Whitewashing

This week was transfers and things got crazy. So I found out the night before I moved that the companion I was supposed to have decided to go home since she has depression/anxiety. So the next morning I found out that I was going to be in a trio with some of the other sisters in Cypress. It was weird leaving Fountain Valley (Sister Le cried when I was leaving-I'm gonna miss my little trainee) but at the same time I am really ready to just move onto a new area. So for three days I was with Sister Perry (one of my friends!) and Sister King. They live with these really nice members and I got to teach their investigator who got baptized this weekend. 

Then on Friday they moved Sister Shipman to Cypress to be my companion. She is from Arkansas and shes been out for 6 months. We live with some members and they are so nice! Their name is the Leazenbys and their house is kinda small (well I mean after living with the Hokes of course it is) There are 3 bedrooms and we have our own bathroom. It kinda feels like we are their children though because we actually live right there in their house and use their kitchen and everything. They have an orange tree in their backyard so this morning we made fresh orange juice and it reminded me of when grandma and grandpa would make orange juice at their house in Arizona. 

Since we are whitewashing we have just been trying to meet people. We have met all of the recent converts, a lot of less actives, and some of the ward council. We went and visited one of the counselors in the bishopric yesterday and his son is on a mission in Bosie.  He is a bodyguard for Johnny Depp! (its moments like these where I'm like, oh ya I live in California). Other than that its been a little hard because we have to figure everything out and get used to everything on top of trying to find people to teach (sadly they didn't leave any investigators behind). But this area has already been a lot easier to talk to people and we have a few referrals that hopefully will turn into something.I feel really good about everything though and we are going to start working really hard to get things going in our area.

Love you all!!!

-Sister Washburn

Bye Fountain Valley "a nice place to live"

"Hello" Cypress with Sister Shipman

Transfers- Cypress

So this week was like 100x better than last week. We got a member referral, contacted some people who said we could come by and teach them, and a bunch of members are inviting their friends to the activities this week. So hopefully there are some people to teach soon. For Valentines day it was a totally normal day but there is this cupcake shop in our area owned by members so we got free valentines cupcakes. Also we had two YW come out with us that night so that was fun. I also got to go on exchanges to Whittier. The sister I was with is a greenie who came out with Sister Le. Her name is Sister Aliki and she is from Tonga. She is so funny, we had a good time. We biked all over like there was no tomorrow trying to visit some less actives. And we kind of got lost a couple times cause she didn't know where we were. And there are some huge hills there. So basically I better have buff legs after that. And then that night we went to visit a less active and her husband was totally drunk and he tried to hug us on the way out and it was awkward and ya (i hate having to deal with drunk people) So after exchanges I was like "Man I am so grateful that I'm in Fountain Valley." I have been having a feeling that I was going to stay here next transfer and so I was just thinking about how I was going to do things here next transfer. Well we got transfer calls that night and I am getting transferred to Cypress!!! My new companion is Sister Madsen (she is a missionary that came out with me) and we are whitewashing! That means that the two sisters there before us are leaving so we are going to have to figure everything out ourselves because neither of us have served there before. So it will be a lot of work but I'm excited. So then on Sunday at the beginning of sacrament one of the counselors announced that me and another elder were getting transferred. I almost started crying after he said that because it really just hit me that I will be leaving. I have served here in Fountain Valley for almost 6 months. I didn't realize how much I've come to love the ward and people here. It was hard saying goodbye to everyone. Especially since I had had a feeling that I would stay longer I don't think that I was as ready to hear that I would be leaving. It definitely hasn't been the easiest area, but I've grown so much and learned a lot here. Also the ward here is so good, sitting in sacrament meeting there feels just like home. So ya I'm pretty sure Sister Le is sick and tired of me saying "I don't want to go" because I said it at least 50 times yesterday. I'm really going to miss it here but I think I am ready for a new area and it will be really good for me. Well next week I will be writing to you from Cypress!!

Love you all!!
-Sister Washburn

Weird Week

So this week was honestly kind of weird. Things that happened on Tuesday seem like they happened weeks ago. The week started out pretty good. We had a really good lesson with a less active and brought a member that she knows but hasn't seen in years so that was good. We also stopped by a less active in the elders area who wants to come back to church so that is exciting. But then Sister Le has had a migraine for like a week. So the rest of the week was a lot of staying in so she could rest, trips to the mission office to talk to the nurse, getting her eyes checked (they thought that might be causing the headache) and trying a bunch of different medications. I think the fact that our usual schedule was so thrown off made it feel really weird like this past week was just a dream (idk if that even makes sense). But ya she still feels sick so we will probably go to the doctors this week to check it out. Then another elder from our zone got sent home for medical reasons. It's been crazy here I don't know what is happening to everyone. So ya it was a good week but weird that we weren't out working like usual. This is the last week before transfers so we will see what happens. I've been in this area for 6 months so I'm kind of ready to go. But we will see. Sorry my letter is kinda short and boring it just wasn't a very eventful week.

Love you all!!

-Sister Washburn

"Just Keep Swimming"

This week was kind of hard. It was just so up and down. Like we would start the day and I would have a ton of faith and be like "today is the day! Let's find a new investigator!" And then things would fall through and we would try not to be disappointed. And then we would keep trying again and motivating each other. And then our back-up for the back-up for the back-up plans would fall through and we would just be like "gosh this is just not our day." And the whole week was kind of like that. Also our old zone leader was rushed to the ER and has meningitis or something. And one of the Elders in our zone got sent home for medical issues and they found out he has cancer. So ya our whole zone was really gloomy this week. Usually district meeting pumps you up for the rest of the week but this week everyone's spirits were dampered. 

We did get to do some actual service for one of our less actives. We helped her with a bunch of yard work and it was really good, she was so grateful. I never really liked doing yard work on Saturdays back at home but here doing service for people is the best thing ever. Also we got a member referral so hopefully that turns into something. There has been this nasty stomach flu that has been going around and a bunch of people in our ward got it so it can be hard to work with the members when people are all sick. 

Sunday was really good. We had a stake fast for rain because there is a drought in California and that night it rained. God answers prayers people! Also the relief society lesson was just what I needed to hear. They were talking about prayer and one sister made the comment that she prayed for something for 30 years before it happened. Even though we pray to find new people to teach every week I realized that sometimes we have to keep praying even if we don't see immediate answers. There are some things that we can't control like how many people will be out on the street to talk to or if members will have the faith to start making missionary work a priority. We just have to do the best that we can and the Lord will make up for the rest. 

Hopefully this week will be a lot better!!

Love you all!!!!

-Sister Washburn