Elder Ballard Visits

(this should have been posted on 6/2, so read this first and then the next one to have them in order)

This week was way better. So last Monday Sister Okanoue and I ate at a Korean barbeque restaurant. It was so good. They have a little grill on each table and then you just order

whatever meat you want and they give you side dishes too. We ate a ton because it was all you can eat. Then on Tuesday we went by an old Japanese couple in our ward. The

wife is recovering from a stroke and I think she really liked to speak Japanese with Sister Okanoue. The husband is really funny. He remembered that I'm from Texas so he pulled

out a New York Times magazine that said "the untied states of texas" on the front. He was like "Texas is #1!" it was funny. Then tuesday night we had exchanges. It is the first

time in 6 months that Sister Andelin hasn't been my STL so it was kinda weird at first. I went with Sister Bauer and she is awesome so we had a good time. That morning we

did some contacting then we worked in her area for a while. We got to teach one of their investigators who is Ally and AJ's uncle. Like I totally loved Ally and AJ back in the day

so I thought it was pretty cool that we got to teach him. He told us that he was going to have Sister Bauer and her companion be extras in a movie that Ally and AJ are making.

He was like "Ya they were just going to be walking around the neighborhood and then knock on someone's door." But sadly, the place where they are filming is out of our mission

so they can't do it. Then on Thursday I started to feel sick and realized that the sinus infection I had had was coming back. (I don't think it ever fully went away) So I went to the doctor

and they gave me some meds and I pretty much slept for all of Friday but then I felt a lot better. Which was good because on Saturday Elder Ballard (one of the 12 apostles) came to our mission!! It was

crazy all 200+ missionaries were packed into one chapel. I think that is the only time on my mission that the whole mission will have been together at once. It was really fun to see

everyone. There were a couple of area authorities that spoke and then Elder Ballard spoke. He talked about a lot of things, about teaching to people's needs, teaching simply, being

obedient. One of my favorite things about his talk was that he pulled out a pass along card with Jesus on it. He said how he is 85 but he still works a lot being an apostle and

sometimes it gets hard for him. When he is having a hard day he pulls out that card and takes a moment to think about the atonement and everything that the savior has done. It

helps him to push through it all and try his best. Then he had a short question and answer part. He also talked a little about member missionary work and he was like "Well, I've

already given 2 general conference talks on it so I don't know what else it will take to get the message across to the members." It was a really cool meeting. We all got to shake

his hand too which was awesome. Then on Sunday night we started teaching some active members the lessons just to help us practice. It was really cool and I think that the members

enjoyed it. Also one of our less actives came to church and she brought her less active nephew too. It was great. There are been a lot of less actives at church lately because us and the

elders have been trying to work more with the ward. We also visited this semi-active family who has three girls. The dad brings the girls sometimes but the mom never comes. They were

really talkative and fun to visit and we even got the mom to join in the lesson and stuff so hopefully we can get her going back to church. Lately I have felt like I need to focus more and work

harder than I ever have to find people to teach. Not that I have been wasting my time before or anything but just that I need to commit myself a little more. Our district leader gave a

training last week about praying with faith and committing to God the things that you want to accomplish. He had us read a talk about giving up the things we do as missionaries that

take away from the spirit even if it is just little things that get in the way. Also in that talk it mentioned how God has given us everything we have, our family, our health, our circumstances,

but the only thing that He can't take away or control is our free will. So the biggest gift we can give to Him is sacrificing what we want to more fully do what He wants from us. I really

liked this because I have noticed how throughout my mission overtime I have wanted to be more obedient and more hard working because I want to do what the Lord asks. It went

justifying things because "I needed it" or "I had to do it this way" to thinking more of "what has he asked me to do" or "how does the Lord want me to do this." Something I love most

about missions is that they can really change you if you let it. You can let the Lord change your heart, your very nature, even the things that you say "that's just how I am" God can

help you to become different. I have seen this in the people we teach, the less active who is laying in bed on a Sunday morning not wanting to get up but who prays and asks God to

help them do what is right and they get up and get themselves to church. Even active members who give service and do so much for others even though they have a family, and a job,

and a calling and not a ton of time. Or those times on my mission where I see a person that I know I need to talk to but their across the street and it might be awkward and I don't really

know what to say but I decide to anyway and the Lord helps me to talk to them. I still have a long way to go but I love that if we are willing and we really try the Lord will be there with us.

I am so grateful that the Lord gives us things in life that are hard so that we can learn to rely on Him. I love my mission so much! I am so grateful to be able to dedicate this time to Him.

Love you all!!
-Sister Washburn

The Price of Dsicipleship

This week was kinda crazy. We had a short exchange one of the mornings this week and so i got to go out and contact a bunch with one of my STLs. Stake conference was this week. They talked a lot about member missionary work and doing family history work which was awesome. I was on family search the other day and the new thing they have to add pictures and stories is so cool! I was reading about our relative Abraham Washburn and how he knew Joseph Smith pretty well and all of the other cool things he did. You guys should really check it out because there is a lot of stuff already on there about our relatives. Also on Wednesday it was my year mark! I can't believe it, 2/3 of the way done. Everyone says the last part of your mission flies by and I believe it. I'm grateful to have 6 months left on my mission though because I have been learning a ton and still have work to do. 

My comp and I have been trying to get back in the swing of things after being sick and so we have been trying to really talk to more people. But it seems like satan doesn't like us or something because we ran into a ton of rude people. A bunch of people we talked to would be really nice but the second we brought up our church they would suddenly end the conversation and usually yell some bible scripture at us as we were going away. This one guy started yelling at us saying that we believed in the devil and that we followed the wrong Jesus. Then we were giving service for this member's daughter-in-law. She started asking me questions like "why did you want to come on a mission?" and stuff and I was like sweet, missionary moments- and I didn't have to be the one to bring it up! But every answer I gave wasn't right. I said that the gospel changed my life and has brought me a lot of happiness and that's why I wanted to come on a mission. She was like "well since you said you grew up in the church, it couldn't have really changed your life, you just don't know anything else." And so on and so forth. I was like "what the heck woman, we are cleaning your house!" But ya she kept telling me that i didn't need to worry about being saved that I didn't need to do all of these "works" because I can just call on the name of Jesus and I'll be fine. It was kinda annoying. The whole point of life is doing good works, following Christ's example of obedience to God's commandments so that when we stand before God at the last day to be judged we will be like Him. 

That night I was lying in bed thinking about what had happened. Part of me was like "Heavenly Father why do I keep going out everyday and talking to people and they just reject what we say." I was thinking about it and about Elder Holland's talk in conference about defending what we believe and how the path of discipleship is never easy. I thought about how ultimately every time I share what I believe I don't regret it. Ya its sad that people don't care or think we are wrong, and it can hurt sometimes to share something so amazing and important to you and have people just brush it aside or yell in your face. But there are people out there, and I know there are people here in our 5 block area of Cypress, that need to hear this. They need to feel the hope that the atonement brings, they need to feel peace through the holy ghost, the need to know that there is a better way to live that will help them avoid misery and sorrow and will eventually lead them back to Heavenly Father. So all these annoying people are worth it to find those who are prepared. My comp and I started working even harder after all this happened which I am really happy about because it could have been so much easier to slack off or assume people we see probably aren't interested or will just want to bash with us. But we are going to keep trying our best so that we can find people to teach. In stake conference one of the speakers talked about how the Lord already knows who is ready for the gospel and so in sharing it we can't mess up. If we just open our mouths and talk to people, those that are ready to hear will want to know more. We don't have to have a flawless delivery or say just the right thing so convincingly. We just have to open our mouths and the Lord will help us out. I love the gospel. It just makes so much sense. I love that God loves us so much and that Jesus Christ showed us the way to live and died for us to make the plan of salvation possible. We taught a family in our ward the plan of salvation this week and it reminded me how lucky we are to understand god's plan for us and to have an eternal perspective. Life can be hard but the gospel makes it all worth it. I know that the Lord is in His work and that as we do what He asks He will always keep His promises to us.

Love you all! Have a good week!

-Sister Washburn

Helping less-actives & Pushing forward

This week was kind of slow. We have been trying to work more with members. So we are going to teach a couple families the discussions to help them be more missionary minded and to get ideas of how they can share the gospel better. We had 4 sisters come out with us this week! It was awesome. We were able to visit more less actives that way. We also had dinner with our bishop and we were able to talk about how to help more of the less actives in the ward. We also had dinner with the Bodines who are an awesome couple whose son is on his mission. Remember how you sent me that cookie butter stuff from trader Joe's? Well they had just discovered it too and they made ice cream sundaes and put it on and it was so good! Other than that nothing too exciting happened this week. Last Monday we went to Target and just walked around because Sister Okanoue and I were like "I miss shopping just for fun." We tried on some high heels and stuff. Super simple but we thought it was fun. (its the little things when you are a missionary) My comp has started to get a little trunky. Her motivation isn't as high but she is still trying her best. My motivation this week wasn't as good either. When you are working hard and not having too much success it can be hard to keep your motivation up. But I feel really good about this week. We are going to keep pushing on and doing our best so that the Lord can bless us. 

Love you all! Have a good memorial day!

-Sister Washburn

We are the Architects of our own Happiness

Hello Everyone!!

This week was ridiculously hot! Sister Okanoue and I were not looking forward to being out in the heat, but we aren't supposed to use our car during the day unless we have a set appointment. And we really wanted to be exactly obedient. So we biked in 105 degrees for a least 2 days this week. Luckily it was a little cooler (as in 98) the rest of the days. Finally, on Saturday, it cooled down a lot and this week it should be cooler. It was the worst but at the same time I know that God sees our efforts and we were able to talk to more people since we were out on our bikes. 

This week was kinda rough. We have been working really hard and had a few return appointments but they fell through. Then a less active we have been working with decided she didn't want us to come by anymore (i think she got offended but someone in the ward) And a few other less active lessons fell through. And we are back to the bare minimum of finding so that's been kinda hard cause I kinda feel like I'm whitewashing all over again.

But on a good note we had 2 really good less actives lessons. One was with a single mom who comes to church off and on. We taught her part of the first lesson and was able to hear her story about how when she had cancer a while back she really had to trust God. We also talked about prophets and gave her a conference talk to read. After the visit she texted us and thanked us for the lesson because it was really what she needed. 

Then last night we went by a recent convert and he wasn't home but he less active mom was. We ended up talked to her for a while and teaching about how God is always watching over us and willing to bless us even when our circumstances seem hard. I also bore testimony about attending church. She told us that she really wants to come back especially to support her son. We hadn't realized but her sister who is also less active was listening from the other room. After our prayer at the end she came in to talk to us and said she is thinking about coming to church again too. It was awesome!! I just hope we can really get them to commit because in the past they have had the desire/good intentions but when the time comes they don't always show up. 

There is a Japanese couple in our ward who takes us out for Japanese food sometimes. Now that Sister Okanoue is in the ward they really wanted to take us out to this sushi place. On Saturday we went with Brother Matsuo and his son and grandson. It was so fun. It was a lot more authentic then some other sushi I have had but it was really good. It was a "revolving sushi bar" . So you sit down around this bar table and there is a conveyor belt going around with lot of different kinds of sushi and clams and sashimi and a bunch of other good stuff. So when it comes by you you just pick up whatever you want and then you pay at the end by the plate. I tried some of the raw fish which wasn't bad but it was kind of too vinegar-y for me. It was really cool to eat there and of course Sister Okanoue loved it.

This week I was reading this talk that I really love (We are the architects of our own happiness by Elder Gerald Causse) and part of it talks about trusting in the Lord's promises. I have really been trying to do that especially lately since we have been working hard but haven't really seen the result we hope and pray for. One night this week we had a return appointment with a potential. Our district had been trying to really support each other with finding and so we asked the district to pray that we would be able to pick up this lady we were hoping to teach as a new investigator. She ended up not being home. For the rest of that night we worked really hard to find a new investigator but we didn't. (in fact we ran into another basher, man those guys are annoying, the trinity doesn't even make sense, but anyways . .) So I was thinking about how faith is being obedient over time. It means trying to do what the Lord asks and being diligent even when we can't see the blessings or the immediate results. The Lord promises us that he will bless us if we do his will, but He also asks us to trust in His timing. I know that there are people in our area that are being prepared. I know that we will find people we just have to be patient (patience is hard but I feel like that is something that my mission has required of me a lot). 

I know that this is God's work. That His priesthood and authority are on the earth. That God is the source of all truth and that he will teach us and guide us if we but ask. That faith is action and it requires consistent effort to follow God and to show that we love Him by obeying Him. God knows us and He knows what we need most to grow and reach our potential. His love is infinite and unconditional and He is always mindful of us.

I love you all! Thanks for your prayers!!

-Sister Washburn

New Companion is Awesome!

Hello Everyone!!

This week was transfers. Sister Okanoue is awesome! We have been having a good time together so far. We have just been doing a lot of contacting lately because we dropped all of our investigators. So we are going to find some prepared people to teach!!! Well I don't know what else to say since I just skyped you guys the other day. (Sam got to skype us on Mother's Day)We had a couple sisters come out with us this week which is always awesome! We had a ward activity which was a fundraiser for the youth. It was fun to get to talk to all of the ward members and a couple non-members showed up which was great. Other than that there wasn't anything too interesting that happened. I have just been helping Sister Okanoue to get to know the ward. I fell like this is going to be a really good transfer! 

love you all!!
-Sister Washburn

New Pictures!

Best district leader ever! Elder Dean

 me and Elder Elder (yes that is his name). We shared the ward here in Cypress.

Purple flowered trees are in bloom again!

With Sister Perry- my new Sister Training Leader

The Zone in Cypress

With Sister Curtner in Fountain Valley

The Bishop and his wife in Fountain Valley

It's HOT!

This week was SO HOT!!! Like holy cow. The Santa Ana winds were blowing our way (see how that made me sound like a local) and so it was windy, dusty, and over 95 degrees everyday. Sister Shipman and I were biking one morning and the wind was blowing so strong and when we got to our appointment there was a thin layer of dirt on my face and dirt stuck to the mascara on my eye lashes. It was gross. But we survived and it is already a cooler again this week. We were able to see a lot of our recent converts this week that we haven't seen in a while so that was good. We are teaching the after baptism lessons to Anthony (a 14 year old boy) and he is awesome. His dad is a non-member and his mom is less active but he has been really good about trying to come to church. We were telling him how awesome it is to see him pass the sacrament. I think that meant a lot to him because he said how last Sunday he didn't feel like coming to church but he prayed and felt like it was the right thing to do so he called up his YM leader to give him a ride. I think that that is so great! It is hard to do things like that when your family isn't super supportive. 

We also found a new investigator this week. His name is Renaldo and we contacted him a few weeks ago and then were able to teach him for the first time this week. He kind of had a hard time understanding what we taught (he's from the Philippines so English isn't his first language) but we asked questions to see what confused him and so by the end he understood pretty well. Our mission is focusing a lot on teaching simply lately so that was definitely good for Renaldo for us to teach simply. He's not super committed because he is catholic but he said he would read and pray so we will see. We had a really good district meeting this week about finding the elect. I have been thinking about that a lot. Now that I know how to find a lot better I want to get better at finding the people that God has prepared, those who are ready to progress.

Also I have been realizing that I am starting to get old in the mission because:

a) I had to throw away 3 pairs of shoes this week because they had holes and were just getting way old. Also i think I'm going to buy a new side bag.

b) Some more of my friends just went home

c) There are purple trees everywhere again and they were in bloom almost a year ago when I first got here.

We got to go to the departure fireside on Sunday which was awesome. At the end of each transfer there is a departure fireside for the missionaries that are leaving where there are musical numbers and they all bear their testimonies. I love these firesides! It is so cool to hear from these missionaries who have just devoted 2 or 1 1/2 to serving God and loving the people in the Long Beach mission. They just have this light in their eyes and such strong testimonies of things they have come to know, ways they have changed, and how much they loved their missions. 

Also this week is transfers! And I am staying here in Cypress. (which I am glad about because I really like it here) My new companion is Sister Okanoue and she is from Japan. She has been out longer than I have and she seems really awesome so I am excited! I'm sad that Sister Shipman is leaving. We had some bumps in our companionship but she is a great person and I learned a lot from being her companion. But I think that Sister Okanoue will be really good for me cause we are going to do work! We have been having a lot more women come out with us and now that I've been here for a while I feel like I am starting to get to really know the ward. I am really excited for this next transfer, it is going to be great!! 

Lately I have just been thinking about how much I love our church. I love that we can receive personal revelation from God to know of truth that leads to our conversion. I love the way that the church is organized, the same way that Christ established it when he was on the earth. I love how even when life is hard our faith gives us something to lean on and that we have a ward family to support us. I love that we want others to be a part of this true church so much that we are able to devote part of our lives to preaching the gospel so that others will be able to receive mercy at the day of judgement. I hope I never take for granted being a part of this church and having the blessings that come from being part of His covenant people. We belong to the best church ever!!

Hope you all have a good week!

Love,

Sister Washburn