is probably a better word.  Thank you for praying for Mike Jerry and Sherri.  I'm so glad I was able to be a part in their baptisms.  I got to see them take a huge step towards Jesus Christ.  I love being a missionary.  I wish these awesome things happened months ago.  It's getting hard to want to leave, so much good is going on. haha =)

Sunday they all got confirmed.  They received the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  All three were still beaming.  I felt so much love for them.  =)  Later we had an awesome lesson with the Treats.  We had Hank make goals to stop smoking.  He isn't going to smoke before 10AM.  So along with his goal, we all made goals to stop a habit.  Everyone except me made the goal to not eat after 6pm. My goal: Wait... first, sit down.  Now hold your jaw so it doesn't hit the table.... I'm giving up chocolate until the end of my mission.  Haha! It was NOT my idea.  It was the spirit.  I kept having an internal battle.  This is about how it went:

Spirit, "You need to give up Chocolate for Hank."

Me, "What?? no! How about popping my fingers."

Spirit, "nope. Chocolate."

Me, "not eating after 6?"

Spirit: "Chocolate"

Me(desperately), anything else"

Spirit, "comm'on you can do it... chocolate."

Me, "Fine! I'll do Chocolate."

So today we are dropping off all my chocolate to the treats.  This will be good for me.  But it's gonna be hard.  I love chocolate.  For those of you that know me well, that is an understatement. =P  But I figure, It's going to be really hard for hank to give up his cigar.  He has had it for years.  But I know he can do it if he wants to.  So I'm going to show him that we can do it together.  I'll let you know how it all goes.

That was my crazy spiritual awesome week!

Hope you all had a great week as well!

Love you all

Listen to the Spirit, he will tell you all things that you need to know!

Love,

Sister Radmall   

Exciting news!

This week was seriously they craziest week of my life!  We had so many teaching appointments and service projects and meetings.  I have no idea how we fit it all in.  They were all super important so God helped us find the time we needed to do it all.  If I told you everything in detail I'd be here all day.  So here are the best parts of the week.

Tuesday was the busiest.  We had appointments every hour from 9 to 9 and only 1 canceled.  Never had that before on my mission.  So we were so busy.  We taught Mike and Jerry and committed them to the baptism date of the 21st.  Which they both accepted!  They are both getting baptized this Saturday!!!! We are so stinkin excited! =)  We also went to Sherri's.  She is getting baptized this Saturday as well.  So we are going to have a 3 in one baptism.  The wards are so excited, we are so excited, Sherri, Mike and Jerry are so excited!  Missionary work is just so exciting.  haha!! =)

Wednesday was super busy too.  We took the Horton girls to the purple couch and got chocolate milk.  It was a lot of fun.  I've adopted two more sisters. =)  

Wednesday was another day that we had appointments from 9 to 9 and only one canceled.  2 days in a row!  Craziness.  We went over the baptismal questions with Mike and Jerry and they passed with flying colors.  Though we figured out that Mike drinks coffee every morning.  We were disappointed because he has to be following the word of wisdom for 2 solid weeks before he can get baptized.  But because he was serious about getting baptized, he gave up his coffee and we got permission for him to get baptized even though it wasn't 2 weeks.  So now we have coffee and a coffee maker in our apartment... not really sure what we should do with it.  We'll probably chuck it after the baptism.

Thursday we went on exchanges.  I went with Sister Duncan to Emmett.  She is having a hard time.  I tried to help her, but I don't know if I did.  So if you could pray for her, I think she would really appreciate it. =) We talked a lot about our fun times in Enterprise.  It was fun.

Friday the 13th was Sherri, Mike and Jerry's interviews for baptism.  All passed of course.  They are all ready to get baptized... just like I've been saying like 4 times.  You'd think I was excited or something.  haha =)

Saturday we went to a former investigator/ less active's house to see if the little girl wanted to get baptized.  She does!  So we are going to start teaching her and her baptism will be March 14th.  She is pretty excited.  We just have to help them get a habit of coming to church so after she gets baptized they can stay active.  So that was a good day.  Sister Clegg and I got each other valentines gifts.  And Sherri gave us flowers.  It was so sweet =) 

 I heard an elder say... "This will be your last valentines day spent with the same gender."  haha.  I thought it was funny.  True though.  The Hicks had us over for dinner.  And because it was 60 degrees outside we had a barbecue. It was so good!  It was fun to hang out with them and Sherri.

Sunday we went to ward council and sacrament meeting then Sister Clegg didn't feel well so we went home and she slept.  I did some studying then slept too.  Wow was I tired.  Those times when a companion is sick happen at the perfect time.  It's a blessing to be able to take a break and rest.  Opposition in all things... if you don't know how to work, then you don't know how to rest.  Right? =)  After we rested she felt a lot better.  So we went out and visited a bunch of people.  We finally asked the Hortons if they would be interested in learning and being baptized.  Debbie (the one dying of cancer) wants to get baptized.  But she doesn't know if she can in her condition.  If she can't she wants to be baptized by proxy in the temple a year after she dies.  The girls have expressed interest in being baptized.  Hopefully we can get their grandma on board too.  She is pretty set in her religion.  But she isn't against the church like she was a couple years ago.  So there is hope!  They are thinking about it.  I'll let you know the outcome.  I really hope they accept and we can get them all baptized before their mom dies!!  They are such sweet girls, and it's so hard to see them go through this.  They are handling it better than I probably would.

That was our crazy week.  And I think I told you about 25% of it.  

I studied faith today.  And I learned a couple things about it.  

What is Faith? It is having confidence in something or someone

How to get Faith? Pray, read scriptures, go to church, learn about Christ and the gospel, listen to the Holy Ghost.

Why to have Faith? Those who do are promised eternal life and happiness.

Sounds like a pretty good bargain! =)  We always need to have more faith.  No one can have too much faith.

Love you all!! I am so glad to be on a mission at this time.  There has been so much success in the last month.  It is so amazing to watch people do what us crazy 20 year old girls ask them to do.  It's because this is the true church.  They feel the Holy Ghost and want to change.  We really do have a special calling as the Lord's servants.  And he gives us the power to carry his name and his spirit with us always.  It's going to be a sad day when I have to take off my name tag.  But I am always ready for new adventures so I can learn and grow and prepare to have a family and return with God.

Have a fantastic week filled with the Spirit of God!

Love, Sister Radmall

Success!

Hey everyone!  

so I've learned something this week..... when you do your best you get blessed!  Times 10 =)  The Lord seems to be blessing Sister Clegg and I.  We have had so much success that has come with hard work.  We are teaching more than I ever have on my mission.  We had 6 investigators at church yesterday.  We have 4 investigators with baptismal dates in the next 2 months.  It's just fantastic.  I am seeing the blessings of serving a mission.  God wants us to prove our faith and work hard even when it's rough so that he can bless us when we are almost done and have done good work.  So I am loving life right now.  And to make it even better... the sun was out!! And it's been 50 degrees all week! =)

We have been so busy we aren't able to do everything we want to and see everyone we want too.  

On Tuesday we went and saw the Hortons.  Their grandma was stressed out so we took Lane and Sage and the dog for a walk.  It was a lot of fun!  We were jumping over the cracks and lines on the cross walks and the phone flew out of my pocket into a puddle.... oops.  So it got soaked.  And the speakers didn't work =P  So I put it in a bag of rice and luckily it worked the next day.  haha.  That evening we had a lesson at the Vincents.  Mike came and so did the Tophams.  We had a really good lesson about some of the commandments.  I'm so excited for Jerry and Mike to get baptized.  It will give them the added strength they need in their life.

Wednesday we had a great lesson with Sherri.  We were on exchanges so I taught her with my temporary companion, Sister Tyler (From Texas).  It was a great lesson.  We talked about the temple and how she can be sealed to her husband who has past and her son Adam.  She was pretty excited about that.  She is so excited to get baptized that she wants to do it a week sooner!  So it's going to be the 21st instead of the 27th =)  We are excited for her!

Thursday we had to take the Jeep in to get the alignment fixed.  So we brought it down to Nampa at 8 and Elder Short took it to the dealership.  We were planning for it to be gone for like 2 hours.... but we were at the mission office from 8 to 4.  So we were there for 8 hours.  We had a lot of fun though.  And we made ourselves very useful.  We called ourselves the Sister AP's (Assistant to the President).  We organized the material closet, copied, restocked, and helped with some file work.  The office missionaries put us to work.  And we got to go to Costa Vida for our lunch break.  It was a good day.

Friday the elders and us helped the Treats wash their walls and ceiling.  It was pretty gross.  Yellowy brown came off the walls.  I am so glad I am not bound by the habit of smoking... and I never will be!  It's so nasty.  When we were done we went and changed then felt like we should go over to Martina's house.  We walked in and she was in the middle of a breakdown.  Her house was a mess because she just had rude guests over that tore apart her house.  So we were able to help her clean in while she took a breather and tried to calm down.  God sent us over there are just the right time.  

Saturday was a service day most of the day.  We helped the treats again.  Had to go over the walls again because they were still dirty.  Then we painted corners.  We went over to Martina's again too.  Helped her some more.  They were both very grateful for our help.  I love doing service!  We then went to dinner at Garbonzos.  It was a birthday part, feeding the missionaries, blind date dinner... .talk about awkward!!  But the giant pizza was pretty cool.

Sunday was probably one of the best days ever!  Mostly because everyone we invited to come to church... actually came to church!!!  That's never happened to me before.  =)  It was fantastic!  We walked over to the Hortons and picked up the girls.  They sat by us at church and loved it.  On the way home Lane told us she wants to be baptized.  We were like, "Yeah!  We can arrange that!"  haha =)  After church we had a fantastic lesson with the Treats and the Hoopers.  Talked a lot about the atonement and how to quit smoking.  It was great!  Then we had an awesome lesson with Mike.  We talked about the importance of baptism and what his long and short term goals are.  He finally told us that he wants to get baptized.  So we are trying to get him and Jerry ready for the 21st.  We are pretty excited!! =)

That was our crazy week!  Never got a breather.  But that's okay.  It's better this way.  

This week I learned that... The Natural man looks at the failure, God looks at the progress.  Why give into natural man and look at the failure?  Even the tinest bit of progress is noticed by God.  We should notice it too!  So we can be encouraged and strengthened.

Love you all! Have a fabulous week!

<3 Sister Radmall

Message from the field February 1st

Hey peoples =)

Did anyone else notice how random the weather was this week??  Sunny, then rainy, then so cold and foggy, then sunny again, and now raining!  Maybe that's just in Idaho.  haha

Feeding the horses at our house

Living in a mud hole

Monday night we had an awesome FHE lesson at the Yoders house.  They had an empty nesters and invited us to teach the lesson.  So we talked about how to study from preach my gospel and committed them all to read it.  Then we taught lesson 3 just like we would have to an investigator.  It was awesome.  They were all so enthralled and the spirit was so strong!

This is how missionaries park--so they don't have to back up.

Tuesday was fantastic.  So many great lessons!  We went to zone meeting,

The "O-Zone"  (Ontario Zone)

 then ate at Panda Express.. love that place.  Then we had to go to Les Schwab to get our tires aligned.  Then we had dinner and brought those memebers, the Tophams, with us to the Vincents house to teach them some commandments.  Awesome lesson!  They are all awesome at the Vincents.  Jerry is so so so ready to get baptized!  He just has to decide on a date still.  We then went to see what the scouts were doing.  They needed help with dinner and dessert, so we helped them for a while.  Then we had another really really awesome lesson with Scott.  He is a sort of recent convert, of like 3 or so years.  And he just got out of prison.  He has a completely changed heart, and is so willing to let Christ make him better.  It's amazing to see.  There is just a bright spirit about him everywhere he goes.  We talked about the restoration and Joseph Smith.  It was a lot of fun because he already knows a lot, so we went into a little deeper discussion with him than we would have with an investigator.  It was cool.

Thursday was so crazy.  We taught Sherri.  Great lesson!  She is going to get baptized Feb. 27!  She just has to stop smoking, and come to church every week... which she is doing great at so far!  We went to the Hortons and read with the girls again.  And I did their hair again.  They love that =)  We also saw Mike.  We think he can get baptized on the 27th too.  We shall see.  We are hoping Jerry will accept that date as well!

Friday I got to go to Sweet Idaho with Sister Mackelprang!! We had tons of fun =)  

Sister Krauss came here with Sister Clegg.  Me and Sister Mack had a great lesson Friday night.  I'm pretty sure we said 10 words.  We brought a member who is very talkative.  But it's a good, powerful talkative.  She connected so well with the 3 investigators!! It was so awesome.  She just kept going and going and taught practically the whole lesson, especially talked about the atonement.  It was so cool to see and feel the connection she had with one of the investigators who is trying to decide what to do.  He just went through a bad break-up and needs something more in his life.  So she was able to connect with him and tell him how she went through things like that and how she handled them.  It was amazing.  Have I said that enough?  haha!

Saturday morning we helped the senior center with a big project.  Then we went to lunch at the pizza place, Garbonzos and got a french fry pizza.  It was good!

  Then we walked from the church around the horseshoe because the son was out and it was such a nice day.  We ran into the Treats and helped them clean their walls a little bit.  Then we went and helped Sister Lewellen with some technical things she couldn't figure out.  Then we went to the Hicks and taught Sherri.  Great lesson!  We went over the baptismal questions to see what Sherri needed to work on before baptism.  It wasn't our plan, but nothing was coming to mind that went along with the plan, so I felt like we should take a different route, and it went so much better.

Ice cream at the Moscrips

Sunday was a long day of meetings.  After Church we went to the treats and planed to teach the plan of salvation, but I felt like we should go over the baptismal questions again.  It worked out really good.  We talked a lot about all aspects of the gospel and we were able to discern what is keeping Hank from getting baptized.  We voiced a lot of concerns... and now the only thing left is his cigar.  So he got an amazing blessing.  I am really hoping that his faith in that blessing is enough to help him stop.  I know it can help him... but he has to know that for it to work.  Later, Sister Clegg had to write something so we went to the church and I finally got to play the piano while she wrote.  It was really nice, and much much needed!!  My fingers are going to need a lot of re-training to be able to play fun songs when I get home and not just hymns.  haha =P

Well I had a lot to say... haha  Hope I didn't put you to sleep.

I learned this Sunday... again (seeing as I have learned it multiple times on my mission) that if we want to find ourselves we have to lose ourselves.  We have to lose our life in the service of Christ.  Doing what Christ would, and doing our best to serve others.  That is the one and only way to truly figure out who our spirit is. =)

Have a great week everyone!  I sure will, cuz I have Christ!! =)

Love, Sister Radmall 

  

Our Mascot, "Puffer"

Email from January 26th

So we go to the senior center every week, and it's so fun!  We help in the thrift store, serve food, talk to people, and I've recently been playing a game of pool with one of the old guys.  He loves it.  Serving people is one of my favorite things to do!

We taught a lot of lessons this week to people.  The Vincents are doing so great.  Jerry is getting closer and closer every time.  I can feel it!  They came to church yesterday, finally.  He just needs to feel like he can set a date and a goal.  We also taught the treats.  I have never seen someone so into one thing... Hank loves round dancing.  It's pretty much all he talks about!  If you bring it up at all he will talk about it for an hour and you can't talk about anything.  Even if you don't bring it up he will talk about it for an hour.  haha!! It's cool.  He knows a lot about it.  

Sister Lewellen is the one that called mom on Wednesday.  I was right there by the phone.  haha.  It was fun =)  She is so great!  Has such a great, funny personality.  She is the relief society president and is always serving anywhere she can.  She helps us out all the time.  Love her!

On Thursday we went to the blue and gold banquet.  It was great!  There were a lot of non-members there.  They had a dessert auction.  Some of those desserts went for like 50 bucks.  Those auctions are so fun, and such a good idea for a fundraiser.

Friday was MLC.  We have a lot more Sister Training Leaders now.  There was 3 pairs, now there are 5 pairs.  So we won't be quite as busy.  Sister Breen and Dunkle are STL companions right now. I hope they have a good time!  The STLs are making plans for Sister's conference.  I am so excited!  It's going to be a personality theme with the personality colors.  And you know that quote on my wall above my window, "The road to success is always under construction." We are going to decorate with that theme.  It's going to be a blast.

Saturday morning didn't start out very well.  But we were able to help a family in need.  We got a text letting us know that one of the less actives we are working with, Liz, her son died in a car accident Friday night.  He was 20.  The family is devastated.  We had planned to help sister Lewllen with a relief society project that morning so we headed over there and told her the news so she dragged us inside and had us make cookies.  We make cookies then went over and gave them to Liz and her family.  Poor Bella, she is 9, she is mad at her brother Austin and mad at God for taking him.  She is having the hardest time I think because she doesn't understand.  We did our best to comfort her and tell her that her brother is right by her side now all the time.  That he is happy and in no pain. It helped a little, but she still doesn't understand why he had to die now.  Liz is having a hard time too.  She is a single mom with 3 girls.  Not active, though the 2 girls go to mutual.  When we went over we just cleaned out the fridge and did the dishes and organized some kitchen cabinets to try and help her out.  She knows there is a reason for what happened, but she is having a really hard time knowing what that reason is and accepting the fact that it happened.  If you could pray for Liz Astle and her family, they could use all the prayers we can give.  They are a sweet family and this whole thing put a damper on our weekend because we love them and wish it didn't have to happen.

On a better note... Sister Clegg and I have been working on making the church look better so when investigators come and new people it will look good.  So we re-did the missionary boards.  Still in the process, but they look better.  And the relief society boards.  They look awesome!  It's a lot of fun.  And I think people will notice.  Hopefully something good comes out of the little changes we are making!

I have been reading the Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox.  Awesome book!!  Love it! =)  If you haven't read it, I highly suggest it.  It makes the atonement so much easier to understand and comprehend. Helps me realized that even though I am not perfect, and can't be perfect, God and Jesus Christ still love me.  They still want me to return to them, and I still can because of the atonement.  Because Jesus Christ payed for my sins so that I could be perfect... SOME DAY.  God is only as perfect as he knows how to be... same as us.  We are only as perfect as we know how to be... that is why we learn.  So we can BECOME like God.  Not so we can be like God now, but so we can eventually, over time, be like Him.  I've learned so much about the atonement... more than I ever have before in the last month.  And there is still so much more to learn.

Alma 7:11-12

Thanks for reading my long email.  Hopefully you aren't falling asleep ;)  Have a fantastic week! 

Love you!

~Sister Radmall 

President Cannon's Ice Cream Machine

Little tiny Chihuahua Puppies